Chinese internet shopping marketplace Alibaba has announced some of its plans for this year’s 11/11 Global Shopping Festival. 11/11 is seen to be one of the peaks in the coming shopping season, and in China this will vastly outstrip Black Friday or Christmas.

Alibaba released a statement saying that following on from the success of last year’s inaugural gala in 2015, the online giant will again host a similar event in 2016 in the hours leading up to the midnight start of the upcoming 11/11/2016 Global Shopping Festival.

“Alibaba Group single-handedly created the iconic 11.11 shopping festival in China seven years ago to unlock the power of the Chinese consumer,” said Chris Tung, Chief Marketing Officer of Alibaba Group. “Today, 11.11 has become not only a day for China to shop for deals, but truly a festival where people all over China and the world gather to celebrate a new and improved lifestyle, as well as a world of fun and opportunities made possible because of technology – namely the Internet, Mobile, and Big Data.”

The key theme of this year’s 11.11 will be globalization.

No company working into Europe or the West has yet given any hint as to what they will do on Black Friday this year. Given the peak issues of previous years many will be likely to be interested in encouraging retailers to try to spread their peak days to beyond just that weekend. However, the idea of a blue chip gala ahead of Black Friday may be taken a tad differently in the West to that of China!