Under pressure from the US, the government might again be compelled to review the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in multi-brand retail trading (MBRT). At the forefront is American retail giant Walmart, demonstrating a renewed interest in entering India’s fast growing retail market, estimated at USD600 billion. Currently, Walmart operates 20 cash-and-carry or wholesale stores in the country, for which there’s no foreign investment cap.
Tag: asia
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Prada opens third KL store
Prada recently opened its third store at The Gardens Mall in Kuala, Lumpur. Designed by architect Roberto Baciocchi, store covers a total area of approximately 390 square metres on a single level and houses the women’s and men’s leather goods, accessories and footwear collections as well as the men’s ready-to-wear collection.
The area dedicated to the women’s collections has the signature black-and-white marble chequered flooring and green fabric-clad walls with polished steel display counters covered in coloured saffiano leather and green velvet sofas.
Meanwhile, the space devoted to men discloses masculine materials and finishes. The first room, dedicated to leather goods and accessories, features black marble-clad walls with elegant polished steel display cases.
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Australian retail sales miss expectations in November
Soggy November sales figures have increased the scrutiny on Christmas trade for Australia’s struggling retail sector as lagging consumer confidence weighs on spending. Official retail sales released on Friday for November came in softer than expected, inching up just 0.1 per cent over the month, but retailers hope that Christmas and Boxing Day sales will have boosted December numbers.
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Starhill Global REIT sells prime Tokyo retail property for $29.9m
Proceeds will be used to pay off Yen loans.
Starhill Global REIT has divested Roppongi Terzo, a prime retail property located in Tokyo, for $29.9m.
This is above the property’s last valuation of $29.2m, and the sale consideration translates to a yield of 4.4%.
After the transaction, the REIT’s portfolio in Japan will be reduced to four properties.
The net sale proceeds would be used to repay the Yen loans and/or for working capital purposes. SGREIT’s gearing is expected to decrease from 35.7%3 to 35.1% assuming that the net sales proceeds are substantially used to repay the Yen loans
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foodpanda partners with HSBC in HK, Southeast Asia
Online food delivery service foodpanda is partnering with HSBC in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
Customers and cardholders in eight Southeast Asian countries – Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, and India – will benefit from the partnership through discounts.
In the first quarter of 2015, cardholders will get 25 percent off on all orders, and will enjoy HKD50 off on their first order for the rest of the year; subsequent orders will be discounted 10 percent for standard cardholders, and 15 percent for Premium cardholders.
food panda has nearly nearly 500 restaurants in the region and offers the largest variety of restaurants and cuisines of any food delivery service in Hong Kong.
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Alibaba to invest about USD575m in Indian online-shopping service, Paytm
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and its financial-services affiliate have agreed to jointly invest about USD575 million in India’s One97 Communications Ltd.’s online-payment and marketplace businesses, a person familiar with the matter said.
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Berlin Jucker’s Metro deal stalls
An attempt by Berli Jucker Plc (BJC) to buy Metro Group’s cash-and-carry unit in Vietnam was aborted on Thursday after its shareholders voted unanimously to reject the EUR655-million (USD775.7 million) deal.
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Starbucks COO Alstead takes leave from company
Starbucks Coffee Company chief operating officer Troy Alstead is taking an extended unpaid leave from the company.
“Looking back on the 23 years we spent together side-by-side as Starbucks colleagues, I can recall so many memorable moments and accomplishments in which Troy can take pride in a job well done,” said Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer Howard Schultz.
Lasted is a 23-year veteran of the company who also served for many years as the company’s chief financial officer, as well as leading the operations and development of Starbucks international business and its Europe, Middle East and Africa business unit.
His last day in his current role will be 1 March 2015.
“Troy is a beloved Starbucks partner and has played an invaluable role in our growth as an enterprise and in the development of our culture as a performance-driven company balanced with humanity, which is unique for our industry. Troy’s humanity and humility will be missed and we wish him the best,” Schultz added.
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UPS partners with 7-Eleven in Singapore for delivery
Driven by the growth of e-commerce and online, cross-border transactions, UPS and 7-Eleven have entered into an exclusive partnership in Singapore for an innovative delivery system.
The agreement will see 20 7-Eleven outlets at Shell petrol stations across Singapore serve as Alternative Delivery Locations (ADL) for UPS packages.
“The online shopping market in Singapore is projected to reach SGD4.4 billion (USD) by 2015, and our customers have raised concerns about not being available to sign off on their purchases when they arrive,” said Ingrid Sidiadinoto, Managing Director, UPS Singapore.
The new solution offers customers the flexibility of collecting packages coming from selected online retailers, at the closest participating Shell ADL, if they are not available when UPS makes the first delivery attempt.
She said the new arrangement is expected to help raise the bar on customer service by giving customers greater control over their e-commerce shipments. With 7-Eleven operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the 20 strategically-located outlets participating in the initiative would allow customers to retrieve their packages from a secure and staffed location at their convenience.
In addition to the 7-Eleven partnership, Shell will also be fueling UPS’s 100-strong Singapore delivery fleet with Shell Diesel and Shell FuelSave, which help UPS to reduce harmful emissions and its carbon footprint in Singapore.
“We look forward to welcoming UPS customers to our 20 ADL stations at any time of the day, and assisting them in retrieving their online purchases,” said Leong Chee Hoe, Regional Key Account Manager East for Commercial Fleet, Shell Singapore.
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China Mobile eyes 250 million 4G customers next year
China Mobile, China’s largest telecommunication service provider, has forecast that it will have 250 million 4G customers in 2015.
The company has experienced robust 4G business growth in 2014 and had more 50 million 4G users as of the end of October, China Mobile chief executive officer Li Yue said on Friday.
China’s 4G is powered by the homegrown technology, Time-Division Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE), one of the two major international standards in the mobile telecom industry, the other being Frequency Division Duplex.
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Zalora offers same-day delivery in 5 ASEAN nations
Zalora, Asia’s online fashion destination, on Thursday announced its new same-day delivery service, making it the only regional online fashion retailer to offer such a facility.
Its regional managing director Michele Ferrario said in a statement that customers can choose the same-day delivery option at checkout on selected items for a nominal fee.
“With the new service, we are further committing ourselves to customers who lead busy lives. It also comes with other customer-centric services such as free shipping for orders over a certain amount, self-collection and cash on delivery.”
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Samsung to hit back at Xiaomi with budget phone
Samsung Electronics is gearing up to release a low-cost Tizen-powered smartphone in the USD100 price range, according to local media reports, responding to intensifying competition from Chinese budget smartphone makers shaking up the market.
The phone will be launched in India, the world’s third largest smartphone market, by end-January, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, citing industry sources.
Tizen is Samsung’s homegrown operating system which seeks to lessen its reliance on Google’s Android. While the majority of Samsung’s mobile devices run on an Android platform, the Tizen platform has been used to power some of its wearables, including its first smartwatch products.
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Australia’s slow economy puts brakes on online retail
Online retailing has been belted by Australia’s economic woes, with November’s sales figures recording the slowest monthly and annual growth since the series was first compiled.
And some bricks-and-mortar retailers are also doing it tough, with shares in outdoor equipment retailer Kathmandu plunging 20 percent after poor Christmas sales forced the company to issue a profit warning.
According to National Australia Bank, not only are November’s online sales down 0.2 percent on October, they are only 3.9 percent higher year-on-year.
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Tesco masterplan? New boss keeps investors and staff guessing
When Phil Clarke was sacked as Tesco’s CEO, senior executives hoped his 0700 strategy meetings would go with him. They did – new boss Dave Lewis starts his at 0630.
Parachuted in from Unilever in September, Lewis soon faced the task of making the shock announcement that a GBP250 million (USD391 million) hole had been found in Tesco’s profits, in an accounting scandal that led to the departure of several senior executives.
Now the CEO – despite having no direct retail experience – is keeping management on a tight rein and personally taking charge of key areas of the business, sources say. And as he conducts a vast review of Tesco’s operations to come up with a strategy to revive its fortunes, he is giving little away – even to insiders.
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Tiffany to improve lustre in emerging Asia
Tiffany & Co., the world’s second largest jewellery retailer by sales aims to improve its lustre in emerging Asia, where demand for gold and gems appears to be insatiable.
While Americans and Japanese remain the high-end brand’s biggest customers, their share of sales has fallen to a combined 62 percent, from over 80 percent a decade ago. Asian shoppers, excluding Japan, now account for 23 percent of Tiffany’s total net sales. The company’s jewellery sales have more than doubled to USD4 billion over the past 15 years.
China, where the Nasdaq-listed firm owns 24 stores and plans to open three a year for the foreseeable future, is the biggest sales generator. But Tiffany is not forsaking Japan.