Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • Tim Hortons plans ‘hundreds’ of restaurants across SE Asia

    Tim Hortons plans ‘hundreds’ of restaurants across SE Asia

    Japan’s Marubeni plans to open hundreds of Tim Hortons coffee shop franchises in three Southeast Asian countries, a move the trading conglomerate hopes will make around $300 million in sales by 2033.

    Tim Hortons, headquartered in Canada, currently has over 5,600 locations worldwide. Marubeni signed an agreement with Tim Hortons’ parent company, Restaurant Brands International, to develop and operate the new coffee shops in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

    Marubeni plans to start opening franchises in Singapore and Malaysia in the next fiscal year beginning this April, while stores in Indonesia will begin opening in fiscal 2024. The plans will see hundreds of new Tim Hortons franchises in operation by 2033.

    Marubeni will make use of its existing retail network in Southeast Asia to support operation of the new businesses, which will have menus tailored to local tastes. Currently, Marubeni chiefly operates stores that sell pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

    The Tim Hortons franchises will be the first businesses launched under a new corporate development division Marubeni established last year, focused on business growth in the Asian consumer market.

    Going forward, Marubeni plans to position restaurant operations as a core segment of its business expansion ventures.

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  • MacBook Air M2 price falls to record low

    MacBook Air M2 price falls to record low

    Seven months after the MacBook Air M2 went on sale in Vietnam, its price has plummeted 20.1% to VND26.4 million, the lowest price for an Apple laptop ever sold in the country.

    The MacBook Air M2 was officially distributed in the Vietnamese market for the first time in July 2022 with the price of VND32.99 million for the 8 GB RAM model with a 256 GB internal memory.

    Vietnamese electronics retailers said the MacBook Air line has accounted for 80% of total sales of MacBook models using the Apple M2 chip.

    After remaining stable last year, the price of the Macbook Air M2 began to fall sharply at the beginning of this year.

    “Sales of laptops using the M2 chip have not been as high as expected, so Apple has decided to adjust their prices,” a reseller explained. “As the market is low, authorized resellers are slashing prices further to stimulate demand.”

    A manager of electronics retailer CellphoneS added: “Another reason for the decrease in the MacBook Air M2 price is that the inventory is too big, forcing retailers to lower the price to recover their cash flow.”

    Earlier, the price of the MacBook Air M1 had declined by VND6 million from VND29 million in November 2020 to VND23 million two years later.

  • Gmail interface gets optimized for foldable phones like Galaxy Z Fold 4

    Gmail interface gets optimized for foldable phones like Galaxy Z Fold 4

    Foldable phones are supposed to be more than just glorified tablets and big-screened mobile phones. They are getting better each year with new software tricks. The latest improvement is a new interface for Gmail.
    Up until now, foldable phones displayed a stretched-out version of the Gmail app that you see on conventional phones. Google has given the interface a makeover and now, foldable phone users with book-style phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 will see a 2-pane layout for Gmail. The 2-pane view is also available for Meet and Chat.
    What this means is that the left part of the foldable screen will show the inbox and the right half will show an opened email. This makes sense from a multitasking perspective and will save a lot of back and forth when browsing emails.
    As part of our mission to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, Android foldable-device users have been able to access a 2-pane view for Google Meet and Gmail. We’re excited to announce this also includes the Chat tab in the Gmail app. | This is now available. Google Workspace
    The search bar is above the inbox and the Compose button can also be seen on the first half of the screen. The bottom bar spans the width of the entire screen. In contrast, you see a vertical navigation rail on tablets. Little touches like these help create a distinct identity for foldable handsets.
    Google has increased its focus on foldable phones and tablets in recent times. The company announced its tablet-first OS Android 12L in late 2021 to make the software experience better on devices with large screens.
    It includes little tweaks and optimizations that make better use of larger screens, such as a vertically split notification shade and a taskbar to allow users to launch apps quickly.
    Google didn’t really care about tablets for the longest time. That’s changing now, and one of the major reasons behind this renewed interest is that the company has a tablet and probably a foldable phone on the way.
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  • Tesla to halt some China production for upgrades

    Tesla to halt some China production for upgrades

    Tesla Inc will suspend some production until the end of February as the electric-vehicle maker upgrades the facility to make a refreshed version of the Model 3 compact sedan, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

    Tesla is developing a revamped version, codenamed “Highland”, of the Model 3, first launched in 2017, Reuters reported in November.

    The Bloomberg report said that some workers will not be allowed on production lines from as soon as Sunday.

    To spur demand, Tesla had cut prices globally in January, unleashing a price war.

    Ford Motor Co reacted with its price cuts for its Mustang Mach-E and Lucid Group provided discounts for certain variants of the Air luxury sedan.

     

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  • Home rental market booming

    Home rental market booming

    Searches for rental properties in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City surged 101% in January against last year, while rents rose, according to the real estate website Batdongsan.

    In Hanoi, searches for rental apartments and houses increased 112% and 38%, respectively. The respective figures for HCMC were 157% and 107%.

    The average rent of apartments in Hanoi and HCMC climbed up 8% and 4%, respectively. The average rent of rental houses increased 33% in Hanoi and 18% in HCMC.

    Dinh Minh Tuan, head of Batdongsan in the southern region, said the reasons include a higher demand from enterprises and migrant workers.

    He said some firms, which downsized last year, are now renting premises with an area of 50-70 square meters in apartment blocks in city centers.

    The higher demand has led to higher rents.

    Selling prices of apartments have increased 30-40% over the past two years, but rents have risen at lower rates.

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  • Vietnamese favor Canadian lobsters, snow crabs

    Vietnamese favor Canadian lobsters, snow crabs

    Vietnam spent US$65 million importing Canadian seafood, mainly lobsters and snow cabs last year, doubling 2021 imports and trebling 2020.

    Among Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam was Canadian’s biggest seafood importer, Steve Craig, Minister of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, said at a recent business networking event in HCMC.

    Although Vietnam is the world’s fourth largest seafood exporter with an annual turnover of $11 billion, it is still a fertile ground for Canadian products, he said, noting that Vietnamese are among the world’s top seafood consumers.

    Tran Van Truong, CEO of Royal Seafood chain, an official importer of Canadian seafood in large quantities, said the seafood is famous in Vietnam because their prices are always stable and often 5-20%, sometimes 40%, lower than imports other countries.

    Currently, in the Vietnamese market, Canadian lobsters are priced at VND1.4 million ($59.3) per kilogram, and Australian lobsters at VND2.4 million. The price of cod, oysters, and geoducks imported from Canada are also lower.

    Between 50 and 60 Vietnamese firms directly import Canadian seafood, and the number of Canadian seafood shops in Vietnam is rising.

    Canada will create more favorable conditions for Canadian and Vietnamese seafood to penetrate more deeply into each other’s markets, Craig said, stating that the Vietnamese market is very promising.

    Overall, bilateral trade between Canada and Vietnam was $14 billion last year, he said, noting that Vietnam is Canada’s biggest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

     

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  • Airlines propose scrapping airfare caps

    Airlines propose scrapping airfare caps

    Airlines and some experts have proposed hiking and eventually removing domestic airfare caps to support businesses in difficult times.

    Last year, no domestic airlines were profitable because of higher fuel costs, foreign exchange rates, and interest rates, while airfare caps have been kept unchanged for eight years. On Friday, participants at a conference on supporting the aviation industry said that the caps should be removed.

    Trinh Ngoc Thanh, executive vice president of Vietnam Airlines, said domestic airfare caps were last adjusted in 2015.

    The current maximum fare is VND2.2 million ($96) for routes under 850 kilometers and VND3.75 million for those above 1,280 kilometers.

    Airfare caps are placed only on domestic routes, not on international ones. As a result, the highest airfare of domestic flights is sometimes 40% lower than that of the HCMC – Singapore route, Thanh said.

    Thanh and Nguyen Manh Quan, CEO of Bamboo Airways, proposed that the Ministry of Transport hike the airfare caps and then eventually scrap them to ensure the aviation industry’s sustainable development.

    Quan also proposed the State still apply airfare caps on routes operated by only one airline, but let the market self-regulate routes tapped by at least two carriers.

    Hoai Nam, a Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board member, said: “Removing the airfare caps will help domestic airlines improve revenues and profits during peak periods.”

    He said that at present, no other countries in the world apply airfare caps, and none of the five domestic airlines has a monopoly position, so the caps should be removed as soon as possible.

    However, if the caps are scraped, airlines must not negotiate with one another about airfares, seriously violating the Competition Law and affecting the interests of passengers, Nam added.

    Tran Tho Dat, a member of the prime minister’s Economic Advisory Group, suggested the management agency should come up with a formula for regulating airfares like that for retail prices of gasoline and oil products.

    “If there are no caps, we should create a formula, an open airfare range, to ensure fair competition and people’s interests,” he said.

    In 2021, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam proposed removing airfare caps on routes operated by three airlines or more to increase competition by service quality to serve passengers who are willing to pay higher than the ceiling price.

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  • Dairy Farm to sell its Malaysian grocery business

    Dairy Farm to sell its Malaysian grocery business

    Dairy Farm International Group (DFI) is disposing its grocery venture in Malaysia, which includes the supermarket chain Giant, for an unspecified figure after having operated in the country for 24 years.

    The retail group, based in Hong Kong and listed in Singapore, has inked an agreement with a group of Malaysian business people headed by Datuk Andrew Lim Tatt Keong, who is both the deputy chairman of Sogo Department Store and executive chairman of the Gama Group.

    The switchover is anticipated to be finished by next month and the new owner will take over 2500 staffs from Giant, Cold Storage and Mercato grocery businesses.

    The Edge Markets suggested that the agreement could be worth “at least a couple of billion (ringgit)”.

    DFI entered Malaysia in 1999 by obtaining a 90 percent stake in Giant via its subsidiary GCH Retail. The subsidiary registered a net loss of US$23.4 million in 2021 with store numbers being cut to less than half of the pre-Covid period.

    “By uniting these companies under experienced local leadership, we have laid the foundations for them to continue growing and contributing to the Malaysian economy,” the company said.

  • Singapore’s total fertility rate drops to historic low of 1.05

    Singapore’s total fertility rate drops to historic low of 1.05

    Singapore’s total fertility rate has been in decline for many years, hitting an all-time low of 1.05 in 2022. This is due to several factors, such as the Tiger year in the Lunar calendar and the global trend of people living longer and delaying marriage and having children. South Korea currently has the lowest total fertility rate globally, at 0.78 in 2022.

    In response, the Singaporean government has implemented various policies and incentives such as providing financial support for families with young children, maternity and childcare leaves, as well as increasing access to childcare services and promoting a positive attitude towards having children.

    It is up to individuals to decide how many children they wish to have, but a decrease in fertility rate must be addressed in order to ensure a healthy population growth in Singapore. The government is also welcoming immigrants to the country, taking into consideration the applicant’s family ties, qualifications, economic contributions and other factors to ensure that they are able to integrate and contribute meaningfully.

    In response, the Singaporean government has implemented various policies, incentives and support to parents and families, such as maternity and childcare leaves, increased access to childcare services, financial support and grants, and the promotion of a positive attitude towards having children.

    The Government also recognises the need to bring in immigrants to sustain a healthy population growth, and has put several measures in place to ensure that new immigrants are able to integrate and contribute meaningfully. This includes considering a comprehensive set of factors such as family ties, economic contributions, qualifications and more when assessing any applications for citizenship or PR status.

    Overall, Singapore is taking proactive steps to encourage family growth, while ensuring that new immigrants are welcomed and fully integrated into the society.

  • Starbucks Unveils Innovative Olive Oil Coffee Brew

    Starbucks Unveils Innovative Olive Oil Coffee Brew

    It’s no secret that Starbucks is constantly looking for ways to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. Recently, the global coffee giant has unveiled its newest innovation – an olive oil coffee brew. This new brew has taken the coffee world by storm and is gaining a lot of attention from coffee enthusiasts around the world.

     

    Starbucks is one of the world’s largest coffee chains, with over 30,000 locations in 80 countries. Founded in 1971, Starbucks is known for its high-quality coffee and innovative drinks. It is also known for its commitment to sustainability and ethical sourcing.

    The recent launch of Starbucks’ olive oil coffee brew has been met with excitement from coffee lovers around the world. This new brew is made with a combination of coffee and olive oil, creating a unique flavor that is completely different from traditional coffee.

    The combination of coffee and olive oil in Starbucks’ new brew provides a number of benefits. Firstly, it is packed with antioxidants, which can help protect your body from free radicals and reduce inflammation. Additionally, the olive oil adds a rich, buttery flavor to the coffee, which is sure to be a hit with coffee lovers.

    Furthermore, the combination of coffee and olive oil can help to increase energy levels and mental clarity. This makes it the perfect choice for those who need an extra boost throughout the day. Finally, the olive oil coffee brew is naturally low in calories, making it a healthier alternative to sugary coffee drinks.

    The olive oil coffee brew is completely different from traditional coffee. Firstly, it is made with high-quality, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. This adds a unique flavor and aroma to the brew that is unlike any other coffee.

    Secondly, the olive oil adds a rich, buttery texture to the coffee, which is sure to be a hit with coffee lovers. Finally, the olive oil coffee brew is naturally low in calories, making it a healthier alternative to sugary coffee drinks.

    starbucks plans to continue to expand the reach of its olive oil coffee brew. The company plans to open more locations that serve the olive oil brew and also plans to release additional flavors in the future. Additionally, Starbucks plans to use the olive oil brew as a way to introduce customers to other products, such as its cold brews, espresso drinks, and tea lattes.

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  • Google TV adds new landing pages to simplify navigation

    Google TV adds new landing pages to simplify navigation

    Google announced today via a blog post a set of new improvements coming to the Google TV platform that will add four new landing pages in the United States to make it simpler for viewers to access their preferred forms of entertainment without having to switch between different applications. These updates were considered after recent research has found that the average household subscribes to more than five different entertainment apps.

    These new landing pages, which can be found directly below the row of apps on the “For you” tab, will give you quick access to the best entertainment in the categories of Movies, Shows, Families, and Spanish-language content, without requiring you to navigate from app to app, and make it easier to discover new things. Below are the details:

    The Family page is the new place to go for entertainment that is suitable for families, with content ranging from old favorites to recent releases. It is not difficult to find something suitable for the entire family to watch together if it has a PG or lower content rating. And there’s no need to worry, because even when your children watch their own shows on their own television, they’ll still have access to the kid’s profile where they can watch all of their favorites.

    The Español page is the new home for the best Spanish-language entertainment, including telenovelas, live TV, movies, and shows. You will also have access to well-known apps in Spanish, such as Pantaya and FlixLatino, in addition to a library of dubbed and subtitled movies and television shows. Google is striving to make it much simpler for you to watch the entertainment that you enjoy, regardless of whether you are a native speaker of Spanish, live in a bilingual household, or are simply someone who enjoys content that is presented in Spanish.

    The Movies page allows you to search through thousands of films based on their title, genre, or subject matter, all on one simple page. You will also receive personalized recommendations for films that you might enjoy, in addition to information on recently released films and films that are currently popular.

    It has never been simpler to watch back-to-back episodes of your favorite show, whether it’s “The White Lotus” or “Yellowstone.” You can get new releases from all of your subscriptions in one convenient location by visiting the Shows page, where you can also view popular shows and explore personalized topics. In addition, when one show is over, you will be given suggestions for other shows that you might like to watch afterward.

    Google also states that several improvements are being made to the navigation system, one of which is moving the profile switcher to the top left corner so that you can switch between profiles in a seamless manner. The search bar will also be relocated to the far right of the screen, and a new button for quick settings will be added. These updates will begin rolling out today globally on Chromecast with Google TV and other Google TV devices, such as those manufactured by Hisense, Philips, Sony, and TCL.

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  • Netflix lowers subscription prices in nearly three dozen countries

    Netflix lowers subscription prices in nearly three dozen countries

    We now have the full list of countries where Netflix has decided to lower subscription prices has just been published courtesy to Ampere Analysis: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Christmas Island, Comoros, Congo – Brazzaville, Congo – Kinshasa, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Palestinian Territories, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Barthélemy, St. Helena, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wallis & Futuna, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    Netflix is expected to lose some subscribers due to crackdown on password sharing this year. Although it lost a few million subscribers in the first quarters of 2022, the streaming service gained nearly 8 million subscribers in Q4 2022, a number that exceeded its initial losses.

    In an attempt to avoid potential losses in customer numbers, Netflix announced plans to reduce subscription costs in over 30 countries.

    Unfortunately, Netflix didn’t provide the complete list of countries where subscription prices will be lowered, but we some of the locations where these changes will be introduced. For example, Middle East countries like Yemen, Jordan, Libya, and Iran will benefit from major discounts.

    The same goes for at least three countries in Easter Europe, such as Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia. As far as Latin America goes, we know of three countries where Netflix plans to cut subscription prices: Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Last but not least, customers in several countries from Africa and Asia will be getting cheaper Netflix subscriptions, including Kenya, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

    While Netflix confirmed that it’s updating the pricing of its plans in certain countries but didn’t offer specific details regarding prices. As mentioned earlier, price reductions will differ based on location, so you’ll probably have to check with your local Netflix branch for more details.

    This is a major decision that somewhat contradicts Netflix’s most recent statements that announced plans to raise prices rather than lowering them. It’s important to mention though that these changes will only be introduced in some countries where prices were already too high.

    As competition from other streaming services becomes fiercer, Netflix is taking steps to make sure customers remain loyal to its products no matter where they live.

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  • YouTube Music will soon officially support podcasts but not replace the Google Podcasts app

    YouTube Music will soon officially support podcasts but not replace the Google Podcasts app

    As part of a larger push for podcasting across the platform as a whole, YouTube has today made the official announcement that podcasts will soon be distributed through YouTube Music. This comes after several months of buildup and speculation on whether podcasts would become part of the YouTube experience as a whole, or just the Music app.

    The official announcement took place today at the “Hot Pod Summit” in Brooklyn as part of On Air Fest, and it was made by YouTube’s Podcast Lead, Kai Chuk. However, no specific date was given as to when this was taken place, and was announced as coming “in the near future.”

    The news reached the masses via a tweet by Arielle Nissenblatt of SquadCast.fm, and included some preliminary information as to how the feature would work, including that YouTube Music would stream podcasts even when the user’s screen is locked. Additionally, Alban Brooke of Buzzsprout tweeted additional information regarding the announcement, which included the fact that the podcast experience on YouTube Music will be audio-first and will aim for “unifying the audio and video experience,” allowing users to begin listening to a podcast on one device before continuing it on another.

    Google confirmed all the above and clarified that YouTube Music will only support podcasts in the United States for the time being. Furthermore, Google added that creators will be able to upload their audio podcasts via RSS “later this year.”

    We will soon start to bring both audio and video-first podcasts to YouTube Music for users in the US, making podcasts more discoverable and accessible, with more regions to come. This will help make the podcasts that users already love on YouTube, available in all the places they want to listen.

    We’re also rolling out podcast creation in YouTube Studio, making it easier for Creators to set their videos as podcasts. Podcast playlists will be eligible for current and upcoming podcast features on YouTube, such as eligibility for youtube.com/podcasts, podcast badging, and inclusion in the YouTube Music app.

    The announcement went on to state that YouTube will make suggestions for podcasts to users based on the types of content that user typically listens to and that YouTube Channels may in the future have a tab specifically designated for podcasts. Additionally, YouTube clarified that the music rights for podcasts will be the same as those for videos.

    For now it appears that the standalone Google Podcasts app will not be immediately discontinued as a direct result of YouTube Music’s decision to include podcasts, which is good news considering that we don’t have an exact date of when the service will launch on YouTube Music. Furthermore, it would probably best for there to be a transition period to move users over and a tool to ensure that their existing subscriptions are migrated.

  • Vietnam to have 16 more railway lines by 2030

    Vietnam to have 16 more railway lines by 2030

    Vietnam’s railway network planning expects to have 16 new national lines with a total length of about 4,802km by 2030.

    According to the Ministry of Transport, the planning for 2021-2030 will also upgrade seven existing lines, whose total length amounts to 2,440km.

    By 2050, the number of new rail lines will be 25, which together are 6,354km long.

    The completely upgraded and expanded network following the planning will connect strategic economic areas and corridors, urban centres, international sea ports, border gates, and airports nationwide, said a leader of the ministry.

    Rail transport boasts several advantages. It requires less land areas, leaves little impact on the environment, and carries a large amount of goods and passengers. It is also fast, safe, and low cost.

    However, the railway investment budget is enormous, while the State budget resources are limited. Due to the low financial efficiency of railway investment, it is difficult for the sector to attract capital from society.

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