Alibaba, JD Fail to Inspire in China Discount Shopping Gala
- Analysts estimate the leaders chalked up single-digit gains
- Newer platforms like PDD and Douyin may have far outpaced them
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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. reported sales increases during China’s most important shopping festival, yet likely lagged newer entrants from social media platforms like ByteDance Ltd.’s Douyin during a muted year for consumer spending.
Analysts scrambled for clues after China’s two e-commerce leaders again failed to disclose overall revenue numbers during Singles’ Day, the annual bargains extravaganza built around a Nov. 11 event that Alibaba popularized over a decade ago. Historically a barometer for Chinese consumer sentiment, it’s become much harder to parse since companies stopped providing precise figures during the turmoil of the Covid era.