Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Qualtrics Announces Online Community Connecting Experience Management Platform Users

    Qualtrics Announces Online Community Connecting Experience Management Platform Users

    Qualtrics, the leader in research and experience management, today announced the Qualtrics Community, a new, online forum to bring together users of the Qualtrics Experience Management PlatformTM. The Qualtrics Community allows users to share best practices, tips and advice about using the Qualtrics Experience Management Platform, the world’s only unified experience management platform, utilised by over 8,500 enterprises worldwide to manage the core experiences they provide across their businesses—including customer, product, employee and brand experiences.

    The Qualtrics Community members include some of the most prolific Qualtrics users in their fields, compiling thousands of years of combined expertise across business, technology, and academic industries, to name a few. The community is open to expert and novice users alike, and is a forum to discuss the projects that drive them, trade tips and tricks, and to enable networking with other users.

    The Qualtrics Community aims to facilitate education and collaboration, allowing users to ask for advice on how best to build their projects using the Qualtrics Experience Management Platform. Experts are available across many domains, including customer experience, employee experience, product experience, brand experience and market research domains. Members can comment and tag the responses they find to be the most helpful. The Qualtrics Community Team is also present to help foster meaningful connections and keep community members on their toes by running competitions and challenges where they can earn points and badges to move up in rank in the community.

    “I love being able to quickly ask questions of other users of the Qualtrics platform to find alternative solutions, or even have a discussion on best practices. This exchange of knowledge has saved me hours across projects,” said Rachel Cvetkovski, an Associate at THREE. “I’ve never had a community of people outside my own company to use as a resource, so I’m very grateful for the collaboration.”

    “Everything we do at Qualtrics is focused on building amazing software for our customers and then helping them to best utilise those tools to create amazing experience programs,” said Paul Sheets, Head of Global Operations at Qualtrics. “While we offer world-class training and support programmes, sometimes users just want to quickly bounce an idea or problem off another user who has been in their shoes. We created the Qualtrics Community as part of our ongoing commitment to helping our customers learn, collaborate and succeed. It’s a place where novice users can connect with experts, obtain high quality information and create new professional connections, or even friends, along the way.”

    To join the Qualtrics Community, go to Qualtrics website and sign in with your Qualtrics account credentials. Other resources for Qualtrics users include a library of support topics, formal certification programmes and 24/7 support via chat, email or phone.

    Meet other users of the Qualtrics Community in person at the X4 Summit™, a three-day master class in experience management, on March 6-9, 2018, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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  • Mr. Ruffini’s Moncler Genius Building unveiled

    Mr. Ruffini’s Moncler Genius Building unveiled

    Moncler Genius Building is finally unveiled.

    During the opening of Milan Fashion Week, Moncler finally revealed the highly anticipated Moncler Genius Building—a conceptual space that housing the Moncler Genius collections designed in collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara, Francesco Ragazzi of Palm Angels, Craig Green, and other well-known names.

    Moncler packed out the Palazzo Delle Scintille—a 15,500 square meter exhibition space—with an international crowd excited to finally discover what Moncler had been hiding and shrouding with mystery for weeks.

    Upon entering the Palazzo Delle Scintille, the mystery continued. The space was filled with large tent-like shapes of all sizes shrouded with silver fabric, surrounded by smoke and glittering under bright spotlights.

    It looked like the silver shrouds would at once fall away for a big reveal but instead, following a long wait and a sudden countdown, curtains within the silver fabric opened and guests were invited inside the designers’ minds one at a time.

    None of the spaces featured a traditional runway presentation. Instead, the capsule collections were displayed on mannequins in a humid jungle; in an eerily dark room; hung from the ceiling; and on models performing a snow angel dance routine reflect in an enormous mirror.

    Francesco Ragazzi of Palm Angels took the most unorthodox approach, hosting two booths advertised by the slogans “Make It Rain” and “I’m So High.” Ragazzi and his team simply handed out free t-shirts periodically to keen attendees throughout the two-hour event.

    In the build-up, Moncler explained that with this new project it would “let creativity run wild,” and it certainly backed up its claim. Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino put together a monastic collection disturbingly reminiscent of the women’s uniforms in The Handmaid’s Tale and surrounded by the work of artist and monk Sidival Fila.

    Craig Greens’ collection was typically conceptual and utilitarian, denoting inflatable life jackets. Hiroshi Fujiwara of Fragment brought preppy, and in places grungy, vibes to the table with a sense Americana and mountaineering.

    Moncler did not stop at human clothes either. Happy pooches clad in tiny Moncler outfits ran joyfully around a doggy obstacle course as the brand showcased its animal jackets.

    The Moncler Genius Building acts as the project’s central hub. Within the space, each designer’s individualized cell represents a different facet of the brand’s identity and alludes to its unique vision for the future of fashion and design. The result is a grand composite of extraordinary minds united by the desire to innovate and create the new.

    Moncler’s President and Creative Director Remo Ruffini hopes these monthly capsule collections will disrupt the traditional, biannual fashion schedule. They will release in a similar fashion to the routine “drops” employed by some streetwear brand and provide consumers with newness far more regularly.

    Moncler will launch a collection once a month starting June. Clothes and accessories from its collaborative lines will be available in cities around the world at boutiques, selected stores and pop-ups.

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  • Coupang launched Korea’s largest STEAM toy store

    Coupang launched Korea’s largest STEAM toy store

    Ecommerce platform Coupang has opened what it says is the largest Korean online toy store specialising in Steam (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education.

    The new theme store offers more than 390,000 Steam education items at low prices.

    Steam education refers to a creative teaching framework that integrates the five disciplines. It started as a Stem initiative in the US, and later arts was added to the mix. Unlike the traditional lessons, this latest education trend uses fun games to learn knowledge and senses that can be applied in a daily setting. The initiative encourages children to think comprehensively and flexibly, which contributes to their creativity.

    Coupang opens Koreaís largest STEAM toy store

    At Coupang, customers can find art supplies, blocks, remote control toys including drones, board games as well as instructive toys that can be used as tools to learn the five disciplines, grouped by age category as well as toy type.

    Flagship items include the Lego Boost 17101 unveiled at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. The toolbox offers hands-on experience of building a robot, cat or a car.

    Lee Byeong-hee, the head of baby category in Coupang, says the Steam initiative has been widely accepted as a new teaching method to nurture talents for future.

    “Customers can take advantage of the opening promotion and shop top educational toys from various brands at affordable prices.”

    Coupang is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing e-commerce platforms.

  • Safilo appoints new CEO

    Safilo appoints new CEO

    Eyewear manufacturer Safilo has appointed a new CEO this week, following the sudden departure Luisa Delgado, who relinquishes her role at the Italian firm for personal reasons, as of 28 February 2018.

    The maker and distribution of luxury sunglasses has named Andrea Trocchia as its new CEO. Trocchia will become director of the Safilo group on 1 April 2018.

    Until a new CEO is appointed, Safilo’s President Eugenio Ranzelli will take charge of the business in the interim, Safilo said in a press release. The firm added that Delgado’s contract was terminated by mutual agreement with the group’s board.

    Delgado’s severance package will be worth €1 million, plus vested stock options and other non-monetary benefits.

    Trocchia will join Safilo Group S.p.a. as a director at the beginning of April. He will be included in the list put forward by Multibrands Italy BV, the eyewear group’s holding company, to be appointed CEO of Safilo Group S.p.a. at the next AGM on 24 April 2018.

    Trocchia was previously chairman and CEO of Unilever Italia, a role he held since 2013. Before this, he was chairman and CEO of Unilever Israel. After an MBA at the STOA’/MIT in Naples and a PhD in aeronautical engineering at the University La Sapienza in Rome, Trocchia began his career at Unilever in 1991, in the supply chain and sales departments.

    Safilo has been experiencing difficulties for several quarters. It claims to be still affected by the termination of its Gucci eyewear licence, which took place in December 2016.

    At the end of the 2017 financial year, consolidated net sales were €1.047 billion, down €194 million (-15.6%) at constant exchange rates compared to the 2016 financial year. At the time of reporting last months, Safilo said the “sales decrease reflects both the transformation of the Gucci licence into a supply contract, for a total of €155 million (-12%), and the deployment of a new IT system for the global management of orders and stocks at the start of the year.”

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  • Gap CEO & president Jeff Kirwan resigns

    Gap CEO & president Jeff Kirwan resigns

    Gap Inc has announced that Gap brand president/CEO Jeff Kirwan will leave the clothing retail company.

    A search has been launched to find a replacement.

    “As we move into the brand’s next phase of development, Jeff and I agreed it was an appropriate time for a change in leadership,” says Gap Inc CEO Art Peck.

    “Under Jeff’s leadership we made significant progress on the operating model of the brand. We are faster and more responsive than ever before, we radically improved quality and fit, and we centered the brand on the aesthetic our customers love: casual, optimistic and American.

    “We have also seen the results of exceptional marketing and customer engagement reflected in increased traffic, improved sales and the strength of the digital business.

    “While I am pleased with our progress in brand health and product quality, we have not achieved the operational excellence and accelerated profit growth we know is possible at Gap brand.”

    Until a new president is found, the brand will be overseen by executive VP Brent Hyder, who was previously the brand’s COO.

    Gap has been struggling both at home and abroad in recent years. Its Singapore franchisor FJ Benjamin this week announced it was ceding the franchise for both Gap and Banana Republic.

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  • Company Announces Plans to Sell Nautica

    Company Announces Plans to Sell Nautica

    US apparel group VF Corp. is on a mission to divest its Nautica brand, saying the decision to sell met the “held-for-sale and discontinued operations accounting criteria”.

    VF Corp. bought Nautica Enterprises Inc. in 2003 for $586 million.

    The company, which owns the North Face, Vans and Timberland, said it had decided to sell Nautica during the fourth quarter and has classified it as a discontinued business.

    It follows VF Corp’s decision in early 2017 to sell off Licensed Sports Group and after it sold its Contemporary Brands business in 2016.

    The news coincided with VF Corp’s fourth-quarter results released on Friday.

    For the three months ended December 30, net losses were $90.3 million, or $0.23 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $264.3 million, or $0.63 cents, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $1.01.

    However, revenue for the quarter increased 20 percent to $3.6 billion, which included a $247 million contribution from the company’s acquisition of Williamson-Dickie, a global workwear company, in October. This was a touch below analysts’ estimations of US$3.66bn.

    Full year 2017 revenue increased seven percent to $11.8 billion. Excluding the Williamson-Dickie acquisition, full-year revenue increased five percent.

    “VF’s fourth quarter results were stronger than we expected as growth continues to accelerate across core dimensions of our portfolio,” said Steve Rendle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We remain in the early phase of a multi-year journey to become a purpose led, agile, consumer centric organization. I am pleased with our early progress and look forward to building on our momentum in 2018.”

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  • Jason Wu to leave Hugo Boss

    Jason Wu to leave Hugo Boss

    Jason Wu is stepping down from his role as artistic director of Boss women’s. His Autumn/Winter 2018 show, presented during New York Fashion Week, is the designer’s final collection for the German fashion house.

    “The five years at Hugo Boss have been a very exciting time for me. I am especially grateful to the entire Boss womenswear team. Now the time has come for me to concentrate fully on my own label,” Wu said in a statement.

    “I would like to thank Jason for his incredible creative input and inspiration. I feel certain that he will approach all his future projects with the same compelling passion and zest that he brought to Hugo Boss,” added chief brand officer Ingo Wilts.

    Wu, an editorial favourite, as well as a go-to for celebrities and former First Lady, Michelle Obama, gained fans with his namesake line’s merging of classic American sportswear with sophisticated society dressing. In September 2014, Wu sold a majority stake to investment firm InterLuxe.

    Since joining Hugo Boss as artistic director in June 2013 — when he assumed responsibility for all product and image-related components of the brand’s women’s line — Wu has been credited for injecting a new, approachable, ease to the women’s line of the storied house, while remaining in tune with the brand’s roots in German austerity.

    Wu’s departure follows 18 months of strategic changes at Hugo Boss, which has struggled with unclear positioning between premium and luxury. In November, 2016 — six months into Mark Langer’s appointment as chief executive — the German fashion house shifted its priorities away from its womenswear business. The brand announced its plans to eliminate two brands (Boss Orange and Boss Green) within its portfolio, while narrowing its focus to casualwear and business clothes. Meanwhile, it slowed expansion of its store network and put more resources towards its online operations.

    The refocusing on men’s is slowly paying off, despite a trend of men moving away from formal wear. In its most recent fourth-quarter earnings, posted last month, Hugo Boss reported a 5 percent increase in currency-adjusted sales to €735 million ($902 million) compared to the year prior.

    This increase was driven by a rebound in direct-to-consumer sales (online sales were up by 42 percent), as well as a recovery in the US. Hugo Boss will report its full-year results on 8 March 2018.

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  • Sunway Malls continues to be thronged with shoppers amidst new malls in the Klang Valley

    Sunway Malls continues to be thronged with shoppers amidst new malls in the Klang Valley

    Sunway Pyramid, Malaysia’s most iconic themed shopping destination, has recorded its highest traffic growth in 2017. The mall’s car count saw a positive 5% growth as compared to the year before amidst cautious consumer sentiment, disruption in ecommerce and the opening of more new malls in Klang Valley.

    Kevin Tan, the Chief Operating Officer of Sunway Malls, attributed this positive increase in traffic to multiple reasons.

    “Our Chairman, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah’s foresight to take pro-active steps to ease vehicular traffic congestions within Sunway City and Subang Jaya successfully facilitated better driving experience to Sunway City, said Kevin.
    “Tens of millions were spent to construct a new flyover, which flows traffic from KESAS into Sunway City with ease. More millions were then spent to widen the NPE roads leading to the Kewajipan roundabout, thus reducing congestion and freeing up the NPE road in front of the mall,” he continued.

    The flyover and road expansion were funded by Sunway as part of its community service to visitors of Sunway City. Sunway also contributed substantially to the Bus Rapid Transit, providing the community a cleaner alternative public transportation within Sunway City.

    There is also a plan in the pipeline to ease the congestion due to weaving traffic in front of the gateway entrance to the mall.

    Another co-relating factor is the increased parking capacity with the addition of the mall’s new wing, Sunway Pyramid West, where Sunway Clio Hotel is situated. Currently, the mall has approximately 10,000 parking bays integrated with Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa, Sunway Pinnacle and other Sunway business units nearby.

    “In addition to the 5% traffic growth, we see ride hailing as another key driver that positively contributed to the increase in footfall of the mall. The popularity of ride hailing services such as Grab and Uber is a plus factor providing alternative transportation to the mall without taking up our car park bays. It is estimated that
    these ride service arrivals is as high as 20% of the mall’s average car arrival”, said Kevin, who believes that ride hailing helps lessen the demand of car park bays during peak hours, which in return allow higher turnover of bays with lesser congestion and increasing the mall’s capacity to receive more cars.

    The mall also had a proliferation of non-shopping offerings expanding relative to shopping offerings with the growing trend on F&B and leisure spending.

    “The demand for F&B over the last few years had been so significant that 25%-30% of the today’s malls’ leaseable area is now catered to this trade category. Years ago, F&B took up less than 10% of the malls’ overall leased space. If you combine both the F&B and leisure trade categories today, it can go beyond 50% of the nett lettable area
    in a mall and these are significant traffic contributors,” Kevin explained.

    The growth in traffic complements the mall’s plan to upgrade its parking ambience this year. The mall is uplifting its car park by applying epoxy flooring, starting with the Preferred Parking zone, and allocating charging stations for Mercedes electric vehicles.

    “We are further improvising the driving experience in our car park. A fresh coat of paint and flooring coated with epoxy is currently in progress, starting with our CP2 Preferred Parking. In view of the popularity of the Preferred Parking, we are allocating another zone for shoppers seeking convenience at B1,” said Jason Chin, General Manager of Operations for Sunway Malls, who also said that there is regular security patrol by the mall’s auxiliary police as safety has always been the mall’s top priority.

    “We are striving to create various new experiences to remain relevant to our shoppers. Those who visited the mall recently would be pleasantly surprised by sounds of the nature, especially birds chirping at our car park lobbies. We also decorated the lobby area so it creates a more wholesome ambience that depicts nature,” he
    continued.

    As for the tenants’ sales, the mall so far saw a positive growth for most of the brands. “With increased footfall, tenants have the opportunity to benefit with better sales performance. Our tenants are reporting robust growth in 2017. We cannot deny the challenging times for retailers as shoppers are spoilt for choice today. Those who
    offer value marketing, social retailing and strong brand loyalty appeal to shoppers to spend at their particular store,” said Kevin.

    2017 was a key milestone for Sunway Pyramid as the mall celebrated its 20th anniversary and was accorded The Edge Malaysia Property Development Excellence Award.

  • Tops hopes bankruptcy filing will help it compete

    Tops hopes bankruptcy filing will help it compete

    US grocery chain Tops Markets has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

    The company says the process will not affect store operations but will enable it to pursue a financial restructure to eliminate “a substantial portion of debt” from its balance sheet and ensure its long-term survival.

    “Tops has built strong market share and our stores continue to distinguish themselves by offering quality products at affordable prices with superior customer service,” said CEO Frank Curci in a statement.

    “We believe the financing that we received from our noteholders is a vote of confidence in our business.

    Our operations are strong and we have an outstanding network of stores and a talented team to support them. We are now undertaking a financial restructuring, through which we expect to substantially reduce our debt and achieve long-term financial flexibility. This will enable us to invest further in our stores, create an even more exceptional shopping experience for our customers and compete more effectively in today’s highly competitive and evolving market.”

    Tops Markets, based in Williamsville, New York, operates 178 stores in its home state, Pennsylvania and Vermont, and employs 15,000 people. The company recently received a $140 million loan from the Bank of America and a commitment for a further US$125 million to cover debtor financing.

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  • Hong Kong luxury watch imports reached its peak

    Hong Kong luxury watch imports reached its peak

    Hong Kong luxury watch imports posted their highest monthly increase for more than five years in January.

    According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, exports to Hong Kong rose by 21.3 per cent in January, leading a broader Asian rebound which saw China overtake Japan into second place as a destination with 44.3 per cent growth. Exports to the US fell 1.9 per cent, dropping that market into third. Japan was also strong, up 12.9 per cent.

    January’s improvement followed the dynamic performance of previous months and a favourable base effect, the federation reported.

    Swiss watch exports for the month were worth CHF1.6 billion (US$1.7 billion), equivalent to 12.6 per cent growth.

    The value of all the main groups of materials increased. Steel and bimetal watches made the biggest contribution. Total volumes were 2.5 per cent higher, boosted by timepieces in steel and the other metals category.

    Against the trend, the ‘other materials’ category reported another substantial fall.

    After declining for more than two years, watches costing less than CHF200 (export price) continued to lose ground last month. All the other segments had sustained growth, especially in the CHF500 to CHF3000 price range which improved by about 20 per cent.

    Many markets saw strong growth for the month.

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  • CapitaLand to build highest “horizontal skyscraper” in the world

    CapitaLand to build highest “horizontal skyscraper” in the world

    In its relentless pursuit to redefine urban living with smart design and innovative technologies, CapitaLand has written a new world record as it embarks on the complex crowning process for Raffles City Chongqing, the iconic 1.12 million-square-metre (sq m) urban district located on Chongqing’s famed Chaotianmen riverfront. The crowning process features the extraordinary engineering feat of erecting a curved accordion-shaped “horizontal skyscraper” – measuring 300 m in length, 30 m in width and 22.5 m in height – above four 250 m-tall towers at a total height of more than 400 m above sea level. Raffles City Chongqing now holds the world’s record as the development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers.

    Mr Lim Ming Yan, President and Group CEO of CapitaLand Limited, said: “Raffles City Chongqing is by far the largest and most complex integrated development that CapitaLand has undertaken. Erecting The Conservatory marks the culmination of five years of construction progress and a grand milestone in outlining Raffles City Chongqing’s image of a powerful sail surging forward, as it prepares to welcome the world in 2019. The hoisting of
    The Conservatory is not only a significant moment for Raffles City Chongqing, it marks a global milestone in the field of architecture and engineering. Some of the world’s most advanced construction and engineering techniques have been deployed to install this megastructure on Chaotianmen, known as the crown jewel of Chongqing. CapitaLand is proud to have achieved this phenomenal structural engineering breakthrough of connecting
    skyscrapers, and we will continue to stay ahead of the curve by breaking new grounds in real estate development.”

    Mr Lim added: “More than just a building, Raffles City Chongqing is a landmark urban renewal project that expresses and shapes Chongqing’s global city aspirations. As the master planner of this important site, CapitaLand fully appreciates the historical and cultural significance of Chaotianmen to the people of Chongqing. We have thus gone to great lengths to imbue the project with the highest standards of liveability, connectivity and sustainability by carefully studying the needs of the community and the unique attributes of the site. Our goal is to create a vibrant riverfront urban district that serves as a dynamic city gateway befitting of Chongqing’s growing economic influence.”

    Mr Lucas Loh, CEO of CapitaLand China, said: “As the crowning glory of Raffles City Chongqing, The Conservatory is envisaged as the centre of civic activities where locals and visitors from around the world converge in Chongqing. A highlight is the observation deck, which features an outdoor patio with see-through glass flooring – the tallest of its kind across the whole of west China for the best vantage point to enjoy the stunning views of the Yangtze River and Jialing River merging at Chaotianmen. To ensure the public’s year-round enjoyment of The Conservatory’s facilities, design provisions, such as air-conditioning, have also been catered for. When it opens to the public next year, we are confident that The Conservatory will become a well-loved and well-used community space that lasts for generations.”

    Mr Loh added: “Raffles City Chongqing broke ground in September 2012 and five towers have successfully topped out since. One of these is a 350-m supertall skyscraper, which currently holds two records – China’s tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building. The development’s luxury residential component Raffles City Residences has begun marketing, with an encouraging take-up for two residential towers that have been launched. Jialing One tower has sold 70% of the 215 units launched, while Yangtze Two tower, which debuted later, has sold more than 40% for its 285 units. Part of Raffles City Chongqing’s office component will begin handover end of this year, while the entire development is targeted to open in phases from 2019.”

    Singapore’s single largest development in China by CapitaLand and Ascendas-Singbridge, Raffles City Chongqing is an ambitious RMB24 billion (about S$4.9 billion) vertically-built urban district comprising a retail podium and eight skyscrapers for residential, office, serviced residence and hotel use. As the ninth “horizontal skyscraper” with 10,000 sq m of gross floor area (GFA), The Conservatory is the heart of Raffles City Chongqing connecting a total of six vertical towers – four towers at its base and two adjacent towers by cantilever bridges. Designed as the centre of attraction, it houses a rich array of amenities, including a themed observation deck and sky gardens, an infinity pool and a food and beverage zone.

    To overcome the site’s unique conditions, which include exposure to strong winds, a wind modelling test was conducted on The Conservatory, together with the eight towers. Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology was also used to coordinate the complex structural and utilities layout of The Conservatory. The support system for The Conservatory’s structure uses advanced frictional pendulum bearings and seismic dampers mounted on the towers. This form of flexibility-driven seismic design dissipates seismic and wind energy more effectively than the conventional rigidity-driven design, and represents a breakthrough in the structural engineering of linked high-rise building clusters.

    The Conservatory is made up of a continuous steel structure weighing 12,000 tons, and enclosed with a ring comprising 3,200 pieces of glass and 4,800 aluminium panels. With a length of 300 m, it is longer than Singapore’s tallest building laid on its side. To erect efficiently, the steel structure is first divided into nine segments – four segments that are built in-situ above the four towers; three middle segments suspended between the four towers that are prefabricated on ground and hoisted into place by hydraulic strand jacks; and two cantilever segments that are assembled in short sections from the two ends of the rightmost and leftmost towers.

    Hoisting the three middle steel segments of The Conservatory – each weighing up to 1,100 tons – to the designated height of 250 m marks a world first. This extraordinary engineering feat was broadcast throughout China during primetime news on China Central Television last December when the hoisting process began. The Conservatory’s steel structure is targeted to be fully erected by mid-2018, which will be followed by the hoisting of the façade enclosure together with gigantic trees and plants for the sky gardens.

    Occupying 9.2 hectares of site area, Raffles City Chongqing brings together a 230,000-sq m shopping mall, 160,000-sq m of Grade A office space, 1,400 residential apartments, Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence and a luxury hotel – with a total construction floor area of 1.12 million sq m and GFA (excluding car park) of about 817,000 sq m. The development is strategically located on Chaotianmen at the confluence of   Yangtze and Jialing rivers in Yuzhong District, next to the traditional Jie Fang Bei central business district.

    Boasting excellent connectivity, Raffles City Chongqing is fully integrated with a transport hub comprising a metro station, bus interchange, ferry terminal and cruise centre. It is designed by world-renown architect Moshe Safdie, who drew inspiration from the region’s thousand years of waterway transportation culture to create an image of powerful sails upon the river for Raffles City Chongqing to symbolise the host city’s surging growth.

  • Stella McCartney-Kering ready to separate

    Stella McCartney-Kering ready to separate

    After a 17-year partnership, French luxury group Kering is selling its 50 percent share of Stella McCartney back to the namesake designer. The public announcement, originally slated for early January 2018, is imminent, according to a source with first-hand knowledge of the discussions.

    According to the source, the Stella McCartney HR team is preparing a booklet outlining the details of the separation to answer outstanding questions and ease employee concerns. However, both parties issued a joint statement saying nothing has been confirmed.

    “Kering and Ms Stella McCartney have been operating and growing the Stella McCartney brand since 2001 as a 50/50 joint venture. As already stated, as it is customary between stakeholders, there are regular discussions about the future of the partnership,” Kering and Stella McCartney said. “Any significant change to the current relationship would be made public at the appropriate time. Any piece of information circulating to this respect can only be considered as speculation.”

    To be sure, unravelling the partnership will be a time consuming, expensive process.

    According the source, Kering’s brands will be forbidden from hiring Stella McCartney employees during the transition process, which could take as long as two years.London-based retail strategy consulting firm Javelin, part of global advisory firm Accenture, is working with Stella McCartney to reorganise during the transition period, creating a blueprint for the newly independent Stella McCartney business.

    While Kering and Stella McCartney have acknowledged that there have been separation talks on more than one occasion over their 17-year partnership, the exact reasons for the break, and why it’s happening now, are not yet known. The reported split does come at a time when Kering is streamlining its portfolio and focusing its attention on blockbuster brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga.

    In early January 2018, the group announced that it would spin off German sportswear brand Puma, inching the parent company further toward becoming a pure luxury player. In the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017, consolidated revenues were €15.5 billion, up 27.6 percent on a reported basis. Sales within the luxury group, which excludes Puma, Cobra and skate brand Volcom, were up 27.5 percent on a reported basis.

    Stella McCartney first launched as a joint venture with the Gucci Group in 2001. At the time, the Gucci Group was run by chief executive Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford, who designed both Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Alexander McQueen joined the group in 2000.

    Over the next two decades, McCartney and Kering built a global brand, driven not only by the designer’s exuberant sportswear but also by her commitment to animal-free fashion. McCartney’s faux-fur and faux-leather apparel and accessories helped to elevate the materials in the eyes of the consumer, serving as an example for other brands and a resource for Kering’s entire portfolio, which now also includes Balenciaga, Christopher Kane and Brioni. In 2016, Stella McCartney published its first environmental profit-and-loss account.

    Kering does not break out the revenues of its smaller houses, although in 2015 market sources estimated that Stella McCartney’s annual global sales were somewhere between $150 million and $200 million. However, the annual retail value of Stella McCartney products is likely significantly more thanks to branded collaborations with Procter & Gamble for beauty, Adidas for activewear and Bendon for lingerie. Her collection with Adidas, first launched in 2004, has become a brand in itself. McCartney then launched menswear in 2016.

    As for how Stella McCartney may transform under the founder’s absolute rule, a push to drive more direct sales could be in the cards.

    In May 2017, the company announced that it would open four new store locations, including a second store in Paris, one in Florence, in one Costa Mesa, California, and a second location in New York City.

    A year earlier, it also assumed control of store operations of its three Hong Kong stores, which were previously managed by a local partner. The brand’s retail store portfolio currently includes 52 locations, with another store on London’s Bond Street on the way.

  • Gigya Solutions from SAP Help Companies Protect Customer Data and Build Trust

    Gigya Solutions from SAP Help Companies Protect Customer Data and Build Trust

    SAP SE  introduced three new solutions supporting organizations that have a need to collect customer data in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) while delivering personalized experiences. The three new products are available now and can be deployed separately or as a package.

    Many brands today are struggling to initiate and build trusted relationships with their online customers. Lack of transparency and control of personal information by brands has eroded trust in digital customer experiences. In fact, a recent survey shows that data being used without their knowledge is the chief reason consumers leave brands.

    Overcoming the Compliance Challenge

    GDPR, which is effective May 25, gives extensive new rights to EU residents and visitors and applies to organizations anywhere in the world that collect personal information from within the EU.

    With the integration of its recent acquisition of Gigya, SAP now provides customers with solutions to support them in gaining transparency and control over their data, helping them overcome the compliance challenge with robust registration, consent preference and profile management. The solutions can quickly and securely scale to manage billions of identities and thousands of digital properties across hundreds of brands to help companies meet the requirements of evolving privacy and data protection regulations.

    “With GDPR around the corner, the timing of these solutions couldn’t be better,” SAP Hybris President Alex Atzberger said. “At a time when SAP is doubling down on its strategy to provide the leading front-office suite, the combination of SAP Hybris and Gigya solutions is a tremendous benefit for customers. Importantly, it turns a compliance need into a strategic business advantage and creates more trusted customer relationships.”

    Three New SAP® Hybris® Solutions from Gigya

    SAP is bringing three new solutions to market to help organizations adopt a digital approach to drive more effective marketing, sales and service through data, while keeping the customer in control of how much data is shared:

    SAP® Hybris® Identity establishes secure customer registration and login across websites, mobile applications and Internet of Things devices using flexible user authentication options, federation standards and single sign-on functionality. It captures and stores customer identity data for trusted and personalized digital experiences. Optimized registration flows increase conversion, while the platform helps protect consumers against identity fraud and data theft.

    SAP Hybris Consent presents and captures customer consent for terms of service and privacy agreements, including cookie consent and marketing communications. For auditing purposes, consent agreements and consent history are tracked across the customer lifecycle. This information can be synchronized with marketing, sales and service applications. Customers are in control of their personal information with features for consent revocation, data export and account deletion. Consent records are stored in a secure data vault.

    SAP Hybris Profile transforms customer identity information, profile attributes and other system data into a single customer view, which can be orchestrated in real time or in batch to virtually any application, service or data warehouse. Organizations can govern all the information in these single customer views throughout the customer’s lifecycle. With the platform — and providing consumer consent and transparency has been granted — SAP customers can analyze data within these single customer views to plan, predict and optimize digital experiences to support sales and services.

    “If data is the new oil, then trust is the ultimate currency that drives this new data economy,” Gigya CEO Patrick Salyer said. “To create trust, consumers demand transparency and control over how their customer data is managed. GDPR goes further by legally requiring it. With these new SAP Hybris offerings from Gigya, we can provide one of the only solutions on the market that create trusted customer relationships — just four months after SAP announced its intent to acquire Gigya.”

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  • Sweet Fashion House plans Hong Kong flagships

    Sweet Fashion House plans Hong Kong flagships

    A high-end designer dessert brand founded by European investors plans flagship stores in Hong Kong and Shanghai this year.

    Sweet Fashion House is launching with a confectionery factory in Tuen Mun which will be staffed by chefs brought in from France and apprentices employed locally. Under the leadership of art director Gael Majchrzak, who is also a pastry and chocolate chef, the team will create and produce handcrafted cakes, chocolates and pastries for individual customers and corporate clients.

    Once it has sufficient volumes, flagship stores will be opened in as yet undisclosed locations in Hong Kong and then major Chinese cities, starting with Shanghai.

    The company aims to tap into what it describes as a fast-growing demand for upscale confectionery in Hong Kong, Mainland China and around the region.

    CEO Kirill Neklyudov says Hong Kong is the ideal place for the group to launch the factory.

    “Hong Kong people love sweets as much as the French do. This is a big market and customers demand up-scale confectionery. Together with its simple and low tax regime and ease of doing business, the city is the ideal place for us to start our company.”

    He says the company is already experiencing strong demand, and plans are underway to expand staff numbers to meet an expected surge in orders.

    The factory also provides cake consultation and tasting for customers to create their own cakes.

     

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  • Uber cars to become mobile convenience stores

    Uber cars to become mobile convenience stores

    Cargo, a startup intimately tied to Uber, just closed a $5.5 million seed round for its venture that lets drivers sell products to their riders.

    While PSFK has covered Cargo before, the funding represents a significant step forward for the idea and came with more details on how the whole system will work after applied tests of the concept.

    The startup sends drivers a high-tech tray and a monthly supply of goods for free. For every item sold, drivers get a $1 base commission plus 25% of the sale.

    According to Cargo, Uber drivers can earn a $100 more with its service, and some of its top drivers earn up to $300 every month.

    The startup does not exactly work like a store. Many of its products are given by brands like Kellogg’s as freebies to riders. Brands get consumer data from Cargo while Cargo charges brands for access to its distribution network.

    reAccording the startup, the actual sales alone are not even the big source of revenue yet. The startup plans to send out its hardware to 20,000 cars and open in one new city each month for the next six months.

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