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Tag: Retail

  • Singapore retail sales stabilise at below pre-Covid levels

    Singapore retail sales stabilise at below pre-Covid levels

    Singapore’s retail sales rose 79.7 percent year on year in May to S$3.3 billion, rebounding from the low base during the 2020 “circuit breaker”, according to a Singapore Department of Statistics released on Monday.

    This was up from April’s 54 percent jump and exceeded economists’ expectations of a 65 percent rise. Yet retail sales remain below pre-Covid levels, noted Singstat. May’s figures were also down 6.8 percent on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis.

    Online sales accounted for 13.7 percent of May’s takings, up from 11.2 percent in April. Excluding motor vehicles, May’s retail sales were up 61.6 percent year on year, but down 5.2 percent on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis.

    Due to “the low base in May 2020 when most physical stores were closed for the whole month”, all retail industries saw major year-on-year increases, except for two categories: supermarkets and hypermarkets, and mini-marts and convenience stores. These saw falls of 12.1 percent and 9.2 percent respectively.

    The largest increases were seen for watches and jewelry, with May’s takings more than 20 times the year-ago figure; department stores; and wearing apparel and footwear.

  • Covid impact sees Vietnam retail sales drop

    Covid impact sees Vietnam retail sales drop

    Vietnam retail sales plunged 33.7 percent year-on-year in August as the country faced stricter restrictions due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

    According to the General Statistics Office, August’s retail sales plunged 10.5 percent compared to July. In the first eight months of this year, revenue from retail trade and service declined 4.7 percent year on year, reaching US$133.43 billion.

    The Covid-19 situation in the country has seen varying degrees of lockdown in Vietnam’s major cities including Hanoi and HCMC since June.

    In HCMC, retail revenue is estimated to reach US$1.5 billion, falling 15.9 percent month on month. The e-commerce sector, which had been expected to flourish as demand soared, recorded negative growth due to the restriction of delivery services under the Prime Minister’s Directive No.16.

    Restaurants – including online ordering with delivery or pickup – have been banned from trading for nearly two months in Ho Chi Minh City.

  • Japan’s retail sales extend gains but Covid-19 challenges persist

    Japan’s retail sales extend gains but Covid-19 challenges persist

    Japan’s retail sales rose for a fifth straight month in July, beating expectations as the consumer sector continued its recovery, although a coronavirus resurgence has cast doubts over the spending outlook.

    A surge in Delta variant cases this month forced the government to widen state of emergency restrictions, which are now threatening to hurt consumer spending and derail a fragile economic recovery.

    Retail sales advanced 2.4% in July from the same month a year earlier, government data showed on Monday, slightly faster than economists’ median forecast for a 2.1% rise in a Reuters poll. It followed a 0.1% increase in June.

    “The recent strength in retail sales is unlikely to last,” Marcel Thieliant, Senior Japan Economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.

    “The severe Delta wave now hitting the country coupled with an ever-expanding list of prefectures under states of emergency resulted in a renewed weakening in consumption this quarter,” Thieliant said.

    The better-than-expected rise in retail sales in July came as authorities struggled to get a defiant public to heed stay-at-home restrictions in major cities like Tokyo, which hosted the Olympics during the month.

    The trade ministry data found strong demand for a variety of items such as cars, clothing, general merchandise, and food while fuel was helped by higher petrol prices.

    Small retail establishments like convenience stores and drug stores saw the biggest sales growth from a year earlier.

    However, growth was also flattered by the comparison with last year’s steep slide, when consumer demand was hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

    Compared with the previous month, retail sales gained a seasonally adjusted 1.1% as consumption continued the surprising growth seen in the second quarter, helped by the Tokyo Olympics.

    The world’s third-largest economy grew at a better-than-expected rate in the April-June quarter, thanks largely to private consumption, which makes up more than half of the country’s gross domestic product.

    But rebounding consumer activity poses a challenge to policymakers as the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 upends the nation’s healthcare system, with state of emergency curbs now covering nearly 80% of Japan’s population.

    “People’s mobility has been decreasing, and consumption may peak out in August,” said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Economic Research Institute, noting that the downward trend could drag until September.

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  • Macau retail sales surge after Covid-19 lockdown

    Macau retail sales surge after Covid-19 lockdown

    The value of Macao’s retail sales for the second quarter of 2021 totaled 20.70 billion patacas (about 2.58 billion U.S. dollars), up 200 percent year on year, the special administrative region’s statistic department said on Tuesday.

    The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) showed that among the major retail trade activities, sales values of watches, clocks and jewelry, leather goods, and communication equipment witnessed a notable year-on-year growth of 957.9 percent, 504.0 percent, and 460.4 percent respectively, whereas sales value of supermarkets dropped by 11.3 percent.

    As regards the sales volume index, the indices of watches, clocks and jewelry, leather goods, and communication equipment registered a significant rise, while the index of supermarkets decreased.

    For the first half-year of 2021, the value of retail sales reached 39.46 billion patacas, an uplift of 118.4 percent year on year. Besides, the sales volume index jumped by 130.4 percent.

    The value of retail sales in the second quarter of 2021 rose by 10.3 percent as compared with the revised figure of 18.76 billion patacas in the first quarter. Sales values of department stores and watches, clocks, and jewelry increased markedly, whereas sales values of communication equipment declined.

    Moreover, the sales volume index grew by 9.9 percent quarter on quarter.

    In respect of retailers’ comments, 40.9 percent of the retailers expected the sales volume to stay stable year on year in the third quarter of 2021, 42.9 percent anticipated a decrease, and 16.2 percent forecast an increase. Meanwhile, 78.0 percent of the retailers predicted that the retail prices would remain steady year on year in the third quarter, 15.3 percent foresaw a decrease and 6.7 percent expected an increase.

    As compared with the second quarter of 2021, about 44.7 percent of the retailers envisaged sluggish business in the third quarter, whereas retailers expecting stable performance and those anticipating a favorable outlook together accounted for 55.3 percent of the total.

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  • Lazada merges logistics divisions under new name

    Lazada merges logistics divisions under new name

    E-commerce player Lazada, which is now majority-owned by Alibaba, is confident that its expertise in Southeast Asian markets can counter the looming threat from Amazon’s much-anticipated entry into the region, a top executive said.

    Last year, TechCrunch reported that Amazon had planned to launch local e-commerce services in Singapore in the first quarter of 2017. But earlier this year, the news site cited sources and said Amazon’s much-anticipated entry was postponed.

    Aimone Ripa di Meana, co-founder and chief marketplace officer at Lazada, said the company’s on-the-ground knowledge about each of the six regional markets in which it operates, its logistics network, and the backing from Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group will be advantageous in the face of competition.

    “We feel very confident about what we’ve built so far — we have a very unique approach to business,” Meana said. “Having built teams that have been with us for a long time that function in a very organic way that knows the markets, know the complexities that are in each market, which can’t easily be replicated. I don’t think knowing how to do (business in) Singapore is in any way relevant to how you build your business in the Philippines or Indonesia.”

    He explained that the differences in each Southeast Asian market went beyond people and languages spoken. It involved things including the infrastructure set-up in each country to facilitate logistics and delivery, how the syntax of each local language affected the way search worked and also the behaviors of small and medium enterprises in listing their products and structuring their catalogs.

    But the region is still lucrative for e-commerce as millions of first-generation internet users embrace online shopping. A frequently cited study from Google and Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings predicted the region’s internet economy to grow to $200 billion by 2025, driven mostly from growth in e-commerce. Meana said Alibaba’s investments into Lazada, and the speculation surrounding Amazon’s eventual push into the market, underscored the potential of the region.

    “We are in a market that is at the beginning of its curve,” said Meana. “While obviously the numbers are vast and exciting, I think the opportunities that lie ahead are much larger than anything that’s been built behind us.”

    To be sure, Amazon has aggressively invested in markets outside the U.S. to grow its stake. For example, reports in India said Amazon has invested more than $2 billion to-date to compete with local e-commerce players Flipkart and Snapdeal.

    Earlier this year Alibaba upped its stake in Lazada from 51 percent to about 83 percent, with over $2 billion invested into the company. Its affiliate Ant Financial, earlier this year, merged with Lazada’s helloPay platform to bolster payments processing capabilities.

    The backing allowed Lazada to move into Alibaba’s ecosystem and make use of all of the innovation and features for sellers on their platform, said Meana. Those include offerings like a business intelligence portal and new promotional features that allow sellers to create shop decorations in the same way they would’ve done for an offline business.

    To offer consumers more variety, Lazada launched its Taobao Collection store that curates and sells about 4 million products in English from Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace — which is inaccessible to many non-Chinese speaking consumers in Southeast Asia.

    Logistics operations, which Meana said is a key differentiator for Lazada, also benefit by tapping into Alibaba’s technology, processes and approaches to delivery. Currently, Lazada has about 100 logistics partners in the region and its operations are split into two areas of business: last-mile delivery and a control tower that coordinates the most effective means of delivering parcels from merchants to customers.

    “For a consumer or merchant, this is completely seamless. They don’t need to make decisions or choices — all that is done by us, and in turn what that means is, a number of players that were maybe too small to catch the trend, that weren’t able to enter e-commerce, are now being able to leverage our infrastructure and be part of this phenomenal growth that we’re seeing in e-commerce,” he said.

    Delivery speed is another way that many online retailers attempt to differentiate themselves. For a region like Southeast Asia, Meana explained that fast delivery was not always feasible. That is, cross-border e-commerce, a growing part of Lazada’s business, means consumers are more willing to wait for their parcels, he said.

    Ultimately, Meana said, it’s about maintaining a balance between being local and nimble — required for most online marketplaces — in multiple countries and having a regional structure to grow the business.

    “That’s clearly one of the great learnings of having built Lazada over the past five years — the interplay between having this regional structure and the economies of scale and scope to get there and then maintaining the nimbleness of the market,” he said.

    “It’s not an easy balance, but it’s something that we’ve invested a lot of time to get to and I don’t think it’s acquired or built in a day.”

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  • Amazon to test department stores in offline expansion

    Amazon to test department stores in offline expansion

    Now that it’s officially swallowed the lion’s share of online retail sales, Amazon is reportedly eyeing ways to corner our offline shopping, too. The e-commerce giant is drumming up plans to open “several” department-style stores in a handful of cities across the U.S. People familiar with the matter told the paper that these stores would help Amazon “extend its reach in sales of clothing, household items, electronics, and other areas.” It’s a smart move from Amazon, but also one that would end up being a privacy nightmare for a company that’s seen its fair share of scandals in the space.

    Per the Journal, the first states where these department stores are expected to open include Ohio and California. They’re planned to be mid-size, at around 30,000 square feet—smaller than your average Costco or Walmart, but way larger than the Amazon 4-star stores that generally clock in at around 4,000 square feet. Like those 4-star locations, sources told the Journal that Amazon’s private-label products would be featured front and center in these bigger locations, alongside wares from other “top consumer brands.”

    The alleged department store spaces are just Amazon’s latest foray into the brick-and-mortar world. In 2015, the company began experimenting with small bookstores: first on its Seattle home turf, before trickling out to a few other cities across the U.S. But for all sorts of reasons, sales in these bookstores have pretty much flatlined in the years since their debut. By 2019, the company decided to fold together these stores and the company’s then-struggling “pop-up” shops—essentially mall bodegas that sell Amazon-branded tablets and e-readers. Eighty-seven of those pop-ups closed essentially overnight. Other real-world retail efforts like Amazon Go Grocery met similar ends, either collapsing into larger big-box projects from the company or indefinitely closing for unspecified “renovations.” Even then, Amazon’s retail efforts have translated into millions of dollars taken from countless competitors that were already struggling to pitch themselves against the e-commerce juggernaut.

    But if the multiple ongoing federal probes into Amazon’s antitrust-y behavior have shown us anything, it’s that the company won’t be satisfied until it dominates every sale, not just most of them. Right now, the bulk of Amazon’s real-world retail dollars are coming from its myriad grocery chains, including Whole Foods. But the company still lags behind its brick and mortar brethren when it comes to selling high-end fashion, or basic cosmetics and health goods—think toothpaste or bottles of shampoo. In June, reports emerged that the company was mulling plans to open its own Amazon-branded physical retail pharmacies, which would help the company crater competitors like Walmart or CVS that currently rule the world of retail-ized healthcare

    Amazon’s department store push would also help the company compete with two of its tech giant pals: Facebook and Google, which together dominate more than half of the multibillion-dollar digital ad ecosystem. Amazon ranks in a distant third place by earning 10% of that spend, but that number’s skyrocketing fast—and a lot of that boom boils down to data.

    Amazon’s always collected data on its shoppers and sellers, but the past few years have seen the company make a serious push to woo advertisers away from platforms like Instagram and YouTube. And that woo worked because Amazon could offer what those platforms couldn’t: data about every purchase, every search, and every wishlist from every Amazon customer.

    But that still left the company with a pretty large blind spot: data from real-world, in-store purchases. Meanwhile, those real-world retailers—including names like Target, Walmart, and CVS—have started launching ad networks of their own, offering data from the real-world purchases happening outside of Amazon’s sight.

    An Amazon-branded department store would potentially bring those dollars back into Amazon’s pockets, and then some. Amazon’s past brick-and-mortar efforts have shown that the company isn’t afraid to collect as much data as possible from people who walk through its doors—even if that person doesn’t end up buying anything at all. Amazon knows the aisles you’re browsing, the items you’re picking up from a shelf, and whether your buys were influenced by an ad you saw on Amazon’s site. It knows how often you shop for groceries, whether you’re a vegetarian, and if you might be running low on eggs this week—which is great for Amazon and its advertiser partners, but a privacy nightmare for consumers that already have ample reason to be weirded out over Amazon’s data collecting practices.

    Right now, Amazon’s future plans in the real-world retail space are mostly confined to rumor—but they still paint a damning picture. A world where Amazon department stores and Amazon pharmacies are the norm is one where Amazon knows every prescription you take, not to mention all the purchases we might want to keep quiet from everyone—our pregnancy tests, bottles of hair dye, trashy magazines. If Amazon really wants to know how often I’m buying a box of “feminine hygiene” products or something equally classy, they’re welcome to try finding out. But I’d really rather keep those details to myself.

    We’ve reached out to Amazon about the Journal’s report and will update this post when we hear back.

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  • Pandora jewellery sales top pre-pandemic levels as US shoppers splash out

    Pandora jewellery sales top pre-pandemic levels as US shoppers splash out

    Danish jewelry maker Pandora said on Tuesday that a strong performance in the United States spurred rapid sales growth in the second quarter but sales in China fell. Pandora, which aims to strengthen its brand in the world’s two biggest economies, said its total comparable sales in April-June jumped 7 percent compared to the same quarter of 2019 before the pandemic.

    In the United States quarterly sales more than doubled from a year earlier and were up 63 percent compared to 2019 as massive government stimulus and vaccinations against Covid-19 fuelled spending on goods and services.

    Pandora said it saw indications that it was gaining more market share in the United States, its biggest market, but cautioned that the high growth would come down in the second half of the year.

    “We have dampened the expectations on the US growth versus the first half and then we have raised expectations in Europe when the stores reopen and we are seeing that play out,” Chief Executive Alexander Lacik told Reuters in an interview.

    Pandora’s shares, which have gained around 25 percent this year, fell around 1 percent in early trade.

    “The questions arise for how long growth in the US operation can offset continued weakness elsewhere, and can Pandora stabilize its European operations to coincide with slower US growth?” Handelsbanken said in a research note.

    Sales in China, the world’s largest jewelry market, fell 13 percent in the second quarter compared to 2019.

    “It will take time so this is not a quick fix. The first attempt to try to turn this around is going to happen later this year,” Lacik said, adding that Pandora would announce further details on its brand repositioning in China at its capital markets day in September.

    Pandora earlier this month raised its full-year sales and profit margin forecasts as fewer stores would have to close due to Covid-19 than initially assumed.

    On Tuesday, Pandora also announced a new share buyback programme, the latest European company to repurchase stock in the wake of a strong earnings season.

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  • Victoria’s Secret joins JD with store

    Victoria’s Secret joins JD with store

    Victoria’s Secret is expanding its online presence in China with the launch of a flagship store on JD, the e-commerce platform.

    A representative from JD’s underwear business said the collaboration of the two companies not only expands JD’s cooperation with international fashion brands, but also provides additional choices for JD’s customers pursuing high-quality products.

    The JD flagship store offers Chinese customers Victoria’s Secret’s full range of classic bras, panties, lingerie and T-shirts. The launch came in time for the Chinese Valentine’s Day when sales are expected to boost as local consumers buy gifts for their loved ones.

    The online flagship follows the opening of the brand’s first China duty store in Hainan Tourism Duty-Free Shopping Complex earlier this month.

    The US lingerie brand closed its high-profile Victoria’s Secret flagship store in Hong Kong last year after two years of operation.

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  • Retail coffee prices to climb as frost and freight costs bite

    Retail coffee prices to climb as frost and freight costs bite

    A massive shipping logjam caused by the most devastating frost in decades in Brazil and record freight costs wrought by COVID-19 in top coffee producer Brazil is expected to push retail prices to multi-year highs in the coming weeks. have hope.

    A rise in coffee prices will further increase the cost of the shopping cart for other items such as bread, vegetable oil and sugar. The United Nations Food Agency’s index of world food prices for July saw a 31% year-on-year rise at a time when many consumers are struggling financially because of the pandemic.

    The worst cold snap since 1994 in Brazil sent the price of green coffee beans to the highest level in nearly seven years and is expected to pass on to consumers when they buy roasted beans or ground coffee at supermarkets.The price of Arabica coffee on the ICE Futures US exchange has more than doubled in the past 12 months and crops in Brazil have already dried up after the worst drought in 91 years.

    The extent of the damage is still being assessed, but it could take up to seven years for production to fully recover in areas where there are no coffee trees left.

    Shipping disruptions, partly due to increased demand for consumer goods and not enough ships as people stayed home due to the global coronavirus pandemic, have led to a sharp increase in the cost of transporting beans to major consumer countries in North America and Europe. is of. .

    With merchants believing that consumers will soon have to pay more to buy coffee from supermarkets, the price of a latte or Americano at high street coffee chains may not follow suit in the short term.

    “The roast and ground (coffee at the supermarket) only has coffee and a little packaging. Your coffee at Starbucks can’t go up (as much) because you pay more for the shop, the wifi, the experience,” he said.

    Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed ground coffee prices rose to $4.75 a pound in April, up 8.1% from a year earlier and the highest level since July 2015, as a drought-hit Brazil. had an early effect on crops.

    Arabica coffee prices on the ICE Futures US exchange rose sharply, however, after the recent frost and retail prices are sure to increase in response.

    In Brazil, the world’s number two consuming country after the United States, prices of roasted and ground coffee rose 3.4% in June, according to the statistics office IBGE.

    They are sure to grow further. Following the July frosts, Brazilian coffee industry group Ebique asked roasters to analyze their costs and adjust prices accordingly to maintain the stability of their businesses.

    Ebic estimates that green coffee prices for roasters in Brazil have increased by about 80% from the end of December to July.

    “Some companies, including market leaders, have already announced price increases,” Ebic said in a letter to affiliated roasters seen by Businesshala.

    JDE Peet’s, whose brands include Douwe Egberts, Kenko and Peet’s, said there has been a sharp increase in material, freight and other costs over the past 12 months.

    “Historically, significant fluctuations in green coffee prices have been reflected in the market (retail prices) and we expect this precedent to continue,” the company said.

    An increase in transportation costs, coupled with a shortage of shipping containers, can play a major role in driving up prices. Coffee is typically shipped in containers, as opposed to items such as cereals, which are transported in bulk carriers.

    Many coffee companies find it easier to cope with an increase in the cost of beans, at least in the short term, than to increase shipping costs because they often price their purchases several months in advance.

    Mark Schneider, chief executive officer of Nestle, recently said, “We’ve been hedging here for a good percentage of our coffee needs for the rest of this year and even part of next year, So I’m not worried about it.” Conference call, adding it was not in terms of transportation costs.

    Carlos Santana, coffee head trader at Aisa Intergricola, a unit of ECOM Trading, said it was very challenging to ship coffee specifically to the US.

    “It’s not nearly as economical to use this route right now. Ports are full in the US, shipping companies don’t want to move as much cargo there, so they charge more. Prices are three times higher than they were before the pandemic,” They said.

    Thiago Cazarini, a coffee broker in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, said despite paying very high prices to secure a container, exporters are having problems trying to load them into ships.

    He said the problem is widespread, affecting all players.

    One US coffee importer said, “Brazil is logically such a mess at the moment. I have coffee that arrived two months ago and haven’t received it yet.”

    Julian Thomas, managing director of Maersk Brazil (MAERSKb.CO), part of the world’s largest container shipping line, said: “The current bottlenecks of pandemic containment measures and a strong demand are also affecting supply chains in and outside Brazil. Is.”

    “We are still serving our customers and can meet their growing demand,” he told Businesshala.

    German container shipper Hapag Lloyd (HLAG.DE) said there were delays for shipping goods, “but not just coffee”.

    Brazil accounts for an estimated 30% of global exports and its peak shipment season has already begun.

    Additional reporting by Maytal Angel in London and Ana Mano in So Paulo; Editing by Veronica Brown and David Evans

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  • India’s Reliance Retail to buy Just Dial for $469 million

    India’s Reliance Retail to buy Just Dial for $469 million

    Reliance Retail is to buy nearly 41 percent of search and database firm Just Dial for US$468.84 million.

    Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Retail will also make an open offer to public shareholders of Just Dial to acquire an additional 26 percent, according to regulatory requirements.

    Reliance has been on an acquisition spree to ramp up its online retail offerings and, over the past three years, has bought British toy retailer Hamleys, music streaming service Saavn, online furniture retailer Urban Ladder and e-pharmacy Netmeds.

    The deal with Just Dial, subject to shareholder and other approvals, will help Reliance get access to the company’s massive merchant database that spans across the country.

    The deal will boost “the digital ecosystem for millions of our partner merchants, micro, small and medium enterprises,” Isha Ambani, a director at Reliance Retail, said in the statement.

    Just Dial has a database of about 30.4 million listings as of March 31 and gets consumer traffic of about 129.1 million unique users each quarter.

    The capital infusion from the deal will help Just Dial expand discovery on its platform and boost transactions for millions of its products and services.

    Just Dial’s MD VSS Mani will continue to lead the company, the statement said.

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  • 10 Jobs in Retail You Can Do While Still in College

    10 Jobs in Retail You Can Do While Still in College

    According to a study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, 70% of college students work while studying. Some are forced to do so to take care of their family and bills. In contrast, others do it to get some extra bucks other than pocket money and gain experience.

    However, they can all agree that juggling work and school is not the easiest experience. Things get worse in the case of formal employment since most of the employers give limited flexibility and not very rewarding salaries.

    Luckily, students can enjoy more flexibility with an array of jobs in retail that allow them to manage their time effectively.

    Even better, if you have a hard time balancing work and school due to assignments, you can entrust professional essay writers with your projects. This will allow you to manage all your tasks with ease.

    Boutique Sales Associate

    If fashion and design are your things, you should consider working in a boutique as a sales associate. This is a perfect option if you are studying a course in this niche. It gives you the perfect opportunity to practice as you wait to complete school and get into the real fashion world.

    Part-Time Sales Representative

    The retail sector is full of sales rep opportunities. With a good employer, you can choose your ideal schedule, and although the pay may not be the best, you will get the chance to interact with customers and perfect your sales skills. Everyone has to start from somewhere. Working as a retail sales representative may be your stepping stone to becoming a wholesale business owner in the future.

    Hardware Products Loader

    Tons of hardware stores out there are looking for part-time employees to help load heavy products and equipment into the customers’ vehicles.

    If you feel energetic and strong enough to carry loads from the store to the car, this is a great chance to work in a rewarding environment. Apart from being energetic, you should also be good at interacting with people and offer good customer service.

    Such jobs are mostly seasonal but require you to be available on weekends and holidays. This is definitely a suitable time for students. 

    Warehouse Worker

    You do not necessarily have to be a forklift guru to work in a warehouse. The e-commerce industry is rising continuously. This forces warehouses to work around the clock to offer speedy services. This makes them a perfect working station for college students since most warehouses are operating at night and on weekends.

    You can get a job as a warehouse representative during your ideal time. You could work for a few hours during the weekend for some extra cash. Some tasks to consider at the warehouse include sorting and packing, picking orders, and quality control.

    Work in the Food Sector

    Perhaps you have always wanted to work in a restaurant or set up your eatery after college. You don’t have to wait until graduation to fulfill your dream. You may even sell street food in the evening to exercise your passion.

    The good thing about working as a food service worker is you get extra income in the form of tips. Some duties of a food service worker include light food preparations, taking orders, and serving.

    On-Demand Staffing Job

    There are hundreds of on-demand staffing jobs available for part-time workers, and students are no exception.

    All you need to do to get into the mobile marketplace is to create an online profile and share your portfolio. You can then search for available jobs based on your preferred niche.

    It could be in beauty, fashion, and design, selling electronics, you name it.

    Pharmacy Technician

    If you are studying medicine, working as a pharmacy technician will prepare you for the real world. The job involves stocking shelves and data entry. You may also be tasked with printing labels and other light tasks to save the pharmacist’s time.

    The good thing with pharmacy technicians is that you can choose to only stock the shelves and print labels which will take you a few hours. Then you are off to school.

    Artisan

    If art is your thing, consider spending your free time making paintings, leather goods, or handwoven textiles. You may choose to sell them online or join a shop near you where you get paid for every piece sold. The job allows you to practice your passion and perfect your skills as you earn.

    Ice-Cream Shop Server

    Undoubtedly, there are many ice-cream shops around your school, and it would be very convenient to work as a server or cashier there.

    Ice-cream joints are busy in the afternoon hours when the temperature rises. If you don’t have classes around that time, you can rush to the shop and get back to school work in the evening. The salary is quite decent, and you only get to work for a few hours per day.

    Smoothie Maker

    Smoothies are another students’ favorite. You can take advantage of this to make extra funds right outside your school. You only need a reliable blender for a start, fruits, and a few cups, and you are ready to go. If you can, get a bench and watch how students and bypassers will flock to your station.

    You may also include some snacks on top of the smoothies to differentiate your business. 

    Final Thoughts

    Do not wait until you are out of college to collect your first paycheck. Working while in college gives you a sense of responsibility. It also makes you feel good earning extra cash to buy that one thing you have always wanted. Most importantly, working prepares you for life after school.

    The retail sector provides an opportunity for anyone regardless of their passion or skills. The best part is that most of the jobs do not demand any experience, so you can start any time. Check out the above jobs in retail, and select one that suits your passion.

     

  • Indonesia’s Bukalapak kicks off $1.1 billion IPO

    Indonesia’s Bukalapak kicks off $1.1 billion IPO

    Indonesia’s Bukalapak launched an up to $1.13 billion IPO ahead of next month’s listing, marking the country’s biggest issue in over a decade amid rising investor appetite for tech stocks in a region boasting a growing consumer class, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

    The e-commerce company, which counts Singapore sovereign investor GIC and Microsoft among its backers, is set to be valued at $5.6 billion at the top end of a price range, doubling the company’s valuation from two years ago.

    Details of the IPO are currently being announced at an investor briefing.

    Reuters reported on Thursday that Bukalapak, the country’s fourth-biggest e-commerce firm, was targeting raising more than $1 billion in its IPO, 25% more than previously planned.

  • Singapore retail sales still running below pre-Covid times

    Singapore retail sales still running below pre-Covid times

    Singapore retail sales (excluding motor vehicles) increased 61.7 percent in May, but the figure was skewed significantly by the low base of the previous year when Covid-related movement orders effectively shut the offline retail sector down for a whole month.

    Of the total estimated retail sales in May of about SG$2.8 billion, excluding motor vehicles, online sales accounted for about 16.1 percent.

    The largest online categories were computer and telecommunications equipment where e-commerce accounted for 54.4 percent of total sales; furniture and household equipment (30.7 percent) and supermarkets and hypermarkets (12.1 percent).

    May’s overall sales increase followed a 39.2-per-cent rise in April – however, Statistics Singapore says sales continue to track at lower levels than before the outbreak of Covid.

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  • Hong Kong retail sales rise 10.5 percent in May

    Hong Kong retail sales rise 10.5 percent in May

    Hong Kong retail sales rose 10.5 percent in May from a year earlier, the fourth consecutive monthly gain, boosted by an easing Covid-19 threat. But the growth lagged pre-pandemic levels as inbound tourism is at a halt and global travel restrictions linger.

    Sales climbed to HK$29.6 billion (US$3.81 billion), government data showed on Wednesday. That compares with a 12.1 percent rise in April, a 20.21 percent rise in March, and 30 percent growth in February.

    “The near-term operating environment of the retail sector will remain challenging given the lack of visitor spending,” a government spokesman said.

    In volume terms, retail sales in May jumped 7.8 percent year-on-year, compared with a revised 11-per-cent surge the previous month.

    Online retail sales in May soared 53.1 percent in value year-on-year, compared to revised 26.9-per-cent growth in April and a 44-per-cent rise in March.

    Sales of jewelry, watches, clocks, and valuable gifts, which depend heavily on mainland tourists, surged 54.8 percent in May versus a revised 93.9 percent rise in April, the data showed.

    Clothing, footwear, and allied products rose 12.1 percent in May, compared to a revised 61.2 percent in April.

    Tourist arrivals fell 34.8 percent year-on-year in May to 5305, after posting a 38.3-per-cent jump in April in the city’s first growth in arrivals after 21 consecutive months of declines.

    Hong Kong’s seasonally adjusted unemployment was 6 percent in the March-May period, against 6.4 percent in February-April, as the labor market was boosted by economic recovery and as the novel coronavirus outbreak receded.

    The government saw some sectors to take longer to return to pre-pandemic levels because of an uneven pace of recovery.

    The city’s economy grew by a revised 7.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, snapping six consecutive quarters of annual contractions. Official forecasts are for the economy to grow between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent in 2021, after a 6.1-per-cent contraction last year.

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  • HSBC Agrees to French Retail Bank Sale

    HSBC Agrees to French Retail Bank Sale

    HSBC has agreed to sell its French retail bank to Cerberus-backed My Money Group, furthering the British lender’s non-Asia retreat.

    HSBC has agreed to sell its French retail bank to the Paris-based banking group in a deal that includes 244 branches, 3,900 staff alongside 21.5 billion euros ($25.5 billion) in customer loans and 18.9 billion euros in deposits, according to a statement.

    If agreed by employees of both firms, as per French law, the deal could be signed off by the second half of this year and completed by 2023.

    According to HSBC, the sale prices will be a nominal 1 euro which will result in a loss of around $2.3 billion. At the time of deal completion, the bank expects net asset value to total $2 billion and it agrees to make up any shortfall should that valuation decline.

    The signing of an [memorandum of understanding] for the potential sale of our French retail banking business represents a significant step in progressing the actions we announced during our strategic update earlier this year, said HSBC group chief executive Noel Quinn.

    It will enable us to dramatically simplify our business in Continental Europe and allow us to accelerate the transformation of our European wholesale banking franchise.

    According to My Money CEO Eric Shehadeh, the firm aims for the newly acquired bank to return to profitability three years after taking control with commitments not to cut jobs until 2024 or 2025.

    The acquisition, if successful, will further add to U.S. private equity firm Cerberus’ portfolio of European banking stakes which includes ownership at Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.

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