Retail News CRM

Tag: luxury

  • Almost all Vietnamese internet users shop online

    Almost all Vietnamese internet users shop online

    Up to 98 percent of internet users in Vietnam have made purchases online, up one percentage point over 2017. Increasing effectiveness of the online retail ecosystem in meeting the convenience of its shopper base has strengthened the online shopping habit, according to the 2018 Nielsen Connected Commerce Report.

    Fashion, travel, books and music continue to account for the largest proportion of online transactions in consumer goods, with 59 percent, 52 percent and 51 percent of Vietnamese consumer respondents saying they have purchased goods in the above categories in the respective order.

    These are also considered typical categories for the first-time online shoppers.

    Nguyen Anh Dung, director and head of Retail Measurement Services for Nielsen Vietnam, said that as levels of familiarity, comfort and confidence grow, consumers are likely to move on to purchasing items such as beauty products, personal care, packaged food or fresh groceries.

    For relatively new products, about two in three consumers said that return policies for products not of satisfactory quality have encouraged them to shop online.

    The other concern of consumers is free or same day delivery services.

    Vietnam has targeted that 30 percent of its population shop online between 2016 and 2020, with yearly sales value of approximately $350 per person.

    The country’s e-commerce value climbed to about $4 billion in 2016, becoming one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.

    Revenue from online retail in Vietnam is forecast to hit $10 billion by 2020, accounting for five percent of the country’s retail market.

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  • Prada ‘racist’ incident ended up with apology

    Prada ‘racist’ incident ended up with apology

    Prada has apologised for selling a US$550 monkey figurine after a social media backlash from US consumers alleging the character is racist. The monkeys, with oversized red lips and dark skin have been likened to “racist caricatures historically used to dehumanise black people” according to a commentary in The Business of Fashion.  Some social media users pointed out a resemblance to golliwogs, the fictional children’s book character created by Kate Upton in the late 19th Century, which brands worldwide have avoided using in marketing for reasons Prada executives could have easily found with a quick Google search.

    The ‘racist’ monkey character was part of the Pradamalia range of small accessories like keychains and toys featuring cartoon characters.

    Prada said in a statement that the creatures were “not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface”.

    “Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery. In this interest, we will withdraw all of the characters in question from display and circulation.”

    The Business of Fashion described the company’s design as “at best tone-deaf, at worst racist and exploitative”.

    Some people in the retail industry may well ask how Prada released such a product after the high-profile case of H&M having to apologise after releasing marketing images of a black child wearing a hoodie with the text “Coolest monkey in the jungle” in January, which prompted a similar chorus of disapproval. H&M immediately withdrew the hoodies from sale globally and recycled them, but not before some stores in South Africa had to be closed temporarily after protests and vandalism.

    And just last month, Dolce & Gabbana was forced to apologise to Asians customers around the world for a video campaign mocking a Chinese model trying to eat pasta with chopsticks, followed by an extraordinarily racist rant on Twitter by one of the label’s founders (which he later claimed – to widespread skepticism – was the result of his account being hacked).

    Facebook user Chinyere Ezie (who took the photo of the Prada monkey used with this story) was one black American woman outraged by the product. Her post had been shared more than 10,000 times by Monday morning and received some 4300 comments.

    “Today after returning to NYC after a very emotional visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, including an exhibit on blackface, I walked past Prada’s Soho storefront only to be confronted with the very same racist and denigrating #blackface imagery,” she wrote.

    “I entered the store with a coworker, only to be assaulted with more and more bewildering examples of their Sambo-like imagery. When I asked a Prada employee whether they knew they had plastered blackface imagery throughout their store, in a moment of surprising candor I was told that *a black employee had previously complained about blackface at Prada, but he didn’t work there anymore.*

    “History cannot continue to repeat itself. Black America deserves better. And we demand better.”

    The products were withdrawn from window displays – and sales – within hours of Ezie’s post on Friday.

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  • Lumine makes debut in Jakarta

    Lumine makes debut in Jakarta

    Japanese retailer Lumine has opened its second overseas location with a launch at Jakarta’s Plaza Indonesia. The opening was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Japan, offering a “Tokyo Mood” retail concept where consumers can experience a retail atmosphere that recalls the shopping environment of the Japanese capital.

    As a multi-brand lifestyle venue, Lumine Jakarta targets internationally-minded independent women, offering Japanese fashions as well as general lifestyle merchandise and men’s fashion brands. The store introduces 20 brands to Jakarta for the first time. It also features a cafe serving health-conscious Japanese cuisine.

    View the gallery below (5 images) :

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  • Nissan terminates contract with Vietnamese distributor

    Nissan terminates contract with Vietnamese distributor

    Japanese carmaker Nissan announced it has ended its tie-up with its distributor in Vietnam, Tan Chong, without disclosing the reason. Malaysian-owned Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd, said it would stop importing and distributing Nissan vehicles and parts in Vietnam from September 10 next year.

    Tan Chong said it “remains open to further discussion with Nissan to explore alternative solutions and business opportunities for mutual benefit in Vietnam.”

    Nissan said: “The termination of the joint venture with Tan Chong will not affect the sales of Nissan cars in Vietnam.”

    Its business operations would remain unchanged in the near future, it said. It is set to debut its seven-seat SUV Terra in Vietnam on December 18.

    Tan Chong, a multinational corporation based in Malaysia, is not only the official distributor of Nissan in Malaysia and Vietnam, but also in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

    In Malaysia, it also distributes cars by Opel, Renault and Foton. Its subsidiary, Motor Image, also owns the rights to produce and distribute Subaru vehicles in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

  • LG U+ 5G pass self-drive test on expressway

    LG U+ 5G pass self-drive test on expressway

    LG U+ has successfully tested a 5G-powered self-driving vehicle on an expressway for the first time. The mobile carrier announced Tuesday that a self-driving car developed by Hanyang University successfully drove on LG U+’s 5G network for 25 minutes across seven kilometers (4.35 miles) of busy city roads including the Gangbyeon Expressway and Olympic Expressway.

    A low latency video transmitter developed by LG U+ delivered real-time footage of the test drive to Hanyang University. Two cameras attached to the self-driving vehicle recorded the front and rear of the car.

    During the test drive, the vehicle had to react to certain scenarios such as avoiding obstacles and changing course. The vehicle was also tested to see how it reacts to new traffic information such as a blocked parking lot entrance.

    The vehicle was remote controllable, offering added safety measures in case of emergency.

    It was the first time that a self-driving car has completed a test drive on such a scale on an expressway or high-speed road in Korea, according to the company.

    “Self-driving cars that run on the 5G network will make important contributions to solving social problems like traffic volume and accidents,” said Sunwoo Myung-ho, who teaches automotive engineering at Hanyang University.

    “It’s significant that we were able to produce substantial results with self-driving cars through cooperation between industry and academia,” said Kang Jong-oh, who manages future technologies at LG U+. “We will continue to invest our efforts into developing self-driving car technology through cooperation between mobile carriers and the auto industry.”

    LG U+ will continue to work with Hanyang University to polish its 5G-based self-driving car technology.

    Competitors SK Telecom and KT are also actively investing in self-driving technology. KT, for example, successfully tested a self-driving bus at Incheon International Airport last month.

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  • Moda Operandi eyes China showroom

    Moda Operandi eyes China showroom

    Luxury fashion marketplace Moda Operandi is planning to open a showroom in China as it targets growth in Asia. The US-headquartered company, which allows customers to pre-order looks directly from designers immediately after their runway show, has appointed former Burberry and Tesla executive Puja Clarke in a new role as senior VP of fashion buying and e-commerce.

    Since achieving success with its pre-order concept – which has a flip side of helping fashion brands assess consumer reaction to its new collections – the e-commerce company has been evolving into a broader fashion marketplace.

    Next year Moda Operandi will open its first brick-and-mortar store in China in a city yet to be disclosed.

    The rapid expansion of the company has been helped by a US$165 million investment round last year, led by the Hong Kong-based  founder of K11 and C Ventures, Adrian Cheng.

    Clarke said in an interview with Glossy that new shopping behaviours and digital platforms are especially prevalent in China, where Moda’s customers generally aren’t interacting through a website. Instead, a Chinese shopper might buy a $500,000 necklace on an app, and consumers are more familiar with buying through live video sessions and chat platforms, than websites. She predicts this style of shopping will become more common all over the world in the future.

    “The customer knows what she wants, and the ones that listen will have productive, successful businesses,” Clarke said. “A younger designer can get a lot of people whispering in their ear about what they want to do with the collection, but [the Moda customer] is putting her deposit down, she’s favorite-ing – there are so many data points that can tell a designer whether something is great.”

    International markets comprise one-third of Moda Operandi’s sales with Asia the largest region ahead of the Middle East. While the company’s average order value is about $1400, Clarke said that number “skyrockets” in China.

  • Hobbs London opens in IFC Mall

    Hobbs London opens in IFC Mall

    Hobbs London, a brand for woman affordable luxury fashion, partnered with Rue Madame to unveil its first store at IFC Mall, situated amidst the city’s vibrant business and shopping district. Trading from 1150 square feet, the brand will showcase its collection of workwear, occasion dresses and casualwear, alongside its premium range of footwear and accessories.

    While visiting the store, customers can enjoy their shopping with style advisors on hand to help provide styling solutions for their individual needs.

    Each Hobbs store is designed to reflect the brand’s London heritage and contemporary sensibility.

    The clothing is displayed in easy-to-shop capsule collections, drawing upon the brand’s considered approach to womenswear.

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  • Lacoste opens new travel retail store at Lotte Busan

    Lacoste opens new travel retail store at Lotte Busan

    LACOSTE has opened a new 30sqm duty-free store in Busan to further enhance their presence in Asia. This new store is located in LOTTE Duty Free, second largest duty free operator, in Busan, which is the second biggest city in South Korea.

    Travel Retail, often referred to as the “6th continent”, offers a unique opportunity to connect with consumers and highlight the brand all over the world.

    With over 170 boutiques worldwide, LACOSTE aims at reinforcing the
    consumer experience while enhancing channel specific product offering and visual merchandising.

    Looking to the future, the crocodile wants to continue to leverage the Travel Retail Channel strengthening or expand in new geographical areas and develop new channels (on-line duty free and cruises) and new ways of connecting with consumers before, during and after their trips.

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  • Nome Sweden revealed massive expansion plan in China

    Nome Sweden revealed massive expansion plan in China

    Swedish designer brand Nome has launched a new store at Guangzhou Baiyun Wanda. The brand plans to open more than 300 stores in China’s most central shopping centres within a year, with a projected total turnover of more than RMB2 billion (US$290.6 million).

    In the next three to five years, Nome plans more than 2000 stores in China and in excess of 1000 stores overseas. The global business scale is planned to reach RMB50 billion ($7.265 billion), creating a global brand of home furnishing.

    To mark the Guangzhou launch, the brand installed a modernised version of a traditional Guangzhou postal kiosk outside the store. The reimagined newsstand featured a translucent shell emanating blue and white lights to evoke a Nordic style, perceived by the brand as having become more popular amongst Chinese consumers in recent years.

    Swedish designer brand Nome covers 10 categories and more than 3000 SKUs in store, including lifestyle, home, furniture, clothing, digital, beauty, food, shoes, luggage and travel items.

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  • Owndays opens 2 new stores in Hong Kong

    Owndays opens 2 new stores in Hong Kong

    Following the opening of two stores in Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O in July, one in YOHO Mall in Yuen Long, one in Moko in Mong Kok in October, OWNDAYS HK opens its 5th and 6th store in Tsuen Wan and K11 respectively. The store in K11 is the biggest in HK. Located at the basement B2 floor, it covers a total of 1734 square feet. Aligning with the brand’s fashionable style and innovative concept, the spacious store features an open design allowing guests to choose frames freely and at the same time enjoying the videos shown on the LED Wall that are placed on the two sides of the store.

    In celebrating the grand opening of K11 store in Tsim Sha Tsui, a meaningful social platform contest to win a lifetime free eyeglasses rolled out on on 23 November. The contest aimed to collect user-generated visual content by customers playing with the stylish models available in HK. The content closed on 8th December with the announcement of the winners during a party. Alongside the exciting contest announcement, stylish and popular KOLs joined the event to interact with customers, together with a wide range of delicious treat and live hashtag printing service that opened to public throughout the weekend to make

    Owndays store opening aligned with the objective of the brand to create fun shopping destinations.

    OWNDAYS is an international optical retail concept founded in Tokyo, Japan. It currently has more than 120 stores in Japan and has successfully established stores in 10 overseas countries in Asia-Pacific.

    In consistency with the brand image, the retail concept is by an open shop front and extensive use of wooden panels aimed to create a sense of harmony. Display racks with mirrors are designed to accommodate the different collections of glasses and give customers the freedom to try them on in a relaxed shopping environment.

    OWNDAYS is characterized by a solid knowledge and professional skills. All staff is trained to process quality glasses within 20 minutes from optometry to delivery to ensure the best service. OWNDAYS lenses are manufactured by leading international lens makers and high index aspheric lenses come with UV protection and dust-resistant coating.

    OWNDAYS has a wide portfolio of products which include: Progressive Lenses, Polarised Lenses, Transitions Lenses, Colour Lenses, and PC Lenses. All glasses displayed in shop are original brands designed and manufactured by OWNDAYS. OWNDAYS’ brands range from stylish and fashionable to functional and are able to satisfy different customer profiles.

     

  • Genesis starts by-the-month car subscriptions

    Genesis starts by-the-month car subscriptions

    Hyundai Motor luxury brand Genesis is starting a car subscription service, the first such effort by a domestic automaker in Korea. The company Thursday announced its Genesis Spectrum program. Under the program, subscribers can drive Genesis vehicles – including the G70, G80, G80 Sport and G90 – for 1.49 million won ($1,330) per month. The service is in collaboration with domestic rental-car companies and Hyundai Capital’s Deal Car.

    The fleet of available cars includes the 2018 G70 3.3 Sports Supreme, the G80 3.3 Premium Luxury, the 2019 G80 Sports 3.3T Premium Luxury and G90 3.8 Premium Luxury. The provided cars are relatively new, with fewer than 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles) of accumulated driving, according to the carmaker. For those using the G70, G80 and G80 vehicles, cars can be switched twice a month. The G90 is available to subscribers only for test driving 48 hours a month.

    Subscribers will not have to pay any maintenance costs, including after-sales service and the purchase of replacement parts. They will have to renew their subscription every month, but no fee is charged for early termination of membership. The program offers pick-up and delivery in Seoul as long as the vehicles are reserved three days in advance.

    “Genesis has been researching opportunities our brand could offer customers,” an official at Genesis said. “One of the results of the survey is a subscription program, which is globally emerging as trend.”

    Genesis added that the subscription service will allow the brand to collect data about its customers and drivers, such as preferred models for certain age groups and car replacement cycles.

    While subscription services for cars are a global phenomenon, as fewer people opt for ownership, the concept hasn’t taken off in Korea yet.

    Hyundai Motor’s finance affiliate Hyundai Capital America has already launched a subscription service in the United States called Hyundai PLUS, where subscribers can use the Sonata, Tucson, Santa Fe and other models for a monthly fee. Other carmakers have been offering subscriptions in certain markets. Porsche runs Porsche Passport, Mercedes-Benz has Benz Collection and BMW has Access by BMW.

    Swedish carmaker Volvo recently started Care By Volvo, and has rolled out its “Don’t Buy This Car” campaign to promote the new service.

    “Subscription services are suitable especially for younger people who want to enjoy a diverse range of driving experiences while avoiding the financial burden of buying the car and then maintaining it,” said Kim Pil-soo, an automotive engineering professor at Daelim University.

    The Mini brand launched a subscription service in partnership with connected-car platform Epikar last month in Korea. Its membership fee is 1.79 million won, but it charges more depending on which model the customer wants to drive.

    The Genesis service started Thursday and will run for 10 months.

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  • Cath Kidston Japan surges but not enough

    Cath Kidston Japan surges but not enough

    Cath Kidston Japan sales outperformed every other market in the year to March, but not enough to stem losses by the UK-based company. Sales in Japan rose by 5.4 per cent after a net four new stores took the brand’s network there to 32. Ten more Cath Kidston Japan stores are planned there next year.

    In China, Cath Kidston also performed well, aided by a new franchise deal which will see 50 shops opened over the next five years.

    “The brand clearly continues to resonate with our loyal customer base, particularly in the UK and Asia,” said CEO Melinda Paraie.

    “During the period the group continued to grow top-line sales, despite significant headwinds in some of the markets in which we operate,” she said.

    “We are particularly pleased with the significant growth in ecommerce sales in both Japan and the UK, where a strong performance on Black Friday contributed to our best-ever week online.”

    Despite the positive Asian results, Cath Kidston’s loss rose from £8.4 million in the 2017 financial year to £10.5 million this year. Paraie blamed “increased cost pressures from the weaker sterling” since the Brexit vote for the result. Worldwide sales rose 1.2 per cent to £130.7 million, with UK sales up by 5.1 per cent.

  • Nike Korea blooms and upgraded its employees

    Nike Korea blooms and upgraded its employees

    Nike Korea’s revenue is forecast to exceed 1 trillion won ($884.27 million) in 2018. If all goes as expected, it will be the first sportswear company in Korea to achieve that milestone. Nike’s annual revenues in Korea have been rising by around 10 percent annually for the last two years, while competitors have only experienced average growth of 3 percent.

    Its sales have been strong across the board, both online and offline. But sales at the 15 company-owned offline stores were particularly strong, with revenues rising over 20 percent annually over the past two years.

    What’s behind the success? The company believes it was the decision to give permanent-employee status to its irregular workers.

    “Our company’s performance greatly improved after we upgraded irregular workers to permanent employees,” said a public relations officer at Nike Korea.

    Between November 2015 and May 2016, Nike Korea converted 654 of its irregular employees at company-owned stores to permanent employees.

    Prior to that, it had only had 310 permanent workers. The 654 new regular employees earned 20 percent more in wages after the change and gained access to a range of benefits, including tuition assistance for children. Labor costs for Nike Korea rose around 10 percent in total as a result of the move.

    Employees say that their new status as permanent workers made them more dedicated to the company.

    “Before, I used to say I work at a store when asked about my job, but now that I’m a regular employee, I confidently say I’m working for Nike Korea,” said 25-year-old Cho Hye-rim who works at a Nike outlet in Gimpo, Gyeonggi. “With a new sense of belonging and loyalty to the company, I began feeling a stronger sense of responsibility when dealing with customers.”

    “When I first heard that I was going to be a regular employee, I had to pinch my cheeks to check whether I was dreaming or not,” said 34-year-old Hwang Hyun-woo, who works at a Nike store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. “With my experience working in sales at the store, I plan to try out an office job at the company headquarters as well.”

    Very few companies in Korea have converted irregular employees to permanent employees on the same scale as Nike.

    Exceptions include Homeplus, which converted around 1,000 cashiers and store assistants into regular workers this year, and SPC Group, which directly hired 800 workers from subcontracting firms.

    At Nike, the campaign to offer permanent-employee status to irregular workers was led by CEO David Wook-hwan Song, 48, after he took the top office at Nike Korea in 2015.

    He worked with the U.S. headquarters to achieve the transition.

    “I expected that performance would naturally improve if employees came together as a team and developed the pride and confidence that comes with being part of Nike, one the world’s best companies,” said Song.

    Song, who immigrated to Canada in his last year of high school, was hired by Nike Korea in 1994.

    He also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and worked briefly at McKinsey.

    Last year, Nike included Seoul in its list of 12 key cities for growth.

    Seoul is Nike’s third-highest earning city after New York and LA.

  • Ebay expands authentication platform to luxury jewelry

    Ebay expands authentication platform to luxury jewelry

    U.S. e-commerce giant Ebay announced plans to extend its product authentication program to cover luxury jewelry, in a bid to stem the resale of counterfeit jewels across its global marketplace. Dubbed “EbayAuthenticate”, the luxury jewelry category is the newest addition to Ebay’s new verification platform, which first launched in 2017 with the resale of luxury handbags. Following its success, Ebay went on to add luxury watches to the authentication service in early 2018.

    This month, Ebay confirmed it wants to offer “holiday shoppers more than 45,000 high-end diamond and other gemstone jewelry, verified by professional authenticators,” according to press release.

    Ahead of the busy Christmas period, Ebay customers can browse for high-end necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets, which are now all marked with an “Authenticity Verified” label.

    That’s in addition to engagement and wedding bands, loose diamonds and gemstones, and fine, vintage and fashion jewelry.

    Much like the verification its luxury handbags and watches already go through, all jewelry items will be approved by third-party authentication experts and sourced from more than two dozen of Ebay’s top-rated sellers.

    “Ebay is home to the largest selection of luxury goods, which includes tens of thousands of jewelry items, fine watches, and rare and designer handbags,” said James Hendy, Senior Director of Ebay Authenticate.

    “Expanding the Ebay Authenticate service provides customers an added layer of trust and confidence as they shop for fine jewelry this holiday and beyond.”

    The popularity of Ebay’s jewellery, and an industry-wide crackdown on fake goods across online marketplaces, means the authentication of goods is fast-becoming a perquisite for customer satisfaction and therefore, sales growth.

    Some 50,000 jewelry items are sold per day on Ebay (approx. 2,000 item sold per hour), with one diamond ring sold every minute, according to figures released by Ebay.

    Ebay said its most popular jewelry stone is diamonds, followed by sapphires, acquamarine, amethysts and onyx rounding out the top five precious stones sold online.

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  • Inditex suffers from late coming winter

    Inditex suffers from late coming winter

    Zara owner Inditex has posted slow like-for-like sales growth due to the unusually warm autumn and adverse currency moves. Inditex, which also owns upmarket label Massimo Dutti and teen label Bershka, posted a 3 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the six months to the end of November after an “extraordinarily warm September”. Sales bounced back somewhat to 5 per cent in October and November.

    The fashion giant reported an increase in earnings before interest and tax of €3.07 billion from the previous corresponding period.

    In the first nine months of the year, the world’s largest fashion retailer reported a 3 per cent increase in sales to €18.4 billion and a 4 per cent rise in net profits to €2.4 billion.

    According to Inditex, the company didn’t have to cut clothing prices from September like its rivals, which resulted in margin growth of 108 basis points during the third quarter.

    The clothing retailer maintained sales and margin guidance for the rest of the year.

    Pablo Isla, Inditex chair and CEO, said the group’s strong business model, which continues to deliver solid structural growth in all markets, and its constant focus on developing the integrated store and online platform through continued enhancement of technology and systems, have contributed to its performance.

    The company announced last September that all products from all its brands will be made available online by 2020, including in markets where it does not have any stores.

    Isla had said that Inditex wants to make all fashion collections available to all customers wherever they are in the world.

    “Even in those markets which do not currently have our bricks-and-mortar stores,” Isla added.

    Other than Zara, Massimo Dutti and Bershka, Inditex also sells the brands Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterque across its network of almost 7500 physical shops. It operates online in 49 markets.

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