If you want to stay ahead of the biggest trends in e-commerce, follow the money.
That was the message from Norm Colbert, who focuses on mergers, acquisitions, capital markets and private placement transactions for Petsky Prunier, one of the leading investment banks that serves the Internet, marketing, media, technology, information, healthcare, and service.
During a packed session on identifying the up and coming e-commerce trends at the ninth annual Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago this week, Colbert told a packed audience that if they want to stay ahead of competitors in the online commerce space, they need to look at where investments are being made and what acquisitions are taking place.
He pointed to data-driven evidence that these trends are emerging or continuing to emerge, based in investment dollars being spent:
- Retargeting: There has been a 50 percent increase in spending on retargeting and search retargeting
- Digital couponing: 92.5 million consumers redeemed an online coupon in 2012 and that number will climb to 100 million quickly
- Dynamic pricing and loyalty programs: Colbert pointed out that Amazon Prime members spend 115 minutes on that website per month, as compared to 27 minutes per month for non-members
- Mobile: Mobile is the biggest driver of new spend and it will continue to grow.
- Big data: It’s easy to gather data and difficult to manage it. Look for more spend on technologies that help harness big data
Colbert was – like so many others at IRCE 2013 – bullish on mobile. “One of the first questions asked of any company now is, ‘What is your mobile strategy,'” he said. “There is a lot of money to be lost in mobile.”
He also pointed out that social media is nowhere near a plateau. Over the next 12 to 24 months, Colbert anticipates a great deal of investment in social, and what he called some “interesting exits” both in online technology and brick-and-mortar retail.”
