Retaining the interest of the customer is one of the biggest challenges faced by the global online e-commerce vendors. The e-commerce vendors do not have much control on an individual's buying decision and end up losing their prospective customers if the website or app is not user-friendly. In such an instance, mcommerce plays a vital role as it enables a customer to make a purchase with the one device that is always with them, i.e., cellphone  F-commerce, buying and selling through the social media platform Facebook, is emerging as a trend in the online retail market. It is gaining high traction due to the increased number of active Facebook users, which increased from 1.39 billion in 2014 to 1.5 billion in 2015.

The glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) segment accounted for the largest market share of 82.02% in 2015. This significant market share is attributed to lower cost, easy availability, and advanced specifications of GFRP that are used in making hull and interior body parts of boats and cruise ships.Polyester was mainly consumed in the manufacturing of marine composites and accounted for 48% of the market in 2015. This high share is due to the low cost of polyester composite and its ease of use as marine composites.The powerboats segment accounted for the largest market share of 55.14% in 2015. This significant market share is attributed to the technological advancements in this sector. The key drivers for the increasing demand for marine composites in powerboats are the rise in demand for high-speed boats and increasing use of fuelefficient marine transports in recreation activities.

Around 4%-6% of the global population is affected by lower back pain, and also the number of spondylolisthesis cases in gymnasts, weight lifters, and football linesmen and women is on the rise. Surgeons estimate that one in 10 individuals suffering from spine disorders

require surgery. In the US, about 450,000 spinal fusion procedures were performed in 2015, which corresponds to about 0.13% of the

US population. The average cost of lumbar spine fusion procedure is about $34,500. Total spine fusion procedures generated about $15.3

billion in the US in 2015. It was estimated that about 84% of the bone grafts are used in spine surgeries (spinal fusion procedures) to relieve back and neck pain. This rise in the number of spinal fusion surgeries will result in increased sales of lumbar spine fusion devices.

The chat software industry is in its evolving stage; the market for live chat software is yet to be fully grown in Europe and APAC. The adoption rate of live chat software is increasing among end-users. For instance, the number of users of LiveChat solution, one of the leading live chat software providers, increased by 794 in two months (June and July 2016). The major end-users include enterprises and

universities. The clients of live chat software range from small on-line stores to global brands such as Pizza Hut, AirAsia, Kaspersky Lab, Orange, Adobe,Samsung, and Tele2.Vendors such as SnapEngage and LiveChat are adding more features, such as knowledge database integration, language support for different countries or regions, and automatic reporting to enable users to monitor real-time activity, into their software. Such activities by vendors will drive the market during the forecast period.

BMI View: Bulgaria represents one of the smallest medical device markets in the EU. We expect it to register a mid single-digit local currency CAGR over the 2015-2020 period. The market is largely reliant upon imports which are primarily sourced from other EU member states. Market growth will be dependent upon increasing healthcare funding and the success of efforts to develop the private sector.

This market report provides a comprehensive overview of the mobile network operator and MVNO telecom market across the various economies of Asia. The list of operators ranges from the giant China Mobile with more than 850 million subscribers right through to a number of much smaller operators with only a few thousand subscribers each. And of course there are the mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).

The focus of this report is on the operators within their individual national markets. In addition to these individual operators there are those companies such as SingTel, Vodafone, and Axiata (formerly Telekom Malaysia International) that have built a substantial presence around the Asian region beyond their own domestic market through their shareholdings in operators in multiple other markets. While this aspect of the regional operations is not discussed in any detail, it is mentioned in passing in the relevant country reviews.

Uncertainty has a cycle, like everything else, which threatened to peak in 2016, as geopolitical risk took centre-stage in shaping the fortunes of global corporates. Our view: the net effects of anti-trade sentiment from growing nationalism, protectionism, and Brexit are likely to outweigh greater hope for fiscal stimulus in corporates’ investment planning.An overall stable outlook for corporate ratings in 2017 also fails to show persisting high levels of regional disparity. Net Negative Outlooks and Watches improved strongly in the U.S, but Latin American corporates are facing increasingly challenging conditions and a weakening credit trend with Negative Outlooks comprising 31% of our international rating portfolio. The slow recovery from the recession in Brazil, weak domestic growth rates in Chile, tax reforms in Colombia, and economic uncertainty in Mexico will continue to pressure ratings over the next 12 to 18 months.

The PPE market in the US is mature and is driven by increasing R&D innovation.With high market penetration in over 80% of the products categories, vendors in the market are focusing on product enhancements through R&D. The R&D expenditure of MSA Safety grew by 5.88% in 2015 compared to 2013. In June 2016, DuPont announced the development of the next generation Tensylon, which is a polyethylene material with ultra-high molecular weight and high performance.Tensylon is used in hard armor PPE for law enforcement and military applications.

This expansion of R&D by DuPont is under contract with the US army. Smart PPE has become a preferred choice for end-user industries such as emergency medical services, mining, and oil and gas, due to improved safety management features and ease of use. New smart PPE products available in the market offer integrated features such as Bluetooth, radio frequency identification (RFID), and near field communication (NFC) to enhance communication. So, the revenue contribution of smart PPE is expected to increase to 25% by 2020.

The point of sale (POS) terminals market in Europe is driven by the small and medium enterprises segment and the replacement of non-Europay, MasterCard,and Visa (non-EMV) POS terminals with EMV POS terminals by the existing endusers. As of 2015, 65.85% of POS terminals were used at fixed terminals, which will decline to 56.74% by 2020 due to the increasing demand for mobile POS terminals.The demand for value-added services such as inventory management, analytics,and sales tools integrated with POS terminals is growing. These services will be a major source of revenue for vendors during the forecast period.Contactless payment systems are gaining traction in the POS terminals market in Europe. The overall payment card transactions based on near-field communication (NFC) will increase from 5.59% in 2015 to 12.05% in 2020.