Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Thai online marketing firm COL to expand via M&A’s

    Thai online marketing firm COL to expand via M&A’s

    Thailand’s online marketing company COL Pcl has set aside 500 million baht ($14.12 million) to pursue acquisitions as it seeks to expand its customer base across Southeast Asia.

    COL is the operator of OfficeMate, B2S, Central Online Shopping, Mobile E-Books, and Cenergy Innovation.

    “The competition has become so fierce that many companies are finding it difficult to run their business. Hence, there are opportunities to acquire them, which will help us enlarge our customer base domestically and internationally,” Worawut Unjai, chief executive of the COL Group, said.

    The company is also shifting its focus on online business, which is expected to generate revenues of 800 million baht this year.

    Only last week, it informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand that it completed its entire investment disposal in Central Group Online Co, representing 49 per cent of total shares, to its subsidiary Cenergy Innovation Co, which is into retail online marketing and IT solution, for 147 million baht.

    It cited in the statement that the joint venture with Central Department Store, a leader in Thai retail, is key to gaining competitive advantage in the online retail market. It will be able to leverage Central’s expertise in inventory management, brand, and connections with suppliers and customers.

    “We will launch a new online shopping website in the third quarter. We will gather the goods from Central Group and its major partners and target to have 180,000 items in the website this year,” he cited.

    The COL Group posted 10.8 billion baht in total revenue in 2015, up 9.2 per cent from the previous year.

    Of that, 60 per cent was from OfficeMate and 37 per cent from B2S. Central Online made up for the remaining 3 per cent, which is being boosted to around 10 per cent of total revenue in 2016.

    He said, the group’s net profit was 394 million baht, thanks to its adjusted strategies and management policy for better efficiency.

    The group increased the number of products and services to address customers’ needs and catered to various businesses.

    COL Group expects to grow its revenue this year by 10 per cent to 11.9 billion baht despite lower consumer spending.

    OfficeMate is the first company in the group that has expanded into other countries and it would add branches in Vietnam, which will officially open this year.

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  • Online store sells out million-yuan Maseratis

    Online store sells out million-yuan Maseratis

    Italian car-maker Maserati launched its flagship store on Tmall, Alibaba’s online shopping site and the first 100 Maserati SUV Levantes, priced at 999,800 yuan (€137,600), sold out 18 seconds after being put up for advance sale at exactly 3 pm yesterday in China.

    Ultra-luxury cars are suffering from China’s slowest economic growth in a quarter of a century, as well as a government crackdown on ostentatious displays of wealth, but online retailing may provide a window of opportunity for high-end autos.

    The car is Maserati’s first SUV and is due to officially launch in China in July, and Maserati will add 500 cars to the online offering for advance purchase to meet demand.

    Tmall is one of the most popular online shopping sites in China, where buying online is booming. China has 667 million internet users, and it is the world’s largest e-commerce market. Online retail sales in mainland China were worth 3.877 trillion yuan (€530 billion) last year, up by one third on the previous year.

    Slow growth and a general austerity campaign has hit the super-cars, although it did rebound slightly in late 2015 on the back of government tax breaks. The number of imported cars in 2015 dropped 25 per cent year-on-year last year, according to data from China Automobile Trading.

    BMW-owned brand Rolls-Royce saw a decline of 54 per cent in sales last year year-on-year, while Volkswagen-owned Bentley saw its China sales fall 36 per cent last year.

    Maserati’s fellow Italian luxury brand Ferrari said in October that sales in the first three quarters of last year were down 24 per cent to 157 cars.

    Bucking the trend is Porsche, which saw its 2015 China sales rise 24 per cent to 58,000 cars.

    “Compared with mass-market brands, the ultra-luxury car segment has been hit harder by the economic slowdown,” Beijing-based independent industry analyst Zhang Zhiyong told the Global Times newspaper.

    Zhang believes that ultra-luxury cars face limited growth potential in China in the next few years.

    “Entrepreneurs, who are the main consumers of ultra-luxury cars, are more vulnerable to changes in the macro-economy,” he said.

    Gao Mengxiong, sales director of Maserati China, said Maserati’s customers were relatively young. The average age of Quattroporte drivers was 38 years old, while the average age of Ghibli drivers was 32 years of age. The company has already introduced an English-language slogan here – “Levante The Maserati of SUVs”.

    Maserati’s global sales are currently running at around 32,000, below forecasts of 50,000, but CEO Harald Wester said he expects to add around 30,000 cars to sales next year, with China expected to drive strong growth.

  • Digi to spend $217.6m on capex in 2016

    Digi to spend $217.6m on capex in 2016

    Malaysia’s Digi Telecommunications has allocated 904 million ringgit ($217.6 million) in capex for 2016, to pursue expansion projects including the rollout of VoLTE and VoWiFi.

    The operator has roughly maintained its capex budget at the same size as 2015.

    Digi is currently testing voice over LTE and Wi-Fi technologies and anticipates a commercial launch this year, according to chief marketing officer Christian Thrane.

    He said the operator’s LTE network currently covers around 72% of Malaysia’s populated areas and 150 major cities and towns.

    In response to growing data demand, Digi recently launched a postpaid plan starting at 28 ringgit per month that offers higher internet quota than previous plans, as well as the ability to roll over unused data. The operator will offer promotional discounts on the new plans until June 30.

    Digi has also introduced data roaming plans for frequent and budget travellers starting at 10 ringgit per day.

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  • SingTel suspends mobile app after user detail leak

    SingTel suspends mobile app after user detail leak

    SingTel was forced to temporarily suspend the functions of its mobile app after a software glitch resulted in users viewing the personal information of another account.

    Customers logging into the My Singtel app were able to view and the personal details of a different customer, and to modify the data field under account information to add their own messages.

    Multiple users reported encountering this glitch over social media, with a number expressing concerns that their account details had been compromised.

    SingTel suspended access to the app, commenting in a statement that the glitch exposing the customer information only affected one account.

    The statement added that SingTel is still trying to get in touch with with the customer to apologize or explain.

    As of Midday yesterday most functions of the app had been restored, but not the bills, rewards and e-appointment features.

    The company insisted that this is an isolated incident and ensured customers that their account security had not been compromised.

  • ABK named ‘Best Retail Bank in Kuwait’

    ABK named ‘Best Retail Bank in Kuwait’

    Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) was recently recognized as the ‘Best Retail Bank in the Middle East’ by the Asian Banker; one of the most prestigious awards programs in the industry of financial services and one of Asia’s leading consultancies in financial services research, benchmarking and intelligence. The award was received by Stewart Lockie, General Manager Retail Banking at ABK, during an awards ceremony that was held on March 16th, at the W Hotel in Hong Kong.

    The ‘Best Retail Bank in the Middle East’ award reaffirms the Bank’s outstanding initiatives and  solid performance and demonstrates its unwavering efforts to provide superior services to its customers through the implementation of its ‘Simpler Banking’ strategy, which focuses on creating a simpler banking model offering convenience, speed and security.

    Stewart Lockie with Retail Banking staff

    Commenting on the Bank’s achievement, Stewart Lockie, General Manager Retail Banking at ABK said, “It is an honor to be recognized as the ‘Best Retail Bank in the Middle East’ by the Asian Banker since we received the award last year for Most Improved Retail Bank. ABK made a tremendous effort throughout 2015 to make substantial enhancements and developments to its services and systems with the aim of to simplify the banking process. I would like to thank the judging committee for realizing this effort and rewarding us for it and I would also like to congratulate the Retail Banking team on this award, and thank them for their continuous hard work and diligence.”

    ABK recently deployed a series of new enhancements to its systems as part of its ‘Simpler Banking’ strategy, such as reducing ‘End to End Loan’ processing time from six days to one day and the account opening process from nine hours to six minutes. It also introduced ‘Biometric Verification’ as an enhancement to its mobile banking system, as an additional security measure, in addition to several other developments.

    The Bank will continue to build on this great success and introduce further developments and enhancements that serve to differentiate ABK‘s services and support its ‘Simpler Banking’ strategy, with focus on delivering more convenience, security and speed.

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  • GoDaddy launches in 11 more APAC markets

    GoDaddy launches in 11 more APAC markets

    Small business technology services provider GoDaddy has expanded further into Asia, launching in 11 more markets including Hong Kong.

    The company has launched its suite of cloud-based products for SMEs across the region. With the launch GoDaddy services are now available in 14 Asian markets, also including Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

    GoDaddy offers a suite of cloud-based products and services including domain registry, website hosting, website development and productivity tools.

    The company offers also local language customer care and direct phone numbers in each of its new Asian markets.

    GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving noted that SMEs account for over 97% of all enterprises and employ over half the workforce across APEC economies.

    “Asia is home to one of the largest, most vibrant small business communities in the world,” he said.

    “As internet growth and smartphone adoption continue to accelerate across the region, it’s important that these businesses are able to create strong digital identities that will help them achieve their goals and compete online.”

    Globally, GoDaddy now services small businesses in 53 markets, supporting 26 languages – including 10 Asian languages – and 44 currencies.

  • TOT allows AIS to trial use of 2.1-GHz spectrum

    TOT allows AIS to trial use of 2.1-GHz spectrum

    Thai state-owned operator TOT has granted former concession holder AIS permission to provide a trial mobile service over the 2100-MHz spectrum band.

    TOT has not yet permitted AIS to commercially use the spectrum but will allow the private operator to conduct technical testing ahead of the signing of a planned partnership deal.

    But regulator NBTC is looking into the decision to allow the trial using 15 MHz of the 2100-MHz band after receiving an informal complaint complaining that this should not be allowed as they have yet to finalize the terms of the partnership.

    The operators are currently negotiating a deal to provide a joint 3G service over TOT’s 2100-MHz spectrum.

    AIS had been using the spectrum as part of its earlier build-operate-transfer concession agreement with the state-owned company.

    AIS subsidiary AWN currently provides wireless broadband over 15MHz of its own 2100-MHz spectrum and 15MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum, both acquired at auction under the new licensing regime. But the operator is keen to acquire access to more spectrum to meet rising data demand.

    In addition, AIS has reportedly reached an agreement with rival Dtac to roam the remaining AIS 900-MHz 2G subscribers to Dtac’s 1800-MHz network upon the switch-off of the 900-MHz service.

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  • Myanmar likely to delay 2600-MHz auction

    Myanmar likely to delay 2600-MHz auction

    Myanmar’s telecom ministry may need to delay a planned auction of 2600-MHz spectrum due to a conflict over whether the spectrum should be allocated before the regulatory framework is finalized.

    The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has intended to auction 140MHz of 2600-MHz spectrum by the end of March.

    But after industry consultations, the government has acknowledged that it may need to delay the process. The consultations brought to light a conflict between those believing that the spectrum should be allocated as quickly as possible to ensure the nation’s telecom operators have sufficient spectrum to meet demand, and those believing that a spectrum roadmap should be completed first to give greater clarity to the industry.

    Both Telenor Myanmanr and Ooredoo Myanmar have expressed a belief that the spectrum roadmap should be released before the auction.

    MCIT posts and telecom director U Than Htun Aung acknowledged that the ministry didn’t expect such a range of conflicting views on the matter, and that the auction may need to be delayed as a result of the conflict.

    The ministry had last indicated that it planned to conduct the auction on March 24.

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  • Rackspace debuts Red Hat powered private cloud

    Rackspace debuts Red Hat powered private cloud

    Rackspace has launched a new private cloud service that delivers OpenStack private clouds as-a-service using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform.

    Rackspace Private Cloud powered by Red Hat expands the Rackspace OpenStack-as-a-Service product portfolio.

    Managed by OpenStack and Red Hat experts at Rackspace and backed by Fanatical Support, the service combined public cloud benefits with the security, control and performance of an enterprise environment. The offering is backed by an industry-leading 99.99% OpenStack API uptime guarantee.

    Rackspace is contributing to Red Hat’s continued efforts to improve Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform by testing and certifying for broad hardware and software compatibility, performance and availability.

    Rackspace manages and maintains the Red Hat environment including the underlying Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Satellite and Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform so customers can focus on their business applications and not their infrastructure.

    Customers have a single point of contact that will deploy, manage and maintain their private cloud at Rackspace. As an additional feature, customers have the flexibility of bringing their own Red Hat subscriptions to Rackspace, using Red Hat Cloud Access.

    “As the leading operator of OpenStack clouds with the most comprehensive OpenStack product portfolio in the industry, Rackspace is excited to expand our managed services and expertise to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform,” said Darrin Hanson, vice president and general manager of OpenStack Private Cloud at Rackspace.

    “We help make OpenStack simple by eliminating the complexity and delivering it as-a-service to customers in their data center, a Rackspace data center or in a colocation facility.”

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  • Rakuten launches mobile e-commerce app in Taiwan

    Rakuten launches mobile e-commerce app in Taiwan

    Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has launched  consumer-to-consumer mobile e-commerce app Rakuma in Taiwan.

    The app, first launched in late 2014 in Japan, enables the sale of goods between individual consumers via smart devices. It allows quick product listing and direct communication among users.

    Rakuten said the app will target Taiwanese consumers interested in easy mobile access to e-commerce and is available for free download on Google Play and the iTunes Store.

    “We are excited about Rakuma making the leap from Japan to Taiwan with this popular mobile app and providing Taiwanese users with the opportunity to ‘sell and buy’ their personal, home and fashion goods seamlessly on their smart devices,” said Rakuma Business Manager, Takafumi Inoue.

    Taiwan is a priority market for Rakuten’s global growth strategy as Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba is already a leading e-commerce company in Taiwan and other newer Rakuten services, such as the Rakuten Card credit card and Rakuten Travel, continue to experience rapid growth.

    Rakuten is building its ecosystem of services that offers Taiwan users valuable membership benefits.

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  • Mobile apps collecting alarming amounts of data

    Mobile apps collecting alarming amounts of data

    More than half of mobile applications are collecting “alarming” quantities of data, a new study indicates.

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s HPE mobile application security report 2016 analyzes scans of more than 36,000 iOS and Android mobile apps, and reveals the impact of increasing data collection.

    As mobile applications become more prevalent in the work environment, it’s essential that organizations understand the security vulnerabilities of mobile applications and implement mobile security best practices and policies required to protect today’s digital enterprise. Adversaries are shifting their focus to mobile platforms, with more than 10,000 new Android threats discovered per day in 2015, and an iOS malware growth rate of more than 230%.

    “Modern mobile applications are collecting, transmitting and storing a wide range of data that often is not necessary to the application’s function, and can cause significant financial and reputational damage if a vulnerability is exploited,” said Jason Schmitt, vice president and general manager, HPE Security Fortify at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

    “With attackers’ growing interest in mobile, it’s critical that developers build security into applications from the onset, and organizations take a proactive approach to data security to better protect both personal and corporate data.”

    Not all apps need to track your location

    A majority mobile applications track your location, but not all of them need to. More than 50% of the scanned applications accessed geolocation data. This can create serious privacy implications in the event of an attack, as an attacker can gain access to the physical location of otherwise anonymous, unsuspecting users.

    While it makes sense for a traffic application to track location, the study found that more than 70% of education applications on iOS did as well. This is disturbing as education applications are often marketed towards children.

    The report also found that calendar data was accessed by more than 40% of the iOS games and more than 50% of the iOS weather apps scanned. Calendar data can be particularly sensitive, detailing not just when business meetings take place, but also the topics and invitees.

    Ad and analytics frameworks are commonplace in application development, with more than 60% of applications scanned using these frameworks. A framework that is misconfigured – or insecure to begin with – could be storing or transmitting a significant amount of highly specific and potentially sensitive data about users.

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  • Viettel launches carrier billing for Google Play

    Viettel launches carrier billing for Google Play

    Viettel has become Vietnam’s first operator to offer to offer direct carrier billing for the Google Play store.

    The operator has teamed up with carrier billing company Fortumo to offer carrier billing to its 55 million subscribers.

    Both postpaid and prepaid customers will be able to take advantage of the new function.

    Announcing the move, the companies said that smartphone penetration in Vietnam has reached 36.2% of all mobile users, but only 1.9% of the population have a credit card and 26.5% have a debit card. This makes the market well-suited to carrier billing services.

    “The key reason for Viettel selecting Fortumo was our industry-leading technical platform that is capable of simultaneously handling large app stores as well as leading OTTs,” Fortumo chief business officer Gerri Kodres said.

    “Additionally, Fortumo has been preferred choice for carriers in Asia because of our strong focus on the region and local presence.”

    In Asia, the operator’s platform is also used by music and streaming providers such as Sony, Alibaba’s UCWeb, Tencent and Huawei.

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  • Price war in Singapore over mobile data

    Price war in Singapore over mobile data

    A price war has erupted in Singapore for the first time in four years, as operators seek to stay competitive by lifting their data allowances.

    SingTel recently introduced a new add-on plan giving customers the option of doubling their mobile data allowance for an extra S$5.90 per month.

    Both M1 and StarHub quickly followed suit, with M1 introducing a similar option to SingTel and StarHub offering an extra 3GB of mobile data for a promotional rate of S$3 per month, rising to S$6 from April.

    The offers mean the operators have effectively halved their mobile plan charges in some cases. The biggest discounts are for more high-end plans.

    The cuts follow the ISP seeking to become Singapore’s fourth mobile operator, that it plans to charge as little as S$8 for a mobile plan with 2GB of data, with value added services charged at market rates.

    MyRepublic also plans to offer an unlimited data plan for S$80 per month. The incumbent operators currently do not offer unlimited data options.

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  • Thailand’s AIS facing 2G switch-off

    Thailand’s AIS facing 2G switch-off

    Subscribers to Thai operator AIS’ 900-MHz 2G service could face having their services disconnected by midnight tonight amid an ongoing dispute over spectrum usage.

    AIS still has around 400,000 2G subscribers left on its 900-MHz 2G network, but spectrum AIS had been using for the service has been reallocated at auction to True Move H Universal Communication.

    True’s 900-MHz license is due to take effect from today, leaving the fate of the remaining subscribers hanging in the balance. According to the report, AIS is expected to announce that its 2G subscribers will not face any disruption as a result of the reallocation, even though the rules stipulate that AIS will have to switch off its 900-MHz service after the spectrum changes hands.

    The NBTC recently held meetings with AIS, state-owned TOT and True over ways to prevent disruption to the remaining customers. But the companies were reportedly unable to reach a mutual agreement.

    True had offered to let AIS use its 900-MHz spectrum in exchange for a usage fee, but AIS has insisted on using the 900-MHz spectrum from the other winner of 900-MHz spectrum, Jas Mobile Broadband. The NBTC has rejected this proposal.

    Meanwhile the regulator has ordered that the applications of around 800,000 2G subscribers of AIS and rival Dtac be port their mobile number to True’s network be expedited.

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  • Dtac launches social media campaign in support of AIS

    Dtac launches social media campaign in support of AIS

    Dtac has launched a social media campaign under the hashtag #fairfight pledging support for AIS and its subscribers.

    The campaign features Dtac CEO Lars Norling saying that he cares for all mobile users and that AIS 2G subscribers are welcome to roam on Dtac and do not have to worry about their SIM cards being cut off. AIS subscribers do not need to port their numbers to any new network to continue using their phones.

    This is a thinly veiled reference to TrueMove’s ongoing campaign to win customers from both their networks.

    However, at the last moment literally minutes before the planned network switch-off, AIS was granted an injunction by administrative court nullifying the NBTC order that AIS would have to switch off its 2G network on midnight of 15 March.

    AIS CEO Somchai Lertsutiwong asked the court that it be allowed to continue to use 5 MHz of Jas’ 900-MHz spectrum (that it is already using). Somchai argued that continuing to use Jasmine’s as yet unclaimed spectrum would have no effect on TrueMove’s 900-MHz licence that was granted on Monday 14 March.

    The court order allowed AIS to continue using the 900-MHz spectrum for another 30 days until 14 April. The deadline for Jasmine to pay for its 900-MHz spectrum is 21 March.

    AIS has an estimated 400,000 users still dependent on its 2G network, most with 3G capable SIMs but old 3G handsets.

    Meanwhile AIS has been ordered by the supreme court to pay state-owned CAT Telecom $200,000 (7 million baht) plus interest for negligence. The court ruled in CAT’s favour that AIS was responsible for negligence in allowing 165 subscribers to take out 185 numbers with incomplete or falsified identity documents or signatures and make overseas calls on CAT’s network that could not be traced and billed.

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