WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: useful to see the growth of marketplaces in recent years. The list is interesting but the analysis provides insights into what's now become an essential component of eCommerce. And let me tell you from experience, building a marketplace is difficult... ;-)

WHY IT MATTERS: application performance management solutions like newRelic can go beyond monitoring server performance and deliver insights into business related metrics, which is essential in eCommerce operations.

WHY IT MATTERS: eCommerce growth continues, especially regarding B2B (see market overview, as usual it contains good insights). I always question the tool selection (17 over 140 solution gartner says it tracks) so read with huge grain of salt. Legacy solutions with serious technical limitations show up in leader quadrant (sap, salesforce), and niche solutions are positioned because I assume they have market penetration. So use other sources when selecting eCommerce solution but questions vendors in the quadrant on the PROs and CONs gartner highlights.

WHY IT MATTERS: interesting to see that software solutions that reach maturity - such as ERPs - have a tendency to specialize. This quadrant highlights leaders in a specific market (product centric enterprises). I wonder when we will start to see the same with eCommerce... Not that specialized solutions don't exist but that the industry remains so immature that companies are in their first or second versions of eCommerce and thus gravitate to generalist solutions like shopify, magento, etc.

WHY IT MATTERS: as marketplaces become popular, finding a specific product in a catalog of millions of products will become harder and harder. The holy grail is visual search: snap a picture of something and get some AI to help you find something similar, or that matches well with that. eBay has made tests, Google lens has returned amazing results in my recent experience. Not sure what Amazon is doing but I assume it is top of their list.

Facebook is a major player in this game as it wants to make marketplace the shopping destination (don't forget it owns instagram as well). So the investment in grokNet is critical and recent results appear promising, though not yet perfect. 

So if you build a marketplace, as we are for panier bleu, then this is an area of innovation we cannot afford to bypass.

WHY IT MATTERS: the future of ecommerce lies in marketplaces it seems - I know as we are knee deep in this for Le Panier Bleu. Retailers face the challenging task of creating their eCommerce presence by being present where customers are. This means your product catalog has to be visible on *multiple* marketplaces, from your ecom store to Panier bleu, to Amazon to Google shopping, etc. Thus you need to manage your product information - descriptions, prices, inventory, etc. - in a central location. This is what a PIM is all about.

WHY IT MATTERS: very useful reference of different technologies that power smart stores

WHY IT MATTERS: very interesting DOs and DONTs about dynamic pricing. I see few retailers yet doing this at scale but with the growth of eCommerce one can expect this to become table stakes in few years. The operational requirements may be daunting if not done properly, so beware. A few good links in there but especially this one: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/how-retailers-can-drive-profitable-growth-through-dynamic-pricing

WHY IT MATTERS: this is a useful overview of solutions but also of the complexities that running a marketplace imply. Pretty much my daily headaches for the past few months... ;-)

WHY IT MATTERS: the scores and the ranking is not important. This list is meaningful because it shows just how broad and deep the automation has become in retail stores. Expect to see a lot of those in your local shopping destination.

WHY IT MATTERS: eCommerce evolution requires the equivalent of shopping malls, to draw customers into a single location. This list of top 100 solutions is very informative.

WHY IT MATTERS:  a great summary of the solution but also the payment processing in general.

WHY IT MATTERS: not most recent but still relevant reference architecture for ecommerce. Not many of those lying around... ;-)

WHY IT MATTERS: an interesting list of retailTech solutions, with recent updates.

WHY IT MATTERS: bear in mind that this list is pre-covid. But with so many retailers looking for solutions I felt this list to be useful. As with all WAVEs, have a big grain of salt and use the reviews , market positioning, etc. to prepare your own evaluations. And don'T discard solutions because they are not on the list. This is for B2B.

WHY IT MATTERS: bear in mind that this list is pre-covid. But with so many retailers looking for solutions I felt this list to be useful. As with all WAVEs, have a big grain of salt and use the reviews , market positioning, etc. to prepare your own evaluations. And don'T discard solutions because they are not on the list. This is for B2C.

WHY IT MATTERS: although the focus is on Israel startups the analysis applies worldwide IMO.

WHY IT MATTERS: a simple overview of cloud based ecommerce solutions that small businesses should consider.

WHY IT MATTERS: this guide is specific about Google and Shopify but the principles apply to all eCommerce solutions and the various discovery channels out there (facebook, Amazon, etc.). It highlights the relative complexity and expertise required to let your eCommerce website standout in a sea of solutions. Retailers thus must learn new ways to market and merchandize their store and their products to standout online. In the illustration from the guide, just crafting the right title for your product names requires time and effort in order to make it easy for users to *find* your products on Google. Not easy, not simple. This is where Le Panier Bleu can help by reducing the clutter and making local retailers standout when buying local is a concern for shoppers...

WHY IT MATTERS: every country, state, region is faced with similar problem: keeping local stores alive during covid shutdown - and then later on in the face of eCommerce popularity. This article provides a non exhaustive list of French startups that focus on helping local retailers.

WHY IT MATTERS: marketplaces are the next step in eCommerce, as retailers realize that technology is not the issue anymore. Expect hundreds of marketplaces to show up on your radar in the coming years, further splitting the market in multiple zones. Retailers will have to revert back to the old maxim: location, location, location!

WHY IT MATTERS: Google has a number of tools and solutions to help small retailers appear in google maps, google search, google shopping and other areas where customers go when they search for products.

Direct link to the solution: smallbusiness.withgoogle.com/holiday

WHY IT MATTERS: customer centric and omnichannel approaches are essential in today's retail & ecommerce. Tools have started to appear that help track path through the journey and provide consolidated metrics. This list is a great starting point and I am happy to see Quebec-based Coveo be part of the list this yer.

WHY IT MATTERS: Montreal et le Québec est rempli d'entreprises innovantes qui fournissent des solutions technologiques essentielles en cette période de crise - et par la suite pour en sortir! Le mur deviendra la référence de ces solutions et a été lancé le 3 avril 2020.