No touching! How coronavirus leads us to adopt a new lifestyle
Print Edition
To many foreigners, the Chinese don鈥檛 seem very 鈥渢ouchy-feely.鈥 They generally don鈥檛 hug and kiss acquaintances upon meeting, like the French, say.
What may seem like a degree of social aloofness actually has been a bonus during the coronavirus epidemic, when we are told to maintain distance from others. Taking that a step further, people are now increasingly operating in a 鈥渢ouchless鈥 society that extends to buying habits.
Like using your mobile phone to place a breakfast order for the subway trip to work and picking it up at a Pick鈥檔 Go store without queuing. Fast, efficient and distanced.
Leishenshan Hospital, one of the two rapidly built hospitals in the former virus epicenter of Wuhan, featured a nearby unmanned shop where medical staff could pick up a quick bite to eat without coming in contact with others.
Be it a Pick鈥檔 Go shop or the unmanned store at Leishenshan Hospital, the stay-at-home and social-distancing imperatives of the coronavirus epidemic mean that more people are turning to what is nowadays called the 鈥渮ero-touch economy.鈥
In the new-look retail, buyers and sellers conduct their business without personal contact.
Peng Wensheng, global chief economist of Everbright Securities, said the whole concept of the zero-touch economy as part of the digital economy has attracted 鈥渆normous鈥 attention for its performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first quarter of the coronavirus outbreak, online retailing of physical goods increased 5.9 percent from a year earlier to 1.85 trillion yuan (US$260 billion), 25 percentage points higher than total retail sales, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
This phenomenon actually began before the COVID-19 pandemic in China, thanks to the rise in the online economy. Analysts say the trend is likely to flourish in the future.
The 鈥渙nline economy鈥 refers to commerce based on the Internet. It is also referred to as the Internet Economy, New Economy or Web Economy.
Everbright Securities鈥 Peng said the zero-touch concept spans a variety of formats: social retailing, life services, remote offices, remote medical treatment, online entertainment, online education and smart logistics, among others.
Increasingly, the online economy is becoming intertwined with the traditional economy. It results from billions of everyday online connections among people, businesses, devices, data and processes. It is based on the interconnectedness of people, organizations and machines that results from the Internet, mobile technology and the Internet of Things.
Lin Zhe, chief executive of Sunmi, a technology provider to Pick鈥檔 Go, said in the retailing field, the zero-touch economy is more of a 鈥渟elf-help business model鈥 where machine replaces man in some aspects. Efficiency and the consumer experience are both enhanced, he said.
Indeed, instead of going into a shop to buy a commodity or service, transactions can be done online. Delivery doesn鈥檛 have to mean personal contact.
鈥淭he future of new retailing features more efficient and more convenient self-help services,鈥 he said.
That鈥檚 not to say that the rise of the zero-touch economy hasn鈥檛 created some concerns. The payment systems that accompany this business model, for example.
Self-help businesses rely on technology for payment. At first, that meant scanning QR codes. Then is evolved to facial scanning with the assistance of a smartphone. And today, even the phone is gone from the equation. A consumer need only stand in front of a facial-recognition payment machine to debit money from their Alipay accounts.
Concerns raised
Facial-recognition scanning is now also used at railway stations and airports for checking in.
Although the zero-touch economy shows clear growth momentum, Everbright Securities鈥 Peng said questions linger about issues such as the protection of individual privacy.
Sunmi鈥檚 Lin said any new technology takes times to establish itself and be accepted.
鈥淎s for a face-scanning payment machine qualified for financial payment, it will not have safety problems,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hether it is payment by face scanning or fingerprinting, the key is that these technologies all promote convenience of business and improved consumer experience.鈥
China鈥檚 online grocery market alone is now expected to grow 63 percent this year to 264 billion yuan compared with nearly 30 percent growth in 2019, iMedia Research said in a recent report. Consumers seem to like the new trend.
鈥淥ne of the reasons why I like to shop at grocery site Freshippo is that I don鈥檛 need to wait in a long line at the checkout,鈥 said one customer. 鈥淎t Freshippo, there are self-payment options. It鈥檚 very convenient to scan a code or do facial recognition to pay for groceries.鈥
Lao Li, a retiree, said, 鈥淚鈥檓 used to buying items at a local stores, even if it鈥檚 only a handful of spring onions or a bottle of soy sauce. I originally thought technological payment equipment was complicated to use, but I have found it relatively easy.鈥
Lin said the use of new digital payment systems will promote the integration of online and offline businesses.
The online economy, led by Alibaba鈥檚 digital sales platform Taobao, has grown rapidly in China, but it still accounts for only 20 percent of retail sales. The percentage is expected to grow to two-thirds by 2023.
For now, conventional stores are still the shopping choice of the majority of consumers, allowing them to get 鈥渢ouchy-feely鈥 with merchandise choices.
But data about consumer choices is lacking in most conventional stores. To help those businesses build up a better profile of shoppers, companies like Sunmi are adapting the Internet of Things to digitalize traditional stores and bring them real-time information of business transactions.
In that way, traditional stores can also move toward use of self-payment machines.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like turning a physical world into a digital world,鈥 said Sunmi鈥檚 Lin. 鈥淭hat allows resources to be allocated more rationally and costs to be cut.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
