Chinese popular chain restaurants, including Shanghai Min, Waipojia and Ajisen China, will upgrade their unified e-commerce platform this year to help cut cost and improve food safety standards.
Blog
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Taiwan’s first outlet mall to open this year
Taiwan will see its first international outlet mall in Taoyuan in August, and 100 stores will open their doors in the first stage of the project.
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Urban Ladder to hire 1,400 more this year
Online furniture vendor Urban Ladder will add 1,400 employees to its workforce this year to beef up its rapid expansion plan. The Bengaluru-based company’s current headcount is 600 across seven cities. The company is also planning to expand its presence to 25 more cities, including Coimbatore, Mysore, Kolkata and Vizag, by 2015-end and to add more product lines and categories to its existing portfolio.
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Tablet sales slow down
Demand for tablets will continue to be slow in 2015, with sales reaching 233 million units for the year, or only an 8 percent increase from 2014, research firm Gartner said.
Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said global sales have been growing in double digits prior to 2014.
“The steep drop can be explained by several factors. One is that the lifetime of tablets is being extended – they are shared out among family members and software upgrades, especially for iOS devices, keep the tablets current. Another factor includes the lack of innovation in hardware, which refrains consumers from upgrading,” he said.
The Tablets category includes devices such as, iPad, iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, Nexus 7 and Acer Iconia Tab 8. Other Hybrids/Clamshells include devices such as HP Pavilion 11, Lenovo Yoga 2 11 and Dell Inspiron 13.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, Gartner analysts expect the vendors in the devices space to announce new partnerships that lead to innovative apps that use personal data to tailor the user experience.
Meanwhile, the mobile phone segment is on pace to grow 3.7 percent in 2015 and reach two billion units in 2016.
In the operating system (OS) market, Android surpassed a billion shipments of devices in 2014, and will continue to grow at a double-digit pace in 2015, with a 26 percent increase year over year.
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Lululemon names J. Crew executive as finance chief
Lululemon Athletica Inc. named J. Crew Group Inc. Chief Financial Officer Stuart Haselden as its new finance chief, with an expected start date of 2 February.
To view the full article (note: you must be a Wall Street Journal Online subscriber), visit The Wall Street Journal Online.
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TCC opens megamarket in Nong Khai
TCC Logistics and Warehouse, a subsidiary of TCC Group, has opened the MM Mega Market in Nong Khai province to cash in on growing consumption spurred by increasing border trade with neighbouring countries.
The company has leased space at Asawann Shopping Complex II for 30 years to open the MM Mega Market, which has a new concept blending a hypermarket and wholesale store under the same roof. Customers can but products either in bulk or just one piece.
The market, covering 10,000 square metres, is 4.4 kilometres from the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, enabling it to attract customers from Laos.
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Tesco may seal Lotus’ fate Thurs
New Tesco boss Dave Lewis is expected to focus on cost cuts and asset sales — including the possible sale of its Tesco-Lotus venture in Thailand – when he provides an update on his plans to revive the troubled British grocer’s fortunes on Thursday.
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Amazon’s third-party merchants are a growing piece of the sales pie
To help fuel its growth, Amazon.com is increasingly turning to the millions of businesses that use its site to sell their own goods. That’s a good thing for Amazon, because those third party sales tend to have higher margins, according to some analysts, and it’s an inexpensive way to fill out its online catalog.
To view the full article (note: you must be a Wall Street Journal Online subscriber), visit The Wall Street Journal Online.
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Jollibee, partner to operate Dunkin’ Donuts stores in China
Philippine fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) and its partner, Asian investment firm RRJ Capital Master Fund II LP, have sealed the deal with Dunkin Donuts Franchising LLC to operate Dunkin’ Donut stores in China.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, JFC said the franchise agreement grants the newly formed joint venture firm Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. the exclusive right to develop Dunkin’ Donuts in Hong Kong, Macau, Fujian, Hunan, Jianxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Guanxi, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shangxi, Chongqing, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Heilongjiang and Jilin.
Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. is the joint venture company formed by Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of JFC) and Jasmine Asset Holding Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of RRJ Capital Master Fund II, L.P.).
In an earlier disclosure to the PSE on 19 December, JFC said “the Dunkin’ Donuts deal provides the JV with an excellent opportunity to operate and expand one of the leading global coffee chain brands in the 2nd largest economy in the world.”
JFC said it will invest USD300 million in the venture, USD180 million of which will be contributed by JPWL. In the first 12 months of operations, JPWL’s initial investment would be about USD18 million.
As of December 2014, Jollibee operates 811 stores in the Philippines and 101 stores overseas. Dunkin’ Donuts, on the other hand, has nearly 11,000 restaurants in 33 countries worldwide.
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PLDT, Rocket Internet create JV for mobile payment in emerging markets
Looking to drive the massive adoption of online and mobile payment solutions in emerging markets, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) Internet platform Rocket Internet AG are establishing a global Joint Venture for payment services.
Under the agreement, PLDT will contribute the intellectual property, platforms and business operations of its mobile-first payment platform Smart e-Money Inc., a pioneer in mobile banking and mobile wallet services in the Philippines, which has handled transactions valued at approximately EUR3.4 billion (USD4 billion) in 2013.
With over 5 million active customers and 300.000 trade accounts, SMI owns and manages the Philippines’ biggest “branchless banking” network, certified at the highest global security and governance standards as a financial service platform.
“We look forward to continuing the long-term success story of Smart Money and optimizing the synergies between e-commerce and innovative mobile-first payment solutions,” said Napoleon L. Nazareno, President and CEO of PLDT.
Rocket, on the other hand, will contribute its participations in Paymill Holding GmbH and Payleven Holding GmbH, two of its payment platforms for high growth, small-and-medium-sized e-commerce businesses across Europe.
Oliver Samwer, Founder and CEO of Rocket Internet, said its network of companies combined with PLDT’s 14 years of experience in the mobile payment industry will allow the partnership to deliver world-class innovations in mobile money and micro-payments around the world.
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Olivia Wilde is the face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive campaign
Known for her commitment to sustainability and her engagement for environmental causes, actress Olivia Wilde, will be the face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive campaign, set to be unveiled in around 200 H&M stores worldwide and online on 16 April.
“Sustainability is one of my biggest passions. I’m proud to be the face of H&M Conscious Exclusive, a collection which shows the stylishness of sustainability,” she said in a statement posted in the H&M website.
H&M said this year’s Conscious Exclusive collection draws inspiration from African, Asian and Indian cultures in both cut and detail. Dresses are a focus, along with hand-drawn prints created especially for the collection.
“The pieces are full of character with the most beautiful prints, all made from more sustainable materials,” said Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s head of design for new development.
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Garrett Popcorn opens second HK store
Garrett Popcorn has opened its second store in Hong Kong at the Festival Walm Mall in Kowloon Tong.
Lance Chody, Chairman and CEO of Garrett Popcorn Shops, said the shop complements its first store located at the IFC Mall shop.
“We like to say that Garrett Popcorn is Happy Food and we hope that our launch in Festival Walk will make our Hong Kong customers as happy as our popcorn makes us,” said Olivia Huynh, VP APAC Operations at Garrett Popcorn Shops.
The gourmet popcorn brand is popular throughout the US and many places in Asia including Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.
Signature Flavors include: Caramel Crisp, Cheese Corn, various Nut Caramel Crisps, Buttery, Plain and the famous Chicago Mix, which blends Caramel Crisps’ sweetness with Cheese Corn.
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LINE introduces mobile payment service
Mobile platform LINE recently introduced a mobile money and transfer purchasing service called Line Pay, which is a new feature included in its 4.8 version update.
With 170 million monthly active global users, LINE said the platform will provide a means through which shoppers can make make secure and convenient payments anytime, anywhere, straight from their smartphone.
In the first phase of its release, LINE Pay will support only payments on LINE store. Users can register their credit cards to purchase paid content such as stickers and apps.
All charges on the LINE Store made via LINE Pay will receive discounts of up to 25 percent for a limited time.In the future, the company said more offline shops and additional features such as money transfers between LINE users will be included.
To ensure security in transactions, a LINE Pay-exclusive passwords is required, which prevents features from being used even if the account is logged in to by a third party. LINE said it also utilizes a monitoring system to detect and report accounts that are suspected of illicit activity and will work to ensure a safe and secure payment service for its users.
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After terrible year, Thailand’s auto sector is expecting 2015 recovery
The Thai auto industry may have suffered a terrible year, with domestic sales plummeting by almost 40 percent during the first 10 months, but many believe the worst has passed and that 2015 will be a year of recovery.
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Brands now targeting online and stores differently
In order to steer clear of the war between online and offline retailers, consumer brands may soon ensure that their products on e-commerce platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon are different from those retailing at traditional brick-and-mortar outlets. For example, Taiwan-based BenQ, manufacturer of LCD monitors and projectors, has already diversified its portfolio.