PhanuelMawuliKofiSegbefiaTherearealotofonlineshoppingplatformsallovertheglobe,butonepopularsitethatcaughtmyattentionsincecomingtoChinafromGhanaisTaobao.BeingChina鈥檚largestonlineshoppingplatform,Taobaoisknownforbeingveryuser-friendly,especiallyifyoucanreadChinesecharacters.
Ilovetheirservicesastheyarecommittedtomakingitapleasurableexperiencefortheshopper.IfyoucannotspeakChinese,oryouhavedifficultieswithTaobao鈥檚Englishtranslation,askafriendtosearchforyourdesireditems,talkwiththeTaobaosellerandprovideasmuchdetailedinformationaspossible.Aswithallmarketingstrategiesworldwide,youareenticedtobuyasmuchaspossible.OnetrickythingwithTaobaoisthat,whenyouonlywanttobuybasedonthepictureyouseewithouttakingthetroubletounderstandwhatiswritten,youcouldendupmakingthebiggestmistake!
OnceIboughtadress.Fromthepictureshownonthesite,itwasatopandaskirt.Ididn鈥檛bothertotranslatetheChinesecharacterstoconfirmmypurchasewasexactlywhatIwantedandjustwentaheadandplacedtheorder.AfterafewdaysIreceivedatextmessageindicatingmypackagehadarrived.Ijoyfullyopenedtheparceland,tomysurprise,founditwasonlythetoppartofthegarment.IwassofuriousandthenwentbacktothesitetotranslatetheChinesecharactersrelatedtothedress.Iwasshockedtoseethatitdidrefertoonlythetopofthedress.Iblamemyselffornottranslatingbeforebuying.Also,becausethesellersaresupposedtodisplaythepicturesoftheirproducts,IthoughtIwasbuyingexactlywhatIsaw,notknowingitwasmisleading.
Anotheraspectofshoppingthatwasfrustrating,beforeIwasconversantwiththelanguageandcouldverballytalktothesellers,isthattheauto-translatorsdon鈥檛givetheexactlyaccuratemeaningofthecharacters.Itisahugemountaintoclimbtryingtoexpressyourselfcoherentlywiththeauto-translator.Attimes,Iwouldspendhourstryingtoreachamutualconsensusviatranslationwiththeseller,whichwasagreatwasteoftime.
LikeIstatedabove,Taobaohasgreatservicesinplacewhichreallymakescustomersfeelathomeshopping.OneofthefeaturesIespeciallylikeistheabilitytoreturnaproductforreplacementorrefund.Therearealsotimesthatitemsgomissing,andyouneedtotrackorcommunicatewiththesellertofindthelocationofyourparcel.Inthiscase,too,bothpartieshavedifficultiesinunderstandingeachother.Sometimes[ifyoucanspeaksomeChinese]thesellersfeelorthinkit鈥檚afellowChineseontheothersideofthephonesotheywilljustsendyouatrackingcodetotrackyourproduct.Theinterestingthingisyoudon鈥檛evenknowwheretostarttotrackit.Sohilarious!
Toreallyenjoyanothercountry鈥檚cultureorwhattheydo,ortofinditeasygoingaboutyourday-to-dayactivities,wemustallbewillingtolearnalittlebitofthehostcountry鈥檚languageorunderstandsomebasicsoftheculture.Interestingly,becauseIconstantlybuyfromTaobao,IhavebecomefamiliarwithmostoftheChinesecharacters;henceIdon鈥檛useanauto-translatoranymorebutcannowjustgodirecttomakeorders.I鈥檝ebecomeveryfamiliarwithmostofthefeaturesonTaobaoaswell.
Formepersonally,Taobaoisthebest.Butasapopularonlineshoppingsitewhichtheinternationalcommunitycanuse,itwould,therefore,beofgreatbenefitiftheycanatleasthaveEnglishorotherlanguagesitestoassistpeopleunfamiliarwithChinesetoshop.
TheauthorisaGhanaianstudentstudyinginJiangsuProvince,eastChina