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  • PayPal taps Libby Roy to lead Australian team

    PayPal taps Libby Roy to lead Australian team

    PayPal Australia has passed the managing director baton to an outsider by announcing former AMP corporate super director Libby Roy has taken the reins from Jeff Clementz who is returning to the US.

    The changing of the guard comes at an important time for financial services and payments companies, which are awaiting the federal government’s response to the sweeping financial system inquiry.

    Ms Roy, joined as a vice-president and head of Australia, and will also serve as an executive committee member in the PayPal Asia-Pacific leadership team, the company said in a statement. Mr Clementz will take up the new role of vice-president of compliance and operational excellence in global operations.

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  • MatahariMall snares Zalora’s Hadi Wenas to steer online retail plans

    MatahariMall snares Zalora’s Hadi Wenas to steer online retail plans

    Lippo Group, one of Indonesia’s largest business conglomerates, has appointed seasoned technology entrepreneur Hadi Wenas to head its online venture MatahariMall, highlighting its commitment to tap into the growing e-commerce industry.

    Educated in the US’s Stanford University, Hadi was previously the co-chief executive of aCommerce, an end-to-end e-commerce logistics and service provider for Southeast Asia. He was also one of the founders of local online shopping platform Zalora Indonesia in 2012.

    Lippo has brought on board several additional top executives to its latest enterprise, including Emirsyah Satar, former president director of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and former Google Indonesia country director Rudy Ramawy as chairman and vice chairman, respectively.

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  • Emarsys brings intelligent automation to Facebook Ads

    Emarsys brings intelligent automation to Facebook Ads

    Cloud-based software company Emarsys has launched Social Ads, a new product which enables brands to target customers via highly personalized social media advertisements on Facebook, giving them another channel to engage, convert and retain customers.

    The eMarketing Suite platform already offers flexible and sophisticated customer lifecycle segmentation and campaign management on the market. With Social Ads, users can now take the target segments they use for email, mobile and web, and let Facebook build corresponding Custom Audiences from the contacts it finds. Display Ads created in the Suite CMS can then target those audiences as part of a comprehensive, multi-channel engagement strategy.

    Contacts can be added to audiences in real time and removed easily, ensuring that the Facebook Ads budget is spent effectively.

    The only data exchanged between Suite and Facebook are email addresses ensuring full data integrity while creating a 1-1 customer experience on the world’s most popular social network.
    Marketers will also have the ability to build lookalike audiences of their most profitable customers, helping extend the reach of campaigns to target prospective audiences with similar interests.

    “Facebook is already a great medium for customer acquisition, and now with Social Ads it also becomes a highly effective advertising channel for retention marketing. With so many emails remaining unopened, marketers now have an additional weapon in their armoury to target unresponsive customers and decrease churn by producing highly personalized advertisements, delivered at exactly the right time,” said Ohad Hecht, COO at Emarsys.

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  • Maison Valentino Hong Kong

    Maison Valentino Hong Kong

    Subtle gray tones, ‘cracked’ floor effects and strong lighting ensure Valentino’s boldly coloured fashion take centrestage in the newly opened Maison Valentino Hong Kong flagship.

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    The new store, formally opened in February, was designed by the Italian brand’s creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli in partnership with architect David Chipperfield.

    Valentino Maison Hong Kong 315 1

    Located on Canton Rd, the 900sqm flagship store takes up two floors at the base of a modern office tower.

    Valentino Maison Hong Kong 315 7

    It’s ultra modern, stylish yet minimalist and the combination of strong architectural lines, discrete materials in contrasting greys and stylish visual merchandising make the store a standout amongst its many peers in the heart of Hong Kong’s luxury precinct.

    The store’s lower level features the Maison’s complete collections, including both womenswear and menswear ready-to-wear and accessories.

    Valentino Maison Hong Kong 315 3

    The stairwell is lined with mannequins striking different poses, each wearing contrasting, brightly-coloured Valentino creations.

    Valentino Maison Hong Kong 315 2

    Upstairs is a more ‘curated’ area, almost of gallery style.

    Valentino Maison Hong Kong 315 8

    The Hong Kong store is one of two opened by Valentino in February – the other in the Kingdom Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, further expanding the brand’s global footprint.

    Valentino Maison Hong Kong 315 4

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  • Fast fashion future for Victoria’s Secret

    Fast fashion future for Victoria’s Secret

    The stunning global success of European fast fashion experts Zara and H&M is promoting a shift in strategy for what is possibly the world’s best known lingerie brand, Victoria’s Secret.

    According to a report by Business Insider, Victoria’s Secret is getting into fast fashion.

    The US-based brand revealed in a conference call with analysts the company plans to hasten its design and re-stocking process

    “Basically almost all of our panties today are on some kind of speed program,” CEO Sharen Turneysaid in the conference call.

    “And those speed programs allow us to read the business on a Monday and be back in stock in the stores within 15 to 25 days.”

    It also wants to shorten the timeline between design and shelf, the report said.

    “We’ve already taken probably four months out of our development time and believe there is probably another two months to continue to work in,” Turney said.

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  • AS Watson creates international role

    AS Watson creates international role

    AS Watson has created a new position to build its global health credibility.

    The Hong Kong-headquartered health and beauty retailer has appointed Steve Gray to the new role of international healthcare director with effect from January next year.

    Gray is currently healthcare director of AS Watson Health & Beauty (UK) chain Superdrug. COO Malina Ngai says the appointment reflects “the growing importance of health to AS Watson’s future strategy”.

    “In the past decade when we have aggressively expanded our network from just over 7000 to 11,500 stores today, we have put a lot of focus in building our beauty authority. We are pleased to have established defined strengths in the beauty category across majority of our businesses.

    “As a leading international health and beauty retailer, we see increasing opportunities in health and wellbeing hence decided to step up our focus on health in the total offering to our customers.”

    In his new role, Gray will work closely with Ngai to further build the company’s health strategy and strengthen implementation in its operations, with the objective of accelerating the increase of healthcare sales and margin participation across the group.

    Gray joined Superdrug in 2012 and during the past two years has grown its health business by over 20 per cent, built an online health offer via Online Doctor and led the development of Superdrug’s Wellbeing concept store.

    Before joining AS Watson, Gray was COO at Lloyds Pharmacy’s parent company Celesio.

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  • Alibaba Bank to debut in June

    Alibaba Bank to debut in June

    Alibaba’s finance subsidiary Ant Financial will launch the new ‘Alibaba bank’ online in two months.

    Reuters reports the bank, to be named MyBank, will make its online debut in June, directly competing not only with rival eCommerce Giant’s Tencent’s WeBank, but with traditional Chinese bricks and mortar bank networks.

    The launch date was revealed by Yuan Leiming, GM of Ant Financial’s finance division, during an interview with Reuters.

    WeBank commenced trial trading in January in advance of a staged rollout.

    MyBank acquired regulatory approvals last year and the resulting business will be a partnership between Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Fosun International and Wanxiang Group who combined will own 73 per cent of the shares. Ningbo Jinrun Asset Management will own 16 per cent with the remaining 11 per cent held by a variety of minor interests.

    Reuters reports MyBank represents a step towards “a full-fledged internet finance platform” eventually offering loans and credit services, insurance, payment systems and investments to “new tiers of Chinese society”.

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  • Shinsegae Vietnam prepares for launch

    Shinsegae Vietnam prepares for launch

    South Korean retailer Shinsegae Group will launch in Vietnam by the end of 2015.

    Shinsegae Vietnam subsidiary E-mart will roll out discount stores in the fast-growing retail economy after five years of research and planning.

    Shinsegae has secured at least two sites in Ho Chi Minh City, the first in an undisclosed part of the city where it will build a flagship discount store on a 20,000sqm site, the second near Tan Son Nhat international airport.

    The Korean company has worked closely with Vietnamese government officials and last week in a public ceremony announced a charity initiative to donate 10,000 motorcycle helmets annually to children in Ho Chi Minh City after signing a Memorandum of Understanding.

    The Korea Herald reports that the corporate social responsibility program is an E-mart marketing strategy “to enhance its corporate image with government officials and Vietnamese consumers”.

    “E-mart has been preparing for this project, which will become an important momentum that signals the beginning of its business in Vietnam,” said Choi Gwang-ho, general director of E-mart Vietnam.

    “We will focus on maximising the corporate brand image to stabilise our business here by persistently carrying out campaigns in which the Vietnam government and other civil organizations can participate,” Choi said.

    With a population of more than 90 million, rising disposable incomes and a retail industry dominated by traditional markets, retailers like Shinsegae see enormous potential if they establish a foothold in the market now, despite the near certainty of losses while initial customer numbers grow.

    The Korea Herald reported E-mart will be keen not to repeat its “bitter Chinese experience” in Vietnam. In December the company closed four stores in Tianjin leaving it with just 10, 17 fewer than at its peak in 1997. Since 2014, it has posted accumulated losses in China nearing US$50 million.

     

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  • Miu Miu Thailand unveils third store

    Miu Miu Thailand unveils third store

    Miu Miu Thailand has opened its third store in the Thai capital Bangkok.

    The 250 sqm store is located in the newly opened EmQuartier luxury shopping mall on Sukhumvit, close to its parent brand Prada’s new store.

    Designed by the architect Roberto Baciocchi, the space extends over a single level and features ready-to-wear, footwear, bags and accessories.

    Miu-Miu-Bangkok-Emquartier-3-415

    A plate glass facade hung with back-lit perforated metal curtain expresses the character of the brand. Imposing light boxes framed with brushed steel punctuate the exterior and allow for an impactful showcase of Miu Miu’s pioneering print campaigns.

    The interior is divided into two large and distinct areas: The first is home to leather goods and defined by walls covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors and iconic gold damask fabric inset with sparkling display niches edged with polished steel.

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    A broad corridor clad in more mirror leads into the second room, featuring footwear and ready-to-wear. Here, damask walls, mirrored niches and small lounge areas furnished with velvet mohair armchairs reflect the “intimate and refined atmosphere” typical of Miu Miu stores, the company explains.

    A black Palladian marble floor provides a feel of classic grandeur and a back-lit cellular ceiling ensures softly diffused light.

    The space is finished with delicate glass and polished steel counters placed centrally in each room and with green velvet poufs.

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  • Sandro Paris embraces China

    Sandro Paris embraces China

    French designer Sandro Paris is planning to make greater China a key retail market.

    To date, the Paris-based company has store in France, the UK and the US. But it is attracted to China by the growing desire amongst Chinese consumers for foreign brands and products.

    Already it has opened 15 stores in China, including Hong Kong; two of them last month. A further 10 are planned during the remainder of the year.

    A flagship store is in planning for Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay precinct, one of the territory’s fashion hubs.

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    Sandro Paris was created by husband and wife team Evelyne and Didier Chetrite.

    Growing up in Morocco, Evelyne was drawn to fashion and when her family moved to Paris as a teenager, she was inspired by the window displays of department stores near her home.

    Later she met Didier, a young entrepreneur who had launched a ready-to-wear business

    Their first successful collaboration was “a series of dresses in patterned patchwork with bubble sleeves that were bohemian chic, loose but with a real style and presence”.

    After that, Didier expanded his office and hired a designer to work with Evelyne. The Sandro brand was born in 1984 and opened its first boutique on Rue Vieille du Temple in the heart of the Marais. It has grown to be a label known for feminine, versatile dressing. Today, Sandro has 202 boutiques worldwide.

    Sandro Men first launched in the Marais and Saint Germain des Pres areas, its shops likened to a jewel box combined with simple and trendy features. The stores have herringbone floors, painted mirrors and more than 190 styles, along with a selection of art books and music, “providing the comfort of a British club, while offering it pieces of the season”, according to the company’s website.

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  • UK designs brighten Shanghai store windows

    UK designs brighten Shanghai store windows

    UK architects have partnered with local and international retailers to create temporary installations in Shanghai store windows.

    For the third year running, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) London has created original and thought provoking temporary architectural installations around the city’s upmarket Xintiandi shopping and entertainment district.

    The cross-over art exhibition is a partnership between RIBA London, Shanghai Xintiandi and the Culture and Education Section of the British Consulate-General.

    Among the installations:

    • Arup Associates with Pizza Express created an outdoor installation that celebrates the art of pizza making – motion of stretching the pizza dough for Pizza Express’s 50th Anniversary.

    Pizza Express RIBA 415

    • Draisci Studio with Barcodes – have designed faceted blocks that smile and seem to come alive with eyewear on.

    Drasci Studio + Barcodes RIBA 415

    • CTHM X INDJ with the support of BuroHappold Engineering and the lighting department at WSP with Fountain have created an ethereal river of light that seemingly floats, flows and falls from the upper windows of a restaurant.

    Fountain RIBA 415

    • Mobile Studio with Giftique created a design which draws upon the meteorological qualities of the season and will coincide with the launch of a new green tea.

    Mobile Studio+ Giftique RIBA 415

    • Squire and Partners with Maria Luisa used distorted hand crafted marble sculptures inspired by the artistic process of creation and decay.

    Maria Luisa RIBA 415

    • Opensystems with NN have designed Dice, a sculptural installation which resembles  primitive crystalline formations and marks the entrance of the store.

    Open systems +NN RIBA 415

    • Urban Systems with PH7 created installation referencing material systems in nature, fabricated using low-cost and 3D-printing technologies, using a biodegradable plastic made from renewable resources.

    Urban system PH7 RIBA 415

    • Amin Taha Architects with Rubis Spa flooded the spa podium lobby to chest height, capturing the blue mountain lakes of Switzerland where Rubis SPA was born.

    RubisSpa RIBA 415

    • RCKa with Tayohya created a cathedral like entrance to the busy home wear store, redesigning the space with an optical illusion using the brands own knitted vinyl products.

    Tayohya RIBA 415

    RIBA president Stephen Hodder said the Shanghai Windows project offers members a unique opportunity to gain invaluable experience working in China, to work with Chinese and global household name clients and demonstrate their skills to a design-savvy Chinese audience.

    “Our exhibition will be seen by over 1 million visitors, helping to demonstrate why British architects are renowned around the world for their creativity, ambition and flair.”

    Carrie Liu, GM of commercial in China Xintiandi said the project will enhance the unique shopping experience at Shanghai Xintiandi and create a platform for crossover communication, further inspiring creative talent in Shanghai.

    Also launched, and running throughout the Xintiandi district, the ‘Through the Shop Window’ photography exhibition uses some of the RIBA Collection’s rich archive to tell the story of the evolution of British shopping trends over the last century.

    RIBA Shanghai Windows runs until runs until May 31.

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  • Shopping app Origami lands $13m

    Shopping app Origami lands $13m

    Tokyo-based shopping app Origami today announced a JPY 1.6 billion (US$13.3 million) series B funding round led by SoftBank Group, Credit Saison, and angel investor Makoto Takano.

    In addition to the new investment, the eCommerce startup has also partnered with SoftBank Group and Credit Saison to boost its online-to-offline (O2O) focused mobile shopping experience.

    Origami unveiled its mobile app in April 2013. It allows users to follow their favorite retailers, receive updates on new releases in a personalised feed, and ultimately purchase products in-app or in-store. Already, more than 800 brands feature and sell their wares on Origami. The number seems a bit small after launching two years ago, but the startup appears focused on high-end and lesser-known boutique outlets.

    “We are thrilled to have such world-class investors joining us,” he says. “Our goal has always been to make the shopping experience more seamless and social, and these new partners understand the importance of this in the global commerce world. We will continue to focus on recruiting to create a great team, and build the next generation of product that we’re excited about.”

    Within SoftBank Group, Origami will be working directly with group companies SoftBank Mobile and Generate, both of which are experienced in digital marketing and the implementation of O2O shopping experiences. Each company has been involved in O2O initiatives that use the parent company’s CouponGate technology. With CouponGate terminals installed at more than 40,000 retail locations in Japan, Origami’s own O2O push is set to benefit.

    The alliance will create campaigns using Origami that allow users to claim sample products and discount coupons when they visit retail stores, the company said in a statement.

    “Authentication of store visits will be conducted using the CouponGate technology which will also allow for the accumulation of data with a view to offering tailored content in line with each user’s interests and preferences.”

    The partnership with Credit Saison will not only give Origami access to new payment solutions, but will also provide assistance with acquiring new partner shops and gathering big data about users. Credit Saison operates two popular credit card brands, Saison Card and UC Card, with more than 35 million cardholders (11 million of which are registered online).

    Origami, available for iOS and Android, raised US$5 million in series A funding from Japanese telco KDDI and Digital Advertising Consortium (DAC) back in 2013. The startup also previously partnered with Conde Nast Group, publisher of Vogue Japan, GQ Japan and Wired.

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  • Orchard Rd night trial extended

    Orchard Rd night trial extended

    The trial of banning cars from a key section of Singapore’s Orchard Rd shopping strip is finding favour with shoppers and tourists alike.

    Orchard Rd is closed at night from the Scotts Paterson Junction to Bideford Junction on the first Saturday night of each month between 6pm and 11pm.

    The Orchard Rd night pedestrian trial will be extended for at least another six months.

    The Orchard Road Business Association reports that a majority of shoppers surveyed approved of the open street initiative and support its continuation.

    The pilot running between October 2014 and March attracted 50,000 visitors each time closure. Although some retailers report they did not see the increased pedestrian count translate into additional sales, they too appear supportive of the project.

    The ORBA and the Singapore Tourism Board are funding the majority of street closures and say they plan to work with malls to extend trading hours.

    They are also looking for events to sponsor to further boost crowds during the closures.

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  • Walgreens Boots to close 200 stores

    Walgreens Boots to close 200 stores

    Drugstore giant Walgreens Boots Alliance says it plans to close 200 US Walgreens stores during the next 30 months as it reduces overheads.

    But the 8232-strong network in the US and territories will not be shrinking – the company has promised the same number of new locations will be opened during the same time as it plugs obvious gaps in its network footprint.

    The Chicago Tribune newspaper reports that the locations of the stores facing closure has yet to be confirmed and the company declined any further comment.

    After Boots and Walgreens merged, the new company last August  announced a program to cut US$1 billion in costs. This week it has expanded that target to $1.5 billion by the end of 2017, with plans to streamline its IT functions and reorganise corporate operations.

    Alex Gourlay, executive vice president of Walgreens Boots and president of Walgreen, told an analysts conference call that the store closure and opening plan is about “getting the right stores in the right places”.

  • Capistar loyalty scheme to broaden reach

    Capistar loyalty scheme to broaden reach

    CapitaLand is to expand its Capistar loyalty scheme into three more nations as the program’s membership surpasses 1.5 million.

    CapitaLand properties in Malaysia, Japan and India will be included by the end of this year.

    The Capitastar loyalty scheme is now benefitting 1.5 million members across 60 malls in Singapore and China where the program was launched in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

    In those two markets, more benefits will be offered to members from this year. From May, Capitastar members in China can exchange Star$ for credits on a prepaid card, ‘Expresspay Card’ issued by Bank of China, in addition to the current gift redemption benefits.

    The largest rewards programme by any mall manager in Singapore, Capitastar is available across 17 shopping malls in Singapore since 2011 and 43 malls in China since 2013. To date, shoppers in Singapore have redeemed more than S$1 million worth of CapitaVouchers through the Capitastar programme.

    Jason Leow, CEO of CapitaMalls Asia, CapitaLand’s wholly-owned shopping mall subsidiary, said tenant retailers have been supportive of Capitastar.

    “The rewards program is one way in which we add value to our tenants. It enables our tenants to better understand their customers through their purchase patterns and to tailor products to shoppers, who then get to enjoy more varied and customised experiences.

    “We currently have over 7000 tenants participating in Capitastar in Singapore and China,” he said.

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