Britain
Britain's stores tempt Chinese shoppers
As a harbinger of a gradual shift in global power it is easy to miss: a discreet red, blue and green banded symbol bearing the mysterious legend UnionPay. But walk into Harrods, Selfridges and other high-end stores and you will see it at many tills, meaning the shop accepts China's most popular bank card and is thus actively chasing income from one of the few global economies still expanding at speed.
ASOS launches Australian website
ASOS, UK's largest online fashion retailer have launched ASOS.com/au, the company's Australian standalone website.
Aimed at fashion forward 16-34 year olds globally, ASOS attracts over 13 million unique visitors a month and as of 30 June 2011 had 5.8 million registered customers from the 160 countries the e-tailer ships to.
The Australian website will offer customers a customised experience with pricing in Australian dollars, bespoke editorial content, free shipping and local returns.
India not a favourite investment for UK's small businesses
Small businesses and entrepreneurs in the UK are hesitant about expanding to emerging markets like India and would rather look at investing in more developed markets like the US, according to a report compiled by global consulting firm Deloitte, titled Entrepreneurship UK: 2010/11.
"Less than 1 percent – out of the 350 companies surveyed – cite India and Brazil as prospects for significant growth, in addition to just 1.5 percent that consider China a prospect for growth," the report says.
Tesco to ramp up its presence in China
Tesco, Britain's largest retailer, plans to make China a central part of an accelerated international expansion plan to fuel sales growth as its share of the domestic grocery market plateaus. Tesco would spend GBP2.5 billion (USD3.9 billion) over five years opening mainland shopping centres and hypermarkets, finance director Laurie McIlwee said.
