Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Discovery signs up new partners in China, Japan

    Discovery signs up new partners in China, Japan

    Discovery Networks Asia Pacific has entered into two new partnerships across Asia, with VS Media and Tabilabo.

    VS Media is a multichannel network that super-serves digital natives in Greater China with more than 120 million subscribers and 320 million video views a month. Tabilabo is a digital media businesses in Japan.

    These initiatives are in keeping with Discovery’s ambitions to transform and accelerate its big growth across Asia Pacific, by providing access to amazing content that is being customized for “mobile-first” millennial audiences.

    Last August Discovery took a minority investment in VS Media. Together, they are now launching Tan Ba, a digital brand solution specifically targeting millennials who make up over a quarter of the Chinese population.

    Tan Ba aims to deliver smart entertainment through highly customized short-form video content that stimulates curiosity and new learning every day. Content is sourced exclusively from Discovery’s extensive global catalogue and localized by VS Media

    The partnership between Discovery and Tabilabo includes a commercial agreement that will enable collaboration to bring solutions to advertisers to reach their desired audience via true 360 opportunities across linear, digital, and on social platforms leveraging Tabilabo innovative advertising technology and formats, and Discovery’s world-class stable of advertisers.

    “These exciting digital-first initiatives are the first steps in Discovery’s long-term strategy to accelerate our growth in Asia with digital at the core,” said Arthur Bastings, president and managing director of Discovery Networks Asia Pacific.

  • TV as a Service market to reach $1.5b in 2021

    TV as a Service market to reach $1.5b in 2021

    In a recent video software market report, ABI Research evaluates expectations of the new TV as a Service (TVaaS) business model and finds that TVaaS revenues will grow from 10% in 2016 to 35% of video software revenues in 2021. The TVaaS model states that recurring revenues based on video consumption, transactions, or subscriber-related metrics will take over traditional hardware sales, software and IP licenses, and service-related revenues. TVaaS opportunities will grow to $1.5 billion in 2021.

    “Companies that wish to succeed in the TVaaS realm need to commit to customer-oriented solutions, including investing in 24/7 operational capabilities and robust engineering organizations,” said Sam Rosen, managing director and vice president at ABI Research.

    “Solutions need to support the hybrid cloud methodology where they can be deployed in public cloud infrastructure, as well as customer’s own data centers. Also important to operators is the use of microservice-based architectures that allow larger customers to adopt one or two components of a solution around a specific pain point.”

    Most major vendors now demonstrate products with TVaaS components. Major examples include Cisco’s Infinite Video suite, Nagra’s intuiTV product, and Ericsson’s MediaFirst suite. Similar TVaaS trends are also occurring in product lines outside of middleware, including DRM, guide licensing and metadata, transcoding and QoE measurement.

    In terms of readiness to transition to TVaaS architectures and business models, DRM leads the movement at a 56% transition rate by 2021, followed by transcoding and its 36% transition rate within the same time. Middleware, as well as guide licensing and metadata, will only transition to 20% and 12%, respectively.

    “Video software markets are in a period of rapid disruption, highlighted most aggressively by Ericsson’s revelation that its media unit’s operating income showed a loss of 25% of revenues in 2016, accelerating to 33% in the fourth quarter,” said Rosen.

    “To survive the upheaval, these markets must adopt models that showcase a unique balance of service-oriented integration and development offerings, intellectual property (IP) licensing, traditional software licensing and TVaaS.”

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  • Introducing BistroChat, Hong Kong-based restaurant booking app

    Introducing BistroChat, Hong Kong-based restaurant booking app

    An innovative restaurant booking app by chat recently penetrated the Hong Kong market. Alexandre Sonier, co-founder of the application BistroChat, defines it as being similar to “having WhatsApp, but with restaurant contacts instead”. Its features let its users chat directly with the staff to make restaurant bookings easy, hence making it unique in Asia Pacific.

    Today, BistroChat mainly seduces expatriates living in Hong Kong, and especially women. People aged from 25 to 40 years old with high standards of living generally use this app. According to Alexandre, settling in Hong Kong was a choice. In his vision of the industry, trends are different from a market to another. He justifies his point by saying that it is difficult to launch a new application in China, as everything is concentrated on QQ and WeChat platforms. In the same way, “the US is saturated, as the app offer is too wide”. This is in opposition with Asia Pacific, and especially Hong Kong, as BistroChat co-founder says “people buy more and more smartphones, while constantly looking for new apps. We think this it is the right time to launch a new app in this region”.

    This application is the work of three men who used to work in different startups across the world for a few years. As app developers, they managed to cover all the skills needed to launch their project, making it possible to build it in-house. Raised investments led to the creation of an MVP, allowing the company to grow within the industry.

    The particularity of BistroChat is that it is hassle-free. Today, two options are possible when it comes to booking a table in a restaurant: calling; or online reservation, which can take more time because of a longer process. By entering the market, BistroChat offers an instant connection between restaurants and its customers. Making a reservation via this app is done through chat, hence directly relating the client to the staff.

    Furthermore, competitors send an email to the restaurant in order to notify them of a new booking. Alexandre notes that this cannot work with last minute bookings, hence justifying that chat is more convenient. According to him, instant confirmation can be made, and name and phone number spellings are no problems anymore. Those features make the app more appropriate for special requests.

    It is thus with the objective of standing out from the broad app offer on the market that BistroChat maintains its efforts and innovation processes. As its co-founder states: “we don’t see an app as a one-time development but as a continuous process of improvement”. This leaves plans for building new features such as the AI, which would suggest and recommend to users new and trending restaurants, based on their preferences.

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  • Yusen Logistics standardises global fulfilment operations on Manhattan Associates

    Yusen Logistics standardises global fulfilment operations on Manhattan Associates

    Yusen Logistics is deploying Manhattan Associates, warehouse and distribution management solution Manhattan SCALE as the fulfilment engine to power its expanding global logistics services operation. The Manhattan solution being implemented on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, is driving revenue, profitability and efficiency improvements for Yusen Logistics and its customers and will support Yusen Logistics’ ongoing business growth across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Americas regions.

    Yusen Logistics serves a broad spectrum of industry sectors, offering an extensive range of capabilities including air, sea and road freight services. One of the key business imperatives for Yusen Logistics is an unwavering commitment to delivering solutions that meet the unique requirements of each client. Having operated previously with a number of vendor systems, Yusen Logistics made the decision to standardise on a single Warehouse Management Solution (WMS) that could be deployed globally and provide the requisite level of consistency in service levels its customers increasingly demand.

    Tony Gudger, CIO at Yusen Logistics Europe explains: “We chose Manhattan SCALE as our strategic fulfilment solution based on a number of factors including functionality, extensibility, ease and speed of implementation, global support capability and total cost of solution ownership. Our long-term partnership with Manhattan, which stretches back 14 years and has involved multiple deployments of its various WMS technologies across the globe, also counted significantly in our selection process.”

    Having relied on Microsoft Azure as a cloud services platform since 2012, the deployment of Manhattan SCALE on Azure was a logical decision. During the initial implementations in Southern Europe, Yusen Logistics reported zero issues relating to either Azure or Manhattan SCALE. The company plans to use Manhattan SCALE for the full gamut of local and global customer order fulfilment operations, spanning relatively small, single site distribution hubs to multi-site, multi-channel, high volume throughput supply networks.

    Henri Seroux, senior vice president, EMEA, at Manhattan Associates, commented, “Yusen Logistics’ customers across the globe are increasingly pressured to fulfil orders profitably across multiple sales channels and geographies while simultaneously maximising product availability and customer satisfaction. We are excited to provide the technology, services and support capabilities to drive the next phase of Yusen Logistics’ global success story.”

  • AIS projecting 5% revenue growth for 2017

    AIS projecting 5% revenue growth for 2017

    Thailand’s AIS is projecting a 5% increase in revenue and a 44% growth in ebitda this year as a result of strong growth in 4G customers.

    AIS VP of investor relations Nattiya Poapongsakorn as stating that the operator is expecting service revenue for the year of 129 billion baht ($3.75 billion), with the majority expected to come from data services.

    AIS’ total 4G customer base roughly doubled in the past 12 months to reach 12 million by the end of March, which compares to a 3G customer base of 24.6 million and a 2G subscriber base of 4 million.

    AIS aims to increase its revenue market share to 50% this year, up from 48% as of March. She said the operator’s 4G users have an ARPU of 400 baht, compared to just 250 baht overall.

    For the first quarter, AIS reported service revenue of 31.4 billion baht, with data services accounting for 57% of this.

    The operator meanwhile plans to spend around 45 billion baht to expand its networks in 2017, with 40 billion to be spent on mobile networks and the remainder on fiber infrastructure. But the company plans to reduce its handset subsidy budget after incurring subsidy costs of 10 billion baht last financial year.

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  • Cebu Pacific Air begins new service to Busuanga

    Cebu Pacific Air begins new service to Busuanga

    Cebu Pacific Air added another domestic route on 15 May. On that day it began three times weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) service between Cebu (CEB) and Busuanga (USU).

    The 467-kilometre sector will be operated by CebGo using its ATR 72s. Competition is provided by Philippine Airlines which already serves the route daily with a Q400. Cebu Pacific now serves over 30 destinations from Cebu of which just five are outside of the Philippines. It and CebGo account for 42% of scheduled seat capacity at the airport.

    This makes it the biggest carrier at the airport ahead of Philippine Airlines (28%) and Philippines AirAsia (12%).

  • Vietnam’s candy market experiences shakeup

    Vietnam’s candy market experiences shakeup

    In late March, four individual investors spent tens of millions of dollars acquiring major stakes Huu Nghi and Hai Ha. This comes after their parent company, the state-owned Vietnam Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba), registered to exit from the firms.

    Two individual investors, Vu Hai and Nguyen Thi Duyen, became the new major shareholders of Hai Ha Confectionery JSC, with respective ownership stakes of 23.7% and 50.9%. Meanwhile two others, Nguyen Van Dung and Luu Thanh Tam, acquired a 20% and 10% stake in Huu Nghi Food JSC. The participation of individual shareholders could now create favourable conditions for the two firms.

    Sweeping changes on the horizon

    In 2014, Kinh Do JSC, a major player in the domestic food scene, was acquired by US-based Mondelez International. The duration of the power transfer process was considered an opportunity for smaller local players such as Huu Nghi, Hai Ha, Bibica, Trang An, or Pham Nguyen to take their chance in the market.

    As state-owned enterprises, these firms were given an opportunity to shorten the development gap with market number one, Kinh Do. However, none of them were able to, least of all Hai Ha and Huu Nghi.

    When Vinataba unveiled its plan to fully divest from the two confectionery producers, local giants such as Vingroup, Masan, and Hoa Phat expressed interest. They later withdrew interest however, opening the door for individual private investors to take on the major share.

    Huu Nghi Food chairman, Trinh Trung Hieu recalls that rigid state mechanisms had hindered the company’s operation. “If owned by a private investor, Huu Nghi could have capital to invest in brand building to reach a higher market position,” Hieu told his employees.

    With the recent move, Huu Nghi is now completely in the hands of individual investors. A company representative said, “We had to set out year-by-year growth, following the state mechanism. The company paid taxes and contributed to the state budget every year, leaving little money for reinvestment. The space is now wide open. There will surely be changes in our growth strategy in the future, focusing on market expansion.”

    “The participation of private investors is important to make use of new development opportunities after the state capital divestment. We are eager to take on the opportunity and have made preparations for future changes,” the source unveiled.

    Present in the market for more than two decades, Huu Nghi is well known for its assortment of quality confectionery products, including mid-autumn cakes.

    In terms of revenue, the company lies just behind Kinh Do, with revenue reaching VND1.44 trillion (US$65.7 million) in 2016. After Mondelez International bought Kinh Do, Huu Nghi took the lead in revenue among domestic firms, claiming an 8% market share.

    The company’s goal is to solidify its position in the local confectionery market behind Kinh Do, and maintain pole position among local firms.

    A disadvantage is that Huu Nghi has, until now, mainly served the southern market. A company representative recently admitted that winning the northern market has been very challenging due to a different consumption culture. However, it invested in building a modern confectionery plant in the southern province of Binh Duong several years ago.

    Huu Nghi is also reported to be making sauces (fish sauce, soy sauce and chilli sauce) now. The company has built a sauce production plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

    Huu Nghi is also accelerating exports to China, which generates VND300 billion (US$13.6 million) in annual revenue for the company. The firm is also looking to expand to other ASEAN countries, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, and India.

    Meanwhile, Hai Ha enjoys strong brand recognition and boasts a 60-year track record. Having been on the verge of going bankrupt several times in its history, the company is now operating well, particularly in the northern market.

    Despite having established branch offices in the central and southern regions, the company’s key market is the north, and some candy products, such as Jelly and Chewy candies have witnessed fast growth rates and become the company’s major income earners.

    To its rivals, Hai Ha is a confectionary heavyweight. However, the company has lagged behind in recent years because it lacked a strong sales network and the human resources required to work towards market expansion.

    Market analyses also show that Hai Ha has applied copying tactics in the past, trying to make its own versions of successful products. After time, these products disappeared from the market as it reached saturation however.

    The company is now working to improve its product lines, focusing on high-grade products to boost its market share. Last year, pie products made up 48.7% of production and the candy line consumed the remaining 51.3%. The company plans to balance these products out in upcoming years.

    Hai Ha also produces food supplements, teaming up with several large pharmaceutical firms.

    Growing pressure from imports

    Vietnam is now home to about 20 large-scale confectionery businesses, and several hundred small enterprises, with some major importers and distribution companies also joining the market.

    Established brands such as Mondelez, Kinh Do, Bibica, Hai Ha, Huu Nghi, Trang An, Hanobaco, and Pham Nguyen currently hold a 60-65% market share.

    There are also several foreign businesses operating in the field, such as Kraft, Meiji, Glico, Orion, and Lotte.

    Since January 1, 2015, imported confectionery from ASEAN countries enjoyed a zero percent tax rate in the Vietnamese market, under the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA). The products from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have therefore inundated the domestic market.

    According to the market observers, Vietnam’s confectionery market still remains very lucrative to foreign players. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are expected to take place more frequently in the future, putting significant pressure on local firms like Hai Ha and Huu Nghi.

  • China’s Growth Engines Are Slowly Converging

    China’s Growth Engines Are Slowly Converging

    Growth in China’s economy has long centered on the coast, where Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta form some of the world’s most productive regions on their own.

    But now that tide of internal migration that drew hundreds of millions of workers from the farm to factory is shifting, and lifting the economic prospects of the country’s interior.

    As big-city living costs rise and job openings become less abundant, more migrants are now leaving China’s urban centers than new ones arriving, according to Oxford Economics Ltd.

    “Labor costs on the East Coast are now too high for industries further down the value chain to remain competitive internationally,” London-based economist Alessandro Theiss wrote in a report, citing an 8 million decline in the migrant population from 2014 to 2016.

    The shift should benefit inland provinces, especially in southwest regions like Sichuan, as companies move production to take advantage of lower costs while remaining connected to coastal export hubs and industrial clusters, he said.

    Southern and northwestern provinces are are likely to keep expanding relatively fast as they benefit from catch-up growth, fiscal support and geographic location, while the northeast is likely to remain the slowest-growing region as population declines and coal mining consolidates more in inland provinces, according to Theiss.

    While the east coast was hit by slower global trade in recent years, conditions are now improving. Specialized manufacturing clusters and export hubs are innovating and moving up the value chain, and research activity is boosting the region.

    That’s good news for some of China’s biggest drivers: Coastal Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces each account for around 10 percent of national output and all had output last year that exceeded Mexico’s, Theiss said. The future looks favorable for east coast provinces with more mature economies, as well as those in central China.

    “They continue to innovate and to move-up the value chain, specializing in advanced manufacturing such as robotics and genomics, and expanding and developing specialized manufacturing clusters,” Theiss said. “First-class infrastructure, significant R&D spending, large FDI inflows, a rapidly growing domestic market as well as a highly educated workforce should allow them to continue to grow at a solid pace.”

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  • Nokia recently announced its first Nokia smartphone – Nokia 3,5,6

    Nokia recently announced its first Nokia smartphone – Nokia 3,5,6

    HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, recently announced at Thailand Mobile Expo 2017 that its first Nokia smartphone range, comprising of the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6, will be available in all major operators and retailers in Thailand by end of June in 2017.

    Executives who attended the launch include (from left to right): Ponskorn Bencharongkul, Managing Director, Y.A.S Company, Arkapong Linpisarn, SVP, Head of Device Management Division,Total Access Communication, Sandeep Gupta, Regional General Manager, Thailand and Emerging Asia, HMD Global, James Rutherfoord, Vice President Asia Pacific at HMD Global, Tuantong Srivichian, Director, Device Product, True Corporation, Pairoj Thavornsapanant, Assistant Managing Director, TG Fone and Dusit Sukumvitaya , Vice President, Product, Jaymart Mobile

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  • Minister Ibrahim opens CommunicAsia2017

    Minister Ibrahim opens CommunicAsia2017

    “They say ‘change is the only constant’, but change has never come at a faster rate,” said Ibrahim. “Convergence and disruption are transforming the way we operate. Every so often, we see another Airbnb or Uber come along, up-ending the way our economies function.”

    Global upheaval

    “Across the world, we see greater calls for protectionism,” he said. “I am sure we recognize this reality in our countries. But how do we deal with such upheaval?”

    “We can, of course, try to protect our economies and close them off-take the easier path. But history has shown that those who resist change eventually fall behind and end up playing catch-up.”

    Digital strategies

    “As ministers and policy-makers, we have been looking at the policies to prepare our country, so that we are digitally ready to thrive in the future economy,” said Ibrahim. “The TechSkills Accelerator, or TeSA, we launched last year aims to deepen skills and capabilities. Over 10,000 ICT professionals have gained from TeSA so far.”

    “We will be training another 10,000 public servants in data science to improve capabilities in the public service. We are also reaching out to the small medium enterprises. With the SMEs Go Digital program, we want to help our small businesses scale up and boost productivity through technology.”

    Culture of experimentation

    “We want to encourage a culture of collaborating, sharing and experimenting,” said the Minister. “One way we are doing this is to provide dedicated spaces and tools for people to tinker around with innovative projects, and exchange ideas with others in the community.”

    “The PIXEL Lab at the Jurong Regional Library is one such space. Tools and equipment like 3D printers and micro-controllers are available for anyone who wants to play around with them.”

    Regulation without stifling innovation

    “How do we regulate without stifling innovation? Last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, launched a regulatory sandbox for financial institutions and FinTech players. The idea is to provide a conducive space where certain regulatory requirements are relaxed for a period of time, to encourage firms to test their solutions. If the experiment fails-and there will be some that do, it does so within a confined space, without major impact on our financial system.”

    “Digital is the future, but the future is not only digital,” said Ibrahim. “I believe analogue will remain for some time in many of our countries. We must look into harnessing the benefits of digital to transform older, analogue processes and sectors. This is one way to ensure a more inclusive and equitable distribution of benefits we gain from technology.”

  • How brands use short videos for marketing in China

    How brands use short videos for marketing in China

    As the luxury industry discusses Snapchat’s marketing possibilities and, more recently, Instagram’s latest filter feature, brands looking toward the China market are facing a completely different short video industry. It’s one that has witnessed rapid development thanks to the popularity of smartphones and upgraded communication networks in China.

    In March this year, Kuaishou, a popular short video app, was on the receiving end of a US$350 million investment from Tencent, and Alibaba put RMB 2 billion toward the transformation of Tudou from a large, formerly popular online video platform to a short video community. Also, Yixia Technology, owner of Miaopai and Xiaokaxiu, both popular short video apps in China, has already spent RMB 2 billion to encourage short video content creators and producers by building several video creation bases and providing professional studios.

    Short videos are perfect for young, tech savvy consumers who take their phone with them everywhere and use it to access social media or to fill in short breaks in the day between other activities.

    But which short video apps are the most popular in China? Who are the viewers of these short videos? How can brands market to them? What should brands take into consideration when launching short video campaigns?

    China’s short video apps

    Similar to short video platforms like Viddy and Instagram, there are numerous short video platforms and apps in China where users can record real-time short videos and share them with friends. As for users, there were 153 million regularly watching China’s short videos in 2016. This is estimated to reach 242 million by 2017, an increase of 58.2 percent.

    CIWEEK, an internet content magazine, released a list of their top 10 short video apps in China in the first half year in 2016 and Kuaishou, Miaopai, and Meipai were the most popular.

    Of these, there are actually two types of short video platform in China:

    1. Comprehensive platforms: professional short video platforms

    These platforms, such as Meipai, Miaopai, and Xiaokaxiu, provide a one-stop user experience. Users can use various shooting tools, effect settings, and formats while filming or editing a video. They also offer a community for users to share their videos with friends. Short videos uploaded on those platforms can also be shared with WeChat friends, WeChat Moments, and Weibo.

    2. Content recommendation: news apps

    These platforms, such as Toutiao, NetEase, Tencent News, and Yidian Zixun, focus on suggesting popular or professional short videos. These platforms were originally news-based and mass communication oriented. They have millions of viewers and short videos recommended on these platforms can get huge amounts of traffic.

    Who are the viewers?
    The main users of China’s short video apps are young. Most of them belong to the post-90s generation. According to a report published in March 2017 by JIGUANG, a big data provider, users ages 16 to 25 make up 39.7 percent of the total, while users aged 26-35 are at 33.3 percent. Meanwhile, over half of the users are female, making them 69.4 percent of the total number of users.

    In terms of regions, 66.9 percent of the total come from third-tier and below third-tier cities in China. The top 3 provinces for viewer numbers are Guangdong, Henan, and Shandong.

    How are brands using short video?
    Short video is becoming a new favorite marketing tool for brands for several reasons. Short videos can be used for various types of promotional materials, such as product reviews, product seeding, promoting brand culture and more. With interesting and meaningful content, short videos can deliver specific brand messages to a target audience while avoiding the annoyance that longer videos may cause. The production cycle of short videos is quick with great flexibility, which works well with brands’ marketing plans and budgets. Through audience interactions with short videos, brands can better understand their preferences, rapidly improve their user experience, and come up with effective marketing plans quickly. Integrated campaigns launched on short video platforms can be creative and diverse.

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  • Renault, Peugeot commit to raise orders from troubled parts maker

    Renault, Peugeot commit to raise orders from troubled parts maker

    French car makers Renault and Peugeot have committed to increasing their orders from ailing components-maker GM&S Industry after their chief executives spoke with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, his ministry said on Sunday.

    The future of the company, which employs 277 people in central France and is facing liquidation, was a priority of President Emmanuel Macron’s new administration, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

    Renault agreed to raise its orders by 5 million euros to 10 million while PSA committed to lifting its purchases by 2 million euros to 12 million, the ministry said in a statement.

    “These commitments will allow the firm in 2017 to reach a turnover close to 25 million euros, and make it possible for it to continue operations and pursue takeover discussions,” it said.

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  • Viu debuts in Thailand

    Viu debuts in Thailand

    Viu has officially launched in Thailand, offering premium Asian content with Thai subtitles, comprising the latest dramas and variety shows from Korea and Japan.

    This brings the service to 15 markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Middle East namely Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

    “The Hallyu which is sweeping across Asia is notable in Thailand and we are pleased to see that Viu has already recorded over 820,000 fans on Viu Thailand Facebook page even months before our launch,” said Janice Lee, managing director of PCCW Media Group.

    “Leading K-communities and die-hard Korean fans in Thailand all eagerly await Viu’s service launch to access our vast library of premium Korean and other Asian content,” said Lee.

    She said Viu research shows that 93% of online population in Thailand have watched videos on the web.

    “We are fully leveraging this surging trend with a two-pronged approach of our services: ad-supported free viewing of their favorite shows and subscription services with express content access and premium features such as unlimited downloads, 1080p HD video quality and ad-free video viewing,” said Lee.

    “As Thailand is one of the most highly Internet penetrated markets with Millennials who are very receptive to online video viewing and digital advertisements, we expect Viu Thailand to mirror the success we have in other Asian markets with healthy growth in subscription and advertising revenue in due course,” she added.

  • AirAsia to introduce ePos system for F&B orders on flights

    AirAsia to introduce ePos system for F&B orders on flights

    Budget carrier AirAsia will introduce an electronic point of sales (ePos) system in the next eight months to allow passengers to make food and beverage (F & B) orders and payments online during flights.

    AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the ePos system could be accessed through the on board WiFi service, roKKi, and this was a part of the airlines digitalisation efforts at creating better, more innovative inflight offerings.

    “It is opposed to just pushing the food trolley, and will help us serve customers faster and efficiently with them making orders from their smart phones,” he told the media at the AirAsia Santan Food Festival in Sepang on Monday.

    Fernandes said since the roKKi Wi-Fi service was launched in 2014, about 6% of passengers on board had used it.

    On the Santan Food Festival, he said AirAsia had collaborated with about 50 Asean F & B enterprises in offering the meals from across the region.

    “What we are doing is bringing the wonderful flavour of Asean into Santan to create a unique food experience, with the vision of replicating the on-ground gourmet experience on board flights,” he added.

    He said the company was also exploring the use of green packaging and an inflight coffee trolley to enable freshly brewed coffee to be served on board flights.

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  • Viacom launches global product development group

    Viacom launches global product development group

    Viacom has launched the global product development group, a new, streamlined team dedicated to creating multiplatform products for audiences around the world, with a focus on video content.

    The group has been charged with establishing a unified strategy for developing digital applications and websites for Viacom’s teen- and adult-oriented brands, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Paramount Network, VH1, TV Land, CMT and Logo.

    The group will work closely with Viacom’s brands and technology, ad sales and content distribution functions to ensure these products both enhance how audiences engage with Viacom’s content and support the Pay TV ecosystem, such as through the use of authenticated video.

    Among the group’s initial priorities is expanding Play Plex, Viacom International Media Networks’ (VIMN) suite of mobile apps, to the US and other key markets to create a seamless video-on-demand solution for global audiences.

    It is currently in the process of transitioning Viacom’s worldwide websites to a single web framework, which will ultimately help to deliver tailored content to audiences based on their geographic location.

    Led by Dan Reich, who has been appointed SVP, the Global Product Development Group brings together product teams from across Viacom’s adult brand portfolio, VIMN and corporate.

    In this expanded role, Reich will oversee the integration of these teams, fostering greater collaboration and helping to prioritize and scale resources.

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