This episode provides a concise roundup of major May 2018 ecommerce news, including Adobe's acquisition of Magento, Google I/O updates, and the implementation of GDPR. It also touches on significant shifts in the retail landscape. This is crucial for ecommerce operators to understand the evolving platform and regulatory environment.
Key takeaways
Adobe's acquisition of Magento for $1.7B signals increased competition in cloud-based marketing and sales platforms, prompting ecommerce businesses to evaluate their platform choices in light of evolving vendor capabilities.
Google I/O announcements, particularly advancements in Google Assistant and Duplex, highlight the growing importance of voice search and AI in customer interactions. Ecommerce businesses should begin exploring how these technologies can be leveraged for customer service and engagement.
GDPR's implementation requires all businesses dealing with EU citizen data to review their data protection and privacy policies to ensure compliance and avoid significant penalties.
Major retail struggles, evidenced by House of Fraser's loss and Mothercare's store closures, underscore the need for omnichannel strategies and agile business models to navigate a challenging retail landscape.
Email automation tools like Klaviyo are essential for scaling ecommerce businesses, providing pre-built flows for cart abandonment, upsells, and win-backs, directly impacting customer retention and revenue.
On this episode, I’ll be talking about key developments and news headlines in the month of May, that everyone involved in ecommerce should be aware of. #1: Magento’s Acquisition - Adobe Acquires Shopify Rival Magento for $1.7B - May 21, 2018 EBay spinoff's value goes from $150 million to $1.68 billion in Adobe buyout. The acquisition is expected to help Adobe compete with cloud-based marketing, sales and service offerings from Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), which bought Demandware Inc. for more than $2 billion in 2016 to be able to offer a similar set of functions. #2: Google I/O May 8-10 I talked about it in detail on SE03 EP35 Key announcements were - Google Assistant: more natural voice based on John Legend’s voice No need to say ‘OK Google’ It remember’s your past angers and parses multiple questions in one sentenceDuplex - schedules appointments for Google uses play the youtube video Google Lens #3: GDPR - 25 May 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU and EEA. The GDPR aims primarily to give control to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. #4: House of Fraser slides to £44m loss ahead of Chinese takeover 10 May 2018 C.banner told investors it agreed to buy a 51% stake in House of Fraser to “enhance the company’s presence in the retail market in [China] as well as to facilitate the company to lay a good foundation for a new brand and retail roadmap overseas” #5: Mothercare to close 50 outlets and reinstate ousted CEO Mothercare to close 50 stores as part of rescue package Mothercare is to close about 50 of its 137 stores by June next year with the potential loss of about 800 jobs after landlords approved a
What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Adobe's acquisition of Magento for $1.7B signals increased competition in cloud-based marketing and sales platforms, prompting ecommerce businesses to evaluate their platform choices in light of evolving vendor capabilities.
What does this episode say about email & sms?
Google I/O announcements, particularly advancements in Google Assistant and Duplex, highlight the growing importance of voice search and AI in customer interactions. Ecommerce businesses should begin exploring how these technologies can be leveraged for customer service and engagement.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
GDPR's implementation requires all businesses dealing with EU citizen data to review their data protection and privacy policies to ensure compliance and avoid significant penalties.
What does this episode say about ai & automation?
Major retail struggles, evidenced by House of Fraser's loss and Mothercare's store closures, underscore the need for omnichannel strategies and agile business models to navigate a challenging retail landscape.
What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Email automation tools like Klaviyo are essential for scaling ecommerce businesses, providing pre-built flows for cart abandonment, upsells, and win-backs, directly impacting customer retention and revenue.
