Business
商业
Selling clothes online in Russia
俄罗斯服装行业的电子商务
Fabric of society
服装世界
Two Germans have a mission: to clothe the Russian middle classes
两个德国人的使命：令俄罗斯中产阶层人士穿上他们卖的衣服
ONLINE as well as offline, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Vente-Privee, a firm founded on the strange notion that French women might like fashionable clothes at deep discounts, has been paid this compliment more than most. Companies cut from similar cloth have appeared in one country after another. In 2008 two German men, Damian Doberstein and Oskar Hartmann, spotted that Russian women were missing out. "No one was telling Russian women, ‘You could look good for 70% less'," Mr Hartmann says.
无论在线上或是线下，模仿是最真诚的恭维方式。 Vente-Privee，（法国服装折扣店）一间以法国女人可能喜欢深度打折的潮流服饰，这一奇特的理念而起家的公司，已经被众多公司模仿。许多公司会把已经出现在多个国家的同类衣服下架。2008年，两个德国人Damian-Doberstein （达米安.多倍斯坦因）和Oskar Hartmann（奥斯卡.哈曼特），发现俄罗斯女性被这些服装网购公司所忽略了。哈特曼说，"没有人告诉过俄罗斯女人，少花70%的钱也能穿得光鲜亮丽。"
They expect that their company, KupiVIP, will have sales of around $200m this year. Mr Hartmann says it breaks even. Given the fast growth of Russia's internet population and of a middle class eager for nice clothes but mostly a long way from nice shops, the two men think they could turn over $1 billion within five years.
他们预计他们的公司，KupiVIP，今年的营业额能够达到约2亿美元。哈特曼认为甚至会超过。随着俄罗斯快速增加的网民数量以及中层人士对来自非名店的优质衣服需求的增加，这两个人认为营业额能够在五年内达到十亿。
The pair want to fill more than just the smarter end of the female wardrobe. Besides their original business, which is still the biggest part of the group, they have an online full-price shop, ShopTime, aimed at both sexes and all shapes and sizes. They also run online shops on behalf of well-known brands, of which they expect to be servicing 23 by the end of the year.
他们不单单只想抢占高档的女性服装市场。除了他们最早的商务，现在仍是公司最大的商业版块，他们还有一个线上原价店，ShopTime，主要出售男女服饰以及各种款色和码数的服装。他们也运营线上名牌的特许旗舰店，他们期望能在今年年底代理23个名牌服饰。
When he was in an e-commerce business in Germany, Mr Hartmann says, he outsourced "everything". In Russia, "we have to do everything ourselves", from the call centre to the photographing of models. To make sure that fashion-conscious Russians get the clothes they ordered, KupiVIP owns a fleet of 100 vans and leases a lot of others. It uses the post office to send clothes by air to the farthest-flung corners of the vast, icy, sparsely populated country.
哈特曼说，当他在德国做电子商务的时候，他把一切都给外包了。但在俄罗斯，"我们不得不自己做一切事情"，包括从电话服务中心到模特的拍摄工作。为了确保关注时尚的俄罗斯人能得到他们订购的衣服，KupiVIP拥有一支100辆货车的车队以及租借了许多其他公司的货车。公司用邮局把衣服空运到最远角落的，巨大,寒冷且人烟稀少的国家。
Online retailers in Russia have to put up with other local traits. Most customers prefer to pay in cash on delivery, and about a quarter of goods are rejected at the door. That, says Mr Hartmann, who is as talkative as Mr Doberstein is taciturn, is just something companies have to deal with. "Never complain about the customer," says Mr Hartmann. Once a quarter, he makes sure he meets some of them, by making deliveries himself.
在俄罗斯做线上零售需要依据其他当地的特点进行调整。许多顾客偏爱货到付款，而大约四分之一的货物会被退回来。平时像Doberstein一样健谈的哈特曼谈及此时也沉默了，他说道，这只是公司必须处理的事情之一。"永远不要抱怨你的客户"，哈特曼说。三个月一次，他总会通过自己的直接配送货物，去见其中一部分客户。