Global Marketing News – 30th June 2016
Ecommerce sites brace for uncertainty following Brexit
Ecommerce companies are bracing themselves for a period of uncertainty following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
The pound has plummeted in value following the referendum, meaning that in the short-term British customers buying from foreign sites will suddenly find that prices are much more expensive, whereas non-UK customers buying from British sites in their own currency will find prices to be cheaper.
In the medium to long-term, there will also be ramifications.
Many English-speaking non-EU countries, such as the US, currently ship their items to the UK in order to reach the whole of Europe, due to the lack of a language barrier and the fact that, as a member of the EU, the UK is part of the EU’s free trade agreement.
But now that the UK has voted to leave the EU, it is not hard to imagine that these companies may withdraw from the UK, as the country will no longer be a gateway to the EU.
Justin Opie, from the UK etail trade associate IMRG said that it was “difficult to quantify” exactly what the consequences of Brexit would be, but that ecommerce companies should expect a period of uncertainty.
Thailand launches online payments system to boost ecommerce
The Thai government is about to launch a nationwide online payments system which it hopes will help grow its ecommerce market.
The Thai ecommerce market is already seeing healthy levels of growth, having seen growth of almost 4% last year to reach a value of 58 billion US dollars.
The government hopes that the launch of the e-payments system will push this growth into double digit figures.
The online payments system may also help to further grow Thailand’s popular social commerce scene. Thai social media users are ranked highest in the world for their likelihood to find sellers and products online.
The Thai technology consulting firm Joyfulness Co. predicts that Thailand will become a hub for ecommerce and e-payments in South East Asia by 2017.
Around 11 million people engage in ecommerce in Thailand, with this number set to rise to over 20 million in the next 5 years.
WhatsApp is top app in Brazil
Research by Mobile Time and Opinion Box has revealed that WhatsApp is the most important app in Brazil.
A staggering 48% of respondents said that WhatsApp was their most “essential” app, with Facebook coming in at a distant second place at just 9.6%.
No other apps were viewed as the “most essential” by more than 2% of respondents.
The research also looked at the relative popularity of mobile operating systems.
It found that Android was a clear favourite amongst Brazilians, being used by 83% of respondents. iOS was used by 9% and Windows Phone was used by 6%.
However, Windows is expected to overtake iOS this year to become the second most popular operating system in Brazil.
Amazon launches groceries delivery service in India
Amazon has launched a groceries delivery service in India.
Indian consumers will be able to order fresh fruit and vegetables via the Amazon Android app by clicking on the Amazon Now option.
Amazon says that it aims to deliver these fresh groceries within 2 hours of the customer ordering them.
The move puts Amazon in direct competition with Big Basket, which currently dominates the Indian groceries delivery market.
Big Basket processes 35,000 orders every day in India.
Amazon recently overtook both its biggest Indian rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal in terms of web traffic.
EU to issue 2 new complaints against Google
And finally, the European Commission is planning to issue two new complaints against Google in its long-running anti-trust battle against the company.
The complaints relate to Google advertising services and its online shopping services.
The European Commission alleges that Google is abusing its dominance in the market to unfairly promote its own services.
Google has been embroiled in legal disputes with the European Commission for many years. It is also under investigation over its Android operating system and its tax payments.
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Elin Box
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Great roundup Elin!
Definitely uncertain times as a result of Brexit, I wrote about the impact of it here today: http://blog.veeqo.com/brexit-now-means-uk-sellers/