Electric Thoughts in a Digital Era

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  • The 10 e-commerce stories for the week ending 28 December 2012

    Logistics is now a battleground, Apple and Google fighting over mobile, Amazon says a lot but it has no meaning and news from China, India and Malaysia.

    As far as I am concerned 2012 is now in the record books. One working day left until 2013 and all the challenges it brings with it. Let me say this, I am looking forward to 2013 as I think we are in a bumper year of news. I am expecting a tough financial climate from April but in terms of ecommerce I think 2013 is a big year. Do Alibaba IPO? Is Groupon still around in 12 months time and does Rocket Internet have a plan for continued cloning or disruption (I think so, their businesses have raised big capital..).

    If I look back over my posts in the last 12 months (yes, readers I know the content was not flowing the entire year), a few things stand out for me:

    1. Amazon is a freight train that is going into territories that makes a wide range of competitors concerned. I am honest, I think Google and Amazon is going to headline 2013. Bezos wont relent until his creation owns the retail online space. No one is standing between him and the end goal.
    2. eBay is standing at the door and the more I think about what they are doing, the more I think they have potential to be a story for 2013. Their mobile business is going into territories that not many have gone to.
    3. Developing markets are now where the innovation happens. I spent a few weeks outside South Africa that made me realise that there is businesses across the globe pushing boundaries. I cant go into specifics but all I can say, is that ecommerce is now global.
    4. 2012 was the year in which logistics finally made it into the strategy meetings. Yes, I know logistics is only spoken about when things go bad but this past year, it became a battleground for entrepreneurs, retailers and corporates. Investment is going to determine survivors and speedy delivery will become like search on ecommerce business. Same day delivery is going to be expected by default.
    5. Social commerce ended up being zilch. I got sucked into this and I must say social with commerce is either a pipe dream or is not being executed at the moment. ROI for facebook ads for ecommerce businesses most probably raises eyebrows at finance and nothing more. Vanity metrics is becoming commonplace in meetings. Building businesses on another non-owned platform is never a good thing.
    6. The ecommerce business that made 2012 for me is fab.com. I really think that they potentially can be a business to outgrow the pack in 2013. Oh and they get mobile commerce. Starbucks almost got this “award”.
    7. Readers there is a disruptor operating below the radar.. it is called Kickstarter. B2C just got turned upside down and in time I think the concept could be even more fine tuned.
    8. I have a challenge for 2013 and that is to try and spend more time with startups. I met 3 this year and by all accounts, I think they will have a good 2013. There is one in Seattle, that I think will be a disruptor in 2013.
    9. Mobile is and will continue to be the light at the end of the tunnel for ecommerce businesses. There is still lots of thinking to be done about mobile commerce.

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  • 7 Themes for ecommerce in 2013

    I thought about writing a few predictions for 2013 but it seems Forbes and techcircle have beaten me to it. 2013 is going to be a fascinating year for ecommerce. Why? Well, global ecommerce is now a reality and innovation is happening all across the globe. The amount of customers that are able to buy merchandise online is growing by the day.

    Personalitization for customers
    One of the most interesting parts of ecommerce that I think is due to for a bit of innovation. Amazon’s recommendation engine is powerful but is in need of a bit of a refresh. Ultimately if you have a customer on your website who is ready to buy items, a bit of additional marketing never is a bad thing. Startups like RichRelevance will continue to provide a service to merhants that provides personal advertising when browsing while shopping online.

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  • The 10 e-commerce stories for the week ending 21 December 2012

    Business models, another Rocket Internet business get funding,Russia’s postal service to invest in better logistics and ecommerce in Africa.

    The week contained a whole lot of emails to customers to buy last minute items on their favorite ecommerce retailer websites. I have a few thoughts on this: One, sending me emails every day leads to the specific business being seen in the same light as a daily deal operator. Browse subject, read first three lines and move to trash. If I have not bought items online just before the delivery cutoff times, why would I buy after getting repeated emails?

    Also, can anyone tell me why no ecommerce retailers reward their customers who have bought from them throughout the year? Surely, this kind of data is sitting in the transactional records of the various CRM systems that eretailer use. Email is making a comeback (not that it went anywhere) but surely the current process can be made more valuable for eretailers..

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  • How big is Amazon.com?

    Seattle is home of the silent giant called Amazon.com. When I was in the US in October, I visited Seattle and tried to find the silent giant. The offices are not marked but it is seen on GPS maps, one would think that this company would be proud of their heritage. Amazon.com operates in a different manner..

    Amazon.com is the creation of someone whom I would love to talk to. Jeff Bezos is in a class by himself and there are maybe 3 people in commerce that can be seen in same light as him. Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart whom built a giant that is all across the globe.

    In the developing ecommerce world there are 2 founders of companies whom I believe that can hold their own against Bezos. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba has built a business that will dominate a developing world economy. Is China no longer an option for foreign ecommerce investors? I tend to think so.

    Secondly, in Latin America is a founder whom I have been privileged to meet in person. Romero Rodrigues is one of the founders of Buscape and one of the most thoughtful folks I have met in ecommerce. What makes these individuals different? Long term focus, they were all founders of the business and are now leading the businesses they created. The thing that makes them the leaders, is the ability to be 5 steps of the market. Skating to where the puck is going to be, comes to mind.

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  • 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..

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