今年最后一个月，上海再拼一把在线新消费   2020-12-14

 

As a brand-new subject and a systematic project, urban digital transformation involves various areas such as the production, life and ecology of a city, and can be subdivided into economy digitization, life digitization, governance digitization, etc. The first Shanghai Online Life Festival unveiled on December 1 and will last until December 15. The festival is designed to stimulate online new consumption, being one of the important measures to promote “life digitization” and demonstrating Shanghai’s efforts and determination to accelerate digital transformation.
Among the eight participating e-commerce merchants, Ele.me embraces the new near-distance business era with a people-oriented approach, and use new services to help accelerate the upgrade of the life service industry; Meituan-Dianping, which will build its new headquarters in Yangpu, strives to build a multi-level scientific and technological service platform from the supply side to demand side, so as to help create a better urban life; Ding Dong Grocery that has been dedicated to “making good ingredients as easily accessible as tap water, and benefiting all people” wants to promote consumption upgrade with a new model of fresh foods supply; Dada, a unicorn enterprise that was successfully listed overseas this year, creates a new e-commerce model of “live-streaming shopping in one hour;” Ctrip, which has been most severely hit by the Covid-19 epidemic, steps up efforts to promote technological and model innovation in the tourism industry; Xiaohongshu, which is committed to promoting consumption through product recommendation, attempts to use contents to empower consumption and boost online new economy; Tuhu.cn, which has been constantly exploring digitization, not only aims to make car maintenance cheaper, but also tries to introduce a trans-boundary immersive light and shadow exhibition of auto parts and art; with its efforts to integrate the industrial internet and consumer internet, Hema Fresh, which has just launched a cross-border e-commerce experience center for trial operation, has always been committed to innovating online new consumption.
Li Qiang, Secretary of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, visited 2 of the above 8 companies on March 30 eight months ago. At Ding Dong Grocery, he said that amid the fight against the epidemic, online economy, door-to-door economy and non-contact economy have shown promising prospects, creating golden development opportunities for enterprises engaged in internet innovation and life services. At Meituan-Dianping, he said that the epidemic has changed the ways of production, living and consumption. Many enterprises have ventured into new business areas according to new demands and achieved new development. It’s necessary to take a long-term perspective, further enhance the ability to turn crises into opportunities, accelerate service and technological upgrades, and make more efforts to promote and upgrade consumption, so as to fully boost consumer confidence and better stimulate market vitality.
To that end, Shanghai has been making utmost efforts to create a better innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, helping enterprises achieve greater development by seizing opportunities and making breakthroughs. Shanghai’s online life service platforms have made impressive achievements amid the anti-epidemic battle by ensuring material supply early this year and during the subsequent “Shopping Festival on May 5.” From January to October this year, the total volume of goods sold online in Shanghai reached RMB 552.02 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.9%, testifying to the social responsibility undertaken by China’s e-commerce industry and heralds a comprehensive digital era for the city. In the last month of 2020, Shanghai will step up efforts to promote online new consumption, to raise the profile of Shanghai’s online life service brand, create a brighter future for life digitization, and build Shanghai into a highland for the development of online new economy.
Governance digitization is more about establishing a digital government, improving flexible governance and refining service. Economy digitization is mainly about enterprises achieving intelligent production, digital operation and smart management, and improving corporate performance and competitiveness. When it comes to life digitalization, efforts will made to enhance people’s livelihood, and better meet people’s needs in various fields of life services in line with the idea that city makes life better. It seems that the three are irrelated, but actually they influence each other. Life is the most fundamental part. Only with vigorous life digitalization can we achieve prosperous digital economy. The development of digital economy can force the government to innovate digital governance and create a sound environment. Therefore, the digitization of economy, life and governance go hand in hand. Besides, only through integrating technologies into business models and livelihood scenarios can urban digital transformation bring technologies into better play.
With life service scenarios as the starting point and online new consumption as the focus, urban digital transformation will improve the efficiency of life digitization and create a better life for people.
Author: Lao Guoling, Professor and Director of Research Center of E-commerce at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
 

 

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