Retail News CRM

Tag: Malaysia

  • 11street Malaysia commits to long term after parent’s Indonesian exit

    11street Malaysia commits to long term after parent’s Indonesian exit

    Just days after its parent company announced an exit from Indonesia, 11street Malaysia says it is confident of its long-term growth prospects.

    11street is effectively the online business unit of giant Korean telco SK Telecom, which last week said it was selling its 50 per cent stake in Indonesian e-commerce venture Elevenia to Lotte, a company it is pursuing a joint venture opportunity with in their home market.

    In Malaysia, 11Street is operated by Celcom Planet, a joint venture between Celcom Axiata Berhad and SK Planet. Celcom Planet CEO Hoseok Kim (pictured) says since its launch in April 2015, 11Street Malaysia has rapidly grown into a first tier e-commerce provider of an open-market platform with 40 thousand listed sellers, 13 million registered products for sale and 16 million monthly visits.

    “We are very pleased with the success and progress that 11street Malaysia has made in less than three years since its launch and we are confident that we will be the number one marketplace in Malaysia within the next three years”, said Kim.

    He added that the company is currently looking at various strategic options including funding from strategic partners to prepare for the next phase of accelerated growth.

    Sungwon Suh, CEO of SK Planet, backed up Kim’s comments.

    “Recently, SK Planet has made a strategic decision to pick and choose battlegrounds where we can win and Malaysia is [one of] the battlegrounds, one of the fastest-growing and infrastructure-ready e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia,” said Suh.

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  • Ikea plans $212 million Malaysian distribution centre

    Ikea plans $212 million Malaysian distribution centre

    Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is to  open a regional distribution and supply chain centre for Asean in Malaysia.

    According to Malaysian media, the facility will cost about RM908 million (US$212 million), and serve the existing 12 stores in the Ikea Asean network – and seven more planned for construction by 2026.

    The 100,000 sqm warehouse will be one of Ikea’s largest worldwide and reflects the company’s growing focus on the fast-growing Asian market.

    Ikea currently has stores in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. More are planned for the Philippines and Vietnam, although launch dates have yet to be announced.

    It is unclear whether Ikea stores in Hong Kong and India will also source products from the new facility.

    Malaysia’s international trade and industry minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the project adds momentum towards making Malaysia a regional distribution hub and the preferred logistics gateway to Asia, as outlined in the National Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan and National E-Commerce Strategic Roadmap.

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  • First-half revenue dip for Cosmo Lady

    First-half revenue dip for Cosmo Lady

    In a challenging market, intimate-wear enterprise Cosmo Lady (China) Holdings had a 6 per cent dip in revenue to about RMB2.07 billion (US$310.9 million) for its first half.

    Announcing its interim results, the company says the decline was mainly because of loss-making retail stores being closed, coupled with weak sales of sleepwear and loungewear.

    Gross profit fell from RMB1.05 billion for the first half last year to RMB937.1 million, with gross profit margin easing to about 45.1 per cent from 47.7 per cent.

    Sales of bras and underpants returned to growth for the six months, following last year’s decline. Adjustment is still in progress for sleepwear, loungewear and thermal clothes.

    Cosmo Lady says its group profit of about RMB144.8 million, while lower than the RMB174 million for the same period last year, was a significant improvement over the RMB67.9 million for last year’s second half.

    “During the first half of this year, Cosmo Lady’s business was consistently challenged by economic and industry uncertainties,” says chairman/executive director/CEO Zheng Yaonan.

    Stores closed

    A “large number” of loss-making retail stores, mainly department store concessions and high street locations, were closed. At the end of June, the group’s distribution network comprised 7307 outlets, of which 1295 were self-managed retail stores and 6012 were franchised stores. Meanwhile, the group further developed its e-commerce business, continuously boosting sales and has been expanding partnerships. In May, it signed a co-operation agreement in Japan to distribute Kimuratan Corporation apparel for infants and children in Mainland China.

    Cosmo Lady also issued new shares to a wholly owned subsidiary of Fosun International, raising gross proceeds of HK$600 million (US$76.6 million). The two parties entered into a strategic co-operation agreement to explore development possibilities in the intimate-wear industry in China.

    Also, the group has also started developing the Indonesian market with a business partner.

    It has also engaged Rowland Berger Strategy Consultants (Shanghai) for help in preparing and implementing a five-year development plan

    During the rest of this year, Cosmo Lady will be working with partners to develop the markets of Thailand, Vietnam and other developing countries in Southeast Asia, as well as opening discount retail stores in third- and fourth-tier regions in China.

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  • AirAsia trains crew to spot human traffickers

    AirAsia trains crew to spot human traffickers

    AirAsia, the biggest budget carrier in Asia, is training thousands of its staff to fight human trafficking, becoming one of the first airlines in the continent to crack down on the global crime.

    Companies have come under increased pressure to tackle human trafficking, with an estimated 46 million people living in slavery and profits thought to be about US$150 billion.

    Planes are a key part of the illegal business, as criminal gangs transport thousands of children and vulnerable people by air each year for redeployment as sex workers, domestic helpers or in forced labour.

    The United Nations has urged airlines to step in and look out for the tell-tale signs of trafficking.

    Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia, which flies millions of passengers annually to more than 110 destinations, said it was planning to train between 5,000 and 10,000 frontline staff, including cabin crew.

    “We like to be able to have our staff know what to do if somebody comes up to them and says ‘I need help’,” said Yap Mun Ching, the executive director of AirAsia Foundation, the airline’s philanthropic arm, which is driving the initiative.

    “Sometimes (the victims) don’t know they have been trafficked. They realise it only when they are on their way and they want to be able to get help. Most of the time they don’t know who to turn to,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    AirAsia has teamed up with US-based Airline Ambassadors International, a group that trains airline staff on trafficking, for the initiative, which kicked off this week at the airline’s four main hubs – Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila.

    All are hotspots for trafficking.

    The group said signs of trafficking include young women or children who appeared to be under the control of others, show indications of mistreatment or who seem frightened, ashamed or nervous.

    The UN Office on Drugs and Crime urged airline bosses at a summit in June to train flight crews to help combat human trafficking, the first time the aviation industry has held global discussion on the issue.

    While some training of airline staff to spot and report potential trafficking is mandatory in the United States, it is not widespread across the industry.

    So far, more than 70,000 US airline staff have been trained under a programme that began in 2013.

    Asia has some of the worst offenders of human trafficking.

    Countries such as Thailand, Myanmar and Laos are listed by the United States on a trafficking watch list for not meeting the minimum standards needed to end the crime.

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  • Najib launches AirAsia’s Langkawi-Shenzhen flight

    Najib launches AirAsia’s Langkawi-Shenzhen flight

    Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched AirAsia’s direct flight from here to Shenzhen, China.

    The new route is expected to further develop Langkawi as a world-class tourist destination.

    AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes thanked Najib for officiating the direct flight on Saturday.

    “Last year, the Prime Minister launched our direct flight from Guangzhou to Langkawi.

    “Leadership takes courage and it is courageous leadership shown by the Prime Minister to support AirAsia in reducing the airport tax which for years Malaysia Airports had resisted.

    “Today, we see that value of his brave leadership. Direct international tourists have increased from 83,754 in 2015 to 187,433 in 2016 – an increase of 120 per cent.

    “This represents a contribution of RM300mil to GDP, based on the 12 times multiplier effect,” Fernandes said in his speech.

    He said 2016 was the first time when international tourists outnumbered domestic tourists.

    “We are driven by this and already this year we have flown over a million tourists to Langkawi with our 238 weekly flights from Langkawi.

    “But we want to get to the three million mark and contribute a large part to the Langkawi Development Authority’s (LADA) target of RM9bil revenue.

    “Our vision is that we will make Langkawi as connected as Phuket, if not greater.”

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  • OIA Global launches new office supporting Malaysia’s growth

    OIA Global launches new office supporting Malaysia’s growth

    OIA Global, a logistics, packaging and material sourcing provider, announced its Southeast Asia expansion with the opening of its first company-owned office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. OIA’s decision to open the office, is driven by customer growth, and the continued growth of the Malaysian economy.

    Peter Wong, OIA’s managing director Asia-Pacific, noted the country posted a strong 5.6% GDP expansion in the first quarter which ended March 31, 2017. “Our business continues to grow in Southeast Asia and specifically in Malaysia,” said Wong.

    The new Kuala Lumpur office supports the existing OIA Penang location led by Herlyn Choo, branch manager. “Malaysia continues to lead in exports of energy, electronic equipment, wood products, textiles and chemicals,” Choo stated. “The increased volume of imports and exports are a clear message for OIA Global to continue to expand here in Malaysia,” Choo added.

    The new office is located at located at Unit A505, 6th Floor, West Wing, Wisma Consplant 2, No 7, Jalan SS16/1 47500 Subanjaya Selangor Malaysia.

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  • Etude House Malaysia launches flagship

    Etude House Malaysia launches flagship

    Etude House Malaysia launches its first flagship store today, at Sunway Pyramid in Selangor, complete with customisable lipsticks.

    The Korean skincare brand’s new store features a “Find Your Look” section offering a choice of nine signature looks, a makeup studio and an all-new range of personalised lipsticks.

    The customisable Dear My Glass Tinting Lips-Talk collection carries 20 lip colours and 20 pop-art-inspired lipstick cases for mixing and matching. The lipsticks are formulated with nourishing ingredients like collagen and honey to keep lips hydrated.

    As an added service, lipstick cases can be engraved with the customer’s name.

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  • NEC launches 5G SDN/NFV platform in Malaysia

    NEC launches 5G SDN/NFV platform in Malaysia

    NEC Corporation of Malaysia and Netcracker have teamed up with red Hat, Juniper Networks and Dell EMC to launch a multi-vendor 5G-ready virtualization platform for operators and enterprises in Malaysia.

    The companies will launch a full SD/NFV solution capable of using IT virtualization technologies to virtualize entire classes of network node functions into building blocks that can be chained together to create communication services.

    The platform combined Netcracker’s hybrid operations management offering and business enablement applications with NEC and Netcracker’s virtualization deployment operations center and multilayer SDN controller.

    It also comprises Red Hat’s OpenStack platform, Juniper’s NFV networking services platform and Dell EMC’s PowerEdge NFV solution.

    Research from Netcracker indicates that the virtualization platform can reduce the time to market for new enterprise services by up to 70%.

    “To stay competitive in a global economy, service providers and enterprises in Malaysia will eventually have the need to adapt to 5G technologies,” NEC Malaysia Chong Kai Wooi said.

    “With our SDN/NFV 5G-ready solution, companies will be able to speed up the time-to-market for their potential communications services and/or any applications that run on 5G technology, improve cost efficiency and have the ability to offer new, revenue generating-services.”

    “As the industry moves quickly towards 5G technology, getting the management and orchestration environment right is critical to enable new IoT use cases requiring dynamic network slicing,” added  Netcracker CTO of SDN/NFV Aloke Tusnial.

    “This is a key focus for us at Netcracker and we are delighted to be part of this strong collaboration to bring 5G virtualization to market faster.”

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  • Sephora Malaysia to open at Genting Highlands

    Sephora Malaysia to open at Genting Highlands

    Sephora Malaysia will open its 19th store at the Sky Avenue mall, in Genting Highlands on September 1.

    The beauty retailer will feature up to 100 international brands including Dr. Jart+, Fresh, Kat Von D, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Tarte.

    Product categories range from makeup, skincare, devices and haircare through to fragrances.

    Opening day promotions will be available for early bird customers, including gift vouchers from RM50 to RM100, Sephora mini backpacks and other giveaways. There will be live music in-store.

  • CP Lotus revenue drops

    CP Lotus revenue drops

    Revenue fell by 6.3 per cent for lifestyle retailer CP Lotus Corporation for its first half, dipping by RMB337.1 million (US$50.5 million) to RMB4.9 billion.

    It says the decrease was mainly the result of a 9.1 per cent decline in same-store sales, cushioned by the revenue generated from two new stores opened in the second half of last year plus two new stores and one Lotus Center opened during the review period.

    All merchandise categories had lower sales for the six months to June 30. Sales from apparel, electronics, hardline and personal care fell by about RMB189.7 million or 9.8 per cent, while fresh-food sales eased by 2.2 per cent.
    Gross profit margin was 17.5 per cent of sales (2016: 16.8 per cent), a reduction of RMB23.2 million or 2.6 per cent.

    The two stores opened during the six months were in Nanhai, Guangdong province, and Xian, Shaanxi province, where the Lotus Center mall was launched. The group owns and runs 63 retail stores, including 62 hypermarkets and one supermarket. It also runs two shopping malls.

    During the first half the group continued its efforts to enhance the merchandise mix and offerings. It continued to expand direct sourcing and more direct purchase of vegetables and fruit. CP Lotus says direct sourcing not only lowers prices but also allows for better control of product quality.

    “As consumers’ disposable income and their demand for high-quality imported food continued to rise, the group continued to bring in a wider range of imported products such as wine, beverages, snacks, health supplements, kitchenware and other groceries.”

    Also, the group’s house brand team continued to work with the merchandise and marketing team to develop competitively priced house-brand products.

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  • Ikea Malaysia heading north to Penang

    Ikea Malaysia heading north to Penang

    Ikea Malaysia will open its first store in the north at the end of next year, in Penang.

    Ikano, which owns the franchise for the Swedish furniture giant for Malaysia as well as Singapore and Thailand, teamed up with Aspen Group to buy 99 ha of land in Batu Kawan from Penang Development Corporation to develop the Aspen Vision City (AVC), where the Ikea store will be located.

    Ikano will hold a 20 per cent stake in AVC with Aspen holding the balance. The Ikea store will be wholly owned by Ikano.

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  • Longines opens new Kuala Lumpur store

    Longines opens new Kuala Lumpur store

    Longines has opened a new store in Kuala Lumpur, as the Swiss luxury firm looks to bolster its standalone store count in Malaysia.

    Located the capital’s prestigious Suria KLCC mall, the Longines store covers 75-square-metres and adopts the style codes seen in boutiques around the world.

    Upon entering the boutique, shoppers face a floor-to-ceiling poster of Longines ambassador, Kate Winslet, while the main wall panel projects a large video screen, offering an insight into Longines’ 185-year long history.

    Store features include lacquered wood panelling with the firm’s winged hourglass logo, as well as burnished leather, polished marble and selected fixtures and furnishings “that create a calm inviting environment,” said the brand in a statement.

    An exclusive VIP area allows customers to shop in comfort and privacy, while finding out more about the brand and specific collections, it said.

    The Suria KlCC store stocks the iconic watchmaker’s latest collections for both men and women.  There’s a dedicated space for The Longines Equestrian Collection, a tribute to Longines’ involvement in equestrian sports and its commitment to its female customers, inspired by the equine world.

    The new store also has a small display of nine pocket watches from the 19th century, taken from the Longines Museum located at the company’s headquarters in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. The new boutique is the first in Southeast Asia to feature the valuable archive pieces, said Longines.

    Finally, the boutique has a large range of Longines collections including Longines DolceVita, The Longines Master Collection, Conquest Classic as well as Heritage models, which are on freestanding displays for easy access.

    The new store follows Longines’ recent store opening in Macau in February this year. Longines forms part of the Swatch Group fold, which also boasts luxury brands such as Breguet, Omega, Hamilton and Calvin Klein watches.

  • Cold Stone Creamery signs Malaysia deal

    Cold Stone Creamery signs Malaysia deal

    US ice-cream brand Cold Stone Creamery has signed a master franchise agreement with banking and finance services company Srivijaya to open 20 stores in Malaysia over the next five years.

    Its first outlet, in Kuala Lumpur, is expected to open this year.

    Sri Vijaya’s management and shareholders include investors of F&B outlets such as Las Vacas Meat Shop and Torii Yakitori Restaurant, while some shareholders have had experience developing the Cold Stone Creamery brand in another market.

    “Sri Vijaya’s F&B experience and knowledge of the market makes it the perfect fit to develop the brand in Malaysia,” says senior international development VP Eddy Jimenez of Kahala Brands, which owns Cold Stone Creamery.

    The brand’s international growth of Cold Stone Creamery began with the opening of an outlet in Tokyo in November 2005. It now has about 1500 locations in nearly 30 international markets including India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

    With its headquarters in Arizona, the brand’s ice cream with its secret recipe is customised with mix-ins by hand on a frozen granite stone.

    Kahala Brands has a portfolio of 22 quick-service restaurant concepts.

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  • Prada reopens Suria KLCC store with new collection

    Prada reopens Suria KLCC store with new collection

    Prada Malaysia has reopened its store at Suria KLCC Mall, Kuala Lumpur.

    The Italian luxury fashion brand’s 190 sqm boutique is now located at unit G7 & 7A, on the ground floor.

    Designed with modern interiors of black granite panelling and black and white tiles, the store features men’s and women’s collections, divided into different areas, as well as leather goods, accessories and footwear collections.

    During the opening, Prada has launched its Etiquette Collection exclusive to South Asia (Singapore and Thailand to follow) and Japan.

    The new Etiquette Bag has one center pocket with zipper closure and two inside pockets, sold in four colours – marine blue, black, dusty pink and white.

    The store is also first in Southeast Asia to offer a personalisation service for backpacks and pouches, with up to two initials applied in Saffiano leather.

    Prada currently runs three stores in Malaysia.

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  • Sultan boosts stake in 7-Eleven Malaysia

    Sultan boosts stake in 7-Eleven Malaysia

    Giving 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings a royal edge, Sultan Ibrahim of Johor has become its second-largest individual shareholder.

    He has an 8.44 per cent stake after acquiring 93.7 million shares in the convenience-store chain in the past month.

    His shareholding comes as the company is expanding its retail footprint, says 7-Eleven Malaysia chairman Abdull Hamid. “We believe that with a shareholder of His Royal Highness’ stature, 7-Eleven’s position in the retail industry will be further strengthened.”

    The group’s largest shareholder, Vincent Tan, says the increased stake by the sultan is good sign in that he is known to be “an astute investor with a keen eye for companies and businesses with strong fundamentals and good growth potential”.

    7-Eleven Malaysia had revenue of RM2.10 billion (US$490 million) with a pre-tax profit of RM70.82 million last year. Incorporated in 1984, the group has more than 2100 outlets that serve 900,000-plus customers daily.

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