Headline Nov. 03/ ''' CLASH OF THE GIANTS '''

''' CLASH OF THE GIANTS '''

VERY FEW CORPORATE LEADERS  in the world, and I must have met and known score of them, from the world over,   know the markets and the under currents in................

China, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Siri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal     better than.............

David Goh  -Director Marketing :  Discover CCTV Technologies, Singapore. 

Using a very fine comb, and with with well over half a century of focused experience, David has just about turned into a rich, delightful, a great friend and a sage.

Few of the  greatest inventions, earth shaking happenings that David has seen in his life time,  -one of those and  that,   has been the  evolution of the World Students Society, most lovingly called, !WOW!-

In his heart, within the heart, David is convinced that The World Students Society, with grit and determination, and superior planning, and mastery in execution,    in the years ahead-

Will change the world to its true form. I thank David Goh.......  The  World  Students   Society that belongs to every single student of  Singapore........ just as it belongs to every single student in the world,   thanks David Goh!

And it was David Goh,  with an ear to the ground,   who was the first one to reason and conclude  that   *Ali Baba is all set to take on Amazon,*    with Singapore as the first battle ground.

THESE DAYS, ordering a shirt or a pair of shoes online and having them delivered to your home is easy. And while online delivery may occasionally result in a broken egg or melted ice cream, it's hardly the end of the world.     

From this concrete warehouse perched on the edge of a potentially vast new market for  online shopping, the  Alibaba Group of China hopes to beat Amazon one head of lettuce at a time.

Under the glare of fluorescent lights, green vested workers carefully wrap fruit, cheese and other perishables for delivery by vans to a growing group of Singaporeans who prefer to do their shopping online.

On a nearby wall,  printouts show the sort of defects that customers have complained about in the past : overripe avocados, smelly spinach, rotten honeydews.

''It's getting better and better,'' said Vikram Rupani, president RedMart, an online grocery company based in Singapore that is part of Alibaba's push into the region, ''but it's a continuous process that never ends.''

Alibaba and Amazon already dominate the business of selling stuff online in their home markets. Increasingly, they are competing against each other on  neutral ground.

Both are spending billions of dollars and Asia   -particularly Southeast Asia and India   -as they look for a place that could repeat China's explosive transformation into the  world's biggest online shopping market.

Amazon has committed $5 billion to India, where it lures customers to sign up for its Prime service, which includes Western movies and television shows,   for a small fraction of the $99 annual  membership   price in the United States.

Alibaba has invested roughly roughly $500 million for stakes in both Paytm  -India's largest mobile payments platform   -and its e-commerce affiliate,Paytm Mall. 

Alibaba's bigger bet is Southeast Asia. It has spent more than $2 billion to take control of Lazada, a five-year-old-  online shopping company based in Singapore and doing business in six countries.

Last year,  Lazada bought  Red Mart, the online retail grocery.

The promise is there, as the region's young middle class grows and goes online. Southeast Asia's  e-commerce  sales could total $ billion by 2025, according to projection from     Google and  Temasek Holdings,     the Singaporean sovereign  wealth fund. Sales were less than one-tenth that in 2015.

Over about the same period, India's market could increase six times to a similar amount. Bain & Company a consulting firm, projects.

Alibaba and Amazon are seeking consumers like  Janice Lee Fang, a Singaporean who decided she needed to buy a robot to amuse a a 6-year-old daughter home sick from school.

Through Amazon's Prime Now service, introduced in Singapore in July, she bought a Sphero SPRK Plus  -a clear plastic ball that can skitter across the floor with a tap of a smartphone  -that arrived in less than day.

''I was thrilled,'' said Ms.Fang, who said she also uses Alibaba's services. ''I had time unbox it and teach her how to use it. It's a last-minute shopping savior.''

But southeast Asia is no China. A diffuse area of  600 million people, the region is divided by politics, language and culture.

Some places are modern, like Singapore. Other places lack the roads and other infrastructure to get people what they need..  

The Honor and Serving of the latest Operational Research on Technology, and  E-Commerce continues.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society and Twitter-E-!WOW!   -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Masters & !WOW! '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless