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According to multiple media reports, Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Global are in early talks to explore a merger.
Talks are believed to be at an early stage, for a deal that would bring together the two major studios with a combined market value of $38b (£30b), although it is uncertain whether the deal will go ahead.
Warner CEO, David Zaslav, and Paramount CEO, Bob Bakish, reportedly discussed a possible deal prior to Christmas. As traditional media companies have had to react quickly to compete with Netflix, Amazon Video and Apple TV, both Warner and Paramount have undertaken cost-cutting measures in an attempt to minimise losses from their own video streaming services.
According to Axios, the studios discussed how each company’s main streaming service, Paramount Plus and Max (formerly HBO Max), could merge to better compete with rivals Netflix and Disney Plus.
Analysts are of the opinion that Paramount would need to find a buyer or strategic partner because of the level of debt accrued in recent years whilst bulking up its streaming service, while they believe that Warner Bros is in a better cash position, partly due to recent mergers.
Last year, AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit and Discovery merged to become Warner Bros Discovery, with a portfolio that includes Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Entertainment, CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network and franchises such as Batman and Harry Potter. Paramount owns CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
The dominance of Netflix and other companies in the media space has only increased since Netflix’s crackdown on account-sharing which led to new accounts created, mostly in the US, Canada and Europe, bringing its total number of subscribers to 247.2m globally. Paramount Plus total subscribers, meanwhile, stand at 63.4m and Warner Bros Discovery 95m, as of November 2023.
Some industry experts have reacted to the rumour with scepticism. TD Cowen analyst, Doug Creutz, told The Hollywood Reporter: “We have a very hard time believing the current FTC/DOJ, which has been very aggressive in combating industry consolidation, would give this deal a pass.”
Paramount and Warner Bros have so far declined to comment on the situation.


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India’s Proposed Blanket Bitcoin Ban Will Set The Economy Back As Blockchain Devs And Traders Leave
Being too tough on innovation can be a cause for brain drain. At least that is what some crypto specialists in India believe right now. As the government continues its plans to ban cryptocurrencies locally, India is starting to see its first big signs of brain drain happening in the country.
A complete blanket ban as proposed by the government would basically make it inviable for people who specialize in cryptocurrencies to have a place in the country. These people would possibly be experts in the industry could simply move to other places.
The upcoming law could imprison people for up to 10 years for trading cryptos or dealing with them. This is already prompting people in the industry to plan their exodus from the country.
Rahul Jain, for instance, was interviewed by the Economic Times. He works at a local crypto exchange and affirmed that the company wanted to serve Indians first, but they are having trouble to keep a viable business there.
The CEO of WazirX, Nischal Shetty, affirmed that the bill could erode the wealth of millions of people in the country who are already using Bitcoin. Criminalizing crypto assets, according to him, would be a blow to businesses that were operating completely within the boundaries of the law before.
One of the main concerns of the people in the industry is that the country will also lose the chance to participate in a $10 trillion USD industry, which will certainly harm the local economy.

domain: news


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Men’s Wearhouse, Spartech are big movers
Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., down $2.54, or 6.7 percent, to $35.59
The beverage company’s CEO said he expected shopper spending to have improved more than it actually has this year.
Men’s Wearhouse Inc., up $1.25, or 6 percent, to $22.25
The clothing chain’s second-quarter results beat Wall Street’s estimates and its third-quarter outlook also topped analysts’ expectations.
McDonald’s Corp., down $1.71, or 2.3 percent, to $74.37.
The company reported a 4.6 percent increase in a key revenue figure in August, but it was a smaller gain than analysts expected.
Adobe Systems Inc., up $3.55, or 12 percent, to $32.86
Apple is removing one obstacle that kept iPhone “app” developers from using Adobe’s technology.
Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc., down 67 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $9.71
The Food and Drug Administration said it will need more time before it can approve the company’s Acthar gel as a treatment for infantile spasms.
Spartech Corp., down $2.86, or 31 percent, to $6.33
The plastic sheet and packaging maker’s fiscal third-quarter loss of $3.9 million disappointed investors who were expecting a profit.
Fuqi International Inc., down $1.55, or 24 percent, to $4.80
The Chinese jewelry company is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to file certain financial reports on time.
Santarus Inc., up 46 cents, or 21 percent, to $2.68
The pharmaceutical company bought the rights to make and sell Cycloset, a new type 2 diabetes drug, from its developers S2 Therapeutics and VeroScience.


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We have talked a lot about the values of dedicated PNDs versus using a smartphone for navigation, and the general consensus was that PND is probably the better way to go. But, according to an article by GPS World, PND device shipments decreased by 6 million from 2012 to 2013. The figures come from a new research report from Berg Insight.
That same report has several rather saddening forecasts for the PND market including a projected PND shipment decline to only 10 million units in 2019. To put that in perspective, in 2013 22 million units were shipped, down from 28 million in 2012.
Several factors are believed to be contributing to this decline including reduced shelf space in retail outlets and competition from other sources of navigation–most notably navigation apps, which are becoming more and more common as many cell phones come pre-loaded with some form of mapping app.
“The number of mobile subscribers worldwide using a turn-by-turn navigation app on their handset at least once per month grew from 150 million in 2012 to 180 million in 2013,” said André Malm, senior analyst, Berg Insight.
The report also predicted that PND will face further challenges in the future due to the proliferation of GPS devices already on the market and their extended shelf life. Lifetime maps will lead to users replacing systems less frequently and simply stick with the device they already have. In-dash navigation systems are also expected to cut into the market as more cars come pre-installed with low-cost systems.


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Bulk diffusion-treated sapphires and Canadian diamonds are labeled as “scandals” on the front page of the “Marketplace” section in the Thursday, April 17, edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The lead story of bulk diffusion-treated sapphires is a brief history of the controversy, beginning with the discovery of diffusion-treated padparadschas in 2001 through February of this year when the Thai treaters finally admitted to adding beryllium. Differing viewpoints are given by members of the jewelry industry including Don Kogen of ThaiGem.com in Chanthaburi, Thailand, who claimed early suspicions of a new treatment; and Stuart Robertson, research director for The Guide at Gemworld International in Northbrook, Ill., who is quoted as saying “unless treatments are reined in … and disclosure taken seriously, the market will drop.”
Ken Scarratt, director for the American Gem Trade Association’s Gem Testing Center, also was quoted in the article. He described the laboratory’s problem of trying to keep up with the Thai treaters as “a constant cat-and-mouse game.” Scarratt is given due credit for sending out the January 8, 2002, Lab Alert which pretty much saved the American gem market from buying these diffusion-treated gems at traditionally-heated gem prices.
According to Robertson, the Wall Street Journal did their homework on this one, by contacting numerous experts in the field both here and in Thailand. (There have been concerns about accuracy in the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on gem-related topics after their stories on tanzanite two years ago.) Gemological references to diffusion treatment, including the original blue diffusion stones, are fairly accurate. Doug Hucker, executive director for AGTA, agrees that the WSJ got it “reasonably on target.” However, Hucker would have preferred to see something more positive about how the American gem industry is keeping it safe for the American consumer. Instead, the headlines read “Gemstone Scandals” and “Gem Industry Shaken by Reports of Treated Stones.” The slant of the article certainly will not bolster consumer confidence, Hucker said.
“Political Correctness by the Carat” headlines the second “Gemstone Scandals” story, a report on the benefits of owning a Canadian diamond. Canadian origin seems to be important for some, notes the report. Having a guarantee that the diamond is from Canada distinguishes it from an African “blood diamond,” one which has been sold to finance military campaigns, says the report.
Canada is fast becoming a major source for diamonds, and with the Canadian government stepping up its origin program, it is becoming easier to acquire a diamond with a Canadian birth certificate. The story included interviews with a few consumers who had purchased Canadian diamonds because of the stones’ origin. There is, however, the opposing viewpoint—in a quote from a Tiffany & Co. spokesperson—that customers are not interested in origin. Some retailers, according to the report, refuse to buy Canadian diamonds: They claim wholesale suppliers are increasing by as much as 20% the standard price of diamonds with Canadian pedigrees.Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
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|By PR Newswire||
|April 2, 2014 07:01 AM EDT||
DULUTH, Ga., April 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABG), one of the largest automotive retail and service companies in the U.S., today announced that it will release its first quarter financial results before the market opens on April 23, 2014. President and CEO Craig T. Monaghan, Executive Vice President and COO Michael S. Kearney, and Senior Vice President and CFO Keith R. Style will host a conference call later that day, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
In addition, a live audio of the call will be accessible to the public by calling (888) 430-8705 (domestic), or (719) 325-2432 (international); passcode – 3603318. Callers should dial in approximately 5 to 10 minutes before the call begins.
A conference call replay will be available two hours following the call for seven days, and can be accessed by calling (888) 203-1112 (domestic), or (719) 457-0820 (international); passcode – 3603318.
About Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. ("Asbury"), headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, is one of the largest automotive retailers in the U.S. Built through a combination of organic growth and a series of strategic acquisitions, Asbury currently operates 80 retail auto stores, encompassing 101 franchises for the sale and servicing of 29 different brands of American, European and Asian automobiles. Asbury offers customers an extensive range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicle sales and related financing and insurance, vehicle maintenance and repair services, replacement parts and service contracts.
SOURCE Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.
StarNet Communications Corp has announced the addition of three Secure Remote Desktop modules to its flagship X-Win32 PC X server. The new modules enable X-Win32 to safely tunnel the remote desktops from Linux and Unix servers to the user’s PC over encrypted SSH. Traditionally, users of PC X servers deploy the XDMCP protocol to display remote desktop environments such as the Gnome and KDE desktops on Linux servers and the CDE environment on Solaris Unix machines. XDMCP is used primarily on comp...
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Canadian cryptocurrency payments provider, NetCents, has completed the technical integration of its consumer credit card into its proprietary ecosystem. NetCents announced March 20 that it had begun edge-case scenario testing in real-world environments in order to ready the card for launch.
The NetCents credit card promises users will not have to pre-load cryptocurrency onto their cards, differing from otherwise-similar products already on the market. Cards that require pre-loading can sometimes rob users of crypto value appreciation they would have otherwise received in the interim between loading and spending their coins.
The NetCents card is directly tied to each user’s wallet, which allows cryptocurrency to be spent in real-time. The company has adapted its instant settlement technology to allow merchants to convert funds into fiat at time-of-purchase. They have also integrated the NetCents exchange into their offering. With the integration of the card into its existing ecosystem complete, testing in real-world environments has begun. This is the final stage of development before the public launch.
Name of Author: Jack Martin


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LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 08: All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) Chairman Philip Brook, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attend day nine of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 8, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
Kate Middleton has helped another high street item of clothing sell out within hours. Last month it was a Breton top and this week it’s a red dress from L.K. Bennett.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended Wimbledon yesterday, as they do every year because, and Kate got all the attention. There are two reasons for this. One, she’s one of the most famous women slash princesses in the world. Two, she looked great. The dress was simple, flattering, and really pretty, meaning everyone who wasn’t living in dread of checking her bank balance wanted it. Also, it matched Prince George’s baptism get-up from the weekend past. We love this new fiery royal wardrobe.
Sure, Andy Murray and Vasek Pospisil were playing on the court, but the now mother-of-two stole the show. (Andy Murray won and will play Roger Federer AKA Anna Wintour’s pal in the semi-finals tomorrow.) Can we take a moment of impressed silence for Kate’s blow dry? Like, look at it! It’s too good. Rounds of applause for a woman we knows has a staff but does wealth so very well.
The dress, which is listed on the L.K. Bennett London site as the Cayla Long Dress, costs €250 and is currently out of stock online. The Kate Effect, kicked off when she announced her engagement to Prince William in a navy Issa dress, is strong and well. Although Prince George is doing quite well at helping the fashion industry too. His crocs wearing day out last month saw sales increase by 1,500%.
Considering Andy Murray is playing again this week, expect another fashion moment from Kate that will send add-to-baskets soaring. In recent months, she’s helped put Madderson London on the map after wearing one of their maternity dresses to an official engagement and last month wore a Me+Em striped top that led to a frenzied waiting list.


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Amazon announced Wednesday that it is launching streaming its content through Roku 2 devices in 2017.
The online retailer said the Roku 2 will be available for purchase starting in March for $99 and will offer a variety of TV programming for the Internet-connected TV.
Amazon said it will offer programming that is “up to six months in the making.”
Amazon has a growing library of video content on its platform, including the upcoming series “The Jungle Book,” which stars a female protagonist and stars “The Office’s” Kevin Spacey.
Roku 2 offers its own channel lineup of shows and movies.
In addition to the content Amazon offers on Roku, the company has also announced a series of TV series and movies based on popular books and novels, such as “Game of Thrones,” “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”


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The Opalka Gallery at the Sage Colleges’ Albany campus will bring back its popular Pop-Up Beer Garden this coming weekend for a socially distanced, Father’s Day version. Scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday (6/20) outdoors at the gallery, the beer garden will feature takeout pizza kits from Restaurant Navona, crowlers of craft beer from Rare Form Brewing, artisan ice pops from Market Pops, a mail-in art project and the opportunity to donate to the South End Children’s Cafe.
Live music during pickup will be provided by The Magdalens, Unplugged, an Albany-based band, and will be livestreamed by the gallery’s media partners at WEXT 97.7/106.1. Pizza kits, ice pops and beer will be by preorder, with scheduled pickup times to avoid long waits. Attendees are asked to wear masks during pickup. Vendors will donate 10 percent of sales to the gallery.
Opalka director Judie Gilmore said Saturday’s event will help gallery staff understand demand and test the takeout concept for a larger event in September, when the gallery will bring back the beer garden on several Fridays. Also this fall, artist Daesha Devon Harris will use collected images and writing from hundreds of Capital Region residents to create a site-specific community portrait at Opalka Gallery that, according to promotional material, will “provide … insight into what this moment in time has meant for us all.”
The gallery is at 140 New Scotland Ave.


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I recently read this article in the NCEA News magazine, and found the perspective (written by a writer and beauty influencer in India) pretty relevant for our industry here in the US. The months in lockdown have changed much about how we live - so how might that influence skincare and beauty trends now that the country has begun to reopen and how long will those trends last? Here's one opinion.
Free of make-up during the lockdown, have women finally begun to feel comfortable in their own skin?
Right now, at this time of lockdown, anyone who appears on your feed with full make-up is bound to look out of place; you might also believe that such pictures show bad taste. But will this low-key look continue once the lockdown has been lifted?
‘Clean beauty’ relates to any product that uses organic, natural, pure and sustainable ingredients. Its popularity has been growing steadily for a while. Celebrity make-up artist Namrata Soni says, “People have become more and more conscious about the things they use.” The sudden pause that the lockdown has created in our lives has also made us think about how we treat nature and so a move towards clean beauty is almost predictable. All global reports have shown that while sales of many beauty products have taken a hit during lockdown, the sales of clean beauty products have been on the upswing in the past few weeks. India, with its tradition of Ayurveda, has an in-built affinity towards herbs, flora and fauna in beauty rituals.
Vivek Sahni, founder and CEO of Kama Ayurveda confirms the trend. “Our communication on social media has seen an increase in engagement. As a result of staying home and reading, people have begun taking care of their health to build immunity. Immunity has become a buzzword. The use of chemical-free products, ones that are pure and authentic, is a natural outcome of this trend.”
Jessica Jayne, who runs the clean beauty brand Pahadi Local, has noted an uptake in clean beauty products as well as everything associated with wellness. Customers have been happy to make prepaid purchases despite knowing there could be considerable delay in delivery, she observes. “One of the biggest reasons for new customer acquisition is being able to convince them that our skincare products are less harmful to our skin and to the environment,” says Jayne. Pull facewash, which is a lake sediment salt, has proven to be Pahadi Local’s star product at this time. “Maybe that’s because salt is also assumed to be a wellness product,” explains Jayne. The product also doubles as a soft exfoliator, adding to its charm. Beauty rituals, such as the 10-step Korean skincare regime, had reached a painstaking extreme and things were getting out of hand.
Staying at home means we are more make-up free than usual, and the feel and look of natural skin has become more important than ever. Forest Essentials’ chief managing director Mira Kulkarni says, “As there is no requirement for make-up, the lockdown is enabling people to finally be comfortable in their own skin.”
The lockdown has not only turned us into chefs, it has also turned us into kitchen beauticians. This is not surprising, given that we have a centuries-old tradition of elaborate home remedies for skincare and we have the time to practice them.
Wearing masks will be part of the foreseeable future and they are not friendly to heavy make-up, in particular lipstick. This is why lashes may become even more important as a beauty trend. With Zoom calls becoming part of every working woman’s life, we will want that coat of lippy, but perhaps colours will be more subtle. Soni believes some of the important make-up products to use right now are the ones with skin benefits, like primers and tinted moisturisers. Influencer Scherezade Shroff sees masks becoming a bit like socks – we will match them to our looks. The mask will just become an extension of the make-up ritual.
Even social media, which has in many ways encouraged the use of bold and beautiful colours, is toning things down. Popular beauty influencer and author of the best-selling book, Roots to Radiance Nikita Upadhyay says, “What makes me happy is that my followers genuinely want to work on their skin concerns rather than use concealers.”


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"When providing a rundown of its fiscal 2017 (April 2016-March 2017) heavy hitters in its latest financial report, EA offered the following statement:“In Q1, we’ll begin with the creative and innovative Mirror’s Edge Catalyst from DICE launching in May. A great line-up of EA Sports titles are in development for next year, and we look forward to sharing more about these new experiences in the months ahead. An all-new Battlefield game from DICE will arrive in time for the holidays, we’re excited to have a new Titanfall experience coming from our friends at Respawn – and of course, Mass Effect Andromeda from the team at BioWare will launch later in the fiscal year.”"
While there has obviously been speculation about the big three shooters to be making their way from EA in this coming year, this is the first official announcement of the timeline in which we may see them. It seem EA will be very busy after they have launched the upcoming Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2.
How about some predictions? My predictions are as follows:
- The new Battlefield will likely be a late October title (will most likely fall within a week or so of Call of Duty).
- The new Mass Effect is going to be the Winter albatross with a mid-November release like Star Wars Battlefront.
- I say Titanfall hits right back in the same sweet spot it hit before with a February launch right in time to give a month of sales before the end of EA’s fiscal 2017. With Sony blowing most of their first party productions out this year (or so it seems) that would make Titanfall the king of spring while Battlefield and Mass Effect simmer coming out of Winter.
"In 2015 the happy news was confirmed that support for the Unity middleware development platform was coming to New 3DS; that was pleasing news in consideration of the large number of Unity-developed titles on the Wii U eShop. It’s a very common tool for smaller developers, in particular, so supporting it – and offering free licenses, as Nintendo does on Wii U – is a sure-fire way to attract releases that would otherwise skip the hardware.We heard from developers last Autumn / Fall that the New 3DS support was making progress, and now Unity has formally launched the tools to all developers. In a detailed blog post outlining core details there’s information on version numbers implemented, improvements still to come and more."
While this may be news to some, the New Nintendo 3DS is a pretty amazing machine but one of the issues for Unity developers is up to this point there was no standardized toolset to develop on the platform. It is a pretty stark weakness for any platform to not have the full support of one of the most popular development platforms out there. Well, this has been remedied and now the New Nintendo 3DS can sing its new song courtesy of Lil’ Jon: “Ports! Ports! Ports.Ports. PortPorts! Ports! Ports! Ports. Ports. PortPorts!”
"Madden NFL 16 is just the latest EA game to join The Vault. Members can also play Battlefield™ Hardline, Dragon Age™: Inquisition, FIFA 15, Battlefield 4™, and more as much as they want. Members also get a chance to try upcoming EA games before they’re released, and save 10% on all EA digital purchases on Xbox one — full games, pre-orders, expansion packs, Madden Ultimate Team items, and everything in between."
It is a bit surprising this happened so soon, but then again I imagine everyone who wanted Madden has already bought the game. EA Access continues to be a surprisingly good service for those who would like to try out the best of what EA has released on PS4/Xbox One. There are about 15 or so games in the vault now with none of them having left as of yet.
I was skeptical of how much they would allow to accumulate in the Vault, but EA has steadily increased the number of games in the vault each quarter. For those who own an Xbox One, this is looking like a much better deal than I originally envisioned.
That’s your Morning DLC folks. Have a happy Friday!


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After releasing his EP ‘What The F**K’, Mafia B is following up by dropping the visuals for his single ‘What You Came For’ with On Smash.
CJ Wallace, son of The Notorious B.I.G., is already using lessons he learned from his father’s life to set himself and his community up for success. His brand, THINK BIG, leads a social movement
NFTs are undoubtedly the new hottest trend in the crypto world. They’ve become so popular that industry leaders from across the globe including Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk have pledged for them. Now, in
In 2021, it seems opportunity has begun to take a turn in an equal direction. Many companies have started to admit their prior wrongdoings and topsy-turvy their actions in favor of those who have been
Within the first minute of talking to her, one can easily tell that Melody Yang is fierce, and is quite the unstoppable force. Melody Yang is a modern trailblazer that young adults, especially women,
Australians love a wager. That might sound like a statement of the obvious – after all, we’ve all heard the old saw about two flies crawling up a wall. But it obscures the fact that Australians really
DIGITALAX recently announced the launch of Minecraft Bed Wars ESPA Casual Esports tournaments and the new Minecraft Digital Fashion Skins that are setting the temperatures high for gamers. In only a f
The NFT craze is going on and strong as it expands beyond crypto circles and onto mainstream pop culture. Gone are the days of original paintings being stored under watchful eyes in climate-controlled
Mafia B, aka Bryan Fein, spent his quarantine perfecting his craft and this has culminated with the release of his new EP, titled ‘What The F**K’.
We’ve been following Chef Harold Villarosa’s entrepreneurial journey for years now and he has never ceased to inspire us.


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Canada Post says it finally has a plan to get through the delivery backlog
There's a reason why your mail has been taking so long to arrive lately. Canada Post has been experiencing a bottleneck of packages, causing lengthy delays for customers across the country.
But don't despair, because it looks like things are about to begin getting better at last. According to the union that represents Canadian postal workers, measures to help ease the backlog have finally started working.
The strategies that have been implemented include hiring temporary workers, reopening brick and mortar shops and authorizing overtime hours for full-time workers.
In a statement made to The Canadian Press on Thursday, Nancy Beauchamp of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said that the situation has improved "a lot," over the last few days.
Furthermore, Beauchamp also revealed that the organization expects everything to be back on track within the next two weeks.
Join the conversation Load comments


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The issue threatens the hard-won gains from a government initiative to lower logistics costs for domestic shippers.
Port of Jawaharlal Nehru
20 Jul 2017
An analysis of April-to-June productivity statistics shows GTI has steadily outperformed its rivals in the port complex.
13 Jul 2017
The largest facility in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is gearing up to host the first vessel from an intra-Asia service recently introduced by a consortium.
12 Jul 2017
The JNPT call began with the July 5 arrival of the 5,009-TEU CMA CGM Virginia.
10 Jul 2017
“It is more like business as usual today.”
07 Jul 2017
Improvement came despite supply chain disruptions caused by the June 27 cyber attack on Maersk Group.
06 Jul 2017
April-to-June volumes handled via the country’s 12 major ports totaled 2.25 million TEU.
05 Jul 2017
The move follows on the heels of rival Maersk Line revamping its India-Africa service network.
03 Jul 2017
The decline will make it more difficult for India’s top port to reach its 7 percent growth target for fiscal year 2017 to 2018.
30 Jun 2017
“These facilities have already restored systems and are able to gate cargo in and out.”
30 Jun 2017
The cranes are the first batch of marine equipment the company ordered from Doosan Heavy Industries, Vietnam.
29 Jun 2017
“While we are working on a solution, we do not have an update on expected resumption of services.”


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Gold costlier under GST; apparel, biscuits, footwear cheaper
The GST Council also cleared the pending rules, including transition provisions and returns, with all states agreeing to a July 1 roll-out.
The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, today decided to tax packaged and branded food items at 5 per cent, tendu leaves at 18 per cent and bidi at the highest rate of 28 per cent. Unlike cigarettes, there will be no cess on bidi.
While biscuits will be taxed at a flat rate of 18 per cent, footwear costing up to Rs 500 will be levied a 5 per cent GST and for those above this would be taxed at 18 per cent.
In the textiles category, silk and jute fibre have been exempted, while cotton and natural fibre and all kinds of yarns will be levied a 5 per cent GST. Man-made fibre and yarn will, however, attract a 18 per cent tax rate.
All categories of fabric will attract a 5 per cent rate. Man-made apparel up to Rs 1,000 will attract a 5 per cent tax, lower than the existing 7 per cent. Those costing above Rs 1,000, will continue to attract 12 per cent.
"Both in the case of footwear and textiles, a major concession has been given," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, adding the Council will meet one more time on June 11 to review the preparedness before the July 1 rollout.
Currently, biscuits costing less than Rs 100/kg attract an average tax of 20.6 per cent, while those above this price attract 23.11 per cent. "Both have been fitted in the nearest tax slab of 18 per cent," Jaitley said.
Footwear costing up to Rs 500 currently attracts 9.5 per cent tax, and in GST it would be taxed at 5 per cent. Rest are taxed between 23.1-29.58 per cent, which in GST regime, would be levied 18 per cent tax.
Gold will become slightly costlier as the current incidence is 2 per cent and after "extensive debate" the Council proposed to tax gold and gold jewellery at 3 per cent. Also, input tax credit can be claimed for gold jewellery manufacture.
Jaitley said while some states wanted a 2 per cent tax rate, others were in favour of a 5 per cent tax on gold and hence, the Council decided on a "vertical division".
Solar panel equipment will be taxed at 5 per cent, he said, adding lottery tax is yet to be decided.
When asked about West Bengal Finance Minister demanding a delay in GST rollout, Jaitley said "Others did not express this view" and exuded confidence that the state too would roll out GST from July 1.
"We are quite confident of being able to stick to the target date (of July 1)," he said.
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax from July 1 will have "serious problems" and there is no harm in delaying its implementation by a month.
Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, however, said "Everybody has agreed for July 1 rollout".
The Council also agreed to set up a Committee comprising officials from Centre and states to look into the complaints with regard to anti-profiteering clause that seeks to prevent companies from making undue gains post GST rollout, Jaitley said.
The final rule with regard to functioning of the Committee will be framed later.
In all, the Council at its 15th meeting decided on tax rates on 6 items including rough diamond at 0.25 per cent and placed agriculture equipment at two slabs of 5 per cent and 12 per cent. Also, it approved two rules relating to transition and returns forms.
The GST Council also decided to amend the transition rules allowing traders and retailers to make claim of 60 per cent against the CGST or SGST dues where the tax rate exceeds 18 per cent. For tax rate below 18 per cent, it will be retained at 40 per cent.
The draft transition law provided that once GST is implemented, a company can claim credit of up to 40 per cent of their Central GST dues for excise duty paid on stock held by businesses prior to the rollout.
Several dealers are choosing to wait and watch rather than buy and holding on to inventories and lobbied the government seeking an increase in the credit limit.
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that for transition stock, the government will refund 100 per cent excise duty for goods costing above Rs 25,000, bears a brand name of the manufacturer and are serially numbered like TV, fridge or car chasis.
"On all those items, even if it is coming through the dealer, the manufacturer will give the credit transfer document to the distributor and the distributor will be able to take 100 per cent credit for the big ticket items," Adhia said.
With regard to CSD canteens, Jaitley said since current price levels were to be maintained, so the current position where they maintain half the taxation benefit will be maintained.
Jaitley said the GST Council will meet again on June 11 and review the rates based on industry representations in case the fitment committee finds that there is a substantial increase from the present burden. It will also take up the rules for e-way bill and accounts and records.
Also, the company developing the technology backbone for GST -- GST Network-- made a detailed presentation on the amount of work done and IT preparedness.
The GST Council in its previous meeting last month had fixed over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the tax bracket of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent.
Prices of foodgrains, especially wheat and rice, has been exempt from GST. Currently, some states levy Value Added Tax (VAT) on them. While common-use products like hair oil, soaps and toothpaste as also electricity will cost less from July 1.
GST will subsume all major levies including excise, service tax and VAT, unifying 16 different taxes, and make India a single market.
Here is the complete updated list:
Gold and rough diamonds do not fall under the current rate slab ambit and will be taxed at 3% and 0.25% respectively.
No tax will be imposed on items like Jute, fresh meat, fish chicken, eggs, milk, butter milk, curd, natural honey, fresh fruits and vegetables, flour, besan, bread, prasad, salt, bindi. Sindoor, stamps, judicial papers, printed books, newspapers, bangles, handloom, etc.
Hotels and lodges with tariff below Rs 1,000, Grandfathering service has been exempted under GST.
Items such as fish fillet, Apparel below Rs 1000, packaged food items, footwear below Rs 500, cream, skimmed milk powder, branded paneer, frozen vegetables, coffee, tea, spices, pizza bread, rusk, sabudana, kerosene, coal, medicines, stent, lifeboats will attract tax of 5 %,
Transport services (Railways, air transport), small restraurants will be under the 5% category because their main input is petroleum, which is outside GST ambit.
Apparel above Rs 1000, frozen meat products , butter, cheese, ghee, dry fruits in packaged form, animal fat, sausage, fruit juices, Bhutia, namkeen, Ayurvedic medicines, tooth powder, agarbatti, colouring books, picture books, umbrella, sewing machine, cellphones will be under 12 % tax slab.
Non-AC hotels, business class air ticket, fertilisers, Work Contracts will fall under 12 per cent GST tax slab
Most items are under this tax slab which include footwear costing more than Rs 500, Bidi Patta, Biscuits (All catogories), flavoured refined sugar, pasta, cornflakes, pastries and cakes, preserved vegetables, jams, sauces, soups, ice cream, instant food mixes, mineral water, tissues, envelopes, tampons, note books, steel products, printed circuits, camera, speakers and monitors.
AC hotels that serve liquor, telecom services, IT services, branded garments and financial services will attract 18 per cent tax under GST.
Bidis, chewing gum, molasses, chocolate not containing cocoa, waffles and wafers coated with choclate, pan masala, aerated water, paint, deodorants, shaving creams, after shave, hair shampoo, dye, sunscreen, wallpaper, ceramic tiles, water heater, dishwasher, weighing machine, washing machine, ATM, vending machines, vacuum cleaner, shavers, hair clippers, automobiles, motorcycles, aircraft for personal use, will attract 28 % tax - the highest under GST system.
5-star hotels, race club betting, cinema will attract tax 28 per cent tax slab under GST


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Since 2011, two principal causes have been responsible for weak air cargo growth: an underperforming world economy and lackluster growth in trade.
In 2015, worldwide GDP growth continued a pattern of below-trend growth that has been evident since the global economic downturn. Several emerging markets continue to face a challenging economic environment amid low oil prices, and the advanced economies are enduring a relatively slow economic recovery. Yet, despite current challenges and many political risks, fundamental growth factors, such as productivity increases via technology diffusion, economic reform, and available production capacity, remain in place. GDP growth is expected to grow above trend by the end of the decade and average 2.9 percent over the next two decades.
In a struggling world economy, global goods trade has experienced slower than expected growth as well. Trade growth averaged just 2.9 percent between 2012 and 2015, a sluggishness not seen since the 1980s. Generally, cyclical, and thus largely temporary, effects explain most of the weakness. In particular, weak industrial production is key to understanding the most recent weakness in global goods trade. A lack of solid global industrial growth means fewer goods are traded, both in final and intermediate form.
Beyond the current trade slowdown, some longer lasting factors, such as a shift toward services trade, shortening of supply chains, and the threat of protectionism, pose risks to global trade.


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State urges Bridge Card recipients to buy garden plants to stretch food budget
Living on a small income doesn't mean people can't eat well. Sometimes it just means getting your hands a bit dirty.
The state of Michigan is encouraging Bridge Card holders to use their benefits to buy fresh produce at stores and farmers markets. It also suggests recipients buy fruit, vegetable and herb plants to grow themselves.
Julian Darnton is with Michigan State University Extension. She says it makes good economic sense, it's healthy, and you can grow a lot of things in containers, if you don't have space for a garden.
"A USDA report estimates that for an investment of $1, you can grow $25 worth of food," Darnton says. "So even with a small amount of space, a few tomato plants, a family can supplement what they’re already getting from their bridge card.
Darnton says an increase in the number of school gardens has created an interest among children to grow their own food.
Michigan will have more than 300 farmers markets this summer and Darnton says many accept Bridge cards.


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Just in time for E3, Lenovo launched an assortment of new gaming PCs, ranging from affordable gaming laptops to conventional desktop towers. These Legion PCs leave behind the chrome of traditional gaming designs for something more modern.
Cinematographer Craig Wrobleski explains how the works of Stanley Kubrick and other famous filmmakers and artists influenced the look and feel of the hit FX series Legion, as well as the critically acclaimed show Fargo.
The latest expansion for 'World of Warcraft' is out, and people are returning to Azeroth in droves. Whether you're trying it for the first time, or you're returning after being out of the loop, here's how to power through the levels.
The Legion expansion pack for World of Warcraft is currently in closed beta. However, players have already discovered a cool Destiny Easter egg in the form of Xur, a merchant selling exotic goods in Bungie's first-person shooter.
Blizzard "only" took 10 years to implement a silencing system for abusive language in World of Warcraft. In its pre-expansion patch for Legion, the developer is getting serious about curbing bad behavior.
Parks and Rec actress Aubrey Plaza has joined Downtown Abbey's Dan Stevens and Fargo actress Jean Smart in the cast of FX network's upcoming X-Men spinoff TV series Legion, with Stevens playing the lead role.


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Richmond RCMP say safety is a two way street, in a problematic victim blaming video.
Car drivers in the US crash into stores at an average of more than once a day
Trucks crash into low bridges regularly. So this brings up a question, how do you design to stop them?
A smart way to slow down speeding drivers, without too much effort.
Mention that you are frustrated by drivers harrasing you in the left most lane on social media and see the response. It's fun.
When people say "speed wasn't a factor" in a collision, they are misleading you. It's always a factor.


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iPad notwithstanding, selling tablets is tough
Since long before the iPad launched in 2010, tablets have fascinated consumers and vendors alike. Apple introduced the Newton Message Pad in 1993. Microsoft took a run in 1991 with its Pen Computing initiative that never took off. In 2002, Microsoft tried again with its XP for Tablet PC, which did better. But it wasn’t until the iPad that a tablet with an intuitive touch interface caught the imagination, and since then it’s been an all-out rush to duplicate that success. As Microsoft launches another attempt with its Surface for Windows RT announcement, here’s a look at some of the predecessors.
Cisco announced its Cius tablet to much fanfare in 2010, shipped it in 2011 and has all but killed it in 2012. The Android-based device with a 7-inch touchscreen sought to appeal to corporate IT pros looking to promote communication and collaboration. But by Cisco’s own admission, the Cius fell victim to BYOD, the trend to allow workers to bring their personal devices to work and connect them to corporate networks. If employees could be more productive using their own tablets and phones, why should businesses make investments in similar products? The answer to that was they shouldn’t.
Announced about the same time as Cisco’s Cius, Avaya’s Flare is similar in that it is a vehicle for its software, Avaya Flare Experience. Unlike Cisco, Avaya recognized early on that BYOD was a factor in corporate device choices and created Flare voice client software that runs on iPads and Android devices. Avaya continues to upgrade these clients, with plans for extending video support to iPads, Android devices and Windows PCs within the next 18 months. The company also says it will continue to develop the tablet itself, which it calls Avaya Desktop Video Device (ADVD). But some observers say it’s not necessary long-term. "I'm surprised they haven't given up on [the ADVD] yet," says Blair Pleasant, an analyst at UCStrategies.com.
While extolled for its hardware, the responsive QNX operating system and snappy Web browser, RIM’s Blackberry PlayBook has gotten off to a rocky start. For example, in the second quarter of last year, the company sold just a third the expected number of devices, according to DigiTimes. And some users are frustrated with the company’s execution on the promise PlayBook showed, perhaps, they speculate, because it was rushed to market.
In perhaps one of the most spectacular face-plants in technology history, HP’s Touchpad launched in July 2011 only to be discontinued the next month. It went from a base price of $500 to $99 over that period. Customers said its performance was sluggish, the user interface was awkward and didn’t offer enough applications. Sales were terrible. Best Buy had 270,000 of the devices in its inventory and managed to sell only 10% at the original price. That’s when the stores started discounting them, but to little effect.
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You might not yet be familiar with VinFast, but you're certainly soon to know all about them! The Vietnamese manufacturer has gone full EV with a line-up of 5 different models on display at CES in Las Vegas ahead of the US launch and roll-out. Let's check them out!
For my first visit to the Consumer Electrics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, I'm here with VinFast to discover the full range including VF5, VF6, VF7, VF8 and VF9, the latter two having been initially presented at the LA Auto Show a few months ago but now renamed from VF e35 and VF e36 with the 'e' no longer required given the entire electric nature of VinFast's model range.
With the cars offering up to Level 4 Autonomous driving and numerous Smart Services for example controlling your Smart Home, and enabling automated valet parking, the ethos is to embrace the future and make everything easier for daily life. VinFast are planning to open 60 showrooms in California alone, and have launched the VinFirst programme for those who place early $200 reservations, including a $3,000 rebate on the VF8 and $5,000 on the VF9. That's not all, as it also links in to the blockchain with accompanying NFTs for those keen on the crypto world too.
Join me then for a look around the stand at CES 2022, to take in the full VinFast line-up. A huge thanks to VinFast for bringing me to Las Vegas for CES.
|Episode title||NEXT TESLA!? VinFast, the New Car Brand You Haven't Heard of YET|
|Date added||January 7, 2022|


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The S-Class has had its day... Since its launch nearly six years ago, Mercedes's flagship has been the best car in its class. If you look at the defining characteristics of a grand saloon - space, refinement, effortless power, leading-edge technology, ride comfort and quality - and how it integrated ...
Jaguar XJ V6 turbodiesel
ARTICLES BY MANUFACTURER
Peugeot family open to merger with Fiat Chrysler...
Refreshed Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupé gets new engines
Jaguar F-Pace 300 Sport confirmed for South Africa


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A Littleton neighborhood establishment has provided its employees and patrons five months’ observe before closing down for the foreseeable future.
O’Toole’s Yard Centers’ owner Adele O’Toole declared late final month that she’ll near her family’s 31-yr-old retail store on South Federal Boulevard on Aug. 31. The company’s locations in Westminster and Lakewood, nonetheless, will continue being open up.
“We’ve liked staying a steward of the land and a portion of the Littleton group,” O’Toole explained in a release. “We’re wanting for the appropriate possibility to rebuild in the location and hope to have another retailer in the upcoming couple of decades.”
The new spot could be in Littleton, Englewood or “anywhere down south,” O’Toole explained to The Denver Post. “And it does not have to be as massive as Littleton retail outlet was, but it nevertheless has to have extra than 23 parking spots.”
She sold O’Toole’s 5-acre property for an undisclosed volume to developer Lennar Multifamily Communities, which options to establish mixed-use household and professional constructions next doorway to the backyard garden center at the corner of West Belleview Avenue.
That proposed enhancement features some of O’Toole’s current parking area and would depart the backyard middle with just 23 parking spots, which is not “adequate parking and area for the spring and summertime crowds,” in accordance to O’Toole.
The back garden keep generally sees some 1,600 clients a day starting up in May perhaps, she reported.
Adele O’Toole’s late spouse, Jim O’Toole, began the family company in Lakewood in 1979. He purchased the land in Littleton in 1990.
“Jim was proud of buying the property on South Federal so we could open the Littleton retail outlet,” O’Toole said. “It’s been a amazing retail store and I want to admit Chris Ibsen, shop manager since the commencing, who has served the retail store turn into a staple in the local community.”
Adele took over the firms next Jim’s loss of life in 2006. Now two of their developed kids, Kerry O’Toole Young and Patrick O’Toole, are also energetic in the small business. Pickles the cat has become the center’s unofficial mascot.
Major up to the stop-of-summer closing, O’Toole’s Littleton will see enterprise as common, which include donating a part of product sales to the Integrated Household Local community Solutions (IFCS) foods bank in Littleton and to The Action Center in Lakewood.
“We’re likely to have organization as typical down at the Littleton store,” O’Toole explained. “And we’re looking forward to the potential, mainly because we are hunting for that 3rd retailer. We just ask that our shoppers be client, simply because we never know what is out there but.”
If you go: O’Toole’s Backyard garden Centre Littleton is open up day by day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Sundays) via Aug. 31, at 5201 S. Federal Blvd. All three spots of the company will hold an “extravanganza” May perhaps 21-22 with profits, foodstuff vehicles and enjoyment. otoolesgardencenters.com
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This is a roll-up of all Forrester blogs written for Marketing & Strategy Professionals. Role-specific blogs are listed below. Visit Forrester.com to learn how we make Marketing & Strategy Professionals successful every day.
This week Apple confirmed the longstanding rumors that the company has agreed to acquire Primesense, the Israeli company that invented the technology behind the original Kinect for Xbox 360. All of Apple's moves are scrutinized closely but this one is worth paying closer attention to than most.
The Primesense technology was astounding when it was first incorporated into the Kinect. Not just because of what it could do -- seeing you in 3D, model your skeletal structure as it observed you moving in physical space -- but because of how the company did it. Instead of imitating the $10,000 military-grade hardware of its predecessors, the company insisted on using off-the-shelf technology, whether hardware or software, so that the cost to deploy the solution would be laughably low compared to prior imaging solutions. That's what made Microsoft so interested -- Microsoft's own motion-sensing engineering group was years away from a home-grown Kinect experience and saw a chance to jump ahead of the market with Primesense. And jump it did, selling by our estimate more than 30 million cameras around the world, boosting sales of the Xbox 360 console even after it was already nearly five years old.
Now that Microsoft has moved beyond Primesense with the Xbox One and Apple has swooped in to buy the company, it will be tempting to think that Apple wants the technology so it can finally make a successful play for the living room, something it has repeatedly failed to do with Apple TV. Certainly, the Primesense tech works great in the living room and Apple would be foolish not to try it out there.
As we head into the fourth year of the age of the customer — a 20-year business cycle that began in 2010 in which the most successful enterprises will reinvent themselves to systematically understand and serve increasingly powerful customers — focused marketing innovation programs are now table stakes to enter this new customer-controlled game.
My latest report on marketing innovation discusses how companies are creating and where they are locating marketing innovation labs and talent to meet aggressive goals to win in this new age of increasingly empowered customers — "The Costs And Benefits Of Marketing Innovation Labs" (paid subscriber access required). The primary goal of these labs is to create new customer experiences and brand engagement that take divergent and discontinuous leaps from previous efforts. Some of the labs are focused more on technology transfer back into the organization, while others are focused on changing the culture of the organization and laying the groundwork for an entirely new mindset to emerge. Whichever focus they choose for their innovation labs, these organizations know they now must invest in customer experience and brand engagement innovation just like they did during the age of information (1990-2010) in supply chain, logistics, manufacturing, and back-office systems innovation and talent.
Anyone who’s heard me speak at a conference over the last couple of years stands a fair chance of having listened to me talk about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now, considering I typically talk about Agile Commerce, Digital Transformation and occasionally mobile retail strategies, that might sound odd, but I talk about the fall of the Wall as an icon for revolution and for change.
And change is exactly what’s happening east of the old iron curtain now.
We just published our new online retail forecast report for Asia Pacific (clients can read the report here). In our forecast, we look at top-line growth in five markets across Asia Pacific: China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Australia. China will be responsible for the lion’s share of growth in these markets, which, combined, will reach some $854 billion by 2018.
In the report, we note a number of trends across the region, including the following:
The heavy dominance of web-only retailers in many countries. In many markets in Asia Pacific, traditional retailers do not play as strong a role in eCommerce as they do in the US, UK, or even Latin America. Internet Retailer’s Asia 500 list, for example, includes just one traditional retailer among the top 10 retail websites in the region (China’s Suning). And while some markets like Australia see traditional retailers now playing a bigger role in eCommerce, in fast-growing eCommerce markets like India as well as China, web-only retailers are very much dominant today.
The increased focus on omnichannel functionality. The strong role that many traditional retailers play in eCommerce in the US and Europe often translates into robust omnichannel initiatives. By contrast, it’s taken a while for many retailers across Asia Pacific to launch offerings that link their online and offline channels. Increasingly, however, digitally savvy retailers in the region are focused on developing new offerings. In Australia, for example, where traditional domestic retailers were long notably lagging (or absent) when it came to eCommerce, there is renewed interest not just in the online channel but also in building out key omnichannel features.
With the release of the Xbox One around the world today, Microsoft is now in position to see if it will catch up with Sony's successful PS4 introduction, which reportedly sold more than a million units on day one. Many are asking which console will win. That's actually the easy part. The harder question is whether game consoles will still matter in two years at all.
It feels a little like we've been here before. Back in 2007, both Sony and Microsoft were working hard to push the next generation of a technology they were convinced everyone would want. I'm not talking about the PS3 versus Xbox battle, though, but the war over high-definition video.
Most will barely remember that while Sony backed Blu-ray, which eventually won, Microsoft was betting hard on HD-DVD. I was courted at the time by both companies, eagerly trying to persuade me that their version of HD would win. We called the war for Sony at the time but made it clear that it would be a Pyrrhic victory: There would be precious few spoils to earn from that success.
We were right, much to Sony's distress. That's because the battle was fought over a physical storage format that was rapidly losing relevance. Digital downloads had already begun, although they would never really catch on. More importantly, that was the year that Netflix added online movie viewing, foreshadowing and encouraging a future that would be streamable.
That's why the right comparison today is not between this and the last-generation game console launches. It's instead between game consoles as a whole and all the dozens of other ways people can play games, watch video, interact with friends, and otherwise pass their free time.
After one of the biggest announcements in the marketing technology space of 2013 — Salesforce.com's purchase of ExactTarget — few were surprised to see the ExactTarget Marketing Cloud feature prominently at Dreamforce last week in San Francisco. But the real headline grabber was the introduction of Salesforce1, a cloud-based platform for what the company calls the "Internet of customers." We've got a deeper look into the implications of this for marketers for Forrester clients, but some of our key takeaways were that Salesforce:
Gets the age of the customer and what it means for their products. CEO Marc Benioff spoke at length about the "customers behind the devices" and the importance of engaging with those individuals, rather than the things they use to connect to the Web. We are in what Forrester calls the age of the customer, where "the most successful enterprises reinvent themselves to systematically understand and serve increasingly powerful customers." The Salesforce1 vision is to be the technology engine behind those firms — and the announcement takes a big step in that direction.
Many brands and corporations today suffer from “two site” syndrome. The ‘.com’ site (often owned by brand/corporate marketing) serves to offer up a glossy magazine experience — designed to romance the customer with brand and product stories, while the ‘store.’ is owned by the eBusiness team and is designed around structured product content to optimize conversion and revenue goals. The result is often fragmented and poorly integrated digital experiences that confuse the customer, introduce unnecessary complexity, and ultimately fail to deliver on the broader digital strategy of the brand.
In the age of the customer, brands today seek a unified experience between the four stages of the customer life cycle (discover, explore, buy, and engage). For eBusiness professionals, this means tighter collaboration with their corporate marketing and brand counterparts to find ways to embed commerce (the buy phase) into the heart of the .com experience rather than building segregated eCommerce sites. However, this is easier said than done. The problem is that many brand and manufacturing organizations leverage web content management (WCM) platforms to create, manage, and measure targeted, personalized, and interactive brand experiences. However, these WCM platforms lack the robust commerce capabilities that organizations need to manage large, complex product catalogs and develop sophisticated merchandising strategies to sell online.
Forrester’s "US Online Holiday Retail Forecast, 2013" launches today. In it, we predict that for the third consecutive year, online holiday sales (November and December) are expected to grow at a double-digit pace and pull in over $78 billion. This represents about one-third of the overall retail sales volume for the year. This optimism is largely due to ever-increasing numbers of consumers choosing the Web over physical stores and the rise in mobile commerce. Despite unknowns such as the effects of a truncated holiday season and lingering consumer uncertainty around the federal government shutdown, online retailers can expect that consumers will be out in droves. The most successful retailers this holiday season will cater to consumers who:
Expect free shipping in some form. Consumers have come to expect free shipping, especially during the holidays, and many will actually leave a site if it's not offered. It’s the second most common reason why US online buyers abandon purchases and go to another retailer, behind price.
Research via all channels to find the best deals. Forrester expects that, not unlike in holidays past, price and saving money will be key considerations this holiday season. As the Web channel has become synonymous with value, retailers should expect consumers to be avidly searching for deals through a variety of touchpoints, at home and in-store on mobile devices. Availability of web content across devices will be critical: Forrester estimates that cross-channel sales (transactions that are influenced by the Web in some way but are completed in stores) will account for $247 billion this holiday season.
I was recently invited to speak at the three-day Distree Asia Pacific event on technology and business model disruptions and their impact on tech distribution, where I spoke with tech vendors, consumer electronics (CE) giants, tech distributors, retailers, and e-tailers from across Asia Pacific. We discussed various topics, including the channel scenario for the coming two to five years. Based on these inputs and my understanding, I believe that the traditional IT channel, including consumer-focused distributors, will soon disappear unless its current business model changes. Here’s why:
Direct market resellers (DMRs) and e-tailers are taking the flab out of the traditional channel. Although a large number of consumers still prefer to shop offline, increasing consumer confidence and further adoption of online payments in Asia Pacific mean that more and more DMRs will establish their presence on the Web, targeting consumers with low-cost products. eCommerce sites like Lazada are trying to build an Amazon-like model for Southeast Asia. The entry of nontraditional players such as government-owned Indian Railways,which recently launched its own eCommerce retail marketplace in India selling electronics and IT products, is also disrupting the traditional channel ecosystem.
In my new report, "How To Hire And Onboard Customer-Centric Employees," I describe how companies can transform their hiring processes to ensure new employees are customer-centric. CX professionals must partner with their HR department and hiring manager colleagues to change the way they screen, interview and onboard new employees. The report describes specific ways to make each step in the hiring process more customer-centric. For example:
Get customer-centric applicants into the hiring funnel. A customer-centric hiring process starts by attracting the right kind of applicants and filtering out the wrong kind. The careers section of a website provides an opportunity for companies to tell applicants what they value in employees. For example, The Container Store's website describes the company's commitment to putting employees first and draws a clear distinction from other companies that focus on shareholders first. Contrast that first impression with the careers landing page on Bed Bath & Beyond's site, where the opening sentence talks about stock performance and its expansion.


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Business is Booming!
The Food Van Vendor Boom You’d be wrong if you thought that the Covid pandemic was the only reason for the growing popularity of food van vendors in the UK. These types of outlets have been a staple of British culture for years, decades indeed!
The online shopping boom - can electric vehicles keep up?
The online shopping community (i.e. the general public) want two things - faster delivery times, and a greater commitment by businesses to the environment. However, balancing these two isn't easy for the courier industry, with more parcels and packages heading out onto the roads than ever before.
Renovating the House of Your Dreams?
In the UK, there are 2,600 monthly Google searches for the term ‘house renovation’ and another 1,900 monthly searches for ‘home renovation’ - proving that plenty of Brits are interested in the concept of improving their property.
The Vegan Celebrity Revolution
It’s not so long ago that being a vegan was a rarity. Today, the plant-based diet is more mainstream than it’s ever been. For example, in the UK the number of vegans quadrupled between 2014 and 2019, and in 2020, one survey found that around 1.1 million people across the nation had adopted the diet. That number is only expected to grow, and by 2025, it is expected that a quarter of the British population will be vegan.
Colour and Well-Being…
The pandemic has proved a difficult time for young people. Recent research from the Education Endowment Foundation has found that lockdown impacted children’s language and speech, setting them back in their learning.
The UK’s Most 'Digitally Active' Location
The message has been pretty clear - it's important to keep as active and healthy as possible during the pandemic to help prevent the effects from COVID.
How interested are UK cities in sustainability?
With its ambitious target to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050, the UK government has set its stall out when it comes to its sustainability plans. But are these ambitions matched by the UK public (who also have a part to play)?
Five benefits of rural living
Millions of Brits live rurally and, although this lifestyle is more popular amongst older age groups, it’s also something that many younger people aspire to. A recent survey - The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Live in the UK in 2020 - included many rural destinations, including Howardian Hills in North Yorkshire.


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Search engine giant Google has begun offering independent financial advisors (IFAs) free training and support services to help them brush up their online marketing skills and make themselves more visible on the internet.
With online commerce becoming increasingly vital to the success of businesses, Google has pledged to help IFAs make the most of the burgeoning demand for online financial advice.
From the beginning of next month, Google will also host a downloadable online seminar complete with demonstrations showing IFAs how to use Google’s free online resources.
Recently it published a White Paper entitled “IFAs in the Digital Space,” which stressed that many such advisors and their companies are failing to take advantage of this growing market.
The paper is available to members of the social networking website IFA Life and looks at online searches for financial advice services. Google revealed that in February this year, the search term “unbiased financial advice” was used 84 per cent more frequently than at the same period in 2009.
Despite this surging interest, Google warned that IFAs are not throwing themselves into the online marketing and SEO campaigning necessary to tap into this growing market for financial help. Most IFAs either do not have a website at all, or are lax when it comes to keeping it up to date and promoting their business.
Google UK head of finance Ian Morgan told Money Marketing magazine: “We want to offer more support to IFAs looking to grow their business through effective use of search marketing.
“Our aim is to offer an educational starting point to these financial advisers. Consumers are looking for guidance in their wealth management and we believe that the internet can play an important role in helping them find the appropriate support.”


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You might remember the bootloop controversy surrounding LG's flagship phones from 2015 and 2016. The way the company dealt with the situation led to some angry owners launching a class-action lawsuit last year. According to law firm Girard Gibbs, which handled the case, LG has now settled.
The problem appeared in the LG G4, LG V10, and Nexus 5X from 2015 and 2016's LG G5 and LG V20. Hardware failures caused the handsets to reboot themselves endlessly, turning them into expensive paperweights.
LG refused to replace affected units that were out of warranty. Even if a device was still within the one-year warranty period, the replacement units suffered from the same issue. The suit said that even after LG acknowledged the problem, it continued to manufacture phones with the bootloop defect.
As part of the settlement, members of the suit are being offered up to $700 off a new LG smartphone, which could get them a bootloop-free V30 or G6. Alternatively, if the experience has put them off LG phones for life, they can receive $425 in cash instead.
Those who joined the suit need to fill out a "Proof of Claim" survey by February 12th, 2018 to receive the full discount or cash settlement. It appears that this survey is currently closed, which could be due to volume of traffic. If you want to find out more, check out Girard Gibbs' website.


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Findon News and Events
17 June 2017
Following the success of the public meeting shares in the shop are available until the 21st June 2017.
13 June 2017
Could your business be involved in building the new Littlehampton Sports and Swimming Centre? Opportunities for scaffolders, electricians and roofers, along with cleaners and caterers, amongst other opportunities.
12 June 2017
Public Meeting to discuss options for the future of the Village Shop and Post Office. 12th June 2017 at 7.30pm.
08 June 2017
The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has received information that fraudsters are targeting victims via text message, purporting to be from their credit card provider, stating a transaction has been approved on their credit card.
22 May 2017
Come and enjoy a glass of wine and talk to us at the Annual Parish Meeting. This is your chance to have your say about the village. Thursday 25th May 2017.


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CBIC unveils online cargo examination scheduling at ICD Tughlakabad
As a major push in technology and digitalisation, the Delhi customs zone took three initiatives on Thursday including an online facility for scheduling examination of import cargo with the aim of minimising physical interface of trade with customs and other stakeholders.
November 12, 2021: As a major push in technology and digitalisation, the Delhi customs zone took three initiatives on Thursday including an online facility for scheduling examination of import cargo with the aim of minimising physical interface of trade with customs and other stakeholders.
It is multi-stakeholder application where customs, CONCOR, customs brokers and importers on the same platform having a shared view of scheduling examination of goods. “This initiative will ensure fullest transparency alongside of convenience for trade and other stakeholders,” reads the ministry of finance release.
Customs at ICD Tuglakabad also inaugurated a baggage scanner, which will result in a non-intrusive examination of unaccompanied baggage/palletized import cargo while ensuring swifter clearances. This will also help customs in targeted intervention to check smuggling. A few days earlier an electronic tracking of containerised cargo through use of Smart locks and an application built on Blockchain technology was launched. This enables customs to monitor and track the movement of non-duty paid goods through GPS tracking while reducing the compliance burden on trade in terms of documentation.
In another first, ICD Tuglakabad has taken the initiative of improving the logistics efficiency of the industry by launching customs clearance work on Sunday and all public holidays.
ICD Tughlakabad (TKD) since 1993, at its present location, was the second land port to be set up in the country after Bangalore in 1983. It caters to the need of importers and exporters and is the biggest inland dry port of North India. This port handles around 2,50,000 TEUs of exim cargo and is well connected with four full-length rail lines to gateway ports such as Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Chennai, Mundra etc. besides bringing the containers by road from other ports such as Ludhiana, Haldia, Calcutta and Kandla, etc. ICD TKD is equipped with most modern facilities such as rail-mounted gantry of 40 metric empty lifting capacity, rubber tire diesel-powered cranes, billoties and lift trucks, etc. along with two covered sheds, one for import and another for export with a total area of 16,000 sq. mts. in the customs bonded area for stuffing and de-stuffing of exim goods.
CBIC launched the digital application for scheduling of examination of cargo for traders at @icdtkdimport. Another leap in promoting #DigitalIndia, faceless customs and transparency in Customs processes. @Delhicustoms pic.twitter.com/hCyqrbpFjt— CBIC (@cbic_india) November 11, 2021


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July 27, 2017, sponsored by the Rayli magazine public welfare activities - "Rayli water blue run Water Run", in Suzhou Taihu Xintiandi heat run, which led by National idol Wu Lei. More than 1,000 Rayli exclusive model, KOL and fans ran together, which set off a wave of water to protect the water blue whirlwind.
NetEase Cloud Creation Conference is the Hangzhou Science and Technology event held by Hangzhou NetEase Cloud. It is devoted to the channel between technological innovation and commercial success. The conference invited entrepreneurs in various industries such as cloud computing, Large data, artificial intelligence and other areas of the first-line experts, and senior investors, business model innovation, technology and energy, industrial digital upgrades and other topics to start thinking to share and explore the business and technology combined with the best practice topics, insight The future direction of the development of various industries.
On March 6th, 2017, NBA China and WEIBO officially announced that the two sides have become a long-term strategic partnership, WEIBO has become the NBA China's official social media platform. The two sides will jointly launch NBA tournament real-time short videos, game highlights, original programs and other "sports + social" interactive experience.
The night of weibo is the annual celebration of the mining and stocktaking of micro blog hot spots and popular events. Sina weibo night, derived from sina network festival started in 2003, more than a decade has gradually developed into a comprehensive, from a single news selection in various fields and aspects of inventory list, as the Internet industry's most influential industry bellwether and barometer.
Rayli Model Contest has been committed to "find the beauty, select the beauty, disseminate the beauty," the purpose of the activities is to find extraordinary flash point from the ordinary girls. The tournament has been held since 2005 for 12 years. The twelfth competition started from April 2016 to December, which covered 8 cities across the China, attracting more than 3,000 people to participate. It is a competition with cover person，actors，spokespersons and models. The 12th Final was held in December 2016, which selected 10 winners.
The first WEIBO Movie Awards Ceremony was held in June 13 in Shanghai. The WEIBO Movie Awards Ceremony was an unprecedented film industry event, which was voted by hundreds of millions of online fans. To select this year's most popular movies, filmmakers, movie songs， movie King and Queen.
A number of the big stars， significant directors, producers, movie critics attended the festival.
2016 Weibo online superstar festival, on May 16, from 2016 until May 30, by Weibo will be live with, video, and web celebrity brokerage company in the field of fashion three cooperation, broadcast, video reds reds weeks was launched and fashionable red weeks and three theme activities.
On Feb 22nd 2017, 2017 We Media Summit Forum TOPKLOUT AWARDS which was held by TOPKLOUT for grand opening ceremony in Beijing. TOPKLOUT also published the 2016 China We Media Industry White Paper. According to the period of one year of data collection and analysis, the White Paper has introduced the information of China We Media industry in 2016 and expected the tendency of 2017. Besides, the experts’ communication drove the Awards to the top We Media event.


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Can’t think about what to buy your loved one for Christmas?
How about a British Airways drinks trolley? A First Class cabin bread basket or slippers, perhaps? Or even a hot towel (available cold)?
On Monday, the cash-strapped airline began selling off thousands of items of surplus stock, from champagne flutes to bedding.
Other items include an insulated box from a Boeing 747 kitchen, yours for £75, and serving trays – £10 for five.
The move comes months after BA decided to auction some of its precious artwork hanging in offices and airport lounges, including a £1m-plus work by Bridget Riley.
BA’s profits have evaporated and the airline is making thousands of job cuts because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on air travel.
Last month, BA’s parent company IAG reported a £5.1bn loss for the first nine months of 2020, a dramatic reverse from the £1.6bn profit made during the same period in 2019.
But the latest sale is not just because it needs to save every penny, the airline says.
Changes in the mix of aircraft fleet and in-cabin service, plus the likelihood that BA will be a slimmer operation until air travel picks up, mean its warehouses are full of items that will never be used.
BA retired its 747 aircraft this year, and has put some memorabilia in the sale.
And while the event is not quite a sell-off of the family silver, the airline is getting rid of stacks of English bone china made by William Edwards, including plates, soup bowls, cups, saucers, and butter dishes. A set of four William Edwards pasta bowls is £40.
Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ director of brand and customer experience, said it was the first time the airline had organised such a sale.
“We know that these special items will fly and we are delighted to be able to offer them in time for Christmas to give people the opportunity to make it memorable during a difficult year,” she said.


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The way forward for leisure meets the way forward for know-how. On January 8, Samsung Electronics unveiled a larger-than-life teaser for the upcoming Galaxy collection on Sphere, a now iconic a part of the Las Vegas skyline.
Billed because the world’s largest spherical construction, Sphere boasts one of many world’s highest-resolution wraparound LED screens, and its exterior might be programmed to flash dynamic imagery on a large scale. The skin of the dome-shaped efficiency venue was the primary to show the brand new options of the Galaxy collection, permitting viewers to take pleasure in beautiful, 360-degree visuals with out distortion. Most notably, the video starred Marvel Studios’ Dr. Unusual as he opened a portal to a unique dimension — simply as Samsung opened up a brand new world of potentialities with cellular AI.
How was this monumental business produced? Samsung Newsroom went behind the scenes with the Cellular eXperience Advertising and marketing workforce working to advertise Samsung and Galaxy at main international landmarks. Watch the video beneath to be taught extra in regards to the making of the newest Galaxy collection teaser.


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Straight Outta Compton was one of the top 20 highest-grossing films of 2015 and a lot of that had to do with its marketing. Promotion for the movie was damn near everywhere, including Facebook. But as it turns out, white users saw an entirely different trailer for the film than black and Latino users.
During a SXSW panel on Wednesday, the moviemakers revealed the process behind the film’s promotional run, offering a look at how Hollywood really works. For the marketing team, the thinking was that white Facebook users wouldn’t be as familiar with the musical careers of N.W.A, Ice Cube (that black guy in family movies) or Dr. Dre (the black dude who sells those cool headphones) as minorities.
Universal needed a more educational trailer for white folks. So along with Facebook, according to Universal’s EVP of digital marketing Doug Neil, the team created trailers based on how they felt a particular demo would receive the movie and possibly spend money on it. Describing this method as “racial marketing,” Business Insider reports:
They connected to Ice Cube as an actor and Dr. Dre as the face of Beats, he said. The trailer marketed to them on Facebook had no mention of N.W.A., but sold the movie as a story of the rise of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.
As to the trailer produced for the Hispanic market, it was a shorter spot that included flashing quotes in Spanish.
What’s perhaps most interesting about this strategy is that Facebook doesn’t require its users to I.D. a race, so Universal deployed a method that basically relies on making assumptions about people’s race via context clues:
Since Facebook doesn’t ask people to self-identify as a particular race, a campaign like Universal’s uses what are called “affinity” groups. To construct an “African-American affinity segment,” Facebook would look at indicators like whether someone was a member of an African American Chamber of Commerce Facebook group. When many of these indicators are taken into account simultaneously, it allows Facebook to define the “affinity” segment.
This means Rachel Dolezal could’ve possibly seen the black version of the Straight Outta Compton trailer.
The trailer marketed to African Americans was completely different. Universal assumed this segment of the population had a baseline familiarity with N.W.A. “They put Compton on the map,” Neil said. This trailer opens with the word N.W.A. and continues to lean on it heavily throughout.
Neil characterized this marketing effort as a complete success.
From a business perspective, it’s an efficient strategy, but it’s still completely strange that all this was based on a white marketing team’s intuition or feeling about how people respond to black art or what cultural knowledge they assume people have.
Image via Universal


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3 Retailers That Could Offer Big Gains From the Holiday Shopping Rush
Christmas is just days away, and apparently, a lot of people still have a good deal of shopping to do over the next fortnight.#-ad_banner-#
According to a Consumer Reports holiday poll, conducted with three weeks left before Christmas, 36% of gift givers — approximately 66 million Americans — still hadn’t even begun their holiday shopping. The survey also revealed that most people had more than half of their shopping left to do.
This survey certainly suggests that there’s going to be a mad rush of holiday shoppers between now and Dec. 25. Moreover, the probable big buying still to come is on top of very strong Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
Here are three of my favorites:
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF)
One of the hottest retailers this season is Abercrombie & Fitch. The often controversial teen-oriented retailer has been on a wild ride this year, with the shares plunging throughout the summer on weak sales and a weaker full-year outlook.
Then, in November, the company surprised Wall Street with a huge revenue and earningsbeat due to strong sales and improved gross margins. The stock surged on the news, but I don’t think the run is over yet, especially considering the store has been a hot trend for holiday shoppers this year — shoppers that still have a lot of money to spend.
Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD)
Perhaps best known for its Victoria Secret intimate apparel stores, this women’s specialty retailer continues to see strong sales, not only at Victoria’s Secret, but also in its personal care products via the Bath & Body Works brands. The company’s strong fiscal position recently allowed it to declare a special dividend to shareholders in early December, in front of the likelihood of higher dividend taxes next year.
One aspect of the company that I think will help drive its stock price higher is that Limited Brands has embarked on plans to expand their international footprint, and to make its brands household names around the world. The company already announced that it was going to expand into growth areas such as emerging markets, including the cash-rich Middle East nation of Kuwait.
Technically speaking, I like the trading bounce seen in the shares in November, a bounce that has come back off its highs to what I now think is a great chance to pick up the stock in front of what will likely be very strong holiday rush sales.
Action to Take –> Buy LTD at the market price. Set stop-loss at $46.53. Set initial price target at $55.64 for a potential 10% gain in two months.
Lululemon Athletica (Nasdaq: LULU)
The sleek athletic apparel maker sells what’s been described as yoga-inspired clothing, and that inspiration has resonated well with consumers. The company easily bested third-quarter revenue and earnings expectations. Analysts cited a number of positives as reasons why the company did so well in Q3, including strong execution, an attractive product mix and outstanding online sales.
In 2012, the shares have been volatile, jumping to big gains early in the year, and then pulling back sharply from May to August. After a boost from August through September, the shares stabilized. However, recent earnings results, along with what should be strong holiday sales, could definitely send the shares skyrocketing again in the months ahead. With Lululemon recently breaking out above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, now is the time to get on this stock before the real gains resume.
Action to Take –> Buy LULU at the market price. Set stop-loss at $68.84. Set initial price target at $82.30 for a potential 10% gain in two months.
3 Retailers That Could Offer Big Gains If You Buy Before the Holiday Shopping Rush


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A quick update on avarice in America and beyond
You may be in good hands at Allstate, as the classic ad line goes, but America’s wealthiest are going to stick with their buddies at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood insurance office. Over recent years, an NBC News probe has revealed, FEMA has been redrawing flood maps to benefit the owners of beachfront mansions and luxury condos. The new maps are saving deep pockets as much as 97 percent off their flood insurance premiums — at the same ordinary homeowners in hurricane zones are facing record-high rates. Among FEMA’s biggest beneficiaries: Robert Watson, a former Westinghouse top exec with a $19-million beachfront bungalow on Florida’s west coast . . .
Smart phones from Samsung may have bigger screens than phones from Apple. But top execs at Apple are pulling in bigger paychecks. Much bigger. In fact, three executive sidekicks to Apple’s CEO each took in more individually in 2012 than the $31-million compensation bill for Samsung’s entire four-person top executive team. Apple operations VP Daniel Riccio pulled down just under $69 million for the year, about the same as Apple’s chief financial officer. Apple’s senior VP pocketed another $50 million. Executive rewards in Korea, notes one tech industry observer, run “a fraction of the norms in America.” But within Korea, as Seoul National University analyst Kon Sik Kim points out, executive pay at Samsung actually runs well above national norms . . .
They call Jorge Bendersky the “Vidal Sassoon of the canine world.” This dog groomer extraordinaire has been attending to New York’s “power pups” since 1992, and his current clients range from Ralph Lauren to global super models. Bendersky charges $300 an hour for a grooming session. He also makes house calls. Clients have flown him from Manhattan to the Hamptons by helicopter — and to Miami by private jet. One uptown New Yorker “who couldn’t fathom cleaning her dog’s soiled foot,” Business Insider noted last week, once had Bendersky summoned at midnight for an emergency visit. Bendersky’s professional “signature”: “I tailor every haircut to the specific dog.”


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Bloomberg Businessweek 'brand campaign', created in-house
Bloomberg Businessweek has launched an outdoor advertising campaign to promote the personality of the magazine and build on its editorial and commercial strengths.
The campaign, created in-house, promotes the title’s new Europe and Asia editions, launching in early 2012. The campaign will run across digital screens in airports and on 48-sheet posters at rail stations. The images are inspired by topical stories in the magazine.


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The Mercedes-Benz presented on Wednesday, March 19th, the S 63 AMG Coupe. The sports version of the S-Class Coupe follows the recipe of the models prepared by AMG, the high performance division of the German mark.
The Maserati used the Geneva Motor Show to reveal the concept Alfieri , tipped to go into production and become the new entry model of the Italian brand. Now the Autocar website revealed the time of the arrival of the coupe market: 24-28 months, ie in 2016.
The Audi broke the suspense and finally revealed on Monday (3) the new generation TT sports, a day before its official unveiling at the Geneva show. As expected, the new model keeps an evolutionary design compared to the previous generation.
Due to the new safety standards that went into effect in 2014, with the requirement of the airbag and ABS brakes for new cars sold in Brazil, Volkswagen Kombi retired veteran. To say goodbye with style, launched the special edition Kombi Last Edition.


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Australia has entered autumn in mid-April, and in several major wine regions such as the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale in South Australia, grapes have almost been harvested and major wineries are entering the 2018 winemaking season.
Image from: Internet
Several buses shuttled through wineries of all sizes in the wine region, carrying more than 100 wine distributors from China. As representatives who came to attend the China-Australia Wine Forum, these front-line operators in the wine industry have come to visit the production areas.
The latest statistics released by Wine Australia show that in the 12 months to March 2018, total Australian wine exports were close to a record at 844 million liters, up 10 percent year-on-year, and exports reached A$2.65 billion ($2.07 billion), up 16 percent year-on-year and the highest in 10 years. Of these, Australian wine exports to China grew 51% to A$1.04 billion (US$810 million). Chinese market demand has become the main driving force behind the growth of Australian wine exports.
The Australian National Wine Centre in the heart of Adelaide is feeling the heat from the Chinese market. After visiting wineries in several well-known regions, Chinese distributors gathered here for an industry forum called Mellow South Australia to hear authoritative analysis from industry professionals from both Australia and China.
In his speech at the forum, Wang Xinguo, president of the China Wine Distribution Association, pointed out that Australian wine has performed well in China in recent years, with rapid growth in market share. five years ago, Australian wine accounted for only 10% of China"s share, but by 2017 it had risen to 25%, becoming the second largest source of imports after France.
Wang Xinguo said an important reason for the rapid growth of Australian wine in the Chinese market is that with the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement coming into effect, the tariff for Australian wine entering the Chinese market has fallen rapidly, with the tariff having been reduced to 2.8% in 2018 and will achieve zero tariff in 2019.
Wang Zuming, secretary general of the Wine Professional Committee of the China Wine Distribution Association, analyzed that after reshuffling and adjustment, the Chinese wine market has restarted after 2014. At present, the Chinese wine market is fully competitive, and product quality, brand building and marketing will play an important role in the future market competition.
It is predicted that the population of regular wine drinkers in China will grow from less than 50 million today to 200 million in the next five years, with 35 million middle-income people joining the army of wine lovers.
Some analysts believe that with Chinese consumers' growing awareness of wine, Australian boutique wines will be favored by the market. It is seeing this trend that well-known domestic wine companies such as Luzhou Laojiao and Zhang Yu Wine Company have invested in holding wineries in South Australia to gain more upstream resources.
Chinese Australian entrepreneur Wei Li said in an interview that Chinese people's demand for a better life is growing, and so is their demand for wine. The Chinese wine market has entered the era of branding, which will be a historic opportunity for the development of enterprises.