India’s SMEs: missing an online trick
The internet allows businesses to reach consumers way beyond their physical presence, as well as wider sourcing of materials and lots of other things.
But of the 40m small- and medium-sized businesses in India, only 500,000 are present on the web, according to Karim Temsamani, president of Google Asia Pacific. Continue reading »
[video] How mobile commerce is changing Indonesia
Only 40 per cent of Indonesians have a bank account, but over 90 per cent have a mobile phone. For both entrepreneurs and multinationals, that represents a big opportunity. The FT’s Ben Bland visits rural West Java to see how mobile commerce is spreading.
Poland’s austerity-driven e-commerce boom
Poland’s slowing economy is driving people to their keyboards – not to waste time playing games but to save money by buying over the internet.
Although only about 40 per cent of Poles shop online, the number is growing by about 30 per cent a year, which makes Poland, along with the Czech Republic, the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the EU, according to Ecommerce Europe, an industry lobby group. The continent as a whole saw e-commerce grow by 21 per cent last year to €310bn. Continue reading »
Russia online retail ‘to hit $25bn’
The online retail revolution that has sent Blockbuster, HMV and Comet to the wall in the UK is nowhere near as pronounced in Russia where digital shoppers account for only 2 per cent of total retail sales. But as increasing numbers of Russian consumers hook up to the internet, online sales are soaring and are expected to reach $25bn by 2014, according to McKinsey, the consulting company. Continue reading »
Amazon: set to join Brazil’s e-commerce fray?
It’s not every day that a bookshop is one of the biggest gainers on Brazil’s stock market. But late on Wednesday Saraiva’s shares were up over 7 per cent in late trading after rumours resurfaced about a possible acquisition by Amazon.
Despite naming itself almost 20 years ago after the vast river that runs through Brazil, Amazon is still struggling to establish itself in the Latin American country. Continue reading »
India FDI retail: no e-commerce
With a few obstructions out of the way, as of Friday morning, foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail in India was made official policy. Walmart said that it expected to open its first store on the subcontinent in the next 18 months.
But one place you won’t find Walmart – or Tesco or Carrefour or any of the other retail giants expected to enter India now – is online. On Thursday, the government announced that foreign retailers would not be able to engage in e-commerce in India. Continue reading »
Amazon brings the Kindle to India
Amazon this week launched a Kindle store in India to woo the country’s huge – and increasingly literate – population away from print and into the world of the e-reader.
The company said in a press release that it will sell the Kindle for Rs6,999 ($127) at the Tata Group’s Chroma electronics stores. The company said its store would be the largest e-book store in the country, with titles from best-selling Indian authors like Chetan Bhagat, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravinder Singh and Amish Tripathi. Continue reading »
Brazilian e-commerce: crisis-proof?
Still pining for those China-like growth rates in Brazil? Not satisfied with 0.2 per cent GDP expansion? Well perhaps it’s time you tried Brazilian e-commerce.
The industry is expected to be worth R$23.4bn ($11.6bn) by the end of this year – 25 per cent more than 2011, according to e-bit, a local consultancy service. In 2011 e-commerce grew 26 per cent and in 2010, a whopping 40 per cent. Continue reading »
India: matrimonial problems for Google
Google may be getting into a new regulatory tangle in India - this time over advertising for matrimonial websites.
Indian media reported on Monday that New Delhi has launched an antitrust probe of the US internet group, looking at the alleged abuse of its dominant market position in online advertising. Continue reading »
China: rising costs push products online
By Kathrin Hille and Patti Waldmeir
It is no secret that it is no longer that cheap to make things in China. But now, it is becoming expensive to sell there, too.
Neiman Marcus, the US multi-brand luxury retailer, plans to enter China via e-commerce rather than traditional bricks-and-mortar. And it is not the only one. A report due to be published on Friday shows that the spiraling cost of doing business in the country is driving other foreign companies with new products away from traditional retailers and into the arms of e-commerce firms. Continue reading »
EM e-commerce: growing unequally
As more and more of the world gets internet access, it’s tempting to measure progress in emerging economies by the number of people online. Is there a better or more revealing way of measuring relative strengths? How about the internet economy as a proportion of GDP?
A report released on Monday by the Boston Consulting Group, The $4.2 Trillion Opportunity, does exactly that for the G20, and has a few surprising insights along the way. Continue reading »
China’s 360buy to buy 300 trucks “out of frustration”
China may be the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce market but actually making any money has been a big problem for companies in the fiercely competitive sector.
360buy, the country’s second-largest online retail firm by transaction volume, has just made a shock move that promises to make that challenge even tougher: it plans big investments in transport to solve long-running logistics and delivery troubles. Continue reading »
MNCs in China: missing the point?
Multinational companies are never slow to complain about what they say is an unfair playing field in China: when Beijing gives Chinese companies a leg up, in the form of government procurement or indigenous innovation policies that favour locals, foreign corporates are the first to say so.
But according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which today published a report on the China consumer market with management consultants Booz&Co, MNCs are missing a trick or two, when it comes to e-commerce. Continue reading »
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