Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Funday Natural Sweets and Cotton on Kids Partner on Apparel Range

    Funday Natural Sweets and Cotton on Kids Partner on Apparel Range

    Confectionery brand Funday Natural Sweets has partnered with Australian childrenswear retailer Cotton On Kids in September 2026 to launch a limited-edition apparel collection based on its core product range.

    The apparel run is designed for children aged two to 10 years and sells exclusively through the Cotton On website. Graphic designs across the garments replicate four confectionery variants: Strawberry & Cream, Sour Peach Hearts, Sour Cola, and Fruity Koalas.

    Candy Graphics for Digital Shelves

    Cotton On is keeping the release confined to its online channels rather than distributing inventory across its physical store fleet. Digital exclusivity lowers supply chain overhead for short-run collaborative merchandise while testing customer demand before committing floor space in suburban shopping centres.

    For Funday, the partnership puts grocery-aisle branding into everyday childrenswear. Apparel licensing gives fast-moving consumer goods makers repeated household visibility without requiring an increase in trade marketing expenditure inside supermarkets.

    Brand Collaborations in Childrenswear

    Fashion retailers across Asia-Pacific continue to use branded novelty drops to drive direct web traffic. Cross-category partnerships between food brands and apparel chains have expanded rapidly as fast-fashion operators look for distinctive graphic intellectual property that appeals directly to parents buying for young children.

    The operational risk in food-to-fashion licensing sits squarely on inventory velocity. Themed capsule collections lose consumer appeal quickly once seasonal promotional cycles end, making web-only fulfillment a calculated choice to prevent discounted stock overhang in physical stores.

    Licensing Growth in Apparel

    Cotton On has built a steady business model around limited licensing deals across its adult and youth divisions, drawing on entertainment properties, beverage brands, and food labels to refresh basic garment blanks.

    Online performance data from this initial confectionery run will determine whether Cotton On expands the licensed grocery range into retail stores across Australia and its broader Asia-Pacific store network.

  • China’s Meiyijia Opens Two Ohmee Stores at Petrolimex Stations in Hanoi

    China’s Meiyijia Opens Two Ohmee Stores at Petrolimex Stations in Hanoi

    Chinese convenience chain Meiyijia has opened two Ohmee Express stores at Petrolimex petrol stations in Hanoi following its entry into Vietnam in April. The pilot tests a forecourt retail model in the chain’s first overseas market.

    The tie-up links China’s largest convenience operator with Vietnam’s dominant petroleum distributor. Meiyijia runs more than 40,000 stores in its domestic market.

    Pilot Sites on Hanoi Arteries

    Both outlets operate on Ngoc Hoi and Nguyen Quy Duc streets in Hanoi. They stock packaged food, drinks and daily necessities alongside standard fuel station services.

    Petrolimex deputy general director Nguyen Ngoc Tu said the partnership supports plans to convert traditional petrol stations into multi-service commercial hubs. The strategy responds to shifts in vehicle energy use and digital payments.

    Fuel Forecourt Competition in Vietnam

    Forecourt retailing gives convenience operators a direct way to bypass street-level real estate bottlenecks in Southeast Asia. Securing prime roadside retail space in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City carries steep rents and heavy competition from players like Circle K, WinMart+ and GS25. Partnering with a state-backed fuel network gives Meiyijia immediate roadside access and built-in vehicle traffic without negotiating individual retail leases.

    Customer conversion presents the main operational challenge. Petrol buyers in Vietnam make brief refuelling stops on motorbikes. Basket sizes stay modest unless the forecourt store offers quick food service or payment utilities that draw riders off their bikes.

    Cross-Border Expansion from Guangdong

    Meiyijia entered Vietnam in April under the Ohmee banner, selecting the country for its first international expansion. Founded in Guangdong in 1997, the company built its domestic network on a low-cost franchise model. It penetrated lower-tier Chinese cities before expanding into higher-density urban centres.

    Results from the two Hanoi pilot stores will determine whether Meiyijia and Petrolimex roll out the Ohmee Express format across the fuel distributor’s nationwide network of filling stations.

  • China Luxury Label Icicle Hires Former Gucci Head Sabato De Sarno

    China Luxury Label Icicle Hires Former Gucci Head Sabato De Sarno

    China’s Icicle hired former Gucci creative director Sabato De Sarno on Monday to lead its design operations across ready-to-wear, accessories and eyewear.

    His debut collection for the Shanghai-based fashion house will arrive for the autumn/winter 2027-2028 season.

    The Kering connection and design scope

    De Sarno takes direct control of creative direction for both women’s and men’s lines. The Italian designer previously ran design at Gucci, the flagship label of French luxury group Kering.

    The appointment deepens ties between the two businesses. Kering took a minority stake in Icicle in April 2026, giving the Chinese brand financial backing and direct access to European luxury executive networks.

    Chinese brands buying European prestige

    Chinese fashion groups are increasingly hiring established European designers to push their brands upmarket and expand outside mainland China. Icicle built its domestic business on high-end natural fabrics and understated cuts, but matching European heritage houses requires international design pedigree.

    The approach carries clear execution risks. Integrating European creative directors into Chinese corporate structures has produced mixed commercial returns, requiring labels to balance Western aesthetic direction with a core domestic customer base that values different proportions and styling.

    Precedents across the domestic sector

    Down-jacket specialist Bosideng followed the same playbook in 2025 when it hired British designer Kim Jones to lead its luxury line, Areal. French luxury group Hermes took a similar path with Shang Xia, which hired London-based designer Yang Li in 2021.

    Icicle is now preparing its production pipeline and marketing rollout ahead of De Sarno’s first autumn/winter 2027-2028 show.

  • Australian Retail Health Index Drops to Negative 1.07 as Insolvencies Rise

    Australian Retail Health Index Drops to Negative 1.07 as Insolvencies Rise

    Australian retail conditions worsened sharply in the three months ending June 2026, dragging KPMG’s Retail Health Index down to negative 1.07 from negative 0.37 in the previous quarter.

    A steep 11.4 per cent drop in consumer sentiment drove the decline, even as total household spending and producer prices recorded modest gains.

    Pressures on cash flow and demand led to 254 retail insolvencies during the three-month period. Employers pulled back hiring across store networks, cutting job vacancies by 15.3 per cent to leave 26,000 open roles across the country. The index measures spending, sentiment, turnover, pricing and underlying business performance to gauge sector viability.

    Value Hunting Alters Store Economics

    Shoppers across Australia have shifted their habits toward planned, price-sensitive purchases rather than halting expenditure entirely. Foot traffic and checkout totals increasingly concentrate around major promotional windows such as End of Financial Year sales, thinning margins for operators between events.

    For regional retail groups and brand distributors, this concentration creates sharp operational volatility. Inventory holding costs rise between discount periods, while staffing models must flex quickly to handle brief spikes in transaction volume without blowing out payroll costs.

    Digital Channels and Labour Adjustments

    Suppliers face renegotiations on wholesale terms as storefront operators fight to protect gross margins against higher input costs. Landlords in secondary shopping centres risk longer lease negotiations, particularly where specialty fashion and discretionary merchants struggle to sustain standard rent-to-sales ratios.

    The contraction follows a prolonged period of cautious buying that started when higher borrowing costs began constraining disposable income across major metropolitan centres. Earlier quarters had managed to absorb rising operational overheads through modest price adjustments, but consumer pushback against shelf prices has now limited further retail pass-through.

    Promotional Execution Takes Centre Stage

    Relief for the sector depends heavily on whether lower supply chain disruptions and sustained population growth can offset cautious household budgets. Retailers are directing investment into automated personalisation and inventory tracking systems to lift conversion rates ahead of high-volume seasonal trading.

    Merchant performance across the market now hinges on order execution during the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounting calendar.

  • Shinsegae Chairman Joins US-Led AI Supply Chain Push

    Shinsegae Chairman Joins US-Led AI Supply Chain Push

    Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin met senior United States officials in Washington on Thursday, expanding the Korean retail group’s role in a US-led artificial intelligence supply chain initiative.

    The Korean retail giant partnered with US startup Reflection AI in March, and the two companies are currently working to establish a joint venture and select a site for a large-scale AI data center in Korea.

    Washington Backing for Korean Infrastructure

    Chung attended the launch of Foundry School at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace after an invitation from US Vice President JD Vance and the US Department of State. Run jointly by the State Department and Stanford University, the program trains technical talent and entrepreneurs for strategic industrial sectors.

    US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg called the Shinsegae alliance with Reflection AI a template for allied economic security under Washington’s Pax Silica framework. The initiative aligns supply chains across semiconductors, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and power generation among allied nations.

    Attendees included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Corporate leaders present included Meta President Dina Powell McCormick, Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson.

    “Successfully leading an advanced-industry supply chain alliance centered on the US is the task of our time,” Chung said during discussions in Washington.

    From Department Stores to Server Racks

    Shinsegae is pivoting from traditional store networks into digital infrastructure. Department store operators across Asia face margin pressure in physical formats. That pressure is driving conglomerates to seek revenue from digital services, logistics networks and cloud infrastructure.

    Securing backing from Washington gives Shinsegae diplomatic standing and potential hardware access that purely domestic competitors lack. Execution carries risk. Developing and powering high-density data centers requires heavy capital expenditure and massive grid capacity in an already constrained Korean energy market.

    Next Steps for Joint Venture

    Talks in Washington build on an initial agreement signed in March, when Shinsegae and Reflection AI agreed to pursue a dedicated data center project in South Korea. That deal was the first project designated under the State Department framework promoting allied AI expansion.

    Both companies are now finalizing terms for the joint venture entity. They are reviewing prospective sites across South Korea ahead of formal construction filings.

  • Virtue Mirage Launches 17-Tool Fashion Personalisation Platform

    Virtue Mirage Launches 17-Tool Fashion Personalisation Platform

    Australian entrepreneur Lukas Cervenan launched Virtue Mirage in September 2026, introducing a hyper-personalisation platform designed to reshape the online fashion shopping experience.

    The system offers 17 tools that create a digital twin of a shopper using photos or exact measurements, extending personalisation across entire online stores rather than limiting it to individual products.

    By replacing traditional model imagery across every product gallery, the platform allows shoppers to see garments on their real body sizes across participating stores running on services such as Shopify and BigCommerce.

    How the Network Functions

    Shoppers manage their profiles through a central dashboard that stores saved outfits, real-time stock availability, and tailored size advisories for specific garments. A semantic search engine pairs items across a merchant’s inventory directly onto the user’s avatar, rather than displaying isolated product grids. New inventory drops can be pre-rendered for registered customer profiles before users land on the store page.

    To our knowledge, we are the only platform in the world that is transforming entire websites. So a size-16 shopper is never looking at a professional size-6 model; she sees her real size, on her real body, in every image across a brand’s entire store.

    The Return Problem Across Regional Fashion

    Retail margins across Asia-Pacific e-commerce continue to erode under the weight of reverse logistics. Fit failures drive the bulk of fashion returns, worsened by bracket-buying habits where shoppers purchase several sizes of a single item with the intention of returning most of them. Eliminating the disconnect between model proportions and real customer bodies attacks reverse logistics costs at the point of discovery.

    Standalone virtual fitting widgets rarely alter overall conversion because they sit isolated on individual product detail pages. By transforming whole catalogues into personalised galleries, operators attempt to lift checkout completion while defending independent web stores against dominant regional marketplaces like Shein and Zalora. The primary technical hurdle remains rendering fidelity, as artificial intelligence tools frequently struggle with drape and textile weight across edge sizes.

    Decade of Commercial Imaging Preceded Launch

    The platform builds directly on Cervenan’s commercial imaging business, Virtue Creative Studios, which produced e-commerce and campaign photo shoots for more than 500 apparel brands over the past ten years. That production background informed the platform’s visual architecture, which formats store catalogs to allow external AI shopping agents and semantic web scrapers to parse inventory data directly.

    Participating merchants on Shopify and BigCommerce are now integrating the software into their live storefronts ahead of peak year-end trading cycles.

  • Informa Opens Restaurant, Bar & Café 2026 with 400 Brands in Hong Kong

    Informa Opens Restaurant, Bar & Café 2026 with 400 Brands in Hong Kong

    Informa Markets opened the 2026 edition of Restaurant, Bar & Café Hong Kong on September 1. More than 400 commercial brands across 11 countries and regions are taking part. The trade exhibition runs for three days at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Organisers expect to draw over 9,000 commercial buyers, operators and hospitality suppliers.

    Eight commercial sectors are represented, spanning food and beverage, coffee, hospitality equipment, natural products and front-of-house technology. Informa co-located the show with the Retail Asia Conference and Expo. That pairing links traditional foodservice procurement directly to retail automation, point-of-sale software and artificial intelligence systems.

    Equipment Debuts and Dedicated Sourcing Zones

    Exhibitors are using the floor to debut equipment and raw ingredients in Asian commercial channels. Hardware displays include the FSWAAI automated packing and labelling scale, as well as robotic dispensing units from Tao Bin Smart Beverage Machine (HK) Limited. Food suppliers brought premium lines such as Marble King Full Blood Wagyu and Kochi Prefecture chicken from Japan. These items target upscale restaurant buyers looking for differentiated menus.

    Dedicated sourcing zones divide the floor to speed up buyer meetings. The Japan Sake & Spirits Pavilion groups regional distillers and brewers. Nearby, the Eco-Innovation Hub concentrates on biodegradable packaging and certified organic food products. The Specialty Coffee Corner features live demonstrations at a dedicated Brew Bar, connecting green coffee importers with independent café chains.

    Retail Technology and Automation Take the Floor

    Hong Kong restaurant operators face heavy margin pressure from high rents and kitchen staffing shortages. Automation is no longer optional. Dining chains must automate basic prep work, weighing, inventory control and beverage delivery to protect their margins. Suppliers displaying self-service beverage dispensers and automated packaging systems are pitching directly to quick-service operators seeking to trim back-of-house headcount.

    Landlords and food hall operators face equal pressure to refresh tenancies with destination dining concepts. Store layouts increasingly require digital ordering kiosks, automated inventory integration and rapid takeaway counters. The commercial risk falls hardest on small operators. Many face steep capital costs when adopting proprietary smart kitchen tech that takes years to deliver a return.

    Demographic Shifts Drive Sourcing Priorities

    Consumer demographic shifts across East Asia shape this year’s conference programme. Organised with KPMG, the Retail Asia Conference focuses on artificial intelligence adoption and younger consumer engagement. On the final day, the IFSA Food Safety Symposium addresses nutrition and texture formulations tailored specifically to an ageing population.

    Local trade shows are working to rebuild international exhibitor numbers following years of travel disruptions and tighter regional budgets. Earlier editions saw smaller regional turnouts. Drawing 11 exhibiting jurisdictions sets a benchmark for the city’s cross-border hospitality trade recovery.

    Events wrap up on September 3 with the Hong Kong Coffee Challenge finals, the Pairing Sensations Awards and the release of final verified trade buyer attendance figures.

  • Ice Cream and Food Drive 45 Percent Surge in Philippine Convenience Store Sales

    Ice Cream and Food Drive 45 Percent Surge in Philippine Convenience Store Sales

    Philippine convenience store sales jumped 45 percent year on year in January, propelled by heavy consumer spending on food and packaged goods, according to Kantar Worldpanel data.

    Food purchases accounted for 59.3 percent of all fast-moving consumer goods transactions across the format, up from 58.8 percent in the previous year.

    Ice cream retained the top spot among individual product categories, followed by milk, packaged snacks, and alcoholic beverages. Beverages accounted for 23.8 percent of overall basket value, dipping from 25.6 percent in 2014. Personal care items captured 13.5 percent of sales, marking the largest category share expansion with a 2.2 percentage point gain. Household care products took a 4.3 percent share, up from 3.5 percent.

    Shifting Baskets and Fast Growth

    Consumer baskets also showed new priorities during the tracking period. Diapers, bottled water, and fabric cleaners entered the top ten bestselling categories by sales value, while coffee and hair care products dropped out of the list. Diapers climbed straight into fifth place, sitting just behind alcoholic beverages and ahead of biscuits, soft drinks, bottled water, fabric cleaners, and fruit juice.

    The convenience channel outpaced every competing modern trade format in the country over the 12-month period. Convenience store sales growth reached 45 percent, compared with 31 percent for direct sales and 11 percent for drugstores.

    Regional Shopper Divergence

    Household penetration widened alongside value growth. Kantar tracked 3,000 urban and rural households and found that 18.5 percent bought goods from convenience stores, up from 16.1 percent a year earlier. That shift brought an estimated 566,991 new families into 24-hour retail chains such as 7-Eleven, Ministop, and FamilyMart.

    Shopper behaviour varies sharply by geography. The National Capital Region accounts for the highest shopper volume, with 34 percent of homes using convenience stores, but residents there visit only five times a year on average. Mindanao holds fewer total convenience shoppers, yet those households visit nine times annually, making them the most frequent spenders in the country.

    Format Expansion Pressures

    Operators face higher inventory management demands as convenience stores shift from late-night snack stops into daily grocery replenishment hubs. Stocking bulky items like diapers and laundry detergents requires tighter shelf space allocation in stores that average only one to two checkout counters. Chains that fail to optimize their stock mix risk losing margin to traditional sari-sari neighbourhood stores that hold lower overheads.

    Philippine operators are matching this shift by accelerating store expansion beyond Metro Manila into secondary cities in South Luzon and Mindanao. Kantar new business development head Lourdes Deocareza attributed the channel expansion to faster consumer lifestyle routines across urban centers.

    Store counts across the major three chains continue to rise toward regional footprint targets, with full-year channel penetration and repeat trip frequency serving as the key benchmarks to watch.

  • Eddie Ong Raises Hextar Retail Stake to 35.42%, Triggering Mandatory Offer

    Eddie Ong Raises Hextar Retail Stake to 35.42%, Triggering Mandatory Offer

    Hextar Retail Bhd major shareholder Datuk Eddie Ong Choo Meng has triggered a mandatory takeover offer for the company after his investment vehicle, Hextar Portfolio Sdn Bhd, raised its stake to 35.42 per cent.

    Hextar Portfolio acquired 22.41 million shares at prices not exceeding the cash offer price of 43 sen per share, increasing the collective stake held with Ong to 164.7 million shares from 142.29 million shares on Sept 1.

    Crossing the 33 per cent threshold requires Ong and parties acting in concert with him to make a mandatory offer for all remaining shares, following a conditional voluntary takeover offer announced on Aug 10.

    Crossing the mandatory threshold

    Filings from principal adviser RHB Investment Bank show the group held 30.6 per cent, or 142.29 million shares, on Sept 1. By 5pm on the transaction date, the offerors also secured valid acceptances for 0.15 per cent of the company, with another 0.08 per cent under verification. That brought their confirmed stake to 35.57 per cent.

    Hextar Portfolio confirmed the offer price will stay at 43 sen. Neither the offeror nor concert parties bought shares above that price during the reference period, exempting them from an upward price revision under Malaysian takeover rules.

    Expansion beyond picture frames

    Tighter control lets the sponsor group speed up capital reallocation inside an operating business that has shifted far from its roots. For minority investors, the cash offer sets a firm price floor.

    Heavy ownership concentration also centralises supply chain decisions between manufacturing and consumer-facing units. Controlling shareholders can route procurement internally through existing logistics, chemical inputs and retail channels, though public investors remain exposed to governance and allocation risks across disparate divisions.

    What happens next on Bursa Malaysia

    Hextar Retail started as Classic Scenic, a wooden picture frame moulding manufacturer running nine production facilities across Rawang in Selangor and Bidor in Perak. The business later diversified into food and beverage operations and apparel retailing, taking the Hextar name to align with Ong’s wider corporate stable.

    The offerors plan to maintain Hextar Retail’s listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. They will not take the company private if the required public shareholding spread stays intact.

    Independent advisers will dispatch the formal offer document detailing closing dates, verification tallies for the pending 0.08 per cent stake, and the final deadline for shareholder acceptances.

  • Zara Opens 2,100-Square-Metre Flagship Store in Seoul’s Gangnam District

    Zara Opens 2,100-Square-Metre Flagship Store in Seoul’s Gangnam District

    Zara opened a flagship store spanning more than 2,100 square metres in Seoul’s Gangnam district on September 8. The three-storey space is part of the retailer’s push into larger, experience-driven flagships across key Asian commercial hubs.

    Designed by Zara’s Architecture Studio, the interior uses stone, wood, concrete, and metal finishes to segment product categories across three levels. Womenswear and youth collections occupy the ground floor. The second floor carries an expanded women’s range, plus dedicated footwear and handbag sections. Menswear lines sit on the third floor, including Zara Origins, Athleticz, and limited collaboration releases.

    Floor Layout and In-Store Cafe

    The Gangnam store incorporates a Zacaffe outpost with an outdoor terrace and a book collection focused on Korean authors. It also houses a site-specific art installation titled Imugi, created with Seoul-based creative studio Our Labour. The artwork spans all three floors. It draws on Korean folklore, traditional timber construction, and dancheong decorative painting.

    Digital retail functions are embedded across the sales floor. Shoppers can check real-time store inventory through the Zara mobile app. They can also pick up online orders at dedicated counters and process refunds at automated return terminals alongside assisted checkout lanes.

    Store Rationalisation and Format Upgrades

    Across prime Asian shopping corridors, global apparel brands are trading smaller mall units for high-visibility, multi-category flagships. By bundling hospitality, local art, and specialized collections into destination spaces, operators aim to drive physical footfall against domestic e-commerce platforms. Seoul high street landlords face rising demand for experiential tenants who can draw sustained weekend crowds.

    This format brings operational complexity. Running in-store cafes and custom art installations alongside fast inventory cycles demands higher operating expenditure than standard retail units. It also requires tighter inventory turn rates. Fast-fashion retailers must balance these interior costs against strict store-level margin targets.

    Expansion Across East Asian Flagship Hubs

    The Seoul opening follows the June debut of Zara’s flagship on Huaihai Road in Shanghai, which introduced the brand’s updated global format to mainland China. Both openings show the company’s focus on prime retail corridors across North Asia rather than secondary market expansion.

    Attention now turns to how Inditex manages its remaining South Korean store fleet as leases expire. Industry watchers are also tracking whether the group brings the Zacaffe concept to other major metropolitan locations across the region.

  • GetUp Targets Hundreds of Coles Stores over Palantir AI Deal

    GetUp Targets Hundreds of Coles Stores over Palantir AI Deal

    Community advocacy group GetUp targeted hundreds of Coles stores across Australia with spoof digital billboards, challenging the supermarket operator over its enterprise partnership with US analytics vendor Palantir. The advertisements ran outside store entrances in July, mimicking the retailer’s signature red and white branding with the slogan: “Here at Coles, we’re always watching you.”

    The pushback followed Coles deploying software from the controversial US technology company to sharpen artificial intelligence and operational efficiency across its supermarket network. While the digital billboards were taken down quickly, the campaign triggered public debate over how large grocery chains handle customer data and explain tracking tools to shoppers.

    Public Scrutiny Over Store Analytics

    Supermarket operators across the Asia-Pacific region have accelerated investments in predictive analytics, automated inventory forecasting, and computer vision systems. Enterprise partnerships with overseas defence and intelligence contractors carry brand risks that standard retail IT upgrades do not. Consumer groups increasingly scrutinise the boundary between back-end supply chain optimisation and customer-facing surveillance.

    For grocery chains operating in concentrated retail markets, transparency around data architecture has become an operational necessity rather than an investor relations footnote. When retailers fail to define where data processing stops, third-party advocacy groups easily fill the information vacuum with negative messaging right at the store entrance.

    Retail AI Strategy Under Pressure

    The dispute reflects broader friction across Australian retail as grocers test advanced algorithmic tools to cut shrink and streamline operations. Coles had framed its AI rollout as an efficiency play, intended to modernise store workflows and stock management across its national footprint. Linking store-level operations to specialised analytics vendors has instead tested customer goodwill at a time of heightened consumer sensitivity around commercial data collection.

    Grocers managing similar automation rollouts across regional markets now face tighter questions regarding data sovereignty, third-party software governance, and in-store customer communications. Retailers will need to clarify operational boundaries as advocacy campaigns continue tracking corporate technology procurements.

  • Alipay+ Links to QR Ph to Connect 2.5 Million Philippine Merchants to Global Wallets

    Alipay+ Links to QR Ph to Connect 2.5 Million Philippine Merchants to Global Wallets

    Philippine Payments Management Inc. And Ant International have integrated Alipay+ into QR Ph, opening the country’s standardized merchant network to international digital wallet users across 2.5 million businesses.

    The integration connects arriving tourists directly to local point-of-sale systems after QR Ph transaction volumes jumped more than thirteenfold in 2025.

    Under the rollout, overseas visitors pay by scanning existing merchant QR Ph counter stands with their home banking applications and digital wallets. Filipino merchants receive payments in Philippine pesos through their standard settlement accounts without installing separate point-of-sale hardware or signing individual foreign merchant contracts. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas figures show digital channels handled 64.69 percent of total retail transaction volume nationwide in 2025.

    How the Cross-Border Routing Works

    Ant International operates Alipay+ as an aggregation switch connecting more than 50 e-wallets, bank apps, and domestic clearing systems covering two billion accounts globally. The Philippine Payments Management Inc., established under the National Payment Systems Act to oversee retail clearing houses PESONet and InstaPay, acts as the local operational counterparty under central bank supervision.

    Transactions clear instantly over the domestic interbank infrastructure. By routing foreign user credentials through the standardized QR Ph matrix, independent grocers, transport operators, and shopping mall tenants process foreign spend through their existing merchant acquiring banks.

    Through our partnership with Alipay+, we are extending that connectivity beyond our borders, enabling Filipino merchants, particularly SMEs, to serve international customers.

    Carmelita Araneta, general manager of Philippine Payments Management Inc., confirmed the system enables local micro, small, and medium businesses to capture inbound tourist spending directly without upgrading terminal hardware.

    Regional QR Linkages Across Southeast Asia

    Central banks across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations spent five years connecting national QR systems through bilateral central bank arrangements, including links between Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Ant International has taken a parallel commercial route by plugging its private wallet switch directly into ten national QR schemes across Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

    Retailers benefit immediately from broader payment acceptance, yet the shift consolidates settlement traffic onto private gateway protocols rather than public central-bank settlement rails. For merchant acquirers and payment processors in Manila, merchant acquisition margins face pressure as payment routing shifts toward high-volume, low-margin standard QR processing.

    Central Bank Mandates and the Next Phase

    The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas designated PPMI as the country’s official payment system management body under Circular 980 in 2018, mandating standardized QR codes to eliminate proprietary closed-loop merchant terminals. That policy push cleared the ground for interoperability between competing domestic mobile wallets before enabling cross-border integrations.

    Ant International is now rolling out artificial intelligence analytics and fraud screening modules across its regional merchant network to manage currency conversion risks and transaction disputes. The Philippine clearing body will monitor cross-border settlement volumes through InstaPay as inbound tourist arrivals ramp up across provincial retail corridors.

  • Hisense Extends UEFA Partnership Through 2028 European Championship

    Hisense Extends UEFA Partnership Through 2028 European Championship

    Hisense extended its sports sponsorship portfolio on September 3, 2026, signing on as an official partner for the UEFA EURO 2028 tournament.

    The agreement secures the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer its fourth consecutive European championship contract since its tournament debut in 2016.

    Announced during the IFA consumer technology trade show in Berlin, the agreement retains Hisense as UEFA’s dedicated display technology partner. The Chinese appliance maker has integrated display hardware across match operations and fan venues while operating marketing zones at European and global football events.

    Expanding Global Screen Presence

    Chinese television manufacturers continue to channel marketing budgets into high-profile athletic tournaments to dislodge South Korean and Japanese incumbents across Western retail channels. Hisense, which took the top global market share position in television sets sized 100 inches and above between 2023 and the first quarter of 2026 according to Omdia data, relies heavily on large-format sports broadcasts to move premium RGB MiniLED sets.

    Rival panel manufacturers TCL and Skyworth deploy similar sporting playbooks across basketball and regional leagues, but Hisense holds the most extensive European football footprint among Asian consumer electronics brands. The commercial payoff rests entirely on whether Western consumer demand for premium home theatre setups offsets the escalating rights fees charged by international sports federations.

    Sponsorship Track Record

    The company became the first Chinese brand to sponsor the UEFA EURO tournament during the 2016 event in France, subsequently renewing for the 2020 and 2024 competitions. Outside European continental football, Hisense backed the FIFA World Cup tournaments in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

    As the first Chinese sponsor of the UEFA EURO, over the past decade we have grown beyond pure brand sponsorship to become UEFA’s dedicated display technology partner, progressing hand-in-hand.Catherine Fang, Vice President of Hisense Group and President of Hisense Global Commercial Center

    Football investments sit at the core of the group’s overseas expansion strategy, which now reaches retail channels across more than 180 countries. UEFA reinvests 97.5 per cent of its total commercial revenue back into football development, providing top-tier brand partners with year-round visibility across 55 national member associations.

    Hardware Deliveries for 2026

    Commercial execution now shifts to the FIFA World Cup 2026, where Hisense serves as an official sponsor ahead of the 2028 European tournament. Retail inventory planning across European retail chains for the company’s next-generation RGB MiniLED lineup begins in early 2027.

  • Beauty Sector Vegetable Oils Market to Reach $7.72 Billion by 2031

    Beauty Sector Vegetable Oils Market to Reach $7.72 Billion by 2031

    Personal care formulators will push global spending on cosmetic vegetable oils from US$5.84 billion this year to $7.72 billion by 2031, research from MarketsandMarkets shows.

    Asia-Pacific demand for plant-based ingredients is driving the bulk of that expansion as regional beauty brands overhaul skincare and haircare recipes.

    Coconut oil leads ingredient demand

    Coconut oil will retain the largest individual volume share throughout the forecast period, supported by heavy use in commercial haircare and barrier creams across Asian markets. Conventional oils remain dominant despite the push for specialized extracts, capturing 76.4 percent of total market value this year.

    Clean-label reformulations are forcing raw material buyers to secure traceable supply chains. Consumer goods manufacturers across Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia are replacing synthetic emollients with plant derivatives to meet export standards in Western markets and satisfy domestic consumer scrutiny.

    Supply pressures shift procurement

    For regional manufacturers, the shift changes cost profiles in core product lines. Palm, coconut, and seed oil derivatives carry agricultural price volatility that chemical feedstocks avoid, squeezing operating margins when harvest yields drop in major producing hubs like Indonesia and the Philippines.

    Retail buyers in Asia are tightening shelf requirements, penalizing brands that cannot substantiate sustainable sourcing claims on product packaging. Mass-market brands that rely on low-cost conventional oils must balance ingredient certification costs against price-sensitive consumer baskets in developing markets.

    Category targets through 2031

    Formulation trends over the past five years laid the groundwork for this transition, as major beauty conglomerates divested petroleum-heavy bases in favor of botanical alternatives. That initial switch in prestige skincare has now moved down into mass personal care and supermarket private labels.

    Procurement teams now look toward the 2031 horizon, when cosmetic vegetable oil purchases will absorb nearly $1.9 billion in additional annual spending.

  • Jollibee to List 7,251-Store International Unit in Hong Kong

    Jollibee to List 7,251-Store International Unit in Hong Kong

    Jollibee Foods Corporation is preparing to separate and list its international business in Hong Kong instead of the United States, carving out an overseas network of 7,251 restaurants across 33 countries.

    Shares in the Manila-listed parent rose 1.87 per cent following the move, which replaces a plan announced on January 6 to float the international arm on an American exchange.

    Richard Chong Woo Shin, currently chief executive of Jollibee Foods Corporation International (JFCI), will lead the standalone entity full-time once the separation concludes. Shin previously held senior roles at William Grant & Sons, Ralph Lauren, Bacardi and Altria. Jollibee Foods Corporation said the international business will operate with a lean corporate structure focused on capital allocation, investment opportunities and portfolio priorities, subject to listing committee approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange.

    Portfolio Tilt Toward Asian Beverages

    JFCI functions largely as a multi-brand operator with heavy exposure to Asian beverage chains. The international business holds full ownership of Smashburger, Tim Ho Wan, Yonghe King and Hong Zhuang Yuan, alongside controlling stakes of 80 per cent in The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 70 per cent in South Korea’s Compose Coffee, 60 per cent in Highlands Coffee operator SuperFoods Group and 51 per cent in Milksha.

    Jollibee Foods Corporation ended June with 10,767 outlets worldwide under 19 brands, with overseas locations accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the total network. International system-wide sales climbed 25.4 per cent in the second quarter, while overseas same-store sales rose 4.4 per cent.

    Regional momentum is heavily concentrated in Asian markets. In Vietnam, system-wide sales jumped 47.6 per cent in the second quarter on same-store sales growth of 17.9 per cent. South Korea’s Compose Coffee added 145 stores during the first half, opening roughly 30 outlets a month. In China, Yonghe King reached 537 restaurants, with 65 per cent operating under franchise agreements and a target to reach 70 per cent by the end of the year.

    Shifting Away From Capital-Heavy Expansion

    Listing in Hong Kong aligns JFCI’s capital structure with where its physical earnings actually compound. While the flagship Jollibee fried chicken brand commands strong name recognition in Western markets, its North American presence remains tiny and capital-intensive compared to its Asian coffee and fast-casual footprint. The group ended June with 340 North American outlets, down from 357 a year earlier. Of those, the Jollibee banner ran 108 stores, including 106 company-owned sites and just two franchised locations.

    That balance sheet model is changing slowly. Jollibee launched its US franchising programme in March 2025 and secured seven multi-unit development groups by July, aiming for 330 franchised American locations by 2030. In the second quarter, US Jollibee stores posted a 9.8 per cent gain in same-store sales, marking 66 consecutive months of growth. Smashburger increased same-store sales by 7 per cent, though its store count fell from 203 to 180 as underperforming units were shuttered.

    Since the announcement on January 6, 2026 to list our international business, we have been doing the detailed work required to establish two strong, independent companies. That work has reinforced our conviction in the listing and has led us to conclude that Hong Kong is the market best aligned with JFCI’s business, geographic footprint, and long-term ambitions.

    The Path to Hong Kong Trading

    The pivot to Hong Kong coincides with a sharp rebound in the city’s equity fundraising. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chief executive Bonnie Chan stated that new listings in 2026 had raised more than US$40 billion, surpassing the roughly US$37 billion collected during all of 2025. Hong Kong has actively courted Southeast Asian consumer groups, with more than 150 regional issuers already listed, representing over US$4.3 billion in capital raised.

    Group president and chief executive Ernesto Tanmantiong has set a target to position the flagship Jollibee brand among the top five restaurant operators globally, up from its current 18th position on Brand Finance’s global ranking with a valuation of US$3.3 billion.

    Before JFCI begins trading in Hong Kong, Jollibee must resolve the composition of its portfolio assets. The parent group is currently evaluating a separate initial public offering in Vietnam for Highlands Coffee, which has grown from 56 outlets in 2012 to approximately 1,000 stores, with a target listing date in the first quarter of 2027 that could raise up to US$400 million.