Retail News CRM

Blog

  • Uber Tests Cash Option For Bangkok

    Uber Tests Cash Option For Bangkok

    Thailand has become the latest country where Uber taxi drivers can take cash from a passenger instead of a credit card.

    Uber tested its cash payment scheme in Bangkok on Wednesday as an alternative to the credit card option.

    Passengers have to tell the firm before the ride about their cash option and pay the driver at the end of the trip, it said on the website.

    “Bangkok, as a global business, cultural and tourist hub with a sophisticated rider and driver base is the right environment to conduct this cash experiment,” it said.

    Thailand follows nine other countries where cash is a choice for its passengers, Uber spokesman Karun Arya said. The other countries are India, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Peru, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.

    The test run is being held only in Bangkok and does not cover all customers. But the firm said it planned to expand the option for more passengers in the future.

    Uber was launched in Thailand in 2014. Bangkok is regarded as one of the three fastest-growing cities in Southeast Asia for the firm.

    Lees ook:

  • Alibaba’s global marketplace attracts 5400 foreign brands

    Alibaba’s global marketplace attracts 5400 foreign brands

    U.S. goods are among the best sellers on Alibaba’s Tmall Global shopping site. More than 5,400 foreign brands from 53 countries are selling goods on Tmall Global, an online marketplace Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. launched in 2014 to take advantage of China’s relaxed rules on consumer purchases from foreign websites.

    Of those 5,400 brands, 4,300 have never sold in China, according to a just-released 2015 China Cross-Border Consumption Report from Tmall Global and Chinese consulting firm CBN Data. Tmall Global allows retailers and brands without a China business license to take orders from Chinese consumers and then send the products through Chinese customers.

    Sales on Tmall Global increased 179% in Alibaba’s fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, according to Alibaba’s recent quarterly report. Alibaba did not report the value of sales on the marketplace for foreign goods.

    The new report says U.S. companies are most often ranked among the top 10 in various products categories on Tmall Global, followed by brands from Japan, Germany, Australia and Korea. The fastest-growing categories on Tmall Global are children’s products, nutritional items, cosmetics and snacks.

    Among the retailers selling on Tmall Global are U.S. department store chain Macy’s Inc., the U.K.’s House of Fraser and Sainsbury’s, and Metro Group of Germany. Consumers can also buy Huggies diapers from Kimberly Clark, food products from Danone of France (whose products are marketed under the name Dannon in the United States) and cosmetics from Japanese brands Kao and Shiseido.

    Alibaba has worked with government agencies in 13 countries to set up “pavilions” featuring goods from those nations. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cooperated with Alibaba on a program to sell cherries from the northwestern United States on Tmall Global.

    During the big Singles’ Day sales that Alibaba promotes every Nov. 11, 95 million consumers visited Tmall Global and 30 million made purchases, the report says.

    Alibaba’s chief rival in China, JD.com Inc., also has created an online shopping mall for foreign brands called JD Worldwide. Among the companies to recently launch on the JD site are luxury brands Tod’s and TAG Heuer.

    China in recent years has made it easier for Chinese consumers to buy goods for their personal use online from foreign companies. The government recently increased the maximum purchase allowed under these cross-border e-commerce regulations from 10,000 yuan ($1,519) to 50,000 yuan ($7,597) per transaction, according to a report on the Chinese luxury market by U.S. consulting firm Bain & Co.

    JD is No. 1 Internet 2015 Retailer China 500, which ranks retailers by their online sales in China. While Alibaba’s China marketplaces account for more than three-quarters of online retail purchases in China, it’s not ranked in the China 500 because Alibaba is not the merchant of record for those sales, instead providing a platform for other merchants to sell.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Retail in India, The opportunities and challenges retailers can expect

    Retail in India, The opportunities and challenges retailers can expect

    The country presents retailers with growth opportunities, including some advantages that can’t be found in China

    Lately there’s been much talk and worry about China’s long-term growth prospects and what that means for retailers counting on expanding in the country. Certainly, China seems to be in a time of transition, in which consumption seems destined to fall after years of strong and steady surges.

    Meanwhile, India also presents retailers with growth opportunities, including some advantages that can’t be found in China.

    Already, American brands constitute a large 35% of all foreign brands in India, followed by U.K. brands, at 12%, Italian and French brands at 8% each, and Japanese, Swiss, and German brands at 5% each, according to a 2015 Indian retail report from London-based real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

    In fact, Apple Inc. just last week confirmed that it has applied to India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to open and run its own stores there, a sign that it sees potential in the country.

    “I expect to see a lot of action in the next 10 years in India,” Venkat Viswanathan, founder-CEO of LatentView Analytics Corporation, told Retail Dive. “I believe we are still at a very early stage of realizing the potential of a market the size of India, and that it’s only a matter of time that India becomes an equally big part of the [business] ecosystem.”

    Language, just the beginning

    English is an official language in India, and serves as a common language for many of the sub-populations there. Therefore, language isn’t the barrier for businesses doing business there, including retailers selling to Indian consumers.

    Furthermore, while in China there’s a Chinese equivalent to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, the most widely used ones in India are the very ones that are widely used in the U.S. India gives Facebook its second-largest membership base, after the U.S. That means brands have one less barrier to bust through when reaching Indian consumers.

    And, while the Indian government’s official statistics aren’t quite as credible as those released by U.S. government agencies, says Viswanathan, they’re deemed by most as more solid than numbers released by the Chinese government, which are widely seen as untrustworthy and even confusing. (Something that has only served to increase the level of uncertainty and worry about China’s future.) India’s equivalent of the Federal Reserve is considered highly credible, says Viswanathan, and what he calls the “reasonably strong English press,” a strong judiciary, and the open and democratic parliamentary system that supports questioning and debate—plus the strength of the private sector—all help give companies doing business in India some solid ground to build on.

    Growth potential

    But above all, our experts say, India, with a population that includes a large young, mobile-first generation and a growing middle class, presents a lot of growth potential for retailers.

    A study from the Internet and Mobile Association of India last year found that there were 52 million new internet users there in the first six months of 2015, bringing the country’s total user base to 352 million as of June. And of those, 213 million, more than 60% accessed the web through their mobile devices.

    As internet and mobile use has exploded, not surprisingly, so has e-commerce. India’s top 25 retail websites took some 62% of all traffic there, according to digital market intelligence company SimilarWeb. While e-commerce is still a small fraction of retail in India—some 4% to 6%—it’s growing rapidly and expected to scale up exponentially in coming years.

    How Amazon is changing the game

    Amazon, as it has done here, is giving retailers in India fits. India’s best known online marketplace, Flipkart, looks like it’s being overtaken by Amazon, even though Amazon India wasn’t established there until two years ago. In December, for example, Amazon India registered 163.1 million monthly web visits (mobile plus desktop) compared to Flipkart’s 122.8 million, according to SimilarWeb. However, Flipkart still dominates via its mobile app, which is installed on 35% of mobile devices in India, according to SimilarWeb, at least for now.

    “Amazon is giving all the India players a run for their money,” says Viswanathan. “Step by step they’ve introduced all the new concepts have in the U.S., including Prime, which this year is expected to change the way all these marketplaces operate.”

    Challenges in India

    While many startups in India have garnered attention and money, Viswanathan says that some of that will ease up as investors get pickier about where they put their money (a smaller version of the tech bubble that many expect will burst before long, or at least deflate).

    But a more concrete challenge for retailers is the reality that, while mobile is well established and e-commerce is growing, the physical infrastructure needed to get goods from point A to point B is in need of further development, says Viswanathan.

    While retailers are used to being able to offer two-day shipping to just about anywhere in the U.S. or Europe, he says, that’s just not possible in many parts of India.

    “Many retailers assume such things exist in India and then have to completely reinvent their logistics,” he says. “Anyone with physical goods will encounter the real India, and have to adapt to the logistics realities in India.”

    However, that could also mean that state-of-the-art fulfillment capabilities like drones could do well there, especially as demand for such goods heats up.

  • H&M Conscious Foundation 2015 Gift Card Holiday campaign raised 4,9 million

    H&M Conscious Foundation 2015 Gift Card Holiday campaign raised 4,9 million

    The Gift Card Holiday campaign 2015 is now completed and thanks to our customers, the donation amounted to a total of €4,9 million! This donation from the H&M Conscious Foundation will go to a program run by UNICEF and will benefit 480,000 marginalized and vulnerable children, aged 5-14 in Myanmar. These children will get increased access to school and improved quality of education.

    “This fantastic result would never have been achieved without the substantial engagement of H&M customers! Through a simple mean; the purchase of a gift card, we will be able to give 480,000 vulnerable children a better future. It shows that small means certainly can take you far!”, says Diana Amini, Global Manager of H&M Conscious Foundation.

    The program includes children in formal schooling, children living in camps for internally displaced people and children who will be reached through non-formal education initiatives. UNICEF will work on multiple levels to influence changes in policy, in education management and in schools and communities. Children, parents, teachers, head masters and policy makers will be involved in creating better schools for children.

  • Maybank Singapore in ongoing talks with MAS over incorporation here

    Maybank Singapore in ongoing talks with MAS over incorporation here

    Maybank Singapore on Thursday said it has had ongoing consultations with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on the incorporation of its operations in Singapore, and “reaffirm our commitment to this”.

    It did not offer a date for the incorporation of its retail business here, and remains the only one of seven domestic systemically important banks (D-SIB) in Singapore that have not incorporate the business, or confirmed a timeline for this.

    A framework unveiled by the MAS in May 2015 listed seven banks – DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, Standard Chartered, Maybank and HSBC – as lenders that are effectively deemed “too big to fail” in Singapore, mainly because of their significant retail presence here. These banks will face additional supervisory measures, and this includes locally incorporating their retail operations.

    This means the local deposits are ringfenced from the group’s operations, and it provides protection against a potential loss of Singapore-based consumers’ money when the overall group runs into trouble.

    HSBC has announced that it expects to incorporate its retail operations this year. All but Maybank and HSBC have ringfenced their retail business here.

    “Maybank sees Singapore as a key market, and an important gateway to the rest of the region. The local incorporation signifies a further deepening of Maybank’s roots in Singapore, cementing its unwavering commitment to the local community after 55 years in the country,” Maybank Singapore said.

    “Singapore is an important part of the bank’s strategy to continue growing its international business and we look forward to forging even closer ties with our customers in Singapore and the region.”

    Relating to banks that have to locally incorporate their retail operations, MAS has said that “where appropriate, MAS will provide such D-SIBs with an adequate transition period to comply with this requirement”.

  • Hong Kong sales slump as mainland shoppers stay home

    Hong Kong sales slump as mainland shoppers stay home

    Hong Kong retail sales posted a second straight annual decline despite sharp discounting, the Census and Statistics Department said, reflecting a sustained decrease in visitors from mainland China and the diminished buying power of a weaker yuan.

    Retail sales fell 3.7 percent to HKD475 billion (USD61 billion) last year, while volume dropped 0.3 percent. In December, when the tourism board counted nearly 11 percent fewer visitors, retail sales value fell 8.5 percent from a year earlier, worse than the 4.3 percent drop projected by analysts. The slump widened from 7.8 percent in November and was the largest since last January.

    Sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts were among the hardest hit, slumping 17 percent in December and 16 percent for the full year. Clothing and department store sales also declined. Erwan Rambourg, a retail analyst at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong, said high-­end watch and jewelry sellers suffered as shoppers from mainland China avoided lavish purchases and falling currencies in other Asian nations reduced prices for goods bought elsewhere.
    Hong Kong Tourism Board Executive Director Anthony Lau said late last month that same-day visitors to Hong Kong were “a bit weaker” than the same time last year, portending an inauspicious start to the Chinese New Year holiday next week.

    The Lunar New Year celebration is a peak season for tourism in Hong Kong, bringing in more than 5 million monthly visitors compared with about 4.5 million in an average month. Day trips before the holiday usually account for more than half those visits.
    Visits from the mainland fell 16 percent in December from a year earlier, the tourism board said last week. Total visits to Hong Kong fell 2.5 percent last year to 59.3 million.

    Hong Kong retail sales are down on an annualized basis every month from March through December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. The Hong Kong dollar has strengthened against the yuan, making it more expensive for mainlanders to shop.

    Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, the world’s largest listed jewelry chain, said last month that sales during Chinese New Year would be challenging. Emperor Watch & Jewellery Ltd blamed a preliminary 2015 loss on a drop in foot traffic caused by the strong Hong Kong dollar, high rental pressure in the city and austerity initiatives in mainland China.

    Lees ook:

  • Thailand’s airports set new passenger records

    Thailand’s airports set new passenger records

    Airports of Thailand has reported 2015 calendar year ending international passenger traffic of $62.5m passengers across all six airports. Added together with the 47.3m domestic passengers last year, this set a new record of nearly 110m passengers for the 12-month period according to Airports of Thailand (AOT).

    All but one of the six airports reported positive international numbers, with Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok generating a +15.93% increase to 44,218,785, followed by Don Mueang with 9,170,681 (+53.10%); Phuket with +8.25% to 6,955,139; Chiang Mai +44.16% to 1,170,681; and Hat Yai +6.57% to 234,017 and Chiang Rai -8.46% to 26,715.

    All six airports were also in positive territory in terms of domestic passenger numbers, with Don Mueang leading the rest up 35.85% to 21.2m (see table for full list).

    Suvarnabhumi New Year

    Thai airports traffic 2015 copy

    Above: Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok. (Data source: Airports of Thailand).

    Meanwhile, in the last declaration of AOT’s financial results dated 27 November 2015, the publicly listed AOT reported a rise of more than 20% in operating performance for the year ended September 30 2015.

    Reported net profits were up by 53%, thanks to a 15.97% increase in flights and a 21.94% rise in passengers in this quoted period. This, in turn, resulted in aeronautical revenues increasing by 18.87% and concession revenues rising by 19.99%.

    AOT’s exclusive duty free concessionaire is the King Power International Group, which operates airport shops at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket and Chiang Mai.

  • Online shopping is killing department stores in Singapore

    Online shopping is killing department stores in Singapore

    Even grocery items are being bought online now.The rise of e-commerce is sounding a death knell for Singapore’s once-ubiquitous department stores and gadget shops, according to a report by property consultancy group JLL.

    The number of shoppers buying groceries and computer equipment rose around 70% in the last two years, while over 60% of shoppers already buy some clothing or footwear online. The report said that shoppers are buying lower value goods online and higher value goods over $500 in a physical store.

    “We expect online sales of groceries and electronic goods to grow exponentially in the next three years,” JLL said.

    As a result, department stores, supermarkets and houseware shops have reduced in size over the past few years, particularly in suburban malls. In contrast, food and beverage, fashion, beauty and health trades have taken up more space in the last seven years.

    “As shoppers tend to buy lower value goods online, malls are likely to attract higher-priced fashion and beauty brands, even in the suburbs. We expect to see electronics and grocery stores cutting back further in the next three years as more shoppers buy these goods online,” JLL said.

    Latest data from the InfoComm Development Authority (IDA) showed that about 1.44 million Singapore residents shopped online in 2014, 30% higher than in 2012.

    The sharp increase came from shoppers above 35 years old, as those in this group that used portable devices to access the internet rose 50% over two years. Over 70 per cent of those below 35 years old already shop online in 2012.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Retail forex broker FBS opens third office in Thailand

    Retail forex broker FBS opens third office in Thailand

    The retail forex broker FBS announced the opening of its third office in Thailand. It is the second office of the company in the country’s capital Bangkok. The first one was opened in July 2015. Since October 2015 the broker also has an office in the city of Chiang Mai.

    FBS is present in more than 120 countries and has 13 international offices.

    Besides the usual business activities with current and new clients and partners, FBS is planning workshops for beginner and professional traders, hosted by Forex experts. It reminds its customers that it provides 24/5 customer support and consultation in Thai language.

    FBS was established in 2009. It is regulated by the international Financial Services Commission (IFSC) in Belize and the Russian self-regulation organisation Centre for Regulation in OTC Financial Instruments and Technologies (CRFIN).

    FBS offers trading in the major currency pairs, metals and CFDs. The minimum deposit is $1 and the leverage is up to 1:2000. The broker also offers spreads from 0 pips.

  • DFASS delight at Hong Kong Airlines ISPY2016 award

    DFASS delight at Hong Kong Airlines ISPY2016 award

    Duty Free Air & Ship Supply (DFASS) has praised the efforts of partner carrier Hong Kong Airlines which won the coveted Airline of the Year prize at the recent Inflight Sales Person of the Year event. The 2016 year’s version of the event, consisting of 72 cabin crew, took place at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow airport.

    In order to be considered for the Airline of the Year prize, participants had to demonstrate their commitment to creating and developing crew sales culture over the past year. This was achieved by sharing their top three initiatives which delivered the biggest return on investment. Two initiatives had to be crew related alongside one other.

    Each airline was given 30 minutes to present at the airline management workshop on January 25 followed by a panel discussion and questions from the audience. Management attending the workshop received one vote per company for the winner.

    Jointly presented by Hong Kong Airlines head of ancillary revenue Pacino Qin and DFASS director sales and marketing Sandra Ng Chaffey, the presentation initially focused on the development of the core sales team to strengthen crew sales culture. The team introduced cross-airline competition on the airline’s dedicated Facebook page to enable experience sharing and cultural exchange. A sales achievement dinner and brand specific training were also introduced.

    In addition, a brand ambassador programme was born with support of 14 brands including Chloe, Gucci, Jill Stuart, Lifetrons, Marc Jacobs, no!no!, Paco Rabanne , Philip Stein, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, SK-II, Talika, Valentino and Veld’s. The programme allows brands to train their top sellers with specific knowledge and selling skills and on the provision of product samples onboard.

    DFASS deputy chairman and president Asia/Pacific John Garner said: “This was a challenging field with many worthwhile competitors. The Hong Kong Airlines crew were recognised for their skills and determination, but the most important part of the award was the way it recognises the partnership between the airline, and DFASS as its concessionaire. They are an amazing business partner.”Despite the deflection of the Chinese yuan at close to 7% in 2015, the Hong Kong Airlines and DFASS team ended the year with a strong 12% surge.

    Oscar Cheng and Minerva Tam from Hong Kong Airlines also won silver medal in the Product Merchandising Team Award category.

    Hong Kong Airlines director of service delivery Stanley Kan said: “Last time, Hong Kong Airlines was the only legacy carrier in Asia among the top-four finalists for the Airline of the Year Award. This year, we are thrilled to be crowned Airline of the Year.

    “Partnering with inflight retail concessionaire DFASS, Hong Kong Airlines has achieved significant improvement in inflight duty-free sales services with the launch of innovative initiatives such as professional training and introduction of the Brand Ambassador scheme.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Mumbai has highest potential for modern retail in India

    Mumbai has highest potential for modern retail in India

    Mumbai Metropolitan Metro has the highest potential for modern retail in the country at Rs 1.05 lakh crore, followed by Delhi-National Capital Region, which has total potential of Rs 77,900 crore, according to Knight Frank & Retailers Association of India’s ‘Think India. Think Retail. 2016’ report.

    Bengaluru is third in the list, with potential of Rs 48,600 crore.

    As part of the city-level analysis, the report has identified zone level supply-demand gap for apparel, F&B, entertainment and grocery across India’s top markets.

    It says the penetration of modern retail is set to increase from the current 13.5% to 50% by 2036 in Mumbai, from 26% to 50% by 2028 in NCR and from 24% to 50% in 2026 in Bengaluru.

    While the market potential of daily needs supermarkets and hypermarkets is pegged at Rs 58,800 crore in Mumbai and Rs 51,200 crore in NCR, it stands at Rs 24,300 crore in Bengaluru.

    The report says that modern retail penetration in India is extremely low at 19% compared to US, Singapore and China, where the figures are 84%, 71% and 63% respectively.

    According to the report, 69% of the total retail spending comes from Mumbai Metropolitan Region, NCR and Bengaluru out of the top seven cities in the country.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Korea retail sales slide

    Korea retail sales slide

    Korea retail sales took a surprise turn for the worst in December after three consecutive months of solid growth.

    Reported sales by department stores run by Hyundai Department Store, Lotte Shopping and Shinsegae Co show a 5.7 per cent fall year-on-year, according to figures released by the the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday.

    For the whole 2015 year, department store sales fell a modest 1.2 per cent, mainly due to the outbreak of Mers mid-year, and a rise in online shopping.

    The government attributed the December fall to warmer weather compared with the previous year, which may prompt one to speculate on January’s figures given the unusual cold snap hitting the country this month. The warmer climate meant fewer sales of winter clothing.

    Sales of luxury watches, jewellery and household electronics also fell.

    The December fall was the largest monthly year-on-year drop since 6.5 per cent last August. Sales rose by 1 per cent in November.

    Sales at South Korea’s major discount department stores fell 5.1 per cent, the third consecutive monthly decline and the largest since August.

    For the whole of 2015, discount department store sales fell 2.1 per cent.

    The Ministry said discounters’ December performance was affected by the warm weather and softening demand for food products.

    Lees ook:

  • Bluetooth Beacons – Malaysia’s Retail Future

    Bluetooth Beacons – Malaysia’s Retail Future

    Picture the following scenario: You walk into your favourite apparel store and your smartphone beeps with a push notification “Welcome back Linda! Only for today, we are giving you a 20% discount on all skirts”. You decide to finally get that blue skirt you have your eyes set on for weeks and decide to take a stroll through the accessories section when you stop to admire a particular necklace, after a few seconds of contemplation, your smartphone beeps again with the message “Hey Linda! Get a necklace to match your outfit, we’ll throw in a 30% discount on any necklace of your choice”. You leave the store with a new skirt and necklace at a bargain.

    You end up a happy customer, and the apparel store makes additional sales –  a win-win situation for all involved.

    The above situation may sound like a utopian future where the Internet of Things (IoT) have become a reality. However, the future is closer than we know it with the arrival of iBeacons by Apple in 2013 and Google unveiling Eddystone Beacons in July 2015.

    What Are Bluetooth Beacons?

    Beacons are transmitters which have the ability to sense nearby portable smart devices and “talk” to them via push notifications. Beacons are the most accurate form of locational based tracking device and may work with existing GPS and WiFi tracking capabilities to further enhance location tracking via triangulation.

    How Do They Work?

    Beacons use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) proximity sensing to broadcast universally unique identifiers (UUID) which are picked up by compatible apps and operating systems (OS). This means that users will need to have beacon-compatible apps (a relatively simple process can enable any app to be beacon-compatible) installed and have their Bluetooth switched on in order for their smartphones to interact with these beacons.

    Why Would Users Leave Their Bluetooth Switched On?

    This is a question which frequently surfaces during discussions with potential beacon adopters. It is true that a majority of smartphone users never and might even hesitate to turn on or leave their Bluetooth switched on due to the concern that the Bluetooth would contribute to a huge drain on their battery life.

    That is until 2011 when the new BLE technology were incorporated into the new iPhone 4S smartphones and subsequently, all smartphones released after that period. With the new Bluetooth Smart standard, worries of Bluetooth drainage on phone battery life were a thing of the past as the power needed to power Bluetooth is now so low that it is negligible.

    Other than that, most smart devices that are making their way into our everyday life such as smart wearables (e.g. Fitbit, Jawbone, Apple Watch), Bluetooth-enabled car audios, and smart kitchen appliances require the use of Bluetooth-enabled smart devices.

    With over 10,000 Bluetooth-enabled products listed with Bluetooth SIG along with the immense growth (>100% in 2014) of the Smart Home, Consumer Electronics and Beacons markets, coupled with the growing number of users coming to understand the new Bluetooth technology as well as the growing need of users to have Bluetooth-enabled to run their everyday smart lifestyles, 24/7 Bluetooth-enabled devices will soon be a lifestyle choice much like the 24/7 WiFi-enabled devices which are part of everyday life now.

    What It Means For Retail Businesses

    With the ability to understand what interests consumers and know when they are in the proximity, brick and mortar retailers can now interact digitally with potential customers to encourage more foot traffic into their outlets and achieve higher sales conversion by sending the right message, to the right people, at the right time.

    However, the use of beacons in retail businesses does not stop at pushing promotional messages and general information. With beacons, retailers are also able to provide a personalised shopping experience to each individual customer as seen in the aforementioned story above. Depending on the nature of the business, beaconised businesses will have a a plethora of uses for beacons such as, helping customers navigate a store and providing in-store concierge services by utilising the tracking abilities of beacons. Think shopping on Amazon or Zappos, but in real life.

    press-beacon-product-2.ae0092e2

    The longer a retailer adopts the beacon technology, the more they will begin to understand their customers – who they are, what their preference is, where they like to shop, are they high or low spending customers. This is all possible as more and more data on these users are collected and analysed -allowing businesses to produce individualised ads and engage in behavioural retargeting.

    With the arrival of beacon technology, retailers with physical outlets will finally be able to gather data on their customers in real life in real time and run the most effective and efficient campaigns to target the most relevant consumer segments while providing a highly personalised shopping experience. The future of retail globally, especially here in the South East Asian region and in Malaysia, is in beacons and any retailer slow to adopt this breakthrough tech as part of their arsenal will be at a huge disadvantage moving into the future.

  • Short term lease boom

    Short term lease boom

    Growing ranks of Hong Kong landlords are renting out retail space for as little as 90 days to ride out the downturn.

    The number of short term Hong Kong leases has risen sharply since November, according to property agent Midland IC&I.

    The trend began in the lead up to the Christmas-New Year retail peak when landlords opted to have tenants for a short term in preference to forgoing any rent at all.

    Now, in the lead-up to Lunar New Year, the trend has continued as retailers look for opportunities to optimise sales in a peak spending season – and landlords are happy to achieve a return on otherwise empty space.

    The most likely retailers to sign up are jewellers – the hardest hit by the changing demographic of Mainland Chinese tourists – and apparel brands creating pop up stores.

    Retailers are securing space for as little as three months while landlords are achieving about 70 per cent of the normal rent they would have received prior to the retail downturn kicking in.

    Midland IC&I CEO Wong Hon-shing told the Hong Kong Economic Journal retail tenants liked the flexibility of being about to exit the space with as little as seven days’ notice.

    The HKEJ said brands to take advantage of the new environment include Bossini, Tse Sui Luen Jewellery and Colombia. It reported TSL was paying about $350,000 a month for space in a three month lease set to end in February after the Lunar New Year.

  • The Simpsons store: a new retail phenomenon?

    The Simpsons store: a new retail phenomenon?

    The Simpsons is about to expand offscreen into a retail store network, with two flagships confirmed as the first global outlets for the popular animated US TV series.

    Beijing and Shanghai will be home to the world’s first The Simpsons stores because the 27-year-old show is familiar to Chinese audiences and Simpsons products have already been a success, reportsChina Daily. A network of 100 retail stores is planned to follow.

    Opening in the fashion district of Sanlitun in March, the Beijing store will be the first bricks-and-mortarSimpsons store in the world. The second store will be launched in Shanghai in June, according to 20th Century Fox Consumer Products president Jeffrey Godsick. Its location has yet to be announced, but it is expected to be in a high-traffic mall similar to the one in Beijing.

    Fox launched Simpsons products in China in collaboration with fashion brands nearly three years ago. It started to team up with Chinese retailers 18 months ago before deciding to open the stores last year to tap growing interest.

    Godsick says the products released in China sold out quickly, and there were routinely a three-hour queue for people to enter the fashion brand store in Shanghai that launched Simpsons products.

    Already, Walt Disney has led the way by opening its first flagship store in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area in May last year. The world’s largest Disney store, it offers more than 2000 categories of products.

    “China’s movie and television industry will bring a lot of investment opportunities for derivative product sales,” Professor Zeng Hongshan of Zhongnan University of Economics & Law has told theChina Economic Herald.

    Derivative products of Star Wars have created about $30 billion worth of business, and in 2013 and 2014 alone generated about $4.6 billion for Disney, China National Radio has reported.

    Meanwhile, the Simpsons stores will cover about 250 sqm and offer about 200 products including T-shirts, hats, jackets, pants, cellphone cases, lifestyle accessories, stationery, shoes, sneakers and socks.

    Between 25 and 50 per cent of the products will be sold exclusively through Simpsons stores, says Godsick.

    “We will continue to design individual consumer products for each of our movies and TV shows in China, and ultimately grow our brand as a company,” he says.

    In October 2014, a Simpsons World app was launched in China, allowing fans to watch all 500-plus episodes of the series for free.