Alibaba’s $9.3 billion Singles’ Day was really only $230 million

Alibaba ($BABA) did over $9 BILLION, so why am I writing $230 million?

I think everybody understands why media outlets need headlines like these, and while some writers do clarify it somewhere in the body of the article, I think many don’t even understand the distinction.

The red bars are showing Alibaba’s quarterly GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume), while the tiny blue bars are their revenues (from China retail marketplaces). A key metric to follow is the green line (and right vertical axis) which is the “monetization rate” or the revenues generated per GMV sold.

My headline $230 million number simply took the $9.3 billion and multiplied it by the average monetization rate of the last couple of years.

For complete article, go to: http://finance.yahoo.com/tumblr/blog-alibaba-smashes-singles-day-sales-record-generating-123911152.html