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Tag: China

  • Huawei grows 1H16 revenue by 40%

    Huawei grows 1H16 revenue by 40%

    Huawei grew its sales revenues for the first half of the year by 40% to 245.5 billion yuan ($36.6 billion), despite a decline in its operating margin.

    The vendor reported an operating margin of 12%, down from 18% in the same period last year, partly as a result of increased investment in the company’s smartphone business as part of an aggressive push to become the market leader in 4-5 years.

    “We achieved steady growth across all three of our business groups, thanks to a well-balanced global presence and an unwavering focus on our pipe strategy,” Huawei’s CFO Sabrina Meng commented.

    “We are confident that Huawei will maintain its current momentum, and round out the full year in a positive financial position backed by sound ongoing operations.”

    Huawei has not yet disclosed its profit for the half-year period. Looking ahead, the company said it plans to continue to adhere to its pipe strategy, and invest heavily in R&D in areas including 5G and the IoT.

    In the carrier business, Huawei said it is focusing its attention on supporting operators’ digital transformation in four core areas – business, operations, architecture, and networks.

  • Chinese beauty retail market predicted to reach $50bn

    Chinese beauty retail market predicted to reach $50bn

    Despite less frequent purchases, the high demand for skincare products will see the Chinese beauty retail market continue strong growth to reach 338 billion yuan (US$50 billion) in value by 2020, says a new report.

    Research by Mintel shows that 65 per cent of consumers spent more on facial skincare last year than in 2014, despite consumers buying beauty products less often.

    Purchase rates for all beauty and personal-care categories surveyed by Mintel slowed during the three months to October last year. The categories most affected are hair beauty products, beauty supplements and fragrances, falling 32 per cent, 28 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.

    Total retail sales of cosmetics in China grew 12.3 per cent to reach 204.9 billion yuan last year.

    “The beauty retailing market seems resistant to decline, and this is mainly because the dynamic development of the facial skincare market,” says Mintel senior beauty and personal care analyst Chen Wenwen.

    “To leverage their passion and spending power, it is essential for both retailers and manufacturers to engage consumers via mobile platforms.”

    As many as 44 per cent of consumers used a mobile device to pay for beauty/personal care products online in the three months to October – double the number since 2014.

  • Huawei, Vodafone reach 20Gbps speeds in 5G test

    Huawei, Vodafone reach 20Gbps speeds in 5G test

    Huawei and Vodafone have announced they reached 20Gbps wireless transmission rates during 5G field tests using high-frequency E-Band spectrum.

    The 5G mmWave field test covered both single and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmissions. The former achieved a 20Gbps EU peak rate, while the latter achieved a 10Gbps peak rate over a long range.

    Announcing the results, Huawei said this marks the first 5G outdoor field test using E-Band (71-GHz to 86-GHz) spectrum to reach the 20Gbps peak rate for a single user device targeted by ITU-R as a 5G requirement.

    The company said E-Band millimiter wave spectrum can be used as a complementary spectrum band to lower-band frequencies to deliver on the performance targets of the 5G standard.

    “This field test in an outdoor environment is a significant step in validating the performance of 5G in high frequency bands, improving our understanding of the capabilities of the technology,” Vodafone Group CTO Johan Wilbergh commented.

    Huawei rotating CEO Eric Xu added that 5G “will introduce full spectrum access to support AR, VR, Smart Automobile and other unknown new services,” and that “the joint trial of 5G mmWave connectivity in a real world radio propagation environment and co-existence of different radio links is encouraging.”

  • Store roll-out boosts Starbucks Asia

    Store roll-out boosts Starbucks Asia

    A massive Starbucks Asia store roll-out has boosted the global coffee company’s third quarter results.

    Across China and the Asia-Pacific region, Starbucks opened 888 new stores in the first nine months of the current financial year. That helped lift revenues by 18 per cent in the region.

    However, underlying same-store sales were a far more modest 3 per cent up on the same quarter last year.

    “The concern is that some of this is related to a general slowdown in China which, if part of a longer term trend, could harm company earnings,’ observed retail analyst Neil Saunders, CEO of Conlumino.

    The company’s Channel Development division – which encompasses the sale of Starbucks branded products in grocers and other stores- also posted positive numbers, with revenues rising 9 per cent. This was aided by strong sales of single-serve Starbucks products following a new agreement with Keurig Green Mountain to push branded K-Cups into more channels. A new partnership with Nespresso to launch Starbucks-branded pods should provided a further uplift to this division in the quarters ahead.

    “Unfortunately, the stronger performances in Asia and in the Channel Development Segment were not enough to offset the weakness in the Americas, which remains larger than all other divisions combined,” said Saunders.

    “And therein lies the forward issue for Starbucks: it has to increase momentum in this part of its business if it is to get back into high growth territory and if it is to avoid a future squeeze on profits.”

    Globally, Starbucks seemed to lose momentum in the third quarter, with overall growth slowing to 7 per cent and global same-store growth moderating to 4 per cent – both below forecast.

    “Worryingly, the slowdown took hold across all regions with even the Americas division, which usually puts in a fairly robust performance, posting a lacklustre same-store increase of 4 per cent. The fact that the company appears to have run out of steam somewhat overshadows its nonetheless impressive achievement of breaking the $1 billion operating income barrier for the first time in a non-holiday quarter.”

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  • Eagle Gates Group plans Asia expansion

    Eagle Gates Group plans Asia expansion

    Eagle Gates Group plans to further expand its Asian retail business in the next five years. Eddy McClough, chief executive officer at Eagle Gates Group, says the group will continue to look at retail opportunities in Asia, with possible plans to establish new offices in the region.

    Eagle Gates Group’s history spans almost a decade and through careful stewardship and intelligent investment, the group has expanded to become one of the leading financial services groups across America and Europe.

    Eddy is positive about the outlook for the Asian market.

    “I see tremendous growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific region, especially the likes of China and Thailand. A number of partnership discussions are already underway. The foray into the Asian market reflects our commitment to growing the global footprint of Eagle Gates Group and gives us access to such an important investment market,” he said.

    Eagle Gates Group provides exchange traded funds and other products investing in indices, infrastructure and real estate. Eagle Gates Group also serves institutional investors who need to invest insurance or pension funds.

    In Asia, Eagle Gates Group has a Tokyo office which has been operational since 2013 but Eddy admitted its Asia business should be bigger.

    “The business in Asia Pacific now represents only single digits of our global business asset size. We are targeting a double digit in the next five years. Asia has a young population and a growing segment of wealthy individuals which would support future growth for the asset management industry,” he said.

    SOURCE Eagle Gates Group

  • China’s XL-Muse reinvents the bookstore

    China’s XL-Muse reinvents the bookstore

    Shanghai studio XL-Muse has come up with creative designs for two new stores for book retailer Zhongshuge.

    Shelving reaches to the ceiling in the corridor of the Yangzhou Zhongshuge bookshop and is reflected by the floor below, emulating the effect of water. The designers took inspiration from the store’s waterside location in Zhen Yuan, as well as the area’s arched bridges, reports Dezeen.

    Zhongshuge book store Yangzhou 3

    “In the past, guided by water, many literati and poets visited and gathered here,” says XL-Muse. “The bridges were once the guiding factor of culture and commerce, and they represent the bookstore being the bond between humans and books.”

    The Yangzhou store is the latest interior XL-Muse has created for Zhongshuge. The studio previously created an oval reading room with stepped shelving for a branch that opened in Hangzhou in April. Black mirrored flooring and arched shelves create a tunnel of books. The Zhongshuge-Hangzhou bookshop also has mirrored ceilings and wraparound bookshelves, and a display room with columns shaped like tree trunks.

    Zhongshuge book store Yangzhou 1

    At the Yangzhou store, the concave shelving does not meet at the top, but is separated by a gap shaped like a lightning bolt across the middle of the ceiling. Reflected on the mirrored flooring, this gap is meant to act as a river, leading customers forward into the store.

    Zhongshuge book store Yangzhou 7

    The 1000 sqm space includes a reading room and a village-themed children’s area. The main reading room features curvaceous shapes in the form of sculptural, white pillars that curve inward from the ceiling.

    Zhongshuge book store Yangzhou 2

    Zhongshuge book store Yangzhou

    Shelving is a combination of traditional vertical styles and black metal stands arranged on a gentle slope that complements the curves of the pillars.

    Zhongshuge book store Yangzhou 6

    Meanwhile, the children’s picture book pavilion features shelves shaped like houses, towers, clouds and a hot-air balloon. The wooden shelving is painted in a spectrum of bright colours, and the ceiling lights are arranged to suggest a starry sky.

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  • Indonesia sparkles as jewellery retail market

    Indonesia sparkles as jewellery retail market

    Indonesia sparkles in the jewellery retail market, according to a new report from Euromonitor International.

    Buoyed by growth in Asia Pacific, particularly China and India, jewellery will continue to be the best-performing category in the personal accessories segment, according to its research.

    Indonesia is expected to be the fastest-growing country in the world for jewellery sales with 7.8 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) predicted until 2021. It is followed by India at 6.9 per cent.

    Euromonitor’s research shows that jewellery sales will be worth US$316 billion this year. It is the fastest-growing segment within the personal accessories industry with 3 per cent growth over the past year.

    Jewellery, including both costume and fine jewellery, had 15 per cent year-on-year growth of internet retail sales, reaching $19 billion this year, up from $9 billion in 2011. Fine jewellery’s 16 per cent growth in internet retailing beat out costume jewellery’s 12 per cent growth, with more fine jewellery retailers going online.

    “Technology is the answer for the future growth of jewellery and personal accessories,” says industry analyst Jasmine Seng. While global sales of personal accessories are growing at 2 percent, internet retailing is experiencing double-digit growth.

    The lowest performer in internet sales is the watch segment.

    “Facing competition from smartwatches, industry players should collaborate with wearable-technology innovators to drive organic growth for their companies,” says Seng.

    Personal accessories sales are forecast to have 4 per cent CAGR between now and 2021 to reach $633 billion.

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  • Turnover falls for Sa Sa International

    Turnover falls for Sa Sa International

    Sa Sa sales are slowing, despite an improvement in Mainland Chinese visitor numbers.

    Retail and wholesale turnover for cosmetics retailer Sa Sa International Holdings fell by 5.7 per cent for the first quarter to June 30, according to unaudited data.

    Turnover dropped 5.4 per cent to HK$1384.9 million (US$178.585 million) in the Hong Kong and Macau markets, while same-store sales decreased by 4.8 per cent. While there were only slightly fewer transactions, their average value fell 5.7 per cent.

    In other markets, including China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan as well as Sasa.com, retail and wholesale turnover dropped 7 per cent to HK$1717.1 million for the quarter.

    While still in decline, the group’s retail sales in Hong Kong and Macau recorded a notable improvement compared to the last quarter of the last financial year, the company attributing this to traffic growth of 2.7 per cent among mainland customers.

    “Their consumption continued to be on the weaker side, with spending declining by 6.4 per cent per transaction. Local consumption sentiment remained sluggish,” says the company.

    Improved sales performances were partially because of the group’s efforts to adjust product offerings to meet market demand.

    As at June 30, the company had 112 stores in Hong Kong and Macau, a drop of one from the start of the quarter. At 55, there were two fewer stores on the mainland, Singapore was steady at 23 stores, Malaysia’s 67 stores included had one more outlet, and Taiwan also lost a store for a total of 31. Overall, the company had 288 stores, down from 291.

    Sales performance during the period was affected by a series of factors, says the company, so the data for the period may not be able to reflect the overall performance of the reporting period.

  • Bruno Magli to launch in China and Japan

    Bruno Magli to launch in China and Japan

    Bruno Magli Hong Kong will launch in August as the Italian luxury brand signs partnerships in China and Japan, paving the way for a focussed Asian expansion.

    The luxury Italian fashion brand has signed new partnerships in Asia with Sitoy Retailing in China and Bruno Magli Partners in Japan. With these partnerships, coupled with its existing legacy business in South Korea, Bruno Magli believes is is positioned to become one of the leading luxury lifestyle brands in Asia.

    Sitoy Retailing will open the first Bruno Magli shop-in-shop in the Sogo department store at Causeway Bay in Hong Kong in August, to be followed by at least 15 mono-branded stores throughout China. In September, Bruno Magli Partners will launch an eCommerce business in Japan, a historic market for Bruno Magli loyalists. Physical stores will start to open from 2017.

    “Bruno Magli has a classic Italian heritage with 80 years in luxury and a reputation for unique design and quality craftsmanship” said Andrew Yeung, executive director and head of retailing at Sitoy Group.

    “With 55 years in Japan, Bruno Magli has built a brand synonymous with classic styling, quality craftsmanship, and exceptional comfort,” said Kyle Nakamura, president at Bruno Magli Partners.  “As investors, [we] are confident that Bruno Magli will continue to grow as a leading lifestyle brand in the Japanese market.”

    The Italian brand plans to launch an “extensive” fall/winter 2016 global advertising campaign, coinciding with the re-launch of Bruno Magli women’s footwear, with actress Lucy Liu as the category’s brand ambassador.

    Other new categories set to launch for holiday include men’s tailoring, men’s bags and small leather goods, men’s hosiery, women’s handbags, and men’s and women’s timepieces.

    “This is an incredible time for Bruno Magli,” said Cory M Baker, COO of Marquee Brands, parent of Bruno Magli. “As we celebrate the brand’s 80th anniversary, our expansion into China and Japan with these strategic partners will help solidify our global growth with an already loyal customer base.”

    Sitoy Group was founded by Michael Yeung in the 1970s and was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2011. It has been actively developing the Greater China retail market since 2011 for Tuscan’s, a leather goods brand from Italy, with retail outlets in major cities including, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, while simultaneously expanding a select distribution network into secondary and tertiary cities.

    Marquee Brands is a brand acquisition, licensing and development company, sponsored by Neuberger Berman Private Equity, which targets high quality brands with strong consumer awareness and long-term growth potential.

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  • CapitaMall Xinduxin & Laguardalow works together on mall design

    CapitaMall Xinduxin & Laguardalow works together on mall design

    A new six-storey CapitaLand shopping centre in Qingdao, China, was designed by New York design and planning firm Laguarda.Low Architects.

    CapitaMall Xinduxin comprises a six-level above-ground retail centre, two levels of below-ground retail, and two levels of underground parking.

    Covering more than 1.7 million sqft (157,935 sqm), it is the first international large-scale shopping centre in Qingdao. It has a direct link to Qingdao’s new M3 subway line.

    Laguarda.Low’s concept is an exterior form of interconnected bands along the plane of the facade. The fluid form is accentuated by banded metal-panel cladding on the upper levels, as well as red accent panels and inset LED signage. At ground level, the curtain-like metal facade lifts away from a double-height glazing to reveal activities within the mall.

    Throughout each level, warm and light materials set the tone for a sophisticated and serene environment. The sinuous corridors and expansive floor openings at each level encourage circulation and provide views to the upper levels.

    At the sixth level, a dramatic diagrid roof structure filters in natural light. The varying apertures of the pattern work to maximise daylight for several key spaces, while minimising light for more intimate environments. The resulting variation in pattern evokes the feeling of walking beneath a canopy of trees.

    Indoor garden

    At the fifth and sixth levels, a central, double-height atrium space is completed with lush plantings to create an indoor garden.

    “The design focusses on creating a relaxing shopping experience for guests,” says Laguarda.Low Architects principal Pablo Laguarda. “To achieve this, we positioned key elements like the dining and entertainment spaces on the upper levels, next to the interior garden. This provides a perfect respite from the high energy of the shops and street below.”

    As well as fashion and lifestyle retailers, CapitaMall Xinduxin includes a cinema, dining options and more than 1000 parking spaces.

    Founded 16 years ago, Laguarda.Low Architects is an award-winning architecture practice with a global portfolio including large-scale master plans, mixed-use developments, office and residential towers, hotels, and retail centres. Its projects include OCT Happy Harbor in Shenzhen, a shopping and entertainment destination of 3.2 million sqft overlooking Shenzhen Bay.

    Singapore-headquartered CapitaLand is one of Asia’s largest real-estate companies.

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  • Alibaba introduces IP collaboration platform

    Alibaba introduces IP collaboration platform

    Alibaba Group has launched an online platform designed to streamline IP-related communications between brands and Alibaba.

    The new IP Joint-Force System aims to build greater and more collaborative working relationships with global brands as the company strengthens its efforts against counterfeits and IP infringement.

    “E-commerce has become a way of life for consumers both in China and around the world. As the internet sector continues to evolve, brands and online marketplaces alike face new IP enforcement challenges,” said Jessie Zheng, chief platform governance officer at Alibaba Group.

    With over a billion products listed across Alibaba Group’s marketplaces at any given time, its data analytics and processing technologies enabled the company to proactively remove more than 120 million infringing product listings from its marketplaces in 2015, which it said is eight times the number of counterfeit products removed based on takedown requests from brands.

    Under the new IP Joint-Force System, each participating brand will be assigned a dedicated online portal and Alibaba account manager to enhance collaboration, heighten transparency around IP enforcement efforts, and reinforce mutual understanding and trust.

    The system will also enable Alibaba to directly and efficiently seek information from rights holders regarding suspected counterfeit product listings, which Alibaba, as a third-party marketplace, is unable to authenticate on its own with full certainty.

    Alibaba will then initiate the Good Faith Takedown process and immediately remove the listing without required subsequent correspondence with the brand.

    Alibaba recently held the inaugural Rights Holders Collaboration Summit to engage international brands and the intellectual property enforcement community to enhance collaboration in the collective fight against IP infringement.

    More than 100 domestic Chinese and international brands and trade associations attended the event, including Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Apple, Mars, Hewlett-Packard, the Chinese-British Business Council (CBBC) and the Quality Brand Protection Committee (QBPC), among others.

    “The Rights Holders Collaboration Summit and new IP Joint-Force System are some of the many ways Alibaba is working closely with rights holders in our efforts to eradicate counterfeits both online and offline,” Zheng said.

  • Cool Kids Fashion featuring 70 brands

    Cool Kids Fashion featuring 70 brands

    Today’s Chinese kids are increasingly being dressed to a fashion.

    “The demand for the children’s wear in China has shifted from fulfilling basic needs to pursuing fashion and style,” says marketing director Aber of Shenzhen Perseus Brand Management, an exhibitor at Cool Kids Fashion Shanghai this week.

    “Nowadays, Chinese kids want to look ‘cool’ and ‘chic’, so we have incorporated these elements into our products.”

    Differentiation by style, branding and marketing has become more important as demand rises, says Kidswant Children Products product centre director Pinky Lu. “Low prices are no longer effective in securing market share; conversely, the ability to suit personal taste differences is becoming more important.”

    More than 70 global fashion brands will be showcasing their latest product at the third edition of Cool Kids Fashion Shanghai, being held concurrently with CBME China from July 20 to 22.

    Fierce competition

    With fierce competition in the children’s fashion market in China, brands are constantly pushing out new products, says Baodaxiang Shopping for Kids Group procurement manager Yanjing Wang. “The new generation of consumers is more interested in style, brands and value for money.”

    Among the brands at Cool Kids Fashion will be B. Duck (Hong Kong), CCILU (Japan), Cocolico (France), Lab by Baby (Korea), Metro Kids Company (Portugal), Mim-Pi (Netherlands), Overkids (Italy), RIA (Spain), Shadez (Switzerland) and Tip Toey Joey (Brazil). The event will bring together distributors, department stores and property developers, franchisees and fashion buyers.

    There will also be events highlighting trends, creativity, innovation and talent.

    Trend forum speakers include WGSN creative director Zhang Yiling and H&M visual merchandising manager Raj.

    Twenty shortlisted aspiring designers out of 1035 contestants will have their designs and creations displayed at the Kids Design Contest Gallery, followed by a runway showcase.

    Brands featuring in the fashion shows include Angel’s Face (UK), BabyBol (Spain), Blaa (Finland), Maya (US), PennyScallan (Australia) and Teddy Doctor (China).

    Meanwhile, CBME China will showcase baby, child and maternity products. The two shows will cover 223,305 sqm, featuring 3673 brands from 2366 suppliers, at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai.

    Design is one of the most important factors when parents buy children’s clothing, according to the UBM China Baby Products Market Consumer Research Report 2015.

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  • Alibaba and Kodak team up to fight fakes

    Alibaba and Kodak team up to fight fakes

    Alibaba and Kodak have teamed up in a new business venture using high technology to fight fake goods being traded online.

    The cameras and film that helped build the Eastman Kodak empire, launched in 1888, are long gone, but the company has found new life authenticating products.

    With a history of research and hundreds of patents, Kodak is behind a startup working to combat counterfeiting with a technology that places an invisible, digitally traceable marker on products to ensure they are authentic.

    Targeting eCommerce, the new company is named eApeiron, which comes from the Greek word for everlasting.

    Fake and pirated products globally accounted for almost a half-trillion dollars in 2013, according to a report this year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with 84 per cent of seized goods originating in China and Hong Kong. As well as losses and brand erosion for companies, counterfeiting can mean lost tax revenue for governments. It also discourages innovation.

    “If you’re in charge of brand protection or you’re a security officer of a major brand, this means you have a new tool,” says Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke.

    Miami-based eApeiron will set up its research, engineering and manufacturing arms within Kodak’s business park in Rochester, New York. Some research will also take place in Shanghai and Tel Aviv.

    With China’s largest eCommerce company Alibaba Group an investor, its president Michael Evans will sit on eApeiron’s board along with Clarke. Its CEO is Charles Fernandez.

    Invisible ink

    Meanwhile, invisible-ink security products are already available, including VerifyMe, which signed a memo of understanding in May with HP’s Israel-based Indigo division, part of its HP Graphics business.

    One of VerifyMe’s anti-counterfeiting pigment technologies lets consumers see visible markings on a product while manufacturers can use devices to see invisible markings to support their supply and distribution-chain security.

    YPB Group in Australia makes scannable markers that are invisible to the eye because they blend into the material of the product they are marking.

    While luxury-goods companies are often targeted by counterfeiters, the OECD report says there are also potentially dangerous faked goods such as drugs, toys and spare parts. Tracing these items through the supply chain could ensure they are not expired or forgeries, Clarke says.

    Beaten by the digital revolution, Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012, emerging the following year as a commercial printing business. Kodak has continued to team with young companies on technology research, and its labs have more than 50 scientists and 4000 patents.

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  • China’s Growing E-Commerce Addiction

    China’s Growing E-Commerce Addiction

    I am admittedly an Amazon shopping addict, so it was interesting to have a long conversation recently with Chinese colleagues in Nanning about their own growing addictions to online shopping. They are big fans of Taobao, although they also use other e-commerce sites likeJD.com and Suning.com. My colleagues are representative of a larger trend of Chinese consumers shifting partly from brick-and-mortar shopping to online shopping, and expanding online shopping in its own right. E-commerce now represents a high-growth sector.

    Though relatively new to online shopping, Chinese consumers already make up for almost half of global online retail sales, and are only growing in numbers. Online retail sales amounted to $581.61 billion in 2015, surging 33.3% from the previous year. The volume of online sales in China now exceeds that in the US, and online sales are expected to grow 20% annually by 2020. Furthermore, online shoppers represent the vanguard of China’s growth story, since they tend to be young, urban, and highly educated. They have a different attitude toward shopping than older generations, which were shaped as savers by more challenging political and economic circumstances. Younger shoppers are more willing to spend.

    Compared to brick-and-mortar retailing in China, e-commerce sales often experience fewer licensing requirements and quicker customs clearance. As a result, e-commerce is to some extent replacing shopping in physical marketplaces, and will comprise 42% of growth in private consumption by 2020 according to Boston Consulting and AliResearch. For this reason and others, hypermarkets such as Carrefour and Walmart have shut down a number of stores. Online shopping also allows consumers to access products that are not available in stores, including organic foods and some luxury products from overseas.

    As consumers in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities (think Beijing, Shanghai, but also Chongqing and Chengdu) become increasingly savvy online shoppers, there continues to be large potential for online sales particularly in Tier 3 and 4 cities. E-commerce penetration amounts to 89% in Tier 1 and 2 cities, but only amounts to 62% in Tier 3 and 4 cities, as per the McKinsey iConsumer China 2016 Survey. The online shopper base in Tier 3 and 4 cities is 257 million, a population number that is larger than that of almost all countries in the world (except India, China as a whole, and the United States). That is serious market potential.

    To keep up with increasing demand from smaller urban and rural areas, online retailers are seeking to expand logistics infrastructure and services. For example, Alibaba ’s logistics arm, Cainiao, now owns 180,000 express delivery stations for the shipment of products and has recently expanded its fresh food distribution centers across China. The firm recently completed its first external funding round and is expected to spend $16 billion over the next five to eight years to expand its network. Growth in China’s underdeveloped logistics sector can certainly be expected to accompany the expansion of e-commerce.

    *originally posted by Forbes

  • chuang x yi concept store by lukstudio in shanghai

    chuang x yi concept store by lukstudio in shanghai

    chuang x yi concept store by lukstudio in shanghai

    lukstudio’s ‘modular lilong’ was developed at the behest of value retail china to showcase ‘chuang x yi’ — a fashion platform for chinese designers. the 150 sqm site, located in yioulai shanghai village, is organized around meandering lanes, or lilong, a system that allows creative displays in areas with spatial constraints. this concept, in part, is what gives shanghai its signature streetscape.

    lukstudio07-designboom
    ‘chuang x yi’ concept store
    images © dirk weiblen

    ‘lilong’, interpreted by lukstudio, results in a modular interior that can be easily disassembled and re-located to other locations. pieces are based on architectural features and textures often found in a ‘lilong’ including old stone ‘shikumen’ gates; visualized in smooth, rounded corners in displays. laundry lines become copper-coated clothing racks, and bamboo rattan is utilized as dividers.

    lukstudio06-designboom
    rattan serves as dividers in the store

    the retail experience of ‘chuang x yi’ offers a visual dialogue between interior and urban environment, combining many layers into a cohesive structure. lukstudio’s work is a journey of discovery that connects historical shanghai architecture and the consumer culture of today.

    lukstudio05-designboom
    interior by lukstudio


    seating and structural display

    lukstudio04-designboom
    grid layout


    interior

    chuang x yi concept store lukstudio shanghai china
    display cube

    lukstudio03-designboom
    axonometric

    lukstudio02-designboom
    floor plan

    project info:

    name: chuang x yi: the modular lilong
    client: value retail china
    location: shanghai village, 88 shendi east road, pudong new area, shanghai, china
    net area: 150 sqm
    interior & lighting design: lukstudio
    team: christina luk, marcello chiado rana, alba beroiz blazquez
    display furniture & custom lighting: TIWU design
    lounge furniture: lost and found, MRT
    timeline: jan. – feb. 2016
    construction: mar. 2016
    general contractor: centroid construction
    photography: dirk weiblen

     

     

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