每日跟讀#473 : Hard Lessons (Thanks, Amazon) Breathe New Life Into Retail Stores

Malls are being hollowed out. Shops are closing by the thousands. Retailers are going bankrupt.

購物中心愈來愈空蕩，數以千計的商店關門大吉，零售商接連倒閉。

But it may be too early to declare the death of retail. Americans have started shopping more — in stores.

但是要宣告零售業已死，恐怕還嫌太早，美國民眾已開始買得更多－在店裡。

Old-school retailers are experiencing some of their best sales growth in years.

傳統派零售商正經歷多年來少見的業績成長。

The strong revenues start with a roaring economy and an optimistic consumer. Americans, whose wallets are filled with more cash from the tax cuts, have been spending more.

強勁的營收首先由興盛的經濟和樂觀的消費者帶動，因為減稅而皮夾裝滿更多現金的美國民眾，持續花得更多。

The boom also reflects a broad reordering of the $3.5 trillion industry, with fewer retailers capturing more of the gains. Stores that have learned how to match the ease and instant gratification of e-commerce shopping are flourishing, while those that have failed to evolve are in bankruptcy or on the brink.

這波景氣也反映出這個3.5兆美元產業的廣泛重整，較少的零售商控制更多的收入。學會如何與電子商務購物的輕鬆與立即滿足匹敵的商店正欣欣向榮，那些無法與時俱進者則不是破產就是在破產邊緣。

“The retailers that get it recognize that Amazon has forever changed consumer behavior,” said Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor and former director of the retailing center at the Wharton School. “I shouldn’t have to work to shop.”

「那些學到了教訓的零售商體認到，亞馬遜已永久改變消費者的行為。」華頓商學院行銷學教授、零售學中心前主任芭芭拉．卡恩說。「我不應該費力去購物。」

Many successful stores are now a cross between a fast-food drive-through and a hotel concierge.

許多成功的商店現在是速食店得來速和飯店服務台的混合體。

Target’s shoppers can order sunscreen or a Tokidoki Unicorno T-shirt on their phone, pull up to the parking lot and have the items brought to their car.

目標百貨的顧客可以打電話訂購防曬乳和Tokidoki的獨角獸系列T恤，開車到店外停車場，讓店家把商品送到車上。

Nordstrom lets customers in some stores make returns by dropping their items into a box and walking out.

諾斯壯百貨讓某些店面的顧客退貨時只要把商品放在盒子內就可以離開。

Walmart is employing 25,000 “personal shoppers” to select and package groceries for curbside pickup.

沃爾瑪雇用2萬5000名「個人購物員」，挑選及打包日用品，讓顧客在路邊就能取貨。

In recent weeks, all three retailers reported stronger-than-expected sales growth for the quarter. Traffic to Target’s stores and online sites grew at its fastest pace since the company began keeping a record a decade ago.

最近數周，這三家零售商都公布了比預期更強勁的季銷售成長。造訪目標百貨門市及網站的客流量，出現了該公司十年前開始紀錄以來最快速的成長。

Doomsayers have predicted that online shopping, led by Amazon, would one day conquer all of retail. As store closings set a record last year, no class of retailer was spared.

末日論者曾經預測，亞馬遜所引領的網路購物，終有一日將征服整個零售界。去年歇業店鋪之多創下紀錄時，沒有任何零售類別能夠倖免。

But the pace of closings has slowed, as the most unprofitable stores have been culled and the weakest companies have collapsed. At this time in 2017, nearly 5,700 stores had shut across the United States, according to Coresight Research, a retail analysis and advisory firm. So far this year, about 4,480 have closed.

然而歇業速度已經放緩，最不賺錢的店鋪已被淘汰，最弱的公司也都垮了。根據零售分析及顧問公司核心觀點研究的統計，2017年的此際，全美有近5700家店鋪關門，今年迄今約為4480家。

Hiring is up, with an average of roughly 50,000 retail jobs being added each month since February, according to the National Retail Federation.

聘雇人數也增加，據全國零售協會的統計，自今年2月以來，每月平均約有5萬個新增工作機會。

Source: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/331924/web/