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E-Commerce
1Mby1M Incubation Radar 2014: Yathes, Chennai, India
Yathes is a gift registry portal targeting the South Indian market. It aims to provide a one-stop solution for management of events like weddings by streamlining the various tasks involved such as gifting and sending invitations.
Online Travel Sites Growing as Usual
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, international travel to the country is projected to grow nearly 4% annually from 2013 through 2017. The fastest growth is expected from visitors from China, Saudi Arabia, and the Russian Federation. The World Travel Monitor expects global travel to grow 2-3% this year, with Asia-Pacific seeing the strongest growth. Online travel companies are expanding their service offerings to ensure that they capture a bigger share of this recovering market.
MercadoLibre Continues to Deliver Strong Growth
According to research by Visa, e-commerce sales in Latin America are projected to be more than $69 billion this year. Sales are projected to grow to more than $100 billion by the end of the next year. Latin America is the fifth largest e-commerce market in the world.
Online Real Estate Sector Update
According to recent S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, housing prices in the country rose the fastest in August this year since their bubble in 2006. Another report by Zillow, (Nasdaq: Z) also found that the volume of sales has increased. In 2006, the volume of sale transactions for houses had peaked to 7 million. But the volume is now picking up, and analysts expect to end the current year with more than 5 million transactions. Zillow’s report estimates this number to grow to 7 million by 2018. The real estate sector stocks are already witnessing the impact of this growth as stocks of quite a few of them have more than doubled since the beginning of the year.
Groupon Still Struggling to Change Its Luck
Daily deals market leader Groupon (Nasdaq:GRPN) just can’t seem to catch a break. The company tried to turn its luck by firing the founder and CEO, but that hasn’t seemed to help much. Recent inbox changes by Gmail and growing lack of interest among users to buy into daily deals are also not welcome news.
The Breadth and Depth of Amazon’s Expansion
Shopper Trak’s holiday projections peg sales during this season to grow 2.4%, the slowest since 2009. These disconcerting holiday shopping sales forecasts may have dampened e-tailer eBay’s spirits. But it will take more than possible bad news to stop Amazon’s rapid growth. The e-tailer continues to surpass market expectations and remains upbeat about the upcoming holiday season.
eBay on a Buying Spree
Recent reports released by Shopper Trak don’t offer a positive outlook for retailers this holiday season. According to the report, holiday sales this season will grow 2.4%, recording the slowest growth since 2009. The downturn in spending is already visible in other metrics. According to a comScore tracker, e-commerce sales in the US grew 13% in Q3 compared with 16% growth reported in Q2. Growth slowed in Q3 to just 13% growth from 16% growth in Q2.
Yahoo Counts on Alibaba, Not Marissa Mayer
Ad agency ZenithOptimedia estimates global ad spending to grow 3.5% this year to $503 billion driven by an increase in digital ad spending. The US remains the largest ad market, with an estimated $109.7 billion in spending. Within the country, digital ads will account for 21.8% of ad spending, compared with 19% a year ago.