中國電商集團佈局線下實體

China’s tech groups are redefining shopping with stores where you can buy, eat, pick up or take home delivery of, say, Alaskan crab — experimenting with retail in ways that blur the physical and virtual boundaries of shopping.

中國科技公司正用實體商店重新定義購物：你可以到這些商店現場購買比如阿拉斯加蟹之類的生鮮商品，然後帶走、或是交由店家現場加工後堂食，你也可以選擇送貨上門。這些公司正在以一種模糊實體店購物和線上購物界限的方式，在零售領域做實驗。

Ecommerce companies and retailers across the globe are integrating online shopping more deeply into bricks-and-mortar stores. That drive has seen China’s Alibaba buy physical spaces and Amazon offer $13.75bn to acquire Whole Foods. It has also prompted traditional retailers such as Walmart to ramp up their online offerings, and internet groups such as Google to enter the fray.

全球的電商公司和零售商正推動線上購物與實體商店更深入地結合在一起。在這種趨勢下，中國的阿里巴巴(Alibaba)購買實體店面，亞馬遜(Amazon)以137.5億美元收購Whole Foods。此外，沃爾瑪(Walmart)等傳統零售商加大線上攻勢，谷歌(Google)等網際網路公司也加入這場競爭。

But while Amazon’s main move at Whole Foods has been to cut prices and introduce Prime membership — for which subscribers receive perks in exchange for an annual fee — Alibaba, which runs two of China’s biggest ecommerce platforms, has launched a 20-strong chain of Hema hybrid grocery stores. The shops allow customers to take their purchases away with them, have them delivered, or eat them on the premises.

亞馬遜對Whole Foods採取的主要舉措是降低價格和引入Prime會員制度——繳納年費的Prime會員可以獲得各種優惠——而運營中國最大的兩個電商平臺的阿里巴巴開起了盒馬鮮生，目前已有20家門店。在盒馬，顧客可以將購買的商品帶走、選擇送貨上門，或者直接在店內享用。

Uses of tech include self-scanning tills and an ability to scan products on the shelves rather than pluck them off and put them in a trolley. The final “virtual cart” can be paid for — via mobile payment — at the till and the goods will be delivered to your home.

盒馬應用了各種技術，顧客可以通過自助掃描收銀機付款，可以掃描貨架上的商品，無需把商品放入購物車。在收銀處，顧客通過移動支付方式為“虛擬購物車”中的所有商品付款，隨後這些商品將由配送員送到你家中。

Alibaba has sought to take the lead in what it calls new retail. It began buying stores in 2014, initially using the blended model to provide warehousing for inventory and cross-fertilising data analytics: items selling well online, for example, can be more prominently displayed in physical stores.

阿里巴巴試圖成為其所謂的新零售的領軍者。阿里巴巴從2014年開始購買商鋪，最初，採用這種線下與線下混合的模式既是為了給貨物提供庫房，又是為了讓資料分析結果線上下派上用場：比如，可以將線上暢銷商品擺在實體店中更顯眼的位置。

It is also piloting pop-up shops and other stores that allow shoppers to try electronic goods, clothes and cosmetics. The last two can be done purely by mirrors: at a Clinique pop-up in Shanghai, customers select lipstick colours on screen and appear in the mirror wearing their chosen shade.

阿里巴巴還試營了快閃店和其他允許購物者試用電子產品、服裝和美妝產品的商店。後兩類產品可以完全通過一種鏡子實現：上海的一家倩碧(Clinique)快閃店中，顧客可以在螢幕上選擇口紅的顏色，鏡子裡就會出現顧客塗上自己所選顏色口紅的樣子。

Ecommerce groups are now focusing their sights on the grocery sector, projected to see $1.3tn in sales in 2017 according to research group IDG, for which only 2-3 per cent of total sales are online. Overall, ecommerce accounts for 18 per cent of retail sales in China.

電商集團現在將目光聚焦於生鮮雜貨，據研究集團IDG預測，2017年的生鮮雜貨銷售額將達到1.3萬億美元，其中線上銷售額只佔2%到3%。總體上，電商佔中國零售銷售額的18%。

“The focus for [Chinese] online retail to start with was electronic appliances and fashion. The most recent growth area has been grocery food, and that’s a huge growth area. Supermarkets are really having to work out ecommerce now,” said Matthew Crabbe, an analyst at Mintel, a consultancy.

“（中國）線上零售的重點最開始是電器和時裝鞋帽。最近的增長點是生鮮食品，這是一個增長潛力巨大的領域。現在超市真的必須搞定電商。”諮詢公司Mintel的分析師馬修?克拉布(Matthew Crabbe)說。

With the grocery market traditionally dominated by “mom and pop” stores and wet markets, online companies are handicapped by low ticket prices and high logistic costs, say analysts at Goldman Sachs, adding that the online-to-offline business model “still heavily relies on subsidies”.

高盛(Goldman Sachs)分析師表示，生鮮雜貨市場傳統上由“夫妻店”和菜市場主導，低門檻和高物流成本對電商不利；此外，線上到線下(O2O)商業模式“依然嚴重依賴補貼”。

The latest iteration, however, involves takeaway and delivery options. Alibaba’s 20 Hema stores serve upmarket food and drink from around the world, and include tanks containing live seafood from the US, Australia and Japan. Purchases can be delivered within a 3km radius within half an hour of making a selection.

然而，對O2O模式的這種最新實踐包含了外帶和送貨上門選項。阿里巴巴的20家盒馬門店提供來自世界各地的高階食品和飲料，水箱裡養著來自美國、澳大利亞和日本的鮮活海產。在門店3公里的範圍內，顧客購買的商品可在半小時內送達。

Meituan-Dianping, an online retailer with platforms offering a range of services from food delivery and travel to beauty and movie tickets, has also moved into the world of bricks and mortar, setting up a pilot store in Beijing.

擁有提供從外賣、旅遊、美容到電影票等各種服務平臺的線上零售商美團點評(Meituan-Dianping)也踏入了實體店領域，在北京試營了首家實體店鋪。

“Our model is a new way of doing business,” says Shaohui Chen, senior vice-president for corporate development. “We want to test stores purely customised to work with online?.?.?.?The fundamental goal is still to bridge the gap between online and offline.”

美團點評高階副總裁陳少暉說，我們的模式是一種新的經營方式，我們希望試營純粹為配合線上而設計的店鋪……最根本的目標依然是搭建連通線上與線下的橋樑。

is ramping up its co-operation with shareholder Walmart, the US retailer, targeting customers in store and online with promotions.

京東()正在加強與股東美國零售商沃爾瑪的合作，在實體店和線上進行促銷活動。

It is also rolling out a physical presence via franchisees for electronics stores, of which it aims to have 300 this year; franchised convenience stores stocking products; and staff-free stores such as Amazon Go.

京東也在進軍實體店，開設了加盟模式的實體電子產品體驗店（目標是今年內開300家）、從京東線上渠道進貨的加盟京東便利店，還有類似Amazon Go的無人商店。

Everyone is learning from everyone,” says Mr Chen.

陳少暉說，現在就是你學我、我學你。