Alibaba set to end Singles Day shopping event with subdued sales

Alibaba set to end Singles Day shopping event with subdued sales

A delivery worker sorts parcels at a makeshift logistics station ahead of Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping festival, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 10, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song

As Alibaba Group wraps up the world’s biggest online shopping festival on Friday, the operative word seems to be flat — potentially flat sales and flat in tone with the Chinese e-commerce giant not even holding its usual gala show.