Chinese women: an emerging driving force behind China’s fast retail growth

Deb Weidenhamer has been running auctions for three years in the French Concession in Shanghai, but still finds herself the center of attention at the end of the shopping spree. Chinese women flock to her side, wanting to understand more, not about the high-end handbags and imported jewelry they’ve just purchased, but about her life.

德布·魏登哈默尔在上海原法租界开展拍卖活动虽然已有三年时间，但她在疯狂购买的尽头找到了自己的关注焦点。中国女性会聚集到她的身边，想要进一步了解她的生活，而不是她们刚刚购买的高档手提包和进口珠宝。

“They ask what I had to give up to have a career,” says the CEO of the U.S. American Auction Co. and of its Chinese subsidiary, iPai Auction Co. “Then they’re a little surprised when I tell them: nothing.”

“她们问，为了开拓事业，我不得不放弃什么，”美国拍卖公司及其中国子公司爱拍拍卖有限公司的这位首席执行官表示，“当我告诉她们，什么都没有放弃的时候，她们略显惊讶。”

Chances are they’re soaking in the lessons fast: Weidenhamer is a groundbreaker in the auction business. Her companies have 280 employees and 28 employees, respectively. These generations of Chinese women are groundbreakers, too: In mainland China, women’s average contribution to household income has jumped to 50% from just 20% in 1980, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

中国女性有可能正在快速吸取经验：魏登哈默尔在拍卖领域是一位开拓者。她的两家公司分别拥有280名和28名员工。根据经济学人智库的数据显示，这几代中国女性同样身为开拓者：在中国大陆，女性对家庭收入的平均贡献从1980年的仅20%跃升至如今的50%。

In fact, women’s rise and their spending propelled China to its status as the world’s largest e-commerce market in 2013. Government stats put the U.S. market at about $270 billion and the Chinese market at $308 billion that year.

事实上，女性地位的提高以及女性消费推动中国在2013年成为全球最大的电子商务市场。美国政府统计数据显示，2013年，美国电商市场规模约为2,700亿美元，而中国市场规模约为3,080亿美元。

Just 10 years ago, most Western companies were ignoring Chinese women altogether: the stereotype was of stay-at-home women who contributed little to household income. China was a huge market, but it was seen as huge monolithic market. When executives that I interviewed talked about it, they liked to say: “1.3 billion consumers,” and had little more context than that.

而就在十年前，大多数西方公司完全忽略了中国女性这一消费群体：他们对中国女性的刻板印象是家庭主妇，对家庭收入的贡献不大。中国是一个庞大的市场，但被视为一个庞大的整体市场。在接受我采访的几位高管谈到这一点时，他们喜欢说，“13亿消费者”，除此之外，并不会有更多分析。

Fast-forward to today. The Chinese market is far from monolithic; it’s more likely to be called complex, as some retailers have stumbled trying to break into it, stymied by high taxes, changing regulations and a lack of knowledge of the cultural differences. And most companies are well aware now that the driving force behind China’s fast retail growth and especially its e-commerce growth is women, who are increasingly earning their own money and using it to shop.

时至今日，中国市场决不是一个整体；由于受到高税收、不断变化的监管环境以及对文化差异缺乏认识等诸多因素的限制，一些零售商在尝试进入这一市场时屡屡受挫，因此该市场更有可能被许多人称之为一个复杂市场。而目前，大多数公司已经清楚地意识到，女性成为中国零售业快速增长——尤其是电子商务快速增长——背后的推动力量，越来越多的女性自己赚钱，并把挣来的钱用于购物。

In 2015, retail sales in Asia were forecast to grow by an average 4.6% on a volume basis, to $7.6 trillion. Growth was expected to be 2.5% in North America and 0.8% in Europe. Asia is expected to surpass North America as the world’s largest e-commerce market this year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, which surveyed 5,500 women in major cities in Greater China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea to get a sense of women’s emerging spending power. Worldwide, women control about $20 trillion of consumer spending, according to the International Finance Corp.

2015年亚洲零售市场总量预计平均增长4.6%，达到7.6万亿美元。据预测，北美和欧洲市场将分别增长2.5%和0.8%。据经济学人智库称，亚洲有望在今年超过北美成为全球最大的电商市场。经济学人智库对来自大中华区、印度、日本、新加坡和韩国主要城市的5,500名女性展开调查，以了解女性的新兴消费能力。据国际金融公司称，从全球范围来看，女性每年控制着约20万亿美元的消费支出。

The glimpse of Chinese women that emerges from the report is fascinating. Some 43% of Chinese women are in executive, managerial or professional jobs, 62% are joint breadwinners and 76% have their own bank account, according to the report.

从这份报告中脱颖而出的这一群中国女性的确很了不起。这份报告显示，其中，大约43%的女性从事行政、管理或者专业性工作，62%的女性与丈夫一同担起了养家糊口的重任，76%的女性拥有自己的银行账户。

Many of the women are rising professional stars. The lives of urban Asian women are a far cry from the stereotypes many Americans hold. For instance, women held 29% of senior management positions in Asia in 2013, a higher percentage than American or European women.

许多女性已经成为冉冉升起的职场明星。亚洲都市女性的生活与许多美国人对她们持有的刻板印象有很大不同。比如，2013年，在亚洲担任企业高管的女性多达29%，这一比例远高出欧美女性。

她们正成为潮流创造者。零售市场正在迅速发展，越来越多女性已不再用大品牌来定义自己。而一两年前，拥有一款大牌包非常重要，比如，越来越多的女性会选择独特新颖的手提袋，即便价格昂贵也在所不惜，魏登哈默尔如是说，“她们想处于潮流前沿，我发现，越来越多的人已经把注意力从知名品牌转移到小众品牌身上。”

They prefer non-traditional shopping venues. In some ways, perhaps, Chinese women are moving faster than their culture. Sixty-nine percent told the surveyors from the Economist Intelligence Unit that they prefer online shopping in part because they’re still talked down to in traditional shops.

她们更喜欢非传统购物环境。在某种程度上，中国女性也许比她们的文化进步得更快。69%的女性告诉经济学人智库的调查人员说，她们更倾向于网购，部分原因是在传统商店一些店员会态度高傲。  

They are becoming more discriminating and smarter with their purchases. “You are starting to see taste emerge,” said Weidenhamer. “When the market first opened up and all these big brands ran into China to capture the money that was there, you saw young women spend their entire paychecks. “Now, women are deciding what they want. They don’t feel as compelled to spend.”

她们在购物时变得更有辨别能力、更加明智。“你开始发现她们的品味在不断提升，” 魏登哈默尔说，“当中国市场第一次打开，所有这些大品牌一涌而入来争夺市场时，年轻女性会不惜花掉她们的所有工资。”“现如今，女性自己决定自己需要什么，不再有被迫消费的感觉。”

It’s not just young women who are spending. Though big retailers are tending to focus their energy on women in their 20s and 30s, they may be missing the boat on a particular dynamic in China, which is the tendency for grandmothers to spend enormous amounts on gifts for their grandchildren.

消费主力不只是年轻女性。虽然大型零售商倾向定位20多岁和30多岁的女性，但是他们可能正在错过愿意为孙辈们花大钱买礼物的奶奶和外婆。

And one final, very interesting point: Weidenhamer said she often finds herself advising American retailers to spend a lot more time and energy on packaging. An item might be wrapped in tissue, placed in a box, tied with a ribbon, and placed inside a bag. “There is just an elegance to the culture,” she said.

最后，非常值得玩味的一点是：魏登哈默尔说，她发现自己总是建议美国零售商在包装上多花些时间和精力，比如一件商品可以用纸包好，放在一个盒子里，用丝带系好并装入一个袋子里。她说，“这正是展现中国优雅文化的地方。”