Categoría: Geovanny Vicente

NEW YORK and LONDON, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — A new report commissioned by Periscope^® by McKinsey reveals how tech-driven consumers are reshaping retail’s next normal, with coronavirus concerns helping to accelerate consumers’ demand for digital. Periscope by McKinsey is a suite of marketing and sales analytics solutions that help companies achieve sustainable revenue growth.

Retail reimagined: The new era for customer experience surveyed more than 2,500 consumers in France, Germany, the UK, and the US, to closely examine where the biggest changes in consumer behavior are happening. Conducted before and during the pandemic shutdowns, the report reveals three consumer trends: the appetite for digital is surging with no signs of slowing down, brand loyalty remains vulnerable, and a new premium on safety and convenience. In addition, the report shows a significant gap between what consumers want in shopping experience and what retailers are actually providing.

Consumers Want Tech-Forward Shopping Experiences

Whether it’s digital tools such as screen browsing, easy mobile payments, or ordering online with seamless curbside or in-store pickup, shoppers clearly want technology to elevate their in-store experience. The flight to digital and increased customer expectations have created new challenges for how retailers serve their customers.

Yet, in the first run of our survey, more than 35 percent of shoppers reported zero exposure to even the most talked-about or basic in-store technologies such as digital screen browsing and mobile or contactless payments. In the second run of the research in June, consumers were then asked which forms of communication/experience they would like to see offered by retailers in the near future. The top three findings in each market revealed a clear difference in cultural preferences:

• US: mobile payments—30 percent; mobile app orders—28 percent; apps to scan barcodes—25 percent
• UK: mobile app orders—34 percent; mobile payments—28 percent; self-identification at terminal—24 percent
• Germany: mobile payments—29 percent; self-identification at terminal—21 percent; apps to scan barcodes—20 percent
• France: mobile payments—22 percent; mobile app orders—21 percent; digital shelf labels for info—21 percent

An End to ‘Normal’ Shopping Decisions

Rather than sticking to familiar patterns and brands, consumers have embraced change amid great uncertainty. In the four countries surveyed, 40 percent of consumers said they tried new brands or made purchases with a new retailer between March and June 2020. Loyalty was particularly vulnerable in the US, where 46 percent of consumers made the switch, followed by 44 percent of their UK counterparts.

Consumers’ top reasons for making the switch across all four markets included competitive pricing and empathetic retailers that support their employees during the pandemic with initiatives such as increasing wages, giving extra sick leave, or paying for lost wages.

• Switched due to competitive pricing: US—51 percent; UK—48 percent; Germany—41 percent; France—36 percent
• Switched to a «caring» retailer or brand: In the US and France, almost a third of consumers (27 percent and 26 percent) cited this as a reason for switching brands while 19 percent of UK and 17 percent of German shoppers considered this important.

Safety and Convenience Become Even More Critical

New concerns such as safety and hygiene are now top of mind. More than 50 percent of respondents say they want stores to follow guidelines to help keep shoppers and employees safe, such as the installation of plexiglass at the checkout, the use of masks, and availability of hand sanitizers, while 59 percent say it’s important for stores not to be too crowded.

Also, frictionless experience is now even more important. Consumers being able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily has increased in importance in every country (by 14 percent in the UK, 11 percent in the US, 10 percent in Germany, and 7 percent in France) since March, and was ranked among their top three browsing priorities. This ability was especially valued by 65 percent of US consumers, 59 percent of UK consumers, 52 percent of German consumers, and 47 percent of French consumers. Additionally, 52 percent of shoppers questioned in early June stated that fast checkout was an important part of a great purchasing experience.

New E-Commerce Expectations

E-commerce spending has surged during the shutdowns, as the appetite for digital and contactless ways of shopping has intensified. In the US, it was up more than 30 percent from the beginning of March through mid-April, compared to the same period the previous year.^[1] In all four countries surveyed, we observed higher shopping activity in several categories during the shutdowns. Categories with the biggest uptick were apparel (in the US and UK), children’s products (US, UK, Germany), beauty (US), and grocery (US).

While free delivery and returns and fast delivery continue to be the important features for consumers when purchasing online, several digital attributes did skyrocket in value during the crisis. The importance of informative product descriptions and clear product images at a time when consumers couldn’t see, feel, or test products in a store ranked as one of the top three factors for a great online browsing experience in all the countries surveyed. UK consumers led the charge with 70 percent of post-shutdown respondents ranking this as a key consideration (up 23 percent from pre-shutdown), followed by 57 percent in Germany (up 12 percent), 56 percent in the US (up 13 percent), and 51 percent of French shoppers (up 13 percent).

«While disruption and fierce competition are certainly nothing new for retailers, the pace and intensity of COVID-19-related change and their effect on consumers is unprecedented,» said Brian Ruwadi, Senior Partner and Global Leader of Periscope by McKinsey. «This is a pivotal time where we’re seeing not only changing loyalties and a shifting leaderboard, but an opportunity to really connect with consumers in new ways as they reformulate their habits and decision journeys. As retail leaders plot how they will bounce back, they also need to look beyond the immediate challenges and issues. In parallel to quickly recovering revenue, it is critical to engage in long-term planning and accelerate future growth.»

To read more about the survey’s findings, download the «Retail reimagined: The new era for customer experience,» report at: https://mckinsey.com/reinventing-retail

Study Methodology

In early March, Periscope by McKinsey fielded consumer surveys across the US, UK, Germany, and France with more than 2,500 consumers to understand what they value most in digital and in-store experiences, as well as among the retail technologies that tie the two together. To see the impact of COVID-19 on consumer preferences and behavior, the survey was repeated in mid-June. The surveys were conducted online in local languages. In each country, results are sampled and weighted for a representative balance of the consuming class, based on variables including age and socioeconomic status.

About Periscope® by McKinsey 

Founded in 2007, and now a part of the McKinsey Marketing & Sales Practice, the Periscope^® by McKinsey platform combines world-leading intellectual property, prescriptive analytics, and cloud-based tools with expert support and training. It’s a unique combination that drives revenue growth, both now and into the future. The platform offers a suite of Marketing & Sales solutions that accelerate and sustain commercial transformation for businesses. Periscope leverages its world-leading IP (largely from McKinsey but also other partners) and best-in-class technology to enable transparency into big data, create actionable insights and new ways of working that drive lasting performance improvement, and typically sustain a 2–7% increase in return on sales (ROS). With a truly global reach, the portfolio of solutions is comprised of: Insight Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Customer Experience Solutions, Category Solutions, Pricing Solutions, Performance Solutions, and Sales Solutions. These are complemented by ongoing client service and custom capability-building programs.

To learn more about how Periscope’s solutions and experts are helping businesses continually drive better performance, visit www.mckinsey.com/periscope

About Marketing & Sales, McKinsey & Company

The mission of the McKinsey Marketing & Sales Practice is to help leaders of both consumer and business-to-business clients create Growth that Matters through meaningful transformations and marketing-driven profit. The practice helps its clients set their strategic direction, develop their marketing and sales capabilities, and connect their organization to realize the full potential of today’s omnichannel opportunities. Clients benefit from McKinsey’s experience in core areas of marketing such as branding, customer insights, marketing ROI, digital marketing, CLM pricing, and sales and channel management.

^[1] Market research firm Rakuten Intelligence

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SOURCE Periscope By McKinsey

SHANGHAI, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. («JinkoSolar» or the «Company») (NYSE: JKS), one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world, today unveils its RE100 roadmap by providing detail on its approach to achieve 100% powered by renewables by 2025.

This roadmap depicts a series of innovative actions to lower emission caused by its operation, which includes:

1. Build new factories in or adjacent renewable-rich regions to facilitate green electricity source.
2. Focus on R&D and commercialization of higher power and efficiency solar products to reduce power consumption per watt.
3. Accelerate study on new and recycled material alternative, less material consumption, «lighterize» and «thinnerize» production, for instance reduce wafer thickness, reduce silver paste consumption without sacrificing quality and reliability, reduce weight of bifacial panel by replacing glass with transparent backsheet.
4. Optimize process to save energy, for instance to reduce electricity consumed for wafer production.
5. Adopt an integrated and sustainable view of the product lifecycle, from ideation to commercialization, continuing to increase the use of recycled materials, innovate in product recycling. Keep pace with global PVcycle program and learn good practice from others.
6. Embed principles of sustainability in the supply chain, using it to guide decisions ranging from product design and factory floor configuration to sourcing and logistics.
7. Invest more in onsite solar, solar plus storage projects by deploying panels in all suitable rooftops of its global dispersed manufacturing facilities, workshops, warehouse, new and existing office buildings, employee dormitories, to ensure 50% of the consumed solar electricity comes from projects that JinkoSolar built.
8. JinkoSolar’s R&D centers focus on innovative silicone solar panel recycling technology, and are now partnering with universities and institutions at home and abroad to further develop engineering solutions.
9. Identify new ways to lower energy use at our all facilities, investing in energy efficiency upgrades, energy saving gauges, smart building technologies, to lower electricity consumption.
10. Encourage and reward suppliers by upgrading their grade who use renewable energy for JinkoSolar order production.
11. Process and material innovations, for example carbon-free soldering, metallization process through investments and collaboration with equipment suppliers.
12. Invest in planting trees, forests, and other nature-based solutions in facilities and communities to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
13. Help to counteract desertification using desalination powered by solar energy to improve soil conditions.

«We’re proud of our ambitious roadmap we have set for the coming ten years,» said Dany Qian, vice president of JinkoSolar. «As the world’s largest solar module manufacturer, it doesn’t make sense that we produce renewable equipment but not use renewable energy ourselves. We are well positioned to lead the industry in the pursuit of giving the next generation a livable planet, an affordable and sustainable energy solution.»

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jinkosolar-releases-its-re100-roadmap-committing-to-be-100-renewable-powered-by-2025-301107469.html

SOURCE JinkoSolar

In a recent opinion piece, former Boston judge Douglas McDonald responded to arm-waving assertions that global educational exchange programs serve as nothing more than fronts for foreign powers political machinations- a narrative that often plays out in concerns raised about Confucius Institute programs. In the piece, McDonald speaks to the key role language played in his time teaching at Al-Hikma University in Baghdad shortly after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

«For me, language is a key that opens the door to another culture and is a way to understand other people, to become aware of similarities, as well as differences,» said McDonald,  who has been studying Chinese language at both the Confucius Institute at University of Massachusetts Boston and the Confucius Institute at Tufts University since 2018, before turning his attention towards this new climate of hostility towards global and cultural exchange programs as more and more Americans flirt with «America first» isolationism.

In an open letter to editors nationwide, the Confucius Institute U.S. Center opened up about the often one-sided discourse that surrounds Confucius Institute programs in the United States.

«We live in a time where innuendo is reported as fact, and the burden of proving one’s innocence often only serves to generate proof of one’s guilt. It’s a Catch-22,» said Erik Eging, a communications associate at the Center. «After a year-long investigation of CI programs, the Government Accountability Office did not find any evidence to substantiate these claims, but instead found locally controlled, autonomous programs committed to academic freedom, and American universities who controlled their Institute’s curriculum. Before parroting loaded or misinformed talking points, we hope more people would take the time to talk to students-such as Judge McDonald along with many others-who have actually participated in Confucius Institute programs.»

To learn more about the GAO report, click here. 

Confucius Institutes are educational programs offering highly-demanded global education and intercultural learning opportunities to diverse American communities. CIUS Center welcomes your questions on our educational work.  We do not endorse or oppose any legislation or lobby on any issues before government. 

To learn more about the Confucius Institute and how the programs operate, visit www.ciuscenter.org.

MEDIA ALERT: To set up an interview or for more information, contact the CIUS Center at press@ciuscenter.org 

The Confucius Institute U.S. Center is a (501)(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes the value of mutual understanding between the US and China through language education and cultural exchanges. Confucius Institute programs are operated independently by host colleges and universities to prepare the next generation of leaders through language, arts, culture, and educational travel experiences. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @CIUSCenter. 

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/former-judge-defends-new-wave-of-attacks-on-cultural-exchange-programs-301107353.html

SOURCE Confucius Institute U.S. Center

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — ParentSquare Inc., provider of the premier unified school-to-home engagement platform for K-12, has launched a new health screening form feature, delivering schools an easy-to-use solution to enable student and staff daily health screenings.

With this new feature, parents, staff and high school students can electronically submit a health screening form indicating if they are exhibiting systems of COVID-19. They will immediately receive clearance to go to school or instructions to stay home, matching school or district policies. For school bus or on-campus health screening scenarios, teachers and staff can easily use ParentSquare to record results for students.

Because these health screening forms are managed through the ParentSquare platform, identifying information about the student or staff member is pre-populated from data the school already has, and the information remains secure and private.

Results from the health form are immediately available in ParentSquare’s dashboard for the student’s homeroom teacher, authorized staff or on-site health screeners — with clear indication of missing responses or if anyone is exhibiting symptoms.

The school or district can select a CDC-aligned health screening form in ParentSquare and then customize to meet any additional requirements they may have. The form is initially available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean.

The Health Screening form feature is available now, and included at no additional charge for all customers with ParentSquare’s existing Forms and Permission Slips component as part of their solution.

«Our goal is to make it easier for students and families to complete necessary health screenings, and easier for teachers and staff to process, manage and maintain easily accessible records and reports of these screenings,» said Sohit Wadhwa, CEO of ParentSquare.

«We hope this feature will prevent those exposed or with symptoms from visiting campus at all, helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools» said Anupama Vaid, ParentSquare Founder and President. «In addition to the obvious benefit of keeping potentially sick students and staff home before arriving at school, it also helps districts save time and money, by reducing paper printing, handling and processing involved with on-site health screenings.»

About ParentSquare
ParentSquare is relied upon by more than two million educators and families in over 44 states for unified, effective school communications. ParentSquare provides parent engagement tools that work from the district office to the individual classroom, supported by powerful metrics and reporting. ParentSquare’s technology platform features extensive integrations with student information and other critical administrative systems, translation to more than 100 languages, and app, email, text, voice and web portal access for equitable communication. ParentSquare (http://www.parentsquare.com), founded in 2011, is based in Santa Barbara, CA.

SOURCE ParentSquare

NEW YORK, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Responsive web design (RWD) can add up to 188% in revenue to a company, according to some reports. Due to its user-friendliness across devices, responsive websites enjoy higher search rankings and, therefore, organic traffic, as well as on-site conversions.

Digital Silk, a global digital agency, outlined the key information to know about responsive web design, what it entails and how brands can effectively use the method of design to increase conversions.

The five most important facts about responsive web design are:

1. There is a right way of doing responsive design

• Brands like Dropbox, Dribbble and Slack have compelling interfaces that have features like changing font and image sizes as the user scrolls, clean design, a hamburger menu CTAs that change on mobile

2. There is a screen resolution standard

• Companies should use the most common screen resolutions for each device and according to those figures, curate the content, evaluate its readability and assess the aesthetics.

3. Responsive design technology has its own set of challenges & alternatives

• The challenges to keep in mind are that responsive web design takes longer to develop, banner ad responsiveness is not up to par if not using HTML5 and loading speeds can be hurt.

4. The content layout can make or break responsive UX

• Brands should know that the content layout should feature the value proposition center-left and users spend most of their time viewing the top part of the page.

5. Responsive web design boosts mobile conversions

• The user experience on mobile should be smooth and highlight the value proposition and CTAs clearly to increase conversions.

The way content is presented across devices is an important factor in both Google and the user experience, and ultimately conversions. Brands considering responsive web design can review the top tips and facts to create a strategy that yields results.

About Digital Silk: Digital Silk is a creative digital agency focused on growing brands online. From custom websites to digital marketing, Digital Silk creates SUPERIOR digital experiences to drive higher conversions, greater brand engagement & measurable results.

SOURCE Digital Silk