成立仅3年，拼多多为何能在美上市？
T-Shirts, Toilet Paper and Rotten Mangoes. This Chinese App Sells It All.
The Latest Hot E-Commerce Idea in China: The Bargain Bin
BEIJING — Apple, Gucci, Tesla. Many Chinese shoppers love their top-shelf[1] brands.
北京——苹果、古驰、特斯拉。许多中国消费者钟情于顶级品牌。
[1]top-shelf: Top-shelf things or people are of a very high standard or quality. 上等的
top-shelf hotel resorts.
...上等的度假旅馆。
But another big slice of the population goes gaga[2] for a 40-cent pair of earrings, a $1.50 wireless smartphone charger and 50 rolls of toilet paper for $4.75.
但还有一大群人，他们喜欢的是40美分一对的耳环、1.5美元的无线智能手机充电器，以及4.75美元就可以买到50卷卫生纸。
[2]gaga: (adj.) having a strong but usually temporary love for someone 狂热的；着迷的
She's totally gaga about/over him!
她完全被他给迷住了！
Just standing near her makes him go gaga!
在她身边站一站他就会神魂颠倒！
These are the shoppers on Pinduoduo, a Chinese app that drew close to 350 million customers in the past year, more than the entire population of the United States. Its parent company is expected to list shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Thursday, just three years into its existence.
这些都是拼多多的顾客群，这款中国的应用程序在过去一年吸引了近3.5亿用户，超过了美国的人口总数。它的母公司预计将在周四登陆纳斯达克(Nasdaq)，距离公司创立仅三年时间。
The lightning-fast ascent of Pinduoduo (pronounced a bit like “PING-daw-daw”) suggests that China is not done producing high-flying internet upstarts, despite the vast reach of incumbents such as Alibaba. It also illustrates the clout[3] of an underserved category of Chinese consumers.
拼多多闪电般的崛起表明，虽然阿里巴巴这样的巨头有着很大的影响力，中国的互联网创业公司仍在迅速涌现。同时，它也说明了中国那些尚未享受到充分服务的消费者影响力之大。
[3]clout: power or the authority to influence other people’s decisions 〔影响他人决定的〕力量；权势
An official protest could carry considerable clout.
正式的抗议可能具有相当大的影响力。
They live outside the country's prosperous megacities[4], in the cities, towns and hamlets that over a billion Chinese call home. They skew older, less internet savvy. And they absolutely cannot resist a bargain, even if the stuff they're buying isn't exactly top of the line[5].
他们生活在这个国家繁华的大都市之外的城镇和乡村，它们是10亿中国人的家园。他们年龄更大，对网络也不是太了解。而且，他们绝对无法抵抗便宜货，即使购买到的商品质量一般。
[4]megacity: a city with over 10 million inhabitants ( 超过1000万人口的)大城市
[5]top of the line/ top of the range 与上文的 top shelf 类似含义。
used for describing something that is the most expensive in a group of similar products 最具水准的；顶级的（用于描述某物在一种类似产品中是最昂贵的）
a top-of-the-range Mercedes 一辆顶级奔驰车
In the southern city of Foshan, Li Tianqiang and his wife sell rice noodles and other breakfast food out of a three-wheeled truck to hungry factory workers. Over the past two years, Mr. Li, 45, has bought nearly $1,000 worth of merchandise on Pinduoduo — the equivalent of around two months' income for him. Among his purchases: an inflatable paddle boat, a fishing bag and a cherry-red motorized car for his young daughter to drive around.
在南方城市佛山，李添强和妻子开着一辆三轮车卖米粉和其他早点给饥饿的工厂工人。在过去的两年里，45岁的李添强在拼多多上购买了价值近1000美元的商品，这相当于他两个月的收入。他买的东西包括：一个充气筏、一个钓鱼包，还有一辆樱桃红的玩具电动车，给年幼的女儿开着玩。
Mr. Li knows he is a little addicted. And regretted purchases? He has a few.
李添强知道自己有点上瘾了。有后悔不该买的东西吗？倒是有几样。
Some were made out of curiosity. In other cases, the items were of such lousy[6] quality that he threw them out after they arrived. The toys he has bought for his daughter — including dolls, a violin and a keyboard — have been particularly bad, he said.
有些是因为好奇才买的。还有几样，是因为质量太差了，收到就扔了。他说，给女儿买的那些玩具——包括洋娃娃、一个小提琴和一个电子琴，质量尤其差。
[6]lousy: of very bad quality 非常糟糕的
a lousy film 一部烂片
It is all so inexpensive, though, that he said he didn't mind the occasional misfire.
不过，价格都很便宜，所以他说并不介意偶尔的不成功。
“It's nothing, really,” he said of his spending on the app.
“也不算什么，”谈到自己在这款应用上的开销时，他这么说道。
For many years, China was a byword[代名词] for shoddy[7] goods produced at mass scale. But that is changing. Wages are rising, forcing manufacturers to compete on quality. Communist Party leaders want to nurture brands known globally for their innovations. Gadget makers such as Xiaomi and Huawei are investing heavily in design, chasing cool and cachet[8].
多年来，中国一直是大规模生产的劣质商品的代名词。但这种情况正在转变。随着工资的上涨，迫使厂商在质量上进行竞争。中共领导人希望培养出以创新闻名全球的品牌。小米和华为这样的电子产品制造商，在产品的设计上舍得花钱，以炫酷和卓越为追求。
[7]shoddy: made or done cheaply or carelessly 劣质的，粗制滥造的
shoddy goods. 劣质商品/产品
[8]cachet: /'kæʃeɪ,kæˋʃe/ if something has cachet, people think it is very good or special 声望，威信，威望
To shop on Pinduoduo, however, is to be reminded that many Chinese consumers still check prices first, and that low-end suppliers remain a big part of the country's economy. The Pinduoduo app's main page is a bottomless* cascade of groceries, fast fashion, household sundries and electronic bric-a-brac[9]— all carrying wildly improbable price tags.
不过，在拼多多上购物，说明许多中国消费者还是很在意价格，而且低端供应商仍然是中国经济的重要组成部分。拼多多的首页满是各种杂货、快时尚、居家用品和电子设备——全部都便宜得惊人。
*bottomless近期又出现了>>>
「经济学人」评“头腾大战”——抖音和微信的较量
[9]Bric-a-brac is a number of small ornamental objects of no great value. 小装饰品; 小摆设
A pair of stretchy[10], “Playboy”-brand men's pants: less than $3. Eleven pounds of rice: $4. A four-pack of boxer briefs[11] printed with an image of a wolf's head: $2. A purple water kettle[水壶] with “LOL” written along the bottom: $3. A pink, around-the-neck smartphone stand that lets you lie down and watch videos at the same time: $1. A vibrating electric belt that goes around the midsection and supposedly helps shed fat: $6.
一条带弹力的“花花公子”牌男裤：3美元不到。11磅（约合5公斤）大米：4美元。四件装印有狼头图案的平底内裤：2美元。底部印着“LOL”字样的紫色烧水壶：3美元。一个可以挂在脖子上的粉色智能手机支架——让你可以躺着看视频：1美元。一个据说有助于减肥的电子振动腹带：6美元。
[10]stretchy:material that is stretchy can stretch when you pull it and then return to its original shape 有弹性的，可伸缩的
stretchy cotton leggings 女式棉质弹性紧身裤
[11]boxer brief 四角内裤；四角裤；平角裤
Shipping is always free.
而且免运费。
Pinduoduo wants shoppers to involve their online friends in the process. Group orders receive discounts. New users who persuade others to sign up are rewarded with one of a selection of free purchases. Tiny pop-ups within the app provide relentless, real-time updates on what others are buying, creating a sense of urgency. Everyone is getting great deals and you are not.
拼多多希望消费者把线上的朋友也拉进来。团购有折扣。邀请他人注册的新用户，有各种免费购物机会作为奖励。从该应用程序的弹出窗口，可以看到其他人正在买什么东西，从而营造一种紧迫感。每个人都捡到了便宜，而你却没有行动。
Between the deliriously strange product selection, the next-to-nothing prices, the barrage of coupons and deals, and the ease with which purchases are made, the experience feels less like shopping and more like playing a shopping video game. In regulatory filings, the company calls the app “a combination of Costco and Disneyland.”
五花八门的产品选择，近乎白送的价格，各种优惠券和划算的交易，以及购物的便利性，使得在拼多多上的体验不太像购物，而更像是在玩一个购物视频游戏。在提交给监管机构的文件中，公司方面称这款应用是“好市多(Costco)和迪士尼乐园的结合”。
Pinduoduo started operations only in 2015. It has grown swiftly enough to attract powerful backers including the venture firm Sequoia Capital and the Chinese internet giant Tencent. The company, which is based in Shanghai, expects to raise $1.4 billion in this week's share offering. That would give it a valuation of more than $20 billion.
拼多多于2015年开始运营。因为发展迅速，吸引了来自包括风投公司红杉资本(Sequoia Capital)和中国互联网巨头腾讯的投资。公司总部位于上海，预计将在本周的股票发行中筹得14亿美元。这将使其估值超过200亿美元。
Because it offers so much cheap stuff, however, Pinduoduo is still way behind its rivals in the total value of goods sold. The company, which is unprofitable, said that its average shopper spent less than $90 on the platform last year. That translates into revenue per shopper of a dollar and change.
不过，由于它卖的多是廉价商品，拼多多在总销售额上仍然远远落后于竞争对手。这家尚未盈利的公司表示，去年消费者在该平台上的平均花费不足90美元。每位消费者带来一美元多的收入。
“This is the lowest quality of traffic you can get,” said Steven Zhu, an analyst in Shanghai with the research firm Pacific Epoch. And if older people are driving Pinduoduo;s popularity, Mr. Zhu added, then its prospects for long-term growth are grim by default.
投资咨询公司弘亚世代(Pacific Epoch)在上海的分析师史蒂文·朱(Steven Zhu)说：“这是所能得到的最低交易量了。” 他接着说，如果是老年人在推动拼多多的受欢迎程度，那么长期增长前景理论上就不大妙。
The platform has also been accused of being awash withknockoff products[12]. Last week, the company was sued for trademark infringement[商标侵权] in the United States.
该平台还被批评假冒产品泛滥。上周，公司在美国被起诉侵犯商标。
[12]上文 shoddy goods 劣质产品
这里 knockoff products 假冒/山寨产品 = 下文的 counterfeits
Pinduoduo declined to comment. But in its filings with stock regulators, the company said it immediately removed counterfeits from the app. And this year, the company's founder, a former Google engineer named Colin Huang, described his philosophy on price versus quality to the Chinese business magazine Caijing.
拼多多拒绝置评。但在提交给股票监管机构的文件中，公司表示将立即从平台删除假冒产品。今年，该公司的创始人，一位名叫黄峥的谷歌前工程师向中国的商业杂志《财经》谈到他的价格与质量理念。
相关阅读
拼多多CEO黄峥的英语怎么样？
His own mother complained to him when two of the nine mangoes she had bought for $1.50 on the app turned up rotten, Mr. Huang told Caijing. Still, he said, she continued to use Pinduoduo. “If you can buy seven good mangoes for $1.50, you're not losing out,” he said.
他告诉《财经》，母亲向他抱怨，在拼多多上花10块钱买了9个芒果，两个是坏的。但他说，再下单的时候，她还是选择了拼多多。“10块能买到7个好芒果，那也不亏，”他说。
For the most part, Kang Xia agrees. Ms. Kang, a 52-year-old retiree in the southwestern city of Chengdu, has used Pinduoduo to buy shoes, clothes, gadgets — “quite a lot,” she said, although the quality isn't always great.
大体上，康霞对此表示赞同。52岁的她来自西南城市成都，现已退休，她在拼多多上买鞋、衣服、各种小玩意——“反正买得挺多的，”她说，不过质量并不总是那么好。
This spring, she got stung by two bad purchases. First, there was a $5 wardrobe[衣柜,衣橱] with colorful fabric panels and a “real wood” frame. One touch was all she needed to realize the thing was no good. Then she bought a chiffon skirt with a floral pattern — less than $6, including a yellow T-shirt to wear with it — that arrived with a jagged tear down the side.
今年春天，她因为买了两件水货而恼火。第一件是一个5美元的衣柜，由“实木“框架和彩色的布艺板构成。她一摸就意识到不妙。然后，她又买了一件带花卉图案的雪纺裙，不到6美元，还包括一件搭配着一起穿的黄色T恤，但裙子的侧面收到的时候就已经破了一个口子。
Ms. Kang said she is now less likely to buy things on Pinduoduo solely because they are cheap. But she still looks at the app every day.
康霞说，她现在不太可能仅仅因为贪图便宜去拼多多买东西。不过她还是会每天上这款应用看看。
For the established big shots of Chinese e-commerce, it is unwelcome news that many shoppers will buy very nearly anything if the price is right.
对于中国主要的电子商务平台来说，只要价格合适，许多购物者几乎会买任何东西，这可不是个好消息。
To retain customers and avoid regulators' ire, Alibaba, which served more than 500 million buyers last year, has fought sales of fakes on its Taobao marketplace. The retailer JD.com, which had around 300 million buyers, has courted upmarket brands and cultivated a reputation for reliability.
为了留住顾客并避免监管者的愤怒，去年服务了超过5亿买家的阿里巴巴一直在淘宝市场上打击假货。拥有约3亿买家的零售商京东已经在争取高端品牌入驻，并树立了可靠的声誉。
“From time to time, there are new players, but the question is whether they can sustain themselves,” Alibaba's chief executive, Daniel Zhang, said at a recent event in San Francisco. “We are also climbing.”
“不时会有新的对手出现，但问题是他们是否能够维持自己的生存，”阿里巴巴首席执行官张勇最近在旧金山的一次活动上表示。“我们也在攀登。”
Terry Yao lives in Dandong, a small city in China's northeast. After looking at some sneakers on Pinduoduo — pairs that should retail for more than $100 were going for a tiny fraction of that, he said — he made up his mind about the authenticity of the platform's products.
Terry·摇住在中国东北小城丹东。在看了拼多多上的一些运动鞋——售价应该定在100美元以上的运动鞋只定在了这个价格的几分之一——后，他对该平台商品的真伪得出了结论。
“China has developed so much,” said Mr. Yao, 28. “But if residents of these third- and fourth-tier cities can only use things like Pinduoduo, it feels to some degree like a big failure. We've gone backward.”
“中国其实发展到今天，”28岁的Terry·摇说。“三四线城市这些居民如果还只能用拼多多这东西的话，我觉得某种程度上其实是一个很失败的东西。其实倒退了。”
But Pinduoduo does not have to be stuck in the bargain bin forever, said Tian X. Hou, founder of T. H. Data Capital, a research firm in Beijing. Now that it has used low prices to attract so many users, it can do as Alibaba did and go premium.
但拼多多不一定永远被困在便宜货的垃圾桶里，北京研究公司天灏资本的创始人侯晓天说。既然它已经用低价吸引了这么多用户，它可以像阿里巴巴曾做的一样，给自己升级。
“Once you have this trust, you can grow out of the current business and create a new business,” Ms. Hou said.
“一旦你得到了这种信任，你就可以走出现有的商业模式，创造出新的业务，”侯晓天说。
That might turn off the most fervent[13] deal hunters. But it could raise Pinduoduo's profile among other consumers.
这可能会让最狂热的便宜货买家望而却步。但这可能会提高拼多多在其他消费者中的知名度。
[13]fervent: believing or feeling something very strongly and sincerely 热情的；炽热的；热烈的；强烈的
a fervent appeal for peace
对和平的强烈呼吁
Zhang Huajin, 34, a manager at a tech company in Guangzhou, bought an iPhone 7 Plus on Pinduoduo this month. Or he thought he did. What arrived was a smartphone, but it was not made by Apple.
34岁的张华金是广州一家科技公司的经理，他这个月在拼多多上买了一部iPhone 7 Plus。或者，他以为他买到了。送来的是一部智能手机，但不是苹果的。
Mr. Zhang got his money back, though. And if Pinduoduo improves quality control and helps big brands sell directly on the app, he will probably buy from there again, he said.
不过，他还是拿回了自己的钱。他说，如果拼多多改善质量控制并帮助大品牌直接在这个应用程序上销售，他可能会再次从那里购物。
Taobao managed the transition, he said, and shoppers' expectations shifted accordingly. On Taobao, Mr. Zhang said, “everybody already knows what kinds of product should be sold at what price.”
他说，淘宝完成了这种转型，购物者的期望也相应改变。在淘宝上，张华金说，“感觉就是大家已经免疫了，知道什么样的价格应该卖什么样的产品。”
来源：纽约时报
LearnAndRecord
2015年2月8日
2018年8月3日
第1273天
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