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Tag: lifestyle

  • Hennessy celebrates Chinese New Year by opening pop up store at Changi

    Hennessy celebrates Chinese New Year by opening pop up store at Changi

    Moet Hennessy is partnering with DFS Group in Hennessy pop-up store a Changi Airport celebrate Chinese New Year. The store, a Travel Retail Concept Exclusive, features interactive consumer experiences and will remain open until February 19. Located at the Terminal 3 Departure Hall, the pop-up experience, the only one of its kind globally. It invites travellers to “engage in a joyous reunion through experiences such as interactive digital games, Hennessy’s bottle engraving service, limited edition offers, as well as exclusive gifts with purchase,” the companies said in a statement.

    Travellers are also welcomed to test the Firecracker, a unique Hennessy cocktail, which will be available exclusively at the pop up.

    Hennessy collaborated with contemporary artist Guang-Yu Zhang to create an art piece centrestage in the pop up. The design, A Joyous Reunion, celebrates the love for nature, mastery of savoir-faire and spirit of conquest.

    Gallery of the pop up stores (6 images) :

    “Hennessy shares the dream of Harmony, from vine to grape to distillation to glass, from nature to people, Hennessy takes the best of nature and offers it to the Chinese people to celebrate this special moment,” said Guang-Yu Zhang.

    The also features on the limited-edition packaging that has been created for Hennessy XO, Hennessy VSOP and James Hennessy products.

    After purchase, customers at Changi are invited to use Hennessy’s first-ever engraving station at the pop-up store to add a personalised messages to their bottles.

    “At Hennessy, we are honoured to have collaborated with a world-class artist to deliver these beautiful, one-of-a-kind Chinese New Year limited-editions for our travellers,” said Moet Hennessy MD travel retail Asia Pacific, Vanessa Widmann.

    A rising star in the international art world, Guang-Yu Zhang grew up in Shanghai and graduated from Central Saint Martins College in London in 2012. In 2014, he was selected for the International Emerging Artists Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London; that year, he also exhibited his work at the Tate Britain Museum in London. He is known for his unique fusion of Eastern and Western cultures and traditional and contemporary techniques.

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  • App-store spending to surpass US$120 billion this year

    App-store spending to surpass US$120 billion this year

    App-store spending by consumers is expected to surpass more than US$120 billion this year according to global mobile data and analytics provider App Annie. The firm’s annual The State of Mobile 2019 report found consumers downloaded 194 billion apps last year, spending $101 billion in app stores and averaging three hours per day on mobile.

    Time spent in-app grew 50 per cent over the past two years, with downloads up 35 per cent over the same period. Mobile consumed 62 per cent of global digital-ad spend last year, up from 50 per cent in 2017. Sixty per cent more apps will monetise through in-app advertising this year.

    The report also found that 10 minutes of every hour spent consuming media this year will be spent streaming video on mobile – and Generation Z consumers spend 20 per cent more time in apps than the rest of the population.

    “Mobile is no longer an add-on channel – it is the engine fueling digital transformation,” said App Annie CEO Theodore Krantz.

    The report looks at macrotrends, app rankings, and a number of industries including mobile marketing, shopping and retail, travel, gaming, social networking, media and entertainment, banking and fintech, video streaming, dating and more.

    The firm’s global marketing and insights EVP Danielle Levitas said consumers spending on apps globally last year was larger than the global live and recorded music industry and double the size of the global sneaker market.

    “Mobile experiences are so central to how we live, work and play and with consumers spending three hours a day on mobile, it’s clear how vital this platform is for all businesses in 2019 and beyond.”

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  • Korea Grand Sale gears up for kick off

    Korea Grand Sale gears up for kick off

    Korean tourism authorities were set on January 14 for the official opening of the Korea Grand Sale, an annual event for foreign shoppers with events, promotions and sales across the country. This year’s event, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Visit Korea Committee, will be held from January 17 until February 28.

    The theme of this year is “Travel, Taste, Touch,” and will offer benefits of varying degrees from 51,497 businesses. According to the ministry, around 850 enterprises will hold sales, including discounts of up to 97 percent on flights to Korea from airlines including Air Seoul.

    Up to 25 percent discount will be provided at eateries at the top-notch hotels across the country.

    According to a survey on what foreigners did while visiting Korea conducted by the ministry, 72.5 percent of all foreign visitors in 2017 said shopping, while 58.2 percent said eating and tourism.

    A tourism program featuring restaurants with over 50 years of history — including “Cheongjinok,” “Ureok,” “Hadongkwan,” “Joseonok” and “Yeolchajib” will be held with Korean celebrity chefs as guides. Other packages include Korean food and temple food for foriengers, and ski packages.

    For those who need assistance, a welcome center will be open throughout the festival period at Cheonggye Plaza in Jongno-gu, Seoul from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tour guides will circulate popular tourist areas like Hongdae or Dongdaemun, accompanied by interpretation services.

    A welcome booth for foreigners will operate at Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport from February 1-8, to coincide with the Chinese and Korean Lunar New Year holidays.

    At the welcome center, Korea Tour Card will be given free to the first 50 visitors every day. The 10,000th visitor will receive a coupon for a stay at a local hotel.

  • Jack Wills bags cash injection to save the business

    Jack Wills bags cash injection to save the business

    Creditors of fashion label Jack Wills under HSBC have ordered an assessment of the firm’s finances, according to a report. The news comes just weeks after Jack Wills achieved new investment of £10 million (US$12.8 million), followed by speculation that the company may soon need further financial help – prompting the appointment of advisers from auditing firm EY.

    The new investment reportedly comes from an unnamed wealthy Italian family, which has previously invested in Jack Wills’ majority shareholder, BlueGem Capital Partners. BlueGem itself is thought to have provided a similar injection of cash. The identity of the investor is likely to be revealed following reports expected to be filed at Companies House.

    Brand co-founder Peter Williams was ejected from the firm’s board last year, with new executives brought in to effect a turnaround.

    Jack Wills operates more than 90 stores worldwide, including five stores in Hong Kong and two in Singapore.

  • Shilla Duty Free recruits Asia’s top social media influencers to pitch K-beauty

    Shilla Duty Free recruits Asia’s top social media influencers to pitch K-beauty

    South Korean Hotel Shilla has recruited five social media influencers across Asian countries to hype K-beauty products through Shilla Duty Free stores. The company said that it will work with top influencers from China, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand on its “Beauty&You” project to guide customers on how to shop at travel retail online stores via social media platforms.

    Social media influencers with access to a large audience can endorse opinions about products and services, which eventually leads to promote sales.

    Those influencers who have partnered up with Shilla Duty Free reportedly have more than 1.7 million followers worldwide in total. They will work with the travel retailer to guide customers on how to use Shilla Duty Free online store as well as show the latest makeup trends using Korean cosmetics products via their social media channels.

    The company expects its partnership with the top influencers to bolster its brand awareness across the world on top of expanding its share in online travel retail market.

    Currently, its online duty-free shop is available in four languages – Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and English. It also has offline outlets overseas in international airports of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macao as well as downtown Tokyo and Phuket.

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  • Central Retail to double online after Shopee acquisition

    Central Retail to double online after Shopee acquisition

    Central Retail Corporation has announced plans to to double its online sales to THB10 billion (US$315.76 million) this year. Central’s CEO Nicolo Galante said the firm intends to lead in the omni-channel e-commerce business, overtaking Shopee. “Non-food businesses globally have been disrupted by digital transformation and are struggling against the likes of Amazon and Alibaba. As the biggest non-food player in Thailand, Central Retail pledges to move aggressively this year to tap into digital transformation,” said Galante in an interview.

    “We can be for Thailand what Amazon is in Western countries and Alibaba is in China. Everywhere in the world, the No.1 player in e-commerce and digital is always a new-economy company, but in Thailand it could be a company that is 71 years old.”

    In this regard, Central intends to launch an omnichannel platform of services distinctive from those of Lazada, Alibaba and Shopee, whereby the company will retail products and services both at physical stores and online. Central will assist partner brands who lack the resources to build their presence in the marketplace.

    It will launch the first such marketplaces for Central Department Store, PowerBuy and SuperSports within the next six months.

    “We will launch our omnichannel marketplaces for our retail business,” said Galante. “If there are some problems with the products, the customer can return the products to the store, get advice and other services at the store.”

    For apparel, Central will launch launch a “Reserve and Collect” service that allows buyers to reserve two or more sizes or colours of products online and choose which to buy after trying them in-store.

    The move is part of the firm’s considerable investment in technology, teams and new services in the hopes of taking the lead in the e-commerce business by 2021.

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  • 7-Eleven Malaysia appoints Tsai Tzung-Han as director

    7-Eleven Malaysia appoints Tsai Tzung-Han as director

    Convenience store chain operator 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd has appointed Tsai Tzung-Han (pix) as a non-independent and non-executive director, effective Jan 16, 2019. Tsai, 42, is currently the vice chairman of Cathay United Bank, a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holdings which is listed in Taiwan. He also serves as a director on the board of Cathay Life Insurance, the largest life insurer in Taiwan and also a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holdings.

    Tsai had previously served in various capacities at Cathay Life Insurance, including senior vice president in charge of alternative investments and executive vice president in charge of real estate acquisitions and development, human resources and strategic planning.

    He also ran the strategic planning department for Cathay Financial Holdings from 2010 until 2016 and oversaw the strategic investments into Bank Mayapada in Indonesia, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation in Philippines and Conning Asset Management in the US.

    He joined Cathay United Bank in 2015 and served as the head of strategic planning until he became the vice chairman in 2016, where he continues to oversee the strategic planning, wealth management, digital banking, data analytics and overseas banking departments.

    Prior to returning to Taiwan, Tsai worked briefly in private equity at Goldman Sachs in New York and in venture capital at Pacific Venture Partners in San Francisco.

    From 2001 until 2003, he was a practicing attorney in the real estate department at Hale and Dorr LLP, currently known as Wilmer Hale, in Boston. Tsai has over 10 years’ experience in investment and business development in finance industry.

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  • Indonesia to Regulate Ride-Hailing Rates Threatens Grab, Go-Jek Expansion

    Indonesia to Regulate Ride-Hailing Rates Threatens Grab, Go-Jek Expansion

    The government is preparing to launch regulations fixing the rates drivers and riders for ride-hailing services such as Grab and Go-Jek receive, two officials said this week, creating potential obstacles for the companies’ expansion. The regulations would meet drivers’ demands for more oversight and higher rates but there are concerns that the rising costs to the companies could stifle their development as they battle to dominate the ride-hailing market in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

    Singapore-based Grab and homegrown Go-Jek have been locked in price wars in Indonesia, part of a wider fight to bring banking, e-commerce, ride-hailing, food-delivery and other services to every corner of Southeast Asia.

    However, since 2018, motorcycle taxi drivers working for Grab and Go-Jek in Jakarta have held protest rallies calling for higher fares and better conditions.

    The Ministry of Transportation plans to implement minimum and maximum tariffs for car and motorbike ride-hailing that will be “higher than Go-Jek and Grab’s current rates” and impose limits on promotional price cuts, said Budi Setyadi, director general of land transportation at the ministry.

    “This is for the safety and protection of drivers,” he said.

    Ahmad Yani, public transportation director at the ministry, said dependency on incentive-driven payments and low fixed rates per kilometer created a safety risk as it led to drivers overworking.

    He said Grab paid Rp 1,200 (8 US cents) per kilometer with a focus on bonuses, while Go-Jek’s rate was Rp 1,400 per kilometer.

    The officials said fixed fare ranges for motorbikes were still being finalized but would be implemented from March.

    Fixed rates for ride-hailing cars will start in June and be set at between Rp 3,500 and Rp 6,000 per kilometer on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali.

    The drivers were pushing for increases to a standard fare of Rp 3,000 to Rp 4,000 per kilometer.

    New Rules

    The firms said they welcomed the new rules, though they had not seen details of the motorbike regulations.”Grab believes the government will develop the best regulatory framework and hopes that all stakeholders will be included in the process,” said Tri Sukma Anreianno, the company’s head of public affairs .

    A Go-Jek spokesman said: “We support the government’s spirit to encourage our driver partners … and hope the regulation will have a positive impact on the sustainability of drivers’ income … and fair business competition.”

    However, both transportation officials said the companies are worried about the pending regulation since they have spent heavily on driver subsidies to slash their customer rates and build their businesses.

    “Grab and Go-Jek have told me they would prefer there was no regulation,” Ahmad said. “Due to the competition between them … they are scared what could happen if they don’t keep up with each other.”

    The Supreme Court blocked a previous attempt in 2017 by the transportation ministry to fix ride-hailing rates after drivers sued, saying the rules favored the taxi firms.

    Both ministry officials said the new regulations met anti-competition standards and followed extensive discussions with driver syndicates.

    Grab and Go-Jek drivers welcomed the prospect of standard fares.

    “I have been working for Grab since 2015. Before, I could earn Rp 300,000 to Rp 400,000 per day. Now, I can only get Rp 150,000,” said Hermansyah, a Grab motorcycle driver partner.

    Another driver, who had worked for both companies, said neither provided much protection, leading drivers to bear operational costs. He asked not to be identified since he had a role in organizing protests.

    The fixed rates will be a challenge to a business model that has depended on cheap passenger prices for growth and could undermine innovation.

    “Cheap fares has been the firms’ main way to attract customers,” said Yayat Suprityatna, urban and transportation observer at Trisakti University in Jakarta.

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  • Vietnam seafood export remains red

    Vietnam seafood export remains red

    Agifish, a major seafood company, reported a second straight year of losses in 2018 as both exports and domestic sales fell. The recently released 2018 audited financial report of one of Vietnam’s 10 largest seafood export companies puts its loss at VND178 billion ($7.66 million). The An Giang Fisheries Import Export Joint Stock Company, to give its formal name, had lost VND190 billion ($8.2 million) a year earlier.

    The company said the loss came as sales downed 43 percent to VND1.29 trillion ($55.27 million) in 2018, due to lower fish exports and domestic sales as well as lower revenues from by-products.

    The poor performance last year caused auditors to raise doubts about the company’s ability to remain a going concern, but the management rejected this, saying it would increase domestic and export sales, adjust prices and reduce costs to return to the black in 2019.

    Agifish has total assets of VND1.23 trillion ($52.92 million) and debts of VND800 billion ($34.42 million).

    The Vietnamese seafood industry faced some challenges last year such as being subject to a “yellow card” warning by the European Commission for failing to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. There were also technical barriers and anti-dumping duties in several markets.

    Seafood export value rose 5.8 percent year-on-year in 2018 to reach $8.8 billion, according to the Vietnam Customs.

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  • Jaspal unveils collection joined by Lynnie Z

    Jaspal unveils collection joined by Lynnie Z

    Thai fashion brand Jaspal has opened a new flagship store featuring its limited edition collaboration with London-based artist Lynnie Z. The partnership with Jaspal’s Hi Life collection marks the opening of the brand’s new IconSiam flagship. It is one of a series of partnerships between Jaspal and global artists to ensure that unique styles emerge each season.

    The Hi Life collection for men and women features stars, hearts, lips and faces as motifs with strong colour themes referencing Africa.

    “I was so honoured to be a part of such a wonderful project,” said Z. “Thailand has an outstanding heritage and Thai people love art and fashion, which is the reason why I decided to come on board. Also, I think Jaspal and I share the same artistic soul, and, more importantly, the brand fully understands the story relayed behind my works,” she said.

    “To me, this project was really wonderful, allowing me to create a masterpiece collection with a famous local brand, and communicate my inspiration, passion, and uniqueness through the collection. This is one of the best works I’ve ever created. As for the process in making this collection, for the most part, I came up with ideas and colours from my sketchbook. These are organic and abrupt but they reflect a liveliness that I wanted to communicate through the collection.”

    View the images of the collection below (6 images) :

  • VinFast announces seven new car models

    VinFast announces seven new car models

    VinFast, Vietnam’s first fully-fledged car manufacturer, plans to launch seven new ‘premium’ models. Following the first line of Lux (short for Luxury) automobiles aimed at the high-end segment, VinFast, a unit of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Vingroup, has announced it will launch a Pre (short for Premium) car line with the aim of tapping a larger customer base.

    The company has opened a polling page for customers to vote on the seven most popular models out of a potential 35.

    The seven Pre models will include a hatchback and a CUV (crossover SUV) for the A and B segments; one Sedan and CUV for the C segment; and 1 Sedan, 1 SUV and 1 family car for the D segment.

    VinFast will continue to work closely with the famous Italian studios, Ital Design, Torino Design, and Pininfarina on designing the new models.

    VinFast showed off its first two car models, a sedan and an SUV, at the Paris Motor Show in France last October just a year after its incorporation, grabbing the attention of the local and international media.

    VinFast’s first production models built under its own badge hit the streets in August 2019.

    According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, total car sales in the country topped 288,000 units in 2018, up 5.9 percent from around 272,000 units in 2017.

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  • LVMH invests into Gabriela Hearst

    LVMH invests into Gabriela Hearst

    LVMH Luxury Ventures, an investment arm of the multinational conglomerate, has taken a minority stake in New York-based luxury label Gabriela Hearst. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, although LVMH Luxury Ventures typically invests between €2 and €15 million.

    Hearst, who ran contemporary-priced label Candela for more than a decade before launching her upscale luxury offering in 2015, has briskly built a ready-to-wear business based on sharply tailored silhouettes rendered in ultra-expensive fabrics, with a focus on sustainably sourced materials. In 2018, just three years after she launched her label, the collection — which also includes a robust handbag business, mostly sold direct-to-consumer — generated between $15 and $20 million, according to sources familiar with the business.

    Launched in 2017, LVMH Luxury Ventures is an investment vehicle within the LVMH group that aims to invest in emerging labels that have already shown an ability to scale.

    Investments have included French apothecary brand Officine Universelle Buly and sneaker resale shop Stadium Goods, which was subsequently acquired by Farfetch for $250 million in December 2018.

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  • Poh Kong Malaysia to open three more stores

    Poh Kong Malaysia to open three more stores

    Malaysian jeweller Poh Kong plans to open three more stores this year, boosting its profit. The improved profit is also likely to be driven by  higher gold prices, tipped by some to range from US$1300–$1400 per ounce later this year. The firm’s new stores will open in IOI Mall Puchong, Aeon Nilai and South Key Mall in Johor, taking its network to 95 outlets nationwide.

    “We are aware of the US-China trade war, as well as the anticipation of the US interest rate hikes and currency fluctuations that alter consumer sentiments that could lead to market uncertainty,” said MD Eddie Choon Yee Seiong. “Yet, we are optimistic to maintain or do better in 2019 as compared to the previous financial year.”

    Indicators of upward movement for the company include the improving economy and the strength of the Malaysian ringgit against the American dollar.

    While burgeoning demand saw the firm’s performance improved during the last financial year, fluctuations in gold prices and a weaker ringgit saw a steep drop in actual profits at 20.75 per cent lower than the previous year.

    “We reckon gold will benefit from the ongoing concerns looming around the US-China trade war concerns, as investors may find the precious metal a safe haven,” said Choon.

  • BMW Group Malaysia achieves another record year of sales

    BMW Group Malaysia achieves another record year of sales

    BMW Group Malaysia delivered a total of 14,338 units of BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad vehicles last year, marking its eighth consecutive year of record sales. The total number of vehicles delivered last year was 13% higher than 12,681 units delivered in 2017. The group said in a statement that the strong performance in Malaysia reflects the group’s business performance worldwide last year, where a total of 2.65 million BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad vehicles were delivered.

    Globally, the BMW brand delivered a total of 2.12 million (+1.8%) vehicles, while MINI saw 361,531 new owners. BMW Motorrad also achieved record deliveries with 165,566 new owners, an increase of 0.9% compared to 2017.

    “In 2018, BMW Group Malaysia achieved numerous milestones which contributed to the success we celebrate today. Over the course of the year, we introduced 12 new models across the BMW and MINI brands – of which four were electrified vehicles. We also unveiled two new concept vehicles for the first time ever not only in Malaysia, but in Southeast Asia,” said BMW Group Malaysia managing director Harald Hoelzl.

    Hoelzl said the group also grew its infrastructure for electromobility in Malaysia by introducing new BMW i Charging Facilities in four different states to facilitate its vision for future mobility in Malaysia.

    In 2018, the BMW brand saw 12,008 new owners in Malaysia, 13% higher than 10,618 new owners in 2017 while MINI recorded a double-digit growth of over 18%, delivering 1,200 vehicles last year compared with 1,011 units previously.

    BMW Motorrad saw 1,130 new owners in 2018, which recorded a growth of over 7% compared to 1,052 in 2017.

    BMW Group Malaysia also recorded its best performance for its electrified vehicles in 2018. Of the total cars delivered, 57% comprised of electrified BMW and MINI (7,532).

    Meanwhile, BMW Group Financial Services Malaysia achieved a strong business portfolio with over 6,100 contracts signed in 2018. It successfully financed every four out of 10 BMW and MINI vehicles delivered last year as well as every six out of 10 BMW Motorrad vehicles last year.

    “2019 will be another exciting year for the BMW Group in Malaysia with a strong portfolio of products to be introduced here, mirroring the biggest model offensive for the company worldwide,” said Hoelzl.

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  • Pizza Hut Malaysia 400th store opens soon

    Pizza Hut Malaysia 400th store opens soon

    Pizza Hut Malaysia will open its 400th store in within the next three months. The company says it plans 15 new stores this calendar year, part of the 67 it announced last year within three years. Parent QSR Brands operates 810 KFC locations in its territory of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Cambodia, drawing 25 million customers per month. It has another 393 Pizza Huts in Malaysia and 80 in Singapore, attracting 6 million diners per month.

    QSR Brands restaurants division CEO Merrill Pereyra said Pizza Hut anticipates a strong year as it heads towards a planned IPO in the next quarter, partly aimed to raise capital for network expansion.