News
Cubic Transportation Systems—the business division of Cubic Corporation leading ticketing, fare collection and management solutions for public transportation systems—and Moovit—the leading Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions company and provider of the most popular urban mobility application—have signed a definitive agreement to co-develop next-generation mobile solutions for public transit agencies.
Cubic has been supplying Transport for London with the contactless technologies behind Oyster Card since its introduction in 2003.
Israel-headquartered Moovit has 680 million users in 3,000 cities across the world. The app—and associated desktop version—enables users to plan transit journeys, and can provide real-time information as well as notifications at stops.
The new partnership will enable Cubic to incorporate Moovit’s MaaS functionality to offer multimodal trip planning, mobile payment and ticketing capabilities.
“Riders will be able to plan journeys and pay for them too, from the ease of a single platform,” according to Moovit co-founder and CEO Nir Erez.
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Amazon increased its ecommerce market share in the UK from 28.8% in 2018 to 30.1% in 2019, according to the latest report from global ecommerce insights firm Edge by Ascential.
The report reveals that Amazon dominates UK ecommerce (30.1%), accounting for $30bn in sales in 2019. The next biggest player is eBay, which takes a 9.8% share of the online market, followed by Sainsbury’s (4.6%), Tesco (4.5%), Walmart/Asda (3.9%), and John Lewis (3.6%).
The UK is the world’s third largest ecommerce market behind China and the US, accounting for $101bn in 2019. Moreover, Edge by Ascential analysts predict that ecommerce’s share of chain retail will continue to rapidly increase in the UK, expanding from 21% in 2019 to 26% in 2024.
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Insurance disruptor Cuvva that began as an app offering pay-as-you-drive motor insurance has raised £15 million ($19 million) of venture capital backing to target the long-term motor insurance business.
RTP Global, Breega and Digital Horizon have joined seed investors LocalGlobe, Techstars Ventures, Tekton and Seedcamp to invest in the app-based insurance platform, which recently announced the appointment of the Lloyd’s of London chairman as its chair.
Angel investors from the insurance sector, including Dominic Burke, the CEO of Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Faisal Galaria, the former chief strategy and investments officer of GoCompare, have also put in capital.
Cuvva’s Series A funding comes as the company prepares to launch a pay-monthly insurance product for the first time, a key step in its ambition to provide one gateway app to serve all consumer insurance needs.
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Fashion brands are falling over themselves to establish their green credentials and that’s no surprise given how high consumers rate green issues. Now a new study, the latest in consultant OC&C’s annual series of retail reports, says almost half of UK consumers see a retailer’s environmental agenda as important when shopping.
The company’s 2019 Retail Proposition Index revealed a “major shift” in what influences where people choose to shop, “with two seemingly conflicting trends of value shopping and ethical consumerism both gaining popularity”.
And while the retail sector in general may think it’s doing all it can, consumers don’t agree. In fact, the study showed there’s “growing mistrust in our leading retailers”.
But sustainability isn’t the be-all and end-all for shoppers and the report said value is also key. Three of the names in the top 10 favourite retailers list were discounters and those outside the top 10 that focus on low prices also seem to be heading upwards.
So who were the most popular retailers this time round. Well, after having taken number one spot last year, John Lewis fell back into its more regular second place this time. M&S Simply Food was at number one, while Amazon was in third place and Lush fourth. M&S was fifth, Ikea sixth, Aldo seventh, Boots eighth, Home Bargains ninth and Wilko in 10th spot. Ralph Lauren dropped out the top 10 this year having been in eighth place in 2018.
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Track announces full app launch to help young homeowners drastically improve the dated experience of managing home finances.
The new generation of homeowners, conditioned by the rise of fintech, expect slick online products. They can now also manage household finances from one simple, beautiful, connected mobile app.
The number of UK first-time buyers – average age of 33 – is at its highest level in over a decade, with first-time buyer mortgages in September increasing by 1.6% year on year and outstripping home movers. However, this group of homeowners has a uniquely challenging set of characteristics. Sky-high house prices have forced many to co-finance the purchase with partners and parents, but while shared finances among younger homeowners is common-place, there’s a growing desire to maintain
financial independence.
Track founders Byron McCaughey & Henry Oakes, who met while studying at Imperial College Business School, set out to build an app that recognises these hallmarks of the young homeowner – from complex ownership and ‘together but separate’ finances, to the expectation shift brought about by the rise of FinTech.
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Pluto, the TravelTech backed by Zurich Insurance, having been recently crowned as the #1 travel insurer on Trustpilot in the UK, have announced the launch of their mobile app.
The mobile app, which has just completed a beta trial with a limited customer group, is now available to all new and existing customers.
Customers with an active policy will now be able to:
- Easily check their cover and policy online and offline
- Make instant changes to their policy
- Submit claims in minutes when something’s gone wrong
- Speak to a human around the clock for support and assistance.
Pluto has closed over £830k in investment in 2019 alone, with over £660k coming from a recent crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. This investment will be used to expand the London team, launch new travel services via their mobile app and to grow their customer base.
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Budgetary constraints and environmental awareness are accelerating consumer adoption of more sustainable practices, such as using rental services and shunning fast fashion, according to a new report.
It found that 22% of British consumers state they now make more considered purchases today compared to ten years ago, and nearly 10% are turning their backs on fast fashion.
A further 13% care more about the ethical side of fashion today than they used to, showing how much the sector has evolved in the last decade. Meanwhile, only 19% said that trendiness is a key decision-making factor when buying apparel.
Fashion brands are paying attention to the consumer mindset shift. In fact, 150 clothing brands such as Gucci, Nike, Prada, Burberry and Zara joined the G7 Fashion Pact this year, essentially committing to working together to achieve a series of science-based targets concerning global warming, preserving the oceans and restoring biodiversity.
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Zalando has looked at the shopping preferences of its customers in different markets to predict this year’s Cyber Week trends.
The German fashion e-tailer offers over 300,000 products from almost 2,000 international brands, and it has more than 26 million active customers across 17 markets.
In a display of its data-driven approach, the company has revealed the items that are most likely to land in customers’ Cyber Week shopping carts based on the year-round behaviour.
It said black sneakers will become a bestseller in Germany, while open-toe-sandals dominate in Denmark. It’s all about activewear in the Netherlands and Spain, with Dutch shoppers likely to stock up on black leggings.
Meanwhile, menswear outperforms womenswear in the Czech Republic, with branded underwear for men taking the lead as the most popular purchase. This compares with a wider trend of women’s categories shining brighter across all markets.
Colourful items are more likely to succeed in Poland and Ireland, where shoppers will be fuelling demand for multi-coloured items.
And finally, British consumers will be taking advantage of Cyber Week discounts to build their wardrobe with more premium items.
When it comes to how and when people to shop, it seems Italians are more likely to make their purchases on the go and Czech prefer to use their laptops. The Czech Republic also stands out for being the only market where sales peak during lunch hours.
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Growth in the UK women’s fragrance market is expected to accelerate in the last quarter of the year, with beauty consumers forecasted to spend nearly as much as they did for the whole rest of the year.
According to a new report, sales of women’s fragrances will reach more than £550 million for the first time in the period between October and December, as shoppers rush to the high street and online to find the best deals.
Sales of premium fragrance are up 4% on last Christmas and retailers are bracing for a strong festive period, said leading beauty retailer Escentual.com.
Britain’s favourite fragrance is Coco Mademoiselle. First launched in 2001, the oriental floral scent will make around £26.4 million this Christmas with about 390,720 bottles sold.
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Consumer appetite for bargains will drive an increase in spend at UK outlet centres and designer villages over the next five years, rivalling e-commerce for growth, according to a new report.
In fact, spend at outlet centres is expected to grow by 4.8% in 2019, significantly ahead of physical retail which will decline by 0.5%, and just slightly behind the 6.4% increase in non-food online sales.
According to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, spend at outlet locations will rise by £637m to reach £4.1bn in 2024, fuelled by a shift in occupier line-ups from traditional stores such as M&S and Gap to younger names like Dr Martens and Nike.
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