News In Brief

Welcome to our ‘News In Brief’ column in which we digest all the news releases for you in no more than five paragraphs. Below are snippets of all the media releases that we received from October 18 till 24. Please check back throughout the week for more updates.

Russians Switch To Ecommerce

Moscow, Oct 21: JCB International Co. Ltd. the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co. Ltd. has found a 20 per cent increase in ecommerce spending by Russian cardmembers from 2019 to 2020.
Russian JCB cardmember data shows that from 2019 to 2020, F2F (face to face) shopping made up a higher proportion of total spend (at 62 per cent), while in 2020, cardmember shifted in favour of ecommerce, with 55 per cent.
These figures have been released alongside the launch of JCB’s latest whitepaper, Explore Russia as a Key Growth Market, which includes exclusive insights for European retailers on Russian spending patterns and why a unified channel strategy is important to maximise opportunities.
“The relatively untapped market of the Russian Federation is opening up, and merchants should consider the tremendous opportunity for increased revenue and a widened customer network available within the region,” JCB International (Eurasia) LLC General Director Takashi Suetsugu said.
JCB’s presence in Russia is growing strong, and brand awareness is key.
The better we can understand the spending habits and behaviours of our Russian cardmembers, the more we can empower our partners and merchants to offer better, more seamless and secure experiences to their customers.”
Russians have embraced shopping online.
Ecommerce or Mcommerce jumped during 2020, with trade volumes up 60 per cent from the previous year.
A total spend of RUB 3.22 trillion in 2020 (USD 43.76 billion), says the Association of Online Traders (AKIT).
A survey by Global Blue at the end of 2020, 100 per cent of affluent and frequent Russian shoppers stated that they would travel once quarantine restrictions were lifted and 50 per cent said they would feel safe visiting Europe.
This suggests that in-person spending is set to boom again once further travel is permitted.

NTT Ltd Bags Frost & Sullivan Award

Petaling Jaya, Oct 21: NTT Ltd was awarded the 2021 Company of the Year in the Asia-Pacific Managed Security Services (MSS) Industry for Excellence in Best Practices by Frost & Sullivan. 
This is the third year in a row for the global technology and business solutions provider to be recognised for its strong performance in the industry.
Excelling in Visionary Innovation and Performance as well as Customer Impact, NTT was recognised as outstanding in many of the criteria in the Asia-Pacific managed security service space, including addressing unmet needs, price to performance value and customer service experience.
Being awarded as the Company of the Year is a top honour that recognises NTT for its wide market coverage, financial performance, continuous technology enhancements, comprehensive service offerings, and excellent brand reputation in the Asia-Pacific MSS sphere in 2021. 
Frost and Sullivan Amy Lin, Frost and Sullivan said:  “As organizations increase reliance on cloud services and the need to secure cloud environments, NTT continues to stand out from its competitors in the region.”