Chinese consumers splurge on ‘Singles Day’ spree
Thu, Nov 12, 2015
Chinese Internet users yesterday spent billions of dollars
in the planet’s biggest online shopping splurge, as “Singles Day” hit new
heights, despite slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
The cumulative national bill for the
day-long orgy of commerce dwarfed what Americans spent online over the five-day
frenzy from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday last year.
Singles Day is not a traditional
Chinese festival, but e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) has been pushing Nov. 11 — a date heavy on ones — since
2009 as it looks to tap the country’s huge, and expanding, army of Internet
shoppers.
At first it was marketed as an
“anti-Valentine’s Day,” featuring hefty discounts to lure singletons and
price-sensitive buyers.
However, with sales hitting new highs
year after year, it has become a massive — and highly lucrative — business
opportunity embraced by the nation’s digital retailers.
Competition for a slice of China’s
online population of 668 million is turning increasingly fierce.
Alibaba kicked off this year’s mammoth
event with a television spectacular at Beijing’s Water Cube Olympic swimming
venue, featuring Chinese and foreign celebrities, including James Bond actor
Daniel Craig, and US actor Kevin Spacey.
And the company’s efforts were paying
off in spades, with shoppers splashing out more than US$10 billion in the first
14 hours of the sale.
This year’s tally had already
outstripped last year’s gangbusters effort, with the last year’s total of
US$9.3 billion matched a little more than 12 hours after the promotion’s
midnight start.
In comparison, desktop sales for the
five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday in the US last year stood at
US$6.56 billion, according to Internet analytics firm comScore.
“The 2015 sale has eclipsed last year’s
final results in a little over half the time,” Alibaba said.
In an earlier release, Alibaba’s chief
executive officer Daniel Zhang (張勇) said:
“The whole world will witness the power of Chinese consumption this November
11.”
Another one of China’s main online
retailers, JD.com Inc (京東), said it had completed more than 10 million transactions
by 10 am. That was almost twice as many as last year’s total.
The task of putting customers’
purchases into their hands is huge. Alibaba said its logistical arm and its
partners would use more than 1.7 million personnel, 400,000 vehicles, 5,000
warehouses and 200 airplanes to handle deliveries.
The event has received vocal support
from the government at a time when China’s economic expansion is slowing and
Beijing is trying to transform its growth model into a more sustainable one
driven by consumption.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s (李克強) office phoned Alibaba chairman Jack Ma (馬雲) hours ahead of the promotion, “congratulating and
encouraging the creation and achievement of the 11.11 event,” said a posting on
a social media account of Tmall (天貓), the
group’s business-to-consumer arm.
Chinese Internet users yesterday showed
off their acquisitions — with many lamenting that they had spent far too much
money.
“I can only afford to eat dirt for the next half
year,” said a user on Sina Weibo (微博), with an attached screengrab of a Taobao (淘寶) app showing she had
bought 42 items.
Structure of the Lead:
WHO- Alibaba chairman Jack Ma
WHEN- Thu, Nov 12, 2015
WHAT- Chinese Internet users spent billions of dollars in the planet’s biggest online shopping splurge on "Singles Day".
WHY- The cumulative national bill for the day-long orgy of commerce.
WHERE- China
HOW- Featuring hefty discounts to lure singletons and price-sensitive buyers.
Key words:
1. splurge: 揮霍
2. spree: 大禮包
3. cumulative: 累積的
4.
dwarf: 相形見絀
5.
frenzy: 狂潮
6.
lucrative: 利潤豐厚的
7. mammoth: 猛獁象
8. retailer: 零售商
9. logistical: 物流的
10. sustainable: 可持續發展的
資料來源:http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2015/11/12/2003632235
I think this event is good for people because we can buy things at the lower price although we may buy them we don't really need. Besides, I think it is a good way to stimulate economy because a lot of people will shop on the Net to buy things.
回覆刪除Before reading this news, I don't know what is "Singles Day". I think it is not a good holiday because people over-consumption is not a good phenomenon. Although this holiday can promote economic
回覆刪除, excessive consumption may cause waste.
"Singles Day" sounds like just a day for those who are single.After reading the news,I realize that it is also a day that people can buy things at lower price.With sales hitting new highs year after year,it has positive influences on economy.
回覆刪除