Latest news with #digitaladoption
Entrepreneur
a day ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Acer India Aims For 20% Market Share in FY26; To Double Retail Presence In Tier III towns
For FY26 and beyond, our ambition is clear — to expand our market share to 18–20 percent, driven by a balanced growth strategy that cuts across product categories, customer segments, and geographies, says Harish Kohli, president & MD, Acer India Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. With Artificial Intelligence (AI), hybrid work, and digital adoption reshaping consumer patterns, innovation is the only key to staying ahead in the vying tech world. Personal computer (PC) manufacturer Acer India, recently celebrated 25 years in the country, with a diverse portfolio spanning personal computing, gaming, and lifestyle segments. In FY26 it aims at sustaining double-digit growth, consolidating current hold in core categories like PCs, gaming, and commercial devices, while aggressively scaling emerging businesses in AI PCs and consumer electronics. "FY26 represents a defining phase in Acer India's growth journey. We see FY26 as a year where Acer India will not just grow in market share but also deepen its strategic relevance by delivering meaningful innovation, strengthening our local manufacturing ecosystem, and expanding our retail footprint in both metros and emerging markets," said Harish Kohli, president & Managing Director, Acer India. Acer India has firmly established itself among the top PC brands in the country, closing FY25 with an overall market share of around 15 percent. In consumer notebooks, especially in the thin-and-light and gaming categories, it has gained ground; and in gaming PCs, the Predator and Nitro series have helped the brand be synonymous with performance gaming in India. "For FY26 and beyond, our ambition is clear — to expand our market share to 18–20 percent, driven by a balanced growth strategy that cuts across product categories, customer segments, and geographies. Our approach is not just to chase numbers but to build long-term consumer relationships and brand loyalty," the CEO said. The company is aligned with the Make in India initiative, not just as a compliance measure but as a core business strategy. Today, a significant percentage of its commercial desktops, all-in-ones, and an increasing share of notebooks are assembled and configured in India. It has also begun exporting Made-in-India devices to select markets. The investments are directed towards expanding manufacturing capacities in collaboration with OEM partners under the PLI scheme; increasing value addition through local sourcing, assembly, and customization to cater to both domestic and export markets. Besides building strategic partnerships with local manufacturers and global component suppliers, it aims at enhancing the competitiveness of India as a manufacturing hub. The expansion roadmap ensures Acer is not just a PC brand but a comprehensive technology solutions provider. "In addition to consolidating our leadership in commercial PCs we are expanding aggressively in premium consumer laptops, gaming, and AI-enabled devices. Beyond hardware, we are investing in the gaming ecosystem through partnerships, tournaments like the Predator League, and community engagement. We are also scaling our consumer electronics portfolio with products such as air purifiers, smart TVs, kitchen appliances, and vacuum cleaners. Acerpure is a key growth pillar, supported by local manufacturing and growing retail presence. Enterprise Solutions (Altos) has significant potential in India's data economy and is expanding server and workstation business through Altos India — providing solutions for AI, research, and enterprise computing needs," the CEO explained. Moreover, the AI laptop market in India is poised for exponential growth over the next three–five years. As AI moves from cloud to edge computing, on-device AI capabilities will become critical — enhancing productivity, security, and user experience. Acer has a strategy to lead in this space by launching cutting-edge AI laptops with on-device NPUs (Neural Processing Units), like the Acer Swift 14 AI and Predator Helios AI series. Acer will offer attractive financing options and bundled offers to drive adoption among students, creators, and professionals. This will be coupled with building awareness through retail experience zones, interactive demos, and digital campaigns to educate customers on the tangible benefits of AI PCs. "We believe AI PCs will be a transformational category — much like the smartphone revolution — and we are committed to being at the forefront of this change in India," he said. India's growth story is incomplete without the contribution of its Tier II, III cities and Acer is tapping into the market. These markets represent a new wave of aspirational consumers seeking quality products with robust after-sales support. Its retail strategy focuses on expanding exclusive Acer brand stores and partner-led outlets in these cities, strengthening multi-brand distribution partnerships with local channel players, localizing marketing initiatives that connect with community sentiments and consumer needs and enhancing service infrastructure to build lasting customer relationships. "We plan to double our retail footprint in the next two–three years, making Acer accessible to customers across urban and semi-urban India," Kohli added. The company's long-term vision is to be the most trusted technology partner for Indian consumers and businesses — known for innovation, reliability, and value.
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Small business owners ‘out of their depth' on tech skills critical for survival
Two-thirds of small businesses have said digital adoption is essential for their survival, but they are encountering 'significant issues' in attracting and retaining top digital talent as they compete with much larger companies . Lean BPI, an Irish digital growth consultancy for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and microenterprises, has published a survey that shows concerns among small enterprise owners about external threats to their businesses, along with issues regarding the adoption of digital technologies. Almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of small business owners reported that they struggle to retain talent due to competition from larger companies. As a result, the same proportion report a clear digital skills gap in their sector. Will rent reform make building apartments viable? Listen | 40:12 When assessing their own knowledge of digital technologies, 46 per cent of small business owners said they feel out of their depth. READ MORE With this in mind, 48 per cent reported that managing digital transformation is stressful and 43 per cent admitted they lack the confidence to drive digital change within their organisation. One in four small firm owners said they face pushback from their teams on embracing new technologies, while almost one in five said they are not providing sufficient training for their team on the use of digital technologies. In addition, 59 per cent of small businesses said they are worried about the impact of tariffs on their organisations. The research of 100 business owners in Ireland, running companies with 20 employees or fewer, was carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Lean BPI. [ EU must keep 'nerves of steel' in talks with US on tariffs, Costa says Opens in new window ] Lean BPI managing director John O'Shanahan urged small business owners to access digital grants from their Local Enterprise Office. 'Given their size, small businesses are naturally more vulnerable when there are economic shocks, which the proposed US tariffs would undoubtedly cause,' he said. 'While there will always be external challenges, it is how small businesses adapt to them that will determine their survival and success. 'For now, business owners are rightly concerned about tariffs, but inevitably, more challenges await – along with plenty of opportunities. The difference will be in agility and how businesses use technology to respond smartly and with speed.'
Arabian Business
16-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
UAE banks struggle with employee digital readiness despite leading GCC innovation: Report
UAE banks face barriers in empowering frontline employees to deliver seamless customer experiences, despite leading the GCC in digital adoption and omnichannel innovation, a survey by Arthur D. Little revealed. The study, conducted with 42 banks across the UAE and KSA, draws insights from 24 UAE banks surveyed in ADL's Omnichannel Survey 2024. The findings show that 72 per cent of UAE employees operate in mobile-first environments, reflecting the country's digital infrastructure. UAE banks face barriers However, 25 per cent of staff report lacking confidence to manage customer queries across multiple channels. Digital platform complexity creates further obstacles, with 35 per cent citing interface challenges and fragmented user journeys that disrupt service quality. 'UAE banks have invested heavily in digital infrastructure, but now the focus must shift to employee enablement. Bridging the gap between technology and talent is essential to realise the full potential of omnichannel strategies,' Martin Rauchenwald, Partner and Global Head of Financial Services practice at Arthur D. Little said. Data access and usability present concerns for UAE banking staff. Only 10 per cent of respondents say it is extremely easy to retrieve and use customer information across platforms, while 30 per cent find it extremely challenging. Fragmented systems and lack of real-time synchronisation force staff to rely on manual workarounds, increasing friction and reducing productivity. Customer service continuity faces disruption, with 42 per cent of UAE employees experiencing issues transferring customer problems between channels due to inconsistent service availability. This breakdown undermines customer trust and employee morale. The report notes that real-time backend integration, enabled through cloud and blockchain technology, is key to overcoming these hurdles. 'To deliver truly seamless service, UAE banks must prioritise backend modernisation, strengthen cross-channel consistency, and invest in training that's tailored to employee roles, digital fluency, and generational needs,' Rezwan Shafique, Principal, Financial Services at Arthur D. Little Middle East added. Employee training needs focus The survey reveals generational divides in digital tool satisfaction. Younger employees under 35 show 60 per cent satisfaction with digital tools, whilst only 28 per cent of those over 45 report the same level of satisfaction. Among the dissatisfied older group, 42 per cent attribute their struggle to insufficient training. The report suggests targeted mentorship, simulation-based learning, and inclusive upskilling are necessary to bridge these gaps and strengthen readiness across all age groups. Banks such as Emirates NBD and Mashreq are pioneering omnichannel models powered by AI and personalisation. The survey concluded that their success depends on aligning innovation with workforce capability. UAE banks must evolve from technology adopters to integration leaders by ensuring employees receive support, systems are unified, and customer experiences are seamless. The study indicated that the Emirates banks must now focus on backend modernisation and employee training to fully realise their digital investment potential.
National Post
11-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
How Canadian businesses can take the stress out of website building
This article was created by StackCommerce. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through our links on this page. Article content In today's fast-paced digital economy, Canadian businesses—especially small and medium-sized enterprises—are under pressure to deliver sleek, high-performing websites without the time or budget of large development teams. With the federal government recently expanding funding for digital adoption through programs like CDAP (Canada Digital Adoption Program), there's a growing need for efficient tools that help businesses upgrade their digital presence quickly. Article content Article content CopyElement is a cloud-based Elementor component library designed to help businesses build polished, professional websites. Instead of relying on bulky plugins or slow manual design, users can copy and paste over 650 ready-made, customizable components such as headers, hero sections, pricing tables and testimonials directly into their site using simple keyboard shortcuts. Article content Unlike traditional WordPress plugin add-ons, CopyElement is completely plugin-free. This is a key benefit for Canadian businesses trying to maintain fast site performance and better SEO. With a clean and lightweight build, it reduces load times and complexity, allowing business owners and freelance developers to focus on content and conversion, not technical troubleshooting. Article content As more businesses expand online, tools that speed up the development process without sacrificing quality are becoming essential assets. For Canadian entrepreneurs focused on scaling their digital operations without ballooning development costs, CopyElement presents a lean and practical solution. Article content
Forbes
10-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The HR Transformation Empowering This Company's 41,000 Employees
Leading tourism company TUI Group turned to WalkMe to help standardize and automate its HR processes for an improved employee experience and increased efficiency. By Gillian Hixson, SAP News The TUI Group is a leading global tourism company headquartered in Germany, offering integrated travel services like hotels, cruise ships, and travel agencies to its 20 million customers. At SAP Sapphire in Orlando, Laura Dean, digital adoption and training lead at TUI, shared the company's success in streamlining its HR processes in SAP SuccessFactors solutions with WalkMe. TUI implemented SAP SuccessFactors eight years ago, and now the company's over 41,000 employees use various SAP SuccessFactors solutions for performance management, talent management, learning, HR data management, and more. 'With so many capabilities and so many employees, as you can imagine, it's a steep learning curve for our employees,' Dean said. This is where TUI turned to WalkMe to help standardize and automate its HR processes for an improved employee experience and increased efficiency. TUI faced three main challenges when it came to HR processes, Dean explained: employees struggled to learn new systems, legacy training approaches were expensive and difficult to maintain, and time-consuming HR tasks were impacting overall business operations. 'We needed something that was going to bring us into the future but that could support the organization as well,' Dean said. The solution also needed to be available 24/7 and in multiple languages to effectively support TUI's global employee base, which includes flight attendants, pilots, travel agents, and other seasonal roles. TUI implemented WalkMe to help employees navigate the company's HR processes more easily and efficiently as well as aid HR staff members. With WalkMe analytics, TUI can identify where users have challenges in existing processes and then build WalkMe solutions to create personalized and automated experiences to help mitigate those challenges. For employees, this can mean the software feels easier to use; for HR staff and the business, it can lead to fewer employee and manager errors and faster time-to-value for SAP SuccessFactors solutions. Dean described how WalkMe automation helped simplify TUI's onboarding processes for new employees by automatically assigning e-mail addresses in the SAP SuccessFactors system during the hiring process to reduce login issues on an employee's first day. This not only improved the new hire experience, it also saved HR teams time and proactively addressed any errors. TUI also simplified the time-off request process for HR staff and employees. 'We set up a process whereby if somebody is booking sick leave and they have annual leave at the same time, WalkMe will intercept them. It will say 'You've actually got holiday at the same time so we need you to cancel that holiday and put it through as sick time,'' Dean said. 'What that means then for us is that we've got less questions going to HR, less tickets being raised, and more people following the actual process for their region.' WalkMe analytics can offer visibility into what software is being used and how. With this insight, companies can identify opportunities for improved efficiency and deploy in-app guidance and automations to address specific points in processes. 'One of the real benefits of WalkMe is how the data that is available helps us make decisions around how we support employees and how we build digital adoption solutions for our employees,' Dean said. 'We've focused a lot on the data that's within the annual employee process and how our users are actually using their system currently.' Analyzing aggregated annual employee form process data collected by WalkMe over 90 days, Dean saw that HR completed the process with no errors 70% of the time, completed the process with some errors 5% of the time, and did not complete the process 23% of the time. Even more, Dean could see where the errors were occurring and where users who didn't complete the form were getting stuck. Based on this data, Dean used WalkMe to highlight the most-missed fields on the form, reminding users to complete them before moving on. 'If 5% of the time they don't know that information, I need to do something when they get here to say, 'Please make sure you have this information before you carry on.' So, I'm telling them in advance they need to have that, which I can do with WalkMe,' she said. When asked how easy the analytics dashboards are to build, Dean explained that WalkMe gathers all the forms automatically so there's no need to build anything additional. With WalkMe flow analytics, you set up the process step-by-step and then the report collects data over time. 'It's super quick and easy. With UI intelligence you get an out-of-the-box set of insights that shows usage of forms in the system. It shows me where people stop and start processing and points of friction,' she said. TUI's brand purpose to 'create the moments that make life richer' not only applies to its customers, but extends to its employee base as well. With the help of WalkMe and SAP SuccessFactors solutions, TUI has certainly succeeded in enriching and empowering HR and end users. 'What we've been able to see is 80% higher employee self-efficiency,' Dean said. 'So the good news is they don't need to contact their local support team because actually what they can do is go into our WalkMe menu and search for any of the content, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across six different languages.' TUI has also experienced 70% less time spent on training, a 40% increase in task completion, and 50% fewer support calls with the help of WalkMe. For Dean herself, WalkMe has enhanced her role as a trainer: 'It actually supports me to do that change management piece within my organization. It supports me to educate and enable our end users without me having to be available and fly all around the world.' Discover how WalkMe for SAP SuccessFactors HCM can help drive adoption and streamline HR processes. This story also appears on the SAP News Center.
