Thousands of restaurants, supermarkets, cinemas, gas stations, and other outlets across Zhejiang province are getting ready to offer discounts of up to 50 percent to users of the mobile payment service Alipay on Dec 10-12.

The promotions are being offered as part of Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba's "Double 12" shopping festival, a day of steep discounts similar to Black Friday in the US that gets its name from the fact it takes place on Dec 12 each year.

"Double 12" is itself something of a sequel to Alibaba's more famous "Double 11" festival, an enormous online shopping extravaganza that this year racked up $17.5 billion in sales in just one day on Nov 11.

But whereas "Double 11" is aimed at purchases on Alibaba's online stores, "Double 12" is all about in-store purchases made through the company's mobile payment app Alipay and Koubei, an app for ordering local services such as nearby food and leisure deals.

More than 1 million merchants will be offering discounts via Alibaba's platforms during this year's "Double 12", which has been extended to three days to include the weekend.

Large retailers including MixC shopping malls, department store chain Intime, and supermarkets Carrefour and Wal-Mart will all be taking part in "Double 12" in China.

But even if you're based outside China, you may still be able to bag yourself a deal or two this weekend. More than 60,000 merchants from 16 countries, including Louis Vuitton in New York, Printemps in France, and Joël Robuchon Restaurant in Singapore will also be offering discounts.