外媒:中國人最愛用手機購物 總值5千億美元

Imagine getting a soft drink from a vending machine using only your smartphone. Or scanning a QR code to buy goods from a newspaper ad.

想象一下：只需用智能手機就能從販賣機那兒買汽水，或者只需對報紙上的廣告二維碼掃一掃就能買東西。

By harnessing these innovations — and more — China mobile shopping is barreling ahead of the United States. China is still the world's largest smartphone market, even though growth is slowing. It accounts for about 30 percent of the global smartphone market, and Chinese smartphone users are expected to jump from 526.8 million to 640 million in 2018, according to eMarketer. And its shoppers are using their gadgets to snap up a wide array of goods and services.

在這些創新技術（以及更多技術）的助力下，中國的移動購物產業已領先於美國。哪怕增速有所減緩，中國仍然是世界上最大的智能手機市場，其份額約佔全球智能手機市場的30%。據電子市場調查公司“eMarketer”預測，2018年中國的智能手機用戶將從現在的5.268億躍升至6.4億。此外，中國消費者正在用他們的設備搶購各種各樣的商品和服務。

Nearly half of all China's e-commerce sales, totaling $505.7 billion, are made with mobile devices, versus roughly one-quarter in the U.S., according to eMarketer. By 2019, China's mobile sales will account for 71 percent of those sales.

據“eMarketer”的數據，中國近一半的電子商務銷售都是在移動設備上進行的，總值5057億美元。與之相比，美國在移動設備上進行的電子商務銷售僅佔總量的四分之一。到2019年，中國的移動線上銷售將佔電子商務銷售總量的71%。

"We don't see mobile buying plateauing for the next five years," said Monica Pearl, eMarketer's director of forecasting. "They'll increase because consumer behavior has changed." Feature-rich, cheap smartphones are also helping fuel the boom, she added.

“我們認爲，移動設備購物熱潮在接下來五年絕不會降溫，”eMarketer的評估主管莫妮卡·珀爾說道。“它只會不斷升溫，因爲消費者行爲已經發生了變化。”她還補充道，功能豐富而又價格低廉的智能手機在爲這股狂潮推波助瀾。

China is, after all, a mobile first market, explains Brian Buchwald, CEO of consumer intelligence firm Bomoda. So it has been able to leapfrog past other markets, which mainly used PCs for purchases.

而消費者情報公司“摩登系”首席執行官布萊恩·布赫瓦爾德則解釋道，由於在中國市場，手機購物獨佔鰲頭，所以大可忽略其他購物途徑了（主要是個人電腦）。

Sophisticated mobile payment apps are partly fueling the mobile boom. To grease buying, purchases are smooth and nearly seamless, since goods are bought in a few seconds with just one click. And an intense fight for market share between payment titans WeChat Pay and Alibaba's Alipay is fueling even more innovation. Apple Pay has only just recently stepped into the competitive arena.

另一方面，發達的手機支付應用程序也推動了手機購物潮。爲了推動消費，網購可謂暢通無阻，天衣無縫，畢竟只需輕輕一擊，商品就能在數秒內收入購物車內。而兩大支付巨頭——微信支付和阿里巴巴支付寶之間爲爭奪市場份額的激戰，更是推動着一波又一波的創新潮。蘋果支付最近也加入這場競爭。

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has allowed a free-flowing retail and payments marketplace.

同時，這種流暢的零售商和支付市場的發展也得到了中國政府的默許。

"There are no restraints," said Michael Zakkour, vice president of China/Asia Pacific practice at Tompkins International.

湯普金斯國際公司中國/亞太地區副總裁邁克爾·扎庫爾表示：“政府對此沒有任何限制。”

And that's good news for WeChat, A messaging app that's only five years old and is offered by the Internet giant Tencent. The app now has 650 million users. And a good chunk of them are using the app for mobile shopping. The result is that WeChat payments, along with Alibaba's Alipay, dominate the market. Because retailers can easily set up shop inside WeChat, users can plan family vacations, order a taxi or even design clothes without going anywhere else.

這對微信來說是個好消息。微信作爲一款問世僅五年的聊天應用，歸互聯網巨頭騰訊公司旗下所有，目前用戶已達6.5億。而且，這其中有一大部分用戶在用微信手機購物。結果就是，微信支付和阿里巴巴支付寶主導了支付市場。零售商們可以輕而易舉地在微信開店，用戶們可以在微信上計劃家庭出遊、打車、甚至足不出戶就能定製服裝。

"WeChat is the most influential app in the world," said Buchwald. "It has the functionality of an iTunes store. So you can do anything you want."

“微信是世界上最具影響力的一款應用，”布赫瓦爾德說道。“它擁有蘋果iTune商店的功能，你想幹什麼就能幹什麼。”

This mobile preference is one-stop shopping for navigating a digital life. "We're talking about the emergence of chat commerce," said Lily Varón, an analyst at Forrester Research. "WeChat is becoming a commerce channel. And it's an ecosystem that's unlike anything in the U.S."

這種備受人們喜愛的手機一站式購物方式正在引領數字化生活。“其實這是新興的聊天商務，”弗雷斯特研究公司的分析師莉莉·瓦倫說道。“微信正在成爲一個商務渠道。因此形成的生態系統在美國是見不到的。”

And, she adds, unlike the U.S., there's also no digital divide in China by geography or age. "It's not just limited to younger consumers," she said.

此外她還補充道，中國和美國的另外一個不同點是，這裏沒有因地理或年齡而產生的數字鴻溝。“微信面向的羣體不僅僅是年輕顧客。”

Meanwhile, e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba has its own Alipay app. Known as the PayPal of China, it is the dominant player in the mobile payment industry. And it's in a competitive tussle with WeChat to keep market share — fueling even more innovation.

與此同時，電子商務巨頭阿里巴巴也擁有自己的支付寶應用。支付寶被稱爲“中國的貝寶”，是移動支付市場的老大。如今它正與微信鏖戰以守衛其市場份額，而這愈發推動了一波又一波創新潮。

"They're both spending billions building new features and technologies," said Buchwald. "That includes making lots of different investments in start-ups." For example, Alipay is now testing ways to let shoppers pay just by scanning a physical feature.

“雙方都斥數十億巨資開發新特色和新技術，”布赫瓦爾德說道。“這其中就包括大量投資各種新興企業。”比如，支付寶正在測試一項新技術，使顧客通過掃描身體特徵即可完成支付。

At the same time, Apple and Samsung are trying to break into this sector with partnerships with UnionPay, China's main bank card and payment firm.

同時，蘋果和三星也在嘗試通過與銀聯合作來打入這片市場。銀聯是中國的主流銀行卡支付公司。

The U.S. is lagging behind though, and mobile payments have yet to gain traction. Even QR codes, which have largely flopped in the U.S., are used everywhere in China to buy goods. And mobile phones there already have scanners embedded in them.

在這方面，美國卻落後於中國，手機支付市場也有待獲得發展動力。就連在美國處處碰壁的二維碼，在中國購物市場也是混的風生水起，無處不在。而且中國的移動手機內部已經自帶二維碼掃描程序。

Once scanned and bought, goods are delivered quickly. And Alibaba, which has a massive logistics network, can get goods to customers within one day. Its ultimate goal is even loftier: deliveries to any Chinese city within 24 hours. Alibaba is even investing in drone companies, says Buchwald.

只需掃描購買，商品很快就能送上家門。而且阿里巴巴還建了龐大的物流網絡，有的商品一日可達。而它的終極目標更加雄心勃勃：二十四小時內將商品送達至中國任何一座城市。布赫瓦爾德稱，阿里巴巴甚至已經開始投資無人機公司了。

These hyperkinetic deliveries are fueling ever more purchases. Last year, China's Singles Day — a consumer shopping day invented by Alibaba and much like Black Friday in the U.S. — totaled $14.3 billion, which is 60 percent higher than 2014. Those sales total more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the U.S. combined.

高度發達的快遞業則進一步促進了購物。去年僅中國光棍節一天——光棍節是阿里巴巴創造的購物狂歡節，類似於美國的黑色星期五——阿里巴巴的銷售總額就達143億美元，較之2014年高出了60%。這筆銷售額高於美國黑色星期五和網絡星期一的銷售額之和。

"In China, spending as much money as possible on Singles Day is almost patriotic," said Buchwald. "It's more of a collectivist spirit there."

“在中國，在光棍節瘋狂地花錢幾乎就等於愛國，”布赫瓦爾德說道。“這個現象更像是在彰顯集體主義精神。”

Emphasizing community good over the individual goes back thousands of years in China. "It's the cowboy vs. the collective," said Zakkour. "So Chinese people want to make sure that products they're buying have acceptance." For this reason, mobile commerce was predestined to become successful there, he added.

在中國，強調集體利益高於個人利益的傳統已綿延數千年。“這就像是單槍匹馬和千軍萬馬之間的對峙，”扎庫爾說道。“所以中國人想確保自己購買的產品是爲大衆所接受的。”他補充道，正是因爲這個原因，移動商務註定會在中國更加成功。

Los Angeles-based Revolve Clothing had to navigate this community spirit to sell its goods in China. "Social media there is very important," said Mike Karanikolas, co-CEO of Revolve, an online collection of up-and-coming fashion brands for men and women. "It's as if Amazonowned a big chunk of Facebook."

總部位於洛杉磯的“Revolve Clothing”爲了打開中國市場，着手利用這種集體主義精神。“在中國，社交媒體相當重要，”Revolve Clothing的聯合CEO邁克·卡蘭尼克拉說道。Revolve Clothing是一家線上新秀，銷售各品牌男女潮流服裝。“這效果就像亞馬遜持有臉書的大量股份一樣。”

For the online apparel retailer, ramping up sales to the Chinese market meant navigating longer purchase cycles. Purchases in the U.S. are made quickly, he explains. But in China, purchases can take up to 30 days because many Chinese consumers spend a lot of time researching goods and then checking them out with a circle of friends before making an online purchase.

對線上服裝零售商而言，中國市場銷量的上升就意味着他們能引領更長的購物週期。卡拉尼克拉解釋說，在美國，顧客購買商品很快。但在中國，買東西可以花上三十天，因爲許多中國人會花大量時間搜索商品，和一羣朋友層層篩選，最後纔會在線上購買。

But in many ways, China's mobile mania may well be the new face of retailing.

從許多方面來看，中國的移動購物狂潮都開啓了零售的另一片天地。

China is up to three years ahead of the U.S. in mobile shopping, said Buchwald. "And it's moving faster than any other area of the economy. It's the future."

布赫瓦爾德說，中國在移動購物上已領先美國三年。“而且，其發展速度也快於其它任何一個經濟領域。未來前景無限。”