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Tag: online shopping

  • Macy’s partnering with Facebook to bring e-commerce brands to stores

    Macy’s partnering with Facebook to bring e-commerce brands to stores

    US department store retailer Macy’s has teamed up with Facebook to bring 150 e-commerce brands and digital native brands on Facebook and Instagram into its retail stores ahead of the holidays.

    Macy’s has launched The Market @ Macy’s, a pop-up marketplace concept that curates more than a hundred brands on a two-week rotation at nine Macy’s stores for the holiday season. The company will add more locations towards the end of the month. The brands range from apparel, accessories and beauty to home decor, technology and more.

    The Market @ Macy’s is just one of several experiential concepts the retailer has rolled out to drive in-store traffic. The company recently announced plans to use virtual reality to boost furniture sales. It will pilot the experience in two of its stores by the end of November.

    According to GlobalData, the department store chain is showing signs of recovery. Macy’s recently reported good sales numbers in the quarter and a growing number of people say they plan to visit the stores, suggesting the retailer is succeeding in creating stronger appeal.

    Macy’s yesterday posted healthy sales growth for the quarter ending November 3 with same-store sales seeing a 3.1 per cent increase. Including licensed departments, the figure increased 3.3 per cent.

    Total sales rose 2.3 per cent to US$5.4 billion. Net income more than doubled to US$62 million from US$30 million a year earlier, boosted by asset sales, higher credit income and lower taxes.

    Company CEO Jeff Gennette said the recently improved results showed that turnaround plans are working.

    The department store chain has been investing in a group of stores it calls ‘magnets’, adding new lighting, fixtures, a better assortment of merchandising and technological innovations to its locations, while experimenting on shrinking other less promising stores.

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  • Lazada’s CEO jumps to Vestiaire Collective

    Lazada’s CEO jumps to Vestiaire Collective

    Vestiaire Collective, the global resale site for authenticated pre-owned luxury and premium fashion, has announced the appointment of Maximilian Bittner as CEO.He will succeed Sébastien Fabre, the co-founder of Vestiaire Collective, from January 1, 2019 in Paris, where the core team is located.

    Sébastien Fabre will remain a Director of the Company and will continue to play a key role in defining Vestiaire Collective’s strategy.

    Maximilian Bittner was chosen to build Vestiaire Collective’s growth and international expansion.

    At 39 years old, he was, until March 2018, Founder and CEO of Lazada Group, one of Southeast Asia’s leading ecommerce company.

    Launched in 2012, the company is present in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,  Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and offers exposure and market access to over 155,000 merchants, 3,000 brands and 300 million SKUs and reaches over 560 million potential customers in the region.

    Alibaba Group acquired majority ownership of Lazada Group over 2016 and 2017.

    The company’s latest valuation was USD 3.15 billion.

    Maximilian began his career at Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking division in London prior to joining McKinsey & Company and then Rocket Internet in Germany.

    He graduated with a degree in Economics and History from the University College of London and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

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  • China’s slowing economy also slows Singles Day

    China’s slowing economy also slows Singles Day

    China’s slowing economy was the primary reason for the slowing growth of sales on Alibaba’s Singles Day on Sunday. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the online shopathon, and while everyone expected a new record Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) would be set, no-one was sure whether the spectacular 39 per cent growth rate of last year would be bettered. It wasn’t.

    While the total volume of transactions this year was 213.5 billion RMB (US$30.8 billion), the growth was a more moderate 27 per cent. Singles Day still dwarfs similar events in the US, such as Black Friday ($8 billion) and Cyber day ($6.6 billion). But are there early signs the gloss is starting to wear off?

    Pascal Martin, partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants, says the striking topline Singles Day numbers demonstrate Chinese consumers continue to love these big commercial events, which allow them to try new premium brands – normally out of reach – at more affordable price points. “Singles Day is therefore a great opportunity for brands to reach out to new customers and more and more of them are excited to join the party.”

    Martin says the reduced sales growth for Singles Day reflects a slowing Chinese economy, a view backed up by Alibaba’s recent announcement that its growth for the year would be 5 per cent lower than it initially forecast. The ongoing trade war and more cautious consumer sentiment were also factors, combined with growing competition from other big promotional events such as JD’s recent 618 shopping festival, which generated a GMV of $24.7 billion over 18 days (40 per cent growth year on year) and the high number of promotional opportunities during the year, such as Spring Festival, Labour Day in May, and Golden Week.

    Martin says growing competition from e-commerce sites that offer everyday super-low prices such as Pinduoduo, an upstart e-commerce company that went from zero to 350 million customers in just three years. “Prices on Pinduoduo are hard to beat round-the-year and the application has become hugely popular in China’s smaller cities and towns.”

    Three remarkable features

    Meanwhile, Martin says there were three remarkable features of Singles Day this year:

    New Retail: There were more brand partners this year, both online and offline, leveraging Alibaba’s New Retail ecosystem. “For example, Tmall’s 3000+ convenience stores, Hema and RT Mart supermarkets, Suning and Auchan, were all part of the event. Altogether 200,000 brick and mortar stores joined the party.”

    Globalisation: Singles Day has expanded beyond China through Lazada, the Southeast Asia platform owned by Alibaba. “We saw increased participation of international brands that are taking advantage of the Tmall Global platform – which is the number one by far among Chinese cross-border platforms – to get introduced to Chinese consumers without having to build a direct presence in China.”

    Diversification: The event is moving beyond just being about consumes purchasing products, it is also increasingly about purchasing a variety of services such as food delivery on Ele.com, videos on Youku to mobile games on UC, theatre tickets on Taopiaopiao, music on Xiami music and travel on Feizhu.

    Martin believes given China’s slowing economy Chinese consumers are becoming more cautious and the fact that Singles Day is now in its 10th year, it is less of a big news story. “There might be some consumer fatigue setting in.”

    Obstacles moving forward

    Martin believes three main challenges need to be addressed to sustain the growth momentum of massive commercial fairs like 11.11.

    Firstly, given the growing competition from other promotional events, Alibaba will have to continue to reach out to consumers earlier and earlier, and to expand the scope of the event even more broadly.

    “Another challenge is to continue to ensure flawless delivery for millions of parcels all over China in such a short amount of time. As the event grows, the logistical challenge becomes greater and greater. The number of parcels delivered during this year’s event hit 1 billion on Tmall alone. That’s a huge jump over last year’s 812 million parcels. Additionally, although brands don’t like to talk about it, there is a significant challenge in taking care of huge quantities of returned goods. Singles Day is a massive test bed for Alibaba’s backbone infrastructure: the network of partners that make it all possible, from payment to delivery to data management, as well as AI and cloud technologies that are put to work to ensure a successful event.

    “Finally, 11.11 has become much more than a commercial fair, it is now a major annual milestone in China’s cultural calendar. To keep the event fresh and exciting, Alibaba will need to continue to surprise Chinese consumers with entertainment and festivals around the event. This year, the double 11 gala event featured Miranda Kerr, Mariah Carey and Cirque Du Soleil, but no current big stars. Is this enough to continue to excite consumers, particularly younger generations?”

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  • JD.com to provide more imported product to China

    JD.com to provide more imported product to China

    JD.com, China’s largest retailer, will purchase nearly RMB 100 billion worth of products from overseas brands. As disposable incomes in China rise, consumers increasingly demand high-quality products, especially imported products.

    E-commerce has rapidly emerged as one of China’s most preferred channels for buying overseas brands. Last year, the number of users purchasing products from overseas brands grew by 37.1% compared to 2016.

    The volume of imported goods in 2018 to date has already skyrocketed 150% as compared with two years ago.

    JD’ “Retail as a Service” strategy has proved enormously appealing to household
    names from all over the world.

    Indeed, the growing family of leading international brands partnering with JD to facilitate their e-commerce strategy now includes the likes of Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Dell, Nestle, Avène and many more.

    As China’s e-commerce transformation continues to unfold, consumers have gravitated especially towards premium, smart, and green products.

    According to JD’s data, the highest performing categories among its customers this year have been mobile phones, computer and office suppliers, home appliances, maternal and childcare, and digital products.

    Advanced economies such as the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the Netherlands remain the most popular sources of imported goods.

    Chinese consumers buying online are mostly younger (26-45 years old), white-collar workers with middle-to-high incomes.

    China’s most developed regions, particularly the coastal cities, account for the largest uptake of imported goods.

    The growth rate for purchases of overseas brands, however, is now highest in fourth- and third-tier cities, where these brands are often not available in brick and mortar stores.

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  • Singles’ Day boosts Korean brands

    Singles’ Day boosts Korean brands

    China’s massive Singles’ Day shopping spree provided a huge boost to Korean retailers, with some companies posting their highest sales figures ever. Since 2009, Chinese retail giant Alibaba Group has transformed Singles’ Day, which falls on Nov. 11, into an online shopping festival with large discounts offered for 24 hours.

    Other ecommerce giants like JD.com soon followed suit, making Singles’ Day into a Chinese version of Black Friday, although much bigger.

    At Alibaba, the number of transactions on Nov. 11 has steadily increased since the event began in 2009.

    Despite concerns that the ongoing trade war between the United States and China may have put a break on the income growth of middle-class Chinese consumers this year, Singles’ Day once again broke records.

    Chinese shoppers purchased a total of 213.5 billion yuan ($30.6 billion), worth of goods on Sunday, a 27 percent surge from last year’s record. The year-on-year growth rate was slower than last year’s 39.3 percent.

    Over 40 percent of shoppers made purchases from international brands, said Alibaba.

    Among the countries that sold products to Chinese customers on Sunday, Korea ranked third after Japan and the United States.

    Korea placed at No. 3 on the list in 2016, but fell two ranks last year after the deployment of the U.S.-led terminal high altitude area defense (Thaad) antimissile system. The incident soured relations between the two countries and provoked a boycott movement against domestic brands in China.

    The exact volume of Korean goods purchased on Sunday was not disclosed, but it was evident that the shopping spree had an impact on local companies, as some of them reported record-breaking figures on Monday.

    Food company Nongshim, famous for Shin Ramyun instant noodles, set a new record for Singles’ Day revenue since it launched online sales in China in 2013.

    The company sold 5 million yuan worth of instant noodles at ecommerce website Taobao on Sunday. This was a 25-percent increase compared to last year’s Singles’ Day and 10 times the average sales made at the Chinese ecommerce website per day.

    The No. 1 best seller for Nongshim was a multipack of its eight most famous noodle brands, including Shin Ramyun, Neoguri and Kimchi Ramyun.

    “We organized huge promotional events ahead of Singles’ Day, as well as collaborating with [social media influencers in China] to air live videos of cooking Shin Ramyun,” the company said.

    Eland Group’s Chinese office sold 444 million yuan worth of fashion goods through ecommerce website Tmall.

    Based on sales records, the fashion group focused on presenting a wide array of outerwear like coats and jackets. A padded jacket from its kid’s brand, Paw in Paw, sold over 20,000 units during Singles’ Day.

    Beauty companies also did well. At LG Household & Health Care, cosmetics sales increased 50 percent compared to last year’s Singles’ Day. Daily necessities jumped even higher by 73 percent year on year. Its brand, The History of Whoo, LG’s biggest success in China, sold 23 billion won ($20.2 million) worth of products, a 72 percent increase year on year.

    Although LG did not disclose the entire sales volume, the company spokesman said that “this year has set a record for Singles’ Day.”

    Rival Amorepacific unexpectedly set positive records as well. The company has been struggling after it lost Chinese consumers in the Thaad row. On Sunday, it generated 37 percent more sales compared to Nov. 11 last year. Several products from brands like Sulwhasoo and Laneige that were prepared for the Singles’ Day promotion sold out.

  • China’s LightInTheBox to acquire Singapore ecommerce Ezbuy

    China’s LightInTheBox to acquire Singapore ecommerce Ezbuy

    Chinese online retailer LightInTheBox will acquire Singaporean e-commerce platform Ezbuy for approximately US$86 million, subject to some closing conditions. Ezbuy, which has more than 3 million customers in Southeast Asia and Pakistan, has grown from a middleman service linking international consumers and Chinese e-retailers to become a more traditional online retailer in its own right. It secured US$17.6 million earlier this year, predominantly from Chinese investors.

    LightInTheBox CEO Zhiping Qi said: “This transaction is part of our larger plan to build our business-to-consumer cross-border ecommerce out to scale globally,” citing Ezbuy’s supply chain management as potentially supporting the firm’s emerging markets strategy.

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  • Snapdeal trims losses for FY18, exudes confidence on hitting profits

    Snapdeal trims losses for FY18, exudes confidence on hitting profits

    E-commerce firm Snapdeal has narrowed its consolidated losses substantially to Rs 613 crore for FY2017-18, as per regulatory documents. According to a report: The company, which competes with larger rivals like Amazon and Flipkart, had posted a consolidated loss of Rs 4,647.1 crore in FY2016-17, documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry showed.

    The consolidated revenue from operations declined to Rs 436.1 crore for 2017-18 as against Rs 903.8 crore in the previous financial year.

    On standalone basis too, Snapdeal trimmed its losses to Rs 440.7 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 4,638.9 crore in the year-ago period. Total revenue was at Rs 514.6 crore in FY18 as against Rs 1,105.7 crore in the previous fiscal.

    Snapdeal, in its filing said, the company had embarked on its journey towards profitability last year.

    “This year, we continued on this path and focused on building a leaner and more capital efficient business. We substantially reduced our costs, both variable and fixed overheads,” it added.

    The company said it reduced its business promotion expense by 88 percent year-on-year, whereas fulfilment expenses were lower by 67 percent y-o-y.

    “We optimised the team structure and leveraged technology more efficiently, which was critical in trimming our employee expenses by 68 per cent y-o-y. While all of this has come at the expense of lower top line, your company is extremely proud of its achievements over the year and is absolutely confident that it is heading in the right direction to achieve profitability,” it said.

    When contacted, a Snapdeal spokesperson said, “Our prime focus last year was to maximize the operating efficiency of the marketplace ahead of implementing our planned growth initiatives. We are extremely pleased to see the incredible results from our disciplined execution with losses reducing by 88 percent”.

    In addition, parts of the revenue, which were disproportionately loss-making, were identified and curtailed during the year in order to realign the business for growth with healthy margins, the spokesperson added.

    Snapdeal, which had seen its business being impacted severely by the intense competition in the e-commerce segment, had last year dumped the US$ 950-million takeover offer from rival, Flipkart.

    It was then that Snapdeal Co-founders, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal had said the company will pursue a fresh strategy in the Indian market.

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  • Chinese Singles’ Day courts Vietnamese consumers

    Chinese Singles’ Day courts Vietnamese consumers

    Promoted by Alibaba in China for more than 10 years, Singles’ Day is now courting Vietnam with great fervor. More than a week before “Singles’ Day’ which falls on Nov. 11, major shopping firms in Vietnam had begun to update their mobile applications with a range of games designed to ‘hype up’ consumers.

    These included shaking the phone to earn coins (shopping vouchers), discount lotteries and ‘easter eggs’ giving specific discounts, and many more.

    Few retailers explain why Nov. 11 was chosen as the date for this promotional event, which some hail as “the biggest discount of the year.”

    Consumers and online businesses both acknowledge, however, that the marketing race building up to the day has been very fierce.

    The most boisterous claims came from Singapore based e-commerce group Lazada, which announced that it will gift 110,000 vouchers worth $10 million.

    General manager of Lazada Vietnam, Zhang YiXing, said he had spent the last three months fine-tuning Lazada’s app and working with vendors for the Nov. 11 event.

    Although they have no reason or specific connection with Alibaba, other e-commerce sites are not missing the opportunity to profit from Singles’ Day. Industry insiders remark that with competition so fierce, the ‘big players’ are implementing emulation strategies to grab whatever advantage they can get at.

    In particular, businesses do not want to stand idle during an event which increases the traffic and revenue of its rivals. So they’ve all jumped on the Singles’ Day bandwagon and made it spread further.

    “E-commerce is the most developed industry in Vietnam and also the most competitive,” said Tran Ngoc Thai Son, founder and CEO of e-commerce company Tiki.

    On the Tiki website, the company hails Nov. 11 as the “legendary sales season”, introducing a lottery to win laptops, phones and shopping vouchers with a total value of up to VND10 billion ($431,980).

    Meanwhile, Shopee, a consumer Internet platform provider based in Singapore, has called this day the “Super Sale.” The company has also launched a game consumers can play to earn rewards and has been promoting a different product line each day to attract attention before the official event.

    Lotte.vn has also jumped into the fray in dramatic fashion, calling the event the “Nov. 11 shopping war”, while Adayroi, run by Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, has launched a full week of promotions from Nov. 1-11 with its “Sale Season”.

    Experts say that in addition to price, this years’ competing retailers have also focused more on branded goods and after-sales service.

    “Technology is no longer a challenge for Vietnam’s e-commerce sector but consumer confidence. Now choosing products and discounts from a trusted retailer is also important, not just price,” said Le Hai Binh, vice president of the Vietnam E-commerce Association.

    “Delivery and after-sales services are competitive advantages that cannot be ignored in this race.”

    Lucrative day

    Although not as fierce as this year, last Nov. 11 had made ‘a killing’ for retailers, encouraging them to step up promotions this year.

    According to data released by France-based commerce marketing company Criteo, retail sales of online shopping sites in Vietnam during the last Single’s Day campaign increased 245 percent, compared with ordinary days in the year, and marked a 70 percent increase in traffic.

    Last Nov. 11, traffic increased the most in the evening, from about 9 p.m. onwards. Shopping time “peaked” at 11 p.m., which is one hour before promotions end, so consumers were rushing to finish their shopping.

    The two most popular items last year were home appliances and electronics, with sales soaring by over 276 percent and 266 percent respectively compared to ordinary days.

    Silvia Siow, Criteo’s chief customer strategy manager for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said that these two categories were best sellers because of their high value. People tended to wait for promotions to cash in on significant discounts in absolute terms. Siow also said that Nov. 11 was playing a growing role in Southeast Asia, not just Vietnam.

    He said the real gains from Nov. 11 were not in sales but an expanded customer base and increased market share.

    “Sales are important, but traffic is more important. Increased traffic may represent newcomers who arrive and discover or rediscover products. “

    The heat of the Nov. 11 race in Vietnam is expected to last many years as it is the second most dynamic e-commerce market in Southeast Asia, behind Indonesia.

    Economist Simon Baptis, CEO of Asia region for the Economist Intelligence Unit (Economist Group) said: “Vietnam will be one of the fastest growing economies in the region with real growth constant at a high level between 2019 and 2023.

    “Reinforcing consumer confidence in e-commerce and electronic payment systems is also a need of the period.”

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  • ShopBack: More people aware of 11.11 this year

    ShopBack: More people aware of 11.11 this year

    Leading Cashback platform ShopBack conducted a survey recently and found the awareness level towards 11.11 Singles’ Day among Malaysian online shoppers has grown to 96% this year, from 69% in 2016. “In a 2016 survey to 2,000 Malaysian online shoppers, 69% answered they know what Singles’ Day is and 31% said they don’t. This year, 96% answered it is a huge online event (68%) or just another online shopping event (28%); only 3% from 2,000 respondents said they don’t know what 11.11 is, and 1% indicated that day has other meanings to them. This is an approximately 40% increase compared to 2016,” Alvin Gill, Country General Manager of ShopBack Malaysia says.

    According to Alvin, Alibaba’s investment in Lazada and massive promotions rolled out via multiple online and offline channels, as well as education efforts done by reward partners throughout the years likely contributed to the awareness growth. “Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall have been collaborating with ShopBack on a regional level to boost market performance via cash rewards and multimedia educational efforts since 2014, of which include multi-lingual contents, digital and on-ground marketing exposures, as well as customer service support to encourage purchases through either Taobao, Tmall or Lazada’s Taobao collection, whichever suits their needs,” he adds.

    “While it is encouraging that a majority of them are looking forward to 11.11, online sellers should also target those who feel 11.11 is ‘just another shopping event’ via better product and promotional strategy. 98% of respondents said they are willing to make more purchases if the products they need are available with greater offers online. The top three offers that would encourage them to spend are high product discounts, free shipping/delivery, and promo codes/coupon,” Alvin points out.

    When asked to choose three online marketplaces that they feel would provide the best 11.11 deals this year, Lazada emerged as the top choice, followed by Shopee and 11street.

    The survey also reveals that online shoppers prefer their shopping to be affordable, fast and safe. “Mobile & Electronics emerges as the most popular category for 11.11 without surprise; the second is Home & Lifestyle which suggests shoppers could be looking for items to make over their living spaces before the New Year, followed by Fashion as well as Health & Beauty.”

    The 2018 ShopBack 11.11 online shopping survey covered views from 2,000 of ShopBack’s active online shoppers, of which 98.7% are aged 21 years old and above and around 85% have RM2,000 monthly income and above. 68.1% of the survey respondents use credit/debit card to make online payments while 25.4% select online banking as the preferred method, followed by cash on delivery 3.3%, Paypal 2.8%, and others 1.3%.

    “We witnessed 10 times more than usual web traffic directed to our partner’s sites on 11.11 in 2017, more than RM6 million worth of transactions were made through our platform and over RM200,000 cashback saved by using ShopBack. Together with our partner merchants, ShopBack Malaysia has tailor-made the 2018’s 11.11 campaign according to shopper’s needs and we aim to break the record by doubling our performance as well as cashback number this year,” Alvin says.

    Currently, more than 1 million Malaysians are using ShopBack for their daily purchases. The company works with online sites like Lazada, 11street, Taobao, Tmall, Booking.com, Expedia, Traveloka, ZALORA, Hermo, etc to give up to 30% cashback as a loyalty reward to online shoppers. Besides Malaysia, ShopBack also operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia. Over RM25 million worth of cashback has been given to its Malaysian users thus far. The cashback savings can be transferred out to a user’s bank account upon validation.

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  • What is Singles’ Day like in the Philippines?

    What is Singles’ Day like in the Philippines?

    It all started with a few students from Nanjing University who decided to break away from the monotony of being single for one day. They chose 11.11 because of the solitary implications of the number 1 which symbolize being single. However, this simple celebration turned into one of the largest shopping days in the world.

    It turns out that this event gained great interest also in Southeast Asia.

    According to Google, in Philippines the popularity of Singles’ Day has increased more than four times in the last five years.

    Who’s taking part in Singles’ Day? What are the behaviours of consumers on that day? 

    Shopping therapy for the young and lonely

    Who shops on Singles' Day

    So, who exactly takes part in Singles’ Day?

    57% are actually women.

    In accordance with the event’s name, three out of four consumers are single.

    Of course, not only singles went on a shopping spree.

    An increase in interest, although not as significant as among singles, can also be noted in the group of people in relationships.

    The interest in Singles’ Day is especially apparent among young Filipinos.

    Compared to a regular day, the number of transactions on Singles’ Day among people aged 18-24 grew by 1022%.

    However, getting great discounts is not restricted to younger people as there is a noticeable interest in this shopping festival among all age groups.

    The day for singles to indulge themselves

    What and how Filipinos buy on 11.11

    More than half of Filipinos do not prepare for the Singles’ Day shopping craze but buy impulsively on that day.

    43% compare the prices in different stores while 11% make lists before shopping.

    It looks like most people treat 11.11 as an occasion to meet their desires rather than an opportunity to execute a well-thought-out shopping plan.

    On top of that, more than 60% of consumers buy things just for themselves and only one-third buy gifts for other people on that day.

    An average man buys less than an average woman—2.4 and 4 products respectively.

    The most desirable items among men are clothes, delivery food and electronics. Similarly, women buy mostly clothes, delivery food and cosmetics.

    Shopping fever in the middle of the day

    Shopping behaviours on Singles' Day

    It’s not surprising that Filipinos buy more than usual on Singles’ Day.

    The number of online transactions increased significantly with 970% more purchases compared to a regular day.

    On average, a Filipino is willing to spend 3050 PHP on a Singles’ Day shopping spree and sales reached a peak right in the middle of the day, at 1 PM.

    Mobile users far behind

    Singles' Day: Devices types and brands

    70% of consumers use desktops when doing their shopping on Singles’ Day.

    Only 26% of Filipinos make their purchases on mobile phones.

    Most of the transactions are made on Apple devices, followed by Samsung, OPPO, Asus and Huawei appliances.

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  • ‘Physical and online retail will co-exist in the future in India’

    ‘Physical and online retail will co-exist in the future in India’

    The retail sector in India has been evolving at a swift pace. Rapid urbanisation and digitisation, rising disposable incomes and lifestyle changes – of particularly the middle-class – are major contributors to the revolution of the retail industry.

    In a freewheeling chat, Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants talks about what canbe expected from the Indian retail industry going ahead. Excerpts:

    How do you see retail industry shaping up in India?

    Retail is back with a big push. A lot of foreign brands are looking to enter India, a number of Indian brands are expanding rapidly, a number of new Indian brands are opening up retail stores. Equally, I see a huge amount of promptness within the Indian retail real estate on the bounce back of organised retail in India. Modern retail is growing fast. 10 years ago, the contribution of modern retail format was only 2 percent and today it is getting into the double digits.

    Which retail format will come out clear-cut winner in future?

    There will be newer formats that will be very important to get into the retail real estate spaces. F&B and new formats in entertainment will continue to do very well.

    Anything which is experiential and cannot be bought online and has an ability to touch, feel, taste, hear and smell, those formats in the physical space will continue to do well.

    With e-commerce expanding at a rapid pace, what is future of malls in India?

    Expanding e-commerce in India has a positive impact on the physical retail real estate. E-commerce space cannot divulge into physical space. Both of them are integrating with each other like Walmart has recently bought Flipkart, Amazon in setting up its physical stores, there are number of e-commerce players which are planning to set up their retail stores and many e-retailers are also investing/ buying existing physical stores. We can say it is an integration of e-commerce and physical space.

    What is the future of malls a few years from now?

    Going ahead, technology is going to play a big role for both retailers and mall developers. The taste of the consumer coming in, the ability to drive the footfalls to the right stores, to understand the demographics of the people who are coming into mall are all going to be important learnings which the mall developer will pass on to his partners – the retail brands.

    In future, technology will integrate the experience, partners and will help in driving the sales, deriving right retail formats in the malls. Just like in the more mature markets, where technology plays a huge role in the mall operation, similarly it will be replicated in India as well.

    How can the malls stay relevant to the consumers for years?

    It is true that a mall has to continue to change its skin. It is necessary to bring something new to attract different retailers. Change is a perennial process. Malls must continue to attract footfalls by adapting to change.

    What is your outlook on retail spaces in Tier II cities and beyond?

    Big retailers are occupying a huge space in Tier II cities as the profit margins are very high and the rentals are low. Also, since consumers coming to these stores have more time to spend, they have an ability to experience on the entertainment, leisure, retail and food. We are not only bullish on Tier II cities but Tier III cities as well. Retailers are often seen complaining about lack of good retail real estate spaces in India.

    How do you see this changing in the future?

    At this point of time, we are starved for good quality retail spaces. It is absolutely true that there are more retailers who want to get into the malls which are successful. We are hopeful that over the next 2-3 years there will be a better equilibrium because there are number of malls that are under-construction and it is expected that these malls will be able to cater to the increasing requirement of retailers.

    I also think that these mall developers who are building up the malls have also learnt that how to build, operate good quality malls and how to attract right kind of retailers within those malls.

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  • Fung Retailing, Alibaba to collaborate bringing lifestyle brands into China

    Fung Retailing, Alibaba to collaborate bringing lifestyle brands into China

    Fung Retailing and Alibaba have formed a strategic partnership to launch more international lifestyle brands in Mainland China. The partnership will bring closer Alibaba’s 600-million user base and Fung Retailing’s 3000+ network of stores across Greater China, UK, France, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Its partly- or majority-owned businesses include Circle K and Zoff (under Convenience Retail Asia), Trinity, Toys R Us, Suhyang Networks, the UCCAL Fashion Group and Branded Lifestyle Holdings.

    The Fung Retailing and Alibaba collaboration aims to meet the increasing demand of Chinese consumers, building on the strengths of both parties in online and offline retailing, the two companies said in a statement. At the same time, it will better serve global brands by leveraging Fung Retailing’s global portfolio of brands, offline retail channels and marketing know-how, as well as Alibaba’s ecosystem, digital retail leadership, technology, and consumer insights.

    “That will help global brands tailor their product development and marketing strategies to meet the ever-changing needs of Chinese consumers,” the statement said. “The brands can also draw on Alibaba’s new retail channels, including Tmall and Intime, as well as Fung Retailing’s offline stores, thereby reducing costs, risks, and the time traditionally associated with entering the China market.”

    Photo: At the Fung Retailing and Alibaba MOU signing ceremony this week, from left: Sabrina Fung, group MD of Fung Retailing, Dr Victor Fung, group chairman of the Fung Group; Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group; and Toby Xu, VP of Alibaba Group.

    Under a memorandum of understanding signed this week, both companies will join forces in global brand recruitment and offer brands merchandising, marketing and omnichannel distribution services. This collaboration will focus on the mainland China market as a first step, and potentially expand to other regions riding on Alibaba’s platforms.

    Speaking during the signing ceremony in Shanghai, Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said Alibaba wants to help global brands expand their foothold in China by fully integrating its New Retail capabilities, big data and technology with Fung Retailing’s “unparalleled advantages in brand and supply chain resources”.

    “We believe this partnership represents the beginning of a new chapter for New Retail.”

    Fung Retailing’s group MD Sabrina Fung said retail is changing exponentially, so it’s important to stay ahead of the curve, which this agreement allows the company to do.

    “Through this exciting strategic partnership with Alibaba, we will help customers navigate the full Chinese retail economy and reach China’s 1.4 billion consumers more easily. In this evolving retail landscape, and faced with changing consumer behavior and disruptive retail technologies, we are focused on developing new ways to do business,” she said.

     

  • HK’s Goxip secures funding for massive expansion plan

    HK’s Goxip secures funding for massive expansion plan

    Hong Kong fashion e-commerce business Goxip has secured US$1.4 million from financial services firm Convoy Global Holdings. The investment will fund Goxip’s planned expansion in Southeast Asia and allow the establishment of new payment services, including installment loans to online shoppers. The initiatives are expected to make the firm’s products more affordable to a broader audience in the region.

    Goxip has already set up in Malaysia and Thailand.

    Goxip raised $5 million early this year from Chinese imaging/video app developer Meitu and Nan Fung Group along with input from three individual investors. Meitu, which is also bringing its 456 million active users into play, also invested in this round of funding.

    Goxip’s CEO Juliette Gimenez said: “With Meitu’s help, we’ve been growing faster than expected, especially with our Thailand launch ahead of schedule. Bringing Convoy on board will allow us to keep our momentum while also adding an important fintech component to our play, especially as we enter emerging markets across Southeast Asia where spending power still lags behind Hong Kong and Singapore.”

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  • Flipkart, Amazon see bumper in India festive sale

    Flipkart, Amazon see bumper in India festive sale

    With festive sales drawing to a close, e-tailing giants Amazon and Flipkart have claimed bumper sale on their platforms, and that they were ahead of the competition, as they received orders from customers from over 99 percent of the pin codes in the country.

    According to a report: Citing a survey by Kantar IMRB and other reports, Amazon India Senior Vice President and Country Head Amit Agarwal said Amazon emerged as “the most visited and transacted shopping destination in India this festive season” (October 10-15, October 24-28 and November 2-5).

    “With 99.3 percent of pin codes placing at least one order, 89 percent of new customers coming from smaller towns, almost 70,000 small and medium businesses getting at least one order and new Prime memberships growing by nearly 2X, we are humbled that India trusts us to find, discover and buy anything online,” he said in a release.

    Asked about another report stating that Flipkart cornering 51 percent share of the festive sale between October 9-14, Agarwal said, “we don’t comment on reports that are based on non-scientific methodologies”.

    The said industry report had stated that Amazon.in had a 32 per share in the first leg of the festive sale before Dusshera.

    Both Walmart-backed Flipkart and Amazon have claimed record-breaking sales numbers across categories like smartphones, large appliances and fashion during their festive sales.

    “The current sale (November 1-5) is already more than 2X of our Big Billion Days sale this year. We were the clear leaders in the fashion category… we had all brands (of smartphones) except one…competition is no where close to that,” Smrithi Ravichandran, Head of Growth, Flipkart said.

    She added that customers on an average spent Rs 7,500 on various purchases during this festive sale and that its gross merchandise value (GMV) was up 90 percent over last year.

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  • Alibaba promises US$200 billion global sourcing plan

    Alibaba promises US$200 billion global sourcing plan

    Alibaba has committed to help import US$200 billion worth of goods from more than 120 countries over the next five years. The company says the move underscores its long-term commitment to globalisation and boosting its efforts to meet the rising demand of Chinese consumers for high-quality international products.

    However, it could also be construed as a move to shore up alternative supply chains in the wake of growing trade tensions between the US Trump administration and China.

    “Globalisation is one of Alibaba’s most critical long-term growth strategies,” said Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang in a statement. “We are building the future infrastructure of commerce to realize a globalised digital economy where trade is possible for every country around the world.”

    He said using Alibaba’s innovative technology and robust ecosystem, the company is positioned to make global trade more inclusive and fulfil its mission “to make it easy to do business anywhere in the digital era.”

    Zhang outlined Alibaba’s plan at its Global Import Leadership Summit held at the first-ever China International Import Expo in Shanghai. Between 2019 and 2023, Alibaba forecasts it will help import international goods from businesses of all sizes in top countries such as Germany, Japan, Australia, the US, South Korea and Singapore. Several top global brands including P&G, Nestle, JBS, and Refa, have confirmed their holistic partnership with the Alibaba ecosystem.

    By collaborating with various Alibaba businesses units, these brands have been able to effectively engage with China’s massive middle class, a primary engine powering China’s consumption growth.

    Alvin Liu, GM of Tmall import and export, said China’s middle class is booming. “As incomes are rising in China, consumers want faster access to and a wider variety of high-quality products from around the world. Tmall is uniquely positioned to help international brands tap into the growing China market as consumers seek to upgrade their lifestyle.”

    According to a joint report by Deloitte China, the China Chamber of International Commerce, and AliResearch, China’s robust economic growth in recent years has increased the number of middle-to-high income Chinese consumers, who are fuelling the demand for imported, quality goods.

    The report notes that China’s cross-border e-commerce market has grown remarkably, with the proportion of imports to total e-commerce sales growing from 1.6 per cent in 2014 to 10.2 per cent last year. The report also highlights that, between 2014 and 2017, the number of shoppers on Alibaba’s dedicated platform for cross-border shopping, Tmall Global, has grown 10-fold.