Business Channel 2006-11-29&12-01

We call this Black Friday because the huge sales historically have helped push retailers² into the black. And, while today is much publicized for shopping, the busiest shopping day of the year isn't actually today. It's now the Saturday before Christmas, make sense. Even so, earlier report showed the stores are brimming with buyers as your Pipe(应该说的是CNN Pipeline) showed. And the cashiers are ringing as shoppers search for those big bargains. According to the National Retail¹ Federation³, the average consumer will spend about 800 dollars on gifts for other people this holiday season, and only about, yeah, 99 bucks⁴ on themselves.

Oh, you know, I don't know if that's true. I think it's sometimes the other way around for some folks, huh.

Can be? Can be? (Yeah) You are not speaking from personal experience, I know.

I'm not, I'm not gonna, yeah, never, no. What are some of the, the good gifts out there? What are popular right now?

You know, things haven't really changed all that much. Little girls still go for Barbie. And for boys, actually though, it's the new TMX Elmo, which tops their wish list. Um, and for bigger boys, flat panel TVs are the most wanted item.

Oh yeah.

And a new...yeah, hey! Would I want one, for bigger boys and bigger girls?

Yeah! Ha...

The new PlayStation 3 is also on that list. But that's already pretty much sold out in most stores. Clothing, of course, is still popular, with about 70% of shoppers planning to buy clothes as a gift. But a lot of people want to avoid that mad crush in the stores. I'm one of them. So more and more shoppers are actually choosing to buy from home, going online. And online retailers are trying to make it easier for you. USA Today reports that over 80% of online shopping sites are offering free shipping⁵. Of course, most of those offers come with a minimum amount you have to spend. Many of the websites also have even better deals than in the store. Amazon.com remains⁶ the leading retail website.

And did you ever think you could get better service online than in person? Sites like Home Depot⁷ and Staples⁸.com offer home-improving tips and have experts available to suggest even pretty good gift ideas.

Oh, that's really cool. Er, now, er, you know, we, we've been talking about online shopping for a long time, right? Felicia, ever since (Absolutely) I guess, Amazon in 2000, 1999, it was really big. But are they really making money right now er… online?

Not really. You would have thought the numbers were bigger. Overall Internet sales only make up about 5% of total profit for stores with physical locations. But that is increasing every year. And stores with catalogs often make up to 50% of their sales online. By the way, a trade group says the typical person can expect to get 13 catalogs in the mail this season, I think I got 13 yesterday.

Wow, all right, I guess it's um, big bricks not so big clicks right now. Er, and there is a survey out there right now, er, on employees?

Yes, exactly. You and I might have to work today, but about 70% of companies are actually closed. Only 15% of the 100 companies surveyed by Challenger, Gray & Christmas actually plan to stay open for business today. The other 15% are operating with skeleton crews. I don't know about you, but there is not too many people here today. (That's right) Among those most likely to crawl into work on this day after Thanksgiving with full tummies are essential workers. Police, hospital employees, and today, at least, retail quali, retail workers qualified⁹ as essential. Companies say that the extra day off is a good way to build morale¹⁰ and since it's traditionally slow anyway, it just seems to make sense.


the other way around
the opposite of what you have just mentioned

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

8 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

9 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

10 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。