Retail News CRM

Tag: China

  • Beccos plans expansion in India with 50 new stores

    Beccos plans expansion in India with 50 new stores

    Chinese-owned ‘South Korean designer brand’ Beccos says it plans to launch 50 stores in India. Scheduled to be opened by the middle of next year, the stores will require an investment of ₹100 crore (US$13.67 million) and are expected to return a revenue of around ₹200-250 crore ($27.35–34.18 million) in the next financial year based on the potential of the market.

    Like rival chain Mumuso, the store is positioned as Korean and using Korean design influence in its products, but is actually Chinese.

    The Hong Kong-based firm will also be investigating the potential of online sales in the region next year.

    Beccos global CEO Dabin Wang said: “We see tremendous potential in the Indian market… The company would have stores on company-owned-company-operated and franchise patterns. We would have a mix of both franchised and company-operated stores.”

    Beccos has started the expansion by opening its first few stores in Kamala Nagar.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Alipay to support China’s micro and small businesses to embrace digitization

    Alipay to support China’s micro and small businesses to embrace digitization

    Alipay has announced that it will launch new initiatives to provide more digital tools, safeguards, loan services and training to further improve efficiencies and support the growth and digitization of small and micro businesses (SMBs) in China.

    SMBs form the cornerstone of Chinese society and create millions of job opportunities. However, shifts in industry models mean that online and offline operations are increasingly merging together and this group has lacked the services and tools needed to improve efficiencies and seize the opportunities from digitization. Aiming to tackle this on-going issue, Alipay, will provide the following support to bolster the development of SMBs in China.

    Ÿ   Provide tools and services to support digital operations, including business analysis, customer engagement, and supply chain services aiming to help 100 million SMBs across China.

    Ÿ   Provide an additional safeguard to SMB owners. SMBs using Alipay services will be offered a maximum of RMB1000 (USD $144) rebate every half year on out-patient services. Alipay expects to extend coverage to 50 million SMBs by the end of 2018 and rebate more than RMB500 million (‪USD $71.8 million) in total.

    Ÿ   Provide MYbank’s loan services to 30 million SMB owners and self-employed people over the next three years.

    Ÿ   In collaboration with 100 start-up entrepreneurs, Ant Financial, the parent company of Alipay, will tailor 100 lessons in corporate development and operations with the aim of training 10 million SMBs and facilitate their digital transformation.

    A great number of SMBs have benefited from Ant Financial’s range of services, including those provided to QR code merchants, who are typically SMBs that use Alipay’s QR code to collect payment from customers. These services include business analysis, financial management, loan and insurance services. Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Ant Financial enables SMB owners to apply for business loans in less than three minutes by smartphone, receive near-instant approval without human intervention. One QR code merchant from Wuhan, for instance, applied for a RMB20,000 (USD $2,874) business loan during Chinese New Year and received approval within one second. In the year ending October 2018, over three million QR code merchants have applied for loans through this service with an average loan size of less than RMB8,000 (USD $1,150).

    AI facilitates the entire process of out-patient benefits offered to QR code merchants, from guiding users to upload their invoices correctly, to identifying key data points on the invoice (such as hospital name and fee amount), to reviewing the information and materials submitted. Ant Financial’s blockchain technology secures the authenticity of the invoices. Tens of millions of QR code merchants have begun to take advantage of this offer with 20,000 merchants on average signing up for the service each day.

  • Alibaba, Richemont ink deal to bring YNAP to China

    Alibaba, Richemont ink deal to bring YNAP to China

    Alibaba is to launch Yoox Net-A-Porter China after entering into a partnership with Yoox’s owner, Swiss luxury fashion group Richemont. Under the partnership, YNAP and Alibaba will establish a joint venture (JV) to launch two mobile apps for YNAP’s Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter multi-brand, in-season online stores for consumers in China. Alibaba will provide technology infrastructure, marketing, payments, logistics and other technology support to the JV.

    The partnership will use YNAP’s strong relationship with leading luxury brands, some 950 of them being currently distributed through YNAP in China, and launch the brands on Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion.

    “Chinese customers at home and abroad are an increasingly important customer base for Richemont and for the broader luxury industry,” said Richemont chairman Johann Rupert.

    “Our digital offering in China is in its infancy and we believe that partnering with Alibaba will enable us to become a significant and sustainable online player in this market. Alibaba has become the preferred online destination in China, with world-class teams in technology, logistics and marketing.”

    Rupert said the company would work with Alibaba to ensure Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter continued to expand “as neutral, open and sophisticated platforms”.

    YNAP group CEO Federico Marchetti said Alibaba provided “a neutral and powerful platform to maximise China’s immense potential” for the group.

    Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, added: “We believe this announcement is just the beginning of a long-term partnership, and together we are committed to exploring many more opportunities to collaborate in the future.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Japan’s % Coffee to open in China

    Japan’s % Coffee to open in China

    Japanese cafe chain % Coffee is preparing to launch new locations in China and Hong Kong. The business is planning to open its fourth Hong Kong store at Monster Mansion in the middle of next month, its 27th location worldwide. Meanwhile, the franchise’s head roaster Takahiro Uemisha is stationed in Shenzhen preparing for the opening of three locations in the city, scheduled to open within the coming months.

    Shanghai will see two % Coffee stores emerging in Xintiandi and Fangsuo Bookstore. Both locations are being designed by the brand’s new architect Alexis Dornier.

    The Kyoto-headquartered coffee chain is preparing to open its first store in Singapore as well as plotting expansion into Indonesia, Malaysia and India.

    With its slogan “See the world through coffee”, % Coffee has built a strong following via social media. As well as its Asian foray, the company has outlets in Germany and several Middle East markets, with plans for France, Morocco and Canada.

    The Japanese cafe chain was founded in 2014 by Japan-born Kenneth Shoji who grew a love for the beverage while studying in California.

    Lees ook:

  • Xiaomi’s Pocophone F1 to go on sale next month in Korea

    Xiaomi’s Pocophone F1 to go on sale next month in Korea

    Xiaomi’s affordable smartphone Pocophone F1 is arriving in Korea next month. The Pocophone F1, the first smartphone from Xiaomi’s sub-brand Poco Global, was first unveiled in early August. The F1 will cost 429,000 won ($376) here, around one-third of the price of an Apple iPhone XS and half the price of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 9.

    The phone has already proved to be a success in other markets, especially in India, where it raised 30 billion won in sales within the first five minutes.

    The F1 comes with six gigabytes of RAM and three storage options: 64, 128 or 256 gigabytes. In Korea, only the 64 gigabytes will be available for purchase. SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ will start receiving preorders from Nov. 12.

    Jay Mani, the head of product for Poco Global, said the core motivation for developing the Pocophone F1 was the market trend where fierce competition drives manufacturers to add all kinds of new functions and features that aren’t relevant to everybody.

    “So the phones you have today – they have all these new functions but many do not appreciate them, nor are they excited about them, and yet the prices have come up to the current level,” he said in a press conference held in southern Seoul on Monday. “We wanted to buck this trend.”

    The Pocophone F1 focuses on performance. Inside its plastic body, the F1 uses the same processor chip as the Galaxy Note9 and LG Electronics’ latest V40: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. Its battery storage is 4,000-milliampere hour, larger than most phones released this year and equivalent to the Note9. To ensure its high speed, the F1 has a cooling system that keeps the phone’s temperature down. The hotter a device, the slower it gets, said Mani.

    However, it also adds some of the core features used in competitors’ top phones today. For example, the artificial intelligence-embedded camera can add 25 filters while taking a photo by automatically perceiving what the object is, while a camera on the front of the device allows for face recognition.

    “Reaching out to loyalists, that’s something that takes time, but there are also a lot of people who we can make think: ‘Does [my phone and its price] make sense?’” said Mani.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • US sports apparel firm mulls ditching China for Vietnam

    US sports apparel firm mulls ditching China for Vietnam

    U.S. sports apparel company Brooks Running is considering shifting its manufacturing operations from China to Vietnam to avoid trade war tariffs. The firm’s CEO Jim Weber said Monday that the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China is going to put a 45-percent tariff on his company’s running shoes.

    “We’re preparing for a 25 percent tariff on our business and that’s on top of 20 percent already on running shoes. It’s really going to be upsetting for us,” Weber said.

    Vietnam will be a “possible” new supply chain for Brooks, Weber said, adding that the transition will likely cost “millions” of dollars.

    Weber said he was confident that the move will allow his company to be more competitive in the U.S. and in the world as the tariffs are lower in Vietnam.

    He added that the transition, if it happened, would likely to be permanent.

    The U.S.-China trade war escalated last month as the U.S. levied new tariffs of 10 percent on about $200 billion worth of Chinese products, with the tariffs to go up to 25 percent by the end of this year.

    China retaliated immediately with 5 and 10 percent tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. products.

    The announcement by Brooks, which sells sports footwear, apparel, bras and accessories in 50 countries worldwide, came after Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said in May that his company is shifting footwear sourcing from China to Vietnam.

    Vietnam has in fact overtaken China as Adidas’ top supplier, with Vietnamese factories producing 44 percent of its shoes by volume last year against 19 percent by Chinese manufacturers, according to the company’s data.

    This is also true of Adidas’rival Nike, which had 46 percent of its footwear made in Vietnam last year, against 27 percent in China.

    Vietnam’s footwear exporters seem to be benefiting from the ongoing trade war.

    In the first nine months this year, Vietnam’s footwear exports were worth $11.74 billion, a 10.2 percent year-on-year increase.

    Vietnam is the second biggest exporter of footwear to the U.S. behind China, shipping 404 million pairs of shoes last year.

    Last year, Vietnam’s footwear exports were worth $14.65 billion.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Yonghui, Parknshop and Tencent to jointly establish JV

    Yonghui, Parknshop and Tencent to jointly establish JV

    Tencent has teamed up with ParknShop and Yonghui Superstores to create a new combined grocery chain ParknShop Yonghui. The joint venture, valued at US$170 million, aims to help Shanghai-listed Yonghui expand its business outside of the southern province of Guangdong, as well as consolidating Yonghui and ParknShop’s businesses in the province.

    Yonghui gains half of the joint venture with $89.6 million while ParknShop will hold a 40 per cent stake with cash and equity contributions amounting to $72 million, and Tencent will pay $18 million yuan for a 10 per cent stake.

    Tencent spent $750 million to buy a 5 per cent stake in Yonghui last December, with ambitions to shake up the bricks-and-mortar shopping market and compete with rival Alibaba Group.

    Yonghui operates more than 830 supermarkets in 24 provinces, 21 of them in Guangdong.

    ParknShop, a member of the AS Watson Group, has more than 50 shops in the southern province.
    This is the first time companies within the group have formed a joint venture with mainland Chinese firms.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Moncler sales boosted by China market

    Moncler sales boosted by China market

    Asia has proven to be the core driver of Moncler sales growth year to date. The edgy Italian fashion house which specialises in outdoor wear reported a 23 per cent increase in global sales this week in the nine months to September 30, measured in constant currency.

    But Asia and the ‘rest of world’ (which excludes Europe and the Americas) significantly outperformed the brand’s core markets, with sales up 39 per cent.

    And Chinese shoppers – who now account for about one-third of the world’s luxury goods market – are behind the trend, spending up at large in the brand’s new Hong Kong shops and on the mainland.

    “Chinese demand has been very strong in the third quarter, totally in line with the first half,” Moncler COO Luciano Santel said during an analyst conference call after the figures were released.

    Trading during the Golden Week holiday in early October was better than last year, signalling the growth trend will continue, said Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini: “The fourth quarter has just started, but we continued to see very positive signs in all our markets,” he said.

    Global sales topped €872.7 million euros for the nine months.

  • JD start to have parcel delivery in logistic division

    JD start to have parcel delivery in logistic division

    Chinese e-commerce company JD is opening its logistics network up to consumers to send parcels around the country, marking the first entry by an e-commerce company into the parcel delivery business. The new JD parcel delivery service announced enables users of the company’s app in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to send items intra-city and throughout Mainland China, using the same fast and reliable delivery service JD offers with online purchases. The company, which will expand the program to include high-value items like luxury products and high-end consumer electronics, as well as more diverse options based on delivery timing, aims to eventually make residential and business deliveries for shippers from anywhere to anywhere within Mainland China in the future.

    JD is the only large-scale e-commerce company in the world to operate a nationwide in-house logistics network, down to the last mile. The company says its network, powered by its proprietary supply chain management technology, is able to deliver more than 90 per cent of orders same- or next-day, and reaches 99 per cent of China’s population.

    The new JD parcel delivery service includes a range of competitively priced options, including same-day delivery between different cities; same-day intra-city delivery; standard next-day or two-day delivery and next-day delivery between cities.

    “Depending on the delivery option chosen, packages may be sent by high-speed rail or air,” the company said in a statement. “Individual shippers can use the same JD app they use for shopping to schedule a pickup by one of JD’s full-time logistics staff, and have a parcel delivered thousands of miles away at the speed they choose. They will even be able to select JD’s luxury ‘white glove’ delivery service if they want to make the delivery extra special.”

    Zhenhui Wang, CEO of JD Logistics says the JD parcel delivery service marks the next step in leveraging the nationwide logistics network that JD has built over the past decade, to expand the range of services offered to its customers.

    “JD is known throughout China for the fastest and most reliable delivery, and we are confident that users will appreciate the convenience of this new service.”

    The program has already begun user trials with multiple ways for customers to request pickups. In addition to the JD app, shippers can request pickups on a JD Delivery mini program in WeChat, China’s largest social network operated by JD’s partner Tencent, and a JD “Delivery Team” WeChat account.

    JD unveiled the parcel delivery service at its 2018 Global Smart Supply Chain Summit held in Beijing today. Other initiatives announced at the summit – part of JD’s Global Smart Supply Chain Network Strategy – include JD’s smart warehouse management system initiative, an expansion of the company’s green initiatives, and the formation of a new energy union with 20 industry partners.

    Lees ook:

  • New Look to no longer selling in China

    New Look to no longer selling in China

    Embattled UK fashion retailer New Look is to quite China, closing some 130 remaining stores. The move follows a strategic review of the China business announced back in June, when the company put the brakes on an ambitious 450-store rollout plan after opening just 148.

    New Look has appointed property specialist CBRE to find new tenants for the 130 remaining stores in the country.

    In March, South African-owned New Look signed a Company Voluntary Arrangement with its creditors and landlords in the UK allowing 60 stores there to be closed. Chairman Alistair McGeorge at the time cast doubt on the future of the China plans announced by former CEO Anders Kristiansen.

    New Look’s China exit comes two months after rival chain Topshop terminated a franchise agreement with local partner Shangpin “by mutual agreement”.

  • JD China Will Launch Flagship U.S. Store on Google This Year

    JD China Will Launch Flagship U.S. Store on Google This Year

    Chinese e-commerce platform JD is preparing to launch a flagship US store on Google. The move will allow JD, the second largest online retailer in China, to sell directly to American consumers by the end of the year, despite the emergence of potential new trade restrictions between the US and China.

    Google, which has been making moves to build a strong presence in e-commerce via its planned Google Shopping platform, purchased a US$550 million shareholding in JD this year. JD meanwhile is eyeing global markets as consumption slows in its home market. It is already selling in the US through partner and major investor Walmart.

    JD Logistics’s director of strategy Bao Yan said: “When Google Shopping launches, JD will have a flagship store. We are shipping from US fulfillment centers to US end-customers.”

    JD operates warehouse and delivery services in Los Angeles and has plans to expand its US-based facilities with several new fulfillment centres, ahead of opening its store on Google.

    Google, moving to compete with Amazon, will be responsible for payment and order processing for the enterprise.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • China Mobile Hong Kong names IoT startup competition finalists

    China Mobile Hong Kong names IoT startup competition finalists

    China Mobile Hong Kong has announced the four finalists who will represent Hong Kong in the semi-finals of the China Mobile OneNET Start-ups Marathon Competition later this month.

    Bravolinear Tech, IOTANET, Peacify and Stoneroad IOT will compete with IoT experts from across mainland China during the semi-final competition in Chongqing.

    Bravolinear Tech has developed a narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) based intelligent sensor system for elderly care. IOTANET developed a class consortium blockchain for smart community and device sharing. Peacify is working on a wearable device for monitoring the health of newborn babies. Stoneroad is applying IoT technology to monitor the health of trees on public property.

    The four companies won the first Hong Kong version of the marathon competition, which parent company China Mobile Limited has held in China for the past two years.

    China Mobile Hong Kong worked with HKSTP, the Communications Association of Hong Kong (CAHK) and the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA) to organise the event.

    The startups competed with six other hand-picked teams of entrepreneurs. The teams were provided with free training sessions and technical support before the finals of the Hong Kong contest, which took place last month.

    Each of the four winners will receive a HK$50,000 seed fund as well as being invited to participate in the semi-final competition.

    The Hong Kong version of the competition was designed to align with the HKSAR government’s Smart City Blueprint. It focused on the six key themes of smart transportation, smart living, smart environment, smart city, smart government, and smart finance.

  • HTC Opens Flagship Vive Store in China

    HTC Opens Flagship Vive Store in China

    Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has opened the doors of its first global flagship store for its Vive VR headset. The Shenzhen store will offer consumers the chance to experience VR technology in a relaxed in-store environment. The brand wants consumers to build a better understanding of how VR works, the content available, and how it can enhance their lives – through entertainment and practical applications.

    HTC launched its first Vive headset three years ago and is now a predominant player in the Chinese VR market, claiming 82 per cent market share at one point last year.

    It is now partnering with video game maker Ubisoft Entertainment, Warner Brothers and the McLaren Formula 1 team to participate in the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, nicknamed ChinaJoy, where it will have a VR gaming carnival.

    HTC has long been running at a loss as sales of its handsets fall in the highly competitive smartphone market and it sees VR technology as an opportunity to return to profitability.

    Lees ook:

  • L Catterton makes exit from China mall operator Sasseur

    L Catterton makes exit from China mall operator Sasseur

    International private equity firm L Catterton has substantially divested from Chinese mall operator Sasseur Cayman Holding. The firm has reduced its shareholding from 58.86 per cent to just 1.36 per cent, as part of ongoing efforts to optimise its portfolio. Sasseur Cayman is the sponsor of listed Sasseur Reit.

    L Catterton Asia chairman Ravi Thakran said: “We continue to strongly believe in the long-term growth prospects of Sasseur and the opportunities it offers to investors in terms of exposure to China’s fast-growing outlet mall industry. We will continue to support the company’s growth initiatives as a Sasseur shareholder.”

    In a separate statement, Sasseur said that growth prospects for China’s outlet sector remain solid – projected to expand at approximately 25 per cent annually for the next five years – with the fastest sales growth among the retail segments in China, even outpacing that of e-commerce.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Tmall’s “See Now, BuyNow” Show Kicks Off 2018 11.11 Global Shopping Festival

    Tmall’s “See Now, BuyNow” Show Kicks Off 2018 11.11 Global Shopping Festival

    Tmall, the largest B2C ecommerce platform for global and domestic brands and retailers in China, hosted its “See Now, Buy Now” Tmall Collection Fashion Show during the weekend in Beijing, kicking off the month-long lead-up celebration to Alibaba Group’s 2018 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.

    This year – the festival’s 10th anniversary – its fashion show added a new interactive element. In addition to popular “See Now” and “Buy Now” features that allow viewers to purchase items shown on the runway instantly from their mobile phones, this year’s fashion show also introduced an innovative feature, “Play Now”. “Play Now” gives viewers the chance to vote for their favorite outfits to create a trend report that would provide insights and instant feedback to participating brands.

    “Tmall Collection is our annual extravaganza to showcase the hottest trends in fashion. We created the ‘See Now, Buy Now’ concept two years ago, and we are excited to boost consumer engagement to a new level with the ‘Play Now’ feature, enabling viewers to share their views with brands real-time,” said Jessica Liu, President of Tmall Fashion and Luxury.  “The ‘See Now, Buy Now’ show provides a powerful sales channel for the world’s leading brands and also has the potential to reshape the fashion industry with the interactive component tailored for the always-online Chinese millennials.”

    The four-hour “See Now, Buy Now” show featured an impressive lineup of more than 60 international and domestic brands showcasing their latest collections, including Estée Lauder, Levi’s, Adidas, Guess, I.T, M.A.C.., G-Star Raw, and Swatch. More top luxury brands participated in the event than ever before, including Stella McCartney, Burberry, MCM, La Perla, Giuseppe Zanotti, and Stuart Weitzman.

    To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, the fashion show also featured a special segment highlighting crossover products that are specifically designed for the Festival. Celebrities participating in the show this year included American fashion designers Anna Sui and Jason Wu, American singer Jaden Smith, and Chinese singer Chris Lee.

    The live runway show had attracted over 57 million online viewership, more than tripling that of last year. It was broadcast live on 10 platforms, including the Taobao app, Alibaba’s video platform Youku, social media platform Weibo, and short video app Tik Tok.