Global Marketing News – 18th April 2016
Naver to launch app store to rival Google and Apple
The South Korean internet giant Naver is going to launch an app store in June this year.
It has joined forces with the country’s three major mobile operators (SK Telecom, LG Uplus and KT) to launch a unified app store that will incorporate other Naver services such as its online payment system Naver Pay.
The South Korean app market is worth an estimated 4.5 trillion won, equivalent to 3.8 billion US dollars, and is currently dominated by the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Between them, the American giants account for 80% of the South Korean app market.
Naver hopes that by launching its own app store it will create a more competitive apps market in the country.
The South Korean smartphone market is the most mature in the world, with a mobile penetration rate of over 100%, meaning that some people own more than one smartphone.
The Body Shop to launch ecommerce site targeting the UAE
The ethical beauty company The Body Shop has announced plans to launch an ecommerce site targeting the United Arab Emirates.
The site is expected to go live in 2017, although an exact date has not yet been announced.
The country was chosen due to the phenomenal growth The Body Shop has seen in the region in recent years.
In 2015, growth in the Middle East was three times higher than the rest of the world.
It is particularly popular in the male beauty market – male shoppers make up 40% of The Body Shop’s customers in the Middle East, compared to a global average of 35%.
The Body Shop has put its Middle Eastern success down to the effort it has put into becoming “experts” of Ramadan gifts.
Research reveals Spanish advertising landscape
Research by InfoAdex has revealed the Spanish advertising landscape.
Advertising spend in the country increased by 7.5% between 2014 and 2015, when it totalled just over 5 billion Euros.
TV advertising attracted the most spending, accounting for 2 billion Euros, with digital coming in second place with around 1.3 billion Euros.
When looking at which mediums were seeing the largest growth in advertising spend, cinema and digital advertising came out on top. Cinema advertising rose by around 36% between 2014 and 2015, whilst digital advertising rose by 16%.
Spain has an internet penetration rate of 74%, equivalent to 35 million people.
Millennials important demographic in US mobile ecommerce market
Millennials are an important demographic in the American mobile ecommerce market.
Millennials spent around 600 million US dollars via their mobile phones last year and are frequent online shoppers due to its convenience.
To target millennials, businesses need to make sure that they engage with these customers to foster a sense of loyalty.
Research has found that millennials are less loyal to individual ecommerce sites and payment options than other age groups, instead being happy to change their preferences to suit their needs.
Rocket Internet expects 2015 to be biggest year for losses
And finally, Rocket Internet has said it expects 2015 to be its biggest year for losses as it predicts that three of its start-ups will become profitable in 2017.
Rocket Internet is famous for helping to launch internet-related companies in new markets based on proven business models.
It recently sold Lazada, which was the company causing the most losses, and is also in the process of scaling back spending in two other companies, Westwing and Lamoda, in order to be more efficient.
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Cal O'Connell
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