Spark New Zealand today welcomed the decision by Communications Minister Amy Adams to seek proposals to extend the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI).

Spark GM Regulation John Wesley-Smith said, “We welcome this decision, and we’re looking forward to working our way through the details and working with Government, community stakeholders and other telecommunications network operators to identify how the Government’s RBI and Mobile Black Spot Fund can be best directed to improve ultra-fast broadband availability in rural New Zealand.”

A Request for Proposals has been issued to extend the RBI and provide mobile coverage to black spots on state highways and in tourist areas. 

For more information see https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/next-phase-flagship-rural-
connectivity-rollout-launched

Goodman Fielder welcomes Friday’s announcement from the New Zealand Government that it intends to maintain the current regulations regarding raw milk supply for the NZ domestic market under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA).

 “Today’s announcement is an important step in ensuring Kiwi consumers continue to get competitive prices and choice,” said Tim Deane, Managing Director of Goodman Fielder in New Zealand.

“These regulations were first introduced in 2001 when Fonterra was created to ensure there was sufficient competition in the New Zealand market for raw milk.

“This is still relevant today. These regulations ensure there is viable competition in the market which is good news for Kiwi consumers because it helps keep NZ dairy prices competitive and ensures there is a wider choice of products and brands on the market.

“It also ensures companies like Goodman Fielder can continue to invest in their business and their brands to bring innovation for New Zealand consumers.”

Mr Deane said Goodman Fielder would continue to work with both the Government and other parts of the dairy industry following Friday’s announcement.

“There is a lot of work still to be done in this area and we look forward to making a positive contribution to maintain a competitive and viable domestic dairy industry for the benefit of all New Zealanders,” he said.

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New Zealand’s services sector experienced a softening in expansion across all main indicators, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).
 
The PSI for September was 54.1.  This was 3.8 points down from August, and very similar to the 54.3 recorded in July (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).
 
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said that while the September result still indicated healthy expansion, comments from respondents tended to show a few seasonal factors at play that gave pause to expansion.
 
“A number of those who provided negative comments tended to focus on current weather conditions, as well as school holidays affecting operations.  This culminated in the proportion of negative comments rising from 34.8% in August to 39.3% in September.”
 
Regarding the latest PSI results, BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said “looking through the monthly volatility, there has been some trend slowing in the PSI over recent months. It appears firm’s difficulty in finding staff is one of the obviously many factors involved”.

Goody Card, a groundbreaking smartphone based digital customer loyalty programme, has raised $750,000 in a recent capital raise. The funds will be used to fuel its rapid growth and the company’s move into enterprise and larger business sectors.

Some of the new capital will be spent on further developing the Goody platform, which includes adding a vast array of new features to improve merchant business intelligence and rewarding consumers. Goody’s interim goal is also to increase brand awareness, and to educate Kiwis on the benefits of ditching paper-based loyalty cards, and opting for an app-based, universal programme.

New investors include the Bhatnagar family, who are top five investors in NZX listed Pushpay, a multiple award winning mobile payments business, through its Alliance Equities Ltd vehicle. The firm is joined by four other new shareholders, including Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1.

“We are aiming to have 1 million Kiwis using Goody Card by October 2017,” explains Goody Card founder, Gorran Marusich. “To keep up with this fast growth, we’ll be investing in more staff resources to serve our customers, and to ensure we’re delivering a high-end loyalty and marketing solution.”

“The capital raise is a positive move both for the future of Goody Card and for our business clients and members,” he adds. “It will help us keep growing, meaning we can make the service available to even more people. We are committed to becoming a market leader in cloud-based customer loyalty.”

Fast-growing Goody Card now has 400,000 members signed up, and a network of 730 New Zealand merchants. This includes the McDonald’s owned McCafe network, Lumino The Dentists, AUT, Jesters, Host Accommodation, and GAS Petrol Service Stations. Goody looks forward to announcing further high-profile businesses before Christmas.

The simplicity of the Goody app combined with the powerful business intelligence offered to merchants makes Goody a compelling loyalty programme for businesses. Says Brian Baker, a McDonalds franchisee, “It works, it’s easy and is perfect for our business.”

Goody was started in 2014 by Gorran, and joined early in the business by Shane Bradley, Internet entrepreneur. Goody replaces traditional loyalty programmes. Businesses are provided with their own in-store, branded tablet. Customers can either download the free Goody mobile app or use a physical loyalty card to scan on the tablet. This enables retailers to keep track of how often customers come in and offer them rewards for repeated business more effectively than the traditional stamp card.

The customer’s current points and rewards options are displayed on the tablet screen when they scan their card or app and are also accessible online. The points are unique to each business. One business might offer free coffees, while another might provide hot lap tickets after a certain number of purchases. The flexibility of the programme and cloud software means businesses can customise their rewards to their particular consumer audience. 

For further details on Goody Card, visit goodycard.co.nz.

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