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Tag: ecommerce

  • Liverpool FC opens E-commerce platform in Japan

    Liverpool FC opens E-commerce platform in Japan

    Liverpool FC has partnered with soccer shop Kamo to launch its first online store in Japan.

    The Liverpool FC online store offers a wide range of replica kits and the brand’s authentic merchandise, apparel and fashion accessories, including the exclusive Hello Kitty x LFC Collection.

    “As a key player in the football and sports-retail industry, we know this store has been a long time coming for Liverpool FC fans here,” said Ken Kamo, president of Kamo.

    “We’re looking forward to working together to bring supporters here closer to the club they love.”

    Launched in 1968 as a small football shop, Kamo operates 23 brick-and-mortar stores and an e-commerce site, offering a selection of sport brands including Puma, New Balance and Adidas.

    Senior VP at Liverpool Football Club Mike Cox, said: “I’ve been able to see first-hand how passionate our fanbase is here and as one of the world’s premier shopping destinations, it’s an exciting opportunity for the club to connect with supporters in the region.”

  • Flipkart loses bid to sell food online

    Flipkart loses bid to sell food online

    Amazon-owned Flipkart has been blocked from entering the food-retail business by Indian regulators who had deliberated for almost a year on an application.

    Subsidiary Flipkart FarmerMart had applied to sell foodstuffs grown or manufactured in India online via its marketplace and on apps. However the company was told by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) marketplace, it cannot add food to its platform as a foreign-owned retailer.

    Foreign direct investment in retail has long been a controversial issue in India and only in the last several years have multinational retail giants been allowed to enter the market, usually with strict requirements for a proportion of goods they sell to have been manufactured in India.

    The government has recently tried to tighten laws to ensure companies like Amazon only act as third-party marketplaces, allowing local companies to sell on its platforms, rather than develop their own inventories and become retailers in their own right.

    Flipkart had, however, been hoping to form supplier alliances with farmers and growers to create its own brands – rather than import all of the products it would sell.

    Establishing such strong supply agreements would also potentially have helped Flipkart expand into the brick-and-mortar retail market.

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  • CapitaLand kicked new e-commerce platforms off in Singapore

    CapitaLand kicked new e-commerce platforms off in Singapore

    CapitaLand has launched new e-commerce and food ordering platforms in Singapore.

    The new eCapitaMall and Capita3Eats services are aiming to drive sales for retailers at its shopping malls during Singapore’s Phase 1 safe reopening protocol, as the country starts pulling itself out of the coronavirus lockdown. Both platforms will be accessible via the firm’s CapitaStar app and mall websites from June 1.

    “The circuit breaker has brought to the fore the importance of an omnichannel, 24/7 strategy for Singapore’s retailers,” said CapitaLand Singapore MD Chris Chong. “As the operator of Singapore’s largest mall network, we want to help our retailers reach out to more consumers and online business opportunities by using the strong brand awareness of CapitaLand and the digital capabilities we have built up over the years. Retailers on our eCapitaMall and Capita3Eats platforms will get a leg up in the digital space by tapping the more than 1 million CapitaStar members in Singapore and marketing reach through our physical network.”

    Customers using the app will be able to buy goods from (predominantly) retail tenants at CapitaLand malls, opting for home delivery or in-store collection. The food app is Singapore’s first mall-operated food ordering platform offering consumers three ways to fulfil their food orders – by delivery, takeaway or dine-in.

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  • Alibaba GMV surpasses US$1 trillion

    Alibaba GMV surpasses US$1 trillion

    Chinese retail behemoth Alibaba Group shrugged off the impact of the Covid-19 crisis to report a 35-per-cent increase in sales in the year to March, and achieving its five-year-old goal of surpassing US$1 trillion in GMV.

    Revenue for the year reached $71.4 billion, as the company expanded its global customer base to 960 million active consumers.

    In the March quarter, when the Covid-19 crisis was at its peak, revenue was up 22 percent, to $16.1 billion, a rate lower than for the rest of the year, but driven by its mainland China online ventures which drew increased custom from people unable to visit physical stores.

    Adjusted earnings before tax grew 29 percent to $22.3 billion.

    Chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang said Covid-19 has “fundamentally altered consumer behavior and enterprise operations, making digital adoption and transformation a necessity”.

    “We are well-positioned and prepared to help large and small businesses across a wide spectrum of industries achieve the digital transformation they need to survive this difficult period and eventually prevail in the new normal. By focusing on the long term and investing in value creation for our consumers and business customers, we believe we will emerge from this crisis stronger and be ready to capture more growth in the future,” he said.

    CFO Maggie Wu added that while the pandemic negatively impacted most of Alibaba’s domestic core-commerce businesses starting in late January, a steady recovery has been evident since March.

    “Based on our current view of Chinese domestic consumption and enterprise digitization, we expect to generate over $91 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2021,” she said.

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  • cand JD use big data to design ‘C2M Mobile Phone’

    cand JD use big data to design ‘C2M Mobile Phone’

    Chinese e-commerce giant JD and device manufacturer Xiaomi sold 10,000 units of a jointly-produced mobile phone within 11 minutes.

    The Redmi K30 5G Racing phone was developed by Xiaomi based on customer insights generated from big data provided by JD. Sales volume passed RMB2 million (US$280,500) within two minutes, with the unit price at RMB1999 ($280).

    More than 20,000 phones were sold within the day.

    JD’s data revealed that most customers within the price range were females with higher educational backgrounds and above-average demand for device functions and CPU. The phone was designed with an upgraded CPU and with a mint green color tone, shown by the data to be more attractive to female customers. JD’s data also supported the marketing strategy of the product, targeting around 1.2 million customers likely planning to replace their phones within two months.

    “We have great confidence in the new C2M product,” said Xiaomi China VP Weibing Lu. “JD has been an important partner for Xiaomi, and we will work closely with JD on more C2M products in the future to better serve our customers.”

    “JD has been continuously working on C2M products with our brand partners, and the Redmi K30 5G Racing version is the collective effort of JD, Xiaomi, and Qualcomm,” said JD Mobile Devices president Daniel Tan.

    “C2M enables customers’ demands to directly reach upstream supply chain players, helping to optimize supply chain efficiency and reduce costs. This model enables us to keep improving the shopping experience.”

  • Facebook Shops enabling retailers to sell directly to consumers

    Facebook Shops enabling retailers to sell directly to consumers

    Social commerce is about to get a whole lot more social, with Facebook announcing the launch of its business-to-consumer marketplace offering Facebook Shops.

    The new platform began rolling out in New Zealand yesterday and will be progressively rolled out across international markets during the coming months.

    Shops will leverage the co-owned ecosystem of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to make it easy for customers to find the products they want, wherever they are, and be able to get in contact with the business selling if they need more information.

    Businesses will be able to set up a partly-customizable storefront within Facebook, which can be accessed through Facebook, Instagram, or through stories or ads.

    In the US, customers will be able to check out directly within Facebook – though this feature has yet to make it to Australia and New Zealand.

    “Over the past three months businesses of all sizes have been forced to change their business models and adapt to selling online,” Facebook Australia and New Zealand MD Will Easton said.

    “We’ve accelerated our development of new products, giving businesses better means of connecting with consumers, and helping businesses who don’t have an online presence to drive sales online.”

    Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says Shops will be free for businesses to access.

    “Our business model here is ads, so rather than charge businesses for Shops, we know that Shops are valuable for businesses. They’re going to – in general – bid more for ads and we’ll eventually make money that way.”

    And later this year the business will expand Shops into its live-streaming features, in which a business can tag products that will be on display before starting a stream to make them purchasable when going live.

    Facebook is already working in collaboration with e-commerce partners such as Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce to enable businesses an easier time getting their Facebook Shop up and running.

    Shops is the latest push by the social media giant into the world of commerce, building off the strengths of its customer-to-customer Marketplace offering.

    And according to industry firm UBS the drive toward online shopping will only become more important for businesses in a post-Covid-19 world.

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  • Sephora launched Tmall flagship store in China

    Sephora launched Tmall flagship store in China

    Sephora China has launched a flagship store on Alibaba’s B2C platform Tmall Global.

    The Sephora Tmall Global flagship features a selection of beauty brands including Fenty, perfume house Bon Parfumeur, and skincare brands like Farmacy and Dermalogica. The cross-border store also introduced a series of beauty lines’ China debut such as Natasha Denona and Sunday Riley.

    As part of the launch, the beauty retailer unveiled its first showroom presenting cross-border beauty products with “cloud shelves” in a physical Sephora store.

    “Through the synergy of online and offline channels, consumers can access overseas brands to fulfill their emerging and evolving needs,” said Benjamin Vuchot, president of Sephora Asia. “This initiative is very special to us, as we are celebrating the 15th anniversary of Sephora China this year.

    “The opening of the Sephora Tmall Global flagship store offers a great opportunity for Sephora to continue reinforcing its commitment to the China market, by catering to the Chinese consumer’s ever-changing trends and evolving needs to enhance their beauty power,” Vuchot said.

    The Sephora Tmall Global flagship houses 600 products from 25 overseas beauty brands in the country.

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  • Vestiaire Collective kicking off on Zalora

    Vestiaire Collective kicking off on Zalora

    Fashion e-tailer Zalora has partnered with global pre-owned fashion platform Vestiaire Collective.

    Zalora’s Hong Kong customers can now access more than 5000 authenticated Vestiaire items across womens’ and mens’ categories via the firm’s website and app. Plans are currently in place to extend the offering to other Zalora markets.

    The partnership is an effort to promote circular fashion, intending to inspire consumers to be more conscious of their consumption habits. All Vestiaire products listed on Zalora undergo two rounds of checks to ensure authenticity and quality. All orders are fulfilled by Zalora’s own delivery network.

    “Zalora is committed to promoting sustainability in the region and is determined to shape a sustainable fashion ecosystem,” said Zalora CEO Gunjan Soni. “Companies now need to work together to evolve from just reducing the impact to making a positive impact.

    “Our partnership with Vestiaire Collective effectively expands our pre-loved category, offering more choices to our Zalora shoppers and giving them a chance to partake in joining the circular fashion movement.”

    “Vestiaire Collective is excited to partner with Zalora to further increase our local footprint of circular fashion within Asia,” said Vestiaire’s APAC chief regional officer Pierre Everling. “Sustainability is one of the founding pillars of our business and we’re thrilled to open the doors of pre-loved fashion to more users in new markets, allowing more people to embrace circularity in their daily lives.”

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  • NuOrder launches virtual showroom as Asia sales surge

    NuOrder launches virtual showroom as Asia sales surge

    B2B e-commerce platform Nuorder is launching a virtual showroom service for brands to showcase products via an immersive online experience.

    About 40 percent of NuOrder’s sales of around US$1 billion per month come from markets outside North America and a spokesperson told Inside Retail Asia that Asia is a standout growth market for the company. The converse is among the brands currently using the platform in Mainland China.

    The move is intended to assist fashion, apparel, and outdoor brands and retailers struggling to do business during the coronavirus pandemic by allowing consumers the ability to see 360-degree views of products. The service will be available from next month.

    Product imagery will enable buyers to interact with products and gear as if seeing it in person, looking at items from all angles and zooming-in to see details close-up. Brands using the service will be able to add premium content such as runway looks, video footage, collection notes, inspirational imagery, and designer interviews to their pages on the platform.

    The firm will also offer its brand and retail partners access to a global photography network to support 360-degree product photography needs.

    “We are in a period of great change in our industry,” said NuOrder co-CEO and co-founder Heath Wells. “Our customers need a solution to present and sell their products in the absence of any travel. With the uncertainty of physical markets, trade shows and fashion events, we know that the virtual showroom will help solve the needs for brands and retailers alike during this critical time.”

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  • Alumak to provide working capital loans to Lazada’s online sellers

    Alumak to provide working capital loans to Lazada’s online sellers

    Lazada has partnered with Southeast Asian fintech startup Alumak to provide online merchants with working capital during the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Business owners selling through Lazada for at least six months can apply online using their Lazada account in place of the need to submit formal paperwork, in a process that takes less than 10 minutes.

    Alumak says it can provide working capital of up to 75 million IDR (US$5000) within three hours, sourcing funds from its credit partners. That’s a vastly shorter time frame from the industry standard of one-to-two weeks processing time.

    Once approved, the funds can be downloaded in full or in part with interest charged only on drawn funds.

    Stefan Hadjidetschev, co-founder and GM of Alumak, says the program, which has no end date at this time, is intended to help businesses operate in the “new normal” of Covid-19 and during Ramadan.

    Haikal Bekti Anggoro, senior VP, traffic operations at Lazada, said the company wants to support the economy through its sellers.

    “Lazada aims to ensure that our sellers will be able to have a sustainable business and our Service Market Place offerings are geared towards that goal, providing services that sellers need to build, boost and strengthen their business. The cooperation with fintech companies like Alumak, enables our sellers to get access to funding and keep their business going.”

    Alumak describes itself as an SME-focused fintech company serving digital-savvy businesses with a mobile-first digital business account across four countries: Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam).

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  • Mastercard study shows consumers moving to contactless payments for everyday purchases as they seek cleaner

    Mastercard study shows consumers moving to contactless payments for everyday purchases as they seek cleaner

    During February and March, as many countries imposed or strengthened social distancing measures due to COVID-19, a significant majority of consumers turned to contactless card payments for necessary purchases. Citing safety and cleanliness, 79 percent of people worldwide and 91 percent in Asia Pacific say they are now using tap-and-go payments.

    Consumer polling by Mastercard, studying changing consumer behaviors in 19 countries around the world, paints a picture of accelerated and sustained contactless adoption.

    The act of going to the store for eggs, toilet paper, medicine and other necessities has changed dramatically this year. Shoppers have had to adjust to new challenges when buying everyday supplies – a shift in behavior that is particularly clear at checkout as people express a desire for contactless cards and voice concerns over cleanliness and safety at the point of sale.

    The new Mastercard survey shows:

    • Contactless cards move to top of wallet – Perceptions of safety and convenience have spurred a preference for contactless cards and reminded consumers of the ease of tapping. Globally, 46  percent of respondents have swapped their top-of-wallet card for one that offers contactless. In Asia Pacific, 51 percent of people have made the swap.
    • Confidence in contactless – COVID-19 has increased concerns about cash usage and led to positive perceptions about contactless due to the safety and peace of mind it provides. The majority of respondents (82 percent) globally view contactless as the cleaner way to pay, with 80 percent in Asia Pacific saying the same. Contactless payments are up to 10 times faster than other in-person payment methods, enabling customers to get in and out of stores faster.  
    • Contactless is here to stay – We are in a sustained period where consumers are making purchases in a very focused way. That’s reinforcing contactless use in markets where adoption is more mature and it’s stimulating use in newer markets. This trend appears to be here to stay as 74 percent of people globally and 75 percent in Asia Pacific state they will continue to use contactless after the pandemic is over.

    “Mastercard’s survey shows a clear shift to contactless – especially in Asia Pacific – as COVID-19 changes the payments landscape and the way people shop now and in the future,” said Sandeep Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “The fact that 3 in 4 people intend to keep using tap-and-go after the pandemic is a strong sign that consumers see the long-term benefits of having a safer, cleaner way to pay, checking out faster and being more socially responsible.”

    Contactless Tipping Point

    Mastercard has been spearheading the worldwide shift to contactless for years, championing the simple, safe and fast way to pay. Now, as consumers increasingly seek ways to get in and out of stores quickly without touching payment terminals, Mastercard data reveals more than 40 percent growth in contactless transactions globally in the first quarter of 20201. More than 80 percent of contactless transactions are under US$25, a range typically dominated by cash.

    While countries worldwide are at different stages of contactless card deployment and usage for daily shopping, Mastercard’s insights on trends at grocery stores and pharmacies – where many day-to-day essentials are being purchased – showed nearly all regions experienced significant spikes in February and March.

    Reinforcing changing behaviors and consumer checkout preferences, Mastercard saw the number of tap-and-go card payments at grocery stores and pharmacies grow twice as fast as non-contactless transactions globally and 2.5 times faster in Asia Pacific2.

    Just last month, Mastercard announced commitments to increase contactless payment limits in more than 50 countries worldwide in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Limit increases were part of Mastercard’s global effort to make sure consumers, merchants and small businesses have the resources to pay safely, receive payment and maintain operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

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  • Alibaba launches Luxury Soho

    Alibaba launches Luxury Soho

    Luxury Soho targets value-conscious consumers and helps brands quit surplus stock. Alibaba has launched a new platform Luxury Soho, targeting value-conscious aspirational shoppers, and helping high-end brands quit surplus inventory. Accessible via Mobile Taobao and the online flagship stores of partner brands, Luxury Soho is positioned as an online gathering place for young consumers – as well as those new to luxury purchasing – to discover designer brands and potentially make their first luxury purchase.

    The new service is also “a response to the need in the fashion industry for brands to be able to efficiently manage their inventory and stock – an issue that’s been compounded by the Covid-19 outbreak,” said Tmall’s head of fashion and luxury in Europe Christina Fontana.

    “Restricted movements led to reduced foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores – including from Chinese tourists who were not able to travel to brands’ boutiques and outlets in Western countries like they used to. So brands are now sitting on a worldwide abundance of stock and are also needing to find ways to reach new consumers,” she said.

    “With Luxury Soho, brands can now move select products and collections onto an online outlet store and bring them in front of a specific audience that is waiting to discover new products and brands.”

    Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion was designed to serve as a second website for brands in China, focused on branding and aimed at a more affluent class of consumers. By contrast, Luxury Soho targets younger, newer luxury consumers – such as those from China’s lower-tier cities or Gen Z shoppers who are just entering the world of luxury.

    “Luxury Soho also plays into brands’ existing outlet strategies,” added Fontana. “It can empower them to diversify their strategies in China to handle excessive inventories with more flexibility. As a platform, we offer the tools for brands to run their own stores with full control over their pricing, product selection, strategy and look and feel. They can engage consumers in new ways using innovative features, from live streaming, augmented reality and 3D interactive technologies to virtual icons and flexible payment solutions. Brands can even tap their offline store associates to engage with consumers online to showcase certain products and answer questions,” said Fontana.

    “In the past, luxury brands might have operated multiple stores across China to be able to reach more consumers. But the coronavirus outbreak has exposed some underlying vulnerabilities in this model and accelerated changes in consumer behavior, including the shift from shopping in-store to shopping at home. To build resilience and meet consumers where they are at, more luxury brands will think about how to move their in-store experiences online.”

    She says brands impacted by the Covid-19 crisis need to consider how to turn their focus towards China’s domestic market and explore new ways to market to consumers there.

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  • Shopee Malaysia starts selling Covid-19 test kits

    Shopee Malaysia starts selling Covid-19 test kits

    Malaysian online medical service DoctorOnCall has entered into a partnership with Shopee Malaysia to sell Covid-19 tests online.

    The rRT-PCR tests will be available for purchase at Shopee’s DoctorOnCall store, where customers will also be able to buy vouchers for home-delivered medication. In the coming months, Shopee will work with DoctorOnCall to extend usage of the vouchers to book online consultations.

    The partners will inaugurate the service with a health education and awareness series on the platform’s in-app live streaming feature Shopee Live, beginning tomorrow with a talk on Covid-19 and the various testing options by Qualitas Medical Group, including a home-visit screening program designed by Qualitas in collaboration with DoctorOnCall.

    “DoctorOnCall’s decision to expand its digital reach and offer more Malaysians the accessibility to healthcare services especially during this difficult time is commendable,” said Shopee’s regional MD Ian Ho.

    “At the same time, by leveraging our technology and marketing tools such as Shopee Live, DoctorOnCall is able to bring curated content to viewers at home, educating and creating awareness on the importance of hygiene as well as ideas on having a healthy Ramadan. This is what people need right now.”

    “We believe that DoctorOnCall is the first medical platform to collaborate with a digital marketplace and allow access for Shopee Malaysia’s extensive customer base to digital health seamlessly,” said DoctorOnCall’s COO Chiak Tang.

    “In conjunction with this collaboration, we will also initiate a health education series specifically for Shopee users. We pride ourselves as the leading provider of health-related content in Malaysia and are pleased to work with Shopee and our partners, on this educational initiative to reach a greater audience.”

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  • WeChat launches plan to stimulate retail growth

    WeChat launches plan to stimulate retail growth

    Chinese social-media and mobile-payment app WeChat has introduced measures aimed at boosting the recovery of the retail industry.

    The firm’s Wechat Retail Growth Plan is intended to help global businesses and brands strengthen their understanding and use of WeChat’s tools and functions to better resolve the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.

    The plan uses several recent services launched by WeChat, including WeChat Live for businesses – which allows them to interact with customers and generate sales via live streaming – and WeChat Work 3.0, which has become a key platform for remote working during the pandemic, connecting enterprises with customers.

    WeChat’s key services promoted by the growth plan also include 1 on 1 Consultant – which allows retailers to tap into existing user bases and manage fans as well as initiate direct conversation with followers – and WeChat Pay, which has encouraged cross-border e-commerce, local orders, and scan-and-go self-service during the pandemic.

    The firm has also launched a range of supportive policies for merchants facing challenges during the coronavirus outbreak.

    More than 1 billion Chinese consumers use WeChat’s platform.

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  • Instagram launches online food-ordering apps

    Instagram launches online food-ordering apps

    Social media platform Instagram has launched new food-ordering tools to assist small-to-medium businesses facing difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Foodservice operators can now share food order stickers in Instagram Stories and as a button on their profiles.

    Consumers clicking on the Stories sticker or profile button will be taken to the business’ food-delivery platform to complete their purchase. They can also reshare the stickers with their own followers on Instagram Stories.

    “We heard really clearly that restaurants want help staying open,” said Instagram COO Justin Osofsky. “As you’re looking at what’s happening just naturally on Instagram, a lot of people are trying to promote gift cards and the ability to support them, and a lot are using Instagram to highlight their delivery services. This is taking something that’s already happening and making it a lot easier.”

    The Instagram features were rolled out in the North American market a fortnight ago and are now being rolled out globally in multiple languages, including in Hong Kong and other Asian markets.

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