China’s biggest online shopping festival, known as Singles’ Day, is typically an extravagant affair as Chinese e-commerce firms like Alibaba and JD.com ramp up marketing campaigns and engage top livestreamers to hawk everything from lipstick to furniture as they race to break sales records of previous years.
This year, however, the shopping festival is a much quieter event, with sales numbers expected to grow more slowly as consumers tighten their wallets amid an uncertain economy and the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
