Lex专栏 被宠坏的中国超市顾客

In a modern supermarket the problem is often an excess of choice, not a shortage. In China, the consumer is spoilt for choice among retailers themselves. The promise of a $640bn grocery market, which Euromonitor thinks will grow by a quarter over the next five years, has vendors lining up.

在现代化超市里，问题往往在于选择太多而不是商品短缺。在中国，对零售商本身的选择就已把消费者宠坏了。6400亿美元食品市场的诱人前景令销售商排起了长队。而按照欧睿(Euromonitor)的预测，今后五年期间该市场规模还将增长四分之一。

The future may be bright. The present is a nasty fight in which local and foreign retailers are suffering. This week, China Resources Enterprise announced that it will sell its non-beer businesses back to its state-owned parent, China Resources Holdings. Retail and the associated property make up two-thirds of revenues outside of beer. This looks like an admission of defeat. Just last year, CRE consolidated Tesco’s Chinese supermarket business, forming a joint venture in which the UK food retailer still owns one-fifth (a stake it recently partly wrote down). The combined entity is the market leader, with share of just 3 per cent, according to Euromonitor. Still, the venture’s performance was weak enough to drag down CRE’s subsequent results.

前景或许是光明的。然而眼下本土和外国零售商正处于痛苦的激烈竞争之中。就在本周，华润创业(China Resources Enterprise)宣布将把其非啤酒业务卖给其国有母公司华润控股(China Resources Holdings)。在啤酒业务以外，零售业务及与之相关的物业占了华润创业营收的三分之二。该公司此举似乎是在零售业认输。就在去年，华润创业还曾整合乐购(Tesco)的中国超市业务，组建了一家合资企业。合并后这家英国食品零售商仍然持有该合资企业五分之一的股份（最近乐购对其所持股份进行了部分减记）。根据欧睿的数据，合并后的实体虽然是市场领军企业，却也只有3%的市场份额。话虽如此，该合资企业的疲弱业绩仍拖累了华润创业后来的业绩。

Carrefour, in China for two decades, has also struggled. The country’s contribution to the company’s top line has doubled from 3 to 6 per cent over the past eight years. Still, last year the French food retailer had its first year-on-year drop (2 per cent) in Chinese revenues since at least 2008. Organic sales fell 6 per cent. In the first quarter this year, the trend worsened, like-for-like sales dropping 13 per cent in an environment the company described as “frugal”.

进入中国市场已有20年的家乐福(Carrefour)也处境艰难。在过去8年里，中国对家乐福总营收的贡献比例已经从3%增长一倍至6%。然而，去年这家法国食品零售商遭遇了至少自2008年以来的首次在华营收同比下滑（跌幅为2%）。其中有机销售额下滑了6%。今年第一季度，这一趋势进一步恶化，同店销售额下滑13%。家乐福称，当前中国处于一种“节俭”的大环境。

The situation is unlikely to improve. Tesco may have bowed out, but the remaining players are expanding. Euromonitor forecasts that over the next five years supermarkets will increase their number of outlets by a third. Meanwhile, internet operators such as Alibaba and are facilitating the delivery of fresh products from New Zealand milk to American cherries. The retail environment is spoiling.

局面不太可能出现改善。乐购也许已经告退，其余商家却在扩张之中。据欧睿预测，今后五年中国超市的门店数目将增加三分之一。与此同时，从新西兰牛奶到美国樱桃，阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和京东()等互联网运营商也在推出新鲜农产品递送服务。零售环境正在宠坏消费者。