时代周刊:零售商寻找新出路 还是线上安全些(1)（在线收听）

Small retailers look for ways to survive the holidays

小零售商们在寻找度过假期的新方

For Mitchell and Skye Cohen, the third-generation owners of Economy Candy in New York City, the short period between Halloween and New Year's is usually the busiest season. The store would serve upwards of a thousand customers in a weekend, when shoppers flocked to the small Lower East Side store to buy candy in bulk for holiday gifts and parties.

米切尔·科恩和斯凯·科恩是纽约市经济糖果公司的第三代老板。对他们来说，万圣节和新年之间的短暂过渡期通常是最为繁忙之季。当购物者涌向下东区的这家小商店、为节日礼物和派对购买大量糖果时，这家商店一个周末就能够接待1000多名顾客。

But this year, the aisles of Economy Candy are uncharacteristically quiet, devoid of their typical crowds of loyal locals and curious tourists. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York City in March, the Cohens halted in-person shopping for the first time in the store's 83 years. For a business that has always relied on foot traffic for the majority of its revenue, the decision was tough but necessary: the shop wasn't big enough to keep people a safe distance from one another, and the costs of stocking, staffing and sanitizing far outweighed the profit they'd see if they stayed open. So, for the past nine months, the Cohens have sold their sweets primarily via their website, shipping orders or arranging curbside pickup.

但今年，经济糖果店的过道却出奇地安静，没有了平日里那些忠诚的当地人和好奇的游客。今年三月份，在新冠病毒袭击纽约之际，科恩夫妇在该店83年的历史上首次停止了亲自采购。对于一个一直依赖人流量获得大部分收入的公司来说，这个决定是艰难的，但也是必要的：这家店并不大，无法让人们保持安全社交距离，而且库存、员工和消毒的成本远远超过了继续营业的利润。所以，科恩一家在过去的九个月里主要通过他们的网站、发货订单或者安排路边货车来销售糖果。

More than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. are struggling for footing in what should be their busiest quarter. A Visa survey taken in September found that 69% of small businesses still viewed the 2020 holiday season as a top sales opportunity—but retail looks vastly different when a health crisis is both upending the economy and changing the way we shop.

3000多万家美国小企业在本该是他们最繁忙的季度苦苦挣扎。维萨在9月份进行的一项调查发现，69%的小企业仍认为2020年的假日季会是最大的销售机会——但当一场健康危机既在颠覆经济、也在改变我们的购物方式时，零售行业还是大不如前了。

For one thing, spending this year will be lower overall, so while small businesses can expect to see a boost in sales over the winter holidays compared with recent months' sales, it will likely be a smaller uptick than in past years. A September survey by Deloitte found that average retail sales for the year will increase by 1% to 1.5% over the holidays; by comparison, in 2019, that growth was 4.1%.

首先今年的整体支出将下降，因此，尽管与近几个月相比，小型企业有望在冬季假期看到销售增长，但增幅可能会小于过去几年。德勤9月份的一项调查发现，今年的平均零售销售额将在假期期间增长1%到1.5%，相比之下，2019年的增速为4.1%。

"We found this year that the overall spending per household was going to be down about 7%," said Rodney Sides, Deloitte's vice chairman of U.S. retail and distribution. "People are still spending money, but they're changing how they're spending it and what types of things they're buying. Travel is down, but home decor is up."

德勤美国零售和分销副主席罗德尼·赛德斯表示：“我们发现，今年每个家庭的总支出将下降约7%。人们没有停止花钱，但他们在改变花钱的方式和购买的商品种类。旅游方面的支出减少了，但家居装饰方面的支出却增加了。”

And in the age of social distancing, online shopping will see a boost. A November McKinsey report found that 37% of consumers will shop more online this holiday season. As a result, many small businesses that may have had little to no digital presence are upping their online offerings.

在这个社交隔离的时代，网购将激增。麦肯锡11月份的一份报告发现，这个假日季有37%的消费者将增加网购。因此，许多原本可能很少或根本没有数字业务的小企业正在增加其在线业务。