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Marketplace news
Mr. Amazon Steps Out - a good read on Jeff Bezos. Mr. Bezos, they said, accepts the probability of greater government scrutiny of Amazon. The chief executive has advised Amazon executives to conduct themselves so that they can pass any legal or regulatory test. The New York Times
Alibaba's Taobao again on U.S. blacklist list for fakes. The U.S. Trade Representative put Alibaba’s Taobao on its blacklist for the second year in a row over suspected counterfeits sold on the shopping platform, a move the Chinese e-commerce giant said did not reflect its IP-protection efforts. Reuters
"Scapegoat" Alibaba Responds to Inclusion on U.S. Trade Representative's Black List. “As a result of the rise of trade protectionism, Alibaba has been turned into a scapegoat by the USTR to win points in a highly-politicized environment and their actions should be recognized for what they are. The USTR’s actions made it clear that the Notorious Markets List, which only targets non-US marketplaces, is not about intellectual property protection, but just another instrument to achieve the US Government’s geopolitical objectives.” The Fashion Law
Your Amazon Order Could Get You in Trouble With Customs. In November, Harper Reed, an entrepreneur in residence at Paypal and the former chief technology officer at Obama for America, tweeted that he had purchased a suitcase on Amazon by Rimowa, a high-end luggage brand whose full-size styles typically retail upwards of $700. His name had been flagged by CBP for importing counterfeit goods — specifically, a Rimowa suitcase. Racked
Alibaba will soon open logistics center in France.Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will soon open a logistics center in France and increase the sale of French products on its online trading platforms. The company is currently looking for a site and for partners. Ecommerce News Europe
Chinese retailer JD.com commits to sell 2 billion euros in French imports. JD.com, China’s largest retailer, announced on Tuesday plans to sell 2 billion euros (US$2.4 billion) of French goods to Chinese consumers over the next two years, and to purchase another 100 million euros in French-made products. The Edge Markets
Swedish online marketplace Webgallerian relaunches. Webgallerian, an online marketplace from Sweden, has relaunched this year. The goal is still the same: to bring together hundreds of online stores under one single roof and to become the biggest online marketplace in the Nordic region. Ecommerce News Europe
JD.Com To Buy 100 Million Euro Sorting Equipment From France's Fives Group. JD.com, China's largest retailer by revenue, said it will purchase 100 million euros ($119.4 million) of advanced sorting technology from French industrial engineering company Fives Group to boost the productivity of its automated warehouse network around China. Nikkei Asian Review
The 29-year-old whose company makes millions buying from Walmart and selling on Amazon reveals his biggest money mistake. "I went from just me in this business doing around $3-5,000 in sales per month and now, four years later, we're a team of 11 and we're doing well over $200,000 in sales per month," Grant says. The team had to move to a warehouse that's over five times as large as their first this past July. CNBC
Chinese Retailer JD.com’s Latest Gig: Supplying Restaurants. Most Chinese consumers go to JD.com to buy electronic gadgets and other items. Restaurant operator Zhang Zong uses China’s No. 2 e-commerce company to deliver 400 million pounds of carp heads. Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Bukalapak to Open Research Center in Bandung, Explore Artificial Intelligence. Bukalapak, an e-commerce marketplace platform, plans to establish a research and development center in Bandung, West Java, to explore artificial intelligence, machine learning and the so-called Internet of Things technology. Jakarta Globe
eBay sets up a new branch in SE China. E-commerce giant eBay set up a new branch in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province Thursday, its second branch in China after Shenzhen. eBay and Linca Industrial (Fujian) Group Co., Ltd also inaugurated the Fujian cross-border e-commerce industrial park in China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Fuzhou. XinhauNet, Street Insider
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Weekly Marketplace Insights
This past week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., paving the way for a pivotal decision in the years-long debate over how to apply sales taxes to online retail activity.
The debate on online taxation and this case between South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc could set a precedent and provide a massive change in the marketplace ecosystem. What legislators are trying to do is force marketplace operators to start collecting sales tax and assist States in ensuring that marketplace sellers are held accountable for sales to customers in their respective States. This is being seen by some as providing a level playing field between these platforms and retailers. I could not disagree more as these measures will impact sellers and not the platforms. The interesting element of this matter is whether the States are going retroactively enforce this change as that could lead to large bills that companies will have to settle. Calling bankruptcy on businesses does not remove these tax payments.
The changes that will happen is that those marketplace sellers that are a large part of marketplaces such as Amazon could disappear and negatively impact selection for customers and revenue generation for the respective marketplaces.
I want to be clear, I am not a tax professional and opinions expressed above are mine. For financial advice please contact your local tax specialist.
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B2C (Business to customer) news
Found on Instagram, sold on Alibaba: Even the smallest brands are now the victims of counterfeiting. So it came as a shock one day to learn that Team Dream clothing was being counterfeited and sold on a major Chinese e-commerce site. The seller, a store named Gentleman Racing Club, made only the slightest changes: removing Team Dream’s chubby bobcat logo and stamping GRC on the back. Its page, which Alibaba removed after talking to The Times. Los Angeles Times
Red Points takes $12M to help brands beat fakes. The startup offers a cloud-based SaaS solution for IP infringement detection and removal. The system scans for counterfeit products online on behalf of customers and automates the process of having any fake goods (and/or pirated content) removed. TechCrunch, Tech.eu
Buy a sofa, hire a helper: Handy expands retail partnerships. These days, lots of customers don't want to just buy TVs and sofas. They also want someone to come over to hang up the flat screen or put the furniture together. Handy CEO Oisin Hanrahan says that's been an opportunity for the company to expand its partnerships with retailers. AP
Confessions of a retail exec: We use Amazon as a ‘dumping ground’. We made a conscious decision to use Amazon as a dumping ground. We do little discounting, so the way we get rid of slower-moving inventory that might be discontinued is on Amazon. We get some level of profit. Honestly, the only reason to sell on Amazon is if you’re a commodity or your competitors are on it. Digiday
E-commerce Sites Have A New Form Of Fraud To Fear: Journey Hijacking. “I didn’t even know we had a problem,” said Jason LeBoeuf, director of e-commerce at athletics footwear brand Asics. The Asics website was the victim of customer journey hijacking, a sneaky practice by which malware sitting on a site visitor’s machine entices users to click on unauthorized product ads and links that whisk them away from their original destination to other sites. AdExchanger
Vacation Rental Search Startups Face Intensifying Rivalry. These startups aim to offer similar price-comparison for non-hotel lodging. Five companies claim to be “the world’s largest” by various measures. But a few sources at third-party suppliers who see booking volumes speculated that HomeToGo had become neck-and-neck with Tripping in transaction volume by late 2017. That said, all of the companies keep their data private, the sector is still fractured and maturing, and the game’s outcome remains up in the air. Skift
Tiger Global, CMC Rumoured To Lead $450M Round In Chinese Fresh Produce E-commerce Platform Meicai.cn. Tiger Global Management and CMC Capital Partners have reportedly led a US$450 million new funding round in Meicai.cn, a fresh produce e-commerce platform connecting farmers and restaurants. The new round is reported to value Meicai.cn, already a unicorn listed in China Unicorn Ranking, at US$2.8 billion, up from US$2 billion valuation when it raised an undisclosed amount of series D round in 2016. China Money Network, Dealstreet Asia
Shopify’s Asia Rival Eyes $20 Million To Fuel Emerging Market Expansion. Shopmatic allows small and medium enterprises to set up their own online stores in minutes. It provides customers with integrated payment and third-party shipping function on the platform. Bloomberg Quint
The Rise of Subscription Boxes: What Makes Us Sign Up? The rush of positive emotions – and the underlying psychological effect – associated with these acts is, according to researchers, very similar to what gamblers, video game enthusiasts, and runners experience. It is also one of the key reasons why subscription boxes have proven a wildly successful market phenomenon. The Fashion Law
Amazon Turns to Video Format for Product Reviews. Amazon may have a workaround as Product Reviews are increasingly being gamed by merchants looking to boost their exposure and harm their competitors. The solution? Actively promote more product reviews in video format. EcommerceBytes, Quartz
Online shopping in Africa doesn’t work because of this web form - this is part of the problem but not the problem that African e-commerce faces. It seems to me that most African online shopping stores just xerox existing templates that have worked in developed economies where physical address system is quite organized. They completely neglect the realities of their operating environment where organized neighbourhoods well-labelled streets and addresses are nearly non-existent. Medium
Craft wine is undergoing a renaissance. This Chicago startup will help you get in on it. Winestyr lets independent producers set up their own digital storefronts, which the startup’s team populates with information about the winery and its products. The company also offers fulfillment and logistics services to wineries, with a shipping center located right outside of Chicago. builtinChicago
Patanjali’s big online retail move is all about a $6 billion prize. However, Patanjali lacks the reach of other FMCG majors, especially compared to HUL, India’s largest consumer goods maker. India’s billion-plus population is serviced by over eight million retail outlets scattered across urban and rural India. ITC alone reaches over 4 million of these, while HUL sells through 6.3 million. So e-commerce could help bridge Patanjali’s distribution gaps to a large extent. Quartz
Amazon in your fridge? Retailer expands instant ordering capability of smart devices. The Seattle online retail giant on Wednesday launched a set of software development tools for companies to build an instant-ordering option into their own products that have a screen so customers can toggle through for multiple items. The Seattle Times
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D2C (Direct To Customer) news
Why a New York Startup Zeroed in on Dallas Shoppers. The conversation started on Instagram in 2016, where influencers who had been sent LIVELY product were posting from Dallas to Denver. After holding a few small events in New York, the small team began planning a cross-country for a tour that would bring them to a new city each month. “We posted on social and asked, ‘Where should we go?’ Dallas was the loudest and proudest response,” says founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant. The D Magazine
As Amazon And Walmart Duke It Out, Niche Retail Can Thrive. I think that digitally native brands are the future. Having that direct connection to the customer is very important. Millennial shoppers want to not only buy the product but know where the product’s made, the environmental position of the company, the social impact that the company’s making. Fast Company
A Breakout Branding Master Class from Glossier, Sweetgreen, Away, And Walker & Co. Salad. Suitcases. Razors. Face wash. None of these words typically inspire enthusiasm. But when associated with certain fast-growing enterprises, the reactions can be rapturous. Fast Companies
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Fashion e-commerce news
How Amazon Could Steal The Mid-Tier Luxury Market. Amazon could launch vertically integrated, mass-customized brands of its own that use technology to smooth the customer shopping process, similar to Indochino. While Amazon isn’t likely to get catalog coverage from many of the ultra-luxury brands, it does have the ability to make a number of mid-level luxury brands less relevant to large segments of Amazon customers, replacing those brands through the merchandising of its own private-label luxury brands at prices that encourage even the slightly price-sensitive luxury products customer to consider a cheaper alternative, available directly from Amazon. Forbes
French retailer Carrefour has agreed to acquire a 17 percent stake in online fashion retailer Showroomprive.com for 79 million euros from furniture chain Conforama. “This partnership is a new step in the acceleration of our digital strategy, in an omnichannel approach,” chief executive of Carrefour Alexandre Bompard said. Reuters
JD.com Partners with “China’s Pinterest” on New WeChat Sales Venture. Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com will collaborate with Meili on a new fashion e-tail venture, which will reportedly be run as a WeChat mini-program. The venture is set to make its debut after Chinese New Year. Jing Daily
Global online fashion giant Zalando has revealed it will open two more physical outlets in its home market of Germany during 2018. The multibrand etailer already has Oulets in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main and Cologne and will be adding two further stores in Leipzig and Hamburg in city centre locations. Leipzig will open in early summer while Hamburg will open in late summer. The Industry
Online fashion retailer Boohoo doubles sales over festive period. Sales at the online fashion retailer Boohoo doubled at Christmas as young women flocked to the website for party outfits and gifts. The Manchester-based company, which also owns the PrettyLittleThing [PLT] and Nasty Gal online brands, is winning sales from traditional high street retailers as it cashes in on a generation that shops via their mobiles and takes style cues from social media. The Guardian, Retail Gazette
Voonik to focus on private labels to turn profitable, go public by 2019. Fashion e-tailer Voonik, which recently said it had turned EBITDA profitable, now plans to focus on private label brands to become profitable and go public by 2019. "We expect these brands to contribute almost 50% by the end of this year," Sujayath Ali, co-founder of Voonik, told ET. The Economic Times, Inc42
With The Ones, Zappos looks to woo female sneakerheads. “As an online retailer, we’ve always loved the concept of pop-ups — they’re a way for you to interact with your customers in real life and bring the Zappos brand and service to life,” said Kristin Richmer, senior brand marketing manager at Zappos. Glossy
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Mobile commerce
Flurry: Shopping app use jumped 54% in 2017. Mobile shopping app use jumped 54% in 2017 from the prior year, making retail the fastest-growing category among apps, analytics firm Flurry found. Mobile Marketer, Flurry
Amazon’s new Prime Now will deliver your Whole Foods haul in time for dinner. Amazon is now offering Prime customers free same-day and next-day shipping on 10,000 products sold at Whole Foods, including many of your faves (wine, included). Well Good, Eater
Kroger And Rivals In Talks To Buy Wholesale Startup Boxed For Up To $500 Million. Online wholesale startup Boxed is in talks with Kroger and several Big Retail rivals for an acquisition that could reach $500 million -- and take another independent commerce startup off the market. Forbes
Sprouts signs on with Instacart as U.S. grocers experiment with delivery. U.S. healthy food supermarket chain Sprouts Farmers Market on Tuesday said it will offer home delivery through Instacart, becoming the latest grocer to partner with the startup since Amazon.com revived its push into food sales. Reuters, Business Insider
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Stats and other interesting news
Latest Attempt to ‘Disrupt’ Bodegas Is a Self-Driving Corner Store on Wheels - Grubstreet
Online supermarket Ocado unveils robot prototype designed to help maintain warehouse bots - The Verge
Toyota reveals e-Palette, a vision for a futuristic ‘Treasure Truck,’ with Amazon among early partners. - GeekWire
Jumia reached 1 billion visit landmark in 2017 - IT Web
Ford partners with Postmates on self-driving delivery pilot - TechCrunch
Growth in E-commerce Driving Larger Warehouse Designs - UrbanLand
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Weekly Insights
According to Forbes, Boxed is in talks with various retailers for a potential sale. Kroger is supposedly the leading the acquisition talks for a supposed $500 million which is 3x of the capital raised by the startup.
Boxed, I believe will add significant value to any retailer but Kroger has quietly been working hard on their digital business in the last 18 months. They have a large gap between themselves and Walmart, Target and Wholefoods Market. Boxed provides a wholesale channel that would add a new group of customers to any retailer as they don't have a large selection but rather focus on items that are sold and on data analytics for demand generation. Essentially Boxed can be seen as a digital Costco that caters to a specific niche and whose customers are mobile based. I believe that Boxed has solved logistics and thus any acquiring business gains a technology group that use automation and robotics.
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