Amazon vs Walmart – A heavyweight fight coming to an Internet connection soon, Naspers further invests in Indian ecommerce, An overview of opportunities in BRIC nations and some news in relation to South African ecommerce.
The week past was a busy one for me, but is one that I think signals a head on battle between 2 heavyweight retailers. Amazon vs Walmart was ratched up a notch with Walmart announcing that they will no longer be selling Kindles. Target was the first retailer to do this, but I wonder is this a defensive move or an offensive move on Walmart’s part?
Amazon also announced that they are shutting endless.com down, which was their initial competitor for Zappos.. Well we know which one won in the end.
Let me be very clear on one thing. Ecommerce is a global activity done by millions of people, however the future of ecommerce is in developing companies. I am aware that this may seem ironic, but Africa, South East Asia and the Middle East is starting to gain more attention. The Middle East I think is going to be getting alot more attention from investors that are based in Turkey. If the market is expensive to get into, businesses start looking at other high growth markets to enter. I know this is obvious but high growth regions are no longer available in mass numbers. Africa is a long term play, it is going to need a lot of investment, but the right products will make investors very happy..
