塔吉特如何在零售业一枝独秀？

零售业低迷？塔吉特可没有。

塔吉特在上周三发布的第一季度的一系列数据说明，如果哪家零售商现在业绩不佳，只能怪自己。塔吉特继续保持了假日旺季的强劲势头，截至5月4日，本季度可比销售额增长4.8％，部分原因是线上销售猛增42％。这个数字轻松击败了在上周早些时候公布业绩的科尔氏（Kohl’s，下跌3.4％）和彭尼公司（J.C. Penney，下跌5.5％），甚至连沃尔玛在两周前公布的强劲数据（增长3.4％）都落了下风。

塔吉特是如何做到的？改造商店以提供电商服务和订单提取服务，同时改善店面展示，为客户提供他们真正想要而且不能从其他地方买到的商品，其中大部分商品都来自于塔吉特的自有品牌。这家折扣连锁店的种种努力正在从同行手中抢占市场份额，大量竞争对手证明了自己无法充分利用近年来最好的消费环境。塔吉特的收益不仅仅来自于线上商铺：线下店铺客流量增长了4.3％，这说明了塔吉特的线下和线上店铺互惠互利，两种渠道相互促进彼此的业务增长。

Retail doldrums? Not at Target.

Target on last Wednesday released a set of first-quarter numbers that prove that any retailer faltering now has no one to blame but itself. Continuing off the strong momentum of its holiday season, Target said comparable sales rose 4.8% in the quarter ended May 4, fueled in part by a digital sales surge of 42%. That easily beats the flagging numbers posted earlier last week by Kohl’s, J.C. Penney (down 5.5%), and even that of Walmart’s strong numbers (a 3.4% increase) reported two weeks ago.

How is Target doing it? By remodeling its stores, equipping them for e-commerce and order pick-up, while improving their presentation, and offering customers merchandise they want and can’t get elsewhere, most specifically from its own store brands. The discount chain’s efforts are helping it win market share from its many competitors that have proven unable to capitalize on the best consumer spending environment in years. The gains have not only been online: store visits were up 4.3%, showing Target’s symbiosis between stores and e-commerce where both avenues feed business to each other.

“我们现在看到的是赢家和输家的分歧。”塔吉特的首席执行官布莱恩·康奈尔在媒体电话会中告诉记者，他指的是连续八个季度的增长。就在两年前，塔吉特公布了一项价值70亿美元的计划，期望在数年内彻底检修老旧店铺，提升公司滞后的电商业务，实现供应链现代化，这个计划让华尔街心痛不已。但现在，市场感到塔吉特已经弄明白了如何在亚马逊领导的零售新世界实现繁荣发展——当然是和许多其他零售商相比，因此，公司股价在财报发布后上涨了9％。

塔吉特成功的一大关键因素是旗下的新品牌广受欢迎，包括女装品牌A New Day、电子配件Heyday、家居装饰Opalhouse，以及设计师合作系列——例如和Vineyard Vines合作发行的新产品。这些大热品牌成为购物者选择塔吉特而非其他连锁店的理由。几年前，儿童服装品牌Cat＆Jack只用了一年就成为了价值20亿美元的品牌。与此同时，儿童服饰界昔日的王者Penney却衰落了。

塔吉特第一季度利润增长了11％至7.95亿美元，每股1.53美元，去年同期为7.18亿美元，每股1.33美元。总销售额攀升5.1％至174亿美元。第二季度，塔吉特可比销售额预计将实现中低个位数增长。

康奈尔担任该公司首席执行官的时间将满五年，他表示，塔吉特之所以能够成功，因为它专注于最擅长的事情，而不是模仿竞争对手。的确如此，过去两年里，沃尔玛东山再起，塔吉特因为在电商领域落后于对手，因为特色产品不够多而听到了一些批评的声音。

“我们不想学其他公司。”他告诉华尔街分析师，“在塔吉特，当我们沿着自己的道路前进而非追逐别人的时候，才能表现得最好。”（财富中文网）

译者：Agatha

“What we’re seeing right now is the bifurcation of winners and losers,” Target CEO Brian Cornell told reporters on a media call, pointing to eight straight quarters of growth. It was only two years ago that Target gave Wall Street heartburn by announcing a $7 billion, multi-year plan to overhaul what were dated stores, ramp up its lagging e-commerce, and modernize its supply chain. But now, the sense that Target has figured out how to thrive in this new Amazon-led world—certainly compared to many other retailers—has led its shares to rise 9% after its results.

A key ingredient in its success has been the wild popularity of its new house brands, including A New Day for women’s clothing, Heyday for electronics accessories, Opalhouse for home decor, as well as designer collaborations such as its new line with Vineyard Vines. These hits have given shoppers a reason to choose Target over other chains. A couple of years ago, it only took children’s wear brand Cat & Jack a year to become a $2 billion brand. Meanwhile, Penney, once a must-visit destination for kids’ clothes, has withered.

Target’s first-quarter profit rose 11% to $795 million, or $1.53 a share, compared with $718 million, or $1.33 a share, for the same quarter a year ago. Total sales climbed 5.1% to $17.4 billion. In the second quarter, the discount chain forecast a low-to-mid-single-digit increase in comparable sales.

Cornell, nearing his fifth anniversary as CEO, said Target’s success has come from focusing on what it does best, rather than mimicking rivals. Indeed, in the last two years, as Walmart staged its own comeback, Target came in for some criticism for being behind on e-commerce and not having enough distinctive grocery offerings.

“We’re not trying to be like everyone else,” he told Wall Street analysts. “At Target, we perform best when we’re pursuing our own path, not when we’re chasing someone else.”