Why retailers everywhere should look to China
That is where they will see the future of e-commerce
为什么零售业/零售商都应该吧目光投向中国
那是他们能够看到的电商未来的地方（中国是电商的未来）
Jan 2nd 2021
Over the past ten months most people in the rich world have participated in the biggest shopping revolution in the West since malls and supermarkets conquered suburbia 50 years ago. The pandemic has led to a surge in online spending, speeding up the shift from physical stores by half a decade or so. Forget the chimney; Christmas gifts in 2020 came flying through the letterbox orwere dumped on the doorstep. Workers at a handful of firms, including Amazon and Walmart, have made superhuman efforts to fulfil online orders, and their investors have made supernormal profits as Wall Street has bid up their shares on euphoria that Western retailing is at the cutting edge.
S1：
- people in the rich world : 富裕国家的人
- malls and supermarkets : 购物中心和超市（有区别）
- conquered suburbia：suburbia指的是郊区， conquered除了指“征服”， 这里指的是“占领”， 该词本意源自 "攻克，打败之意"
S2:
- pandemic: 瘟疫，流感
- a surge in online spending: a surge in : ...的激增， online spending: 线上消费
- physical stores : 实体店
- half a decade or so : 五年左右
S3:
- chimney ['tʃɪmni] ：烟囱
- flying through the letterbox : 从信箱飞来
- were dumped on the doorstep : 被扔在门阶上了
S4:
- a handful of : 一把，一撮，少量
- have made superhuman efforts to fulfil ...:做出了超人般的努力来完成网上订单
- have made supernormal profits: 获得了超正常的利润。
- at the cutting edge: 处在最前沿
- bid up : 哄抬价格，竞出高价
- euphoria [ju'fɔriə] ：欣喜 （通常指的是持续时间较短的喜悦）
- 【全段翻译】：他们的投资者们获得了超乎寻常的利益，因为华尔街因西方零售业处于前沿而欣喜的哄抬他们股票的价格。
Yet as we explain this week (see article) it is in China, not the West, where the future of e-commerce is being staked out. Its market is far bigger and more creative, with tech firms blending e-commerce, social media and razzmatazz to become online-shopping emporia for 850m digital consumers. And China is also at the frontier of regulation, with the news on December 24th that trustbusters were investigating Alibaba, co-founded by Jack Ma, China’s most celebrated tycoon, and until a few weeks ago its most valuable listed firm. 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.
S1:
- staked out : 显现出来 ， 该句在讲电商未来将在中国而不是西方国家
- blending : 摇晃，混合 （卖健身喝蛋白粉用的摇摇杯，有一个美国大牌，叫做blenderbottle）
- razzmatazz [ˌræzmə'tæz] : 令人眼花缭乱的活动
- online-shopping emporia : 大型在线购物商业中心， emporia 这个单词本身指大型商业中心，又中文音译为 ： 恩波利亚
S2:
- And China is also at the frontier of regulation ： 中国也处于监管的最前沿， regulation这个词用的最多的指的是“规矩，规则”， 还可以指“监管，条例法规”
- trustbusters: 为防止公司之间的非法交易而工作的个人或组织, buster 指的是“破坏者”
- co-founded by Jack Ma： 由马云联合创立， co-founded 本身指的是和其他人一起创立某个组织
- celebrated tycoon [taɪˈkuːn]: 著名的大亨, celebrated 本身可以指 “杰出的，著名的，受人尊敬的”， tycoon 这个词则指的是 “大亨，大款，将军，巨头”
S3:
- spot new trends: 发现新的趋势
- Wrigley's gum : 绿箭口香糖
- 【全段翻译】：一个世纪以来，全世界的消费企业都把目光投向了美国，从20世纪70年代箭牌口香糖上的可扫描条形码，到21世纪10年代跟上卡戴珊家族的消费习惯。现在他们应该把目光投向东方。
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. When Alibaba listed in 2014 it was the world’s largest-ever initial public offering. Today the country’s e-retailing market is worth $2trn, more than America’s and Europe’s combined. But beyond its sheer size it now stands out from the past, and from the industry in the West, in several crucial ways.
S2
- By size 按大小，依尺寸， 这里译作 按照规模
- leapfrogged ahead to ： ahead to 指的是“朝着某个方向前进”，leapfrogged:leap 跳跃，frog 青蛙， 所以指的是蛙跳， 但是通常更用于修饰跨度大的变化，“三级跳“，“跨级提升”，“跃迁”
S3
- list ： 在这里指的是 “上市”
- largest-ever initial public offering : 这段理解的重点在于 “public offering” 指的是公募（也就是公开发售股票）， 前面的 largest-ever “有史以来最大规模” ， initial “首次”都是作修饰
S4
- e-ratailing : 电子零售
- $2trn ： 两万亿美元 (trillion-dollar)
S5
- sheer ： 绝对的， sheer size ： 绝对的规模
- stands out : 突出
- in several crucial ways: 几个关键方面
For a start it is more dynamic. In the past few years new competitors, including Meituan and Pinduoduo, have come of age with effervescent business models. One sign of fierce competition is that Alibaba’s share of the market capitalisation of the Chinese e-commerce industry has dropped from 81% when it listed to 55% today. Competition has also led e-commerce and other tech firms to demolish the boundaries between different types of services that are still common in the West. Point and click are passé: online-shopping platforms in China now blend digital payments, group deals, social media, gaming, instant messaging, short-form videos and live-streaming celebrities.
S1
- for a start : 首先
S2
- have come of age with effervescent business models : effervescent : "兴高采烈的；热情洋溢的；充满活力的" ; come of age :"达到成人年龄，成熟" 。 全句：“带着充满活力的商业模式已然趋于成熟。”
S3
- fierce ： 猛烈的；激烈的；强烈的
capitalisation : 资本化，市值，资本市值
from 81% when it listed to 55% today ： 这句中有一个 when it listed 指的是 “当上市的时候”
S4
- demolish ： 毁坏；拆除；推翻
S5
Point and click are passé ： 点击购物已经过时
group deals : 团购
instant messaging : 即时消息
short-form videos : 短视频
live-streaming celebrities : 名人直播
The obvious, multi-trillion-dollar question is whether the Chinese model of e-commerce will go global. As has been the case for decades, Silicon Valley’s giants still tend to underestimate China. There are few direct links between the American and Chinese e-commerce industries, partly owing to protectionism on both sides (Yahoo sold much of its stake in Alibaba, far too early, in 2012). And Western firms have long been organised in cosy, predictable silos. So Visa specialises in payments, Amazon in e-commerce, Facebook in social media, Google in search, and so on. The main source of uncertainty in e-commerce has been just how many big traditional retailers will go bust—over 30 folded in America in 2020—and whether a few might manage the shift online, as Walmart and Target have.
S1
- multi-trillion-dollar question 价值数万亿美元的问题
- go glabal : 走向全球，即 全球化
S2
- As has been the case for decades ： 几十年来一直如此（几十年一直是这种情况）
- giants : 这了指的是 公司巨头
- underestimate : estimate 这个单词本身指的是”估价“”预估“， underestimate 指的是”低估“
- 全句翻译： 就像几十年来的情况一样，硅谷的巨头们仍然倾向于低估中国
S3
- partly owing to protectionism on both sides : 这里有个关键是 ”owe to“ 指的是”...的原因导致的“ ，protectionism : 保护主义
- far too early ：过早地
- 全句翻译：美国和中国电商行业有着少数的直接关联，部分原因是由于双方的（贸易）保护主义导致的（雅虎在2012就过早的售卖掉了太多在阿里的股票）
S4
- have long been organised in cosy , predictable silos. : cosy : 安逸舒适的，惬意的， silos: 这个词可以指”发射井“，”筒仓“，”竖井“。 （这里，结合后段，是为了强调国外这些互联网公司，相对孤立，指负责自己的核心业务，区别于国内阿里，一家独大，只手遮天。 silos 描述“竖状容器”，特点在于垂直发展。）siloed 引申为”封闭“，”孤立“
- 全句翻译：西方各个公司长久以来都是以一种舒适且像可预测的”筒仓“一样组织起来的。
S5
- So Visa specialises in payments ： 因此，Visa专门从事支付业务
- The main source of uncertainty in e-commerce ： 电商的不确定因素的主要来源
- go bust : 破产
- folded ： 倒闭关门
- manage the shift online ： manage 这个词，不仅仅可以指”管理“，还指 ”管理；能对付；完成（困难的事）；勉力完成“， the shift online 指的是 ”线上转型“
Yet however safe and siloed Western e-retailing may appear to be, it is now unlikely that it will become the world’s dominant mode of shopping. Already, outside rich countries, the Chinese approach is gaining steam. Many leading e-commerce firms in South-East Asia (Grab and Sea), India (Jio), and Latin America (Mercado Libre) are influenced by the Chinese strategy of offering a “super-app” with a cornucopia of services from noodle delivery to financial services. The giant consumer-goods firms that straddle the Western and Chinese markets may transmit Chinese ideas and business tactics, too. Multinationals such as Unilever, L’Oréal and Adidas make more revenue in Asia than in America and their bosses turn to there, not to California or Paris, to see the latest in digital marketing, branding and logistics.
S1:
- Yet however safe and siloed Western e-retailing may appear to be : 然而，无论西方电子零售看起来多么的安全和孤立
- dominant : 首要的，支配的，统治的，[基因]显性性状的
- approach : 方法，做法，路径，靠近
- gaining steam : 越来越流行
S2
- cornucopia [.kɔrnjə'koʊpiə] : 聚宝盆
S3
- consumer-goods : 消费品
- straddle ['stræd(ə)l] ： 跨越 ， straddle the Western and Chinese markets
- transmit : 传播
- business tactics ： 商业策略， tactics [ˈtæktɪk]: 战术，策略
S4
- Multinationals : 名词，指的是，跨国企业
- digital marketing ： 数字营销， marketing ： 市场营销；行销；市场学
- logistics : 现代物流，还可以指 ”后勤“
Already, Chinese characteristics are emerging in the retail heartlands of the West, partly as a result of the pandemic. The silos are breaking down as firms diversify. 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 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. In France in the past quarter the sixth-most-downloaded e-commerce app was Vova, linked to Pinduoduo’s founder. And new entrants may finally make progress in America—the share price of Shopify, a platform for Amazon exiles and small firms, has soared so that it is now valued at more than $140bn.
S1
- Chinese characteristics : 中国特色
- are emerging in ： 展露头角，逐渐出现
- heartlands ： 中心地带
S2
- diversify ： 多元化
S3
- merchants and shoppers ： 商人（商家） 和 顾客
S4
- firse live shopping event ： 首次直播购物活动
S5
- in the past quarter : 上个季度
- sixth-most-downloaded e-commerce app : 下载量第六的电子上午应用
S6
- entrants ： 新进入者
- make progress in : 在...方面取得进展
- the share price： 股价
- exiles ： 放逐，流亡者
- soared ： 翱翔，猛增，飙升
- $140bn ： 1400亿美元
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. Even so, Chinese e-commerce has flaws. In a Wild West climate, fraud is more common. And there are those antitrust concerns. It is tempting to see the crackdown on Mr Ma as just another display of brutal Communist Party power (see article). It may partly be that, but China’s antitrust regulators are also 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. And it means preventing e-commerce firms from penalising merchants who sell goods in more than one place online. So far American and European trustbusters have been ineffectual at controlling big tech, despite a flurry of lawsuits and draft laws at the end of 2020. They, too, should study China, for a sense of where the industry is heading and how to respond.
S1
- promise to be : 有望成为
- excellent news ：极好的消息 （结合后文，指消费者的福音）
- fierce : 激烈的
S2
- innovation : 革新 ， 还可以指”创新能力,技术创新“
S3
- Even so : 尽管如此
- Chinese e-commerce has flaws : 中国电商存在缺陷
- In a Wild West climate, fraud [frɔd] is more common ,在狂野的西部风气中，欺诈更为普遍
S4
- antitrust : 反垄断
S5
- It is tempting to do : tempting 这个词本身指的是”诱惑人的，有诱惑力的“， 但是 这个搭配的意思是，”我们很容易...“
- crackdown ：严厉的打击，镇压
- brutal : 冷酷的，残酷的
- Communist Partey gong'chan'dang的势力
S6
- antitrust regulators : 反垄断监管机构
- be keen to do ： 热衷于..
- boost : 促进
S7
- enforcing interoperability : 加强互操作性
- seamlessly ： 无缝地
- rival 竞争的
S8
- penalising [piːnəlaɪz] merchants ： 惩治商人
S9
- ineffectual : 无能软弱达不到目的的，无效徒劳无益的
- a flurry of lawsuits : 一连串的诉讼 , a flurry of : ”一连串的“ ， lawsuits：”诉讼“
There is a pattern to how the West thinks about Chinese innovation. From electronics to solar panels, Chinese manufacturing advances were either ignored or dismissed as copying, then downplayed and then grudgingly acknowledged around the world. Now it is the Chinese consumer’s tastes and habits that are going global. Watch and learn.■
Chinese manufacturing advances： 中国制造业的进步
dismissed : 解雇，解散，驳回
grudgingly : 勉强