BusinessDay 17 Aug 2017

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BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 17 August 2017
Retail & Consumer Business
Luxury Malls Companies Deals Spending Trends
Retail giants are now flocking to Iceland
Bloomberg
H&M to follow Costco in opening
stores amid economic boom
Consumers rejoice
as local retailers are
forced to cut pricess
A common complaint
heard on the
streets of Reykjavik -- apart from
the weather -- is about prices. A
standard burger will set you back
as much as $20, while branded
sneakers cost double what they
sell for in the U.S.
That’s about to change.
Nearly eight years after Mc-
Donald’s pulled out of Iceland
due to spiraling costs, international
retail giants are now
flocking to the north Atlantic
island, attracted by a booming
economy and a surge in purchasing
power. Costco Wholesale
Corp., the U.S.-based chain,
inaugurated its first Icelandic
store in May. Swedish clothing
colossus Hennes & Mauritz AB
plans to open two shops there
by the end of the month. Dunkin’
Donuts jumped the gun in 2015.
Consumers are loving it. The
central bank, which is eager to cut
rates to prevent the krona from
appreciating, is welcoming the
competition as a potential counter
to growing wage pressure on inflation.
Local retailers are a little less
impressed.
Love-Hate Relationship
Costco has already sold more
than 80.000 membership cards,
meaning one in four Icelanders
have snapped one up. Some
established rivals are already cutting
prices, others are pulling out
altogether. The combined sales of
Costco’s traditional competitors
in Iceland fell 3.6 percent in June
compared with the same month
last year, according to the Center
for Retail Studies.
Iceland’s biggest retailer, Hagar,
which in 2016 controlled about
half of the country’s convenience
goods market, has seen its share
price drop by a third over the past
three months. Hagar has already
closed a number of clothing stores
in anticipation of H&M’s arrival,
with its stock falling as much as
7 percent on August 8 after it reported
reduced sales in its interim
financial statement.
A reliance on imports from
far flung places (the closest European
capital, Dublin, is 1,500
kilometers away) means generations
of Icelanders have grown
accustomed to high prices. Its
relatively small size (the population
totaled 344,000 in the
second quarter) also hampers
competition among retailers.
“We’re used to just paying up
because we can’t go anywhere
else, and that is why people welcome
Costco,” said Brynhildur
Petursdottir, chief editor of the
Consumer Association’s newsletter.
Right Timing
Now that the Icelandic crisis is
officially over -- capital controls
that were introduced in response
to the 2008 collapse of the its
main banks have been removed
-- foreign retailers are sensing
an opportunity. Not only is the
economy predicted to grow at a
rate close to 6 percent this year,
having expanded at more than 7
percent in 2016, the strong krona
also makes foreign products more
competitive. Christmas online
sales, spearheaded by Amazon,
surged 14.6 percent on the previous
year.
“The time is right,” said Kristin
Fjeld, a local H&M representative,
of the company’s expansion plans
in Iceland.
Opening up the market to more
competition may shake Iceland in
other ways as well.
Asta S. Fjeldsted, the managing
director of the Icelandic Chamber
of Commerce, said she welcomes
international competition as a
healthy development but notes
that local companies are at a disadvantage
since “it is difficult for
them to reach the same economies
of scale.” Fjeldsted said local rules
need updating to reflect a globalized
world after the country’s
competition authority blocked a
proposed merger between Hagar
and one of the big local pharmacies.
My four months experience using Infinix hot S smartphone
CHINWE AGBEZE
I
woke up this morning and
reached out for my phone.
I had an urgent call to make
but lo and behold, my infinix
Hot S phone had gone blank!
‘Not again!,’ I cried out. ‘Not
today, please,’’ I begged the phone
as if it were human, hoping the
phone would come up again but
deep down inside me, I knew that
was not going to happen.
As I held the phone, I heard
messages, mails, chats drop in
but I could not see or read them
because the phone was blank.
The only good thing was I could
receive calls.
This was not the first time the
phone was going blind. The first
time it did was on Friday. I was
getting set for work when a message
dropped in and I picked up
my phone to read but saw my
phone was blank. I thought it
would come up later but it never
did until the battery was drained.
When I could no longer hear any
sound, I plugged the phone and
charged it. After charging, the
My blank Infinix Hot S phone
phone came up but it went blank
in less than an hour. Since, I was
busy at work, I couldn’t do anything
about it.
The following day, the phone
went again around 11am and I angrily
dashed to SLOT retail outlet
at computer village where I bought
the phone four months ago. On
getting there, I was referred to Carl
Centre at 77 Opebi road in Ikeja.
‘‘It’s a software problem. They
will fix it for you for free if it has no
physical damages. I’ll advice you
to go there on Monday with your
receipt because they close at 2pm
on Saturdays,’’ a staff of Slot said.
‘‘What kind of nonsense is
this,’’ I said furiously. ‘‘I have been
managing the short battery life
and now, this!’’ I said as I turned
to leave.
Another staff at Slot who sat
watching me all the while I spoke
said, ‘The brand is not good.
People have been coming here to
complain about Infinix phones.
Next time, ask those who know
more about phones before purchase.
Infinix phones are not
reliable.’’
On Monday, I was at Carl Care
service centre around 1pm. I was
given a piece of paper and was
asked to wait. When it got to my
turn, I handed the phone to the
customer service agent and told
her about my experience.
She examined the phone for a
while and said, ‘Is that all?” and I
nodded.
‘‘You have to drop the phone
and come back after one week but
all the information on the phone
will be wiped out,’’ she said.
‘‘Will I have to pay for that?’’ I
asked.
‘‘If you are dropping it, it’s free
but before collection, we will notify
you if you via SMS if you are to
pay or not,’’ she said.
I thanked her and said I would
drop the phone the following day.
The following day, the phone
went blank again!
I have used some many phones
in my life and I must confess most
of them are not as expensive as Infinix
Hot S phone but they never at
any point in time gave me half the
headaches this phone has given
me in just four months! The battery
drains so fast, the pictures and
videos are not of good quality and
to make matters worse, it switches
on and off when it pleases.