Browsing Competitors While Shopping
iPad代替店員 商場新潮流
By Stephanie Clifford

When Nadia Karim goes shopping, she doesn’t wait for salespeople. She saves items from apps and Web sites on her cellphone as a shopping list. And as she browses one store – recently trying on Sam Edelman flats at Nordstrom – she uses the phone to check out styles at competitors like Macy’s.
娜蒂雅‧卡林購物時不會等店員前來招呼。她把取自應用程式及網站的購物項目鍵入自己的手機，充當採購清單。逛一家店，像是最近在諾斯壯百貨試穿山姆‧愛德曼平底鞋時，她會用手機查看梅西百貨等競爭對手的同款商品。

“In all honesty, because I shop so much, I feel sometimes I know the brands better than some of the associates,” said Ms. Karim, 26, an analyst at Intel in Phoenix.
現年26歲的卡林是鳳凰城英特爾公司的分析師，她說：「說實在的，由於經常購物，我自認對商品品牌的瞭解有時候比一些店員還多。」

For shoppers raised on Google and e-commerce, the answer to “Can I help you?” is increasingly a firm “no,” even at retailers like Nordstrom that have built their reputations around customer service. But instead of getting defensive, some stores and brands are creating new personal touches that feature gadgets rather than sales staff.
對在電子商務時代成長的購物者而言，當店員問道「需要幫忙嗎？」時，斷然說不的人越來越多，即使對靠顧客服務建立口碑的諾斯壯百貨之類零售商也不例外。然而部分店家及品牌不但沒有退居守勢，還創造出全新的個人接觸經驗，主打小電子機具而非售貨人員。

Bobbi Brown has touch-screen televisions to demonstrate makeup tricks. The basketball star LeBron James’s shoe store in Miami has 50 iPads to describe its merchandise. And Macy’s is testing cosmetics stations where tablets offer reviews and tips.
芭比布朗化妝品以觸控螢幕電視展現化妝的撇步。美國職籃邁阿密熱火隊明星球員詹姆士在邁阿密的鞋店備有50部iPad，介紹店內商品。梅西百貨正在測試一些配置平板電腦，為客人提供評論與意見的化妝品專櫃。

Companies are adding the technology now because it has gotten cheap enough to make it feasible and because Apple and other tablet and touch-screen makers are increasing their sales efforts.
許多公司行號已經開始借重這些科技產品，因為這些產品價格已經夠低，讓他們用得起。另一個原因是蘋果公司與其他平板電腦、觸控螢幕生產商強力促銷。

“There’s a tendency to believe that if you talk to somebody, they’re going to waste your time or sell you something you don’t need,” said Ricardo Quintero, global general manager of market development for Clinique, which uses touch screens at its counters. “It’s taking the pressure off.”
倩碧化妝品為它的專櫃引進觸控螢幕，負責全球市場開發的總經理昆迪洛說：「人們越來越覺得，如果妳和某人交談，對方不是浪費妳的時間，就是把妳不需要的商品賣給妳。新做法讓顧客不再感受壓力。」

Nordstrom introduced an app in the fall that executives expected people would use remotely to order items while they were watching TV or waiting for a train. In addition, though, customers used the app while at Nordstrom rather than approach the sales staff.
諾斯壯百貨去秋引進一款應用程式。集團高層希望消費者能在看電視或候車時，利用這個應用程式來遠距訂貨。此外，顧客即使人在諾斯壯百貨賣場，通常都會使用這款應用程式，而不找店員幫忙。

“How the customer is defining service and wants service to be delivered is changing pretty rapidly, and a lot of that is driven by technology,” said Erik Nordstrom, president of stores for Nordstrom. “A lot of customers like to touch and feel and try on the merchandise, but they also want that information that they get online.”
諾斯壯賣場業務總裁艾芮克‧諾斯壯說：「消費者如何解釋服務，以及希望如何獲得服務的標準變換快速，科技是相當重要的驅策因素。許多顧客希望能夠觸摸、感覺並試用商品，不過她們也希望能從網上得到相關訊息。」

After adding Wi-Fi to almost all of its stores, Nordstrom is testing charging stations and clusters of iPads and computers.
諾斯壯百貨幾乎已為全部賣場引進Wi-Fi，目前正在測試充電站與必備的iPad、電腦等工具。

Some retail analysts say that businesses of all sorts have no choice but to accommodate consumers who do research on their own. Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland now gives suite visitors an iPad so they can order food and drinks from it, while Aloft Hotels installed tablets instead of concierge stations.
一些零售業分析師認為，各種生意均已別無選擇，只能全力配合自行研究、比較的消費者。美國職籃克里夫蘭騎士隊主場館「速貸球館」的附設餐廳已經開始為包廂客人提供一台iPad，讓他們用iPad點餐。雅樂軒酒店已經引進平板電腦，取代客服站。

Stores say that for now they are not getting rid of employees to accommodate their digital counterparts. But Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that shoppers lost something intrinsic to the human experience when they avoided salespeople.
商家表示，暫時不會因為引進數位化機具與服務而裁撤員工。然而麻省理工學院教授雪莉‧圖爾科指出，如果消費者刻意不與銷售人員接觸，會失去人際互動經驗當中的一些內在價值。

“You’ve taken out a lot of the richness, the messiness and the demandingness of actually having to deal with people,” she said.
她說：「妳無形中會失去隨著必須與他人互動而來的許多豐富、雜亂與高度要求。」

Ms. Karim says that she does not avoid all salespeople, but that technology has given her the freedom to be choosy. She still enjoys chatting with makeup-counter salespeople, for example. “It’s fun to see things in person, and touch the fabrics, and try on shoes,” she said. “It’s a social experience.”
卡林表示，她不會刻意避開所有售貨員，只不過科技使她有更多選擇餘地。例如，她還是很喜歡與化妝品專櫃的售貨員閒聊。她說：「親眼看看東西、觸摸布料並試穿鞋子很有趣。這是一種社交經驗。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/business/younger-shoppers-using-technology-not-salespeople.html

2012-03-27聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報八版下