Marketing

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are only one month away and these days mean big business for online retailers across Europe. But in some countries these aren't the biggest days for online shopping. In the Netherlands and Austria for example, most online revenue is expected to be generated on December 12. See what the biggest days are for online shopping in Europe.

Ecommerce companies can really make a difference nowadays if they use their data efficiently. But there's data everywhere and it takes some time and effort to analyze all this. A European startup that tries to solve this problem, is MonkeyData. This Czech SaaS company analyses data from various sources and shows the results in one place in an organized dashboard. We interviewed them about data, ecommerce software and the differences between some European countries.

It seems like Dutch retailers have embraced Google Shopping as an important advertising channel. Last year, this industry more than tripled the budget spend on Google Shopping. The share of paid search advertising on Google Shopping increased from 6 percent in 2014 to 23 percent last year.

French online shopping club Vente-Privee has launched its first European campaign. With the motto "À la Française", the company advertises on social networks in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom while using typical clichés about France.

Beauty and personal care could be the next big online category in Europe, consulting firm A.T. Kearny thinks. But only if the products and online shops meet the unique needs of consumers. Nonetheless, online sales of beauty and personal care is expected to increase by more than 8 percent year on year until 2019.

German startup Picalike has served more than 100 million relevant product recommendations based on visual similarity in just one month. The software solution searches and matches product pictures, so customers find what they are looking for. Online retailers Otto, Bonprix and Esprit are among the ecommerce companies using Picalike.

After Google decided to eliminate paid-search text advertising on the right-hand rail of its search results, the cost per click for paid-search advertising had indeed increased, one agency says. Last month, Google stopped serving ads on the right side of its search engine query page and added a fourth paid-search ad above, and up to three beneath the organic search results.

Argos has partnered with Google and now shows the product availability from its local stores in real-time in the search results. Google also runs tests with other retail partners in the UK, as well with companies in Germany, France, Australia and Japan.

For years we hear that mobile commerce is really breaking through now. And that cross-border ecommerce will become even more important. But what are the specific ecommerce trends for this year? Three CEOs from leading Nordic ecommerce companies share their thoughts.

Zalando has quietly tested brand advertising at its own platform during the past few months. With a group of several brands, it ran 30 advertising campaigns from external brands on dedicated parts of its own online store and via third party sites.

UK fashion retailers are missing out on an annual spend worth almost 12 million euros because they are not engaging with shoppers who are increasingly researching fashion choices before purchasing. Retailers should re-evaluate their marketing content to focus on product attributes over the brand image, a new study suggests.

Yieldify, a British startup that helps brands increase their conversion rates, today announced the launch of a new platform for its customers. The company also announced former Googler Richard Sharp will join the company as Chief Technical Officer.

An increasing amount of consumers are researching products before they decide to buy them. An important information channel during this process is the internet. In Central and Eastern Europe, comparison shopping engines have gained a key role in the buying decision process during the last couple of years.

Solutions provider Twenga announced today its strategic alliance with Google and the fact it's joining the Premier SMB Partner Program. This Google initiative connects small- to medium-sized business owners with established advertising companies who are specialized in AdWords. Twenga is now one of a dozen AdWords Premier SMB Partners in France.

Earlier this month, Instagram made it possible for any company in 30 selected countries to advertise on the platform. Already, companies have seen some great results and analysts predict the social network could make as much as 1 billion euros in annual revenue in the next four years. But how to advertise on Instagram in the best possible way?