'See now, buy now' real winner at Tmall's 8-hour fashion show

Chinese internet giant Alibaba has kicked off its annual Singles Day online shopping festival on November 11 - bigger than Black Friday and Cyper Monday combined - in style and spared neither cost nor effort to demand full attention. Via its online platform Tmall, the internet giant presented an eight-hour-long fashion show in Shanghai on Sunday that attracted 80 well-known Chinese and international fashion and lifestyle brands.

Close to 200 international top models and celebrities walked the ramp while style gurus, coveted products and top brands from Burberry to Trussardi and Paul Smith to La Perla took centre stage in a spectacle that confirmed Tmall's status as trendsetter and trend-definer. In terms of sales, the online marketplace profited as well as thanks to the ‘See Now,Buy Now’ concept as the products seen could be offered hot off the runway.

“The Tmall Global Fashion Show is a key event that kicks off our 11.11 Global Shopping Festival and one that underscores Tmall’s tremendous growth in the past few years… We expect the event to become a lifestyle trendsetter for Chinese consumers and virtually a ‘fashion week at their fingertips’,” said Chris Tung, chief marketing officer of Alibaba Group.

The event was streamed live on Mobile Taobao, Tmall.com and Youku and thus combined entertainment with a demonstration of Alibaba’s latest technological capabilities. Both the live and online audiences had the opportunity to pre-order the items that were on view via a “Buy Now” button in the Tmall and Taobao mobile apps .

And though no doubt Alibaba's efforts are costly, they will pay off: Last year, around 115 million customers and transactions amounting to 14.3 billion US dollars were recorded in a single day; this year, an even higher volume is expected and Alibaba vouched to make this year's 11.11 its biggest yet.

Photo: Alibaba Group