TELSTRA, Australia’s leading telecommunications and technology company, today announced it has officially acquired Digicel Pacific in partnership with the Australian Government. Telstra will continue to invest in and operate the business across its six South Pacific markets – Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Oliver Camplin-Warner, Telstra International CEO, said the deal was an exciting milestone for the Digicel Pacific business and its customers in Papua New Guinea.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Digicel Pacific into the Telstra family. The Digicel Pacific team in PNG have amazing local expertise and are leaders in digital experiences for their customers. Together, we’ll work to ensure Digicel Pacific remains the top provider in PNG,” he said.

Mr Camplin-Warner confirmed there would not be any local job losses in the Pacific as part of the acquisition and the current Digicel Pacific team would continue the day-to-day running of the business.

“Digicel Pacific will still have the same people and products that their PNG customers know and love today,” he said.

“Telstra will add to these strengths with our more than one hundred years’ experience building and operating the largest mobile network in Australia, and our operations in more than 20 countries world-wide.”

“As part of our commitment to building a strong and sustainable PNG, Digicel Pacific will invest in an additional 115 towers which will be built across PNG over the next two years,” Mr Camplin-Warner added.

“This investment will mean continued improvements to 4G coverage, particularly in rural areas, which will bring with it opportunities to improve health, education, agricultural, commerce and cultural outcomes through the use of technology.”

Colin Stone, CEO, Digicel Papua New Guinea, said Telstra’s expertise in rolling out world-class networks and connecting remote communities would greatly enhance the work to date of Digicel and benefit the people and businesses of PNG.

“Telstra has experience connecting regional and remote customers in challenging geographies across mountains, deserts, rainforests and coastlines,” Mr Stone said.

“We’re looking forward to Telstra applying its network experience as well as its innovation and technology solutions to PNG to continue increasing connectivity in the region as Digicel has been doing for the past 14 years.”

Mr Camplin-Warner said the values of both Telstra and Digicel Pacific were a natural fit, with the companies committed to working together to build a connected future for everyone.

“We strongly believe we are “better together”, and this includes how we both work to support some of the most vulnerable in our communities,” he said.

“Telstra strongly supports Digicel Pacific’s grass roots community investments through the Digicel Foundation, and we are committed to seeing this work continue.”

Photo: Collin Stone, Digicel PNG CEO

Big investors including Google, Reliance Industries, and SoftBank Group have poured billions of dollars into startups promising to bring that next order of curry-ready chicken, cat food, or crunchy aloo bhujia chickpea snacks within minutes, rather than hours or days. Relying on discounts and free delivery to woo customers who make purchases through mobile apps, the companies fill orders at neighborhood warehouses called dark stores, then use algorithms to send drivers on the fastest routes through the crowded roads of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore), and other cities.

Although groceries sold online account for just 2% of all grocery retail sales in India, they’re one of the fastest-growing segments of commerce and are considered essential for anyone dreaming of dominating e-commerce. And in a country where food and daily necessities—categories tailor-made for get-it-now delivery—make up about two-thirds of the $1 trillion in annual retail spending, startups are wagering that quick commerce can change grocery shopping habits and make them rich in the process.

Source: Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-22/swiggy-zepto-power-india-s-ultrafast-grocery-delivery-boom?cmpid=BBD062322_TECH&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=220623&utm_campaign=tech

In April, Amazon unveiled the service, called Buy with Prime, currently available on an invite-only basis. It extends the familiar Prime brand to third-party websites and offers shipping through Amazon’s logistics network—exactly the piece that Shopify’s service is missing. It also threatens to supplant Shopify’s popular payment tool, Shop Pay, and undercut one of the company’s strengths in the eyes of Wall Street. “Buy with Prime is about the brand, and the price of that brand is Amazon Payments,” wrote Ben Thompson in his daily newsletter, Stratechery.

Source Brad Stone @ Bloomberg

Among the many issues now weighing on Shopify, is the matter of fulfilment.

Shopify helps merchants make online sales, but when it comes to storing and shipping their products, it either brokers deals with third-party warehouses and transportation companies or leaves the last mile entirely to the seller. When asked about this, founder-CEO Lütke admitted logistics “is a tough nut to crack for byte companies” and suggested Shopify would shy away from owning and operating Amazon-style warehouses.

But he’s in a tricky position. Shopify merchants need help delivering parcels quickly and reliably. At the same time, investors tremble at the massive expense of operating fulfillment centers and delivering packages.

Shopify merchants need help delivering parcels quickly and reliably.

Last month, the company said it was buying a fulfillment company called Deliverr Inc. for $2.1 billion, and merging its capabilities with a robotics company it had previously acquired, 6 River Systems.

Shopify’s stock is down 30% since news of the acquisition talks broke last month, far exceeding market-wide declines. Whatever it does, Shopify risks antagonizing either its customers or investors.

Source Brad Stone @Bloomberg

The articles “How Shopify Outfoxed Amazon to Become the Everywhere Store,”  was published on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek on Dec. 22, 2021. Shopify’s market cap at the time was $177 billion. The total market cap of SHOP today: $41 billion—below even its pre-pandemic value.

There are a few easy but incomplete explanations for Shopify’s decline, and they’re the same factors now plaguing other pandemic winners like Amazon.com Inc., EBay Inc., Etsy Inc. and Wayfair Inc.

Online retail sales have flatlined over the past few months and may have even decreased on an annual basis, as consumers emerged from quarantine and ventured back into physical stores.

The small and medium-sized business on which many of these sites depend have been especially hammered by the sour economic cocktail of high inflation and rising interest rates. And since the market downturn, skeptical investors are no longer focused solely on revenue growth but on the comfortable formula of profitability and margins.

Source Bloomberg