【英语国际】美国零售商联手挑战亚马逊

Several dozen U.S. retailers are banding together to take on Amazon.com Inc. by striking at one of online shoppers' biggest concerns: shipping costs.

Under a cooperative program called ShopRunner, launched on Tuesday, the retailers are mimicking Amazon by dangling a $79 loyalty program that offers unlimited two-day shipping. But in this case it's across all of the participants' online stores, whether it's Babies 'R' Us, Rockport, Wilson's Leather, RadioShack or a host of others. One-upping Amazon, ShopRunner will offer free returns.

Membership in such program acts as golden handcuffs: After prepaying for shipping, members become valuable repeat customers, in order to get the most out of the fee.

Amazon and its retail competitors are vying for the highest-spending online customers. Those shoppers are the whales of the $140 billion U.S. e-commerce market, one of the fastest-growing parts of U.S. retail.

Retailers' willingness to work together under ShopRunner illustrates how seriously they take the threat from Amazon, whose customer base has grown at the expense of traditional retailers as shoppers migrate to the Web. 'It's amazing what people will do when they recognize there is a bigger threat to their model of retail than just competing with each other,' said Fiona Dias, executive vice president of strategy and marketing for GSI Commerce Inc., the e-commerce service provider that owns Shop Runner Inc.

Amazon, with a hefty 8% of the U.S. e-commerce market, is the biggest single online retailer in the country, according to Hudson Square Research. Its $79 shipping program, launched in 2005 and called Amazon Prime, is widely acknowledged to have fueled its growth. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment.

Shipping has been a thorn in the side of online retailers since the early days. Consumers have come to expect free shipping on many online purchases, at least if they spend a certain amount. Amazon Prime was a way to lure customers, and yet get some money to defray shipping costs.

Seattle-based Amazon doesn't disclose data about Prime membership, but Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell estimated Amazon has between two and three million members in the U.S. and as many as five million globally. The average Prime customer spends three to four times as much as a typical consumer, he said, though some of that may be family members sharing a single account.

Mike Golden, president of Shop Runner Inc., declined to say how much the retailers are paying to participate in the program. GSI is spending about $5 million this year to launch ShopRunner, he said. He added that retailers would share ShopRunner's revenue from membership fees, as well as share the shipping costs. He said his market research found that ShopRunner would appeal to shoppers who buy at least eight times a year at participating retailers.

几十位美国零售商联合起来在网络消费者最关心的配送费问题上向亚马逊公司（Amazon.com Inc.）发起挑战。

这些零售商于周二发布的名为ShopRunner的合作计划模仿亚马逊，推出一个提供无限制的两天内免费送货的79美元会员忠实计划。但在这种情况下，该计划就出现在所有参与商家的在线商店，包括Babies 'R' Us,、Rockport,、Wilson's Leather、RadioShack等。超过亚马逊的一点是，ShopRunner会提供免费退货。

该计划为“金手铐”会员制：会员预付送货费后，就成为尊贵的回头客，以从预付费中获得最大利益。

Getty Images 佛罗里达州迈阿密的Toys"R"Us 。亚马逊及其零售商竞争对手正在抢夺消费力最强的网络消费者。这些消费者是美国1400亿美元电子商务市场的主导群体，而电子商务市场是美国零售业增速最快的部分。

这些零售商愿意在ShopRunner下共同合作说明他们认识到了亚马逊造成的威胁的严重性，亚马逊的消费群是以传统零售商为代价而增长的，因为消费者逐渐转移到了网络。GSI Commerce Inc.战略和市场营销执行副总裁迪亚斯（Fiona Dias）说，当人们认识到他们的零售模式受到了更大的威胁，而不是简单的互相竞争时，他们采取的行动真是令人惊讶。GSI Commerce Inc.是拥有Shop Runner Inc的电子商务服务商。

据Hudson Square Research统计，亚马逊在美国电子商务市场占有多达8%的份额，是美国最大的在线零售商。亚马逊在2005年推出了名为Amazon Prime的79美元免运费会员计划，该计划被广泛认为促进了公司的发展。亚马逊的发言人拒绝置评。

从在线销售早期开始，配送费就是在线零售商的一个难题。消费者期待一些在线消费能够免费送货，至少在购买的商品达到一定数量的情况下。Amazon Prime是一种吸引消费者的方式，但需要为配送成本花些钱。

亚马逊未透露有关Amazon Prime会员的数据，但高盛（Goldman Sachs）分析师米切尔（James Mitchell）估算，亚马逊在美国拥有200万至300万的会员，在全球会员数量达500万。他说，一个Amazon Prime会员平均消费次数是普通消费者的三到四倍，虽然有些消费也许是共有一个账户的家庭成员的消费。

Shop Runner Inc.总裁高登（Mike Golden）拒绝透露零售商参加该计划的费用。他说，GSI今年花费约500万美元推出ShopRunner。他还说，零售商们将与ShopRunner分成会员费收入，同时也要共同承担配送成本。他说，公司的市场研究发现，ShopRunner将会吸引从参加计划零售商处每年至少消费八次的消费者。