The future of Shopping—One-to-one commerce

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

To understand the historic?importance of?such a shift,?start in?16th-century England.?As Dorothy Davis,?a former Economist writer,?explained in her book from the?1960s,"A?History of Shopping" the first retail revolution occurred in the?Elizabethanera when craftsmen,?who until then had traded one-to-one with customers,?setup the first shops to?peddle?other people's wares,?earning?mark-ups?on what they sold.

Centuries later came the Industrial revolution,which?led to the?second big retail transformation.This was a new system of factory-produced goods that a growing number of working-class shoppers could afford. Supported by?a blitz of advertising, these goods were distributed by shops that grew in size to?benefit from economies of scale. The set-up is familiar to many today: mass production supports mass consumption.

Elizabethan??adj. /??l?z??bi?θn/ ?(1558–1603) 伊麗莎白女王一世時代的

Peddle??v. /?pedl/??1.挨戶銷售；巡回銷售??He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上門推銷抹布和刷子。?to peddle illegal drugs 販賣毒品；2.兜售，宣傳，傳播（思想、消息）?to peddle malicious gossip 散布惡意的流言飛語

mark-up??n. /?mɑ?k?p/ 1.（基于成本價與銷售價之間差價的）加成??an average markup of 10% 平均10%的加成?2.[ U ] (計)標(biāo)記，標(biāo)記符號（標(biāo)示計算機文檔結(jié)構(gòu)和顯示、打印形式）?a markup language 標(biāo)記語言

blitz /bl?ts/??名詞1.?集中力量的行動；閃擊式行動??an advertising/ a media blitz (= a lot of information about sth on television, in newspapers, etc.) 集中火力的廣告╱媒體宣傳；2.~ (on sth) a sudden attack 突襲；閃電戰(zhàn)??a blitz on passengers who avoid paying fares 對逃票乘客的突襲檢查3.the Blitz ?1940年德國對英國的空襲。4.動詞：用閃電戰(zhàn)空襲（或毀壞）

The third retail revolution,?today's digital?age,?turns that model?on its head,?creating,?in retailers'jargon,?a consumers"pull"system rather?than a producers?"push"?one.?As Mark Cohen, director of retail?studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York,?says: "At the turn of the 20th century, the commander-in-chief of commerce was the retailer, with the manufacturer as?equal partner. Today?it's the customer who's in charge."

Jargon??n. /?d?ɑ?ɡ?n/ 行話；黑話；行業(yè)術(shù)語；切口?? medical/legal/computer, etc. jargon 醫(yī)學(xué)、法律、計算機等術(shù)語

Pull and Push：這里是供應(yīng)鏈中常用的策略模式

圖片來源：https://articles.e-works.net.cn/scm/Article131494.htm

In the West,?this upheaval causes?trepidation.That is because the retail infrastructure was not built forthe digital age.?America has 24?square feet of retail Space per?person,?according to Bernstein, three times as much as Britain and six times as much as China.?In America more than?8,700 stores closed last?year, says Coresight Research,?a data firm.?In Britain 16,000?stores shut and?183,000 retail?jobs were?lost,?estimates the Centre for?Retail Research. Pace Nike,one of the worst-hit sectors has been clothing and footwear. Those opening stores are mostly discounters.

Trepidation??n. /?trep??de??n/驚恐；恐懼；驚惶；不安

In parts of Asia,?however, this is a?time of exuberance. China's embrace of e-commerce reflects the ubiquity?of smartphones,?the shortage of attractive Shopping centres beyond the big cities, and high urban density, which cuts the cost of delivery.Yet China also stands out for?a?level?of innovation, such as?live-streaming by celebrity lipstick-sellers,?that few saw coming. Like Nike,?some Chinese tech firms are taking advantage of people's digital trail to change the way goods are produced—and even to produce high-tech ways to improve fruit and?vegetable yields on farms.

Exuberance?/?ɡ?zju?b?r?ns/?n.豐富，茂盛；健康；感情洋溢(或慷慨激昂)的言行；(感情等的)過度(或極度)表現(xiàn)

ubiquity/ju??b?kw?ti/n. 普遍存在；到處存在? ? ??live-streaming：直播

Yet even in China,?the ultimate goal is not to leapfrog?the?store.?Alibaba,?China's biggest?e-commerce firm, has brought the?latest digital razzmatazz,?such as cashier-free shops and?video promotions, to its supermarkets in the biggest cities. Along with?JD.com and Pinduoduo,?its closest rivals, it is working with grocery shops in the farthest-flung?villages to make distribution of goods cheaper?and more efficient.?Daniel?Zipser?of McKinsey, a consultancy, says 374 large?malls were opened?in China?last?year.Prices for retail property in city centres have shown no meaningful fall.

leapfrog /?li?pfr?ɡ/ 跳背游戲（游戲者輪流從其他彎背人身上跳過）

far-?flung ?adj. /?fɑ? ?fl??/ 1.遙遠的?expeditions to the far-flung corners of the world 去世界偏遠地方的探險；2.分布廣的；廣泛的??a newsletter that helps to keep all our far-flung graduates in touch 使我們分布在各地的畢業(yè)生保持聯(lián)系的通訊

razzmatazz ?n. /?r?zm??t?z/ ( /?r?z?m??t?z/ ) ( also ?razzle-?dazzle ) [ U ]令人眼花繚亂的活動 ? The documentary focuses on the razzmatazz of an American political campaign. 這部紀錄影片著重展現(xiàn)出一場美國政治運動令人眼花繚亂的一面。

譯文

revolutionary days（變革時代）

To understand the historic?importance of?such a shift,?start in?16th-century England.?As Dorothy Davis,?a former Economist writer,?explained in her book from the?1960s,"A?History of Shopping" the first retail revolution occurred in the?Elizabethan era when craftsmen,?who until then had traded one-to-one with customers,?setup the first shops to?peddle?other people's wares,?earning?mark-ups?on what they sold.

Centuries later came the Industrial revolution,which?led to the?second big retail transformation.This was a new system of factory-produced goods that a growing number of working-class shoppers could afford.Supported by?a blitz of advertising, these goods were distributed by shops that grew in size to?benefit from economies of scale. The set-up is familiar to many today: mass production supports mass consumption.

要理解這種轉(zhuǎn)變的歷史重要性，可以從16世紀的英國開始。前經(jīng)濟學(xué)作家多蘿西·戴維斯，在她60年代出版書籍《購物的歷史》中解釋：第一次零售革命發(fā)生在伊麗莎白時代，那時候的手藝人曾是與客戶一對一的交易模式，后來開辦第一家商店兜售別人的商品從而賺取差價。

幾個世紀后，工業(yè)革命爆發(fā)，導(dǎo)致了零售業(yè)的第二次大變革。這是一種工廠生產(chǎn)商品的新體系，越來越多的工薪階層購物者能夠負擔(dān)得起。在大量廣告的沖擊下，這些商品由規(guī)模擴大的商店分銷，從而從規(guī)模經(jīng)濟中獲益。這種模式對今天的許多人來說都很熟悉:大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)支持大規(guī)模消費。

The third retail revolution,?today's digital?age,?turns that model?on its head,?creating,?in retailers'jargon,?a consumers"pull"system rather?than a producers?"push"?one.?As Mark Cohen, director of retail?studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York,?says: "At the turn of the 20th century, the commander-in-chief of commerce was the retailer, with the manufacturer as?equal partner. Today?it's the customer who's in charge."

第三次零售革命，即今天的數(shù)字時代，顛覆了這種模式，用零售商的行話來說，創(chuàng)造了一個消費者“拉動”的系統(tǒng)，而不是生產(chǎn)者“推”的系統(tǒng)。正如紐約哥倫比亞大學(xué)商學(xué)院(Columbia University Graduate School of Business)零售研究主管馬克?科恩(Mark Cohen)所言:“在20世紀之交，商業(yè)的總司令是零售商，制造商是平等的合作伙伴?，F(xiàn)在是顧客說了算?！?/span>

In the West,?this upheaval causes?trepidation.That is because the retail infrastructure was not built forthe digital age.?America has 24?square feet of retail Space per?person,?according to Bernstein, three times as much as Britain and six times as much as China.?In America more than?8,700 stores closed last?year, says Coresight Research,?a data firm.?In Britain 16,000?stores shut and?183,000 retail?jobs were?lost,?estimates the Centre for?Retail Research. Pace Nike,one of the worst-hit sectors has been clothing and footwear. Those opening stores are mostly discounters.

在西方，這一劇變引起了恐慌。這是因為零售基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施不是為數(shù)字時代而建的。根據(jù)伯恩斯坦的數(shù)據(jù)，美國的人均零售面積為24平方英尺，是英國的三倍，中國的六倍。數(shù)據(jù)公司Coresight Research稱，去年美國有8700多家門店關(guān)閉。據(jù)英國零售研究中心估計，英國有1.6萬家商店關(guān)門，18.3萬個零售崗位失業(yè)。服裝和鞋類是受沖擊最嚴重的行業(yè)之一。那些新開的商店大多是折扣店。

In parts of Asia,?however, this is a?time of exuberance. China's embrace of e-commerce reflects the ubiquity?of smartphones,?the shortage of attractive Shopping centres beyond the big cities, and high urban density, which cuts the cost of delivery.Yet China also stands out for?a?level?of innovation, such as?live-streaming by celebrity lipstick-sellers,?that few saw coming. Like Nike,?some Chinese tech firms are taking advantage of people's digital trail to change the way goods are produced—and even to produce high-tech ways to improve fruit and?vegetable yields on farms.

然而，亞洲部分地區(qū)正處于繁榮時期。中國對電子商務(wù)的熱衷，反映了智能手機無處不在、大城市以外缺乏有吸引力的購物中心、以及降低了送貨成本的城市高密度。然而，中國也在一定程度上的創(chuàng)新上脫穎而出，比如很少有人預(yù)見到的明星口紅銷售商的直播。像耐克一樣，一些中國科技公司正在利用人們的數(shù)字足跡來改變商品的生產(chǎn)方式，甚至利用高科技方法來提高農(nóng)場水果和蔬菜的產(chǎn)量。

Yet even in China,?the ultimate goal is not to leapfrog?the?store.?Alibaba,?China's biggest?e-commerce firm, has brought the?latest digital razzmatazz,?such as cashier-free shops and?video promotions, to its supermarkets in the biggest cities. Along with?JD.com and Pinduoduo,?its closest rivals, it is working with grocery shops in the farthest-flung?villages to make distribution of goods cheaper?and more efficient.?Daniel?Zipser?of McKinsey, a consultancy, says 374 large?malls were opened?in China?last?year.Prices for retail property in city centres have shown no meaningful fall.

然而，即使在中國，最終目標(biāo)也不是超越商店。中國最大的電子商務(wù)公司阿里巴巴為其大城市的超市帶來了最新的數(shù)字噱頭，如無人售貨商店和視頻促銷。與最接近的競爭對手京東(JD.com)和拼多多一樣，京東正在與偏遠村莊的雜貨店合作，以使商品配送更便宜、更高效。咨詢公司麥肯錫(McKinsey)的丹尼爾?齊普瑟(Daniel Zipser)表示，去年中國新開了374家大型購物中心。市中心零售地產(chǎn)的價格沒有出現(xiàn)有意義的下跌。