Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • ‘Qatar in prime position’ to draw Chinese tourists

    ‘Qatar in prime position’ to draw Chinese tourists

    Welcome Chinese, the only official overseas hospitality certification programme recognised by the Chinese government, collaborates with Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) to empower the country’s hospitality, tourism and retail sectors to meet the requirements of Chinese tourists.

    “China is the world’s biggest and fastest-growing outbound tourism market. Opportunities are limitless and we strongly believe that Qatar is in a prime position to entice Chinese tourists to travel to Doha and explore areas beyond the capital city,” Welcome Chinese marketing consultant Anna Klapper said.

    “The tourism world is extremely competitive. However, the ease of visa-free travel is a game changer,” she noted.
    Citizens of 80 countries, including China, India and Russia, can now enter Qatar visa-free, making it the most open country in the region.

    Nationals of more than 240 countries are also eligible to apply for a tourist e-visa online to visit the country, according to QTA. While shopping and retail remain to be key attractions for Chinese tourists, Klapper pointed out that Qatar has a lot to offer.

    She cited the country’s rich culture and heritage, and unique experiences such as “sweeping natural landscapes, stunning urban architecture, Arabian culture and hospitality.”  “We have conducted a lot of research which shows that as the Chinese travellers evolve, they will seek experiential travel more and more – and Qatar can meet those needs,” Klapper stressed.

    “The desert meets the water in Qatar. There are only two places in the world where you can do that, and I would say Qatar is number one as the water is warm enough so you can take advantage of that too,” she explained. “Seeing the sand dunes next to the water under a setting sun – Who doesn’t want to have a memory of a lifetime?”
    Qatar was granted Approved Destination Status (ADS) in China in September last year, allowing it to receive Chinese tourists and promote its tourism destinations within China.

    The ADS system seeks to guarantee safe and reliable tourism services for Chinese customers, from both local travel agencies and international tour operators. Asked about her favourite experiences and attractions in Qatar, Klapper said she felt welcomed by the hospitality and friendliness of the people during her 48 hours in the country.

    “I was particularly taken by the architecture of the Museum of Islamic Art: The fountain area, which leads out to the library and overlooks Doha’s skyline framed by the arches is absolutely stunning,” she added.
    “I was also introduced to my first falcon and learned about their incredible abilities and different hunting techniques. They are beautiful creatures and they have my full respect,” recounted Klapper, who mulls visiting Qatar with her family again in the future to explore more.

    Key requirements of the Chinese market

    Basic requirements include training hospitality professionals in Chinese customs and culture to ensure they can appropriately host guests from China. Facilitating money transactions is also important, and therefore the ability to accept Union Pay is a requirement, according to Anna Klapper.

    She noted that Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) is creating the country’s own set of resources and plans are underway to improve existing facilities such as providing a directory of Chinese-speaking doctors or providing Chinese-speaking staff round-the-clock in case of emergencies.

    Welcome Chinese, present in 30 countries globally and in the GCC region, has partners across various verticals in the travel industry, including airlines, airports, cities, regions, attractions and museums. It now has more than 150 hotels certified on a global level with the Welcome Chinese designation.

    In collaborating with QTA, it is the first time that Welcome Chinese work closely with a government entity on a national level to prepare and promote a country as a destination for Chinese tourists.

  • CapitaLand marks 10th year in India with mall openings

    CapitaLand marks 10th year in India with mall openings

    CapitaLand India plans to divest six retail malls and its half-share in CapitaLand Retail Prestige Mall Management, which manages some of the properties.

    Singapore-headquartered CapitaLand has entered into definitive agreements to divest:

    * Its respective equity interests in six special-purpose vehicles (SPVs), which each hold a retail mall asset in the Indian cities of Bangalore, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore, Cochin and Udaipur to Prestige Retail Ventures; and

    * Its 50 per cent equity interest in CapitaLand Retail Prestige Mall Management (CRPMM), which manages the properties in Bangalore, Mangalore and Hyderabad, to Prestige Estates Projects for an aggregate consideration of INR3.4 billion (about S$71.5 million or US$53 million), to be fully satisfied in cash and negotiated on a willing-buyer/willing-seller basis.

    When the transaction is completed, probably this quarter, the SPVs and CRPMM will no longer be subsidiaries or associates of CapitaLand.

    The SPVs and properties involved are:

    • Prestige Garden Constructions – The Forum Neighbourhood Mall and Oakwood Residences, Bangalore.
    • Prestige Mangalore Retail Ventures – The Forum Fiza Mall (pictured), Mangalore.
    • Babji Realtors – The Forum Sujana Mall, Hyderabad.
    • Prestige Mysore Retail Ventures – Forum Centre City (FKA Mall), Mysore.
    • Thomsun Realtors – Forum Cochin Mall, Cochin.
    • Flicker Projects – The Celebration Mall Udaipur, Udaipur.
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  • Kawaii fashion heading to Manila

    Kawaii fashion heading to Manila

    W Tokyo is partnering with Manila online shopping company Hallohallo to open a Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC) store in the Philippines.

    Set to launch in May, the boutique will be at the Vertis North complex in Quezon City, Manila. In the mall’s Japan Town section, which features Japanese restaurants and retailers, the store will sell kawaii (cuteness) clothing, wigs and accessories targeting teenage girls and women in their 20s. The collection will be curated from up to 20 Japanese fashion brands.

    A feature of the 965sqm store will be a runway and stage for events featuring local models.

    Hallohallo will run the shop while W Tokyo will choose brands, run promotions and stage events.

    W Tokyo will also team with Japanese live-streaming service Showroom to feature events at the store and salespeople introducing products.

    “We want to implement a business model combining brick-and-mortar stores and live commerce in Japan as well,” says W Tokyo president Noriyoshi Murakami. The aim is to find success first in the Philippines before tackling Japan, where shopping malls often restrict the type of sales events stores can hold.

    Hallohallo has also partnered with Japanese trading house Mitsubishi and Philippine conglomerate Ayala Group to sell Japanese products.

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  • Seven-Eleven to start selling food with English labels

    Seven-Eleven to start selling food with English labels

    Japan’s 7-Eleven stores have started labelling their prepared foods in English as well as Japanese.

    Seven-Eleven Japan president Kazuki Furuya says the measure is in response to requests from foreign tourists, whose numbers have been soaring and are expected to rise further ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the Japan Times reports.

    “More foreign customers will be using convenience stores in Japan in the future,” he says, hoping that tourist visits will lead to stronger brand power for the company in China, Southeast Asia and the US, where it is opening more stores.

    The company says growing numbers of foreign visitors have been patronising its stores in big cities and tourist destinations. Some have asked the company to provide English names, especially for onigiri (rice balls), as they want to know what the fillings are.

    Also covered by the bilingual labeling will be bento (boxed lunch) products, delicatessen items and some sweets. Japan is expected to surpass 20,000 7-Eleven stores this month.

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  • Zara to launch CleverFlex self-service pick-up kiosk

    Zara to launch CleverFlex self-service pick-up kiosk

    Spanish fast-fashion retailer Zara has installed a self-service kiosk at one of its stores to provide a flexible shopping experience for online customers.

    Springwise.com reports that when a package arrives to the kiosk, the customer receives a notification and can go to the location to pick up their item at their convenience. The CleverFlex kiosk, provided by Estonia-headquartered technology company Cleveron, has the capacity to store up to 4000 parcels – double the number of the Walmart’s pickup towers.

    The CleverFlex has a sleek white exterior and a modular design that allows retailers to customise its height and width according to their aesthetic preferences, and even being able to hide it behind a wall. The kiosks have been created to further streamline the customer online shopping experience, with the CleverFlex retrieving the correct parcel for a shopper in a matter of seconds.

    The creation of the CleverFlex kiosk “is another step in simplifying the connection between a retailer’s online entity and physical stores,” observes Springwise.

    “CleverFlex also has some some self-learning capabilities as it can remember parcel traffic peak times and predict user activity based on past data to optimise its workflow.”

    Self-service kiosks are increasingly popular across many industries, with deliveries that go directly to a smart locker streamlining the pick up process for the apartment residents and a pay-as-you-go pantry placed within an office both popular examples.

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  • Korean retail sales boosts by double

    Korean retail sales boosts by double

    South Korean retail sales were up by more than 9 per cent in November from a year earlier, led by strong demand for products from online malls and convenience stores, new government data shows.

    Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy figures show that the combined sales of 26 online and offline retailers stood at KW10.68 trillion (US$9.97 billion) for the month, up 9.4 per cent from a year earlier.

    Meanwhile, the sales of 13 offline retailers over the same period rose 5.4 per cent, the biggest gain since the start of the year, as customers were attracted to convenience stores and discount chains.

    Among offline outlets, convenience stores showed the highest growth, attributed to the rising number of single households with more people buying food and daily necessities from neighbourhood stores.

    With sales flat for discount chains, convenience stores saw 10.2 per cent gains and department stores an 8.5 per cent rise in sales.

    More people were buying food and clothes on the internet, resulting in 13 major online stores and marketplaces gaining 16.7 per cent in sales year on year.

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  • Company Bets China Has an Appetite for Taco Bell

    Company Bets China Has an Appetite for Taco Bell

    After a year of consolidation, Yum China Holdings has opened two more Mexican-inspired Taco Bell restaurants in Shanghai.

    Along with Taco Bell Corp, the company launched the brand in Shanghai’s Lujiazui area a year ago. The two new outlets are in a shopping mall in Wu Jiao Chang and the shopping precinct of Feng Sheng Li.

    “The response to our first Taco Bell store in Shanghai has been fantastic,” says Yum China CEO Micky Pant. “The new restaurants integrate Taco Bell’s signature brand and spirit into the local community, and bring both classic menu items and original recipes to cater to Chinese customers.”

    He says the company looks forward to opening further outlets in other parts of China this year.
    New dishes include a Ribeye Steak & Mushroom Taco, Taco Salad Bowl, Beef Kebab Nachos and XL-Wing Nachos. The two new restaurants also offer alcoholic beverages, including the Shanghai Cosmopolitan.

    New service model

    A new service model has been rolled out with the new outlets, with orders being delivered directly to the table. The Wu Jiao Chang restaurant, which is close to several universities, has a design that combines the chain’s Californian roots with Chinese style and culture. Communal tables encourage students and urban professionals to socialise, and customers are invited to display their artwork, poetry, designs and other creative expressions on the walls. The restaurant will also host events to showcase local talent.

    In an historic residential area close to a shopping precinct, the Feng Sheng Li restaurant is designed in the Shikumen (stone gate) architectural style. In a Shanghai-style townhouse, it incorporates elements of Taco Bell’s signature look and feel. Its decor includes images of the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower and the city’s Art Deco buildings alongside California palm trees and skateboards.

    A neighbouring alleyway, historically a place for residents to congregate, features customised street art as a backdrop to the outdoor dining area. It has clusters to cater to different group sizes, with a canopy to ensure all-weather dining.

    Taco Bell has more than 7000 restaurants, nearly 400 of them in 26 countries outside of the US.

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  • McDonald’s Japan adds three tasty new popcorn drinks to their menu

    McDonald’s Japan adds three tasty new popcorn drinks to their menu

    Following a limited-edition French macaron release last month, McDonald’s Japan is continuing to draw attention to its McCafe by Barista branches with a more unusual menu twist: popcorn drinks.

    Available at Japan’s 90 McCafe by Barista outlets from Friday, there are three variations of the limited-edition beverages…

    Iced Caramel Popcorn Latte: This combines the flavours of espresso with caramel syrup and popcorn syrup, plus whole popcorn pieces, whipped cream and sauce topping, as well as creamy cold milk.

    Mc Donalds pop corn latte

    Hot Caramel Popcorn Latte: This is similar to the iced version but uses hot foamed milk.

    Mc Donalds latte pop corn

    Caramel Popcorn Frappe: This features whole pieces of popcorn inside a sweet waffle cone that juts out from the beverage, which is an icy espresso and caramel/popcorn syrup blend topped with caramel-flavoured whipped cream and caramel sauce.

    Mc Donalds pop corn drink

    McDonald’s says it is aiming to add even more creative beverages to its McCafe by Barista outlets in the future, reports Sora News 24.

    The popcorn series will be available until the middle of February.

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  • RoK’s GS25 to open convenience stores in Vietnam

    RoK’s GS25 to open convenience stores in Vietnam

    GS25 Vietnam says it will open its first store in Ho Chi Minh City in mid-January, after a two-month delay.

    Three more stores will open soon afterwards.

    Last July, GS25’s parent company GS Retail signed a JV agreement with Vietnam’s Son Kim group to open 2500 GS25 Vietnam stores during the next 10 years.

    Vietnam will be GS Retail’s first foreign market.

    After its Vietnam launch, GS Retail plans to seek opportunities in other markets.

    Vietnam’s convenience store industry is currently experiencing annual growth of 70 per cent, fuelled by a youthful population.

    Last June, 7-Eleven opened its first Vietnam store, and now operates 11 in Ho Chi Minh City, with plans for 100 within 10 years.

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  • Japanese and Korean bank to test RippleNet for cross-border funds transfers

    Japanese and Korean bank to test RippleNet for cross-border funds transfers

    Japanese and Korean banks are to run pilot trials of real-time cross-border funds transfers over the Ripple network. The Japan Bank Consortium — a coalition of 61 banks in Japan, organised by SBI Ripple Asia — has announced the launch of a new Ripple pilot with Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank, two of South Korea’s largest banks.

    It follows the formation in September of of a partnership agreement with Dayli Intelligence, a subsidiary of Dayli Financial Group, which has previously acted with South Korea’s first blockchain consortium as well as the Ministry of Science and ICT.

    Under the terms of the trial, the Japan Bank Consortium will use Ripple’s settlement technology, xCurrent, to settle transactions between participating Japanese banks and Woori Bank or Shinhan Bank.

    The pilot solidifies the Japan Bank Consortium’s commitment to modernise payment systems — specifically in the Japan/Korea corridor where Korea is Japan’s third largest trade partner.

    “The Japan Bank Consortium’s pilot with Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank brings us closer to sending money in an important corridor,” says Emi Yoshikawa, director of partnerships at Ripple. “The use of RippleNet to send cross-border payments reinforces that financial institutions are ready to provide a modern payments experience and enable to the Internet of Value.”

    With interest in cryptocurrencies surging, the Japanese consortium has additionally created a virtual currency and blockchain working group to explore the institutional use case of alternative assets, such as Ripple’s own XRP, to source on-demand liquidity for these cross-border payments.

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  • Retailers take omnichannel path in preparation for Thailand 4.0

    Retailers take omnichannel path in preparation for Thailand 4.0

    Supaluck Umpujh, chairwoman of The Mall Group, said that Thailand 4.0 is an economic model to promote and transform Thailand into a digital economy.

    Digital economy refers to the widespread use of digital technologies, which are rapidly transforming business practices and social interactions.

    According to the Thai Board of Industries, the strategic framework for digital economy promotion consists of four areas: digital commerce, digital entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and digital content.

    In pushing forward this forward-looking agenda, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society will promote a new generation of entrepreneurs, as well as commercial and industrial innovations. At the same time, it will assist investors in developing new markets for digital content. Entrepreneurs will be aware of the importance of using ICT in enhancing efficiency and reducing production costs. Implementation of the digital economy plan will need the support and involvement of all stakeholders in achieving its stipulated goals.

    “We realised that retail business played a crucial role in Thailand’s economy, and we are also trendsetters in shopping. The first mission that we seek for our customers is to add some online shopping experience into our stores. But we also offer the experience that customers cannot find through digital channels. Currently, we are working on many digital platforms for instance e-commerce, mobile application, Radio Frequency Identification, Near Field Communication and many more,” she said.

    Nicolo Galante, chief operating officer of Central Group, said the group had integrated omnichannels to improve the customer experience. “We [Central Group] expect to move each of its online business units and will launch major e-commerce initiatives such as major partnerships and joint-ventures,” he said, adding that the e-commerce market will have a significant impact on retailers.

    Galante said the Central Group aimed |to be number one in terms of sales across channels. Central Group has stores, customer data and customer knowledge across many different stores, locations and categories.

    Salinla Seehaphan, corporate affairs director of Tesco Lotus, said the Thailand 4.0 economic model stressed on the importance of adding value to traditional products and services using innovation and digital transformation.

    “In our own business, Tesco Lotus has adopted innovation and digital transformation to improve our product and service offerings, as well as our customers’ shopping experience, for example by allowing customers to be able to trace where their fruits and vegetables come from via QR codes. As our core business revolves around fresh food, we have an opportunity to work directly with farmers across the country and help them to become farmers 4.0 in line with the government’s goal for Thai farmers to transform from being simply growers of food to smart farmers who use effective crop management and a market-led approach to farming,” she said.

    We also focus on equipping them with the knowhow that will help them thrive in Thailand 4.0,” she said.

    Punyapon Tepprasit, chief executive of MVP Consultant and lecturer at Sripatum University’s International Trade Department, said the main idea of the Thailand 4.0 economic model focuses on innovation creativity and sustainability. Thai retailers will change definitely in keeping with consumer behaviour. “I have four suggestions for Thai retailers. First of all, retailers must combine the online and offline channel strategy for creating an omnichannel that can help a business generate brand awareness, market share, and sales growth with big data analysis. Online enjoys competitive advantages as it is the fastest, can be available for 24 hours, has low advertising cost, and can track consumer behaviour. Also, businesses can reduce the cost per acquisition for one customer or groups of target customer,” he said.

    “Second, businesses have to build a talent team to create a new creativity strategy. Their new strategy must attract the attention of customers through newness of products and service innovation, or marketing communication via online and offline channel such as the augmented reality technology with an application on smartphone that can boost the emotional connection by experience and relationship creation with customers or target groups. The winner will be the one who can impress the brand on customers’ minds,” added Punyapon.

    “Third is business transformation. Businesses must reshape their organisations into lean entities to minimise wastage in the working process, as well as total cost and lead time. If companies can adjust agilely, they will have a competitive advantage in the volatile environment, because companies have the ability to address the changes in market demand.

    “The fourth is to become a data driven organisation. Businesses have to undertake market research to know the depth of consumer behaviour. Big data is very important, but the tools and data analysis are more important,” he said.

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  • Bitcoin drops as South Korea moves to regulate cryptocurrency trading

    Bitcoin drops as South Korea moves to regulate cryptocurrency trading

    Currently, many cryptocurrency exchanges (including South Korean ones like Kucoin) allow trading with little more than your name and an email.

    Bitcoin appeared to find a bottom on Friday, rebounding to $15 000 after moves by South Korea to curb speculation and protect retail customers took the cryptocurrency down more than 8% on Thursday.

    “The government had warned several times that virtual coins cannot play a role as actual currency and could result in high losses due to excessive volatility”, the country’s government said in a statement.

    Those new regulations would include prohibiting anonymous trading accounts and could give authorities the ability to shut down exchanges, Reuters said. Among other concerns, unmasking bitcoin traders would open up owners to taxation, a significant concern now that bitcoin has increased in value exponentially. The virtual currency plunged more than 10% to below $14,000 on Thursday morning in Asia, according to CoinDesk.com, and continued to fluctuate through the day.

    As part of what appears to be a series of updates created to improve oversight of industry practices, the government will also seek to bar banks from issuing new virtual accounts to cryptocurrency exchanges.

    Mati Greenspan, a Tel Aviv-based analyst at investment firm eToro, said it would be too early to gauge the impact of the rules, but they sounded “ominous”. Demand is so high that prices for the unit are around 20 per cent higher than in the United States, its biggest market.

    The country is also home to Bithumb, one of the world’s biggest bitcoin exchanges.

    In comparison, about 11% of Americans polled by student loan comparison website LendEdu in September said they either now own or have owned virtual currencies in the past, while 17.2% said they would invest in bitcoin in the future.

    South Korea may also stop local companies from providing settlement services for virtual currency transactions.

    In a case highlighting the risks of cryptocurrency, a Seoul virtual currency exchange declared itself bankrupt last week after being hacked for the second time this year.

    So far, China is the only country in the world to have totally banned bitcoin exchanges.

    Seoul-based Youbit said it was filing for bankruptcy after hackers stole almost a fifth of its clients’ holdings.

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  • Ban on ivory sales in China to take effect on Sunday

    Ban on ivory sales in China to take effect on Sunday

    A ban on ivory sales in China, the world’s largest importer and end user of elephant tusks, takes effect on Sunday. Wildlife activists have described the move as a vital step towards reducing the slaughter of the endangered animals.

    It is estimated 30,000 elephants are killed by poachers in Africa every year. China has made a big push to eradicate ivory sales and demand has fallen since early 2014 due to a crackdown on corruption and slower economic growth.

    Public awareness campaigns featuring celebrities have helped boost awareness of the bloody cost of ivory. “It is the greatest single step toward reducing elephant poaching,” said Peter Knights, chief executive of the conservation group WildAid.

    Legal ivory

    China has allowed the sale of pre-convention ivory, which refers to products such as carvings and crafts acquired before the 1975 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as long as it is accompanied by certificates.

    The trade in pre-convention ivory has legally thrived in China and Hong Kong since 1975, but environmental activists have long asserted that it has spurred demand for all ivory.

    The ban on all ivory sales has already led to an 80 per cent decline in seizures of illegal ivory entering China as well as a 65 per cent decline in raw ivory prices, according to WildAid.

    Under the ban, China’s 172 ivory-carving factories and retail outlets will also close. Some factories and shops started closing in March.

    This year, ivory prices in China were about 65 per cent lower than 2014 levels, said WildAid, with retailers in some places trying to sell off stocks and offering heavy discounts before the ban.

    Hong Kong

    The Chinese ban has been hailed by activists but they warn that Hong Kong, an administrative region of China, remains a big obstacle to the eradication of elephant poaching.

    China’s ban on sales do not apply in the former British colony, which has the largest retail market for ivory and has traded it for more than 150 years.

    Hong Kong is a prime transit and consumption hub for ivory with more than 90 per cent of consumers from mainland China.

    Since 2003, Hong Kong has intercepted about 40 tonnes (40,000kg) of illegal ivory, only about 10 per cent of what is believed to have been smuggled in, WildAid said in a paper to the city’s legislature in May.

    Hong Kong set a timetable for a ban on ivory trading last year, with a phase-out time of five years. A final vote on the ban is expected in the city’s legislature in early 2018.

    Conservationist Zhou Fei said the Chinese ban could be a catalyst for the closure of ivory markets across Asia.

    However, Kenya-based conservation group Save the Elephants said this year that neighbouring Laos has expanded its retail market more rapidly than any other country.

  • Japanese, Thai goods reach every corner of Vietnamese market

    Japanese, Thai goods reach every corner of Vietnamese market

    Several years ago, fans of Thai and Japanese goods had only several choices – either buying the products carried across border gates, or going to a few select shops. But now, they can freely choose products at many specialized stores. Specialized shops are mushrooming

    A report from MOIT (Ministry of Industry and Trade) shows that the deficit in trade with Thailand in the first eight months of the year reached $3.5 billion.

    Thai products are available at 9,000 traditional markets, supermarkets and home appliance distribution centers. In large cities, Thai goods account for 30-50 percent of the market share.

    The others are run by world giants such as Lotte, Aeon and Emart. Metro alone has 19 retail points, while Big C has 32.There are about 100 retail points belonging to foreign invested supermarkets in Vietnam, half of which belong to Thai investors.

    Meanwhile, Japanese have been penetrating deep into Vietnam through big retail chains such as Aeon, Ministop, Family Mart, Tokyo Deli, Gyu Kaku, Oshaka Ohsho and 7-Eleven.

    The Sakura chain has opened 10 shops after six years in Vietnam, while Tokyo Life has 18 shops in Hanoi, two in HCMC and 35 in other provinces.

    Pham Chi Lan, a renowned economist, said Thai firms had been following a strategy to enter the Vietnamese market for a long time.

    Thai businesses understand that Vietnam, with high economic growth rate, young population and increasingly high consumption, will be a vast market once tariff barriers are removed.

    They have spent time studying Vietnamese consumer psychology and followed professional methods to win over customers.

    Vietnam imports a wide range of products from Thailand, from household electrical appliances to vegetable and fruits, and CBU cars and cosmetics.

    Vietnam also imports products which are locally made, such as household-use products, computers and plastics.

    Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh once asked why Thais could bring their products to the Vietnamese market but do not do this with other ASEAN countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines.

    Analysts believe the most important reason is the large distribution networks that Thais have set up in Vietnam.

    Thai corporations like Central Group and TCC Group have spent big money to take over the largest distribution chains in Vietnam, paving the way for Thai products to enter Vietnam.

    Meanwhile, a branding expert commented that Thai and Japanese goods can thrive in Vietnam because manufacturers receive support from their government agencies.

    “Japanese agencies have set up dedicated divisions to support small and medium enterprises in their country,” he said.

     

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  • BSP to launch digital payments clearing house in January

    BSP to launch digital payments clearing house in January

    The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said individual consumers would be covered by the batch electronic fund transfer (EFT) credit automated clearing house (ACH) starting next month as it pursues greater use of electronic payments by shifting to cash-lite society from cash-heavy society.

    BSP deputy director Raymond Estioko said banks and the clearing house operator are now developing their respective web and mobile applications for the Philippine EFT System and Operations Network (PESONet) as part of the National Retail Payment System (NRPS).

    “Hopefully by January individuals for the common people would be able to experience and see PESONet being offered first by the banks,” he said.

    Estioko, who is also the project head of the BSP’s NRPS, said several banks are now ready to offer the service to individual customers

    “There are several banks which are now ready to offer the service to the public,” he added.

    BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. led the launch of the PESONet in November to facilitate fund transfer from one account to one or several accounts maintained in different financial institutions.

    PESONet is one of the ACHs prioritized for implementation given its potential to be an efficient channel for government and private business collections and disbursement. PESONet provides an electronic alternative to the still widely used paper-based check system.

    Estioko explained the initial launch of the PESONet only covers corporate transactions.

    Through PESONet, businesses, the government, and individuals will be able to conveniently initiate electronic fund transfers and recurring payments from the sender’s accounts maintained in BSP supervised financial institution (BSFIs), such as banks and other non-bank electronic money issuers, to corresponding recipient accounts in other BSFIs.

    With the ACH, funds could be made available to the recipient accounts within the same banking day or immediately upon clearing.

    Payees receive the funds transferred in full free of charge resulting in greater transparency and to help clients determine which EFT products offer the best value for their money.

    Estioko said a second ACH called InstaPay would be launched toward the end of the first quarter of 2018 to enable 24/7 low value electronic fund transfers.

    The BSP launched the NRPS in December 2015 to provide a safe, efficient, and reliable digital or electronic payment system in the country.

    Digitizing retail payments is critical in the Philippines considering that 99 percent of payment transactions per month are done in cash, with businesses and individuals making only one percent and 0.3 percent electronic payments, respectively, according to a study conducted by the Better Than Cash Alliance.

    The NRSP aims to increase electronic retail payment transactions to 20 percent by 2020 from the current one percent.

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