By at least one measure, Alibaba's (NYSE: BABA) Singles' Day 2021 was a success, with China's answer to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) moving a record $84.4 billion in merchandise over the 11-day course of the world's largest shopping festival. But that record was broken by another one, that of record low sales growth.
Receipts grew at a pace of just 8.45% this year, the first year of single-digit sales growth since the retail holiday's inception.
Some analysts cite supply chain pressures, rising materials costs, rolling blackouts, the global semiconductor shortage as reasons for this year's tepid results.
"I don't think it is realistic to expect Singles' Day to grow at the same pace that it did in the past, and the current economic environment has certainly created additional headwinds," Man Chung Cheung, research analyst at Insider Intelligence, told the South China Morning Post.
Factory gate inflation, or the cost of making goods in China, has risen 13.5% year to date, according to S&P Global Ratings. The agency also reported that steel and copper prices have also climbed by 40% over that same period pushing up the cost of home appliances.
Meanwhile, the worldwide silicon shortage has pushed delivery dates for Apple and Huawei handsets out to as many as four weeks on rival retail sites like JD (NASDAQ: JD) and Taobao.
With more expensive goods and fewer goods in stock, online merchants struggled to set discounts or justify advertising them.
Meanwhile, regulatory scrutiny likely further limited marketing efforts. Weeks ahead of the Singles' Day festivities, officials warned Alibaba, JD, and other e-retailers against certain practices, like spamming customers or offering deceptive discounts.
With the strength of Chinese regulations not being in what's said, but what could be said, it's likely Alibaba took a far more narrow path when planning out Singles' Day, or rather week, this year.
But sales this year could've also been influenced by factors just a bit more abstract.
Undoubtedly, calls of "common prosperity" from China's likely President-for-life Xi Jinping played a part in shaping this year's festivities.
The term itself, "common prosperity," draws a stark contrast with the freewheeling state capitalism that once defined China.
An era which seemed to draw to an abrupt end late last year with the public downfall of Alibaba's billionaire co-founder Jack Ma.
Thus, gone this year were the star-studded galas and breathless live readings of sales figures. These were replaced by more muted affairs, like a three-hour live stream aimed at raising money for an elephant preserve.
High-profile events this year focused less on diamond-draped celebrities and more on Alibaba's eco-friendly packaging initiatives or its efforts to help the disabled try on clothes.
"We... leveraged the power of 11.11 as a platform to fulfill our social responsibility. This year's festival was a meaningful milestone as part of our commitment towards building a sustainable future," Yang Guang, vice president at Alibaba, said in a press release.
Themes of social responsibility and sustainability, while vital, stand in direct contrast with the ethos of consumer capitalism. And admittedly are just far less exciting.
And as refrains of "common prosperity" continue to mount, Singles' Day could lose its place in China's popular culture as Beijing attempts to reshape that culture in President Xi's image.
Or perhaps Chinese consumers are simply suffering from discount fatigue. For instance rival e-retailer JD.com hosts its own rival 618 shopping festival, which takes place on June 18.
"One can shop at fairly low costs throughout the year, from one platform another," Fu Yandong, a Wuhan-based auto-engineer told the Wall Street Journal.