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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.

  • Powa takes tablet POS to Japan

    Powa takes tablet POS to Japan

    As the demand for tablet and mobile-based point of sale solutions accelerates across the Asia Pacific region, Powa Technologies today announced that S-Cubism Technologies has become the first Japanese-based POS software provider to complete integration with its PowaPOS tablet-based hardware.

    The full-featured solution will use its EC-Orange POS for iPad and Windows, and is available from Billing System Corporation, a leading payment gateway and reseller. Billing System Corporation is also a reseller of PowaTag, Powa’s innovative mobile payment enablement application that turns any point of contact into a point of sale.

    “Powa has created the most sophisticated and revolutionary fixed tablet point of sale platform available, which will help us serve the growing demand for tablet-based solutions,” said Kenji Hosoda, CTO, S-Cubism Technologies. “The fully integrated hardware and advanced SDK combine to help us create a solution that will easily meet the needs of the Japanese retail marketplace.”

    PowaPOS is the first point of sale platform purpose built for tablet-based payments. Its fully integrated design rids merchants of the need for mismatched peripherals and provides industry-leading ease of set-up. Features include a built in thermal printer, 2D QR/barcode scanner, orientation sensor, as well as the optional PowaPOS Cash Drawer – all in a compact footprint and powered by a single cord. With its advanced SDK, PowaPOS is the only tablet-based platform to easily integrate with all POS software applications across all operating systems. The PowaPOS SDK also supports third party payment devices, including NFC/Apple Pay devices, and enables instant integration with PowaTag.

    “Powa Technologies’ PowaPOS and PowaTag solutions are truly revolutionary in the retail marketplace today,” said Toshihiko Eda, President & CEO of Billing System Corporation. “The innovative PowaPOS platform is the ideal component to help us deliver a complete POS and payments solution to existing customers, and open up new markets for us in Japan, as many retailers seek a tablet-based solution for the very first time.”

    EC-Orange POS is a next generation POS software solution, available for iPad and Windows tablets. Features include payment processing, inventory management, customer relationship management, promotions support, and sales analysis. With more than 4,200 stores across Japan already using EC-Orange POS, S-Cubism is one of the country’s leading POS software providers.

    “Powa’s partnerships with Billing System Corporation and S-Cubism Technologies provides retailers in Japan with a fully integrated tablet POS solution to run their businesses, complete with an unmatched ‘out of the box’ hardware experience,” said Zvi Mitlanski, SVP & GM, Asia Pacific, PowaPOS. “With this integration, PowaPOS continues to expand its global footprint, with a significant step forward in providing next generation tablet-based payments to the retail end-user in Japan.”

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  • Pleasure Metropolis opens indoor road in China mall

    Pleasure Metropolis opens indoor road in China mall

    Pleasure Metropolis Property has launched China’s first cultural and artistic industry-themed indoor pedestrian road in Tianjin – Pleasure Metropolis’s Cheer Market.

    The road can also be the primary of its sort within the nation to have been situated inside a buying centre. The distinctive and ‘avant-garde fashion’, Cheer Market has been held up as a mannequin that different purchasing malls have been following in recent times in an try and buck the development of homogeneity and the affect of e-commerce in addition to to shoulder the company social duty actively.

    Pleasure Metropolis’s goal clients, aged between 18 and 35, are able to creating and appreciating artworks, together with these designs that are above the mass market’s style. Particularly, Cheer Market caters for the preferences and needs of the ‘yuppies’.

    Positioned as “an artwork road in a purchasing centre”, Cheer Market consists of delivery containers during which entrepreneurs arrange outlets and are free to train their creativity and originality of their inside ornament and design.

    As well as, the low lease and enormous share of revenues loved by the companies in Cheer Market and the place’s distinctive inventive atmosphere have attracted numerous artistic younger individuals to make their marks there. The freewheeling environment has given delivery to such creative zones as “Shen Shou Si” (Temple of Auspicious Animals) and “Secret Publish Workplace” which have turn out to be magnets for patrons.

    “Younger individuals are imbued with many unique concepts, however often can’t put them into follow as they face many various sorts of constraints, together with a scarcity of capital”, stated a graduate who’s a younger entrepreneur.

    “Nevertheless, they will realise their goals in Cheer Market, which is a seedbed for brand spanking new companies began by the younger due to its beneficial circumstances.”

    Tianjin Pleasure Metropolis’s GM Wu Jing says: “A purchasing centre ought to be energetic as an alternative of being mundane.”

    Situated on the fifth flooring of Tianjin Pleasure Metropolis, Cheer Market has now turned what was as soon as an inaccessible quiet nook with a big space into an indoor business road with a robust character and the very best income generated per sq. metre.

    The business property challenge distinguishes itself from Nanluoguxiang (South Lane of Gongs and Drums) of Beijing and Tianzifang, which is an arts and crafts enclave of Shanghai, by recreating outside streets inside a constructing.

    The identify “Cheer Market” was impressed by the youngsters’s e-book Nils Holgersson’s fantastic journey throughout Sweden of the Nobel Prize-winning author Selma Lagerlöf. The novel illustrates the protagonist’s private improvement by means of a collection of fantasy adventures, and evokes individuals with a ardour for all times to be happy to reside out their goals.

    Says Wu: “The importance of Cheer Market lies in its functionality to set off individuals’s want for creativity with freedom. Their hands-on expertise with the fascinating actions on the outlets there result in consumption. Cheer Market will assist appeal to clients to Pleasure Metropolis. It has blazed a path within the industry by bringing outside streets indoor and by providing clients a stimulating buying setting.”

    Pleasure Metropolis Property’s government director and GM Han Shi says Pleasure Metropolis Property aspires to develop into an organization that may thrive for greater than a century, and innovation would be the key to that.” 

    “Pleasure Metropolis is far more than a purchasing centre. It’s a vibrant and stylish place for spreading tradition. Pleasure Metropolis will set the development for the younger individuals’s way of life. It is going to endeavor to realize this goal via fixed innovation and by main the industry in enterprise administration.”

    Hong Kong listed Pleasure Metropolis Property is a business property itemizing firm underneath COFCO Company, enterprise of which overlaying business property, residential property, lodge, tourism property and regional complete improvement.

  • Lotus Foods helps small rice farmers grow their income

    Lotus Foods helps small rice farmers grow their income

    Lotus Foods, a global innovator in the production and marketing of specialty rice, joined the Business Call to Action with a commitment to increase the incomes of at least 3,000 farm households by 2017.

    The company is paving the way to market for smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia who adopt the ecological method of rice cultivation known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). This helps farmers to grow rice more sustainably to make livable incomes as well as to offer healthier rice choices to consumers.

    Established in 1995, Lotus Foods has become dominant in linking marginalized farmers to major markets, having pioneered the introduction of heirloom black and red rice into the United States.

    The SRI production method, which is being applied by more than 10 million farmers in more than 50 countries, helps farmers generate surpluses by doubling their rice yields with less water, land, chemicals and greenhouse gas emissions.

    Introduction of this growing method to its farmer-producers led Lotus to surpass its early goals and increase the amount of SRI-produced rice it buys from organic-certified farmers in Cambodia, Indonesia and Madagascar. Initially the rice was sold only in bulk, but in 2010 the company launched its heirloom varieties for retail customers.

    Suba Sivakumaran, Business Call to Action (BCtA) Programme Manager, said: “Fair trade, organic and healthy products are among the food industry’s fastest growing trends – we are pleased that Lotus Foods has seized the opportunity to improve farmers’ productivity, enhance developing economies and protect the environment.”

    Lotus has been an important catalyst for farmers to obtain organic and fair trade certifications, in addition to producing according to SRI methods, in order to earn higher export premiums.

     

  • Tobacco producers refute Sicpa taking credit score for fall in unlawful cigarettes

    Tobacco producers refute Sicpa taking credit score for fall in unlawful cigarettes

    The Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Producers (CMTM) at this time refuted strategies that safety marking provider Sicpa had contributed to the most important drop within the historical past of unlawful cigarettes in Malaysia.

    Sicpa is a Swiss-based safety ink, authentication traceability options supplier, which operates in Malaysia via Sicpa Product Safety Sdn Bhd.

    The corporate just lately took the credit score and claimed that the unlawful cigarettes within the nation had declined 6.6 proportion level from 38.9% in 2013 to 32.three%, as recorded within the Illicit Cigarette Research (ICS) 2014 by analysis agency Nielsen, because of the deployment of its merchandise on cigarette packs.

    Nevertheless, CMTM has immediately issued a press release to counter the claims made by Sicpa on the effectiveness of their safety markings towards the decline of illicit cigarette commerce.

    As an alternative, the confederation highlighted that the current giant decline was attributed to the concerted and enhanced efforts by enforcement businesses, primarily the Royal Malaysian Customs (RMC).

    “The character of unlawful cigarettes in Malaysia is such that they’re wholly smuggled into Malaysia from different nations with none required safety marking. To recommend instantly or not directly that the sharp decline recorded within the ICS 2014 statistics was because of the deployment of Sicpa merchandise, in our view, is a deceptive assertion on the effectiveness of the system in addressing unlawful cigarette commerce in Malaysia.

    “It doesn’t present the entire image of the state of affairs since 2004 when it was launched,” CMTM stated within the assertion.

    CMTM is a cigarette producers’ affiliation that was established by the three main gamers within the nation, specifically British American Tobacco Malaysia Bhd, JT Worldwide Bhd and Philip Morris (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

    To recap, it was reported final month that Sicpa has been working via its long-term Malaysian know-how companion Lembah Sari Sdn Bhd to allow RMC to fight the unlawful commerce of tobacco and imported alcohol within the nation.

    The corporate belonged to Datuk Haris Onn Hussein, the brother of Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

    Referring to the current media reviews in April, quoting Sicpa, the CMTM stated they seen with critical concern the impression created by Sicpa that its merchandise, specifically using safety ink marking on regionally manufactured cigarettes packaging and tax stamps on imported cigarettes, led to the stated largest drop.

    The CMTM went on to say that the decline highlighted by Sicpa in 2014 was particularly attributed to the robust enforcement efforts of the RMC by way of operations like Ops Pacak and Ops Outlet and had little or no or nothing to do with the safety ink marking or tax stamps on cigarettes.

    Via anti-illegal cigarettes commerce operations, stated CMTM, the RMC has made vital progress in addressing demand for unlawful cigarettes by arresting and remanding unlawful cigarette retailers, together with penalising them with deterrent sentences that led to the growing pressures on unlawful cigarette buying and selling actions.

    “What is obvious is that since 2004 when safety markings have been first launched within the Malaysian cigarette market, the Unlawful Cigarettes Market rose sharply from 14.four% in 2004 to 33.7% in 2014. All via this era, the safety markings requirement was enforced and carried out by the cigarette producers,”CMTM added.

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  • Retail, service income will increase by 9.1 per cent

    Retail gross sales and repair income within the first 5 months of the yr totalled VND1,305 trillion (US$60.67 billion), based on the Common Statistics Workplace (GSO).

    The determine represents a 9.1 per cent improve on the yr, the GSO stated, including that it rose eight.2 per cent excluding inflation.

    Retail gross sales prior to now 5 months accounted for 75 per cent of the sector’s complete income, reaching VND997 trillion ($46.37 billion).

    The hospitality sector noticed an 11.2 per cent improve in income, or VND145.73 trillion ($6.78 billion), owing to the elevated spending in the course of the lengthy vacation.

    In the meantime, the tourism sector, which is valued at VND10.59 trillion ($zero.5 billion), fell 11.eight per cent.

    Buying energy progress stood at round eight per cent within the first 5 months. It elevated, inflation excluded, 9.2 per cent in March, 10.7 per cent in February and 11.9 per cent in January.

    The expansion of buying energy has declined and stood at eight per cent in April and Might.

    GSO statistician Vu Manh Ha stated these indices don’t mirror actual buying energy, as a result of they’re calculated based mostly on the buyer worth index (CPI).

    The CPI has been fluctuating. It decreased in January and February, however elevated once more by zero.15 per cent in March, zero.14 per cent in April and zero.16 per cent in Might. However the cash influx of consumption and providers didn’t fluctuate a lot.

  • Shopper confidence index exhibits fall in Might

    The buyer confidence index (CCI) dipped 1.29 factors to 91.64 in Might, whereas the inventory funding confidence sub-index noticed the most important fall, by 9.6 factors, based mostly on a report launched by the Nationwide Central College (中央大學, NCU) yesterday.

    Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of NCU’s Analysis Middle for Taiwan Financial Improvement, stated the arrogance for inventory funding tumbled largely as a result of the federal government tuned down this yr’s GDP progress forecast final week, and cash within the native inventory market had flown to China’s booming inventory market.

    The inventory funding confidence index registered at 100.1 factors.

    Simply final month, inventory funding confidence rose probably the most among the many six sub-indices, growing four.9 factors to succeed in all-time-high 109.70.

    Final month’s survey was carried out at a time when the inventory index was approaching the 10,000 mark, and when Beijing proposed a stock-connect platform between Taiwan and China. The prospects led to a rise in overseas capital and fueled investor confidence.

    Different Sub-indices Scores

    Beneath the CCI’s 200-point scale, an index that falls within the Zero-100 level zone displays pessimistic shopper confidence whereas a determine between 100 and 200 signifies optimism.

    Regarding the different indexes, the CCI for worth ranges and family finance climbed to 55.85 factors and 87.65 factors, respectively. The job market index stayed degree at 114.9.

    The CCI for home financial system and sturdy items purchases — principally actual property purchases — declined to 86.65 factors and 104.7 factors, respectively.

    J.P. Morgan’s Conflicting Discovering

    Whereas the native inventory market may need underperformed, buyers are nonetheless upbeat concerning the world financial system, based mostly on a report launched by J.P. Morgan lately.

    In accordance with J.P. Morgan’s report, the index for investor confidence reached 106.four within the second quarter, rising for the second consecutive quarter and reached the very best degree in three years.

    Though buyers are usually not assured concerning the native financial system, they confirmed nice optimism over the world financial system, believing it is going to end in wealth progress within the close to future, the survey discovered.

    Jerry Chu (邱亮士), an government from J.P. Morgan Asset Administration, stated the uncertainty relating to when the U.S. Fed will hike curiosity is definitely thought-about by buyers as a constructive.

    Different positives, in response to Chu, embrace larger profitability for corporations in Japan and Europe; a unfastened financial coverage in China that may increase enterprise incomes, which may then translate into greater wage ranges and better consumption.

    Main inventory markets within the globe have moved up prior to now three months. The Chinese language market soared almost 40 %, whereas Japan and European markets have surged about 10 %. The markets in Taiwan and the U.S. grew a comparatively low 5 %.

    Taiwan’s inventory market hit a brand new document final month, and the current retraction is taken into account by Chu as a traditional adjustment.

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  • Markets dropping lead over comfort shops

    Markets dropping lead over comfort shops

    Moist markets and conventional shops stay the popular retail channels for Vietnamese consumers, although they’re beneath menace as shoppers shift away, based on a Nielsen report launched on Wednesday.

    The 2 have seen a decline in gross sales of 5 per cent and 17 per cent respectively since 2012.

    The frequency of visits additionally decreased.

    Whereas shoppers have turn into extra “savvy” of their buying behaviour in recent times, the necessity for comfort continues to develop.

    In Viet Nam, retailer enlargement additionally continues to realize momentum, particularly in city areas.

    Comfort shops greater than doubled from 147 in 2012 to 348 final yr, whereas mini marts elevated from 863 to 1452.

    This new demand is being led by time-poor and predominantly younger buyers in making on a regular basis meals and grocery purchases, and has been a key driver in comfort retailer enlargement.

    Some 22 per cent of shoppers store for meals and grocery extra typically at comfort shops in comparison with 12 months in the past.

    Meals and drinks are driving comfort retailer gross sales, with 86 per cent of shoppers shopping for both and 62 per cent of beverage consumers additionally shopping for meals and 51 per cent of meals consumers additionally shopping for drinks.

    Vaughan Ryan, managing director of Nielsen Viet Nam, stated: “Comfort shouldn’t be a retailer entrance, however relatively a lifestyle. Shoppers are more and more demanding merchandise and options that assist them of their more and more busy life.

    “In consequence we’ll see the emergence in Viet Nam of each the comfort channel and e-commerce to satisfy this shopper demand.”

    To deal with these shifts, retailers should deepen their understanding of this evolving shopper behaviour, foresee altering wants and develop methods which are targeted on differentiation in areas that matter most to consumers, he added.

  • Shopper confidence up in Asia-Pacific

    Shopper confidence up in Asia-Pacific

    Shopper confidence in Asia-Pacific elevated in 9 of 14 markets within the first quarter of 2015, in comparison with solely three that rose within the fourth-quarter 2014, in accordance with the Nielsen International Survey of Shopper Confidence and Spending Intentions.

    The 9 markets additionally remained at or above the 100-baseline degree of optimism. India, whose confidence degree has been on the rise for six consecutive quarters, had the very best index rating within the area of 130, a one-point improve from the earlier quarter and a degree that has not been reached since 2011.

    “The city Indian shopper began the yr with constructive sentiment in anticipation of enchancment by way of reforms and stimulus introduced by the brand new authorities,” stated Piyush Mathur, president, Nielsen India Area.

    “These preliminary indicators of optimism mirror anticipation of financial restoration which are but to manifest whenever you take a look at fast-moving shopper items and auto sectors particularly over the previous few quarters. Furthermore, infrastructure, engineering and different industrial sectors are but to collect tempo. The autumn in inflation is predicted to have an effect on disposable revenue over time, however it is going to take time for the sectors to be restored to perceptible and sustainable progress,” he added.

    Massive index will increase have been additionally reported in Taiwan, the place confidence rose 11 factors to 88 —the very best rating since 2011 — and in Japan, which rose 9 factors to 88, the very best rating for the nation recorded by Nielsen since 2005.

    “Taiwan confirmed a robust rebound firstly of this yr after a decline in fourth-quarter 2014,” stated Andy Huang, managing director, Nielsen Taiwan. “The rise in confidence sentiment was pushed by a robust enchancment within the outlook for jobs, which elevated 16 proportion factors from fourth-quarter 2014.

    “Perceptions about private funds and a willingness to spend additionally improved 9 and 10 proportion factors, respectively. Preliminary GDP forecasts, a falling unemployment fee and a stabilizing shopper worth index have been different constructive indicators firstly of 2015, which doubtless contributed to elevated optimism amongst Taiwanese shoppers,” he added.

    Vietnam and Malaysia likewise reported robust confidence boosts of six and 5 factors, respectively, within the first quarter. Vietnam’s rise to a rating of 112 is the third consecutive improve and the nation’s highest rating since 2010. Conversely, China’s index fell one level to 106 within the first quarter, which comes after a four-point decline in fourth-quarter 2014.

    The Nielsen Shopper Confidence Index measures perceptions of native job prospects, private funds and quick spending intentions amongst greater than 30,000 respondents with Web entry in 60 nations.

  • Skilled Opinion: Making social media work for SMEs

    Skilled Opinion: Making social media work for SMEs

    In at present’s super-connected, always-on period, companies of just about any measurement can attain markets and clients past their borders with unprecedented ease. For a lot of SMEs, the speedy progress of cross-border e-commerce – tipped to be value USD2 trillion this yr within the B2C area alone based on Bigcommerce – makes the chance too worthwhile to disregard. In accordance with Aaron Levie, the CEO and co-founder of Field, a cloud-based on-line storage firm in San Francisco, “A producing start-up in Boston can join with a beforehand impossible-to-reach provider in China; a advertising company in New York can instantaneously collaborate with a shopper in London; a providers agency in France can have software program developed in India.”

    In lots of respects, know-how acts as the good leveler, opening up international commerce that was as soon as the unique protect of huge multinationals. SMEs on eBay are virtually as more likely to export as giant companies, based on Joshuta P. Meltzer from his ebook Utilizing the Web to Promote Providers Exports by Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Nevertheless, the Seizing Cross-Border Alternative by Forrester Consulting believes that SMEs nonetheless should grapple with challenges that their bigger rivals do not face. Servicing a worldwide buyer base means overcoming issues corresponding to time zones, and language and cultural nuances. Small companies not often have the time or assets to spend money on outsourced customer support help, and a few are discovering it extra environment friendly to serve clients by way of social media platforms: one LinkedIn research from 2014 revealed that 81 % of North American SMEs use social media.

    With out the massive devoted digital and social media workforce that many giant manufacturers have, even this will appear daunting. Nevertheless, a couple of easy ideas can generate outcomes for SMEs that make investments the required effort and time.

    Construct a following. Probably the most finely-honed messages and delightful content material will not have a lot influence if solely two dozen social media “followers” ever get to see it. Corporations that transfer into social media want to make sure that they’ve a enough base of followers for his or her social platforms to be an efficient channel. UK-based on-line gaming firm Betfair.com achieved this by establishing an lively Twitter presence in 2009 with frequent updates on all kinds of sports activities and witty, artistic content material that’s related to its followers (who as we speak quantity virtually 120,000 individuals). Constructing a following might imply subsidiary investments – for instance, in promoting. LinkedIn, Fb and Twitter all permit corporations with small budgets of just some US dollars per day to promote by way of recommended posts, beneficial followers and different means.

    Keep in mind, you are the beginner! Penny Energy, writer of the UK’sDigital Enterprise Britain Manifesto and founder the Digital Youth Academy, says “Should you’d simply moved in to a city or village, you would not open the door of your new native pub and shout that you are a plumber or an architect and other people ought to offer you enterprise. You’d take part with what was happening round you, chat to individuals and allow them to know what you do, in order that they find out about you once they want your service. It is precisely the identical in social media.” Present on-line communities similar to Fb pages, LinkedIn communities or Twitter hashtags within the markets an organization is making an attempt to penetrate might present the footholds it must construct a following amongst clients in new markets.

    This was the expertise of Herschel Provide Co., a Canadian producer of backpacks and outside items. By taking the time to study every social platform, the corporate was far better-positioned to attraction to followers on every. “Totally different social networks appeal to totally different audiences,” says Allison Butala, Herschel Provide’s social media supervisor. “Our Instagram account attracts aspiring photographers; our Pinterest following caters extra in the direction of females; Twitter attracts these concerned about our product releases and information tales. Understanding this, we share related content material and develop distinct communities.”

    High quality, not amount. A couple of thousand followers who’re genuinely gained over by your providing are much more priceless than tons of of hundreds who “appreciated” a Fb web page merely to participate in a promotion. Construct a fame for actual experience by researching the individuals and points which have the most important affect within the markets your organization is concentrating on. Use the tone and method of your standing updates to place your organization as having the identical attributes clients would worth in an actual individual – assume friendliness, approachability or a way of humour. These steps will assist your organization to develop a particular social media “voice” and stand out from the gang, in line with The Guardian article How SMEs could make one of the best use of social media.

    Discover out what works via fixed monitoring. The Guardian articles How SMEs could make the perfect use of social media tells us that there is no substitute for expertise, so you’ll want to make sure you’re monitoring the outcomes of your engagements with social media followers. Various free instruments will make it easier to do that. For instance, Socialmention.com is a web-based platform that gives real-time social media search and evaluation. It could trawl the web for mentions of your small business or merchandise. Instruments like this shortly make it easier to to develop a really feel for what techniques work greatest. Christy Ng, founding father of Malaysian shoe design SME Christy Ng Footwear, has two devoted members of employees to handle the corporate’s presence on Fb, Instagram and Pinterest. “We do all our social media administration in-house – from monitoring and listening, to deciding what content material will probably be partaking for our followers,” she says. “For instance, a variety of content material is footage of our merchandise, as a result of we all know that that is what our clients need to see.”

    Finally, social media shouldn’t be an finish in itself – the actual yardstick of success is how a lot enterprise is coming in. However by studying from the specialists, making a acutely aware dedication to social media as a gross sales or customer support channel and leveraging their inherent flexibility and adaptableness as small organizations, SMEs can get it proper and reap the advantages.

  • Nickelodeon seems to be to comply with Disney into China

    Nickelodeon seems to be to comply with Disney into China

    Childrens’ TV channel Nickelodeon has revealed it might open one in every of its worldwide flagship shops in Shanghai.

    In that case, the US-based subsidiary of Viacom, can be following Disney into China’s business capital, Shanghai. Disney opened in Might and queues have shaped day by day outdoors the shop as consumers take pleasure in each the partaking setting and the merchandise impressed by cartoon characters.

    Nickelodeon owns the cartoon ideas SpongeBob Squarepants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ren & Stimpy and Dora the Explorer, amongst others.

    Subsequent week, Nickelodeon opens a flagship retailer in London’s Leicester Sq., (pictured above in an artist’s rendering) following profitable retail ventures in Riyadh, Honduras and Panama through the previous yr.

    In contrast to Disney, Nickelodeon works with a franchise companion fairly than run its retail operations immediately, nevertheless it stays closely concerned within the design, conceptualisation, match out and merchandising.

    Ron Johnson, government vp of shopper merchandise at Viacom Worldwide Media Networks, informed the Hollywood Reporter the London retailer was its first flagship.

    “That is our first retailer that may be a vacation spot retailer, together with nice shopper interplay on video screens, fixtures like Dora’s tree and a pineapple that’s from Bikini Backside,” stated. “We undoubtedly see flagship shops as a progress car and dealing for us in the proper markets the world over.”

    Three extra Nickelodeon shops are deliberate for 2015. Whereas no announcement has been made concerning the places of these, Johnson confirmed “we’re undoubtedly taking a look at locations like Dubai, Shanghai, Paris and Milan”.

    ‎The London retailer ranges London and UK-themed merchandise that includes the model’s characters – gadgets similar to a SpongeBob toy with a bearskin hat and a T-shirt that includes a SpongeBob-adaptation of The Beatles’ well-known Abbey Street album.

    Nickelodeon’s characters function in merchandise bought by many retailers within the Uk, together with grocery store big Tesco. However Johnson says 80 per cent of the flagship’s inventory might be unique.

    Leicester Sq. was chosen as a result of it has a footfall of greater than 35,000 pedestrians every day, a big proportion of them vacationers, permitting the model to succeed in markets aside from the UK. Such a choice may be an indicator of most popular places for the model in different retail markets like Shanghai.

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  • 7-Eleven Malaysia revenue soars

    7-Eleven Malaysia revenue soars

    Listed comfort retailer operator 7-Eleven Malaysia says gross sales soared 23.7 per cent within the first quarter, previous to the April 1 introduction of GST.

    And the corporate, in a press release to the inventory trade, expressed optimism in its instant prospects regardless of a common softening of the retail market because the implementation of GST.

    “We’re assured concerning the future progress prospects for the remaining interval of the present monetary yr as we’re assured of holding onto our market main place whereas our new retailer enlargement plan stays on monitor.”

    7-Eleven Malaysia reported a revenue of RM14.38 million (US$three.93 million). The expansion was attributed to gross sales progress, a 1.9 per cent enchancment in gross revenue margin and a 14.eight per cent progress in different working revenue.

    Income for the quarter rose 11.5 per cent to RM504.99 million ($137.9 million), largely resulting from retailer community enlargement and an improved merchandise combine.

    7-Eleven Malaysia now has greater than 1500 shops nationwide.

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  • Japan retail gross sales rebound

    Japan retail gross sales rebound

    Japan retail gross sales bounced again in April based on commerce ministry knowledge.

    Rising 5 per cent within the month, yr on yr,  the determine reversed a 3 month lengthy downward development and gave the Financial institution of Japan room for cautious optimism on the general state of the nation’s struggling financial system. In March, retail gross sales fell 9 per cent, though that was largely as a result of an irregular March 2014 when shoppers introduced ahead spending previous to a gross sales tax improve on April 1.

    The BoJ says the retail figures present shoppers are extra assured, easing the strain on the financial institution to extend a stimulus program.

    Based mostly on a seasonally adjusted  month on month foundation, Japan retail gross sales rose zero.four per cent in April following a drop of 1.eight per cent in March.

    The Japanese financial system expanded on the quickest fee in a yr within the first quarter, lastly rising from the 2014 recession.

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  • Nordstrom sells bank card enterprise

    Nordstrom sells bank card enterprise

    Luxurious division retailer Nordstrom has agreed to promote its bank card portfolio to Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Financial institution.

    The deal covers Nordstrom’s branded Visa bank card and personal label bank card portfolios within the US. The financial institution may even grow to be Nordstrom’s unique shopper credit score companion.

    Toronto-Dominion Financial institution is Canada’s second-largest lender by belongings, and the deal provides it an elevated footprint within the neighbouring US shopper credit score market.

    In a press release, the 2 corporations stated the portfolio included US$2.2 billion in receivables.

    In March 2013, Toronto-Dominion Financial institution purchased the $5.7 billion receivables of Goal Corp in one other deal.

    “We discovered TD to be a robust cultural match, sharing our customer-focused strategy and offering capabilities to assist us additional improve the client expertise,” Nordstrom co-president Blake Nordstrom, stated within the assertion.

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  • Bintang Profits Take a Hit on Beer Ban

    Bintang Profits Take a Hit on Beer Ban

    One of Indonesia’s biggest beer producers, PT Multi Bintang Indonesia, reported a plunge in profits of 42% in the first quarter of the year, when convenience stores started phasing out stock in preparation for a ban on alcohol sales.

    Net income was down to $8.2 billion (107 billion rupiah) year-on-year in the first three months of the year, the company said in its latest financial report.  It also said it was putting on hold planned investments of around 635 billion rupiah due to the ban and continued uncertainty over the future of the regulation.

    The ban is part of decree from the Ministry of Trade that prevents convenience stores from selling beverages with an alcohol content of more than 1%. It took effect on April 16, but retailers were told to start phasing out stock in January.

    While beer sales are still allowed in supermarkets and restaurants, beer distributors feared that sales would take a hit since small retailers and convenience shops account for around 60% of all beer sales in the country.

    “These traditional wholesalers are an important distribution channel in the route-to-market for most consumer goods in Indonesia, including beer,” Multi Bintang said in a statement.

    Retailers and analysts have also been critical of the ban, saying it was pushed too quickly without allowing the industry time to prepare.

    “This is the ready-fire-aim policy making where nobody thinks through the implications,” said Paul Rowland, a Jakarta-based political analyst. “We’ve had a string of these kind of policy decisions that don’t take into account the end result,” he added, pointing to a proposed ban on second-hand clothing and the cancellation of thousands of import licenses in December.

    Multi Bintang’s President Director Michael Chin said that the decline in profit and revenue, which fell by 23% from the same period last year, “was primarily due to the destocking.” The company is currently in talks with the Ministry of Trade about the ban but says they’re moving slowly.

    In an interview last month, he told The Wall Street Journal that concerns about legal uncertainties raised by the decree would likely derail tens of millions of dollars allocated to boosting the company’s production. Muslim-majority Indonesia makes up a small percentage of total global beer sales for major beer makers, such as Heineken and Guinness, but its growing middle class has made the world’s fourth most populous country an enticing market for expansion.

    Multi Bintang, which is majority-owned by Heineken Holding NV of the Netherlands, also produces Heineken in Indonesia and Guinness through a third-party agreement. It has been in Indonesia since 1929.

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  • Macau retail gross sales stoop

    Macau retail gross sales stoop

    A downturn in casino-bound vacationers is undoubtedly behind a droop in Macau retail gross sales.

    Chinese language information company Xinhua studies Macau retail gross sales within the first quarter dropped by 11 per cent yr on yr.

    In comparison with the earlier quarter, gross sales dropped 5 per cent.

    First quarter gross sales totalled 16.41 billion patacas (US$2.05 billion), in response to the Statistics and Census Bureau.

    Gross sales of watches and jewelry which accounted for 23 per cent of complete gross sales slumped 31 per cent to three.73 billion patacas. Leather-based items fell 28 per cent, items bought in department shops by 13 per cent and automobiles by 13 per cent. However gross sales of telephones rose 56 per cent, boosted by the introduction of latest fashions.

    Retail gross sales measured by quantity fell three per cent in first quarter of 2015 in contrast with the final quarter of 2014. Leather-based items and meals have been the most important movers, down 14 per cent every, watches and jewelry down 13 per cent, automobiles down 12 per cent.

    However telephone gross sales rose by 25 per cent.

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