E-commerce and Social Commerce: Numbers
We are obviously talking about the e-commerce channel , with a touch of attention and curiosity to the so-called Social Commerce . As always in these cases, I like to start with the numbers, which are so reassuring: By 2018, the total turnover through e-commerce will reach 2,356 billion dollars (eMarket data) Leadership 2014: b2c North.
America with an interesting increase in purchase
Frequency and average receipt Forecasted Leadership 2015: Asia Pacific , with a market share of 33.4% (the lion’s share goes to China, with a projection of close to 70% of its geographical area in the coming years). North America around 31%; Europe at 24%. When it comes to trends and forecasts, there are always contradictory opinions: this is not the case for e-commerce and that must mean something. I try to interpret other signals… Where is Facebook going? Less network, more e-commerce (which reminds me a lot of “less internet, more cabernet”).
You may have read at the end of July that
Facebook is experimenting with a buy button , to allow direct buying and selling on its pages. The test is aimed at some US retailers and – who knows – will lead Facebook to clash with other big names in online sales (Amazon but why not Etsy australia email list too?). Purchase directly from Social ( Social Commerce , another concrete future possibility), extreme defense of privacy and banking data of users. By doing so, Facebook intends to get its hands on that delicious cake of 2,356 billion dollars, thanks to advertising revenue and perhaps also to revenue on transactions made.
I am curious about the push that a Social
Commerce as strong as the future Facebook will be able to give to digital products (think of the market of images by photographers) Twitter responds present It’s funny that the date of Facebook’s announcement – July 17 – is the same date on which Twitter announced that it had acquired CardSpring , a company that creates payment infrastructures that third-party developers can use to manage online purchases, promotions, discounts, and coupons. We are still talking about Social Commerce. And traditional retail? It is not just a bystander, if we look at the big American chains Target or Wall Mart . Several sector studies reveal how retail is increasingly present and attracted by online, thanks to super interesting features for this world such as.
Attracting online promotion funds paid by manufacturers to retailers
Ample space : for the infinite contents (products, promotions, values) of the distribution channel Strong interaction between online and offline, with the possibility of reaching the customer anywhere and with precision ( proximity marketing , an increasingly strong need of distribution companies) Different and personalized type in addition integrating inbound marketing of product research for the consumer (according to rich variables) Browsing and entertainment experiences are increasingly rich and fun, even online (there was and still is a great gap between online and traditional retail) Extreme product customization Detailed knowledge of users’ purchasing paths Collection and potential exploitation of big data that is naturally created online, on purchasing behaviors and on target audiences Optimization of logistics processes along the producer – distribution channel – end customer chain (for very large companies obviously) And many other more specific reasons.
But let’s get back to concrete cases:
Wal Mart has already opened 2 “e-commerce division” offices, followed closely by Target. Target, after the innovation center in San aleart news Francisco , is now replicating in Silicon Valley with a center exclusively dedicated to e-commerce , “spending” on Human Resources, looking for product managers, developers and analytics experts (data analytics is the focus of these centers). Target is aware of the importance of Social Commerce (just look at the Target Cartwheel app ). Interesting is a phrase by Ashish Goel, professor at Stanford , in this interview , which well describes the modus operandi and the ideas that are at the base of Target itself and of the most advanced Retail.
