每日一讀：Battle of the T-Shirts

Battle of the T-Shirts(b)

『網路T恤的後戰國時代』

Ultimately, the biggest contributor to the success of Buy365 has been their unique quick turnaround system, bolstered by the now-or-never feeling created by the on-screen countdown. So what is this quick turnaround system? Other clothing sellers operate on the process of design, produce, stock, and then sell, but Buy365 has turned that on its head. Their process is design, stock, sell, produce. What this means is that when a customer places an order, they will have to wait for 14 days while their order is being made before they can get their hands on it.

The key to making customers happy about waiting isn t engaging in price wars like many other online sellers, but rather selling shirts in time-limited runs because the rarity gives the shirts extra value. In their early days, Buy365 sold just one shirt design a day. Today, responding to the clamor from their customers, they run each sale for five days, but Buy365 remains adamant that once a sale is over, that design will never be sold again.

The names behind Buy365 are fairly familiar ones because Jerry and Andy Kuo were once Internet golden boys. The brothers were ready for another challenge, so they chose to focus on something everyone buys—T-shirts. The two were aware that while they had the technical know-how, they didn t possess the same level of ability when it came to selecting and designing clothes. As a result, they decided to subvert the standard approach by letting their customers decide how many of each design would be made and in what sizes and then entering production once the orders were in. This way, the Kuos began operating with zero inventory and without the worry of leftover stock that would have to be discounted at the end of each season. It has turned out to be another recipe for success for these two Internet entrepreneurs.

最終，敗衣網能成功的最大因素是獨特的『快速逆轉』系統，加上運用計算機熒幕上的倒數計時器來營造『今天不買，明天就沒有』的氛圍。什麼是『快速逆轉』系統呢？其他服飾業者都是根據『設計、生產、上架、販售』的這套系統來運作，但敗衣網卻完全改變了這樣的作法。他們的程序是『設計、上架、販售、生產』。這意味著消費者下單購買後得等十四天的生產期才能拿到他們所購買的商品。

讓消費者心甘情願等待的關鍵，並非其他網路業者慣用的折扣戰，而是銷售限時搶購的商品，因為很珍貴，給了這些衣服額外的價值。在敗衣網開站初期，每天只銷售一款 T 恤。目前為了回應消費者的強烈需求，他們開放每一款 T 恤的銷售期為五天，但該網站仍堅守一旦賣完絕不再版的原則。

敗衣網的經營者頗具名氣，他們是前幾年曾創辦知名社群網站『地圖日記』的網路金童郭書齊和郭家齊兄弟。（編按：而『地圖日記』後來被酷朋（Groupon）公司所併購。）這對兄弟已準備好迎接另一項挑戰，因此他們選擇把重心擺在每個人都會買的東西，那就是 T 恤。郭氏兄弟意識到，雖然他們有科技方面的專業能力，但說到挑選與設計服飾，他們並沒有同樣程度的能力。於是他們決定顛覆標準的作法，讓消費者來決定每一款衣服要生產的數量及尺寸，訂單下了之後才開始生產。如此一來，郭氏兄弟開始以『零庫存』的方式運作，而不用擔心在季末時必須要打折來促銷存貨。結果，這又成了這兩位網路企業家的另一項成功之道。

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