It was always going to be big, but the day-long “Singles Day” promotion on Chinese online shopping site Alibaba on Wednesday smashed previous records, with millions of people participating and $14.3 billion worth of goods sold.

Compare that to Amazon’s revenue for the entire last quarter of $18 billion.

“Singles Day” began in 2009 as an attempt to get customers who are single to buy themselves gifts. It takes place on November 11 for its singly significant numeric date of 11/11.

For 24 hours on Tmall and Taobao Marketplace, retailers slash prices and offer special discounts in a promotion that’s similar to the U.S. Black Friday event but now dwarfs it.

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Source: Computer World

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