这是超市里的冰淇淋货柜 这个是证人 为了保护其身份和公司 藏在了幕后
This is the grocery ice cream aisle.And this is a witness hiding behind a screen to protect their identity and their business.
它们关系密切
The two are connected.
这是一扇通往甜蜜美食世界的大门
This is a frost-covered door to a world of delicious treats,
这是1999年9月John Kerry聆听一位证人的言辞 为保护证人的身份
and this is John Kerry in September 1999, listening to a witness whose voice is scrambled
声音做了处理
to preserve their anonymity.
利润与产品无关
“It’s not about the product.”
这个声音处理的很奇葩
Really weird voice-scrambling here, by the way.
超市的货架之战正在如火如荼的上演
There is a war going on in the aisles of grocery stores.
在你购物时看到这些商品之前
A lot of grocery shelf space is bought by companies selling you stuff, long before you
商家已经租用了很多超市的货架来销售他们商品
see it while you’re shopping.
可能需要花高达五百万美元才能让你的糖果
It can cost as much as $5 million dollars to get your candy bar near the checkout in
出现在超市收银台附近的货架上
a bunch of grocery stores.
即使所有人都了解所谓的上架费
And even if you know about these so-called slotting fees, the arguments for and against
但是背后的争议可能会让你大吃一惊
them might surprise you.
上架费体现了一种隐藏的买卖关系
Slotting fees say something about the hidden transactions that let buyers and sellers work
他们偶尔会敬畏对方
together — and occasionally fear each other, too.
想象一下 如果你是一款新型冰淇淋的厂商 并且希望你外表普通
Imagine you’re a new ice cream maker and you want to sell delicious Generic Ice Cream,
但非常美味的冰淇淋爆销
the ice cream with delicious generic bits.
仅仅卖冰淇淋是不够的
You can’t just start selling your ice cream.
如果你想成为超市主要的供货商 你必须付一笔钱
If you want to be in a major grocer, you have to pay.
记者Gary Rivlin 最近在一篇由科学中心就公共利益方面发表的报告中
Journalist Gary Rivlin recently wrote about the slotting fee economy in a report for the
就提到了上架费问题
Center for Science in the Public Interest.
他讲述的这个关于Clemmys冰淇淋的真实故事出现的情况
His story of a real ice cream brand called “Clemmys” is a guide to what might happen
可能会出现在你的generic冰淇淋品牌上
to your Generic Ice Cream brand.
你必须支付30000美元才能让你的冰淇淋进入350家店铺的冰柜里
To get Generic Ice Cream inside a freezer door, you’d have to pay $30,000 to get in
当然 这已经是折扣价了
350 stores — and that’s at a discount.
一旦你的产品进入了商铺 你又不得不花更多的钱让它一直呆在那儿
Once you got in, sometimes you’d have to pay up to stay on the shelf.
你会与像纽崔莱和联合利华这样强劲的对手竞争
And you’re competing against giants like Nestlé and Unilever.
Rivlin说他们垄断了90%的冰柜空间
Rivlin reports they control basically 90 percent of the freezer doors because they’d already
因为他们付了足够的钱
paid up.
对于雀巢这些大品牌来说 30000美元不多 但是对于你 它可能是一个
For giants like them, a $30,000 fee isn’t a lot — for you, however, it might be a
天文数字
major cost.
就算是花大价钱上了货架 你也不能随心所欲摆放你的产品
Even then, paying for your Generic Ice Cream to get on the shelves wouldn’t necessarily
相反 付钱更多的大公司才享有决定权
give you control — instead, category captains, the big guys who pay the most, draft where
这往往也就决定了销售量
every item goes, which can determine how well things sell.
他们画出像这样的示意图 帮助商店管理商品
Drawings like these, called planograms, help stores keep things organized.
看 generic苏打水在这儿 功能型饮料在这儿
See, Generic Soda goes here, Generic Energy here.
但是这样也帮助零售商销售商品
But they also help retailers sell space.
每一个位置都有自己的定价
Each spot comes at a cost.
当然 对于糖果 曲奇 薯片 苏打这类货架 通常也是一样的
The same is true of most of what you see in the candy, cookie, chip, and soda aisles.
正如作家Rivlin所说的 这类似于贿赂
To writers like Rivlin, it’s no better than a bribe.
苏打和糖果商家付清了货架钱 顾客的选择范围也有限
Soda and candy pays up, and consumers have limited choice.
你那美味的冰淇淋永远不会是热销品
Your delicious Generic Ice Cream never hits the shelves.
在1995年美国烟酒火器管理局禁止诸如此类的酒精产品的销售
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms banned stuff like this for alcohol in 1995.
如果你是 Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer的忠实读者 你会发现
And if you’re a regular reader of Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer, you’ll know vendors
很多小企业一直都在反对上架费
are constantly fighting against these slotting fees.
那么 为什么上架费得以在如此多的商家反对的情况下存在呢？
So why are vendors resigned that slotting fees are here to stay?
想象一下你是一个正在销售Generic冰淇淋的店主
Imagine you’re the grocery selling that Generic Ice Cream.
你可以有无数的理由收取上架费
There are a lot of reasons for slotting fees.
这里当然有很多货架空间 然而食品制造商 — 像Generic
There’s have so much shelf space to sell from, and food makers — like Generic — throw
会有更多的产品需要销售
too many products at them.
上架费帮助商店给商品定序
Slotting fees help the store prioritize.
Mary Sullivan在早期曾写过一篇文章反对上架费
Mary Sullivan wrote early studies defending slotting fees.
看这个图表了吗？
See this chart?
从这儿可以看出在现代技术的帮助下80年有多少新产品出现
It shows how many new products that manufacturers came up with in the 80s, thanks to technological
可以让我们更简单的分拆商品
advances like scanners that made it easier to spin off products.
商店需要防止供应过剩的问题
Retailers needed to cut through the glut.
一些人反驳上架费助长了商店乱用职权的行为
Some argue that slotting fees hel the store prioritize.
这个摘自Federal Trade Commission的图表表明 在一些空间狭小的地方 上架费明显更高
And as this chart from the Federal Trade Commission shows, slotting fees are typically higher
比如冰淇淋货架间的过道或者靠近收银台的糖果过道
where space is scarcer, like the ice cream aisle or the candy bar aisle near the checkout.
在图表里紫色表示冰淇淋 集中显示在密集的货架上
The purple ice cream here in this chart is clustered at the higher end of the slotting
上架费更高
fee scale.
公平贸易委员会和其他专家发现上架费不仅仅使商家
The FTC and other academics have found that for retailers, slotting fees don’t just
宰杀商品 同时上架费的出现会使得商家
cull the offerings, but they also help them see that a manufacturer is willing to put
自己主动掏腰包
their money where their mouth is.
如果你为generic的曲奇和奶油支付30000美元作为上架费
If you threw $30,000 into a slotting fee for Generic Cookies and Cream, it might signal
这样给予零售商一个信号 你可以赌一把 再根据市场调查和其他的测试
to the retailer that you’re able to guess, thanks to market research and other testing,
你的商品很有潜力
that the product will succeed.
以此商家会觉得值得一试 这一点很重要 因为有80%的新产品
The retailer might then decide it’s worth a try, which is important, since 80% of new
会打水漂
products fail.
反对者认为上架费不仅仅弥补了补充新产品的费用
The argument’s that slotting fees don’t just offset the costs of adding new products
同时也体现了制造商对产品的信心
to the system, but they also show if a manufacturer thinks a product is a winner.
这是一个老大难–你越深入到市场 你就会发现很多商场都是人为背后操纵
It’s a conundrum – the closer you look, the more supermarkets seem rigged, but at
但是同时 这种小动作很有效
the same time, the more the rigging makes sense.
唯有一样东西是可以确定的 在冰柜门后面 在屏幕后面
The only thing that’s certain is that behind those freezer doors, and behind that screen,
一场战争正要上演
there is a war going on.
代表商家的食品销售协会告诉我 Rivlin的文章
The Food Marketing Institute, which represents grocers, told me that Rivlin’s article “seriously
严重曲解了上架费在食品行业上的屡见不鲜现象
mischaracterized the legitimate food industry practice of slotting fees.”
同时 Rivlin和其拥护者想让公平贸易委员会重新评判上架费的收取
Meanwhile, Rivlin and advocates like him want the FTC to look at slotting fees again.
每一个商家都有自己的营销策略 — 一名沃尔玛代言人告诉我
Each retailer has their own strategy — A Walmart spokesperson told me they don’t
他们不会收取上架费因为他们相信这样会抬高物价
charge slotting fees because they believe it raises prices.
据报道 对待食物 人们都有相似的立场 更愿意免费试吃而不是用金钱购买
Whole Foods reportedly has a similar stance, preferring free trials of goods to cash.
双方都有解决方案：供应商希望商家可以给产品一个机会 在更多的商店里销售
Both sides have solutions: sellers would rather retailers opt for more test stores to give
而不是要求更高的上架费
products a chance, instead of demanding high slotting fees .
至于商家 他们认为上架费是很必要的 用于补偿劳动力
And grocers, well, they say slotting fees are necessary to “recoup the labor, spacing
以及弥补在新产品营销的过程货架的损耗
and shelving costs entailed in marketing new product lines.”
他们也推动专卖店采取更多措施去控制 — 比方说Trader Joe和你的商店里的苏打水
They also push in store brands to take more control — think Trader Joe’s or your grocery’s
从而给予制造商更少的空间摆放商品
branded soda — and that makes space scarcer for manufacturers.
有一些东西是可以确定的 — 在你商店通道上 如果你可以看到麦片和好吃的冰淇淋
Only a few things are certain – your grocery aisle, where you see happy cereal boxes and
是异常奇怪的
yummy ice cream — is oddly tense.
因为大商店有能力让你的产品继续留在货物架上
Hide behind a screen tense, because large groceries have the ability to keep your product
所以躲在幕后的他们仅仅需要的只是动一动手指
off the shelves with just a snap of their fingers.
销售你generic的冰淇淋可能会比你预想的
Selling your Generic Ice Cream is a lot more complicated — and controversial — than
更加复杂更加有争议
you might have realized.
现在可能 购买的人不多
And maybe, now, buying it is too.
上架费最终会是一种妥协的方式 即使你不支付费用
Slotting fees are ultimately a form of negotiation, and even if you don’t pay them, you still
你最终还会妥协
might be making compromises.
你能在Trader Joe’s超市里销售你generic冰淇淋 但若你这样做了
You could sell your Generic Ice Cream in Trader Joe’s, but if you do, you might have to
你可能不得不签下一份严格的保密协议 保证你的冰淇淋
sign a strict non-disclosure agreement, promising not to reveal that it’s your ice cream Trader
和Trader Joe没有半毛钱关系
Joe’s is selling under their own brand.