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Category: Fashion

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

  • Poh Kong Holdings plans five more stores

    Poh Kong Holdings plans five more stores

    Malaysia’s largest jewellery retailer, Poh Kong Holdings, plans to spend up to RM25 million (US$5.6 million) to open five more stores in Malaysia this year.

    The company says two of the outlets will be in Johor, a state with an appetite for gold and gemset jewellery.

    Each outlet costs up to RM5 million to set up, including inventories, says Poh Kong business development manager Edison Choon.

    poh-kong-jewelry-store

    He declined to reveal the locations of the other three possible stores.

    By year end, he says, the company aims to have at least 100 stores (there are now 97 outlets, all in peninsular Malaysia).

    At the moment, 71 per cent of Poh Kong’s revenue is generated in the Klang Valley. Analysts say the company has 16 to 20 per cent share of Malaysia’s gold jewellery market, which is estimated to be worth RM5 billion.

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  • Social media drives Asos success

    Social media drives Asos success

    The first quarter was an especially promotion-abundant period for pureplay UK-based online retailer Asos.

    Blanket discounts of 20 per cent for Halloween and Asos’ five-day Black Friday period as well as 30 per cent off selected categories in the run up to Christmas drove sales growth of 52 per cent.

    Asos’ promotions clearly resonated well with UK shoppers, as first quarter UK retail sales grew to an impressive £244 million. Asos should use the wealth of data it has on customers to offer customers tailored discounts on products they are likely to buy rather than blanket discounting.

    Part of the reason behind the consistent Asos success is the way it successfully targets customers with creative email and social media marketing on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. The retailer also offers attractive delivery options such as Asos Premier, costing £9.95 for 12 months of unlimited next-day delivery; this encourages consumers to choose Asos over other online retailers over this period. Asos.com is regularly updated with new fashion ranges and featured brands such as 3INA and Young Bohemians, all of which encourage repeat spend and maintain customer loyalty which is vital over the peak trading period.

    Asos is continually future-proofing the business, ensuring it can cope with increased demand as it expands globally. The strong growth in international sales, particularly in the US as a result of the weak pound, means Asos will have to keep up with order fulfilment as the retailer expands. This will be imperative as rival retailer boohoo.com seizes market share away from Asos (which stands at 6.6 per cent for the UK online clothing & footwear market in 2016) through its own global expansion.

    The decision from CEO Nick Beighton in January 2017 not to raise prices should help Asos stay competitive in a busier-than-ever online fashion pureplay market.

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  • Burberry Korea price cut is needed

    Burberry Korea price cut is needed

    Burberry Korea is under fire for cutting prices “too little, too late”.

    It’s not the first time Burberry has been criticised for its Asian pricing strategy. Last May,

    Jack Chuang, a partner with Hong Kong-headquartered OC&C Strategy Consultants, said that of all the luxury brands, Burberry is the one with the most significant price gap between Asian and European markets.

    “Prices in Mainland China are almost 40 per cent higher than in UK, while in Hong Kong, it is 20 per cent higher.”

    The South Korean office of Burberry recently marked down the price of some of its products to reflect the fallen value of the British pound, but only by a small margin compared with the currency’s depreciation, fashion industry officials said Wednesday.

    Burberry Korea dropped the local price by an average 9 per cent as the pound fell after Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in June last year. Industry officials say the markdown, however, falls far short of the 17 per cent fall of the British currency against the US dollar. The pound’s exchange rate against the South Korean won dropped 17 per cent from 1765.90 won in February last year to 1468.13 won as of January 9.

    The price adjustment in Korea also falls behind Burberry’s decision for Hong Kong, where the fashion brand’s product prices were taken down 10-15 per cent in September. Some of the products were down by 20 per cent. The markdown rate was more than the 9.75 per cent fall of the pound against the Hong Kong dollar at the time.

    Burberry Korea declined to talk on the matter despite repeated calls by news agency Yonhap.

    Consumer groups have long complained that foreign brands often take advantage of their popularity in South Korea to push demands they do not make in other countries or exclude South Korea from their market action.

    Swedish furniture maker Ikea caused ire last year when it kept selling dressers in South Korea that were recalled in the US and Canada after reported accidents involving children that resulted in deaths. The company had argued that the dressers meet local safety regulations. Volkswagen, who already settled on compensation to its consumers in the US from faked emissions tests, has yet to carry out full recalls or offer compensation steps in South Korea.

    US credit card company Visa in May came under fire for deciding to raise the processing fee by 10 per cent for overseas transactions, effective in South Korea but not in Japan or China.

    Such discriminatory actions are more stark at duty-free shops, industry officials say, who fiercely compete to host highly sought brands.

    “In case of popular brands, they often insist on excessive requirements, such as the cost of interior decorations when deciding to open their store,” an official at a Seoul duty-free shop said. “The retailers have to be compliant because of the brand power and because they have to attract customers, and they end up having to accommodate the demands.”

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  • Bauhaus International sales drop 10 per cent

    Bauhaus International sales drop 10 per cent

    Same-store sales for clothing retailer Bauhaus International in Hong Kong and Macau have dropped 10 per cent year-on-year for the three months ended December 31.

    The streetwear retailer designs and makes apparel and accessories which it wholesales and retails under its brand names including Bauhaus, Salad and Tough, as well as third-party labels, including Superdry.

    Sales in Mainland China decreased 4 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to its filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

    The three-pronged decline in sales helped drive down the company’s overall same-store sales by 3 per cent year-on-year. Nevertheless, its same-store sales in Taiwan grew by 12 per cent.

    Bauhaus International did not release the related financial figures in its filing.

    At the end of last month, nine months into its fiscal year, its total sales had fallen by 9 per cent year-on-year; in particular, those generated in Hong Kong and Macau had dropped 14 per cent.

    The company ended last year with 203 shops, of which 82 were in Hong Kong and Macau, 93 in Taiwan and 28 in China.

    At the end of September, halfway through its fiscal year, the company had turnover of about HK$501.4 million (US$  million). Turnover in Hong Kong and Macau fell 18.5 per cent year-on-year, amounting to HK$348.1 million.

    It also saw its interim net loss expand to HK$60 million from HK$26.6 million a year earlier. The company attributed this to the “adverse performance” of its retail business in Hong Kong.

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  • Shares of world’s largest footwear maker plunge on false sales data

    Shares of world’s largest footwear maker plunge on false sales data

    Pou Sheng International Ltd, a unit of the world’s largest producer of branded footwear, recorded the largest intraday plunge in its stock price since 2008, after firing its chief financial officer for publishing inaccurate sales figures, and announced the departure of its chief executive.

    Shares of the company tumbled as much as 37 per cent to an intraday low of HK$1.30 in Hong Kong, wiping out HK$4.1 billion of its value. Share prices of Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings, the 62 per cent shareholder of Pou Sheng, fell as much as 9.8 per cent.

    “The Company discovered on 6 January 2017 certain incorrect sales records in the month of December 2016, which could potentially lead to recognition of revenue for sales transactions that did not take place before end of year 2016,” Pou Sheng said in its filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

    “The incident revealed weakness over the financial controls,”the Hong Kong-based company said, even though the relevant figures were not significant compared with the group’s overall revenue and did not materially affect any financial information published prior to the announcement.

    The retailer said it has sacked CFO Chen Luo-leng, while CEO Kwan Heh-Der has resigned.

    Pou Sheng is a spin off of Taiwan’s apparel and footwear maker Yue Yuen, which owns factories in mainland China, Vietnam and Indonesia, producing 300 million pairs of shoes every year for Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Puma and Timberland.

    Deloitte has been hired by the Hong Kong-based retailer to carry out a check on accounting records of the company, Pou Sheng said.

    Pou Sheng has been in a tight financial spot for the past few quarters, as same store sales growth — a crucial gauge on a retailer’ s business well-being — slowed to 4.6 per cent for the first three quarters of the year from 6.7 per cent for the first half, spurring investor concerns over its long-term prospects.

    The incident has triggered a series of downgrades by research houses on Pousheng and Yue Yuen’s shares.

    “We are worried that a slowdown in Yue Yuen’s retail arm will only be more severe than what the market had feared, and the resignation of the CEO could lead to near term disruption of the company, indirectly affecting Yue Yuen’s financial performance,”a UBS report issued Monday said.

    Credit Suisse cut Yue Yuen’s rating to Underperform from Neutral, as it reckoned its earnings will be weighed down by a projected decline in Pou Sheng’s net profits, according to a Monday note. “This should significantly affect operations and financials of Pou Sheng in the near-term,”the investment bank suggested.

    However, Hugo Suen, an analyst with Sunwah Kingsway, painted a slightly rosier picture for Pou Sheng.

    “After all, this company has the best international sports brands [as its business partners], and the swift action by the board should be able to rescue its reputation in the long term,” Suen said.

    Pou Sheng closed Monday trading at HK$1.61, down 22.22 per cent while Yue Yuen erased some of the earlier losses to settle 6.88 per cent down from the previous close at HK$27.05.

  • Marikina-made shoes a hit in Indonesia

    Marikina-made shoes a hit in Indonesia

    Filipino fashion retail brand Rusty Lopez recently opened its newest store in Jakarta featuring comfortable sandals and casuals made from Marikina, the Philippines’ shoe capital known for producing durable and high-quality footwear.

    According to a recent report of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Philippine Trade and Investment Center – Jakarta, the store in Sogo Lippo Mall Puri located in the St. Moritz Central Business District is the brand’s 9th outlet following the opening of stores in Seibu Grand Indonesia, Sogo Emporium Pluit, Sogo Central Park, Sogo Alam Sutera, Lotte Shopping Avenue, Metro Plaza Senayan, Metro Gandaria City, Metro Taman Anggrek.

    In a statement, Philippine Commercial Attaché to Indonesia Alma Argayoso said the sales of the newest collection during the opening were brisk. The other stores also received positive feedback.

    “It is exciting to bring to the Indonesian market the Philippines’ world-famous Marikina-made shoes. This affirms our belief on the potential of fashion retail products in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy,” Argayoso said.

    The first overseas store of Rusty Lopez opened in Jakarta on March 6, 2016 at the Seibu Department Store of Grand Indonesia Mall and featured carefully selected designs suited to the Indonesian market.

    DTI noted that increased interest in Philippine-made shoes abroad helps revive the local shoe industry and is expected to open more opportunities for small enterprises to generate employment within their communities.

    As part of the DTI’s Industry Promotion Group, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Jakarta will continue to support and assist Filipino homegrown brands in globalizing their products and accessing regional markets by continuously looking for potential partnerships.

    Aside from Rusty Lopez, other Filipino fashion retail brands in Indonesia include Karimadon, Penshoppe, Gingersnaps and Ann Ong Jewelry.

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  • Lingerie startup Boux Avenue surges into top 15

    Lingerie startup Boux Avenue surges into top 15

    In just five years, British lingerie retail startup Boux Avenue has made it into the top 15 brands in women’s underwear.

    Despite facing growing pressure from Primark and H&M, following significant range expansion and improved design and quality in their underwear and nightwear collections, Boux Avenue continues to build a loyal customer following and differentiate its proposition from the value segment of the market.

    As a result, full year 2015/16 UK sales reached £44.4million – entering the lingerie specialist into the women’s underwear Top 15 with a market share of 1.3 per cent in 2016.

    boux-avenue-store

    Despite pressures on the high street to discount, Boux Avenue has maintained a strict stance on full-price trading and strategic promotions, which has been essential in justifying its mid-market prices and encouraging consumers to buy into the brand all year round rather than wait for sale periods. While midmarket rival M&S remains the UK market leader, it is losing share and traction among a younger shopper base. This provides Boux Avenue with a ripe opportunity to lure M&S’s customers in the 16-30 age bracket away, via investment in trend influenced designs, specialist customer service, and enhanced product fit and innovation – particularly in shapewear where M&S continues to excel in.

    For a young retailer, Boux Avenue has approached physical expansion cautiously, operating 28 UK stores after five years of trading. This has allowed it to build consumer awareness on the high street, but ensures that it is not overexposed during periods of restricted discretionary spending and as consumer spend continues to shift online.

    Improving brand accessibility via selling through third party online channels including Asos and Very will fuel further sales growth and win the appeal of new customers in 2017.

  • Yoyo Cao plans pop-up for Tang Plaza

    Yoyo Cao plans pop-up for Tang Plaza

    Womenswear label Exhibit, established by Singapore designer/street-style star Yoyo Cao, plans to open a month-long pop-up store.

    At Tang Plaza from February 2, it features items from the brand’s latest collection, including exclusive pieces from S/S ’17.

    Cao’s signature boyish style includes tops with oversized sleeves and bell-bottom trousers.

    Buyers will receive Nars beauty products with every purchase.

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  • Vietnam’s textile exports fray to 10-year slump in 2016

    Vietnam’s textile exports fray to 10-year slump in 2016

    A strong Vietnamese dong and sluggish demand from key markets have dragged on textile exports this year. Vietnam’s exports of textiles and garments are projected to increase by 7 percent this year to $29 billion, according to Vinatex, the country’s top textiles manufacturer, far below the trade ministry’s previously-targeted $31 billion and the lowest growth in the last decade.

    Customs statistics show that Vietnamese textiles and garment exports hit about $21.56 billion from January to November, up 4.6 percent from the same period last year.

    Vietnam, the world’s fifth largest garment exporter, has maintained double-digit growth, ranging on average from 10 percent to 36 percent, since 2001 when the country earned $2.2 billion from exporting textiles and garments.

    The investment ministry, in a recent report, attributed the downturn to sluggish demand from key markets, including the U.S., the European Union and Japan.

    Customs figures show that from January to November this year, Vietnam’s textiles and garment shipments to the U.S., which accounted for 47.9 percent of the total during the period, edged up 4.7 percent from a year ago to about $10.33 billion.

    Besides, the State Bank of Vietnam has so far this year managed to keep the dong from weakening against other major currencies, said clothing exporters, adding that a stronger dong was the final straw that broke the camel’s back for their businesses.

    Garment exporters are also faced with increasingly intense competition from outsourcing hubs Cambodia and Bangladesh, which are currently subject to import tariff breaks in the U.S. market. Market access for Vietnam’s clothing in the U.S. is limited by an average tariff of about 11.1 percent, with tariffs on some textile and apparel products nearing 30 percent.

    About 85 percent of Vietnamese enterprises in the textile industry are focused on labor-intensive cutting and sewing, making the country an outsourcing hub for foreign fashion companies, said Le Tien Truong, chief executive of Vinatex.

    However, foreign investors are eying emerging hubs such as Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where labor costs are lower than in Vietnam.

    Vietnam has four regional minimum wage brackets currently ranging from VND2.4 million to 3.5 million (from $105 to $154). The regional minimum wage has increased by about 12-15 percent on a yearly basis between 2014 and 2016, and is forecast to go up by 7.3 percent next year.

    Vietnam’s exports rose an estimated 6.7 percent on-year in the first nine months to $128 billion, well below the 10 percent growth target set by the government.

    The economy, widely seen as among the most resilient in a turbulent Asia, expanded by 5.92 percent from January to September, much lower than 6.53 percent a year ago, said the General Statistics Office.

    The annual growth forecast for this year has been lowered to between 6.2 and 6.5 percent from the 6.7 percent previously targeted, according to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

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  • Aape popping up with New Year offers

    Aape popping up with New Year offers

    Aape by A Bathing Ape, a diffusion label under the Japanese streetwear brand, is launching its Chinese New Year collection at a week-long pop-up store at Ion Orchard in Singapore.

    Running from January 14 to 22, the store will offer exclusive merchandise and a limited-edition womenswear range with such items as t-shirts and hoodies.

    The line focuses on relaxed, casual separates with a youthful, sporty vibe, says Female magazine. The women’s range features a camouflage print in pink and red, plus a black, gold and white version.

  • Fashion chain Next faces crossroads

    Fashion chain Next faces crossroads

    Fashion chain Next needs to carefully rethink who its customers are and how best to attract them to avoid falling into the same trap as M&S, says a retail analyst.

    The UK-based retailer has released its fourth quarter results for 2016, described by Emily Stella, analyst with Verdict Retail, as “poor” against a weak comparative.

    “The retailer admits it expected more from its Christmas sales. Next’s underwhelming performance was not isolated to the fourth quarter: 2016 has been a difficult year for the retailer, with full price sales for the year to date down 1.1 per cent on last year.”

    The company said it expected profits to fall in its 2017-18 financial year by between 2 per cent and 14 per cent due to “tougher times” ahead. A 0.4 per cent quarterly increase in total sales was achieved purely through discounting, which means narrower margins. Price rises, already flagged, may reduce revenue in the year ahead by a further 0.5 per cent.

    “Next has long been a retail star, seemingly unable to do wrong,” observed Stella. “However, the retailer acknowledges that 2017 could be a challenging year as consumers continue to restrict spending and a devalued pound forces price rises.”

    She said the recent results may mark the start of a difficult period for the retailer.

    “As it stands, Next’s current shoppers aren’t buying into its proposition – perhaps an indication that Next is failing to identify with its target market. To avoid falling into the same trap as M&S, Next will need to carefully rethink who its customer is and how to best attract them.”

    Next’s share price fell by 14 per cent after its gloomy projections.

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  • Fossil wearables offering doubles

    Fossil wearables offering doubles

    Fossil Group will double its Fossil wearables production this year to 300 new products, plus add new brands.

    • Fossil Group has announced it will double its Fossil wearables production this year to an unmatched 300 new products, plus add new brands.
    • New connected products were also revealed by the US group’s brands…
      Armani Exchange has entered the wearables market with Armani Exchange Connected, a collection of hybrid smartwatches.
    • Fossil has extended its Fossil Q hybrid smartwatch line with Fossil Q Accomplice, with the brand’s slimmest case to date.
    • Skagen has introduced Hald and Jorn hybrid smartwatches, offering thinner cases.
      Misfit has unveiled Vapor, the brand’s first touchscreen smartwatch featuring heart rate, GPS and standalone music access.

    Fossil Group’s wearables include touchscreen smartwatches, hybrid smartwatches and activity trackers.

    “Customers crave connectivity that doesn’t compromise style,” says Fossil Group chief strategy and digital officer Greg McKelvey. “We’re creating more options to seamlessly integrate desired tech features into our customers’ style and lifestyle.

    He says the group’s design, scale, speed to market and portfolio of fashion brands, coupled with its cloud and app platform plus tech and hardware innovation “have pulled us ahead of the wearables pack”.

    Fossil Group last year launched more than 140 wearables across Chaps, Diesel, Emporio Armani, Fossil, Kate Spade New York, Michael Kors, Misfit and Skagen brands throughout 40 countries and in 20 languages.

    “The success of our hybrid smartwatches has proven that our consumers want a balance of function and fashion,” says McKelvey. “We’ve effectively filled that gap in the market. Hybrids pack the power needed to efficiently accomplish daily tasks in a beautifully crafted timepiece.”

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  • Prada Japan opens airport store

    Prada Japan opens airport store

    Italian fashion brand Prada Japan has opened a store in Narita International Airport’s Terminal, Tokyo.

    Covering about 200 sqm, the outlet offers women’s and men’s leather goods and accessories.

    Its facade on three sides is clad in black Marquinia marble, framing the light boxes. On the two opposite sides there are two large entrances.

    The three areas in the interior are defined by the signature black-and-white marble checkered flooring as well as a deep-green watercolour-painted canvas wall covering into which green marble shelves and glass display cabinets are set.

    A sitting area offers green velvet sofas and polished-steel and glass display counters.

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  • Tax changes lower Mainland cosmetics prices

    Tax changes lower Mainland cosmetics prices

    China’s new import tax regime has enabled cosmetics giants AmorePacific and Estee Lauder to lower their prices in China by up to 30 per cent.

    AmorePacific’s China division says it will reduce Mainland cosmetics prices for 327 lines under the brands of Etude House, Innisfree, Laneige and Sulwhasoo by 3 to 30 per cent from January 15.

    US rival Estee Lauder has confirmed immediate price cuts for more than 300 lines in China, including its namesake label, Bobby Brown, Clinique, Jo Malone, and Mac by as much as 18 per cent.

    This follows Beijing’s move last year to slash its hefty duties on imported cosmetics in an effort to boost domestic consumption, according to AmorePacific, which has its headquarters in Seoul.

    “These global cosmetics names are now narrowing the price gap between China and overseas, and we believe more are probably about to follow suit,” says China Market Research Group director Ben Cavender, noting that with western brands becoming cheaper in the mainland, people may be discouraged from travelling to Hong Kong to make purchases.

    Imported cosmetics previously faced tariffs of 84 per cent, reflecting both import and point-of-sales taxes. The tariffs have now gone down to 29 per cent for most beauty products.
    Before the tariff reduction, many mainland consumers shopped via cross-border online marketplaces or while travelling abroad.

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  • Beijing flagship for Delvaux China

    Beijing flagship for Delvaux China

    Belgian handbag brand Delvaux China has opened a flagship store, in Taikoo Li shopping centre in Beijing’s Sanlitun district.

    Delvaux also has boutiques in Galeries Lafayette and the Yintai Center in the Chinese capital.

    Founded in 1829, the brand opened its first boutique in Hong Kong in 2014 after being acquired by Hong Kong investment group Fung Brands in 2011. It opened its first boutique in Hong Kong in 2014, followed the same year by its first Shanghai store, and a year later in Hangzhou and Beijing.

    delvaux-sanlitun-beijing-1

    When it broke into the China market, Delvaux CEO Marco Probst did not expect younger women to buy the bags.

    “Our Chinese clients were a big learning curve for us in the beginning,” he says. “We learned pretty quickly that you can have a 20-year-old girl buying a bag for $20,000, so the customer profile pretty much changed, putting the average age down to 25 to 30. Chinese clients are completely open and they learn so quickly.”

    delvaux-sanlitun-beijing-2

    Two floors

    Covering two floors, the boutique features an upstairs showroom with white walls and shelving plus white couches. For the launch, the showroom features red-leather bags to celebrate Chinese New Year.

    Probst says Delvaux hardly uses advertising campaigns, but gained a boost in interest when Korean actress Gianna Jun of the TV soap My Love from The Star was photographed carrying one of Delvaux’s Tempete bags.

    delvaux-sanlitun-beijing-3

    He says building up brand awareness in China has been achieved through “a slow, organic process” that relies mainly on word of mouth plus service that gives a feeling of exclusivity.

    Delvaux may close its Galeries Lafayette store and open one more in Shanghai and Chengdu for a total of six locations, then “that’s it”, says Probst, who is being careful about over-distributing the brand.

    Meanwhile, the new flagship features mainly classic pieces, as well as the new mostly gold end-of-year Poussiere d’Etoiles collection. Also available is a new sporty style bag, a nod to the athleisure trend in China.