評(píng)論
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Business
商業(yè)
Fashion retailers and social media
時(shí)裝零售和社交媒體
The buying game
購(gòu)物游戲
Can play shopping transform the real thing?
在線玩購(gòu)物能改變零售業(yè)的現(xiàn)狀嗎？
A LUXURY handbag by Stella McCartney worth ￡600 ($960) is the prize in an online game to design the best virtual outfit featuring the accessory, using real items on sale in Matches, a real store.
價(jià)值600英鎊（960美元）的斯特拉?麥卡特尼名牌手提包，這是一個(gè)在線游戲針對(duì)設(shè)計(jì)出最佳的虛擬服裝配飾的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，而這些配飾在實(shí)物店Matches都有銷售。
Players of a game created by Fantasy Shopper will pick the winner.
在這個(gè)Fantasy Shopper網(wǎng)站所設(shè)計(jì)的線上游戲里，贏家由玩家們自己挑選產(chǎn)生。
The firm is a pioneer of "relevant social gaming". This combines features of online games such as FarmVille and World of Warcraft with data and deeds from the real world.
作為"相關(guān)社交游戲"領(lǐng)域的先驅(qū)，該網(wǎng)站把像開心農(nóng)場(chǎng)和魔獸世界等線上游戲的特點(diǎn)與現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的實(shí)際情況整合成了這樣一個(gè)游戲。
"Gamification" is an ugly word, but it sounds like money to some.
"實(shí)業(yè)游戲化"的字眼并不討喜，但是對(duì)某些人而言卻是商機(jī)。
Online games are fun.
在線游戲很有趣。
Why not borrow some of that fun and apply it to real life?
為什么我們不把游戲中的一些樂(lè)趣帶到現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中了？
This can be hard.
這確實(shí)還是有困難的。
Plenty of firms have flopped by trying to bolt a gaming element unconvincingly onto a boring pre-existing website.
有不少公司貿(mào)然將游戲元素與已有的內(nèi)容乏味的網(wǎng)站勉強(qiáng)結(jié)合在一起，但這些嘗試均以失敗告終。
Fantasy Shopper was designed from the start as a hybrid between game and real-world activity says its founder, Chris Prescott.
據(jù)Fantasy Shopper網(wǎng)站創(chuàng)始人普雷斯科特稱，其建設(shè)的初衷就是一個(gè)游戲和現(xiàn)實(shí)生活行為結(jié)合的產(chǎn)物。
Players visit a city (London for now, New York and others to follow) and compete to find bargains and assemble the best outfits using virtual money to spend on goods actually sold in shops there.
在線玩家選擇購(gòu)物城市（暫時(shí)只有倫敦，稍后紐約和其他城市會(huì)陸續(xù)開放），然后競(jìng)相去淘一些特價(jià)時(shí)裝，接著用服裝配飾自行服裝搭配，而且這些配飾商品都可以在該城市的線下商店使用虛擬金幣購(gòu)買。
The choices can be published on Facebook news feeds, where other players vote on the looks on offer.
每件創(chuàng)意搭配組合都會(huì)發(fā)布到臉譜網(wǎng)（Facebook）的新聞提要，供其他玩家參看投票。
Besides the occasional shot at winning an expensive handbag, players are rewarded virtually, with badges and the like to show off to friends, and vouchers they can use at real shops.
除了有機(jī)會(huì)贏得名牌手提包，玩家們還會(huì)得到虛擬榮譽(yù)勛章和可供炫耀的"贊"，當(dāng)然還有實(shí)物店的代金券。
Mr Prescott reckons that Fantasy Shopper will appeal to those who shop as much for the fun of the chase as for the kill.
普雷斯科特認(rèn)為，F(xiàn)antasy Shopper將會(huì)吸引那些喜歡競(jìng)爭(zhēng)和過(guò)關(guān)斬將的人們。
The game already has an enthusiastic following among girls aged 20-25, he says.
他還說(shuō)，這游戲已經(jīng)吸引了一批年齡在20歲到25歲之間的女性追隨者。
Retailers have been quick to team up with the firm because it helps with promoting products and gives instant feedback from potential customers about what is likely to sell.
一些零售商也已很快地和Fantasy Shopper搭成了合作協(xié)議，因?yàn)樵摼W(wǎng)站除了能夠幫助他們推銷商品之外，還能讓他們得到一些潛在客戶的及時(shí)反饋，讓他們知道應(yīng)該賣什么樣的商品。
Soon it is likely to offer stores the ability to lure in players as they pass by with offers on their mobile phones.
很快，這樣商家就有可能通過(guò)發(fā)布整合后的商品信息從而吸引在網(wǎng)上瀏覽的玩家。
The main appeal of Fantasy Shopper and similar "social shopping" firms is their potential to transform fashion retailing by generating vast amounts of data on shoppers' tastes.
Fantasy Shopper以及類似的"社交購(gòu)物"網(wǎng)站公司最大的吸引力在于通過(guò)充分讓經(jīng)銷商們了解消費(fèi)者的需求，從而潛在地改變著時(shí)裝零售業(yè)。
The trick will be to keep adding new players and, even harder, to keep existing ones fully engaged.
這個(gè)游戲?qū)⑿枰嘈峦婕业膮⑴c，更困難的是讓現(xiàn)有的玩家全身心地投入。
For Fantasy Shopper, the big test will come when it opens in America, probably within weeks.
對(duì)Fantasy Shopper網(wǎng)站而言，當(dāng)其在美國(guó)開通時(shí)最大的考驗(yàn)可能就在數(shù)周內(nèi)。
So far it has played a deft hand.
目前為止， Fantasy Shopper運(yùn)營(yíng)甚好。
In November, one month after launching, Fantasy Shopper beat 1,500 rivals to win the Amazon Global Start-up Challenge.
去年十一月，在投入運(yùn)營(yíng)一個(gè)月之后，該網(wǎng)站一舉擊敗了其他1500名競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，摘得了"亞馬遜全球創(chuàng)業(yè)挑戰(zhàn)賽"的冠軍。
It is rumoured to have turned down an offer from Amazon.
據(jù)說(shuō)，該網(wǎng)站的創(chuàng)始人拒絕了到亞馬遜旗下發(fā)展的邀請(qǐng)。
In January the company secured funding from Accel Partners and NEA, two Silicon Valley venture-capital outfits.
而今年一月份，該網(wǎng)站公司分別獲得了硅谷兩家風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資基金—阿塞爾合作基金（Accel Partners）和恩頤（NEA）的注資。
Yet Fantasy Shopper is based far from any high-tech hub, in the English town of Exeter.
但是Fantasy Shopper公司在埃克塞特德文郡的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)，離任何一個(gè)高科技核心區(qū)都很遠(yuǎn)。
Thanks to the ubiquity of cloud computing, entrepreneurs can start firms anywhere, says Mr Prescott. Even in Devon, a county better known for cream teas than digital cookies.
普雷斯科特這樣稱，云計(jì)算的普及，任何地方都可以創(chuàng)業(yè)，即便是在德文郡這樣以奶油下午茶聞名而不是數(shù)碼產(chǎn)品的地方。
It is not just traditional shopaholics who may get hooked on Fantasy Shopper.
其實(shí)， 吸引在Fantasy Shopper網(wǎng)站上的玩家不僅僅是那些傳統(tǒng)的購(gòu)物狂們。
Mr Prescott claims that the male geeks in his office have realised that they can reduce the risk of being laughed at for their fashion choices by posting pictures of clothes they want to buy in advance, to see what reaction they get before they splash the cash.
普雷斯科特表示，他公司里的極客們（書呆男們）也已經(jīng)意識(shí)到，他們可以通過(guò)事先把所欲購(gòu)買的服飾的圖片上傳至網(wǎng)絡(luò)，在掏錢購(gòu)買之前先看看別人的反應(yīng)，從而降低因?yàn)椴欢畷r(shí)尚而遭嘲笑的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
For fashion victims of every kind, "pre-purchase validation" could be a game-changer.
對(duì)于所有的時(shí)裝奴而言，"購(gòu)前驗(yàn)效"的做法將會(huì)成為游戲的變革者。
