Apple is likely to report a dip in iPhone sales in the April-June quarter as shoppers held out for a new model in a slow economy, making it important for the company to detail how it is using artificial intelligence to augment growth, analysts said. The world’s most valuable firm will wrap up Big Tech earnings on Thursday, with a likely 1.6 per cent drop in total quarterly revenue, according to Refinitiv – its steepest drop in third-quarter revenue since 2016. IPhone sales likely fell more than 2 per cent in the period, according to 24 analysts polled by Visible Alpha, compared with a near 3 p ..read more

Instant delivery service Milkrun has launched in New Zealand, initially delivering groceries in Wellington and central Auckland suburbs. The service will be extended to other parts of New Zealand in the coming months. Woolworths Group acquired the collapsed Australian grocery-delivery startup in May, rebranding it to Metro60 in Australia. In New Zealand it will retain the former name. Products will be picked and packed at local Countdown supermarkets and will reach customers in under an hour. At the time of launch, customers are eligible for free delivery on their first three orders and after ..read more

DoorDash has launched in Auckland, extending its service across the entire region from the north shore down to Drury. DoorDash’s GM of New Zealand, Australia and Canada, Rebecca Burrows, said the team is “ecstatic” to have now landed in Auckland. “We’ve already been overwhelmed by the reception we’ve had from local restaurants, so cannot wait to help them deliver even more of their incredible food to Aucklanders across the city,” she said. As part of the launch, DoorDash is offering all new customers in Auckland 50 per cent off their first two orders which includes a $0 delivery fee for the fi ..read more

Staking its claim in the burgeoning social commerce space, Google-owned YouTube has launched its first dedicated ‘shopping channel’ in South Korea.  The channel, which launched on June 30, will be live for 90 days, during which time YouTube will test a shoppable livestream environment for local businesses. “YouTube is committed to building an engaging, informative and entertaining shopping experience for all users, including in Korea,” a YouTube spokesperson told Yonhap. “To do this, we may experiment with a variety of YouTube Shopping features from time to time as we continue to work har ..read more

Since the industry-altering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, retailers have been working to empower their e-commerce offer and connect it more thoroughly to the in-store experience.  Research from Data.ai found that consumers are, on average, spending four to five hours per day in apps. However, according to omnichannel tech firm New Store, only 33 per cent of retail businesses operate their own mobile app.  However, some brands are successfully integrating dedicated mobile apps into their ecosystem. While Country Road Group is relatively early on in their journey, the parent company ..read more

Chinese marketplace Temu (pronounced tee-moo) has quickly become a formidable player in the e-commerce scene, making waves with high-profile ad debut during the Super Bowl, capturing the attention of 113 million American sports fans. The company’s reportedly $14 million ad investment paid off, as downloads surged by 45 per cent and daily active users increased by 20 per cent on the day of the Super Bowl, and Temu surpassed Amazon and Walmart as the most downloaded app with sustained growth afterwards. The 7-month-old marketplace has even begun outpacing China’s national retailers, establishing ..read more

Apple on Thursday forecast that revenue would fall for a second quarter in a row but that iPhone sales were likely to improve as production had returned to normal in China after Covid-related shutdowns. While striking an optimistic tone on sales of services and iPhones, CEO Tim Cook said an uncertain economy is expected to hurt categories like gaming and digital advertising. Overall, Apple’s leaders tried to reassure investors that despite the firm being buffeted by up-and-down sales cycles for its flagship device and vulnerable to supply chain shocks, the world’s largest listed company remain ..read more

Social commerce – shopping on social media platforms – is expected to reach US$1.2 trillion ($1.9 trillion) in global sales by 2025. It is growing three times faster than traditional e-commerce. McKinsey & Co stated in mid-2022 that social commerce comprised more than 13 per cent of China’s total e-commerce sales. In the US, social commerce is anticipated to double to US$80 billion in annual sales between 2021 and 2025, putting the US second only to China in social commerce, although China outsells the US by a factor of 10. As far back as May 2020, an Ipsos study indicated that two-thirds ..read more

Apple expects lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models than previously anticipated following a significant production cut at a virus-blighted plant in China, dampening its sales outlook for the busy year-end holiday season. Demand for high-end smartphones assembled at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant has helped Apple remain a bright spot in a technology sector battered by consumer spending cutbacks amid surging inflation and interest rates. But the Cupertino, California-based vendor has fallen victim to China’s zero-Covid-19 policy, which has seen global firms including Canada Goose Holdings and E ..read more

Apple expects lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models than previously anticipated following a significant production cut at a virus-blighted plant in China, dampening its sales outlook for the busy year-end holiday season. Demand for high-end smartphones assembled at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant has helped Apple remain a bright spot in a technology sector battered by consumer spending cutbacks amid surging inflation and interest rates. But the Cupertino, California-based vendor has fallen victim to China’s zero-Covid-19 policy, which has seen global firms including Canada Goose Holdings and E ..read more