英國出現(xiàn)“快閃店”電商平臺(tái)

In the dirge of news about retail failure, where once impregnable institutions like House of Fraser and Marks and Spencer are now husks of their former selves, the high street would seem to be in mortal danger. Right? Wrong, says Ross Bailey, a 26-year-old retail entrepreneur: “The problem is that most high-street stores are crap.”

零售企業(yè)紛紛倒下。曾經(jīng)堅(jiān)不可摧的House of Fraser和馬莎百貨(Marks and Spencer)如今都只剩下一具軀殼。挽歌唱響，高街零售業(yè)似乎走到了生死關(guān)頭。難道不對嗎?當(dāng)然不對!在26歲的零售企業(yè)家羅斯.貝利(Ross Bailey)看來，“問題出在大多數(shù)高街百貨商店

Lest we forget, 90 per cent of sales are still made in bricks-and-mortar buildings. But shorter leases, changing consumer loyalties and online stores have changed the way we shop. And traditional stores are increasingly being replaced by more short-term “pop-up” solutions.

先提醒一句，目前社會(huì)消費(fèi)品銷售總額的90%仍是在實(shí)體店完成的。但隨著商鋪?zhàn)饧s的縮短，消費(fèi)者忠誠度不斷變化，加上電商的發(fā)展，我們的購物方式也在改變。此外，傳統(tǒng)商店正逐步讓位于經(jīng)營期限更短的“快閃”(Pop-up)模式。

“The death of the high street is grossly exaggerated,” Bailey continues. “It dies when it’s homogenous and uninteresting. When it’s done right, it’s a totally different story.”

“高街的衰亡被過分夸大了。”貝利接著說道，“如果高街零售商繼續(xù)同質(zhì)化經(jīng)營和無趣，消亡是不可避免的。但如果經(jīng)營得當(dāng)，情況會(huì)完全不同。”

In 2012, Bailey founded Appear Here, an online marketplace for short-term retail designed to disrupt the commercial space. Brands go to the website to search for a space, book a time slot and earmark a budget and then Appear Here connects them with a landlord.

2012年，貝利創(chuàng)建了零售商鋪短租平臺(tái)Appear Here，旨在顛覆商業(yè)地產(chǎn)市場。品牌可以通過該平臺(tái)搜索場地，列出時(shí)間段和預(yù)算，而Appear Here則會(huì)為他們介紹房東。

If the brand and the landlord are a match, the deal goes ahead. Some shops pop up for only a week, others rent for years — either way, it’s a “pay as you go” business, where even the most powerful brands can test a new market without long-term commitment.

如果品牌與房東的要求匹配，就達(dá)成交易。一些商鋪僅擺設(shè)一周時(shí)間，有些則會(huì)租上數(shù)年——無論哪種，都采取“現(xiàn)收現(xiàn)付”模式。就連那些最有影響力的品牌都可以通過這種模式來試水新市場，而不必簽下長期合約。

Today, Bailey oversees a network that includes 160,000 brands and 6,000 retail spaces, throughout London, Paris and New York, and represents every kind of business, from the tiniest market-stall artisans to the most powerful brands in the world, such as Apple, Nike and Louis Vuitton. And the shops just keep popping.

如今，貝利的服務(wù)范圍包括16萬個(gè)品牌和6000個(gè)零售場地，覆蓋了倫敦、巴黎和紐約全城，遍布每一個(gè)行業(yè)——從最微小的市場擺攤手藝人，到蘋果(Apple)、耐克(Nike)和路易威登(Louis Vuitton)等全球最有影響力的品牌。且快閃商店還在持續(xù)增多。

This week, Appear Here launches its next innovation, a six-part collection of modular furniture designed for short-term retail. The pieces can be rented by the week, come in three different finishes, and include everything the modern shopkeeper might need, from a hanging rail to a fitting room to a shelving unit and a cash desk.

日前，Appear Here推出了又一項(xiàng)創(chuàng)新：由6部分組成的模塊家具。這套家具專門為短租零售而設(shè)計(jì)。家具可以按周租賃，有三種不同漆面，包括了現(xiàn)代商店可能用到的一切：從衣架、試衣間，到貨架和收銀臺(tái)。

The collection was designed by Richard Found, whose day job is tending to the look of luxury commercial spaces. He describes the fixtures as “ego-less”, with a focus on “pure design”. All can be adapted to any environment and it’s sleek, simple — and idiot-proof.

這套家具由理查德.方德(Richard Found)設(shè)計(jì)，他的正業(yè)是為奢侈品牌設(shè)計(jì)門店。在他眼中，這些固定裝置做到了“無我”，專注于“純設(shè)計(jì)”。所有裝置都能適應(yīng)各種環(huán)境，造型流線，簡潔，且易于安裝。

The incentives for such a collaboration are many. First, it will scale the business, increasing Appear Here’s profile as a one-stop pop-up platform through which you can also staff and service your store. Second, it will offer even the humblest of retailers a little more luxury gloss.

合作設(shè)計(jì)這樣一套家具是出于多項(xiàng)考慮。首先，這樣能促進(jìn)規(guī)模化運(yùn)營，提升Appear Here作為一站式快閃平臺(tái)的形象——人們可以通過該平臺(tái)為商店雇人和購買服務(wù)。其次，這能為哪怕是最不起眼的零售商增添一絲高級(jí)感。

Both are feeling bullish about the future of the high street. But they insist it must adapt. “Your store doesn’t need to be in one place any more,” says Bailey. “Before, if you didn’t have your store, your business was over because where would the person find you? Now you’ve always got a presence that exists.”

對于高街零售業(yè)的未來，二人都持樂觀態(tài)度。但他們堅(jiān)稱高街必須適應(yīng)新形勢。“你的商店沒必要固守在一個(gè)地方。”貝利表示，“以前，倘若沒有自己的店面，你的生意就完了，因?yàn)槿藗冊撊ツ睦镎夷?但現(xiàn)在你永遠(yuǎn)都有實(shí)體窗口。”

And he’s persuasive on the power of the pop-up as a marketing tool. “Digital direct-to-consumer brands are now paying so much for digital advertising.” With social-media reach and the right user-friendly experience, “one little shop can create something that builds a connection with millions of people that don’t even happen to walk past it. Experience is a currency that spreads.”

此外，他關(guān)于快閃店?duì)I銷功能的看法也非常有說服力。“目前，直接面向消費(fèi)者(DTC)的數(shù)字品牌在數(shù)字廣告方面投入巨大。”有了社交媒體的宣傳，再能提供友好的用戶體驗(yàn)，“一家小店可以與數(shù)百萬消費(fèi)者建立聯(lián)系，哪怕這些消費(fèi)者并沒有親自路過。體驗(yàn)就是流通貨幣。”

Bailey’s hope is that the pop-up will help make the high street “a place of discovery” once more. “Anyone can have a shop,” he says.

貝利希望，快閃模式能幫助高街零售商店再一次成為“充滿發(fā)現(xiàn)之地”。“人人都能開店。”

Some of his favourite anecdotes concern the more unusual enterprises he’s helped bring to life — like the parents who, in lieu of an iPad, bought their son a ?600 birthday pop-up from which to launch his T-shirt brand for two weeks.

他最喜歡講的一些趣事，就是他幫助實(shí)現(xiàn)的那些不尋常的店鋪——例如，一對父母花費(fèi)600英鎊，給他們的兒子買了一個(gè)為期兩周的快閃店作為生日禮物，而不是iPad，用來發(fā)布他的T恤品牌。