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Tag: Singapore

  • WeChat Pay embarks on first mall partnership in Singapore

    WeChat Pay embarks on first mall partnership in Singapore

    Mobile payment platform WeChat Pay has announced its first mall partner in Singapore.

    WeChat Pay is rolling out cashless payment services across retail and F&B outlets in the popular Bugis Junction and Bugis+ malls, centrally located in Singapore’s Civic and Cultural District.

    GM Ivy Ang said the malls are particularly popular with young Chinese tourists. “Together with WeChat Pay, we will offer exclusive campaigns tailored for young Chinese travellers in Singapore. As we head into the Golden Week holidays and end-of-year festivities, we will continue to offer customised promotions and targeted campaigns to WeChat users through its many communication platforms and marketing channels, so our shoppers enjoy a rewarding shopping experience,” she said.

    “In this digital age, where we see more and more shoppers going cashless. Partnering with WeChat Pay is thus a very relevant initiative,” she added.

    Grace Yin, WeChat Pay’s director of overseas operation added: “The Bugis arts, culture, and entertainment district is especially popular with young Chinese tourists, which makes Bugis Junction and Bugis+ ideal to mark WeChat Pay’s first mall partnership in Singapore.”

    With the launch, Bugis Junction and Bugis+ will be the first malls in Singapore to accept WeChat Pay as a mobile payment platform across its wide range of commercial offerings. To celebrate the introduction of the new payment platform, the mall is hosting exclusive offers for shoppers to get rewarded with virtual money packets and receive cashback coupons.

    WeChat Pay is one of the leading mobile payment solutions in China. It is currently available in over 40 countries and regions across the world in 13 currencies and has more than 800 million monthly active users.

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  • ASUS Handpicks SmartOSC for Its Ecommerce Push in Singapore

    ASUS Handpicks SmartOSC for Its Ecommerce Push in Singapore

    ASUS, one of Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies, that is dedicated to creating products for today and tomorrow’s smart life, has appointed SmartOSC to be its ecommerce partner, following a competitive pitch in April. The event marked an important milestone in ASUS strategy to differentiate and enhance its offering for the Singapore market.

    Emma Ou, Country Manager of ASUS Singapore shared: “The current ASUS’s website is the best place to explore our wide range of products. Adding the ecommerce site will deliver a more convenient and immediate shopping solution in addition to all our brick and mortar stores at our brand stores and authorised retailers. Hosting our own ecommerce site is also align with our ongoing effort in providing our customers a seamless O2O shopping experience and an attractive rewards programme. Throughout the entire pitching process, SmartOSC demonstrated a holistic view of our requirement and passion for our brands. We get great ideas and constant feedbacks from their team for realizing our vision”.

    According to research firm Statistica’s report on Singaporean consumer ecommerce market, electronics & media is currently one of the leading ecommerce verticals accounted for 26% of total revenue. With user penetration is at 68% in 2018 and is expected to hit 72% in 2022, ecommerce is a captivating opportunity for any brands and retailers. Moreover, the research firm also reports that Asia contributed for almost 80% of all B2B e-commerce volume worldwide in 2017 and Southeast Asia is proving itself to be an attractive B2B procurement market in the region.

    SmartOSC will work closely with ASUS team to provide consulting, user-centric experience design, technical implementation and integration services. After launch, the website will be the one-stop shopping destination for both B2B and B2C customers. Customers will be able to order a wide range of product available across ASUS distribution network, and there will be options build customized gaming hardwares from its famous Republic of Gamers (ROG) product line.

    “ASUS is exactly the kind of ambitious partner SmartOSC is excited to work with. It gives us the opportunity to think out of the box and work on a project that goes beyond conventional requirements. We are confident that our ecommerce expertise and technical capability will make us a genuinely valued partner to ASUS.” Thai Son, CEO of SmartOSC, said.

     

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  • Axiata Malaysia evaluating options on stake in M1

    Axiata Malaysia evaluating options on stake in M1

    Axiata Group Bhd, which is evaluating its options on a possible buyout offer by two of M1 Ltd’s major shareholders Keppel Corp Ltd (KCL) and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), is hoping for accurate future value for its 28.7% interest in M1.

    News reports in Singapore cited that both companies are planning to launch a general offer for shares they do not own in M1. The deal is expected to fetch a market value of S$1.51 billion (RM4.6 billion).

    KCL and SPH hold 19.3% and 13.5% stake in M1, respectively.

    In a statement released today, Axiata said any transaction involving M1 stake should reflect its accurate future value as well as incorporate acceptable control premium based on market norms and precedent transactions of similar nature.

    Axiata said the group is currently reviewing its position in view of a possible transaction to be further announced by KCL and SPH on its M1 shares.

    “The company is already in discussion with a financial institution to act as its adviser to review various options available to Axiata with the sole objective that the company continues to vigorously protect and enhance shareholders’ value of both Axiata and M1, the latter via its board representation.”

    “The financial institution will also advise the company once KCL and SPH officially announce their proposed transaction,” it added.

    Axiata’s share price gained 19 sen or 4.2% to close at RM4.75 today with 3.02 million shares changing hands.

  • US-China trade war dims Asia’s 2019 growth outlook: ADB

    US-China trade war dims Asia’s 2019 growth outlook: ADB

    Developing Asia could grow more slowly than previously thought next year as the US-China trade war inflicts damage on the region’s export-reliant economies, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

    Tightening global liquidity could also weigh on business activity by pushing up borrowing costs, while capital outflows are also a risk.

    The Manila-based institution kept its 2018 economic growth estimate for the region at 6.0% in an update of its Asian Development Outlook. But it trimmed next year’s forecast to 5.8% from 5.9%.

    “Downside risks to the outlook are intensifying,” said ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada, pointing to the potential impact of US-Sino trade tensions on regional supply chains and the risk of sudden capital outflows if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates even more quickly.

    The ADB’s 5.8% growth estimate for 2019 would be the slowest for the region since 2001, when it expanded 4.9%.
    The report covers 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific.

    The ADB’s latest forecasts did not reflect fresh tariffs that the US and China imposed on each other’s goods on Monday.

    Sawada said the additional duties would not significantly change ADB’s growth forecasts, but added the “escalating” trade conflict must be closely monitored.

    China’s economy is expected to grow 6.3% in 2019, the ADB said, slower than its 6.4% forecast in July and weaker than its 6.6% growth estimate for 2018, which was unchanged from its previous projection.

    Domestic consumption in China “seems to be quite robust and supporting 6.6% growth this year”, Sawada said.

    “But admittedly we don’t know (how) the further escalation of the trade dispute may directly affect consumer sentiment,” he added.

    Beijing has set a growth target of around 6.5% this year, the same as last year, which it handily beat with an expansion of 6.9%.

    Chinese authorities have pledged they can still meet the 2018 target, and have started to roll out growth boosting measures as the trade war threatens to put further pressure on the already cooling economy.

    For Southeast Asia, moderating export growth, quickening inflation, net capital outflows and a worsening balance of payments have dimmed the outlook, with growth this year projected to slow to 5.1% from the July forecast of 5.2%.

    “Policy makers have at their disposal an array of policy tools with which to manage pockets of vulnerability and maintain stability, but they must be applied carefully,” Sawada said.

    Inflation across the region is expected to remain under control, helped by country-specific factors like moderate food price inflation in India and China and fuel subsidies in Indonesia and Malaysia, the ADB said.

    Sawada said Asian governments have “enough policy space to handle” shocks and pressure from currency depreciations.

    The ADB lowered its 2018 economic growth forecast for Vietnam to 6.9% from 7.1% projected previously, partly due to the ongoing trade friction between the US and China.

    Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, has an open economy that is heavily reliant on exports, while the US and China are among its biggest trade partners.

    ADB lowered its growth forecast as the ongoing trade tension between the US and China could have a spillover impact on Vietnam. However, the ADB outlook is still higher than the Vietnamese government’s target of 6.7%.

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  • Pan Malaysia to form JVCO with Singapore’s Baker & Cook

    Pan Malaysia to form JVCO with Singapore’s Baker & Cook

    Investment holding company Pan Malaysia has entered into a partnership with Singaporean artisan baker and food store Baker & Cook.

    The 50-50 joint venture will serve to diversify Pan Malaysia’s business to include F&B retail outlets, trading as Baker & Cook and Plank Sourdough Pizza. Pan Malaysia’s investment is being made through its wholly owned unit Megafort.

    Under the agreement, Baker & Cook will manage day-to-day operations while Megafort handles concession and sub-franchisee agreements.

    The stock exchange filing announcing the joint venture read: “The group (Pan Malaysia) intends to diversify its business profile and income stream, and it believes that the JV is expected to contribute positively to the earnings of the group in the future.”

  • Singapore fines Grab, Uber combined S$13m, moves to open up ride-hailing market

    Singapore fines Grab, Uber combined S$13m, moves to open up ride-hailing market

    Singapore slapped ride-hailing firms Grab and Uber with fines and finalised restrictions to open up the market to competitors after concluding that their merger in March has driven up prices.

    Uber Technologies Inc sold its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab in March in exchange for a 27.5% stake in the Singapore-based firm.

    While the combined S$13 million (RM39.4 million) fine was small compared with the firms’ multi-billion dollar valuations, that and the other measures imposed by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore today represent the strongest censure by a regulator since the deal was unveiled.

    The anti-trust watchdog said it would require that Grab drivers not be tied to Grab exclusively and that Grab’s exclusivity arrangements with any taxi fleets be removed.

    Uber will also be required to sell its car rental business to any rival that makes a reasonable offer and will not be allowed to sell those vehicles to Grab without the watchdog’s permission. The car rental business, Lion City, had a fleet of some 14,000 vehicles as of December.

    Fining Uber S$6.6 million and Grab S$6.4 million, the regulator said effective fares on Grab rose 10-15% after the deal, and that the firm now holds a Singapore market share of around 80%.

    Uber said it believed the decision was based on an “inappropriately narrow definition of the market” and would consider appealing.

    Grab said it completed the deal within its legal rights, and did not intentionally or negligently breach competition laws. It would abide by remedies set out by the regulator, it added.

    Indonesia’s Go-Jek, which plans to launch services in Singapore, said it welcomed the regulator’s steps. “We’re encouraged to see the measures being taken to level the playing field. “It will have a significant effect on our strategy and timeline.”

    Other new entrants to the market include Singapore-based Ryde.

    Grab said it had not raised fares since the deal and argued that all transport firms, including taxi operators, should be subjected to non-exclusivity curbs.

    Grab has also been told to maintain its premerger pricing algorithm and driver commission rates, which the regulator said would protects riders against excessive price surges, and drivers against increases in commissions that they pay to Grab.

    The watchdog said it would suspend the measures on an interim basis if a Grab rival was able to garner over 30% of total rides in the ride-hailing services market in a month. It would remove the measures if a rival attained 30% or more of total rides matched in the market for six consecutive months.

    Rival services include third-party apps for calling cabs and private vehicles as well as taxi-booking services such as those provided by taxi operator ComfortDelGro Corp Ltd.

    Uber and Grab have a month to appeal the Singapore regulator’s decision.

    The deal remains under anti-trust review in Vietnam, which has warned that it could be blocked if the firms’ combined market share in Vietnam exceeds 50%.

    Jerry Lim, Grab’s country head in Vietnam, said he believed the local regulator will consider the market’s unique competitive dynamics and regulatory landscape in its investigation.

    In the Philippines, where the deal has been approved, the competition watchdog has said it is monitoring Grab’s compliance with conditions intended to improve the quality of service, with any breaches possibly resulting in fines.

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  • NTUC Enterprise acquires Kopitiam

    NTUC Enterprise acquires Kopitiam

    Singapore’s renowned Kopitiam food centres have been bought by NTUC Enterprise Co-operative to protect the chain from commercial investors.

    In a press release announcing the deal, NTUC Enterprise said by investing an undisclosed sum in acquiring the business it could satisfy its social mission of ensuring cooked food remained affordable and accessible to Singaporeans.

    After the deal is settled, expected to be later this year, the Kopitiam outlets would complement NTUC Enterprises’ existing Foodfare food centres, operated independently by their own management teams.

    However the two businesses would look to sharing technology knowhow and resources and other behind-the-scenes processes.

    Kopitiam was founded 30 years ago and has now grown to 56 foodcourts, 21 coffee shops and three hawker centres across the island, serving some 350,000 meals each day and employing more than 1000 people.

    “Kopitiam and NTUC Foodfare share the common objective of making quality cooked food affordable and accessible to all,” Kee Teck Koon, executive director at NTUC Enterprise, said in a statement.

    “We will leverage our combined strengths to contribute to improving the vibrancy and resiliency of this daily essential sector in Singapore, with the ultimate goal of creating better experiences for our customers, and opportunities for our employees and other stakeholders.”

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  • Suite sounds for Singapore Airlines first class with Bang & Olufsen

    Suite sounds for Singapore Airlines first class with Bang & Olufsen

    Passengers in Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 first class suites will soon enjoy sweeter sounds through a partnership with Bang & Olufsen.

    From October, travellers on Singapore Airlines’ newest A380s – the ones with the spacious room-like first class suites – will find a pair of Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay H9i noise-cancelling headphones tucked away and ready to use with the suites’ massive 32 inch screen and KrisFlyer inflight entertainment system.

    Designed by Jakob Wagner, the Beoplay H9i headphones have a simple touch interface on the aluminium surface of the right ear cup to change the volume, pause the music and skip tracks, and are made from premium materials including genuine leather and adaptive memory foam.

    These will be progressively rolled out to the rest of Singapore Airlines’ A380 suites and Boeing 777 first class cabins from November.

    And, sometime later, selected A380 routes will see the suites upgraded to wireless version of the H9i.

    “Singapore Airlines is excited to embark on this partnership with Bang & Olufsen, an established and highly respected name in audio,” enthused Singapore Airlines’s Acting Senior Vice President for Customer Experience, Mr Yeoh Phee Teik.

    “With Bang & Olufsen’s assurance of high quality, precision sound as well as ergonomic comfort of its headphones, we are confident our customers will benefit greatly from this collaboration.”

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  • Singapore Airlines bans lion bones in cargo

    Singapore Airlines bans lion bones in cargo

    Singapore Airlines said Friday (Sep 21) it has stopped accepting lion bones for cargo after the carrier was singled out in a report for transporting the animal parts from South Africa.

    Campaigners have long called for a ban on the controversial trade in big cat bones, which are sought after for medicine and jewellery in Southeast Asia.

    Singapore Airlines was the sole carrier importing lion bones from South Africa to Southeast Asia last year, according to a report released in July by the non-profit EMS Foundation and animal rights group Ban Animal Trading.

    At least 800 lion skeletons had been exported with the blessing of the South African government in 2017, the report said, making it the world’s largest exporter of lion bones.

    The airline told it had stopped accepting lion bones as cargo, but did not say when the policy had come into effect.

    “Singapore Airlines does not accept the carriage of lion bones as cargo following a review which took into account increasing concerns around the world,” the company said in an email.

    EMS Foundation director Michele Pickover said her organisation had sent the report to the airline and “appealed to them to immediately stop its involvement in this terrible trade”.

    “I believe that once they were informed about what this trade entails they took the correct and logical decision not to support it,” she told.

    South Africa has been sending lion bones to Southeast Asia since at least 2008 and it was likely that Singapore Airlines had been transporting them since that year, Pickover added.

    Lion bones and other body parts are highly sought after in parts of Southeast Asia – particularly Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – for use in jewellery and for their supposed medicinal properties.

    In Vietnam, lion bone is cooked and turned into balm while claws and teeth were used as body ornaments, the report said.

    While trade of body parts from wild lions is banned, international treaties allow the sale of parts taken from lions bred in captivity.

  • Changi Airport :+7.9% passenger traffic increase in August

    Changi Airport :+7.9% passenger traffic increase in August

    Singapore Changi Airport recorded a +7.9% year-on-year increase in passenger traffic in August, to 5.68 million.

    Operator Changi Airport Group said there was growth across all regions. Traffic to and from Oceania was up+10%, the first double-digit increase of the year. Europe (+22%) and South Asia (+13%) also posted robust growth.

    Among Changi’s top ten markets, nine recorded higher traffic. Melbourne (+16%), Sydney (+13%) and Manila (+12%) were among the cities to register double-digit growth.

    Changi Airport Group also announced the opening of an E-Gadget Mini by Sprint-Cass electronics retail unit in the Terminal 2 departures hall. Seafood restaurant Fish & Co has also opened in T2.

    T3 saw two recent openings. Restaurant A-One Signature serves claypot-cooked cuisine while Seven Stop is a 24-hour vending machine concept store offering gifts, lifestyle products and has claw machines for play.

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  • 4FINGERS buys 50% stake in Australia’s Mad Mex

    4FINGERS buys 50% stake in Australia’s Mad Mex

    Singapore casual dining brand 4Fingers has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Australian Mexican QSR brand Mad Mex Fresh Mexican Grill.

    The move is reportedly a first step into a scalable, quality F&B portfolio ready for international expansion. Mad Mex is considered a reputable brand in Australia and New Zealand for its authentic Mexican menu with fresh, healthy ingredients.

    4Fingers plans to initially build the brand in Southeast Asia, beginning with Singapore and Malaysian outlets within the next year.

    Mad Mex’s founder Clovis Young will retain his position as CEO of the brand along with his 50 per cent shareholding.

    The acquisition comes after Mad Mex invited investment earlier this year after posting consistently strong earnings. The chain has achieved more than 4 per cent like-for-like sales growth over the past two quarters, a sharp contrast to the broader Australian food and beverage marketplace, which is facing structural challenges.

    The deal is projected to see the two groups’ combined revenue reach in excess of S$120 million for the 2019 financial year.

    Young said the brand was excited to be partnering with a renowned global brand that aligned with Mad Mex’s firm focus on the customer service and quality.

    “I started Mad Mex in 2006, because I absolutely love Mexican food. But there is a lot of Mexican food out there, and to be honest it’s mostly mediocre,” Young said.

    “I wanted my customers to get a fast meal, but with homemade quality, made entirely of real ingredients, with the fewest preservatives, oils, and sugars possible. You should never have to choose between a quick meal and quality healthy food”.

    Vijay Sethu, director of 4Fingers, said the acquisition of Mad Mex marked a significant milestone in the group’s growth strategy.

    “We are very excited with our investment in Mad Mex and look forward to working with Clovis to further grow this business in Australia and New Zealand and to rollout the Mad Mex brand in Asia.”

  • House of Masaba to host pop-up shop in Singapore

    House of Masaba to host pop-up shop in Singapore

    Designer Masaba Gupta’s House of Masaba will open a pop-up shop in an Indian restaurant, Yantra, on Saturday (September 22).

    Located in Singapore’s Tanglin Mall, the store will present the brand’s latest collection and provide shoppers with a chance to meet the designer.

    Shoppers at the one-day long event, which closes at 6pm, will have the opportunity to meet Gupta and discuss styling options for her designs as well as ask about her inspirations.

    Gupta has held pop-up shows this year in several countries, including the US, Thailand, Canada and Hong Kong.

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  • Go-Jek Aims to Raise $2b for Southeast Asia Expansion

    Go-Jek Aims to Raise $2b for Southeast Asia Expansion

    Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek is seeking to raise about $2 billion from existing investors, including Tencent Holdings and JD.com, to fund its expansion plans in Southeast Asia, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday (17/09).

    Go-Jek’s fundraising comes as its main rival Singapore-based Grab is also building a war chest to transform itself into a consumer technology group and aggressively grow in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

    Both Go-Jek and Grab are raising billions of dollars and investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the race to gain dominance in Southeast Asia. More and more of the region’s 640 million consumers are going online, and starting to make use of smartphones to shop, commute and make payments.

    “Chinese investors have very, very deep pockets but the total amount depends on how demand shapes up,” said one source who was not authorised to speak to the media. Go-Jek’s other existing investors include private equity firms Warburg Pincus and KKR.

    Indonesia — home to 250 million-plus people — is shaping up as a battleground for global tech giants such as Alibaba , Tencent, JD.com, Google and Softbank Group in the fight for market share in ride-hailing, online payments and e-commerce.

    Launched in 2011 in Jakarta, Go-Jek — a play on the local word for motorbike taxis — has evolved from a ride-hailing service to a one-stop app through which its customers can make online payments and order everything from food, groceries to massages.

    Go-Jek said in May it would invest $500 million to enter Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, after Uber struck a deal to sell its Southeast Asian operations to Grab.

    Go-Jek was last estimated to have a valuation of about $5 billion when Google, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and others came in as investors in its $1.5 billion funding earlier this year.

    The new funding is set to be completed later this year, the sources said.

    Go-Jek and JD.com declined to comment. There was no immediate response from Tencent.

    Go-Jek founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim said last month the company was seeing strong funding interest from its backers as it targets an aggressive expansion.

    Go-Jek is a dominant force in Indonesia, where it processes more than 100 million transactions for its 20-25 million monthly users.

    Ride hailing services in Southeast Asia are expected to surge to $20.1 billion in gross merchandise value by 2025 from $5.1 billion in 2017, according to a Google-Temasek report.

    Bloomberg reported news of Go-Jek’s fundraising late on Sunday.

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  • Apple Singapore to open two more stores

    Apple Singapore to open two more stores

    Recruiting is underway for the new Apple Marina Bay Sands flagship store – and another.

    Advertising on Apple Singapore’s jobs portal promotes roles believed to be for two new stores in the city.

    Construction has been under way for many months on the Marina Bay Sands flagship.

    Like the nearby Louis Vuitton Maison ‘island’ the new Apple store will emerge from the water, linked to the shopping centre by an underwater passageway. The location in which it is being constructed was previously tenanted by a nightclub.

    In the photo above, the store’s location is the dark “island” construction to the right. On the left is the Louis Vuitton Maison.

    The location of the second flagship has been the subject of endless speculation for some months, despite it being – in the words of a senior Singapore retail industry executive last month – “one of the worst kept secrets in town”.

    Despite the complexity of the construction and approval processes for the Apple Marina Bay Sands store, public information has been scant with development approvals we found online only relating to the closure of the nightclub and the rezoning of the space to retail. Apple is notoriously secretive about its store plans until just days ahead of their opening.

    The store is believed to have been designed by Foster + Partners in London, which was responsible for the Orchard Road flagship store and others recently opened in Milan and Macau. The company is also working on another, controversial, store planned for downtown Melbourne, Australia.

    Meanwhile, Apple Singapore’s jobs portal is advertising 12 retail positions for a new store, which it describes as being located in “Singapore East”. There is no indication of commencement dates for the roles, but these roles are most likely to be for a third store, planned for the new Jewel shopping centre under construction at Changi Airport and managed by CapitaLand.

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  • OnTheList launches in Singapore

    OnTheList launches in Singapore

    Hong Kong’s OnTheList flash-sale concept has launched in Singapore.

    The first OnTheList Singapore sale will run from September 19 to 22 in Ngee Ann City Tower B.

    It marks the first overseas foray by the independent, members-only flash-sale concept platform, founded in 2016 by French entrepreneurs, Delphine Lefay and Diego Dultzin Lacoste.

    OnTheList contracts to brands to move excess inventories in short-term sales, with discounts as high as 90 per cent. By selling to a pre-registered, members-only audience, the sales do not undermine those at mainstream stores, or clutter them with racks of off-price merchandise.

    Consumers enrol to attend sales online, with options of free access or a paid premium membership giving advance access to sales.  A separate website has been built for OnTheList Singapore.

    “When I was working in Hong Kong’s retail industry, there was an absence of options for distributors and brands to clear old inventory occupying valuable warehouse space,” explains Delphine Lefay. “To fill this gap, we founded OnTheList as an independent third-party platform and it was the first of its kind in Asia.

    “Through flash sales we hosted, we offered consumers access to premium products at attractive prices, and brands the opportunity to clear past-season items and connect with new customers,” she adds.

    Dultzin Lacoste says this method of clearing stock also promotes sustainability and minimises environmental impact within the retail industry, as old inventory does not go to waste.

    “OnTheList’s business model also gives brands the opportunity to reach out to a wider consumer database, engaging them through the flash sale platform as a first touch point.”

    In just two years, the business has gone from a few pop-up sales to over 150 flash sales and partnerships with over 250 premium brands, including Armani, Clarins, Diane Von Furstenberg, Ferragamo, Kenzo, Roberto Cavalli, and Ted Baker Le Creuset and Havaianas. In Hong Kong, OnTheList now has a permanent venue for its flash sales, but has grown so big it still needs short-term venues, often running multiple sales concurrently.

    OnTheList has now cleared more than 1 million items from its brand partners – and in one four-day sale last year it sold a pair of Havaianas every six seconds.

    OnTheList Singapore will launch with monthly pop-up sales, announcing participating brands just 10 days prior to the sale.

    “We are expanding into Singapore because its retail market has many similarities with Hong Kong’s,” says Lefay.

    OnTheList Singapore also hopes to tap into the large tourism market, as tourism receipts in the city have reached record highs during the past two years.

    “As visitor arrivals from China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam have increased tremendously, it is an opportune time for OnTheList to attract high spenders from the region and to use Singapore as a launchpad for future expansion in Asia and beyond.”

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