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Tag: aumake

  • AuMake and Miniso to launch dual-branded stores in Sydney

    AuMake and Miniso to launch dual-branded stores in Sydney

    The specialist retailer in Australia and New Zealand, Aumake Limited shared on Thursday that it has entered into a distribution agreement with a Japanese-inspired lifestyle product retailer MINISO Master Franchisee Pty Ltd (MINIS0).

    As per the agreement, MINISO will provide operational support and products to three of Aumake’s physical stores initially, strategically picked for their high foot traffic locations and traction with Asian customers.

    The key terms of the distribution agreement include:

    • Initial physical stores are located in Chinatown, World Square CBD and Burwood in Sydney, NSW.
    • Physical stores to be dual-branded as Aumake and MINISO.
    • MINISO will pay Aumake a percentage of sales (GST incl.) in exchange for using Aumake’s premises to sell the products.

    Aumake’s deal with MINISO creates a significant revenue opportunity and subsequent reduction in overhead costs due to increased physical foot traffic, especially when the restrictions on international borders are likely to be eased for Asian tourists and international students in the coming weeks.

    In addition, the cooperation between the two companies will also provide Aumake with an opportunity to introduce and expand new skincare and cosmetic brands.

    Meanwhile, the stock AUK was spotted trading 10% higher at AU$0.016 per share at 2:00 PM AEDT.

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  • AuMake says Covid-19 fast-tracked digital and buy-now-pay-later plans

    AuMake says Covid-19 fast-tracked digital and buy-now-pay-later plans

    Daigou business AuMake said the closure of its physical stores fast-tracked the company’s online development, launching the Broadway Online platform which gained significant momentum during the quarter.

    The store closures, part of the government’s restrictions to help stem the spread of the coronavirus, has also given the company time to look into developing payment platforms that would support Chinese buy now pay later services to penetrate a younger Asian customer demographic.

    AuMake said since the launching of its Broadway Online platform in February, more than 10,000 unique Asian-based consumers have visited, with over 3,000 unique visitors in the last two weeks of June alone.

    The company said the growth of the Broadway Online platform, alongside a renewed focus on the promotion of new higher-margin products through the existing AuMake online platform, delivered an 87 percent and 21 percent increase in gross margin and gross profit respectively over the previous corresponding period.

    Broadway Online continues to grow with 6 percent unique visitor growth three weeks into July, the company said.

    According to AuMake, to improve its customer experience, its in-store and online payment platforms have been developed to support Chinese owned buy now pay later providers Alipay and Tencent.

    Customers can use Alipay’s buy now pay later Huabei feature which allows purchases to be paid using credit facilities, including interest-free or daily incurring interest loans. Huabei has over 190 million users, 93 percent are less than 35 years old.

    Tencent is also in the final stages of developing its “Fenfu” credit feature, which will offer similar credit facilities to Huabei, and can be used by its 1.1 billion customer base, AuMake said.

    “The buy now pay later option is revolutionizing the way consumers shop globally, including in China, and will be available to AuMake’s in-store customers as well as its growing 40,000 online customer database,” the daigou company said. “BNPL will assist AuMake to penetrate a younger Asian customer demographic, including the Free Independent Travellers segment which is anticipated to grow post-Covid-19.”

    For the quarter ending June 30, 2020, AuMake posted a 70 percent drop in total group revenue from the previous corresponding period to $4.0 million due to the impact of Covid-19 on temporary physical store closures and the drop of inbound tourism to Australia.

    Total group gross profit was at $0.73 million, down 63 percent from the previous corresponding period, delivering a gross profit margin of 18.3 percent, an increase of 25 percent on the same period last year.

    Online sales were up 21 percent on the previous corresponding period to $2.3 million with gross profit of $0.47 million, delivering a gross margin of 20.4 percent, an 87 percent increase from the same period last year.

    The company said its cash at the bank was $8.2 million with no debt.

    AuMake said its operational cash outflow was $1.3 million for the quarter, including significant investment in online growth and in-store customer experience on re-opening.

    “While Covid-19 has undoubtedly impacted the revenue profile of the business during the June quarter, AuMake has minimized this by materially reducing all non-core expenditure,” said AuMake executive chairman Keong Chan. “At the same time, we are increasing our investment in long term growth drivers, enhancing our online offering and in-store customer experience.”

    According to AuMake, its strong financial position allows the business to continue to invest in the acceleration of online growth and to modernize in-store customer experience with significant changes to store layout, presentation, and product category expansion.

    “The company will continue to focus on operational readiness ahead of the return of Asian students and tourists,” the company said.

    AuMake’s physical stores were closed temporarily at the end of March because of government restrictions related to the health crisis.

    The store closures resulted in the company reducing its workforce by 70 percent despite the company receiving support through JobKeeper and rent assistance.

    AuMake reopened its stores on May 11.

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  • AuMake pivots to sell to Asian tourists

    AuMake pivots to sell to Asian tourists

    AuMake says it will focus on catering to Asian tourists at its Australian outlets, shifting away from its original business model of targeting Chinese shoppers intent on posting their products to the mainland.

    The ASX-listed company’s 16 shops initially concentrated on selling Australian products to “daigou” – residents who frequent the stores, which each have a designated parking area, in order to send bought items to China in parcels.

    “From early 2018 and due to the locations of our stores in Sydney’s CBD, we began to observe the increasing visitation of Asian tourists and their propensity to purchase less well-known and higher margin products relative to daigou,” AuMake executive chairman Keong Chan told shareholders on Wednesday.

    AuMake announced in April that it had acquired the Broadway business, including its six Australian stores popular with foreign tourists, for $14.2 million.

    “AuMake will continue to service daigou however this will increasingly be transitioning offline traffic to the company’s online platforms, to maximise efficiencies and profitability,” Chan said.

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  • AuMake sees online sales growing

    AuMake sees online sales growing

    Online sales now make up 30 percent of AuMake’s total sales, and they are continuing to grow.

    The daigou business announced its unaudited FY19 earnings in an investor presentation on Thursday, reporting an estimated $40-45 million in revenue for the year. That’s more than double the revenue it generated in FY18 of $21 million.

    The company said it is experiencing strong trading conditions even in the traditional low season of June and is anticipating significant growth from its recent Broadway acquisition, which will be effective next month.

    AuMake expects own-brand sales through the Broadway channel to reach $15 million to $20 million in FY20.

    In the presentation, AuMake said most of its online sales come from the Chinese social media app, WeChat.

    In April, the company reported that its online customer database had grown more than six times over from 20,000 in Q3 FY18 to 130,000 in Q3 FY19.

    It continues to invest heavily in its online infrastructure to maintain this growth. This includes a larger online customer service team, improvements to its various online sales platforms, such as WeChat and JD.com, and a new packaging facility.

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  • AuMake doubles digit Profit

    AuMake doubles digit Profit

    AuMake more than doubled its profit and nearly doubled sales in Q3, compared to the previous corresponding period.

    The daigou-focused retailer reported $1.68 million in profit in the March quarter, 104 per cent up on the same period last year, and $9.9 million in sales, up 93 per cent on the same period last year.

    Almost a third of AuMake’s total sales in Q3 were made online, primarily coming from the Chinese social media app, WeChat.

    AuMake grew its online customer database more than six times over, from 20,000 to 130,000 over the quarter, and is investing heavily in its online infrastructure to continue such growth. This includes a larger online customer service team, improvements to its various online sales platforms, such as WeChat and JD.com, and a new packaging facility.

    According to AuMake, the March quarter is typically a slower one for the business, as it includes a four-week period surrounding Chinese New Year when Chinese logistics companies close, and a large number of daigou shoppers return home for the holiday.

    As such, the brand expects to see a material improvement over the upcoming June quarter, particularly as the recent $14.2 million acquisition of competitor Broadway will take effect in June.

    AuMake said the acquisition makes it the “largest China-focused offline and online retail platform in Australia”, and that it will utilise Broadway’s existing relationships with over 100 travel agencies in China to reach new customers.

    “The acquisition of Broadway has transformed AuMake into a significant and influential business in the ANZ Chinese tourist and diagou market,” AuMake executive chairman Keong Chan said.

    “However, AuMake is more than a simple retail business. AuMake’s Chinese focussed retail platform is underpinned by a unique business model that utilises the strength of its online and offline sales to incubate, promote and sell ANZ brands to Chinese consumers.”

    According to a strategy update issued by AuMake on Tuesday, the retailer aims to grow its online channel to half of total sales, and to grow its own-brand product revenue to $15 to $20 million by FY20. Own-brand products brought in $4 million in FY19.

    The retailer is also exploring opportunities to open co-branded offline stores and products with JD.com, and to synergise the supply chains of the two brands.

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  • AuMake in trading halt

    AuMake in trading halt

    Shares in daigou-focused retailer AuMake have been placed in a trading halt pending an announcement on an acquisition and related capital-raising.

    The company, which last month extended its bricks-and-mortar presence beyond Sydney, has requested the halt be lifted before the open of markets on Wednesday April 17, or when its anticipated announcement is released to the market.

    AuMake sells Australian skin care, supplements and milk formula to Chinese tourists and personal exporters.

    It has 17 stores across Sydney, Brisbane, and Auckland and is aiming for a bigger bite of the $2 billion cross-border commerce market.

    In February the company announced it had halved its losses after more than doubling its sales in the space of a year, with its internal sales forecast upgraded 30 to 40 per cent in March after it flagged the expansion of its stores.

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  • AuMake enters into agreement with JD Worldwide

    AuMake enters into agreement with JD Worldwide

    AuMake International Limited has joined forces with JD Worldwide, a division of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, to create a new omnichannel platform for Australian and New Zealand brands to reach Chinese customers. The strategic agreement, which was signed in Sydney on Tuesday, will see JD combine its online and logistics capability in China with AuMake’s retail store and brand building capabilities in Australia.

    The partnership mirrors a similar agreement between Alibaba’s Tmall and Chemist Warehouse, the companies noted in a statement.

    The agreement builds on the booming daigou industry in Australia and New Zealand, where personal shoppers, often Chinese students or tourists, buy and ship products on behalf of family, friends and other clients in China.

    AuMake over the past two years has expanded its chain of retail stores catering to daigou shoppers with relevant products and services.

    Under the agreement, AuMake will become JD’s exclusive retail store partner in Australia and New Zealand and connect existing and future store customers to its online flagship on JD’s cross-border platform, JD Worldwide.

    JD, under the agreement, will fully support AuMake’s online flagship, with an initial sales target of 10 million RMB ($2 million) per month, and provide access to its warehouse and dispatch logistics network in China.

    The companies will also work together to incubate and develop new brands to be exclusively sold on the JD Worldwide platform and in AuMake retail stores.

    AuMake executive chairman Keong Chan called the agreement a “company-changing event”.

    “This is a company changing event for AuMake and confirms the value that we have created so far via our retail store distribution network in Sydney,” he said.

    “Under this collaboration with JD Worldwide, AuMake will now be able to reach hundreds of millions of customers in China with new brands and products, including brands and products owned by AuMake.”

    Keong added that he believes AuMake and JD together can fundamentally change the way in which Australian and New Zealand products reach the Chinese market.

  • Daigou hub streams live shopping to China

    Daigou hub streams live shopping to China

    Listed Australian company AuMake has launched the country’s first purpose-built retail hub for China’s growing army of “daigou” shoppers, using live streaming to reach millions of overseas consumers.

    The new 430sqm Daigou Hub retail concept is set in the heart of Sydney’s Chinatown, combines state-of-the-art live streaming technology with face-to-face supplier interaction – aiming to build the profile of Australian suppliers and connect them directly with Chinese consumers via the daigou and Chinese tourist markets.

    The hub includes a presentation space for supplier demonstrations, cafeteria, several product display locations and an area specifically designed for daigou to live stream their interaction with Australian suppliers to millions of their customers back in China.

    AuMake announced the retail blueprint will be replicated across Australia.

    The company reported the launch has drawn more than 70 Australian suppliers, a large number of investors, 150 daigou and a live viewing audience from China of 730,000.

    “This leading-edge initiative has been the culmination of 12 months of industry consultation with suppliers and daigou, and closely follows recent developments in the retail market in China, which has seen a move away from a pure online marketing model to an omnichannel model which combines engaging offline experiences for customers, coupled with advanced online functionality,” said Keong Chan, AuMake chairman.

    Chan said live streaming is fast becoming a key component of the decision making for consumers in China when they look at the brands and products they are going to purchase.

    “Being able to see, in real time, suppliers demonstrating their Australian product and interacting with their trusted daigou is the next evolution of their increasing desire to understand the origins of the product they are purchasing,” he said.

    “In just two and a half hours today we had a live stream viewing audience of 730,000 people early in the morning in Mainland China.”

    The company has a retail flagship on Sydney’s main CBD street, George St, and plans to roll out another retail hub in the city’s inner-west in April and another in either Brisbane or Melbourne later in the year.

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