Six New Fullfilment Centres by Amazon Across India for Upcoming Festive Season

Amazon.in has announced that it has invested in six new Fulfilment Centres (FCs) to meet the growing needs of its fast-growing seller base in the country. New FCs will be set up in Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai further expanding the company’s presence in India and in preparation for the upcoming festive season. With the launch of these new FCs, Amazon.in continues to have the largest storage space for an e-commerce company in India with its FCs operational across 10 states covering a total area of close to 2.5 million square feet with a 1.5X growth in storage capacity which is 7.5 million cubic feet of space. 

The FCs will allow Amazon.in to offer its Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) service to several thousand more small and medium businesses in these states and empower them to gain access to and service customers across the country at significantly low operating costs. Over 80% of sellers on Amazon.in currently use its fulfilment services.

“With the exponential growth of online shopping in India, we are glad to announce 6 new Fulfilment Centres in India. We remain committed to investing in our fulfilment and logistics capability to enable and empower sellers to serve customers nationally at lower costs. It stands testament to our larger commitment of making deep investments in the country and in turn creating opportunities for employment, growth and revenue generation for the Government” said Akhil Saxena, Vice President, India Customer Fulfilment, Amazon India.

Today, over 1.3 million products are available for immediate shipping through the network of Amazon’s FCs in India. This selection will only increase with the expanding FC footprint and benefit sellers and customers alike. Today, Amazon FCs are present in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.

Saxena added, “At the same time, Fulfilment Centres fulfil important needs of small and medium enterprises seeking markets and customers located all over India and lacking resources to create their captive distribution networks; local entrepreneurs seeking opportunities to provide goods and services; qualified and educated young workforce in remote and rural areas seeking employment and skill development. Apart from these benefits, the FC will also enable faster and quicker delivery of products to consumers across the region” he added.  

Amazon has created one of the most advanced fulfilment networks in the world and sellers in India have been benefitting from Amazon’s expertise in fulfillment, reliable nationwide delivery and customer service. When using Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA), sellers across India send their products to Amazon’s FCs and once an order is placed, Amazon picks, packs and ships the order to the customer, provides customer service and manages returns on behalf of the sellers. Orders fulfilled by Amazon are eligible for Cash on Delivery, Guaranteed Next-Day, Same Day, Release Day and Sunday delivery.

Sellers save money by replacing their upfront capital expense with low variable cost and pay only for the storage space they use and the orders that Amazon fulfils. Sellers always have the flexibility to choose the number of products they want to have fulfilled by Amazon and scale according to their business requirements.

Since its launch in June 2013, Amazon.in has been working extensively to launch services that meet different business requirements of sellers and help them grow their business profitably online. Over the past three years, Amazon.in has introduced the most comprehensive suite of offerings for sellers to sell online in India. From running an extensive education and skilling program for SMEs called Seller University, offeringFulfilment By Amazon, innovating Easy Ship (an assisted shipping service that makes it easy for sellers to ship products across India), launching Seller Flex (bringing Amazon’s flagship FBA experience to the seller’s doorstep by implementing the FBA technology at sellers’ warehouses), introducing Amazon Tatkal (a service-on-wheels to help SMBs get online within 60 minutes), to  building the largest storage capacity in ecommerce in India for sellers to the tune of 7.5 million cubic feet, Amazon.in has been helping sellers reach millions of customers across the country. Amazon launched its Global Selling Program for sellers in India in May last year and today over 8,000 sellers from India are selling their ‘Make in India’ products on Amazon’s nine global marketplaces to over 300 million active worldwide customers.

All Consumers on www.amazon.in and the Amazon mobile shopping app have an easy and convenient access to over 55 million products across hundreds of categories. They benefit from a safe and secure ordering experience, convenient electronic payments, Cash on Delivery, Amazon’s 24x7 customer service support, and a globally recognized and comprehensive 100% purchase protection provided by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee. They can also enjoy Amazon.in’s guaranteed same day, next-day, two day delivery, release day and on products fulfilled by Amazon.

Worldwide IT Spending Will Be Flat in 2016, Says Gartner Report

Data center systems' spending is projected to reach $174 billion in 2016, a 2 percent increase from 2015. The market is driven by strong growth in the server markets in Greater China and Western Europe, and a strong refresh cycle in the North American enterprise network equipment market.

Global enterprise software spending is on pace to total $332 billion, a 5.8 percent increase from 2015. North America is the dominant regional driving force behind the growth. It is responsible for $11.6 billion of the $24 billion dollar increase in 2016. At a segment level, the fastest-growing market continues to be customer relationship management software.

Devices spending is projected to total $627 billion by the end of 2016. The lackluster economic issues surrounding Russia, Japan and Brazil will hold back demand and worldwide PC recovery in 2016. Additionally, Windows 10 upgrades have further led to PC buying being delayed — consumers are willing to use older PCs longer, once they are upgraded to Windows 10.

Spending in the IT services market is expected to increase 3.7 percent, totaling $898 billion. Japan is the fastest-growing region for IT services spending with 8.9 percent growth. With an increase in digital business projects, Japanese companies are starting to better understand that they need consulting support to transform their business and advice around new technologies from consultancy companies. Critically, they now see real value in those services and consequently are willing to pay for the services.

Communications services spending is projected to total $1.38 trillion in 2016, down 1.4 percent from 2015. Japan leads the growth in communications services, with 8.3 percent growth, while Greater China adds the most dollars to spend with just more than $8.3 billion. Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America all are forecast to decrease as price wars and declining usage affect virtually all communications services markets.

T-Hub & Aeries Technology Inks Partnership to Help Startups in India

Enabling an empowered and innovative startup ecosystem, T-Hub, India’s largest incubator, has signed an important Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aeries Technology Group. 

In a time and age, where smooth functioning of applications without downtime is an important requirement for most technology intensive startups, Aeries will be providing cutting edge, world class fault tolerant server and software technology for startups to host and test their applications to be enterprise and industry grade right.

Aeries Technology will be offering its Stratus branded fault tolerant, “always on” software and server technology platform that enables the highest level of availability, virtualization and easy maintenance for all web and enterprise grade applications.
 
By this technology, startups located in T-Hub will not only achieve unmatched business continuity and data integrity by preventing downtime, it will also help them manage their operations seamlessly with their customers. This allows for startups to build solutions that are industry ready, minimising risk of application failure due to lack of proper hardware and software availability. All in all, it will promote long term value with system longevity and integrity by minimizing the need for frequent technical refreshes.
 
With this partnership, T-Hub will provide all of its startups secure networks, users, content and applications.
 
Raman Kumar, Chairman of Aeries Technology Group opined that, “This is a major milestone for Aeries to partner with T-Hub to provide Stratus’ state of the art and cutting edge server and software technology in an experiential setting “and went on to add that “T-Hub is a premier partner to showcase such products with its ecosystem of startups, technology providers and marquee investors and Aeries is so proud to be associated with T-Hub.”
 
Jay Krishnan, T-Hub CEO, said, “It is challenging for organisations, especially start-ups to maintain their IT applications and service capabilities round-the-clock. We are very excited about our partnership with Aeries and the unique opportunity it provides to companies within T-Hub by offering Stratus solutions that prevents downtime before it occurs and ensures uninterrupted performance of mission-critical business operations. Aeries’ Stratus-branded fault tolerant, “always on” software and server technology platforms are easy to deploy and manage, and can be installed directly into start-ups’existing IT infrastructures without any changes to their existing applications there by solving their business continuity issues and create new added value,” he concluded.

Agencies

Seventeen US$40 Million M&As Deals by Singapore Firms in India

As many as 17 merger and acquisition (MnA) deals with a combined investment of US$ 940 million have been made by Singapore companies with the Indian enterprises in the first half of this year, a global valuation services firm has said.

"Almost all of them were transactions where the acquirer is from Singapore and the target from India," said Duff & Phelps Managing Director Srividya Gopalakrishnan.

The 17 deals saw a combined investment of US$ 940 million.

The big deals included Government Investment Corporation s (GIC) acquisition of stakes in Viviana Mall, Greenko Energy and Bandhan Bank; as well as Singapore Technologies Telemedia s acquisition of controlling stake in Tata Communications Data Centre business.

There were four MnA deals of US$ 95 million between Malaysian and Indonesian companies and Indian enterprises, the consultancy said in its report "Transaction Trail" released this week, on mergers, acquisitions, private equity deals and initial public offerings in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The four M&As included Malaysia's Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) 30 per cent stake in GMR Energy Ltd Energy US$ 300 million.

"Some of the above stake acquisitions are by investment funds. As any other investors, their drive is to make good return on their investments," said Gopalakrishnan.

"India has been a key destination for inbound MnAs (foreign companies acquiring Indian businesses) over the years across different segments," she noted.

India offers a huge domestic markets for local consumption. It also offers several capabilities and benefits for export-oriented units including but not limited to technology and manufacturing set ups, Gopalakrishnan highlighted.

"International companies have managed to successfully make acquisitions or enter into joint ventures in India. M&A has been one of the ways in which they have expanded their India footprint," she said.

"Many companies have realised that MnA is not something exotic, but it is a strategy relevant for their day-to-day business," elaborated Gopalakrishnan.

"As we see a slow-down in growth rates in developing countries and modest growth rates in mature markets, inorganic opportunities become critical for sustenance.

"This also helps companies internationalise their businesses, add on service offerings, leverage on global capabilities and mitigate their own shortcomings," she said.

Agencies

Bengaluru Retained Top Slot for Highest Office Space Transaction During H1, 2016: Knight Frank

Bengaluru retained the top slot for the highest office space transactions in the country in the first half of 2016. The city clocked a total transaction space of 6.1 million square feet during the period of January to June 2016, almost matching the 6.1 million square feet of office space transacted during the corresponding period in 2015. The city attracted substantial interest among the IT and ITeS sectors, with big players like Google, Infosys, HP, TCS occupying large spaces, which resulted in H1 2016 emerging as the period with the highest transaction in four years, falling marginally short of the H1 2011 level.

Satish B N, Executive Director – South India, Knight Frank says, “The city witnessed the infusion of a whopping 6 million square feet of new office space, the highest in five years after the lag that hit the market recently, leading potential occupiers to turn to pre-leasing deals for large space requirements.”

“The new office completions took the total office stock to 128.5 million sq ft in H1 2016, while the occupied office stock recorded 119.4 million sq ft, making it the office market with the largest occupied stock in the country,” adds Satish.

Vacancy rates, which had been declining steadily over the years owing to consistent transactions and retained new competitions, continued to remain at 7 percent in H1 2016 despite the substantial number of new completions this year.

Office Takeaways:

·         H1 2016 witnessed a 12% growth in the transaction volume across the top six cities of India. Transactions increased from 17.9 mn sq ft in H1 2015 to 20 mn sq ft in the latest six-monthly period

·         Rental values have continued to maintain their upward movement in most of the cities, as the average rents shot up by 8% Y-o-Y in H1 2016. This jump was led by cities such as NCR, Pune and Bengaluru, where rents have moved up in the range of 10-14% Y-o-Y in H1 2016

·         In terms of new completions, H1 2016 has been an encouraging period, as more than 19 mn sq ft of space was delivered, compared to just 15.8 mn sq ft in the same period the previous year

·         Vacancy levels in the top six cities fell marginally, from 17% in H1 2015 to less than 15% in H1 2016

Speaking on the occasion, Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, “The real estate sector in India could be at its inflection point with sales in the top six residential markets showing a positive trend registering 7% growth in the first half of 2016. Factors like lower interest rates and a good monsoon will further boost the stakeholder sentiment. We had predicted a revival in market momentum in our FICCI – Knight Frank Sentiment Index of Q1 and the sentiments have gone up after six consecutive quarters. The reasons for these can be attributed to the time correction of prices in most markets, RERA becoming a reality, recent amendments to REITs and an overall positive regulatory environment to name a few.

The H1 2016 research shows that the unsold inventory levels have dropped by 7% Y-o-Y thus bringing in some cheer to developers. Although Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad have shown positive growth; NCR with its dismal performance still remains a concern.”   

He further added, “On the office front, H1 2016 witnessed a 12% growth in the transaction volume across the top six cities of India. The H1 has been an encouraging period, as more than 19mn sq. ft. of space was delivered, compared to just 15.8 mn sq. ft. in the same period in the previous year. Vacancy levels in top six cities fell marginally and rental values have continued to maintain their upward movement in most of the cities.

Over all the first six months have been on a positive track, except for residential in NCR and Chennai, but we will need to wait for the next two quarters to see whether the market is moving in the right direction.”

Samsung’s New SUHD Range of 44 Smart TV Models & Joy Beat Range at Rs 24,000 to Rs 28,000

Samsung Electronics, a leading company into television technology for a decade has announced the launch of 44 new models of TVs in India, while introducing the world’s best picture quality with Quantum Dot Display technology, and several meaningful innovations and beautifully crafted designs that will transform the consumer’s TV viewing experience.

The 2016 line-up comprises the SUHD TV range in the premium segment, Smart TV range in the mid segment and Joy Beat range in the affordable segment. The entire range features eleven innovations across segments. Prices range from Rs 28,000 to Rs 24 lakh (MRP).

The new SUHD TVs with Quantum Dot Display offer Quantum Dot Colour and HDR 1000, which demonstrate ground-breaking advances in colour reproduction, brightness, contrast and details. The state-of-the-art design with the world’s first bezel-less curved design and a new, easy and integrated Smart TV experience delivers an unrivalled entertainment experience.

The new range of Smart and Joy Beat televisions will come with a host of innovative features, catering to the unique needs of Indian consumers. The Smart TV range with Smart Interface, Smart Content, Smart Convergence and Smart Play provides the most advanced Smart TV experience. Also, the new Joy Beat range with a unique design and an integrated sound station with built-in tweeters will elevate your TV viewing experience.

“Samsung aims to revolutionize the concept of home entertainment with beautifully designed TVs to meet the changing needs of our consumers, depending on their budget and lifestyle. While we are introducing the best picture quality ever with Quantum Dot technology in our new SUHD range, we are also introducing meaningful innovations in our Smart and Joy Beat ranges. With these offerings, we aim to further consolidate our position as the market leader across segments,” said Rajeev Bhutani, Vice President, Consumer Electronics, Samsung India.

11 meaningful Innovations in the 2016 TV range

Innovation 1: Quantum Dot Colour –

The new SUHD range offers the most true-to-life picture quality, with stunning brightness, exceptional contrast and the most lifelike colours ever offered by Samsung. Powered with Quantum Dot Display, the revolutionary new technology offers 64 times more colour shades than a conventional UHD TV and can express up to 1 billion colours in detail, delivering the most incredible colour expression.

Innovation 2: HDR 1000 –

This year, all of Samsung’s SUHD TVs will feature the ability to provide a premium high dynamic range (HDR) experience, with 1,000 nit brightness for a higher level of contrast between light and dark images. Viewers can experience the brightest pictures with the finest details. 

Innovation 3: Bezel-less Curved Design –

Samsung has designed the world’s first bezel-less Curved TV. With no bezel that normally functions as the border, viewers can experience surround view and an enhanced feeling of depth for an elevated viewing experience.

Innovation 4: Single Access with Customizable UI

The new interface represents a shift away from multiple content sources and devices, to one integrated content and services platform. Consumers will now be able to switch seamlessly between OTT content, live TV as well as other connected devices including video game consoles, Blu-ray player and set-top-boxes.

Also, with the new Smart Hub interface, apps and content tiles can be customized to individual preferences, making it faster to navigate from app to app. Users can easily re-arrange apps the way they want them making it easier and faster to navigate between most used apps.

Innovation 5: Auto Device Detection and One Remote

The new Samsung Smart TV eliminates the need to juggle multiple remote controls and it will automatically recognize the type of Home theatre system, game console or set top box connected to the TV. This allows users to control all of the detected external devices with the Smart Control Remote – with no set up required.

Innovation 6: Convergence across platforms

With the new range of Smart TVs users can seamlessly share their favorite content instantly on the big screen. The upgraded Smart View app offers convergence across platforms and is available on Galaxy, Android and iOS devices as well as Window PCs, allowing users to share photos, video and music with family and friends. Also multiple users can simultaneously connect all their phones and share photos or videos making their experience more interactive and fun.

Innovation 7: 2 Way Bluetooth Audio Streaming

The new range of Smart TV gives you an option to pair your smartphone via Bluetooth and play your favorite songs saved on your phone from the TV even while the TV is on standby mode. Also users can wirelessly pair their TV with their Home Theatre and Bluetooth Speaker and carry the TV audio with them to any other part of the home.

Innovation 8: Cric-o-mania Application

With the Cric-o-mania application made by Samsung Research Institute Delhi, users can get update of their favorite live cricket match even when they are watching another channel. With the live ticker that can be seen across channels viewers can be updated with every run. Users can also choose their cheer buddy who will cheer for their favorite cricket team. The application has been developed especially for Indian consumers and their love for the game of cricket.

Innovation 9: Smart View App with touch pad remote

The new Touchpad remote control is an innovation built into the Smart View app that gives users an intuitive experience with the ease of a touchpad. Now use your Smartphone as the remote and seamlessly scroll through your favourite content.

Innovation 10: Virus Free TV with Extendable Memory

With the extendable memory feature, users can download a number of Games and Apps from the Samsung Apps Store and save them to an external storage device (USB/HDD) to later play them offline at their own convenience. The TV also comes with an in-built Smart Security feature, which protects the TV against any harmful virus.

Innovation 11 – Integrated Sound Station

The Joy Beat series features a revolutionary new retro chic design that has front firing speakers coupled with tweeters that deliver loud, crisp sound for the best bass and sound quality.

SUHD TV with Quantum dot display: The world’s most lifelike picture

Samsung’s new range of SUHD TV’s with Quantum Dot colour and HDR 1000 offers the purest colour and the most striking brightness in the market today. A breath-taking bezel-less curved design, coupled with Samsung Smart TV experience, makes it stand apart for other premium TVs in the market.

The SUHD range will be available in the sizes of 123 cm (49 inch) to 223 cm (88 inch).

Prices range from Rs 179,900 to 2,399,900 (MRP).

Smart TVs: TV was never this Smart

The new range of Smart TVs from Samsung with a host of innovations in areas of Smart Interface, Smart Content, Smart Convergence and Smart play provides the most advanced Smart TV experience.

Samsung’s Smart TV range will be available in 80 cm (32 inch) to 223 cm (88 inch).

Prices range from Rs 34,500 to Rs 703,900 (MRP).

Strong Defence & Aerospace Expansion Sees 12% Growth for Aero Sekur

Aero Sekur SpA  (www.aerosekur.com), one of the biggest European producers of fabrics and rubber technology for the aerospace and defence sectors, reported a 12% increase in turnover in 2015, driven by a major order for maintenance equipment for the F-35 combat aircraft.

The engineering firm is a global leader in fabric manufacturing for the worlds of defence, space and aviation and it is involved in some of the biggest international projects in these sectors, such as the F-35 and Eurofighter aircraft and the ExoMars mission which aims to search for life on the planet Mars.

Its overall sales totalled 36.6 million euros in 2015, up 12% on the year. Turnover reached 18.5 million euros in the Airborne division, 15 million euros in Defence and 3.1 million euros in the Space division.

“The 2015 figures show that investments in research and development were critical for the growth plan,” said Aero Sekur Chief Executive Marco Borghesi. “The sales increase is driven mainly by the defence sector, with the acquisition of an important order to produce maintenance equipment for the F-35. Government cuts to defence spending did not affect equipment for personal defence, such as protective suits, gas masks and ballistic jackets. The company also launched a strong internationalisation drive, increasing its client portfolio on the global scale,” he said.

The company is controlled by Aero Sekur LTD, an English holding company owned by the Tosca Penta fund (54%) and institutional and private investors
Its EBITDA in 2015 was 3.4 million euros, equal to about 9% of revenues. The slight decline compared to 2014 (-0.6%) was due to new production launches, which are expected to show a positive impact on margins from 2016.

The company has embarked on a research and development plan, investing more than 12 million euros in the last five years, which has allowed it to consolidate its presence in the international market. Aero Sekur is also involved in some of the biggest aerospace and defence projects financed by national and international institutions, in collaboration with the main players in the sectors.

Its strong results have attracted the support of the Agency for the Promotion of European Research, which has described Aero Sekur as a “virtuous example”, being the only small or medium sized aerospace company to have won three international contests in the first year of Horizon 2020, the European Commission programme which finances projects for research and innovation up to 2020.