Shopping美国消费

Sale促销

There is often a sale to be found. The impact of a sale is not what it once was, as sales are now a commonplace occurrence in most stores. The sales that occur on the day after Thanksgiving--also called Black Friday - are by far the largest. Many stores announce the items that will go on sale in advance through various advertising methods such as TV, radio, internet, catalogs and newspapers. Some stores open as early as 4 or 5 A.M. However, those who go out early on Black Friday to shop also end up buying many unnecessary items.

在美国会经常看到促销。现在的促销影响已经不再像以前一样，因为现在的促销在大多数商场都成为稀松平常的事了。感恩节后的促销也被人称为黑色星期五，是目前最大的一次促销。许多商场会通过像电视、广播、网络、商品目录或报纸等广告媒体，公布出要促销的商品。有些商场甚至早上四点或五点就开门。然而，那些在黑色星期五特别早去购物的人，往往也会买回来很多不必要的东西。

Shopping Malls购物中心

Shopping malls are generally very large and are located in the suburbs. A mall often houses many different types of stores. Most big shopping malls retain chains like Macy's, Sears, JC Penny,Nordstorm, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's and others, though some stores may have regional and not national chains.

购物中心一般都很大，而且在郊区。一个购物中心往往会容纳许多不同类型的商场。大多数的大型购物中心会驻留一些连锁店，例如梅西百货、希尔斯、JC潘妮、诺斯壮、萨克斯第五大道精品百货、布鲁明戴尔百货和其他百货，虽然有些商场是区域性的而不是全国连锁。

Supermarkets超市

Shoppers in the U.S. can find discounts almost anywhere. Large supermarkets across the country such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target are also known as discount stores. Some of these chains have varied larger or "super" versions of these stores,named Super Wal-Mart, Big K-Mart and Super Target. Discount stores generally offer regular quality goods at affordable prices and lower quality goods at very low prices.

在美国，购物者几乎在哪里都能看到打折。大的跨国超市，例如沃尔玛、K市场和塔吉特，同样也是被人熟知的打折商场。有些更大、更超级版的连锁商场，被称作超沃尔玛、大K市场和超级塔吉特。打折商场一般以平民价位销售一般品质的商品和以非常低价位的销售低质量的商品。

Outlets Malls奥特莱斯

Outlets Malls, also known as factory outlets, sell high quality brands at a 20% to 40% discounted rate. These stores sell goods that have minor manufacturing defects or are remainders from previous seasons. Factory outlets sell top brands of all kinds at reasonable prices.

奥特莱斯，也被人称为厂家零售部，以20%～40%的折现率销售质量很好的品牌。这些商场销售有小制造瑕疵或上一季剩余的流行服饰。工厂奥特莱斯卖的所有顶级品牌的商品，价格都很合理。

Pharmacy药房

Pharmacies or drugstores sell items such as greeting cards, toiletries, beauty products and other general merchandise, in addition to prescription and over the counter drugs.

在药房或者药物商场可以买到除处方和非处方药以外的东西，如贺卡、化妆用具、美容产品和其他日用百货。

Grocery Stores杂货店

Safeway, Market Basket, A&P, Kroger, Albertson's, Giant, Shoppers and Tom Thumb are just a few of the large national grocery store chains to be found in the United States. A huge variety of food and drink items are available in these grocery stores.

喜互惠、市场篮子、A&P、克罗格、艾伯森、巨人、购物者和大拇指汤姆，只是美国大型全国连锁杂货店当中的一些。各种各样的食品和饮料都可以在这些店里买得到。

Additionally, many ethnic grocery stores are located across the country in the areas where such populations live. These stores are typically smaller than other grocery stores and their produce may be more expensive and not fresh, due to the fact that they may receive vegetables only once a week. Most people choose to do their basic grocery shopping in a regular grocery store and shop for remaining specialty items at the other smaller stores.

另外，在全国的种族聚居区还有许多种族杂货店。这些商店一般比其他店小、东西贵而且没有那么新鲜，因为他们一周才进一次蔬菜。大多数人定期去特定的杂货店买基础的生活必需品，特色商品去其他小商店买。

Each Sunday newspapers publish special sale items and discount coupons for items at grocery stores. Many people buy the Sunday newspaper just to obtain these coupons.

每期星期日报会公布杂货店的特价商品和其他商品优惠券。许多人买星期日报就是为了获得这些优惠券。

Shopping carts and Payment购物车和支付方式

Most stores provide shopping carts, shopping baskets or shopping bags for shopping convenience. Some wholesale stores such as Costco do not provide bags. Payment by cash, check, debit card or credit card is accepted, although not all credit cards or debit cards may be accepted everywhere. If paying by check, you will most likely have to present your U.S. driver's license or other form of photo identification. Many stores have self check out counters. Most smaller or ethnic grocery stores have a minimum purchase limit for credit card transactions.

方便起见，大多数商店都会提供购物车、购物筐或购物袋。有些批发商店，比如好市多，就不提供袋子。现金、支票、借记卡或信用卡都可以支付，但不是所有的信用卡或借记卡在所有地方都能使用。如果用机票支付的话，很可能需要出示美国驾照或其他带有有效照片的证件。许多商店都有自动收银台。多数小型或种族商店设有信用卡最低消费额度。

Returns退货

Most stores are focused on customer service. If you don't like an item or change your mind after purchasing it, there will be a clear return policy in place to accommodate you. When making a return, a store may inquire as to your reason for returning the item, but this is simply to help determine whether to put the returned item back on sale or to return it the manufacturer. There are generally no further questions as to why a customer is returning an item.

很多商店专注于为顾客提供方便。如果不喜欢或者在购买之后改变了想法，商店有明确的退货规定。当退货时，商店会问一些问题，不过只是帮助确定将商品返回货架继续出售，还是返回厂家。并没有进一步的问题问为什么要退货。

Return policy varies among different stores. It may be a number of weeks or months from the date of purchase that you are allowed to return an item. If you have retained a receipt, you will usually be refunded your money in the same way you paid it. If you paid with check and the amount is large, you will most likely be mailed check from the store's corporate office. If you don't have receipt, many stores may still take the item back but you will receive store credit for purchase of items of equivalent value. Without a receipt, a store will generally give the lowest price or most recent markdown for that item.

不同商场有不同的退货规定。有可能在购买商品日期之后的几个星期或几个月才可以允许退货。如果收据还保留着，退款会以你支付的方式退还。如果是支票支付的大额款项，很有可能会收到商店总部寄来的支票。假如没有收据，许多商店仍然会收回货物，但给的是同等价值的商场退款单。没有收据，有的商店会按最低价或最新的减价价格退款。

You may find different return policies for items sold at the same store. For example, you must return electronics items within a much shorter time period to get a full refund, as compared to other items which you might possibly return later.

同一家商场也有可能根据不同的商品有不同的退货制度。比如，对于电子产品要得到全款退货，就得在非常短的时间内退回，其他产品可能有更长的退货时间。

Some people abuse the system of easy refund policies. In order to combat this trend, some stores have restocking fees. Best Buy, for example, will charge a customer 15% on many returned electronics items.

有些人滥用退货制度。为了抵抗这样的趋势，有些商场加收退货费。比如，百思买集团对于大量退回的电子产品向顾客收取15%的费用。