Alibaba Cloud Powered $1B of GMV in 68 Seconds, with Zero Downtime During 11.11
20.11.2019 05:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Alibaba Cloud today detailed the core technologies used during the record-breaking, 24-hour global shopping festival. The data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group applied multiple mature innovations to power the cloud infrastructure and other key AI-enabled features, enabling millions of businesses to reach hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide.
Powerful cloud infrastructure supports extreme scalability and robustness
Launched during the Apsara Conference in September, the third generation of X-Dragon architecture fully supported the shopping event. The Elastic Bare Metal Servers improved cost efficiency by 20%. X-Dragon servers seamlessly integrate computing platforms, including the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) bare metal server and virtual machines, in a single architecture.
Tapping this strong foundation, Alibaba Cloud handled extreme scalability, processing USD1 billion of GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) in the first 68 seconds of the event; volume hit USD10 billion of GMV in under 30 minutes. Overall, Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure handled a record-shattering USD38.4 billion of GMV in 24 hours with zero downtime.
Combining advanced data processing and analytic capabilities with green technologies
Apsara Operating System processed around 970PB of data to support the peak performance of 544,000 orders per second, setting a record during 11.11.
POLARDB, a database developed by Alibaba Cloud, supported sales activity with a peak of 87 million requests processed per second. The new generation cloud-native POLARDB database combines performance with compatibility and availability of traditional enterprise databases in a cost-effective manner.
Through self-developed green technologies, including liquid immersion and deep-water cooling, power consumption for every 10,000 e-Commerce transactions can be reduced to 2kWh. Overall data center energy consumption dropped 70% from last year, saving over 200,000 kWh on 11.11.
AI-enabled features to empower sellers from international brands to SMBs
Thousands of Tmall merchants were upgraded to Tmall Flagship Store 2.0 storefronts before 11.11. Version 2.0 offers a unique user interface with a 3D Taobao avatar for customers to try on clothes and jewelry, further engaging customers via rich, interactive content and an omni-channel experience. The conversion rate per purchase was increased by over 20% from last year, serving 1,167 key brands' flagship stores this year.
Alime Shop Assistant, a customer-service chatbot supported by Alibaba DAMO Academy’s machine learning technologies, handled 97% of online customer inquiries on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall during 11.11. The virtual assistant also empowered hundreds of thousands of merchants on Alibaba’s platforms with intelligent customer services. For example, Alime answered questions during live broadcasts, extracting answers from pictures and responding conversationally. The Alime chatbot service offers 11 languages to support communications between global buyers and sellers.
Alibaba DAMO Academy provides enhanced machine translation technology for the cross-border e-commerce platform AliExpress. The technology can help small and medium-sized merchants globally to automatically translate their store and product pages into 21 languages, including Russian, Spanish, Turkish, French and Arabic, for buyers across Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East.
During the shopping festival, the machine translation service was used 1.66 billion times, with over 200 billion words translated in different languages.
Better consumer experience with live streaming and voice shopping
During this year’s global shopping festival, transactions during Taobao Live generated nearly USD 2.8 billion (RMB20 billion) in sales. More than half of the live streaming Tmall merchants selling products such as cosmetics, clothing, food, cars and electronics experienced robust growth, with home décor products seeing 400% sales growth.
This year, Taobao developed a new, real-time communications framework for audio and video on Alibaba Cloud. Network latency was reduced to 1.5 seconds from five to seven seconds, improving real-time interaction experience between broadcasters and users. Video AI identified products mentioned by broadcasters during live streaming, and audiences could view product links simultaneously displayed onscreen.
During 11.11, over one million orders were placed and processed through voice command via Tmall Genie, Alibaba A.I. Labs’ smart speaker. Purchased items during the day included 810,000 eggs, 1.4 million tons of rice and 76 tons of liquid detergent, a sign that voice shopping has become an increasingly popular trend among Chinese consumers of all ages.
About Alibaba Cloud
Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com), the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, is among the world's top three IaaS providers, according to Gartner. It is also the largest provider of public cloud services in China, according to IDC. Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to businesses worldwide, including merchants doing business on Alibaba Group marketplaces, start-ups, corporations and public services. Alibaba Cloud is the official Cloud Services Partner of the International Olympic Committee.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191119005400/en/
Contact information
Alibaba Group
Claudia Ju claudia.ju@alibaba-inc.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
The Estée Lauder Companies Fully Establishes Its “One ELC” Operating Model and Reaches Milestone in Its Profit Recovery and Growth Plan2.4.2026 00:00:00 EEST | Press release
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) today announced WPP as its first-ever global media partner, marking a significant advancement of its One ELC operating model, a scalable system designed to operate faster, execute with greater discipline, and drive growth. In fully establishing One ELC, the Company also reached a significant milestone in its Profit Recovery and Growth Plan’s (PRGP) Restructuring Program — a key action plan priority of Beauty Reimagined. Stéphane de La Faverie, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Estée Lauder Companies, said, “With the appointment of WPP as our first-ever global media partner, our One ELC operating model is now fully established. This more unified and scalable system will enable us to be faster, more agile and efficient, and support unlocking additional growth. Together with our execution progress, we are confident that we are on a trajectory to deliver sustainable, profitable long-term growth.” de La Faverie added, “Building on our stro
Visual Bank Expands “Qlean Dataset” to Support Large-Scale Japanese Speech Foundation Models1.4.2026 22:45:00 EEST | Press release
Visual Bank Inc. (CEO: Saneyuki Nagai), through its subsidiary amanaimages Inc., one of the largest digital asset providers for the marketing and advertising industry in Japan with over 40 years of history, today announced the expansion of its Qlean Dataset, a premium AI training data solution designed for developers building high-performance Japanese speech foundation models. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260401752248/en/ Visual Bank Group, leveraging over 40 years of expertise through amanaimages Inc., expands Qlean Dataset, delivering high quality, rights cleared Japanese language corpora, including 100,000+ hours of commercially usable audio. A new development within the Qlean Dataset division, which focuses on providing datasets for institutions engaged in research and development, with rights cleared for AI training and large-scale data applications, has positioned the company as a leading provider of
Manna Air Delivery Raises $50Million Series B as It Announces Plans to Expand in the United States1.4.2026 19:00:00 EEST | Press release
Manna Air Delivery, a global leader in consumer drone delivery, has announced a $50 million funding round to scale its proven operations further in the United States and Europe. The round brings Manna’s total funding to $110million. Manna now operates one of the most active consumer drone delivery networks in the world, with more than 250,000 regulated commercial UAV flights completed. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260310714366/en/ Manna Air Delivery raises $50m Series B Investors in the round include ARK Invest, known for backing companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Tesla and SpaceX, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Schooner Capital, alongside existing investors Coca-Cola HBC and Molten Ventures. As an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) delivery pioneer, Manna has operated in six locations across its native Ireland, as well as in Finland and Texas over the past seven years, delivering items inclu
Bureau Veritas Launches an Independent AI Assessment Offering for European Enterprises, Developed in Partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS)1.4.2026 18:45:00 EEST | Press release
Bureau Veritas, a global leader in Testing, Inspection, and Certification services (TIC), announces the launch of an AI systems audit to help European enterprises assess and demonstrate their compliance with the European Union's "AI Act" regulatory requirements. This offering combines on-site audits, document analysis, and direct testing to deliver an independent maturity report. Since the EU's AI regulation came into force in 2024, companies have faced major implementation challenges. According to a recent report*, 68% of them struggle to interpret the provisions of the text, while 60% have yet to put in place the governance needed to comply. Non-compliance can cost them up to 7% of annual revenue. Bureau Veritas has developed this new audit offering to help companies identify their compliance gaps and remedy them. Bureau Veritas's new audit offering comprises a pre-audit, document review, on-site audit, and direct testing, resulting in an independent report on the client's AI maturit
Greenland Resources Signs Eight Year Off-take Agreement With SSAB to Supply High Quality Molybdenum1.4.2026 17:29:00 EEST | Press release
Greenland Resources Inc. (TSX:MOLY, FSE:M0LY) (“Greenland Resources” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Company has signed a binding off-take agreement with SSAB, a Nordic and US-based steel producer headquartered in Sweden. The company is a leading producer on the global market for advanced high-strength steels providing solutions to the defence, automotive, infrastructure and energy industries. A stock exchange press release from SSAB can be found on their website at www.ssab.com This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260401270749/en/ The off-take agreement provides an established price floor and price ceiling and will allow SSAB to secure high quality low carbon emission ferromolybdenum extracted in Greenland and refined in Belgium. SSAB will be able to ensure a stable and responsibly sourced long term secured primary molybdenum supply with high sustainability standards and low scope 1&2 emissions from a
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom