Alibaba just eclipsed Cyber Monday and Black Friday online sales in 90 minutes

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Alibaba Jack Ma

Reuters

Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma poses as he watches real-time data of transactions at Alibaba Group's 11.11 Global shopping festival in Beijing, China.

Alibaba generated $5 billion in sales in the first 90 minutes of Singles' Day, China's biggest online shopping day of the year.

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That's how much Americans spent online last year on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

Sales on Singles' Day last year for Alibaba totaled $9.3 billion, up from $5.8 billion the previous year.

Alibaba's sales this year are expected to reach $13.7 billion, according to IDC data cited by Bloomberg.

Singles' Day is anti-Valentine's Day holiday that emerged in China two decades ago as a time for bachelors and bachelorettes to celebrate the single life.

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Since then, Alibaba - China's largest e-commerce company - has turned the occasion into the biggest 24-hour cyberspending blitz in the world by offering deep discounts on items as varied as cars and clothes.

The holiday is held on November 11 every year.

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