2021-01-19
Why retailers everywhere should look to China
For a century the world's consumer businesses have looked to America to spot new trends,
from scannable barcodes on Wrigley's gum in the 1970s to keeping up with the Kardashians' consumption habits in the 2010s.
Now they should be looking to the East.
China's lead in e-commerce is not entirely new.By size, its market overtook America's in 2013 — with little physical store space,
its consumers and retailers leapfrogged ahead to the digital world.Today the country's e-retailing market is worth $2trn,
more than America's and Europe's combined.
Competition has led e-commerce and other tech firms to demolish the boundaries between different types of services that
are still common in the West.Online-shopping platforms in China now blend digital payments, group deals, social media, gaming,
instant messaging, short-form videos and live-streaming celebrities.
Already, Chinese characteristics are emerging in the retail heartlands of the West, partly as a result of the pandemic.
Facebook is now promoting shopping services on its social networks, and engaging in "social commerce",
including in live-streaming and the use of WhatsApp, for messaging between merchants and http://shoppers.In December Walmart hosted
its first live shopping event within TikTok, a Chinese-owned video app in which it hopes to buy a stake.
This shift to a more Chinese-style global industry promises to be excellent news for consumers.Prices would be lower, as China has seen
fierce discounting by competing firms.Choice and innovation would probably grow.
And China is also at the frontier of regulation.China's antitrust regulators are keen to boost competition.That means enforcing
interoperability, so that, for example, payments services on one e-commerce platform can be used seamlessly on a rival one.
Now it is the Chinese consumer's tastes and habits that are going global.Watch and learn.
look to ;依赖于 仰仗 学习
spot new trends;发现新趋势
barcodes;条码
Wrigley's gum;口香糖
keeping up with;与..同行
Kardashians;卡戴珊家族
is not entirely new;不是一件新鲜事
By size;论规模
with little physical store space,;在很少的实体店面空间的情况下
with A sb did B;在A这种不利条件下,某人达成了B这个目标
leapfrogged ahead to;超越 , 迅速跃入
$2trn;2万亿
more than a and b combined;比a和b夹起来还多
demolish;拆毁/除
group deals;团购
heartlands;心脏地带 中心区域
engaging in "social commerce",;从事社交
live-streaming;直播
messaging between;沟通
stake;桩 棍子 火刑 赌注 奖金 资助支持 打赌
buy a stake ;购买股份 入股
live shopping event ;直播购物活动
shift to;转型
promises to;预计会(好) 承诺
fierce;凶猛的 暴躁的 猛烈的
fierce discounting ;巨大折扣
competing firms;竞争公司
Choice and innovation would probably grow;选择(范围)和产品创新增加
antitrust;反托拉斯
frontier of;前沿地带 边境
are keen to boost competition;热衷于
enforcing;实施 执行,强迫
interoperability;互用性 协同工作能力 互通性
seamlessly;无缝地
consumer's tastes and habits;品味和习惯
it is A that is/does B;强调句型,
Watch and learn;好好观察并且借鉴
