ReleaseWire

Debit cards value transactions growth in Indonesia is expected to outpace that of all other financial cards during 2014. With growing financial literacy, people use less cash in their payment transactions, including day-to-day grocery shopping primarily in modern retailers. Growing use of EDC machines by issuing banks is empowering merchants to provide the cashless payment method, especially for high transaction values. Some merchants set a minimum value for using debit transactions, commonly...

Homeshopping declined by 10% in current value terms in 2014 over the previous year. Homeshopping is slowly becoming obsolete and replaced by internet retailing, with leading players increasingly focusing on a multichannel approach including internet retailing. In addition, many consumers are migrating from homeshopping to internet retailing.

Global Internet Access industry guide provides top-line qualitative and quantitative summary information including: market size (value and volume 2010-14, and forecast to 2019). The guide also contains descriptions of the leading companies including key financial metrics and analysis of competitive pressures within the market.

The Scandinavian Defense Spending industry guide provides top-line qualitative and quantitative summary information including: market size (value and volume 2009-13, and forecast to 2018). The guide also contains descriptions of the leading players including key financial metrics and analysis of competitive pressures within the market.

The trends observed during 2013 in grocery retailers, continued gaining ground in 2014. Companies continued to focus their expansion throughout the country through discount and convenience formats, with small premises of no more than 500 sq m, in order to reach small towns and neighbourhoods and be more accessible to customers who do not need to travel long distances to make grocery purchases or other errands such as paying bills. Affordable prices for basic pantry products that these outlets...

Cigarettes decreased in both retail value and volume in 2013. All tar levels of cigarettes recorded negative retail volume growth even though manufacturers actively introduced new products targeting diverse consumer groups. Anti-smoking regulations became stricter, so the number of smokers who decided to stop smoking also increased in 2013. Overall, cigarettes decreased by 1% in retail volume and even ultra-low-tar cigarettes declined marginally, albeit less than cigarettes at the other tar...

The report titled "Global Acne Treatment Market: Trends and Opportunities (2014-2019)" provides an insight into the acne market with focus on global prescription drugs. The report assesses the market sizing and growth of the global acne market, the growth of acne market in various regions and the growth and composition of oral and topical acne drugs. The report further analyzes the major prescription drugs for the treatment of acne. The report also discusses key factors driving growth of the industry, major trends and challenges faced by manufacturers of acne drugs. Further, key players like Foamix Pharmaceuticals, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Dermira and Actavis Plc are analyzed in the report.

The Future of the Suncare Market in Peru to 2018 is the result of Canadean's extensive market research. The report presents detailed analysis on the Suncare consumption trends in Peru, historic and forecast Suncare consumption volumes and values at market and category level, brand share and distribution channel data. This report brings together Canadean Intelligence's research, modeling and analysis expertise in order to develop uniquely detailed market data. This allows domestic and foreign companies to identify the market dynamics to account for Suncare sales overall and to know which categories and segments are showing growth in the coming years.

Due to increases in tax imposed by the Ministry of Finance on tobacco, average unit price has increased significantly over the last few years. On the other hand, demand for cigarettes has been declining for several reasons, mainly social and economic. Rising prices saw 2013 post the strongest current value growth of the review period. According to the leading company Regie Nationale des Tabacs et des Allumettes (RNTA), unit price growth was a factor which enabled the company to maintain its...

Global Markets Direct's, 'Syntiron LLC - Product Pipeline Review - 2014', provides an overview of the Syntiron LLC's pharmaceutical research and development focus.

Mixed messages were received from the Slovak Ministry of Defence during 2014 regarding the country's defence budget for this year. Initially, the government stated it would not be increasing its defence budget over the coming years. However, in September 2014, the government then pledged to increase its defence spending to 1.6% of gross domestic product by 2020.

Total food and drinks consumption in South Korea is expected to increase moderately over the forecast period between 2013 and 2018. The market is relatively mature with per capita spending on food and drinks items already high, which effectively limits the possibilities for more substantial expansion over the coming years. Nonetheless, food consumption growth will be sustained by a stable economic outlook and gradually strengthening consumer spending power, which will offer opportunities for premiumisation.

Fast food in Ireland recorded good positive growth in 2013 driven by several factors, including economic recovery supported by improving levels of employment and increasing consumer confidence, however the overriding driver to growth was value for money, with operators responding to consumer demand through delivery of meal deal options, reduced prices and a continued focus on extending the customer base beyond the traditional fast food consumer. This was achieved through a variety of tactics, most notable of which includes responding to consumer demand for healthier, more nutritious products as well as providing product information in the form of calorie counts and nutritional information in an easily accessible, highly visible manner. This has developed in recent years in Ireland to become more or less the industry standard, and certainly it is now expected of chained national and international brands.

Delivering Excellence newsletter reported that the December print issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive featured the recipients of the 2014 Green Supply Chain Awards. The awards recognized companies making green or sustainability a core part of their supply chain strategy, and are working to achieve measurable sustainability goals within their own operations and/or supply chains, in the areas of Sourcing/Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Operations, Product Lifecycle Management, and other areas of the supply chain. The awards also recognized providers of supply chain solutions and services assisting their customers in achieving measurable sustainability goals. Submissions were judged based on the clarity and content of the goals and strategy, the extent of the steps being taken, the impact of the results to date, projected results, and the form and presentation of the information submitted.

In 2013, skin care achieved current value growth of 4%, reaching MKD789 million as volume demand for skin care products remained stable and key players mildly increased unit prices of their products at an average 3%.

Pet care registered a further decline in 2013, albeit a weaker contraction than that seen in 2012. While pet food was the main loser in 2013, pet products registered positive growth, driven by the pet humanisation trend. Other categories such as pet healthcare and dog and cat treats benefited from innovation, thus helping to limit the market's overall value sales decline.

This report is the result of Timetric's extensive market research covering the infrastructure construction industry in Turkey. It contains detailed historic and forecast market value data for the infrastructure construction industry, including a breakdown of the data by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition). 'Infrastructure Construction in Turkey to 2018: Market Forecast' provides a top-level overview and detailed insight into the operating environment of the infrastructure construction industry in Turkey. It is an essential tool for companies active across the Turkish construction value chain and for new players considering to enter the market.

In 2014 all the major home and garden specialist retailers adopted diversification strategies, as they offered both traditional and modern products. Many key players, such as Kitea and Mobilia, are now offering sales on credit, along with very appealing discounts on various products to drive their sales. However, independent home and garden stores still dominate, as they offer lower-priced items; mainly the traditional items used when furnishing Moroccan homes. These independent stores tend to...

Spain's deepest economic crisis for decades seemed to be coming to a conclusion towards the end of 2014. For the first time in several years, the main macroeconomic indicators were all positive, a very welcome trend which promoted increasing usage of cashless payment methods and high numbers of people applying for financial cards. As such, the number of cards in circulation increased during 2014, with the average number of cards per person growing for the first time since 2008.

John Hayes, founder and CEO of No Risk Automation, was featured in the issue of Business Excellence. The article, entitled, "Agnostic Automation Vendor Selection: Objectivity Required," discussed the four steps of no risk automation.

We revise d down our forecasts for IT spendi ng in South Africa owing to a weaker economic outlook from our Country Risk team since our previous update. However, it will remain one of the faster growing emerging markets in the IT sphere. We note the IT market is mainly driven by government spending as well as large enterprises, both of which are expected to slow their spending in the light of a slower economy . However, there is growing interest in IT solutions among small - and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs ) looking to explore new sales and marketing channels as well as improve their operational efficiencies, offering new opportunities and maintaining South Africa's still good growth rate . SMEs continue to increase their spending on IT systems through upgrade d PCs and servers, while also starting to adopt enterprise applications and cloud-based solutions. Th e trend is partly driven by the rapid expansion of high-speed broadband networks and creates significant growth opportunities for IT products and services vendors considering the potential of South Africa's SME sector.

Grocery retailers recorded a strong performance in Chile during 2014 despite the deceleration registered in the Chilean economy, with the 6% current value growth recorded over the course of the year, only slightly slower than the 7% current value growth recorded in the category during 2013. Supermarkets and hypermarkets are by far the most important grocery retailers channels in Chile, combined accounting for 50% of total grocery retailers value sales in 2014 and supporting overall growth in...

Cigar smoking has a long history in Bulgaria but its image is very different from that of cigarettes and smoking tobacco. While cigarettes are the everyday smoking products, cigars (large, standard, small and even cigarillos) are seen as luxury items. They are bought for special occasions and as a treat, even by people who are not regular smokers. The positive publicity about cigar smoking in the press and the mysterious and luxury image of cigar smokers boosted the category?s performance.

The Future of the Suncare Market in the Netherlands to 2018 is the result of Canadean's extensive market research. The report presents detailed analysis on the Suncare consumption trends in the Netherlands, historic and forecast Suncare consumption volumes and values at market and category level, brand share and distribution channel data. This report brings together Canadean Intelligence's research, modeling and analysis expertise in order to develop uniquely detailed market data. This allows domestic and foreign companies to identify the market dynamics to account for Suncare sales overall and to know which categories and segments are showing growth in the coming years.

Bogota is a key centre of business and commerce in Colombia. In 2012, Bogota accounted for 27% of the country's GDP and hosted 8.9 million inhabitants. The oil and gas industry is beyond the city's good economic performance: 84% of all oil and gas companies in Colombia are based in Bogota. The city also concentrates 43% of national business services' activities, as of 2012. This contributes to Bogota's average household income being significantly higher compared with the average elsewhere in Col...