這些年來有關沃爾瑪電子商務的故事一直是跌宕起伏，但最近發生的事情，簡直是一浪高過一浪。

不過，作為今年《財富》500強榜首企業，這家零售巨擘面臨著現實的挑戰。對手亞馬遜的一些戰略舉措一直讓沃爾瑪高度警惕，比如，其諸如語音助手Alexa那樣的聲控創新以及全食超市那樣的意外收購。另一競爭者塔吉特公司則圍繞著“進入城市”策略四處奔走，多方布局，打算吸引那些令人垂涎的消費群體。

那么，沃爾瑪保持領先的訣竅在哪里呢？平價購物網站Jet.com（沃爾瑪以30億美元現金的代價收購了這個網站）創始人、沃爾瑪美國電子商務業務現任首席執行官馬克·洛爾，在洛杉磯Shop.org零售業大會上介紹了他的策略。洛爾告訴我，沃爾瑪現在有1.4萬名員工，他的工作重心一直是確保其具有像Jet.com的幾百人那樣的靈活性。

但這還不是全部。以下是沃爾瑪發展電商的五條措施：

1. 擁抱聲控未來

就在亞馬遜繼續向Echo系列聲控智能設備投資之際，沃爾瑪開始和Google Home共同開展這方面的研究。洛爾說，這是件大事，“要注意的不僅是技術，還有它會被賦予什么樣的功能，這很重要……在銷售和物流方面，技術可以把哪些以前或許不可能的事變成可能呢？”互聯網能通過“更高效的產品目錄”讓零售商做得更好。聲控使銷售方法得到了類似的“再造”。“聲控意味著最佳答案將變得比以往任何時候都要重要，因為人們不可能通過聲控來瀏覽包含50乃至100件不同商品的目錄。具有這種一對一個性化服務能力并且真正擅長這樣做將成為贏家和輸家的分水嶺。”

2. 有目標地大舉收購

沃爾瑪在電商領域大舉收購了Bonobos、Moosejaw、ShoeBuy和ModCloth等公司，洛爾說：“我們有兩條不同的策略。就第一條來說，實際上是要設法加快現有店面的增長，而且最主要的內容就是資產收購。與對沃爾瑪和Jet.com的業績要求相比，它真的不那么重視所收購店鋪的投資回報率。另一條策略……實際上就是關于對未來的思考。”

3. 重新考慮組織結構

洛爾接管沃爾瑪電商業務時對關鍵部門做了一些調整，他認為此舉有助于推動此項業務實現增長。洛爾說：“我采取的首批措施之一就是要求顧客關懷和顧客體驗兩個部門的主管直接向我匯報。我覺得端正以顧客為中心的態度真的很重要，而讓他們直接向我匯報則是說明這一點的最佳方式。在我看來，你不僅在那樣的層次上得到了更好的人員，顧客在公司中的重要性也得到了提升。”

4. 利用現有資產

沃爾瑪擁有大量實體店鋪不是什么秘密。僅在美國，沃爾瑪商場的數量就幾乎達到5000家。洛爾認為這些實體店是在數字領域實現增長的一大筆資產。他笑著說：“這是在沃爾瑪工作最讓我興奮的地方之一，那就是完全可以利用分布在美國各地的4600家沃爾瑪商場，它們覆蓋了美國90%的人口，而且距離都不超過10英里（16.1公里）。如果同時把它們視為倉庫，那么這些商場就已經盈利了。而且它們就在那兒，整卡車的商品都會送到那里。這是繼續部署商品的最高效途徑。所以我們需要的另外兩項能力是從商場到住戶的最后一哩運輸和提貨服務，這就是拼圖的最后一塊。”洛爾還說，這兩項能力的建設正在順利進行。

5. 激發員工活力

沃爾瑪的體量遠遠超過洛爾被收購的初創公司Jet.com，那么他怎么確保自己可以讓Jet.com的創業精神留在沃爾瑪呢？洛爾說，關鍵就在于激發員工的活力。他指出：“你給別人信息，相信他們，給予他們力量，讓他們跑起來并且讓他們知道冒險會得到獎勵而不是懲罰，這就是你需要創造的環境和文化。”（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

The story of Walmart e-commerce has had its ups and downs over the years—but lately it's up, up, up.

Nonetheless, the retail giant—which tops this year's Fortune 500—has its work cut out for it. Rival Amazon keeps Walmart on its toes with voice-powered innovations like Alexa and surprise acquisitions like Whole Goods. Competitor Target bobs and weaves with a take-it-to-the-city strategy meant to appeal to coveted customer demographics.

What's the trick for Walmart to stay on top? Marc Lore, founder of Jet.com and now CEO of Walmart's U.S. e-commerce business, stopped by the Shop.org retail conference in Los Angeles to share his strategy. He told me that he's focused on making sure his 14,000 or so employees stay as nimble as the hundreds he had at Jet before Walmart acquired it for $3 billion in cash.

But that's not all. Here are five ways Walmart's moving ahead on e-commerce:

1. Embrace the Future (and the Future is Voice-Activated)

As Amazon continues to plow investment into its portfolio of voice-controlled Echo smart devices, Walmart is working with Google Home to the same effect. It's a big deal, Lore said. "It's important to look at not just the technology but what it enables...what does it enable in terms of merchandising and logistics that maybe wasn't possible before?" The Internet allowed retailers to be better merchants through a "more efficient catalog." Voice allows for a similar reframing of the practice of merchandising. "Voice means one best answer is going to be more important than it ever has before because you can't just get a list of 50 or 100 different things through voice. Having that one-to-one personalization and being really good at it is going to separate the winners from the losers."

2. Make Targeted, Tuck-in Acquisitions

"For us, two different strategies," Lore said of the company's aggressive e-commerce shopping spree that included Bonobos, Moosejaw, ShoeBuy, and ModCloth. "With respect to the first, it's really about trying to accelerate growth on the existing site and it's more of an asset purchase than anything else. It's not really as much about ROI on the site that we acquired as much as what it can do on Walmart and Jet. The other one...it's really about thinking into the future."

3. Rethink the Org Chart

When Lore took over Walmart's e-commerce operation, he made some key departmental changes that he believes helped jumpstart growth in the division. "One of the first things I did was made Customer Care and Customer Experience two direct reports to me," he said. "I think it's really important to be and have that sort of customer-centric view and no better way to make that point than to have those people report direct. Not only do you get better people, I think, when they're at that level but it elevates the customer within the organization."

4. Leverage Existing Assets

It's no secret that Walmart has a tremendous footprint of brick-and-mortar stores—almost 5,000 in the U.S. alone. Lore sees that physical infrastructure as a huge asset to achieving digital growth. "This is one of the things that gets me most excited about being at Walmart, just being able to leverage the 4,600 stores around the U.S. that are within 10 miles of 90% of the population," he said with a grin. "When you think about them doubling as warehouses, they're already profitable, they're already there, product is getting to them in full truckload quantities. It's the most efficient way to get product forward deployed. So the last mile from store to home and picking are the two other capabilities you need to finish the last piece of the puzzle." And those two capabilities, Lore added, are well underway.

5. Empower Employees

How does Lore ensure that he can preserve the entrepreneurial spirit of his acquired startup Jet within the far larger confines of Walmart? He said it's all about empowering employees. "If you give people information and trust them and empower them and let them run and have them know that they're going to be rewarded for taking risk and not be penalized for it," Lore said, "that's the kind of environment and culture you need to create."