e-Commerce & more I 8th to 14th Mar - #81

The biggest IPO of 2021 is…..Coupang !!

Don’t worry if you never heard about this company! They are the Amazon of Korea !!

Also in the news last week…Adidas 50% digital sales by 2025, Kohls added 2M New customers by handling ecommerce returns for Amazon, ZigZag acquired by Global Blue, 75% of apparel sales were made online in Feb,

And my last interview about ecommerce sustainability with Expansion Mexico (In Spanish)

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang tops $84 billion market cap after soaring in market debut

Coupang Ring the Bell!

Last week the South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang became the largest foreign company to make its US trading debut since Alibaba went public in 2014, It was also the largest US IPO of the year so far! It seems that ecommerce is hot hot hot!!

Shares finished IPO day 70% higher, giving the company a market value of $108.9 billion. 

Did you know? Over 70% of South Korea lives within seven miles of a Coupang logistics center, it allows them to be very fast!! Think about the combination of Amazon delivery services combined with the store network of Walmart! 

Interesting stat: South Korea has the highest rate of e-commerce adoption in the world! The big winner of this IPO is Investment fund Softbank which owns 35% of Coupang which represent approximately 33Bln!! That will make up for many of the other bad investments!

Adidas aims for DTC to be 50% of sales by 2025

Impossible is Nothing 

Adidas is going all in on Direct to Consumer! The company unveiled a plan increase revenue by a third and double online sales by 2025. Nike made similar announcement couple of months ago!

What does it mean exactly? By 2025, Adidas wants to invest 1.2Bln into digital operation and reach 50% of sales through direct channels!

Who will benefit of this? Consumers, YOU!!! DTC channel can allow brands to maximize margin and reduce sales prices (if they want to of course)

Who will suffer? Wholesalers & Distributors of Adidas! 

Kohl's Adds 2 Million New Customers in 2020 Thanks to In-Store Amazon Returns

"If you can't beat them, join them"

Last summer Kohl’s surprised many people when they announced that they will be receiving returns for Amazon in all their stores…

Why would they do that? Return management is a great opportunity to bring customers to a specific location as they have to drop their returns!!

Show me the money! 2 million new customers visited Kohl’s stores last year thanks to Amazon returns!! That’s pretty impressive no?

Moral of the story: “If you can't beat them, join them”, instead of fighting Amazon, Kohls partnered and it’s working!

StartUp of the week: ZigZag! Global Blue Acquires ZigZag Global, a Leading E-commerce Returns Platform

Returns are not that Bad!!

Ecommerce is hot & Ecommerce Returns are hot hot hot !! so, it’s not surprising to see ZigZag being acquired!!

Did you know? More than 40% of online orders on average are returned.

Zig Zag is SaaS platform that enhances e-commerce returns experience for consumers and streamlines the returns process for retailers across the globe! The company grew 500% in 2020 VS 2019!! not bad!!!! Global Blue acquired zigzag in order to complement it’s Tax-Free Shopping and Added Value Payment Services!

Statistic of the week: 75% of apparel sales were made online in Feb

Mastercard exec says almost 75% of apparel sales were made online last month, that’s a pretty amazing number!!

My last interview with Expansion Mexico (in Spanish) about sustainability in Ecommerce

Key Takeaway:

Ecom in #Mexico grew +80% in 2020

The need for #Sustainable Ecommerce Solutions is becoming a priority

Electrification of the fleet is not enough, we need to improve in all dimensions (delivery, consumables, packaging & building).

DHL Opti-carton solution is one example of the kind of technologies that improve significantly packaging optimization & deliveries!

What can you do to lower the environmental impact of your online purchases?

Group purchases of the week; Lower delivery expectations when urgency is not needed; Use pick up & drop off locations; Group & consolidate returns; Buy & use from companies committed to sustainability

Join Us Thursday 18th Mar for a great panel about Demystifying Ecommerce

Cheers

Nabil