網絡零售商偷走了人們的聖誕節

Many shoppers are blaming online retailers for stealing Christmas.

許多顧客抱怨網上零售商偷走了他們的聖誕節。

Companies from Inc. to Kohl's Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. promised to deliver items from headphones to television sets before Christmas, but shipping delays left gift-givers across the country without anything to put under the tree.

從亞馬遜公司( Inc.)到Kohl's Corp.再到沃爾瑪(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)，網上零售商們信誓旦旦地保證可以在聖誕節前把耳機、電視機等五花八門的商品送到顧客手中。但運輸的延誤卻導致全美國許多人沒有禮物可以擺在聖誕樹下。

On Christmas Eve, Brandon Scott was still waiting for a 46-inch Samsung TV and Kate Spade watch he ordered from Amazon on Saturday.

聖誕節前夜，家住密歇根州安阿伯的斯科特(Brandon Scott)還在等着他上週六在亞馬遜訂購的46寸三星(Samsung)電視機和凱特絲蓓(Kate Spade)手錶。

'I'm frustrated because these items could have easily been purchased at various retailers in my area, something I would have gladly done had Amazon not guaranteed' their arrival before Christmas,' said Mr. Scott of Ann Arbor, Mich.

他說：我很懊悔，這些東西本來在我家附近許多零售店都能買到，要不是亞馬遜保證商品會在聖誕節前送到，我會很樂意去附近零售店買的。

An unexpected surge of online orders in the past few weeks appears to have strained the limits of delivery and fulfillment infrastructure at retailers and parcel carriers. While instances of bad weather, Web glitches and late deliveries from manufacturers also played a part, the sheer volume may have been the problem, according to retail analysts.

過去幾周網上訂單的意外激增似乎使零售商和快遞公司的送貨和訂單處理能力都達到了極限。零售業分析師說，雖然存在天氣不好、網絡故障和製造商發貨延遲等其他因素，但龐大的訂單量可能纔是主因。

United Parcel Service Inc. determined late Tuesday that it wouldn't be able to get some goods to customers in time for Christmas, as a spike in last-minute shopping demand overwhelmed its system.

聯合包裹運送服務公司(United Parcel Service Inc., 簡稱UPS)週二晚間確認，一些商品無法在聖誕節及時送達，因爲最後時刻的購物需求飆升超過了其系統承受能力。

'The volume of air packages in the UPS system did exceed capacity as demand was much greater than our forecast,' spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said in response to questions. UPS delivers around 45% of U.S. packages and saw More shipments enter its air network on Monday than the 7.75 million it expected.

UPS發言人羅森堡(Susan Rosenberg)在回答問題時說，UPS系統的空運包裹數量確實超出了承受能力，需求量遠遠超出我們的預期。UPS運送的包裹數量佔美國包裹總數的45%左右，週一進入其空運網絡的包裹數量超過了其預計的775萬件。

In notifications to some Amazon customers, though, UPS also seemed to blame the e-commerce giant for some of its troubles, saying shipping delays were because it had 'not yet received the package from the shipper.'

但在發給部分亞馬遜顧客的通知中，UPS似乎將部分問題歸咎於這家電子商務巨頭，稱運送延遲是因爲還沒有從發貨商收到包裹。

Having pushed delivery deadlines even later this year, some merchants weren't ready for the jump in online orders that came in the last few weeks of December, said Eric Best, chief executive of Mercent Corp., which helps facilitate online sales for more than 550 retailers.

Mercent Corp.首席執行長貝斯特(Eric Best)說，雖然已將今年的最晚送達時間進一步延長，但一些商戶對12月份最後幾周網上訂單數量的激增依然感到措手不及。Mercent爲550多家零售商的網上銷售提供服務。

'During the holidays, we reach the limits on the capacity of these retailers,' Mr. Best said. 'It's a double whammy for conservative retailers, which have been burned by excess inventory in the past, and underestimated demand.'

貝斯特說，節日期間，零售商的能力都達到極限，保守的零售商則遭到雙重打擊，他們過去因爲庫存積壓而焦頭爛額，這一次卻低估了需求。

After years of losing sales to online competitors, retailers have invested heavily in infrastructure to support Web sales and this year made aggressive promises for delivery by Christmas. Last-minute shoppers responded. During the last shopping weekend before Christmas, Web sales jumped by 37% from the year before, according to IBM Digital Analytics. Market research firm Forrester Research expects online sales to increase by 15% this holiday season amid slow mall traffic and weak sales at brick-and-mortar retailers.

多年來不斷被網上競爭對手搶走生意的零售商們紛紛加大了網絡銷售的配套投資，今年打出了聖誕節前保證送貨到家的口號，這吸引了那些拖到最後一刻纔來購物的消費者。根據IBM Digital Analytics的數據，在聖誕節前的最後一個購物周，網上銷售同比飆升37%。市場研究公司Forrester Research預計，這個假日購物季，在商場客流量和實體零售店銷售萎靡不振的同時，網上銷售將增長15%。

For Wal-Mart shopper David McCarthy, 41 years old, in Evans City, Pa., the shipping snafus meant telling his 10-year-old son that he wouldn't get the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, which were first on his wish list this year. By Christmas Eve, Mr. McCarthy hadn't found a replacement gift.

對家住賓夕法尼亞州埃文斯城的41歲的麥卡錫(David McCarthy)來說，因爲他選擇在沃爾瑪購物，運輸不給力意味着他要告訴自己10歲的兒子他無法收到Beats by Dr. Dre耳機了，這是他今年願望清單上排在第一位的禮品。直到聖誕節前夜，麥卡錫還沒有找到可以替代的禮物。

In Alexander City, Ala., Kohl's shopper Andi Burks grumbled over the realization she wouldn't be able to give her husband the sweaters Ms. Burks had ordered on Dec. 19, a day before the cutoff for 'guaranteed Christmas delivery.'

在亞拉巴馬州的亞歷山大城，在Kohl's購買了商品的伯克斯(Andi Burks)抱怨說，她在12月19日那天下了單子，想送老公一件毛衣，那是“聖誕節保證送達”最後下單日期的前一天，可現在沒法完成這個願望了。

'I thought that since they had stated on their website that it was guaranteed to arrive on time that I would be OK,' she said referring to Kohl's. 'Apparently I was wrong.'

她說：當時我想既然他們(Kohl's)在網站上承諾會按時送達，應該不會出問題，顯然我是錯了。

Kohl's said on Tuesday it would pay the full cost of all items not delivered in time. 'We are deeply sorry for disappointing our customers expecting delivery in time for Christmas,' spokeswoman Jen Johnson said.

Kohl's週二說，將爲所有未及時送達的商品全額退款。該公司發言人約翰遜(Jen Johnson)說，我們讓期待商品在聖誕節及時送達的顧客失望了，我們深表歉意。

Groupon Inc. sent customers an email this week suggesting they print out a picture of their present in lieu of the promised on-time delivery of the actual gift, as well as a $25 gift certificate. 'We know it doesn't make up for the disappointment of not getting your item in time for the holidays,' the email said.

Groupon Inc.本週向顧客發了一封電子郵件，建議他們打印出所購禮物的圖片，暫時代替該公司承諾按時送達的實際禮物，該公司還贈送顧客一張25美元的禮品券。電子郵件中說，我們知道這難以彌補大家在節日期間無法及時收到所購物品的失望。

The deals site 'successfully fulfilled and delivered an overwhelming majority of orders,' said spokesman Nicholas Halliwell.

這家團購網站的發言人哈利韋爾(Nicholas Halliwell)說，該公司成功完成並投送了絕大部分顧客訂購的物品。

It is unclear how widespread the delays were or which retailers suffered the most problems. Weather delays, mislabeled packages, and even errors by customers entering their own delivery information can cause delays.

不清楚這次的投送延遲影響範圍有多大，也不清楚哪些零售商遇到的問題最多。天氣原因、誤標的包裹，甚至是顧客在填寫投遞信息時犯的錯誤，這些都可能造成投遞延遲。

Kohl's, Wal-Mart and UPS said a small percentage of customers experienced delays but declined to elaborate on how many people were affected. Amazon said it was unaware of major shipping delays.

Kohl's、沃爾瑪和UPS說，有一小部分顧客遭遇了延遲，但拒絕詳細說明有多少人受到影響。亞馬遜說，未發覺有重大運送延遲的問題。

Typically, about 15% of online shoppers who order items by retailers' specified cutoff dates don't get their packages by Christmas Eve, Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said. But with more gifts being shipped in the mail, the volume of errors is likely to rise, even if the percentage doesn't.

Forrester Research分析師穆普魯(Sucharita Mulpuru)說，一般來講，在零售商指定的截止日期前下單的網絡購物者中約有15%在平安夜前收不到包裹。但由於寄送的禮物增多，出錯量可能會增加，即便出錯率不變。

UPS, which handled more than 500 million packages during last year's peak period, was expecting an 8% rise in volumes this year. The U.S. Postal Service, meanwhile, said it expected to ship a record 420 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year's, an increase of 12% from last year. The Postal Service in some cases plans to deliver on Christmas Day itself.

UPS在去年的高峯期裏處理了超過5億個包裹。該公司預計今年包裹量將上升8%。與此同時，美國郵政總局(U.S. Postal Service)說，它預計在今年的感恩節至元旦期間，將運送創紀錄的4.2億個包裹，較上年同比增加12%。美國郵政總局有些情況下會安排在聖誕節當天投遞包裹。

'We've heard more noise about shipping problems this year than usual,' said Chris Saridakis, president of eBay Enterprise, which handles shipping for more than 70 retailers including Toys 'R' Us Inc. and Aéropostale Inc.

eBay Enterprise總裁薩勒達奇斯(Chris Saridakis)說，今年我們聽到的有關運輸問題的投訴比往年要多。該公司爲超過70家零售商提供運輸服務，包括玩具反斗城(Toys "R" Us Inc.)和服裝零售商Aeropostale Inc.。

Part of the problem is handling an increased number of orders in a shorter time frame, given that there were six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

問題之一是需要在更短的時間內處理更多的訂單，因爲今年感恩節與聖誕節之間的購物日比往年少了六天。

'These retailers just don't have enough labor,' Mr. Saridakis said, noting that while most of the distribution centers are automated, 'you still need people to pack and unpack boxes.'

薩勒達奇斯說，這些零售商沒有足夠的工人。他指出，儘管大部分配送中心都是自動化的，但仍需要人來打包和拆包箱子。

Retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart have been building more fulfillment centers and other infrastructure to handle surging online orders. This year, Amazon hired 70,000 seasonal workers for its U.S. warehouses, a 40% increase from the year before.

像亞馬遜和沃爾瑪這樣的零售商一直在修建更多的物流中心和其他基礎設施，以便處理不斷激增的網絡訂單。今年，亞馬遜爲其美國的倉庫僱傭了7萬名季節工，較上年同比增加了40%。

To ease pressures on possible shipping bottlenecks, many retail chains have promoted the option to pick up items purchased online inside stores. That plan might have backfired for companies like Wal-Mart, where dozens of customers complained that items weren't available for pickup in stores by the promised date.

爲緩解給可能出現的運輸瓶頸帶來的壓力，很多連鎖店鼓勵顧客到店自提在網上購買的物品。這項計劃對沃爾瑪這樣的公司可能帶來了事與願違的結果。在沃爾瑪，數十名顧客抱怨說，在該公司承諾的日期前他們無法在店內自提所購物品。

The problem seemed to be biggest for customers who had lined up for hours during Thanksgiving weekend to get special deals on popular televisions and tablets.

對那些在感恩節週末期間排了幾個小時的隊搶購特價熱賣電視和平板電腦的顧客來說，問題似乎是最大的。

As part of Wal-Mart's Black Friday promises, shoppers who lined up for the best door-buster deals were told that if the store ran out of stock, then the items they paid for would be available for store pickup by Dec. 22. But in some cases, the items weren't available and shoppers jammed customer-service phone lines and took to Facebook and Twitter to gripe at the retailer.

作爲沃爾瑪黑色星期五的承諾的一部分，排隊搶購特價商品的購物者被告知，如果店內缺貨，他們可以在12月22日前到店自提訂購的商品。但有些情況下，到了該公司承諾的日期店內仍沒有貨，購物者打爆了客服電話，並在Facebook和推特(Twitter)上表達對這家零售商的不滿。

Wal-Mart said the issue affected only a small percentage of the five million people who took part in its one-hour guarantee promotion.

沃爾瑪說，這個問題僅影響了參與沃爾瑪一小時限時促銷活動的500萬人中的一小部分。

But by Christmas Eve, it was too late for some customers like Terence Kavanaugh in Louisville, Ky.

但在平安夜前，對一些顧客來說已經爲時過晚，比如肯塔基州路易斯維爾的卡瓦諾(Terence Kavanaugh)。

After losing hope on getting the $98 Emerson television he bought his 9-year-old daughter at Wal-Mart over Thanksgiving weekend, he went to Best Buy and bought a second TV for $179.

感恩節週末他在沃爾瑪花了98美元給九歲的女兒買了一臺艾默生(Emerson)電視機，但由於遲遲未收到貨，他不再抱希望。於是去百思買(Best Buy)花179美元又買了一臺。

'It's more expensive but I'm not going to let Wal-Mart ruin my daughter's Christmas,' he said.

他說，這臺電視機更貴，但我不會讓沃爾瑪毀了我女兒的聖誕節。