Hasbro Cracks Down On Counterfeit Beyblades
The hottest toy for Christmas 2002, Beyblade, has just become
hotter with the Federal Court issuing a ruling to allow seizure of
counterfeit stock.
Lawyers for toy company, Hasbro Australia acted on these orders
last weekend, seizing hundreds of fake Beyblades during raids on two
major markets, Parklea and Paddy’s in Sydney. Nine different
market stalls had the fake Beyblades seized by teams of lawyers
carrying out a simultaneous operation at both markets.
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ANZ gets smart about credit cards
Using Visa technology, ANZ has recently introduced what is claimed
to be Australia’s first true smart credit card system.
Over a year in planning, the end-to-end system draws upon
intelligence from global markets and demand from local markets, which
leverages the latest in Visa smart technology.
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AERO becomes world’s first EMV 2000 L1 certified mobile
terminal
Intellect has become the world’s first company to certify a
mobile terminal for EMV 2000 Level 1. With many countries required by
MasterCard and Visa to implement the EMV standard, certification of
Intellect’s mobile terminal AERO gives customers the option of
making EMV payments on the move.
EMVCo, a standards body conceived by MasterCard and Visa, created
EMV 2000 to offer global standards for Smart Card payment
transactions. EMV is designed not only to secure payments, but to
increase user confidence and boost protection from card fraud.
Mandated in many countries from the start of 2005, EMV has become the
industry driver for the changeover to ‘chip’ cards.
Implementation of the standard is expected to increase the demand for
new payment devices considerably during the next few years.
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Dstore confirms first profit
HotShed Retail Pty Ltd, the owner of dstore, has reported its
first profit since resurrecting the e-tailer from the hands of
receivers in September 2001.
A profit of $35,000 has been recorded on sales of $1.2 million for
the December quarter. Net cash flow was also healthy with an increase
of $210,000 for the quarter.
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Don’t underestimate retail catalogues
Online retailers in the United States have widely concluded over
the past three years that they need catalogues to keep customers
shopping at their web sites.
A consumer survey by AMR Research Inc taken over the recent
Christmas season shows that 30% of customers probably would stop
shopping at a retail site if the site stopped sending catalogues.
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Savings claimed with new phone system
A Gold Coast-based telecommunications company, Powertec, has
developed a cellular diverter claimed to save users between 50% and
80% off their regular landline and mobile telephone accounts.
Powertec managing director Ray Smith, says the new diverter
revolutionises the manner in which small and/or home business
operators are charged for landline calls diverted to mobiles.
“At present whenever a home or office telephone call is
diverted to a mobile phone the owner pays charges for the diversion,
in conjunction with the caller paying costs as well," Mr Smith
says.
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POS terminals for prepaid products
Secure electronic transaction solutions provider Keycorp Ltd’s
partnership with Ezipin (Electronic Recharge Pty Ltd) for delivering
pre-paid communications solutions through POS terminals is now
generating orders for about 300 devices a month.
The Ezipin system allows consumers to recharge pre-paid
communications products, such as mobile phone services, Internet
accounts, phone cards etc electronically using POS terminals at
retail outlets.
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Drought blamed for pasta price hike
Australia’s longest drought in a century is having a serious
impact on food manufacturing. Cases in point are two well-known pasta
brands, Zafarelli and Balducci, both of which increase their prices
this month.
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Intellect in $6m deal with CBA
Electronic transactions specialist Intellecthas signed a deal with
the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to deliver new electronic
transaction products and services. The value of the contract is
expected to exceed $6 million this financial year with significant
further sales and long-term transaction revenue streams following.
Commenting on the contract, Intellect CEO Jan de Smet said:
“Commonwealth Bank has an extensive network, providing EFTPOS
infrastructure for a large number of merchants. This, combined with
Intellect’s solutions and experience in product development,
heralds a bright future for the project. We believe that we can
deliver an offer that will be unrivalled in the electronic
transaction market.”
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Mirvac focuses on shopping centres
The Mirvac construction group is hot on the shopping centre
development trail.
It has begun building the $20 million Stanhope Village, a 7,000
square metre neighbourhood shopping centre in Sydney’s
north-west. It will include a 3,500 square metre Coles and a mix of
more than 20 specialty retailers. Completion is scheduled for the
second half of this year.
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Court finding of misleading conduct
Final orders concerning misleading and deceptive conduct about the
sale of orange juice machines by Michigan Group Pty Ltd, Imobiliare
Pty Ltd, Yeppoon Pty Ltd, Rodney Laski and Peter Semos, have been
made by Justice Dowsett of the Federal Court, Brisbane.
Following a court action initiated by the Australian Competition
and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Justice Dowsett has found that the
parties had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in breach of
the Trade Practices Act 1974 about the promotion and sale of
commercial orange juicing machines in Queensland and NSW.
More... |
Close
This bulletin is edited and compiled by retail commentator John Kingsley-Jones.
John has worked as an Editor, Chief Sub-Editor
and journalist in magazines and newspapers both
in Australia and overseas.
In the past 15 years, he has consulted to a
range of companies and brands such as Unilever,
Mars Confectionery, TipTop, Tooheys, McWilliam's
Wines, Goodyear and BMW.
That's it for this issue of the Retail One-Stop. If you
have any questions or comments please give us a call on 02 9419 8356 or email us
on info@eps.net.au.
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