Rip Curl has opened its first Concept Store in the Philippines at the Alabang Town Centre Mall (Garden Wing) STOKEDinc and Rip Curl began their partnership in 2011 with the entry of Rip Curl products at all STOKEDinc shops in the Philippines. Its been a successful partnership that quickly led to the 90sq meter Rip Curl flagship store in the islands capital, Manila.
Billabong Indonesia and P.T. Delami Brands have announced their first joint venture retail outlet opening. in one of Jakarta’s newest and trendiest shopping hubs, Central Park Mall. Founded in 1979 by Mr. Johanes Farial, PT. Delami Garment Industries marked its start in the fashion and manufacturing industry by producing men's trousers for the domestic market and now manage brands such as The Executive, Wood, Choya, Et Cetera, Jocky Wrangler Tira, Colorbox, Lee and most recently, Billabong
We love a good survey particularly one that opposes the consensus that online shopping will ruin great brick and mortar retailers. The latest survey produced by respected business intelligence provider RFi canvasses more than 2000 Australians and challenges the market perception that online shopping is the nexus of all-evil for retailers. RFI’s clients include such companies as the CBA, Mastercard, ANZ, Credit Swiss who use RFi’s reports to deliver insightful, valuable and actionable research within the banking and retail sector. According to a recent Eftpos survey conducted by RFi, perceptions around security and surcharging are hindering the take up of online shopping in Australia. The March 2012 survey found 61% of consumers made decisions about online payment methods based on their perceptions of security, and 38% remained very concerned about the security of their personal information online. Online purchases also appear to be infrequent, with 80% of those surveyed making as few as three transactions a month, while 35% made just one online purchase a month. Security and surcharges rated highly as a barrier to online purchases. Surveyed consumers showed strong support for PIN security online to increase their comfort with online shopping – possibly reflecting what people are used to in the physical world and online banking. 64% also indicated they would switch payment options to avoid payment surcharges, with around 61% of those surveyed indicating a card that enabled them to avoid online surcharges would become a more preferred card overall.
An interesting read over at The Age online today with many parallels as surf manufacturers seek to stop products such as wetsuits purchased overseas flooding the Australian market this winter. According to the article in The Age it’s good news for retailers but Australian consumers will be forced to pay substantially more for their favorite brands as a growing number of local importers reach agreements with international brands to stop selling their clothes to Australians on overseas websites or to lift their web prices.
Billabong held an analysts briefing following the ASX announcement that it had appointed former Target (Australia) boss Launa Inman as its new CEO and immediately replacing Derek O’Neill as Billabong International group CEO. Yesterdays decision was set in motion around the time the group had finalized the partial sale of Nixon and fended off an $842 million takeover offer from private equity firm TPG. 'The trigger point, I believe, was the stabilization of the company with the completion of the Nixon transaction where we got the balance sheet back in shape and that's when the board decided on new leadership,'' said Chairman Ted Kunkel.
Billabong has announced former Target boss Launa Inman as its new Managing Director and CEO, effective from14th May 2012. Derek O’Neill, the outgoing CEO exit was somewhat abrupt and management instead chose to focus on incoming CEO Launa Inman. According to the announcement “the board had decided that the company required new leadership and skill sets for the next stage of its development”. Billabong Chairman Ted Kunkel said Ms Inman’s skills and depth of experience in retail, supply chain management, finance, strategic planning and brand marketing will be crucial to Billabong’s future growth.
04:02PM / Torquay / Vic / Aus
