Retail News CRM

Tag: covid

  • Bulgari E-commerce platform launched in Singapore

    Bulgari E-commerce platform launched in Singapore

    Italian jewelry firm Bulgari has launched an e-commerce platform in Singapore prior to opening online services in its home territory. Korea will soon follow.

    The luxury brand is accelerating its digital program following the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the industry, placing restrictions on the ability of shoppers to visit physical stores. It is planning to launch new online boutiques in seven countries over the next 90 days, beginning with the Singapore shop going live yesterday.

    The store features an AR function allowing shoppers to view products as they would appear in the real-world environment, as well as e-concierges and home delivery services.

    “E-commerce must be an engaging and exclusive 360-degree experience, offering the same service of excellence delivered in a Bulgari boutique,” said Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin.

    “Not to mention the complementarity of the website with the boutiques in terms of content and information.

    “With Covid-19, our e-shop has become our number-one store worldwide with a growth exceeding 100 percent and we believe it will reinforce its leading position after Covid-19, as it has been an accelerating factor.”

    Bulgari’s next e-shops are expected to launch in the UAE, Italy, France, Korea, Mexico and Brazil.

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  • Facebook offers COVID-19 self-reporting survey for epidemiologists’ research

    Facebook offers COVID-19 self-reporting survey for epidemiologists’ research

    Facebook is offering a new way to help health organizations in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. Now, VentureBeat reports about a new survey that Facebook’s users will be able to fill out and therefore provide info about the virus spread, as part of a research program done by Carnegie Mellon University.

    The survey option will be available for American users as a link in the top section of the News Feed page. Researchers will be able to identify places in need for medical resources as well as create maps with self-reported coronavirus infections. Facebook stated that if the approach is successful, the method can be used in other countries as well.

    Additionally, Facebook stated that Carnegie Mellon researchers will not share responses to the survey with Facebook and Facebook will not share information with the researchers too.

    To further help organizations fight the pandemic, Facebook provides aggregated data to epidemiologists via its Disease Prevention Maps. Based on the data, researchers can offer information on people’s mobility in different areas to local authorities.

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  • Snapchat fights misinformation with interactive Snapchat COVID-19 myth-buster game

    Snapchat fights misinformation with interactive Snapchat COVID-19 myth-buster game

    As the current public health situation unfolds, tech companies continue to look into ways to bring accurate knowledge to their users. Snapchat, as a typically younger-generation-oriented app, is providing a slightly different approach to promote reliable facts about the coronavirus – in a Snapchat game format.

    Now there is a new Snapchat game, which is a COVID-19 myth buster. As other Snapchat filter games, you are able to access it from the snap games list. The information the myth-buster game provides is taken from the World Health Organization.

    When you start playing, you receive questions about the coronavirus that you can answer with “true” or “false” and then you can send a snap of whether you got the answer right or wrong. Although this may seem too lighthearted given the current situation, education program expert Kelly Mendoza stated that young people learn a lot from games, so this way to provide knowledge is a great opportunity to engage young people and attract their attention to the situation.

    Therefore, the game provides a way to share accurate information about the virus, which cannot be a bad thing given the countless rumors and anxiety-spreading misinformation that the tech giants are fighting against.

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  • Twitter to verify health experts with priority

    Twitter to verify health experts with priority

    Twitter is taking another step in fighting misinformation and highlighting credible sources of info about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company explained in a tweet that it is “working with global public health authorities to identify experts” and get them verified as soon as possible. The Twitter verification label signifies that a profile is authentic, trusted, and a source of truth for an individual, business or organization.

    In the past, the process of verification was under attack for giving the blue label to radical groups and individuals. The verification program was suspended in 2017 after it verified the organizer of white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and afterward the CEO Jack Dorsey called it “broken”. In the current situation, however, the blue badge can help people discern valid information in the high tide of rumors and speculation moving along with the viral wave.

    According to Twitter, the company has already verified hundreds of accounts but apparently there’s more to be done. In a message to health experts, Twitter explained that it will give priority to “accounts that have an email address associated with an authoritative organization or institution”, and added a link to the “How to update your email address” tutorial on Twitter’s help center.

    The company is working on a public-accessible form to help health experts apply directly for verification. “We’ll likely share a link to an intake form soon for experts to fill out to request verification”, commented Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour. Other tech companies offered help in providing fast and reliable information about the health situation as well. Facebook opened its Messenger app to developers to help build new messaging solutions for reporting coronavirus-related info. WhatsApp announced that it is opening an information hub in partnership with the WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP.

  • Coronavirus outbreak is affecting Facebook services too

    Coronavirus outbreak is affecting Facebook services too

    As more countries enact lockdowns due to coronavirus spreading and order population to stay home, wireless service provides are faced with new challenges. YouTube, Netflix and a couple of other important streaming services have already adjusted the quality of their stream to avoid internet congestion across Europe.

    Facebook is one of the companies that registered unprecedented traffic during the coronavirus outbreak. Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp have become vital apps for those who must remain home if they want to stay in touch with their friends and family. As such, Facebook announced that it’s struggling to maintain the reliability of its services during the COVID-19 outbreak.

    During this emergency, we’re doing everything we can to keep our apps fast, stable, and reliable. Our services were built to withstand spikes during events such as the Olympics or on New Year’s Eve. However, those happen infrequently, and we have plenty of time to prepare for them. The usage growth from COVID-19 is unprecedented across the industry, and we are experiencing new records in usage almost every day.

    And it’s not just the increased traffic that is putting a strain on all Facebook’s services, but the fact that all of the company’s employees are now working from home makes it even more challenging to maintain stability.

    In that regard, the social network giant announced that it will temporarily reduce bit rates for videos on Facebook and Instagram in those regions that are most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the company is now testing and preparing for any issues that might arise in the coming months.

    Unfortunately, the crisis hasn’t reached its peak yet, as more countries are just starting to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak, so we can definitely expect things to get worse in the coming weeks.

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