Consumer Lessons from 2011(a)|界线消失的 2011 年

"Uncertainty about the future has become the normal state of affairs; traditional boundaries are being blurred." These are the words with which Jan Hung-tze, chairman of Eastern Online and an expert trendspotter, described the revelations from 2011 as discussed at the Lifestyle Joint Conference held by Eastern Online and the Industrial Technology Research Institute in 2011. Eastern Online's annual consumer survey reveals that Taiwan has two trends that are worth keeping an eye on because they are blurring the lines between industries and may even revolutionize many of them.

First of all, convenience stores in Taiwan offer many services that we have increasingly come to rely on. For example, with the iBon portal in 7-Eleven stores, one can do anything from buying train tickets to printing documents. In 2011, 11 percent of the survey respondents said that they use iBon-type services, compared to only 3.9 percent in 2009. An even higher figure of 30 percent said that they use the ATM machines in convenience stores to get cash or pay bills, which is double the figure of preceding years.

Right now, there are nearly 10,000 convenience stores in Taiwan, the highest density in the world. Consumers who shop at convenience stores go into one an average of 2.3 times per day, which is also the highest frequency in the world. Noteworthy is the fact that Taiwan's convenience stores offer a greater variety of services than anywhere else in the world. For example, noticing that many shopping websites find it problematic to collect money online, Jan decided that his own e-commerce platform, PC Home, could collect payments through 7-Eleven. Today, an average of over 16,000 online transactions are completed at 7-Eleven stores each day. This kind of service is unique to Taiwan.

界线消失的 2011 年

『前途茫茫是常态，边界模糊正当行。』2011年东方在线公司董事长、趋势专家詹宏志在『华人生活型态研讨会』上，为 2011 年启示录定下了基调。东方在线的年度消费调查显示，台湾有 2 个趋势值得关注，因为它们让产业的边界模糊，甚至可能革了许多产业的命。

第一，就是民众的生活高度依赖便利商店。举例来说，随着 iBon 的进驻，人们可以在便利商店做任何事，从购买火车票到打印文件无所不包。2009年受调查的对象有百分之三点九会进入超商使用 iBon 的服务，2011 年则有百分之十一。受调查者利用超商自动提款机提款或缴款的服务比例达百分之三十，比往年成长了 2 倍。

目前全台便利商店近 1 万家，密度全球第一。消费者平均每天进出便利商店 2.3 次，频繁度亦是全球最高。更值得注意的是，台湾便利商店提供的服务项目是全世界最多元的。例如，由于很多购物网站都有收钱的困扰，于是詹宏志决定自己的电子商务平台 PC Home 可以透过 7-11 来代收费用，如今平均一天约有 1 万 6 千多笔的网络交易在此完成，这是台湾独有的服务。