英闻天下——2 Traditional Business Embraces E-Commerce

 　　This month, one of China's largest oil and gasoline companies, Sinopec has started to use an online shopping platform to sell petrol.

 

　　Let's follow our reporter Li Dong to find out more.

 

　　China Sinopec Guangdong recently launched its online gasoline purchase website: enjoy365.com and another comprehensive online shopping website. Consumers holding China Sinopec cards can register on the site and purchase gasoline and other products online.

 

　　After charging, consumers use the card to pay for the gasoline, and there's no need to queue to pay for their gas fees. One Sinopec customer says purchasing gasoline online is convenient.

 

　　"Using my card this way is convenient. We don't need to queue at the cashier any more."

 

　　In recent years, opening b2c platforms have been pretty prevalent for many traditional sellers, ranging from electronic home appliances like Suning to shoe brands like Daphne. But sales aren't always as good as they should be.

 

　　Daphne launched their online shopping site in 2009, but in the first half of 2012, Daphne's e-commerce sales volume only occupies 5 percent of their total revenue. Similar failures also occur with delivery and supermarket services.

 

　　Wan¹ Xingdong, director of the Internet and Society Research Center at Zhejiang Media Institute, says that failure to satisfy both traditional customers and e-commerce consumers is a major reason why these outsider e-commerce trials fail.

 

　　"The biggest barrier for traditional enterprises entering e-commerce that is they can't balance their service between traditional and online customers, which occupy 95 and 5 percent of the total customers respectively. This is because the two types of customers really require totally different pricing systems, operating systems and services."

 

　　Wan Xingdong says that building your own online shopping brand is difficult, so using the third party e-commerce platform can be a viable² choice. But he adds that they should also have long-term goals.

 

　　"The risk may be very low if the dealers³ can make the best use of those existing online shopping platforms, but it's really hard to build your core competence⁴."

 

　　Experts point out that cooperating with other mature online shopping sites like Taobao and DangDang may enhance their e-commerce performance.

1 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

2 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

3 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

4 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。