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As the impact of activities surrounding COVID-19 are felt around the United States, we at ComCap are continuing to work with our clients to assist during this time to take on some of the business concern burden and chart a course through the outbreak. While brick and mortar stores are closing temporarily, some of our clients that are providing solutions in the area of eCommerce are seeing a significant spike in the adoption of their solutions as retailers respond to the demands of online commerce in our current environment.

Retailers and brands continue to explore onboarding new solutions, including analytics, personalization and marketing technology. Technology spending has not stopped or gone down, and sales cycles continue to remain intact. For pilots and proof of concepts that are generating a meaningful ROI, companies are doubling down on the adoption and onboarding of a comprehensive suite of technologies. As an example, one retail analytics client had a large customer recently increase its ACV by 20% via an upsell, and they are onboarding a large new customer which would have a Top 3 ACV.

Similar to how Apple Stores and Starbucks have now reopened all stores in China, we expect most major brick and mortar stores to reopen in the next 1-2 months in the US, and Bill Gates agrees. For retailers, now is a great opportunity to beef up their online offerings, and A/B test new technologies as commerce moves almost exclusively online in the near term. This is a prime window for retailers like Walmart and Target to test prior and new investments, and live up to their fabled prowess in supply chain management. The winners of tomorrow will be decided by those that make the right technology investments today. For technology providers, now is a great opportunity to get the attention of retailers, demonstrate the power of their solutions, and explore strategic financing and partnership opportunities.

Please feel free to visit ComCap’s research site for reports on each segment of retail technology – we are interested in hearing your feedback and what is working for you.

We are pleased to present our perspectives on Recommerce – detailing the rise of the resale marketplace model.

While traditional players like Ebay, Plato’s Closet and Goodwill dominate from a volume perspective, technology-enabled players have moved into the space and completely transformed the concept of used clothes and goods into a chic lifestyle choice.

With the IPO of The RealReal, and Poshmark’s $1.25 billion valuation according to WSJ, luxury recommerce has hogged the spotlight. However specific categories like handbags, sports equipment, sneakers, and musical accessories have all seen their own category leaders arise – not to mention significant venture capital and even strategic attention.

Our report highlights these trends, showcases particular strategies and categories specific brands are pursuing, and analyses some of the major category-defining transactions to date.

If you’d like to discuss our report and/or be featured in future updates, please reach out to us at ops@comcapllc.com.

Best regards,

Peter

With the start of 2020 fast approaching, we have recently published our updated perspectives on Supply and Logistics for 2H’19. We continue to see strong multiples for both public companies and the numerous M&A transactions occurring in the space as many new technologies capitalizing on the arms race to both remove barriers and cost to the logistics process. 

In tandem we are happy to announce the successful completion of our first annual Next-Gen Supply Chain Forum, where we discussed the latest trends on forward and return logistics, cross-border logistics, as well as International logistics challenges and expansion issues for US players moving to the top markets. 

This year we hosted alongside Silicon Valley Bank, Orrick, McKinsey, and Walmart and welcomed senior-level speakers from Deloitte, Google, Salesforce, Walmart, UPS, and Williams-Sonoma, as well as many disruptors from the Series A to C level. 

If you are interested in a future event, being profiles in this or other reports, or connecting on strategic discussions, we would be thrilled to connect.

The full report can be downloaded here. 

We are excited to be attending M20/20 in Las Vegas next week where we will be joined by and representing clients from N. America, Asia, Australia, Europe and Latam.

Click here for our guide to the conference, including a landscape and profiles of several innovators in attendance, as well as our 2019 Fintech trends and highlights.

Our reports aim to help increase transparency and communication between FinTech disruptors and financial and strategic investors in the digital retail ecosystem, and highlighy significant areas of opportunity for disruptors and strategics alike, including:

• Fast-growing fintech trends are causing incumbents to expand their share of payments volumes
• Online merchants are focusing on digital wallets and payment processing services
• “Super apps” are strengthening their market leadership by adding payment capabilities 
•  Payments majors are expanding scope to in-store and mobile app capabilities
• Ecommerce leaders are innovating in-store, led by expedited checkout technology
• Alternative lending is disrupting legacy credit-based banking methods
• Cross-border payments represent a $20tn+ opportunity with fintech players prime for disruption

As consumers look for increased personalization in all aspects of commerce, and brands and suppliers seek new ways to leverage technology and augment traditional lackluster supply chains, Print-on-Demand has significant implications across the retail and ecommerce value chain.

ComCap has been active in Print-on-Demand, and our report explores the opportunities, trends, select players, and case studies, and is intended to foster dialogue between startups, strategics, and investors interested in the sector.

Our report covers: 

• The increasingly larger role PoD is taking in ecommerce and how this trend is likely to continue as new-age ecommerce and internet entrepreneurs look for innovative ways to compete with larger, established players
• How the ease of use, low barriers to entry, and a near level playing field for new entrants is expanding the market, prompting even large companies to offer PoD products
• How PoD is enabling an entire generation of “long tail sellers” to establish low cost ecommerce operations without ever having to manage a supply chain or touch their physical inventory
• Wins and losses in PoD investing abound as some players see massive exits, others falter, and new entrants seek to expand categories, differentiate their offerings, and take their share of the growing pie
• With advancing technology and assets that could scale with the right platform, the market is ripe for consolidation, as there are numerous platform opportunities in market with dozens of bolt-on acquisition targets, and many more…

The full report can be downloaded here.

Nike’s August 2019 acquisition of inventory analytics company Celect demonstrates the expected impact that transformative technology can have on a retailer’s operations and profitability.

Based on ComCap’s analysis, Celect’s technology could be worth $100’s of millions over the next several years if it can even marginally reduce Nike’s nearly $2bn in FY2019 inventory write-offs.

The case highlights the continued trend that ComCap has both predicted and tracked: major retailers are increasingly becoming technology companies in order to better adjust to a world driven by disruptors including Amazon and Google.

Click here or on the image below for the expanded case study, retailer transactions, and supporting calculations.

The European online retail market has steeply grown over the years, currently having about 325 million online shoppers and 52.8 million new users by 2021. The advanced infrastructure, high internet use and efficiency in ordering online make for healthy ecommerce markets that continue to grow and flourish.

Our European digital retail industry report features the trends that currently shape the online commerce landscape: artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT), personalization, digital marketing, retail merchandising, online services, and logistics.

These technologies have pushed the European ecommerce market to constantly grow with a projected hit to €621 billion in valuation for 2019. Furthermore, the digital retail industry in Europe is creating more jobs as unemployment continues to decrease since 2016.

The full report can be downloaded here.