Could Singles Day be Ireland’s new Web Summit?

Sales during “Singles Day”, Jack Ma’s online shopping spree, soared 60 per cent to 91.2 billion yuan (€13.28 billion) last week, leading some to speculate that perhaps the way out of China’s economic growth slowdown is through online consumption.

Created seven years ago by Ma, founder and executive chairman of ecommerce giant Alibaba, Singles Day is a version of Valentine's Day on which single people, especially men, are encouraged to spend money on themselves, using Alibaba platforms.

Wednesday’s total sales were more than four times the US’s earnings last year from its “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” sales events put together.

At an event in Beijing, James Bond, Frank Underwood and various other "celebrities" were on hand to join the celebration.

Retail sales figures rose 11 per cent in October despite slower overall economic growth of about 7 per cent in the quarter.

Could we see Singles Day in Ireland? Did President Michael D Higgins mention it when he met Ma last year? And who knows? Maybe Singles Day could fill the gap left by Web Summit's departure.

"We believe Singles Day will go global. In the next five years, I believe it may be in Tokyo, Paris or New York," Ma was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post.

“Singles Day has shown the power of China’s consumers . . . This big shopping day is just a small engine to open up the huge potential of China’s domestic demand.

“We believe the number of middle-class people in China will grow from 300 million to 500 million over the next 15 years. Their demand for high-quality services and products will be more than enough to boost the country’s economy.”