季節(jié)性促銷的變遷外文翻譯--零售商讓顧客覺得每天都像圣誕節(jié)

1、<p><b>　　本科畢業(yè)論文</b></p><p><b>　　外文文獻(xiàn)及譯文</b></p><p>　　文獻(xiàn)、資料題目：A Seasonal Sales Shift</p><p>　　文獻(xiàn)、資料來源：期刊（著作、網(wǎng)絡(luò)等）</p><p>　　文獻(xiàn)、資料發(fā)表（出版）日期：2011

2、.06</p><p>　　院 （部）： 商學(xué)院</p><p>　　專 業(yè)： 工商管理</p><p><b>　　班 級： </b></p><p><b>　　姓 名： </b></p><p><b>　　學(xué) 號： </b&g

3、t;</p><p><b>　　指導(dǎo)教師：</b></p><p><b>　　翻譯日期： </b></p><p><b>　　外文文獻(xiàn)：</b></p><p>　　A Seasonal Sales Shift </p><p>　　——For B

4、argain Hunters, Retailers Make Every Day Feel like Christmas</p><p>　　For most of us, "Christmas in July" is a phrase that conjures up images of cool times during summer heat waves or funny themes

5、for a BBQ get-together. But retailers are thinking of something much different. With fears of a renewed recession in the U.S. still in the air, stores across the country continue to be worried about flagging consumer con

6、fidence. As a result, consumers spending their days at the beach or camping in the backyard during "staycations" can now find the type of deep discounts </p><p>　　In today's uncertain economic

7、climate, it has bigger implications than ever -- both for the retail sector's growth strategies and for consumer spending habits, say Wharton and other business experts. </p><p>　　With retailers pushing

8、sales earlier and earlier and consumers waiting later and later to buy, Baker Retailing Initiative managing director Erin Armendinger compares the situation to the children's game of chicken. Retailers, running on le

9、an inventories, have wanted to hold off -- for as long as they could -- offering the kinds of deep discounts they promoted last year. But their customers have been "wary of buying something that wasn't on sale.

10、If they paid full price or got only a minimal [dis</p><p>　　Playing up the Value Equation</p><p>　　The game might not be over. Retail sales for July were down 0.2% from June, seasonally adjusted

11、 and excluding auto, gas and restaurant spending, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). "Current data on the economy is mixed, which signals that retailers will continue planning with caution," Jac

12、k Kleinhenz, NRF's chief economist, said in a news release.</p><p>　　Chains, including Target, Home Depot and Lowe's, reported jumps in profit for the second quarter, but the gains came despite weake

13、r-than-expected revenue. Wal-Mart Stores experienced a 3.6% increase in second quarter earnings, while raising its annual profit forecast. But sales at U.S. stores open for at least a year dropped 1.8% during that time,

14、the fifth consecutive quarterly decline in a metric that is considered an important test of a retailer's performance.</p><p>　　Heading into a season considered crucial to their balance sheets, retailers&

15、#39; planning could include more markdowns. And, adds Hoch, the shift to earlier and earlier seasonal bargains is spread across the entire retail sector. "Virtually every retailer -- whether a luxury department stor

16、e or a value retailer -- is trying to play up the value equation. Consumers expect that," he adds. "There has to be some sort of a value proposition built into a product. [That proposition] may be more for the

17、mon</p><p>　　While most retailers think that delivering value is synonymous with providing good customer service, there is also an element of one-upmanship between rivals in the sector. "If you don'

18、t [make a big markdown] and someone else does, you're in trouble," Hoch notes. "You have to do it.... At a time like this, you will probably see more of it, just because consumers expect it."</p>

19、<p>　　But those habits can ensnare retailers in a trap, cautions Stevan Buxbaum, executive vice-president of California-based retail consultancy Buxbaum Group. "If [one chain] moves its [sale] three days ahea

20、d, then [a competitor will jump] a week ahead. Then they go 10 days ahead, and you go two weeks ahead ... and it just keeps going." Next year's Christmas season will start "in the middle of January clearanc

21、e at the rate they are going." The danger is that the continuous sales and markdowns often d</p><p>　　The Other Big Season</p><p>　　The summer sales are not just providing early Christmas d

22、eals for bargain hunters. Consumers are also are taking advantage of them for back-to-school shopping. "We are encouraged by the fact that parents are eager to start their back-to-school shopping [early] this year,

23、but the industry still remains cautiously optimistic about recovery," Matt Shay, president and CEO of the NRF, said in a news release.</p><p>　　There's good reason for the reticence. Research by the

24、 NRF found that a family's spending on back-to-school items, such as shoes, clothing, supplies and electronics, will increase this year to $606.40, from $548.72 in 2009. But the organization also found that more fami

25、lies are buying generic or store-branded products -- 44.3% compared with last year's 41.7%. Some 70% of families will be going to a discount store for all or part of their shopping.</p><p>　　Armendinger

26、cautions that retailers who are crafting their Christmas strategies shouldn't read too much into the back-to-school "creep." Traditionally taking place immediately before the holiday shopping season, back-t

27、o-school time should be looked at as a separate period, she says. "People tend to think that the back-to-school season is a harbinger of how people spend for the holiday season, but that turns out to not always be t

28、he case," she adds, because parents might spread out their back-to-</p><p>　　There is also a relatively new item on school shopping lists that retail trend watchers need to take into account -- electron

29、ics. "With the rise of the great giant Apple, you see people diverting part of their back-to-school budget into electronics," Armendinger notes. "The world is a different place than when I was a kid. Your

30、parents are no longer just thinking about pens, pencils and rulers.... [They are also thinking] 'Are we going to buy our kid a new laptop?' That's another big expenditure</p><p>　　The Risky Busin

31、ess of Inventory </p><p>　　Regardless of the season, many retailers have been adapting to the new consumer climate in other ways. For example, apparel retailers have been changing their supply chains and inv

32、entory as part of what's known as a "wear now" strategy. While in the past, suggests Armendinger, retailers rolled out merchandise for a new season on a particular day -- changing to displays of sweaters an

33、d corduroy pants in the height of summer's heat -- many are now offering a balance of clothing so people shopping </p><p>　　One of the long-term trends affecting retailers' inventory has been the sou

34、rcing of more products from further afield, in low-cost countries such as China, according to Marshall Fisher, a Wharton professor of operations and information management. "That has made it harder to have the flexi

35、bility to match supply and demand," says Fisher, co-author of a book titled, The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming Supply Chains and Improving Performance. "The heavy prevalence of markdo

36、</p><p>　　In the short term, Fisher notes, retailers have "hunkered down" and tightened procurement and other budgets. He suggests such action may have helped some retailers avoid a strategy of dra

37、matically low markdowns. But it's risky, he warns. Cutting back too deeply -- not only on inventory, but also on staffing and hours -- can lose customers. "You buy too much inventory and you die of a heart attac

38、k. You're too cautious and you could bleed to death."</p><p>　　Given the various risks, it's not surprising that some companies haven't hopped on the markdown bandwagon. Apparel retailer Abe

39、rcrombie & Fitch is a case in point, Buxbaum suggests. "[Abercrombie] still isn't running sales, but it has lowered prices coming out of the chute. It doesn't want to appear to be too expensive [so] it&#

40、39;s having more [items] at the lower price range than the higher price range to maintain that image, and saying, 'When this [downturn] is over, we still want to be Abercromb</p><p>　　But Abercrombie rec

41、ently announced that it will close 60 of its 1,098 stores this year and 50 in 2011. The retailer, which mostly caters to teens, posted a 5% increase in quarterly same-store sales, but CEO Mike Jeffries told analysts in a

42、 conference call that the chain's average unit retail price was about 15% lower than in the second quarter of 2009.</p><p>　　Kicking the Habit</p><p>　　What happens when the economy does pic

43、k up? Hoch predicts that it will take a long time before consumers return to their old shopping ways, and that they will need a lot of reinforcement to change. Think of how long it has taken to wean consumers off buying

44、gas-guzzling cars, he points out, which are often less expensive than fuel-efficient ones but cost much more to keep running. As for how long the current markdown frenzy continues, Hoch thinks it depends on two things: &

45、quot;How long [the downturn</p><p>　　Buxbaum agrees that a return to the old ways -- occasional sales with conservative markdowns -- won't happen overnight. "When you train consumers to expect a dis

46、count -- where they are not buying if it's not 50% [cheaper than the sticker price] -- that cycle takes some time to break." It's not only consumers who will be readjusting. Retailers will have to as well. &

47、quot;Pretty soon, every weekend will have a sale. What else are you going to do?" he asks. "If you stop doing it, people stop buying.... </p><p>　　The changing seasonal shift doesn't have to be

48、 all bad news for a retailer, notes Fisher. "A bold retailer could use this opportunity to gain [market] share, if it has the guts. You could do things that could gain traction on the competition, including making s

49、ure you don't miss any sales [and having] good products in stock."</p><p>　　But there's a twist. Many studies of consumer behavior have found that in times of uncertainty -- such as a recession

50、-- consumers make more impulse purchases, says Katherine L. Milkman, a Wharton professor of operations and information management. It's the retailing equivalent of comfort food. "We cut back on everything, but t

51、hen we are just more susceptible when we are faced with a choice between something hedonic and something non-hedonic," she says. "With a choice between one and the other, </p><p><b>　　中文譯文：&l

52、t;/b></p><p><b>　　季節(jié)性促銷的變遷</b></p><p>　　——零售商讓顧客覺得每天都像圣誕節(jié)</p><p>　　對大部分人來說，“七月圣誕節(jié)”這種說法會喚起我們這樣的想象：盛夏時節(jié)熱浪滾滾時的清涼時光，或者燒烤聚會時的可笑話題。但是，零售商對這個短語的想象則大相徑庭。因為對二次衰退的擔(dān)心情緒依然彌漫在美國，所

53、以，全國的零售商店一直對消費者萎靡不振的信心感到擔(dān)憂。其結(jié)果就是，在海邊度假的人以及在家里后院露營“度假”的人現(xiàn)在都發(fā)現(xiàn)，商店出現(xiàn)了通常在冬季假期才會推出的大幅打折活動。</p><p>　　沃頓商學(xué)院和其他地方的零售業(yè)專家們認(rèn)為，在今天這種經(jīng)濟(jì)氣候很不穩(wěn)定的時期，無論是對零售業(yè)的增長戰(zhàn)略來說，還是對消費者的花費習(xí)慣而言，這種策略都比以前有著更多的意味。</p><p>　　因為零售商的降

54、價促銷活動來得越來越早，所以消費者也就把真正的購物時間推遲得越來越晚，杰伊?貝克零售計劃的常務(wù)董事埃林·亞蒙丁澤將這種現(xiàn)象比作孩子們玩的“斗雞博弈”游戲。零售商總是保留較少的庫存，它們希望盡可能拖延去年那種大幅折扣活動的時間。但是，這些零售商的顧客卻總是擔(dān)心“買到?jīng)]有降價銷售的商品。如果他們購物時付了全價，或者只得到了很少一點折扣，可商品的價格在隨后的降價促銷中大幅降價了，那么，他們就會覺得自己很蠢。這是一種‘看誰先挺不住的游

55、戲’。不過，這個游戲?qū)﹄p方來說都是有害的。”</p><p><b>　　大肆宣傳價值等式</b></p><p>　　或許，這個游戲還沒有結(jié)束。全美零售商聯(lián)合會（National Retail Federation，簡稱NRF）的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，剔除季節(jié)性因素，并將汽車、汽油以及餐廳的消費除去之后，7月的零售額比6月下降了0.2%?！澳壳暗慕?jīng)濟(jì)數(shù)據(jù)喜憂參半，這預(yù)示著零售商

56、在做計劃時依然會保持謹(jǐn)慎。” 全美零售商聯(lián)合會的首席經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家杰克·克萊恩茲在一篇新聞稿中指出。</p><p>　　盡管包括塔吉特、家得寶公司和勞氏公司在內(nèi)的連鎖商店報告稱，第二季度的利潤大幅增長，不過，收益的增長水平依然低于預(yù)期。沃爾瑪商店第二季度的利潤增長了3.6%，據(jù)此，公司調(diào)高了年度盈利預(yù)測。但是，在此期間，美國開業(yè)至少一年的商店的銷售額則下降了1.8%，以人們公認(rèn)的一種測評零售商表現(xiàn)的重要指標(biāo)

57、來衡量，這是零售額連續(xù)第五個季度出現(xiàn)下降。</p><p>　　因為即將進(jìn)入對它們的資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表至關(guān)重要的季度，所以，零售商的計劃可能會包括更多的減價促銷活動。霍克補(bǔ)充談到，減價銷售變得越來越早的風(fēng)潮正在擴(kuò)散到整個零售行業(yè)?！皫缀趺總€零售商——無論是奢侈品百貨公司，還是‘價值零售商’（價值零售商通常指在較大賣場以大容量商品而不是靠標(biāo)高售價掙取銷售利潤的零售商?！g者注）——都在大肆宣傳價值等式，因為這就是消費者想

58、要的?！彼又劦健！吧唐分斜仨毢心撤N價值主張。這個主張可能是物超所值，也可能是更好的質(zhì)量?！?lt;/p><p>　　雖然大部分零售商都認(rèn)為，傳遞價值就是提供良好的消費者服務(wù)的同義語，不過，在零售行業(yè)，競爭對手之間還存在著一個“勝出一籌”的問題。“如果你不大幅減價銷售，可別人那么做了，那么，你就會陷入麻煩?！被艨苏劦??！八?，你必須那么做……在目前這種形勢下，你可能會看到更多的這類情形，因為這就是消費者想要的?！?/p>

59、</p><p>　　但是，這種習(xí)慣性行為也會讓零售商陷入圈套，設(shè)在加利福尼亞州的零售咨詢顧問機(jī)構(gòu)巴克斯鮑姆集團(tuán)的執(zhí)行副總裁斯蒂萬·巴克斯鮑姆告誡說?！叭绻患疫B鎖商店將降價促銷提前三天，那么，競爭對手可能便會提前一星期。如果競爭對手提前10天，那么，你就會提前兩個星期……零售商的促銷時間會不斷提前?！彼?，“如果以這個速度進(jìn)行下去”，下一年圣誕節(jié)的購物季就會“從1月中旬的清倉大減價開始了”。這種行為的

60、危險在于，持續(xù)不斷的大減價和低標(biāo)價往往弊大于利，會將零售商推向這樣一種境地——“它們今年的銷量超過了去年，可他們的收入?yún)s可能減少了?！?lt;/p><p><b>　　其他的大降價季節(jié)</b></p><p>　　對喜歡買便宜貨的人來說，夏季減價銷售活動不只是讓他們提前享受到了圣誕節(jié)的便宜，消費者還會將這種活動當(dāng)作學(xué)生返校前的購物良機(jī)?！敖衲?，父母們很早就迫不及待地開始了

61、返校前購物，這個勢頭讓我們感到鼓舞，但是，這個行業(yè)依然對復(fù)蘇持謹(jǐn)慎樂觀的態(tài)度?！比懒闶凵搪?lián)合會的董事長和首席執(zhí)行官馬特·沙伊在一篇新聞稿中指出。</p><p>　　業(yè)界的謹(jǐn)慎是有充分理由的。全美零售商聯(lián)合會在研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，一個家庭在購買開學(xué)物品上的開銷，也就是購買鞋、衣服、日用品以及電子產(chǎn)品的花費，從2009年的548.72美元，增長到了今年的606.40美元。但是，該組織還發(fā)現(xiàn)，購買一般品牌和商店品

62、牌產(chǎn)品的家庭更多了，這種家庭今年占到44.3%，而去年則是41.7%。大約70%的家庭會在折扣商店購買部分或者全部這類產(chǎn)品</p><p>　　亞蒙丁澤告誡說，正在制訂圣誕節(jié)銷售戰(zhàn)略的零售商，不應(yīng)該過分解讀返校前購物季的“蔓延”。從傳統(tǒng)上來說，這個購物季出現(xiàn)在假期購物季即將到來的時候，不過，返校前購物季應(yīng)該被視為一個單獨的時期，她談到?！叭藗儍A向于認(rèn)為，返校前購物季是人們在假期購物季如何消費的預(yù)兆，但事實表明，情

63、況并非總是如此。”她接著談到，因為父母們可能會把返校前購物的時間拉長，比如，在新學(xué)年即將開始的時候購買筆記本、鋼筆和其他日用品，在天氣變冷的時候才去購買保暖的衣服。</p><p>　　開學(xué)前購物清單上還有一種值得零售趨勢觀察家給予重視的新東西，那就是電子產(chǎn)品?！半S著偉大巨人蘋果公司的不斷成長，你能看到，人們把返校前購物預(yù)算的一部分轉(zhuǎn)變成了電子產(chǎn)品?！眮喢啥烧劦健！艾F(xiàn)在這個世界和我小時候已經(jīng)完全不一樣了。你的父

64、母考慮的不再只是買鋼筆、鉛筆和尺子了……（他們還會考慮）‘我們是不是該給孩子買臺筆記本電腦？’這是在家庭預(yù)算中可能占據(jù)很大比例的另一項大筆開銷?！?lt;/p><p><b>　　風(fēng)險叢生的庫存環(huán)節(jié)</b></p><p>　　無論什么季節(jié)，很多零售商都能利用其它方式順應(yīng)消費者的新風(fēng)尚了。比如說，作為“現(xiàn)在穿”戰(zhàn)略的一部分，服裝零售商改變了自己的供應(yīng)鏈和庫存。亞蒙丁澤談到

65、，過去，零售商會在某一天為下一個季節(jié)大量鋪貨——在盛夏時節(jié)，將陳列的服裝換成毛衣和燈芯絨的長褲，而現(xiàn)在，它們則會均衡陳列各種服裝，這樣，人們在8月仍然可以買到短褲和短袖襯衫?！傲闶凵滔氲氖恰蛟S，有人購買服裝的時間就是較晚（意指購買當(dāng)季的衣服，而不是提前購買。），或者會等到有錢的時候才來購買。”亞蒙丁澤談到?！斑@確實是一種‘平衡術(shù)’，而且對它們來說也是一種全新的策略?！?lt;/p><p>　　沃頓商學(xué)院運(yùn)營與信息

66、管理學(xué)教授馬歇爾·費希爾認(rèn)為，影響零售商庫存的一個長期趨勢是，有更多的產(chǎn)品來自更遙遠(yuǎn)的地方，比如，中國等低成本國家?！斑@讓它們更難以靈活把握供需的平衡?！薄缎铝闶蹖W(xué)：分析學(xué)如何改變供應(yīng)鏈和提升績效》一書的合著者費希爾談到?！暗蜆?biāo)價的大肆流行，是零售商努力提高供需平衡能力這一長期趨勢的結(jié)果?！?lt;/p><p>　　費希爾指出，從短期來看，零售商會削減開支、壓縮采購量和其他預(yù)算。他認(rèn)為，這種行為可能有助于某

67、些零售商避開大幅標(biāo)低售價的策略。不過，他也告誡說，這同樣也是一種冒險行為。過大幅度的削減——不但減少庫存，而且裁減員工和縮短營業(yè)時間——會造成顧客的流失?！叭绻悴少徚颂嗟膸齑?，那么，你就會死于‘心臟病’；可如果你過于謹(jǐn)小慎微，那么，你會‘失血而死’?！?lt;/p><p>　　因為存在著各種各樣的風(fēng)險，所以，有些公司并沒有跳上“減價的彩車”就不足為奇了。服裝零售商阿博菲奇服裝公司就是一個恰當(dāng)?shù)睦C，巴克斯鮑姆談到

68、?！鞍⒉┓破娣b公司依然沒有實施降價行動，但是，它從一開始就降低了售價。因為它不想讓自己的東西看起來太貴，所以，為了保持公司的形象，價格較低產(chǎn)品的種類要超過定價較高的產(chǎn)品種類，公司聲稱：‘當(dāng)經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退結(jié)束的時候，我們依然還是阿博菲奇服裝公司，我們可不想變成“美國之鷹”（之類的低價產(chǎn)品零售商）?！?lt;/p><p>　　不過，阿博菲奇服裝公司最近宣布，今年將關(guān)閉1，098家商店中的60個，2011年將再關(guān)閉60家店。

69、雖然這家主要迎合青少年的零售商的季度同店銷售量增長了5%，但是，公司的首席執(zhí)行官邁克·杰弗瑞斯在一次電話會議上告訴分析人士，該連鎖商店的平均單位零售價格比2009年第二季度低15%。</p><p><b>　　戒除嗜好</b></p><p>　　那么，當(dāng)經(jīng)濟(jì)重拾升勢的時候，會發(fā)生什么變化呢？霍克預(yù)測說，消費者需要很長時間才能恢復(fù)以前的購物方式，而且需要很

70、多外力的促動才能發(fā)生這樣的轉(zhuǎn)變。他談到，不妨想想用了多長時間才“買通”消費者不再購買非常耗油的汽車，這種汽車雖然往往比節(jié)油汽車便宜，可使用的費用則要高得多。至于說目前這種減價狂潮還會持續(xù)多久的問題，霍克認(rèn)為，這要取決于兩個方面：“第一是這次讓人們形成新消費習(xí)慣的經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退會持續(xù)多上時間，第二是整個經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退期間人們有多么痛苦?！?lt;/p><p>　　巴克斯鮑姆同樣認(rèn)為，恢復(fù)舊有的銷售方式——以保守的低價格偶爾進(jìn)行減價

71、促銷——不會在一夜之間發(fā)生?！爱?dāng)你讓人們形成打折銷售的預(yù)期時，也就是說如果你的售價不比標(biāo)簽價格便宜50%，人們就不掏錢購買，那么，要想打破這樣的循環(huán)就確實需要假以時日了?！敝匦抡{(diào)整的不只是消費者，零售商也要重新調(diào)整?！坝貌涣硕嗑茫闶凵淘诿總€周末就都打折促銷了。那么，其余的時間你干什么呢？”他問道。“如果你停止打折，人們就不會掏錢購買……就像一種你無法擺脫的藥物一樣。”</p><p>　　對零售商來說，打折季的

72、變遷未必一無是處，費希爾談到?！叭绻心懧?，勇敢的零售商可以利用這個機(jī)會贏取市場份額。你可以采取某些措施，以增加自己在競爭中的吸引力，其中包括：確保自己不會錯失任何推出降價促銷活動的時機(jī)，以及存有好產(chǎn)品的現(xiàn)貨等?！?lt;/p><p>　　但是，零售業(yè)還存在著消費者心理糾結(jié)的問題。沃頓商學(xué)院運(yùn)營和信息管理學(xué)教授凱瑟琳·米爾科曼談到，很多關(guān)于消費者行為的研究都發(fā)現(xiàn)，在變化無常的時期——比如，經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退期間——消