7.23 2

E-commerce
电子商务
Briefs encounter
简短的邂逅
“Direct-to-consumer” startups are upending the consumer-goods industry
“ 直接面对消费者 ” 的创业公司正在颠覆消费品行业
Print edition | Business Nov 16th 2017
IN MANY ways, Tommy John, a startup based in Manhattan, resembles a tech company straight
out of Silicon Valley. On its website the venture-backed firm touts its innovative materials and
patented designs. When recruiting talent, it describes itself as “disruptive” and “revolutionary”.
But Tommy John does not deal in computer hardware, software or any other kind of technology. It
makes men’s underwear.
从很多方面看，曼哈顿的创业公司 Tommy John 都像是一家来自硅谷的科技公司。这家由风
投支持的公司在其网站上推销着自己的创新材料和 专利设计。招聘人才时，它自称是一家“颠
覆性”和“革命性”的公司。但 Tommy John 经营的并不是电脑硬件、软件或其他技术，而是
男士内衣。
 tout
verb
1. Tto praise something or someone in order to persuade people that they are important or
worth a lot 赞扬; 吹捧:
•his much touted musical 他那出备受推崇的音乐剧
be touted as sth
•Nell is being touted as the next big thing in Hollywood.内尔被捧为好莱坞的明日之星。
2. I,Tespecially BrEto try to persuade people to buy goods or services you are offering 兜售，
推销（商品或服务）:
tout for business / custom BrE ( =look for customers ) 拉生意/招徕顾客:
•Minicab drivers are not allowed to tout for business.接受电话预订的出租车司机不允许私
自拉生意。
3. I,TAmEto give someone information about a horse in a race（向…）提供赛马情报
 disruptive
adjective
1. causing problems and preventing something from continuing in its usual way引起混乱的，
扰乱性的，捣乱的:
[+ to ]
•Night work can be very disruptive to home life.夜间工作会给家庭生活带来很大的麻烦。
•Mike's parents thought I was a disruptive influence (=a person who causes disruption) .迈克
的父母认为我在捣乱。
•ways to handle pildisruptive pus 对付捣乱学生的办法
Following the example of successful e-commerce brands such as Warby Parker, a glasses firm,
and Casper, a mattress-maker, a growing number of startups are reimagining everyday household
items—from pants and socks to toothbrushes and cookware. These “direct-to-consumer” (DTC)
companies bypass conventional retailers and bring their products straight to customers via their
online stores. They began several years ago to catch the attention of venture-capital (VC) firms,
which have poured in more than $3bn since 2012. But the success of some DTC firms has
attracted a lot of wannabes, making this a crowded market and leaving some wondering whether
the boom has reached its limits.
越来越多的创业公司效仿有眼镜公司 Warby Parker 和床垫制造商 Casper 等成功电商品牌，
它们正重新定义日常生活用品，例如裤子、袜子、牙刷、厨具等等。这些“直接面对消费者”
（direct-to-consumer，DTC）的公司绕过传统零售商，通过网店直接把产品卖给消费者。它
们在几年前起步，力图吸引 风投公司的注意。自 2012 年起，注入这类公司的风投已超过 30
亿美元。但一些 DTC 公司的成功吸引了很多效仿者，令该市场变得非常拥挤，也让一些人
怀疑这种繁荣是否已达到了极限。
 reimagine
reinterpret (an event, work of art, etc. ) imaginatively
重新想像; 重新设想（事件、艺术品等）。
 bypass
verb T
1. to go around a town or other busy place rather than through it 避开; 绕…而行:
•Interstate 8 bypasses the town to the north.八号州际公路绕开小镇，通向北面。
2. to avoid obeying a rule, system, or someone in an official position 绕过〔规定、制度或某
个官员〕:
•Francis bypassed his manager and wrote straight to the director.弗朗西斯绕过他的经理，直
接写信给董事。
 wannabe
noun Cinformal
1. someone who tries to look or behave like someone famous or like a particular type of
successful person, because they want to be like them – usually used to show disapproval 仿效
名人（富人）的人〔一般含贬义〕;
⇒would-be:
•A load of Michael Schumacher wannabes are trying to show what they can do on the track.
许多人效仿迈克尔·舒马赫，也想在赛车场上表现一下自己。
•wannabe pop stars 想当流行歌星的人
The DTC business model first emerged in product areas dominated by slow-moving incumbents
with hefty profit margins, such as spectacles and razor blades. In 2010 Gillette, the world’s largest
razor-blade-maker, enjoyed 70% of the American market and gross margins as high as 60%. Since
then, Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s, two subscription services that sell blades at a fraction of the
price of big brands, have amassed more than 5m customers. Gillette’s market share has fallen to
54%.
DTC 商业模式最初出现在由行动迟缓、利润极高的老牌企业主导的产品领域，比如眼镜和
剃须刀片。2010 年，全球最大的剃须刀片制造商吉列占据美国市场 70%的份额，毛利润高
达 60%。在这之后，两大订购服务商 Dollar Shave Club 和 Harry’s 以相当于大品牌售价很小
一部分的价格销售刀片，已经积累了五百多万用户。吉列的市场份额已降至 54%。
 incumbent
adjective formal
1. it is incumbent upon / on sb to do sth if it is incumbent upon you to do something, it is
your duty or responsibility to do it 做某事是某人的职务（责任）:
•It is incumbent upon parents to control what their children watch on TV.控制孩子所看电视
的内容是父母的责任。
2. the incumbent president / priest / government etc the president etc at the present time现
任总统/现任牧师/本届政府等
noun Cformal
1. someone who has been elected to an official position, especially in politics, and who is
doing that job at the present time 在职者，现任者〔尤指政治职位〕:
•In the June elections, Morris easily defeated the incumbent, Tom Smith.在 6 月的大选中，
莫里斯轻松击败了现任者 — 汤姆·史密斯。
 amass
verb T
1. if you amass money, knowledge, information etc, you gradually collect a large amount of
it 积聚，积累，大量收集:
•For 25 years, Darwin amassed evidence to support his theories.在 25 年里，达尔文收集了
大量的证据来支持自己的理论。
•He amassed a fortune after the war.战后，他积累了大量财富。
Hubble Contacts, founded in 2016, wants to do the same to the $8bn contact-lens industry, which
is dominated by giants such as Johnson & Johnson and Bausch + Lomb. Lenses are well-suited to
the DTC model, being a commoditised product that customers purchase on a regular basis, says
Jesse Horwitz, one of Hubble’s founders. The startup is on track to generate $20m in sales in 2017
and has attracted money from several VC firms.
成立于 2016 年的哈勃隐形眼镜公司（Hubble Contacts）想在价值 80 亿美元的隐形眼镜行业
做出同样的成绩，该行业由强生和博士伦等巨头主导。哈勃的创始人之一杰西·霍维茨（Jesse
Horwitz）说，隐形眼镜是一种客户会定期购买的日用品，因而很适合 DTC 模式。这家创业
公司 2017 年的营业额可能将达到 2000 万美元，并且已获得多家风投公司的投资。
 commoditize
使商品化：As time has become broken into variable length blocks,it has become
commoditized.由于时间已被拆解成不同长度的区段，因而也被商品化了。
Startups that cannot undercut incumbents on price must differentiate themselves in other ways.
Casper won over many shoppers by getting rid of the worst bits of the bed-buying process,
including choosing among dozens of similar products and haggling with pushy salesmen. Allbirds,
a two-year-old San Francisco-based firm that makes all-wool trainers, has tweaked the design of
its shoes 27 times based on feedback from customers.
那些无法以低价与传统企业竞争的创业公司必须用其他方式实现差异化。Casper 消除了买床
的过程中最糟糕的部分，比如在数十种类似的产品中挑选、与咄咄逼人的推销员讨价还价，
以此赢得了许多购物者的青睐。旧金山一家成立了两年的公司 Allbirds 生产纯羊毛运动鞋，
公司根据客户的反馈，对鞋的设计做了 27 次调整。
 undercut
verb (past tense and past participle undercut) , present participle undercutting T
1. to sell goods or a service at a lower price than another company 削价与…抢生
意;SYNundersell
•Online bookstores can undercut retailers by up to 30%.网上书店最多能以低于零售店
30% 的价格销售。
2. to make something weaker or less effective 削弱; 使降低效率;SYNundermine
•Is a lack of self-confidence undercutting your performance at work?是不是缺乏自信影响
了你的工作成绩？
 differentiate
verb
1. I,Tto recognize or express the difference between things or people 辨别，区
别;SYNdistinguish
[+ between ]
•It's important to differentiate between fact and opinion.把事实和观点加以区别很重要。
differentiate sth from sth
•It's sometimes hard to differentiate one sample from another.有时候很难把样品一个个区
分开来。
2. Tto be the quality, feature etc that makes one thing or person clearly different from
another 构成…间的差别，使…不同于;SYNdistinguish
•What differentiates these two periods of history?是什么使这两段历史时期有所不同？
differentiate sth from sth
•Its unusual nesting habits differentiate this bird from others.这种鸟独特的筑巢习惯使它不
同于其他的鸟。
3. Ito behave differently towards someone or something, especially in an unfair way 区别对
待〔尤指不公平对待〕;SYNdiscriminate
[+ between ]
•a policy which differentiates between men and women 对于男女区别对待的政策
 haggle
verb I
1. to argue when you are trying to agree about the price of something 讲价，讨价还价:
[+ over ]
•tourists haggling over the price of souvenirs 为纪念品讨价还价的游客
[+ with ]
•Ted was haggling with the street vendors.特德正在和街边小贩讨价还价。
 tweak
verb T
1. to suddenly pull or twist something，拧，扭:
•She leant forward and tweaked both ends of his moustache.她俯身向前，揪住他的两撇胡
子。
2. to make small changes to a machine, vehicle, or system in order to improve the way it
works 对〔机器、汽车或系统〕作小小的改进:
•Maybe you should tweak a few sentences before you send in the report.报告交上去之前，有
几个句子你也许应该修改一下。
Investors say branding and marketing are crucial if DTC startups are to make it. Sophie Bakalar of
Collaborative Fund, a VC firm, says that brand is the first thing her team looks for in a consumer
startup. Suitcases made by Away, a firm founded by two Warby Parker alumnae, have been
featured in Vogue and endorsed by celebrities such as Karlie Kloss, a supermodel. But most
customers learn about the brand on social media, where globe-trotting millennials share images
of their bags, artfully displayed on hotel-room beds or rolling in front of iconic landmarks. Away’s
social-media team collects and redistributes these posts on its Instagram account, which boasts
140,000 followers. This year the firm expects to generate $50m in sales.
投资者表示，DTC 创业公司要获得成功，打造品牌和营销至关重要。风投公司 Collaborative
Fund 的苏菲·巴喀勒（Sophie Bakalar）说，她的团队对消费品创业公司期望的第一样东西就
是品牌。从 Warby Parker 离职的两位员工创立了行李箱公司 Away，他们的产品登上了
《Vogue》，超模卡莉·克劳斯（Karlie Kloss）等名人也为其做了宣传。但大多数客户是通过
社交媒体了解这个品牌的。 环游世界的千禧一代将自己箱包的照片发布在社交媒体上，在照
片中，他们或是将行李箱精心地摆放在酒店房间的床上，或是拖着箱子经过各地标志性的景
观。Away 的社交媒体团队收集这些帖子，并用公司的 Instagram 账号（目前有 14 万粉丝）
重新发布。这家公司今年的销售额预计将达到 5000 万美元。
For all the buzz surrounding such online brands, they face high hurdles. Investors worry about a
glut of startups, which makes it difficult to stand out. “The challenge is rising above the noise,”
says Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures, an early investor in companies like Bonobos, a
clothing retailer. Some DTC firms insist on focusing on a single item in the bedroom, kitchen or
bathroom, when they would do better to offer a stable of products.
虽然这些在线品牌备受追捧，但它们也面临很大的困难。投资者担心创业公司过多，很难脱
颖而出。Forerunner Ventures 的克斯汀·格林（Kirsten Green）说：“挑战在于如何突出重围。”
这家公司是服装零售商 Bonobos 等公司的早期投资者。一些 DTC 公司坚持专注于卧室、厨
房或浴室中的某件用品上，然而如果它们选择提供更多种类的产品，也许会发展得更好。
 hurdle
noun
1. Ca problem or difficulty that you must deal with before you can achieve something 障碍，
困难;SYNobstacle
•Finding enough money for the project was the first hurdle.首先需要克服的困难是为该项
目筹措足够的资金。
overcome / clear / get over etc a hurdle ( = deal successfully with a problem )成功克服困
难
Moreover, the giants of consumer goods and retailing, initially slow to respond to competition
from these upstarts, have wised up. They are reacting in two ways. The first is to make it easier
to buy their goods, both by expanding their own DTC distribution, as Procter & Gamble (which
owns Gillette) does, and by working more closely with Amazon.
而且，消费品和零售业巨头一开始还对来自新兴企业的竞争反应迟缓，但现在已认清了现状。
它们的应对方式有两种。一种是让消费者更容易买到自己的产品，具体方法就是像宝洁（旗
下拥有吉列公司）那样拓展自己的 DTC 分销渠道，以及与亚马逊更紧密地合作。
 wise up
wise up informal
to realize the truth about a bad situation 知道，了解〔糟糕的真相〕:
•Wise up, Vic – he's cheating you!清醒点，维克 — 他是在骗你！
[+ to ]
•Consumers need to wise up to the effect that advertising has on them.消费者应当正确认识
广告对自己产生的影响。
That may not be good news for the startups, but the big firms’ second tactic is what the founders
of every new DTC firm, and their VC backers, dream of: spending big to acquire young rivals.
Unilever, for instance, paid $1bn for Dollar Shave Club in 2016; Walmart spent $310m to acquire
Bonobos in June; and this week P&G said it was buying Native, a DTC deodorant brand, for an
undisclosed sum.
这对创业公司来说可能不是好消息，但大公司的第二种策略却是所有 DTC 新公司及其风险
投资人都梦寐以求的：花大价钱买下年轻对手。比如，2016 年联合利华以 10 亿美元收购了
Dollar Shave Club；沃尔玛今年 6 月斥资 3.1 亿美元收购了 Bonobos；11 月宝洁称正在收购
DTC 香体露品牌 Native，具体金额未披露。
This spending spree explains why optimism still abounds, even as more startups jostle to carve
out a niche. The consumer-goods business remains gripped by a “DTC revolution”, says Emily
Heyward of Red Antler, a branding agency. A comforting thought for buyers of briefs.
这一收购热潮解释了为什么你推我搡、争相闯出一片天地的创业公司越来越多，乐观情绪却
依然盛行。品牌设计公司 Red Antler 的艾米丽·海沃德（Emily Heyward）说，消费品行业仍
然深受“DTC 革命”的影响。对内裤买家来说，这颇令人宽慰。
 spree
noun C
1. a short period of time when you do a lot of one activity, especially spending money or
drinking alcohol 作乐，狂欢〔尤指花钱或喝酒〕:
on a spree
•They went on a drinking spree .他们去痛痛快快地喝了一通。
•a shopping spree 疯狂购物
 niche
noun
1. Cif you find your niche, you find a job or activity that is very suitable for you 合适（称心）
的工作（活动）:
•Amanda soon found her niche at the club.阿曼达很快就在俱乐部里找到了一份理想的工
作。
•He's managed to create a niche for himself in local politics.他终于在当地政界为自己谋到
一份称心的差事。
2. sing.an opportunity to sell a product or service to a particular group of people who have
similar needs, interests etc〔产品或服务的〕商机; 市场定位:
[+ in ]
•He spotted a niche in the market .他发现了市场中的一个商机。

转载于:https://www.cnblogs.com/wanghui626/p/9356757.html