Henry Every : Imperial Jade is the product of my passion for coffee combined with a long-held fascination in the raw mystique of China’s natural world. Having spent over a decade studying the Chinese language as well as immersing myself in various Chinese cultures, Imperial Jade provides the perfect opportunity for me to present a different side to the country, moving past the heavily industrial surface and putting the spotlight back onto where it all began: man’s relationship with the natural world. Yunnan (云南) is the province in which Imperial Jade coffee grows - and there is no other place ..read more

We talk to former Singapore Airlines, AirAsia and easyJet executive, Barry Klipp now Co-Founder and CEO of new travel tech retail platform - InterLnkd. JES – Barry, tell us about InterLnkd Barry – InterLnkd is the first company to provide the travel and hospitality industry an intelligent platform to earn a new stream of revenue from the products their customers buy in fashion, beauty, and retail for the holidays they have just purchased. JES – How does InterLnkd work? Barry – We use proprietary matching engine technology to curate a bespoke offering for each customer, from the products of our ..read more

The chaos at British and the wider European airports has highlighted an area of airport staffing that has, I feel, been unappreciated for many years. The airlines are taking the flack for cancellations which is affecting 10.000s of travellers and their frustration is completely understandable however in some, and I stress some, cases their frustration is directed at the wrong party … it's not the airline, nor the airport who are at fault but the contracted offices that provide staffing at the airports. Airports actually employ proportionally a small number of employees and contract out the run ..read more

Should your travel retail brand be on TikTok? With the popularity the platform gained over the past years, the answer is now obvious; yes, you have to be on TikTok. The brands that are able to leverage TikTok to build a community will have a significant advantage over their competitors. TikTok is the best opportunity out there to get eyeballs, build trust, acquire new followers, and customers. What kind of results can a travel retail brand expect on TikTok? How should you position your brand in the first place, or how should you even shoot your videos? These points will be covered further dow ..read more

China is the world’s second-largest economy and the most advanced e-commerce country in the world. The growth engine in China is phenomenal, but is loyalty marketing growing in step with these trends? Are Chinese shoppers loyal, and are they ready for more personalized outreach from Chinese loyalty programs? Let’s start by looking at Chinese business history to better understand the evolution and where we are going. Before 1990, China’s economic environment was a planned economy. State actors generated most commercial activity. Consumers were relatively short of daily necessities and househol ..read more

The right image for a particular product can be a valuable marketing tool but does your product need more than a picture and a few choice words? Sometimes a product is complex, exciting but visually doesn’t live up to its great purpose. More than that… its a product that demands the customer’s emotional interest. The willingness to buy from an image is as quick as a page turn but a 20 or 30 second video can be effective, especially when the in-flight retail sector begins its 1st digital "baby steps". There is though no definitive way to create a product video that engages emotionally and invol ..read more

As a seasoned entrepreneur, my definition of failure is ‘not having a go’. Does that make me a dangerous risk taker? I don’t think so. In my world ‘having a go’ always includes doing the necessary research, consulting with friends, family and industry icons, market research, creating a business plan, budget etc. etc. I am naturally enthusiastic, and my glass is always half-full rather than half-empty. I like to think that enthusiasm, as well as being inclusive, professional, trustworthy, and demanding feedback (and being humble!), all make joining one of my journeys a decent bet. My latest ve ..read more

After a fairly routine business meeting to discuss our work with European based JES Travel Retail and their JES Partner Programme of which we are a member the conversation was winding down when the topic of big brands and their dominance in the US airport retail outlets was discussed. The conversation took the usual course when discussing travel retail stores, "I see XYZ have got another space", "why do ZYX have 2 stores in the same airports ?" and soon after "wouldn't it be great to se 1234 in an airports as the products are ideal, I wonder why they aren't interested ?". It was this eureka m ..read more

TikTok is known to be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to promoting online sales and data shows that a successful TikTok campaign produces record breaking sales when content is done correctly. It is however being increasingly shown that the sales offline – traditional bricks & mortar - are being postively influenced to levels that travel retailers can only dream of by a TikTok successful presence. A recent report showed that a US soft drinks company realised by viewing their TikTok content comments section that approximately 85% mentioned that they bought the brand’s product offl ..read more

Chinese mobile payment platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay are important for retailers because they are extremely popular in China, especially among younger consumers. According to a survey by the China Internet Network Information Center, as of December 2020, about 67% of internet users in China use mobile payment platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay. This represents a significant portion of the Chinese population, as there are currently over 940 million internet users in China. It's worth noting that these figures refer specifically to the use of mobile payment platforms in China, and t ..read more