Retail News CRM

Tag: asia

  • GNC plans big expansion in India

    GNC plans big expansion in India

    Health and wellness brand GNC India is planning major expansion by increasing its availability to 4000 stores by 2020.

    The retailer will partner with pharmacy chain Guardian Healthcare Services, its master franchise in the market, to distribute GNC products to 1000 retail outlets this year, and boost its business to multiple channels, encompassing retail, e-commerce and distribution.

    GNC India will also market and sell its full product line through the company’s website and via other e-commerce players.

    “We are very excited about our expansion plans in India, where there is significant opportunity for growth,” says Ken Martindale, GNC’s CEO.

    “Guardian is an established player in India’s health and wellness industry and we believe the strength of our two companies will position us as one of the leaders in this attractive and fast growing market.”

    According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India 2017 report, India’s nutraceutical market is currently estimated to be US$4 billion in 2017 and expected to grow to $10 billion in 2022.

    GNC arrived in India in 2004 and is currently available at 50 of Guardian’s stores.

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  • Singapore retail sales and Lunar New Year

    Singapore retail sales and Lunar New Year

    Singapore retail sales fell in January, however there is little to read from the figures.

    The decline – of 8.1 per cent (excluding motor vehicles) – is totally attributable to the timing of Lunar New Year which fell in February this year and January last year, making year-on-year comparisons meaningless.

    However, month-on-month sales fell a mere 1.5 per cent which suggests a solid January given the strength of Christmas trade in December.

    Statistics Singapore estimates the total value of retail sales in January at S$3.9 billion, compared with $4.3 billion in January last year. It estimated online retail sales accounted for 4.1 per cent of total sales in the city state.

    The only categories to register a rise in sales year-on-year were furniture and household equipment and optical goods and books, which rose 3.1 per cent and 7.8 per cent, respectively.

    Seasonally adjusted sales of food and beverage services fell 4 per cent in January over December, and 13.2 per cent over January last year, again reflecting the timing of Lunar New Year.

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  • Indonesia Eyes Fintech Regulation to Avoid ‘Loan Shark-Like’ Practices

    Indonesia Eyes Fintech Regulation to Avoid ‘Loan Shark-Like’ Practices

    Indonesia’s financial regulator said it was considering setting a cap on interest rates and the size of loans offered by fintech firms, in a move aimed at minimizing the risk of defaults.

    The emergence of these peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, offering loans ranging from as little as a few hundred dollars to several thousands, has so far been welcomed by Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy where tens of millions of people have little or no access to bank credit.

    More than 300,000 people have borrowed from these firms, with total loan distribution reaching 3 trillion rupiah ($218 million) as of January, versus 247 billion in December 2016, according to data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

    Meanwhile, annual growth in bank lending has slowed to under 10 percent, from over 20 percent in the commodity boom years. ‎

    “We support P2P lending so the people can have an easier access [to financing]. But when the access has been easier, the P2P companies feel the need to offer a high rate,” Eko Ariantoro, the director of the financial inclusion development directorate at the OJK, told reporters on Tuesday (13/03).

    “We don’t want these developing fintechs to become loan shark-like businesses‎,” he said.

    Ariantoro said the proposed maximum lending rate was still under discussion.

    There are 36 registered fintech firms operating in Indonesia and the OJK said 42 others were in the process to be approved.

    The OJK plans to also issue a new regulation for crowdfunding platforms this year as part of efforts to protect customers’ funds, Eko said.

    “We are trying to regulate the mechanism to acquire and collect funds. There should be a form of responsibility to the fund owner,” he said.

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  • BreadTalk to take Taiwan’s Wu Pao Chun bakeries into China

    BreadTalk to take Taiwan’s Wu Pao Chun bakeries into China

    BreadTalk Singapore says it has formed JVs with a Taiwan company to run bakeries in China.

    BreadTalk subsidiary Shanghai Star Food F&B Management has partnered with Wu Pao Chun Food of Taiwan to run Wu Pao Chun outlets in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Shanghai Star will hold 80 per cent of the Shanghai JV and can own up to 40 per cent of the Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou JVs.

    Both companies expect to form JVs for co-operation in Singapore and Hong Kong later.

    BreadTalk owns 1000 retail stores in Singapore, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

  • Offer for OldTown extended to March 20

    Offer for OldTown extended to March 20

    Jacobs Douwe Egberts Holdings Asia NL BV (JDE) has extended the closing date of its takeover offer for OldTown Bhd to March 20.

    According to a circular issued by CIMB Investment Bank Bhd, the terms and conditions of the offer remain unchanged and the level of acceptances of the offer stood at 83.75% on March 9.

    OldTown received a takeover notice from JDE in December last year at an offer price of RM3.18 per share. The offer was supposed to close today.

    Earlier, JDE said it has secured irrevocable undertakings from shareholders holding 51.45% and is looking to procure the remaining shares with an eye to delist and privatise OldTown.

    JDE has agreed to pay a good faith fee of US$3.48 million (RM13.6 million) or 1% of the total offer price to OldTown.

  • Lazada comes with idea to simplify selling system

    Lazada comes with idea to simplify selling system

    To help Southeast Asian entrepreneurs ride the e-commerce boom, Lazada has rolled out measures to make doing business online easier, faster and more financially rewarding.

    Already in effect, the moves benefit new sellers and about 135,000 merchants already on Lazada’s platform.

    One of the highlights is Seller Rewards, a powerful framework that recognises sellers for outstanding performance. The higher the ratings, the more rewards or benefits the seller enjoys such as:

    ● Higher visibility of products when users search and browse the site
    ● Access to shipping services and price subsidies extended by Lazada
    ● Access to promotional campaigns spearheaded by Lazada
    ● Access to preferred sellers programs; or premium seller program in Malaysia and Seller Prioritas program in Indonesia.

    Customers can rate sellers based on how they apply best practices to deliver a positive customer experience, such as quality checks on products sold, using recommended packing materials to avoid damage, and preventing purchase cancellations through third-party negligence.

    As another plus, sellers will no longer be financially penalised for policy breaches. However,  errant sellers may be delisted by Lazada.

    Instead of three to four days for anyone to start their business on Lazada, the process can now be completed in mere minutes. The simplified sign-up form requires registrants to provide just their email address, telephone number and address. They can start logging up sales 15 minutes after creating an account.

    Lazada group chief operations officer Aimone Ripa di Meana says the seller-friendly initiatives are part of the company’s efforts to empower entrepreneurs to grow their business online. “By incentivising sellers and giving them more leeway to sell efficiently and effectively, we want to ensure Lazada’s marketplace is the best place for sellers to reach out to more consumers.”

    Launched in 2012, Lazada is present in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It helps more than 135,000 local and international sellers as well as 3000 brands serving 560 million consumers. Lazada Group is majority owned by Alibaba Group Holding.

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  • Hubert de Givenchy Dies at 91, Fashion Pillar of Romantic Elegance

    Hubert de Givenchy Dies at 91, Fashion Pillar of Romantic Elegance

    French couturier Hubert de Givenchy, a pioneer of ready-to-wear, has died at the age of 91.

    Paying homage to its founder, the house of Givenchy says he was “a major personality of the world of French haute couture and a gentleman who symbolised Parisian chic and elegance for more than half a century”.

    Givenchy designed Audrey Hepburn’s little black dress in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

    “He revolutionised international fashion with the timelessly stylish looks he created for Audrey Hepburn, his great friend and muse for more than 40 years,” the house says. “His work remains as relevant today as it was then.”

    Givenchy was part of the elite cadre of Paris-based designers, including Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, who redefined fashion after World War II. He forged close friendships with his famous clients including Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy and Princess Grace of Monaco.

    He was born into an aristocratic family in the provincial city of Beauvais on February 21, 1927, and founded his label in 1952, selling it to luxury conglomerate LVMH in 1988. He retired several years later.

    Clare Waight Keller, who has been at the helm of the brand since last year, said on her official Instagram account she was “deeply saddened by the loss of a great man and artist I have had the honor to meet”.

    LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault says he is “deeply saddened” by Givenchy’s death. “He was among those designers who placed Paris firmly at the heart of world fashion post-1950.”

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  • Alibaba CEO invests 20 million dollars in Rent the Runway

    Alibaba CEO invests 20 million dollars in Rent the Runway

    An Alibaba affiliate has invested US$21 million in online fashion rental service Rent the Runway.

    Rent the Runway CEO Jennifer Hyman says that over time the company has built a great relationship with the team at Blue Pool Capital, an asset-management firm established by Alibaba founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai.

    The funding values Rent the Runway at nearly $800 million. In December 2016, it closed a $60 million series-E funding round led by Fidelity Management and Research Company.

    “Launched in 2009, Rent the Runway seemed to struggle a few years ago amid the complex logistics as a renter of high- to mid-fashion apparel,”

    As the company evolved, it has also tested the limits of its own revolutionary premise – that people will begin to think of their wardrobes as existing ‘in the cloud’, making them virtually infinite.

    “It is a step beyond the original concept of renting special-occasion dresses and shoes – the Cinderella approach – to renting casual wear and office wear on a routine basis.”

    The stance is a direct challenge to fast fashion, which relies on inexpensive ownership and a closet’s high turnover.

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  • January Malaysia manufacturing sales up 11% year-on-year

    January Malaysia manufacturing sales up 11% year-on-year

    Manufacturing sales in Malaysia soared 10.8% to RM67.8 billion in January this year compared with RM61.2 billion in the same month of 2017.

    The Department of Statistics said in a statement today the significant increase in sales value was due to increases in electrical and electronic products (14.3%); petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (10.9%); and non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (8.1%).

    These three sub-sectors contributed 80.2% to the sales value of the manufacturing sector in the first month of the year.

    The total number of employees engaged in the manufacturing sector in January 2018 was 1.07 million persons, a 2.5% increase or 26,203 persons from the 1.04 million persons in January 2017.

    Salaries and wages paid rose 13.3% or RM439.7 million to RM3.74 billion, translating into an average salaries and wages per employee of RM3,494 in January 2018.

    Sales value per employee was up by 8% to RM63,292 compared with the same month in the previous year.

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  • Facebook launches Hong Kong Marketplace

    Facebook launches Hong Kong Marketplace

    Facebook Marketplace has launched in Hong Kong, allowing users to easily find, buy and sell goods locally.

    Already 550 million people buy and sell in groups on Facebook each month. With Marketplace, it is easier to both sell and buy. Users can view the public profiles of buyers and sellers, their mutual friends, and how long they have been on Facebook.

    FeedMarketplace shows items relevant to users’ interests and available in their community. Similarly, by tapping on the Marketplace icon, users can post products for sale directly or cross-post from a buy-and-sell group.

    Users can search for specific items and filter results by location, category or price. Images can be tapped to show more details, and items can be saved for later perusal.

    Interested buyers can directly contact the seller by message and make an offer. Facebook does not handle payments or deliveries.

    To sell an item, users simply take a photo, describe the item and set their.

    Hong Kong joins 64 countries where Marketplace is available.

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  • Fast Retailing to open first Uniqlo shop on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island

    Fast Retailing to open first Uniqlo shop on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island

    Japanese casualwear manufacturer Fast Retailing will open a Uniqlo shop on Sumatra Island, its first outlet outside Indonesia’s most populous main island of Java.

    The shop will open at the Sun Plaza shopping mall in Medan this week, in the northern part of the island. It covers about 2000sqm.

    Fast Retailing Indonesia president Michiaki Tanaka says the Sumatra opening will be followed by another outlet outside Java, in Makassar on Sulawesi Island, in May.

    Two more shops are planned for Jakarta and Yogyakarta before August, taking the number of outlets in the country to 18. Tanaka says brand recognition has been boosted through the store expansions.

    Uniqlo first opened in Indonesia in 2013.

  • New Deal Means a New Majority Owner for Smashburger

    New Deal Means a New Majority Owner for Smashburger

    In $100 million deal, Jollibee Foods Corp. will acquire an additional 45 percent of Smashburger, the Denver-based burger franchise that has more than 360 restaurants. The companies announced the deal Tuesday and it’s one that increases Jollibee’s ownership stake in the chain to 85 percent. The Philippines-based restaurant company first bought a 40 percent stake in Smashburger in October 2015 for $100 million, a deal which then valued the chain at $335 million.

    Tom Ryan, co-founder and CEO of Smashburger, called Jollibee an “invaluable strategic partner.”

    “Our momentum in 2017 around improved guest experience, iconic and record-setting product launches, and innovative marketing provide JFC a tremendously strong brand to enter the North American market,” said Ryan in a statement. “Our entire team couldn’t be more excited to grow the Smashburger brand and share the great tastes of Smashburger with the world.”

    Ryan took over as CEO in December 2016 following the exit of Mike Nolan after just nine months. Nolan had replaced Scott Crane, who stepped down in April 2016.

    Since Ryan’s move to chief executive, Smashburger has focused on developing new menu items, such as its Triple Double Burger, and expanded its marketing efforts. The company in 2017 also launched Smash Pass, a subscription-model consumer frequency program.

    With the expanded Jollibee partnership, Smashburger CFO Bradford Reynolds said growth in Southeast Asia is a focus.

    “This reinforced strategic partnership with JFC will allow Smashburger to continue to focus on growth in both existing and new markets including the opportunity to bring our great tasting burgers, fries and hand-spun shakes to Southeast Asia,” said Reynolds. “We look forward to building upon our successful relationship to further bolster the brand as an international leader in the better burger segment.”

    Smashburger’s footprint extends to 38 states and nine countries. Jollibee Foods operates the largest foodservice network in the Philippines, with 2,875 restaurants in the country as of December 31, 2017. In addition to its 1,062 units of the Jollibee brand, it has Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal and is a Burger King franchisee with 93 units. It also operates restaurants in Australia, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Macau, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

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  • Resurgent McDonald’s plans 200 openings in Japan’s burger battle

    Resurgent McDonald’s plans 200 openings in Japan’s burger battle

    Fast-food chains in Japan are launching the biggest expansion wave in decades and adopting strategies that would have been unthinkable in the early 2000s, when hamburgers were a prime symbol of deflation.

    McDonald’s Holdings (Japan), the biggest player, is emerging from a prolonged slump and on Tuesday announced it is planning the first net store increase in a decade this year. Burger King, the world’s second-largest hamburger chain, aims to triple its Japanese locations to 300 by 2022, spending 5 billion yen ($45.5 million) in the process.

    McDonald’s saw a 4.5-fold increase in group net profit for the fiscal year through December, logging a record 24 billion yen. It aims to open 150 to 200 new locations in the next three years. Factoring in closings, it expects a net increase of around 100.

    “Over the last several years, we were focusing on optimizing our existing store portfolio,” President Sarah Casanova told reporters. “Now, it’s time to look to opportunities to grow with new restaurants.”

    The number of McDonald’s locations in Japan peaked in 2002 and has been decreasing since. The chain now has 2,900 restaurants after a net decrease of about 1,000.

    Opening new restaurants might seem like an odd move in a country where the birthrate is falling and consumers are holding back on dining out. The hamburger business, however, is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak restaurant industry.

    It helps that chains like Burger King and McDonald’s are globally recognized. Japan is welcoming record numbers of tourists — 28.6 million last year — giving the restaurants a steady stream of fresh customers looking for familiar flavors in an unfamiliar land.

    Burger King Japan, the U.S. chain’s local operation, will open most of its 200 new restaurants in large cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Target locations include shopping center food courts and suburban spots with room for drive-thrus. Open-kitchen interiors will allow customers to see their Whoppers being cooked.

    Burger King also intends to offer a home delivery service, countering McDonald’s Japan’s move to expand deliveries in partnership with Uber Eats last year.

    This is Burger King’s second crack at the Japanese market. The chain left the country in 2001, after a slump. It returned in 2007 with support from such companies as Lotte, but its store count remains far behind McDonald’s Japan’s 2,900.

  • DHL to set up Malaysia’s first Global Centre of Excellence

    DHL to set up Malaysia’s first Global Centre of Excellence

    Global logistics company DHL will set up its first Global Centre of Excellence (GCOE) in Malaysia at Iskandar Malaysia, the company announced today.

    The centre, which is expected to be operational in the second quarter of this year, will be set up by DHL in collaboration with Iskandar Innovations Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iskandar Investment Bhd.

    The GCOE will provide supply chain consultancy services, and support businesses to design logistics solutions specific to some of Iskandar’s key industries including Automotive, Energy, Engineering & Manufacturing, Life Sciences & Healthcare and Technology.

    The centre also has the capabilities to power the region’s logistics ambitions with networking sessions and workshops where companies and industry experts come together to share best practices, to brainstorm innovative ideas that will form the future of Iskandar Malaysia.

    “We want to create an ecosystem within Iskandar Malaysia and to establish a single network that is conducive to all companies to explore and set up business in the region as their gateway to markets around the world,” GCOE Iskandar Malaysia managing director Philip Chu said in a statement.

    “Coupled with DHL’s sector-specific experience, it will underpin the bespoke logistics solutions that the GCOE will offer to the local industry.”

    Iskandar Investment president and chief executive officer Datuk Khairil Anwar Ahmad, meanwhile, said the creation of the GCOE will push the Iskandar region to the next level.

    “A strong base of logistics solutions and talent will not only allow the Iskandar region to achieve its ambitions of becoming an ASEAN supply chain hub, but also provide vital trade connectivity between its core industries and overseas markets where opportunities are aplenty,” he said.

    “As Iskandar’s population and foreign investment levels continue to rise steadily, the GCOE will play a strategic role in creating the job opportunities and export growth that underpin the region’s economic plans for the future.”

    DHL president, Global Fast Growing Enterprise and Regional head, Customer Solutions and Innovation Asia Pacific, Alfred Goh said the new GCOE could be linked to other GCOEs in the group.

    “The establishment of the GCOE will bring Iskandar’s supply chain capabilities up to speed with those of other logistics hubs in the region, including nearby Singapore where DHL has already run a Supply Chain Centre of Excellence (SCCE) for the last 10 years,” he said.

    “By complementing pure logistics skills and solutions with broader business development, market insights, and networking with key decision-makers around the world, we believe the GCOE will help Iskandar align its logistics investments with global demand and market forces more closely than ever before.”

    DHL had in 2007 established a similar SCCE in neighboring Singapore that delivered multi-million-dollar returns within its first 36 months of operation.

  • FedEx Hacked, Says No Data Compromised

    FedEx Hacked, Says No Data Compromised

    FedEx said that it has found no evidence that private customer data was “misappropriated” when it was made visible on an unsecured server earlier in February.

    According to news from Reuters, the server that was made visible contained more than 119,000 scanned documents from U.S. and international citizens, including passports, driver’s licenses and security identification. The potentially compromised data had been stored on an Amazon S3 storage service and was collected by Bongo International, which FedEx had acquired in 2014. Bongo, which added up international shipping prices, was terminated by the company.

    “After a preliminary investigation, we can confirm that some archived Bongo International account information located on a server hosted by a third-party, public cloud provider is secure,” FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey said in a statement. “We have found no indication that any information has been misappropriated and will continue our investigation.”

    The spokesman would not clarify which records were secure, and he wouldn’t disclose whether or not the company involved the authorities.

    The potential breach in data privacy comes as stocks from FedEx and its rival UPS have been under pressure after reports surfaced that Amazon was getting into the delivery market in a bigger way. The service, which is known as “Shipping with Amazon,” is launching in Los Angeles and possibly other locations, a person who has knowledge of the program told Reuters.

    Once investors got wind of the news, shares of both FedEx and UPS slid more than 4 percent late last week. Still, both delivery services — and analysts — are downplaying concerns the experiment is a threat to the business of FedEx or UPS in the near future. Cowen and Co Analyst Helane Becker, for example, said Amazon would have to spend an estimated $100 billion to build a network and acquire the equipment to go up against FedEx and UPS.