西方企业艰难适应中国消费者口味
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次置业的钟磊（音译）在江苏五星电器选购热水器。一位销售员人讲解数控系统如何让沐浴变得更加舒适，钟磊专心聆听。这位31岁的军队系统职工后来解释说，我们需要了解这一切功能，因为这些东西大多数都不是我们父母所拥有的。
Laurie Burkitt/The Wall Street Journal
谭澎在青岛一家五星电器为她的新家选购家电。
钟磊在这家百思买(Best Buy Co. BBY +0.61% )子公司的经历，让人对中国不断成长的中产阶级得以略知一二。
中国正指望这一迅速壮大的群体能够推动国内需求不断增长。而在欧洲和北美市场扩张乏力的西方出口企业，同样也把希望寄托在他们身上。
但中国中产阶级不是美国的中产阶级。西方企业曾经误判中国消费者的购物重点，笨手笨脚地把美国式的商店布局照搬到中国。
前不久才离任的百思买亚洲区负责人德诺(David Deno)说，我们愚蠢又自大。
但通过磕磕绊绊的摸索，中国区已经成为百思买少有的一个亮点。该公司因美国销量大幅下降而使业务遭受沉重打击，以4月份首席执行长辞职而达到最高潮的管理层动荡也给这家公司带来磨难。
百思买指望旗下的五星电器能让中国成为它的最大海外市场，可与美国市场平起平坐。五星电器拥有门店200家左右，并计划到2016年增加到500多家，实现销售收入40亿美元。五星电器拒绝透露去年的销售收入。
中国中产阶级有着巨大的潜在购买力。据布鲁金斯学会(Brookings Institution)经济学家哈拉斯(Homi Kharas)分析，占总人口18.2%的2.47亿中国人拥有被称为中产阶级的条件，也就是平均每天的家庭支出在10美元到1,00美元之间。
按当前趋势，到2020年中国中产阶级人数将增至6.07亿人，经通货膨胀和购买力因素调整之后，他们的开支数额将与美国中产阶级相当。
中国已经是某些能体现中产阶级身份的产品在世界上的最大市场，如汽车、个人电脑和智能手机等。跨国公司在开拓中国市场方面丝毫没有放松力度的迹象。惠而浦(Whirlpool Corp. WHR +1.88% )打算将冰箱、洗衣机等家电的分销渠道扩展到内陆城市。可口可乐(Coca-Cola Co. KO +0.30% )计划在未来三年在华投资40亿美元。
食品生产商亨氏(H.J. Heinz Co. HNZ -0.04% )的中国区负责人司马瀚(Hein Schumacher)上个月对分析师说，中国一些发展大趋势将会继续推动日常消费品需求的增长，这些趋势就是中国不断推进的城市化，当然还有与之相关的中产阶级的成长。
五星电器的CEO王健(Nicolas Wang)说，公司在2001年开设第一家门店时，他都不知道中文里有中产阶级这个词。也难怪；据布鲁金斯学会经济学家哈拉斯说，当时只有3%的中国人口符合中产阶级标准。
但那时还是有许多零售企业义无反顾地投身中国市场。一些公司迅速打开了局面，百胜餐饮(Yum Brands Inc. YUM +0.29% )旗下的肯德基(KFC)就是其中一例。
但美泰公司(Mattel Inc. MAT +0.06% )在去年3月份却关闭了它在中国的巴比娃娃(Barbie)门店。这家公司总算搞明白了，中国父母希望自己的女儿向用用功读书的孩子学习，不希望她们以卖弄风情的女人为榜样。
家得宝(Home Depot Inc. HD -0.61% )去年在中国关闭了大约一半的门店，因为它发现中国人很少有兴趣自己搞装修。美泰公司表示将在中国推销更多的教育类玩具。家得宝正在修正其在华战略。
百思买则选择了两条腿走路。一方面它在2006年购进五星电器首笔75%的股权，另一方面又开设了九家百思买门店，指望美国人想要的那些电器也会受到中国消费者的青睐，如咖啡机和环绕声家庭娱乐系统等。
但中国消费者不同于美国消费者。首先，中国消费者更穷。Moody's Analytics的数据显示，2010年中国城市家庭收入的中位数约为1.34万美元，大约只有美国的四分之一。
Laurie Burkitt/Wall Street Journal
一队新婚夫妇在一家五星电器研究海信电视。
去年，百思买关闭了在华门店，专心打造"五星电器"这一品牌，因为他们认为在中国开设美式风格的门店是一个错误。
五星电器的目标市场是中国名气较小的城市。在这些城市，一些人刚刚开始养成消费习惯。有大约70%的顾客是月收入约为人民币5,000元的年轻家庭，这些家庭想买的产品是10年前只有富裕家庭才能买得起的东西。
在五星电器，只要顾客开始浏览大件商品，五星电器的销售人员就会给顾客递上圣女果、一杯热水，有时还会给顾客提供一张按摩椅。随后销售人员将会劝说顾客买下按摩椅。
五星电器同时提供"解决方案专家"服务。厂家派驻到卖场的销售代表对顾客的宣传往往相互冲突，而"解决方案专家"则能帮助客户厘清购物思路。在卖场里，商品是按照不同品牌进行分类，而不是按产品类别划分。
五星电器的专家会把电话号码留给顾客，这样顾客随时能给他们打电话。此举的目的在于通过专家推荐构筑一张"忠诚顾客"网络。这一做法借鉴了中国人的习惯，即依靠熟人提供建议。
五星电器的一位购物专家王博（音）说，有六位顾客邀请他参加婚礼。王博说，我赢得了他们的信赖，带给他们天使般的微笑和服务。
中国部分中产阶级顾客的需求不断提升令五星电器在部分城市进行服务升级。比如和一些老一点的门店相比，青岛门店会销售价格较高的电子商品，像是为首次出国旅行或是在国内进行自驾游的顾客准备的照相机和高清视频设备。
更为明亮的灯光、更多的座位以及顾客服务站，这些设备令位于青岛这座人口达840万的港口城市的五星电器从装修上看起来更像美国的百思买。
百思买也从美国给五星电器带来了一些建议。五星电器将手机柜台挪到门店前以吸引人流。中国顾客经常对手机进行更新换代。
作为一家零售商，五星电器也在努力开发自有品牌，以便和规模更大、品牌知名度更高的家电连锁卖场竞争，比如苏宁电器(Suning Appliance Co. CN:002024 -0.11% )和国美电器(GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd.CN:002670 +0.25% )。
五星电器去年也成立了一家规模较小的研究部，以便开展顾客调查。此举效法的是其母公司的做法。当了解到一些顾客认为其企业标识较为平庸之后，五星电器设计了一个新的标识，看上去就像好莱坞动画专家绘制的卡通人物一样。
28岁的谭澎（音）和同龄未婚夫侯辉茂（音）两人的月收入加在一起为4,000元。两人最近在青岛五星电器为他们的两居室新居添置了一台洗衣机、一台电冰箱和一台纯平电视。
走出商场的时候，两人驻足浏览一台iPad，但最后决定现在并非购买时机。
谭澎说，我们得到提供最低折扣的地方去买东西。毕竟，我们不属于上层阶级。
Laurie Burkitt / Bob Davis
Chasing China's Shoppers
'We need to learn about all these features because our parents didn't have most of this stuff,' Mr. Zhong, a 31-year-old military employee, explains later.
He buys the water heater -- as well as a refrigerator, a washing machine and a $950 flat-screen television set.
Mr. Zhong's experience at the Best Buy Co. unit offers a glimpse inside China's evolving middle class.
China is counting on rising domestic demand from this rapidly growing segment. So, too, are Western exporters, faced with anemic growth in Europe and North America.
But China's middle class isn't Charleston's. Western companies have misjudged Chinese shoppers' priorities and clumsily tried to export U.S.-style stores.
'We were stupid and arrogant,' says David Deno, who was Best Buy's Asia chief until recently.
But through trial and error, China has become a rare bright spot for Best Buy, which has been pummeled by slumping U.S. sales and racked by management turmoil culminating with the April resignation of its chief executive.
The company is betting that its Five Star subsidiary can make China the retailer's largest overseas market, one that could rival U.S. operations. Five Star has about 200 stores and by 2016 plans to add up to 500 more, targeting $4 billion in sales. Five Star declines to disclose last year's sales.
The potential buying power of China's middle class is vast. About 247 million Chinese, 18.2% of the population, qualify as middle class, meaning their households spend between $10 and $100 a day on average, according to Brookings Institution economist Homi Kharas.
If current patterns continue, the number will soar to 607 million by 2020, and spending by China's middle class will rival that of the U.S., after adjusting for inflation and purchasing power.
China already is the world's largest market for some middle-class emblems, including cars, personal computers and smartphones. And multinational companies show no signs of taking their feet off the gas. Whirlpool Corp. plans to boost distribution of fridges, washing machines and other appliances to China's inland cities. Coca-Cola Co. plans to invest $4 billion over the next three years.
'For fast-moving, everyday consumer goods, there are some broad megatrends that will continue to push demand forward, which are ongoing urbanization in China and then, of course, the related growth of the middle class,' Hein Schumacher, the China chief for food maker H.J. Heinz Co., told analysts last month.
Nicolas Wang, Five Star's chief executive, says that when the company opened its first store in 2001, he didn't even know the Chinese term for middle class. It's no wonder; less than 3% of the population fit the description then, says Mr. Kharas, the Brookings economist.
But many retailers jumped in anyway. Some quickly prospered, such as Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC.
Mattel Inc., however, shut its Barbie stores in March of last year, after learning that Chinese parents wanted their girls to model themselves after studious children, not flirts.
Home Depot Inc. closed about half its stores here last year, finding scant interest among Chinese for do-it-yourself renovation. Mattel says it will promote more educational toys in China. Home Depot is revamping its strategy.
Best Buy used a two-track approach. It bought an initial 75% stake in Five Star in 2006. It also opened nine Best Buy stores, figuring that Chinese shoppers would covet the same gadgets Americans did, like espresso machines and surround-sound home-entertainment systems.
But Chinese consumers are different. For one thing, they are poorer. Median household income in Chinese cities was about $13,400 in 2010, according to Moody's Analytics, about a quarter the U.S. figure.
The Chinese middle class also is at a different stage of development. Many Chinese want appliances and basic TV sets to fill their first apartments. Chinese on average also save more than 30% of household income, vastly more than Americans, and rarely use credit cards. And many Chinese shoppers expect to haggle over prices -- a foreign concept for the U.S. company.
Last year, Best Buy shut its China outlets, figuring that opening U.S.-style stores had been a mistake, and focused exclusively on building the Five Star brand.
Five Star targets China's lesser-known cities, where some people are just beginning to develop consumer habits. About 70% of its customers are young families earning around 5,000 yuan, or roughly $800, a month and looking for products that a decade ago only the rich could afford.
The moment a customer starts browsing a big-ticket item, a Five Star sales clerk will offer the shopper cherry tomatoes, a cup of hot water to sip or some time in a massage chair. Later, the clerk will try to persuade the customer to buy the chair.
The chain also offers the services of 'solution experts,' who help customers sort through the conflicting claims of manufacturers' representatives who work in the stores, where goods are organized by manufacturer, rather than by product.
Five Star's experts give out their telephone numbers so customers can call at any time. The goal is to build a web of loyal shoppers through referrals, borrowing from a Chinese custom of relying on a network of trusted acquaintances for advice.
One Five Star shopping expert, Wang Bo, says he has been invited to a half-dozen customer weddings. 'I earn their trust and give them the smile and service of an angel,' he says.
Growing sophistication among some Chinese middle-class customers has led Five Star to upgrade in some cities. The Qingdao store has higher-priced electronics than older outlets -- for example, cameras and high-definition video equipment for a first voyage overseas or a road trip across China.
With brighter lighting, additional seating and customer-assistance stations, the store in this port city of 8.4 million people also has more of the trappings of a stateside Best Buy.
Best Buy also is giving Five Star a few tips from the U.S. playbook. The subsidiary displays mobile phones, which Chinese consumers regularly upgrade, in the front of the store to draw traffic.
Five Star also is working to develop its own brand as a retailer, helping it to compete with larger, brand-conscious Chinese chains, such as Suning Appliance Co. and GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd.
Following its parent's lead, Five Star opened a small research department last year to conduct consumer surveys. When it learned that some customers considered the chain stodgy, Five Star developed a new icon: cartoon characters that appear to be drawn by Hollywood animators.
Tan Peng and her fiance, Hou Huimao, have a combined monthly income of 4,000 yuan. On a recent visit to Five Star's Qingdao outlet, they purchased a washing machine, a refrigerator and a flat-screen TV for their new two-bedroom apartment.
On their way out, the 28-year-olds stop to pore over an iPad but decide the time isn't right.
'We have to go to where we can get the best bargains,' Ms. Tan says. 'After all, we're not in the upper class.'
Laurie Burkitt / Bob Davis
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