英国金融时报网站于2024年5月28日发表题为《优衣库面对中国节俭的新兴中产阶级》的文章。以下观点不代表任何译者立场，现将全文翻译如下：Uniqlo confronts China’s newly thrifty middle classJapanese fast-fashion retailer has slowed store openings in world’s second-largest economy日本快时尚零售商在世界第二大经济体的门店开设速度放缓![]()
Uniqlo is fighting to eclipse Zara owner Inditex and H&M as the world’s biggest mass-market clothing retailer © Jonathan Wong/SCMP/Reuters
优衣库正努力超越Zara母公司Inditex和H&M，成为全球最大的平价服装零售商©Jonathan Wong/SCMP/Reuters
David Keohane and Leo Lewis in Tokyo and Thomas Hale in Shanghai MAY 28 2024After more than three decades of making money through Japan’s housing market crash and deflation, Uniqlo hopes it has what it takes to repeat the trick in China, as the world’s second-largest economy slows down.三十多年来通过日本房地产市场崩盘和通货紧缩获利之后，优衣库希望有能力在中国重现这一奇迹，因为世界第二大经济体正在放缓。The company, which is fighting to eclipse Zara owner Inditex and H&M as the world’s biggest mass-market clothing retailer, has come to rely on China as one of the biggest drivers of its business. In the last fiscal year to the end of August 2023, Uniqlo made ¥620.2bn ($4bn) in revenues in greater China and ¥2.3tn worldwide.优衣库正努力超越Zara母公司Inditex和H&M，成为全球最大的平价服装零售商，并将中国作为业务增长的一大主要驱动力。在截至2023年8月底的上一个财年中，优衣库在大中华区的收入达到6202亿日元（40亿美元），全球收入为2.3万亿日元。But Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing said last month it was slowing expansion in China from a planned 80 stores this fiscal year to 55, helping send shares down sharply as investors reassessed the retailer’s prospects in the country.但优衣库母公司迅销上月表示，公司将在中国的扩展速度从本财年计划的80家门店减至55家，导致股价大幅下跌，投资者重新评估迅销在中国的前景。At stake is whether the company’s cheap staples can win over a significantly more thrifty middle class, potentially serving as a bellwether for other consumer-facing foreign companies.问题在于，优衣库的廉价基本款能否赢得愈发节俭的中产阶级的青睐，可能成为其他面向消费者的外国公司的风向标。“If Uniqlo does emerge as a winner of down-trading, are they suddenly going to speed up the store expansion target in China? I doubt it,” said Oliver Matthew, an analyst at CLSA.“如果优衣库在消费降级中胜出，他们会突然加快在中国的门店扩展目标吗？我对此表示怀疑，”CLSA分析师Oliver Matthew说。Uniqlo was born during the heart of the Japanese asset bubble, opening its first store in 1984, just a few years before the economy spiralled into protracted deflation. Analysts have observed parallels with China and its property crisis, which has triggered waves of developer defaults and chilled the economy.优衣库诞生于日本资产泡沫的核心时期，于1984年开设了第一家店，不久后日本经济陷入长期通货紧缩。分析师观察到，国内房地产危机也有类似之处，已经引发了开发商违约潮并导致经济降温。在中国扩展速度放缓削弱了投资者对优衣库的信心
迅销股价， ¥
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When Uniqlo first entered China in 2002, it was not clear that it could prevail. Some investors and analysts expected the Japanese brand to struggle in an increasingly nationalistic environment.优衣库于2002年首次进入中国，当时并不确定能否成功。一些投资者和分析师预计，这个日本品牌会在日益民族主义的环境中举步维艰。However, not only was the retailer able to navigate the geopolitical tensions that ensnared its rivals, but its functional pieces were also snapped up by consumers, even during widespread boycotts of Japanese goods, including recent protests against Japan’s decision to release radioactive water from its stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.然而，优衣库不仅成功应付了困扰同行的地缘政治紧张局势，推出的功能性服装也受到消费者的热捧，即便在广泛抵制日货的情况下也如此，包括最近因日本决定排放福岛核电站的核污染水而引发的抗议。Uniqlo has targeted Chinese customers with a strategy that attempts to combine reliable basics such as fleeces, office wear and comfortable underwear with hit products. During the pandemic, Uniqlo’s washable face masks were popular and more recently, Gen Z customers have embraced its banana bags.优衣库通过一种策略瞄准中国消费者，试图将可靠的基本款，如抓绒、职业装和舒适内衣与畅销产品相结合。疫情期间，优衣库的可洗口罩很受欢迎，最近，Z世代消费者也喜欢上了它的香蕉包。One Uniqlo shopper in Shanghai, where the chain has 95 stores, said he typically bought products during sales, when the price of a Rmb99 ($14) T-shirt might gradually decrease to as low as Rmb39 over a period of several weeks.优衣库在上海拥有95家门店，一名顾客表示自己通常在打折期间购买产品，一件售价99元人民币的T恤在几周内逐渐降至最低39元人民币时会购买。But he added that the products “were cheap even without a sale” and estimated a Rmb99 T-shirt on Alibaba’s flagship shopping site Taobao would cost Rmb200 for an item of similar quality.但他补充说，这些产品“即使不打折也很便宜”，并估计99元优衣库T恤相同质量的商品要花200元人民币。As economic growth slows in China, there is uncertainty over how quickly Uniqlo can continue to expand. “Fast Retailing enjoyed an earnings expansion in China under an inflationary economy, and they were able to charge more for a pair of jeans than in Japan,” said Takahiro Kazahaya, senior analyst at UBS Securities Japan.随着中国经济增长放缓，优衣库能否继续快速扩展存在不确定性。UBS证券日本高级分析师Kazahaya Takahiro表示，“迅销在通胀经济下享受了中国的盈利增长，他们的牛仔裤卖得比日本贵。”“But if you get into a deflationary economy and competition causes one company to sell the jeans for cheaper, and at the same time people change their definition of value for money, that could make Uniqlo less competitive,” he added.“但如果进入通缩经济，竞争导致另一家公司卖得更便宜，同时人们对物有所值的定义发生变化，这可能会削弱优衣库的竞争力，”他补充道。Fast Retailing’s chief financial officer Takeshi Okazaki said during results in April that the company’s situation in the country was “half internal and half external”, suggesting the macro environment was part of the issue but also that some stores were underperforming.迅销首席财务官冈崎健在4月的业绩报告中表示，公司在中国的情况“一半是内部原因，一半是外部原因”，暗示宏观环境是一部分因素，但也有一些门店表现不佳。He said part of the solution would be to shut some locations and do more with ecommerce and livestream commerce, a popular form of shopping on Chinese social media apps.他说，解决方案的一部分是关闭一些门店，更多依靠电子商务和直播购物，一种在中国社交媒体上流行的购物形式。The company told the Financial Times that its “priority is to conscientiously open high-quality stores in excellent locations that can achieve more sales per store rather than simply pursuing a higher number of stores”.公司告诉《金融时报》，公司的“优先任务是认真在优越位置开设高质量门店，实现单门店更高的销售额，而不是简单地追求门店数量”。It added that since China is a “huge market with distinct regions with varying climates . . . one consideration is whether we have been able to build a product mix that really suits the specific needs and characteristics of each region”.公司补充道，由于中国是一个“区域多样性显著的巨大市场，气候各不相同……一个考虑因素是我们是否能够建立真正适应每个地区具体需求和特点的产品组合”。While Uniqlo fine-tunes its strategy in China, its ambitions in the US and Europe might be more important to its success and share price.在优衣库调整在中国的战略时，优衣库在美国和欧洲的发展目标可能对公司成功和股价更为重要。“China has dropped off a bit and that was the catalyst for the stock for years,” said one Tokyo-based investor in the group. “But even if that keeps being the case, there’s still the EU and the US. They are both doing fine at the moment . . . the next question is if they can keep doing so.”“中国一直是股票的催化剂，但中国现在有些退步”，集团一位驻东京的投资者说。“但即使情况继续如此，仍有欧盟和美国。它们目前都表现良好……下一个问题是它们是否能继续保持。”
