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Tag: asia

  • E-commerce firm Sendo nets $61 mln in latest funding round

    E-commerce firm Sendo nets $61 mln in latest funding round

    Sendo, Vietnam’s second-most visited online market place, has secured $61 million in the latest Series C funding round.

    The investment will come from existing shareholders as well as new international investors including Indonesia’s EV Growth and Thai banking group Kasikornbank, Sendo said in a press release Wednesday.

    Existing investors including financial services company SBI Group, retailer BEENOS, private equity firm Daiwa PI Partners, and web services consultancy Digital Garage from Japan, as well as venture fund SoftBank Ventures Asia of South Korea, all of which had previously backed Sendo’s $51 million Series B round in 2018, returned for its Series C round.

    Hai Linh Tran, CEO and co-founder of Sendo, said that the funds will be used to expand the breadth of its existing integrated platform offering to both sellers and consumers, as well as to further deepen its technology moat.

    Founded in 2012 as a spin-off of Vietnam’s largest IT service company FPT Corporation, Sendo focuses on tier 2 cities largely untapped by other e-commerce firms, home to 70 million Vietnamese people.

    The company claims it caters to 500,000 sellers, with an estimated 17 million distinct items listed on its platform, as well as 12 million customers.

    In the third quarter of 2019, Sendo surpassed domestic rival Tiki to rank second among top 10 e-commerce sites in Vietnam with the highest monthly traffic numbers, according to Malaysia-based market research firm iPrice’s latest data released recently.

    Sendo’s web visits reached 30.9 million per month in Q3, up 10.1 percent against Q2, second after Singapore-based Shopee, which remained in top position with 34.5 million, down 10.6 percent from Q2.

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  • Amazon Hub launches to meet rising demand for flexible delivery

    Amazon Hub launches to meet rising demand for flexible delivery

    Amazon has launched a new service in Australia that allows customers to collect their parcels from hundreds of locations in shopping centres and on high streets in a bid to improve its delivery offer before the biggest online shopping days of the year.

    First launched in the US in 2011, Amazon Hub allows shoppers to ship parcels to convenient third-party locations, rather than their home address. The service includes a “counter” option, where shoppers can collect parcels from bricks-and-mortar retail partners such as convenience stores, and a “locker” option, where they can collect parcels from self-service kiosks in shopping centres, banks and other places.

    The marketplace has now partnered with more than 100 Commonwealth Bank of Australia branches, Victorian Authorised Newsagents Association locations and Stockland shopping centres to bring the service to Australia.

    Hundreds more Amazon Hub locations are due to launch by the end of the year, and thousands more will launch across the country in 2020, the company said in a statement.

    Patrick Supanc, global director of Amazon Hub, said the new service would extend Amazon’s “exceptional customer service” to the delivery experience.

    “Since launching Amazon.com.au in 2017, we’ve committed to making e-commerce rooted in low prices, vast selection and convenience a part of everyday life for Australian customers,” he said.

    “We’re excited now to partner with large and small businesses in Australia to extend Amazon’s exceptional customer service and innovations in delivery by offering a quick and simple pick-up experience.”

    Parcel pick-up on the rise

    The launch comes just one week before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are now the biggest online shopping days of the year in Australia.

    E-commerce purchases by volume were up more than 28 per cent year on year during Cyber Week in 2018, according to an annual online shopping report by Australia Post. The five weeks from November 11-December 15 accounted for 15 per cent of all e-commerce transactions that year.

    Australia Post on Monday announced the expansion of its own parcel pick-up service in partnership with fulfilment company Doddle. Booktopia and Peter’s of Kensington are among the first retailers to use the service, which lets customers send their online orders to IGA supermarkets, Priceline pharmacies, shopping centres and other locations.

    Nathan Huppatz, co-founder of ReadyToShip, a shipping platform that lets retailers select the best delivery options for each order and print labels, says parcel pick-up is gaining traction, though it’s not exactly new. Major retailers, such as eBay, The Iconic and Glassons, have offered it as a delivery option for some time through ParcelPoint.

    But Huppatz says consumer demand for flexible delivery times and advancements in the technology that allows retailers to integrate different delivery options at checkout is contributing to arise in pick-up services.

    Until recently, most of the volume going through ReadyToShip has been standard delivery, Huppatz said. But in the last 12 months, there’s been greater uptake of Australia Post’s new on-demand delivery options, including same-day evening and Saturday delivery.

    “There’s definitely a demand out there from consumers to have flexibility, and these days there are more and more solutions to enable that,” he said.

    Integration can be a hurdle

    This is mostly good news for retailers, though Huppatz says parcel pick-up can present problems if the carrier’s integration requires retailers to make too many changes.

    “As soon as a retailer has to start modifying the checkout process or their order or warehouse systems, that’s where it can be a hurdle to overcome,” he said. “If the integration is simple, or you can use an existing carrier, it becomes much easier.”

    Still, he expects to see more retailers offering parcel pick-up in the coming months and is considering how he can stay on top of consumers’ changing preferences.

    “We think over the next 12-24 months, we will see growing demand for access to crowdsourced delivery options, especially for local metro areas,” he said.

    But Huppatz, who also owns the e-commerce site Costumes.com.au, believes there’s another reason Amazon may have launched its parcel pick-up service in Australia.

    “EBay and Amazon are competing with each other quite strongly and are looking to plug any holes they can find in their customer experience,” he said, noting the marketplaces’ recent partnerships with Afterpay and Zip, respectively.

    “Amazon has a ruthless customer focus. Everything is designed to make buying, searching, basically anything to do with their platform better for the customer. If they see a need for customers to pick up their products, you can bet they’ll work on that.”

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  • Tse Sui Luen profits plummet as Hong Kong protests impact sales

    Tse Sui Luen profits plummet as Hong Kong protests impact sales

    Tse Sui Luen profits plummeted in the first half as Hong Kong protests took their toll, especially during the September quarter.

    The company, which operates stores under the TSL banner, has reported a 14 percent year-on-year decline in sales to HK$1.6552 billion  ($US211 million) while Tse Sui Luen profits attributable to shareholders fell by 94 percent to just $1.6 million ($204,000).

    Chairman and executive director Annie Lau said the year to date has been challenging for all businesses operating in Hong Kong, where TSL’s sales fell by 23.9 percent in the half-year and same-store sales were down by 26.4 percent.

    “The outbreak of citywide protests and social unrest in Hong Kong in June has, when combined with the downward economic pressure being felt from the protracted US-China trade tensions and Renminbi depreciation, all conspired to devastate our retail business in Hong Kong.”

    She said the depreciation of the Renminbi has reduced spending by mainland visitors, impacting Hong Kong sales, and shrunk earnings from Mainland China businesses in Hong Kong dollar terms, (where the company is listed).

    “While the US and China have resumed trade talks, the economic outlook remains gloomy and shrouded in uncertainties as a trade consensus continues to appear beyond reach.”

    Lau said the social unrest since June has weakened local consumer sentiment and the protests have made it challenging for retailers to operate.

    “The hardship the local retail industry is facing is likely to persist or even worsen in the remainder of this financial year.”

    She said the company was continuing to optimize its store network in Hong Kong and work with landlords to reduce its rental costs.

    In Mainland China, TSL sales through self-operated stores were down by 8.5 percent overall and same-store sales fell by 7.5 percent, “mainly attributed to the protracted US-China trade war with tit-for-tat tariffs”.

    During the six months, seven new self-operated stores and 41 new franchised stores were opened, taking the Mainland China network to 448.

    “Going forward, we will take a cautious approach and optimize our retail network in Mainland China with the volatile market conditions being taken into consideration,” said Lau.

    Meanwhile, TSL has now expanded its Malaysia store network to six after opening at Mid Valley Southkey Megamall in April. Sales there were up 16.5 percent.

    On a more positive note, TSL’s e-commerce business grew by 27.7 percent year on year.

    “We believe that this sector will grow to be a significant source of revenue for the group going forward,” said Lau. “Encouraged by the great response received from the group’s official website for Mainland China, we are working on developing an official website for Hong Kong and establishing our online presence on e-business platforms in order to further facilitate the online-to-offline and offline-to-online retail practice.”

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  • Malaysian KFC, Pizza Hut operator QSR Brands revives IPO plan

    Malaysian KFC, Pizza Hut operator QSR Brands revives IPO plan

    Southeast Asian KFC and Pizza Hut operator QSR Brands is seeking to reboot its IPO in the fourth financial quarter this year.

    The firm was previously in talks to sell its Malaysia shares, but has since backtracked on the plan and returned to its initial IPO agenda, with its financial performance over the next two quarters crucial to the timing. The firm potentially stands to raise US$600 million in listing.

    QSR Brand’s MD Mohamed Azahari Kamil told Bloomberg the firm will make the necessary announcement at the appropriate time without further comment.

    The company has been assessing investor demand since March.

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  • Liverpool FC opens store next month in Singapore

    Liverpool FC opens store next month in Singapore

    The first Liverpool FC Singapore store will open its doors next month, the football team’s second shop in Southeast Asia after Bangkok.

    Singapore’s Reds fans can find their favourite merchandise such as football jerseys at the new store, located at Bugis Junction shopping centre.

    Earlier this month, the store has announced via Instagram that it is looking forward to the opening of the Liverpool FC’s first official store in the city.

    “Bugis Junction is the 10th LFC Official Club Shop after Anfield, Williamson Square, Chester, Liverpool One, Birkenhead, Dublin, Belfast, Abu Dhabi and Bangkok,” wrote a Zulkiflee Marzuki on Facebook.

    Another store in Kuala Lumpur ceased trading in March 2019.

    The store’s exact opening has yet to be disclosed.

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  • Blackstone makes initial investment in Indian fashion sector

    Blackstone makes initial investment in Indian fashion sector

    International private equity firm Blackstone has invested roughly US$244 million in debentures in Future Lifestyle Fashions holding company Ryka Commercial Ventures.

    The deal is accompanied by Blackstone’s acquisition of a 6-per-cent shareholding in Future Lifestyle. The firm is now Ryka’s sole financial partner.

    “This is our first investment in this sector,” said Blackstone’s head of tactical opportunities, Asia Kishore Moorjani in a DealStreetAsia report. “We look forward to being a value-added investor as FLFL and the Future Group continue to cater to the fashion needs of aspiring India.”

    The funds have been used to resolve all Ryka’s existing financial obligations.

    “Blackstone will support us in the continued growth of our fashion business, bringing global perspectives that will help us take FLFL to the next level,” said Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani.

  • Starbucks store opening in Penang

    Starbucks store opening in Penang

    A second Starbucks signing store has opened in Malaysia, this one in the heart of Penang’s historical deaf community.

    The world’s fourth Starbucks signing store it is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to inclusion, accessibility and diversity. It employs six deaf and seven hearing employees fluent in Malaysian Sign Language, expanding career advancement opportunities for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Malaysia.

    Starbucks’ first signing store globally opened in 2016 in Kuala Lumpur. The outlet’s success has inspired Starbucks to open signing stores in Washington DC in the US and in Guangzhou, China.

    In partnership with the Penang Deaf Association, Starbucks will support the professional training and development of the store’s employees, including internship opportunities and sign language classes.

    The three-story, 4600sqft store showcases how digital innovation enhances inclusive design. The store has been designed specifically to meet the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing employees and customers, including visual alarms, digital trays, and point-of-sale systems with an attached customer display.

    The Starbucks signing store also features a unique wall mural created by local deaf artist Lim Anuar, along with unique merchandise featuring sign language to raise awareness of the deaf community.

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  • Swedish retailer Sneakersnstuff making debut in Tokyo

    Swedish retailer Sneakersnstuff making debut in Tokyo

    Stockholm-based retailer Sneakersnstuff is about to open a flagship store in Tokyo, its first Asia location.

    The retailer, known for its sneakers, said the Tokyo store will open on December 14 on Log Road in Daikanyama, which is home to high-end boutiques and restaurants.

    Designed by Stockholm-based design studio Bofink, the store will combine the best of both Scandinavian and Japanese design. And more than just a retail space, it will be a multifunctional lifestyle store with an inclusion of a cafe.

    “It features handcrafted and handmade furniture by Swedish and European artists and furniture makers, beautiful and unique colorways, traditional Japanese heritage materials, 3D-printed pieces and more,” Sneakersnstuff said in a statement.

    Tokyo will be Sneakersnstuff’s seventh location worldwide, joining Stockholm, London, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles and Paris.

    The retailer first announced a plan to expand into Asia in October last year.

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  • Australian fashion brand Cotton On comes to Vietnam

    Australian fashion brand Cotton On comes to Vietnam

    Australian fashion brand Cotton On is the latest foreign player to come looking for a piece of the action in the growing Vietnamese market.

    It opened its first store in the country at Vincom Thao Dien in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2 on November 15. It plans to open two more stores before December, including one at Aeon Mall Ha Dong in Hanoi, it said in a statement.

    “We know there is a growing demand for street/casual wear fashion in Vietnam, so we’re confident our distinctive product offering will resonate with customers who want access to the most effortless, on-trend products,” James Lavdas, Cotton On’s general manager of license, said.

    The group has come to Vietnam through a partnership with Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPPG), which also brought other fashion brands such as Nike and Mango to the country. It is the first Australian apparel retailer in the Vietnamese market.

    Cotton On, among the largest fashion brands in Australia, was established in 1991 and now has a presence in 19 countries. Before Vietnam, it had entered India in January.

    Earlier this month Japanese casual wear retailer Uniqlo announced it would open its first store in the country in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 on December 6, adding to the list of around 200 foreign fashion brands that have entered Vietnam, including Zara, H&M, Giordano, Topshop, Gap, and Old Navy.

    Industry insiders say that Vietnam, with its young demographic, growing incomes and 96 million population, is a hugely promising market.

    The industry was estimated to be worth $5 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $7 billion by 2023.

  • One percent Vinamilk stake out of reach for Singaporean investors

    One percent Vinamilk stake out of reach for Singaporean investors

    Two Singaporean investors in Vinamilk have failed repeatedly to increase their stake in the dairy giant by one percent.

    In the latest instance, investment firm Platinum Victory has once again failed to increase its stake, Vinamilk said Monday.

    The Singapore-based company has been unable to increase its stake from 10.62 percent to 11.62 percent as of November 15 “due to unfavorable market conditions,” the Vinamilk statement said.

    Platinum Victory, a unit of Singapore’s leading diversified conglomerate Jardine Cycle & Carriage, has immediately registered again to buy the 1 percent stake between November 21 and December 20, Vinamilk added.

    Since early last year, another Singapore-based company, F&N Dairy Investments, which is the largest foreign investor in Vinamilk at 17.31 percent, has also been unsuccessful in repeated attempts to raise its stake by one percent.

    Vinamilk is among the largest listed companies in the country with a market cap of VND208.96 trillion ($9 billion). From January to September, the company’s after-tax profit rose 5.8 percent year-on-year to VND7.92 trillion ($341.5 million). The state is its largest stakeholder at 36 percent.

    Platinum Victory had last month proposed to spend $60 million on increasing its stake in Vietnam’s industrial appliance maker REE from 24.9 percent to 35.01 percent.

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  • Standard Chartered Converts Physical to Mobile Tokens

    Standard Chartered Converts Physical to Mobile Tokens

    Standard Chartered will transition from physical to mobile tokens for its online corporate banking platform with expectations to benefit more than 100,000 clients in over 38 markets.

    The transition will be rolled out across the markets for the «Straight2Bank» platform, which focuses on cash management and trade transactions, over the next three months.

    According to the bank, «the process of mailing, tracking and continuous replacement required for the physical token activation was time-consuming». Previously, it would take 10 days to open accounts compared to instant account-opening with mobile tokens. The new tokens will also contain enhanced encryption and a built-in layer of security against malware targeting mobile applications.

    Standard Chartered noted that transition from physical to mobile tokens is only the beginning of a broader strategy to «simplify user authentication and security».

    The mobile token solution takes into account not just convenience, it also provides our corporate customers with a more secure solution compared to physical tokens, said Martijn De Jong, Standard Chartered’s co-head of digital channels & data analytics for corporate, commercial and institutional banking.

    This is a critical first step in our aspiration to simplify user authentication and security. The endgame will be to leverage physiological credentials of the user to establish user identity and continuous authentication to combat fraud.

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  • Ant Financial Eyeing Singapore’s Digital Bank Licences

    Ant Financial Eyeing Singapore’s Digital Bank Licences

    Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Services may apply for a virtual banking license in Singapore, potentially making a splash in the regional banking landscape.

    Ant Financial Services is the latest contender to enter the race for a digital banking license. Up to two licenses are on offer for full digital banks, while another three are on offer for wholesale banks. The firm did not disclose whether it will seek a retail or wholesale license.

    We are actively looking into this opportunity,” said Ant Financial, who was quoted in a report. Ant’s payments app Alipay and its local e-wallet partners had about 900 million annual active users in China and 1.2 billion globally as of June, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

    Singapore’s move to open up the banking industry to technology companies follows in the footsteps of Hong Kong, where Ant has obtained a license. So far, OCBC has agreed to join peer-to-peer lender Validus Capital and Temasek Holdings’ venture capital arm to apply for a wholesale license before the year-end application deadline.

    South-east Asia’s digital lending market is expected to more than quadruple to US$110 billion by 2025, according to a report by Bain & Co, Google, and Temasek Holdings.

  • E-Money More Popular than Credit Cards in Southeast Asia

    E-Money More Popular than Credit Cards in Southeast Asia

    Five Southeast Asian Countries have attracted non-banks to build regional electronic wallet platforms, with total e-money transactions exceeding 10 billion.

    Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand saw over 10 billion e-money transactions occur in 2018. Singapore led the region, accounting for 34 percent of total e-money transactions, having attracted nonbanks to build regional electronic wallet platforms, according to the inaugural 2019 Southeast Asia E-Money Market Report released by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

    E-wallets aligned with high frequency and scalable use cases like ride-hailing and e-commerce are likely to grow and garner market share across the region. The volume of transactions processed through e-wallets is gaining steam. For example, we estimate that e-wallets’ share of total e-money volumes in Indonesia grew to 36 percent in 2018 from less than 10 percent in 2017, said Sampath Sharma Nariyanuri, CFA, Fintech Analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

    The popularity of e-money products by non-banks for small-value transactions is supporting the rise of ride-hailing and e-commerce companies as financial intermediaries across Southeast Asia, the research firm noted.

    Payments processed through platforms offered by ride-hailing companies Grab and Go-Jek; TrueMoney, a unit of e-commerce and fintech company Ascend Group; and AirPay, the financial services business of e-commerce and gaming company Sea amounted to roughly US$30 billion in aggregate annualized transaction value in 2018, according to the research firm’s estimates.

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  • Bank of Japan Studying Digital Currencies

    Bank of Japan Studying Digital Currencies

    Although the Bank of Japan has no immediate plans to issue digital currencies, it is conducting research to prepare for future needs.

    Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank is studying digital currencies in case the need to do so heightens in the future, according to a report.

    If stable coins backed by companies with a huge customer base are issued globally, that could have an impact on monetary policy and financial system stability, Kuroda told the parliament. He added that stable coins should not be issued unless there is a sufficient framework in place to ensure governance and risk management.

    The stance could be triggered by China’s move towards a digital currency of its own. The Asian economic giant has expressed eagerness to launch its own digital currency using a framework called Digital Currency Electronic Payment or DCEP, and is likely to roll this out in the next two to three months, said Jack Lee, managing partner of HCM Capital, who was quoted in a report.

    That would allow its central bank to issue a digital currency to commercial banks and third-party payments networks by Alipay and WeChat Pay, he explained.

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  • Sendo wins funding, overtakes Tiki in Vietnam

    Sendo wins funding, overtakes Tiki in Vietnam

    In this financing round, its largest to date, Sendo has been backed by its existing investors including SBI Group, Beenos, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Daiwa PI Partners, and Digital Garage together with new investors such as EV Growth from Indonesia, and Kasikornbank from Thailand.

    According to a statement, the funds will be used to expand the breadth of its existing integrated platform offering to both sellers and consumers, as well as to “further deepen its technology moat with AI and machine learning to enhance the overall consumer journey experience”.

    “While we have hit our annualized gross merchandise volume (GMV) target of US$1 billion earlier than expected, we care much more about meaningful and sustainable GMV growth, which we believe has to come from consumer stickiness owing to a great shopping experience,” said Hai Linh Tran, co-founder and CEO of Sendo, pictured above.

    “Sendo’s integrated ecosystem spanning marketplace, advertising, logistics and financial services is designed to ensure that, and that goes well with our monetisation strategy into multiple revenue streams and ultimately, our path to profitability.”

    Senior partner and MD of Softbank Ventures Asia, Daniel Kang, said Sendo’s strength in using the capabilities of its partners within the ecosystem has essentially created a win-win for merchants, advertising companies and financial institutions. “The company’s marketplace model is well-aligned to address the needs of typical Vietnamese sellers and consumers, and more importantly, to empower them,” he said.

    According to a recent report from iPrice, Sendo has become the second-most downloaded app and the second-most visited e-commerce website in Vietnam, overtaking its domestic rival Tiki which is 25.65 percent owned by Chinese e-commerce giant JD. Both Sendo and Tiki are concentrating solely on the Vietnam market,rather than expanding into other countries as its rivals are. Regional player Shopee remains number one.

    Sendo now boasts more than 500,000 sellers, with an estimated 17 million SKUs listed on its platform. The company serves more than 12 million customers across across the country.

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