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Tag: Shopping

  • Ikea China biggest project revealed

    Ikea China biggest project revealed

    Swedish furniture group Ikea will build a US$1.2 billion, 430,000sqm shopping complex in Shanghai, to be completed by 2022. The new Ikea China centre will house an Ikea store and an additional 120,000sqm in retail area, hosting more than 300 businesses. It will also include 60,000sqm of office space.

    The move represents the largest single investment the firm has made in one location, and is its sixth complex to be announced or built in China. It will be constructed near the Hongqiao airport as the Shanghai Linkong Project.

    Ikea has completed three Livat-branded shopping centres in China, and has 26 stores across the country. Two other shopping center projects have been announced within the territory.

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  • Which tourists spend the most overseas?

    Which tourists spend the most overseas?

    Overseas spending by South Korean tourists ranks among the top of advanced economies, research data showed on December 5. Figures provided by the Korea Economic Research Institute, affiliated with the Federation of Korean Industries, put the proportion for South Korea at minus 1.9 percent in 2016, ranking it the fifth highest among 32 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

    The institute derived the proportion by subtracting overseas expenditures by South Koreans from foreigners’ spending in South Korea and measured the sum’s ratio against household spending.

    Higher numbers in the negative means that local citizens spent more abroad that what inbound foreigners spent.

    Results showed Norway topped the list with minus 4.3 percent, followed by Lithuania (minus 2.7 percent), Belgium (minus 2.5 percent) and Germany (2.3 percent).

    In the case of Japan, the number turned positive in 2014 and came to 0.6 percent in 2016.

    “The outflow of spending is the result of choices by local and foreign consumers of tourism services,” the institute said. “It indicates weaknesses in the competitiveness of the domestic tourism industry.”

    The institute cited a report last year from the World Economic Forum that said South Korea’s competitiveness in prices fell from 84th in 2007 to 88th in 2017.

    “(This) was one of the important elements that undermined South Korea’s competitiveness in the tourism business,” it said.

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  • E-mart US buys supermarket operator

    E-mart US buys supermarket operator

    South Korean discount retail chain E-mart is acquiring US food retailer Good Food Holdings for US$270 million. A subsidiary of retail conglomerate Shinsegae, the E-mart US acquisition intends to stabilise and expand its operations in North America. It is the company’s first acquisition of an overseas firm.

    Good Food operates 24 stores across the American West under three brands: Bristol Farms, Lazy Acres and Metropolitan Market. Its original executive board will be retained by E-mart.

    Good Food Holdings employs 3100 people and brings in average sales of KRW 670 billion ($596.75 million) per annum. E-mart plans to open a premium store-restaurant in Los Angeles next year called PK Market.

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  • Millennials Dominate Indonesia’s Online Shopping Scene

    Millennials Dominate Indonesia’s Online Shopping Scene

    Millennials are driving growth in Indonesia’s e-commerce industry as they buy a wide range of items, from clothes and gadgets to phone credit and electricity tokens, from online outlets with increasing frequency, according to a recent report from market research and consulting firm Ipsos Indonesia. The E-Commerce Outlook 2018 report released on Monday looked at the profiles of 32 million online shoppers in the country.

    The study drew results from an online survey in August. Ipsos Indonesia said the study served as an exploratory stage to be followed up by a more extensive survey planned for next year.

    The study found that 64 percent of online shopping is dominated and driven by millennials, both in terms of product categories and revenue, Ipsos research director Andi Sukma said, referring to the 25-30 age group.

    “They are made up of young families that have a minimum income of Rp 4 million [$280] per month,” said Indah Tanip, an associate director at Ipsos Observer.

    Most millennials are drawn to e-commerce for its convenience and competitive prices, the rise of financial technology and online payment platforms, such as OVO and Go-Pay, which have also encouraged more millennials to purchase their phone credit and pay bills through e-commerce apps, the Ipsos report said.

    The report also identified the five most-visited e-commerce sites: Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada, Bukalapak and Blibli.com.

    Citing data from the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII), Ipsos said the wider availability of broadband internet in the country has helped fuel e-commerce growth. About 72 percent of Indonesians living in urban areas and nearly 50 percent in rural-urban areas have internet access.

    The E-Commerce Outlook 2018 report also looked at community habits, online service accessibility, popular e-commerce sites and consumers’ preferred payment methods.

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  • Shanghai Tang sold to Chinese Lunar Capital fund

    Shanghai Tang sold to Chinese Lunar Capital fund

    Chinese luxury fashion label Shanghai Tang has been acquired by Chinese investment fund Lunar Capital. The new owner specialises in growing mid-sized Chinese firms, already holding a range of clothing brands. Their acquisition signals a new direction for the brand, which has just opened a flagship store on JD’s luxury platform TopLife, the brand’s first domestic online retail space. Shanghai Tang’s creative director Massimiliano Giornetti will be resigning following the handover.

    The rapid turnover just one year after its acquisition by Italian clothing firm A. Moda, Alessandro Bastagli, and Hong Kong private equity firm Cassia Investments follows disagreements between the buyers. The brand was purchased last year from Swiss luxury goods firm Richemont Group, one of the brand’s original investors and owners since 2008.

    Shanghai Tang is thought to be China’s first contemporary luxury brand, and pulled in estimated sales of US$45.57 million this year.

  • Fortnum & Mason Asia sales soars boosted by Hong Kong

    Fortnum & Mason Asia sales soars boosted by Hong Kong

    Fortnum & Mason Asia sales are soaring, prompting the UK luxury-food retailer to plan more stores. In Hong Kong, the chain achieved a 55 per cent increase in sales in the year to July, helping it book a sixth consecutive year of double-digit sales and profit growth. Two new stores are now trading in South Korea – in Shinsegae Gyong-Gi and Shinsegae Gangnam – and options in other Asian markets are being assessed. Another new store opened in London.

    Global sales for Fortnum & Mason grew 12 per cent, reaching £126 million (US$161 million), while profit soared 26 per cent to £9.6 million. The company is now delivering products to a record 125 markets worldwide from its online sales channels.

    Sales at its flagship store in London rose 10 per cent – during a time most department stores in the UK have been struggling to maintain sales growth and profits. Travel retail stores in Heathrow and St Pancras International train station rose 12 per cent.

    “This year has not been without its challenges, but we’re proud to report another exceptional trading period,” said Fortnum & Mason CEO Ewan Venters.

    “By being faithful to our heritage and pedigree, focusing on the creation of extraordinary products and exceptional service, and delivering our world-renowned products to customers anywhere in the world, I am pleased that we are able to meet the growing demand for quality and impeccably-sourced products.”

    He said he was “particularly pleased” with the increased sales of Fortnum & Mason Asia and has great confidence in the two new spaces in South Korea.

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  • Macy’s, Tmall contract completely over

    Macy’s, Tmall contract completely over

    Macy’s China stopped taking orders on Tmall this week and will close its operations by the end of the month. The US department store business said it chose not to renew the contract with Alibaba’s Tmall which ends on December 31. “We sincerely thank you for your support and love of Macy’s, and we will continue to provide services to you through the American website Macys.com,” the US retailer said in a statement.

    Just two years ago, in an interview, Macy’s China president Dustin Jones assured customers that the company would not leave China. “We will become [a] Chinese Macy’s,” he said.

    That comment followed the closure of the company’s brick-and-mortar stores in Mainland China. Macy’s subsequently closed its own China website last June.

    Since 2015, the Macy’s China business has been operated in partnership with Hong Kong-based Fung Retailing.

    Beijing-based retail analyst Liu Dingding said that Macy’s China failed because it could not keep up with the fast-changing and diversified demands of Chinese consumers.

    “The market in China is changing much faster than those in the US and Europe. These Western giants seem to react a bit slower than their Chinese counterparts,” said Liu.

    Securing a local partner was one way of ensuring success in the market – as WalMart and Carrefour’s partnerships with Tencent have shown, said Liu. That way they can localise their offer and learn from Chinese experience.

    “[Western retailers] have built up operating experience with years of success back home. But before applying this experience in their Chinese operations [they should] respect Chinese culture, hire more Chinese executives and try to adjust the way that they have operated for years back home.

    “That’s the first step to gaining a foothold in the Chinese market,” Liu said.

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  • Starfield Korea opens dog lounges for shoppers

    Starfield Korea opens dog lounges for shoppers

    Starfield, a shopping and theme park franchise operated by South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group, has opened the country’s first ‘dog lounges’ for customers and their pets. The dog lounges offer specially designed sofas for pets as well as their owners, restrooms for pets, and dog hooks where customers can temporarily leave their pets when they have to go to the restroom themselves.

    The lounge also provides separate resting areas for customers and pets divided by a glass wall. Resting areas for pets have house-shaped sofas, authentic grass floors and restrooms.

    “Starfield was South Korea’s first shopping mall chain to allow pets, but we were always aware of the lack of convenience facilities for customers and pets,” said Choi Jae-kyun, operations manager at Shinsegae Property.

    “Now, we can proudly present ourselves as a pet-friendly shopping mall that both customers and pets can enjoy.”

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  • Gucci fine jewelry new style revealed

    Gucci fine jewelry new style revealed

    These are flush times for Gucci, the 96-year-old house that in recent years has become fashion’s all-conquering luxury brand. And amid booming sales, Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director since 2015, has introduced the brand’s first high-end fine jewelry line, a series of extravagant styles that present the designer’s florid evocations of flea market finds as gem-encrusted treasures.

    Talking of the nostalgic inspiration behind many of his creations, Mr. Michele said, “I’ve dressed a number of women in things that were gathering dust in vintage archives — they no longer existed.”

    “That includes jewelry as well,” he added. “It’s beautiful to bring them back to life and give them importance once again.”

    At the Gucci Hub, a former aeronautical factory here where the brand opened its headquarters last year, the jewelry showroom reflects Mr. Michele’s opulent touch: red velvet-covered walls, red velvet room dividers, red velvet-topped tooled wood tables around a densely floral Oriental rug, and bright-toned velvet coffers lined in silk to showcase the designer’s well-established motifs rendered as precious jewels.

    Tigers, snakes, lions and foxes form necklaces, bracelets and rings, mirroring earlier versions that Mr. Michele created for both the costume and the mid-market fine jewelry lines at Gucci. But the new higher-end collection — which has no specific name — is more elaborate, its 25 design styles accented with a range of gemstones.

    The new line appears to expand the reach of Mr. Michele’s remarkably successful universe for his most ardent and wealthy collectors. It’s Gucci style for Cartier spenders — at a time when Gucci has pledged to go fur-free, eliminating what had been the brand’s biggest-ticket items.

    Mr. Michele, who calls himself “a passionate student of antique jewelry,” has resurrected animalier styles, like those of the midcentury American jewelry designer David Webb, and for this new collection he has employed some vintage techniques like the intricate hand engraving used to create the animals’ faces, skipping the rhodium plating now common on white gold so it retains a yellowish cast, and the use of old-fashioned raised settings for the tiny diamonds spangled across the fishtail of a ring.

    “When you see the way I combine things with each other, you perceive everything together as a new language,” he said, referring to his fashion aesthetic that mashes up the animal motifs with Chinese silks and Mexican embroideries, Renaissance gowns, Victoriana, disco drama, high ’80s glam, shades of Elton John and Dapper Dan, and more. “There’s a complete fusion of ideas. This ‘disruption’ that everyone’s talking about is found in the dialogue between these elements.”

    From the new collection, Marco Bizzarri, the chief executive of Gucci, wears a woven gold bracelet with black diamonds that is embossed with the phrase “Blind for Love” in capital letters across the top.

    Mr. Michele himself has a gold ring with a fox’s head, a large brown diamond set between its ears.

    Though the pieces look like styles that, in their antique forms, were made for women, in the Gucci context, anyone can wear them.

    “Clothes, like jewelry, don’t have very revolutionary roots, meaning that what’s revolutionary is the way you wear a piece of jewelry,” the designer said.

    So far the collection, with prices that mostly range from 15,000 euros to 70,000 euros (US$17,900 to US$83,500), has been offered only to favorite clients through private sales in Japan, China and the United States and private appointments that began in July.

    Gucci refers to the pieces, which are not high jewelry (typically starting in the $100,000 range and going into the millions), as “medium-high,” or as “unique pieces” when it repeats designs using different gems.

    However, the brand says it is considering a move into the bigger stones and larger price tags of true high jewelry for its next collection.

    Gucci is not the first fashion house to enter the upper echelons of jewelry.

    Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton have all made it big business, as the high jewelry market has flourished through and beyond the economic downturn of the last decade.

    And the brand’s fortunes have been growing at a clip that has shocked industry watchers.

    Kering, its parent group, reported that Gucci’s revenue soared 42 percent to €1.5 billion in the three months to the end of September. And its biggest boost has been coming from millennials, who, Kering says, account for at least half of its 2017 sales thus far.

    “The new generation is going to want a more modern jeweler,” said Maurizio Pisanu, the house’s director of jewelry merchandising. “So it’s up to the brand that realizes that first, and Gucci already had the right intuition two years ago — to break the rules.”

    Gucci has hired its first staff gemologist to search for stones worldwide and maintains a jewelry workshop with about 30 goldsmiths and stone-setters near Milan.

    All of the brand’s existing fine jewelry and now most of its high-end fine jewelry pieces are made there, with some help from an external atelier in Valenza, a center of Italian jewelry fabrication about 60 miles to the south.

    According to the brand, sales of the initial pieces have been brisk (although it won’t provide specifics).

    So if the collection does expand, Mr. Michele’s antique-tinged, everything-is-precious aesthetic might disrupt the higher stratospheres of the jewelry sector in the way that he has already reset Gucci and the fashion desires of a vast public.

    The collection has arrived at a moment when the codes of high jewelry are in flux — important stones are becoming more difficult to find, and a new generation of customers is more interested in showing off wearable (and possibly recognizably branded) design than owning the special occasion gem-encrusted parures of the past.

    Mr. Pisanu said design-driven jewelry customers “benefit a brand like Gucci, where jewelry isn’t our core business but we have the ability to make high-quality jewelry like the other brands — and with a different aesthetic that’s much more innovative than what a classic brand would ever dare to make.”

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  • Lotte opens premium outlet in Giheung

    Lotte opens premium outlet in Giheung

    South Korean retail giant Lotte opened this week a new premium outlet in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province – the second-largest among its branches nationwide and the latest addition to large-scale malls launched by retailers here in hopes of raising offline sales. Lotte is pinning hopes on the latest outlet’s location, citing three highways and five major roads passing through Giheung.

    It aims to attract some 25 million shoppers in and around the region including Yongin, Suwon, Dongtan and Bundang in Gyeonggi Province.

    Chung Hoo-sik, an official in charge of the Giheung outlet, said that the shopping mall is geared toward consumers in their 30s and 40s who have children and live in southern Gyeonggi Province.

    “We found that 30- and 40-something customers from those areas have strong spending power. To attract them, we put entertainment facilities like an outdoor playground and entertainment zones for their kids (inside the outlet),” said Chung at a press conference on the launch.

    Built on 150,000 square meters of land, Lotte’s premium outlet in Giheung features 300 brands and is equipped with 3,000 parking lots. It is Lotte’s sixth premium outlet.

    The outlet has an indoor surf shop, Flow House, spanning 490 square meters. Lotte said it also houses Asia’s biggest Nike store in a 1,983-square-meter space.

    With an increasing number of people visiting multiplexes or shopping malls, retail giants like Shinsegae and Lotte have been opening large-scale malls in the outskirts of Seoul.

    Lotte opened a premium outlet in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in October last year, two months after Starfield Goyang was launched. Lotte opened its premium outlet in Paju in 2011, nine months after Shinsegae opened its store.

    “We see it as an industry trend to open a mega mall or a premium outlet because there are consumer needs for convenient shopping and enhanced lifestyle,” said Lee Jung-hye, who designed the outlet, adding that Korea’s premium outlet market is valued at 20 trillion won (US$17 billion won).

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  • Visa Thailand to strengthen security in payment

    Visa Thailand to strengthen security in payment

    Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, has today launched its Future of Security Roadmap for Thailand, outlining a robust approach for strengthening payments security in the country over the next 3 years. Visa’s Roadmap focuses on a number of key initiatives which will enable security to evolve at the same pace as the technologies changing the way we pay. These security initiatives include:

    • Devalue data by removing the sensitive data from the ecosystem and making stolen account details useless.
    • Protect data by implementing safeguards to protect personal data as well as account details.
    • Harness data by identifying potential fraud before it occurs and increase confidence in approving good transactions.
    • Empower everyone, including accountholders, 3rd party providers and merchants, to play an active role in securing payments.

    Suripong Tantiyanon, Country Manager, Visa Thailand said: “We are proud to be launching our Thailand Future of Security Roadmap. Securing the commerce ecosystem is our highest priority and one we view as a shared responsibility between payment networks, consumers, banks, and the government. Technology has enabled new innovative ways to pay and be paid, but it has also brought unique risks. To stay ahead of fraud, we need to work together and give security the same attention and investment as we do the innovations driving new commerce experiences.”

    The release of Visa’s Roadmap comes at a time of rapid change for payments in Thailand with innovations such as mobile payments set to enhance the payment experience for consumers. According to Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, security remains a key consideration for consumers across Southeast Asia with two-thirds (67 percent) concerned about the safety of their personal information when using their mobile phone to make payments.

    When asked specifically about what their top three concerns were when using their mobile phones to make payments, consumers in Thailand said losing my phone or having my phone stolen, my phone getting hacked or someone intercepting my data, and malware or viruses being installed on my phone.

    Visa works with industry stakeholders including financial institutions, merchants, policy makers, law enforcement and accountholders to secure payments. The Visa Future of Security Roadmap is the product of comprehensive consultations and collaboration, making it an authoritative document on Thailand payments security.

    Visa is delivering roadmaps around the world to ensure the security of the global commerce ecosystem, as well as working with Thai industry bodies to align security initiatives.

     

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  • ShopBack Partners Petron to Launch Petrol Redemption Programme

    ShopBack Partners Petron to Launch Petrol Redemption Programme

    Malaysians can now utilise cashback from ShopBack every time they refuel at petrol stations. The No.1 Cashback portal in the country recently inked a partnership with Petron Malaysia, becoming the first in the country to allow users to convert cashback to Petron Miles (PMiles) Points and vice versa.

    “Previously, after our users get cashback from their online purchases, they can choose to transfer the cash to their bank accounts or use it to offset Maxis phone bills. The collaboration with Petron is a first for both parties – the first long-term online to offline redemption for ShopBack, and the first offline to online redemption (PMiles Points to cashback) for Petron as well,” says Alvin Gill, Country General Manager of ShopBack Malaysia.

    He mentions that the number of users who accumulated five figures cashback savings through ShopBack is on the rise. Malaysians are getting more familiar with cashback benefits and the company has been exploring opportunities to continue shaping a smarter consumer spending habit offline, of which it feels the priority should be on ways that meet the practical needs of Malaysians’ daily life.

    “It is reported that about 23.9 per cent of Malaysians’ disposable income was spent on petrol, housing and utilities in 2016. Hence we decided to pursue petrol redemption as the second non-cash withdrawal option. ShopBack is excited to launch this with Petron and we definitely look forward to similar collaborations in the future.”

    The PMiles Points redemption option is now available on all ShopBack platforms (web, mobile web, and app).

    To convert cashback to PMiles points, users just need to log onto their accounts, select withdraw – points redemption and thereafter fill in the required information. For every RM10 cashback, users can convert it to 600 PMiles points.

    According to Choong Kum Choy, Head of Retail Business for Petron Malaysia, the collaboration with ShopBack underscores Petron’s commitment to provide the best customer experience for PMiles members. “We are committed to giving our customers the best products, the best service, and the best rewards. Our collaboration with ShopBack gives our PMiles holders more value with the cashback option, while significantly enhancing their shopping experience.”

    Currently, Petron Malaysia has more than 620 service stations in the country. PMiles members can also convert their points at Petron Service Stations Nationwide or download the form from PMiles Website. Every 1000 PMiles points can be converted to RM10 Cashback, which will be credited into the user’s ShopBack account.

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  • Cashless services explode in Vietnam

    Cashless services explode in Vietnam

    Vietnam’s central bank says the value of cashless transactions more than doubled over the first three quarters of 2018. The Department of Payments at the State Bank of Vietnam reported a strong rise in payments over electronic channels between January and September, compared to the same period last year. Accordingly, the value of online payments rose by 18.3 percent, while transactions over mobile apps and e-wallets rose by 126 percent and 161 percent respectively.

    The number of transactions over Internet, mobile and e-wallet channels also rose 33 percent, 30 percent and 28 percent respectively.

    “Mobile payment is becoming a new trend with the rise of technologies such as QR codes, contact and contactless payments, and the tokenization of card information,” said Nghiem Thanh Son, deputy director of the department.

    The first months of 2018 saw the number of users and the value of transactions through electronic channels such as online, mobile and e-wallets rocket at many banks.

    At Sacombank, statistics show that as of October, the number of registrations for online banking reached over 1.3 million accounts and for mobile banking 1.1 million accounts. The total value of transactions per month through both channels exceeded VND108 trillion ($4.63 billion).

    For VietinBank, the country’s second largest lender by assets, the number of internet banking users in the first half of this year surged 114 percent over the same period last year to a total of 1.5 million accounts and VND44.26 trillion ($1.90 billion) in total transaction value.

    Its mobile banking users also reached 1.5 million, engaging in transactions totalling VND64.35 trillion ($2.76 billion) between January and June.

    Over 7 million people are using digital services provided by MBBank. The average transaction value per month reached VND27.4 trillion ($1.17 billion), with digital transactions making up approximately 2.6 million out of 3 million total monthly transactions seen at this bank.

    Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank’s HCMC branch, noted that the number of online banking customers has seen average annual increase of 20 percent in recent years.

    Minh said that in order to continue developing non-cash payment channels, credit institutions should pay attention to linking their cashless systems with the public sector, specifically in areas like health, education, payroll and utilities.

    Cashless services should also expand to include online payment options for public services like buses, trains and other smart urban solutions, he said.

  • Singapore Changi Airport extends key DFS

    Singapore Changi Airport extends key DFS

    Key Changi Airport duty-free liquor and beauty concessions held by DFS and Shilla Travel have been extended for two years. The extensions will start from 2020 after the expiration of their current six-year concessions. Over the past four years, the airport’s two core-category concessions have involved pioneering retail concepts including unique duplex stores and the world’s first airport integrated duty-free zone.

    Executive VP of commercial at Changi Lim Peck Hoon said: “We are very pleased to continue our partnership with DFS and The Shilla Duty Free for another two years. Their passion for the travel retail industry continue to deliver new ideas and novel retail concepts at Changi Airport, and were instrumental in driving sales growth over the past four years.”

    A release from the company stated that Changi plans to leverage new technologies and innovations for a seamless retail experience when passengers shop from online to offline, from before they fly to the time they board.
    The extended tenancy terms for the liquor concession will commence from April 9, 2020 until April 8, 2022, covering 18 stores and spanning more than 8000sqm of retail space in Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4.

    For the beauty concession, the extended tenancy terms will begin from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022, covering 22 outlets and spanning more than 7400sqm of retail space across Changi Airport’s four terminals.

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  • Korea’s brand Tonymoly inked partnership with Moschino

    Korea’s brand Tonymoly inked partnership with Moschino

    Italian fashion design house Moschino has released a collaboration with South Korean cosmetics brand Tonymoly on a collection of makeup and skincare products. The collection includes a cosmetics line and a few skincare items in sleek black, white, gold and rainbow packaging. The full range will be available from Tonymoly’s US web store throughout December.

    Moschino also collaborated on a reportedly fast-selling fashion line with H&M earlier this year. South Korean cosmetics brand Tonymoly sees the US as a key market in its plan to accelerate international growth.

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