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Google executives have come under fire as of late for either not joining Google+ or using it sparingly. The concern of course is that Google+ is their own social network and Google is hoping to overtake or at least be uber competitive with their existing competitors.
Google+ has been around since late June. Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman, made his first post today. He posted links to comments he made around the web about Steve Jobs passing away.
Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page haven’t been all that active on Google+ either. When the service first rolled out Page filed his page (no pun intended) with photos of a parasailing trip. He also recently posted about Steve Jobs.
More after the break
Like the Google Q2 results, Page posted his Q3 remarks on his Google+. Yesterday he put up a post about a contest Google is doing for high school aged students.
Granted the Google executive team is busy, it seems worrisome to both journalists and analysts that they dont use their own service. Analysts and tech bloggers like Michael Degusta of Thundetstatement, even point out that Mark Zuckerberg uses Facebook quite often. Dick Costolo, founder of Twitter also tweets multiple times a day.
Dan Olds of The Gabriel Consulting Group said that Schmidt’s appearance on Google+ was transparent. Olds went on to tell PC World Magazine:
“Google+ has received some bad publicity surrounding the low number of Google execs who use the site. Add in the frank comments of a Google engineer, who wrote a devastating and frank critique to Google’s Google+ approach, and starting up a Google+ account suddenly ranks pretty high on Google executives’ to-do lists.”
Rob Enderle Chief Analyst with the Enderle group had some harsh words for executives that don’t use their own services, telling PC World
“Honestly I think that executives who run a company and can, but choose not to, use that company’s products, should be replaced by executives who have a passion for what the company builds,” Enderle said. “It showcases a disconnect between the executives and the firm’s products and helps explain the low … quality of Google’s newer products. ”
Hopefully this is a new trend for the executives at Google. On the other hand though, people instrumental in the launch of Google+ like Vic Gundotra, use the service regularly.
source: PC World


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Riello UPS to showcase leading solutions at Data Centre World 2024
Thu 8 Feb 2024
Riello UPS is set to exhibit its award-winning range of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) at Data Centre World at ExCeL London on 6-7 March 2024.
The event, recognised as the largest global gathering of data centre professionals, will feature Riello UPS at stand D430, where the team will demonstrate key products including the Sentryum, Multi Power, and the latest Multi Power2.
Innovation and Insights at Data Centre World
Data Centre World is part of Tech Show London, offering attendees access to co-hosted events like Cloud Expo Europe and Big Data & AI World. The 2024 edition will host over 300 exhibitors and provide more than 200 hours of seminars and discussions, highlighted by a keynote from Professor Brian Cox.
Key themes for this year include data centre workforce development, resilience, security, and efficiency.
Leo Craig, Managing Director of Riello UPS, expressed enthusiasm for the event: “Data Centre World is always our most anticipated show of the year … Our team will also be on hand to talk about our industry-leading UPS maintenance contracts and five year extended warranty.”

domain: news


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PRIMGHAR, Iowa — Kernza? I’d never heard of it until last November when I watched the PBS News Hour airing of “How New Grain Could Help Combat Climate Change.” I was motivated to find out more about this new grain named Kernza. Here is what I found:
The plant’s real name is intermediate wheatgrass. A distant relative of our annual wheat, it is a perennial plant that grows like grass on the prairie. Its roots grow deep into the soil allowing the plant to store nutrients, resist drought and reduce soil erosion. Kernza is not a strain or species of wheat, but a registered trade name owned by The Land Institute in Kansas. The result of 40 years of selective breeding by this non-profit research organization, Kernza was specifically developed to reduce the environmental impacts of conventional farming seen in agriculture today. According to The Land Institute, “Kernza is among the first of a range of new perennial crops in development that together are expected to build soil, improve wildlife habitat, protect water and provide abundant nutritious food.” They hoped new varieties of wheatgrass grains would, in the future, enable farmers to grow them profitably at scale bringing environmental benefits to modern farms and dinner tables.
Today there are about 1,000 acres of Kernza in commercial production, mostly in Midwestern states including Iowa. This is expected to increase to hundreds of thousands of acres in another few decades. But the future is near as Kernza grain has already made its way into the commercial supply chain in small niche markets. General Mills’ organic brand, Cascadian Farm, has produced sample boxes of Honey Toasted Kernza Cereal available to consumers on a limited basis. Patagonia Provisions produces Kernza craft beer called Long Root Ale sold mostly on the West Coast. Chefs in Minneapolis and San Francisco restaurants serve artisan breads and crackers made from Kernza flour.
I was finally able to get one of those sample boxes of Honey Toasted Kernza Cereal online at www.deeplyrootedforgood.com. To me, the cereal tastes even better than Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Flakes and substitutes deliciously in the original Raisin Bran Flakes muffins recipe. When I contacted the manager of Birchwood Café in Minneapolis, I was rewarded with some of their experimental artisan Kernza sourdough bread recipes. Their manager also kindly gave me the name of their flour supplier Baker’s Field & Flour. I was able to purchase 4-pound bags of Kernza whole grain flour online at www.squareup.com/store/bakersfieldflourandbread.
Now that I’ve confined myself to home during the coronavirus pandemic, I have plenty of time to experiment with my Kernza products. I’ve already made Raisin Bran Flakes muffins from the original Kellogg’s cereal recipe and adapted recipes for Applesauce Bran Flakes Muffins, Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins and Banana Bran Flakes Muffins. Using Kernza whole grain flour I’ve made yeast bread, Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies and Carrot Cake.
I hope to continue to support the development of these new environmentally friendly grains by using them in my home as much as possible. However, after this Kernza baking spree, I’m thinking I surely need to go on a diet first.
— Pat Kosters, Iowa Master Gardener, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
For more news from Iowa, click here.


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The WiMAX train is starting to pick up steam -- and with services like Sprint's XOHM scheduled to launch in the next year, we're expecting to see a lot more devices like Motorola's CPEi 300 WiMAX modem hit shelves. The company is showing off the wireless broadband modem at the WiMAX World conference in Chicago this week, and seems bullish about targeting the "unserved or underserved" with the device. The unit features one "data port" (we're guessing Ethernet) and two RJ-11 ports for VoIP access, and runs on the 802.16e "Mobile WiMAX" standard. We'd love to know when we'll be able to buy this thing and how much it's going to cost -- or even just what it looks like -- but it looks like we'll have to wait a bit to find out more.
[Via TG Daily]


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The Advance Retail Sales Report released Thursday morning shows that sales in May came in at 0.6% month-over-month, a strong improvement over the 0.1% in April. Thursday's headline number came in above the Briefing.com consensus forecast of 0.3%. Excluding autos, Retail Sales were up 0.3%, up from last month's 0.0%.
The first chart below is a log-scale snapshot of retail sales since the early 1990s. I've included an inset to show the trend in this indicator over the past several months.
Here is a year-over-year snapshot of the same series. Here we can see that, despite the upward trend since the middle of last year, the YoY series has been slowing since its peak in June of 2011.
Here is the same chart excluding the volatile gasoline component.
Here is an overlay of the two since 2000, which gives us a better sense of the added YoY volatility that gasoline is responsible for in the overall retail sales number. For more on gasoline price volatility, see this weekly update.
After the May Consumer Price Index is released on Monday, we'll take a more detailed look at retail sales adjusted both for inflation and population growth.
Bottom Line: Although retail sales came in better than expected, the trend has been slowing month-over-month, and the year-over-year trend has been one of broad decline for the past 22 months.


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ISRAEL21c rounds up the top super-cool technological advances from Israeli companies that you should keep an eye on next year.
[The wearable and mobile health devices] global trend will keep gathering steam in 2015. Israeli-made face- and eye-tracking sensors could be embedded in smart watches and other wearables to measure sobriety and diagnose conditions ranging from ADHD to concussion to Alzheimer’s. Israeli knowhow will be packaged into more and more mobile devices that double as diagnostic, monitoring and treatment tools.
Companies to watch: Umoove face- and eye-tracking software for mobile devices; Oxitone wearable pulse oximetry platform; MobileOCT, software to turn a smartphone into a diagnostic tool for detecting cervical cancer; MeMed Diagnostics, a novel assay that accurately distinguishes between bacterial and viral infections.
Read full article here.


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Spring is right around the corner and what better way to start off the season than to splurge on a new handbag. ModaRévisé is a NYC based handbag, wallet and accessories label that offers a sophisticated, yet eclectic look. Founder, Stella Chang, comes from a background in fashion and…
This entry was published on March 5, 2012 at 11:17 am and is filed under ModaRévisé News
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A report by AutoBlog claims Bernie Ecclestone revealed over the weekend that the sale price for sport’s commercial rights has been approved. He did not say who the prospective buyer is, however. At present, a consortium known as CVC Partners owns 35% of the commercial rights package. It has been rumored for more than a year that CVC Partners is thinking about selling its interest.
Formula 1 Rights Owner Bernie Ecclestone
Some people may be confused about what a “commercial rights holder” is, exactly. Look at it this way. Imagine the National Football League decided that someone else could do a better job of marketing the league than it could. They would select some individual or business to take over the marketing of the game. That person or business would get to collect all advertising revenue, proceeds from the sale of merchandise, and make some of the rules for the game.
Some 30 year ago, Bernie Ecclestone actually convinced the major teams in Formula 1 to do exactly that. Just sign over the commercial rights to the sport and I will do all the hard work of building race tracks, collecting exorbitant fees for promoters and creating the rules for the sport, he told them. All you have to do is show up with your race cars and go racing. You’re gonna love it. Trust me.
Some of the smartest people the world has ever known bought Ecclestone’s load of bollocks and signed all their rights away, which made Bernie one of the richest men on the face of the earth. Why all the money the sport makes should flow into his pockets rather than team coffers is one of the world’s great unsolved mysteries.
Now that the sale price has been agreed upon, all that CVC Partners need to do is decide whether or not they wish to sell. “I think CVC will make a decision on the sale sooner or later,” Ecclestone said. “There are people who want to buy. Actually, two of the people have agreed the price. It’s just a question of whether CVC wants to sell or not.” What an extraordinary business this Formula 1 is!
Formula 1 has been in turmoil ever since the new hybrid powertrain rules package went into effect at the start of the 2014 season. Four time World Champion Sebastien Vettel has gone on record as saying driving the new cars is like “driving a vacuum cleaner.” Attendance at races is down all across the world and viewership on TV has gone over a cliff in many countries.
Adding insult to injury, the sport has adopted a completely idiotic new qualifying scheme that proved disastrous during the first race weekend in Melbourne, Australia. But now it appears the sport is unable to undo the damage and so must live with it, even though everyone agrees it is awful.
Rumors have been floating around for a while about various wealthy individuals who are champing at the bit to buy CVC Partners’ interest, although why anyone would want to invest in a sport that seems to be circling the drain is a question no one seems able to answer. Would new owners help pull the sport out of its tailspin?
“You don’t know what’s going to happen until somebody buys and you see what they are like. How do you know if you will get on with them?” Ecclestone asks? One of the rumors is that Ecclestone himself may be the buyer in waiting. He became phenomenally wealthy when he sold off pieces of the commercial rights package years ago. Now he could regain his position as sole owner and make yet another fortune by selling if off again.
People who don’t care much for Bernie suggest he may have orchestrated the sport’s recent troubles in order to drive down the selling price. When it comes to Formula 1, the most ridiculous, illogical scenario is usually the one that turns out to be correct.


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The first six Final Fantasy titles will be remastered and released on Steam and Mobile
The super ninja returns to decapitate foes and save the world!
Friday, January 29th, 2021
This week's Nintendo Download features the shipwrecked exploration of Olija, and more.
Friday, November 27th, 2020
Skeleton Crew Studios announce new launch platforms for retro adventure, Olija, and drop a new trailer.


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UPDATE: It was a great session > Watch it here. User-generated and brand-generated content on social media are great for bringing value to the customer relationship, but ultimately you’ll want to encourage a…Read More ››
Recently, Pinterest launched an analytics dashboard for businesses, which gives brands the ability to more closely monitor their presence on the platform. If you haven’t started using Pinterest, it is a pinboard-style…Read More ››
Account-based marketing (ABM) is shaping up to be the biggest revenue driver for B2B sales right now. While ABM as a business strategy has been around for quite some time, emerging technologies…Read More ››
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Chain Store Age
Retailers in malls, shopping centers, and streets will see a 49% lift in foot traffic on Dec. 15, contributing to a 14% year-over-year increase in Christmas traffic, according to a report from Foursquare.
The study, which was sponsored by the British online marketplace OnBuy.com, found consumers most willing to drive long distances to sporting goods stores, an average of 11 miles.
Next came shopping centers at around 10 miles, clothing stores and boutiques (9.6), and department stores (9). . . . more


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India's IT, Auto, Pharma sectors may face brunt of Trump's border tax
If Border Tax Adjustment (BTA) brought into effect, there are some Indian sectors like IT services, Textiles, Healthcare and Auto that will be impacted as they might face higher competition from domestic US companies and see rise in cost of their products.
Coming true to his campaign promise, US president Donald Trump has threatened a 20% 'border tax' now in order to force companies to set up factories in USA.
On January 26, 2017, he proposed to levy tax of 20% on goods imported from Mexican borders. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, “Trump has discussed the idea with congressional leaders and wants to include the measure in a comprehensive tax reform package.”
Intention is to make US exports more competitive and imports in to the US more expensive in a move to support US manufacturing/jobs.
Analysts expects that such would not harm India's economy as it is insulated compared to other emerging countries.
However, if brought into effect, there are some Indian sectors like IT services, Textiles, Healthcare and Auto that will be impacted as they might face higher competition from domestic US companies and see rise in cost of their products.
Majority of items that are exported from Indian borders to USA are— gems and jewellery, textile, pharma and capital goods and while the country's top import items from US are capital goods, commodities, gems and jewelry and chemicals.
Surendra Goyal and Vijit Jain analysts at Citi Research said, “This sector has potential negative impact as most work for US clients is done offshore. Given lot of focus on immigration reforms and border tax issue, clients may choose to delay decision making till clarity emerges.”
The duo added, “Form in which both immigration reform and border tax issue is implemented and timelines remain unclear, but we believe, directionally it is becoming more difficult for the sector. Meanwhile, as onsite costs continue to rise, we could see increasing adoption of offshore resources and automation – however, imposition of a BAT could alter the dynamics of such a response, particularly on the offshoring bit.”
Companies which have their revenues from US are – Infosys and HCL Technologies holding both 62% share each in US market. While US market contribute 55% revenue each to Wipro and TCS. Tech Mahindra has 48% of operations happening in US.
On pharma, Citi said, “At a broader level, policy vis-a-vis generic drug exports into the US would possibly take potential impact on generic prices in the US - given that over 22% of US generics drug supply is from India."
Piyush Nahar and Anurag Mantry analysts of Jefferies, while projecting Indian pharma's Q3 outlook said, “We expect another muted quarter for the pharma sector led by weakness in US business. USFDA inspections and pricing in US market will continue to dominate the results. Recent comments from global peers have indicated that pricing scenario will likely remain unchanged in 2017.”
Companies which have exposure of US revenues from non-US operations are - Aurobindo accounting 47%, followed by Dr. Reddy’s with 46% and Lupin with 42%. Sun Pharma and Cadila Healthcare has exposure in the range of 40-42% each of US revenues.
Auto and Ancillaries:
Led by lower production costs in US market, pushed by cheap labour and highly skilled engineers at lower wages and high quality products, Indian auto manufacturers have attained significant market share in the global auto OEMs and industrial goods makers.
Also because of higher local cost, domestic auto companies sees markets like US and Europe as growth areas.
Companies like Motherson Sumi accounts 8% of sales in US and Bharat Forge in between 25-30% of standalone revenues. While Tata Motors - US accounts for c20% of JLR revenues and the cars are exported from UK.
Govindarajan Chellappa and Anurag Mantry analysts at Jefferies said, "Whether these companies lose share or margins, have to incur costs in setting up local facilities or are able to just pass on higher costs will depend on the competitive scenario, but we see a cause for worry."
Although, border tax is aimed at Mexico, it is likely to have an impact on other countries their products to the US -- including India.
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* Like BASF, French firm sceptical of one-stop shop model
* Focus on veg seeds, maize, wheat; data only as complement
* Sees no clear M&A targets resulting from mega-merger deals
* Profits fell last year, Europe grain market to stay tough
By Gus Trompiz
PARIS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Vilmorin will remain a specialist seed maker and is sceptical farmers will take to the bundled agricultural product offerings that have encouraged multi-billion merger deals in the farm supplies sector, the French firm’s chief executive said.
Bayer’s planned $66 billion purchase of Monsanto , unveiled last month, followed ChemChina’s deal to acquire Syngenta and a merger agreement between Dow Chemical and DuPont - moves designed to bring scale and broader product ranges during a downturn in many agricultural markets.
Vilmorin, the world’s fourth-largest seed maker by sales, wants to stick to its priorities of vegetable seeds, maize (corn) and wheat, CEO Emmanuel Rougier told Reuters.
“We’re a pure play seed company, unlike the other players,” he said following a press conference. “We have plenty to do with our three priorities, without getting dispersed.”
Like BASF, which has cast doubt on the one-stop shop logic pursued by Bayer in acquiring Monsanto, Vilmorin said the case had yet to be proven that farmers want to buy services from pesticides to weather data from one provider.
“As part of a farmer cooperative group, we find it hard to imagine that farmers will want to have someone dictate to them how to run their farms from A to Z,” Rougier said.
Vilmorin, majority owned by French cooperative Limagrain, had a team looking at ways to develop information services for clients to support seed sales, but had no plans to invest massively in so-called big data projects, he said.
The trio of mega-merger deals would on paper reinforce the current position of Monsanto, Dupont and Syngenta as the world’s biggest seed makers, but it could take two or three years for the companies both to obtain regulatory approval and reorganise their activities, he said.
Vilmorin did not see obvious acquisition opportunities for itself arising from asset sales required for regulatory clearance, Rougier said earlier during a presentation of the group’s 2015/16 results.
Likely markets for regulatory scrutiny would be cotton in the United States and canola in Canada, two markets which Vilmorin had no plans to enter, he said.
In vegetable seeds, the multitude of varieties would make it hard for regulators to see a dominant position, while Vilmorin itself already had large positions as the world’s second-largest producer behind Monsanto, he added.
Vilmorin reported on Wednesday that its net profit for the year to June 30 fell to 60.8 million euros from 75.9 million in 2014/15.
Its field crop division, which had been a drag on 2015/16 profits, would continue to face difficult conditions in Europe due to low grain prices for farmers, it said. (Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Andrew Callus and Mark Potter)


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Despite the fact that minority-owned businesses historically have had less access to capital, Latino entrepreneurship was on the uptick prior to the pandemic. In 2019, one out of every seven businesses in the U.S. was owned by Hispanic entrepreneurs, according to marketing insights firm Claritas.
COVID brought that momentum to a halt. In late 2020, the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative reported that 86 percent of Hispanic business owners faced significant negative impacts, including complete closure, and were only half as likely as their white counterparts to receive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
The ongoing plight of these businesses was the impetus behind PepsiCo’s Juntos Crecemos, which launched last year. The company also tapped the Boden Agency to help develop the program’s brand identity and manage its social media presence and creative strategy.
Meaning “Together We Grow,” Juntos Crecemos is a $50 million program aimed at strengthening Latino-owned businesses, including restaurants, bodegas, and other foodservice outlets. As part of the program, the IMPACTO Hispanic Business Accelerator awards $10 million in funding to help Hispanic small businesses, with each recipient receiving a $10,000 grant.
To learn more, FSR spoke with one of the leaders behind Juntos Crecemos, Esperanza Teasdale, the vice president and general manager of the Hispanic Business Unit of PepsiCo Beverages North America.
How did Juntos Crecemos start?
Given everything that’s happened in the country, starting in 2020 with COVID and racial inequality, our CEO [Ramon Laguarta] made a commitment to both the Black and the Hispanic consumers. Where the business piece really became important was that, with the pandemic, we definitely saw small businesses, particularly Hispanic small businesses, struggling. And then we had the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, let’s define how we can help them.’
So one part is the investment, but the other is, what actions are we going to take? We started to brainstorm and figure out strategically, what are the problems they need to solve? What is it that they need the most support in? In this community, lack of access to capital is one; driving traffic is another. Once we kind of figured out what we wanted to do, we fortunately found the Boden Agency and came up with this new platform called Juntos Crecemos.
How did you personally become involved?
In addition to my day job as general manager and vice president of the Hispanic Business Unit at PepsiCo, I’m very passionate about talent and diversity. And so I’m very involved with our Hispanic Employee Resource Group and in general supporting and coaching folks. When our CEO made the commitment, I saw that our division then had a responsibility to figure out what to do and I said, I’ll lead this. I felt a personal passion to do it because I knew that the impact in the community was real. It wasn’t just about some crazy advertising campaign, rather it was more about the money going to these small business owners who need our help. It’s very easy to get excited about doing something that will impact the community directly.
How does the program work?
The platform is investing in and helping restaurants, bodegas, and carnicerías, which is another way to say ‘meat market’ or ‘butcher’ in Spanish. And there’s a couple of things that the businesses can do. First, our PepsiCo Foundation has what’s called IMPACTO, and it’s our Hispanic business accelerator. Those funds are run through local CDFIs (Community Development Financial Institution Funds), who disseminate $10,000 grants locally. That’s one way where people can apply for those grants
The second way is the Hispanic Digital & Delivery Program. We provide them with a consultant who would help them evolve or improve their brick-and-mortar with a digital footprint and online delivery. We also provide office hours and consultation time to help them. That could include better photography for their food, a better menu setup, technology, how to connect with third-party aggregators, etc. That’s a big one. And we think it’s great because that’s also short and long term. It will set them up for the future because people are going to still be ordering food online and expecting it to be delivered.
And then the last piece that we had was also what we called Retail Essentials. Working with our sales organization, we identified key customers and markets and provided them with safety kits, some marketing, investment, and then digital media to help drive traffic to specific stores.
What kind of impact has the grant had on these restaurants?
There’s one that we experienced in the Bronx called Claudy’s Kitchen, which is a Peruvian restaurant. They’re pretty well-known locally for amazing empanadas and flan. Empanadas are very manual; you make the dough by hand, and you stuff them. What Claudy’s was able to do with the grant was buy a pastry piece of equipment that helps roll the dough. They can make more empanadas faster because a lot of these small businesses are impacted by labor shortages as well. They were able to buy this machine with the grant. We went to their store before and then after. It was just awesome for them to tell us, ‘Hey, here’s what this grant was able to help me do. Now I can make more empanadas for my customers.’
How have the grant recipients reacted to this news?
It’s very overwhelming. They may be a bit shocked, too, but really, really happy. And they’re so proud; in Spanish, we say ‘orgulloso.’ They’re proud of their business and someone investing in their businesses at a time where it’s been so difficult. It’s just been really wonderful to watch the different businesses talk about their history, talk about their customers, and say ‘Thank you for doing this and helping us.’
What are your long-term goals for the program?
To continue to support more restaurants, bodegas, and carnicerías. We want as much of that money to go into the things that are going to help them directly. We’re excited that we’ve got four more years to go of investing it right back. Then we’ll probably make some pivots. Hopefully, we will get beyond the pandemic, when safety kits are less of a need, but other things might pop up as more beneficial. We will continue to do research and really listen and study these business owners to just find out what they need and how we can help them continue to thrive.


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By: Pat Rediger
The Duck Foot slip-over paddle tines keep the crop moving and the cutter bar clean, reducing header loss. It also allows for more even feeding and better threshing, which improves overall yields.
Govan area farmer Steve Kastning was tired of watching his lentils sit and shake on his combine’s cutter bar and fall on the ground. He tried belting and duct tape to minimize his losses, but they didn’t give him the results he was looking for.
So he headed into his shop and came out with a part that looks like a duck foot that fits over the regular tines on a combine to increase the amount of pick up that regular tines miss. Today Duck Foot is an award-winning company that ships its products to farmers in Canada, the United States and Australia.
“Steve has been involved in farming all of his life, either working for others, farming on his own or a combination of both. He has seen and tried a number of ways to help crops clear the cutter bar, but he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted a solution that would be reusable and fast and easy to install, or remove if needed,” said his wife Chrisa, who co-owns the company and drives its marketing efforts.
The Duck Foot clears the cutter bar, so that the crop is not sitting there, falling off or feeding unevenly. It is designed for use on soybeans, pulses, cereals and straight-cut canola. The slip-over paddle tines keep the crop moving and the cutter bar clean, reducing header loss. It also allows for more even feeding and better threshing, which improves overall yields. One of the most significant features is that it quickly and easily slides over the existing tine and attaches to the reel pipe, with no tools required.
The process to create this new invention didn’t come easily. Steve started with PVC pipe then found an engineer to create the CAD drawings for the 3D prints. It took three 3D prototypes before arriving at his final design. Initial testing was done by Steve on his own farm, as well as by some friends and neighbors who provided feedback. Although the Duck Foot was invented for his own farming operation, the couple always intended on turning it into a commercial business.
“Being a farmer-invented product meant this began as a side project while we were still farming ourselves,” explained Chrisa. “It involved a lot of Google searches and inquiries. The most difficult part was finding the right companies to work with to bring the idea to a finished product. This involved completing CAD drawings, 3D printing, building the molds and then producing the injection-molded parts.”
The Kastnings embarked upon this venture in 2015, and by June 2018, they were ready to officially launch at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina. They were pleasantly surprised to be named the recipient of a Sterling Innovation Award for their invention, and the response they received convinced them to continue to develop the business. Soon afterwards, they launched their website and developed a marketing plan that included advertising and attending trade shows.
The initial marketing push has been on the prairies, but they are now reaching across Canada and the United States by meeting with farmers and farm parts dealers at various trade shows. The company is looking forward to exhibiting at their first trade show in Ontario this year. Duck Foot has also proven to be popular in Australia because of a Twitter post.
Duck Foot received a Sterling Innovation Award at th 2018 Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina, SK, and it now ships its products to farmers in Canada, the United States and Australia.
“In 2017 a friend shared Steve’s video of the Duck Foot on his Twitter page, and an Australian farmer, who also has a farm supply business, saw the benefit of the Duck Foot and began ordering and selling them there,” said Chrisa. “This is one of our most exciting connections so far, and we decided to attend a field day (trade show) in Australia. In March 2019, with the assistance of our Australian dealer, we exhibited at Wimmera Field Days near Horsham, Victoria, site-sharing with Emmetts and MacDon Australia. This led to a distribution deal with MacDon Australia. We are glad we made that first connection with Brooker Farm Supply and highly value the relationships we’ve made in Australia.”
The Kastnings have also been making inroads into the United States. Last November Steve traveled to Carrington, North Dakota to demo the Duck Foot on the GTS header of Brazil following interest by another US company that imports and sells this model of header. In 2019 they exhibited at two trade shows in the United States, including one of the largest, the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2020 they’ve already exhibited at four US trade shows in January and February.
“The most challenging part of international sales is getting our brand and product known and managing the logistics of crossing international borders, such as customs, brokerage and shipping,” said Chrisa.
To boost its international efforts, Duck Foot joined STEP in October 2019, and Chrisa said “It’s a relief to be connected to an organization that offers its members so many benefits. With STEP connections, information and support, we feel better prepared to continue to grow our business.”
Duck Foot has participated in several STEP events and has learned from other members at networking opportunities. Through STEP, the company now has an agreement with Reile’s Transfer and Delivery, so that they can store and ship from Reile’s warehouse in Fargo, North Dakota.
Chrisa said the company looks forward to working with STEP in the future and to continue its international business expansion.
When the couple first created the invention, they started with a mold that would fit the header of a MacDon combine, which was the brand they were using at the time. They have now finished a mold for a new clip system that further secures the paddle tine in place.
They have also almost completed the mold to fit the Hart Carter header model that is used by five different brands (John Deere, Agco, Case, Massey Ferguson and New Holland), and they are designing an additional model that will fit another five headers.
“It has been a challenge because of the significant differences in some header brands,” explained Chrisa. “With our second model, we essentially had to start from the beginning with measurements and CAD drawings leading into building the molds, testing and then modifying it.”
As part of that process, Steve went back to Australia in November 2019 to demo the company’s newest model that fits Hart Carter reels. With the help of Emmetts, he travelled to several farms to test this model as well as the new clip system.
Today, Duck Foot works with two contract manufacturers. One is situated in Alberta, which fabricates the molds, and the other is in Saskatchewan. The company employs two full-time employees and one part-time employee.
For more details, visit www.duckfootparts.ca.
Original article viewable at Global Ventures Magazine Summer Edition 2020


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Mark Zuckerberg is optimistic about the future of virtual and augmented reality. At his Facebook F8 conference keynote, Zuckerberg said that the company was working on "a whole new set of social experiences" across VR platforms, echoing an announcement the company made earlier this year. "Virtual reality has the potential to be the most social platform, because you actually feel like you're right there with another person," he said, referencing an Oculus Rift "toybox" demo that lets two people play together in VR. But in the coming decade, Zuckerberg sees a progression that many people have predicted: that virtual reality will merge with augmented reality and become part of everyday life.
Over the next 10 years, the form factor's just going to keep on getting smaller and smaller, and eventually we're going to have what looks like normal-looking glasses that can do both virtual and augmented reality. And augmented reality gives you the ability to see the world but also to be able to overlay digital objects on top of that.
So that means that today, if I want to show my friends a photo, I pull out my phone and I have a small version of the photo. In the future, you'll be able to snap your fingers and pull out a photo and make it as big as you want, and with your AR glasses you'll be able to show it to people and they'll be able to see it.
As a matter of act, when we get to this world, a lot of things that we think about as physical objects today, like a TV for displaying an image, will actually just be $1 apps in an AR app store. So it's going to take a long time to make this work. But this is the vision, and this is what we're trying to get to over the next 10 years.
Palmer Luckey, inventor of the Oculus Rift headset that Facebook acquired in 2014, has previously predicted that augmented and virtual reality headsets will merge into a single piece of hardware that people carry around or wear like a pair of glasses. Granted, that's going to be harder than it might sound. Right now, virtual and augmented reality headsets use fundamentally different visual technology, and it's difficult for a pair of small glasses to block out the outside world the way a VR headset can.
But the photo sharing technology Zuckerberg's describing is already plausible on an early augmented reality headset like the Microsoft HoloLens. So is the idea of selling apps to simulate physical objects, although we hope he wasn't being literal about paying an extra dollar to simply simulate a video screen. Judging by the ambivalent response to early augmented reality headset Google Glass, it may actually be tougher to sort out the social norms than the pure technology — an issue Facebook should be more than a little familiar with.


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When it comes to servers, more is always better. More servers mean that you're less likely to be shunted into a VPN server that is already filled to the brim with other users. NordVPN, Private Internet Access, and TorGuard currently lead the pack with well over 3,000 servers each—NordVPN is at the forefront with 4,875 servers. But the competition is beginning to heat up. Last year, only a handful of companies offered more than 500 servers, now it's becoming unusual to find a company offering fewer than 1,000 servers.
Are you so used to your data traveling over Wi-Fi that you've stopped worrying about the security of that data—and about who else might be spying on it, or even stealing it for nefarious purposes? If so, you are—sadly—in the majority, and you ought to consider using a viritual private network, or VPN. In fact, when PCMag conducted a survey on VPN usage, we found that a dismal 71 percent of the 1,000 respondents had never used a VPN. Even among those who support net neutrality—who you might think would tend to be well informed on technology and privacy issues—only 45 percent had used a VPN.


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Chinese gross domestic product rose 6.4% in the first quarter from a year earlier, beating economist estimates.
The better-than-expected number was driven by March data, with retail sales growth for the month at 8.7% and factory output recording a surprise 8.5% jump.
The data comes after authorities in Beijing introduced a string of economic measures to counter the headwind of the trade war.
Underscoring how the government and ruling party remain active shepherds of the credit cycle, an incentive program offers cheap loans to borrowers who study President Xi Jinping’s thoughts and help promote the Communist Party.
The European Union published its preliminary list of U.S. goods being targeted in a $12 billion plan for retaliatory tariffs over subsidies to Boeing Co., with a focus on farm products from areas that help from President Donald Trump’s political base.
The World Trade Organization will ultimately decide the level of damages the EU can seek, with a verdict possible toward the end of this year or in early 2020.
The EU retaliation plan follows a U.S. threat to seek $11 billion in damages through duties on European goods ranging from helicopters to cheeses to counter state aid to Airbus SE. Both moves stem from parallel, 14-year-old, disputes at the WTO over market-distorting support for aircraft makers.
Knutsford Express reported a net profit of $157.93Mn (EPS: $0.32) for the nine months ended February 28, 2019, which translates to a 23.1% increase over the $128.31Mn (EPS: $0.26) earned in the prior year.
This came on the back of revenues that amounted to $841.92Mn which represents a 45.9% increase over the $577.13Mn generated in 2018. The growth was attributed to increased patronage of overseas visitors traveling between its various destinations, in particular to and from Negril where the number of departures doubled in the quarter.
The stock has declined by -5.46% YTD and currently trades at a P/E of 29.26x earnings which is above the junior market average of 20.91x earnings.
For the nine-month period ended February 28, 2019, Paramount Trading Limited reported an unaudited net profit of $45.5Mn (EPS: $0.03) which represents a 31.6% decrease relative to the corresponding period in 2018
The decline in profit was primarily driven by an increase in administrative expenses (+25%), from $215.5Mn in 2018 to $270.1Mn in 2019 coupled with an increase in selling & distribution expense (+18.9%) and the application of a $2.03Mn tax on the company. Notably, the company is now in the 6th year of trading and therefore income tax is now calculated on the profit.
The stock has fallen 25.9% since the start of the calendar year closing at $2.15 yesterday. At this price, PTL currently trades at a P/B of 4.6x which is above the Junior Market Distribution Sector average of 3.5x.
Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd is offering an exchange for all outstanding notes due in 2019 and 2022 for new USD-denominated notes and, if applicable, cash, according to a company statement. New senior secured notes with 9.75% coupon would mature 2026
Trinidad Petroleum conducting consent solicitations from bondholders for amendments that would “eliminate substantially all of the restrictive covenants, certain events of default and release of guarantees upon the sale of certain subsidiaries and other related provisions contained in the Existing Indentures”
The exchange offer and consent solicitation will expire May 10, unless an extension is granted or offer is terminated earlier. Early tender deadline is set for April 26. The company says it has $850m outstanding on notes due 2019; ~$219m outstanding on notes due 2022.
European negotiators got the green light this week to get started on trade negotiations with the U.S., with a target of getting something done by September.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and China continue to talk and the latter is considering a request from the former to shift some tariffs on agricultural goods to other products, just as U.S. soybean shipments slump.
All in all, the four biggest economies in the world are now gripped by trade negotiations.


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E-commerce beauty and personal care products seller, Purplle announced that the company successfully bagged a major funding amounting to $ 33 million USD in their latest round of funding. This round was led by Paramark Ventures and the company was valued at $ 1.1 billion USD.
Purplle is now the second start-up company based in the country to become a unicorn in just one week after education tech start-up company Physics Wallah crossed the milestone just a few days prior. This has taken place when the start-up field and the ed tech industry specifically in the country has been finding hard to grow and progress and have been forced to downsize the company or even seize operations due to a lack of funds. The company also became the 17th company based in India to become a unicorn which means that their valuation has crossed $ 1 billion USD.
Many other fund management companies who have already funded the company also took part in this round such as Premji Invest, Blume Ventures and a few others. Ever since the start-up company’s inception, Purplle has been able to receive investments amounting to $ 215 million USD which includes other venture capitalists such as Goldman Sachs.
Purplle is an online retail company that ships directly to their customers. They sell a whole range of beauty products including make up for face, eyes, nails, lips. They also sell a whole lot of skin care and hair care products and many appliances and tools such as hair dryers, curlers, face massagers and trimmers. They also sell personal care products for men such as shaving cream, razors and after shaves. The company was founded 11 years ago back in 2011 and its head office is situated in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The company also has their own blog page where they educate the masses about the benefits of personal care and what kind of products to use on what type of body.
The company recently claimed that they have over 7 million active customers every month and they retail over 1,000 different companies on their website which encapsulates 5 various private labels.
They even claimed that for the financial year that ended in 2022, their gross merchandise value amounted to a hefty $ 180 million USD and they even expanded their work force to a strength of 2,400.
The beauty industry has not slowed down this years with companies like Nykaa and Mamaearth also have a very successful 2022.


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There is “subustantial” opportunity in the broader organic, cruelty-free, vegetarian and vegan cosmetics markets that native halal companies can tap into, said new report the State of the Global Islamic Economy 2018/19.
The study valued Muslim expenditure on cosmetics at $61 billion in 2017 and projects it to grow 6.9 percent to reach $90 billion in 2023.
The global organic personal care market was estimated at a much lower $12.9 billion in 2017 but has a higher forecasted rate of growth, at 9.5 percent a year, to reach $25.11 billion by 2025.
According to the report, companies addressing the broader opportunity are experiencing substantial growth and presenting strong competition.
It cited the example of the surge in exports of South Korean plant-based cosmetics to Islamic countries, that increased by 21 percent in 2017 to reach $131 million.


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Groupon Inc Reports Profit that Beats Analysts Estimates; Shares Jump
Groupon Inc, the online discount marketplace reported quarterly profits that surpassed expectations and it had a big effect on its shares which took big leaps jumping almost twenty percent.
Groupon left the expectations far behind reporting revenue of $917.2 million vs. $845.9 million forecasted. The company's margins got a push from strong sales in North America as well as its restructuring businesses plans.
Groupon is a global e-commerce marketplace that connects millions of subscribers with their local businesses by offering goods, activities, travel, and services in forty five or more countries. In last one year shares of the company had dropped seventy percent. Last year, the company moved out of nineteen markets globally to focus more in its business in North America, its biggest market. The company has strategically offloading its low-margin businesses like consumer electronics. Groupon also made new efforts in marketing efforts under its new CEO Executive Rich Williams.
Brian Kayman , the company's interim Chief Financial Officer said that the holiday shopping weekend also contributed greatly to strong quarter. According to the company in December its billings in North American grew forty one percent from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.
New Zealand News
- Porsche reportedly developing electric version of 718 sports car
- Tesla Model Y Performance becomes little bit more expensive to order in China
- Porsche’s recently unveiled Mission R Concept previews electric race cars of future
- Chinese manufacturer GAC’s Aion V e-SUV can charge 0-80% in just 8 minutes
- Oshidori International exits Japanese casino race, citing serious ethical irregularities
- Plug-in cars’ share grows to 32% in Netherlands in September 2021
- Italian motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi enters e-bike business with VR46 MTB range
- Micro Mobility shows off production version of Microlino 2.0 and 3-wheeled e-scooter
- Chinese electric motorcycle maker Evoke Motorcycles to set up shops in Spain
- TenneT adds more electric BMWs to study use of EVs to support power grids


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A model who has embraced her rare skin condition hit the runway in spectacular style at New York Fashion Week.
Winnie Harlow, who has vitiligo, is the face of Desigual's Say Something Nice campaign and took to the runway for the Spanish brand's vibrant show last night.
The 20-year-old Canadian is making major headway in the fashion world and as well as working with Desigual she is fronting a major new campaign for Diesel:
Vitiligo leaves skin with patches that don't have any pigment. It often affects people when they hit their twenties, but Harlow was diagnosed with the condition aged four.
Despite being 5'10 with a typically 'model' figure, her dream of becoming a runway star seemed to be an impossible one when she was rejected from every modelling agency in Toronto because of having vitiligo. But Harlow didn't give up - or cover up.
She was soon noticed by America's Next Top Model host Tyra Banks, who helped her gain a place on the high-profile show. That brought her to the attention of the designers who propelled her onto the catwalk.
"Even the top models right now have a lot of personality and I feel like that's what people are looking for, you know, something they can relate to, a real person," Harlow told AFP. "So I feel like the industry is very much opening up, widening their eyes."
It certainly seems to be heading that way. Yesterday New York Fashion Week's first model with Down syndrome took to the runway and the past few seasons have increasingly featured shows with "real women" who designers have plucked from the streets.
There's no denying that the majority of models remain strikingly slim and statuesque but fashion's enthusiastic new acceptance of individuality is a step in the right direction.
Watch the show:


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Tom Ford is venturing into the realm of skin care with his latest line, Tom Ford Research.
The American designer debuted the Tom Ford Research Cream Concentrate ($450) and Tom Ford Research Serum Concentrate ($350) online Monday. It’s heralded as science-based with advanced technology, using ingredients like white porcelain cacao, caffeine and gyokuro (Japanese green tea) to “support skin’s natural energy.”
“My vision is to merge breakthrough skin science with true luxury, to create transformative skincare regardless of skin type or gender. This is the reason I established Tom Ford Research. Working closely with a team of scientists, we develop what is truly remarkable and that which delivers undeniable visible results,” Ford said in a statement.
Results of the products include energized-looking skin, hydration, even skin tone, smaller-looking pores and the appearance of fewer wrinkles. He notes that their discoveries were presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Conference and will soon be published in a scientific journal.
Ford’s cosmetics branch, Tom Ford Beauty, debuted in 2011 and will likely make $1 billion in sales by 2020, according to Business of Fashion. He began working in beauty with Estee Lauder in 2006 with his Tom Ford Black Orchid fragrance before releasing 12 unisex scents in 2007. This Tom Ford Research skin-care line continues his collaboration with Estee Lauder.
The news comes as Ford is preparing to take the reins of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, succeeding current chairwoman Diane von Furstenberg in January 2020. “Known for his large Hollywood following and his respected films Nocturnal Animals and A Single Man (nominated for an Oscar), Ford’s selection calls attention to the importance of the West Coast and the Hollywood industry,” THR wrote. The nonprofit trade association also announced it will present Marc Jacobs with the first Trailblazer Award at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards this month.
Other fashion houses to develop skin-care products include Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent and Dior.
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Blog: For Sale - Redundant tap fixtures
Chris Brook-Carter | 30 March 2004
The recent scandal surrounding Coke’s sourcing of its bottled water brand Dasani from the mains water supply in the UK has given water companies an idea.
Thames Water, which supplies London with its tap water, (and indeed Coke with Dasani) has announced plans to enter the water cooler market.
The Financial Times reports today that the company has sent out a circular to businesses offering them the opportunity to “save over 50% on water cooler bills by installing a new cooler connected directly to the mains supply.”
The irony. If only you could bottle and sell that.
There was a big focus on supermarkets and their Scotch offerings this week when a couple of own-brand malts scooped top awards at the International Wines and Spirits Competition (IWSC)....
You can't seem to move at the moment for news of US craft brewers expanding....
Here's a round-up of the top stories on just-drinks last week, featuring Coca-Cola Life, Australian Vintage, Pernod Ricard and BrewDog....
Beer consumption in Germany - already pretty impressive - will undoubtedly have enjoyed a spike following celebrations over the nation's FIFA World Cup win. ...
- A tobacco analogy soft drinks will want to embrace
- PepsiCo to consider more re-franchising - CEO
- Cleaning China's seedier side brings Remy balance
- just The Preview - SABMiller's Q1
- Pernod's Portman Group penalty - a coincidence?
- Diageo's Captain Morgan Facebook ad banned
- Diageo faces public consultation over W&M sale
- William Grant silent on Drambuie bid talk
- Bacardi to fight US football team legal action
- Alcohol retailer group appoints new chairman


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Disney has kicked off its first “Mando Monday”, where Star Wars fans across the globe tuned into a special Star Wars “Mando Mondays” digital event this morning where talent from “The Mandalorian,” including Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito, revealed the latest and greatest products and digital content inspired by the Emmy award-winning series. Mando Mondays is an all-new global consumer products, games and publishing program that will debut new goods inspired by the Disney+ program every Monday from now until December 21st.
This morning’s global digital launch provided fans with a first look at multiple new items set to bring characters and moments from “The Mandalorian” to life in fresh and creative ways. Some of the items featured will go on sale or pre-order today at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET across top retailers globally, including shopDisney.com.
Products available for pre-order include the Star Wars Retro Collection from Hasbro, the The Child Real Moves Plush from Mattel, a Mandalorian Flying with Blaster bobblehead from Funko and The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian from ABRAMS. Plus, today a new line of skateboards, accessories and apparel inspired by “The Mandalorian” are available now from Element.
“Today’s global digital event celebrates the first of many Mando Mondays to come,” said Paul Southern, Senior Vice President, Licensing and Franchise, Lucasfilm. “Over the course of the next eight weeks, we look forward to unveiling the widest assortment yet of highly anticipated products and digital content inspired by beloved characters and moments from The Mandalorian.”
Here is a look at some of the products revealed:
The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey this Friday, October 30 in the highly anticipated second season of “The Mandalorian”, streaming only on Disney+.
Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom.


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In November, consumer prices (including tobacco) remained flat over the previous month, stepping down from the 0.2% rise recorded in October and confirming the result of the preliminary estimate, released on 30 November. As a result, annual inflation remained unchanged at October's 1.7%, matching market expectations. Lower prices for hotels, cafes and restaurants as well as transport offset higher prices for communications and housing. The core inflation index, which excludes more volatile categories such as non-processed food and energy, dropped 0.1% over the previous month, contrasting October's 0.3% month-on-month increase. As a result, annual core inflation remained unchanged at October's 1.5%, while annual average harmonised inflation inched up from 1.5% in October to 1.6% in November. The Bank of Italy expects harmonized inflation to average 1.5% this year, and 1.9% next year.
Inflation remains unchanged in November
December 16, 2010
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Italy Economic News
October 14, 2016
According to revised data released by the Italian Statistical Institute (ISTAT), consumer prices fell 0.2% from the previous month in September.
October 10, 2016
In August, industrial output increased 1.7% from the previous month, accelerating from July’s revised 0.7% increase (previously reported: +0.4% month-on-month).
October 3, 2016
The IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose from 49.8 in August to 51.0 in September, taking it above the 50-threshold that separates expansion from contraction in the manufacturing sector. September’s result mainly reflected a return to growth in new orders, which, in the previous month, had dropped slightly for the first time in over one-and-a-half years.
September 30, 2016
According to provisional data released by the Italian Statistical Institute (ISTAT), consumer prices fell 0.2% over the previous month in September, contrasting August’s 0.2% increase and marking the lowest result in seven months.
September 28, 2016
The National Institute of Statistics’ (Istat) composite business confidence indicator (IESE, Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator), which covers the manufacturing, construction, service and retail sectors, increased from a revised 99.5 in August (previously reported: 99.4) to 101.0 in September. All four categories of the indicator improved compared to August.


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As China slows down, where would its next round of growth come from?
China attributes its slowest growth in a quarter century to uncertainties in the international economic environment, and to weak real estate investment and poor imports and exports at home. Should it export its way back to growth, or take a different tack?
January 22, 2016
In 1978, China opened up to the world, as the Communist Party slowly adopted a market economy. The economy steadily grew, rapidly picking up pace to post blistering double-digit growth by the 1980s. It was an economic growth that made the country the second biggest economy in the world in less than a generation.
The China Statistical Yearbook shows that between 1978 to 2009, China’s average growth rate was 9.90%, while the average for the world was 2.98%.With the financial crisis of 2008, however, the world’s factory was badly hit by falling demand for made in China goods. By December 2015, the giant economy had slowed to its lowest growth rate in 25 years.
The China National Bureau of Statistics (CNBS) released figures on the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) on 19 January. In line with market expectations and the 7% growth target set by Premier Li in early 2015, growth settled at 6.9%, with GDP amounting to 67,678 billion Renminbi (RMB) ($10,285 billion). The slowing down was mainly driven by weak real estate investment and poor imports and exports, according to CNBS.
Growth of investment in fixed assets slowed down by 2.9% compared to 2014, while investment in the real estate sector only grew by 1%, far below the annual target at 7%. The real estate sector saw significant diversification in various parts of China last year. Although tier one cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen saw on average 10% growth in both sales and transaction volumes, some tier two and most tier three cities recorded negative growth. The crash of property prices and foreign capital outflow exerted a negative impact on banks’ balance sheets.
Both imports and exports declined in 2015. Gross imports declined by 13.2% while gross exports dropped by 1.8%, which nevertheless still resulted in a trade surplus of around RMB 3,686.5 billion ($560.3 billion). The trade surplus, which further exerts pressure on the RMB, is not good for banks’ t...
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Categories: Markets & Exchanges
, Risk and Regulation
, Transaction Banking
Keywords:China, GDP, Stock Market, Capital Account, Circuit Breaker, Renminbi, Devaluation, Export, Import, Trade Balance, Consumption


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According to Beslist.com, the purchasing behavior of the Dutch consumer has turned extremely since the second lockdown. “During the first lockdown, there was a run on fitness equipment and we now also see that people are looking en masse online to buy weights. Keeping fit is now the top priority for many shoppers, but this is not the only need that is strongly emerging. ” In this article, we list a number of striking facts.
Do you ever send a paper card? In recent years, the sale of paper cards has fallen sharply, but this year there has been an increase in the number of handwritten cards being sold. This is also evident from the figures of Beslist: there is an increase of no less than 134% in our search behavior for greeting cards compared to last year.
We spend more time at home than usual, which makes us want to make it more fun at home through activities or games. Search traffic for shuffleboarding increased strikingly by 128% and board games by 47%.
Because we are working from home en masse and it looks like this will take a while, we have also invested heavily in our home workplace: the number of searches for an office chair increased by 99% compared to last year and we also searched for screens 64% more often.
Another notable increase is the number of searches for hair coloring: no less than 70%. Now that we can no longer go to the hairdresser, we just have to provide ourselves with that coveted balayage, right? An advantage: it is cheaper. Small drawback: there is a good chance that it will fail. But hey, luckily we have enough time to fix it again.
Also interesting – and just as surprising is the increase in sales of products from the following categories on the Beslist website last year:
- Weights (+ 2778%)
- Fitness equipment (+ 284%)
- Cat litter (179%)
- Greeting cards (+ 134%)
- Shuffleboard (+ 128%)
- Office chairs (+ 99%)
- Animal feed (+ 91%)
- Hair coloring (+ 70%)
- Monitors (+ 64%)
- Board games (+ 47%)
Which product did you immediately score when you heard that another lockdown was coming?


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September 3, 2017
Entrepreneurs in Brazil are already facing many challenges that can hinder their growth. The majority of these problems include bureaucracy, taxation and accountability. Thinking about solutions for this audience, FinTech startups have developed ways to improve the relation of companies, especially small-and medium-sized startups, with management and collections.
Below are some of the most interesting examples of FinTech companies that have captured users and attracted the attention of investors in Brazil.
Launched in 2012, Nibo proposes to simplify processes in the accounting department. The tool relies on services ranging from issuing notes and tickets to integrating the application with the bank account for flow conferencing.
The company received R$ 20 million in funding in May. And the venture round was led by Swedish investor Vostok Emerging Finance in partnership with Redpoint and Valor Capital Group. According to Nibo, the investment will be destined to the development, and new functionalities will be introduced to its products.
Nibo does not disclose the total number of its customers, but it includes large franchises of various sectors such as Spoleto, Mundo Verde and Arezzo.
Established in 2013, ASAAS was developed to help entrepreneurs in diverse sectors make collections more simple and less embarrassing for both debtors and creditors. Through the tool, charges can be made by email or SMS. Payment methods include ticket, transfer and credit card.
What’s more, ASAAS received R$ 2.5 million this year in a venture round led by the Cventure Primus Funds, which had already invested R$ 2 million in the company in a previous investment round. In addition, ASAAS received R$ 1.6 million from angel investors. In 2016, the company reached 314% growth in revenue.
Founded in 2012, Contabilizei is an accounting services company that focuses on such professional occupations as lawyers, architects and doctors. This company received an undisclosed amount of investments from Kaszek Ventures, e.Bricks and Endeavor Catalyst.
The company has 5,000+ customers today. The founder and CEO, Vitor Torres, commented on the growth of the company: "In 2016, we have doubled our customer base compared to 2015. For this year, the forecast is that Contabilizei grows three times, driven by the latent need of micro- and small entrepreneurs who need to keep up with their accounting without paying dearly for it."
In 2011, when the company was called ÁgilERP, it was selected for 500 Startups Accelerator. In partnership with Pipedrive, the company offers an integrated management system that aggregates sales processes such as CRM, including financial features such as ticketing. The company was rebranded as ContaAzul in 2012; it received funds from Monashees Capital, Napkn Ventures, and a new contribution from 500 Startups.
Later on, ContaAzul also received investments of undisclosed amounts from Ribbit Capital and Tiger Global. While the company does not publicize the total number of customers, it discloses that an average of 1,500 new customers is added per month, with double revenues in 2016.
Launched in 2016, Moneto assists customers to collect and negotiate debts. In just one year, the company attracted 2,000+ clients and received the FinTech Awards Latam 2017 in the financial inclusion category.
"As we passed the phase of proving the thesis of our business, we have a short-term target of 50,000 registered customers in the next 18 months," said Marcos Arruda, the founder of Moneto.
This content was published in partnership with StartSe, a leading Brazilian website that focuses on startups. The portal contains the StartSe Base, the largest database of startups in the country, with more than 5,000 registered companies.


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As the government prepares to reduce funding and the nation continues to tighten its belt, charities are under increasing pressure to find ways of attracting donors.
HNY as the acronym goes. Abbreviation has never been in short supply in marketing. In FMCG, ABMs argue that ATL shall deliver long-term ROI, but NAMs counter it is BTL that drives short-term ROS. In retail, the traders talk LFLs as their own special language for YOY sales. Meanwhile, our friends in manufacturing talk PPVs […]
HMV Group’s downbeat trading statement and announcement that it will close 60 stores sparked an online debate about the chain’s future prospects. Read Stuart Smith’s blog (left) and the story here www.mwlinks.co.uk/HMVReshape. Comments are presented below: HMV has been whittling its music stock down to make room for clothing. I’ve always known HMV as a […]
So the Starbucks logo, one of the most famous in the world, is changing to allow the brand to expand beyond coffee (www.mwlinks. co.uk/StarbucksLogo). Of course, the real issue here is not about the niceties and design fluffiness of the logo, which gets some people excited, but the overall strategy of Starbucks. It wants to […]
Dropping the Starbucks wordmark and building the ’siren’ icon makes consummate sense. When will brand owners wake up to the realisation that brands are not read, they’re recognised? The ’siren’ is salient enough and mature enough to allow this transition to happen painlessly and easily. Brands that ’brand’ themselves into a corner by intrinsically linking […]
It doesn’t surprise me that Amazon tops the UK e-retailer chart again (www.marketingweek. co.uk/christmas_retail). The company has always made a core commitment to the usability and user experience of its product. But it also doesn’t surprise me that its satisfaction ratings have started to level. Without fundamentally re-architecting its entire experience, I suspect Amazon is […]
After drastic cuts in ad spend, the government is again targeting our sector. But it’s up to us to turn adversity into opportunity. The short-term consumer outlook for 2011 looks pretty scary: the VAT increase this month, tax rises in April and public spending cuts thereafter. After a 2010 that was better than we all […]
There have been times over the past seven days when it seemed every major business story was pointing to exactly the same brand. A global hoax spread across social networks that falsely claimed one of the biggest online brands was about to be pulled by its disillusioned founder. Even the entertainment news was affected when […]


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A new range of eight-way servers and clustering technology from IBM is set to hit our shores in September with a view to delivering unprecedented reliability and processing power for e-commerce and other mission-critical Wintel applications.
At last week's IBM-hosted 1999 Australian Netfinity Symposium, the "big-iron" vendor talked of extended reliability for its eight-way servers that are being built to handle e-commerce applications built for Intel microprocessors and Microsoft software.
The new Netfinity 8500R eight-way server is an IBM exclusive, has been Microsoft certified and offers an eight-node clustering extension.
Though announced last week, a spokesperson from IBM said Netfinity 8500R eight-way servers would not be available locally until the spring and therefore no prices are yet available. Nor have the margins resellers will be getting on the product been settled on but the vendor is claiming that it is actually "lowering the cost of computing".
"We're using our X-Architecture blueprint to show customers how to get more computing power for less money," said Sue Hope, IBM's ANZ Netfinity manager.
In a press statement, IBM listed the following as highlights of the Netfinity 8500R eight-way server.
Profusion-based eight-way using 550MHz Intel Pentium III Xeon processors with 2MB L2 cacheSupport for 16GB of 100MHz ECC memory; planned support for 32GB of memory when available12 available hot-swap/hot-add Active PCI adapter slots8U rack heightIntegrated Netfinity Advanced Systems management PCI AdapterLight-Path Diagnostics for easy serviceability and maintenanceCluster optimised


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Ellen Duda will come on board at Scholastic Trade as a designer. In addition, several staff members at the company have received promotions recently.
Julie Amitie is now executive director of marketing. Beth Noble has been named associate marketing manager. Emelia Zamani will serve as the editorial manager for the Chicken House and David Fickling Books imprints. Nina Goffi now holds the position of senior designer. Rachel Hicks has been promoted to managing editor of the trade hardcover and paperback division.
- Scholastic Education Has Appointed Lee Peters as SVP of Strategic Marketing
- Have You Ever Wondered About 'Stuff YA Readers Say'?
- Filip Sablik to Head Publishing & Marketing at BOOM! Studios
- Rachel Bressler Joins Plume as Editorial Director


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Bakery Showcase 2014
The Baking Association of Canada’s (BAC) Bakery Showcase 2014 took place from May 4th to May 6th at the International Centre near Toronto, ON. The three-day event attracted over 4000 industry professionals to view exhibits, partake in educational sessions, and network with both industry leaders and new up-and-comers. The tradeshow saw organizations showcasing products, equipment, new technologies, and innovative ingredients – and Tri-Mach Group, along with Handtmann Canada Ltd., were there to reveal new, innovative solutions to the baking industry.
Tri-Mach Group Inc. would like to thank Handtmann Canada Ltd. for their support and partnership during – and outside of – Bakery Showcase 2014. Together, we were able to showcase new and exciting solutions for bakery industry leaders – solutions that will help the industry reach new heights in production, quality, and food safety.


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New adversity for Google in the USA. (archive image)
The US government’s competition watchdog is increasing the pressure on Google with a second lawsuit. This time they accuse the internet giant of unfair competition in the online advertising market. In the lawsuit published on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice is demanding, among other things, that Google’s division, in which ad technology is bundled, be broken up.
Google has resorted to anti-competitive and illegal methods to eliminate any threat to its own dominance of the online advertising market, it said. Among other things, the Internet group bought up potential rivals at an early stage, according to the accusation. As a result of Google’s actions, website operators earn less and advertisers have to pay more, criticizes the Ministry of Justice. In the end, that hurts everyone.
Google countered that the Justice Department’s lawsuit was “trying to determine winners and losers in the highly competitive advertising technology sector.” It is based on flawed reasoning that would slow down innovation, increase advertising fees and make it more difficult for thousands of small businesses to grow, the company said.
The lawsuit focuses on the so-called “ad tech” market – in particular the technologies for auctions, in which ad spaces are auctioned off in the shortest possible time before a website is displayed to the user.
Intervention by the US government has been on the cards for some time. The Wall Street Journal reported last summer that Google offered the Justice Department a concession to outsource its ad tech division to a separate company. However, it should remain a Google sister company under the umbrella of the Alphabet holding company – and the government’s concessions did not go far enough.
In the first lawsuit in autumn 2020, the US government accused Google of antitrust violations in the online search business when President Donald Trump was still in office. It was said that the group was making deals with smartphone providers and network operators in order to give its search engine a special position. Google rejects the allegations. The trial in the case is scheduled to begin this year.
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Its that time again already. Next week’s Wellington to the World event (W2W) picks up where the inaugural event left off in 2008.
W2W is the leading annual showcase for New Zealand’s digital innovation at a time when strengthening our entrepreneurial ecosystem has never been more important and topical. The event gathers technology innovators, entrepreneurs and investors for product pitches, new ideas and networking.
The theme for the event is “Going Global with Your Tech Business”. If you are a technology entrepreneur or investor you should be at this event. Speakers include Richard MacManus, founder of ReadWriteWeb and one of the world’s most influential tech bloggers. Nanotechnology researcher and Young Scientist of the Year, John Watt will also be there. MC for the half day event is Ben Young, author, entrepreneur and marketing wunderkind.
Registration is essential. You can find programme details here:


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L'ABUS D'ALCOOL EST DANGEREUX POUR LA SANTÉ. À CONSOMMER AVEC MODÉRATION.
Centre Commercial II X Grand Opening Rue Madame
Last Thursday night Centre Commercial celebrated it’s new store in Paris located 9 rue Madame. Gathering top range brands … Read more
Hotel Bleu X NDA Paris
To celebrate the launch of the Hôtel Bleu brand and the 1 year anniversary of NDA Paris (who have realized … Read more
12TH EDITION OF THE HEINEKEN – TALENT BIEROLOGY COMPETITION
On the 11 of May, Heineken revealed the winners of the 12th edition of the Heineken – Talent Bierology Competition… Read more


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SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of electric vehicles (EVs) advanced nearly 66 percent on-year in 2020, data showed Sunday, despite the overall slump in the automobile industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Outbound shipments of EVs came to US$3.9 billion in 2020, marking the first time for the volume to surpass that of hybrid cars, whose exports came to $2.5 billion last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association.
EVs accounted for more than half of the combined outbound shipments of eco-friendly cars, which were estimated at $7.1 billion.
Europe was the largest destination for South Korea’s eco-friendly cars, taking up 68 percent of the total.
South Korea also shipped 955 units of hydrogen fuel cell cars in 2020, which marked 26.3 percent on-year growth.
The country was the world’s fourth-largest exporter of EVs in the January-September period, the association added.
South Korea’s combined exports of automobiles, meanwhile, reached $37.4 billion in 2020, down 13.1 percent on-year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to separate data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.


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The PTC Webinar Series: Frictionless Business™ continued with “Satellite Reset: The Industry Transformed,” which tackled the question of what the post-pandemic satellite industry will look like.
Moderated by Katherine Gizinski, chief executive officer of ManSat, panelists brought diverse perspectives from across the industry:
- Mark Dankberg, Chairman of the Board & Executive Chairman, Viasat
- Debra Facktor, Head of AIRBUS U.S. Space Systems, AIRBUS U.S. Space and Defense, Inc.
- Erwin Hudson, Vice President, Telesat LEO
- Chris Quilty, Founder & Partner, Quilty Analytics
Momentous changes were already underway within the satellite industry when the COVID-19 crisis unsettled lives and businesses around the world over the last year. The global satcom industry contracted by 2.7% in 2019. In 2020, segments of the satellite industry were hit hard and rippling effects of the pandemic accelerated several bankruptcies and sales, while remote work and school highlighted a tremendous and growing demand for connectivity from consumers.
In this webinar, panelists weighed in on key industry transformations going into and coming out of the pandemic. Topics covered included demand growth and anticipated trends, rural broadband, key growth markets in the Pacific Rim, concerns about the sustainability of space and existing regulatory frameworks, capital inflow and SPACs, and future capabilities.
See the entire webinar here:


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Now, when cruises are canceled, everyone gets a cash refund. (Unless they paid for a suspended sailing with an FCC; then the refund goes back to them in the form of an FCC.)
'There is no choice; you get your money back,' Del Rio told analysts on Thursday, adding that the company has the liquidity, and FCCs are dilutive to future business since they include a 25% premium.
40% of FCCs have been redeemed
For NCLH as a whole, 40% of FCCs issued have been redeemed. Pricing, Del Rio noted, is 'flat to slightly ahead of all-time high pricing, including the dilutive effect of the 125% FCCs.'
In a business update, the company noted that 75% of the cumulative booked position for the second half of 2021 consists cash bookings, versus FCCs.
But Del Rio took issue with some in the investment community who consider FCCs not as good as cash bookings.
'They're both important,' he said. 'Customers who took an FCC showed a great deal of confidence and support in our business and we want to make sure they get their cruise. So if we have to extend the booking date or if we have to extend the sailing date as the suspensions continue, we will do so.'
That said, customers are being actively encouraged to redeem their FCCs.
Reduced cost of customer acquisition
With 60% of FCCs still outstanding, the cost of customer acquisition should come down, CFO Mark Kempa noted, since the company doesn't have to find as many new customers to fill inventory.


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Pending tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by President Trump, due to take effect in less than two weeks, could result in significant job losses in Michigan, according to nonprofit groups that advocate for Midwest manufacturers, retailers and farmers.
At stake is a backlash to the Trump trade war with China that could spark an economic downturn in Michigan and several other states.
These pro-business groups, Tariffs Hurt the Heartland and Americans for Free Trade, released new data that estimated Michigan will lose approximately 25,000 jobs if tariffs on certain imports from China are raised to 25 percent on March 1st.
Based on data from the U.S. Labor Department and Census Bureau, these dozens of business trade associations conclude that Michigan has already been hit hard by retaliation to the Trump administration tariffs.
For example, in November 2018 Michigan businesses paid $137 million in tariffs, 10 times higher than the amount paid in November 2017. Meanwhile, international trade remains a prime driver of economic growth in Michigan, supporting an estimated 1 million jobs.
Since the trade war began, Michigan has faced $295 million in new retaliatory tariffs, including $53 million just in November. As a result, Michigan’s global exports that were subject to Chinese retaliation dropped by 14 percent.
While the net effect of a Chinese backlash is still being calculated, nationwide, American businesses paid $5.6 billion in tariffs in November.
In the correspondence with Whitmer, the anti-tariff coalitions wrote:
“As the statistics we released show, tariffs are already undercutting small business owners, the primary driver of economic growth and job creation. The additional threat of raising tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of imports from China – and the (Chinese) threat to impose similar duties on $267 billion more of such (U.S.) products – will only make the situation worse.”


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In 1997, a storm sent five million pieces of Lego into the ocean. A U.K. beachcomber helped build a citizen science project that aims to track those pieces and tell a story about plastic pollution.
On February 13, 1997, a huge storm near the coast of Cornwall, UK, pushed sixty-two containers off the cargo ship Tokio Express. One of these containers held five million pieces of the popular children’s toy, Lego. Coincidentally, many of the Lego pieces were ocean-themed — octopuses, sharks, mermaids, and, ironically, life jackets. Twenty-six years later, the pieces are still turning up all over the Northern Hemisphere, in locations as diverse as Galveston Island, Texas, the coastal town of Zandvoort in the Netherlands, and Tracey Williams’ favorite beachcombing spot in Cornwall, UK.
Williams recalls that, when she was in her early twenties at the beginning of the 1980s, she’d watch storms at sea from her family home in Devon, and her father would say “the sea will provide.” Twenty years later, delivering pieces of Lego to Williams’ beach, the sea provided her with an opportunity to make a difference. Williams is the founder of Lego Lost At Sea, a project that combines citizen science, Anthropocene archaeology, oceanography, design, and community awareness to address the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean.
Williams, a seasoned beachcomber, first noticed the Lego pieces soon after the ’97 spill. It started as a fun treasure hunt with her children. Then others got excited too — the black octopus and the rare green dragons were particularly popular pieces among British beachcombers, creating something of a dragon-hunting craze. Williams still gets an annual Christmas card from a former neighbor who signs herself “Mary, keeper of the green dragon.”
Williams moved inland and forgot about the spill until moving back to Cornwall in 2010 and finding a Lego life jacket during a beach walk. Curious that the pieces were still turning up thirteen years later, she created a Facebook page, Lego Lost At Sea, to document her finds and invite others to share theirs. The page now has 75,000 members.
Lego Lost At Sea has become more than a treasure hunt: it’s now a resource for scientists studying ocean movements and plastic pollution. (Some 51,800 sharks — along with other Lego pieces — remain lost in the ocean.) The project won the Current Archaeology Rescue Project of the Year award in 2023. It also has a BBC Podcast and has resulted in a book by Williams called Adrift, The Curious Tale of the Lego Lost at Sea, which she wrote with oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who has tracked the Lego spill since 1997 to study ocean currents.
“Ultimately it opened my eyes to the rest of the plastic in the sea and sand,” Williams says. “When your eyes are down, searching, you start to notice the rest of the debris polluting the coastal environment.” When Williams first started picking up plastic items from beaches, she assumed that their presence was fairly recent. “But the more you delve into it, the more you realize how long some of the plastic has been lying at the bottom of the sea or buried in sand,” she says. “Some of the plastic we pick up is sixty to seventy years old — toothbrushes, curtain rings, bottles.”
And some may remain there for over a thousand years.
A study published in July of 2020 shows that ocean-battered Lego pieces could take almost 1,300 years to degrade. Dr. Andrew Turner, Reader in Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth, UK, collaborated with Williams and calls her project “valuable citizen science.” For the study, he paired fifty pieces of weathered Lego from the spill with unweathered sets purchased in the 1970s and ’80s to determine their endurance in the marine environment. The result (1,000–1,300 years to degrade) was shocking. The timeline for degradation would be the same for any rigid plastic, he says. “Food containers, PET bottles, water bottles designed to be long-term are … going to last thousands of years. The area of the ocean [makes up] seventy percent of the planet, which means seventy percent of the planet has got litter on it.”
Annually, at least fourteen million tons of plastic enter the ocean, accounting for eighty percent of marine debris. Some plastic items are, like the Lego, from cargo spills, but many arrive in other odd ways. Kids, for instance, have flushed two-and-a-half million Lego bricks down toilets. Oceanographers say that light plastic debris, like floating Lego bricks, can travel long distances. Eventually, these materials break down into tiny fragments. Many sink to the seabed or are (lethally) ingested by marine animals. Turner calls the plastic at the bottom of the ocean “a ticking time bomb,” and Williams’ book mentions a dead whale that washed up in the Philippines with eighty-eight pounds of plastic in its stomach.
Williams has capitalized on the world’s love of Lego to encourage deeper interest in scientific research. Together with the University of Plymouth, Williams is working on a paper that looks at the spread of the Lego pieces, “both on the surface of the ocean and along the seabed,” she says. Others are getting on board, such as Rob Arnold, an environmental activist who has created a sculpture using half a million plastic pieces collected from Cornish beaches alone.
Williams’ Lego Lost At Sea project “highlights what happens to plastic in the ocean, how long it lasts, how it breaks down, and how far it drifts,” she says — a straightforward way for people to understand the impact of plastic pollution. “Much of the Lego from the spill has been found by people who pick up plastic from beaches regularly, and finding a bit of Lego is seen as a reward.”
The findings are also a record of the age we live in. “A few years ago, we were picking up HP printer cartridges from a cargo spill,” she says. “Now we’re picking up vapes in large quantities, something we’d never really heard of until quite recently.”
Williams calls Lego Lost At Sea a “story without an end.” She writes in Adrift that “it’s a vast jigsaw with millions of pieces still missing. … Sometimes I wonder if millions of years from now, a fossil hunter will take a hammer to a rock and discover a perfectly preserved Lego shark inside. A fossil of the plastic age.”
Recovered Legos are part of an ongoing exhibition at the Royal Museum of Cornwall, UK. Open until November 25.


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Mead Johnson Nutrition said on Tuesday it would pay about $33 million in connection with a Chinese investigation into possible price-fixing and anticompetitive practices by foreign makers of baby formula.
Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil formula, said that as a result of its antitrust review, China’s National Development and Reform Commission had assessed administrative penalties against Mead Johnson and a number of other milk formula companies doing business in China.
Foreign infant formula is highly coveted in China, where public trust was damaged by a 2008 scandal in which six infants died and thousands of others were sickened after drinking milk tainted with the toxic industrial compound melamine. Foreign brands now account for about half of total sales.
Mead Johnson said the payment, which resolves the commission’s review, would reduce its full-year earnings by about 12 cents a share, but it reiterated its 2013 earnings forecast for profit, excluding one-time items, of $3.22 to $3.30 a share.
The company said in recent weeks that it was being investigated, along with Danone, Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories and Biostime International Holdings, by the Chinese commission, an economic planning agency, for possible antitrust violations including price-fixing.
As a result, Mead Johnson and others cut prices on their baby formulas.
Representatives from Danone, Nestlé and Abbott Laboratories were not immediately available for comment.
Biostime, which imports most of its products, said on Tuesday that its shares had been suspended pending an announcement related to an investigation by China’s top economic planning agency. The company said previously that a unit based in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, was being investigated by the commission over possible price-fixing.Continue reading the main story
In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange in late July, Biostime said it planned to lower prices of infant formula products by 5 to 10 percent.Continue reading the main story


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ŠKODA UK has partnered with Dealer Trade to launch ŠKODA Market, an innovative remarketing solution for their dealer network.
Dealer Trade offers a fully mobile 'app' based service that ŠKODA retailers can utilise via their tablets or mobile phones to list and sell their part exchange vehicles for free. The process from listing to sale typically takes under 3 hours significantly faster than most traditional disposal routes, saving time as well as money.
Furthermore, using the app's 'closed' network feature, ŠKODA dealers can advertise over-age franchise vehicles exclusively for other ŠKODA retailers to purchase, promoting flexible movement of stock and retention of valuable ŠKODA vehicles within the network.
Dealer Trade provides a 'free to sell' facility which will contribute to significantly reducing the ŠKODA network's trade disposal costs, currently estimated at nearly £2.5m per annum.
With the ability to list and sell a vehicle within a matter of hours, the Dealer Trade app also sends push notifications direct to user's mobile devices listing upcoming auctions that match their preferences, so they don't miss out on potentially valuable used stock.
Wayne Ryder, Managing Director of Dealer Trade (UK) said, "We're thrilled to be partnering with ŠKODA UK in providing their dealer network with a cost-effective online remarketing solution. This partnership will allow us to provide our online community with even greater volumes of good quality stock."
Barney Butterell, (ŠKODA UK) National Used Car Manager, added: "In a highly competitive used car market we are always looking for ways to help our retailers save money and increase profits. Dealer Trade offers an efficient and free disposal route for all vehicles potentially saving as much as £150 per transaction. At network level this can make a big difference."
Dealer Trade Holdings is an unlisted public company headquartered in Brisbane, Australia completing a product expansion into the United Kingdom in 2017 and with the launch of Car Record in the United States in July 2018.
For more information on Dealer Trade please visit www.dealertrade.co.uk


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Ysabel Barnett Elementary School's office looked like a shoe store Friday as thousands pairs of donated footwear spilled out of bags and boxes.
A three-day drive was held to collect shoes that ultimately will be distributed to survivors of last week's devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Friday, students and members of the Parent Teachers Organization stood in the rain outside the Temecula school accepting last-minute donations for Soles4Souls, an international charity that provides free shoes to those in need.
They collected every kind of footwear imaginable: athletic shoes, boots, slippers and Crocs sized for toddlers, children and adults.
The donations were later taken to Sports Chalet, which is serving as a collection spot.
The drive, which was organized by the PTO, was publicized through fliers and an automated phone call to homes.
"We're just amazed at the participation," Principal Chris Dixon said.
Organizers say the drive was an opportunity for children to learn about giving.
"We always try to involve the kids, so they know they're a part of the community, whether the local community or the international community," PTO President Michelle Vener said Friday.
The 7.0-magnitude quake, which struck Jan. 12 and killed an estimated 200,000 people, proved to be a teachable moment, even though most of the elementary students are too young to realize the full impact of the disaster.
"They understand that some people have struggled, and they want to help them," Dixon said.
Temecula schools promote character traits every month, and this month's trait is citizenship.
"I was excited to show the kids there's more to citizenship than sitting quietly in class," Dixon said. "We're citizens of the world."
Vener said the PTO wanted to help, but didn't want to ask parents for money.
"Every parent has shoes they don't wear or their children have grown out of," she said. "In my house alone, I have two kids and we gave six pairs of barely worn shoes."
And the event proved successful.
"We asked and they brought," Vener said.
The drive is the latest charitable effort the school has participated in. Previously, the school's 850 students donated food to an animal shelter, bought gifts for needy families at Christmas and collected money after Hurricane Katrina.
Children who assisted with the collection said they were happy to be able to help others.
"They don't have any food or water," said Sven Kato, a 7-year-old second-grader. "We're giving them shoes so they don't get hurt."
Second-grader Lilah Vener, 8, Michelle Vener's daughter, said she has learned something from the tragedy.
"It makes us thankful for what we have," she said. "And, we're lucky we didn't have a big earthquake."
Call staff writer Craig Shultz at 951-676-4315, ext. 2625.
How to help
Sports Chalet stores will be collecting new and slightly used shoes for survivors of the earthquake in Haiti until Jan. 31. The footwear will be donated to Soles4Souls, an international charity that distributes free shoes to people in need. Southwest County Sports Chalet stores are at 40432 Winchester Road in Temecula, and 30054 Haun Road in Menifee.