China's Singles Are in Love … With Alibaba

Alibaba's sales for Singles Day, China's equivalent of Cyber Monday, passed the $9 billion mark late Tuesday, topping last year's record of around $5.9 billion. The total, measured as gross merchandise volume, was announced via Alibaba's Alizila.com Twitter account, using the hashtag #1111sale. It said that 42.6 percent of sales were generated via mobile. Singles Day — so named because the date Nov. 11 has four singles (11/11) — was started as an inside joke between university students, but has morphed into China's equivalent of Cyber Monday.