I've had Amazon on my mind lately, partly because I'm reading Brad Stone's interesting book, The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon.

    I've described in earlier blog posts how Amazon (AMZN) is a brutal competitor for brick and mortar merchants due to their large and growing cost advantages and a maniacal commitment (at least most of the time) to having the lowest prices anywhere. (You can read more about it here.) These same drivers also make Amazon a heavyweight competitor for e-commerce companies.

    Much attention has been paid to the concept of "show-rooming" at brick and mortar stores, where customers use their smartphones to compare the cost of a product on a physical store's shelf against online competitors -- typically Amazon. But immediate cost-comparison is a fact of life, online or off. Amazon is a monster competitor to online merchants as well.

    Amazon enjoys economies of scale far beyond their online competition, and they can use that power to offer hyper-aggressive prices and fast, cheap shipping. Here is a simple illustration of their scale, using data from Internet Retailer:  

    我最近一直在思考亚马逊（Amazon）这家公司，部分原因是因为我近来正在读布拉德•斯隆的一本有趣的著作——《什么都卖的商店：杰夫•贝佐斯与亚马逊的时代》。

    我之前曾在一篇博文中谈到过，亚马逊是怎样通过越来越大的成本优势以及疯狂追逐最低价格（至少大部分时间是这样），从而对实体商家形成重大威胁的。（有兴趣的读者可点击此处进行延伸阅读。）同理，亚马逊对于其它电子商务公司来说也是一个重大的竞争对手。

    很多人都知道，实体店几乎已经成了网购的“样品间”。很多顾客一走进实体店就掏出智能手机，把货架上的价格与电商的价格进行对比——通常而言那家电商就是亚马逊。消费者爱比价是不争的事实，不论网上网下无不如此。而亚马逊对其它电商也是一个杀手级的竞争对手。

    亚马逊比其它电商更喜欢玩规模经济，而且它们可以利用这种实力提供极其具有杀伤力的价格和快捷便宜的快递服务。下图就是亚马逊的规模经济示意图，数据来自亚马逊。

    Amazon is larger than the next dozen largest e-tailers -- COMBINED! Its resulting scale advantages are staggering. And they aggressively re-invest the benefits of this scale into even lower prices and faster, cheaper shipping that in turn lead to growth and further scale advantages. When we consider an e-commerce investment at a16z, we always strive to carefully evaluate the risk of competition from Amazon. They're not just a heavyweight -- they're the heavyweight champion of the world.

    So how do you compete with Amazon? Here are some strategies that we're seeing in the market from both offline and online retailers. Not all are mutually exclusive -- i.e., many companies deploy multiple strategies:  

    从第二名以降，十几家规模最大的网商绑成一团，也比不上亚马逊一家的规模！由此可见亚马逊的规模优势非常巨大，而且他们还积极利用这种规模经济带来的优势进行再投资，让商品价格更低，快递服务更快、更便宜，以带动增长和进一步的规模优势。所以当我们的霍洛维茨基金考虑每一笔电商领域投资的时候，都要努力地仔细评估来自亚马逊的竞争风险。他们不是一句“重量级”就可以形容的——他们是全世界的重量级冠军。

    那么，怎样才能和亚马逊竞争呢？以下是我们在网上和网下的零售商那里观察到的一些策略。其中有些策略可以并行不悖，很多公司就同时采取了其中的好几种。

    Sell differentiated products

    Amazon's sales skew heavily towards "hard-lines," things like media, electronics, home and garden, and toys. Most best-selling hard-line products are produced by large manufacturers that market them heavily and distribute them broadly through multiple retail channels. They are essentially commodities, identified by a standardized Universal Product Code (aka, U.P.C.). An example is a Canon digital camera; once Canon's ads convince you that you might want a Canon camera, you know you can shop for it pretty much anywhere. And for most commodities, price is the key differentiator. Consumers know that Amazon almost always has the lowest prices, along with free and fast shipping.

    Many retailers try to "hit 'em where they ain't" and sell in categories where Amazon is less dominant. Soft-line is one choice. While Amazon is trying to build up this business, they have not achieved anywhere near the dominance that they have on the hard-line side. Online companies like NastyGal and Zappos (before their acquisition by Amazon) and offline companies like Nordstrom (JWN) and Neiman Marcus have successfully pursued soft-line strategies and have managed to weather competition from Amazon. Home improvement retailers also have a shot, as products that "I need today" or bulky, heavy items are less suited to online distribution.

    A related strategy is to feature products from companies that typically are not distributed or searched for on Amazon. a16z has two investments in companies that primarily sell goods from design firms that lack extensive national distribution. Zulily does this in kids' and moms' apparel, and Fab does this in design. These designers lack broad awareness, so users do not typically find these products when searching on Amazon.

    Develop your own products

    Many retailers compete with Amazon by developing their own products. These products can be largely insulated from direct price comparison as they are proprietary and the producing company can elect not to have them sold by other online retailers. A number of the best performing offline chains pursue this strategy, including Lululemon (LULU) and Victoria's Secret. Online retailers like Chloe & Isabel in jewelry, Julep in cosmetics, ShoeDazzle in women's shoes, and Poppin in office goods are pursuing this strategy as well (note: Andreessen Horowitz is an investor in Julep and ShoeDazzle).

    While it's clearly much more work to design and source your own products, retailers that do are often rewarded with higher gross margins as they both cut out expensive middlemen and avoid head-to-head price competition.

    Merchandise product differently

    Amazon.com, at its core, is a search engine for products. They are strongest when consumers know pretty much exactly what they are looking for, and many consumers use Amazon's ubiquitous search box. Merchandising on Amazon is almost completely algorithmic -- things like "others searching for 'x' also looked at 'y' and 'z.'" I know of very few folks who browse Amazon in the traditional merchandising sense of the word.

    A number of companies are trying to compete with Amazon by building a great browse experience, showing consumers a targeted assortment of attractively displayed products. Offline retailers have done this through beautiful window displays and in-store end caps. And a new breed of online merchants is doing this, too, although it's often referred to as "curation." Price is not typically top of mind when consumers make these impulse purchases.

    销售差异化的产品

    亚马逊卖的东西很多都是“硬货”，比如多媒体、电子、家电、玩具、园艺产品等。大多数畅销的“硬货”都是由大型制造商生产的，通过多种零售渠道进行广泛推广。根据标准的通用产品代码（如U.P.C.）的定义，它们本质上都是商品。一个例子就是佳能（Canon）的数码相机，一旦佳能的数码相机广告让你心动了，你知道你差不多在任何地方都能买到这样一台相机。而且对于大多数商品来说，最关键的差异点就是价格。消费者们知道，亚马逊几乎总能搞到最低价，货运还是免费的，而且速度很快。

    因此，许多零售商尝试“放开大路，占领两厢”，在亚马逊的主宰力较弱的领域进行销售。“软货”就是一个选择。虽然亚马逊也想搞好这项业务，但目前它在这个领域还没有达到它在“硬货”领域的主宰程度。比如像被亚马逊收购之前的NastyGal（主打时尚前卫小清新风格的服饰网站）和Zappos（美国知名卖鞋网站），以及实体商场诺德斯特龙（Nordstrom）和奢华时尚精品店Neiman Marcus等都成功地实施了“软货”战略，并且成功地在与亚马逊的竞争中存活了下来。家居零售商在这个领域也有机会，比如有些产品是“我今天就需要的”，再比如一些不太适合网购的沉重的大块头商品。

    还有一个相关的策略，就是主打一般在亚马逊上很少能见到或很少能搜索到的产品。比如霍洛维茨基金有两笔投资就是给了两家这样的公司，他们主要销售一些在全国没有普遍销售渠道的设计公司的产品。比如Zulily主要做母婴产品，而Fab则主打创意类小商品。这些设计师的知名度一般不高，所以用户在亚马逊上搜索时一般找不到这些产品。

    开发自有产品

    许多零售商通过直接开发自己的产品与亚马逊竞争。由于这些产品是零售商专有的，因而一般可以避免直接的比价，同时生产这些产品的公司也可以选择禁止其它电商去销售它们。不少优秀的线下连锁企业都采用了这个战略，包括露露柠檬（Lululemon）和维多利亚的秘密（Victoria's Secret）等知名品牌。其它一些网商也采取了这个策略，比如做珠宝的Chloe & Isabel、做化妆品的Julep、做女鞋的ShoeDazzle、做办公用品的Poppin等。（注：霍洛维茨基金也是Julep和ShoeDazzle的投资方。）

    尽管设计和开发自己的产品显然要耗费更多的精力，但是这样做的零售商们一般都会获得更高的毛利润，因为他们毕竟免去了中间环节的费用，同时也避免了硬碰硬的价格战。

    换种方式卖产品

    从核心上说，亚马逊网站是一个产品的搜索引擎。消费者确切地知道他们想买的是什么的时候，亚马逊可以说是最强大的，许多消费者也都在使用亚马逊的搜索框。在亚马逊上卖东西差不多完全靠算法的规则 ，比如“搜索‘甲’的时候同时考虑一下‘乙’和‘丙’”。很少有人用传统的推销语义在亚马逊上浏览产品。

    有不少公司正在打造出色的浏览体验，借助非常有吸引力的展示方法，向消费者展示一系列定向的精选产品，借此来与亚马逊进行竞争。许多线下零售商也通过漂亮的展示橱窗和展示柜来吸引顾客。现在有一批新型网商也在用这种法子，不过他们的做法通常被称为“策划展览”。消费者进行此类冲动消费时，价格通常不是他们首先考虑的因素。

    Deploy alternative distribution strategies

    A number of online retailers are trying to put themselves directly in front of consumers before they think to consider searching for a product on Amazon. "Flash sales" companies like One Kings Lane and The Clymb send daily emails that display an assortment of goods at attractive prices. Other companies like Birch Box or Trunk Club use a subscription model that sends you a highly curated selection of products, typically on a monthly basis.

    Leverage unique advantages

    Compared to Amazon, brick and mortar retailers are at a disadvantage because of their higher real estate, labor, and inventory costs. But a number of merchants are trying to flip this disadvantage on its head and put their network of local stores to use. Wal-Mart has allowed consumers to pick up online orders at their local store on the day it was ordered. Last holiday season, the retail giant launched a test of same-day delivery for online orders from its stores in a number of cities. Both take advantage of Wal-Mart's massive inventory in geographically spread out locations. And in a creative twist, the company is considering crowdsourcing its local, same-day delivery to Wal-Mart (WMT) customers, who would receive discounts on their shopping bill in exchange for their efforts.

    Alternatively, Williams-Sonoma has used both its store locations and catalogs to build its online business. They have been willing to cannibalize themselves, believing that someone else will do it if they don't. Over 40% of its revenue now comes through the online channel.

    It's clear that e-commerce is highly advantaged vis-à-vis offline retail and will continue to grow. The more relevant question to consider is how e-commerce companies will compete with Amazon.

    Amazon will always be able to pummel other e-tailers on price and probably on shipping as their scale advantages are virtually unassailable. Companies that hope to compete with Amazon successfully have to adopt different tactics. As when Cassius Clay (now Muhammad Ali) prepared to fight heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, they're going to have to "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

    Jeff Jordan is a partner at Andreessen Horowitz and is on the boards of AirBnB, Belly, Fab, Circle, Crowdtilt, Lookout and Pinterest, as well as Wealthfront and Zoosk. Prior to a16z, Jeff was president and CEO of OpenTable, which he took public in 2009. Before OpenTable, Jeff was president of PayPal, and he was previously the SVP and general manager of eBay North America.

    部署替代推广战略

    有些在线零售商希望消费者在想到上亚马逊搜索产品前，能够先把自己直接置于消费者眼前。比如像One Kings Lane和The Clymb这种“限时抢购”公司每天都会通过电子邮件向顾客发送一系列限时抢购的产品信息，价格非常有吸引力。另外像Birch Box和Trunk Club等公司还采取了订阅模式，向用户发送一份经过高度筛选的产品清单，一般是每月发送一次。

    利用独特的优势

    和亚马逊相比，实体店由于房租、员工、存货成本等原因而存在一定的先天劣势。不过有不少线下商家正在试图化劣势为优势，充分利用当地的门店网络。比如沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）就允许顾客在上网下单的当天就近前往当地门店领取网购的商品。去年的假日季中，沃尔玛在美国数个城市试点推出了本地门店网上订单的当日递送业务。这两种办法都利用了沃尔玛巨大的库存优势和无所不在的地缘优势。而且沃尔玛还创造性地尝试把它的本地当日递送业务采取众包的方式包给沃尔玛的顾客，替沃尔玛送货的顾客会在购物时获得相应的折扣作为回报。

    家居用品零售商Williams-Sonoma也已经利用它的实体店和产品目录构建起了自己的在线业务。他们之所以愿意建立电商平台来自己与自己竞争，原因是因为他们相信，如果他们自己不做，就会有别人来做。现在这家公司40%以上的营收入都是来自在线渠道。

    显然电子商务与实体零售相比存在着高度的竞争优势，而且电子商务无疑还会继续增长。因此，更值得考虑的问题是，其他电商企业应该如何与亚马逊进行竞争。

    亚马逊的规模优势可以说无懈可击，因此今后它仍然能够继续在价格和快递服务上重创其它电商。如果有企业想在与亚马逊的竞争中获得成功，就必须采用一些不同的战略。就像卡修斯•克莱（也就是后来大名鼎鼎的拳王阿里）在大战重量级拳王索尼•利斯顿之前所说的那样，他们须得“舞动如蝴蝶，蜇人如蜜峰”。

    本文作者是安德里森•霍洛维茨基金的合伙人，也是AirBnB、Belly、Fab、Circle、Crowdtilt、Lookout、Pinterest、Wealthfront和Zoosk等公司的董事会成员。他在加盟霍洛维茨基金之前曾任OpenTable公司的总裁兼CEO，并于2009年带领这家公司上市。在此之前，他曾任贝宝总裁，并曾任eBay北美高级副总裁兼总经理。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎