e-Commerce & more I 24th to 30th Aug- #63

What is the link between Walmart, China & Satya Nadella? Social Commerce!

Couple of surprising news last week, Walmart interest in TikTok was probably the most surprising. If that happen, it could transform and accelerate the social commerce adoption in US by couple of years!

ToysRUs is back online with an unexpected partner: Amazon! Abercrombie & Fitch online sales growth boost shares & profit, Best Buy shifting stores into fulfillment hubs, Dick’s Sporting Goods online sales surge 194%, Ifood goes into Drones! Delivery Hero acquires InstaShop in $360M

1.Walmart teams with Microsoft on TikTok bid, eyeing e-commerce, advertising opportunity

The interest of Walmart in TikTok could define the future of social commerce in US. If the retail giant get this deal done, we can expect a huge acceleration of social commerce adoption and that could disrupt the entire retail landscape if well executed.

Companies in China like Pinduoduo or Tiktok have made the impossible possible by winning in Ecommerce against well-established powerhouse like Alibaba or JD.com. Does Walmart believe they could do the same with the acquisition of TikTok in the US and truly fight back against Amazon?

2. Toys R Us online sales now supported by Amazon

Toys R Us online sales being supported by Amazon. You are probably thinking…wait a second, TRU online sales? I thought they were bankrupt….yes but it’s a bit more complicated.

After the bankruptcy announcement, TRU announced a partnership with Target to fulfill their orders. That didn’t last long and now it’s Amazon which is fulfilling orders referred to it by the new Toys R Us' website. I might be the only one but not sure about the strategy here….

If you ask people in TRU about their relationship with Amazon, you probably get the “It’s complicated status” :-)

3. Abercrombie & Fitch shares are soaring as the retailer reports profit amid online sales boom

One of the main challenge for brands, marketplaces & companies selling products online is not to sell product but it’s to make the business profitable. This quarterly report from A&F is really interesting as the multi-channel company has been able to improve margin while significant increase of its online channel ….

“As long as you can reduce fixed costs, this shift to digital can be profitable,” CFO Scott Lipesky of Abercrombie & Fitch said after reporting Q2 numbers.

4. Best Buy shifting stores into fulfillment hubs 

Darkstore or converting stores into fulfillment location has been a strategy known for a long time but with the pandemic, we are seeing more and more companies actually executing this concept.

Best Buy just reported earnings with 242% growth in online sales compared with the prior year. As we are seeing volume growing and peak approaching, Best Buy’s decision to convert about a quarter of its stores into shipping hubs to boost delivery speed is probably a strong indication of the company expectations for the peak season (most critical period of the year). The company will also add more third-party locations for customer pickups, on top of the 16,000 it currently has, a true omnichannel strategy shaping up here…

5. Dick’s Sporting Goods crushes Wall Street estimates as online sales surge 194%

Fitness, outdoor equipment & sports are some of the winner categories of the “stay at home” economy. Dick’s Sporting Goods reported digital sales increased by 194% compared to last year, that represent roughly a 30% of total revenue of the company, compared with about 12% a year ago!!! At 30% of total sales, this will start to become a true priority !

6. Brazilian iFood takes the first step to deploy drones for meal delivery

Innovation born in Brazil for Brazil! Drone delivery has been a topic talked about since 2013. By now we should have drones doing delivery everywhere based on the announcement made by Bezos at that time. But! You probably didn’t see many drones delivering your avocado toast, pizzas or sushis yet! Some people even think that the idea is dead but it’s definitely not dead.

There are multiple projects ongoing across the globe and certain geographical areas in Australia, US, China, Africa, Finland are actually using them for commercial deliveries….It’s just going to take way longer than planned initially.

I really like the approach taken by Ifood on this pilot as they are looking at drones to complement the delivery process in areas where it can save time and not by replacing the full delivery process, I think this phased approach would be more successful in order to build models which deliver an enhanced and faster experience, not just excitement through press releases!

7. StartUp of the Week: Instashop!! Delivery Hero acquires InstaShop in $360M deal to expand in groceries in the Middle East

The consolidation of the grocery & delivery business continues worldwide as the pandemic is accelerating consumer behavior shift…This time the acquisition is in the Middle East with the acquisition of Instashop by Delivery Hero!

Cheers & enjoy

Nabil