2020年经济学人 熊彼特专栏--LVMH对决爱马仕(4)

The stolid¹ approach has paid off in the pandemic. Sales will probably drop this year because of store and factory closures in the spring. But Hermes looks in better shape than its competitors, says Luca Solca of Bernstein, a broker². It is less reliant than they are on Asian tourists shopping in Paris or New York. It makes most of its wares³ itself, so does not need to bail⁴ out third-party suppliers. Demand wobbles are less of a problem given those long waiting lists. And if well-heeled consumers are to spend in a recession, they favour timeless brands.

这种固执的做派在疫情期间得到了回报。由于春季商店和工厂的关闭，今年的销售额可能会下降。但经纪公司伯恩斯坦的卢卡?索尔卡表示，爱马仕的状况看起来比竞争对手要好。爱马仕对那些在巴黎或纽约购物的亚洲游客的依赖程度更低。它的大部分商品都是自己生产的，因此不需要救济第三方供应商。考虑到长长的等待购买名单，需求波动也不是什么问题了。如果富裕的消费者们要在经济衰退中消费，他们往往青睐永恒的品牌。

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For success to endure, Hermes heirs may require one more thing. The company is a digital laggard⁵. A mere⁶ 2 to 3% of its sales last year came from its website, half its rivals’ share. Its Instagram account— a measure of a brand’s buzziness—has just 10m followers⁷, compared with 41m for Chanel or Gucci. It lacks younger consumers who inject brands with vitality⁸; according to Citigroup, a bank, only a quarter of sales are to Gen-Zs or millennials (the oldest of whom are about to turn 40).

要想获得持久的成功，爱马仕的继承人们可能还需要做一件事。爱马仕在数字技术方面相对落后。去年，爱马仕仅有2-3%的销售额来自网站，是竞争对手的一半。它的Instagram账户（用于衡量品牌热度）只有1000万粉丝，相比之下香奈儿或古驰都有4100万粉丝。爱马仕缺少为品牌注入活力的年轻消费者。根据花旗集团的数据，爱马仕只有四分之一的销售额来自95后或千禧一代（其中年龄最大的人即将满40岁）。

Mr Dumas is alive to this. Hermes has started to branch out into cosmetics⁹, offering aspiring¹⁰ shoppers a cheaper entry point than Birkins (or skateboards). It has invested in a Chinese venture, Shang Xia, that may be useful if consumers in China—big buyers of luxury goods—start coveting¹¹ local baubles¹² instead of French ones.

杜马斯对此有所察觉。爱马仕已经开始进军化妆品领域，为有所渴求的消费者提供比铂金包（或陶瓷滑板）更便宜的入门产品。它投资了一家名为“上下”的中国企业，如果中国的奢侈品大买家开始垂涎本地小玩意而不是法国货，这笔投资可能会派上用场。

Such moves are not so different from Mr Arnault’s. He might have executed the same savvy¹³ strategy at Hermes; LVMH executives still speak of the “brand that got away” with reverence¹⁴. But the Hermes clan¹⁵ can draw satisfaction from the fact that their investment in the family firm has yielded returns of over 400% since 2010— even juicier than if they had traded their stakes for LVMH shares.

这样的举动与阿尔诺的做法没有太大差别。他可能也会在爱马仕采取同样的精明策略；LVMH的高管们仍然心怀崇敬地谈论这个“逃脱的品牌”。但是爱马仕家族还是心满意足，因为自2010年以来，他们对家族企业的投资回报率超过400%。这甚至比他们用所持股份换取LVMH股份的收益还要高。

1 stolid   

adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的

参考例句：

• Her face showed nothing but stolid indifference.她的脸上毫无表情，只有麻木的无动于衷。
• He conceals his feelings behind a rather stolid manner.他装作无动于衷的样子以掩盖自己的感情。

2 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

3 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

4 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

5 laggard   

n.落后者；adj.缓慢的，落后的

参考例句：

• In village,the laggard living condition must be improved.在乡村落后的生活条件必须被改善。
• Businesshas to some degree been a laggard in this process.商业在这个进程中已经慢了一拍。

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

8 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

9 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

10 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

11 coveting   

v.贪求，觊觎( covet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We begin by coveting what we see every day. 垂涎的开始是我们每天看见的东西。 来自互联网
• We coveting what we see every day. 之所以如此，是因为我们垂涎每日所见的一些东西。 来自互联网

12 baubles   

n.小玩意( bauble的名词复数 )；华而不实的小件装饰品；无价值的东西；丑角的手杖

参考例句：

• The clothing category also includes jewelry and similar baubles. 服饰大类也包括珠宝与类似的小玩意。 来自互联网
• The shop sells baubles as well. 这家商店也销售廉价珠宝。 来自互联网

13 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

14 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

15 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。