Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Nepal set to approve 4G launches

    Nepal set to approve 4G launches

    Nepal’s telecoms regulator will soon approve two of the three applications it has received from operators seeking to operate 4G services.

    The Nepal Telecommunications Authority’s (NTA) Frequency Management Department has recommended that the regulator allow both Nepal Telecom and Ncell to launch 4G services.

    But the department rejected the proposal of a third operator, Smart Telecom, after finding that the operator failed to meet certain prerequisites. Eligibility was determined based on factors an operator’s current services and its performance under the Unified License issued to it.

    As soon as the NTA board passes the recommendation, Nepal Telecom and Ncell will be able to launch 4G services.

    The operators have been requesting to launch 4G for months, by repurposing the 1800-MHz spectrum currently being used to provide 3G services.

    But the NTA was not able to approve the proposals until the government passed amendments to the existing radio frequency policy. The ICT ministry has now endorsed the amendments to the policy.

    According to the report, Nepal Telecom has asserted it will be able to launch 4G services within two months of receiving a license.

  • AIS ramps up fiber competition

    AIS ramps up fiber competition

    Thailand’s top mobile operator AIS is gearing up to launch what it says will be the country’s fastest fiber broadband services.

    The operator aims to attract 300,000 users to its fiber service this year, increasing to 2 million by 2019.

    The operator first entered the fiber broadband fray in April and has already been shaking up the market. The company currently has around 200,000 subscribers to its existing fiber services, a roughly 2% share of the total market.

    Now the company aims to disrupt the market further, with plans to offer an entry-level 20Mbps service for 590 baht ($17) per month, comparable to the prices of ADSL broadband services.

    AIS will also offer 50Mbps services for 888 baht per month and 100Mbps services for 1,888 baht per month. All packages will include free WiFi routers, free AIS internet TV and free installation.

    With the new packages AIS has increased its target monthly fiber net additions to 45,000, up from a previous target of 30,000-35,000.

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  • Ericsson, HomeSend team for remittance in emerging markets

    Ericsson, HomeSend team for remittance in emerging markets

    HomeSend and Ericsson have teamed up to accelerate the adoption of international remittances via mobile across emerging markets.

    With the partnership, 50 million Ericsson-powered mobile wallet users are expected to benefit from access to international payment services via HomeSend’s network of money transfer operators (MTOs).

    The Ericsson Wallet Platform is now certified by HomeSend, a joint venture between Mastercard, eServGlobal and BICS that aims to bridge the gap between financial institutions, non-financial entities and mobile network operators.

    The HomeSend-Ericsson partnership aims to give financial service providers a low-cost, simple and fast way to connect the HomeSend global money transfer hub with Ericsson’s mobile money offering around the world. With this, mobile money users are expected to be able to enjoy new levels of flexibility, choice and value.

    Ericsson’s Mobile Financial Services solutions now also include Ericsson interconnect, the company’s cloud-based financial transactions switching and mediation service, which aims to extend reach to Financial Services providers using any wallet or mobile banking platform.

    “The partnership represents HomeSend’s continuing commitment to displace cash and facilitate electronic payments, advancing financial inclusion in the new global economy,” said Stephen Doyle, CEO, HomeSend. “Millions of new unbanked consumers will gain improved access to digital inflows from friends and relatives, as we continue to advance toward a fully open ecosystem for global mobile money remittances.”

    In 2016, the World Bank expects remittances to reach over $600 billion, with more than $440 billion being sent to developing countries. The partnership aims to bridge the gap between finance and telecommunication service providers, enabling mobile wallet users to send and receive money from their family abroad through their mobile phones, while enabling financial institutions to offer their customers the convenience of digital money transfers regardless of their location or that of the recipient.

    “By enabling fast, secure integrations to HomeSend’s remittance hub, we are providing growth opportunities for our customers,” said Peter Heuman, head of Ericsson Mobile Financial Services.

    “Integration with the HomeSend Hub connects Ericsson mobile wallet powered financial service providers, and potentially other financial service providers, to a global network of financial institutions and MTOs. This represents a major advance in helping to grow mobile financial services ecosystems whilst supporting financial inclusion.”

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  • Teradata boosts customer experience with behavioral insights

    Teradata boosts customer experience with behavioral insights

    Teradata now offers the Teradata Customer Journey Analytic Solution, a complete set of capabilities for discerning the behavioral paths of each individual customer.

    The solution determines the next best interaction and delivering a consistent, personalized brand experience through every channel and touch point. It also uses Teradata’s consulting services, as well as technologies that enable real-time customer data integration, advanced behavioral analytics and multi-channel marketing automation.

    Further, the solution enables CMOs who want to truly understand each individual customer experience to move beyond old school one-to-one marketing tactics that rely on purchases and traditional customer profiling.

    The insights resulting from Teradata’s Customer Journey Analytic Solution enable marketers to optimize objectives such as response and conversion rates, service delivery, churn, and customer satisfaction – leading directly to high-impact business outcomes such as increased revenue and customer retention.

    Customers today require every interaction with a brand to be consistent, but also personalized and relevant. This is despite the ever-expanding range of channels that make building a complete picture of each individual customer extremely challenging.

    “Managing every customer as an individual, based on their interactions with your company, requires not only the integration of different types of data but understanding it through the application of complex multi-genre analytics,” said Dan Harrington, EVP for consulting and support services of Teradata. “Even the best-known companies feel this is a ‘boil the ocean’ project – making sense of billions of events for millions of customers, in real time.”

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  • Twitter said to be looking to sell

    Twitter said to be looking to sell

    Twitter, the global microblogging service that pioneered hashtags and the art of marketing in small, crisp sentences is reportedly looking for suitors.

    The sale around the region of $16 billion, although no accurate sales figures have been released and it greatly depends on the performance of Twitter’s stocks.

    Reportedly, Twitter is working with Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co for the potential sale.

    According to Reuters news sources, the company is not short of suitors. The list includes Alphabet (Google parent), Microsoft, Salesforce.com and Walt Disney, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is a board member.

    Facebook, for the moment, seem to be glaringly absent.

    No assurance of an actual sale has been given as of time of reporting.

    A similar rumor reared its head around the same time last year, although evidence points to more concrete reports this time.

    The biggest problem for Twitter is in its ability to be clear about its mission: whether it is a technology company or a media player.

    It also has not found a way to monetize its over 300 million subscriber base. In comparison, Facebook and LinkedIn have fared better.

    Twitter’s foray into becoming a major media player has not fared any better. Its prominence in the Rio Olympics did not increase engagement and a streaming deal with NFL is way lower than live TV. These misses have analysts saying that the Twitter stock being overvalued.

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  • Double Dragon plans 100 CityMalls

    Double Dragon plans 100 CityMalls

    Listed Philippine property developer Double Dragon plans to build a network of 100 neighbourhood style shopping malls across the Philippines by 2020.

    The  company has already opened eight CityMall centres and secured 53 sites to date. The new centres will range anywhere between 5000 sqm and 10,000 sqm.

    Last week DoubleDragon announced it was issuing P15 billion in retail bonds to fund the development of its projects next year.

    “The majority of the proceeds will be deployed in our projects within 2017 as by 2018, we expect to already have substantial rental revenues from our provincial community mall chain, CityMalls and our Metro Manila office projects such as Double Dragon Plaza in DD Meridian Park and Jollibee Tower in Ortigas CBD, both of which are expected to be completed within 2018,” Sia said.

    Listed back in April 2014, Double Dragon Properties, has increased its stock value 29-fold since then – it’s risen 140 per cent this year alone.

    CEO Edgar “Injap” Sia, 39, from Visayas, co-founded Double Dragon with Jollibee founder Tan Caktiong, who bought a controlling interest in Sia’s fast food chain Mang Inasal in 2010, acquiring the 30 per cent balance last April. Each deal was valued at 5 billion pesos.

    citymall-cavite

    In 2012, the two businessmen acquired an Iloilo-based property developer, turning it into Double Dragon and setting a course for a nationwide property group. Before the float, Sia accepted an offer from SM Investments to acquire a 34 per cent stake in City Mall Commercial Centers, which runs CityMalls on Double Dragon’s behalf. That gives fast food entity Jollibee a ready entry into regional markets – and SM Investments an interest in retail property outside the main cities in which it dominates with its larger-sized malls. As part of the broader SM group, CityMalls has a large, ready-made pool of potential tenants every time it opens a new facility- across food, hardware, health & beauty, grocery retailing and fashion, among other categories.

    About 70 of the 100 malls planned initially will be built in the Visayas and Mindanao. The next scheduled to open – in October – will be at Cotabato in Mindanao, west of Davao and a location where neither Robinsons or SM have yet opened shopping centres.

    One of those is at the 116ha Northtown residential complex being developed by Alsons Development and Investment in the northeastern part of Davao.

    Sia said the mall, expected to be completed by the end of 2017, will anchor the residential development, serving residents and locals.

    “We can clearly see the vision behind Northtown to soon become one of the most vibrant areas in Davao City,” he said.

    CityMalls are positioned in the market as one-stop shops for daily purchases – not destinations to spend a day shopping, watching movies and eating with family or friends. Sia does not aim to compete with larger regional malls, the likes of which SM is rolling out across urban areas nationwide.

    Sia is also considering opportunities outside the Philippines long-term, as well as more locations at home.

    “Once we complete [100 malls], our presence will be powerful, and the confidence in our company will be higher,” he said in a recent interview.

    *Image: Louisechelle

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  • Korean partner for Perry Ellis

    Korean partner for Perry Ellis

    Perry Ellis has signed a licence agreement with Doctorstick Korea Co to design, manufacture, market and distribute men’s and women’s contemporary sport and casual shoes under the Perry Ellis brand.

    Currently the US brand has 37 product categories, spans more than 50 countries and generates almost $1 billion in global retail sales annually.

    “We are confident this joint effort will provide us with a platform consistent with our strategic initiative to expand the Perry Ellis brand globally,” says Perry Ellis International executive chairman George Feldenkreis.

    Doctorstick Korea plans to launch the footwear program through eCommerce platforms and television shopping channels in Korea in spring next year, and target an introductory full collection by the middle of the year.

    Established in 2007, the company also licenses the Flying London and Mono Cross brands in Korea.

  • Shiseido Playlist launches online only

    Shiseido Playlist launches online only

    The new Shiseido Playlist make-up and skincare brand has been launched for exclusive online sale, with the exception of the cosmetic brand’s Tokyo Ginza store.

    Playlist is available via Watashi+, the group’s own website and other e-stores.

    Distinctive for its minimalist design, Playlist targets women between 25 and 39 years, the demographic that favours online shopping. Developed by Shiseido’s professional makeup and hair care teams, the range focusses on compact lipsticks, foundations and eye makeup. The brand debuts with 31 looks, with others expected to be launched in November.playlist-2

    Playlist also features an online personal advice service, and the brand ambassador will be Belgian-Japanese model Yumi Lambert.

    Playlist has initially been launched in Japan, coinciding with Shiseido replacing Maybelline as make-up partner to Amazon Tokyo Fashion Week.

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  • Apple Korea to launch first official store

    Apple Korea to launch first official store

    Apple Korea is to open the brand’s first official store in Seoul, but no date has been revealed.

    A lease has been signed for a property in Garosu-gil Road, an upmarket, tree-lined street, with Apple Korea paying a 1.6 billion won (US$1.44 million) deposit for the lease, which runs to February 29, 2036.

    Without an Apple Store in Korea, consumers have had to turn to third-party suppliers, leading to complaints about delays and poor service, reports the Korea Times.

    In response, the Korea Fair Trade Commission told Apple in December to rectify its policy.
    Apple has started recruiting staff for the Seoul store, advertising positions covering marketing, store crew and customer service.

  • LeEco India ready to roll out 1000 stores

    LeEco India ready to roll out 1000 stores

    Chinese tech firm LeEco India plans to open 1000 outlets across the subcontinent by the end of this year.

    Expecting half of its revenue in India to come from physical stores, LeEco filed an application five months ago with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to open single-brand retail stores.

    These will be a mix of company-owned stores as well as franchise outlets, says LeEco India COO for smart electronics business Atul Jain. “This is in line with our aim to be among top three brands in the country by 2018.”

    LeEco, which also has an offline presence in China, has not revealed the cost of setting up the stores. However, it will be spending nearly US$10 million on marketing in the three months starting October.

    Already the company has tied up with multiple distributors across organised and unorganised channels in India and is already available in about 3000 outlets in cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Varanasi. It expects to reach 65 cities and have a presence in 6000 to 8000 outlets by December.

    No longer exclusive

    Launched exclusively on Flipkart, LeEco’s products will now be available on other eCommerce marketplaces such as Amazon India and Snapdeal. Flipkart has contributed nearly 75 per cent of LeEco’s sales in India.

    LeEco has invested Rs.50 crore (US$500 million) in setting up a smartphone assembly plant in the Greater Noida area, in partnership with Compal Electronics. The factory has an initial capacity of 60,000 units a month but this will be ramped up to 200,000 by the end of December.

    By the second half of next year, the company plans to start exporting products to Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and Singapore, says Jain. LeEco sold more than 70,000 phones and 2000 televisions last month alone.

    Other plans include a partnership with Hungama to offer music services from next month.
    Founded by billionaire Jia Yueting in 2004, LeEco positions itself as the Apple, Netflix and Tesla of China. Apart from smartphones and online content, the company sells TVs, electric vehicles and virtual-reality headsets.

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  • Laguarda.Low designs Shenzhen’s ‘city within city’

    Laguarda.Low designs Shenzhen’s ‘city within city’

    New York-based Laguarda.Low Architects has finished designing a 3.7 million sqft (343,700 sqm) mixed-use development for Shenzhen in China.

    For CM-OCT Investment Co, the Longhua New District project comprises eight highrise towers, more than 20 low-rise retail buildings, two cultural buildings and open green space.

    CM-OCT Investment Co is a joint venture of two state-owned developers, China Merchants and OCT.

    As both master planner and master architect for the project, and working with US landscape design firm SWA, Laguarda.Low envisions the project as a city within a city, giving each building a distinct architectural character and connecting the residential, office, retail, hotel and cultural buildings through landscaped pedestrian walkways and a central green corridor.

    Its plan positions a multi-level retail village at the centre of the site, surrounded by four residential towers to the northeast, three office towers to the southeast, a hotel to the south, a mall to the west; and a performance hall and exhibition centre to the north. A central loop connects the zones and provides access to parking below.

    “The quality and arrangement of the buildings, along with the dynamic public spaces, creates a vibrant setting to live, work, and enjoy the development’s cultural and entertainment facilities,” says Laguarda.Low principal Pablo Laguarda.

    Construction work has started, and when complete, the development will connect directly to public transportation via the elevated Hongshan Subway Station and a new bus terminal.

    OCT Group and Laguarda.Low have already collaborated on several mixed-use developments including the OCT Bay development in Shenzhen, comprising 3.2 million sqft of hotel, entertainment, retail and restaurant offerings on Shenzhen Bay. They also produced OCT Chengdu, a mixed-use project next to the Happy Valley theme park in Chengdu.

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  • Hongkong Land pursuing China expansion

    Hongkong Land pursuing China expansion

    Property investment, management and development group Hongkong Land plans to continue expanding its footprint in China’s key cities.

    “We are actively looking for new opportunities in Beijing, Shanghai and some key secondary cities,” says executive director Raymond Chow. He says the company is betting on the country’s long-run prospects.

    The Hong Kong-based developer already has several projects on the mainland, including two commercial projects in Beijing and Shanghai and two complex projects in Chengdu and Chongqing.

    “When we invest, we look for a very long term, at least a generation,” says Chow. “So we are still very confident in mainland’s further growth despite the recent slowdown in GDP growth.”

    Hongkong Land’s project in Beijing, WF Central, on Wangfujing Street, has a gross floor area of 150,000 sqm and is expected to open in the second half of next year. The $1 billion project includes 50,000 sqm of luxury retail space and a Mandarin Oriental hotel.

    Chow says the project will introduce a range of luxury brands to Beijing.

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  • Future Group buys Sangam Direct chain

    Future Group buys Sangam Direct chain

    Indian retail giant Future Group has bought Sangam Direct, a chain of grocery stores previously known as Sabka Bazaar, from Wadhawan Retail Ventures.

    Future group CEO Kishore Biyani has announced the deal without disclosing any figures.

    It is Future Group’s third acquisition in northern India in the food and groceries space in the past three years after Big Apple and EasyDay. In the south, the company acquired Nilgiris last year and is in talks to buy the retail business of Heritage Foods.

    Sangam Direct and Heritage Foods will add Rs800 crore (US$120 million) to Future Group’s annual revenue, says Biyani.

    Heritage Foods, which has 114 stores in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, reported revenue of Rs582.9 crore for 2015-16, up 18 per cent. Sangam Direct, which has about 35 stores across Bengaluru and Delhi, was started by Hindustan Unilever in 2001 as its online groceries delivery platform. It was acquired in 2007 by the Wadhawan group, which owned the Spinach retail chain.

    Future Group, through Future Retail and Future Consumer Enterprise, has about 800 stores. About 500 are small-format EasyDay and Nilgiris convenience stores, the rest being the larger-format stores of Big Bazaar and FBB, which is the group’s fashion retail offering.

    Future Consumer Enterprise also runs 5000 Annapurna Bhandars in partnership with the government of Rajasthan. Future Group is the parent of listed retail companies Future Retail, Future Lifestyle Fashions and Future Consumer Enterprise.

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  • Owndays Europe marks first foray outside Asia-Pacific

    Owndays Europe marks first foray outside Asia-Pacific

    After rapidly building a network of stores across Asia, Japanese eyewear retailer Owndays has made its European debut.

    Owndays Europe has opened its first store in the Netherlands, the design largely true to its Asian format and its simple pricing model seamlessly converted into local currency with frames and lenses paired at between 98 euros and 198 euros.  A 20-minute “quick processing” promise is also included in its in-store marketing, two two promises being the eyewear chain’s unique selling points.

    Owndays Netherlands 1

     

    The 80 sqm Dutch store opened last week in a traditional street-front location, rather than a shopping mall, where most of its stores are located in Asia; at Passage in The Hague, a trendy area bustling with retail and food & beverages establishments.

    Owndays Europe plans to open 30 stores in the Netherlands in the next three years.

    The brand began its international expansion just three years ago and is already trading in Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia, making the Netherlands its 10th market.

    owndays-netherlands

    Owndays Europe stores carry more than 1500 designs of frames ranging from basic and functional to stylish and fashion-forward so customers can pick the right pairs of glasses to suit their lifestyles or to match occasions and functions. With a team of in-house designers based in Japan, the brand regularly adds new designs to its existing collections so customers always see something new each time they visit the shop.

    Owndays already has more than 170 shops in Asia-Pacific and sells more than 1.5 million pairs of glasses a year. It is one of the few optical retailers internationally which has adopted an entirely private label system, managing the entire process from design and manufacturing to inventory management and retail.

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  • Tokyo Tsuta ramen eatery to open in Singapore

    Tokyo Tsuta ramen eatery to open in Singapore

    The world’s only Michelin-starred ramen restaurant Tsuta is to open in Singapore in October.

    The Japanese eatery has been signed up by Pacific Plaza on Scotts Rd and will mark the restaurant’s first location outside its home market.

    Earning a coveted Michelin star this year has boosted the already-popular Tokyo establishment into something approaching cult status. The restaurant, located in the suburb of Sugamo, has just nine seats and limits its servings of ramen to 150 bowls each day. That has prompted customers to queue from as early as 6am so as not to risk missing out and tickets for a day’s dining usually sell out by 8am.

    The Pacific Plaza restaurant will be twice the size, with 18 seats and offer three soup bases – miso, Shoyu soba and shio soba. Chefs will be carefully trained to ensure the quality of the dishes served match those sold in Tokyo – and that the ramen sold is “the best in Singapore”.

    Tsuta ramen seats

    Founder Onishi says there are many pork-bone ramen shops in Asia, but he was determined to be different.

    “My aim is to create a ramen shop that can leave an impact with its unique dashi and umami flavours, and become as popular as tonkotsu ramen. For me, shoyu ramen is what usually comes to mind when one thinks of Japanese ramen.”

    Images courtesy of Mitsueki, Singapore food and travel blogger. Read more about Tsuta and view more photos here.

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