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Supermarkets
超市
Learning to be different
商海無涯巧行舟
Some glimmers of hope for struggling supermarkets
對于深陷泥淖的超市而言，前途尚有利好的曙光。
RARELY have the Christmas results for Britain's supermarkets been awaited with such trepidation. Most of them, especially the market leader, Tesco, struggled in 2014. The hard-discount stores, Aldi and Lidl, continued to undercut them, gobbling up market share, while falling food prices ate into their profits. Would the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year's Day, generally the strongest sales period, bring some relief?
不列顛的零售業的業主們早已期待圣誕節的銷售業績，因為他們心懷恐懼。這種情形著實罕見。在2014年，大部分超市，特別是Tesco這個市場領頭羊，過得很艱難。Aldi和Lidl這樣的超低折扣商鋪，不斷挖它們的墻角，侵吞他們的市場份額。而下降的食物價格使得超市的利潤率降低。接下來臨近圣誕節和新年的幾周通常是超市的最旺銷售時期，它們能否喘一口氣？
He's making a list, checking it twice
他正在制作購物單，檢查了兩次。
The answer, so far, is mixed. Waitrose, the most upmarket grocer, did well. It made ￡728m (1.1 billion) over the five weeks to January 3rd, excluding fuel—7% more than in the same spell a year ago. By contrast like-for-like sales at Sainsbury's fell by 1.7% in the 14 weeks to January 3rd among stores that had been open at least a year. Tesco, which reported on January 8th, recorded another drop in sales, though by only 0.3% compared with the previous year. It is to close 43 stores. Analysts estimate that Asda, the second-biggest chain after Tesco, saw its market share fall by 1% in the three months to December.
目前來看，答案并不那么簡單。Waitrose這最大的高檔零售商業績不錯。在過去的5周中（截止至1月3日），它的營業額為七億兩千八百萬英鎊（折合成美元11億）。這其中不包括燃料—與去年相比同期增長7%強。與此相較，在營業一年以上的商店中，Sainsbury的營業額在過去的14周中（截止到1月3日），下跌1.7%。而它已經開業一年以上。Tesco的業績報表見諸1月8日。相比前一年雖有所下跌，降幅只有0.3%。它預備關閉43家店鋪。分析師估計，居Tesco之亞的Asda，在截止至12月份的三個月中，市場份額縮水1%。
Asda's boss, Andrew Clarke, has warned of more challenging times ahead. Yet the lesson from these results is clear. Grocers with a clearly defined position in the market will continue to prosper, but for those without one there is more pain to come. Thus Waitrose, for instance, has remained resolutely and distinctly posh. It has refused to chase the upstart discounters by slashing prices, as mid-market rivals have done.
Asda的老板Andrew Clarke，早已警惕這種更為挑戰的時刻。沒有白交的學費。在市場中具有清晰定位的零售商將繼續繁榮下去，而那些仍舊沒有明確定位的，仍將面臨窘境。比如Waitrose，它仍舊旗幟鮮明地走土豪路線，拒絕通過大減價跟上高端折扣店的步伐。與此相較的是，跟它一批的中等市場的競爭對手卻緊隨那些高端店的步伐。
Natalie Berg of Planet Retail, a research outfit, argues that the key to survival in a ferociously competitive groceries market is to offer the customer a brand that is “clear, targeted and consistent.” Waitrose, at the top end of the market, does this well, as do Lidl and Aldi at the bottom. The rest are stranded in the middle, trying to be all things to all people. This week, for instance, Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco announced further price cuts. That might fend off the discounters for a bit. It will also muddy perceptions of who their target customers really are.
一家名為“行星零售”的調查組織的成員Natalie Berg認為，在競爭激烈的零售商市場中存活下來的關鍵，在于給顧客留下這么個品牌印象—“明晰，有定位，持久”。 Waitrose卡住了市場的頂端部分。而Lidl和Aldi則把持住了市場的草根部分。其余的卡在中間，想著變成百寶箱，面向所有消費群體。比如這個周，Asda，Sainsbury和Tesco宣布接著砍價。這或許能些許抵御零售商的攻勢。它也同樣能攪起一池渾水，搞不清誰是它們的目標消費人群。
But it is not all gloom for the supermarkets. A more clement economic environment should help all of them. Tumbling fuel prices and—a novelty, this—rising real wages will put more money in shoppers' pockets. The results also demonstrate that supermarkets are rewarded for a strong internet presence. Again, Waitrose has done well here: grocery sales through its online service grew by 26% over the Christmas period compared with a year ago. Its parent company, John Lewis, has had great success with a new click-and-collect service at its department stores, which allows customers to nominate a place to pick up their shopping. Most of the supermarkets are trying out new digital gizmos to make shopping easier. Waitrose is experimenting with a home-scanning device called Hiku. This will allow people to scan barcodes on Waitrose products at home to add them to their online shopping basket.
不過對于超市來說也不全是陰云密布壞事不斷。更為緩和的經濟環境應能幫助他們所有人。下跌的油價—這確實是新鮮事—和上漲的工資使得顧客們荷包鼓脹起來。這個結果也表明，網路的存在使得商家獲益。這點還是Waitrose做得好：跟一年前相比，零售店銷售額在圣誕節期間，依靠在線服務增長26%。它的母公司John Lewis，依托新近的點-收服務，在百貨商鋪中取得巨大成功。這個新系統允許顧客點名去哪里自提貨物。
There are grounds for optimism even at Tesco, argues Bryan Roberts, an analyst at Kantar Retail. For a couple of years its stores in London have done better than those in the rest of the country. Store managers in the capital have enjoyed more autonomy to fill their shelves with products suited to the people who live or work in the local area. This process had become over-centralised, missing local trends; devolution seems to have helped reverse that. Simple, but effective.
坎塔爾零售的分析師Bryan Roberts則認為，就算是Tesco，也有樂觀的理由。經過多年經營，Tesco在倫敦的店鋪，其經營情況好于全國其他地區。首都店鋪的經理享有更多的自主經營權，他們能為所在區域生活或工作的居民提供適合他們的貨品。此前這個過程都是收回經理的自主權，這就忽略了當地發展趨勢；讓權能幫住扭轉頹勢。大道至簡，直接有效。譯者：唐宇·無心 校對：石海霞
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