Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in China, updated continuously by our newsroom.
Luxury retailer Prada Group has blamed China for a 28 per cent slump in profit last year. The Italian company says sales in its key Asia-Pacific market – which contributes 35.7 per cent of its global turnover – slid 3.1 per cent. This was largely due to the…
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc. said that it will open a facility in Taiwan in the next few months to showcase its products and provide better after-care service. Xiaomi, whose low-cost, feature-rich phones are sold largely online, previously planned to…
Dairy Farm International has been given regulatory clearance to acquire its target 19.99 per cent stake in Shanghai-listed Yonghui Superstores. The deal, announced last August, was conditional on regulatory approvals. Dairy Farm has now confirmed it has…
The 206,000sqm Chengdu IFS mall which opened last year is trading 21 per cent ahead of budget. The mall’s success helped drive Hong Kong-based parent The Wharf Holdings’ Chinese revenues by 57 per cent to HK$1.984 billion in 2014. Operating profit in the…
Jumei International, the Chinese online retailer, says its 2014 net revenue increased by 31 per cent year-on-year to US$632.9 million. The increase reflects a change of focus away from its once core focus on own brand beauty products, to branded products and…
Apple’s new Watch range won’t be on sale until late next month. But Chinese consumers whose appetite for the wrist-mounted communications technology has been whetted by the high profile Apple Watch launch last week can already buy similar products at a…
JD Inc, one of China’s biggest e-commerce companies, has introduced a new delivery app for urban Chinese. Paidaojia allows users to place online orders for delivery from nearby merchants, whether convenience stores or restaurants, according to China Daily. JD…
Embattled Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning is continuing to rebuild its massive Chinese store network as it works to return to profitability. The company ended the year with 5626 stores, a net decrease of 289. But it boosted its company-operated store network…
UnionPay International has launched a privilege program featuring special discounts at 80 duty free shops in 70 airports by partnering with 16 world-renowned duty free groups. Holders of UnionPay cards with a number starting with 62 can receive discounts of…
Walmart China plans to open 30 new stores in China this year, according to media reports from China. In addition to the store openings, the US-based retail giant says it will invest US$59.11 million in upgrading about 50 existing stores to modernise them.…
Amazon and Microsoft are “friends” not rivals of Alibaba in the cloud computing space, a top exec at the Chinese e-commerce giant told CNBC. The comments come just a few days after Alibaba opened a data centre in Silicon Valley – its first on US turf in a…
Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma has shocked the IT world by demonstrating technology allowing shoppers to ‘pay by face’. The concept is simple: using facial recognition technology consumers can have their face scanned to prove their identity and settle for…
Iconix Brand Group has bought the 50 per cent stake in its China joint venture from partner Novel Fashion Brands. Iconix paid Novel’s owners, the Chou family, $56.4 million for the share, of which $40.4 million was paid in cash and $16 million was paid in the…
WeChat parent Tencent says its profit soared 54 per cent in the year to December. Tencent, which also owns instant messaging service QQ, says profit was boosted by breakthroughs in the technology behind online security and mobile payments. With Facebook…
Jimmy Choo China plans more stores as Asia drives the newly-listed brand’s global growth. This week, Jimmy Choo posted its first results since floating on the London Stock Exchange last year – a small pre-tax loss, largely attributable to IPO costs. About…
US coffee retailer Starbucks has signed a joint venture in China to manufacture and distribute ready-to-drink beverages in the grocery channel. Starbucks China chose listed Chinese drinks company Tingyi Holding Corp, which trades as Master Kong, to make and…
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