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Tag: China

  • China sales Profit Down for Lululemon Athletica

    China sales Profit Down for Lululemon Athletica

    Lululemon Athletica has reported a massive 70 per cent growth in first-quarter China sales, part contributing to a stellar performance globally.

    Both sales and profit exceeded the company’s forecast and analysts expectations. Sales of its relatively new men’s range grew 26 per cent proved another highlight.

    “Our guests responded well to both our men’s and women’s assortments,” CEO Calvin McDonald told analysts on a conference call after the results were released.

    “They engage with us across channels as our store and digital businesses were both strong and our brand continues to resonate well in our core North American market, as well as in Europe and Asia Pacfiic.”

    Earnings surged 28.5 per cent in the quarter to May 5, reaching to US$75.2 million, on sales up 20.4 per cent to $782.3 million. However those figures were boosted a little by a shift in the calendar. Taking that into effect, and on a same-store basis, sales rose 14 per cent.

    Sales in Asia rose 40 per cent, led by China’s 70 per cent gain. The Canadain company opened its first stores in three new Chinese cities during the quarter: Shaanxi, Xi’an and Chongqing. It plans to add as many as 12 more to its network this year.

    Lululemon also relaunched its Chinese website to complement its presence on Tmall and WeChat and websites in Japan and Korea were also launched.

  • Alibaba Files Hong Kong Listing

    Alibaba Files Hong Kong Listing

    Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company Alibaba Group has filed confidentially for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

    Previously reported that the group was mulling a secondary listing to diversify funding sources amid escalating U.S.-China tensions over trade and tech, which has accelerated the drive for Chinese technology companies towards more self-reliance on domestic supply chains, technology, and funding.

    The firm had chosen China International Capital (CICC) and Credit Suisse to lead its Hong Kong share sale.

    Alibaba’s 2014 U.S. initial public offering was the world’s largest-ever stock market flotation, raising a record $25 billion. Hong Kong lost out on the listing because its rules back then did not allow for Alibaba’s corporate structure, which gives founding partners control over board appointments, as opposed to shareholders.

    However, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing changed its rules last year to allow «innovative companies» from China with listings elsewhere to do a secondary listing in Hong Kong, even if their voting rights structures did not comply with local standards.

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  • Tmall and VF Corporation Deepen Partnership in China

    Tmall and VF Corporation Deepen Partnership in China

    Tmall, China’s largest B2C platform under Alibaba Group, has formed a strategic partnership with VF Corporation (“VF”) to expand the global leader’s offerings of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories in China.

    Under the agreement, Tmall Innovation Center (“TMIC”), the dedicated retail innovation arm of Tmall, will provide VF data-driven consumer analytics from the 654 million annual active consumers across Alibaba’s marketplaces, enabling it to tailor products for Chinese consumers. VF is the parent company of apparel brands Vans, The North Face and Timberland and is the first TMIC high-level partner in the apparel category.

    “With Tmall’s unparalleled customer insights, strong technical support and in-depth market knowledge, we are eager to work with the world’s leading companies to help them bring their best products into the China market in the most-effective and efficient way. Through our partnership with VF, we are committed to helping VF create products that can precisely match the appetite of the Chinese consumer,” said Liu Bo, general manager of Alibaba’s Marketing Platform Business.

    The partnership will focus on identifying new consumption trends, pre-launch testing, consumer profiling, and post-launch tracking to optimize product design, range and assortment to uncover unmet needs of Chinese consumers.

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  • H&M’s & Other Stories Launching on Tmall

    H&M’s & Other Stories Launching on Tmall

    H&M Group’s womenswear brand & Other Stories will launch a Tmall flagship store in the fall, making the Alibaba Group-owned B2C online marketplace the label’s first official sales channel in China.

    The Tmall store will offer collections designed by its three ateliers in Paris, Stockholm and Los Angeles, ranging from shoes, bags and jewelry to accessories and ready-to-wear items, according to a release.

    “This collaboration marks another important milestone in our long-standing partnership with H&M Group brands, and we look forward to continue working together to bring elevated shopping experiences to Chinese consumers,” said Jessica Liu, GM of Tmall Fashion and Luxury.

    & Other Stories will be the fourth H&M brand to join Tmall, following the Swedish fashion group’s namesake H&M brand and home-accessories brand H&M Home last year. H&M’s street-style label Monki opened a flagship store in 2016. The fast-fashion giant also owns denim lines Weekday and Cheap Monday, boutique-style label Cos, as well as the fashion-and-lifestyle brand Arket.

    “We look forward to the launch this autumn and can’t wait to get to know our Chinese customers and seeing their interpretations of our wardrobe treasures,” & Other Stories MD Sanna Lindberg said.

    Launched in 2013, & Other Stories operates 70 stores worldwide, while its online shop currently delivers to 15 countries in Europe, the U.S. and Korea.

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  • Fosun Fashion seeking investors

    Fosun Fashion seeking investors

    Chinese conglomerate Fosun is looking to sell a stake in its luxury fashion business, which includes Lanvin.

    According to a report by Bloomberg, an investor is being sought for the Fosun Fashion unit to help revamp and grow the business.

    Fosun’s fashion division owns shareholdings of varying size in German fashion retailer Tom Tailor,US women’s fashion label St John Knits, Greek jeweller Follie Folli and Italian suit maker Raffaele Caruso. The company’s industrial division owns a majority stake in Wolford, the Austrian textile maker.

    Bloomberg reports Fosun is seeking US$100 million and is negotiating with several prospective partners including Asian family businesses.

    Investors who come on board may stand to gain from an IPO of Fosun Fashion in Paris under consideration for several years in the future, according to Bloomberg sources.

    In the meantime, the capital would be used to grow the brands and boost profitability.

    If a suitable partner cannot be located, Fosun may invest more of its own funds in the business.

  • Hot Dog on a Stick opens first Restaurant in China

    Hot Dog on a Stick opens first Restaurant in China

    The brand’s parent, Global Franchise Group, has signed a master-franchise agreement with Eugene Restaurant Management which will see Hot Dog on a Stick launching at Crystal Galleria prior to opening 20 additional locations throughout the greater Shanghai area.

    “Hot Dog on a Stick is a pop culture phenomenon, and the sunny concept with our famous striped uniforms and portable food items really resonates with the modern Chinese lifestyle,” said GFG president and CEO Chris Dull. “Global Franchise Group is confident that Hot Dog on a Stick will be a very popular dining destination in Shanghai.”

    “I’ve been a fan of Hot Dog on a Stick since my childhood in the US and decided to open a location in China because I truly missed the food,” said master franchisee Eugene Mao. “I believe the local population in Shanghai will love Hot Dog on a Stick as much as I do.”

    Established in 1946 in southern California, Hot Dog on a Stick also has international locations in Korea.

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  • Hong Kong debut for Japanese hot-pot chain Bijin Nabe

    Hong Kong debut for Japanese hot-pot chain Bijin Nabe

    Japanese “farm-to-table” restaurant group AP Company is expanding in Hong Kong with the local debut of its Bijin Nabe hot-pot brand.

    Named after the group’s signature “collagen-rich chicken ‘beauty stock’”, Bijin Nabe’s 2800sqft venue is now open at APM Millennium City 5 in Kwun Tong. AP Company has expanded to 200 restaurants in Japan and Singapore based on the reputation of its ‘super supplement’ stock – boiled for eight hours from free-range chickens, free of steroids, hormones and antibiotics and raised at its own poultry farms in Japan.

    “Bijin Nabe is establishing a niche with ‘per person’ hotpots in a dining style usually designed for groups,” said Bijin Nabe MD Masashi Kamatani, “with the added appeal of fashionable and ‘instagrammable’ appetisers, desserts, alternative specialty dishes, mocktails, cocktails and home-made vegetable juices.”

    Bijin Nabe’s focus is on young millennial consumers via an emphasis on three key concepts – beauty, tasty and healthy.

    The group made its debut in Hong Kong in 2017 with its flagship upmarket izakaya-style restaurant brand Tsukada Nojo in Harbour City, followed by the opening of a Shatin branch last year.

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  • Farfetch opens flagship on JD.com China

    Farfetch opens flagship on JD.com China

    Farfetch China has opened a flagship store on JD, one of its strategic investors.

    The move follows Farfetch China’s purchase of Toplife announced in February and gives the global luxury-fashion technology platform access to more than 300 million customers in Mainland China.

    According to a statement, Farfetch now has a ‘Level 1’ entry point on the JD app, providing customers with instant access to more than 3000 brands via Farfetch’s network of more than 1000 luxury brand and boutique partners.

    “The partnership builds on the existing successful relationship between Farfetch and JD, started in July 2017,” said Farfetch China MD Judy Liu.

    Since then, the fashion platform has built its China presence by sharing JD’s logistics capabilities and its insights into the behaviour of Chinese luxury consumers.

    “Brands crave ever-better access to the Chinese market, and we are thrilled to deliver this for them,” said Liu.

    “This is an important expansion of our strategic partnership with JD, which strengthens the Farfetch China business as part of our truly global offering. Being able to offer the full suite of Farfetch’s technology and logistics platform to brands wanting to reach high-end Chinese consumers is a major competitive advantage as we seek to continue to grow market share in the rapidly expanding online luxury market.”

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  • Amazon listed as most valuable brand

    Amazon listed as most valuable brand

    E-commerce giant Amazon has clinched the top spot in the world’s most valuable brand ranking, surpassing Google and Apple, according to a recently released ranking of global companies.

    The Seattle-based retailer has been valued at US$315.5 billion, up 52 per cent on last year with tech giant Apple coming in second, valued at $309.5 billion and Google in third place at $309 billion, Brand Z’s Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand 2019 ranking (compiled by WPP research agency Kantar) revealed.

    Google and Apple had spent a combined 12 years at the top of Brand Z’s list, with Google taking the top spot last year.

    “Amazon’s smart acquisitions that have led to new revenue streams, excellent customer service provision and its ability to stay ahead of its competitors by offering a diverse ecosystem of products and services, have allowed Amazon to continuously accelerate its brand value growth,” Brand Z’s report indicated.

    Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has overtaken Tencent for the first time to become the most valuable Chinese brand, moving up two places to number seven, growing 16 per cent to $131.2 billion.

    Tencent dropped three places to number eight, declining by 27 per cent to $130.9 billion year-on-year.
    Social media platform Facebook has retained its sixth spot while Instagram, at number 44, was named as this year’s fastest riser, climbing 47 places with a massive 95 per cent growth in brand value with $28.2 billion.

    Athleisure retailer Lululemon was named the second fastest riser, showing a 77 per cent growth year-on-year to $6.92 billion.

    “We’re seeing a move from individual product and service brands to a new era of highly-disruptive ecosystems,” said David Roth, CEO of The Store WPP EMEA and Asia and chairman of Brand Z.

    “Brands need to understand the value this type of model can create and should embrace its approach to be successful in the future,” Roth said.

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  • Aldi China where Quality meets Value

    Aldi China where Quality meets Value

    The first professional photos have emerged of Aldi China’s two pilot stores in Shanghai, which opened weeks ago.

    Designed by Australian-headquarted Landini Associates for Audi Sud (South), the two stores are both about 336sqm in size. They feature a more upmarket look than Aldi’s European stores and are described by Landini as “an evolution of Landini Associates’ work for Aldi Australia, aimed at celebrating and conveying product quality and value”.

    The stores represent a new trading format for Aldi and are the first of up to 100 planned for the city. Aldi has been testing the Chinese market online for about two years, selling its own-brand products on Alibaba’s Tmall to gain an understanding of consumer buying preferences and acceptance to hitherto unknown brands.

    But as the photos show, the store is very obviously targeted not only at Chinese consumers, but the burgeoning expat community in the city – all signage is in English as well as Chinese.

    Landini highlights key differences in the scale, layout and tone of the Aldi China stores, compared to the latest designs implemented in Australia.

    “In line with Chinese consumer habits, where the preference is to visit multiple small shops per week, the stores are a much smaller format. The emphasis is on fresh produce and ready meals, with certain categories articulated for greater consistency, and key products placed at the entry of each aisle alongside messaging to appeal to and drive shoppers,” the company says.

    “Key departments developed were snacks, produce, bakery, alcohol, imported goods, health, and beauty. The most noticeable difference for the Chinese market is the development of an on-site Food Station, as well as the addition of ready meals to take away or consume at the in-store dining kiosk.”

    Low cost yet “real” materials were specified for the fitout, including locally sourced brick, terrazzo, an open concrete ceiling, warm timbers, and yellow accents which add to the perception of freshness throughout the stores.

    LED lighting reduces glare and running costs while improving ambience and colour rendering, changing from day to night. Landini says the lighting was designed to create a pleasant atmosphere and let the products speak, enhancing colour, texture, and freshness. Energy-saving LED has also been incorporated in the fridges and wine displays.

    Landini also designed an extensive series of messaging and graphic illustrations that are entirely unique to the Aldi China stores. More than 40 messaging boards were developed to communicate the brand ethos, product freshness, value, quality, and European and Australian products on sale.

    There is no signage or ticketing displayed from the ceiling. Instead, category signage around the store perimeter offers greater visibility across the stores and thus encourage cross-store shopping. A vibrant, colourful mural on the ceiling above the service counter and checkouts is a playful hero graphics feature.

    “Our two new stores are designed as pilot stores where retail approaches will be trialled and adjusted according to data and feedback from customers,” said an Aldi spokesperson. “This new store format has been customised and tailored specifically for the China market to better understand and interact with Chinese consumers.”

    Ben Goss, design director at Landini described the project as “a significant milestone for the brand”.

  • Alibaba signs deal for AliExpress Russia

    Alibaba signs deal for AliExpress Russia

    Alibaba Group has formed a US$2 billion joint venture AliExpress Russia to create a major e-commerce venture in the Russian-speaking market.

    Alibaba and the Russian government-backed RDIF sovereign wealth fund will each invest US$100 million in the venture which will absorb Alibaba’s existing AliExpress business. Russian mobile phone network Megafon will sell its 9.97 per cent interest in internet group Mail.ru to Alibaba in return for a 24.3 per cent stake in the new JV.

    In return, Mail.ru will roll its Pandao e-commerce business into AliExpress Russia and contribute $184 million in cash for a 15 per cent share.

    AliExpress Russia has been created to expand the three companies’ e-commerce offer in both Russia and neighbouring countries.

    Documents to create AliExpress Russia were signed last week. The company will be jointly run by Alibaba and Mail.ru, each of which will appoint a CEO.

    “This partnership will enable the AliExpress Russia JV to accelerate the development of the digital consumer economy of Russia and CIS countries in ways that no one party could accomplish alone,” said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group. “Together, we are uniquely positioned to offer consumers in Russia and neighbouring countries an innovative shopping experience by combining social platforms with commerce, as well as enabling regional brands and SMEs to sell their products locally and globally.”

    He said Alibaba’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. “This JV is an important part of Alibaba’s international expansion and step toward our goal of supporting 10 million small businesses reach profitability and serving 2 billion consumers around the world.”

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  • Six European Mobile Wallets and Alipay Collaborate to Promote Digital Payment Interoperability across Europe

    Six European Mobile Wallets and Alipay Collaborate to Promote Digital Payment Interoperability across Europe

    Six prominent mobile wallets across Europe, together with Alipay, announce today a collaboration to promote QR code-based digital payment interoperability for travelers both in Europe and from China.

    Bluecode, ePassi, momo pocket, Pagaqui, Pivo, Vipps and Alipay are working towards adopting a unified QR code, marking a milestone in connecting Europe’s thriving yet fragmented mobile payment landscape. When fully realized, users of the six participating European digital wallets will be able to make QR code-based payments with their home apps to local merchants in 10 European countries where those apps are accepted. At the same time, merchants that already accept mobile payments via the six apps in their respective domestic markets will also be able to easily accept payments made by customers of the other countries covered by the collaboration. In addition, Alipay’s Chinese users can also make payments to merchants that accept these wallets.

    Helsinki-based ePassi and Oslo-based Vipps have started to prepare the roll-out of this QR code format for users across several Nordic countries, while the Spanish payment company MOMO, Portugal’s Pagaqui and Austria’s Bluecode intend to extend the collaboration further later this summer in their respective home markets. Built on the back of a similar partnership announced in December between two Nordic firms, Vipps and ePassi, and Hangzhou, China-based Alipay, this open-ended collaboration is expected to continue to expand into more European countries and companies in the future.

    The collaboration, the first of its kind in Europe, will bring together the six mobile wallet partners’ users, which are more than 5 million in total, and around 190,000 merchants in Europe, as well as a fast-growing number of travelers from China. In addition, as each of the participating firms grows the user base and merchant network, the growth is also beneficial to all of the collaborating firms’ merchants and users, respectively.

    The partnering firms have agreed to apply a compatible QR code format provided by Alipay, the world’s most-used app outside social apps. ePassi and Bluecode will offer technical services to the participating wallets to simplify the integration process among them.

    “With over 12 years’ experience, ePassi is already a mobile payments front-runner in QR code-based payments in the Nordic and selected European countries. We are proud and honored to be part of this unique collaboration of European payment wallets, and to support other partners with their integration as well,” said Risto Virkkala, CEO of ePassi.

    “It has always been our vison to enable European banks with a widely accepted European mobile payment offering”, said Christian Pirkner, CEO of Blue Code International. “As a payment solution provider, we naturally support this collaboration of European wallets agreeing on a technical format. Even more compelling that it is compatible with Asia’s leading lifestyle app Alipay.”

    The announcement came on the heels of Alipay activating the eight-year global partnership with UEFA in Porto, where the inaugural Nations League Final just concluded. “We feel honored to help promote a smart lifestyle and digital experiences in Europe, while continuing to connect more merchants with more Chinese tourists. We believe mobile payment is a universal language that can help connect people just as football does,” said Eric Jing, Chairman & CEO at Ant Financial.

    Alipay currently serves over 1 billion users with its Asia-based local e-wallets partners. Launched in 2004, Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app.

    In addition, Alipay’s technology is being used to enable over 200 Chinese financial institutions to improve efficiency and lower operational costs. Alipay’s in-store payment service covers over 50 markets across the world, and tax reimbursement via the app is supported in 35 markets.

    Nearly 60 per cent of overseas bricks-and-mortar merchants that adopted Alipay saw a subsequent growth in both foot traffic and revenue, according to a report by Nielsen earlier this year.

    “Momo were first to process payments via mobile devices in Spain six years ago, starting in Malaga. Since then, we’ve expanded to also help our merchants increase their sales by accepting QR payments from thousands of Chinese tourists via Alipay.” says Mariano de Mora, CEO of MOMO Group. “We are excited to see how this collaboration with other European payment wallets can bring millions of users to our merchant network here in Spain and offer our users hundreds of thousands of places to pay with their local momo app across Europe.”

    “This unique cooperation is a testament to how collaboration in Europe can simplify the market for businesses and users to create better outcome for everyone.” said Rune Garbog, CEO of Vipps. “We are extremely enthusiastic about new partners joining this collaboration, giving all our combined users broader possibilities for using their preferred mobile app also when travelling abroad.”

    “As a Portuguese company and a stakeholder in this project, Pagaqui rejoices in the choice of venue for this announcement, and is extremely proud to participate in such an ambitious and innovative undertaking”, says João Barros, CEO of Pagaqui. “As in football, European firms can be more successful when playing together as a team. This is a real game changer for businesses and users across Europe, and we are excited to see so many partners taking part in it.”

    Pivo, the largest mobile wallet in Finland with over 1 million registered users, is welcoming the collaboration and the benefits it will provide to all mobile wallet customers. “Interoperability will allow us to offer a simple and unified customer experience across services and points-of-sale internationally. The collaboration will create additional value for Pivo as a service platform, and it is a welcome initiative for the ecosystem and our customers,” said Masa Peura, CEO of Pivo.

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  • Parkson Holdings Extends Store Lease in China

    Parkson Holdings Extends Store Lease in China

    Parkson Holdings’ Beijing operation Parkson Retail Development (PRD) has extended a department store lease in the city until the end of 2021.

    PRD’s Hong Kong-based owner PRGL announced in a stock exchange filing in Hong Kong the firm has signed a new lease agreement for a 189sqm area from the China National Arts and Crafts Group in Beijing’s Fuxingmen. It has agreed to pay a quarterly rental of RMB2.5 million (US$361,800).

    The group has been conducting retail activities at the site for 20 years and this lease follows renewals of seven other leases in the same building back in February. In total, Parkson leases 23,887sqm in other areas of the museum from the same landlord for terms extending as far as the end of November 2028.

    A statement from PRGL said the operation has brought stable revenue in the past, and that the new lease brings continuity to the group’s retail efforts in a location familiar to its long-term customers.

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  • Versace to expand Asian store network

    Versace to expand Asian store network

    More stores, broader range, fewer brands as fashion icon tries to double sales. Versace will open its largest store yet in China this week, part of a concerted plan by the fashion label’s new owners to expand its footprint globally.

    Capri Holdings, which also owns Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, bought Versace from Donatella Versace late last year for US$2.2 billion. It is now implementing a plan to double the label’s worldwide sales with at least 112 new stores scheduled by 2022 along with a refurbishment program for the existing network. The new Beijing store – details of which are scant at present – is a key step in that plan.

    Worldwide, Versace has 188 stores currently and wants to reach 300 within three years. Asia will be a big benefactor from the plan, already accounting for more than half the network. China alone has 40.

    Along with new openings and revamps of existing stores, Versace will boost its product offer, adding more handbags, footwear and leather goods to its high-end clothing range. Accessories currently account for just 35 per cent of Versace’s sales and the company wants to lift that to 60 per cent.

    “It’s very clear: The productivity in our stores is not what it should be,” CEO Jonathan Akeroyd told an investors briefing this week. He plans to double the sales per square foot across the network.

    “We need to rapidly increase productivity and this will really be the real driver to take us to our US$2 billion revenue target.”

    Versace’s marketing strategy will be revised, with less focus on fashion shows in favour of a stronger social media presence.

    The company has quietly dropped its diffusion brands Versace Collection and Versace Versus and new stores will all bear the core Versace brand name alone.

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  • Samsung cuts production in China as local struggles continue

    Samsung cuts production in China as local struggles continue

    Samsung has been struggling in the Chinese smartphone market for quite some time. In fact, around six months ago the company shut down one of its factories in the region. Now, suggesting things have improved little, Samsung has confirmed that its scaling back production at its only remaining Chinese manufacturing plant.

    At its peak back in 2013, Samsung accounted for an impressive 20% of all smartphone shipments in China. But as local rivals with thinner profit margins became more competitive, the company’s sales quickly began to decline. Over the course of the past year, Samsung has struggled to retain a 1% market share and, while the Galaxy S10 has certainly boosted performance, it seems sales still aren’t at the required level.

    The company’s plants in China previously served both local and international markets, but over the past few years Samsung has shifted a big portion of its production over to countries such as India, leaving Chinese factories to cover local demand only. As such, any cuts suggest the company’s revival strategy isn’t going as smoothly as hoped.

    The South Korean-based brand hasn’t yet revealed the exact extent of these latest production cuts, so the adjustments could potentially be minimal. But it’s reported that Samsung is offering voluntary layoffs with compensation to interested employees until the 14th of June.
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