聯手阿里,星巴克開始在中國送外賣了

SHANGHAI — For years, Starbucks was the undisputed king of coffee in China.

上海——多年來，星巴克在中國一直是無可爭議的咖啡之王。

It single-handedly created a market of coffee drinkers in a nation of tea lovers, cashing in on a wave of affluent Chinese who looked to Starbucks as an aspirational brand. The country quickly became the coffee chain’s second-largest market after the United States.

在一個茶葉愛好者的國度，它一手打造了一個咖啡飲用者市場，從一大波富裕的中國人身上賺錢，他們視星巴克爲一個“理想品牌”。中國迅速成爲這家咖啡連鎖企業僅次於美國的第二大市場。

But Starbucks’s dominance in China is increasingly under attack, as growth begins to slow and competitors aggressively target coffee drinkers. Starbucks executives have come under scrutiny for being slow to adapt to technological shifts and retail trends in the country, namely delivery.

但是，隨着中國經濟增長開始放緩，乃至競爭對手竭力瞄準咖啡飲用者，星巴克在中國的主導地位日益受到衝擊。星巴克的高管們因爲對中國的技術變化和零售趨勢——也就是送貨上門——的適應過於緩慢而受到審視。

On Thursday, in a bid to revitalize its China operation, the company announced what it called a strategic “new retail” partnership with the Chinese tech giant Alibaba.

週四，爲振興中國業務，該公司宣佈與中國科技巨頭阿里巴巴建立所謂的“新零售”戰略合作關係。

The partnership will allow Starbucks to pilot delivery services next month with an Alibaba subsidiary, , and establish what it called delivery kitchens in Alibaba’s Hema supermarkets.

這一合作伙伴關係將令星巴克從下個月開始與阿里巴巴的子公司餓了麼合作，試行外送服務，並在阿里巴巴的盒馬鮮生建立“外送星廚”。

Starbucks will also integrate across Alibaba’s platforms to create a virtual Starbucks store so Chinese customers can have more personalized experiences, the two companies said.

兩家公司表示，星巴克還將整合阿里巴巴的各種平臺，創建一個虛擬的星巴克店，讓中國消費者可以獲得更多的個性化體驗。

“This is rocket fuel for our digital flywheel strategy in China,” Kevin Johnson, the chief executive of Starbucks, said Thursday at a news briefing in Shanghai.

“這是我們在中國的數字飛輪戰略的火箭燃料，”星巴克首席執行官凱文·約翰遜(Kevin Johnson)於週四在上海舉行的新聞發佈會上表示。

China is one of Starbucks’s most important markets, especially as the company’s domestic one cools. It has raised prices to offset decreasing foot traffic into United States stores. And last week, Starbucks lowered its growth projections for the year.

中國是星巴克最重要的市場之一，尤其是當該公司的國內市場降溫之際。它提高了價格，以抵消美國店內客流量減少。上週，星巴克降低了今年的增長預測。

But the company has also recently seen sales in China drop. Same-store sales in the most recent quarter fell by 2 percent, after increases in the previous two quarters.

但該公司最近也發現中國的銷售額出現下降。在前兩個季度的增長之後，最近一個季度的同店銷售額下降了2%。

For Starbucks, analysts say the “new retail” is partly an attempt to fend off competition from Luckin Coffee, a Chinese start-up. The company, which was started in Beijing in January with two stores, has since opened more than 800 branches in 13 cities around the country. Its co-founder Guo Jinyi has been vocal about the company’s ambitions to surpass Starbucks.

分析師表示，對於星巴克而言，“新零售”部分是爲了抵禦來自中國初創公司瑞幸咖啡(Luckin Coffee)的競爭。該公司於1月份在北京開設了兩家門店，此後在全國13個城市開設了800多家分店。它的聯合創始人郭謹一曾經直言不諱地聲稱，該公司有超越星巴克的雄心壯志。

Starbucks has long been criticized as slow to adapt to digital trends in China; it came to mobile payments later than other brands and is starting delivery only now. “At Starbucks, we feel that we need to earn our right to do delivery right,” said Belinda Wong, the chief executive of Starbucks’s China operation.

長期以來，星巴克一直被批評對中國的數字化趨勢適應緩慢；它比其他品牌更晚使用移動支付，而且直到現在纔開始外送。“但星巴克希望能把這項服務做到最好，”星巴克中國首席執行官王靜瑛表示。

Perhaps no phenomenon has created as much buzz for transforming the consumer experience in China than “new retail.” From Alibaba to , e-commerce companies are encouraging consumers to merge their offline and online shopping experiences by visiting brick-and-mortar stores but placing their orders online and finding out more information about their products through their smartphones.

也許在中國，“新零售”比任何現象都更能在改變消費者體驗方面引發轟動。從阿里巴巴到京東，電子商務公司正在鼓勵消費者參觀實體店，但在網上下單，並通過智能手機查找有關其產品的更多信息，從而將他們的線下和線上購物體驗結合起來。

Jeffrey Towson, a private-equity investor and a professor of investment at Peking University who has been vocal about Starbucks’s failure to be nimble in adopting digital strategies, said Thursday’s announcement could help Starbucks move beyond its traditional reliance on brick-and-mortar transactions.

私募股權投資者與北京大學的投資教授陶迅(Jeffrey Towson)一直稱星巴克未能靈活採用數字戰略，他表示，週四宣佈的消息可能有助於星巴克超越其對實體店交易的傳統依賴。

He added, “This is really bad news for Luckin Coffee.”

他還說，“這對瑞幸咖啡來說真是個壞消息。”

Luckin is positioning itself as a mass-market alternative to Starbucks so it can win over customers willing to pay $3.50 for a latte — 20 percent below what Starbucks charges. It offers customers discounts if they order more and is giving them half off food orders for the next five months. Customers can also choose whether they want to pick up their coffees at a store or have them delivered in 30 minutes.

瑞幸將自己定位爲星巴克的大衆市場替代品，因此可以贏得願爲一杯拿鐵咖啡支付3.50美元（約合24元）的消費者——比星巴克的價格低20%。它還會爲訂購更多的消費者提供折扣，並在接下來的五個月內爲他們提供半價的食品訂單。消費者還可以選擇是否在店內自提咖啡或在30分鐘內外送。

It is still too soon to say whether Luckin will succeed in a country rife with start-ups that burn through cash and go bankrupt overnight. And it can be hard to compete in the long run against the scale of a brand like Starbucks.

在一個充斥着大量資金耗盡、一夜破產的初創企業的國家，現在談論瑞幸是否會成功還爲時尚早。從長遠來看，與星巴克這樣規模的品牌競爭可能很難。

Mr. Guo, Luckin’s co-founder, pointed out that Starbucks is not dominant in countries like Canada, where there is Tim Hortons, and Britain, which is dominated by Costa Coffee.

瑞幸的聯合創始人郭謹一指出，星巴克在加拿大這樣的國家並不佔支配地位，那裏有蒂姆·霍頓斯(Tim Hortons)和英國咖啡(Britain)，後者由咖世家(Costa Coffee)所有。

“Each place has its own local brand, and these local brands are now the leaders,” Mr. Guo said. “I believe that in China, anything can happen in a place that is so conducive for innovation and entrepreneurship.”

“每個地方都有自己的本土品牌，而且本土品牌都做到了第一，”郭謹一說。“而我相信在中國這樣什麼事情都可能發生的地方，一個創新創業的很好的地方，什麼都可能發生。”

In May, Luckin sued Starbucks, arguing that the American chain had signed exclusive contracts with commercial property owners that barred other coffee shops from entering the space if a Starbucks was already there.

今年5月，瑞幸起訴星巴克，稱這家美國連鎖企業同多家商業地產所有者簽訂了獨家合同，如果星巴克已經在那裏開設門店，就禁止其他咖啡店進入該地區。

It’s not going to be easy to oust Starbucks, which has 3,400 stores in more than 140 cities in China and plans to nearly double that by 2022.

要打敗星巴克並不容易，星巴克在中國140多個城市擁有3400家門店，並計劃在2022年前將這一數字翻番。

Ben Cavender, senior analyst of China Market Research, a consultancy based in Shanghai, estimates that Starbucks has a 70 percent share of the market, blazing past coffee chains like McDonald’s McCafe and Costa Coffee. But the company must prove it can stay on the cutting edge.

據總部位於上海的諮詢公司中國市場研究(China Market Research)的資深分析師本·卡文德(Ben Cavender)估計，星巴克佔有70%的市場份額，遠遠超過麥當勞的麥咖啡(McCafe)和咖世家等咖啡連鎖店。但該公司必須證明它能夠保持領先地位。

“The challenge is that consumers are much pickier about the experience they get now; they have other good options that have standardized quality and potentially a more interesting environment,” Mr. Cavender said. “So Starbucks has to do a better job. It’s not a clear win anymore.”

“挑戰在於，如今的消費者對他們所獲得的體驗更加挑剔；他們有其他很好的選擇，它們都具有標準化的質量，還有可能擁有更有趣的環境，”卡文德說。“所以星巴克必須做得更好。現在已經不是可以輕鬆取勝的時候了。”

Mr. Johnson said that Starbucks began discussing teaming up with Alibaba about a year ago.

約翰遜說，大約一年前，星巴克開始討論與阿里巴巴合作。

When asked about the competition posed by Luckin, Mr. Johnson said, “I think certainly as people look at the market opportunity in China as it relates to coffee, we expect there will continue to be more competition.”

當被問及瑞幸構成的競爭時，約翰遜說：“我確實認爲，當人們開始關注中國與咖啡相關的市場機會時，我們預計還將繼續出現更多的競爭。”

What Starbucks has going for it is a large following, especially in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. On Tuesday, as the summer sun bore down on the trendy Sanlitun neighborhood of Beijing, customers lined up for coffees. Wang Qi, 25, who works in media, said she preferred Starbucks to Luckin because of the environment.

星巴克追求的是大批擁躉，特別是在北京和上海等大城市。週二，當夏日的陽光照射在北京時尚的三里屯社區時，買咖啡的顧客排起了長隊。25歲的王琦在媒體工作，她表示，由於環境因素，她喜歡星巴克勝於瑞幸。

“You can sit down and have a proper cup of coffee,” Ms. Wang said.

“可以好好坐着喝，”王琦說。

Zhao Ting, who is also 25 and works in media, said, “Everyone trusts this brand.”

同樣是25歲、在媒體工作的趙婷說：“大家都信任這個品牌。”

But not everyone has remained loyal. Wang Shanshan, a 35-year-old who drinks coffee once or twice a week, said she had switched to Luckin because she thought its coffee tasted better than Starbucks’. Plus, there are the discounts.

但不是每個人都保持着忠誠。35歲的王珊珊每週喝一兩次咖啡，她說她已經轉投瑞幸，因爲她覺得那裏的咖啡味道比星巴克好。另外，還有折扣。

“They are giving one free if you buy two, five free if you buy five,” Ms. Wang said. “I think it’s pretty good.”

“他們會買二贈一，買五贈五。蠻好的，”王珊珊說。