Analyst Corner | February 15, 2019 Register for Free Access WEINSWIG’S WEEKLY FEBRUARY 15, 2019Eight things you need to know about retail in China: Smartphones are key, cash is going away (seriously), shopping festivals are booming, smaller cities are spending – and more. Read More
Flash Report | February 14, 2019 Register for Free Access Lunar New Year Recap: China’s Retail Sales Grow at the Slowest Pace in YearsRetail and food-service sales in China during Lunar New Year (February 4-10) rose to a new high of ¥1.0 trillion (US$148.7 billion), but the 8.5% year over year growth was the slowest since 2005. Read More
Market Navigators/Market Outlook | February 14, 2019 Premium Sector Overview: Beauty Brands and Retailers — Global Companies are Innovating with Independent Brands to Expand PortfoliosThe $464 billion global beauty industry is seeing independent brands, diversification of traditional retailers, growth in men and children and new channels such as popups, medical retailers and pharmacies. Consumers are looking for “clean beauty” and dermocosmetics. Read More
Insight Report | February 12, 2019 Premium New Retail Briefing #3: Walmart China Eyes Retail Innovation; A.S. Watson and Unilever Agree to New Retail PartnershipsWalmart China launched the Omega8 initiative in January 2019 to serve as a proof of concept (POC) platform that lets tech startups test newly designed technology applications in a real retail environment. Walmart reported over 50 startups signed up for the initiative. Walmart will train these companies in a variety of retail operation skills. Walmart said its existing 400 offline stores in China will act as testing grounds for startup technology before rolling out to mass market. This Omega8 initiative shows Walmart’s ambition of leveraging tech startups for its own digital innovation, and understanding of the Chinese market. Ben Hassing, Senior Vice President of Walmart China said, “Walmart has worked with many technology startups not only to propel our business in China, but also to understand the Chinese market and China in greater depth.” Read More
Company Earnings Update | February 11, 2019 Register for Free Access L’Oréal (ENXTPA: OR) FY18 Results: Highest Comparable Sales Growth in Over a DecadeL’Oréal reported FY18 EPS of €7.08, up from €6.65 in FY17, but slightly below the €7.11 consensus estimate. Total revenues were €26.9 billion, up 4% year over year and above the €26.8 billion consensus estimate. Read More
Insight Report | February 7, 2019 Premium Digital Red Packet Transactions for Chinese New Year Continue to Be Popular in 2019China’s UnionPay, a financial services network which processes payments made via WeChat, Baidu and other applications, saw interbank payment and settlement transactions reach ¥261.7 billion yuan (US$39 billion) on Chinese New Year’s Eve, up 81.3% year over year, according to Shanghai Securities News. The media outlet also said the average response time per transaction processed by China UnionPay was 220 milliseconds, and there were no failed transactions. Read More
Insight Report | February 7, 2019 Premium Chinese New Year Air Travel Takes Off InfographicChinese New Year is a major time for travel: Some 73 million Chinese travelers were expected to make journeys by plane over the 2019 holiday, with Thailand, Japan and Indonesia the top destinations. Read More
Insight Report | February 5, 2019 Premium Alibaba vs. Amazon InfographicWe compare the brands and divisions of e-commerce and technology giants Alibaba and Amazon, from devices to content to logistics. Read More
Insight Report | February 4, 2019 Premium Online Retailers Gear Up for Anticipated ¥1 Trillion in Spending with a New Round of Promotions: Chinese New Year Preview UpdateRetail and food-service sales during Chinese New Year grew steadily from 2011 to 2018. During the 2018 Chinese New Year Golden Week (February 15-21), retail sales hit ¥926 billion (about $146 billion), 10.2 % higher than the same period in 2017 — and more than double what it was in 2011, according to Ministry of Commerce statistics. Read More
Event Coverage | February 1, 2019 Register for Free Access World Bank Sees Slowing Productivity and Social Inclusion As Key Challenges for High-Growth East Asia CountriesThe success of these economies has been built on the “East Asian Development Model,” which the World Bank says includes policies and initiatives to promote export-oriented manufacturing, supported by education designed to support economic growth. However, developing East Asia still has some gaps to fill. China’s per capita GDP is only one-fifth the average for high-income economies, followed by Vietnam at just 5% and Cambodia at 3%, according to the World Bank report. When South Korea achieved high-income status in 2000, its labor productivity was 2.5 times higher and its human capital was one-third higher than China’s was in 2018. Read More
Event Coverage | February 1, 2019 Register for Free Access Insights from the 2019 WeChat Pro Conference: Boosting Mini Apps and Personalizing Red EnvelopesEveryone gives away money in small red envelopes called hong bao at the Chinese New Year, and WeChat is launching new features to help users personalize this feature. Traditionally, hong bao are delivered in person, handed directly to the recipient, but in recent years this has gone digital: WeChat says about ¥3 billion was sent by WeChat in 2015 — but that figure climbed to ¥46 billion in just two years. Read More
Analyst Corner | February 1, 2019 Register for Free Access WEINSWIG’S WEEKLY FEBRUARY 1, 2019Robots: Moving Beyond Warehouses into the Stores and the Streets Robots burst into the consciousness of the retail industry when Amazon acquired warehouse-robot-maker Kiva Systems for $775 million in May 2012. Since then, many other retail companies have followed Amazon’s example and deployed robots in their own warehouses. These robots are not the kind that walk and talk; they’re flat, faceless machines that scoot across a warehouse floor, delivering a shelf of goods to a fulfillment center, where a human packer then completes the order. While many imagine that warehouses and fulfillment centers are already completely automated, most operate using human-machine teams, which are likely the most efficient and cost-effective solution. Read More
Company Earnings Update | February 1, 2019 Register for Free Access Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) 3Q19 Results: Solid Growth Driven by Core Commerce and Cloud SegmentsManagement noted uncertainty around China’s economy but believes that new initiatives in cloud services and entertainment as well as global expansion will help offset the impact of China’s slowing economic growth. Southeast Asia remains one of the key areas of focus for the near term. Read More
Company Earnings Update | February 1, 2019 Register for Free Access LVMH (ENXTPA: MC) FY18 Results: Fashion and Leather Goods Set the PaceLVMH full-year sales rose 9.8% to €46.8 billion. Currency exchange rates adversely impacted full year sales results by (400) bps. Online sales rose approximately 27-28%, to €3.7 billion and now represent 8% of consolidated 2018 revenues. Fashion and leather goods set the sales pace, achieving 15% organic growth in 2018. The Louis Vuitton brand has surpassed €10 billion annually and the fashion and leather goods segment now represents 39% of consolidated 2018 revenues, up from 36% in 2017. Read More
Insight Report | January 29, 2019 Premium New Retail Briefing # 2: Alibaba Steps Up Partnerships, NetEase Kaola Opens Flagship StoreAlibaba launched the “A100 Strategic Partnership” program in January 2019 to help partner brands digitalize by giving them access to resources within its ecosystem so participating brands can access Alibaba services in 11 areas to enhance online-offline business integration. Alibaba will also assign a dedicated team to serve each participating brand. Read More
