Retail News CRM

Category: General

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

  • Shinsegae department store sets sales record as foreigners splurge in Gangnam

    Shinsegae department store sets sales record as foreigners splurge in Gangnam

    Shinsegae Department Store, one of South Korea’s leading retailers, said Tuesday that its outlet in Gangnam, an affluent area in southern Seoul, reported 2 trillion won (US$1.7 billion) in accumulated sales last year.

    It marks the first time for a single-department store branch to achieve the 2 trillion won milestone, the company said.

    Lotte Department Store, another leading player, earlier said its branch in Myeongdong in downtown Seoul generated 1.8 trillion won in sales last year.

    Shinsegae attributed its stellar performance to increased visits by foreign shoppers as its Gangnam outlet is adjacent to a number of five-star hotels, including the JW Marriott Gangnam.

    Most of the top-buying foreign shoppers were from China, Taiwan and Russia, the company said.

    The store also underwent major remodeling in 2016, in a move to provide a better luxurious in-store shopping experience by organizing items based on themes rather than brands.

    The country’s three major players — Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae — account for about 80 percent of the sector’s sales in the country.

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  • AirAsia adds more local and international flights

    AirAsia adds more local and international flights

    AirAsia said on Friday that it was increasing the frequency of flights in high demand domestic and international destinations.

    “We are pleased to welcome the new year with additional flights, offering guests more options when flying with us as they accomplish their travel goals this 2020,” Ricardo “Ricky” P. Isla, AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer, said in a statement.

    He said the move is in line with the low-cost carrier’s vision of allowing its guests to tick-off more destinations from their travel bucket list.

    “Our adjustments are well guided by data, and I am very optimistic about the tourism boost this will bring to our country in the summer months,” he added.

    AirAsia Philippines operates more than 500 weekly domestic and international flights from its hubs in Manila, Clark, Cebu and Kalibo.

    It said guests can book now for routes, some of which will have more frequencies starting on March 29, 2020.

    Among the flights that will have increased frequencies are those from Clark to Iloilo and vice-versa, which will have daily flights. Flights from Cebu to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and vice-versa will increase to four times a week.

    Starting on March 29, the airline will have daily flights between Cebu and Puerto Princesa. Flights from Clark to Tacloban and vice-versa, which will be four times a week.

    AirAsia operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, India and Japan. Its services include hotels, holidays, activities and online shopping, as well as integrated logistics and digital financial services.

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  • Hong Kong Post to open 80 more iPostal stations for online shoppers

    Hong Kong Post to open 80 more iPostal stations for online shoppers

    Hong Kong Post will roll out more than one new iPostal station every week this year, to boost services to online shoppers.

    The company will build 20 iPostal stations in the first quarter of this year and more than 80 by the end of the year, which will take the iPostal station network to more than 120.

    Hong Kong Post created iPostal stations as delivery address for online shoppers to have purchase delivered to a secure location to avoid missing parcels through not being at home during delivery attempts.

    Two new iPostal stations open tomorrow (January 7) in Oi Tung Estate and Siu Sai Wan Plaza, taking the network to 23.

    Senders now can set new iPostal station as the delivery address for their SmartPost, Local Parcel and Local CourierPost items through the EC-Ship platform, while recipients can set any of these stations as the default pick-up point for their items with a Mail Collection Number.

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  • Miniso Philippines opens its 100th store

    Miniso Philippines opens its 100th store

    Miniso Philippines has opened a new store at Estancia Mall, marking its 100th store.

    To celebrate the launch, a Japanese Kagami Biraki ceremony was led by Miniso president Michael Hong.

    The Chinese discount merchandise chain’s new store features lifestyle products including electronics, health and beauty lines, fashion accessories, seasonal products, food and beverages. Miniso Philippines’ 100th store also offered gifts during the holiday season, including holiday mugs, pastel-coloured pouches, and tumblers.

    Miniso operates 4000 stores in more than 90 countries and regions including the US, Canada, Russia, Singapore, the UAE, Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Macau.

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  • Number of new businesses, registered capital highest ever

    Number of new businesses, registered capital highest ever

    138,100 businesses were established in Vietnam this year, the highest ever, with the government’s initiative to increase the quantity and quality of enterprises bearing fruit.

    In terms of volume, the figure was up 5.2 percent year-on-year, while their registered capital also climbed a new high at over VND1,730 trillion ($75.1 billion), up 17.1 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

    This meant the average registered capital was VND12.5 billion ($542,000) per business.

    An additional 39,400 businesses resumed operations this year, up 15.9 percent from last year. But the year also saw 43,700 businesses filing for dissolution, up 41.7 percent year-on-year.

    The surge in the business numbers and registered capital is happening as the government seeks to improve its administrative policies to support enterprises as part of a plan to have the private sector spearhead economic growth.

    Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at a meeting with business leaders on December 23 that the large number of businesses dissolving each year, including big ones, was a matter of concern.

    Government agencies have been making proposals in this regard. In July, the Ministry of Finance proposed to the National Assembly that it considers scrapping corporate income tax on micro and small enterprises.

    There are about 760,000 businesses operating in the country. Vietnam targets taking this up to 1 million next year.

    Vietnam’s GDP growth of 7.02 percent in 2019 exceeded the parliament’s target of 6.6-6.8 percent as well as forecasts by several international organizations like the WB and the ADB. It had slowed from a record 7.08 percent in 2018, but remained the second highest growth figure in the last decade.

  • Vietnam Airlines reports record profit in 2019

    Vietnam Airlines reports record profit in 2019

    National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines estimates its consolidated pre-tax profit for 2019 at an all-time high of VND3.37 trillion ($146 million).

    The figure also marks a 10 percent year-on-year increase, Vietnam Airlines said in a press release.

    Its consolidated revenue is estimated at VND101.18 trillion ($4.39 billion) this year, up 2.2 percent year-on-year.

    In 2019, Vietnam Airlines transported 23 million passengers and nearly 346,000 tons of cargo on 134,000 flights. The airline also began operating 22 new aircraft and 10 flight routes, bringing its fleet to above 100 aircraft.

    In 2020, it will focus on retaining its core customer segments and holding share in key markets, the airline said. It expects to invest in 50 additional narrow body aircraft between 2021 and 2015, as well as improving services and digitization of its systems.

    Vietnam Airlines is 86.16 percent state-owned, and Japanese air transportation company ANA Holdings has an 8.77 percent stake. The remaining shares are held by state-owned lender Vietcombank, private lender Techcombank, and other domestic individuals.

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  • Vingroup airline expects profits in 3 years

    Vingroup airline expects profits in 3 years

    Vingroup’s Vinpearl Air, a $200 million venture, is seeking to launch its first flight in July with expectations of turning profitable by 2023.

    The new airline could also recover its investment in 5-6 years, according to an evaluation report recently submitted to the Prime Minister by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

    The airline will have a total investment of VND4.7 trillion ($202.7 million), of which conglomerate Vingroup will contribute VND1.3 trillion ($56 million), or 28 percent. The remaining will be sourced from loans and other sources.

    Vinpearl Air is set to create 500-600 direct jobs when launched and 2,200-2,300 jobs by 2023-2024.

    It will pay a corporate income tax of VND1 trillion ($43.1 million) a year in the first five years of operation.

    Vinpearl Air plans to start off with six aircraft and increase the fleet to 30 by 2024.

    It wants to be based at the Noi Bai International Airport and park its aircraft in Hanoi as well as in other airports in Quang Ninh Province and Hai Phong City in the north, and Da Nang City and Khanh Hoa Province in the central region.

    The Ministry of Planning and Investment has said it supports the establishment of the airline, but asked the airline to provide more detailed financial calculations.

    Apart from Vinpearl Air, Vietravel Airlines and KiteAir are two other airlines seeking permission to fly this year.

    The country now has five commercial airlines: national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO).

    Airports across Vietnam served near 116 million passengers in 2019, up 12 percent from 2018, according to Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

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  • New Year’s Eve was WhatsApp’s biggest messaging day in its 10-year history

    New Year’s Eve was WhatsApp’s biggest messaging day in its 10-year history

    It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since people are using WhatsApp. Luckily, the messaging company is here to remind us that WhatsApp was launched on iPhones back in August 2009. One year latest, the app made it to Android and the world will never be the same for the messaging ecosystem.

    Last year, WhatsApp released an interesting infographic that highlights some of the app’s most important milestones since its release. Today, the messaging service announced that New Year’s Eve was the biggest messaging day in its 10-year history.

    On December 31, 2019, between 12 AM and 11:59 PM, people across the globe sent a record-breaking 100 billion messages on WhatsApp, including over 12 billion photos. Also, in case you’re wondering, here are the five most popular WhatsApp features that people are using throughout the year: text messaging, status, picture messaging, calling, and voice notes.

    Today, WhatsApp has more than 1.5 billion users every month and will probably reach 2 billion users by the end of 2020. The app is now present on Android and iOS platforms, but a desktop app is also available since May 2016.

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  • Garuda Indonesia is the Most Punctual Airline in the World

    Garuda Indonesia is the Most Punctual Airline in the World

    OAG, the world’s leading provider of travel data and insight, has released the results of its annual Punctuality League 2020, the industry’s most comprehensive ranking of on-time performance (OTP) for the world’s largest airlines and airports. Asia-Pacific airlines dominated the global rankings with nine out of the top 20 most punctual airlines in the world: Garuda Indonesia (1), Skymark Airlines (3), All Nippon Airways (7), Jetstar Asia (8), Singapore Airlines (9), Thai AirAsia (10), Japan Airlines (15), Qantas Airways (18) and Indonesia AirAsia (20).

    Garuda Indonesia takes the top spot globally and regionally with an impressive OTP of 95.01%. Skymark Airlines (OTP 90.12%) ranks in the top three for both the Global Airline and Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) categories. The region’s LCCs performed exceptionally well, with nine carriers ranking in the top 20 for that respective category, including Skymark Airlines (1), Jetstar Asia (2), and Thai AirAsia (3). Solaseed, Jetstar Asia, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia all improved their OTPs among ASPAC carriers this year.

    Japanese airport Osaka Itami (ITM) finished as the most punctual Large Airport for a second consecutive year with an OTP of 88.03%. Tokyo Haneda (HND) ranked second in the Mega Airport category with an OTP of 86.60% behind Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO; OTP 86.87%). Singapore Changi (SIN; OTP 84.03%), Kuala Lumpur (KUL; OTP 75.04%) and Seoul Incheon (ICN; OTP 74.95%) all improved their OTP in the Mega Airport category.

    “Asia Pacific carriers and airports continued to demonstrate exceptional OTP this year, with many LCCs and legacy carriers improving year-over-year performance. The leading performance of Garuda Indonesia, Skymark Airlines, Osaka Itami and Tokyo Haneda on the global stage is commendable,” said Mayur (Mac) Patel, Head of JAPAC for OAG.

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  • AirAsia increases some flight frequencies from Cebu, Clark

    AirAsia increases some flight frequencies from Cebu, Clark

    AirAsia said Friday it was increasing flight frequencies out of its Clark and Cebu hubs to meet travel demand.

    Starting in January, the following will be flown daily from 3 times weekly: Clark to Iloilo (Z2 931) and Iloilo to Clark (Z2 932). The following will be flown 4 times weekly from 3 times: Cebu to Kuala Lumpur (Z2 7110) and Kuala Lumpur to Cebu (Z2 7111), AirAsia said.

    Starting March 29, the following will be flown 4 times weekly from 3 times: Clark to Tacloban (Z2 975) and Tacloban to Clark (Z2 976). Also on March 29, the following will be flown daily from 3 times weekly: Cebu to Puerto Princesa (Z2 543) and Puerto Princesa to Cebu (Z2 544), AirAsia said.

    “We are pleased to welcome the new year with additional flights, offering guests more options when flying with us as they accomplish their travel goals this 2020. Our adjustments are well guided by data, and I am very optimistic about the tourism boost this will bring to our country in the summer months,” said AirAsia Philippines CEO Ricky Isla.

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  • Thai conglomerates in race to buy Tesco Asia

    Thai conglomerates in race to buy Tesco Asia

    Two Thai billionaires are reportedly preparing bids for the Asian operations of UK grocery giant Tesco.

    Citing “people with knowledge of the matter”, Bloomberg has reported that Charoen Pokphand Group, owned by Dhanin Chearavanont, and the Chirathivat family-controlled Central Group are among a group of potential investors in discussions with Tesco over a potential buyout.

    The UK company announced early last month that it was conducting a review of the future of its Asian business after receiving ‘inbound interest’.

    Tesco operates 74 stores in Malaysia and about 2000 in Thailand under Tesco Lotus brand. The combined stores generated £286 million (US$375.8 million) operating profit in the year to last February.

    Bloomberg reports that Tesco will invite formal bids for the business next month and suggests it may fetch as much as US$7 billion.

    The Malaysian and Thai Tesco operations are separate businesses, with Sime Darby holding a 30-per-cent stake in the former.

    The solicitation of bids may not necessarily lead to a sale of the business.

    Retail analytical consultancy GlobalData is among those suggesting a sale would not be in the best long-term interests of Tesco UK, which in recent years has sold or closed all its other off-shore businesses to focus on the UK market, and the Tesco Asia business.

    Hakan Demirci, consumer analyst at GlobalData, says the sale of the Tesco Asia business by its UK parent would prioritise shareholders over sound long-term economic strategy,

    “Tesco’s Malaysian and Thai sectors have been constant sources of sustained success, with profit margins the highest at 6 per cent compared to the UK business’s margins of 3 per cent.

    “Selling its Asian business would be welcomed by Tesco’s shareholders, who would be granted higher returns on their investments if it were to go through. However, these markets were relatively developed and consolidated, with little room for growth in the retail sector.

    He said the Malaysian food and grocery market is set to grow from now through 2022 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9 per cent. Likewise, the Thai food and grocery market will grow at a smaller, yet still significant CAGR of 4.5 per cent over the same period – representing a significant opportunity for Tesco to expand its business.

    “If these markets were to be sold, Tesco would be left with operations in the UK, Ireland and Central Europe. This would leave the group vulnerable as it loses its benefit of regional diversification, resulting in a less dynamic and flexible company.”

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  • Vietjet Receives New 240-Seat A321neo ACF Aircraft

    Vietjet Receives New 240-Seat A321neo ACF Aircraft

    Vietjet has received two new Airbus A321 aircraft, registered as VN-A521 and VN-A542, on 31 December 2019 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The total number of aircraft in Vietjet’s fleet is now 80, and the VN-A521 aircraft is the third 240-seat A321neo ACF (Airbus Cabin Flex) aircraft in the world, with the two first of its type already being operated by Vietjet. With the arrival of the new aircrafts in the end of 2019, the new-age carrier is ready to meet the high travel demands during the festive period of Lunar New Year, as well as its fleet expansion plans in 2020.

    The new aircraft features leather seats and premium interiors. In particular, Vietjet’s third A321neo ACF aircraft has an innovative cabin structure to increase the total number of seats to 240. It also features the advantages of most modern Airbus aircrafts, including comfortable seat zones, fuel consumption savings of a minimum of 16 per cent, noise reduction of up to 75 per cent and emissions reduction of up to 50 per cent.

    Vietjet currently owns one of the world’s newest and most modern fleets with an average age of only 2.7 years. Vietjet has currently transported nearly 100 million passengers, with 130 routes covering destinations in Vietnam and international routes to Singapore, India, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, China, Indonesia and Cambodia.

     

     

  • Microsoft takes action against hackers from North Korea

    Microsoft takes action against hackers from North Korea

    In a recent blog post on the Microsoft website, the company detailed steps it has taken to take legal action against a cybercrime group and protect customer information.

    The security threat came from a group known as Thallium, which reportedly is based in North Korea. The group used a technique called ‘spear phishing’ to steal sensitive information, in which the group replicated the form and design of a genuine Microsoft security email while embedding dangerous links that, when clicked, would allow the group to extract sensitive account information.

    According to the Washington-based firm, the threat was focused on users affiliated with the government, universities, human rights groups, and other organizations, with most of the victims concentrated in the US, Japan, and South Korea.

    The particularly dangerous part of the scheme is that once Thallium takes control of an account in this way, it is possible for it to set up automatic forwarding in a way that gives the group access to any new emails the victim receives, even after the password is reset.

    The cybercrime group was able to use this method by using domains such as “rniscoroft.com”, which uses the combination of ‘r’ and ‘n’ to facsimile the authentic Microsoft domain. Thus, the Windows company filed a court case and was able to take control of 50 such domains in order to stop the attacks.

    Microsoft states that this is the fourth nation-state cybercrime group they have taken legal action against. The security threat has hopefully now been neutralized, but users are advised to be wary of suspicious emails and always check carefully before clicking email links or entering sensitive information.

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  • 759 Store parent boosts store count despite tough market

    759 Store parent boosts store count despite tough market

    Despite the torrid times facing Hong Kong retailers in the second half of last year, the 759 Store network achieved sales growth of 1.3 per cent to HK$853 million (US$109.5 million) in the six months to October 31.

    In a year that chairman Tang Fung Kwan described as “full of challenges” a one-off property valuation gain helped CEC increase its profit attributable to shareholders nearly fourfold in the October half. It rose from HK$1.431 million in the comparable six months to $5.07 million.

    Tang said changes happened “every single split second” during the period as the US-China trade war remained unpredictable and the local economy was affected by a series of “disturbances in society”.

    “In the period under review, the group held saving resources as its basic principle, adopting extremely prudent policies, taking restrictive cost control on the retail business and electronic component-manufacturing business, in order to … survive in the economic storm,” he said.

    The 759 Store network accounts for 96 per cent of the group’s revenue which on a consolidated basis was down by 1.1 per cent in the half year despite stronger retail sales.

    The consumer-goods retailer strengthened its portfolio of daily-living products during the half, including rice, noodles, food-grocery items and frozen food. That meant the share of snack foods and leisure foods in the portfolio decreased.

    To control costs, the group closed stores with relatively high rents but searched for potential sites that while in less prominent locations were available at reasonable rents. There was a net gain of three stores between April 30 and October 31 as six closed and nine opened.

    Tang said the company remained cautious of “the influences of uncertainties that come both internally and externally” in the year ahead.

    “The group will review the cost structure of current retail-store network, considering not to renew the tenancy agreements of some stores whose rents were too high, in the meantime searching for potential shop sites of suitable locations and relatively reasonable rents for replacement.

    “For the products, 759 Store will further strengthen its portfolio of food-grocery items, introducing many more items for rice, noodles, spaghettis, canned food, etc.”

    He said the company’s procurement team is approaching meat suppliers in Europe and North America with plans to boost its range of frozen meat. About four in five stores currently have freezer cabinets.

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  • Major Thai retailers stop giving out plastic bags

    Major Thai retailers stop giving out plastic bags

    Thai Retailers Association members have stopped providing customers with plastic bags as a ban took effect on January 1.

    A campaign titled Every Day Say No to Plastic Bags run by Thai Retailer Association will stop its 75 member chains from giving away plastic bags through 24,500 outlets, aiming to cut 13.5 billion plastic bags used in Thailand annually – about 30 per cent of the total.

    According to the Department of Pollution Control, 18 billion plastic bags (40 per cent) come from the fresh markets each year, while another 30 per cent or 13.5 billion bags come from local grocery stores. In Bangkok, each person uses eight plastic bags on average per day, creating around 80 million pieces of plastic waste daily.

    “Thailand was ranked sixth among the world’s top countries that dumps waste into the sea,” said Varawut Silpa-Archa, minister of natural resources and environment. “During the past five months, we were down to 10th … thanks to the cooperation of the Thai people.”

    The country reduced the use of plastic bags by 2 billion last year, in the first phase of a campaign to encourage consumers’ voluntary refusal of plastic bags from stores. Many department stores and supermarkets in Thailand already have their own programmes to cut down on plastic bags.

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