E-commerce: Briefs Encounter
电子商务：简短的邂逅
“Direct-to-consumer” startups are upending the consumer-goods industry
“直接面对消费者”的创业公司正在颠覆消费品行业
In many ways, Tommy John, a startup based in Manhattan, resembles a tech company straight out of Silicon Valley. On its website the venture-backed firm touts its innovative materials and patented designs. When recruiting talent, it describes itself as “disruptive” and “revolutionary”. But Tommy John does not deal in computer hardware, software or any other kind of technology. It makes men’s underwear.
从很多方面看，曼哈顿的创业公司Tommy John都像是一家来自硅谷的科技公司。这家由风投支持的公司在其网站上推销着自己的创新材料和专利设计。招聘人才时，它自称是一家“颠覆性”和“革命性”的公司。但Tommy John经营的并不是电脑硬件、软件或其他技术，而是男士内衣。
Following the example of successful e-commerce brands such as Warby Parker, a glasses firm, and Casper, a mattress-maker, a growing number of startups are reimagining everyday household items – from pants and socks to toothbrushes and cookware. These “direct-to-consumer” (DTC) companies bypass conventional retailers and bring their products straight to customers via their online stores. They began several years ago to catch the attention of venture-capital (VC) firms, which have poured in more than $3bn since 2012. But the success of some DTC firms has attracted a lot of wannabes, making this a crowded market and leaving some wondering whether the boom has reached its limits.
越来越多的创业公司效仿有眼镜公司Warby Parker和床垫制造商Casper等成功电商品牌，它们正重新定义日常生活用品，例如裤子、袜子、牙刷、厨具等等。这些“直接面对消费者”（direct-to-consumer，DTC）的公司绕过传统零售商，通过网店直接把产品卖给消费者。它们在几年前起步，力图吸引风投公司的注意。自2012年起，注入这类公司的风投已超过30亿美元。但一些DTC公司的成功吸引了很多效仿者，令该市场变得非常拥挤，也让一些人怀疑这种繁荣是否已达到了极限。
The DTC business model first emerged in product areas dominated by slow-moving incumbents with hefty profit margins, such as spectacles and razor blades. In 2010 Gillette, the world’s largest razor-blade-maker, enjoyed 70% of the American market and gross margins as high as 60%. Since then, Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s, two subscription services that sell blades at a fraction of the price of big brands, have amassed more than 5m customers. Gillette’s market share has fallen to 54%.
DTC商业模式最初出现在由行动迟缓、利润极高的老牌企业主导的产品领域，比如眼镜和剃须刀片。2010年，全球最大的剃须刀片制造商吉列占据美国市场70%的份额，毛利润高达60%。在这之后，两大订购服务商Dollar Shave Club和Harry’s以相当于大品牌售价很小一部分的价格销售刀片，已经积累了五百多万用户。吉列的市场份额已降至54%。
Hubble Contacts, founded in 2016, wants to do the same to the $8bn contact-lens industry, which is dominated by giants such as Johnson & Johnson and Bausch + Lomb. Lenses are well-suited to the DTC model, being a commoditised product that customers purchase on a regular basis, says Jesse Horwitz, one of Hubble’s founders. The startup is on track to generate $20m in sales in 2017 and has attracted money from several VC firms.
成立于2016年的哈勃隐形眼镜公司（Hubble Contacts）想在价值80亿美元的隐形眼镜行业做出同样的成绩，该行业由强生和博士伦等巨头主导。哈勃的创始人之一杰西·霍维茨（Jesse Horwitz）说，隐形眼镜是一种客户会定期购买的日用品，因而很适合DTC模式。这家创业公司2017年的营业额可能将达到2000万美元，并且已获得多家风投公司的投资。
Startups that cannot undercut incumbents on price must differentiate themselves in other ways. Casper won over many shoppers by getting rid of the worst bits of the bed-buying process, including choosing among dozens of similar products and haggling with pushy salesmen. Allbirds, a two-year-old San Francisco-based firm that makes all-wool trainers, has tweaked the design of its shoes 27 times based on feedback from customers.
那些无法以低价与传统企业竞争的创业公司必须用其他方式实现差异化。Casper消除了买床的过程中最糟糕的部分，比如在数十种类似的产品中挑选、与咄咄逼人的推销员讨价还价，以此赢得了许多购物者的青睐。旧金山一家成立了两年的公司Allbirds生产纯羊毛运动鞋，公司根据客户的反馈，对鞋的设计做了27次调整。
Investors say branding and marketing are crucial if DTC startups are to make it. Sophie Bakalar of Collaborative Fund, a VC firm, says that brand is the first thing her team looks for in a consumer startup. Suitcases made by Away, a firm founded by two Warby Parker alumnae, have been featured in Vogue and endorsed by celebrities such as Karlie Kloss, a supermodel. But most customers learn about the brand on social media, where globe-trotting millennials share images of their bags, artfully displayed on hotel-room beds or rolling in front of iconic landmarks. Away’s social-media team collects and redistributes these posts on its Instagram account, which boasts 140,000 followers. This year the firm expects to generate$50m in sales.
投资者表示，DTC创业公司要获得成功，打造品牌和营销至关重要。风投公司Collaborative Fund的苏菲·巴喀勒（Sophie Bakalar）说，她的团队对消费品创业公司期望的第一样东西就是品牌。从Warby Parker离职的两位员工创立了行李箱公司Away，他们的产品登上了《Vogue》，超模卡莉·克劳斯（Karlie Kloss）等名人也为其做了宣传。但大多数客户是通过社交媒体了解这个品牌的。环游世界的千禧一代将自己箱包的照片发布在社交媒体上，在照片中，他们或是将行李箱精心地摆放在酒店房间的床上，或是拖着箱子经过各地标志性的景观。Away的社交媒体团队收集这些帖子，并用公司的Instagram账号（目前有14万粉丝）重新发布。这家公司今年的销售额预计将达到5000万美元。
For all the buzz surrounding such online brands, they face high hurdles. Investors worry about a glut of startups, which makes it difficult to stand out. “The challenge is rising above the noise,” says Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures, an early investor in companies like Bonobos, a clothing retailer. Some DTC firms insist on focusing on a single item in the bedroom, kitchen or bathroom, when they would do better to offer a stable of products.
虽然这些在线品牌备受追捧，但它们也面临很大的困难。投资者担心创业公司过多，很难脱颖而出。Forerunner Ventures的克斯汀·格林（Kirsten Green）说：“挑战在于如何突出重围。”这家公司是服装零售商Bonobos等公司的早期投资者。一些DTC公司坚持专注于卧室、厨房或浴室中的某件用品上，然而如果它们选择提供更多种类的产品，也许会发展得更好。
Moreover, the giants of consumer goods and retailing, initially slow to respond to competition from these upstarts, have wised up. They are reacting in two ways. The first is to make it easier to buy their goods, both by expanding their own DTC distribution, as Procter & Gamble (which owns Gillette) does, and by working more closely with Amazon.
而且，消费品和零售业巨头一开始还对来自新兴企业的竞争反应迟缓，但现在已认清了现状。它们的应对方式有两种。一种是让消费者更容易买到自己的产品，具体方法就是像宝洁（旗下拥有吉列公司）那样拓展自己的DTC分销渠道，以及与亚马逊更紧密地合作。
That may not be good news for the startups, but the big firms’ second tactic is what the founders of every new DTC firm, and their VC backers, dream of: spending big to acquire young rivals. Unilever, for instance, paid $1bn for Dollar Shave Club in 2016; Walmart spent $310m to acquire Bonobos in June; and this week P&G said it was buying Native, a DTC deodorant brand, for an undisclosed sum.
这对创业公司来说可能不是好消息，但大公司的第二种策略却是所有DTC新公司及其风险投资人都梦寐以求的：花大价钱买下年轻对手。比如，2016年联合利华以10亿美元收购了Dollar Shave Club；沃尔玛今年6月斥资3.1亿美元收购了Bonobos；11月宝洁称正在收购DTC香体露品牌Native，具体金额未披露。
This spending spree explains why optimism still abounds, even as more startups jostle to carve out a niche. The consumer-goods business remains gripped by a “DTC revolution”, says Emily Heyward of Red Antler, a branding agency. A comforting thought for buyers of briefs.
这一收购热潮解释了为什么你推我搡、争相闯出一片天地的创业公司越来越多，乐观情绪却依然盛行。品牌设计公司Red Antler的艾米丽·海沃德（Emily Heyward）说，消费品行业仍然深受“DTC革命”的影响。对内裤买家来说，这颇令人宽慰。
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