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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.

  • Singapore retail sales up in May

    Singapore retail sales up in May

    Retail sales in Singapore edged up marginally in May, with growth constrained partly by lower motor vehicle sales, according to Thursday’s (July 12) Department of Statistics release.

    May’s retail takings were up 0.1 per cent from the same month a year ago, with a total estimated sales value of S$3.8 billion, of which online retail sales contributed 4.3 per cent. Excluding motor vehicles, the rise was more significant, at 2.2 per cent.

    With increased shopping before the Hari Raya Puasa festive period, furniture and household equipment saw the biggest jump in sales, at 9.1 per cent. Sales at petrol service stations rose 8.8 per cent, due partly to higher petrol prices; after removing the price effect, the rise was just 0.8 per cent.

    Sales of apparel and footwear, medical goods and toiletries, and department stores industries also saw increases of between 2.7 per cent and 6.8 per cent.

    In contrast, sales of computer and telecommunications equipment fell 11.3 per cent, while those of motor vehicles fell 8.4 per cent. Takings from optical goods and books, recreational goods, minimarts and convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, and food retailers saw smaller decreases of between 0.8 per cent and 3.2 per cent.

    Lower vehicle sales also weighed down the month-on-month figures, though to a smaller degree. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, retail sales rose 0.1 per cent in May compared to April 2018. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 0.4 per cent month on month.

    Sales of food and beverage services rose on both a year-on-year and a seasonally-adjusted month-on-month basis: up 1.2 per cent compared to a year before, and up 0.6 per cent compared to the previous month. The total sales value of food and beverage services was estimated at S$689 million, up from S$681 million in May 2017.

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  • Lotte Mart’s ‘Be Goods by Busan’ in Vietnam

    Lotte Mart’s ‘Be Goods by Busan’ in Vietnam

    Lotte Mart Vietnam will promote products from South Korean SMEs in its Go Vap outlet in Ho Chi Minh City.

    The retailer will add a special sales zone called Be Goods by Busan, to sell 70 products from 13 companies based in Busan.

    Lotte has selected products including fruit and vegetable drinks, frying pans and shampoos, items it believes will appeal to local Vietnamese consumers. More items are to follow.

    The retailer is also planning to provide online and offline marketing support for the products.

    This is the second time Lotte Mart has opened a Be Goods store.

    Last October, Lotte Mart Nguyen Van Linh hosted 196 products of 23 Korean SMEs, and earned 240 million won (US$215,827) in sales over seven months.

    Vietnam is Korea’s third largest export market and Lotte Mart believes it is the best place for Korean SMEs to test and export their products.

    Last month, another Korean retailer E-Mart also promoted Korean SME’s products in Singapore.

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  • South Korean convenience stores to sell more own brand

    South Korean convenience stores to sell more own brand

    More South Korean c-stores are set to launch in-house products as local retailers move to attract more consumers with price competitiveness.

    E-Mart24, the convenience-store arm of South Korean retail giant Shinsegae, said it is planning to unveil its own private-label product within this year. Ministop Korea, operator of Ministop, is set to launch its own branded products in September.

    The moves are part of the companies’ broader efforts to find a breakthrough in the saturated South Korean c-store landscape. The size of South Korean convenience stores private-label product market is estimated at around 3.5 trillion won (US$3.15 billion).

    CU, South Korea’s largest convenience-store chain, operated by BGF Retail, released its own brand, Heyroo, in 2015, and GS25, another major convenience-store chain, joined the move with You Us in 2016.

    BGF Retail said sales of its private-label products rose 35.3 per cent year-on-year in 2016. Last year’s revenue was up 19.1 per cent from 2016.

    GS Retail, operator of GS25, said sales of its private-brand items accounted for 36.6 per cent of its total revenue in the first half of this year, excluding revenue generated from cigarettes and services. The company has around 2000 products under private label.

    Another major convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, said sales of its in-house products accounted for 35.9 per cent of this year’s total revenue as of Sunday. It currently has some 1500 products under its private brand.

    “The companies will be able to survive in this saturated market only if they manage to secure consumers who are highly loyal to their private label products,” an industry source said.

    The market size for convenience stores in South Korea surpassed 20 trillion won in 2016, up 18.6 per cent from the previous year, according to industry data.

  • 7-Eleven boosts parents profit growth

    7-Eleven boosts parents profit growth

    Overseas growth in the 7-Eleven convenience store business drove a modest increase in profit for Japanese retail group Seven & I Holdings in the first quarter.

    While the challenges of a shrinking population, falling household spending and corresponding lacklustre economy in its home market subdued local performance, offshore growth continues to underpin the company’s results.

    Operating profit of 86.4 billion yen (US$781.2 million) was 2.7 per cent higher year-on-year in the three months to May.

    While 7-Eleven Japan is the nation’s largest convenience store chain, with more than 20,000 stores, the c-store sector is struggling to make headway amid growing competition from drugstores, and Seven & I Holdings’ Ito-Yokado supermarket chain, and its department stores are essentially standing still.

    That makes overseas growth critical for Seven & I Holdings. While 7-Eleven Japan operating profit fell 6.9 per cent to 55.4 billion yen, overseas 7-Eleven profits surged 33 per cent. In Thailand, the chain has about 11,000 stores operated by local partner CP All. It has another 9500 stores in the US and more still under franchise agreements in markets including Malaysia, Australia and, more recently, Vietnam.

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  • AirAsia partners with Vice to woo travellers with culinary adventurism

    AirAsia partners with Vice to woo travellers with culinary adventurism

    AirAsia has announced a content partnership with Vice to encourage travellers to explore some of the world’s spiciest regions and cuisines.

    The content partnership consists of a four-part travel series Hot Heads which will be hosted by Karina Utomo, of Australian hardcore band High Tension, who will travel to India to discover the spiciest dishes available.

    Hot Heads will tour diverse locations within AirAsia’s India network which includes Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

    AirAsia Group head of branding, Rudy Khaw said: “Vice are the perfect partner for us to showcase India as an exciting destination for millennials. Using food as the driver, the unique series challenges the host Karina to step outside her comfort zone and explore the diverse sights and sounds of India.”

    Business development director of brand partnerships Vice Australia, Cain Collins said: “We’re incredibly excited to be working with the team at AirAsia, and inspiring the search for unique and exciting experiences.

    “Hot Heads is a travel series informed by quantifiable insights drawn from Vice owned data around what’s currently driving young people’s destination consideration set: culinary adventurism and local experiences, combined with a little bit of Schadenfreude.”

    AirAsia recently re-created its Weekdays campaign from 2015 to encourage more people to travel within Thailand.

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  • AirAsia celebrates Avalon Airport launch with $99 flights to Asia

    AirAsia celebrates Avalon Airport launch with $99 flights to Asia

    Earlier in the year, Avalon Airport and AirAsia announced they would be teaming up to offer the first ever international flights out of Melbourne’s second airport, Avalon.

    Now, tickets for first flights are finally out and to celebrate they are on sale for as little as $99 each way.

    These are to AirAsia’s home city Kuala Lumpur and, to be perfectly frank, are actually on sale for $12 each waywith airport taxes coming in at $87. Put the two together and you get your flight fare.

    Whichever way you look at it, it is super cheap and is definitely not one to be missed.

    The Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur route will operate twice daily on AirAsia’s long haul carrier AirAsia X on an A330-300 aircraft. While it’s the focus flight of this launch, it isn’t the only one from Avalon Airport on sale. Direct flights from Melbourne (Avalon) to Bangkok are also available from $154 each way while over 70 indirect flights via Kuala Lumpur are also available to snap up for cheap. This includes Melbourne to Singapore from $140, Melbourne to Phuket from $147, Melbourne to Male (Maldives) from $201 and Melbourne to Tokyo from $249, to name a few.

    Again all these fares are one-way with returns costing double.

    Travel is open across a more-than-generous period, ranging from 4 December 2018 to 13 August 2019. This includes peak season dates such as Christmas, though these are limited so you may need to be flexible with your dates around high-season to keep to your intended budget.

  • Cebu to get Go Lokal! store by September

    Cebu to get Go Lokal! store by September

    Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 Director Asteria Caberte said this will be the first Go Lokal! branch outside of Metro Manila and will be installed in the new wing of Ayala Center Cebu.

    Go Lokal! is a retail concept store showcasing Philippine products crafted, designed, and produced by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

    “This will be a different concept. It will highlight our export-quality, high-end products,” said Caberte, adding that they target the ballooning tourism market, balikbayans and affluent society as potential buyers of top-tier Filipino-made products.

    Go Lokal! carries everyday products made from indigenous materials that are modern in design, world-class in packaging, and competitively priced, including processed food, home decor, arts and crafts, health and wellness products, fashion apparel, accessories, and eco-friendly products.

    These products undergo extensive product development with specialists from the Design Center of the Philippines to make them suitable for the retail, export, and souvenir markets.

    Besides the upcoming Ayala Center Cebu branch, Caberte will reach out to the officials of the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) for her plan to mount a stand- alone Go Lokal! at the Terminal 1 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

    “We will be talking to them mid-August about our proposed Go Lokal! branch in the domestic terminal,” said Caberte.

    After the completion of Terminal 2, GMCAC will rehabilitate the domestic airport terminal to be consistent with its resort-themed airport.

    Last March, DTI signed an agreement with Shopinas and Air 21 to provide an e-commerce platform for Go Lokal! products.

    “This is a partnership on innovation, which is a key element in DTI’s thrust to support the (MSMEs). Through this platform, our MSMEs will be able to reach out a larger market beyond the boundaries of the country while maximizing their potential,” said DTI secretary Ramon Lopez in a statement.

    A Go Lokal microsite will be available on Shopinas website that will feature MSME products. Items purchased on this platform will be delivered through Air 21.

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  • Alibaba Says Its AI Copywriting Tool Passed the Turing Test

    Alibaba Says Its AI Copywriting Tool Passed the Turing Test

    Alibaba’s digital marketing arm Alimama has unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered copywriting tool.

    Tapping the huge pool of content on Alibaba’s e-commerce sites Tmall and Taobao, the AI copywriter uses deep learning and natural language-processing technologies learn from millions of top-quality existing samples to generate copy for products. Brands and advertisers can insert a link to any product page, and click the “Produce Smart Copy” button to see multiple copy ideas.

    Currently, the AI copywriter technology has passed the ‘Turing test’ and is capable of producing 20,000 lines of copy in a second, said Alimama. Brands using the new tool, such as Hong Kong-listed fashion chain Esprit and Texas-born clothing brand Dickies, can adjust the length and tone of their copy, such as dictating whether they want the tone to be “promotional, functional, fun, poetic or heartwarming.”

    The tool is used on average nearly a million times per day, by merchants and marketers on Alibaba-owned sites such as Taobao, Tmall, Mei.com (a fashion flash sale website) and 1688.com (Alibaba’s Chinese-language wholesale buying site).

    “For merchants, from today onwards, AI can take care of a portion of their copywriting needs. And it significantly changes the way [copywriters] work: They will shift from thinking up copy – one line at a time – to choosing the best out of many machine-generated options, largely improving efficiency,” Alimama said in a statement.

    As with design, copywriting involves a certain degree of repetitive, low-value work that can be made made more efficient, Alimama added. A single product might require up to 10 versions of copy for different ad formats, like posters, web banners, product pages and other special event pages.

    “All the content produced by the AI Copywriter is the result of applying deep learning models, trained with large volumes of quality content created by humans. Human creativity is the cornerstone for the machine, which isn’t able to replace the creativity of people,” said Christina Lu, GM of Alimama marketing. “AI for marketing… allows people to devote more energy to richly creative work.”

    “The AI copywriter is a really amazing tool,” said Shaozhang Ding, head of e-commerce for the Asia Pacific market at Esprit. “Based on a massive database of existing copy and advanced AI technologies, the tool can reduce the repetitive and tedious copywriting workload for our teams.

    The AI Copywriter is the latest in a suite of technologies Alimama has developed to assist small to mid-sized businesses on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms, including a “smart banner designer” released in April that can resize and reformat promotional website banners with the slide of a mouse (drag a corner of the banner to change the shape of the box, and the system automatically reproportions the images and copy to fit the new format). In the same vein, Alibaba released an AI-powered video-editing tool for brands to generate – in less than a minute – 20-second videos to use for promotion on Taobao.

  • German retailer removes single-use products to combat plastic pollution

    German retailer removes single-use products to combat plastic pollution

    Rewe will remove single-use plastic straws from the aisles of its supermarkets in order to help combat environmental pollution, the German retail chain announced on Wednesday.

    The Cologne-based company estimated that the move across its 6,000 stores would lead to an annual reduction of around 42 million single-use plastic straws going to landfill.

    The retail group includes the popular supermarket chains “Rewe” and “Penny”, as well as the “Toom” hardware stores in Germany.

    Rewe is only one of several German retailers which have recently taken steps to address growing concerns over the environmental consequences of excessive plastic consumption.

    Amongst others, the discounter Lidl will no longer stock single-use plastic products like cutlery and straws from 2020 onwards while rival Edeka is developing a returnable packaging system as an alternative to single-use.

    According to the “Seas at Risk” group of non-governmental organizations (NGO), around 100,000 tons of plastic from the European Union (EU) end up in the bloc’s seas every year with devastating implications for marine ecosystems. In total, 46 billion single-use bottles and 36 billion straws are consumed annually in the EU only to be thrown away shortly thereafter.

    The EU commission has set itself a goal to lower the amount of single-use waste in its seas by 30 percent until 2020 while the European Parliament is demanding for a more ambitious target of 50 percent until 2030.

    In a widely-discussed proposal, EU budgetary commissioner Guenther Oettinger recently called for the introduction of a plastic tax as a means to lower consumer use and simultaneously improve the bloc’s finances following the departure of the United Kingdom.

    Speaking to the German press agency on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the German ministry for the environment emphasized, however, that environmental pollution through single-use products was a problem that applied to plastic as well as other materials.

    “We need to overcome a powerful throw-away culture”, the spokesperson said.

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  • Department store in Nagoya ends 400-year history

    Department store in Nagoya ends 400-year history

    A 400-year-old department store in Nagoya has closed.

    Maruei Department Store, which opened as Juichiya kimono shop in 1615 and was renamed in 1943 when it merged with another retailer, was once the largest stores of its kind in Western Japan. It was hit by hard economic times in the early 1990s but was kept operational until sales dropped to an all-time low last year.

    Under new ownership since being acquired by Nagoya pharmaceuticals firm Kowa in 2010, the store failed to overcome the rise of e-commerce and became obsolete, with some observers noting a base inconsistency in its various product lineups. Kowa is planning to reopen a commercial facility on the same site several years from now.

    Yoshimitsu Hamajima, the president of Maruei Department Store, thanked the crowds of well-wishers who showed up for the grand closing ceremony.

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  • Supermarket chains Tesco, Carrefour form strategic alliance

    Supermarket chains Tesco, Carrefour form strategic alliance

    Britain’s largest grocery chain Tesco and French grocery giant Carrefour have joined forces on how they source and buy from suppliers in a bid to cut prices.

    The long-term deal, which was struck amid mounting competition from Amazon and other rivals, allows the supermarket giants to jointly source certain products to lower prices and offer a wide range of product offerings to customers.

    According to Tesco, the alliance will be governed by a three-year operational framework and will enable both companies to improve the quality and choice of products available to their customers at even lower prices.

    Both companies will continue to work with supplier partners at a local and national level.

    “By working together and making the most of our collective product expertise and sourcing capability, we will be able to serve our customers even better, further improving choice, quality and value,” said Dave Lewis, Tesco Group chief executive.

    Alexandre Bompard, chairman and CEO of Carrefour, said the strategic alliance between the two grocery giants is a major agreement that combines the purchasing expertise “of two world leaders, complementary in geographies with common strategies.”

    The alliance will be formally agreed within the next two months, Tesco said in a statement.

    The British retailer has trialled a few days ago a new “shop and go” technology that allows Tesco customers to pay for their groceries without visiting a till, just through a smartphone.

    The retailer has given 100 company employees smartphones and use them to shop at its headquarters to trial the service. They use the phones to scan barcodes and pay for their shopping.

    The experiment is similar to the technology Amazon has already adapted in its grocery store in Seattle.

  • Vietnamese consumers among world’s most positive

    Vietnamese consumers among world’s most positive

    Vietnamese consumer confidence index achieved its highest score in the last decade, placing it as the fourth most optimistic country in the world, according to market research firm Nielsen.

    The index reached 124 points in the first quarter of 2018, up 9 points over the same period last year.

    “The great economic growth across industries, combined with strong foreign investment flows, increasing household incomes and proper government policies have resulted in optimism among consumers,” said Nguyen Huong Quynh, Managing Director of Nielsen Vietnam.

    “However, positive sentiments did not lead to strong fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales in Vietnam, with the market up just 1.8 percent in Q1. The growth was slower than expected and reflected the characteristic of FMCG industry in Vietnam, possibly due to changing consumer behaviors,” Quynh added.

    Having a stable job and good health remains key concerns of Vietnamese consumers. In this quarter, the top five concerns of Vietnamese consumers remained the same as last year. Job security topped the list with 43 percent, followed by health and wellness (41 percent). Other concerns included work-life balance and economic status with both at 23 percent.

    The Nielsen report said Southeast Asia and North America showed the highest level of consumer confidence. The confidence score of consumers in Southeast Asia increased 2 points from 119 in fourth quarter of 2017 to 121 in first quarter of this year.

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  • Jokowi Opens Indonesia’s First Wind Power Plant

    Jokowi Opens Indonesia’s First Wind Power Plant

    As President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated Indonesia’s first wind power plant in Sidenreng Rappang, South Sulawesi, on Monday (02/07), the government is getting closer to its ambitious target of obtaining more than a fifth of the country’s energy from renewable sources.

    The plant, also known as PLTB Sidrap, consists of 30 wind turbines which can produce up to 75 megawatts and electrify 80,000 households. The turbines in 40 percent consist of locally produced components.

    “This puts Indonesia among the few Asian countries that posses wind power plants, like Japan, China and Korea,” Jokowi said in a statement.

    Sidrap started its development in 2015 with $150 million borne by a consortium comprising of UPC Renewables Asia I, UPC Renewables Asia III, Sunedison and Binatek Energi Terbarukan.

    A similar project in Bantul, Yogyakarta, also developed  by UPC Renewables, was shelved in 2017 due to land clearance problems.

    Jokowi seeks to connect 99 percent of Indonesians to the country’s grid by 2019, when his first presidential term ends. Currently, the electrification rate is 96 percent.

    Indonesia aims to have 23 percent of its total power coming from renewable resources by 2025, also to fulfill its climate change mitigation commitment, in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

    Today, only 14 percent of the country’s energy is clean. More than half of it still comes from coal-powered plants.

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  • Lulu opens new hypermarket concept in Abu Dhabi

    Lulu opens new hypermarket concept in Abu Dhabi

    LuLu Group launched a new hypermarket concept and revamped store design at The Mall in World Trade Center Abu Dhabi on Monday.

    LuLu’s 148th store was inaugurated by Aldar Properties chief executive officer Talal Al Dhiyebi along with LuLu Group chairman and managing director Yusuff Ali M.A., executive director Ashraf Ali M.A. and CEO Saifee Rupawala.

    Situated within Abu Dhabi’s central business district, the store has more than 100,000 square feet area.

    Yusuff Ali said the newly launched hypermarket significantly adds to the portfolio of LuLu Hypermarket chains. “LuLu has been the shopping partner of different nationalities and we will continue to preserve this identity with our new store. This new hypermarket introduces a newly improved design and space, which will further strengthen the world-class shopping experience.”

    Talal Al Dhiyebi welcomed the opening of LuLu Hypermarket. “Aldar has an enviable portfolio of retail assets including malls and retail community centres throughout Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. We constantly review our retail mix to ensure we provide residents and visitors alike with the right balance of brands. This hypermarket, along with the nine other new brands that have opened at The Mall so far this year, expands the existing mix of retailers and will drive further footfall while responding to local resident demand.”

    10 new hypermarkets, China expansion plans

    Yusuff Ali said the group saw tremendous growth opportunities in Abu Dhabi where 10 new hypermarkets are in the construction stage.

    “It will be operational within the next 18 to 24 months. This includes Al Falaha, Reem, Khalifa City, Sadiyat, Beda Zayed etc.”

    Two more hypermarkets will be opened in the coming weeks  – one in Umm Al Quwain and Saudi Arabia  – that will make total number of outlets to 150.

    LuLu also plans to enter the retail scenario in China where it has sourcing and logistics facility since 2000. A memorandum of understanding on co-operation on various areas of mutual interest was signed recently between Lin Yi, Party Secretary of Communist Party of China, Yiwu, in Zhejiang province and Yusuff Ali.  As per the MoU, LuLu will increase its yearly exports from China which stands currently at $220 million to $300 million. 

    Apart from this, LuLu will also look into the possibility of investment to set up Hypermarkets in Yiwu and other major cities at an investment of $200 million. 

  • Emart’s take on Don Quijote opens in COEX

    Emart’s take on Don Quijote opens in COEX

    Emart’s Pierrot Shopping store has opened inside Coex mall, in southern Seoul.

    Aiming to be a “Fun and Crazy” destination, the 2513sqm two-storey store targets consumers in their 20s and 30s with a diverse range of 40,000 products.

    On basement floor, there is a large collection of alcohol and snacks from Korean and foreign brands, along with wigs, costumes and a discreet space for ‘adult toys’.

    On the first floor, customers will find goods as diverse as leather bags from brands such as Prada and Fendi, fresh food, cordless vacuum cleaners, smoking pipes, fake eyelashes and pet food.

    One curious feature in the store is a smoking room which resembles the interior of a subway train. An information desk and electronic kiosks offer tax refunds for foreign customers.

    A Korean version of Japanese Don Quijote chain, Pierrot Shopping store is designed “to be a place where young people can come to play and look around without a clear shopping purpose”.

    “You can come here to find relief from everyday stress, casually pick up things that look intriguing and buy them just because they’re affordable,” said Pierrot Shopping’s brand manager, Yoo Jin-cheol.

    While other large-scale retailers prioritise space and neatly arranged products so that consumers can easily find what they are looking for, at Pierrot Shopping the aisles are narrow and in some places it’s difficult for two people to pass.

    The staff wear uniforms with “I don’t know where that is either” printed on the back.

    Emart explained the intention was to make consumers venture more around the aisles, make unexpected discoveries and have a“fun experience”.

    Emart will open two more branches of Pierrot Shopping this year with smaller footprints than at Coex; at the Doota Mall and in Nonhyeon, in Gangnam District.

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