Amazon to enter Korea?, Apple opens a Tmall store, LivingSocial’s CEO is out, Google to unveil a new flight comparison service in Europe and much more.

Readers, normal service will now return as the news in the ecommerce space is back to normality. I did not want to write a post in the second week of year as the news section was a bit bare.

If you look at my highlighted stories above you will notice that the stories focus on a trend that I believe we will see a lot of in 2014 – the move to global brands in ecommerce. Amazon is moving into new markets, Apple has opened a store on Tmall and the move towards global ecommerce brands continues. It is clear to me that currently there is a land grab battle going on between the big international ecommerce businesses and the battles are all happening either behind closed doors (funding rounds) or in the public domain (new markets that are being entered).  Add to this the pending IPO of Alibaba, then one can conclude that we are in for an interesting year.

Something else, that I am beginning to see in a variety of markets is consolidation. This is a natural by product of market maturation for me or it could be a case of new businesses looking to become big players in a market. A prime example of this is Groupon, the company that just never wants to become quiet. They have been investing and buying heavily in a wide variety of businesses. Their acquisition of ideeli is a simple case of a distressed platform that needed a buyer. Add to that the acquisition of Ticket Monster then you realise that Groupon is going to be around for a long time. Where does leave LivingSocial?

The stories that caught my attention the last 2 weeks (it is a bumper edition after all):

1. Why is Qatar investing in Vente-Privée and how does France get more benefit from it? – “Although we don’t know how much of Vente-Privée Qatar Holding now owns, Jacques-Antoine said that it was a very small stake – nonetheless a move that is probably smarter than the notoriety of the new shareholder, given the investment portfolio of Qatar Holding in companies such as LVHM Vente-Privée will now have privileged relations with such companies – a true advantage for the internet startup.” Interesting story that has some very interesting data and a few unanswered questions.
2. The Coupon King – the fascinating story of RetailMeNot – “RetailMeNot (RMN) deals in digital coupons—millions of digital coupons. Coupons for free shipping, coupons for 20 percent off, coupons for giant retailers like Macy’s and The Gap as well as small regional mom-and-pop operations. Coupons you can scan, coupons you can share, coupons you can receive on your smartphone and cash in at the register.” The story is interesting as RetailMeNot has quietly become a large company that has the potential to make or break online retailers.
3. Instacart Q & A: Expanding access to online grocery – “There are three ways we plan to grow in 2014. First, we want to expand to 7 new cities by the end of 2014, bringing our total coverage to 10 US metropolitan areas. Second, we want to expand our coverage within the cities we already serve to include the high population suburbs. Finally, in all Instacart cities, we want to continue to add more independent and regional grocery stores to the platform.” Instacart is an interesting company as it brings another twist to online grocery shopping.
4. Grocers rush to open ‘dark stores’ as online food shopping expands – “Retailers are being forced to open the new dark stores because delivering to thousands of homes demands a completely different set up to transporting bulky loads to a few hundred stores.” Logistics is one of the great challenges that grocery e-tailers will face.
5. Apple Opens Store on Alibaba’s Tmall – “In its latest attempt to boost China sales, Apple Inc. opened an official store on Tmall, a major online marketplace run by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.” This is a big news story for a variety of reasons. One – it validates the importance that Tmall has and also highlights the fact that Apple has realized that it needed to open an online store on a platform where customers are. It will be interesting to see where this is in 12 months in terms of customers , number of transactions etc.
6. At Wal-Mart, moving the needle on e-commerce – That will be more critical in 2014 as consumers pay less attention to the difference between buying something online and buying it off. Already, they are shopping at home, in stores, on the subway, at the office. Wal-Mart clearly has big ambition in terms of competing with Amazon but how do they use their assets to combat the online giant?
7. New eBay Shipping Logistics Team Working on Lockers and Kiosks? – “It’s not surprising ecommerce marketplaces are focused on solving shipping problems for their merchants. Fulfillment and delivery remain obstacles to online and mobile shopping, and customers are expecting faster and cheaper delivery even as shipping rates rise each year.” eBay are playing catchup again if this is true but the problem is Amazon has the data on usage already..
8. Amazon experimenting with new ‘Kindle Kiosk’ vending machines – Amazon had no presence at CES in Las Vegas yet they did some great guerilla marketing. “Amazon, the company that defined the world of online commerce, is venturing further into the world of physical retail — experimenting with standalone, automated “Kindle Kiosk” vending machines in selected airports and shopping malls.” I saw a Best- Buy version of the Kiosk the last time I was in the US and it was very user friendly.
9. Mobile Penetration Set to Drive Take-off of E-Commerce in Africa – Strong local e-commerce players are likely to emerge on the African continent, given the rise of the middle class and widespread Internet connections tailored to the needs of the local populations. A few interesting data points mentioned.
10. The ‘Anti-Amazon Law’ Is About To Become A Reality In France, But It’s Not A Bad Thing – “France’s National Assembly will most probably pass the so-called ‘anti-Amazon’ law in the coming days. In a few months, Amazon won’t be able to offer free shipping for books in order to protect independent bookstores.” The power that Amazon has in any market.
11. From inception to Apple store in just one year – “With a busy startup and a full time schedule as a single dad I wasn’t exactly looking to get involved in another business venture, but that’s exactly what happened when my hobby met the Internet. What made it happen? A love of design, a belief in quality, and lots of round leather disks, cut by hand.” Fascinating read on how a cord holder got into Apple stores in 12 months time.
12. Five questions answered on December’s record online shopping figures in the UK – According to the BRC, and accountants KPMG, who conducted the research, there was a 19.2 per cent growth in internet purchases from December 2012. According to the BBC, it has been estimated that £300,000 was spent online every minute on this year’s Cyber Monday. It is clear that online shopping globally grew in latter part of 2013.
13. Exclusive: How consumers interact with 20 top shopping apps – Offline & deals = >app engagement: 48% Amazon iOS MAUs use app wkly vs 79% Retailmenot, 74% Shopkick, 60% Starbucks as Tiffany Kosolcharoen summarised it. Need I say more – lots of great data in the post.
14. PayPal gets simpler: Soon you can pay with PayPal without leaving merchant sites – “Today PayPal introduced a new “in-context” checkout experience, which lets you pay for items at online retailers without getting redirected to PayPal’s site. The new process looks much simpler, and it should work better for less tech-savvy shoppers who may get frightened off by PayPal’s clunky redirects.” Is it just me or are all the payments players trying to replicate the simplicity seen with Stripe?
15. High on Lazada’s agenda: Developing marketplace & boosting mobile play – “More and more customers are getting attached to their smartphones and we will provide them with the best shopping experience possible through our mobile service. Our customers will be able to shop anywhere and any time via their smartphones,” said the Lazada Indonesia CEO. Mobile and Marketplace are Lazada’s targets for 2014..
16. Growth of the category killers? The beginning of specialized eCommerce in Indonesia – Globally, niche online retailers dominate in categories as diverse as pet, homewares, and eyewear, and even succeed with more specialist businesses like cycling or hiking supplies.  Yet none of these product categories currently have a strong and specialized Indonesian offer. It is the horizontal vs vertical debate that is currently being seen in SEA.. I think there is space for both but the horizontal ecommerce players are the dominant players.
17. Three Ways the “Other M-Commerce” Will Change the Retail Game in 2014 –  “One of the reasons online and mobile statistics can seem so alarming is because their impact can’t be determined by observing store traffic levels and out-of-stocks. The same will hold true for marketplaces as they gain momentum, but make no mistake. In 2014, they will hit their marks.”
18. The Tipping Point (E-Commerce Version) – We’re in the midst of a profound structural shift from physical to digital retail. A fantastic read by Jeff Jordan that makes the case that fundamentally the shift in retail is only getting faster. “The retail world is changing, and we’re seeing creative destruction play out before our eyes. And the speed at which it is happening is absolutely stunning. UPS and FedEx had better start building out their fleets, big time — these trends are only accelerating.”
19. EBay to Introduce New Brand Mall, Analyst Says – I am not surprised and have been expecting this. Why? I see this as a diversification and defensive move by eBay. The diversification is to provide them with another platform that they can offer brands to sell directly to customers. The defensive nature is to protect them from Tmall’s move to globalisation..
20. The Tiny Company Keeping Amazon Up at Night – “The Deliv platform manages croudsourced on-demand drivers, and includes smart routing and the ability for shoppers to track deliveries on a map in real time. The Deliv business model also allows customers the option to select same-day delivery on a retailer’s web-based check-out screen.”
21. Google developing new travel price comparison service, according to Ryanair boss – Google is working on a major upgrade for its Flight Search service — in Europe at least — judging by a Sunday interview with Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary in the Irish Independent. This post should concern the entire airline industry..
22. The man behind Alibaba’s IPO – “Mr. Tsai is not even a chief executive, but he has become arguably the most sought-after executive in the world by Wall Street for one reason: He holds the keys to what will most likely be the largest initial public offering of this generation — Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant.” The power broker whom will usher in a new global super power in ecommerce…

Onwards..