JC Penney掌門人：置之死地而后生

????羅恩?約翰遜一手打造和經營了蘋果（Apple）輝煌無比的零售業務，這段經歷對他影響至深，讓他堅信獨立思考，即使身處逆境，依然堅持自己的主張。

????如今，身為JC Penney首席執行官的約翰遜正在運用這些經驗，試圖擔起重任，重振這家沒落的零售企業。

????“這是一場馬拉松，”約翰遜在科羅拉多州阿斯彭出席財富技術頭腦風暴（Fortune's Brainstorm Tech）會議期間接受采訪時稱。“我們將堅持我們的計劃。”

????約翰遜承認，自他去年11月出任CEO以來，并不是所有事情都按計劃取得了預期效果。JC Penney取消優惠劵和折扣的一貫策略，招致很多顧客的不滿。營銷計劃效果不佳。商店客流下降，銷售額大幅下滑。

????但約翰遜表示，將繼續堅持自己的核心計劃，通過每天提供有競爭力的價格重新贏得客戶，“我們希望每一天都是購物的好日子”。他相信，顧客適應了新的定價之后，JC Penney“能夠贏得商業信譽”。

????約翰遜還特別列出了公司門店中正在進行的一些改革。JC Penney已經摒棄了過時的技術基礎架構，換上了基于甲骨文（Oracle）的系統。新技術將大大改善店內體驗，提供手機結賬、自助結賬以及RFID標簽（而非條形碼），這些都將加快購物的速度。

????約翰遜還透露，JC Penney將開始在數千門店內設立微商店，提供更好的購物體驗，希望將顧客重新吸引到店里。但他說，與其他公司的轉型一樣，JC Penney的轉變不會在一夜之間發生，一段時間內公司的銷售額可能會繼續下降，然后才會開始再次增長。

????“我們會把它當作一家初創公司，”約翰遜說。“唯一的問題是這家初創公司的規模有多大。”他拒絕說明公司能承受精簡到什么程度，但表示董事會完全支持他的計劃。“我們將達到適當的水平”。

????他隨后補充說：“蘋果曾經歷了比JC Penney今年還要痛苦得多的艱難歲月。轉型必然需要時間。”

????面對大部分都相信互聯網零售業將摧毀實體店的聽眾，約翰遜發表了截然相反的看法。他說，他看好實體零售業務，認為互聯網零售業就像幾十年前的目錄購物一樣，終將進入平臺期。他說，不同的零售目錄將在不同的節點上達到平衡，而 “實體零售店始終會擁有一席之地”。如果他必須在真磚實瓦的實體零售店和僅有在線服務的商家之間選擇的話，約翰遜說：“我會毫無猶豫地選擇實體零售店”。

????譯者：早稻米

????Ron Johnson's experience building and running Apple's (AAPL) formidable retail operation was formative. It taught him to think differently and to stick to his convictions even in the face of adversity.

????Now Johnson is applying these lessons to the challenging task of turning around JC Penney (JCP), the struggling retailer where Johnson is CEO.

????"We're in a marathon here," Johnson said during an interview at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado. "We are going to stick to our plan."

????Johnson admitted that not everything has gone according to plan since he became CEO in November. The company angered many consumers when it moved away from its strategy of offering coupons and discounts. Its marketing plan misfired. Traffic to stores declined and sales dropped sharply.

????But Johnson said he will stick to his core plan to win customers back by offering competitive prices every day. "We want every day to be a great day to shop," he said. After customers get used to the new pricing, he added, JC Penney will "have a business based on integrity."

????Johnson also highlighted some of the improvements he is making in the stores. He announced that JC Penney had scrapped an outdated technology infrastructure and replaced it with an Oracle-based system. The new technology will allow the company to improve the in-store experience with mobile checkouts, self checkouts and tags based on RFID instead of bar codes, which would speed up purchases.

????Johnson said that JC Penney would begin launching mini-stores within thousands of its retail outlets in order to offer more compelling shopping experiences intended to bring customers back. But he said the transformation of JC Penney, like any other turnaround, will not happen overnight, and that the company may lose more sales before it starts growing again.

????"We are going to treat it like a start up," Johnson said. "The only question is what size will the startup be." He declined to say how much the company could afford to downsize, but said his board is squarely behind his plan. "We are going to get to the right level," he said.

????He later added: "Apple went through much tougher years than we are going through this year at Penney's. Transformation takes time."

????Facing an audience that largely believes that online retail will obliterate physical stores, Johnson took a contrarian view. He said he is bullish on physical retailing, and predicted that online retailing, just like catalog shopping a few decades ago, will eventually reach a plateau. He said different categories of retailing will level off at different points, and that "the physical store will have a permanent place." If he had to choose between a bricks and mortar retailer and an online only merchant, Johnson said, "I take a physical retailer in a heartbeat."