中國(guó)數(shù)字化消費(fèi)何以領(lǐng)先世界？

China’s consumers are by no means the wealthiest in the world. But they are years ahead of their counterparts in many developed economies in terms of how they shop and pay for what they buy. In this, they are revolutionising the way consumer finance is conducted in the world’s second-biggest economy.

中國(guó)消費(fèi)者無(wú)論如何也算不上全世界最富有的群體。但在如何購(gòu)物和如何支付方面，他們比很多發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家的消費(fèi)者超前很多年。在這方面，他們正在徹底改變消費(fèi)金融在中國(guó)這個(gè)世界第二大經(jīng)濟(jì)體的操作方式。

Like so many of the changes sweeping China, the uptake of internet and digital technologies has happened with head-spinning speed.

像很多席卷中國(guó)的變化一樣，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和數(shù)字化技術(shù)以令人頭暈?zāi)垦５乃俣妊杆倥d起。

As recently as 2000, a mere 1.7 per cent of mainland Chinese were online. Now, the country has more than 700m internet users – a penetration rate of more than 50 per cent.

就在2000年，中國(guó)內(nèi)地還僅有1.7%的人上網(wǎng)。如今，中國(guó)有超過(guò)7億互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶——網(wǎng)絡(luò)普及率超過(guò)50%。

Visit any Chinese city these days, and you will find pretty much everyone toting a smartphone or tablet – or both. China’s e-commerce sales have soared from practically zero in 2003 to nearly $600bn last year, and now top those in the United States. Alibaba’s annual “Singles Day” shopping event generated a massive $17.8bn-worth of sales on its online marketplaces earlier this month, up 32 per cent from a year earlier.

如今到中國(guó)任何一座城市，你都會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)差不多每個(gè)人都隨身攜帶智能手機(jī)或平板電腦——或兩者都帶著。中國(guó)電商銷售額從2003年幾乎為零的水平飆升至去年的將近6000億美元，如今已經(jīng)超過(guò)了美國(guó)的電商銷售額。上月早些時(shí)候，阿里巴巴旗下的在線購(gòu)物平臺(tái)在一年一度的雙十一購(gòu)物節(jié)中創(chuàng)造了178億美元的龐大銷售額，同比增長(zhǎng)32%。

Put another way, mainland China’s consumers – like those in many other Asian nations – have gone from (nearly) no-tech to high-tech within just a few years, largely bypassing clunky fixed-line telephony to leap into a world where and online shopping smartphone ownership have become the norm.

換句話說(shuō)，短短幾年間，中國(guó)內(nèi)地消費(fèi)者——和其他很多亞洲國(guó)家的消費(fèi)者一樣——從(近乎)無(wú)科技跨越到了高科技，基本上跳過(guò)了笨重的固定電話時(shí)代，一躍進(jìn)入了在線購(gòu)物和擁有智能手機(jī)成為常態(tài)的世界。

This transformation is explained by a powerful combination of factors.

這種轉(zhuǎn)變可以通過(guò)幾種因素的共同作用來(lái)解釋。

First, mainland China’s retail and telecommunications networks – again, like those in other developing economies – were for decades underdeveloped and inconvenient. So China’s consumers eagerly embraced the speed and choice that the internet and mobile phones brought to buying clothes, hotel stays or movie tickets, and swapping shopping tips with their friends.

首先，過(guò)去幾十年，中國(guó)內(nèi)地零售和電信網(wǎng)——也像其他發(fā)展中經(jīng)濟(jì)體一樣——不發(fā)達(dá)也不方便。因此中國(guó)消費(fèi)者迅速接受了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和移動(dòng)電話為在線購(gòu)買衣服、預(yù)訂酒店或購(gòu)買電影票、以及與朋友分享購(gòu)物竅門帶來(lái)的快捷和豐富的選擇。

By now, a generation of Chinese has grown up with a different concept of “convenience”: Residents of, say, Shenzhen or Guangzhou are perfectly likely to buy items via the smartphone in their pocket, rather than walk one block to the store that stocks them.

如今，一代中國(guó)人已經(jīng)帶著對(duì)“方便”的不同理解成長(zhǎng)起來(lái)：比如說(shuō)，深圳或廣州的居民完全有可能通過(guò)裝在兜里的智能手機(jī)來(lái)購(gòu)買商品，而無(wú)需穿過(guò)一個(gè)街區(qū)去商店購(gòu)買。

This is the world that anyone doing business in China needs to adapt to: an e-commerce environment that is one of the most developed in the world, and that is growing rapidly. Research company eMarketer estimates that China e-commerce sales will hit nearly $900bn this year – nearly half the global total – and more than $2.4tn by 2020. Already, 55.5 per cent of that is done via mobile devices; by 2020, that will have risen to 68 per cent, according to eMarketer.

所有想在中國(guó)做生意的人都需要適應(yīng)這個(gè)世界最發(fā)達(dá)并且仍然在迅速發(fā)展的電商環(huán)境。研究公司eMarketer預(yù)計(jì)，今年中國(guó)電商銷售額將達(dá)到近9000億美元——差不多是全球電商銷售總額的一半——到2020年將超過(guò)2.4萬(wàn)億美元。據(jù)eMarketer的數(shù)據(jù)，其中已經(jīng)有55.5%的銷售額是通過(guò)移動(dòng)設(shè)備完成;到2020年，這一比例將升至68%。

Meanwhile, the mainland authorities want to continue to develop the Chinese economy, and have supported the build-out of internet-related technologies.

與此同時(shí)，希望繼續(xù)發(fā)展中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的中國(guó)內(nèi)地當(dāng)局一直支持發(fā)展與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)相關(guān)的技術(shù)。

China’s internet and mobile revolution is perhaps most visible in the increasingly affluent and vibrant Pearl River Delta, which is home to high-tech corporate giants like Huawei Technologies and Tencent. Internet penetration in Guangdong province, where the Delta is located, is well above the national average. For example: there are 78m internet users in Guangdong, nearly three-quarters of the population.

中國(guó)的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和移動(dòng)革命或許在日益富裕和充滿活力的珠三角最為明顯，這里是華為(Huawei Technologies)和騰訊(Tencent)等高科技巨頭的大本營(yíng)。廣東省(珠三角所在地)的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)普及率遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)全國(guó)平均水平。例如：廣東省有7800萬(wàn)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶，占到該省總?cè)丝诘慕姆种?/p>

All this has massive implications for the financial and e-commerce sectors in China, which have raced to adapt to Chinese consumers’ ravenous appetite for digital innovation.

這一切對(duì)于中國(guó)的金融和電商行業(yè)意義重大;這兩個(gè)行業(yè)一直快速發(fā)展，以適應(yīng)中國(guó)消費(fèi)者對(duì)數(shù)字創(chuàng)新的貪婪胃口。

Just as buying behaviour has changed from traditional over-the-counter to online/mobile, so too financial interaction is rapidly becoming paperless, wired and digital.

就在購(gòu)買行為從傳統(tǒng)的柜臺(tái)交易變?yōu)榫€上或移動(dòng)交易之際，財(cái)務(wù)互動(dòng)也迅速變得無(wú)紙化、網(wǎng)絡(luò)化和數(shù)字化。

Alibaba, for instance, has capitalised on the popularity of its own online marketplaces by creating its own payment system, Alipay. In 2015, Alipay had 451m active users conducting on average 153m transactions per day. By comparison, PayPal’s 180m active users conducted just 16 million transactions a day.

例如，阿里巴巴通過(guò)建立自己的支付系統(tǒng)“支付寶”(Alipay)來(lái)利用其在線市場(chǎng)的高人氣。2015年，支付寶擁有4.51億活躍用戶，每天平均完成1.53億筆交易。相比之下，Paypal只有1.8億活躍客戶，平均每天僅完成1600萬(wàn)筆交易。

And Tencent in 2014 set up an electronic wallet – which allows people-to-people payments via mobile phones – for users of its massively popular social messaging apps.

2014年，騰訊為其人氣極高的社交消息傳送應(yīng)用開(kāi)通了電子錢包功能，允許用戶通過(guò)手機(jī)實(shí)現(xiàn)相互支付。

The uptake of such technologies has been immense.

這類科技一直普及迅速。

Within just 72 hours of ApplePay’s launch in mainland China in February, 3m payment cards had been registered to the service. That’s three times the total registered in the US.

今年2月，ApplePay登陸中國(guó)內(nèi)地的72小時(shí)內(nèi)，就有300萬(wàn)張支付卡綁定了該服務(wù)。這是美國(guó)綁定量的3倍。

More than 410m Chinese now regularly use e-payment methods – nearly 90 per cent of them via mobile devices – according to official data.

根據(jù)官方數(shù)據(jù)顯示，如今超過(guò)4.1億中國(guó)人定期使用電子支付方式，其中近90%的人是通過(guò)移動(dòng)設(shè)備實(shí)現(xiàn)電子支付的。

Traditional banks also are responding to China’s e-commerce/e-payment ecosystem, and are rushing to introduce new digital tools for their customers.

傳統(tǒng)銀行業(yè)也在對(duì)中國(guó)電子商務(wù)及電子支付的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)作出反應(yīng)，競(jìng)相對(duì)客戶推出新的數(shù)字化工具。

Virtual teller machines, for example, allow customers to interact with bank staff by video, scan documents and provide e-signatures, meaning that things like opening an account becomes simpler and quicker.

例如，虛擬柜員機(jī)允許客戶通過(guò)視頻與銀行員工互動(dòng)、掃描文件并提供電子簽名，這意味著開(kāi)戶等業(yè)務(wù)變得更加簡(jiǎn)單快捷。

Mobile apps are increasingly common and making it easier for customers to check their accounts or make transactions, wherever they happen to be.

手機(jī)應(yīng)用日益普及，使顧客更容易隨時(shí)隨地進(jìn)行賬戶查詢或交易。

Thumbprint ID and voice-recognition technologies are already available and will before long be commonplace, adding an extra layer of security and convenience for online and mobile customers.

指紋識(shí)別和聲音識(shí)別技術(shù)已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)，要不了多久就會(huì)普及，為在線和手機(jī)客戶提供額外的安全和便捷。

“Bricks and mortar” bank branches and people-to-people interaction is still highly valued, although their role is rapidly changing to focus on meeting customers’ wealth management and more complex needs. Paperless, branch-less “clicks and apps” banking allows banks to service most of their customers’ transactional needsmore efficiently and quickly, around the clock – whether they are in Shenzhen, Shanghai, rural Sichuan, or on holiday in Thailand.

“實(shí)體”銀行網(wǎng)點(diǎn)和人與人面對(duì)面的互動(dòng)仍然受到高度重視，盡管它們的角色正迅速變?yōu)閷Ｗ⒂跐M足客戶對(duì)財(cái)富管理和較復(fù)雜業(yè)務(wù)的需求。無(wú)紙化、不用去柜臺(tái)的“點(diǎn)擊應(yīng)用”服務(wù)，使得銀行可以24小時(shí)更高效、更快捷地服務(wù)于大多數(shù)客戶的交易需求，無(wú)論他們是身處深圳、上海、四川農(nóng)村，還是正在泰國(guó)度假。

Few people could have imagined the changes sweeping China’s retail and banking scene just five years ago. The next five years are sure to bring still more change. Banks and retailers will need to be nimble, and anticipate the future needs and preferences of China’s 1.37bn shoppers. Those who get it right will find the size of the prize is immense.

就在五年前，還幾乎無(wú)人可以想象如今席卷中國(guó)零售和銀行業(yè)的變革。接下來(lái)的五年必然還會(huì)帶來(lái)更多變革。銀行和零售商要靈活應(yīng)變，提前預(yù)測(cè)13.7億中國(guó)購(gòu)物者的未來(lái)需求和偏好。那些預(yù)測(cè)正確的人會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)是豐厚的。

Kevin Martin is head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management Asia-Pacific, HSBC

本文作者為匯豐銀行(HSBC)亞太區(qū)零售銀行和財(cái)富管理業(yè)務(wù)主管