????上周四，沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）亮出了吸引網購愛好者的最新武器Shopycat——使用這款社交應用軟件，用戶可為朋友、家人或Facebook上任何通過個人興趣或其它背景聯系起來的人挑選禮品。

????零售商之間在實體店銷售領域的戰爭早已結束，沃爾瑪輕松取勝。但在爭奪電子商務市場的戰役中，沃爾瑪最大的對手可能就是它自己。目前，它正試圖讓旗下3,800家美國門店和幾百萬雇員同沃爾瑪的網站Walmart.com并肩作戰。雖然沃爾瑪的方向是正確的——Shopycat的推出便是朝著這個方向邁出的最新一步，但是距離勝利還有很長的路要走。

????雖然網購市場銷售額總體呈現激增態勢，但沃爾瑪的購物者并未大規模移師網絡。德銀證券（Deutsche Bank Securities）的數據顯示，網購僅占沃爾瑪銷售額的2%，約80億美元。相比之下，2011年亞馬遜（Amazon）的營收較上年躍升40%，已經達到342億美元。

????這就是為什么沃爾瑪要重新定位，依托強大的實體店網絡來拓展網絡業務。消費者可以前往沃爾瑪門店自取網上訂單，將網絡銷售業績歸于門店團隊，讓他們成為數字銷售力量，并使得從本地門店派送網上購買商品成為可能，這樣就能在發貨速度上打敗亞馬遜和其他網絡零售商。這意味著網絡應用軟件和數字工具的集成，但同時也離不開實體店。

????“網絡銷售很有價值，實體店也很有價值，我們希望最終在這兩個領域都能做到最好，”領導@WalmartLabs的沃基?哈里那亞安說，“而不只是其中某一個渠道。”

????說到沃爾瑪的未來，大多數人都會想到哈里那亞安負責的@WalmartLabs。這塊數字業務依托于4月份沃爾瑪耗費3億美元收購的社交廣告公司Kosmix。目前，工程師們正在馬不停蹄地開發類似Shopycat這樣的社交購物應用軟件，挖掘Facebook上的個人信息數據、做出禮物推薦。其次是一系列的社交應用軟件，消費者藉此可以相互聯系，也可以聯系沃爾瑪員工。當然，顧客身處沃爾瑪實體店時也可以藉此尋找產品或尋求建議。

????但即便@WalmartLabs非常成功，單憑社交應用軟件也不能使沃爾瑪成為網購市場的強大競爭者。如果沃爾瑪想在網購市場獲勝，它獲勝的根本應該是其實體店，而不僅僅只是擁有這些實體店。

????Wal-Mart launches its latest weapon today in the battle to win online shoppers -- Shopycat, a social app that makes gift selections for friends, family or anyone connected through Facebook based on their interests and profile.

????Certainly the war of the Big Box retailers is over and Wal-Mart won, hands down. But in the war for online sales, Wal-Mart's greatest adversary may be itself as it attempts to get its 3,800 U.S. stores and millions of employees working together with Walmart.com. Although the retailer is taking steps in the right direction -- Shopycat its latest -- it still has a long way to go.

????As online sales have soared overall, Wal-Mart (WMT) shoppers have failed to flock to the web in any sizeable number – online sales are estimated to account for just 2% of its revenue according to Deutsche Bank Securities, or about $8 billion. By comparison, Amazon's revenue leapt 40% in 2011 from the year prior to $34.2 billion.

????That's why Wal-Mart has a renewed focus on leveraging its massive bricks-and-mortar presence to re-invent itself online. That means pushing customers to pick up online orders at Wal-Mart's stores, crediting store teams with online sales to turn them into a digital sales force and potentially delivering items purchased online from the local Wal-Mart, hitting Amazon and other e-tailers on their speed of delivery. And it also means a hybrid of online apps and digital tools -- but only when they fold in with offline too.

????"There's a lot of value that we get online and a lot of value in the physical store, and at the end of the day we expect the best of both worlds," says Venky Harinarayan, who heads @WalmartLabs. "It's not going to be one channel."

????Harinarayan's division, @WalmartLabs, is what most people think about when they consider Wal-Mart's future. The Wonka-esque digital outpost launched from Wal-Mart's $300 million purchase of a social advertising hybrid Kosmix in April. There, engineers are busy churning out social shopping apps, such as Shopycat, which makes gift recommendations by data-mining Facebook profiles. Next up are a raft of social apps that will let customers connect with each other and to Wal-Mart staff, as well as find products or ideas when they are physically in a Wal-Mart store.

????But even if @WalmartLabs is wildly successful, social apps alone won't make Wal-Mart an online contender. If the retailer wants to win online, it will happen because -- and not in spite of -- its physical boxes.