亚马逊时代的零售竞争之道

    销售差异化的产品

    亚马逊卖的东西很多都是“硬货”，比如多媒体、电子、家电、玩具、园艺产品等。大多数畅销的“硬货”都是由大型制造商生产的，通过多种零售渠道进行广泛推广。根据标准的通用产品代码（如U.P.C.）的定义，它们本质上都是商品。一个例子就是佳能（Canon）的数码相机，一旦佳能的数码相机广告让你心动了，你知道你差不多在任何地方都能买到这样一台相机。而且对于大多数商品来说，最关键的差异点就是价格。消费者们知道，亚马逊几乎总能搞到最低价，货运还是免费的，而且速度很快。

    因此，许多零售商尝试“放开大路，占领两厢”，在亚马逊的主宰力较弱的领域进行销售。“软货”就是一个选择。虽然亚马逊也想搞好这项业务，但目前它在这个领域还没有达到它在“硬货”领域的主宰程度。比如像被亚马逊收购之前的NastyGal（主打时尚前卫小清新风格的服饰网站）和Zappos（美国知名卖鞋网站），以及实体商场诺德斯特龙（Nordstrom）和奢华时尚精品店Neiman Marcus等都成功地实施了“软货”战略，并且成功地在与亚马逊的竞争中存活了下来。家居零售商在这个领域也有机会，比如有些产品是“我今天就需要的”，再比如一些不太适合网购的沉重的大块头商品。

    还有一个相关的策略，就是主打一般在亚马逊上很少能见到或很少能搜索到的产品。比如霍洛维茨基金有两笔投资就是给了两家这样的公司，他们主要销售一些在全国没有普遍销售渠道的设计公司的产品。比如Zulily主要做母婴产品，而Fab则主打创意类小商品。这些设计师的知名度一般不高，所以用户在亚马逊上搜索时一般找不到这些产品。

    开发自有产品

    许多零售商通过直接开发自己的产品与亚马逊竞争。由于这些产品是零售商专有的，因而一般可以避免直接的比价，同时生产这些产品的公司也可以选择禁止其它电商去销售它们。不少优秀的线下连锁企业都采用了这个战略，包括露露柠檬（Lululemon）和维多利亚的秘密（Victoria's Secret）等知名品牌。其它一些网商也采取了这个策略，比如做珠宝的Chloe & Isabel、做化妆品的Julep、做女鞋的ShoeDazzle、做办公用品的Poppin等。（注：霍洛维茨基金也是Julep和ShoeDazzle的投资方。）

    尽管设计和开发自己的产品显然要耗费更多的精力，但是这样做的零售商们一般都会获得更高的毛利润，因为他们毕竟免去了中间环节的费用，同时也避免了硬碰硬的价格战。

    换种方式卖产品

    从核心上说，亚马逊网站是一个产品的搜索引擎。消费者确切地知道他们想买的是什么的时候，亚马逊可以说是最强大的，许多消费者也都在使用亚马逊的搜索框。在亚马逊上卖东西差不多完全靠算法的规则 ，比如“搜索‘甲’的时候同时考虑一下‘乙’和‘丙’”。很少有人用传统的推销语义在亚马逊上浏览产品。

    有不少公司正在打造出色的浏览体验，借助非常有吸引力的展示方法，向消费者展示一系列定向的精选产品，借此来与亚马逊进行竞争。许多线下零售商也通过漂亮的展示橱窗和展示柜来吸引顾客。现在有一批新型网商也在用这种法子，不过他们的做法通常被称为“策划展览”。消费者进行此类冲动消费时，价格通常不是他们首先考虑的因素。

    Sell differentiated products

    Amazon's sales skew heavily towards "hard-lines," things like media, electronics, home and garden, and toys. Most best-selling hard-line products are produced by large manufacturers that market them heavily and distribute them broadly through multiple retail channels. They are essentially commodities, identified by a standardized Universal Product Code (aka, U.P.C.). An example is a Canon digital camera; once Canon's ads convince you that you might want a Canon camera, you know you can shop for it pretty much anywhere. And for most commodities, price is the key differentiator. Consumers know that Amazon almost always has the lowest prices, along with free and fast shipping.

    Many retailers try to "hit 'em where they ain't" and sell in categories where Amazon is less dominant. Soft-line is one choice. While Amazon is trying to build up this business, they have not achieved anywhere near the dominance that they have on the hard-line side. Online companies like NastyGal and Zappos (before their acquisition by Amazon) and offline companies like Nordstrom (JWN) and Neiman Marcus have successfully pursued soft-line strategies and have managed to weather competition from Amazon. Home improvement retailers also have a shot, as products that "I need today" or bulky, heavy items are less suited to online distribution.

    A related strategy is to feature products from companies that typically are not distributed or searched for on Amazon. a16z has two investments in companies that primarily sell goods from design firms that lack extensive national distribution. Zulily does this in kids' and moms' apparel, and Fab does this in design. These designers lack broad awareness, so users do not typically find these products when searching on Amazon.

    Develop your own products

    Many retailers compete with Amazon by developing their own products. These products can be largely insulated from direct price comparison as they are proprietary and the producing company can elect not to have them sold by other online retailers. A number of the best performing offline chains pursue this strategy, including Lululemon (LULU) and Victoria's Secret. Online retailers like Chloe & Isabel in jewelry, Julep in cosmetics, ShoeDazzle in women's shoes, and Poppin in office goods are pursuing this strategy as well (note: Andreessen Horowitz is an investor in Julep and ShoeDazzle).

    While it's clearly much more work to design and source your own products, retailers that do are often rewarded with higher gross margins as they both cut out expensive middlemen and avoid head-to-head price competition.

    Merchandise product differently

    Amazon.com, at its core, is a search engine for products. They are strongest when consumers know pretty much exactly what they are looking for, and many consumers use Amazon's ubiquitous search box. Merchandising on Amazon is almost completely algorithmic -- things like "others searching for 'x' also looked at 'y' and 'z.'" I know of very few folks who browse Amazon in the traditional merchandising sense of the word.

    A number of companies are trying to compete with Amazon by building a great browse experience, showing consumers a targeted assortment of attractively displayed products. Offline retailers have done this through beautiful window displays and in-store end caps. And a new breed of online merchants is doing this, too, although it's often referred to as "curation." Price is not typically top of mind when consumers make these impulse purchases.