>> Whenever your ready. >> Well hello. You're back again for another language video of English for Finance and Economics. This video will be short and sweet. As we discuss different synonyms to show increase and decrease. Though I may not take the time to explain every word, please pay attention to how I use these words then refer to the reading after this video for more words, definitions and explanations. The easiest way to understand the use of these increase and decrease words is to study a graph. Do you remember how our team realized they needed to infiltrate the Chinese market through Open Sesame, an online e-commerce option? Well Jake was exactly right. Take a look at this graph from the Market Realist. These numbers represent China's online spending and growth during holidays in November, in the billions of dollars. So why the exponential increase in red? How did sales nearly double from 2013 to 2014? An increase in sales like that is every business's dream. The Market Realist calls it a meteoric rise. Now there's a phrase we can take a few seconds to explain. A meteoric rise means something that has increased quickly and spectacularly. It does come from the word meteor, as in the pieces of space that fall from the sky to the Earth. Did you catch that, though? Meteors fall, they do not rise. But regardless, the phrase is only used as a meteoric rise. I think the focus being more on that meteors are fast as they zoom through our atmosphere and indeed spectacular. So what are these holidays in November that creates spend-happy customers in China? You may already know that Black Friday is the day after the American holiday Thanksgiving. Many people in the US also get the Friday after Thanksgiving off from work. So retailers, for nearly 100 years, have had sales on goods because consumers are typically out shopping that day. Cyber Monday is the marketing term for the Monday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday. This is where all the online deals show up. Black Friday tends to have the deals and steals on electronics and appliances, while Cyber Monday has the best buys for fashion and accessories. According to the graph, Singles Day looks like it is crushing Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Another term, as you can see by the title, is Singles Day dwarfs them. Though it seems the other numbers are a negative reflection of sales or that they are declining, we have to remember that even the lesser number of 1.04 billion in sales in one day is not too shabby. Additionally, they've seen an incremental rise year to year. Now then, what is this Singles Day in China? Singles Day in China is always on November 11th, or 11/11, because of the connection to the number 1 and being single. Though it's often young singles celebrating with parties, karaoke, and gift giving, the celebrations are in hope of good fortunes and finding the one they want to marry. Due to a one child policy in China and the pressures economically for it to be a son, the country has a male surplus. Yes, your question is my next question. Why is it astronomically the biggest online shopping day of the year? In 2009 e-commerce giant Alibaba launched an online sale. It saw a golden opportunity in this celebration of singlehood. Plus, it was a way to boost sales in a lull between China's golden week in October through Christmas. Since then, things have only skyrocketed. In the second year, their sales quadrupled. Alibaba was surprised by the radical upturn. With projections of a 22% increase in sales for 2015 reaching, as you can see by the graph, $10 billion. This would break global records of goods sold in a 24-hour period. To put things in perspective, in 2014, the US earned less than $5 billion from both Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. What are the takeaways from this lesson? Well first, keep an eye on the marketing strategies of Alibaba. And know the e-commerce market in China is headed north. Be sure to take a look at the reading in this lesson, with words and definitions used in this video to show increase and decrease. As always, thanks for watching, English for Finance and Economics.
