"The four-year-old startup recorded revenue of $272 million in the first half of the year, compared to $127 million in the same period last year, and generated $2.4 million in net income. Zulily lost $10.3 million on revenue of $331.2 million in 2012."
More details can be found in the published prospectus (via) and furthermore at Internetretailer.
With this IPO, Zulily is pulling out ahead of Gilt, which has been up till now the most speculated IPO candidate. Zulily has raised $139 million in venture capital.
In our German blog, excitingcommerce had reported last December on the revival of Zulily and other flash sales, member-only type commerce sites.
At the German K5 Conference this year, CEO Stefan Smalla of Westwing gave an insightful presentation on the shopping club’s international strategy. (Notes in German here).
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
Now that we’re back in ecomPunk HQ, with the impressions of this year’s K5 conference slowly sinking in, it’s time for a little review. The photos are already out (for day 1 and day 2), but I’m dying to write a couple of sentences, so here goes.
Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!
Following last year's acquisition of the German consumer photo product company Fotokasten, the Elanders Group has made a move to further extend their European customer base. The Swedish congomerate yesterday announced a 10.5 million euro takeover of German based MyPhotobook (“New strategic acquisition by Elanders in e-commerce”):
"The purchase price is approximately MEUR 10.5 on a cash and debt free basis.
Myphotobook started in 2004 and net sales were more than MEUR 16 in 2012. Its headquarters are in Berlin and the company has around 70 employees.
The seller is Holtzbrinck Digital, the investment holding company for online businesses of the publishing group Georg von Holtzbrinck and one of the leading internet investors in Germany."
A noteworthy read on the same topic is the recent write up on Photobox in the British press (“Merchant of Joy Stan Laurent plays his cards right with Photobox”).
MyPhotobook and Fotokasten will be represented at the German K5 Conference being held in Munich on September 12-13.
Related companies such as CEWE Color, PosterXXL, Lumas/Whitewall, and Personello will also be represented.
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
Where is e-commerce venture capital headed to now? Index Ventures, backers of the likes of Farfetch, Nasty Gal and Privalia, is speaking very highly of fashion commerce (“Index Ventures’ Danny Rimer On The Future Of Ecommerce And More”):
"We went after fashion because it's gonna end up being about a third of e-commerce from our perspective. It's just going to be massive.
We've gone after fashion, and our believe is that when it comes to fashion it's actually not about the business model, it's not about the flash sale or the celebrity endorsement. Guess what? It's about the product.”
The assertion that the business model only plays a subordinated role can be widely disputed. Evidence of this can be taken from former hopefuls like Shoedazzle who have changed their business strategy along the way and would be just delighted now to be bought out.
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
Net-a-Porter is one of the few e-commerce companies created by women, for women. As such it is a model example for female founders in e-commerce.
The founder of Net-a-Porter, Nathalie Massenet, has recently immortalized her story-so-far on Instagram. And gives us some insight on her life and how she came to become who she is today:
The Facebook daughter Instagram seems to be establishing itself as one of the most important platforms for the fashion industry.
Amongst those using Instagram is Stylight, the Germany based fashion community site, who recently hosted a large group of fashion bloggers, many of whom are only active on Instagram.
Not surprising that Net-a-Porter also has a strong presence there.
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
Of all the topics that wander around in ecomPunk country, one that keeps coming back to me constantly is: reducing complexity, making things simple, getting rid of too many options. Personally, I’m a big fan of curated shopping experiences and I’m testing various services – guess what, me, the fashion noob all of a sudden has a fashion expert sending him all kinds of outfits. (Not sure how this will turn out and whether it will be plain jeans and shirt again – ah well.) A couple of months ago, in a post dedicated to laziness in commerce, I also argued that far more turnover could be generated if merchants addressed the need for easy and intuitive shopping. Last night, then, I came across a video by Barry Schwartz, which I’d like to discuss here briefly. Incidentally, my post and the video share the same title …
Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!
This is meant to be read by all the eCommerce solution providers with enterprise focus. The ones that would love to have Zalando in their portfolio.
It’s time to focus on your strengths software manufacturers!
What do I want to say with this? Enterprise eCommerce is not like the car industry. You just don’t offer a Mercedes and know that there are close to endless quality goals and stress tests to ensure all your components work well together and every part manufacturer follows your quality guidelines making it a great complete product in the end. So you just cannot approach it like this and sell your “platforms” and “solutions” as if they are turnkey solutions for all eCommerce needs surrounded by not so important or replaceable additions.
Read the full feature at ecomPunk!
After a long-expected shop launch, I managed to pull myself away from the project scene and fly over to Berlin to catch at least one day of the infamous Exceed conference, organised b Jochen Krisch and his crew. While my ecomPunk buddies Nadine and Kai had already been able to catch the first day in images (day two here), I’d like to add a bit of text as well.
Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!
Condé Nast International (Glamour, Vogue, Vanity Fair) has been issuing press releases about it's e-commerce investments on an almost weekly basis.
Yesterday saw a further investment of $20 million for farfetch (“A new way to shop for fashion”). Germany's e.ventures also participated in the funding round:
"Condé Nast International has led a $20m investment in farfetch, the world’s leading e-commerce marketplace for independent fashion boutiques; it was announced today by Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive.
Existing investors Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures and e.ventures also participated in the fundraising."
A good year ago, farfetch had raised $18 million, bringing the total to date to $44 million.
Last week, Condé Nast got on board with Berlin based designer shop Monoqi:
Since Monoqi‘s launch in 2011, the curated online shopping platform has kept a relatively low profile. Today the Berlin-based startup has announced a strategic partnership with publishing juggernaut Condé Nast
Additionally, Condé Nast Germany is the startup’s largest shareholder with a 26 per cent stake in the young company, which offers users upmarket Fab-style flash-sale shopping.”
The day before, Condé Nast stocked up their investment in the Munich based online jewelry store, RenéSim to 46%:
“We are looking specifically for innovative young enterprises with whom we can make an active and sustainable contribution to value growth.” (translated)
With publishing houses however, it isn't clear if they will be contributing real or virtual money (aka: media volume).
The New York Times has produced a detailed background report ("Condé Nast Invests in e-Commerce").
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
For those interested in alternative e-commerce strategies which specifically target repeat customers, Rakuten would be a good case study. The Japanese conglomerate has declared war on the online “vending machines” and wants to compete with a model centered around fun e-commerce.
To put a name behind the concept, Rakuten has coined the term “Happy Commerce” this week at their annual press conference:
Rakuten was represented at last September's K5 Conference and gave further insights into their e-commerce philosophy.
Rakuten has already converted both their US operations (Buy.com) and their UK arm (Play.com) from a first party sales model to a marketplace model.
With $805 million in revenues, Buy.com took 36th place on the Internet Retailer's Top 500. Rakuten had paid $250 million to acquire it in 2010. At the time, Buy.com was already on its way to a marketplace model.
In December, Rakuten renamed Freecause to “Rakuten Loyalty”. And last September, Rakuten's affiliate network Linkshare acquired the display ad and retargeting company mediaFORGE.
Most recently, Rakuten has invested in Pinterest, Ahalife and the Daily Grommet. On the other hand, nothing has become of Vaniti, the marketplace for designer labels that was announced in the summertime.
Rakuten has launched its first German Rakuten Super Sale on February 17th which will last 28 hours.
Related posts:
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
During the past weeks, I felt oddly content with the commerce and tech world around me. Maybe it’s because I’m so bloody busy right now, that all the rant potential went into project related stuff. But, having to communicate while on the go all the time made the swearing juices flow again. People, friends, we’ve all been deceived by the smartphone and tablet industry: one just cannot type on a fucking touch device!
Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!
(by our guest author Wiljo Krechting)
One needs only to click clumsily around the web to stumble upon discussion after discussion over the importance of “multichannel” marketing, as well as its distinction from “cross-“, and “omni-channel” marketing. The greatest distinction I’ve found is that which lies between the various degrees of bullshit that cover this entire topic.
Read the full feature at ecomPunk.com!
Etsy has continued to grow uninterrupted in 2012. The revenues generated by the merchant members in December exceeded $100 million for a second time and climbed 73% to a new record value of $117.8 million. This brings the total revenue volume to $895 million for the year.
A direct comparison to the preceeding year is difficult, since in 2012 Etsy started to use net revenue calculations (after cancellations and returns). In 2011 the gross revenues were $538 million. The growth in 2012 could very well be over 70%.
In 2012, Etsy received $40 million of capital investment from Burda and other investors.
Related posts:
I recently had an interesting discussion with acustomer. Regarding an option that would make his online shop available in an optimized version for tablets and mobiles, he argued, that he think it’s nice, but not so important for him, since he sells most of his stuff via other channels.
Read the full feature on ecomPunk.com!
Picture by Dave_B_
Sometimes it's really valuable to take a step back and regain the broader view again. What you are able to observe from this kind of outside perspective is sometimes stunning. I am personally looking at a revolution that's going on. It's a very strange situation, because on the one side people are talking about it all the time. And on the other side it's widely ignored ...
Read the full feature on ecompunk.com!
The founders from Fab.com have raised $150 million in a short amount of time and have pretty well free rein now from the investor perspective. With this freedom, Fab.com has been planning another complete re-orientation of their core business (“Fab's 2nd Pivot”):
“We’re now ready to pull the covers off of the massive pivot Fab has successfully undergone in 2012, from design flash sales to the world’s leading everyday design retailer.”
One thing is for certain: Fab.com can definitely drum up limitless hype much better than all other e-commerce startups. Time will tell if we will experience the next Amazon or the next Boo.com.
The expectations surrounding the $150 million investment capital is matched only by the level of enthusiasm and eagerness to experiment which is so publicly displayed by the founders. The expectations cannot compare to other startups with the same amount of agility and innovation but with a tenth of the capital investment.
Constantly in the background is the hope of a quick exit, best of all as soon as 2013.
Related posts:
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
Exciting Commerce has been reporting on how the luxury industry has been aligning itself to new e-commerce partners.
After the joint venture with Yoox, the PPR Group (Gucci, Puma, etc.) is now a strategic investor with the Samwer brothers by investing 10 million Euro in Rocket Internet fashion startups:
"The company is today announcing that PPR, luxury and sport & lifestyle group, is taking a €10 million investment in Bigfoot I, the Rocket holding company that controls Russian fashion commerce site Lamoda, South American fashion site Dafiti and also has a stake in Namshi, the Samwer’s fashion effort in the Middle East. It’s the first strategic investment made in a Rocket e-commerce startup by a fashion operation."
The “Bigfoot” companies, who are serving the fashion markets in South America, Russia and the Middle East, have already received hundreds of millions of dollars of investment from such firms as JP Morgan and Summit Partners. The Brazilian startup Dafiti has racked up $180 million alone.
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.