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Tag: Seed

  • Touché forms strategic partnership with Seed into the Middle East market

    Touché forms strategic partnership with Seed into the Middle East market

    Singapore-based technology company Touché has signed a Cooperation Agreement with SEED Group as their local sponsors and partners, to expand the reach of the world’s first fingerprint biometric-based payment and loyalty management solution to the Middle East. Based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), SEED Group is a diversified group of companies owned and chaired by The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum. It establishes strategic partnerships with organisations in various sectors and accelerates their presence within the Middle East.

    Through this agreement, Touché hopes to leverage the local expertise of SEED Group to reach potential target customers, bringing personalised and seamless experiences to more merchants and consumers in the region.

    This marks a key milestone for Touché in the Middle East, which also received the Commercial License to engage commercial trade activity in the UAE. Issued by the Department of Economic Development in Dubai, the licensing enables Touché to perform business activities and introduce its solution in a compliant manner, further cementing Touché’s commitment towards the region.

    Developed in Singapore, with offices in Barcelona, Tokyo and now Dubai, Touché provides both an elegant and innovative device and a robust software solution that delivers highly secure, convenient and personalised point-of-sale transaction services using fingerprint biometrics or recurring cards.

    Touché’s solution also connects and manages loyalty programmes, and points and discounts are instantly applied for qualifying customers at the point of interaction without the need for vouchers or membership cards. This provides the customers a unique experience. Its data analytics component enables merchants to access historical and predictive purchasing habits and buying patterns of customers, creating bespoke, personalised, offers and recommendations for them.

    “We are delighted that such a high calibre and impressive organisation as SEED Group will be supporting Touché in redefining point-of-sale transactions in the Middle East. The partnership, together with our incorporation in the UAE with our trading license, will bring a new dimension to personalisation in the region, where customers can enjoy unique in-store experiences,” said Sahba Saint-Claire, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Touché.

    “The Middle East is well prepared to enter a new age of digitalisation and push the boundary in digital payment customer experience. We believe that Touché could serve as a key differentiator to transform the growing payment scene and offer a more secure, convenient and efficient payment and loyalty management solution for consumers,” said Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of SEED Group and of The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum.

    The partnership between Touché and SEED Group is supported by Enterprise Singapore, which as part of its mandate, champions internationalisation of Singapore companies. Enterprise Singapore has provided great assistance to Touché through facilitating introductions to potential partners and clients in its target markets, including the Middle East.

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  • Fashion group fails to block Mango Seed trademark

    Fashion group fails to block Mango Seed trademark

    Spanish fashion retailer Mango has failed to block Korean skincare brand The Face Shop from registering a trademark in Singapore for its Mango Seed range.

    Consolidated Artists, the trademark owner of Mango, objected to The Face Shop bid on the basis of its earlier trademarks for Mango and Mango Adorably, under which it produces goods such as soap, perfumes and cosmetics.

    However, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) registrar has ruled that the trademarks look and sound different, and are “more dissimilar than similar in totality”.

    While the Mango trademark had “some level of distinctiveness” in terms of its font, it was nevertheless “not highly distinctive” as it could otherwise be considered descriptive of the products in that they could be mango-flavoured or scented.

    The registrar said the same considerations applied to the Mango Seed trademark of The Face Shop, as the retailer was legally defined in the application. The registrar noted the Korean brand’s trademark included the “particularly long word The Face Shop”, which was “allusive and can be regarded as distinctive of the relevant goods”.

    Regarding the likelihood of confusion, the registrar ruled there was no risk of misperception of co-branding or any likelihood of confusion in the sense of an economic link between the parties.

    While Mango had consistently used its trademark in a particular font, it could not be confused with the Mango Seed trademark, even though the word “seed” was related to the word “mango”.

    IPOS also said that cosmetics and self-care products were “highly personal” and consumers would be more particular about the origin or trademarks of such goods, and trust some brands more than others.

  • Padini fears margin squeeze

    Padini fears margin squeeze

    Malaysia-based Padini Holdings expects an even tougher year ahead as it deals with a double whammy of having to cut prices and pay more for its stock.

    Padini owns the brands Vincci, Seed and Miki as well as stores trading under its own brand.

    The company has revealed margins reduced by between three and five per cent across its brands during the year to June 30 – and it fears even more reductions in the current year. It’s margin is now sitting at around 40 per cent.

    The company has had to absorb the additional six per cent GST applied on retail prices on April 1. At the same time, stock costs have risen due to the rapid deterioration of the value of the ringgit.

    “This financial year is going to be more difficult than FY15 as the weakening ringgit is affecting the cost of goods due to higher import costs,” CEO Chan Kwai Heng said in a news conference after the group’s annual meeting.

    But Chan says the market won’t accept price increases given deteriorating consumer sentiment.

    “We are more focused on driving top-line growth, and have no plans to increase our prices in the short term in order to remain competitive,” he said.

    In the year ahead the company will focus on boosting its online sales (which carry lower overheads than stores), and searching for cheaper supply sources.

    Padini plans to open 16 new stores in 2016, including nine outlet stores, mostly in new malls under construction.

    The company had earlier reported an 11.8 per cent reduction in net profit last year, blamed on aggressive promotional and discounting activities.

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  • Seed Heritage opens at VivoCity

    Seed Heritage opens at VivoCity

    Australian childrenswear chain Seed Heritage has opened a new store in VivoCity.

    It is Seed heritage’s second store in the city state, following its debut in Parkway Parade.

    Last week’s opening was marked with a 20 per cent off storewide sale across its range of baby, child and teenage girls clothing, which ended on Sunday.

    Seed Heritage is one of Australia’s most popular premium childrenswear brands, providing solutions from top-to-toe for babies, boys, and girls, from the ages of newborn to 10 year olds. It recently expanded its range into a teen collection for girls aged eight to 14 years.

    Seed Heritage is best known in Australia for its quality and detail and distinctive design across apparel, shoes, accessories, and toys.

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