The Knowledge to Decide

Blockchain is set to go beyond financial services and affect all sectors, especially retail. Blockchain enables a decentralized digital ledger to record information and transactions on a shared online network. In Australia, this technology will soon enable consumers to scan a product and check the actual journey from farm to store shelf, alongside product quality. Can the internet of things plus Blockchain revolutionize retail supply chains? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/blockchain-technology-is-set-to-hit-retail-sector/

Despite the trend towards digitalized healthcare, there are many healthcare systems dependent upon paper records. This often results in issues with record retrieval and security. This is where DeepMind, Google’s artificial intelligence subsidiary, is stepping in for a pilot project with a hospital under the British National Health Service (NHS). This platform aims to simplify the process of sharing patient data by sharing accurate information about the patient’s medical condition. Moreover, alerts will be provided to staff when patient’s results suggest a high risk, along with data and recommendations on the next course of action. The platform aims to reduce staff response time to deliver timely treatment, which could in turn, save lives. Will real-time alerts from digitalized healthcare save lives? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/google-pushes-paperless-healthcare/

Consumers today are spoilt for choice. To win them over, brands need to deliver real-time customized experiences. New technologies and techniques are allowing them to do just that. Consumers today are extremely brand savvy. With access to various media platforms to conduct research, compare prices and ultimately purchase products, consumers favour brands that deliver experiences that suit their needs in the present moment. Consumers have begun to recalibrate what is expected from their media, stores and brands – demanding real-time personalized information every step of the way. What is real-time marketing? Real time marketing is defined as using apt communication tools to provide a more profound yet personalized consumer experience and information – at the right time and place – so as to address a consumer’s needs with accuracy. This is a component of Present Tense Marketing, which concentrates on ways of understanding consumers’ current situation for a personalized experie

On 4 May, Spire and Yamada Business Consulting (YBC) jointly held a breakfast seminar in Singapore to share ideas on how Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) can drive growth using smart market and industry research. Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire Research and Consulting, discussed how market research decisions impact different operating functions within a typical SME and what kinds of research techniques are commonly used, together with the pitfalls associated with each. Singh highlighted how market research can go beyond customer analysis at manageable cost if the business objective is clear, although the analysis of internal data and business intelligence can only provide limited information. To maintain the accuracy of market research data, a few pitfalls should be avoided. It is crucial to avoid asking the wrong questions, targeting the wrong respondents and over-emphasizing sample size, to name a few. https://www.spireresearch.com/ne

With an increased rating of overall quality of taxi services in Singapore up to 60.3% in 2015 from 52.4% in 2014, these findings appeared in the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) third annual Taxi Customer Satisfaction Survey (TCSS) conducted by Spire Research and Consulting. The survey measures regular taxi commuters’ satisfaction with taxi services. It also aims to understand commuters’ expectations and identify areas for improvement. What are the areas for improvement? The findings of the survey were also published on LTA’s website. Spire’s survey spans across 1,200 regular taxi commuters (aged 15 years and above) interviewed between August to September 2015. Taxi commuters were questioned on eight key service attributes to include driver’s knowledge of routes, safety of taxi services, taxi stand accessibility, customer service, ease of taxi booking, ride comfort, waiting time and information on taxi services. According to the survey, safety continues to be a concern am

Wearable technology may be quietly engineering a revolution in our lives. The full commercialization of wearable technology may liberate people from being tied to the home or office, increasing the importance of public spaces. And the merging of electronics with apparel promises to revolutionize the apparel industry in the same way that electronics revolutionized the automotive industry – up to one third of the value of a car now resides in the electronics. From Google Glasses and Apple’s iWatch to medical tracking devices, wearable technology is now within reach. How will it transform our lives? Market watchers have projected wearable technology to generate USD4.6 billion in revenue by the end of 2013. Approximately 10 million smart glasses are predicted to be available in the market by 2016, growing by 250 percent on average each year. Smart watches would also come into their own as a significant, high-growth market. Without a doubt, wearable tech will see massive, early-sta