Shopping Festival In China

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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

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