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Tag: asia

  • Indian telco sector facing three more quarters of losses

    Indian telco sector facing three more quarters of losses

    India’s telecoms sector is facing at least three more quarters of losses due to the ongoing price war, according to industry body the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI).

    The Indian GSM industry body’s director general Rajan Mathews told that he believes the market’s current tariffs are unsustainable in the long term.

    The industry’s woes are being added to by high license fee and spectrum charges, including high upfront payments, which has guaranteed that the current fiscal year will be tough for the industry.

    The current situation commenced in 2016 when disruptive new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm entered the market with entirely free services during an extended promotion period. The operator continues to charge only for data, at low rates.

    Jio’s strategy prompted established operators to cut prices to compete, and prompted a wave of consolidation that has seen the market reduced to just three private operators – Jio, Bharti Airtel and the combined Vodafone India and Idea Cellular (now Vodafone Idea).

    Mathews said that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and clarity I expected to emerge in the fiscal year 2019-2020, which begins in April next year.

    But he warned that if tariffs continue to decline it will be detrimental to the health of the industry as it will threaten operators’ ability to invest in emerging technologies and in expanding coverage.

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  • Ericsson CEO talks 5G with US FCC

    Ericsson CEO talks 5G with US FCC

    Ericsson president and CEO  Börje Ekholm recently met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to talk about how the US is making more millimeter wave spectrum available for 5G, its progress in reducing the time involved in tower siting and clearing the way for network slicing, a key component of 5G.

    Ekholm applauded the FCC’s recent order removing barriers to infrastructure investment and expressed appreciation for the chairman’s focus on releasing spectrum, particularly millimeter wave spectrum, to help fuel increased innovation and investment in 5G. Ekholm also noted that the Internet Freedom order clears away a cloud of uncertainty over network slicing, according to an ex parte filing(PDF).

    Also present during the October 3 meeting were Niklas Heuveldop, president and CEO of Ericsson North America; Lynn Starr, senior director for Ericsson Government Affairs; Jared Carlson, vice president for Ericsson Government Affairs; and Rachael Bender, Chairman Pai’s wireless and international legal adviser.

    Importantly, Heuveldop covered some of the investments Ericsson is making in the US, including Ericsson’s decision to begin manufacturing in the US in the fourth quarter of this year. The Swedish vendor plans on providing volume production of next-generation radios in order to introduce products into the US market faster.

    Ericsson is also opening a new software development center with a baseband focus in 2018, eventually employing more than 200 software engineers when it’s fully operational.

    In addition, Ericsson said it will increase its investment in artificial intelligence and automation, employing about 100 specialists in North America by the end of this year. The team will work on using AI technologies to accelerate automation, examine product road maps and explore new business opportunities.

    It’s worth noting that Heuveldop joined a chorus of other industry leaders in urging the FCC to move forward with plans to make more midband spectrum available for 5G. He also stressed that the US mobile industry will need significantly more than 100 MHz in the 3.7-GHz to 4.2-GHz band for operators to offer the combination of speed and coverage they need for 5G.

    Midband spectrum also is of great interest to Ericsson’s rival Nokia, whose CEO Rajeev Suri met with Chairman Pai earlier this year. Suri and other Nokia executives stressed the urgency of making spectrum available in the 3.7-GHz to 4.2-GHz band as the centerpiece for nationwide 5G deployment in the U.S.

    This past summer, the FCC adopted an Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that identifies new opportunities for flexible use in up to 500 megahertz of midband spectrum between 3.7-GHz and 4.2-GHz. The notice proposes to add a mobile allocation to all 500 megahertz in the band and seeks comment on various proposals for transitioning part or all of the band for flexible use, including market-based, auction and alternative mechanisms.

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  • China Telecom enters Philippines third telco fray

    China Telecom enters Philippines third telco fray

    China Telecom and Telekom Austria’s Mobiltel have become the latest companies to purchase bid documents for the selection process for the Philippines’ third telco player.

    The operators purchased bid documents from regulator NTC on Saturday.

    The two overseas companies have joined six others, including Norway-based Telenor and fixed line operator Philippine Telegraph and Telephone (PT&T), in purchasing the application documents for the beauty contest style section process.

    China Telecom was approached by Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte last yearwith the opportunity of being awarded the third telco license, before the government elected to hold the selection process instead.

    Any overseas entity winning the third telco license will need to establish a joint venture with local companies in order to comply with the Philippines’ restrictions on foreign ownership in telecoms infrastructure.

    Meanwhile local company NOW Telecom, which has been vying to become the market’s third telco and has been fighting a legal battle to disrupt the selection process, has had its application for a temporary restraining order against the selection process rejected by a Manila court.

    The court reportedly found no basis for the restraining order on the grounds that NOW’s case does not meet the requirements such as a clear right to be protected, or an urgent need for an injunction due to the risk of irreparable injury.

    Bidders will have until early November to submit their bids for the selection process, which will be judged on criteria including guaranteed investment and rollout commitments.

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  • KT expands reach of AI-powered smart city solution to SEA

    KT expands reach of AI-powered smart city solution to SEA

    South Korea’s KT has announced plans to expand the reach of its self-developed AI technology with the launch of services for hotels and smart cities in Southeast Asia.

    The operator will introduce customized AI solutions for the market, starting with Vietnam.

    KT last month entered an agreement with Vietnam’s largest construction company Hoa Binh Construction Group (HBC) JVC for the provision of AI-powered hotel and apartment services in Southeast Asia. The partners have also agreed to subsequently co-operate on smart building and city projects in major metros in the region.

    KT used its platform to launch the first hotel in South Korea to offer AI-assisted room services in July – a Novotel Ambassador hotel in Seoul – and plans to open three more smart hotels across Seoul by 2020.

    The company’s hotel AI service platform is a customization of KT’s GiGA Genie AI powered smart home media hub, which launched in 2017 and now has more than 1 million subscribers in South Korea.

    “It’s a big first step for KT’s AI platform to reach out to the world, thanks to the partnership with HBC,” KT marketing group senior vice president Lee Pil-Jai said. “With great success in South Korea, we will step up efforts to localize our AI hotel service and smart city solutions for Southeast Asia and beyond.”

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  • First humanless retail store launched in Malaysia

    First humanless retail store launched in Malaysia

    The way Malaysians buy and sell products is set to be disrupted with the introduction of a revolutionary humanless retail technology called BingoBox Retail Technology. Launched recently, the state-of-the-art, BingoBox Retail Technology is the brainchild of Scientific Retail Sdn Bhd (Scientific Retail), a joint venture between a group of visionary Malaysian shareholders and BingoBox, the pioneer of the humanless and cashless convenience store in China and the world.

    In an effort to bring added value to Malaysian retailers and consumers, Scientific Retail has further enhanced the technology. BingoBox Retail Technology offers retailers an exciting, cost-efficient and practical avenue to market and sell their products. The easy availability and accesses-ability of the 24-hour unmanned store will provide consumers a simple and seamless shopping experience. Furthermore, smart entrepreneurs are also invited to create novel ideas leveraging on this technology to spearhead new business ventures.

    Ng Seong Ping, Chief Executive Officer of Scientific Retail alongside honoured guests Chen Zilin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BingoBox China; Shairan Huzani Husain, Managing Director of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd; Christopher Tiffin, Chief Executive Officer of Boost; and Remus Shai Meng Choon, Chief Executive Officer of Ximplicity Sdn Bhd officiated the launch of BingoBox Retail Technology.

    During the launch event, Ng said, “We at, Scientific Retail, were inspired by the growth and success of BingoBox, which launched its flagship store in June 2016. To date, BingoBox has been successfully installed in over 400 locations throughout China. We believe that this technology coupled with local enhancement will be ideal for the Malaysian market and we are delighted to be the first partner outside of China to introduce this technology.”

    “The cashless and unmanned store has many advantages including cost savings, improved convenience, and greater security. It also provides accurate data analytics, enabling business owners to understand consumers’ preferences, subsequently allowing them to customise their offerings to appeal to the targeted market segments.”

    “Our technology can cater to all types of businesses and across industries, from fashion to F&B, traditional retail to consumer electronics. The flexibility of this platform also allows unmanned stores to be placed at diverse locations including high rise residential and commercial towers, educational institutions and transportation hubs, amongst many others,” he added.

    “We have generated a lot of interest from various sectors for this technology, and we are looking forward to seeing about 500 retailers using our technology in Malaysia by the end of 2019. As a socially responsible corporate citizen, we are also committed to supporting small-sized brick-and-mortar retailers to grow its business and gain a competitive edge via BingoBox Retail Technology.”

    BingoBox Retail Technology features a highly advanced image recognition system that can auto-detect products. It also has sophisticated monitoring and interactive systems, including facial recognition, patented artificial intelligence and theft prevention. All these will come together cohesively to provide unparalleled convenience and seamless experience for consumers. In addition, Scientific Retail is able to provide consultancy services, end-to-end setup, which include external and internal fabrication, as well as 24-hour monitoring services and remote ‘face-to-face’ customer support, with a touch of a button, for consumers.

    Shairan Huzani Husain, Managing Director of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd, said, “We are delighted to be the first in our industry to offer this innovation to all Malaysians. Customers are at the heart of everything that we do; inspiring us to enhance our products and services to make life’s journeys better for all. This partnership allows Shell customers access to our Select store at any time of the day. Additionally, the cashless transactions provide added convenience which we hope will continue to keep them happy and satisfied.” Shell Malaysia is the

    Scientific Retail also collaborated with Malaysia’s leading e-wallet provider, Boost, to create a seamless mobile payment experience for users. Chris Tiffin from Boost, said, “We are pleased to work with Scientific Retail in creating an integrated payment system that works seamlessly with BingoBox Retail Technology. We have always focused on bringing convenience to our more than three million consumers and this partnership is yet another example of how we aim to achieve our goal of digitizing cash. This integration with BingoBox Retail Technology will allow consumers to shop and pay conveniently using one mobile app for a better user experience.”

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  • aCommerce Forms Strategic Partnership with Fluent Commerce to Advance Omnichannel Strategy

    aCommerce Forms Strategic Partnership with Fluent Commerce to Advance Omnichannel Strategy

    aCommerce, Southeast Asia’s leading brand ecommerce enabler, and Fluent Commerce, the cloud-native order management company that allows omnichannel retailers to out-convenience competitors and offer their customers flexible fulfillment options, have signed a strategic partnership to bring together the best of ecommerce and omnichannel order operations.

    Under this partnership, Fluent Commerce will provide the smart omnichannel management and unified ecommerce that retailers and brands are looking for. aCommerce will act as a system integrator for retailers and brands in Southeast Asia, enabling them to provide a seamless experience to their consumers, regardless of online or offline channels.

    “The relationship with aCommerce is an acknowledgment of the imperative for retailers to provide an innovative experience for their ever more sophisticated customers, such as same-day delivery and collect in store options,” said Jamie Cairns, Channel Sales Director at Fluent Commerce. “By working together we’ll grow and unlock new opportunity for our clients by enabling them to rapidly deploy an end to end, unified commerce strategy. We’re certainly very excited by this combined proposition, which is unique in the region.”

    “Despite the ample growth of ecommerce in the region, Southeast Asia’s retail scene is largely happening offline. Combining the strengths of aCommerce and Fluent Commerce enables us to help retailers and brands execute New Retail strategies by leveraging technology to digitize and connect offline stores,” comments Mandy Arbilo, Group Director of Direct-to-Consumer Ecommerce at aCommerce. “By partnering with Fluent Commerce, we will be able to provide convenience, choice of delivery or pickup, return anywhere options, and up-to-the-minute inventory visibility.”

    Currently, aCommerce is working with leading Singaporean retailers to expand omnichannel and New Retail capabilities. The Southeast Asian leading ecommerce enabler will offer this service in Malaysia by March 2019.

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  • Brooks Brothers Selects Manhattan Active Omni to Elevate Global Omnichannel Commerce

    Brooks Brothers Selects Manhattan Active Omni to Elevate Global Omnichannel Commerce

    Brooks Brothers, the oldest clothing retailer in the U.S., selected  Manhattan Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH) to improve contact centre operations and deliver a seamless omnichannel shopping experience for customers worldwide. New York-based Brooks Brothers is deploying Manhattan Active Omni to fuel its “buy anywhere, get anywhere” customer experience platform across its full network of 300 retail locations.

    Brooks Brothers selected Manhattan Active Omni, which marries order management and store fulfilment applications on a single platform, to deliver superior product fulfilment across all channels. No matter how customers choose to shop, they expect their purchase experience to be positive, quick, and unified. The Manhattan Active Omni solution will provide Brooks Brothers associates with a 360-degree view of customer information and access to the company’s full network of inventory, enabling them to deliver a truly seamless omnichannel experience.

    “Brooks Brothers has been a leading provider of apparel for 200 years, and we take great pride in both the quality of our products and the customer experience we deliver,” said Todd Treonze, CIO, Brooks Brothers. “The Manhattan Active Omni platform will enable us to increase the level of service we provide by expanding our ‘buy anywhere, get anywhere’ offerings on a global scale and significantly improve the customer journey across channels. Working with Manhattan Associates will help us ensure that all our customers enjoy the type of shopping experience they desire, one that reflects the quality they have come to expect from Brooks Brothers.”

    A cloud-native, versionless and fully extensible offering, Manhattan Active Omni is always current and able to seamlessly scale to meet Brooks Brothers’ future needs. In addition to fuelling omnichannel growth, the platform will also help Brooks Brothers scale its flourishing uniform business.

    “Meeting the transformative demands of today’s omnichannel shoppers is perhaps the most significant challenge confronting modern retailers,” said Eddie Capel, president and CEO, Manhattan Associates. “Manhattan Active Omni helps iconic brands, like Brooks Brothers, remove boundaries across channels and capture the network-wide insight they need to consistently deliver high-level customer experience and maintain valuable brand loyalty.”

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  • CapitaStar Singapore unveils new promo event with big prize

    CapitaStar Singapore unveils new promo event with big prize

    Calling all shoppers in Singapore! CapitaLand’s multi-store, multi-mall rewards programme, CapitaStar presents a month-long celebration filled with hundreds of attractive deals for members to enjoy across 15 CapitaLand malls in Singapore. CapitaStar fulfils the ultimate shopping fantasy with the inaugural SuperStar Shopper Challenge, where participants can embark on a S$1,000 shopping spree and stand to win the grand prize of 10 million STAR$® (worth S$10,000).

    CapitaStar SuperStar Shopper Challenge Qualifiers: 5 to 21 October 2018 | Finals: 10 November 2018 Flag-off Location: Bugis+, L2 Atrium

    Join the CapitaStar #SuperStarShopper Challenge and be one of the 20 finalists to go on a S$1,000 shopping spree across participating CapitaLand malls using the CapitaStar App

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  • Mastercard Takes HongKong’s Education Sector into New Milestone

    Mastercard Takes HongKong’s Education Sector into New Milestone

    Mastercard is bringing cashless payments to Hong Kong’s education sector through a seamless FinTech and EduTech platform, which enables the city’s first-ever integrated education app with multiple in-app digital payments.

    Through an exclusive partnership with local education app developer GRWTH, Mastercard will bring hassle-free, fast, safe, and convenient cashless payments experience to schools and parents. The enhanced app integrates digital payments, account reconciliation, student profiles, home-school communication, as well as school administration into one single platform.

    The partnership addresses the pain points faced by parents in daily school payments situations, such as spending a lot of time preparing cash or issuing checks, keeping track of expenses that are often paid in small amounts, and students missing out opportunities to join school activities due to losing cash or checks. All school expenses can be settled via the in-app digital payments function, thereby eliminating the need to deal with cumbersome cash or checks. Parents can also easily track their school payments anytime, anywhere, giving them greater peace of mind.

    Schools also benefit from saving massive administrative time and costs that come with handling the complex payment procedures. Teachers can also save time spent during class manually collecting payments from students. The app offers an exclusive backend reconciliation system, which provides a direct and convenient way to keep track of payments. This includes simplifying reconciliation procedures via transaction categorization and real-time transaction tracking as well as report generation. It relieves the pressure for schools in handling school expenses, allowing more quality teaching time.

    “We are proud to partner with Mastercard to attain our goal of enriching the life of our children through technology. GRWTH links up students, school administrators and parents and provide them with powerful and innovative tools for better home-school communication and organization,” said Adam Chan, co-founder and CEO, GRWTH. “By connecting the education, finance and technology sectors, we aspire to push forward the development of digital payments in Hong Kong.”

    “We are excited to turn a new chapter for the Hong Kong education sector. By bringing together EduTech and FinTech, Mastercard aspires to alleviate the pressure of handling large amounts of cash and checks for schools and parents, not only by providing them with fast, safe and convenient cashless payments experiences but also by helping them devote more time and energy into students’ growth and development,” said Helena Chen, managing director, Hong Kong and Macau, Mastercard. “Through Mastercard’s technology, we can truly lay the foundations for the future of our next generation, and push forward the development of Hong Kong as a smart city.”

    As the exclusive partner, Mastercard provides a one-click, secure digital payments solution. Parents simply need to store their Mastercard card details only once to enjoy the seamless, one-click experience for all future payments. To provide even more convenience, the new in-app payments service is not only available for Mastercard credit and debit cardholders, but also to Mastercard prepaid cardholders. With the world’s fastest and most reliable global payments network, Mastercard cardholders can enjoy the same robust, multi-layered security protections that comes with paying with a Mastercard.

    GRWTH has recently launched the service to 10 schools in Hong Kong as part of a pilot program* and plans to gradually expand the service to all kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. “Our school aspires to bring changes to the education sector by leveraging technology and innovation. We are excited to be one of the 10 pilot schools to introduce a cashless payments option for parents,” said Chu Tsz Wing, chief principal, St. Hilary’s Primary School & VNSAA ST. HILARY’S SCHOOL.

    Apart from its in-app payment function, the GRWTH app includes tools for home-school communication and school administration, and will soon integrate the ability to pay vendors such as extra-curricular activities and school service providers, allowing parents to make instant and direct payment. The “GRWTH Community” is made up of over 100 NGOs and commercial organizations in Hong Kong. Parents can choose personalized extracurricular activities for their children based on the multi-intelligence analysis function in the app’s talent pool. The GRWTH app is available for free download via Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

    *The 10 pilot schools are:

     Buddhist Lim Kim Tian Memorial Primary School

     Buddhist Wing Yan School

     ELCHK Ma On Shan Lutheran Primary School

     Fung Kai No.1 Primary School

     Gloria Creative Kindergarten and Gloria Creative Kindergarten (Sheung Shui)

     Lok Sin Tong Leung Wong Wai Fong Memorial School

     N.T.W.J.W.A. LTD. Leung Sing Tak Primary School

     St. Edward’s Catholic Primary School

     St. Hilary’s Primary School and VNSAA ST. HILARY’S SCHOOL

     The ELCHK Wo Che Lutheran School

  • XPO Logistics to Deploy 5,000 Collaborative Warehouse Robots in North America and Europe

    XPO Logistics to Deploy 5,000 Collaborative Warehouse Robots in North America and Europe

    XPO Logistics, Inc., a leading global provider of transportation and logistics solutions, today announced plans to deploy 5,000 intelligent robots throughout its logistics sites in North America and Europe. The robots, which are designed to collaborate with humans, will supplement XPO’s existing workforce and support future growth. XPO has a strategic partnership with robotics manufacturer GreyOrange Pte. Ltd. that makes XPO the exclusive logistics provider for use of its robots in North America, the United Kingdom and eight European countries.

    Bradley Jacobs, chief executive officer of XPO Logistics, said, “We’ve developed our logistics technology to integrate the latest intelligent automation and adapt it at lightning speed. This allows us to dramatically improve fulfillment time and cut costs. The addition of 5,000 collaborative robots will make our logistics operations safer and more productive in picking, packing and sortation. These are important benefits for our customers – particularly in the e-commerce and omnichannel retail sectors, where order speed and accuracy are essential ways to compete.”

    The autonomous robots are part of a modular goods-to-person system that also includes mobile storage racks and fulfillment stations. Each robot can move a rack weighing approximately 1,000 to 3,500 lbs., bringing it to a station where a worker fulfills up to 48 orders simultaneously. The entire process is controlled by XPO’s proprietary warehouse management system. This high-speed, flexible solution supports same-day and next-day deliveries by shortening order-to-shipment times and helping workers minimize walk-time and manual errors.

    XPO’s latest robotics implementation is part of the company’s planned $450 million investment in technology this year. Other recent innovations include the XPO Direct shared-space distribution network, voice integration with Amazon Echo and Google Home to track the last mile delivery of heavy goods, and the XPO Connect digital freight marketplace with multimodal infrastructure.

     

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  • IFC and Alipay Announce 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion Programme to Inspire Technology Leaders

    IFC and Alipay Announce 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion Programme to Inspire Technology Leaders

    International Financial Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group, and Ant Financial Services Group (“Ant Financial”), the world’s leading tech company and the operator of Alipay, jointly announced the 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion programme at the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. The initiative will include a comprehensive programme that embraces interactivity and the exchange of ideas to provide training to 10,000 tech experts in emerging markets from both public and private sectors over the next 10 years.

    Alibaba Group founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma said that the programme aims to build an interactive and open platform to increase support for tech leaders and skilled individuals who are working to alleviate poverty and make basic financial services more broadly accessible in Indonesia, which will be the first stop of the programme within emerging markets.

    “I believe that investing in people is investing for the future. Cultivating talent is one of the most significant things the Alibaba ecosystem can do. My hope is that emerging markets will benefit from the individuals that are nurtured under this new 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion programme and be able to embrace a brighter future through the digital economy,” said Ma, who is an adviser to the Indonesian government steering committee for e-commerce.

    The 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion programme will seek support from local public and private sector partners in emerging markets. A series of Techfin workshops will be held across China and various countries. The workshops will aim to inspire tech leaders and local talent to become “drivers for change” in the digital era, promoting technology inclusion and global sustainability.

    “Technology offers the largest dividend of the digital era bringing unprecedented opportunities for financial inclusion,” said Eric Jing, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ant Financial. “Individuals with talent in technology are the drivers for change who can inspire innovation that will lead to a better collective future. Now is the time for Alipay to share its knowledge and experience in digital financial services to broaden the tech communities and ecosystem within emerging markets.”

    IFC and Ant Financial have partnered on initiatives to extend micro-credits to small- and women-owned businesses in China and over the past year have driven collaboration on inclusive digital finance, green digital finance and business-environment enhancement. In 2016, Ant Financial signed onto the World Bank Group Universal Financial Access 2020 goal and committed to increasing access to financial services for 100 million underserved individuals.

    Philippe Le Houérou, IFC CEO, said, “Digital finance is transforming the financial landscape, creating new markets, empowering consumers and putting banking in the hands of unreached millions worldwide for the first time. The joint programme will further deepen knowledge and create new opportunities for digital financial services to expand financial access and improve lives.”

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  • MarlMarl Sanjo-Street Kyoto Open door

    MarlMarl Sanjo-Street Kyoto Open door

    Acclaimed for its abstract world view, MARLMARL, with Atsushi Suzuki / TANSEISHA as the designer, is one of the most dynamic brands of original baby clothing in Japan today, and is   continuing to expand in both domestic and overseas markets. MARLMARL worked on interior design for the brand in conjunction with the opening of a new branch in the Sanjo-street district of Kyoto, Japan’s historic capital.

    Kyoto’s Sanjo-street, featuring an attractive urban landscape characterized by a mixture of old and new, is a place where traditional architecture and modern architecture stand side by side. In these surroundings, we had to draw up a plan for the interior of a modern building highlighted by enormous and remarkably eye-catching arches. So, while honoring Kyoto’s historic landscape, we came up with a design concept that would integrate the brand’s abstract world view with the surrounding cityscape.

    Using the brand’s neutral tones and drawing on the motif provided by the building’s arches, we continued the arches inside the store, keeping the lines as simple as possible in combination with a monotone coloring to integrate the cityscape with the brand’s abstract world view. The imposing arches of the building and the light arches of the interior serve as complementary expressions, imbuing the space with a bright and airy impression befitting of a baby clothing brand.

    View the gallery below to join the mini tour to the store :

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  • Luxasia revealed expansion plan to Australia and NewZealand

    Luxasia revealed expansion plan to Australia and NewZealand

    Luxasia, the leading omnichannel partner for beauty and luxury lifestyle brand distribution, retail, and e-commerce in Asia Pacific, has announced its expansion plans into Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) through the acquisition of a majority stake in fragrance and beauty distributor, Pacific SMM. This brings the expanding company’s regional presence to 14 countries, in line with their strategic plan to delight consumers with an omnichannel beauty experience and transform the beauty landscape in Asia Pacific.

    “We are excited by the immense potential of our partnership, given that Australia and New Zealand are mature beauty markets,” said Dr. Wolfgang Baier, Group CEO, Luxasia. “By combining Pacific SMM’s extensive market knowledge in ANZ with Luxasia’s end-to-end brand distribution and channel management competencies, Luxasia is well-poised to bring its repertoire of beauty brands to the ANZ market speedily and successfully.”

    Luxasia’s acquisition of the majority stake in Pacific SMM will be completed in October 2018, and would be renamed to Luxasia Oceania Pty Ltd. The newly established company aims to build upon Pacific SMM’s current setup with experienced team members, innovative retail concepts, e-commerce best practices, as well as an efficient back-office and supply chain management. Adding to the currently fragrance-heavy offering of Pacific SMM, Luxasia aims to bring ANZ consumers more skincare and cosmetics brands.

    “We have great admiration for the Luxasia team’s consumer-centric approach in brand distribution, having worked closely with them for several years across numerous brands,” said Mr. Nicholas Gorick, Managing Director, Pacific SMM. “Leveraging our collective strengths, we are confident that Luxasia Oceania will be a dominant force in ANZ’s beauty industry.”

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  • DHL partners with ChannelAdvisor to power global e-commerce for retailers and brands

    DHL partners with ChannelAdvisor to power global e-commerce for retailers and brands

    2 October, 2018 – DHL eCommerce, a division of the world’s leading logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), announced a strategic alliance with ChannelAdvisor, a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions. Through the partnership, brands and retailers can easily expand internationally by reaching foreign markets and delivering to customers around the world, with seamless connection to DHL eCommerce fulfillment and shipping.

    “We’re excited about this strategic alliance between DHL and ChannelAdvisor, which brings together two industry-leading companies to power the e-commerce opportunity for brands and retailers across the globe,” says Charles Brewer, CEO, DHL eCommerce. “By leveraging technology platforms, retailers and brands can accelerate their cross border e-commerce strategy by easily expanding to new regions and selling to anyone, anywhere. This is made even easier with a global e-commerce logistics partner like DHL to ensure a seamless order fulfillment and shipping process.”

    ChannelAdvisor enables retailers and brands to sell on marketplaces and improve their online performance by optimizing their operations. With a single product data feed, retailers and brands can sync with over 107 marketplaces. As orders and performance information flow back to the system, results are analysed and broken down to enable retailers/brands to optimize their e-commerce strategies.

    As a strategic partner, DHL eCommerce will bring their expertise in e-commerce logistics and access to a global fulfillment network for customers on the ChannelAdvisor platform. Customers can utilize the network of shared-use facilities at transactional prices to enable high-quality e-commerce order fulfillment with best-in-class operations and multiple shipping options.

    “ChannelAdvisor’s strategic alliance with DHL eCommerce gives us the opportunity to work with one of the largest global logistics providers,” says Paul Colucci, Vice President, Global Business Development, ChannelAdvisor. “By combining ChannelAdvisor’s industry-leading e-commerce platform with DHL’s leading logistics capabilities, DHL eCommerce customers will be able to reach new consumers on marketplaces, while continuing to offer the best-in-class fulfillment and shipping they expect. It’s essential that brands and retailers diversify their digital and multi-channel strategies to succeed in today’s evolving industry, and we are honored to be selected by DHL eCommerce to help its customers accelerate their sales strategies and meet demands.”

    Partnering up with ChannelAdvisor emphasizes Deutsche Post DHL Group’s objective to be the leading global provider in e-commerce logistics. DHL eCommerce is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group, established in 2014 as part of the Group’s growing focus in e-commerce logistics solutions. Along with its sister divisions DHL Express, DHL Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding, the Group offers end-to-end solutions for e-commerce retailers.

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  • Uncertain reward will keep customer playing and buying: research

    Uncertain reward will keep customer playing and buying: research

    Marketers everywhere are looking for what will entice consumers to make a purchase—not just once but repeatedly—and new research points to a rather surprising result.

    While conventional wisdom says that people don’t like uncertain gains or rewards, a study from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business finds that uncertainty can play an important role in motivating repeat behaviors.

    “People repeat a task more for an uncertain incentive than for a certain incentive, even when the uncertain incentive is financially worse,” say Chicago Booth Professor Christopher Hsee and the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Luxi Shen, a recent Booth graduate, in the study, “The Fun and Function of Uncertainty: Uncertain Incentives Reinforce Repetition Decisions.”

    One reason uncertain incentives motivate behavior is the psychological boost consumers get in moving from the unpleasantness of uncertainty to the satisfaction of certainty resolution.

    The popularity of WeChat Pay, one of the largest mobile payment apps in the world, is one example. After tapping to pay with WeChatPay, a mobile payment user is sometimes awarded a bonus of an uncertain size. This strategy motivates the user to pay with this specific app again.

    The same is true of many consumer goods companies. Meal-kit delivery services such as Blue Apron send their subscribers a box of unknown groceries every week. Apple music pushes a list of new music to their subscribers. Birchbox mails out boxes of skincare and makeup samples, and BarkBox gives pet owners a box full of surprise dog treats and toys based on that month’s theme.

    “These services all share one important feature,” says Hsee. “They keep the box mysterious and let their customers have fun opening the packages and discovering the products. The uncertainty keeps the customers coming back.”

    In the study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the researchers performed four experiments in Hong Kong and Chicago and found uncertain rewards consistently motivated consumers more than certain rewards in both lab and field settings, and in both small and large magnitudes.

    In one experiment, students at a running club in Hong Kong were told they could earn points by running, jogging, or speed walking on a 400-meter outdoor track during a 15-day event.

    Half of the members were randomly assigned to a group certain of its reward—after each lap, each member would receive five points. The other half were randomly assigned to a group uncertain of its reward—after each lap, each member would randomly receive either three or five points. At the end, participants could exchange their points for a gift card at a local café for the equivalent in Hong Kong dollars.

    As the researchers predicted, the running club members who didn’t know in advance which reward they would get logged more laps than those in the group guaranteed the five points per lap, even though the uncertain-point condition promised a worse financial outcome. “In other words, people literally ran ‘the extra mile’ (precisely, 2.59 more kilometers) for the uncertain incentive,” the study says.

    This uncertain reward is particularly beneficial for marketers who want their existing customers to return. “However, for the marketers whose solo goal is to recruit one-time customers, they should be cautious and not just mindlessly add uncertainty into their product design or pricing strategy,” Shen adds. In the study, the researchers show that uncertain rewards are effective only if the uncertainty is resolved immediately, and only after, not before, one has engaged in repetitions.

    Marketers have had success already in getting consumers to repeat behaviors. Grocery stores encourage shoppers to bring cloth bags and coffee shops encourage drinkers to bring their own mugs, both for the reward of a small percentage off their purchase. But the study suggests that such efforts may be even more successful if consumers don’t know the amount of the reward in advance.

    “Our research reveals that human reactions to uncertainty are more complex and nuanced than commonly thought,” they say.

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