The future of shopping—One-to-one commerce

Not since the Industrial revolution has shopping been in such upheaval, writes Henry Tricks

In both East and West,?such an a?malgamation?of the off-line and online worlds is widely referred?to?as"omnichannel”.?This is perhaps the most?tangible?trend affecting the future of shopping. The future will be?both online and off-line.?For?consumers the?benefits are obvious. They will gain greater convenience from being able?to shop either physically or virtually, depending on their mood?and circumstances.?But for retailers,?the challenges are immense.They have to pay not?only for?the costs of their?stores but also for?a form of digital?"rent"?to display their?goods high?up on online search channels such as Facebook.They must not only pay for delivery but also allow customers to pick?goods?up in their shops.?And they face?a?growing nightmare of processing returns that now cost retailers more than $1trn globally every year,?says Shopify, a?big online platform. The struggle will be?to find ways to make omnichannel more profitable。

Malgamation：融合? ? ? ? ? ?Omni/'?mn?/n. 全方位；泛光燈；pref. 表示“總”；表示“遍”

Omnichannel：多渠道，全渠道

It may yet become more?lucrative?simply because of the?sheer?size of the market?left to conquer.?According to Benedict Evans, who writes a tech newsletter,?e-commerce sales globally in 2019 amounted to some?$4trn.?That was?less than a fith of total retail sales,?and a smaller fraction of overall consumer spending, which the World Bank estimates at $65trn.There are tens of?trillions of dollars of extra spending left to battle over.

lucrtive ?adj. /?lu?kr?t?v/賺大錢(qián)的；獲利多的??a lucrative?business/contract/market?利潤(rùn)豐厚的生意╱合同╱市場(chǎng)

sheer /???(r)/ 1.（用來(lái)強(qiáng)調(diào)事物的大小、程度或數(shù)量）??The area is under threat from the sheer number of tourists using it. 這一地區(qū)由于游客人數(shù)太多而面臨威脅。2.完全的；純粹的；十足的?The concert was sheer delight. 這場(chǎng)音樂(lè)會(huì)是一次十足的享受。3. 陡峭的??sheer cliffs/slopes 懸崖峭壁；陡坡 4.(織物等) 又薄又輕幾乎透明的?sheer nylon 透明尼龍

Yet concerns are already growing that a few behemoths,?such as Amazon in America,?Europe and parts of Asia,?and Alibaba in China,?will?hog the bulk of?that.?Regulators in America,?the European Union and China are keeping the?industry leaders under scrutiny.?To keep the future a?renaissance?not a digital?autocracy, this report assesses how entrepreneurs can standup to and?even?overcome the?supremacy?of the?digital?incumbents.

Behemoth??n. /b??hi?m?θ/ ?/?bi?h?m?θ/ 巨頭（指規(guī)模龐大、實(shí)力雄厚的公司或機(jī)構(gòu)）

the bulk of:大量，許多

hog/h?ɡ/ 1.（尤指喂肥供食用的）豬；2.（供食用的）閹公豬；3. ?go the whole ?hog 徹底地做某事；貫徹到底；4. （動(dòng)詞）多占；獨(dú)占??to hog the road (= to drive so that other vehicles cannot pass) 占著馬路中間開(kāi)車(chē)

Scrutiny??n. /?skru?t?ni/ 仔細(xì)檢查；認(rèn)真徹底的審查?? Foreign policy has come under close scrutiny recently. 近來(lái)，政府的外交政策受到了認(rèn)真徹底的審查。

Renaissance??/r??ne?sns/?n.（藝術(shù)等的）新生，復(fù)活；n. (Renaissance) 文藝復(fù)興，文藝復(fù)興風(fēng)格

Supremacy??n. /su??prem?si/ ?/sju??/ ~ (over sb/sth) ?至高無(wú)上；最大權(quán)力；最高權(quán)威；最高地位?? the battle for supremacy in the region 爭(zhēng)奪地區(qū)霸權(quán)的較量?? the dangerous notion of white supremacy 危險(xiǎn)的白人至上觀念

Autocracy??n. /???t?kr?si/ ?1.獨(dú)裁政體；專(zhuān)制制度；2.獨(dú)裁國(guó)家；專(zhuān)制國(guó)家

Supremacy??n. /su??prem?si/ ?/sju??/ ~ (over sb/sth) 至高無(wú)上；最大權(quán)力；最高權(quán)威；最高地位?? the battle for supremacy in the region 爭(zhēng)奪地區(qū)霸權(quán)的較量

Incumbent?/?n?k?mb?nt/ n 在職者；現(xiàn)任者 ?the present incumbent of the White House 現(xiàn)任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)。 形容詞：在職的；現(xiàn)任的?the incumbent president 現(xiàn)任總統(tǒng)；2.~ upon/on sb有責(zé)任；必須履行 ?It was incumbent on them to attend. 他們必須出席。

In the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, with shops shut and doorsteps under siege from the latest Amazon delivery, the world may seem to be on the edge of?a digital dystopia,?with shops losing their age-old role as a place of social interaction,?banter and succour?for the lonely. But that is too pessimistic.?Even?a time traveller from Elizabethan England would find?a lot to recognise in the commerce of the future.?As this report will argue，?the?itinerant?peddlers , merchants, food stalls, crafts, salespeople and shoppers will all continue to?exist-albeit?in new forms.The biggest difference will be the marketplace, the digital architecture dominated by the tech giants thatin future will underpin?our?urge to splurge.

Siege??n. /si?d?/??1.（軍隊(duì)對(duì)城鎮(zhèn)的）圍困，包圍，圍攻，封鎖??the siege of Troy 特洛伊之圍；2.（警察對(duì)建筑物的）包圍，封鎖?3. UNDER ?SIEGE：(1) 被包圍；被圍困；被封鎖；(2) 一再遭到批評(píng)的；受…困擾的4. LAY ?SIEGE TO STH?(1) ?圍困，圍攻（城鎮(zhèn)、建筑物等）；(2) 包圍（某建筑物，旨在和里面的人對(duì)話(huà)或質(zhì)詢(xún)）

Dystopia??n. /d?s?t??pi?/ 反烏托邦，反面假想國(guó)，敵托幫（極度惡劣的假想處境或狀況）

banter /?b?nt?(r)/（善意的）玩笑，打趣??He enjoyed exchanging banter with the customers. 他喜歡和顧客開(kāi)玩笑。

Succour?/?s?k?(r)/ 救助；救援；幫助

Itinerant??adj. /a??t?n?r?nt/巡回的；流動(dòng)的；（尤指為找工作）四處奔波的?? itinerant workers/musicians 流動(dòng)工人；巡回樂(lè)師

Albeit??conj. /???l?bi??t/盡管；雖然??He finally agreed, albeit reluctantly, to help us. 盡管勉強(qiáng)，他最后還是同意幫助我們。

Underpin??v. /??nd??p?n/ 1.加強(qiáng)，鞏固，構(gòu)成（…的基礎(chǔ)等）??The report is underpinned by extensive research. 這份報(bào)告以廣泛的研究為基礎(chǔ)。2.?(術(shù)語(yǔ)) 加固（墻）基

Splurge?/spl??d?/ 亂花錢(qián)；糟蹋錢(qián)；揮霍； ~ (sth) (on sth) 亂花（錢(qián)）；糟蹋（錢(qián)）；揮霍

譯文

In both East and West,?such an a?malgamation?of the off-line and online worlds is widely referred?to?as"omnichannel”.?This is perhaps the most?tangible?trend affecting the future of shopping. The future will be?both online and off-line.?For?consumers the?benefits are obvious. They will gain greater convenience from being able?to shop either physically or virtually, depending on their mood?and circumstances.?But for retailers,?the challenges are immense.They have to pay not?only for?the costs of their?stores but also for?a form of digital?"rent"?to display their?goods high?up on online search channels such as Facebook.They must not only pay for delivery but also allow customers to pick?goods?up in their shops.?And they face?a?growing nightmare of processing returns that now cost retailers more than $1trn globally every year,?says Shopify, a?big online platform. The struggle will be?to find ways to make omnichannel more profitable。

在東方和西方，這種線(xiàn)下和線(xiàn)上世界的融合被廣泛稱(chēng)為“全渠道”。這也許是影響未來(lái)購(gòu)物的最切實(shí)的趨勢(shì)。未來(lái)將是線(xiàn)上和線(xiàn)下并存的。對(duì)消費(fèi)者來(lái)說(shuō)，好處顯而易見(jiàn)。他們可以根據(jù)自己的心情和環(huán)境進(jìn)行實(shí)體或虛擬購(gòu)物，從而獲得更大的便利。但對(duì)零售商來(lái)說(shuō)，挑戰(zhàn)是巨大的。他們不僅要支付店鋪的成本，還要支付一種數(shù)字“租金”，以便在Facebook等在線(xiàn)搜索渠道的高位展示他們的商品。他們不僅必須支付送貨費(fèi)，還必須允許顧客在他們的商店提貨。大型在線(xiàn)平臺(tái)Shopify稱(chēng)，他們還面臨著處理退貨的噩夢(mèng)，每年全球零售商的退貨成本超過(guò)1萬(wàn)億美元。攻堅(jiān)這點(diǎn)將是找到使全渠道更有利可圖的關(guān)鍵。

It may yet become more?lucrative?simply because of the?sheer?size of the market?left to conquer.?According to Benedict Evans, who writes a tech newsletter,?e-commerce sales globally in 2019 amounted to some?$4trn.?That was?less than a fith of total retail sales,?and a smaller fraction of overall consumer spending, which the World Bank estimates at $65trn.There are tens of?trillions of dollars of extra spending left to battle over.

僅僅因?yàn)橛写鞣氖袌?chǎng)規(guī)模之大，它可能會(huì)變得更有利可圖。據(jù)科技通訊撰稿人本尼迪克特·埃文斯(Benedict Evans)稱(chēng)，2019年全球電子商務(wù)銷(xiāo)售額約為4萬(wàn)億美元。這還不到零售總額的五分之一，在世界銀行(World Bank)估計(jì)為65萬(wàn)億美元的總體消費(fèi)者支出中所占比例更小。還有數(shù)萬(wàn)億美元的額外支出有待爭(zhēng)奪。

Yet concerns are already growing that a few behemoths,?such as Amazon in America,?Europe and parts of Asia,?and Alibaba in China,?will?hog the bulk of?that.?Regulators in America,?the European Union and China are keeping the?industry leaders under scrutiny.?To keep the future a?renaissance?not a digital?autocracy, this report assesses how entrepreneurs can standup to and?even?overcome the?supremacy?of the?digital?incumbents.

然而，人們?cè)絹?lái)越擔(dān)心一些巨頭，如美國(guó)、歐洲和亞洲部分地區(qū)的亞馬遜，以及中國(guó)的阿里巴巴，將占據(jù)這一市場(chǎng)的大部分。美國(guó)、歐盟和中國(guó)的監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)都在密切關(guān)注這一行業(yè)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。為了保持未來(lái)是復(fù)興而不是數(shù)字獨(dú)裁，本報(bào)告評(píng)估了企業(yè)家如何對(duì)抗甚至克服數(shù)字霸主的霸權(quán)。

In the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, with shops shut and doorsteps under siege from the latest Amazon delivery, the world may seem to be on the edge of?a digital dystopia,?with shops losing their age-old role as a place of social interaction,?banter and succour?for the lonely. But that is too pessimistic.?Even?a time traveller from Elizabethan England would find?a lot to recognise in the commerce of the future.?As this report will argue,?the?itinerant?peddlers, merchants, food stalls, crafts,?salespeople and shoppers will all continue to?exist-albeit?in new forms.The biggest difference will be the marketplace, the digital architecture dominated by the tech giants thatin future will underpin?our?urge to splurge.

在新冠肺炎大流行期間，商店紛紛關(guān)門(mén)，亞馬遜(Amazon)最新的快遞服務(wù)也在圍攻實(shí)體，世界似乎正處于數(shù)字反烏托邦的邊緣，商店失去了其作為社交、玩樂(lè)和幫助孤獨(dú)者的古老角色。但這太悲觀了。即使是來(lái)自伊麗莎白時(shí)代的英國(guó)的時(shí)間旅行者也會(huì)在未來(lái)的商業(yè)中發(fā)現(xiàn)很多熟悉的東西。正如本報(bào)告所述，流動(dòng)小販、商人、小吃攤、工藝品、銷(xiāo)售人員和購(gòu)物者都將繼續(xù)存在——盡管是以新的形式。最大的區(qū)別將是市場(chǎng)，由科技巨頭主導(dǎo)的數(shù)字架構(gòu)將在未來(lái)強(qiáng)化我們揮霍的沖動(dòng)。