Flipkart shelves plans for IPO, eBay has 6 hour downtime, Why Tencent invested in Fab.com, market intelligence / stats for Latin America, China, Japan and South East Asia.

We have entered the last quarter of 2013 ( where did the year go?) and certain story lines have begun to develop. Chinese ecommerce is now in full on battle mode. Alibaba and Tencent have been at odds with one another but this week JD.com revoked the payment options from both Alibaba, Tencent and others. It is pretty clear that market leadership is not up for grabs but a turf war is on. Payments, merchant communication and infrastructure are all being fought between the different companies. (I suspect that the winners will be Alibaba and Tencent as JD.com’s money will run out sometime).

eBay had some issues this week – they were down for 6 hours; no formal announcement has been made as to the reasons for the downtime but we are in the revenue generation part of the year. Operational ecommerce staff are getting ready for festive and all of its challenges. eBay have their work cut out – they are facing the ecommerce Gorilla in the room (Amazon) in the US so these issues are to be at a minimum.

Flipkart has been busy. They raised money ($200 million) from investors and are now steadily adding revenue generation opportunities to their business. A payments business plus a partnership with self-publishing business are all in progress. India is a tricky market filled with government regulation which makes foreign investment an interesting exercise but the large population has everyone interested in the market.

Amazon is increasingly showing their international strategy. Why? Well, every developing nation they have entered have been via their Kindle Store. Mexico joined Brazil, Russia and India in having an ebook store. Mexico is going to be interesting to keep an eye on as it is one of the fastest growing emerging markets. The past week also provided an article that highlights the size of Amazon’s business in the US. It is massive and has the potential to become even bigger.

The stories that caught my attention this past week:

1. Yahoo Japan Seen Chasing Growth With Smartphone Deals –  Japan is one the most highly developed ecommerce markets in the world and interestingly Yahoo Japan feels the need to look for mobile or ecommerce businesses to acquire. The market is saturated but Yahoo Japan clearly feels the need to spend cash on acquisitions to counter Rakuten and Amazon’s shareholding in the Japanese ecommerce market. “Tokyo-based Rakuten, led by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, said it had 29 percent of Japan’s e-commerce market last year, higher than Amazon.com Inc.’s 12 percent and 6.2 percent at Yahoo Japan. Rakuten started as an online shopping mall and expanded into brokerage, insurance and credit card service.”
2. The Ultimate Guide to E-Commerce Statistics of Southeast Asia & Malaysia –  A great macro look at ecommerce in South East Asia and Malaysia. The region is booming and the investors are all at the table to ensure that they don’t get left behind. Lots of great statistics in this post.
3. How Namshi is doubling down on operations as it goes from startup to scaleup – A very interesting piece on Wamda about Namshi’s quest for same day delivery in the Middle East. I still believe that same day delivery is a pied piper that is going to close businesses down.
4. Flipkart chief: IPO plans shelved for now, focus is on scaling up business – Sachin Bansal provides a few clues as to where Flipkart is going in the next 12 months. Looking at acquisitions (talking to 20 businesses), marketplace has massive potential in India (Indian ecommerce has a $76 Billion size in 2020).  I found the question on pharmacies interesting as at the moment it is something I am seeing a lot more of in other emerging markets (South Africa, Nigeria and others).
5. eBay Verticals Apps Go Universal – This is a story that flew below the radar. eBay clearly spent resources on both the fashion and vehicle apps to make them magazine like but the focus is to have a seamless experience on any platform. “At eBay Inc., our goal is to better facilitate a multiscreen shopping experience any time, anywhere and on any device. Our apps are built for inspiration and the eBay Motors and Fashion apps have already inspired millions, with a combined two million downloads between the two apps.”
6. Tencent Exec: Why We Invested in Fab – Fab.com is focusing on Asia and its potential. The Tencent investment confirms market entry in China (which I am not convinced will work) but it seems that the potential is for synergies between both companies. Tencent offers fab.com scale not seen in any other market but what does fab.com offer Tencent?
7. Tiki, Vietnam’s Amazon, secures series B funding – 20% growth in one year in terms of packages delivered is a sign of growth not normally reported publically.  It seems to be a horizontal play with 40 000 SKU’s with massive potential. I wonder what impact Lazada has had on Tiki?
8. E-Commerce Set to Keep Surging in Latin America in 2013 – Latin America is a region that contains markets that are on the cusp of maturation (Argentina and Brazil) and also nascent markets that are growing aggressively (Chile and Columbia). The post contains some great information on the opportunity that the region contains.
9. China’s e-commerce market to hit $71 billion in sales in Q2; these are the top 10 e-stores – Tmall is a dominant player in Chinese ecommerce as it provides B2C opportunities for small to medium size operators in China. Notice that JD.com (360buy.com) is second in the market and Amazon is a very small player in China.. Yihodian (Walmart investment) is also an after-thought. Alibaba is pretty dominant in China!
10. Amazon Has Yanked Its Kindle Listings From the Google Shopping Search Engine – I wish I could say this is surprising but it could indicate 2 things – one a new Kindle is on the way or Amazon no longer wants to play on Google Shopping. Rumors have had these 2 businesses at loggerheads – I guess it had to happen..

Must read:

1. How Amazon Is Tackling Personalization & Curation For Sellers On Its Marketplace – Lots of great stats on Amazon’s marketplace. 40% of  total Amazon sales are from marketplace sellers, facebook and social media are used as signals for their recommendation engine and that the sales tool that is “No. 1 is an email called the Almost Out-of-Stock email”. Marketplace or 3P combined with Amazon’s marketing platform is the trojan horse that will make big impact on the ecommerce landscape.
2. Google puts pressure on eBay, expands same-day delivery – This article is the most in-depth that I have seen on Google Shopping express.The more I read about this service – the more I fear that the biggest loser maybe smaller businesses that wants to use this to combat Amazon. “Google has spent months using its algorithm prowess and data horsepower to calculate the quickest delivery routes, predict product departure and arrival times and track store inventory, said Tom Fallows, product management director of Google Shopping Express.”

Bonus links:

• Kobo stops using the Amazon-owned Goodreads API – When Amazon acquires companies then a few months afterwards their competitors using API’s, technology and infrastructure are left in the cold. Strategic M & A is something that Amazon does really well. Think about it – Kobo now needs to find a replacement for the service they used for months..
• Amazon Pulls Price Parity Policy after EU Probe – Does price parity now become an issue for Amazon in other markets? I tend to think so..
• The trouble with Etsy – This is a very interesting look at one of the biggest pains Etsy will face. How does one policy mass produced goods on a craft market such as Etsy? Algorithms and resources to check seller profiles?
• Leading equity groups in deal with Shanghai warehouse developer – This article is very interesting as it makes mention of a competitor to Alibaba $16B logistics project – who sits behind this challenger?
• Chinese shoppers set to become world leaders online – Alibaba provides a cautionary warning to rest of the ecommerce world about their scale. Lots of great information in this post.

Onwards..