Authority Magazine隸屬于Medium publication集團，是一家緻力于分享商業、電影、體育、科技等系列訪談的權威媒體，擅長用特有的人物訪談形式描繪極具力量與深度的故事，曾發表過《女性颠覆者》《未來已來》《女性健康》《動蕩時期成為高效上司者的五要素》《在我成為CEO之前希望有人告訴我的五件事》等頗受歡迎的欄目，目标讀者涵蓋商業成功人士、高校學者、科技工作者、創業者、文藝愛好者，影響廣泛。
在近期的未來零售系列中，訪談者Orlando Zayast邀請到埃森哲戰略零售業務闆塊總經理Brooks Kitchel、雲拿科技（Cloudpick）聯合創始人兼進階副總裁Rosie Zhang等零售數字化領域的專家圍繞行業發展進行了深度交流。
本次将為大家帶來對話雲拿科技Rosie Zhang的精彩内容。
Orlando Zayast：
非常感謝您能成為未來零售系列的嘉賓！在深入探讨之前，我們的讀者希望對您有更深入的了解，能否跟我們分享一下是什麼讓您走上了這條職業道路？
Rosie Zhang：
2016 年，我在美國加州大學工程學院的工作中結識了許多優秀的科學家、教授以及充滿活力和創造力的同學。他們都具有強烈的社會責任感，堅信自己可以利用知識創造出功能良好、高效且低成本的獨特産品，進而改變人們生活、提升人類的幸福感。
我們的創業靈感來自于校友經營的一家冰淇淋店。有一天，他抱怨全職員工難找，兼職員工的日程很難安排而且離職率非常高，有的員工教育訓練完就離職了，收銀工作也總是出錯。此外，這家門店計算冰淇淋庫存的方式也很陳舊——用塑膠尺測量桶的深度，是以每天都在面臨平衡庫存的挑戰。
針對這些問題，一些來自工學院的小夥伴們嘗試利用計算機視覺技術和編碼來優化排班和任務配置設定的算法，以及冰淇淋的庫存管理。結果，經測算發現第一季度門店營運效率提升了95.7%。
幾個月後，我們有幸獲得了天使輪融資，由此開啟了實體零售的創新之旅，并于2017年7月成立了雲拿科技。
In 2016, I worked in the College of Engineering at the University of California where I met many excellent scientists, professors, and students full of vitality and creativity. Most importantly, they have a strong sense of social responsibility. They believe they can use knowledge to create unique products that can be well functioning, efficient, and low-cost, changing people's lives and increasing their happiness.
Our entrepreneurial idea came from an ice cream store operated by my schoolmate. One day, he complained that it was challenging to find full-time employees and hard to arrange part-time employees' schedules. The turnover rate for part-timers also was very high. Some employees left right after they finished training, and there were always mistakes at the cashier. The store measured the inventory of ice cream used for more than 100 years: they measured the depth of a bucket with a plastic ruler and faced the challenge of balancing inventory every day.
Therefore, a few of us in the School of Engineering tried to use computer vision and coding to optimize the algorithm for shifts-scheduling and task assignment,as well as inventory management of ice cream. As a result, the store operation efficiency increased by 95.7% in the first quarter based on measurements and calculations.
A few months later, we were fortunate to receive the angel round of funding and started our journey of physical retail innovation. We went on to establish Cloudpick in July 2017 from those sweet beginnings.
目前您是否在籌備激動人心的全新項目？您認為這個項目會給人們帶來哪些幫助？
目前，我們正面向辦公樓和學校食堂推出自動化便利店項目。使用我們的技術後，想要購買零食、飲料的上班族或師生們就會感到非常友善。
現階段，我們都在努力應對來自疫情的沖擊，而自動化便利店項目就能憑借無需觸摸任何東西（包括螢幕）的優勢讓整個購物流程更加安全。顧客隻需走進商店，拿起商品，走出閘機，即刻結算，如果不想與人互動，就無需進行任何接觸與交流。
最新零售調查表明，43%的英國人（超過2000萬人）希望在購物過程中盡可能少與他人互動。疫情期間，世界各地的人們也更青睐信用卡或無人收銀的支付方式。是以相比以往，目前這種無接觸和無人收銀的便利店項目越來越受大家歡迎。
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.
您有哪些建議給到同行來幫助他們茁壯成長？
彼得·德魯克曾經說過：“如果你無法衡量它，那麼你就無法改善它。”
在真實商業世界中，你必須非常明确自己對目标的承諾并進行針對性的拆解。準确估算沙漏中的沙子流動的節奏，這有助于讓你更專注地解決問題并為顧客帶來最大的價值。在沙漏中的沙子耗盡之前，自己要成長出把沙漏翻轉過來的核心産品能力。
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.
如果沒有他人的幫助，我們很難快速獲得成功。是否可以分享一下，走到現在您特别感激的人以及所發生的故事？
回憶整個創業之旅，最重要的是身邊這一群有遠見卓識、貢獻精神并且值得信任的同僚。我非常感謝身邊能夠圍繞着這些優秀的同僚以及相信我們的理想終将實作的朋友。幾乎所有的創始合夥人都是來自知名大企業、薪酬豐厚的專家，但他們願意放棄眼前可觀的收入，接受挑戰，緻力于将完全創新的想法付諸現實，這是一種非常勇敢、非常令人欽佩的選擇。
在他們最初加入雲拿科技的時候，為了節省資金，我們選擇的辦公地點并不理想。而為了投入更多時間一起工作，一些聯合創始人還在附近合租了一套房子，并且常常工作到淩晨。很多時候，他們步行回家隻是為了在路上開另一場會議。
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.
您是否思考過如何通過自己的努力來造福世界？
顧客在我們賦能的自動化商店内享受購物旅程的同時，可以通過推送通知和店内智能廣告展示系統獲得最新的促銷資訊和優惠券。同時，智能價簽也會由店員遠端調整，或是根據情況自動變更。是以不難預見，通過列印廣告和優惠券來提供最新促銷資訊的傳統方法必然會成為曆史。
店員和管理者也得以從簡單、重複、低價值的勞動中解放出來，專注于創造性的工作并以更愉悅的心情為顧客提供服務。同時，還能從實時的線上報告中擷取有關商店活動和産品銷售的所有資料，以此取代傳統的書面工作。
商店管理者也将以一種更高效的方式開啟一天的工作。在踏入辦公室之前，他們就能在遠端通知中獲悉商店營運狀态，進而計劃一天的行程，例如為哪些商店補貨以及上架哪些商品。通過集中安排，可以規劃一條更高效的補貨路線，減少重複工作，節省時間和成本。
在零售商們的經營過程中，最大的财務壓力來源于租金。是以零售商們都希望自己的商店能為顧客提供全天候的服務，最大限度利用店面，但往往會面臨夜班人員難招等問題。我們可以為零售商們提供相關解決方案，確定他們在深夜時段也能正常營業，周末同樣如此。總而言之，自動化商店不僅能為顧客提供全天候的服務，也将解放門店營運人員，擁有更多與家人、朋友一起享受生活的時光。
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.
聽起來非常棒！接下來是本次訪談中一個非常重要的問題。這場疫情改變了我們生活中的很多方面，其中之一便是許多人已經完成了從線下購物到線上購物的轉變。能否分享一些不同的看法及相關示例，表明大型零售商店也在采取措施以适應後疫情時代？
疫情迫使更多零售商開始思考線上線下融合的緊迫性。因為網購的效率高度依賴供應鍊和物流，是以線下門店作為社群生活的基礎設施依舊是不可替代的。但是疫情也加速了線下門店的數字化趨勢，可以說，讓線下零售具備與線上零售同等的數字化能力，已然成為了大型零售企業未來五年必須解決的戰略問題。
想象一下，在疫情爆發期間，店員無需因為收銀工作而面臨病毒威脅，隻需一部手機就能遠端管控門店及庫存。得益于實時的缺貨提醒功能，店員每周隻需進行兩到三次補貨。此外，AI系統還可以根據顧客的曆史購物資料或拿放情況，觸發相關廣告，進行個性化的商品推薦。
最後，就像我之前提到的那樣，顧客走進雲拿科技的門店後不需要觸摸任何螢幕或使用會員卡，甚至不需要拿出一打非常浪費紙張的優惠券。因為在自動結算時，顧客可以自動獲得最常購買商品的相關電子折扣。總的來說，不需要信用卡或借記卡，隻需要一部支援應用程式的智能手機，便能追蹤顧客購物行為并完成扣款。
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.
在您看來，線下零售門店或購物中心等業态會繼續存在嗎？在Amazon Prime或Instacart等電商平台已經實作當天達或次日達的情況下，您如何定義實體零售的價值？
可以回想一下20年前的DVD播放器和電影院。現如今DVD播放器已經過時，取而代之的是Netflix等。但人們還是會去電影院，因為可以體會到家裡所沒有的娛樂氛圍。同樣，線下零售也是永遠無法替代的，因為網購時無法看、聞以及觸摸實物。另外，當你想在30分鐘内擷取某物時，就不能依賴網購了，而會選擇前往附近的實體店進行購買。但是線下零售在體驗和管理上也的确需要與時俱進，當線下零售擁有和線上平台一樣的資料能力後，必将會以全新的面貌、更精準地服務消費者。
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.
“零售滅亡”的說法已經持續了大約十年，雖然許多零售商都在苦苦掙紮，但Lululemon、Kroger、Costco等部分零售商的收益仍然非常可觀。您認為從後者的成功中可以借鑒哪些經驗？
這些成功的零售企業都在以下方面更敏感，做了更積極的嘗試和改進：
- 更精準地定位和了解自己的目标客群。
在精準定位目标客群後，你可以通過提供合适的産品與服務來滿足顧客的需求。以Lululemon為例，它在成立之初就找到了自己的目标客群。其創始人Chip Wilson并沒有通過傳統的營銷方式進行推廣，而是想到了另一種更精準的方案：建立瑜伽愛好者社群，通過這些顧客進行口碑傳播。
- 更積極地利用技術改善顧客體驗。
根據員工的建議，Kroger與RCA合作研發了世界上第一台電子掃描器，現如今的超市仍在使用這種收銀方式。2018年，Kroger和Nuro再次推出了全球首項無人配送服務，随時随地為顧客提供卓越的消費體驗，而這些技術也将極大提高員工的效率。雲拿科技也緻力于為大量知名零售商提供解決方案，這些零售商往往對高新科技有着很強的接受度，其中大多數還在市場佔有率和收益方面占據着領先地位。
- 更高效管理品類的意識。
商品的精細化管理，積極嘗試各種可以獲得獨特資料洞察能力的有效方式，并能借助這一方式改進品類管理。
- 在實體店設計更多的顧客觸點。
更好地利用實體店的天然優勢，通過與客戶的互動，讓顧客獲得觸摸、聞、聽、嘗以及近距離檢視商品的機會，由此打造獨特的購物體驗。
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.
在可預見的未來，Amazon将為整個零售業帶來巨大的壓力。但在中國，目前不斷湧現新的零售企業，而且價格遠低于歐美品牌。面對如此激烈的競争，您對零售企業和電商平台如何取得成功有什麼建議？
我的建議是，把重心放在持續洞察顧客的需求上，而非關注競争對手。Amazon或阿裡巴巴都秉承着顧客至上的原則，顧客至上依舊主導着當今的商業活動。在數字化時代，一切都充滿着變數，“顧客需求”便成了他們的最佳抓手。顧客希望通過最便捷的管道與品牌互動，而非品牌指定管道。同時，顧客也希望在合适的時間獲得合适的導購服務，而非被鋪天蓋地的同質化廣告夾擊。技術的發展為我們提供了更先進的手段，是以我們也需要以更好的方式了解并服務顧客。
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.
根據您的經驗和洞察，颠覆線下零售體驗并不斷召回老客的五大要素是什麼？
- 優化産品布局：優化産品和陳列對實體店來說意義重大。為了提高經營業績，我們要不斷地優化品類結構，以顧客為中心，以需求為導向。
- 提高顧客參與度和支援度：根據Gallup研究，完全沉浸在購物體驗中的顧客所帶來的收益比平均值高出23%。
- 提高供應鍊效率：讓“規劃”先于“營運”，可以避免因庫存備援、頻繁配置設定和緊急訂單等帶來的成本壓力，這是提高供應鍊效率的關鍵。是以，針對供應鍊網絡規劃、智能補貨和預測方面的技術投入正逐漸成為各大企業的戰略共識。
- 鼓勵高價值員工：在技術驅動的環境中，員工可以被重新部署到更高價值的工作崗位上，使其發揮更加顯著的意義，進而提高員工的積極性和工作滿意度。
- 門店數字化至關重要：利用數字化工具提高門店營運效率，将成為零售業的一大趨勢。
· 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.
感謝您的分享！我們的訪談已趨近尾聲，最後還有一個非常重要的問題。作為一位女性創業者，如果可以發起一項倡議來為更多的女孩帶來積極的影響，您認為會是什麼？也許您分享的想法會引起某種改變。
我希望有更多的女孩可以更加自信、勇敢地選擇自己所熱愛的事物，竭盡全力投入其中，并盡情享受過程中的快樂，不必過多在乎他人的眼光，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.
我們的讀者如何持續關注雲拿科技的最新動态？
可以通過官網www.cloudpick.com、Youtube頻道Cloudpick、Twitter賬号CloudpickTech以及LinkedIn賬号Cloudpick與我們取得聯系。
We’re at www.cloudpick.com, on Youtube Channel Cloudpick,Twitter @CloudpickTech, you can also connect with us on LinkedIn @Cloudpick.
那太好了，再次感謝您的參與！