1. 7
ECOMMERCE
TRENDS in 2014
Pohlin Lau (@PohlinLau) + GoSquared

2. ‫أهال وسهال‬
Bonjour
‫أهال وسهال‬
Bienvenido
欢迎
1
Welcome
欢迎
Going global while staying local
Businesses need to be able to combine globalised product
offerings, with a localised E-commerce experience - through
local language, payment options, and marketing offerings.

3. Going global, yet staying local
Sound like a paradox?
Actually it’s the key to your business being successful globally. Emerging
markets are expected to experience huge growth in online spending.
Impressively, in 2012 Chinese shoppers spent $213 billion online and
are predicted to have outspent the US last year.
In China, people are hungry for foreign goods. However, 60% is still
being bought through domestic ecommerce platforms. While foreign
goods are highly in demand, consumers still prefer a localised shopping
experience.
Source: Wired (2013)

4. “Asia will become the
biggest contributor to B2C
E-commerce, predicted to
spend $502 billion in 2014 nearly a third of total spend
worldwide.”
Source: eMarketer (2013)

5. What can you do?
Adapting your marketing campaigns, site language and
even preferred payment methods for local needs could
give you the edge you need to be successful in the biggest
growing Ecommerce markets of 2014.

6. 2
Mobile payments
become easier
In 2014, we’ll be closer to hassle-free payments than ever. Settle your
bill at a busy restaurant without the need to desperately eyeball every
waiter, Paypal allows you to do all this within a neatly packaged app.

7. Mobile payments become easier
But it’s not just mobile payments for dinner bills.
Mobile apps like Hailo or Uber allow you order a taxi, track their location
on a map, and then pay automatically through a card which is linked to
the app. Similarly, you can book & pay for a room through Airbnb on your
phone. Even buying your lunch becomes a breeze as you avoid rush-hour
queues by pre-ordering and paying through your phone.
In the last year alone, mobile payments totalled $235.4 billion
worldwide. And it’s not slowing down yet, as Gartner predicts a further
38% increase to $325 billion in mobile payments for 2014.
Source: Hailo (2014), Gartner (2013)

8. “In the UK, mobile will
account for approximately
24% of retail ecommerce
sales this year.”
Source: eMarketer (2013)

9. What can you do?
Making your business mobile payment friendly is the first
step. Next steps include integrating with 3rd-party apps like
Paypal, and making sure your website renders well on phones
and other new devices – perhaps even smart watches.

10. 3
Utilising multichannel selling
As the shopping experience becomes
more fragmented, it’s critical for
businesses to adapt. Online retailing is
about multichannel selling – individual
websites, public marketplaces and
shopping-comparison websites.

11. Utilising multichannel selling
Similarly to when a physical retailer will open new locations in order to
increase their revenue, an online retailer can sell their products across
multiple channels online.
The greatest advantage of multichannel selling is ultimately it levels the
playing field for small retailers. Instead of the customer going directly to the
biggest retailer, small businesses can now reach the customer directly
through a search engine, comparison site, or an online marketplace such as
eBay. Even Tesco, the 2nd largest retailer in the world uses eBay UK as a
sales channel!
Did you know 39% of units sold on Amazon in Q4 of 2012 were by 3rd
party merchants, not Amazon?
Source: PracticalEcommerce (Jan 2014), smartinsights.com (2013)

12. “Amazon sold over 1 billion items
(yes, a Billion) for the first time in
Q4 of 2012. That was 126 items
sold per second. 7,548 items sold
a minute, 452,899 an hour or 10.8
million items sold a day.”
Source: smartinsights.com (2013)

13. What can you do?
Think of alternative places to additionally sell your products. eBay and
Amazon Marketplace are popular online channels that retailers choose to sell
their products, but 2014 is all about optimising your options. Using
integration tools such as ChannelAdvisor, you can manage and automate
your product submissions and order processing.

14. 4
Multi-device redefines point-of-sale
89% of customers said it’s important for retailers to allow
them to shop in the way that is most convenient for them.
*Survey of 750 consumers in the US
Source: Accenture (2013)

15. Multi-device redefines point-of-sale
Tablets have helped redefine point of sale - in the US over their annual
‘mega-shopping’ weekend, 32% of E-commerce traffic came from
tablet devices. With tablets driving twice as many transactions as mobile
devices, which remains the favourite for browsing, it’s critical to create a
seamless shopping experience across multiple channels.
In fact, 49% of consumers feel that integrating in-store, online and mobile
channels is the best thing retailers can do this year.
Source: IBM (2013), Accenture (2013), BusinessNewsDaily (Jan 2014)

16. “Amazon now has
‘Lockers’ in 11 UK cities
with plans for more“
Source: Econsultancy (2013)

17. What can you do?
Use data and analytics to understand how consumers use
each shopping channel for which purpose. For example,
optimising your mobile site for browsing can strengthen
your customer’s retail experience while on the go.

18. 5
Data + Analytics
Big data has been a buzzword for a while too long now. However, 2014
looks to prove that real value can be generated from smart use of analytics.

19. Data + Analytics
Data analysis is no longer just about segmenting email lists.
James Gagliardi (Digital River), believes that companies will be able to
analyse data to create useful consumer insights. If fashion retailers can use
data to suggest products based on existing purchases, they can help the
customer build a complimentary and customised wardrobe.
Netflix has already been using data analytics for this type of customisation
for a while. The biggest change will be that Big Data will become part of
their core business practise for small retailers.
42% of small businesses which participated in the ShopKeep POS survey,
say they are using analytics to make smarter, immediate business decisions.
Source: Wired (2013)

20. “Cloud computing has lowered the
costs, and barriers to entry, of all
sorts of technology which is
particularly exciting for smaller
businesses who can now compete
with the bigger players.”
Source: Econsultancy (2013)

21. What can you do?
In 2014, you’ll be using data to acquire more customers, up-sell to your
existing customers and retain them for longer. It’s not just your business
which will be getting smarter with analytics in 2014, but the under-lying
tools themselves. Analytics and marketing software will be smarter and
quicker at producing useful insights.
Source: Wired (2013)

22. 6
Shopping gets social
Customers expect a more multifaceted
relationship with retailers – social media is
not just for shopping, but also for retailers
to post high-quality content.
*Survey of 750 consumers in the US
Source: Accenture (2013)

23. Shopping gets social
“The idea of content marketing is to attract and retain customers by creating
and curating relevant and valuable content,” according to the Content
Marketing Institute.
This definition gets right at the heart of ecommerce marketing in 2014. Some
experts predict that online shoppers will become more fickle in 2014. One
possible way to counteract such an unfortunate situation is to be more than
just a shop, and to provide useful or entertaining content that will keep
shoppers coming back.
Mr. Porter, an online retailer of men’s apparel, is a great example of content
marketing in action. Its online publication, The Journal, always has interesting
and relevant content. Similarly, American Apparel’s not-safe-for-work product
slide shows and provocative Tumblr page entertain and engage shoppers,
creating lasting customer relationships that generate repeat sales.
Source: Wired (2013), ParctialEcommerce (2013)

24. “Companies that view ecommerce strictly as a
website-driven channel will
struggle to compete in 2014
and beyond.”
Source: Wired (2013)

25. What can you do?
Use analytics to understand the ROI on your social activity and double
down on the channels with the highest conversion. Understand why
other channels aren’t converting as highly.
Source: Wired (2014)

26. 7
Delivery 2.0
Services like Shutl and
Amazon Prime have
pioneered same day
delivery. In 2014,
expect this to
become the norm.

27. Delivery 2.0
Amazon Prime registered 1 million new customers in December 2013.
There are now 20 million Amazon users who are eligible to get next day
or two day shipping. In addition, Amazon Prime users spent 53% more
per year than those who were not signed up.
Despite a recent price hike to Amazon Prime in the US, the immediacy of
offline shopping is reaching Ecommerce. Being so crucial to the
consumer experience, we expect to see huge growth in fulfilment
services, such as Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), to enable smaller retailers
to take advantage of one of the most sophisticated logistics services in
the world.
Source: Business Insider (Jan 2014), VentureBeat (Jan 2014)

28. “72% of retailers offered
next-day delivery, compared
to 68% last year (2013)”
Source: Micros Multi-Channel Retail Delivery Report (2013)

29. What can you do?
Evaluate the importance of delivery times to your customers and
consider outsourcing fulfilment. There have been reported downsides to
using FBA, so carefully consider your options.
Source: Wired (2014)

30. You’ve been viewing
7 Ecommerce Trends in 2014
by
Pohlin Lau (@PohlinLau) + GoSquared

31. Sources
Accenture (2013): http://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-study-shows-us-consumers-want-a-seamless-shopping-experienceacross-store-online-and-mobile-that-many-retailers-are-struggling-to-deliver.htmI
Bloomberg Businessweek (Nov 2013): http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-14/2014-outlook-easy-mobile-payments-inreach#p2
Business Insider (Jan 2014): http://www.businessinsider.in/Amazon-Says-It-Has-20-Million-Prime-Members/articleshow/28490564.cms
eMarketer (2013): http://www.emarketer.com/Article/B2C-Ecommerce-Climbs-Worldwide-Emerging-Markets-Drive-Sales-Higher/
1010004
Forrester (2013): http://blogs.forrester.com/zia_daniell_wigder/13-12-12-the_globalization_of_ecommerce_in_2014
Gartner (2013): http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2504915
Hailo (2014): https://hailocab.com/london
Micros (2013): https://reports.micros-ecommerce.com/
PracticalEcommerce (Jan 2014): http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/62550-2014-Ecommerce-Marketing-Checklist
smartinsights.com (2013): http://www.smartinsights.com/marketplace-analysis/partner-analysis/selling-amazon-ebay-2014/
VentureBeat (Jan 2014): http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/08/fulfillment-by-amazon-what-amazon-doesnt-tell-third-party-sellers/
Wired (Dec 2013): http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/e-commerce-in-2014-seven-key-trends#axzz2pj5CvJ00
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