Amazon to invest $2 Billion in India, Nordstrom buys Trunkclub

Amazon waited all of 24 hours for Flipkart to officially announce their $ 1 Billion fund raising amount to announce that they will be investing $2 billion into India. This is a big deal for a few reasons – it is clear that India is an important part of Amazon’s future thus they did not wait to announce this massive investment into Amazon.in. It clearly is an arms race between Flipkart and Amazon for market leadership in Indian ecommerce but I cant help but wonder this leaves Snapdeal. Does Snapdeal look for more investment? I am honest when I say Indian ecommerce has me thinking – is it the size of the opportunity that is leading to this investment race? Is it investor angst that India might become another China? Those not familiar with Chinese ecommerce – the market is dominated by one company (Alibaba) and international investors got shun by local investors. I don’t necessarily think that Indian ecommerce is at all similar to Chinese ecommerce but there are definitely similarities.

The other big news is the TrunkClub acquisition done by Nordstrom. I believe Nordstrom to be one of a handful of retailers that understands ecommerce; thus they continue to acquire ecommerce businesses that will provide them long term sustainability. Every acquisition that Nordstrom has done is to provide them with scale in a part of retailer that they were lacking. Their investment into Bonobos was to ensure that they have a front row seat at the men’s fashion industry. Hautelook was to ensure that they could provide their digital clients with a selection of deals. Trunkclub is in my opinion a combination of a lifestyle and business acquisition. Lifestyle is to be able to provide male clients with a stylist to help them solve a clothing situation. The business part is to add this on top of their own business to their clients. I am a Nordstrom fan (visit their stores when I am in the US) and believe that they will continue to acquire ecommerce companies that fit their needs).

The stories that caught my attention this past week:

Germany’s Zalando copied Zappos’ business model and made billions (Forbes) – “In some ways Zalando thrived by tackling a challenge that Zappos shied away from–namely Europe, with its maze of different languages, regulations and tastes. Zalando embraced complexity. To date it has created 15 country-specific websites and outfitted three fulfillment centers, including Europe’s largest e-commerce distribution warehouse. When it launched its Italian site in 2011, some shoppers in the country–which had less than 60% Internet penetration–had to be taught how to open e-mails. In Switzerland customers complained that they couldn’t understand the accents of German service reps, so the company manned the phones with people who spoke in Swiss dialect.”
Square Said to Be in Talks to Buy Food Delivery Start-Up Caviar (NYTimes) – “It’s not enough for Square to handle the way you pay for dinner. Soon, the company will have a hand in putting the food on your table. The e-commerce company, based in San Francisco, is close to completing a deal to acquire Caviar, an on-demand food delivery start-up, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In the deal, which has not been completed and could still fall apart, Square could end up paying around $90 million in an all-stock transaction for Caviar, according to these people.”
Yoox Group reports 15% revenue growth in first half of 2014 (EcommerceNews.eu) – “Redesigning the site have proved to be effective for Yoox Group, as it saw an 18% increase in conversions and a 3% lower bounce rate than the old site just weeks after launch. And to top it all off, the Italian online retailer that also operates ecommerce sites for other brands, reported 15% revenue growth in the first half of this year.”
The Future Of Shopping: When Apps Shop With—Or For—You (ReadWrite) – “E-commerce is already pretty much woven into our daily lives, but only in a limited, one-way sort of interaction between user and website. Which has some future-of-shopping types wondering: What happens when your shopping apps stop waiting for you and instead come to you with offers? Or stop just taking orders and start proactively making suggestions or giving you advice?“
Amazon’s “sortation centers” help effeciently inject packages into carriers systems (The Columbus Dispatch) – “Increasing the speed of delivery is a top priority for Amazon. The retail titan can offer many advantages over bricks-and-mortar rivals. But the one glaring disadvantage is that the local bookstore, electronics chain or toystore can offer instant gratification, letting customers immediately walk away with the product they purchased. Sortation centers move Amazon a step closer to erasing one of the key barriers to customers’ shopping online. Ultimately, Amazon would like to handle next-day delivery from the Kent site, something a company spokeswoman said is possible from other sortation centers.”
Latin American B2C ecommerce sales will rise 22.1% this year to reach $62.56 billion (eMarketer) – ”
Overall business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce sales in Latin America will rise 22.1% this year to reach $62.56 billion, according to eMarketer’s latest estimates of ecommerce sales around the world. That growth rate will continue in the double digits through next year, but slow rapidly throughout the rest of our forecast period.”
Zappos Tests a Digital Personal Assistant (PSFK) – “The new service takes these requests in the form of images. Customers can either text a photo, email a photo to ask@zappos.com, post the photo on Instagram with the hashtag #AskZappos, or upload the photo on the Ask Zappos web page. In addition to the photo, customers can include a short description of what they are looking for in the photo – a certain print, pattern or combination of colors, for example. The Ask Zappos service will try to find the exact item and even provide links to a few alternatives that look similar or carry the same style.”
Rakuten to Replace Play.com in Global Consolidation (EcommerceBytes) – “Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten is consolidating its international marketplaces, which will impact sellers on certain platforms in Europe. The company will move all of its ecommerce marketplaces into one global platform, a spokesperson told EcommerceBytes. “The global ecommerce marketplace platform creates enormous benefits to retailers and customers alike as they gain access to global marketplace products and customers plus all the advantages that a single platform brings.””
German e-commerce grows more modestly in Q3 than in years before (Ecommercefacts) – “The German association for e-commerce and interactive trade bevh on Thursday published figures concerning the third quarter for interactive trading in Germany. Compared to the same period of the previous year, there is a slight setback in turnover performance. With a total of 11 billion euros, Germany’s interactive traders were confronted with a decrease of 6,8 %. 9,5 of the 11 billion euros generated by was achieved by e-commerce traders. But also online retail was impacted by the slight decrease in sales volumes, which amounted to 5,2%.”
Naspers’ Brazil E-Commerce Unit Seeks In-Store Shoppers (Bloomberg) – “Buscape Company, Brazil’s largest e-commerce comparison website, is taking its online offering to brick and mortar stores as it seeks a piece of the larger retail market. Buscape, which is owned by Africa’s biggest company Naspers Ltd. (NPN), makes money from stores that pay to be listed on its website where consumers can compare prices for items. Now, Sao Paulo-based Buscape wants to help retailers reach shoppers in stores as they shop.”
Could Yoox Be a Takeover Target for Amazon? (Business of Fashion) – “Amazon has been building a bigger share of the apparel market and started selling Burberry fragrances. Still, it’s known more for bargains than designer dresses. Buying Yoox would give the e-commerce giant a stronger presence in luxury apparel and accessories, where margins are higher, said Neil Doshi, an analyst at CRT. “It’s ultimately Amazon’s desire to be able to serve anybody anything that they want on their site,” Doshi said by phone. The company “has probably done a pretty good job in the lower to mid-range for apparel. To cover the full, broad spectrum, I think they’d probably want to get into more high-end stuff.”
Flipkart vs Amazon: How customers will profit from the fight between Bezos and Bansals (The Economic Times) – “Deep discounts for customers and big incentives for merchants who sell on their marketplace is what Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, is planning as it aims for fourfold growth in sales over the next 12 months. In the aftermath of the biggest round of fund-raising in India’s Internet industry, Flipkart and challenger Amazon plan to open more warehouses, hire in larger numbers and acquire companies with newer products or technology as they battle for supremacy in one of the fastest growing markets for online commerce globally.”
How digital is transforming retail: The view from eBay (McKinsey & Company) – “The future of digital commerce is trying to get the best of both. Search is still incredibly important to us; people come to eBay, they’re looking for something. But as we bring curators in, and as we begin to create collections of beautiful items—we’re trying to spur inspiration, and we’re trying to spur imagination. We’re trying to capture some of what happens in stores, which is, “I went into a store to buy a shirt, and I also bought a pair of pants—didn’t know that I wanted it.” We’re seeing real success there.”
Amazon quickens push into tough local services market (Reuters) – “Amazon’s experiment with services goes back to at least mid-2012 in its hometown of Seattle. It’s now expanded the tests to New York and Los Angeles, six service providers who worked and talked with the company told Reuters. More locations and services are coming soon. As soon as mid-August, Amazon will take as much as a 20-percent cut from services booked through its website, though timing and figures may change, according to providers and several hard-to-find pages on Amazon’s website devoted to local services.”
Can adapted Google algorithm get MENA customers to shop online? (Wamda) – ““Pricena’s algorithm is similar to the one Google uses to also go into websites and compare prices,” explains Dabain. The website operates quasi-automatically, with minimal human intervention: data entry operators upload basic information about stores once and Pricena automatically updates prices of subscribed stores every 24 hours. The team is also working on launching a Pricena mobile app for both iOS and Android by September.“
Nordstrom Will Pay $350 Million for Trunk Club (Re/code) – “Nordstrom will pay $350 million to buy Trunk Club, the Chicago-based men’s online clothing and personal styling company, multiple sources familiar with the terms of the deal tell Re/code. Some Trunk Club employees can also reap bonuses if they meet certain performance goals, one of these people said.”
Why Amazon Is Pouring $2 Billion into India, in Three Charts (Re/code) -“The timing of the announcement comes a day after the most popular Indian e-commerce site, Flipkart, confirmed a $1 billion funding round. Add to that eBay’s increased investment in eBay India as well as its giant investment in Flipkart competitor Snapdeal, and it’s clear the Indian online retail market is on fire. Why? The online retail market is relatively tiny today — with $3.2 billion in sales estimated for this year — but it is ramping up quickly, with at least 50 percent year-over-year growth expected in each of the next four years. “
China Online Shopping Total Transactions Reached $101B in Q2 2014, Exceeding 10% of Total Retail (China Internet Watch) – “Total transactions of China’s online shopping market, a combination of B2C and C2C markets, reached RMB6,28.76 billion (US$101.58 billion), 10.1% of total retail transactions in China, according to iResearch data.”
eBay offers a Latin America shipping deal (Internet Retailer) – “For a $49 annual fee, online shoppers in Colombia, Chile and Mexico can get free shipping for a year on purchases from eBay merchants in the U.S. It’s the latest in a series of moves by eBay to increase its sales in Latin America. Some Latin American consumers who crave Western brands sold on eBay can now get all they want delivered to their doorsteps for less than $50 a year in shipping fees. “
The three men who matter the most in Amazon India (The Economic Times) – “Kishore Biyani’s loss has become Jeff Bezos’ gain. In 2010, Future Group head Biyani came across a promising young man who was taking care of Amazon’s international expansion and tried to hire him to spearhead his company’s ecommerce plans. Today Amit Agarwal, the person Biyani tried to hire, is leading Amazon’s charge for market leadership in India.”
Walmart: Retail powerhouse past its prime? (CNNMoney) – “Walmart may not go the way of RadioShack (RSH) any time soon. But Goldman Sachs says that customers are abandoning the big-box pioneer in droves. On Tuesday, the investment bank downgraded Walmart’s stock to ‘Neutral,’ saying that big-box stores are losing out to online retailers and stores with more focused inventories.”
Amazon Offsets the Pressure of Prime with Shipping Alternative (Appeagle) – “For a limited time only, Amazon will be offering a $1 Amazon Media credit to Prime users that select FREE No-Rush Shipping instead of the two-day shipping offered. The credit will be applied once the package ships, but keep in mind if the purchase is returned the offer is no longer valid according to the No-Rush Shipping Terms & Conditions.”
PayPal’s “Bill Me Later” Service Becomes “PayPal Credit,” As Company Expands Credit Products Globally (TechCrunch) – “Touting its increasing focus on credit products for both consumers and small businesses, PayPal today announced it is rebranding its Bill Me Later service as “PayPal Credit,” while that and its PayPal Working Capital business loans service are now destined for international expansions. PayPal Credit is soon being rolled out to the U.K. and Germany, while PayPal Working Capital is headed to the U.K., as previously reported, as well as Australia.”
Etsy Beefs Up Brick-And-Mortar Strategy With Launch of Etsy Wholesale Next Week (Forbes) – “Etsy, the online marketplace for small vendors, will begin monetizing its sellers’ presence in brick-and-mortar stores with the official August 5 launch of Etsy Wholesale, after two years in beta. With this move, Etsy is introducing a pricing model whereby its independent designers and artists will be charged a $100 one-time joining fee to sell merchandise in stores and boutiques, as well as a 3.5% transaction fee on each purchase order.”
Flash sale site Rue La La explores sale; Gilt interested: sources (Reuters) -” Online flash sale site Rue La La, which counts eBay as an investor, is exploring a sale that could value the company at around $400 million, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. Boston-based Rue La La, which has attracted interest from online shopping site Gilt Groupe, has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to advise a potential sale, the people said.”
Amazon Fresh expands grocery delivery to San Diego (Geekwire) – “Amazon Fresh continues its expansion across the West Coast, announcing today that it is opening its grocery delivery service in San Diego. With the new service now available in San Diego, customers can pick among 500,000 products, from milk and cheese to shampoo and batteries.”
The $55 million investment in future Amazon competitor Jet.com values the startup well north of $100mm (Re/code) – “So Lore has now raised a $55 million investment to build out a new e-commerce company called Jet, according to multiple sources familiar with the deal. The investment is being led by New Enterprise Associates, with additional investment from Accel Partners, Bain Capital Ventures and MentorTech Ventures, according to sources. With the exception of Bain Capital, all of the firms previously invested in Quidsi.”
Wayfair adds Romero Rodrigues to board (Furniture Today) – “Online home goods retailer Wayfair has named Romero Rodrigues, a veteran e-commerce entrepreneur and an executive at a South African media company, to its board of directors. Rodrigues is the global CEO for comparison shopping at Naspers in South Africa and is co-founder of the Buscape Co., a digital commerce group.”
Russian Post and eBay to improve online shopping (Russian and Indian Report) – “Russian Post (Pochta Rossii) and internet store eBay are to join forces with the aim of improving the quality of service for customers.On July 23, 2014, the two companies launched a joint project, ePacket. Russian Post’s press service told RIR that the project is aimed at improving delivery times for eBay-bought goods to Russia from abroad. In particular, the project envisages the integration of the two companies’ information systems to improve the quality of delivery and tracking. The sides have decided to start their joint work with Beijing, with delivery times for goods posted from China to Russia to be cut from 30 to nine days. Later, the plan is to extend this experiment to other countries. Furthermore, eBay can now be used for deliveries inside Russia too.“
Why did eBay repatriate $9 billion? (blog.haimrich.com) – Something I wrote – “The $6 billion repatriation is to ensure that eBay can spend aggressively to defend their markletplace territory from Alibaba and Amazon. On a global scale Alibaba will be a huge factor for global commerce and payments and thus eBay needs funds to do advertising, acquisitions and investments into current business ventures. I also believe that the large chunk of cash is to be able to deal with potential lawsuits over the hacking incident. One just needs to look after the effects that hacking has had on Target bottom line to understand that eBay has big potential costs.”
Topshop and Topman partner with Zalando (EcommerceNews.eu) – “British brands Topshop and Topman will launch on the fast-growing fashion website Zalando. This will happen in September and is part of the brands’ expansion drive, as they will launch in selected European countries, not including the United Kingdom.”
Amazon India Adds Five New Fulfilment Centres to ‘Meet Rapid Growth’ (NDTV Gadgets) – “Amazon India, expanding its India footprint to counter stiff competition from Flipkart and Snapdeal, has announced plans to open five new Fulfilment Centres (FCs) in Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Tauru (outskirts of Gurgaon). The Internet retailer notes that the Fulfilment Centre in Chennai is already operational and the remaining four FCs will be operational next month. The company’s main focus with the new centres is to improve its fulfilment services for retailers and small and medium businesses (SMBs) across the country.”
Africa e-commerce firm expands to new markets (Reuters) – “Online retailer Jumia, a would-be African Amazon set up by German venture capital firm Rocket Internet, is expanding into three new markets – Uganda, Ghana and Cameroon, the company said on Monday. Jumia, which launched in 2012, already operates in Nigeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Kenya, offering up to 100,000 different items for sale from its local warehouses.”
Amazon pulls Plans to open warehouses in Australia after losses (Channelnews.com.au) – “Amazon.com is believed to have suspended a plan to open an Australian retail operation claim sources, after the Company revealed a net loss of US$126M for the three months ended June 30.”
Billionaire JD.com founder lines up next challenge: beating Alibaba (Reuters) – “With an iron grip, JD.com Inc founder Richard Liu has dragged China’s number two online retailer from a Beijing backwater to a rich New York listing. Beyond the wealth that brought him lies Liu’s next target – beating Jack Ma’s Alibaba. “The competition makes the two companies stronger,” said Liu, a billionaire at 41. “I’m actually enjoying competing,” the chief executive told Reuters in an interview.”
I Used Google Shopping Express Once And Now I Never Want To Leave My House Again (Business Insider) – “At 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, I finished placing my order and quickly realized that my life from that moment onward would be different. And at 7:20 p.m. the same day, when my items showed up at the door, I decided that I’m never shopping at a brick-and-mortar store for sundries ever again.”

Till next week. Onwards.