Monthly ecommerce #6

Where can you spend your bitcoins? What is the social platform for your next digital garage sale? Which tech giant may buy your next life-changing ecommerce startup? Why did ecommerce brands stop operating in Russia? 

Answers to these questions and some appealing facts and trends are in our new digest for March.

eBay is considering adding a new digital payment method to its system

While the world is trying to hop on the train called "Cryptocurrencies - NFTs," businesses are coming up with ways to utilize virtual currencies in their business. One of the biggest ecommerce marketplaces is currently looking for ways to start accepting crypto on their platform.

Some well-known brands have already taken it seriously. One of the early-adopters - Microsoft - added cryptocurrency payments back in 2014. Another sample: Tesla clients have the possibility of buying a car and paying in bitcoins. Isn't it fab?

As for the NFTs (non-fungible tokens), Ebay's directors have agreed that one of the main features of the marketplace is the possibility to find a unique item that cannot be found anywhere else. Since NFTs are usually unique collectible items, the company is searching for ways to use them within the platform.

New features on Adobe Customer Journey Analytics

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, many online stores boosted their power without any doubt. Currently, many small businesses are looking for ways to manage their users' experience in the smoothest, most convenient way possible. 

To see how small details can affect customer journey, Adobe launches a new feature that allows to test real-world scenarios and analyze their outcomes. In other words, it's a chance to create A/B testing to investigate an element of the customer's journey - to personalize the data and see how it can affect the whole business. 

Thanks to ML (Machine Learning), the correlations between variables are easily found thanks to ML (Machine Learning), which can process big data sets. According to Adobe, they consider comparable campaigns, benchmarks, history, and many other relevant details when evaluating the data.

Adobe Commerce development services >

Amazon purchases a startup Veeqo

The marketplace purchased the startup back in November 2021 but has officially stated the purchase on March 7th.

Veeqo is supposed to assist Amazon in incorporating more robust,  required instruments and tools into its MCF program, potentially convincing them to stop using other providers.

The startup acknowledged that they are eager to work with a big tech giant to create new tools, improve existing services and boost customer journey. In turn, Amazon confirmed that they are ready to keep investing in their services to make the marketplace the best in the industry.

Impact on ecommerce services in Russia

The last few weeks changed the international ecommerce rules for a part of Eastern Europe. Many well-known market players limited their work in or left the country that has started the aggression.

Most of the worldwide brands you are familiar with have suspended their operations or shipments to Russia. One of the first companies to react were H&M, Ikea, and Apple, which closed their stores and entirely stopped selling and operating locally.

Etsy, a marketplace specializing in handmade items, canceled all the balances Ukraine sellers owed to their platform. Some retailers supported the country by providing generous donations. For instance, Amazon donated $5 million to the humanitarian aid fund and supported their workers in Ukraine by extending their visas and giving them extra days off.

Aldi, Tesco, and Asos opened more positions to hire refugees from Ukraine and provided language courses to those who needed some more practice to speak confidently.

At first, a Japanese brand, Uniqlo, defended its position to stay in the region with a "clothes are life necessities" statement. However, recently they've issued a document stating they are suspending their work because of the number of difficulties, including operational challenges and the worsening of the conflict situation.