电商经济发展趋势「从经济学的角度审视电子商务」

本期导读

本文节选自《经济学人》20210102期的封面文章。中国电商行业发展迅速并处于领先地位，其市场规模早在2013年就已经超过了美国；而如今，中国电子零售市场的市值比美国和欧洲加起来还要多。

The online boom

The future of global e-commerce

Retailers everywhere should look to China

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 or were 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.

conquer 意思是“（成功地）对付，克服”suburbia 指“郊区及其居民的生活方式（或态度等）”chimney 指“烟囱”dump 意思是“随便堆放”，它还有“丢弃；倾倒”的意思。euphoria 表示“（通常指持续时间较短的）极度愉快的心情，极度兴奋的情绪”at the cutting edge 是个短语，意思是“处于最前沿；处于领先地位”

Yet as we explain this week 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.

stake out sth. 本意是“明确阐述（看法等）”，在这里可以理解为“中国电商市场的未来十分明朗”razzmatazz 指“令人眼花缭乱的活动”trustbuster 意思是“反垄断者”tycoon 表示“大亨，巨头”，类似的表达参见《新冠疫苗研发取得新进展》（点击跳转）listed firm 意思是“上市公司”，list 用作动词表示“上市”barcode 指“条形码”gum 意思是“口香糖”，Wrigley 是“箭牌公司”

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.

leapfrog 意思是“跃进，越级提升”sheer 在这里用作形容词，用来强调事物的大小、程度或数量；比如 We were impressed by the sheer size of the cathedral. 大教堂的宏大规模给我们留下了深刻的印象。“the sheer size” 强调教堂规模之大。