Memo: Frenemies, Part 2

 

En un nuevo reportaje sobre la trayectoria de Shopify, Bloomberg analiza el estilo de gestión de Tobi Lütke, CEO de la empresa, su historia y sus grandes diferencias con Amazon. Mientras que Amazon se define por su obsesión por el cliente y su etiqueta de "tienda omnicanal", Shopify está obsesionada con el comercio y ahora se esfuerza por ser la "tienda omnicanal", lo que se pone de manifiesto por su temprano movimiento pandémico hacia el trabajo completamente virtual. Tras pasar años construyendo las columnas vertebrales de las tiendas online de las pequeñas empresas, Shopify salió a bolsa en 2015 y se ha catapultado a mayores alturas desde el inicio de la pandemia a medida que los minoristas tradicionales se trasladaban a Internet.

Su trayectoria es una que Amazon desaprovechó. Un titular de 2015 en Recode decía: "Amazon cerrará Amazon Webstore, su competidor de Shopify y Bigcommerce". El informe de Jason Del Rey añadía:

El negocio del software de comercio electrónico orientado a pequeñas y medianas empresas se ha vuelto más competitivo en los últimos años, ya que empresas jóvenes como Shopify y Bigcommerce han recaudado ingentes cantidades de capital riesgo para ampliar sus herramientas y atraer a más clientes.

Seis años después, hemos sabido a través de Bloomberg que Amazon vendió su plataforma para comerciantes (Webstore) a Shopify por 1 millón de dólares. A cambio de los más de 80.000 comerciantes que cambiaron su negocio a Shopify, se habilitó Amazon Pay en la plataforma de Shopify. De Bloomberg:

Bezos y sus colegas creían que apoyar a los pequeños minoristas y sus tiendas online nunca iba a ser un negocio grande y rentable. Se equivocaban: los pequeños minoristas online generaron unos 153.000 millones de dólares en ventas en 2020, según AMI Partners. "Shopify nos hizo quedar como tontos", dice [un] antiguo ejecutivo de Amazon.

El éxito de Shopify no se debe al paso en falso de la Webstore de Amazon, sino a la ventaja que supuso para la empresa capitalizar una parte del comercio electrónico que Amazon subestimó. Amazon no se tomó las ventas directas al consumidor lo suficientemente en serio como para incluirlas en su plan de negocio a largo plazo, y llegó incluso a preparar a un competidor para el éxito en esa área del comercio minorista. Se centró en otras cosas, como sus marcas blancas. Amazon comunicó a muchos que los empresarios no son su pan de cada día, sino el cliente final.

Al centrarse en la venta minorista de productos, Amazon dejó el campo libre para que Shopify destacara en el arte del desarrollo de marcas, algo que Amazon ha minimizado notoriamente a medida que construía su propio imperio minorista con la marca Amazon al frente. Con Shopify poniendo las marcas de sus comerciantes en primer lugar, su alcance se expandió más allá de los pequeños comerciantes al ganarse también la confianza de los principales minoristas. La validación de Amazon, concedida cuando cedió sus comerciantes Webstore, también ayudó.

Ahora, Shopify está estirando las piernas para emerger entre bastidores, aprovechando a creadores y grandes nombres para atraer a clientes jóvenes y marcas en alza. El otoño pasado, contrató al ex GM de Yeezy Jon Wexler para dirigir su programa de creadores e influencers, un movimiento que ya ha llevado a acuerdos como BIGFACE Coffee, creado por la estrella de la NBA Jimmy Butler. En el número 759, escribimos sobre la era Wexler y la incursión de Shopify en las marcas dirigidas por personas:

BIGFACE Coffee es el primer gran resultado del experimento del programa de creadores de Shopify. Es un proyecto que combina la demanda, los medios ganados y el pulso con la destreza técnica y el apoyo de Shopify Inc. Utiliza aquello por lo que Shopify ha sido conocida (productos físicos) y lo combina con la demanda incorporada (creadores) y prueba nuevas formas de comercio y tecnología (productos Web3 / nuevos conceptos de diseño front-end / etc). Sí, BIGFACE empaqueta una selección de sus productos con NFT.

Con medios ganados y más estilo, Shopify pretende trabajar a continuación en su propia marca. Sin embargo, el camino no será fácil. Shopify todavía está rezagada en las áreas críticas de gestión de cumplimiento y logística de terceros. Aunque comenzó a invertir en cumplimiento en 2019, la "última milla" se deja en gran medida a los comerciantes, mientras que Amazon ha asumido una de las cargas más pesadas para sus vendedores.

De este modo, Amazon ha tomado medidas para recuperar su ventaja sobre Shopify. Durante el verano, firmó un acuerdo con BigCommerce para proporcionar servicios de distribución a sus comerciantes, un movimiento que da a un competidor directo de Shopify una ventaja sobre el proveedor líder de SaaS al extender el poder de la mayor ventaja de Amazon, la distribución completa. No se descarta la posibilidad de que cree un Shopify-killer. "Amazon es un rival digno", declaró Lütke a Bloomberg. Pero si los numerosos acontecimientos mencionados anteriormente son una indicación, el rival de Shopify puede convertirse en un socio de cumplimiento. En Amazon's Moat, lo explicamos:

Tras años de inversiones, Amazon ha creado su propia flota de transporte de mercancías y está alquilando aviones, junto con la apertura de un centro aéreo en Cincinnati, para evitar los problemas de falta de existencias que han empezado a afectar a otros minoristas a estas alturas de la temporada de compras navideñas. Amazon ha ampliado su negocio de múltiples maneras, pero sus ventajas ya no se limitan a los productos y a lo digital. El 5 de octubre, un buque portacontenedores atracó en Houston (Texas) con un barco cargado íntegramente por Amazon.

La cartera de productos de Shopify no incluye una flota de vehículos de transporte ni inversiones en un centro aéreo en el medio oeste, ni una estrategia de transporte transnacional que consolide los envíos para sus vendedores. Amazon ha superado a FedEx en volumen de envíos y está a punto de hacerse también con la cuota de mercado de UPS y USPS. Además, Amazon gastará 52.000 millones de dólares en almacenamiento y envíos. Amazon dispone ahora de casi 175 millones de metros cuadrados de almacenes con capacidad para procesar, empaquetar y entregar más del 50% de los productos que vende [1]. [1]

Amazon se está acercando a una red logística verdaderamente integrada verticalmente, a la altura de las mayores empresas de reparto del mundo.[2]

Aunque Shopify tiene ahora la ventaja, la red de sistemas de cumplimiento de Amazon se está convirtiendo rápidamente en esencial. El gran rival de Shopify, puede acabar convirtiéndose en su socio más necesario.

Editado por Hilary Milnes con arte de Alex Remy y Christina Williams 

Enemigos, Parte I: Shopify vs. Meta

Memo: Building Fandom

An insurance company, a service provider, a media brand, and an exclusive driving club: Hagerty wants to be all-in-one. The brand has taken the best of modern brand development and applied it to a car insurance business that is 37 years old. Of the nearly 11 million pre-classic vehicles in the United States, nearly 12% are insured by Hagerty.

For most, car insurance is not an emotional purchase. Insurance companies, despite their savvy marketing teams ten to lack brand affinity; this is by nature. Hagerty, a classic car insurer backed by Progress Insurance, wants to change that. Now publicly-traded as of last week, it’s bringing brand, media and culture to the forefront. When you think of classic car insurance, Hagerty wants you to think of their service but also the emotional attachment and status of association with the insurance provider. Can it pull it off? It certainly has the pedigree with the backing of Progressive Corporation. In 2015, The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies expanded the definition of a classic car and partnered with Hagerty to offer its service. 

In an earlier conversation with PYMNTS, CFO Fred Turcotte explained his vision.

The way that we view it is that the collectible vehicle segment is its own unique sort of industry. It has factors that maybe don’t weigh into the standard auto market. For instance, in the standard auto market, the people that buy insurance are trying to get from point A to point B. It’s about mobility. In our world, it’s much more than that. It’s about family. It’s about fun and freedom and passion, and status in some cases. People love these cars.

A key step is to build the business beyond insurance. As an insurer of classic cars, Hagerty taps into the lifestyle and personality around the pastime, with a YouTube channel, editorial team and magazine.

The monthly edition is sent to 1.2 million readers, according to the feature article by the New York Times, while an exclusive edition is sent out to top-tier collectors. Additionally, Hagerty maintains a non-profit foundation that promotes car collecting. It runs car storage and lounge spaces for customers called Garage + Social. It’s also stretching its tentacles through acquisition: Hagerty recently purchased a classic car rental platform called DriveShare. An age-old industry (insurance) that focuses on vintage assets (cars) may be one of the more well-executed linear commerce opportunities.

Hagerty’s journey to the public market through a SPAC proves that the DTC model can be useful in stalwart categories like insurance. Linear commerce is cultivating a brand beyond insurance for Hagerty by tying its client services to broader media operations, experiential marketing, and setting out to grow car culture. All of this because, Hagerty is tapping into an avid community of people who care about classic cars, and therefore need insurance. The underlying approach is to promote car culture and build, in McKeel Hagerty’s words, an ecosystem:

The purpose of the company is to save driving and car culture,” Mr. Hagerty said flatly, as we piloted a zippy, Hagerty-insured 1972 BMW 2002 tii toward the tip of Lower Manhattan. “If we’re going to save car culture, we have to make investments outside of the core business, and really help create a whole ecosystem.” Achieving this lofty goal required hundreds of millions of dollars in additional investment, he said: “That would have been tough for us to afford just as a private company.

Now public, Hagerty can become a bigger force in nascent niche, supplying protection and opportunity to classic car enthusiasts. There is risk of Hagertizing the classic car industry, that is remaking too much of the ecosystem in one company’s image. But one thing is for certain, Hagerty insurance has taken the best of modern brand development and community building. This is not all what separates Hagerty from other insurance providers. The NYT report on the company explained that “[McKeel] Hagerty said he sincerely wants to help people find the pleasure in “the experiential sides” of the automobile.” And that while older consumers are the majority of its current customer base, Hagerty is hoping to attract Generation Z and millennial consumers. From Forbes Wheels:

In some corners of the enthusiast sector, soaring prices in the used and classic-car market are creating some lamentation about unattainable cars. Is there room for Hagerty to not only make an impact on current owners but Millennials and Zoomers coming of age in the market? CEO McKeel Hagerty says the answer is a resounding yes.

Most insurance providers optimize for risk minimization (age, car make, mileage, and joylessness). Everything about the Hagerty company strategy seems to idealize maximization of life’s premium joys at the risk of, well, more risks and higher premiums.

Edited by Hilary Milnes with art by Christina Williams and Alex Remy 

Memo: Peloton’s Beating Heart

 

Peloton has mastered the playbook for responding in moments of brand crisis. That playbook’s name is Ryan Reynolds.

The fitness company finds new ways to capture news cycles. The company may have been the first to ever experience a massive sell off after a fictional portrayal involving its product’s placement. In the first week of December, CNBC reported that Peloton shares fell 11.35% on Thursday, which was the same day of the debut of the Sex and the City spinoff titled “And Just Like That … ” By the following Sunday, Ryan Reynolds commissioned this new advertisement for the company.

Peloton on Twitter: “And just like that…he’s alive. pic.twitter.com/bVX8uWypFZ / Twitter”

And just like that…he’s alive. pic.twitter.com/bVX8uWypFZ

At the end of the first episode of the Sex and The City reboot, Carrie Bradshaw’s love interest clips into his Peloton for his 1,000th ride and when he dismounts, he has a heart attach and dies. Peloton was unaware of the plot line when HBO applied to use the company’s trademarks, instructor, and other intellectual property. The ordeal begs the question: does a company that doesn’t love its portrayal have any legal recourse? Before Peloton could entertain filing suit against HBO for the show’s impact on its stock price, Ryan Reynolds stepped in once again.

Almost two years ago to the day, Reynolds came to Peloton’s rescue. An ad for Reynolds-owned Aviation Gin starred Monica Ruiz, the actress who became infamous as the “Peloton wife” in an ad spot that earned a negative market reaction and plenty of Twitter pile-ons. As the story goes, Reynolds heard about the Peloton ad at 2:34 PM on a Tuesday as the company’s stock was falling and turned around his own ad within hours. It earned $9.3 million in ad exposure in just two days. Reynolds’s quick reaction brought levity to what was an overall grim moment for Peloton.

Reynolds has struck gold again with his latest attempt to pump … life … into Peloton’s sinking stock. A 38-second ad spot narrated by Reynolds puts a new spin on Peloton’s recent association with the death of major Sex and the City character Mr. Big in the new HBO reboot And Just Like That. Peloton was collateral damage in the show’s push to modernize the classic series. In the reboot, Big has become a Peloton junkie, and his affinity for his favorite instructor mirrors the attachment that many other loyal riders have for the spin class’s stars. As the New York Times reported, Peloton appears to have been blindsided by the appearance in the show and could have taken potential legal recourse.

Instead, Reynolds, one of the most respected (and perhaps unexpected) marketers of late made lemonade out of lemons with his marketing company Maximum Effort’s new spot. It was a similarly quick turnaround to the one seen in 2019: the show’s first two episodes premiered on December 9; throughout the weekend Peloton lit up on Twitter as people responded to the plot twist. The ad was filmed on Saturday with no involvement from HBO, according to the Times, and it was released on Sunday.

Peloton on Twitter: “if we can put that spot together in 48 hours, you can do your workout today / Twitter”

if we can put that spot together in 48 hours, you can do your workout today

In the viral advertisement, a comedic voiceover by Reynolds reminds people that regular cycling is in fact good for you, as Chris Noth (who plays Mr. Big) appears alive and cozied up to the ad’s other star, Peloton instructor Jess King. The ad spot reclaimed the narrative in Peloton’s favor after its stock fell by as much as 11% in the aftermath of the show’s premiere. The timing of the bi-annual Reynolds boost couldn’t be better.

Peloton’s still struggling to maintain its position in an increasingly crowded market and has shown signs that it may be in for a tumultuous year of rebuilding the momentum found over the pandemic. The feature in And Just Like That is hardly its only problem from this year; it had to recall its treadmill, it has dealt with manufacturing shortages, decreased demand, and intensifying competition. In Peloton’s Diffusion, we explained:

There is mounting pressure from iFit (1 million subscribers), BeachBody (2.6 million subscribers), and a host of nascent fitness apps like Obe Fitness who are each eating into Peloton’s mobile app subscriber-base. There is market pressure from Lululemon and Mirror, Tonal’s continued growth, and the resilience of companies like NordicTrack and Life Fitness. And then there is Equinox and SoulCycle, who have the hardware to compete for Peloton’s prized in-home market and the physical real estate to attract affluent users out of their homes. And lastly, there is the end of the pandemic.

The events of the past week have gone to show that Peloton’s greatest assets are its star instructors. Put them at the forefront and the stock might respond in kind, they’re Peloton’s beating heart.

Edited by Hilary Milnes with art by Christina Williams