Marketing

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.

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.

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?

Dynamic pricing isn't something completely new. Lots of ecommerce website change the price of an item, based on variables such as the weather, website traffic, actual demand et cetera. But what if a consumer that visits an online store via Google Shopping needs to pay less than a visitor who shops at the website directly? It happens at German online lens retailers Lensbest and Mister Spex.

Europe is a very complex entity. Similarly, in the area of ecommerce. There are many differences between the nationalities that are spread across the continent. And that's something Zalando, Europe's biggest online fashion retailer, loves to utilize. Now they've shared what they think are the differences between online shoppers in Europe.

A survey among several European countries shows that it's especially the Dutch and Irish consumers who are interested in fashion deals. Italians on the other hand, aren't that keen on such deals. Of all 17 discount categories, coupon codes for women's clothing didn't make into the top 5 of most used discount codes for this country.

This year, 19.2% of online sales in France will be carried out on a smartphone, still many retailers don't have a mobile strategy in place. But mobile is the top priority for investments in the next 12 to 18 months. eTail France interviewed dozens of retailers to discover what they do to respond to the several big challenges in the market today.

Catalogs were a very important marketing tool during the mail order era. But now with the success of ecommerce and the almost extinction of the mail order business, catalogs are however still being sent to millions of consumers. How could it be that such an old-fashioned looking medium is still being used by lots of retailers?