Alibaba Singles' Day sales shatter record
阿里巴巴光棍节销售破纪录
E-commerce giant Alibaba has turned an obscure Chinese holiday into the country's biggest shopping event. Now, it is striving to take the success of Singles' Day global by tapping foreign brands and overseas customers.
电子商务巨头阿里巴巴已经将一个鲜为人知的中国节日变成了该国最大的购物活动。现在，它正努力利用外国品牌和海外客户使“光棍节”全球化。
Many foreign companies, such as Costco Wholesale, Origins Natural Resources and American Eagle Outfitters, participated in Tuesday's event for the first time.
许多外国企业，如好市多、悦木之源以及美鹰傲飞，都在第一时间参与了周二的活动。
Within 24 hours, various Alibaba platforms sold 57.1 billion yuan ($9.3 billion) of merchandise, eclipsing last year's record of 36.2 billion yuan, according to Alibaba.
据阿里巴巴数据显示，在24小时之内，阿里巴巴各个平台就有了571亿元（约93亿美元）的销售额，超过了去年创下的362亿元的记录。
Li Feifei, who works in London, bought a talking Chinese pen and two pairs of shoes online for her son. "The talking pen, which is hard to get in Britain, is helpful for my son to learn Chinese overseas, and the shoes are much cheaper than at other times," she said.
在伦敦工作的李菲菲，她在网上给儿子买了一支中文点读笔和两双鞋。她说，“中文点读笔在英国很难买到，它对我儿子在海外学习中文很有帮助。还有两双鞋子比平时买的便宜很多。” Zhang Yong, chief operations officer of Alibaba, said, "Our goal is to make Nov 11 a global festival. In another five to 10 years, we want to host an event that helps consumers all over the world buy products from wherever they want."
阿里巴巴的首席运营官张勇说：“我们的目标是把双十一变成全球性的节日，接下来的五到十年里，我们想开展一个活动，帮助世界各地的消费者可以随时随地地买到心仪的商品。”
Singles' Day, a Chinese twist on Valentine's Day, was invented by students in the 1990s. When written numerically, the date is reminiscent of "bare branches", the Chinese expression for bachelors and spinsters.
光棍节，是中国人对情人节的曲解。它是由上世纪90年代的学生发明的。每当写数字时，会联想起“光棍”，即是单身汉、未婚女的意思。
Alibaba began marketing Nov 11 as its biggest sales event in 2009, rivals jumped on board, and the day turned into an online shopping bonanza.
自2009年起，阿里巴巴把11月11日作为市场营销一年一度的销售盛会，竞争对手纷纷上台，使这一天变成网上购物热潮。
However, to make the Chinese online shopping festival a truly global buying spree will require more recognition of Chinese e-commerce companies by foreign shoppers, according to Burghardt Groeber, e-commerce expert and vice-president of Greater China for enterprise software provider Hybris AG.
然而，根据电子商务专家和中国大型企业软件供应商Hybris AG公司的副总裁高堡.薄瑞光说，要使中国的网上购物节成为一个真正的全球抢购热潮，需要更多外国消费者对中国电子商务公司的认可。
He said that Chinese e-commerce companies might be well-known by overseas Chinese, but Western buyers are only slowly building their trust in Chinese platforms when it comes to secure handling of their money and personal details, and the on time delivery of exactly what they ordered.
他说，中国的电子商务公司可能是通过海外华人享誉盛名，就西方买家而言，当涉及到他们的财产安全和个人信息处理时，以及准时准确地配送订购的货物，只能慢慢建立对中国消费平台的信任。
Alibaba Singles' Day sales shatter record
阿里巴巴光棍节销售破纪录
E-commerce giant Alibaba has turned an obscure Chinese holiday into the country's biggest shopping event. Now, it is striving to take the success of Singles' Day global by tapping foreign brands and overseas customers.
电子商务巨头阿里巴巴已经将一个鲜为人知的中国节日变成了该国最大的购物活动。现在，它正努力利用外国品牌和海外客户使“光棍节”全球化。
Many foreign companies, such as Costco Wholesale, Origins Natural Resources and American Eagle Outfitters, participated in Tuesday's event for the first time.
许多外国企业，如好市多、悦木之源以及美鹰傲飞，都在第一时间参与了周二的活动。
Within 24 hours, various Alibaba platforms sold 57.1 billion yuan ($9.3 billion) of merchandise, eclipsing last year's record of 36.2 billion yuan, according to Alibaba.
据阿里巴巴数据显示，在24小时之内，阿里巴巴各个平台就有了571亿元（约93亿美元）的销售额，超过了去年创下的362亿元的记录。
Li Feifei, who works in London, bought a talking Chinese pen and two pairs of shoes online for her son. "The talking pen, which is hard to get in Britain, is helpful for my son to learn Chinese overseas, and the shoes are much cheaper than at other times," she said.
在伦敦工作的李菲菲，她在网上给儿子买了一支中文点读笔和两双鞋。她说，“中文点读笔在英国很难买到，它对我儿子在海外学习中文很有帮助。还有两双鞋子比平时买的便宜很多。” Zhang Yong, chief operations officer of Alibaba, said, "Our goal is to make Nov 11 a global festival. In another five to 10 years, we want to host an event that helps consumers all over the world buy products from wherever they want."
阿里巴巴的首席运营官张勇说：“我们的目标是把双十一变成全球性的节日，接下来的五到十年里，我们想开展一个活动，帮助世界各地的消费者可以随时随地地买到心仪的商品。”
Singles' Day, a Chinese twist on Valentine's Day, was invented by students in the 1990s. When written numerically, the date is reminiscent of "bare branches", the Chinese expression for bachelors and spinsters.
光棍节，是中国人对情人节的曲解。它是由上世纪90年代的学生发明的。每当写数字时，会联想起“光棍”，即是单身汉、未婚女的意思。
Alibaba began marketing Nov 11 as its biggest sales event in 2009, rivals jumped on board, and the day turned into an online shopping bonanza.
自2009年起，阿里巴巴把11月11日作为市场营销一年一度的销售盛会，竞争对手纷纷上台，使这一天变成网上购物热潮。
However, to make the Chinese online shopping festival a truly global buying spree will require more recognition of Chinese e-commerce companies by foreign shoppers, according to Burghardt Groeber, e-commerce expert and vice-president of Greater China for enterprise software provider Hybris AG.
然而，根据电子商务专家和中国大型企业软件供应商Hybris AG公司的副总裁高堡.薄瑞光说，要使中国的网上购物节成为一个真正的全球抢购热潮，需要更多外国消费者对中国电子商务公司的认可。
He said that Chinese e-commerce companies might be well-known by overseas Chinese, but Western buyers are only slowly building their trust in Chinese platforms when it comes to secure handling of their money and personal details, and the on time delivery of exactly what they ordered.
他说，中国的电子商务公司可能是通过海外华人享誉盛名，就西方买家而言，当涉及到他们的财产安全和个人信息处理时，以及准时准确地配送订购的货物，只能慢慢建立对中国消费平台的信任。