CRI听力:"Double eleven" shopping frenzy hits Brazil

Alibaba, the company credited with creating the 'shopping holiday' here in China, opened up a Portugese version of its website, Ali-express, in Brazil two years ago.

Since then, more than 6-million people have signed up as Ali-express users.

Daniele Sousa is a student in Rio De Janeiro.

She says what drew her to the site was the prospect of the major discounts for "double 11."

"I have downloaded a mobile app 'Ali-Express' two months ago and got to know this global shopping festival. The prices and bargains are really tempting. I'm waiting for the day on 11th to give my first try through the website."

Brazil now represents the 3rd largest number of non-Chinese buyers through Alibaba, behind only Russia and the United States.
It's said that the economic downturn, combined with high costs at Brazil's domestic brick-and-mortar retail outlets, has been pushing more and more people toward online shopping in that country, which is home to an estimated 100-million internet users.

Lawyer Fernanda Barcelos lives in the northeastern Brazilian city of Goiania, and has been shopping with Ali-express since last year.

She says despite the long waits for her purchases to be delivered, she says there is still a net cost-benefit to using the Chinese service.

"In Brazil, the cost of purchases for clothes are pretty high. Apart from price advantages, Ali-express offers much more styles and choices. And the quality of goods are also guaranteed. So far all my shopping experiences online have been wonderful. I communicate with the sellers in English and have so far faced no problems."

Apart from clothing, shoes and bags, electronic products are also popular with local residents in Brazil, with many local shoppers in Brazil posting their purchases on the website.

Carolina Damasceno is one of those from Brazil who likes to share her shopping experience online.

"I bought a Xiaomi smart phone on the website of Ali-Express. It cost me only 126 US dollars. It's really a nice bargain. I used to hear that the delivery is very slow but judging from my own experiences, I think the delivery is very fast. It only took 26 days for me to get the delivery. "

Online stores in China generated just under 123-billion yuan worth of online sales on November 11th last year, which came in well-above the initial estimate of around 100-billion.