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The pandemic of COVID-19 has had a tremendous effect not only on millions of people across the globe, but also on the world economy, online and offline businesses. Mobile app industry has also been affected: the balance of power in this highly-competitive market has shifted, and the industry continues its transformation.
While the coronavirus has led apps from some categories to stagnation, other apps, on the contrary, are experiencing a phenomenal growth. At the same time, innovations and new trends are emerging allowing the latter ones to push the envelope and the former ones – beat the odds in the fight.
We have carried out research, talked to mobile industry experts and brought together the most noticeable mobile app trends that publishers should bear in mind in order to adjust to a new reality.
Smartphones have long been popular devices for online shopping. But during the coronavirus pandemic, when shopping centres were inaccessible, people gradually began to use their mobile phones as the main way to make purchases.
It should be noted that grocery shopping apps have seen a dramatic growth – up to incredible 200%. This trend seems to stay for longer.
Regina Panergo, Marketing Manager at BUNCH, says,
“Online shopping will certainly outlast the pandemic. A study conducted by Salesforce stated that over a third of shoppers prefer to make their purchases online until a COVID-19 vaccine is available.”
According to Apple, people unlock their smartphones approximately 80 times per day. It’s clear that users touch them much more frequently during the day, and there are millions of bacteria on mobile phones. In the situation of coronavirus, users are seeking to avoid touching their smartphones so often.
That’s why voice control on devices becomes more and more popular. It is also for this reason that voice search optimization integrates into user acquisition and app store optimization strategies.
Although the mobile app market in general shows an unprecedented growth during the COVID-19 pandemic and publishers thanks to the influx of organic search traffic can now spend less on advertising (below we will figure out these lucky app categories), mobile ad engagement still rises.
According to the findings from the MobileFuse study they shared with Mobile Marketer, the level of engagement for mobile ads has risen 15% over the past few months.
That’s why both in-app ads and app store ads, like Apple Search Ads on the App Store, retain their effectiveness.
While mobile publishers concentrate all their efforts on adjusting their apps to the changing user needs, they need help with mobile ads, which still have to be effective and enable publishers to meet target KPIs, like ROAS or CPA. And the help comes from automation.
In our App Growth Talk with Nadir Garouche, Growth Marketing Manager at Oh Bibi, he says,
“I am mostly excited about going a bit more in automation. For instance, finding ways to test new audiences, placements and geographic locations at scale and automating the launch of new campaigns based on the best settings. Also for creatives: I look forward to working on tools to automate ad variation at scale.”
Speaking of Apple Search Ads, there are platforms for Apple Search Ads automated management and optimization that help to not only save time, which is precious, but also scale with this paid user acquisition channel. SearchAdsHQ by SplitMetrics, an official Apple Search Ads Partner, does an excellent job addressing all these challenges.
The mobile game industry has been at an all-time high: according to the study by App Annie, the use of mobile games in the second quarter of 2020 increased by 40%, year-on-year. It is also noticeable that an uptrend in mobile game downloads is continuing in the second quarter of 2020. Games are an affordable and easy way to satisfy the need for entertainment, it is therefore not surprising that during the tough lockdown period many people have preferred them to release stress and amuse themselves.
In 2021, the global mobile gaming market is expected to account for 59% of the global gaming industry revenue.
We at SearchAdsHQ have recently released a report on how the mobile app market and advertisers on Apple Search Ads, our clients in particular, react to the COVID-19 pandemic in Q1/Q2 2020 based on the sample of our customer data. This research shows that mobile game downloads are steadily growing worldwide even after relaxation of coronavirus lockdown measures.
While COVID-19 has been devastating to retail, hospitality, tourism and a host of other industries, captive consumers are spending more time online than ever before. Fueled by lockdowns and social distancing, Q2 broke records for app downloads and spending. The mobile gaming industry received a huge boost, with a 20% year over year increase in Q2 2020
Hypercasual games, multiplayer mobile games, casual casino games, farming and city builders, arcade racing and sports mobile games will keep the attention of users in 2021.
Another mark left by the coronavirus is the declining influence of offices. Companies are re-thinking the importance of working face-to-face, closing part of their offices and allowing their employees to work remotely as long as they wish to. While working-from-home is turning into the new normal, people are looking for apps for remote work and online communication with colleagues.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a real revolution in the Work-from-Home category,” says Andrea Raggi, Store Ads Team Lead at Phiture.
Downloads have more than doubled since COVID-19 started to strike heavily in many countries at the beginning of March 2020 and new cases started to be recorded at an exponential rate almost everywhere. This is a clear sign that the world (ready or not ready for this change) will have to cope with post-pandemic shifts on how work will be done in the future. In my opinion, working from home will become a new normal, and I believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the acceptance and adoption of this trend in many parts of the world.
Another type of apps that falls under this category is education apps. Many universities and other educational institutions have temporarily closed their doors, so that both students and teachers have turned their attention to e-learning mobile apps. Mobile education apps facilitate flexibility & uninterrupted learning, and become a part of a toolkit for teaching and learning remotely.
Today, more than ever, people are worried about their health and face the need for medical care apps, mental health apps helpful for stress release, mindfulness & meditation; fitness apps to ensure enough physical activity when staying at home. While the former ones deliver on-demand consultations from doctors, yoga lessons and relaxation techniques, the latter ones provide fitness programs with various exercises.
Many mobile publishers also adjust their fitness apps to the new needs of users and offer home workout programs, online fitness programs with personal trainers and more. Health & Fitness app category demonstrates the relationship between the number of new COVID-19 cases and the download trend.
Apart from mobile games, there are also entertainment apps that help people to feel part of society and alleviate boredom. YouTube, Netflix, Spotify and others have become even more popular on the app stores.
Social media apps have been experiencing a spike in popularity, since in the context of social distancing they allow users to communicate with friends, relatives and colleagues, post content and share what really matters via their smartphones. That’s why photo & video apps that help people to communicate and share visuals on social media are seeing an uplift as well. The graph below shows that the total number of downloads has increased by a factor of 2.5 since the pre-COVID-19 period.
2020 is really something, so news apps that enable users to stay on top of everything that happens both locally and globally day and night, wherever they may be, are also in high demand.
Will Manuel, CEO of Core Media Concepts, says, “We are seeing an uptick in delivery model apps (food delivery, services delivery, etc) as people are looking for business continuity in the restaurant and services industry. This is not a surprise and although business has slowed down a bit overall, the demand for these types of apps have not. We also anticipate seeing more apps involving FaceTime-like features for different types of services like telemedicine, home repair estimations and other consulting services.”
I see five noticeable mobile app marketing trends to watch in 2021.
1. First of all, I would highlight the growing importance of app store promotion: publishers will resort to app store optimization for boosting organic installs, mobile A/B tests and Apple Search Ads.
As for Apple Search Ads, this channel will play a more significant role in performance marketing, since in fact only Apple of all providers will have legitimate access to devices (user data) and essentially might get a monopoly on tracking, more complex targeting and retargeting models.
2. New mechanics rewarding users to give permission to enable tracking will emerge in the near future.
3. Integration and consistency between mobile and web will become stronger, which will result in usage of additional channels, like email, the increasing role of email marketing and mobile web marketing in general.
Nate Tsang, Founder and CEO at WallStreetZen, agrees with Max on this point:
The golden age of native apps is over – just throwing up an “app” version of your site and doing minimal ASO isn’t enough to drive mobile as a channel. However, marketers shouldn’t forget that they can leverage progressive web apps to provide native-like experiences (for certain types of apps) and leverage traditional marketing channels like email to build usage habits on mobile, without having to push users directly towards the high friction act of downloading a native app.
4. It is also for this reason that mobile publishers will invest more in building and developing communities.
5. As the Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Apple Search Ads shows, in the short term publishers will spend a bit less on ads due to an increase in organic search traffic. However, this trend will not continue for long.
The first thing that comes to mind is performance marketing as a key success factor for app marketing nowadays. ASO is still important for sure, especially because it creates many synergies with paid advertising but you can’t grow without organic or with organics alone. And due to Facebook and Google moving more and more away from major campaign management to the machine learning algorithms, conversion optimization is now the heart of almost everything that we do also inside the app stores.
And the second thing is that with ASO and performance marketing coming closer together, Incrementality has finally become a trend within the mobile industry. So you cannot just buy downloads anymore without questioning where the user came from and if he might have ended up in your app anyway, or what the organic uplift could be. This is really difficult to measure, and the duopoly is even working against it by obscuring placements and mixing organic & paid data. But every modern marketing manager should really think about incrementality.
Users are using mobile phones and hence mobile apps demands are increasing and hence mobile app marketing is more important nowadays. For App Marketing, reviews and ratings are still one of the important factors to be considered in 2020 and beyond. People no longer want to waste their time trying out apps that are below standard or do not fulfill their purpose.
Mobile app users want more transparency about security practices. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) will get big in late 2020 and 2021. You can now even run AR ads on Instagram. The promotion of mobile apps on social media is still in trend and will be continued in the future too. Every new generation of mobile users will become more adept and efficient at learning new technology. They’ll also come with the expectation that an app works flawlessly. Standards are high, and if you lack in UX or UI, users will turn away from your app.
For Q4 2020, it’ll be hard to avoid the elephant in the room – and the noise surrounding it. The burning topic of the mobile industry is definitely the iOS14 impact.
Among the many questions marketers will try to solve: what will campaign measurement really look like, which new media & platform mix strategy to adopt in this context, how will CPMs evolve, how much SKAdNetwork serious limitations negatively impact returns as the duopoly ML-driven optimization is weakened, how to deal with the complexity of old & new data flowing in in parallel, et cetera.
There’s a ton to prepare for developers & advertisers, from BI adjustment to SDK updates to shifting retargeting towards CRM to analyzing even further day activity.
I believe those who will embrace the change the earliest will get a competitive advantage, over those losing their time trying to find workarounds and loopholes, or maybe worse, just waiting to see what’s up.
This mobile earthquake should be game-changing enough to worry less about the “usual” trends of this period of the year, even though another topic may add itself on the top of this busy list, with COVID 2nd waves already restarting, at least for countries outside America where the curve flattened previously.
Given the even-higher-than-usual incertitude on platform (iOS) & society (COVID), I find it risky to predict further ahead. I want to believe that humanity will be strong enough to keep COVID v2 at manageable levels, while on the advertising side, I’m expecting the dust to start settling in Q1 and marketers getting used to the new reality of aggregated tracking, quickly forgetting what it used to look like. More than ever, the only constant is change.


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Yorkshire-headquartered bathroom retailer, Easy Bathrooms, has opened ten new stores – equalling an investment of more than £1m – and grown its headcount by 70 in the four months since COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted.
The £50m-turnover brand, founded in Leeds in 2012, now has 60 stores nationally and employs more than 420 people – 180 of which are Yorkshire-based. Ten-year leases have been signed on a further ten showrooms across the UK, which are set to open by the end of the year, meaning the brand will have 70 showrooms by 2021 – more than any other bathroom retailer.
The firm saw a turnover of £33m in 2019, which is set to grow by 52% in 2020 to £50m. Further growth and an additional recruitment drive are expected in 2021.
Easy Bathrooms’ growth trajectory comes at a period when many other physical and online bathroom brands are struggling.
Craig Waddington, founder and managing director, said that the company had seen an uplift in online sales in lockdown. He commented: “During the COVID-19 lockdown, we were able to leverage the demand for DIY home renovation, whilst simultaneously increasing our product offering.
“The retail landscape has changed, but there are still opportunities available, and we are grabbing them with both hands. For example, prime retail property space is becoming vacant, and we are being approached directly by agents to take these units on. As we grow our network of showrooms, we become a more nationally recognisable name, which bolsters our reputation and supports all areas of the business, including the trade side.
“It is a very exciting time for the business, with strong results, and we are proud to be able to create employment opportunities during the pandemic.”
Staff have also been recruited at Easy Bathrooms’ head office in Birstall, including two new faces in the contracts team; Gary Smith and Mike Moore, alongside eCommerce assistant, Jamie Waite, and sales administrator, Amina Bruce.
Eight new warehouse assistants and three new delivery drivers have also been appointed to support demand, as products are delivered from Yorkshire to developments and homes across the UK.

domain: news


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Inditex, the world’s largest fashion retailer, pioneered the fast-fashion business model with its streamlined, agile supply chain operations. But can it disrupt the industry to counteract the hidden costs of its impact on climate change?
The jeans made by Levi Strauss & Co. are known for their high quality and durability. However, they are facing a major threat from an unlikely opponent, climate change. Can Levi’s protect their prized product from this threat?
Tyson Foods’ supply chain is under pressure – are they doing enough to control costs and drive innovation?
The essay explores steps taken by the Canadian oil sands company Suncor Energy to address climate change concerns in an environment of churn in terms of politics, oil prices and pipeline approvals. It also questions whether there are other industries that need the same amount of scrutiny as the tar sands has received.
The largest consumer packaged goods company in the world has aggressive goals to reduce climate change.
How General Mills is addressing climate change.
Does UPS’ current model of business inherently conflict with its sustainability goals?
Dean Foods, America's largest processor of milk, is directly dependent on government controlled prices for raw milk. Does this expose Dean to financial pressures due to climate change?
Population growth, climate changes and limited natural resources have challenged agricultural production to grow and become more efficient. Despite Syngenta’s efforts in developing integrated solutions to increase productivity, little attention has been given to synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. These chemicals incur in high emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times stronger than carbon dioxide . Would the $54 billion  crop protection market opportunity be misleading Syngenta’s priorities?


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The U.S. celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month each year to recognize the influence, culture, and contributions of Hispanic Americans. One generation is blazing a trail and breaking convention – Gen Z. An area in which we see a tremendous impact by this demographic is employment. The U.S. labor force is shifting toward younger workers who favor the trending "work from anywhere" concept. But it's not just their job philosophy that differs from traditional ideologies. Gen Z's consumption habits differ from other generations and will likely evolve as they age. ThinkNow surveyed more than 1,400 Hispanic Gen Z to determine where these differences lie.
About 8.3% of respondents stated earning a salary between $50K-$60K, with 6.7% stating they make between $40K-$50K. Nearly a quarter of respondents are still in their undergraduate careers, so it's no surprise that 40% said they live with their parents/family.
Gen Z is likely listening to the radio while driving to work. Fifty percent of Gen Z listen to AM/FM radio, with 63% listening on traditional radios (not streaming services like Sirius XM, iHeart, or Pandora). For advertisers, this presents a cost-effective opportunity to reach this demographic through a channel competitors may be ignoring.
When they are not listening to the radio, they watch their favorite programs. Sixty-six percent of Gen Z responded that they spend 0-4 hours per week watching Spanish-language TV programming. Nearly 70% of respondents stated they watch Netflix programming. As a bonus for advertisers, 60% of respondents stated they don't listen to top Spanish or Latino podcasts. Redirect that spend to channels more native to this generation.
Finally, we often see Gen Z calling out injustices around the world. But a surprising 83% state they're optimistic about the future. Perhaps that's because they feel empowered to be the change they want to see in the world. Three-quarters stated being satisfied with their current life, and less than one in five responded feeling their life is at least somewhat worse off than their parents'.
Gen Z is on track to fundamentally change the work environment and social norms.
Want more Gen Z facts? Get on-demand audience insights with ThinkNow ConneKt.
Even though the sunset of cookies by Google has been pushed out by another year to 2024, marketers are still looking for alternatives to reach their customers online as third-party cookies have helped agencies create targeting for their ad campaigns for over a decade. More and more agencies have begun to look for a replacement, specifically, zero and first-party data.
Another more important trend that has coincided with the sunsetting of cookies is the rise of the multicultural consumer in the U.S. According to the Brookings Institution, “nearly four of ten Americans identify with a race or ethnic group other than white and suggest that the 2010 to 2020 decade will be the first in the nation’s history in which the white population declined in numbers.”
Furthermore, “The unanticipated decline in the country’s white population means that other racial and ethnic groups are responsible for generating overall growth.”
The sunset of cookies and the rise of the multicultural consumer in the U.S. puts digital marketers at a turning point, making zero-party multicultural data an imperative rather than a nice-to-have.
What is zero party data?
The term zero-party data was coined by the market research firm, Forrester. Zero-party data refers to data that is voluntarily shared with companies and organizations via surveys, online forms, online applications, polls, etc. Often times respondents are incentivized to share their data through cash, sweepstakes, or other types of rewards, but sometimes respondents share their data for a chance to just share their opinions.
Zero-party data is arguably one of the most accurate forms of data as it comes directly from customers. By directly asking consumers what their opinions and preferences are, marketers are able to better tailor their marketing messages and create a two-way relationship with customers. This also enables better product recommendations as marketers aren’t making assumptions based on cookie data, but rather asking customers directly the types of products and services they are interested in.
Who are multicultural consumers?
The word multicultural can be confusing as it literally means many cultures. In the context of marketing, multicultural means non-Hispanic White consumers. This term is also most commonly used in the United States as other countries look at race and ethnicity differently. The most common audiences the term multicultural refers to in the U.S. are Hispanic, Black, Asian, and increasingly Indigenous, and Mixed-Race audiences. Multicultural is also starting to encompass audiences beyond race and ethnicity to refer to LGBTQIA audiences and Disabled audiences.
What is zero-party multicultural data?
It’s a term coined by market research company, ThinkNow and refers to the intersection of zero-party data and multicultural consumers. As the U.S. becomes a multicultural majority, the need to authentically reach multicultural consumers is a business imperative. Connecting authentically with multicultural consumers is difficult to do with the current digital marketing tools available. But zero-party data can help. By asking multicultural consumers their identity, preferences and cultural touchstones directly, digital marketers can now craft culturally sensitive online campaigns that avoid stereotypes.
The rise of zero-party data comes at the perfect time for marketers as identity is at the forefront of what is important for multicultural consumers.
This blog post was originally published on MediaPost.
As disparities in pay exist on the basketball court and soccer field, female pro gamers in eSports also contend with pay inequity in the virtual space. That lack of parity is showing up in real-time in their household income. In our study of nearly 1,000 respondents who identify as pro gamers (extremely serious about playing, participate in competitions), about 30% are female. Among them, female pro gamers reported a total household income of less than $10,000, while male pro gamers reported a total household income greater than $150,000. This reporting is interesting because the most reported industry in which they work is IT/Programming.
When asked about their future, 65% of female gamers responded feeling optimistic compared to 83% of their male counterparts, yet the disparities continue into the fintech space. Only 62% of female gamers stated they held cryptocurrency, versus 87% of male gamers stated they held cryptocurrency. When comparing credit scores, 63% of female gamers stated having at least good credit scores compared to 88% of male gamers. Half of female gamers stated having enough money set aside for a rainy day, while three-fourths of male gamers stated having enough.
Digging a little deeper into the types of games played by female and male pro gamers, we found some curiosities that may be fueling the disparity, such as the platforms female gamers most commonly use. Our data shows that female gamers responded highly to playing puzzle/word or number games while male gamers responded highly to playing fighting games. Fifty-one percent of female gamers said they played on a mobile device, while 59% of male gamers said they played on a console such as a PlayStation or Xbox.
But that doesn’t explain why female pro gamers who play competitive eSports and compete in tournaments like The International Dota 2 games experience a lower earning capacity than their male counterparts. Female gamers deserve better, not just because they are women but because they have earned it. Just ask Nadrah Saufi, who, along with her teammates, made history for being the first Commonwealth eSport Championships (CEC) Dota 2 Women’s Division gold medalists.
People with disabilities don’t want to be defined by the stigma of being differently abled. By celebrating people for who they are and adapting experiences through their lens, we get the privilege of seeing how they shine. ThinkNow ConneKt surveyed over 500 people with disabilities who identify as Non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, and African American and discovered these amazing stats. (more…)
People who have been on a Zoom call with me can undoubtedly tell that video games greatly impact my life. Having been an avid gamer since the Atari 2600 days, I have seen the gaming world evolve over the years. According to IDC Data, what was once thought of as a kid-friendly pass time has matured, posting revenue that rivals the movie industry and North American sports combined with a whopping $180 billion in global sales in 2020. (more…)
When it comes to women's rights, the U.S. has come a long way. It’s hard to believe that just 100 years ago, white women received the right to vote. The ability to vote and have their voices heard impacted several facets of politics and the economy. It wasn’t until 1965 that all U.S. citizens were granted the right to vote with no restrictions. However, women are still fighting for equality in many different areas of their lives, including their finances. (more…)


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El Corte Ingles is another strong example of the power of Usablenet’s platform and our ability to scale a brand’s mobile presence to support a global audience, while accounting for differences in infrastructure, device-type and mobile networks.
New York, NY (PRWEB) March 06, 2012
According to ABI Research, mobile shopping will account for $163 billion in sales worldwide, or 12% of global ecommerce revenue by 2015. As consumer adoption of smartphones and other web-enabled mobile devices continues its rapid ascent internationally, major European brands are leveraging the mobile web as a significant channel to more deeply engage with consumers and drive sales. El Corte Ingles, the largest department store in Europe and fourth largest worldwide, recently partnered with global mobile and multichannel technology platform company Usablenet, to launch an optimized mobile version of its site that extends the El Corte Ingles brand to customers anytime, anywhere.
The new El Corte Ingles mobile site features HTML5 capabilities and provides customers with key features and functionality available on the traditional website, including:
- Full M-Commerce Functionality: Registered users and guests have the ability to purchase items directly from their mobile device
- Advanced Scrolling Image Carousel: Customers can view high-quality, rotating carousel product images displayed on the homepage and product detail page without slowing their browsing experience
- Tap-Tap Zoom: Users can double tap on product images to further zoom in and see the product in greater detail
- Full Browse and Search Capability: Customers can search and browse from El Corte Ingles’ entire inventory of products
- Expandable Navigation: Users can quickly and efficiently browse by category without loading extra pages and slowing down the browsing experience
“Mobile commerce has exploded onto the international stage, with a growing number of consumers using their smartphones to browse, shop and purchase items from leading retailers across the globe,” said Usablenet CEO Nick Taylor. “El Corte Ingles is another strong example of the power of Usablenet’s platform and our ability to scale a brand’s mobile presence to support a global audience, while accounting for differences in infrastructure, device-type and mobile networks.”
“With an increasing number of consumers using mobile to aid with their purchases, it was important for us to create a mobile version of our website that provides a positive user experience on all mobile devices,” Said the eCommerce Division of El Corte Ingles. “Our new site was designed to provide El Corte Ingles customers with the same high-quality shopping experience that they have come to expect across all channels.”
Usablenet is one of the driving forces behind mobile commerce on the global stage, powering the mobile sites of numerous large global brands like Tesco, FedEx, Expedia, and others. The company’s HTML5 mobile platform enables leading brands in all industries to deploy next-generation mobile features such as expand-and-collapse menus, high-resolution image galleries, location-aware features, scrolling promotions, and more.
Usablenet is a global technology leader for mobile and multichannel customer engagement that works with 20% of the Fortune 1000. Usablenet's transformative technology platform allows leading companies in all sectors to extend their brand to consumers across multiple channels, including mobile phones, mobile applications, tablets, Facebook, in-store kiosks, and other platforms -- with minimal impact to the client's IT resources. Usablenet customers include Amtrak, Delta, Estée Lauder, FedEx, Hilton, Marks & Spencer, Sprint, JCPenney, Victoria's Secret, and others. Founded in 2000, Usablenet is a private company headquartered in New York City with offices in Los Angeles, Italy and London. For more information, visit us at http://www.usablenet.com or on Twitter @Usablenet.


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"Tech stocks" just sound like fun investments. "Industrial stocks" just...don't. But the tech sector has been as hot as the weather this summer, and that's made bargains hard to find there.
On the other hand, plenty of industrial stocks still look like good values, and some of them even have a fun factor. Three of our Motley Fool contributors shared their top August stock picks with us. These companies will help you surf the internet, splash in the pool, and enjoy a fancy dinner. How's that for summer fun?
Keeping things running
John Bromels (Brookfield Infrastructure Partners): Infrastructure -- the essential physical structures that allow a society to function -- comes in four major categories:
- Energy infrastructure, like oil and gas pipelines, or electricity generators and transmission lines
- Utility infrastructure, like electrical, gas, and water lines to homes and businesses
- Transportation infrastructure, including airports, rail lines, roads, bridges, and ports
- Data and communications infrastructure, like fiber-optic networks and data-storage terminals
The good thing about investing in infrastructure assets like these is that because they provide essential services, they tend to be somewhat recession-resistant and reliable generators of cash flow. Infrastructure asset manager and master limited partnership (MLP) Brookfield Infrastructure Partners owns assets across the globe in all four of those categories.
Overseen by the capable managers at Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has been growing by leaps and bounds. Shares are up 277% over the last 10 years. During that time, the MLP's distribution -- MLP-speak for dividend -- has achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 11%. Management expects growth to continue, targeting 6% to 9% annual distribution growth.
So far in 2020, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners' unit price is down 14%, and it's currently yielding more than 4%. That makes August a great time to invest in this diversified infrastructure play.
Making a splash
Lee Samaha (Pentair): Having sold its valves and controls business to Emerson Electric and spun off its electrical products business as nVent Electric, Pentair is now a pure play on residential, commercial, and industrial water treatment. The company currently has two reporting segments, with consumer solutions -- primarily pool equipment -- contributing $181.5 million of segment income in the first half of 2020, compared to $88.8 million from the industrial and flow technologies like filtration and irrigation.
The case for buying Pentair rests on the following ideas:
- The consumer solutions segment is well-positioned for growth in the second half as stay-at-home measures have encouraged strong sales at distributors like Pool Corp.
- Industrial and flow technologies (IFT) will experience a slow recovery as commercial and industrial customers are currently pausing capital spending and reducing aftermarket orders.
The underlying strength in the consumer solutions segment has not been seen in Pentair's results yet, because, as CEO John Stauch outlined on the second-quarter earnings call, "Those orders in Q2 were served through inventory, so there's an opportunity, and certainly, the demand is to refill that inventory in the channel and continue to meet the external demand."
In other words, Pentair's customers are likely to place orders in the coming quarters. Indeed, Pool Corp (responsible for around 15% of Pentair's net sales) recently reported record sales, with growth of 14% in the second quarter.
Unfortunately, things are not looking so rosy for the IFT segment in 2020, although it's likely to recover in 2021 as industrial activity picks up. It's going to be a tough year for Pentair, with management forecasting sales to decline 5% year over year to $2.8 billion and full-year adjusted earnings per share of $2.10 to $2.20, implying a fall of 7.6% to 11.8% compared to 2019.
However, a combination of orders flowing through to the consumer solutions segment and an easy comparison for the IFT segment have Wall Street analysts forecasting mid-single-digit revenue growth and EPS of $2.45 for Pentair in 2021. This puts Pentair's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio at 17.9. That's an attractive valuation for a company exposed to a combination of residential pool equipment and essential commercial/industrial water treatment.
Get cooking with this kitchen equipment manufacturer
Scott Levine (Middleby): With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on the restaurant industry, some investors may find Middleby's 6% year-to-date decline unsurprising, since the company derives about 67% of its revenue from its commercial food service segment. However, I think the market is grossly underestimating the company's ability to persevere amid the current headwinds...and ultimately thrive. The stock has already proven its prowess as a market beater. Over the past 10 years, shares have convincingly outperformed the market, climbing 422%, while the S&P 500 has risen 198%.
Illustrating its strong financial position despite the challenges, Middleby -- the self-proclaimed "largest global manufacturer of commercial cooking equipment" -- generated $87.1 million in cash from operations for Q1 2020: a company record for the first quarter. It followed that up with $77.6 million of operating cash flow for the second quarter: up 15% year over year.
Furthermore, the company hasn't had to strain its balance sheet and rely too heavily on leverage; it ended Q2 2020 with a net debt-to-earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) ratio of 2.99. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will likely drive continued sales volatility for the restaurant industry, which is certainly a challenge for Middleby. But for those (like yours truly) who recognize the company's commanding position as an industry leader and who have the resolve to stick with the company for the long haul, the current pessimism surrounding the restaurant industry is no reason to eschew the stock.
Investors, moreover, have a rare chance to pick up shares of this high-quality stock at a favorable price. Currently, the stock is trading at 25 times projected 2020 earnings of $4.12 per share and 20 times projected 2021 earnings of $5.23 per share. Although analysts seem to believe that Middleby's earnings won't bounce back until at least 2022 -- it reported adjusted earnings per share of $7.02 in 2019 -- I trust management's ability to navigate the company through these uncharted waters. For investors with a long-term investing horizon and the fortitude to withstand some near-term volatility, Middleby represents a great opportunity.


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Amazon announced its first quarter earnings on Thursday, beating analyst expectations by posting its fourth consecutive record profit. The Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth reported total sales of $59.7 billion for the three months ending March 31, up from $51.0 billion in Q1 2018. Net profit more than doubled from $1.6 billion in Q1 2018 to $3.6 billion this year.
Amazon’s new-found profitability can largely be traced back to strong growth of its higher-margin businesses
. Amazon Web Services, the company’s highly profitable cloud business
, grew by 41 percent, while digital subscriptions and advertising sales also saw growth rates exceeding those of the traditionally low-margin online and offline retail segments.
The recent surge in profit is a pleasant surprise to Amazon’s shareholders and a change in what has long been standard operating procedure for the Seattle-based company. For many years, Amazon had reinvested nearly every dollar it made with a relentless focus on long-term growth
. Considering that the company's profit just soared to an all-time high for the fourth quarter in a row, it seems like even Jeff Bezos is running out of ideas to reinvest all of the money flowing in.


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Poland secures its position in the international supply chain
Two factors have contributed to Poland becoming an important global supply market: the growth in export of manufactured goods (especially machinery and electronics), and its quick recovery from the effects of the pandemic on trade.
This export growth alone warrants the attention of global supply chain managers worldwide. Poland’s exports grew by a CAGR of 11.6% in between 2001 and 2021, and it must be noted that despite the stagnation caused by the pandemic, exports surged by 25% year-on-year in 2021.
Poland’s expanding exports of manufactured goods and its continued investment in the manufacturing sector has managed to solidify the country’s position in global supply chains, and as mentioned above, the economy has recovered from negative growth in 2020 to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, as industrial activity gradually resumed. It would appear that the pandemic caused little lasting damage to the economy of this country.
What played a major role in Poland’s economic growth was that the country became a member of the European Union (EU) in May 2004 and consequently, since 2005, it has ranked among the top 30 exporters in the world: in 2021, it came in at number 23. Most of Poland’s export partners are other EU members and, given its geographical location and historical ties with Germany, it comes as no surprise that this country is the top recipient of Poland’s exports.
Facts and figures on Poland’s export market
- Poland’s annual exports in 2021 increased to USD 318bn, a year-on-year export growth of 25.1% from USD 254bn in 2020, despite the disruptions brought on by the pandemic.
- Machinery and electronics and agriculture and forestry goods were Poland’s top export categories, and respectively made up 25% and 18% of its total exports in 2021.
- Total exports grew by a CAGR of almost 12% from 2001 to 2021, with the highest CAGR among the different sectors being in chemicals and plastics at nearly 14% during this period.
- Although rich in natural resources, Poland largely exports machinery and electronic goods. In 2021, machinery and electronics comprised 25% of total exports, with this category having grown at a CAGR of 13% from 2001 to 2021.
- Around 29% of the country’s total exports in 2021 went to Germany, and this mostly consisted of vehicles and vehicle parts.
- Consumer and capital goods made up most of its exports, with the exports of vehicles and vehicle parts accounting for more than 10% of all exported goods. In addition, Poland is one of the leading suppliers of electric vehicle batteries globally.
- Since 2015, Poland had enjoyed a trade surplus for several years. However, trade deficit increased from USD 0.5bn in 2020 to USD 17.6bn in 2021.
- From the beginning of the pandemic, Poland’s trade has been characterised by a trade deficit due to an increase in fuel prices.
In short, before the pandemic, Poland’s economic growth was strong and uninterrupted owing to effective macroeconomic policies and social programmes laid out by the government. This had the effect of greatly curbing the negative effects of the pandemic.
However, due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Poland’s exports may decline by around USD 10bn as a result of economic and trade sanctions imposed against Russia. But Poland is by no means the only country affected by this war, as has already become evident in the rest of the world, especially Europe.
So why the recent trade surge in Poland?
Several factors have led to the trade surge recently experienced in Poland: its joining the EU, its manufacturing prowess in the sectors of automobiles, textiles and furniture, its role as a food supplier in Europe, and its competitive labour costs.
Here’s more about these key points mentioned above:
- Poland’s trade surged after it joined the EU, prior to which it managed its foreign trade relationsthrough the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).
- Poland’s manufacturing prowess in automobiles, textiles, and furniture has contributed significantly to its export growth.
- It is also an important food supplier in Europe, owing to its large areas of cultivated land as well as investments in modern agricultural infrastructure to produce dairy, frozen food, meat, and beverages.
- With rising labour and operating costs in Asia as well as disruptions caused by the pandemic, European procurement managers are looking for alternative destinations closer to home, with Poland being a strong contender due to its labour costs being lower than most European countries, as well as its diverse, increasingly competitive manufacturing capabilities.
Since Poland resumed economic activity earlier than most countries, its economy has grown by nearly 4% in 2021, but Poland depends heavily on its European neighbours for its exports, so who knows what the future may hold?
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is making an impact on the trade and economies of Europe, economic growth for Poland is forecasted to be 3.9% in 2022. Poland is in fact one of the loudest critics of the EU’s dependence on Russian fuel imports. But it is clear that Poland’s rise in global export rankings will continue in the long term.
Factors to keep in mind when considering Poland as a supply base
- Take advantage of Poland’s strong economic growth, manufacturing strength, as well as its ability to recover more quickly than many other countries, by seriously considering it as a reliable, competitive supply base.
- Monitor Poland’s potential to be a resilient supplier amid volatility among its European partners.
- Also keep in mind its ability to expand its reach to newer and faster-growing markets aided by the advantage of Poland’s centrality in Europe and its proximity to Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
- Understand the categories of goods in which Poland demonstrates manufacturing strength and export potential; the category options are expanding, and more opportunities are developing to integrate Poland’s supply in supply chains across industries.
- Develop a deeper understanding, increase capacity and capability in procurement teams to drive procurement and supply to and from Poland.


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OB TV: Highlights from the DOS Clothing Store ‘Fashion Day’ Lagos
Recently, Ono Bello TV joined DOS Clothing Store for an exciting ladies ‘Fashion Day Out’ at the brand’s flagship store in Lagos.
OnoBello.com launches online Television OnoBello TV. The Digital/New Media magazine in the last six years has been the online source for trendsetters interested in a lifestyle that revolves around music, fashion, nightlife and the arts. OnoBello.com’s round-the-clock coverage includes daily blogs and original content that includes a 20-page monthly Cover and Editorial spread directed at Celebrities/Personalities at all levels of business both within and outside Nigeria.
Catch highlights from the DOS Clothing Store ‘Fashion Day Out’ below.
Photo Credit: Studio 24 Nigeria


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By Beth McGroarty, Director of Research, Global Wellness Institute
The GWI’s recent “Global Spa & Wellness Economy Barometer” found that while the top five countries for wellness tourism (1. U.S.; 2. Germany; 3. France; 4. Japan; and 5. Austria) still drive more than half of this half-billion-dollar category’s revenues, their global market share has dropped from 63% in 2012 to 59% in 2013.
Why? Because developing nations worldwide (with some standout nations in Asia and the Middle East/North Africa) are growing fastest now. For instance, measured in terms of wellness travel trips (combining domestic and international), China and India joined the ranks of the top five globally for the first time in 2013.
GWI’s research identified some of the fastest-growing countries for wellness tourism of late—combining both pure percentage growth in trips, and total trips added. (Note: This is just a snapshot of some standout nations for trip growth, but many more exist…)
A Few Wellness Tourism Trip Growth Leaders (2012-2013) – Ranked by % Growth
While pure trip percentage growth is presented here, larger, more established wellness tourism markets like the U.S. added a higher volume of trips (7.2 million)—because smaller, developing countries are building on a smaller base. India ranks #1 worldwide for wellness tourism trips added: 11.6 million year-over-year, with aggressive promotion of its Ayurvedic and yoga traditions paying big dividends. And just look at that 770% growth for Vietnam and 382% spike for Indonesia…smaller bases but massive momentum.
2 thoughts on “East Meets West…or Maybe It’s the Other Way Around”
I have a girlfriend who is in Vietnam right now on vacation. Forty five years ago if someone had told me that people would be going to Vietnam for vacations, I would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Perhaps in the future some of us will go for a pleasure trip to Afghanistan or maybe take a vacation to rejuvenate in Iraq? Mind boggling as to how the world changes. I think the chart above that ranks countries in terms of percentage of growth in wellness tourism is eye-opening. Glad that the Global Wellness Institute is doing so much research.
Interesting to see this "West to East" shift now occurring in the wellness tourism sector, echoing the similar trend we saw with international medical travel. Over the last ten years, the US and EU both suffered drops in growth rates of inbound medical travel, while healthcare destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Turkey have experienced significant growth. Good news for wellness consumers seeking a broader and deeper range of options. Good news also for a budding industry that can benefit from shared global best practices.


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Dancers Do Delivery: What Happens When Strip Clubs Close for Quarantine
(SPOT.ph) At the end of the day, work is work. But what happens when your job is affected by social distancing—as in, it depends entirely on people physically being there? Many restaurants, small hotels, and tourist attractions around the world have shut down because it’s just not feasible to keep them open, but we seem to have forgotten many other industries and establishments in the process—strip clubs are one of them.
But in Portland, Oregon, a club owner refused to abandon the women who work for him—after all, dancers tend to live on generous tips. That’s how Shon Boulden came up with Boober Eats, a play on the Uber service Uber Eats.
Anybody want anything from the Lucky Devil Lounge? They've got chicken fingers.
According to an article by The Oregonian, the food delivery service started out as a joke—as many oddly good ideas do—until people started sending in earnest orders. The kitchen at Boulden’s club, the Lucky Devil Lounge, thus remains open from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., with the top orders being chicken fingers, steak bites, and mini-corndogs.
Social distancing proves to help with one aspect of the work, though, in that the rule of all strip clubs still applies: No touching the dancers.
Boulden told The Oregonian that he just wants to keep as many of his people employed as long he possibly can, including the bouncers, who drive the dancers to their deliveries.
this strange new world.


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This Blog is for New to Cruise and the well Traveled , on this site we will publish information about Cruise and Holiday information, with some insider stories in the travel press.
Monday, 15 August 2011
By Ian Taylor | Aug 15, 2011 08:00AM GMT
Thomas Cook has dismissed a weekend report that it is considering “plans to close hundreds of shops”.
A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said: “There is no substance at all to the story” - which appeared in the Sunday Times.
The group is poised to merge its UK retail outlets with The Co-operative Travel and Midlands Co-operative to create a chain of more than 1,200 travel agencies and has consistently said no more than about 75 shops will close as a result. The deal could be signed off by the Competition Commission any time between now and October.
The Sunday Times claimed Thomas Cook “is expected to rethink the number of shops it needs”. However, the spokeswoman told Travel Weekly: “We have said we will close 75 when the deal goes through." She added: "We have said the strategic review will look at the multi-channel [distribution] business.”
Thomas Cook announced a “fundamental review” of its UK business following a profits warning in July. In a statement in early August - on the day Manny Fontenla-Novoa stepped down as chief executive - the group identified “the efficiency of our retail network” and “the size and structure of the airline” as among the areas the review would examine.
The spokeswoman confirmed the review is looking at the airline, including the size of the fleet, but said: “No decisions have been taken.”
The merger with the Co-ops has been touted as a means to increase both in-house distribution and margins, since more high-margin package holidays are sold through shops than other channels. However, industry commentators have questioned the wisdom of acquiring such a sizeable chain of stores during a consumer downturn.
Members of the Thomas Cook board - led by chairman Michael Beckett, acting chief executive Sam Weihagen and chief financial officer Paul Hollingworth - sought to demonstrate confidence in the group last week by purchasing more than 775,000 shares in the company.
The share price fluctuated wildly through last week along with the market, losing 16% on Monday, regaining 17% on Tuesday and climbing 6% on Friday to leave shares trading at 55.6p at the week’s end - giving Thomas Cook a market capitalisation of just under £487 million. Further fluctuations are expected.


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Both Singapore and India saw the completion of their first letter of credit (LC) with blockchain for the first time at the start of this month.
BNP Paribas and HSBC Singapore completed the first Singapore LC transaction with a metal-enabled blockchain and mining company Rio Tinto and its multinational customer Cargill.
Rio Tinto sold an iron ore shipment from Australia to China for Cargill. The transaction involved BNP Paribas issuing an LC on the blockchain on behalf of Cargill to HSBC Singapore acting on behalf of Rio Tinto.
"What was previously a complex process is now accessible through a modern digital technology-based approach and a secure platform," said Lee Kirk, managing director of the engineering industry at Cargill. "At Cargill, we are transforming our supply chains with digital technologies like blockchain into commercial finance, commodity business operations and traceable food programs to better serve our customers worldwide."
In India, ING on behalf of Tricon Energy in the United States – the importer – issued an LC on the blockchain of HSBC India acting on behalf of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries.
"The use of the blockchain allows the exchange of export documents within a day, compared to the previous seven to ten days", said the joint CFO of Reliance Industries Srikanth Venkatachari.
R3 Rare blockchain platform enabled the two transactions.
Published for the first time on CFO Innovation


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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the PSA Group are reportedly pushing to finalize their merger ahead of schedule due to disruptions in the car industry. Their goal is to have everything sorted out by the end of January 2021, as per people familiar with the matter.
With EU antitrust approval expected by the end of this year, the two companies remain on track to form the world’s fourth-largest carmaker under the Stellantis umbrella.
Even if that timeline changes for whatever reason, the companies still expect to hold meetings on January 4 in order to get the shareholders to sign off, reports Autonews Europe.
According to sources, both companies are in a rush to get on with squeezing the 5 billion euros ($6.1 billion) of annual savings from cooperating as one entity, and with Tesla having emerged as the world’s most valuable carmaker, it’s easy to understand why FCA and PSA would be eager to move things along.
Officially though, the target for Stellantis being “powered up” remains Q1 of 2021.
The two brands, which boast a combined market value of roughly 42 billion euros ($52 billion), said in a regulatory filing last month that their parent company will be listed on Paris’ Euronext, Milan’s Borsa Italiana and the New York Stock Exchange.
Stellantis will soon announce its full management structure, with FCA CEO Mike Manley expected to retain an important role, while PSA’s Carlos Tavares will lead Stellantis as CEO. Interestingly enough, Manley was excluded from Stellantis’ board of directors back in September.


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Four years ago, a group of people in North Carolina determined that furniture manufacturing should not fall between the cracks. They took over a closed factory in Valdese, N.C., according to WBTV.
Then, only 29 people worked in the factory cutting fabric, and building chairs and sofas. Now business is strong, according to company owners, and 129 people are employed at the plant. They say the key to their success is hiring quality employees and offering quality products.
Bob Crane was the first employee at Kellex Seating four years ago. For decades, he had been in the furniture industry, and was not confident the new company would be successful. "I really didn't think so," he told WBTV. Now that he has seen the company’s growth, he believes there is a chance for the furniture industry to make a comeback in western North Carolina.
Donald Gray, plant manager, said that many of the employees came from plants that had closed or companies that made massive layoffs and they were determined not to go through it again. He said the key to success is commitment to customer service. “The best way to compete with overseas manufacturers is in the quality and timely delivery of the product,” he said. “If a customer can dream it up, we can build it," he said.
Employees recently shut down the factory for an hour to assemble on the loading dock and celebrate all they have been through in the past four years. The company survived the recession, which they attribute to hard work. "We are here, we're alive, and we're growing," said one official.
Applying Pareto's Law and its 80/20 logic can simplify your business and improve profitability.
If you don't staff your company with engineers - people educated to save you money and improve customer satisfaction - don't complain when competitors take your markets.
Lean manufacturing helps furniture maker expand quickly.
A stronger housing market would have a strong impact on the overall economy.
Every business owner and senior manager is responsible for answering three key questions that guide the activities of their organization.
The manufacturing exodus doesn't have to be happening.
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In a mildly expected turn, Blizzard has arrived to crush our hopes that Diablo III was arriving on February 1st. Apparently, Best Buy and UK retailer GamePlay were "guessing."
That's according to Diablo III's community manager, Micah Whipple. Whipple stated via twitter that "Diablo III does not have a release date," and that "any store or person claiming otherwise is guessing."
Sorry everyone. For a day or so, i could feel the weight of that terrific collector's edition in my own hands. So it looks like it's back to the familiar pattern of hoping Blizzard will release it's game in the year i said it would.


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There have been hundreds of shark attacks in the US over the last couple hundred years, and where a majority of them happen might surprise you. Click through this gallery of great shark images to find out.
Liquor stores in Massachusetts will soon be able to open a little earlier on Sundays. Gov. Deval Patrick has signed into law a bill that gives the stores permission to begin doing business at 10 a.m. instead of at noon. But it won't take effect for another three months.


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Cruise lines stepped up Hurricane Sandy relief efforts this week, donating both money and cruises to the victims of the storm that devastated the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast in late October.
Carnival Corp. said it was donating $2 million to four charities that are providing relief, rebuilding services and support to the the victims of Sandy.
The cruise company is donating $1 million to the Robin Hood Relief Fund; $500,000 to Habitat for Humanity International and $250,000 each to Save the Children and the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City.
ALSO ONLINE: Carnival to offer more cruises from Long Beach
ALSO ONLINE: Royal Princess to include new amenities for kids, teens
Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corp., called Sandy "one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history," and cited Carnival's "special relationship with the region, with several ships either homeported or visiting the area as a port of call, as well as hundreds of thousands of residents who sail on the fleets of our various cruise brands."
Norwegian Cruise Line, meanwhile, invited all audience members and their families from yesterday's Katie Couric talk show, Katie, on board the inaugural sailing of the line's newest ship, the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Breakaway.
The show's audience included 150 New York-area mothers who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, and who, along with their families, will attend the Mother's Day weekend sailing on the Breakaway, May 10-12, 2013, from New York City.
The Norwegian Breakaway's godmothers, the Rockettes, were on hand to present the audience with the cruise giveaway.
"As a New Yorker, I know firsthand the kind of damage Hurricane Sandy inflicted on this area," said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian's CEO.
This item was written by Johanna Jainchill, who covers the travel industry for Travel Weekly. Jainchill is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away.


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IBM's Software Group plans to make several more acquisitions of business intelligence and predictive analytics software vendors, according to senior vice president, Steve Mills.
Mills said that his group is keen to add to the long list of recent acquisitions in the analytics space, including BI software vendor Cognos in November 2007, process optimisation software vendor ILOG in July 2008 and predictive analysis company SPSS in July 2009.
"I think you'll see the pattern of acquisitions would be reflective of the things we've already done," he said. "You'll see us do more in the areas of data capture, instrumentation, analysis... you'll likely see us do more of that as time goes on."
While it provides nowhere near the volume of sales of IBM's core database and middleware products, analytics is a high-growth area with strong services margins for the company. While the market for relational database software is growing 6 percent and the market for CRM and ERP tools at just 3 percent, Mills said analytics is growing at 8 percent.
IBM has spent some US$12 billion building its information management software business, of which US$8 billion was spent on acquisitions. In 2008 alone, IBM spent US$6.3 billion to acquire 15 companies - ten of which joined the Software Group.
That group delivered IBM profit margins of around 85 percent in the 2008 fiscal year. The company closed its last fiscal year with some US$12.9 billion in cash reserves.
Mills said predictive analysis - in which organisations are able to mine their data to inform future business decisions - can bring about benefits as varied as being aligned to future customer buying patterns, improving maintenance cycles or preventing service outages.
The cost of computing, he said, is now at the right level for all kinds of organisations to afford the "manipulation of large amounts of data" to make better decisions.
"IBM has put together a very comprehensive portfolio of products to manage and organise information and tools that can analyse it," he said.
"Our products can collate the data you've already got and make better use of it. What we are finding is that these products are paying for themselves in terms of preventing maintenance."
Mills and his executive peers admit that of the 15,000 new clients that have signed on with IBM since it built out its information management software group, only around 1000 of them are "on the journey" to "use information as a business asset".
IBM is nonetheless building out analytics skills within its global services arm to win over the rest of the market - with some 35,000 staff globally deployed to take advantage of the opportunity.
While the IBM Software Group only earned 21.5 percent of IBM's total revenues in fiscal 2008, it was responsible for over 40 percent of the company's profit and was the driver behind much of IBM's services opportunities - which earned IBM some 57 percent of its revenues and 41.6 percent of its profit.
Mills said the analytics business practice fits well with IBM's 'Smarter Planet' strategy, but also with the efforts of the company's largest business partners.
He said the products do not compete with key software partners such as SAP.
"SAP CRM or (Oracle-owned) Siebel is sold specifically as a sales force automation tool for contact centre staff," he said. "While often there may be report writing capabilities off the back of the CRM system, these aren't looking for patterns and complex relationships [as analytics software is]."
Mills said he has a preference for channel partners that bring "industry specific knowledge and understanding" to a given deal.
"They typically have practices based in industry expertise, with a depth of understanding as to how to solve specific customer problems," he said. "We recruit partners with deep, deep, deep skills and partners that are self-contained to some degree. We like for them to solve customer problems with very minimal help from us."


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Account sharing of popular TV streaming services such as Netflix and NOW TV has increased by 57% in 12 months – meaning that 41% now share their subscription with friends and family, according to new research.
New research by broadband and TV comparison site Broadband Genie has revealed that the likes of Netflix and Amazon actively encourage their users to share accounts.
In Netflix’s case they charge extra for this privilege through their standard and premium packages. Amazon Instant, however, can be shared with an extra member through the Amazon Household feature.
· Sharing of streaming accounts increases from 26% in 2015 to 41% in 2016
· 18-24 year olds most likely to share their account information
· 22% of users are now subscribed to more than one streaming TV account
Rob Hilborn, Head of Strategy at Broadband Genie, said: “Sharing one streaming account across a family is incredibly convenient and a great way for households to save money on these services, so it’s no real surprise to see more of us taking advantage of this.
“But while the streaming provider may be happy to provide easy access to sharing right now, the move to tighten their policies may mean the days of cheap streaming amongst families and friends coming to end in the near future. If they find it harder to attract new customers they will need to look at how they can get more from their existing customer base in order to drive increased revenues – and account sharing will likely be top of their list to achieve this.”
The survey also found that that the number of users subscribing to multiple streaming services has seen a sharp increase in 2016. In 2015 just 13% subscribed to multiple services. However, this has now increased to 22% in 2016 – a 70% increase year on year.
A key contributing factor may be that many shows are now exclusive to one provider. Broadband Genie’s survey found that exclusive shows were the second most important factor (38%) behind price (42%) when choosing a streaming service.
Rob continued: “The key battleground amongst streaming providers is original programming and exclusive rights to shows. What this means for consumers is that they’re now forced to subscribe to multiple streaming service to get access to all the content they want. While this isn’t ideal, it can still be cheaper than subscribing to premium TV providers that require you to commit to a 12 month contract.”


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Remember when watching TV in the summer months was mostly catching up on reruns or maybe checking out some new reality or game shows? Not anymore. The summer 2022 TV shows that are coming to streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV Plus, and HBO Max include some of their biggest scripted series of the year. From Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends, you can expect to stream and watch big-budget Star Wars and Marvel shows, some returning favorites, and most interestingly, two big high fantasy franchise shows launching just two weeks apart.
Read more: Best Streaming Services


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Platter, the recently-launched new app for foodies, has been causing a stir on the food blogs, with research suggesting that over 50 per cent of people use their mobile phones for food photography.
A recent survey conducted by 360i, the digital marketing agency, reveals that 19 per cent of those amateur food photographers then post their images on the internet and are now using Platter as a communal record.
Images posted on Platter following Easter with its traditional celebration food range from the sublime to the ridiculous, from an array of hot cross buns and tiffin decorated with crispy-coated mini eggs to a chocolate cake decorated with bright green rabbits.
Several fish dishes have featured over the Easter weekend, from oysters served with a hot chilli sauce to caviar, while the traditional Easter meal of spring lamb has been given a new twist with an anchovy garnish.
Rabbit pie makes more than one appearance, each time topped with a glazed golden pastry crust decorated with pastry shapes of rabbits, ducklings and eggs.
Several tempting photographs of Scotch eggs highlight the prominence of eggs at Easter, although the coup de grace in this category must go to the amateur food photographer who posted an image of a crème egg replacing the more usual hen’s egg, giving an altogether different take on a popular snack.
There has been some controversy as to etiquette for the food photographer when using Platter, with the advice that discretion is paramount and can best be achieved by using the food app which does not require flash.


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You’ve seen Lego themed games before and now that Lego Batman is on it’s way this year, it’s only fitting to see how the Lego take on this franchise is being handled. Lego Riddler and Catwoman is featured in the above video and if I do say so myself, is there anything Lego can’t do? If so, I suppose it’s Halo Lego. Now that’s a joke that should become reality.
-William “thewilleffect” Bell-
Filed under: Gaming News |


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Welcome to Consumer Action's Take Action Center. Consumer Action offers e-advocacy tools to help you make your voice and opinions heard. The free service allows you to play active role in the political process by finding contact information for your federal and state elected officials, writing to Congress, sending letters to the editor, responding to key legislation and more. If you like our Take Action Center, consider supporting our work.
Sponsor: Elizabeth Warren [D-MAnull] on 2017-09-14
In light of the massive Equifax data breech that impacted the data privacy of 143 million Americans, the FREE Act would force credit-reporting firms to stop charging consumers to freeze their credit.
Sponsor: Ron Wyden [D-ORnull] on 2017-08-02
The SIMPLE Act eliminates unnecessary paperwork requirements for borrowers enrolled in income driven repayment plans and automatically connects struggling borrowers to the relief that is already available to them under the law. The result will be fewer people weighed down by unaffordable student loan payments and fewer people defaulting.
Sponsor: Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) on 05/04/2017
Would dramatically reduce consumer remedies for the worst credit reporting violations (would eliminate punitive damages in individual cases and reduce statutory damages in class actions).
Date: Tue, August 15, 2017
A California state bill, SB 17, would require pharmaceutical companies to be upfront about their prescription drug pricing. It would require 60 days of advance notice before price hikes could take effect, and would require drug companies to provide information about the reasons for the increase.
Every year, Big Pharma raises prescription drug prices by about 10% per year without giving the public any justification or advance warning. If we can help SB 17 to pass, they will have to provide both.
Date: Tue, July 18, 2017
This week marks the sixth birthday of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Yet, some in Congress have marked the agency for dead. Let your Senators know that an attack on the CFPB is an attack on the people who put them in office.
Sponsor: Doug Collins (R-GA) on 2017-01-12
The "Sunshine Act" is a direct attack on access to the courts and the regulatory system and undermines citizen enforcement of our laws. It impedes the resolution of consumer protection, anti-discrimination, environmental protection, and other important cases before our federal courts.
Date: Wed, July 12, 2017
Broadband internet service providers want can sell information about you and your online activities without your consent. A state bill (AB 375) would prevent this—but it needs your help!
Sponsor: Assemblymember Ed Chau on 02/09/2017
Limits what broadband providers (internet service providers, or ISPs) can do with customer data. The bill was crafted in response to the repeal of the Federal Communications Commission's 2016 internet privacy regulations by the Trump administration.
Sponsor: Assemblymembers Jim Wood and Brian Dahle on 02/06/2017
Requires disclosure of drug acquisition costs, rebates received from pharmaceutical manufacturers and rates negotiated with pharmacies by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), entities that have played a major role in artificially raising drug prices for consumers, and which currently operate with virtually no oversight.
Sponsor: Senator Bill Dodd on 12/05/2016
Would prohibit the use of forced arbitration clauses in contracts that were created fraudulently and allow victimized consumers to have their day in court to recover damages.


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Looking at all previous LG flagship devices, we will see that they have always been using an Alphanumeric naming system. But the company has decided to take the naming of their new products to a different level. Thus, the company has gone forward to announcing the name of their upcoming flagship device — LG velvet. And according to Chang Ma, senior vice president of product strategy at LG Mobile Communications Company, the new branding reflects current trends of addressing the unique personal tastes and emotions of the individual with a greater emphasis on design.
This new roadmap for the naming scheme of their new products isn’t just all about specs, but designs and “tactile” elegance. And the upcoming LG VELVET( “to evoke images of lustrous smoothness and premium softness.”) will be the very first of their products to exhibit these.
- Toshiba Corporation: Who is the founder of Toshiba?
- Google Releases Android 14 Beta 3, With Platform Stability and New Features
- Who founded Nokia? Here is all you need to know
- Who is the founder of HTC Corporation?
- Fast Charging and Multiple Variants: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9+ and Tab S9 Ultra Unveiled
- Who is the founder of Realme?
- The Mobvoi TicWatch 5 Pro has been launched
- Rumours of the Galaxy S23 FE: A budget-friendly variant of the Galaxy S23
- The upcoming iOS 17 will add the ability to use your locked iPhone as a smart display
- Who are the founders of Hewlett-Packard Company?
In terms of the device features and specs, little is yet known. But the Curvy premium device features a unique “Raindrop” camera and asymmetrical, flowing form factor that is both pleasing to the eye and pleasing to touch.


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Barber shop takes its second national title
THE Master Barber’s Shop on Southport’s Lord Street has been named the best in the UK for the second year in a row by the National Hairdressers Federation.
The shop, at the entrance to the Wayfareres Arcade, won the Best Barbering Business at the NHF’s Business Awards on Sunday, November 4, at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.
The Southport barber shop fought off finalists from all over the country to win the national title.
Co-owner Dan Rix said: “This year’s task of entering proved particularly daunting as The Master Barber’s Shop was in direct competition with national franchise and multi-salon operations throughout the UK.
“To have achieved this award in such a difficult arena is testament to our staff’s efforts in all they do and where we stand in the industry.”
As part of the qualifying criteria a mystery shopper was sent to The Master Barber’s Shop, which scored highly in all areas.
One particular point was the effort that goes into window dressing and helping to lift the image of Lord Street.
The NHF’s Business Awards ceremony takes place every year to celebrate the success of outstanding professionals in the hairdressing industry.
NHF president Agnes Leonard said: “Our winners have worked extremely hard to get to where they are today, so we wanted to use the Business Awards as an opportunity to recognise their achievements.
“Receiving this NHF Business Award for the second year running is a huge accomplishment for The Master Barber’s Shop, so they should be thrilled with what they have achieved.”
Dan, left, and Robert Rix, co-owners of the Master Barbers Shop, which has won another national award


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Google's Nexus phone Video
Google's flagship phone is official, Google Glass gets an update, and Motorola's Project Ara is awesome.
The Google Nexus One phone comes with a dedicated headphone jack, enhanced voice recognition, a fast processor, and will be sold as an unlocked phone through Google.
Google unveiled its Android Nexus 7 tablet last week and so far, it's gotten rave reviews. Sumi Das sits down with CNET senior editor Eric Franklin to talk about consumers' appetite for smaller, cheaper tablets.
Google's partnership with HTC has created one of the hottest phones on the market. We're here to showcase why it's great and where it needs to improve.
CNET Asia gets a First Look at Samsung's newest Android phone, the Galaxy Nexus. The big-screen, feature-packed phone runs on Google's new Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.
Get the most out of your Google Nexus 7 tablet using these helpful hints from Donald Bell.
At Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Google VP of Product Management Mario Queiroz and Android Senior Product Manager Erick Tseng demo the new Google Nexus One smartphone, or as he calls it, "superphone." The new phone is made with HTC hardware and runs Google's Android 2.1 OS. Some of the features include GPS with Google Maps and turn-by-turn navigation, an accelerometer, a virtual keyboard, a light sensor for adjusting the display to save battery power, a proximity sensor, a compass, a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash, Wi-Fi, a new media gallery interface with access to Picasa and YouTube, Facebook access, and stereo Bluetooth.
Finally, the Nexus One gets a new OS update that gives it multi-touch. The update also brings 3G connectivity improvements and access to Google Goggles. We also discuss the latest Android news like the Motorola Devour from Verizon Wireless, a possible new direct-from-Google phone from Motorola, an AT&T 3G version of the Nexus One, and a couple of new Android phones from HTC. Some non-Android news include the latest Sony Ericsson Aspen and the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9650. Then we go over our week's reviews and answer your questions.
Though Google's flagship phone of the season boasts a pure and elegant Android 4.2 Jelly Bean experience, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, and a vivid 4.7 screen, the unlock model's lack of 4G LTE capabilities is a letdown.
Nexus Radio's free streaming service lets you record, play, and trim songs within the app.


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Apple’s main partner Foxconn has iPhone production lines in a few other places in the world outside of China, such as Brazil and India. However, China’s activities remain the most important when it comes to global iPhone shipments. However, this time Apple seems to start production of the iPhone 14 simultaneously in India and China.
The report comes from reliable analysts Ming Chi Kuo, who revealed that at least one of the new iPhone 14 models will be produced in India at the same time as in China. If true, this will be the first time that production of a new generation of iPhone will start in another country at the same time as China.
As Kuo noted, in normal situations, it usually takes a few months for a new iPhone to start production outside of China. For example, Foxconn began assembling the iPhone 13 in India in April this year, while production in Brazil began a few weeks later.
Of course, iPhone production in other countries does not aim to meet global demand, but to serve local markets. According to Kuo, iPhone 14 production capacity in India will not be enough in the short term to fill the gap caused by manufacturing problems in China, but it’s still an “important milestone for Apple” as it looks to expand iPhone production to others puts.
The analyst emphasizes that Apple’s decision to accelerate production of the iPhone 14 in India is due to geopolitical implications for the company’s supply chain.
Apple is looking for alternatives to China
As reported earlier today, Apple has warned its suppliers of a possible “revenge” by the Chinese government on the United States after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan. Pelosi has had meetings with some of Apple’s suppliers, such as chipmaker TSMC and Taiwanese assembler Pegatron. Since then, there have been reports that China is blocking shipments from these companies.
At the same time, production of the iPhone 14 lineup faced delays due to component shortages and some minor quality issues. By ramping up iPhone production in India and possibly Brazil as well, Apple could slowly reduce its reliance on China — although that will be quite difficult to achieve.
But despite all these setbacks, analysts still believe that Apple will announce the new iPhones next month. The company is also rumored to be debuting the next-gen Apple Watch with a Pro model and a redesigned entry-level iPad with USB-C port and 5G.
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No wonder the line at Chick-fil-A is so long.
For the first time ever, Americans are reportedly more satisfied with their fast-food dining experiences than they are at full-service casual restaurants, and they like Chick-fil-A better than anyplace else, according to a new report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
In fact, full-service restaurants earned the lowest score in 10 years — 78 out of a possible 100 — on the annual index, falling a full 3.7 percent from last year.
Claes Fornell, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) chairman and founder, says full-service restaurants should be worried by the findings.
“Lower customer satisfaction is a major threat to the restaurant business,” said Fornell in a press release.
Fornell believes higher prices are one of the main reasons a consumer might be less satisfied with full-service restaurants, but only when the consumer feels that he/she could be getting comparable food someplace else.
“If a lower-price competitor has higher customer satisfaction than a rival that competes on quality, the latter is obviously in serious trouble,” Fornell explained in his statements.
Unlike the full-service industry’s slipping score, the fast food industry’s ASCI score remained constant at 79. Chick-fil-A took the top spot among its competitors in the industry for the third year in a row, with a score of 87; Panera Bread and Papa John’s tied for second at 82; and Subway and Arby’s took the fourth and fifth spots, with 81 and 80, respectively.
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: FOX News


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Fly from just £8 on over 1,000 routes across Europe in Jan
2012-12-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost airline, today Tuesday 18th Dec announced another new route from East Midlands to Zadar from 01st Apr 2013.
Ryanair celebrated its new East Midlands route by releasing 100,000 seats across its European network, at prices starting from £8 for travel on Mon, Tue, Wed & Thur in January. These “all in” low fares will be available on over 1,000 of Ryanair’s European routes but must be booked on www.ryanair.com before midnight (24:00hrs) Thur 20 Dec.
Ryanair’s new route from East Midlands to Zadar will go on sale on www.ryanair.com tomorrow.
Ryanair’s Maria Macken said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce another new route for summer 2013 from East Midlands to Zadar. This new service will operate on Fridays from 05th April 2013. Passengers in the East Midlands and surrounding areas now have over 35 Ryanair routes to choose from giving them more choice than ever.
From midnight tonight (18 Dec), passengers can book these seats at prices starting from £8 for travel across our European network in January. These seats can only be booked until midnight (24:00hrs) Thursday (20 Dec) and are sure to be snapped up fast so we urge passengers to book them on www.ryanair.com before they sell out.”
Seats on Ryanair’s new route from East Midlands will start from £37.”


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USTA names new CEO
The USTA has appointed Geoff Freeman as new association chief
He takes over on September 1 replacing Roger Dow as CEO.
Dow is stepping down after 17 years.
Freeman rejoins the U.S. Travel Association after several years in association leadership positions.
He is CEO of the Consumer Brands Association and was previously chief of the American Gaming Association.
Freeman was a key player in bringing about the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 and creating Brand USA.
“We are proud to welcome Geoff Freeman back to lead the USTA. Geoff is highly regarded in Washington and well known across our industry,” said Christine Duffy, National Chair of the USTA.
Freeman said: “I am eager to get to work on behalf of this incredible industry. There are few industries more essential to the nation’s economy.”


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Using the 4,100 devices in the field, Keens said officers performed 53,000 street checks in February, with the service previously totalling 600,000 per year. 0 Comments This week we're loving utility room buys, inspired by our shopping shortlist feature??'Scullery Chic' in the current March issue. Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood, chairman of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, last month said Britain's EU membership protects lifesaving research and key research and development jobs.
I have spent part of this weekend getting the site ready for its new services which I shall be launching shortly. One of the principal elements of the anti growing old program was body weight coaching, so I signed up for the Olympic lifting class as soon as it was supplied. Saueskinnsfell Reply Jane October 31, 2015 at 10:46 pm That has to be the best Halloween photo I've ever seen.


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Lab-grown meat without animals? A lab has made it and says it's the future of protein
A Northern California company says it is ushering in the future of protein production.
Instead of farm animals and a slaughterhouse, a company called Upside Foods is using a laboratory.
"So, we are just trying to make the same food people have loved their entire lives a different way," Eric Schulze, vice president of Upside Foods, told KGO-TV.
You might be wondering, how does it work? The lab takes cells from animals and then grows the meat.
"We take a small sample of cells from an animal like a muscle tissue and we bring it into this facility right behind me, and we grow them and we feed them just like they would be in animal.. and we can grow a very large amount of muscle tissue directly from a very small amount of cells and then we feed it to people," Schulze told the TV station.
According to them, the food looks just like what we would find in the grocery store.
Watch the video above to learn more about this story.


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MIDDLE EAST: Lipsy inks franchise deal with Landmark Group
Lipsy has signed an franchise agreement with the Landmark Group to open its first stores in the Middle East.
Landmark International said the multi-territory agreement will see it launch the UK fashion brand in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Lebanon. The first Lipsy store will open in early 2012, with further shops set to open over the next five years.
Landmark Group also operates franchises for chains including New Look, Reiss, and Koton in the Middle East.
"We have ambitious growth plans to develop Lipsy within the region and believe their unique handwriting, glamorous fashion outlook and continuous celebrity endorsement will be a success within our markets," said Landmark Group vice chairperson Renuka Jagtiani.
In the second of a two-part series, Euromonitor International analyst Bettina Kurnik identifies the appeal of offshore e-tailers over their Australian counterparts, and reviews the way forward for loc...
Leading global brands and retailers including H&M, Levi Strauss, Carrefour and Tesco have backed a three-year programme to clean up production in the Bangladeshi garment industry....
Clothing retailer SuperGroup has today (20 March) appointed Susanne Given to the newly created role as chief operating officer and Shaun Wills as chief financial officer....
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World's Lightest and Most Compact Electric Bike Can Fold Into a Backpack
Folding bikes are already incredibly convenient, but throw in a battery and an electric motor, and now it's a bike commuter's dream. At 26 pounds, the A-Bike Electric claims to be the lightest and most compact e-bike in world.
With its tiny wheels and a battery that's the size of a thermos, the ride is so small it can tuck inside a backpack or under a desk, making it a cinch to take onto a subway, train or car. Parking isn't even an issue when you can easily take it inside of a store or restaurant.
"It's the perfect ingredient for mixed-mode transportation," A-Bike Electric designer Alex Kalogroulis told Fast Company. "Bike-train-bike would be a typical new commuter scenario."
UK inventor Sir Clive Sinclair came up with the original concept of the lightweight, folding A-shaped bike back in 2006. Unlike typical bikes, the A-Bike has a fully enclosed chain system, which means that once it's folded the chain won't get caught onto anything, and your hands or clothes won't get dirty from grime.
"The idea is that if you have a bicycle which is seriously lighter and more compact than anything existing at the moment, it will change the way in which people see bikes," Sinclair said about his invention.
With lazy commuters in mind, this updated version simply adds a motor in the front wheel and a 24V battery. Although it's small and light, the e-bike is made with aircraft grade aluminum and high-strength glass-reinforced polymers. The designers also claim that the bike can fold in 10 seconds.
"Folding e-bikes typically weigh in excess of 40 pounds," Kalogroulis told Fast Company. "As the original A-Bike weighed less than 13 pounds, there was a strong reason to add a lightweight electric system and offer a unique combination of a lightweight electric and compact folding bike."
And if you're wondering about those dinky wheels, they seem to pack more power than one might think. "The dual chain drive has been optimized so that the rate of pedaling matches the rate the wheels turn, this makes riding A-Bike Electric feel like riding any other bike," the designers wrote on their successful Kickstarter page.
The bikes have a projected retail price of $1,089 once it hits stores or you can preorder it on Kickstarter. Check out their campaign video below to see the bike in action.
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It's important to remember that one person can make a difference. From teenagers to world-renowned scientists, individuals are inspiring positive shifts around the world. Maybe you won't become a hard-core activist, but this list of people below can inspire simple ways to kickstart better habits. Here are seven people advocating for a better planet.
Scotland produced enough power from wind turbines in the first half of 2019, that it could power Scotland twice over. Put another way, it's enough energy to power all of Scotland and most of Northern England, according to the BBC — an impressive step for the United Kingdom, which pledged to be carbon neutral in 30 years.
By Jessica A. Knoblauch
It's been a particularly terrible summer for bees. Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is allowing the bee-killing pesticide sulfoxaflor back on the market. And just a few weeks prior, the USDA announced it is suspending data collection for its annual honeybee survey, which tracks honeybee populations across the U.S., providing critical information to farmers and scientists.
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As a new mom, I've had to think about heat safety in many new ways since pregnant women and young children are among the most vulnerable to extreme heat.
John Paul Stevens, the retired Supreme Court Justice who wrote the opinion granting environmental agencies the power to regulate greenhouse gases, died Tuesday at the age of 99. His decision gave the U.S. government important legal tools for fighting the climate crisis.


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SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai Motor aims to make 1.7m vehicles this year
Hyundai Motor has said that it aims to produce 1.71m vehicles domestically this year, the largest ever annual production figure for the group.
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Shopping entirely at the supermarket and shopping less often are two reasons Kiwis might be feeling like they are spending more on groceries during the lockdown.
It certainly is not because there are fewer specials than ever before, because that is simply not the case the nation's biggest supermarkets told the Herald.
New World stores have 5000 items on promotion in a normal week, with the price cut further by in-store promotions as well.
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In the North Island last week, New World stores averaged 4997 products on promotion, Foodstuffs head of corporate affairs Antoinette Laird said.
"I can unequivocally tell you that there are not [fewer] specials which, considering the abnormal circumstances we are in, is a sterling effort," she said.
"What we are seeing nationwide, and it's certainly reflected in my household, is customers buying higher volumes of items which tend to push the basket price up."
Elsewhere, the average Countdown store had around 25,000 products on its shelves, a spokesperson told the Herald.
There were about 3400 products on their 'Great Price' programme, offering low prices for customers. Thousands of products were on promotion too, they said.
Traditionally, Countdown trends suggest customers did a number of top-up shops throughout the week.
"But at the moment we're seeing customers shop less often as they try to stay home as much as possible during the lockdown," the spokesperson said.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Foodstuffs had witnessed a dramatic increase in the purchasing of cleaning and hand washing products.
The increased volume of cleaning product sales suggested people were buying more of them regularly when compared to non-lockdown times.
Meanwhile, household grocery shopping was not generally all done at the supermarket, Laird told the Herald.
Many people split their shopping between produce shops, takeaway outlets, restaurants, butchers, liquor stores, cafes and pubs.
"The reason shoppers are 'feeling' like their grocery bill is higher than normal is most likely because they are spending more at the supermarket because they don't have access to the other food channels they normally use," Laird said.
"It's not because prices have increased or specials have decreased, its simply because household spend is concentrated through one channel."


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Veteran journalist Carl Hoffman believes he’s solved one of the great mysteries of the 20th century. In 1961 at the age of 23, Michael Rockefeller – son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller and a member of one of the richest and most powerful families in America ¬– travelled to remote New Guinea in search of primitive art for his father’s new museum.
Velvet Ice Cream Recalls Some Products
An Ohio ice cream maker is voluntarily recalling some of its peanut-butter flavored products because of suspected salmonella contamination.
Velvet Ice Cream said Thursday that some of the peanut products bought from Sunland Inc. for use in the ice cream flavors could be contaminated.
The recalled Velvet products are mostly sold at convenience stores, ice cream parlors and small, independent retailers in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
The possibly affected Velvet brands include Peanut Butter Cup, Supreme Peanut Butter Cup and Buckeye Classic.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is investigating the presence of salmonella in samples taken from the Sunland Inc. production facility.