Retail News CRM

Tag: retailing

  • New Zealand Consumer spending finished stronger in 2017

    New Zealand Consumer spending finished stronger in 2017

    Consumer spending growth accelerated to five per cent year-on-year in the three months to the end of December last year, with retail trade picking up momentum over the holidays, new National Australia Bank data has revealed.

    Up from three per cent growth y/y in the third quarter, NAB’s latest quarterly customer spending report, which measures around 2.7 million daily transactions through the bank’s facilities, has tracked spending increases across the entirety of metro and regional Australia.

    Retail trade increased 3.4 per cent y/y in Q417, up from 2.4 per cent in the third quarter, while accommodation and food services spending was 10.4 per cent, up 3 per cent.

    The Northern Territory was the strongest growth state for retail trade, up six per cent, offsetting a 0.6 per cent decline in Western Australia.

    Retail trade spending growth was 4.7 per cent in Victoria and 3.3 per cent in NSW. Across the entire economy Victoria was the strongest performer, while NSW and NT lagged.

    Average monthly customer spending during the quarter was up $166 to $2306 in metro areas and up by $104 to $2089 in regional areas.

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  • Kanmo Retail Group Digitises Retail Game with Capillary Technologies

    Kanmo Retail Group Digitises Retail Game with Capillary Technologies

    Capillary Technologies, a leader in omnichannel engagement and commerce solutions, has been locked in as the omnichannel partner for Kanmo Retail Group, which manages a portfolio of more than 70 brands across Indonesia, including Mothercare, Karen Millen, Coach, Justice and T.M. Lewin.Capillary will play a strategic role in supporting Kanmo Retail Group’s mission to provide outstanding retail experiences to customers through designing and powering the technology that enables the business to seamlessly connect online and offline customer journeys.

    As the Indonesian market charges towards digitising traditional retail stores and taking on an omnichannel approach, Kanmo Retail Group recognises the growing need to build a truly omnichannel system that puts their customers at the centre of everything they do.

    “Kanmo Retail Group caught on early to the fact that Indonesia is undergoing a digital boom. However, to truly yield results from our omnichannel strategy, we have to look beyond just engaging our customers through offline and online means. We have to take into consideration all customer touchpoints across our various brands and integrate them seamlessly onto a single platform,” said Bhavin Patel, Group Omnichannel Director at Kanmo Retail Group said.

    “Not only does Capillary helps to integrate all our existing systems and merge them into a single, omnichannel experience platform, they also provide us with the flexibility of scaling and easily deploying the solution accordingly. Additionally, the advanced AI-based reporting and actionable insights engine enabled us to analyse data across channels which in turn provide us business insights and allowing us to improve our campaigns,” Patel added. “All these made Capillary the perfect choice for us.”

    Capillary Vice President and Business Head for Asia Pacific, Abhijeet Vijayvergiya commented on Capillary’s partnership with Kanmo Retail Group, “We are excited to be working with Kanmo Retail Group and empowering their digital journey. With a passionate team at Capillary accompanied with Kanmo Group’s futuristic vision, we look forward to seeing a long-term and rewarding partnership.”Kanmo Retail Group is currently using the following solutions from Capillary Technologies:

    • Capillary’s Loyalty+ and Insights+

    Kanmo Retail Group will be able to build an omnichannel loyalty programme that ensures customers can continue their seamless journey across all Kanmo brands. At the backend, all Kanmo brands will now have a 360° single, unified view of their consumers across channels and have access to in-depth actionable insights and recommendations for the next critical interaction.

    • Capillary’s Order Management System

    As part of Anywhere Commerce+, this feature allows Kanmo Retail Group to integrate all their inventory in the backend with all the orders that have been placed. With a single view of orders and inventory, Kanmo store employees can easily assist customers with omnichannel experiences such as placing orders from the store that can either be picked up from any store of their choice or be delivered to their homes. It would also help Kanmo Group increase efficiency and reduce errors in fulfilment across their omnichannel operations.

    In Southeast Asia, Capillary is working with 14 million customers and has 14 hundred stores active on its platform, including Mitra10, Bata, Caring Pharmacy, TungLok Group and McDonald’s. Fresh off a US$20m funding round led by blue chip investors Warburg Pincus and Sequoia Capital, Capillary also plans to use some of the new funds in strengthening its presence in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, after achieving a threefold growth in the region.

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  • Online Giants Carve Out Twin Empires in China’s Age of New Retail

    Online Giants Carve Out Twin Empires in China’s Age of New Retail

    The largest e-commerce players in China have rapidly expanded their scope and reach in recent years through a wave of investments and acquisitions. Alibaba owns two of China’s largest e-commerce platforms, Taobao and TMall, as well as an electronic payments system, AliPay. JD has allied with Tencent, which owns WeChat. Now, a report released by Oliver Wyman, a global consulting firm, analyses how the two players’ ubiquity in mobile payments, deep consumer data and sophisticated logistics capabilities has resulted in a new ‘age of empires’ in China’s retail sector where incumbents must quickly adapt to survive.

    The report, Chinese Grocery’s Age of Empires, reveals the e-commerce giants’ efforts to drive further growth by introducing new shopping formats – dubbed O2O, or online-to-offline. These blend online shopping’s convenience and wealth of information with the social experience and physical contact with products that people enjoy in traditional, brick-and-mortar stores. This is most immediately visible in the online grocery sector, where Alibaba and Tencent/JD are actively pursuing three strategic plays that could together increase their share of grocery shopping from around 10 percent today to around 30 percent over the next five years, by when it could be worth approximately 400 billion renminbi in gross merchandise value.

    “With the grocery sector seeing mobile payment penetration of 35%, the two giants are seeking to maximize their critical advantage of dominance in covering 97% of the overall mobile payment market,” says Richard McKenzie, Partner, Greater China at Oliver Wyman. “Now their investments are rapidly building a wider ecosystem of alliances that will make them ubiquitous through online-to-offline tools and features.”

    Over 460 million people in China regularly shop online, where densely populated cities facilitate home delivery. As a result, China has leapfrogged other markets to take the lead with nearly 10 percent of the population shopping for groceries online, compared to just 3 percent in the United States and 6 percent in the United Kingdom, Europe’s highest rate.

    This rapid change favors the two giant empires, which could make it hard for independent retailers to survive outside of them, evidenced by declining like-for-like sales and margins among China’s traditional supermarkets and convenience stores over the past few years. However, they may yet survive in some form with help from the online giants themselves, leveraging the empires’ logistics networks, rapid delivery services and new software solutions.

    Both empires are building their O2O power through three plays, each of which blends their online capabilities with offline stores in new ways:

    1. Experimentation with own retail formats

    Unlike supermarkets elsewhere that offer online shopping in parallel with a traditional in-store experience, China’s players integrate elements of the two. For example, Alibaba’s Hema stores offer smartphone payment and home delivery within 30 minutes. . Though expensive to set up and with high initial running costs, these stores are only marginally loss making. With further maturity and ramp up, breaking even is within reach. Oliver Wyman believes there is potential for at least 1,000 stores in major cities with total revenues of RMB 200 billion.

    1. Strategic Partnership with Big Box Retailers

    Big-box retailers have tried and failed to launch their own O2O and online shopping services in the past. Amid pressure from the online giants, a flurry of partnerships has seen large retailers aligning themselves with the two tech empires. These show early signs of success as parties combine their different strengths. Examples include Alibaba installing Tmall Supermarket shelves in RT-mart branches, with one-hour home delivery for products on these shelves, while Walmart, which has a strategic partnership with JD, is using its O2O unit JD Daojia as the service platform for over 150 stores to attract online traffic.

    1. Reinvention of the traditional world of “mom and pop” shops

    Traditional stores still account for half the sales of fast-moving consumer goods in China, much of them through the more than 7 million family-run stores that dominate retail outside big cities. Since early 2017, JD and Alibaba have been converting these into franchises, helping them optimize their stock through data-based curation tailored to their neighborhoods. Smartphone-based ordering systems and rapid delivery have also revolutionized procurement. Tmall planned to open 10,000 such franchises in 2017, while JD is aiming for one million by 2021. Alibaba and JD are further likely to dominate the growing market for their ordering systems, a market that could be worth up to RMB 400 billion over the next five years.

    Wai-Chan Chan, Partner, Greater China at Oliver Wyman notes, “China has not only surpassed the US in terms of online grocery penetration but also in terms of the pace of innovation and introduction of value-added services. Customers at a Hema store can pay seamlessly via their mobile phone, have fresh crayfish cooked in-store and delivered to their home within 30 minutes. Players in other markets are still some way behind in matching that offering.”

    As O2O becomes the new normal in retail, the two alliances will act as both players and facilitators of these models. While retailers and brands need to plan the best way to function in a retail world dominated by the two tech empires, identifying opportunities for synergy, it will pose a more serious challenge for some incumbents.

    The new environment will pose serious challenges to independent supermarkets and hypermarkets. Survival will require drastic changes, but this is unlikely under their current set-up. Some leading convenience stores should be able to survive outside these empires in the short term, but they too will come under threat in time from the revival of family-run stores under the franchise networks run by the two giants.

    The tech empires will inevitably influence the shape and future of the supermarket and hypermarket industry. It is crucial for incumbents to find ways to partner or co-exist with them if they are to survive and thrive.

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  • Time to go to into a retail rehab

    Time to go to into a retail rehab

    Why are retailers failing at such an alarming rate?

    The preconditions for any business to be successful are:

    1. Is there a real market need that I understand?
    2. Do I have access to a product or service address that need?
    3. Am I sufficiently equipped (skills, resources, motivation etc) to address this opportunity in a particular way that provides me with a competitive advantage or at least desirable point of difference?

    Points one and and two are usually not the issue because failure is quick – if the business even succeeds in getting off the ground.

    The root cause of many failures can be found in HOW the retailer chooses to play the arbitrage game of tapping into a supply to meet a need.

    That is, entrepreneurs will pick the way in which business is done (proposition delivered) and attempt to build some differentiation around that that can be defended at a profit.

    Timing: First or faster

    An example would be Zara that aims to bring the latest fashion (from the catwalk to the store) in less than six weeks – and if anecdotal reports are to be believed have done so in a matter of days. Or you can be the Concord. Or the movie house that shows all the premiers.

    Leverage:  Add value, minimise cost

    Someone turns raw meat into patties, someone solves the challenge of distributing fuel to every town in every country. Someone is the cheapest, someone figures out how to make things smell better, work differently, last longer or taste better. We are limited only by our imagination and the possibilities of innovation are endless. Of course, any particular innovation can be made redundant in a flash.

    Change: Adapt, transform, improve

    More than simply adding value, there are opportunities for entrepreneurs to transform products completely. Old tires can become road base. Cars can be turned into supercars or transformed into vehicles for mobility impaired people and clothes can be altered to fit. Wind can be turned into electricity.

    Access: Exclusive or convenient

    Businesses also exist on the premise that access to the product/ service is exclusive or particularly convenient. This is a very typical ‘advantage’ that many smaller retailers rely on, and it is most often also their weakness. E.g. to be the only menswear retailer in Yepoon or the only newsagent in the shopping centre, or maybe even the only convenience store on that particular side of that particular city block leverages ‘access’ as the method of arbitrage.

    Most small, product-oriented retailers tend to rely on the ‘access’ angle to create a POD. Retailers tend to be resellers, so innovation is not a primary focus. The only value-add lies in the bulk-breaking activity. These SME retailers are content to be ‘the only shoe shop’ in the mall as their core proposition.

    In the past this has been a legitimate approach to ‘capitalise’ on an opportunity. There has always been limits as to how far people would travel to gain access to a product, so geography-based retail propositions have been viable since forever.

    But, reliance on this particular approach is the reason why the technological shift in the market is causing serious competitive pressure. And being blind to the change that has occurred is the cause of many retail failures.

    Too many retailers rely on the fact that they are ‘the only’ cafe on the strip, the only menswear retailer in a suburb, the only servo on that street.

    If you merely rely on being the only store in a particular geography, the internet obliterated that point of difference because on the internet, geography hardly matters.

    Everything that is for sale is in every customer’s pocket. And the time delay (caused by delivery requirements) are (a) offset by cost saving and (b) becoming shorter and shorter. In metropolitan areas, many e-commerce providers are providing same-day delivery and food delivery businesses do it in a matter of hours.

    This leaves traditional corner-stores an ever-shrinking market comprising mostly of emergency shoppers or impulse buyers.

    That is why Amazon poses such a threat to retailers – suddenly there is a competitor that it is more convenient and cheaper than your shop on your corner, and you can do very little about it.

    The internet has made geography irrelevant – and if THAT has been the basis of your business, so is the business.

    The only appropriate response is to change your execution. You need pick a different propositional dimension to differentiate.

    The problem is obvious. The solution is obvious. But maybe, like any good rehab program, the starting point is to admit the problem.

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  • Storefront partners with Obsess to create virtual reality stores

    Storefront partners with Obsess to create virtual reality stores

    Storefront is pushing the boundaries of the retail industry by giving brands for the first time ever the opportunity to rent Virtual Reality pop-up stores right on its platform.

    Retailers and e-commerce brands can now launch a virtual, fully customisable store powered by Obsess’ VR technology, featuring their own inventory and choosing any layout, decor and style.

    The ‘Future of Retail’ is retail everywhere, according to Storefront

    Storefront is making retail accessible to anyone in the world by now giving customers a unique selling and buying experience through Virtual Reality, in addition to its current retail space offerings. Now, anyone has the ability to experience a physical store with the ease of online shopping.

    “We see this Virtual Reality pop-up store as creating a new category between e-commerce and a physical retail space. It’s a great in between,” says Joy Fan, Storefront’s CCO.

    Get a taste of (virtual) reality

    With this new partnership with Obsess, brands and retailers can now easily book space through a New York City, Los Angeles, or San Francisco themed virtual store.

    Now with this virtual pop-up store, e-commerce brands can get a branded store environment without the need to invest in a physical space – just yet.

    “Our goal is to bring the visual merchandising and curation of retail stores into online shopping to make it a more guided and enjoyable experience,” explains Obsess founder and CEO Neha Singh.

    By booking this virtual reality experience, brands will be able to increase digital engagement, reduce costs, create more traffic and acquire new data.

    A unique initiative that allows Storefront to open all doors to all ideas.

    About Storefront

    Storefront is the world’s largest marketplace for short-term retail space rental, making it possible for brands to sell their idea anywhere; for space owners to activate their space with a click and for consumers to buy local; globally.

    Storefront’s platform powers more than 10,000 listings, which represent more than 30 millionsqft of retail space. The company offers greater access to spaces in leading retail cities around the world, including Hong Kong, New York, Paris, London, Milan, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

    Since its launch in 2013, it has helped thousands of brands all over the world, including Google, Samsung, L’Oréal, Everlane, Shopify, Indiegogo; open temporary retail stores.

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  • Luxury retailers ‘missing out on customer engagement’

    Luxury retailers ‘missing out on customer engagement’

    No one can accuse luxury retailers of cutting corners where advertising spend is concerned. On average, they divert 8 per cent of their turnover into funding advertising initiatives. In the US for example, luxury brands invested more than $5 billion in advertising last year, accounting for a significant portion of overall marketing expenditure.

    Love it or hate it, advertising is a principal ingredient of business success. How else would you make customers be aware of your brand and build an inspirational image? Advertising is also essential for increasing brand equity and driving traffic to point of sales, which is how you boost your revenues.

     The twist 

    So, assuming we can agree that advertising remains important, let’s explore the issue through some numbers to see whether luxury brands are extracting maximum value from their advertising investments.

    Here’s one number: the average conversion rate in retail is about 10 per cent, which is to say that merely one out of every 10 customers entering a store will buy something. The best-in-class brands can boast a 20 per cent conversion rate, but that still leaves anywhere between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of store visitors exiting without a purchase.

    On the bright side, these numbers are not necessarily a harbinger of doom because nowadays a store has become more of a touchpoint along the customer journey. A transaction may occur on the premises during the visit, but it may also take place at a later time in another brand store (think airport outlets, for instance) or online. Therefore, a visit without a purchase is not really the issue.

    But we truly have a problem when non-buying customers go away without leaving their personal information. This should be ringing all sorts of alarm bells because it means the brand cannot continue its conversation with these customers. Our research shows that in 2017, an average of 65 per cent of non-buying customers were not invited to leave their personal information. In other words, this is nearly 60 per cent of store visitors who cannot be engaged in further conversation.

    Advertising is only one of many budgetary considerations for luxury brands when it comes to attracting customers to a store as it also entails expenditure on rent, fittings, and staff salaries, among other things.

    When you add it all up, you start questioning the rationale behind these investments. Not because they no longer matter in the grand scheme of things, but because the current retail landscape has rendered existing advertising budget allocation practices inefficient.

    When you think back to the nearly 60 per cent of clients not engaged at all during a store visit, it becomes painful to think of the revenue opportunities missed, not to mention the “waste” of money spent to get those customers cross the store threshold in the first place.

    Luxury brands now operate in a world where consumers are starting to sidestep advertising and increasingly count on referrals and recommendations to choose a product or a service. Think of it in this way: marketing is no longer about what you say to customers but how you influence what they say to each other. 

    The fix

    With that in mind, it seems clear to us that luxury brands should spend more on creating unique and memorable customer experiences (both in-store and post-purchase) for buyers and non-buyers alike.

    Front-line team members should be considered an additional marketing channel, or at least an extension of one. While brands make substantial investments in PR and special events, they need to spend more to make a positive, lasting impression on the customers who come into the store instead of striving to draw even more customers inside.

    Part of the advertising budget should go into delivering customer experiences and providing value to store visitors, surprising and delighting them at the same time. You can guess what will follow, can’t you? Conversations sparked by viral tweets, social media shares, and likes, which is as good as advertising gets for luxury brands.   

    The help

     The gist so far is that luxury brands need to pivot from a push to a pull strategy. Carving out a larger portion of the advertising budget to invest in customer experiences is the way forward, but multiple factors need to interact for effective execution and tangible results.

    For one thing, brands need to put the right people on the shop floor. This may require investment in proper training and ongoing support. Other necessary ingredients are decent pay plus the right KPIs and incentives.

    Last but not least, luxury brands should empower their teams to do whatever is required to deliver a high-quality customer experience – one that will be remembered, shared, and seen by many. When the social media and word-of-mouth mills start churning, luxury brands will have all the vindication they need for having aligned their advertising budgets with the new realities of retail.

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  • Hong Kong retail rents set for ‘early lift’

    Hong Kong retail rents set for ‘early lift’

    Hong Kong retail rents are expected to move into an “early upswing cycle” this year according to a regional real estate market briefing prepared by Savills.

    The report details commercial and residential property leasing trends across major Asian markets and as the accompanying tables show, compares occupancy costs of space as well.

    It groups major cities by upswing and downswing, late and early, showing that Hong Kong is at the end of its downswing in retail rental rates. Cities currently in early upswing are Manila, Guangzhou, Jakarta and Singapore. Hong Kong is grouped with Taipei, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Seoul, suggesting all those markets are about to turn.

    Savills says regional prime retail rents moved by between a decline of 1.8 per cent in Beijing and an increase of 5.9 per cent in Guangzhou last year.

    “Strong local retail consumption growth of 9.5 per cent year on year in the second half of the year following 10.5 per cent in the first half of the year supported the Guangzhou leasing market, while prime shopping malls began to re-position and upgrade, focusing more on entertainment and food & beverage,” said Savills in a brief commentary.

    “Again, Hong Kong’s prime shopping mall rents are considerably ahead of all other Asia-Pacific markets and are expected to move into an ‘early upswing’ cycle this year.”

    Savills says economic growth across Asia-Pacific continued to picked-up moderately in the second half of last year and the International Monetary Fund estimates that the “Emerging and Developing Asia” economies grew by 6.5 per cent over the year as a whole while China grew by 6.8 per cent and Japan’s economy grew by 1.8 per cent last year, from 0.9 per cent in 2016.

    “The improving global economic outlook and an accommodative monetary policy created momentum for business expansion,” said Savills.

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  • Retail News Asia makes it to Final with a Selection in the Top Asia Pacific Best News Websites

    Retail News Asia makes it to Final with a Selection in the Top Asia Pacific Best News Websites

    Retail News Asia is selected as one of the winners of the Top Asia-Pacific News websites list! This is the most comprehensive list of best Asia-Pacific News websites on the internet and we’re honoured to be there! Retail News Asia is the leading Retail News portal in Asia Pacific since many years and we show deep respect and bow for being selected as one of the most influencing medias in Asia Pacific.

    RetailNews.asia has always been committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest breaking retail news throughout the Asian market on a daily base since many years. With over 20 post per day with relevant Retail News, we can proudly say that we’re the leading media in the Retail industry.

    We have resources for everyone from the independently owned business owners, online-only retailers, and major chains expanding their reach throughout the Asian market.

    We Are Stronger Together

    You can quickly and easily search for the latest breaking retail news by country, or come here to keep an eye on the latest local, global and seasonal trends on our portal, watch video’s and/or follow uw with both local and international Retail Events.

    You can network, engage, and share invaluable information with other retailers. Our retailers come from a wide range of industries and expertise, meaning that whatever the question may be—we have you covered!

    We keep you apprised of the upcoming retail events, and even provide coverage and updates during many retail events.

    Thank You

    Retail News Asia wishes to congratulate all the team members, editorial and advertising departments for all hard work, overtime and sweat. We did it together says Sven, Founder of Retail News Asia

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  • South Korea’s service sector investment focused on wholesale, retail and restaurants

    South Korea’s service sector investment focused on wholesale, retail and restaurants

    South Korea’s investment in the service sector has been focused on low value-added areas, such as wholesale, retail and restaurants, official data showed Monday.

    The gross fixed capital formation for the service sector was tallied at 256.1 trillion won ($239.6 billion) in 2015, the findings by the Bank of Korea and the National Assembly Budget Office showed. This represents a solid 13.9 percent increase to 224.8 trillion won reported in 2006.

    The GFCF refers to the net increase in assets that takes into account both investments and deductions within a set period of time.

    The tally, however, showed investments in high value-added areas, such as cultural and education industries, backtracking.

    An injection of funds into this sector reached 18.1 trillion won in 2015, or a 69.2 percent spike from 10.7 trillion won tallied in 2006.From 2006 through 2015, when investment in the service sector shot up the steepest, investment was centered on restaurants and catering, as well as retail and wholesale.

    The increase rate is five times faster than gains for the entire service industry as a whole in the same time period.

    The central bank said the sharp rise has allowed restaurants and catering businesses, and retail and wholesale to make up 7.1 percent of all service sector investments in 2015 from 4.8 percent in 2006.

    On the other hand, investment in the cultural sector contracted 20.8 percent to 7.6 trillion won in 2015 from 9.6 trillion in 2006, with 15.2 percent drop being reported for education-related outlays in the same period.

    Hong Joon-pyo, a senior analyst at the Hyundai Research Institute , said areas where investment has focused on in recent years is closely associated with self-employed posts.

    “Many people who retire and do not have any skill sets often go into these businesses so there has been a natural rise in investment,” he said.

    The economist said that this trend has led to an over saturation of certain service sectors that has eaten into profits.

    Statistics Korea said operating profits of restaurants and catering industries stood at 13.4 percent in 2015 or down 9 percentage points from five years earlier, while numbers for retail and wholesale correspondingly stood at 5 percent or down 2 percentage points.

    The statistical office said this has led to such stores’ average survival rate three years after opening standing at an average of just 39.1 percent. Such dismal numbers are not conducive to sustainable growth for the economy as a whole.

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  • Stop DDoS from ruining your retail Brand’s sales momentum

    Stop DDoS from ruining your retail Brand’s sales momentum

    On 11 November 2017, Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales hit a new record high with a 39% increase from last year’s sales. The company’s 2017 profits broke world records of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, marking this Asian sales day as one of the highest revenue sales in history.

    With increasing internet-user penetration, consumer behavior is quickly transitioning in Asia today. Shoppers make most of their retail purchases on-the-go, through mobile applications or via websites. In fact, 90% of this year’s Alibaba sales were made through mobile phones.

    Now more than ever, retail businesses in the Asia-Pacific region need to tap onto an omni-channel approach to be aligned with these changing customer demands. Based on the 2016 e-commerce study, Google and Temasek foresee Southeast Asia to be the next region to boom in this market. The predictions indicated that e-commerce will make up 6% of the region’s total retail sales by 2025.

    Beware of business bullies

    While these statistics show a positive growth for the region, businesses going digital must be aware of the lurking threat factors. The physical shoplifters that pained businesses – especially during big sales such as Great Singapore Sale and Black Friday – have now evolved to become cyber criminals. Unlike thieves, businesses are not physically able to discern these criminals, especially since they attack over the network.

    One of the most devastating kinds of cyberattack for e-commerce businesses today is Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) which aims to bring down websites, therefore, disrupting online services and businesses. DDoS attacks occur when an unusual and unexpected spike in traffic and connection requests overwhelms a website, slows down the network, or in the worst-case scenario, shuts down the entire system.

    A reliable website that guarantees a good user experience is what defines a successful e-commerce business as it is the main platform for acquiring customers and generating revenues. The damage caused by a network failure or a complete site outage will directly and immediately impact business assets. For instance, Alibaba made US$7 billion within the first 30 minutes of the Singles’ Day sale3. Imagine if they had been hit by a DDoS attack; Alibaba would have lost US$233 million per second. Not only would this be a massive loss, the attack would have also caused long term damage to Alibaba’s brand image and customer loyalty. According to KPMG’s annual consumer survey, one fifth of consumers will turn away from a cyber-attacked company4.

    Don’t fall victim

    With the festive period approaching, online retailers can expect an approximately 20% increase in their web traffic5. To make the most out of this sale period, businesses need to ensure that they are ready to protect themselves against DDoS attacks. This includes re-evaluating their network security to assure they are taking the best protective measures.

    Monitor and Detect

    Businesses cannot fight what they do not know. Monitoring network traffic and flow data with DDoS detection alerts security pros to anomalies before they become full-blown catastrophes.

    One way to get a better understanding of what is happening on the network is baselining to know what the traffic looks like during peacetime. This allows organizations to take the appropriate wartime countermeasures when an attack happens. Effective DDoS detection needs to be able to discern the human traffic from the bots.

    Additionally, organizations need a detection solution that can scale given that attacks are increasingly getting larger in size. The best class solution should not only be able to process the data, but also be equipped with the ability to quickly make intelligent decisions with that data.

    Mitigate and Protect

    DDoS protection requires having the right mitigation in place. Businesses should look for a modern DDoS solution that empowers them to automate defenses – from reports to packet captures to mitigation. This can help security pros reduce stress and thwart attacks quickly.

    Communicate

    As with all security procedures, effective DDoS defense involves a human element, as well. It is imperative for businesses to have a communication plan in place in the event of an attack. This includes critical information such as who to notify during, and after an attack. For example, who should be the first to know if the site goes down due to a DDoS attack? Is that the same person notified if a DDoS attack shuts down the online retail site? Who else is notified if an attack happens? Having communications ironed out ahead of time can reduce time to remediation and lower stress levels.

    Make the most of this year’s sale season

    For businesses, these next few months are the time to peak your revenue and customer traffic. It may be a chance to raise brand awareness or even expand the business. Whichever the case, a DDoS attack can be a fatal roadblock to an organization’s goals. Reacting in an efficient manner is key. Online retailers need to ensure they have an emergency response plan that makes good use of anti-DDoS technologies for unforeseeable attacks. For a happy holiday for all, be on the lookout for any dangers and take the right cautionary actions to protect against any potential threats.

     

  • Macau retail sales continue to climb

    Macau retail sales continue to climb

    Macau retail sales are on the rise with businesses reporting increased turnover year-on-year. Data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows 68 per cent of interviewed restaurants and similar establishments registered a year-on-year rise in receipts or a stable business performance in October, a six percentage point rise from September.

    And the proportion of interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year sales increase in October rose by eight percentage points from September to 59 per cent.

    The best performing retail categories were cosmetics, with 78 per cent of retailers reporting an improvement, leather goods, (80 per cent), and apparel, (60 per cent).

    Some 21 per cent of interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales decline, down by three percentage points over September. Of department stores, 11 per cent reported a decline and 22 per cent of watch and jewellery vendors.

    Generally, retailers expected their sales to be stable in November, with 77 per cent predicting a year-on-year sales increase or a steady business performance, the same proportion as in October.

    Dining out data

    The proportion of western restaurants (25 per cent) reporting a year-on-year growth in receipts went up by nine percentage points, while that of Japanese & Korean Restaurants (44 per cent) was down by 13 percentage points. On the other hand, the share of establishments recording a year-on-year decline in receipts decreased by six percentage points over September to 32 per cent.

    Restaurants and similar establishments interviewed were cautious about their business prospects, with 68 per cent expecting a year-on-year rise in receipts or a steady performance in November, up by four percentage points from October. Among the various types of establishments, 50 per cent of the western restaurants and 73 per cent of the Chinese restaurants predicted their receipts to increase or to remain stable in November, up by 10 and three percentage points respectively from October.

    The DSEC says the sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the value of receipts of the establishments, comprising 167 restaurants and similar establishments (accounting for 53 per cent of the industry’s receipts) and 135 retailers (accounting for 70 per cent of the industry’s receipts).

  • Vietnam retail sales already faced a growth with 10 per cent

    Vietnam retail sales already faced a growth with 10 per cent

    Vietnam has seen a surge in retail sales, which topped VND 3258 trillion (US$106.9 billion) for the first 10 months of this year.

    This was year-on-year growth of 10.7 per cent, says the General Statistics Office (GSO) in releasing statistics of retail sales of consumer goods and services. Excluding inflation, the increase evens out at 9.4 per cent.

    These sales make up 74.9 per cent of the total for the sector.

    Accommodation, restaurant and catering services raked in an estimated $18 billion, accounting for 12.5 per cent of the total as well as being a 12.5 per cent improvement on the same period last year.

    Spending on travel for the 10 months reached about $1.3 billion, 15.2 per cent more than the same period a year ago, and making up 0.9 per cent of the total.

    Sales of textiles and garments rose 9.8 per cent, home appliances by 8.8 per cent, and transport services by 8.4 per cent.

    Other services totalled $16.8 billion to be 11.7 per cent of the total and 9.2 per cent up from last year.

    During the 10 months, international arrives rose by 28.1 per cent year on year to reach nearly 10.5 million, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

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  • Healthy jump in Hong Kong retail sales

    Healthy jump in Hong Kong retail sales

    Hong Kong retail sales rose at their fastest rate in more than 30 months in September, underlining the industry’s steady recovery.

    The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) estimated retail sales totalled HK$35.7 billion during the month, up 5.6 per cent on the same month last year.

    That follows a revised estimate of August’s sales increase of 2.7 per cent.

    For the first nine months of 2017, retail sales are running at a more modest 0.9 per cent higher.

    Even after netting out the effect of price changes year-on-year, sales were up by 5.5 per cent, said C&SD.

    A government spokesman describe September’s improvement as “notable growth”.

    “This reflected the upbeat consumer sentiment and continued improvement in inbound tourism, as most broad types of retail outlets registered varying degrees of year-on-year rises. The performance of retail sales in the near term should continue to be bolstered by the prevailing favourable job and income situation as well as the recovery in inbound tourism,” the spokesman said.

    The recovery was driven by watches and jewellery, with sales up 14.7 per cent, cosmetics and medicines, up 12.7 per cent and department store sales up 9.4 per cent. Supermarket sales rose 2.6 per cent.

    Apparel and footwear sales lagged at just 1.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively, while furniture and homewares were up 5.2 per cent and optical shops by 5 per cent.

    The only major sector to post a decline in sales was electrical goods and photographic equipment, likely to receive a boost in October and November from the launch of new Samsung models and the iPhone X.

  • Singapore retail sales rise 3.7 per cent in August

    Singapore retail sales rise 3.7 per cent in August

    Real Singapore retail sales – those excluding motor vehicles – rose by 3.7 per cent in August, compared with the same month last year.

    Compared with July, they fell by 1.2 per cent.

    Adding motor vehicles into the data, August sales rose by 3.5 per cent year-on-year and eased 0.3 per cent month-on-month.

    Statistics Singapore estimates total retail sales in August at $3.7 billion, higher than the $3.5 billion in August last year.

    Sales by petrol service stations, department stores and supermarkets and of recreational goods, medical goods and toiletries, apparel and footwear, computer and telecommunications equipment and furniture and household equipment rose between 2.8 per cent and 9.5 per cent in August.

    In contrast, retail sales of optical goods and books and watches and jewellery, and sales by food retailers, mini-marts and convenience stores, fell by between 0.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent.

    Sales of food & beverage services increased 3.7 per cent in August 2017, year-on-year, to $729 million.

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  • Global e-commerce expected to double in next five years

    Global e-commerce expected to double in next five years

    Global e-commerce continues to revolutionise the air cargo industry, and is forecast to increase 19 per cent a year over the next five years, from US$1.9 trillion in 2016 to US$4.5 trillion in 2021, according to the annual E-Commerce Revolution Report released recently by Air Cargo Management Group (ACMG). The 2017 E-Commerce Revolution Report provides an in-depth look at the explosive growth of global e-commerce air logistics.

    The report features fresh and insightful analysis of the major marketplaces, sellers, and logistics providers that are fuelling this revolution. It is not just the best-known participants, such as Amazon and Alibaba, driving this revolution, but also global express airlines, along with players lesser known outside their home countries, such as JD.com in China and Otto in Germany. The report tracks the companies using and providing e-commerce air logistics, and offers insights on global trends in the industry.

    “E-commerce has disrupted retail and is now revolutionising logistics,” said Alan Hedge, senior director of Air Cargo Management Group. “This, our second annual report, builds on the strengths of the first and covers new territory by offering descriptions of additional e-commerce companies and additional discussion of fulfilment networks in China, the largest e-commerce market on the planet.”

    New for the E-Commerce Revolution Report this year is a web-based companion database tool for exploring relationships between major e-commerce players and logistics providers. The tool allows users to search particular logistics providers and users to isolate logistics transactions worldwide. Additionally, the tool can be used to quantify e-commerce air logistics transactions on a global basis.

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