We’re featuring a new update on Amazon global news, trends and highlights. As a leader in the global e-commerce market, there’s lots to learn from following Amazon news and strategies. 360pi reports that Amazon carries more than 12.2 million products and more than 353.7 million products if you include their marketplace. The IRCE 2016 conference provided five key Amazon insights worth examining. Competitors Tokopedia, Matahari Mall, Lazada and others are awaiting the arrival of Amazon in Indonesia this year.
As e-commerce competition heats up in India, Amazon reduced merchant fees on some of its services by 1%-7%, one week prior to planned fee increases by Flipkart. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings signed a new 20-cargo plane lease with Amazon and has ambitions to increase its other e-commerce business with the growth of the industry. Fewer than 10% of Amazon’s 304 million customers used Amazon Payments on third-party sites but growth potential is significant.
Deutsche Bank analysts outlined a “blue-sky” scenario where Amazon could reverse its entire logistics footprint and increase efficiency and profitability with several innovations. Amazon and Alibaba are building bigger logistical operations around the world to increase customer service. In the UK, the company launched Amazon Fresh home-grocery delivery service to compete with Tesco, Ocado, Sainsbury’s and ASDA. Flipkart’s new return policy and increased seller fees may give Amazon India a big competitive advantage.
How Many Products Does Amazon Actually Carry?
A new report answers the questions, how many products does Amazon actually carry, and in which categories. And it shows the incredible impact third-party merchants have on Amazon’s selection.
The report from 360pi shows that Amazon alone carried 12,231,203 total products as of May 2016, excluding Books, Media, Wine, and Services – note that product variants were not included in the analysis.
But when products available from marketplace sellers were included, the total number of products increased almost 30X to a total of 353,710,754 products offered by Amazon and its marketplace sellers combined (applying the same exclusions noted above). Via ecommercebytes.com
‘The world’s most secretive company’: 5 Amazon takeaways from IRCE 2016
No brand in retail generates more questions, opinions and fascination than Amazon. So each year the Internet Retailer Conference + Exposition hosts Amazon & Me, a day-long pre-conference workshop designed for retailers and branded manufacturers alike.
Described by moderator/organizer Scot Wingo as “a curated mix of Amazon strategies and tactics that both beginners and advanced as well as retailers and brands can utilize,” Amazon & Me 2016, held earlier this week, drilled deep into the Amazon mystique in an effort to better understand the company’s business model, its core philosophies and its ultimate goals. Here are five major takeaways from this year’s event. Via retaildive.com
Amazon preparing to expand into Indonesia: E-commerce Association Chairman
There are plenty of e-commerce companies trying to crack open the Indonesian market, like Tokopedia, Matahari Mall and Lazada. But none of them have quite managed to catch on the way e-commerce giant Amazon has hooked Americans onto their online shopping services.
But now it looks like the original e-commerce superstar is setting its sights on our archipelago. According to Daniel Tumiwa, the Chairman of the E-commerce Association of Indonesia (IDEA), Amazon is coming to Indonesia.
“Amazon has announced it will open e-commerce in Indonesia. It is ready to invest 600 million US dollars (~Rp 8 trillion) for its first year here (in Indonesia),” Daniel said as quoted by Kompas today. Via jakarta.coconuts.co
Price war in ecommerce? Amazon cuts its referral fee by 1-7% on few categories
Amazon has cut its referral fee by 1-7% on some categories including personal computers, mobile devices and tablets, electronics, movies, music, video games, video game consoles, non-educational and educational software, musical instruments and personal care appliances with effect from June 17, the company told its sellers in an email late on Wednesday.
Sellers on Amazon’s platform are expected to pass on the benefits of reduced cost to the consumers. The move comes at a time when several sellers on Flipkart have threatened to quit or become inactive on the platform due to the hike in commission on several products with effect from June 20. “Yes, we lowered the rates for certain categories. We think these revised rates can significantly help sellers to perform even better and succeed in their business,” said an Amazon India spokesperson. Via economictimes.indiatimes.com
Atlas sets its sights on express and e-commerce markets
In order to cater for this growth, Atlas was able to offer tailored solutions to meet the needs of customers, with a controlled air network with a wide range of freighters and a global scale to operate domestic and international networks. He also anticipated growth with its traditional air freight customers, pointing out that combination airlines are increasingly outsourcing their freighter operations.
Steen also indicated that there were opportunities to grow its 20 freighter partnership with Amazon. “This is a long-term agreement that includes both crew, maintenance and insurance, and dry leases for an initial 20 Boeing 767 aircraft and we expect the first aircraft in the third quarter of this year.
“E-commerce is by far the fastest growing segment globally and it is our ambition to continue to grow with Amazon and they expand their domestic US and international operation.” Via aircargonews.net
Amazon Payments: Pros, Cons for E-commerce Merchants
Fewer than 10 percent of Amazon’s 304 million customers reportedly used Amazon Payments on third-party sites in 2014 and 2015. This, potentially, could be an opportunity for ecommerce merchants that offer Amazon Payments at checkout if that percentage grows to, say, 20 percent or 30 percent.
Merchants that offer “Pay with Amazon” may lower cart abandonment rates among Amazon customers, in addition to providing a layer of payment fraud protection, especially for international orders. The main downsides to merchants are customer service (i.e., customers have to interact with Amazon if there is a decline) and administrative hoops to set up the service.
Amazon: Huge Customer Base
PayPal reported over 184 million active customer accounts — those that have received or sent a payment in the past 12 months — in the first quarter of 2016. Amazon has the potential to eclipse PayPal if more of its customers use Payments.
Amazon’s global brand value makes it attractive to many consumers and merchants. Reader’s Digest recognized Amazon, in 2015, as the “Most Trusted Online Shopping Site.” Via practicalecommerce.com
Amazon logistics, reimagined by Deutsche Bank
How much control will Amazon have over its supply chain in the future? In an epic note published Wednesday, analysts at Deutsche Bank examine, among other things, the potential that lies in Amazon’s growing supply chain control.
Deutsche Bank outlines what it calls a “blue-sky” scenario in which Amazon could reverse the entire logistics footprint it has built so far, opting to go deeper down the chain on the sourcing side. That is a way to say the company could get control of products nearly to the factory-floor level in Asia.
Deutsche Bank adds that this new chain could increase private-label opportunities for Amazon and greatly reduce the amount of time products spend in the company’s supply chain. Via businessinsider.com
Amazon and Alibaba Bet the Future on Supply Chain Management: eRetailers Invest Big in Logistics
The world’s largest retailers are planning to not only grow into the world’s biggest logistics companies, but to completely revolutionize the industry. Both Amazon and Alibaba have recently made significant investments to their supply chain capabilities and in the not distant future they will soon handle more shipments than most specialist delivery postal and courier companies.
In effect, these companies are building their own streamlined delivery systems that may replace the more established specialists. Earlier this month, Amazon signed a new deal to lease more cargo jets, in effect doubling the size of its fleet. This is partly a response to increasing demand (shifted 27% more units in last quarter) but also a part of a grander plan.
The aim for these internet giants is nothing less than the obliteration of all alternative forms of retail. When it comes to sales, Wal-Mart dwarfs Amazon by a factor of four. Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, plan is to undermine these lead by competing for consumer attention in ways that Wal-Mart can never match. That is, by offering an infinite menu of goods, same-day delivery and liberating from the tiresome trip to the busy out-of-town store. Via forbes.com
AmazonFresh launches grocery deliveries in London
AmazonFresh, the e-commerce behemoth’s grocery service, will start operating in parts of north and east London today. Deliveries will first be available in 69 postcodes before expanding to other parts of the city.
AmazonFresh is only available to Amazon Prime subscribers who also pay a monthly fee of £6.99. This means Amazon Fresh will cost them about £84 ($121.85) a year—much less than the $299 annual membership fee charged in the United States, where the service has been available since 2007.
Its pricing strategy may change, however, as Amazon figures out how much consumers in the United Kingdom are willing to pay and balances that against the grocery industry’s tight margins. In the U.S., Amazon Fresh did not cement its $299 annual fee until last October, more than 10 months after it was first announced, because of pushback from customers.
Amazon Fresh will compete against several of the United Kingdom’s largest supermarket chains, including Tesco, Ocado (Waitrose’s online market), Sainbury’s, and ASDA, which already have online grocery shopping. Several (Tesco, Ocado, and ASDA) even offer same-day deliveries in certain areas. Via techcrunch.com
Sellers irked with Flipkart’s return policy; advantage Amazon?
It is not the higher commissions charged by Flipkart that is bothering the sellers. They are irked by the unilateral changes made in Flipkart’s return policy, which would increase their cost of doing business. Flipkart recently decided, among other measures, to increase the sales commission it levies on merchants, by up to 5 percent in some categories, as well as charge them a shipping fee, a reverse shipping fee, and a collection fee on every product returned by customers, effective June 20, the ET report said.
This may be giving rival Amazon a chance to attract more sellers on to its platform. Already the US giant is the most preferred e-commerce websites among sellers followed by Flipkart and Snapdeal, according to a Nielsen study.
While Amazon had the highest top of the mind recall (25 percent), Flipkart stood second (21 percent) and Snapdeal (20 percent), it added.
Although, Amazon, too, has recently undertaken increase in commissions, the company has clarified that it does not charge its sellers for handling product returns. Via firstpost.com
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