with Chinese consumers hit by quarantine and travel restrictions¹ as well as just wary² about venturing out to the shops due to the coronavirus epidemic³, companies in the world's most populous⁴ nation are experimenting with new tricks to make sales.

由于中国消费者受到隔离措施和出行限制的影响，而且由于新冠肺炎疫情，人们对冒险走出家门去购物充满担心，世界第一人口大国中国的企业正在尝试新的销售方法。

Oil giant Sinopec - keen to get customers back in their cars and help farmers unable to deliver produce due to roadblocks - launched a new scheme last month called "zero-touch" vegetable sales at its 6,000 gas stations in 147 Chinese cities.

今年2月，中国石油业巨头中石化在全国147座城市的6000个加油站新推出了“无接触”蔬菜销售计划。该公司迫切希望让消费者再度开车出行，并帮助因封路而无法供货的农民。

Consumers place and pay for orders on the Sinopec mobile app and when they drive up, gas station attendants put the vegetables into their car trunk, eliminating any need for human-to-human contact.

消费者在中石化的手机应用程序上下单并支付，之后他们开车到加油站，服务员会把蔬菜放进后备箱，避免了人员接触。

"The coronavirus outbreak has made it difficult for people to shop as before," said Li Hong, vice⁵ president of Sinopec's convenience store sales division. "Travel demand has been falling, but demand for food is pretty rigid⁶."

中石化易捷销售有限公司副总裁李宏说：“新冠肺炎疫情的暴发使人们很难再像之前那样购物了。出行需求一直在下降，但食物需求是刚性的。”

Mengniu Dairy, China's dairy producer, is racing⁷ to add more vending⁸ machines to the 10,000 it currently has, saying the epidemic has driven unexpectedly strong demand for the sales channel.

中国乳制品生产商蒙牛集团正尽快增加自动售货机，目前该集团拥有1万台自动售货机。该集团表示，这场疫情意外推动了对这一销售渠道的强劲需求。

Its system allows customers to order products like milk and yoghurt online which can then be picked up from their local vending machine.

顾客可以在蒙牛集团的系统上在线订购牛奶和酸奶，然后从当地的自动售货机上取货。

"The virus outbreak has curbed⁹ consumption for dairy products as people are unwilling¹⁰ to go to the supermarket," said Meng Fanjie, head of the company's Communist Party committee.

蒙牛集团党委书记孟凡杰说：“由于人们不愿去超市，新冠肺炎疫情的暴发抑制了乳制品的消费。”

The company has also introduced a 'community wholesale¹¹' initiative, making bulk¹² deliveries to housing compounds and other communities so that the people living there do not need to venture too far out.

该集团还推出了一项社区批发计划，向居民区和其他社区批量供应商品，这样人们就不用冒险出门走太远。

"The new retail¹³ measures...have helped to bring back some sales and given us bigger market share," he said, adding that sales as of Feb 27 had returned to 80% of levels seen in January.

孟凡杰说：“新的零售措施使我们的销量有所恢复，增加了我们的市场份额。”他说，截至2月27日，销量已经恢复到1月份80%的水平。

Luckin Coffee a domestic rival to Starbucks, now also offers deliveries of alcohol-based sterilizers and antibiotic¹⁴ hand soap in addition to caffeinated beverages¹⁵. It is also stocking its network of vending machines, launched this year, with the sanitizer products.

星巴克在中国国内的竞争对手瑞幸咖啡现在除了提供含咖啡因的饮料外，还提供含酒精的消毒液和抗菌洗手液。同时，该公司在今年推出的自动售货机中也提供消毒产品。

Liu Xingliang, an independent retail analyst¹⁶, said, however, that he thought Luckin's strategy would have only a modest impact. "At best some users will place an order when they buy coffee but nobody is deliberately¹⁷ choosing the Luckin app just to buy sanitizer."

但独立零售业分析师刘兴亮说，他认为瑞幸的战略不会有太大效果。他说：“最多会有些用户在买咖啡时顺便下单买消毒产品，但没人会特意选择瑞幸的应用程序买消毒液。”