Tag: ecommerce (Page 1 of 12)

Are We Really Surprised By Target Q3 2025 Results? Why Their Digital Strategy Doesn’t Work and What They Could Have Done Better

November 21, 2025 / Francois Maingret

I remember only a few years ago the millions of memes about Target and how people would go there to buy a loaf of bread only to return home with a bunch of clothes and appliances. But in more recent years, I have seen lots of posts about empty shelves, strategic mistakes, or poor results.

On the ecommerce side, I must admit I am not impressed with the company, and believe they made a lot of mistakes over the years that cost them significant market share in ecommerce. Following the release of the Q3 earnings report, I’d like to go over the results, what I think went wrong on the online side, and what I think Target could have done better.

Walmart’s Ecommerce Journey : From 2 DCs to 4,600 Micro-Warehouses

November 16, 2025 / Francois Maingret

Following the news of Doug McMillon retiring, I thought of how far Walmart went in ecommerce with McMillon as a CEO. Today, Walmart is killing it, and is a channel ecommerce professionals can’t ignore. But the early days were a little rough for the retail giant. Back in 2000, while Amazon was working on its strong fulfillment network, Walmart.com went live. Limited assortment, glitchy search, and shipping times that would make any Zoomer scream in disgust.

In this post, I’ll go over Walmart’s difficult start, the Jet.com adventure, and the pandemic shift that turned stores into a massive asset. We’ll also see where they stand today and how they compare with the top dog Amazon. Omnichannel is, as we will see, a key part of Walmart’s success. If you’re a seller, shopper, or just curious, there’s a lot to learn from Walmart strategy and how the company went from a retail dinosaur to one of the top ecommerce platforms today.

Amazon Prices Are Up This November: Tariffs Are Only Part of the Story

November 2, 2025 / Francois Maingret

When I shop on Amazon these days, I sometimes notice the sticker shock on some items. That protein powder I grab monthly, or the Christmas cards I like to buy, seem to be more expensive than last year.

According to a recent AOL report, prices on a sample of 50 products rose 4.2% in the three weeks after the latest tariff announcements in April, higher than similar bumps at Walmart and Wayfair.

Shoppers feel it, sellers deal with it, and people want to know who is to blame. Sure, tariffs grab the headlines, but there is more at play here, and I thought it would be interesting to unpack it. In this post, I will walk through the tariff piece, why Amazon is not breaking out those costs on product pages like rumors said they would, and the other pressures building up in the background. Spoiler: It is not just tariffs, but a more complex mix of economics and platform shifts.

Think Your Product’s Too Boring for Ecommerce? Meet WD-40

October 31, 2025 / Francois Maingret

When we think of successful ecommerce brands, flashy images pop into our heads: trendy clothes from Gymshark, elaborate skincare serums bought on Ulta.com, or Tiktok-viral snack boxes. These are the examples I see every day on LinkedIn in dozens of posts, as people tend to focus on the “sexy” side of retail, products that say lifestyle, luxury, or impulse buys.

But let me tell you, what you see on LinkedIn is a small fraction of the ecommerce world. The largest part is flying under the radar. Few people think of the utilitarian items, like industrial cleaners, hardware essentials, or maintenance supplies that we need in our homes and businesses. In fact, B2B transactions alone are projected to account for over 80% of global ecommerce volume by 2027, making B2C look small.

Neglecting their digital strategy is a huge mistake many companies make, thinking they don’t belong in that space. Today, I want to do a mini case study on one company that did not make this mistake: WD-40.

Des Marketing Funnels aux Signaux Agentiques : Comment le Commerce Agentique Va Changer le Jeu du Direct-to Consumer

August 30, 2025 / Francois Maingret

L’une des choses que je préfère dans le commerce en ligne, c’est qu’il est en constante évolution, basé sur le comportement des consommateurs et les nouvelles technologies. L’un des meilleurs exemples de ce changement est la découverte de produits : nous sommes passés de la saisie directe d’une URL de boutique, à la recherche de produits sur Google, puis sur Amazon, et enfin sur TikTok. La prochaine étape sera-t-elle de faire de ChatGPT notre concierge d’achat, qui se chargera de tout le travail fastidieux à notre place ?

From Marketing Funnels to Agentic Signals : How Agentic Commerce Will Change the DTC Game

August 30, 2025 / Francois Maingret

One of the things I like the best about ecommerce is that it is always evolving, based on consumer behavior and new technologies. One of the best examples of this change is product discovery: We went from typing a shop URL directly, to searching for products on Google, searching them on Amazon, then on Tiktok. Is the next step to have ChatGPT become our shopping concierge, doing all of the heavy lifting for us?

Who’s Steering the Ship? Why Brands Have Less and Less Control Over Ecommerce Customer Touchpoints

July 4, 2025 / Francois Maingret

When I built my first brand, I saw it as my creation, something I would have full control over. But it did not take me long to realize how wrong I was. But I wasn’t the only one making that mistake: either online or offline, many brands aim for maximum control over every customer interaction. However, this model is becoming increasingly outdated.

Historically, a brand’s network of stores, physical locations, and merchant websites was a relatively controlled environment where the company could carefully control the messaging, customer service, and experience. The first touchpoint a customer had with a brand was typically something directly controlled by the brand, like a website, a retail store, or an ad.

In 2025, the e-commerce journey is a lot more complex. The ever-increasing diversity of online sales channels, digital platforms, but also consumer behavior and new technologies completely changed these dynamics. This leaves brands with significantly less direct control over customer touchpoints, and a strong need to adapt their strategies.

Random Ecommerce News Q2 2025

July 2, 2025 / Francois Maingret

I have not been posting as frequently on this blog, for several reasons. One of them being that I am working on different projets, but I will tell you more about it when the time is right.

However I still post frequently on my LinkedIn page, and I wanted to share a couple of recent posts.

Amazon Expands Its Delivery Network

What is better than next day delivery? Same day delivery. And what’s better than same day delivery? Next 3 hours delivery.

Should Platform Fees Be Regulated?

June 6, 2025 / Francois Maingret

It’s a rare day when I don’t see complaints about the fees Amazon and other platforms charge. And I understand, the cost of doing business online is becoming unsustainable for many SMBs.

Is the solution to emulate China’s e-commerce regulator and ask platforms to charge reasonable fees and better support small businesses?

Would that encourage people to start businesses and innovate, or would that create even more clutter on these marketplaces? Not to mention how complex this would be from a legal standpoint.

Ideally, we would be able to see new sales channels emerge, with more reasonable fees, that would allow SMBs to breathe. But network effects make it very difficult for new entrants to grow. And it looks like whenever a platform reaches a critical size (Amazon, Walmart, eBay…), it aligns its fee structure close to the ever-increasing industry standard. I am not saying there is price fixing among e-commerce giants, but this creates a very difficult environment for sellers.

What is the solution? At a large scale, I don’t know. At a smaller scale, it is more important than ever for businesses to create products and services that have healthy margins and don’t only rely on sales channels they don’t fully control.

China Calls for Reasonable Merchant Fees From eCommerce Platforms

SEO Isn’t Dead But It Isn’t the Only Game in Town : How to Prepare for the Rise of Generative Engine Optimization

May 3, 2025 / Francois Maingret

I remember that not so long ago, Google was the undisputed king of information online. You needed to know how to fix your sink, figure out how much weight a gorilla can bench press, or buy some new sweatpants? Chances are, “Googling it” was your go-to first step.

Fast forward to 2025, and our behavior has completely changed. You might search TikTok or YouTube if you want to learn how to fix something. For shopping, many customers now start directly on Amazon rather than Google. And of course, we now have AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini, which offer compelling new ways to find the right products or services for us.

According to a recent study, 50 percent of fashion executives see product discovery as the key use case for generative AI in 2025, and 82 percent of customers want AI to help reduce the time they spend researching what to buy. With that in mind, it’s easy to understand that being cited by AI assistants will be crucial for businesses in the coming years—just like SEO was essential in past decades.