RLE Eyes 20 Million Euros Revenue and 4X Jump in Headcount India by 2020

RLE International, a global development, technology and consultation services provider, today announced its aggressive business expansion plans for India and said it expects its revenue in the country to reach 20 million euros by 2020. Likewise, the company is also looking to scale up its employee strength in India from 250 to 1,000 by 2020.

"The company's current revenue in India stands at 5 million Euros and is expecting to reach 20 million Euros by 2020," newly-appointed RLE India Private Limited Managing Director Vijay Machigad told reporters here. 

RLE International is planning to make significant investments on skill development and to set up several Centers of Excellence in the next five years in India which would support the RLE Group's overall business across the geographies, Machigad said.

"RLE India is creating two focused growth engines in India - Product Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering and is also planning to invest 10 per cent of its revenues annually towards expansion of its business portfolio," he added.

The company's focus in India lies in building innovative solutions in Lean Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Automotive Electronics, Light Weight Materials and Vehicle Safety, Machigad stated.

"We aim for RLE India to become a leading player in 2-3 niche segments in India, to become one of the top 3 players in transportation segment and to broaden its footprint into Indian market, adding more Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and tier 1 customers in transportation segment," said Darren Gowland, Group Vice President International Operations, RLE International.

Over the past 10 years, the company has strengthened business relations with key Indian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Suppliers and is now looking to scale up their business in the country with an expectation of 30 per cent YoY growth, he said.

RLE International MD and COO Robert P Rupa said the Indian market is challenging but the company has the right expertise, experience and investment strategy to grow further.

Speaking about the challenges in the Indian market, Machigad said there seems to be a lack of availability of high-end skill set and RLE plans to invest on skill development as well as leverage its global expertise to offer niche solutions in India.

Can LiFi Technology Really Offer 100 Times Faster Speed Than WiFi ?

A new technology, known as LiFi, could one day offer internet speeds one hundred times faster than the WiFi we use today. Scientists have achieved speeds in the lab of up to 224 GB per second. 

That's the equivalent of downloading 18 movies in the blink of an eye. LiFi, or light fidelity, is now moving to trials in the real world, with office tests in Tallin, Estonia achieving speeds of 1 GB per second, 100 times the speed of traditional WiFi. 

The world's ever-growing desire for more data at faster rates is pushing WiFi's capacity to its limits. WiFi is achieved by transmitting data through radio waves, but can only transfer so much at a time. By 2019, it is estimated that the world will be exchanging roughly 35 quintillion bytes of information each month. Because radio frequencies are already in use and heavily regulated, that data is going to struggle to find a spot in line. WiFi is simply running out of space. 

Capacity is only part of the problem. WiFi is not a terribly efficient solution. The base stations responsible for transmitting radio waves only function at about 5 per cent efficiency, most of the energy being used to cool the stations. For those transmitting sensitive data, security is also a problem, as radio waves travel through solid objects such as walls and doors. 

Like radio waves, visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The difference is that viable light has a spectrum 10,000 times larger than radio waves. This means LiFi has the potential for enormous capacity. Instead of transmitting information via one data stream, visible light would make it possible to transmit the same information using thousands of data streams simultaneously. 

LiFi works by flashing LED lights on and off at incredibly fast speeds, sending data to a receiver in binary code. It's essentially an ultra-fast version of turning your flashlight on and off to create morse code. The flashes occur so fast that they are not seen by the naked eye. 

All one need to do is fit a small microchip to every potential illumination device and this would then combine two basic functionalities — illumination and wireless data transmission. In In other words, the infrastructure is already there. We can use the LED bulbs we already have, with some tweaking. 

Agencies

Eram Scientific Solutions Launches eToilet Mobile App

Eram Scientific Solutions, the only manufacturer of electronic toilets in the country, recently unveiled a new eToilet mobile app for such toilets a day before the World Toilet Day on November 19. 

The app can be downloaded for free by android users from Google Play Store by typing keyword 'etoilets'. 

Its unique features include locating the nearest eToilets, besides understanding mode of operation and access, information on facilities such as napkin vending machine, incinerator and sharing feedback on user experience of eToilet. 

Through the app public can also suggest new places for setting up eToilets. 

K Anwar Sadat, CEO of the Thiruvananthapuram-based company, said it has set up over 1,300 eToilets across 18 states in India, and won numerous national and international awards. 

The Chennai Municipal Corporation has the most - 150-plus - eToilets in the country. 

The company has sought feedback from users and administrators to better the app and plans to bring out the final version on January 1, 2016. 

Rajiv Bansal Takes Charge as New Chief Finance Officer of Ola Cabs

Ola, India’s leading mobile app for personal transportation has announced the appointment of Rajiv Bansal as its Chief Financial Officer. Rajiv brings close to 21 years of experience in finance with over 16 years at Infosys, where he was the CFO and recently transitioned to being an Advisor to the CEO. Rajiv will be part of Ola’s core leadership team and joins the company in January, 2016. Mitesh Shah, who is currently the CFO, will lead Strategic Finance Initiatives as part of Rajiv’s team, going forward.

Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Ola said, “We are thrilled to welcome Rajiv onboard. He brings with him a wealth of experience from his long tenure at Infosys. Rajiv’s understanding and expertise in the finance domain is extremely valuable for us at this juncture of growth. His experience of being at the helm of finance for one of India’s most respected companies will help us in adopting best practices and in realising our mission of building mobility for a billion people. I’m looking forward to working with Rajiv as we scale Ola to newer heights in the time to come!”

Speaking about his new role at Ola, Rajiv Bansal said, “Ola has been growing at an extraordinary pace and has created tremendous value in the process, to customers, partners and other stakeholders under Bhavish’s leadership. As one of India’s most valuable startups, it carries with it a mighty responsibility of setting an example on corporate governance and best practices in finance. I am thoroughly excited about coming onboard with this amazing team to co-create yet another globally admired company out of India.”

More about Rajiv Bansal:

Rajiv Bansal is currently an advisor to the CEO at Infosys. In his prior role as the CFO at Infosys, his areas of responsibility included corporate finance, business finance, operations planning and assurance, investor relations and taxation for the whole group. Rajiv has over 21 years of experience and joined Infosys as Manager of Finance in 1999. Prior to becoming the CFO, Rajiv was Vice President and Head of Finance. As the Head of Finance, his key priorities included supporting the company’s growth, managing critical finance functions and adhering to regulatory and compliance requirements.

Before joining Infosys, Rajiv worked in different capacities at Tata Technologies, Cable & Wireless, and ABB. Rajiv is a chartered accountant and cost accountant by profession. He holds a bachelor’s qualification in commerce from Calcutta University, India. He is a gold medalist and stood third in the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI).

DJI’s Fully Integrated, Stabilized Handheld 4K Camera Now Available at Rs 70K Across India

DJI, the world leader in creative imaging technology, today officially unveiled the DJI Osmo. Using DJI’s signature three-axis gimbal stabilization technology, the Osmo eliminates the shake of traditional handheld devices, creating cinematic shots in an easy-to-use, easy-to-set up form factor.   

Marking its entry into the handheld camera market, the Osmo will be available through retailers in 10 key cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, and also available to customers via direct shipping anywhere in India through DJI’s authorized distributor, SSTPL.

“DJI consistently refines the way cameras move in space – whether they are in the air or on the ground,” said Michael Perry, DJI’s Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Mumbai launch event. "With the Osmo, we have created a camera specifically designed to capture a smooth moving image regardless of filming conditions.”

The modular format of the Osmo makes it fully compatible with DJI’s Zenmuse camera series, but comes standard with a 4K, 12-megapixel camera with a 1/2.3” sensor and a 94° field-of-view lens. Intelligent controls built into the handle make changing between shooting angles, capturing photos or recording video effortless.

“Traditional handheld cameras are either shaky, or require bulky stabilizers that are difficult to set up,” Perry continued. “The Osmo moves the experience of handheld filmmaking from capturing what happened, to sharing expressive, smooth video that shows what an experience was like.”

Through the DJI GO mobile app, creators can view live images of what the camera captures, adjust camera settings and control smart filming functions including –

Panorama – Take a picture and the camera will automatically pan around 360°, taking and stitching overlapping photos to create a panorama.

Long Exposure – Make handheld long-exposures crisp using the camera’s stabilization technology

Slow Motion – Capture slow motion shots at 120 frames-per-second (fps) up to 1080p

Its onboard universal mount works together with an included smartphone holder in addition to other optional accessories including a tripod, a bike mount or an extension arm.

The Osmo handle comes equipped with an on-board stereo microphone, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack for recording professional-quality external sound.

The Osmo handle, which can be bought separately without a camera, is fully compatible with DJI’s existing Zenmuse series, making it the perfect accessory for everyone who already owns an Inspire 1 with a Zenmuse X3, a Zenmuse X5 Pro or a Zenmuse X5 Raw.

The Osmo is now available across India for Rs 69,990 (MRP) through DJI distributors and retail outlets.

Indian Online Shoppers Spend Estimated Rs.54,700 Cr by Shopping Online in 2015

PayPal and IPSOS have released the Global Cross Border Consumer Research 2015. The research maps the evolution of cross border online commerce to identify why consumers shop online across borders and how do they pay for these transactions. The research also shares insights on the growth prospects for the Indian ecommerce sectors in 2017.

 Key Highlights of the report:

·         Leading categories for which Indians shop online across the border include clothing/apparel, footwear, accessories (bought by 53% of cross border shoppers ), consumer electronics (51%) and digital entertainment and, education items (44%).

·         Top three countries where Indians shop: USA (27% of online shoppers have shopped in USA in past 12 months) , China (11%) and United Kingdom (10%)

·         Key drivers making online shoppers more likely to shop cross border include Free shipping (selected by 54% of online shoppers), safe way to pay (54%), proof of product authenticity (51%) , possibility of payments in local currency (48%) along with faster delivery (47%)

·         Top 3 Countries for cross-border P2P transactions: USA (54% of those who have sent money to friends and families to another country said they sent money to USA), UK (22%) and Singapore (15%)

 By 2017 mobile spend (including smartphones and tablets) for all online shopping within India and cross border is predicted to reach Rs.3,18,600 crore by 2017 from the current estimated Rs.1,26,500 crore in 2015

The research evaluates the online and cross-border shopping habits of over 23,000 internet users across 29 countries including 808 interviews in India. 

“Cross border spends by Indians is estimated to grow at 78.5% from 2015 to 2016. PayPal is used as a cross-border payment option by 84% of the cross border shoppers. PayPal’s unique offerings like Buyer Protection and Refunded Returns have helped address some of the barriers like safety and security and return shipping faced by shoppers while transacting cross border, said Vikram Narayan, Country Manager and Managing Director, PayPal India.

He further added, “The Indian e-commerce space is experiencing an exciting time where innovation is the key. Our research reveals that the advent of technology is slowly diminishing borders for online shopping. With the number of online shoppers set to grow exponentially, it will lead to increase in the numbers shoppers who shop from global retailers with online presence.”

The research further highlights that desktops account for the highest proportion (53%) of purchases made by cross border shoppers from websites in another country in the last 12 months, however the future belongs to mobile for cross border shopping: 41% of the purchases made by cross border shoppers from websites in another country in the last 12 months were made using a smartphone (30%) or tablet (11%).

 Although cross border trade is forecasted to grow in India by 78.5% from 2015 to 2016, high customs duty and high delivery shipping costs are key deterrents: 52% of online shoppers who have not shopped cross border state delivery shipping costs as preventing them from shopping cross-border, and 43% say having to pay customs/fees and or taxes is a barrier. Other key barriers also include difficult process for returning products (selected by 48% of online shoppers who don’t shop cross-border), having to make payments in foreign currency (44%), return shipping costs (41%) and concerns about identity theft and fraud (41%).

 ‘Cart abandonment’ is also a key issue on cross border shopping, where consumers abandon their online shopping carts after having chosen their products for purchase. Reasons for cart abandonment –include amongst others preferred payment option not available (selected by 30% of online shoppers who have abandoned an online purchase from a website in another country) , lack of clarity about how much duty, tax, or custom fees would have to be paid (27% ) and concerns about website security (25%) .

PayPal has emerged as the most popular payment method for making cross-border transactions by the Indian cross-border shoppers, with 84% of cross border shoppers claiming to have used Paypal for a cross border purchase in the past 12 months followed by Visa Debit (used by 58%) and Visa credit card (42%). Cross border shoppers who prefer to use PayPal as a cross border payment method select quick processing of payment (selected by 56%), safer way to pay (54%) and well known/trusted brand (50%) as reasons for preferring to use PayPal.

Online spends on the rise

The research estimates overall online spends inclusive of cross border shopping to touch Rs.7,02,900 crore by 2017

Consumer electronics and entertainment are estimated to be the highest growth categories for online spends in 2016

Total online spend in the consumer electronics category is forecast to grow 48% by 2016 while the total online spend in groceries, food and alcohol category is forecast to grow by 43% in 2016. Health & Beauty (41% growth predicted) as well as travel & transport (40% growth predicted) are also expected to be high growth categories for overall online sales,

 Average online spends among Indians

Average spend on cross-border transactions by the estimated 3.8 million cross border shoppers was estimated to be ~Rs.1.42 lakh per cross-border shopper in 2015.

More on Global Cross Border Consumer Research 2015 by PayPal and IPSOS

In addition to these India findings, more focused data is available for all 29 countries included in the research in addition to the global data.

On Behalf of PayPal, Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of c.800 (23,354 in total) adults (aged 18 or over) who own and/or use an internet enabled device* in each of 29 countries (UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Israel, UAE, USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, India,China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt). Interviews were conducted online between 17th September and 28th October 2015. India fieldwork was conducted 17th Sept – 6th October, among a sample of 800.

Volvo & Eicher Trucks Launch Multiaxle Dump Trucks for Indian Mining in EXCON 2015

Post the joint venture between Volvo Trucks and Eicher Motors, the two automobile majors have jointly launched two new large capacity 5 axle dump trucks for various mining applications viz The FMX 520 10x4 dump truck with 26.1 Cu.m body and FMX 480 10x4 dump truck with 24 Cu.m body.

Volvo Trucks is the only manufacturer to offer a higher capacity 5 axle mining dump trucks in India which is based on the successful and globally proven Volvo’s FMX platform. These new high capacity dump trucks are being introduced to enhance the productivity in line with the increasing demands of coal production. The FMX 520 10x4 dump truck offers a 33% higher capacity and the FMX 480 10X4 offers a 28% higher capacity compared to the current 8X4 solutions available in the market. Volvo Trucks also showcased a highly customized coal haulage solution with 33 Cu.m bodies which is the largest coal haulage truck in the Indian market along with their flagship model the FMX 440 8x4I shift.

Unveiling these trucks, Pierre Jean Verge Salamon, President Volvo Group Trucks India, added that he is very positive about Indian growth story and optimistic about the Government’s plans to double the coal production to 1bn tonnes by 2020. He believes that the next 5 years will open up several new opportunities in the coal mining which will redefine productivity and efficiency demands. 

Anticipating a paradigm change in the mining industry, Volvo has invested significantly in bringing in these new products that are ready to take on the future demands of coal mining.
Pierre Jean Verge Salamon further reiterated Volvo’s commitment to the Indian market and mentioned that Volvo Trucks is the No.1 preferred truck brand having around 65% market share in the high performance mining segment. Volvo Trucks has been driving progress by pioneering in introducing innovative products and services which has set new benchmarks in the Indian mining industry.  These trucks are technologically most advanced and the safest trucks to operate in the high demanding and toughest mining conditions.

Talking on customer value creation, Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles, said “We believe in creating and delivering value to our customers with our comprehensive offering which helps to improve their productivity and profitability. Comprehensive offering includes Volvo’s best in class aftermarket onsite support with more than 130 touch points which is considered as the benchmark in the mining industry and also the recently launched Volvo Financial Services to meet the customer financing requirements”. 

Aggarwal further added, we  have made huge investments in the network and introduced path breaking offerings, to mention a few - Company owned and operated dealers, customer specific site support, comprehensive service agreements and various other value added services. Commenting on the Joint Venture he said “The VE Commercial vehicles JV between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors have been extremely successful for the last 7 years due to strong collaboration and synergies between the two companies.”

 Speaking on the occasion Ramarao A S, Sr. Vice President, Sales, Marketing & After Sales, Volvo Trucks, VE Commercial Vehicles said “Volvo Trucks have pioneered in setting new benchmarks in introducing innovative products and offering total transport solutions – “one stop shop arrangement to meet specific customer requirements.” Our comprehensive customized offerings enable our customers to set new productivity benchmarks in the industry by facilitating them to clock more than 6500 engine hours in a year”. Mr. Ramarao A S also added that “Volvo lays a lot of emphasis on the skill enhancements of the drivers ensuring that the drivers are well trained to drive safely and in the most fuel efficient manner and trained 60,000 drivers thus far.”

GV Rao, Vice President, Product Strategy Brand and Marketing, Volvo Trucks, mentioned that these trucks have been developed by working very closely with the customers and taking their suggestions and feedback keeping in mind the emerging trends in the Indian mining industry. These products have undergone extensive field validation to ensure product performance in the demanding operating conditions.

 GV Rao also highlighted the key USPs of these models, prominent among them being - the all new state-of-the-art cab of Volvo FMX offering maximum driving comfort and safety thereby ensuring high driver productivity. Engine delivering best in class HP and torque to ensure excellent driving characteristics, high reliability and optimum fuel efficiency and further supplemented with Volvo patented Volvo Engine Compression brakes (VEB+) for safer driving. 

The new platform is fitted with 3 steerable axles and rugged suspension optimized for tough mining conditions along with customized high capacity body configurations of 26.1 & 24 Cu.m for overburden applications. He also added that the vehicles are offered with Volvo’s unique Dynafleet telematics system which enables drivers to further improve their fuel saving skills and to manage the fleet in an efficient and cost effective manner.

Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers to Add 2% to GDP; Add 50 lakh Jobs, Says Gadkari

Indian Construction equipment manufacturing has come of age in India and is likely to add 2 per cent to the country’s GDP over the next two years besides add another 50 lakh jobs in the next five years, said Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport, Highway and Shipping Minister on Wednesday November 25, 2015 at the inauguration of Excon 2015 in Bangalore.  

"We want to make this industry of international standards. We want to change our rules and regulations," Gadkari said.

"At the same time, our target is within two years adding of 2% by my department to the GDP of the country... It is 2% by road sector, by shipping, inland water ways and automobile industry," he added.

Gadkari was speaking after inaugurating the international construction equipment and construction technology trade fair, Excon 2015 here.

Stressing on the importance of creation of jobs, he said his agenda was to create 50 lakh jobs in five years.

He said there is a need for skilled manpower with the addition of new technology and innovation to the sector.

"We have 22% shortage of drivers...; we are now going to open a new scheme for training of drivers..." Asking industry to concentrate on skilling the manpower, he said, "Skill and scale both are very important." "By training the manpower in India we can encourage employment potential. This is one of the targets of my ministry and policy of our government," he added.

Listing out various projects undertaken by his department, Gadkari said that they have also decided to make our roads green.

A workshop in this regard has been conducted in Delhi, he said, adding that "from June we are going to start the scheme, it is a plan of five years, for Rs 5,000 crore." Advocating adapting technology of international standards, Gadkari said, "we are ready to accept any modern new technology, and an expert committee has been constituted to submit a report after studying things at various countries." 

Airbus Industries Sets up its Third Start-Up Accelerator in Bengaluru

The innovations arm of French aircraft maker Airbus, BizLab, and another France-based incubator Numa are getting together in Bengaluru with a plan to set up a start-up accelerator for Indian start-ups. 

This is the second stop after Hamburg, Germany, for Bizlab, which was originally set up in Toulouse in France. The investments in BizLab are part of a $2-billion annual spend by the aircraft maker into research and development. 

It runs hybrid accelerator programmes for co-development of ideas from its own employees, "intrapreneurs," external start-ups, and advancements from their partners and customers. BizLabs has a stated target to bring ideas that can create value for the aircraft maker quicker into that market. 

"In India, we are looking forward to a wide range of start-ups not necessarily in the avionics and aerospace sector so that we can explore interlinking opportunities," said Bruno Gutierres, head of Airbus BizLabs. Airbus has an engineering centre in Bengaluru where 350 engineers work. The accelerator would serve to grow ideas of these "intrapreneurs." 

Numa Paris, which had begun its India operations in July this year, has a 20,000 sq. ft facility which will be shared with start-ups that BizLabs will select from scores of start-ups applying for the opportunity. Start-ups will be mentored by dedicated coaches and have access to veteran entrepreneurs in their respective fields. While the opportunities of acquisition by Airbus look slim, Gutierres says chances of partnership and networking with the aircraftmaker are bright. 

Numa Paris, which had begun its India operations in July this year, has a 20,000 sq. ft facility which will be shared with start-ups that BizLabs will select from scores of start-ups applying for the opportunity. Start-ups will be mentored by dedicated coaches and have access to veteran entrepreneurs in their respective fields. While the opportunities of acquisition by Airbus look slim, Gutierres says chances of partnership and networking with the aircraftmaker are bright. 

Numa will offer an entire floor of workspace to BizLab alongside access to Numa's ecosystem of mentors, other start-ups, speakers and conferences. Numa, on the other hand, will also receive mentorship and guidance from BizLab in its area of expertise. 

Numa, by itself, has selected 11 start-ups for its own incubation offering. The selection of start-ups is sector-agnostic "It could be anything from college admin portal to mach-making websites," says Naresh Narasimhan, CEO of Numa Bengaluru. 

Agencies

Disruptive Pricing and Unique Ecosystem from Letv in the Indian Market

Letv the internet conglomerate is progressing steadfast in its expansion plans and is said to be ready to give the Indian users a unique internet experience through its disruptive technology and model. While entering the Indian market, Letv is said to be initially focusing on device and content offerings while continuing to build India ecosystem. The overall Letv Ecosystem has 7 sub-ecosystems of Internet, content, big screen, mobile, automobile, sports and Internet finance.

Letv’s Superphones are said to be developed with state-of-the-art technologies and innovative new features that are all supported by Letv's unique content interface and ecosystem. Letv’s mobile ecosystem is said to redefine the mobile experience for the connected age and offering Indian consumers a better way to get most out of their mobile devices. The availability of Le superphones is yet to be disclosed; however, the company has its plans to hit the market with its exceptional devices.

Le Superphone is the first smartphone to use a Type-C USB connection. This adapter is a flexible USB that charges faster and moves data more quickly, demonstrating Letv's ability and desire to lead smartphone innovation. The Le Superphones are rumoured to offer an exceptional screen experience and enhanced audio controls with industry leading hifi – audio quality. Le Superphones will run on Letv’s self-developed mobile phone UI - TV producers, video creators and automakers, among others, can tap into Letv's ecosystem to offer users an entry point to Letv-owned and partnered content.

Over the past decade, Letv has celebrated a number of worldwide achievements. Those include: 1^st in China's user scale professional long video site, first Internet company to launch its own self-developed and branded smart TV, first Internet company to own a large-scale film company, China's first employed self- made content strategy company.

3D Trial Room to Indian Fashion Lovers at abof.com

In a pioneering effort that redefines the shopping experience of Indian online fashion shoppers, abof.com has introduced 3D trial room to Indian fashion shoppers. In the first couple of months since launch, it has already resulted in achieving 95 percent accurate product fit for consumers. Consequently, for the products that have this feature enabled, the return rates are close to zero. In addition, being the first e-commerce fashion player in India to use the technology, the conversion rate for products available with 3D trial is 400% higher than the industry norm.

With Indian e-commerce market being predicted to be worth $50 billion by 2020, the biggest challenge for the fashion ecommerce players is their struggle to provide appropriate size recommendations for customers. With 3D trial room, which is enabled for most of the women’s apparel, abof.com’s customers can virtually try products by inputting just three basic body measurements. The tool allows users to visualize the garment on a customized 3D avatar-type model and get the right size recommendation. In addition, the tool also allows users to layer garments providing a complete outfit view.

“We take great pride in being India’s first fashion portal to launch such advanced technology – our 3D trial room. Technologies like these are amongst the world’s best and can significantly upgrade online shopping experience for our customers across India,” said Prashant Gupta, President & CEO, abof.com. “With 3D trial room, we aim to simulate the on-ground buying experience of checking appearance and fit”.

A pan-India survey conducted by abof.com showed that the quick and user-friendly 3D trial room has helped personalize shopper’s experience thereby vastly improving customer experience. The tool is extremely engaging as it allows women to try out various looks, thereby doubling the average time spent by a consumer on the website. Customers have also begun to purchase higher priced products such as evening dresses more confidently using this tool.

“The average return rate in the apparel industry is 20% with the most common reason being unsatisfactory fit. Moreover, in a recent survey of users who have never shopped online for fashion, we discovered that more than 50% gave size concerns as the biggest barrier to shopping online. Therefore, we decided to provide a user-friendly tool based on 3D technology to address the issue of fit visualization and size recommendations” said Vikram Bhat, Chief Product Officer, abof.com. “Shopping with 3D trial room has helped our customers to see what works for their body shape and thus make more informed purchases,” he added.

This technology has been deployed in a few global markets like UK, Brazil, and Far East. It took a few months to adapt this technology for Indian women body shapes. But the effort seems to have paid off in terms of higher consumer engagement, and better fit and size recommendations.

Powered by the leading online fitting technology company, Metail, the 3D trial room has helped to unlock the wide range of data that has helped in constantly designing and creating a better fit garments for the customers. “We are thrilled to be working with abof to bring the best customer experience to their shoppers. It is crucial for consumers new to online shopping to feel confident in their purchases and we believe that the Metail Experience delivers an unparalleled personalized solution whilst solving a fundamental worldwide problem of not being able to try on clothes online.” said Tom Adeyoola, CEO, Metail. “We are excited about bringing this feature to the Indian market with abof and being part of their future online,” he added.

Over 2200 Women Technologists to Attend the Grace Hopper Celebration India 2015

The Anita Borg Institute (ABI) India, a non-profit organization focused on the advancement of women in computer science and engineering today announced that a record 2200 women in technology including corporates, academia, professionals, entrepreneurs and students, are expected to attend the 6^th edition of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing India (GHCI) 2015 conference.  This is a 38% increase in participation from GHCI 2014, which was attended by 1600 women in technology.

GHCI is India's largest gathering of women technologists. The conference will be held in Bangalore from  2 - 4 December, 2015.  Day 1 of the conference will be held at the White Orchid Convention Center (next to Manyata Embassy Business Park) and Day 2 and 3 will be held at Vivanta by Taj – Yeshwantpur. For the detailed agenda of the conference.

ABI India also announced the distinguished women business leaders, Kimberly “Kim” S. Stevenson Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Intel Corporation and Roopa Kudva Partner of Omidyar Network and Managing Director of Omidyar Network India Advisors as the keynote speakers for GHCI 2015.

“We are delighted to welcome Kim and Roopa to the 6th edition of the Grace Hopper Celebration India,” said Geetha Kannan, Managing Director, Anita Borg Institute India. “Both are true inspirations for all women in technology and their remarkable achievements in their respective careers epitomize the GHCI 2015 theme of #OurTimeToLead.”

“It is an absolute privilege to be part of an amazing celebration at India’s largest gathering of women technologists.  We are at a historic tipping point, as women we are uniquely positioned to drive change and lead the way for a new paradigm in technology. This is a remarkable time for us to band together and shape the future of innovation for girls and women around the globe,” said Kimberly S. Stevenson Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Intel Corporation.

“I am truly honoured to be a part of this incredible movement that inspires women to embrace opportunities, actively participate and contribute equally in an era driven by innovation,” said Roopa Kudva, Partner and Managing Director, Omidyar Network. “This is indeed our time to lead and when women in technology come together, amazing things happen.”

The highlights of Grace Hopper Celebration India 2015 include sessions on the latest technology with a focus on Made in India, Emerging Technologies, Systems Engineering (Software & Hardware), Data Science and Machine Learning. GHCI 2015 will also offer Back to Work (BTW) sessions and access to the Career Fair for women who want to make a comeback to their corporate career after a break. The registrations for the BTW sessions is open. To register visit:  http://ghcindia.anitaborg.org/back-to-work-sessions-at-ghci-2015/.

There is the Students Career Fair (for women students only), the Tech for Good 2015 Hackathon finals, a Poster Session and the Women Entrepreneur Quest 2015 Top 6 showcase event. At the Hands on Lab attendees can experience the latest technology with live demos and one on-one interactions with tech experts.

Attendees can also look forward to sessions on management, leadership, entrepreneurship and soft skills. Women students from IT and engineering backgrounds attending GHCI 2015 are encouraged to submit their profiles in the Resume Database. This will help organizations to reach out to them with internship and full-time job opportunities. Those who are not attending the conference can also submit their resume.

foodpanda to Enter into Partnership with IRCTC

foodpanda, India’s leading online food ordering platform proposes to associate with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the Indian railways. The association will enable consumers to order meals of their choice through foodpanda’s aggregator model, and allow them to order from a wide variety of cuisine options. To ensure that food reaches consumers in the best condition, foodpanda will deploy its own delivery fleet to fulfil all deliveries.

The pilot of this proposed association is being planned to be launched at the New Delhi Railway station and after successful roll out in the metro city, the service will be extended to more cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in due course of time. The customers will have the choice to order meals at-least 2 hours in advance of the travel. The delivery will be aligned to the train arrival time at the station and consumers can pay for the order in advance online or make on the spot cash payment as per their convenience.

Speaking about the association, foodpanda CEO Saurabh Kochhar, Said,“Foodpanda is an innovative business model which caters to an important consumer need. Our association with IRCTC will be an offering which addresses a huge consumer need prevailing for years. For long, consumers had limited food options to choose from while travelling with Indian railways but the newly launched e-catering service by IRCTC (approved by Ministry of Railways) is set to change the way Indians eat while travelling. We are excited to begin action with the Delhi station by December and are looking forward to extending this offering to other stations like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in due course of time.”

Robin Kalita, Director, Catering Services, IRCTC, “At IRCTC, it has been our endeavour to extend best possible services to our passengers. Food forms a very important part of the travel experience and IRCTC takes immense care to offer healthy and hygienic food to its travellers on-board. With progressing times, we aim to offer wider choices to our consumers and are extremely thankful to foodpanda to have offered partnership with us. We are happy that we will be able to offer wider food choices to our consumers with this association and once our pilot project is successful, we will extend the service to more locations.”