News Hub
E-commerce: Alibaba purchases minority stake in Klarna
J&P comments
Alipay’s digital wallet is already compatible with Klarna to provide its payment options across Aliexpress. However, the partnership with Klarna could potentially deepen its ongoing collaborations with Alipay..
E-commerce: Online Marketplace Allegro to invest €230m in Logistics and IT
Poland’s most popular E-commerce platform, Allegro, will be investing €230 million (PLN 1 billion) in order to support its booming customer and seller base. With the investment, the platform will be able to develop its ‘Smart!’ program which gives customers free delivery in exchange for a monthly fee. Allegro is also planning on using the money to expand its network of delivery pick-up points. To benefit sellers, the online marketplace will invest in new tools and employ IT engineers in order to make it easier for sellers to interact with customers and manage deliveries.
J&P Comments
Allegro’s investment in programmes and tools is bound to help the marketplace get ahead in the E-commerce game. Although the platform is number one in Poland, it is still facing competition from other European marketplaces with it being the 5th most-visited marketplace in Europe – maybe this investment could make Allegro move higher in the rankings.
E-commerce: Ankorstore expands to Germany
French marketplace Ankorstore has officially launched its online store in Germany, making it the company’s fourth market in Europe. Ankorstore is a B2B marketplace that was established in 2019 in France, and then soon expanded overseas to Spain and Belgium. The expansion was achieved through Ankorstore raising 6 million euros in funding which was led by Global Founders Capital, Avlen and Aglae Ventures.
J&P comments
Ankorstore’s expansion will provide brick and mortar retailers in Germany to compete against online stores by offering them a platform where they can sell to a substantial audience.
E-commerce: Amazon Currently Building “Neural-Network Based” Chatbots for Customer and Staff Queries
In order to assist its customers and staff, Amazon is currently developing two “neural-network based chatbots. One of these chatbots will be built to answer queries from consumers and the other to enable Amazon staff to respond to customer requests with ease. The bots will be designed using state-of-the-art language processing technology and true artificial intelligence to make the user feel as if they are talking to a human.
J&P Comments
Currently the chatbots are being tested to handle customer queries such as returns, refunds and order cancellations. The authenticity of the conversations that can be held with these bots will definitely make them easier to talk to and appear more human, and this in turn will educate staff and generate sales.
E-commerce: Marks & Spencer extends click and collect service
British retailer Marks & Spencer is extending its click and collect hours until 11pm in a bid to increase its online fashion sales. M&S is undergoing a major transformation away from physical stores and towards its e-commerce offerings as they plan to achieve 30 per cent of its sales through its website by 2022.
J&P comments
Marks & Spencer’s extended click and collect times mean that shoppers now have from 10 am – 11 pm to make their orders for it to be available to collect in-store the next day.
E-commerce: Amazon Business launches in Spain
Amazon has recently launched Amazon Business Prime in Spain, making it the company’s fourth European market that the premium service is available in. Amazon Business Prime members receive unlimited free delivery in one business day, and also on the same evenings. Amazon Business Prime was initially launched in Germany in 2017, and then two years later it expanded to the UK and France. Now Spain is the fourth European market to take advantage of the company’s service.
J&P comments
Amazon Prime Business is also available outside of Europe in America, Canada and Japan. To register for Amazon Prime Business companies are required to pay an annual membership fee. Costs vary from €36 up to three users, to €2,000 per year for over 100 users.
