Alibaba's Singles Day sale goes hi-tech with VR, live streaming

Another feature will be a Pokemon Go-like augmented reality game, reports Tech in Asia

If you took every hyped technology from this year and rolled it into one marketing plan, it would look like Alibaba’s Singles Day festivities.

The Chinese tech-giant is using live streaming, virtual reality, and a Pokemon Go-like augmented reality game to drive up sales for its mammoth shopping day whose sales eclipse that of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. What was once a 24-hour online shopping event has now sprawled into weeks of advertising and promotional events, starting as early as three weeks before the actual day on November 11.

Shopping in VR

Buy+ is Alibaba’s virtual reality shopping app, launched earlier this year. Once you boot up Buy+, which is inside Taobao, Alibaba’s e-commerce site, you’re whizzed into a living room where you can choose different travel destinations, such as Macy’s in Times Square or Chemist Warehouse, a pharmacy in Australia. Depending on where you go, the app will take you on a short journey to the store. In Times Square, for example, a guy drives you down Broadway Street in a retro-style red car.

See now, buy now

Alibaba has been exploiting the live streaming buzz on Taobao since May, when it launched its own live broadcasting platform called Taobao Live. Singles Day is just another reason to pump it up.

Two weeks ago, Tmall broadcasted a live fashion show in Shanghai called "See Now, Buy Now" featuring participating brands like Burberry, Paul Smith, and Trussardi. During the event, viewers could pre-order apparel seen on the catwalk ahead of Singles Day.
 

Alibaba will also broadcast its Singles Day celebratory gala live, which will be an extravagant show starring guests like Katy Perry and Kobe Bryant.

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here