【英语国际】日圆高涨 日本人买上便宜奢侈品

For decades, the model for selling luxury imported goods in Japan has been simple: plush surroundings, attentive service -- and the 'Japan premium.' Taking advantage of the luxury-goods appetite and high incomes of Japanese consumers, foreign high-end retailers have been able to charge much more than in other markets for the same goods.

But the cozy system may be cracking, thanks in part to a surging yen -- it hit a fresh 15-year-high against the dollar Tuesday -- that's encouraging third-party websites to jump in with deep discounts.

Late last month, Yahoo Japan Corp. quietly launched an endaka ('strong yen') sale on its shopping portal, covering imported goods that include shoes, TaylorMade golf clubs and Coach and Gucci handbags. Coach's Heritage striped tote bag, for example, which goes for 63,000 yen (about $747), cost 25,800 yen (about $332).

Yahoo says sales of the discounted goods in the week of Aug. 22-28 were five times what they had been in the corresponding week of July.

Rakuten Ichiba, Japan's leading e-commerce site, launched a similar discount site in late August. It reported a 45% increase in sales of high-end watches compared with the corresponding July period; sales of men's imported wallets have more than doubled.

'Given the economy and the new price transparency, while the Japan premium will not go away, it will be difficult to maintain going forward,' Brian Salsberg, a principal at consultant McKinsey & Co. in Tokyo who analyzes retail and consumer trends. That transparency is a product of the Internet, which he says is 'one of the fastest-growing channels for luxury in Japan.'

The discounting may be the latest sign of a significant shift in Japan, long renowned for finicky and sophisticated consumers who accept high prices as a mark of superior quality and craftsmanship.

The market for luxury goods first thrived in the heady bubble decade of the 1980s, when owning a branded, European handbag or watch became a symbol of success. And with Japan's vast middle class, these products were within reach for most people.

Over the years, luxury-goods retailers such as LVMH's Louis Vuitton and Chanel poured millions of dollars into building striking, massive flagship stores.

But with deflationary pressure, a weak economy and a shift in consumer tastes, sales of luxury goods in Japan have actually been on a decline.


The market for imported brand items -- a rough proxy for luxury goods -- shrank to $9.94 billion in 2009, down 16% from 2008 and half its 1996 peak, according McKinsey. Coach, the leather-goods maker which is based in New York, said last month that its sales in Japan for fiscal 2010, which ended in July, were essentially flat on a constant-currency basis, which strips out currency fluctuations.

Still the luxury retailers have hung on to the premium -- and continue to do so even as the yen has climbed to a 15-year high against the dollar and a seven-year high against the euro.

'We do not adjust our pricing due to yen shifts,' said Andrea Resnick, Coach's senior vice president of investor relations and corporate communications.

Tariffs on certain categories, such as leather goods and shoes, have contributed to higher prices, but in general the markups in Japan far exceed these extra costs.

Coach's Japanese Web site sells its Kristin leather hobo bag for 59,850 yen, or about $710. In the U.S., the same bag sells for $298. A Marc Jacobs Gilda fur and sequin flap bag that sells in Japan for 249,900 yen, or $2,966, is $1,995 in the U.S.

The pricing practice continues further down the luxury line, too. Abercrombie & Fitch Co., the Ohio-based purveyor of preppy polos and jeans, opened its first Asian outlet in December in Tokyo; prices in some cases are double those in the U.S. A Celeste sweatshirt, for example, costs 10,800 yen, or around $128, compared with $60 in the U.S.

Abercrombie Chief Executive Mike Jeffries defended the pricing during and earnings conference call earlier this year, calling it 'dead-on.'

'We are premium brands,' he said, 'and we get premium prices in these markets.'

Online e-commerce sites are pouncing on these pricing differentials. 'Thanks to the strong yen, now's your chance to buy foreign brands!' reads Yahoo Japan's strong yen sale site.

Coach says Japanese consumers can't be sure they're getting the real thing unless they buy at a Coach store, an authorized retailer or Coach.com.

Yahoo Japan said all its goods are legitimate -- and that it hasn't received any complaints from the brands themselves.

Another way Japanese are getting around higher prices caused by going abroad -- and getting in a little shopping. With the yen so strong, more Japanese are grabbing the chance to travel.

Yoko Chivers, 35, who works in finance in Tokyo, says that she's gotten tired of waiting for retailers at home to adjust prices to reflect the stronger yen, and now puts off her luxury purchases for trips abroad. On a recent trip to Europe she picked up a Ferragamo bag -- on sale for a third of what it costs in Japan.

'I don't buy big ticket items in Japan anymore,' she said.

十年来，在日本销售进口奢侈品的模式一直都非常简单：奢华的环境布置、殷勤周到的服务──还有“日本溢价”。国外高端零售商利用日本消费者对奢侈品的强烈欲望以及自身高收入等特点，使同样的商品在日本的售价比其它市场高出许多。

但是在一定程度上由于日圆汇率飙升（周二日圆兑美元汇率创15年新高），让高端零售商得其所哉的这种状况或许正在分崩离析，这鼓励第三方网站纷纷以大减价参与竞争。

上个月晚些时候，雅虎日本公司(Yahoo Japan Corp.)在其购物门户网站推出了endaka(“高价日圆”)的减价促销活动，销售范围包括鞋子、TaylorMade高尔夫球具以及Coach和Gucci手提袋等进口商品。例如，售价6.3万日圆(合747美元)的Coach Heritage系列条纹包，网站上卖2.58万日圆(合332美元)。

雅虎称，8月22-28日一周时间里，它们所卖的折扣商品数量是7月同期销量的五倍。

日本第一大购物网站乐天市场(Rakuten Ichiba)8月晚些时候推出了一个类似的折扣卖场。据称，高端手表的销量比7月同期上涨了45%，男士进口钱夹销量几乎翻番。

麦肯锡(McKinsey & Co.)驻东京的主管、分析零售与消费者潮流的萨斯伯格(Brian Salsberg)说，考虑到经济状况和新的价格透明性，虽然“日本溢价”不会消失，但要保持以前的价格很难。价格透明性是互联网带来的产物，他说这是日本奢侈品增长最快的销售渠道之一。

奢侈品打折也许是日本奢侈品销售明显变化的最新迹象，日本消费者素来以挑剔、精明闻名，他们认为高昂的价格代表卓尔不群的质量和工艺。

日本奢侈品市场的兴旺是从上世纪80年代令人迷醉的泡沫经济中发展起来的，那时拥有一个欧洲品牌的手袋或手表是成功的标志。随着日本大量中产阶级的出现，这些产品对于绝大多数日本人来说都在力所能及的购买范围之内。

多年来，LVMH集团旗下的路易威登(Louis Vuitton)和香奈儿(Chanel)等奢侈品零售商斥资数百万美元，打造巨大而醒目的旗舰店。

但是由于通货紧缩的压力、经济不景气以及消费者品味的变化，日本奢侈品销售其实已开始走下坡路。

进口品牌产品大体上反映了整个奢侈品市场的行情。据麦肯锡数据，2009年日本进口品牌的市场规模为99.4亿美元，较2008年下降16%，较1996年峰值下降一半。纽约皮革产品生产商Coach上个月说，在剔除了汇率波动因素后，在截止于7月份的2010财年，它在日本的销售额同上一年大致持平。

但奢侈品零售商坚持高价，在日圆对美元升值到15年最高、对欧元升值到七年最高的情况下，它们依然如此。

Coach负责投资者关系与企业公关的高级副总裁瑞斯尼克(Andrea Resnick)说，我们并不因为日圆汇率的变动而调整定价。

加之于皮革制品、鞋子等门类的关税属于价格高企的原因之一，但从总体上讲，日本奢侈品的加价幅度远远超过了这些附加成本。

Coach日文网站出售的“Kristin”水饺包标价59,850日圆，折合710美元左右。在美国，同样的包售价298美元。马克•雅各布斯(Marc Jacobs)设计的“Gilda”毛皮光片翻盖包在日本售价249,900日圆，折合2,966美元，在美国售价则为1,995美元。

在不那么高端的品牌中，这种定价方式同样存在。Abercrombie & Fitch Co.是美国俄亥俄一家出售青春风格保罗衫与牛仔裤的公司，它于去年12月在东京开设了亚洲第一家专卖店。在这里，部分产品的售价达到了美国的两倍。比如一件“Celeste”外套售价10,800日圆，折合128美元，而在美国仅售60美元。

Abercrombie首席执行长杰弗里斯(Mike Jeffries)在今年早些时候的一次财报电话会议上为其定价策略辩护，说它完全正确。

他说，我们是高端品牌，我们在这些市场实行高端价格。

电子商务网站趁虚而入，利用这些定价差异获利。雅虎日本的“endaka”活动页面上写着：日圆升值了，现在你有机会购买海外品牌！

Coach说，日本消费者如果不从Coach专卖店、授权零售商或Coach.com网站上购买，他们就不一定能够买到真货。

雅虎日本说，它出售的所有产品都是合法的，而且也从来没有收到这些品牌本身的任何投诉。

日本消费者避开高价格的另一个办法就是出国，然后买点东西带回来。在日圆如此坚挺的情况下，越来越多的日本人正抓紧机会出国旅游。

东京35岁的金融从业人士Yoko Chivers说，她已经不想继续等国内零售商调价，把日圆升值的因素反映进去，现在是把购买奢侈品的事情放在出国旅行的时候了。最近出游欧洲期间，她买了一个Ferragamo品牌的手包，价格只有日本的三分之一。

她说，我再也不在日本买高价货了。