尚品了解中国奢侈品消费者的秘密 中英文.doc

尚品了解中国奢侈品消费者的秘密美国东部时间2011年9月14日下午3:03在北京，向富裕的中国消费者销售奢侈品的初创公司发展迅速，对消费者的了解将成为全球既有奢侈品牌争相实现的目标。投稿人：里娜贾娜财富杂志：尽管全球经济动荡不安，中国的奢侈品市场仍以惊人的速度迅速增长。根据麦肯锡公司提供的数据，2010年中国奢侈品市场的增长速度为16%。因此，尚品一个立足于北京的会员注册电子商务网站也以惊人的速度迅速发展便不足为奇了。公司的名称源自汉语的两个词语，即“时尚”（“尚”是“时尚”的简化）和“品味”（“品味”的“品”）。由于第二个词语词义的细微差异，这一名称也包含“品质”的涵义。尚品创办于2010年7月，主要为那些上网购物时间有限的中国消费者提供欧洲的顶尖品牌，如意大利的古琦。根据公司的运营记录，仅头四个月，会员注册量已达100万，销售额也已达156万美元，并以惊人的速度持续增长。一年前，尚品仅凭3名员工起步，现在已拥有300多名员工。2010年11月，尚品得到晨兴创投公司针对B系列提供的1,000万美元投资额，今年7月，成为基金针对C系列重磅投资5,000万美元。尽管早期投资者和消费者对尚品有着极大的热情，但在美国、欧洲以及日本，尚品网站早已为许多追求时尚的网民所熟知，那些赶时髦的购物者可以在Gilt Groupe（美国一个电子商务网站）和Vente-Privee（法国一个电子商务网站）上订购由设计师专门设计的时尚产品。尚品也将利用网站的一部分来提供原价产品以及新型产品，使之更能与Net-a-Porter（瑞士奢侈品历峰集团所拥有的服装零售电子商务网站）相竞争。然而，真正使尚品与众不同的，当然是那些富裕且有较高购买欲望的中国顾客。尚品对其消费者近乎细微的了解成为全球既有奢侈品牌争相实现的目标。尚品能发展得如此之快，部分原因是因为对许多中国消费者来说，仍然很难在上海等主要城市以外的其他地方购买到由设计师专门设计的产品。 出生在中国的大卫赵世诚是尚品的总裁，他认为“对中国的奢侈品消费者来说有许多不便之处”，“大多数的奢侈品牌实体商店都在北京、上海等一线城市，然而在美国，销售渠道则不成问题。” 赵世诚还表示，“中国的奢侈品消费者的独特之处在于巨大的需求或者是说来自二线、三线城市的较高潜在力。”他是指一些城市地区，如大连，由于世界经济峰会“夏季达沃斯”的举办（9月1416日）这周逐渐受到更多的关注，当然还有其他一些城市，如南京、深圳等。这些城市虽没有北京、上海那样大的知名度，但城市设施建设完善，各类行业也不断发展壮大。一些企业管理咨询公司的调查显示，这些城市中有着许多奢侈品潜在的消费者，他们不仅渴望提高自己的生活水平，也希望改善自己的生活方式。波士顿咨询集团2010年针对全球消费者意向的一份调查报告显示：在中国，接受调查的人群中有37%打算购买更高价的商品，或者随心所欲购买商品。相比之下，有此意向的消费者在俄罗斯和印度占25%，在美国仅占18%，在欧洲甚至低至13%。尚品为消费者提供各式各样的商品，向注册会员销售诸如杜嘉班纳、万宝龙和范思哲等品牌的手提包、鞋、服装、女性内衣、配件、珠宝首饰以及手表。由于中国市场上常出现仿真假冒产品，因此所有这些在华销售的设计产品都经商标授权销售，真实可靠。然而，公司的服务可能是尚品运营过程中最为昂贵的部分。所有的商品都用带有豪华金质印字和标识的黑色购物袋进行包装，高贵大气。尚品会员还可享受离线购物和网络交易。递送方式为免费联邦快递，两日便可递送至全国各地。如果出现任何问题，可在任意一天向消费者服务处提出。赵世诚告诉财富杂志：消费者服务处已开通每天12小时的电话服务，不久将开通24小时服务热线。外界无数的数据和分析都表明尚品的创办和成长都抓准了时机，通过增加国内奢侈品销售获得了巨大的收益。管理咨询公司贝恩公司在五月份发表一份报告，该报告指出中国大陆今年奢侈品市场将以25%的年增长率迅速发展。该报告还指出整个中国，包括港澳台地区，奢侈品销售量可能首次超过日本（须指出的是日本奢侈品销售量下降可能是2011年日本地震造成的）。麦肯锡公司今年3月份的一份报告预测称，2015年中国奢侈品销售量将由2010年的160亿美元上升至270亿美元。当然也有许多障碍。赵世诚表示，“与世界其他地区特别是欧美地区的消费者相比，中国的网上购物者在文化解读、奢华时尚品牌来历等方面需要更多的指导，特别是新出的高端品牌。”这就意味着中国那些追求时尚的新人可能并不了解自己真正需要什么，尽管他们有能力购买几乎任何的高端品牌。为此，尚品将于9月15日通过发行一份在线编辑杂志来扫除这一障碍。公司已主动聘请了来自纽约和欧洲的时尚编辑，这些编辑也能用普通话交流书写。如果能引导尚品杂志的读者加入购物的行列，那么这项提供与时尚相关内容的策略将会提高尚品的销售额。今年，一家审计咨询公司毕马威会计事务所对中国大陆一线和二线24座城市的1,200名中层人群做了一项调查，调查发现：这些人群中近70%声称他们每月至少上网搜索奢侈品牌信息一次，有30%的人则每周至少一次。这些数据表明尚品的目标客户很可能希望有这种由尚品打算提供的在线编辑内容，更理想的情况是，他们会按照所提供的购物指导去消费。赵世诚不仅关注时尚的趋势，而且关注商业发展形势。他最初并非从事服装业，而是中国的金融行业。2000年他赴美深造，在惠普和其他美国公司工作，早期从事电子商务。大约在2005年，他回国创业，决定运用所学并将以前所从事过的金融和电子商务结合起来，创办了一家名为“盈天讯”（Vansky）的公司，与国内银行共同开发网上软件与服务。后来，他突发奇想，提出尚品构想，这一商业构想有着巨大的潜力，仅中国的奢侈品消费市场趋势就十分乐观。但是，尚品背后真正的创新之处是赵世诚邀请他所合作的三家银行中国建设银行，中国民生银行（中国首家非国有个人银行）以及华夏银行的富有客户成为尚品的会员。购物网站独有的会员关系成为一种特殊服务并促使他们邀请自己的朋友也成为会员。这种为富裕的银行客户提供的以奢侈品为中心的特殊服务，与自1979年开始为花旗银行的富裕客户提供艺术收藏咨询服务的花旗私人银行艺术咨询理财相似（事实上，尚品负责欧洲区业务的副总裁仲忆澄曾在花旗纽约分部工作）。拥有这些借鉴调改的经验策略，可能会有人认为尚品只不过是中国山寨文化中超高端创业版的一个例子而已，然而，公平地说，像Google(GOOG)和Apple(AAPL)这样的美国老头企业也并非最先取得其所在行业领域的成功的。Google不是第一个搜索引擎，Apple也并非MP3播放器的创造者，他们只是在前人成果的基础上进行了改善提高。赵世诚明确指出，尚品的“灵感源于Gilt和Vente Privee的成功”，但他和他的同事“并非仅为抄袭”；“我们取得了许多其它方面的创新或是微小的创新，使之能够适应网上奢侈品购物的特点。”这其中包括尚品提供的大量客户服务以及开创的能使中国高端产品消费者了解所要购买的产品品牌的杂志。此外，参照中国奢侈品消费的增长数据， Gilt Groupe，Vente Privee，Net-a-Porter以及其它开创电子商务网站的公司也将从尚品学习收益。标贴: 北京, 中国, 中国奢侈品, 中国初创公司 Shangpin knows Chinese luxury consumers secrets Print CommentSeptember 14, 2011: 3:03 PM ET The rapidly expanding Beijing-based startup sells luxury goods to affluent Chinese consumers. What it knows about them could become the envy of established luxury brands around the world.By Reena Jana, contributorFORTUNE - Despite global economic turmoil, the Chinese luxury market is still expanding at a dizzying rate - by 16% in 2010 according to McKinsey. Not surprisingly, Shangpin - a new Beijing-based, members-only e-commerce site - is growing dramatically too.The companys name refers to the Chinese characters for fashion (shang is a shortened version of shi shang, the full character for fashion) and taste (pin). Considering the nuances of the second character, the name also translates as quality. Shangpin launched in July 2010, and offers top European labels, such as Gucci, to Chinese consumers during limited-time online sales. In the first four months of operation, the start-up had signed up 1 million members and reached $1.56 million in sales, according to the company. Growth has been startlingly quick. Shangpin started with 3 employees a year ago; now it has more than 300. In November 2010, it got $10 million in Series B funding by Morning Side Ventures, and this July, Chenwei Capital put in a stunning $50 million in Series C funding.Despite all of the early investor and consumer excitement surrounding Shangpin, the sites concept might seem very familiar to Web-savvy fashionistas in the United States, Europe and Japan, where stylish shoppers can order and receive designer fashions from the sites Gilt Groupe and Vente-Privee. Shangpin is also planning to offer a section of its site that offers full-price, just-off-the-runway goods as well, more parallel to the e-commerce site Net-a-Porter, which is owned by luxury conglomerate Richemont. What sets Shangpin apart, though, is of course its affluent, ambitious Chinese clientele. Its intimate understanding of those customers could become the envy of established luxury brands around the world.Shangpin has scaled so quickly, in part, because its still hard for Chinese consumers to buy designer goods outside of major cities such as Shanghai. There are many inconveniences for Chinese luxury shoppers, Says David Shi Cheng Zhao, Shangpins Chinese-born CEO. Most luxury brands run brick-and-mortar stores just in tier-one cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, while in the USA, the distribution channel is not an issue. Zhao adds that the uniqueness of Chinese luxury shoppers lies in strong demand or high potential from second or third cities. Hes referring to urban areas such as Dalian, which is getting some attention this week as the site of a World Economic Forum meeting known as the summer Davos (taking place from September 14-16) and other cities such as Nanjing or Shenzhen. They arent as well-known or populous as Shanghai or Beiing, but have reliable infrastructure and growing industries in place.These cities are filled with potential luxury customers hungry to improve not only their lives but their lifestyles, suggests research from management consulting firms. The Boston Consulting Group surveyed consumers intentions worldwide for a 2010 report and found that 37% of their surveys respondents in China planned to trade up, or buy according to aspirations. Thats compared to 25% of respondents in Russia and India, and only 18% in the U.S. and 13% in Europe.Shangpin offers plenty of aspirational offerings. The site sells its members handbags, shoes, clothing, lingerie, accessories, jewelry and watches by brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Mont Blanc and Versace. Theyre all authorized by these labels as authentic - an important aspect to selling designer products in China, known for its rampant culture of believable knockoffs.But the companys service is what might be the most luxurious aspect of the Shangpin experience. Goods arrive in elegant black shopping bags with sumptuous gold lettering and logos. There are offline shopping and networking events only for Shangpin members. Theres free FedEx two-day delivery anywhere in China. And if anything goes wrong, theres in-house customer service available, seven days a week. Customer service phone lines operate for 12 hours a day each day, and will soon expand to 24 hour service, Zhao told Fortune.Numerous outside data and analyses suggest that Shangpins launch and growth are timed well to cash in on increasing luxury sales in China. Management consulting firm Bain & Company published a report in May noting that the luxury goods market in Mainland China will see 25% year-over-year growth this year. The report added that Greater China, which includes Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, is positioned to possibly exceed luxury sales in Japan for the first time (it should be noted that diminished sales in Japan could be due to the 2011 earthquake). And a March 2011 report from McKinsey predicts that by 2015, luxury sales in China will reach $27 billion, up from $16 billion in 2010.There are obstacles, of course. Compared to those from around the world, especially luxury shoppers from USA and Europe, Chinese online shoppers need more coaching time in terms of interpreting the culture, the story of luxury and fashion brands, especially for emerging high-end brands, says Zhao. What this means is that the new Chinese fashionistas might not know what they really want, even if they can afford to buy almost any high-end label.So on September 15, Shangpin will try to address this obstacle by launching an online editorial magazine. The company has actively been recruiting fashion editors in New York and Europe who can also speak and write in Mandarin. This strategy for providing style-related content could prove lucrative if it steers Shangpins readers toward purchasing. In a survey conducted this year among 1,200 middle class respondents in 24 cities in tier-one and tier-two cities mainland China, audit and advisory firm KPMG found that nearly 70% of respondents said they search online for information on luxury brands at least once a month. Thirty percent do so more than once a week. These stats suggest that Shangpins target customer likely will be hungry for the type of online editorial content Shangpin plans to provide and, ideally, buy it as shopping advice.Zhao pays attention to trends not only in fashion but also in business. His initial experience was not in the rag trade, but in the world of Chinese financial institutions. Having moved to the United States in 2000, he worked at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and other U.S. companies, focusing on e-commerce during its early days. In the mid-2000s, he returned to China as an entrepreneur and decided to apply what he learned and the connections he made in both finance and e-commerce, forming a company called Vansky, which worked with Chinese banks to create online software and services.Then, inspiration struck: he came up with the idea of Shangpin, which in itself is a business idea with obviously huge potential, simply given the optimistic trends in Chinas luxury market. But the real innovation behind Shangpin is Zhaos idea of inviting lists of wealthy customers of three banks he worked with - China Construction Bank, China Minsheng Banking Corporation (Chinas first privately held, and not state-owned bank) and Hua Xia Bank - to become members of Shangping. This exclusive membership to the shopping site is pitched as a special service to them, and they are encouraged to invite friends to become members too. This luxury-focused special service for affluent bank customers echoes the concept of Citi Private Bank Art Advisory & Finance, which since 1979 has offered art collecting advice to wealthy, private banking customers of Citi (in fact, Shangpin vice president M. Claire Chung, based in Europe, once worked for this arm of Citi in New York).Given the tactics that Shangpin has borrowed