From Kim Kardashian to Disney tickets: Alibaba gears up for Singles Day, a $30 billion shopping event - CNBC

Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang speaks in front of a screen showing total sales at over 213.5 billion yuan (30.7 billion USD) shortly after the end of the 11.11, or "Singles Day" shopping festival, at the 2018 Tmall 11:11 Global Shopping Festival gala in Shanghai early on November 12, 2018.

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Singles Day or 11.11, is the biggest shopping day of the year for singles, as Chinese e-commerce players led by Alibaba offer massive discounts on everything from electronics to cars.

Taking place on Nov. 11 each year, Singles Day is widely believed to have started in the 1990s by men celebrating being single in universities.

In 2009, Alibaba launched its first shopping event that day, offering heavy discounts on its Tmall shopping platform. That year, gross merchandising value — or the value of goods sold via Alibaba platforms — hit $7.8 million.

Last year, that figure was more than $30 billion — a new record for the Chinese technology giant.

To keep growing, against the backdrop of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, slowing Chinese growth, and increased competition, Alibaba has been expanding its offerings into new product categories and experiences.

Star power and live streaming

Alibaba usually kicks off Singles Day with a gala event which ends just before midnight on Nov. 11. Last year, Mariah Carey put on a performance, and this year, Alibaba signed up U.S. pop superstar Taylor Swift. The gala, which is streamed online, often showcases some of the brands that will be on offer and prompts users to begin pre-ordering.

Live streaming has become a big part of the shopping experience on Chinese e-commerce sites. Often online personalities will speak to their followers and talk about products.

Within the livestream, there will be an option to buy the goods. Alibaba's platforms Taobao and Tmall have this feature. On Wednesday, Kim Kardashian did a livestream announcing her fragrance brand KKW will be available for sale on Tmall.

Kim Kardashian did a live stream on Alibaba's Tmall platform to announce her fragrance range KKW would be available for purchase on the e-commerce site.

Tmall | Alibaba

Companies are selling items from cars to cosmetics via livstreaming. Alibaba said on the first day of its pre-sales that more than 17,000 brands started livestreaming. Chinese smartphone-maker Xiaomi's livestream attracted over 200,000 online viewers within the first 10 hours.

Short videos are also very popular in China and livestreaming commerce taps into that trend. Xiaofeng Wang, senior analyst at Forrester, said consumers can often get exclusive discounts when watching the live streams.

"Livestreaming commerce provides a lot of exclusive offers which increases the urgency. Livestreaming might be a few minutes or 30 minutes long, within the time they provide exclusive offers. That is another motivation for consumers," Wang told CNBC.

More items for sale

Alibaba said that 1 million new products will be on offer during the Singles Day festival. Over the past few years, the categories of items available have been expanding.

Users can buy cars, for example. In fact, Alibaba said that on one of its Taobao livestreams, 55 cars were sold in just 1 second. International auto brands are also taking part in this year's Singles Day event.

Meanwhile, Alibaba's travel arm is offering packages to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Disney is also offering discounted tickets to its theme park in Shanghai.

International brands are expected to play a big role. In China, 60% of consumers intend to purchase imported products, according to a 1,000-person survey carried out by management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

Of the 200,000 brands that are expected to participate in the 11.11 festival, 22,000 will be from 78 overseas markets, according to Alibaba.

International efforts

Singles Day used to be a phenomenon only open to Chinese consumers, but Alibaba has been looking to expand its reach in a bid to boost sales and as the e-commerce giant continues to push its business overseas.

Lazada, a Singapore-based e-commerce site that has operations across Southeast Asia and is majority-owned by Alibaba, is having its own sales.

And Alibaba-owned AliExpress, will let local merchants from Russia, Spain, Italy and Turkey to participate in the 11.11 sales event for the first time.

What it means for business

Alibaba is expected to bring in GMV of $37 billion for this Singles Day, according to Forrester forecasts — that represents a roughly 20.5% rise. That growth rate is slower than the year-on-year increase of some 27% recorded in 2018.

Wang said that this is not a concern.

"When a market matures, you cannot continue to grow at a high double digit every time. Just like the Chinese economy used to be double digit growth, it's just single digit now. It is natural, it is still growing, it's still a big market, that is a positive," Wang said.

The December quarter tends to be Alibaba's biggest by revenue, thanks in part to Singles Day.

While commerce is still the biggest portion of Alibaba's overall business, in the long term, analysts see its rapidly-growing cloud division to become crucial for profits.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/08/alibaba-singles-day-2019-preview.html

2019-11-08 04:53:00Z
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Facing shorter holiday season, U.S. retailers rev up faster delivery, early deals - Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. retailers are rushing in with faster-than-ever delivery deals and earlier Christmas promotions in hopes of easing the impact of this year’s shorter holiday selling season, a period that can be make-or-break for retailers.

FILE PHOTO: A shopper wears a Santa Claus hat at the King of Prussia Mall, United States' largest retail shopping space, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 8, 2018. REUTERS/Mark Makela

Thanksgiving, the traditional kick-off of the U.S. holiday shopping period, falls on Nov. 28 this year, a week later than last year’s Nov. 22, leaving retailers with six fewer days to drive sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

The last shortened shopping season was in 2013 - a year when retail chains and delivery companies scrambled to get packages to shoppers in time for Christmas.

Retailers’ urgency to avoid a repeat of 2013 is on full display as is the rush to compete with Amazon, which began rolling out free one-day shipping on over 10 million products in June.

The holiday season spanning November and December can account for as much as 40 percent of annual sales.

“It’s a very compressed holiday season...every day counts,” Target Corp’s chief executive, Brian Cornell, said in October.

For the first time, Target is offering its “Drive Up” service, which lets shoppers order on the Target app and have their items brought to their car, in all 50 states. The company said most orders will be ready within an hour and brought out in less than two minutes upon arrival.

That will be in addition to free shipping with no minimum purchase, order pickup on online purchases and same-day delivery services.

Similarly, Best Buy has promised free next-day delivery on thousands of items. And Walmart Inc is, for the first time, offering free next-day delivery on orders over $35 without a membership fee.

“A shorter holiday season puts more importance on each shopping day,” said Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard and a former CEO and chairman of department store operator Saks Inc. Sadove said the sales outlook for the season remains positive despite the fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mastercard, which measures consumer spending across all payment types including cash and checks, expects U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles, to grow 3.1% from a year ago between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24.

The holiday deals deluge, which traditionally has started on the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, has been starting earlier and earlier in November each year. This year such promotions began in mid-October due to the shorter season. For example, Walmart began offering holiday deals on Oct. 25.

Steep discounts on merchandise, typically visible just ahead of or immediately after Thanksgiving, are being offered by many companies. Online home retailer Wayfair is offering up to 70 percent off on top-selling items. Others like Amazon, Target and Kohls have already begun offering Black Friday deals.

“Retailers will need to plant a sense of urgency early-on, then reinforce it after Thanksgiving, when the rubber meets the road,” said Carol Spieckerman, president at consultancy Spieckerman Retail.

To be sure, the deals and shipping offers do not necessarily mean shoppers will buy more, retail consultants said. The tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on Chinese imports, which have raised prices of many items, are weighing on sentiment, they said.

Seventy-nine percent of Americans are worried that tariffs will make their holiday shopping more expensive, according to the National Retail Federation, a leading industry trade body.

The tariffs on Chinese-made clothes, shoes and some electronics went into effect on Sept. 1. Another round of 15% U.S. tariffs, on consumer goods, is expected on Dec. 15.

A senior official of the Trump administration said on Wednesday that a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a long-awaited interim trade deal could be delayed until December.

Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru and Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2019-11-07 12:08:00Z
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Sterling falls after Bank of England split on interest rate cut - CNBC

Bank of England

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The Bank of England (BOE) held interest rates steady on Thursday, opting not to adjust borrowing costs in the world's fifth-largest economy ahead of a snap election.

With 35 days to go before Britons head to the ballot box, the BOE's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), led by Mark Carney, voted to hold interest rates at 0.75%.

Seven policymakers, including Carney, voted in favor of leaving interest rates unchanged, but Jonathan Haskel and Michael Saunders surprised financial markets by voting for a quarter-point rate cut.

Sterling traded at $1.2811 shortly after the announcement, falling over 0.3%.

Saunders and Haskel said their vote for an interest rate cut was driven by reduced job vacancies and downside risks from the global economy and Brexit.

Other members of the MPC suggested a willingness to cut rates over the coming months, if necessary, but did not vote in favor of lower borrowing costs in November because the U.K. economy had performed largely in line with expectations from three months ago.

"With the risk of a no-deal Brexit falling recently, we expect the uncertainty facing households and businesses to fall. We also expect global growth to recover gradually," the BOE said in its Monetary Policy Report.

The central bank suggested these developments would help growth in the U.K., but conceded if that does not happen then it "may need to lower interest rates to support U.K. growth and ensure that we return inflation to our 2% target sustainably."

Brexit uncertainty

Much has changed in British politics since the MPC last voted to leave interest rates unchanged in mid-September.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson ultimately failed to rush his Brexit deal through Parliament, prompting the Conservative Party leader to request a Brexit extension and call a snap vote for December 12.

The EU agreed to push back the Brexit deadline until the end of January, with an earlier departure possible should U.K. lawmakers ratify their divorce deal.

Economists believe the BOE will cut interest rates at some point next year, amid a slowing economy and Brexit uncertainty.

Ahead of the central bank's split vote, market expectations for a quarter-point rate cut by the end of 2020 stood at 55%, according to the CME BOE Watch Tool. Shortly after Thursday's surprise announcement, expectations jumped up to 80%. 

A long-running U.S.-China trade war and a global economic downturn have prompted the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank to cut interest rates in recent months, but, so far, the BOE has resisted following suit.

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2019-11-07 12:01:48Z
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EU cuts growth forecasts for the euro zone on global trade tensions - CNBC

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The EU slashed its growth forecasts for the euro zone Thursday, saying global trade tensions are set to weigh on the region and limit economic expansion.

The warning from the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, comes at time when the European Central Bank (ECB) has started a new round of stimulus to prop up fragile growth.

"The fact that growth is no longer expected to rebound meaningfully in the next two years is a major shift compared to previous forecasts and is based on the assessment that many features of the global slowdown will be persistent," the European Commission said Thursday in its Autumn Economic Forecasts report.

"Most importantly, the surge in trade tensions and record-high uncertainty about trade policies is likely to have inflicted lasting damage to world trade," the Commission added.

Uncertainties surrounding trade include: The future relationship between the U.K. and the EU as both need to establish new trading rules post-Brexit; new consumer preferences in the car industry and volatility in U.S.-China trade.

As a result, the Commission slashed its economic forecasts for the euro zone in 2019 and 2020. The 19-member region is now set to grow at a pace of 1.1% this year and 1.2% in 2020. In its previous forecasts, out in May, the European Commission had estimated a 1.2% growth rate for the euro zone in 2019 and 1.5% for 2020.

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2019-11-07 10:00:41Z
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More than 2 million pounds of chicken products recalled in eight states - CNN

Arkansas-based Simmons Prepared Foods, Inc. recalled the items produced from October 21 through November 4 this year. They are 2,071,397 pounds of poultry products, including ready to cook chicken whole legs, boneless skinless chicken, halal chicken leg quarters and chicken tenderloins, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Wednesday.

The products subject to recall have an establishment number "P-1949," "P- 486" or "P-5837" inside the USDA mark of inspection, and were shipped to Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

Those who've purchased the products are urged to throw them away or return them to the store.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/07/health/chicken-products-recall/index.html

2019-11-07 11:50:00Z
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Alphabet investigates handling of harassment claims - BBC News

Google's parent company Alphabet is investigating how executives handled sexual harassment and misconduct charges.

It follows shareholder lawsuits filed earlier this year over the way Google allegedly dealt with misconduct claims.

The firm's board has formed a "special committee" to consider shareholder claims over past workplace misconduct.

Alphabet is also working with a law firm on the probe, which it launched earlier this year.

The way Google handled the incidents prompted demonstrations by staff and led to thousands walking out of their offices in co-ordinated protests in late 2018.

At that time, Google boss Sundar Pichai apologised for the way it had acted in the past over allegations of inappropriate behaviour and promised improvements.

"In early 2019, Alphabet's board of directors formed a special litigation committee to consider claims made by shareholders in various lawsuits relating to past workplace conduct," a spokesperson for the company said.

In January, it emerged that Alphabet was facing legal action over the way it allegedly handled sexual misconduct claims against two senior managers.

Two lawsuits have been filed by long-term shareholders which accuse the company's board of being involved in attempts to cover up the claims.

Both legal claims want Alphabet to do a better job of uncovering and responding to misconduct.

The legal action is believed to have been prompted by the way that Google handled misconduct allegations made against former Android boss Andy Rubin and former search head Amit Singhal.

Both men are believed to have received large payoffs after being investigated over the claims. Neither now works for Google.

Mr Rubin and Mr Singhal deny the allegations.

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2019-11-07 07:58:29Z
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Stock futures climb after report U.S. and China agree to cancel tariffs in stages - MarketWatch

U.S. stock futures jumped Thursday after a report that Beijing and Washington will cancel planned tariffs in stages, a development that could help reignite a recent upward move for equities.

How are major benchmarks performing?

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMZ19, +0.55% rose 150 points, or 0.6%, to 27,580, while S&P 500 futures ESZ19, +0.44%  rose 13.65 points, or 0.4%, to 3,089.25. Nasdaq-100 NQZ19, +0.53%  futures added 42.75 points, or 0.5%, to 8,250.

On Tuesday, the Dow DJIA, +0.00%  lost less than a point to end at 27,492.50, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.96%  gained 2.16 points, or 0.07%, at 3,076.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.29%  shed 24.05 points, 0.29%, closing at 8,410.63.

What’s driving the market?

Major indexes have been dipping in and out of record territory in recent sessions, with investors clinging to developments over a long-awaited interim trade deal between the U.S. and China. Reports that such a deal could be delayed until December, as talks continue over terms and a venue, dented enthusiasm for stocks on Tuesday.

Strategists have been concerned that the market may be placing too much emphasis on a preliminary, or “Phase One,” trade deal coming to fruition soon.

But the mood shifted again early Thursday after Bloomberg reported China and the U.S. will cancel planned tariffs on each other’s products in stages, with the first agreement due to be signed in the next few weeks. The amount of tariff relief that’s coming will depend on what’s in that deal, said Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng, according to the report.

How are others assets trading?

The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +3.64% jumped 6 basis points to 1.874% on Thursday, from 1.814% late Wednesday as trade tensions appeared to ease.

December gold GCZ19, -0.69%  on Comex skidded 0.7% lower to $1,483.20 an ounce after a 0.6% gain a day ago.

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery CLZ19, +1.40%  popped 1.5% amid the upbeat trade developments to $57.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The ICE U.S. dollar index DXY, -0.12%, a gauge of the greenback’s performance against six major rivals, fell 01% to 97.83, but has gained 0.6% so far this year.

In Asia overnight, the China CSI 300 000300, +0.18%  rose 0.2%, the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.00%  was virtually unchanged. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.57%  climbed 0.6%, while Japan’s NIKKEI 225 Index NIK, +0.11% added 0.1%. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600’s SXXP, +0.25% traded 0.3% higher.

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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-climb-after-report-china-us-agree-to-cancel-tariffs-in-stages-2019-11-07

2019-11-07 08:05:00Z
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