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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

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.

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.