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[8.03] Ecommerce News You Should Know: Uniqlo Launches Vending Machines for Its Clothes

Here’s what you should know:

1. Alibaba and Tencent similarly launch campaigns to wins over cashless customers

As Chinese’s adoption for cashless society grow, the competition heats up between the two leading mobile payment giants, Tencent’s WeChat Pay and Alipay by Alibaba.

Both company have pushed out marketing campaigns to promote their respective payment apps. Alipay named the week beginning August 1 “Cashless Week”; on the same day, WeChat Pay (under Tencent Holdings) picked one day—August 8—and declared it “Cashless Day,” and also nicknamed the entire month “Cashless Month.”

During the campaign period, both apps provide consumers with real-money incentives to reward them for going cashless shopping with their apps.

So far, Alipay still dominates the market as 80% of Chinese consumers are using Alipay as the primary mobile payment app in China. WeChat Pay’s adoption rate is  25%.

Read the full story here. 

2. Uniqlo launches vending machines for its clothes

The company are launching vending machines called Uniqlo To Go for its items of functional clothes.

The first venue chosen for the machine is the Oakland International Airport in California, and Uniqlo will roll out nine more at airports and shopping malls around the US, this month.

The machines can also give Uniqlo insight on US consumers, which Uniqlo has been trying to reach—not always successfully—for years. Currently Uniqlo is the third largest brand, behind H&M and Zara.

Read the full story here.

3. Tmall wants to bring ‘car vending machines’ to China

Car-shopping in China might be getting easier as Tmall is looking to bring ecommerce experience of buying cars to the next level with the “Automotive Vending Machine.”

According to Yu Wei, general manager of Tmall’s automotive division, the company hopes to launch the first such vending machine in China later this year. There is currently one operated by another company in Singapore.

Customers could also pay it in installments through Alipay if they have over 750 points on Sesame Credit, Alibaba’s credit-scoring system for consumers.

Read the full story here.

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[8.01] Morning Round-Up: Snapdeal Calls Off $900M Takeover from Flipkart

Here’s what you should know today:

1. The first cashless convenience store in Singapore opened by Cheers

Convenience store chain Cheers unveiled the first unmanned, cashless convenience store at Nanyang Polytechnic. It’s the first of its kind in the country.

The store allows customers to pay using one self-checkout system for cashless payments, as well as with quick response codes. Data and video analytics will be used to analyse purchasing behaviour and customise its inventory, with an auto-ordering system eliminating manual stocktaking.

The store will double up as a training facility as well, 50 students from NYP’s School of Business will look after the store.

Read the full story here.

2. Snapdeal calls off $900 million takeover by Flipkart

Less than a week after its board accepted the bid, Snapdeal calls off the $900 million deal with Flipkart.

The company said it is on track to be financially self-sustainable, thanks to the sale of certain noncore assets, such as Freecharge to Axis Bank, and “has now decided to pursue an independent path and is terminating all strategic discussions as a result,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

It had been reported that SoftBank had agreed to the idea of the acquisition combining Flipkart with Snapdeal. However, billionaire Azim Premji, whose investment company PremjiInvest is a minority shareholder in Snapdeal, raised questions about the merger.

Read the full story here.

3. Alipay strengthen ties in Southeast Asia by partnering with Fave

Daily deals platform Fave, formerly Groupon, is partnering with Alipay to provide a cross-border payment experience in Southeast Asia, starting with Singapore.

Through this partnership with Fave, Alipay users will be able to make payments via the Alipay app at restaurants and offline retailers that are part of the Fave ecosystem and gain special access to offers and rewards.

With over 3 million Chinese tourists expected to visit Singapore this year, the ability to accept Alipay will greatly benefit restaurants and retailers in Singapore. Fave has more than 10,000 restaurants and offline retailers and has over 1 million active users regionally.

Read the full story here.

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[7.27] Ecommerce News You Should Know: Baidu Partners with PayPal for Mobile Wallet Service

Here’s what you should know today:

1. Baidu partners with PayPal for mobile wallet service

PayPal is expanding its presence on mobile by pairing up with Baidu, allowing the Chinese company’s 100 million users to make payment to PayPal’s 17 million merchants.

The news is the latest in a series of partnership from PayPal after integrating with Apple and Samsung Pay, as well with banks Citi and Chase.

For Baidu, the partnership offers a way to increase the odd in their favor on the competition in China’s mobile wallet landscape that currently dominated by Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChatPay.

Read the full story here. 

2. Whatsapp hits 1 billion daily users, Whatsapp Status has more users than Snapchat

Chat messengers app Whatsapp records 1 billion daily users as revealed during the Q2 2017 Facebook Earning calls. The company only has 350 million daily users when it was acquired by Facebook in 2014.

Facebook has also successfully rolling out Snapchat’s Stories format to a much wider audience than the original inventor.

Instagram Story and Whatsapp Status are each used by 250 million people every day, meanwhile Snapchat only has 166 million daily users on its app. Facebook itself records 2 billion monthly users.

Read the full story here.

3. Snapdeal to sell its digital payment platform FreeCharge to Axis Bank

After accepting the buyout from Flipkart for $950 million, Snapdeal is also selling its digital payment platforms FreeCharge to Axis Bank for $60 million.

Axis Bank will have access to FreeCharge’s base of over 50 million mobile wallet users, its staff of about 150 – 200 and its resources and proprietary tech.

FreeCharge was first acquired by Snapdeal in 2015. The deal was reportedly worth about $400 million.

Read the full story here.

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[7.24] Morning Round-Up: Louis Vuitton Launches Ecommerce as Sales Rebound

Here’s what you should know today:

1. CNI partners with 11street to goes online

11street has announced that it has recently entered into a partnership with CNI Holdings, a direct selling company for personal wellness products among other things.

The partnership will see 11street supporting CNI transitioning onto the online channel as the company seek to engage a younger and more tech savvy crowd; simultaneously address the needs of an evolving consumer market in the country.

By partnering with 11street, CNI has opened another channel to reach the masses, and boosted their 11street sales by 30% the past six months.

Read the full story here. 

2. Louis Vuitton opens online store as sales rebound

LMVH-owned Louis Vuitton has launched its ecommerce store in China, seeking to capitalize on a rebound in the world’s largest luxurious market.

The site will let customers buy Louis Vuitton leather goods, shoes, accessories, watches, jewelry, luggage and perfume, and will cover 12 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, others will be added later.

Online luxury sales in China have been slower to develop as brands seek to maintain exclusivity.

Now competition is heating up, with JD.com in June buying a $397 million stake in London-based Farfetch and Gucci launching its own Chinese ecommerce site this month.

Read the full story here.

3. Touch ‘n Go to launch e-wallet together with Alipay

CIMB’s subsidiary Touch ‘n Go is set to launch an “e-wallet” using technology pioneered by Alipay. The service is pegged to be a hit because of the widespread usage of Touch ‘n Go cards.

The Touch ‘n Go e-wallet will enable payments to be made electronically at even very small merchants such as night market vendors and tea stall operators, the same model that has took off well in India with Alibaba’s PayTM.

The pilot project for the platform was launched in Taman Tun Dr Ismail a few months ago and the response had been positive in terms of the system’s stability and user-friendly function.

Read the full story here. 

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[7.18] Morning Round-Up: Apple Continues to Push Apple Pay in China

Here’s what you should know today:

1. Apple continues to push Apple Pay in China

Apple is launching a large-scale promotion by offering special discounts for consumers who use its mobile payment method in mainland China, where the landscape are currently dominated by rival Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Between July 18 and 24, consumers using Apple Pay will get discounts of up to 50% and as much as 50 times of reward points for credit cards, according to Apple’s official Chinese website.

There are a total of 28 offline retail stores and 16 online merchants participated, including 7-Eleven, Starbucks, bike-sharing app Mobike, as well as JD.com. The campaign is part of Apple strategy to wins market share in China.

However, it is hard to say how well will they fare since unlike Alipay and WeChat Pay that could be installed in every smartphone, Apple Pay is limited by device availability.

Read the full story here. 

2.  Bank Indonesia published a new regulation for National Payment Gateway

Central Bank of Indonesia published a new national payment gateway regulation in a bid to provide an efficient and secure payment system for banking customers in the country.

The regulation seeks to make transactions easier and cheaper for banking customers by allowing all electric money, debit and credit cards of any issuers to be accepted at any automatic teller machine, electronic data capture device or payment gateway in the archipelago once the regulation is fully implemented.

There are currently hundreds of debit card issuers, 26 credit card issuers and 25 electronic money issuers in Indonesia, with most of them being local players. According to the new regulation, foreign principals need to work with local switching companies.

Other countries that has implemented the system including China (with China Union Pay), Malaysia (MyCard) and Japan (JCB). However, it will be awhile to integrate the system nationwide in Indonesia due to its big population.

Read the full story here. 

3. Blue Apron shares fall as Amazon file for meal-kit trademark

Blue Apron shares tumbled more than 11% to $6.51, nearly 35% since its IPO price of $10. The decline came as investors were concerned about its future and the impact of Amazon’s planned $13.7 billion acquisition of supermarket chain Whole Foods.

In a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Amazon registered a trademark application for “prepared food kits composed of meat, poultry, fish, seafood, fruit and/or vegetables” that is ready for cooking and assembly as a meal. Amazon’s planned service is identical to the one currently offered by Blue Apron.

Last week, startup offering similar service in Jakarta, BlackGarlic, has just closed down due to the high customer acquisitions cost.

Read the full story here.

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[7.10] Ecommerce News You Should Know: Stripe Strikes a Global Partnership with Alipay and WeChat Pay

Here’s what you should know today.

1. Online retailers in Indonesia records big sales for Eid season. 

Blibli and Blanja.com have reported a significant revenues from sales during Ramadan this year, as Indonesian tend to shop more to celebrate the occasion.

The former have recorded a 200% increase in sales compared to the same season last year, with most popular categories included Muslim attire, beauty products, food and beverages products, and automotive parts. Blibli’s special offers like Eid packages and free express shipping also contributed to the boom.

Meanwhile, Blanja.com who underwent a huge change in its branding earlier this year, recorded a 78% increase in sales.

Read the full story here.

2. Stripe strikes a global partnership with Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Silicon Valley-based payment startup Stripe has partnered with Alipay and WeChat Pay and enable online merchants using the platform to accept payments from hundreds of million Chinese consumers.

The partnership also coincides with the company’s launch in Hong Kong.

The deal is hoped to boost the revenue by allowing clients to tap into the massive Chinese consumer market. Tencent’s WeChat Pay is recorded to have 600 million users, while Alipay, who is part of Alibaba’s Ant Financial, has recorded of 520 million users.

“If we can help a business double their sales, then it doubles our revenue from that business,” said John Collison, President and Co-Founder of Stripe.

Read the full story here.

3. Droom is expanding to Indonesia after closing $20 million of series C round

An online marketplace for used automobiles, Droom, announces its plan to close a few acquisitions by the end of this year and its expansion to Indonesia. The company is planning to spend about $8-10 million from its freshly $20 million fund for the acquisitions.

“We are planning 2-3 acquisitions this year.. [and] we have been in talks with several companies,” stated Droom’s founder, Sandeep Aggarwal.

The company has been planning its expansion to Indonesia last year but the delayed the plan as it’s still trying to strengthen its hold in India. In addition to Indonesia, they are also planning to open in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

Read the full story here.

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