The economics of Groupon The dismal scoop on Groupon

　　團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué) 團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站慘淡的獨(dú)家資訊

　　A micro-economist assesses Groupon

　　微觀經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家評(píng)估團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站Groupon

　　ON OCTOBER 24th Groupon says it will start its roadshow .

　　Groupon聲稱將于10月24日開(kāi)始 路演 。

　　The social-media sensation, which offers online coupons for bargains at local shops andrestaurants, is planning an initial public offering later this year.

　　這個(gè)曾一時(shí)轟動(dòng)的社交媒體，提供當(dāng)?shù)厣痰旰筒宛^特價(jià)商品的在線優(yōu)惠券，計(jì)劃今年晚些時(shí)候進(jìn)行首次公開(kāi)招股。

　　Valuations as high as $20 billion were until recently bandied around, but that now seemswildly optimistic.

　　直到最近才有消息稱該公司市值高達(dá)200億美元，但是現(xiàn)在看起來(lái)有點(diǎn)過(guò)于樂(lè)觀，

　　Groupon will lose $280m on revenues of $1.69 billion in 2011, predicts Benchmark, aconsultancy. That is an ocean of red ink.

　　邦仕馬克咨詢公司預(yù)測(cè)Groupon公司2011將虧損2.8億美元，年收入為16.9億美元。這是巨大的虧損。

　　Groupon started with a nifty idea. Its website offered a daily deal whereby consumers couldbuy a product or service very cheaply if a minimum number of people signed up.

　　Groupon公司源于一個(gè)奇妙的想法。該網(wǎng)站提供一個(gè) 每日交易 ，如果購(gòu)買的人數(shù)達(dá)到最低要求，那么消費(fèi)者可以非常便宜地購(gòu)買一件商品或一項(xiàng)服務(wù)。

　　People would nag their friends to come to the same bar or shop. The merchant would getnew customers. Groupon would take a cut.

　　人們就會(huì)要求他們的朋友去相同的酒吧或商店，商店就會(huì)有新的消費(fèi)者，Groupon也從中分一杯羹。

　　For merchants, this model has big advantages.

　　這種模式對(duì)于商店來(lái)說(shuō)有巨大的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

　　They are advertised on Groupon s phenomenally popular website. This is especially useful fornew businesses that no one has heard of.

　　他們?cè)贕roupon表面上受到大眾歡迎的網(wǎng)站上刊登廣告，這對(duì)無(wú)人知曉的新商業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)特別有用。

　　Groupon helps merchants manage capacity, too.

　　Groupon公司也幫助商家控制數(shù)量。

　　For example, a restaurant might sell vouchers that are redeemable only on Tuesdays, thusfilling tables on a quiet night.

　　比方說(shuō)，某餐館出售的抵用券只能在星期二使用，這樣就能使原本生意冷清的周二晚上爆滿。

　　Or a Pilates studio might use vouchers to manage class sizes.

　　或者某個(gè)普拉提健身房通過(guò)使用抵用券控制課程人數(shù)多少。

　　Once a client has paid for the voucher, the studio collects the fee even if she is hung-over anddoesn t turn up.

　　一旦客戶支付抵用券，即使客戶延遲且不來(lái)參加普拉提課程，健身房也會(huì)收到這筆費(fèi)用。

　　Groupon also allows merchants to charge different people different prices for the sameproduct.

　　Groupon同樣允許商家在出售同樣商品時(shí)，對(duì)不同客戶收取不同的費(fèi)用。

　　A student might buy theatre tickets on Groupon for half price. A businessman with no time toshop around online might buy the same tickets for full price.

　　學(xué)生可以在Groupon網(wǎng)站上以半價(jià)購(gòu)買電影票，而沒(méi)有時(shí)間在網(wǎng)上閑逛的商務(wù)人士可能以全價(jià)購(gòu)買相同的電影票。

　　Without Groupon, it is harder for the theatre to find out what people are willing to pay.

　　如果沒(méi)有Groupon的話，電影院很難發(fā)現(xiàn)什么樣的人原意支付。

　　It could charge both punters full price, in which case the student may stay at home.

　　如果都是收取全價(jià)的話，那么學(xué)生就會(huì)待在家里不去看電影了;

　　Or it could charge both the lower price, in which case it makes less money.

　　如果都是收取半價(jià)的話，那樣電影院賺的就少了。

　　Groupon created a new market.

　　Groupon創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)新的市場(chǎng)。

　　This is a boon to consumers, but confers no lasting first-mover advantage on Groupon.

　　這對(duì)消費(fèi)者來(lái)說(shuō)是福利，但是對(duì)于Groupon來(lái)說(shuō)并沒(méi)有持續(xù) 先發(fā)制人 的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

　　Its business model is unpatentable and simple to replicate, so there are already more than20 copycats.

　　Groupon的商業(yè)模式?jīng)]有獲得專利，而且模仿起來(lái)很簡(jiǎn)單，因此已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)超過(guò)20個(gè)模范者。

　　Groupon aspires to be global, but the markets it serves are intensely local.

　　Groupon渴望全球化，但是它服務(wù)的市場(chǎng)卻非常本地化。

　　Internet selling is best suited to experience goods .

　　網(wǎng)絡(luò)營(yíng)銷最適合 已經(jīng)體驗(yàn)過(guò)的商品 。

　　These are goods and services the quality of which you cannot judge until you experiencethem, such as haircuts and Thai meals, so there is no advantage in having abricks-and-mortar shop for people to browse in.

　　這些商品和服務(wù)的質(zhì)量只有在你購(gòu)買之后你才能判斷，比如理發(fā)、泰國(guó)食物，因此，如果網(wǎng)站上供人瀏覽的只有傳統(tǒng)實(shí)體企業(yè)，那么毫無(wú)優(yōu)勢(shì)可言。

　　The trouble with experience goods is that generally you cannot separate manufacture fromdelivery: you cannot cook a meal in Guangzhou and eat it in New York.

　　大家體驗(yàn)過(guò)的商品存在一個(gè)問(wèn)題，那就是通常你無(wú)法將生產(chǎn)與運(yùn)輸分開(kāi)：你不可能在廣州烹調(diào)，然后在紐約享用。

　　So for Groupon, each city is a separate market.

　　因此，對(duì)于Groupon來(lái)說(shuō)，每個(gè)城市都是一個(gè)獨(dú)立的市場(chǎng)。

　　In each neighbourhood, it must vie with copycats to sign up merchants. Its marketing costsare expected to be a painful $958m this year. This is why it loses money.

　　在每個(gè)街區(qū)，Groupon都要與模仿者競(jìng)爭(zhēng)登記商家。Groupon的營(yíng)銷成本將會(huì)達(dá)到9.58億美元，這正是其虧本的原因。

　　A final woe: the Groupon model is open to abuse.

　　最后的悲哀就是，這種模式公開(kāi)被濫用。

　　Nicole Peters, an avid online shopper, describes how she bought a massage via one ofGroupon s rivals.

　　網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物狂妮可?彼得斯描述她是如何從Groupon競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手哪里購(gòu)買一項(xiàng)按摩服務(wù)的。

　　The day before the appointment, the massage firm e-mailed her to say it had gone bust.

　　在預(yù)約日的前一天，按摩公司發(fā)郵件給她說(shuō)公司破產(chǎn)了。

　　Ms Peters also bought a voucher for several pairs of men s underpants. When she logged ontothe supplier s website, there were only huge pairs or bright pink ones available.

　　彼得斯女士還購(gòu)買了幾條男士?jī)?nèi)褲的兌換券，當(dāng)她登錄供應(yīng)商的網(wǎng)站時(shí)，只有大號(hào)的褲子和明亮粉紅的褲子。

　　She says she will never shop this way again.

　　她說(shuō)，她以后再也不會(huì)通過(guò)這種方式購(gòu)物了。

　　Groupon s webpage includes a guide to avoiding arguments with merchants, which suggestssuch tiffs are common.

　　Groupon的網(wǎng)頁(yè)中包括如何避免與商家扯皮的指南，這就意味著這樣的口角事件很常見(jiàn)。

　　In short, Groupon is still the king of online discounts.

　　總之，Groupon仍然是網(wǎng)購(gòu)折扣的領(lǐng)軍者。

　　But with so many pretenders around, it may be unwise to pay a premium for its shares.

　　但是隨著模仿者的異軍突起，為了購(gòu)買其股票而支付傭金就顯得不明智了。

　　On October 19th the firm was reportedly considering scaling back its IPO.

　　據(jù)報(bào)道，10月19日，Groupon考慮相應(yīng)縮減首次公開(kāi)募股的規(guī)模。

　　The economics of Groupon The dismal scoop on Groupon

　　團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué) 團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站慘淡的獨(dú)家資訊

　　A micro-economist assesses Groupon

　　微觀經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家評(píng)估團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站Groupon

　　ON OCTOBER 24th Groupon says it will start its roadshow .

　　Groupon聲稱將于10月24日開(kāi)始 路演 。

　　The social-media sensation, which offers online coupons for bargains at local shops andrestaurants, is planning an initial public offering later this year.

　　這個(gè)曾一時(shí)轟動(dòng)的社交媒體，提供當(dāng)?shù)厣痰旰筒宛^特價(jià)商品的在線優(yōu)惠券，計(jì)劃今年晚些時(shí)候進(jìn)行首次公開(kāi)招股。

　　Valuations as high as $20 billion were until recently bandied around, but that now seemswildly optimistic.

　　直到最近才有消息稱該公司市值高達(dá)200億美元，但是現(xiàn)在看起來(lái)有點(diǎn)過(guò)于樂(lè)觀，

　　Groupon will lose $280m on revenues of $1.69 billion in 2011, predicts Benchmark, aconsultancy. That is an ocean of red ink.

　　邦仕馬克咨詢公司預(yù)測(cè)Groupon公司2011將虧損2.8億美元，年收入為16.9億美元。這是巨大的虧損。

　　Groupon started with a nifty idea. Its website offered a daily deal whereby consumers couldbuy a product or service very cheaply if a minimum number of people signed up.

　　Groupon公司源于一個(gè)奇妙的想法。該網(wǎng)站提供一個(gè) 每日交易 ，如果購(gòu)買的人數(shù)達(dá)到最低要求，那么消費(fèi)者可以非常便宜地購(gòu)買一件商品或一項(xiàng)服務(wù)。

　　People would nag their friends to come to the same bar or shop. The merchant would getnew customers. Groupon would take a cut.

　　人們就會(huì)要求他們的朋友去相同的酒吧或商店，商店就會(huì)有新的消費(fèi)者，Groupon也從中分一杯羹。

　　For merchants, this model has big advantages.

　　這種模式對(duì)于商店來(lái)說(shuō)有巨大的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

　　They are advertised on Groupon s phenomenally popular website. This is especially useful fornew businesses that no one has heard of.

　　他們?cè)贕roupon表面上受到大眾歡迎的網(wǎng)站上刊登廣告，這對(duì)無(wú)人知曉的新商業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)特別有用。

　　Groupon helps merchants manage capacity, too.

　　Groupon公司也幫助商家控制數(shù)量。

　　For example, a restaurant might sell vouchers that are redeemable only on Tuesdays, thusfilling tables on a quiet night.

　　比方說(shuō)，某餐館出售的抵用券只能在星期二使用，這樣就能使原本生意冷清的周二晚上爆滿。

　　Or a Pilates studio might use vouchers to manage class sizes.

　　或者某個(gè)普拉提健身房通過(guò)使用抵用券控制課程人數(shù)多少。

　　Once a client has paid for the voucher, the studio collects the fee even if she is hung-over anddoesn t turn up.

　　一旦客戶支付抵用券，即使客戶延遲且不來(lái)參加普拉提課程，健身房也會(huì)收到這筆費(fèi)用。

　　Groupon also allows merchants to charge different people different prices for the sameproduct.

　　Groupon同樣允許商家在出售同樣商品時(shí)，對(duì)不同客戶收取不同的費(fèi)用。

　　A student might buy theatre tickets on Groupon for half price. A businessman with no time toshop around online might buy the same tickets for full price.

　　學(xué)生可以在Groupon網(wǎng)站上以半價(jià)購(gòu)買電影票，而沒(méi)有時(shí)間在網(wǎng)上閑逛的商務(wù)人士可能以全價(jià)購(gòu)買相同的電影票。

　　Without Groupon, it is harder for the theatre to find out what people are willing to pay.

　　如果沒(méi)有Groupon的話，電影院很難發(fā)現(xiàn)什么樣的人原意支付。

　　It could charge both punters full price, in which case the student may stay at home.

　　如果都是收取全價(jià)的話，那么學(xué)生就會(huì)待在家里不去看電影了;

　　Or it could charge both the lower price, in which case it makes less money.

　　如果都是收取半價(jià)的話，那樣電影院賺的就少了。

　　Groupon created a new market.

　　Groupon創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)新的市場(chǎng)。

　　This is a boon to consumers, but confers no lasting first-mover advantage on Groupon.

　　這對(duì)消費(fèi)者來(lái)說(shuō)是福利，但是對(duì)于Groupon來(lái)說(shuō)并沒(méi)有持續(xù) 先發(fā)制人 的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

　　Its business model is unpatentable and simple to replicate, so there are already more than20 copycats.

　　Groupon的商業(yè)模式?jīng)]有獲得專利，而且模仿起來(lái)很簡(jiǎn)單，因此已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)超過(guò)20個(gè)模范者。

　　Groupon aspires to be global, but the markets it serves are intensely local.

　　Groupon渴望全球化，但是它服務(wù)的市場(chǎng)卻非常本地化。

　　Internet selling is best suited to experience goods .

　　網(wǎng)絡(luò)營(yíng)銷最適合 已經(jīng)體驗(yàn)過(guò)的商品 。

　　These are goods and services the quality of which you cannot judge until you experiencethem, such as haircuts and Thai meals, so there is no advantage in having abricks-and-mortar shop for people to browse in.

　　這些商品和服務(wù)的質(zhì)量只有在你購(gòu)買之后你才能判斷，比如理發(fā)、泰國(guó)食物，因此，如果網(wǎng)站上供人瀏覽的只有傳統(tǒng)實(shí)體企業(yè)，那么毫無(wú)優(yōu)勢(shì)可言。

　　The trouble with experience goods is that generally you cannot separate manufacture fromdelivery: you cannot cook a meal in Guangzhou and eat it in New York.

　　大家體驗(yàn)過(guò)的商品存在一個(gè)問(wèn)題，那就是通常你無(wú)法將生產(chǎn)與運(yùn)輸分開(kāi)：你不可能在廣州烹調(diào)，然后在紐約享用。

　　So for Groupon, each city is a separate market.

　　因此，對(duì)于Groupon來(lái)說(shuō)，每個(gè)城市都是一個(gè)獨(dú)立的市場(chǎng)。

　　In each neighbourhood, it must vie with copycats to sign up merchants. Its marketing costsare expected to be a painful $958m this year. This is why it loses money.

　　在每個(gè)街區(qū)，Groupon都要與模仿者競(jìng)爭(zhēng)登記商家。Groupon的營(yíng)銷成本將會(huì)達(dá)到9.58億美元，這正是其虧本的原因。

　　A final woe: the Groupon model is open to abuse.

　　最后的悲哀就是，這種模式公開(kāi)被濫用。

　　Nicole Peters, an avid online shopper, describes how she bought a massage via one ofGroupon s rivals.

　　網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物狂妮可?彼得斯描述她是如何從Groupon競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手哪里購(gòu)買一項(xiàng)按摩服務(wù)的。

　　The day before the appointment, the massage firm e-mailed her to say it had gone bust.

　　在預(yù)約日的前一天，按摩公司發(fā)郵件給她說(shuō)公司破產(chǎn)了。

　　Ms Peters also bought a voucher for several pairs of men s underpants. When she logged ontothe supplier s website, there were only huge pairs or bright pink ones available.

　　彼得斯女士還購(gòu)買了幾條男士?jī)?nèi)褲的兌換券，當(dāng)她登錄供應(yīng)商的網(wǎng)站時(shí)，只有大號(hào)的褲子和明亮粉紅的褲子。

　　She says she will never shop this way again.

　　她說(shuō)，她以后再也不會(huì)通過(guò)這種方式購(gòu)物了。

　　Groupon s webpage includes a guide to avoiding arguments with merchants, which suggestssuch tiffs are common.

　　Groupon的網(wǎng)頁(yè)中包括如何避免與商家扯皮的指南，這就意味著這樣的口角事件很常見(jiàn)。

　　In short, Groupon is still the king of online discounts.

　　總之，Groupon仍然是網(wǎng)購(gòu)折扣的領(lǐng)軍者。

　　But with so many pretenders around, it may be unwise to pay a premium for its shares.

　　但是隨著模仿者的異軍突起，為了購(gòu)買其股票而支付傭金就顯得不明智了。

　　On October 19th the firm was reportedly considering scaling back its IPO.

　　據(jù)報(bào)道，10月19日，Groupon考慮相應(yīng)縮減首次公開(kāi)募股的規(guī)模。