Take advantage of the Christmas break to read our favorites for 2021
The end of the year is a good time to take stock, our experts suggest you find the best articles of this year.
2021. Commerce accelerates its revolution and becomes Ambient
November 2021, Innovate Service Centric
The pandemic reinforces the opposition between “chore” shopping and “pleasure” shopping
Yes, commerce is going digital! For example, the furniture brand IKEA has seen its online sales increase by 73% this year to now represent 26% of its annual turnover.
Yesterday constrained by confinements and sanitary measures, our consumption habits are changing and are now assumed choices! E-commerce indeed allows us to get rid of “chore” purchases and concentrate on “pleasure” purchases.
Sber Bank “The most unusual bank in the world”!
During the Websummit 2021, we had the the chance to attend the keynote of David Rafalovsky, CTO and Global Head of Operation and Technology of Sberbank Group (Russia) whose title ‘The most unusual bank in the world’ was not without interest!
After the end of its historic collaboration with Yandex (considered the Russian Google), the Sberbank bank with the slogan “convenient services for everyday life and business” wants to become an aggregator of services for its customers. To do this, the Russian bank is rapidly modernizing its infrastructure to digitize its 100 million customers. Among other things, it launched its own cloud which aims to become the equivalent of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
But they didn’t stop there! They created on the one hand a whole technological part including voice assistant, internet box, connected objects, their own Netflix and Spotify, cloud … and on the other hand a whole service part including home delivery, VTC, health, platform of trade…
For its CEO, Guerman Gref, “more than a financial assistant, we have become an assistant in life who solves all your urgent daily tasks“. Especially since this assistant is virtual and is called “Salute”, an artificial intelligence at your service to navigate their service world!
For the latter, it is the fruit of the observation of the inexorable dissolution of contact between the bank (in its generic sense) and its customers, for the benefit of new players (GAFAM, Neobanks, super apps, etc.) which provide them with the experiences they want in which the financial component is only a means to achieve a more servicial objective!
Under their new Sber hat brand, “Sber is more than a bank”, financial activities interact with a galaxy of services touching all aspects of our daily lives, as richly as with Rakuten or Alibaba.
At the Echangeur we will be following them closely in 2022!
TARGET: THE BIG COVID CHAMPION
Following the shop-in-the-shop trend in 2020 which saw brands join forces with each other, now distributors are calling on brands from the web (Digital Native Vertical Brand) to renew their in-store offers but also to position themselves in audience provider.
The example of the Target / Quip association is emblematic. At the Target store, find out about the product, at Quip’s website restock it with the purchase of automatic brush head refills!
Target even provides an in-store discount coupon valid on the Quip website. Tangible proof of the contribution of its traffic. Finally, stores understood that they could enhance their audience and turn it into a source of income to offer third-party services to other brands looking for visibility!
BEYOND THE BUZZ AROUND NFTS… WHAT SECTORS WILL BE IMPACTED?
NFTs (Non Fongible Token), have been making the buzz for a few months now.
But what is an NFT and more importantly what does it mean for the video game industry, art, fashion or even music?
A non-fungible token is not interchangeable, it is a cryptographic token whose rarity and ownership can be verified and which relates to a digital asset. For example, the fashion world is very interested in the world of NFTs. Luxury brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton have launched their NFTs. NFTs associated with real products to ensure authenticity. Nike for its part has also filed a patent to associate NFTs and pair of collector’s sneakers. Whether in art, music or even sport, NFTs are becoming a new way to monetize their creations and retain their fans.
And tomorrow ? Why not “mine” our personal data and sell it to the highest bidder on marketplaces. Imagine that our medical file can be transformed into NFT. This NFT could be auctioned for the best medical coverage. It could be the same for the purchase of a property with your financial profile which will have been “minted” in NFT. NFTs may seem superfluous, or hold a simple buzz, but they could also pave the way for a form unprecedented personal data monetization.
How does the circular economy fit into the consumption practices of Europeans?
While the transition from a “completely disposable” society to a more “circular” society seems to attract more and more individuals, consumers are not all ready to commit to this process in the same way, mainly for reasons of income and generational differences.
Who are these buyers converted to this more virtuous economy? This is the question that the Echangeur has answered by publishing the “Strategic Targets and Circular Economy” Practice Notebooks. Based on our consumer knowledge platform, the Access Panel 2020, and on the 14,000 individuals surveyed in France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, we have identified 10 strategic targets. We then analyzed them according to their willingness to engage in a circular approach. While Wealthies Families emerge as champions of the circular economy, Carefree Young Adults, Evolving Couples, Tactician Families and Golden Middle-Aged can be seen as supporters. Note that not all of them incorporate the circular economy in the same way in their practices and do not respond to the same motivations. We can thus observe notable differences in their appetite for C2C services or those related to mobility, their interest in leasing services or the importance given to the criterion of price and sustainability in their purchasing decisions.
The Echangeur will meet you next spring to share the first lessons. This will be an opportunity to determine whether the crisis has permanently modified the consumption practices of the French, Belgians, Spaniards and Portuguese.
The entire Echangeur team wishes you a Merry Christmas
