Tag Archives: Tesco

RETAIL: Britain’s Asos Crushed by China E-Commerce

Bottom line: Asos’ China retreat is due to the country’s extremely competitive e-commerce landscape, and shows that western retailers need to devote significant resources to succeed in the market.

Asos bows from China

In what looks like a first for a major western retailer, British fashion seller Asos (London: ASC) has officially pulled the plug on its China operations. Some might say that’s nothing new, since much bigger names like supermarket operator Tesco (London: TSCO) and electronics seller Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) have made similar moves in the last 5 years after failing to find a big enough audience among Chinese consumers.

But Asos is a different case, since it’s one of a growing number of western retailers that are choosing to come to China as a pure e-commerce plays, in a bid to save the huge costs involved with traditional stores and also take advantage of the nation’s online shopping craze. The problem is that China’s e-commerce craze has also attracted thousands of other retailers, and Asos couldn’t find a way to differentiate itself from the crowd. Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Wal-Mart Talks Up China Commitment

Bottom line: Wal-Mart’s discussion of plans to open 115 new China stores and several new local initiatives look like mostly PR to show its commitment to the market, following its announcement of a major global overhaul earlier this month.

Wal-Mart discusses commitment to China

Just a week after announcing a major retrenchment for its global empire, retailing giant Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is saying it will continue to open new stores at a brisk pace in China. The vast and somewhat unique China market also looks set to become a testing ground for new concepts, with Wal-Mart discussing plans to open its first shopping center format and also to expand its cross-border e-commerce business in the country.

The latest developments are discussed in a local media interview with a top Wal-Mart China executive, which is probably timed to quash any potential buzz that the company is planning a similar retrenchment in China to the global plan announced earlier this month. That plan saw Wal-Mart announce it will close 269 stores this year, representing just over 2 percent of its global count of 11,600. Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Toys ‘R’ Us China Toy Story — Real, or IPO Hype?

Bottom line: Toys “R” Us’ big China expansion plan contrasts with pull-backs and departures for many major western retailers in the tough market, and could be aimed at generating buzz in the run-up to a potential IPO.

Toys “R” Us steps up China expansion

China’s economy may be headed for a rapid slowdown that casts a chill on the retail sector, but don’t tell that to US veteran Toys “R” Us. The retailer whose name is synonymous with children and fun has disclosed it’s planning an ambitious China build-up that will see it increase its local store count by 30 percent this year, even as other major western retailers are closing shops and even leaving the difficult market.

All that leads to the question of whether Toys “R” Us really intends to open so many new stores at a time of uncertainty, or whether this China toy story is part hype with other motivations. If the latter is the case, this particular story could be designed at least partly to generate some excitement around an otherwise boring traditional retailer, as it gets set to potentially re-list in New York more than a decade after being privatized.  Read Full Post…

CONSUMER: Wal-Mart, Suntory Struggle in China; Bright Shops in NZ

Bottom line: Declining Wal-Mart China sales and Suntory’s decision to dissolve a China joint venture reflect difficulties foreign consumer names face in the fast changing market, and also challenges posed by local rivals like Bright Food.

Sales fall 6 pct at Walmart China JV stores

Two new consumer stories are shining a spotlight on the difficulties many big foreign brands are facing in China’s tough retailing market, where they compete with both homegrown giants and also smaller names that can quickly gain scale over the Internet. One story reports on falling sales at US retailing giant Wal-Mart’s (NYSE: WMT) China stores, based on rarely seen data from a local joint venture. The other reports that Japanese brewing giant Suntory (Tokyo: 2587) is putting a lid on its 3-year-old Chinese beer-making joint venture.

Meantime, a third outbound M&A story involving Shanghai-based Bright Food shines a spotlight on one of the rising local giants that is posing a growing challenge to the big western consumer names. That deal has the acquisitive Bright, which has made billion-dollar purchases in Britain and Israel, signing another smaller deal to buy half of a major New Zealand meat processor for $200 million. Bright’s agreement to buy the stake in Silver Fern Farms looks similar to WH Group’s (HKEx: 288) blockbuster deal 2 years ago that saw it purchase leading US pork producer Smithfield for nearly $5 billion. Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Wal-Mart Dumped by China Partner As Landscape Changes

Bottom line: Wal-Mart’s loss of China Resources as one of its major Chinese partners reflects rapid changes in the traditional retailing market, and could prompt Wal-Mart to accelerate an overhaul of its broader China strategy to focus more on e-commerce.

China Resources dumps Wal-Mart JV stake
China Resources dumps Wal-Mart JV stake

Just 3 months after sacking the founders of its China e-commerce site, US retailing giant Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has suffered yet another blow in the huge but difficult market with the loss of a major local partner for its traditional brick-and-mortar stores. That move is seeing China Resources, one of the country’s biggest and oldest consumer names, dump shares worth $515 million in a number of Wal-Mart stores that it jointly owns with the US retailing giant.

The move isn’t all that surprising for a number of reasons, but still doesn’t look too good for Wal-Mart in the fast-changing Chinese retailing market. For starters, China Resources is already a major owner of smaller supermarket chain called Vanguard. It also moved into the hypermarket business 2 years ago when it effectively took over the China-based operations of British giant Tesco (London: TSCO) through a joint venture. (previous post) Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Carrefour Shops for Yuppies with Lifestyle Convenience Stores

Bottom line: Carrefour’s new foray into upscale, lifestyle-oriented convenience stores could stand a reasonable chance of success and breathe some new life into its struggling China business.

Carrefour expands Easy convenience store concept

After tinkering with a new convenience store concept for the last year, global retailing giant Carrefour (Paris: CA) has finally come up with a smaller-store model it likes and is planning a big expansion for its new chain of Carrefour Easy convenience shops. The move is part of Carrefour’s broader overhaul of its poorly performing China operations, which the company even considered selling at one point.

I do find this particular move somewhat contrary to industry trends, since Chinese are clearly buying more and more of their products online over popular services like Alibaba’s (Nasdaq: BABA) Tmall and JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). But that said, there will always be a place for traditional shops in the bigger retailing landscape, especially convenience stores whose main audience is usually impulse buyers looking for a quick drink, a bite to eat or just a place to quickly surf the web. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: Walmart Sacks Yihaodian Founders Amid Slow Progress

Bottom line: Walmart’s dismissal of Yihaodian’s 2 top executives marks a major shake-up due to the unit’s disappointing performance, and could be followed by closer integration with Walmart’s own China operations.

Yihaodian in management shake-up

A major shake-up has just occurred at Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) China e-commerce unit, reflecting its disappointing progress 3 years after the US retailing giant took control of local upstart Yihaodian. The shake-up has seen the sudden resignation of Yihaodian’s 2 founders, Yu Gang and Liu Junjun, who were also the chairman and CEO, respectively. Yihaodian confirmed the departures, and said they were announced after a high-level Walmart official came to visit the company. (Chinese article)

The reports say Walmart issued a nicely worded statement on the matter, saying “A company’s founders will naturally leave after a certain stage of development, and we wish them well”. But the fact of the matter is that Yihaodian has been quite a disappointment for Walmart, which took control of the company in 2012 and has made it the central focus of its e-commerce strategy in China. Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Carrefour Overhauls China Business

Bottom line: Carrefour’s new China strategy ends a period of uncertainty about its commitment to the market, though its move into e-commerce is long overdue and could fail due to its lateness.

Carrefour decides to stay in China

After sending a stream of mixed signals over the last 2 years about its commitment to China, global retailing giant Carrefour (Paris: CA) has finally decided it will stay in the market for now, but only after overhauling its operations. The decision will see the company do a major consolidation of its procurement centers, and also push into convenience stores and e-commerce. The signals seem to imply that the days of rapid expansion for its core chain of superstores is probably finished, with e-commerce and smaller stores likely to form the bulk of its China expansion going forward. Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Bun Seller Gubuli Tries Coffee, Carrefour Weighs Sale

Bottom line: Gubuli’s foray into the coffee business is doomed to failure, while Carrefour is likely to sell part of its China business to a local partner later this year.

Gobuli tries coffee with Gloria Jean’s

You know the China coffee market is overheated when one of the nation’s most famous names in a traditional food like steamed buns enters the market. That’s what’s happening now, with word that Gobuli Group, a restaurant chain whose name is synonymous with a popular kind of meat-filled steamed buns, is launching a coffee chain joint venture in partnership with Australia’s Retail Food Group.

While the coffee business is quickly overheating, the opposite is true for the traditional supermarket business, which has seen several major western retailers leave the market or scale back operations as they face a growing challenge from e-commerce. Now it looks like French giant Carrefour (Paris: CA) could become the next in that trend, with word that it might consider selling some or all of its China business to a local partner. Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Kingfisher Bows From China, Leaves Behind B&Q Name

Bottom line: Kingfisher’s sale of control of its China home improvement chain to a local partner will produce an uneasy alliance that will ultimately see the UK retailer withdraw its B&Q name from the market.

Kingfisher hands over B&Q China to Wumart

Just weeks after US electronics retailing giant Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) made a final retreat from China, British rival Kingfisher (London: KGF) is making a similar move with word that it’s selling control of its China B&Q store operations to a local buyer. These 2 deals mark an interesting twist on a trend that has seen other global retailers like Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Germany’s Metro (Frankfurt: MEO) also abandon the tough China market. Whereas the earlier cases saw companies simply close down their China operations and leave, this new wave of deals has firms selling their operations to eager Chinese buyers. Read Full Post…

RETAIL: Best Buy Bows From China With Five Star Sale

Bottom line: Best Buy’s sale of its Five Star chain represents a long-overdue withdrawal from traditional retailing in China, and it would be wise to consider an e-commerce option if it tries to return later.

Best Buy sells Five Star chain

Some might see retailing giant Best Buy’s (NYSE: BBY) newly announced sale of its Five Star electronics chain as a retreat from China, but I would personally congratulate the company for a shrewd move that was long overdue. That’s because traditional retailing is rapidly dying in China, as shoppers opt for the convenience, better selection and lower prices of e-commerce. What’s more, the traditional electronics retailing sector is already overcrowded and highly competitive, dominated by big national chains led by Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) and Gome (HKEx: 493) Read Full Post…