All eyes on Chinese aisles
被虎视眈眈的中国零售市场
Who will conquer China's rampant retail market? Probably no one
中国疯狂零售业谁征服？天下也许无一君
063 Business - Retail in China.mp3 (2.36 MB, 下载次数: 91)
May 19th 2011 | BEIJING | from the print edition Tweet
2011年5月19日 北京 来自打印版
A HEAP of raw chickens greets customers at a Wumart store in Beijing, piled up on a table without packaging or protection against passing sneezers. The shop front is dirty, the decor shabby and the goods inside are displayed without the slightest attention to aesthetics. But the prices are wonderfully low.
在北京的一家物美超市，迎接顾客的是一大堆生鸡肉，堆在桌上，既无包装，又无任何防止路过打喷嚏者污染的包装或保护膜。物美店面脏乱，装饰凌乱无序，而且内部商品的排列并未注意遵照必要的美学标准。但是（有一点比较好，就是）价格异常的低廉。
China is the world's fastest-growing major retail market, and may one day be the biggest. Foreign chains such as Carrefour, Walmart and Tesco are piling in. Yet none of them nor any of their local rivals comes close to dominating China as Walmart dominates the supermarket business in America. The largest chain, Shanghai Bailian, has only 11% of the market and barely registers outside its home region.
中国是世界上增长最快的主要零售市场,而且有可能有朝一日成为最大的市场。国外的超市连锁店如家乐福、沃尔玛和乐购都蜂拥而至。这三个超市以及任何他们本土竞争对手都没能做到像沃尔玛在美国那样主导着中国超市产业。即使是最大的连锁店上海百联也只占有11%的市场份额，而且也没在上海以外的地区开几家分店。
A comparison of Walmart's Chinese operations with those of Wumart, a Beijing-based chain, is illuminating. Wumart is cheaper―hence that heap of raw chickens. Walmart is considered fancier, a fact that may surprise American shoppers. Its stores are well-lit and spotlessly clean. Its wares are safe, reliable and tastefully displayed, though they differ somewhat from those on offer in Arkansas. Basins brim with live fish and sea turtles that clients can kill at home or have slaughtered on the spot. Other delicacies include birds' nests, pigs' feet and sea cucumbers (which resemble foot-long aquatic slugs).
沃尔玛和物美这家以北京为基地的连锁店在中国的运营模式的对比是很具启发性的。物美依靠大量货源来保证价格低廉。沃尔玛被认为更精致一些,这可能会让美国的顾客听起来很惊讶。它的商品存储区干净明亮并一尘不染。它的商品安全值得信赖，以及摆放高雅,尽管可能和阿肯色州那些大甩卖的东西会有点不一样，水盆里装满鲜鱼和海龟，顾客可以选择拿回家宰或者当场宰。其他美食还包括燕窝，猪蹄和海参（一种类似水生长足的蛞蝓）。
Walmart, the American giant, entered China in 1996, five years before the country joined the World Trade Organisation and liberalised its retail sector. Yet despite starting early, it has advanced slowly. In 2006 it took over Taiwan's Trust-Mart, which added more than 100 shops to its Chinese operations. Today Walmart has 338 shops in 124 Chinese cities, with 90,000 employees and annual sales of some $7 billion. Not bad, but that amounts to less than 3% of its sales in America.
在中国加入世界贸易组织并对外开放零售领域的5年前，美国零售业巨无霸沃尔玛于1996年进军中国市场。纵使沃尔玛是早起的鸟儿，发展却缓慢。到2006年，沃尔玛收购来自台湾地区的好又多超市，这也给沃尔玛中国又增加了100多家店面。时至今日，沃尔玛拥有338家店面分布在中国124个城市，员工90,000人，年销售额约是70亿美元。这是不错的业绩，但是这意味着它不及在美国的销售额的3%。
Wumart, the Beijing-based chain, was founded in the early 1990s by Zhang Wenzhong, who had developed an IT system for retailers while at Stanford University but found that retailers weren't interested in it. He returned to China and opened his own chain of stores. By 2005 Wumart had more than 450 hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores.
以北京为基地的物美超市，在上个世纪90年代早期由张文中创立，张文中在斯坦福大学求学期间早已开发了一套用于零售业的IT系统，遗憾的是当时没有零售商对他的系统感兴趣。（所以）他返回中国并创办了自己的连锁商店。截止2005年，物美旗下包括超大型自助商场，超市和便利店在内，一共有450家。
He aimed to have 1,000 by 2010, but that did not happen. Wumart today has 469 shops with annual sales of 14 billion yuan ($2 billion). Mr Zhang, alas, is serving an 18-year prison sentence for bribery. His store is big in Beijing, tiddly elsewhere but still ambitious. "We dream about being the Walmart of China," says Fu Yu, a Wumart spokesman.
2010年达到1000家是张文中的目标，但是这并未如期而至。今天，物美仅有469家店面，年销售额140亿人民币（合20亿美元）。可悲的是，张先生正因贿赂罪而需要在监狱服18年的有期徒刑。他的连锁超市虽然相比在北京的强大，在其他地区份额很小，但（公司内部）依然充满信心。"我们梦想（把物美）造就成中国的沃尔玛"，一位物美的发言人符玉说道。
Wu Jianzhong, Wumart's chairman, thinks Chinese stores need to spruce up. "Foreign retailers wear suits when they welcome visitors, while the Chinese wear shorts because they feel they are familiar with their clients," he sighs. Chinese executives should at least wear long trousers, he reckons. Otherwise foreigners might win the fierce fight for footfall (retail jargon for the number of shoppers).
物美主席吴建中认为，中国的超市需要打造良好的形象。他感叹说，"国外的零售商在欢迎来宾时是西装革履，恰恰相反，中国的零售商身着短袖短裤，因为他们自认为自己熟悉自己的顾客。"他反思说，中国（零售业）的执行者们至少应该身穿长裤。否则，外国的零售商会在争夺的客流量（这是代表大量顾客的行话）中获胜。
Retail sales in China are $1 trillion a year and growing by around 18% annually. China's 1.4 billion people are rapidly urbanising and ravenous for all the goods they couldn't have a generation ago. Their government is eager to promote domestic consumption. But the Chinese middle class is not nearly as rich as the middle class in developed countries. A mere 1.4% of urban households make more than $15,000 a year, and only 11% make $5,000-15,000. And all these people save furiously, because unless they work for the state they are unlikely to receive much of a pension.
零售业每年在中国的销售额达到1万亿美元，而且以大约每年18%的速度增长。中国的14亿人口正在经历快速的城市化进程，面对那些琳琅满目的前所未有的商品，他们进行着"饥饿性"消费。中国的政府正渴望拉动国内消费。但是，中国的中产阶级并未如发达国家的中产阶级一样的富裕。1.4%的少数城镇居民年收入超过1.5万美元，仅有11%的城镇居民年收入在5千到1.5万美元期间。而且所有的这些中国中产阶级都在疯狂的将收入存储起来，因为除非他们是政府公务员，不然他们得不到太多的养老金。
Small wonder that they love low prices. Small wonder, too, that the government, which fears anything that might provoke unrest, fears inflation. Consumer inflation is officially 5.3% but probably higher. The central government has cranked up interest rates, banned the hoarding of staple foods, raised subsidies to low-income families and increased the minimum wage. It also takes a hard line against any private company suspected of stoking inflation. Unilever was fined $310,000 earlier this month for mentioning to reporters that it might raise prices―the news sparked panic buying of shampoo in March.
青睐低廉价格的商品对中国人来说不太出奇。政府恐惧任何可能催生骚乱和通货膨胀的因素，这也是不足为奇的。消费者物价指数的涨幅官方说法是5.3%，但实际也许会更高。中央政府已经提高了银行利息利率，禁止囤积粮食，增加对低收入者的津贴和提高最低工资标准。同时也对蓄意煽动价格上涨的公司进行严厉打击。联合利华因为本月初向记者提及可能提高物价而被罚款31万美元――这一报道引起了3月份的对洗发水的抢购。
Supermarkets could cut prices if their supply chains were better-oiled. Moving food from farm to fork is a nightmare. China has few big farms. More than four-fifths of the rural population of 675m work on tiny plots. "Logistics, warehousing and shipping are still very inefficient," says Chiang Jeongwen of the China-Europe International Business School in Shanghai.
如果商品供应链更加完善的话，超市也许会降低商品价格――如石油价格。食物从农场到餐桌的运送是一场噩梦。中国的大型农场寥寥无几。超过4/5的6.75亿的农村人口分散的耕种着小块的田地。"物流，仓储和海运依然还是低效率的"，上海中欧国际商业学校蒋炯文说道。
The next big thing for retailers in China will be the less-developed cities of the country's interior. It's a "land-grab", says a Chinese executive. Everyone is vying for first-mover advantage. Yet although no one wants to arrive too late, no one wants to be too early, either. Those who open stores when locals are still too poor to shop there can lose a packet.
对于中国的市场的零售商来说，一下重点将是在中国内地二级城市（的争夺）。这将是一场"圈地运动"，一位中国的行政官员说道。每一个人都在争先恐后的争夺先行者优势。然而仍然无人要么愿意落于人后，要么过早涉足。那些在当地人还依然很贫穷的时候就在那里开店的人会使得投资付之东流。
The market has a Wild West feel. Huge areas of China are wide open, and it helps if you are chums with the local lawman. Retailers depend on local government for a licence and a place to operate. "The prime space always goes to local players," says Sunny Wong, the boss of Lifung Trinity, a retailer. Tellingly, the Bailian Group, China's biggest retailer, is state-owned.
现在中国内陆市场犹如美国初期的西部。大片土地等待开发，而且与当地警察搞好关系是有帮助的。零售商的营业执照和运营场地需要依靠当地政府来获得。"最好的地段都会给本地企业，"中国最大的零售百联集团就是国有企业就很能说明问题。
"There could be political tensions if a foreign retailer gets too big or too dominant," says Matthew Crabbe of Access Asia, a consultancy. There seems little danger of that. Neither Carrefour nor Walmart has much more than 6% of the market. Provincial governments favour provincial retailers. The national government gives a helping hand to all Chinese chains. Foreigners are on their own. Call it the Great Wall against Walmart.
"如果一家外国零售商规模过于庞大或者主导了(中国的零售市场),（在中国）会受到政治压力，" Access Asia的顾问马修克拉布说。现在看来完全没有这种危险。既不是家乐福，也不是沃尔玛所占中国零售业的份额都没有超过6%。（每个地区的）省政府都青睐于（本省的）零售商。中国的中央政府给予中国所有的零售业的连锁店扶持。外国零售商只能靠自己了。这被叫做抵御沃尔玛入侵的万里长城。
from the print edition | Business
被虎视眈眈的中国零售市场
Who will conquer China's rampant retail market? Probably no one
中国疯狂零售业谁征服？天下也许无一君
063 Business - Retail in China.mp3 (2.36 MB, 下载次数: 91) May 19th 2011 | BEIJING | from the print edition Tweet
2011年5月19日 北京 来自打印版
A HEAP of raw chickens greets customers at a Wumart store in Beijing, piled up on a table without packaging or protection against passing sneezers. The shop front is dirty, the decor shabby and the goods inside are displayed without the slightest attention to aesthetics. But the prices are wonderfully low.
在北京的一家物美超市，迎接顾客的是一大堆生鸡肉，堆在桌上，既无包装，又无任何防止路过打喷嚏者污染的包装或保护膜。物美店面脏乱，装饰凌乱无序，而且内部商品的排列并未注意遵照必要的美学标准。但是（有一点比较好，就是）价格异常的低廉。
China is the world's fastest-growing major retail market, and may one day be the biggest. Foreign chains such as Carrefour, Walmart and Tesco are piling in. Yet none of them nor any of their local rivals comes close to dominating China as Walmart dominates the supermarket business in America. The largest chain, Shanghai Bailian, has only 11% of the market and barely registers outside its home region.
中国是世界上增长最快的主要零售市场,而且有可能有朝一日成为最大的市场。国外的超市连锁店如家乐福、沃尔玛和乐购都蜂拥而至。这三个超市以及任何他们本土竞争对手都没能做到像沃尔玛在美国那样主导着中国超市产业。即使是最大的连锁店上海百联也只占有11%的市场份额，而且也没在上海以外的地区开几家分店。
A comparison of Walmart's Chinese operations with those of Wumart, a Beijing-based chain, is illuminating. Wumart is cheaper―hence that heap of raw chickens. Walmart is considered fancier, a fact that may surprise American shoppers. Its stores are well-lit and spotlessly clean. Its wares are safe, reliable and tastefully displayed, though they differ somewhat from those on offer in Arkansas. Basins brim with live fish and sea turtles that clients can kill at home or have slaughtered on the spot. Other delicacies include birds' nests, pigs' feet and sea cucumbers (which resemble foot-long aquatic slugs).
沃尔玛和物美这家以北京为基地的连锁店在中国的运营模式的对比是很具启发性的。物美依靠大量货源来保证价格低廉。沃尔玛被认为更精致一些,这可能会让美国的顾客听起来很惊讶。它的商品存储区干净明亮并一尘不染。它的商品安全值得信赖，以及摆放高雅,尽管可能和阿肯色州那些大甩卖的东西会有点不一样，水盆里装满鲜鱼和海龟，顾客可以选择拿回家宰或者当场宰。其他美食还包括燕窝，猪蹄和海参（一种类似水生长足的蛞蝓）。
Walmart, the American giant, entered China in 1996, five years before the country joined the World Trade Organisation and liberalised its retail sector. Yet despite starting early, it has advanced slowly. In 2006 it took over Taiwan's Trust-Mart, which added more than 100 shops to its Chinese operations. Today Walmart has 338 shops in 124 Chinese cities, with 90,000 employees and annual sales of some $7 billion. Not bad, but that amounts to less than 3% of its sales in America.
在中国加入世界贸易组织并对外开放零售领域的5年前，美国零售业巨无霸沃尔玛于1996年进军中国市场。纵使沃尔玛是早起的鸟儿，发展却缓慢。到2006年，沃尔玛收购来自台湾地区的好又多超市，这也给沃尔玛中国又增加了100多家店面。时至今日，沃尔玛拥有338家店面分布在中国124个城市，员工90,000人，年销售额约是70亿美元。这是不错的业绩，但是这意味着它不及在美国的销售额的3%。
Wumart, the Beijing-based chain, was founded in the early 1990s by Zhang Wenzhong, who had developed an IT system for retailers while at Stanford University but found that retailers weren't interested in it. He returned to China and opened his own chain of stores. By 2005 Wumart had more than 450 hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores.
以北京为基地的物美超市，在上个世纪90年代早期由张文中创立，张文中在斯坦福大学求学期间早已开发了一套用于零售业的IT系统，遗憾的是当时没有零售商对他的系统感兴趣。（所以）他返回中国并创办了自己的连锁商店。截止2005年，物美旗下包括超大型自助商场，超市和便利店在内，一共有450家。
He aimed to have 1,000 by 2010, but that did not happen. Wumart today has 469 shops with annual sales of 14 billion yuan ($2 billion). Mr Zhang, alas, is serving an 18-year prison sentence for bribery. His store is big in Beijing, tiddly elsewhere but still ambitious. "We dream about being the Walmart of China," says Fu Yu, a Wumart spokesman.
2010年达到1000家是张文中的目标，但是这并未如期而至。今天，物美仅有469家店面，年销售额140亿人民币（合20亿美元）。可悲的是，张先生正因贿赂罪而需要在监狱服18年的有期徒刑。他的连锁超市虽然相比在北京的强大，在其他地区份额很小，但（公司内部）依然充满信心。"我们梦想（把物美）造就成中国的沃尔玛"，一位物美的发言人符玉说道。
Wu Jianzhong, Wumart's chairman, thinks Chinese stores need to spruce up. "Foreign retailers wear suits when they welcome visitors, while the Chinese wear shorts because they feel they are familiar with their clients," he sighs. Chinese executives should at least wear long trousers, he reckons. Otherwise foreigners might win the fierce fight for footfall (retail jargon for the number of shoppers).
物美主席吴建中认为，中国的超市需要打造良好的形象。他感叹说，"国外的零售商在欢迎来宾时是西装革履，恰恰相反，中国的零售商身着短袖短裤，因为他们自认为自己熟悉自己的顾客。"他反思说，中国（零售业）的执行者们至少应该身穿长裤。否则，外国的零售商会在争夺的客流量（这是代表大量顾客的行话）中获胜。
Retail sales in China are $1 trillion a year and growing by around 18% annually. China's 1.4 billion people are rapidly urbanising and ravenous for all the goods they couldn't have a generation ago. Their government is eager to promote domestic consumption. But the Chinese middle class is not nearly as rich as the middle class in developed countries. A mere 1.4% of urban households make more than $15,000 a year, and only 11% make $5,000-15,000. And all these people save furiously, because unless they work for the state they are unlikely to receive much of a pension.
零售业每年在中国的销售额达到1万亿美元，而且以大约每年18%的速度增长。中国的14亿人口正在经历快速的城市化进程，面对那些琳琅满目的前所未有的商品，他们进行着"饥饿性"消费。中国的政府正渴望拉动国内消费。但是，中国的中产阶级并未如发达国家的中产阶级一样的富裕。1.4%的少数城镇居民年收入超过1.5万美元，仅有11%的城镇居民年收入在5千到1.5万美元期间。而且所有的这些中国中产阶级都在疯狂的将收入存储起来，因为除非他们是政府公务员，不然他们得不到太多的养老金。
Small wonder that they love low prices. Small wonder, too, that the government, which fears anything that might provoke unrest, fears inflation. Consumer inflation is officially 5.3% but probably higher. The central government has cranked up interest rates, banned the hoarding of staple foods, raised subsidies to low-income families and increased the minimum wage. It also takes a hard line against any private company suspected of stoking inflation. Unilever was fined $310,000 earlier this month for mentioning to reporters that it might raise prices―the news sparked panic buying of shampoo in March.
青睐低廉价格的商品对中国人来说不太出奇。政府恐惧任何可能催生骚乱和通货膨胀的因素，这也是不足为奇的。消费者物价指数的涨幅官方说法是5.3%，但实际也许会更高。中央政府已经提高了银行利息利率，禁止囤积粮食，增加对低收入者的津贴和提高最低工资标准。同时也对蓄意煽动价格上涨的公司进行严厉打击。联合利华因为本月初向记者提及可能提高物价而被罚款31万美元――这一报道引起了3月份的对洗发水的抢购。
Supermarkets could cut prices if their supply chains were better-oiled. Moving food from farm to fork is a nightmare. China has few big farms. More than four-fifths of the rural population of 675m work on tiny plots. "Logistics, warehousing and shipping are still very inefficient," says Chiang Jeongwen of the China-Europe International Business School in Shanghai.
如果商品供应链更加完善的话，超市也许会降低商品价格――如石油价格。食物从农场到餐桌的运送是一场噩梦。中国的大型农场寥寥无几。超过4/5的6.75亿的农村人口分散的耕种着小块的田地。"物流，仓储和海运依然还是低效率的"，上海中欧国际商业学校蒋炯文说道。
The next big thing for retailers in China will be the less-developed cities of the country's interior. It's a "land-grab", says a Chinese executive. Everyone is vying for first-mover advantage. Yet although no one wants to arrive too late, no one wants to be too early, either. Those who open stores when locals are still too poor to shop there can lose a packet.
对于中国的市场的零售商来说，一下重点将是在中国内地二级城市（的争夺）。这将是一场"圈地运动"，一位中国的行政官员说道。每一个人都在争先恐后的争夺先行者优势。然而仍然无人要么愿意落于人后，要么过早涉足。那些在当地人还依然很贫穷的时候就在那里开店的人会使得投资付之东流。
The market has a Wild West feel. Huge areas of China are wide open, and it helps if you are chums with the local lawman. Retailers depend on local government for a licence and a place to operate. "The prime space always goes to local players," says Sunny Wong, the boss of Lifung Trinity, a retailer. Tellingly, the Bailian Group, China's biggest retailer, is state-owned.
现在中国内陆市场犹如美国初期的西部。大片土地等待开发，而且与当地警察搞好关系是有帮助的。零售商的营业执照和运营场地需要依靠当地政府来获得。"最好的地段都会给本地企业，"中国最大的零售百联集团就是国有企业就很能说明问题。
"There could be political tensions if a foreign retailer gets too big or too dominant," says Matthew Crabbe of Access Asia, a consultancy. There seems little danger of that. Neither Carrefour nor Walmart has much more than 6% of the market. Provincial governments favour provincial retailers. The national government gives a helping hand to all Chinese chains. Foreigners are on their own. Call it the Great Wall against Walmart.
"如果一家外国零售商规模过于庞大或者主导了(中国的零售市场),（在中国）会受到政治压力，" Access Asia的顾问马修克拉布说。现在看来完全没有这种危险。既不是家乐福，也不是沃尔玛所占中国零售业的份额都没有超过6%。（每个地区的）省政府都青睐于（本省的）零售商。中国的中央政府给予中国所有的零售业的连锁店扶持。外国零售商只能靠自己了。这被叫做抵御沃尔玛入侵的万里长城。
from the print edition | Business
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