经济学人03:雅芳在南非 化妆行业带来改变

 　　Business.

　　商业。
　　Avon in South Africa.
　　雅芳在南非。
　　Cosmetic 1 difference.
　　化妆行业带来的改变。
　　Lipstick 2 changes lives south of the Limpopo.
　　唇膏改变了南林波波省人们的生活。
　　FOR years Alice Mthini scraped by as a domestic servant. Becoming an "Avon lady" in 2009 changed everything. Discovering a talent for selling, she persuaded other ladies to part with 10,000 rand ($1,190) for Avon's make up and fashion accessories in her first month. She now earns enough to send her children to a private school. She has bought herself a laptop and a car (although she has yet to learn how to drive it). "Avon is my life," she grins.
　　爱丽丝·麦菲尼（Alice Mthini，音译）是一名家政女佣，多年来，一直以此勉强维持生计。2009年，爱丽丝被聘为"雅芳小姐"。这，改变了她的一切。渐渐地，她发掘出自己的销售才能，在就职的第一个月内便成功说服一些女性顾客消费10,000兰特（1190美元）购买雅芳的化妆品和时尚饰品。她现在的收入已足够让她的孩子上私立学校了。她还给自己买了一台笔记本电脑和一辆车——虽然她还未学会驾车。"雅芳让我有了现在的生活，"她咧嘴笑道。
　　The world's biggest direct seller of cosmetics 3 has had little to cheer about of late. Bad management and poor investments caused its share price to plunge 4. But in South Africa, it is doing well. "You go to a doctor's room and everyone has got a brochure," says Eunice Maseko, another of Avon's many ladies in South Africa. "You start to think, where am I going to sell?" she laughs.
　　这家全球最大的化妆品直销商最近却高兴不起来。由于管理不善和投资失策，其股价大幅下跌。但在南非，它经营得还不错。"你去诊所里面（看看），每个人手里都拿着一本手册，"尤妮斯·马瑟科（Eunice Maseko，音译）说道，她也是一名雅芳在南非国内的销售小姐。"（然后）你就会开始想，该往哪儿销呢？"她笑着说。
　　The trick for direct-sales companies such as Avon is not getting people to buy your products, but getting people to sell them. That may be easier in a country where more than a quarter of women are unemployed 5 and formal jobs are scarce, even for educated jobseekers.
　　雅芳这一类直销公司的策略不是吸引人们来购买自己的产品，而是通过招徕人手来进行销售。这类策略，在像南非这样的国家实行起来应该更为容易。南非有25%以上的女性处于失业状态，且由于正式的工作岗位非常稀缺，就连受过教育的求职者都很难找到一份正式工作。
　　Avon does not demand any formal qualifications; only a warm smile and a start-up fee of 75 rand. The firm, which has been operating in South Africa since 1996, is coy about how many people flog its wares 6 there. But it says that in 2011 its sales in South Africa increased by a glossy 7 29%, whereas its global sales grew by a drabber 1%.
　　雅芳公司并不要求任何的正式资历，只要求有热情的笑容和一笔75兰特的开办费用。早在1996年，这家公司就已进驻南非。而当被问到在南非有多少人在推广其产品时，它总是闪烁其辞。但它表示在2011年，该公司在南非的销售成绩斐然，增加了29%，而全球销售情况却相对惨淡，只增加了1%。
　　Most of those peddling 8 Avon's products are black women. Researchers at Oxford 9 University recently published a three-year study of Avon ladies in South Africa. They found that their incomes were above average for black women in their communities, and close to that of an average black South African man.
　　那些推销雅芳产品的女性多数是黑人。牛津大学的研究人员最近公布了一项为期三年的关于南非雅芳（直销）女性的研究成果。他们发现，这些女性的收入高于其所属社区的其他黑人女性的平均收入，且接近于南非国内黑人男性的平均收入。
　　In rural areas, where many roads have no names and houses no numbers, Avon delivers merchandise to post offices so that reps can pick them up. Where there is no bank nearby, Avon organises payment through the post office or a big retailer 10. The company's credit checks have been eased to allow for the fact that few customers have any formal credit history or income. Avon has devised a rating system that takes account of small indices of permanence and responsibility, such as a mobile phone number or a formal address.
　　在农村地区，那里的道路没有路名，房子也没有门号。（于是）雅芳公司把货品运到邮局里，以便直销人员领取。若附近没有银行，雅芳公司就通过邮局或某个大型零售商来支付款项。事实上，由于雅芳公司的大多数客户都没有正式的信贷记录或者收入，这使得该公司更容易通过信贷审查。雅芳公司制定了一套评级系统，记录了各项固定可靠的详细数据，例如手机号码或者正式地址。
　　Linda Scott, one of the Oxford project's leaders, says that reps spoke 11 of Avon in semi-religious terms, using words like "salvation 12". South of the Limpopo, it seems, lipstick changes lives.
　　琳达·斯科特（Linda Scott，音译）是牛津大学研究项目的带头人之一，她表示，那些直销人员谈起雅芳公司总会用到一些有宗教色彩的词，比如"救世"。 看来，在南林波波省这个地方，唇膏真的能改变生活。