Global Marketing News – 16th June 2015
Ecommerce profits set to double in 3 years
A study by PayPal, Google and OC&C Strategy Consultants has predicted that 4 of the world’s biggest ecommerce markets will see profits double in the next 3 years.
Ecommerce revenue in the US, UK, Germany and China is predicted to rise to 992 million US dollars by 2018, with mobile ecommerce driving much of this growth.
Smartphone ownership is growing rapidly across the globe, and the authors of the study have said that “this is increasingly translating into mobile transactions and that a mobile-first or even mobile-only strategy is now imperative to international success in retail.”
The report also identified the UK as a key country for future international ecommerce growth, saying that the opportunities for British retailers are huge.
UK ecommerce sites are the number one international destination for German online shoppers, and the number two international destination for shoppers from the US and China. German and Chinese buyers also spent more money on UK ecommerce sites than their British counterparts.
The study revealed that most British businesses are not doing enough to make their sites appealing to international customers, however, with only a minority offering delivery to non-UK addresses.
Easy returns policies, data security and trust were identified as the key concerns of shoppers when buying from an international site.
Social commerce on the rise in South Korea
Research by DMC Report has revealed that social commerce is on the rise in South Korea.
Social commerce describes any kind of ecommerce that occurs as a result of activity on social media. This could include buying a product after seeing a friend posting a positive status about it on a social network, or looking at a review site to read other people’s reviews before deciding to buy.
Two thirds of South Korean respondents reported engaging in social commerce this year, up from 59% in 2013.
Women were more likely than men to engage in social ecommerce, with rates of 75% and 61% respectively. Smartphone users were also more likely to engage in social commerce than desktop PC users and tablet users. Age did not seem to be a factor, however.
Around 75% of Koreans are predicted to engage in ecommerce overall this year, equivalent to almost 28 million people.
Twitter opens Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore
Twitter has just opened its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, as part of an effort to expand in the Asia Pacific region.
The new office has 80 employees, and it expects to take on around 100 new recruits in the next few years.
Twitter says this is in response to strong demand from Asian users, partners and advertisers in the region.
Twitter is one of the most popular micro-blogging platforms in the world, with almost 240 million monthly active users. Japan, Indonesia and Singapore are the strongest markets for the social network in Asia, while it still remains blocked in China.
Google makes webpages load faster for slow connections in India
Google has rolled out a new feature making webpages load faster for users on a slow internet connection in India.
If users are using a Chrome or Android browser to load pages from the Google search results on a slow connection, Google will automatically optimise the page to make it load faster.
Trials in Indonesia revealed the feature to load pages 4 times faster, using 80% less data, which led to 50% more page views.
Google hopes that the roll out in India will help the estimated 200 million Indians who access the internet using a smartphone.
Brazil is rumoured to be the next market where this feature will be launched.
Jovago expands to Myanmar and Bangladesh
And finally, the online hotel booking company Jovago has announced that it is to expand to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Jovago was first launched in Asia last year in Pakistan, where it has seen considerable success.
Myanmar and Bangladesh were chosen for their increasing online populations, growing middle classes and the lack of competition in those countries in the hotel booking industry.
Jovago’s main competitors in the global hotel booking industry are Booking.com, Expedia and Agoda.
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Immanuel Simonsen
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[…] at Webcertain TV we have previously reported on the strength of the British ecommerce […]