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In late 2017, Business Insider Intelligence published predictions for the state of e-commerce in 2018. Here’s how a few of them turned out:
Business Insider/Mary Hanbury
- Amazon appears to have gotten Whole Foods’ reputation under control. Amazon announced that it would acquire Whole Foods in June 2017, and as the year went on, the deal closed, and the companies began to integrate, a number of issues popped up. Whole Foods’ already notorious prices seemed to be rising under Amazon, while some felt the grocer’s quality was going downhill. This led Business Insider Intelligence to predict that these issues would continue to mount and cause Amazon to overhaul the grocer, potentially rebranding it, but this did not come to pass. Instead, news of consumer discontent with Whole Foods has faded, and Amazon has continued to expand online grocery from Whole Foods through Prime Now. Although Amazon still has a ways to go if it wants to catch up to top US grocers like Walmart and Kroger, it’s gotten over its early hiccups with Whole Foods and can move forward with its online and brick-and-mortar grocery efforts.
- India’s become a true battleground for e-commerce heavyweights. India’s e-commerce market offers tremendous opportunity — it’s projected to soar from $38.5 billion in 2017 to $200 billion by 2026 — sparking interest from top e-tailers. That competition turned up a notch in 2018, as Business Insider Intelligence predicted. Amazon further invested in the market by adding a Hindi language option for its site and app, while Paytm Mall teamed up with online grocer BigBasket — likely thanks to Alibaba investing in both companies. Walmart also joined the battle by acquiring 77% of Flipkart for $16 billion. With Amazon, Alibaba, and Walmart trying to win in India, there are three players with deep pockets that are likely to invest even more going forward, which could propel e-commerce to new heights in the country and will almost certainly lead to steep competition in the future.
- Mobile has only become a more important channel for retailers. Mobile commerce (m-commerce) grew in value in 2017, accounting for an estimated $104 billion in sales in the US and marking 38.6% YoY growth. And it’s projected to total $137 billion in the US this year. To capitalize on this growth, Business Insider Intelligence expected retailers to revamp their mobile sites and apps, and that has come to pass. A number of retailers have added augmented reality (AR) features to make their mobile shopping experiences more valuable, and companies like John Varvatos have streamlined their sites to make the shopping process smoother. But there’s still work to be done, as mobile conversion rates still lag behind those of desktops and tablets, and retailers must continue to find ways to improve their mobile performance, in 2019 and beyond.