 | ■ International
Shopping season
購物季節
For US stores it is ugly out there — in more ways than one
對美國商店來說，外面情況很糟糕，而且不止一端 |
| The 2013 holiday shopping season in the U.S. may end up being remembered for its ugly sweaters and, for many retailers, even uglier discounts. | 在美國，人們可能會記得二○一三年聖誕假期購物的難看毛衣，而對許多零售業者來說，則可能是更醜陋的折價割喉戰。 |
| With growing online competition, no fashion must-haves and weak consumer confidence, most U.S. retailers will have to offer both big discounts and stellar service to get consumers to spend freely, according to retail analysts who joined Reuters reporters on visits to stores in New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois ahead of the holiday season. | 根據在聖誕假期前夕陪同路透記者前往紐約州、新澤西州、加州與伊利諾州拜訪商店的零售分析師指出，在網路競爭壓力日益沉重、沒有非買有時尚品牌服飾，以及消費者信心不足的情況下，美國大多數的零售業者得提供顧客大幅的折扣優惠以及五星級的服務，才有辦法讓消費者砸重金購物。 |
| "People are being a lot more selective about where they spend their money," said Wedbush analyst Gabriella Santaniello while touring the Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park, California. | Wedbush 公司的分析師加比雅拉聖坦尼艾洛在加州坎諾格公園市韋斯菲特陶彭格購物中心考察時表示：「人們決定在何處花錢時慎重多了。」 |
| To be sure, with online sales increasing, store visits provide only part of the picture. Still, a trip to the mall with a trained expert provides vital clues ahead of the holiday season, which usually accounts for almost half of retailers' profits. | 肯定的是，由於網路銷售不斷上揚，到店裡購物只能看到局部的情況。但在聖誕假期前夕跟著受過訓練專家前往購物中心一趟，往往可以得到一些重要線索。 而這段期間的業績，通常佔了零售商近一半的收益。 |
| The battle for the consumer dollar is particularly intense in a year when taxes have risen, unemployment has remained stubbornly high, and confidence has taken a hit from the recent government shutdown and uncertainty over the introduction of U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms. | 爭取消費者口袋裡的錢今年是特別激烈的一戰，因為今年稅率調高了，失業率則居高不下，同時最近政府關閉以及歐巴馬總統提出的健保方案仍有不穩定因素在內，使消費者信心受到打擊。 |
| Offsetting those negatives has been the wealth impact of a rise in home prices and a rallying stock market, though that is more likely to help the luxury end of retailing. Most industry estimates see sales growing modestly overall, with online retailers taking a bigger slice of the pie, and electronics stealing share from apparel. | 抵消這些負面因素的是，房價攀升在個人財產方面所引起的影響以及股市回穩等情況，但這比較可能幫助零售業在奢侈品方面的生意。大多數業者估計平均業績會稍稍成長，但網路業者的佔有率較大，而電子產品將吃掉成衣的一部分銷售量。 |
| In a sign of intense competition, there has already been unprecedented price-cutting from giant discount chain Wal-Mart Stores Inc., earlier-than-usual deals from online goliath Amazon.com Inc., and price-match promises from Best Buy Co. Inc., Target Corp. and others, even before the season's unofficial kickoff on Thanksgiving Day. | 激烈競爭跡象之一是華爾百貨這低價傾銷的連鎖百貨公司已經推出了低得史無前例的割價，而且動作比起網路行銷巨人亞馬遜、Best Buy 電器和 Target 百貨的同業最低價承諾還要來得早，甚至在節日季節的非正式開始感恩節之前。 |
| Wedbush's Santaniello is betting on Urban Outfitters Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc., and other purveyors of trendy sweaters featuring cutesy animals, phrases such as "totes amaze" (slang for totally amazing) in curly cursive, and "fair isle" patterns. | Wedbush 公司的聖坦尼艾洛押寶的對象是 Urban Outfitters 和 American Eagle 和其他業者印有可愛動物以及印有「totes amaze」（俚語，意思絕對讓人感到驚喜）字樣，花紋捲曲的蘇格蘭民族風的時尚毛衣。 |
| "This is going to be a Christmas of ugly sweaters. That's the hip thing now, bad sweaters are so cool," among 20- and 30-year olds, she said, eyeing an Urban Outfitters tan sweater with a pair of foxes knitted into the pattern of the garment, a technique known as intarsia. | 她表示：「這將是一個屬於難看毛衣的聖誕節，這很時髦哩，糟糕的毛衣在廿多、卅歲的人眼中很酷。」她這時雙眼看著一件 Urban Outfitters 的黃褐色毛衣，毛衣有兩隻狐狸織進花紋裡。這種編織法稱為镶嵌法。 |
| New must-have gadgets such as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox One gaming consoles and Apple Inc.'s latest iPhones and iPads could take a bite out of other holiday gift purchases and hurt some apparel chains, according to analysts. | 分析師指出，像索尼的 PlayStation 4、微軟的 Xbox One 遊戲機，以及蘋果電腦最新的各款iPhone 和 iPad 等非買不可的新電子產品，很可能擠佔了節日禮物採購的一大部分預算，使若干成衣連鎖店吃虧。 |
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