Marketplaces Year in Review 2021
2021 was the year of broken supply chains, Amazon aggregators, more advertising, Shopify's almost-marketplace, and one unanswered question - did the pandemic boost e-commerce after all? For now, the world of marketplaces revolves around Amazon - it has doubled in size in two years. No one will challenge it directly, but a different paradigm might.
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Lady Gaga’s Beauty Brand Gives Up on Amazon
Three years ago, Lady Gaga launched a cosmetics brand Haus Laboratories to be sold exclusively through Amazon. However, the brand flopped and is set to relaunch at Sephora. The relaunched brand will no longer be available on Amazon.
Chinese Sellers Overrun Walmart Marketplace
More than 50% of new sellers on the Walmart marketplace are from China. A year after Walmart allowed international sellers, they outnumbered American sellers in recent months.
Shein Is the Most-Downloaded App in the U.S.
Shein, a fast-fashion marketplace, is currently the most-downloaded app in the U.S., surpassing giants like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter and far ahead of Amazon.
Amazon’s Growth Was Expected To Slow
Amazon's growth has slowed to a halt. However, that's ok. It is lapping Covid-19 boost, which ultimately wasn't a step-change many had foreseen.
Amazon's DTC Master Plan
Amazon is attempting to build yet another flywheel to get direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands to offload storage, delivery, and returns to Amazon with a new service, Buy with Prime.
Chinese Sellers Don't Want to Rely on Amazon
Chinese sellers are seeking to cut reliance on Amazon. Despite Amazon being the main channel for Chinese brands and sellers to reach consumers in Western markets, China has a growing sentiment to “de-Amazonize” cross-border e-commerce.
Nine Months of $10,000 Container Rates
Container shipping rates from China to the U.S. have been above $10,000 for nine months. Compared to rates pre-pandemic, they are still up ten times. While global supply chains have slightly stabilized, the freight system is far from being back to normal.
Thousands of Etsy Sellers on Strike
Thousands of Etsy sellers closed their shops for the April 11-18th week and are going on strike over increased fees. That's only a tiny sliver of Etsy's active sellers; however, the strike attracted viral attention on social networks and from the media.
Data
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Research
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Analysis
We believe that data is better than opinions for understanding what's next in e-commerce.
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