阿里巴巴投资折扣连锁超市

 　　Alibaba has bought a stake in a discount grocery store chain, as China’s biggest ecommerce group broadens its focus from online to offline retail¹ as part of its expansion strategy.

　　阿里巴巴(Alibaba)收购了一家折扣连锁超市的股份，这家中国最大电子商务集团正将关注点从线上拓宽至线下零售，作为其扩张战略的一部分。

　　In a sign of how Alibaba’s approach to ecommerce has changed, the Hangzhou-based company said the main reason it bought a 32 per cent stake in Sanjiang Shopping Club was its “extensive offline network and experience running retail stores”.

　　突显阿里巴巴电商战略发生变化的一个迹象是，这家总部位于杭州的公司表示，其收购三江购物俱乐部(Sanjiang Shopping Club) 32%股权的主要原因是后者“拥有布局广泛的线下门店网络及丰富的实体零售门店运营经验”。

　　Alibaba yesterday said it had agreed to pay Rmb2bn ($290m) for the stake in Sanjiang, which is based in Zhejiang province where it operates 160 discount grocery stores. Sanjiang said it had more than 1m members.

　　阿里巴巴昨日表示，其已同意支付20亿元人民币（合2.9亿美元）买下上述三江股份，三江购物的总部位于浙江省，在那里经营着160家折扣连锁超市。三江购物称，它有超过100万会员顾客。

　　Since the summer of 2015, Alibaba has made a number of investments in bricks-and-mortar retail as growth in ecommerce begins to slow.

　　自2015年夏季以来，随着电子商务的增长开始放缓，阿里巴巴对实体零售进行了多笔投资。

　　In August 2015, Alibaba bought a 20 per cent share of Suning for $4.6bn. The electronic retailer² has 1,600 outlets³ in 298 cities across China, selling appliances, books and baby products.

　　2015年8月，阿里巴巴斥资46亿美元收购电器零售商苏宁(Suning) 20%的股份。苏宁在中国各地298个城市拥有1600个零售网点，销售家用电器、书籍和婴儿用品。

　　Alibaba and its payment affiliate⁴, Ant Financial, also announced last year that they would each invest Rmb3bn to develop a food-delivery service called Koubei.

　　阿里巴巴及其旗下支付公司蚂蚁金服(Ant Financial)去年还宣布，它们将分别投资30亿元人民币发展“口碑”(Koubei)送餐服务。

　　Experts see this as evidence of a new hybrid⁵ commerce model that combines physical stores with mobile internet, known as “online to offline” or “combined channel” commerce. Its rise reflects an emerging consensus⁶ in the industry that pure ecommerce will not completely displace bricks-and-mortar stores to the extent once envisaged⁷.

　　专家们认为，这是一种新的混合商业模式的证据，它将实体店与移动互联网结合在一起，称为“线上到线下”(O2O)或“复合渠道”商务。它的兴起反映了一个新的行业共识，即纯电子商务将不会以人们一度设想的程度完全取代实体店。

　　Beijing-based consultancy iResearch predicts that pure ecommerce has started to hit the era of declining growth. From 70 per cent growth registered in 2011, it predicts that from 2018 growth will be at 16 per cent annually⁸.

　　总部位于北京的咨询公司艾瑞咨询(iResearch)预测，纯电子商务已开始进入增长放缓的时代。该公司预计，从2018年起，年增长率将为16%；相比之下2011年的增长率达到70%。

　　Cao Lei, director at China e-Business Research Centre, said 80 per cent of China’s sales were still made offline and the trend of ecommerce groups buying physical stores was now “very firm and likely to continue”.

　　中国电子商务研究中心(China e-Business Research Centre)主任曹磊表示，中国80%的销售仍然在线下进行，因此电商集团收购实体店的趋势现在“非常稳固，很可能会延续下去”。

　　Other companies that have placed bets on pure ecommerce have also begun to invest in physical stores, in recognition that pure ecommerce may have hit its growth limits.

　　曾经押注于纯电子商务的其它公司也开始投资于实体店，认识到纯电子商务可能已经触及增长极限。

　　These include Xiaomi. It was the top-selling smartphone in China and relies on ecommerce sales, but it has recently seen its lead eaten away by competitors such as Oppo and Vivom, which have more offline distribution.

　　其中包括小米(Xiaomi)。这是中国最畅销智能手机的制造商，依赖电子商务销售，但最近看到其领先地位被竞争对手如Oppo和Vivo缩小，后两者有更多的线下经销。

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

3 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

5 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

7 envisaged   

想像，设想( envisage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He envisaged an old age of loneliness and poverty. 他面对着一个孤独而贫困的晚年。
• Henry Ford envisaged an important future for the motor car. 亨利·福特为汽车设想了一个远大前程。

8 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。