我们来想象一个奢侈品手袋:它是由奢华的皮革制成的,装着坚固的把手,能够经得起时间的考验,最后还加上了品牌方那身份感十足的商标。
这一切细节加起来,让这样一个手袋成了一笔值得付出重金的投资。
但当这同样一个奢侈品手袋的商标被拿掉之后,你还那么想要它吗?
Italic 是一家新兴的创业公司,它认为你会买这种东西,他们以奢侈品价格的零头来卖那些同样拥有奢侈品质量、但是不带品牌的商品。
Italic is a marketplace that gives shoppers access to factories making products for luxury brands like Celine, Prada, Cartier, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Givenchy, Coach, Burberry, and Miu Miu.
Italic 是一个交易平台,它让消费者可以直接接触那些给诸如 Celine、普拉达、卡地亚、Gucci、路易威登、鲁布托、纪梵希、Coach、巴宝莉以及 Miu Miu 等奢侈品牌制造产品的工厂。
Membership to Italic marketplace will cost $10 a month. In return, shoppers can buy two items monthly: think a leather tote from a Celine manufacturer for $145 (compared to $3,300 from Celine), glasses from a EssilorLuxottica factory for $70 (the brand’s Rayban frames typically cost $175), a leather jacket from a factory that works with J Brand for $425 (while a leather coat from the brand could run you $990).
Italic 平台的会员价是每月10美元。作为回报,消费者每个月可以买两件商品:想象一下,一个来自 Celine 制造商的tote手袋只需145美元(而 Celine 的售价是3300美元),EssilorLuxottica的工厂生产的眼镜只需70美元(这个品牌的雷朋眼镜框通常卖175美元),一家为 J Brand 供货的工厂生产的皮夹克只需425美元(而这个品牌本身的皮大衣可能会花掉你990美元)。
你还可以只花100美元就从给巴宝莉供货的工厂那买一条羊绒围巾,或者从给丽兹和四季酒店供货的工厂买一套床上用品。
由于这个模式是把不带品牌的奢侈品以不加溢价的售价卖给消费者,Italic 的创始人 Jeremy Cai 把他的这家创业公司称为“真正意义上的高端直销”。
“Both luxury and direct to consumer brands mark their products up, with the former spending money on fancy marketing and the latter giving money to Facebook and Google so shoppers find them, but the factories never see that money,” Cai said a few weeks ago.
Cai 几周前说:“不管是奢侈品牌还是高端直销品牌都会给自己的产品加溢价,前者是花钱做了酷炫的营销活动,后者是把钱付给了Facebook或者Google,两种方法都是为了让消费者看到他们,但这些钱从来不会流到工厂那里。”
“Gucci’s markup is 10X. Casper, Allbirds, or whoever, say their prices are lower because they are cutting out the middleman, but they are also a middleman. Italic, on the other hand, gives consumers the ability to buy straight from the world’s best factories, at a factory price.”
“Gucci 的溢价是10倍。Casper和Allbirds之类的说他们通过消除中间商削减了价格,但他们本身也是中间商。而 Italic 则让消费者可以直接以出厂价从世界最好的工厂买产品。”
Cai 说它的公司是在“创造一种全新的购物门类”。而他的这家公司来得正是时候,因为现在的消费者非常注重性价比。
Italic 是这场无品牌零售浪潮的最新入局者,他们的设想是:比起品牌名称,消费者更看重质量;如果价格合适,消费者愿意舍弃品牌。
Italic 的平台现在才刚起步,只售卖皮具、家私产品和眼镜。
很快,他们还会售卖护肤品(来自给蓓丽供货的工厂)以及运动休闲装(来自给 Alo Yoga 供货的工厂)。
电动牙刷和行李箱一类的玩意儿也会有的。
On its website, Italic is explicit about where the products come from.
在它的网站上,Italic 把每件商品来自哪里写得很详细。
The site tells shoppers flat out that they are buying handbags that are “made by in the same factory as Prada” and “creams made from the same ingredients as La Mer.”
网站会直接告诉消费者他们正在买的这个手袋来自“给普拉达供货的工厂”,还有“使用了和海蓝之谜相同原料的面霜”。
“We would never work with a factory that solely relies on one client for their revenue,” he says. “Our factories are huge, well-established ones that have been in the business for 50, 60 years and have over 30,000 employees.”
Cai 说:“我们绝不会找那种只依赖单一客户赚钱的工厂。我们合作的工厂都是大型的、组织完备的,他们已经经营了5、60年,员工超过30000人。”
为了避免版权纠纷,所有为 Italic 供货的设计都是新的,任何一个有一点点抄袭风险的东西他们都不卖。
不过,虽然 Italic 很急切地想吸引那些渴望高质量商品的消费者,但奢侈品行业并不是个赢者通吃的市场。
“There is, and always be, a place in this world for great brands, Italic is more focused on the consumer who cares less about the badge and more about the product they are getting.”
“世界上总还是有人想买大牌的。Italic 只是照顾了那些比起品牌更在乎产品质量的消费者。”
“We are never going to have the Gucci handbag shopper buying a handbag from us,” Cai adds. “But that shopper cares about good-quality leather, and so maybe they will buy a brandless leather jacket from us, or brandless skin care.”
Cai 补充到:“我们肯定不能让买 Gucci 的人来买我们的手袋。但这样的消费者肯定想要高品质的皮革,所以他们可能会从我们这买一件没有品牌的皮夹克,或者一款没有品牌的护肤品。”
OK,来讲讲今天的词 markup
它的意思是“加价”、“溢价”,要表示“给……加价”要用 mark sth. up
那么,我们来造个句子吧~
Many wine in restaurants is over-priced with a markup which can be as high as 200%.
很多餐厅里的酒都是过度定价的,溢价可以高达200%。