Lazada Topple the List of Top Internet Startups in Philippines

MANILA, PH: Philippines based e-commerce playerLazada has been recognized as the top ranked Internet startup, according to the maiden listing of Forbes magazine’s Philippines edition. The ranking for the May month issue is solely based on the parameter of the gross revenue generated by the Internet Startups.

Lazada notched up the top spot with whooping gross revenue of P1.1 billion for the year 2014. The second spot however is closely followed by Entertainment Gateway, the mobile content provider which has raked in an amount of P853.9 million. Fashion retail player Zalora recorded revenue of P465.9 million to come third. The fourth and fifth positions were blocked by Internet remittance firm I-Remit Inc. with gross earning of P453.6 million and Xurpas Inc. that tallied P331.8 million from its mobile content market.

The position sixth to tenth was occupied by Chikka Philippines, an instant messaging platform, followed by game-based company- Level Up!, and social news networking companyRappler; e-commerce site MetroDeal and online tutorial service provider Rare Philippines in the respective position. Also included in the list were the renowned online transportation networking companies, Grab and Uber landing in the 11^thand 17^th position.  

Several companies on the list are quite popular among internet users, but this is likely the first time that a comparison has been made in terms of income and revenue, reported Forbes.

The rankings were assembled from more than 200 promising startupsbased on the initial inventory collected from various sources like Department of Science and Technology (DOST), business incubators, as well as from venture capital funds.

Back in August 2015 DOST released a Roadmap for Digital Startups to evaluate the future success story of the companies.

Moreover, only those firms identified by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and having recorded total gross revenue of minimum P1 million in the fiscal year of 2014 made into the rankings. That further slashed the list of 200 companies to only 46.

In addition, the list also revealed the companies that underwent exits by the means evaluation at the time of assessment or during an initial public offering (IPO) or share sale.

The Forbes list also included startups that are based outside Metro Manila, likeCaresharing, an app to guide doctors, jobs hunting platform Mynimo.com, voice and text campaigning portal engageSPARK. In the list are also present three companies that are based in Cebu City, which provides a platform for budding startups that look out for immense talent pool and lower living expenses. Companies involved in financial services, gaming, real-estate, education, and software integration wrap-up the list.

The companies saw revenues in 2014 taking a jump by 134 percent in comparison to the year previous. Butstrangely half of those companies were also on the losing side in terms of their investment.

Source Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/lazada-tops-ph-internet-startups-in-earnings-forbes/263548/

Reference Link: http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/05/23/1585874/lazada-philippines-top-internet-startup

Medical Tourism Across the Globe

Medical tourism refers to travelling of people to another country for obtaining medical treatment in that country.

 Medical expense are high in U.S, for which people tend to prefer the contry who has cheap medical procedure and high standard of care.

India has been the hub for medical tourism due to its cost-effective medical care. In the metro cities you can find modern technology equipped medical facilities, such as AIIMS, Apollo, Manipal hospital. Hospitals has also hired language translators so that people from abroad doesn’t face any difficulty.

According to Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the estimation of India’s medical tourism worth US $ 3 billion. It has been projected that till 2020 it will grow to 7-8 billion.

By looking at the rising figure, Narendra Modi inaugurated IndiaHealthCareTourism.com. This web-portal guides tourist patients who are looking for treatment in India. It comprises of 93 topmost medical centres, 30 Ayurveda and wellness centres.

Some of the services those are available to the patient from abroad are-

·         Hospital/clinic as per requirement/budget.

·         Treatment from doctors trained in USA/UK

·         Arrangement of appointment with the doctors.

·         Nurses/guides

·         Visa facility

·         Arrangement of accommodation for family or attendants

·         Arrangement of post treatment.

All these facilities within budget and also the good quality of treatment attract more tourists to India. In USA people won’t be able to afford all these facilities. The ease of travel to India is also one of the prime causes for the flow of patient from abroad.

Facts and Statistics-

Let’s check some facts about medical tourism. Facts shows that,

a)      Medical tourism is a thousand year old process. In medieval times, people used to believe in cult. It was believed that the gods and goddess of temple Tell Brak, Asclepia can cure diseases. Pilgrims from Greek and Rome would travel to those temples to seek cure.

b)      Joint Commission International (JCI) is a non-profit organization. JCI accredited hospitals and healthcare centres in and outsides USA. It has accredited 458 hospitals around the world and 15000 health care centres in USA. If any patient wants to ensure high standard of medical treatment they prefer JCI accredition. According to Delloite, in 2009, predicted that half a million of USA’s patients will travel for medical treatment, and there will be 35% increase in medical tourism over the coming year.

c)       During the stay a patient will spend most of their time engaging into physical rehabilitation in their hotel. Their stay in hospital will be for two or three days only. Thus they will be needed to choose a hotel who has experience with medical tourist and comprises every bit of facilities you require.

d)      Companion is one of the important fact to consider. As the presence of your companion will affect your recovery. The company one brings may be willing to stay by side or may-not. As it is you who matter the most, choose wisely who will be your companion as he needs to stay beside you, and assist you in your recovery.

Now let’s check some statistical data. Here are some major heading who comprises some mind boggling data’s related to medical tourism in U.S. and other countries around the world.

MTA patient survey-

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) presented some amazing data on medical tourist on US citizens.

• 64% of patients that travelled abroad for care did not have health insurance.
• 33% of patients travelled abroad for cosmetic surgery.
• Almost 90% of patients or their companions engaged in tourism activities.

·         85% of US patients found they received more personalized medical care than in the US.

• Nearly 27% of patients had previously travelled to a foreign country to receive medical care, most were female, all were between ages 45 and 64; all were American; all were college educated; half had household incomes between $50,000 and $100,000; and some had health insurance (50%), while other did not.
• Nearly 80% of the demand for medical travel is driven by cost savings.
• Medical tourists spend between $7,475 and $15,833 per medical travel trip.
• The cost of medical treatment (85%) and state-of-the-art technology (83%) were the most important factors in their decision to travel abroad for treatment.

U.S. Healthcare statistics-

The data’s from U.S. Healthcare shows why do U.S. citizen prefer medical tourism. Most because its cost efficient. In 2013, Nerd Wallet Health analyzed data from the U.S. Census, Centres for disease control, the federal court system and the Commonwealth Fund and found that:

·         56 million Americans under age 65 will have trouble paying medical bills.

·         Over 15 million American adults (ages 19-64) will use up all their savings to pay medical bills.

·         Nearly 10 million American adults (ages 19-64) will be unable to pay for basic necessities like rent, food, and heat due to their medical bills

·         Over 16 million children live in households struggling with medical bills

·         Despite having year-round insurance coverage, 10 million insured Americans ages 19-64 will face bills they are unable to pay

·         According to a recent report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. spends almost 18 percent of its gross domestic product on healthcare that’s more than any of the 34 OECD countries.

·         Due to the changes of healthcare reform, the Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions reported that 60 percent of doctors surveyed revealed they are likely to retire earlier than planned, perhaps, within the next 1-3 years creating a shortage of doctors.

The above data significantly shows the necessity of medical tourism for the U.S. citizens. India is one of the favourite medical hub for the U.S. citizens due to its cost saving and standard medical facilities.

Statistics on medical tourism of other countries of the world-

Let’s set some light on the data’s of the countries who receive patient in search of medical facilities.

• A 2013 MTA Medical Tourism Patient Survey found that Mexico and India respectively have the highest demand for medical tourism.
• Data from the Council for International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine (PROMED) shows that in 2012, Costa Rica attracted nearly 50,000 medical tourists (mostly from the U.S. and Canada) and each one spent an average of $7,000. Close to half of these medical travellers were said to be dental, followed by orthopaedics, weight loss surgeries, gynaecology and plastic surgery. Medical tourism generated some $338 million in revenue for the country that year, PROMED reported.
• According to the Indian High Commission, Indian hospitals received 18,000 Nigerians on medical visas in 2012, 47% of the Nigerians were in India to receive medical treatment and spent approximately $260 million USD.
• Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism said that almost 12 million international visitors arrived in Mexico in 2013, 6.5 million of the visitors were from the U.S.

·         The Korea Health Industry Development Institute reported in 2012 that 159,464 patients from 188 countries visited Korea in 2012, 32,503 of those patients were Chinese.

·         In 2012 the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand and the Kasikorn Research Centre found that 2,530,000 international patients travelled to Thailand for treatment, the top five nationalities were; Japan, U.S., UK, GCC and Australia. Revenues generated from medical tourism were approximately 4 Billion USD.

• According to Rohini Sridhar, Chief Operating Officer of Apollo Hospitals, the number of international patients visiting the hospital has been witnessing an increase of 20 per cent every year. “We provide medical care for around 400 to 500 people from European countries, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Middle East in a year,” she says.

These facts throw light on the rising preference of medical tourism specially, by the US citizens, and the places they prefer for medical treatment.

Lets us now see some more facts which gives rise to relevant reason for the preference of medical tourism now-a-days, as well in the coming future and also its impact in the global healthcare industry.

Over the year, medical tourism has gained quite a big response. USA has been marked the top country to have half a million people to travel abroad for medical help.

Why do people go abroad for medical treatment?

Though cheap medical treatment is consider one of the main reason for medical tourism, but there are people who travel abroad seeking advanced technology, better healthcare, and faster medical treatment. The May 2008 Mckinsey and Company report, states that 40% of medical travellers seek advanced technology, 32% seek better healthcare, 15% seek faster medical services, while only 9% of travellers seek lower costs as their primary consideration. Lack of health insurance is also a good reason for medical tourism.

• India has become a medical tourism hot spot, with 166,000 international patients in 2012 coming to the country due to the selection of highly skilled doctors and improved medical infrastructure.
• Singapore has been a growing medical tourism centre in South East Asia with 850,000 medical tourists arriving in 2012.
• Due to its close proximity to the U.S., Mexico has become a top medical tourism destination with 40,000 to 80,000 American seniors spending their retirement there with a considerable number receiving nursing home and health care.
• After more than doubling in the last 5 years, Malaysia is also becoming a famous destination with 770,134 medical travellers in 2013.
• Singapore has been a growing medical tourism centre in South East Asia with 850,000 medical tourists arriving in 2012.

Cost saving among the medical tourist nation-

It is reported that the US citizens save upto 25% to 75% on medical treatment. Dental, cosmetic, orthopaedic, and cardiovascular are some of the services that the US citizen travel abroad for treatment.

Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama are preferred for dental or cosmetic services. South-east Asia and India are preferred for orthopaedic and cardiovascular treatment.

Below are the list of some cost saving medical tourism destination-

• India provides various healthcare services at 20% of the U.S. cost.
• Costa Rica offers 30% to 40% savings for dental and cosmetic surgery services.
• Mexico is a favourite destination offering 25% to 35% savings for dental and cosmetic surgery.

·         Singapore offers various medical services in 13 JCI accredited hospitals for only 35% less than U.S. prices.

·         Cosmetic surgery and alternative medicine can be obtained in Malaysia for 25% of the U.S. cost.

Summary

The medical tourism industry has a bright future. With the benefits provided more and more patients are attracted for treatment abroad. Companies like Hannaford Bros. Co offers offshore medical facilities to their employees.

Companies like Aionia Medical Travel, Celsus Medical, ClinicAccess are some of the medical tourism agencies.

Though medical tourism shows favourable benefits, the patient should research about the hospitals, what kind of facilities they provide, whether it is favourable to do the treatment in US or abroad. Reviewing the doctor’s credential and consulting with other patient is highly recommended.

Mini-GMAT for Working Professionals

Recently Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has announced an exclusive MBA entrance test for the working professionals. The main purpose of this test is to endow the prestigious MBA tag to them.

GMAC is the governing body of GMAT exam. It regulates the admissions in more than 2000 Business schools across the globe, including those in London School of Business and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“The entrance test will not be complex and will relatively simpler as compared to the standard GMAT and it will be only for candidates who have work experience of more than eight years,” as said by the council members.

The world’s renowned management institutes like the Chicago Booth University, London School of Business, The University of Hong Kong and other institutes accept the score of the entrance test conducted for Executive Admissions (EA), as these b-schools offer Executive MBA (EMBA) including other B-schools as well.

EA is termed as mini-GMAT. The major differences between the tests are that GMAT consist 37 problems each from verbal and reasoning and one more section of Analytical Writing assessment. Whereas mini-GMAT, test contents three sections extracting 14 verbal and quant questions. The EA aspirants can take this examination only twice.

Andy Martelli, the vice-president of product development, GMAC, said, “The GMAC is committed to improving graduate management admission experience for schools and candidates, including seasoned professionals seeking to attend business school,”

EA is a product by GMAC which can enable working professionals to achieve higher accomplishments in working career by undergoing an EMBA. And make their job easier with the thorough knowledge of personally gained experience and educational teachings.

If you’re one of those working professionals who don't carry the tag of MBA as it requires religious study hours and dedicated practice to qualify GMAT; then mini-GMAT could be a best option for all. Byju’s Classes- The learning App created GMAT preparation App, which contents all the relevant topics in the form of video lectures. This gives a freedom to the learners to study from where they want. The app is  mostly preferred by the working professionals due it’s easy teaching methods enables them to grasp the points quickly.  Take the trial of app, download it from Google Play Store  or IOS store. 

Tablets Training - A New Threat to GRE and GMAT Coaching Industry

Because of the several benefits, Tablets Training becomes a thread to the GRE and GMAT Coaching Industry.Day-by-day, the electronic devices are gaining popularity among the aspirants who are preparing for the GRE & GMAT tests. The students, specifically who find the online lectures too costly, can also opt for an EMI option. Isn’t it amazing? Meanwhile, it also saves the time of the students as you can learn almost every aspect of GRE and GMAT without roaming here and there.

Every year, almost 45-50 lakh students prepare for several admission tests. According to the estimates of teaching industry, last year in India, the test preparation market was worth $2.2 billion, including both regular and online coaching, mock tests and study material for entrance exams. By the end of the year, it is estimated to surge to $3 billion.

Experts say that the online segment or virtual classrooms, comprising tablet teaching, is the fastest-growing section which includes around 10% of the teaching business.

Byju’s is the India’s largest Education Technology Company that offers learning app for the aspirants who are preparing for various entrance tests. It enables animation rich video lectures that help aspirants to learn in easy and faster way. With the innovative app, limitation of boundaries and time have been erased as aspirants are free to use it at any time and place.

Byju’s GMAT App Based Training and Byju’s GRE App Based Training includes online lectures, webinars, one-on-one counselling for their students. It has revolutionized the lifestyle and learning style of the students. It is an interactive way to gain more detailed information about the various topics.

Importance of Learning Through App

·         Ability to access best teachers regardless of the student’s geographical location

·         It makes learning more engaging, simple, and effective

·         It helps aspirants to take out time for their hobbies along with the studies.

·         Helping students to become self-learners and organized

Byju’s GMAT Online Videos and Byju’s GRE Online Videos are excellent resources for the aspirants to boost their preparation level. The analytic ways used in these videos enhance the learning easy. Alongside, aspirants can access various online mock test as well. These mock tests help you to measure your preparation level. So, if you are preparing for GMAT or GRE test, then try this innovation learning app now and prepare well without missing out any important topic.

Online GMAT Prep Course is Tailored to Your Learning Style

Are you preparing for GMAT test? If yes, then this blog will help you in boosting your preparation. Following the traditional coaching classes, you must be facing a tight schedule. Hence, to simplify the issues and to offer a better learning environment, online GMAT prep courses are introduced that eradicate all the hectic and tiresome tasks of traditional GMAT coaching classes.

A Brief about GMAT-

GMAT, referred as Graduate Management Aptitude Test, is a qualifying test through which students can get admission in premium business schools abroad. It includes four sections that are Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative       and Verbal. To get good score, students have to qualify each section with minimum cut off marks.

Knowing the latest and advanced way to make your preparation better is helpful for all the aspirants.Students attention is drifting towards online preparation courses are they have much more benefits over regular classes. Hence, we have illustrated the benefits of smart learning, online GMAT Prep course, offered by BYJU’s.

Benefits of Online GMAT Preparation Courses-

1-           You can learn regardless of your place and time- No matter you live in a far-flung area or a metro city, you can access the online videos for your preparation at any time.

2-           Easy & Interactive Way of Learning- Online videos help you to learn faster and easier. It also helps you to get some extra time for your hobbies.

3-           Access to the good teachers from all over the world- You can access the best teacher who will cater your needs.

4-           Personalized Videos- These video lectures are prepared after considering the different needs of students. Hence, it boosts the understanding level.

5-           Online Mock Test- Along with the preparation courses, you can access the mock tests that help to get the estimate of your preparation level.

6-           Repeat if not Satisfied- The best part is that you can watch them as many times you want.

Some Stats

The market of test preparation has raised from $50 billion in 2012 to an expected $100 billion in 2017.

India’s largest Education Technology firm, BYJU’srenders a learning app for the students through which they can learn with the help of animation rich video lectures. Moreover, they offer mock tests to evaluate their performance.

Due to the benefits of online GMAT prep courses, students are opting them with greater rate, hence, we can say that it is tailoring the learning style of students. So, why not start preparing through the easiest way. 

Attitude is Everything

Our attitude determines our altitude, which means attitude Is a measure of our success. The level of success we achieve is determined by our Attitude. What is attitude? The way in which we look and think about something or someone and the way in which we react to a situation is called Attitude. Attitude can be positive or negative. Positive attitude looks for positive in any situation and accepts things and people as they are while negative attitude looks for problems in any situation and try to change people and situation.

There is a beautiful story which explains attitude in a simple manner. There were three masons working very hard in constructing a building. They were tired and sweating. A man who passes by asked them what they were doing. The first one with a stern face told that he is cutting a stone and the second one told that he is building a compound wall and the third one with a smile on his face said that he is building a church which is going to stand for years to come. Which of these three people could you relate with?

Attitude is like a switch. Turn on that switch; everything in our life will look beautiful. On the other hand, if you turn it off, life becomes gloomy and negative. To some extent attitude is inherent and inborn, but the environment in which we live also contributes to our attitude and vice versa is also true, which means if we have a positive attitude, we can influence our surroundings and people around us in a positive way. Our experiences and memories have a strong influence on our attitude. We judge people based on our experiences with them. We start developing thinking towards our future with our past in our mind like developing a habit and it’s called as habitude. We need to learn to live in the present without holding our past. If our past is unpleasant, we can actually recreate it by redefining those unpleasant moments and give them a new meaning and with that new past we can have a bright future of our choice. All successful leaders, in the past and present are master of their attitudes.

A person cannot be positive always. But it is easy to change our attitude when we get into a negative mode. The solution is to count our blessings. Whenever we feel down, if we start writing the things for which we are grateful for we can definitely see a shift in our attitude.

Finally, as Norman Vincent Peale said, “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude towards it, for that determines our success or failure”. So let’s all learn the skill of mastering our attitude and be successful.

ZipMatch hopes to make it big across South East Asia

The Philippines-based online real estate market-place ZipMatch has recently been funded US $2.5 Million in Series ‘A’ round of expansion funding. This was led by Singapore-based Venture Capital firm ‘Monk’s Hill Ventures’. The VC Firm is led by Managing Director Peng T Ong and his partner Stefan Jung. Present investor ‘500 Startups’ also took part in the funding round. This funding is one of Monk Hill Ventures’ first investments as a VC Firm and the first one in Philippines.  

Led by founders Chow Paredes and John Dang, ZipMatch has raised more than US$3.5 million in investments to date. In the words of Chow, “The Company will use the money not only for expansion across South East Asia, but also to develop more products for our customers and brokers. We will recruit more talent for programming our website, creating user-friendly content, expertise in real-estate, product development and improving customer experience. We will continue to strive and meet increased customer needs and demands. We will empower our customers to make smarter choices when they buy houses”

               

ZipMatch gathers relevant details about properties and all of this information is accessible in a single, interactive web-page of the startup. This page will not only have photographs and user-reviews for the listed property, but will also provide 360 degree virtual degree tour experience. This greatly simplifies the efforts involved in physically having to search for a property to suit the needs of the customer, where as the competitors of the site rely mainly on classifieds. For brokers and agents, the website offers tools like ‘Customer Relationship Management Software’ to assist them serve and manage clients better.

“The team members bring different facets of real estate and internet expertise to the table. They are biased towards action, so we are confident that this team will be able to execute quickly and take advantage of the opportunity not only in the Philippines, but in the broader Southeast Asia region and beyond” said Kuo­-Yi Lim of Monk’s Hill Ventures, in an interview regarding the investment.  Lim will join the Board of Directors of ZipMatch, following the investment. 

Lazada Topple the List of Top Internet Startups in Philippines

MANILA, PH: Philippines based e-commerce playerLazada has been recognized as the top ranked Internet startup, according to the maiden listing of Forbes magazine’s Philippines edition. The ranking for the May month issue is solely based on the parameter of the gross revenue generated by the Internet Startups.

Lazada notched up the top spot with whooping gross revenue of P1.1 billion for the year 2014. The second spot however is closely followed by Entertainment Gateway, the mobile content provider which has raked in an amount of P853.9 million. Fashion retail player Zalora recorded revenue of P465.9 million to come third. The fourth and fifth positions were blocked by Internet remittance firm I-Remit Inc. with gross earning of P453.6 million and Xurpas Inc. that tallied P331.8 million from its mobile content market.

The position sixth to tenth was occupied by Chikka Philippines, an instant messaging platform, followed by game-based company- Level Up!, and social news networking companyRappler; e-commerce site MetroDeal and online tutorial service provider Rare Philippines in the respective position. Also included in the list were the renowned online transportation networking companies, Grab and Uber landing in the 11^thand 17^th position.  

Several companies on the list are quite popular among internet users, but this is likely the first time that a comparison has been made in terms of income and revenue, reported Forbes.

The rankings were assembled from more than 200 promising startupsbased on the initial inventory collected from various sources like Department of Science and Technology (DOST), business incubators, as well as from venture capital funds.

Back in August 2015 DOST released a Roadmap for Digital Startups to evaluate the future success story of the companies.

Moreover, only those firms identified by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and having recorded total gross revenue of minimum P1 million in the fiscal year of 2014 made into the rankings. That further slashed the list of 200 companies to only 46.

In addition, the list also revealed the companies that underwent exits by the means evaluation at the time of assessment or during an initial public offering (IPO) or share sale.

The Forbes list also included startups that are based outside Metro Manila, likeCaresharing, an app to guide doctors, jobs hunting platform Mynimo.com, voice and text campaigning portal engageSPARK. In the list are also present three companies that are based in Cebu City, which provides a platform for budding startups that look out for immense talent pool and lower living expenses. Companies involved in financial services, gaming, real-estate, education, and software integration wrap-up the list.

The companies saw revenues in 2014 taking a jump by 134 percent in comparison to the year previous. Butstrangely half of those companies were also on the losing side in terms of their investment.

Source Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/lazada-tops-ph-internet-startups-in-earnings-forbes/263548/

Reference Link: http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/05/23/1585874/lazada-philippines-top-internet-startup

PesoPay bridges the gap for start-ups & SME’s

MAKATI, Philippines: Today everyone is immersed in a digitally connected world.  Times have gone when people spend time moving from shop to shop looking out their needs. Today everything happen with the movement of fingers, E-commerce has gained momentum with mobile shopping. Sitting at the ease of home anything across the globe reaches the door steps of one’s home, as online transaction is possible.Only Business establishments with merchant account can accept credit and debit card transactions online, which creates a gap between business tycoons and start-ups, SME’s.This situation hinders most businesses from fully maximizing their sales potential in the field of e-commerce where credit cards remain one of the most preferred payment methods for online shopping among Filipino Millennials.

A merchant account is neededfor thebusiness bank account, which enables businesses to accept credit and debit card transactions online. Unfortunately, getting such an account is no small deal. In addition to a security deposit of ₱500,000, majority of banks require merchants to have at least one year of profitable business operation in order to be eligible. On top of that, merchant account holders must also maintain a monthly minimum sales volume of ₱150,000 to keep the account active.

“Large-scale enterprises have no problem adhering to these requirements, but how about new entrants to e-commerce? With a limited capital at hand and less than a year in operations, these businesses will ultimately be left out of the e-commerce scene without a proper solution,” said AsiaPay Philippines Associate Director Mau San Andres.

PesoPay, the leading online payment gateway in the country, now offers a new payment plan that allows start-ups and SMEs to easily apply for a merchant account and process card payments online.Early the impossible task for start-ups & SME’s now becomes possible by the bridge laid by PesoPay. It gives an extra mileage in this competitive world to get moving upward on the graph.

The PesoPay Basic Plan operates under the so-called “Payment Facilitator” model in which AsiaPay Philippines will process credit card payments on behalf of merchants. The payments are first collected into one central account and later disbursed respectively to each merchant account. In such cases, AsiaPay acts as the “Master Merchant” whereas online businesses are referred to as “Sub-Merchants”. Also the processing justtakes two weeks’ time.All payments are settled locally; hence merchants would never have to pay for cross-border transaction fees that are usually charged in other payment platforms.

“Applying for a merchant account used to be an impossible task for many new and small businesses. Now, these businesses have a chance to compete against bigger players with PesoPay serving as their equalizer to thrive online,” Mr. San Andres added.

Visit www.pesopay.com or call (+63-02) 887-2288 / 887-0088 to learn more on how PesoPay can help your businesses grow online through payments. ADVT

All about Google Analytics 360 Suite

Are you going goolgly eyed (pun intended) on looking at all the various graphs, trends, and analytics that flood your computer screen, beginning of each month? Wading through the different metrics and coming up with a report that's meaningful and understood by all the department heads seem to be a herculean task for the marketing analysts.

Understanding the consumer behaviour is the crux of getting your brand out there and to reap its benefits. It doesn't require a crystal ball to predict your company’s future.  It all starts with getting the right insight, and then making your brand useful to the consumers.

Google has long since ruled the analytic world with its Google Analytics, its flagship analytic product. Google Analytics serves its purpose of providing insight and information but Google has gone a step further with its Google Analytics 360 Suite, a set of integrated data and marketing analytics products, designed specifically for the needs of the enterprise-class marketers.

The suite consists of the improved and rebranded version of the Google Analytics Premium and the Adometry, now called as the Google Analytics 360 and the Google Attribution 360, respectively, along with the Google Tag Manager 360, Google Data Studio 360, Google Optimize 360 and Google Audience Centre 360. They can be used together or on their own and integrate with AdWords and DoubleClick.

Marketers now have a powerful tool which pulls in the numbers, look for insights, and let automated marketing make adjustments. With a single login it lets your whole team work with all your data.

There are tonnes of articles highlighting the new Google Analytics 360 suite and its products, but this blog asks some of the common questions which customers have.

1. What are the products that are available for use immediately.

The new products are still in limited beta testing, and will be introduced to current Premium customers in limited editions.

Casey Carey, director of marketing for Google Analytics, was quoted in Marketing Magazine, responding that the “three new products — Audience Centre, Optimize and Data Studio — are in limited beta. Scheduling varies, but basically late Q2 is when those will become generally available “.

The below products can be used immediately:

Analytics 360:

Formerly called as the Google Analytics Premium, it is the way to analyze customer data from all touch-points and integrate with Google’s ad products. It allows you to gain new insight along with a total view of the customer experience.

In addition to the standard Analytics features, your team can access both sampled and unsampled data reports, BigQuery Export, and Data Driven Attribution. Google Analytics 360 also include service level agreement, that covers data collection, data freshness, reporting, a higher processing limit, and access to dedicated support specialists.

Tag Manager 360: 

Get more data and less hassles with powerful API's and partnerships. It empowers enterprise marketers to make better decisions and move faster with confidence, by offering a simplified way to gather site information, and API's to increase data accuracy and streamline workflows.

Attribution 360:

Formerly called as the Adometry, this product helps marketers analyze performance across all the channels, devices, and systems to achieve their most effective marketing mix and allocate budgets with confidence. It lets you discover the true value of all your marketing channels.

According to the director of marketing for Google Analytics, the beta versions of the new products will be generally available in the later quarter of this year.

Optimize 360 (beta):

Test and deliver more personal experiences on your site. It allows marketers to perform multivariate testing on their website and help marketers deliver better experiences, and will be integrated with Google Analytics.

Audience Center 360 (beta): 

Match the right people with the right message. It's a Data Management Platform (DMP), that integrates with the other Google DoubleClick and AdWords products, along with the other third party providers and demand-side ad platforms to help marketers connect with customers on different channels, campaigns and devices.

Data Studio 360 (beta):

Build beautiful and shareable reports, with all your data in one place. This product allows creation of easily shareable, customizable reports across enterprise devices.

How much does the Google 360 Suite cost, and how do I purchase one of the new 360 Suite tools?

There is no official release on the pricing information. All the Google Analytics 360 Suite products can be purchased independently, including the beta products.

Does having the Google Analytics Premium account automatically gives access to all the new products?

No, Google Analytics Premium is the improved and rebranded Google Analytics 360, but not Google Analytics 360 Suite.

If the customers are paying for any one of the Google Analytics 360 Suite product, they can avail the other services like Tag Manager 360 included at no additional cost. The other products like Attribution 360 (formerly Adometry), Audience Center 360, Optimize 360 and Data Studio 360 can be added individually.

Are there any free versions of the products available?

As of now, there are no free versions of the products.

Is Data Studio 360 going to replace Tableau?

No. It can be viewed as a supplement product. While GA has a lot of data, it offers very limited data visualization capabilities. Marketers often resort to Tableau for advanced visualization. Data Studio has a clean, simple, drag-and-drop interface to create simple reports and dashboards. You can experience real time collaborations between multiple users.

Can Optimize 360 be used with standard Google Analytics?

One of the key feature of Optimize 360 is that it can be integrated with the standard Google Analytics. It allows multivariate testing and optimization of your website, providing analytic which can be used to make informed decisions.

Does Audience Center 360 affects with DoubleClick and other products?

No. All the existing integrations between DoubleClick products and Google Analytics Premium are available in the Google Analytics 360.

While these questions are just the beginning, Google Analytics 360 suite's successful acceptance by the enterprise class marketers will be decided in the near future. We'll keep you posted on any updates from the Google Analytics 360 suite team.