海外商家加入中国双11促销大战

HONG KONG — Over the past year, A2, an Australian milk company, made an unexpected discovery: A sharp increase in domestic sales came courtesy of Chinese bulk buyers, not Australian mothers.

香港——澳大利亚牛奶公司A2在过去的一年里有一个意想不到的发现：国内销售额的大幅增长归功于中国的大宗购买者，而不是澳大利亚的母亲。

Bricks and mortar, the company knew, would not bridge the 4,000-mile gap between the two countries and put its products at the doorstep of its newest customers.

公司知道，本土的零售店不可能缩短中国与澳大利亚之间4000英里的距离，把公司的产品送到这些最新客户的家门口。

But a partnership with two of China’s biggest online marketplaces? That could pay off. And A2’s jump onto Alibaba’s TMall and the rival JD.com six months ago led the company directly into the frenzy of discounting that is Singles Day, China’s annual discount shopping festival.

但与中国两家最大的网购平台合作呢？可能会富有成效。于是在半年前，A2在阿里巴巴的天猫及其对手京东踊跃登场，这让公司能直接参与“光棍节”的降价狂欢，光棍节是中国一年一度的打折购物节。

The event began as a celebration of single people, held on a date that said it all: 11/11. But it has long since moved beyond the province of lonely shoppers and Chinese sellers. This year, a long list of foreign companies waited for the clock to hit midnight on Tuesday.

这一活动最初是单身者的庆祝，所选的日子表示了一切：11月11日。但这个节日早已超出了孤独的购物者和中国卖家的范围。今年有一大批外国公司也在等待周二午夜的到来。

At stake were potentially billions of dollars in sales and access to the wallets of a growing Chinese middle class. Last year, $9.3 billion worth of merchandise passed through Alibaba’s virtual checkout aisle. As of late afternoon on Wednesday, Alibaba had sold more than $10 billion worth of products, already surpassing last year’s total.

可能得到的是数十亿美元的销售额，以及人数日益增长的中国中产阶层的钱包。去年，通过阿里巴巴的网上收款台，卖出了相当于93亿美元的商品。截至周三下午晚些时候，阿里巴巴销售额已在100亿美元以上，超过了去年的全年销售额。

“Double 11 is a really big part of my calendar,” said Scott Wotherspoon, the chief executive for A2 in Britain and China. Though the company is new to online selling in China, he said, online outlets “have allowed us to get into China in a much more direct way.”

“双11是我日历上非常重要的日子，”A2公司英国和中国地区首席执行官斯科特·沃瑟斯本(Scott Wotherspoon)说。他说，虽然公司仍是中国网上销售的新手，但网售渠道“让我们能以更直接的方式进入中国市场”。

Companies like A2 are being welcomed into China as Beijing tries to stimulate growth by increasing consumption. The boom in online commerce on display during Singles Day is a major part of that plan — so much so that the office of Premier Li Keqiang offered encouragement to Alibaba, a private company, the day before the shopping festival.

随着北京试图通过增加消费来刺激经济增长，像A2这样的公司正受到中国的欢迎。光棍节展示出的电子商务繁荣是政府计划如此重要的一个组成部分，以至于李克强总理的办公室在购物节的前一天，向私营公司阿里巴巴致贺鼓励。

Although online purchases account for only about 10 percent of China’s overall retail sales, government officials “are pretty optimistic, because they see this part of the economy growing very fast,” said Xiaoping Ma, an HSBC economist. “That will have significant future implications.”

虽然网上购物只占中国总体零售额的大约10%，政府官员对其持“相当乐观的态度，因为他们看到这部分的经济增长速度非常快，”汇丰银行经济学家马晓萍说。“这对未来将有显著的影响。”

And an increasingly affluent population and rising numbers of Chinese tourists have pushed up demand for foreign products, with Chinese consumers attaching particular importance to the sources of certain goods. They are more likely to buy beauty products from France and South Korea, shoes and bags from Italy and health care products from Australia, according to Nielsen research.

日益富裕的人口以及中国游客人数的不断增长已推高了对国外产品的需求，中国消费者尤其重视某些商品的产地。尼尔森的研究显示，中国消费者更可能购买来自法国和韩国的美容产品、来自意大利的皮鞋和手袋，以及来自澳大利亚的保健产品。

Retailers and e-commerce platforms are jostling to cater to these tastes and grab a portion of the spoils.

零售商和电子商务平台都在争相迎合中国消费者的口味，从而在这个市场上抢到点儿份额。

With so many companies throwing elbows for a seat at the sales table, the festival has become a whirlwind of discounting. Shoppers log in as early as they can in search of deals on goods as varied as new clothes and new cars, and this year bargains abounded on overseas products — nuts from Costco, Craisins from Ocean Spray and luggage from Macy’s. 

有这么多的企业挤到网售大餐的桌上争食，光棍节已成为旋风式大打折扣的日子。购物者尽早登录购物网站，寻找各种各样的便宜货，从新衣服到新汽车皆有，今年还有大批来自海外的减价商品——从Costco的坚果、Ocean Spray的蔓越梅干(Craisins)，到Macy’s的行李箱包。

In addition to established brands from overseas, there are newer players looking for a foothold in China, like A2. “The way I see this, we’ve only got our business going since we went online,” Mr. Wotherspoon said, adding that even though there is huge demand for milk formula in China, being online made it easier to sell. 

除了海外有名的品牌外，也有像A2这样在中国市场寻找立足之地的新手。“我对此的看法是，我们只不过是刚到网上开业，”沃瑟斯本说，并补充道，尽管中国对配方奶粉的需求巨大，但网售可使得奶粉卖得更好。

The company offered deep discounts and deals that encouraged multiple purchases. And there were opportunities to preorder — reassuring parents that they could get a constant and reliable supply in the future.

该公司为鼓励多次购买提供了深度打折和促销产品。还提供了预购的机会，让父母放心，他们在未来可以得到源源不断的可靠供应。

“The rise of e-commerce has been a staggering door-opener for companies with relatively small resources to talk to consumers,” Mr. Wotherspoon added. 

“电子商务的兴起，对没有多少资源与消费者直接见面的企业，敞开了惊人的大门，”沃瑟斯本还说。

Holding the door open are a few large e-commerce groups in China, which take a slice of the action from foreign companies using their sites. JD.com, Alibaba’s smaller competitor, has taken advantage of the interest in foreign goods by opening storefronts showcasing products from specific countries, like Germany, Japan and the United States. 

将大门撑开的是中国几个大型电子商务集团，它们从使用其网站的外国公司销售额中收取佣金。与阿里巴巴竞争、但比其规模小得多的京东，已在充分利用对国外商品的兴趣，在网上开了展示来自具体国家商品的店面，比如德国、日本和美国的。

The company hopes Singles Day customers hungering for Mexican avocados, American apples and other offerings will become repeat visitors, said Josh Gartner, senior director of international communications at JD.com.

京东希望，渴求墨西哥牛油果、美国苹果，以及其他产品的光棍节客户将成为回头客，京东资深国际交流主任乔希·加特纳(Josh Gartner)表示。

“Singles Day is partly about the volume of sales, but it’s about bringing new users to our platform,” he said. “If we’re able to introduce new users, we’re able to convert them into longtime customers.”

“销售量只是光棍节的一部分，这种推销也是让新客户接触我们平台的机会，”他说。“如果我们能够吸引新客户，我们就可以将他们转化为长期客户。”

Alibaba made globalization the theme of its four-hour gala before Singles Day kicked off and has been promoting itself to foreign retailers as a point of access into China.

阿里巴巴以全球化为主题，在光棍节前夕举办了一个四小时长的晚会。该公司也在向外国零售商宣传，自己是进入中国市场的一条渠道。

In a news release, the Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, touted the opportunities that this access gave. “There are currently 300 million middle class in China, and that number will rise to 500 million in 10 to 15 years,” he said. “This will be an opportunity for every nation. China’s consumption power will rise quickly and that will not only drive China’s economy, but also the world’s economy.”

在一份新闻稿中，阿里巴巴创始人马云(Jack Ma)夸耀了这条渠道蕴藏的商机。“目前中国有3亿中产阶级，这一数字将在10至15年内增长到5亿，”他说。“对每个国家来说，这都是个机会。中国消费力将会出现快速上升，这不仅对中国经济，对世界经济也会起到推动作用。”

Alibaba even had a promotional video featuring a very American figure — Kevin Spacey, playing President Frank J. Underwood in the TV show “House of Cards,” — suggesting that shoppers could perhaps buy a signet ring, or even a desk like his, on Singles Day.

阿里巴巴甚至还制作了一部宣传短片，由一个非常美式的人物作代言——凯文·史派西(Kevin Spacey)，在美剧《纸牌屋》(House of Cards)中扮演总统弗兰克·F·安德伍德(Frank J. Underwood)——表示购物者可以在光棍节买到他的同款戒指，甚至桌子。

“We’ve been looking at data on Chinese spending habits, demand, international categories that would resonate—everything from maternity, to apparel, to domestics to home appliances, fresh foods,” said Jennifer Kuperman, Alibaba’s vice president of strategy and planning. “These categories, we believe, and have proven to sell well in China.” 

“我们在查看中国人消费习惯、需求、可能感兴趣的国际商品门类的数据——从母婴、服装、家居家电，到生鲜食品等等各种门类，”阿里巴巴战略和规划副总裁詹妮弗·库珀曼(Jennifer Kuperman)说。“我们相信，事实已经证明这些门类的商品在中国卖得很好。”

Food safety is a hot topic in China after several scandals, and foreign produce is often seen as safer, but Ms. Kuperman said that some products, like cherries from Washington State, were also regarded as high-end purchases because of their overseas pedigree.

爆出过几次相关丑闻后，食品安全在中国成为了热门话题，人们通常认为国外农产品更加安全。但库珀曼说，有些产品由于具有海外血统，也被归入了高端类别，比如华盛顿州出产的樱桃。

Vipshop, a site for fashion and beauty products, is betting that offering lesser-known overseas brands that are not yet available in China will attract customers looking for items they saw while traveling, like health care items from the Australian brands Blackmores and Swisse.

时尚和美容产品网站唯品会，希望用一些知名度较低的海外品牌来吸引消费者，比如澳大利亚保健品品牌Blackmores和Swisse。它们尚未在中国销售，但消费者出国旅行时看到过这些品牌。

“In the past they have to travel or ask friends to buy for them,” said Tony Feng, the company’s vice president for Chinese shoppers.

“以前，大家必须出国或是托朋友才能买到，”该公司的中国消费者业务副总裁冯佳路(Tony Feng)说。

That trend has led directly to the doorstep of established online retailers in China. 

这股潮流直接冲到了中国知名网上零售商的门前。

“Four years ago, we had to chase brands to convince them to be part of the game,” said Thibault Villet, the chief executive at mei.com, a luxury retail website where about 95 percent of the stock is international brands. “This year, we were in a position to choose the brands we wanted to partner with, because there’s much more interest to partner and join the competition.”

“四年前，我们不得不出去找品牌，说服他们与我们合作，”奢侈品零售网站魅力惠(mei.com)的首席执行官韦奕博(Thibault Villet)说。“如今，我们可以对想要合作的品牌挑挑选选，因为有兴趣合作、想加入竞争的品牌增加了很多。”该网站上大约95%的商品都是国际品牌。

All of these companies are competing hard for the business of people like Cheng Xin, a mother of a 22-month-old boy.

所有这些公司都在竭力争夺像成鑫这样的消费者。她的儿子22个月大。

Days before Singles Day, Ms. Cheng had already filled her Taobao shopping cart with 73 items, like Uniqlo baby underwear and Mellin baby food from Italy, worth about 30,000 renminbi, or about $4,700. Her husband was leery of the price, but she hoped that with the help of the delete button and deeper discounts on Singles Day, she would be able to get her cart down to about 10,000 renminbi. 

在光棍节到来前的几天，成鑫就已经在淘宝的购物车里放了73件商品，包括优衣库(Uniqlo)婴儿内衣和来自意大利的美林(Mellin)婴儿食品，价值约3万元。她的丈夫对价钱心存疑虑，但她希望，删减一些货品，再加上光棍节会有幅度更大的折扣，自己能把购物车里待购商品的价钱压低到1万元左右。

Foreign brands added to the price tag, but she said it was worth it.

外国品牌推高了价钱，但她说值得。

“For my baby, I feel more confident with foreign brands, especially food,” Ms. Cheng said. “And with clothes, I also feel the design of the foreign brands are better. I think domestic brands have made progress, but still they are not that cool.”

“孩子用的东西，我更相信外国品牌，特别是吃的，”成鑫说。“衣服方面，我也感觉外国品牌设计得更好。我觉得国产品牌有进步，但还没那么好。”

Vipshop, meanwhile, is trying to stand out by highlighting its curated choices on Singles Day rather than expanding its offering. Mei.com has chosen to focus on shoes and handbags.

与此同时，唯品会试图通过突出展示经过整理编排的货品，来在光棍节这一天脱颖而出。魅力惠则选择把重点放在鞋和包上。

This was welcome news to Jeakey Chen, who had her eyes on a pair of boots from the British brand, Clarks, to which she took a liking when she was a student in Sheffield, England. Apart from a washing machine for her parents, she didn’t plan to buy anything else.

对姬琪·陈(Jeakey Chen)来说，这是个好消息。她看上了英国品牌Clarks的一双靴子。在英国谢菲尔德上学时，她就喜欢上这个牌子了。除了再给父母买台洗衣机之外，她不打算买其他东西了。

“It’s kind of stressful to search and compare prices,” she said. 

“搜索和比价太麻烦啦，”她说。