Look at that.

看看這個。

Michelin type of ramen.

米其林拉麵。

Collaborations with famous restaurants like Santoka.

與山頭火等知名餐廳合作。（山頭火為北海道知名拉麵店）

Milk tea.

奶茶。

This is 7-Eleven in Japan.

這是日本的 7-11。

But in the U.S., the company is more known for Slurpees and hot dogs.

但在美國，該公司更出名的是思樂冰和熱狗。

It's just not as appealing. My perception is people go in there when they need to.

只是在我看來，它沒有那麼吸引人，因為人們需要的時候才會去 7-11。

The world's largest convenience store chain has over 13,000 locations in North America alone and made over $72 billion in sales last year.

這家全球最大的連鎖便利商店僅在北美就有 13,000 多家分店，去年的銷售額超過 720 億美元。

But now, it's working to bring more Japanese inspiration to its American stores.

但現在，它正努力將更多的日本靈感帶到美國的商店中。

Convenience stores have historically made their money selling tobacco and gas.

便利商店歷來以銷售菸草和汽油為生。

But now, as cigarette sales continue to decline and many expect gas sales to slow, many are racing to find other sources of revenue and doubling down on food.

但現在，由於香菸銷售持續下降，許多人預計天然氣銷售也將放緩，許多人都在爭先恐後地尋找其他收入來源，並在食品方面加倍努力。

But shifting a business this massive is a major undertaking.

但是，如此大規模的業務轉移是一項艱鉅的任務。

This is the economics of 7-Eleven.

這集是《7-11 的經濟學》。

7-Eleven started as an American company, but it went bankrupt twice.

7-11 最初是一家美國公司，但曾兩次破產。

Once in 1932 during the Great Depression and again in 1990 as it struggled with debts.

一次是在 1932 年大蕭條時期，另一次是在 1990 年，當時它正與債務作鬥爭。

7-Eleven is now owned by a Japanese company, 7&I Holdings.

7-11 現在歸日本公司 7&I Holdings 所有。

A majority stake was bought by Ito Yokado, a Japanese supermarket chain that had been operating 7-Eleven stores in Japan for more than a decade.

伊藤洋華堂收購了大部分股份，這是一家日本連鎖超市，十多年來一直在日本經營 7-11 門店。

From the beginning, the Japanese owner said American 7-Eleven, both its central operations and its franchises, had a lot of catching up to do.

從一開始，這位日本老闆就表示，美國 7-11 無論是其中央業務還是其特許經營店，都需要迎頭趕上。

The Japanese model was a lot more data-driven.

日本的模式更注重數據。

They would pore over what sold well at what time of day, break it down by gender and age, and use that to inform their next order decisions.

他們會仔細研究什麼產品在一天中的什麼時間賣得好，按性別和年齡進行分類，並以此為依據做出下一步的訂單決定。

The American system just wasn't as sophisticated as that.

美國的制度並沒有那麼複雜。

There were some major differences between U.S. and Japanese 7-Elevens.

美國和日本的 711有一些重大差異。

The U.S. stores were typically larger and attached to gas stations.

美國的商店通常規模較大，並與加油站相連。

The Japanese stores didn't sell gas, but had a much wider array of fresh food.

日本商店不賣汽油，但有更多的新鮮食品。

Japanese stores only stocked items that would sell quickly.

日本商店只進貨銷售快的商品。

They had a proprietary distribution system that made multiple shipments to stores every day.

他們有一個專有的配送系統，每天向商店運送多批貨物。

Orders were customized by store based on sales data, demographic trends, and local weather forecasts.

根據銷售數據、人口趨勢和當地天氣預報，按商店定製訂單。

American 7-Eleven stores were getting two deliveries per week, and some items were never being purchased.

美國的 7-11 每週只收到兩次送貨，有些商品從未被購買過。

When American operators began counting items in their stores, some found that 40% of their products were selling less than one unit per month.

當美國經營者開始統計店內商品時，一些經營者發現，40% 的產品每月銷量不足一件。

Now, American 7-Eleven has its own distribution system, where franchises place orders every day based on company recommendations of what's selling nationally and regionally, and their own store data.

現在，美國 7-11有自己的分銷系統，加盟店每天都會根據公司推薦的全國和地區熱賣商品以及自己店鋪的數據下訂單。

They're making decisions every single day on what they're going to order, based on what they understand the customer wants to purchase, what new items are going to be made available.

他們每天都在根據瞭解到的客戶購買意願，以及即將推出的新產品，決定要訂購什麼。

One of the most interesting lessons that we've learned from 7-Eleven Japan is their approach to operations and to retailing, which they call "tanpin kanri".

我們從日本 7-11 公司學到的最有趣的經驗之一，就是他們的營運和零售方法，他們稱之為「單品管理」。

And "tanpin kanri" is basically this idea that we localize our assortment to the needs of customers.

而 「單品管理」的基本理念是，我們根據客戶的需求進行本地化分類。

We actually help our stores localize their assortment so that they have the right balance of a consistent assortment of products that consumers and customers would expect to see nationally,

實際上，我們幫助商店本地化其商品種類，使其既有消費者和顧客期望在全國範圍內看到的一致商品種類，

as well as items in the assortment that are perfectly appropriate for a given store's location.

又有完全適合特定商店所在地的商品種類。

This is especially important when it comes to food. 7-Eleven Japan is known for its wide array of meal options.

這一點在食品方面尤為重要。日本 7-11 以其豐富的餐飲選擇而聞名。

You're not gonna believe the choice of food in a convenience store.

你肯定不會相信便利店裡有這麼多食物可供選擇。

American 7-Eleven also has a big food and beverage business.

美國 7-11 還擁有龐大的食品和飲料業務。

In total, it sold over $17 billion of food last year, about 24% of its overall sales.

去年，它總共銷售了超過 170 億美元的食品，約佔其總銷售額的 24%。

That included 315 million cups of coffee, 153 million Slurpees, and 99 million slices of pizza.

其中包括 3.15 億杯咖啡、1.53 億份思樂冰和 9,900 萬片披薩。

But next year, it hopes to make one-third of its sales from store-brand goods, including food, up from less than one quarter in 2022.

但明年，它希望商店品牌商品（包括食品）的銷售額能從 2022 年的不到四分之一增加到三分之一。

That's particularly important given shifts in the convenience store industry.

考慮到便利商店行業的變化，這一點尤為重要。

So if you think about what convenience stores sell, there's fuel, there's tobacco products, and there's food and snacks.

所以，如果你想想便利商店賣什麼，有汽油、香菸產品、食品和零食。

Gas is already a low-margin business, and it's at risk long-term if electric vehicle adoption increases over time.

汽油的利潤率已經很低，如果電動汽車的採用率隨著時間推移不斷提高，汽油業務將面臨長期風險。

Tobacco, very profitable, but people are smoking less.

香菸利潤很高，但人們抽得越來越少。

Food, though, is a category where demand just isn't going away.

不過，食品是一個需求不會消失的類別。

So for convenience stores, it makes sense that they would wanna double down on that.

所以對於便利商店來說，在食品上加倍投入是合情合理的。

7-Eleven currently has 17 so-called commissaries around the country that make food for all of its U.S. locations.

目前，7-11 在全美有 17 家所謂的福利社，為全美所有分店製作食品。

Now, it's working on upgrading them.

現在，它正在努力升級它們。

It's partnering with Warabeya, a supplier for 7-Eleven Japan, to spearhead the effort.

該公司正與日本 7-11 的供應商 Warabea 合作，率先開展這項工作。

Warabea's new factories in Hawaii, Texas, and Virginia can make a wider and more localized range of food than 7-Eleven has been able to stock in the past.

Warabea 位於夏威夷、德州和弗吉尼亞州的新工廠可以生產比 7-11 過去所能供應的更廣泛、更本地化的食品。

Things like being able to cook rice en masse, new protein capabilities, all which helps 7-Eleven introduce new types of products in the food area to our customers.

例如，可以大規模煮米飯、新的蛋白質功能，所有這些都有助於 7-11 向顧客推出食品領域的新型產品。

We recently launched a product that's a spicy miso ramen soup, not something you would typically think about being sold at a 7-Eleven.

我們最近推出了一款辣味噌拉麵湯產品，這不是你通常會想到的在 7-11 出售的產品。

It's adding a lot of items to its menu.

它的菜單上增加了很多項目。

The main question is how many customers will buy them, and this is where data comes into the question.

主要問題是有多少客戶會購買，而這正是數據的作用所在。

When customers come into our stores, they're in an immediate consumption mindset.

當顧客走進我們的商店時，他們會立即產生消費心理。

Capitalizing on this is a key priority for the company, and it plans to use its massive data operation to do it.

利用這一點是公司的首要任務，公司計劃利用其龐大的數據營運來實現這一目標。

American 7-Elevens monitor daily sales, and for loyalty members, they collect demographic information on who's buying what.

美國 7-11 對每天的銷售情況進行監控，併為忠誠會員收集關於誰買了什麼的人口資訊。

The company's loyalty program has 95 million members.

該公司的忠誠度計劃擁有 9500 萬會員。

Building on that, the company's investing in targeted advertising on screens and TVs throughout stores.

在此基礎上，公司還投資在整個商店的螢幕和電視上投放有針對性的廣告。

That's to spur impulse buys.

這是為了刺激衝動購買。

It helps not only 7-Eleven, but also our advertisers, our vendors, to target our customers at the point of purchase.

這不僅有助於 7-11 公司，也有助於我們的廣告商和供應商在顧客購買時鎖定目標。

So for example, in the morning, we may target our customers with a message around a hot cup of coffee and a donut;

例如，在早上，我們可能會針對顧客發佈有關一杯熱咖啡和一個甜甜圈的資訊，

whereas later in the day, we may target our customers with an advertisement that's around a snack and a beverage from our cold vault.

而晚一點，我們可能會針對顧客發佈有關冷藏庫中的點心和飲料的廣告。

And for potential customers who aren't at the store, there's delivery, the fastest growing part of the company's business.

對於不在店裡的潛在顧客，公司還提供送貨服務，這也是公司業務增長最快的部分。

It's highly profitable for the company, since delivery orders tend to be for about double the amount of in-store purchases.

這對公司來說利潤很高，因為送貨訂單的金額往往是店內購物金額的兩倍左右。

How the brand's grown for nearly 100 years starts with what's the customer want, where do we think they're going, and how do we meet them where they're going?

品牌近 100 年來的發展歷程始於客戶的需求，我們認為他們會去哪裡，以及我們如何滿足他們的需求？

A big question is whether American customers will match the enthusiasm 7-Eleven sees in some of its other markets.

一個很大的問題是，美國顧客是否會像 7-11 在其他一些市場一樣熱情。

In Asia, I think there is so much excitement around convenience stores and the types of food and snacks they offer.

在亞洲，我認為便利商店及其提供的食品和零食種類非常令人興奮。

So if they can bring even a little bit of that excitement to the U.S.,

如果他們能為美國帶來哪怕是一點點的興奮，

We're going to get some musubis.

我們要去找些御結。（御結指日式飯糰）

that would be a great success.

這將是一個巨大的成功。