The 10 e-commerce stories for the week ending 14 December 2012

Rocket Internet raises more money for fashion, Amazon goes social and eBay is becoming a disruptor.

We have passed the middle of the month and the year is almost in the history books. I guess, we are pretty close to cut off dates for shipping for the festive season. I have been thinking about 2013 and have a few thoughts on where ecommerce is going. I see a few themes: Personalisation, loyalty, analytics and education but the big challenge is going to be the global economic climate, but it deserves a seperate post.

The past week has seen news that Rocket Internet has raised more money for certain of their fashion businesses. Needless to say, I think that fashion ecommerce has been one of the themes for the past year but I have to wonder what all the funding is to be used for? Scaling the businesses? Marketing?

The major story of this week for me has to be the resurgence of eBay. After spending time in the US in October 2012, it became clear to me that eBay has become a disruptor. When you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, a climate is generated for innovation..

The 10 stories that got my attention this week:

  1. Content and commerce: is Etsy an outlier? Editorial commerce is something I believe we will see more of in 2013. Why? Print and digital content companies are struggling with revenue. Does this solve the problem for the content companies? I am not so sure..
  2. eBay…From Disruptee to Disruptor – One of the best articles I have read in 2012. eBay has flown below the radar for a while but I believe they deserve some attention. Why? They have slowly become the ecommerce business that gets mobile commerce…
  3. Fashion giant PPR tries out the Samwers’ Rocket Internet – with €10m in Dafiti, Lamoda – PPR is a giant in fashion and some of the iconic fashion brands in its stable. The investment into Dafiti (Latin America) and Lamoda (Russia) makes a lot of sense. Is this the beginning of brands dealing with ecommerce companies instead of via agencies? (One thing to note, PPR also struck a deal with Fancy, so they have covered their bases for ecommerce)
  4. Google Shuts Down Its Shopping Service in China – Google has lost search in China to Baidu, will lose search in Russia to Mail.ru and they have now closed Google Shopping in China. It is clear to me that eTao from Alibaba was the reason for the closure of this offering to the Chinese people.
  5. Following Walmart.com’s Lead, Amazon Adds Facebook-Enabled Gift Suggestions – I am not sure whether Amazon is actually following Walmart or merely trying to get their products in front of more eyeballs. Social commerce is arguably the biggest failure of 2012, does it even exist?
  6. Torn between loyalty and a bargain -Is customer loyalty in digital commerce being manipulated? Consider the fact that product prices are being changed multiples times during a 24 hour cycle, it seems  that customers are paying the price that the retailer wants them to pay. Pricing intelligence is something that I think we will see more of in 2013.
  7. Walmart Has An Aggressive Strategy To Do E-Commerce Right, And Amazon Should Watch Out – I wish I could believe this Business Insider article. The truth is that Walmart is behind and saying the right things. Does Amazon worry about Walmart? I doubt it and in actual fact, I believe that Walmart might be losing more marketshare to Amazon.com with regards to their physical retail stores.
  8. In 3 years, 47 funds invested nearly $700 mn in 52 Indian e-commerce firms – Indian ecommerce is something of a disappointment as it seems that the investment has not lead to growth. Does it mean that the market is still a long term play for investors?
  9. Fab’s 2nd Pivot – Fab is one of the most interesting ecommerce businesses at the moment. They have gone from a social network to a serious ecommerce business inside 18 months. I have a feeling that fab is at the moment in a period of stabilization and will move into high gear in 2013. Consider that they only have a presence in North America and Europe at the moment then expansion seems due. Also I believe that they will be pushing for same day shipping soon.
  10. TV giant Scripps chips in to a $50 million investment in One Kings Lane – One Kings Lane raised money and it seems have a big 2013 planned. Scripps will without a doubt play a big role in One Kings Lane’s future. TV channels and ecommerce businesses seem to have a close relationship.

Bonus links for the past week:

Onwards..