英文部分及圖片來自“經(jīng)濟學(xué)人”雜志钳宪。譯文是個人學(xué)習(xí)揭北、欣賞語言之用，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載或用于任何商業(yè)用途使套。本人同意簡書平臺在接獲有關(guān)著作權(quán)人的通知后罐呼，刪除文章。
2017.03.30日亞馬遜老大貝索斯身家超過巴菲特成為全球第二的消息登上各大媒體頭條侦高。成為這篇翻譯完成時的大背景。有一種身處潮頭的感覺厌杜。有幸奉呛，有幸。
For many retailers Amazon is both a competitor and a way of getting more business. There are more than 70,000 companies, Amazon says, that earn more than $100,000 a year selling through the firm’s site. Many of them are competing with their host in one way or another. Some go up against the company’s own private-label products, which range rather bafflingly from potato crisps to baby wipes to loafers. Many more go up against the stock that Amazon buys and resells.
對眾多零售商而言夯尽，亞馬遜既是競爭對手瞧壮，也是獲取更多業(yè)務(wù)的渠道。亞馬遜宣稱匙握，每年有7萬多家公司通過其網(wǎng)站實現(xiàn)銷售超過10萬美元咆槽。其中許多公司或多或少與他們的“宿主”有競爭關(guān)系。比如要和亞馬遜公司的自主品牌產(chǎn)品進行角逐圈纺。亞馬遜公司經(jīng)營的產(chǎn)品范圍之廣令人困惑秦忿，從炸薯片，濕紙巾到平底便鞋蛾娶。更多的則要和亞馬遜購買和轉(zhuǎn)售的庫存相抗衡灯谣。
For anyone selling on Amazon, prominent placement in the “buy box” that appears on screen when something is searched for is a big boost. According to One Click Retail, a consultancy, products in the buy box account for 86% of sales on the website and 93% on the mobile app. By reverse-engineering the algorithm that runs the box, the consultants found that if a seller pays Amazon to handle warehousing and logistics on its behalf, which probably speeds up shipping, it is more likely to win a spot in the box. So on the occasions when Amazon’s retail offering loses the buy box,it still gets a piece of the action.
對那些在亞馬遜上做銷售的人來說，當(dāng)客戶搜索商品時蛔琅，能顯示在屏幕上的“黃金購物車”顯著位置對業(yè)務(wù)會有極大的推動胎许。據(jù)咨詢機構(gòu)One Click Retail透露，“黃金購物車”中的產(chǎn)品占網(wǎng)站銷售額的86％，在移動應(yīng)用程序上則達到了93％辜窑。運用逆向工程對“黃金購物車”的算法進行分析后钩述，顧問們發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果賣方付費讓亞馬遜代為處理倉儲和物流穆碎，這不但可能加快運輸速度牙勘，更有可能在“黃金購物車”中贏得一席之地。所以即便亞馬遜的零售商品無法贏得“黃金購物車”惨远，它仍然可以從中分得一杯羹谜悟。
All good things...
一切美好的事物...
Bigger competitors do not want to work through Amazon. Some will not use AWS because they don’t want to subsidise a rival. Large retailers are seeking to match Amazon’s standard of fast, cheap shipping on their own. But that lowers them margins for their online sales and risks cannibalising sales from their stores. The competition thus threatens to make many of them permanently less profitable.
大一些的競爭對手則不愿通過亞馬遜開展業(yè)務(wù)。由于不想補貼對手北秽，有些公司不會選用AWS葡幸。大型零售商們正在想方設(shè)法讓自己可與亞馬遜快捷，便宜的投遞標(biāo)準(zhǔn)相匹敵贺氓。但是蔚叨，這會讓他們在線銷售的毛利降低，同時還冒著和線下商店自相殘殺的風(fēng)險辙培。于是蔑水，這場競爭對許多生意構(gòu)成了威脅，使之不再像以前那樣有利可圖扬蕊。
Last year Walmart made a particularly expensive bid to fend off Amazon, paying $3bn for Jet.com, an e-commerce startup. Marc Lore, Jet.com’s boss, has history when it comes to competing with Amazon.“The Everything Store”, a book about Amazon by Brad Stone, a journalist, tells the story of Quidsi, a previous startup of Mr Lore’s that sold nappies through a site called Diapers.com. When Amazon was building a nappies business, the bigger company cut prices so rapidly that Quidsi reckoned that matching them would lose it $100m in three months. Quidsi agreed to be bought in 2010.
去年搀别，沃爾瑪斥巨資擊退亞馬遜，為收購電商創(chuàng)業(yè)公司Jet.com支付了30億美元尾抑。Jet.com的老板馬克羅爾（Marc Lore）與亞馬遜的競爭有一段歷史歇父。“The Everything Store”是記者Brad Stone所著的一本關(guān)于亞馬遜的書再愈。其中講述了Quidsi的一則故事榜苫。它Quidsi是羅爾以前的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，主要通過一家名為Diapers.com的網(wǎng)站出售尿布翎冲。當(dāng)亞馬遜創(chuàng)立尿布業(yè)務(wù)時垂睬，大公司降價速度如此之快，以至于Quidsi相信抗悍，接受相同的價格將在三個月內(nèi)損失1億美元驹饺。 因此Quidsi在2010年同意出售。
Marc Loreis an entrepreneur and co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and chairman ofJet.com, an e-commerce startup launched in 2014. Prior to Jet, Marc co-founded Quidsi, the parent company of a family of websites such asDiapers.comand Soap.com, with childhood friend Vinit Bharara. The Quidsi company was sold in 2011 to Amazon for $545 million.
Other competitors are worried, too. In December Amazon challenged Netflix by expanding Prime Video to more than 200 countries. “I feel like we’re competing with an unusual person,” Reed Hastings, Netflix’s boss, has admitted. “Because Jeff’s there, it’s kind of scary.” This is not a winner-takes-all contest; two-thirds of American Prime subscribers also subscribe to Netflix, according to Cowen, a financial services firm. But as Prime Video’s offering improves, some Netflix viewers might drop their subscription.
其他競爭對手也頗為擔(dān)心檐春。亞馬遜在十二月份通過將Prime Video擴展到200多個國家來挑戰(zhàn)Netflix逻淌。 Netflix的老板Reed Hastings承認(rèn)：“我覺得我們正在和一個不尋常的人對抗。 因為杰夫來了疟暖，這有點嚇人”卡儒。這不是贏者通吃的比賽;根據(jù)金融服務(wù)公司Cowen的說法田柔，美國三分之二的Prime會員同時也訂閱了Netflix。然而骨望，隨著Prime Video產(chǎn)品的提升硬爆，一些Netflix的會員可能會放棄訂閱。
Netflix hopes to keep them by spending on its exclusive shows; like Spotify in music,it also has the advantage of an established brand and a customer base. But competition is hotting up. Disney, Fox,NBC Universal and Time Warner have beefed up a streaming competitor of their own,Hulu.
Netflix希望通過投資獨家電視劇來留住訂閱會員; 和Spotify在音樂中的地位一樣擎鸠，它也擁有成熟的品牌和客戶群的優(yōu)勢缀磕。但競爭正日趨白熱化。迪士尼劣光，竿嗖希克斯，NBC環(huán)球和時代華納已經(jīng)推出了他們自己的流媒體（Hulu）加入戰(zhàn)團绢涡。
Hulu(stylized ashulu) is an Americansubscription video on demandservice owned by Hulu LLC, a joint venture withThe Walt Disney Company(throughDisney–ABC Television Group) (30%),[8]21st Century Fox(throughFox Entertainment Group) (30%),Comcast(throughNBCUniversal) (30%), and as of August 10, 2016,Time Warner(throughTurner Broadcasting System) (10%, minority stake).
The other tech giants have their own reasons to be worried about Amazon—though they may also have the best defences. Apple faces the risk that Amazon,not iTunes, becomes the default platform for streaming and buying content; but it has the diversified revenue needed to fight its corner. Google, for its part, does not want shopping through Amazon, and particularly Alexa, to cut it out of the loop,jeopardising its advertising revenues; nor does it want Alexa to be the platform people chose for running their homes. In February Google said its new assistant—called,simply, Assistant—would not only power a device called Google Home, but roll out to smartphones using Android, its mobile operating system. Their strength in mobile phones gives both Apple and Google an edge over Amazon.
其他科技巨頭們有各自擔(dān)心亞馬遜的理由 - 盡管他們可能也有最好的防御手段牲剃。蘋果公司面臨著亞馬遜取代iTunes成為流媒體和內(nèi)容購買默認(rèn)平臺的風(fēng)險; 但它具有多樣化的收入手段捍衛(wèi)自己的地位。就其本身而言雄可，谷歌公司不愿通過亞馬遜購物凿傅，尤其是Alexa，這將令其出局数苫，最終危及其廣告收入; 它也不希望Alexa成為人們用來管理家庭的平臺聪舒。Google在二月份表示，其新助理功能 - 簡稱“助理” - 不但將驅(qū)動名為Google Home的裝置虐急，還將推廣到使用Android移動操作系統(tǒng)的智能手機上箱残。在手機方面的優(yōu)勢使得蘋果和谷歌相比亞馬遜都處于領(lǐng)先地位。
Tech giants will also be fighting Amazon in the cloud. Microsoft is its strongest competitor, but Google and IBM are formidable,too. All four are fighting to lower prices and provide better technology, with billions now being pumped into AI.
科技巨頭們也將與亞馬遜云端斗法止吁。微軟是其中最強的對手疚宇，但Google和IBM的實力也不容小覷。這四家公司纏斗在了一起赏殃，主旨是降低價格和提供更好的技術(shù)。他們還投資了數(shù)十億美元于人工智能间涵。
If competitors fail to halt Amazon’s whirl of activities, antitrust enforcers might yet do so instead. This does not seem an imminent threat. American antitrust authorities mainly consider a company’s effect on consumers and pricing, not broader market power. By that standard, Amazon has brought big benefits.
如果競爭對手未能阻擋亞馬遜的進擊旋風(fēng)仁热，反壟斷執(zhí)法者卻可能做到這一點。這個威脅似乎還不至于迫在眉睫勾哩。美國反壟斷機構(gòu)主要考慮公司對消費者的影響力和對定價的影響抗蠢，而不是更廣泛的市場力量。以這個標(biāo)準(zhǔn)衡量思劳，亞馬遜帶來得更多是好處迅矛。
Two perils lurk, however. One, for now, is theoretical. In a recent article in the Yale Law Journal, Lina Kahn argued that,among other things, the scope of Amazon’s activities may make it impossible for competitors not to end up relying on it. If regulators paid more heed to market power, that could be a red flag—especially as Amazon continues to grow and provide its services to competitors ever more widely.A second threat is real. Donald Trump does not care for the Washington Post, a newspaper Mr Bezos owns. In 2016 Mr Trump said Mr Bezos was using the Post to attack him because Amazon has “a huge antitrust problem”.If Mr Trump believes that—or even if he doesn’t—his administration might favour action.
然而，有兩個潛伏的危險不得不防潜叛。到現(xiàn)在為止秽褒，一個是理論上的壶硅。耶魯法律雜志最近發(fā)表了一篇文章中，莉娜·卡恩（Lina Kahn）論證說销斟，亞馬遜的業(yè)務(wù)范圍可能使對手最終不能不依賴于它庐椒。如果監(jiān)管機構(gòu)更加關(guān)注市場力量，那可能成為一個大問題蚂踊，特別是亞馬遜繼續(xù)這樣發(fā)展下去约谈，為競爭對手提供更廣泛的服務(wù)。第二個威脅則是真實的犁钟。唐納德·特朗普不在乎“華盛頓郵報”棱诱。這是貝佐斯擁有的一家報業(yè)集團。特朗普在2016年表示涝动，貝佐斯在使用郵報攻擊他迈勋，而且亞馬遜有嚴(yán)重的反壟斷問題。如果特朗普認(rèn)為如此捧存，即便他不認(rèn)為如此 - 他的政府都可能會采取行動粪躬。
For now, though, Amazon’s rivals must fend for themselves. They can hope Mr Bezos makes a mistake, or gets wrong-footed by some startling new trend—but though both are possible, they are hardly a strategy. Instead, the best defence is simple: sell something that customers want and Amazon does not have. Exceptional merchandise and service helps. In America big, bland bookstores are struggling, but the number of independent booksellers has climbed. The threat from Amazon has forced Walmart to improve its stores, with easier checkout and more helpful staff; it has seen a bump in sales. Amazon’s investments in television have helped fuel a bidding war for good programming—Hollywood’s studios are producing the best television for generations. And thanks to AWS, and its competitors, there has never been a better time to start up a web-based or data-centric firm.
不過，亞馬遜的對手們眼下必須為自己奮力一搏昔穴。他們可以寄希望貝佐斯犯錯镰官，或者沒能抓住一些令人吃驚的新趨勢。兩者都有可能吗货，但這些算不上是策略泳唠。相反，最好的防御是簡單有效的：銷售客戶想要而亞馬遜沒能提供的商品或服務(wù)宙搬。卓越的商品和服務(wù)大有裨益笨腥。在美國，令人乏味的大型書店正在勉力掙扎勇垛，但獨立書商的數(shù)量卻在攀升脖母。亞馬遜的威脅迫使沃爾瑪改善店面，結(jié)帳更便捷和更有幫助的員工;這些改善帶來了銷售突破闲孤。亞馬遜對電視內(nèi)容的投資催燃了對優(yōu)質(zhì)節(jié)目制作的熱捧 - 好萊塢的工作室正在為幾代人創(chuàng)造最好的電視節(jié)目谆级。感謝AWS及其對手，對于想要開創(chuàng)一家基于網(wǎng)絡(luò)或以數(shù)據(jù)為中心的公司來說讼积，現(xiàn)在是前所未有的好機會肥照。
For decades, consumer giants mostly grew slowly and comfortably, with only occasional bursts of innovation. Now Amazon’s epic journey is forcing companies to lower prices and to improve products or to suffer. Many may, as a result, become less profitable; many will instead improve. And all the while, as Mr Wilke puts it, Amazon’s “pioneers wander the world with divine discontent and say, ‘how can I make that better today?’” Companies on its ever larger roster of rivals settle for mediocrity at their peril.
幾十年來，消費巨頭們大多成長緩慢勤众，貪圖安逸舆绎，鮮有創(chuàng)新突破。現(xiàn)在亞馬遜史詩般的征程正在迫使這些公司要么降價们颜，改善產(chǎn)品吕朵；要么忍受痛苦和損失猎醇。最終，一部分公司可能會變得不那么有利可圖; 另一部分則會改變边锁。一直以來姑食，正如Wilke所說，亞馬遜的“先行者們懷抱與生俱來的永不滿足的精神徘徊于天地之間茅坛，不斷追問自己：”今天我該做些什么讓世界變得更加美好音半？”。在它越來越長的對手清單中的那些公司有歸于平庸的危險贡蓖。
