Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group, attends a show during Alibaba Group's 11.11 Singles Day global shopping festival in Shanghai, November 10, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Last year, some 120.7 billion yuan was spent on the group's various platforms from 100,000 brands. That was a staggering 2,000-fold increase from 2009 when the event debuted.

Consultancy Frost & Sullivan has predicted that this year's event will see gross merchandise volume reach 150 billion yuan, a rise of 24.3 percent year-on-year.

Singles Day has spread from Alibaba to draw in other e-commerce operators and this year will spill over into brick-and-mortar stores, where customers can enjoy augmented reality-powered product trials and check items in physical shops even if they place the order online.

It is also getting an international flavor with the group enticing over 60,000 international labels to offer discounts to satiate Chinese surging demand for high-quality imported goods.