Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which sells FMCG such as cosmetics, has beaten its own record for sales on what is said to be the world’s biggest shopping day – Singles Day.

The site has reported sales worth 91.2bn yuan ($14.3bn) – a 60 percent increase from the previous year.

Held every year on 11 November, Singles Day – also referred to as Double Eleven due to the date – reflects the pull of China’s capitalist holiday, where many Chinese consumers save up to grab a bargain where many sites such as Alibaba significantly reduce prices.

Indeed, since it’s the e-commerce site started promoting it in 2009 Singles Day has grown substantially, with more than 40,000 merchants and 30,000 brands from 25 countries selling their wares on its platforms. Both Chinese and Western celebrities, such as Daniel Craig, were involved in the promotion during the lead up to the event.

Over 27 million purchases were made through mobile devices in the first hour, with Alibaba accounting for more than 80 per cent of China’s online sales.

However, while the record sales was positive news for the Chinese economy, which is currently experiencing a slow down, it has been warned that it doesn’t mean that things have turned around.

Indeed, new reports suggest that inflation is down; while non-food prices dropped 0.3 percent in October. This suggests that consumption is continuing to fall – a long term problem for the company.