中國商家推出"無接觸"銷售來降低疫情影響

With Chinese consumers hit by quarantine and travel restrictions as well as just wary about venturing out to the shops due to the coronavirus epidemic, companies in the world's most populous nation are experimenting with new tricks to make sales.

由於中國消費者受到隔離措施和出行限制的影響，而且由於新冠肺炎疫情，人們對冒險走出家門去購物充滿擔心，世界第一人口大國中國的企業正在嘗試新的銷售方法。

Oil giant Sinopec - keen to get customers back in their cars and help farmers unable to deliver produce due to roadblocks - launched a new scheme last month called "zero-touch" vegetable sales at its 6,000 gas stations in 147 Chinese cities.

今年2月，中國石油業巨頭中石化在全國147座城市的6000個加油站新推出了“無接觸”蔬菜銷售計劃。該公司迫切希望讓消費者再度開車出行，並幫助因封路而無法供貨的農民。

Consumers place and pay for orders on the Sinopec mobile app and when they drive up, gas station attendants put the vegetables into their car trunk, eliminating any need for human-to-human contact.

消費者在中石化的手機應用程序上下單並支付，之後他們開車到加油站，服務員會把蔬菜放進後備箱，避免了人員接觸。

"The coronavirus outbreak has made it difficult for people to shop as before," said Li Hong, vice president of Sinopec's convenience store sales division. "Travel demand has been falling, but demand for food is pretty rigid."

中石化易捷銷售有限公司副總裁李宏說：“新冠肺炎疫情的暴發使人們很難再像之前那樣購物了。出行需求一直在下降，但食物需求是剛性的。”

Mengniu Dairy, China's dairy producer, is racing to add more vending machines to the 10,000 it currently has, saying the epidemic has driven unexpectedly strong demand for the sales channel.

中國乳製品生產商蒙牛集團正儘快增加自動售貨機，目前該集團擁有1萬臺自動售貨機。該集團表示，這場疫情意外推動了對這一銷售渠道的強勁需求。

Its system allows customers to order products like milk and yoghurt online which can then be picked up from their local vending machine.

顧客可以在蒙牛集團的系統上在線訂購牛奶和酸奶，然後從當地的自動售貨機上取貨。

"The virus outbreak has curbed consumption for dairy products as people are unwilling to go to the supermarket," said Meng Fanjie, head of the company's Communist Party committee.

蒙牛集團黨委書記孟凡傑說：“由於人們不願去超市，新冠肺炎疫情的暴發抑制了乳製品的消費。”

The company has also introduced a 'community wholesale' initiative, making bulk deliveries to housing compounds and other communities so that the people living there do not need to venture too far out.

該集團還推出了一項社區批發計劃，向居民區和其他社區批量供應商品，這樣人們就不用冒險出門走太遠。

"The new retail helped to bring back some sales and given us bigger market share," he said, adding that sales as of Feb 27 had returned to 80% of levels seen in January.

孟凡傑說：“新的零售措施使我們的銷量有所恢復，增加了我們的市場份額。”他說，截至2月27日，銷量已經恢復到1月份80%的水平。

Luckin Coffee a domestic rival to Starbucks, now also offers deliveries of alcohol-based sterilizers and antibiotic hand soap in addition to caffeinated beverages. It is also stocking its network of vending machines, launched this year, with the sanitizer products.

星巴克在中國國內的競爭對手瑞幸咖啡現在除了提供含咖啡因的飲料外，還提供含酒精的消毒液和抗菌洗手液。同時，該公司在今年推出的自動售貨機中也提供消毒產品。

Liu Xingliang, an independent retail analyst, said, however, that he thought Luckin's strategy would have only a modest impact. "At best some users will place an order when they buy coffee but nobody is deliberately choosing the Luckin app just to buy sanitizer."

但獨立零售業分析師劉興亮說，他認爲瑞幸的戰略不會有太大效果。他說：“最多會有些用戶在買咖啡時順便下單買消毒產品，但沒人會特意選擇瑞幸的應用程序買消毒液。”