Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd said on Monday it would lead an $863 million investment in apparel platform Vipshop Holdings Ltd, upping its rivalry in retail with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd Tencent will invest $604 million in exchange for a 7 percent stake in Vipshop, while e-commerce firm JD.com Inc - a long-standing ally - will invest $259 million for a 5.5 percent stake, the two firms said in a statement. The companies did not clarify why the cost of Tencent’s purchased stock was higher than JD.com‘s. Neither company responded to requests for comment on Monday afternoon. The deal extends a recent push by Tencent into Alibaba’s home turf of retail, where the firm hopes to leverage its messaging service WeChat and its online payment systems to drive shopping demand. Martin Lau, Tencent’s President, said the tie-up would bring Vipshop Tencent’s “audiences, marketing solutions, and payment support” to help tap China’s … [Read more...] about China’s Tencent, JD.com invest $863 million in online retailer Vipshop
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Lazada returns with wilder Online Revolution
Is this the first time Lazada and a Vietnamese bank have co-operated on payment services?We strike partnerships with other banks all the time to facilitate our promotions. For example, we managed to carry out a 10 per cent price deduction on orders paid through VietinBank accounts. However, regarding international arrangements, this is indeed the first time Lazada co-operates with a Vietnamese bank. What benefits could this partnership offer in terms of payment methods?More than 90 per cent of our customers pay by cash on delivery (COD), so now we attain a new mechanism for Vietnamese customers to pay via cash for cross-border goods. Especially, during the December 11-14 mega sales, customers will be given more payment options than only Visa and MasterCard. Lazada will be the first online shopping website that enables customers to purchase cross-border products with the COD method.Since the COD payment method could pose a threat to our website and damage our suppliers, we decided to … [Read more...] about Lazada returns with wilder Online Revolution
HCMC taxman eyes online vendors
HCMC taxman eyes online vendorsVan Nam HCMC – The tax authority of HCMC has collected VND21 billion (nearly US$925,000) in tax from online stores while asking nearly 14,000 individuals and organizations selling goods on Facebook to fulfill their tax obligations, heard a meeting of the city government on December 6. Tran Ngoc Tam, head of the HCMC Department of Taxation, said e-commerce has grown more popular, with the participation of many local and foreign vendors. However, Vietnam is still struggling to tax online stores. Data of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade shows that as of September 2017, the city had nearly 300 electronic trading platforms, more than 8,000 e-commerce sites, and 73 social networking sites. Particularly, there are nearly 14,000 individuals and organizations in the city selling goods on Facebook, one of the most popular social networking sites in the country. “The HCMC Department of Taxation has collected VND21 billion in tax from … [Read more...] about HCMC taxman eyes online vendors
Saigon tax man slaps Facebooker with $400,000 bill in rare online retail management victory
Ho Chi Minh City's tax department has handed a bill of VND9.1 billion ($401,300) to a Facebook retailer in a rare successful attempt to levy sales on social media. A source from the department said that the tax declaration submitted by the cosmetics retailer was millions of dollars short compared to information acquired from the retailer's banks. Le Thi Thu Huong, deputy director of the department, said the sum was the biggest amount ever to be claimed by her agency from an online retailer for tax evasion. The department contacted nearly 13,800 Facebook accounts earlier this year asking them to pay tax for businesses they were running on the social network, but few complied. Facebook is the most popular social network in Vietnam with more than 52 million active accounts, and is also used as an e-commerce platform that tax authorities have struggled to keep track of. Vietnam levies a 0.5 percent income tax and a 1 percent value added tax on sales of more than VND100 million … [Read more...] about Saigon tax man slaps Facebooker with $400,000 bill in rare online retail management victory
Lazada the top choice for online shoppers
As e-commerce grows rapidly in Southeast Asia, iPrice spotted this trend and conducted a study of e-commerce markets in three big countries in the region: Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. They have been competing not only in the e-commerce market but also the economy in general. The competition among the three players is tight. Lazada has been operating in Southeast Asia for around five years. With major investment from Alibaba in April 2016, it has become the top choice among online shoppers in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. This is based on iPrice’s study, revealing the ranking of top e-commerce stores in each country by the share of traffic. Other interesting findings include:In Thailand, Lazada has a traffic share of around 52.6%, followed by 11 Street with 12.2% and Shopee with 4.4%.Meanwhile, the Malaysian market is dominated by Lazada, with a traffic share of around 48.5%, followed by 11Street with 16.4% and Lelong with 10.5%\.In Vietnam, … [Read more...] about Lazada the top choice for online shoppers