Daily News Digest- 7th Aug'14

Thought of the Day:

Today in History:

Following made the Headlines:

India:

• E-commerce’s Day Out. You Just Can’t Ignore Offline, Baby!: Babycare portal Firstcry has realised that shopping, especially for recurring purchases like diapers, more often than not is a habit — if the first brand tried by the new parents is satisfactory, then they tend to stick to it. This pushed the Pune-based company to try out an initiative, where it gifted newborns in over 6,000 hospitals across 18 cities with hampers containing diapers and other such goods sold on the site. The programme was a massive success, leading to many new customers. E-commerce companies are rapidly embracing the offline world to boost sales. Single-category players like Firstcry, Lenskart, Zivame and Healthkart are those at the forefront of this change.

• Fastest Sale of Mi 3 Phone Creates Supply Challenge for Xiaomi: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will put 20,000 Mi 3 handsets for its next flash sale on August 12, the company said on Wednesday in posts on popular microblogging site Twitter and Facebook. The lot will be the largest the company has offered since it began selling smartphones through Flipkart last month, but it may not be enough for the unprecedented demand of an estimated over 75,000 people who have already registered for getting an Mi 3 device. This number is likely to overshoot 100,000 as the sale date approaches. On Tuesday, Xiaomi sold all of its 15,000 Mi 3 devices within two seconds, the fastest sale it has encountered so far, leaving thousands of consumers disappointed.

• Growing Flipkart to Outsource Some Call Centre Work: Flipkart is in the process of signing a call centre outsourcing deal with Essar Group's Aegis, as the e-commerce company looks to manage increasing complexity and scale in its business post its $1 billion (₹6,000 crore) fund raise. Flipkart reached $1 billion in sales last fiscal and is on track to breach the $3-billion mark (₹18,000 crore) this fiscal, ET has reported. The Bangalore-based ecommerce firm has its own inhouse centre for customer service but the company is looking to create a hybrid strategy -a mix of both inhouse and outsourcing -to handle its growing customer service needs, said a source with knowledge of the outsourcing. “Flipkart currently has a scopeof-work agreement with Aegis. About 300 people are currently servicing the e-commerce player in Gurgaon. The final deal is expected to be signed this month and the project is expected to scale up to 700 people by the end of this year,“ the source told ET. The deal is expected to be a three-year deal with Aegis, the source added. The contract would be worth over ₹ 75 crore.

• Microsoft To Sell Gaming Products on Amazon.in: Global technology giant Microsoft has announced that its range of gaming products like Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Kinect will be available exclusively on Amazon.in from September. “As a pillar of our consumer strategy in India, we see opportunity in delivering our products and services to the ever-expanding natively digital audience,” said Chakrapani Gollapalli, country general manager (consumer channels group) at Microsoft Corporation India. “We believe this collaboration gives us the platform to build scale for the gaming and entertainment category in India.” The partnership comes when electronics brands are cracking down on online sales. ET reported on Wednesday that Lenovo, Canon, Sony, Samsung and Panasonic have issued advisories banning retail stores from selling their mobile phones and other products online through e-commerce companies.

• Tata confirms interest in e-tailing biz: Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, confirmed on Wednesday that he is looking at investing in a number of areas,and that e-commerce looks one of the most attractive. This comes on a day when TOI exclusively reported that Tata might consider making a personal investment in e-tailer Snapdeal. Tata said India would be the next big destination for e-tailing. “Access to goods and services by public through e-commerce has huge potential. As per a study in the US, Indian market is under-penetrated in most of the product segments, and e-commerce is the hottest area for the future.“

• Facebook joins GSM lobby group COAI: Social networking giant Facebook has joined GSM operators lobby group Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), a move that will help it get a bigger and effective platform to raise various issues with the government, while having a closer interaction with top mobile operators. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company has been inducted as an associate member of the association. COAI’s associate membership comprises of companies that manufacture or support the functioning, promotion, R&D and evolution of mobile communications services.

• After Picassos and Van Goghs, Sotheby's to Sell Houses in India: Wealthy individuals looking to buy India's most exclusive homes may not have to fear being shut out of deals being done behind closed doors. Sotheby's is planning to sell about 40 choice properties at list 15-200 crore--among them a prices of ` bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi (Rs 150 crore) and `private residences' inside ancient forts in Rajasthan. With India emerging as a real-estate destination and the number of high networth Indians surging, the international auction house has prepared a list of marketable and saleable properties.

• Counter-Offers Come as Fast as Pizzas as Hunger for Talent Grows: Two weeks ago, EMA Partners International successfully closed the hunt to find a legal head for a manufacturing company , only to see the candidate withdraw. “His employer increased his salary by 90%, a counter-offer the candidate couldn't refuse,“ says K Sudarshan, managing partner, India and regional VP (Asia). “Dropouts after the candidate has met CEO and chairman of the client firm is a huge embarrassment,“ he adds. Such embarrassments are becoming more frequent over the past month or so, as companies are now fighting fiercely to retain top and mid-level talent in anticipation of a strong economic revival in the country . Stray instances of employers making counter-offers to retain key top talent have always been there even in the most difficult of markets. But now, with the re now, with the re cent pickup in business senti ment, such counter-offers are growing in number and are commonplace enough to give executive search firms a big headache.

• Women on WhatsApp a muse for brands, says study: With more than 160 million Internet users, India has a significant population logged online. About 86 million people access the Internet using mobile devices. Interestingly, as a Business Insider report points out, women's online behaviour is increasingly becoming significant for everyone to watch for, including businesses, brands and marketers.

• Dentsu To Set Up Sports Arm In India: Japanese advertising group Dentsu plans to set up a sports arm in India to tap opportunities in the country’s nascent sports marketing segment. “Sports culture in India is catching up fast. Indians are becoming interested in sports such as tennis, badminton, football, car racing and golf,” said Kunihito Morimura, president and CEO of Dentsu Sports Asia. “Experiential sports events such as marathon is also catching up.” Dentsu has the marketing strategy mandates for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “Globally, we have a strong presence in sports. We want to do the same in India,” said Morimura, who is in the country to help set a sports vertical. The agency recently bagged the creative duties of DEN Networks’ Delhi Team in the Indian Super League (ISL).

• Women’s Horlicks Scores Big for GSK with Rs 100-cr Sales: Women’s Horlicks, a sub-brand of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare’s flagship Horlicks milk drink, is now the consumergoods company’s fastest growing product with sales topping . `100 crore in 2013. Sales of Women’s Horlicks grew at a faster pace than the Sensodyne toothpaste and the mainstay Horlicks last year, despite a lack of heavy spending on advertisements, its premium pricing and a relative slowdown in demand for discretionary products. “This indicates positive changes in consumer demographics. Women are now not just focused on health of their families, but are taking care of themselves too,” GSK Consumer MD Zubair Ahmed said in a recent chat with ET. In terms of absolute sales, however, its regular Horlicks, Boost milk drink, Eno antacid and Crocin analgesic were bigger brands than Women’s Horlicks for GSK Consumer, show its annual report for the 15 months ended on March 31.

• Hello Curry in Talks to Raise Up to Rs.40 crore: Within a year of raising seed funding of Rs 3 crore, fast-food centre Hello Curry is in talks with US-based venture capitalists to raise Series A funding of up to ₹ 40 crore. The due-diligence is likely to be completed by next quarter and an announcement is expected in fiscal year 2014-15. The Hyderabad-based firm, which caters mostly to IT employees, in its pilot is looking at four delivery units across Hyderabad by October and will expand to Bangalore by the end of 2014. Ahead of its expansion and fund-raising, the company inducted Bangalore-based Phani Kumar as its COO. Kumar was previously the business head at Gloria Jean Coffees and has worked across chains in QSR (quick service restaurant) sector.

• Chacha Chaudhary creator no more: Legendary cartoonist Pran, creator of the iconic character Chacha Chaudhary, died of colon cancer at a hospital in Gurgaon on Tuesday. He was 75. “He was under treatment for the past one year and in the ICU for the last 10 days. After a series of medical complications following a surgery, he passed away around 9.30 pm,” daughterin-law Jyoti Pran told TOI. Born in Kasur, an eastern border town in Pakistan, Pran Kumar Sharma’s career spanned over 50 years. He began doing cartoon strips for newspapers and magazines and went on to create several unforgettable characters such as the troublemaking kids Pinki and Billoo and the middleclass housewife Shrimatiji. What catapulted him to widespread fame was Chacha Chaudhary. The avuncular neighbourhood wit, dressed in a pagdi and a suit, was known for his native wisdom. “Chacha Chaudhary ka dimaag computer se bhi tej chalta hai,” became a famous catchphrase. His sidekick Sabu, the giant from Jupiter, also found popularity .Lakhs of Chacha comics were sold in bookstores and railway stalls. A tele-serial, starring Raghubir Yadav as Chacha Chaudhary was also aired on Sahara channel.

International:

• Wal-Mart Gives $3M to Train African Farmers: The White House unveiled more commitments from corporations investing in the African continent on Wednesday, including a $3 million investment from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to train farmers in three African countries. As part of a three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders summit here, companies and government agencies have expanded business ties and investment with Africa, committing $200 million to programs that will “help foster improved education, health and economic opportunity” for more than one million people on the African continent, the White House said.

• Murdoch 'resolute' over dropping Time Warner bid: Rupert Murdoch has said that he is "resolute" in his decision to drop a $80bn (£47bn) bid for Time Warner. The comments were made on a conference call to discuss 21st Century Fox's second quarter earnings, which were a better-than-expected $999m. There was surprise on Tuesday when Fox abandoned its bid, given Mr Murdoch's tenacity when pursuing previous deals. But Mr Murdoch said Fox's shares had become "severely undervalued" following the takeover offer. He said that prompted the announcement of a major share buyback, which Mr Murdoch said would maximise value for shareholders.

• Ralph Lauren Net Hit by Retail Investments: Ralph Lauren Corp. appears to be in the early stages of a retail push for growth. That was the gist of comments by Jackwyn Nemerov, president and chief operating officer, and Christopher H. Peterson, chief financial officer, during a conference call to Wall Street analysts following the company’s report of first-quarter results. While the results were better than expected, profits still slid 10.5 percent for the period, owing largely to infrastructure investments such as store-opening costs.

• Moody's: Lease Expirations to Free Up Cash: Major U.S. retailers have more than $70 billion in lease obligations coming off the table in the next four years, opening up significant opportunities for initiatives ranging from e-commerce development to basic store count reductions. A study by Moody’s Investors Service found the minimum lease obligations for a group of 62 U.S.-based retailers — all either publicly traded or holding public debt — will drop to $133 billion in 2018 from $203 billion this year as leases expire. The median for this group is a reduction to $1.2 billion in 2018 from $1.6 billion this year.

• Target Opens Silicon Valley Office: Target Corp. is out to boost its digital expertise. The Minneapolis-based retailer this week opened an office in Sunnyvale, Calif., where it is a neighbor of Silicon Valley powerhouses such as Yahoo, Juniper Networks and NetApp. Target plans to have more than 70 data scientists, software engineers and product managers working in the new office. The retailer said the new facility is “part of a commitment to becoming a leading omnichannel retailer.”

• China's Secoo Plots Global Expansion: Chinese luxury goods retailer Secoo has just secured fresh financing of $100 million to embark on an international expansion drive. Secoo is best known as an e-commerce player selling products like handbags and watches. It also runs a network of five Secoo Club retail stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Hong Kong. The company plans to extend its retail network this year, opening its first three international stores in New York, Paris and Milan to cater mainly to Chinese tourists shopping abroad.

• The Road to Black: How E-commerce Companies Get From Buzzy to Profitable: E-commerce companies are having a Millennial moment. They’ve moved out of their dorm rooms and set up shop, in many cases establishing substantial businesses with real sales traction — but they still can’t support themselves. With the exception of a few firms, such as Asos and Zulily, experts say fashion e-commerce companies are largely losing money and relying on funds from investors to rapidly accumulate customers and build their brands. Nor are fashion e-tailers the only ones. Amazon.com continues to rack up megalosses as it aims for global domination, becoming the poster child for the business model for e-commerce and proving irrefutably that the road to black in the online world is a long one.

• Ryan Seacrest, Macy's Collaborate on Men's Wear: Macy's believes Ryan Seacrest moves the needle when it comes to mainstream fashion. That’s the reason the department store is throwing its marketing muscle behind the September launch of Ryan Seacrest Distinction, a new exclusive collection of tailored clothing and furnishings spearheaded by Randa Accessories and including product from Peerless Clothing and PVH.

• Caroline Issa to Design Nordstrom Signature Line: Nordstrom has tapped Caroline Issa to design a 25-piece collection as part of its Nordstrom Signature series, to launch for spring. Nordstrom Signature x Caroline Issa will be released seasonally year-round, including pre-fall and resort collections, and will retail from $225 to $2,995. The line will launch at 53 Nordstrom stores and on nordstrom.com in February. Issa, who is half-Chinese, a quarter Lebanese, a quarter Iranian and had a brief modeling stint in her teens, will also be the face of the collection.

Tech:

• Facebook privacy challenge attracts 25,000 users: A data privacy campaigner has signed up 25,000 people to a "class action lawsuit" being taken against Facebook. Max Schrems alleges that the way the social network monitors its members' activity on and off the site puts it in breach of EU laws. As part of the claim, he also alleges that the company co-operated with Prism, a US surveillance scheme. Facebook has previously denied knowing about Prism before it was mentioned in leaked US government documents. The company has, however, acknowledged complying with national security requests from US government agencies.

• Bitcoin price crashes linked to web search surges: A spike in searches for Bitcoins can be a good predictor of an imminent crash in its value, suggests research. The conclusion emerged from a study of the web activity and social media chatter surrounding the virtual currency by Swiss computer scientists. Their analysis of who was taking part in this activity helped to explain the meteoric rise in the value of bitcoins. It might also offer insights into how online communities adapt and grow, suggested the research team.

• Google pulls more Gaza-Israel games from Android store: Google has expanded its list of banned Android video games linked to the Gaza-Israel conflict. The US-based firm has now removed Rocket Pride by Best Arabic Games, in which players attempt to outmanoeuvre Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system, from its Google Play app store. It also deleted Iron Dome by Gamytech, which challenged players to "intercept the rockets launched by Hamas".Other titles that do not name the "enemy" remain online. Advocacy groups have criticised the emergence of the genre.

• Apple devices banned as Chinese government purchases – report: Apple is reportedly facing a purchasing ban on certain products for Chinese government use. The powers-that-be in Beijing have excluded the iPad and MacBook from a list of products that can be bought with public money, Bloomberg said Wednesday, citing "government officials familiar with the matter." Specifically, the iPad, iPad Mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro were included on a Chinese government procurement list in June but found themselves off the list in July. The reported reason? Security concerns. A major ban in China could potentially affect Apple. Including consumer and business purchases, the country accounted for about 16 percent of Apple's $37.4 billion in overall sales last quarter, according to Bloomberg. Sales of the iPad in China jumped by 51 percent compared with the same quarter last year, while Mac sales rose by 39 percent over the same period. Apple also worked hard to secure deals with China's top three mobile carriers to offer the iPhone. The iPhone isn't listed as one of the banned products for government purchase, though it's the one that recently triggered some controversy.

• Amazon expands same-day delivery to six more cities across the US: Need an item from Amazon before the day is over? The retailer is now offering same-day delivery in six more cities across the US. As of Wednesday, consumers in Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. can place a same-day delivery order for any one of more than 1 million products through Amazon's "Get it Today" feature. As long as you order any eligible item by a certain time, usually noon or 1pm depending on the city, you'll get it at your doorstep by 9PM local time. The cost? Amazon Prime subscribers pay $5.99 for the entire order. Non-Prime customers have to shell out $9.98 for the first item and 99 cents for each additional item.

• Vogogo Raises $8.5 Million To Bring Crypto Payments To The US, EU: Vogogo isn’t a new company. The payments processor has been around for about 13 years and is currently processing $75 million in payments in the last 10 months from their Calgary headquarters. Now they’ve raised $8.5 million to help bring their expertise in payments and cryptocurrency to the U.S. Cormark Securities Inc. led the round which included Salman Partners Inc., Clarus Securities Inc., Beacon Securities Limited and Canaccord Genuity Corp. Founded by Geoff Gordon and Rodney Thompson, the company has long been Canada’s go-to payments provider. However, as they expanded into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, they found their skills worked well for Canadian customers. They are now seeing $6 to $10 million in crypto payments a month.

• Pinterest Rolls Out Messaging So Pinners Can Have Conversations Around Shared Pins: Pinterest today is unveiling a new way users can communicate, collaborate and share with one another. With the launch of a new messaging feature, users will be able to keep discussions going on Pinterest around their favorite Pins without having to leave the site or apps. Last spring, Pinterest launched its Send a Pin feature, which enabled users to share interesting Pins with their friends on and off the site. Users that were connected on Pinterest would receive a notification that would point them to the shared pin. And others would receive emails about the content that was shared. Since then, the feature has become incredibly popular with users — which Pinterest like to call “Pinners” — with more than 2 million Pins sent each day. But it wasn’t all that useful.

• JustPark Releases iOS App, Secures Funding From Index Ventures: Founded in 2006 when Anthony Eskinazi was just 23 years old, ParkatmyHouse seemed ever so slightly crazy at the time. Who would rent out their unused private drive way or church car park over the Internet? It turned out plenty of people would, and long before smartphone apps came along to make the whole process simpler, Eskinazi was plugging away at his vision, making it the UK’s first ‘sharing economy’ business. Recently rebranded as JustPark, this parking marketplace now has 500,000 drivers who choose from over 100,000 parking spaces in the UK, and it has plans to expand abroad. But unlike ‘jerktech’ startups such as MonkeyParking, Sweetch and ParkModo, JustPark is unlikely to attract the same level of controversy, given that it allows private venue owners to sell parking, not other drivers who just vacated a spot on a public road. Today that vision pays off with a vote of confidence from the UK’s most active early-stage VC and the launch of its first app that lets drivers find parking, and an in-car integration with a major car marque.