首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Judging by the wildly cheering audience at the orgy of consumerism that was Oprah Winfrey’s "Ultimate Favourite Things" show, Am
Judging by the wildly cheering audience at the orgy of consumerism that was Oprah Winfrey’s "Ultimate Favourite Things" show, Am
admin
2015-08-29
39
问题
Judging by the wildly cheering audience at the orgy of consumerism that was Oprah Winfrey’s "Ultimate Favourite Things" show, American women have lost none of their enthusiasm for the finest stuff money can buy.(The handful of men in the audience seemed to share the feeling.)The show, screened in two parts just before Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, ended with each audience member going home with products ranging from a set of Oprah branded Le Creuset pots to an iPad, Some Sparkling Ugg boots and a new car.
Retailers must hope that the public will be as enthusiastic about such products when they have to pay for them as the audience was when getting them free. They are certainly competing harder than ever to lure shoppers into their stores. Many are opening before sunrise on Black Friday, as the day after Thanksgiving is known(supposedly because it is the point in the financial year when retailers edge into the black). Wal-Mart was due to open most of its stores at the stroke of midnight. Sears decided to open on Thanksgiving Day itself for the first time, though still holding back its best bargains for Black Friday.
In the hope that this will be a merrier festive season than last year, retailers have been hiring lots of temporary staff: in October those in areas other than the car trade added around 20,000 posts. David Resler of Nomura, a stockbroker, says October’s hiring figures are usually a good predictor of how sales in the holiday season will turn out. In recent months sales have been picking up. Consumer spending rose in each of the five months to October, with even discretionary items like sports goods showing improved sales. However, sales of durable goods(washing machines and so forth)were unexpectedly weak in October, a sign of residual caution among households.
Retailers are making more use of social-networking sites such as Facebook to promote deals and build communities of like-minded shoppers. Sears, for example, has been getting customers to share their shopping tales through a "Be the Santa you want to be" competition. This has been the breakthrough year for Groupon, which uses social networking to let consumers earn discounts by recruiting their friends(the more people who sign up for an offer, the bigger the discount).
But the internet is not always a retailer’s best friend. A plethora of new shopping-information websites, such as leakedblackfridaydeals. com, is forcing prices down and making it harder for store chains to differentiate their offerings. Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer, is adding to the pressures on its rivals by offering to match any Black Friday deal they offer.
Shares in Sears are still trading well below where they were last November. Overall, retailers’ shares have been unusually volatile in the past year or so as consumer confidence has fluctuated, refusing to form any sort of trend. How this holiday season turns out will certainly move the market—as well as determine whether shareholders approve the $3 billion sale announced on November 23rd of J. Crew, a clothing chain, to a group of private-equity firms. The vote will take place on January 15th: until then, J. Crew will continue to seek other buyers.
Private-equity firms have become keen on retailers with strong brands because the recession has forced weaker ones out of business, leaving more space for the survivors. Productivity in retailing has also improved, in part through the better use of technology. So there is the prospect of strong profit growth as and when the recovery gets into full swing.
Stores that cater to well-off women have perhaps the best prospects this season. Such shoppers are "ready to declare the recession over", says Michael Silverstein, the author of "Women Want More", a book charting their growing spending-power. "They have worn through their unused inventory of apparel, fashion accessories and jewellery and are actively expanding their purchases," he says, predicting that retailers who serve them could enjoy a sales boost of as much as 10% compared with last year’s holiday season.
Things may be very different for the bottom 40% of households, still committed to recession inspired prudence. Mr. Silverstein says that in many such families the woman has hung on to her job but is now the sole breadwinner. Such households "are going to hunt for bargains, recognise the holiday, but continue their frugal ways," he predicts. Retailers will be hoping that Oprah and all her glitzy goodies will tempt them to change their minds. But for a large proportion of Americans, window-shopping may be the nearest they get to such desirable items.
What is the main idea of this passage?
选项
A、Economic recession and American economy.
B、Retailers’ tricks to encourage purchasing.
C、Luxurious products favored by rich women.
D、Holiday: retailors busy, not all shoppers happy.
答案
D
解析
主旨题。纵观全文,作者从两个角度来谈美国的消费,一个是从卖家角度来谈.一个是从买家角度来谈(详见文章介绍),因此在做大意总结时要全面,不可偏废一方。从这个角度来分析,[D]是正确选项。它不仅谈到商家和消费者两个方面,一个“not all”还阐明不同层次的消费者的消费观。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/c7OO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Whichisthebestwordtodescribeairtravellers’reactiontoairlinealliances?WhichofthefollowingisNOTaperceivedadv
AudienceofWritingAudienceisaveryimportantconceptforwriting.Youneedtoanalyzeyouraudienceintermsofthefollowin
AudienceofWritingAudienceisaveryimportantconceptforwriting.Youneedtoanalyzeyouraudienceintermsofthefollowin
______istheoutstandingrepresentativeofAestheticisminBritishliteraturehistory.
11.______istheonlypredominatelyFrench-speakingterritoryinNorthAmerica.
Speakingtwolanguagesratherthanjustonehasobviouspracticalbenefitsinanincreasinglyglobalizedworld.Butinrecentye
Therearesome______universitiesintheUnitedKingdom,includingtheOpenUniversity.
ThelongeststatevisitthatHuJintaohasmadetoasinglecountrywilllast
Moderatedrinkingreducesstrokerisk,studyconfirms.Similartothewayadrinkortwoadayprotectsagainstheartattacks,m
______isNOTwrittenbyCharlesLamb.
随机试题
(2005年第54题)风湿性心脏瓣膜病患者出现下列哪种征象应首先考虑有感染性心内膜炎的可能
玉液汤的适应证是增液汤的适应证是
饮水加氟适用于龋病高发区
建筑基坑支护采用重力式水泥土墙,当墙底为中密细砂,根据抗倾覆稳定条件确定其嵌固深度和墙体厚度时,需考虑的因素有()。
某热力管道工程,工程总造价5000万元,某施工企业通过招投标方式获得了该工程的施工任务,该施工企业为了保证预期利润目标的实现,责成项目经理部对工程项目成本制订完善的控制和管理措施和方法。施工项目经理部通过成本预测、成本计划、成本控制、成本核算、成本分析和成
全淹没灭火系统的干粉喷射时间不用大于()s。
2001年5月,小王与某公司签订了4年期的劳动合同,2003年6月,小王因出国留学主动提出解除劳动合同,某公司()支付小王经济补偿金。
某单位要在报名者中挑选2名献血者进行体检。最不可能被挑选上的是2007年以来已经献过血的人以及伤残人士。如果上述断定是真的,则以下哪项所言及的报名者最有可能被选上?()
以下关于SnifferPro的描述中,哪个是错误的?——
HackersAttackUSStateDepartmentComputersTheU.S.StateDepartmenthascloseditspublicemailsystemandwebsitesafter
最新回复
(
0
)