One of China’s biggest online shopping platforms, Yihaodian (一号店) – a cross between Amazon and an online supermarket – has rolled out an English app called ‘YHD Expats’. This app is specially designed for English-speakers based in China (like, finally). Instead of painstakingly translating Chinese characters on Google or Baidu Translate, non-Chinese speakers can now breeze their way through to crazy deals and discounts.
A tap into the app reveals a user-friendly interface, offering a more than 100,000-strong catalogue in English. You can browse through a wide selection of categories ranging from imported food and household products to electrical appliances, and then move immediately onto the ‘Daily Deals’ section, offering flash sales with outrageously discounted products up for grabs.
Currently, the English app only offers around 10 percent of the estimated 1 million items on Yihaodian’s Chinese website. But all items sold are handled directly by the platform, as opposed to sites like Taobao which sell many products via third parties.
Delivery is free for orders over 68RMB and under 10Kg in weight, and purchases are entitled to a seven-day free return policy. Payment can be completed via WeChat Pay, Alipay and Union Pay card, or even cash on delivery for the majority of products. And there's an English customer service team should you run into any trouble. All in all it's another win for convenience and another loss for our perseverance with those Chinese classes.
The app is available on iOS and Android devices. Search 'YHD expats' in the app store.
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