Internet giant Alibaba paid US$2.6 billion for the retailer Intimate group, another sign Alibaba wants to leverage its online presence to brick-and-mortar retail operations, says retail analyst Ben Cavender to Reuters. Earlier it bought also leading retailer Suning.Read More →
Victoria Secret took on China online, but has now decided to open its first offline retail flagship store in Shanghai. They move very cautiously, says retail expert Ben Cavender in AdAge, and they have a fair chance of getting it right in one of the most difficult retail markets in the world.Read More →
Fashion retailer M&S got it all wrong in China as they focused on non-exciting customers, says retail analyst Paul French to Bloomberg. M&S decided to close down some of its China operation to cut their losses, after a very ambitious start in 2008 in Shanghai.Read More →
Interacting on social media is not enough for retailers to get customers. Last year the ChinaAccelerator supported Shopal, a digital tool helping retails to trace and follow customers beyond social media contacts. Managing director William Bao Bean of the ChinaAccelerator explains why Shopal works. A shift from brands to retailers.Read More →
Yum´s KFC has lost substantial turnover, as anti-US protest turn against the fast food chain caused by the tension in the South China Sea, says business analyst Shaun Rein to Reuters. The stores have become a lightning rod for nationalistic feelings and lost sometimes up to 25%Read More →
Samsung had a loyal group of users in China, but its way of dealing with the latest security scare has shocked their loyal follower, says retail analyst Ben Cavender to AP. Samsung did not recall its Note 7, despite possible igniting batteries, and recalls in the rest of the world. Read More →
China´s consumers have changed dramatically over the past decade, retail analyst Ben Cavender told a conference on fruit, for example only looking at first-tier cities is a wrong habit from the past, reports the Fruitnet. And the hypermarkets are dead.Read More →
Beer has always been a poor-people product, but has been going upmarket, now China´s elite discover the more fancy beers, tells retail analyst Shaun Rein to the Boston Globe. Although, in the sales, craft beers in China hardly show up, that is going to change.Read More →
The new rules on taxation of cross-border e-commerce have caused fear the government is trying to kill an increasingly lucrative industry. It was inevitable the government would start to regulate – not kill – this booming business, says Shanghai-based lawyer Mark Schaub in Lexology. The timing was a surprise, and unfortunately, regulations are not very clear, he adds.Read More →
Why is retail giant Suning going for one of Europe´s largest soccer clubs, while other Chinese tycoons went for the smaller fish? It is part of the firm´s global strategy, expending into Europe, says Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun China rich list in the International Business Times.Read More →
China has slapped tax on cross-border e-commerce, a trade that went previously under the tax radar. Especially the smaller operations could be hurt, tells retail analyst Ben Cavender the China Daily, while the larger ones can avoid damage.Read More →
China´s Baidu is often dubbed China´s Google, but Kaiser Kuo, Baidu´s director of international communications, is happy to explain the SF Chronicle what American and European internet users are currently missing when they rely on Google, and what they might can get in the future.Read More →