Retail News CRM

Category: Research

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Research throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Smartphone sales growth continues to slow

    Smartphone sales growth continues to slow

    The global smartphone market is on track to grow just 4.5% during 2016, rocked by a decline in sales in the premium segment, Gartner predicts.

    The research firm estimates that premium smartphone sales will decline 1.1% for the year, with owners having less incentive to upgrade to the latest models.

    Overall smartphone sales are on track to reach 1.5 billion units in 2016. While the market is slowing as smartphones reach global saturation, Chinese vendors are stimulating sales in the Android segment of the market by offering more affordable premium devices.

    But Gartner expects the market for premium smartphones to return to 3.5% growth next year as stronger replacement cycles emerge.

    The predicted upswing is also in anticipation of Apple’s expected launch of a new iPhone with a new design and features attractive enough to convince smartphone owners to upgrade.

    Total mobile phone shipments are meanwhile on place to fall 1.6% in 2016, while tablet sales are set to decline from 196 million units in 2015 to 177 million in 2016.

    Worldwide combined device shipments – which also include PCs, laptops and related devices, are expected to decline for the second consecutive year, falling 3% to 2.34 billion units.

    Lees ook:

  • APAC consumers shop more on mobile

    APAC consumers shop more on mobile

    Mobile users in APAC purchase more frequently from their devices, but are less satisfied than their counterparts elsewhere, according to a new survey.

    The in-depth survey of mobile users from around the world was conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

    APAC consumers take the lead

    The IAB surveyed 3,800 respondents in 19 countries, including regional countries such as Singapore, China, Japan and Australia, and found that APAC consumers take the lead in frequent mobile purchases.

    Specifically, a third of mobile users make a weekly purchase on mobile in APAC, which is higher than the worldwide average of a quarter of mobile users. China in particular boasts of a 47% weekly purchase rate on mobile.

    On the flip side, respondents in APAC are 50% more likely to have a previous negative purchase experience, with only three in four consumers satisfied with their mobile purchase in the region compared to four in five globally.

    As a result, APAC consumers are also 11% less likely to make a repeat mobile purchase in the next 6 months, says the IAB report.

    The findings underscore the need for marketers in the region to be more transparent in their marketing efforts, and to address the negative purchase experiences cited as a key barrier to repeat purchase.

    “Many markets in APAC are mobile-first, and consumers are now mature online buyers with more discerning tastes than the global average,” says Miranda Dimopoulos, CEO IAB Singapore.

    “Advertisers who make an effort to understand their needs and craft the right messages have a tremendous opportunity to cut through the noise and seize market share.”

    “While mobile purchasers are high in APAC, poor buying experiences have dampened initial enthusiasm,” says Regina Goh, IAB mobile committee chair and managing director at ad-tech provider Blis. “Sellers in the region need to consider the consumer’s journey from the first click to post-purchase to ensure customers are delighted and come back for more.”

    The full IAB report can be downloaded here.

    Lees ook:

  • More than half on online viewing done on mobile devices

    More than half on online viewing done on mobile devices

    Mobile devices, for the first time, now account for more than half of all online viewing, and compares video engagement between iOS versus Android users, according to the second-quarter 2016 Global Video Index from Ooyala.

    The report continues a quarterly analysis of the growth of programmatic trading, as well as highlights how subscription services can reduce churn.

    Findings show that heavy users visit advertising video-on demand (AVOD) news sites 37% more during the work week than on weekends, according to the second-quarter.

    These “power users” also prefer computers to consume content for longer periods, compared to the average user who uses a mobile phone.

    As for AVOD entertainment sites, power users watch 17% more content on Thursdays and Fridays than Monday through Wednesday, and 37% more than on Saturday and Sunday.

    Also, for subscription VOD (SVOD) entertainment sites, 76% of power users visit two to three days a week, with peak viewing occurring Friday and Saturday. Mondays see the least traffic from power users.

    In transaction-based VOD (TVOD) sites, power users produce the slowest traffic early in the week, but on the weekend stream about 13 times more content than during the week.

    For the first time, mobile devices now represent more than half of all online viewing, reaching nearly 51%. This is a 15% increase from one year ago and 203% from 2014.

    Smartphones made up 43% of all video views, a 10% increase from one year ago, while tablets made up the other 8%, which is a 51% increase from the same time period.

    “The findings in the report further manifest the utmost importance of having a proper analytics solution that gives granular insight into your video business,” said Belsasar Lepe, Ooyala co-founder and SVP of products and solutions.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Enhancing last mile delivery, consumer experience with SMS Services

    Enhancing last mile delivery, consumer experience with SMS Services

    E-commerce is a fast-moving game and major forces are changing the rules. Forward-thinking retailers are investing to maximize the potential of both physical and digital channels. Global players that once stood on the sidelines are now poised to compete in South East Asia. Just recently, Indonesian department store chain MatahariMal raised $500 million to develop their e-commerce venture. Alibaba too, has invested $249 million in SingPost to expand their delivery network in SEA.

    As the world’s fastest growing internet region with 260 million users, South East Asia is fast becoming a unique e-commerce market. Primed for tough competition, e-commerce companies are fast prioritizing customer service as a way to stand out from their competitors. Keeping customers at the heart of their business strategy, and delivering the best possible value to them is becoming more important than ever.

    Today, last-mile delivery has become a priority for both e-commerce companies and their customers. Ensuring speedy, but prompt delivery has been proven to give companies an edge in the competitive landscape, while showing customers that companies could go the extra mile for them.

    In fact, local and regional players have still emerged as early winners, largely due to their ability to provide a better-tailored experience for local consumers than what global competitors usually offer. For instance, Singapore-based Lazada built local logistics footprints in each market to increase delivery reliability, and added motorbike fleets to provide speedier options to traditional truck deliveries.

    That said, enhancing last-mile delivery for consumers in the region comes with its own set of challenges.

     Consumer trust, diversity, slow infrastructure serve as roadblocks

    Firstly, the lack of consumer trust is one of the challenges the Southeast Asian e-commerce market is facing. Consumers today are wary of making transactions online due to various security issues such as fraud. According to the e-conomy SEA report by Google and Temasek Holdings, 58 percent of citizens in South East Asia expressed concerns over financial information being shared online. With cyber attacks on the horizon, trust between customers and e-commerce companies have been shaken and today, assurances must be given to customers on a consistent basis to maintain strong relationships.

    The region also encompasses a wide range of ethnicities, languages, consumer preferences and regulations, coupled by a politically and economically complex landscape. With such diversity, consumers in different markets have conflicting preferences and expectations, which means more time and money must be invested carefully into business planning to ensure that this is addressed adequately.

    Despite the immensely positive steps taken towards ASEAN economic integration, there are still socio-political and economic issues that can put a dampener on overall business growth of regional delivery companies.

    Southeast Asia also lacks a solid regional payment and logistics infrastructure, which were the foundation for China’s astounding digital-retail growth. Even though larger businesses today are investing in the development of delivery infrastructure, they are still weak and getting your goods delivered affordably and efficiently may still be an issue. As a result, organisations often find it a challenge to make a scalable business model work, and to justify the high levels of initial investment.

    The use of SMS to represent reliability and optimization

    In order to manage deliveries in a reliable and robust manner while ensuring customer trust is being built, e-commerce companies are looking at the option of sending SMS notifications to customers, and are turning to SMS services to manage the surge in SMSs.

    SMS services have been selected over mobile apps as it is ideally equipped for both application-to-person (A2P) or machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. While not a popular choice of communication between people today, businesses still leverage SMS because it is always delivered even when customers do not have smartphones or data connection, representing reliability and consistency.

    This step is critical for business continuity as it helps to ensure continued trust with customers. To best manage their communication processes when it comes to delivery, e-commerce companies can consider working with a messaging solutions provider to create a reliable and efficient distribution process and enhance overall customer experience.

    By outsourcing their communication processes to messaging solutions, companies can efficiently manage the large volume of messages they send to customers and delivery partners, through unlimited scalability and transmission capacity.

    Through implementing SMS messaging services, delivery processes are more convenient and transparent for e-commerce companies, their business partners and customers. SMS services can not only be used during the registration process to authenticate customers’ account mobile numbers, but also more importantly, update recipients on specific parcel delivery information such as estimated time of arrival.

    By selecting a provider with high quality of service, reliability, security levels and transparency, e-commerce companies can experience increased customer and partner satisfaction as communication becomes more efficient with important messages being sent and delivered in seconds.

    Lees ook:

  • Digital Revolution to Add $150b to Indonesia’s Economy by 2025

    Digital Revolution to Add $150b to Indonesia’s Economy by 2025

    Digitalization is expected to boost productivity, especially in five major sectors: manufacturing, retail, transportation, mining and agriculture.

    “Just as an example, a digital procurement system can predict demand for equipment in a factory and suggest replacements when necessary. Predictive maintenance can reduce machine downtime by 25 percent to 70 percent,” Tan said.

    According to McKinsey’s estimation, the manufacturing sector in Indonesia can earn an additional $34 billion from digitalizing its operations over the next decade, while mining and agriculture can see up to $15 billion and $11 billion in additional output respectively.

    Better stock and route management enabled by technologies like Google Maps can provide an extra $24 billion to Indonesia’s retail industry and $16 billion to the transportation sector. Other sectors like telco and media, healthcare, utilities and finance can boost their earnings by up to $21 billion, McKinsey claims.

    To unlock these potentials, Indonesia needs to improve its information technology infrastructure, broadband affordability and regulatory support.

    The study shows that Indonesia — although it has the second cheapest internet among the 20 countries studied — still struggles with poor connection, narrow bandwidth and slow speed. Overall, Indonesian is ranked 18 on a list that includes Malaysia, Singapore and other Asean states — all ranked above it.

    “E-commerce in Indonesia is growing rapidly but is constrained by limited access to technology, lack of tech-savviness and not enough credit cards,” Agung Nugroho, an e-commerce expert, said as quoted by McKinsey.

    According to McKinsey, Indonesian businesses should create cross-channel business models to encourage online and offline sales.

    Other strategies include establishing a two-fold cyber protection system, leveraging big data to drive real-time access across value chains and focusing on a customer-centric experience — coming up with innovative products and services to keep customers loyal.

    The study also suggests that digitalization can happen quicker if companies build strong and dedicated technology departments that integrate operations in all divisions of their businesses.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Global e-commerce grocery market has grown 15% to $48bn North Asia

    Global e-commerce grocery market has grown 15% to $48bn North Asia

    Sales of groceries through e-commerce platforms reached $48 billion in the 12 months to June 2016, according to a new report by Kantar Worldpanel, published today.

    The third annual Future of E-commerce in FMCG study shows that e-commerce now accounts for 4.4% of all FMCG sales. Whilst the e-commerce channel is growing, the FMCG market as a whole is flat, increasing just 1.6% during the same period.

    Stéphane Roger, Global Shopper and Retail Director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: 

    “FMCG growth is slowing, but our data shows that people are looking for more convenience, which can be met by shopping online. Grocery e-commerce, although currently small, with only one in four people shopping online, is growing fast. We forecast it will grow to 9% of the market and be worth $150bn by 2025. With new entrants such as Amazon expanding rapidly, the industry is facing a shake-up.”

     

    “Although online sales have the potential to cannibalise in-store sales, it is vital that retailers act quickly to develop a strong e-commerce presence.  The retailer that goes online first in each market can enjoy a far higher market share – this can be a difference of at least 40% in France and up to three times more in the UK. In this report we’ve looked at how retailers and brands are finding ways to work across all channels.” 

    Rank

    Country

    E-commerce share of market 2016 (value)

    1

    South Korea

    16.6%

    2

    Japan

    7.2%

    3

    UK

    6.9%

    4

    France

    5.3%

    5

    Taiwan

    5.2%

    6

    China

    4.2%

    7

    Czech Republic

    2.1%

    8

    Spain

    1.7%

    9

    The Netherlands

    1.7%

    10

    USA

    1.4%

    Key findings from the report include:

    Global hotspots: a puzzle of performance

    E-commerce growth is not equal around the world and is not explained by connectivity.  It might not be surprising that digitally developed South Korea is the world’s largest online FMCG market by value share (16.6%). In the USA however, only 1.4% of groceries are bought online. China is the market which saw the biggest growth in the last 12 months, 47% – to a value share of 4.2%.  Europe has a relatively low adoption of e-commerce in all countries except the UK with 6.9% of the market and France which has 5.3%. France is a relatively unique e-commerce market as their success is with the Drive model whereby the online shop is collected from the store. Adoption across Latin America is currently very low with the exception of Argentina at 1%.

    Online generates more loyalty

    Once shoppers have begun shopping online they are more likely to continue doing so. Among this group in the UK, almost a quarter (23.3%) of all spend is through e-commerce, resulting in fewer trips to physical stores. 

    Impulse needs encouraging

    Comparative research across the UK, France and China has shown that one year after starting to shop online, shoppers in the UK and France spent less overall (-2.4% and -1.4% respectively), this is because there is less impulse shopping.  Brands need to work on driving impulse purchase online – for example by making suggestions for complementary products. In China, 50% of FMCG’s online sales is beauty, it is seen as a prestige occasion and they actually had an increase in sales after one year (+8.1%).

    Online shopping baskets are usually bigger

    Shoppers generally spend more per trip online than they do offline, so potentially this could be a lucrative group to win.  In the UK for example, the average shop online is $59 compared to $15 in-store.

    Brands that make it onto online shopping lists are more likely to stay there

    Kantar Worldpanel data shows that 55% of online shoppers use the same shopping list from one purchase to the next.  Brands need to focus their efforts on getting onto that list.

  • Marketers prefer prudent spending on mobile advertising

    Marketers prefer prudent spending on mobile advertising

    While penetration of smartphones and mobile services continues to increase in Asian markets, mobile advertising is not as prevalent as is assumed. Brand owners still allocate a substantial amount of money to advertise on conventional media.

    According to data from the Asia Pacific branch of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the average company in Asia will spend only 7 to 10 percent of their marketing budgets on mobile advertising despite rising smartphone usage across the region.

    This is particularly apparent in Indonesia as some companies increase focus on mobile advertising, but it does not necessarily translate to higher marketing dollars.

    MMA Asia Pacific managing director Rohit Dadwal explained that despite an increased percentage in mobile ad spending, the format would likely end up as the third-largest ad platform in Indonesia after television and radio in the coming years due to the size and reach of conventional media in the country.

    Dadwal explained that the average brand in Indonesia allocated between 14 and 15 percent of their marketing budget for mobile-based advertising and spent the remaining budget on broader platforms, such as television, which is considered the most popular advertising platform in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

    Currently, in terms of an overall advertising budget, not a lot of local brands have moved into mobile marketing, as the share has yet to reach 5 percent of the marketing industry.

    “The main effect of the rise of mobile usage is that companies will start to allocate more money for mobile advertising from their budgets little by little, from 10 to 20 percent currently to about 30 percent in the near future,” Dadwal said during a recent discussion in Jakarta.

    A suitable strategy for mobile marketers, he added, is not to look at the landscape as a place where mobile advertising will triumph over other media but to see both mobile and more traditional media as integrated platforms where marketing campaigns can run parallel with each other.

    “It’s no secret that mobile advertising poses a threat to other forms of advertising. However, to succeed in marketing today, you shouldn’t use a completely mobile strategy. You need a marketing strategy that includes mobile because it will help you with your overall marketing objectives in the end,” Dadwal said.

    Previously, client leadership partner of Mindshare Indonesia media agency Wendy Soeweno commented that brands, conventional or digital, would still focus on television and radio advertising because of the scope and range television and radio provide in Indonesia.

    Television and newspapers used to be the biggest recipients of advertising spending. The tide is turning. Digital ads are poised to take 25 percent of ad spending in Indonesia by 2019 from 7.3 percent in 2015, according to forecasts by eMarketer.

    Digital ads almost tripled to US$835 million in 2015 from $234.2 million in 2013 and the figure is expected to increase more than four times to $4.9 billion by 2019.

    “We believe that communicating with consumers through the digital world is significant to building our brand,” corporate secretary of Unilever Indonesia Sancoyo Antarikso said recently.

    Unilever, one of the country’s biggest spenders on advertising, has been intensifying the placement of its product commercials through Google’s video sharing platform YouTube.

    In terms of strategies, Dadwal elaborated on how the integrated mobile-conventional approach was working currently and acknowledged that there could be a major shift to mobile marketing happening in the future.

    According to a joint study by Google and Singaporean investment company Temasek, Indonesia is poised to have the fourth-largest amount of internet users in the world with 215 million people connected by 2020. Meanwhile, smartphone usage in Indonesia currently includes approximately 43 percent of the population.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Cyber attacks on the rise in Singapore

    Cyber attacks on the rise in Singapore

    Cyber attacks in Singapore are on the rise, with 72% of CIOs detecting more now than 12 months ago, according to research commissioned by specialist recruiter Robert Half.

    Findings show that 85% of Singaporean CIOs expect their companies will be attacked more often because they lack skilled IT security talent – well above the 78% average of the eight countries surveyed.

    The only two countries with a higher percentage than Singapore are Brazil (93%) and Japan (87%).

    Singapore has the highest percentage of CIOs predicting “significantly more” cyber-attacks in the next five years – 30% compared to the global average of 19%.

    “The fight against rising cyber threats is entering a critical phase as Singapore is experiencing a shortage of IT professionals with the right cyber security skills to defend companies against these attacks,” said David Jones, senior managing director of Robert Half Asia Pacific.

    “Companies know they need to take action to confront cyber attackers,” said Jones. “This means investing in a cyber-security strategy that brings together the right mix of technology and people.”

    IT leaders say the top three cyber security risks facing Singaporean organizations in the next five years are data abuse/data integrity (59%), spying/spyware/ransomware (54%) and cybercrime (53%).

    “New technologies raise new security concerns,” said Jones. “This can result in a skills gap where the available expertise has not kept pace with the evolving IT threats.”

    “As demand for new cyber-specialists entering the IT market outstrips supply, companies are being forced to reconsider their training and retention programs,” he said. “They are also recruiting from overseas, partnering with educational organisations, and developing flexible hiring strategies that include both permanent and contract specialists, including external risk agencies.”

    In response to the new wave of cyber-attackers, almost a quarter (23%) of Singaporean CIOs plan to add new permanent IT security professionals to their team in the next 12 months. One in three (29%) say they are planning to hire IT professionals for newly added contract positions within their team.

    Several specialised cyber-security roles are in high demand as organisations are confronted with additional security threats, including mobile, application and Big Data analytics security.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • GSMA details industry’s impact on UN SDGs

    GSMA details industry’s impact on UN SDGs

    The GSMA has published the first research into the global mobile industry’s contribution towards helping the UN achieve its sustainable development goals (SDGs).

    Prepared by Deloitte, the report also details several industry commitments and explores ways the industry can strengthen its impact on the goals.

    According to GSMA director general Mats Grannyd, the report will establish a benchmark for the industry’s progress in contributing to the goals and can serve as a blueprint for other industries to follow.

    The UN last year established a set of 17 goals for countries to achieve by 2030. These include eliminating poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, building sustainable cities and communities and transitioning to affordable and clean energy.

    The report finds that the mobile industry impacts all 17 goals to varying degrees, with the greatest effects being felt in the goals covering industry, innovation and infrastructure, as well as no poverty, quality education and climate action.

    For example, the mobile industry has given more than 400 million people access to financial services through their phones in 90 countries. The industry has committed to developing new mobile money products for unbanked consumers in developing markets.

    On gender equality, 18 operators with a combined 90 million customers have so far joined the Connected Women Commitment Initiative, which aims to close the gender gap in the use of mobile internet and mobile money services.

    Another UN SDG involves promoting decent work and economic growth. The GSMA noted that the mobile industry added $3.1 trillion in economic value to the global economy last year, representing 4.2% of global GDP, and directly or indirectly supported 32 million jobs.

    New industry commitments include elevating the mobile industry’s focus on humanitarian assistance, partnering with the UN Secretary-Gernal’s Special Adviser to create a roadmap for ongoing engagement with the goals and advocating sustainability principles linked to the goals.

    “As an industry, we are focused on connecting everyone and everything to a better future,” Grannyd said.

    “In February, the mobile industry was the first to unite in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and this report reiterates our commitment to ensuring that connectivity plays a key role in helping achieve the 17 goals by 2030.”

    Lees ook:

  • Mobiles, internet vital to refugees’ security

    Mobiles, internet vital to refugees’ security

    Access to a mobile phone and the internet are as vital as food, water, or shelter to refugees and critical to maintaining their safety and security, according to UN research.

    A study conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Accenture also showed that refugees see a connected device as a lifeline and a critical tool for self-empowerment.

    The report, “Connecting refugees: How internet and mobile connectivity can improve refugee well-being and transform humanitarian action,” is based on research undertaken in 44 countries on four continents.

    “In the world we live in today, internet connectivity and smartphones can become a lifeline for refugees, providing an essential means for them to give and receive vital information, communicate with separated family members, gain access to essential services, and reconnect to the local, national and global communities around them,” said Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

    “Most importantly, connectivity can help broaden the opportunities for refugees to improve their own lives and pursue a vision of a future that would otherwise be denied to them.”

    Affordability, however, is often a barrier to connectivity. Refugees living in urban areas tend to have similar access to mobile networks as other urban populations, but for refugees in rural locations the picture is very different, with only one in six refugees located in areas with 3G access, and one in five rural refugees having no mobile coverage at all – significantly lower than for the population at large.

    This effectively prevents many refugees from participating in the cultural, educational, and economic activity that connectivity affords.

    The report recommends additional investments in three main areas, which together form the basis of a new UNHCR Global Strategy for Connectivity for Refugees – increasing the availability of mobile networks, improving affordability, and providing access to training, digital content, and services.

    The report likewise identifies a number of strategic interventions to help ensure connectivity, ranging from partnering with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and other technology/communications companies to improve infrastructure, making targeted investments in infrastructure, and enabling an environment and system for digital service delivery.

    “Especially critical to this effort will be the engagement of the private sector, especially technology companies, and mobile network operators,” said Dan London, group chief executive of Accenture’s Health & Public Service business.

  • There are still 3.9b people not using the internet

    There are still 3.9b people not using the internet

    There are 3.9 billion people in the world that are still not using the internet today, with six nations  including China and India accounting for 55% of the total global population still offline.

    These are among the findings of the 2016 edition of The State of Broadband report released recently by the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.

    The four other nations with the most unconnected people were Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.

    The report suggests that targeted efforts in just a few key markets could help enormously in redressing the gaping ‘digital divide’ between those who are online and those still offline.

    “There is a large body of economic evidence for the role of affordable broadband connectivity as a vital enabler of economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection,” said ITU secretary-general Houlin Zhao, who serves as co-vice chair of the commission with UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova.

    The Commission argues that if today’s near-universal basic mobile phone access could be converted to high-speed mobile broadband access, mobile phones could serve as a major accelerator of development, driving rapid progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

    The broadband report is optimistic about the potential of mobile broadband, with 165 countries now having deployed ‘4G’ high-speed mobile networks.

    “Broadband technologies can be powerful development multipliers,” Bokova added, “but this requires combined investments in access and in skills and in education. This is about opening new paths to create and share knowledge. It is about enhancing freedom of expression and about widening learning opportunities, especially for girls and women. This is about developing content that is relevant, local and multilingual.”

    The report confirms that progress in the 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries has been encouraging, with the Commission’s target of 15% of the LDC population online expected to be reached by the end of this year.

    This year’s figures show that, once again, the top ten developing countries for household internet penetration are all located in Asia or the Middle East. The Republic of Korea continues to have the world’s highest household Internet penetration, with 98.8% of homes connected; Qatar (96%) and United Arab Emirates (95%) rank second and third, respectively.

  • Advantages Of EPOS

    Advantages Of EPOS

    There are very many advantages associated with the use of an EPOS system in your business. Some new vendors or business owners may be wondering the necessity of buying a more expensive hardware instead of choosing a cheaper version like a simple cash till.

    However, they need to know that the EPOS system is integrated and can control, organize, and analyze the various business reports. It can work on tasks such as backend reporting, cash transactions, inventory control and staff monitoring.

    Compared to cash tills, EPOS have additional features such as the integration of all the features in a single system that makes life easier for the merchant.

    A sophisticated EPOS system can make it possible for you to get reports about the best-performing staff, best-selling items, best performing sales channels and peak sales times which will help you optimize your business flow easily.

    The 5 Major Benefits of EPOS

    1. Financial Accuracy

    One of the major benefits of EPOS systems is the fact that it increases the financial accuracy when charging your customers. Normally, businesses depend on the competence of the staff to properly calculate the business sales transactions.

    However, this can lead to omissions and mistakes. The customer may end up being overcharged reducing the chances of them ever coming back.

    At times they may be undercharged leading to losses. An EPOS system can help reduce the possibility of such staff errors hence making sure that there is consistency in the business pricing and charging structure.

    1. Accountability

    Electronic point of sale systems allow the business to monitor and record staff activity accurately. As an employer, you can benefit by being able to pinpoint the specific staff member responsible for specific transactions.

    For example, employers can easily identify the employees with the strongest sales figures which will encourage a spirit of competition within the business. It can also be easy to identify those employees with poor sales figures or employees with unusual sales activities including unusually high levels of voided transactions.

    1. Speed and efficiency

    The EPOS systems can greatly improve the speed and efficiency of transactions. This will appeal to customers helping your employees focus on offering services to more clients. There will be an improved customer experience which makes the customer come back again and again. These systems don’t have to be expensive and are easy to maintain, just look at this piece on HHT repair.

    1. Stock Management

    Modern EPOS systems can also be used to manage stock. Businesses are able to review their current levels of stock quickly and identify areas where a greater level of stock is required easily. The automated EPOS system can help save a noticeable amount of time when compared to the traditional, manual stocktaking operations.

    1. Reporting

    EPOS systems also have the ability to produce a wide range of business performance reports. These reports range from fundamental analysis of the profit margins on a daily or annual basis to the identification of products or services which are top sellers in a company’s range.

    Such kind of information can help provide a business with a useful picture of their overall performance and have an impact on the marketing campaigns. For instance, it enables you to apply discounts to those items that are not popular at specific times in the year.

    Lees ook:

  • Congestion-free traffic drives growth of e-payment system

    Congestion-free traffic drives growth of e-payment system

    Electronic payment system for transportation market segments and key trends 2016-2026 by Future Market Insights (FMI), provider of syndicated research reports, custom research reports, and consulting services.

    Electronic payment System (EPS) is useful for paperless monetary transaction. It brought a revolution in business process with less paper work, less time consumption, low labor cost as compared to traditional manual process business.

    There are various modes of electronic payments such as debit card, credit card, e-wallet, smart card, EFT and others. From last a few years electronic payment has also been used by transportation agencies for the collection of parking fees, highway tolls, transit fares & others.

    Electronic payment in transportation is done with the help of cards or transponders carried by user which directly communicates with devices maintained by transportation agencies for the conduction of transaction and also to track the records.

    Its use gives rise to so many advantages as electronic toll collection supports the collection of toll fare automatically by reading the data of registered vehicle from electronic transponder and driver does not need to slow down the car or stop for the payment hence it gives relief from traffic congestion and also save time of the commuters. 

    Market Dynamics

    The key trend responsible for the growth of global electronic payment system for transportation is the growing demand of electronic payment system for transportation from developed and developing region because of the advantages provided over the traditional manual system.

    The key growth drivers are congestion free traffic, with implementation on highway or Broadway, traffic jam or congestion reduces. Cashless travel facility is another advantage.

    On the other hand there are also some factors which are hindering the growth, those restraints are high installation cost of the systems & slower growth of these systems in underdeveloped regions.

    Segmentation

    Segmentation is done on the basis of system, technology & geography. On the basis of system, it is segmented as electronic toll collection (a system designed for automated collection of toll from moving as well as stopped vehicle through wireless system), electronic transit ticketing (payment is done by a smart card for a trip on transit vehicle), and regional multimodal electronic payment system (Here all mode of transportation is done by single payment system).

    On the basis of technology, it is segmented as contactless payment system technologies, near field communication, using smart phones.

    Geographically, it is segmented into seven regions which are ; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Among all the regions North America is the highest contributor in term of revenue in global electronic payment system for transportation market followed by Asia Pacific & it is expected that in near future, Asia Pacific is going to lead this market.

    Key Players

    Xerox Corporation, Cubic Transportation Systems, Transcore, LP, Siemens AG, Thales Group and others are leading the global ETC market. Electronic Transit Ticketing market is covered strongly by Cubic Transportation Systems, Global Mass Transit, Snapper Services Ltd, EOS UPTRADE, Scheidt & Bachmann. On the other hand, Electronic Payment System market is been covered by LTK Engineering Services, Longbow Technologies Sdn. Bhd., Kapsch Trafficom AG & others.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Healthcare SCM market worth US$2.22 billion by 2021

    Healthcare SCM market worth US$2.22 billion by 2021

    A market research report “Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market by Component (Software (Inventory (Order and Warehouse Management), Purchasing (Supplier, Strategic Sourcing)), Hardware (Barcode, RFID)), Delivery Mode (On-premise, Cloud) and End User – Global Forecast to 2021″, published by MarketsandMarkets, studies the global market during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021. This market is expected to reach USD 2.22 Billion by 2021 from USD 1.45 Billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 8.9%.

    This market is expected to reach US$2.22 Billion by 2021 from US$1.45 Billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 8.9%.

    Factors such as the Unique Device Identification (UDI) initiative by the FDA, rising adoption of cloud-based solutions, increasing pressure faced by hospitals to improve operational efficiency and profitability, and compliance of the G1 system standards in various countries are driving the growth.

    Moreover, the superior supply chain performance, mobile-based solutions, and counterfeiting of drugs in the pharmaceutical industry are expected to offer significant growth opportunities for players. On the other hand, the high price of the healthcare supply chain management (SCM) software and fragmented end-user market are expected to restrain the growth of this market.

    In this report, the market is segmented on the basis of component, delivery mode, end user, and region.

    Based on applications, the market is segmented into bariatric surgery, gynecological surgery, general surgery, urological On the basis of component; the global Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market is broadly segmented into software and hardware. The software segment is estimated to account for the largest share in 2016, while the software segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR in the forecast period.

    Based on delivery mode, the market is segmented into web-based, on-premise, and cloud-based delivery modes. The web-based segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the global Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market in 2016. Web-based models help to reduce operational and administrative expenses. This advantage is contributing to the large share of this segment.

    Based on end user, the market is broadly segmented into manufacturers, providers, and distributors. The manufacturers segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the global Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market in 2016. The providers segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR.

    Geographically, the Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market is divided into North America, Europe,Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW). In 2016, North America is estimated to account for the largest share of the Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the RoW (rest of the world). The North American market is also projected to grow at the highest CAGR and serve as a revenue pocket for companies offering healthcare supply chain management solutions.

    Prominent players in the global Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market are SAP SE (Germany), Oracle Corporation (U.S.), Infor Inc. (U.S.), Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) (U.S.), McKesson Corporation (U.S.), TECSYS Inc. (Canada), Jump Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), and LogiTag Systems Ltd. (Israel).

  • Consumers unaware of the power of smart homes

    Consumers unaware of the power of smart homes

    An intelligently connected home can do more today than most consumers consider possible, according to a survey by Bosch.

    Bosch has conducted a survey on the topic of smart homes together with Twitter in Germany, France, Great Britain, Austria, Spain and the United States.

    While two thirds of the respondents know that the smart home can turn the lights off automatically when they leave the house, only 22% can imagine that the oven can already suggest the perfect recipes.

    By country comparison, Twitter users from France are most confident of what smart home technology can do compared to the British, the Americans and the Austrians, for example. Germans and Spaniards, on the other hand, consider much of what is already possible today to be a vision for the future.

    “It is particularly striking that especially the 25 to 34-year olds come closest to the reality with their assessments,” Bosch said. The fact that awareness of the possibilities decreases with age is not as surprising as the fact that many digital natives do not know what functions are possible today.

    Especially for the 16 to 24 year-olds who don’t even know a world without the internet, networking at home is still surprisingly unknown. The reason for this could be the lack of relevance that home topics have for this age group.

    Furthermore, only 50% of the surveyed are aware that today’s smart home systems are interoperable, meaning that different devices can communicate with each other, even independent of the manufacturers.

    Respondents were even more convinced by the potential for saving energy, when the heating switches off automatically as soon as the windows are opened, for example.

    The Spanish, French and English, in particular, seem to be very interested in saving money. Between 71% and 75% considered saving energy a convincing argument in the survey.

    While this was also the most popular answer the Germans surveyed gave, they come in last place here by country comparison with 59% of the mentions.

    “This is quite surprising because the Germans are normally known for their environmental consciousness,” said Bosch. “Presumably more financial than ecological aspects make energy saving possibilities so interesting in countries like Spain, France and England, however.”

    Lees ook: