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Tag: Technology

  • ‘The store of the future’ by Tommy Hilfiger opens in Amsterdam

    ‘The store of the future’ by Tommy Hilfiger opens in Amsterdam

    A new generation Tommy Hilfiger store of the future has opened in Amsterdam. The store emerges from the firm’s evolving omnichannel strategy and features floor-to-ceiling interactive mirrors, personalised embroidery stations and a cafe with digital screens built into the tables. The more than 300sqm interior has been described in a CPP Luxury report as boasting “modern finishes and a bright, airy aesthetic, taking cue from the nautical lifestyle – one of Tommy Hilfiger’s long standing sources of inspiration.

    Tommy Hilfiger CEO Daniel Grieder said: “You can’t just expect shoppers to come into the store when you do nothing, you have to excite them. You have to give customers a reason to come into the store.”

    View the gallery below (7 images) :

    The Tommy Hilfiger store of the future features large monitor screens which serve as “digital endless aisles” that allow customers to browse the brand’s complete online catalogue, facilitating home-delivered or store-delivered orders. Customers can also identify items from different looks featured online.

    Store manager Mark commented: “It’s about bridging that gap between online and offline, and making the shopping experience as easy as possible … People still want to be able to feel the material and see the products in person. That’s always important, so where we can we always want to encourage customers to come into the store.

    “For example with suits, we’ll offer an appointment for the customer to come in and try it on. We’ll make sure the dressing room is prepared for them with fitting shoes and a shirt. So for us it’s really about taking that extra step and building on the customer relationship.”

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  • JD to grow its own vegetables for sale on and offline

    JD to grow its own vegetables for sale on and offline

    JD has partnered with Japanese chemical manufacturing giant Mitsubishi Chemical to open the largest hydroponic “plant factory” in China. The omnichannel retailer says the premium-quality, fresh produce produced at the new facility will provide its customers with new options for safe, nutritious and environmentally friendly food, online as well as offline at its 7Fresh supermarkets.

    The factory spans 11,040sqm and incorporates a hydroponic culturing system with solar light and a closed seedling production environment using artificial light. Currently it can produce spinach, cabbage, red and green lettuce, coriander, among others.

    All crops produced at the site are tracked from the time they are planted to when they are delivered, a step toward the future of food production and retail as consumers worldwide increasingly demand transparency. In China, in particular, consumers place high importance on food safety while the overuse of fertiliser, environmental deterioration, and rapid population increase have caused soil problems.

    In the new facility, temperature, humidity, light, and liquid fertiliser are automatically controlled by the factory’s management system, enabling more standardised production of high-quality vegetables without the challenge of seasonal changes. For example, spinach produced in the facility contains 80 per cent more folate, 32 per cent more vitamin C, 25 per cent more potassium and 37 per cent more phosphorus than if grown in the field. Meanwhile, the technology makes pesticides and agrochemicals unnecessary, reducing the need for washing.

    The factory can produce a higher output of vegetables than traditional agriculture systems; it can grow 19 batches of spinach in a year, compared to just four batches per year in a field or six per year in a greenhouse. It only requires half a litre of water to grow any of the factory’s vegetables. The factory is integrated with JD’s cold-chain logistics network, so vegetables can be delivered to consumers’ tables as soon as the same day they are harvested.

    “The JD Plant Factory in Tongzhou marks JD’s entry into the very beginning of the fresh-food production chain, allowing us to guarantee that the fresh goods we sell have been treated with the care JD applies to everything we do,” said Xiaosong Wang, president of JD FMCG and food businesses.

    “JD’s supply chain technology, logistics network and e-commerce expertise combined with Mitsubishi Chemical’s sophisticated growing technology puts us in an ideal position to create an entirely new model for agriculture, and cultivates a fresh and healthy lifestyle in China.”

    Fresh vegetables from the plant factory will be available on JD.com and at 7Fresh stores from this month. JD and Mitsubishi Chemical will cooperate to introduce more fruits and vegetables in the future.

  • Thai Airways taps Worldpay for payments innovation

    Thai Airways taps Worldpay for payments innovation

    Thai Airways International (THAI), the flagship carrier airline of Thailand, has selected Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP; LSE: WPY) as its international payments partner, as it targets overseas growth. To support its sustainable growth strategy, THAI needed an experienced partner to help it manage the complexities of cross-border payments and optimise the online booking journey across both mobile and desktop.

    Worldpay, a leader in card and alternative payments with global coverage, was selected for its international reach and unrivalled experience in the airline industry. Worldpay works with 88 of the world’s biggest airlines and has more than 25 years of experience in the sector. Consumer preferences are changing: while flights have traditionally been booked using credit cards, alternative payment methods (APMs) are growing in popularity. With 28 percent of Thai consumers using bank transfers as their preferred method for shopping online, the ability to offer local payment options will allow companies to make the most of Southeast Asia’s second largest economy.

    Additionally, global mCommerce penetration is set to rise from 38 percent in 2018 to 49 percent in 2022, which suggests that mCommerce is on track to overtake desktop sales by 2023. To adapt to this shift, Worldpay will support THAI in widening its breadth of payment methods and transaction currencies to appeal to the changing purchasing patterns of customers. THAI will initially focus its payment optimisation efforts on Australia and Europe – two key markets for the company. In Australia, the carrier’s passenger traffic is growing by two percent year-over-year, while in Europe passenger traffic is growing at a rate of 2.5 percent each year.

    A range of APMs such as iDEAL, Trustly, SOFORT, and Giropay will be rolled out over the coming months to make it easier for European travellers to book online. The THAI payment team will then expand their initiatives to India, China, and the rest of Asia Pacific. Worldpay will also help THAI execute their commercial strategy through advanced data analytics capabilities, which provide rich insight into transaction approval rates and payment costs. This data will enable the airline to expedite new sales strategies and optimise their payments infrastructure with cross-border operations.

    Wiwat Piyawiroj, THAI Executive Vice President, Commercial comments: “Tourism is booming in Thailand, with a 7.7% increase in domestic flights year-over-year for our service. Yet the market is also incredibly competitive, so it is vital to ensure we can best service our customers and their needs. Thanks to Worldpay, we will be able to offer a variety of payment methods that caters to the tastes of travellers all over the world, making it easier for them to book the holidays they want. As we grow, Worldpay will be a vital strategic payments partner and key to our continued success.”

    Phil Pomford, general manager for Asia Pacific, Global Enterprise eCommerce at Worldpay, said: “With global passenger numbers on track to double over the next 20 years, and Thailand forecast to enter the top 10 aviation markets by 2030, it is a hugely exciting time for THAI. We are delighted to support our partner as they continue to grow. Travellers are continuously evolving the ways in which they buy flights, and airlines must keep pace to match these shifting patterns. The airline industry has never been more competitive, and we look forward to helping THAI capitalise upon the opportunities ahead.”

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  • Vietnam’s wind power tariffs attractive, but concern rises

    Vietnam’s wind power tariffs attractive, but concern rises

    Vietnam’s new feed-in tariffs are attracting great interest in wind power, but investors are concerned about grid connection and purchase agreements. The new feed-in tariffs (FIT) are expected to be attractive to domestic and foreign investors, Tommaso Rovatti Studihard, South East Asia sales director for wind power developer Vestas Asia Pacific said.

    The government recently approved tariff revisions under Decision 39 on support mechanisms for the development of wind power.

    The decision, effective from November 1 this year, raises the tariffs from 7.8 US cents per kWh to 8.5 US cents for onshore and 9.8 US cents for offshore generation respectively.

    “Electricity demand will grow at an estimated 8 – 10 percent a year from now to 2030. This represents realistic opportunities for investors,” Studihard said.

    Conjecturing that the national plan envisages adding 1,000 MW of wind power by 2020 and 6,000 MW by 2030, he said the targets are achievable.

    “Vestas is excited about the Vietnamese market, probably this is the most promising market in the Asian region with very good wind resources,” he said.

    Vestas has so far put three wind power projects into operation in Vietnam and plans to have another project come online by 2019 and “do a lot more in the future.”

    Studihard noted that over the next three to five years there are huge opportunities in Vietnam to have some gigawatts of wind power, but the bankability of the power purchase agreement (PPA) remains an issue with many investors, especially international investors, and banks finding it a little difficult to be comfortable with.

    There are no clear termination and force majeure clauses in the PPA, which hinders the attraction of foreign investment, especially from banks and credit institutions, he explained.

    “One more problem is Vietnam’s weak grid capacity, which would become a bottleneck for developing wind and other renewables. The grid needs to be upgraded to tap the great potential Vietnam has for offerable, sustainable and reliable wind power.”

    Bui Van Thinh, CEO of the Thuan Binh Wind Power JSC (TBW), said having gained success in developing the 24MW Phu Lac wind power project in the central province of Binh Thuan, TBW is completing procedures to start construction of a 30MW wind power project in neighboring Ninh Thuan Province.

    But the weak grid capacity is the biggest challenge to expanding renewables like wind and solar power, he said.

    The transmission line near Phu Lac site could handle 100MW, compatible with two 50MW wind power projects.

    Overload capacity is imminent once a solar power project connects with the transmission line, Thinh noted, citing the concerning fact that there are eight solar power projects in the locality approved to connect with the grid.

    “The government should instruct the state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to install transmission lines to cope with the renewable power projects across the country, especially those in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan.”

    Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan are central provinces that have the greatest potential for renewable energy in the country.

    While 2,000 MW of solar power are proposed to be generated in Ninh Thuan, the local transmission line can only handle a few hundred megawatts. Thus, 110 kV or 220 kV transmission lines need to be installed before pushing the power to the 500kV transmission line and sending it to Ho Chi Minh City or Danang City, Thinh added.

    Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority, said demand for energy, wind power in particular, has been growing rapidly.

    The need for ensuring energy security but also sustainable development has changed Vietnam from an energy seller to buyer, with the country’s dependence on imported energy sources also rising, he said.

    Vietnam also faces a shortage of primary energy, with coal imports posing many risks related to supply, price and transportation, he noted.

    “Given that, efficient exploitation of new and renewable sources would play a key role in the country’s socio-economic development, energy security and sustainable development.

    “The country is working diligently to draft policies for the efficient and economical use of energy, diversification of energy sources and increasing application of new and eco-friendly technologies,” Thanh added.

    Under the revised Power Development Plan VII, power stations in the country are expected to generate a total of 60,000 MW by 2020. Of these, coal-fired stations would make the largest proportion of 42.7 percent, followed by hydropower (30.1 percent), gas-fired plants (14.9 percent) and renewable energy sources (9.9 percent).

    By 2030, the total capacity would soar to 129,500 MW, with coal and gas-fired plants accounting for 42.6 percent and 14.7 percent respectively, similar to the figures set for 2020. But the ratio of renewable energy sources is set to double to 21 percent by then.

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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.

  • Zomato India to expand food delivery business to 100 cities

    Zomato India to expand food delivery business to 100 cities

    Online restaurant guide and food ordering firm Zomato on Friday said it is expanding food delivery services to 100 cities over the next week.

    The company’s food delivery services are currently present across 93 cities and lists over 75,000 restaurants on the platform, Zomato said in a statement.

    “… the food delivery business is ramping up really well with the growth in main markets, as well as the reception in tier II tier III cities,” Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO, Zomato said.

    Founded by Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008, Zomato is a restaurant search and discovery platform providing in-depth information for over 1.4 million restaurants across 24 countries and serves more than 50 million users every month.

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  • Vingroup’s smartphone launched soon

    Vingroup’s smartphone launched soon

    Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Vingroup, will introduce its first smartphones on December 14 as part of its tech expansion. The company will launch four new models under the brand name “Vsmart,” at the Landmark 81 skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City.

    The phones are produced at Vingroup’s factory in the northern city of Hai Phong, which is capable of making five million phones a year in its first phase of operations, a Vingroup statement said.

    The company will utilize Spanish experts for product development as it owns 51 percent of Spanish technology firm BQ.

    “We hope that Vsmart phones, alongside VinFast cars, will contribute to the development of Vietnam industry and bring Vietnamese brands to the world,” said Nguyen Viet Quang, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Vingroup.

    Vingroup became the country’s first full-fledged domestic car maker two months ago, introducing three new car models. In June, it established the VinSmart Co. to produce smartphones and other smart electronic devices with a registered capital of VND3 trillion ($131.54 million).

    VinSmart is also working with Qualcomm and Google’s Alphabet Inc to “update to the most advanced technology in the smartphone sector,” the statement said.

    The company will be the newest phone maker seeking success in Vietnam, a country of 95 million people. The market is currently dominated by Samsung and Apple phones. Vietnam is the largest smartphone production base for Samsung Electronics.

    Vingroup said its VinSmart factory will also produce smart TVs and other smart products in the future.

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  • Lazada to tackle counterfeit Korean products more seriously

    Lazada to tackle counterfeit Korean products more seriously

    Lazada has pledged to remove any counterfeit South Korean goods from its platform in a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency (KOIPA). It is reportedly the first time a Southeast Asian e-commerce company has reached an agreement with the Korean IP regulator and reflects the growing popularity of Korean beauty and fashion products online across Asia.

    Korean brands online and considered at risk from counterfeit products include Etude House, Innisfree, Laneige, Mamonde and 3CE.

    “The combined followers for [those brands’] Lazada flagship stores are more than 200,000,” Gladys Chun, general counsel and head of government affairs at Lazada Group said.

    “Laneige, Mamonde, Innisfree and 3CE were top search terms in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam during the recent Lazada 11.11 Shopping Festival.”

    Lazada has undertaken to remove any counterfeit goods from sale on its platform when alerted by brand owners, once it has confirmed authenticity. Sellers caught trying to sell copy goods on its site face blacklisting.

    “Such measures to curb illicit trading of goods on Lazada are aimed at boosting the confidence and preserving the trust of shoppers on our platform,” Chun said.

    “At Lazada, we respect and collaborate with rights holders in safeguarding their IP through a combination of proactive and reactive measures. It is incumbent on us to create that trusted space for shoppers and brands, giving them the peace-of-mind that we will always be acting in their best interests.”

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  • Gaming gadget New Razer Phone 2 is launched

    Gaming gadget New Razer Phone 2 is launched

    Razer, a Singaporean gaming gadget company, unveiled the Razer Phone 2 – a smartphone specifically designed for gaming – on Friday in Seoul. Korea is the fourth-largest gaming market in the world with more than 28 million game users, according to the company.

    The Razer Phone 2 is equipped with a 5.7-inch display and offers a 120 Hz refresh rate, allowing users to enjoy mobile game with less delays and disconnections. The upgraded refresh rate helps the touch screen to react more precisely to user demands, according to the company.

    The screen is 50 percent larger than its previous version – the Razer Phone 1 – which launched last year.

    The Razer Phone 2 comes with a 400mAH battery which allows the phone to play games for 10 hours.

    Playing mobile games is not the only entertainment available on the Razer Phone 2. It is also optimized for watching videos.

    The company said the new phone includes Dolby Atmos technology in its dual speakers that are equipped on bezels both on the top and bottom of the devcie, providing a richer sound.

    In terms of camera, the Razer Phone 2 is equipped with a dual camera on the back – a wide-angle lens and telephoto lens – that offer 12 megapixels each. The front of the phone has an 8 megapixel camera.

    To optimize the display, Razer teamed up with popular games including PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Rival: Crimson x Chaos and Marvel’s Future Fight, among others.

    The Razer Phone 2 will go on sale on Dec. 4 in Korea in partnership with local distributors All Life Technology and CJ Hello.

    The phone sells for 990,000 won ($882.87). With subsidies from CJ Hello’s payment plan, the price can go down to as low as 599,000 won.

    “Razer was able to pull off a huge success last year with Razer Phone 1 by paving a new sector in the smartphone industry,” said Min-Liang Tan, CEO of Razer in a written statement Friday. “The new Razer Phone 2 will help us set a new standard in the gaming industry.”

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  • Factories, tractors and robots benefit from 5G in Korea

    Factories, tractors and robots benefit from 5G in Korea

    All three of Korea’s mobile carriers launched their 5G networks on Saturday, the first day of December, officially kicking off an era of the high-speed network. SK Telecom started transmissions from its Bundang network management center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi; KT from its Gwacheon network control center in Gyeonggi; and LG U+ from Magok Science Park in western Seoul. All of the 5G networks operate on a 3.5-gigahertz (GHz) frequency band.

    5G boasts a 20 times faster data transmission speed than the currently prevailing fourth-generation long-term evolution (LTE). Its competitive edge lies in ultra-wide bandwidth, ultra-low latency and ultra-fast connectivity. Data transmission speed of 5G is more than 20 gigabytes per second (Gbps), meaning a 2.5-gigabyte ultra high-definition video can be downloaded in just one second.

    The network can currently only be accessed by corporate clients, not individual users. Businesses can use the card-shaped mobile routers to pick up the 5G network and convert it into super-fast Wi-Fi.

    Individual subscribers are expected to be able to start using 5G from March, when smartphone devices supporting the new network will become available. Samsung Electronics is expected to unveil its Galaxy S10 smartphone as early as February and may come up with two different versions: one supporting LTE and one that works on 5G.

    SK Telecom’s first 5G customer was Myunghwa, a product quality assessment firm in Banwol Industrial Complex in Ansan, Gyeonggi. The company is using the network to process ultra-high definition photos of auto components taken from different perspectives as the products are being moved on a conveyer belt. The images are transmitted using the 5G mobile router to a cloud server, where a high-performance artificial intelligence interface can instantly tell whether a product is faulty.

    SK Telecom also began test operations of its 5G autopilot vehicles in Hwaseong and Siheung, both in Gyeonggi. The vehicles are able to exchange information about their status while on the road with a control center and traffic lights dozens of times per second.

    KT celebrated the launch of its 5G network by having a robot as its first subscriber. The robot, called Lota, will be guiding visitors to the Seoul Sky observatory at Lotte World Tower in Songpa District, eastern Seoul.

    “We chose Lota to show that 5G doesn’t simply mean a generational shift, but will become a platform that will innovate our overall lives and industry,” said KT in a statement.

    KT plans to prioritize 24 major cities nationwide as well as key public transportation routes and university areas, where traffic demand is expected to be high, for 5G installation in the near future.

    LG U+’s first corporate customer is LS Mtron, an industrial machine developer based in Anyang, Gyeonggi. The two companies have jointly developed a 5G remote-controlled tractor, the first in Korea. LG U+ said 5G-based remote-controlled technologies may minimize human engagement in risky working environments, such as the removal of mines and industrial waste disposal.

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  • Amazon briefly edges out Apple to top Nasdaq

    Amazon briefly edges out Apple to top Nasdaq

    Amazon briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street in intraday trade on Monday, days after Microsoft dethroned long-time leader Apple. Amazon rose by 4.7 percent at one point, putting its market capitalization at $865.0 billion. At the same time, Apple traded up 2.1 percent, giving it a market capitalization of $864.8 billion.

    Microsoft, which on Friday closed above Apple’s market capitalization for the first time in eight years, was up 0.9 percent, leaving its stock market value at $859.0 billion, third in the group.

    Amazon’s lead lasted only a few seconds. At the close, Apple was back on top with a 3.49 percent increase in its stock that put its total value at $877 billion. It was followed by Amazon, up 4.86 percent with a market capitalization of $866.6 billion, and then Microsoft, up 1.08 percent and a stock market value of $860.4 billion.

    The tight race between the trio of high-powered technology stocks coincided with a broad stock market rally after the United States and China agreed on a temporary truce in their ongoing trade dispute.

    Apple in August became the first U.S. publicly listed company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization, but its share price has fallen sharply in recent months as investors worried that demand for iPhones was losing steam.

    Its market capitalization overtook Microsoft’s in 2010 as Microsoft struggled with slow demand for personal computers, due in part to the explosion of smartphones like the iPhone.

    Amazon’s stock has recovered most of the ground it lost after the online retailer in October forecast disappointing sales for the holiday quarter.

  • Rivalry heats up in Vietnam’s food delivery market

    Rivalry heats up in Vietnam’s food delivery market

    Last week, a sea of red filled the inside of a milk tea shop in Ho Chi Minh City instead of regular young customers usually found in such places. GoViet drivers were queuing up to purchase food ordered by customers over its online delivery app Go Food, which was running a 50-percent discount program along with free delivery within 5 kilometers.

    The very next morning, the shop was filled with green shirts of Grab drivers. Grab had launched a free delivery promotion for the first 999 cups of milk tea ordered.

    Gradually, the green shirt – red shirt war is becoming visible on the streets.

    Despite being new entrants in the online food delivery market, both Go Viet and Grab are using various measures to attract and capture customer habits. Everyday, these two tech companies spend big on promotions across a wide range of food and drinks.

    They are also recruiting stars from the entertainment industry to endorse their service.

    From the get go, Go Viet had announced a partnership with singer Son Tung M-TP, who broke the record of Asia’s most viewed music video in 24 hours last May, as the company’s brand ambassador.

    Similarly, Grab’s start-studded ads feature diva My Tam, goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung and striker Nguyen Quang Hai of the national football team.

    While having large financial and technological capabilities, both Grab and Go Viet face many challenges after entering the market later than competitors like Delivery Now by Foody, Vietnammm, and Lala, which are apps well known to many customers.

    Delivery Now offers a wider range of food on its menu than Grab and Go Viet, had has a dense network of partners from large restaurants to small pavement stalls, industry insiders say.

    Delivery Now is a product of Foody Corporation, a Vietnamese food service startup that was acquired by Singapore-based internet firm Sea LTD last year; Vietnammm.com is a subsidiary of Takeaway.com, one of the world’s largest online food ordering websites based in the Netherlands; and Lala is invested by Ho Chi Minh City-based Scommerce Group, an information technology and services firm.

    Many experts believe that the race for market share between Go Viet and Grab will resemble that of Grab and Uber when they first entered Vietnam.

    Both Grab and Go Viet are aspiring to become super apps, for which food delivery is an indispensable keystone. In addition to attracting users with incentives and advertising, the two companies are spending a lot of money on reward policies to incentive drivers and expand their network of partner restaurants.

    Grab Vietnam CEO Jerry Lim claimed GrabFood’s growth has been very impressive, with the number of its contractors increasing eight-fold in just a month of testing in Hanoi. GrabFood was released in the city early last month, after a period of testing.

    In Vietnam, Grab is reaching delivery speeds of under 25 minutes and aims for a further reduction to 20 minutes per order, the fastest in regional markets.

    Grab Food is available in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while Go Food is only present in the latter.

    Go Viet, however, remains confident that it will meet the needs of customers, aiming to partner up with thousands more restaurants nationwide in casual dining, fast food or luxury dining.

    “Food delivery and e-wallets are promising market segments,” GO Viet CEO Nguyen Vu Duc said after a few months of competing against Grab.

    However, these delivery apps also have certain limitations. For some items on their menu, drivers have to pay up front when ordering for customers in non-partner restaurants.

    Not all drivers are happy to buy food this way as waiting is time consuming, they have to make advance payments and risk the customer not accepting delivery.

    Do Xuan Quang, deputy head of Vietnam Logistics Business Association, said Vietnam was the fastest growing e-commerce market in Southeast Asia, and along with the strong growth of the logistics industry at 15-20 percent, a similar movement in the delivery market was not surprising.

    In 5-10 years, the delivery market in Vietnam will be valued at around $10 billion, he said.

    U.K.-based market research firm EuroMonitor International values the food delivery market in Vietnam at around $33 million this year and at more than $38 million in 2020. It also puts the annual growth rate of the market at 11 percent.

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  • Fung Group launches Explorium in Hong Kong

    Fung Group launches Explorium in Hong Kong

    Fung group has opened an innovation hub in Hong Kong for co-creating, learning, experimenting and scaling the ideas, opportunities and business models that will shape the future of supply chains. Explorium Hong Kong – taking its name from an earlier project in Shanghai which tested retail technologies – was opened this week with Dr Victor Fung hosting a housewarming party.  Product recognition system using AI technology and developed by Circle K and JD, one of the first prototypes from the partnership between JD’s AI lab and the Fung Retailing Group, was on show along with other technology innovations.

    Among the highlights of the AI tech showcase were:

    ZhuiYi Technology, one of the top AI companies in China has integrated deep learning and NLP to help enterprises improve customer experience and business efficiency.

    WhatsSquare has produced chatbots and digital workspace tailored for SMEs with advanced Software as a Service (SaaS) technology.

    Zhulke Engineering Hong Kong specialises in the design and development of technology in collaboration with corporate partners.

    Virtual Control is an SaaS company that has developed a digital solution to analog processes in modern global supply chains. Its software will pull together a range of digital tools to maximise the impact on efficiency and automation, such as augmented reality, machine learning, photo recognition, and data analytics.

    Beijing MeShow Digital Technology has taken the lead in 3D virtual-human modelling technology. Using MeShow’s mobile app, users can create their 3D model simulating their own face and body, try out types of makeup looks, enjoy virtual fitting services and realise apparel purchase needs concurrently in a single app.

    WildFaces Technology offers a vision-based AI software system that can recognise and track faces anonymously from moving cameras, including on drones, walking robots, PTZ cameras, mobile phones and wearables such as glasses and body-worn cameras. This world-first “on-the-move” recognition technology requires only one low-resolution camera to be able to recognise hundreds of faces in real-time in large uncontrolled crowds and at far distances, replacing at least 50 more high-resolution but fixed cameras from other traditional facial recognition systems.

    Hampen Technology provides deep learning-based biometric authentication and video analytics solutions for fintech, security and retail applications.

    Find Innovation Lab’s Find Retail Suite uses AI and machine learning to offer retailers products that change the way purchasing departments buy merchandise and how the marketing department sells it.

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  • Retail sector Korea in future

    Retail sector Korea in future

    Technology and e-commerce trends are reshaping the global retail industry in profound ways, as the rise of online channels threatens to displace more traditional shopping experiences. However, Korea’s retail sector seems to be thriving in the face of this upheaval, with a 6% year-over-year increase in retail sales by Q3 2018. What are the factors fuelling this encouraging retail growth?

    Firstly, improved relations with China and North Korea have energised the retail sector, with duty-free sales registering an impressive 34% year-over-year growth by Q3 2018. While this retail boost can primarily be attributed to the recent surge of Chinese tourists in Korea, it also reflects the growing international popularity of Korean beauty and lifestyle brands.

    E-commerce is also emerging as a key driver of Korea’s retail sector. Online channels have experienced rapid growth since 2010, and will only keep expanding their foothold as Korean consumers start shifting away from brick-and-mortar stores. With Korea’s e-commerce market predicted to grow by 21% this year, traditional retailers will need to find new ways of adapting to this rapidly evolving landscape.

    Some retailers are already turning to artificial intelligence and other Industry 4.0 technologies in an effort to provide consumers with more innovative shopping experiences. For instance, Hyundai Department Store is using Naver’s virtual assistant Clova to answer customer inquiries – whether they relate to store locations or specific purchases.

    Another interesting example is retail giant Lotte Home Shopping, which has developed its own augmented reality system so that customers can visualize how products would look in their home. As these new technologies get ushered into the mainstream, we can expect to see more and more retailers jumping on the AI bandwagon in the next few years.

    However, this doesn’t mean that we should write off the traditional brick-and-mortar experience just yet. Major brands are still banking on attracting consumers with the enduring prestige of high street locations – such as Maison Kitsuné, which recently opened its flagship store in Seoul’s trendy Garosugil district.

    Many global retailers continue to view Seoul, one of the world’s most famous shopping destinations, as a test bed in Asia. With cosmetics brands like Givenchy Beauty and Armani Beauty making their debut in Seoul this year, and renowned F&B brand Blue Bottle Coffee preparing to enter the Korean market in 2019, it’s clear that leasing demand from foreign retailers is still going strong.

    If we look to other segments of the retail industry that are experiencing growth, it’s worth highlighting the surge of fresh food delivery services across the country. With double-income families emerging as a major consumer force, demand for overnight fresh food delivery has also been rising – and major retailers as well as food startups are turning their attention towards this potentially profitable market.

    The rapid expansion of the food delivery market – and of the e-commerce sector in general – is proving to be a windfall for Korea’s logistics industry. Logistics developers are recognizing the need for large-scale modern logistics centers capable of storing and delivering goods nationwide, with faster delivery remaining the market’s key competitive measure. The growing demand for cold chain facilities is expected to fuel a mass redevelopment of older warehouses, especially in the Greater Seoul area.

    So far, Korea’s retail industry has shown remarkable resilience against a backdrop of technological disruption. More brick-and-mortar retailers are offering F&B, AI and entertainment options to differentiate themselves from their e-commerce counterparts; and this trend will only grow as consumers seek out unique shopping experiences. The question is, will Korea’s retail market keep thriving in the long term?  As long as technology continues to enhance – and not supplant – existing retail experiences, we can venture to hope that a bright future is in store for this challenging and dynamic sector.

    -CBRE-

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  • Korean fashion firm Handsome unveils AI-designed clothes

    Korean fashion firm Handsome unveils AI-designed clothes

    South Korean fashion label Handsome says it will release the country’s first clothes designed with artificial intelligence technology. Handsome, an affiliate of Hyundai Department Store Group, said it joined forces with Designovel to create new patterns for clothes released under the SJYP brand. Designovel is a startup specialising in AI fashion technology.

    The fashion company said the first product, dubbed Dino Hood Tee, is printed with an image of a dinosaur and toy blocks designed by Designovel’s program, Style AI.

    The graphic was based on 330,000 images, including characters and logos, provided by Handsome.

    Style AI uses a convolutional neural network, which is an image processing technology to modify patterns.

    Handsome said it will review whether the AI technology can be applied in other areas of its fashion business.

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