從中國到美國 高福瀾能挽回沃爾瑪的銷售頹勢嗎？

On Thursday, Wal-Mart seemed to be playing the part of a losing sports team looking to turn things around by ousting the head coach. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant announced that it had hired a new chief executive to oversee its struggling U.S. stores.

上週四的沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）看起來就像是一支輸了比賽的球隊：希望通過解僱總教練來扭轉局面。這家總部位於阿肯色州本頓維爾的零售巨頭宣佈，已聘請一位新高管來執掌陷於困境的美國零售業務。

Greg Foran, the current CEO of Walmart China, will take over Walmart U.S. for Bill Simon, who has held the position since 2010 and will be leaving the company. The moves comes nearly six months after Doug McMillon took over for a retiring Mike Duke as CEO of all of Wal-Mart.

沃爾瑪現任中國業務CEO高福瀾（Greg Foran）正是這位人選，他將接替比爾o西蒙掌管沃爾瑪美國業務。自2010年以來一直擔任沃爾瑪美國CEO的西蒙將離開這家公司。就在近6個月前，董明倫（Doug McMillon）剛剛接替退休的麥道克（Mike Duke）出任沃爾瑪全球CEO。

In many ways, you can think of Simon’s departure as a natural reaction from someone who has been passed over for the company’s top job. “We had considered Simon as a potential candidate to replace Walmart’s former CEO, Mike Duke, but Doug McMillon was given the nod over Simon,” according to a note from investor research firm Morningstar. “We aren’t completely surprised by Simon’s departure.”

從很多角度，你可以認爲，西蒙的離開是一個未能問鼎公司最高職位者的自然反應。“我們曾經將西蒙列爲接替沃爾瑪前CEO麥道克的潛在人選，但最終董明倫勝出。”晨星（Morningstar）的一份研究報告稱，“對於西蒙的離職，我們一點也不感到驚訝。”

Financial services firm Cowen and Company in its own release said that it was “surprised that [Simon] stuck around for so long, as we thought he would want to start the clock on his 2-year non-compete as quickly as possible.”

金融服務公司Cowen and Company在新聞稿中表示，“[西蒙]呆了這麼久令人意外，我們原本以爲他會盡快離職，儘早啓動2年內不得服務於競爭對手的倒計時。”

Walmart Vice President of Communications David Tovar confirmed as much to Fortune. “Doug and Bill were two internal candidates for the top job. Doug got the job and, in those situations, it’s not uncommon for the person who didn’t get it to ultimately leave the company and go somewhere else.”

沃爾瑪企業傳播副總裁大衛o託瓦爾也向《財富》（Fortune）雜誌證實稱，“董明倫和西蒙是兩位來自公司內部的CEO候選人。最終董明倫得到了這個職位。在此類情形下，未成功問鼎者最終離職他就的情況並不少見。”

Wal-Mart, in its statement announcing the management change, praised Simon for leading a “turnaround that reinvigorated the company’s focus on everyday low costs, everyday low prices and an increased product assortment,” in his time as U.S. CEO.

沃爾瑪在宣佈管理層變更的聲明中，稱讚西蒙在擔任美國業務CEO期間“爲公司注入了新的活力，專注於每日低成本、每日低價和增加產品種類。”

Simon introduced the retail giant’s $4 prescriptions, increased its focus on healthier foods, and led a successful makeover of its apparel department by shifting to more athletically inspired gear, says Faye Landes of Cowen and Company.

Cowen and Company的法耶o蘭蒂斯表示，西蒙推出了沃爾瑪的4美元處方藥，加大了對健康食品的關注，並通過增加運動裝備成功重塑了服裝部門。

But Simon’s track record at Wal-Mart has also been marred by struggling U.S. sales. “We know that our U.S. business is critical to the success of our company and that it can be even stronger,” McMillon said in a letter to Wal-Mart employees on Thursday. “[Foran] will bring fresh eyes to an increasingly competitive market that is changing rapidly.”

但西蒙在沃爾瑪的業績也受到美國零售業整體不景氣的影響。“我們知道，美國業務對於公司的成功至關重要，它可以變得更強，”董明倫在上週四發給沃爾瑪員工的信中表示。“[高福瀾]將爲瞬息萬變、競爭日益激烈的市場帶來新視角。”

That’s a nice way of putting it.

這樣的陳述很是委婉。

Foran faces a daunting challenge. The company’s latest quarterly earnings revealed the fifth straight decline in U.S. sales, which factored into the retailer’s 5% drop in profits for the quarter ending April 30.

高福瀾面臨的其實是非常棘手的挑戰。沃爾瑪最近的季度報告顯示，公司美國銷售額連續第5個季度下滑，截至4月30日的季度利潤下降了5%。

Competition from online retailers like and evolving shopping patterns among Americans—who are now making more frequent trips to dollar and drug stores—are partly to blame for the slumping sales. Tovar, Wal-Mart’s spokesman, told Fortune on Thursday, that Foran will continue the store’s ongoing strategy to address those concerns: opening smaller, 10,000 to 40,000 square-foot stores like Walmart Express and Neighborhood Markets and further embracing e-commerce.

來自亞馬遜（）等網絡零售商的競爭以及購物模式的轉變（美國人正在更加頻繁地光顧1元店和藥店），都造成了零售額的下降。沃爾瑪發言人託瓦爾上週四告訴《財富》雜誌稱，高福瀾將繼續實施現有策略來應對這些挑戰：開設沃爾瑪便利店（Walmart Express）和社區店（Neighborhood Markets）等規模較小的超市（面積1-4萬平方英尺），進一步擁抱電子商務。

Burt Flickinger, a retail consultant at Strategic Resource Group, for his part, attributed Wal-Mart’s poor U.S. performance in the past several quarters to “self-sabotage,” mainly its decision to cut worker hours and its well-publicized refusal to significantly raise workers wages—two big reasons why Flinckinger says Wal-Mart’s stores are increasingly sloppy and sparsely stocked. (Last year, Wal-Mart launched a program aimed at giving workers more access to open shifts.)

Strategic Resource Group的零售業顧問波特o弗裏金格，將沃爾瑪美國業務過去幾個季度的表現疲弱歸咎於“自毀前程”，主要是指該公司決定縮減工作時間以及其廣爲人知的拒絕大幅上調員工工資——弗裏金格認爲，這是沃爾瑪門店變得日益雜亂和存貨不足的兩個主要原因。（去年，沃爾瑪推出了一項旨在提供開放調班的計劃。)

Underlying all of these factors is one that’s completely out of any CEO’s control: “A lot of [the declining U.S. sales] has to do, quite simply, with the fact that [Walmart's] business is skewed to the lower-end consumer, and that consumer is still hurting,” says Landes.

所有這些背後是一個完全不爲CEO掌控的因素：“[美國銷售額下降]很大程度上與[沃爾瑪]業務偏於低端消費者有關，這些消費者仍未恢復元氣，”蘭德斯說。

Indeed. According to a 2013 study from economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, the top 1% of Americans earned more than one-fifth of all the income earned by Americans in 2012. And for the first two years of the recovery, the mean net worth of households in the wealthiest 7% rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, according to the Pew Research Center. These trends have made a dent into consumer confidence: the majority of Americans did not report feeling good about the amount of money they had to spend until their income reached the $60,000-a-year mark, according to a Gallup poll conducted last year.

的確如此。經濟學家伊曼紐爾o塞斯和托馬斯o皮凱蒂2013年的一項研究顯示，美國最富有的1%人羣收入，佔2012年全體美國人收入的五分之一還多。根據皮尤研究中心（Pew Research Center）的數據，在經濟復甦的前兩年，最富有7%的家庭淨資產均值預計增長了28%，而剩餘93%的家庭淨資產均值下降了4%。這些趨勢已損傷到消費者信心：蓋洛普（Gallup）去年進行的一項調查顯示，大部分美國人在年收入達到6萬美元之前，對於必要支出都感覺肉痛。

Low-earning customers are still “buying less discretionary items,” says Lande, and they’re resorting to cost-saving tactics when purchasing goods they must have, like “trading down from beef to poultry.”

低收入消費者仍在“減少購買非必需品”，蘭德斯說，即使在購買必需品時也會考慮節省支出，比如“買牛肉改爲買豬肉”。

And don’t think Wal-Mart hasn’t noticed. “Fundamental dynamics haven’t changed, and household incomes are still flat,” Simon said during the retailer’s earnings call in May. “As we head toward the political season and rhetoric heats up, it will continue to challenge consumer confidence.”

不要以爲沃爾瑪沒注意到。“基本面因素沒有改變，家庭收入依然平平，”西蒙5月份在沃爾瑪的業績電話會議上表示。“隨着選舉季臨近，各種言論升溫，它會繼續挑戰消費者信心。”

Does that mean that Wal-Mart’s chances for a U.S. sales rebound are nil, save for a full economic recovery? Not necessarily, mainly because the company has a perpetual advantage: its 4,200 U.S. stores still move enough goods to offer customers competitive prices, says Ken Perkins of Morningstar.

這意味着如果美國不出現全面的經濟復甦，沃爾瑪要實現銷售額反彈的概率爲零？不一定，主要是因爲沃爾瑪有一個常年的優勢：晨星的肯o波金斯表示，其4,200家美國門店仍在運送足夠的商品，爲消費者提供有競爭力的價格。

For that same reason, though, a turnaround won’t be easy. With that big an operation running on such small margins, it’s difficult to generate sales growth. Losing a sale or customer here or there can make a noticeable difference, Perkins says. “It’s hard to move a ship the size of Wal-Mart in the right direction,” he said.

但要基於這個理由實現反彈並不容易。以這樣低的利潤率經營這樣大規模的業務，要實現銷售額增長很難。從這裏或那裏流失一筆銷售或一個顧客，都可能產生顯著的不同，波金斯表示，“要讓沃爾瑪這樣規模的旗艦保持正確的方向航行很難。”