上周,，亞馬遜開(kāi)始為接受美國(guó)政府救助的消費(fèi)者提供Prime會(huì)員折扣,，與沃爾瑪之間本已激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)更趨白熱化。

Prime會(huì)員打折意味著亞馬遜將目標(biāo)轉(zhuǎn)向沃爾瑪一項(xiàng)利潤(rùn)豐厚的業(yè)務(wù)：低收入人群,。亞馬遜也是借此反擊,，最近沃爾瑪動(dòng)作不斷：免費(fèi)配送商品，自行取貨補(bǔ)貼,，收購(gòu)電子商務(wù)公司等,。投資研究和基金評(píng)級(jí)機(jī)構(gòu)晨星統(tǒng)計(jì)，去年美國(guó)國(guó)民獲得的“補(bǔ)充營(yíng)養(yǎng)援助計(jì)劃”（SNAP）（人稱用電子福利轉(zhuǎn)賬卡（EBT卡）的“食品補(bǔ)助券”）政府福利之中,，每5美元就有將近1美元花在沃爾瑪,，合計(jì)消費(fèi)額約有130億美元。行業(yè)研究機(jī)構(gòu)Retail Metrics估算,，去年21家公開(kāi)上市的實(shí)體零售商銷售額總計(jì)也不過(guò)130億美元左右,。

此外，亞馬遜還瞄準(zhǔn)了4300萬(wàn)每年領(lǐng)取666億美元SNAP的消費(fèi)者,。亞馬遜眼光長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)也很有耐心,，打算將許多暫時(shí)需要政府救助的消費(fèi)者變?yōu)殚L(zhǎng)期Prime會(huì)員。首席執(zhí)行官杰夫·貝佐斯已經(jīng)表明這一愿景：“毫無(wú)疑問(wèn),，亞馬遜Prime會(huì)員發(fā)展的目標(biāo)是讓用戶相信,，如果不加入Prime會(huì)員就是不負(fù)責(zé)任?！?/p>

根據(jù)資產(chǎn)管理機(jī)構(gòu)Piper Jaffray的研究,，亞馬遜在高收入人群滲透率很高，年收入11.2萬(wàn)美元對(duì)的家庭中有82%已是Prime會(huì)員,，因而開(kāi)展了最新的拓展會(huì)員人群行動(dòng),。這只是亞馬遜稱霸零售業(yè)全盤戰(zhàn)略的一部分。對(duì)于年收入不足4.1萬(wàn)美元的低收入家庭,，Prime的滲透率僅52%,。而大部分靠政府補(bǔ)助收入低于2.5萬(wàn)美元家庭，滲透率甚至更低,。正因如此亞馬遜還有很高的增長(zhǎng)潛力,，而且可以將沃爾瑪重要的消費(fèi)人群吸引到亞馬遜系統(tǒng)里,，給沃爾瑪迎頭痛擊。

假以時(shí)日,，Prime的折扣會(huì)員價(jià)可能產(chǎn)生重大影響,。亞馬遜堅(jiān)持不懈地推陳出新，其經(jīng)營(yíng)格局幾乎超過(guò)了其他所有美國(guó)零售商,。市場(chǎng)研究公司Slice Intelligence數(shù)據(jù)顯示,，2016年，亞馬遜占據(jù)的網(wǎng)購(gòu)市場(chǎng)份額由2012年的25%升至2016年的43%,。亞馬遜還有望繼續(xù)增長(zhǎng),，因?yàn)樵谪毨Ь€上下徘徊的消費(fèi)者中有74%都是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶,。

互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的普及意味著為低收入人群提供平價(jià)配送服務(wù)變成巨大商機(jī),。折后Prime會(huì)員費(fèi)用約為2017財(cái)年低保消費(fèi)者平均每月所獲SNAP補(bǔ)助的5%。成為Prime會(huì)員后,，還能在音樂(lè),、視頻、原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容,、相片存儲(chǔ)和上門配送等方面享有多種優(yōu)惠,。Prime會(huì)讓消費(fèi)者難以拒絕。

此外,，今年4月亞馬遜推出名為Amazon Cash的新服務(wù),，讓Prime會(huì)費(fèi)折扣更具吸引力。Amazon Cash為缺少信用卡的低收入人群帶來(lái)便利,，消費(fèi)者可以將現(xiàn)金存入亞馬遜的賬戶,，在全美一萬(wàn)多家實(shí)體店消費(fèi)時(shí)均可使用。此項(xiàng)功能為擴(kuò)大Prime購(gòu)物范圍鋪平道路,，也進(jìn)一步刺激消費(fèi)者加入亞馬遜的系統(tǒng),。

而且，將目光轉(zhuǎn)向低收入美國(guó)人可能會(huì)變成穩(wěn)健的商業(yè)策略,。通常情況下Prime會(huì)員購(gòu)物一般更頻繁,，但也會(huì)推升送貨成本。而以折扣會(huì)費(fèi)加入的Prime會(huì)員網(wǎng)購(gòu)沒(méi)那么頻密,，拉低送貨成本,，但亞馬遜還是照樣收取每月的會(huì)費(fèi)。另外,，提供折扣會(huì)費(fèi)還可能有額外的好處,，可以提升亞馬遜在低收入消費(fèi)者心目中的形象，維持積極的公共關(guān)系,。這對(duì)號(hào)稱提供一流客戶服務(wù)的亞馬遜而言堪稱錦上添花,。

總之,，Prime會(huì)費(fèi)折扣是亞馬遜揮出的又一記重拳，而且贏面極大,。沃爾瑪,、一元店、雜貨店和折扣店等實(shí)體商家都得小心了,。如今的亞馬遜對(duì)整個(gè)零售業(yè)界都是極大的威脅,。零售商須全方位增強(qiáng)業(yè)務(wù)實(shí)力，方可與之一戰(zhàn),。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

肯·珀金斯在行業(yè)研究機(jī)構(gòu)Retail Metrics任總裁,。他在本文提及的所有公司沒(méi)有任何投資。

譯者：Pessy

審稿：夏林

Amazon took its heated battle with Walmart to another level this week through its discounted Prime membership offering to consumers receiving U.S. government assistance.

Discounted Prime is a direct attempt to garner share in what has been a lucrative business for Walmart: low-income customers. It also counters Walmart’s recent introduction of free shipping with no fees, curbside grocery pickup, and E-commerce acquisitions. According to Morningstar, nearly $1 out of every $5 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (more widely known as “food stamps” using EBT cards) was spent at Walmart last year, amounting to roughly $13 billion. Just 21 publicly traded brick and mortar retailers generated more than $13 billion in total sales last year, according to Retail Metrics calculations.

Moreover, Amazon is tapping into a broader customer base of 43 million consumers that received $66.6 billion in annual SNAP payments. The E-commerce giant has the foresight and patience to convert many of these consumers that are in temporary need of assistance to what Amazon hopes will be lifelong Prime members. CEO Jeff Bezos has made Amazon’s intentions clear: “Our goal with Amazon Prime, make no mistake, is to make sure that if you are not a Prime member, you are being irresponsible.”

This move was prompted by Amazon’s own success penetrating upper-income consumers, with 82% of households making $112,000 a year already Prime members, according to a Piper Jaffray study. It is also simply another component of its overall strategy to dominate every segment of retail. Low-income household Prime penetration is only 52% for consumers making under $41,000 and even lower in the under $25,000 segment, where many accepting government benefits reside. This offers Amazon higher growth potential and deals a blow to Walmart by luring a key customer to Amazon’s ecosystem.

Amazon’s discounted Prime will likely make major inroads over time. Amazon is relentless, innovative, and executes at a higher level than virtually anyone in corporate America. Amazon’s share of online sales has grown from 25% in 2012 to 43% in 2016, according to Slice Intelligence. It can grow even further: Of consumers living at or below the poverty line, 74% have access to the Internet.

This presents a huge opportunity to provide an affordable delivery service to this segment of the population. The cost of discounted Prime membership is roughly 5% of the average monthly SNAP assistance a consumer received in fiscal year 2017. Layer on top of this the further advantages Prime membership offers—music and video streaming, original content, photo storage, and doorstep delivery—and it becomes a difficult proposition to decline.

Dovetailing nicely with the introduction of discounted Prime was the launch of Amazon Cash earlier this year. Amazon Cash offsets the lack of credit card ownership among the low-income population by allowing consumers to put cash into Amazon accounts at more than 10,000 physical locations throughout the U.S. This paves the way for more Prime purchases while providing further impetus to join the Amazon ecosystem.

Targeting low-income Americans could prove a solid business strategy as well. The economics of Prime are such that frequent Prime users, while purchasing more, drive up shipping costs. Discounted Prime members are likely to shop less frequently, lowering shipping expenses while Amazon still receives their monthly membership fees. Positive public relations and goodwill from lower-income consumers are additional ancillary benefits Amazon may derive from discounted Prime. This would be another feather in the cap of a company that already boasts top-level customer service ratings.

With discounted Prime, Amazon has taken the gloves off once again. It will almost certainly be successful. Walmart, dollar stores, grocers, and discounters are all on notice. Amazon presents an existential threat to the entire industry and retailers must sharpen every aspect of their business to compete.

Ken Perkins is president of Retail Metrics. He has no investments of the companies mentioned in this article.