text:
TOKYO -- Manufacturers of masks and anti-allergy products are competing over Japan's "pollen allergy" market, which is worth over 100 billion yen.
One in four Japanese is said to show pollen allergy symptoms. According to a January survey conducted by internet research agency Macromill Inc. of about 1,000 people allergic to cedar pollen, the average annual budget per individual for allergy measures was 4,550 yen. Some 22.7 percent of respondents said their budget was at least 5,000 yen. The budget amount for men exceeded the amount for women in all age groups.
Asked what anti-allergy measures they took (with multiple answers allowed), the largest number of respondents, or 50.9 percent, said they used masks. This was followed by 36.8 percent who chose medical examinations, treatment and prescribed medication. Some 35.7 percent opted for eye drops and 34.5 percent consumed yogurt in a bid to beat allergies.
Following the arrival of the allergy season, products including masks and nose drops to prevent pollen allergies lined the shelves of drugstores and other shops. Drugstore Cocokara Fine Kanda Jinbocho store in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward set up a section for such products in mid-February, when the number of people wearing masks started to increase.
Sprays that can be applied on the face or masks are popular in addition to standard medicine, according to the drugstore.
A cream to prevent pollen from attaching to the skin called "Skin Protect BB" was released in January by cosmetics manufacturer Kose Corp. Last December, daily goods manufacturer S.T. Corp. released a stick-type product that can block pollen when applied to masks. The stick contains extractions of Sakhalin fir and users can enjoy the scent by applying it near the nose on the outside of their masks.
The drugstore also sells a wide selection of masks, including Kowa Co.'s masks with filters that use mesh-patterned extra-fine nanofiber to block particles such as pollen.
Research in 2012 by Asahi Soft Drinks Co. estimated that the anti-pollen allergy market was worth 101.5 billion yen.
Meanwhile, some fear that pollen allergies could cause losses to the economy. This includes Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. chief economist Toshihiro Nagahama, who estimates that consumer spending will decrease by 569.1 billion yen compared to an average year, as people will refrain from going outside during the allergy season.
(Japanese original by Naoya Matsumoto, Business News Department)


text:
Juul officials said they will launch or expand additional programs in 2018, including:
—Investing in research and development to evaluate potential technologies to help prevent youth from gaining access to and using Juul.
—Building on the company’s efforts to enforce appropriate age verification at retail through its secret-shopper program.
—Calling on social-media platforms to remove content showing or encouraging youth use of Juul.
—Calling on online marketplaces to remove content that violates Juul resale agreements by offering Juul products for sale without age verification.
—Providing educational material at retail locations where Juul products are sold and on the Juul website to help increase parents’ awareness of Juul and provide information on the negative impacts of nicotine on youth.

domain: news


text:
The other day, there was a posting on Yahoo with the headline “10 creative stocking stuffers under $20!” Suggestions ranged from giant $10 erasers that kids might enjoy to tea infusers to Krazy Straws.
Yahoo probably meant well. But human nature being what it is, the helpful suggestions were met with hostility and sarcasm from members of the public who showed little holiday spirit. They basically posted that Yahoo could stuff their stocking stuffers.
The rest of this story is restricted to subscribers only.


text:
Last week, thermal camera maker Flir announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Canada-based surveillance camera manufacturer Lorex for CA$59 million. Based in Canada, Lorex predominantly makes cameras for the small business and consumer market under the Lorex and Digimerge brands.
While the acquisition may appear puzzling from outside looking in, a leading manufacturer of high-end thermal cameras for military and commercial security applications buying a relatively small company that makes surveillance cameras for do-it-yourself projects, Andy Teich, president of Flir’s commercial systems division, said that the move is part of the company’s goal to bring thermal technology to a broader customer base.
"It plays into our strategy of not where we are today, but where we are headed," Teich said of the acquisition. "We’ve told our investors for some time and have been executing along the lines of a continual reduction of the costs of thermal imaging technologies with the ultimate goal of providing thermal imaging technology to a very broad base of users at very low cost."
Teich said he believed that thermal imaging will follow a similar path to that of GPS, which essentially went through four different phases before it saturated the consumer market. It initially began as a very expensive technology for the military, followed by a "dual-use" phase in which it was being used by both the military and industry. That was followed by a "broad commercialization" phase in which price points fell to around $1,000 and started to show up as in-car navigation systems. Teich said the technology is currently in the "commoditization" phase and has become ubiquitous in many of the devices we use today, such as cell phones and tablet computers.
"That four-phase transition of a technology from military to consumer, you’ll see that same thing play out with thermal imaging and we, as a company, have been leading that transition and will continue to do so," he said. "We have significant investment in technology and equipment underway right now to make the next step in lowering costs to enable (the creation) of that lower cost technology that users in the security space are going to be interested in."
Teich added that Flir’s acquisition of Lorex in the security market follows similar purchases by the company in other industries. For example, in 2007, Flir bought Extech, which makes handheld test and measurement equipment because as costs came down in thermal technology for the thermography segment (devices designed to detect temperature changes), Teich said they were getting closer to the price points of traditional test and measurement lines of products. Eventually, Teich said Flir came out with a line of Extech thermal imaging cameras. And though Flir had been in the maritime space since 2006, making thermal cameras for navigating at night and things along those lines, the company acquired marine electronics maker Raymarine in 2010 for many of the same reasons and subsequently came out with a Raymarine branded line of thermal equipment.
"This strategy of starting in a vertical by ourselves, developing it overtime, pushing the costs down and then acquiring a company that has strong access to that lower cost, higher volume market is something we’ve played out twice before," Teich explained. "And what you’re seeing here with Lorex is that same strategy just manifesting itself in the security market vertical."
Teich said Lorex has a "very nice mix" of technology, adding that they are a leader in DIY market and that they also have a strong presence in retail stores that carry their equipment, as well as online. He said they also have a integrator-level business with their Digimerge line of products.
"As we produce this lower-cost thermal imaging technology, we believe that can be injected into those verticals where Lorex is currently active and offer the Lorex/Flir brands a highly differentiated product that can drive a lot of growth," he said.


text:
Android tablets have a tough time competing at the high end; iPads more or less single-handedly dominate that space. But if you're looking to spend a couple hundred bucks on something to watch Netflix in bed, you're probably not shopping Apple. You're probably looking for something like Samsung's latest budget tablet, the Galaxy Tab A7: it's cheap, it's got a nice screen and speakers, and the battery lasts for days. There's not a lot to dislike here.
For some of you, an Android tablet might be all you need — maybe just with a few mode changes like a dock, a folio, maybe even a pen. Lenovo has catered to this very peculiar subset for a long time and it's doing so again for 2021 with its latest Tab P11.
Samsung is one of the few manufacturers still making Android tablets, and the company's latest offering looks really nice. The Galaxy Tab A7 has a slim and symmetrical design, Dolby Atmos surround sound, and a plentiful 7,040mAh battery. It only launched earlier this month, but the device is already on sale for just $169.99 from Amazon and Walmart — a full $60 off.
Android tablets might have long become passé, but there are people out there that want them. Some of those people might not even want to turn to the market's most prolific maker of Android tablets, Samsung, and go along with its overbearing experience. For them, Lenovo is presenting two alternatives for the holiday season — a refreshed Tab M10 HD (2nd Gen) and the all-new Tab P11 Pro 2-in-1.
There's a lot that Spotify can improve in its app's experience, but the most glaring issue for anyone using a larger-screened Android device was the lack of any interface optimization. The phone UI simply stretched to fill the screen, with tiny touch targets and no special consideration given to the larger screen estate. That's changed now as Spotify began rolling out a new tablet-optimized design on Android.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is, as our own Corbin put it in his review, the Android tablet to beat. It's well built, with a nice display, an included stylus, and a very capable battery. If that sounds like something you'd be into, you can pick one up for $50 off today from a number of retailers.
This story was originally published and last updated .
We're now just a couple of hours away from Samsung's Note20 Unpacked livestream. It'll likely bring us many mentions of the word "innovation," a tour of the company's electronics headquarters, a bunch of celebrity cameos, and, oh yes, new smartphones, a new tablet, and a new smartwatch. You can watch the event as it happens right here, starting at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT).


text:
Rajasthan firm to promote Jharkhand silk productsNovember 17th, 2008 - 7:45 pm ICT by IANS
Ranchi, Nov 17 (IANS) A Rajasthan-based firm will promote silk products manufactured in Jharkhand to help the state generate around Rs.20 million annually, the government said here Monday. “The Jharkhand State Handloom and Textile (Jharcraft) and Murarka Organic Food of Rajasthan signed an agreement few weeks ago in New Delhi. As per the agreement, Jharkhand will sell 20,000 stoles and 6,000 silk saris to Murarka. The state will earn Rs.20 million per annum through this deal,” Deputy Chief Minister Shudhir Mahto told IANS.
Jharkhand is promoting organic silk production in the state and has introduced 100,000 farmers to cocoon production.
“Jharkhand is all set to cross the target of organic silk production set by the central government in the 11th Five-Year Plan. We are likely to produce 720 tonnes of organic silk against the target of 425 tonnes, and have requested the central government to raise the production target,” Mahto said.
The state has produced 300 tonnes of organic silk in the current financial year, against 143 tonnes in 2007-2008.
According to Mahto, Jharkhand produces 60 percent of the total production of organic silk in the country.
In the current financial year, the state government has set a target of getting 28,000 farmers engaged in tussar silk production.
The Jharkhand government plans to generate Rs.1 billion by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan through organic silk production.
To promote marketing of organic silk, the state government is also planning to ink pacts with some more private firms.


text:
Jaguar got in early on the eve of the Paris Motor Show with an in-depth look at its new midsize XE model. The car was official premiered in London recently.
Engineering specialists explained various elements of the Jaguar XE, from its aluminium-rich body to its high-tech connectivity features. The new Ingenium range of engines was also discussed in detail.
Full details of the SA-bound Jaguar XE range will be featured on popularmechanics.co.za as they become available. The December issue of Popular Mechanics magazine will also carry more information and pictures.


text:
Sanya makes great efforts to improve urban management
In recent years, the Sanya government has come up with many measures to improve its urban management in order to better serve both residents and tourists.
Before the 2013 Spring Festival, in order to reduce the difficulty of catching a taxi in the downtown, the government launched a new radio taxi service. 100 taxis which are stationed at six fixed spots can be booked by calling the service hotline“96789”.
To further ease the city's traffic pressures, 416 more taxis are expected to be added in 2013.
To better regulate the hotel market, Sanya Price Bureau publishes pricing regulations for Sanya hotels during the three week-long holidays at Spring Festival, May Day and National Day.
As for the seafood market, seafood restaurants in Sanya are required to use the city’s price supervision system including an electronic dish-ordering system, price publication screen and POS accounting system.
During the 2013 spring festival holiday, Sanya’s seafood market won high praise from customers in consumer-satisfaction surveys.
In addition, the Sanya government is planning to launch an all-in-one-card which can be used to pay bus fares, electricity and gas bills, hotel bills and buy scenic spot tickets. And the Sanya all-in-one-cards are to be made available in over 30 cities around China in 2013.


text:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 1, 2016 (PRNewswire) — Meijer is setting a goal to sell only eggs sourced from cage-free farms by the year 2025, joining a growing group of food retailers, restaurant chains and food manufacturers that have announced similar plans.
"Although our current volume of cage-free egg sales is relatively low, we continue to see shopping trends shifting toward cage free," said Peter Whitsett, executive vice president of merchandising for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer. "We are in the business of providing customers with choices, and setting this goal will ensure we are ready for the transition when our customers are."
Meijer currently sells numerous varieties of eggs, including cage free, free range and traditional. The majority of eggs sold in Meijer stores are sourced from farms in the state of Michigan that have been working with the Meijer family for more than 50 years.
Meijer will continue to work with its egg supplier partners to ensure its customers have the choices they want and its supply of eggs remains the highest quality at the best price.


text:
Saudi National Bank announced a strategic partnership agreement with Mastercard and the Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) during the SEF Awards to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation and enhance its gaming and esports infrastructure. The collaboration will build on Mastercard’s ongoing relationship with SEF to promote the Kingdom’s billion-dollar gaming industry.
Together, the three entities will explore and develop innovative financial products and offerings that create added value and enhance gamers’ experience.
In line with Mastercard’s commitment to creating priceless moments for consumers to enjoy, the agreement will leverage the resources, expertise, and networks of all three partners to cater to Saudi Arabia’s youth and gaming community.
On this occasion, Saud Abdulaziz Bajbair, Head of Retail Business Group at SNB, said: ”This partnership confirms the importance of the private sector’s role in supporting the overall development movement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030. This agreement is an important step in the dissemination of new digital technologies that will contribute to making the Kingdom a leading hub for gaming and e-sports.”
The collaboration draws on the importance of Saudi Arabia’s e-gaming industry and its rapid growth. It intends to strengthen the presence of e-gaming and capitalize on its potential and capabilities by fostering innovation to drive further advancements in this sector. This step also underscores SNB’s interest in the development of the e-gaming community and sector in Saudi Arabia by contributing to the creation of an e-gaming industry that is gaining traction among a significant segment of Saudi society.
“We understand just how impactful gaming is and can be. By partnering with Mastercard and SNB, we aim to bring the Kingdom’s gaming potential to bear, enhancing the country’s gaming landscape and spurring even greater innovation. This will benefit so many — for generations to come — setting the Kingdom apart as an attractive investment destination while delivering innovative gaming experiences,” said Ahmed Al Bishri, Chief Operations Officer Saudi Esports Federation.
“We are delighted to collaborate with SNB and SEF – two like-minded organizations driven by a shared commitment towards accelerating digital transformation, realizing Saudi Arabia’s tech potential, and achieving its Vision 2030. The historic agreement is well on its way to help showcase the new technologies that are playing important roles in transforming the Kingdom into a leading hub for gaming and esports, and – more broadly – for business, tourism, leisure, and innovation. Together, we seek to build on the efforts of the Saudi leadership to enhance the local gaming industry, bolstering it to deliver truly immersive and memorable experiences for gamers across the Kingdom and bridging these experiences across physical and digital realities,” said Mete Güney, Executive Vice President of Services, EEMEA at Mastercard.
Through this partnership SNB, SEF and Mastercard will create and unlock new experiences powered by Web3 technology that will offer gamers the opportunity to access exclusive benefits and immersive experiences in the physical and digital world. This new digital community and experience will be an inclusive space for gamers, creators and collectors to design and own the future of Saudi esports. Community members will be able to access virtual creations and use in digital games and immersive experiences.


text:
Traders were betting against Papa John's long before the NFL's national anthem protests started
AP Images / Jack Dempsey
- Short interest on Papa John's stock has been hitting multi-year highs for months, dating back to well before the NFL season.
- The company saw shares drop 8.5% in a single day this week on weaker sales, which it blamed on NFL national anthem protests turning football fans off.
- One analyst says the rise of delivery apps that make local pizza joints competitive is a better explanation for Papa John's struggles.
As it turns out, those trading Papa John's stock had started souring on the company well before the NFL season even started.
The blue line in the chart below shows Papa John's short interest - or a measure of wagers that a share price will drop - as a percentage of shares on loan. It repeatedly hit multi-year highs as far back as the first quarter, when football fans were still planning their Super Bowl parties for last season, according to data compiled by IHS Markit.
The gauge then spiked to new highs in the period around May and June. And now, on the heels of the disastrous earnings report that kick started the whole controversy and sent the stock down 8.5% in a single day, short interest is yet again historically elevated.
Business Insider / Joe Ciolli, data from IHS Markit
Based on how bearish traders had been getting on Papa John's shares for months, you can be sure they weren't counting on anthem protests to kill pizza sales.
So if the NFL protests aren't the reason for the struggles facing Papa John's, what is? Simon Colvin, an equity and credit markets analyst at IHS Markit, thinks that the rise of delivery apps may have something to do with it.
They've "leveled the playing field for independent operators," he told Business Insider. "These new platforms have the possibility to threaten the siloed model that the likes of Papa John's and Domino's have built over the years."
He notes that Domino's has also seen a "significant" pickup in short selling activity of late.
With all of this considered, combined with Pizza Hut's statement that the NFL isn't hurting its business, it appears Papa John's needs to come up with a new excuse.
- Supreme Court to pronounce order next week on pleas seeking independent probe into Pegasus snooping row
- KPIT Technologies to acquire Future Mobility Solutions for ₹135 crore
- IndiGo bullish on festive season, may see demand reach pre-COVID levels in December
- Air conditioner brands Voltas, Blue Star, Havells rally ahead of festive season
- Realme Narzo 50 to Samsung Galaxy M52 5G — phones launching in India this month


text:
Jill Bonny has been tattooing in the Bay Area since 2000. Four years ago, she started her own shop in the Haight-Ashbury, Studio Kazoku, which specializes in Japanese-style tattooing.
But California’s shutdowns have made it extremely difficult for Bonny and other tattoo artists to keep their shops open. In 2020, tattoo and piercing shops had to close for seven consecutive months, and endured a few other closures besides. Bonny went through all of her savings to keep her shop afloat, and did some commissioned paintings on the side for extra money.
“It was very difficult,” Bonny said. “Nobody was able to prepare for it, there was no warning. So maybe people could hang on for a month or two, paying their rent and bills during the closures, but eight months, you know, you did start to see some businesses folding at that point.”
Paul King, owner of tattoo and piercing shop Cold Steel America, says his shop was only able to survive on funds he had been saving for five years to spend on a move to a new location. Doug Hardy, the son of influential tattoo artist Ed Hardy, who works at his father’s shop Tattoo City, said they’ve barely been able to stay afloat throughout the pandemic, and he took a second job to prepare in case of another shutdown.
In response to the pandemic, Bonny has become an advocate for tattoo and piercing shops across The City. After reaching out to other tattoo artists and parlors, she eventually established a coalition called The Unified Tattoo and Body Art Shops of San Francisco.
“It’s been very rough, and that’s why I eventually started advocating, because it really became like, no one’s helping us, no one’s speaking up for us, no one’s defending us,” Bonny said.
Bonny first obtained a list of all the registered tattoo, piercing and microblading shops in San Francisco. She and her staff contacted as many as possible via email and phone in efforts to determine which local officials had been reached.
“It’s so grassroots, it’s ridiculous,” Bonny laughed.
Bonny helped shops with applications for loans and grants, and worked with them to push supervisors for a clear path forward for their businesses. She also writes statement outlines for people to read at supervisor board meetings and even was nominated by the group to write a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Bonny also emailed the Board of Supervisors, urging support of legislation waiving tattoo registration and licensing fees, and recruited other shops to do the same. The supervisors unanimously approved the legislation March 3.
The legislation was introduced by Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who said, “It’s fundamentally unfair to view our small businesses as ATMs during this period of economic hardship.”
“My legislation will help not only tattoo shops, but also restaurants, hair and nail salons, massage establishments, gyms, entertainment venues and more — some of our hardest hit industries,” Stefani said in an email. “Small business is the backbone of our local economy, and we need to support them in any way we can.”
Shops typically have to pay $1,710 annually to operate, and artists additionally have to pay a $125 licensing fee. While waived fees helps every tattoo artist and shop to some degree, the impact can vary, King said.
“An independent tattoo artist that is having to pay both their practitioner fee and their facility fee, and they work for themselves, you’re talking probably like that $2,000 could be half their gross income for the month,” King said. “Because it’s the same, they’re paying the same thing that I am now, with like 10 people in my facility versus one person, they’re paying the same.”
Some tattoo and piercing shop owners also are frustrated that they’re categorized in the same group as masseurs, estheticians and nail technicians, who don’t have to undergo the same intensive training.
“These things don’t have the same training, and they don’t have the same focuses for things such as cross contamination,” King said. “We’re doing bloodborne pathogens training annually. We’re working with personal protection equipment our whole lives, like I’ve been working with it for 30 years. In the procedural room, we’ve always treated everyone like they have an infection, you know, like we plan for hepatitis and HIV, and pivoting to planning for airborne [diseases] isn’t that difficult for us.”
San Francisco reentered the red tier March 3, which allows tattoo parlors to operate at 25% capacity with restrictions in place.
Through all the difficulties and closures, tattoo artists have continued to fight to stay alive in San Francisco.
“Tattooing has always been part of San Francisco,” Hardy said. “I mean, even back to the Barbary Coast days, there were tattoo shops here … it’s always been a part of the bohemian and creative part of the City.”
Working alongside other tattoo artists to advocate for themselves has been an eye-opening experience for Bonny.
“I’ve just been really proud to motivate my group and to motivate tattooers to stand up for ourselves,” Bonny said. “Because … I think people have felt the satisfaction of going and speaking there, you know, coming through with facts, but also being personal, and really being able to speak our case and really see the support of the supervisors.”


text:
In an online poll of more than 400 people conducted by CGA Strategy, 24% of respondents claimed the Cuban classic to be their number-one drink of choice.
In a separate survey of 1,600 licensees, 55% confirmed it was their best selling cocktail, followed by the Cosmopolitan (of Sex and the City fame) with 18%, and holiday favourite Sex on the Beach in third on 12%.
According to CGA, cocktails are more likely to be consumed over the weekend, accounting for 31.5% of weekly sales on Saturday nights but only 7.3% on Mondays.
CGA found that one in five pubs and bars offer cocktails to differentiate themselves from their competitors and 16% of outlets have added a cocktail list within the past 12 months, giving consumers another reason to visit their venues.
“The number of outlets able to benefit from increased cocktail demand can increase significantly by capitalising on different trading times,” said CGA Strategy account manager Jamie Campbell.
The survey also found that beer consumers are moving away from the ‘big night out’ mentality often associated with cocktail consumption, towards more laid-back occasions like after-work drinks or drinking with food.
Campbell said: “Cocktails can form an important and profitable part of the product mix during these sessions. Training is important, but shouldn’t act as a barrier.
“Selling cocktails is not just about luxury brands in top-end bars.”


text:
Batman-hungry gamers have been itching for a new instalment in the popular Arkham series since the last instalment of the franchise, Arkham Knight, released back in 2015.
There have been many rumours about upcoming Batman games over the past few years, but this week we finally got a pretty close look at a game that was apparently cancelled by WB Games.
Rumours abound that there was once a Damian Wayne-based Batman game in development over at WB Montreal, which would be a follow-up to Arkham Knight and set roughly 30 years after the events of the game.
The Damian Wayne Batman game – of which the images in this article are supposedly leaked from – was rumoured to include the likes of Two-Face, Gorilla Grodd, Flamingo, Black Mask and Poison Ivy as antagonists, whilst the likes of Bruce Wayne and Dick Greyson would appear as the heroes.
The game was also rumoured to include the Nemesis System from the Middle-Earth games. We're really intrigued by the idea of fighting a Two-Face goon or something so frequently that he builds up a grudge and starts huffing Bane juice or something, coming for us when we least expect it.
Hopefully, the Nemesis System makes its way to whatever other Batman game is in development over at WB Games.
Needless to say, none of this information is official, so we don't know how far along in development this supposed title ever managed to make it.
We do know that Rocksteady is working on something new that we expect will be revealed sooner rather than later.
The current rumours state that Osama Dorias, a designer at WB Montreal, is heading up a new game that's rumoured to be based on Batman: Court of Owls.
Nothing has been confirmed by Warner Bros. at the time of writing, but it seems like an announcement from Rocksteady, WB Montreal (or both!) must be due soon.


text:
The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) has requested that the federal government develop a long-term strategy, consulting all stakeholders in order to meet the $5 billion rice export target.
Potential For Rice Exports
The Chairman of REAP, Chela Ram Kewlani, mentioned in a statement that the rice industry has the potential to export $5 billion of rice annually but that there is a requirement of a long-term policy to gradually increase rice exports.
He stated that despite numerous challenges, Rice Exporters earn over $2 billion in valuable foreign exchange for the country each year, and that there are numerous opportunities to increase rice exports. He said that there is a need for quality seeds, subsidies and aggressive marketing along with agricultural inputs to increase exports.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan’s rice exports increased by 23% in FY21 to $2.511 billion, up from $2.041 billion in FY20. Pakistan’s rice exports stood at 4.877 million tonnes in FY22 which was up from 3.684 million tonnes in FY21, up by 32.35%.
Achieving Higher Exports
Chela Ram stated that in the current economic climate, exporters face a number of challenges and require government assistance to increase exports. Pakistani farmers continue to use outdated seeds, which causes Pakistan’s per acre production to be very low in comparison to other countries, he stated.
Although the country has a number of agricultural research centers and institutes, no new rice varieties have been introduced in recent years. He proposed importing new rice varieties from the Philippines and other countries to increase per-acre yield.
He went on to say that Pakistan’s rice sector is facing a number of challenges, including seed development, storage, and higher production
costs. The federal government must take farmer-friendly measures to support rice exports, such as increasing cultivation area and providing farmers with quality seeds for improved and higher crop yields, he added.
The most crucial thing is to create and introduce new varieties of rice in order to boost crop production and bring in more foreign currency for the nation, which is already facing a cash crisis and needs more inflows to stay afloat.
The REAP intends to increase rice exports to $5 billion over the next few years, but this will require significant government effort, according to Chela Ram.
He stated that Pakistan faces stiff competition in the global market, despite the fact that African countries, China, and EU countries are the leading buyers of Pakistani rice because the quality of our rice is superior to that of our competitors.
He also urged the government to assist rice exporters in exploring new markets for their products. “Iran is also a good market for Pakistani Basmati rice,” he said, adding that “due to the lack of a banking channel, Pakistan exporters are unable to export rice to neighboring country Iran.”
If you are a rice importer wishing to buy rice in bulk or a rice exporter willing to export bulk rice, then Tradologie.com is the right platform for you.
Tradologie is a Software as a Service platform that facilitates bulk agro-trade across the globe. Through Tradologie’s interface, buyers can avail the best qualities of agro-commodities at negotiable rates.
The transaction-oriented platform has 600,000+ verified buyers and about 70,000+ registered sellers of agro-commodities from over 150 countries.
To register as a buyer, click here. To register as a seller, click here.
To stay updated with the latest happenings in the agro-trade industry, follow Tradologie.com across all social media channels.


text:
Rumors Are Swirling About This Popular Lifestyle Outlet
As e-Commerce gains traction in India, a few frontrunners are assuming their positions at the top of shoppers’ minds. One of which, Myntra, has been in the news recently as having possibly secured another round of funding to equal $25 million with backing from American investors, Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management. If the rumors are true, the firm’s total funding would now total $74 million since its 2007 launch.
Indian e-Tailers Seeing Consolidation
Daily Deals e-Tailer Snapdeal has announced the acquisition of sporting goods and fitness materials site Esportsbuy.com for an undisclosed sum. Economic Times estimates the deal between $10M and $13M and some are calling the deal more of an “acq-hire” transaction (more of a personnel acquisition while phasing out the acquired business) rather than a traditional acquisition. While CEO Kunal Bahl has not confirmed any plans, speculators say that Snapdeal will eventually merge operations and cease them at Esportsbuy. Bahl elaborates, “Currently, we will keep both the brands. Esportsbuy will co-exist and its products will be available on Snapdeal as well. But we are still internally discussing what the future course should be.”
Accel & Tiger Global Decorate Foreign Portfolio
Rare is it to see one keen on beautifying themselves but not keen on beautifying their homes. It is for this reason that Zansaar, an Indian home décor online retailer, promises success as colorful as the items they sell. The recent online startup in the business of “adding style to your home” has raised $6M in funds from Accel Partners and Tiger Global. The money will be used towards Zansaar’s capital working requirements, supporting organic growth, maintaining inventory, and meeting marketing expenses. The company is also looking to expand its staff. It currently employs around 55 people and is looking to double this number in the upcoming months.


text:
Xiaomi has come out and confirmed all the doubts about the next flagship phone they’ll launch and it will be the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro. The latest development settles all the rumours to dust as it was previously suspected by some that the Redmi K20 will what will be labelled as the Poco F2 in India.
The new comes from Xiaomi India Head Manu Jain’s official Twitter handle who said that both the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro smartphones will be launched in India. Jain also disclosed that the K20 series will be announced in six weeks’ time, meaning we can expect the phones to be available in the country by mid-July.
Prior to this tweet, Jain had also posted some pictures of billboards on Twitter where Xiaomi was promoting the upcoming Redmi K20 series. What’s interesting is that the adverts laid up by Xiaomi are lined in close proximity to OnePlus 7 Pro ad banners. The K20 banner reads “Starkly superior to the latest one”, clearly a dig at RDJ’s role as Tony Stark in MCU and “One” printed with a font similar to the OnePlus hoarding.
Talking about Xiaomi’s slated flagship killer, the Redmi K20 Pro has a 6.39 inches Samsung’s AMOLED Full HD+ display with a resolution of 2280×1080 pixels, 91.9 per cent screen-to-body ratio and comes armed with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 7nm chipset, 4000mAh battery and 27W fast charging support.
For the optics, the K20 Pro smartphone has a triple rear camera setup with a combination of Sony IMX586 48MP ultra-clear primary sensor with f/1.75, a 13-megapixel secondary super wide-angle sensor with f/ 2.4 and an 8-megapixel depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. On the front, the smartphone carries a 20-megapixels pop-selfie module with a sapphire lens cover that can rise in 0.8 seconds. The company claims that the pop-up camera module has a lifespan of 300,000 cycles.
Additionally, the K20 Pro will come with 3P lens-type optical fingerprinting system, Game Turbo 2.0, DC dimming technology and dual-band GPS. Connectivity options include USB Type C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, NFC, VoLTE, WiFi, WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth, and Dual Nano SIM with dual standby.
The standard K20, on the other hand,has a 6.39-inches Samsung’s AMOLED Full HD+ display and an in-display fingerprint sensor. It’s powered by aSnapdragon 730 8nm processor, Adreno 618 GPU,4000mAh battery and 18W fast charging.For the optics, the smartphone has a triple rear camera setup with a combination of Sony IMX582 48MP ultra-clear primary sensor, a 13-megapixel secondary sensor and an 8-megapixel depth sensor. On the front, the smartphone carries an AI 20-megapixels pop-selfie module.


text:
Wall Street headed off for the Thanksgiving holiday on an up note — for most.
The S&P 500 Retailing Industry Group rose 0.6 percent, or 4.11 points, to 663.33, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 percent, or 48.38 points, to 12,836.89.
The day’s gainers included Aéropostale Inc., up 3 percent to $13.92; Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., 2.2 percent to $48.24; Chico’s FAS Inc., 1.9 percent to $18.37; Fifth & Pacific Cos. Inc., 1.9 percent to $11.90, and Amazon.com Inc., 1.8 percent to $238.03.
Running countertrend was Zale Corp., which posted worse-than-expected first-quarter losses of $28.3 million, or 88 cents a share, and saw its stock drop 30 percent to $5.21.
Retailers and Web sites are geared up for the holiday season and while shoppers remain relatively confident, they’re paying close attention to the looming “fiscal cliff” of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers Index of Consumer Sentiment inched up to 82.7 this month from 82.6 in October.
“The gains in confidence ended in late November as consumers became more uncertain about when and how the fiscal cliff with be bridged,” said Richard Curtin, chief economist at the Surveys of Consumers. “While they had anticipated a last minute settlement, some consumers are beginning to doubt whether that will happen before higher tax rates take effect in January. While a resolution just before year-end could reverse any future spending declines, it would nonetheless diminish holiday spending.”
The holiday spending season starts in earnest Friday—or on Thanksgiving Day for some chains looking to draw the earliest of early-bird shoppers. Forecasters generally expect sales growth to slow this holiday season, though profits growth could perk up as retailers enjoy the benefits of lower cotton costs and face easier comparison.
In Europe, markets closed higher as investors watched for signs of progress on the Greek bailout deal that stalled on Tuesday in Brussels. European finance ministers are to resume talks on how to deal with Greece’s debt crisis on Monday.
The FTSE MIB in Milan led the way, gaining 0.8 percent to 15,394.62, followed by the CAC 40 in Paris, which grew 0.4 percent to 3,477.36. The DAX in Frankfurt expanded 0.2 percent to 7,184.74, and the FTSE 100 in London gained by 0.1 percent to 5,752.03.
The day’s biggest gainers included Brunello Cucinelli, up 4.5 percent to 13.61; Asos.com, 3.9 percent to 23.75 pounds; Mulberry, 1 percent to 10.71, and Luxottica, 0.7 percent to 30.47.
However, shares of French Connection Group slipped 1 percent to 24.75 pounds after the firm released its interim trading update, which the retail business in Europe and the U.K. had improved during the 16 weeks to Nov. 20. French Connection said that revenue during the third quarter was flat versus a year earlier. That compared with a drop of 9.5 percent in the first half of the year.
Other decliners included Inditex, down 0.3 percent to 101.15 euros, and Burberry, 1.1 percent to 12.33 pounds.
The euro traded at $1.28 versus the dollar and the pound was valued at $1.59.


text:
What our milk get from the field to families in the Big Apple.
Trinity Valley Dairy has hit it big big as in Big Apple New York City big. So if you’re in the area and drink milk, white or chocolate, labeled Manhattan Milk Company, what’s inside actually is produced from our cows and bottled on our farm.
Manhattan Milk is a truck-to-table delivery service founded in 2007 when Frank Acosta and Matt Marone made it their mission to bring back the milkman. The iconic blast from the past has been a huge success. Deliveries to the Big Apple are made once a week to customers’ doorsteps and businesses, sometimes with a wink and always with a smile the same kind of service that appealed to people in the 1950s, although orders can now be made online and with a credit card.
Currently, Trinity bottles about 250 gallons of milk for Manhattan, and then ships it to New York City for weekly distribution to roughly about 100 people in the Big Apple.
Pass the chocolate...
People who ate the most chocolate a day — up to 3.5 ounces — had a 14 percent lower risk of heart disease and a 23 percent lower risk of stroke than those who ate no chocolate. The researchers then lumped the data in with nine other studies that measured chocolate consumption and heart disease. The combined pool involved nearly 158,000 people.


text:
Verizon and Motorola Tuesday confirmed the Droid 2, a slicker, faster version of the original Motorola Droid and hotly rumored in recent weeks. The Droid 2 is similar to the nine-month-old Droid but has an upgraded, more user-friendly keyboard and more processing power, as well as up-to-date software and version 2.2 of Google's Android OS.
According to Verizon and Motorola, the Droid 2 will be available starting Wednesday through Verizon's online store and in Verizon retail outlets starting Thursday. Cost is $199.99 with a two-year lock in, and all Verizon customers with contracts expiring in 2010 are eligible for an upgrade.
There's also a bonus for "Star Wars" geeks: A limited-edition version of the Droid 2 will be released in September and styled to look like R2-D2, while featuring what Motorola and Verizon are describing as "exclusive 'Star Wars' content."
Droid 2 offers a 1GHz processor, up from 600MHz in the original Droid and the same power as the new Droid X, and has 512 MB of RAM. It comes with Android 2.2 -- which many hot Android phones haven't yet received -- as well as support for Adobe Flash 10.1, a 5-megapixel camera, 8 GB of memory and an 8-GB microSD card, and mobile hot-spot capability for up to five devices.
"When we announced Droid X last month, we reaffirmed our commitment to continue to bring unique experiences to the Verizon Wireless network," said Jeffrey Dietel, vice president of wireless device, marketing and development for Verizon Wireless. "The Droid by Motorola was our first Android device, so it is important for us to include the successor to that phone in our portfolio."
Added Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer of Motorola, about Droid 2: "We've taken a big leap forward from the original Droid."
The Droid 2 continues Verizon and Motorola's march to Android dominance; the carrier and the manufacturer are responsible for some of the hottest smartphones in a year already dominated by buzzed-about Android devices. Droid 2 had been rumored for months and both Android and the Droid brand are established by now, but according to what Boy Genius Report is describing as a leaked Verizon Wireless product road map, Verizon and Motorola are just getting warmed up.


text:
Kodak has just unveiled a 16 MPx, Android powered smartphone or beter said smartcamera. The Kodak Polaroid SC1630 Android HD Smart Camera is a thick phone (18.5mm) but if you look at it as a camera it's actually compact.
In terms of camera you get a 16 MPx unit with 3X optical zoom, F3.1-F5.6 aperture, xenon flash, 720p video recording, shutter speeds of up to 1/1400 and ISO up to 3200.
As phone you get quad band GSM and tri-band 3G support, a 3.2” WVGA display, microSIM, 2.5 mm jack, Android OS(version not specified) and a pretty small 1020 mAh battery.
The Polaroid Android HD Smart Camera will $299 and should be available in April.


text:
The last time a Miu Miu advertising campaign truly captured our attention was the brand’s Resort 2019 offering starring Kendall Jenner, Gwendoline Christie and many others. It’s been a whole two years and there’s been radio silence — until now. Miuccia Prada enlisted photographic duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott to capture the Resort 2021 collection shooting the label’s muses both past and present. The stellar cast includes Kim Basinger, Du Juan, Jordan Kristine Seamón, Emma Corrin, Raffey Cassidy, Storm Reid and Chloë Sevigny with each proving their worth in the Holiday 2020 campaign shot in London and remotely in Los Angeles.
The campaign received nothing but praise on our forums. “Miu Miu by M&M? Oh, I am so ready for this,” praised dontbeadrag.
“It’s a very good campaign. It’s so good that it makes me forget that Miu Miu has been a mess for quite some time. I hope M&M will stick to this style…” approved Lola701.
“This is quite a good campaign. I love how Miu Miu stays loyal to former faces like Kim Basinger, Chloë Sevigny and Du Juan,” appreciated mikel.
[ Not a tFS forum member yet? Click here to join! ]
Also in love with the outcome was vogue28: “The best Miu Miu advertising campaign I’ve come across in years without a shadow of a doubt. I was sold on Du Juan and Kim Basinger alone, but the other girls have photographed just as well — especially Storm Reid. A brilliant campaign all around. Kudos, Mert and Marcus!”
“Chloë is the ultimate Miu Miu muse, she’s just so cool without trying to be cool. Certainly one of their better campaigns because everyone matches the energy of this brand…” noted Benn98.
“I like it! The Miu Miu girl has grown up! It is nice to have this range of various women. It is playful, a bit sexy, feminine and the clothes have photographed nicely,” said GivenchyAddict.
See more from Miu Miu’s latest campaign and join the conversation here.


text:
Tesco Mobile has beaten all other networks to scoop the top position in the prestigious mobile satisfaction survey from Which? Magazine, for the fourth year in a row.
The survey of over 5,000 people found that Tesco Mobile was the favourite mobile operator for pay as you go, with customers nominating the network for services including its wide handset range, affordable tariffs and exceptional customer service.
Tesco Mobile’s handsets were also applauded with the Nokia 2610 highlighted as ‘cheapest best buy’ and the Nokia 5310 as ‘best buy under £80’.
Tesco Mobile’s Pay as you go tariff which rewards customers with free triple credit, was also given a special mention by Which?, who called it the ‘best top-up incentive’, beating other mobile networks’ top up bonuses for value.
The Which? report is backed up by other recent mobile surveys including the 2009 Aura Mobile Customer Survey which selected Tesco Mobile as the top operator for customer satisfaction.
Lance Batchelor, chief executive officer at Tesco Mobile and Tesco Telecoms said: “This is a powerful endorsement for our brand and we are delighted that Which? members have voted for Tesco Mobile.
“Customer service is crucially important to mobile users who will often select their operator on the experience they have had. Its great news for us that consumers have chosen Tesco Mobile over the other networks for four years in a row and shows that people are prepared to shop around to get the very best in customer care.”


text:
In an interview with IRNA, Arbab-Khales added that Iran and Turkmenistan traders and officials are making many efforts for preserving and even boosting bilateral trade exchange despite many restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic is an indication of their willingness in this regard.
Recently, within the framework of economic diplomacy of Iranian Embassy in Ashgabat, we held talks with the chairman of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists of Turkmenistan, on the fields of bilateral cooperation.
The Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists of Turkmenistan is a large economic organization that manages about 69 % of its industrial, entrepreneurship and private sector activities and aims to regulate the country ” s productive economy since 2008, he continued.
Iranian ambassador to Turkmenistan said that in the meeting with the chairman of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists of Turkmenistan, various spheres of mutual cooperation with Iran in the production and entrepreneurship sectors as well as commercial and industrial activity through identification of union capacity and economic industrial societies have been redefined and expanded.
According to media, Iran and Turkmenistan have decided to increase the total value of their economic exchanges from the existing $3.7 billion to $60 billion in a ten-year period
Iran plans to turn Sarakhs into a special economic zone, which amounts to a historic opportunity for absorbing massive investments as well as the promotion of cooperation between the two countries.
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish


text:
KKR had taken out a loan of EUR 300 million to finance the acquisition of Unzer.
Frankfurt The payment service provider Unzer could be taken over by a group of creditors. The financial investor KKR, currently the majority shareholder of the Berlin company, is about to reach an agreement with the consortium.
Alcentra Asset Management, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Partners Group have agreed in principle to take a majority stake. This is reported by people familiar with the matter. The group would provide fresh equity and waive part of its claims. According to the circles, KKR retains a minority stake. The takeover still has to be approved by the supervisory authority, it is said.
“Unzer recently received significant financing to accelerate its growth following an agreement reached with our shareholders and a consortium of existing investors,” stated KKR and Unzer. “The new investment strengthens our capital structure and increases our liquidity.”
The declaration only states that the financial investor will remain economically involved. Further details are not given. Alcentra, Goldman and Partners Group spokesmen declined to comment.
According to financial sources, KKR had taken out a €230 million loan to finance the acquisition of Unzer, which was increased for several follow-up purchases.
Financial regulator imposes ban on new customers against Unzer subsidiary
Payment companies process payments at the cash register and increasingly in e-commerce on behalf of retailers. They receive a small percentage of the turnover or a small flat fee from the dealers for each transaction.
When KKR took over Unzer in 2019 – then still under the name Heidelpay – it touted the company as “one of the fastest growing full-service payment providers in Europe”. In autumn 2022, Unzer appointed former Commerzbank boss Martin Blessing as chairman of the newly established advisory board.
After a series of takeovers, including the point-of-sale and terminal business of the collapsed former Dax group Wirecard and the payment service provider Quickpay, Unzer was slowed down in 2022: the German financial regulator Bafin prohibited the Unzer subsidiary from E-Com almost a year ago, the acceptance of new customers with reference to “serious deficiencies”.
According to Unzer, it no longer serves so-called high-risk customers. These include porn and gambling providers. The competitor Computop, the market leader in Germany as an e-commerce payment service provider, has also parted with customers from the gaming and erotica sectors.
In view of the low margins, the competitive pressure is enormous. For providers, the aim is to process as many payments as possible via their systems and thus reduce the costs per transaction. As a payment processor for German online shops, Unzer recently had a market share of a good 17 percent, as determined by the EHI, a retail research institute, with a view to large retailers.
Computop therefore achieves 35 percent. Payone, which is majority owned by the French group Worldline and in which the German savings banks have a stake, comes to around 20 percent. The EHI sees the young companies Klarna from Sweden and Adyen from the Netherlands at 13 and 11 percent respectively.
With agency material
More: Conflicts between fintechs and Bafin are increasing
#KKR #apparently #Unzer #payment #platform #creditors


text:
India may be for one of the fastest growing markets for Apple but when it comes to launches it does not figure on the iPhone maker’s map. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available to customers in India beginning only from October 7 onwards.
As many as 60 other countries will get the new devices ahead of India. This includes countries such as Andorra, Greenland, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Kosovo and Liechtenstein.
While a one-month delay may not mean much in terms of sales for Apple, analysts say that the company could used this launch to show that India matters.
“With Tim Cook coming to India, Apple had raised hopes on the company’s focus on the Indian market. Yet it was disappointing to see that India was not on the list of top 30 markets that will initially get the iPhone 7. They have done rather poorly for the Indian market especially after talking so much about India. This was their chance to turn the ship around and make India feel important,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst, Greyhound Research.
Nearly 10 years after Apple launched the iPhone, India is beginning to figure as a key market for the iconic brand. A stronger distribution network in tier-2 and -3 cities, cheaper financing schemes, and a focus on the enterprise segment have ensured that India has become one of the few markets where the American brand is seeing high growth of 50-60 per cent.
But in the overall scheme of things India’s contribution to Apple business is still very small.
“Apple was going to send in VoLTE enabled phones for RJio as promised by Tim Cook and that hasn’t happened even when Jio is already live. Perhaps the next launch of iPhone will have India on the radar and come equipped with VoLTE,” said Faisal Kawoosa of CyberMedia Research.
Market watchers said the new devices could add to that growth rate. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in silver, gold, rose gold and the new black finish in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB models starting at ₹60,000
“The good thing is iPhone 7 is seen as incremental upgrade over 6 in India. In India, Apple is already selling two-year-old devices. Between 6 and 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus and 7 and 7 Plus, Apple has 6 devices in different price ranges with minor differences. That makes their portfolio quite rich in India. By leveraging on pent up aspirational demand, I expect the sales to go up here,” said Jayanth Kolla, Founder & Partner at Convergence Catalyst.Lack of innovation
But analysts are disappointed with the lack of innovation coming from the Apple stable. In the last few years, for the entire mobile industry, innovation has only been incremental.
Innovation is plateauing and Apple is also succumbing to that. “Apple to some extent is struggling to hang on as a product innovation leader. The competition is catching up and Apple is not able to do anything drastically different,” said Kolla.
Kawoosa, however, said that the smartphone’s capability as a product has reached a level where one cannot add too many breakthroughs anymore.
“Apple 4 was phenomenal, 5 was phenomenal, 6 had a couple of features that excited people. But the time has come where we’ll see incremental changes instead of breakthroughs,” said Kawoosa.


text:
Music streaming service Spotify will now allow artists to sell their music, merchandise and concert tickets directly to fans via its platform.
The move is part of a partnership with BandPage, a service that allows artists to create personal bios that can be hosted on various platforms such as Facebook and Spotify.
Aside from allowing artists to sell standard merchandise like t-shirts, they can also offer tickets to secret gigs or other exclusive content via their profile pages on Spotify.
Although this isn’t the first time Spotify has allowed musicians to sell merchandise through its platform, it is the first time artists have been given the option to offer exclusives – such as secret gigs and “experiences”.
It is thought that the ongoing emphasis on artist promotion from Spotify is intended to help improve its image in regard to music royalty rates.
The service recently took a bashing from certain corners of the music industry for putting the interests of record labels before artists. Musicians such as Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Placebo’s Brian Molko criticised Spotify’s treatment of artists, with the former pulling his side-project Atoms For Peace’s album from the platform’s library.
The ensuing controversy sparked an online debate over the ethics of music streaming services, with various media outlets and music personalities either criticising or defending the likes of Spotify.


text:
Netflix Integrates with Suddenlink, Seventh-Largest Cable Provider in the US
Netflix wants to be on your cable box. And it’s been aggressively trying to make that happen, first in Europe and more recently in the US with smaller cable providers.
Now the streaming service has its biggest deal to date: Suddenlink Communications, a cable operator with roughly 1.2 million paying customers, will soon offer Netflix on its TiVo set-top boxes.
The deal follows similar pacts Netflix made with Atlantic Broadband, Grande Communications, and RCN late last month.
Not listed here, obviously, are cable giants like Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which is in the process of being acquired by Comcast. Don’t hold your breath for these companies to embrace Netflix integration, either. Comments made by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in the past have not-so-subtly suggested that Comcast isn’t all that interested in bringing a “competitor” like Netflix to its set-top boxes.
So far, deals struck by Netflix with cable companies both in the US and Europe have been reliant on the TiVo set-top platform. Only those who pay for TiVo service from the aforementioned cable companies are able to access Netflix (they also require a Netflix subscription). So even though Suddenlink has 1.2 million customers — enough to make it the seventh-largest in the US — that doesn’t mean all 1.2 million now have access to Netflix as a premium channel like HBO, Showtime, etc.
But baby steps are still steps.Tags: Atlantic Broadband, Comcast, Grande Communications, Netflix, pay tv, RCN, Suddenlink Communications, Time Warner Cable


text:
Covid-19 dents auto sector recovery — but a rebound might be in the cards in the coming months
EXCLUSIVE- Covid-19 dents auto sector recovery — but a rebound might be in the cards in the coming months: Egypt’s automotive industry looked in the first quarter to be recovering from several years of slow sales — but is now suffering another setback thanks to covid-19. Since the middle of March, assemblers and distributors alike have been faced with a twin supply-demand shock: Global supply chains have brought imports of cars and components to a standstill — and consumer demand has faltered amid both lockdown measures and uncertainty about how the economy will fare.
What’s the damage? Promising sales growth through much of the first quarter gave way in the final two weeks of March as consumer demand slumped in response to the pandemic, distancing measures, and the partial lockdown of the economy. Data from the Automotive Information Council (AMIC) shows that passenger car sales fell to 5.8k in April, down 26% from the almost 8k cars bought in April 2019. The trucks segment (which reflects mostly corporate demand) fared even worse, seeing a 42% decline in sales to 1.5k units during the month. The overall market saw a 22% drop in volumes to 8.9k, down from 11.5k in April last year. Many companies approached by Enterprise were reluctant to talk about recent sales performance, with one senior exec telling us that sales across the industry “were hit sharply during Ramadan and the week-long Eid vacation.”
There were some surprising bright spots in the latest data: Bus sales surged by 58% during the month to hit 1.6k, up from 1k last year. And the disruption caused by the government’s preventative measures hasn’t yet been enough to push volumes down year-to-date: sales in the first four months of 2020 are almost 33% higher than during the equivalent period last year. Still, April’s figures are hardly anything to write home about: volumes fell below levels seen in April 2017, when the EGP devaluation, surging inflation, and a hangover from the FX crunch that marred 2016 caused sales to fall to 9.5k. What happened?
#1- Uncertainty in the market: Amid reports that businesses have laid off staff or cut salaries, many consumers put their plans to buy a new car on hold. EGX-listed GB Auto reported “plummeting” footfall in its showrooms during the early days of the government’s lockdown measures. “One would not risk putting their savings in a car that they cannot even drive when they may soon be jobless and in need of every pound,” Khaled Saad, secretary-general of the Egyptian Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told Enterprise.
#2- Issuance of new licenses was suspended: Even those who took a leap of faith and bought new cars were effectively unable to drive them. The Interior Ministry suspended in-office operations of the traffic police — the body entrusted with renewing and issuing new car and driver’s licenses — under an edict that froze most citizen-facing government services. Consumers who bought used cars were unable to transfer ownership as the Real Estate notary offices were closed for the same reason.
#3- The CBE barred car dealers from trading in cash: At the same time, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) warned it would impose hefty fines on car dealers who dealt in cash (part of a longstanding drive to reduce the economy’s reliance on cash) and temporarily capped withdrawals and deposits at banks. This caused major headaches for cash-reliant car showrooms, 95% of which don’t have the required operating permits and thus do not have access to business bank accounts, said Osama Aboul Magd, chairman of the Egyptian Automotive Dealers Association.
#4- The curfew hasn’t helped the situation: Companies have had to cut their working hours to comply with the government’s night-time curfew. The restricted opening times have affected sales at El-Saba Automotive, which usually sees the majority of its trade take place in the second half of the day, CEO Alaa El Saba tells us. The cherry on the top: multiple days of full shutdown in recent months as the government ordered stores closed.
All of this is taking place during unprecedented disruption to global supply chains: Local auto assemblers and distributors have been hit by the global lockdown, which caused car manufacturers and suppliers to either close down or significantly reduce production capacity. According to El Saba, Egypt has not received automotive parts or vehicles since the escalation of the outbreak in March.
Expansion plans are being put on hold: Companies are facing growing liquidity constraints, forcing some of them to put expansion plans on ice, said Saad, who is also the head of Brilliance Bavarian Auto. His company has pressed pause on plans to spend USD 120 mn on a new production line. GB Auto has also suspended its capital expenditure program and launched a cost-cutting program.
Companies are slashing prices to stimulate demand: Tens of auto showrooms and dealerships have been campaigning on social media and advertising five-figure discounts to stimulate the market (see here and here for examples).
The twin supply-demand shock is putting companies in a difficult position: Rather than raise prices to reflect the low supply of vehicles, companies have been forced to respond to the demand slump by the need for liquidity, El Saba says. “The only reason companies would offer such promotions is the need for liquidity — any liquidity to meet their own expenses,” he said. Nader Ghabbour, deputy CEO of GB Auto, downplayed the effects of the price cuts in the long term, telling investors during a recent earnings call (pdf) that any reductions in gross margin would made up for in absolute terms by higher sales.
When can we expect a recovery? Everyone we spoke to anticipated the market downturn to extend at least to the end of 2Q. GB Auto expects its passenger cars segment to remain under “sustained pressure” until the end of 2Q, after which it is “cautiously optimistic” for a recovery in 3Q, Ghabbour said. A senior exec at GB Auto told us that sales have started to show “some recovery” in June and said sales will accelerate when the government eases more restrictions — and as consumer confidence returns to pre-pandemic norms. Saad, meanwhile, suggested that volumes for the year may fall as much as 70% from 2019 levels.
Remember: This isn’t a case of “lost” sales, but of delayed sales: Hard as it may be to believe given our traffic-choked streets, Egypt is “under-motorized” compared to most regional peers and emerging markets. We have 45 cars per 1k inhabitants — Iraq is at 77, Algeria 114 and Turkey 140, according to GB Auto’s investor presentation (pdf).
Any forecasts, of course, come with a major caveat: Nobody knows how the covid-19 pandemic will play out in Egypt. Although the auto sector will celebrate the recent easing of lockdown restrictions — including the reopening of traffic offices and longer work hours thanks to relaxation of the curfew to 8pm-5am — it remains possible that the sector will face further disruptions should health conditions continue to worsen.


text:
China’s online commerce giant Alibaba decision to file an initial public offering (IPO) sent waves across Wall Street and Silicon Valley, with analysts predicting this could be the largest technology debut in history.
China’s answer to eBay, Amazon and Paypal could surpass the US$16 billion raised by Facebook when it went public in 2012. But if Alibaba can evoke such optimism and excitement then why has the stock of its Latin American equivalent taken such a nosedive in recent months?
Founded in Buenos Aires in 1999, MercadoLibre is eBay’s Latin American partner and the region’s leading e-commerce site. It employs 1,600 people across the region and boasts some 90 million users, with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Uruguay and Venezuela. The e-commerce pioneer also runs Paypal-style online payment service MercadoPago and it continues to be the only NASDAQ-listed internet company from Argentina or Brazil.
Listed as MELI on NASDAQ, MercadoLibre recently posted net revenue of US$115.4 million for 2014Q1, up 12.3% from 2013Q1. However, the company stock is still recovering from a major slump, dropping by close to 40% since the end of last year.
“MercardoLibre’s stock is slumping because of the way that it accounts for its earnings in Argentina and Venezuela,” stock analyst Nicholas Pardini told Nearshore Americas. “A lot of investors are concerned that they may not be performing as well as they claim to be because of the way they reported the value of the currency.”
Argentina and Venezuela have suffered high levels of inflation in recent months and “both of those combined make up a very large percentage of MercardoLibre’s bottom line,” explained Pardini, the author of the Pardini Report and managing partner of the Nomadic Capital Partners hedge fund. “If they report those earnings in a different exchange rate before the devaluation, or one that does not factor in the black market value of that currency, then it might make the US dollar earnings look higher than they are in practice. There are fears of further devaluations of these currencies and the slowdowns in these particular countries have been driving down the stock.”
“Technology is considered the heart of MercadoLibre’s business. Each year the company spends between 5% and 7% of its income on technology investment and it has 300 IT professionals who develop all the software for the platform in-house” – MercadoLibre CTO Daniel Rabinovich
Performance Guarantees Recovery
However, MercadoLibre’s stock is expected to recover well in the long term given the company’s strong performance and enormous growth potential. The analyst consensus is that it will continue to grow by over 20% of the next five years, “mainly because MercardoLibre doesn’t really have any competition for the eBay-like services in Latin America and it is still a growing market,” Pardini said. “There’s plenty of growth opportunity” given that Latin America is a huge, young and largely untapped market for e-commerce (Forrester Research rates it as the fastest growing e-commerce market in the world) while the partnership with eBay “ensures that eBay won’t compete with them directly in Latin America,” Pardini added.
The company’s strong performance record owes much to its efficient business model and knack for innovation. “They have a track record of keeping earnings growth high and pretty strong profitability and management efficiency. Their net profit margins are reported as 28.6%,” Pardini said. The actual margin could be lower, given MercadoLibre’s currency reporting, he warned, “but it’s so still much higher than most Internet companies around the world and it has a return on investment capital of 30%. Anything above 20% is a sign of strong management efficiency within the company.”
For MercadoLibre, strong management efficiency has meant keeping most platform development in-house and acquiring talent, while outsourcing certain tasks to third parties and fostering an entire tech ecosystem based around its platform.
“Technology is considered the heart of MercadoLibre’s business. Each year the company spends between 5% and 7% of its income on technology investment and it has 300 IT professionals who develop all the software for the platform in-house in Buenos Aires and in the province of San Luis,”MercadoLibre CTO Daniel Rabinovich told Nearshore Americas.
“MercadoLibre currently has three development centers in Argentina (two in Buenos Aires and one in San Luis). In March 2013 we acquired the company Neosur, a company from Cordoba dedicated to software development, which is also now part of our development centers,” Rabinovich added.
In October 2013 MercadoLibre signed an agreement with North Carolina-based ChannelAdvisor,a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable retailers and manufacturers to increase global sales by more efficiently automating and managing the online selling process across multiple channels, including third-party marketplaces, paid search and comparison shopping engines.
“We believe this partnership will increase our marketplace listings and bring new strategic clients, fully integrated with our systems,” MercadoLibre COO Stelleo Tolda said at the time. “Ultimately, our consumers will benefit through an even better buying experience.”
Creating An Ecosystem
In 2011 MercadoLibre opened a US$1 million R&D center in Silicon Valley in order to attract talent, observe the latest trends and develop innovative new software and technology. It has since focused on building an ecosystem around the company and opened its platform to third parties so as to stimulate both internal and external innovation.
The company’s open application planning interface (API) enables independent developers to create apps compatible with MercadoLibre and MercadoPago that enhance the user experience and improve operations between buyers and sellers. To this end MercadoLibre also launched annual Developers Conferences in Argentina and Brazil in 2013.
“These conferences are intended to create a space where developers, startups and MercadoLibre vendors can unite,” Rabinovich said. “We want the big sellers to become familiar with the solutions that can enable them to maximize their business, while the developers can participate in technical talks, API demonstrations, and find out about all the possibilities to create integrated apps for the MercadoLibre ecosystem.”
In March 2013 MercadoLibre also launched a US$10 million Commerce Fund to support startups with the potential to capitalize on its API. The fund will favor early-stage startups with high potential that are developing apps or technologies based on the MercadoLibre platform. The aim is to promote and drive developments that will contribute to the adoption of e-commerce in Latin America, while specifically enhancing the MercadoLibre ecosystem.
“We know Latin America’s ability in terms of resources and technological enterprises, we want to promote and foster development that contributes to the growth of our platform and e-commerce in the region,” Rabinovich explained.
If successful, this approach will ensure that MercadoLibre remains the dominant force in the region’s fast-expanding online commerce market.


text:
Top Pick Emerges From Auto Microchip Shortage
Semiconductors face current challenges, but their future is strong.
Global demand for semiconductors has surged since the start of the pandemic. With social-distancing measures and remote work, many consumers bought computers, tablets, and other smart devices that rely on these chips.
Some tech firms anticipated demand for their chip-reliant products would persist during the pandemic, so they continued making orders. Other companies that rely on chips, however, didn’t anticipate this need as well.
One of the most prominent examples is the automaker industry. Many automakers stopped buying the chips used in vehicles because they didn’t anticipate consumers would be buying cars and trucks during the pandemic. As a result, they halted auto production for nearly four months.
The quick economic recovery caught automakers off guard. To meet skyrocketing demand for vehicles, they submitted chip orders when semiconductor companies were busy filling existing orders from firms that anticipated the demand surge.
This meant automakers had to get in line for chips that hadn’t even been produced. And because chip suppliers didn’t have any inventory set aside for automakers, the shortage began.
In a recent report, Morningstar equity analysts Brian Colello, Victoria Radke, and Malik Ahmed Khan stated their belief that supply for auto chips won’t recover until early 2022. (Morningstar Direct clients can read the full report here.)
Our analysts say current auto chip shortages present challenges, but strong demand down the road outweighs these concerns.
Vehicles require higher-quality chips to enable fancy tech features like blind-spot monitoring, 360° camera view, and adaptive cruise control. They also need a larger quantity of chips as vehicles become less mechanical and more electronic.
Our analysts view the semiconductor industry as fairly valued: “The chip shortages of 2021, and the robust demand, pricing, and factory utilization environment, appear to be priced into stocks in the near term,” but they recommend waiting for these stocks’ prices to drop before buying.
As of today, Microchip Technology (MCHP) is the most attractive. Here’s a closer look at this stock, according to Colello.
Microchip Technology (MCHP)
"Microchip Technology is a leading supplier of microcontrollers, or MCUs, which are semiconductors that act as the brains within a wide variety of common electronic devices, from garage door openers to hands-free soap dispensers to electric razors and all types of products in between. We view Microchip as one of the best-run firms within the chip space and remain fond of the firm’s ability to generate profitability and free cash flow under virtually any economic scenario.
"MCUs essentially recognize inputs, execute a program, and send an output. MCUs are often accompanied by analog chips that process real-world inputs such as temperature and pressure, so that, for example, a thermostat can recognize the current temperature and tell the MCU so that it can decide to turn the heating unit on or off.
"The businesses of MCUs and analog chips have many desirable features. Neither type of chip is overly dependent on leading-edge designs, so capital investments tend to be relatively low. These chips are selected based on performance rather than price, because they make up only a tiny portion of a product's overall cost. Customers tend to be loyal, and chips have long product lives because switching to a competing MCU could involve redesigning the entire end product. Thus, MCU and analog firms are able to maintain high margins and returns on invested capital.
"Microchip's historical strength has been the 8-bit MCU segment. These chips tend to be used in a wide range of simpler electronic products, and as a result, Microchip benefits by not being overly exposed to a single technology segment or customer. Microchip faces more competition in the more advanced 16- and 32-bit MCUs, but the firm has been gaining ground, and the firm’s analog chip business has grown at a nice pace both organically and as the firm makes bolt-on acquisitions.
"Overall, we foresee healthy demand for Microchip’s products going forward. As more and more electronic devices become ‘smarter’ and connected to the Internet, Microchip’s MCUs and analog chips stand to benefit. Microchip will likely continue to make acquisitions in order to further expand its product portfolio."--Brian Colello, equity analyst
Sachin Nagarajan does not own (actual or beneficial) shares in any of the securities mentioned above. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.


text:
- Celebrities and influencers are joining the #MaskingForAFriend campaign to encourage wearing masks to protect others.
- Other countries have been embracing face masks in public for several years.
- Just like sunglasses and hats evolved from sun protection to fashion accessories, masks may do the same.
All data and statistics are based on publicly available data at the time of publication. Some information may be out of date.
体育投注网址It started with donning a black mask against a backdrop of wisteria flowers, hashtagging her efforts #MaskingForAFriend. , , and soon followed, with others quickly joining the cause launched by the .
The goal? To spread accurate information about the benefits of masking, particularly for those around us. Because masking isn’t about protecting ourselves; it’s about protecting our loved ones and the loved ones of others.
Of course, the campaign has had the added bonus of celebrities normalizing the act of wearing a face mask and proving that doing so can even be trendy.
体育投注网址But could it become something more here in the United States?
体育投注网址In many Asian countries, wearing a face mask in public has been a cultural norm long before COVID-19.
Industrial and organizational psychologist , a professor at Central Michigan University, says the embracing of face masks in those areas came about for several reasons.
“First, there was rapid industrialization that led to bad air quality,” she explained. “Then, of course, there were recent diseases that disproportionately impacted those areas of the world. I’m thinking of SARS specifically.”
体育投注网址Ivanitskaya, who has been working hard to normalize mask wearing, and who has of Amish and Mennonite communities in making masks to distribute across the country, says these experiences shifted the cultural mindset toward respiratory protection.
She added, “I’m confident that cultural factors, such as collectivism and understanding of other people’s needs, has also played a role.”
But now, thanks to evolving science and a better understanding of exactly whom masks protect, most health officials seem to finally be on the same page.
体育投注网址Bell has been working to provide the necessary medical perspective for the #MaskingForAFriend campaign, explaining that masking for others is what scientists and medical experts refer to as source control.
“If everyone does this, the amount of infection being spread in our communities can be greatly reduced,” he said.
Bell agrees, adding that wearing a cloth mask has benefits beyond slowing the spread of COVID-19, and that source control can reduce the transmission of many other easily spread respiratory infections — the kind that typically render people infectious even before they display symptoms, like influenza.
“Some international reports have noted a lower impact of flu related to the uptake of measures to prevent COVID-19,” Bell said.
体育投注网址But that doesn’t necessarily mean masks are for everyone.
体育投注网址“Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children younger than 2 years of age, anyone who has trouble breathing, or anyone who is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the cover without assistance,” Bell explained.
体育投注网址“It’s a very real issue,” Ivanitskaya said. “I’m with a group of researchers who have been developing mask construction advice, and we are suggesting materials and mask designs. One of the masks we made that seemed very reasonable, I pretested on myself, wearing the mask uphill as I rode my bike.”
But the same mask Ivanitskaya was able to wear without issue turned out to be impossible for her 88-year-old neighbor to keep on.
体育投注网址In fact, he told her he was choking inside of it. After another older neighbor reported the same experience, Ivanitskaya turned to the research and discovered evidence of diminished lung capacity among older adults.
That was when she started experimenting with finding the sweet spot between protection and tolerability for those who may not be able to breathe as easily from behind a mask.
体育投注网址What she discovered is that different people have different levels of tolerability when it comes to mask wear — and factors like outside temperatures, whether the wearer also uses glasses, and even nose size can all play a role.
Finding a mask you can comfortably keep on should be the ultimate goal, even if it doesn’t provide exactly the same level of protection as someone who may be able to tolerate more layers and a tighter seal.
But it’s not just improving comfort that face mask designers are now focusing on. Many are also trying to create masks people actually want to wear — masks others might find as an aesthetically pleasing and fun way to accessorize.
If you think that sounds crazy, just remember: Sunglasses and hats once started out as items meant to simply protect the wearer from the sun.
体育投注网址They’ve now evolved into fashion accessories providing countless options to choose from.
“Many businesses, small and large, have taken the opportunity to make and sell cloth face covers. A wide variety of styles and designs are already available,” Bell said. “We’re already seeing a lot of people not only wearing cloth face coverings, but making a design or fashion statement with their choice of cover.”
Whether it’s the design you choose or the way you fasten your mask to your face (with a popular debate now ensuing over whether ear loops or clasps behind the head are better), you have an opportunity to make a statement with the mask you wear — and protect others in style.


text:
TotalEnergies and Compagnie des Bois du Gabon (CBG) have joined forces to develop a forward-looking model of sustainable and responsible forest management that combines sustainable harvesting, biodiversity conservation, and long-term carbon storage ... [more...]
. Gheombi is used for door manufacturing. The timber has dark streaks but this is apparently appreciated in the Chinese market.
As a result of the disruption to beech supplies due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine buyers for the markets in European buyers are showing more interest in African ... [more...]
Implementation of the decision to ban the export of logs by the six Cemac countries (Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Chad, CAR and Equatorial Guinea) will not become effective as planned on 1 January 2022. This information emerged from a meeting of Forestry Ministers in Cemac member states and t ... [more...]
. Speakers included Ken Walsh of Danzer UK, Hank Marcel of Robinson Lumber, Ben Jenn of NHG, and Rupert Green of Greentimber.
The report on the situation in the African hardwood trade noted that log stocks and sawn timber supplies in the region are compa ... [more...]
. Furthermore, the disruption in commodity markets, travel and tourism and country-level lockdowns have slowed economic activity.
The impact of pandemic control measures has hit West African timber producers across the region, coming at a time when deman ... [more...]
The impact of pandemic control measures have hit timber producers across the West African region hard, coming as it has at a time when demand in the traditional markets, especially in Europe, were already under pressure from lower consumptions, cha ... [more...]
Demand in African markets has grown in the current year and now accounts for around 12% of total exports compared to 9% in the same period in 2018.
Wood products exported to the ECOWAS regional block increased to a record 17,287 cu ... [more...]
). He will look at the role of FLEGT licensing in architects’ procurement decisions, and the significance in the sector of green building rating systems.
Workshop three focuses on FLEGT impacts in African VPA countries, and challenges facing European com ... [more...]
The Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux (ATIBT - International Tropical Timber Technical Association) has just released Volume 1 of their "User Guide for Eco-certified African Timber in Europe ... [more...]
The Rougier Group is announcing the sale of its forest and industrial activities in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. In connection with Rougier Afrique International's court-ordered receivership proceedings, Poitiers Commercial Court auth ... [more...]
Ghana will soon become the first country in Africa to finalise a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union paving the way for the issuing of FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) licenses covering wood products. This follows the successful assessment of th ... [more...]
During this year's International Hardwood Conference (IHC) held in Copenhagen from 16-18 September, Mr. Ad Wesselink, Managing Director of Netherlands based Wijma presented the current state of the African timber market ... [more...]
The 2nd International Workshop on African mahogany was held in late April in São Paulo bringing together exhibitors, investors and producers. The event delivered new information and opportunities for business and dealt with topics such as silvicultur ... [more...]
Among the different producer regions, African timber has shown the strongest demand trend in Europe over the last few months, according to importers. European demand for sawn sapele, iroko and sipo, for example, has remained at a good overall level and impr ... [more...]
Unlike the ATIBT Forum in 2014 which was wide ranging and covered tropical timber trade trends globally, this year’s meeting focused more on linkages between African producers and European buyers ... [more...]
Le Canada et l’Argentine travaillent ensemble à la mise en œuvre de pratiques de gestion durable des forêts (GDF) dans six forêts modèles argentines.
Le Service canadien des forêts (SCF) et le Réseau canadien de ... [more...]
West African log prices are unchanged and analysts expect prices to remain stable into the third quarter as there are no signs that China, the market leader, will increase purchases any time soon ... [more...]
For African wood, UK importers report very difficult supply conditions, with many logistical challenges, problems of cash flow, and high energy costs. Lack of kiln drying capacity in the UK and a preference for certified products makes it even more cha ... [more...]
EU imports of hardwood plywood from African countries declined 11% to 60,300 m3 in 2013. A sharp fall in imports from Morocco and Ivory Coast was only partially offset by a slight increase in imports from Gabon and Cameroon ... [more...]


text:
Cross “board-er” women
Ask headhunters what they look for when recruiting directors for corporate boards and they’ll tick off a wish list of traits: Companies want directors who are financially astute, have proven leadership skills and bring global perspective. And, increasingly, they want women. (Norway has mandated that women make up 40% of corporate boards; key figures in the U.K. are pushing FTSE 100 companies to aim for 25% board participation by women by 2015.) Here are a few women who already are helping corporate boards meet their financial, management, and cross-border goals.
McKinstry is the CEO and chairman of the executive board of Wolters Kluwer, an information services and publishing company that is transitioning its products to digital platforms. She brings her digital insights to the boards of U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Finnish media company Sanoma Ojy.
Ana Patricia Botín
Botin, who heads Banco Santander’s U.K. operations, sits on the Spanish bank’s corporate board of directors. (Full disclosure: The bank recently agreed to appoint Fortune columnist Sheila Bair to its board, to be ratified at the next shareholders meeting.) Botín also is on the board of the Coca-Cola Co (KO).


text:
JAPAN/CHINA: Toyota recalls 190,000 vehicles for defective Takata air bags
Following an explosion in a 2003 model year subcompact model in Japan in November, Toyota has recalled 185,000 vehicles across 19 model lines in Japan, and 5,000 vehicles in China.
Reuters reported the recall covers vehicles of the same model year and equipped with the same type of inflator as the Will Cypha car that exploded. These inflators were manufactured at Takata's Monclova Mexico factory.
The vehicles affected by the recall were made between September 2002 and December 2003. Toyota so far has not received any reports of injuries or deaths due to the problem.
The company will replace front passenger side air bag inflators in the recalled vehicles and, if a replacement is not immediately available, Toyota will disable the air bag system and warn owners against allowing the passenger seat to be used.


text:
The holiday season may feel like a bit of a mystery this year, but we’ve got valuable stats that shed light on consumer intentions and expectations for their holiday spending.
Holiday gift-giving is expected to be on the rise this year, despite the plague of uncertainty surrounding the season. In our recently published report, The 2020 Holiday Q4Cast, we asked 1,500 self-identified online shoppers about their intentions for holiday spending and celebrating this season. Keep reading to see what these shoppers are saying.
1. Most Will Still Attend In-Person Gatherings
The pandemic has changed a lot. Most notably, in-person gatherings. As one of the hallmarks of the season, an adjustment to less time together will have a big impact on spirits.
Some people will still attend gatherings, but most will do it sparingly.
- 43% of people say they’ll only attend a select few gatherings with friends
- 26% won’t attend any gatherings
- 16% say they’ll still attend all gatherings
- 12% aren’t sure
2. Shoppers Plan to Spend More on Gifts
While gatherings are down, spending is stable, if not increasing. This could be a sign that shoppers are going bigger on gift-giving in lieu of seeing loved ones, attaching a greater significance to gift-giving than ever before.
However, many will spend more on gifts this year.
- 31% say they’ll spend more money both online and in-store
- 19% say they’ll spend more online only
- 29% say they’ll spend about the same
- 19% say they’ll spend less
3. Most Shoppers Will Avoid Stores Altogether
In many areas, non-essential movement is still discouraged or even off-limits. In other areas, people have resumed in-person shopping depending on their level of comfort. What might feel risky to some shoppers could feel totally worthwhile to others. So if you’re a retailer with a brick-and-mortar that will be open for the season, be sure to serve your customers in a safe way, both for maximum safety and positive sentiment.
Most people say they’ll shop in-store at least some of the time.
- 23% say they won’t shop in-store at all
- 42% say they’ll shop in-store less often
- 23% say they’ll still shop in-store, but will wear a mask and maintain distance
- 10% don’t have any concerns
Clearly, plenty of folks will still be spending time in stores, even if they’re doing it more carefully and less frequently. The ones that will be shopping in person have their own opinions about how they’d like stores to handle things.
The majority of customers prefer shopping with stores that take COVID precautions.
- 51% say the more precautions a store takes, the more likely they are to shop there
- 31% say they appreciate at least some guidelines being enforced
- 17% say they don’t mind either way.
What Does All This Mean for Retailers?
For ecommerce sellers, the holiday season is far from a writeoff. Although we won’t see the typical spikes that come from Black Friday and Cyber Week sales, (usually around a 3x spike), consumers will still be spending their dollars, some even more than usual.
Retailers need to be ready to answer the call for their customers. Demand for certain items will be on the rise, and quality, on-time deliveries will be more vital than in an ordinary holiday season.
Tips For Preparing for the Holidays Now
- Make yourself the appealing option
Shoppers will be doing plenty of spending this season. Your online offering has to be up to par with – or superior to – your competitors’. Consider special offerings like free gifts, early ordering specials, bulk discounts, or other promotions that make you a uniquely great place to spend those holiday dollars.
- Ensure smooth experiences
With so much at stake this season – from both the retailer and consumer perspective – every piece of the online shopping experience has to be high quality and worthwhile. Whether it’s product pages or the checkout experience, go the extra length to pressure test any change you’ve made to ensure everything goes smoothly.
- Make stores safe if they’re open
If you’ll be offering in-store shopping this year, you’ll attract more customers if you take steps to make it a safe experience. Customers prefer stores that take precautions to keep them safe, so don’t shy away from enforcing social distancing and mask-wearing, encouraging cashless payment, curbside pickup, and other steps.
Need more guidance? Download our FREE Holiday Trends Report.
It’s no secret that 2020 has brought upon a new era for online shopping.
But will the last few months of enthusiastic spending have a significant impact on holiday sales this year?
We decided to find out and surveyed 1,500+ consumers about their online buying behavior, expectations, and sentiments for the 2020 holiday shopping season. Armed with these stats and retailer tips, you can pivot and plan your ecommerce holiday strategy accordingly.


text:
From the bottom of the Bondi Icebergs pool to a runway through the heart of Detroit, Bottega Veneta has evolved to become one of the most prolific luxury fashion houses – even without an Instagram presence. Over the holiday season, the Italian brand will be handing over its platforms to a series of local bottegas to promote and celebrate the rich landscape of Italy’s makers.
The project has been aptly titled “Bottega For Bottegas”. Twelve Italian brands have been selected for the series which will see them takeover advertising spaces, the website, newsletters, and the Bottega Veneta shop shelves and windows. Participating stores include Milan, Rome and Venice. This isn’t just a single campaign and will return every year.
While promoting the products, Bottega Veneta won’t facilitate purchase as customers will be redirected to the online stores of each bottega to shop.
“We are thrilled to launch Bottega for Bottegas alongside Italian artisans with whom we share the common values of creativity and craftsmanship. We are proud to offer worldwide visibility to these “Bottegas” that are deeply rooted in Italian culture, specially at a time where smaller entities continue to be impacted by the pandemic. It is with honor that we have passed on our advertising spaces, website, newsletters, and store windows and we hope that this will further highlight their excellence at a global level,” said Bartolomeo Rongone, CEO of Bottega Veneta.
Each bottega has been chosen taking into account local realities, uniqueness of produce and global distribution capacities. For the luxury brand, the past 18 months has highlighted the importance of local communities and small businesses. Read more about the participating brands and the product offerings here to discover something new.