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Tag: China

  • Accor and Alibaba form strategic partnership

    Accor and Alibaba form strategic partnership

    International hospitality group Accor and e-commerce giant Alibaba have entered a strategic partnership to develop a series of digital applications and loyalty programs to improve the consumer and traveler experience over the next five years.

    The announcement was made at a ceremony in Beijing during this year’s China International

    Import Expo. Accor was among the delegation of French companies accompanying President Emmanuel Macron on a state visit to China.

    The strategic collaboration will leverage Alibaba’s nearly 700 million consumers across its China retail marketplaces to enable more Chinese travelers to access Accor’s consumer offerings. It will allow for seamless integration of Accor’s customer journeys within Alibaba’s ecosystem. Alibaba’s travel arm Fliggy will allow consumers to book hotels, access catering services, book entertainment and take advantage of other lifestyle services. Payments can be made using Alipay, a digital payment service operated by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial.

    Accor will also offer Chinese consumers a hassle-free hotel experience through its “Haoke” program – geared towards Chinese travelers. Haoke, which means “Welcome” in Chinese, is a certification program that ensures Accor’s hotels are ready to welcome Chinese guests by incorporating Chinese-language, Chinese dishes on menus, Chinese-speaking staff, and other services and payment systems that meet the needs of Chinese travelers.

    The collaboration between Accor and Alibaba will be instrumental to the roll-out of Accor’s soon-to-be-launched lifestyle loyalty program, ALL – Accor Live Limitless. Alibaba will make the program’s services and benefits available to its massive consumer base, using its ecosystem, consumer insights and digital marketing capabilities, accelerating the roll-out of ALL in China and around the world.

    “We are excited to enter into this strategic global partnership with Alibaba, a leading global technology company in the world,” said Accor’s chairman & CEO Sebastien Bazin. “China’s importance to the world’s tourism industry and this key collaboration with Alibaba will symbolically strengthen economic ties between China and France, while giving Chinese travelers access to exciting events and benefits through ALL – Accor Live Limitless.”

    “Over the past 20 years, Alibaba has formed two flywheels with one focused on consumers and the other on enterprises, said Alibaba Group executive chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang. “Our consumer-facing business facilitates and stimulates consumption, of which travel consumption is an important segment. Through the Alibaba business operating system, we enable tourism industry partners such as Accor to fully digitize their business operations, from sales to marketing, brand building to member management and service Innovations.”

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  • Foreigners in China Can Soon Use Wechat Pay

    Foreigners in China Can Soon Use Wechat Pay

    Alipay and WeChat Pay have announced plans to open up their platforms to foreigners visiting the mainland.

    This week, the two dominant payment apps in China announced that they will allow their platforms to be used by visitors to China, possibly boosting spending there.

    Although Alipay and WeChat Pay’s logos are visible in stores and taxis in major cities around the world, it had previously been restricted to Chinese travelers with a China bank account. This is due to regulatory concerns about money laundering and cross-border cash flows.

    Ant Financial’s Alipay laid out a system that will work around current restrictions and can be used immediately. Travelers can use a prepaid card service provided by the Bank of Shanghai, and just periodically top up that account.

    In contrast, Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Pay intends to let people more directly connect their existing cards to its app. Visa said it will essentially enable its cards to work across the world’s second-largest economy.

    Tencent, under guidelines from regulators, has been discussing cooperation with U.S. card-network operators Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover as well as Japan’s JCB to support the linking of overseas credit cards to Wechat Pay, according to an article from Tencent News.

    This is a great step forward, both for consumers traveling to China and the overall payments industry. This partnership means that we’ll be working towards an environment where Visa cardholders will be able to use their Visa card in China at the millions of places where WeChat Pay is accepted, instead of having to rely on cash, Visa said in a statement. No time frame was provided for the rollout.

    For overseas firms, the move has big implications, potentially helping pave the way for future adoption of both platforms abroad.

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  • Alibaba’s Singles Day next week will be ‘grander than ever’ predicts analyst

    Alibaba’s Singles Day next week will be ‘grander than ever’ predicts analyst

    While eye-popping sales numbers have become routine for Alibaba’s Singles Day on 11.11, Forrester senior analyst Xiaofeng Wang expects this year’s event will be “grander than ever in terms of scale and reach innovations, and social responsibility”.

    Singles’ Day, the world’s largest online shopping event, will be held on Monday, but a huge share of sales are set up in advance. Here are four points to watch out for on Alibaba’s Singles Day this year, according to Wang:

    Bigger discounts will come with more complex promotion schemes. 

    Major players such as Alibaba, JD and Shopee rolled out preorder campaigns with varying start dates, and their promotion schemes have become increasingly complex. Consumers fall into a dilemma between deals that are too good to resist and schemes that are too many and too complex to follow.

    Alibaba will continue to push the boundaries of what to buy online. 

    Last year, Alibaba expanded its 11.11 product portfolio to new industries like automobiles and hotels. This year, it is expanding into new areas such as entertainment to offline services to real estate. Consumers in China can buy tickets to Disney Parks, car-care services, home decoration, and renovation services online. What’s more, Alibaba plans to sell 10,000 apartments on its auction platform.

    Live-streaming commerce will be the key driver of revenue growth.

    Live-streaming commerce is increasingly gaining momentum in China and quickly expanding to Southeast Asia and beyond. Lazada, Shopee, and Rakuten all launched live-streaming features. Beauty brand Whoo already created a jaw-dropping record of achieving 100 million yuan Gross Merchandise Volume in six minutes of live streaming during the preorder campaign period. Fifty-five cars were sold in just one second in another live-streaming session of Chinese automobile brand JMC. We expect to see more record-breaking live streaming sales like this emerge on 11.11 this year.

    Leading retailers and brands will differentiate with their social responsibility.

    Alibaba announced the plan of “a greener 11.11.” It is committing to set up 40,000 recycling stations across China through its Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, along with an additional 35,000 by its express-courier partners. It also encourages consumers to participate by rewarding them with “green energy” points on Ant Forest. Not exactly for Singles Day, Singapore-based online retailer Carousell recently launched a “reboxing” campaign with a similar idea of reducing waste. We expect to see more retailers and brands participate and initiate social responsibility campaigns like this.”

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  • Alipay now available for tourists in China

    Alipay now available for tourists in China

    International travelers can now use mobile payments in China as Alipay has launched a new version of its payment app designed for short-term overseas visitors.

    After installing the Alipay app, international visitors can register with their overseas mobile phone number to access the “Tour Pass” mini-program through which they can use the “Prepaid Card” service provided by the Bank of Shanghai.

    The minimum top-up for each card is CNY100, with balance capped at CNY2000. The card is valid for 90 days, after which any remaining funds will be refunded automatically.

    With the new Alipay service, visitors can pay through QR code or make online purchases through the app.

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  • Alibaba revenue surges

    Alibaba revenue surges

    Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba enjoyed a 40 percent rise in sales during its second financial quarter, performing beyond expectations.

    Alibaba revenue rose to RMB119.02 billion (US$16.91 billion) in the September quarter, 40 percent above the RMB85.15 billion ($12.1 billion) during the same period last year, and ahead of projected revenues of RMB116.8 billion ($16.6 billion).

    The results reflected leaps in both of the firm’s core businesses – a roughly 40-per-cent jump in e-commerce and a 64-per-cent leap in cloud computing.

    Alibaba’s net income attributable to ordinary shareholders hit RMB72.54 billion ($10.32 billion).

    Alibaba has been focusing on building its business in lower-tier Chinese cities to counter the effects of saturated markets and the US-Sino trade war.

    “Average revenue per user in lower-tier cities is not as low as people imagine,” said Alibaba CFO Maggie Wu. “I think we have addressed very well in our Taobao apps different demands and levels of consumers.”

  • E-commerce platform Suning.com boosts sales

    E-commerce platform Suning.com boosts sales

    Chinese O2O retailer Suning.com says sales from its online platforms and physical stores rose by 24.27 percent in the third quarter, reaching RMB 171.43 billion (US$24.4 billion).

    The company closed the quarter with 470 million registered members and the number of active monthly users rose by 48 percent. Suning.com now hosts 8407 self-operated and franchised stores.

    Net income attributed to shareholders was RMB 11.9 billion ($1.7 billion)

    The company expects to receive a significant boost from the acquisition of an 80-per-cent share in the Carrefour China operations in late September, adding to the previously acquired Wanda department store network. It describes the move as part of a mission to create a multi-platform retail business for China, spanning third-party marketplaces, its own physical stores and its own online offer.

    Following the Carrefour deal, Suning.com has now formed a network comprising Suning supermarkets, offline Carrefour supermarkets, SuFresh boutique supermarkets and Suning Xiaodian (neighborhood convenience stores). More than 200 Carrefour stores will launch a full upgrade by the end of the year.

    “The introduction of Carrefour’s supply-chain capabilities will effectively leverage the advantages of large-scale procurement, and help establish an efficient warehouse allocation system to promote the rapid development of Suning.com’s FMCG categories,” the company said in a statement.

    In the prior three quarters, Suning.com increased investment in logistics, technology and in building out other core capacities to lay a solid foundation for growth over the next decade.

  • Sheng Siong profits up on network expansion

    Sheng Siong profits up on network expansion

    Singaporean supermarket chain Sheng Siong has reported a 16.4-per-cent year-on-year increase in net profit to SG$20.6 million (US$15.1 million) for the third quarter.

    The increase is largely attributed to an increase in gross profit arising from the growth in revenue, slightly improved gross margin, and higher other income – but was partially offset by higher operating expenses and net finance expense.

    “We are pleased that we have opened two new stores at Block 182 Woodland Street 13 and Block 602A Tampines Ave 9 with retail areas of 8500sqft and 9000sqft respectively while another store at Block 202 Marsiling Drive which we have secured will be operational by the first quarter of next year,” said the group’s CEO Lim Hock Chee. “Going ahead, we will continue with our efforts in expanding our retail network in Singapore, especially in areas where our potential customers reside.

    “Besides placing focus on nurturing the growth of our new stores in Singapore and China, we remain committed to enhancing the gross margin and lowering input cost by improving the sales mix with a higher proportion of fresh produce and deriving more efficiency gains in the supply chain.”

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  • Foodpanda Singapore expands into grocery delivery

    Foodpanda Singapore expands into grocery delivery

    Food delivery service Foodpanda is to expand into other services, including groceries, household essentials and flowers.

    The company will offer delivery service for items from more than 1000 retail partners in Singapore, including Caltex Star Mart, Eu Yan Sang, Hao Mart and Mothercare, with the guarantee of 25-minute delivery time.

    “Over the past year, from the feedback we’ve received from our customers, it was clear that they wanted to enjoy even more convenience in their everyday lives,” said Luc Andreani, MD of Foodpanda Singapore. “This new expansion is a natural extension of our goal to deliver services that bring even more convenience and experiences to Singaporeans’ everyday lives.”

    In the last three month, Foodpanda has recruited 100 engineers to manage the new platform and aims to hire up to 300 by the end of the year.

    Foodpanda has a network of more than 8000 delivery riders and more than 7000 restaurant partners in the city.

  • Galeries Lafayette Shanghai opens with three-week long festival

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai is mid-way through a three-week-long opening celebration featuring art, technology, European brands, and celebrities.

    After a high-profile opening ceremony, the new store at L+Mall in the Pudong financial district is now hosting a campaign titled Let’s Celebrate Fashion featuring a rolling program of events, limited-edition collaborations and exclusive products.

    A spokesperson for Galeries Lafayette’s China partner I.T Group described the new store as “a piece of the romantic Paris grafted onto the modern cityscape of Shanghai … with quintessential Parisian style”.

    “The store stands out with the chic setting of a Parisian street, where customers soak up the immersive lifestyle of the City of Light as they saunter through consignment stores, alongside landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and street-side bistros.”

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai features ornamental patterns designed by French graffiti artist André Saraiva which boosts the dramatic setting of the space. Saraiva’s motifs include the Eiffel Tower and a French bistro.

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai has also collaborated with French fashion house Paco Rabanne as an official partner for the opening. In an immersive, experiential journey, visitors can pose for photos in an interactive snapshot booth and share them on social media.

    A Creative Theme Park co-presented with Ryodan by Seiya Nakamura 2.24 Inc is another opening feature. Inspired by traditional children playgrounds in Paris, the pop-up exhibition draws together eight emerging designers, who were given creative carte blanche in their own renditions of current fashion trends. Brands participating in the theme park include Fumito Ganryu, We11Done, Random Identities by Stefano Pilati, Namacheko, Stefan Cooke, Koche, Feng Chen Wang and Mame Kurogouchi.

    To mark the 120th anniversary of Galeries Lafayette, the Shanghai store features a recreation of the glass walk and Art Deco dome of the Paris store where visitors can take selfies with Parisian landmarks.

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai is open daily

  • Audi India Is Offering Attractive Discounts On Select Models

    It’s raining discounts this festive season and automakers are all buckled up to garner more footfalls. Luxury carmakers as well are offering attractive benefits on their product range to cash in the festive season demand which to an extent is likely to help them make up for lost volumes due to the prolonged slowdown. Audi India has been offering discounts on its popular models like the A3, A4 and Q5 this festive season.

    The Audi A3 is now available at a starting price of ₹ 25.99 lakh and the company is offering 57 per cent assured buyback on the model and at zero down payment. Moreover, the company is also offering exchange bonus of ₹ 1 lakh on the model and specific benefits for corporate employees and professionals. The German carmaker is also offering benefits on the A4 that has recently received a minor facelift. According to our dealer sources, there are discounts of up to ₹ 4.5 lakh on the post-facelift model while it goes up to ₹ 7.5 lakh on the pre-facelift model. The Audi Q5 which was launched last year is under a cash discount of up to ₹ 10 lakh, depending on the variant and location.

    Festive season has brought some cheers to the industry that has been under pressure for a year due to the ongoing downturn. India’s largest luxury carmaker, Mercedes-Benz too delivered 600 units in a single day on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras. In fact, mass car makers like Maruti Suzuki delivered as many as 45,000 units on the same day while Hyundai sold 12,500 units. MG Motor alone has sold 700 units of the Hector SUV.

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  • Porsche China CEO Expects Another Record Year In 2019

    Porsche China CEO Expects Another Record Year In 2019

    Porsche is looking forward to having another record year in 2019 in Chinese market, said Porsche China CEO Jens Puttfarcken ahead of the upcoming second China International Import Expo (CIIE), scheduled for November 5 to 10.

    A total of 64 countries and three international organizations have confirmed their participation in the expo in east China’s Shanghai Municipality. Porsche, which participated in last year’s CIIE, is expecting to show more at this year’s CIIE, said Puttfarcken.

    “First of all, we appreciate very much that we had the possibility to participate in the CIIE last year. It was a good possibility to show as a pure input company, what kind of products, what kind of performance we have. Yes, we do participate this year at this CIIE again. And we will have a big acquisition around electrical mobility, so we will present the new Taycan together with a lot of themes around e-mobility. We will have also the new formula e-car there in order to show that racing and also in the electrical age, something that is very convenient and does fit very well to Porsche,” said Puttfarcken.

    As China is carrying out a number of measures in boosting the consumption of goods, Puttfarcken said he believes the Chinese market is a good place to promote Porsche vehicles.

    “I think China is for us the most important market in the world. So we trust and we believe very much in the Chinese car market. We know that the government is looking into an upgrade of consumption. And that I believe fits very well to the cars and products that we are offering to the Chinese market. So I think with the right product, battery-electric car, plug-in hybrid, purely combustion engine cars, so our car which suits every purpose. And we are having the right offer to the car marketing in order to be successful also in the future,” said Puttfarcken.

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  • Cebu Pacific extends China network

    Cebu Pacific extends China network

    Cebu Pacific continues to expand its reach in mainland China with two new direct services between Clark and Guangzhou, Puerto Princesa and Hong Kong, making it the first airline in the Philippines to fly these routes.

    The new routes are in line with the carrier’s plans to expand its route network in China, following the introduction of flights between Shenzen and Manila earlier this year.

    Starting from 11 November, flights between Clark and Guangzhou are scheduled to operate four times weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday). The flight departs Clark at 2335 while the return flight departs at 0315 on the next day.

    Guangzhou is a wholesalers’ haven for retail and popular consumer goods, making it an ideal destination for e-commerce micro-retailers and startup business people. For leisure travelers, the city appeals to foodies eager to experience world-renowned Cantonese cuisine.

    “With direct air service between Clark and Guangzhou, it will be easier for entrepreneurs and businessmen in the e-commerce space to meet up with suppliers, said Cebu Pacific vice president for commercial Alex Reyes. “They can conveniently attend mega-trade events such as the popular Canton Trade Fair.”

    “Chinese tourists will also gain access to the attractions that Luzon has to offer. From Clark, the Mount Pinatubo adventure trek is within a few hours drive away,” Reyes added.

    Cebu Pacific currently offers 27 flights weekly between the Philippines and mainland China, with direct between Shanghai, Manila and Cebu; as well as Manila and Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Shenzhen.

    Flights between Puerto Princesa and Hong Kong will start 17 November 2019, and passengers can choose from four weekly flights (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday).

    Flight 5J 5306 departs Puerto Princesa at 1535 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; and at 1605 on Saturdays. The return flight, 5J 5307 departs Hong Kong at 1930 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; and at 2000 on Saturdays.

    On the same day, CEB will launch its previously announced Clark-Puerto Princesa flight. Together, these two new routes increase capacity to Puerto Princesa by 7%.

    Palawan has consistently made the lists compiled by renowned travel publications of the world’s best and most beautiful islands. Puerto Princesa serves as the gateway to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage, as well as pristine beaches and other natural attractions such as El Nido, San Vicente and Port Barton.

    With the new Puerto Princesa – Hong Kong service, CEB connects Hong Kong to five destinations in the Philippines, more than any other carrier. Currently, Cebu Pacific flies 55 times weekly between the Philippines and Hong Kong, with direct flights to and from four of the airline’s major hubs–Manila, Cebu, Clark and Iloilo.

  • Chinese continue to drive growth of payment platforms

    Chinese continue to drive growth of payment platforms

    More and more Chinese are using payment platforms when shopping, thanks to mainlanders’ increasing affluence and vast usage of social payments such as WeChat Pay.

    That’s according to business intelligence provider Juniper, which says that revenue from payment platforms will grow from US$106 billion in 2019 to $158 billion by 2024. And it forecasts that China will account for more than 50 percent of it.

    Banking on this forecast, California-headquartered PayPal has acquired 70 per cent equity interest in GoPay, making it the first foreign payment platform to provide online payment services in China.

    The fast growth in the payment platforms industry in China is also attributed to the increasing demand for e-commerce services. Market research company eMarketer said in June that the top global e-commerce market in 2019 will be China, with $1.9 trillion in e-commerce sales, more than three times greater than the US with $586.9 billion.

    To sustain the growth momentum, Juniper recommends payment platforms providers diversify their solutions by offering services such as store-management solutions, customer insights and merchant capital finance.

    “The market will move beyond solely offering payments in the near future by expanding to new services. These value-added services will enable payment platforms to differentiate themselves in a saturated market and build out new business models to allow vendors to generate additional revenue,” says research author Morgane Kimmich.

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  • Vans, The North Face parent reports huge Chinese growth

    Vans, The North Face parent reports huge Chinese growth

    VF Corporation – parent of brands including Vans and The North Face – says sales in China soared 20 percent in the September quarter.

    Expressed in constant currency terms, they rose by 24 percent year on year.

    The China performance was a key factor in the company’s global sales rising 5 percent in the quarter to US$3.4 billion, or by 6 percent when excluding acquisitions and divestments.

    Globally, Vans led the way with sales up 14 percent and The North Face improved by 8 percent.

    “We’re pleased with the strength of our second-quarter and first-half results, driven by our two largest brands and our international and direct-to-consumer platforms,” said Steve Rendle, chairman, president, and CEO. “The quality and fundamentals of our business remain solid as a result of the focus and strategic execution of our business teams around the globe.”

    He said that despite an increasingly uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, the company is confident in the trajectory of its business.

    “We remain deeply committed to transforming VF into a more consumer-minded and retail-centric organization while delivering superior returns to shareholders.”

    Gross margin from continuing operations increased 90 basis points to 52.9 percent. Operating income on a reported basis was $579 million.

    The company still expects its full-year revenue to be about $11.8 billion, reflecting the growth of about 6 percent.

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  • Chinese pharmaceutical group may bid for ailing GNC

    Chinese pharmaceutical group may bid for ailing GNC

    Chinese firm Harbin Pharmaceutical Group is poised to take over and privatize US vitamin and retailer supplier GNC.

    The firm acquired a 40-per-cent shareholding in the company last year, initiating an e-commerce business in joint venture with GNC in China. Harbin currently owns its stake as convertible preferred shares.

    The potential takeover is complicated by GNC’s heavy debt load, which four months ago stood at US$900 million, and the current political climate between China and the US. GNC has lost more than half its value over the past year.

    GNC operates more than 4800 stores in the US and has franchises in 46 international territories. It is expected to shutter 900 outlets by the end of next year.

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