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Category: E-Tailing

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest E-Commerce & Etail news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • East Ventures invests in Indonesian delivery venture Popbox

    East Ventures invests in Indonesian delivery venture Popbox

    Southeast Asian VC firm East Ventures has made an undisclosed seed investment in Jakarta-based PopBox, an Indonesian startup that produces automated parcel lockers for ‘last mile‘ e-commerce deliveries and is founded by Adrian Lim and Greta Bunawan.

    The capital from the seed round is expected to finance expansion of its locker network in Indonesia and the addition of more more product features. ‘Last mile’ delivery is a term used in logistics to describe the delivery of items to consumers, via transport from a hub to a final destination.

    With the growth in e-commerce activities in ASEAN markets, the last leg of delivery, where it ends up at the consumer’s home or business, has become challenging, since most consumers are away from home when deliveries are made.

    The rise of unattended deliveries has become a significant issue among delivery companies like UPS, FedEx and DHL, with solutions like drone delivery being evaluated in China by Alibaba Group.

    PopBox’s solution is a clone of Amazon Locker, with a physical locker for packages to land in after last mile delivery. The locker provides a self-service delivery location to pick up and return packages.

    “We took the ‘home’ out of ‘home delivery’ in order to make it even more convenient for customers and merchants alike. By placing artistically-designed PopBox lockers at popular locations throughout Jakarta, customers get to pick up their delivery faster and at lower cost compared to having it delivered to their home, when they may not be around to receive it”, Lim said in a statement to Singapore-based startup community platform Tech in Asia.

    Given the specific challenges faced by customers in ranging for deliveries, with courier services mostly making delivery rounds in batches, customers often need to wait for a parcel to arrive and sign for it.

    A lack of receipt will result in the courier returning the package to the post office, where retrieval can prove frustrating to customers.

    Combined with delivery challenges caused by Jakarta traffic and the inefficiencies faced in negotiating security checkpoints and dealing with rejected parcels, PopBox aims to provide a solution rendering the delivery process more efficient for both merchants and customers.

    PopBox works by having shoppers select PopBox as a pickup option via a partnered site where shoppers have purchased their wares. On confirmation, a code will be sent to the shopper’s phone, which can then be scanned at a PopBox terminal to access the package. PopBox has stated that it has already established several partnerships with e-commerce retailers but has not publicly named them.

    Revenue is generated from charging customers subscription fees and per use fees, which vary with the volume transacted. Income is also generated from revenue sharing with courier companies.

    Lim’s outlook on the prospects for PopBox are highly optimistic. He said, “With a bit of luck, and once we reach our full rollout potential, our revenue should be in the range of tens of millions US dollars per annum.”

    PopBox lockers are currently located at key points within Jakarta: Baywalk Mall, Grand Slipi Tower, Kalibata City Square and East Ventures Hive. They are open 24/7, according to official statements from PopBox.

    On a regional basis, PopBox is expected to directly compete with the PopStation service offered bySingPost, which is engaged in the same service as PopBox but has no presence in Indonesia at present.

    Commenting on the investment, Willson Cuaca, managing partner of East Ventures, said, “We believe this is a segment that is currently still underinvested and the timing is right for PopBox to be added to Indonesia’s ecommerce ecosystem.”

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  • Bookmate expands to Indonesia, partners with Indosat

    Bookmate expands to Indonesia, partners with Indosat

    Social e-reading subscription platform Bookmate has expanded into Indonesia, partnering with telecommunications network Indosat to bring mobile reading to Indonesian customers.

    The companies aim to launch a mass market mobile reading service under the brand Bookmate-Cipika Books.

    Ahead of the launch, Bookmate has signed deals with “leading” Indonesian publishers to bring 4,000 titles in Bahasa in addition to its library of 250,000 English language titles.

    Managing director of Bookmate, Andrew Baev, said the company’s strategy was to focus on “high-growth, under served markets”.

    He said: “The global book publishing industry is worth $120 billion, about eight times the size of the music industry, and we are seeing an accelerating transition to digital and mobile. Our strategy is to focus on high growth, under-served markets where readers are jumping the gap directly from paper to mobile reading. Indonesia is right in our sweet spot for offering our mix of fun, social and on-the-go reading.”

    He added: “Smartphone penetration and mobile services growth are booming in Indonesia and we see this as a huge opportunity to build the market leader in mobile reading together with Indosat, Indonesia’s most progressive mobile operator.”

    Carlos Caro Caro, division head of digital commerce at Indosat, said: “Indonesians are keen consumers of all types of media via their mobile phones and we are excited to be able to offer them an innovative mobile reading solution with our partner Bookmate.”

    The expansion comes after Bookmate’s first launch in the Asia Pacific market last year with StarHub, Singapore’s fully integrated info-communications provider. The Asian e-book market is forecasted to reach $2.2 billion by the end of 2016, the company said, so Bookmate believes Indonesia is an ideal place to introduce its mobile reading service.

    Bookmate is a subscription-based social reading service that makes reading accessible to anyone in the world with a mobile phone. They have over 2.5 million active users and over 500,000 titles in eleven languages.

    Indosat is the second largest cellular operator in the country with more than 55 million subscribers.

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  • Jumei sales double

    Jumei sales double

    Jumei, the Chinese online retailer, says its sales rose 99.5 per cent in the second quarter to June 30.

    The e-tailer achieved net revenues of US$308.1 million and its GMV rose by 30 per cent to $376 million as its customer base grew 28 per cent and orders by 58.2 per cent.

    But its gross profit as a percentage of net revenues decreased to 30 per cent from 46.3 per cent in the same period of 2014 reflecting the company’s shift in strategy from beauty product marketplace sales to general merchandise sales that started last September – along with promotional activities associated with baby and maternity products.

    Leo Chen, Jumei’s founder and CEO, said the company was “thrilled” with its quarter.

    “This very strong growth was driven by Jumei Global during what is typically a seasonally light quarter. We continue to strengthen our position as a leading import cross-border eCommerce platform in China – a milestone we achieved last quarter. We are pleased to see both active customers and number of orders grow rapidly while maintaining a high repeat purchase rate.”

    Chen said since transitioning into cross-border eCommerce during the third quarter of 2014, the frequency of customer purchases has grown significantly, increasing 34 per cent from the third quarter of 2014 to the second quarter of 2015, due primarily to Jumei’s diverse global product offerings and expansion into other women’s categories such as baby and maternity and health and wellness.

    “We are confident that our continued investment in category expansion will enhance the customer experience, increase user stickiness and strengthen loyalty to our platform,” said Chen.

    “We recently announced a strategic investment in BabyTree, the largest online parenting community in China and the largest globally as ranked by traffic volume, with daily active users (“DAU”) exceeding 10 million. By integrating Jumei’s supply chain and logistics expertise in cross border ecommerce with BabyTree’s large and growing user base, we believe we will be able to leverage the significant cross-selling opportunities across all Jumei categories to become the dominant female-focused ecommerce platform in China.”

  • Rakuten launches express delivery

    Rakuten launches express delivery

    Japan’s leading eCommerce portal Rakuten has launched Rakubin – a new rapid delivery service which promises goods in as little as 20 minutes – 2 hours a day.

    The new service has made its debut in the Tokyo suburbs of Shibuya, Setagaya, Minato and Meguro. It applies to a limited range of 450 items – largely convenience or drug-store core lines, such as noodles, cafe products, confectionery and coffee; detergent, toilet paper and diapers.

    In the Rakubin app, users can check the estimated time of delivery before placing their order.

    After the order has been completed, a delivery interval of 15 minutes will be displayed, allowing users to effectively make use of the time before the arrival of the order. The delivery cost for one order is 390 yen (including tax) when users receive the goods beside the delivery vehicle at the specified location, and 770 yen (including tax) when the goods are delivered directly to users by a member of the delivery staff.

    Fulfilment is undertaken by a fleet of delivery vans which carry stock of the items and circle the areas, awaiting despatch to delivery addresses.

    Rakuten says it will expand the service to include a longer list of products, and a broader geographical area once the concept is bedded down and refined.

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  • Wal-Mart says heavy e-commerce investments put a crimp on earnings

    Wal-Mart says heavy e-commerce investments put a crimp on earnings

    The retailer’s global online sales increased 16% in Q2, excluding the impact of the stronger U.S. dollar.

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says its heavy investment in e-commerce infrastructure is paying off, with online sales growing by double-digit percentages, but that it hit a rough patch in international online sales and that the spending is weighing on its earnings.

    The retail giant, No. 3 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, said Tuesday its global online sales, excluding the impact of the strengthening dollar, grew 16% in the second quarter. But investments in e-commerce are estimated to lower full-year earnings per share by between 6 cents and 9 cents, company officials said. With 3.23 billion shares outstanding, that suggests Wal-Mart will spend between $190 million and $295 million on e-commerce this year.

    “The highlight was solid growth in the Walmart.com and SamsClub.com U.S. businesses, while international was soft, due to economic challenges in several of our key markets,” chief financial officer Charles Holley said on the company’s earnings call. The international results led Wal-Mart to revise its e-commerce sales growth forecast for 2105 to the mid to high teens from the previous mid-20s range.

    Wal-Mart also said its e-commerce investments, meant to vie with Amazon.com and other online retailers, are vital given the competitive environment.

    “We’re pleased that the investments we’ve made are helping to improve our business,” CEO Doug McMillon told analysts during the company’s earnings conference call, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “Even if it’s not as fast as we would like, the fundamentals of serving our customers are consistently improving. In this case, our desired changes require investments, which are pressuring earnings this year.”

    Also in the quarter, the retailer opened two automated online fulfillment centers in the U.S., each bigger than 20 football fields, and two more are coming this quarter, said Holley. The centers will serve customers this holiday season and serve as the cornerstones of Wal-Mart’s fulfillment network, he says.

    On the call, Wal-Mart executives discussed its deal, announced last month, to acquire the remaining 49% it did not already own in Yihaodian, a Chinese online grocery retailer that’s been expanding into other categories and is No. 7 in the Internet Retailer 2015 China 500 Guide. Wal-Mart spent $760 million in the quarter to acquire the remaining 49% of Yihaodian, the online retail site in China with 100 million registered users.

    “Our primary goal is to continue to accelerate Yihaodian’s core e-commerce business and maintain strong local Chinese expertise,” Neil Ashe, CEO of Wal-Mart Global e-Commerce, told analysts. “Now that we are the sole owners, we will be expanding our leadership team from within the Yihaodian business, from within Wal-Mart and from the e-commerce industry in China. We will also leverage Walmart’s global reach and scale to better benefit Yihaodian, including global sourcing. China is an exciting, dynamic, large and competitive market. We are excited about our long-term opportunity in China.”

    For the quarter ended July 31, Wal-Mart reported:

    • Net sales of $120.229 billion, relatively flat from $120.125 billion.
    • Wal-Mart did not report online sales but said e-commerce sales increased 16% globally when adjusting for the strengthening dollar, which is reducing the dollar value of sales outside the United States. The total value of purchases on Wal-Mart’s e-commerce sites in 11 countries increased 18% on a constant-currency basis. That includes sales by outside merchants selling on Walmart.com and other sites that offer goods from other retailers.
    • Net income of $3.475 billion, down 15.1% from $4.093 billion in the same period in 2014
    • A decline in operating income in the retailer’s three primary divisions. At Wal-Mart U.S. it was $4.819 billion, down 8.2%; at Wal-Mart International it was $1.277 billion, down 14.2%; and at Sam’s Club it was $428 million, down 13.4%.
  • Teabox has the World’s first tea subscription service

    Teabox has the World’s first tea subscription service

    Indian online tea retailer Teabox the global eCommerce tea company, has launched the world’s first ‘Personalized Tea Subscription Service’.

    The program is powered by Teabox’s patent-pending ‘machine-learning technology’ that it says personalises and matches every individual’s tastes to a selection of teas.

    The Teabox subscription program allows tea drinkers to choose the kinds of tea they would enjoy by breaking down their ‘perfect cup’ into 75 different attributes, such as aroma, astringency,

    strength and body, into objective components which are matched to user preferences, habits and taste characteristics.

    When consumers sign up to the plan, Teabox has them take a quick five-question quiz online, the results of which are analysed by Teabox’s ‘prediction engine’ software.

    “Each user is assigned a ‘signature’ tea based on their responses. The machine ­learning algorithms look for patterns to identify a selection of teas best suited to go with this signature profile,” the company says.

    “And as the users repeat and share their experiences with our prediction engine, it improves its discerning capabilities thereby improving its understanding of a user’s choices and matches our teas to them better. This feedback loop enables a reinforced learning behavior of the system allowing it to fine tune itself to specific taste profiles as we go further,” said Teabox founder and CEO, Kaushal Dugar.

    “When it comes to taste preferences, there are no universals. One’s taste preferences are unique and theirs alone,” he said. “But the descriptions of teas, like wines, can be subjective. We understand this, and that’s why our prediction engine has been developed to break down subjective words like “floral,” “sweet” and “astringent” into over 75 quantifiable attributes.

    “This, coupled with the habits and preferences of our customers enables us to pick out teas perfectly suited to their palate – making our subscription program the most personalised tea experience out there.”

    Teabox ships a package of tea based on the user’s habits and preferences each month. The teas come from the company’s broad selection of tea gardens and suppliers and the company promises fresh teas.

    Teas are delivered within five days of ordering and subscription packages are priced from US$9.99 to $39.99 a month.

    Founded in 2012, Teabox sources fresh teas from 200 growers in Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri to the entire world. In two years, Teabox has delivered over 30 million cups’ worth of tea to customers in 80 countries.

    The company is backed by Jafco Asia, Accel Partners, Keystone Group and Dragonee Investment Group.

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  • Malaysian online shopping habits evolve

    Malaysian online shopping habits evolve

    More men are shopping online in Malaysia than ever before. And nearly half of the nation’s online shoppers are doing so on mobile devices.

    Those are two of the key findings of online marketplace 11street’s Online Shopping Index for 2015.

    The split between men and women in the nation’s online shopping community is now 48:52, according to the study based on the four week  Ramadhan and Raya period from June 22 to July 19.

    11street said gross merchandise value (GMV) more than doubled during the Ramadhan and Raya period and in just a few months, 11street has achieved various milestones including a rank of 40 on Alexa

    Hoseok Kim, 11street CEO, says Malaysia is one of the top leading countries in the world when it comes to smartphone Internet access with the number of connected devices per person used by Malaysians which stood at 1.2 devices.

    “As online shopping becomes part of the Malaysian lifestyle, smartphones will play a vital role in enabling shoppers to grab good products and offers online at anytime, anywhere,” said Kim.

    The 11street Online Shopping Index shows that contrary to the popular belief that fashion and electronics are the most sought after categories, Malaysians shop in diverse categories including health & beauty, kids & baby, home & living, grocery, services such as e-vouchers and more. Also, popular items that customers mostly searched during Ramadhan include baby car seats, Tupperware, Bluetooth earphones, and skincare.

    The index found that customers bought from either two or more product categories within a single transaction and that is expected to increase over the next few years.

    By gender, women mostly purchased mobile, tablets, beauty, health and personal products as well as baby and kids items. Men shopped for electronics, sports and leisure items – and kids & baby, especially gear such as baby car seats.

    11street currently carries more than 700,000 products making it one of the largest online marketplaces in Malaysia.

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  • RedMart Singapore raises $26.7m

    RedMart Singapore raises $26.7m

    Singapore online grocer RedMart has raised more capital and appointed a former Amazon executive to drive regional expansion.

    RedMart Singapore has previously indicated an interest in expanding into Vietnam, Thailand, Manila, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan – but it has not disclosed which markets it sees as a priority with its newly secured funds.

    RedMart has secured US$26.7 million in a round of funding tapping existing shareholders Garena, Softbank Ventures Korea, Visionnaire Ventures and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. It has also attracted a new investor – Far East Ventures, part of Singapore property developer Far East Organization which is diversifying its investment portfolio eyeing startups and tech ventures.

    The funds will be used to expand into regional markets outside Singapore, a move to be led by new recruit Colin Bryar, a former VP of US eCommerce giant Amazon.

    RedMart Singapore increased sales to US$9.43 million in 2014, but massive investment in infrastructure saw its losses balloon to $29.4 million – a not uncommon scenario of eCommerce startups.

    Bryan will oversee engineering, marketing and operations, taken over from co-founder Vikram Rupani, who takes on the title of President of RedMart.

  • Lotte.com launches China app

    Lotte.com launches China app

    South Korea’s Lotte.com has launched a Chinese mobile shopping mall service known as ‘china.lotte.com’ to meet demands of consumers chasing the ‘Korean Wave’.

    Growing numbers of Chinese are buying goods online from offshore sources – a practice referred to as ‘Haitao’ locally. And Korean goods – especially in the beauty and fashion categories – are enormously popular among the younger demographic.

    China.lotte.com, launched Wednesday (August 19) is’ exclusively focused on customers from Greater China. After global.lotte.com launched in February last year, Lotte spent a whole year preparing for the Chinese version of the site.

    More than 10,000 lines have been selected for China.lotte.com and another 5000 local Chinese lines are being added progressively.

    Chinese customers can shop using regular payment services including Alipay, UnionPay, Tenpay, PayPal and local Chinese credit cards.

    Lotte.com’s global business team manager Hwang Hyun Jung says China.lotte.com considered even minute details to meet the expectations of the rapidly growing Chinese overseas shopping market.

    “Through meticulous translations and user tests via Chinese supporters, this service is mainly composed of local-friendly user interface,” she said.

    Lotte.com has attracted “hundreds of thousands followers and supporters” via Weibo during the last six months in preparation for the launch.

    The company is also promising to work with Korean small businesses to help expose their brands and products to Chinese consumers via the portal.

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  • China’s Jollychic.com branches into homewares

    China’s Jollychic.com branches into homewares

    Chinese eCommerce company Jollychic.com, an online global fashion destination, has unveiled a new line of homeware products called J.Home.

    “Increasing demand and lower prices have made Jollychic’s promotional furniture products a viable alternative for clients all around the world, according to Siwei Ma, furniture manager at JollyChic.com.

    “The growing public awareness about global eCommerce and other major advantages of the internet enables our customers to shop for more than 6000 products from different categories, including home decor, bed & bath, dining and pet care.”

    Jollychic.com is a global fashion destination, selling fast fashion and publishing a wide variety of fashion-related content, positioning the website as a growing fashion community. We sell over 50,000 branded and own-brand products through localized mobile and web experiences, delivering from our fulfillment centers in China to almost every country in the world. It runs sites in nine languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Polish and Chinese.

    With the expansion into homewares, shoppers can take advantage of a free interior design consultation with dedicated customer service. An expanded customer loyalty program has been expanded to include a free gift offer that includes mugs and more.

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  • 11street Identifies Evolution in Malaysian Online Shopping Trends

    11street Identifies Evolution in Malaysian Online Shopping Trends

    11street (www.11street.my), one of the largest online marketplaces in Malaysia, today showcases its Online Shopping Index, which identified the latest changes in online shopping behaviours of local consumers, as well as specific e-commerce insights during the four-week Ramadhan and Raya period from 22 June to 19 July

    In addition, online marketplace 11street shares that its gross merchandise value (GMV) has surged significantly because of the Raya shopping season. The company has also celebrated notable milestones, one of which is achieving a rank of 40 on Alexa[1] within months since its launch in April this year.

    Hoseok Kim, CEO of 11street says that based on the 11street Online Shopping Index, the market is expecting to see online shopping trends evolving for both men and women in addition to a rapidly growing use of mobile in the future.

    “Malaysia is one of the top leading countries in the world when it comes to smartphone Internet access with the number of connected devices per person used by Malaysians which stood at 1.2 devices. As online shopping becomes part of the Malaysian lifestyle, smartphones will play a vital role in enabling shoppers to grab good products and offers online at anytime, anywhere,” Kim adds.

    Key findings of the 11street Online Shopping Index include the following:-

    More Diverse Online Purchase

    Contradicting to the popular belief that Fashion and Electronics are the most sought after categories, Malaysians shop in diverse categories including Health & Beauty, Kids & Baby, Home & Living, Grocery, Services such as e-vouchers and many more. Also, according to the index, popular items that customers mostly searched during Ramadhan include baby car seats, Tupperware, Bluetooth earphone, and skincare.

    Furthermore, the 11street Online Shopping Index uncovers that customers actually bought from either two or more product categories within a single transaction and it is expected to increase over the next few years.

    Online Shopping is No Longer Just for Women

    The data shows that women are no longer the only gender that drives purchasing trends when it comes to online shopping, whereby 11street shoppers are a healthy ratio of 48 men: 52 women.

    For women, they mostly purchased mobile, tablets, beauty, health and personal products as well as baby and kids items. The changing trends revealed that men shopped online just as much as women. During Ramadhan, their interests lie not only in Electronics, Sports and Leisure items, but also for Kids & Baby items especially baby gears such as baby car seats for their children’s comfort and safety. This also shows that both men and women prioritize their children when travelling during the festive season, which is a positive sign of rising awareness on child passenger safety across the country.

    Mobile is the Future of E-commerce

    There is a progressive move towards mobile as more consumers are becoming connected, and businesses are adopting an omni-channel approach and as a result, spurs positive growth in Malaysia’s e-commerce market.

    According to the index, at least 40 percent of the shoppers are using their mobile devices to shop at 11street. Moreover, during Ramadhan, peak shopping hours began from the breaking fast period until midnight.

    Business Overview and Moving forward

    11street has grown tremendously in Malaysia and received overwhelming response from both local customers and sellers since its inception. Besides its achievement on Alexa rank, it currently carries more than 700,000 products making it one of the largest online marketplaces in Malaysia.

    Kim attributed the growing popularity of 11street to its ability of providing a convenient and enjoyable shopping experience and attractive product offerings at affordable prices. This is especially true for their much highlighted ‘SHOCKING DEALS’, which guarantee shoppers that if they can locate the same product selling at a cheaper price in another online shopping site, 11street will refund them with the price difference of the product at 110%. It is possibly the first of its kind deal in the local online retail market.

    Moving forward, 11street will be developing a combined strategy with focus to continue boost its product variety and price competitiveness while focusing on mobile shopping.

    “With the latest Malaysian online shopping insights in mind, we are committed to support the vital needs of sellers and online shoppers by building a stronger platform, and to enable customers to find what they love at 11street,” ends Kim.

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  • Global Brands in talks with Alibaba, JD.com

    Global Brands in talks with Alibaba, JD.com

    Global Brands Group is discussing a possible “strategic alliance” with Chinese eCommerce companies Alibaba and JD.com.

    The two e-tailers are declining to comment on the matter, but based on comments by Global Brands CEO Bruce Rockowitz, Bloomberg reports the alliance “could involve online sales of brand-name children’s wear, among other products, through Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com, and co-operation offline”.

    Rockowitz said a formal announcement is likely later this year.

    “We are working with JD and Alibaba on a strategic alliance, joint venture,” he said. “It’s a relationship or joint venture together that can create a solution online, offline and mobile that none of us can do by ourselves.

    “Both of them want to do something. They don’t have the content, just platforms, but they want to go to the next level.”

    The comments came in the wake of Global Brands’ first full year results announcement earlier this week when it reported stronger margins as it continues to shed non-performing brands in favour of higher end products.

    Last December, Global Brands announced a joint venture with David Beckham and his business partner Simon Fuller. The joint venture, Seven Global, focuses on the continued development of the brand around David Beckham as well as on creating large scale brands in partnership with a select number of high‐profile sports and entertainment icons. The venture will cover all major consumer product categories.

  • UnionPay partners with Latitude19

    UnionPay partners with Latitude19

    Latitude19 Technology says its internet payment gateway is now registered with UnionPay Online Payment, a service for eCommerce transactions that enables UnionPay cards to be accepted over the internet with real-time transaction authorisation.

    The service brings the convenience of transacting over the internet to all Issuers, Acquirers, Merchants, and UnionPay cardholders in a simple and secure way, opening the way for holders of more than 5 billion UnionPay cards to shop online.

    Latitude 19 Technology CEO & founder, Timothy Moore said UnionPay registration is an important milestone in the company’s strategy to become the leading global offshore payment gateway.

    The deal makes Latitude19 the first provider for UnionPay in the Caribbean and Latin America.

    “Our partnership with the world’s largest card association, will fast track our growth and provide valuable solutions for our clients.”

    Latitude19 Technology’s UnionPay International credit card issuing program is based on a globally recognised platform that has been designed to rapidly launch and deploy new programs or expand existing programs in real-time versus taking months with other legacy platforms. It supports debit, credit, or emerging payment programs in plastic, virtual, or mobile form.

    Latitude19 Technology is a Cayman Islands-based secure, international, online payment gateway that offers competitively priced, custom credit card payment solutions for eCommerce merchants.

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  • Ron Johnson wins $50m for Enjoy concept

    Ron Johnson wins $50m for Enjoy concept

    Former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson’s new project has attracted a $50 million capital investment.

    His new venture, Enjoy Technology, is an online eCommerce start-up which sells a selected range of quality consumer electronics online only – then sends them to the purchaser’s home along with an expert in setting the equipment up. The concept merges service and customer focus with the convenience of shopping online.

    The $50 million was raised in series B funding led by Highland Capital. It comes on top of the initial $30 million and will be used to expand the concept outside its test markets of New York City and San Francisco Bay.

    “Since launching in May, we have been thrilled with the high-quality experiences we’ve been able to deliver for our customers, partners and employees,” said Johnson in a statement.

  • China Jo-Jo Drugstores Announces First Quarter Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2016

    China Jo-Jo Drugstores Announces First Quarter Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2016

    China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Inc., a leading China-based retail and wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical and health care products through its own online and retail pharmacies, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2015.

    FY 2016 First Quarter Highlights:

    Revenue increase during the first quarter ended June 30, 2015 was mainly due to the expansion of the Company’s retail drugstores and online pharmacy business. Retail drugstores sales, which accounted for approximately 57.0% of total revenue, increased by $1,575,129, of which an 8.2% increase in same-store sales contributed $827,593 while new stores sales contributed approximately $617,453.

    Online pharmacy sales reached $5,965,768, an increase of 131.9% over the same period last year, as we have been actively exploring new ways to grow our online sales. We have expanded cooperation with business-to-consumer online vendors, including Alibaba Group’s Taobao affiliate, JD.com and Amazon, by posting our products on their online platforms. In addition to launching an online payment service (“Alipay Service”) based on a service agreement with Alipay (China) Internet Technology Ltd. (“Alipay”), we launched stores on Tencent’s WeChat platform, China’s dominant mobile messaging app and social network with over 500 million active users.

    Starting from January 2015, we have strengthened our cooperation with certain large insurance companies in China such as the People’s Insurance Company (Group) Of China Limited, to sell online products to their customers who have purchased health insurance through them. In May 2015, we have set up a joint venture, with a leading Pharmacy Benefit Management (“PBM”) provider in China, which owns and operates Yikatong (the “E-Pharmacy-Card”), a popular pharmacy and health insurance benefit program with over 180,000 current users. The joint venture agreement requires the PBM provider to direct the majority of its online E-Pharmacy-Card transactions to our official online pharmacy site. In June 2015, we have organized an operation team to direct the sales from commercial insurance to our own website. We expect that this cooperation will boost our online sales and profit margin in the future.

    Mr. Lei Liu, Chairman and CEO of the Company stated, “We are excited to see a steady growth on our online and retail sales from last year. Revenue of our online pharmacy, www.dada360.com, is about five times the revenue of the same period last year thanks to our strategic partnership with China’s leading Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) provider and insurance companies. We are dedicated to further expand our efforts on our online pharmacy, which proves to be a popular business area supported by National Internet Plus Strategy in China. We will continue to devote resources to grow our online pharmacy business with the goal of becoming a national leader in pharmaceutical e-commerce business. Our retail pharmacies have also maintained robust growth both in sales and profitability. The management will strive to capitalize on the growth of health insurance and online sales in China.”

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