Retail News CRM

Tag: asia

  • Tod’s debuts a product on ‘Baoshop’

    Tod’s debuts a product on ‘Baoshop’

    Tod’s debuts a product on WeChat’s mini programme, called ‘Baoshop’. It is a limited-edition handbag co-designed by Chinese fashion blogger Tao Liang, better known as Mr. Bags.

    The dog-like handbag was available first from the ‘Baoshop’ within the WeChat ecosystem, before it is rolled out to selected Tod’s boutiques globally and the Tod’s own WeChat mini programme.

    The exclusive ‘Baoshop’ pop-up store, allows for a more personal touch and a seamless “reading-to-shopping” experience said Liang in a press release, while also allowing shoppers to learn more about the product as well as purchase directly via WeChat Pay.

    Liang is one of the most powerful influencers in China, boasting more than four million followers, and he states that the “convenience and asset-light weight of the mini programme perfectly fits with user expectations,” as it provides users with a more reliable, convenient and high-quality shopping channel.

    These mini programmes are becoming an important part of the Chinese e-commerce market in connecting luxury brands with shoppers, and they are seen as good conversion platform for the new economic model that is emerging in China, referred to as the fans economy.

    The limited-edition handbag features dog-like details in a reference to the year of the dog being celebrated in China this year. The collaboration has 500 handbags, 300 of which will be offered first on Liang’s ‘Baoshop’.

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  • E-Mart to have electric car charging at all stores

    E-Mart to have electric car charging at all stores

    Korean hypermarket giant E-Mart plans to install electric car charging stations at all of its outlets nationwide by 2021.

    The company initiated formal service of nine electric car charging stations in four regions (Sokcho, Gangneung, Geomdan, and Gumi) this week.

    The stations can accommodate many cars at any given time. From October, E-Mart will be expanding the number of charging stations by 30 every year so that by 2021, the total number of stations within its overarching Shinsegae Group will reach 1100 including the 140-odd stations installed on the premises of its E-Mart stores.

    The multi-car charging stations will each accommodate 18 cars that can be fully charged within 40 minutes at 100kWh, making them the fastest chargers in the nation.

    A new payment system that automatically recognises the driver’s Hi Pass payment card number will make payment easy without requiring the driver to take out his or her credit card.

    E-Mart was the first retailer in the nation to build charging stations for electric cars. The company currently operates more than 110 charging stations with a total capacity of charging 200 electric cars.

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  • Starbucks debuts nitro cold brew in India

    Starbucks debuts nitro cold brew in India

    Starbucks has introduced a new generation of coffee in India with Nitro Cold Brew on tap. Using the highest quality coffee beans, the Nitro Cold Brew unfolds an irresistible coffee experience where time meets texture. With each cup 48 hours in the making, the Nitro Cold Brew is a super-smooth, naturally sweet coffee that cascades from the tap with a velvety, creamy texture which customers can see and taste.

    Nitro Cold Brew marks Starbucks next chapter of coffee innovation offering customers an elevated coffee experience through its newest take on its signature Cold Brew. In today’s fast‐paced world where everything is instant and on‐demand, Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew allows customers to enjoy small-batch, slow-steeped coffee like they’ve never tasted it before. After handcrafting the Cold Brew recipe, baristas perfect the pour by pulling the tap and allowing the Cold Brew coffee to mix with nitrogen to deliver an entirely new cold coffee experience. Nitro Cold Brew is cold right out of the tap and served unsweetened without ice.

    Starbucks also offers the refreshing Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew. Made with Starbucks® Cold Brew over ice and topped with a house-made vanilla sweet cream, the sweet cream floats on top of the beverage before slowly cascading down for an eye‐catching effect.

    “At Starbucks, innovation is always brewing. We take great pride in partnering with customers in their journey of coffee exploration. We are pleased to introduce Starbucks® Nitro Cold Brew in India, taking our Cold Brew craft to a whole new level,” said Veetika Deoras, Head – Marketing, Category and Digital at Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd. “It is a sensorial coffee drinking experience, and one that has the potential to redefine the language of coffee in India.”

    Starbucks Cold Brew is available across all Starbucks stores in India. Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew is currently exclusively available in 5 stores across India: Mumbai, Kamala Mills | Bangalore, Jaya Nagar | Delhi, Green Park | Noida, DLF Mall of India | Kolkata, Park Mansions.

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  • Muji parent posts new profit record

    Muji parent posts new profit record

    Muji parent Ryohin Keikaku has revealed another record quarter in both sales and operating profit.

    In the three months to May, Muji achieved group-wide sales of 106.5 billion yen (US$963.5 million), up 9.7 per cent year on year. Its net profit reached 9.5 billion yen, its best quarterly result ever.

    Citing strong sales in its Japan home market, and the broader Asia-Pacific region, Muji’s president Satoru Matsuzaki said the company expects even better results to come from overseas markets in the future.

    With profit in Japan, where the population is declining, up a modest 1 per cent, its East Asian surplus soared 36 per cent during the quarter.

    Looking forward, Muji expects strong growth in China. Sales there accounted for 17 per cent of the group’s sales during the quarter, making it the second-largest market for the brand behind Japan, with 65 per cent.

    Muji will start designing products in China for Chinese, after some previous missteps with items created in Japan. Matsuzaki cited water bottles as an example, which Chinese consumers shunned because they were too small.

    “We want to sell appropriate products to match China,” he said.

    Muji this week revealed plans to open an office in Switzerland which will become the headquarters for its struggling European business. Despite a loss of 273 million yen in Europe and North America during the quarter, the company is confident it can turn the business around and is planning more stores in both regions.

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  • Malaysian export growth to moderate to 5.5% in May

    Malaysian export growth to moderate to 5.5% in May

    RAM Ratings expects Malaysia’s export growth to moderate to 5.5% in May 2018 after a strong increase of 14% in April.

    The rating agency said in a statement today that this could be partially attributable to a high-base effect from May 2017, when export growth surged 32.4% – the highest level since March 2010.

    RAM said the continued decline in imports of intermediate goods also suggests an expectation of a corresponding moderation in external demand growth going ahead.

    Meanwhile, the import growth is projected to contract 2.5% in May in anticipation of the deceleration in exports.

    “Furthermore, some risk aversion in the lead-up to the 14th General Election may also have caused some hold-back in investments, thereby contributing to the slower pace.”

    For May, the trade surplus is estimated to come in lower at RM11.8 billion compared with RM13.1 billion in April.

    RAM pointed out that the direct impact arising from the US’s protectionist policies and tariffs on Malaysia’s exports has been limited to date, as exports of affected goods to the US (blanket tariffs on solar panels, washing machines, and steel and aluminium) constituted only 0.8% of Malaysia’s total exports in 2017.

    However, it cautioned that the second-round effects from the escalating trade tensions between the US and China, which bears the brunt of most of the American tariffs, will pose a bigger concern to the Malaysian economy.

    “This ripple effect will be more strongly felt through the global value chain (GVC) and also in global trade and economic growth.”

    “Notably, the US tariffs announced have a more far-reaching impact beyond China and have significant spillover effects to the GVC given the intermediate nature of the goods taxed. China’s set of retaliatory tariffs, on the other hand, seemingly target the US specifically,” said RAM head of research Kristina Fong.

    Having said that, the research house noted that large trade gains could be derived as US substitutes its demand for imports away from China to other established technology markets, in addition to inward investment gains from American and Chinese firms seeking to bypass these trade tariffs by relocating their operations.

    “However, the latter will take time to materialise as firms will require greater certainty in terms of how long and how significant this trade war will turn out to be.”

    In the near term, RAM said, significant downside risks may arise from the widespread uncertainty and heftier production costs, primarily for the US, which could in turn affect the current positive global economic momentum through higher unemployment and lower investments.

    “Moreover, greater-than-expected inflationary pressure may also spur faster-than-anticipated monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, which may further hurt investment and global restocking demand.

    “For Malaysia as a small open economy, weak external demand is a clear downside risk to growth momentum; this will require very close monitoring,” the rating agency said.

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  • German retailer removes single-use products to combat plastic pollution

    German retailer removes single-use products to combat plastic pollution

    Rewe will remove single-use plastic straws from the aisles of its supermarkets in order to help combat environmental pollution, the German retail chain announced on Wednesday.

    The Cologne-based company estimated that the move across its 6,000 stores would lead to an annual reduction of around 42 million single-use plastic straws going to landfill.

    The retail group includes the popular supermarket chains “Rewe” and “Penny”, as well as the “Toom” hardware stores in Germany.

    Rewe is only one of several German retailers which have recently taken steps to address growing concerns over the environmental consequences of excessive plastic consumption.

    Amongst others, the discounter Lidl will no longer stock single-use plastic products like cutlery and straws from 2020 onwards while rival Edeka is developing a returnable packaging system as an alternative to single-use.

    According to the “Seas at Risk” group of non-governmental organizations (NGO), around 100,000 tons of plastic from the European Union (EU) end up in the bloc’s seas every year with devastating implications for marine ecosystems. In total, 46 billion single-use bottles and 36 billion straws are consumed annually in the EU only to be thrown away shortly thereafter.

    The EU commission has set itself a goal to lower the amount of single-use waste in its seas by 30 percent until 2020 while the European Parliament is demanding for a more ambitious target of 50 percent until 2030.

    In a widely-discussed proposal, EU budgetary commissioner Guenther Oettinger recently called for the introduction of a plastic tax as a means to lower consumer use and simultaneously improve the bloc’s finances following the departure of the United Kingdom.

    Speaking to the German press agency on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the German ministry for the environment emphasized, however, that environmental pollution through single-use products was a problem that applied to plastic as well as other materials.

    “We need to overcome a powerful throw-away culture”, the spokesperson said.

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  • Potboy pioneers online-to-offline groceries sale

    Potboy pioneers online-to-offline groceries sale

    Home grown online grocer, Potboy Grocery, is organising an online-to-offline (O20) groceries sale, the first of its kind in Malaysia, in bringing the online customer to offline retail.

    PB Grocery Group Sdn Bhd, Co-founder Eddie Chew said the event enables offline customers to purchase groceries online and without having to be physically present at the actual exhibition hall of the event.

    “We want to educate customers on cashless transactions and e-payment as an alternative shopping method, and at the same time, give them the convenience of shopping.

    “Customers can enjoy buying groceries at the event without having to worry about carrying the items because we can deliver them to their doorstep for free and at no minimum purchase,” he said.

    Chew said the free delivery and no-minimum order privileges also applied to online transaction-buyers.

    The O2O event will be held for three days starting July 6 at P2, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya from 10 am to 10 pm.

    A crowd of about 18,000 crowd online and offline are expected to attend and generate RM2 million in sales.

    Forty famous suppliers, among others, Coca-cola, Nestle, F&N, Hershey’s, Homesoy, Brand’s, Jasmine, MamyPoko, and other household brands will participate, offering a discount of up to 75 per cent.

    “We are offering goods at a very competitive price during this event, and way better, lower compared to the retail price,” he said, adding, 300 goodies bag would be given away daily for early birds.

    Founded in Malaysia in 2016, Potboy Groceries is owned and operated by PB Grocery Group and currently based in the Klang Valley.

    Potboy Grocery is also the trusted grocer for Suria KLCC, Astro, Getha, Sumbertech Ventures and others.

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  • Under Armour reorganises international executive team

    Under Armour reorganises international executive team

    Athletic apparel retailer Under Armour has announced new executive appointments for their international markets as it expresses plans to make its international sales grow even more.

    The company’s international sales have been growing fast and make up 24 per cent of its total revenue. In the first quarter, the sportswear retailer’s total sales were $1.19 billion.

    Under Armour has announced the appointments of Jason Archer as managing director for Asia Pacific; Manuel Ovalle as managing director for Latin America; and Massimo Baratto as managing director for Europe, Middle East & Africa.

    The company also announced that its Hong Kong office will be expanded to serve as its Asia Pacific headquarters.

    “As we work to scale our international business, we remain focused and measured in our evolution across our entire portfolio to ensure that we are driving toward long-term return for our shareholders,” said Patrik Frisk, Under Armour president and chief operating officer.

    Archer, who has been with Under Armour for six years, became vice president and managing director in 2016 with primary oversight of the company’s Latin American business. Before joining Under Armour he spent 11 years with adidas in Latin America and six years with PwC on assignments in Canada and Europe.

    Ovalle, who joined Under Armour in 2013, will now be based in Panama and be responsible for the company’s entire Latin America business from Mexico through the Southern Cone. Prior to Under Armour, Ovalle spent nearly 20 years with adidas with roles of increasing responsibility as the company grew its Latin American business.

    Baratto, who joined Under Armour in May, will now oversee the entire Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He brings nearly 30 years of international experience from a variety of industries, brands and regions – most recently as the CEO of the Oberalp Group.

    Erick Haskell, who joined Under Armour in 2015 as managing director for Greater China has announced plans to leave the company later this month to pursue a new opportunity.

    “We are grateful for Erick’s leadership and the strong foundation he set over the past few years, which has positioned us for strong, balanced growth as we enter our next chapter in this important region,” Frisk said.

    All regional leads report directly to Frisk.

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  • Vietnam fuel tax set to rise to highest level

    Vietnam fuel tax set to rise to highest level

    Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will persist with a controversial plan to increase environmental tax on fuel to the highest level permitted, a source said.

    A Finance Ministry official who did not want to be named said the plan will be discussed at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Vietnam’s parliament, which is scheduled on July 11-13.

    Should it pass, the new tax will take effect starting this October, three months later than the original schedule.

    The reason for the delay, the official said, was that the Finance Ministry did not want to impose the tax in September, as a majority of students would be starting a new school year then.

    The ensuing surge in transportation could affect the consumer price index, the source explained.

    Under the proposal, the environmental tax on petrol and diesel will increase by 33 percent, or VND4,000 (17 cents) per liter and VND2,000 per liter respectively.

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  • Pomelo to have first offline store in Singapore

    Pomelo to have first offline store in Singapore

    Bangkok-based online-to-offline retailer Pomelo Fashion is to open its first physical store in Singapore.

    Pomelo Fashion, founded by former Lazada Thailand MD David Jou and which includes JD and Central Group on its shareholder register, sees the move as a logical step in its Southeast Asia expansion ambition.

    The vertically integrated business sources its own materials and contracts manufacturing partners to produce the clothes it designs and retails. It allows customers to view and choose a product online before it is shipped direct, or to a store for trying on the fit, thus merging the convenience of online shopping with offline, in-store service.

    Despite being headquartered in Bangkok, Pomelo Fashion sees itself as”a global fast-fashion brand for a digital world,” always on-trend and affordable.

    Currently, Pomelo Fashion has just two “micro-retail sites” in Bangkok – at Interchange 21 in Asok and at All Seasons Place in the CBD. But it has identified 800 potential sites for such stores in Thailand in the long term. It has also opened short-term pop-up stores in prime shopping areas to help raise the brand’s profile, including a space inside Tang’s department store on Orchard Road. With its buy-and-try business model, the company does not have to shoulder the expense of leasing the larger-footprint stores its offline rivals require to display broad ranges.

    “Discovery for fashion is going online, where you’re not constrained by having to display the entire catalogue,” Jou said in a media interview last week. “But e-commerce for fashion is plagued by the problem of returns because the clothes don’t fit or they don’t look good. Having the online-to-offline model cuts down returns because the consumer only buys what they have tried on.”

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  • HBX announces an official partnership with G-SHOCK

    HBX announces an official partnership with G-SHOCK

    HBX announces an official partnership with G-SHOCK for their 35th Anniversary pop-up starting 30th June at SHOP B30, LANDMARK MEN, LANDMARK ATRIUM, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong.

    The G-SHOCK 35th Anniversary Pop-up will display an array of G-SHOCK’s 35th Anniversary collection, which has re-imagined the first G-SHOCK ORIGINAL DW500C from 1983.

    Model DW-5000MD, one of the 5 newest collections, is specially collaborated with the fashion brand MADNESS.

    To bring out G-SHOCK’s youthful and trendy designs at all times, the store is designed to accommodate the stylish mix of its old and new models displaying 44 highly collective watches throughout history together on the acrylic wall aside, along with a series of display blocks to showcase the current 5 newest models at the storefront.

    In addition, a highlighted installation is placed at the centre of the store, built from a range of vintage TV’s from the 80s, displaying a series of branded showreels, and nicely placed on top of a set of concrete sculptures at the bottom to indicate a comeback of the classic vibe.

  • HIJUP UK debuts at London Eid Festival

    HIJUP UK debuts at London Eid Festival

    Malaysian-owned Hijup UK made its debut in London’s modest fashion scene at the recent London Eid Festival.

    Participating in the year’s largest international modest fashion showcase coincided with the launch of the Hijup UK online store.

    Hijup UK will follow this up with the opening of its first brick-and-mortar concept store and a fleet of mobile stores in London to make modest fashion more accessible to women.

    At the London Eid Festival, the fast-fashion and lifestyle brand showed off its latest collection by Indonesian designers Dian Pelangi, Vivi Zubedi, Jenahara and Ria Miranda and displayed its range of clothing and scarves in mobile stores set up on site.

    Along with its own brands handpicked from popular designers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, the UAE, US and the UK, Hijup UK will be retailing popular and versatile Aidijuma hijabs and luxury modest fashion labels carried by Haute Elan.

    The company says it will adopt the online-to-offline business model in the UK, complementing e-commerce with personal retail experiences in both concept and mobile stores to provide a seamless experience for consumers wherever they are.

    Hijup UK is owned by Hijup, the world’s first Islamic fashion e-commerce and modest fashion brand, and Aidijuma Colors Group of Companies from Malaysia.

    “Hijup UK will be the first modest-retail group to create retail revolution through the online merging offline platform which includes the breakthrough concept of having a mobile store to complement the consumer shopping experience,” said Norjuma Habib Mohamed, founder and CEO of Aidijuma Colors Group, which holds the majority stake in Hijup UK.

    “We have a clear vision and that is to bring fashionable modest wear to women wherever they are, through multiple retail platforms and at competitive prices.

    “There is a growing market for modest wear and we are making it even more accessible and mainstream in more and more markets to cater for the needs of women while developing the brand,” added Norjuma.

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  • Wealthy Vietnamese foot big bills for high-end furniture

    Wealthy Vietnamese foot big bills for high-end furniture

    Affluent Vietnamese have become big spenders on interior goods and Italian furniture is particularly favoured, industry insiders say.

    Research and consulting firm Concetti says Vietnamese consumers spent $15.6 million on luxury furniture from Italy in 2017.

    “With enhanced living conditions and developed taste, many wealthy Vietnamese are buying high-end, imported furniture from European countries,” said Pham Tu, Vice President of HCMC Architecture Federation.

    He was backed by Paolo Lemma, Italian Trade Commissioner to Vietnam, who said: “Over the last three years, import of furniture to Vietnam grew at an average rate of 33 percent. Italy ranks first among European countries exporting to Vietnam and the third worldwide, covering seven percent of Vietnamese market.

    Italian interiors are also popular among the well-heeled, and price is not a major factor when they make purchasing decisions.

    “Our prices range from $1,500 to $23,000 and can go even higher for customized products. We mainly focus on rich and upper class customers in Vietnam,” said Leonardo Cangioli, representative of an Italian lamp-making company.

    “We know the prices are not low, but we are confident that our products are going to sell well in Vietnam, because the number of moneyed and affluent people here is on the rise, as is the demand for imported goods,” Cangioli said.

    Below the top rung of luxury interiors, China remains the leading exporter of furniture to Vietnam, because its products are more diverse and cheaper.

    The “middle and affluent class” in Vietnam, categorized as those earning $714 a month or more, will double to 33 million people, about a third of the population, between 2014 and 2020, citing the Boston Consulting Group.

    Meanwhile, market research firm Nielsen estimates that the number of middle and affluent class Vietnamese citizens will reach 44 million by 2020 and 95 million by 2030.

  • Coty and DKSH join forces in Asia

    Coty and DKSH join forces in Asia

    DKSH’s Business Unit Consumer Goods, Asia’s leading Market Expansion Services provider for fast moving consumer goods of international and local brands, is the partner of choice for Coty Professional Beauty, to enhance its distribution capability to a wide base of Asian consumers.

    Part of one of the leading beauty companies worldwide, Coty Professional Beauty is geared towards servicing salon owners and professionals.

    The partnership will enable an improved delivery schedule and better inventory visibility, while expanding the availability of Coty’s international brands to consumers in Singapore and Malaysia.

    DKSH will provide distribution, logistics and sales order processing for Coty’s Professional Beauty division across the salon channel.

    The agreement covers popular consumer brands in the category professional haircare, such as Wella Professionals, System Professional, Nioxin and Sebastian Professional. Partnering with Coty gives DKSH the opportunity to showcase its full competence in Market Expansion Services, while the collaboration allows Coty Professional Beauty to reach an even wider audience in Asia.

    In Thailand, DKSH has already been successfully working with another division of Coty, Consumer Beauty, to distribute brands like Adidas body care & fragrances.
    Rui-Yuan Chen, Business Unit Lead, South East Asia and Korea, Coty Professional Beauty, said: “With this strategic partnership, we will improve Coty Professional Beauty’s service level to more salons across Asia. We rely on DKSH’s efficient distribution network to deliver our products faster, more accurately, with quality after-sales services in Singapore and Malaysia.”

    Martina Ludescher, Chief Commercial Officer and Head Business Unit Consumer Goods, DKSH commented: “Through this partnership with DKSH, Coty Professional Beauty is entrusting the distribution to a regional expert with more than 150 years of experience in the Asian markets and an omni-channel approach that offers a one-stop regional solution for its clients. DKSH provides customized services and a deep capillary distribution network that guarantees the direct-to-store distribution of Coty’s international brands in the two Asian markets.”

  • Duty-free market still dominated by South Korea

    Duty-free market still dominated by South Korea

    South Korea has maintained a dominant share of the global duty-free market, despite its recent political turmoil.

    According to a GlobalData report, with a 22 per cent share of sales, South Korea is the world’s largest duty-free market, which reached a sales high of US$11.7 billion last year. The past two years have seen sales growth of 23.1 per cent annually in the sector.

    These sales figures were achieved against the context of the Terminal High Area Defense (THAAD) missile row between South Korea and China that halved the numbers of Chinese tourists visiting the country.

    Maureen Hinton, retail research director at the data and analytics company, said: “The deployment of the THAAD missile system in South Korea and the consequent ban on Chinese travelers visiting the country was potentially very significant. As the Chinese are the big spenders and a key driver of the market, a decline in sales should have been the outcome.”

    Despite this, Chinese shuttle traders, who on-sell high quantities of Korean duty-free products back in China, combined with international attention on the Seoul Winter Olympics, have been major factors in the country’s dominance of the market sector.

    Hinton added: “GlobalData forecasts that by 2022, South Korea will account for nearly a quarter of all duty free spending at 24.1 per cent of the global market. However, optimism about a new settled relationship with North Korea could drive its sales even higher if the border opens.”

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