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A new UN study has revealed that Alipay and WeChat Pay enabled US$2.9 trillion in Chinese digital payments in 2016, representing a 20-fold increase in the past four years.
The data shows that digital payments, using existing platforms and networks, provide access to a wider range of digital financial services, expanding financial inclusion and economic opportunity throughout China and neighboring countries.
The new report by the UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance, Social Networks, E-Commerce Platforms and the Growth of Digital Payment Ecosystems in China – What It Means for Other Countries, contains key lessons to help other countries include more people in the economy by transitioning from cash to digital payments. This shift could increase GDP across developing economies by 6 percent by 2025, adding US$3.7 trillion and 95 million jobs, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report.
“Social networks and e-commerce platforms are growing in every economy, whether large or small,” says Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director at the Better Than Cash Alliance. “In China, digital payments are thriving from these channels, bringing millions of people into the economy. This matters because we know that when people – especially women – gain access to financial services, they are able to save, build assets, weather financial shocks, and have a better chance to improve their lives.”
“Widening access to financial services has always been at the heart of Ant Financial’s mission and we are proud to
have empowered more people to save, invest and gain access to capital. There is a quiet revolution underway and we know, firsthand, that our services are making a real difference to hundreds of millions of consumers. But, as this groundbreaking UN report highlights, this revolution is only just beginning. We see tremendous potential
to bring many more people into the financial system, in China and markets around the world,” says Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial Services Group, which operates Alipay.
Key findings from the report:
· More people have opportunities to save and invest. Platforms such as Alibaba’s Yu’e bao make investing money into diverse sets of financial products more accessible for low-income populations. These products allows them to invest the money left on digital accounts, leading incrementally to long-term savings. From 2013 to 2016, Yu’e bao has grown to manage US$117 billion and is now serving over 152 million customers.
· Digital finance helps dramatically increase access to capital for small merchants. As of September 2016, a total of RMB 740 billion (US$107.3 billion) had been lent on the Alipay platform to over 4.11 million small and micro enterprises and entrepreneurs.
· Big data generated through these platforms helps to build credit-scoring history and boost access to credit, particularly for low-income financially-excluded populations. For example, Sesame Credit offers an alternative creditworthiness assessment by examining the credit history, financial behavior, contractual capacity, identity, and social networks of users.
The study also found both Alipay and WeChat are expanding beyond China and investing in major fintech and payments providers. They are joined by other major communication platforms, utilizing existing social networks and e-commerce platforms to drive digital payments and financial inclusion. The report found opportunities especially strong in countries with a high smartphone uptake and collaboration between the private and public sectors:
· In South Africa, 78 percent of all internet traffic takes place over mobile channels – one of the highest rates in the world. However, despite the continued growth of adoption rates, only 15 percent of South Africans reported making a purchase on a mobile phone in the preceding month when surveyed in 2016.
· In India, both Ant Financial and Tencent have bought into the Indian mobile payments market, which is enjoying rapid growth under new regulation. Ant Financial and Alibaba have invested up to $900 million in PayTM, as well as sharing staff and technical expertise. The result: PayTM has grown from 5 million to around 200 million users in just the last few years.
· Indonesia was the fastest-growing m-commerce market in the world in 2016, expanding 155 percent from January 2016 to January 2017. Some of this growth may be due to the release in 2015 of BBM Pay’s Instant Mobile Payments. The popular BBM chat app has over 55 million users in Indonesia and continues to develop.
· In South America, markets have the infrastructure necessary to build payment ecosystems similar to those seen in China. Fifty-nine percent of the South American population uses social media, and 52 percent connect with social media over their mobile phone. Yet the digital payments space remains fractured, and no payments provider has linked their service to these platforms in a significant way, or vice versa.
Auto rivals team up for connected car demo
Rivals BMW, Ford and Groupe PSA, maker of Peugeot and Opel cars, have teamed up with the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), Qualcomm Technologies and Savari for Europe’s first live demonstration of C-V2X direct communication technology operating across vehicles from multiple auto manufacturers.
The live demonstration also featured a live showcase of C-V2X direct communication technology operating between passenger cars, motorcycles, and roadside infrastructure. C-V2X is a global solution for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication in support of improved automotive safety, automated driving and traffic efficiency.
The demonstration exhibited the road safety and traffic efficiency benefits of using C-V2X for Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) collision avoidance, as well as Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) connectivity to traffic signals and Traffic Management Centers (TMC). C-V2X was operated using real-time direct communications over ITS spectrum and demonstrated its ability to work without cellular network coverage, and underscores its commercial readiness for industry deployment as early as 2020. Superior performance and cost-effectiveness compared to other V2X technologies, along with forward-compatibility with 5G, make C-V2X direct communications a preferred solution for C-ITS applications.
Six demonstrations were shown including: Emergency Electronic Brake Light, Intersection Collision Warning, Across Traffic Turn Collision Risk Warning, Slow Vehicle Warning and Stationary Vehicle Warning, Signal Phase and Timing / Signal Violation Warning and Vulnerable Road User (pedestrian) Warning. The vehicles involved included two-wheel e-scooters provided by BMW Group, and automotive passenger vehicles provided by Ford, Groupe PSA, and BMW Group, all of which were equipped with C-V2X direct communication technology using the Qualcomm® 9150 C-V2X chipset solution. V2X software stack and application software, along with roadside infrastructure, were provided by industry leader, Savari.
C-V2X is globally supported by a broad automotive ecosystem, which includes the fast growing 5GAA organization. The 5GAA involves over 85 global members comprised of many leading automakers, Tier-1 suppliers, software developers, mobile operators, semiconductor companies, test equipment vendors, telecom suppliers, traffic signal suppliers and road operators.
Cellular modems will be key to the C-V2X deployment in vehicles to support telematics, eCall, connected infotainment and delivering useful driving/traffic/parking information. As C-V2X direct communication functionality is integrated into the cellular modem, C-V2X solutions are expected to be more cost-efficient and economical over competing technologies, and benefit from accelerated attach rates. C-V2X direct communication field validations are currently underway in Germany, France, Korea, China, Japan and the U.S.
C-V2X currently stands as the only V2X technology based on globally recognized 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications, with ongoing evolution designed to offer forward compatibility with 5G. C-V2X also leverages and reuses the upper layer protocols defined by the automotive industry, including the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) organization. C-V2X includes two complementary transmission modes:
- Direct communication as shown in this demonstration for V2V and V2I use cases
- V2N network communication, which leverages mobile operators for connectivity and delivers cloud-based services, including automated crash notification (ACN, as mandated by eCall), hazard warnings, weather conditions, green light optimal speed advisory (GLOSA), parking spot location, and remote tele-operation to support automated driving, to name a few.
“This demonstration builds on the successful C-V2X showcase we organised with our members Audi, Ford and Qualcomm in Washington DC in April, said Christoph Voigt, Chairman of 5GAA.
“We are excited to witness the growing momentum behind this life-saving technology and to see our members working together to deploy C-V2X, and to make it hit the road as soon as possible.”
“The BMW Group introduced the first C-ITS use cases already in 2013 with the market introduction of the BMW i3. Today most of envisaged C-ITS use-cases are already institutionalized. With the implementation of C-V2X, the BMW Group accomplishes the last set of the puzzle with a practical path to C-ITS showing quick benefits,” said Christoph Grote, Senior Vice President Electronics, BMW Group.
“With its ability to safely and securely connect vehicles, along with its evolution into 5G, C-V2X is integral to Ford’s vision for future transportation in which all cars and infrastructure talk to each other,” said Thomas Lukaszewicz, Manager Automated Driving, Ford of Europe. “We are very encouraged by preliminary test results in Europe and elsewhere which support our belief that C-V2X direct communications has superior V2X communication capabilities.”
“We’re moving forward with seamless communication between cars and their environment for enhancing road safety, as well as our customers’ safety,” said Carla Gohin, Group PSA’s Vice President for Research and Advanced Engineering. “Following the first European C-V2X direct communications demonstration we hosted with Qualcomm Technologies last March, we’re pleased to work with leading automotive and technology companies today to highlight that C-V2X interoperability is a reality.”
“This demonstration of interoperability between multiple automakers is not only another milestone achieved towards C-V2X deployment, but also further validates the commercial viability and global compatibility of C-V2X direct communications for connected vehicles,” said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president & president, Qualcomm Europe and MEA. “We look forward in continuing to work alongside leaders in the automotive industry, like the 5GAA, BMW Group, Ford, Groupe PSA and Savari, to help advance the automotive industry’s shift towards a safer, connected and more autonomous future.”
“As one of the V2X pioneers, our company is extremely pleased to continue to help enable the next step in the V2X revolution that we helped start back in 2008,” said Ravi Puvvala, CEO of Savari. “For the last year and a half, the Savari team has worked diligently alongside the dedicated C-V2X engineers in the 5GAA partnership. The resulting string of increasingly impressive demonstrations is continuing to convince the world that C-V2X will soon be deployed around the world.”
Win a Poster Heater with Gadget and Takealot.com
This winter Gadget and Takealot.com are giving away three Poster Heaters, which look like posters but become heaters when you plug them in.
Three Gadget readers will each win a unit, valued at R550 each. To enter, follow @GadgetZA and @Takealot on Twitter and tell us on the @GadgetZA account how many Watts the heater consumes.
What’s the big deal about these heaters? Many of us are struggling to keep the balance between soaring electricity costs and the need to keep warm this winter.
However, the recently launched Poster Heater by EasyHeat and distributed in South Africa by Takealot.com is not only one of the most cost effective electric heaters currently on the market, it is also easy to setup and use.
As the name indicates, it is a poster similar to one you would hang on a wall. But, plug it in and it turns into a 300 Watt heater. The Poster Heater isn’t designed to heat hallways or large rooms, but rather smaller ones like a bedroom or a baby’s nursery or a dressing room.
It uses radiant heating, which means that it heats up in a couple of minutes and the heat is directed at the objects or people around it, quickly taking the chill out of the air and providing a comfortable ambient temperature.
The other advantage of radiant heating is that it doesn’t dry out the air like infrared or gas heaters. Users also don’t have to worry about their children or pets getting too close to it because, even though it gets hot, it can be touched.
To enter the competition follow the steps below:
Competition entry details:
3. The competition closes on 31 July 2018.
4. Winners will be notified via Twitter on 1 August and Takealot.com will be in touch to organise delivery.
5. The competition is only open to South African residents.


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Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced on Tuesday that it will be cutting prices of its insulin products amid competition and high scrutiny over insulin prices, prompting calls from progressive lawmakers for lowering the price of insulin products across the board.
The company is lowering the prices of four of its insulin pens and vials by between 65 and 75 percent starting January 2024, it announced on Tuesday. It is a smaller action than that of Eli Lilly, which announced two weeks ago that it’s capping the price of its insulin at $35 monthly, matching the cost of insulin now offered to Medicare recipients, thanks to Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
Though Novo Nordisk’s price cuts have garnered many headlines comparing it to Eli Lilly’s action, Novo Nordisk’s products will still be more expensive than the $35 threshold – in some cases, they will cost far more.
According to a press release, vials of NovoLog and NovoLog Mix 70/30 will be cut by 75 percent from $289 to $72, while the pen versions will fall to $139 from the current price of over $500. Vials and pens of Levemir and Novolin will only receive a 65 percent cut, with prices falling to $108 and $48 for vials, respectively, and $162 and $91 for pens.
The move has received praise from President Joe Biden, who previously called on insulin manufacturers to follow Eli Lilly’s lead and lower their insulin prices and reiterated that call on Tuesday.
“I am pleased at today’s announcement that, in line with my call, Novo Nordisk will be lowering their insulin prices by 75 percent, following Eli Lilly’s action,” he said. “This builds on the important progress we made last year when I signed a law to cap insulin at $35 for seniors. I urge all other manufacturers to follow suit and Republicans in Congress to join us and cap insulin at $35 for all Americans.”
Progressive lawmakers have said that the cuts aren’t enough, however – and that $35 a month, or over $400 a year, is still too much for many to afford.
“$72.34 per month for a vial of life-saving insulin? That’s still too high,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri). She called for the passage of a bill she and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) recently unveiled that would lower insulin prices even further.
“Congress must pass the Insulin for All bill [Sen. Bernie Sanders] and I introduced last week that will cap insulin at $20 per month,” she said.
Sanders also alluded to the bill in a tweet about Novo Nordisk’s announcement, calling for more action on insulin prices.
“Thanks to grassroots pressure Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have now cut the price of insulin. That is good news and Sanofi must follow suit. But much more needs to be done,” he wrote on Twitter. “We will soon hold a hearing on the need to guarantee insulin at an affordable price to everyone who needs it.”
High insulin prices are indeed a burden for many Americans. A recent study estimated that about 1.3 million Americans ration the life-saving drug, or about 16 percent of the roughly 8 million Americans who rely on the drug to survive. Meanwhile, insulin is a big money-maker for drug companies; research has estimated that manufacturers only spend few dollars to make the drug but often charge hundreds of dollars for it, securing huge profit margins.
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The online blackjack playing community is always starved for new games and exciting versions of their beloved 21 and now they can look forward to another iteration. It’s all thanks to online software company NetEnt announcing a few weeks ago that they were releasing a version of Perfect Blackjack that will be added into their Live Dealer Casino product.
This particular variant of blackjack is sure to revolutionize the industry as it has the highest Return to Player percentage that you can find on the internet today, giving back a massive 99.5% to those who are seated at the table. In addition to the House only raking in a paltry 0.05%, they also deal it out “perfectly” by allowing players to select if they want to split or double down according to optimal strategy, and then executing the choices for them.
This will obviously eliminate the mistakes that most humans make when deciding what to do and you can even choose to sit back and auto play hands, ensuring that the perfect decision is always made regardless of the situation. It sounds like Perfect Blackjack is set to delight many who don’t like the stress of making the calls but this might not appeal to every player.
The Director of NetEnt’s live division, Andres Rengifo, could not restrain his gushing pride for the product,
Perfect Blackjack truly is an industry-first for live casino, and we are certain that this game will appeal to all levels of players. Whether you’re a seasoned player wanting to sit back whilst being dealt flawlessly, or if you’re a beginner who wants an intro to blackjack and its strategy.
The lucky company that signed on to be the exclusive partner for the launch is Grosvenor Casinos, one of the U.K.’s leading land-based enterprises who also has a solid online presence as well. It was not announced how this decision was taken but it’s widely known that the two companies have a long history of doing business together.
The new game is set to launch across NetEnt’s full network of partners before the summer so all of the best blackjack casinos will have it available in their live dealer section soon.


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THE last thing you want when shelling out for a holiday is to have to gamble on the weather.
There is nothing worse for a sun-seeker than breaking the bank for a holiday, only to end up watching the rain while sheltering in a beach bar.
While it may be cheaper to have a holiday in the UK, there are plenty of sun-drenched islands just a short flight away.
And your Crunch Busting Chronicle has teamed up with low cost airline Jet2holidays.com and a weather expert to calculate the best ‘pound per sun’ deals.
Using weather predictions for June, July and August, we divided the cost of a holiday flying out of Newcastle International Airport with the expected hours of sunshine.
And the results reveal a seven-day break to the Algarve is Top of the Hotspots, boasting 11 hours of 27.5C sunshine a day. Based on average holiday costs the sun rating starts at £2.80 per hour.
Other destinations making up the foreign hotspots are Turkey at £3.70 p/h, Majorca £3.80 p/h, Costa del Sol £4 p/h and Corfu £4.80 p/h.
We used the same calculations to compare UK breaks.
Bognor Regis came out top with a daily dose of seven hours of sunshine working out at £3.60 an hour for an accommodation-only deal. Other places ranking alongside the Sussex sun-spot are Morecambe £4.20, Cleethorpes £4.20, Tenby £4.50 and Ilfracombe £4.20.
Lucy Black, marketing manager at Jet2holidays.com, said: “While we’re not criticising British holidays, the UK is notorious for bad weather. Therefore, we developed this simple comparison, which allows holidaymakers to make an informed decision on this year’s summer holiday.
“By investigating weather forecasts well in advance, we can provide customers with accurate information to ensure the best possible holiday experience, highlighting where they can get maximum sunshine for the lowest price possible.”
Jonathan Powell, senior weather forecaster at Positive Weather Solutions, said: “After a run of two poor summers in the UK, going abroad for your holidays this year is still by far the best option for people seeking reliable sunshine.
“The British weather doesn’t seem to be settling into a pattern to provide sustained warm temperatures and periods of sunshine, so the best bet is to travel to the likes of the Algarve, Corfu, and Turkey, where warmth and sunshine are virtually guaranteed.’’


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This post originally appeared on Real Clear Markets on March 21, 2017.
Today’s regulators must react to fast-paced technological change like ridesharing services offered by Uber and Lyft. These regulators are making decisions that will likely have a big impact on the pace and direction of innovation. If they are not careful, their policy interventions could hurt both the economy and consumers.
For example, earlier this month, Uber lost a court battle in the UK that would require London cabbies to pass an English test. Lawyers for Uber argued the language requirement would cause 33,000 existing drivers to lose their livelihoods, and that the rule is excessive. In contrast, Mayor Sadiq Kahn reported he was “delighted” that his plans to “drive up standards and improve passenger safety in London” will now be implemented. He further noted that “drivers being able to speak English and understand information from passengers and licensing requirements is a vital part of ensuring passengers get the high standard of service they need and deserve.”
But just how vital is forcing prospective drivers to take an English test or any language test for that matter for improving passenger service and safety? We can answer this question by appealing to economics, something we suspect the government did not do. There are two key economic questions: What are the additional economic benefits that Uber drivers provide their passengers? And what costs, say in terms of safety, might Uber drivers impose on the system that may not be accounted for in the price of a ride?
Let’s take these questions in reverse order because costs are easier to address than benefits. The critics of the alleged poor English of some Uber drivers suggest, among other things, that these drivers may jeopardize public safety. It’s not clear why faltering English would lead to accidents, but if it did, you can bet that insurance companies would be paying attention to that risk, and raising their rates.
People, and politicians, are beginning to accept that ridesharing services are here to stay—precisely because they provide substantial benefits to consumers that exceed the cost of those services.
That leaves the question of benefits. Few people would argue that ridesharing services do not benefit their customers. The question is how large are these benefits. There is reason to believe the potential benefits from using ridesharing services are significant because otherwise travelers would not use them and those services could not finance their operations. These benefits include convenience, availability, price, and sometimes even safety.
We were part of a research team that investigated the benefits that Uber passengers received in the year 2015 in four large cities in the United States (New York, LA, Chicago and San Francisco). Using almost 50 million individual-level observations and some fancy statistical analysis, we estimate that Uber’s basic service generated about $2.9 billion in annual consumer benefits in those cities. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the total benefits for all U.S. consumers of ridersharing services in 2015 were $6.8 billion. That’s a big number for two reasons: (1)it would likely dwarf any potential losses to drivers of “regular” cabs and owners of existing taxis. For each $1 spent, a consumer gets an average of about $1.60 in benefits—an average return on “investment” of 160%; and (2) it approaches the benefits that U.S. travelers get from urban bus and rail transit without requiring huge subsidies. This suggests that Uber is a big net plus for society, at least for U.S. customers.
Introducing competition from ridesharing services can also encourage taxis to improve their service. A study of New York and Chicago taxis found that as Uber grew more popular, consumer complaints to regulators about taxis, such as those about air conditioning and broken credit card machines, went down.
Finally, there is the issue of the English test itself: there is an elegant solution to this problem that offers better information – the driver rating system that firms like Uber and Lyft have introduced on their apps available on all smart phones. Any customer can penalize a driver (and say why) by not giving them a five-star rating. We conjecture that drivers who have English issues will, on average, get lower star ratings from customers, and eventually be asked to leave by Uber or similar services. The point is that the market is quite capable of sorting this language problem, if it is really a problem. Indeed, the market has also helped sort another potential safety problem by allowing drivers to rate customers with their app, so the bad apples can be weeded out on both sides of the market. Most importantly, it is likely that ridesharing services, even provided by drivers who speak poor English, are improving auto safety by enabling intoxicated individuals to use those services instead of getting behind the wheel themselves.
People, and politicians, are beginning to accept that ridesharing services are here to stay—precisely because they provide substantial benefits to consumers that exceed the cost of those services. We think these remarkable innovations represent the tip of the iceberg as, for example, society moves to the brave new world of autonomous vehicles where many travelers could forego owning a vehicle and exclusively use ridesharing services. The challenge in moving to this world is not to impede the revolutionary innovation while taking appropriate measures to ensure safety.
To be clear, we are not saying that disruptive technologies do not generate social costs that could be reduced by thoughtful regulation. We are saying that regulation should be based on evidence and sound economics, so that citizens can enjoy the benefits of breakthrough innovations that are coming sooner than most of us can imagine.
Hahn and Metcalfe were part of a research team with two Uber employees that analyzed Uber data but they did not receive financial support from any firm or person for this article or from any firm or person with a financial or political interest in this article, and they are currently not an officer, director, or board member of any organization with an interest in this article.


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The data center's physical presence was very much felt at this year's virtualization lovefest in Vegas.
Market expert says 11-story facility’s capacity will roughly equal total capacity of all data centers other hyperscalers have built on the island.
IBM's biggest asset in courting the enterprise market may be its relationships, many of which go back more than half a century.
Dell Technologies reported growing sales and increased its outlook for the year
Pitches antenna colocation services on the tower to high-frequency traders
Edge data center startup Vapor IO has raised a Series C funding round led by the private equity firm Berkshire Partners
Says weather-related voltage spike brought down data center cooling system in San Antonio
The new solid stage storage drive is the size of a 12-inch ruler and can store 32 terabytes of data.
VMware on AWS is expanding to Amazon Web Services’ Asia-Pacific region in Sydney.


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Standard TV and Appliance sold
Portland retailer Standard TV and Appliance has new owners with Portland ties.
The retailer describes the new owners as local businesspeople — Chip Wallace, Barbara Bradshaw and former Standard Sales Director Jeff Jarvis, who will become the company’s president. The company did not report terms of the transaction.
Clement and Hazel Gander founded the company as Standard Refrigeration in 1947. Their son Bill Gander began managing the company in 1972 and had owned the business since 1981. He will step down as president and owner on Halloween.
Jarvis held a succession of managerial roles at Standard from 2005 until 2013 and had most recently been president of Airport Home Appliance in California. Bradshaw owns Bradshaw Advertising, which will take over Standard’s advertising.
Standard has two stores in Portland, one in Beaverton and one in Bend.
Home-sales jump lowers inventories
The supply of homes up for sale around the U.S. has fallen to its lowest level in six years, thanks to an increase in purchases.
Nationwide home inventories fell by more than 6% in September, ending a streak of rising home supplies, according to Zillow.
Consumers around the country in recent months have responded to lower home mortgage rates with an increase in buying.
Home prices were down year-over-year in the San Francisco area and San Jose, California.
Inventory fell in all but a handful of major U.S. markets.
Governor gets max farm subsidy
A farming business owned by the family of West Virginia’s billionaire governor has received $125,000 in soybean and corn subsidies, the maximum allowed from a federal program meant to help American farmers through the U.S. trade war with China.
There is no evidence Gov. Jim Justice did anything illegal. But at least one analyst said the payments to the richest man in West Virginia are unseemly, given his wealth.
It costs more to get into top 1%
Becoming a member of the nation’s richest 1% now costs a little more. The income needed to exit the bottom 99% of taxpayers hit $515,371 in 2017, according to IRS data. That’s up 7.2% from a year earlier. Since 2011 the income threshold for the top 1% is up an inflation-adjusted 33%. That outpaces all groups except those that are even wealthier. To join the top 0.1%, you would have needed to earn $2.4 million in 2017, an increase of 38% since 2011. The top 0.01% threshold has jumped 46%. The median taxpayer has seen income rise 20% since 2011.


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Gold Holds near Seven-week Low as Fund Outflows Resume
April 1, 2014 3:03 PM EST
Gold was languishing near a seven-week low on Tuesday, after posting its first monthly drop of the year, as investors pulled money out of bullion backed exchange-traded funds in favour of riskier assets.
An employee shows gold bangles to a customer at a jewellery showroom in Mumbaim in November, 2013 (Reuters).
* Spot gold eased 0.05 percent to $1,282.95 an ounce by 0025 GMT, after dropping nearly 1 percent on Monday. The metal hit a low of $1,282.04 in the previous session - its lowest since February 11.
* Outflows from SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, resumed after a two-day pause. Holdings of the fund fell 3.89 tonnes to 813.08 tonnes on Monday - the biggest outflow in more than a month.
* Gold transferred between accounts held by bullion clearers edged up to an average volume of 17.8 million ounces a day last month, recovering from a 3-1/2 year low hit in January, the London Bullion Market Association said.
* As regulators investigate the transparency of global financial benchmarks, bullion banks are contemplating a move to electronic platforms that would shed more light on the London gold fix, a widely used reference price, sources said.
* India will consider easing curbs on gold imports in consultation with the central bank, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.
* Asian shares were down slightly in early trade on Tuesday, as investors chose discretion over valour ahead of a key manufacturing survey from China even as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's dovish comments eased concerns of an early start to rate hikes.
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BLUFORD — What would a summer be without classic cars and ice cream?
Bluford Ruritan Club and the Webber Fire Protection District will co-host its sixth annual Ice Cream Social and car cruise-in Saturday.
Registration for the car show begins at 2 p.m. and food items, including several flavors of homemade ice cream, will be available about 3 p.m. Karaoke singing begins at 4 p.m.
Dash plaques will be given to the first 50 cars that register.
The event will be held near the Ruritan Club building, just north of Bluford Grade School.
“This is just too big of an event for one organization. That’s why we joined up with the fire department,” said Chuck Pepple, president of the Bluford Ruritan Club. Proceeds from the fundraiser are split between the two organizations.
“Since we’re splitting the proceeds, it allows the fire department to buy additional equipment and in our case, donate back to the community,” Pepple said.
Raffle tickets will be sold at the event for some of the prizes to be awarded. However, this year, the groups are also conducting an auction for some of the bigger ticket items, including Cardinals and Southern Illinois Miners tickets, gift cards from the Metro-East area and more.
“We’ve got a lot of nice things that will be included in the auction,” Pepple promised. “And we still have a lot of nice raffle items too.”
The auction begins at 6 p.m.
One of the raffles will include a .22 caliber pistol with a laser sight.
Pepple said 60 gallons of ice cream will be prepared, including a variety of flavors, plus a couple of sugar free flavors.
“We want people to bring their lawn chairs, look at the cars and enjoy the food and entertainment,” Pepple said.


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(From The Standard)
Byline: Elaine Chan
Losses at its tourism and retail business as a result of the Sars crisis crimped Beijing Enterprises Holdings' earnings by 16 per cent in the first half.
The Hong Kong-listed arm of the Beijing government earned a net income of HK$181.8 million in the six months to the end of June, or 29 HK cents a share, against HK$216.1 million a year earlier.
Its tourism and retail business, which ranges from operating the Badaling Great Wall tourist spot and Jianguo Hotel to the Wangfujing Department Store, lost HK$26.1 million, compared with a profit of HK$5.3 million. ``The second quarter was the hardest hit,'' …


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Should restaurant tipping be abolished?
One New York restaurant group has eliminated gratuities. But does it encourage slack service?
Hey, big spender, can you imagine the day when your fat tips are no longer welcome at your favorite restaurant?
That day is near for customers of famed restaurateur Danny Meyer’s 13 New York eateries. Meyer, who is also founder of the popular Shake Shack chain, triggered a tidal wave of commentary when he announced recently that tipping would be eliminated at his Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants.
And while the process to implement this system might take months, Meyer’s aim appears to equalize somewhat – and even increase – pay for his 1,800 employees.
“The gap between what the kitchen and dining room workers make has grown by leaps and bounds,” Meyer told The New York Times.
But how would such a system play out for the customer in terms of cost and dining experience? And could local restaurants survive a move so bold that it would require not only wage hikes but also a rise in menu prices?
“I don’t think it’s fair to charge our customers higher prices to cover gratuity for the staff,” says Eduard Cristal, general manager of Vic & Angelo’s restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens.
Changing the system, he says, may lower a well-tipped employee’s potential to earn more.
“Tipping is a logical and democratic approach to awarding wait staff on their professional performance,” says Cristal. “I strongly believe in the gratuity system.”
Spoto’s Oyster Bar owner Ellen Daly agrees: “Personally, I like the tipping process. It helps my staff excel, and lets guests reward their servers for the experience they had.”
The gratuity system is part of the American way, suggests Rich Rosenthal, owner of The Cooper restaurant, also in Palm Beach Gardens.
“Maybe the server isn’t as motivated to give good service if they know they are getting the automatic tip,” he says.
Motivated servers are crucial to a restaurant’s success, says Rosenthal. In fact, the restaurateur, who divides his time between Florida and Connecticut, wants his servers to be more than servers.
“We want our servers to be good salespeople. I want my guests to know about our great desserts, so I want my servers to sell our great desserts,” says Rosenthal. “What scares me about a fixed salary is: Are they going to have the same motivation? Danny Meyer is a great restaurateur and he will make it work. But we haven’t figured out a way to make it work.”
Duffy’s Sports Grill chain president Jason Emmett praises Meyer’s move to raise wages.
“We share Mr. Meyer’s concern for the wages earned by those who work for us. We have always paid our non-tipped employees well above the state and federal minimum wages. We agree it is necessary to pay people well if we want to continue attracting top talent,” Emmett says.
However, Duffy’s will not be adopting the no-tip model, he says. “We would not want to pass along such significant price increases to our customers.”
Raising prices is not always a realistic solution, says veteran South Florida restaurateur Dennis Max, whose restaurant group includes Max’s Grille in Boca Raton and Max’s Harvest and Social House in Delray Beach.
“Restaurant margins are very, very thin. To me, it would be impossible to raise prices and pay everyone a fair wage,” says Max.
Adding to the challenge is the fact that many Palm Beach County restaurants serve a season-driven clientele, points out Julien Gremaud, chef and owner of Avocado Grill in downtown West Palm Beach.
“I love (Meyer’s) idea… I think that it can work in big cities or non-seasonal places, at high-end, high-check-average restaurants. But it would be very difficult to do it here,” says Gremaud. Plus, it would be tough to convince servers to give up their nightly tip cash, he says.
One Palm Beach Gardens restaurant owner dismissed Meyer’s announcement as a “good marketing ploy.”
“Customers are still going to pay, whether it’s in tips or higher prices,” says Daly, owner of Spoto’s Oyster Bar in Palm Beach Gardens.
A fellow north county restaurant owner and chef agrees that a no-tip system that raises menu prices will likely balance out for customers in the final bill tally. In fact, chef Charlie Soo praises Meyer for “turning the business upside down.”
“Financially, I’m not able to do that, but I really think it’s the right way to go,” says Soo, who owns Talay Thai in Palm Beach Gardens and Aah Loi in Jupiter. Eliminated tips and raised wages, he says, helps level the playing field between “back of the house” cooks and “front of the house” servers and bartenders.
But one of Soo’s top “front of the house” employees makes a strong argument for keeping the tips he earns each night.
“What Charlie would have to pay me an hour to cover what I’m making now on tips – it’s a good amount of money,” says B.J. Weichel, who works as a server and bartender at Talay Thai. “I’ve gotten tips of well over 100 percent, especially as a bartender.”
Those tips make up for the miserly tips that come far too often, he says. “Normally people who tip lower, they don’t have super-high checks. Bigger spending types leave bigger tips – although I’ve learned to never judge a book by its cover,” says Weichel.
Bad tips at a white linen restaurant, he says, are not exactly as bad as some of the tips he used to get in his early days as a server, working overnight shifts at a national-chain diner. Tipsy, wee-hour patrons would spell out the word “TIPS” in pennies and once left him a condom as a gratuity.
But be it at a diner or a deluxe restaurant, an underlying truth runs through any eatery that employs tipped servers:
There’s power in a tip. And that power is in the hand of a customer.
A tip is a customer’s vote of approval or disapproval. Few people know this better than frequent diners like Ted Task, a veteran West Palm Beach-based wine educator. Ask him what he thinks about Meyer’s plan to eliminate tips and he’ll reply in a flash:
“I’m adamantly against it.”
He has enough bad-service stories to fill an 18-course meal. Removing tips removes his ability to send an important message to a sub-par server.
“You’re telling me that I’m going to be at the mercy of the untrained and I won’t be able to demonstrate my pleasure or lack thereof because of a no tipping policy?” he asks. “You take away tipping and you’re going to get worse service.”


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Global Glycerine Market Dives Down Amidst Weak Seasonal Demand
- 26-Dec-2022 11:13 AM
- Journalist: Patrick Knight
The price of Glycerine has continued to fall in the global market during December 2022 due to declining upstream pricing and subpar downstream demand. Prices for Glycerine have recently dropped significantly, returning to levels seen before the pandemic worldwide. Other reasons that have hampered the expansion of the Glycerine market include inflation, COVID-19 cases, recession in China's economy, and tight monetary policies.
As the demand dynamics from the downstream pharmaceutical, food, and healthcare industries remained poor, Glycerine prices continued to fall in the critical production regions, especially Indonesia and Malaysia, through the concluding week of this year. As observed by participants, the market's buying sentiment has been described as rigid due to low consumption rates and few inquiries. The cost pressure on downstream Glycerine has also remained consistent due to stabilized upstream edible oil prices. Because palm oil is currently being offered for a low price and the oleochemical sector and biodiesel production are both booming, producing refined Glycerine volumes and storing them for later use are simple. Material is thus ready for quick shipping. As a result, prices of Glycerine were assessed with a weekly decline of around 25% in the previous week of December 2022.
Like the West anticipating the holiday season, the European Glycerine market attitude remained low. Market players reported few inquiries from downstream pharmaceutical, food, and Healthcare sectors. According to reports from various businesses, the risk of a recession is still diminishing. Additionally, there have been many imports from Asia, expanding the supply of materials in the European market. The results show that manufacturing output in the Eurozone shrank at its weakest rate in December 2022, and the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) changed to 48.8 from 47.2 in November 2022.
The U.S. PMI dropped below 49.7 in the last few weeks, indicating a reduction in manufacturing and industrial activity, contributing to the U.S. market's decline in consumer mood. The upcoming Christmas season also influenced the sluggish demand dynamics for several petrochemical products, including Glycerine. Further bringing down the price of Glycerine in the domestic market is that end-user demand has remained negative despite adequate material supply.
ChemAnalyst's assessment states, "Due to the weak downstream industry demand, prices for Glycerine will continue to fall globally in the coming weeks. However, if downstream demand increases, higher Glycerine prices are anticipated for late January 2023 ".


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Search results for "EU Lawsuit against Indonesia"
Indonesia Won’t Budge on Ore Export Ban, Jokowi Says 'Let Them Sue'
... the lawsuit launched by the European Union, or EU, would not stop Indonesia ... from banning ore exports. The EU filed a complaint against Indonesia at ... . So we will get another lawsuit,” Jokowi said at the Open ...
11 Mar 2022 | 05:36 PM
Raw Material Exports Have Gone On Too Long: Jokowi
... For hundreds of years, Indonesia has been shipping raw ... European Union (EU) has filed a lawsuit against Indonesia’s nickel ore ... material exports. Despite the lawsuit, Indonesia will proceed with its ... a processing industry in Indonesia, according to Jokowi. ...
17 Jan 2022 | 07:19 PM
Swiss in Favor of Indonesian Palm Oil Conveys Strong Message to the EU
... and should not be discriminated against by EU countries,” Jerry said. Indonesian ... Indonesia-EU dispute settlement at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Indonesia filed a lawsuit ... at the WTO challenging EU's discriminatory ...
14 Jul 2021 | 01:25 AM
Jokowi Asks Muhyiddin to Join Fight against EU's Discriminatory Palm Oil Policies
... ’s largest palm oil producers Indonesia and Malaysia reiterated their commitment ... and environmental impacts. “Indonesia continues the fight against palm oil discrimination. Our ... that Malaysia also filed a lawsuit against the EU at the WTO on ...
05 Feb 2021 | 10:41 PM
Internet Rage: Alfamart Employee Forced to Apologize to Shoplifter
Suspect in $5b Graft Scandal Turns Himself in to Prosecutors
Improving Digital Access and Utilization for SMEs
Indonesia Posts Trade Surplus in 27th Consecutive Month
Indonesia Increasingly Gets Recognition in Global Leadership: Jokowi
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WHO WE ARE
The Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) is an international trade association representing manufacturers and distributors of drycleaning and laundry equipment and supplies, as well as the related trades. It is the only trade association dedicated exclusively to the interests of the allied trades.
TCATA's mission is to increase professionalism through business operations and sales improvement education, provide forums where business challenges are discussed and solved, generate and apply business intelligence, and create a favorable business climate by seeking fair regulation and legislation.
Ellis celebrates 75th anniversary of tcata membership
In 2019, The Ellis Corporation of Itasca, Illinois, is celebrating its 75th anniversary of membership in TCATA! Read a brief history of the company here.
M & L Equipment celebrates 75 years of tcata membership
M & L Equipment of Akron, Ohio, is celebrating its 75th anniversary of membership with TCATA in 2019! Read more.
forenta celebrates 50th anniversary with tcata
In 2019, Forenta of Morristown, Tennessee, is celebrating its 50th anniversary of membership in TCATA! Read more here.
Realstar usa celebrates 25th anniversary of membership with tcata
Realstar USA of McDonough, Georgia, is celebrating its 25th anniversary of membership with TCATA in 2019! Read more.
In Memoriam: Jack Reiff owner of wet tech
It is with sadness that WET TECH of Worcester, Massachusetts announces the passing of its founder Jack Reiff, at age 85. Read more.
BREAKING NEWS - Clean Show Sold to Messe Frankfurt
The Clean Show Executive Committee has finalized a deal with Messe Frankfurt to purchase the Clean Show. The Show is currently owned by the five major associations in the textile care industry: The Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA), The Coin Laundry Association (CLA), The Dry-Cleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI), The Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA), and The Association for Linen Management (ALM). Riddle and Associates, which has managed the Show for nearly 30 years, will run the Clean Show in June 2019 on behalf of Messe Frankfurt. Read more.
IRS Issues final regulations
In mid-January, the IRS released its final rules for implementing the tax deduction for pass-through businesses that Congress passed in 2017. The 20 percent deduction is available only to some pass-throughs, and the rules are an attempt to clarify which businesses are eligible. Click here for the news release.
TCATA Submits Comments on Proposed Retirement Plans Rule for Small Businesses
TCATA CEO David Cotter recently submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Regulations and Interpretations supporting that Department’s proposed rule on association retirement plans. The rule is a significant step toward expanding retirement coverage for employees of small employers and for working owners. Read More


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WASHINGTON (March 28, 2014) — American Lifan Industry Inc., an Ontario, Calif.-based importer of Chinese motorcycles, engines and recreational vehicles, will pay $630,000 in civil penalties to settle Clean Air Act violations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced March 27.
Also, American Lifan will post a $300,000 to $500,000 bond to satisfy any potential future penalties involving importation of motorcycles, engines and RVs manufactured by China Lifan Industry (Group) Co. Ltd. in the 2014-2016 model years, the agency said.
American Lifan imported and sold nearly 28,000 vehicles and engines made by China Lifan that did not comply with federal emissions limits under the Clean Air Act, according to the EPA.
With the subject of Chinese-sourced tire garnering so much attention, do consumers really care about where their tires come from? How many of your customers ask about the origin of tires they’re buying?
|11 to 20%||
|21 to 35%||
|36 to 60%||
|All of them||
|Total votes: 190|


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03rd Jun 2016
It had to happen sooner or later: Facebook reading your posts and other stuff. Not that this’ll generate any personal information for them, of course. But a recent post on Facebook Code explained their DeepText engine, which can understand text with “near-human accuracy.”
The post says: “DeepText is used... to get a better understanding of when someone might want to go somewhere. It (helps) realize that a person is not looking for a taxi when he or she says... ‘I just came out of the taxi’.”
Facebook explains that “High-accuracy... DeepText models (could) help people find the right tools for their purpose. For example, someone could write a post that says, ‘I would like to sell my old bike for $200, anyone interested?’ DeepText would be able to... prompt the seller to use existing tools that make these transactions easier through Facebook.”
But that kind of thing doesn’t cut it. Coming after such a mega-project — at least in terms of power, considering that the system can understand language — helping someone sell something is a bit of an anti-climax.
As DeepText evolves, a more meaningful use, the post explains, could be “automating the removal of objectionable content like spam,” and “Finding the most relevant comments in multiple languages” to bring them to the top of the list.
It’s already an advanced system, apparently; rather than being programmed on each word, DeepText has been learning languages at a conceptual level.
With all the conspiracy theories out there — like this one which asks, “Was Facebook founded by the CIA just to be a data collection tool?” — it’s easy to be a little worried about these bold new capabilities.
But you have nothing to hide... right?
In other news, eBay is going the AI way as well: CEO Devin Wenig recently said they’ve been working on “taking advantage of demographic data and sophisticated algorithms to offer more relevant products.”
“It’s all about customer relevance,” Wenig said. “When I go on eBay, I want to feel like it’s mine.”
While I’m sure Facebook has a good number of plans for its DeepText, eBay needing to do AI baffles us. What would the system recommend except things similar to what you’re buying — or bought?
Wait. I’m suddenly sensing something smarter there. They want to put ideas in your head — and maybe the AI will tell them what ideas you’ll buy. Literally.
Facebook Will Read Your Posts
...via AI proxy
- boAt audio launches new range of earphones & speakers at the recently concluded Lakmé Fashion Week
- Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless, The Smarter Travel Companion, Launched in India
- Titan Company strengthens its technology and wearables play
- Xiaomi India launches Desh Ka Dumdaar Smartphone, Redmi 8A Dual
- HYPERX LAUNCHES FURY ULTRA RGB GAMING MOUSE PAD IN INDIA
- An initiative to create a Breathe Free space for the torch bearers of tomorrow
- Philips rapidly expands its smart audio product portfolio by launching Headphones with one touch Google Assistant and Active Noise Cancellation
- Goldmedal Electricals launches smart i-Sense Senso Switch
- Newly launched Vu Cinema TV sold out on Amazon within 24 hours!
- Havit launches high bass neckband with 12 hrs battery in India at 1299/-


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This article first appeared in the Morning Brief. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe
Monday, July 19, 2021
Businesses of all sizes are feeling great about the economy
Optimism about the U.S. economy is abundant right now.
Consumers haven't been this confident in their prospects since the pandemic began. And for the country's biggest businesses, of course, it doesn't take a look much beyond the performance of the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tightening of credit spreads to see how strong businesses conditions are today.
And when executives like JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon are saying the "pump is primed" for consumers to start spending, you know how he's feeling about the state of the economic recovery.
But recent data also shows there's confidence all across the spectrum, for businesses big and small.
Published on Monday, JPMorgan Chase’s 2021 Business Leaders Outlook survey revealed that 88% of business leaders surveyed by the bank are optimistic about their firm's prospects over the next six months, the most on record for the 11-year-old survey.
"After enduring the challenges of the last year and a half, businesses are feeling overwhelmingly positive about what's ahead,” said Jim Glassman, head economist at JPMorgan Chase commercial banking. The survey covered 1,375 business leaders from middle-market companies, or those with annual revenues between $20 million-$500 million.
The bank's survey also shows that three-quarters of respondents are optimistic about both the national and their local economies, up 40 percentage points from last year.
Meanwhile, last week the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) published its small business optimism index for the month of June, which topped Wall Street expectations and moved above 100 for the first time since November. The report also showed 15% of respondents felt the next three months are a good time to expand — the highest percentage since February 2020.
Both reports, however, cited challenges in hiring and concerns over inflation as top-of-mind hangups for business leaders big and small.
JPMorgan's survey showed that some 81% of businesses the firm heard from plan to increase staff over the next six months. The NFIB's data found that 63% of small businesses either did, or tried to, hire workers in June. JPMorgan's survey also notes that accelerated retirements — a topic we've previously discussed in The Morning Brief — are creating staffing challenges.
And as a host of data have shown— from the jobs report to inflation readings and job opening surveys — the economy's recovery from its COVID-induced recession has been anything but a smooth ride. But employers competing over labor and complaining about wage demands going up is a champagne problem when we're just 15 months removed from an almost overnight shutdown of the economy that put more than 20 million Americans out of work.
Or as JPMorgan's Glassman stated, "The focus now is on navigating growing pains to harness the momentum of the economic recovery, which is comparatively a good problem to have." And we have seen the other side.
By Myles Udland, reporter and anchor for Yahoo Finance Live. Follow him at @MylesUdland
Try Yahoo Finance Plus now.What to watch today
10:00 a.m. ET: NAHB Housing Market Index, July (82 expected, 81 in June)
7:30 a.m. ET: AutoNation (AN) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $2.81 per share on revenue of $6.07 billion
4:10 p.m. ET: IBM (IBM) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $2.28 per share on revenue of $18.26 billion
Read: Netflix earnings, housing data: What to know this week
Zoom to buy cloud software provider Five9 in $15 billion deal [Reuters]
Oil sinks as OPEC+ agrees production increase and Delta fears hit sentiment [Yahoo Finance UK]
Stocks in Europe plummets as UK PM and chancellor isolate on 'freedom day' [Yahoo Finance UK]
Bill Ackman rejigs Universal deal after SPAC plan criticized [Reuters]
Yahoo Finance Highlights
'Domino effect': Student loan giant loses another case over private debt discharge in bankruptcy
What are base effects and how do they distort inflation?: Yahoo U
From Burger King to Panda Express, here's who's riding the plant-based bandwagon
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance


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Augmented reality (AR) technology has come a long way in the past decade, and Light Guide Systems has been evolving along with it. But today’s most complex and sophisticated AR technologies only make up the first few drops of what’s shaping up to be a downpour of innovation in the near future. Enterprise AR, in particular, comprises a large segment of the AR market, and promises significant growth.
Remember when it took companies several years to embrace new technologies?
In a world where the business landscape is rapidly shifting and consumer preferences are evolving even faster, companies can no longer afford to wait and watch their competitors innovate and excel with the latest tools.


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ANN ARBOR – Neil Balduc, the owner of Tritegrity Machine, a small Tier 2 CNC manufacturer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, was ecstatic when he got word from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. that he was awarded a matching grant of $25,000 from the Industry 4.0 fund. The money allowed him to buy a co-bot for his seven-person shop.
“The co-bot does machine tending,” Balduc said. “Load and unload a CNC machine. It is our first step in automation and increases machine up-time and run-time without an operator. It makes us more productive.”
Without the $25,000 matching grant (he had to spend $50,000 to get $25,000 from the MEDC) he would not have been able to afford the co-bot on his own, he said. It’s also possible with the improved efficiency, Tritegrity Machine may be able to soon hire a few new workers, he added. Increasing employment in Michigan is MEDC’s prime directive.
“It’s a great example of what we’re seeing around the state with manufacturers,” said A. Elizabeth Bernhard, executive director of the Manufacturing Growth Alliance (MGA) that represents some 6,000 of the state’s estimated 12,000 manufacturers in all industries. Her members include transportation, plastics, food processing, beverage industry, and medical devices, as well as in Tritegrity Machine’s case, the paper industry. Balduc’s company makes paper converters that transform giant paper rolls into a host of paper products.
In a nearly a year-long series of interviews with managers at auto Original Equipment Manufacturers, Tier 1 auto system makers, Tier 2 and 3 parts makers and auto experts the consensus is the OEMs can better afford to fund I4.0 technologies than the much smaller parts makers. Even if they can afford some of the high-tech products and services under the I4.0 umbrella, many don’t know what technologies will provide the highest efficiencies and best return on investment.
Supporting Manufacturers in the State of Michigan
Enter the Michigan Economic Development Corp and its efforts to solve both problems for manufacturers. The MEDC has provided two $3 million I4.0 grants, one in June 2022 and a second in January 2023. Bernhard said the first tranche, what MEDC hoped would provide funding for two years, was used up by December 2022. The second $3 million grant program still has some money available, but funds will be exhausted soon.
“If Michigan really wants to be the world epicenter for advanced manufacturing, the state of Michigan needs to provide a lot more financial support,” Bernhard said. “At MGA alone we’d need another $155 million to provide $25,000 grants to all those manufacturers that said they needed the money to buy Industry 4.0 equipment.”
The state treasury has a $6 billion surplus right now. Just $1 billion from that surplus would jump start I4.0 manufacturing statewide.
Under an ambitious goal announced in December 2022, the MEDC seeks to get at least half the state’s estimated 12,000 manufacturers using some I4.0 technologies by January 2026. Scott Phillips, the manufacturing expert in residence at the I4.0 accelerator at Lawrence Technological University, estimated that roughly one-third or 4,000 manufacturers have achieved that milestone so far, leaving some 2,000 manufacturers short of MEDC’s goal.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, dubbed I4.0, goes far beyond the robots introduced to the factory floor in the last century to include automation, data interchange, and contemporary manufacturing technology. I4.0 includes computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D Printing, and the incorporation of advanced sensors for predictive machinery maintenance. If Michigan continues to wear the crown as the world’s leading manufacturing region it’s 100-year-old plus manufacturing sector needs to embrace these technologies to compete with the rapidly retooling rest of the world.
New vs. Existing Employee Challenges in I4.0
As Industry 4.0 takes shape, there’s a seismic shift in how employees are trained, and problems are addressed in the manufacturing sector. New entrants, while tech-savvy, must navigate the complex interplay between cutting-edge digital tools and time-tested manufacturing practices. Comprehensive training is key, ensuring that newcomers not only grasp the latest tech but also understand the age-old subtleties of manufacturing.
Conversely, seasoned professionals, with decades of hands-on experience, often find themselves wrestling with new I4.0 technologies. The challenge lies in blending their vast knowledge with these emerging tools. Rapid, effective solutions that merge traditional practices with the latest tech are vital to keeping Michigan’s manufacturing at the forefront.
Modern training tools, such as learning management systems (LMS), online courses, and video tutorials, are gaining traction. However, at the heart of Industry 4.0 is the need for operational excellence. Manufacturers must focus on real-time problem-solving and practical on-the-ground solutions.
This approach requires a robust system for capturing, managing, and sharing knowledge. The ultimate goal? A smooth-running manufacturing line that minimizes costs and upholds the highest standards of production. Or as one OEM executive said what his company needs is the ability to capture innovation as it happens.
One solution under development is a smart phone video capture software backed by Artificial Intelligence that uploads video “aha moments,” then indexes them to a cloud-based database that can be vetted and shared quickly companywide – visualize it as a “video suggestion box.”
MEDC Grants for Manufacturing
MEDC Senior Vice President Natalie Chmiko, who leads the I4.0 program for the MEDC, readily admits the cost of technology remains a barrier for Industry 4.0 participation, particularly for small to medium-sized manufacturers.
“This is something we need to continue to focus on supporting manufacturing through economic development,” she said. “We continue to advocate for additional funding and hope to grow it in future. The first round was gobbled up quickly. We hope to scale in the future and continue to advocate on that.”
The other big issue is that manufacturing as we know it is changing rapidly. Without embracing technology and disrupting the traditional methods for way things are made, suppliers very survival may be at stake.
To solve that problem the MEDC enlisted educational institutions and regional partners that deal directly with Michigan manufacturers. That group includes Automation Alley, the Industry 4.0 Accelerator hosted by Lawrence Technological University and Lean Rocket Lab, Networks Northwest, Great Lakes Bay Manufacturers Association, the Right Place, Macomb County, MGA and Southwest Michigan First. Chmiko said she hopes to work with more educational partners in the future to help support this initiative.
Another big problem for many smaller manufacturers is they don’t have the engineering or research and development departments that their multi-billion-dollar OEM and Tier 1 partners can afford to tell them exactly what technology they need to increase productivity.
To solve this problem, the MEDC has partnered with the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center to help manufacturers determine what technologies will help them streamline operations, cut costs, and provide a solid return on investment.
Advanced manufacturing equipment and software have big price tags, often far more than the smaller companies can afford on their own. Case in point Neil Balduc, the owner of Tritegrity Machine, who wouldn’t have been able to buy his co-bot without the state grant.
“Profit margins are narrow,” the MGA’s Bernard said. “So, the majority of manufacturers have not purchased I4.0 technology. CEOs are overwhelmed trying to stay ahead of so many demands, including demands on their time. Even a simple grant application is challenging for them to complete.”
She said 166 manufacturers started filling out the first grant application but did not finish it.. Bernard noted she had to push Tritegrity Machine’s Balduc to complete his.
“Half of Michigan manufactures we’ve spoken with have shown interest in investing in I4.0,” Bernard said. “MEDC has done a good job of securing the initial $6 million investment, but we need to continue to fund this initiative. We need another $155 million investment to fund our small manufacturers.”
With Michigan government and the auto industry pushing hard to make the state the epicenter of Electric Vehicle manufacturing, the Michigan legislature needs to come up with more I4.0 development money, Bernhard said. Michigan has a $9 billion surplus. Some of that money could be used to expand the I4.0 grant program.
“The EV industry would be a tremendous investment in I4.0,” Bernard said. “It’s vital Michigan keeps the needs of second- and third-tier manufactures front and center and the critical part they plan in the EV supply chain. Getting more investment in the auto-supply chain is a critical problem that MGA is leading.”
Chmiko said the aim of the MEDC’s matching grants program is exactly that, to help Tier 2s and 3s experiment with I4.0 technologies.
“Manufacturers can buy a sensor and throw it on a machine at low cost,” Chmiko said. “They can buy a 3D printer to print prototypes. We’re trying to make it easier for them to navigate and also make sure there is a learning curve for investing in I4.0.”
Chmiko said manufacturers also need to create an innovative culture that allows them to make inexpensive mistakes rather then throw a lot of money at something that does not move the needle. She added I4.0 can help eliminate capacity constraints and labor issues, among the many reasons how I4.0 can help manufacturers.
When they try I4.0 that find out it helps them become more efficient. Case in point, the initial $6 million investment paid big dividends, Chmiko said. MEDC awarded 185 grants through its six regional partners, that in turn increased revenue by $230 million, created 780 new jobs and retained 3,600 more. The grant money also leveraged $24.6 million in private investment by Michigan small manufacturers, she noted.
Read the article in full here.
Sign up today for a free Essential Membership to Automation Alley to keep your finger on the pulse of digital transformation in Michigan and beyond.


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Inspired Entertainment, Inc. (“Inspired”) (NASDAQ: INSE) today announced that its Virtual Sports products have received approval from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) and are now the first and only Virtual Sports products available in the State.
“We are thrilled to have achieved this important step in our North American strategy,” said Inspired Executive Chairman Lorne Weil. Mr. Weil continued, “New Jersey will serve as an important showcase for our Virtual Sports products, as additional states seek to bring this exciting offering to market.”
“Virtual Sports betting is now available in New Jersey – online – and we’re delighted to be the first (and only) player in the industry to offer this in North America,” said Lucy Buckley, Inspired’s Vice President of Interactive. Ms. Buckley continued, “Our premium products have demonstrated an ability to drive incremental revenues for our customers globally, and we believe the launch of Virtual Sports will have an even greater impact in a market that does not offer wagering products for sports fans.” Ms. Buckley concluded, “Based on over a decade of experience, we are confident that Virtual Sports will appeal to both current casino players and a new audience that are not currently customers of New Jersey’s casinos. Furthermore, we believe Virtual Sports will be an essential acquisition tool and companion products for the potential addition of live sports betting in New Jersey and beyond.”
Five of Inspired’s award-winning Virtual Sports including Horses, Greyhounds, Soccer, Motor Racing and Speedway (Motorcycles) are now available for online and mobile distribution in New Jersey, with more sports expected to become available in 2018. Inspired’s partners in New Jersey include Caesars, Resorts, Golden Nugget, Rush Street, Bwin Borgata, Betfair, and Pala Interactive.


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After nearly four proud years of food-grain self-sufficiency, India is shopping for US wheat to replenish its rapidly dwindling cereal buffer stocks. The Indian move to purchase 2 million tons of American wheat has been shrouded in official secrecy, a measure of the extreme political sensitivity surrounding resumption of food-grain imports here.
India has not had to import food grains since 1977 -- a point of intense national pride for a country long dependent on international grain purchases and donations.
It was therefore something of a bomb- shell when a leading English-language daily, the Times of India, disclosed this week that a key agriculture official was in Washington negotiating the purchase. The Agriculture Ministry declined to comment. But the Indian bid for soft white and winter red wheat varieties was confirmed here by a Western official involved in monitoring India's agricultural production and trade.
The official said India had been considering an overseas wheat purchase for six months, but had kept it secret for "political" reasons.
"The main reason is that India has been proud of the fact that it has become self-sufficient in grains. To go back to the market- place after 3 1/2 years sticks in the craw," he said.
THe Indian Agriculture Ministry had proclaimed as recently as May that it would not buy overseas wheat despite a dwindling of government-held food-grain stocks to what experts considered dangerously low levels.
At the same time, government efforts to buy up 9.5 million tons of the spring wheat harvest were meeting stiff resistance in the northern Indian wheat-growing belt. With government buyers offering private farmers official prices well under the open market rates, the government is unlikely to get much more than 6. 5 million tons for its storehouses.
Government grain reserves of wheat and rice are considered critical to tide the country over periods of drought and crop failures. Thanks to reserves of 21 million tons in 1979, for example, India survived a failed monsoon and resulting crop disasters without a famine -- and without having to resort to outside grain purchases.
In normal years the government gradually reduces its stocks by releasing wheat to flour mills and to urban ration shops, where poor and middle-income consumers buy the grain at subsidized prices. Then, when the spring and fall harvests come in, it replenishes its reserves by buying directly from farmers at official prices.
The bulk of India's wheat never enters the government system; it is kept for home consumption by farm families or bought by private traders for sale in the open market.
Thanks to heavy demand, a holdover of the 1979-80 drought, the government's wheat reserve was down to a perilous 2.6 million tons -- about half the desirable level -- in April. With the failure of its spring harvest procurement drive, the government reportedly had little alternative but to seek the needed wheat overseas.
This year's monsoon rains, which determine the fate of fall and winter crops, are off to a quirky start, and Western agricultural observers estimate India may have to double the size of its 2 million-ton import order if the monsoons fail.
"They're buying at a good time," notes an agricultural expert. "It's more than likely that the Soviets and the Chinese will come on the market before the end of the year and that will send the prices up." Current estimates are that India will buy 1 million tons of soft white wheat at $150 a ton and 1 million of red wheat at $169 a ton.


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In September 2014, standing in the Hong Kong airport, Nick Candy, co-founder of design firm Candy & Candy, signed a contract for a 63-metre Benetti superyacht. Its original buyers, a pair the London-based real estate developer describes as “two Russian brothers” had backed out.
If Candy stepped in, he’d get not only a discount but a completed ship by the end of August the next year. “I said to my wife, ‘Let’s do it,’” Candy says. “I can have a boat in one year’s time rather than four.” In an interview, Candy declines to say how much he paid for it, but a 2016 Bloomberg slideshow of the boat estimates its finished cost at $US73 million.
Because the boat’s construction was well under way, Candy had limited say over the layout. “There were things I liked,” he says, “but there were lots of negatives.” Candy lists the boat’s lack of indoor and outdoor bars on every level, its inability to hold up to 1000 bottles of wine, and a small laundry room as some of the deficiencies.
Within a year, Candy was able to fix those design flaws, fully outfit the interior, and have it ready for its debut at the 2015 Monaco Yacht Show, where he christened it "11.11".
Since then, Candy estimates he’s used 11.11 between 10 and 12 weeks a year for family and business, and leased it for charter at €650,000 ($1.07 million) a week for an average of eight weeks annually.
Now he’s decided to sell it, listing the boat with Y.Co for €59.5 million. The reason? “I want to build a bigger yacht,” Candy says. “It’s like anything in life. Sometimes you want to have a change. Later in life, people contract their lives; at this age, I’m still expanding.”
Plenty of room
Candy had already co-owned two previous boats with his brother, Christian, and by 2014 he knew exactly what he wanted. “I knew I didn’t want a traditional hull, but rather an axe bow for stability,” he says, describing the boat’s slightly blunted, nearly vertical bow, which cuts through waves and steadies the boat more efficiently than a traditional V-shaped bow.
Once he settled on the boat, he acted quickly.
As it stood, “it was quite heavy, design-wise,” he says. “Heavy wood, more like a Russian czar’s palace than my family home.”
It would have required a massive amount of money to rip out the wood — plus “it would have taken another six months” Candy says — so instead he did what he could to lighten the boat’s feel, adding mirrors, changing borders from gold to silver leaf and swapping out the existing bathroom decoration for cool white marble, all to have “more of an art deco look”, he says.
He added a large whirlpool bath on the sun deck with room for eight, added sun lounges, expanded the gym, and built out a massage room and spa. He also converted one room to a nursery with a ceiling camera, so that he could keep an eye on his children while they played.
The biggest changes, Candy says, were the various small ways he improved service on the boat.
“I wanted an inside bar and an outside bar on every level,” he says. “There was no point buying an amazing yacht that can’t get service right.” By putting so many bars in so many places, he explains, “you want someone to do the drinks and food rather than just standing in a corner”.
When a staff member is given “their own home to do their bit”, suddenly it’s a seamless experience without anyone tripping over anyone else. “You’d think on a boat this size there’s plenty of room, but you run out of room pretty quickly,” he says.
Difficult to comprehend
And yet there is, undoubtedly, a lavish amount of space: Including the massive owner’s suite, which overlooks the bow of the ship and contains its own walk-in dressing area, there are six guest cabins that can host a total of 12 guests. (Gross tonnage is 1181.) There are numerous common areas including a “sky lounge” (so-named because of its position on the upper deck), an outdoor 14-person dining area, a smaller salon, several more sun decks and terraces on the fore and aft of the ship, along with the gym and a steam room covered in mosaic tiles that have a pearly finish.
The boat is staffed by a crew of 16. “I had a Ukrainian client who chartered the boat,” Candy says. “And he said he’d never seen services like this.”
Candy filled the boat with art, including a neon piece that reads “Move Me” made by Tracey Emin, who’s represented by the powerful White Cube Gallery. “That was a bespoke piece made for my wife and I,” Candy says. “Tracey came to our wedding.” There are photographs by Helmut Newton, light boxes by the German artist Hans Kotter, and a “Butterfly Wall” by British artist Dominic Harris.
But all of this doesn’t compare, Candy says, to the thrill of actually being on the boat and using it to its fullest potential. “It’s a level of luxury that, until you’ve experienced it, is very difficult to comprehend,” he says. “You can have dinner in one place and wake up in another.”
He fondly recalls a trip to the Exumas, a Bahamian archipelago, where his crew set up a day with a barbecue and water toys on a remote beach. (Among other amenities, the boat carries two Jet Skis, three Seabobs, a Flyboard, kayaks and a floating trampoline.) “There’s no one other than us,” he says. “Now, there’s a huge cost associated with that obviously, but if you’re successful in what you do — and we’re seeing this during the COVID crisis — more and more people want to do it.”
Super rich market
Which brings Candy to the subject of selling a €59.5 million ($98.1 million) superyacht in the midst of a global pandemic.
Candy has made his fortune selling very expensive homes to very, very rich people and says there are corollaries between selling penthouses and selling superyachts. “It’s a similar market, appealing to the same customer base,” he says. “The only difference is that when someone buys an apartment it’s ‘Oh, am I going to spend as much time in London this year?’ whereas with a boat you can move it to wherever you want it.”
Moreover, Candy argues that in a pandemic the super rich who still want to travel might be loath to visit a hotel, where they have to trust that every other guest is doing their part to stay healthy. A boat, in contrast, is a comparatively hermetic environment. “Boats have proven to be the safest place in the world during Covid,” he says.
Based on a boom in recent superyacht sales, it would seem many of the world’s plutocrats agree.
This month alone, 16 yachts measuring more than 30 metres each were reported sold, according to a list compiled by SuperYacht Times.
Among the sales, according to the site, was a 59-metre Benetti yacht that sleeps 14 and was last listed at €23.5 million; a 68-metre boat, Triple Seven, which was built in 2006 and was last listed at €38 million; and a massive 73-metre yacht that was built in 2017, with a last known asking price of €92.5 million.
Of course, the sale price is just the beginning. Candy estimates that it costs about €3 million a year to operate his boat, but that doesn’t include fuel. “If you cross the Atlantic, it costs $US100,000,” he says. “And it also depends on fuel prices. I wish I’d bought some fuel when it was negative oil prices.”
Candy, who describes himself as “very OCD”, says he just spent a further €2 million on a “five-year survey”, redoing the carpets, blinds, lampshades, sofa fabrics,and teak decks, and updating the boat’s mechanical systems. The boat has a range of 5000 nautical miles, a 14-knot cruising speed and a max speed of 16.5 knots.
Should an owner desire, she could lease out the boat for charter more often, “and you could probably break even on it”, Candy says. “But you get more depreciation, because more things have more wear and tear". Friends who charter their boats “like mad”, he says, have boats where “the wear shows, and the boat loses its luxury feel. If you go on my boat today, you’d think it’s a brand-new boat.”
Everything on Candy’s yacht, ranging from the art, to the master suite’s ivory leather headboard, could be included in the sale, he says. “It’s all up for negotiation.”
There’s one exception, superstition or no.
“11.11 is the birthday of my oldest daughter,” he says, “but it’s also considered a ‘master number’ emanating all sorts of positive vibes.” That, he says, “is the only thing I want to keep. The name.”
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OPTIMISM appears to be returning to the inner city apartment scene with the level of inquires in the $500,000-plus market increasing during the past month.But agents agree that even a solid finish to the calendar year can’t turn around what has been a disappointing 2001.Asset Special Projects director Tim Willing, who is involved in several projects, including the warehouse conversion at 569 Wellington Street, said the industry suffered a difficult period following the tech crash on the stock market last year.But people now have taken stock of their financial position and feel confident enough to make a dwelling purchase.While the bulk of purchases used to come from investors, it is now owner-occupiers who are pushing sales.Mr Willing said he had noticed a change in the way people decided where to buy an apartment.“At one time people used to say ‘we have to live in Subiaco or we have to live in Mt Lawley’. That has now been lost,” Mr Willing said.“People are not saying that they have to live in one suburb. Everyone is saying that they want to live a certain way and there are a number of suburbs that offer that.”Agents agree that sales have been fairly lean in East Perth, with an oversupply of listings.“Three months ago supply (in East Perth) was certainly outstripping demand. It seems to have tightened up now,” Mr Willing said.Figures from the Valuer General’s Office indicate that about 100 fewer apartments were sold in East Perth in 2000 compared with 1999.East Perth apartment sales for 2000 amounted to $37.4 million – well down on the $56 million worth of sales in 1999. This year is shaping up to be even worse, with only 35 sales worth $10 million thus far, compared with 132 for the 2000 calendar year.Real Estate Institute of WA public affairs director Lino Iacomella said while sales fluctuated in the different suburbs from year to year, it was often a question of where supply was on the market rather than demand that determined where sales occurred. He said that helped to explain the high number of sales in East Perth in recent years, which has a large number of apartment developments on offer.While the selection criteria for buyers does not necessarily take into account the suburb, buyers are very choosy and look for a point of difference in the property which makes it unique and easier to resell.Not everything is selling well, however.“They don’t just want the run of the mill, two-bedroom apartment,” Mr Willing said.“They are looking at quality, style and location.”There is still a risk for selling agents that they could be locked into selling a ‘bad egg’. For this reason agents also tried to be selective when deciding what projects to back.“There is a lot of stock that we won’t take on. You’ve got to be mindful of taking on projects,” Mr Willing said.Mirvac-Fini sales and marketing director Peter Gianolli said sales at the Panorama apartments on Terrace Road, East Perth, had been extraordinary, with 85 of 114 apartments averaging about $700,000 each already sold. This was despite the fact that construction was not due to be completed next April.Mark Hay Reality Group principal Mark Hay said that, while East Perth had been off the boil for the past 12 months, the sales slump was not restricted to East Perth. Sales had fallen across the board, he said.Finbar International Limited, developer of the Bluewater apartments in South Perth and Boas Gardens on Wellington Street, serves as a pointer to how tough it has been for some developers.The publicly-listed Perth company reported this week a 46 per cent decline in earnings to only $16.2 million, while profits after tax dropped 28 per cent to $2.04 million.
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How innovation in Fintech is changing the way India invests
In October 2021, the UPI transaction value in India crossed $100 billion for the first time. While the festive season was a significant factor, the value of transactions has seen a steady uptick, growing month-on-month for several months now.
Interestingly, a majority of transactions via UPI are conducted not by banks but by Fintech companies such as PhonePe, Paytm, and BharatPe.
Fintech companies in India have been riding a massive growth wave spurred not only by the COVID-19 pandemic but also by factors such as demonetization, the growing proliferation of digital devices, and easier access to the Internet.
A March 2020 report by Research and Markets found that India accounted for the highest Fintech adoption rate amongst global emerging markets, growing at a whopping 87 percent even pre-pandemic.
As per a report by Boston Consulting Group and FICCI titled ‘India Fintech: A USD 100 Billion Opportunity,’ the valuation of India’s Fintech sector is expected to touch USD 150-160 billion by 2025.
While there is a massive opportunity for Fintech companies in India to scale up and meet the growing demand, they also need to be agile and constantly evolve to meet the needs of a dynamic market with ever-changing user expectations.
The presence of an open ecosystem and lower barriers to entry mean that new competitors enter the fray every day. Over 67 percent of India’s 2,100+ Fintech companies have been launched in the last five years.
India has leapfrogged to a new era of innovation in the finance sector. And as the competitive landscape is becoming fiercer, we’re witnessing specific distinct trends among Fintech companies, which has changed how India invests:
Innovation in payments ecosystem
While UPI has been the biggest game-changer in shaping India’s payments ecosystem, we are also seeing the emergence of innovations such as ‘Buy now, pay later’ models and voice-enabled payments.
For instance, apps such as Lazy Pay, Simpl, and Quicklo offer loans or EMI-based payment options. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), which developed the UPI app, is also testing a voice-based payment service. This is a first-of-its-kind solution for feature phones.
Growing reach through vernacular content
While English and Hindi are considered ‘official languages’ in India, the country is home to several hundred languages that are spoken widely.
Therefore, Fintech companies have been trying to differentiate themselves and broaden their reach by launching their services in local languages. In December 2020, PhonePe announced the capability of the business app to alert merchants about payments in over nine Indian languages.
Paytm, too, offers over ten languages, while Khatabook is available in over 13 languages – including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese, and Marathi. Several other Fintech companies, too, are now following suit.
Growing AI adoption
Fintech companies are increasingly investing in Artificial Intelligence-based technologies (AI) such as advanced analytics and Natural Language Processing (NLP), in order to decode behavioral patterns and achieve the required scale for growth.
Chatbots are ever more commonplace both in personal investments and the overall financial space. A couple of examples would be HDFC bank’s Eva and ICICI Bank’s iPal, both providing conversational banking experience to customers.
Proving Eva’s efficiency as a customer acquisition tool, HDFC bank has managed to acquire new customers via this platform, out of which 25 percent were non-HDFC bank customers.
Gamification for driving usage
As competition heats up in the Fintech ecosystem, companies need to find new ways to engage users and keep them coming back.
Gamification of the payment and investment experience has proved extremely popular – whether through scratch cards by points offered by various merchant websites.
Fintech companies are exploring newer gamification techniques such as in-app games, leader boards, and partnership-based rewards.
An excellent example is how BharatPe leverages India’s love for cricket with the ‘Runs Banao Rewards Pao’ program. The more people transact, the more points they score, which can be redeemed for cricketing merchandise.
APIs for seamless integration
While the Fintech ecosystem is highly fragmented, API integrations have ensured that apps can talk to each other to deliver a better end-user experience.
For instance, Niyo Bharat, which offers digital banking solutions, has partnered with the mobile trading app 5paisa to enable account opening within their ecosystem.
INDWealth, a new-age wealth management app, allows users to link their accounts and bring them to one place. Similarly, API handshakes allow Instapay to offer B2B banking.
The rise of the open ecosystem has made it possible for these Fintech companies to create frictionless experiences to delight their customers.
As the Fintech ecosystem evolves, the ability to keep an ear to the ground and understand consumers’ behaviors, goals, and motivations will be of utmost significance.
While competition does foster innovation, the ultimate winners from this contest will be the customers. New technologies are being introduced via building own IP and through partnerships with other players in the Fintech ecosystem.
India is a unique chapter in the Fintech growth story as new Fintech companies, traditional financial institutions, and policymakers have come together to chart India’s path. And this lays the collaborative groundwork needed to ensure that India achieves new heights and sustained growth in this sector.


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Meijer has declared that it is shifting its emphasis the Monday after Thanksgiving from cyber to digital. On the day designated Cyber Monday, Meijer plans to distribute an “unprecedented” 20% off coupon through its mPerks loyalty program, which will allow customers to apply a digital discount in store, it reported.
Meijer does not have product offerings available online this holiday season. Its website has been going through a transitional over the past several months as the company prepares to a relaunch to better complement the offerings inside its stores, Meijer stated.
Shoppers can use the mPerks 20% off coupon in store on one electronics, apparel or general merchandise item, the company noted. Meijer credit card customers, who have a 15% off reward coupon, can use it in addition to the mPerks Monday promotion for even more savings. Meijer said the deal represents the largest percentage off coupon ever offered through mPerks and the first time an mPerks promotion has been offered on a Monday. Meijer’s mPerks subscribers can grab the coupon from November 30 through December 1 for use on the Monday only.