Exciting Commerce // Unlimited

Net-a-Porter: The Founder And Her Story On Instagram

Net-a-Porter is one of the few e-commerce companies created by women, for women. As such it is a model example for female founders in e-commerce.

The founder of Net-a-Porter, Nathalie Massenet, has recently immortalized her story-so-far on Instagram. And gives us some insight on her life and how she came to become who she is today:

The Facebook daughter Instagram seems to be establishing itself as one of the most important platforms for the fashion industry.

Amongst those using Instagram is Stylight, the Germany based fashion community site, who recently hosted a large group of fashion bloggers, many of whom are only active on Instagram.

Not surprising that Net-a-Porter also has a strong presence there.

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

The Paradox of Choice

Of all the topics that wander around in ecomPunk country, one that keeps coming back to me constantly is: reducing complexity, making things simple, getting rid of too many options. Personally, I’m a big fan of curated shopping experiences and I’m testing various services – guess what, me, the fashion noob all of a sudden has a fashion expert sending him all kinds of outfits. (Not sure how this will turn out and whether it will be plain jeans and shirt again – ah well.) A couple of months ago, in a post dedicated to laziness in commerce, I also argued that far more turnover could be generated if merchants addressed the need for easy and intuitive shopping. Last night, then, I came across a video by Barry Schwartz, which I’d like to discuss here briefly. Incidentally, my post and the video share the same title …

Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!

It’s time to focus on your strengths!

This is meant to be read by all the eCommerce solution providers with enterprise focus. The ones that would love to have Zalando in their portfolio.

It’s time to focus on your strengths software manufacturers!

What do I want to say with this? Enterprise eCommerce is not like the car industry. You just don’t offer a Mercedes and know that there are close to endless quality goals and stress tests to ensure all your components work well together and every part manufacturer follows your quality guidelines making it a great complete product in the end. So you just cannot approach it like this and sell your “platforms” and “solutions” as if they are turnkey solutions for all eCommerce needs surrounded by not so important or replaceable additions.

Read the full feature at ecomPunk!

Exceed 2013: Recap

After a long-expected shop launch, I managed to pull myself away from the project scene and fly over to Berlin to catch at least one day of the infamous Exceed conference, organised b Jochen Krisch and his crew. While my ecomPunk buddies Nadine and Kai had already been able to catch the first day in images (day two here), I’d like to add a bit of text as well.

Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!

Farfetch, Monoqi, RenéSim: Condé Nast on Shopping Spree

Condé Nast International (Glamour, Vogue, Vanity Fair) has been issuing press releases about it's e-commerce investments on an almost weekly basis.

Yesterday saw a further investment of $20 million for farfetch (“A new way to shop for fashion”). Germany's e.ventures also participated in the funding round:

"Condé Nast International has led a $20m investment in farfetch, the world’s leading e-commerce marketplace for independent fashion boutiques; it was announced today by Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive.

Existing investors Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures and e.ventures also participated in the fundraising."

A good year ago, farfetch had raised $18 million, bringing the total to date to $44 million.

Last week, Condé Nast got on board with Berlin based designer shop Monoqi:

Since Monoqi‘s launch in 2011, the curated online shopping platform has kept a relatively low profile. Today the Berlin-based startup has announced a strategic partnership with publishing juggernaut Condé Nast

Additionally, Condé Nast Germany is the startup’s largest shareholder with a 26 per cent stake in the young company, which offers users upmarket Fab-style flash-sale shopping.”

The day before, Condé Nast stocked up their investment in the Munich based online jewelry store, RenéSim to 46%:

“We are looking specifically for innovative young enterprises with whom we can make an active and sustainable contribution to value growth.” (translated)

With publishing houses however, it isn't clear if they will be contributing real or virtual money (aka: media volume).

The New York Times has produced a detailed background report ("Condé Nast Invests in e-Commerce").

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

Rakuten: Happy Commerce Versus Vending Machines

For those interested in alternative e-commerce strategies which specifically target repeat customers, Rakuten would be a good case study. The Japanese conglomerate has declared war on the online “vending machines” and wants to compete with a model centered around fun e-commerce.

To put a name behind the concept, Rakuten has coined the term “Happy Commerce” this week at their annual press conference:

Rakuten was represented at last September's K5 Conference and gave further insights into their e-commerce philosophy.

Rakuten has already converted both their US operations (Buy.com) and their UK arm (Play.com) from a first party sales model to a marketplace model.

With $805 million in revenues, Buy.com took 36^th place on the Internet Retailer's Top 500. Rakuten had paid $250 million to acquire it in 2010. At the time, Buy.com was already on its way to a marketplace model.

In December, Rakuten renamed Freecause to “Rakuten Loyalty”. And last September, Rakuten's affiliate network Linkshare acquired the display ad and retargeting company mediaFORGE.

Most recently, Rakuten has invested in Pinterest, Ahalife and the Daily Grommet. On the other hand, nothing has become of Vaniti, the marketplace for designer labels that was announced in the summertime.

Rakuten has launched its first German Rakuten Super Sale on February 17^th which will last 28 hours.

Related posts:

• Rakuten Elaborates On It’s “Rakuten Super Logistics” Strategy
• Daily Grommet and the Feminine Take on Live Shopping
• Rakuten: “Buy from people, not the internet”
• Pinterest Raises $100 Million From Investment Group Led by Rakuten
• How Rakuten Wants To Push Tradoria Ahead With Buy.com
• Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani in DLD Video Interview

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

Roman’s Rants: Touchy typy

During the past weeks, I felt oddly content with the commerce and tech world around me. Maybe it’s because I’m so bloody busy right now, that all the rant potential went into project related stuff. But, having to communicate while on the go all the time made the swearing juices flow again. People, friends, we’ve all been deceived by the smartphone and tablet industry: one just cannot type on a fucking touch device!

Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!

Multichannel, cross-channel, omni-channel – new words for old ideas!

(by our guest author Wiljo Krechting)

One needs only to click clumsily around the web to stumble upon discussion after discussion over the importance of “multichannel” marketing, as well as its distinction from “cross-“, and “omni-channel” marketing. The greatest distinction I’ve found is that which lies between the various degrees of bullshit that cover this entire topic.

Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!

Etsy Raises Trade Volume to $895 Million for 2012

Etsy has continued to grow uninterrupted in 2012. The revenues generated by the merchant members in December exceeded $100 million for a second time and climbed 73% to a new record value of $117.8 million. This brings the total revenue volume to $895 million for the year.

A direct comparison to the preceeding year is difficult, since in 2012 Etsy started to use net revenue calculations (after cancellations and returns). In 2011 the gross revenues were $538 million. The growth in 2012 could very well be over 70%.

In 2012, Etsy received $40 million of capital investment from Burda and other investors.

Related posts:

• Etsy Raises Merchant Revenues to $538 Million in 2011 (+71%)
• The Etsy Way: Behind the Scenes
• Etsy Tech Talk: Moving Fast At Scale

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

Is your shop system important any longer…?

I recently had an interesting discussion with acustomer. Regarding an option that would make his online shop available in an optimized version for tablets and mobiles, he argued, that he think it’s nice, but not so important for him, since he sells most of his stuff via other channels.

Read the full feature on ecomPunk.com!

Picture by Dave_B_

Talking about revolution...

Sometimes it's really valuable to take a step back and regain the broader view again. What you are able to observe from this kind of outside perspective is sometimes stunning. I am personally looking at a revolution that's going on. It's a very strange situation, because on the one side people are talking about it all the time. And on the other side it's widely ignored ...

Read the full feature on ecompunk.com!

Fab.com: Free Rein And $150 Million. Where Will It Lead?

The founders from Fab.com have raised $150 million in a short amount of time and have pretty well free rein now from the investor perspective. With this freedom, Fab.com has been planning another complete re-orientation of their core business (“Fab's 2nd Pivot”):

“We’re now ready to pull the covers off of the massive pivot Fab has successfully undergone in 2012, from design flash sales to the world’s leading everyday design retailer.”

One thing is for certain: Fab.com can definitely drum up limitless hype much better than all other e-commerce startups. Time will tell if we will experience the next Amazon or the next Boo.com.

The expectations surrounding the $150 million investment capital is matched only by the level of enthusiasm and eagerness to experiment which is so publicly displayed by the founders. The expectations cannot compare to other startups with the same amount of agility and innovation but with a tenth of the capital investment.

Constantly in the background is the hope of a quick exit, best of all as soon as 2013.

Related posts:

• Fab.com Picks up Casacanda from the Springstar Incubator
• Fab.com and the Latest Out of Germany’s Clone Factories
• Extras: Fab.com, Plum District, Groupon, Zappos, Marka VIP

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

The Samwers Gain Luxury Goods Concern PPR as Strategic Investor

Exciting Commerce has been reporting on how the luxury industry has been aligning itself to new e-commerce partners.

After the joint venture with Yoox, the PPR Group (Gucci, Puma, etc.) is now a strategic investor with the Samwer brothers by investing 10 million Euro in Rocket Internet fashion startups:

"The company is today announcing that PPR, luxury and sport & lifestyle group, is taking a €10 million investment in Bigfoot I, the Rocket holding company that controls Russian fashion commerce site Lamoda, South American fashion site Dafiti and also has a stake in Namshi, the Samwer’s fashion effort in the Middle East. It’s the first strategic investment made in a Rocket e-commerce startup by a fashion operation."

The “Bigfoot” companies, who are serving the fashion markets in South America, Russia and the Middle East, have already received hundreds of millions of dollars of investment from such firms as JP Morgan and Summit Partners. The Brazilian startup Dafiti has racked up $180 million alone.

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

Learning from Jeff Bezos: Never chase the hot thing!”

"Never chase the hot thing", goes one of the quotes from Jeff Bezos. The Amazon CEO is being celebrated in the US as Businessperson of the Year and has been dubbed “The Ultimate Disrupter”.

Last Thursday, he had a “fireside chat” with his CTO Werner Vogels at “re: Invent” the first big Amazon Web Services conference. There he presented Amazon as the master of the narrow margin.

The session contains a sort of “best-of” of Jeff Bezos' insights. Many have been heard before in one form or the other. Notable was his advice to entrepreneurs at the end of the talk:

"Never chase the hot thing (whatever it is). That's like trying to catch the wave. And you'll never catch it. You need to position yourself and wait for the wave. The way you do that: You pick something you're passionate about.

Make sure it is something you're passionate about. Missionaries build better products. I would take a missionary over a mercenary any day. Mercenaries wanna flip the company and get rich, missionaries want to build a great product or service. One of those great paradoxes: it's usually the missionaries who are going to make more money anyway."

More recent insights from Jeff Bezos are also to be found on Charlie Rose.

In addition, a sort of biography has come out this year called One Click (“Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com”).

Related posts:

• Shopbop and the Growth of Amazon’s Fashion Empire
• Amazon Applies For Themed Domain Names
• Inside Amazon: How They Are Doing Behind the Scenes
• Shopping Devices: What Does The Amazon Tablet Deliver?
• A Look at Amazon’s Tablet Strategy

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

Shop Construction: The Power of Intuition

Yesterday, good ole ecomPunk has visited one of those industry events for the sheer fun of it. Reconnecting to people, listening to a couple of presentations (and once more being surprised how boring and uninspiring some people try to get their message across) and eating pretentious-looking food in a pretentious-looking lobby of a fancy hotel. Thematically, it was all about conversion and the question, how the ratio of people visiting an online store and actually ordering stuff can be measured, interpreted and improved. Basically, everybody on stage was singing the song of songs of web controlling, identifying KPIs and relating all these parameters to each other. And this made me wonder. And each time this happens – the most faithful readers might know – I go and pester everybody with this topic to get some clarification. So here goes.

Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!

Rakuten Elaborates On Its “Rakuten Super Logistics” Strategy

Until Rakuten’s acquisition of Alpha Direct Services (ADS) last week, Rakuten was not particularly well known for their ambitions regarding logistics. Pure marketplace providers such as Rakuten or eBay tend to come into this market space rather slowly.

In a close to 100 page quarterly report (PDF), Rakuten elaborates on their (long) road towards “Rakuten Super Logistics”. The plans have been running since 2006 – deliveries have been running for over 2 years already in Japan:

The concept is for fast deliveries across different times of the day:

For their Rakuten Mart supermarket, Rakuten has been using an in-house fleet of vehicles to make grocery deliveries since July:

In Europe, Rakuten points to warehouses in England and France:

The logistics company Alpha Direct was founded by an ex-Bertelsmann/Arvato manager and has been acquired by Rakuten. Rakuten’s main goal here is to have access to their fulfillment technology, which will be used in Japan and elsewhere:

For similar reasons, Amazon took over Kiva Systems early this year for a price of $775 million.

In the quarterly report (PDF), Rakuten provides an extensive look into their global logistics strategy which now counts as one of their three main growth pillars.

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.

Same Day Delivery: Towards a Product Replicator

Does anyone remember those funny machines on the USS Enterprise that produced every imaginable food and beverage item? From the Earl Grey tea Jean-Luc Picard (hands down the best Star Trek captain there ever was and will be) used to order to almost lethal Klingon cocktails – the replicators could do it all, instantly. When I read about the concept of Same Day Delivery (SDL) I cannot help but think about these 24th century machines.

Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!