租赁趋势在零售业兴起

The rise of rental over ownership has had subtler effects in retail than in some industries, but can be seen in evolving sales strategies and even how retailers and developers lay out shops and new malls.

租赁(而非购买)兴起对零售业的影响比对其他行业的影响更加微妙，但是这种趋势可以从销售策略的演变、甚至零售商和开发商如何设计商店和新购物中心看出。

Sparked by a new type of consumer demanding convenience and immediacy, executives and analysts are anticipating a wave of change to business models.

受那些要求便利性和即时性的新型消费者的推动，企业高管和分析师们预计，商业模式将会出现新一波变革。

Nearly one in five UK consumers would be interested in renting clothes from their favourite retailer, according to research by Westfield, which owns two of London’s biggest shopping centres and is about to start building a third.

据Westfield研究发现，英国每五个消费者中，差不多就有一个人有兴趣从喜爱的零售商那里租赁衣服。Westfield在伦敦拥有两家大型购物中心，并即将开工建造第三家。

That figure almost doubles in the capital, where respondents were willing to spend an average of £200 for a monthly “all you can wear” deal.

在伦敦，上述比例几乎翻了一倍，受访者平均愿意每月支付200英镑来换取“想穿什么就穿什么”的协议。

Rent the Runway, launched in 2009, offers designer clothes to hire for weddings, graduations or other occasions and has had some success — luring 6m members to date.

创办于2009年的Rent the Runway (RTR)为婚礼、毕业典礼或其他场合提供名牌服装租赁业务，并取得了成功——迄今吸引了600万会员。

The model works well for luxury fashion, where the clothes are expensive and worn only occasionally, but the company wants to move beyond prom dresses and suits into more everyday wear.

该模式十分适用于奢侈品时尚——这类衣服昂贵，而且只会偶尔穿一次——但该公司希望把租赁业务拓展至舞会礼服和西装以外，纳入日常着装。

Having made more than $100m in sales last year, Rent the Runway now aims to “put Zara and H&M out of business” co-founder Jennifer Hyman said in October, while unveiling changes to the company’s subscription model.

RTR 2016年销售额超过1亿美元。其共同创始人珍妮弗•海曼(Jennifer Hyman)今年10月表示，该公司如今的目标是“淘汰Zara和H&M”，她同时宣布了该公司会员模式的变化。

For $159 a month, RTR members can now borrow unlimited clothes and accessories, from blouses and dresses to coats and purses, and up to four items at the same time. The aim is to become a customer’s full-time wardrobe.

RTR会员如今每月支付159美元，就可以无限制地租用服装和配饰，无论是女式衬衫和裙子，还是外套和钱包，一次可以租用多达4件单品。目标是成为顾客的全天候衣柜。

There are start-ups doing similar things in other parts of the consumer industry. Companies such as Birchbox, for example, which also tap into the fickleness of consumer habits by allowing people to try out skin and hair products for $10 a month.

消费行业的其他领域也有初创企业做着类似的业务。例如，Birchbox利用了消费者善变的习惯，允许人们每月支付10美元来尝试各种护肤和护发产品。

“Consumers themselves are changing, from what they buy to how they want to buy it,” said James Bacos, global retail practice leader at Oliver Wyman.

奥纬咨询(Oliver Wyman)全球零售实践负责人詹姆斯•巴科斯(James Bacos)表示，“消费者本身也在改变，从买什么变成想要怎么买。”

Traditional retailers are also taking note. Home Depot, for example, rents out bolt cutters, nail guns, interior scaffolding and other items that tradesmen commonly own but DIY enthusiasts may need only for a short while.

传统零售商也注意到了这点。例如，家得宝(Home Depot)对外租赁螺丝刀、钉枪、室内脚手架和其他商品——专业技工通常会自己买这些商品，但DIY爱好者可能只是短时间内需要使用。

Even Amazon — a hugely disruptive force in retail — is looking at alternatives where customers rent rather than buy. When Jeff Bezos opened an Amazon package and found a flyer advertising Netflix inside, he castigated executives for promoting what was then primarily a subscription DVD rental service — an idea, he reportedly fumed, that could “ruin” his online store.

就连零售业的巨大颠覆力量亚马逊(Amazon)，也在针对顾客宁愿租而不愿买的情况寻找替代方案。杰夫•贝索斯(Jeff Bezos)有一次打开一个亚马逊包裹后，发现里面夹着一张Netflix的广告传单，他因此训斥相关部门的高管，就因为他们在帮助推广当时主要提供订阅DVD租赁的该服务——据称，他勃然大怒的原因是这个点子可能会“毁掉”他的网上商店。

Amazon, which started out as an internet bookseller, now allows customers to borrow electronic books and films via Kindle devices.

最初靠在互联网上卖书起家的亚马逊，如今允许客户通过Kindle设备借阅电子书和电影。

Subscription retail does not mean the end of ownership, but it has opened up new channels for consumer goods companies.

订阅零售并不意味着所有制的终结，但它为消费商品公司开辟了新渠道。

Amazon’s “Subscribe and Save” system converts a customer’s one-time purchase decision into a recurring revenue stream by sending automatic replenishments every few months.

通过每隔几个月发出自动补货，亚马逊的“订阅并节省”(Subscribe and Save)模式把客户的一次性购买决定转换为经常性收入流。

That tactic worked so well for Dollar Shave Club, the start-up that combines subscription selling with viral video marketing, that Unilever last year paid $1bn for the company.

该策略对于“一美元剃须刀俱乐部”(Dollar Shave Club)如此有效，以至于2016年联合利华(Unilever)以10亿美元收购了这家结合病毒式视频营销与订阅销售的初创企业。

In clothing, “subscription ownership” is so far having more of an impact on consumer wardrobes than subscription rental. Trunk Club, which is now part of US department store operator Nordstrom, chooses clothes and gives customers the option of a monthly box of them.

在服装方面，“订阅所有制”到目前为止对消费者衣柜的影响大于对订阅租赁的影响。Trunk Club(如今属于美国百货商店运营商诺思通(Nordstrom))选择服装，并给顾客每月一盒的选择。

Shopping centre owners — worried about being cut out of the sales chain — are also responding, with talk of shops with separate “to rent” and “to wear” sections. Malls themselves are being redesigned in acknowledgment of other ways consumer behaviour has changed.

担心被赶出销售链的购物中心所有者，也在采取应对措施——讨论把商店分为“租赁区”和“购买区”。购物中心本身正在根据消费者行为的改变而被重新设计。

After a two-year, $1bn renovation of a Los Angeles shopping centre, Westfield — which was this month sold to Unibail-Rodamco for $16bn — unveiled its “mall of the future”. It includes an “Uber lounge”, where shoppers can wait in “sleek seating” for their car share. “We are moving to make the customers’ experience better and take out the friction of shopping,” said Peter Lowy, chief executive.

在斥资10亿美元对洛杉矶一家购物中心进行了为期两年的翻新后，Westfield(尤尼百-洛当科集团(Unibail-Rodamco) 12月以160亿美元收购了该公司)推出了“未来的购物中心”。其中包括“优步(Uber)候车室”，购物者可以在“时髦座位”上等车。该公司的首席执行官彼得•洛伊(Peter Lowy)表示，“我们正在努力改善顾客体验，消除购物时的不便。”