The future of shopping—One-to-one commerce

Not since the Industrial Revolution has shopping been in such upheaval, writes Henry Tricks

IN 1966 JEFF JOHNSON, Nike’s first-ever full-time employee, created the company’s first store in Santa Monica, California. As Phil Knight, Nike’s co-founder, recounts in his memoir, “Shoe Dog”, it became a “holy of holies” for runners. Mr Johnson was a bookworm, so the shop had shelves of books that he felt runners should read. Pinned to the walls were photos of runners and of Nike’s sneakers, then called Tigers. Mr Johnson kept card files of each customer, including their shoe sizes. He sent them Christmas cards and congratulatory notes if they won a big race. Many wrote back seeking Mr Johnson’s support and advice, which he gave, especially when it came to injuries.

1966年，耐克的第一位全职员工杰夫·约翰逊(JEFF JOHNSON)在加州圣莫尼卡(Santa Monica)开设了公司的第一家门店。正如耐克的联合创始人菲尔•奈特(Phil Knight)在他的回忆录《鞋狗》(Shoe Dog)中所述，对跑步者来说，“鞋狗”成为了“最神圣的地方”。约翰逊先生是个书虫，所以书店里的书架上都是他认为跑步者应该读的书。墙上钉着跑步者和当时被称为“老虎”的耐克运动鞋的照片。约翰逊先生保存了每位顾客的卡片档案，包括他们的鞋码。如果他们赢得了一场大型比赛，他会给他们寄圣诞卡和贺信。许多人回信寻求约翰逊先生的支持和建议，他给予了支持和建议，尤其是在受伤问题上。

Upheaval  n. /ʌpˈhiːvl/  剧变；激变；动乱；动荡 • the latest upheavals in the education system 最近教育制度上的种种变更 • a period of emotional upheaval 情绪波动很大的时期

memoir n.   /ˈmemwɑː(r)/  1.尤指名人的）回忆录；自传; 2.传说；地方志；大事记

When your correspondent told this story to Heidi O’Neill, now head of Nike’s consumer and marketplace division, she got “goosebumps”. It recalled a time, she said, when Mr Knight and his colleagues, struggling to get the business off the ground, put shoes on the feet of one runner at a time. For decades afterwards, she says, Nike was unable to replicate the intimacy of this one-to-one customer relationship, as it relied on rapid expansion of its wholesale business. Yet since 2017 the firm has been cutting the cord with many of its wholesalers, including Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, to focus on becoming a “direct-to-consumer” (DTC) company. DTC now accounts for 40% of Nike’s revenues. Its shoppers’ use of digital technology has enabled Nike to recreate that hallowed “one-to-one world”, says Ms O’Neill.

当记者把这个故事告诉海蒂·奥尼尔(海蒂现在是耐克消费者和市场部门的负责人)时，她起了“鸡皮疙瘩”。她表示，这让人想起有一段时间，奈特和他的同事为了让业务起步而苦苦挣扎，每次都会给一个跑步者穿上鞋子。她说，在之后的几十年里，耐克无法复制这种一对一的紧密客户关系，因为它依赖于批发业务的快速扩张。然而，自2017年以来，该公司一直与包括亚马逊(全球最大的在线零售商)在内的许多批发商断绝关系，专注于成为一家“直接面向消费者”(DTC)公司。DTC现在占耐克总收入的40%。奥尼尔表示，消费者对数字技术的使用，使耐克能够重现那个神圣的“一对一的世界”。 

off the ground：开始，起步       intimacy /ˈɪntɪməsi/n. 性行为；亲密；亲昵行为；隐私

Cord：绳索，束缚；动词是用绳子捆绑     cutting the cord with：斩断与···的联系/束缚

hallowed  /ˈhæləʊd/ adj. 神圣的，神圣化的

One-to-one is shorthand for today's upheaval in the world of shopping.The consumer has never had so many things to buy, or ways to buy them.New forms of communication via social media, messaging services and apps have brought producers and consumers closer together.Using trillions of gigabytes of data, manufacturers know better than everwhat customers want. Their products can be delivered direct to the doorstep. The traditional middleman,who for centuries piled hidden cost on hidden cost, is being squeezed out.

一对一是当今购物世界剧变的缩影。消费者从来没有这么多的东西可以买，也没有这么多的方式可以买。通过社交媒体、即时通讯服务和应用程序的新型交流方式让生产者和消费者走得更近。利用数万亿字节的数据，制造商比任何时候都更了解客户的需求。他们的产品可以直接送货上门。几个世纪以来不断累积隐形成本的传统的中间商，现在正被挤出市场。

Shorthand  n. /ˈʃɔːthænd/ 1. 速记（法）•typing and shorthand 打字和速；2.[ UC ] ~ (for sth)（对某事）简略的表达方式

Gigabyte  n. /ˈɡɪɡəbaɪt/十亿字节；吉字节；千兆字节；十亿位元组

Pile n. 堆；大量；建筑群vt. 累积；打桩于vi. 挤；堆积；积累

This has been especially visible during the covid-19 pandemic,as e-commerce penetration has in just a few months reached levels that had been expected to take years. Amid lockdowns and social-distancing measures, bricks-and-mortar retailers went bust in droves last year in America and Europe, continuing a long trend. Yet online platforms have thrived.Amazon exceeded $100bn in quarterly revenues for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2020. The share prices of some Chinesee-commerce giants doubled and even tripled.

在新冠肺炎大流行期间，这一点尤其明显，因为电子商务普及率在短短几个月内就达到了预期需要数年才能达到的水平。在封锁和社交距离措施的影响下，美国和欧洲的实体零售商去年纷纷破产，并将长期延续破产趋势。然而，在线平台却蓬勃发展。亚马逊在2020年第四季度的季度营收首次超过1000亿美元。一些中国电子商务巨头的股价翻了一番，甚至翻了三倍。

Penetration  n. /ˌpenɪˈtreɪʃn/ 1.穿透；渗透；进入 •the company's successful penetration of overseas markets 公司对海外市场的顺利开拓

bricks-and-mortar：传统的实体企业   Mortar n. 灰泥，砂浆；迫击炮，迫击炮弹；研钵，臼；v. 用灰泥涂抹，结合；用迫击炮攻击（或袭击）

Go bust：完蛋，破产     in droves：成群结队