Retail News CRM

Tag: Korean Wave

  • H:Connect brings Korean style to Singapore

    H:Connect brings Korean style to Singapore

    Contemporary South Korean fashion brand H:Connect, fronted by Korean celebrity Yoona of Girls’ Generation, has officially opened its first Southeast Asian store at Bugis Junction in Singapore.

    The brand plans to make the most of the rising appeal of hallyu, or the Korean Wave, across Southeast Asia, which is driving Korean exports of fashion, entertainment and cosmetics in particular.

    It joins more than 300 H:Connect stores across South Korea, China and Taiwan, including a flagship store in the Gangnam district of Seoul.

    In its new Singapore store, the 10-year-old brand features it latest collection for men and women, separated into three themes: City Dweller (understated designs), Nostalgic Insta (combining vintage denim with floral prints and embellishments) and Athleisure (statement sweaters, pullovers and denim with a Korean street-style vibe).

    Prices range from S$19 (US$13.64) for basic tops to $129 for jackets and overcoats.

  • Korean wave exports boom

    Korean wave exports boom

    Outbound shipments of Korean food, beauty, fashion and personal care products soared in the first half of the year on the back of the growing popularity of the Korean Wave, or hallyu.

    Official data released today by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), shows exports of such goods amounted to US$6.79 billion in the January-June period, up 15.2 per cent from a year earlier.

    Industry watchers said the growth is attributable to the cultural wave of “hallyu” in China and other Asian countries, which refers to the boom of South Korea-made entertainment goods, including pop music, movies and TV dramas. The popularity of hallyu helped turn its fans into consumers of South Korean products.

    The growth was driven by cosmetics-related goods with their exports rising 38.5 per cent to reach $1.81 billion during the first half of the year.

    Exports of foods also rose 3.5 per cent year-on-year to reach $2.43 billion, the data showed.

    The association said South Korea’s diversified product portfolio helped meet demand from customers in overseas markets.

    Last year, exports of such products amounted to $12.21 billion won, the data showed.

    Earlier data also showed that exports of South Korea-made cosmetics more than tripled over the past five years.

    Outbound shipments of makeup products reached $2.45 billion in 2015, surging 53.1 per cent from $1.56 billion a year earlier, according to the data by Korea Customs Service (KCS).

    The 2015 figure soared more than threefold from $698 million in 2011, with an annual average growth of 36.9 per cent over the 2011-2015 period.

    The total volume of cosmetics exports stood at 90,491 tons in 2015, compared to 31,606 tons tallied in 2011.

    China is the biggest buyer of South Korean beauty products, importing $999.5 million last year, or 40.6 per cent of the country’s entire cosmetics exports.

    Lees ook:

  • Korea’s Hotping fashion mall goes global

    Korea’s Hotping fashion mall goes global

    Korean women’s clothing mall Hotping entered the global market just six months ago – and already cross-border sales account for 10 per cent of its turnover.

    Monthly sales to customers outside Korea have now surpassed the 100 million won (US$84,000) mark.

    “We believed that winning new markets quickly would secure future competitiveness after we started up in 2014 and we launched the English, Chinese, and Japanese versions of our online mall through the global eCommerce platform of cafe24,” explained CEO Kim Yeo-jin.

    “We received orders from international customers even when we had the Korean site only, which also quickened our entry into the global market.”

    Established in 2014, Hotping is a Korean women’s clothing specialty mall that carries trendy products popular in the world of fashion. Like its name suggests, Hotping is a ‘portmanteau’ word mixing hot trend and lovely pink. Another notable characteristic is that Hotping satisfies customers of various body types since it carries sizes from 44 (equivalent to XS in the US) to 105 (equivalent to XXL) for most of its products.

    As a result of the company’s continued sponsorship of the wardrobes used by Korean costume dramas, Hotping has been enjoying great brand awareness, particularly in countries swept by the Hallyu, or ‘Korean Wave’, notably the US, China, and Japan. In addition, as it carries a number of elegant and exclusive clothing lines, news anchors have also been inquiring about sponsorship.

    Hotping is also winning immense popularity with its line of highly elastic Magic Pants, whcih are proving popular globally thanks to a fun marketing campaign that sees dancers posing in a number of positions that highlight their extreme elasticity.

    Kim adds: “We will continue to make efforts to win new markets and will also continue offering beautiful clothes to our customers at reasonable prices like we do now.”

  • Habstore Korea plans New York pop up

    Habstore Korea plans New York pop up

    Habstore Korea is to open a pop up in New York City to help build its reputation as the go-to point for fashion created by young Korean designers.

    Habstore already features more than 100 Korean fashion designers – whose reputation and popularity are expanding rapidly thanks to the Korean Wave which is now spreading beyond Asia into urban US as well.

    CEO Hong Seong-jo says the company’s mission is to introduce products from new designers known for their unique design in South Korea to fashion-sensitive customers. “Some customers rejoice at finding new view on life through brands that they had not known before,” said Hong, 34, who founded the mall three years ago.

    “We are concentrating on finding various designer’s brands in order to make them happy at all times.

    “We are focusing on introducing more South Korean designer’s brands globally as we better our business”, said Hong. “We will open a pop-up store in New York introducing a variety of brand name products to expand our sales channel.”

    Hong first saw the viability of an online mall after successfully introducing a fashion watch brand in Korea. He went on to expand items to clothing and fashion accessories.

    Habstore gives special priority on brands with definite character and competitive strength, yet without attention from the public. For example, when introducing a new brand to the rest of the world, CEO Hong chooses more Eastern style or K-Style designs that Korean Wave stars have used.

    Habstore is also engaged in the production of its own fashion items. Following the launch of the fashion watch brand, ‘Paul Vice’, it also launched the watch strap brand, ‘Straps’.

    The Habstore mall,which was developed by South Korea’s largest eCommerce solution brand, cafe24, features interfaces in both Korean and English.

    Lees ook:

  • Lotte.com launches China app

    Lotte.com launches China app

    South Korea’s Lotte.com has launched a Chinese mobile shopping mall service known as ‘china.lotte.com’ to meet demands of consumers chasing the ‘Korean Wave’.

    Growing numbers of Chinese are buying goods online from offshore sources – a practice referred to as ‘Haitao’ locally. And Korean goods – especially in the beauty and fashion categories – are enormously popular among the younger demographic.

    China.lotte.com, launched Wednesday (August 19) is’ exclusively focused on customers from Greater China. After global.lotte.com launched in February last year, Lotte spent a whole year preparing for the Chinese version of the site.

    More than 10,000 lines have been selected for China.lotte.com and another 5000 local Chinese lines are being added progressively.

    Chinese customers can shop using regular payment services including Alipay, UnionPay, Tenpay, PayPal and local Chinese credit cards.

    Lotte.com’s global business team manager Hwang Hyun Jung says China.lotte.com considered even minute details to meet the expectations of the rapidly growing Chinese overseas shopping market.

    “Through meticulous translations and user tests via Chinese supporters, this service is mainly composed of local-friendly user interface,” she said.

    Lotte.com has attracted “hundreds of thousands followers and supporters” via Weibo during the last six months in preparation for the launch.

    The company is also promising to work with Korean small businesses to help expose their brands and products to Chinese consumers via the portal.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: