Retail

Receipts for Hainan’s duty-free shops rose 149% to 1.04 billion yuan during the eight-day National Day holiday in early October.
Retail

China's duty-free island shopping boom powers 142% profit surge

State-owned operator captures gains in Hainan from policy change

18 October 2020
Miniso marked its New York IPO on Thursday with an event at its Guangzhou headquarters.
Retail

Muji-esque retailer Miniso valued at $6bn in New York IPO

Tencent-backed Chinese lifestyle chain brings in $600m for expansion

16 October 2020
Uniqlo sales in Japan and China are recovering faster than expected. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Retail

Post-COVID rebound seen pushing Uniqlo owner to record profit by 2021

Fast Retailing says recovery in key Japan and China markets faster than expected

15 October 2020
Taiwanese authorities alleged the U.K.-based company that operated Taobao Taiwan is in effect controlled by Alibaba Group Holding. (Photo by Yu Nakamura)
China tech

Alibaba-linked shopping platform closes in Taiwan under pressure

Move follows regulatory finding that Chinese company obscured its involvement

15 October 2020
Shoppers pick out clothes at a Miki House store in Tokyo.
Retail

Children's clothier Miki House sets sights on rich Chinese parents

Japanese brand plans to double Asian stores in 3 years through 2021

14 October 2020
Unlikely style icon who is avowedly anti-style: "Gone is the era when people strove wholeheartedly to enrich their material lives," says Tadashi Yanai, CEO of Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
The Big Story

The man who clothes Asia: Uniqlo chief Tadashi Yanai

Japan's richest man on life, death and casual wear

14 October 2020
Kishore Biyani had hoped to turn his Future Group into Asia's largest retailer by 2047. (Photo by Shiho Miyajima)
Retail

India's father of modern retail bows out with Future-Reliance sale

Kishore Biyani's relentless push for scale costs him his business empire

10 October 2020
People celebrated China's Golden Week with trips and shopping excursions, delivering a much needed boost to an economy emerging from the pandemic's devastating impact.
Travel & Leisure

China's Golden Week shoppers declare COVID 'curbed'

Spending up 5%, but large crowds ring alarm over another coronavirus wave

10 October 2020
Uniqlo's Shanghai flagship store: The casualwear chain is growing more reliant on Chinese-speaking shoppers as Japanese market growth languishes in the single digits. (photo courtesy of Fast Retailing)
Retail

Uniqlo has more stores in China than Japan

Fast Retailing unit leverages its presence to marry online and offline shopping

10 October 2020
KKR has invested in tech companies including China's ByteDance, owner of TikTok, and India's Jio Platforms. "The big tech investing opportunity is really domestic focused companies," the private equity group says. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
Business Spotlight

From Jio to ByteDance, KKR bets on Asia's 'local' tech champions

Pandemic fuels US investor's deal making but political tension raises risks

9 October 2020
A Muji store on 59th Street in New York. The pandemic took a toll on the company's U.S. and European operations. (Photo by Ken Moriyasu)
Retail

Muji slips into red after cruel summer in US and Europe

Japanese lifestyle brand books record write-downs on unprofitable stores

9 October 2020
Seven and i Holdings on Thursday revised its estimate for 2020 full-year earnings upward to 138.5 billion yen, from its prediction of 120 billion yen in July. (Photo by Keiichiro Sato)
Retail

Japan's convenience chains see ray of hope despite COVID

Companies adapt to changes in consumer behavior brought on by pandemic

8 October 2020
Vietnam's biggest conglomerate, Vingroup, has rolled out an app to help small shops compete with convenience store chains such as 7-Eleven and B's Mart. (Photo courtesy of Vingroup)
Technology

Vingroup app digitizes mom and pop shops in Vietnam

Conglomerate counters 7-Eleven with electronic payment and order system

8 October 2020
Yes restores antique Japanese furniture and adds its own artistic touches to create unique pieces. (Photo from company's Instagram account)
Arts

Century-old Japanese furniture finds new life in millennial homes

Startup shifts to rental service as corporate buyers become scarce amid pandemic

8 October 2020
Since Mr DIY opened its first location in 2005, the company has grown into Malaysia's largest home-improvement retailer, with 674 stores across the country and four locations in Brunei.
Markets

Malaysia's largest home-improvement retailer seeks $361m in IPO

Mr DIY's pandemic-delayed listing would be country's biggest in three years

6 October 2020
Dufry operates duty-free shops in Bali and 32 other locations in 17 countries in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. 
Retail

Alibaba and Dufry team up to woo duty-free shoppers

Deal could help Swiss chain regain global sales crown from Chinese rival

5 October 2020
Reliance Retail's latest investments equip it with funds to compete in the Indian market against rivals such as Amazon and Flipkart, which is owned by Walmart.
Business deals

Reliance's retail arm raises $3.4bn in single week

Indian conglomerate sets aim at Amazon and Flipkart for market dominance

5 October 2020
Lin Sen, a contestant in Pinduoduo-organized smart agriculture competition, gives a tour of a high-tech greenhouse in Kunming, China, on Sept. 23. (Photo by CK Tan)
Retail

China's Pinduoduo turns to smart farming for post-COVID growth

E-commerce giant's digital solutions aim to meet surging demand for safe food

5 October 2020
Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma, left, with Daniel Zhang, his successor as chairman and CEO, in 2015.  
China tech

As Jack Ma era ends, Alibaba sets high goal for cloud business

Successor Daniel Zhang aims to double group's user base to 2 billion by 2036

30 September 2020
An Esprit store in Hong Kong in 2017. The company's troubles did not begin with the pandemic, but instead trace back about a decade.
Retail

Hong Kong-listed fashion brand Esprit takes new hit from pandemic

Casual clothier's retreat from Asia is culmination of a decade of struggle

30 September 2020
Vietnam is increasingly a crowded market for e-wallet companies like Momo and ZaloPay. (Photo by Tomoya Onishi)
Finance

Vietnam digital bank relaunches as e-commerce booms

Timo Plus hopes to offer full suite of financial services with Viet Capital Bank

28 September 2020
A Summit employee shows a customer how to use a self-checkout terminal. (Photo courtesy of Summit)
Business trends

Japanese supermarket Summit to close for 3 days at New Year's

Grocery wants staff to recuperate after the industry's exhausting 2020

28 September 2020
Don Quijote's stores in Bangkok have been a hit with Thai shoppers looking for a taste of Japan. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)
Retail

Japan's Don Quijote on quest to fill retail void in Southeast Asia

Department stores call it quits as customers shift to discounts

26 September 2020
Apple is hoping that the new online store and local production will increase sales in India. (Source photo by Reuters and screenshot from Apple website)
Electronics

Apple opens first India online store to boost iPhone sales

Launch comes as US tech giant diversifies production beyond China amid trade war

23 September 2020
HKTV has received an unexpected boost from pandemic-related stay-at-home and social distancing policies in Hong Kong. (Photo by Kenji Kawase) 
Interview

Hong Kong e-commerce leader offers itself as ally against Amazon

Bases in Taiwan and Europe to help retailers build online platforms

23 September 2020