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Tag: lifestyle

  • Visa Thailand to strengthen security in payment

    Visa Thailand to strengthen security in payment

    Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, has today launched its Future of Security Roadmap for Thailand, outlining a robust approach for strengthening payments security in the country over the next 3 years. Visa’s Roadmap focuses on a number of key initiatives which will enable security to evolve at the same pace as the technologies changing the way we pay. These security initiatives include:

    • Devalue data by removing the sensitive data from the ecosystem and making stolen account details useless.
    • Protect data by implementing safeguards to protect personal data as well as account details.
    • Harness data by identifying potential fraud before it occurs and increase confidence in approving good transactions.
    • Empower everyone, including accountholders, 3rd party providers and merchants, to play an active role in securing payments.

    Suripong Tantiyanon, Country Manager, Visa Thailand said: “We are proud to be launching our Thailand Future of Security Roadmap. Securing the commerce ecosystem is our highest priority and one we view as a shared responsibility between payment networks, consumers, banks, and the government. Technology has enabled new innovative ways to pay and be paid, but it has also brought unique risks. To stay ahead of fraud, we need to work together and give security the same attention and investment as we do the innovations driving new commerce experiences.”

    The release of Visa’s Roadmap comes at a time of rapid change for payments in Thailand with innovations such as mobile payments set to enhance the payment experience for consumers. According to Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, security remains a key consideration for consumers across Southeast Asia with two-thirds (67 percent) concerned about the safety of their personal information when using their mobile phone to make payments.

    When asked specifically about what their top three concerns were when using their mobile phones to make payments, consumers in Thailand said losing my phone or having my phone stolen, my phone getting hacked or someone intercepting my data, and malware or viruses being installed on my phone.

    Visa works with industry stakeholders including financial institutions, merchants, policy makers, law enforcement and accountholders to secure payments. The Visa Future of Security Roadmap is the product of comprehensive consultations and collaboration, making it an authoritative document on Thailand payments security.

    Visa is delivering roadmaps around the world to ensure the security of the global commerce ecosystem, as well as working with Thai industry bodies to align security initiatives.

     

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  • Thai Airways taps Worldpay for payments innovation

    Thai Airways taps Worldpay for payments innovation

    Thai Airways International (THAI), the flagship carrier airline of Thailand, has selected Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP; LSE: WPY) as its international payments partner, as it targets overseas growth. To support its sustainable growth strategy, THAI needed an experienced partner to help it manage the complexities of cross-border payments and optimise the online booking journey across both mobile and desktop.

    Worldpay, a leader in card and alternative payments with global coverage, was selected for its international reach and unrivalled experience in the airline industry. Worldpay works with 88 of the world’s biggest airlines and has more than 25 years of experience in the sector. Consumer preferences are changing: while flights have traditionally been booked using credit cards, alternative payment methods (APMs) are growing in popularity. With 28 percent of Thai consumers using bank transfers as their preferred method for shopping online, the ability to offer local payment options will allow companies to make the most of Southeast Asia’s second largest economy.

    Additionally, global mCommerce penetration is set to rise from 38 percent in 2018 to 49 percent in 2022, which suggests that mCommerce is on track to overtake desktop sales by 2023. To adapt to this shift, Worldpay will support THAI in widening its breadth of payment methods and transaction currencies to appeal to the changing purchasing patterns of customers. THAI will initially focus its payment optimisation efforts on Australia and Europe – two key markets for the company. In Australia, the carrier’s passenger traffic is growing by two percent year-over-year, while in Europe passenger traffic is growing at a rate of 2.5 percent each year.

    A range of APMs such as iDEAL, Trustly, SOFORT, and Giropay will be rolled out over the coming months to make it easier for European travellers to book online. The THAI payment team will then expand their initiatives to India, China, and the rest of Asia Pacific. Worldpay will also help THAI execute their commercial strategy through advanced data analytics capabilities, which provide rich insight into transaction approval rates and payment costs. This data will enable the airline to expedite new sales strategies and optimise their payments infrastructure with cross-border operations.

    Wiwat Piyawiroj, THAI Executive Vice President, Commercial comments: “Tourism is booming in Thailand, with a 7.7% increase in domestic flights year-over-year for our service. Yet the market is also incredibly competitive, so it is vital to ensure we can best service our customers and their needs. Thanks to Worldpay, we will be able to offer a variety of payment methods that caters to the tastes of travellers all over the world, making it easier for them to book the holidays they want. As we grow, Worldpay will be a vital strategic payments partner and key to our continued success.”

    Phil Pomford, general manager for Asia Pacific, Global Enterprise eCommerce at Worldpay, said: “With global passenger numbers on track to double over the next 20 years, and Thailand forecast to enter the top 10 aviation markets by 2030, it is a hugely exciting time for THAI. We are delighted to support our partner as they continue to grow. Travellers are continuously evolving the ways in which they buy flights, and airlines must keep pace to match these shifting patterns. The airline industry has never been more competitive, and we look forward to helping THAI capitalise upon the opportunities ahead.”

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  • KKR to acquire significant stake in V3, TWG Tea

    KKR to acquire significant stake in V3, TWG Tea

    Private equity company KKR is to invest as much as S$500 million (US$366 million) into V3, the parent of cafe chain TWG Tea and massage chair retailer Osim, to fund regional expansion. In a deal which mixes equity and financing, KKR will take an unspecified “significant stake” in V3, which is effectively valued at S$1.7 billion. V3 is the company which resulted from last year’s restructuring of once-listed Osim International after plans for an IPO were shelved.

    Keith Magnus, chairman of Evercore Asia, which advised V3 on the deal said that the investment by KKR represents a more than 50 per cent increase in enterprise value compared to when the group was taken private.

    “This is a phenomenal premium for [Ron] Sim,” said Magnus.

    Sim remains the chairman, chief executive and controlling shareholder of V3. Sim, who remains chairman, CEO and controlling shareholder of the business added in a statement: “I am extremely pleased to welcome KKR as a significant shareholder in V3. I am confident this investment will position the company for our next phase of growth, starting with the immediate expansion of TWG Tea in Japan and the US and of Osim in China.

    “We would also be looking into M&A opportunities that are earnings accretive.”

    V3 also owns the rights to retail GNC nutritional supplements in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

    Sim says V3’s revenue cleared S$600 million last year and profit was also up.

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  • Cashless services explode in Vietnam

    Cashless services explode in Vietnam

    Vietnam’s central bank says the value of cashless transactions more than doubled over the first three quarters of 2018. The Department of Payments at the State Bank of Vietnam reported a strong rise in payments over electronic channels between January and September, compared to the same period last year. Accordingly, the value of online payments rose by 18.3 percent, while transactions over mobile apps and e-wallets rose by 126 percent and 161 percent respectively.

    The number of transactions over Internet, mobile and e-wallet channels also rose 33 percent, 30 percent and 28 percent respectively.

    “Mobile payment is becoming a new trend with the rise of technologies such as QR codes, contact and contactless payments, and the tokenization of card information,” said Nghiem Thanh Son, deputy director of the department.

    The first months of 2018 saw the number of users and the value of transactions through electronic channels such as online, mobile and e-wallets rocket at many banks.

    At Sacombank, statistics show that as of October, the number of registrations for online banking reached over 1.3 million accounts and for mobile banking 1.1 million accounts. The total value of transactions per month through both channels exceeded VND108 trillion ($4.63 billion).

    For VietinBank, the country’s second largest lender by assets, the number of internet banking users in the first half of this year surged 114 percent over the same period last year to a total of 1.5 million accounts and VND44.26 trillion ($1.90 billion) in total transaction value.

    Its mobile banking users also reached 1.5 million, engaging in transactions totalling VND64.35 trillion ($2.76 billion) between January and June.

    Over 7 million people are using digital services provided by MBBank. The average transaction value per month reached VND27.4 trillion ($1.17 billion), with digital transactions making up approximately 2.6 million out of 3 million total monthly transactions seen at this bank.

    Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank’s HCMC branch, noted that the number of online banking customers has seen average annual increase of 20 percent in recent years.

    Minh said that in order to continue developing non-cash payment channels, credit institutions should pay attention to linking their cashless systems with the public sector, specifically in areas like health, education, payroll and utilities.

    Cashless services should also expand to include online payment options for public services like buses, trains and other smart urban solutions, he said.

  • Samsonite to support global fight against plastic bottles

    Samsonite to support global fight against plastic bottles

    Samsonite has launched an eco luggage collection for Asia made of Recyclex, a material comprising 100 per cent post-consumer recycled plastic (PET) bottles. As part of its public-facing environmental program, Samsonite has been working with one of its suppliers to create sustainable materials suitable for travel and lifestyle products. The company claims its new innovation Recyclex is as durable and reliable as Samsonite’s polyester fabric made from virgin materials, with the added benefit of reducing plastic waste.

    Subrata Dutta, president of Samsonite Asia Pacific said sustainability is a priority that runs through Samsonite’s products.

    “We recognise that travellers are increasingly aware of environmental protection and looking for ways to reduce their environmental footprint … We expect to generate stronger awareness of environmental protection in the market, and will continue to seek opportunities to maximise the use of recycled and recyclable materials in our products and packaging.”

    The products consumed more than 400,000 recycled plastic bottles in Asia. On some items, cork serves as an alternative for the polyurethane trim on the carry handles, logo, ID tag and back protection.

    Over the next two years, Samsonite will launch at least 30 product lines worldwide made from recycled materials such as rPET and recycled polypropylene.

  • Singapore Changi Airport extends key DFS

    Singapore Changi Airport extends key DFS

    Key Changi Airport duty-free liquor and beauty concessions held by DFS and Shilla Travel have been extended for two years. The extensions will start from 2020 after the expiration of their current six-year concessions. Over the past four years, the airport’s two core-category concessions have involved pioneering retail concepts including unique duplex stores and the world’s first airport integrated duty-free zone.

    Executive VP of commercial at Changi Lim Peck Hoon said: “We are very pleased to continue our partnership with DFS and The Shilla Duty Free for another two years. Their passion for the travel retail industry continue to deliver new ideas and novel retail concepts at Changi Airport, and were instrumental in driving sales growth over the past four years.”

    A release from the company stated that Changi plans to leverage new technologies and innovations for a seamless retail experience when passengers shop from online to offline, from before they fly to the time they board.
    The extended tenancy terms for the liquor concession will commence from April 9, 2020 until April 8, 2022, covering 18 stores and spanning more than 8000sqm of retail space in Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4.

    For the beauty concession, the extended tenancy terms will begin from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022, covering 22 outlets and spanning more than 7400sqm of retail space across Changi Airport’s four terminals.

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  • Samsung to support the Olympics through 2028

    Samsung to support the Olympics through 2028

    Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday it will extend its partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through 2028, from the original 2020 end date of the collaboration. The two parties signed an agreement at a ceremony at the Hotel Shilla in central Seoul in the presence of IOC President Thomas Bach and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, as well as other executives from the company and officials from the committee.

    Samsung said it will continue as a Worldwide Olympic Partner in the wireless communications equipment and computing equipment category and promote the artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 5G features of the supplied equipment. Samsung will continue the support beyond the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 through to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The agreement also covers the Youth Olympic Games through 2028.

    Samsung will continue to support the IOC, the national Olympic Committee and the teams, the technology company added. The company will remain a Worldwide Partner of the International Paralympic Committee, extending a relationship that began in 2006.

    In collaboration with the IOC and the Organizing Committees, Samsung plans to continue its Athlete Phone Program. Under this program, it provides Olympic Edition Galaxy phones to all participating Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

    “As part of the agreement, the IOC and Samsung will further develop their strategic digital collaboration to engage young generations around the world in order to promote the power of sport and the values of Olympism,” Samsung said in a statement.

    “As a Worldwide Olympic Partner for the last 22 years, Samsung has been inspired by the spirit of hope, friendship and unity,” said Koh Dong-jin, president and CEO of the IT and mobile communications division at Samsung Electronics. “Through our innovative wireless and computing equipment, which supports AI, VR, AR and 5G technology, we hope to spread the excitement of the games so that fans and athletes around the world can stay connected and share in the journey to achieve greatness at the highest level of sportsmanship.”

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  • Korea’s brand Tonymoly inked partnership with Moschino

    Korea’s brand Tonymoly inked partnership with Moschino

    Italian fashion design house Moschino has released a collaboration with South Korean cosmetics brand Tonymoly on a collection of makeup and skincare products. The collection includes a cosmetics line and a few skincare items in sleek black, white, gold and rainbow packaging. The full range will be available from Tonymoly’s US web store throughout December.

    Moschino also collaborated on a reportedly fast-selling fashion line with H&M earlier this year. South Korean cosmetics brand Tonymoly sees the US as a key market in its plan to accelerate international growth.

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  • Demand of women’s athleisure wear growing at a rapid pace globally : Lotto

    Demand of women’s athleisure wear growing at a rapid pace globally : Lotto

    Lotto Sport Italia S.P.A, a major name in international sports industry, is nothing less than a household name in India. The brand is manufactured, retailed and licensed by Sports Station Pvt Ltd (SSIPL) in India. The organization has been instrumental in the brilliant re-launch of the brand Lotto Sports in India, making it available across nation.

    According to Shivam Kataria, Vice President, SSIPL Retail, since Lotto has been in India from a very long period of time, either customers have grown up wearing the brand or are aspiring to wear it. “The brand awareness of Lotto is so strong in India that many customers instead of considering it as an Italian brand, think that it is an Indian brand.”

    Abroad, the brand is associated with football and tennis. But it gained its share of popularity in India in the running segment. Slowly and gradually as the Indian market followed international trends and inclined towards the athleisure segment from performance wear, Lotto has also changed its perspective.

    “The Athleisure market is poised to grow 15-20 percent year-on-year. Seeing the immense scope in the category going ahead, Lotto also started changing its outlook towards the market by expanding into the athleisure segment. However, the running segment, football and tennis shoes remain core to the brand,” states Kataria.

    Explaining it further, he says, “A majority of people across the globe have started participating in sports, not for competition but for their well-being, for interaction and for fun. They want sportswear which can be worn in the morning, afternoon and evening. They want to feel comfortable wearing the same shoes in office as well as to a club, and this is the major reason behind the rising demand of athleisure.”

    Another category which has seen a spike in demand at Lotto is women’s wear.

    “Currently, 30 percent revenue is coming from the women’s segment. We are targeting to close this year with 30 percent contribution from women customer including footwear and apparel,” asserts Kataria.

    Target Consumer

    The brand caters to modern-day consumers who consider fitness a lifestyle. It also focuses towards catering to the needs of serious sports enthusiasts. Lotto is also positioned as a brand, which delivers international standard sports merchandise to Indian sport enthusiasts.

    Omnichannel Strategy

    According to Kataria, there are two ways to go Omnichannel – to have your own website or to partner with various e-commerce players. “We have partnered with various e-commerce players as cost of customer acquisition is quite high with our portal.”

    “Omnichannel is still evolving in India and in the next six months to one year, the entire system around Omnichannel is expected to get cemented,” he explains. Going forward, Lotto is planning to introduce their own e-commerce portal.

    “Store integration from an Omnichannel perspective is underway and we can expect it to be fully functional in six months,” he states The brand, which has men’s footwear as the fastest moving category, gets 25 percent contribution to the overall revenue from online business.

    Future Plans

    At present, the brand has 36 EBOs across major locations in Delhi/ NCR, UP, Haryana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, MP, J&K, Uttrakhand and Gujarat. It has presence in over 200+ MBO’s including Sports Station, Reliance Footprints, Pantaloons, and leading e-com portals like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and Jabong.

    Elaborating on the expansion plans of the brand, Kataria reveals, “This fiscal, we are planning to open more 15 EBOs in North, East and South regions and add another 25-30 stores next fiscal. Our plan is to double the store count in one year’s time.”

    “In the next fiscal we will be adding 100 more SIS. We are also looking forward into new categories like bags, luggage and light fitness equipment,” he adds.

    At the same time, the brand is expanding the categories like women’s wear and apparel. According to Kataria, Tier I and Metro cities are where Lotto’s business is and Tier II and beyond is where its growth lies.

    The brand, which has been growing on 35-40 percent year-on-year, plans to grow at the same scale this fi scal too.

    “The same store sales growth has been flatish or slightly negative as compared to last year. However, we are expecting to see a good season from January onwards,” he says.

    The sportswear brand, which endorses the best of athletes in the sports arena including major names like Luca Toni, David Ferrer, Agnieszka Radwanska, Carla Suarez Navarro, Kevin Anderson and many more, is targeting Rs 150 crore plus revenue in India.

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  • Hong Kong retail rent rises (too) fast

    Hong Kong retail rent rises (too) fast

    Prime Hong Kong street-shop rents rose 4 per cent in the first three quarters of this year, ahead of the up-to 3 per cent rise prediction by Savills a year ago. In a third-quarter real estate briefing released yesterday, Savills said shopping-centre retail rents, which Savills expected would fall as much as 5 per cent, have actually risen 2 per cent year to date.

    Savills expects prime Hong Kong street-shop rents and shopping centre rents will rise by about 2 per cent next year.

    “In the retail market, despite the headwinds of a weaker RMB, more competition from regional cities and elevated new supply in the New Territories, rents will rise modestly,” the company predicted.

    “New infrastructure in the form of the High Speed Rail Link and the Macau Bridge will improve accessibility for mainlanders, while domestic consumption expenditure is expected to remain reasonably robust. Online retail continues to make limited gains in the Hong Kong market.”

    Savills said prime street shops proved the only real estate category in Hong Kong to post a decline in sale value on a per square foot basis, falling 3 per cent – a stark contrast to the 10-12 per cent rise in flatted factories and warehouses, and 8 per cent rise in luxury apartments.

    The company predicts prices for prime high street shops are likely to fall by up to 5 per cent next year.

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  • Zomato India to expand food delivery business to 100 cities

    Zomato India to expand food delivery business to 100 cities

    Online restaurant guide and food ordering firm Zomato on Friday said it is expanding food delivery services to 100 cities over the next week.

    The company’s food delivery services are currently present across 93 cities and lists over 75,000 restaurants on the platform, Zomato said in a statement.

    “… the food delivery business is ramping up really well with the growth in main markets, as well as the reception in tier II tier III cities,” Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO, Zomato said.

    Founded by Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008, Zomato is a restaurant search and discovery platform providing in-depth information for over 1.4 million restaurants across 24 countries and serves more than 50 million users every month.

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  • Vingroup’s smartphone launched soon

    Vingroup’s smartphone launched soon

    Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Vingroup, will introduce its first smartphones on December 14 as part of its tech expansion. The company will launch four new models under the brand name “Vsmart,” at the Landmark 81 skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City.

    The phones are produced at Vingroup’s factory in the northern city of Hai Phong, which is capable of making five million phones a year in its first phase of operations, a Vingroup statement said.

    The company will utilize Spanish experts for product development as it owns 51 percent of Spanish technology firm BQ.

    “We hope that Vsmart phones, alongside VinFast cars, will contribute to the development of Vietnam industry and bring Vietnamese brands to the world,” said Nguyen Viet Quang, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Vingroup.

    Vingroup became the country’s first full-fledged domestic car maker two months ago, introducing three new car models. In June, it established the VinSmart Co. to produce smartphones and other smart electronic devices with a registered capital of VND3 trillion ($131.54 million).

    VinSmart is also working with Qualcomm and Google’s Alphabet Inc to “update to the most advanced technology in the smartphone sector,” the statement said.

    The company will be the newest phone maker seeking success in Vietnam, a country of 95 million people. The market is currently dominated by Samsung and Apple phones. Vietnam is the largest smartphone production base for Samsung Electronics.

    Vingroup said its VinSmart factory will also produce smart TVs and other smart products in the future.

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  • Thai’s The Lobster Lab expands to China

    Thai’s The Lobster Lab expands to China

    Thai restaurant concept The Lobster Lab has opened its first outlet in Shanghai.

    The restaurant, operated by Bangkok-based Thai Union Group opened inside one of Alibaba’s Hema supermarkets last month. It serves lobster rolls, seafood chowder and some western dishes.

    The concept is based on Thai Union’s King Oscar brand, a dine-in and takeout restaurant which serves fresh lobsters imported from the US and Canada to meet “the growing Chinese consumer’s demand for tasty and nutritious seafood”.

    Thai Union also owns the American-style seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster and plans to open one of those stores inside IFC mall in Shanghai soon.

    The Lobster Lab is part of Thammachart Seafood Retail, of which Thai Union owns 25 per cent.

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  • Lazada to tackle counterfeit Korean products more seriously

    Lazada to tackle counterfeit Korean products more seriously

    Lazada has pledged to remove any counterfeit South Korean goods from its platform in a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency (KOIPA). It is reportedly the first time a Southeast Asian e-commerce company has reached an agreement with the Korean IP regulator and reflects the growing popularity of Korean beauty and fashion products online across Asia.

    Korean brands online and considered at risk from counterfeit products include Etude House, Innisfree, Laneige, Mamonde and 3CE.

    “The combined followers for [those brands’] Lazada flagship stores are more than 200,000,” Gladys Chun, general counsel and head of government affairs at Lazada Group said.

    “Laneige, Mamonde, Innisfree and 3CE were top search terms in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam during the recent Lazada 11.11 Shopping Festival.”

    Lazada has undertaken to remove any counterfeit goods from sale on its platform when alerted by brand owners, once it has confirmed authenticity. Sellers caught trying to sell copy goods on its site face blacklisting.

    “Such measures to curb illicit trading of goods on Lazada are aimed at boosting the confidence and preserving the trust of shoppers on our platform,” Chun said.

    “At Lazada, we respect and collaborate with rights holders in safeguarding their IP through a combination of proactive and reactive measures. It is incumbent on us to create that trusted space for shoppers and brands, giving them the peace-of-mind that we will always be acting in their best interests.”

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  • Zara lipstick launched online

    Zara lipstick launched online

    Zara lipstick goes on sale this week – but only online. The fast-fashion brand’s first lipstick collection – called Zara Ultimatte – marks a continuing expansion of its beauty and cosmetics offer. Sister brands Bershka and Pull&Bear already have makeup lines, targeting younger consumers.

    Parent company Inditex says the collection was “inspired by the kind of makeup needed to create ad campaigns”. It is based on a colour palette created by British make-up artist Pat McGrath, (famous for working with Christian Dior and Armani Beauty, among others).

    The French-made Zara lipstick collection was designed in Los Angeles, featuring 12 high-pigment lipsticks, eight liquid-matte lipsticks, a box kit with three red colours and a limited-edition, behind-the-scenes kit. Prices range from €7.95 to €19.95. While available only on the Zara website, the company will ship worldwide.

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