Category: e-commerce

GSMA launches e-commerce platform for telecoms industry

GSMAGSMA has launched GSMA Marketplace, an e-commerce platform dedicated to the mobile industry.

GSMA Marketplace leverages the associations’s reputation as a trusted intermediary in the telecoms industry to bring together buyers and sellers to do business more easily with each other.

“Whether you are a buyer looking for greater innovation or better prices in your procurement of products or services, or a seller seeking to win new business and enter new markets, GSMA Marketplace will let you browse, contact and connect with companies who can help you achieve your objectives,” said John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA.

Alibaba sets US$8b target for November 11 sales

Alibaba 1111November 11 is Singles’ Day in China and the singular thing retailers are aiming for today is record sales. China e-commerce giant Alibaba has set US$8.18 billion (RMB50 billion) as its 2014 target of single-day transaction value for the November 11 online shopping festival, according to IDC.

The research firm believes Alibaba is very likely to achieve five percent more. “11.11” is not only a festival for Alibaba, online shoppers, and online retailers; it also changes consumers’ buying behaviour and impacts the evolution of the China e-commerce ecosystem.

“11.11” has become a special day for many Chinese consumers ever since Alibaba created this single-day online shopping festival in 2009. The total transaction value during last year’s “11.11” reached US$5.73 billion (RMB35 billion), which shocked Alibaba’s e-commerce competitors all around the world as well as the entire retail industry.

Red Bull builds global B2B portal with hybris

Red BullRed Bull has implemented a new global B2B order management portal based on the hybris B2B Commerce solution. Known as the SOET 2.0 Solution, the portal provides a highly flexible solution for quick and easy order entry for global retailers and distributors placing orders with the beverage brand across multiple channels.

Launched in March, the global roll-out was completed in June  and 79 countries are now using Red Bull’s order management portal utilizing hybris’ B2B Commerce solution.

Founded by Dietrich Mateschitz in the mid-1980s and inspired by functional drinks from the Far East, Red Bull is currently available in more than 165 countries.

hybris announces B2C Commerce Accelerator for China

hybris SAPhybris has announced the coming availability of hybris B2C Commerce Accelerator for China. As businesses move from a single channel, such as print catalogues, to multiple channels — including online, mobile, print and call centers, complexity increases.

Founded on hybris Commerce Accelerator, hybris B2C Commerce Accelerator for China has been specially configured and equipped with functionalities specifically to address Chinese e-commerce needs.

Adapted expressly for the Chinese market, it comes with pre-configured page templates that are designed to suit the highly characteristic ‘click’ culture and specific shopping atmosphere enjoyed by Chinese consumers, providing big product images, larger merchandising bars and a very visual user experience.

Alibaba breezes through China Singles’ Day online traffic with ZTE technology

AlibabaAlibaba Group handled a record-breaking surge in online shopping traffic on China Singles’ Day on November 11 , the busiest day of the year for Internet retailers in China.

China’s largest e-commerce company broke its one-day sales record by more than 80 percent. ZTE’s ZXONE 8700 optical transport network system carried 90 percent of Alibaba’s operating data traffic that day, as online shopping orders pushed Alibaba’s peak data traffic to almost 300 Gbits per second, sustained for a period of seven hours.

For the 24-hour duration of China Singles’ Day, ZTE’s OTN systems deployed by Alibaba delivered excellent network performance and fault-free reliability, with no malfunction warning reported.

Cloud Computing to account for most of IT budget by 2016

GartnerCloud computing adoption is growing and will form the bulk of new IT spend in 2016. According to Gartner, 2016 will be a defining year for cloud as private cloud begins to give way to hybrid cloud, and nearly half of large enterprises will have hybrid cloud deployments by the end of 2017.

Gartner describes cloud computing as a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are delivered “as a service” using Internet technologies. It heralds an evolution of business in positive and negative ways. It has also become a hot industry term that has been used in many contradictory ways.

“Overall, there are very real trends toward cloud platforms, and also toward massively scalable processing. Virtualisation, service orientation and the Internet have converged to sponsor a phenomenon that enables individuals and businesses to choose how they’ll acquire or deliver IT services, with reduced emphasis on the constraints of traditional software and hardware licensing models,” said Chris Howard, Research Vice President of Gartner. “Services delivered through the cloud will foster an economy based on delivery and consumption of everything from storage to computation to video to finance deduction management.”

Beginning of the Digital Industrial Economy

GartnerWorldwide IT spending is forecast to reach US$3.8 trillion in 2014, a 3.6 percent increase from 2013, but it’s the opportunities of a digital world that have IT leaders excited, according to Gartner.

The beginning of the Digital Industrial Economy will make every budget an IT budget; every company a technology company; every business a digital leader, and every person a technology company.

“The Digital Industrial Economy will be built on the foundations of the Nexus of Forces (which includes a confluence and integration of cloud, social collaboration, mobile and information) and the Internet of Everything by combining the physical world and the virtual,” said Peter Sondergaard, Senior Vice President of Gartner and Global Head of Research.

kalahari.com accelerates market expansion with hybris

khybris SAPalahari.com has selected hybris Commerce Suite to power its retail vision forward, strengthen its position as an innovative market leader, and fast-track market growth selling both digital and physical goods via its online stores and marketplaces.

As Africa’s leading online retailer of electronics, toys, appliances, games and books, kalahari.com will leverage hybris Commerce Suite to respond to growth opportunities and further extend its market share in the fast growing Southern African commerce market.

Providing a true omni-channel experience, the scalability of the hybris Commerce platform will enable kalahari.com to support its rapidly expanding online operations, which include consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-consumer (B2C) retail, and deliver a feature-rich experience to a growing number of mobile shoppers. This will include selling digital goods such as eBooks, via kalahari.com’s own e-reader device the Gobii, and a large expansion of its online catalogue of digital and physical goods.

Tommy Bahama partners hybris to seize market opportunities

Tommy Bahama Singapore
Tommy Bahama’s outlet in Wisma Atria, Singapore.

Tommy Bahama, which has an outlet in Wisma Atria, Singapore, has selected hybris Commerce Suite to improve its omni-channel commerce capabilities and create a more agile response to expanding market opportunities.

A leading retailer of island-inspired apparel and home furnishings, the brand has achieved rapid growth in online commerce over the past few years. In addition to the web, Tommy Bahama offers in-store kiosks, a commerce channel that enables an “endless aisle” of products available through the e-commerce warehouse, allowing shoppers to access out-of-stock or online exclusive items directly in-store.

To ensure the brand’s continued global expansion and establish a foundation for market and channel growth, Tommy Bahama needed a robust commerce platform capable of integrating with its existing Adobe Experience Manager solution to deliver a world-class, end-to-end user experience across all channels. hybris not only complements the Adobe Experience Manager but enables it to further create and deliver a heavily optimised user experience.

SAP completes hybris acquisition

SAPSAP is investing in the future of commerce and customer engagement with its acquisition of hybris. The two companies plan to combine the agile omni-channel commerce solutions of hybris with robust enterprise technology and industry leading in-memory, cloud and mobile innovations from SAP to help facilitate new levels of customer insight and engagement.

“SAP and hybris will deliver the next-generation customer experience for businesses and consumers in a world where digital and physical converge seamlessly,” said Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-CEOs, SAP AG. “With the addition of the hybris commerce platform, we intend to help enterprises achieve unprecedented intimacy with customers in real time and across all devices, delivery channels and touchpoints.”

The rules of engagement have changed and customers are in control. Modern businesses need systems that can predict and adapt in real time to customers wherever and however they engage. hybris expands SAP solutions that address customer engagement comprehensively across marketing, sales, service and commerce. As part of SAP, hybris is expected to take advantage of mobile, cloud and big data innovations from the company while continuing to drive forward the most modern, agile commerce platform in the market today.

ASOS leverages hybris for China e-commerce business

hybrisUK online fashion and beauty store ASOS has selected the hybris Commerce Suite to launch its new e-commerce business in China. Providing an omni-channel experience for those 420 million potential customers, the site will include a fully-integrated, feature-rich mobile version.

With six million active customers, ASOS stocks more than 60,000 branded and own-label products through each of its websites: UK, USA, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Russia. It ships to 241 countries and territories from its 1.1 million square foot global distribution centre in the UK.

According to a report from eMarketer released in February 2013, this year’s B2C e-commerce sales are expected to grow 18.3 percent to US$1.298 trillion worldwide as Asia-Pacific (APAC) surpasses North America to become the world’s No. 1 market for B2C e-commerce.

Gartner adjusts worldwide IT spending projection downwards to 2% growth this year

GartnerGartner has adjusted its worldwide IT spending forecast for 2013 downwards to US$3.7 trillion in 2013. Last quarter, the research firm predicted a 4,1 percent increase compared to 2012 but that projection has been sliced by half to 2 percent. This reduction takes into account the impact of recent fluctuations in US dollar exchange rates. 

The Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast is the a leading indicator of major technology trends across the hardware, software, IT services and telecom markets. For more than a decade, global IT and business executives have been using these highly anticipated quarterly reports to recognise market opportunities and challenges, and base their critical business decisions on proven methodologies rather than guesswork.

“Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth,” said Richard Gordon, Managing Vice President at Gartner.

Enhancements to hybris Commerce Accelerator speed up omni-channel functionality deployment

hybrishybris has integrated hybris Commerce Accelerator with hybris Order Management Services (OMS) to enable merchants to deliver a complete omni-channel shopping experience, including browsing and fulfillment – like buy online and pick up in store and cross-channel stock-level display.

This significant enhancement means that B2C merchants of all sizes can now, at an affordable price point, go live with a world-class commerce system in less than four months through ready to use storefront templates and channel integrations that can be deployed quickly and then enhanced with more functionality over time.

Customers can also chose the deployment and purchase model which best meets their needs – traditional on-premise perpetual license, hosted by hybris or on-demand (software-as-a-service) with a monthly fee based on usage or revenue share.

ASICS picks hybris for new global consumer websites

hybrisSports footwear maker ASICS has selected hybris Commerce Suite for the infrastructure of the company’s new global consumer websites, featuring corporate, branding and e-commerce functions.

The solution will empower its branding and transactional pages, supporting its omni-channel deployments and B2C commerce with consumers.

In the middle of 2011, ASICS launched an internal project to rebuild the system, by using an omni-channel enabled e-commerce solution. After carefully comparing and evaluating several vendor solutions, ASICS selected hybris Commerce Suite in May 2012. It will start designing and integrating the new system in the US this year before rolling it out to other countries.

hybris partners LivePerson to provide digital engagement solutions

hybrishybris will partner intelligent engagement solution provider LivePerson to offer an integrated solution for businesses to optimise the online commerce experience and drive greater return on investment (ROI) to their digital properties.

The hybris Commerce Suite is now fully integrated with LivePerson’s award-winning chat solution and available on the hybris Extend marketplace. The new integration will be essential to e-commerce professionals seeking to differentiate their brands from competitors, enabling them to connect more meaningfully to visitors and delivering a richer, more personalised experience for customers that will drive higher customer satisfaction and greater value to their business.

With LivePerson’s chat solution, merchants are able to increase conversion rates through their online stores and decrease cart abandonment. For example, if a customer is having difficulty locating a particular item, a customer service agent will be alerted and offer immediate assistance with the customer directly through live chat or ‘click to call’. Likewise, customers can engage directly with a customer service agent through a ‘click to chat’ button. To ensure an optimised client engagement, the customer’s page data is dynamically passed through to the agent.

hybris a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for e-commerce

hybrisFor the second year running, hybris has been included as a Leader in Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant for E-Commerce. Following substantial growth in 2011, hybris has further consolidated its position as the market’s dominant independent e-commerce and omni-channel vendor.

“Given the size of our next two biggest competitors, we believe our placement in the report confirms that hybris represents the most compelling e-commerce and omni-channel solution available in the market today,” said Ariel Luedi, CEO of hybris.

“Both our larger competitors, and smaller-sized vendors, struggle to compete with us on performance, value and functionality. In the next 12 months, we look forward to increasing our market share and building on the gains we made in 2012,” he added.

hybris Commerce Suite integrates with SAP

hybrishybris Commerce Suite can now be fully integrated with SAP and is available on the hybris Extend marketplace (http://www.hybris.com/en/partners/hybris-extend). The integration offers hybris customers and partners a way to facilitate fast and easy integration with SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

hybris will officially announce the integration at SAP’s Sapphire NOW event in Orlando (hybris is at booth number 1633).

Based on hybris’ OmniCommerce strategy, this integration enables retailers and enterprises to provide a single, cohesive customer experience from any sales channel and touchpoint in the purchasing process through hybris’ open architecture. This avoids the “rip and replace” approaches used by many vendors. Instead, companies can leverage the potential of their total system landscape in new ways to provide an enhanced customer experience.

Adobe Analytics integrates with hybris Commerce Suite

hybrisAdobe Analytics, a key component of Adobe Marketing Cloud, has been integrated with hybris Commerce Suite to enhance digital marketing including measurement, segmentation, targeting and optimisation.

The integration module, developed jointly by Adobe and hybris, gives organisations a unique combination of real-time analytics across online (including Web, mobile, social and video) and offline marketing channels.

The solution enables a multi-dimensional view of customers that makes it possible for organisations to fine tune and better personalise every interaction. The integration module will be available in the hybris Extend marketplace.

New hybris Commerce Suite powers all channels from a single commerce platform

hybris storeThe latest major release of the hybris Commerce Suite is touted as the first commerce platform to give B2B and B2C organisations true omni-channel capabilities on a single technology stack.

With new functionality to support the cross-channel consumer and in-store business tools to manage functions such as “buy online, pick up in store”, businesses can now design, develop and deploy advanced commerce solutions more quickly and over more channels than ever before.

“Retailers, brands and manufacturers are racing to meet the increasing demands of the modern consumer. Businesses need to have systems that allow them to innovate faster. With the hybris Commerce Suite, implementing an omni-channel vision is no longer a multi-year process for B2C and B2B businesses,” said Ariel Luedi, CEO of hybris. “It is now within the realm of possibility for them to set up a true omni-channel commerce platform in under six months.”

Master database management system gives telcos the edge

hybrisIn a highly competitive and dynamic market, telcos are increasingly looking at multiple channels to sell their services and products. Many players have turned to personalisation and business analytics in order to retain and win customers.

However, James Chu, Regional Sales Manager for Southeaast Asia and Telco of hybris, believes that taking an additional step will give them the edge.

“We offer our customers one more step – master database management (MDM) system. MDM curates inventory so that customers can find what they want easily and on any device,” he explained.

hybris partners SingPost for e-commerce fulfillment

burghardt-groeberMultichannel commerce and communication software leader hybris has teamed up with SingPost for e-commerce fulfillment in Singapore.

“What this means is that customers who are going into e-commerce can take our suite of solutions as well as leverage the strengths of our partners such as SingPost for key parts of their operations such as warehousing, delivery and customer clearance,” Burghardt Groeber, Vice President for Asia, hybris told Entelechy Asia in an exclusive interview.

According to him, Southeast Asia is interesting as there are different countries with different laws, customs, geographical size and reach, languages, currencies and taxes.

hybris Software raises $30m investment

hybrishybris has secured a $30 million investment to fund growth in emerging markets, strengthen its presence in North America and Europe, address additional verticals, and make strategic add-on acquisitions. 

The new investment comes from Meritech Capital Partners, Greylock Israel and Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), which has been the company’s largest investor since 2011. George Bischof, a Managing Director at Meritech who led this equity round, has joined the hybris Board of Directors.

Over the past three years, hybris has generated organic revenue growth at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 70 percent, while still generating positive operating cash flows. hybris currently employs more than 600 people.

ACCA launches vendor-neutral cloud assessment tool

ACCAThe Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA) has launched the online version of its Cloud Assessment Tool (CAT), which is designed to help businesses choose the most suitable cloud provider.

CAT provides a standard framework for IT users to measure their requirements against vendor offerings. The vendor-neutral framework will help enterprises make informed decisions as they consider migrating their data and applications to the cloud.

ACCA is currently benchmarking services and platforms provided by its members, including PLDT/Smart, Microsoft, Verizon Terremark, Telenor, Equinix, and Hiring Solutions.

Asian mobile players and operators among Global Mobile award winners

The ASUS-made Google Nexus 7 clinched the Best Tablet Award.
The ASUS-made Google Nexus 7 clinched the Best Tablet Award.

Asia is becoming a leading force in the mobile communications space. Mobile product makers Samsung and Asus and mobile operators NTT Docomo, Bharti Airtel and SK Telecom were among the winners at the 18th Annual Global Mobile awards, held at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Government of New Zealand also nabbed the Spectrum for Mobile Broadband Award.

More than 170 independent analysts, journalists, academics, and subject matter experts and 13 representatives from mobile operators throughout the world participated in the judging of the 2013 awards.

The full list of winners and finalist for the 2013 Global Mobile Awards is available at www.globalmobileawards.com/winners-2013

HCL Technologies and hybris to provide integrated omni-channel solutions

HCLhybrisHCL Technologies, is partnering hybris, to provide end-to-end omni-channel commerce solutions and integration services to HCL’s customers worldwide. The alliance will also enable hybris to leverage HCL’s footprint in the digital media commerce market and its long-term relationships with leading global businesses and infrastructure in markets in regions such as the Middle-East.

This combination of HCL’s domain and technology expertise, along with hybris’ market leading commerce platform, will help business decision makers change the game by improving the quality of the customer buying experience, thereby extending brand loyalty and spend.

As part of the partnership, HCL will co-create customised solutions, tools and storefront accelerators based on the hybris Commerce Suite that focus on vertical segments such as consumer products, media, entertainment, retail, telecom, and manufacturing.

Gartner: Worldwide mobile advertising revenue to hit US$11.4b this year

GartnerWorldwide mobile advertising revenue is forecast to reach $11.4 billion in 2013, up from $9.6 billion in 2012, according to Gartner. Worldwide revenue will reach $24.5 billion in 2016 with mobile advertising revenue creating new opportunities for app developers, ad networks, mobile platform providers, specialty agencies and even communications service providers in certain regions.

“The mobile advertising market took off even faster than we expected due to an increased uptake in smartphones and tablets, as well as the merger of consumer behaviors on computers and mobile devices,” said Stephanie Baghdassarian, Research Director of Gartner. “Growth in mobile advertising comes in part at the expense of print formats, especially local newspapers, which currently face much lower ad yields as a result of mobile publishing initiatives.”

“Smartphones and media tablets extend the addressable market for mobile advertising in more and more geographies as an increasing population of users spends an increasing share of its time with these devices,” said Andrew Frank, Research Vice President of Gartner. “This market will therefore become easier to segment and target, driving the growth of mobile advertising spend for brands and advertisers. Mobile advertising should be integrated into advertisers’ overall marketing campaigns in order to connect with their audience in very specific, actionable ways through their smartphones and/or tablets.”

hybris expands hybris Extend ISV Partner Program

hybrisCommerce platform provider hybris has expanded its hybris Extend program for independent software vendors.

hybris Extend is an online integration marketplace giving customers access to best-of-breed applications, extensions and network services developed by hybris partners, all of which are optimized to work with the hybris OmniCommerce platform.  While hundreds of third-party products have been integrated and deployed in hybris customer implementations, only those vendors having a close working relationship with hybris and promising pre-built integrations with hybris software qualify for hybris Extend – assuring customers higher quality, smoother, more efficient deployments and better business relationships.

“The hybris OmniCommerce Suite is comprehensive, but our solutions often are the hub of an even larger ecosystem of technologies and solutions,” said Ariel Lüdi, CEO of hybris. “The best way for us to serve our customers is to make their technical and business integrations across that ecosystem as seamless and easy as possible.  That is the goal of hybris Extend”.

hybris announces first commerce solution specifically designed for telcos

hybrishybris has announced the industry’s only commerce solution specifically designed to help carriers sell more phones, plans and value-added services on the web and in the store. The new hybris Telco Accelerator comes bundled with the industry acclaimed hybris Commerce Suite and includes capabilities aimed at helping carriers launch fully functional wireless phone commerce experiences that drive higher average revenue per user (ARPU) in as little as three to four months.

“hybris has long been recognised as offering the best multi-channel user experience for selling anything online” according to Ariel Ludi, CEO of hybris. “Now, the hybris Telco Accelerator makes it much easier and faster for wireless carriers to implement a feature-rich commerce solution specifically designed to deliver a rich shopping experience for their customers regardless of channel.”

hybris Telco Accelerator includes the rich set of B2B and B2C commerce functionality rated by both major IT analyst firms as “leader” and among the top 2 or 3 general-purpose commerce platforms in the world – and now tailored for telcos.

hybris enables digital content providers to create high-value, ongoing relationships with customers

hybris has further strengthened its position of offering the most agile, most modern commerce platform by announcing important new features that empower publishers of books, magazines, games and software, as well as other service providers, to sell more digital goods, content and services online.

“Digital products are different from physical products. They’re alive,” stated Ariel Ludi, CEO of hybris. “Using the internet to stay connected after the initial sale, offering related or next-in-series products in context, gives publishers of any digital goods or content the ability to have high-value perpetual digital relationships with their customers. hybris helps them create – and grow – those relationships.”

A host of new enhancements to the hybris Commerce Suite, purpose-built to support the sale of non-physical products, enables online sellers to offer a variety of flexible recurring pricing models.  In addition, merchandisers can easily construct complex bundles of products, with sophisticated rule-based discounts, and give their customers the power to create their own packages with a modern guided-selling user experience.