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Tag: Japan

  • The luxury mobile shopper emerges in Asia, says Worldpay

    The luxury mobile shopper emerges in Asia, says Worldpay

    Shoppers in emerging economies such as China and India are seeking a more luxury, personalised shopping service on their mobile, and many Asia Pacific shoppers are even willing to pay more for a product or service if the mobile shopping experience is better. This is according to new research from Worldpay, a global leader in payments.

    Worldpay’s research examined the viewpoints of 16,000 consumers across 10 global markets, including China, India, Japan and Australia in Asia Pacific. Questioning consumers about their last mobile shopping experience and what makes them hit the “pay” button, the research found that mobile payment apps are on track to become the luxury shopping experience of the future.

    Key findings in Asia Pacific include:

     62% of Chinese consumers and 64% of Indian consumers are happy to pay more for an item, trip or service if the mobile user experience is better; far ahead of the global average of 41%

     56% of consumers in India and 54% in China are more likely to shop on a mobile phone if sent a personalised push notification from a nearby store; far outweighing the global average of 35%

     As the mobile shopping experience improves, more Australians are purchasing higher-end goods on their smartphones, with 36% spending over $85 AUD (US$67) on their last purchase

     In Japan, 38% of mobile shoppers spent over ¥7410 (US$69) on their last purchase

     India and China prefer purchasing via apps over mobile browsers more than any other markets in the world, at 82% vs. 18% and 80% vs. 20% respectively. This is compared to the global average of 71% vs. 29%.

    Phil Pomford, General Manager for Asia Pacific, Global Enterprise eCommerce at Worldpay, said: “Shoppers in Asia’s emerging economies are active mobile users who have leapfrogged past traditional modes of online shopping and now demand a personalised, luxury, on-the-go experience in the palm of their hand. Online merchants that can deliver the right experience have much to gain, as Asian shoppers are making bigger, more valuable purchases via their smartphones and are even happy to spend more with merchants that deliver a better experience. At the same time, to capitalise on the mobile shopping opportunity, merchants must consider how to help smartphone shoppers feel secure.”

    Indeed, despite exciting growth in mobile shopping in Asia Pacific, security concerns continue to hinder the full potential of mobile commerce. Australia is behind Asia in terms of mobile app adoption, with significant issues remaining around security and usability – 73% of Australian consumers say they only download apps from brands they trust. The number one reason for smartphone basket abandonment in Australia is concerns that the website wasn’t secure. In Japan, meanwhile, security is also a concern, with just 37% of consumers saying they would be happy for apps to store their payment details, against a global average of 57%.

    Pomford added: “Merchants can help to mitigate shoppers’ security fears by providing a mobile payment experience that’s quick, seamless and familiar. This might mean storing consumers’ payment details so they don’t need to enter them every time, or simply providing a range of payment options so that consumers can always use their preferred method. In China, for example, lack of preferred payment options is the top reason for smartphone basket abandonment – an important reminder that capturing this emerging class of luxury mobile shoppers depends upon providing a comfortable and convenient mobile payment journey.”

     

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  • Three Twins Ice Cream opens first Japan store

    Three Twins Ice Cream opens first Japan store

    US organic brand Three Twins Ice Cream has opened its first store in Japan.

    In a partnership with Mash Holdings, which runs several lifestyle and eco brand stores as well as organic cafes and kitchens, the outlet is outside the train station in the Daikanyama area of Tokyo.

    Three Twins Ice Cream founder/CEO Neal Gottlieb says Mash has put “a huge amount of work” into setting up the shop.

    Gottlieb founded Three Twins in California in 2005 with his twin brother Carl, whose wife Liz is also a twin. On its home turf, Three Twins sells more than 20 brands. In Japan, the initial offering will be 11 – Madagascar Vanilla, Bittersweet Chocolate, Lemon Cookie, Mint Confetti, Cookies & Cream, Mexican Chocolate, Chocolate Orange Confetti, Dad’s Cardamom, Sea-Salted Caramel, Strawberry and Mocha Difference. All the ice cream is made in the US.

    Gottlieb says the next step will be to make some flavours especially for Japan. “We will work with the team here and source local ingredients, make the ice cream in the US and send it back to Japan.”

    One of brand’s key selling points is that its products are organic. “Every single ingredient – milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla – is organically produced,” Gottlieb says. “No chemicals are toadded, and no fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides involved. The cows are never given antibiotics; they are raised on organic feed. And none of our products are genetically modified.”

    Beyond the initial store, Gottlieb says he would like to sell cups of the ice cream to natural-food stores “and ultimately I’d love to see it in 7-Eleven and eventually in every retail channel”.

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  • Aeon Mall to open sprawling new facility at former Space World site

    Aeon Mall to open sprawling new facility at former Space World site

    A Space World amusement park in Kitakyushu city, on Kyushu Island, will be the site of a commercial complex to be developed by Aeon Mall.

    Landowner Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp has been discussing development of the Fukuoka Prefecture site with Aeon, with the target of launching a commercial complex by 2021. It will encompass retail, entertainment, culture and dining.

    According to the city government, the two companies have signed a provisional lease contract for the 270,000 sqm lot, with a formal deal expected to be struck after the Space World lease expires at the end of June.

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  • Aeon, SoftBank, Yahoo Japan team up

    Aeon, SoftBank, Yahoo Japan team up

    Aeon and Yahoo Japan have not had tremendous success with their own e-commerce ventures, according to the report.

    Softbank’s IT prowess is seen as key to enabling Aeon to make the most of its brick-and-mortar assets in a retail sector quickly evolving as customer data and technologies such as artificial intelligence are leveraged to create better, more personalized shopping experiences.

    A teaming of these companies could also help Aeon keep up with the trend toward rolling out cashierless or unmanned stores, while helping Yahoo Japan become a more formidable, competitive e-commerce player.

    As with many strategic alignments between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce retailers, this potential partnership is being seen as an attempt to build an alliance worthy of challenging the international Goliath Amazon, which has set its sights on expanding in Japan.

    Physical retailers and e-commerce companies in other countries are becoming especially sensitive to Amazon’s threat as it continues to expand e-commerce interests internationally while also building up a brick-and-mortar presence through efforts like physical bookstores, Amazon Go and Whole Foods.

    As the largest retailers in many countries prepare for inevitable war with Amazon, as well as one another in some cases, there are two priorities. One is to become even larger and broader through partnership, acquisition or strategic investment. The other is to have solid footholds in both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar.

    Aeon, Softbank and Yahoo Japan are not the only ones evolving with these priorities in mind. We already have seen significant efforts from some of the world’s largest retailers and e-commerce players to do the same. For example, Walmart recently aligned with Japan’s Rakuten. China’s JD.com has been looking to expand into the U.S. and Europe, and fellow Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is aggressively investing in brick-and-mortar retail firms.

    By getting together in one way or another, Aeon and Yahoo Japan in particular may be looking to strengthen what have been weaknesses in their respective retail and e-commerce strategies, but they also would be positioned to play the game at a whole new level — that of a retail superpower fit to tackle new opportunities at home and abroad.

  • Moncler Sales Climb 14% in Nine Months

    Moncler Sales Climb 14% in Nine Months

    Clothing retailer Moncler international had double-digit growth in all key financial indicators last year, with soaring Asian sales playing their part.

    Its revenues for the year reached €1.1 billion (US$1.3 billion), an increase of 17 per cent at constant exchange and 15 per cent at current exchange rates. In the fourth quarter, revenues rose 17 per cent at constant exchange and 14 per cent at current exchange rates.

    Moncler chairman/CEO Remo Ruffini says the growth plus a net sales growth of about €200 million confirm the group’s strength and validated its strategy.

    In Asia, revenues grew 20 per cent at constant exchange rates with double-digit sales growth for Japan in the fourth quarter.

    Robust performances continued in China, says Moncler, driven by a double-digit organic growth in the fourth quarter, and in Hong Kong, where it opened a flagship store in Canton Road.

    Revenues from the retail distribution channel last year reached €892.4 million, up 19 per cent at constant exchange rates. The group also achieved comparable store sales growth of 14 per cent.

    At the end of December, Moncler’s mono-brand distribution network comprised 201 directly run retail stores, 11 more than the previous year, and 59 wholesale shop-in-shops, up 17. In the fourth quarter, Moncler opened six retail outlets and 11 shop-in-shops.

    For the full year, the consolidated gross margin was €917.5 million, 76.9 per cent of revenues compared to 75.7 per cent the previous year. This is attributed to retail channel growth and higher production efficiency.

    Adjusted EBITDA rose to €411.6 million from €355.1 million, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 34.5 per cent compared to 34.1 per cent.

    Net income was €133.3 million, up 63 per cent.

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  • Singapore’s Orchard Road gets its own Korean-style store opened

    Singapore’s Orchard Road gets its own Korean-style store opened

    South Korean fashion brand Twee has opened a flagship store at 313@Somerset on Orchard Road.

    The  4030sqft (374sqm) Twee Singapore store offers an exclusive collection of party dresses as well as Superface beauty products. The store promises to bring in more than 400 new styles for women and men every month.

    Twee has more than 40 stores in South Korea and 11 overseas, including nine in China and one in Malaysia. The brand plans to launch stores in Tokyo and Shanghai this year.

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  • Mr. Ruffini’s Moncler Genius Building unveiled

    Mr. Ruffini’s Moncler Genius Building unveiled

    Moncler Genius Building is finally unveiled.

    During the opening of Milan Fashion Week, Moncler finally revealed the highly anticipated Moncler Genius Building—a conceptual space that housing the Moncler Genius collections designed in collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara, Francesco Ragazzi of Palm Angels, Craig Green, and other well-known names.

    Moncler packed out the Palazzo Delle Scintille—a 15,500 square meter exhibition space—with an international crowd excited to finally discover what Moncler had been hiding and shrouding with mystery for weeks.

    Upon entering the Palazzo Delle Scintille, the mystery continued. The space was filled with large tent-like shapes of all sizes shrouded with silver fabric, surrounded by smoke and glittering under bright spotlights.

    It looked like the silver shrouds would at once fall away for a big reveal but instead, following a long wait and a sudden countdown, curtains within the silver fabric opened and guests were invited inside the designers’ minds one at a time.

    None of the spaces featured a traditional runway presentation. Instead, the capsule collections were displayed on mannequins in a humid jungle; in an eerily dark room; hung from the ceiling; and on models performing a snow angel dance routine reflect in an enormous mirror.

    Francesco Ragazzi of Palm Angels took the most unorthodox approach, hosting two booths advertised by the slogans “Make It Rain” and “I’m So High.” Ragazzi and his team simply handed out free t-shirts periodically to keen attendees throughout the two-hour event.

    In the build-up, Moncler explained that with this new project it would “let creativity run wild,” and it certainly backed up its claim. Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino put together a monastic collection disturbingly reminiscent of the women’s uniforms in The Handmaid’s Tale and surrounded by the work of artist and monk Sidival Fila.

    Craig Greens’ collection was typically conceptual and utilitarian, denoting inflatable life jackets. Hiroshi Fujiwara of Fragment brought preppy, and in places grungy, vibes to the table with a sense Americana and mountaineering.

    Moncler did not stop at human clothes either. Happy pooches clad in tiny Moncler outfits ran joyfully around a doggy obstacle course as the brand showcased its animal jackets.

    The Moncler Genius Building acts as the project’s central hub. Within the space, each designer’s individualized cell represents a different facet of the brand’s identity and alludes to its unique vision for the future of fashion and design. The result is a grand composite of extraordinary minds united by the desire to innovate and create the new.

    Moncler’s President and Creative Director Remo Ruffini hopes these monthly capsule collections will disrupt the traditional, biannual fashion schedule. They will release in a similar fashion to the routine “drops” employed by some streetwear brand and provide consumers with newness far more regularly.

    Moncler will launch a collection once a month starting June. Clothes and accessories from its collaborative lines will be available in cities around the world at boutiques, selected stores and pop-ups.

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  • Lotte’s chair resigns Japanese CEO role after bribery conviction

    Lotte’s chair resigns Japanese CEO role after bribery conviction

    The chairman of South Korea’s Lotte Group has resigned as the chief executive of its Japan-based holding company, following his conviction for bribery charges last week.

    Lotte Holdings held a board meeting on Wednesday and accepted Shin Dong-bin’s resignation, following a Japanese tradition of convicted chief executives stepping down, the group said in a statement. But Mr Shin will retain his post as vice-chairman of Lotte Holdings and the move will not affect his status in Lotte’s Korean units, the group added.

    Lotte Holdings is at the heart of the retail-focused conglomerate’s complex ownership structure and indirectly controls the group’s key businesses in South Korea such as Lotte Hotel and Lotte Chemical through cross shareholdings.

    Mr Shin’s resignation as chief executive of the holding company comes after a South Korean court sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in prison for bribery, in a stern warning to the country’s political and business elites. Mr Shin was found guilty of offering Won7bn in bribes to foundations of the long-time confidant of former South Korean president Park Geun-hye in return for political favours.

    Lotte said Mr Shin’s resignation would likely have a negative effect on business cooperation and synergies between the group’s South Korean and Japanese operations.

    Mr Shin is appealing the court case. However, his legal troubles could reignite a family dispute over management control at South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate and slow its group-wide restructuring efforts.

    Lotte officials are also concerned that Mr Shin’s detention could undermine Lotte’s major investment plans as the group grapples with ballooning losses in China.

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  • Uniqlo launches in the Netherlands

    Uniqlo launches in the Netherlands

    Japanese retailer Uniqlo has entered the Netherlands, with a debut Dutch store launching in Amsterdam.

    The Fast Retailing flagship brand, after months of speculation, has confirmed it will enter the Dutch market in the autumn of 2018.

    Located on Amsterdam’s busiest shopping street, Kalverstraat, the three-level, 2,040 square-metre-store has a secondary entry for shoppers to access to the store via Rokin, opposite Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay. The building served as the home of US retailer Forever 21, until early 2018.

    The Amsterdam flagship will boast collections for men, women, children and infants, as well as key collections like LifeWear.

    “Amsterdam is well known for its relaxed and casual lifestyle. I believe our LifeWear, designed around core items such as Denim, Ultra Light Down outerwear, Extra Fine Merino knitwear and more, will be a perfect match for the people of Amsterdam. Our entry into the Netherlands marks the next step in our plans to grow our presence in the Benelux region,” said Taku Morikawa, Chief Executive Officer at Uniqlo Europe.

    Europe has been expansion point for the Japanese retailer in the past twelve months. In May 2017, Uniqlo debuted a European distribution centre in Oud-Gastel in the Netherelands, in partnership with Ceva Logistics.

    At the time, Uniqlo said it plans to take its European store count to 100 outlets over the next three years, in a bid to strengthen its retail presence outside of Asia.

    With the opening of the Amsterdam store, the Netherlands serves as the eighth European market for the fashion giant.

    Uniqlo is owned by Fast Retailing, which also operates Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang and J Brand. It boasts 1,900 stores, in 19 markets worldwide including Asia, Europe and the Americas.

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  • Japan company to build world’s tallest wooden skyscraper

    Japan company to build world’s tallest wooden skyscraper

    Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry plans to build the world’s tallest wooden skyscraper to mark its 350th anniversary in 2041.

    Called the W350, the 350-metre-tall tower will be made up of 10 per cent steel, said the company in a news release. The rest will comprise 185,000 cubic metres of timber.

    The “braced tube structure” will have diagonal steel vibration-control braces to “prevent deformation of the building due to lateral forces such as earthquakes and wind”, according to the news release.

    The 70-storey building may house offices, shops and hotels, as well as about 8,000 homes. There will also be balconies and greenery on every level.

    “The interior structure is made of a pure wood, producing a calm space that exudes the warmth and gentleness of wood,” said Sumitomo.

    Construction of the W350 is expected to cost 600 billion yen (S$7.4 billion) – almost double that of a conventional high-rise building.

    Sumitomo said the aim of the W350 – designed in collaboration with Nikken Sekkei – is to “create environmentally friendly and timber-utilising cities that become forests through increased use of wooden architecture”.

    “The devastation of domestic forests due to insufficient maintenance is becoming a problem. Increased timber demand will promote replanting and contribute to the revitalisation of forestry,” the company added.

     

     

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  • tomas maier and uniqlo collection to Debut in Early Summer 2018

    tomas maier and uniqlo collection to Debut in Early Summer 2018

    UNIQLO yesterday announced a new collaboration with the tomas maier brand, famed worldwide for its casual yet designed lifestyle concept. The new tomas maierand uniqlo collectionis for women and men, and it will be available in early summer at selected UNIQLOstores and online. The range infuses the “time off” and “escape” philosophy of the tomas maier brand into LifeWear,which embodies UNIQLO’s enduring commitment to top-quality fabrics, outstanding technology and functionality.

    Commenting on the announcement, Tomas Maier said, “The concept of my brand is based on simple, yet sophisticated designs. tomas maieris all about clothes for time off -a way for people to enjoy a much-needed escape from some of the complexities of modern living. I am confident that we wereable to incorporate UNIQLO’s remarkable technologies and expertise successfully into our collaboration line, which I hope can help people to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.”

    Yuki Katsuta, Group Senior Vice President of Fast Retailing and Head of Global Research and Design at UNIQLO,commented that, “LifeWearembodies our belief that individualitycomes not from clothes, but the people wearing them. That’s why we devote our energies to creating clothes that people will enjoy and value for a long time. UNIQLO and the tomas maier brand share a long-held philosophy of including contemporary touches in casual clothes that are made fromqualityfabricsand are comfortableto wear. Our first resortwear collection marks a newstage in the evolution of LifeWear and adds a splash of summer fun to people’s lifestyles.”

     

  • Japan’s Honda to recall 350,000 cars in China over engine issue

    Japan’s Honda to recall 350,000 cars in China over engine issue

    Honda Motor Co Ltd will recall roughly 350,000 vehicles in China to resolve a cold-climate engine issue and quell a barrage of customer complaints that has hit the automaker over the past month.

    The recall involves the CR-V sport utility vehicle and the Civic car equipped with a 1.5-litre turbo engine, Honda’s joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd (0489.HK) said in a statement on Monday.

    The company is calling back those cars to resolve a problem caused by an unusual amount of un-combusted petrol collecting in the engine’s lubricant oil pan.

    The issue in some cases caused a strong odor of gasoline inside the car and in other cases the car’s check-engine light came on. Honda and Dongfeng plan to resolve the issue by updating the engine’s gasoline injection control software.

    Honda officials said there had been no reports of accidents. They said the engine oil issue doesn’t affect the engine or the car’s performance.

    The measure comes after CR-V and Civic owners turned to the Weibo microblog – China’s Twitter equivalent – and other means to air their complaints since mid January.

    The recall points to an emerging pattern in China where customer complaints spiral out of control as they are aired out on Weibo, forcing an automaker to respond.

    Years ago the kind of recall Honda announced on Monday could have been dealt through a so-called customer service action, industry officials and experts say. That refers to what the auto industry calls a “quiet recall”, which is less damaging financially and image-wise, where an automaker fixes a non-safety issue, often free of charge, whenever the customer comes to the dealership.

    “Without Weibo, it would have gone on for years,” said James Chao, chief automotive analyst for IHS Markit in the Asia-Pacific region. “That’s the way it was for the industry in the pre-Weibo, pre-Twitter era.”

    Honda did not say the scale of the move in its statement, but a Beijing-based spokesman and other company officials said Honda and its joint venture partner are likely to call back roughly 350,000 vehicles. “We’re still trying to determine the precise number of cars affected,” the spokesman said.

    Normally un-combusted petrol ends up accumulated in the lubricant oil pan but evaporates under heat from the engine. Such evaporated petrol is by design put back into the engine combustion chamber as fuel.

    The issue involving the CR-V and the Civic has occurred in northern China where temperatures can dip well below the freezing point and when drivers of the affected vehicles drive short distances frequently.

    On short runs, Honda engineers believe the engine doesn’t warm up enough to help un-combusted petrol accumulated in the lubricant oil pan to evaporate.

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  • Honda aims to double market share in India

    Honda aims to double market share in India

    Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co plans to double its market share in India within the next few years, the head of its local unit said, as it looks to boost its presence in the world’s fifth-largest car market.

    To be a major player and have a meaningful presence, Honda needs to achieve a 10 percent market share, Yoichiro Ueno, managing director of the carmaker’s India unit, said during the country’s biennial auto show.

    Honda, which sells cars such as the City sedan and CR-V sport-utility vehicle in India, has seen its market share fall to about 5 percent at the end of 2017 from 7 percent three years ago, industry data show, thanks to a slew of new launches from rivals Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor.

    Annual passenger vehicle sales in India crossed 3 million units last year and the country is expected to become the world’s third-largest car market by 2020, trailing only China and the United States.

    One of the challenges for Honda is that lower taxes on small cars in India make them a preferred choice for buyers, and the carmaker has few small cars to offer.

    “Our global line up is different so it is a bit difficult to utilise global resources,” Ueno said, adding car taxation policy in India needed to change to encourage carmakers to bring in products from their global portfolio.

    The Japanese carmaker is utilising only 70 percent of its annual production capacity of 300,000 units in India and needs to ramp up output to be efficient, Ueno said.

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  • Softbank 9m17 Profit Grows 20 Procent

    Softbank 9m17 Profit Grows 20 Procent

    Japan’s SoftBank has reported a solid 20% increase in net profit for the nine  months ending in December to 1.01 trillion yen ($9.35 billion), partly as a result of cost cutting at US subsidiary Sprint.

    Net sales for the first nine months of SoftBank’s financial year grew 3.5% to 6.58 trillion yen, with revenue increasing across all the company’s market segments.

    Domestic telecoms revenue grew slightly to 2.406 trillion yen despite a 1.4% decrease in telecoms service revenue to 1.8 trillion yen.

    Mobile service revenue fell 5% to 1.36 trillion yen, but broadband revenue improved 23.2% to 240.02 billion yen and fixed telecommunications revenue edged up 0.5% to 200.86 billion yen.

    Smartphone net additions for the nine-month period grew to 1.13 million, with the operator’s total mobile customer base growing to just under 33 million, while churn fell slightly to 0.84%.

    SoftBank’s FTTH subscriber base meanwhile reached 4.67 million, up from 3.14 million as of the end of 2016.

    Net sales at Sprint increased 2.6% to 2.72 trillion yen, while the unit’s adjusted ebitda grew 19.1% to 938.8 trillion won on the back of cost reduction efforts that resulted in nearly $1 billion in savings. Net sales from Yahoo Japan increased from 630.8 billion yen to 651.5 billion yen.

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  • Japan’s fast food rivalry heating up

    Japan’s fast food rivalry heating up

    McDonald’s Japan plans to open more stores this year, its first expansion in a decade.

    At the same time, rival Burger King is working on tripling its Japanese locations to 300 by 2022 at a cost of ¥5 billion (US$45.5 million).

    With a 4.5-fold increase in group net profit last year, McDonald’s Holdings logged a record ¥24 billion. It aims to open 150 to 200 locations in the next three years. With closures taken into account, it expects a net increase of about 100.

    “Over the past several years we were focusing on optimising our store portfolio,” says president Sarah Casanova. “Now it is time to look to opportunities to grow with new restaurants.”

    Following a peak in 2002, the number of McDonald’s locations in Japan has been declining. The chain now has 2900 outlets, a drop of about 1000.

    The turnaround for the burger market is mainly because of record numbers of tourists in Japan, 28.6 million last year.

    Burger King Japan plans to open most of its 200 new restaurants in cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Target locations include shopping-centre food courts and suburban sites with room for a drive-through. A home-delivery service will be offered to counter the move last year by McDonald’s Japan to partner with Uber Eats.

    After a slump, Burger King left Japan in 2001, returning in 2007. Its current expansion drive follows a Hong Kong investment fund acquiring the Japan rights from Burger King. It is also revamping its product lineup.

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