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Tag: Etailer

  • Vietnam Internet economy to expand 31 pct

    Vietnam Internet economy to expand 31 pct

    Vietnam’s Internet economy is expected to grow by 31 percent this year to $21 billion this year despite little or no contribution from the online travel market.

    It is set to reach $57 billion by 2025 after growing at 29 percent a year, according to the e-Conomy Southeast Asia 2021 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co.

    This means Vietnam will draw level with Malaysia this year and exceed it by 2025.

    It is now only below Indonesia ($70 billion) and Thailand ($30 billion) among the six major economies in Southeast Asia.

    It added eight million new digital consumers between the start of the pandemic and the first half of this year, 55 percent of them from non-metro areas.

    “Stickiness of adoption remains high as digital consumption has become a way of life,” the report said, pointing out that 97 percent of the new consumers are still online.

    The value of the online travel sector is set to plunge by 45 percent this year, but other sectors are headed for double-digit growth, led by e-commerce at 53 percent.

    Digital merchants are becoming tech-savvy and likely to become even more so in the future.

    Thirty percent of them said they would not have survived the pandemic if not for digital platforms.

    Digital financial services are also becoming critical enablers, with 99 percent of digital merchants now accepting digital payments.

    The country saw deal values in the Internet economy quadruple year-on-year in the first half of the year to nearly $1.37 billion from 89 deals.

    “Vietnam remains a very attractive innovation hub with more incubators, accelerators, and innovation labs than most other markets in the region,” the report said.

    The latest deal saw a group of investors led by insurance company AIA invest $258 million in e-commerce company Tiki.

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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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  • Bukalapak Establishes Strategic Partnership with Microsoft to Enhance Indonesian E-commerce

    Bukalapak Establishes Strategic Partnership with Microsoft to Enhance Indonesian E-commerce

    Microsoft and Bukalapak, one of Indonesia’s leading e-commerce platforms, have formed a strategic partnership to reshape how e-commerce is conducted in the country. Kicking off the collaboration between the two companies, Bukalapak will adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform and Microsoft will make a strategic investment in Bukalapak.

    The partnership will leverage Microsoft’s expertise in building a resilient cloud infrastructure to support Bukalapak services for more than 12 million micro, small and medium enterprises, and 100 million customers.

    “This partnership signals a deep collaboration with Microsoft on an array of technology projects that will transform the technology-driven commerce solutions and operations solution and operations in Indonesia,” said Rachmat Kaimuddin, CEO of Bukalapak. “As a global technology leader, Microsoft’s confidence with Bukalapak highlights our position as the leading homegrown technology player in Indonesia and our continued objective to create a positive impact on our country and customers.”

    Through this partnership, Bukalapak and Microsoft will collaborate on key initiatives including:

    • Building resilient infrastructure – Bukalapak will adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform to support its more than 6 million online merchants, 6 million offline merchants and 100 million customers.
    • Bridging the digital gap – The companies will explore opportunities to help make the digital world relevant for every individual daily.
    • Skilling – Providing digital skills training for Bukalapak employees and their merchants.

    “Bukalapak and their services have had real and enduring impact on Indonesian society, and their innovation mindset in a rapidly changing market will create new opportunities for merchants, businesses and consumers,” said Haris Izmee, President Director of Microsoft Indonesia. “We are excited to empower Bukalapak with a trusted cloud, that allows them to scale their customer experience on Microsoft Azure. Through this partnership, merchants and consumers will have a more efficient and reliable buying and selling experiences, which in turn, creates business resilience and helps in accelerate growth in the Indonesian digital economy.”

    As a leading e-commerce platform in Indonesia, Bukalapak was founded with the singular mission of empowering Indonesia through digital technology. The company also offers financial services and payment options for its users, including but not limited to, gold and mutual funds’ investments, bill payments and credit services. They aim to transform the economy beyond e-commerce, by digitalizing traditional warungs (mom and pop kiosks) so every business in Indonesia has access to the online economy.

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  • Amazon Prime Day 2020 finally has a start date

    Amazon Prime Day 2020 finally has a start date

    Everything was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, including Amazon’s huge sale known as Prime Day. Typically, Amazon Prime Day takes place in July, but this year, due to obvious reasons, the sale was reportedly delayed for October.

    The initial reports dated early July claimed Amazon Prime Day will be scheduled for the week starting October 5, and that a definitive date will be announced later. However, a new report mentions another start date for Amazon Prime Day.

    Without further ado, Amazon’s Prime Day 2020 will start on October 13, at least according to four people familiar with Amazon’s plans. Although Amazon declined to comment on the date, it looks like the company has already “blacked out vacation for its full-time warehouse workers from October 13-20.”

    It’s important to mention that the sources of this crucial information don’t know how long the sale will last, just the start date. It’s hard to make any assumptions at this time since Amazon has already extended these huge sales in the last couple of years, so it won’t be a surprise to learn that this year we’ll have a 3-day Amazon Prime Day sale event.

    Last year, the annual deal event exclusively for Prime members lasted for two days, whereas the year before it was squeezed into a 36-hour sale event. If the information proves to be accurate, Amazon should make an official announcement in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned.

  • Ikea online E-commerce store opens on Tmall

    Ikea online E-commerce store opens on Tmall

    Ikea has launched a flagship store on Alibaba’s marketplace Tmall, the first third-party platform the brand has partnered within Asia, and after leaving Amazon last year.

    Initially, with a six-month trial across the Chinese provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, and the city of Shanghai, the Ikea online flagship store features more than 3600 products.

    “At Ikea, we are very proud of our [physical] stores, but we are always eager to learn how to improve our service,” said Jon Abrahamsson Ring, MD of Inter Ikea Systems BV. “We are happy about this collaboration with Alibaba. I’m convinced that we will learn a lot and develop even better ways to meet our customers.”

    The launch of the Ikea online store on Tmall is part of the brand’s strategy to broaden the ways it reaches Chinese customers, making the brand more accessible.

    The coronavirus outbreak had no influence on the timing of the Tmall launch, an Ikea spokesperson confirmed.

    Ikea shut half of its 30 stores in China earlier this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Recently, Ikea China is slowly returning to its normal business as the brand is reopening some of its stores across the country.

  • Japanese shopping service Nippon Passport secures funding

    Japanese shopping service Nippon Passport secures funding

    Nippon Passport has raised ¥200 million (US$1.82 million) in pre-series A funding, led by private investors and business companies through a third-party allotment.

    In response to the Japanese government’s target to attract 60 million foreign tourists annually by 2030, the firm has launched its “NP Pass” service, driving foreign visitors through affiliate shops for a commission fee of 10 percent of total sales. Travelers who download the app can receive discounts and vouchers for participating retailers.

    With the financing, Nippon Passport intends to improve the “NP Pass” app as well as develop its network of affiliate shops and agents.

    “Japan’s population has been steadily decreasing,” said Nippon Platform CEO Shinsuke Hishiki.

    “We believe that Nippon Passport’s service makes significant headway in collaboration with Nippon Platform related to tablet solutions, and transfers from attracting customers for tourism consumption to making solutions for paving the way for regional revitalization.”

    Tharminder Singh, a director at Nippon Passport, says the ever-changing nature of technology such as AI and self-driving cars is starting to move consumers away from products and towards experiences and travel.

    “Using technology and smart mechanisms to harness the value of bringing people together through tourism inbound and outbound [we are] creating a value proposition that helps drive the industry and new ways of attracting people and traffic and increasing business.”

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  • Amazon opens on Pinduoduo pop up store

    Amazon opens on Pinduoduo pop up store

    Global online retailer Amazon is set to launch a Pinduoduo pop-up store.

    According to reporting in Reuters, the Pinduoduo pop-up store will run until the end of the year with around 1000 selected overseas products.

    Amazon recently closed its Chinese marketplace for domestic sellers and is shifting focus to products sold in the Chinese market by overseas producers, as well as offering its cloud server services.

    The decision to host its pop-up on Pinduoduo reflects the platform’s popularity with rural Chinese residents over the more established Alibaba and JD services.

    “The Amazon Pinduoduo pop-up store provides customers with a curated selection of about 1000 overseas products, with competitive prices, an authenticity guarantee and convenient shipping,” said an Amazon spokesperson.

    “We look forward to enabling customers to enjoy cross-border shopping through this store, in addition to more deals and tens of millions of products available on [amazon].cn.”

  • Alibaba launches 2019 11.11 Global Shopping Festival

    Alibaba launches 2019 11.11 Global Shopping Festival

    Alibaba Group has launched its 2019 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, taking the annual event into its second decade.

    The shopping holiday this year focused on “new consumption,” “new business” and actively contributing to a greener society.

    “Our goal is to stimulate consumption demand and support lifestyle upgrade in China through new brands and products,” said Taobao and Tmall president Fan Jiang. “We will enable merchants in China and around the world to grow their businesses through data-driven product innovation and consumer insights, as well as leverage our recommendation technology and content-driven user engagement to delight consumers in urban coastal cities and less-developed areas of China.

    “Given its scale, minimizing environmental impact is essential and our technology will ensure it is a green 2019 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.”

    The festival taps a global supply chain to meet the growing demand of Chinese consumers for new brands and new products. More than 200,000 brands are participating; one million new products are on offer and more than 500 million users are expected to participate in this year’s festival – about 100 million more than last year.

    Estimated consumer savings from brand and platform promotions and coupons are around RMB 50 billion (US$7 billion).

    For the first time, Alibaba held a concurrent kickoff event in the northeastern city of Harbin, underscoring its focus on serving consumers and small businesses in China’s less-developed markets. In the last quarter, more than 70 percent of Alibaba’s new annual active consumers came from lower-tier cities.

    “The success of our focus on less-developed markets in China is reflected in our new customer acquisition growth,” said Alibaba Group CMO Chris Tung. “We are equally driven to help local enterprises and factories digitize, which improve their operational efficiency and ability to engage with customers across the country.”

    More than 22,000 international brands from 78 countries and regions will participate in this year’s 11.11 on Tmall Global, Alibaba’s cross-border online marketplace, providing an expansive international product selection for consumers.

    For the second year, Lazada will take part and expects its “shoppertainment” – a blend of shopping and entertainment – to attract a record number of participating merchants and consumers in its six markets.

    While continuing to serve over 200 countries and regions, AliExpress will enable local merchants from Russia, Spain, Italy, and Turkey to participate in 11.11 for the first time.

    Daraz disrupted South Asia’s retail market with 11.11 last year and is gearing up again with celebrations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Nepal. India will celebrate with the UC Shopping Fest, in association with Paytm, VMate, and 9Apps.

    Fliggy will offer 30,000 different vacation packages to over 200 destinations to serve Chinese tourists. Thousands of travel experts will offer tips and suggestions via live streams during 11.11.

    Cainiao and its partners will make November 20th a day focused on the recycling of cardboard packaging. They will work to convert 75,000 locations into permanent recycling stations, and express courier companies to pick up used cardboard boxes and wrapping.

    Consumers will be incentivized to recycle through rewards of “green energy” points on Ant Forest.

    Alibaba Cloud expects to save 200,000 kilowatt-hours of energy on November 11th at its data centers, which will be powered by renewable energy and energy-conserving technology such as liquid-cooled servers.

  • Shopee app Singapore’s most downloaded

    Shopee app Singapore’s most downloaded

    The Shopee app has emerged as Singapore’s most downloaded shopping app.

    The Sea company platform had 2.8 million visitors per month on average during the second quarter, with an 11 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. It is currently the most-used app of its kind throughout the whole of Southeast Asia, while rival firm Lazada remains the most actively used e-commerce app within Singapore itself.

    “Apps by Alibaba such as Taobao and AliExpress remained prominent among Singaporean consumers probably due to the increased popularity of Chinese products and Chinese language proficiency in the country,” read a report by iPrice Group.

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  • Amazon Fashion drops first influencer collection

    Amazon Fashion drops first influencer collection

    Amazon Fashion has just released the first collection from an influencer as part of its new shopping experience, The Drop.

    For the next 30 hours, customers will be able to purchase pieces made on-demand from the collection designed by influencer Paola Alberdi via the Amazon app or mobile browser. The Drop collections are available in more than 100 countries and regions.

    Fashionistas are encouraged to sign up for Amazon text alerts, as the next Drop influencer collaboration could be released at any time. Other influencers slated to design future collections include Emi Suzuki, Sierra Furtado, Leonie Hanne and Patricia Bright.

    “Influencers are able to turn their creativity and style into beautifully designed collections that capture the latest street style trends from around the world,” said a statement from Amazon.

    “Amazon Fashion is excited to enable influencers to be designers and bring fresh Fashion assortments directly to customers via The Drop.”

    Amazon Fashion is also offering Staples By The Drop, wardrobe staple pieces to complement the influencer collections.

    “I am beyond grateful to Amazon for entrusting me to be the first influencer to launch The Drop, their innovative new shopping experience. I have worked hard for many years to create a brand that is true to myself and did the same with this collection,” said Alberdi.

    “Fashion can be so expensive but my belief is that it should not have to be expensive to feel beautiful. The primary goal of my collection is simply to help women feel good about themselves. I’m so excited to share these pieces with the world!”

    Other retail brands have been tapping into the power of influencers and collaborating with them on collections for some time, such as Nordstrom, which is currently selling the Cupcakes and Cashmere range from fashion blogger and designer, Emily Schuman.

    When the department store engaged with influencer Arielle Charna in 2017, her collection reportedly brought in $1 million in sales in less than 24 hours, according to an article from Fashionista.

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  • Alibaba buys into furniture chain Macalline

    Alibaba buys into furniture chain Macalline

    Alibaba has invested US$640 million in Red Star Macalline Group, the largest furniture retail chain in China. Signalling a renewed interest in the home improvement business, Alibaba made the investment in the form of convertible bonds issued by Macalline’s controlling shareholder. The transaction will see Alibaba taking a 10 per cent shareholding of Macalline’s Shanghai listing if fully converted. Alibaba has also taken 3.7 per cent of Macalline’s Hong Kong-traded shares.

    The investment will see emerging cooperation in the furnishings business between the two parties, a move that follows several other plays into the lucrative sector by the e-commerce giant.

    Macalline currently has 364 stores in almost 200 cities.

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  • Suning invests in Jack Ma-backed retail Fund

    Suning invests in Jack Ma-backed retail Fund

    Chinese retailer Suning has invested US$129 million into Jack Ma-backed Yunfeng Capital’s third fund.

    The funding represents 61.41 per cent of a committed $210 million to the private equity firm, which is set to raise $2.5 billion and has so far received commitments from 51 limited partners (LPs).

    The company stated that the funding will give it the opportunity to “deepen its smart retail strategy, further enrich the Suning ecosystem as well as achieve financial returns”.

    The firm is a current shareholder in Jack Ma’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, and vice versa.

    The Yunfeng Capital equity firm makes calculated investments in technology, media and communications, as well as a range of other consumer sectors.

  • South Korean E-Commerce Under Pressure

    South Korean E-Commerce Under Pressure

    Mounting losses in the South Korean e-commerce industry are calling local business models into question. Competitive pricing and fast delivery capacities have made the industry an ascendant phenomenon in the territory, with the purchase of a whole spectrum of consumables now possible via mobile phone. The industry hit a record high of KRW111.8 trillion (US$98.4 billion) in transactions last year, putting the economy among the top five e-commerce markets worldwide.

    But gigantic operational losses have emerged out of stiff competition on price and logistics set-up costs. Korea’s top e-commerce firm Coupang shattered its own records with KRW4.42 trillion ($3.8 billion) in sales last year, but made a staggering KRW1.1 trillion ($950 million) operational loss.

    While Coupang’s deficits have been widening for nine years, CEO Kim Beom-seok stubbornly insists the losses are planned and says investment will continue.

    “We have pushed for massive investment to impress our customers,” said Kim, “and will continue to aggressively invest in technology and infrastructure.”

    The firm has single-handedly changed the outlook for South Korean retail and put brick-and-mortar operators on red alert – but has yet to prove profitable.

    Rival operator Tmon faces a similar issue, with its KRW492 billion ($425 million) sales last year sad-tromboned by KRW125.5 billion (108.4 million) in operating losses that have been accumulating since the year 2000, now standing at KRW770 billion (665.5 million) in total. The firm’s latest nose dive was attributed to “investment in core technologies”.

    “Customers frequently visited our app on expectations for new products and promotions changing every hour, which raised their royalty and created a virtuous cycle,” said Tmon CEO Lee Jae-hu. “We will continue efforts to strengthen the market position and seek ways to improve profitability this year.”

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  • Tmall Reinforces Go-to Platform Status for Product Debuts

    Tmall Reinforces Go-to Platform Status for Product Debuts

    Alibaba Group’s Tmall today announced it will launch a dedicated gateway for customers to discover new products through the Taobao mobile app, looking to cement its position as the “go-to” platform for such launches.

    From Wednesday, customers clicking on the “Tmall” icon in their Taobao app will be directed to the “Tmall New Products” channel, which includes a full array of new features, such as Tmall’s “Most Sought-after New Items,” “The Next New Things,” “Limited Editions” and “New Flagships.” Working with brands and key opinion leaders, the channel will provide customers with in-depth information and recommendations on new products.

    Tmall has long been an effective platform for showcasing new products, a one-stop shop for consumers to find the hottest new items online, and a creative, experiential channel to interact with and learn more about new products.

    The new channel for product launches is powered by Tmall’s already impressive suite of marketing tools, such as “Hey Box” and the Tmall Innovation Center (TMIC). In the past year, 82% of new products tailored by TMIC became a top-three “hot” item in its category within 30 days of launch. TMIC has also reduced the product development cycle by half, to an average of nine months.

  • Walmart Hires robots to handle cleaning and unboxing

    Walmart Hires robots to handle cleaning and unboxing

    US retailer Walmart is adding thousands of robots to its stores to handle cleaning tasks, allowing workers more time to help customers.

    Walmart said by February 2019, it will have introduced the 920-pound autonomous floor scrubbers at 1,860 of its 4,700 US stores.

    The robots will clean the floors and unload boxes in its stockrooms. The “smart assistants” can scan shelf inventory at 350 stores and bots will be placed at 1,700 stores to automatically scan boxes as delivery trucks drop them off and they are sorted onto conveyor belts.

    “The overall trend we’re seeing is that automating certain tasks gives associates more time to do work they find fulfilling and to interact with our customers,” CEO Doug McMillon told of the new technology last year.

    Walmart is hoping that the bot army will increase sales and in-store efficiency. The retailer said it’s quite difficult to find workers to work overnight to receive the supplies from trucks.

    “We’re seeing increases in sales and reductions in turnover in what had been a very difficult job to fill,” CEO McMillon told.

    Walmart goes high tech

    Last year Walmart invested over US$2 billion to remodel stores around the country and improve online shopping services for its new in-store pickup feature. Walmart said on Tuesday that it would bring 16-foot-tall automated vending machines to 900 new stores this year to quickly fetch customers’ online orders.

    “There is a labor shortage in retail. It will not be easy for Walmart to add labor to perform these functions. So a high level of automation is required,” said Kirthi Kalyanam, director of the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University told.

    Earlier this month the retailer announced a partnership with Google on the new Walmart Voice Order which allows shoppers to order groceries through Google Assistant.