中東特色的上門服務Door to door delivery,Middle East style

If there's one thing that works across the Arab world, it's delivery. From Cairo to Dubai, a fleet of men on scooters, bicycles and foot will deliver pretty much anything to your door, from a Big Mac to a cigarette lighter. And plugging that hunger for to-the-door service into the global e-commerce boom is proving to be a healthy earner for one Middle East company.

如果說有一樣東西可以在整個阿拉伯世界中“暢通無阻”，那便是貨物投遞。從開羅到迪拜，一羣人騎着小型摩托、自行車，或是依靠步行，將你可以想象到的幾乎任何東西直接送到你的家門口，從“巨無霸”漢堡包到打火機，無所不有。事實證明，將消費者對送貨上門服務的渴求融入到全球電子商務蓬勃發展的浪潮中，成就了一家中東公司的生財之道。

Shop and Ship, run by the Jordanian logistics company Aramex, increased revenues by 43 per cent year-on-year to around AED49m ($13.3m) in the first quarter of 2012. The service lets subscribers rent a PO box address in the US or UK, for use with online shopping sites, few of which will ship to the Middle East. When packages arrive at the address – an Aramex-operated warehouse – they are re-routed to the recipient, anywhere in the Arab world and beyond.

約旦物流公司Aramex旗下的Shop and Ship 2012年第一季度收入同比增長43%，達到約4900萬阿聯酋迪拉姆（合1330萬美元）。該公司會讓用戶租賃一個美國或是英國的郵政信箱，用作網絡購物的郵寄地址，因爲很少有網店會發貨至中東。當包裹運抵郵箱所在地址時（通常是Aramex管理的倉庫），工作人員會將包裹轉寄至收件人，無論這個收件人在阿拉伯世界的哪個角落或是其他任何地方，都可以送達。

Letting Arab consumers participate in the global boom in online shopping has proved lucrative. Shop and Ship now accounts for almost 20 per cent of the AED245m revenues earned by Aramex'international express delivery business, according to quarterly results published in late April. Business coming from e-commerce as a whole, including other services the company offers, is growing at more than 30 per cent yearly.

眼下，全球正掀起一股網絡購物潮，而將阿拉伯消費者融入這股浪潮被證明是一樁有利可圖的生意。根據4月底公佈的季報，Aramex的國際快遞業務實現收入2.45億阿聯酋迪拉姆，Shop and Ship在其中佔了近20%的比重。目前，Aramex整體電商業務每年正以超過30%的速度增長。

Aramex began its life in 1982 as a local agent for international shipping companies. But it grew fast, eventually becoming the first Arab company to be listed on the NASDAQ. The regional logistics company has been spreading its reach in recent years, buying smaller operators in Africa, Europe and Asia.

Aramex創建於1982年，創立之初只是跨國貨運公司的當地代理商。但經過快速成長，它最終成爲首家登陸納斯達克的阿拉伯公司。近年來，這家區域性物流公司不斷延伸着自己的觸角，在非洲、歐洲以及亞洲出手收購規模較小的物流運營企業。

While much of the company operates as a traditional logistics and courier service, a regional equivalent to DHL or FedEx, Shop and Ship is part of a more innovative push to put the business at the centre of e-commerce in the Middle East. With credit card penetration low in the region, and online payment gateways still underdeveloped, Aramex couriers accept cash-on-delivery payment on behalf of local online shopping sites.

Aramex的大部分業務仍與傳統的物流及快遞服務有關，相當於中東地區的敦豪(DHL)或聯邦快遞(FedEx)，但該公司也在採取更具創新性的舉措，希望藉此使公司在中東電子商務領域中佔據核心地位，Shop and Ship就是這項努力的一部分。考慮到中東地區的信用卡使用率較低，且在線支付渠道尚不完備，Aramex的快遞公司代表當地購物網站接受貨到付款。

"What we're telling entrepreneurs and e-commerce sites is, focus on your front end and we will do everything else, from order-processing to customer service, to call-taking, effective delivery and collecting the cash," the company's founder, Fadi Ghandour, said in 2010, when the Middle East's e-commerce scene was beginning to take off.

2010年中東電子商務方興未艾之時，該公司創始人法迪•甘杜爾(Fadi Ghandour)曾說過：“我們告訴企業家和電子商務網站，你們只管你們的事情，其餘所有事都交給我們來做，從訂單處理、客戶服務、客服電話，到高效的配送以及最後的收款環節，統統留給我們。”

The sector, while still small, is seeing serious investment. MarkaVIP, one online shopping site based in Amman that runs on a "flash sale" model similar to the US-based Gilt, has raised at least $18m in venture financing, including $10m in late April. The site has signed 1.5m registered users, with 5,000 more joining each day. Improving the door-to-door delivery experience, the company's management said, would be the primary focus of the $10m it had just raised.

儘管這一行業目前的規模較小，但它卻吸引着大手筆的投資。MarkaVIP是一家總部位於安曼的在線購物網站，其“閃購”業務模式與美國的Gilt類似。這家安曼公司已獲得至少1800萬美元的風險投資，包括4月底獲得的1000萬美元。該網站擁有150萬名註冊用戶，並且正以每天5000人的數量遞增。該公司管理層表示，最近籌集的1000萬美元主要將用於提高送貨上門的服務質量。

That may or may not be good news for the Dubai-listed Aramex (it delisted from the NASDAQ in 2002), with MarkaVIP hinting at establishing its own delivery network in some of its markets. But on a bigger level, it shows that in a region where internet penetration is booming, postal systems are unreliable at best and retail growth still has its best years ahead of it, there is more than just sandwiches waiting to be delivered to people's doors.

MarkaVIP暗示將在某些市場建立自己的配送網絡，對於在迪拜上市的Aramex（2002年從納斯達克退市）而言，這究竟是不是一則好消息，答案還未可知。不過從更廣泛的層面來看，這表明，在一個互聯網愈加普及、郵政系統不可靠、零售行業有着廣闊前景的地區，等待配送上門的不僅僅只有三明治。