Yes, Europe is ready for marketplaces!

Un Espresso per favore!?

It is Friday and I am glad you take a sip of Ecosystem inspiration.

After the whole week in Spain #shoptalkeurope I want to share my observations directly from people in dialogue with us. I will not cover the official presentations and talks...

1| Thank you for 596 Subscribers.

Highly appreciated. Keep sharing with friends, colleagues, former peers and people that could benefit.?Please help us crack 1.000! Together.

2| Shoptalk Europe Debrief: Why Europe is now more than ready for Marketplaces!

My direct observations and helping you who out there is engaged, curious or just opportunistically trying to get a cut of the pie. My direct observations and helping you who out there is engaged, curious or just opportunistically trying.

3| New Book presentation at Shoptalk

#NextGenerationRetailing by Deborah Weinswig 韋葆蘭 and Renee Hartmann

4|?#theNTWKsummit23

After a great week in #Barcelona we will be back next week for the leading European Platform Summit. 80 speakers, great companies and a wonderful community. There are still tickets available! Let us know, if you need a free ticket...

2|?Shoptalk Europe Debrief: Why Europe is now more than ready for Marketplaces!

This week′s Shoptalk in #Barcelona was truly exciting. And Barcelona was exciting:

• Great city
• Great food
• Great people

Our personal observations on #shoptalkeurope:

• Size approx. ? of Las Vegas.
• More sustainability and circularity questions.
• Less understanding but even more curiosity about marketplaces.

3 x 3 = 3 groups with 3 question each we heard:

Group 1: ENTERPRISE

Question 1: “how can we get our leaders to understand marketplace business models and as a consequence be really able to support servicing outside partners”?

• "We are already experimenting, but I must do all alone. I got an agency that helps me circumvent all the internal barriers from procurement to payment".
• "Goals and objectives are not adjusted to marketplace needs – classic top and bottom-line – we cannot grow systematically and structurally the marketplace offering".

It is great that people within larger organisations are enthusiastic about the opportunity of marketplaces and despite the lack of strategic and operating model integration try to get going. In my experience this is too little and too hard.?You need more support and resources – still lean and agile - but aligned and committed first otherwise you will get burned!

Question 2: “how can we get marketplace initiatives going without the right tech and partners”?

• Vendor set up and item set up in legacy IT systems is too hard and slow.
• People think they need to go through their ERP rather than manage via catalogue modules on their Marketplace software solution.
• Non – IT and also some IT-people do not know that marketplace software is just an additional layer managing the outside offerings still going through the e-commerce front end.
• There are e-procurement or 3PL solutions (anything from selling to shipping), so getting started becomes easier as there are service providers that also allow brands and businesses to retain overview, brand safety and integrity as well as higher transaction and lower unit cost.

Solutions which are adjusted to your current tech and maybe lower capabilities will not create the results you aspire and more importantly deliver the experiences your consumers expect. They are spoiled by the hyperscalers and expect the same from you.?There is no way around that to evolve your enterprise architecture, commerce layer to find the right marketplace solution with the related providers for payment, taxation, AI etc. and start somewhere.

Question 3: “how can I despite my GTM and distribution | channel partner agreements still play in this marketplace field?

• Decision makers and influencers typically think status quo or D2C only.
• There seems to be a belief that businesses only have the choice of selling through existing marketplaces (general like Amazon, eBay and more specialized verticals like Zalando, Internetstores).
• Some people still fear channel conflicts from some years ago. This is no longer the case, if co-created and added value is provided.

Leaders only think the immediate next step "selling through existing marketplaces" or not at all. This is a far too narrow perspective!? Especially, if you have a powerful network of Go To Market Partners (GTM), then you can actually provide added value through integrating them onto a marketplace, serve them with data and be open for future loop back tasks in a circular economy. Think #CCHBC or the #ABInbev Bees, which we contributed to.

LEARNING BOX 1: There is a second mover disadvantage: Think from your customer′s perspective for a moment: How many Wholesale Integration or GTM Integration marketplaces (like the two examples above) would you want to join as your own customer in parallel? Mostly 1, few 2, definitely not more. In times of challenges with staff and talent, anything that makes your life easier, saves time and can be automated is welcome. This is why you need a marketplace strategy and capabilities NOW!

LEARNING BOX 2: Only going step by step from today to tomorrow is a short-mid-term perspective only. You need to approach in parallel future backwards. This does not have to take forever using good future backwards frameworks and zoom in | zoom out like planning (see previous Ecosystem Espressos on that). Marketplaces are not just a piece of software. Think of it far more like moving from being a merchant to becoming a mall. Being a mall allows you to serve the end customer and your partners with better assortment, experience, dayparts etc.

Your strategy as bigger brands and businesses needs to consider all marketplace and platform options:

·???????Partner

·???????Orchestrate

·???????Invest

LEARNING BOX 3: Commodity or powerful futureproof player

Even more importantly: you decide today whether you will be playing as a commodity supplier to marketplaces with no direct customer access, little primary or expensive data or as strong brands with pricing power based on rich data, ecosystem innovation and a better way to comply with ESG regulations delivering your publicly stated commitments together or not.

Group 2: START UPS | SCALE UPS

Questions 1: “how can we become part of an ecosystem and thrive on tech and partner integration”

• Highly specialized solutions help complement the ecosystem e.g. a crypto payment solution just like your ordinary payment providers want to be integrated (one team shared with us their monthly transaction volume in crypto of € 1 Bn already - in crypto winter)
• Circularity start ups that want to integrate into verticals with credibility (e.g. camera and video refurbishments with 200 people validating and spacing what comes back).

As investors into start-ups and scale ups forget only focussing on unicorn visions. Partner-led growth is valued more than sales-led growth in very successful and big Silicon Valley VCs already. So how to partner? Structural with proper business model or only personal networks.?Repeatable solutions need ecosystem integration and not just networks. Personal connections are the glue, but interoperability and repeatability scale.

Questions 2: “How can we as start up help you go full circle?”

• Some startups that make it easier for consumers to conveniently alter their consumption behaviours with less impact on planet and people.
• Circularity startups and scale ups do struggle with current crises…input cost up, demand down, funding slowed down, cash low. Some would provide solutions that scaled would help save the planet and avoid opportunity cost #OrganicGarden - the fully integrated, regional zero food waste "factory" - a great municipal solution, a community solution, an agricultural solution (thank you for your questions Reinhard Winkler , a Shopping Center evolution with platform integration).
• #Picadeli integrating their salad saladbars into supermarkets offering affordable healthy fresh nutrition at high margins and sustainable footprints .

Most of the start ups have a 21 st century operating models, which are data-led. A win for incumbent investors and orchestrators. ?Win-Win-Wins are possible, if only the organizations were more agile and flexible and less rigid military-like operations (think more like #corporateinnovators). Start-ups should think ecosystem integration far more by design in early stages and POCs and not only try to become the next unicorn.

Questions 3: “How can we make it structurally different and easier for circularity?”

• #EUregulations create a whole new demand for integrated solutions leveraging networked business models for tracing, tracking, reporting, auditing.
• Passports for products across the life cycle are required everywhere (think #buyerdock)
• Solutions creating a "link" between the digital (token, NFT) and physical representation will be essential.
• #Tokenization of ownership, usage and maintenance as proof of product profile and leverage across the 5Rs of sustainability (think: #Labelld).

It is important the sustainability subject matter experts in companies become far more aware what tech and collaboration can do. Sitting in functional silos that do some education and reporting is missing the train.

Goals, commitments and impact would be more aggressive, if businesses were to understand circularity platforms and ecosystems. Instead of one business after other trying to become circular, it is far easier to do it together.

Questions 3: “How can marketplace solutions support circularity.”

• Tracking and documenting the respec and re-release of products into new cycles (e.g. smart phones).
• ESG Scoring of suppliers across different areas of CO2-footprint scope 1-3 is becoming a reality in first simple use cases.
• Incentivizing circularity of sellers and resellers and ESG behaviors in the supply chain and with consumers can be simply orchestrated and managed through marketplace technology (think lower take rates, or higher visibility etc.)

Understanding marketplaces and having partners that make circularity a priority will allow you to make the world better and thrive on data, insights, and transactions at the same time. It will provide a new form of brand safety and brand equity strength across supplier tiers.

Group 3: THE VERY CUIROUS “LEARNERS”

Questions 1: “How is it done?”

• Agencies and Integrators from different geographies and limited experience and know-how become very curious and investigative driven by the raising interests of their own customers in marketplaces.?
• System Integrators of large corps send their troups??- also in camouflage mode…wanting to understand solution and tech stack names and architectures.

Questions 2: “Can we partner?”

• Agencies and people try in return for sharing insights, expertise to please you with opportunities working with them. Most seem statements of Verlegenheit.?
• Question 3: “Can I geek?”
• Leaders of agencies that looking for new opportunities coming in stealth mode.
• Teams taking pictures of our frameworks.

This is can be done easier: go to #McFadyen.com for free downloads or buy our bestselling book:

3|?Next Generation Retail - NEW BOOK

The authors Deborah Weinswig 韋葆蘭 and Renee Hartmann did the first book presentation of Shoptalk successfully. We are proud that both stoped by our booth and we could talk to them about the Circularity mandate and opportunity (chapter 5 of the book).

How to Use New Technology to Innovate for the Future

Highly practical in approach, it explores the latest opportunities and pitfalls to avoid for developments including the metaverse, livestream shopping, instant commerce, blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Next Generation Retail?also describes how to create compelling content and retail media to drive commerce and monetize data while maintaining customer trust. Featuring original research and interviews with top industry experts, it contains examples and case studies from a range of brands and organisations including Lanc?me, Burberry, and Walmart. (source: English version Amazon)

The authors are very experienced in the startup, social commerce and research space amongst other topics. On top they are passionate and really well connected to make this fun and valuable to read. Link from our client: #Thalia (Germany, Austria in German).

4|?#theNTWKsummit23

Use the link below and see agenda, speaker and program. There are few conferences in the world with such a beautiful location and line up, here some highlights: Peter C. Evans, PhD (co-chair), Simone Cicero , Diego Borgo ?? , Tom M McFadyen , Ron Adner , Sameer Singh , ...real experts in the space, authors and practitioners.

On top companies like #amazon, #Google, #Wallbox

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Ciao and Happy Weekend!

Alex