e-Commerce and more I 17th to 23rd May - #87

The big news of the week is coming from France (yes my country)

Backmarket at it again !!!

The refurbished product marketplace raising $335M at 3.2Bln valuation.

 It’s great to see the momentum behind a startup that is not only growing its business and valuation but also making a truly positive impact in the world!! If you are looking for consumer electronics, check out backmarket.com!

 Good for the planet, Good the Wallet!! Amazing combination no?

Congrats to the entire team of Backmarket!

Other news includes...

Google partners with Shopify on online shopping expansion; Facebook debuts ‘Live Shopping Fridays; Estée Lauder Companies Partners With Uber on Next-Hour Delivery; Brand Marketplace Ankorstore raises $100m

1. Backmarket raises $335M for its refurbished device marketplace, now valued at $3.2B

When I met Raoul (COO of Backmarket who is also one of our reader :-)) in Paris 3 years ago, I was really amazed by the potential of their business, the company is the leading marketplace for refurbished items with already 5M customers and 1,500 merchants.

We got an exclusive statement for Ecommerce & more from their Managing Director for the Americas Serge Verdoux

"This latest fundraising will allow us to accelerate our investments in the US and international markets. We will also expand our suite of merchant services (logistics, customer care, repair...), which will help us strengthen our best-in-class customer experience, making buying renewed a mainstream alternative to new"

An exciting time for refurbished products!

2. Google partners with Shopify on online shopping expansion

Google announced last week it’s partnering with Shopify! The partnership will enable Shopify 1.7M merchants to reach consumers through Google Search and its other services.

The integration will allow merchants to sign up in just a few clicks to have their products appear across Google’s 1 billion “shopping journeys” that takes place every day through Search, Maps, Images, Lens and YouTube.

3. Facebook debuts ‘Live Shopping Fridays’ featuring beauty, fashion and skincare brands

While live-streaming shopping is already one of the primary channels in China, the US & Europe are catching up.

Did you know? The US Livestreaming market is estimated to be an $11Bln market

In order to penetrate this amazing opportunity, Facebook will host weekly “live shopping Fridays” with select brands.

The focus will be on few categories of products such as Beauty, Fashion & Wellness. With more than 3Bln users across its platforms, Facebook has a huge advantage to become of a powerhouse of Livestream shopping but they need to act fast!!

4. Estée Lauder Companies Partners With Uber on Next-Hour Delivery

Your next order of perfume or face cream could be delivered by a guy in a Honda Civic delivering your sushis at the same time (I have nothing against Honda)!

Following the acquisition of Postmates, Uber's ambitions on the “last-mile delivery of anything” was very clear !! The new partnership between Uber and EL will allow couriers to pick up products from stores and take them directly to the customers for a delivery fee on par with food orders, between $0.50 and $5.

That doesn't include the tips :-)

5. Startup of the week: Ankorstore

Ankorstore raises $100m as Tiger Global’s spree continues 

Tiger Global again!! 

Ankorstore, founded in 2019, runs an online marketplace where up-and-coming brands can sell directly to independent shops, this enables brands to sell more products in physical channels and enable stores to have more inventory and choices. The perfect of offline & online convergence!

Love the concept as it’s enabling smaller businesses to thrives in the physical world through technology. A kind of Shopify of the brick & mortar!!

Enjoy, cheers

Nabil