(Yicai Global) Nov. 14 -- The manic, 10-day Chinese shopping festival known as Double 11 has spread to Russia, with sales at online retailer AliExpress expected to reach USD3.1 billion this year. 

Russian consumers have shown great enthusiasm for Double 11, news agency Sputnik reported, citing a spokesperson for the Hangzhou-based unit of Alibaba Group Holding. 

Russians like electronics, children's products and clothes most, the representative said, adding that some 10 percent of them put goods in their carts and use pre-pay services two weeks before the sales began. 

About 20 million Russians shop on AliExpress, the manager of the platform's Russian business unit told Russian media. Web traffic tool SimilarWeb suggests that the number is as high as 37 million, and that each month they visit AliExpress some 147.7 million times, or four times each.

AliExpress accounts for 87 percent of Russia's e-commerce market, according to a report published by the country's Association of Internet Trade Companies. Annual sales will reach RUB212 billion (USD3.1 billion) this year, it predicted. The country's global cross-border trade may reach RUB451.8 billion. More than half of that will be packages from China worth RUB244.6 billion, the report added.

Alibaba offered 100 internationals brands, including Russian ones, in the shopping bonanza that started on Nov. 11. Many of them chose AliExpress' sister platform Tmall to sell primarily to Chinese consumers.

Editor: Emmi Laine