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The dramatic shift to online shipping that emerged in the United States during the 2020 pandemic altered many of the dynamics in the alcohol market, ones that are most pronounced in the wine market. According to Nielsen data, the year before Covid-19 online sales of wine in the US lagged behind all major markets sitting at 5%, compared with mid-teens in Europe and 30% in China. The lockdowns caused those numbers to blow up with the wine segment seeing an increase of 234% in 2020.
One of the biggest winners of this behavior change was the direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales side that wineries were ideally positioned to exploit. Relaxed liquor laws meant that the lion’s share of DTC sales of alcohol went to wine. Forty-four states allow DTC of wine compared to just eleven for beer. Wine hits over its weight there with a 40% value share in the total drinks market online compared to a 14% value share overall. That paired nicely with their ability to directly engage with customers online through virtual tastings, product reviews, all that allowed consumers to discover new products.
“Wine is exceptionally well placed to take advantage of the burgeoning move towards online purchases. Having relaxed its online buying and shipping laws for alcohol during the pandemic, the US is set to drive eCommerce growth, as will Brazil, China, the UK, and Australia,” says Daniel Mettyear, research director for wine at IWSR.
That is excellent news for Sonoma County vintners, who now account for 33% of the entire DTC channel volume, one that is approaching nine million cases this year according to the latest data from Wine Vines Analytics/Sovos ShipComplaint. Over the last twelve months through September, Sonoma County wineries saw a 16% increase in shipment volume compared to the same time a year prior. That continues a trend that has seen its volume growth numbers be almost double that of nearby Napa County sine 2016.
While Sonoma County is growing, it still lags behind Napa County in overall dollars, with Napa DTC shipment value at $1.75 billion compared to Sonoma at $896 million while the Central Coast of California comes in third at $432 million. Even though the dollar value rose 16.5% in 2020 compared to 2019, the average bottle price in DTC sales fell to $36.62. That is due to the enormous influx of new buyers to the space looking for lower-priced options, something that doesn't affect the wineries as much due to their ability to retain more of the profits by cutting out fees paid to distributorships.
So, while the overall liquor industry continues to bounce back from 2020 with the on-premise channel returning to normal, the wine industry is poised to remain the leader of the DTC market. Perhaps the biggest winner of them all will be Sonoma County, long the little sibling to its bigger and better-known neighbor to the south. If the DTC numbers say anything, it's that consumers are looking for their wines more and more each day.


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(This is the first installment in a series examining Canada’s mountain of unsold cannabis.)
Canadian producers have destroyed millions of packaged cannabis products and hundreds of tons of unpackaged marijuana since adult use was legalized in late 2018, according to data acquired by MJBizDaily.
Industry experts suggest the large-scale destruction reflects a variety of factors, ranging from low-quality product to a lack of retail outlets and stockpiling ahead of the 2020 launch of Cannabis 2.0 products such as edibles and concentrates.
The destroyed production underscores the woes licensed producers have faced the past three years and sheds light on the sheer amount of cannabis that has gone unsold in Canada since the launch of recreational marijuana sales in the country in October 2018.
Roughly 447,118 kilograms – or nearly 500 tons – of unpackaged dried cannabis was destroyed by licensed producers between 2018 and 2020, according to the data provided to MJBizDaily by Health Canada, the federal body tasked with regulating cannabis production in the country.
However, the actual amount in tons of destroyed cannabis is believed to be much higher because the unpackaged figure doesn’t account for packaged cannabis – defined by Health Canada as marijuana held in stock and ready for sale.
In addition to the nearly 450,000 kilograms of destroyed unpackaged cannabis, almost 6 million packages were destroyed in 2019 and 2020.
Those destroyed packages consisted of:
- 3,783,397 packages of dried cannabis.
- 1,500,396 packages of extracts.
- 714,491 packages of edibles.
- 943 packages of topicals.
Health Canada did not say why the cannabis was destroyed by producers, but industry sources cite various reasons for regular destruction, including:
- Clogged sales channels, as provinces opened stores slowly in the early years of legalization.
- Cannabis was produced before appropriate licenses had been secured, such as a sales license.
- Low-quality production.
- Production for testing only.
- Producers stockpiling cannabis in 2019 for the launch of 2.0 products, such as edibles and most extracts, in 2020.
Moreover, the overall amount of destroyed cannabis has been growing steadily since late 2018.
Reported destroyed unpackaged dried cannabis from October to December 2018 was 11,548 kilograms, or 10% of production.
A year later, that total rose to 155,780 kilograms, or 15% of production.
In 2020, Canadian licensed producers destroyed 279,837 kilograms of unpackaged cannabis, or almost 20% of the 1,473,767 kilograms of dried cannabis produced that year.
“In commercial horticulture, a 5%-8% annual loss can be expected due to insect infestations, plant disease, crop failures and bad weather. If companies are destroying 15% or more of their inventory, it should be very alarming to owners and shareholders,” said Ryan Douglas, owner of the Ryan Douglas Cultivation consultancy and master grower for Canopy Growth predecessor Tweed from 2013 to 2016.
“Massive waste and repeated crop failures in commercial horticulture are the exceptions, not the norm, and it’s no way to run a profitable business.”
As of the end of 2020, roughly 1,141,092 kilograms of dried cannabis were sitting in inventories of federal license holders, provincial wholesalers and retailers. Ninety-five percent was with federal license holders.
The inventoried cannabis combined with the destroyed products reveals that a minimum of 1,591,092 kilograms of cannabis went unsold as of the end of 2020.
Douglas noted that any new industry has its growing pains.
In this case, Canadian cannabis executives clearly were looking at overly rosy sales forecasts. That, in turn, led to large stockpiles of unsold product and excessive production capacity.
“I think the excitement and easy access to capital helped to exacerbate the issue in Canada,” Douglas told MJBizDaily.
If the product was destroyed because it was unsaleable, Douglas said, that would indicate producers were unable to grow quality cannabis as they scaled up their output.
He said that likely stemmed from a couple of factors.
“One, the quality wasn’t there in the first place,” he said.
“Second, many head growers didn’t have the experience to handle a massive jump in production capacity. Going from 20,000 square feet indoors to more than 100,000 square feet of greenhouse production is a giant leap.
“If a cultivation team doesn’t have experienced leadership to manage this change, the end product will suffer.”
‘Infested with aphids and mildew’
Mary Durocher, president of Fox D Consulting in southwestern Ontario, said the levels of destruction indicate an oversupply of poor-quality cannabis as well as a lack of diversity of cultivars coming to market – something upcoming markets in other countries could learn from.
She said some large-scale cannabis producers in Canada have been seeing crop losses of 30% annually.
Agricultural industries such as corn, soybeans and wheat typically see around 5% crop loss, she said.
“Publicly traded producers who have product that is unsaleable will store it and destroy small amounts quarterly so it doesn’t affect their financial statements,” she said.
“There are producers out there who have had product for four years sitting in their vaults. They’re waiting to destroy it so it doesn’t look bad and it doesn’t affect their books.
Durocher said the large amount of stored and destroyed cannabis is indicative of companies lacking experience growing cannabis at such a large scale.
“We have a lot of product infested with aphids and mildew,” she said.
“I haven’t seen a client have anything less than a 20%-30% crop loss annually. That’s pretty standard for the industry, but most people won’t tell you that.”
How destruction happens
Karina Lahnakoski, a partner of Deloitte’s risk advisory practice, said the actual federal regulation doesn’t prescribe the method of destruction.
Because there is no regulation behind how you must destroy the cannabis, companies can use one of several methods, she said.
“The kitty-litter method,” where cannabis waste is combined with kitty litter before disposal, is still a method license holders are using. “It’s not very efficient,” Lahnakoski said.
“A lot of companies have moved to incineration or a composting method,” she said. “The requirement is you break down the cannabis so it can’t propagate or can’t be consumed, so it’s not taken from the waste stream.
“It is completely up to the company, and we haven’t seen a standard.”
“Generally, if a company doesn’t have a lot of waste, they still tend towards that kitty-litter method, but larger companies are starting to move towards incineration.
“I’ve seen one company that has built-in their own incinerator because they anticipated having more waste.”
Matt Lamers is MJBizDaily’s international editor, based near Toronto. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.

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text: HomeBitcoinGarmin Coming Back Online After Hack — Was $10M Crypto Ransom Paid?Garmin Coming Back Online After Hack — Was $10M Crypto Ransom Paid? By John Rogers August 3, 2020 Bitcoin 0 Comments Cybergang Evil Corp hackers reportedly demanded $10M to restore full access to Garmin’s customer support services and navigation solutions. Source: Garmin Coming Back Online After Hack — Was M Crypto Ransom Paid? Tags:BitcoinRelated Posts Friday The 13th: How Superstition Could Impact Bitcoin Trend Changes How Fed Has Spilled Cold Water Over Bitcoin’s $20K Target – For Now Negative Bitcoin headlines affect speculators, not HODLers says Morgan Creek CEO About Author John RogersWith a background in economic history and writing, John specializes in writing about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.John is the Founder of CryptoNewsPipe.com and the Lead Editor.He can be contacted at email@example.comAdd a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment:*Name:*Email Address:*Website:Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.


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target audience: TECH SUPPLIER Publication date: Mar 2022 - Document type: Market Forecast - Doc Document number: # US48936022
Worldwide Smartphone Forecast, 2022–2026
This IDC study presents the updated five-year forecast for smartphone shipments worldwide by operating system. The worldwide smartphone market will reach 1.38 billion units shipped in 2022, up 1.6% from the 1.36 billion units shipped in 2021. From there, shipments will hit 1.53 billion units in 2026, the final year of our forecast period, resulting in a CAGR of 2.3%.
"Although the 2.8% ASP growth will feel small compared with the 13.3% growth of 2021, ASPs will reach the $400 mark for the first time since 2011," said Anthony Scarsella, research director with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "The increased demand and cost of premium flagships continue to push prices up across the smartphone industry as we hit $400 from a worldwide perspective. Average selling prices for iOS will break the $1,000 mark for the first time, and Android will witness its highest prices since 2013. Looking ahead, we do expect prices to start falling as 5G devices become more affordable across numerous markets. Next year should bring a 2.4% decline in ASP as prices will fall at a rate of 2.5% leading into 2026."


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- U.S. consumers are holding onto their smartphones for an average of 33 months as a lack of innovation gives them reason to upgrade less frequently, a survey by Strategy Analytics found. The firm said consumers are very interested in next-generation 5G mobile service, although high smartphone prices will be a significant barrier to entry.
- The average Apple smartphone has been active for 18 months, longer than the 16.5-month average for Samsung devices. The two companies remain dominant with brand loyalty of more than 70%, while other device makers like LG and Motorola see repeat purchase intentions of less than 50%.
- Just 7% of U.S. consumers said they would spend over $1,000 on a new phone, while "wow features" are important to only about one-third of those surveyed. One out of four people said 5G will be important for their next mobile device, per Strategy Analytics.
Mobile device makers have steadily added more features to their smartphones to command higher prices, especially for flagship models, but their ability to entice consumers into upgrading has declined as innovation stalls and the "wow factor" of device offerings wanes.
Smartphone makers and wireless carriers may regain momentum as 5G service rolls out nationwide with the promise of significant improvements to download times for data-intensive content like videos. Verizon this week introduced 5G service to parts of Phoenix, the 10th city in its planned nationwide expansion.
The trend toward longer ownership periods has pressured device makers around the world. Global smartphone shipments fell for the seventh straight quarter in Q2 2019, the International Data Corp. found. The researcher estimated that global shipments fell 2.3% to 333.2 million in Q2 from a year earlier, representing a smaller drop than the 6.6% yearly decline observed in Q1 2019.
Declining sales of smartphones has pushed Apple to expand its services business to generate ongoing revenue from each of its device owners. The company's recent earnings report showed a 12% drop in iPhone sales to about $26 billion during the three months ended June 29. However, paid subscribers to services like Apple Music, Apple News and iCloud storage grew to 420 million from 390 million in the prior quarter, and the company plans to roll out additional services such as a credit card, a video-streaming service and a game platform this year. Apple isn't expected to introduce a 5G iPhone until next year at the earliest.


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On the second day of her India visit, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday categorically expressed her dissatisfaction over India’s sudden decision to ban export of onion which has resulted in skyrocketing of the price of the bulb in her country. “Bangladesh was taken by surprise,” she said. Switching to Hindi briefly from her speech in English at the India-Bangladesh Business Forum, she said Bangladesh has been inconvenienced by rising price of onion following the ban on export by India.
She said had India informed Bangladesh in advance about the ban, Dhaka could have made arrangements for importing onion from some other countries.
Hasina said she has instructed her cook not to use onions.


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With pages on Twitter and Facebook, Sweda Company, based in City of Industry, Calif, announced it is using the sites to report on company
Chicago-based Quality Certification Alliance (QCA) announced Leed’s, New Kensington, Pa., and Sweda Company LLC, Monrovia, Calif., are the third and fourth companies to successfully complete a third-party audit of each company's compliance programs and practices as outlined by the
City of Industry, California-based Sweda Company announced the release of its Summer Sizzler brochure of quarterly product specials—over 40 items discounted up to 60 percent off in product categories including pens, drinkware, totes, caps, pedometers and watches.
Sweda Company, based in City of Industry, Ca., announced for year-to-date 2009 it has maintained a perfect record for its 100 percent guaranteed (or the order is free) 24-hour shipments
City of Industry, California-based Sweda Company announced it has lowered its Headwear minimums to 50 pieces per color with


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Costco joins Walmart in shutting online photo store after possible data breach
Vancouver-based PNI Digital Media, which hosts photo services, investigates credit card data issue
Costco Wholesale Corp, Sam's Club and a handful of other large retailers have disabled their online photo printing stores in recent days, on concerns about a possible data breach at PNI Digital Media, which manages and hosts photo services sites.
Last week CVS Health Corp disabled its CVSphoto.com site, and the week before Walmart Canada's walmartphotocentre.ca took a similar action after it was informed that customer credit card data had been potentially compromised.
Other photo printing sites that might have been recently affected included Rite Aid Corp and British supermarket chain Tesco's.
"We take the protection of information very seriously. PNI is investigating a potential credit card data issue, and outside security experts are assisting in the investigation," said Kirk Saville, vice president, global communications at Staples Inc , which bought Vancouver-based PNI last year.
Some websites said they had been advised by PNI of a potential breach, while others said they acted because of recent reports.
Limited access to customer info
Costco Canada and Rite Aid noted that PNI has limited access to customer information since it does not process credit cards, but the photo service sites were temporarily taken down as a precaution.
CVS and Walmart Canada asked customers to monitor their credit card transactions closely for unauthorized charges.
Tesco's page simply said it was it was unavailable for routine maintenance.
The retailers' main websites and other services were not affected by the potential breach.


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Today, with all the friendly locals still very much around you on the street, you might find yourself reaching for the powerful fountain of information in your pocket – your smartphone.
Thais spent more time on the Internet in 2016, at 45 hours a week on average or 6.4 hours a day.
South East Asia’s Internet economy, spanning online shopping to games and advertising, will surge sixfold to about $200 billion in the next decade
The Thai government announced plans to invest BT38bn ($1.1bn) in strengthening the country’s broadband backbone, extending access across Thailand and increasing data speeds by more than 400%.
Google’s autocomplete function provides suggestions derived from common Google searches by other users.
Thailand's average time online per day (5.03 hours) is the highest in Asia, followed by Singapore at 4.38 hours, Malaysia at 4.18 hours and India at 3.35 hours.
If you live and work in Thailand, you probably already know what slow an unreliable internet connection feels like : very frustrating and time consuming.
Total Access Communication (Dtac) launched the 4G network quality testing at the terminal areas of Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang Airport, to ensure non-disrupted data transmission particularly…
Major investments in Malaysia’s 2015 budget are set to strengthen the ICT sector by funding infrastructure expansion and providing support for both research and development (R&D) and private…
Nearly 100 Thai Government websites were hacked and used to serve malware last month. More than 500 distinct attacks were launched from these websites, representing about 85% of all government-hosted…


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Grand Theft Auto V maker Rockstar has launched an investigation over claims Amazon has accidentally sent copies of the game to customers before its official release date.
The game is not due to be released until September 17 - but some fans said they were receiving copies as early as four days before the official launch date.
Grand Theft Auto V maker Rockstar said they were "in the process of investigating early “sales” to determine how and why that is occurring".
They have also asked for no more copies of the game to be dispatched until tomorrow.
The game was also reportedly being sold on some European high streets, with a French retailer is said to have told Facebook users he was selling GTA 5 before the release date.
Meanwhile, Amazon announced it had sold out of the game, which is predicted to become the biggest selling game of all time.
Amazon often ships items early to ensure they're received on the actual launch date, but something seems to have gone awry this weekend.
Several Reddit users posted pictures of their new games, and one said: "Got the game at around 11 PM CST.
"Played nonstop 2 hours, I just couldn't put the controller down. The 8GB install took roughly twenty minutes on my PS3, the longest twenty minutes of my life.
"The graphics on this game are unbelievable, and that is what I'm most blown away by thus far.
"Tomorrow I will really get into playing the missions and try and get pretty far. Sorry for rubbing it in guys! I was absolutely giddy with excitement when I had it in my hands!"
Jealous fans are fuming, with one saying: "I'm not going to be the only smuck who doesn't get a early copy of GTAV. I'm going to Walmart with 60 dollars and I'm bribing the most depressed worker I see to smuggle this out to me."


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Nokia is trying to make a new name for itself but that might be easier said than done. In recent years, Nokia worked heavily with Microsoft to produce Lumia phones exclusively for Windows Phone. Though the company continued to produce other products, Microsoft's partnership was a big focus for the company. With that partnership well in the past it's up to the company to drive its own success and, in the first quarter after the completion of its Alcatel-Lucent acquisition, optimism over short-term growth is now being tempered.
In its financial reports, Nokia posted a loss of €513 million ($583.46 million) during the company's Q1 2016, which ended on March 31. For comparison, over the same period last year Nokia ended up in the black with €177 million ($202.2 million). While the loss isn't entirely out the blue - the company did shell out a lot of cash for Alcatel-Lucent after all ($16.6 billion)- Nokia's own President and Chief Executive Rajeev Suri advised against over-optimism for short-term revenue growth. If the remnants of the Alcatel-Lucent deal were pulled from the quarterly earnings report, Nokia would have turned €139 million ($158.8 million) in profits.
One high note for Nokia's report was the increase of revenues to €5.6 billion, up from €3.20 billion during the same period last year. Despite the down quarter, Nokia has since gone out to acquire other companies and is clearly aiming to be a bigger technological player worldwide when it comes to wireless services and devices. Nokia's 5G technology is one of the projects the company is betting big on to bring in new customers and drive revenues while the company uses its acquired resources to drive network hardware sales.
The one potential problem with this approach for Nokia is that it's trying to expand its role in a network hardware market that already has a lot of competition and established names, such as Cisco, which made friends with Nokia's Swedish rival, Ericcson, last month.


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GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI) expects continued quarterly losses in Q1 2020, due to the COVID-19 related issues impacting its business operations in the reporting period.
The ‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member has now guided net losses in the year's first quarter to be in the range of RMB 120 million to RMB 150 million (US$16.9 million to US$21.2 million), compared to the US$18.6 million in net losses posted for the first quarter of 2019.
The SMSL noted that the COVID-19 outbreak had delayed its ability to restart production after the Chinese New Year and led to logistical restrictions, while raw material prices and logistics costs had risen.
The company was hampered in obtaining customer payments during shutdowns, adding to overall cost increases while revenues declined. This was compounded by a fall in overseas market demand, due to the spread of the pandemic.
GCL-SI plans to actively bid in China’s grid parity and bidding projects to expand production and product sales in the coming quarters, after the 2020 grid-connected electricity pricing policy for solar PV was recently issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration.
The company also expects demand to quickly recover in Europe, the US and other key markets once COVID-19 lockdown measures are phased out.
GCL-SI is expected to release 2019 full-year financial results and Q1 2020 results on April 25, 2020.
PV Tech has set up a dedicated tracker to map out how the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting solar supply chains worldwide. You can read the latest updates here.
If you have a COVID-19 statement to share or a story on how the pandemic is disrupting a solar business anywhere in the world, do get in touch at firstname.lastname@example.org or email@example.com.


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Abu Dhabi: Careem has announced a new and more affordable service, called economic car service, for its customers in Abu Dhabi, which will see fare prices reduced by as much as 50 per cent.
The new service was officially signed off by Careem and the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Department of Transport, with the economic car option coming into immediate effect for passengers who want to use it. As part of the new service, passengers who opt for the economic car will pay a minimum fare of Dh19.
“This new agreement we have signed allows us to introduce a new car type that will be 50 per cent cheaper for passengers, creating more accessibility for customers and tourists in Abu Dhabi,” said Bassel Al Nahlaoui, managing director of the Gulf Region of Careem.
“The economic car models that we are going to be using for this new service will be the Toyota Previa, Chevrolet Impala and the Lexus ES-350. There will be a few hundred introduced at the beginning, but if we have to supply more that won’t be a problem for us, we have carefully selected how many cars we are adding to our platform so that there is a good balance between supply and demand,” he added.
“All of this is customer driven, we have listened to their feedback on social media and the emails they have sent us over the past year,” he said.
Al Nahlaoui also said there would be reduced prices across all existing Careem services under the new arrangement by 30 per cent.
Besides new fare prices, the new deal will also offer employment opportunities for Emiratis to work full- or part-time with the company.
“The second part of the new regulation allows Emiratis to become captains on the Careem platform, which means they will be able to transport customers in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
“This will create new employment opportunities for them, or for those who already have jobs, an additional source of income,” he added.
“Emiratis who want to become captains with us will have to first go through the ITC, who will be in charge of the regulatory process and checking the background of the applicant,” he said.
Mohammad Darwish Al Qazmi, general manager of ITC, who was also present at the signing agreement said that talks were currently taking place with Uber on the resumption of its services in Abu Dhabi. The company was suspended from operating in the capital back in the summer of 2016.
Al Qazmi said the talks were progressing but that there was no timeline yet on when Uber would have its suspension revoked. Al Qazmi added he was confident that an agreement would be reached.


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Report: Fisker Karma Plug-In Hybrid Returning in Mid-2016
The Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid has gone through many highs and lows since its launch in 2012, ending with a bankruptcy in 2013. Last year we reported that the company would restart manufacturing in 2014, but now a new report from the Orange Country Register quotes Fisker chief marketing officer Jim Taylor in saying that the Karma will return in mid-2016.
In the interview, Taylor details the rebuilding of Fisker, including relocation to a new headquarters in Costa Mesa, California and hiring around 200 new employees. Fisker is also working on a new production facility in Moreno Valley, California, where the next iteration of the Karma will reportedly be built. The target date for the Fisker Karma's relaunch is set for mid-2016, though Taylor told the OC Register that the company "won't make any promises" on a concrete launch date.
We don't know yet how the Fisker Karma might be updated given all these behind-the-scenes changes, but the car will remain a luxury sedan with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. The previous Fisker Karma, which was built in Finland, used a 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline four-cylinder with an electric motor to make for a total power output of 403 hp and a claimed 50 mile electric driving range. 1,800 of these Karma models were sold in the U.S. before issues with the battery packs prompted recalls, which led to bankruptcy in 2013. The new Karma will reportedly use the same battery supplier, A123 Systems, as the previous car, but with an improved chemistry to prevent the fire risks in the previous battery packs.
Stay tuned to hear more information about the future of the Fisker Karma as we find out more information about the car's return closer to its launch set for sometime next year.
Source: OC Register
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Be on the lookout for Apple to enter further into the commerce space in 2014 with two different payment paths possibly in the works. Word on the street is Apple is still determining who holds the key to unlocking their full commerce potential- the merchants or the consumers?
Many merchants are already using Apple and their products as POS systems today and should be further thrilled to hear the possible plans Apple has for the future of payments using their systems. Apple is discussing real-time, in-store communication using iBeacon technology that would let the consumer pay for transactions via their Apple iTunes account- which already has their payment information stored.
2. Consumer Payments
The ‘digital wallet’ has been an exciting venture already, but with one major concern for consumers- what happens to my wallet when my phone is lost or stolen? Apple has attempted to tackle this issue by integrating biometrics on its latest 5S iPhone which has provided a cleaner path toward consumer payments in the industry. There is plenty to be excited about with this path, but merchants would still have to accept it and get on board – which can sometimes be a daunting task.
Consumers and merchants alike will have to stay tuned in the upcoming months to see which route Apple decides to pursue and what this could mean for their shopping and business experience.


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TRENDING TAGS :
China to lower import tariffs on over 850 products from January
Beijing will lower import tariffs on over 850 products, including frozen pork, from January next year, the finance ministry said on Monday, which may help ease the pressure on the country's depleted pork supply.
Beijing: Beijing will lower import tariffs on over 850 products, including frozen pork, from January next year, the finance ministry said on Monday, which may help ease the pressure on the country's depleted pork supply.
China has been hit by a severe pork shortage after African Swine Fever tore through the country's pig herds. More than a million pigs have been culled due to the disease, according to official statistics, and prices of the staple meat have more than doubled.
Monday's announcement said tariffs on frozen pork will drop from 12 per cent to 8 per cent from January 1.
According to the announcement from the Tariff Commission of the State Council, the changes will optimise "the trade structure and promote the high-quality development of the economy".
Other products which will have lower import tariffs include food products -- such as fish, cheese and nuts -- pharmaceuticals and a range of chemical products.
China said from July 1 next year, it will also further reduce some tariffs on some technology products, said the ministry in a statement on its website.
Goods from countries including New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Iceland, Australia, South Korea, and Pakistan will also be subject to even lower levies under re-negotiated bilateral trade agreements, according to the statement.
The move does not appear to be linked with the bruising US-China trade war, which has seen Washington and Beijing exchanging blows for more than a year.
Earlier this month, the two sides announced a mini-agreement to reduce some levies in a bruising trade war, which has dragged on global growth.
Last week, China said that a list of US chemicals that will be exempted from import tariffs, including certain types of industrial glue and adhesives, industrial polymers and types of paraffin, which can be found in cosmetics and food.


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Nokia has unveiled that pre-orders for the new Lumia 925 will kick off in China on June 17th, according to the official product page. Consumers will be able to pre-order the Windows Phone on JD.com. As previous rumours suggested, those who get in there first will also receive the limited edition Superman branded wireless charging pack, which includes the Superman Fatboy wireless charging pillow and the Man of Steel cover.
Nokia is pushing the Lumia 925 hard with the new Superman Man of teel movie. Earlier this week we covered how the Lumia 925 sailed through certification in China, so we're not surprised it's not been long before the pre-order stage was announced. Also, the Lumia 925T will be heading to China Mobile (TD-SCDMA) and has been confirmed. However there's still no pricing for either.


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Cotton growers set for record-breaking $3.5b crop, despite market collapse with China/ By Jon Daly
Australian cotton growers are forecast to produce the second-biggest crop on record this season, with an export value tipped to reach an eye-watering $3.5 billion at current prices.
- The export value of this year's cotton crop could be a record-breaking $3.5 billion
- COVID-related supply chain disruptions are driving near-record global prices
- China is no longer buying Australian cotton, but marketers are redirecting exports
Cotton Australia general manager Michael Murray said it will be a good result for the industry.
"We think it's going to be somewhere between 5 million and 5.2 million bales, so that'll make it the second-largest crop on record," Mr Murray said.
"[It's a] huge bounce back from just two seasons ago when we only produced 590,000 bales and last season about 2.8 million bales."
Branching out to new markets
Mr Murray said the export value was set to eclipse the previous record of $3 billion set in the 2011–12 season, when Australian growers produced more than 5 million bales.
The predicted record-breaking value is the result of favourable seasonal conditions returning to many drought-affected production areas, and strong global prices equating to about $840 a bale.
"Price is very strong, not technically at record levels, but it has been consistently strong for some time now," Mr Murray said.
This was despite a breakdown in trade relations with China.
Cotton analyst Pete Johnson said cotton marketers had successfully redirected exports to other markets after the Australian cotton industry was pulled into the fray of Chinese trade tensions in 2020, and exports to the key market effectively ceased.
"Vietnam is now taking a lot of cotton. We've bought our way back into South Korea and Indonesia, and even into less traditional markets further afield like Turkey," Mr Johnson said.
"It's actually a really good thing. We're seeing Australian cotton now going to much more diversified destinations so we're less beholden to one market."
COVID bottlenecks drive prices
COVID-related disruptions to supply chains have driven global prices to near-record prices this season.
Mr Johnson said as much as 5 to 10 per cent of the global cotton supply is caught up in logistic bottlenecks.
"The cotton is there but it's not arriving at spinning mills, so they end up buying more than they need to compensate for that fact that there's so much stuck in transit," he said.
Stuart Armitage, who farms at Cecil Plains in southern Queensland, said widespread flooding had created some problems earlier in the season, but the crop was now growing well.
He said local growers were optimistic and capitalising on high prices by locking in big supply contracts, though he was cautious about predictions for the rest of the season.
"Big prices sometimes cause big problems, so we'll see what happens," he said.
While the pandemic was driving high cotton prices, Mr Armitage said it also created extra production costs.
"We're living in interesting times with everything we do. Machinery is hard to get, fertiliser is hard to get," he said.
Mr Johnson said it was anyone's guess where the market would end up by harvest.
"It feels like the market is overdone at these levels, but it keeps marching higher every day," he said.


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Shares in Britain’s biggest video game chain slumped 44% yesterday as it faced a fresh crisis.
Game Group, which has 1,300 stores across Europe and Australia, warned it could break the terms of its bank loan after a slump in festive sales. Group sales crashed nearly 13% in the past eight weeks, with UK takings down an eye-watering 15.2%.
The firm is trying to fight back by closing stores and moving into online gaming.
It also hopes next month’s launch of the PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo Wii U later this year will boost business.


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Walmart kicks off back-to-school season with 3D online shopping
By Deena M. Amato-McCoy
A discount giant is making it easier for co-eds to decorate their dorm rooms.
Walmart is enhancing its new website with two new services that will streamline how customers browse and make purchases across its home furnishings offering. On Thursday, the discount giant will begin testing its 3D virtual shopping tour, a service that enables customers to virtually browse a curated apartment. The service features nearly 70 items from both national brands and Walmart’s private label offerings.
Walmart will also enable customers to buy a completely decorated room. In July, the discounter is launching “Buy a Room,” a service that will allow customers to add a group of items to their online shopping cart, and buy a complete look.
Initially, the service will highlight dorm living, and feature five curated collections. Each room will feature up to 20 of the most popular items college students need to outfit their living space.
“While we are launching these new features for dorm rooms and small space living, we know that they could have applications elsewhere and will continue to listen to customer feedback to determine how to implement them more broadly on the site,” said Anthony Soohoo, senior VP and group general manager, home, U.S. e-commerce, Walmart.
For example, Walmart plans to continue build out its home assortment, and plans to add a new coastal style, he added.
The new solutions are an extension of Walmart’s new digital home furnishings shopping experience. This is one of many elements featured on Walmart’s redesigned website, which was introduced in February.
Walmart’s new dorm room shopping experience comes on the heels of Amazon’s own push for the upcoming back-to school shopping season. On Wednesday, the online giant launched its redesigned “Back to School” and new “Off to College” stores, two concepts that feature low-priced classroom supplies and dorm room essentials. Both online sections feature a curated selection of merchandise, and streamlined searches to locate items.


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2012 is the year of the password breach. Did you know there are tools to manage multiple, strong passwords so you don't have to? Here are BYTE's Top 5 P@$$w0rd Managers.
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2012 is the year of password theft, according to SecurityCoverage. The security software company says that in the first six months of 2012, online password breaches increased 300% over the same period in 2011.
Maybe you've done okay so far using the same passwords for years, or using the same password for multiple sites so you don't have to keep track of lots of different ones. Maybe you hope that password theft is so rampant that your password will slip past thieves unnoticed. But the time of hoping and crossing your fingers is over if, like many people, you've started storing corporate data in the cloud.
Until companies figure out a better way to protect their data in the cloud, the best solution is to enforce higher security with password managers, said Amber Gott, marketing associate and online community builder at LastPass. Awareness that the tools exist is the first step. "We still find there are plenty of people who aren't even aware that password managers exist," she said. "[But now ] ... we're seeing it cross over to your more average Internet user."
Password managers provide tools to encrypt text files that can store all your passwords that are not Web based, such as Windows and Outlook passwords, Lotus Notes passwords, administration passwords including local and domain accounts, BIOS passwords, encrypted hard drive passwords, cell phone and voicemail passwords, iPad and iPhone passwords, and so on.
Password managers promise greater security while improving the user experience. People get most excited about password managers' convenience, said Gott. "The security for a lot of people is an added benefit," she said.
The best password managers sync to the cloud across all dominant platforms and require multi-factor authentication. Other factors to consider when choosing one are cost, ease use, and extras. Of course, clouds are where much user data is breached. You've probably heard the victims' names: RSA, Sony, eHarmony, LinkedIn. What happens when a cloud-based password manager gets hacked?
LastPass was hacked in March 2011, right around the time Sony was breached. Unfortunately for Sony users, Sony stored passwords in clear text. LastPass, on the other hand, encrypts its passwords and came through relatively unscathed. In other words, the extra protection offered by password managers works.
How Enterprises Are Attacking the IT Security EnterpriseTo learn more about what organizations are doing to tackle attacks and threats we surveyed a group of 300 IT and infosec professionals to find out what their biggest IT security challenges are and what they're doing to defend against today's threats. Download the report to see what they're saying.
2017 State of IT ReportIn today's technology-driven world, "innovation" has become a basic expectation. IT leaders are tasked with making technical magic, improving customer experience, and boosting the bottom line -- yet often without any increase to the IT budget. How are organizations striking the balance between new initiatives and cost control? Download our report to learn about the biggest challenges and how savvy IT executives are overcoming them.


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- Amazon responded on Tuesday to a lawsuit filed by Parler that accused the tech giant of violating antitrust laws by banning Parler from using Amazon Web Services.
- In its response, Amazon alleged that Parler violated its contract by refusing to remove more than 100 examples of violent content, including death threats against prominent Democrats, Republicans tech executives
- Amazon also cited Section 230 as part of its defense against Parler's claims that Amazon conspired with Twitter to hurt Parler's business by kicking it off AWS.
- Major tech companies including Apple and Google cut ties with Parler this week amid revelations that far-right insurrectionists used the social media platform to organize and incite violence at the US Capitol.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Amazon filed its response Tuesday to an antitrust suit brought against it by Parler, arguing that the social media upstart's refusal to remove violent content from its platform violated its contract, and that Parler had failed to prove any antitrust claims.
Parler sued Amazon on Monday after the tech giant booted the platform from its web-hosting service, Amazon Web Services, amid public outcry over Parler's role in enabling far-right insurrectionists to organize and plan last week's attacks on the US Capitol.
"This case is not about suppressing speech or stifling viewpoints. It is not about a conspiracy to restrain trade," Amazon claimed in the court filing. "Instead, this case is about Parler's demonstrated unwillingness and inability to remove... content that threatens the public safety, such as by inciting and planning the rape, torture, and assassination of named public officials and private citizens."
Parler did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Amazon cited more than a dozen examples of content posted to Parler that it said violated Amazon's policies.
"We are going to fight in a civil War on Jan.20th, Form MILITIAS now and acquire targets," one post said, according to the document, while another read: "White people need to ignite their racial identity and rain down suffering and death like a hurricane."
Others included death threats against prominent Democrats such as former President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent company Alphabet.
Parler users also took aim at people of color, Black Lives Matter activists, Jews, teachers, the media, and professional sports leagues including the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL.
"There is no legal basis in AWS's customer agreements or otherwise to compel AWS to host content of this nature," Amazon said, adding that it had notified Parler "repeatedly" beginning in mid-November 2020 about content that violated the terms of the two companies' contract, but that Parler "was both unwilling and unable" to remove it.
Amazon also pushed back against Parler's claims that Amazon's actions were politically motivated and violated antitrust laws by deliberately favoring Twitter, which also uses AWS, and not taking similar action against it.
"AWS does not host Twitter's feed, so of course it could not have suspended access to Twitter's content," Amazon said in the filing, noting that Twitter eventually blocked the violent content, while Parler refused to take similar steps.
Amazon also cited Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which gives companies that operate an "interactive computer service" the legal right to remove content as they see fit.
Parler rose to prominence in recent months as mainstream social media sites have faced increasing pressure to crack down on hate speech, misinformation, and calls for violence.
Following the US presidential election in November, Trump supporters flocked to alternative social networks, including Parler, to plan election protests after Facebook and other sites banned groups that pushed debunked conspiracies. From November 3 to November 9, Parler was downloaded around 530,000 times in the US, according to data from Apptopia.
As a pro-Trump mob violently seized the US Capitol building on Wednesday in an attack that left five dead, the armed rioters used Parler and other conservative-leaning social media apps to organize. Apptopia told Business Insider that Parler downloads spiked to around 323% of their average weekly volume from October.
But as revelations have emerged detailing how the insurrectionists leveraged Parler to carry out last week's attacks, major tech companies have faced pressure to cut ties. Apple and Google both pulled the app from their app stores earlier this week, and Parler was forced to migrate its web hosting to Epik — a domain registrar known for hosting far-right extremist content — after being booted from AWS.


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Reminder of strings to dance sold at Dollarama
Wednesday, 19 July, 2017 15:51
Wednesday, 19 July, 2017 15:58
Look at this article
OTTAWA| strings dancing sold at Dollarama are the subject of a major recall by Health Canada.
The affected products have been sold in packages of two, have handles of plastic and were available in two color combinations : blue and purple as well as pink and yellow. Their packaging is identified by the product number “14-3036420” inscribed in the upper right corner.
“Jumping rope could contain concentrations of the phthalate in excess of the allowable limit, wrote Health Canada in its press release. According to studies, some phthalates, including DEHP, may cause reproductive abnormalities and developmental problems in young children if they suck or chew for prolonged periods of products in soft vinyl containing phthalates.”
Some 124 890 copies of this toy manufactured in China, were sold across the country between march 2014 and June 29, 2017.
As of the date of 12 July, no incident or injury associated with the use of these skipping ropes had been reported to Dollarama.
Health Canada orders any person who has purchased this product remove it immediately from the reach of children by throwing it in the trash.
Consumers can also get a refund by returning the product to the store, even if they have not retained their invoice.


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Because it is the “first car on the market,” Alfa Romeo claims its Tonale SUV’s NFT digital certificate will raise the vehicle’s residual value.
How? Basically, it includes uploading data from a car’s electronic system to a blockchain to prove that it has been properly serviced when it’s time to sell the vehicle.
Alfa Romeo’s new SUV NFT
Alfa Romeo states in a press release that the NFT will capture vehicle data with the customer’s permission and generate a certificate that can be used to verify the car has been properly maintained. NFT accreditation “adds legitimacy to the pre-owned car market for owners and dealers alike.”
A certified Alfa Romeo dealership is required to record the data, as noted by CNBC.
As a result of NFT certification, “Owners or dealers” have an additional source of trust to rely on. There are doubts regarding the value of blockchain technology, as there are with many other NFT technologies. Automobile manufacturers currently keep thorough records of the services performed on their vehicles using the vehicle identifying numbers (VINs) (vehicle identification numbers). Because they have done this for decades without the use of blockchain technology, which commonly employs energy-intensive proof of work algorithms, it’s notable.
Alfa Romeo’s NFT is not well-documented in terms of technical specifications. He couldn’t tell which blockchain the NFT will be housed on or exactly what data is stored in a car’s NFT record when he was questioned explicitly. NFTs would be made available for the entire Alfa Romeo portfolio “soon,” he did indicate.
There are two versions of the Alfa Romeo Tonale SUV, one of which is a hybrid and the other a gasoline variant. In 2027, CNBC reports, the business will deploy its first all-battery electric car in North America, which will be followed by a fleet of all-electric vehicles worldwide. Customers will be able to pre-order Tonale in the fourth quarter of 2022; the device is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2023.


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Ever since Google announced their streaming game service, Stadia, there’s been a lot of talk about it. Whether it’s been anticipation of the future, or skepticism about how viable the service itself can actually be. We really don’t know much of anything about it at this point outside the basic concept and a few games. That should be changing soon, as Google has announced that more details for the service will be coming by summer.
You can see the official Stadia Twitter below. Google is promising that we will see price information, game announcements, and details about launch. Obviously, the game announcements are going to be a big part of the service, but the price will also probably be key to how successful the service can be.
The games industry is changing, along with the coming of next generation consoles, with streaming being a big part of that. It’ll be interesting to see if Google can really penetrate the market, or if their ambitions will never leave the cloud.


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Alternet Systems announced IW Global and ALYI’s Kenyan electric vehicle production partner will all meet in Dallas, Texas to kick-off a joint project to raise $100 million to fund infrastructure for the ongoing production of electric vehicles in Africa. Separately, ALYI has already initiated and continues to develop $300 million in electric vehicle projects in Africa targeting the shared-ride market. The project with IW Global is intended to substantially expand ALYI’s electric vehicle initiative in Africa.
IW Global has proposed launching and managing an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on ALYI’s behalf specifically targeted at raising $100 million to fund infrastructure for electric vehicle production in Africa. IW Global, a well-established technology firm with a wide breadth of experience spanning projects for NASA and more have recently implemented multiple blockchain solutions, has proposed launching and managing an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on ALYI’s behalf specifically targeted at raising $100 million to fund infrastructure for electric vehicle production in Africa.
ALYI and IW Global have formulated a plan whereby, ALYI’s production and marketing partners in Kenya will form a new company (NewCo) with the specific focus of building a new, state of the art electric vehicle production plant. This NewCo will be a separate company apart from ALYI but exclusively contracted by ALYI for producing ALYI designed vehicles. The NewCo is the business entity that would initiate the proposed ICO. The funds would be dedicated to 1. Building the plant and 2. Funding the production of ALYI’s vehicles. A successful ICO would permit ALYI to substantially accelerate and expand upon its initial $300 million in existing electric vehicle projects.
ALYI has engaged legal counsel to ensure the cryptocurrency launch would be executed in compliance with prevailing regulatory guidelines.


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Pound euro exchange rate: Sterling falls following government stability uncertainty
The pound has plummeted against the euro following recent inflation rates and political uncertainty in Theresa May’s government.
It has fallen from €1.121 to €1.115, as disagreements among cabinet members regarding Brexit continue.
According to the Times, a leaked memo from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Environment Secretary Michael Gove has increased tensions after they staged an intervention regarding whether the government is ready for the EU exit day.
Along with the recent inflation rate reports, sterling has continued to struggle.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that inflation rates have remained steady in October
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that inflation rates have remained steady in October.
They were expected to rise as high as 3.2 per cent, as predicted by the Bank of England.
By staying steady, Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor, has avoided having to write to chancellor Phillip Hammond explaining the increase.
This is something that he must do if the inflation rates go above or below the UK’s target of 2 per cent.
Yet food price inflation has increased, with groceries including non-alcoholic drinks at it’s highest in four years.
The worst increase has been of vegetables, which are up 5.7 per cent from twelve months ago which is sure to hit family Christmas dinners this year.
On average, food prices are 0.6 higher than in the previous month.
Supermarkets are struggling to keep costs low for customers due to the soaring cost of essentials.
Pound euro exchange rate: The pound has fallen to €1.115 following inflation rate figures
Pound euro exchange rate: Food price inflation has increased, affecting vegetables the worst
Laura Parsons, currency analyst at TorFX: “A disappointment UK inflation report added to the pound’s woes on Tuesday and GBP/EUR lost 0.7 per cent during the European session.
“The pairing fell back to €1.115 amid speculation that easing consumer price pressures will encourage the Bank of England (BoE) to keep interest rates on hold for longer.
“If today’s UK wage data shows stagnant average earnings the pound could post further losses.
“Current political concerns are also likely to keep Sterling under pressure.”


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2021 was a year where the numbers moved upward for Remedy Entertainment. The Finnish game developer's full-year financial report (which also includes data on its fourth quarter financial performance) has arrived, and 2021 saw notable gains in revenue and modest gains in profits in a year that was light on releases.
For the three-month period ending December 31, 2021, Remedy earned €19.7 million (about $22 million) in revenue, an increase of 39.4 percent year-over year. Operating profit for the quarter clocked in at €11.2 million, a 69 percent increase over the prior year.
For the full year of 2021, Remedy earned €44.7 million in revenue (up 8.9 percent from the same period last year), and had an operating profit of €14.7 million. That's an 11 percent rise from the prior year.
Did Remedy get that much of a revenue boost from Alan Wake Remastered and purchases of its back catalogue? Not entirely. CEO Tero Virtala explained that "development fees from partners" drove the fourth-quarter revenue increase, while royalties from older titles decreased year-over-year.
Remedy's partnerships with other developers and its upcoming slate of releases (two Control titles, Alan Wake 2) feel like it's gearing up for even better financial results in the next couple of years. For this next fiscal year, Remedy forecasted that its revenue will continue to rise, but operating profits will be "on a lower level" this year.


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CINCINNATI, Ohio (CBS.MW) - Federated Department Stores pulled the plug on selling Fingerhut to a Minneapolis group, citing "a combination of factors, including a difficult economic environment for acquisition financing."
Late Monday, Federated and Business Development Group Acquisitions had to "mutually agree" to end talks, the retail company said. Federated
The company expects to "wind down" Fingerhut's catalog operations over the next 30 days. The company predicted that it would sell catalog subsidiaries Arizona Mail Order, Figi's and Popular Club as going concerns, the company said.
The sales of all of Fingerhut's assets are anticipate to bring $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in after-tax cash proceeds to the Federated coffers over the next four years.
Federated said in a press release that both parties "worked intensely and tirelessly" to complete the transaction, but were stymied by a number of external factors. Those included regulatory and rating agency issues "impacting the structure of a potential deal," according to Vice Chairman Ron Tysoe. He did not describe what those issues were.
"We unfortunately have had to mutually agree that it just isn't going to happen," Tysoe said about the sale.
Federated shares closed at $38.39, down $1.04, or 2.6 percent, ahead of the announcement. Federates shares are lighter by better than 6 percent since Friday's opening.


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Steel prices break records, companies lose
Steel products now cost more than at the peak of last year’s boom. Their prices are at record levels.
Cold bent sections, ribbed bars and scrap are becoming more expensive. Przemysław Sztuczkowski, Cognor’s CEO, says that it is an effect of stopping steel deliveries from the eastern border, rising fuel and energy prices as well as uncertainty of raw material supplies. Currently many European steel producers are not increasing production or are halting it. This is because they are not sure whether they will be able to buy raw materials and fuels.
Construction companies, especially smaller ones, are also losing out on rising steel prices. Railway vehicle manufacturers also consume a lot of steel. More expensive steel, rising fuel and energy prices, as well as high inflation and depreciation of the zloty will translate into rail vehicle prices.


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IN Greenwich, merchants were staging Sunday “block parties.” Darien planned to show free movies on Saturday to try to woo customers to local shops, and New Haven restaurateurs and theaters were collaborating on pre- and after-theater specials.
Faced with what some retail owners say is the toughest holiday shopping season in memory, savvy small-business owners are working harder and smarter to ring up transactions as layoffs and fear of a prolonged recession threaten to take the “ca-ching” out of holiday sales.
“People are starting to get a little more creative in luring customers out to their businesses,” said Anthony Rescigno, president of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.
On East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich on a recent Sunday, a magician strolled the block west of Church Street, and face painters decorated rosy cheeks. “We really want to create a warm and welcoming family environment 5 to 10 minutes from home,” said Holly Adam, the owner of Cashmere Inc. and the brainchild behind the block party.
While giant retailers from Macy’s to Neiman Marcus and even Target are suffering this season, the pain is being felt more acutely in the small shops of many downtowns in Connecticut. Many Main Street businesses were surviving on thin profit margins even before the current economic meltdown, and most of them depend heavily on sales from the holiday season. Even longtime store owners say they worry whether they will be able to survive.Continue reading the main story
While national chains and department stores are offering deep discounts, little downtown businesses are employing other more creative ways to attract customers.
“It’s a challenge,” Ms. Adam said. “We independents cannot compete with the malls. We’ve chosen to take a quality, owner-on-the-premises route. An owner who knows your husband and your kids, greets you by name and knows what you like. That’s what will keep us here.”
On Sundays this month, many Greenwich stores are honoring $25 gift cards from a local newspaper ad with purchases of $100 or more. “Discounting doesn’t sound as nice as ‘We’re going to give you a gift,’ ” said Mary Ann Morrison, president and chief executive of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce. On Greenwich Avenue, where the rents average $125 a square foot, a half-dozen failed businesses look like missing gemstones in a jeweled necklace, visual cues that retail sales nationwide are the weakest in 35 years.
Cities that successfully reinvented themselves in recent years, like New Haven and Stamford, face new challenges now. Late-night Thursdays are a holiday staple in New Haven, but new this season are horse-drawn carriage rides and performances by regional school choirs meant to draw more foot traffic to its restaurants and shops.
A further inducement: Twenty restaurants and three theaters are promoting $29 three-course dinners before 6 or after 9 o’clock. Reservations doubled the week of Nov. 9, when the prix fixe menus were tried out, and 70 percent of diners surveyed said they were either sampling the city’s night life for the first time or returning after a long while. “This is the first time in the history of New Haven that the restaurants have all come together,” said Anne Worcester, chief marketing officer of Market New Haven.
“Everybody has the same common goal: As goes New Haven, there goes their business,” she said. “The collaboration is probably what sets New Haven apart from other small cities I know about.”
In Stamford, at A Step Ahead, which has outfitted girls for bat mitzvahs and proms for 23 years, the family owners are attempting to organize citywide events à la First Night that would target a different community each month and benefit a charity.
“We are in trouble,” said Monica Needle, daughter of the owners. Sales in November were off 25 percent from last November, and December looks far worse, she said. At that rate, the store cannot last more than a month or two, Ms. Needle said.
“Our friends are all in the same position,” she said. “If we make ourselves stronger, we can accomplish something for the area.”
Working with her is Lynn McGee, owner of the Bridal Suite, whose business on Bedford Street has gone from boom to bust in the past year. “All the girls want now are samples,” Ms. McGee said, and they want to negotiate the marked prices. “They come in asking, ‘What can I get this for?’ ” That sort of haggling never happened before, she said, noting that she was selling $2,000 try-on gowns for $400.
Bedford Street, once a premier shopping area, has long been in the shadow of the local mall. “We are all struggling so bad,” Ms. McGee said. Her husband’s pizzeria down the street is getting by because of its affordable lunch menu, but many other places to eat are hurting, she said.
To boost dining downtown, a Stamford restaurant guide was delivered in October to every office complex in the city, said Sandy Goldstein, president of the Downtown Special Services District, which is Stamford’s business improvement association. “So many of our restaurants are mom-and-pops, and there’s not much margin for error,” Ms. Goldstein said.
The city’s new blue holiday lights — inspired by bulbs on the Champs-Élysées in Paris — are another attempt to draw traffic downtown. “I don’t know if people love them or hate them, I just want them to come and stay for dinner,” Ms. Goldstein said.
At the state level, declining sales mean less revenue from sales tax receipts. For municipalities, the bottom line is lower property taxes: As Ms. Goldstein put it, healthy businesses bring in higher rents, boosting real estate values, which then translate to higher taxes. The opposite occurs in a downturn.
In smaller towns, retailers and marketers are thinking outside the gift box, too.
In Darien, on the day after Thanksgiving, characters from the Cirque du Soleil bebopped around the town’s shopping districts dressed as snowballs. Two days later, at the town’s holiday tree lighting, Chamber of Commerce volunteers handed out merchant goody bags that included discount coupons, said Carol Wilder-Tamme, president and chief executive of the chamber.
The verdict after that weekend: “People were out, but they were very careful about what they were buying,” Ms. Wilder-Tamme said. To help spotlight its merchants, the chamber is taking out full-page newspaper ads, which it buys at a discount that it passes on to the retailers. The chamber has also created a new slogan: Darien, a Destination of Distinction.
On Saturday, two free films were to be shown in the hope that moviegoers would stay in town, have lunch at local restaurants and shop locally rather than at the malls.
In New Canaan, with 11 vacant storefronts in its town center, landlords were asked to dress up the bare shop windows. Empty stores convey a message of hard times and reduce spillover traffic between stores, said Pamela Ogilvie, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a small town, and we have to work our way out of this together.”
While some business owners seek strength in numbers, others are spending money to make money. Aitoro Appliance and Electronics in Norwalk recently erected a $100,000 electronic billboard outside the store to announce daily specials, thank local organizations and promote its half-price “dent and scratch” sale.
“For us, to move merchandise that we own is important. We have to turn some dollars,” said Tony Aitoro, a partner in the 60-year-old family business. Aitoro’s has increased advertising and in-store events like charity functions, which are especially good for business, he said. “The next time they need a refrigerator, they’ll think, ‘Aitoro’s — I’ve been there and they’re very community-minded,’ ” he said.
The Aitoros have survived other downturns. “It’s a cycle,” Mr. Aitoro said. “It’ll come around. We just have to be good businessmen and be prepared for the next wave of buying.”Continue reading the main story


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HomeAway (AWAY) shares skidded 8% in after-hours trading Tuesday, after the online marketplace for vacation rental homes issued a disappointing revenue and earnings forecast for the current quarter, though its Q1 earnings and sales beat analyst estimates.
HomeAway, which does business in Europe, attributed the lower-than-expected outlook to expectations of a lower euro in Q2.
For Q1, Austin, Texas-based HomeAway posted per-share profit excluding items of 14 cents. That's up 56% from the year-earlier quarter and 2 cents above the consensus estimate of 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Sales rose 24% to $79.5 million, edging views of $78.6 million.
Revenue from its vacation listings rose 23.8% to $66.8 million. Other revenue, which includes ancillary revenue from owners and travelers, advertising, software and other items, increased 25% to $12.6 million. The company says the growth in other revenue reflects the introduction and distribution of various property owner, manager and traveler products.
The company expects revenue in Q2 of $85 million to $86 million, falling shy of analyst views for $86.4 million. It sees adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $22.5 million to $23 million. Analysts were expecting EBITDA of $25.4 million.
Chief Financial Officer Lynn Atchison, in a conference call with analysts, said HomeAway expects Q2 revenue and EBITDA will be hurt by a lower, more volatile euro.
"We're thrilled with our start to the year and our ability to continue delivering financial results ahead of our expectations even with (foreign exchange) head winds late in the quarter," HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples said on the call.
Analysts will eye the impact of new pricing HomeAway is introducing later this year.
"Business trends and momentum continue to steadily improve," said Pacific Crest Securities analyst Chad Bartley. "In the near term, the big driver for the company is going to be higher pricing as a result of new pricing tiers and product bundles being introduced to the majority of listings.
"Longer term, we think the new pay-per-booking model they will start to roll out (midyear) will help to drive growth in customers and incremental revenue as well."
HomeAway's pay-per-booking model lets homeowners list their property for free and pay a commission at the time of booking, rather than pay an upfront fee.
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth said in a pre-earnings report that HomeAway has benefited from new tiered pricing unveiled at year-end 2012 on its two U.S. websites, HomeAway.com and VRBO, and three European sites, HomeAway UK, Arbitel and FeWo-direkt.
HomeAway last month inked a pact with travelmob, an Asia-Pacific-based social stay marketplace.
The stock hit an all-time high of 34.30 on April 16. It closed Tuesday at 33.81, up 5.5%.


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Top satellite television operator DirecTV Group said Thursday that it turned a profit in the first quarter as it generated more revenues from its customers, though subscriber growth slowed.
DirecTV said it added 255,000 net new subscribers in the quarter, compared with an increase of 505,000 a year earlier.
Even though net profit topped Wall Street estimates by 7 cents a share, analysts ascribed that partly to an accounting change. DirecTV continues to fight a tough battle against cable-television operators for customers, they said.
“If you take a step back and look at the results it wasn’t a strong quarter. It was weak,” said William Kidd, an analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann.
“The balance of the information coming out was more negative than positive. Growth’s slowing, cable’s doing well,” he said, adding that subscriber acquisition costs were “awfully high but didn’t drive any growth.”
DirecTV posted a net profit of $235million, or 17 cents a share, for the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $41million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected profit of $155.8million, or 10 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue grew to $3.4billion from $3.1billion a year ago.
Univision said first-quarter profits rose 21percent on increased TV advertising sales and viewership for the Spanish-language broadcaster. The company, which said in February that it is exploring a sale of all or parts of the company, reported net income of $53.9million, or 16 cents per share, compared to $44.5million, or 13 cents per share, a year ago. The net income figure excludes $2.8million in stock-based compensation and $3.9million in other charges recognized by the company during the quarter.
Revenue rose 4percent to $449.8million from $433million in the same quarter last year, the company said.
TycoInternationalreported second-quarter earnings shot up fivefold from year-ago results that included a hefty charge.
The company, best known for its home alarm system ADT Security Services, said quarterly profit totaled $1.02billion, or 49 cents per share, up from $192million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue totaled $10.21billion, up slightly from $9.99billion a year ago.


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The Fair Work Ombudsman is pursuing Woolworths contractors and sub-contractors in Tasmania for underpayment of workers.
A media company has been fined $272,850 for exploiting an internship program.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is promoting its anonymous tip-off service for reporting businesses that fail to pay employees a fair wage.
Woolworths has refuted the Fair Work Ombudsman's accusations that its trolley collectors are being underpaid.
The FWO has shot down an offer by 7-Eleven to pay it to oversee underpayment claims.
The director of a textile company fleeced employees out of nearly $200,000 in worker’s entitlements, the FWO has found.
The company said the error is completely unacceptable and a clear breach of their advertising standards
The FWC has ruled on the controversial case involving an employer who terminated a worker opposed to same-sex marriage last year
Justice Rita Zammit dismissed the case, finding that if the farting occurred it "would not necessarily amount to bullying"


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Four tobacco giants have dropped their legal challenge to a ban on displaying tobacco products in shops, the Government has said.
The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed the companies - Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris - are withdrawing their legal challenge against the new laws to end the display of tobacco in England. They had called for a judicial review on the issue.
The law will come into effect in April 2012 for supermarkets and large stores, and in April 2015 for all other shops that sell tobacco.
Public Health Minister Anne Milton said: “Removing tobacco displays from shops will help to stop young people from starting smoking and help smokers that want to quit. Withdrawing this legal challenge is a victory for public health.”
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “What a wonderful Christmas present from the tobacco industry. This will bring festive cheer to all those working to prevent children and young people from taking up smoking.”
Japan Tobacco told Reuters its decision was taken due to the DoH’s decision not to approve final rules until March 2012 at the earliest and so this meant little time for the English High Court to make a decision before the ban took effect. “The delays experienced in the English display ban regulations being put in place mean that we have been left with no other alternative but to discontinue this challenge,” said a statement.
British American Tobacco added that the UK Government had made significant changes to the display ban to cut the burden on small retailers and so it had decided to withdraw its challenge and concentrate on working with retailers to deal with other difficulties the ban will pose.
Sarah Woolnough, Cancer Research UK’s director of policy, said: “We were always confident that the tobacco industry would lose their case because the evidence shows that selling cigarettes alongside sweets and crisps makes them seem like a normal, everyday product rather than a deadly and addictive drug.
“Pursuing legal action to try to stop policies to reduce smoking backed by public health experts is a standard tobacco industry tactic. The threat of this legal action has put back action to remove tobacco displays in other parts of the UK.
“The Government will soon be consulting on putting cigarettes in plain packaging so that all tobacco products look alike, with no distinctive branding and with large picture health warnings. The tobacco industry will be making similar claims that the policy is illegal, but we expect that these claims will come to nothing as well.”


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CBDigest | Satipharm CBD Capsules Launch in Europe, The Culinary Trends Forecast For 2019 and more
“The pot growth story has mostly focused on developments in Canada and the U.S., but one broker says medical cannabis and wellness products are proving a bigger money spinner than it had expected in Europe.”
“Satipharm points out that its technology “improves the body’s absorption of CBD and other cannabinoids through a patented formulation of CBD hemp extract contained in seamless Gelpell® gelatine biospheres.” The biospheres “are placed in gastro-resistant capsules, ensuring the timely release of CBD in the small intestine, thereby improving bioavailability, and further ensuring patients receive a consistent dose of CBD,” it adds.”
“Earlier this month, the National Restaurant Association released its 2019 What’s Hot Culinary Forecast. 650 professional chefs (who are members of the American Culinary Federation) were asked to identify and rank 140 items to offer insight into the overall culinary themes that will dominate 2019.”
William Barr, President Trump's nominee to serve as the next U.S. attorney general, made headlines earlier this month when he pledged during his Senate confirmation hearing not to "go after" marijuana companies that comply with state laws.


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Financial institutions already have spent $200 million to replace credit and debit cards following the Target security breach, according to data collected by the Consumer Bankers Association and the Credit Union National Association.
That figure continues to climb and does not include any losses due to fraud, the associations said. Adding those amounts would push the totals “much higher,” the groups said.
The tally by the industry trade groups is the most comprehensive so far in identifying the impact on banks and others from the breach that made vulnerable the card accounts of 40 million Target shoppers.
Minneapolis-based Target disclosed in December that hackers had broken into the company’s computer systems and stolen key card information during the holiday shopping season. The breach has caused headaches for Target customers who have had millions of credit and debit cards replaced by issuers.
The Consumer Bankers Association, a retail-banking trade group, estimates the cost of card replacements for its members to have reached $172 million, up from an initial finding of $153 million. The association says its member banks have replaced about 17.2 million cards at a cost per card of $10. That includes the cost of the card, the mailing and distribution costs as well as the cost of hiring extra customer service employees.
Separately, the Credit Union National Association has raised its estimate of the breach’s impact on credit unions to $30.6 million from an original estimate of $25 million.
“Credit unions have replaced or will replace 85% of their cards affected by the Target breach at no cost to their members,” Credit Union National Association Chief Executive Bill Cheney said in a statement. “The combined $200 million cost borne entirely by banks and credit unions shows the extent to which financial institutions will go to protect their customers and members.”
The amount doesn’t factor in costs to financial institutions other than credit unions or members of the Consumer Bankers Association, nor does it include any fraudulent activity. The trade groups note that fraudulent activity would raise the cost of the Target data breach to the industry, as consumers wouldn’t be held liable.
A Target representative didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Tom Webb contributed to this story.


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Kickstart or Kill
It’s helped celebs like Zach Braff and Kristen Bell pull together the cash for their passion projects, but it looks like the Kickstarter gravy train has finally dumped a famous person right on her ass. Childhood sassiness role model and erstwhile teen witch Melissa Joan Hart’s project has, sadly, failed abysmally.
Ms. Hart wanted to raise $2 million for Darci’s Walk of Shame, about a school teacher who has sex with a waiter while in Thailand for her sister’s wedding (really). She appealed to her fans: “By playing Darci, I will get the chance to once again be in a fun and hilarious Rom-Com much like Drive Me Crazy…only all grown up and having a roll in the hay with the hot actors in the film!”
Whether you really related to it as a tween or couldn’t get over the fact that you find Zach Braff annoying as hell, Garden State, the 2004 indie about feeling lost and listless in your 20s, is one of those films from the early aughts that is hard to forget (for better or worse). Its writer and director, Scrubs star and Reddit fav Zach Braff, hasn’t made another film since then, primarily, he claims, due to financing issues.
Teach Me How to Startup
Yesterday, Y Combinator (Silicon Valley’s ur-accelerator) hosted its biannual Demo Day at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
As cofounder Paul Graham announced last fall, YC downsized both the number of startups and the size of the investment in this current class. And fears that the accelerator bubble is about to pop were not lost on the 47 startups who presented, nor the 500 or so investors in attendance.
Off the Media
Last week, Coca-Cola put out a study declaring that online buzz has no impact on sales. And of course, that announcement drove everyone on the Internet to start buzzing about it.
AdAge, MediaBistro, Motley Fool, Business Insider and dozens of others all weighed in on Coke’s study, which “finds online buzz has no measurable impact on short-term sales”–driving thousands of tweets, likes and comments between them. (By “weighing in,” I mean they repeated the same few facts derived from the same presentation originally reported by AdAge in its “Buzzkill: Coca-Cola Finds No Sales Lift from Online Chatter” story.)
Angelina “Trash Bags” Pivarnick, the Jersey Shore cast member who left the show in the first season after only three episodes, wants a second chance at the spotlight. On Monday, Ms. Pivarnick launched a Kickstarter page called “The Comeback,” which aims to raise $8,000 to help her get her own reality show called–yes–The Comeback.
With one day left in January, there’s still time for the annual media ritual: celebrating Kickstarter’s crowdfunded contributions to world cinema. NPR has already noted that 10 percent of this year’s Sundance selections raised money through Startupland’s answer to Harvey Weinstein. That’s the same percentage of the Sundance slate Kickstarter helped back in 2012.
Last year, Kickstarter sent 19 films to Park City, four of which picked up awards. This year, 17 Kickstarter-backed films made it to Sundance and took home 5 awards. More importantly, you might actually get a chance to see some, since four films already inked deals.
Rose-Colored Glasses Warby Parker just released its annual report for 2012, and it’s a pretty fun slideshow to click through. The glasses empire now has 113 full-time employes and 42 part-time employees. Of those bespectacled folks, 108 have company-sponsored gym memberships. In other Warby Parker health news, 2,507 pounds of salad were eaten in the office this year. Although there are not too many exact sales figures in the package (besides the fact that 296 monocles were sold this year) a diagram on the last page shows that sales from the first quarter of the year to the last one have nearly tripled. Warby Parker says it gave out 250,000 pairs of glasses this year, some of which went to victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Kickstarted The crowdfunding king released its annual highlights for 2012 this week. And the startups is going about as gangbusters as well, an oversubscribed, blockbuster Kickstarter campaign. In 2012, 2,241,475 people pledged almost $320 million and successfully funded a little over 18,000 projects. That works out to about $606 per minute. Monetization is so much easier when it’s baked into your platform, isn’t it?
Indie No More Kickstarter competitor Indiegogo also released data for 2012. Campaigns raised 20 percent more in last year than they did in 2011 and successful campaigns took an average of 11 days preparing for their launch.
CES is so uncool that it has magically transformed into cool. Cool? [TechCrunch]
Over 2 million people pledged close to $320 million for Kickstarter projects in 2012. [Kickstarter]
Apple is reportedly working on a less expensive iPhone to help reassert its dominance in the smartphone market. [Wall Street Journal]
The average salaries of Silicon Valley will launch you into a fit of despair. You’re welcome. [How to Write a Business Plan]
There’s a mystery complex in Western China and even the CIA analyst who spotted it on Google Earth can’t figure out what it is. [Wired]
Kickstart or Kill
Still waiting around for some sort of weird tchotchke you backed months ago on Kickstarter? Well, at least you’ve got company. In a big, expansive package released today, CNN Money crunched the numbers and found that of the 50 most-funded projects in the platform’s history, 84 percent were late. A mere eight were delivered on time.
Youch. And how much sympathy does cofounder Yancy Strickler have for your discontent? Well, here’s what he told CNN Money:


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The delivery order (DO) price of palm oil is still high even with the massive arrival of imported oil before Thingyan holidays, according to the oil dealers.
There are around 30,000 tonnes of imported oil in the edible oil tanks in Thilawa and Yangon region till 1 April. According to the oil market reports, eight oil tankers carrying 35,000 tonnes of edible oil, and two more oil tankers loading 11,000 tonnes of palm oil, will dock at the ports before and after the Thingyan holidays respectively.
The DO price of palm oil still stood at K6,400-K6,450 per viss on 1 April due to various reasons.
In the same period of previous year when there is a regular import of edible oil, one tonne of imported oil was priced at US$1,749 with the exchange rate of K2,038. The base price per viss was K5,417 and the reference wholesale price was K5,525 per viss.
It is reported that the relevant authorities are checking whether palm oils are being stored or distributed with the intention of manipulating the palm oil price.
With around 70 small mobile market trucks, the amount of edible oil that can be sold to consumers daily at the reference retail price in the townships of Yangon can be around 2,000 tonnes.
According to an oil dealer, most of the consumers still have to purchase edible oil at a price of K2,000 per viss more than the retail reference price. — TWA/CT


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Ryan Hill, Director of Customer Experience for Caesars Entertainment, gave multiple presentations at Customer Expo 2018, each of which told his brand’s story and offered insight into the many ways companies can cultivate loyalty while adapting to change.
“You’re probably familiar with our flagship brand, Casaers Palace,” he said. “We’re a lot bigger than that.” Indeed, the famous casino hotel has massive brand recognition, but Caesars Entertainment has over 50 hotels, and the company has risen to the challenge of creating customer loyalty, even when its locations are hundreds of miles apart.
The company has a rewards program called Total Rewards that, at 55 million members, is the largest in the gaming industry. Hill noted, however, that “a very small percentage of our guests make up a large proportion of the folks who gives us their money. About 0.4 percent of our Total Rewards guests make up 30 percent of our gaming win.” The brand needed to figure out ways to encourage the majority of their customers, the ones less interested in gaming and with less money to spare, to seek out VIP experiences.
In response to this challenge, the company launched the Experience the Empire campaign. Through the campaign, customers can exchange credits for a chance to win a VIP experience, anything from attending a celebrity golf tournament to going on a South African safari. Credits are acquired anytime a customer puts money into the slots, goes to see a show, or even buys dinner. Hill emphasized that Experience the Empire was designed to be customer-centric, as it seeks to reward consumers with luxurious opportunities.
In one session, Hill noted that “brand visibility does not equal brand favorability.” He was focused on the millennial market, which is generally aware of Caesars Palace, but does not view it in the same positive light as older markets. The brand responded with its Like A Caesar campaign, which sought to return to the brand’s original mission to let each guest feel like royalty while staying at the hotel. (That’s why the name “Caesars Palace” lacks an apostrophe). The brand leveraged YouTube Director Mix, which played ads that were based on users’ searches.
Additionally, Hill explained that the company has had to adapt to Las Vegas’s shift from a gaming market to an entertainment mecca. Fortunately for the Caesars brand, the company has a history of staging, in Hill’s words, “spectacular events.” Caesars Palace hosted a famous Evil Knievel jump, and it boasts of a Celine Dion residency. To keep this emphasis on entertainment alive, the company partnered with the History Channel to host a July 2018 revival of Knievel’s jump, which featured motorcycle-star Travis Pastrana. More than a publicity stunt or literal stunt, the move cemented the Caesars brand as a living entertainment legacy.
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ANZ on Tuesday announced the launch of ANZ goMoney in Vanuatu, providing a new and convenient way for customers to do their everyday banking using their mobile phones.
ANZ goMoney allows customers to send money to family and friends, pay their bills, purchase airtime top-up vouchers and view their account balances and history using their mobile phones.
Customers will also be able to complete their cash deposits and withdrawals at a network of ANZ goMoney merchants, without the need to go to a branch.
ANZ goMoney in Vanuatu is available in English, Bislama and French.
Speaking at the launch of ANZ goMoney in Port Vila last week, Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Honourable Moana Carcasses Kalosil, welcomed the initiative.
“The financial security of our population is a key goal for our government,” said Prime Minister Kalosil.
“The key to a wealthy Vanuatu is to ensure we provide not only education and financial literacy for our people, but also the means for our people to save money.
“By providing this mobile phone banking service, ANZ is supporting us in this vision.”
ANZ Vanuatu Chief Executive Officer, Steve Rogers said: “ANZ goMoney represents a strong commitment to financial inclusion in Vanuatu, and will provide our customers with secure and immediate access to their money, making banking simpler and more convenient than ever before.
Mr Rogers added that supporting financial inclusion for all the people of Vanuatu remained a priority for ANZ, particularly for customers in remote and rural areas.
“With ANZ goMoney, customers will no longer need to travel great distances to perform cash deposits and withdrawals, and will be able to purchase goods from accredited merchants set up across most of the provinces in Vanuatu, eliminating the need to carry cash,” said Mr Rogers.
He added: “We are also providing an easy way to open a bank account and register for ANZ goMoney at ANZ goMoney Sales Agents who will come to you – there is no need to visit a branch to register.”
ANZ goMoney was also launched in Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands in 2013.


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Personalization has jumped to the top as the leading area of focus for company respondents this year, overtaking automation.
Value, customer service, product quality and trust are among the core drivers of US consumers’ satisfaction with companies.
Quality is the core value that the largest share of consumers around the world feel is important for brands to embody.
Innovation best practices can help businesses run more efficiently, but sometimes identifying and integrating them internally is challenging.
The speed of adopting new technology is the most rapidly increasing area of importance with perceived future impact on innovation and product development.
Customer-centricity (58%) ranks as the most important organizational characteristic in establishing a truly digital-native culture.
There will be no shortage of disruptions to companies, spurring the need for these data and analytics capabilities.
Client-side marketers are taking a bigger role in shaping business strategy and influencing product innovation and new business models, reports the Association of National Advertisers.
Nearly two-thirds of corporate execs said rising customer expectations had increased pressure to innovate.
77% of corporate execs agreed to some extent that the internet and consumer app companies were setting a new benchmark for customer experiences.


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Jordan Brand has has just opened reservation spots for those that are looking to scoop up the Air Jordan XXX1. For those wondering what are the benefits of doing this, it simply allows you to purchase a pair before they launch on September 3rd.
You can now reserve your pair for U.S. residents only, click here.
Innovation in air. #AJXXXI
Reserve your pair now: https://t.co/0PlqZL0EIu. pic.twitter.com/mSM2miKozo
— Jordan (@Jumpman23) July 26, 2016


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A Cambridge resident is warning others to be extra weary of package thieves after his Black Friday delivery was snatched less than an hour after arriving on his front door step.
It happened on Chauncy Lane in the morning hours on Friday.
The theft comes days after police in Cambridge issued an alert about an increase in package thefts as the holiday shopping season hits full swing.
Cambridge Police offers ways to keep packages safe this holiday season
Steven Neckorcuk and his wife said they thought they were being vigilant to prevent package theft and will now be watching even more closely.
Their doorbell security camera did not deter the bold thief from striking and disappearing with their box from Crate and Barrel.
"It was less than an hour. It was almost immediate," said Neckorcuk. "I got an email saying it was delivered this morning. I poked my head out the door and saw it wasn't there."
Neckorcuk looked at surveillance video from his doorbell camera to investigate and saw exactly how it vanished.
The footage shows a man walking past his front door several times and attempting to cover his face.
The suspect is then seen grabbing the box from Crate and Barrel and taking off.
"You expect that to happen at night. Having it happen first thing in the morning when it's bright out, right after Thanksgiving, was shocking to say the least."
A Cambridge Police spokesperson said the thief apparently wasn't interested in the home furnishings he found inside the box and stashed the stolen goods behind a neighbor's bush.
Police released two other surveillance videos from two recent package thefts in Cambridge that have already helped police to arrest and charge two suspects.
Cambridge Police released the following tips to protect yourself from package thieves:
Track your packages online, so you have a better idea when it is scheduled to arrive, and/or sign up for delivery alert notifications.
Request that your packages arrive when/if you plan on being home or request that they are placed in a secure location outside your home.
If you do need to travel, place a hold on your package until you return to keep your parcel safe.
Have your packages delivered to your work address in the event that you are not able to be home.
Consider utilizing "store pickups" or "hub lockers" and pick up your items at your convenience.
Consider installing a security camera or utilizing lockboxes that provide access codes to delivery companies.
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