Tag: e-commerce

Investors inching away from online and mobile ventures

| January 22, 2013

investors inching away from mobile venturesInvestors show caution in light of lackluster results in mobile space

Once upon a time, Silicon Valley investors had been all too eager to dump money into any online start-up or mobile company that showed some semblance of promise. Now, however, these investors are being increasingly stingy with their money, and for good reason. Investors lost a great deal of hope in the online and mobile sectors due to Facebook’s lackluster stock results when the company went public. The decline of Groupon and the Zynga’s fall from grace have not done much to placate the concerns of investors.

Online and mobile start-ups losing favor with investors

Investors seem to have taken note of the large number of online and mobile start-ups that fail to deliver on their ambitious promises. Investors had been eager to invest in promising ventures because of a desire to not miss the next big thing, especially in the mobile space. These ventures, some of which were launched several years ago, were able to capture the support of investors, but those that remain active have yet to produce any kind of return to these investors.

Study shows more than 1,000 ventures will lose funding this year

CB Insights, a market research firm, recently analyzed some 4,000 start-up e-commerce ventures that were launched and received funding from investors in 2009. The firm discovered that over 1,000 of these start-ups would not be receiving any further funding from their investors this year. The firm notes that approximately $1 billion in angel investments will disappear from this particular sector this year, as investors become much more cautious of the online and mobile ventures they choose to support.

E-commerce platforms likely to see significant hit this year

Internet start-ups are expected to face a problematic year in terms of investments. E-commerce businesses that have not already established themselves are likely to crumble as they see the funding they heavily rely upon disappear. Such ventures require significant investments in order to reach consumers. Without these investments, e-commerce platforms are little more than dysfunctional websites with dysfunctional services.

Yahoo Japan coming out of 2012 on a high note

| January 14, 2013

Yahoo Japan sees major gains from mobile commerce and e-commerce

Yahoo Japan, one of the largest Internet companies in the country, had a very lucrative 2012. The company, which boasts of its own search, mobile, and e-commerce platforms, has done very well despite strong competition from Google and others looking to engage consumers in the mobile space. New analysis from Trefis, a financial and stock market analysis firm, suggests that there are two major factors that have contributed to Yahoo’s success over the last year: Mobile commerce and e-commerce.

Mobile advertising drives commerce higher

In 2012, Yahoo Japan generated approximately $3.5 billion in profit, with a company-wide gross margin of 90%. Trefis analysts expect that this growth will continue into 2013, especially as Yahoo looks to take advantage of the growing mobile commerce and advertising sector. Analysis shows that mobile advertising accounted for approximately 17% of Yahoo Japan’s total value in 2012. These advertisements helped spur mobile commerce, which also helped the company in terms of finances.

E-commerce initiatives prove successful

Yahoo’s e-commerce business is considered is most lucrative factor, accounting for 18% of the company’s value. E-commerce generated a significant portions of the company’s profits in 2012, largely backed by the performance of mobile commerce campaigns and mobile advertisements. Growth of the e-commerce sector is expected to slow in 2013, but Yahoo Japan will likely continue seeing promising results from this sector in the years to come, especially as more consumers become enthralled with mobile commerce.

2013 is likely to be a good year for Yahoo Japan

Yahoo Japan is expected to have a very strong 2013. The company has been putting more focus on engaging mobile consumers recently, largely because Japan is home to one of the largest mobile markets in the world. Smart phone penetration in the Japanese market is significant, eclipsing other countries by a healthy margin. This typically means that companies with a focus on mobile consumers tend to have a more powerful reach in the market than others.

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