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Tag: etail

  • Doors open wider for Vietnam exports to the US

    Doors open wider for Vietnam exports to the US

    A large demand for agricultural produce and electronics products as well as rising e-commerce potential give Vietnamese exporters greater opportunities in the U.S. market, experts say.

    The U.S. is a market with much potential for Vietnamese companies, especially as Vietnam has been able to keep the Covid-19 pandemic under control, said Nguyen Huu Tien, director of the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Centre.

    The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export market in the first four months with the value of shipments surging 50 percent year-on-year to $30.3 billion.

    Top export categories included machinery and equipment, textile and garment, and computers and electronics.

    Last year, Vietnamese exports to the U.S. ranked third in Asia after China and Japan.

    Ken D. Duong, director of international law firm TDL, said that traditional categories such as agriculture produce and fisheries were posting strong figures despite the pandemic.

    U.S. companies have stopped purchasing some hardwood products from China and are looking for alternative markets, he said, adding that last year, many Vietnamese companies were able to take advantage of this and got large orders.

    Many Vietnamese-Americans are looking for suppliers in Vietnam to export products to the U.S., he added.

    There are a lot of opportunities for electronics export because a number of American and Taiwanese firms have established factories in Vietnam to research and develop internet of things products.

    “There are signals that indicate that Vietnam could become a hub for researching and manufacturing advanced tech products,” Duong said.

    Amazon Global Selling Wednesday announced a new campaign in partnership with the Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) that would help Vietnamese sellers sell more products on Amazon.

    But other experts said there were challenges that Vietnamese exporters face, such as trademarks. They cited the latest example of a Vietnamese rice brand, ST25, which won an international contest as the world’s best variety, being trademarked by a U.S. company.

    Duong said that usually it costs $1,000-1,800 to register a trademark in the U.S. Around 50 percent of mid-sized Vietnamese companies in the U.S. register their brand and the ratio is just 10 percent for small firms.

    Vietnamese suppliers need to understand U.S. regulations on intellectual property to step up in the global supply chain, he added.

    Dang Hoang Hai, head of the iDEA, said that as many Vietnamese sellers are reluctant to export their products to the U.S. via e-commerce, his organization will provide more training to help hundreds of small and medium companies sell their products on Amazon.

    Although there has been speculation about the U.S. rejoining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), U.S. officials have said that this would not happen in the short term.

    Mary Tarnowka, executive director of American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, cited a report by a Fulbright University professor to show that U.S. President Joe Biden will not consider signing another free trade agreement until the middle of his term.

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  • How operators can accelerate industry transformation in an e-commerce cloud-network era

    How operators can accelerate industry transformation in an e-commerce cloud-network era

    The fourth industrial revolution, led by enabling technologies such as IoT, AI, cloud computing, and big data, serves as the impetus for enterprises to migrate their services to the cloud. Fueled by countries’ tech imperative and national strategy to digitalize economies and societies, enterprise cloud adoption is poised to grow, with IDC predicting that 85% of enterprises will have deployed new digital infrastructure in the cloud by 2025.

    As cloud applications evolve and become increasingly distributed, enterprises will strategically upgrade from single cloud to multi-cloud and hybrid cloud (private cloud + public cloud). Consequently, enterprise network requirements will have to change, evolving from traditional “fast cloud, slow network” to intelligent cloud-networks with integrated cloud-network scheduling to facilitate e-commerce. In addition, enterprises will have to move away from “good cloud, poor network” to deliver consistent experience to users.

    Faced with increased competition from OTT cloud providers, operators must upgrade existing cloud network operation systems and leverage network advantages to chart growth in the cloud era.

    Key challenges operators face when upgrading to cloud-network operation

    Compared with OTT cloud providers, operators face greater challenges when upgrading to cloud-network operations. For a start, the current experience offered by the operator’s private line products leaves much to be desired when matched against user-centric products offered by OTT cloud providers. While OTT cloud providers offer cloud features such as real-time provisioning, pay-per-use, online subscription, and network visualization, network-centric operators must evolve from manual processing based on tickets to automate processing to reduce long service provisioning, amongst other upgrades.

    Given their larger and more complex network layers, operators also tend to encounter more technical issues when ensuring quality-guaranteed virtual networks. Finally, operators have to overcome a lack of integrating standards and specifications, interface customization among systems, and excessive BSS, OSS, and controller vendors – all of which add complexity to system integrations and delay service rollouts.

    Recommendations for operators to build competitive cloud-networks

    COVID-19 has fast-tracked enterprise cloud adoption by two to three years and accelerated digtialization across industries. China’s online education industry, for instance, has reported growth as online learning products garnered more than 300 million users when schools shuttered for months. In the wake of COVID-19, many provinces started to embrace a digital-first approach, with cloudification leading change across industries.

    For instance, China Telecom Ningxia became the first operator to adopt an intelligent cloud-network to achieve multi-cloud interoperability in the healthcare sector. Tapping on this capability, many small and medium-sized hospitals in Ningxia now rely on technologies such as medical imaging cloud to leverage resources in larger-sized hospitals to provide telemedicine consultations.

    For operators to seize growth in a rapidly-evolving cloud environment, Guo Dazheng, president of NCE Data Communication Domain at Huawei recommends the following:

    1. Improve cloud-network operations in three areas

    Firstly, operators seeking to develop cloud-network services should deliver integrated cloud-network scheduling capable of producing networks as responsive as clouds. Secondly, operators should fully exploit the wide coverage of operator networks to provide cloud access connections with guaranteed SLAs and deliver consistent cloud and network experience. Thirdly, operators can offer enterprise users one-stop subscription of cloud-network products and comprehensive e-commerce service experience.

    1. Upgrade cloud-network IT architecture across three layers

    To drive comprehensive service automation and e-commerce operations on the cloud-network, while also maximizing the network operation and localization service advantages of operators, systematic technology transformation must occur at three layers: the network infrastructure layer; network management and control layer; and network operation layer.

    At the network infrastructure layer, protocols should be simplified. As such, complex protocols in traditional network should be replaced by an intelligent cloud-network that offers two simplified alternatives – the EVPN and SRv6. As a next-generation SDN network enabling protocol, SRv6 helps intelligent management and control systems achieve centralized path computation and cross-domain one-hop through while avoiding VPN concatenation.

    At the intelligent management and control layer, network-as-a-service (NaaS) should be deployed to counter complex integration in conventional NMSs. Utilizing NaaS technology, the intelligent cloud-network provides tenant-level service-oriented interfaces for the OSS, while shielding technical details relating to the network. As a result, tenant network provisioning and adjustment can be completed with fewer parameters to significantly simplify OSS integration.

    Finally, the network operation layer should integrate conventional OSS and BSS functions, as well as multi-cloud integration aggregation, cloud access connection, and other tenant portals related to cloud-network products. This architecture invokes the network service capabilities of the intelligent management and control layer through service-oriented interfaces, while one-stop subscriptions to cloud-network products provide tenants with an ideal e-commerce shopping experience. Long service provisioning timelines characteristic of traditional operations that are ticket-driven and laden with manual workloads will also be significantly reduced.

    1. Integrate cloud-network operation systems as a collective industry effort

    In the absence of unified architectural standards, the industry currently faces complicated OSS/BSS integrations and long integration testing times. To address this, Huawei is committed to building an integration lab capable of connecting OSS/BSS vendors, operators, and scientific research institutes. This integration lab is a one-stop portal where all users can gain OSS/BSS integration experience, study the intelligent cloud-network solution and OSS/BSS success cases, or apply for resources for interconnection testing to achieve win-win for all stakeholders in the OSS/BSS value chain. With an OSS/BSS integration ecosystem and streamlined OSS/BSS service processes, more operators can replicate China Telecom Ningxia’s success in efficiently developing network convergence capabilities for intelligent cloud-network projects.

    Toward next-generation intelligent cloud-networks

    Though still in its infancy stage, intelligent cloud-network IT architecture is an important enabler as operators look to power emerging technologies across industries.

    Moving forward, Huawei looks forward to working closely with operators, OSS/BSS partners, and industry alliances to deliver integrated cloud-network scheduling and consistent cloud-network experience. Doing so will not only drive meaningful change across thousands of industries but also ease operators’ transition from traditional ICT services to future-proof DICT services.

     

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  • Online supermarket concept Supie to launch in Auckland

    Online supermarket concept Supie to launch in Auckland

    Online supermarket Supie is set to open its virtual doors in Auckland next month, aiming to change the way Kiwis shop for groceries.

    The membership-based supermarket will house more than 2500 products sourced from local growers and food producers. Supie also offers sustainable delivery where all packaging is recyclable or reusable. The brand implements zero-waste ordering methods which ensure its customers receive the freshest produce.

    “The majority of the time, when you order your product is still in the ground,” the company says on its website.

    Founded by Sarah Balle, Supie is expected to compete directly with traditional supermarkets, providing a smart and more accessible solution for Kiwis during the post-Covid era.

    “We’re a small team of passionate Kiwis with big ambitions to make a true impact,” said Saral Balle. “We believe food is the most powerful force for change.”

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  • Angry Indian traders counter Amazon summit with own event

    Angry Indian traders counter Amazon summit with own event

    Thousands of Indian small businesses will organize an event this week in protest at the business practices of foreign e-tailers like Amazon.com taking a dig at the U.S. group’s summit with their own event.

    Starting Thursday, Amazon is organizing a virtual summit in India named “Smbhav,” which phonetically means “possible” in Hindi, to showcase opportunities offered by the U.S. firm to get small businesses to expand and sell online.

    Trader groups representing 600,000 sellers said in a statement they will at the same time launch a summit titled “Asmbhav,” or “impossible,” including an award ceremony to pin the blame on those who they think have hurt their businesses.

    Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Indian traders, who are a crucial part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support base, have long alleged that Amazon and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart benefit a few big sellers and that the companies engage in predatory pricing that harms their businesses. The companies say they comply with all laws.

    A Reuters special report published in February revealed Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its Indian platform and used them to circumvent the country’s strict foreign investment regulations.

    Amazon has said it “does not give preferential treatment to any seller on its marketplace.”

    The Smbhav event will include more than 70 speakers and aims to allow small businesses to learn how to grow their businesses in India – a key growth market for Amazon.

    The event “puts forth how Amazon and our partner’s leverage digitization, technology & our ecosystem to drive infinite possibilities for a Digital India,” its website said.

    In a statement, trader groups including the All India Mobile Retailers Association said the Amazon event was positioning it as a friend and guide to small sellers, but argued small traders had been harmed by discriminatory practices of foreign e-commerce firms.

    The latest dispute comes as India also considers revising foreign investment rules for e-commerce which could force companies like Amazon to rework the relationships it has with big sellers.

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  • Alibaba fined US$2.75bn for anti-monopoly violations by Chinese regulators

    Alibaba fined US$2.75bn for anti-monopoly violations by Chinese regulators

    Chinese regulators have fined Alibaba 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) – around 4 percent of its revenues in 2019 – for violating anti-monopoly rules and abusing its dominant market position.

    The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said that after an investigation launched in December, it had determined that Alibaba Group had been “abusing market dominance” since 2015 by preventing its merchants from using other online e-commerce platforms.

    It said the practice violates China’s anti-monopoly law by hindering the free circulation of goods and infringing on the business interests of merchants.

    The SAMR ordered Alibaba to make “thorough rectifications” to strengthen internal compliance and protect consumer rights.

    The company said in a statement posted on its official Weibo account that it “accepted” the decision and would resolutely implement SAMR’s rulings. It said it would also work to improve corporate compliance.

    The practice of preventing merchants from listing on rival platforms is a long-standing one. The market regulator spelled out in rules issued on February that it was illegal.

    Alibaba has also been under heavy scrutiny since its founder Jack Ma criticized China’s regulatory system in October.

    Ant Group, Alibaba’s fintech arm, also saw its $37 billion listing plans dramatically suspended by authorities in November.

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  • Shopee’s rise sends rivals scrambling in Southeast Asian internet battle

    Shopee’s rise sends rivals scrambling in Southeast Asian internet battle

    In front of an open-air Jakarta restaurant, delivery drivers clad in the orange colours of Southeast Asia tech group Sea Ltd wait for orders next to the green-jacketed riders of market leaders Gojek and Grab, in what has become the latest battleground for tech supremacy in Southeast Asia.

    The humble noodles eatery signed up for Sea’s nascent ShopeeFood service a month ago, but “immediately, there were orders everyday,” said manager M.A Rasyid.

    Riding on the success of a cash-generating gaming business, U.S.-listed Sea has invested heavily in its Shopee e-commerce brand and successfully taken on Alibaba’s Lazada and other rivals in recent years. Its share price has risen five-fold over the past year, giving Singapore-based Sea a market value of $111 billion.

    Now it is muscling into food delivery and financial services in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most-populous country, posing a new threat to regional rivals including ride-hailing and delivery unicorns Grab and GoJek.

    At stake is a slice of the more than 400 million internet users in Southeast Asia’s digital economy, which is estimated to triple to $309 billion by 2025, according to a study by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.

    Tech behemoths, including Tencent, a major investor in Sea, Alibaba, Google and Softbank Group Corp, are big backers of regional champions.

    Sources say Sea’s aggressive expansion is one driver of merger discussions between Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia. The Indonesian firms aim to create an $18 billion powerhouse to fight off Sea and regional giant Grab.

    Meanwhile, Grab and others, including travel app Traveloka and Indonesian e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak, are rushing for public listings, hoping to ride the coattails of Sea’s stock rally while defending their turf, according to Reuters interviews with over a dozen people.

    “Sea is like Thanos, massive and powerful, and able to take down half of the world, or in this case half the startups,” Willson Cuaca, co-founder of East Ventures and an early backer of Tokopedia, joked as he compared Sea to the powerful villain in the Marvel film series.

    “Like the Avengers, companies need to band together if they want to ensure their survival and to win the war.”

    Sea’s stock rally reflects a scarcity of options for investors seeking exposure to the booming Southeast Asia internet sector. It went public in 2017 and has raised some $7 billion in share and debt sales, with early investor Tencent now holding a stake of about 20%.

    That investor appetite, combined with a need to raise cash to match Sea’s muscle, is forcing rivals to seek listings as quickly as they can, bankers and executives familiar with the matter say.

    Sources say the Gojek-Tokopedia merger, which is likely to be finalised within weeks, will be followed by a Jakarta listing in the second half of 2021, then a mega IPO in the United States targeted for 2022.

    Grab and Traveloka, for their part, aim to accelerate the process by merging with special purpose acquisition companies, sources said. Bukalapak is planning the same, after a 2021 Jakarta IPO.

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  • Hong Kong e-commerce scene ready for growth in 2021

    Hong Kong e-commerce scene ready for growth in 2021

    E-commerce businesses in Hong Kong are set to recapture their growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with supply chain and logistics issues and a decline in sales, Paypal’s new study showed.

    Despite the obstacles brought by COVID-19, two-thirds (61%) of businesses surveyed are anticipating a recovery at the end of 2020, along with the measures to address the financial pressure and customer relationship challenges.

    The study also found 86% of respondents believing to improve their e-commerce experience for consumers to boost their competitiveness in this time.

    The PayPal Hong Kong Merchant Survey was conducted in August to understand the impact of the pandemic on e-commerce businesses and their thoughts on recovery. 86% of respondents seek capitalization on the opportunity of improving online shopping experiences to boost competitiveness.

    While online shopping amplified, 27% of respondents reported tough challenges amidst the pandemic – mainly growing concerned on their sustainability.

    Since January 2020, 86% of businesses claimed to have supply chain and logistics problems, while 52% reported decrease in sales as their main challenge. Such are creating dual pressure on businesses in addition to the increasing operational costs.

    These issues are also causing failing customer relationships in Hong Kong businesses, including rising complaints, damaged company reputation, and loss of regular customers.

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  • Buying Art Online Goes Mainstream

    Buying Art Online Goes Mainstream

    While overall art sales contracted in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, online sales doubled in value. Aggregate online sales reached a record high of $12.4 billion, doubling in value from 2019, while the share of online art sales grew from 9 percent of total sales by value in 2019 to 25 percent in 2020, according to the fifth Global Art Market Report, published by Art Basel and UBS.

    This was the first time the share of e-commerce in the art market exceeded that of general retail. This growth also came despite a 22 percent dip in sales of art and antiques globally, which stood at $50.1 billion in 2020

    According to Christl Novakovic, CEO UBS Europe SE, head wealth management Europe and chair of the UBS Art board, called 2020 a «turning point for digital innovation in the art market, which traditionally relies on discretionary purchasing, travel and personal contact.

    The crisis also provided the impetus for change and restructuring, the most fundamental shift being the rollout of digital strategies and online sales, which had lagged behind other industries up to now, said Clare McAndrew, founder, Arts Economics, who authored the report.

    The report incorporated a survey of 2,569 high-net-worth (HNW) collectors, of which 66 percent felt the pandemic had increased their interest in collecting, while 32 percent reported it had significantly done so. Some 57 percent said they planned on purchasing more artwork in 2021.

    And while the pandemic prompted the cancellation of high-profile art fairs – where the largest deals traditionally are sealed – some 45 percent of collectors also said they made a purchase through an art fair’s online viewing room.

  • Alibaba told to divest media assets

    Alibaba told to divest media assets

    Beijing has reportedly told the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba to divest its assets in the media sector out of concern over the company’s growing public influence. Its founder, Jack Ma, the ebullient and unconventional billionaire who officially retired from Alibaba in 2019 but remains a large shareholder, has been in authorities’ crosshairs in recent months.

    In November, Chinese regulators halted a colossal $34bn stock market listing by Ant Group, an Alibaba subsidiary for online payments. The following month, regulators opened an investigation into Alibaba business practices deemed anti-competitive. Now authorities have told the tech company to drastically reduce its presence in the media sector, citing people familiar with the matter.

    Alibaba’s highest-profile media assets include Hong Kong’s leading English-language daily, the South China Morning Post, and China’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo, and online video platform Bilibili. Officials are worried that the company has too much influence over public opinion and were reportedly appalled about the extent of its media holdings, the Journal said.

    The government did not specify whether Alibaba was requested to completely withdraw from the media or divest part of its shares.

    On Friday, the Journal reported that Alibaba risks being levied with a record fine in China for anti-competitive practices, which could exceed the $975m paid by US chipmaker Qualcomm in 2015.

    According to the article, authorities accuse Alibaba of preventing merchants who sell goods on the platform from also selling on rival websites.

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  • JD.com cashes in on steady online demand, beats market expectations

    JD.com cashes in on steady online demand, beats market expectations

    JD.com Inc’s fourth-quarter revenue beat expectations on Thursday as more shoppers flocked to its website on the back of a broader shift to online shopping triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    While China has largely emerged from coronavirus lockdowns with most businesses resuming production, JD.com’s domestic consumers continue to shop online for everything from daily groceries to luxury products.

    The Beijing-based company posted revenue of 745.8 billion yuan ($114.97 billion) for the year, beating analysts’ estimate of 740.81 billion yuan.

    In a pandemic-struck year, during which retail sales fell 3.9% in China, JD.com’s strategy of ramping up its in-house delivery network enabled faster deliveries.

    The company has also been working to expand into price-sensitive lower-tier cities through its shopping platform Jingxi in a bid to stave off stiff competition from rivals like Alibaba and Pinduoduo that are equally popular.

    As a result, JD.com raked in 110 million new active customer accounts during the year. Meanwhile, Jack Ma’s Alibaba added about 68 million active buyers in the same period.

    U.S.-listed shares of the company, which have been volatile as China looks to tighten scrutiny on its tech giants, were up 3% at $91.98 in early trading.

    The world’s second-largest economy has vowed to strengthen oversight of its big tech firms, which rank among the world’s largest and most valuable, citing concerns they have built market power that stifles competition, misused consumer data, and violated consumer rights.

    The long-term impact of this on JD.com’s business, though unclear, remains a threat. In late December, regulators fined the company, along with Alibaba and other e-commerce sites, 500,000 yuan for engaging in irregular pricing.

    The company’s net revenue rose 31.4% to 224.3 billion yuan in the quarter ended Dec. 31, beating analysts’ estimate of 219.73 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

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  • SoftBank-backed Coupang raises $4.2 billion in US IPO

    SoftBank-backed Coupang raises $4.2 billion in US IPO

    Coupang LLC, South Korea’s largest e-commerce company, raised $4.2 billion in the biggest share offering in the United States this year after selling stocks in the IPO above its deal target range, people familiar with the matter said.

    The initial public offering price of $35 apiece, higher than the marketing range $32-$34 per share, gives Seoul-headquartered Coupang, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, a market value of $60 billion.

    Coupang’s successful share offering comes as the U.S. IPO market is at its strongest in more than two decades and investors are flocking to buy shares in technology companies that have benefited during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The IPO is the biggest in the United States this year, surpassing the $2.15 billion raised by dating app Bumble Inc. It also marks a jump in Coupang’s valuation, which was pegged at $9 billion in a fundraising round in 2018, according to Pitchbook.

    Analysts in South Korea said the strong response to Coupang’s offering was a result of its market-leader position in the country at a time when, like many other e-commerce firms, its sales have grown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “Considering the high level of valuation inherent in the pricing, the market is giving a generous assessment of the company’s achieving the top spot in market share,” said Park Sang-joon, analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

    Coupang was the top-ranked South Korean e-commerce firm in 2020 with 19.2% market share, according to Euromonitor, compared to Naver Corp’s 13.6% and eBay Korea’s 12.8%. It was the 10th largest e-commerce firm in the world, based on retail value excluding sales tax.

    In 2020, Coupang’s net sales jumped 91% year-on-year to $11 billion. Net losses narrowed to $567.6 million from $770.2 million posted in the prior year.

    Founded in 2010 by Korean-American billionaire Bom Suk Kim, Coupang rose to prominence after launching its guaranteed same-day or next-day delivery service in the East Asian country. SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund owns 35.1% of Coupang.

    Achieving a $60 billion valuation would add to good news for the Vision Fund, which is bouncing back from an annual loss in March. Last month, it announced record quarterly profit.

    The company’s shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the symbol “CPNG.”

    Goldman Sachs, Allen & Co, JPMorgan and Citigroup are the lead underwriters for the offering.

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  • India’s Flipkart mulls US listing

    India’s Flipkart mulls US listing

    Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart is exploring going public in the U.S. through a merger with a blank-check company as it seeks to quicken its listing process, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The Bengaluru-based online retailer has been weighing a U.S. initial public offering and it’s now also looking at other options, the people said. Flipkart’s advisers have approached several SPACs, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is not public. Flipkart could seek a valuation of at least $35 billion in a blank-check transaction, the people said.

    Deliberations are at an early stage and Flipkart could still explore other options, the people said. A representative for Flipkart had no immediate comment.

    The e-commerce firm is joining other Indian firms like online grocer Grofers in exploring a U.S. listing through SPAC deals. ReNew Power last week agreed to merge with a U.S.-listed special purpose acquisition company in a deal that will give India’s biggest renewable power producer an enterprise value of $8 billion.

    Merging with SPACs, which are shell companies that raise money from public investors intending to acquire a business within two years, will allow Walmart to take its India unit to market at a faster pace than the usual IPO route. As many as 10 Indian companies could go public through SPAC deals before the end of the year, Utpal Oza, head of investment banking for India at Nomura Holdings Inc., said in an interview.

    Flipkart, which is battling with e-commerce arch-rival Amazon.com Inc. and Mukesh Ambani’s retail venture for market share in India, started operations in 2007 and now sells 80 million products on its platforms. Walmart acquired a majority stake in Flipkart in a $16 billion deal in 2018.

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  • Vietnam women’s e-commerce leadership ratio second highest in Southeast Asia

    Vietnam women’s e-commerce leadership ratio second highest in Southeast Asia

    Forty-six percent of e-commerce business leaders in Vietnam are women, the second-highest in Southeast Asia, according to a survey.

    The survey has been conducted in Hong Kong and six Southeast Asia countries by market research company iPrice Group.

    This figure was lower than that of Hong Kong (55 percent) but higher than that of Thailand (44 percent), the Philippines (39 percent) and three other Southeast Asian countries, showed the survey.

    Vietnam’s figure has improved from 37 percent in 2018.

    In Southeast Asia, however, there is still a gender gap in top positions. Only 31 percent of women have C-level roles – executive levels such as CEO or chief financial officer (CFO).

    In the vice president position, just 38 percent are women.

    Overall, there is a 40-60 disparity between women and men when it comes to being in positions of power.

    “Given centuries of gender inequality and women taking time off for child-rearing, the disparity isn’t as wide as we may have assumed,” the iPrice report said.

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  • Disney closing North American stores to focus on e-commerce

    Disney closing North American stores to focus on e-commerce

    Walt Disney Co will close at least 60 Disney retail stores in North America this year, about 20 per cent of its worldwide total, as it revamps its digital shopping platforms to focus on e-commerce.

    The media and entertainment company also is evaluating a significant reduction of stores in Europe, a spokesperson said, adding that locations in Japan and China will not be affected. Disney currently operates roughly 300 Disney stores around the globe.

    In November, Disney launched digital marketplaces in Australia, New Zealand and India.

    The company did not say how many people would lose their jobs as a result of the closures.

    Consumers have been moving to digital shopping over physical locations, and chains including Walmart and Macy’s have shuttered brick-and-mortar stores. The global coronavirus pandemic accelerated that change when people were forced to stay home.

    “While consumer behaviour has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer,” said Stephanie Young, president of Disney’s consumer products, games and publishing.

    Over the past few years, Disney has expanded its shops inside other retailers such as Target in the US and Alshaya Group stores in the Middle East. Those locations will continue to operate, as well as stores inside Disney parks. Disney-licensed products also will remain widely available through third-party retailers.

    Disney will overhaul its shopDisney apps and websites over the next year.

    “We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected ecommerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises,” Young said.

    Digital shopping gives Disney a chance to offer a much broader selection and include higher-end products from all of its Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars brands.

    New products will include adult apparel, artist collaborations, premium home products and collectibles, the company said. It recently unveiled streetwear featuring Grogu, the “Star Wars” character popularly known as Baby Yoda.

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  • FJ Benjamin and Lazada Singapore Sign MOU for Strategic Partnership to Boost Online-Offline Sales

    FJ Benjamin and Lazada Singapore Sign MOU for Strategic Partnership to Boost Online-Offline Sales

    FJ Benjamin Holdings (FJB) and leading eCommerce platform, Lazada Singapore, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to forge a strategic partnership that aims to deliver the ultimate retail experience to customers across all channels and devices.

    The proposed partnership will tap Lazada’s technical and online capabilities, and eCommerce platform management expertise, and leverage FJB’s experience in fashion brand management and physical store operation, to boost the eCommerce performance of FJB’s stable of brands in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as to expand and incubate new FJB brands to eventually integrate brick-and-mortar and virtual stores.

    FJB will also discuss with brand principals opportunities for eCommerce in markets Lazada has a presence but where FJB does not, such as Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Powered by Alibaba’s advanced eCommerce tools and systems, Lazada will develop new tailor-made solutions to deliver a truly omnichannel customer experience in managing the full online ecosystem of FJB brands across the markets.

    Group CEO Nash Benjamin said: “FJ Benjamin has been strategising and planning our omnichannel business model for some time now and this partnership with Lazada is intended to get us to where we want to be much faster and in a more cost-efficient manner. This will combine our respective capabilities to strengthen customer experience across brick and mortar and virtual channels.”

    Besides operating principal branded sites, it is also intended to host certain brands on LazMall as well as other regional sites, subject to principal approvals.

    “We are thrilled to be part of this new chapter with FJ Benjamin and value their trust in us,” said James Chang, CEO of Lazada Singapore. “Lifestyle, fashion and beauty are important pillars in our eCommerce plans and shoppers can now look forward to seeing more well-known brands and labels on our platform, for an integrated shopping experience. In the last year, Lazada has supported many businesses that adopted a multichannel approach to set up stores online and we know that our expertise in the eCommerce space will benefit and contribute to the success of a renowned brand like FJ Benjamin, and look forward to seeing positive results with them.”

    While some of the brands managed by FJB, including La Senza, Pretty Ballerinas and Petunia Pickle Bottom, are currently available on Lazada’s premiere shopping platform, LazMall, this is the first time both parties –  one, a traditional brick-and-mortar operator, and the other, the region’s leading eCommerce player – have come together to envision and execute a truly omnichannel model under which customers can control the buying process and enjoy a seamless shopping experience across multiple channels – brick-and-mortar, desktop, and mobile.

    Since the pandemic lockdowns last year forced FJB stores in Southeast Asia to shutter, the Group had secured principals’ approvals to pivot to eCommerce. It has ramped up its online presence from one brand, the cult British fashion label Superdry, to almost all its brands including Guess, La Senza, Casio, Rebecca Minkoff, Pretty Ballerinas, Airfree and Dr Barbara Sturm.

    The MOU states that  “the parties agree both physical stores and online stores are part of the retail ecosystem. With Lazada’s technical and online abilities and FJB’s experience in fashion and lifestyle brand management and physical store operations, this brings together a strong strategic partnership which leverages each other’s expertise to deliver an ultimate consumer experience.”

    Under the terms of the MOU, both FJB and Lazada will, within 90 days, work on a detailed action plan and a definitive agreement to move the partnership forward.

    Mr Benjamin said FJB will continue to take charge of all aspects of product assortment, brand management, pricing, promotions as well as key parts of logistics such as inventory and supply chain. The parties will jointly undertake online marketing and campaign strategies while Lazada will operate the online stores.

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