Internet helps shopping for mom and dad
Print Edition
LOCALLY bought flowers or snacks used to be popular gifts for Chinese parents, but in today’s digital world, where many young people have moved away from home, more and more youth are turning to the Internet to buy goods and services for their loved ones.
Guo Tong, 26, purchases nearly everything online ranging from snacks to cosmetics and clothes for her mother who lives in the city of Qinhuangdao, north China’s Hebei Province, around 290km away from Beijing where Guo works.
“It is convenient to express my love to my parents with the help of the Internet when I cannot be with them,” Guo said.
Shopping online for moms and dads has become a new phenomenon in the country where the number of online shoppers hit 610 million as of December 2018, up 14.4 percent year on year.
In February 2018, Taobao, China’s leading online shopping platform, announced the launch of a new feature called “Family Accounts,” connecting all family members in one account to make payment much easier.
Up till now, over 7.5 million people have bonded their accounts to those of their mothers.
Children can use their own money to purchase items picked out by their parents.
One week before Mother’s Day in May, users who purchased the physical examination package for middle-aged and elderly people on Ali Health platform accounted for 35 percent of all physical examination service purchasers, an increase of 14 percent year on year, said Ali Health.
For those who live far from their hometowns, returning home for holidays can be a challenging and often expensive ordeal.
Li Ketian, a university student in the city of Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, said: “This month, I was so busy with my thesis defense and graduation preparation, so choosing a gift online for my mother on Mother’s Day was the best solution.”
Zhang Baoyi, head of the Institute of Sociology under the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, said online shopping provides a new way for people to express their love and filial piety.
“Although gifts from far away are good choices for elderly and lonely parents, nothing is more important than children’s company,” Zhang added.
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