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NEWS PEPSICO APPOINTS NEW APAC CEO Wern-Yuen Tan has been appointed CEO of PepsiCo Asia Pacific, overseeing all PepsiCo’s operations in the region. Mr Tan, who will begin his new role on June 15, will be based in Singapore and will report to PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta. Before joining PepsiCo, Mr Tan served as president and CEO of Walmart China where he led a team of 100,000 associates responsible for more than $10 billion in annual revenue across the Walmart, Sam’s Club and eCommerce businesses. During his tenure, he led Walmart China through a time of transformation to become an “industry pioneer” in omnichannel innovation and retail digitisation. Before joining Walmart in 2017, Mr Tan served as managing director for McDonald’s Taiwan, where he gained experience in the foodservice sector. Earlier in his career, he was a principal at Boston Consulting Group, where he advised retail and consumer clients on growth strategy, innovation and turnarounds. Mr Tan began his career in the Singapore government. “With deep roots across this region and an unparalleled offering, PepsiCo is uniquely positioned to expand its market share and existing omnichannel capabilities across APAC,” Mr Tan said. “I look forward to working with Ramon and the entire leadership team to drive growth and localised solutions in this dynamic part of the world.” CONSUMERS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT DRONE DELIVERY A recent survey of 500 Australian consumers by business mobility and IoT solutions company SOTI has found that 54 per cent are comfortable with drone and self-propelled vehicle delivery. “The supply chain industry is one that is used to adapting and evolving to meet ever increasing consumer expectations,” SOTI Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Michael Dyson said. “With the rise of online shopping, we’ve also seen an increase in demand from consumers for faster delivery, something that’s been particularly highlighted by the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. “With Australian consumers now familiar with and open to the idea of having the products they buy online delivered by drones, it’s only a matter of time before local supply chains will face new pressures to transform and cater to this new delivery channel.” SOTI has also found that the receptiveness of Australian consumers to drone delivery is well ahead of consumer sentiment across the globe. In its 2020 ‘State of Mobility Retail Report’, SOTI explored how ready consumers around the world were for drone delivery. According to this study, 31 per cent of respondents were in favour of delivery drones and even in countries that were a little more cautious in other areas of the survey (the UK and Germany) 25 per cent of surveyed consumers were comfortable with drone delivery. Additionally, the report found consumers globally are open to the use of other emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicle delivery (27 per cent). “With consumer enthusiasm in Australia now high for drone delivery, the supply chain industry will need to evolve to include drones in the delivery matrix,” Mr Dyson said. “It’s vital that Australian retailers and logistics providers gain consumer trust and adoption of new supply chain technologies, such as drones, to ensure they’re able to fully capitalise on this new opportunity.” 16 RETAIL WORLD JUN, 2020