Retailing in China – Ready for warfare in the aisles
Retailing in China – Ready for warfare in the aisles
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Access to Postal Services: A Final Report for Postcomm
In this report for Postcomm — the independent regulator for postal services in the UK — a NERA team led by Senior Consultant Leela Barham, Consultant Simon Maunder, and former Director John Dodgson sets out NERA’s recommendations on criteria for accessing UK postal services. NERA was commissioned to:
Identify the current and future needs of postal users in relation to access to postal services. Access to the universal postal service means the use of access points capable of receiving large postal packets and special delivery.
Develop criteria that takes account of the way that the provision of access to postal services is changing (e.g., mobile offices) by suggesting a minimum number of opening hours, physical accessibility, and how in relation to communities and any other relevant factors this should be measured, with a particular consideration to meeting the reasonable needs of more vulnerable users and SMEs.
Develop recommendations on access to the universal postal service through post boxes and Post Offices, and how this should be measured, taking into account the reasonable needs of users.
Undertake a mapping exercise to examine access points in relation to a) Royal Mail’s license (but not using the straight line method); b) Department for Trade and Industry (now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) criteria for the Post Office network; and c) any new access criteria suggested by NERA.
This research will help Postcomm to provide advice to the Government on access criteria, and is part of the regulator’s work leading up to Royal Mail’s price control in 2010. Learn more about NERA’s role in this project.
Read MoreAn eye to the future
Environmental initiatives, such as the WEEE Directive, the ongoing growth of the online sector, and rapid technological developments mean predicting what the retail landscape will look like in the years to come is a tricky business.
This year’s Retail Solutions exhibition at the Birmingham NEC allowed retailers to view technology that can benefit their business both now, and in the future. The show, and in particular the Store of the Future exhibit, (see boxout on pg.51) drew the attention of both national and local press. The Magic Mirror, part of the Store of the Future, features both RFID bar code scanning and multimedia functions, and was featured in the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Birmingham Post and other international publications.
The seminar theatres offered delegates the chance to hear some of the industry’s top figures debating pressing issues facing retailers today. Representatives from Tesco, McDonalds, Dixons DSGi, Boots Alliance and Poundstretcher offered their thoughts on PCI:DSS, multi-channel retailing, fraud and loss prevention and international growth strategy.
Read MoreChina Post opens new domestic air express hub at Nanjing
China Post has started operations at its new air express hub at Nanjing in eastern China ahead of schedule in its latest move to defend its leadership of the domestic express market and expand its international activities.
Its airline subsidiary China Postal Airlines launched flights to and from Nanjing Lukou airport in mid-July even though construction of new taxiways and parking aprons as well as the main express handling building is not expected to be completed until end-August, the Xinhua news agency reported.
China Post announced on August 1 that its 12 cargo planes are operating to and from Nanjing. Once the hub is fully completed, China Post plans to operate 20 cargo planes at the airport and handle about 40,000 tonnes of express shipments a year there.
China Post officials claimed that the express hub will be the largest and most modern in Asia, and will enable it to speed up express services within the country. It will be composed of a freight terminal for postal night planes, modern sorting and distribution equipment, and customs and security facilities. The hub will handle and distribute domestic and international EMS items arriving at night, and complete within four hours all the processes of loading, sorting, security checking and customs clearance.
As well as upgrading domestic air express services, China Post has been gradually expanding international operations. China Postal Airlines launched flights to South Korea (Seoul) and Japan (Osaka) last year.
In July, China Post and Japan Post sealed a bilateral agreement on express services, including wider international express services between the two countries, and opening the way for Japan Post to buy into a China Post subsidiary.
Read MoreAdobe to drop FedEx Kinko's link
After a wave of criticism from printing companies and others, Adobe Systems Inc. said Wednesday it will remove a link on new software to FedEx Kinko’s.
San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe said its Reader and Acrobat software scheduled to be released in October won’t have the link.
The prominent button was introduced in June, enabling electronic transfer of documents directly for printing at FedEx Kinko’s stores. It was criticized by Kinko’s competitors who feared it would hurt them.
Adobe said it didn’t expect material revenue from the link, so it “will have little to no impact on Adobe’s financial results.”
A version of Adobe Reader will still be available from the FedEx Kinko’s Web site that contains the link.
Read MoreManish Shah, MD, Magnum Cargo., wins FedEx Ship2Drive
FedEx awarded Mr. Manish Shah, Managing Director, Magnum Cargo Pvt. Ltd. with a Maruti Suzuki Car for winning the unique Ship2Drive programme run for Freight Forwarders by FedEx from 1st March 2007 to 30th April 2007.
The FedEx Ship2Drive programme was devised to reward & acknowledge Freight Forwarders as they form an important part of the FedEx customer network and to encourage long standing relationships with the company. During the FedEx Ship2Drive programme Freight Forwarders could earn points for every shipment that was shipped with FedEx during the programme period.
Read MoreAtias, Treasury spar over Postal Bank direction
“To claim that the Postal Bank will compete against Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi is a big mistake, and I won’t let it happen. Such a move would turn an angel into a demon, which instead of helping Israel Post Company Ltd., will harm it,” said Minister of Communications Ariel Atias in response to the decision to transfer supervision of the Postal Bank to the Bank of Israel Banking Supervision Department as part of the Postal Bank’s privatization.
The privatization of Israel Post, including the Postal Bank, should move forward quickly now that a new minister of finance and Government Companies Authority director general have been appointed, and the issue has been included in the 2008 economic arrangements bill. However, Atias opposes losing control of the Postal Bank on the grounds that Israel Post is not ready for the privatization. He claims that postal services would become secondary to banking services that the Postal Bank is due to provide in the future.
Atias said, “The Postal Bank is supposed to serve the poor and middle class, not provide credit to manufacturers and commercial companies. The Ministry of Finance wants to turn it into a large bank, which is a mistake.”
The Bank of Israel supports the Ministry of Finance, and believes that the Postal Bank should be turned into a regular banking corporation as part of the privatization of Israel Post. Supervisor of Banks Rony Hizkiyahu has made turning the Postal Bank into a commercial bank conditional on having a minimum shareholders’ equity of NIS 150 million and transferring supervision of the Postal Bank to the Bank of Israel.
The Government Companies Authority proposes privatizing Israel Post in two stages. In the first stage, 49 pct of the company will be sold in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) by May 31, 2008. Later, the rest of the company will be sold to a strategic investor.
Read MoreCatalogers turn to postcards
In the wake of the postal increases, catalog mailers are increasingly turning to creative solutions to keep the volume and integrity of their marketing messages intact, while keeping costs down.
One solution is postcards. Women’s clothing catalog Lady Venus went to Clearwater, FL firm PostcardMania in a bid to increase the number of its qualified leads, cost-effectively. The company wanted to get sales from the leads as well.
Many catalog mailers are now using postcards ahead of a full catalog mailing, inviting prospects to request a catalog.
“Mailing a catalog can be outrageously expensive,” said Karla Jo Helms, vice president of PR for PostCardMania. Sending a prospect a postcard costs much less money and if that person requests a catalog, they are much more likely to buy. For Lady Venus, the results were strong. “My ROI is very good,” said John Sauer, owner of the Lady Venus catalog. In fact, Sauer received immediate orders for the item advertised on his postcard.
“An important tip is getting a clear, defined list before you even start planning the postcard; analyze the database,” Helm said. “Pick one product that sells a lot and feature it with a clear headline so that when people see it, they are motivated to buy.”
In designing a postcard mailing, clear bold headlines, eye-catching color, clearly stated benefits from a product or service and an offer with a reason to “call now” should be clearly displayed.
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