“There are a lot of people who think we’re in a bubble,” Andreessen said, “which makes me think we’re not. I hope everybody thinks we’re in a bubble, though, because it helps keep prices [for making equity investments] down.” Marc Andreessen in conversation with Kara Swisher
When I think of eCommerce, a few companies come to mind. The usual suspects with their multiple verticals are always on alert for new potential threats. Amazon, eBay and Alibaba are all on most shoppers minds and in most cases are habits. Habits are what all e-retailers want, a subconscious process and actions that lead to profits. Remember those articles related to purchases during intoxication, that grabbed the attention of anyone associated with eCommerce. It is a bit extreme but it makes my point.
Strategy is what drives the important players. Amazon always have a feel for what goes in their various verticals but if they cant compete with the market leader (which is not related to their holdings) then in most cases they buy the companies outright. Zappos is the example always mentioned as Jeff Bezos realised he needed to acquire them before any of his competitors do. In other cases Amazon have invested in companies (LivingSocial) and then created their own version of the business (AmazonLocal) in growing vertical. This is seen in verticals that are created at great speed by competitors (Groupon) and then a response is needed. I call these market responses and these companies in general either survive or die at a very quick rate. (For the record, LivingSocial has been an investment hog and headache for Amazon).