Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • University of Nottingham Malaysia deploys Wi-Fi network

    University of Nottingham Malaysia deploys Wi-Fi network

    The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) has become the first site in APAC to implement a network combining Brocade network switches and Wi-Fi access systems from Ruckus Wireless.

    The new wired and wireless network, deployed under a managed service agreement, provides 2,400 on-campus students with coverage within UNMC’s student hostels.

    “One of our key strategies for competing for the best faculty and students is to provide them with best-in-class facilities, which is why we’ve invested in a complete infrastructure revamp to support our student network services,” said UNMC’s Director of Campus Services Nicholas Ching.

    Established in 2000, UNMC was the first branch of a British university in the country and one of the first to open outside Britain. It has been rated as “excellent” or Tier 5, making it the highest rated international university in Malaysia on a scale of Tier 1-6 by the Malaysian government.

    Ching said a key requirement for UNMC was to provide students with highly reliable Wi-Fi access, offering predictable performance and support for the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.

    The implementation team carried out a complete site survey across the 11 hostels to ensure seamless wireless coverage without any blind spots. The implementation utilizes Ruckus adaptive antenna technology and automatic interference mitigation, which is designed to deliver consistent, predictable performance at extended ranges, enabling strong wireless coverage in each student dorm room.

    “University students are all digital natives with high expectations about Wi-Fi access quality and a low tolerance for service failure,” said Abdul Aziz Ali, country manager for Malaysia, Brocade. “Accessing high-bandwidth video services, class materials, and social applications is a big part of engaging in campus life.”

    As part of the managed services agreement with UNMC, Brocade partner MYI Technologies will have a resident engineer on site for three years on a 24 by 7 basis. The engineer will also be responsible for supporting the Internet gateway and security components of the university’s student network services.

  • Direct air link to Indonesia from Mumbai soon

    Direct air link to Indonesia from Mumbai soon

    A direct air link between India and Indonesia is set to become a reality with Garuda Indonesia, the South East Asian country’s national air carrier, considering to launch a service soon.

    Garuda Indonesia plans to introduce direct flights connecting Jakarta-Mumbai. In all likelihood, it should happen this December, Consul General of Indonesia Saut Siringoringo said here on Tuesday.

    He hoped the move would not only address the biggest challenge — absence of direct air connectivity — but eventually also provide a boost to bilateral trade, tourism and people to people ties. Tourism, he added, has considerable potential, particularly in pushing up the number of people from India visiting Indonesia.

    From 2,70,000 Indian tourists last year, which was a 13 per cent growth, the number would cross 3,50,000 this year. “I am very optimistic, this year it could even reach 4,00,000,” the Consul General said, pointing out visa free facility, for stay upto 30 days, was provided on arrival to Indian tourists. Mr. Siringoringo is from the Consulate in Mumbai that covers eight States, including all those in south India. His office, he added, issued around 7,000 working permits every year.

    Bilateral trade

    On the bilateral trade, he said it was around $16 billion and the need for Indonesia was to diversify it beyond the coal and palmoil. Pharmaceuticals and agriculture were two areas that could contribute to the diversification, he added.

    The Consulate, he said, was keen on showcasing Indonesia and strengthening ties with India through programmes. It recently organised a two-day ‘Expo Indonesia 2016’ in Mumbai featuring 37 Indonesian companies. Apart from showcasing a range of products, including furniture, paper, health-care products, food, the event served as a platform to explore business ties. The last time such an exhibition was conducted was in 2007, Mr. Siringoringo said.

    Stating that there is a lot of interest on both sides, he said 130 business delegates from India attended the ‘Trade Expo Indonesia 2016’ last month in Jakarta, an event that witnessed a transaction of $ 84 million.

    Apart from holding another exhibition next year, the Consulate is also getting ready for the visit of a Ramayana troupe comprising 100 dancers from Indonesia.

  • 3HK to offer a year’s free OTT video subscription

    3HK to offer a year’s free OTT video subscription

    Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holding’s mobile division 3 Hong Kong is offering a year’s free subscription to its premium subscription TV and VOD service to all new and existing 4G users.

    The mobile version of the myTV SUPER and TVB Premium subscription VOD service will be made available free of charge. A 12-month subscription has a usual price of HK$380 ($49).

    The operator has also launched the TVB Data Pack subscription service, offering 1GB, 3GB or 6GB of data for HK$20, HK$50 or HK$80 respectively.

    HTHKH COO Jennifer Tan said the company has introduced the offer to help usher Hong Kong into the 4.5G era after converging its FDD and TDD networks.
    “Our smooth and stable network, together with abundant bandwidth from our 4.5G network, provides the capacity needed to build an OTT service platform, so we are now ready to carry all kinds of dynamic mobile apps,” she said.

    “myTV SUPER has become one of the most popular OTT offerings following inception earlier this year – and we are delighted to offer 12 months’ service free of charge to all 3 Hong Kong’s 4G users to help celebrate launch of our 4.5G network.”

    Broadcaster TVB has been expanding the reach of its myTV SUPER subscription TV service. Earlier this month, the broadcaser expended its relationship with fixed line operator HKBN to cover the delivery of more myTV SUPER set top boxes for the company’s fixed line customers.

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  • Prepaid purchases gaining traction in India

    Prepaid purchases gaining traction in India

    For the first time, cash is no longer king in India’s online shopping scene.

    In a post-Diwali media release, India’s online marketplace Snapdeal reported that customers across India were willing to pay at the time of making the purchase instead of opting for cash on delivery.

    “This was in part driven by Snapdeal’s partnerships with eight leading banks this Diwali including with American Express, Axis Bank, Citi Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, State Bank of India and Yes Bank,” the report noted.

    These banks offered 10-25% additional instant discounts on each day of the sale in October. Data also showed that customers who bought electronics and furniture were the most likely to go for prepaid options.

    Among the cities, Trivandrum had the highest share of prepaid orders, constituting a whopping 85% of the total orders from the city. But the preference for prepaid transactions was the strongest in South India, followed by North, West, and East in that order.

    Snapdeal’s Unbox Diwali Sale was held from October 2-6. On the first 16 hours of the sale alone, Snapdeal reported more than 800,000 buyers from over 2,800 cities and towns across India, with sales volumes jumping six times the daily average. The orders went to nearly 50,000 sellers all over the country.

    During the sale, the e-commerce giant said it recorded the fastest shipping track record by delivering an order within an hour. An order for iPhone 5s placed at 7.20 a.m. was delivered to the buyer in Gurgaon at 8.10 a.m.

    To power faster deliveries, Snapdeal said nearly 72% orders were shipped out of its fulfillment centers (SD+). Nearly 32,000 people deployed every day of the month to deliver the packages across India.

    On the seller side, out of the more than 300,000 sellers on the platform, more than 32,000 sellers saw sales grow 7X from last Diwali season. The cities where most of these sellers are based were: Delhi NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Surat.

    A little more than 60% orders came from Tier 2 cities and beyond. Moreover, over 82% of overall orders were placed through mobile platforms. The highest numbers of units ordered were for the fashion category, followed by home, electronics and mobiles in that order. In the fashion category, women’s’ ethnic wear was the most popular purchase.

    Diwali or Deepavali is a Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn. People generally dress up and exchange gifts on Diwali night and shop during the festive period.

  • Plug and Play to invest in dozens of Indonesian start-ups

    Plug and Play to invest in dozens of Indonesian start-ups

    Indonesia is a few steps closer to becoming the largest digital economy in the region, as one of Silicon Valley’s largest players, Plug and Play, has expressed interest in investing in dozens of Indonesian start-ups.

    Despite Silicon Valley firms being discouraged from investing abroad recently, Plug and Play seems to see huge potential in Indonesia’s digital economy, as the US tech giant signed a joint venture agreement with local investment firm Gan Kapital to establish Plug and Play Indonesia.

    State-owned lenders Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) will be actively involved in the mobile financial technology-focused start-up accelerator.

    The local branch will be officially established next January and invest in up to 50 early-stage start-ups per year. They will receive funding, mentorship and complimentary co-working space for a three-month period.

    Plug and Play CEO and founder Saeed Amidi said the company hoped to establish 200 Indonesia start-ups in its portfolio by 2020 in response to the visit of Indonesian delegates, led by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo earlier this year.

    “It took us a few months to come here but we are super excited to start this journey together and work together to build a better economy, what we call knowledge-based economy and digital economy, here in Indonesia,” he said following a meeting with the President on Tuesday.

    During his visit to Plug and Play’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, as part of his visits to the headquarters of US technology giants, Jokowi expressed his expectation to have the company partake in Indonesia’s efforts to become Southeast Asia’s biggest digital economy.

    He even wrote “Start it up together, prosper together” at Plug and Play’s headquarters, from which up to 100 start-ups across the globe are developed every year, including Dropbox, with US$3.5 billion in funds raised by its start-ups since 2006.

    Gan Kapital Group chief financial officer Wesley Harjono, who will also be managing director of Plug and Play Indonesia, said it will allocate around $10 million per year for the 50 start-ups that they have chosen to support.

    “If there are 50 start-ups and we give an average of $500,000 per start-up, then we can prepare $10 million per year,” he stated, adding that start-ups would also enjoy exposure to the global market in hopes that investors abroad would also start to take part.

    Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara highlighted the importance of Plug and Play’s presence in Indonesia to attract more foreign investment in the country’s e-commerce sector.

    “He has come here even at a time when Silicon Valley is being discouraged from investing abroad. He said he is confident about Indonesia and this is a positive factor,” he said.

    The government issued its 14th economic policy package last week, aimed at supporting the digital economy. The government expects the new policy package, dubbed the e-commerce road map, to create 1,000 “technopreneurs” and $130 billion in business value by 2020.

    The road map is intended to better protect national interests and give priority to small and medium enterprises and start-ups, and will offer grants or subsidies to boost their chances of surviving in the tough e-commerce industry.

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  • AirAsia India Sells Tickets From Rs 799 On Advance Bookings

    AirAsia India Sells Tickets From Rs 799 On Advance Bookings

    Budget-carrier AirAsia India has announced a promotional offer with all-inclusive fares starting from Rs 799 on travel next year.

    The AirAsia India offer is valid till November 20 and is applicable on travel from May 1, 2017 to February 6, 2018. The Rs 799 promotional offer is applicable on the Guwahati-Imphal route.

    Also, there is a Rs 999 offer, which is applicable on Kochi-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Bengaluru routes. Ticket prices on Bengaluru-Goa, Pune-Bengaluru, Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam routes start from Rs 1,299, Hyderabad-Goa Rs 1,599, Kochi-Hyderabad Rs 1,999 and Delhi-Bengaluru Rs 2,499, among others.

    Promotional offers by airlines have spurred a strong demand for air travel in India, which is among the fastest growing aviation market in the world.

    AirAsia India flew 5.89 lakh passengers in three months ended September, 2016, a 42 per cent increase from the number of passengers who flew with the airline in the corresponding period a year ago.

    During the quarter, the airline added three new destinations in its route network – Bengaluru-Guwahati, Bengaluru-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Goa.

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  • Air BP, AKR sign JV agreement in Indonesia

    Air BP, AKR sign JV agreement in Indonesia

    Air BP, the international aviation fuel products and services supplier, and AKR, an Indonesian distributor of chemicals, petroleum, logistics and supply chain solutions, have announced the signing of a JV agreement. The agreement was signed in London by Mr Jonathan Wood, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, Air BP, and Mr Haryanto Adikoesoemo, President Director of AKR.

    The JV company, PT Dirgantara PetroIndo Raya, will operate under the name of Air BP-AKR Aviation, with the remit to develop an aviation fuel business in Indonesia.

    Indonesia is one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets where domestic travel is projected to grow by an average of 15% per year, reaching 180 million passengers in 2021. The market is being driven by the strong economy with a growing middle class, an archipelago geography and increased tourism. Indonesia is now the world’s fifth largest domestic market, behind only the US, China, Japan and Brazil.

    “Air BP sees a great future for aviation in Indonesia and is pleased to be involved in this market and contribute to its future development and success,” said Wood.

  • MPPA opens its premium supermarket format in Denpasar, Bali

    MPPA opens its premium supermarket format in Denpasar, Bali

    The Foodmart Primo is a professionally designed upmarket supermarket with a café, “boutique” bakery and restaurant, offering a high level of local and imported goods in a pleasant ambience for a more enjoyable shopping experience.

    Director of Foodmart Operations, Dave Rao stated “Level 21 Mall is a life-style mall. Our presence is to provide a “one-stop” experience for the customers, whereby they can enjoy shopping at the various outlets as well as eat, drink and get their complete daily/weekly groceries at Foodmart Primo – all under one roof. Our assortment also includes handicrafts, souvenirs, aromatherapy, local snacks and more to cater to the large tourists precence in Bali.”

    ”To date, the Company had already established a presence in the Kuta area and has been looking for an opportunity to venture further into the residential parts of Bali. So when a location in the Level 21 lifestyle mall in Denpasar became available, MPPA took the opportunity to open another Foodmart Primo there.” he added.

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  • Salvatore Ferragamo Japan re-opens flagship

    Salvatore Ferragamo Japan re-opens flagship

    Italian luxury house Salvatore Ferragamo Japan has re-opened its wholly renovated and extended Tokyo flagship store, at Chuo-dori, Ginza.

    Salvatore Ferragamo Japan - Ginza 1

    Covering 600 sqm, the new store is now Salvatore Ferragamo’s largest in Japan. Extending over three floors, it carries the label’s full range of men’s and women’s collections: ready-to-wear apparel, handbags, footwear, leather goods, silk accessories, eyewear, fragrances, watches and jewellery.

    Salvatore Ferragamo Japan - Ginza 3

     

    Each floor comprises interconnected rooms creating a domestic feel. They are furnished with a blend of Italian design classics and references to period design from the 1930s to the 1950s. The decor is an Italian-style showcase, from Gio Ponti furniture to period Venetian glass vases, from sofas and chairs from Italy to handmade rugs, together with Venetian stucco and travertine marble. LED illumination highlights the products on display.

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  • AirAsia moves into new open-space headquarters

    AirAsia moves into new open-space headquarters

    After announcing that it would relocate to a new office in 2014, budget carrier AirAsia finally moved into its new space in Sepang, Malaysia, on Monday.

    The office, dubbed RedQuarters, is located on an 18,000-square-meter plot beside Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 ( KLIA2 ). It is reportedly set to house 2,000 AirAsia employees.

    With features like indoor grass and colorful, stylish furniture, the huge open-plan office breaks away from conventional office stereotypes. AirAsia told that the design was intended to reflect the company’s determination to become Malaysia and the region’s best airline, “while incorporating elements showcasing the professional, fun and friendly attitudes.”

    The company threw a celebratory opening party at the new headquarters featuring local entertainers SonaOne and Joe Flizzow.

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  • RideCell Delivers Global Carsharing And Ridesharing Platform For Automakers

    RideCell Delivers Global Carsharing And Ridesharing Platform For Automakers

    RideCell, the developer of a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform for leading automakers and transit providers globally, unveiled today at AutoMobility LA the worldwide release of its multiservice platform that allows car manufacturers to provide on-demand mobility when it’s needed and where it’s needed.

    By integrating ridesharing and carsharing into a single platform, RideCell makes it easy for car manufacturers to create and launch a premium mobility service in a matter of months.

    RideCell offers the ability for OEMs to brand and launch a standalone ridesharing service, a standalone carsharing service, or a service that offers both all from within a single integrated app experience. The white-label RideCell platform is a complete end-to-end solution and premium platform that automates every part of managing a ridesharing or carsharing operation, including: onboarding new riders, checking IDs, dynamic pricing, driver-rider matching, ride scheduling, payment processing, demand-supply balancing, personalized settings, and even referral programs and promotions. Using the RideCell platform, auto companies will be able to enter the carsharing market with a premium “free floating” carsharing service that allows customers to pick up and park cars anywhere within a service district.

    “Transportation is on the brink of a massive paradigm shift,” said Aarjav Trivedi, founder and CEO of RideCell. “We’re moving from a car ownership model to one where people order transportation for a specific purpose. Our expertise in powering mobility as a service since 2009 helps automakers become instant experts in carsharing and ridesharing. Our multiservice RideCell platform enables automakers to launch a service that provides choice, personalization, and convenience to every rider or driver.”

    The RideCell platform is being used by the BMW Group to power the ReachNow carsharing service. First introduced in April 2016, RideCell powers the service which has more than 370 BMW and MINI vehicles.

    RideCell is showcasing the multiservice platform for the first time publicly at AutoMobility LA in the Technology Pavilion in front of the West Hall at the LA Convention Center November 14-17. For more information about RideCell and its mobility services, please go to www.ridecell.com.

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  • Saint Laurent Malaysia opens second store

    Saint Laurent Malaysia opens second store

    Just weeks after the opening of the Saint Laurent Malaysia store at Suria KLCC, another has started trading at Pavilion KL.

    Its latest store aims to reflect the fashion brand’s heritage and identity, offering an original shopping experience. The boutique offers prêt-à-porter, accessories, shoes, sunglasses and jewellery for both men and women.

    Across two floors, one at street level, the boutique offers a modern interpretation of the French modernist movement of the 20th century, reports Buro 24/7. It takes a minimalist approach and is finished with art deco materials presenting an interplay of matte and shine through a fusion of materials: the floors and walls are in white statuary marble and black silk marble, with structures in polished brass and extra-clear glass.

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  • ‘Lead or lose’ message for food and grocery

    ‘Lead or lose’ message for food and grocery

    “Lead or lose” – that is the message for food and grocery businesses from chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch of the industry’s research and training charity IGD.

    Outlining her vision for the future of global retailing, she told delegates at the Canadian Grocer Thought Leadership Conference in Toronto that retailing was splitting into two parts: one largely automated and super-efficient, and the other based on delivering inspiration. “The blueprint is already emerging, not in one single place but spread across the world.”

    Drawing on examples of best practice from global retailers and manufacturers, she told how greater automation of everyday, staple purchases would drive shoppers to seek out excitement and creativity for the balance of their grocery shopping.

    “Eventually distribution centres will be run almost entirely by robots, and trucks will drive themselves,” she said. “Our smart appliances will use sensors to guarantee great cooking results, and people will hand over many decisions to their smart devices.

    “We’ll sign up to long-term deals, because that will be easiest and deliver best value. So as shoppers, our key staple items will turn up just in time, whenever we need them.

    “But on the other hand, as people’s lives keep growing more hectic, spontaneous buying and eating will also be even more popular. Online services will respond to this too, with meal kits and ready-to-eat food delivered to the door at rapid speed, but physical stores will always have the edge for instant gratification and for products we like to see before we buy.”

    More exciting

    Stores in convenient locations, such as train stations, would be favoured, so big stores would have to work harder to entice people. “They’ll become much more exciting, featuring lots of fresh food, new products, special events and more ways to taste, learn and discover. Experts will be on hand to give advice and deliver personal service.

    Branded manufacturers will be helping their retail customers to differentiate and deliver excitement, because those that don’t will be marginalised.”

    Retailers would also “compete fiercely” over health, said Denney-Finch, with the provenance of food and the ethics behind it being hugely important. “It will be an even more transparent world, and progressive companies will celebrate this. They’ll be really proud of the standards at every point of the chain for all the food they sell.”

    She said shoppers would be delighted and companies tested, “but the best will really thrive”.

    Denney-Finch said that having the right people with the right mix of skills would be needed to deliver this future of automation, from “highly capable food scientists, quality-control specialists and all-round good managers” to people who could bring new skills to both the in-store environment and supply chains.

    “Our research shows that most British shoppers view the leading supermarkets as largely interchangeable and even as part of the establishment,” she said, “so food stores need to become edgier and more inspirational. Both retailers and suppliers will need to invest in creativity and product expertise, because we’ll need more people in store to advise and recommend.

    “The more automated life becomes, the more essential it will be for companies to have a friendly face and to bring their brands to life.”

    Denney-Finch said a rich range of skills would be needed “as skills will separate the winners from the losers”.

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  • Shiseido profits leap 135 per cent

    Shiseido profits leap 135 per cent

    Shiseido profits for its latest nine months more than doubled over the same period last year.

    ‘New income’ leaped 135 per cent to a record ￥37.2 billion (US$345.8 million) for the nine months to September 30. The cosmetics company attributes this to several factors including an increase in operating income, the sale of intellectual property rights associated with the Jean Paul Gaultier brand, and gain from the sale of its Kamakura factory site.

    Shiseido’s operating income increased 17.1 per cent year on year to ￥38.7 billion. As well as “substantial” grown in its home market, it also had higher sales in Chinai and in travel retail.

    However, sales fell in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

    The company still expects its full-year net profits to grow by 1.8 per cent to Y30 billion with a significant year-on-year decrease in operating income in the fourth quarter.

  • Lawson China launching rewards points

    Lawson China launching rewards points

    From next month, Japan’s Lawson China convenience store group will offer rewards points to shoppers at its outlets.

    Points will be administered through the brand’s smartphone app, which already provides product information and discount coupons.

    Each yuan spent is expected to earn shoppers 10 reward points, exchangeable for store credit, likely at the rate of 1000 points for 1 yuan (US15 cents).

    Lawson has invested around $900,000 in Yoren, the Hong Kong-based developer of its app. As well as the points system, the duo has teamed up to analyse users’ purchases so the retailer can design sales campaigns and develop products.

    Lawson is considering similar efforts in other foreign markets. The group’s overseas network exceeds 1000 stores, including locations in Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai and Wuhan, and is rapidly expanding in China via franchise deals, particularly in Shanghai where there are more than 300,000 registered users of its app.

    Lawson will work with trading house Mitsubishi Corporation, which plans to become the retailer’s parent in January, to pursue a goal of having between 3000 and 5000 overseas stores by 2020.

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