Global Marketing News – 25th November 2015
European ecommerce industry needs “radical change”
The founder of one of Europe’s biggest ecommerce sites has said the industry needs “radical change”.
Robert Gentz, co-founder of fashion online retailer Zalando, made the comments at the WIRED Retail conference.
He argues that the European ecommerce model can learn a lot from the Chinese model, which is much more immersive and inter-connected.
“The platforms in China were so connected, so they’re already able to deliver consumer experiences that are far beyond what we get in Europe,” Gentz explained.
In China, consumers can chat using messaging apps with stylists and celebrities about clothes and shoes, make in-app orders and receive items within 3 hours.
Zalando has adopted several of these practices, with users now being able to contact stylists, have quick deliveries, and find out product information about items they see on Instagram.
Google’s China re-entry set for February 2016
Google is allegedly planning to re-enter the Chinese market in 2016, with February being cited as the likely month for it to happen.
Sources familiar with the plan have said that Google intends to launch a Chinese version of its Google Play app store which complies with the country’s strict censorship laws. This includes not linking to the international version of the store, and locating all its data centers in the country.
This is an apparent U-turn on Google’s previous stance to censorship in China, which culminated in the search engine leaving the country in 2010, and being banned by the so-called Great Firewall of China, after refusing to censor its search results.
China’s internet censorship laws ban pornographic and other “offensive” content, including “the spreading of rumours”.
Black Friday on the horizon
Black Friday, the shopping day where retailers across the globe slash their prices to entice more customers to buy their products, is on the horizon.
Due to fall on Friday 27th November this year, it is now widely observed in North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The leading ecommerce site in Africa, Jumia, has commented on how it wants to smash last year’s Black Friday sales figures, focussing particularly on the Egyptian ecommerce market.
A Jumia Egypt spokesperson said that they were aiming to see more sales on Black Friday this year than it saw through the entirety of 2014.
Egypt is a blossoming ecommerce market, with a recent MasterCard study revealing that 52% of Egyptians have made an online purchase in the last three months.
Jumia’s main competitor, Souq, has also said that it is expecting high sales this Black Friday. It comes as a UAE security film called for online shoppers in the Middle East to be vigilant against cybercrime and credit card theft.
A spokesperson from Skyfire made the comments, saying: “Online shopping numbers radically increase every year, making the months leading up to the holidays a playground for cyber thieves.”
Austria Facebook case goes to Supreme Court
A potential Austrian court case against the social media giant Facebook has been sent to the country’s Supreme Court.
A law student, Max Schrems, has attempted to file for damages against Facebook for breaching users’ privacy for himself and 25,000 other people in a class action law suit.
The Supreme Court will decide whether these claims can be lumped together in a class action or whether they must be heard separately.
Facebook is alleged to have passed on the personal user information of Austrian citizens to the American intelligence services.
The social network has denied any wrongdoing.
Smartphone penetration to hit 65% in 2018
And finally, smartphone penetration is expected to hit 65% in the top 47 countries for digital penetration by the end of 2018.
That is up from 56% smartphone penetration currently.
Tablet penetration is also set to increase, going from the present-day 15% to 20% by the end of 2018.
ZenithOptimedia, who conducted the research, commented on the predictions, saying: “Marketers need a mobile-first approach to communicate with these people effectively.”
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