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
Sinopec Receives CSR Award at Sino-European ESG Conference in Germany1.7.2026 16:38:00 EEST | Press release
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) has received the Corporate Social Responsibility Best Practice Award at the 3rd Sino-European Corporate ESG Best Practice Conference in Mainz, Germany, for its case study on carbon footprint management and low-carbon development. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701696760/en/ Huang Yiyang (L), Chinese Consul General in Frankfurt, presents the award to a representative of Sinopec. The conference jury said Sinopec has developed a carbon management framework centered on product carbon footprint management, covering the full product life cycle while aligning with both Chinese and European standards. It cited the company’s work with German chemical producer BASF to achieve mutual recognition of carbon footprint accounting methodologies as a milestone that could support greener cooperation across international industrial supply chains. According to the jury, Sinopec’s eff
Vercel and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team Announce Multi-Year Strategic Partnership1.7.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Today Vercel, the agentic infrastructure company, announced a new multi-year deal with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team. Starting with the British Grand Prix July 2 – 5 2026, Vercel branding will appear on the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team race cars as the partnership begins its first chapter, before expanding significantly across the team ecosystem from 2027 onward. The partnership includes global branding rights, premium hospitality experiences, customer engagement, content creation, and technical collaborations, including plans to evolve the team’s digital platforms to Vercel. “Formula One is where every millisecond matters, every decision counts, and continuous innovation is fundamental to success. Vercel shares that same philosophy,” said Richard Sanders, Chief Commercial Officer, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team. “The Vercel platform is helping organizations around the world build faster, perform better, and innovate with confidence. We are excited to wel
OXMIQ Raises $35 Million to Scale OxCore™ Architecture1.7.2026 16:15:00 EEST | Press release
OXMIQ Labs Inc., a unified GPU and AI architecture company founded by Raja Koduri, today closed its $35 million Series A financing, bringing the company’s total capital raised to $60 million. The funding will scale OxCore™, OXMIQ’s licensable GPU architecture that allows semiconductor companies and AI system builders to build custom AI silicon without a full chip program. The round was co-led by Fundomo and Samsung Catalyst Fund, with participation from MediaTek, AM Intelligence Labs, Pegatron Venture Capital, CDIB-TEN, Darwin Ventures, and Morgan Creek Digital, among other financial and strategic investors. OXMIQ’s expertise spans the full AI stack, from renewable power and data center infrastructure to silicon IP, electron-to-token machines (ETMs™), along with the software that runs AI factories and agents. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701241910/en/ OXMIQ Funding raised to date of $60M after current $3
SamanTree Medical’s Histolog ® Scanner Technology Featured in 13 Publications in Special BJU International Issue on Confocal Microscopy in Urology1.7.2026 16:01:00 EEST | Press release
SamanTree Medical, a global leader in surgical imaging innovation, today announced that Histolog Scanner confocal microscopy technology has been featured in 13 peer-reviewed clinical papers in a special issue of BJU International, one of the world’s leading journals in urology. The special edition focuses on a growing body of evidence of the role of confocal microscopy in urologic surgery. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701425845/en/ SamanTree Medical announces that Histolog® Scanner confocal microscopy technology is featured in 13 peer-reviewed clinical papers in a special issue of BJU International. “The special issue represents increasing momentum behind confocal microscopy in urologic surgery,” said Professor Greg Shaw, consultant urologic surgeon at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and author of several studies in the special issue. “This collection, ranging from radical prostatectomy to eme
Regnology to Acquire Fed Reporter, Accelerating U.S. Leadership and Advancing Regulatory Modernization1.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Regnology, a leading provider at the intersection of regulatory, risk, and supervisory technology, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fed Reporter, the market-leading U.S. provider of regulatory reporting solutions for financial institutions of all sizes, including banks, credit unions, and bank holding companies. The acquisition marks a pivotal milestone in Regnology’s U.S. expansion, creating the most comprehensive regulatory reporting coverage across the American financial landscape and extending its reach to more than 4,000 institutions from global banks to community lenders. By combining a proven, cloud-first, agentic-first technology foundation with deeply embedded local expertise, Regnology is uniquely positioned to support more efficient, transparent, and data-driven reporting, while strengthening alignment between financial institutions and supervisory authorities. “This is the next step in our U.S. strategy,” said Rob Mackay, CEO of Regnolog
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