Electric Thoughts in a Digital Era | A blog on eCommerce, Social Commerce, Marketplaces & Business

Rocket Internet to IPO?

Earlier today I read Thomas Baldwin’s post on Rocket Internet preparing to go public and I must say it is at the moment a rumor. What is the ramifications if they do go public?

Preface

The last 18 months – I have been reading and observing a German accelerator going through the gears and starting businesses faster than I have ever seen any company do. They are a controversial topic and have 3 brothers that are the commanders in chief of this business.

They are not everyone’s cup of tea nor are they without any controversy. Blitzkrieg and all of the other things that have gone into the public domain makes going public a interesting move, if true for Rocket Internet.

Driven by success

The Samwers are some very clever business people and what they have achieved should not be discredited. They have started a lot of businesses, hired a lot of staff, closed businesses and retrenched staff on a scale I have never seen. They are obsessed with execution and ROI. Whatever they do it is with one thing in mind – success.

I am not going to debate their way of operation. They do take ideas from first world markets (Amazon, Zappos, IKEA, Square and Groupon) and then create businesses based on these concepts in emerging markets. Call it cloning, copying or whatever it is, it has made them handsome returns. The results seems to be good for their investors which is the prime focus for a startup accelerator. Ultimately, it boils down to culture and personal beliefs. You either like it or hate it. There is no in the middle with the way in which Rocket Internet operates.

The 10 e-commerce stories for the week ending 4 January 2013

Fab wants to become like IKEA, Rocket Internet helps the Brazil ecosystem, eBay offers more logistical opportunities for retailers and are considering investing into Snapdeal

The first calendar week of 2013 is in the record books. In South Africa, I reckon we will see more online shops re-opening and starting to process orders that was placed in the festive season. I wonder if in other markets this phenomenon also happens? Closure over the festive season is something I have become accustomed to.

My thoughts this past week was over the sudden emergence of potential retail for ecommerce businesses. Fab.com is seemingly keen on physical retail. I must say I am slightly surprised by this as I wonder how this would affect their bottom line? Well for starters I am assuming that they have data for their states in which the big sales occur. So, those I am expecting will be the first locations in which their retail operations would be opening. E-commerce is primarily done to ease the costs of retail locations and to create the ability for shoppers to buy any item they desire from their current location. Retail is they way in which commerce is done in a large scale across the globe. Maybe, my Amazon tinted glasses is ensuring that I don’t see the potential of physical retail for ecommerce merchants. I believe ecommerce businesses should stay away from bricks and mortars as long as they possibly can.

The other story which dominated this past week has been Google getting nothing more than a slap on the wrist from the FTC. I find the resolution in the US to be disappointing. I really would like to have seen that the FTC ensuring that Google is kept in check to ensure an Internet that provides potential for all businesses and not a select few.

The 10 e-commerce stories for the week ending 28 December 2012

Logistics is now a battleground, Apple and Google fighting over mobile, Amazon says a lot but it has no meaning and news from China, India and Malaysia.

As far as I am concerned 2012 is now in the record books. One working day left until 2013 and all the challenges it brings with it. Let me say this, I am looking forward to 2013 as I think we are in a bumper year of news. I am expecting a tough financial climate from April but in terms of ecommerce I think 2013 is a big year. Do Alibaba IPO? Is Groupon still around in 12 months time and does Rocket Internet have a plan for continued cloning or disruption (I think so, their businesses have raised big capital..).

If I look back over my posts in the last 12 months (yes, readers I know the content was not flowing the entire year), a few things stand out for me:

Amazon is a freight train that is going into territories that makes a wide range of competitors concerned. I am honest, I think Google and Amazon is going to headline 2013. Bezos wont relent until his creation owns the retail online space. No one is standing between him and the end goal.
eBay is standing at the door and the more I think about what they are doing, the more I think they have potential to be a story for 2013. Their mobile business is going into territories that not many have gone to.
Developing markets are now where the innovation happens. I spent a few weeks outside South Africa that made me realise that there is businesses across the globe pushing boundaries. I cant go into specifics but all I can say, is that ecommerce is now global.
2012 was the year in which logistics finally made it into the strategy meetings. Yes, I know logistics is only spoken about when things go bad but this past year, it became a battleground for entrepreneurs, retailers and corporates. Investment is going to determine survivors and speedy delivery will become like search on ecommerce business. Same day delivery is going to be expected by default.
Social commerce ended up being zilch. I got sucked into this and I must say social with commerce is either a pipe dream or is not being executed at the moment. ROI for facebook ads for ecommerce businesses most probably raises eyebrows at finance and nothing more. Vanity metrics is becoming commonplace in meetings. Building businesses on another non-owned platform is never a good thing.
The ecommerce business that made 2012 for me is fab.com. I really think that they potentially can be a business to outgrow the pack in 2013. Oh and they get mobile commerce. Starbucks almost got this “award”.
Readers there is a disruptor operating below the radar.. it is called Kickstarter. B2C just got turned upside down and in time I think the concept could be even more fine tuned.
I have a challenge for 2013 and that is to try and spend more time with startups. I met 3 this year and by all accounts, I think they will have a good 2013. There is one in Seattle, that I think will be a disruptor in 2013.
Mobile is and will continue to be the light at the end of the tunnel for ecommerce businesses. There is still lots of thinking to be done about mobile commerce.

7 Themes for ecommerce in 2013

I thought about writing a few predictions for 2013 but it seems Forbes and techcircle have beaten me to it. 2013 is going to be a fascinating year for ecommerce. Why? Well, global ecommerce is now a reality and innovation is happening all across the globe. The amount of customers that are able to buy merchandise online is growing by the day.

Personalitization for customers
One of the most interesting parts of ecommerce that I think is due to for a bit of innovation. Amazon’s recommendation engine is powerful but is in need of a bit of a refresh. Ultimately if you have a customer on your website who is ready to buy items, a bit of additional marketing never is a bad thing. Startups like RichRelevance will continue to provide a service to merhants that provides personal advertising when browsing while shopping online.

The 10 e-commerce stories for the week ending 21 December 2012

Business models, another Rocket Internet business get funding,Russia’s postal service to invest in better logistics and ecommerce in Africa.

The week contained a whole lot of emails to customers to buy last minute items on their favorite ecommerce retailer websites. I have a few thoughts on this: One, sending me emails every day leads to the specific business being seen in the same light as a daily deal operator. Browse subject, read first three lines and move to trash. If I have not bought items online just before the delivery cutoff times, why would I buy after getting repeated emails?

Also, can anyone tell me why no ecommerce retailers reward their customers who have bought from them throughout the year? Surely, this kind of data is sitting in the transactional records of the various CRM systems that eretailer use. Email is making a comeback (not that it went anywhere) but surely the current process can be made more valuable for eretailers..