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Tag: 2020

  • The entire Retail News Editorial team wishes you a Joyful and Merry Christmas

    The entire Retail News Editorial team wishes you a Joyful and Merry Christmas

    It’s been a difficult year; we better say the most difficult year in decades with Covid-19 and all social restrictions that were put in place. But we were resilient, and prepare ourselves for a better year.

    Hopefully with more and more retail events and summits; cause that’s what we retailers live from. Showcase and demo products, networking, and meeting up with customers and vendors. It’s not that far ahead of us… we already prepare ourselves in order to get ready when the markets are ready again to shift gears.

    Thanks for being part of the largest retail community covering Asia this year. The entire Retail News Editorial team is wishing you a Happy Holiday season. We wish you joy and peace in the upcoming year. Wishing you all the joys of the season and happiness throughout the coming year.

    Thanks for support us; thanks for reading us and stay close in the new year!

     

     

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  • Doctors warn about heatstrokes during Japan 2020 Olympics

    Doctors warn about heatstrokes during Japan 2020 Olympics

    Everybody is preparing for the Japan 2020 Olympics, with almost all of the seats already considered for the taking by thousands of international spectators. However, these spectators and the athletes themselves may get something completely different than they were bargaining for.

    To reiterate it, they’re most likely going to witness “the most heated Olympic games of history” and that’s in a metaphor kind of understanding, it’s quite literal.

    Several Japanese doctors, that are well respected and counted among the best of the best the country can offer, have warned about the increased number of heat strokes that Japanese Summers have been producing over the course of the last couple of years.

    One particular doctor, Kimiyuki Nagashima is warning that the dates where the games are going to be held July 27th – August 9th is in the very epicenter of the Japanese heatwaves, especially as humidity builds up due to the country being an island and so close to a large ocean as well as a sea.

    Is it more dangerous for the players or the spectators?

    It’s quite easy to understand that spectators will have the luxury of trying to find a place in the shade or at least coming prepared to the events as they clothe themselves accordingly or bring equipment for producing “artificial” shade.

    When it comes to the athletes themselves, there is very little they can possibly do. In fact, it’s not about the heatstroke anymore for the athletes themselves, but also the severe burns they may receive if they expose themselves to the sun for a large period of time.

    Considering how the games are almost always held in open-air areas, there will be very little protecting these athletes as they do warmups for the contest or when they actually compete.

    What are other experts saying?

    There are other people that have commented on the condition of Japanese weather during the Olympics. Most of them are TV show hosts or Sports experts that have been with the industry for decades.

    Almost all of them are saying that competing in a not-perfect weather condition is almost guaranteed to hamper the performance of the athletes, therefore no record breaking attempts should be expected.

    Even experts from countries like Norway and Sweden have commented that it’s important that coaches somehow prepare their athletes for the heat for them to at least deal with it somehow rather than combat it completely. Being born and raised in the Nordics does indeed add some sense to how sensitive an athlete may be to the heat.

    The comments have become so wide-spread about the potential health issues that even popular Norwegian betting odds websites, who absolutely marvel at the Olympics as that’s when they get most of the traction has subsequently decided to decrease the odds of Scandinavian performers. All because of the interference of the heat.

    Are the organizers doing anything?

    If the general population and experts already understand the potential health risks, then so do the organizers. They are already testing preventative measures in order to create the most “habitable” environment for both the athletes as well as the spectators by using things such as fake snow to somehow refresh the area.

    However, the issues immediately became apparent as the snow doesn’t truly cool down the area nor the people that come in contact with it. The snow refreshes the recipient rather than bring their body temperature down.

    Other issues such as quick-melting snow producing puddles or simply soaking spectators were also encountered, introducing even more issues than it solved.

    It’s unknown what type of preventative measures the organizers will try in the future, but the fact that you need to stock up on the coldest water you can find before going to see the events is a given.

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  • Tesla calls out to build a million all-electric cars a year by 2020

    Tesla calls out to build a million all-electric cars a year by 2020

    Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk gave a public shout-out to the sharpest minds in manufacturing this week, calling on them to come help Tesla Motors Inc build a million all-electric cars a year by 2020.

    Musk says he is “hell-bent” on making the Silicon Valley automotive upstart a manufacturing powerhouse, but his vision relies on finding veteran auto engineers to ramp up volume ten-fold in four years – a challenge even for established carmakers.

    Tesla on Wednesday said it would build 500,000 cars in 2018, two years ahead of schedule, and close to 1 million by 2020. The same day Tesla said its vice presidents in charge of production and manufacturing were leaving.

    “You’re looking at a company with significant levels of management turnover at the highest ends, people without experience in the planning, design or build of vehicles, and you expect to crank it up at those kinds of volumes?” asked Michigan-based auto manufacturing consultant Michael Tracy.

    Putting aside the issue of capital requirements, auto experts point to a shortage of manufacturing engineers, whose ranks were thinning out even before the U.S. auto crisis hit in 2008.

    “It’s a constant issue we have in this country,” said Garth Motschenbacher, director of employer relations at Michigan State University’s College of Engineering.

    “For the longest time manufacturing was seen as the dirty end of engineering,” he said.

    At the same time, Alphabet’s Google and Apple are working on car programs and courting the same potential employees. So are established auto names like Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp .

    A 2015 Deloitte report found it takes three months to hire skilled engineers, and the shortage is crimping manufacturers.

    Robust early reservations for the upcoming Model 3 mass-market car may have assured Musk of demand, but now comes the execution, said automotive recruiter Stephen Parkford.

    “It’s like reservations for a restaurant that’s not open yet. You got the menu, but you don’t have a chef!” he said.

    Hiring a highly proven production engineer from a traditional carmaker who arrived with his entire team could speed the process, Parkford said.

    But while young engineers will jump at the chance to work for Tesla, the “by-the-numbers, disciplined manufacturing guys” with 15-20 years experience will be harder to nab, said Cuneyt Oge, president of the Society of Automotive Engineers. One key obstacle is the high price of living in Silicon Valley.

    Musk needs a visionary auto industry veteran, Oge said. “But anyone with that kind of experience is going to say, ‘Hey, Elon, you can’t do this in two years.’”

    Tesla is known for pushing the envelope on design and technology but has stumbled in manufacturing, with prior launches marked by delays and quality issues.

    Traditional automakers have more human and financial resources than cash-burning Tesla: Tracy pointed to Nissan Motor Co Ltd’s ability in 2004 to bring in 200 engineers from Japan to help fix quality issues at its recently opened assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi.

    “Greybeards” are crucial to build and run factory systems, said Oge. “You can’t just defy the laws of business physics which require you to go down a learning curve collectively to build that systems know-how,” he said.

    While Tesla employees may cite Musk’s tirelessness and attention to detail, even bedding down inside his Fremont, California factory, others like consultant Tracy see a worrying sign.

    “If Elon is sleeping in a sleeping bag in a conference room off of the final assembly line, then there’s an awful lot happening in that factory that’s wrong,” Tracy said.

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  • China’s growing upper middle class to drive consumption by 2020

    China’s growing upper middle class to drive consumption by 2020

    The dramatic rise of China’s upper middle class and affluent families is expected to become a major driver for domestic consumption, which will grow fast despite the nation’s sluggish economy.

    A report released by consulting firm BCG and AliResearch, the research arm of China’s largest e-commerce company Alibaba Group, said the combined number of upper-middle class households, whose annual disposable income ranges from US$24,000 to US$46,000, and affluent households, with disposable income over US$46,000, would double to 100 million by 2020.

    By then, they will account for 30 per cent of urban households, up from 17 per cent today and only 7 per cent five years ago.

    “During the past few decades, China’s consumer economy has been powered by the ascent of hundreds of millions of people from poverty to an emerging middle class,” said Kuo Youchi, a principal with BCG Greater China who helped draft the report.

    “But China is entering a new era. The real driver for the future will be upper-middle class and affluent shoppers.”

    The report projects that affluent and upper-middle class consumers will account for 55 per cent of China’s urban consumption and 81 per cent of its incremental growth by 2020.

    Compared to tier-one cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, smaller mainland cities would see faster growth in the number of well-off shoppers. Half of the upper middle class and affluent households to emerge during the coming five years were likely to be in fourth-tier or even smaller cities, it said.

    China’s economy has been undergoing a structural transformation while its gross domestic product growth has cooled in recent years. The government hopes domestic consumption willoffset the sluggish export and investment sectors.

    The report is bullish about China’s consumption market, predicting it to grow 9 per cent annually to US$6.5 trillion by 2020, outpacing GDP growth which is expected to remain at around 6.5 per cent over the next five years.

    In addition to an increase in wealthier consumers, another force to boost consumption is from the younger generation of shoppers who were born in 1980s and 1990s.

    A separate BCG survey found that 42 per cent of Chinese aged 18 to 25 disagreed with the statement, “I feel I have enough things and feel less need to buy new ones”. That compared to 36 per cent in the US and European Union and 32 per cent in Japan.

    Meanwhile, e-commerce, as a more important retail channel in China, will also help stimulate demand and is expected to account for 42 per cent of growth in private consumption.

    Alibaba recently announced plans to buy the South China Morning Post and all other media assets owned by the SCMP Group.

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  • India’s retail market to hit US$1.2 trillion

    India’s retail market to hit US$1.2 trillion

    New analysis predicts the Indian retail market will hit US$1.2 trillion by 2020 and $2.1 trillion simply 5 years later.

    This yr, Indian retail gross sales are projected to realize simply $550 billion.

    The astonishing progress projection comes from business organisation the Confederation of Indian Business (CII) which additionally says the retail business will generate between 10 and 12 million jobs over the subsequent decade.

    The report, titled The Indian Retail Medley, was launched collectively by CII and Wazir Advisors at a Delhi retail business convention organised by the CII, dubbed ‘Decoding the Way forward for Retail’.

    “The organised retail in India is predicted to develop seven- fold and on-line retail 26-fold,” the report stated, however stating that despute such big progress, ‘unorganised retail’ will proceed to dominate the Indian retail panorama.

    “CII & Wazir are sure the sector will get a transformational push with an aggressive collaboration between the organised, unorganised and on-line retail progress, pushed by India’s demographics with large younger and tech savvy inhabitants (500 million are aged under 25 years).”

    Rising incomes and ranges of shopper demand, growing urbanisation, attitudinal shifts and – above all – an outstanding and steady rise in web penetration throughout the nation thanks partially to the federal government’s  dedication to digitisation, may even gasoline progress, the report stated.

    “It’s estimated there can be 550 million internet customers in India by 2018, as additionally the face of the Web consumer will change dramatically, with greater penetration to the tune of 210 million in rural areas.

    “The web retail would offer an outstanding platform to the unorganised retail to succeed in out to the shoppers throughout markets in tier three and tier 4 cities”, the report stated.

    Adesh Gupta, chairman of the CII Retail 2015 and promoter with Liberty Group. stated the time “is completely opportune to Make in India for Retail in India.

    “Our nation is among the quickest rising and most dynamic retail markets on the planet. We should produce and promote in India”

    However Gupta warned of “a dire want” to strengthen the nation’s provide chain administration, indentify shoppers’ wants, developed expert, educated manpower and streamlinethe  taxation system.

    India is predicted to grow to be the world’s quickest rising eCommerce market on the again of strong funding exercise within the sector and the speedy improve in web customers. It’s anticipated that India’s e-commerce market will develop from US$2.9 billion in 2013 to over US$100 billion by 2020.

    “There’s sufficient demand and the problem might be easy methods to attain the shoppers, each from connectivity and logistics perspective,” stated Gupta.

    “On-line retail can attain tier 4 to 6 areas a lot better than offline giving it a much bigger benefit. Collaboration between each organised and unorganised retail corporations could possibly be the actual recreation changer.”

    Shreekant Somany, chairman or CII NR, stated eCommerce’s share of Indian retail is rising steadily.

    “Clients have an ever growing selection of merchandise on the lowest charges. eCommerce might be creating the most important disruption within the retail business and this development will proceed within the years to return.

    “Virtually every thing is bought on the web now and which means just about all the retail business faces the problem of both being part of e-commerce or taking it head on. Partnering is one of the simplest ways out,” stated Somany.

    Mukesh Mathur, government director with Oracle India stated it’s crucial retailers benefit from eCommerce, which can allow them to spend much less cash on actual property whereas reaching extra clients in tier two and tier three cities

    “However, the long run outlook for the business stays to be constructive on the again of rising incomes, beneficial demographics, the entry of overseas gamers and growing urbanisation”, stated Mathur.

    However Harminder Sahni, MD of Wazir Advisors described the profitability of shops as “a serious concern nowadays”.

    “The businesses ought to consider opening worthwhile shops, with thrust on hiring educated manpower. Each on-line and offline should work collectively.”

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