Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Vietnam Equity Firm buys into Vietnam’s Pharmacity

    Vietnam Equity Firm buys into Vietnam’s Pharmacity

    Vietnam private equity firm Mekong Capital has issued funding to pharmacy chain Pharmacity.

    Pharmacity is now the eighth company to receive funding from Mekong’s latest financing round, following the firm’s investment in mattress producer Vua Nem last year.

    With 186 outlets retailing both traditional Vietnamese and Western medicines, Pharmacity is the country’s most widespread network of pharmaceutical products stores, with 1 million subscribers to its loyalty program. The firm is targeting 1000 outlets in VIetnam within two years.

    “Our partnership with Mekong Capital will empower us to continue improving healthcare for the Vietnamese people,” said Pharmacity founder and CEO Chris Blank, “and help accelerate our growth while better positioning us to execute on our vision and mission to build the most convenient pharmacy chain where customers fully entrust their health and wellness.”

    “The company was the first retailer in this sector to demonstrate that all of Vietnam’s regulations and compliance thresholds can be met and still generate a healthy store level profitability,” added Mekong Capital partner Chad Ovel.

    Lees ook:

  • Customs seizes $7 million worth of fake goods

    Customs seizes $7 million worth of fake goods

    Hong Kong Customs has seized 55,000 items of fake goods destined for the US during a three-month campaign to combat cross-border counterfeiting. The haul, some of which is shown in the accompanying photograph, included trainer, apparel, mobile phones and accessories, handbags and Beats-branded headphones.

    Customs officers estimated the value of the haul to be about HK$7 million.

    “Hong Kong Customs has been working closely with the US Customs and Border Protection using intelligence exchanges, and took targeted enforcement action between January and April including stepped-up inspection of suspicious express courier parcels destined for the US,” said a Customs spokesperson.

    “Hong Kong Customs will continue working closely with overseas law enforcement agencies to combat cross-boundary counterfeiting activities through intelligence exchanges and joint enforcement actions.”

    Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who imports or exports any goods to which a forged trademark is applied commits an offense. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

  • EBay still dominates online shopping in Australia

    EBay still dominates online shopping in Australia

    Australian consumers largely prefer to use international online marketplaces, despite increasing investment by local retailers in the space, according to new data from discounts platform CupoNation.

    According to the data, four out of the top five most visited retail websites in Australia were dominated by international and domestic offers by US-based retailers eBay and Amazon.

    EBay Australia was the most used retail website in Australia during the period between January and March 2019, with 194.9 million users, while its global site brought in another 36.6 million users.

    Amazon’s global site outpaced its local offering, with the US site enjoying 58.1 million users in Australia over the period, compared with 35.5 million who utilised the Australian variant.

    Sitting in between these four online-only offerings, hardware chain Bunnings brought in the most users of any Australian-owned retailer – with 41.26 million users utilising its online platform, 65 per cent of which utilised mobile to do so.

    “We want to rush slowly into this,” Bunnings managing director Michael Schneider previously told, regarding the hardware chain’s comparatively late adoption of online retail.

    “There’s no hard date or obligation… We just want to be a great place customers choose to shop at, and we recognise that customers have more choice than ever before, but selling online is just one string in a bow.”

    The next most visited websites were Woolworths, which saw 33.7 million users over the period, Coles, which saw 22.5 million, Jb Hi-Fi (29.1 million), Kmart (22.4 million), and Kogan (20.9 million).

    CupoNation collected this data through SimilarWeb and Alexa tools, compiling traffic information from the period between January and March 2019. The number of visits represented in the data is not tied to unique users, meaning a user can have use a site multiple times and it will count as multiple visits.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Caltex profit falls amid rising competition

    Caltex profit falls amid rising competition

    Increased competition and the rising price of crude oil had a negative impact on convenience and petrol station owner Caltex’s first quarter earnings.

    The retailer announced that earnings from both its fuels and infrastructure business and its convenience business were down in Q1 on the same period in 2018, which contributed to a net profit of $94 million, a 42.7 per cent drop on the $164 million in net profit it saw last year.

    Fuel earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to $109 million, down from $156 million last year, while convenience retailing fell by over 50 per cent to $40 million, compared to an EBIT of $90 million in the three months to March 31, 2018.

    “Our result shows the impact of both lower refiner margins and a challenging retail environment this quarter,” said Caltex chief executive and managing director Julian Segal.

    “Our businesses’ strengths, including a strong balance sheet and our extensive network, as well as our steady focus on the execution of our strategy provide the foundation for delivery of our strategy in 2019.”

    Caltex said it will move ahead with the transition of franchise sites into company-owned operations, with over 70 per cent of the retail network now owned internally. The retailer also noted that agreements are in place for it to operate 99 per cent of sites by 2020, allowing the business to “better standardise and optimise the site’s performance.”

    Segal laid out the retailer’s growth plans for the remainder of 2019 for shareholders at its annual general meeting on Thursday, May 9, stating a focus on execution and discipline would assist both facets of its business deliver a stronger result in a challenging retail environment.

    “Fuels and infrastructure will continue to grow its earnings through its international business, [and] we will continue to run Australia’s largest transport fuel network safely and reliably,” Segal said.

    “Convenience retail is refocusing on our core fuel offer and will improve the in-store experience across our network to ensure we attract and retain more customers in a competitive fuels market.”

    Lees ook:

  • Panerai Opens Tsim Sha Tsui Centre Boutique

    Panerai Opens Tsim Sha Tsui Centre Boutique

    Florentine high-end luxury watchmaker Panerai has opened a boutique in Kowloon.

    The 60sqm Panerai Tsim Sha Tsui Centre store is the fifth opened in Hong Kong, after the Landmark Prince, Canton Road, IFC and Times Square boutiques.

    The concept of the design and materials used reflect Panerai’s Italian tradition and stands as a reference to the underwater universe. The use of oak, veined Italian marble, burnished brass, bronze, and a special “reeded” glass reinterprets the watchmaker’s technical codes, as well as the brass lights and sales counters with wooden details recalling the sea and sailing ships.

    Panerai now has 85 boutiques throughout the world, five of which are in Hong Kong.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • SM Retail Achieves Small Profit Boost

    SM Retail Achieves Small Profit Boost

    SM Retail has achieved a first-quarter profit increase of 5 percent to P2.7 billion (US$51.7 million).

    Retail revenues in the first three months rose by 13 percent year-on-year to P79 billion, while sales from specialty retail stores grew by the same percentage to P19.6 billion.

    As at the end of March, SM Retail had 2385 stores, comprising 63 department stores, 1388 specialty retail stores, 57 SM Supermarkets, 53 SM Hypermarkets, 194 Savemore, 52 WalterMart, and 578 Alfamart stores.

    The figures were included in the quarterly report of SM Investments, which boosted its profit by 26 percent to PHP10.7 billion (US$205 million).

    The gains reflected improved sales from the retail business as well as its property and banking activities.

    Consolidated revenues during the period were up 15 percent year-on-year to PHP109 billion ($2.1 billion).

    “We continued to deliver double-digit growth to both our top and bottom line in the first quarter,” said SMIC president Frederic DyBuncio. “Performance was strong across our businesses, particularly for our banks.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • WH Smith expands King Power partnership into Singapore

    WH Smith expands King Power partnership into Singapore

    WH Smith has widened its franchise partnership with King Power Group (Hong Kong) to Singapore.

    Until now, the franchise partnership deal struck last year covered Hong Kong only.

    The new partnership aims to grow WH Smith’s presence in Singapore and explore opportunities in rail and metro stations, ferry terminals and commercial centres. It excludes airport locations which WH Smith will continue to run directly.

    “We believe in the strength of the WH Smith brand and its business expertise as a leading international news, books and convenience operator,” said King Power MD for travel retail and duty free, Sunil Tuli.

    “The King Power Group has more than 25 years’ travel retail business presence in Asia, and we are well placed to develop the WH Smith business in Singapore.”

    “We are pleased to have extended our partnership with King Power Group,” said WH Smith MD international, Phil McNally. “We continue to be ambitious about expanding the WH Smith brand in Asia and, today, we are active and strongly growing in six countries in the region – in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and China.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Holidays boost Chinese e-commerce Numbers

    Holidays boost Chinese e-commerce Numbers

    An extended May Day holiday has proved a boon for Chinese e-commerce, especially among millennial consumers and high-end brands.

    Food orders among the generation group rose 112.4 per cent during the holiday period compared to last year, according to figures recorded at online delivery platform Eleme. Alibaba tourism platform Fliggy recorded a 500 per cent increase in the purchase of tourism products among people born after 2000, while online hotel orders from young parents with children under the age of three increased 77 per cent.

    Additionally, quality home appliances are now among the most highly sought-after products purchased on e-commerce sites.

    “This year’s May Day Holiday showed that people have stronger high-quality consumption demands, reflected not only in high-quality products but also in services,” said the Academy of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade’s head of international commerce Zhao Ping.

    “The growth has been driven by a surge in disposable incomes and the middle-income population,” she added.

    Millennials have now surpassed Gen-X consumers as the biggest e-commerce spenders, according to a report by market consultancy CBNData.

    “The younger generation, especially those born after 1990 and 1995, are more used to ‘fingertip’ consumption and are fast becoming disrupters in the e-commerce sector,” said CBNData business analyst Yang Qin.

    Lees ook:

  • Thailand acquisition boosts BreadTalk Turn Over

    Thailand acquisition boosts BreadTalk Turn Over

    Singapore’s BreadTalk Group has reported a year-on-year revenue increase of 6.1 percent to S$157.6 million (US$115.56 million) for its first financial quarter this year.

    The group’s net profit increased by 11.5 percent to $1.3 million over the period. Sales at BreadTalk’s bakery division rose 2.3 percent to $72 million ($52.8 million) during the first quarter with the consolidation of revenue from its Thailand bakery business, following the acquisition of the 50 percent interest in BTM from Minor Food Group. Excluding that, revenue would have been lower by 5.7 percent year on year, due to lower revenue from the directly operated stores in Beijing and the franchise business in China, partly offset by stronger revenue by the directly operated Singapore stores.

    The consolidation of the Thailand business added 47 BreadTalk outlets to the group’s direct operated store count.

    “Last year was a year of milestones for us,” said group CEO Henry Chu. “We expanded into new markets such as London with Din Tai Fung and brought our joint-venture partners Song Fa Holdings and Wu Pao Chun Food into strategic markets such as China and Singapore respectively.“With the new partnerships, we laid the foundations to diversify our business portfolio so as to achieve sustainable growth for the group.

    In addition, we embarked on efforts to increase our central kitchen production facilities in China and Thailand. The 6.1 percent increase in group revenue show that these efforts are starting to pay off,” he said.

    “Looking forward, we will continue to strengthen our presence of existing brands in key markets. We will continue to develop in talent development and the setup of our third regional office in Bangkok as we position ourselves for growth in Thailand and greater Mekong-region markets.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Urban Tea to roll out More China Stores

    Urban Tea to roll out More China Stores

    Chinese beverage and baked-goods retailer Urban Tea says it plans expansion from the middle of this year.

    The company will expand its network to 28 stores initially, through a combination of franchise partnerships and opening its own stores, with plans to speed up the rollout next year.

    Last October, Urban Tea set up a subsidiary company Shanghai Ming Yun Tang Tea, which controls Hunan Ming Yun Tang Brand Management Co (Hunan MYT), to focus on catering, along with health, training, retail and wholesale. Headquartered in the Changsha Xingingmen Fanchen International Center, Hunan MYT will integrate strategic brand positioning, offline operations, store management and brand marketing – all which will be used to expand the planned retail cafe network.

    Hunan MYT will operate stores under three brands: Buoyance Manor, Your Ladyship Tea (pictured) and Meet Honey. Buoyance Manor mainly features bakery products and coffee. Your Ladyship Tea sells specialty teas and light snacks and Meet Honey will primarily sell snacks and kitchen goods such as coffee mugs and tea cups.

    Currently, the company operates seven stores itself in Hunan province branded Buoyance Manor, along with a tea shop in Changsha Youyou Township.

    Urban Tea plans to focus on health and nutrition, using fresh, green, high-quality ingredients, positioning itself as an “all-natural baker”. Beverages offered include milk teas, fresh fruit teas and coffee.

    Light meals include salads, sandwiches, tacos, pizza, pastas and other meals primarily drawing from French cuisine and other western cuisines, and emphasising healthy meals and fresh ingredients.

    The company says it has established a research-and-development centre and will place an emphasis on seasonal research and product development, by picking fresh fruits, using seasonal tea, and using in season grains.

    “By offering seasonal menus we ensure fresh delivery to meet customers health and dietary needs to cultivate long term customers,” the company said in a statement.

    Urban Tea CFO Kan Lu said: “Our professional operations and R&D teams have many years of industry experience. We desire to make every product uniquely impressive to our customers, and bring consumers fresh, healthy and beautiful food and beverages.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Takashimaya After Opportunities in South East Asia

    Takashimaya After Opportunities in South East Asia

    Three Southeast Asian countries are on Japanese department store operator’s radar. Takashimaya says it is evaluating opportunities to open department stores in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

    However, in an interview, Takashimaya’s president Yoshio Murata said while new stores in those markets could be an option, the company’s priority now is to focus on “raising the profitability of the four stores” it already has in Southeast Asia and China.

    Takashimaya opened a store in the IconSiam development in Bangkok late last year, adding to stores it already had in Shanghai, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City.

    In May last year, it was reported that just one of its overseas stores was then trading at a profit – the Singapore flagship on Orchard Road. But the company said it believed it could make them all profitable by 2023, including the Bangkok one.

    This week, Murata said the company plans to strengthen its overseas operations and sees an opportunity for growth in Southeast Asia, in particular.

    Additional locations “are entirely possible,” he said, so long as there were good locations available.

    The company is facing problems in its home market where an aging population and declining birth rate are making business growth a challenge.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Indian telcos propose year-long 5G trials

    Indian telcos propose year-long 5G trials

    India’s major mobile operators have both submitted proposals to conduct year-long field trials of 5G services in the market.

    Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm – along with technology partners including Cisco, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia – have submitted detailed proposals to the Department of Telecom.

    The operators are now awaiting approvals, and it is expected to take an additional initial three months to complete preparations and clearances, the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) told the publication. COAI is the industry body that represents Vodafone Idea, Airtel and Jio.

    But the Department of Telecom has previously expressed a reluctance to allocate airwaves for 5G trials beyond a 90 day window, which the industry believes would be way too short of a time to conduct the required trials.

    According to COAI, the industry is expected to finally reach an agreement with the DoT on the duration of the proposed allocations, as well as other issues.

    The Telecommunications Regulator of India has recommended the 3.5-GHz frequency range for 5G, and aims to complete an initial 5G auction early next year.

    Lees ook:

  • Superdry Struggling To Stay in the Game

    Superdry Struggling To Stay in the Game

    A poor fourth quarter has resulted in another profit warning from casualwear-brand Superdry and one analyst describes the embattled label as “struggling to remain relevant”.

    Amy Higginbotham, a retail analyst at GlobalData, the data and analytics company, said a poor fourth quarter has exacerbated Superdry’s woes and dragged down overall performance for the year.

    The company, reeling from a mass exodus of board members and senior executives in the wake of co-founder Julian Dunkerton’s return to an active role in the business, now expects its underlying profit before tax for the full year to be about 50 per cent down on last year’s £97 million.

    With the board distracted by the disruption caused by Dunkerton and his eventual return, Superdry’s group revenue dropped 4.5 per cent in the fourth quarter.

    “This was driven by a particularly poor performance in its wholesale and online divisions, which the retailer attributed to an increased volume of product returns and a reduction in promotional activity,” said Higginbotham.

    Group revenue remained flat at £871.7 million, while growth in wholesale and online revenues slowed significantly, and store sales dropped £14.4 million to £373 million.

    “The lack of detail regarding Dunkerton’s long term plans to turn the retailer’s fortunes around is not very reassuring, and investors will no doubt be eagerly awaiting a more detailed update in July with the publication of the retailer’s full-year results,” said Higginbotham.

    “Initial changes made by Dunkerton on his return have included reducing promotions to improve margins and supporting sales with more stock in flagship stores. He also plans to introduce 500 new products within the next six months, though the details of what these products are exactly remains unclear.”

    But she says Superdry will have to do a lot more if it is to regain its relevance amid tough competition from the likes of JD Sports and boohoo.com, which have much stronger brand appeal – and Superdry must be clear about which demographic it wishes to target.

    “Dunkerton has indicated that he does not intend to go ahead with the previous management’s plans to enter childrenswear, and will instead focus on targeting teenagers, though this will require the retailer to justify its high price points, which could be done using brand exclusives and celebrity endorsements.

    “The outlook for Superdry remains challenging. Though a new executive team will take Superdry in a much-needed new direction and eventually provide more stability, the board still lacks a clear strategy to turn the retailer’s fortunes around, and any new initiatives will take time to bear fruit.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • SM Prime profit rises 16% in first 3 months this Year

    SM Prime profit rises 16% in first 3 months this Year

    Philippine property giant SM Prime Holdings says its net income in the first quarter increased 16 percent based on higher rental income and residential sales.

    Gross earnings increased 14 percent to PHP26.5 billion (US$508.1 million) during the time period, while total outgoing grew 11 percent to PHP13.6 billion ($260.7 million). Net income attributable to shareholders hit PHP8.8 billion ($168.7 million) in the first quarter, in comparison with PHP7.6 billion ($145.7 million) for the same period a year earlier.

    “SM Prime continues to benefit from the overall growth of the Philippine economy that boosts the household income of most families,” said SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim. “We are optimistic that we will sustain this performance this year as we continuously expand our core businesses in developing provincial cities across the country.”

    The firm plans to launch four new malls this year in Pangasinan, Zambales, Caraga and Zamboanga.

    Lees ook:

  • HyalRoute to invest up to $2b in Philippines fiber project

    HyalRoute to invest up to $2b in Philippines fiber project

    Singapore-based shared fiber network provider HyalRoute has signed an agreement with the Philippines’ Department of ICT to invest up to $2 billion expanding to the market.

    The company’s subsidiary Philippine Fiber Optic Cable Network (PFCON) signed a memorandum of understanding with the department committing to deploy the network in various phases between 2019 and 2028.

    The DICT has, in turn, agreed to provide assistance in providing the required permits and licenses, and to closely coordinate with PFCON on the implementation of the project.

    HyalRoute was established with the goal of creating the first region-wide, independent shared fiber network platform in emerging Asia. The company currently provides domestic fiber solutions in Myanmar and Cambodia.

    DICT acting secretary Eliseo M. Rio Jr said the planned deployment will support the government’s own telecommunications ambitions.

    “There is a need for more fiber optic cables in this country, thus this partnership will greatly improve our telecommunication services. We can now have cable networks that anybody can use and this jives with our National Broadband Plan,” he said.

    The deployment will also support the DICT’s Free Public Wi-Fi initiative by allowing its expansion to unserved and underserved areas of the country, Rio added.