Singles Day spree sets record again

The world's biggest online shopping day of the year kicked off with a singing-and-dancing countdown gala filled with A-listers such as David and Victoria Beckham and Kobe Bryant, and it ended once again with a jaw-dropping sales record.

The star-studded, four-hour variety show on Thursday night ended at midnight, launching the huge event on Friday that brought hundreds of millions of shoppers to e-commerce sites and merchants.

For the first time, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding offered a 3-D shopping experience for shoppers making purchases with virtual reality goggles.