Thousands of millions of people celebrated the one-day shopping spree launched by Chinese e-commerce companies on Singles ' Day, November 11. The e-commerce giant Alibaba, which turned the day, once a tongue-in-cheek celebration of singledom since it was on 11/11, into a commercial festival in 2009, generated $9.3 billion in sale last year. How does the shopping binge influence the Chinese society and economy? The Global Times has collected three opinions on the matter.
Festival reflects role of market forces
Singles ' Day is the first shopping festival created by market forces since China 's reform and opening-up. It not only has a strong influence in China, but is now astounding the whole world. Millions of technicians, salespeople and
…show more content…
Rather, it is an outcome of the free market.
November 11 was first called the Singles ' Day, while now it is all about shopping. For the public, both are associated with happiness, which is the essence of life. This is the fundamental reason that this Double 11 festival should not end. Compared with happiness, "record-breaking sales" or "stimulating consumption" are just utilitarianism.
Big shopping days are not exclusive for China. There are "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" overseas. A US expert on consumer behavior described such a carnival from the angle of consumers ' happiness. He observed that people start thinking about what they 're going to buy long before the day starts, and their sense of happiness will reach a peak only when they complete the order. Happiness comes from shopping itself rather than gaining an advantage. This is also the driving force for the ever mounting sales volume during the online shopping fest.
Besides offering a sense of happiness to the whole nation, China has become the most active market in global e-commerce. China is at a crossroads of economic transformation, and one of the directions is to turn from investment to
…show more content…
Against the background of weakening export, plummeting investment and the economic downward trend, this online shopping fest plays a significant role in balancing the Chinese economy.
The influence of the day has even gone abroad. Some e-commerce websites in North America launched their "Singles ' Day" sales to satisfy the needs of local Chinese communities. If the concept of the Singles ' Day online shopping fest is exported abroad, this will serve as a successful test of the Chinese economy. A sluggish economy can never produce such vitality.
The Beijing
Many Americans love shopping, especially during the holidays, with its captivating discounts and sales, which lead to uncontrollable splurges on irrelevant things. According to Quindlen, this is an example of America’s crazed consumerism and it is absolutely absurd. In her article, “Honestly, You Shouldn’t Have”, she states that there is currently an assumption that purchasing American merchandises symbolize an act of patriotism and at the same time, build a strong economy. She also states that we, as Americans, need to acknowledge important spiritual values such as friends and family rather than material goods.
David Redmon’s documentary, Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005) provides an insight on Karl Marx’s theory of exploitation within capitalism. It does an exceptional job at explaining how exploitation exists in a capitalist society by tracing the simple commodity of beads used in the festival of Mardi Gras in New Orleans while revealing the hidden picture of its social and economic effect on the factory workers. Karl Marx’s class structure theory of capitalism can be observed in Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005). The cycle of exploitation that the Chinese workers face is further expanded in the film by explaining how exploitation works under capitalism through the differences between society’s values, the conditions of labour that the workers are in to produce the Mardi Gras beads, as well as how commodity fetishism takes part into the continuation of exploitation.
A Summary and Response to Andrew Leonard’s “Black Friday: Consumerism minus Civilization.” It all started in the 1960s; Someone thought that it would a good idea to make the day after Thanksgiving a great day for advertising for shopping for Christmas. Andrew Leonard covers this topic of how bizarre shopping has become in recent years in “Black Friday: Consumerism minus Civilization.” Leonard pokes fun at the consumers who rush these stores for the best deals offered up by the crazed advertisements.
Introduction The power and utility of the internet is common knowledge to literate people. It has fundamentally shifted the economic land scape to such an extent that its era is dubbed the new economy (Turban et e, 2011l). At the heart of this new economy is e-commerce. E-commerce is simply doing business online. Amongst the companies at the pinnacle of the new economy and more specifically e-commerce is Amazon.
I find the notion that we should “occupy Black Friday””(Andrew Leonard’s “Black Friday: Consumerism vs. Civilization”). According to Leonard one act that a conscientious consumer could do would be a strike that would result in more layoffs, pay cuts, bankruptcies, and foreclosures. Walmart would take a hit of course, however, so would Walmart employees. NEED CITATION
In Anna Quindlen’s essay, Stuff is Not Salvation, she argues that one cannot determine how “better off” they are, by the amount of belongings they possess. Quindlen states that Americans have, “an addiction to consumption, so out of control that it qualifies as a sickness.” However, she is not just referring to an addiction to buying meaningless items, but the idea that people are purchasing items when they have no money. Quindlen validates her argument with the tragedy of a walmart employee that as trampled to death on Black Friday, and the concept that many people have lost their sense of appreciation and gratefulness. She also argues that there are indeed things we need, however, a large majority of people’s perception of want and need are obscured.
First and foremost, one must acknowledge the plainly visible fact that the Chinese economy has grown exponentially since the process of integration into the global economic system began. China 's comparative advantages, particularly in the labor sector, has transformed it into the second largest recipient of FDI in the world.1 Over the course of the last 20 years, exports have grown approximately 17.1 percent per year.2 This ultimate result of this investment and trade has been an overall growth rate 8 percent per annum,3 which would have been completely unattainable without the country 's engagement in globalization. Foreign investments have
Since last year, the country has become the company’s biggest market, and the iPhone even became China’s biggest-selling phone for a few months earlier this year. But the challenges are increasing. There are several reasons that apple was successful in China, whereas its competitors, such as Google have failed. Several times, deals with China Mobile were nearly to fell through and Apple seemed like walking away. However, they got to an agreement in the last minute.
In general, it is hard for foreign companies to establish themselves in the Asian market, especially in China, because of the strong cultural background. It will not work out well for a foreign company to adapt its marketing model to the Chinese market. Marketing models such as direct marketing of the brand, which works well in the American market, is likely to fail in the Chinese market. Although Groupon has spent millions into marketing its brand on the Chinese market, the Chinese customers were not ready to see the brand’s products being better as the one of its competitors. Chinese customers are less likely to be loyal to any brand due to their low levels of indulgence.
Protect their key markets - which is China and their mature "Think" business with their company accounts. Attack their emerging, transnational markets and build a presence within the home or small business (SMB) segments across that house. This two-pronged business strategy, established in early 2009 by their chief operating officer, Yuanqing yang, additionally needed alignment of the availability chain to the customers in every market. To enable them to do so, they targeted on trade their supply chain operations to customer wants, closely managing supplier risk caused by volatile market conditions last
However, in China, there are a lot of people whose income are low, they absolutely will not buy those products. It reduced the market share. Promotion strategy and
The most valuable reason for the popularity of online shopping among the people is its high convenience. First of all, online shopping allows the customers to buy products at any time that is convenient for them. While traditional brick-and-mortar selling businesses tend to work during specific time periods, online shopping is accessible at any time. An immense benefit of online shopping is that it is available 24/7. As a result, the customers do not need to think that they will not manage to buy something since the shop is already closed.
More and more people these days prefer online shopping than shopping in malls because of so many advantages and benefits. People from all over the world have accepted online shopping sites because of the convenience provided like from shopping in their pyjamas to convenience for elderly and disabled. Not only this, online shopping sites also provides a wider choice of products, avoiding upselling or impulse buying, better prices, good for the environment, and
In his book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, Neil Postman analyzes the change of mediums from a Typographic Age to a Telegraphic Age; but because technology has advanced since the 1980s, it does not address every new medium and its effects. One recent medium that dominates the internet is online shopping. With seventy nine percent of Americans making online purchases (Weller), it is quickly becoming a new tool for everyday life. This medium attracts every aspect of buying, from office supplies to dog treats. The demand for online shopping stores is increasing rapidly year by year.
The employment growth has not been proportionate with population and GDP growth. The fact that there has not been any significant growth in employment despite considerable acceleration