ValueBuddies.com : Value Investing Forum - Singapore, Hong Kong, U.S.

SingPost divested its pawn brokering business on 14 Feb 2011. The brand name was SpeedCash, which should be well known in Singapore

The pawn brokering business didn't fit into the corporate strategy, so I doubt SingPost will pick it up again.

Ref: http://www.singpost.com/downloads/media/...110214.pdf

IC. Thanks for the info.

Wonder how are they doing with the partnership with Prudential and DBS. Those doesn't seems to fit in too.

(09-11-2013, 04:40 PM)CityFarmer Wrote: [ -> ]There is a cover story on SingPost, in the Nov 17 issue.

The article has given a detail description on the new business model, which links all the recent acquisition. The shop.adidas.com.sg is new to me. Did SingPost do a promotion on the site?

Time to review the company...

(not vested)

CItyfarmer,

Are you referring to the The edge, I read that article and a few questions come to my mind.

1) Why was the addidas deal, with the control of inventories, not announced through the SGX? It seem like a big deal, not a middle man but a one stop online franchise.

2) How many such "renowned" brands can Singpost put under 1 roof, will there be issues of conflict of interest between customers, as Singpost is not just a middle-man, I doubt he can have for e.g. Nike, NB, or other sports apparel franchised under the same umbrella, but this should be a small issue, since Singpost can sell other items besides sports apparel.

3) There was a mention of a online common market targeted at SMEs,any idea for it would work? For a normal consumer like me, I have limited access to suppliers, so if I(my wife) see a good deal on groupon or online, (my wife) usually start buying, I thought SMEs would have their suppliers, how big is this market is hard to fathom.

But I agree its worth a second look, as both approaches while not new, have rather targeted audience, the last time I see the numbers, they are not showing any success but the market price is up, seem like Mr market think it has more chances of working than not...

MHO, not vested

(10-11-2013, 06:50 AM)Greenrookie Wrote: [ -> ]CItyfarmer,

Are you referring to the The edge, I read that article and a few questions come to my mind.

1) Why was the addidas deal, with the control of inventories, not announced through the SGX? It seem like a big deal, not a middle man but a one stop online franchise.

2) How many such "renowned" brands can Singpost put under 1 roof, will there be issues of conflict of interest between customers, as Singpost is not just a middle-man, I doubt he can have for e.g. Nike, NB, or other sports apparel franchised under the same umbrella, but this should be a small issue, since Singpost can sell other items besides sports apparel.

3) There was a mention of a online common market targeted at SMEs,any idea for it would work? For a normal consumer like me, I have limited access to suppliers, so if I(my wife) see a good deal on groupon or online, (my wife) usually start buying, I thought SMEs would have their suppliers, how big is this market is hard to fathom.

But I agree its worth a second look, as both approaches while not new, have rather targeted audience, the last time I see the numbers, they are not showing any success but the market price is up, seem like Mr market think it has more chances of working than not...

MHO, not vested

Yes, I referred to The Edge. Sorry for missing the point, the post has been updated accordingly.

Let's share views on the questions raised.

1. Disclosure is mandatory only if it exceeds a % in earning or NAV. I doubt the Adidas venture crossed that thresholds.

2. I share the same view. I doubt SingPost will attract other sport apparel brands, after the Adidas, due to conflict of interest, but it is non issue.

3. SingPost online venture is not new, the same already available online long time ago. The moat of SingPost is its logistics infrastructure especially within Singapore. The hardest part of e-commerce is to delivery the physical goods to end-users, IMO.

Same is happening in China, with Alibaba plans to spent billion on logistics infrastructure for its established e-commerce portals

(not vested)

Will not be a fantastic biz because Singapore is a small place, consumers prefer see and have a hand feel of the merchandise . Addidas shops are at many corners here and the outlet store in IMM.
For shoes and pants, consumers just have to put on to try the fitting of the sizes.

(10-11-2013, 11:09 AM)cfa Wrote: [ -> ]Will not be a fantastic biz because Singapore is a small place, consumers prefer see and have a hand feel of the merchandise . Addidas shops are at many corners here and the outlet store in IMM.
For shoes and pants, consumers just have to put on to try the fitting of the sizes.

I refer to an old post on online shopping survey. I agree Singapore market is small, the Adidas partnership is just a show-case.

http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-3703.html

Excerpts:

"Only 16 per cent of online consumers in the United States have used a mobile device to shop, compared with 50 per cent in China, 48 per cent in Singapore and 42 per cent in India."

"According to the report, 94 per cent of Singaporeans surveyed shop online compared to the global average of 88 per cent."

"Singaporeans prefer shopping for clothing, shoes and accessories (65 per cent) over travel (56 per cent) and technology products/personal electronics (54 per cent)."

"However, 84 per cent said they will still buy certain products from physical shops as they are able to touch and try the products (64 per cent), get the salesperson’s advice (34 per cent) and own the products faster (32 per cent)."

Read this in Remisiers.org. Wonder why Singpost don't have an announcement for this.

SENDING MONEY TO MYANMAR VIA SINGPOST

Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) has become the world's first postal service provider to offer bank bilateral remittance services with Myanmar, after its launch of a new remittance corridor to the South‐ east Asian country yesterday.
SingPost has partnered four commercial banks in Myanmar in this venture ‐ Asia Green Development Bank (AGD Bank), Cooperative Bank (CB Bank), Kanbawza Bank (KBZ Bank) and Tun Foundation Bank (TFB).
SingPost will offer fund transfers from Singapore to Myanmar via its Cashome remittance service available at all its post offices.
The Myanmar community in Singapore is estimated to be around 150,000 to 200,000‐strong.
Marjorie Ooi, SingPost's senior vice‐president for Financial Services, said: "We have been expanding our Cashome remittance services and growing our network of institutional partners to enhance our remittance offerings. Our partnerships with AGD Bank, CB Bank, KBZ Bank and TFB are significant milestones in our ongoing efforts to forge direct bilateral relationships with established financial institutions, strengthening our value proposition as a channel for fund transfers."
Apart from remitting money to their beneficiaries, Myanmar senders can remit salaries back home for savings purpose to earn an interest rate of 8 per cent per annum, compounded quarterly, offered by the banks in Myanmar.
The money is remitted in Myanmar kyats, with the exchange rate determined at the point of remittance transaction.
A SingPost spokesman told BT that Myanmar provides new growth opportunities for SingPost.
"We believe our new remittance service to Myanmar will contribute business value to our Cashome remittance business over the long term," said the spokesman, who declined to give figures.
The four banks have more than 200 branches across Myanmar for beneficiaries to collect funds, with no service charge.

http://www.remisiers.org/cms_images/rese...g_Buzz.pdf

From CNA website. It is happening sooner than expected.

Canada to phase out door-to-door mail delivery

OTTAWA: Canada's postal service said Wednesday it will phase out door-to-door mail delivery in response to falling mail volumes and big financial losses.

Canadians will instead have to collect their mail from corner community mailboxes that are to be set up in cities nationwide, Canada Post said.

The new boxes will be installed over five years, starting in the second half of 2014.

Canada Post also announced a doubling of the price of sending letters to Can$1 (95 US cents) per stamp, effective March 31.

Canada Post delivers close to 10 billion letters and parcels each year to more than 15.3 million addresses across Canada.

In its last annual report, it noted a 23.6 per cent drop in lettermail from 2008 as Canadians increasingly turned to email and paying household bills online.

This resulted in Canada Post losing Can$73 million in the last quarter.

- AFP/ec

Canada is less densely populated in SG. Mail efficiency is much higher with 80% in HDB.

maybe can intro this for landed prop. Or charge them a monthly fee.

Canada is BIG, Canada is Sparse. It is costly for their postmen to move a long distance to deliver just a mail.

Singapore is TINY, Singapore is Dense. Our postmen do not need to move too much to deliver a mail. Furthermore, we already have our community mailbox under our HDB flats, and at the entrances of the private developments.