Alibaba's Singles Day: World's biggest shopping bonanza sets new record

There's no other shopping bonanza quite like Alibaba's Singles Day, which has once again smashed records.

The tech giant reported $17.8 billion in sales during this year's frenzy, breaking the record of $14.3 billion set in 2015. That's more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

I've spent far too much time at the mall as a teenager, elbowed
my way past shoppers for Boxing Day steals in Canada and snuck online at the office to snag Cyber Monday deals in the U.S.

But all of that pales in comparison to the online buying festival hosted by Alibaba (BABA, Tech30)in China each year.

Singles Day takes place each year on November 11. It started as an informal holiday celebrating those not in relationships, before tech giant Alibaba turned it into a product discount day in 2009.