2018 China Singles’ Day Sales Continue to Soar

BEIJING, November 9 2018 -Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP; LSE: WPY), a global leader in the payments technology industry, is predicting another record-breaking China Singles’ Day for businesses this year, with data revealing that total sales volume during the 2017 event grew by 53 percent on the Chinese Mainland. The Taiwanese market however saw the biggest growth, 68 percent year-over-year while the Hong Kong market also saw strong sales, up 52 percent year-over-year.

Asian retailers and international businesses are expecting 11/11 to see bumper sales for 2018, as more Chinese shoppers continue to seek out genuine products from cherished global brands.

In recent years, the event has seen a surge for eCommerce, with sales outstripping Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. The upward growth trend will undoubtedly continue, as online retailers strike while the iron is hot and create a buzz around enticing offers and promotions.

Due to the continued popularity of Singles’ Day, companies must be prepared for an increased demand in parcel deliveries, with the correct technologies in place and robots likely to be relied on more heavily. When it comes to the concept of receiving drone deliveries and making payments via autonomous technology, shoppers in Asia Pacific are some of the most confident globally, according to research released by Worldpay earlier this year – with 70 percent of consumers in China and 52 percent in Singapore comfortable with drone delivery.

The top eCommerce giants such as JD.com, Alibaba and Suning are actively engaged in the commercial experimentation on unmanned vehicles to help speed delivery and cut operational costs¹. For example, Alibaba has just opened the largest automated warehouse in China with over 700 robots to cope with the demand of the upcoming shopping festival².

Philip Shi, country manager for China at Worldpay said: “It’s exciting to see just how quickly China Singles’ Day has made its mark on the global shopping calendar. Our own data has shown that 11/11 has become the world’s premiere event for eCommerce, as eager shoppers are on the tip of their toes and ready to grab a bargain. It’s also the perfect opportunity for merchants to experiment with new ways of innovating their supply chain capabilities and keep pace with demand.”

“We are expecting this year to be bigger than ever, particularly with the festival expanding to two days. As Chinese businesses continue to target more offers and deals to the international market, the global growth we witnessed last year is on track to continue, with 2018 set to break its own record yet again.”

About the data
Figures quoted are according to Worldpay’s Global Enterprise eCommerce transaction data for retail businesses in Asia during Singles’ Day (11/11) 2017 vs 2016. The Drone Pay research was compiled in partnership with Opinium and interviewed over 20,102 consumers about their opinion on the Internet of Things and drones. Research was conducted in 10 markets – Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Singapore, the UK and USA.

About Worldpay

Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP; LSE: WPY) is a leading payments technology company with unique capability to power global omni-commerce. With an integrated technology platform, Worldpay offers a comprehensive suite of products and services, delivered globally through a single provider. Worldpay processes over 40 billion transactions annually, supporting more than 300 payment types across 146 countries and 126 currencies. The company is focused on expanding into high-growth markets and customer segments, including global eCommerce, integrated payments and B2B. Visit us at www.worldpay.com.

For more information, please contact:
Emily Lahey : emily.lahey@worldpay.com +44 203 664 5663
Mara Moraes : worldpayecommteam@golin.com +44 207 067 0128

¹https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-jd-ecommerce-store-delivery-drones-amazon https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-03/china-s-on-the-fast-track-to-making-uav-drone-deliveries https://postandparcel.info/97298/news/parcel/suning-and-baidu-apollo-unveil-microcar-autonomous-delivery-van/ ² https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/10/30/alibaba-robotic-warehouse-for-singles-day.html