CB Insights wrote "When it comes to most industries, the question isn’t whether Amazon will enter or not; it’s how the internet giant will enter, and how big the impact will be." This is exciting for everyone benefitting from Amazon's success - sellers, vendors, and even customers. But for everyone else the challenge is how to grow given.. Amazon.
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Walmart reported 2017 Q2 results today. As many brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling to grow, or to even avoid bankruptcy, Walmart posted same-store sales growth for the 12th consecutive quarter. However this is only the third quarter Walmart reported US e-commerce growth. Since there is no history to compare these numbers against we have no idea how to take them.
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Many are still haven't heard of SoftBank. Their investment arm has recently become the largest e-commerce investor worldwide - their most recent tech fund called "Vision Fund" has $100 billion under management. Jeff Bezos has famously said "Your margin is my opportunity", which is only true because of the capital available. SoftBank will challenge this.
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For the first time since 2016 Q1, and only for the second time ever, Etsy has reported a profit in the second quarter. The marketplace for handmade, vintage, and supplies is cutting costs and reorganizing its priorities.
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MercadoLibre second-quarter financial report numbers were mixed - net income was down causing a drop in stock price, but other key metrics are all continuing to grow. Mobile share of GMV has grown to 43 percent, and the launch of MercadoCrédito financing for sellers are the highlights.
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Effective later in the year Amazon sellers fulfilling their own shipments will be forced to accept all returns - items they sell will be "automatically authorized" for return. As much as this change has caused an outburst of anger in seller forums there is going to be more of these in the future.
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There is a lot of talk about Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and others, but most seem to forget that what's driving those leading retailers is the millions of sellers in their marketplaces. This is what started Marketplace Pulse, and we continue to look at, analyze, and talk about marketplaces as if they were economies by themselves.
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Based on our research since the start of the year Etsy has had half a million new sellers join the marketplace. 494,123 to be exact. This amounts to over 70,000 new shops every month, making 2017 the fastest growing year so far.
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According to Amazon's second quarter earnings, company's "other" revenue - believed to be made up mostly of advertising - category grew faster than anything else. It might take years for the advertising business to grow big enough for Amazon to consider breaking it out as a category of its own. But most estimate that by 2018 it will reach north of $5 billion yearly run rate.
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For the first time in Amazon's history the percent of units by marketplace sellers reached 51 percent. This is the first quarter where marketplace sellers contributed more than Amazon itself.
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