Key words: "Social justice" spotlighted in Congress keynote speech; Service, product quality to define e-commerce future

"Social justice" spotlighted in Congress keynote speech

Hu Jintao urged policy makers to improve the social justice system in his keynote report to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), stressing it should provide people with equal rights, opportunity and regulation for all.

However it was the high-profile term "social justice" in his report that sparked discussion among media outlets about what it foreshadows for domestic policy. 

Beijing News emphasized that ensuring justice in society is one of the most basic functions of government.

"The protection system should not only seek justice during settlements, but focus on ensuring justice from the very beginning," the paper reported.

"Government should guarantee equal rights among citizens, regardless of their social or economic background."

The National Congress report also announced China will strive to help "benefit all citizens through the achievements of socialism", the Xinhuanet.com commented.

The website interprets this to mean the government will put much more energy and money towards improving the well-being of the people, such as addressing the disparity of income and boosting wages among low-income groups.

Service, product quality to define e-commerce future

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group's online sales volume reached 8 billion yuan ($1.28 billion) by 12pm on November 11, prompted by Singles' Day sales and promotions. 

Sales surpassed last year's Cyber Monday in the US, where retailers offer discounts and sales to kick off the Christmas shopping season, according to the Global Times.

Singles' Day, which falls on November 11, is named after the four "1"s in the date (11/11) and celebrates young singles across the nation.

However although low prices and promotions brought about the spike in sales, drove high numbers, experts stress that improving customer service and product quality should be priorities among e-commerce retailers to maintain market integrity and growth. 

Economic Information, a national economic newspaper, quoted an e-commerce industry insider that an increasing number of businesses will lean on e-commerce in order to attract outside financing.

"To maintain a steady stream of investment and expand their markets, frequent promotions are necessary to increase sales and exhibit strong growth momentum to potential investors," said the source.  

Chen Shousong, an industry analyst at Internet consulting firm Analysys International, told the Global Times that price wars and more promotions in the online retail sector are unavoidable, as they have proved to be the most effective way for websites to attract users.

However, Even for bigger e-commerce sites, offering such promotions can also involve a financial burden, since most of these websites are still making a loss, and it is difficult for them to attract more investment or float on the stock market, said Chen.

Promotions by e-commerce platforms could also mean downsides for shop owners.

Such massive promotions can also affect user experience. During the first several hours of Tmall's Singles' Day promotion, buyers found it was difficult to make payments due to a system break down.

Commentator Xu Lifan wrote in the Beijing Times that although massive online sales on Singles' Day reflect huge demand in the market, the ensuing price war among e-commerce giants can have an adverse effect on consumer trust.

"Consumers may still doubt the integrity of the promotion and the price of the product, which will lead to many not trusting e-commerce altogether," Xu explained.

Xu continued to say that "frequent price wars will squeeze profit margins, and lead the e-commerce industry to focus on low prices to attract consumers while ignoring product quality."

Chinese Business News pointed out that price wars also have a negative impact on related industries such as storage, logistics and customer service that are ill equipped to handle such high volume.

Furthermore, such promotions will lead customers to only focus on low price which will impact the healthy development of e-commerce industry.

Beijing Daily echoed the above comments that frequent price wars not only fatigue consumers, but also put too much pressure on suppliers.

Therefore, the paper suggested that the e-commerce industry should attract more consumers with quality customer service and products instead of promotions.

 
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