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  3. Judging by the wildly cheering audience at the orgy of consumerism that was

Judging by the wildly cheering audience at the orgy of consumerism that was

游客2023-12-06  14
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. [br] Internet isn’t always a retailer’s best friend mainly because
选项 A、stores have to match online shops’ low prices.
B、Internet’s better bargains lead stores to harder time.
C、Wal-Mart offers the same deal with online shops.
D、Internet helps attract customers in various ways.
答案 A
解析 推断题。由题干中的“Internet isn’t always a retailer’s best friend“定位至第五段。由第二句的“…forcing prices down and making it harder for store chains to differentiate their offerings”可知，网站贴出的促销把价格压得很低，实体店就不得不与之相配合，由此可知[A]正确。
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