1、 外文资料及中文译文 作 者 姓 名 王超 专 业 市场营销 指导教师姓名 荣梅 专业技术职务 副教授 NEW RETAIL STEATEGIES: OFFERING A BETTER FIT FOR TODAYS CAREFUL CONSUMERS Leonard Lodish Retailers looking for growth in todays economy might pick up a lesson or two from Coca-Colas Freestyle vending machines. First tested in 2009 and now rolling o
2、ut full force nationwide, the futuristic touch-screen machines offer customers 125 different beverage choices, from flavored Dasani waters and sports drinks to Diet Cherry Coke. Customers can even create their own combinations - Fanta Orange and vanilla cream soda, anyone? - or try flavors unavailab
3、le elsewhere, like Raspberry Coke. This month, the company launched apps for Facebook and smart phones that let customers mix and name their own drink. Plans are that one day the apps will spit out a bar code for customers to scan at Freestyle machines and automatically dispense their own personaliz
4、ed blend. Coca-Cola is dispensing more than just flavored water, says Wharton marketing professor Jerry Wind. The company is also creating excitement, tapping into social networks, giving people a chance to customize their own product and empowering customers in ways that a traditional vending machi
5、ne cant match. Those are important retail strategies in todays economy, where one out of five people in the United States is either unemployed or underemployed and consumers remain reluctant to spend. Since the recession began in 2008, retail in the U.S. has split into two extremes, Wind notes. On o
6、ne hand, there is the luxury market, which caters to a small segment of wealthy people unaffected by economic ups and downs. Aside from a drop-off at the beginning of the recession, when luxury spending seemed ungainly, this segment still spends. On the other hand are discount brands, which have gro
7、wn their market share as consumers scrimp and trade down to cheaper products. Brands that fall between those two categories will continue to be squeezed, Wind says, and will need to create excitement to make their product stand out. In many ways, its a retail story that never changes, says Wharton m
8、arketing professor Leonard Lodish: Retailers that really solve problems and delight consumers in ways that other retailers cant . do very well. The recession has forced many retailers to get back to basics, according to Barbara Kahn, a Wharton marketing professor and director of the Jay H. Baker Ret
9、ailing Center at Wharton. In todays environment, where shoppers carefully consider each purchase, retailers cant afford to be sloppy about what they offer. I think this has been a good lesson for retailers, she says. You really have to deliver genuine value. That doesnt always mean offering the chea
10、pest product, Kahn points out. Apple remains the prime example of a company that can sell high-priced gadgets despite a recession. What it does mean is that the price has to be right. To the value-conscious consumer, for example, a classic suit made of cheap fabric would be no more appealing than a
11、trendy outfit made of the finest silk: Neither would last long - the first because of the material, the second because of style. A better fit for todays careful consumer: a classic suit made well, or a fashionable outfit made affordably. Our shopping patterns have changed, Kahn says. That should cha
12、nge retailers behavior, too. Golf Balls Online 24/7 Whether shopping on Amazon or finding deals through social networks, consumers have also learned to save money online, and that promises to be a permanent behavioral shift, notes Wharton marketing professor David R. Bell. The Internet just offers s
13、o many ways to save - both through the advice, opinions and experiences of others, and through the direct deals from sellers. Once consumers have had great deals and great advice, it makes no sense to shift back. But retailers are missing the point if they only use online media to promote in-store s
14、ales. Finding new ways to make sales online is also a huge area for growth. Indeed, the game is no longer limited to e-commerce, notes the August issue of Chain Store Age, a trade magazine for retailers: Now theres also F-Commerce, M-commerce, S-commerce and V-commerce - thats Facebook, mobile, soci
15、al media and video. I think customers respond to social marketing if its a two-way dialogue, according to Erin Armendinger, managing director of the Baker Center. People want to be heard. People want to talk. This gives them an outlet. Companies that are very responsive to their online community - retailers like Nordstrom and Victorias Secret - get more out of the interaction than just online sales. Like Cokes vending machine, which sends data back to the Atlanta headquarters about taste preferences and
