Advertisement
Advertisement
-
TOPIC

Retailing

Retailing
Latest news and features on retailing with a particular focus on Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia, covering consumer goods and services, retail strategies, shopping habits, sales results and trends.
Gentlewoman’s viral tote bag. Photo: Handout
Fashion

Q&A | Thailand’s Gentlewoman: viral totes and Covid resilience

Discover how 3 Thai accountancy and finance graduates steered the fashion brand’s rapid rise using smart data-driven design and being nimble enough to adapt.

Hong Kong property

How Hong Kong’s headquarters economy fuels rebound in commercial property

China’s private sector

China’s Year of the Horse shoppers let emotional satisfaction take the reins

Consumers

How Chinese consumers’ changing demands are keeping KFC’s owner on its toes

Yum China CEO Joey Wat banks on fast-food firm’s flexible store format and cheaper products to attract more Chinese consumers.

Yum China CEO Joey Wat speaks during the company’s 2025 Investor Conference in Shenzhen. Photo: Handout
Fashion

Hong Kong’s indie fashion labels bloom at new Tsim Sha Tsui pop-up

Chance Encounters is a pop-up run by the brands YanYan, Aenrmous and Kinyan Lam that aims to elevate Hong Kong’s indie fashion scene.

Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Hong Kong recalls Aptamil baby milk formula batch over toxin contamination fears

Centre for Food Safety says a local retailer sold a small quantity of the formula batch suspected to contain cereulide.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong’s retail sales edge up 1% in 2025 after 7.3% decline in 2024

Census and Statistics Department says retail sales for December worth HK$35 billion, and provisionally estimated at HK$380.5 billion for 2025.

Hong Kong’s retail sector emerged from a 14-month slump in May last year with 2.4 per cent growth. Photo: Dickson Lee
China GDP

China’s financial powerhouse Shanghai aims for 5% growth, ‘global influence’

Chinese megacity ranks in the world’s five most powerful metros after New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles, with a GDP of 5.67 trillion yuan.

videocam
Sweden

Multinationals race into China’s US$143.9 billion instant retail market

Ikea, Continental and Aldi Nord enlist local partners to launch faster, more comprehensive delivery services than they offer abroad.

Pop Mart

Labubu toymaker Pop Mart picks London as European headquarters in overseas push

CEO Wang Ning reveals firm’s latest expansion plan at Friday’s closed-door meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

A shopper walks inside a Pop Mart store in London on May 21, 2025. Photo: Xinhua
E-commerce

China slaps US$3.7 million fine on Kuaishou for live-streaming e-commerce breach

The penalty reflects a broader regulatory crackdown on content and operations deemed undesirable or harmful on Chinese online platforms.

Chinese regulators are tightening oversight on live-streaming e-commerce platform operators such as Kuaishou Technology. Photo: Shutterstock
China economy

Video | Scuffles break out at Ikea clearance sale in China

Furniture retailer to focus on targeted growth in key cities, with plans to open 10 small-format outlets over two years.

China GDP

Tale of 2 megacities: how did Beijing, Shanghai GDPs surpass 5 trillion yuan?

China’s two largest cities are outpacing national growth rates, each generating gross domestic products equal to a small European country.

videocam
United States

Amazon cuts 16,000 jobs amid AI shift, post-pandemic restructuring

The restructuring and cost-cutting come despite soaring profits and strategic hiring in key areas.

Amazon plans to cut its workforce worldwide to streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy across the company. Photo: Shutterstock
Luxury in China

As LVMH returns to growth, is the slump in China’s luxury market finally over?

LVMH saw its sales in China rise in the second half of 2025, as the vast Chinese luxury market shows signs of recovery.

videocam
Two shoppers view the handbags they just bought at a Louis Vuitton store in Shanghai. China’s luxury market is showing signs of recovery after a sharp decline in sales in 2024. Photo: Getty Images
Mergers & Acquisitions

China’s Anta snags Puma from France’s Pinault family in US$1.8 billion deal

China’s largest sportswear firm is acquiring 29 per cent to become Puma’s biggest shareholder while strengthening its global expansion.

China's economic recovery

China’s manufacturing powerhouse cuts 2026 GDP growth target after missing mark

Guangdong province, an industrial behemoth hit by property and global headwinds, shifts focus in a strategic pivot amid national reforms.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mainland China

China needs silver and young spenders, plus policy support, for growth: HSBC

Longest Lunar New Year holiday ever will provide a tailwind, but growth could falter without more supportive measures, analysts say.

People view Pop Mart’s Labubu products at the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing on September 12, 2025. Photo: Xinhua
US-China trade war

At America’s biggest retail show, the China question never really goes away

Tariffs may ebb and supply chains may detour, but US shoppers – and giants like Walmart and Amazon – still rely heavily on Chinese goods.

videocam
15
Apple

Apple cuts prices for Lunar New Year as competition heats up in mainland China

Apple offers discounts on iPhones, MacBook and other products – its second promotion in a month ahead of the holiday.

Fashion

How next-gen brands are blending luxury with sportswear

Functional shouldn’t mean unfashionable – as new sportswear brands like Literary Sport, Johanna Parv and Spence are demonstrating.

Niche sportswear brands like Spence are demonstrating that functional can also be fashionable. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong stock market

Labubu maker Pop Mart surges after buy-back in show of confidence

Repurchase signals management’s confidence and healthy balance sheet, analysts say, though stock remains 40 per cent below last year’s peak.

Investors have welcomed Pop Mart’s move. Photo: Xinhua
Singapore

Singapore’s retail ownership data sparks debate about foreign chains’ influence

Some observers warn that public perception could be warped since popular foreign chains in places with high footfall may be more visible.

China GDP

China’s two-speed economy faces tough 2026 as growth cools

Lost momentum, weak domestic demand and high yardsticks point to a challenging year ahead for the Chinese economy.

Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong’s Taipan bakery told to wind up, Ocean Empire boss declared bankrupt

Separate court rulings highlight struggles of city’s retail and catering sectors amid shifting consumer patterns.

Taipan Bread & Cakes closed all of its branches after 41 years in business. Photo: Nora Tam
Hong Kong property

Fancl distributor couple buys Lippo Centre office, shop in US$38.3 million deal

Purchase by the Japanese skincare brand’s distributor marks a 60 per cent cut from 2017 price as cash-rich local investors hunt for bargains.

The sun is reflected on the Lippo Centre in Admiralty. Photo: Dickson Lee
Labubu

Explainer | What is mystery shopping, made popular by Labubu?

The Pop Mart craze is spreading to other retailers like Le Creuset and E.L.F. Beauty as ‘blind shopping’ takes off around the world.

Hong Kong property

Hong Kong’s finance sector a ray of sunshine for city’s retail property segment

Financial services providers are emerging as a new force in the city’s retail property leasing space, analysts say.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement