沃尔玛小心，亚马逊Prime服务出大招

上周，亚马逊开始为接受美国政府救助的消费者提供Prime会员折扣，与沃尔玛之间本已激烈的竞争更趋白热化。

Prime会员打折意味着亚马逊将目标转向沃尔玛一项利润丰厚的业务：低收入人群。亚马逊也是借此反击，最近沃尔玛动作不断：免费配送商品，自行取货补贴，收购电子商务公司等。投资研究和基金评级机构晨星统计，去年美国国民获得的“补充营养援助计划”（SNAP）（人称用电子福利转账卡（EBT卡）的“食品补助券”）政府福利之中，每5美元就有将近1美元花在沃尔玛，合计消费额约有130亿美元。行业研究机构Retail Metrics估算，去年21家公开上市的实体零售商销售额总计也不过130亿美元左右。

此外，亚马逊还瞄准了4300万每年领取666亿美元SNAP的消费者。亚马逊眼光长远也很有耐心，打算将许多暂时需要政府救助的消费者变为长期Prime会员。首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯已经表明这一愿景：“毫无疑问，亚马逊Prime会员发展的目标是让用户相信，如果不加入Prime会员就是不负责任。”

根据资产管理机构Piper Jaffray的研究，亚马逊在高收入人群渗透率很高，年收入11.2万美元对的家庭中有82%已是Prime会员，因而开展了最新的拓展会员人群行动。这只是亚马逊称霸零售业全盘战略的一部分。对于年收入不足4.1万美元的低收入家庭，Prime的渗透率仅52%。而大部分靠政府补助收入低于2.5万美元家庭，渗透率甚至更低。正因如此亚马逊还有很高的增长潜力，而且可以将沃尔玛重要的消费人群吸引到亚马逊系统里，给沃尔玛迎头痛击。

假以时日，Prime的折扣会员价可能产生重大影响。亚马逊坚持不懈地推陈出新，其经营格局几乎超过了其他所有美国零售商。市场研究公司Slice Intelligence数据显示，2016年，亚马逊占据的网购市场份额由2012年的25%升至2016年的43%。亚马逊还有望继续增长，因为在贫困线上下徘徊的消费者中有74%都是互联网用户。

互联网的普及意味着为低收入人群提供平价配送服务变成巨大商机。折后Prime会员费用约为2017财年低保消费者平均每月所获SNAP补助的5%。成为Prime会员后，还能在音乐、视频、原创内容、相片存储和上门配送等方面享有多种优惠。Prime会让消费者难以拒绝。

此外，今年4月亚马逊推出名为Amazon Cash的新服务，让Prime会费折扣更具吸引力。Amazon Cash为缺少信用卡的低收入人群带来便利，消费者可以将现金存入亚马逊的账户，在全美一万多家实体店消费时均可使用。此项功能为扩大Prime购物范围铺平道路，也进一步刺激消费者加入亚马逊的系统。

而且，将目光转向低收入美国人可能会变成稳健的商业策略。通常情况下Prime会员购物一般更频繁，但也会推升送货成本。而以折扣会费加入的Prime会员网购没那么频密，拉低送货成本，但亚马逊还是照样收取每月的会费。另外，提供折扣会费还可能有额外的好处，可以提升亚马逊在低收入消费者心目中的形象，维持积极的公共关系。这对号称提供一流客户服务的亚马逊而言堪称锦上添花。

总之，Prime会费折扣是亚马逊挥出的又一记重拳，而且赢面极大。沃尔玛、一元店、杂货店和折扣店等实体商家都得小心了。如今的亚马逊对整个零售业界都是极大的威胁。零售商须全方位增强业务实力，方可与之一战。（财富中文网）

肯·珀金斯在行业研究机构Retail Metrics任总裁。他在本文提及的所有公司没有任何投资。

译者：Pessy

审稿：夏林

Amazon took its heated battle with Walmart to another level this week through its discounted Prime membership offering to consumers receiving U.S. government assistance.

Discounted Prime is a direct attempt to garner share in what has been a lucrative business for Walmart: low-income customers. It also counters Walmart’s recent introduction of free shipping with no fees, curbside grocery pickup, and E-commerce acquisitions. According to Morningstar, nearly $1 out of every $5 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (more widely known as “food stamps” using EBT cards) was spent at Walmart last year, amounting to roughly $13 billion. Just 21 publicly traded brick and mortar retailers generated more than $13 billion in total sales last year, according to Retail Metrics calculations.

Moreover, Amazon is tapping into a broader customer base of 43 million consumers that received $66.6 billion in annual SNAP payments. The E-commerce giant has the foresight and patience to convert many of these consumers that are in temporary need of assistance to what Amazon hopes will be lifelong Prime members. CEO Jeff Bezos has made Amazon’s intentions clear: “Our goal with Amazon Prime, make no mistake, is to make sure that if you are not a Prime member, you are being irresponsible.”

This move was prompted by Amazon’s own success penetrating upper-income consumers, with 82% of households making $112,000 a year already Prime members, according to a Piper Jaffray study. It is also simply another component of its overall strategy to dominate every segment of retail. Low-income household Prime penetration is only 52% for consumers making under $41,000 and even lower in the under $25,000 segment, where many accepting government benefits reside. This offers Amazon higher growth potential and deals a blow to Walmart by luring a key customer to Amazon’s ecosystem.

Amazon’s discounted Prime will likely make major inroads over time. Amazon is relentless, innovative, and executes at a higher level than virtually anyone in corporate America. Amazon’s share of online sales has grown from 25% in 2012 to 43% in 2016, according to Slice Intelligence. It can grow even further: Of consumers living at or below the poverty line, 74% have access to the Internet.

This presents a huge opportunity to provide an affordable delivery service to this segment of the population. The cost of discounted Prime membership is roughly 5% of the average monthly SNAP assistance a consumer received in fiscal year 2017. Layer on top of this the further advantages Prime membership offers—music and video streaming, original content, photo storage, and doorstep delivery—and it becomes a difficult proposition to decline.

Dovetailing nicely with the introduction of discounted Prime was the launch of Amazon Cash earlier this year. Amazon Cash offsets the lack of credit card ownership among the low-income population by allowing consumers to put cash into Amazon accounts at more than 10,000 physical locations throughout the U.S. This paves the way for more Prime purchases while providing further impetus to join the Amazon ecosystem.

Targeting low-income Americans could prove a solid business strategy as well. The economics of Prime are such that frequent Prime users, while purchasing more, drive up shipping costs. Discounted Prime members are likely to shop less frequently, lowering shipping expenses while Amazon still receives their monthly membership fees. Positive public relations and goodwill from lower-income consumers are additional ancillary benefits Amazon may derive from discounted Prime. This would be another feather in the cap of a company that already boasts top-level customer service ratings.

With discounted Prime, Amazon has taken the gloves off once again. It will almost certainly be successful. Walmart, dollar stores, grocers, and discounters are all on notice. Amazon presents an existential threat to the entire industry and retailers must sharpen every aspect of their business to compete.

Ken Perkins is president of Retail Metrics. He has no investments of the companies mentioned in this article.