11.11 Shopping Festival Generates $12 Billion in Opening Hour

(IDEX Online) - The 11.11 Global Shopping Festival kicked off at midnight in China and generated $1 billion in the first minute and eight seconds. By the first hour, that number had shot up to $12 billion, reports Alibaby Group Holding Limited. 

The 11.11 shopping festival began in 2009 with participation from 27 merchants as an event for merchants and consumers to raise awareness about the value of online shopping. 

This year, over 200,000 brands are participating with 1 million products on offer and over 500 million users expected to take part in the one-day shopping frenzy across the world.