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There are areas where China's entrepreneurship is outperforming the US, but I find all the focus (that this article and others make) on e-commerce and mobile-pa

There are areas where China's entrepreneurship is outperforming the US, but I find all the focus (that this article and others make) on e-commerce and mobile-payment transactions lacking. e-commerce is larger in China not so much because it is better, but because retail commerce is so underdeveloped. I'm not convinced it is per se better either. (cheaper, yes, but that's a COL issue) Mobile-payments solve a problem the US doesn't have; China never had the well-developed credit card system the US had. Having used both extensively, mobile contactless payments are only marginally better for a consumer than using a physical credit card - and mobile QR code based ones are worse. Cheap dockless bikes for rent are something I consider China to be solidly winning; that's blocked in the US by government regulation. US has plenty of meal-delivery options; lacking support at "any hour" is due to structural differences (lower density, higher COL)

contingencies 9y ago
Your take: China's retail is underdeveloped, China lacks a well-developed credit card system. Implication: credit cards are a foregone conclusion in a developed society. My take: China's retail is fine, and from some perspectives the most developed in the world. Credit cards in particular but arguably bank cards in general are a broken system that needs to die.
- usaar333 9y ago
  > Implication: credit cards are a foregone conclusion in a developed society. No, it's that in a society that already has an effective solution that is tied together by network effects (credit cards), there is little incentive for a marginally superior system (contactless payments via mobile phone) to take off. > Credit cards in particular but arguably bank cards in general are a broken system that needs to die What are you comparing them to? Mobile-phone contactless payments linked to my credit account? I don't see the newer tech as that superior -- and I think the market generally agrees by having such little adoption. > China's retail is fine, and from some perspectives the most developed in the world I probably expressed this a bit wrong. At the time of the e-commerce boom in China, China's retail was far less developed than the US. This means there was more relative value for a customer to use e-commerce. Another driver (that may be larger even) is a reduced car culture in China which means the cost of shopping at stores is higher. (Regardless, from my comparison of being in Shanghai vs. the SF Bay Area, I would put the SF Bay Area's physical retail as superior. e.g. I recall being unable to buy a very basic computer adapter at a physical store in China. And I don't see online availability/shipping speeds as strictly greater in China either).
- qiqing 9y ago
  Retail is a contracting industry in many parts of the world (US and China included) that has retail investors in China super worried because e-commerce is how even middle-aged people like my mom choose to shop. Thus, the increased investment in experiential businesses, such as movies, restaurants -- stuff you have to go to a place in person to enjoy.

contingencies 9y ago

Your take: China's retail is underdeveloped, China lacks a well-developed credit card system. Implication: credit cards are a foregone conclusion in a developed society. My take: China's retail is fine, and from some perspectives the most developed in the world. Credit cards in particular but arguably bank cards in general are a broken system that needs to die.

usaar333 9y ago
> Implication: credit cards are a foregone conclusion in a developed society. No, it's that in a society that already has an effective solution that is tied together by network effects (credit cards), there is little incentive for a marginally superior system (contactless payments via mobile phone) to take off. > Credit cards in particular but arguably bank cards in general are a broken system that needs to die What are you comparing them to? Mobile-phone contactless payments linked to my credit account? I don't see the newer tech as that superior -- and I think the market generally agrees by having such little adoption. > China's retail is fine, and from some perspectives the most developed in the world I probably expressed this a bit wrong. At the time of the e-commerce boom in China, China's retail was far less developed than the US. This means there was more relative value for a customer to use e-commerce. Another driver (that may be larger even) is a reduced car culture in China which means the cost of shopping at stores is higher. (Regardless, from my comparison of being in Shanghai vs. the SF Bay Area, I would put the SF Bay Area's physical retail as superior. e.g. I recall being unable to buy a very basic computer adapter at a physical store in China. And I don't see online availability/shipping speeds as strictly greater in China either).
qiqing 9y ago
Retail is a contracting industry in many parts of the world (US and China included) that has retail investors in China super worried because e-commerce is how even middle-aged people like my mom choose to shop. Thus, the increased investment in experiential businesses, such as movies, restaurants -- stuff you have to go to a place in person to enjoy.