By ChinaRetailNews.com Editor – According to reports in the Financial Times, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, plans to launch e-commerce businesses in China and Japan, and it is currently establishing the technology platform.

The reports say that Wal-Mart’s recent job advertisement for a “product localization manager” for Japan and China lists responsibilities that cover preparing for the launch of an e-commerce business.

So far, Wal-Mart has opened 282 physical stores in China, but has no direct online sales. The company is reportedly setting up related systems for its new centralized network technology platform to coordinate with its business in China and Japan. Wal-Mart has been developing this platform over the past two years. – read more at ChinaRetailNews.com…

A row of Carrefour shopping trolleys at the entrance to a Beijing outlet of the French retailer. (XU YIN / CHINA FOTO PRESS)

Retailer embarks on strategic expansion on the back of high sales

By Yu Tianyu (China Daily) – It’s 1 am one day during this year’s Spring Festival and hundreds of consumers are on a shopping spree, waiting in long queues, trolleys piled high with goods, at Carrefour’s Tiantongyuan outlet in the Changping district of northern Beijing.

The night time craze was symbolic of the retail giant’s strong performance in China. Claudio Gouveia, vice-president of Carrefour China and also general manager of the North Territory of Carrefour China, said the country has become one of the most significant and also fastest-growing markets for the retailer.

Carrefour last year pulled out of Russia and southern Italy amid the economic meltdown following decisions to quit Japanese, South Korean and Mexican markets in 2005 and 2006, because of “unsmooth operations”. It sold its stores to local enterprises.

However, the retailer maintained steady expansion in China. Gouveia said that Carrefour opened 22 new stores in 2009, boosting the total number of outlets to 157 across the country. It plans to open 20 to 25 new outlets this year.

He added that the company was satisfied and very optimistic about its business in China because the country’s household consumption rates have been high.

In the past year, Carrefour benefited a lot from the stimulus measures, introduced by the Chinese government. For example, the authorities subsidized energy-saving household appliances in an effort to encourage their purchase.

Gouveia said Carrefour had a very clear strategic plan for the Chinese market and would be focusing on constructing hypermarkets with an average size from 6,000 sq m to 11,000 sq m.

The company was making great efforts to balance its presence in big cities and also second and third tier cities. It has been operating its retail business in 45 cities across China.

“Currently, Carrefour has a good presence in big cities while more new stores will be in second and third tier cities,” said Gouveia.

The French company will be the first international retailer to enter the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where it plans to build a new outlet in 2011.

The retailer plans to develop its China-based outlets alongside the construction of local infrastructure and arrival of new businesses. “For instance, there will be a new airport in the Daxing district of Beijing’s southern suburb and there may be a new outlet nearby. I believe we have many opportunities in this area,” said Gouveia.

In response to its rival Wal-Mart, which is planning to build about 50 new stores each year, adding to its current total of 160 outlets, Gouveia said the focus of Carrefour was to keep a good balance between the rhythm of expansion and the quality of the stores.

– read more at ChinaDaily.com…

Godiva, Others Hope For More Chinese Chocolate Consumption: Perhaps looking to cash in on the propensity of more cosmopolitan, urban Chinese to give expensive or boutique chocolate as gifts (and, increasingly, to eat for themselves), Belgian chocolate giant Godiva has aggressively sought expansion in the Chinese market. Having entered Hong Kong in 1998, Godiva decided to test the waters in the mainland last September, opening a store in Shanghai’s Grand Gateway Mall. Apparently satisfied with that store’s popularity, the company has announced that it plans to open two new flagship stores in Shanghai’s swish Xintiandi area and at the Shanghai International Financial Center (IFC). (Via Jing Daily.)

Singaporean Tycoon Ng Teng Fong dies: SINGAPORE—Ng Teng Fong, one of Asia’s richest tycoons and the founder and chairman of Singapore’s largest unlisted property group, Far East Organization, died Tuesday aged 82, the developer said. Far East said in a statement that Mr. Ng had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on Jan. 23. Forbes Asia magazine in 2009 listed Mr. Ng as the richest person in Singapore, with a net worth of more than US$8 billion. (Via WSJ.com: What’s News Asia.)

Singapore opens world’s first A380 MRO hangar: Singapore’s SIA Engineering on Wednesday opens the first Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hangar in the world to offer commercial maintenance services for the Airbus A380 aircraft here. At the opening of the A380 hangar, Singapore’s Minister in Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Transport, Lim Hwee Hua said that as a gateway to Asia, Singapore is well- positioned to ride the wave of aviation expansion. (Via Business – People’s Daily Online.)

Wal-Mart Sells World Expo Products In Shanghai: As the cooperative partner of USA Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, Wal-Mart has started to sell World Expo related licensed products in its Nanpu Bridge store in Shanghai. To promote the Shanghai World Expo and to meet consumers’ demands for World Expo licensed products, the American retail giant Wal-Mart was formally selected as the franchised retailer of World Expo licensed products in January 2010. (Via ChinaRetailNews.com.)

Japanese men miss out on Valentine’s chocolate as women treat themselves: Japan’s unique Valentine’s Day tradition of women giving chocolate to men is melting away as more women show a preference for pampering each other instead of their boyfriends and spouses. The practice of giving tomo choco (friendship chocolate) has been highlighted as a new trend in a recent survey that found 74 percent of women plan to give a Valentine’s gift to a female friend but only 32 percent intended to buy something for a boyfriend. The popularity of tomo choco has been attributed to the way that the custom offers women an excuse to have a girls’ night out – something pertinent at a time when so much social interaction is going digital. (Japan Times) (Via News On Japan.)

Korea International Trade Association Vice Chairman Oh Young-ho, second from right, shows buyers around the “Big Buyer Exhibition” at COEX in southern Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of KITA

By Kim Hyun-cheol, Staff Reporter (Korea Times) – Around 150 buyers from 100 global companies visited South Korea to attend a joint fair to promote Korean goods, which kicked off Thursday, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

The two-day event ― “Export to China, Export to the World 2009/2010” ― is being held at the COEX Mall in southern Seoul.

KITA teamed up with China’s Alibaba.com, the world’s largest business-to-business online marketplace, to offer opportunities to market products from Korean small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Participants in the fair include 12 of the world’s 500 biggest companies selected by U.S. magazine Fortune, such as Walmart, Levis, Nestle, Best Buy and French-based international retail group Auchan.

Some Chinese conglomerates are also taking part in the exhibition, including the Vanguard Group, China’s No. 1 retail chain.

The fair is part of the joint program between KITA and Alibaba.com, which will run for a year, and aims to give Korean SMEs a better chance to export their products and open up new markets for them in China and other overseas destinations.

Also as part of the program, Alibaba.com opened a channel featuring products from Korean suppliers, the third specialty country channel launched on their Web site following China and India.

KITA estimates contracts valued at $440 million will be signed at the fair. – read more at The Korea Times…