1、1 1290 单词， 6900 英文字符， 2518 汉字 外文资料及中文译文 Chinas Consumer Culture Comes of Age Heller Josephi Could China grow into a nation of shoppers? The country is better known around the world for its factory workers and exports. But to put Chinas economic growth on a steadier glide path, especially in a global
2、 slowdown, the Chinese government wants to shift the drivers of the economy towards consumer demand at home. By the looks of the glitzy shopping malls in Beijing and Shanghai, selling everything from Louis Vuitton luggage to Lenovo laptops, China is well on its way. Certainly, with 1.3 billion poten
3、tial consumers, the future is bright for Chinese retailers. “In the next five to 10 years, the retail sector will go through dramatic growth,” says Wharton marketing professor John Zhang. A quarter of a billion people have migrated from the countryside to the cities in the last 25 years, and rising
4、incomes are spurring an expanding middle class. By 2025, that middle class is expected to number 612 million, or 76% of the population, up from 43% in 2006, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. Eventually, the bourgeoisie will be dropping an ever greater portion of their estimated $13,000 to
5、$54,000 annual income (adjusted for purchasing power parity) in stores, says McKinsey. In a 2007 McKinsey & Co. survey of 6,000 Chinese, two-thirds of the respondents already count shopping as a favorite activity. Last year, the retail industry grew 17%, and is forecast to grow 13% to 14% this year
6、even in the midst of a slowdown in the Chinese economy, says Matthew Moneyhon, managing partner at Ergo, a New York market research firm. Yet, for all the potential, home-grown Chinese retailers are still in the early days of building a sector that matches the efficiencies of counterparts in develop
7、ed economies. Today, Chinese retail chains account for only 10% of the entire retailing sector in China, with traditional mom-and-pops comprising most of the stores patronized by Chinese across the country, says Jeff Walters, principal at the Boston Consulting Group office in Beijing. “Even supermar
8、kets that look modern from the outside are really pseudo-modern,” says Walters. “Decisions are still made locally； they still run as independent stores,” rather than as a part of a larger integrated operation. Many of todays large retailers started with a bang, growing rapidly, but now face 2 new ch
9、allenges at their next stage of growth. “In China, everything happens in a compressed time frame,” says Edwin Keh, a Wharton School lecturer and former chief operating officer of Wal-Mart Global Procurement. “China went from informal, unorganized marketplaces into shopping mall booms without much in
10、 between. Theres a degree of challenge in that.” Retailers challenges include transforming themselves from real estate operators to retail professionals, expanding to smaller cities, and managing the onslaught of e-commerce. From Landlord to Retailer Many of Chinas largest home-grown retailers start
11、ed essentially as landlords. Electronics purveyors Nanjing-based Suning Appliance Co. and Beijing-based Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings, for example, buy prime locations in major cities and rent floor space to sellers to set up their own mini-shops. The mini-shops are run by the suppliers employ
12、ees, who make merchandising and pricing decisions on their products. The landlord-retailer, which has few in-store employees, takes a percentage of the suppliers sales, ranging from 5% for a strong international brand, to as high as 30% for an unknown domestic brand, says Jeongwen Chiang, chairman o
13、f the Marketing department at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. “Its reminiscent of the concession model of 19th century retailers in the U.S., where all the margins went to concession the retailer, not concessionaire the seller,” says Wharton professor of managemen
14、t Marshall W. Meyer. The model is imported from other Asian countries, notes Whartons Zhang. During the early days of economic reform, Chinese state-owned department store managers went to Japan and Hong Kong to acquire know-how and brought back the store-within-a-store format, he says. According to
15、 Walters of the Boston Consulting Group: “Its an easy transition from traditional to modern retail,” since stores within a store are similar to an old-fashioned bazaar. The model facilitates go-go expansion. Because retail penetration is so low in China, “the easiest way to grow is to continue openi
16、ng stores,” says Walters. “If I have five stores and I want 1,000 stores in five years, the landlord model is my first choice. Because the retailer shares the burden of running stores with the supplier, it can grow faster via new store openings.” If retailers can grow through new store openings, the
17、y dont have to worry about much else, say experts. “If you have a hot place for your store, you dont have a reason to improve your operations,” notes Nephi Zhang, senior analyst of retail at IDC China in Beijing. As a result, “there are challenges retailers havent dealt with yet 3 that will become m
18、ore important over time,” Walters notes. They include the product management, pricing, marketing, customer service and analytical skills needed to increase traffic and basket size at each individual store to juice same-store sales. Suning and Gome are now starting to build that capability, including
19、 installing data capture and analysis of customer demand. Says a speaks person offor Gome Electronic: “Compared with leading retailers in the world, Chinese retailers right now are still operating at the stage where they manage properties, suppliers and some of the products. Gome has started a trans
20、formation to a new business model based on consumer-orientation and full-range consolidation on supply chain.” Suning is also expanding to take advantage of new opportunities, according to media reports. China Retail News noted in a report this month that the electronics and home appliances retailer
21、 opened 400 new outlets in 2011, including super flagship stores, Laox stores and boutiques. Suning plans to open another 400 outlets this year, China Retail News wrote, and quoted Jin Ming, president of Suning Appliances, who said the company would “establish five new major procurement and sales ce
22、nters.” From Bricks and Mortar to Cyberspace Now, e-commerce is coming into Chinas retail scene. With 40% broadband penetration nationwide and widespread smartphone use, China is ripe for a takeoff in online shopping, which could soon exceed the level in the U.S., says Wharton Marketing professor Da
23、vid Bell. In addition, e-commerce has the potential to catalyze change in both the landlord model of retailing and expansion to smaller cities. E-commerce can also speed the evolving relationship between retail landlords and their store-within-a-store suppliers, where the latter are starting to balk
24、 at the terms theyre dealt. “Because e-commerce has come along as an alternative, traditional retailers may be forced to be a little kinder to tenants,” says CEIBSs Chiang. Smaller suppliers see e-commerce as a way to sell products nationwide without having to give a cut to retailers. One of Chiangs
25、 MBA students used to sell mobile handsets through traditional retailers who took a big chunk of his revenues. Now, he is selling his products through Taobao, Chinas eBay-like site. E-commerce can help retailers reach inland consumers in smaller markets. “There are a lot of people spread in the inte
26、rior, who have no luxury to go to fancy supermalls,” says Chiang. “E-commerce can compensate somewhat and maybe take more and more share” from bricks and mortar shops. Gome aims to have Gome Online Mall account for 15% of the companys total sales and 20% of Chinas total online sales for home electronics in two to three years, according to companys public
