1 – Under Armour’s 3 strategic steps to connect with consumers
On a recent earning call with press and analysts, Under Armour chairman and CEO Kevin Plank outlined some key strategic steps the brand is taking to reach more customers. >>
2 – Global 1000 spotlight: The top 10 e-retail players dominate
When accounting for the total value of merchandise sold on their websites, the largest online merchants own nearly half of the global online retail market. >>
3 – Hugo Boss China plans to cull more stores
The cull of Hugo Boss China stores will continue after a first round downsizing helped the German retailer’s bottom line. >>
4 – New Look to expand China network
Fast fashion retailer New Look is to expand its China store network. >>
1 – Analyst : China’s online retail sales to double in three years
While the offline retail market is expected to suffer in the short and mid-term, China’s online retail sector will grow rapidly in the next few years, with online shoppers to exceed 40 per cent of the total population in 2018 and online retail sales to double by then from current level, according to analysts. >>
2 – Zalora goes ‘clicks-and-mortar’ in the Philippines
Online retailer Zalora has opened a pop-up shop in Bonifacio High Street Central. The new clicks-and-mortar store — with both web and real life service — is said to revolve around three words: digital, lifestyle, and fashion. >>
3 – Wal-Mart’s new WeChat features for Chinese shoppers
Beginning this month, millions of Chinese shoppers have been able to check out in more than 100 Wal-Mart stores in China by using WeChat Pay, a mobile payment feature within WeChat. A consumer shows a bar code within the WeChat app to a cashier, and the cashier scans the code to verify the payment. >>
4 – Bo’s Coffee Philippines eyes expansion abroad
Bo’s Coffee Philippines is set to expand its network of 80 stores abroad. >>
1 – Standard Bank app launched in Uganda, Namibia, Ghana & Botswana
Standard Bank has broadened its horizons by introducing its Global Banking App to four additional African countries, namely Uganda, Namibia, Ghana and Botswana. >>
2 – Absa to pilot ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger
Absa has launched ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger to enable customers to conduct their banking without ever having to leave their favourite social media platform. >>
3 – Another Asian bank plans to operate in PHL
Another Asian bank is planning to expand in the Philippines, the central bank said, as the country’s lending sector continues to be attractive to big banks in the region looking for opportunities in light of a more integrated Asian financial system. >>
4 – Maybank launches m-banking app in Cambodia
With the launch of mobile banking app, customers in Cambodia will enjoy enhanced customer experience and greater speed when undertaking banking transactions over their mobile phones. >>
Italian fashion house Valentino is about to enter India, joining a growing list of luxury brands changing their focus to a buoyant retail scene far from the slowing Chinese economy. >>
2 – Big boost in customer engagement via social media
Social media has evolved from its original purpose of simple networking to now being heavily used by brands and businesses for customer engagement and to further their business agenda, according to the latest GFK report. >>
3 – Asos sales soar – everywhere
Far from a potential barometer of consumer uncertainty, the latest Asos sales results indicate a proposition which is exceptionally well placed to meet the demands of a challenging retail landscape. >>
4 – Study: China’s luxury travelers value experience over shopping
When wealthy Chinese travelers head abroad, they’re prioritizing experiential luxury such as dining and seeking out unique cultural activities, but shopping still fits in big to their travel plans. >>
CIMB Research said in a report that the fintech revolution would have a bigger impact on other industries, this despite predictions that fintech would disrupt banks’ business the world over. >>
2 – Thailand: Krungsri shifts focus to digital banking
Digital disruption in the financial industry has forced Thailand’s fifth-largest commercial bank by assets – Bank of Ayudhya, which is branded as Krungsri – to consider new services to cope with an increasingly complex global financial ecosystem, for which it has revamped its e-business organisation accordingly. >>
3 – Vietnam banks see 2016 credit growth up 20.4 pct on yr: Central Bank
The Southeast Asian nation has targeted credit growth of 18 percent to 20 percent this year, up from 17.26 percent in 2015, as the economy expands, following growth last year that was its strongest since 2007. >>
4 – Transactions at Standard Bank branches declined to less than 5%
When was the last time you conducted a bank transaction at one of your bank’s branches? By Standard Bank’s count, the amount of people who do so (or use an ATM) has dropped to less than a mere 5%. >>
