Last week e-commerce news was again surprising and exciting; Ikea follows Nike way and stops selling on Amazon, Target amazing results driven by same-day shipping, Jet.com stops fresh groceries, Paypal continues the acquisition journey with Honey and VTEX Ecommerce platform join the LATAM high growth startups funded by LATAM Softbank funds!
Ikea too quits Amazon: „Other brands will follow”
Retail dive reported that Ikea will stop selling on Amazon, last week it was Nike and now Ikea. We can expect more brands to do the same as they will intend to create a direct relation to their consumers.
Many brands are tempted to do the same but let’s be clear, this is a risky bet and you have to be very well prepared to make such a move. Only strong brands with huge capabilities from digital marketing, brand power, logistics and operations can do such a move.
Marketplaces such as Amazon represent a major sales channel to many brands and a huge bridge to “easy” sales! However, for many brands, the relationship to the consumer is key and they want to keep that personal relationship with the final consumer.
My view is that marketplaces are a sales channel and I think brands should be having a diverse approach and build their sales through multiple channels including marketplaces. You can, for example, sell only certain products on marketplaces and keep your exclusive relationship on your premium products, there are multiple ways to do that effectively.
Learn everything you need to know about this step HERE.
Target CEO says cost of handling online orders drops 90% when shoppers use same-day options
This stat is amazing!! I’ve been talking about Target success story for years now! I think this is one of the most amazing stats on the value of speed. Target reported quarterly earnings last Wednesday, they said: digital sales surged 31%, same-day services accounting for 80% of that growth.
Can you imagine!! 80% of the growth is same-day service! Here you have the answer on the value of speed and why companies are racing and investing in the speed to consumer.
More details about this success story can be read HERE.
Walmart’s Jet.com will no longer deliver fresh groceries
Amazon is going all-in on fresh grocery delivery while Jet.com stops, this is a critical business in regards to the relationship to consumer and I think it will give a huge advantage in the long run to Amazon.
HERE are some details about this veggie business.
PayPal to acquire shopping and rewards platform Honey for $4B
I’m a huge fan and user of Honey (deal-finding application)!! When you buy online, the purchase and payment steps are the most sensible for conversion, solutions like Honey just help you to convert way more and with an overall feeling that you made a great deal.
When I saw the announcement, I thought “Expensive purchase” but this makes so much sense.
Honey brings you the best discounts & deals from the merchant sites, then direct you to Paypal payment solutions! Genius & simple!! On top of that 24M Paypal merchants will have the ability to access now to the Honey Solutions which provides product discovery, price tracking, offers and loyalty.
Read THIS article if you want to learn more about what’s going on.
Startup of the week: VTEX
VTEX, an e-commerce platform used by Walmart, raises $140M led by SoftBank’s LatAm fund
This is probably one of the best investment that Softbank LATAM fund has made since creation, VTEX is basically the shopify of LATAM with a very strong presence in BR & MX and has potential to become a global powerhouse of merchant platform. Very interesting to see how they will take on the competition with the other leaders such as Shopify, Prestashop etc…with this new funding!
HERE is everything you need to know about VTEX.
Nabil Malouli is VP, Global E-commerce for DHL Supply Chain where he leads the innovation, strategy and product development of its e-commerce fulfilment and last-mile solutions.
Photo: Pexels