Alibaba's Tmall to kick off Singles Day shopping carnival on Oct 20

Tmall, Alibaba Group's e-commerce platform, will kick off its Singles Day shopping carnival at 8 pm on Oct 20, with artificial intelligence technology leveraged to further optimize shopping experience for consumers.

Liu Bo, president of Tmall, said the Double Eleven promotional gala presents the most significant opportunity for brands throughout the year, and its role in driving brands' business growth is irreplaceable and increasingly vital.

Liu highlighted importance of the convergence of AI and consumption, saying the company is betting big on AI and aims to help merchants improve product quality and operational efficiency.

The company will issue 50 billion yuan ($7.01 billion) worth of consumption vouchers and subsidies to shoppers during the shopping spree.

Data from Tmall showed that the sales of 35 brands exceeded 100 million yuan within the first hour of its presales, which opened at 8 pm on Tuesday, while 1,802 brands saw their turnover double.

Tmall will have a deeper collaboration with Taobao Instant Commerce to promote the integration of online and offline retail channels. Currently, a total of 37,000 brands and 400,000 offline stores have been connected to Alibaba's instant retail business.

It has also launched 6 AI-powered tools to better serve consumers and merchants in terms of traffic distribution, shopping experience and e-commerce operation.