🇨🇳 JD.com beats Q2 revenue estimates despite China’s slowing economy. The e-commerce giant focussed on lower-priced products during the period, achieving a 7.6 percent revenue increase year over year to 287.9 billion yuan ($39.7 billion) which exceeded analysts’ average estimate of 278.85 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. [Reuters]

🇦🇪 The UAE’s Apparel Group expands its retail footprint in Kuwait. The Dubai-based mass market fashion group, which is the partner for brands such as Aldo, Birkenstock, Levi’s and Skechers in Gulf region markets, said it is launching 19 stores in The Warehouse shopping district in South Subahiya outside Kuwait City. [Middle East Retail News, Zawya]

🇳🇬 Pan-African e-commerce major Jumia records 15% revenue decline. The company founded in Nigeria and present in ten other countries across the continent has reported that the value of sales in the April to June period fell by 25 percent year over year to $202 million, resulting in revenue of $48.5 million. CEO Francis Dufay blamed macroeconomic factors like high inflation. [Semafor]

🇰🇭 Cambodia mulls 2024 minimum wage hike for garment workers. The current monthly minimum wage for the southeast Asian manufacturing and sourcing hub stands at $200, after an increase from last year’s wage of $194. It would affect 800,000 workers in the sector across 1,077 factories, according to the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. [Sourcing Journal]

🇨🇳 Watchdog in Canada probes Ralph Lauren on alleged forced labour in China. The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise [CORE] said it had published an initial assessment report after complaints filed by a coalition of 28 civil society organisations alleging the brand’s supply chain or operations in China used or benefited from the use of Uyghur forced labour. [BoF]

🇮🇳 Indian e-commerce major Flipkart launches new in-app fashion platform. The Walmart-owned company, which has had a strong fashion business for nearly a decade thanks its acquisition of dedicated e-tailer Myntra, is now hoping to strengthen its position further by introducing a hub called ‘Spoyl’ targeting Gen-Z on its main multi-category platform. [Business Standard]

🇨🇳 Luxury brands compete to create standout campaign for China’s Qixi festival. Valentino, Balenciaga and Prada were among those to invest in dedicated marketing campaigns and capsule collections for the country’s third holiday of the year celebrating love and romance, which falls on Aug 22, after Valentine’s Day in February and 520 in May. [Jing Daily]

🇰🇷 Estée Lauder forecasts weak annual profit on slow recovery in Asia travel retail. The American beauty conglomerate projected annual sales and profit below estimates, signalling a slower-than-expected recovery in its travel retail business, mainly in Asia, and easing demand in the US. According to travel retail expert Martin Moodie, “major challenges in… the Hainan and South Korea [duty free markets] were the key driver.” [BoF, The Moodie Davitt Report]

🇨🇳 Coach parent Tapestry forecasts weak 2024 on soft US demand despite China boost. The American accessible luxury group, which recently agreed to buy Capri, said it expects to benefit from a recovery in demand from the “highly profitable region” of China this fiscal year but that in the US “the lower income cohort is under pressure,” according to CEO Joanne Crevoiserat. [BoF]

🇨🇳 China’s Peacebird reports first-half revenue drop following reorganisation. The mid-market brand, which has been trying to reduce its discounting, saw revenue in the first six months of the year decrease 14.19 percent from a year ago to 3.6 billion yuan ($499.8 million). Peacebird Men was the only division with positive growth of 2.19 percent. [Luxe.co]

🇰🇪 Kenya plans to introduce an imported clothes levy to revive the local industry. A government official said the new tax would discourage Kenyans from over-relying on imported clothes including mitumba [cheap secondhand apparel] and stimulate the local cotton and textile industries, but critics worry that it may not necessarily improve the competitiveness or efficiency of the local manufacturing sector. [The Standard Kenya]

🇰🇷 Louis Vuitton names Felix of South Korean boy band Stray Kids as an ambassador. The luxury brand’s artistic director of women’s collections, Nicolas Ghesquière, said on Twitter that he loves the Australian member of the K-pop group’s “audacious sense of style.” [NME]

🇨🇳 Chinese retailer Eng takes its next step toward a nationwide footprint. Sherry Huang, founder of the multi-brand store selling brands like Mugler, Martine Rose and Telfar, opened a store in Beijing in August, adding to the retailer’s existing network in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing. She is also preparing for an opening in Chengdu next year. [BoF Inbox]