I recently visited Mercado Libre’s headquarters outside of Sao Paolo and had some interesting discussions with management. It was a great visit and Mercado Libre is really an interesting company in terms of strategy. The core ecommerce business is what you would expect for a large regional, multi-country marketplace. And the expansion from ecommerce into […]
In this captivating article, Jeffrey Towson delves into JD’s E-Space, a boundaryless retail strategy that integrates online and offline retail in China. Discover the potential implications and opportunities it presents for new retail, e-commerce, and online-merge-offline strategies. Dive into the exciting world of Chinese retail with Jeffrey Towson’s analysis and insights.
Jeff Towson discusses three strategy questions for Magazine Luiza (Magalu) in Brazil in this podcast. These questions include how to compete with Amazon, how to expand into new markets, and how to build a strong brand. Listen now to learn more!
Jeff Towson discusses three strategy questions for Magazine Luiza (Magalu) in Brazil in this podcast. These questions include how to compete with Amazon, how to expand into new markets, and how to build a strong brand. Listen now to learn more!
I keep an eye on the larger moves by Alibaba. Not the constant stream of announcements and endless initiatives but the larger strategic moves that I think will change the trajectory of the company. This usually means talking with management when I can and following the investor days. A couple of years ago, Maggie Wu […]
I was in Kenya recently and got a chance to play with Jumia and Jumia Food, the big ecommerce apps in most of the big African countries. Especially Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Ghana and Egypt. And Jumia’s annual report is pretty interesting reading. In terms of strategy, Jumia has pretty standard marketplace platforms for products […]
In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg released a memo on “privacy-focused messaging and social networking” – and charted a new direction for Facebook. In theory, the memo had some big implications. It looked like the first move in a strategy to turn Facebook into a much larger and even more powerful company. From very big to ridiculously […]
I often get asked how JD competes with Alibaba (in ecommerce). Who is going to win? My answer is below. But first a little theory on the sources of competitive strength. My Checklist for Competitive Advantages I put competitive advantages in five buckets, with a total of 15 sub-types. That’s my checklist. But keep in […]
My standard question is: What is the quality of the business? I go through lots of checklists for this. It generally takes me 40 pages of written notes to get through a basic assessment of company quality. But the simple version is: What is the market size and its growth? Is there a long-term secular […]
I’ve mentioned externalizing capabilities as a strategic move many times. I thought I would detail that out. It’s common strategy in digital business models. And it has been very effective at Alibaba and Amazon in particular. Several years ago, I summarized the evolution of Alibaba’s platform business models in 7 graphics. The Rise of Alibaba […]