Global Marketing News – 21st April 2016
Report reveals world’s most innovative countries
Switzerland has been named the most innovative country in the world, followed by the United Kingdom and Sweden.
The Global Innovation Index also reported that whilst European countries represented 8 of the top 10, some countries from low-income areas showed “notable performance” higher than their development might suggest such as Senegal or Kenya.
However, whilst China has a lot of innovation and had a lot of patents, the quality of the innovation means it falls back to 29th place overall.
Innovation quality also shows that the UK and US still stand out in first and second due to high-class universities whilst Japan, Germany and Switzerland follow.
The level of innovation from each country is worked out from 79 different indicators including hard data, composite indicators and some survey questions.
New Zealand signs deal with Alibaba
New Zealand has signed a new deal with China’s largest online marketplace, Alibaba, to help boost the profile of its produce in China.
As online retail continues to grow in China, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma hopes to help promote what he calls the high quality food and produce that New Zealand can already boast.
New Zealand is hoping to strengthen its already strong relationship with China and capitalise on China’s year on year growth rate which hit a staggering 63.8% in 2014.
This adds to the two-way trade relationship worth around 20 billion dollars per year that the two countries already share.
1 in 5 American homes are now mobile-only for internet
According to research performed for the US Commerce Department, around one in five homes in America are now mobile-only, when it comes to their household internet connectivity.
Doubling from 1 in 10 in 2013, the survey of 53,000 Americans also shows that the trend doesn’t just apply to low-income demographics, even after the US government introduced a mobile internet based benefit for Americans on the lowest income, earlier this year.
This new information shows that high-income households are becoming mobile-only perhaps even faster than low-income households in the US, going from 15% mobile-only in 2013 to 29% now.
This shows why internet companies are moving forward so quickly with mobile connectivity technology like 4G.
Jelly Belly launches 40 new international websites using Mozu
Confectionary manufacturer Jelly Belly has launched 40 new international websites within a year, using new e-commerce software.
The 147-year old company replaced its old home-grown system with the cloud-based Mozu e-commerce platform from Volusion, with the aim of growing its organic site traffic by 50% per year.
Brandon Finch, director of e-business for Jelly Belly, says that the new platform has allowed them to launch 35 sites for international distribution, all with access from a single web interface.
Jelly Belly says that since the launch, Mozu has doubled its website loading speed, increased mobile sales by 300% and increased tablet revenue by 26%.
Cashbasha to introduce cash-before-delivery payment option
And finally, two entrepreneurs from Jordan and Syria – Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Tiafour – have been pushing a new cash-before-delivery model with their delivery company Cashbasha.
According to a 2014 Payfort report, 80% of ecommerce transactions in the Middle East use the cash-on-delivery model. However, this can present problems for sellers when buyers don’t pay upon delivery.
Currently using Amazon as it’s only merchant, Cashbasha will collect payment before delivery, which will help to prevent larger losses if the buyer doesn’t pay.
It will also make things easier for buyers as Cashbasha does not require an attached bank account from the user and if costs increase after payment, Cashbasha will pay the difference.
Currently receiving around 7,000 orders a month, they have recently expanded into Saudi Arabia.
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