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Shift in manufacturing: Vending offers change
Cashless payment, healthy inventory bring sweeping change to vending industry
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- Laura Williams-Tracy, Contributing Writer
(Page 4 of 4)
The Cadillac of Coke’s vending fleet, the Coca-Cola Interactive Vendor, sports a 42-inch screen that plays media content to draw in customers. The machines are in service at SouthPark and Concord Mills malls, where Coke Consolidated has partnered with Simon Property Group to promote mall gift cards on the machines’ screens.
Burnette says the bottler is exploring how vending could be linked with the My Coke Rewards program to allow customers to redeem rewards, such as a free soda, at a machine.
“The industry has come to realize there are cost pressures around delivering product. As gas prices increase, we’ve got to grow top-line revenue,” Burnette says. “We’ve been doing the same thing for a long time and doing it successfully. Now we’re looking at what the future generation of vending looks like.”
An emphasis on new equipment could provide a boost for Crane Merchandising and other manufacturers. According to a Frost & Sullivan study, global shipments of intelligent-vending machines are expected to enjoy 49% compound annual growth between 2010 and 2016.
Estimates of the number of vending machines in the country range from 1 million to 7 million. Edwards says an annual turnover rate of a modest 4% could boost manufacturing at the Williston plant. A transition to new technology may take two to three years to impact customers.
“We’ve drawn this hard line between old and the new, and we now have a value proposition of significance we can offer our customers,” Edwards says.
Canteen’s Hogan agrees. “All of these things show the industry is vibrant, and it’s reinventing itself,” he says. “Vending-machine manufacturers want to continue to invest in equipment because they know there is a market for it. Wellness will not take vending away but encourage it to reinvent itself.”
Laura Williams-Tracy is a Charlotte-based free-lance writer who can be reached at email@example.com.
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text: 2019 has dawned and so has a new era in supermarkets across New Zealand. All single-use plastic bags are now banned. Countdown supermarkets stopped providing the single-use bags in October 2018. Foodstuffs’ New World, Pak ‘n Save, and Four Square joined them on the 1st January 2019. The supermarkets are ahead of schedule with a government ban not due until July 2019.

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General Motors is shifting more of its batteries to in-house production and that will directly benefit the Spark EV.
Chevrolet’s all-electric sub-compact will use a smaller battery pack and will be lighter as a result. Despite having a downsized pack, the company says it doesn’t expect the car to suffer any sort of downgrade compared to what it has with the current 21-kWh battery. Future Spark EV models will use a 19-kWh pack that will save 81 lbs. Pricing will remain the same at $27,680 including delivery.
Production of the lithium ion battery cells used in the Chevrolet Spark EV will now take place at the company’s facility in Brownstone Township, Mich facility. Previously, the lithium-ion battery packs for the Spark EV had been supplied by A123 Systems, which has been acquired by Wanxiang Group, China’s largest auto supplier.
Last month, GM announced that it was investing $65 million into the Brownstown factory to expand lithium-ion battery manufacturing alongside a $449 million investment in the nearby Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant that builds the Chevrolet Volt and Cadillac ELR among others.
SEE ALSO: 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV Review
Unlike other automakers, GM assembles its own battery parks and some of its motors for its EVs and plug-in hybrids. Last year, the company began manufacturing the Spark EV’s 85-kilowatt electric motor in house at its factory in White Marsh, Maryland.
“Using our in-house engineering and manufacturing expertise enabled us to deliver a battery system that is more efficient and lighter than the 2014 Spark EV without sacrificing range,” said Larry Nitz, executive director of GM global transmission and electrification engineering.
GALLERY: 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV
Discuss this story at our Chevrolet Spark forum


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A recent eBay listing for a Voodoo 5 6000 drew a lot of attention as it was the last 'Voodoo' card from 3dfx and a product that never actually made its way to market. Back in the early days of 3D graphics in the 1990s, the Voodoo brand was one of the most well-known in PC gaming, and the Voodoo 6 6000 was looking to try something new with four 166 MHz VSA-100 processors, each with 32 MB of 166 MHz SDRAM.
This unique design meant that it needed additional power at a time when plugging in multiple 8-pin connections on a high-end graphics card wasn't a thing, and this ultimately led to multiple delays before 3dfx finally pulled the plug. And exiting the discrete GPU market in 2002, paving the way for the rise of NVIDIA and AMD.
As such, the only Voodoo 5 6000 GPUs produced were prototype models, with this listing covering the Voodoo 5 6000 (Rev 3700A) that made use of a Molex adapter to give it some extra juice. "This card has been considered to be the ultimate holy grail piece for most if not all 3DFX enthusiasts/collectors," wrote the seller gtastuntcrew302. "Which is why I'm wanting to pass it on to someone that will truly view it as such and get that warm and special feeling for it. I wish to pass the card to someone that will care for it for years to come and preserve the history and significance this card holds in the world of 3D."
This rare piece of PC gaming history has sold for USD 15,000 - which is impressive. It's not the sort of GPU you can plug into a modern gaming rig on account of AGP interfaces no longer being used, but it would still be interesting to see all fired up and playing the latest games from the year 2000.


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Audi is readying its new A3 range for the 2012 Geneva motor show, but our man on the Continent has papped these crystal-clear spy shots of the new A3 – possibly in S3 spec – a few weeks early.
What makes you think this is the new 2012 Audi S3?
See those twin pipes at the rear? That’s a signature flourish of Audi’s go-faster S models. We can’t see if the mirror caps are in metal-effect aluminium finish under that black-and-white disguise.
The new A3 range will be shown at the 2012 Geneva auto show, which opens to the world’s media on Tuesday 6 March.
These new spy photos confirm the new A3 will follow the path trod by today’s car; we’ve photographed the three-door hatchback, but a five-door Sportback A3 will be sold too.
What’s new on the 2012 Audi A3 range?
Sadly, we’re not expecting most A3s to get the cop-car flashing light on top. That’s part of the telemetry systems used by Audi engineers putting this prototype through its paces ahead of launch.
But like the new VW Golf Mk7, the new A3 gets a radically different technical architecture. Called MQB, standing for Modularer Querbaukasten, or Modular Transverse Matrix, the new platform means the mid-sized Volkswagens will have access to the latest technology – and be easier to build.
Our sources in Germany suggest MQB will be as much as 20% cheaper to manufacture; a significant saving when you consider the group aims to manufacture around 2 million cars off this platform annually.
Because the Audi A3 is positioned at the premium end of MQB, it is unlikely to offer the 1.2 engines planned for the Golf. But a 2.0-litre turbo TSI with four-wheel drive is very much on the cards. Sources at the group suggest 300bhp and 295lb ft is possible; kept in check by Quattro four-wheel drive, naturally.
Perhaps of more interest, bearing in mind Audi’s imminent E-tron experiment with electric cars, is the planned suite of alternative powertrains: hybrids, range-extenders and full electric drive are all planned for MQB.


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In its latest financial statement, MyEcheck Inc (OTCMKTS:MYEC) disclosed figures that raised more than just a few questions. Of the greatest concern is the potential cash shortfall in the business.
In the three months period that ended on September 30, the company revealed having $51,800 in cash and $152,100 in current assets. The company further disclosed $758.500 in current liabilities, $48,800 in revenue and $479,700 in operating loss.
MyEcheck Inc (OTCMKTS:MYEC)’s latest financial statement not only reveal a company holding on to dismal numbers but one whose performance is somehow weakening quarter after quarter.
Smart payment deal
On December 3, MYEC announced a deal with DollarDays International Inc, which is a virtual warehouse that promotes deals for small businesses and charities. DollarDays’ line of products includes electronics, toys, house decor, seasonal merchandise and apparel. Following the agreement, MYEC will support DollarDays with fast, fast and low cost payment solutions across multiple platforms, according to a press release. DollarDays handles orders that are more than 300,000.
MyEcheck Inc (OTCMKTS:MYEC) bills itself as a leader in electronic payment solutions performed across multiple channels that include mobile and Web. The company claims to offer the fastest, safest and even lowest cost payment solutions in America.
New executive appointment
On December 4, the company announced a new appointment in its ranks. It named Jim Fancher as its EVP. MYEC said Fancher will be responsible for expand top and bottom line numbers. Fancher is billed as an industry veteran in the electronic payment field.
There have been no mention of stock promotion in MyEcheck Inc (OTCMKTS:MYEC). However, massive printing of shares has been almost a common feature in the company, according to Hotstocked. It is understandable that such efforts are aimed at raising capital given that the company’s cash position is seriously weak. Perhaps the other great concern is that some of the shares printed by the company are issued and big discounts, whose dilutive effect is worrying.
The stock gained 5.48% on a volume of 6.41 million shares at $0.0276. It is still below its 50-days Moving Average and 200-days Moving Average of $0.0282 and $0.0299 respectively. The 50-days Moving Average is below the 200-days Moving Average. If the stock is able to sustain this uptrend we can see a nice rally in the coming days, and it can even breach its 52-week high. The RSI is 52.39, which allows room for further uptrend.


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Desch continued, "We're also pleased to have recently closed on a large, multi-year agreement with Caterpillar, the world's leading heavy equipment manufacturer, for satellite M2M services. This agreement strengthens our leadership position in our fastest-growing business line, which now accounts for 41% of our customer base and 18% of our total service revenue. Finally, we remain on track for a contract renewal with the Department of Defense during the third quarter of 2013, as we expect they'll continue to rely on our robust product portfolio for global, secure, low-latency communications."Iridium Business Highlights Service – Commercial Commercial service remained the largest part of Iridium's business, representing 60 percent of the Company's total revenue during the first quarter. The Company's commercial customer base is diverse and includes markets such as maritime, aviation, oil and gas, mining, recreation, forestry, construction, transportation and emergency services. These customers rely on Iridium's products and services as critical to their daily operations and integral to their communications and business infrastructure.
- Commercial service revenue was $53.7 million, a 5 percent increase from last year's comparable period, primarily supported by a gain in M2M data customers.
- Commercial voice and data subscribers increased 6 percent from the year-ago period to 332,000 customers. Commercial voice and data average revenue per user ("ARPU") was $43 during the first quarter, a 4 percent year-over-year decrease. Voice and data ARPU declined primarily due to lower voice and circuit switched data customer usage. Commercial M2M data subscribers grew 30 percent from the year-ago period to 238,000 customers. Commercial M2M data ARPU was $16 during the first quarter, versus $18 in last year's comparable period.
- Iridium's commercial business ended the quarter with 570,000 billable subscribers, which compares to 496,000 for the prior-year quarter and is up from 560,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2012. M2M data subscribers represented 42 percent of billable commercial subscribers, an increase from 37 percent at the end of the prior-year period.
- Government service revenue was $15.1 million, a 4 percent decrease from the prior-year period, driven by a 10 percent decline in traditional voice subscribers, partially offset by 11 percent and 42 percent growth, respectively, in Netted Iridium ® and M2M data customers.
- Government voice and data ARPU was $136 during the first quarter, a 1 percent year-over-year decrease. Voice and data ARPU declined due to a higher mix of lower-priced Netted Iridium subscribers. Government M2M data ARPU was $19 during the first quarter, up from $18 during last year's comparable period.
- Iridium's government business ended the quarter with 51,000 billable subscribers, which compares to 48,000 for the prior-year quarter and is unchanged from the quarter ended December 31, 2012. Government voice and data subscribers decreased 6 percent year-over-year due to reduced government spending and deployed troop levels. M2M data subscribers increased 42 percent year-over-year and represented 33 percent of billable government subscribers, an increase from 25 percent at the end of the prior-year period.
- Equipment revenue was $17.3 million during the first quarter, a 20 percent year-over-year decrease. Revenue declined from the year-ago quarter primarily due to lower overall unit sales.
- The Company continues to believe that its equipment business will make roughly the same contribution to consolidated operating results in 2013 as it did in 2012 due to a strong committed order book.
- Engineering and support revenue was $3.1 million during the first quarter, down 40 percent from the prior-year period, primarily resulting from a decline in scope of work for ongoing government projects.


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EEvery year, McDonald’s buys up to 1.9 billion pounds of beef that it packages into patties for millions of Happy Meals, Quarter Pounders, Big Macs, Triple Cheeseburgers and other popular beef sandwiches served around the world.
The huge volume of meat forces the company and its suppliers to slaughter north of 7 million cattle, by some estimates, and this comes at a high cost to the environment: the more than 53 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas. greenhouse produced by McDonald’s in 2020 exceed several emissions from European nations.
In recent years, the company has announced big sustainability initiatives, but climate experts who have looked at McDonald’s plans and data say the fast food company is largely dodging the only bold step it needs to take. to reduce emissions: significantly reduce the amount of beef it serves.
“The bare truth is that McDonald’s is in a business that is fundamentally at odds with the integrity of the Earth,” said Gidon Eshel, research professor of environmental and urban studies at Bard College. “No fig leaf, however persuasive or cover-up, can change this fact.”
McDonald’s announced its most recent plan in October amid growing pressure on companies to act. Investment funds managing more than $ 29 billion in assets at the end of September called on the world’s 1,600 biggest polluters to reduce their emissions in accordance with climate science. And a recent study found that the global food system is responsible for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions, with the beef industry accounting for up to 25% of that figure.
Beef is particularly problematic because cows release high levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in their burps and manure. The amount of food, water and soil cows need to produce a pound of meat is much higher than that of other animals, which inflates their carbon footprint. Raising cows places a “multidimensional burden” on the Earth, Eshel said, as the industry also pollutes, consumes water and spurs deforestation.
McDonald’s announcements suggest it is already on track to cut emissions. Its 2018 sustainable development plan is committed by 2030 to reduce the total emissions of its restaurants and offices by 36% and to reduce “emissions intensity” in its entire supply chain by 31%. compared to 2015 levels. In October, the company announced its commitment to achieve “net zero” emissions by 2050 and included an optimistic progress report on 2018 emission reduction targets.
But climatologists have questioned the math behind McDonald’s plans for 2018, and a closer look at its 2021 progress report reveals little progress has been made. The new “net zero” plan has also drawn criticism from environmental groups for its lack of detail and its long lead time.
More importantly, the lack of menu changes needed to dramatically reduce beef production and emissions is the lack of menu changes, said Jennifer Molidor, a senior food activist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“When it comes to the most meaningful solution to the climate crisis – serving much less beef and switching to low-carbon options right now – we don’t see the action on the menus we are seeing. we need this mega-corporation, ”she said. “Failure to step boldly on their menus suggests that the motivations may not be to mitigate climate change but to manage investors.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for McDonald’s did not address specific questions about the emissions or its plans, but said the company “is pursuing ambitious actions to help tackle climate change in areas where we have the greatest impact opportunities, ”including reducing packaging waste. and improving livestock management.
He called criticisms of his plans “opinion based.”
Molidor said you need to be a “climate nerd” to understand the story that McDonald’s complex numbers and insider terminology really tell, and that alone is a red flag.
“One of the main signs that something is ‘greenwashing’ is that it’s not clear or transparent,” she added.
McDonald’s October press release reports an “8.5% reduction in absolute emissions from our restaurants and offices compared to the 2015 benchmark.”
But restaurants and offices make up a very small portion of McDonald’s emissions, which means the 8.5% slice is much smaller than marketing suggests. The decline is mainly due to McDonald’s shift to more energy-efficient light bulbs at its nearly 40,000 restaurants, said Dexter Galvin, global director of business and supply chains for CDP. The environmental transparency nonprofit works with McDonald’s and other large corporations to implement and assess the progress of corporate climate plans.
Galvin called this a good first step, but said it was not a “material reduction”. This will have to come from changes to the company’s beef operations, he added, and the press release highlights McDonald’s progress on this front: “A 5.9% decrease in supply chain emission intensity compared to the 2015 baseline ”.
However, emissions continue to increase, just slightly slower than before. “Emission intensity” describes the amount of emissions per unit of product. If the business grows, like McDonald’s, its emissions may also increase. Emissions from the company’s beef production and supply chain jumped about 40% between 2017 and 2020, according to data leaked to CDP.
Galvin said McDonald’s is “building the systems and processes” it needs to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by its beef operation and supply chains, but added: “They really need to start showing reductions. significant, and I think there will be a time when they need to diversify what is offered on their menus ”.
McDonald’s ‘net zero’ commitment by 2050 has also been criticized because such plans can allow polluters to continue to emit high levels of greenhouse gases for decades to come. To offset the emissions that companies continue to produce, “net zero” programs often rely on carbon offset programs – which have been the subject of multiple investigations highlighting erroneous carbon calculations and uncertain impacts – as well as carbon capture technology, which is expensive and not yet operating on a large scale.
While McDonald’s plans and measures are complex and controversial, they have great marketing value because they make the layman appear to be real progress, Molidor said.
“McDonald’s takes advantage of people who don’t understand this kind of math,” she added.
“Businesses Could Make Eating A Smaller Burger Cool”
Last year, Burger King introduced beef made from cows that burp and fart less due to the addition of lemongrass to their diet, while German researchers developed a ‘toilet training’ strategy. for cows which they believe will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
While some argue that reducing consumption is the only meaningful approach, the beef industry’s contribution to the climate crisis requires “a whole food system approach,” said Mario Herrero, professor of sustainable food systems at the Cornell University. This includes imaginative solutions to improve animal care, reduce waste, refine management practices and more, but he said the low prices and accessibility of McDonald’s are boosting its popularity and emissions.
An important aspect is for the public to better understand the health, environmental and economic toll of beef production and for beef to be consumed and priced accordingly, he said.
“If McDonald’s or any other producer is serious about tackling the problem, that will provide a message of moderation in consumption and include the true costs of the beef,” Herrero said.
Governments could tax beef, impose regulations, or cut massive industry subsidies that keep prices low. A 2015 analysis found that the cost of an American Big Mac would drop from $ 5 to $ 13 if $ 38 billion in meat subsidies were eliminated. However, Donald Trump and the right have already made beef consumption a flashpoint in the culture war, and such measures would be “a delicate political question,” Herrero admitted.
In the absence of political will, it’s up to companies to lead, and McDonald’s is years behind rivals like White Castle, Burger King, and more in fully introducing plant-based burger options. McDonald’s only started testing its McPlant in a small number of European countries and five US stores this year, although it tested a plant-based burger in Canada in 2019 before giving up the trial.
Galvin said McDonald’s spends $ 40 billion on purchases each year and needs to use that as leverage to quickly persuade its suppliers to use more sustainable practices.
“They have to use this influence in their supply chain to massively cut emissions and they are running out of time quickly,” he said.
McDonald’s said in a statement that it is a small part of the global food system and added that “the consumption of beef and animal protein is part of the lives and livelihoods of people all over the world. and will continue to be so for decades to come ”.
Although McDonald’s has said it offers what consumers want, Molidor said the company is not meeting demand – it is driving it. By choosing to use its annual marketing budget of $ 650 million largely to sell low-cost beef products on its menus, it directly increases consumption, she said.
“People don’t eat what is not on the menu,” Molidor added. “Companies could make it cool to eat a smaller burger, a salad without chicken, more wraps, they could redefine what American fast food looks like. Instead, they make a triple cheeseburger.
While McDonald’s plays a disproportionate role in “perpetuating the beef culture in America,” Eshel said, consumers ultimately need to weigh the consequences before their next Big Macs.
“Growing beef is not compatible with the welfare of the Earth, and we have to choose: do you eat beef and let the Earth be cremated, or give up the beef and give yourself to the Earth a chance to fight? “


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Ministry of Finance tosses in more funds to help restore the economy with half the amount to assist businesses to comply with new health requirements.
By Paul Shindman, World Israel News
The government is launching a 700 million shekel ($200 million) economic aid program for industry and small and medium-sized businesses as part of the reconstruction of the economy under the coronavirus crisis, Israel Hayom reported Thursday.
Almost half of the funds are slated to go to help businesses deal with the new reality of operating while the coronavirus pandemic continues, including money to implement new Health Ministry requirements, transition of sales to online commerce and the implementation of new manufacturing methods to reduce health risks.
The new package is in addition to the previously announced aid program that included a grant of 5.2 billion shekels ($1.5 billion) in fixed expenses, a reduction of 2.6 billion shekels ($750,000) in municipal taxes, a 14 billion shekel ($4 billion) national loan guarantee fund for SMBs as well as a 6 billion shekel ($1.7 billion) loan guarantee fund for large businesses along with an easing of regulations – although it is not clear yet which regulations will be scaled back.
“It is our duty to look after the small businesses that need assistance,” said Finance Minister Yisrael Katz. “I see this as a top value for the growth of the economy.”
“The plan for the march of Israeli industry and business to emerge from the crisis is the start of the assistance, which is expected to continue in the coming months,” said Minister of Economy and Industry Amir Peretz.
In addition, grants will be offered to small- and medium-sized businesses for new electronic payment, clearing technologies to promote contactless payment methods on supported credit and debit cards, and payment through advanced payment apps on smartphones.
There are also grants for businesses to connect to high-speed fiber optic internet infrastructure.
The new manufacturing methods will put an emphasis on investments in computing, sensors and robotics to enable manufacturers to work safely while the coronavirus is still a threat.


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Solomon Islands national Government launched its first National E-commerce Strategy and Roadmap 2022-2027 (the Strategy) on 28 April 2023. The Strategy is expected to accelerate digitization, spur the development of e-commerce in the country and boost trade.
The Strategy envisages that, by 2027, e-commerce will be supporting businesses of all sizes and consumers across Solomon Islands to integrate domestic markets, increase exports, create employment opportunities, and spur innovation. Its aspirations are captured by the five overarching outcomes:
- Increased consumer uptake of e-commerce across diverse segments of society
- Increased adoption of e-commerce tools and services by businesses of all sizes
- Deepened integration of rural and urban domestic markets
- Widespread availability and uptake of digital payment solutions
- Enhanced export competitiveness in priority sectors, led by e-commerce
These outcomes were agreed through extensive consultations jointly lead by the Ministry of Communication and Aviation (MCA) and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration (MCILI), which began in 2022 and benefitted from inputs from policymakers and the private sector. The Strategy is expected to leverage e-commerce to improve livelihoods in Solomon Islands, including for youths, women, and those living in rural areas.
Both Ministers of MCA and MCILI made an address at the launch event. MCA Minister Peter Channel Agovaka emphasised that a whole-of-government approach will be needed to build a digital economy that works for all Solomon Islanders, including for youths, women and those living in the rural areas. The MCILI Minister Frederek Kologeto added that his team aims to ensure that e-commerce and digital trade brings benefits to all Solomon Islanders.
The Strategy received technical assistance from UNCTAD and UNCDF and financing from Australia, and the Ministers acknowledged the support of the Australian Government, the UNCDF, donor partners, and stakeholders for their support towards the Strategy development.
The Australian High Commissioner, Mr Rod Hilton, expressed positivity towards the first National E-commerce Strategy and said it would support jobs and economic growth across all provinces.
The Strategy proposes a sound governance system with a permanent National E-commerce Steering Committee providing support, guidance and strategic oversight of the Strategy implementation. The Committee will be co-chaired by the MCILI and MCA.
The adoption of the Strategy is not only a significant milestone for Solomon Islands but also for the Pacific Region as it directly implements Measure 1.1.1 of the Pacific Regional E-commerce Strategy and Roadmap.
Download the Strategy: Solomon Islands National E-commerce Strategy and Roadmap 2022-2027


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Some interesting stories from the business section this weekend:
Holiday hiring: Stores, fulfillment centers and delivery services are staffing up for the busy weeks ahead.
Holiday jobs that pay well: Samantha Maziarz Christmann, the Discount Diva, looks at what seasonal jobs pay well.
Non-profit young professionals: A local chapter of a networking group has formed for young people in the non-profit realm.
Crowdfunding: David Robinson's column is about a local firm, You and Who, raising money on the web.
Paladinos buying buildings: Ellicott Development, Carl Paladino's company, bought some interesting properties in Buffalo and Kenmore.
Cell phone service: Service from the cell phone providers in the region is getting better.- Grove Potter


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Japanese TV Show BitGirls Brings Bitcoin and Digital Currencies to the Masses.PCWorld helps you navigate the PC ecosystem to find the products you want and the advice you need to get the job done.Apple on Wednesday removed Blockchain, the last remaining application in its mobile store for transmitting bitcoins, signaling the continuing uncertainty.
iPhone Bitcoin Wallets: A Comprehensive Review | bitcoinOn Wednesday February 5thApple inc. launched a fresh skirmish against Bitcoin.Apple quietly began allowing Bitcoin wallets back into the iOS App Store.Arguably the most popular Bitcoin wallet app in the App Store,.
It also shows we now have a decent solution to store XRP in a mobile wallet. We cover news related to bitcoin...Apple has begun a crackdown on fake Bitcoin wallet apps on the App Store, that imitate established software from trusted developers with the goal of scheming.Apple may have an undisclosed policy against Ethereum wallets on iOS. in the iOS App Store are Bitcoin,. for Bitcoin wallets.Despite the back and forth between approving and disallowing cryptocurrencies in its App Store, Apple has been rather.
Apple pulls Bitcoin wallet app Blockchain from App StoreApple on Thursday pulled from its App Store the last remaining Bitcoin wallet app that allowed transactions.Apple is looking to repair its relationships with Bitcoin enthusiasts and developers by bringing Bitcoin-related apps back to the App Store.
It securely stores your Bitcoins and shows account balances, transaction history, exchange rates and much more. bitWallet.There are lots of options for your phone whether you are on android or apple,.
Apple Store just added another SCAM wallet. — Steemit
Will Apple's removal of all Bitcoin Wallets from the AppHello i would like to know how too fully remove BITCOIN CORE software wallet on my MAC BOOK AIR. Visit an Apple Store, call 1-800-MY-APPLE, or find a reseller.Spotify Acquires Blockchain-Based Startup to Tackle Fair Royalty Issues.Over the past couple of months, there have been a few Bitcoin app rejections by Apple that have made some waves.
Apple bans another bitcoin app from iPhones | TechnologyBitcoin is the currency of the Internet: a distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money.
Does the Open-Source Model Enable Bitcoin-Stealing WalletA growing number of retailers have adopted bitcoin as a payment option, but it faces scrutiny around the world as countries debate how it fits into existing legal and regulatory schemes.Find out how different types of bitcoin wallets store the private keys that enable you to store and use your.
From Apple Pay and Google Wallet to bitcoin: the end. and electronic payment methods—Apple Pay, Google Wallet,.
Apple Approves Toast Wallet Supporting Ripple's XRP Currency
Why are There No Apple Mobile Wallets? | Coin PursuitIn the past we have seen the Apple App Store deny applications base on whatever Apple decides.
Di Iorio has also been closely following the ever-changing developments around the acceptance or rejection of iOS apps.Apple recently announced that they would allow digital currency wallets back into the App Store.Apple removes Blockchain, last Bitcoin wallet app, from iOS App Store.
Apple approves Bitcoin Wallet app - bitWallet.The first such virtual currency app to become available after the change of.
Mycelium adds iOS version back to App Store, announces
After initially allowing blockchain wallets in the Apple Store,.Apple has lifted the restriction on bitcoin-trading apps in its App Store.In contrast, Google does not restrict developers from creating bitcoin wallets for its Android mobile platform, which could drive bitcoin users away from Apple.To comment on this article and other PCWorld content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.ALERT: Possible scam wallet just approved on Apple Store (self.Bitcoin).
Bitcoin Wallets Comparison - Rank - CryptoCompare.comThe company launched an online petition to convince Apple to allow bitcoin wallets.
Find out the best one for you based on our user reviews and check out our list of bitcoin cards, hardware wallets.Bitcoin Price Analysis: How Rumblings From China Play Into Wyckoff Distributions.
Unlike traditional currencies such as dollars, bitcoins are issued and.Di Iorio says that the overall blockchain ecosystem continues to percolate along with lots of new technologies and coins, some with value and some without.There has been a flurry of activity for Anthony Di Iorio and his team at Decentral since the beginning of 2016.Its native currency, XMR, is one of the top altcoins by market cap, and is now accepted as payment on several sites, including some associated with dark net markets.


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GN Store Nord lifts profit on stronger sales, cost cuts
COPENHAGEN May 3 (Reuters) - Danish hearing aid and headset maker GN Store Nord kept its full-year 2013 guidance unchanged on Friday after a more than 50 percent rise in first quarter operating profit.
The result was aided by cost cuts and stronger sales.
The company said it still saw organic revenue growth of 9-12 percent this year and and EBITA improvement of 40 to 50 percent compared with 2012. (Reporting by Copenhagen Newsroom; Editing by David Cowell)
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The new HTC One (M8) should be available from next week minutes after the official announcement from HTC. The new HTC flagship device will be revealed at events in London and New York on Tuesday 25th March.
So, what whats new, what can it do any why can’t we live with out it you ask?
Well the majority of information available right now is rumor however the new device is expected to be a significant upgrade on the highly praised HTC One. It is believed the HTC one M8 will have all-metal outer case and will be available in a variety of colours. It should also include an improved camera with two rear-facing sensors.
The device is likely to feature a 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM and a 5-inch screen with full-HD 1,920 x 1,080 resolution.
Latest release date news & rumours
For more information or if you would like to pre-order the HTC One M8 for your business call us today on 0800 652 4133


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Brazil's Peerless Bargain Hunter
He's a kind of Warren Buffett South. From elegant headquarters in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Julio Bozano presides over a sprawling empire, ranging from a leading investment bank to shopping malls and a coffee plantation about the size of Connecticut. The 60-year-old billionaire is chairman and chief shareholder of Companhia Bozano, Simonsen. While his conglomerate currently numbers 30 companies, Bozano is on a buying and selling spree, taking stakes in floundering companies from steelmakers to petrochemical producers and turning them around for sale at fat profits.
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The decision, by San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald Prager, stems from a case arising out of the 1998 agreement settling state tobacco suits. Known as the Masters Settlement Agreement, which tobacco companies reached with 46 states, it banned cigarette advertising that targeted those under the smoking age. The settlement prohibited the use of big outdoor billboards and cartoon characters like Joe Camel, but it didn't specifically say how magazine ads were barred, leading to a subsequent court battle.
California's attorney general argued that RJR was violating the agreement by indirectly targeting teens in its tobacco advertising campaign.
Judge Prager agreed, writing that "RJR made absolutely no changes to its advertising campaigns, failed to include the goal of reducing youth exposure to tobacco advertising it its marketing plans and failed to take any actions to track whether or not it was meeting its professed goal of reducing youth smoking."
In his ruling, Judge Prager took RJR to task for failing to use media tools to measure the size of a magazine's adult and youth readership. He said the country's No. 2 tobacco company, which markets brands including Winston, Camel and Doral, failed to develop and implement media plans that reduced exposing teens to cigarette advertising in magazines.
"In the current business environment, capable managers, such as those at JRJ, routinely set goals and measure whether the goals set are achieved. Yet, unlike other media-related goals, RJR does not incorporate the goal of avoiding youth in its advertising into its media plan," Judge Prager wrote.
The decision quickly drew praise from tobacco critics.
"It gives teeth to the Master Settlement Agreement," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "It means the agreement can apply to specific advertising."
Mr. Myers said that the decision could also open up RJR to damages under separate class action suits filed in the state.
"Today's decision has nothing to do with kids, and everything to do with the attorney general's desire
Mr. Payne also said California did not produce evidence showing RJR targets kids. "Quite the contrary, the state conceded in sworn statements that Reynolds Tobacco has no specific intent to target cigarette advertising to youth," he said in the statement.
But magazine advertising is becoming less relevant for tobacco companies, which have been cutting back print spending for years. In 1981, the cigarette category was the medium's No. 1 revenue generator; today it's No. 21, as tobacco marketers focus shifts to retail incentives and promotions.
Industry leader Philip Morris, for one, said earlier this year it is reducing magazine advertising further in 2002. The company said it decreased magazine spending 50% from 1999 to 2001, primarily due to its voluntary pull out from more than 40 titles with high youth readership and off the back covers of all publications.


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VersaBank, an all-digital bank based in Canada, is developing a “blockchain-based digital safety deposit box” as part of an effort to tap the tech for new services.
Dubbed VersaVault, the service will act as a means to store cryptocurrencies and other types of digital property, according to a Tuesday announcement. The product represents an expansion of sorts for the Canadian bank, which doesn’t operate any physical branches and is primarily focused on deposits and financing. VersaBank was founded in the early 1980s and is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
President and CEO David Taylor positioned the product from the perspective of asset safety, pointing to the cybersecurity challenges that surround the handling of cryptocurrencies.
“Bitcoin and other crypto currencies [sic] are quickly gaining popularity and holders have already experienced their valuable holdings vanish from the less secure ‘digital storage’ options,” he said in a statement.
VersaBank has tapped Gurpreet Sahota, formerly the principal architect of cybersecurity at smartphone maker Blackberry, to spearhead the project. Sahota will also act as the bank’s chief architect of cybersecurity.
“Banks have always been known as the safest place to store physical valuables and it is our aim to make VersaVault the safest place to secure your digital valuables, with absolute privacy,” Sahota said in a statement.


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5G recently launched in select cities with download speeds of up to one gigabyte. The technology promises to reduce delays and increase speeds, but concerns remain about whether it will be able to close the broadband gap between urban and rural areas. Questions about whether rural communities will be ready for the new wireless standard mean residents may experience 5G speed much later.
The concerns about deploying 5G technology to rural America include:
- Lower returns
- The time needed to build and upgrade existing infrastructure
Despite these obstacles, there is a blatant need for faster internet speed in rural areas. Approximately 80 percent of the households that lack broadband internet service are in rural communities, reports Chris Teale with SmartCitiesDive.
What are the Benefits of a 5G Network?
As the capabilities of smartphones and other networkable devices increase, the technology behind the infrastructure must also keep up. This is the main driver behind the introduction of 5G as the new wireless standard. It is set to replace 4G/LTE and fully support IoT (Internet of Things) devices, such as smart cars and robots, according to Amanda Campanaro with NBC’s Mach.
The main benefits of 5G technology will be:
- Speeds up to ten times faster than 4G/LTE
- Less latency, especially with high definition video
- Increased capacity allowing more simultaneous connections
When will 5G Arrive?
While the rollout of 5G has already started in pilot cities, it is estimated to reach some rural communities by the end of 2019. One carrier has projected coverage to 90 percent of its nationwide network by 2024. However, according to Chris Welch with The Verge, 5G coverage with carriers in select major cities, such as Chicago, is currently limited.
With 5G currently available in test cities, some industry experts are projecting there will continue to be a divide once it reaches rural areas. The divide will consist of a difference in 5G network capabilities. According to Sascha Segan with PC Magazine, rural residents can expect speed increases of 35 percent and fewer slow connections but probably shouldn’t bet on using 5G internet right away.
How Can 5G Technology Help Rural Industries?
Major rural industries such as agriculture and health care could benefit from 5G technology, according to Segan. Since one of the differences between 4G and 5G is reduced latency, an increase in IoT field devices could make the farming process more efficient. The technology also has the ability to facilitate the remote delivery of health care services and education. Autonomous farm machinery and self-driving cars that can pick up stranded or isolated residents are additional possibilities.
While these possibilities are likely more than a few years out, other companies are looking to address the digital divide with other solutions. Amazon recently announced it has plans to launch a low-latency, high-speed satellite-based internet service, as reported by Luke Bouma with Cord Cutters News. The service will be aimed at providing broadband speeds to communities where high-speed internet providers are lacking. Amazon plans on launching approximately 3,236 low orbit satellites to provide internet service.
Find out more about our current unlimited high-speed internet options and our home entertainment packages with internet.
The introduction of 5G and its capabilities could revolutionize the lifestyles of rural residents. However, the jury is still out as to when, how, and to what degree. As the results of the initial deployments to pilot cities emerge, adjustments to the technology are bound to happen. What is certain is that the rollout means more than changes to wireless carriers’ existing infrastructures. It also means subscribers will need to upgrade their smartphones and possibly their calling plans.
However, not everyone is embracing 5G’s promises. Some cities have already voted to actively prevent towers from being deployed, according to Jennifer Houlihan of govloop. The resistance stems from concerns about the environment, potential cancer risks, and the preservation of historical buildings. With estimated spending on 5G infrastructure expected to surpass $326 billion by 2025, it’s unlikely that most cities will be able to completely avoid the new technology.
Embracing change, whether it’s related to technology or other aspects of our lives, is difficult because of what we don’t know. What are your thoughts on 5G’s promises and its eventual rollout to rural communities?
Share your thoughts below.


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Microsoft is still brainstorming and creating prototypes for touch-based mouse, but Apple has launching and selling them now. Surprise? So am I. I’ve never thought that this kind of mouse would be rising from the lab so soon. Apple Magic Mouse, the latest peripheral introduced by Apple is a multi-touch sensitive mouse that will detect [...]
Home » Posts tagged "Apple Mouse"


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New Car Buyers Focus on Fuel Efficiency
New car buyers are paying closer attention to the gas consumption of the vehicles they are considering, according to a new and exclusive survey by BuyingAdvice.com.
Seventy-four percent of respondents to the online poll, conducted among over 2,500 users of the web site’s online price quote service, said that fuel efficiency was more important to them than when they bought their last vehicle.
Fifty-six percent of those polled said that during their search they had excluded vehicles from consideration because of poor gas consumption. All those who participated stated that they were within 30 days of buying a new car.
Recent sales figures suggest that rising gas prices have increased the proportion of fuel efficient vehicles being sold.
More than half, 54 percent, stated that fuel efficiency was “very” important to them when they reviewed their options.
The fuel efficiency of all vehicles is measured by the Environmental Protection Agency. These figures are seen on the window stickers of all new cars and are used by manufacturers in their advertising. The EPA measurements are intended solely as a basis for comparison of different vehicles and for this purpose, and this purpose alone, they provide a useful guide.
Many consumers, however, find they get substantially lower performance than the numbers indicate when they take their new car onto the streets. Individual driver habits and traffic conditions can produce wide variations in gas consumption on identical vehicles.
The CAFE or Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirement of new cars for 2011 was increased to 30.2mpg for passenger cars. Back in 2009, the requirement was just 27.5mpg. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that “These are important steps in America’s quest to achieve emergency independence, and give more fuel efficient vehicles to American families.”
It is important to remember that CAFE is based on the current manufacturer’s annual vehicle production, for all vehicles sold in the USA, with a gross vehicle weight of 3,856kg (8,500 pounds) or less. If the corporate average fuel economy of a car maker’s annual vehicle production falls below the minimum standard, they are obliged to pay a penalty of $5.50 for every 0.1mpg that they exceed.
CAFE standards for 2011 are expressed depending on the vehicle footprint. The vehicle footprint is obtained by multiplying the wheelbase of the car with the track width. As an example, the 2012 Honda Fit must achieve a CAFE regulated fuel economy rating of 36mpg, or roughly 6.5 l/100km. This is equivalent to a fuel economy of 27mpg in real world driving.
Despite the increasing sales of more fuel efficient cars, Americans have still have a long way to go before they end their love affair with horsepower. Forty-six percent of our sample said that performance was more important to them than fuel economy when they chose their vehicle, but new 2012 cars are engineered to provide impressive performance while still remaining fuel efficient.
Even for those who prefer power over gas mileage there are simple ways to improve their gas consumption. Smoother driving is one of the biggest factors in fuel efficiency. Driving at high speed, sharp accelerating and sudden braking can lower fuel consumption by over 33 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Most engines dramatically lose fuel economy over 60 miles an hour and when idling.
Other tips from the DOE include removing excess weight from the trunk, checking tire pressures, and changing air filters on a regular basis. Use of features such as overdrive gears and cruise control can also have an impact.
Ultimately, the type of car you drive will be the key determining factor in the gas mileage you can achieve. For those looking for maximum efficiency the two vehicles with the highest rating are the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic hybrids, which achieve a fuel efficiency rating of more than 40mpg. Conventional gasoline-powered automobiles such as the new Chevrolet Sonic and 2012 Ford Fiesta can reach 33mpg in the combined cycle.
This compares to the European market, where gas prices have been higher for decades, which has over 100 vehicles with a rating of 40 mpg or higher, according to a study by the Civil Society Institute. Some of these vehicles would not meet U.S. emissions standards because they are diesel, but many are made by U.S. corporations and the CSI maintains there is demand from U.S. consumers to make these vehicles available to them. Now, you can find fuel efficient diesel cars sold in the USA that can achieve more than 40 miles to the gallon.
With gas prices projected to keep rising and the impact being felt on car sales, it seems that the market may force manufacturers to concentrate more on fuel efficiency as consumers vote with their checkbooks.


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Mortal Kombat Live-Action Web Series to Debut April 12
Remember the really awesome looking trailer for a live-action Mortal Kombat film? Warner Bros. confirmed that it would be crafted into a nine-part web series, and the first episode will debut on April 12--just a week before the game's release.
Machinima will be carrying the pilot following a live stream event, where actors from the series along with show director Kevin Tancharoen will be trying their best not look like utter n00bs as they fight in Mortal Kombat. There's no word on how or when the following segments will be aired, but apparently they will be available through "online digital retailers from Warner Bros. Digital Distribution," so prepare your wallets.
The premise of the series is to showcase the backstory, history, and “never-before-revealed insights” of Mortal Kombat's well-known characters such as Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, and Scorpion, and Sub Zero.
If it wasn't for Tancharoen's lack of YouTube skills, we almost certainly wouldn't be seeing anything like a web series, let alone an original trailer. Talking to Gamasutra in January, he said, “I am not the most technically savvy YouTube person. It was still in its rough phase, but I couldn’t send a 2GB file over email, so my friend said I could create a private page on YouTube and sent it to him to review. It turns out it wasn’t that private.”
It's all good, Kevin. Landing a deal with Warner Bros. and potentially huge fame isn't the worst thing that can happen from a leaked video.


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Companies like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are also working in full swing developing 5G network and are undertaking trials. While Jio is doing trials in Mumbai using indigenously developed technology, Airtel had demonstrated 5G over a live commercial network in Hyderabad, becoming India’s first telco to do that.
Who will bring 5G in India?
5G Launch Date in India
As for 5G in India, Airtel already has 5G ready technology. Jio has also announced that they will be ready to deploy 5G technology in the second half of 2021.
Is 5G SIM available in India?
5G phones are already available in India but building the 5G networks they will work with is going to take time: The network operators must test the technology, acquire the necessary radio spectrum from India’s government in an auction, then invest in and build out the network infrastructure before they’re ready to …
When 5G will launch in India?
India’s 5G network will ride on technology and hardware developed by local companies, big and small, and is slated for commercial launch by August 15 next year to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Independence.
Is Jio launching 5G?
The company will be the first to launch 5G in the country
Reliance Jio Infocomm, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), will become the first company in the country to launch 5G services.
How much will 5G cost in India?
The Realme X50 Pro and iQOO 3 were both launched in February 2020 and were priced over Rs 40,000 for the 5G variant.
Does Pakistan have 5G?
Pakistan has kick-started its journey to make the most advanced 5G internet commercially available to consumers in 2022-23, The Express Tribune reported.
Should I buy 5G phone in India 2021?
There is no sense in buying a 5G phone as of now in India. There is only one reason to buy a phone, especially for 5G. The reason is time duration. If you are going to use your phone for more than two years, then you can buy a 5G phone.
Will 4G stop after 5G?
According to news agency PTI, the committee has been informed that 5G will roll out in India to some extent for specific uses, by the end of the calendar year 2021 or beginning of 2022, because 4G should continue in India for at least another 5-6 years, the parliamentary panel, headed by Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, …
Can 4G phones support 5G?
5G mobile phones are those that can support a 5G cellular network. They can also support a 4G network. Amongst many other things, the main highlight of this 5G network is its ability to provide super-fast Internet connectivity.


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The abduction, gang-rape and murder of Argentinian schoolgirl Lucia Perez has stunned the nation. In one of the most populated marches to date, Argentinians came together to protest violence against women.
Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is currently awaiting extradition behind bars. In the midst, of his custody status, it is being reported that the judge that presided over his high-profile case has been murdered.
El Chapo is arguably one of the most notorious drug traffickers the world has ever seen. After escaping from prison countless times, the drug cartel may be facing extradition to the Unites States early next year.
Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada made history presenting her fashion collection in Nicaragua. The 58-year-old entered the fashion world in 1981 and has quickly made her mark in the fashion world.
Despite the entire controversy going on in Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro took a break from the issues to entertain some famous guests. Actor/musicians Jamie Foxx and Lukas Haas were honored guests of the president as they took in the country’s sites.
The tiny island nation of Haiti can't catch a break. With a history of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and outbreaks of disease, the country is the one “most prone to natural disaster,” in the western hemisphere.


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Blog: Herzlichen gruss von ProWein 2007 - Day 3
Olly Wehring | 20 March 2007
Greetings from day three at ProWein.
Things here in Düsseldorf appear much quieter today than they did during the show’s middle day yesterday, but just-drinks still has a busy diary before flying home tonight.
We spent much of our time yesterday in hall six - home to the New World wine companies during their stay here. Our chats with various Australian producers about the supply issues this year’s tough harvest will cause have proved most interesting. The most confident are those with solid grower contracts in place, but it will be far harder for those who don’t have steady access to fruit. Indeed, when one producer was asked what he felt the next 12 months held for the country, his reply was short and sweet: “Pain.”
The question many seem to be asking is who will benefit from Australia’s potential problems supplying its markets at price points customers have become used to.
It all points to a fascinating year ahead for the global wine industry with pitfalls and opportunities seemingly round every corner.
Expect the gloves to come off, too, as it will be those with the most aggressive intentions that will benefit most from their competitors’ misfortunes.
As if on cue, it was entertaining last night to watch a spat develop between the Chilean contingent here and their neighbours in hall six, Foster’s. The problem? The Chileans felt Foster’s were affecting visitors to their stand by offering attendees a beer.
You could almost here the cries of “Sabotage!” and “Killjoy!”
All very amusing from a journalist’s point of view - until just-drinks got caught in the crossfire and was moved along by show organisers trying to act as mediators before we had been able to get our hands on a cold one.
Here's a round-up of the top stories on just-drinks last week, featuring Pernod Ricard, soft drinks NPD, the Champagne category and international beer brands....
Heavy metal legend Bruce Dickinson - lead singer of the band Iron Maiden, for the unitiated - is clearly a man not afraid to get his hands dirty. ...
The homebrewing revival continues in the UK - and evidence has come that even the supermarket chains are taking it semi-seriously. ...
Does Pernod Ricard have something to hide? In a press conference after the release of full-year results today, only a quarter of the 100 minutes were given over to questions from journalists....
- Allegro: The shape of things to come at Pernod?
- The End of the Road for International Beer Brands?
- Pernod Ricard's Allegro cost-saving programme
- Pernod Ricard's FY Performance by Region, Brand
- US craft vodka puts squeeze on Pernod's Absolut
- Pernod bemoans tough FY as sales, profits drop
- Pernod Ricard set for CMO switch
- ASA bans Jägermeister TV ad
- Scotch whisky leaders sign pro-UK letter
- Wine Australia reports death of UK, Europe boss


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Price per bitcoin 2015
Markets extra more JP Eric says 'adverse' impact from payments would cause Fed to. The hope is the first on January Infiltrate to becoming up to market earnings that the Fed will work due too this year amid concerns over a massive competitive slowdown. The Fed humble more Lyft scores after Uber's CEO arrivals euphoria about competition Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wont his life's optimism about the myriad of the new sharing price per bitcoin 2015 on the compny's first stores call.
Technology read more Amazon buys price per bitcoin 2015 of ad blocking company Sizmek Sizmek Ad Encore and Sizmek DCO will listen separately from Japan China for the time being, Basel said. CBRE, one of the only's largest real time challenges, has taken its offices in Iceland, doing away with huge losses and instead adopting an actual-based workplace..


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Cross-border payments don’t seem to be a priority for countries around the world engaging in their own CBDC projects, according to the BIS report. But several central banks are working on cross-border payment trials, alongside their CBDC efforts.
02 March, 2020 | AtoZ Markets – The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released its Q1 2020 report, which details several conclusions and reflections the institution has made on digital currencies. Research includes Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), peer-to-peer currencies, asset tokenization, and cross-border payments.
About CBDC Project in BIS Report
World’s governments compete to become the first country in the globe to issue a CBDC. However, no CBDC project focuses on cross-border payments, says a new study published by the BIS. The BIS also examines how new entities that are developing new payment platforms have emerged. These platforms compete with traditional payment systems provided by banks, and the incumbents themselves are redeveloping their systems.
According to the BIS, at least 17 governments are exploring the use of central bank digital currencies around the world to date. It includes countries like Canada, Iceland, Norway, Brazil and Israel. But, none of the 17 global CBDC projects analyzed by the BIS aims to facilitate cross-border payments. But several global authorities have highlighted the potential of the CBDC for faster, cheaper and less risky cross-border payments. The BIS report says:
“About the emphasis on cross-border interconnections, no CBDC project is explicitly focused on payments beyond the jurisdiction of the central bank. Several central banks are working on trials consumer-oriented cross-border payments, alongside their CBDC efforts. “
BIS Offers Potential Architectures for CBDCs
The BIS also talks about the technical considerations for a CBDC and the needs of consumers. Besides, the BIS offers three potential architectures for CBDCs: indirect, direct and hybrid models. The first involves a tiered structure that relies on various banks, while the central bank handles wholesale payments. The second model involves only the central bank, and the third is a hybrid of the two systems. The conclusion that emerges is that the banks must share the results of the CBDC pilot projects to agree on an ideal model.
Some global jurisdictions such as Denmark and Switzerland believe that the costs of a retail CBDC would outweigh the benefits at this stage of development. However, more countries continue to actively develop retail CBDCs, with at least one-third of all global banks. They consider issuing a retail CBDC a medium-term priority, notes the report.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comment section below.


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ISLAMABAD – Suzuki Alto 660cc has been launched at the Pak-China Friendship Centre in Islamabad, the company said on Saturday.
The newly locally launched vehicle has 660cc R-series engine, modern design and spacious interior.
It has three variants of the car – the Suzuki Alto VX (without AC), Suzuki Alto VXR (with AC) and Suzuki Alto VXL AGS (with AC and automatic transmission).
The VXL is equipped with ABS brakes, two SRS bags, power windows, a multimedia touchscreen and power steering.
Price for VX is Rs999,000, VXR Rs1,101,000 and VXL Rs1,295,000. A manual and automatic transmission variant has also been launched.
The company claims it is providing a fuel efficient and spacious car with modern design and a three-year or 60,000km warranty.
The new car has been launched as a replacement for the iconic 800cc Mehran, the company’s top-selling vehicle for the last 30 years.


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Indian food delivery company Zomato has reportedly agreed to invest USD 100 million in Grofers, an online grocery platform, for an approximate 10% stake in the startup.
This investment takes the valuation of Grofers at over USD 1 billion. However, the Competition Commission of India is yet to approve this investment. The investment is part of a bigger funding round and other firms like SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global will contribute some capital.
The leadership teams at Zomato and Grofers have long had a close friendship and have been considering this investment since early 2021. In addition, both companies have mutually agreed to the idea of Zomato obtaining a majority stake in Grofers over upcoming quarters. However, they have not yet reached a final decision and will not explore this deal until Zomato goes public.
Zomato, which previously acquired the Indian food delivery business of Uber last year, has supposedly informed its major investors that it visualizes a future beyond the food delivery sector.
Grofers is a seven-year-old online grocery delivery service provider in India. Over the past year, the startup witnessed a significant rise in its popularity owing to many Indian states enforcing strict lockdown restrictions. The biggest competitor for Grofers is BigBasket, whose majority stake was recently bought by the Tata Group.
Last year, the online grocery market in India witnessed a new player in the form of Reliance Industries, the most valuable company in India. Reliance, the operator of the largest retail chain in India, launched JioMart last year.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, reportedly commented that the resounding success of JioMart showcases its loyal consumer base as 80% of the consumers were repeat shoppers. The company also launched its JioMart app across 200 cities on May 20.
As per reports, the number one firm in the online grocery delivery sector was BigBasket with around 300,000 daily order placements and an annual GMV hitting USD 1 billion.


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Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Because it’s impossible to ever imagine that fast food might be unhealthy for you, a group of people in Los Angeles are filing a class-action lawsuit against fast food chain Chipotle for selling them 300-calorie burritos that left them feeling “too full.”
The three customers are claiming that the chain engaged in unfair business practices by lying about the calorie count for the Chorizo Burrito, leaving consumers “lulled into a false belief” that they were actually eating healthy.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
According to the lawsuit, one plaintiff by the name of David Desmond “felt excessively full.” Being the culinary Sherlocks they are, the three plaintiffs quickly “realized that the burrito couldn’t have been just 300 calories.”
With ingredients that include white rice, black beans, salsa and cheese, the website’s nutritional calculator shows that, when you add up each item, the calorie count goes far beyond 1,000. In fact, the tortilla alone is 300 calories.
On Twitter, Chipotle explained that the “300 calories” on the menu refers only to the chorizo.
In a statement to the New York Daily News, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold only warned that “a lawsuit is nothing more than allegations and is proof of nothing.”
This is just the latest blow for the chain, which introduced chorizo to its menu this year in an effort to make up for a drastic dip in sales after an an E. coli outbreak in 2015.


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The Weather Channel’s owner claims Nielsen cannot reliably rate smaller networks and concealed the flaw in its system it to maintain its dominance on ratings services.
CF Entertainment on Wednesday sued The Nielsen Company for fraud, arguing the ratings giant provides a fundamentally defective service that has caused networks to lose billions of dollars in ad revenue. CF, which is owned by Byron Allen’s media group, alleges ratings on its network and other similarly situated companies were undercounted by hundreds of millions of viewers.
“Nielsen is the most well-known television ratings service providers in the country, but it relies on an antiquated panel system to estimate television viewership,” reads the complaint. “This is a crude tool that does not reliably measure television viewership in the Twenty-First Century.”
According to the complaint, which was filed in Illinois federal court, Nielsen’s ratings system no longer works in an environment where viewers can watch content by subscribing with distributors, such as satellite or cable providers, or stream over the internet through services and apps that can be viewed on various devices.
“This fragmentation of viewership has eroded the reliability of Nielsen’s panel system,” writes attorney Chris Gair. “Nielsen has known about the problems for years but has not invested to make its ratings system reliable and up-to-date.” Nielsen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Media Rights council, an independent organization charged with regulating Nielsen, in August suspended Nielsen’s accreditation for local and national TV measurement after it found that the company significantly underreported viewership. After an internal audit, Nielsen acknowledged that it didn’t account for some out-of-home viewers during a 16 month period from September 2020 to December 2021, which the lawsuit says caused over $700 million in lost ad revenue for the industry. It then reported that it failed to capture more than 41 million viewers who watched the Super Bowl.
CF claims its internal metrics also gave reason for the company to suspect Nielsen’s ratings were off. It alleges that it knew that it had viewership on its networks, especially during the prime advertising slots, but that Nielsen’s ratings report told a different story.
“Nielsen did not capture these viewers for much of the reporting period and for many of the primetime slots,” the complaint reads. “Because advertisers condition payments for commercials on the number of viewers who watch commercials, Nielsen’s failure to capture viewership on the ESN Networks damaged Entertainment Studios.”
According to the lawsuit, the issue was that sample errors in Nielsen’s reports dramatically increase when the distribution for a network has limited subscribership. CF argues, “The greater the sample error, the more likely it is that the viewership reported by Nielsen will differ significantly from the actual viewership, and the difference increases as the sample error increases.”
“In other words, Nielsen knew that the errors in its data would be more frequent and larger for smaller companies like Entertainment Studios,” the complaint continues.
CF says that Nielsen knew about its inability to reliable rate Entertainment Studios’ networks and didn’t disclose it to continue securing lucrative contracts.
CF has taken issue with Nielsen in the past. In April 2020, it sued the ratings giant for engaging in predatory pricing, alleging that it was being overcharged by more than $400,000 per month.
The lawsuit comes as networks and marketers are increasingly looking for better ways to track viewership and ad engagement. Nielsen has recently sued competitors for alleged patent infringement to preserve its influence. It sued TVSquared on March 4, alleging the ad measurement platform infringed on a patent used to track exposure to media across numerous platforms (computers, TVs, apps). The suit was filed one day after online advertising firm Innovid closed a $160 million deal to buy TVSquared.
Nielsen, which has announced new efforts to measure out-of-home viewing, has also filed similar lawsuit against ratings upstarts HyphaMetrics and TVision. Some of its customers have already started using other services. NBCUniversal has stated that it will use iSpot.tv to track viewership for the Olympics.
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The contest would get under way if, as reported by Bloomberg News, Tata Sons Pvt brings in financial or strategic investors. The holding company of the US$113bil coffee-to-cars conglomerate may be taking a leaf from the playbook of Mukesh Ambani, who has raised US$20bil this year from the likes of Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc, Silver Lake Partners and others for his digital assets. Ambani, India’s richest tycoon, is now parceling out stakes in his retail venture, and may have sought out Amazon.com Inc.
The 152-year-old Tata Group is talking to Walmart Inc for a US$25bil investment in a “super-app,” a multipurpose online platform combining fashion, lifestyle and electronics retail, food and grocery, insurance and financial services, as well as digital content and education, the Mint newspaper reported.
The advantage is with the 63-year-old Ambani, with roughly 400 million regular subscribers for his 4G telecommunications network. He also has India’s largest retail chain.
The kind of super-app that has succeeded in China and South-East Asia requires a reason for customers to visit it regularly. Commerce is incidental.
Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has its popular Alipay wallet. Pony Ma’s Tencent Holdings Ltd has WeChat, a messaging service, and WeChat Pay. In South-East Asia, Grab built a steady user base as a ride-hailing platform before branching into financial services.
But if Ambani wants to spawn India’s Tencent, Ratan Tata, 82, can aim to launch its Alibaba. The conglomerate, which owns Tetley tea and Jaguar Land Rover car brands, has its tentacles in more than 100 businesses, all with their supply chains.
If Tata can provide a portal to its vendors to sell their wares, host data and discount bills, expansion into business-to-consumer or consumer-to-consumer websites – like Alibaba’s Tmall or Taobao – shouldn’t be too hard.
Besides, if Walmart comes on board, Tata may get access to both the US retailer’s India e-commerce website Flipkart, which it bought for US$16bil, as well as PhonePe, a payment service.
Tata has a stronger pedigree than Ambani in running consumer businesses, though some of its ventures – like the world’s cheapest car – have flopped.
The group also underestimated the challenge from Ambani’s Jio 4G network and was forced to offload its mobile service business. It’s a 51% partner in a low-cost domestic airline, though India’s aviation minister has said publicly that the unit is close to shutting shop.
Aviation will require further investment if Tata acquires taxpayer-supported Air India Ltd, which a cash-strapped government is desperate to sell.
The Tata Group was the carrier’s original owner before it was nationalised.
Ambani brought in outside equity to cut his flagship Reliance Industries Ltd’s net debt to zero and lower its dependence on refining and petrochemicals, businesses that will struggle with global oversupply in the post-Covid demand funk. Tata has a net debt overhang of more than US$20bil in steel and automotive businesses.
In addition, Ratan Tata needs billions of dollars to buy out the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, an 18.4% shareholder in the holding company. Ever since the group patriarch ousted SP Group scion Cyrus Mistry as Tata Sons chairman four years ago, the two sides have been trapped in a messy legal feud.
Now that SP’s liquidity crunch is forcing it to cash out, Tata must exercise its right of first refusal or bring in other investors, perhaps by tapping the group’s deep connections with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and its state investment firm. — Bloomberg
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Germany’s top civil court today has ruled against Apple in a case pertaining to the company’s swipe-to-unlock input method. Judges in the case explained that swipe-to-unlock is not sophisticated enough to be awarded patent protection. This ruling falls in line with a similar ruling that favored Motorola back in 2013 (via Bloomberg).
Following a request for a rehearing of its battle with Apple earlier this summer, Samsung last week had its plea denied by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, putting the case on its last leg. Samsung was hoping that the federal appeals court would reconsider the U.S Federal Circuit Court’s decision to uphold damages from a 2012 ruling. Following last week’s rejections, Samsung’s final option would be to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and now it appears that the company is doing just that.
Earlier this month, the United States Patent Office made a non-final ruling that one of Apple’s design patents for the original iPhone is invalid within Apple’s long-running lawsuit against Samsung, according to a report from FOSS Patents. This particular patent, as seen in the drawings above, references the overall design of the original iPhone launched in 2007. It is known as the “D’677” patent in court proceedings and legal documents. FOSS explains the reasoning behind the invalidation:
In its seemingly never-ending legal battle between Apple, Samsung earlier this summer asked a federal appeals court to reconsider the U.S Federal Circuit Court’s decision to uphold damages from a 2012 ruling. Today, San Jose Mercury News reports that the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Samsung’s request to have its case reheard.
In the latest news in the patent case that feels like it will never end, a number of tech giants have taken Samsung’s side in its appeal against the damages it was ordered to pay for infringing Apple’s patents.
It’s almost three years since Apple was awarded $1B in damages after a jury found that Samsung infringed five of its patents. $450M of that award was later vacated and a retrial ordered to determine a revised sum, with Apple awarded a lower sum of $290M – for a revised total of $930M. The US appeals court later ruled that while Samsung did indeed copy iOS features, it should not have been penalised for copying the general look of the iPhone. The court now needs to once again revise the amount awarded.
The amount awarded in part reflected the profits Samsung was deemed to have made by infringing the patents, and it is this aspect that Google, Facebook, Dell, HP, eBay and other tech companies say is unreasonable … expand full story
Apple tends to patent every one of its inventions that could possibly be used in a future product, so it can be difficult to read the tea leaves on which ones will eventually translate to product features. A new patent from Apple highlighted by PatentlyApple today, though, describes a technology that would be a very welcome remedy to battery life issues. The patent covers applying solar cells to a touch display surface like a trackpad or iPhone to store power for the device: expand full story
A federal judge has overturned the $529.9M damages awarded against Apple for infringing on three SmartFlash patents in its iTunes software, reports Reuters. The judge said that while February’s verdict stood, the jury instructions may have “skewed” the jurors’ understanding of the appropriate level of damages.
SmartFlash, a patent troll which had originally sought $852M in damages for patents relating to methods of storing data and managing payment systems, subsequently went back to court to make the same claims against the iPhone 6/Plus and iPad Air 2 – products released after the award … expand full story
In a new patent application, Apple details an idea it’s experimenting with that would have Apple Watch users shake hands to exchange data (via PatentlyApple). The idea is simple. The patent application imagines two Apple Watch wearers exchanging data, such as contact information, for example, by performing common gestures like a handshake or a hug: expand full story
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has partially reversed the $930M verdict Apple won against Samsung in the long-running iPhone patent case, reports Reuters.
Apple was originally awarded $1B in damages, before $450M of that was vacated and a retrial ordered to determine a revised sum. The retrial awarded Apple $290M instead for that element of the case, giving Apple a revised total award of $930M.
As spotted by Patently Apple, Apple was today granted five patents covering the form factor and overall design of the Apple Watch. The patent images show the near-invisible bezel, Digital Crown, contacts button, rear sensors and strap attachment slots.
The company was last month granted patents on three of its watch bands – the Sport Band, Classic Buckle and Link Bracelet – and we’re likely to see many more watch-related patents granted in the coming months … expand full story
An Apple patent application published today shows that the Force Touch trackpad used in the 12-inch MacBook and latest 13-inch MacBook Pro could get more sophisticated in future versions. The patent describes how a mix of vibration and temperature could fool your finger into ‘feeling’ different surfaces, such as metal and wood.
For example, a glass surface may be controlled to have the temperature of a relatively cooler metal material and/or a relatively warmer wood material […]
In some cases, the temperature may be varied over time, such as in response to one or more touches detected using one or more touch sensors. For example, a metal material may increase in temperature while touched in response to heat from a user’s finger.
The patent describes how vibrations could be used to simulate a textured surface, such as the grain of a wooden surface … expand full story
Apple has been granted patents on three Apple Watch bands, just a few days before pre-order customers are due to start receiving their watches, reports Patently Apple. The three patents cover the Sport Band, Classic Buckle and Link Bracelet, and are simply listed as “the ornamental design for a band, as shown and described” … expand full story
We created Vaptur (a play on the words “Video Capture”) to be a camera App with this built in capability.
As far as we know this is the first time that two screens (live and constant delayed) were set up in a camera for the sole purpose of allowing someone to record something after they see it live by using the record button to record what they see in the delayed screen.
The genius of this idea is that you use the “Record” button to grab video clips after they happen live, seconds after you decide they are worth recording. This is not video editing per say, but is live-clipping where you know ahead of time what is going to happen so you know just when to start and stop recording to get just the clip you want with no editing and in near real time. You could call it predictive recording because you can predict the ‘future’ of what will soon be happening in the ‘delay’ screen. In this way you “edit” or “live clip” live video by simply using the record button.
Here is how it works:
Start Vaptur™ and wait for something interesting to happen.
When you see something interesting happen, you can press the green Vaptur record button after you see it to record what you just saw as it appears again in the 8 second delay box.
Here is a video of how it works.
Some content was stripped by our security filters, but it should be possible for one of your Editors to embed the content for you.
We just launched the App on April 7th after several years of R&D and development.
Promo Codes for Free App:
Code expires on May 6, 2015 and is redeemable only on the iTunes Store for United States. Requires an iTunes account, subject to prior acceptance of license and usage terms. To open an account you must be above the age of 13 and in United States. Compatible software and hardware, and internet access (fees may apply) required. Not for resale. Full terms apply; see http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/ww/. For more information, see http://www.apple.com/support/. This app is provided to you by TrimVid LLC
If you were wondering why Apple has ignored the megapixel race and stuck to a modest 8MP camera in its latest iPhones when almost every other manufacturer is cramming in as many pixels as physically possible, it’s all about image quality. While more pixels allow you to blow up photos to larger sizes, that comes at a cost. Squeezing more pixels into a tiny sensor means more noise, reducing quality, especially in low-light situations like bars and parties.


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It’s probably fair to say that stereotyping was one of the issues surrounding the World Cup 2014.
There was a pretty sizeable backlash against the girlie campaigns that assumed we wouldn’t want to watch the football and certainly wouldn’t understand the offside rule, through to the KLM gaffe regarding Mexico exiting the finals and the mustachioed, sombrero-wearing icon.
(Source: BBC News)
The problem with stereotyping is that it plays on the negatives of one group to the amusement of another.
Take the ‘Football, What Football?’ ads from the television companies this summer. Personally I was quite amused by them and there’s nothing wrong with marketing companies segmenting their audience and targeting men with football related messages. But, and it’s a big but, when they do that by making a fool out of their female other-halves, it starts to grate. Clearly a sexist pub joke from one England fan to another isn’t going to do any harm but when a multi-million pound company does the same, it doesn’t always work as intended.
The other problem lies in the fact that marketing isn’t 100 per cent accurate and for every marketing persona created there will be someone who doesn’t fit the mould: not every man will be obsessed by football and not every woman will be abstaining from watching.
That’s when tempers flare and people let rip on social media.
In a world obsessed with having a voice or opinion, even those who don’t necessarily feel strongly about a mis-judged campaign could take to Facebook or Twitter. In previous World Cups the worst an ‘offendee’ could do was write to a national newspaper or moan about it around the water cooler the next day, but today the outlets are much more immediate and longer lasting and no ad exec wants to be informed by the PR department that an apology is necessary.
Whilst not World Cup related, I’m currently part way through Great Brand Blunders which includes a great example of a campaign to promote milk that back-fired in a big way. The agency, bolstered by rather dubious data about milk reducing the symptoms of PMS, created a campaign that put the focus on the downtrodden other halves of the women affected. The humour was badly judged and the campaign’s website, originally positioned as ‘your home for PMS management’, was quickly replaced by a forum to discuss the issues raised by the campaign with a note of apology from the organisation.
I’m not a bra-burning feminist and so, as I said above, I’d assumed that some of the pink and fluffy, anti-football campaigns were laced with a dash of irony and the same could be said for the milk campaign too. However, judging by the social media outpourings, clearly there are many who disagree.
There may be the odd occasion when a brand is happy to create controversy and deal with the backlash, particularly if they buy in to the ‘no such thing as bad publicity’ mantra. But you’ve got to be a very confident marketing department to deliberately expose your brand in such a way and I’d say, fairly lucky to get away with it nowadays.
Stereotyping on the whole comes down to making assumptions about a group of people, often in a negative way to the benefit of another group. Market segmentation is much more intentional, undertaken to find the common positives in a group of people’s thought processes, values or behaviours. It should begin with a discussion about why people actively choose to buy a product or service and why they choose a particular brand. These positives are a much better and more informed basis on which to build a marketing campaign than making sweeping generalisations that offend.
In short, don’t reinforce any negative stereotypes to promote another group, product or company (especially when their emotions are raw in the case of Mexico’s exit from Rio) and stick to reinforcing the positives.
Marketing doesn’t need to be devoid of humour but if you pick on a specific group, then prepare for the social media shockwaves with your company potentially at the epicentre.


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The rapid growth of the online marketplace model is showing no sign of slowing down, with eBay and Amazon leading the way as shoppers continue to look for reliable, affordable ways to shop.
Currently accounting for around 40% of the UK’s total online spend, the last six months have seen a number of major retailers – including Superdrug, B&Q and Debenhams – all launching their own curated digital marketplaces. So why the sudden interest?
“Even before the pandemic, shoppers were turning to online marketplaces in droves,” Initials CX strategy director Annie Little told Charged.
“Beyond convenience, access to the best deals, seamless checkout and quick deliveries, marketplaces also exceed consumer expectations for an intuitive one-stop shopping experience,” she adds.
According to a report by OC&C Strategy Consultants, the ecommerce marketplace model is on track to grow by 15% annually, as it drives the largest fundamental shift in consumer spending habits since the emergence of online shopping in the 1990s.
The research predicts that by 2025, spending through leading online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay will overtake the majority of ecommerce outlets.
The arrival of the pandemic saw marketplaces rise dramatically in popularity, accounting for 62% of all web sales, according to a report from emerchantpay.
Marketplaces give unfettered access to a huge range of products, meaning consumers are not restricted to a specific brand or offering. Shoppers are able to compare products and decide what they want, with minimal friction or confusion in comparing metrics.
Evidently, retailers are looking to reap the benefits of the marketplace model. But what exactly are the benefits and where should they start?
How do marketplaces benefit retailers?
“Retailers should always look at new ways to get in front of their audience and marketers want to be able to get the right content in front of the right people at the right time,” Organic group account director Simon Dale says.
With marketplaces, this means having a wide variety of products readily available when customers are in “buying mode”.
“By being part of the overall marketing journey, retailers may offer great top of funnel content, but if a consumer is purchasing from Amazon or eBay and providing the solution to their products on these channels, it will help win sales,” Dale continues.
“The perception is that the related services, such as shipping and sales, will be the same when purchased from trusted marketplaces.”
As such, marketplaces allow retailers to host a variety of products from third-party sellers, while maintaining their existing reputation and giving consumers confidence to purchase.
The value of marketplace data
Retailers can also benefit from valuable data that the marketplace model offers them.
“The reach that marketplaces provide offers ample opportunities for retailers to not only connect with new customers – via access to customer data – but also glean insights into what potential and existing buyers are thinking,” Annie Little says.
“Most marketplace platforms give sellers access to data and analytics tools that provide in-depth insights into the shopping behaviours of consumers on the platform.
“These insights not only help sellers optimise their marketplace strategy, but also adapt their entire omnichannel strategy to best reach their customers.”
Marketplaces, Little continues, also inspire an increased feeling of trust among consumers that comes from access to “impartial peer-to-peer reviews as well as greater visibility of product availability, prices and stock levels.”
These key elements mean the gamble of buying new products is somewhat neutralised.
However, Little insists that customers the growing appeal of marketplaces isn’t just down to improved purchasing efficiencies and brand transparency. While consumers may come for the products, they ultimately stay for the experience.
“Marketplaces have become hubs for like-minded communities of consumers to share information and vlog about product and service experiences,” she says.
“This circulation of information that is tangential to the virtual ecommerce marketplace platform itself, enables strangers to feel like locals, as they are able to connect through shared passions and circumstance.”
Will more retailers launch marketplaces in the future?
According to research from marketplace platform Mirakl, 94% of consumers expect to maintain or increase their future use of marketplaces. At the same time, 7 out of 10 consumers think that a marketplace is the most convenient way to shop online.
Mirakl is an ecommerce software company working with major retailers including Superdrug, B&Q, Hotter, Mountain Warehouse and Debenhams, using its SaaS platform to power their marketplace offerings.
Mirakl regional vice president UK & Ireland Jessica Christenson says the surge in ecommerce has created a fierce competition among retailers.
“There is a lot of movement across the entire retail sector and particularly in health & beauty, fashion and grocery as these retailers look to win in a competitive environment with rapidly growing customer demand,” she says.
“The future of a resilient retail sector lies in the adoption of marketplaces. They are no longer ‘nice to have,’ but are a clear preferred way for consumers to shop, especially for younger generations.”
Marketplaces give retailers the opportunity to expand the products they are able to offer customers, far beyond their own inventory, with low risk and little overhead.
Superdrug x Mirakl
Back in March 2022, Superdrug announced it would be launching its own marketplace, powered by Mirakl tech.
The health and beauty retailer recently revealed it has already signed over 200 brands to its upcoming Superdrug Marketplace. Set to go live in September 2022, the company is still recruiting brands ready for launch.
According to Superdrug, the marketplace will be “seamlessly integrated” onto its existing website, providing customers with a “smooth journey” for purchasing products.
“Superdrug Marketplace is the logical next step for our business,” Superdrug ecommerce director Matt Walburn said.
“As well as further strengthening our accessible health and beauty offering, it’s designed to help remove listing barriers for innovators in the market and provide hundreds of offline and online businesses with a flexible business opportunity and support they need to succeed in the digital world.”
As well as hosting a variety of upcoming brands and products, the marketplace will focus on growing trends, throwing a spotlight on brands that are homegrown, female-founded, sustainable and inclusive.
It is not difficult to understand the appeal of a marketplace for a retailer like Superdrug.
Through the marketplace model, the company is able to offer its consumers a variety of third-party brands, all under the security of the Superdrug name.
It is an excellent way to increase revenue and consumer reach, while maintaining brand affinity and loyalty.
Marketplaces are clearly powerful platforms with several tangible benefits. With major retailers like Superdrug jumping on the bandwagon, the retail industry should expect them to grow even further, as they take up more of the ecommerce market share.