Singapore

Heightened customer expectations for delivery are transforming the retail landscape. According to the10th Retail Shopper Study whitepaper by Zebra Technologies, 69% of shoppers in Asia-Pacific expect next-day or same-day delivery. However, 27% of shoppers are not willing to pay for shipping at any speed.

When it comes to chocolate eggs, bunnies and other treats it seems there has never been so much choice for chocolate lovers around the world.

Retail bookseller Barnes & Noble recently announced the launch of the Barnes & Noble Book Club -- a national book club designed to bring readers in communities across the US together to discuss some of the greatest books being published.

Newegg – a tech-focused e-retailer in North America – is exploring avenues to give Asian sellers the opportunity to learn how its marketplace can help them sell cross-border and reach new customers in Europe and North America.

For the first time in Asia, Singapore will host a community food festival to raise awareness on the 791,000 tonnes of food that are annually going to waste in in the country and showcase solutions to food waste.

CONSUMERS in emerging Asia-Pacific markets are embracing loyalty programmes with gusto, while their peers in developed markets express a more reserved sentiment, Mastercard’s inaugural multi-market study on Asia-Pacific’s loyalty landscape revealed. Despite the variances in perception, the research signals room for growth across the region to enhance the appeal of loyalty cards.

One of the fundamentals of building and sustaining a successful e-commerce business is establishing a hassle-free return or refund policy that regains the customers’ confidence. Kate Low, founder of lingerie brand Perk by Kate, shares her thoughts.

TRANSPORT and logistics company Maersk and technology company IBM announced in January their intent to establish a joint venture (JV) to provide more efficient and secure methods for conducting global trade using blockchain technology.

Associated with a myriad of terms — “second-hand”, “pre-owned”, “pre-loved”, “thrifting”, “reverse marketplace” and most recently, “recommerce” — the resale industry is steadily gaining acceptance and popularity in Asia for various reasons favoured by today’s shoppers. Muneerah Bee finds out why recommerce has a strong potential to be more than a buzz word in retail and why it is thriving in the online sphere.

Bricks-and-mortar retailers are coming apart brick by solid brick, as they continue to succumb to the compounding pressure from e-commerce retailers.

Singapore-based leather company Faire Leather Co. has surpassed its initial target of S$50,000 (US$38,151) to achieve over S$406,000 by the end of its crowdfunding campaign not too long ago. This reportedly places Faire Leather Co. as the highest funded Kickstarter project initiated out of Singapore to date.

Web-based e-commerce shipping solution provider ShipStation recently launched a free e-book, titled Brand Your Shipping: How to Overcome the Brand Dead Zone.

American financial security and services corporation Diebold Nixdorf has launched Diebold Nixdorf AllConnect Services, an offering that provides retailers and financial institutions the capabilities and technology needed to make physical distribution channels as agile, integrated, efficient and differentiated as their digital counterparts.

Global Treasure Bank (GTB) has launched its first set of bank cards in partnership with the global payments brand, UnionPay.

Retail businesses that are owned and operated by women have an option to distinguish their products to inform shoppers that the goods are made or supplied by a woman-owned business.

MoneySmart, Singapore’s personal finance comparison website, recently announced a strategic partnership with mobile classifieds app Carousell to reach out to the next generation of mobile-first consumers.