Chinese booming e-commerce nibbles traditional retailers

 　　BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- China's e-commerce giant Jingdong Mall announced Saturday that it has secured 700 million U.S. dollars in its latest fundraising effort.

　　Canada's Ontario Teacher Pension Fund and Kingdom Holding Co, the international investment firm of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin¹ Talal, were among the consortium of investors².

　　Jingdong said that the new funds will go to company operations, new business development and logistics system construction.

　　So far, Jingdong has finished four rounds of fundraising with a total financing at a remarkable³ high of 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, which is shocking in a depressed⁴ year.

　　Investment became more cautious as the capital market remained sluggish⁵ in 2012. Statistics showed that the total funds raised through IPO around the globe last year plummeted⁶ to 112 billion U.S. dollars, the lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.

　　Against such a background, the bounty⁷ demonstrated the confidence of the international capital market in Jingdong and the recognition of China's vigorous online business market.

　　ONLINE BUSINESS BOOMS

　　China's online business market volume exploded in the past year.

　　A report recently released by China's E-Commerce Research Center showed that by the end of December, the transaction volume of China's online retail⁸ market reached 1.32 trillion yuan RMB, a year-on-year increase of 64.7 percent.

　　The figure is projected to jump to 1.81 trillion yuan RMB in 2013, according to expert forecast.

　　Meanwhile, the number of online shoppers increased 21.7 percent to reach 247 million at the end of 2012.

　　In the next few years, with more and more brick-and-mortar enterprises entering the e-commerce industry, the online shopping potential in the western region as well as third-tier cities in central and east China will be further tapped, industrial insiders said.

　　In addition, as the development of mobile Internet makes mobile shopping more convenient, China's online shopping market will maintain its fast growth momentum⁹ and is expected to surpass 3 trillion yuan RMB by 2015 or 2016, experts said.

　　Compared with off-line shopping, online shopping makes it possible for people to purchase goods without stepping out their rooms with more options at lower prices.

　　TRADITIONAL RETAIL INDUSTRY THREATENED

　　In contrast to the flourishing e-commerce enterprises, traditional retail industry has been greatly shocked in recent years.

　　On Nov. 11, the so-called singles day and a big promotion¹⁰ event day for Chinese online shops, the daily sales on the world's largest e-commerce group Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall reached up to 19.1 billion yuan RMB.

　　Nie Linhai, deputy director of the Department of Electronic Commerce and Information of the Ministry¹¹ of Commerce, said, "China is expected to surpass the United States and become the world's largest online retail market in 2013."

　　"Customers used to buy things only when they can see and touch them personally. But thanks to the complete online information such as the evaluation¹² and price check systems, information asymmetry¹³ has been solved," said Huang Lihua, director of the E-commerce Center of Shanghai-based Fudan University.

　　Together with the advantages of lower prices and great convenience, e-commerce has brought huge challenges to traditional commercial activities, with some retail shops becoming customers' "fitting rooms".

　　"The impact of e-commerce on traditional business areas is inevitable," said Jingdong founder¹⁴ and CEO Liu Qiangdong. And the tens of millions yuan RMB in sales growth of e-commerce each year is actually won over from the traditional retailers¹⁵.

　　Consequences of the impact are emerging, with a number of stores going out of business and sales volume of large malls plummeting¹⁶.

　　In the future, the market shares of e-commerce enterprises in standard products like electrical appliance, electronic gadgets¹⁷, books and cosmetics¹⁸ will probably reach 70 to 80 percent, according to Liu Qiangdong.

　　Apart from retailers, some cities as traditional business centers, including Beijing and Shanghai, may be embarrassed by the "fitting room" dilemma¹⁹.

　　"For these cities, what they can do is to upgrade customer experiences and enhance cultural attraction," Huang Lihua said.

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

5 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

6 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

10 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

13 asymmetry   

n.不对称；adj.不对称的，不对等的

参考例句：

• These bands must introduce longitudinal asymmetry in the planetary albedo.这些云带必定引起行星反照率的经向不对称性。
• In any event the asymmetry is clear enough.总之，不对称是非常明显的。

14 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

15 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

16 plummeting   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。 来自辞典例句
• The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。 来自辞典例句

17 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

18 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

19 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。