Alibaba’s Singles’ Day Shopping Festival is like no other. If you may think of an Academy Awards, Superbowl and Shop-Til-You-Drop combo – you’ll get a rough perspective of what this celebration of consumerism may look like. What actually happened, that made Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Singles’ Day generate a record $25.3 billion in sales? This e-commerce giant started working with more traditional retailers to market discounted lobster, iPhones and refrigerators to shoppers from at least 225 countries and regions. To pump merchandise, the Chinese company also hosted a star-studded gala with film star Nicole Kidman and American rapper Pharrell Williams. Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang