Monthly Archives: April 2018

Sainsbury’s and Asda are planning to operate a “dual-brand strategy” as they reveal details of the merger that will create the UK’s biggest supermarket group. In an announcement this morning (30 April), Sainsbury’s said bringing together the two businesses, which between them had revenues of £51bn in 2017, will result in a more “competitive and resilient” business that will be better able to invest in price, quality, range and the technology to create more flexible ways for customers to shop. The shock deal between the UK’s second and third largest supermarkets creates a combined network of more than 2,800 Sainsbury’s, Asda and Argos stores. This equates to around a 31% share of the supermarket sector, ahead of current market leader Tesco on 28%, according to Kantar Worldpanel figures. Both the Sainsbury’s and Asda brands will be maintained and will operate as a “dual-brand strategy” in grocery in an effort to “sharpen their distinctive customer propositions and attract new customers”. Sainsbury’s says it also aims to lower prices by around 10% on everyday essentials. “This is a transformational opportunity to create a new force in UK retail, which will be more competitive and give customers more of what they want now and in the future,” says Sainsbury’s chief executive officer, Mike Coupe. “It will create a business that is more dynamic, more adaptable, more resilient and an even bigger contributor to the UK economy. Having worked at Asda before Sainsbury’s, I understand the culture and the businesses well and believe they are the best possible fit. “This creates a great deal for customers, colleagues, suppliers and shareholders and I am excited about the opportunities ahead and what we can achieve together.”

Any true measurement of the social impact of a purpose campaign should start by analysing the impact on employees. Total transparency around the goals and achievements of each campaign will help businesses bring the wider team along with them, and in turn help consumers see it is a genuine effort. The Body Shop has a number of ongoing initiatives, such as its ‘Forever Against Animal Testing’ petition to get animal testing in cosmetics banned worldwide. It is aiming to reach 8 million signatures to present the UN this year. Jessie Macneil-Brown, head of global campaigns at The Body Shop, reports back to her wider team every week on the number of signatures gained, as well as sharing information on the campaign’s social media engagement and the number of meetings secured with politicians in a bid to drive policy change. Each week she also updates the international team on the progress of the campaign, best practice and shares details on how other countries are performing. All this information feeds into the market research team’s analysis of customer opinions, which tracks how consumers and supporters are responding to each Body Shop campaign. Every employee is a brand ambassador for your company. Unless they are inspired by your own campaigns, how could you expect consumers not working at the company to be inspired? Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard The brand also adheres to its wider ‘Enrich Not Exploit’ corporate responsibility framework, which is based on 14 publicly reported targets. The Body Shop first reported back on these targets in June 2017, with a further update expected in the middle of this year. “Everywhere we are measuring and using indicators and we’re being very transparent to our customers, the general public and our internal staff,” says Macneil-Brown. “From staff to customers to the wider impact you are having on society, you set up those indicators when you start your programme.”

Une commune sicilienne a décidé de mettre ses maisons abandonnées aux enchères pour redonner de la vie à son centre-ville. Tous ceux qui se plaignent de l'explosion du prix de l'immobilier auront désormais un pays de cocagne : l'Italie et en particulier Sambuca. Le maire de cette commune sicilienne a décidé de lancer le projet « Maisons à 1 euro » en mettant aux enchères des demeures abandonnées. Les personnes intéressées ont jusqu'au 2 mai pour s'inscrire. Le prix de départ des enchères est de 1 euro avec l'obligation d'entreprendre d'ici 3 ans des travaux de rénovation. Le but est triple pour l'édile : promouvoir le tourisme, préserver le patrimoine du centre de la ville et lutter contre le dépeuplement qui frappe aussi bien les petits bourgs ruraux que les plus grandes cités du sud de la péninsule. Un exode de masse Le vieillissement de la population et l'absence de perspectives économiques sont en train de vider le Mezzogiorno de sa population et en particulier de ses forces vives avec 200.000 jeunes diplômés qui ont émigré vers les régions septentrionales depuis l'an 2000.

Walmart is nearing a deal to acquire a majority stake in India’s leading online retailer, a bold move that would open another front in its escalating war with Amazon. The Indian company, Flipkart, is a start-up that sells everything from clothing to smartphones in the country’s blossoming e-commerce market. The two sides are in advanced discussions, and a deal could be announced soon, according to three people briefed on the matter. Exact terms are not yet final, and the talks are fluid, said these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations were continuing. Two of the people said that the deal would value Flipkart at about $20 billion and that Walmart was looking to acquire a stake of at least 60 percent.

IBM and a consortium of gold and diamond businesses have announced the first cross-industry initiative to use blockchain to trace the provenance of finished pieces of jewelry across the supply chain for increased transparency. As Bloomberg notes, the consortium is designed to halt the illegal trade in so-called “blood diamonds”—meaning diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army’s war efforts, or a warlord’s activity—and promote ethical jewelry in general. Products being tracked through the program should be available to consumers by year-end. The partners—Asahi Refining (precious metals refiner), Helzberg Diamonds (U.S. jewelry retailer), LeachGarner (precious metals supplier), The Richline Group (global jewelry manufacturer) and UL (independent, third party verification)—are launching the TrustChain Initiative with the support of the IBM Blockchain Platform, delivered via the IBM Cloud.

Paying via cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, may soon be the norm, at least according to a survey from SharesPost. The study found that demand for cryptocurrencies is expected to grow in the near future. Nearly seven in 10 respondents who owned cryptocurrency said they plan to increase their investment in the next 12 months. And among those who didn't own any, 21% planned to purchase cryptocurrencies in that same timeframe. What's more, many respondents—both those who have invested in this form of payment and those who haven't—agreed that "the public will widely adopt cryptocurrencies by 2025." There are those, however, who don't particularly see it going mainstream. For example, 12% of respondents who don't own any cryptocurrency said they weren't sure, and another 16% said it will never be widely adopted. Unsurprisingly, current owners are less likely to feel this way: Just 4% said it will never go mainstream.

Sprint and T-Mobile are officially seeking to merge. If the deal is approved, the resulting company would be the nation’s second-biggest wireless carrier after Verizon, controlling roughly 100 million customers. While the merger could put the companies in a stronger position to take on AT&T and Verizon, it would also eliminate a competitor from the wireless industry. That might not sit well with some policymakers, who say U.S. businesses have grown too concentrated in recent years. What could the merger mean for competition — and your pocketbook? Here’s what to expect. Why is the deal happening? The argument from T-Mobile and Sprint largely boils down to scale. By combining, they say, they’ll be in a better position to take on the incumbents, AT&T and Verizon. The deal could eliminate duplicate spending and allow the new company, which would be called T-Mobile, to collect revenue from one, massive customer base. This expanded scale could have important consumer implications. Right now, the whole wireless industry is racing to deploy a next-generation data technology called 5G. Expect to hear a lot about 5G in the coming weeks as this deal moves forward.

Le groupe rachète l'hôtelier suisse pour 482 millions d'euros. Il se renforce ainsi dans l'offre haut de gamme, particulièrement en Europe et au Moyen-Orient. On l'attendait dans les « toutes prochaines semaines » . AccorHotels a annoncé ce lundi l'acquisition de l'opérateur suisse Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts pour un montant de 560 millions de francs suisses (482 millions d'euros) en numéraire. Le groupe français précise que cette transaction, qui devrait être finalisée au second semestre, aura un impact relutif sur ses résultats dès la première année. 16.000 collaborateurs « Avec l'acquisition de Mövenpick, nous consolidons notre leadership sur le marché européen et accélérerons encore notre développement sur les marchés émergents, notamment au Moyen-Orient, en Afrique et en Asie-Pacifique », se félicite le PDG d'AccorHotels Sébastien Bazin dans un communiqué . Créé en 1973, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts est l'une des quatre entités opérationnelles du groupe Mövenpick, par ailleurs actif dans la restauration, l'agroalimentaire et la distribution de vins. Ce conglomérat est contrôlé par une grande famille allemande, les von Finck, sachant que le prince saoudien Al-Waleed, détenteur de 5,7 % du capital d'AccorHotels, possède également 33,3 % du pôle hôtelier de Mövenpick. Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, qui compte 16.000 collaborateurs, regroupe aujourd'hui 74 établissements dans 27 pays, ainsi que 8 bateaux de croisières en Egypte, soit près de 21.000 chambres au total. Il prévoit d'ouvrir 42 hôtels supplémentaires d'ici 2021, soit près de 11.000 chambres, avec un fort développement au Moyen-Orient, en Afrique et en Asie-Pacifique, précise AccorHotels.

La semaine dernière, la Commission Européenne présentait son initiative quant au développement de l’intelligence artificielle. Un programme dont l’objectif est d’aiguiller le développement de l’IA à travers l’Europe tout en donnant aux entreprises les outils nécessaires pour innover. Depuis les exploits d’IBM, Google ou encore Facebook, l’intelligence artificielle est sur toutes les lèvres. Cette technologie est même devenue incontournable et semble être la clé d’une expérience utilisateur harmonieuse et personnalisée. Ainsi, l’enjeu lié à l’IA est primordial pour les entreprises. La Commission Européenne a donc décidé de s’approprier cette révolution technologique afin d’en booster la recherche et le déploiement. Reposant sur l’investissement, la formation et l’éthique, la Commission dévoilait la semaine dernière son initiative pour le développement de l’IA. Une approche « à l’européenne », visant à aider les acteurs de toute industrie à innover tout en s’imposant face aux géants de l’IA. Pas de développement sans fonds 1,5 milliards d’euros. Tel est le montant accordé par la Commission Européenne entre 2018 et 2020 pour accompagner entreprises et startups dans le développement de l’IA. Un investissement conséquent qui fait partie du programme de recherche et d’innovation Horizon 2020 lancé par la Commission en 2014.

They’re feeling lucky … for the moment. Alphabet’s quarterly profits grew 73 percent year on year, from $5.4 billion in 2017 to $9.4 billion this year. That includes a one-off tax benefit, but also a booming ad business — which led the company to engage in a spending bonanza, more than doubling its first quarter expenditures from last year. Meanwhile, new EU data protection rules are set to go into effect next month. Violations could land Alphabet massive fines and bad will as U.S. lawmakers also consider new regulations.