Holiday Shopping in a Pandemic

疫情之下的圣诞购物季

When I connect to Santa Claus over Zoom, he is busy on another phone call with US president-elect Joe Biden. He clutches a red plastic telephone to his bearded cheek as he sits between a brightly lit Christmas tree and a table bearing a gold-painted typewriter.

当我在Zoom上接通圣诞老人时，他正在与美国当选总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）通电话。他把一个红色塑料电话贴紧自己满是胡须的脸颊，坐在一棵灯光闪闪的圣诞树和一张放着金漆打字机的桌子之间。

He hangs up and excuses himself for being late. “Leila! Your new president needed my help, but now I’m all yours. Do you have your hand san-TA-tiser and your mask? Ho-ho-ho! What do you want this year?”

他挂断电话，为自己的迟到而道歉。“莱拉（Leila）！你的新总统刚才找我帮忙，但现在我专心跟你交谈。你有了洗手液和口罩吗？哈哈哈！你今年想要什么？”

No, this was not a fever dream. This is Christmas shopping in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

不，这不是痴人说梦。这是新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19，即2019冠状病毒病）疫情期间的2020年圣诞购物的现实。

The event planners at UK department store Selfridges came up with “Dial-a-Santa” virtual appointments as a way for kids to have a version of the traditional experience while still respecting social distancing.

英国百货商店Selfridges的大型活动策划师，想出了“给圣诞老人打电话”（Dial-a-Santa）的虚拟预约活动，让孩子们在收获某种传统体验的同时，仍能遵守保持社交距离的规定。

It is one of many tactics being tried by high-end retailers and luxury brands in Europe as they try to save the crucial Christmas shopping season. Others include offering appointments with sales associates to help clients shop using smartphone video or chat, and creating pop-up events to tempt people back, such as Selfridges’ outdoor Christmas market featuring a gigantic helter skelter ride.

这是欧洲高端零售商和奢侈品牌为拯救至关重要的圣诞购物季而尝试的许多策略之一。其他策略包括提供销售助理预约，以帮助客户用智能手机视频或文字聊天来购物，并举办快闪店活动来吸引人们出门购物，例如以巨大螺旋滑梯为特色的Selfridges户外圣诞集市。

In the UK, France, Belgium, Ireland and northern Italy, all “non-essential” retail outlets were closed in November, although governments have recently allowed them to reopen with mask-wearing required. Stores have remained open elsewhere in Europe, but governments have still urged citizens to stay home as much as possible.

在英国、法国、比利时、爱尔兰和意大利北部，所有“非必要”零售店都在11月停业，尽管这些国家的政府近期在要求佩戴口罩的情况下允许它们恢复营业。欧洲其他国家的商店仍然营业，但政府仍然敦促国民尽可能待在家里。

It is not exactly a recipe for the joyful consumerism that retailers and brands usually seek to stoke at this time of year. But try they must: the shopping period between the Black Friday promotions on November 27 and December 25 generates 20 to 50 per cent of annual sales for non-food retailers, according to EuroCommerce, the EU retail trade association.

这不利于零售商和品牌通常在每年这个时候寻求激发的欢快的消费主义氛围。但他们必须尝试：据欧盟零售业协会EuroCommerce的数据，11月27日黑色星期五促销至12月25日圣诞日的购物季，将为非食品零售商贡献全年销售额的20%至50%。

In luxury, the Christmas holiday season accounts for roughly one-third of sales depending on the brand, according to Bain & Company management consultant Claudia D’Arpizio, with December sales usually double that of a normal month and November often one-third more.

据贝恩公司（Bain & Company）管理咨询师克劳迪娅·达皮奇奥（Claudia D’Arpizio）介绍，在奢侈品业，取决于具体品牌，圣诞购物季贡献大约三分之一的全年销售额；12月的销售额通常是普通月份的两倍，11月往往比普通月份高出三分之一。

The pandemic has also scrambled the types of things that consumers want to buy. Out is stumping up for “experiences” such as trips and five-star meals. More in favour are so-called “timeless luxury” purchases such as classic Chanel or Dior jackets, and things for the home.

疫情也打乱了消费者想买的商品类别。在旅行和五星级美食之类“体验”上的支出减少了。更受青睐的是购买所谓的“永恒奢侈品”，例如经典款香奈儿（Chanel）或迪奥（Dior）外套，以及家居用品。

With big-spending Chinese tourists who drive most of luxury’s growth still unable to travel to Europe, stores are also having to cater more to locals. At the Paris department store Le Bon Marché, that meant a dizzying array of scented candles and intricate plants in terrariums.

由于驱动大部分奢侈品增长的出手阔绰的中国游客仍然不能去欧洲旅行，商店还不得不更迎合本地人。在巴黎百货商店乐蓬马歇（Le Bon Marché），这意味着布置香薰蜡烛和玻璃花盆里的精致植物。

“Psychologically, the luxury shopper wants to buy but still has fewer occasions to dress up than normal,’’ says D’Arpizio. “It’s really hard to predict how the season will turn out.’’

“从心理学角度看，奢侈品购买者愿意购物，但他们需要盛装打扮的场合还是比以往更少了，”达皮奇奥表示，“真的很难预测这一季度的结果会怎么样。”

On the various reopening days, some people were very excited about being able to shop in person again. There were long queues outside the Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysées, the Hermès and Moncler stands at Harrods in London, and luxury mall Rinascente in Milan.

在不同的恢复营业日，一些人对于能够再次亲自购物感到非常兴奋。巴黎香榭丽舍大街的路易威登（Louis Vuitton）门店外、伦敦哈罗德百货（Harrods）的爱马仕（Hermès）和盟可睐（Moncler）柜台前，以及米兰豪华购物中心Rinascente都有人排起长队。

Meredith, a 72-year-old London resident, had come to buy gifts on Oxford Street for her grandson and was dressed impeccably for the outing in a Gucci coat and beige trousers. “I’ve missed shopping, and I am too old for online,” she said. She left laden with three bags of toys.

72岁的伦敦市民梅里蒂斯（Meredith）无可挑剔地穿着古驰（Gucci）外套和米色长裤，到牛津街为她的孙子买礼物。她说：“我很怀念购物。而我太老了，不适合网购。”她提着3袋玩具满载而归。

In Paris, I struggled to muster any enthusiasm for shopping for gifts online in November – too little time and even less patience. Instead I turned to the few open shops and ended up buying a haul of gourmet foodstuffs, including paté from the Basque country, chocolate truffles and sardines from Brittany.

11月在巴黎的时候，我难以激起对网购礼物的热情——时间太少了，而耐心更加稀缺。于是我转向少数几家还在营业的商店，最后买了一大堆美食，包括巴斯克地区的鹅肝酱，以及松露巧克力和布列塔尼的沙丁鱼。

Drawing people back to the stores may be complicated by restrictions on crowds. In Paris, Le Bon Marché can allow roughly 3,750 people in at once, one-third of normal attendance. Harrods can have 4,500 people in its 1 million-square-foot flagship in London, far from the 12,000-18,000 it would have per day in a normal Christmas season. Some outlets are extending hours to get more people in the doors safely.

针对人群聚集的限制措施，可能使吸引人们回到商店购物的努力变得复杂。在巴黎，乐蓬马歇一次可容纳约3750人，是正常客流量的三分之一。哈罗德百货100万平方英尺的伦敦旗舰店每天可接待4500人，远低于正常圣诞节期间每天接待1.2万至1.8万人的水平。一些门店延长营业时间，以便让更多人安全进店购物。

Michael Ward, the managing director of Harrods, says complying with such restrictions was the “right thing to do” for staff and customers. But the 15-year Harrods veteran worried that it would struggle to sell all the merchandise that buyers had chosen in January when they put in Christmas orders. “Just think of all the Christmas pudding!” he jokes. “Four weeks of the key selling season have been lost so we will have a lot of Christmas left over.”

哈罗德百货董事总经理迈克尔·沃德（Michael Ward）表示，对工作人员和顾客来说，遵守这些限制是“应该做的”。但这位在哈罗德百货工作了15年的老员工担心，该店将很难卖掉今年1月买家发出圣诞节订单时选择的所有商品。“想想所有的圣诞布丁吧！”他开玩笑说，“我们已经失去了4周的关键销售季，所以我们将剩下很多圣诞商品。”

To cope, Harrods is starting to discount far earlier than usual, applying up to 50 per cent reductions to some items, effectively moving up promotions that usually occur on Boxing Day to early December. “We’ve got to make sure we get rid of the stock in case there is another lockdown,” says Ward.

为了应对这一局面，哈罗德百货比往年更早开始打折，部分商品折扣高达50%，实际上将通常在节礼日（Boxing Day，圣诞节次日，即12月26日）进行的促销活动提前到12月初。沃德说：“我们必须确保自己清掉了库存，以防再次发生封锁。”

Selfridges does not plan to discount until Boxing Day, says buying and merchandising director Sebastian Manes. It instead hopes to draw people in with temporary installations, such as a Fendi-branded bar serving a Fendi Cosmo for £14. During a recent visit, there was a woman guitarist singing next to a Prada-themed Christmas tree made of red and pink ribbon.

Selfridges采购与销售总监塞巴斯蒂安·马内斯（Sebastian Manes）表示，该店没有在节礼日之前打折的计划。相反，该店希望通过临时活动来吸引顾客，例如销售14英镑一杯的Fendi Cosmo鸡尾酒的芬迪（Fendi）酒吧。在最近一次走访期间，一位女吉他手在一棵由红粉丝带装饰而成的普拉达（Prada）主题圣诞树旁唱歌。

Many department stores and luxury brands have also turbocharged their online retailing efforts this year.

许多百货商店和奢侈品牌今年还加大了在线零售力度。

That is the case for Louis Vuitton. Chief executive Michael Burke says the spring lockdowns showed the importance of giving autonomy to its 12,000 client advisers, who are tasked with developing ongoing relationships with big-spending customers. By giving them access to more information such as live inventory, Louis Vuitton turned “everyone into a store manager”, says Burke, able to sell whenever and from wherever they are, regardless of whether the brand’s 470 worldwide stores are open.

路易威登就是如此。首席执行官迈克尔·伯克（Michael Burke）表示，春季的抗疫封锁突显出给予该品牌1.2万客户顾问自主权的重要性，这些顾问的任务是与高消费客户之间发展长期关系。伯克表示，通过让这些顾问获得实时库存之类的更多信息，路易威登使“每个顾问都变为门店经理”，无论何时何地、无论该品牌全球470家门店是否开业，他们都可以销售产品。

At Louis Vuitton’s Bond Street store, client advisers recently streamed a floral arrangement class to keep VIPs engaged. And for American clients in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the brand will send mobile store to their home with items tailored to please.

在路易威登的伦敦邦德街门店，客户顾问们最近直播了一场插花课程，以吸引VIP顾客。而对于在纽约、新泽西州和康涅狄格州的美国客户，该品牌将把“移动商店”开到他们的家门口，里面摆放着迎合他们的产品。

Will it be enough to match a normal Christmas for Louis Vuitton? “I think we’ll do even better than last year,” says Burke, noting the brand’s online retail operation was sending out “about 30,000 packages a day this year, compared to 13,000 a day last year.”

对路易威登来说，这些努力足够赶上一个正常的圣诞销售季吗？“我认为我们甚至能比去年做得更好。”伯克表示。他指出，该品牌的在线零售业务“今年每天发送约3万件包裹，而去年每天发送约1.3万件。”

In Paris, some people wanted to keep their Christmas traditions even if the pandemic required some adaptation. Charlotte Musilier and her 12-year-old daughter Barbara had come to admire the elaborate window displays at Galeries Lafayette as they did every year. “So what if we have to wear masks and keep our distance?” said the mother as her daughter smiled at a set of dancing puppets. “We are just happy to be here.”

在巴黎，一些人希望保持圣诞传统——即使疫情意味着需要做出一些调整。像往年一样，夏洛特·穆斯里尔（Charlotte Musilier）与她12岁的女儿芭芭拉（Barbara）在巴黎观赏老佛爷百货（Galeries Lafayette）的精美橱窗。“如果我们不得不戴上口罩、保持社交距离，将会怎样？”这位母亲说道，此时她的女儿正对着一组跳舞的木偶微笑，“我们很高兴来到这里。”

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