Alibaba Cashes-In on Record $9.3B Sales for 'Singles Day'

China's online shopping holiday, Singles Day, has set record sales numbers, smashing last year's figures. E-commerce giant Alibaba raked in more than $9 billion throughout the day. Singles Day was created in the 1990s by college students as an alternative to Valentine's day. It's a time when people buy something for themselves and was set for November 11th because of the date's four 'ones.' Alibaba has successfully managed to turn Singles Day into an online shopping fest, offering big discounts and bargain prices. Analysts say the record breaking numbers show China's continuing shift to online shopping at a time when economic growth in the country is slowing. The world's second largest economy grew 7.3% last quarter, its slowest pace in 5 years.