The 10 ecommerce stories for the week ending 7 September 2012

A Samwer leaves the mother ship to lead a new battleground, BigCommerce & Rubybox raises funding, Amazon and eBay users in Argentina hit with additional taxes.

The week past in ecommerce can be summarized as being focused on the future. Let me say firstly that Amazon put everyone on notice last night with their range of new Kindles. eBay acquiring Svpply is an interesting one but not totally unexpected for me. I got wind on a move earlier in the week but eBay definitely is adding alot of value to their New York operation.

BigCommerce raising an additional $20 million leads me to think that there definitely is a place for ecommerce enablers. They currently service 30 000 small to medium sized businesses, I wonder how many of those are in developing markets?

I asked this question a few weeks ago,  but – what does JP Morgan know about Rocket Internet’s global ambitions? There must be something in the details about all of the sudden investment done by the financial juggernaut..

This past week also has seen an above average amount of ecommerce news in South Africa. Firstly, Jump Shopping has rebranded to UAfrica.com and also announced the addition of Andy Higgins as their new MD. Secondly, Rubybox (a subscription ecommerce startup) has announced an undisclosed amount of venture capital from Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa. Part of the investment is going into acquiring Glambox SA (their number 1 competitor) and to “grow rubybox to be the leading content-driven eCommerce beauty site in South Africa.” Investment into a new ecommerce vertical in South Africa validates the fact that ecommerce in South Africa is growing at a rapid rate.

Without anymore babbling, the 1o ecommerce stories that got my attention the past 7 days are:

1. Upside for eCommerce in the Middle East and Africa – The fact is quite simple. The 2 markets that are not top of mind for investors are MENA and Sub Saharan Africa. Both have similar challenges but the signs are that entrepreneurs who want to go into ecommerce are being more widely seen.

2. Argentines using Amazon, eBay targeted by tax rule – Did you know that it is illegal in Argentina to import any Apple products? So buying products on eBay or Amazon with an Argentinian address will lead to an additional 15% tax from Argentina’s tax agency. I guess this confirms why MercadoLibre is so dominant in Latin America..

3. Europe’s PrestaShop Makes A Move On The US With Jirafe – PrestaShop adding an analytics offering to their ecommerce software is a big deal. Is this a hint at a future battle ground for ecommerce – analytics?

4. Amazon’s Shopbop updates its e-commerce style – Amazon has a few horses in the fashion ecommerce horse race.  It is pretty clear that Bezos thinks that the vertical is an important one.. I must say I like the Shopbop User Interface a lot and think editorial is definitely something all ecommerce businesses need to think long term over.

5. How Tony Hsieh Pivoted Zappos Into A $1.2 Billion Amazon Acquisition – Up until 12 months ago I thought that Hsieh was the logical successor for Bezos at the top of Amazons leadership. Hsieh raises an interesting question – “What is the core competency of your ecommerce business?”

6. Next Big Trends in Commerce: Distributed Marketplaces & Ownership Revolution? – The next 2 years is going to be very interesting in ecommerce. This article from Paul Marsden highlights a few interesing developments to keep an eye on..

7. Rakuten enters Malaysian e-commerce market in a unique way – Rakuten has been very busy acquiring companies which is in general the way they enter markets. Malaysia however is another story.. no partners nor companies to acquire has lead them to go at it alone.

8. Google Drops Its Veil At Times, Reveals Ecommerce Ambitions – Rick Backus confirms my own thoughts with this article. It seems a certain Seattle company has Google very worried..

9. Filipinos among most active online bargain seekers in Asia – Nielsen – South East Asia I sense is now flavor of the month for investors. The Philippines is a very young market which is going to lead to a lot of education on trust, services and the benefit ecommerce has.

10. E-Commerce Marketplace Shopclues Raises $4 Million Series A Funding – Venture capital is flowing in Indian ecommerce but I wonder how the picture will look in 18 months time. How sustainable is a marketplace in a growing ecommerce market?

Bonus links for the past week:

Onwards..