山姆拿什么留住百万会员

近日，山姆会员商店的选品问题引发广泛关注。部分回购率高、性价比高的商品下架，不少网友质疑其选品质量下滑。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Why does the writer mention details like serial numbers on eggs and the rearing of black pork?

A. To illustrate how Sam's Club appeals to safety-conscious Chinese consumers

B. To explain Chinese regulations on food traceability

C. To suggest Sam's Club imports most of its premium food

D. To show that Sam's Club is more concerned with packaging than product quality

无注释原文：

Sam's Club, Your Store for Premium Goods and Rare Imports (in China)

From: The Wall Street Journal

Some foreign businesses have a hard time being as successful in China as they are at home. It's the opposite for Sam's Club, the membership chain owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Sam's Club has struggled in the U.S. to attract higher-income consumers it covets, analysts say, in part because the chain is closely associated with Wal-Mart, which focuses on budget-minded households.

That association hasn't been an issue for Sam's in China, which is home to three of the top five Sam's Club stores world-wide as measured by sales.

“That target core member is a mom around 35 to 40 years old,” said Andrew Miles, president of Sam's in China. “She wants better-quality products. She's concerned about food safety and quality. She's willing to pay for premium products, but she wants value.”

Sam's success is a reminder that retailers must tailor brands and products to meet the needs of specific groups, said Ben Cavender of China Market Research Group.

“They've done a good job of segmenting the market and being choosy about who they market to and where they open their stores,” Mr. Cavender said of Sam's.

Visiting a Sam's Club here means a blizzard of pitches. Food samples abound, and there are dozens of product demos for shoppers to watch, for Dyson vacuum cleaners, Bose speakers and Oster juicers—many more than are found in a typical U.S. store, Mr. Miles said.

The retailer also makes an effort to describe its products to Chinese customers, advertising that its “black pork” specialty meat is reared for at least 200 days among the mountains and pine forests of northeastern China. Fresh eggs are guaranteed to be no more than 12 days old, and each egg has a printed serial number members can type into their smartphones to learn production date, origin and other details.

Mr. Miles added the top-grossing store benefits from another feature that would be familiar to U.S. customers: parking. The store became No. 1 shortly after it moved to a new location with more parking spaces, he noted.

“Our target members pretty much all drive to the club,” Mr. Miles said. “The car park is crucial.”

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Sam's Club, Your Store for Premium Goods and Rare Imports (in China)

From: The Wall Street Journal

Some foreign businesses have a hard time being as successful in China as they are at home. It's the opposite for Sam's Club, the membership chain owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

对于一些外国公司而言，要在中国创造他们在本土市场的辉煌非常困难。但对于沃尔玛连锁公司（Wal-Mart Stores Inc., WMT）旗下山姆会员商店（Sam's Club）来说却恰恰相反。

表示“会员资格，会员身份，会籍”，英文解释为“the state of belonging to an organization”举个🌰：You have to apply for membership of the sports club. 这家体育俱乐部的会员资格必须经过申请才能取得。

chain /tʃeɪn/ 1）表示“链条，链子；锁链；项链”，英文解释为“(a length of) rings usually made of metal that are connected together and used for fastening, pulling, supporting, or limiting freedom, or as jewellery”举个🌰：The gates were locked with a padlock and a heavy steel chain. 大门被一把挂锁和一根沉重的钢链锁着。

2）表示“一连串，一系列（的事物）”，英文解释为“a set of connected or related things”

3）表示“（尤指跨城市、跨国家）连锁商店（或酒店）”，英文解释为“a group of shops/stores or hotels owned by the same company or person, especially in different places.”

Sam's Club has struggled in the U.S. to attract higher-income consumers it covets, analysts say, in part because the chain is closely associated with Wal-Mart, which focuses on budget-minded households.

分析人士称，在美国市场，这一会员连锁店在吸引高收入消费者方面进展并不顺利，其中一个原因就是该店与沃尔玛关系密切，而后者的主要目标客户是那些精打细算的家庭。

表示“觊觎，垂涎（尤指他人之物）；贪求，渴望”，英文解释为“to want to have something very much, especially something that belongs to someone else”举个🌰：She always coveted power but never quite achieved it. 她一直贪求权力，但从未得逞。

That association hasn't been an issue for Sam's in China, which is home to three of the top five Sam's Club stores world-wide as measured by sales.

这种关系对于中国的山姆会员商店来说并不是问题，目前按销售额排名全球前五的山姆会员商店中有三家位于中国。

“That target core member is a mom around 35 to 40 years old,” said Andrew Miles, president of Sam's in China. “She wants better-quality products. She's concerned about food safety and quality. She's willing to pay for premium products, but she wants value.”

山姆会员商店中国区总裁文安德（Andrew Miles）称，他们的核心目标会员是年龄在35-40岁的妈妈，这部分人群想买质量更好的产品，看重食品安全和质量，愿意为优质产品买单，但也希望买得值。

premium /ˈpriːmɪəm/ 1）作形容词，表示“高昂的；优质的；高端的”，英文解释为“very high (and higher than usual); of high quality”如：premium prices/products 奇高的价格；优质产品。

2）作名词，表示“奖金，津贴；加价；附加费”，英文解释为“A premium is a sum of money that you have to pay for something in addition to the normal cost.”举个🌰：Even if customers want "solutions," most are not willing to pay a premium for them. 即使顾客们想要“解决方案”，大部分人不愿意为此支付附加费。

Sam's success is a reminder that retailers must tailor brands and products to meet the needs of specific groups, said Ben Cavender of China Market Research Group.

市场研究公司China Market Research Group分析师Ben Cavender表示，从山姆会员商店的成功可以看出，中国迅速壮大的中产阶层愿花更多的钱购买高质量商品，零售商必须为特定群体量身定制品牌和产品以满足其需求。

表示“专门制作，使适应特定需要”，英文解释为“to make or prepare something following particular instructions”举个🌰：We tailor any of our products to your company's specific needs. 我们可以根据贵公司的特定需求定制产品。

“They've done a good job of segmenting the market and being choosy about who they market to and where they open their stores,” Mr. Cavender said of Sam's.

Cavender表示，山姆会员商店在细分市场、挑选目标顾客和店面选址方面做得非常出色。

segment /ˈseɡ.mənt/ 1）作名词，可以表示“（群体或事物的）部分，片，段；（柑橘、柠檬的）瓣；（圆的一部分）弓形”，举个🌰：She cleaned a small segment of the painting. 她擦干净了这幅画的一小部分。

2）表示“分割；划分”，英文解释为“to divide sth into different parts”举个🌰：Market researchers often segment the population on the basis of age and social class. 市场研究人员常常按年龄和社会阶层划分人口。

3）表示“（电视、广播或互联网节目的）节，段”，英文解释为“a short piece of film that forms part of a television or radio programme, or that is broadcast on the internet”举个🌰：CNN last week broadcast a segment on homicides in the city. CNN上周播出了有关这座城市凶杀状况节目的一段。

choosy /ˈtʃuː.zi/ 表示“挑剔的；难讨好的；难伺候的”，英文解释为“difficult to please because you are very exact about what you like”举个🌰：She's very choosy about what she eats and drinks. 她对饮食非常挑剔。

Visiting a Sam's Club here means a blizzard of pitches. Food samples abound, and there are dozens of product demos for shoppers to watch, for Dyson vacuum cleaners, Bose speakers and Oster juicers—many more than are found in a typical U.S. store, Mr. Miles said.

山姆会员商店里的产品琳琅满目。文安德称，店里提供很多试吃，还有几十种产品可以为顾客现场演示，比如戴森（Dyson）真空吸尘器、博士（Bose）音响和奥士达（Oster）榨汁机；与典型的美国山姆会员商店相比，中国的会员商店要丰富得多。

blizzard /ˈblɪz.əd/ 1）表示“暴风雪；雪暴”，英文解释为“a severe snow storm with strong winds”举个🌰：We once got stuck in a blizzard for six hours. 我们曾被暴风雪困了6个小时之久。

2）表示“大量繁乱的事（物）”，英文解释为“a large amount of something that arrives or is produced together in a confusing or badly organized way”如：a blizzard of statistics/handouts 繁乱的统计数字/雪片般的传单。

pitch /pɪtʃ/ 作名词 1）表示“投球”，英文解释为“a throw in a baseball game”如：a good/bad pitch 质量好/差的投球。

2）表示“运动场地；（尤指）足球场”，英文解释为“an area painted with lines for playing particular sports, especially football”如：a football/hockey/cricket pitch 足球/曲棍球/板球赛场。

3）表示“（尤指乐音的）音高”，英文解释为“how high or low a sound is, especially a musical note”举个🌰：A basic sense of rhythm and pitch is essential in a music teacher. 基本的韵律感和音高感是音乐教师的必备素质。

4）表示“（感情、活动等的）程度，力度；（事物的）最高点”，英文解释为“the degree or strength of a feeling or activity; the highest point of sth”举个🌰：By this time their disagreement had reached such a pitch that there was no hope of an amicable conclusion. 此时，他们的分歧已如此之大，不可能善罢罢休。

5）表示“摊位”，英文解释为“a place in a public area where a person regularly sells goods or performs”

作动词，pitch /pɪtʃ/ 表示“竭力劝说”，英文解释为“to try to persuade someone to do something”举个🌰：She pitched her idea to me over a business lunch. 她在一次吃工作午餐时竭力向我游说她的想法。

📍“pitch”还是一个商业术语，通常用于描述提出一个想法、产品、服务或企业给潜在的投资者、客户或合作伙伴的过程。可以将它翻译为“推销”，“销售提案”或“推介”。

vacuum /ˈvæk.juːm/ 作动词，表示“用吸尘器清扫”，英文解释为“to use a vacuum cleaner to collect dust, dirt, etc.”

作名词，1）表示“真空”，英文解释为“A vacuum is a space that contains no air or other gas.”举个🌰：Wind is a current of air caused by a vacuum caused by hot air rising. 风是由热空气上升产生真空而引起的空气流动。

2）表示“空缺”，英文解释为“If someone or something creates a vacuum, they leave a place or position that then needs to be filled by another person or thing.”举个🌰：His presence should fill the power vacuum that has been developing over the past few days. 他的出现应该能填补过去几天中形成的权力空缺。

3）vacuum /ˈvæk.juːm/ 表示“真空吸尘器（同vacuum cleaner）”

短语：in a vacuum /ˈvæk.juːm/ 表示“似在真空中；与世隔绝”，英文解释为“kept separate from other people and activities”举个🌰：No artist works in a vacuum - we are all of us influenced by others. 没有哪个艺术工作者可以脱离现实——我们都受到他人的影响。

The retailer also makes an effort to describe its products to Chinese customers, advertising that its “black pork” specialty meat is reared for at least 200 days among the mountains and pine forests of northeastern China. Fresh eggs are guaranteed to be no more than 12 days old, and each egg has a printed serial number members can type into their smartphones to learn production date, origin and other details.

山姆会员商店还花了不少心思向中国消费者描述产品，比如在“山黑猪肉”的广告中强调，这种在中国东北长白山林间散养的猪生长期至少有200天。山姆会员商店还承诺，只卖不超过12天的鲜鸡蛋，并且每颗鸡蛋表面都有喷码，会员可将序列号输入智能手机，查询生产日期、原产地等信息。

specialty /ˈspeʃ.əl.ti/ 1）表示“专业；专长”，英文解释为“a subject that someone knows a lot about”举个🌰：LR's specialty is computer science. LR的专业是计算机科学。

2）表示“（地方）特产”，英文解释为“a product that is extremely good in a particular place”举个🌰：Oysters are a local specialty of the area. 牡蛎是当地的特产。

作形容词，表示“后部的；后面的；背部的”，英文解释为“at the back of something”举个🌰：There's a sticker on the rear door/window. 后门/后窗户上贴着一张纸条。

作动词，表示“抚养；养育；培养”，英文解释为“to care for young children or animals until they are fully grown”举个🌰：She reared a family of five on her own. 她一个人养活五个孩子。

作名词，the rear表示“后面；后部；背部”，英文解释为“the back part of something”举个🌰：We walked round to the rear of the house. 我们绕道走到房子的后面。

Mr. Miles added the top-grossing store benefits from another feature that would be familiar to U.S. customers: parking. The store became No. 1 shortly after it moved to a new location with more parking spaces, he noted.

文安德还称，营收最高的会员店还得益于大型停车场这个美国消费者熟悉的特色。他称，这家店在搬到有更多停车位的新址后，没多久就在业绩上拔得头筹。

top-grossing用于描述赚取最多收入或产生最大营业额的事物，常用于电影或演唱会等娱乐产品，英文解释为“used to describe a product or service, especially a film, that earns more money than any other”。例如，一部电影如果在票房收入中排名第一，就可以称之为"top-grossing movie"，即“最高票房的电影”。

gross可以作名词，也可以作动词，表示“总收入为，总共赚得，获得…毛利”，英文解释为“to earn a particular amount of money before tax is paid or costs are taken away”举个🌰：The film has grossed over $200 million this year. 这部电影今年总收入超过了两亿美元。

🎬电影《皮克斯的故事》（The Pixar Story）中的台词提到：making it the new highest grossing animated film in history. 成为历史上最卖座的动画电影。

“Our target members pretty much all drive to the club,” Mr. Miles said. “The car park is crucial.”

文安德称，山姆会员商店的目标会员基本上都是开车来购物，因此停车场相当关键。

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