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B2C (Business to customer) news
It's becoming apparent that retailers that sell low priced items are going the marketplace and advertising model way to create revenue. Walmart adding advertising to their operations provides brands with another reason to invest into a channel that generates sales. Digiday
Amazon is shutting down certain areas of its AmazonFresh business. This is confirmation to me that Amazon is placing more value on selling groceries via Whole Foods instead of losing money doing deliveries to areas that are far from fulfillment centres. Recode, GeekWire, Bloomberg technology
Online Retailers Are Desperate to Stem a Surging Tide of Returns. Online sales are growing at about three times the rate of those from brick-and-mortar stores, in part because of the popularity of free shipping. But that’s led to a big problem: an explosion of online returns. Almost a third of web orders end up being sent back, vs. 9 percent of purchases at physical stores. Bloomberg. Axios
In China, customers are going back to retailers due to their usage of technology (mobile apps). I believe that Chinese commerce (online and offline) are outliers in comparison to other parts of the world and thus drawing comparisons to it must be done cautiously . China Daily
HelloFresh is growing three times faster than Blue Apron and is worth twice as much. The meal-kit-delivery service went public this past week. Investors now have options in the meal kit vertical. Recode, CB Insights
Nike, is increasingly looking like a brand that is concerned about its future. The fact that they are willing to cut resellers that do not provide a "differentiated experience" that is mediocre indicates to me that they are putting retailers on notice about termination of agreements. Fortune
Blue Apron is in trouble and they need to start looking for a buyer as HelloFresh will place pressure on them. The New York-based cooking kit business released its third-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday. The results were mixed. The company handily beat revenue expectations, but its losses were also worse than expected. TechCrunch, Retail Leader
Earlier this week, Latch completed the world’s first unattended deliveries using smart access. Beginning Monday morning, thousands of people in New York City are able to order anything they want from our partners online and know that they can return home to their packages without the threat of theft, inclement weather, or the dreaded “sorry we missed you” door tag. Medium, TechCrunch
TripAdvisor removed warnings about rapes and injuries at Mexico resorts, tourists say - deeply concerning. The company’s policies and practices obscure the public’s ability to fully evaluate the information on its site. Secret algorithms determine which hotels and resorts appear when consumers search. Some hotels pay TripAdvisor when travelers click on their links; some pay commissions when tourists book or travel. Journal Sentinel
Ctrip.com China’s biggest trip-booking website, has acquired Silicon Valley-based travel planning and local discovery app and site Trip.com for an undisclosed sum, the company said in a release. DealStreet Asia
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D2C (Direct To Customer) news
Is memberships required for direct to customer businesses? Kate Hudson seems to think so... The brand, which launched online, is now expanding into brick-and-mortar stores. Hudson says Fabletics will have 24 stores across the country by the end of the year, and the business now rakes in $250 million in annual revenues. Fast Company
Untuckit, the retail brand known for its signature men's shirts, is rolling out a line for children and growing their retail location footprint. The company has said it aims to open 100 stores over the next five years, and is in discussions with mall developers. CNBC
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Marketplace news
Alibaba’s stellar financial performance continues unabated after the Chinese e-commerce giant again beat analyst expectations thanks to impressive growth in its core business at home. The firm reported total revenue of RMB 55.1 billion ($8.3 billion), beating expectations of RMB 52.2 billion according to a Reuters poll with 61 percent growth. Net profit for the period increased by 146 percent to reach RMB 17.7 billion ($2.7 billion). TechCrunch, Bloomberg Technology
Amazon's next targets: FedEx and UPS. Lost in this torrent of news are indications that Amazon's revenue formula is fundamentally changing: from a reliance on retail and cloud services, the e-retailer appears likely to power future growth with fulfillment and shipping services to third-party sellers. Axios
Amazon has slashed seller fees to try to improve its grocery selection online. Lower fees is a good start but with Fulfillment by Amazon fees combined with an 8% commission fee, still makes groceries a hard business for marketplace sellers. The economics of selling low-priced packaged goods online are tough. Recode
The Alibaba Warehouse Where Fake Goods Go to Die - fascinating. Alibaba’s counterfeit evidence warehouse is shrouded in mystery: The vast majority of the company’s employees have never set foot inside it, and until recently, most were only dimly aware of its existence. In the storeroom we were shown, around 30 shelving units stood in neat rows, all packed tight with cardboard boxes full of fakes. These products, in turn, were sorted by brand. Sixth Tone
Costco shrugs off Amazon which remind me of Blockbuster not taking Netflix seriously. Costco is in the biggest fight for its future as Amazon Prime and Sam's Club impact their bottomline. RetailDive
South Africa's online automobile marketplace, AutoTrader, has officially merged with OLX Group. The implications of this acquisition for the second hand car sales industry will be interesting. Both digital companies are owned by South African technology and media investment company, Naspers. iAfrikan
Buying stuff at Walmart and selling it on Amazon nets this guy millions of dollars. That’s according to a 28-year-old former accountant who told CNBC that he makes six figures raiding the big-box store’s discount aisles and flipping the items on Amazon. Mashable
Sellers are protesting against Amazon India’s returns policy by pulling back ads. The Group alleges that its members are bleeding because Amazon has been approving fake return requests and making them pay for reverse logistics. The sellers also say that they are forced to bear the cost of the product that is often damaged or used. Quartz
Why selling higher-end brands gives Walmart a fighting chance against Amazon. Walmart is spending big to attract affluent customers in an effort to capture market share from Amazon. Walmart has mostly used Jet.com as a channel to sell these higher-end brands, marketing it as a separate channel for a millennial, metropolitan audience. The company launched a new private-label business called Uniquely J on Oct. 20 to further serve those consumers with everyday essential yet premium products. Digiday
SouChe.com, a Chinese car trading site, raised $335 million in a funding round led by Alibaba Group. as it expands in auto-financing and prepares for a potential U.S. IPO. Alibaba will become the biggest backer of the site and integrate parts of the business with its own e-commerce services. Bloomberg Technology
Jumia Egypt negotiates with a number of banks to offer new payment solutions to buy online.All companies are working to reduce the payment via cash purchases, by providing non-traditional payment solutions while at the same time giving the consumer confidence. Daily News Egypt
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Fashion ecommerce news
ASOS has today unveiled a new “try before you buy” service for customers using its app. The service, which has been introduced in partnership with payment provider Klarna, allows app users to order anything from the etailer’s 85,000-strong product line up, have it delivered to their home using any of ASOS’s various delivery options and only pay for what they keep within 30 days of the order being dispatched, with no additional fees or interest. The Industry London
JD.com, the close rival to Alibaba, has led a $19 million investment in Bangkok-headquartered online fashion brand Pomelo. JD.com has now real other move than to invest into startup early as late stage investing and acquisitions are being dominated by Alibaba. Fashion in South East Asia is clearly still a market that has huge potential and don't have incumbents that are dominant. TechCrunch
Clique Media Group, Owner Of Who What Wear, Becomes A Bona Fide Fashion Brand. “Having spent over a decade getting to know our reader, we can now create products for them based on the data we collect, then market products to them,” says Power. “We think of this as a kind of consumer ecosystem.” Fast Company
Luxury handbag marketplace Rebagg is now Rebag and is one of a number of startups in the consignment space. As part of the rebranding effort, Rebag is introducing a new app, which allows you to take a photo of your used handbag and arrange a pickup. If it’s right for Rebag, the startup will buy the handbag and then attempt to resell it on its marketplace. TechCrunch
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Mobile commerce
Mobile’s contribution to holiday shopping, in terms of both visits and sales, has been growing every year. But the 2017 holiday shopping season will hit a new milestone: for the first time ever, mobile visits to retailer’s websites are expected to surpass desktop visits during the months of November and December. TechCrunch
Amazon is introducing a new feature called AR View that lets customers visualize online products in their own living space, using their smartphone camera. Launched today in the Amazon app for iOS devices, AR View offers the ability to view thousands of products for the home or office. TechCrunch, GeekWire
Target announced a new app called “myCheckout” for its store staff that will allow them to process online transactions on the customer’s behalf, including taking payments, right from the store’s floor when merchandise is unavailable locally. TechCrunch
The Cost of Acquiring a Mobile App User - some good insights here. In fact, mobile app marketing and retargeting company Liftoff analyzed user data for a year, and found that the average cost to acquire a user who makes a purchase via an app is $64.96. eMarketer
WhatsApp is becoming the customer service tool of choice for Nigerian e-commerce."With WhatsApp as an additional touch point for you, you can constantly create a positive experience for your customers." Quartz
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Stats and other interesting news
New York is an ecommerce hub and Alleywatch has done a great visualization to illustrate that. Alleywatch
PitchBook decided to compile a list of the 18 most valuable ecommerce startups in the US. No wish, OfferUp nor Rover which clearly makes this list unrepresentative nor a proper reflection of US ecommerce.. PitchBook
Everything You Need to Know About Shipping Wines Across US State Lines in 2017. Consumers from all but 14 states can no longer legally ship wine across state lines. The repercussions of this are enormous. Consumers in less prominent wine markets, such as Maryland or Montana, cannot access a wider range of top wines via wine clubs, online retailers, and out-of-state retailers. It also endangers wine retail shops that depend on out-of-state markets. VinePair
Coupang has renewed its own record for the amount of orders during the Chuseok holiday. Over one million items were ordered in a day through the company’s direct purchase and delivery service Rocket Delivery, it said. During the 10-day Chuseok holiday Coupang received over 1,000 Rocket delivery orders at its peak in a span of one minute. Per hour searches made by customers exceeded 430,000. Korea Herald
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Thoughts on the news from this past week
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