The shelter workshops of the Taiwan Foundation for the Blind are always the busiest during holidays. Unfortunately, the number of orders this year was lower than before due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also affected the livelihood of the shelter personnel. ETMall fulfilled its corporate social responsibility and helped the Taiwan Foundation for the Blind to raise funds and provided the sales platform at no charge. Starting on September 28th, three limited edition soap sets and a secret edition tea leaf and dried fruit gift box will be released monthly. This is the first time that a public welfare organization in Taiwan has partnered with a TV shopping platform, with all proceeds going back to the Foundation after deducting shipping and logistics costs. In order to lead by example and inspire industry peers, ETMall and the Taiwan Foundation for the Blind joined hands to organize the “Happiness, Peace-of-Mind, Togetherness” press conference at the Foundation’s workshop in Tucheng this afternoon. Important guests at the event included Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-Ih, President Gary Wang of Eastern Group, and Chairman Ben Hsieh of the Taiwan Foundation for the Blind. They put on “visual impairment simulation glasses” to experience the packaging work of the shelter workshop staff and listened to the wishes of the shelter workshop youths who were looking for jobs. It is hoped that more awareness can be raised and the public are invited to purchase shelter workshop products to show their most direct support for young people with physical and mental disabilities.

As the weather gradually cools as summer comes to an end, it is the perfect time to enjoy and appreciate tea. Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-Je joined ETMall for the first time to promote Taipei’s local tea. He wore a traditional farmer’s hat and acted as a “tea-picking uncle” to personally introduce the “Taipei Heartwarming Tea Set” (containing Tieguanyin (300g/can)*2 and Paochong (150g/can)*2), which are directly produced and sold in Taipei. These two types of teas both offer mesmerizing fragrance and taste, whether in the form of brewed tea, tea leaves, or lingering aroma. The tea set also comes with a free gift bag and is limited to 100 sets while stock lasts. Under the dedicated promotion by Mayor Ko Wen-Je, the tea sets were sold out within 40 minutes, achieving great success during his first sale. Gary Wang, chairman of ETMall, said that ETMall has always supported local agriculture in Taiwan and he would like to thank Mayor Ko for specially coming to ETMall today to promote Taipei’s high-quality local tea. Before this occasion, ETMall has already worked together with eight other central and local governors to promote agricultural products. In the future, ETMall will promote more high-quality agricultural and fishery products, as well as continue to uphold the original intention and commitment of “EHS Select”, direct delivery from the place of origin so that consumers can buy products with peace-of-mind.

ETMall, a subsidiary of Eastern Media International Corporation (2614), reported good performance for August 2020, with a monthly revenue of NT$1.73 billion, an annual growth rate of 12%, and a profit of NT$136 million. The company’s revenue from January to August 2020 reached NT$13.59 billion, with a profit of NT$856 million. This is an increase of 188% compared to the same period last year. The EPS reached NT$8.40, an increase of NT$5.49 compared to the same period last year. According to ETMall, the performance benefited from the major holiday periods of Qixi Festival, Father’s Day, and Ghost Festival in August this year, which boosted consumption momentum and drove business operations. As we enter the peak holiday marketing campaign season, the first wave of the “99 Best Bargains Shopping Festival” will extend the buying momentum and increase operating income, with optimistic outcomes for 2020H2 and business performance is expected to hit a new high.

At the Golden Pinnacle Awards, Eastern Group won three awards: “ETtoday” took home two awards and “Eastern Natural Beauty” won one award. “ETtoday” under the Eastern Group won the following awards in two categories: Top Ten Outstanding Enterprise in “Golden Pinnacle Awards – Large Enterprise Category”, while ETtoday’s General Manager Mel Chen won the “Top Ten Outstanding Leaders Award”, making ETtoday the first new media company ever to receive the Golden Pinnacle Awards. “Eastern Natural Beauty” also won the highly-competitive “Golden Pinnacle Awards – Large Enterprise Category”. Double happiness has come to Eastern Group, and winning these national-level awards serves as a testament of Eastern Group’s formidable corporate strength.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and besides moon cakes, fresh fish gift boxes are also one of the top gift choices! Seafood from Penghu is well-known far and wide. In order to promote the Penghu Seafood-certified hybrid giant tiger grouper across Taiwan and provide more diverse ways to taste Penghu seafood. ETMall invited Lai Feng-Wei, the mayor of Penghu County, to become a one-day store manager. It was his first time on the ETMall shopping program, and together with Director-General Chang Chih-Sheng of the Fisheries Agency and Director Tsai Yueh-Chiao of the Penghu Fishermen’s Association, they formed an effective team to promote large hybrid giant tiger grouper fillet gift boxes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The gift boxes contain 6 packs of fillets, 2 packs of cubed fish head, 1 pack of fish bones, and 1 pack of fish collar, available for the Eastern price of NT$1,680 (offering a 33% discount with a market price of NT$2500). Director-General Chang Chih-Sheng, Mayor Lai Feng-Wei, and Director Tsai Yueh-Chiao enthusiastically promoted the fish gift box, and they not only personally fried the fish on the show, but also warmly praised the Penghu hybrid giant tiger grouper for its tastiness and nutritional content. During the show, 150 fish (1500 fillets) at 5 kg per fish, or a total of 750 kg were sold within seconds. ETMall would like everyone to be able to enjoy Penghu’s premium seafood at home, and in the post-pandemic era, not only let consumers make purchases happily, but also eat with peace-of-mind!

The first time ever in Taiwan! The most trendy and tech-savvy salon in history, Envy Studio, has officially opened today (8/29)! Differentiating itself from traditional hair salons, Envy Studio incorporates the latest technologies, such as: Mobile payment, OMO (Online-Merge-Offline, a business model in which enterprises or merchants rely on an online platform to connect to offline entities through mobile terminals, simplifying the intermediate channels between themselves and users and allowing users to quickly access physical goods and experience services), and online shopping, providing consumers with a new and original experience. The most eye-catching tech is undoubtedly the “Smart Mirror”, which integrates a mirror display, touch screen, and entertainment into one device. It is equipped with AI technology to recommend hairstyles in real time, interactive AR (Augmented Reality) to change hair colors instantly, and scalp evaluations. All of these functions truly integrate technology into daily life. On the opening day, celebrity Patty Wu was invited to act as experience ambassador for the day and she could not stop exclaiming “it’s amazing!”

ETtoday’s first cooking competition reality show, “King of Cuisines”, held a press conference today (8/26) for the start of filming, and we also learned that “Jungle Voice 2” was nominated for “Best Variety Programme”, “Best Sound Award”, “Best Directing for Non-Drama Programme”, and “Best Art and Design Award”. Guests invited to the start-of-filming press conference include Ma Jung-Ray, vice-chairman of ET New Media Holdings; Wang Wei-Chung, the producer of the show; Wu Chien-Chiang, chairman of Japan Entertainment Television; LuLu, host of the show; Fred and Jason Wang, the show’s master chefs; Ai Fukuhara, “a cooking genius held back by table tennis”; and Aaron Yan, competition mentor of the first season. These celebrities all made appearances in person to support the show and to wish “King of Cuisines” the best of luck in winning the Golden Bell Awards next year!

Chihshang rice from Taitung participated in the annual “Premium Rice Award” rice competition held by the Agriculture and Food Agency of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan. Chihshang Township of Taitung alone took home four prizes and has been crowned “King of Taiwan Rice” for the third time. Chihshang Township in Taitung is blessed with beautiful surroundings and pristine water, and its unique natural environment is perfect for growing rice. Pristine source of water – mineral-rich, pure, and unpolluted water irrigated by the Xinwulu River. Fertile soil – the alluvial organic clay layer accumulated from the coastal mountains forms fertile soil, which is supplemented by the large day-night temperature difference, and abundant sunshine. Excellent climate – the narrow and long terrain provides a gentle mountain breeze that quickly evaporates the moisture from the rice paddies, resulting in full grains of high-quality rice. In addition, Chihshang Township is the first to introduce a rice pesticide testing system in Taiwan, so that consumers will not only be able to eat nutritious and delicious rice, but also enjoy it with peace-of-mind and good health. Chihshang rice has not only been the champion of the National Rice Competition for three consecutive years, but has also successfully entered the Japanese market, making Chihshang the “Mecca” of high-quality rice production in Taiwan.

The development of e-commerce is booming. The Chinese Non-Store Retailers Association (CNRA) now has a complete no-store retail ecosystem with more than 200 operators, including e-commerce platforms such as online shopping, TV shopping, mobile shopping, and catalog shopping, as well as suppliers, third-party service providers, and payment and logistics operators. The 3rd CNRA held its 1st General Meeting and 1st Board of Directors and Supervisors Meeting on August 7th. Elections for the 3rd Chairman of the Board, Managing Directors, and Supervisors were held at the meeting, and Gary Wang, President of Eastern Group, was elected as the new Chairman of the Board by majority vote.

ETMall, a subsidiary of Eastern Media International Corporation (2614), reported good performance for July 2020, with a monthly revenue of NT$1.73 billion, an annual growth rate of 14.5%, and a profit of NT$136 million. Revenue in January-July 2020 reached NT$11.86 billion and profits were NT$720 million. The company enjoyed a 180% YOY growth from January to July, and EPS of NT$7.07. ETMall’s net profit margin has outperformed the industry since 2018, reaching 6.1% in January-July 2020 and EPS has outperformed the full year of 2019. In the first half of 2020, consumption habits have changed in response to the impact of the general environment. Looking back at the first half of this year, as consumers stopped going out, the “stay-at-home economy” has become a new battlefield for different industries, and the “transformation of e-commerce” has become an important retailing direction. In response to the success of the transformation, ETMall also shifted its focus to food and health food products and achieved outstanding performance towards its sales target. According to the recent sales data and rankings, ETMall’s annual growth rate for health foods from January to July 2020 was 31%, with the number of orders delivered growing by 370,000 compared to the same period last year. The annual growth rate of food products was 35%, with the number of orders delivered growing by 420,000 compared to the same period last year.