阿里巴巴“雙十一”成交額達254億美元

Alibaba shuttered the tills on its biggest Singles Day shopping festival to date — a $25.4bn haul that saw Chinese shoppers snap up more than $1bn worth of mobile phones, shoes and lipsticks every hour, underlining the strength of consumer sentiment.

中國科技集團阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的收銀機在其迄今最大的“光棍節(jié)”(Singles' Day)購物節(jié)這一天收獲了254億美元，中國的購物者們每小時購買了價值逾10億美元的手機、鞋子和口紅等等，凸顯出消費者的信心有多強勁。

More than 777m parcels were shipped in what has become the biggest day by far in the global retail calendar. “It speaks to the upgrading of consumption in China,” said Daniel Zhang, chief executive of the Chinese tech group.

“光棍節(jié)”已成為全球零售業(yè)年歷中最重大的日子。在今年的“光棍節(jié)”，有逾7.77億件包裹被發(fā)運出去。“這體現(xiàn)出了中國消費的升級，”阿里巴巴首席執(zhí)行官張勇(Daniel Zhang)說。

It is also a measure of the explosive growth witnessed in China. Alibaba has turned Singles Day — numerically written as 11.11 — into an event many times bigger than any US shopping day sales. The company is now one of the 10 most valuable in the world.

另一方面，它也是衡量人們在中國見證的爆炸性增長的一個指標。阿里巴巴已把“光棍節(jié)”(又稱“雙十一”)變成一項銷售額比美國任何一個購物日都大許多倍的活動。該公司如今是全球市值最高的十家公司之一。

Saturday’s Rmb168bn figure was within sight of the Rmb240bn total retail sales of consumer goods in China in April 1999, the month Alibaba was founded — not accounting for inflation or exchange rates. Nine out of 10 purchases were made using mobile phones.

不考慮通脹或匯率因素，上周六的1680億元人民幣的數(shù)字已與1999年4月中國2400億元人民幣的社會消費品零售總額相差不遠——阿里巴巴就是在那個月成立的。今年用手機下單的消費者占到十分之九。

“What’s behind all this is the power of the Chinese consumer,” said Joe Tsai, chairman of the Chinese tech giant. “There’s a middle class of over 300m and every year their disposable income increases.”

“這一切的背后是中國消費者的實力，”這家中國科技業(yè)巨頭的執(zhí)行副主席蔡崇信(Joe Tsai)說，“中國有逾3億中產(chǎn)階級，他們的可支配收入每年都在增長。”

The company is not shy of hyperbole — it aims to be bigger than the world’s fifth-biggest economy and serve 2bn customers by 2036. It forecasts total group revenues will rise 49-53 per cent this year. 阿里巴巴不怯于高調(diào)——它的目標是到2036年規(guī)模比世界第五大經(jīng)濟體還要大，為20億顧客服務(wù)。該公司預(yù)計今年集團總收入將增長49%至53%。

Alibaba also stressed its international and rural focus this year, citing a farmer from Shandong province who sold more than 400,000 duck eggs alongside the sales of brands such as Nike, Uniqlo and Nestlé.

阿里巴巴還強調(diào)了今年其對國際和農(nóng)村市場的集中發(fā)力，它提到了山東省的一個農(nóng)民，此人不但銷售耐克(Nike)、優(yōu)衣庫(Uniqlo)和雀巢(Nestlé)等品牌產(chǎn)品，還賣出了逾40萬個鴨蛋。

While the $25.4bn spent is big — storming past last year’s $18bn — it stands to be whittled back by returns. Alibaba says these are less than 10 per cent, but has acknowledged a dip in merchants’ sales in the days following as a result of front-ended buying.

盡管254億美元的銷售額很大——碾壓去年的180億美元——但最終的銷售額會因退貨的存在而有所減少。阿里巴巴表示退貨率不到10%，但它承認，商戶們接下來一段時間的銷售額會因消費者在這一天的提前購買而有所下降。

Analysts have also queried Alibaba’s ability to keep increasing sales, and founder and chairman Jack Ma has himself hinted at a switch away from gross merchandise volume, the metric used to measure total sales.

分析師也對阿里巴巴不斷提高商品交易總額(GMV)的能力提出了質(zhì)疑，阿里巴巴創(chuàng)始人、董事局主席馬云(Jack Ma)本人已暗示，公司會逐漸把注意力從GMV這個用來衡量總銷售額的指標上挪開。

“It’s shifting to other metrics outside GMV and entertainment is a big part of that,” said Tom Birtwhistle, consulting director at PwC Consulting in Hong Kong. He added that possible future measures such as engagement would encompass the whole ecosystem.

“它正轉(zhuǎn)向GMV之外的其他衡量指標，娛樂是其中的重要組成部分，”普華永道咨詢公司(PwC Consulting)駐香港的咨詢總監(jiān)湯姆•伯特威斯爾(Tom Birtwhistle)表示。伯特威斯爾補充道，未來可能的衡量指標(比如參與度)將涵蓋整個生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。

This year’s bonanza also emphasised Alibaba’s plans to remake retail by blending online shopping and physical stores, and reaching international consumers.

阿里巴巴計劃通過融合線上購物與實體門店、以及將觸手伸向國際消費者來重塑零售，它在今年“光棍節(jié)”取得的巨大成功也凸顯出了該計劃的重要性。

Celebrities including Pharrell Williams and Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who gamely spoke a few words of Mandarin, brought international sparkle to a gala that was equal parts variety show and unabashed commerce.

包括法瑞爾•威廉姆斯(Pharrell Williams)和澳大利亞女演員妮可•基德曼(Nicole Kidman)在內(nèi)的名人，為一場一半是綜藝節(jié)目、一半是毫不掩飾的商務(wù)的節(jié)日盛會帶來了國際亮點。其中，基德曼勇敢地說了幾句漢語。

Mr Zhang highlighted the entertainment element, noting that more than 34bn videos had been played. “Entertainment and interaction are now increasingly becoming a part of ecommerce,” he said.

張勇強調(diào)了娛樂元素，他指出直播和短視頻獲得了344億的播放次數(shù)。他說：“娛樂和互動如今日益成為電子商務(wù)的一部分。”