Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Flight Centre India to double network

    Flight Centre India to double network

    Australian travel retailer Flight Centre expects to more than double its network and business in India over the next five years.

    Flight Centre, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, debuted in India 10 years ago and now considers the nation one of its top five corporate business markets globally.

    “India is an emerging market and a long term business for us,” said Rob Flint, executive GM – Asia and global corporate told the Economic Times.

    “We are expecting a high double digit growth from this market over  the next five years.”

    Flight Centre currently operates a corporate travel arm FCm Travel Solutions along with leisure travel company Flight Shop in India. The company currently has 12 operational stores in the country and plans to open 10 more next year.

    “We currently do about Rs 200 million (US$3 million) of business in India and believe that to be a leader in our space in India, we need to do at least Rs 500 million of business. We want to get to that level in the next five years,” added Rakshit Desai, MD India, FCm Travel Solutions and Flight Shop.

    Consumer travel accounts for about half the company’s turnover currently but it sees the corporate market as its main growth driver. The entire Flight Centre India operations posted profit growth of 12 per cent this year against last.

    The company entered India by buying New Delhi-based travel agency Friends Globe.

  • Singapore’s Honestbee launches in Japan

    Singapore’s Honestbee launches in Japan

    Honestbee, the fast-growing on-demand grocery concierge and delivery service company founded in Singapore just last July, has launched its service in Japan.

    The first Japan stop of many to come, visiting tourists can now enjoy the convenience of grocery shopping via the online portal honestbee.jp in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan, from now until February 29.

    Honestbee’s point of difference to other online grocery shopping services is that it partners with retailers to offer a high-quality array of products and uses concierge shoppers to fulfil orders on demand – and then deliver them. It expanded into Hong Kong in October, and its next market is Taiwan, where it launches in a fortnight.

    “Niseko is one of the most popular ski destinations in the world which sees a great amount of tourist visits every season. While these families look forward to grocery shopping, the closest supermarket in the area is an hour away,” said Joel Sng, co-founder and CEO, Honestbee.

    “With technology and software, we plan to offer our customers the same level of convenience they have back home by travelling alongside them. Now they can better spend their time skiing or sipping hot chocolate somewhere else.”

    With the launch of this service, ski-lovers and snowboarders can now spend more time skiing on the powdery slopes of Niseko and have their groceries covered by Honestbee.

    As the third-largest economy in the world, Japan presents a wealth of opportunities for Honestbee’s expansion. Niseko is a world-renowned region in the Hokkaido prefecture. With the launch of the New Chitose Airport, increased direct flights to Sapporo from neighbouring cities have contributed to the dramatic rise of international tourists to about 1.5 million throughout the year. Foreign investments in properties in the ski areas have also fuelled economic growth in Niseko.

    Maintaining its commitment to offering a one-stop shop for a range of highly curated and specialty products, customers in Niseko will be able to shop for the freshest groceries, local Hokkaido and international products at major brands well-loved by the locals.

    While the Hokkaido launch may be perceived as something of an experiment or publicity stunt, Honestbee has confirmed it will offer a permanent service in more Japanese cities next year.

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  • FC Schalke opens Asian stores

    FC Schalke opens Asian stores

    German Bundesliga football team FC Schalke 04 has taken the next step in its long term process of internationalisation, opening three online stores for fans in Asia.

    The Royal Blues (as the team is nicknamed) has launched online shops to sell fans club merchandise quickly and easily online. This applies to every country in the Asia-Pacific region. For China and Japan there are separate online shops in the respective languages, while the English site reaches out to supporters in all the other countries.

    S04’s marketing director Alexander Jobst said Asia is an important target market for the team, as it has already gained a lot of support.

    “So we’re very pleased that the online shops are bringing us closer to our fans out there.”

    FC Schalke 04 is currently communicating with more than 1.2 million people in China through the club’s Chinese media channels. Schalke’s Japanese Twitter account has over 90,000 followers making S04 one of the best supported European clubs in Japan. The language-specific Facebook page is also liked by almost 40,000 Japanese fans.

    Jobst says the stores will enable faster delivery, market-specific products and country-specific payment methods.

    To begin with, the online shops will be available in four different languages: Chinese, with both traditional and simplified writing, Japanese and English. Further language options are planned to follow soon.

    FC Schalke 04 is offering a ‘welcome discount’ of 15 per cent off all products to celebrate the launch online.

    Hong Kong based company EZshopnet International  is the club’s official partner in the eCommerce project and help run the online shops of several other clubs including Chelsea, Juventus and AC Milan.

    Perhson Wong, chairman of EZshopnet said FC Schalke 04 is the company’s first partner from the German Bundesliga.

    “Most notable of all it is the first time that three parties from three different countries have collaborated to develop the online shops – a German football club, an eCommerce firm from Hong Kong and a creative web-design agency from the UK,” he said.

    As part of their internationalisation strategy, FC Schalke 04 has long been putting most of its focus on the Asia-Pacific region, and has been able to strike two partnership deals with multi-billion Chinese companies Hisense and Huawei, as well as South Korean tyre manufacturers Kumho Tyre.

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  • Japan’s Miniso opens Singapore flagship

    Japan’s Miniso opens Singapore flagship

    Japanese fast fashion brand Miniso has opened new flagship stores in Singapore and Dubai as it works on a global rollout.

    Miniso, founded by designer Miyake Jyunya and partner Ye Guofu, advocates the philosophy of ‘simple, natural and quality life and brand essence’ by “returning to nature and restoring product nature”.

    The brand is opening new stores at the rate of 20 to 30 a month, with China – where it made its debut in 2013 – a major focus.

    Jyunya, who attended the Singapore store opening at the Harbourfront Centre on Saturday (December 12), aims to provide “high-quality, low-priced and innovative products for global consumers”. Its stores are decorated in a fresh and natural style, establishing a service-oriented shopping environment that is finding favour with consumers.

    Jyunya described the Singapore and Dubai openings as “a major milestone in the company’s globalisation strategy”.

    “As one of the most developed market economies in Asia, a key services and shipping hub and the fourth global financial center after New York, London and Hong Kong, Singapore is an important destination for Miniso’s first international venture. Singaporean consumers have always been sensitive to changes in fashion, a philosophy built on and shared by Miniso,” the company said in a statement.

    “Dubai likewise is a significant location in the global services and retail sector and serves to highlight the newly established reach of the Miniso brand in addition to its ability to expand into developed markets.”

    In future, Miniso plans to continue to actively explore internationally, with the aim of offering a new generation of consumers an alternative to high-level retail through quality products at affordable prices.

    After its expansion into Singapore and Dubai, the company will turn its attention to Europe and eventually the rest of the world, “evolving into a superior international brand enjoyed and talked about by consumers everywhere”.

  • H&M blames weather for poor sales growth

    H&M blames weather for poor sales growth

    Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-largest apparel retailer, has reported a four per cent rise in sales in November.

    H&M says the increase was lower than expected due to unusually mild weather in the northern hemisphere, which lessened customer demand for winter clothing.

    Analysts are growing increasingly concerned about H&M’s margins, fearing they will come under pressure if stock has to be discounted to move inventory.

    Inditex, the world’s largest apparel retailer, last week reported sales in local currency terms increased 15 per cent in November, despite the weather.

    H&M’s net sales in September through November, the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, totalled 48.7 billion Swedish crowns (£3.83 billion), up from a year-ago 42.6 billion but below the mean forecast of 49.6 billion.

    Year on year, H&M has added 413 new stores, taking its global network to 3924.

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  • Starbucks volunteers joined 500 middle and high school students

    Recently, Starbucks volunteers joined 500 middle and high school students for the Youth Skill Development and Food Sustainability Project in partnership with the Books for Children Foundation. The event took place at the Bumrung-Raviwan Wittaya School, which promotes healthy food and living, grows vegetables for school and home meals, and sells leftover crops to student families. Combined, 330 volunteer hours impacted nearly 5,000 students and their families, along with others in the community.

    “At Starbucks, our long-term commitment is to make a positive and sustainable change in the areas of environment, society and economy,” said Murray Darling, managing director of Starbucks Coffee Thailand. “The community event allowed us to reaffirm the company’s long-term commitment to local communities.”

    For part of the day, students practiced project planning, leadership and communications skills during a food sustainability project. Students and volunteers built nursery shelves for vegetables, created an organic shade plot for crops and repaired the pier for a small fish farm.

    The majority of the community project focused on skills development through an English conversation class. Starbucks Thailand partners helped students hone their English-speaking skills through songs and word games.

    Starbucks volunteers also read stories to a kindergarten class with Ruangsakdi Pinprateep, managing director of the Books for Children Foundation and author of “Ping Pong, Will You Come with the Bear.” This children’s book was funded by a portion of sales from Starbucks Thailand Barista Bears.

    “It was such an honor for Starbucks to join us in service,” said Naiyana Aua-amnueychai, director of Bumrung-Raviwan Wittaya School. “We place a great deal of emphasis on English skills development and food sustainability at our school and Starbucks volunteers helped our teachers and students in these areas. We are pleased that Starbucks and our school share the same goal to contribute back to our society.”

    Starbucks Thailand has collaborated with Books for Children since 2005. Together, they have collected more than 400,000 books through an annual Christmas book drive and completed a library renovation at Silapadech community. In addition, they completed the Bookstart for Intellectual Disability Children’s Project at Rajanukul Institute and renovated the Wat Kla Cha-um School library and playground.

    “By working with Books for Children for the past 10 years, we have delivered educational opportunities to both public and private organizations nationwide,” said Sumonpin Jotikabukkana, marketing and communications director of Starbucks Coffee Thailand. “We realize that literacy is an essential element for children’s development and we aim to do our best to continue to promote and support these areas for Thai children in every sector of the society.”

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  • Siam Paragon in Bangkok Ranked 6th Place as the World’s Most Talked-About Places

    Siam Paragon in Bangkok Ranked 6th Place as the World’s Most Talked-About Places

    Siam Paragon, Thailand’s world-class shopping destination, has gained prestige to Thailand after being ranked 6th as the most talked-about places among people around the world in 2015 and being the only place in Asia that has made the top 10 rankings — according to the ranking of 20 most popular places globally talked about in 2015, announced early December by Facebook.

    Opened in 2005 with an investment budget of THB 15 billion (USD 375 million), Siam Paragon Shopping Center is a world-class shopping and lifestyle phenomenon, welcoming over 300 leading international luxury labels and cutting-edge local names that suit the needs of all visitors to its 500,000 square meters of retail space in the heart of Bangkok.

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  • Punggol shopping mall Waterway Point to open on Jan 18

    Punggol shopping mall Waterway Point to open on Jan 18

    Punggol shopping mall Waterway Point will open on Jan 18 next year, it announced on its Facebook page.

    In replies to comments on a post on the page, which has more than 30,000 fans, it said: “We are pleased to share with you that Waterway Point will be opening on 18 January 2016. Stay tuned to our page for interesting updates.”

    The mall, located in Punggol Central near Punggol MRT station, offers the usual mix of food and beverage, and retail outlets, including apparel chain Uniqlo, book store Times and electronics retailer Best Denki. Its anchor tenants are a Shaw Theatres cinema and supermarket FairPrice Finest.

    In August, Frasers Centrepoint Malls announced that the shopping centre had a 90 per cent committed occupancy, months ahead of its expected opening.

    It is part of Watertown, an integrated waterfront residential and retail development.

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  • Thailand geared to increase foreign tourist spending

    Thailand geared to increase foreign tourist spending

    The other proposals are; instant VAT refund, exclusion of VAT from some items, reduction of import tariffs of some consumer product items, and the scheme to promote “Thailand Brands Sale”.

    The proposals are aimed at boosting foreign tourists’ spending in Thailand.

    Rawittha Pongnuchit, a tax-law expert and former deputy director-general of the Revenue Department as chairman of the duty-free association, said that all the proposals would boost the economy.

    “We are pleased that the government responded (to our proposals) and is ready to materialise the proposals within the specified timeframe,” he said.

    He added that pick-up counters at all international airports would facilitate foreign tourists’ shopping. This would lead to more jobs and higher income at airports.

    It is agreed that all the airports would have the counters within 60 days.

    The decision followed a meeting yesterday between Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong, Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, and representatives of the Thai Shopping Centre Association, Thai Retailers Association, and duty-free shop association.

    A working committee will be set up to study on the exclusion of VAT from some items. The Revenue Department is tasked to explore overseas experiences involving instant VAT refund.

  • Hotel Lotte set to submit IPO application next week

    Hotel Lotte set to submit IPO application next week

    Hotel Lotte plans to submit the application to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Monday for a preliminary regulatory review of its initial public offering (IPO), after clearing uncertainties surrounding the conglomerate’s management and other issues.

    The listing of Hotel Lotte is one of the reform pledges that Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin has made to assuage public disgust over a bitter family feud for control of the retail-focused conglomerate, which has sprawling businesses both in South Korea and Japan.

    Earlier this month, Lotte said its Japanese shareholders support the current leadership despite the ongoing succession feud. Japan-based Lotte Holdings is the largest shareholder of Hotel Lotte with a 19.1 percent stake.

    The KRX earlier said it is considering simplifying the screening process to facilitate its listing, using a “fast-track” system that cuts the review period to about a month.

    To take advantage of the speedy process, applicants should have over 400 billion won in equity capital and 700 billion won of annual sales for three years, along with other requirements.

    “If Hotel Lotte submits the application, we would be able to confirm the result by January,” a KRX official said, asking for anonymity.

    Hotel Lotte is pushing for the IPO despite the group losing one of its two duty-free stores in Seoul last month.

    Lotte kept a location in Myeongdong, a popular shopping district in downtown, but lost the operational license for another at Lotte World Tower in southeastern Seoul.

    The conglomerate earlier said Hotel Lotte is expected to have a market capitalization of around 10 trillion won ($8.6 billion) when it is publicly traded, but market watchers say losing one of its duty-free stores in Seoul in the recent competition could lead to that re-evaluation of its market value.

  • Fashion trends in China renew interest in broad wool types

    Fashion trends in China renew interest in broad wool types

    Once a sideline part of the wool industry, cardings have now become the unsung hero of the wool market. Cardings are made up of the wool from the bellies and other parts of the sheep that don’t make the fleece lines. Demand for heavy jackets and coats in China has led to strong returns for Australian wool growers.

    Robert Herman, managing director of Mercado Market Insights, said the demand for cardings was underpinning the entire wool market. It’s not understated to say that the demand for cardings is underpinning the whole wool market at the moment.

    “In this case the most significant driver is this demand for double-faced woollen fabric, which has come and gone in the past, but it’s really started to find a home on the retail shelves in China,” he said.

    “First of all it started in the high end market and then started to show up in the cheaper lines and it’s just something that people seem to like. This fabric is not only made out of cardings but also crossbred wool, which has also had a terrific run [this year]. So it’s a direct connection between the price that’s being paid and the appetite that exporters have for that type of wool.”

    “While it’s a good market signal, I think with fashion though, fashion comes and goes, we don’t think this is changing in a hurry but it will change over time.” As northern hemisphere fashion houses make their decisions for 2016, the future appears bright for cardings according to Mr Hermann.

    “We thought this run was coming to an end but it’s resurrected back over 1,100 cents at a time when the new fashion decisions are being made in the northern hemisphere” he said.

    “So it looks to us like it’s got another season to run at least.”

    There is potential that the trend could have a broad impact of the way consumers feel about buying wool. “It can make people more aware about the intrinsic value of wool, more people wearing wool for whatever reason is good, if it’s just because they are following fashion, it doesn’t matter,” Mr Hermann said.

    In the past the cardings indicator has tagged along with the fleece lines but this year that trend has reversed. “What we’re seeing now is that this strong resilience of the cardings indicator is really putting a strong floor under the rest of the market,” Mr Hermann said. “Even though we like to see the rest of the market have the same types of rallies, it’s not understated to say that the demand for cardings is underpinning the whole wool market at the moment.”

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  • Apple Pay to debut in smartphone mecca China next year

    Apple Pay to debut in smartphone mecca China next year

    Apple and Samsung said Thursday they had secured separate deals with China UnionPay that will let their users in China add credit or debit cards to the respective mobile-payments services. Both companies said their services would launch in China as soon as early 2016 after testing and certification required by regulators.

    “China is an extremely important market for Apple, and with China UnionPay and support from 15 of China’s leading banks, users will soon have a convenient, private and secure payment experience,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s head of Internet software and services, said in a statement.

    A few hours later, Samsung announced a similar partnership with China UnionPay.

    “The collaboration with China UnionPay, coupled with the support from major UnionPay partner banks in China, will bring this secure and easy-to-use mobile payment solution to more Samsung mobile users,” Injong Rhee, the global chief of Samsung Pay, said in a statement.

    Launched last year in the US and then in other countries, Apple Pay enables owners of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S or Apple Watch to pay for items on the go via the wireless technology NFC (near-field communication). Meanwhile, Samsung Pay, which hit the US this past September, doesn’t require NFC technology needed by Apple Pay and can work with any magnetic-strip card reader.

    Companies are eager to push mobile payments in the belief that the additional service will build consumer loyalty. Users of electronic-payments services might be more likely to stick with their current smartphone if they could store their payment data and use the device to buy shampoo, beer, gum or whatever else.

    As the largest smartphone market in the world, China represents a significant business opportunity for mobile-payments systems. The country’s massive population of 1.35 billion and growing middle class have created a lucrative market for companies like Apple and Samsung. For Apple, China is a key market, accounting for $12.5 billion in revenue during its fourth quarter.

    Apple had been trying to reach an agreement with Chinese bank UnionPay, which is the only bank in China that conducts interbank payments, according to a report in MarketWatch. That monopoly on credit- and debit-card processing effectively locks out MasterCard and Visa.

    Since last year, Apple has also been chatting with at least eight major Chinese banks about adopting Apple Pay. But those talks hadn’t gone well either, a source close to them told MarketWatch. One bank expressed no interest in any deal.

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  • Retail employees in Singapore set for 4.5% salary hike in 2016

    Retail employees in Singapore set for 4.5% salary hike in 2016

    If you’re presently working in the retail line in Singapore, you can expect a greater boost in your salary next year.

    According to new findings by global professional services firm Towers Watson, retail employees are on track for a 4.5 per cent pay increase in 2016, higher than the 4.1 per cent jump they got this year. This will also be the largest wage increment of any sector here in 2016.

    After retail, the next two sectors that will see healthy salary increases next year are the high-tech and professional services industries, which are expected to rise by 4.3 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively (up from 4 per cent and 3.7 per cent in 2015).

    These latest numbers come a week after Towers Watson released its latest Asia-Pacific salary budget planning report, a bi-annual survey conducted in July involving 2,000 responses from 22 countries in the region.

    Among the many sectors polled were automotive, chemical, financial services, energy and natural resources, media, pharmaceutical and health sciences.

    al Affairs powered in Calgary to support the development, installation and stewardship of our Aboriginal interactions beliefs and guidelines. Along with this, we formed an Aboriginal Relations Network of 24 people to encourage the sharing of best patterns in Aboriginal interactions across the company.

    Things You Might Not Like About Singapore

    Temperatures throughout the the day hover around 32 degrees Celsius while the humidity level at around 84%. To take care of this issue, most universal places while universal transport in Singapore are air-conditioned; as unless you are outdoors you hardly definitely feel the hot temperature.
     Singaporeans high energy about country’s future

    Dr Khanna, any geopolitical strategist who co-wrote the SIIA submit with Mr Fang, said that for Singapore that will be resilient, the country should invest email diversifying its economy internally, once well once its economic and geopolitical relationships externally.


     Singapore Ranks as compared to Least Emotional Country in the World

     

    Most Singaporeans ascribed their hopelessness on their personal financial rang (62%), health (38%) so spouse (35%). Finances so health were also the two factors which often came out on top as key hopelessness drivers across the region.

     

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  • SM Prime Holdings mall business announces recent ISO 22301 certification

    ISO awarded the certificate to SM Prime for establishing and applying a Business Continuity Management program for its SM Supermalls. Likewise, the certification covers the Mall of Asia Arena Annex Building, the headquarters of SM Prime in Pasay as well as SM Megamall, one of SM Prime’s largest malls in the country.

    “This certification assures our stakeholders that the company will be able to respond to, recover from and continue its business after a disruptive event. For our customers, this means assuring their safety first and foremost, even as we provide access to basic necessities even at the onset of the calamity,” SM Prime President Hans T. Sy said.

    The ISO certification meant going through a series of detailed audits which included internal assessments to ensure readiness for certification and an external audit on the company’s Business Continuity Management System.

    “SM Prime is committed to make sure that business continuity is part of our operations especially after a calamity to provide continuous livelihood, not only to our employees, but to the employees also of our tenants, suppliers and all our stakeholders,” Sy added.

    The ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 162 national standard bodies. It brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, concensus-based, market relevant international standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

    The ISO 22301 certification covers the requirements for a robust business continuity management system, which will allow the company to minimise the risk associated with disruptions and to make certain that control is maintained at all times.

    In the last few decades, SM malls have integrated disaster risk reduction into their design and operations amid worsening effects of climate change. Aside from SM Megamall, good examples of these are SM City Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, SM City Marikina, SM City Masinag in Antipolo, Rizal, SM BF Paranaque, SM Angono and SM San Mateo in Rizal, SM Muntinlupa in Alabang, The SM Mall of Asia in Pasay and SM Seaside City in Cebu among others.

     

    Philippines: SM Prime Holdings mall business announces recent ISO 22301 certification

    Shown in the photo are (from left) Richard O. Regalado, Consultant, EIAN Management Consulting; John C. Ong, Chief Finance Officer, SM Prime; Myquel M. Regalado, Adviser, EIAN Management Consulting; Royston A. Cabunag, Assistant Vice President for Operations, Mall of Asia Annex Building; Femelyn Lati, General Manager, TŪV SŪD PSB Philippines; Hans T. Sy, President, SM Prime; Christian V. Mathay, AVP for Operations, SM Megamall; Eunice M. Sotto, AVP for Enterprise Risk Management, SM Prime; Anna Maria S. Garcia, President, Shopping Center Management Corp.; and Egbert T. Lim, Mall Manager, SM Megamall.

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  • China’s JNBY fashion brand debuts store in Pacific Place

    China’s JNBY fashion brand debuts store in Pacific Place

    JNBY, a big Chinese fashion retailer, now has its shingle hanging at Pacific Place mall.

    The brand has more than 700 stores, mostly in China, but some in Europe, Asia and Canada. Its store here is being heralded by SightClassic LLC, the Seattle retailing company that runs the location, as JNBY’s first in the U.S.

    But it’s more complicated than that: The brand had a pop-up store in New York’s SoHo in 2009, which according to media reports, a few months later turned into something more permanent. That experiment failed: It closed after two years, according to retail website Racked.

    Perhaps it’ll fare better in Seattle, where the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted growing economic ties with the Asian superpower.

    SightClassic says it’s JNBY’s “fully authorized distributor” in the U.S., and that it operates an online JNBY store on Amazon. On Thursday, however, the website featured no products for sale.