Kim Hin Joo (Malaysia) Berhad retailer of baby, children, and maternity products under the Mothercare brand name is looking to use the economic recovery period to expand its business.
Mr. Pang Fu Wei, the Group Managing Director of Kim Hin Joo said, “The business landscape in the Malaysian retail industry has been encouraging and as the economy gradually reopens again, we are optimistic to see a return to growth for the Malaysian retail industry in 2022.
We are confident business will improve as travel restrictions around the country eases. We anticipate that there will be an overall higher volume of business in the coming year, supported by the easing of international travel restrictions, gradual recovery of the economy, and improved consumer sentiment.
Despite the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in 2021, Kim Hin Joo has cautiously expanded its outlets’ geographical footprint and at the end of 2021, the Company has a total of 21 Mothercare retail outlets in Malaysia together with 4 The Entertainer Outlets.
In November 2021, the company launched the first Mothercare Experience Store located at Tropicana Gardens Mall, Petaling Jaya. The new 15,000 sq ft mega store, features a new experiential concept, which includes a stroller test track, babywearing zone, baby gear cleaning services, and nursery advisors promising shoppers a visual and tactile experience that will help them make better purchasing decisions.
“This launch is not only the official opening of the Mothercare Experience Store, but it also marks the rolling out of our best practices. With the new store, we are setting a new benchmark for baby retail.
Encouraged by the successful launch of the Mothercare Experience Store in Tropicana Gardens Mall, we will be rolling out the Experience Store concept to our Mothercare outlets in KLCC, Gurney Plaza, and eventually to all the subsequent large format store openings. In 2022, we will be looking to expand the size of the Mothercare store in Gurney Plaza while opening one The Entertainer store in the same location as well as launching another store in KLCC.
We have been working hard on revamping our IT infrastructure and the system is now in its final stages of the User Acceptance Testing (“UAT”) process with the first few modules will go live by next month. The rollout of the full system will take place in the coming months and subsequently, the most critical phase of our digitalization efforts will finally be complete. Thus, we will be transforming our business from a multi-channel retailer to an omnichannel retailer.
As we enter into this post-pandemic era, we remain cautious about the impact of inflation and rising interest rates. We will remain prudent and mindful, but we will continue to seize on good opportunities to expand our business. Our strategies are focused on improving customer experience and when market conditions improve, we are certain that we will be able to take advantage of the recovery.
