Authority Magazine对话云拿科技Rosie Zhang：后疫情时代，全球零售业的未来

Orlando Zayast

目前您是否在筹备激动人心的全新项目？您认为这个项目会给人们带来哪些帮助？

Rosie Zhang

当前，我们正面向办公楼和学校食堂推出自动化便利店项目。使用我们的技术后，想要购买零食、饮料的上班族或师生们就会感到非常方便。

现阶段，我们都在努力应对来自疫情的冲击，而自动化便利店项目就能凭借无需触摸任何东西（包括屏幕）的优势让整个购物流程更加安全。顾客只需走进商店，拿起商品，走出闸机，即刻结算，如果不想与人互动，就无需进行任何接触与交流。

最新零售调查表明，43%的英国人（超过2000万人）希望在购物过程中尽可能少与他人互动。疫情期间，世界各地的人们也更青睐信用卡或无人收银的支付方式。所以相比以往，当前这种无接触和无人收银的便利店项目越来越受大家欢迎。

We are currently working on autonomous convenience store projects in office buildings and cafeterias in several schools. Our technology, when employed, can be very convenient for office workers and students who are looking for a snack or drink throughout the day.

In this current environment of our trying to navigate the pandemic, the autonomous convenience stores are safer since customers don’t need to touch anything, including the screens, during shopping. Instead, customers simply walk in and walk out and are charged for their purchases automatically—no need to interact with anyone if they don't want to.

The new retail studies recently showed that 43% of Brits (more than 20 million people) want their shopping experience to have as little human interaction as possible. During the lockdown, people worldwide have relied exclusively on card and cashier-less payments. Thus, frictionless and cashier-less autonomous stores are more and more welcomed by many now than would have ever been possible before.

Orlando Zayast

您有哪些建议给到同行来帮助他们茁壮成长？

Rosie Zhang

彼得·德鲁克曾经说过：“如果你无法衡量它，那么你就无法改善它。”

在真实商业世界中，你必须非常明确自己对目标的承诺并进行针对性的拆解。准确估算沙漏中的沙子流动的节奏，这有助于让你更专注地解决问题并为顾客带来最大的价值。在沙漏中的沙子耗尽之前，自己要成长出把沙漏翻转过来的核心产品能力。

Peter Drucker once said, "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it."

In the real business world, you must be very clear about your commitment to your goals and unpack them in a targeted manner. It will be helpful to estimate the rate of sand flow of your hourglass accurately and strategically focus on solving the problem and bring the most value to customers. Before the hourglass runs out of sand, let yourself have the core product capabilities to turn the hourglass over.

Orlando Zayast

如果没有他人的帮助，我们很难快速获得成功。是否可以分享一下，走到现在您特别感激的人以及所发生的故事？

Rosie Zhang

回忆整个创业之旅，最重要的是身边这一群有远见卓识、贡献精神并且值得信任的同事。我非常感谢身边能够围绕着这些优秀的同事以及相信我们的理想终将实现的朋友。几乎所有的创始合伙人都是来自知名大企业、薪酬丰厚的专家，但他们愿意放弃眼前可观的收入，接受挑战，致力于将完全创新的想法付诸现实，这是一种非常勇敢、非常令人钦佩的选择。

在他们最初加入云拿科技的时候，为了节省资金，我们选择的办公地点并不理想。而为了投入更多时间一起工作，一些联合创始人还在附近合租了一套房子，并且常常工作到凌晨。很多时候，他们步行回家只是为了在路上开另一场会议。

Looking back on this journey, I think the most important thing for me was that I have a group of visionary, dedicated and trustworthy colleagues. I’m very grateful to be surrounded by these great colleagues and friends who believe that our vision will eventually be realized.Almost all of our founding partners were experts that came from large, renowned organizations with good compensations, but they were willing to quit high-paying jobs to take on the challenge of bringing a completely innovative idea to life. I think they made a very admirable and courageous choice.

When they joined Cloudpick, we started in an office located in a less than ideal location to save costs. To spend the most time working together, some of our co-founders shared a house nearby and worked until earlier morning. Many times, they walked home just to have another meeting on the road.

Orlando Zayast

您是否思考过如何通过自己的努力来造福世界？

Rosie Zhang

顾客在我们赋能的自动化商店内享受购物旅程的同时，可以通过推送通知和店内智能广告展示系统获得最新的促销信息和优惠券。同时，智能价签也会由店员远程调整，或是根据情况自动变更。所以不难预见，通过打印广告和优惠券来提供最新促销信息的传统方法必然会成为历史。

店员和管理者也得以从简单、重复、低价值的劳动中解放出来，专注于创造性的工作并以更愉悦的心情为顾客提供服务。同时，还能从实时的在线报告中获取有关商店活动和产品销售的所有数据，以此取代传统的书面工作。

商店管理者也将以一种更高效的方式开启一天的工作。在踏入办公室之前，他们就能在远程通知中获悉商店运营状态，从而计划一天的行程，例如为哪些商店补货以及上架哪些商品。通过集中安排，可以规划一条更高效的补货路线，减少重复工作，节省时间和成本。

在零售商们的经营过程中，最大的财务压力来源于租金。所以零售商们都希望自己的商店能为顾客提供全天候的服务，最大限度利用店面，但往往会面临夜班人员难招等问题。我们可以为零售商们提供相关解决方案，确保他们在深夜时段也能正常营业，周末同样如此。总而言之，自动化商店不仅能为顾客提供全天候的服务，也将解放门店运营人员，拥有更多与家人、朋友一起享受生活的时光。

While the customers are enjoying their shopping experience within our  autonomous stores, they can get hold of the latest promotions and coupons in the form of push notifications and an intelligent advertising display system in-store. The smart price tags can adjust at a press of a button, remotely controlled by store staff, or automatically set to be triggered by conditions. The conventional printout of adverts and coupons providing the latest promotion information will be history.

Store staff and managers are freed to focus on creative innovation andmerrily serving customers while capturing all activities and data regarding the store and products in real-time online reports, replacing the traditional paperwork.

The daily activities of the store manager will start on a much more efficient horizon. Their days will begin with a remote notification about the store's status before they step foot into the office. They can plan their daily activities and decide which stores to tender and which products to restock remotely.With centralized planning and scheduling, there will be more efficient traveling routes for restocking, reducing repetitive work to save time and cost.

Of the financial liabilities burden retailers during their business operations,the biggest concern is rent. All retailers hope to have their stores open around the clock to serve their customers, which allows maximum utilization of storefront, but often they are troubled by staffing night-shifts and so on. We help retailers to remain open 24/7  with 100% operation even at the latest hours of the day. The same can be said for weekend shifts—no need to worry.The autonomous stores can stay open 24/7 to serve customers while allowing staff to enjoy their valuable time with family and friends.

Orlando Zayast

听起来非常棒！接下来是本次访谈中一个非常重要的问题。这场疫情改变了我们生活中的很多方面，其中之一便是许多人已经完成了从线下购物到线上购物的转变。能否分享一些不同的看法及相关示例，表明大型零售商店也在采取措施以适应后疫情时代？

Rosie Zhang

疫情迫使更多零售商开始思考线上线下融合的紧迫性。因为网购的效率高度依赖供应链和物流，所以线下门店作为社区生活的基础设施依旧是不可替代的。但是疫情也加速了线下门店的数字化趋势，可以说，让线下零售具备与线上零售同等的数字化能力，已然成为了大型零售企业未来五年必须解决的战略问题。

想象一下，在疫情爆发期间，店员无需因为收银工作而面临病毒威胁，只需一部手机就能远程管控门店及库存。得益于实时的缺货提醒功能，店员每周只需进行两到三次补货。此外，AI系统还可以根据顾客的历史购物数据或拿放情况，触发相关广告，进行个性化的商品推荐。

最后，就像我之前提到的那样，顾客走进云拿科技的门店后不需要触摸任何屏幕或使用会员卡，甚至不需要拿出一打非常浪费纸张的优惠券。因为在自动结算时，顾客可以自动获得最常购买商品的相关电子折扣。总的来说，不需要信用卡或借记卡，只需要一部支持应用程序的智能手机，便能追踪顾客购物行为并完成扣款。

 The pandemic has made more retail chain operators think about the urgency of online and offline integration. The efficiency of online shopping is highly dependent on supply chains and logistics. Offline stores are irreplaceable shopping destinations because they are foundational to communities. However, enabling offline retail to have the same digital capability as online retail is a strategic problem that large retail enterprises must solve in the next five years. The pandemic is just accelerating store digitalization to arrive.

Imagine that during the outbreak, the store clerk does not need exposure to the virus threat as a cashier. They only need to use a mobile phone for remote supervision and management of the store and its inventory. They only need to restock two or three times every week -- with the help of a real-time inventory alert. Likewise, the AI system produces dynamic product ads and can recommend products to customers based on their shopping history or product selection.

Finally,as I’ve mentioned, when customers walk into a Cloudpick store, they don't need to touch any screen or pass any loyalty cards. They don't even need to take out a dozen wasteful paper coupons. Instead, they simply get a discount on their most frequently purchased products while checking out automatically. Not even acredit or debit card is required, just an app-enabled smartphone that tracks and charges the customer's purchases.

Orlando Zayast

在您看来，线下零售门店或购物中心等业态会继续存在吗？在Amazon  Prime或Instacart等电商平台已经实现当天达或次日达的情况下，您如何定义实体零售的价值？

Rosie Zhang

可以回想一下20年前的DVD播放器和电影院。现如今DVD播放器已经过时，取而代之的是Netflix等。但人们还是会去电影院，因为可以体会到家里所没有的娱乐氛围。同样，线下零售也是永远无法替代的，因为网购时无法看、闻以及触摸实物。另外，当你想在30分钟内获取某物时，就不能依赖网购了，而会选择前往附近的实体店进行购买。但是线下零售在体验和管理上也的确需要与时俱进，当线下零售拥有和线上平台一样的数据能力后，必将会以全新的面貌、更精准地服务消费者。

Just think about the DVD player and movie theater 20 years ago. The DVD player is out of date. Now we use Netflix. But people still go to the movie theater because they can have the amusement that they cannot experience at home. Similarly, offline retail can never be replaced because you can't touch, see and smell by shopping online. At the same time,when you need something within 30 minutes, you cannot rely on online shopping;you may find the product only in brick-and-mortar stores.However, offline retailers do need to step up their game in terms of shopping experience and management. When offline retailers have the same data analytic capabilities as online retailers, they will definitely provide higher quality and more targeted customer services than their online counterparts.

Orlando Zayast

“零售灭亡”的说法已经持续了大约十年，虽然许多零售商都在苦苦挣扎，但Lululemon、Kroger、Costco等部分零售商的收益仍然非常可观。您认为从后者的成功中可以借鉴哪些经验？

Rosie Zhang

这些成功的零售企业都在以下方面更敏感，做了更积极的尝试和改进：

更精准地定位和了解自己的目标客群。

在精准定位目标客群后，你可以通过提供合适的产品与服务来满足顾客的需求。以Lululemon为例，它在成立之初就找到了自己的目标客群。其创始人Chip Wilson并没有通过传统的营销方式进行推广，而是想到了另一种更精准的方案：建立瑜伽爱好者社区，通过这些顾客进行口碑传播。

更积极地利用技术改善顾客体验。

根据员工的建议，Kroger与RCA合作研发了世界上第一台电子扫描仪，现如今的超市仍在使用这种收银方式。2018年，Kroger和Nuro再次推出了全球首项无人配送服务，随时随地为顾客提供卓越的消费体验，而这些技术也将极大提高员工的效率。云拿科技也致力于为大量知名零售商提供解决方案，这些零售商往往对高新科技有着很强的接受度，其中大多数还在市场份额和收益方面占据着领先地位。

更高效管理品类的意识。

商品的精细化管理，积极尝试各种可以获得独特数据洞察能力的有效方式，并能借助这一方式改进品类管理。

在实体店设计更多的顾客触点。

更好地利用实体店的天然优势，通过与客户的互动，让顾客获得触摸、闻、听、尝以及近距离查看商品的机会，由此打造独特的购物体验。

These successful retailers are more sensitive to the following aspects and have actively made more attempts and improvements:

· More precise positioning and understanding of the target customers.By adapting to precise positioning and communication, you can satisfy customers’ needs by providing products and services to the right group of people. Take Lululemon as an example. It found the right target customers on the first day. Chip Wilson did not promote Lululemon through traditional marketing methods. Instead, he thought of an alternative and highly accurate marketing method: to build a community of yoga enthusiasts and spread word of mouth.

· More actively leveraging technology to improve customer experience.Kroger cooperated with RCA to develop the world's first electronic scanner based on an employee's suggestion. Now supermarkets continue to use this cash register method. Again in 2018, Kroger and Nuro launched the world’s first driverless car delivery service that can provide customers with an excellent customer experience anytime, anywhere. The technologies also increase the employee’s efficiency. Cloudpick serves a significant number of renowned retailers who are fast adopters intechnology -- most of them are market leaders in terms of market share and revenue.

· More awareness of effective product category management.Successful retailers focus on the refinement of merchandise management, actively experiment with various effective ways to drive unique data insights and use them to improve managing product categories.

· More customer touch points in brick-and-mortar stores. Physical stores should give full play to their advantages to provide unique and interactive shopping experiences by creating multiple touchpoints where shoppers can view, touch, smell, listen, taste, and engage with the product in person.

Orlando Zayast

在可预见的未来，Amazon将为整个零售业带来巨大的压力。但在中国，目前不断涌现新的零售企业，而且价格远低于欧美品牌。面对如此激烈的竞争，您对零售企业和电商平台如何取得成功有什么建议？

Rosie Zhang

我的建议是，把重心放在持续洞察顾客的需求上，而非关注竞争对手。Amazon或阿里巴巴都秉承着顾客至上的原则，顾客至上依旧主导着当今的商业活动。在数字化时代，一切都充满着变数，“顾客需求”便成了他们的最佳抓手。顾客希望通过最便捷的渠道与品牌互动，而非品牌指定渠道。同时，顾客也希望在合适的时间获得合适的导购服务，而非被铺天盖地的同质化广告夹击。技术的发展为我们提供了更先进的手段，所以我们也需要以更好的方式了解并服务顾客。

My suggestion for retail companies is to focus their strategy on keeping up with customers instead of paying attention to competitors. Both Amazon or Alibaba are customer-oriented. The logic of customerism dominates today's business activities. When everything becomes increasingly uncertain in the digital age,"customer needs" become their grasping things for comfort. Consumers want to interact with the brand through the most convenient channel, not through the channel designated by the brand. Consumers hope to get the right help at the right time instead of being tracked by overwhelming homogeneous advertising. Technology development has given us more advanced means to understand and serve customers in better ways.

Orlando Zayast

根据您的经验和洞察，颠覆线下零售体验并不断召回老客的五大要素是什么？

Rosie Zhang

优化产品布局：优化产品和陈列对实体店来说意义重大。为了提高经营业绩，我们要不断地优化品类结构，以顾客为中心，以需求为导向。

提高顾客参与度和支持度：根据Gallup研究，完全沉浸在购物体验中的顾客所带来的收益比平均值高出23%。

提高供应链效率：让“规划”先于“运营”，可以避免因库存冗余、频繁分配和紧急订单等带来的成本压力，这是提高供应链效率的关键。因此，针对供应链网络规划、智能补货和预测方面的技术投入正逐渐成为各大企业的战略共识。

鼓励高价值员工：在技术驱动的环境中，员工可以被重新部署到更高价值的工作岗位上，使其发挥更加显著的意义，进而提高员工的积极性和工作满意度。

门店数字化至关重要：利用数字化工具提高门店运营效率，将成为零售业的一大趋势。

· Optimize product placement: product optimization and display are of great significance to physical stores. To improve operational performance,we have to constantly optimize the product category structure so that the store is customer-centric and demand-oriented.

· Improve customer engagement and support: according to Gallup research, a fully engaged customer represents 23% more revenue than average.

· Improve supply chain efficiency: prioritizing planning over operations can avoid cost burdens, such as inventory redundancy, frequent allocations, and urgent orders, and is the key to improving the efficiency of the supply chain. Therefore, technological investment in supply chain network planning, intelligent replenishment, and forecasting is becoming the strategic consensus of leading companies.

· Encourage high-value employees: in a technology-driven environment, employees can be redeployed to higher-value work where their actions have more measurable significance and, in turn, increase their motivation and job satisfaction.

· Store digitalization is the key: using digital tools to accelerate store operations will be the trend for retail.

Orlando Zayast

感谢您的分享！我们的访谈已趋近尾声，最后还有一个非常重要的问题。作为一位女性创业者，如果可以发起一项倡议来为更多的女孩带来积极的影响，您认为会是什么？也许您分享的想法会引起某种改变。

Rosie Zhang

我希望有更多的女孩可以更加自信、勇敢地选择自己所热爱的事物，竭尽全力投入其中，并尽情享受过程中的快乐，不必过多在乎他人的眼光，自由地活出自己的精彩。

I hope more young women can be brave and more confident about choosing what they love to do, enjoy the process and give their best without caring about what others think, and live an unbounded life to the fullest.

Orlando Zayast

我们的读者如何持续关注云拿科技的最新动态？

Rosie Zhang

可以通过官网www.cloudpick.com、Youtube频道Cloudpick、Twitter账号CloudpickTech以及LinkedIn账号Cloudpick与我们取得联系。

We’re at www.cloudpick.com, on Youtube Channel Cloudpick,Twitter  @CloudpickTech, you can also connect with us on LinkedIn @Cloudpick.

Orlando Zayast
那太好了，再次感谢您的参与！