Jason Fried talks about the how absurd it that many people are most productive in trains, cafes, dens, but not in the office. One of the more salient remarks in Fried’s talk is that “people go to work and they’re basically trading in their work day for work moments“. In essence, Fried is suggesting that creative work that requires long uninterrupted stretches of focus is inherently disrupted by the distractions of modern office life.
Norway is not a member state of the European Union (EU), but is closely associated with the Union through its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA), in the context of being a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member.
Few years back, while assisting to a business conference in Estonia, I have met 2 nice Norwegians, Carmel and Anders. And during one of the side conversations I go asking, why Norway is not stepping into the European Union? They both smiled and Anders answers me: “Norway does not need the EU, we have oil and salmon, we can take care of ourselves”.
And such an answer was enough to show everyone how proud Norwegians are, which made the other friends, Finnish and Swedish sitting with us in the same circle, look at each other.
After the shocking news of what happened in Oslo and in Utoya, my thoughts and prayers are with my Norwegian friends, the victims and their families.
Research firm Deloitte’s report on the retail sector in Turkey shows the potential of the market. Indicating that the Turkish retail sector grew to a size of $187 billion in 2010, the report predicts that this figure will go up to $250 billion in 2014.
The food retail sector, which includes such global giants as Metro, Carrefour and Tesco, accounted for the largest slice of this pie at $96 billion; it was followed by the retail markets for housewares at $26.5 billion and technology at $7.3 billion.
According to the report, non-food retail delivered a solid performance by growing 16% over 2009, with ready-to-wear clothing retail growing by 27%. The report emphasizes that the subcategories of the retail sector exhibited strong performances too.
The housewares market is stated to have grown to $26.5 billion in 2010. Among the main players are Koctas, Bauhaus, Ikea and Praktiker in the field of home improvement; Arcelik, MediaMarkt and Vestel in home appliances, and Zara Home, Esse, Lines, Mudo Concept and Pasabahce in home textiles. The textile retail market, which includes such players as Koton, LCW and Ipekyol grew to a volume $24.3 billion.
The size of e-commerce market is stated to be $9.6 billion.
The electronics retail market, in which main actors are such firms as MediaMarkt, Darty and Teknosa, is indicated to have reached $7.3 billion.
Source: Deloitte, The Turkish Perspective
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Products which have a quick turnover, and relatively low cost are known as Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Examples of FMCG generally include a wide range of frequently purchased consumer products such as toiletries, soap, cosmetics, tooth cleaning products, shaving products and detergents, as well as other non-durables such as glassware, bulbs, batteries, paper products, and plastic goods. FMCG may also include pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, packaged food products, soft drinks, tissue paper, and chocolate bars.
With the global economical turmoil and the fears of cost-cutting by consumers due to inflation some companies start being aggressive on the market with their promotions and some go beyond these classical offer by offering huge “Value Packs”.
But depending on different buying behavior, based on the market and its culture, these value packs sometimes do not succeed against the average basket that consumers would like to keep as low as possible and prefer buying low-unit packs.
I would like to know the behavior of Lebanese shoppers and consumers when it comes to move a product from the shelf to their basket, do they prefer low-unit packs or super-sized value packed products?
