宜家拟与第三方合作走向线上
面对线上竞争，宜家(Ikea)成为了最新一家彻底转变销售策略的大牌零售商。在通常位于郊区的门店客流下滑之际，宜家启动了一项测试：通过大型电子商务网站来出售其平板包装式家具。
Torbjörn Lööf, chief executive of Inter Ikea, said the decision to turn to online retailers — which could include Amazon and Alibaba, though he declined to comment on who he would be working with — is part of a broader overhaul that has also forced the company to turn to new types of stores, particularly in city centres.
Inter Ikea的首席执行官托尔比约恩•勒夫(Torbjörn Lööf)表示，转向线上零售商的决定服务于一项整体大调整，这项调整还迫使宜家转向了新型门店，特别是在市中心。尽管他拒绝透露将与哪些线上零售商合作，但亚马逊(Amazon)和阿里巴巴(Alibaba)可能在列。
“[This] is the biggest development in how consumers meet Ikea since the concept was founded,” he told the Financial Times.
“这是自宜家这个理念诞生以来，宜家在消费者面前呈现方式的最重大发展，”勒夫向英国《金融时报》表示。
Mr Lööf’s overhaul comes amid unprecedented upheaval in retailing, with some of the world’s best-known chains, including Sears and Toys ‘R’ Us, pushed into bankruptcy and large malls across the US suffering drops in sales because of shoppers moving online.
勒夫的大调整正值零售业遭遇前所未有的动荡之际，由于购物者转向线上消费，包括西尔斯(Sears)和玩具反斗城(Toys ‘R’ Us)等全球最知名的一些连锁品牌被推入破产深渊，美国各地的大型购物中心都遭遇了销售额下滑的困境。
Amazon has threatened to spread disruption throughout the retail sector, most recently moving into groceries with its $13.7bn acquisition of Whole Foods and starting its own clothing line.
亚马逊可能颠覆整个零售业，最近该公司以137亿美元收购全食(Whole Foods)、进入生鲜超市业，此外还开创了自有服装品牌。
Ikea’s move comes as other large retailers are also scrambling to adjust. Walmart is moving to streamline its returns process at bricks-and-mortar stores, arguing its physical presence in thousands of markets gives it an edge over Amazon, which requires shoppers to return items through the post. Walmart has vowed customers will be in and out of their stores in about 30 seconds when making a return.
其他大型零售商也在竞相进行调整。沃尔玛(Walmart)正准备对其实体店的退货流程进行简化，它认为自己在成千上万个市场上的实体存在赋予了它相对亚马逊(要求购物者通过邮寄退回商品)的一个优势。沃尔玛承诺，到店退货的顾客只需要30秒左右的时间就能完事走人。
Ikea, like many traditional high street names, was slow to move online. There was heavy internal resistance to interfering with its successful business model of using labyrinthine store layouts to generate impulse purchases and requiring shoppers to drive to stores and construct their own furniture.
和很多传统实体店品牌一样，宜家进军线上的步伐迟缓。宜家内部对干涉其成功的商业模式——利用迷宫似的店面布局来刺激冲动消费、并且要求购物者驱车到店以及自己组装家具——存在强烈抵制。
But the world’s largest furniture retailer is looking at changes to all parts of that model. Mr Lööf said a priority would be to offer its full range of goods online in all countries. Ikea is also experimenting with new store formats including city-centre pick-up points and specialised pop-up stores as well as smaller shops that have fewer car parking spaces and less inventory.
但这家全世界最大的家居零售商正准备彻底改变这一模式。勒夫称，当务之急是在所有国家都提供线上购买全系列商品的服务。宜家也在尝试全新的门店模式，其中包括市中心提货点、特定商品的快闪店、以及停车位较少且库存较少的小型店。
“Traditionally the whole Ikea value chain has been designed to deliver to stores. That is changing and it is challenging a number of ways of doing business. We are fast learners and we are moving,” Mr Lööf said.
“在传统上，整个宜家价值链的设计目的就是为了向门店送货。这一点正在改变，挑战着很多种经营方式。我们学习得很快，我们在行动。”勒夫说。
Ikea also recently agreed a deal to buy TaskRabbit, a pioneer of the gig economy that could help it offer assistance with furniture assembly to its customers. It also launched an app that allows users of Apple devices to visualise placing Ikea furniture into their own homes using augmented reality.
不久前，宜家也达成了收购TaskRabbit的协议，TaskRabbit是零工经济的先驱，或许能帮助宜家提供家具组装服务。宜家还上线了一款应用，让苹果(Apple)设备用户可使用增强现实(AR)技术，看到宜家家具放在自己家中的效果。
Ikea’s shift on giving customers more choice in terms of delivery or help with assembly moves away from its founder Ingvar Kamprad’s idea that getting customers to build their own furniture would keep costs down.
宜家在发货和组装服务方面改变立场、给予客户更多选择，这偏离了其创始人英瓦尔•坎普拉德(Ingvar Kamprad)的想法：让客户自己组装家具能够保持低价。
But the push to sell through ecommerce retailers could be the biggest change yet, marking the first time Ikea has sold products through a third party and radically revamping its business model.
但是，通过电子商务零售商售货可能是宜家迄今最大的改变，这不仅标志着宜家第一次通过第三方平台出售商品，还彻底改变了其商业模式。
“We want to learn, and know what it is for a company like Ikea to be there. We want to find out how we could keep our identity on a third-party platform,” Mr Lööf said.
“我们想了解、知道像宜家这样一家公司如何实现这一点。我们想找到在第三方平台上保持自我认同的方法。”勒夫说。
Following a recent internal shake-up in Mr Kamprad’s empire, Inter Ikea has been strengthened. It is now not just the owner of the Ikea brand and concept but also in charge of product design, manufacturing and the supply chain. It purchased the latter responsibilities from Ikea Group, which is now solely concentrated on being a retailer.
在不久前对坎普拉德帝国进行一次内部大改造之后，Inter Ikea得到了加强。目前，它不仅是宜家品牌和理念的拥有者，而且掌管着产品设计、制造和供应链——Inter Ikea从宜家集团(Ikea Group)手中买下了后几项业务。宜家集团如今仅仅专注于做零售商。
Mr Lööf’s move came as Inter Ikea said that total sales in the business year until the end of August had risen 5 per cent to €38.3bn. Ikea Group, which accounts for about 94 per cent of sales with the rest made up by other franchisees, reports its own numbers on Tuesday.
勒夫采取行动之际，Inter Ikea表示，在截至8月的这一财年，销售总额增加了5%，至383亿欧元。宜家集团约占销售总额的94%，剩余部分由其他特许经销商完成。周二宜家集团发布了自己的年报。
