Asia news & analysis

The e-commerce sector in China is booming and set to become the largest in the world. IGD's Head of Asia, Vicky Santini, updates on the key players dominating the market. The e-commerce sector in China is booming and set to become the largest in the world. It already has 214 million online shoppers, more than any other country. By 2015, it is predicated that those consumers will be spending $1,0...

DIA has revealed "outstanding like-for-like sales growth" (+18%) in its emerging markets as part of its Q2 results announcement, in which it also reported that gross sales under banner grew by 5% (+8.5% in local currency) to €2.93bn.   Gross sales up in H1 For the first half, gross sales under banner were up 3.4% in euro terms, to €5.66bn, and +7.1% in local currency. Net sales were up ...

Investment from retailers in China including Lianhua, Yihaodian and Tesco has recently extended the fresh food offering available to Shanghai's online shoppers. Lianhua launch a broad online offer Lianhua's e-commerce platform LHmart.com which launched on 18 July includes a broad range of grocery products including organic vegetables, a selection of fresh meat and seafood as well as dai...

GNC opens first standalone store Leading global health and wellness retailer GNC Holdings has opened its first standalone GNC store in Shanghai following announcements that it is planning to expand its retail presence in China . Recognises China’s fast growing market GNC is a US nutrition chain offering health, wellness and nutrition products and is dedicated to helping consumers liv...

On a group basis Casino's sales rose by 40.4% in the second quarter of 2013 to €12,086m, following the consolidation of GPA in Brazil and Monoprix in France. However, the divisional performance in France underlines a more challenging position; hypermarket same store sales excluding fuel declined by 10.5%, while supermarkets were down 8.7%, on the same basis albeit with a negative calendar impact. ...

Following a strong performance in Q2, Big C reported interim sales of THB 30bn (USD 965m), growing 7.5% on last year. Its ambitious store opening plans are on target. Same store sales and rental income boosting Q2 performance Same store sales grew a robust 3% in the second quarter despite less favourable economic conditions than forecast. Successful marketing activity such as targeted coupo...

The retail arm of India's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) reported growth of 53% in Q1, with turnover reaching IND 34.7bn (USD 588m). Strong Q1 performance across multi-format portfolio Same store sales growth ranged between 10-22% across Reliance Retail's varied grocery, jewellery, fashion and digital store network. The company operates over 1,500 stores across 134 cities in India ...

Domestic retailer Mydin launches its new high-end Sam's Groceria banner to cater for Malaysia's affluent shoppers. Mydin adding to its multi-format portfolio Traditionally positioning itself as a value-orientated retailer, Mydin  operates a multi-format store portfolio including hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores and cash and carry outlets. Plans to diversify into premium grocer...

@WalmartLabs has acquired Torbit, a technology company specialising in front-end optimisation. Its primary focus has been to develop measurement, analytics and performance improvement tools to help companies identify and enhance their overall site performance. Talent acquisition an important element of the deal Strategic acquisitions have been a key element of the growth and development str...

Speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference, Neil Ashe, CEO of Global E-commerce at Walmart, said that the success of its multichannel initiative will be defined at a point when the retailer does not care where its sales come from. “Success is when we don’t care. An ultimate measure of success is when you decide you want to buy something from Walmart, and we don’t care if you buy it on y...