Tag: Retail

Manila, Philippines – Malaysian retail specialist Valiram Group is currently looking at expanding its operations in the Philippines by developing airport outlets for duty-free retail tourism.

Meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Singapore, Valiram Group expressed their interest in expanding in the next five years with the Philippines on their list.

In this plan, Valiram’s development priorities include having duty-free access at the airports, with the company building more airport walk-through stores personalised to provide customers with a pleasant shopping experience.

Valiram aims to elevate customer experience in the Philippines, especially by giving them more space at the nation’s gateways, removing the stress and hassles of security checks.This initiative is also in line with Valiram’s interest to grow the local presence with their affiliated international brands through these Philippine outlets. 

Expressing the group’s interest, a Valiram official said, “We are looking to bring the success that we have in Southeast Asia, outside the Philippines, and into the Philippines. You know, we now have a net worth of over 500 stores. And some brands are not yet represented in the Philippines and so we’ve been working hard and with everyone’s support and guidance, we’re looking forward to expanding very quickly.”

The President acknowledged that retail business is a significant part of today’s economy and in the case of Valiram, of the tourism industry.

“It’s an important sector of the economy. It’s what’s driving the economy now, it’s consumer spending. I always say this: not all Filipinos are Ilocanos. Ilocanos don’t spend,” Marcos said jokingly.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez expressed his support for the President’s thrust to encourage more investors to come to the Philippines, noting that Congress is focusing on crafting legislation or laws that govern the treatment and the appreciation of foreign investments into the country.

In the President’s business meetings with Dyson Group and the Valiram Group, Romualdez mentioned that Marcos welcomes and supports all of these initiatives.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Marimekko, a Finland-based design house company, has announced its expansion to Malaysia and Vietnam through a loose-franchise partnership with Jaspal Group. 

The expansion, which takes effect within this year, will have Marimekko stores open up in these markets, as well as activating online stores to provide an omnichannel experience for customers. 

The first Marimekko stores in Malaysia will be located in Kuala Lumpur: one in the KLCC mall at the world’s highest twin towers and another in The Exchange TRX mall.

Meanwhile, Marimekko stores in Vietnam will be opened in the Lotte Mall Westlake in Hanoi and in the Takashimaya mall in Ho Chi Minh City later this year.

Natacha Defrance, senior vice president of sales for Region East at Marimekko said, “We are delighted to launch Marimekko in Vietnam and Malaysia together with our new partner Jaspal Group. These fast-growing markets provide interesting opportunities for Marimekko’s international growth and hence support our company’s objective to scale the Marimekko business in the upcoming years. We look forward to introducing Marimekko’s joyful lifestyle concept to customers in both countries.”

Meanwhile, Yosathep Singhsachathet, deputy CEO at Jaspal Group, commented, “We are excited to start collaborating with Marimekko. We see a growing interest in Asia towards the Finnish design house renowned for its bold prints and colors, so now is a good time to make Marimekko available to local consumers and tourists alike in Vietnam and Malaysia. We look forward to start building the Marimekko growth story with the first shops and online stores in 2023.”

During the strategy period of 2023–2027, Marimekko will focus on scaling its business and growth especially in international markets. Asia is the most important geographical area for Marimekko’s international growth, and the company sees growing demand for its brand in the region. 

In June 2023, Marimekko announced its plans to expand its store network to Singapore, where the first store opens in September 2023. 

Switzerland – CHRONEXT, a luxury watch platform, has enlisted the services of content management system provider Storyblok to help enhance customer experience by developing an iOS mobile app that allows their marketers and developers to construct customised user journeys.

Realising that their content system was purely web-based, CHRONEXT decided to use Storyblok and was able to build their mobile app prototype in just 7 weeks. Since its launch, app session times have tripled from 2 minutes on their website to 5 minutes on their mobile application.

Other aspects that influenced CHRONEXT’s decision to choose StoryBlok included the fact that it is a headless CMS that allows them to provide omni channel user experiences, the ease of use for developers and marketers with comprehensive user management tools, and the ability to serve as a centralised hub for all content.

Speaking on the developments, Emanuel Schleussinger, CTO at CHRONEXT, said, “Storyblok opened possibilities for our marketing team to easily update product pages, create new campaigns and promotions for different markets, and engage with our customers.”

Cameron Crosby, team lead of website & digital innovation at CHRONEXT, also added, “With Storyblok, content teams can simply drag, drop, and update specific component pieces that make up a product detail page in our application within seconds, without having to redeploy the application to the App Store. Changes are reflected on user’s screens instantly without disrupting their purchase session.”

Meanwhile, Dominik Angerer, co-founder and CEO of Storyblok, commented, “CHRONEXT is a great example of a brand that understands the omnichannel benefits and possibilities of a headless CMS and uses that knowledge to build better customer experiences. They now have a centralised content hub that can grow with them as they expand.”

United Kingdom – SaaS technology company Eagle Eye has announced that it has secured a five-year contract with Morrisons, one of the largest supermarket chains in the United Kingdom. Said contract will entail Eagle Eye managing Morrisons’ loyalty and promotion services.

Through the contract, Eagle Eye’s AIR platform will aid in enhancing Morrisons loyalty programme, which allows customers to benefit from exclusive prices and earn points on selected products in store, online and on fuel. 

Moreover, the new offering will create more ways of engaging with customers, and help the supermarket scale the number of broadcast and targeted offers available, giving customers more reasons to shop at Morrisons.

Said offering will be rolled out to all 499 stores nationwide and is expected to go live later in 2023.

Rachel Eyre, chief customer and marketing officer at Morrisons, said, “This has been a transformational year for our More Card loyalty scheme, and we are very pleased to be working with Eagle Eye, who are an acknowledged leader in this field, as we implement our plans to develop the scheme still further for our customers.”

Meanwhile, Tim Mason, CEO of Eagle Eye, commented, “We are excited to have won this multi-year contract with Morrisons, one of the UK’s leading supermarkets, and look forward to supporting their commitment to helping customers make every penny go further, saving them money on the everyday items they want and need.” 

He added, “We are proud that our platform is supporting the exciting pace of innovation taking place across the retail sector, at a time when providing value for consumers has never been more important.”

The latest Morrison win comes after Eagle Eye also recently secured a multi-year contract with Singapore retail giant FairPrice. In it, Eagle Eye’s Untie Nots is expected to deliver loyalty challenges within FairPrice’s existing Linkpoints loyalty programme.

Maebashi, Japan – Global apparel retailer UNIQLO is set to open a new prototype store in the city of Maebashi in the Gunma prefecture in Japan. Said store will represent the future of UNIQLO stores globally, as it features a combination of environmentally friendly features and expanded lifestyle services for customers.

The new UNIQLO prototype store, conceptualised by Kashiwa Sato, creative director and CEO at SAMURAI Inc. and chief creative director for the project, developed a new roadside store concept that both appeals to customers and embodies the UNIQLO philosophy of contributing to the development of a prosperous society and realisation of a better world.

https://youtu.be/XkmuIVGD-Ck

To achieve these aims, the store has been designed with range of energy-saving features, as well as an expanded suite of lifestyle services. Going forward, the company intends for the store to serve as a prototype for new roadside stores globally.

In addition, the store also brings together a range of the newest UNIQLO lifestyle services, including the UNIQLO FLOWER florist shop, UNIQLO COFFEE cafe, and Japan’s first permanent RE.UNIQLO STUDIO – the company’s repair, reuse, recycle and remake service.

For UNIQLO Group Executive Officer Masahiro Endo, the new Maebashi Minami IC Store, has created a new type of UNIQLO, where customers can both shop for our clothing, as well as gather and connect with each other. 

“Reducing our energy consumption was also at the front of mind when developing the store, and the various technical and design features utilised represent meaningful steps towards meeting our 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets. Going forward, we look forward to using this store as a prototype for our new roadside stores globally,” Endo said.

China – During the past three years over the pandemic, the Chinese division of wellness retail brand Watsons has opened up nearly 850 physical stores in Mainland China with the aim to supercharge its Offline Plus Online (O+O) platform strategy. This time, nothing is stopping it in its tracks to further strengthening said O+O strategy where the Chinese arm revealed it will be launching 300 more new stores by this year. 

Over the pandemic, Watsons has been striving for innovation in its store designs by renovating nearly 440 stores in over 300 cities in Mainland China. This brings Watsons China’s total store count to 3,900 as of present across 500 cities. 

Just recently, it has further launched an upgraded Watsons store and a Colorlab 2.0 makeup concept store in Shanghai Qingpu Wuyue Plaza and Jiangsu Changzhou Wuyue Plaza, respectively, enhancing the O+O customer shopping experience.

Malina Ngai, CEO of A.S. Watson for Asia & Europe, said that O+O is the new standard of retail and that by seamlessly integrating offline and online platforms, the O+O platform strategy helps the brand better understand its customers’ needs.

“Our customer insights show that at Watsons China the spending of our O+O customers who shop with us in both physical and online stores is 3.1 times more than those who shop with us only in the physical stores. Thus, O+O platform strategy is proved to be very important for us,” said Ngai. 

On the new design of the said newly launched concept stores, the health and beauty retailer shared that the fresh vibrant decorations are meant to bring excitement to the younger generations. 

The upgraded Watsons store in Shanghai Qingpu Wuyue Plaza features a dedicated skincare zone that provides a comprehensive skincare experience to customers. Not only are customers given the opportunity to try out the most advanced and professional skin analysis equipment inside the store, but they are also able to seek personalised advice from in-store beauty advisors.

The Colorlab 2.0 makeup concept store in Shanghai Qingpu Wuyue Plaza

According to Watsons, since the first Colorlab makeup concept store launched in Shenzhen in January 2018, it has been well-received by beauty-goers, hence the launch of the Colorlab 2.0 makeup concept store. Decorated in classic black, white, and grey combined with a refreshing ‘Watsons green’ transparent colour tone, the Colorlab 2.0 makeup concept store aims to create a fashionable and chic makeup space for customers. 

Ngai added, “Looking ahead, the O+O platform strategy will still be our core growth engine, and physical stores will continue to play a significant role in creating irreplaceable O+O customer experience. Therefore, Watsons plans to open over 300 new stores in Mainland China this year with an innovative store design enriching product assortment and providing an advanced customer experience to better suit the needs of customers.” 

“Retail is not dead; it just needs to be better for our customers,” Ngai concluded.

Sydney, Australia – Authentic Brands Group (Authentic), the global brand development, marketing, entertainment, and digital platform that manages world-renowned brands such as Reebok, Forever 21, Nautica, and Van Heusen, has partnered with enterprise customer data platform (CDP) Amperity to become its cornerstone partner for data management strategy. The latter will help the parent firm unify its in-store and digital experiences for consumers across its portfolio of brands.

With a vast roster of more than 40 iconic and world-renowned brands, Authentic’s digital platform is powered by more than 200M consumer data files. Through the tie-up with Amperity, Authentic looks to activate data from multiple online and offline touchpoints, including pre-purchase, point-of-sale, and post-purchase customer care in order to create unified customer profiles. 

“We strive to provide the most optimal shopping experience for our consumers, and having a clean data foundation is essential,” said Adam Kronengold, Authentic’s chief digital officer. “Amperity’s platform allows us to resolve identities at scale across our portfolio and leverage data to inform brand and business development decisions.” 

Amperity will be bringing together Authentic’s diverse consumer data to enable a unified 360-degree view and comprehensive understanding of its brand consumers and enhance each of its brand’s digital engagement strategies.

“Authentic has amassed a vast and loyal customer base, spanning more than 40 renowned brands,” said Barry Padgett, CEO at Amperity. “The reality is that there are many CDPs, but not all of them are created equal. We’re honored Authentic has chosen our platform to help them to deliver personalised experiences for every individual customer, driving engagement and retention to unprecedented levels.”

Reckitt, the global consumer packaged goods company, has also recently partnered with Amperity to enhance its overall customer experience. Meanwhile, in February, the CDP expanded its presence in APAC by appointing its new business director and lead solutions consultant for the region.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Google Cloud has announced new artificial intelligence (AI) innovations dedicated to retailers to aid in their in-store shelf checking processes and enhance their e-commerce sites with natural online shopping experiences for consumers. It has also integrated its technologies with Accenture’s ai.RETAIL platform as part of its expanded strategic partnership.

The first on the list is Google Cloud’s new AI-powered shelf checking solution that can help retailers improve on-shelf product availability, provide better visibility into what their shelves actually look like, and help them understand where restocks are needed. 

Built on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Vision and powered by two machine learning (ML) models—a product recognizer and tag recognizer—the shelf checking AI enables retailers to identify products of all types, at scale, based solely on the visual and text features of a product, and then translate that data into actionable insights.

The company has also announced a new AI-powered browse feature in its Discovery AI solutions for retailers. This capability uses ML to optimise the order of products (i.e., which products the shopper sees first) on a retailer’s e-commerce site once shoppers choose a category, such as ‘women’s jackets’ or ‘kitchenware’.

Other Google Cloud announcements include more personalised search and browsing results with machine learning (ML), and the ‘Recommendations AI’ solution uses ML to help retailers bring product recommendations to their shoppers.

Meanwhile, Accenture’s ai.RETAIL is an integrated solution that helps retailers better utilise data and AI to optimise common systems and programs, such as customer acquisition, pricing and promotions, assortment, and supply chains. Retailers can now deploy the ai.RETAIL platform on Google Cloud, meaning it is extended to Google Cloud’s trusted infrastructure and is integrated with multiple Google Cloud products and capabilities.

For Megawaty Khie, country director for Indonesia and Malaysia at Google Cloud, the upheavals in the past few years have reshaped the retail landscape and retailers are now seeking new ways to be more efficient, more compelling to shoppers, and less exposed to future shocks.

“The leaders of tomorrow will be those who address today’s most pressing in-store and online challenges with the newest AI tools. Our work with Accenture will also help local retailers quickly adopt integrated solutions that amplify the true benefits of AI, so that they can holistically understand their business across functional boundaries and continuously optimise their offerings and operations to thrive in a complex retail environment,” Khie said.

Sridhar Subramanian, managing director of Accenture’s Google Business Group in Asia Pacific, commented that with shifting consumer buying habits, now more than ever, retailers need to invest in building a digital core – which includes a solid data foundation, ML, and AI. 

“With the best of Accenture’s integrated ai.RETAIL platform and Google Cloud technology, companies can now access products and capabilities to help improve consumer engagement and conversions, and make their supply chains more sustainable,” Subramanian said.

Google Cloud and Accenture are also collaborating on a broad, new initiative to address complex challenges facing retailers today, including applying intelligence from ai.RETAIL to help businesses optimise their customer, workforce, and storefront experiences, and utilising other technologies and offerings from both companies.

Vietnam – Greenoly, a Vietnam-based health supplement e-retailer invested in by Blueseed Group, has recently signed a strategic partnership with beauty product distributor Beautizon. 

With the partnership, Greenoly will be acting as a key online retail platform for Beautizon’s brands and products. Blueseed Group, on the other hand, will be supporting its marketing efforts to boost Beautizon’s brand awareness and adoption in Vietnam.

Beautizon’s Founder and Director Steven Stoddart shared his excitement over the partnership, stating, “As a distributor of leading Australian and New Zealand brands we see Greenoly as a great online retail platform to connect our products to customers throughout Vietnam.”

He also added that the Blueseed Group’s market-leading marketing experience will help Beautizon take its brands to new levels in the marketplace. 

Greenoly’s CCO Thao Tran also said, “We’re so happy to be partnering more closely with Beautizon and their brands like Sukin. Already in the lead up to this formal agreement we’ve been seeing great growth in the customer demand for high quality, natural and more gentle beauty products compared to what has traditionally been available within Vietnam.”

Meanwhile, Bill Crang, head of partnerships at Blueseed Group, also shared his excitement over the said partnership. “I’m even more excited that via this partnership we will be able to reach out to support other top Aussie (and Kiwi!) brands enter the fast growing Vietnam market.”

It was January this year when Blueseed Group made an investment in Greenoly in an effort to build the latter as Vietnam’s next retail champion.

Singapore – Food and grocery retailer FairPrice Group (FPG) has announced an industry partnership with adtech The Trade Desk to provide brands on The Trade Desk’s platform with insights on the impact of their digital advertising campaigns across offline and online sales channels.

In addition, such brands will be able to reach FPG’s customers on the open internet, beyond FairPrice’s owned media platforms. The partnership marks the first time that FairPrice Group’s pseudonymised sales conversion data will be available within a programmatic media buying platform.

The new partnership allows brands to reach an engaged customer base of more than 2 million NTUC Union and Link Members, including over 700,000 FairPrice app users. Brands and media agencies will be able to directly measure how digital ad campaigns are driving both in-store and online sales within FairPrice stores.

Furthermore, brands can make near real-time enhancements to their ad campaigns that can be optimised in a way that was not previously possible. Furthermore, the partnership makes it easier for brands to reach and engage with relevant FairPrice consumers across the open internet, in the fastest-growing digital channels, such as over-the-top (OTT), music streaming, mobile apps, gaming, and websites.

Alvin Neo, chief customer and marketing officer at FairPrice Group said, “Through this partnership, FairPrice Group aims to help brands unlock meaningful opportunities to better connect with our customers. As we enter the era of consent-based marketing, we look forward to working with The Trade Desk to harness the power of retail data to gain better insights to reach and serve consumers in relevant and beneficial​ ​ways.”

Meanwhile, Mitch Waters, senior vice president for ANZ, Southeast Asia and India at The Trade Desk, commented, “Given the complexity of the modern consumer, brands will need to take an omnichannel approach that supports a true shopping experience and navigates the path to purchase with consumers. By integrating FairPrice Group’s retail data available for the first time with The Trade Desk platform, we are helping brands reach FairPrice customers across the open internet, and closing the loop between advertising activity and in-store and online action.”