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Tag: APAC

  • Asia Pacific to drive global travel-retail sales

    Asia Pacific to drive global travel-retail sales

    A new report has shown that the Asia Pacific region will continue to be a major driver of global duty-free and travel retail sales.

    According to the study, titled ‘Economic Impact Report of Duty Free and Travel Retail in Asia Pacific,’ the Asia Pacific travel retail industry generated an estimated US$36.2 billion in 2017 which accounted for 45 per cent of total global duty free and travel retail sales, and is projected to maintain its global market leadership at an estimated 8.7 per cent annual growth rate between 2017 to 2022.

    The report identifies several key trends in the industry across Asia Pacific. It finds that East Asian markets are driving growth, with South Korea being the world’s largest duty-free market accounting for nearly US$12 billion in sales. China and Japan are also globally significant markets, with Mainland China anticipated to strengthen its position as the second biggest player in the region.

    Findings also show a growing diversity in product demand and observe that duty-free is becoming increasingly digital with shoppers in the Asia Pacific region increasingly looking to digital platforms to facilitate their purchases. There is also a marked channel diversification beyond aviation – downtown duty-free in Asia Pacific comprises a significant portion of sales for all land channels, and ocean cruising is an emerging sector in Asia.

    The study was commissioned by the Duty-Free World Council (DFWC) and the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA).

    Amid increased regulations, the report aims to highlight the impact of duty free and travel retail sales in real economic terms, while also calling out the trends affecting the increases.

    “Asia Pacific is registering exceptional growth in duty-free and travel retail sales. We are also seeing the regulatory landscape become more complex and dynamic across the various product categories,” said, Duty-Free World Council president Frank O’Connell. “This report is an important investment on the part of DFWC and APTRA in getting the data that will help us engage policymakers and regulators in protecting the sustainable growth of our industry.”

    “The report highlights the significance of the Asia Pacific region to global duty-free and travel retail, and on a macro level to economies in the region through job creation and contribution to GDP,” said the president of APTRA Grant Fleming. “As the industry body that supports, protects and nurtures the growth of the travel retail industry, we are encouraged by the positive trends indicated by the report findings.

    “Understanding the industry’s size and its impact on the regional economy as well as the underlying impetus for emerging travel retail trends is critical to ensuring industry relevance and long-term growth. As the travel retail landscape evolves, the regulatory environment is evolving too. APTRA looks forward to applying the report findings and working with regional stakeholders to help frame and develop policies that will contribute to the sustainable growth of the industry in years to come.”

  • APAC Venture Capital Deals in Decline

    APAC Venture Capital Deals in Decline

    Venture capital deals in Asia Pacific dropped by one-fifth in the third quarter, attributed to a Chinese economic slowdown, but tailwinds await due to upcoming policy reforms.

    Total venture capital deal value in the region dropped to $14.92 billion in the third quarter, compared to $18.61 billion in the second quarter, according to recent KPMG data. The decrease is notably steeper than the 14 percent decline in overall global transactions in the period, which totaled $55.71 billion.

    There is a lot of interest in the Asian market but investors have really slowed down their activity,» said Egidio Zarrella, partner and head of clients and innovation at KPMG China. «They are being conservative, waiting to see where things go from an economic and geopolitical perspective.

    With Alibaba’s $700 million minority stake acquisition of music streaming service NetEase Cloud Music topping the quarterly transactions, no deal surpassed the $1 billion mark compared to four in the first six months. But despite a slowdown from the region’s major contributor – seven of the 10 deals in the region involved mainland Chinese companies (with Indian startups making up the rest) – KPMG remained optimistic about the near-term outlook.

    Despite the challenges in the market, a number of sectors continued to attract investment, including fintech, Autotech and biotech, said Philip Ng, partner and head of technology, KPMG China, who also underlined upcoming tailwinds for insurance, finance, capital markets and healthcare due to policy reforms.

    While the number of funds raised for IPOs have dipped, the number of mainboard deals in the first three quarters is similar to that of last year and Hong Kong remains a top destination for IPOs,» added Irene Chu, partner and head of new economy & life sciences, Hong Kong, KPMG China. «The pipeline of companies applying for IPO in Hong Kong is still very strong – but whether they will go out before the end of the year will depend on changing market conditions.

  • Malina Ngai named CEO of AS Watson Asia & Europe

    Malina Ngai named CEO of AS Watson Asia & Europe

    AS Watson has appointed Malina Ngai as its CEO, overseeing Asia and Europe.

    She will remain a board member and group COO of AS Watson.

    “Malina has been instrumental in formulating the group’s customer strategy, driving digital transformation, business analytics as well as developing strategic international partnerships with top suppliers and technology companies,” said Dominic Lai, group MD of AS Watson.

    “In her new role, Malina will continue to support me in formulating growth strategies, work closely with all operating businesses in executing the strategies to deliver the group vision in sales and profit, and building a truly customer-centric organization,” he said.

    Ngai joined the company in 2001 and was appointed COO two year later. She has succeeded in international leadership roles across a diverse scope including investment, international buying, technology, sales operations, marketing, digital, big data, and corporate social responsibilities.

    Prior to AS Watson, Malina worked in its parent company CK Hutchison (formerly Hutchison Whampoa) head office.

    Last month Ngai was named one of Hong Kong’s top innovative retail leaders by Inside Retail Asia, ranking third.

  • Citi Appoints APAC CEO

    Citi Appoints APAC CEO

    Citi names its new Asia Pacific CEO six months after the departure of the former regional chief.

    Peter Babej has been named as chief executive officer of Asia Pacific, succeeding Francisco Aristeguieta who left in April and was replaced in the interim by Tim Monger who will return to solely focus on his CFO role.

    Babej joined Citi in 2010 as its co-head of the financial institutions group within its institutional client group before becoming the unit’s sole head in 2017. Previously, Babej held multiple senior roles at Deutsche Bank and Lazard.

    According to the bank, Babej’s deep financial knowledge and dealmaking experience, especially with regards to digital adoption, will serve Citi well given rapid growth in the market.

    Under Peter’s leadership, the Citi has participated in some of the most significant transactions in the sector, including several Asia-driven mergers and acquisitions, said Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat, highlighting marque deals such as the $14 billion fundraisings for Ant Financial.

    In the first nine months of 2019, Citi’s APAC unit posted a net income of $3.91b, accounting for 27 percent of the global sum.

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  • Maybank Kim Eng To Launch Trading Capabilities for Southeast Asia

    Maybank Kim Eng To Launch Trading Capabilities for Southeast Asia

    Maybank Kim Eng, Maybank’s investment banking arm, announces its selection of Australian-headquartered fintech firm, Iress, as the software provider for online trading and market data.

    Iress’ ViewPoint will be rolled out progressively to Maybank Kim Eng’s clients in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The expanded agreement with Iress will enable Maybank Kim Eng clients to research and trade on the multi-asset, multi-currency online interface.

    After the successful implementation of Iress’ Pro and market data software, we’re pleased to now be offering ViewPoint to our growing customer base to share the benefits of their state-of-the-art tools and capabilities,» said Jeffrey Goh, managing director, and regional head of brokerage, Maybank Kim Eng.

    ASX-listed Iress has been providing financial software to clients in Asia since 2010 and to Maybank Kim Eng since 2015.

    Prior to ViewPoint, Maybank Kim Eng had already implemented Iress’ aforementioned  «Pro» which provides real-time market data and in-depth analysis across 200 global markets from which trade orders can be made directly to the «Iress Order System».

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  • New leader appointed in APAC for Abercrombie & Fitch

    New leader appointed in APAC for Abercrombie & Fitch

    Abercrombie & Fitch has hired two key senior staff to lead its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions.

    Olga Wu will oversee Abercrombie & Fitch Asia-Pacific and Daniel Le Vesconte will manage the company’s EMEA regional operations. Both have been appointed group VPs.

    They will report to global brands president Kristin Scott and are responsible for executing the company’s brand strategies to drive growth in their respective local markets.

    In conjunction with these appointments, the company continues to build its international presence and has selected the London and Shanghai offices as its regional EMEA and APAC headquarters respectively.

    Le Vesconte, 50, joins the company most recently from footwear and clothing brand Dr. Martens, where he served as president, EMEA. Wu, 54, joins the company from VF Corporation, where she most recently served as GM of Timberland in China.

    “As we seek to drive global growth and adapt our playbooks for markets around the world, we’re investing in our international teams to drive further closeness to our customers in every region,” said Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Fran Horowitz. “We are pleased to welcome Dan and Olga to our A&F team; they each bring deep experience and understanding of consumer behavior and brand leadership across their respective regions. Their insights and leadership will help support our goal of consistently bringing relevant products and brand experiences to our customers around the world.”

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  • DHL Supply Chain introduces first digital twin of warehouse in Asia for Tetra Pak

    DHL Supply Chain introduces first digital twin of warehouse in Asia for Tetra Pak

    The market leader in contract logistics, DHL Supply Chain, is introducing its first digital twin of a warehouse in the Asia-Pacific region for Tetra Pak with one goal in mind: optimised, agile and cost-efficient supply chains.

    The warehouse is one of the biggest Tetra Pak warehouses worldwide and remains the first smart warehouse for DHL in the Asia-Pacific region that exists as a digital twin.

    Having launched an integrated supply chain for Tetra Pak in Singapore, the digital twin is supplied with real-time data on a consistent basis from the physical warehouse in Singapore and makes changes consistently in real-time.

    “The joint implementation of such a digital solution to improve Tetra Pak’s warehousing and transport activities is an excellent example of the smart warehouses of the future,” said Jerome Gillet, CEO, DHL Supply Chain Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines. “This enables agile, cost-effective and scalable supply chain operations.”

    DHL Supply Chain is focusing on technologies and processes such as physical objects like industrial trucks kitted out with IoT technology. The DHL Control Tower tracks incoming and outgoing goods to ensure all goods are stored in the correct way within 30 minutes of receipt.

    Tetra Pak has developed a smart storage solution that tracks and simulates the physical condition and individual stock levels in real-time, allows smooth non-stop coordination of operations, makes faults visible as well as improves safety and productivity in the warehouse.

    DHL Supply Chain Singapore has in-depth expertise in the region in achieving individual customer needs, the firm provides Third-Party Logistics (3PL) solutions in which customers can outsource their logistics management and operations.

    “We expect the partnership with DHL Supply Chain to further increase our productivity and maintain high standards in our supply chains,” commented Devraj Kumar, Director, Integrated Logistics, South Asia, East Asia & Oceania, Tetra Pak.

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  • Sephora data breach impacts APAC consumers

    Sephora data breach impacts APAC consumers

    A Sephora data breach has been confirmed, spanning customers from Hong Kong across Southeast Asia and into Australasia.

    The LVMH-owned company has emailed online customers who may have been affected confirming some of their data may have been accessed and copied.

    The international beauty retailer said an unknown number of customers have been affected in territories including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, New Zealand and Australia. Stores were not affected with the compromised data relating only to people using the brand’s online services in the region.

    The firm sent an email out to its users on Monday explaining that the breach had become apparent over the course of the past fortnight.

    “Some personal information may have been exposed to unauthorized third parties,” said the email signed by Sephora’s MD Southeast Asia Alia Gogi, “including first and last name, date of birth, gender, email address and encrypted password, as well as data related to beauty preferences.”

    The email (pictured above) explaining the Sephora data breach stated that credit card information does not appear to have been accessed and that personal data had not been misused.

    The firm has responded by resetting all existing passwords and conducting a full security review, as well as offering customers a free personal monitoring service, available via a unique code and sign-up link directing users to a third party solutions provider.

  • East Creative expands further into APAC with investment

    East Creative expands further into APAC with investment

    Australia-based Fusion Group has taken a majority stake in the Tokyo and Hong Kong based brand and communications Agency, Eat Creative.

    The Tokyo-based agency will become part of the Fusion group expanding its capabilities and reach across the APAC region.

    Founded in Tokyo 2000 by Alison Jambert, Ayako Chujo and Steve Martin, Eat provides consultation and creative strategy for global companies looking to engage in the Japanese and broader Asian markets, as well as Japanese brands looking to communicate more effectively on the International stage.

    “The growth of Asian economies is phenomenal, and there has never been a greater need for brands to communicate their stories creatively and intelligently cross market and cross culture. We’re excited about our relationship with Fusion, which will allow us to expand the range of services we can provide our clients, wherever they are based in the region.” said founder and ECD Steve Martin.

    Fusion group has enjoyed 14 years of solid growth and today combines 10 leading agencies with global reach and procurement capabilities. With its ambition to transform the retail experience, the group’s services range from strategic intelligence, brand consultation and creative strategy to localised marketing solutions and execution. Today’s announcement brings Fusion another step closer to providing a consolidated service offering for businesses across the APAC region. “We’re excited to have Eat join the Fusion family. Broadening our international reach ensures we are always at the forefront of global retail trends and that our clients receive the benefits of an exceptionally diverse and innovative team who can think locally, yet scale across the region” said Simon Norman, CEO and founder of Fusion.

    The Eat directors will maintain their current roles within Eat as well as taking on leadership positions within the group, reporting directly to CEO Simon Norman, and contribute to the Fusion’s regional expansion. Eat Creative retained Hong Kong based SI Partners as advisors on the transaction.

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  • Precision marketing set to surge in Apac

    Precision marketing set to surge in Apac

    Asia Pacific is poised for growth in data-driven marketing (“precision marketing”) given the increasing base of 2 billion online users and expected rise of advertising budgets in the next five to 10 years.

    The conclusions arise from the latest report by research company Nielsen, A Digital Giant Awakens, which surveyed marketing leaders across Asia-Pacific markets on their next-level strategy and implementation road-map, revealing investments in precision marketing are likely to increase in the next year from 14 per cent of marketing budgets to about one-fifth of spends (19 per cent) going beyond social, search and mobile toward newer applications.

    In the next six months the top three platforms where advertisers across the Asia Pacific region will be allocating their marketing spends are Facebook/Instagram (60 per cent), Google/Youtube (43 per cent) and mobile (42 per cent). Meanwhile, investments in advanced applications are increasingly gaining pace, particularly for data-science/modelling (36 per cent), high-quality third party data (32 per cent) and analytics to measure ROI (28 per cent).

    The survey, conducted across top leading advertisers in the region, found precision marketing is enabling advertisers to understand consumers’ purchase journeys, personalised communications and consumer profiling.

    Key factors accelerating the progress of precision marketing include better quality and reliability of data, clear demonstration of ROI for advertisers and further education to stay ahead in the game.

    “With advancements in technology and popularity of digital media there is tremendous headroom for growth in precision marketing across Asia Pacific,” said Nielsen’s MD media North Asia Ranjeet Laungani. “Precision marketing is capable of driving marketing applications out of predictive analytics and forecasting results and it is strongly recommended for advertisers to consider in their repertoire of new-age tools.”

    The report spotlights Data Management Platforms (DMPs) as pivotal technology enablers for advertisers to successfully implement precision marketing in their overall strategy. Such platforms manage and unify multiple streams of disparate consumer data and assist in consumer profiling and targeted messaging, thereby limiting spends on media waste.

    The challenge for advertisers remains to show quick wins during early stages of DMP engagement.

    Data science and analytic prowess are top attribute advertisers in Asia Pacific look for while evaluating a data management platform.

    “Currently the space is under-invested, however, broadening expert ecosystems, presence of higher quality datasets, and presenting more success stories will drive up confidence and adoption in the industry,” added Laungani.

    “The void in awareness and education can be filled by agencies, media owners and advertisers by maintaining an eye on the long-term and short-term potential of precision marketing.”

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  • Apac consumers embracing shopping apps

    Apac consumers embracing shopping apps

    Users of shopping apps users are becoming increasingly purchase-happy in what is poised to be mobile commerce’s biggest year so far, according to a recent study by Liftoff.

    The report by the mobile-app marketing and retargeting platform also uncovers key insights into Asia Pacific (Apac) mobile shopping behaviour, suggesting the rise of “Mobile Window Shopping” in the region, which is underpinned by the low costs of installing shopping apps and acquiring new users.

    Analysing more than 90.9 billion ad impressions across four global zones, 13.6 million installs and 3.9 million registration and purchase events between April 2018 and April this year, the report identified several trends relevant to the Apac region.

    In Apac, users are clearly open to exploring retail apps, with registration rates skyrocketing and acquisition costs dropping year-on-year. But the data points to a surprising new trend – “Mobile Window Shopping”. While users install and register in retail apps with ease, the joint report shows a sizeable drop-off at the all-important purchase stage. Apac’s cost-per-first-purchase comes in at US$31.26 (up 13.3 per cent year-on-year), coupled with a low 10.1 per cent conversion rate.

    This could point to a larger retail trend: the demand for a more user-friendly shopping experience. While price tends to dominate purchasing decisions, factors such as having personal engagements with retailers and concerns on whether the retailers can capably fulfill orders are also seen as crucial by mobile shoppers.

    “For marketers looking to boost purchase rates, the key is to utilise the data they have, understand potential drop-off points and to segment and target properly,” said Adjust co-founder and CEO Christian Henschel. “Brands can then create and deliver the perfect user interaction strategies for their marketing initiatives. This personalisation is key to winning over fickle consumers and building long-term loyalty.”

    Southeast Asia’s largest country – Indonesia – presents a dynamic landscape for marketers operating in APAC; especially in terms of the number of users that can be acquired. However, turning those acquisitions into actual purchases will likely depend on how convenient the mobile app shopping experience is. The cost of an application installment is just US$1.65, but this is paired with somewhat meagre conversion rates. Another concern for marketers and retailers is that retention rates of shopping apps in Indonesia trail behind other markets studied in the region, the prime reasons being consumers having a low learning curve, lack of patience with the app onboarding process and failing to understand the long-term value of installing an app.

    “The shopping app market in Asia is growing dynamically and at an all-time-high, yet based on our findings, the number of purchases made through such apps are not as high as they could be; despite the general trend of consumers moving their browsing from store windows to the phones’ screens,” said, Liftoff VP marketing Dennis Mink.

    “Indonesia is a microcosm of the behaviors and concerns of the region’s shoppers. So, finding the right message and conveying it in the right context to the consumer can help remove these roadblocks, thereby improving retention and interest.”

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  • Fred Segal looking for Asian expansion

    Fred Segal looking for Asian expansion

    US West Coast fashion and lifestyle retailer Fred Segal is eyeing expansion into China as its new owner Global Icons seeks to revive the 57-year-old brand. In an interview, Fred Segal president John Frierson said the European and Asian markets are big focuses for the company, singling out the growing spending power of Chinese Gen Z and millennial consumers.

    He said the company will be announcing “significant” plans for physical retail within Asia within the next few weeks, led by “big partners” in the region.

    Jeff Lotman, CEO of Global Icons and Fred Segal chairman, said the company was in final discussions with multibillion-dollar trading companies in China, South Korea and Japan. Stores in those markets would follow debuts in Taiwan and Malaysia last year under the company’s previous ownership.

    Global Icons has offices in Hong Kong and the company has secured licensing deals with brands as diverse as Hostess and Lamborghini.

    Fred Segal, a tailor, founded his retail brand in 1961. It peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s when it became the first to sell Kate Spade and Juicy Couture, and was shopped by celebrities including Paris Hilton and the Olsen twins.

    The company operates through licensees in international markets and has already announced plans to open at least 20 stores this year.

    “To really have next-level success means going out and creating our own line of products, and selling the Los Angeles lifestyle to the world,” Lotman said. “We can no longer just be US-centric.”

    He said he wants the international stores to retain Fred Segal’s retail signatures, including multiple brands, emerging designers, events and a restaurant.

    Added Frierson: “We’re lucky in that we’re not trying to harvest the value of the brand, but we’re trying to grow it. And we have a tremendous amount of growth to do in the next 10 years.”

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  • APAC Billionaires Hit the Hardest in 2018

    APAC Billionaires Hit the Hardest in 2018

    Global billionaire wealth and its population have fallen for only the second time since the global financial crisis in 2008, with those in APAC suffering the most.

    After reaching record levels the previous year, global billionaire wealth in 2018 declined by 7 percent to $8.6 trillion, while the billionaire population fell by 5.4 percent to 2,604, according to the 2019 edition of Billionaire Census, published by global ultra high net worth intelligence and data company Wealth X.

    This fall in wealth was largely caused by a slowdown in global growth, persistent trade tensions and a slump in equity markets, the report said. The findings of the report, which has been published annually since 2013, were based on Wealth-X’s global database of more than 1 million records on the world’s wealthiest individuals.

    The report noted that apart from the U.S., U.K., Russia, and France, nearly all of the top 15 countries by billionaire population saw a decline. Asia-Pacific’s billionaire population fell by 13.4 percent, driven by large declines in China, India, and Singapore.

    The region also saw the largest decline in billionaire wealth – billionaires here saw their net worth fall by an average of 9 percent, compared to 7 percent in EMEA and 6 percent in the Americas. The report attributed this to three factors: weak equity market performance on the back of slowing growth, tariff disputes, and emerging market volatility.

    Top Billionaire Countries

    1. United States (705 billionaires)
    2. China (285)
    3. Germany (146)
    4. Russia (102)
    5. United Kingdom (97)
    6. Switzerland (91)
    7. Hong Kong (87)
    8. India (82)
    9. Saudi Arabia (57)
    10. France (55)
    11. United Arab Emirates (55)
    12. Brazil (49)
    13. Italy (47)
    14. Canada (45)
    15. Singapore (39)
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  • Coach Hong Kong Best Employer To Work for in Asia

    Coach Hong Kong Best Employer To Work for in Asia

    Luxury leather goods retailer Coach Hong Kong has been awarded the “Best Company to Work for in Asia 2019” by HR Asia magazine.

    The award recognises companies that possess “remarkable levels of employee engagement, corporate culture and employer branding”. The selection process covers a comprehensive assessment of participating organisations’ talent strategies, employee engagement and leadership effectiveness. Employees are invited to provide ratings and opinions on their employers to help select the winner.

    Coach Hong Kong was awarded the accolade after it was judged by an independent panel of industry experts, academics and journalists.

    “As a core brand under Tapestry, Coach adheres to the values of optimistic, innovative and inclusive,” said Coach Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan GM Damien Tonneau. “We are committed to helping our employees grow and provide an engaging work environment that celebrates innovation and inclusiveness. We empower passionate people to fulfill their dreams with a digital-centric talent strategy.”

    “We see talent as our most valuable asset, and they are at the forefront of our customer service,” said Coach and Tapestry Asia Pacific VP and head of HR Janet Zhong. “The award fully recognizes our HR and talent strategy and business growth in the region. We are immensely proud of how we implement new ideas, tools, and systems to empower our managers and employees, offer robust learning and development programs, and exciting opportunities for career advancement.

    “Looking ahead, we will continue to evolve our HR transformation journey to support Coach’s brand strategy; focus on building a critical talent pipeline and continue to thrive with great stamina and offer a dynamic environment celebrating personal growth and success for all our employees,” she added.

    Coach Hong Kong has 19 directly operated stores and nearly 340 employees.

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  • Indonesian Retail Sales Down Last Month

    Indonesian Retail Sales Down Last Month

    Indonesian retail sales grew by 10.1 percent in March following a 9.1 percent increase in February, according to central bank survey data.

    The strong March performance was underpinned by sales of apparel along with automotive parts and accessories.

    However, the bank’s survey predicted that Indonesian retail sales growth will rise by a more modest 5.7 percent in April, the same figure it projects for the full year.