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India’s Mukesh Ambani announces their online shopping portal named JioMart

JioMart
JioMart

While we have seen that the likes of Amazon and others are running away with all the sales when it comes to online orders, we see that the competition is also ramping up. However, it was seen that the online competition in the e-commerce segment for the Indian market was almost stagnant for a long time. We currently have the likes of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart which are operating in the market. However, the reports regarding a challenger platform from none other than Asia’s richest businessman was said to be coming. We are talking about Mukesh Ambani who is also the owner of India’s disrupting 4G telecom operator named Reliance Jio.

As far as Mukesh Ambani and Jio are concerned, they have successfully penetrated inside the Indian telecom market by giving away data for free at first but later charging its customers which was a very clever marketing tactic and one which can only be applied by someone who has a lot of cash reserves. Now, Mukesh Ambani has started to test a pilot program for his online shopping portal named JioMart which is similar to Amazon and Flipkart in some ways.

While this is also an e-commerce shopping portal, it is currently available only in Mumbai and other surrounding neighbourhoods as per Bloomberg’s report. Also known is the fact that JioMart currently only delivers grocery items to the customers. Reliance has labelled its new store as ‘desk ki apni dukan’ or ‘the nation’s new store’ which means that they have plans for a full-fledged shopping portal down the line.

At the moment, JioMart’s pilot website says that it is a “new world for grocery shopping” but we believe that it will turn out to be much more than that in the coming months. Also, JioMart is offering a no questions asked return policy which is not currently offered by anyone else in its segment which could well turn out to be a deciding factor.

Headless technology now enters the e-commerce space

Headless technology began as a concept for content management systems, but it has now made a way in the world of e-commerce as well.

A recent report revealed that the cost of customer acquisition has increased as much as 59 per cent. The ever-increasing competition in the e-commerce industry has made it all the harder for platforms to attract new customers. Customer experience is one of the prime retaining factors, and this is where platforms are focusing upon. Headless technology might be the answer to this trouble.

“Headless” basically refers to any systems where the front-end technology is dissociated from the back-end one. When applied in the commerce domain, the solution needs an e-commerce software and an existing headless CMS. Instead of a huge system to deal with the whole platform, headless e-commerce would allow for customization in individual sections.

Headless technology would benefit e-commerce platforms on two fronts. For the retailers, it would give them the freedom to try cutting-edge technologies like voice assistants and wearable tech. However, they would still be able to simultaneously use the traditional mediums of connecting with the customers. The whole thing, based on APIs, would allow for easy upgrades without affecting the whole platform. For the customers, it would simply expand the channels through which they engage in e-commerce. With a simpler way to shop online, they would tend more towards the platforms that offer this simplicity.

Headless e-commerce is still in the early days, and big players like Amazon have still not thought about adopting it. But given its massive potential, we can expect to see it making some noise in the coming year.

SpeakEasy Cashes on the growing Cannabis Market

Cannabis has always been a popular product in the US, despite the restrictions. Now, companies are making their moves to cash on the market opportunities.

SpeakEasy Cannabis Club Ltd. holds a federal license under the Cannabis Act to cultivate and sell CBD products. In December last year, the Farm Bill was passed by the US government which decriminalized the use of CBD and even allowed online sales of CBD in 50 states. SpeakEasy immediately jumped upon the opportunity and announced the launch of BWell Market. BWell is an online marketplace exclusively for CBD products. It was created in partnership with CannaOne Technologies, which supplied its proprietary e-commerce technology to the marketplace. Since its announcement, BWell has joined hands with some of the premiere CBD brands like CBD-FX and Select CBD. Now, the two companies announced that they have signed a letter of intent. The non-binding LOI deals with the launch of BWell in Canada. You can go through the statistical data in this site.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is a powerful market within the US. It is estimated that by 2024, the total value of CBD market will reach $20 billion. Canada, which is only a recent entrant in this industry, would also form a market worth $1 billion by 2023 according to Forbes. Another significant trend in the CBD market is the preference for online shopping. For example, Charlottes Web, one of the prominent CBD players in the US, said that 57 per cent of their revenue came from e-commerce. CBD is poised to become one of the hottest commodities in North America. Hence, an e-commerce marketplace for it is a step in the right direction.

How Amazon Plans To Deliver Its Own Products for the future

Ever wondered why most of Amazon’s products are delivered by Amazon itself? It is part of their long-term strategy, though it comes with a cost.

Once upon a time, Amazon (like most e-commerce platforms) depended on third-party delivery services like FedEx to deliver its product. But very soon the company realized that to beat its competitors, it has to be better than them in more than one ways. Delivery has been one of the prime strengths of the e-commerce giant. “Amazon Fulfilled” has almost become a standard of quality, as customers found out to be much more reliable than regular delivery.

In 2019, Amazon delivers almost halfof its products. Compare this to last year, where the numbers stood at just 20 per cent. In doing so, it has challenged two of the biggest logistic players in the US – FedEx and UPS. Of course, the race didn’t come cheap for the company. Between June and September, Amazon spent $9.6 billion on fulfilment – 50 per cent more than their usual expenditure. It has also edged closer to its competitors in sheer numbers too. Amazon currently delivers 2.5 billion packages each year, compared to FedEx (3 billion) and UPS ( 4.7 billion).

While some of this aggressive expansion could be attributed to its One-Day Delivery program, much of it relates to the company’s general desire to control all aspects of its marketplace. Amazon already sells a lot of products under its own brands. It is also expanding its fleet and using drones to deliver packages. Very soon, Amazon might not need any other industry to run its online marketplace.

What is Master Data Management? MDM in 2020 and it’s importance

Master Data Management

Master data management encompasses the tools and processes used to organize, manage, and integrate data into a single database to create a single source of truth. This term implies that MDM tools create a sole source of information for reference purposes, one which is accurate and most reliable. MDM carries out its function through a couple of ways, which includes the elimination of repeated sequences in accumulated data, removal of invalid data entered, and creation of systems that prevent the incorporation of questionable or erroneous data into the system. The concept of master data management is arcane to an extent and to fully understand what it entails, one would first have to follow the meaning of the term “master data”- For a company to run effectively and for them to also keep track of progress, they keep records that include suppliers, clientele information, products, dates of purchase of items, staff profile, and accounts. These records standup to be what we call the master data. In the course of the running of the company or firm, mistakes occur in entering of data and because data needed for the running of a company gets dispersed across the various departments ingrained in the company, an erroneous entry of data that gets fixed might not be dealt with in the same way with other database held by the different departments, and so you see a case where one company has multiple versions of a single database that do not seem to match in any way. This problem is mostly the reason for MDM as it has carved out to be a way to solve this problem by checking the validity of data and merging all the databases available into one that would serve as a single point of reference throughout the entirety of the firm. In other words, it ensures that an organization or a firm does not use various versions of a single database for its operations because this could cause a significant redundancy in the progress of such an organization.

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A case study- An insurance company with erroneous databases could end up overcompensating a client; it goes without saying that if cases like this continue to occur, the company will go bankrupt in no time.

Where can I use MDM?

There are a plethora of situations where MDM serves its purposes, as it’s possibilities are indeed limitless. Apart from the prime objective of organizing data, data management sees use in various case scenarios.

  • Data warehousing: Data Management aids in the collection and management of data from multiple sources in a strategic way to provide compelling business insight in a process called data warehousing. Data warehousing cannot be without data management because it needs MDM for the collection and analyzing of meaningful data before it becomes represented as business intelligence reports. MDM has been able to convert data into information that can easily be understood. Thanks to various modifications, MDM has been able to cut down the time between the collection of data and analyzing product data in a bid to cause speedy processes in data management as well as data warehousing.
  • Data Analytics: Analysis of data is imperative in data processing; this is because, without proper analyzing of data, it is pointless and without use. Master data management is used in data analytics as it helps to cleanse and transform data into information. MDM helps to organize data into a format or pattern that makes analysis notably easier. The master data management exists in a way that enables it support the process of data analysis and data mining as well; it is incorporated into the process, removes difficulties, and creates a simplistic style for data analysis.
  • Governance: This is perhaps the most practical use of data management in the modern world. Thanks to democracy, people get a chance to vote for their preferred candidate through the electoral process. With the invent of online voting and with the hassles and challenges faced in collating data or in this case votes, master data management is priceless as it helps organize data and aids accurate collation of votes in a very reliable and convenient way.
  • Data compliance: Due to regulations put in place as regards data security, MDM arises to help several companies adhere to the compliance regulations as meted out by the government. In the process of business transactions and in a bid to sell products, more than often, clients have to submit their personal information to these companies, it would be a breach of trust if this information were to be leaked and so MDM helps to organize clientele information and prevents leaking of sensitive information
Download PIM DAM RFP

Advantages of Using Master Data Management.

  • Improved efficiency: 

The hazards of multiple versions of a single database are, to a great extent, capricious. That it is to say that they can cause the most harm, mainly since we are oblivious to them. All types of companies cannot function properly or much less hope to achieve progress with erroneous product data and the likes of it. MDM offers a management solution where databases are properly scrutinized for errors to ensure that marketing teams and all other departments in an organization work from valid databases and reports, without these, the organization is simply a catastrophe waiting to happen. Easy accessibility to accurate data expedites work processes and thereby increases efficiency.

  • Elimination of questionable data: 

Management solution offered by MDM entails the removal of sparse quality data or erroneous data allowing personnel and staff to work based on the most accurate data

  • Decision making and prioritizing:

Decision-making basis itself on precise information, that is what the MDM provides, reliable information that would foster ethical decision making. It’s essential to always keep in mind that decisions made based on erroneous data always end up in losses for the organization. Decision making and prioritizing go hand in hand, and the MDM is imperative for getting the best out of the duo.

  • Master data edits: 

One of the major issues encountered in editing data contained in multiple records is that a mistake fixed in one version might not get fixed in another version. For example, if the profit margin for online sales in a particular company stays recorded as 20% instead of 25%, this document would no doubt be dispersed to the many departments of the company and so fixing the mistake in a copy held by one of the departments is not an affirmation that it would be dealt with in the same way with the other records kept. However, MDM creates a master database, and so any edit made is easily made to the master database, thereby ensuring that the mistake fixed appears in all copies of the master database.

  • Data analysis: As said before, MDM is critical for the efficiency of data analysis in given software. Data management helps in the collation and organizing of data in a manner that makes analysis very easy. In other words, it is perfect for transforming data into information that is easily understood.
  • Flexibility: Another obvious appeal of Master Data Management is it’s flexibility in that it allows for easy editing and updating of data as well. Data backup is a feature quickly found on the MDM. No pain is more significant than losing carefully collated and accurate records, the MDM system allows for the creation of backups to ensure that data is not lost and that it can always get recovered.
  • Accessibility: The problem of low cadre staff accessing files which they have no clearance for has plagued many organizations for decades but MDM offers a type of management solution that gives access only to officials and personnel required to view such data
  • Record linkage: Cases occur where after business dealings with a particular client, the organization loses a record of such transaction, and so the next time such client comes around, they get treated as newcomers, and this shouldn’t be so. MDM keeps a record of client information, business transactions, and every other information associated with a particular client.
  • Accuracy: More than anything, efficiency and reliability are the most sought out traits in data management. An organization cannot function properly without accurate information; it’s easily compared to walking in the dark. MDM scrutinizes data and ensures it’s accuracy before it gets updated to the master database.
Download PIM DAM RFP

Who needs MDM?

Master Data Management serves a variety of different purposes to every company, particularly companies that deal with a high rate of distribution of data, companies with extensive product catalog, and companies that are usually involved in significant scale acquisition of companies.

  • Financial companies: Data to an extent is mostly figures, and more than most, commercial companies deal with numbers daily so much so that they require a system that can help them collate their data and organize them in an easily retrievable way. The financial companies span across a whole lot of other companies that include the insurance companies and the banking industry. As a result, commercial companies cannot function effectively or even survive without the help of the Master Data Management system.
  • Logistics: The logistics industry is one that undergoes a great deal of pressure in their day to day affairs due to needing to maximize profit and efficiency despite the problem of high demands to meet delivery timelines, keeping of clientele information, updating of the product catalog and so on. They require a great deal of efficiency for the smooth running of their processes, and that is what MDM offers, it collects information on clientele, product data, sales channels, point of delivery, the timeline of delivery, delivery specifications and locations, and incorporates them into a single channel.
  • Health care: Due to the influx of patients into hospitals and with the rate at which epidemics usually occurs, there arises a need to collate data accurately for future references. MDM for years has been helpful in  healthcare as it has provided hospitals with the much-needed record linkage required to treat patients. Patients’ details and treatment history are organized and safeguarded for whenever they are once again needed. Also, for cases of epidemics where research on the illness is required, statistical analysis is usually carried out with the help of MDM.

What are the main features of MDM?

  • Security:

With the increment of hackers, it becomes much more imperative for the protection of data from falling into the wrong hands. A useful MDM contains  features and attributes that allow them to encrypt data that require passwords before information contained in them can be accessed. MDM eliminates invasion of privacy and keeps data confidential

  • Data enrichment:

One of the most prominent features of MDM is it’s data enrichment quality in that it cross-links thousands of data and continuously updates the information contained in it. Apart from the updates it offers, it also cleanses data by merging repeated sequences and the removal of incorrect entries. MDM enriches data and organizes it in a pattern that sees the transformation into information. More than this, MDM uses data collected to identify brand new opportunities in business, thereby driving the market to its full potential and maximizing profit. MDM enriches data and creates and simplifies knowledge.

  • Flexibility: 

The flexibility of MDM is indeed outstanding as it allows for easy removal and addition of information when necessary. It ensures that mistakes fixed on the master database reflect in the same way in its replicas without a single deviation from the original master database. It also ensures that data validations of any kind get implemented.

  • Integration: 

The ability of a data management system to incorporate other data processing techniques into it is what makes it stand out. MDM can integrate data compliance, data warehousing, and data analytics into its various processes to ensure that it serves a variety of purposes for its users. MDM also allows for the incorporation of new domains into its system.

  • Keeping track: 

Master Data Management systems are also able to keep track of data entered into them, and it builds algorithms to track the source of data as well as the validity of the source. Also, it keeps records of changes made on the system.

  • Optimization of machines: A lot of companies and organizations experience significant setbacks and are unable to properly harness human resources due to the lack of technical know-how on the operation of these machines as well as lack of sufficient information on the processes of these machines. The world has evolved past the age of manual labor; services are now carried out and simplified with the use of devices. MDM collates and transforms data needed to work these machines to their full potential.

Apart from the features listed, MDM can be said to have three significant features

Business capabilities:

  • Governance: One of the highlights of MDM,  particularly in organizations, is that it can transfer sensitive data contained in the master database during changes in leadership to new personnel or people who have permission to access such data.
  • Security: This point sees continuous exploration as it is a crucial feature of MDM that encrypts data and aids recovery of data after a disaster or inevitable mishaps.

Information management capabilities

  • Intelligence: MDM is used to transform data from complex figures into information comprehended quickly.
  • Analytics: Besides transforming complex data into distinct elements, MDM also has the quality of creating business reports from data provided. Put, MDM transforms data into intelligence reports

Data management capabilities.

The data management capabilities of the MDM are elaborate, to say in the least.

  • Organization: The organizational features of MDM are indeed amazing, it picks elements of data that are related even in the most minute of ways and creates cross-linkages between them to ensure that whenever the need for such data arises, seeking it out never constitutes a problem. With the help of MDM, organizations and companies can carve out a new pattern of organizing data in the most convenient way possible 
  • Accessibility: Data than cannot be easily accessed constitutes a problem and creates a stymie in work processes. As a result, we see ineffective decision making and various other consequences directly attributed to the difficulty in attaining data required for certain operations, but MDM solves it all; it ensures that data is easily accessed by people who have the clearance granted to them to view such data. With MDM, personnel do not have to worry about the horrors of finding files dated centuries back; it’s simplified.
Download PIM DAM RFP

When does one need MDM?

  • Inconsistent data values:

Cases of inconsistent data values usually arise due to inadequate methods of record-keeping, and while MDM is not solely for record-keeping, it is the perfect solution for this problem as it scrutinized data collected and takes appropriate steps into creating a single master database with consistent, accurate and reliable values.

  • Security issues: 

Companies and organizations that usually fall prey to the ploys of hackers who regularly access their sensitive data need MDM. With the help of encryption codes, MDM can prevent Intruders from gaining access to data; it also gives alerts on intrusion attempts made at certain times.

  • Scattered pieces of data: 

For an organization to run effectively, clientele data, product data should be cross-linked; in cases where data of this Calibre is scattered around, it makes it difficult for the organization to run its operations smoothly. MDM links data together and connects than in a way that allows it to be easily accessible

  • Data analysis: 

Data analysis comprises the transformation of data into information that could serve a variety of purposes like a business report, for example. The key to successful data analysis or data mining is data management, particularly Master Data Management. Data is incomplete until it undergoes processing, and processing is put together more conveniently with the help of MDM.

Is MDM same as DAM?

DAM stands for Digital Asset Management. MDM and DAM both have organizational abilities in that they can organize elements of a particular system into easily accessible patterns; they are both flexible and help to eradicate the vulnerability of information stored in them. They have a whole lot of similarities between them, they are a necessary part of an organization or a company and have excellent organizational abilities with easy accessibility, particularly convenient for people who have clearance to access contents in them.

Despite the plethora of similarities between the duo, they are not the same. DAM, as the name implies, focuses on digital assets that include video files, images, and digital files. It fosters the creation of data that aids the storage, management, tracking, distribution, and organization of digital assets. It sees so many uses in the modern world include production management and brand management system as well.

MDM, as explained previously, is mostly focused on raw data, it could transform it into information by aiding data analysis, but it focuses on the natural form of data that it organizes, manages, stores, and configures to serve many other purposes.

While the functions of MDM and DAM are the same, they base their services on two distinct elements, and while these elements may share some similarities, they are not the same. For more information, https://www.ecommercenext.org/pim-dam-rfp/

Download PIM DAM RFP

Is MDM same as PIM?

PIM stands for Product information management, and it deals with the management of information associated with business transactions. Put, it manages information related to supply, demand, and distribution of products. Here, product data serves to share information with trading partners. MDM and PIM are interrelated, but they are not the same because while PIM focuses on Management and organization od data related to products, MDM organizes data that cuts across every area. The scope of MDM is limitless as it holds and manages data for an extensive range of elements, while PIM is limited to data product data.

I already have an eCommerce system, do I require MDM?

First off, the answer is yes. An eCommerce system refers to the sale and purchase of products over the internet, the concept of eCommerce has taken trading to a whole new level and has been able to achieve the aim of bringing the products closer to the people and providing ease and comfort while shopping

An e-commerce system cannot run as effectively as it should without an MDM; this is because product data, supplier data, reference data, and asset data must get organized and managed correctly to avoid situations that arise due to lack of a sound management system. The effects of this lack are enormous so much so that if we started now, it would take quite a while before we would be through with listing out the hazards. Apart from the organization and management of data, there are so many other features MDM has to offer.

Conclusion:

Master data management is, and would always be an indispensable tool in companies and organizations that hope to run effectively and maximize profits over time. No system comes without its challenges, and MDM is no different in this regard. However, what you should keep in mind is that MDM promises a lot of benefits and is also the key to get rid of challenges faced during data collection and processing.

Related: Product Information Management in 2020: PIM Uses, Benefits and PIM Software

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eBay Motors uses AI to allow car listing under 5-min

The new eBay Motors app is aiming to revamp how customers list their cars. Its AI-powered tools claim to enable listing cars just under 5 minutes.

After eBay discontinued its old motors app in 2015, it relaunched it recently with some exciting new features. The most interesting of this was the heavy use of artificial intelligence. The app is available within the US on both iOS and Android. Powered by AI, the eBay Motors app allow customers to list their cars for sale in just 5 minutes.

But how exactly does it achieve that? Well, it eliminates a lot of manual steps and instead automates them with AI. Customers begin by clicking a picture of their license plate. Based on that, the app automatically pulls all essential details like model and year from the government database. After that, you can upload the pictures of the car itself from various angles. The app will automatically categorize the images in sections like engine, exterior, interior etc. The app also now allows video uploads while listing. The entire process of categorizing images uses algorithms built upon Google Firebase platform which is known for its high accuracy.

In addition to making the listing simpler, many other intuitive features are added to enhance the customer experience. The homepage can be personalised as per the needs of the users, while advanced search functions and filters allow you to get precisely what you need.  With the second shot to eBay Motors, it is clear the eBay is not yet done wooing mobile customers.

US Economy Continues To Lag Behind, But Things Might Improve Soon

The US economy is still not performing as well as expected, but things might be on a track to improvement.

The national economy grew at a meagre 0.2%, well below the 0.5% that economists expected. The worst performing industries were apparel and restaurants, which brought the overall growth lower. Compared to this, the revised growth rate for October stood at 0.4%.

Some see it as the persistent damage of the ongoing US-China trade war. The back-and-forth tariffs affected many industries within the US. The country’s manufacturing sector continued to be trapped in a recession, which put an extra burden on other industries to perform well and improve the overall economy.

However, things might not be as dire as they seem. The primary thing to notice here is that the holiday season this year was shifted towards December. Thanksgiving was shifted closer to Black Friday in December, thus pushing major shopping sprees from November to December. While clear conclusions could only be drawn once the December report is out, early trends seem promising. For instance, the early holiday season sale saw the biggest sales since 2013 and 2.2% greater than last year. The major sales were made via e-commerce, particularly driven by strong promotions for Black Friday. This year’s Black Friday sales broke all previous records. Thus, in all likelihood, December would offer a better growth rate and might even improve the quarterly growth rate for the country.

However, even if it fails to do so, the US administration is working towards loosening tensions with China. It is speculated that Trump administration might remove the tariffs on Chinese goods and cancel the proposed 15% tariffs on Chinese smartphones. If it happens, the US economy can certainly see some revival next year.

‘Amazon Business’ could be the future for the e-commerce giant

Amazon has become the world’s largest e-commerce company due to its B2C model. But it seems that its B2B marketplace, Amazon Business, could be its next-big-thing.

At least this is what RBC Capital Markets has predicted. According to it, by 2023 Amazon Business could be bringing $31 billion in revenue and $52 billion in sales. This would be a significant increase from the $10 billion Amazon Business made in sales in 2018.

However, this only seems to fit right with what we know already about business-to-business e-commerce marketplaces. B2B e-commerce always had much greater potential than B2C, even though the former is much harder to establish than the latter. In 2018, B2B e-commerce was estimated to make over $1 trillion in overall sales. In comparison, retail e-commerce stood at a mere $524 billion.

But can Amazon Business really jump from $10 billion to $52 billion in just 5 years? Well, there are many factors that can enable this. Currently, Amazon Business is already the fastest-growing segment of Amazon. At a compounded annual growth rate of 115 per cent, it far outpaces other segments like retail and web services. Amazon has also offered its Business Prime (similar to Amazon Prime) subscription to offer better and exclusive services. It is also desirable for Amazon to expand into B2B, since its B2C sector seems to have hit a saturation point. Despite being on the top of the game, its retail e-commerce faces fierce competition from the likes of Walmart and might soon stop expanding.

Thus, Amazon Business can be the saving grace for the company and ensure its throne in the e-commerce industry.

Cold Storage Becomes The New Hot Property For Investors

Warehouses were once fading into obscurity when e-commerce rescued it and made it a backbone of an entire segment. Now, investors are trying to capitalize on its relevance.

As the e-commerce industry expanded into grocery, cold-storage warehouses suddenly found themselves back into the limelight. For the giant companies delivering food to customers far and wide, such storages were essential to ensure a steady flow. As such, most cold-storages today are owned by big food e-commerce retailers Tyson Foods and Walmart. Investors were not far from identifying the potential in owning these properties. And now, they are grabbing them faster than ever before.

In 2018, investors bought $1.77 billion worth of cold-storage warehouses. This figure has jumped to $1.9 billion just by September this year, and already a record compared to any previous year. But another major shift is occurring in the industry – big fishes are eating the smaller ones and growing bigger. While hundreds of companies owned refrigerated warehouses in America a few years ago, they are quickly being acquired by two major players. Americold Realty Trust and Lineage Logistics LLC own a total of 63 per cent cold-storage warehouses of the US between them.

But despite being a hot investment right now, cold-storage warehouses also come with their own risks. Interruption of supply in a particular sector (like dairy) might not affect diversified warehouses like Americold, but can be devastating for smaller companies. Cold-storages also require considerable labour force to operate the facility. The overall operating costs of cold-storages are also thrice that of dry good warehouses. Any malfunction leading to a rise in temperature can easily spoil the entire inventory.

Despite all the risks, cold storages have been giving much better returns than their dry counterpart. Thus, investors seem to be willing to take the risks for the high profits cold-storage warehouse have to offer.

What 2020 Holds For the E-Commerce Industry?

This year was great for e-commerce, as the whole industry steadily saw positive growth. But while things were quite stable on the top, the medium-tier platforms had a lot to catch up. The next year could be different if platforms anticipate and adapt to the trends that will dominate 2020. Writing for Forbes, Lin Grosman shared some of the trends that will be important for e-commerce in 2020:

One-Day Delivery becomes a factor

Amazon remains the king of e-commerce for multiple reasons, but a big one is its delivery. Fulfilled-By-Amazon products promise a two-day delivery to its customers, part of the reason why customers prefer shopping via Amazon. Now, the giant has started rolling out one-day delivery. Soon, most e-commerce platforms would have to match up to this speed or risk losing more customers to Amazon.

Dynamic Pricing becomes a tool

The fierce race of e-commerce has often forced platforms to unfairly lower prices, thus incurring a loss to retailers. But dynamic pricing has emerged as a way to compensate for that. By considering various factors, platforms can dynamically price products at different points, thus avoiding the need to slash prices all the time.

Automation becomes more vital

For many years automation has continued to shape industries, including e-commerce. The year 2020 will not be any different. More avenues of e-commerce will see automation as a mainstream solution. From customer support to the shopping guide, automation can significantly reduce manpower and slash the costs associated with them. Unlike a decade ago, customers are much more comfortable with shopping with the bots.

Go Global

Most e-commerce platforms in the US prefer to stay within the country. Only a few dare to even expand into the North American continent. Yet, cross-border e-commerce is on the rise, accounting for 20 percent of the total e-commerce trade. Amazon’s global stores have already seen success with this, and the trend suggests that this will only rise in 2020. 

The plight of workers that build Amazon’s ‘fastest delivery’

Ever wondered how Amazon manages to have such efficient and speedy delivery almost all the time? The answer would be thousands of underpaid, overworked workers who ‘break their backs’ in their warehouses.

Amazon, the largest e-commerce company in the world, has been aggressively expanding its logistics over many years. One of its more ambitious plans is the last-mile delivery, where small warehouses are built in smaller areas so that products could be delivered even faster. While this is great news for the customers, it’s not so great for the workers working there. For many months, there has been growing frustration among these workers who have to work over-time to meet the goals. In holiday seasons such as the current one, things get all the worse.

In such a small warehouse in Sacramento, workers spilt the beans to Vox during their investigative report. They said that they are denied the basic facilities offered to other part-time workers. They don’t get the subsidized health insurance and they are only allowed 20 hours of “off hours” each quarter. Taking more time off, be it for personal tragedies or health issues, can get you fired without notice. When workers took to the management to demand the facilities provided to other part-time Amazon workers, they got a stranger response. Apparently, people working in these small warehouses were Class Q (in some cases, Class M) workers, who are not eligible for the same benefits. The workers claim that they were never told about such class of designations. 

Now, a group of such workers called Amazonians United Sacramento have come together and signed a public petition addressed to the company. Among other requests, they have demanded pay for over-time work during Prime Week, Amazon’s annual big sale. A spokesperson for the company has admitted receiving the petition but refused to comment further.

Amazon might be one of the biggest companies in the world, with its owner being the richest man on the planet, but its workers remain very far away from that glory.

McDonald’s Delves Into E-Commerce With Merchandise

Fast-Food giant McDonald’s has a long and successful history of merchandising its brand. Now they have taken it online for the holiday season with their website, Golden Arches Unlimited.

The first lineup consists of 20 products, most of them aimed towards winterwear, like hoodies, socks, and beanies. Other products include ornaments, accessories, and t-shirts. All the products are consistent with the McDonald’s branding – be it the white-red-yellow color combination, sesame seeds pattern or the McDonald’s logo. The first batch was perhaps in limited quantity since most products are already out of stock on the website. However, the company says that it will soon re-stock and try to make them available for most customers.

This isn’t the first time the global fast-food chain has dipped its beak in the e-commerce sector. Since the 1980s, McDonald’s has often collaborated with other brands to sell its merchandise. In 2017, the company launched a limited merchandise collection called McDelievery Collection. However, this is the first time the company is entirely facilitating the e-commerce aspect of the merchandise, from start to finish. If successful, it could open a whole new business avenue for the company. Company officials have already said that the success of the opening stint could motivate them to offer such products regularly.

But of course, McDonald’s isn’t the only fast-food chain to try its hands on e-commerce this season. Dunkin’ Donuts and White Castle have both opened holiday-exclusive gift shops for its customers. Seeing the success these brands are experiencing in the e-commerce sector, one can only anticipate new rivals in the already-competitive sector.

How Lululemon strives to stay ‘fit’ in the e-commerce arena

The global trend of athleisure saw strong growth this year too. The global awareness towards acute health problems arising from lack of activity and a shift of organizations towards health has boosted the athleisure sector, which boasted a revenue of $300 billion in 2018. Lululemon seems to be at the right place and right time, but will this growth continue in the e-commerce segment too?

In all likelihood, it seems so. Around 65 percent, or two-thirds, of this $300 billion, belongs to the premium product segment. Lululemon, as you might have guessed it, specializes in this segment. Since the athleisure sector itself is predicted to grow at a steady pace at least till 2025, the company seems to have placed a safe bet on its niche segment.

In the third quarter of 2018, e-commerce sales brought Lululemon almost $190 million in revenues. This was an increase of 44 percent from the previous year and accounted for about a quarter of its total revenue. To keep up the same growth rate, the company’s e-commerce sales would have to come up with a sale of $273 million in the ongoing quarter. Given that the e-commerce revenue in the previous quarter was $217.6 million, this doesn’t seem to be a far-off dream.

But Lululemon is not leaving things on luck. The company has tried to significantly improve the e-commerce experience for its customers. This includes things like better search functionality, easier browsing, upgraded checkout experience, etc. In addition, the company has also adopted the “buy online, pick up offline” policy, expanding its stores in most of North America. As we have seen, this successful formula will only further boost the company’s sales. 

In all likelihood, Lululemon will continue to grow strong in the coming year, especially on the e-commerce front.

TAS USA and Super Processor together build a new card payment platform

The US branch of TAS group, TAS USA, has entered into a deal with Hawaii-based Super Processor. Together, they have come up with an innovative and cutting-edge payment management platform called CARD 3.0 I.E.

The collaboration will benefit both companies on two fronts. Super Processor will be able to leverage the powerful and flexible payment solution of TAS USA on two sides. This includes the acquiring side (transaction processing, merchant onboarding, e-commerce POS, etc.) and the issuing side (authorizations, fraud detection, card lifecycle management, 3DS2, etc.). All these functionalities would be integrated into a single environment.

The first phase of the agreement (which would be active in the first quarter of 20202) would oversee the management and issuance of MasterCard on CARD 3.0. It is speculated that the new cards would benefit from the loyalty points and other interactive functionalities. The move will help Super Processor to transition from a mere Payment processor to a full-fledged company capable of managing the A-to-Z of transactions. CARD 3.0 I.E. boasts of offering ‘cutting-edge’ services that ride on its high customizations. The platform is entirely built on Cloud, so Super Processor will be easily able to scale if the need arises in the future. 

The collaboration will not just benefit the two companies, but also the e-commerce market in general. If the CARD 3.0 platform is exactly like it claims to be, it could make consumer transactions much faster and much more customizable. Easy transactions, as we have always known, would only inspire more consumers to shop online.

Online brand Nectar sold more mattresses offline – and it was their plan

The mattress-selling brand Nectar has been seeing more offline sales than online ones. According to its CEO, they have always known that.

When Nectar started as an online-only mattress company, things didn’t really go as per their plan. The most common question they faced was “where can I see the mattress?” A huge number of brands face a similar question when they enter the e-commerce arena. There are certain products where consumers can read the specifications and be assured of the product – like mobile phones. Other products may have specific features that could only be tested physically; but they are FMCG, so consumers are okay with taking the small risks. But the biggest obstacle is faced by brands that sell higher-valued goods or luxury items. Especially in something like mattresses, consumers often want to test it physically and see if it ‘feels right’ to them. Nectar decided to conduct research and found out that a mere 20 percent of its visitors were comfortable with buying mattresses online.

However, Nectar realized that the remaining 80 percent is too big of an opportunity to miss. So the company reached out to Cardi’s, one of the top furniture retailers in the New England region. The offer was to sell Nectar’s mattresses in their stores. Like most offline furniture stores, Cardi’s too had a spare room in its stores filled with unsold models. So, a bargain was stuck, later cemented with Cardi’s TV commercials for Nectar. Soon, customers were selecting mattresses from Nectar’s website but driving to Cardi’s store to test and buy them. The model’s success prompted Nectar to sign 1000+ retail partnerships in a mere 10 months.

The example of Nectar stands as an example of how e-commerce and brick-and-mortar can help each other.

PIM DAM RFP

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Accurately defining what you require is the most critical element for success of any technology project. Defining the problem also includes discovering the requirements. This PIM RFP document is developed keeping the end users in mind and will let you discover various aspects of a PIM solution. This is a free PIM RFP template and has not been sponsored by any vendor. The RFP covers features from Omnichannel, PIM, DAM (Digital Asset Management) and MDM (Master Data Management) Most other RFP available are either developed/ sponsored by the product companies.

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Navigating through the maze of PIM

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There is no standard definition of PIM. Some PIM solutions contains Digital Asset Management (DAM), e-commerce components, offline print capabilities, Customer Data Platform (CDP) functionalities. Sometime navigation through the complex maze of features is difficult, ecommercenext’s free PIM RFP will help you to untangle some of it.

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Ecommerce Next’s PIM RFP is divided into the following sections:

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Product
Company Information

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Business
Requirements

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Technology
Requirements

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Total Cost of Ownership
Calculator

[mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check_alt” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#27c971″ title=”Calculate the total cost of ownership in a span of 3 years” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#6b6b6b”][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check_alt” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#27c971″ title=”Cost of license” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#6b6b6b”][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check_alt” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#27c971″ title=”Cost of customization” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#6b6b6b”][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check_alt” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#27c971″ title=”Cost of development” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#6b6b6b”][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check_alt” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#27c971″ title=”Cost of hosting” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#6b6b6b”][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check_alt” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#27c971″ title=”Cost of maintenance” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#6b6b6b”][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check_alt” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#27c971″ title=”Cost of Migration” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#6b6b6b”]
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b2becommercerfp

Write RFP before selecting B2B eCommerce Platform

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Reduce risks by using a B2B RFP template written by Experts

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Going the B2B e-commerce way is a significant investment.  The starting point of any ecommerce project is understanding the requirements by creating an RFP.  Creating a new ecommerce RFP is time-consuming.  Our technology team has created this template based on experience gained by working in many successful B2B ecommerce implementations. The product companies themselves create RFP templates that are available online.  Sometimes they are biased and hide features that you should be asking the vendors.  

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Why you should use our B2B RFP Sheet?

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Saves time and money! B2B e-Commerce RFP has

[mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check” icon_size=”20″ icon_color=”#61ce70″ title=”Technical evaluation guide” title_size=”20″ title_color=”#000000″][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check” icon_size=”20″ icon_color=”#61ce70″ title=”Business questions” title_size=”20″ title_color=”#000000″][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check” icon_size=”20″ icon_color=”#61ce70″ title=”Total cost of ownership calculator” title_size=”20″ title_color=”#000000″][mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check” icon_size=”20″ icon_color=”#61ce70″ title=”No vender marketing” title_size=”20″ title_color=”#000000″]
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How does this RFP document look like?

This RFP will give you a comprehensive, unbiased list of features that you should be looking from your next B2B ecommerce implementation.

The template is divided into 2 sections to make the process easier.

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A set of 10 questions are given that will initiate the process of replatforming to
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2. RFP template for e-commerce- 157 points
There follows a detailed checklist of 157 points for RFP to be complete. These
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What are the sections of RFP TEMPLATE?

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[mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#61ce70″ title=”B2B e-commerce features- a software that is user friendly, containing more than 150 points to give you an idea about specific software usage.” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#000000″]
[mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#61ce70″ title=”Technology Feature- this section enables to understand the new technology and efficiently master it in various business processes.” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#000000″]
[mkd_icon_list_item icon_pack=”font_elegant” fe_icon=”icon_check” icon_size=”30″ icon_color=”#61ce70″ title=”Licensing and Pricing Variations- this section aids in understanding the prevailing pricing models and licensing issues to manage them effectively. Template provides models based on revenue, number of users and servers and helps to draw conclusions.” title_size=”22″ title_color=”#000000″]
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Consumers Angry As Walmart Cancelled Their Apple Watch Orders

Angry customers are complaining that Walmart has cancelled their Apple Watch order which forced them to miss out on early Black Friday deals. On Thanksgiving Day, multiple shoppers took to social media to express their disappointment.

The American e-commerce company sold out its Apple Watch Series 3 in just minutes after kicking off its Black Friday deals. On Friday, more complaints joined in claiming that Walmart had cancelled their orders up to two days after they originally went through.

Source: Business Insider

Matthew Selig, a resident of Chicago told Business Insider that he purchase an Apple Watch from Walmart website right after the Black Friday deal kicked off on Wednesday at 10 PM. He received a confirmation mail shortly afterward that provided him an in-store pick-up date of December 10. But On Friday morning, Selig received an email from Walmart informing him that his order has been cancelled.

In the email, Walmart states, “We’re really sorry, but the items shown below are out of stock”. Further, it informs that his order has been cancelled indefinitely “since we don’t know when we’ll get them in again.”

Selig is concerned that even if the product is ultimately restored, Walmart might not honor his Black Friday deal. A Walmart customer service representative called him on Friday morning to assure that he would still be able to purchase Apple Watch at a discounted rate. The representative said, “rest assured, we will honor the price,” according to the transcript.

“I did find it frustrating because I thought this was a way around going to the store and avoiding the crowds,” Selig said. “I’m disappointed to see that they sort of canceled the order and I’m disappointed to see that they just sort of cancelled the order and I’m not really sure why.”

In addition to Selig, atleast a dozen of customers who purchased the Apple Watch on Walmart’s site complained of having the same problem.

Etsy Increases Staff To Handle Traffic During Cyber Week

An Etsy marketplace is set up in Times Square outside the NASDAQ to commemorate the Etsy initial public offering which debuted to the public on Thursday, April 16, 2015. Shares of Etsy dropped up to 9.1% after investors who bought shares during the IPO dumped them on the first day they were allowed to.(�� Richard B. Levine) (Photo by Richard Levine/Corbis via Getty Images)

Cyber Monday is a massive sales day for e-commerce players. According to Adobe Analytics, it brought in $79 billion in online sales in the US in 2018 outpacing Black Friday’s $6.2 billion. This year, the level is expected to be even higher, making it important for all e-tailers. 

Last year, Etsy transacted almost $19,000 gross merchandise sales (GMS) per minute on Cyber Monday 2018, making it the company’s highest-ever single-day performance. The American e-commerce company will be looking to replicate and even exceed its past success. 

Source: Business Insider

To capitalize on Cyber Monday’s volume, the e-tailers must be equipped to handle the surge of activity on their websites without hampering consumer experience. Etsy estimates the Cyber Monday traffic to be twice its normal-day activity putting around 1 million queries a second. This includes actions like searches that doubled on Cyber Monday 2018 relative to an average Monday.

According to Etsy CTO Mike Fisher (from Business Insider), if a site can’t handle this significant increase in traffic and queries, it can lead to performance issues. And if these issues cause sluggishness or downtime, Cyber Monday consumers hungry for deals might get frustrated and even abandon their shopping carts. To prevent this, Etsy has taken a few steps to helps its technical performance during Cyber Monday:

  • Etsy increased how many people are on call to help consumers on Cyber Monday. The e-tailer always has people on the call to help consumers with any issue they have on-site, but Etsy increased staff during Cyber Week, running from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, fisher said.
  • The e-tailer ran a battery of tests and made numerous plans for the event in advance. Etsy is already planning for Cyber Monday 2020, Fisher said emphasizing how much time goes into the process. The company plans out its computer capacity and tests its speeds. It also does a “premortem” in which it examines what might fail or cause difficulties with its technology or business operation when traffic is increased. This sort of planning reduces the impact of glitches as well as other issues that can pop-up on Cyber Monday.

Alibaba Posts Its Machine Learning Platform Alink Source Code to Github

Alibaba Cloud has released the source of its machine-learning platform Alink to GitHub, the open-source community of over 40 million people. Alink was built as a self-developed platform to aid batch and stream processing and was used to power this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.

The platform consists of a collection of algorithms developed to process data for machine-learning tasks ranging from artificial intelligence-driven customer services to product recommendations. not only developers can now access the Alink’s source code on but modify it to build their own software to facilitate tasks like real-time predictions and personalized recommendations. Alink was developed on Apache Flink, an open-source data-processing framework.

Noting itself as one of the top 10 contributors to the GitHub ecosystem with approximately 20,000 contributors, Jia Yangqing, the president and senior fellow of the Data Platform division at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence said, “We are committed to connecting with the open-source community as early as possible in our software development cycles. Sharing Alink on GitHub underlines our such long-held commitment.”

According to Alibaba Cloud, over 180 projects have been contributed by developers to the open-source community-at-large in the past eight years, spanning machine learning, cloud infrastructure, databases, and network. The release of Alink offers a new option for developers looking for “robust big data and advanced machine learning tools,” Jia said. He adds that the platform has played a major role in the technology that powers Alibaba’s e-commerce sites, such as Tmall during this year’s 11.11.

A recent report published by ThousandEyes aimed to explore benchmark performance of the hyperscalers notes that Alibaba alongside Amazon Web Services (AWS) relied more heavily on the public internet rather than Microsoft and Google who generally prefer private backbone network. The report also claims that contrary to options, Alibaba suffered packet loss when it came to China’s Great Firewall.

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