eCommerce UnderCover

eCommerce UnderCover

By Michael Waitze MediaBusiness
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eCommerce UnderCover episodes

  • EP 04 - Martin Ronfort and Michael Waitze - To Go Live Or Not To Go Live, That Is the Question

    Martin Ronfort, the founder of DrTech, and Michael Waitze, the founder of Michael Waitze Media had a cool discussion about 'Live Commerce' after doing some decent follow-up on last week's topic, buying and selling eCommerce brands.

    Some of the topics we covered:

    • Una Brands' strategy is not novel...even in Southeast Asia
    • factory14 raised $200MM in Europe and acquired 'Pro Bike Tool'
    • Rainforest raises $36.5MM to compete with and do the same business as Una Brands
    • One of the founders of Rainforest was also a founder of Carousell (pretty early for a founder to have left)
    • The elephant in the eCommerce consolidation wars is Thrasio which announced raise of $700MM
    • Joshua Silberstein earned a 3.93 at The Wharton School
    • What 'Live Commerce' actually is
    • How is 'Live Commerce' different from The Home Shopping Network and Tupperware parties
    • Now anybody can sell
    • Will 'Live Commerce' lead to higher conversion rates
    • Should we test 'Live Commerce' on eCommerce UnderCover

      • Tune in to the live show on the Michael Waitze Media Facebook Page, subscribe on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify, and leave a review.

      1 hr 2 min
    • EP 03 - Martin Ronfort and Michael Waitze - Is Buying and Selling eCommerce Sites the New El Dorado?

      Martin Ronfort, the founder of DrTech, and Michael Waitze, the founder of Michael Waitze Media discussed whether buying and selling growing eCommerce brands is a thing. If it is, what are some of the key questions and some of the potential answers?

      Some of the issues we covered:

      • The founding of Una Brands in December 2020 and its experienced executive team
      • A seed funding round of $40MM of equity and debt
      • Some eCommerce company builders prefer early-stage building as opposed to scaling to size
      • We postulated about the Una Brands edge
      • Is this really a thing and do other companies already do this? (Spoiler alert…Yes, including Shopify)
      • Is the arbitrage gone? As more buyers emerge will prices get too high? Will there be seller remorse?
      • Are there existing success stories in this space? GymShark came to mind
      • Should DrTech build a curated marketplace of the best sellers?
      • What are some of the metrics that hint at long-term brand viability and make a strong brand?
      • Let’s get one of the founders (or two of them) of Una Brands on the show

        • Tune in to the live show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify, and leave a review.

        56 min
      • EP 02 - Martin Ronfort and Michael Waitze - eCommerce Is Not Solved Yet

        Martin Ronfort, the founder of DrTech, and Michael Waitze, the founder of Michael Waitze Media, came back into the studio to talk about how eCommerce is simply not solved yet.  The eCommerce UnderCover team wanted to try to understand why marketplaces still dominated online retail and why it feels like there have been no exceptional customer-facing innovations since Amazon invented (?) and was granted a patent for 1-Click in 1999.

        Some of the topics we discussed:

        • What other customer-facing, technology-based innovations have there been?
        • Boston Dynamics and similar companies' warehouse automation - Stretch and Handle
        • Online shopping remains very lonely, there is no bonafide social aspect to it
        • Why is there no telepresent shopping (4'30" into the conversation)
        • I referenced a French leather maker called Goyard
        • How boutiques online and offline are better than marketplaces for product discovery
        • Digital-twin shopping and how it might impact travel
        • Brands can differentiate their shopping experiences offline (Nike Shop) but in an online marketplace this differentiation is nearly impossible
        • Vente Prive is an online marketplace that sells products through private flash sales. (VeePee)
        • So many other innovative ideas!
          • 57 min
        • EP 01 - Martin Ronfort and Michael Waitze - Introduction To eCommerce UnderCover

          Martin Ronfort and Michael Waitze sat down for a free-wheeling conversation about the status of eCommerce in Southeast Asia and the rest of the globe.

          Some of the topics we discussed included:

          • The evolution of offline commerce from local shopping streets to large department stores
          • The fact that these departments stores got so unwieldy that boutiques came back into fashion
          • The dominance of eCommerce marketplaces now and will they evolve in a similar way to offline
          • The hegemony of Amazon
          • The benefits of having your own eCommerce shop
          • The difficulty and downside of competing in a marketplace and the lack of access to your customer data
          • Some great ideas around bringing eCommerce to rural sellers and small-town shops
            • 55 min

          About eCommerce UnderCover

          From the publisher's feed

          Martin Ronfort and Michael Waitze discuss the future of eCommerce...because we are definitely not there yet.