UPM Biofore Magazine 1-2019

TEXT Ni Xiao Hong   PHOTOGRAPHY Courtesy of the interviewees

MEET CHINA’S GEN Y SHOPPERS Over 80% of adult residents in China’s biggest cities do their shopping online, and this growth is quickly spreading to less developed inner cities. We chatted with two typical shoppers from Beijing and Chongqing to find out how online commerce has transformed everyday life in China.

LI ZIYING Industrial Designer, Entrepreneur, PDC Consultation Li Ziying is an industrial designer from Beijing. Like many millennials, he enjoys the convenience of e-commerce and buys almost everything online, from food and office supplies to home appliances and all kinds of services. On a typical day, he orders takeaway for lunch, along with an afternoon cup of coffee in the office. In the evening, he buys items for his home and other personal necessities while watching TV from the comfort of his sofa. Thanks to handy mobile payment systems, cashless society is a reality in China, at least in big cities like Beijing. “I haven’t used cash for about two to three years. And with a mobile phone in your pocket, you can get anywhere you want. Just a quick scan is all you need to pay at a restaurant, a street vendor, or buy tickets to a movie, concert, or for taking the metro.” When asked if he could live without online shopping, Li bears an incredulous expression: “My mobile phone is like an extended organ, and online shopping is the blood that flows in it!” he quips.

LAN QING Middle school maths teacher, Chongqing

Lan Qing lives in Chongqing, a major city in Southwest China. She admits that online shopping is a major part of her life. She uses e-commerce platforms for buying food, clothes, daily necessities, travel packages, hotels, all kinds of tickets – in fact, for purchasing almost everything she needs. “I just don’t have the time to go to the shop or to the supermarket,” Lan Qing says. The concept of “new retail” has made pure e-commerce a thing of the past. Lan Qing explains: “When I visit a store once, I don’t need to pay another visit in person. Through social media, the shop assistants will notify me when they have new products and they will arrange deliveries when I place an order. I buy almost all my skin care products and clothes for myself and my daughters this way. I don’t really go out shopping anymore these days,” she says with a laugh. “The delivery time is so quick that some items arrive within one hour, like the beer and snacks we order when we’re hungry late in the evening,” she adds. “Just now, I ordered two and half kilograms of strawberries from an orchard while chatting with you. The order will arrive on my doorstep tomorrow.” 

LI ZIYING

LAN QING

1/2019 |  43