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| Beijingers changing shopping habits for SARS |
| CCTV.COM 2003-05-10 09:05:20 |
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Since mid－April when concerns about SARS began gripping Beijing, many people changed their way of shopping. For more and more city dwellers, the credit card is replacing cash, and now online shopping is the convenient and safe reality for many.
Sales people in the shopping malls in downtown Beijing are wearing masks, sterilizing their counters, and cleaning every corner of the store. They now seem to spend more time on SARS precautions than they do on attracting more customers. And the pace of the very few people in the shopping mall is brisk and businesslike. No one is pausing to window－shop.
A customer said, "I just come and buy what I need, I am no longer window shopping."
The method of payment also changed. People are now more willing to pay with their credit card rather than cash. The latest statistics from major banks show that credit card purchases surged recently. And more than 2,000 people applied for credit cards online in the five day May Day holiday, four times more than usual. The people in this shopping mall are certainly using their credit cards.
A customer explained, "I think it's safer to use a credit card. It reduces the possibility of touching unclean cash, especially at this time."
It's really hard to find anyone window shopping in Beijing. People come and buy what they want and leave. But while shopping malls are losing many of their customers at the moment, online stores are doing a very good business.
Thousands of goods are displayed on the website, with detailed information, customer feedback from previous purchasers and, most excitingly, with cheaper price than shopping malls. You can just register, fill in your order and submit it via the Internet. Normally, purchases will be delivered to your door in less than 24 hours.
Zhang Tong, an online shopper, said, " Since the SARS outbreak, I have been making a lot of purchases over the internet. This enables me to keep away from crowds in stores and I can reduce the potential danger of SARS infection."
There is a huge range of online goods, from publishers, personal care products, clothes and accessories to IT products and electric appliances. The hot sellers include books, VCDs and DVDs.
Some customers get SARS prevention items such as masks and disinfectant thrown in free for promotion purposes. Analysts believe that this boom will not be a short term phenomenon. They say there will be long－term profits, long after the SARS scare is over, as more people grow to like the fun and convenience of the online shopping experience.
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Editor: Inner Wu CCTV.com
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