Reading List - Week of September 19

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Valentine Maire

In the universe of eCommerce and technology this week, Bill Gates came to Vancouver to strengthen the technology cooperation between Vancouver and Seattle. Online retailers are getting ready for the Holiday season and GoPro just added a new gift that will no doubt be added to any photographers list; the Hero5 camera. Subway wants to make Vancouver its eCommerce hub. Amazon’s artisan marketplace, Handmade, is moving into the European market. Keep reading for more details.

Vancouver, Seattle Eager to Create 'Cascadia Innovation Corridor' Between Two Cities

Source: Techvibes

This week, the Business Council of British Columbia hosted a unique conference in Vancouver between the Washington Roundtable and Microsoft. The reason? Creating a single interconnected region between Vancouver and Seattle that will be more competitive in todays global economy. The main idea is to enhance both regions by aligning and sharing resources and training new talents. Canada’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister, Navdeep Bains, has declared that “learning to code is now equally as important as learning to read or write”. Microsoft Canada and Boeing have already started to invest in this new economic corridor. Strength in unity.

GoPro unveils foldable Karma drone and Hero5 action camera

Source: VentureBeat

Earlier this week GoPro revealed two new Hero5 action cameras. So if you’re into awesome new tech or are a photography lover, you might want to add the new GoPro Hero5 to your Christmas list this year. The company also introduced its new Karma drone, moving the company into the drone market. The Karma drone has a removable stabilizer that can be installed on your bike, your helmet, or even on your car. Which means no more limitations to recording all your exploits! These new precious gadgets are a little bit pricey though. Expect to spend around $300 for the new Hero5 camera and $800 for the Karma drone. Still hesitating?

2016 Holiday Marketing Checklist for Online Retailers

Source: Practical Ecommerce

Christmas shopping is right around the corner and online retailers are already getting prepared for it. Is your eCommerce marketing strategy underway too? If not, you need to start the prep work now. How? Well, first you should start by setting a precise goal for the Holiday season. You do not want to miss your eCommerce holiday sales! In the U.S alone, holiday sales equated to roughly $90 billion in 2015, which is13% increase over 2014, and online holiday shopping is not slowing down. So be prepared by developing a marketing budget accordingly, setting up your AdsWorks, testing your mobile responsiveness etc. Hurry up, Santa is not going to wait for you. Ho ho ho!

Subway restaurants have selected Vancouver as their eCommerce hub

Source: Business Vancouver

Chances are you’ve had a sub once or twice in your life. And there’s no denying their cookies are pretty yummy. Well, good news If you’re a Subway loving foodie, waiting in lines is not a problem anymore for any Subway aficionado. As you’re probably already aware––if you're a Subway lover––since 2014, Subway’s allowed consumers to place their orders directly on the Subway app and pay online to get their foot-long sandwiches. Subway restaurants understand the opportunity of the eCommerce market and don't expect to stop now. The company keeps expanding and improving its eCommerce website. That's one of the reasons why Subway restaurants acquired Avanti Commerce, a software company in Metro Vancouver, to become their unique eCommerce hub this September. Carman Wenkoff, Subway’s chief digital officer declared that "we’ve identified this area (eCommerce) of our business as so strategic.”

Handmade, Amazon’s Etsy rival, expands into Europe

Source: TechCrunch

Earlier this week Amazon announced that Handmade would expand into Europe starting first in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The pitch is that the platform will only sell products handcrafted by European artisans upon its debut. This comes as no surprise considering how well Handmade in the U.S. has been performing. The U.S. online store holds over 500,000 products, and has grown five-fold in the last year, which is still comparatively low when you consider Etsy has 40 million items for sale from 1.7 million sellers and 26.1 million buyers. But Handmade is still relatively new, and with the announcement of the expansion into the european marketplace Amazon is showing how confident they are in the eCommerce store for handmade items. And with the holidays just around the corner Amazon states “Amazon has become a one-stop shop for holiday gifting, and this year customers will see hundreds of thousands more handmade items, with thousands eligible for Prime two-day shipping.”