Retail News CRM

Tag: asia

  • Thai 7-Eleven operator CP All appoints new CEO

    Thai 7-Eleven operator CP All appoints new CEO

    Thai retailer CP All has appointed Yuthasak Phoomsurakul as its new CEO of operations, overseeing the company’s network of more than 11,000 7-Eleven stores.

    Phoomsurakul started his career with the company as the deputy MD of marketing and product management in 2007.

    He has also held several key leadership roles in companies such as Big C Supercenter, B2S Company, Amarin Printing Company and Publishing Public Company over the years.

    “I am extremely grateful and honoured to have been trusted by the board of directors to be appointed as CEO,” said Phoomsurakul. “In continuation of our corporate philosophy, customers and employees are the heart of our business operations.”

    In his new role, he says he will work to grow the company sustainably bringing innovation and integrating the business both offline and online.

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  • Netflix partners with Microsoft for upcoming ad-supported plan

    Netflix partners with Microsoft for upcoming ad-supported plan

    After it teased the upcoming launch of an ad-supported subscription plan, Netflix has now revealed that it picked Microsoft to help make that happen. Under the agreement, all ads served on Netflix will be exclusively available through the Microsoft platform.

    “It’s very early days and we have much to work through. But our long-term goal is clear. More choice for consumers and a premium, better-than-linear TV brand experience for advertisers. We’re excited to work with Microsoft as we bring this new service to life,” said Netflix COO Greg Peters.

    Netflix has been making headlines lately with announcement involving layoffs, after the streaming giant reported losses in the previous quarter. Early this year, Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers, but that feels extremely negligible compared to the service’s subscriber base of over 221 million.

    The recent subscriber base decline doesn’t really justify so many layoffs, but perhaps Netflix is afraid that will become a trend. That said, the launch of a new ad-supported plan will certainly increase its customer base.

    However, it remains to be seen if the company will manage to turn those casual consumers into paying customers following the launch of the ad-supported plan later this year.

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  • Bayer Vietnam launches positive energy campaign

    Bayer Vietnam launches positive energy campaign

    Berocca Performance Mango, a brand of Consumer Health Bayer, has launched a campaign to affirm its commitment to raising awareness and comprehensively improving the health of consumers.

    The “Strengthen Energy to Radiate Positivity” campaign was kicked off by the Positive Energy Trip event and 2PM Turns on Positivity MV.

    Following the opening event, a series of online and offline activities radiating positive energy to the community will be organized. This campaign affirms Bayer’s focus on supporting consumers to practice self-care for a healthy life, thereby bringing long-term benefits for the community with the vision “Health for All, Hunger for None.”

    The Positive Energy Trip took place on July 9 at Vietnam National University dormitory in HCMC’s Thu Duc City with the participation of popular celebrities including Isaac, the brand ambassador, Jun Pham, Mlee, Lien Binh Phat, and up to 1,000 young and dynamic participants.

    At the event, singer Isaac, for the first time, performed the campaign’s theme song – “2PM Turns on Positivity” – and interacted with fans and other guests to share his positive life experiences. The vibrant tune of the song together with flashmob performance brought joyful moments to all participants.

    The importance of mental health is increasingly recognized in society today. According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 percent, meaning in every four individuals, one can be suffering from stress, fatigue or mental depression.

    Physical fatigue and mental breakdown heavily affect the quality of life of each person and of surrounding people too. Thus, taking care of physical health and fueling the mind with positive energy every day is vital to stay happy, optimistic, and productivity, to perform better in school and work, to create more values in life, and thereby spreading positivity to everyone.

    Isaac said: “Initially, I was not very conscious about recharging during work, especially the time after 2 p.m. when I used to get mentally and physically exhausted. Thanks to this campaign by Berocca Performance Mango of Bayer, I have been paying more attention to my health and am more conscious about practicing self-care. It is an honor to collaborate with the brand in advocating self-care practice and radiating positive energy to the audience. I hope that this meaningful campaign as well as my new MVcanhelp to boost up energy level in every audience and inspire them to embrace a healthy lifestyle”.

    Luigi Isabelo Dejos, head of Consumer Health Division at Bayer Vietnam, said: “While managing our busy day-to-day schedules, we need not just physical energy to keep our body function properly, but also positive energy to lift our mood and keep us stay productive and motivated.

    “Launching the event with the participation from energetic KOLs, Berocca Performance Mango wishes to underline the role of positive energy in life, encourage everyone to take care of both physical and mental health, and radiate good vibes throughout the community,” he added.

    During the campaign period, Berocca Performance Mango will provide consumers many promotions at drugstores nationwide and on e-commerce sites.

    For updated information, follow https://www.facebook.com/BeroccaVN.

    This product is not medicine and not intended to diagnose treat cure or prevent any disease.

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  • Fuel price cuts fail to drag prices down

    Fuel price cuts fail to drag prices down

    Gasoline prices may have fallen by 10 percent on Monday, but to many people’s chagrin this has not had a knock-on effect on other prices.

    Three days after fuel prices fell, Hanh, owner of a chicken pho restaurant in Hanoi, has yet to adjust prices downward. A bowl of pho still costs VND40,000-60,000 ($1.71-2.56), up VND5,000-10,000 from June.

    He blamed it on the high costs of other items, especially chicken. “A kilogram of chicken still costs me VND110,000-120,000, and so I cannot lower my prices.”

    In HCMC too, food stalls have yet to cut prices after having raised them earlier to cope with higher fuel and other costs.

    Gasoline prices have only fallen by 10 percent after a 35 per cent hike since mid-April, eateries pointed out, adding they therefore have to wait for further fuel price cuts before reducing their prices.

    Prices of fresh foods at traditional markets are also unchanged. Hoa, a vegetable seller in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District, said prices are unlikely to fall since heavy rains have affected supply.

    A butcher in HCMC’s Go Vap District, also called Hoa, said he could not cut pork prices further since he is already selling at cost.

    “Prices of pig of the hoof will probably increase in the next few days, and so retail pork prices are unlikely to fall. Animal feed costs have risen significantly in the first half of this year.”

    Nguyen, a butcher in a market in Hanoi, said, “Due to bad weather, low demand and higher costs, I suffer losses most of the time.”

    Gasoline only accounts for 20 percent of fresh food prices, while labor input costs are rising, Hoang, a wholesaler in HCMC, said.

    Truong Chi Thien, director of egg producer Vinh Thanh Dat, said the costs of animal feed, labor and packaging have risen by 20-40 percent from last year.

    “Egg prices will only decline if input costs fall.”

    Dinh Trong Thinh, a lecturer at the Academy of Finance, said there would be a lag between changes in gasoline prices and those of other goods.

    Despite two recent cuts, gasoline prices remain at nearly VND30,000 a liter, up 25 percent from last year, and so it is understandable that producers, suppliers and retailers have yet to cut prices, he added.

  • Co-working gains ground post-Covid

    Co-working gains ground post-Covid

    Co-working spaces are becoming extremely popular in the post-Covid era and boast an average occupancy rate of 80 percent.

    The country has 179 co-working spaces concentrated in Hanoi, HCMC and Da Nang, according to corporate service provider Acclime Vietnam and property consultancy Knight Frank Vietnam.

    Alex Crane, managing director of Knight Frank, attributed growth to high demand for grade A and B offices with companies being set up or resuming business after the pandemic.

    In the first six months 76,233 companies were incorporated, up 13.6 percent from the same period last year.

    “Flexible workspace is not only an effective tool for corporate tenants but also a key promoter of growth of Vietnamese start-ups,” Crane said.

    The Vietnamese start-up spirit is one of the driving factors of growth along with the expansion by multinational companies in the country, he added.

    Vietnam ranks among the top 20 Asian markets in terms of co-working space, according to Acclime.

    Some prominent players in the market include local names such as Dreamplex, UPGen, CirCO, and Toong and global players like Regus, The Executive Center and WeWork.

    U.S.-based WeWork, operator of 4.16 million square meters of space globally, said its revenues in Vietnam rose by 40 percent in the first quarter.

    “Vietnam remains our most dynamic market in Southeast Asia,” WeWork director for Southeast Asia and Australia, Balder Tol, said.

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  • Understanding Modern Retail Through the Gen Z Filter

    Understanding Modern Retail Through the Gen Z Filter

    Over the past decade retailers faced the challenge of managing their own digital transformation, while simultaneously scrambling to serve the needs of a younger and increasingly online-savvy audience – generally accepted as being digitally native. Today, brands are additionally tested to plan and accommodate for the increasing buying power of the emerging 11-24 age group of shoppers, colloquially known as ‘Gen Z’ or ‘Zoomers’.

    Generation Omnichannel

    Perhaps a more fitting nickname for Gen Z or Zoomers, would be ‘Generation Omnichannel’, as this is the first truly omnichannel generation to both physical and online stores and social media platforms in equal measure. This group are prepared to shop wherever suits them best, and in a more impulsive and immediate way.

    According to a recent article in Vogue, Zoomers are 56% more likely to have shopped for fashion in-store over the last three months and 38% more likely to have shopped online in the same timeframe. They are willing to shop across all channels and have an appetite for higher-quality items in an effort to stay on trend with cultural developments.

    This awareness of cultural trends is leading to some key generational spending indicators too; not to mention the fact that Gen Z consumers are more conscious about the planet and the future. They believe that the generations before them represented overconsumption, capitalism, and materialism, meaning they are more likely to associate themselves (and their wallets) with brands that match their own core values, such as sustainability, environmentalism, and equality.

    At the same time, Gen Z has been called the most critical consumer group of all, with a fundamentally different view of shopping and consumption to previous generations. They are the latest to enter the workforce and will have strong purchasing power over the next decade, meaning brands have to earn their loyalty before they become loyal shoppers.

    Furthermore, Zoomers’ frequency of shopping for new items is being disrupted by the second-hand, preloved, vintage market – a market that Zoomers are 27% more likely to shop. In Australia, preloved and vintage platforms, such as Depop & Vinted, are arguably slowing the cycle of new purchases and redefining the concept of the customer journey and what it really means to be ‘new’.

    Embracing New & All Forms of Payments

    According to PayPal, 22% of Zoomers have used buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) solutions such as Klarna and Afterpay since the start of the pandemic to buy more expensive, higher-quality products.

    Since the beginning of the pandemic, 123% more Zoomers have used BNPL than previously, representing the strongest uptake of any generation – and during April 2021, 33% of Gen Z respondents said they were likely to use BNPL solutions in the future too.

    Furthermore, Gen Z has continued to embrace mobile payment options such as mobile apps and e-wallets, including Apple and Android Pay, faster than any other consumer spending group. This expectation to be able to pay now, or later, with a device or platform is something that permeates Gen Z spending habits enormously, meaning traditional payment and Point-of-Sale (POS) technologies need to be modernised in order to offer these different payment options.

    A Window to the Future

    The pandemic and the associate rise in online activity grew usage and acceptance of eCommerce amongst consumers, regardless of generational status. If we glance into the future, beyond the Gen Z age group, Generation Alpha and subsequent cohorts will likely prove to be even more digitally-savvy – thus, the cycle of retail reinvention will likely have to start anew in another 20 years or so.

    The key to success for brands confronted by this continual sequence of progressiveness is to be agile and nimble enough to not only introduce different digital and in-store commerce options but have the capabilities to support these with the native omnichannel capabilities needed to deliver against the demanding expectations of these new generational groups.

    Gen Z is the emerging cultural and economic powerhouse in today’s retail landscape and it will continue to drive cultural change and retail spending habits on so many levels over the next two decades.

    While the full force of their dollars may not have hit retailers just yet, the race to meet the future expectations of Gen Z consumers is very much underway. The success of brands over the next two decades will not only be established by understanding what, how and from who Zoomers are likely to buy, but also on a retailer’s abilities to execute frictionless omnichannel experiences by having the right technology in place at within stores and supply chains.

    Written by Richard Wright, Managing Director, SEA, at Manhattan Associates

    For more information on how your brand can better serve customers in an omnichannel environment, please visit: www.manh.com/en-sg

     

     

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  • Growing loyalty in a disloyal age through a frictionless customer experience

    Growing loyalty in a disloyal age through a frictionless customer experience

    Brand loyalty in the retail sector is on life support. In a fragmented omnichannel environment, comparison shopping, household budgetary pressures and online price transparency are driving declines in customer loyalty – and leading to tighter margins in the retail sector.

    As traditional retailers struggle to find a competitive edge in such a market, brick-and-mortar stores need to review their processes to deliver greater value and exceptional experience. In an in-store environment, this is leading to brands adopting contactless payment to create hassle-free checkout experiences, along with elevating their stores to offer more ‘experiential retailing.’

    Consumers are more digitally savvy than ever and place a high value on immediacy and quality of service. As a result, a retailers’ workforce needs to be equipped with the means to fulfill different orders with greater efficiency as store associates are now required to do more logistics related tasks, along with offering higher levels of in-store customer service.

    While there have been significant advances in delivering on the customer experience online, the pressure is on for retail stores themselves to meet growing customer expectations. This is not an easy process given that traditionally retail stores have been unstructured environments. Salespeople have had to balance competing demands, handling operational tasks while interacting with customers and immediately responding to their requests. These competing demands can result in inaccurate orders, inefficient bundling, and other errors that drive up labour costs, while employee satisfaction can also suffer if staff feel like they are being pulled in too many different directions at once.

    Meeting online customer service standards offline

    Repeat business remains a critical barometer of success, but like many aspects of the modern retail equation, achieving this means overcoming challenges. Customer loyalty programs matter less, while a high-quality, consistent experience matters more. Loyalty is a cross-channel concept, as customers who shop across all a retailer’s channels are more engaged, creating a more beneficial buyer-seller relationship.

    The modern shopper has access to real-time information and comparison expertise at every step of the journey online. Online retailers compete for customers through offering competitive product pricing and a seamless shopping experience. Customers now want an in-store and offline experience that meets the same standards of excellence they have already typically experienced online. This may mean in-store retail staff having to return an online purchase without hassle for a customer in-store, or sourcing stock in another store and organising delivery to the customer’s home; in-store shoppers expect service excellence at every stage of the buying journey.

    The challenge with trying to match the effortless online customer experience in-store is that many retailers still perceive the customer journey to be linear, which is no longer the case.

    Customers move between online and in-store, browse for goods across social platforms, may direct message for price comparison and email for detailed communication. Shoppers often do not buy where they browse, they may return elsewhere than where they bought and if they change their mind there is an expectation that a store associate will help resolve their issue without any hassle.

    As consumers are shopping on all channels, retailers must focus on delivering an excellent total shopper experience, ensuring that they service their customer how, when and where they are, be that in-store, curbside, or the comfort of their home.

    Built to match the realities of the shop floor

    Retail workers are at the frontline of customer service today and require enterprise level information at their fingertips. After all, every shopper interaction is an opportunity to build a positive impression and support a sale, or conversely create a negative perception and lose business. In such an environment, retail workers need to be supported by the right tools to resolve customer issues, address queries and offer a seamless retail experience.

    New retail-specific mobile technologies can drive efficiency and productivity in store operations and improve the customer experience. Compact, but durable handheld mobile computers, like the Honeywell CT30 XP or EDA5S mobile computers, make salespeople appear more approachable and work in tandem with other devices, enabling users to not only communicate and confirm work easily, but also view pictures of products and inventory locations, type on a keyboard, or scan barcodes.

    How retail stores can transform to meet the needs of an omnichannel world

    The competitive demands of today’s retail environment require in-store processes be optimised and expanded to meet customer needs. Just as Distribution Centres traded paper-based, word-of-mouth and other manual workflows for voice technology decades ago, forces are aligning for retail stores to make the same shift. Retail stores can now support ship-from-store and click-and-collect services – key customer experience differentiators that can also help limit shipping costs as online order volumes grow.

    Proven voice picking technologies allow retailers to empower store associates to fulfill these key logistic roles transforming a traditional a brick-and-mortar store into a modern, flexible fulfilment centre that can meet the demands of omnichannel customers. These technologies present a ‘hands-free, eyes up’ mode of working that can support the demands of a range of in-store workflows, such as order fulfillment, gap scanning, shelf replenishment, inventory management, and more.

    What should also not be overlooked by retailers in such an environment is that customers visiting for in-store pickup provide valuable boosts in foot traffic and opportunities for additional sales.

    Greater operational visibility is required

    Today, retailers need to empower and connect their workers through unified connected communications along with having greater visibility over their operations and workflows. Through these insights, management can analyse how long certain tasks take, leading to better understanding of retail workflows and workforce performance.

    Operational visibility data can fuel labour models to build staffing requirements, determining how much labour is necessary to provide high levels of customer service during peak times and to fulfil online orders from the store. Ultimately, this fuels data-driven decisions to avoid overstaffing while ensuring on-time, accurate order fulfillment and an optimal customer service and checkout experience.

    Empower staff to meet the needs of the omnichannel customer

    Retail stores have transformed from sites that purely existed to make a purchase into something far more complex. Stores now must fulfill several roles along the customer purchasing journey – from being a customer service site, to acting as a returns-facility, to picking and shipping online orders and offering click-and-collect buying options.

    To meet the needs of customers in an omnichannel world, where customers expect the same hassle-free shopping experience that they get online in an instore setting, retailers need to ensure that their staff are properly equipped with the right technologies, systems and knowledge.

    Written by: Vikas Wadhwa, APAC Retail Leader, APACI at Honeywell

    To learn more about how your retail store can meet the challenges of operating in an omnichannel environment, please visit: https://sps.honeywell.com/au/en/industries/retail

     

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  • Coles increases price of its own brand milk

    Coles increases price of its own brand milk

    Mr Forbes, who is a dairy farmer based at Gloucester on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, said farmers had been facing higher input prices, including for items such as diesel and fertiliser.

    “It means our profit margins have been reduced,” he said.

    “I think we were probably in a stronger position even last year … we’re certainly chasing that inflation at the moment.”

    He said floods and wet weather had also impacted farmers.

    “I think milk on the north coast is back over 20 percent at the moment to what it was last year, and we had a flood year last year as well,” he said.

    “Production throughout the whole country is being suppressed, I think we’ll see June figures probably in excess of 10 per cent, that the Australian production will be down across all states.

    “So there’s a real shortage of milk there now and huge demand for that milk.”

    Ben Geard, from Geard Family Farms in southern Tasmania is a Coles supplier, and said the jump in the price of Coles milk “was bound to happen”.

    “Milk prices for farmers have seen quite a considerable increase this year so, it was probably only inevitable that Coles and other processors are going to try to recoup their costs,” he said.

    “It’s not great for customers although milk has been undervalued for quite a while when you compare it to some of the other staples — water, soft drink, and that sort of thing.

    “We were at a dollar a litre there for some time and that ended nearly two years ago.”

    Mr Geard said “that was a good thing”.

    “$1.60 I still think that’s still pretty reasonable for a litre of milk,” he said.

    “It’s not good these prices just increasing for 12 months.”

    Mr Geard said prices needed to remain competitive with other industries if dairy farmers were going to stay in the industry.

    He said it cost a considerable amount to produce a litre of milk, with fertiliser increasing by 30–40 per cent.

    “We’ve got to use a lot of fertiliser on the grass and this time of year we’re feeling a lot of grain in the dairy to make sure we’ve got milk through the winter,” he said.

    “As good as the prices are this year there’s definitely a lot of payments going out as well.”

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  • Guinness drops a weather-sensitive promo

    Guinness drops a weather-sensitive promo

    Winter and Guinness go hand in hand, which is why the brand is celebrating Australia’s coldest month of the year with a unique, weather-moderated giveaway.

    To encourage drinkers into the pub to enjoy a stout at its prime, GUINNESS has launched GUINNESS WEATHER, allowing punters to redeem a free pint of Guinness Draught as soon as the temperature drops to ideal consumption conditions.

    Winter is the best season for enjoying a Guinness, however a lesser known fact is the optimum temperature to pour a pint of the black stuff is between five and seven degrees, so when the temperature drops to five and seven degrees outside, the promotion activates.

    “Everyone thinks about Guinness on St Patrick’s Day but the campaign aims to remind drinkers that winter is the best time to enjoy a Guinness, and a great time to get people together enjoying a pint in their local pubs,” said connections director Ed Stening.

    “We wanted to give people a reason to look forward to a cold snap, with a chance to enjoy a Guinness at its best,” said Paul Swann, Thinkerbell executive creative tinker.

    Guinness lovers can check out the website housing an official Guinness Digital Thermometer which gauges the temperature on the border of NSW and Victoria. A free Guinness is not far with the promotion’s Pub Finder tool, which locates the closest participating venue. The promotion is now live and will run throughout July or until keg stocks last.

    The promotion is supported by a multi-channel campaign running across outdoor, radio, PR, digital channels, and media partnerships.

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  • Sydney Rum Distillery to take control of Cargo Cult

    Sydney Rum Distillery to take control of Cargo Cult

    The Sydney Rum Distillery (SRD) has acquired the independent craft producer Cargo Cult for an undisclosed fee as it sets out to build up a portfolio of brands in preparation for the construction of a new distillery capable of producing 1.2 million litres of pure alcohol a year.

    Founded in 2015 by manufacturing and retail veteran David Ward alongside spirits industry professional Chris Middleton, the startup has invested considerable research and development in creating plans for a large-scale manufacturing facility for Australian rum.

    The team behind SRD is now ready to secure a site for the distillery in Northern Sydney or Central Coast while actively looking to collaborate, partner and acquire like-minded rum producers and brands at home and in the Asia Pacific.

    After appointing Steve Magarry – previously the group distiller at Bickford’s’ Beenleigh Distillery in Queensland – as CEO earlier this year to drive its next phase of growth, the premium rum collective felt the time was right to capitalise on several months of discussions and acquire Cargo Cult.

    “The quality of the liquid attracted us – it is a low, no added sugar alternative for a spiced rum,” Magarry told Business News Australia.

    “There is authenticity there with the liquid, and it has a great botanical profile compared to other spice rums available on the market. We recognise the low- and no-sugar health trend moving forward and plan to capitalise on that from a product perspective and business opportunity.

    Established in 2014 by Jonny Croft, premium South Pacific rum brand Cargo Cult is made by The Small Batch Spirits Company and is composed of distillates from Papua New Guinea and Fiji which are blended, spiced and bottled in Australia.

    Cargo Cult, uniquely featuring no added sugar, is made with botanicals like ginger, cardamom and clove to provide a spicy kick and is available in two varieties; a dry spice rum and an innovative banana spiced rum made with Queensland bananas.

    Croft, who worked at US beverage manufacturer giant Brown Forman for almost a decade before founding Cargo Cult in 2014, claims his rums are favoured by bartenders who prefer working with a less syrupy and more-balanced mixture.

    “Cargo is a brand with a great story, and it is a great product with a unique origin, but what it really needs at this stage is scale,” Croft explains to Business News Australia about why he thinks it is the right time to sell the business.

    “We need to get to the global market and be able to support the brand in the right way. After this initial bootstrapping period, now’s the opportunity to scale the brand and start to get those economies of scale.

    “We want to build the brand with consumers all around the world while also continuing to support the local market, but this feels like perfect timing.”

    Having already raised $4 million from investors like logistics specialist Paul David and timber and hardware merchant Danny Gattone, the founders behind SRD are convinced of the potential of combining Australia’s unique botanicals with artisanal craftsmanship.

    Magarry points to the rise in the popularity of premium spirits in the last few years, pointing out that consumers will pay more for brands that provide “integrity, authenticity and transparency”.

    He thinks the leading indicators suggest rum is the next spirit likely to take off in this sector following the recent revival and regrowth of premium whiskey.

    Croft agrees and thinks rum will be the “next cab off the rank” and has been very impressed with SRD’s knowledge of the Australian market while also seeing the growth opportunities the global market offers.

    “When you look across the spirits categories, you see all these other categories that have gone through this premiumisation journey; you look at it look at whiskey, tequila, gin, even bourbon; and rum, as the third-largest global category is the last big category to go on that journey,” Croft said.

    “I see a tremendous opportunity for rum, especially as people start to appreciate origin stories and product stories and learn how it’s made and how each rum offers a distinctive taste depending on where it originates from.

    “I think we will see this category go on the same premiumisation journey shortly.”

    Having “ticked the box” and served his apprenticeship as a sole entrepreneur, Croft is not fazed, having been appointed chief marketing officer and director of Sydney Rum Distillery following the conclusion of the deal.

    “When you come out of a big organisation, like Brown-Forman, to become a solo entrepreneur, it’s a big cultural shift,” Croft says.

    “From sitting on the 22nd level of a tower in Hong Kong, worrying about the emerging middle class in China over the next 10 years, to selling bottles of rum out the back of your car to tattoo-covered bartenders for cash – it’s not for everyone!”

    “I kind of expected that’s how it was going to work because when you are a start-up, no one’s going to be interested in you, no distributor will want to touch you, so you’re going to have to build the product and brand by yourself.”

    Croft found the experience refreshing and loved the journey while finding it scary but also very exciting and fulfilling.

    However, he has admitted to himself that the business reached an inflexion point, and he needed to sell the company to shift gears, bring it to the next level, and be ready to capitalise if an opportunity comes.

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  • Twitter just experienced a major outage

    Twitter just experienced a major outage

    If you have been unable to access Twitter, don’t panic. The problem is not your internet connection or your phone. Apparently, Twitter just experienced some kind of outage and was down for everybody for about an hour. The downtime affected the web version of Twitter and its mobile apps. The web version showed an error message, and the mobile apps displayed an in-app notification saying that the latest Tweets couldn’t be loaded.

    According to Downdetector — a platform that shows the status of various websites and services in real time — sometime around 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, Twitter users began reporting that they were unable to connect. However, just a few minutes ago, all the error messages the social media platform had been showing disappeared, and it is now running without any issues. So, you can once again access Twitter on your iPhone, Android phone, or via your favorite web browser.

    The social media has not yet issued a statement, and there is currently no information on what caused the Twitter outage. If it does, we will let you know what forced Twitter to take a short nap. The last time Twitter experienced such a dramatic problem was back in February. Back then, the social media platform said in a statement that the cause of the issue was a “technical bug that briefly impacted how Tweets were loading for people on Twitter.”

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  • Hong Kong Authorities Eye Quarantine-Free Travel

    Hong Kong Authorities Eye Quarantine-Free Travel

    Hong Kong’s new health chief reportedly spoke about the possibility of quarantine-free travel by November, in time for the city’s global banking summit.

    By the time the Hong Kong Monetary Authority hosts the global banking summit scheduled for November 1 and 2, travelers could experience quarantine-free entry into the city, according to an interview with health chief Lo Chung-mau.

    But this could entail other conditions including a screening test, the use of a medical surveillance app and initial restrictions to high risk venues such as bars. Quarantine locations could also change from a fixed list of hotels to home isolation.

    Listen to what President Xi Jinping said on Hong Kong’s 25th handover anniversary, Lo said. He talked about ‘four necessities’ and the fourth one is very important – he stressed Hong Kong must maintain its own uniqueness and strengths.

    While Lo was seeking to loosen border controls, he was also tightening local conditions including the introduction of registration of a real name for the existing medical surveillance app alongside a new color-based function to bar individuals from local premises, similar to the system used in the mainland China. Hong Kong is also reinstating electronic wristband trackers for those in home isolation.

    On whether or not such systems were designed to curb freedoms, Lo denied such claims and instead said they were used to enhance freedoms.

    We are really acting out of a kind heart and want to help the travelers, Lo said, adding that restricting entry into high risk venues made a reduction in hotel quarantine possible.

    On following mainland Chinese policy, Lo noted differences in Hong Kong’s demographics, medical infrastructure and vaccination rates, underlining that the ‘one country, two systems’ approach also applied to the pandemic. And when asked if Hong Kong was replicating Macau’s model with its color-coded app, Lo said that he «never copied others».

    The whole purpose [of the health code] is not to trap people, we only hope to identify those who are really at risk Hong Kong is a very international city, we are different from Macau, we have different needs, Lo said.

    According to Lo, internal modeling at the Hong Kong government predicted a rebound from the recent fifth wave of Covid and a peak in September with up to 10,000 patients requiring hospitalization. But he also said that actually achieving zero cases of Covid infections was not possible, adding that Hong Kong needs to find our own zero.

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  • Singapore Central Bank Follows the Pack

    Singapore Central Bank Follows the Pack

    The MAS indicates it will continue to tighten policy to slow inflation and ensure price stability in the medium term.

    The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) indicated in a statement published on its website Thursday that it believes it is «prudent» to take another «calibrated step to tighten monetary policy».

    Along with numerous other international central banks, it believes that doing so will prevent inflation from increasing further given that it expects that pressures on prices will remain elevated over the next few months, as it expects core inflation to rise to slightly more than 4 percent in the short term before it eases.

    Although global supply chain frictions are easing, external inflationary impulses have become more broad-based, reflecting underlying constraints in global commodity and labor markets, the MAS indicated.

    Unlike many other central banks, the MAS uses the exchange rate for the Singapore dollar to set policy given its open and relatively small economy. The policy is set by adjusting the Singapore dollar’s trading band, based on an undisclosed basket of currencies weighted to the countries’ levels of trade with the city-state. The MAS can adjust the mid-point of the band, the size of the band, and the slope of the appreciation.

    In the statement released Thursday, the MAS indicated that it would re-center the midpoint of the policy band, which builds on previous steps that it has taken. It did not change the slope or width of the band.

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  • SK Telecom Teams Up with Ahnlab and Atomrigs for E-Wallet Service

    SK Telecom Teams Up with Ahnlab and Atomrigs for E-Wallet Service

    SK Telecom announced that it has collaborated with the startup firms AhnLab Blockchain Company and Atomrigs Lab to develop its digital wallet service called Web3 wallet.

    In a press release, the company said the digital wallet services will integrate different types of virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, among others, which can be used to verify a person’s identity.

    The Web3 wallet service will be based on the e-wallet technology to be developed by Atomrigs Lab. After its completion, SK Telecom and AhnLab Blockchain Company will take over the implementation, while Atomrigs will deliver technical support services to their operations.

    The company said in the statement, “Users can safely manage their digital assets through the Web3 Wallet and use it as a point of contact for various Web3-oriented distributed app services.”

    The three companies met during a signing ceremony held at AhnLab Blockchain Company’s headquarters building in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province in South Korea.

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  • 5G Connections In APAC To Reach 400 Million In 2025

    5G Connections In APAC To Reach 400 Million In 2025

    A study published by a global organization of telecom operators suggests that in the next three years, 5G connections in Asia Pacific will soar to 400 million, four times higher than this year’s level.

    In its “Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2022”, GSMA also indicated that the regional mobile network coverage today has reached 96% of the population. Of this, 1.2 billion users now have access to mobile internet services. This shows a penetration rate of just below 45% of the population. And among the reasons for this usage gap are the digital divide, the income gap and online safety issues.

    It meanwhile predicts a continuous acceleration of 5G’s momentum across the region as commercial 5G services are now accessible across 14 markets. This is due to the economic improvement following pandemic lows, as well as the increasing sales in 5G handsets and overall marketing efforts. Commercial 5G services are also expected to expand to other markets, including India and Vietnam in the coming years.

    The study also shows that the mobile ecosystem continues to propel the regional economy, as technologies and services brought in 5% of GDP, which is tantamount to 770 billion dollars of economic value added. The industry also supported nearly 8.8 million jobs in 2021, and enabled financial contributions to the public sector.

    According to the study, “The mobile industry continues to deliver social impact across Asia Pacific, primarily by providing the connectivity that enables the growth of small businesses and digital transformation of enterprises, and granting access to life-enhancing services and tools for citizens.”

    And amid the continuous deployments of 5G networks, the technology’s ability to empower next-generation offerings—cloud services, artificial intelligence, internet of things and edge computing—will boost digital economic development and innovation.

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