Hi. My name is Aparna. I am a shopaholic --
嗨,我是阿芭納, 我是購物狂——
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
and I'm addicted to online returns.
且我「線上退貨」成癮。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Well, at least I was. At one time, I had two or three packages of clothing delivered to me every other day. I would intentionally buy the same item in a couple different sizes and many colors, because I did not know what I really wanted. So I overordered, I tried things on, and then I sent what didn't work back. Once my daughter was watching me return some of those packages back, and she said, "Mom, I think you have a problem."
至少曾經是。 有一段時間,我每隔一天 就會收到兩、三個包裏。 同樣的商品我會故意買好幾件, 買不同的尺寸和許多顏色, 因為我不確定我真正想要什麼。 所以我會多訂來試穿, 再把我覺得不理想的退回去。 有一次我女兒看著我 把其中一些包裏退回, 她說:「媽,我認為你有問題。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
I didn't think so. I mean, it's free shipping and free returns, right?
我不覺得。畢竟寄送都是 免運費的,退貨也是免費。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
I didn't even think twice about it, until I heard a statistic at work that shocked me.
我完全沒有多想, 直到我在工作時聽到一個 讓我很吃驚的統計數字。
You see, I'm a global solutions director for top-tier retail, and we were in a meeting with one of my largest customers, discussing how to streamline costs. One of their biggest concerns was managing returns. Just this past holiday season alone, they had 7.5 million pieces of clothing returned to them.
我的工作是高層級零售的 全球解決方案主管, 我們正在和最大的客戶之一開會, 討論如何減低成本。 他們最關心的議題之一, 就是退貨的管理。 單單上一個假日季節 (感恩節至新年), 就有七百五十萬件衣物 退回給他們。
I could not stop thinking about it. What happens to all these returned clothes? So I came home and researched. And I learned that every year, four billion pounds of returned clothing ends up in the landfill. That's like every resident in the US did a load of laundry last night and decided to throw it in the trash today.
我一直思考 這些被退回的衣物, 會被如何處理? 所以我回到家就做了研究。 我發現,每年, 有四十億磅被退回的衣物 最後是到了掩埋場。 等於差不多是美國每一位居民 昨晚都洗了一籃髒衣服, 然後決定今天 把那些衣服丟到垃圾筒。
I was horrified. I'm like, "Of all people, I should be able to help prevent this."
我嚇壞了。 我心想:「我比所有人 都更應該要來預防這件事。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
My job is to find solutions to logistical issues like these -- not create them. So this issue became very personal to me. I said, "You know what? We have to solve this." And we can, with some of the existing systems we already have in place.
我的工作是為這種物流議題 找到解決方案—— 而不是創造問題。 所以,這個議題對我來說 有很私人的意義。 我說:「你們知道嗎? 我們得解決這個問題。」 用一些已經就續的既有系統, 我們是可以解決它的。
And then I started to wonder: How did we get here? I mean, it was only like six years ago when a study recommended that offering free online returns would drive customers to spend more. We started seeing companies offering free online returns to drive more sales and provide a better experience. What we didn't realize is that this would lead to more items being returned as well. In the US, companies lost $351 billion in sales in 2017 alone. Retailers are scrambling to recover their losses. They try to place that returned item online to be sold again, or they'll sell it to a discount partner or a liquidator. Basically, if companies cannot find a place for this item quickly and economically, its place becomes the trash.
接著,我開始納悶: 我們是怎麼走到這一步的? 我的意思是,有一項研究建議, 提供線上購物免費退貨 可以驅使客戶消費更多, 這不過是六年前的事。 我們開始看見有公司提供 線上購物的免費退貨, 來帶動更多銷售, 並提供更好的購物體驗。 我們沒有料到, 這也會造成更多物品被退回。 在美國,單單在 2017 年, 公司的銷售額就損失了 3510 億美金。 零售商拼命在想辦法 賺回它們的損失。 它們試著把被退貨的商品 重新上架銷售, 或是賣給折扣夥伴 或清算公司資產的人。 基本上,如果公司無法很快且經濟地 為這些退貨商品找到去處, 它們就會變成垃圾。
Suddenly, I felt very guilty for being that shopper, somebody who contributes to this. Who would have thought my innocent shopping behavior would be hurting not only me, but our planet as well?
身為這種購物者, 我突然很有罪惡感, 我也是造成這現象的人之一。 誰會知道,我天真的購物行為, 不僅會傷害到我, 還會傷害到我們的地球?
And as I thought about what to do, I kept thinking: Why does the item have to be returned to the retailer in the first place? What if there was another way, a win-win for everyone? What if when a person is trying to return something, it could go to the next shopper who wants it, and not the retailer? What if, instead of a return, they could do what I call a "green turn"? Consumers could use an app to take pictures of the item and verify the condition while returning it. Artificial intelligence systems could then sort these clothes by condition -- mint condition or slightly used -- and direct it to the next appropriate person. Mint-condition clothes could automatically go to the next buyer, while slightly used clothes could be marked down and offered online again. The retailer can decide the business rules on the number of times a particular item can be resold. All that the consumer would need to do is obtain a mobile code, take it to the nearest shipping place to be packed and shipped, and off it goes from one buyer to the next, not the landfill.
當我在想該怎麼做時, 我不斷思考: 起初為什麼決定退貨的商品 要送回到零售商那裡呢? 是否可能有什麼方式, 能讓大家都是贏家? 是不是可以考慮, 當一個人打算退貨時, 商品可以送到下一個 想要購買它的購物者, 而不是送回零售商? 是不是可以考慮,不要做退貨, 改做我所謂的「綠色轉讓」? 消費者可以裝一個應用程式, 拍攝商品的照片, 並在退貨的時候驗證商品的狀況。 人工智慧系統接著可以依據 衣物的狀況來將它們分類—— 全新或是稍微使用過—— 將它導向下一個適當的客人? 全新的衣物可以 自動發送給下一個買家, 而稍微使用過的衣物可以打個折, 再放上網銷售。 零售商可以定下商業規則, 決定一件商品可以 被重新銷售的次數。 消費者只需要取得一個行動碼, 把商品帶到最近的購物地點 做包裝和寄送, 商品就可以從買家 轉到下一個買家, 而不用送到掩埋場。
Now you will ask, "Would people really go through all this trouble?" I think they would if they had incentives, like loyalty points or cash back. Let's call it "green cash." There would be a whole new opportunity to make money from this new customer base looking to buy these returns. This system would make a fun thing like shopping a spiritual experience that helps save our planet.
你會問: 「大家真的願意做這麼麻煩的事嗎?」 我想,如果有誘因, 他們就會願意, 比如集點或是現金回饋。 姑且把它稱為「綠色現金」。 這就會形成一個全新的商機, 可以從這些想買被退回之 商品的新客源身上賺錢。 這個系統就能夠把 像購物這種有趣的事, 變成一種靈性的體驗, 來協助拯救我們的地球。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
This is doable and would probably take six months to weave some of our existing systems and run a pilot. Even before any of these logistical systems are in place, each of us shoppers can act now, if every single adult in the US made a few small changes to our shopping behavior. Take the extra time to research and think -- Do I really need this item? No: Do I really want this item? -- before making a purchase. And if every one of us adults in the US returned five less items this year, we would keep 240 million pounds of clothes out of the landfill. Six percent reduction, just like that. This environmental problem that we have created is not thousands of years away; it's happening today, and must stop now to prevent growing landfills across the globe.
這是可行的,可能要 花六個月的時間 來將我們既有的系統 結合並做測試。 甚至,在這些物流系統就緒之前, 我們每一位購物者 現在就可以行動, 美國的每一位成人都能 在我們的購物行為上 作出幾個小改變。 我們要額外花一點時間 來研究和思考—— 我真的需要這件商品嗎? 不:我真的想要這件商品嗎?—— 在購買之前就先思考。 如果美國的每一位成人 今年退回的商品數量減少五件, 被送去掩埋場的衣物 就能減少 2 億 4000 萬磅。 光這樣,就能減少 6%。 我們所造成的這個環境問題, 並不是幾千年後才會發生; 它正在發生, 且現在就必須要停下來, 以預防全球廢物掩埋量持續成長。
I want to leave my daughter and my daughter's daughter a better and cleaner place than I found it, so I have not only stopped overordering, I recycle religiously as well. And you can, too. It's not difficult. Before we fill our shopping carts and our landfills with extra items that we don't want, let's pause next time we are shopping online and think twice about what we all hopefully really do want: a beautiful Earth to call home.
我想要留給我女兒, 以及我女兒的女兒, 一個比我現在身處 還要更好、更乾淨的地方, 所以我不只停止了多訂貨的行為, 還虔誠地在做回收。 你們也可以。這並不難。 在我們用不想要的 額外商品把購物車 以及掩埋場塞滿之前, 下一次上網購物時要記得停下來, 想一想,我們所有人 其實真正想要的 是一個美麗的地球家園。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)