经济学人03:雅芳在南非 化妆行业带来改变

 　　Business.

　　商业。

　　Avon in South Africa.

　　雅芳在南非。

　　Cosmetic¹ difference.

　　化妆行业带来的改变。

　　Lipstick² changes lives south of the Limpopo.

　　唇膏改变了南林波波省人们的生活。

　　FOR years Alice Mthini scraped by as a domestic servant. Becoming an "Avon lady" in 2009 changed everything. Discovering a talent for selling, she persuaded other ladies to part with 10,000 rand ($1,190) for Avon's make up and fashion accessories in her first month. She now earns enough to send her children to a private school. She has bought herself a laptop and a car (although she has yet to learn how to drive it). "Avon is my life," she grins.

　　爱丽丝·麦菲尼（Alice Mthini，音译）是一名家政女佣，多年来，一直以此勉强维持生计。2009年，爱丽丝被聘为"雅芳小姐"。这，改变了她的一切。渐渐地，她发掘出自己的销售才能，在就职的第一个月内便成功说服一些女性顾客消费10,000兰特（1190美元）购买雅芳的化妆品和时尚饰品。她现在的收入已足够让她的孩子上私立学校了。她还给自己买了一台笔记本电脑和一辆车——虽然她还未学会驾车。"雅芳让我有了现在的生活，"她咧嘴笑道。

　　The world's biggest direct seller of cosmetics³ has had little to cheer about of late. Bad management and poor investments caused its share price to plunge⁴. But in South Africa, it is doing well. "You go to a doctor's room and everyone has got a brochure," says Eunice Maseko, another of Avon's many ladies in South Africa. "You start to think, where am I going to sell?" she laughs.

　　这家全球最大的化妆品直销商最近却高兴不起来。由于管理不善和投资失策，其股价大幅下跌。但在南非，它经营得还不错。"你去诊所里面（看看），每个人手里都拿着一本手册，"尤妮斯·马瑟科（Eunice Maseko，音译）说道，她也是一名雅芳在南非国内的销售小姐。"（然后）你就会开始想，该往哪儿销呢？"她笑着说。

　　The trick for direct-sales companies such as Avon is not getting people to buy your products, but getting people to sell them. That may be easier in a country where more than a quarter of women are unemployed⁵ and formal jobs are scarce, even for educated jobseekers.

　　雅芳这一类直销公司的策略不是吸引人们来购买自己的产品，而是通过招徕人手来进行销售。这类策略，在像南非这样的国家实行起来应该更为容易。南非有25%以上的女性处于失业状态，且由于正式的工作岗位非常稀缺，就连受过教育的求职者都很难找到一份正式工作。

　　Avon does not demand any formal qualifications; only a warm smile and a start-up fee of 75 rand. The firm, which has been operating in South Africa since 1996, is coy about how many people flog its wares⁶ there. But it says that in 2011 its sales in South Africa increased by a glossy⁷ 29%, whereas its global sales grew by a drabber 1%.

　　雅芳公司并不要求任何的正式资历，只要求有热情的笑容和一笔75兰特的开办费用。早在1996年，这家公司就已进驻南非。而当被问到在南非有多少人在推广其产品时，它总是闪烁其辞。但它表示在2011年，该公司在南非的销售成绩斐然，增加了29%，而全球销售情况却相对惨淡，只增加了1%。

　　Most of those peddling⁸ Avon's products are black women. Researchers at Oxford⁹ University recently published a three-year study of Avon ladies in South Africa. They found that their incomes were above average for black women in their communities, and close to that of an average black South African man.

　　那些推销雅芳产品的女性多数是黑人。牛津大学的研究人员最近公布了一项为期三年的关于南非雅芳（直销）女性的研究成果。他们发现，这些女性的收入高于其所属社区的其他黑人女性的平均收入，且接近于南非国内黑人男性的平均收入。

　　In rural areas, where many roads have no names and houses no numbers, Avon delivers merchandise to post offices so that reps can pick them up. Where there is no bank nearby, Avon organises payment through the post office or a big retailer¹⁰. The company's credit checks have been eased to allow for the fact that few customers have any formal credit history or income. Avon has devised a rating system that takes account of small indices of permanence and responsibility, such as a mobile phone number or a formal address.

　　在农村地区，那里的道路没有路名，房子也没有门号。（于是）雅芳公司把货品运到邮局里，以便直销人员领取。若附近没有银行，雅芳公司就通过邮局或某个大型零售商来支付款项。事实上，由于雅芳公司的大多数客户都没有正式的信贷记录或者收入，这使得该公司更容易通过信贷审查。雅芳公司制定了一套评级系统，记录了各项固定可靠的详细数据，例如手机号码或者正式地址。

　　Linda Scott, one of the Oxford project's leaders, says that reps spoke¹¹ of Avon in semi-religious terms, using words like "salvation¹²". South of the Limpopo, it seems, lipstick changes lives.

　　琳达·斯科特（Linda Scott，音译）是牛津大学研究项目的带头人之一，她表示，那些直销人员谈起雅芳公司总会用到一些有宗教色彩的词，比如"救世"。 看来，在南林波波省这个地方，唇膏真的能改变生活。

1 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

2 lipstick   

n.口红，唇膏

参考例句：

• Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
• Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。

3 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

4 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

7 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

8 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

9 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

10 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。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。