E-Commerce Jeweler Blue Nile Struggling to Grow

A report by Euromonitor International estimated the US jewelry market to have recovered to $59.1 billion last year. The market is finally back to pre-recessionary conditions and is projected to grow another 14% by the year 2018. The market remains highly fragmented with no single retailer commanding more than a 6% market share, suggesting a big opportunity for growth and consolidation. Recently, Signet Jewelers acquired Zale Corporation, sparking interest in other jewelry companies.

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E-Commerce Home Goods Store Wayfair Files for IPO

According to Euromonitor International, the US home goods market is expected to grow 2.5% annually over the period 2013 to 2023 to be worth $297 billion in 2023. Researchers also estimate that the current US home market has very limited online penetration with a mere 7% of the sales being made through this channel. Boston-based Wayfair is trying to make a difference in this online market.

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Acquisition Spree in Online Travel

According to recent reports, the US online travel market was estimated to be worth $157 billion in 2013. PhoCusWright estimates that online adoption of travel services will continue to increase in the US from 41% in 2012 to 43% by 2015. An eMarketer report published earlier this year pegs the US online travel market to grow 5.9% over the period 2012 through 2017, much lower than the 20% rate projected for China. Little wonder then that the online travel market leaders are investing in alternate businesses and international markets.

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BlackBerry Fights Its Uphill Battle

Just when the market thought that all was lost for BlackBerry, Blackberry delivers a quarter that was better than market expectations, and the company claims that the worst is over and they are all set on the road to recovery. Really?

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WeChat – China’s Answer to WhatsApp

The $19 billion WhatsApp acquisition by Facebook attracted a lot of interest in the mobile messaging industry. According to a Canalys report for November 2013, WhatsApp was the leader among cross-platform social mobile messaging apps. But it appears that WhatsApp now has a bigger Made-in-China giant to compete with.

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Airbnb’s Valuation Soars Despite Legal Hurdles

New age companies like Uber and Lyft have transformed the way standard cab services operate in a region. Airbnb is trying to deliver a similar transformation for the hotel industry. The service is attracting some high profile users with Warren Buffett encouraging people to use Airbnb as a staying option. Recent reports also reveal that Airbnb is gradually becoming more prominent on business expense reports.

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Mu Sigma Building a Data Analytics Powerhouse in India

According to a recent Gartner report, the worldwide market for business intelligence and analytics software is estimated to have grown 8% last year to $14.37 billion while a recent IDC report expects the Big Data technology and services market to reach $32.4 billion in 2017. Gartner believes that the market would have grown faster but for challenging macro-economic conditions leading to flat IT budgets. Within the market, analytic applications and performance management solutions’ segment grew 5.8% to $2 billion and advanced analytics reported the fastest growth at 12.5% to $1.08 billion.

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Are Sky Rocketing Valuations Justified for Uber and Lyft?

Last year, after seeing the growth of alternative cab type services being provided by several companies, the California Public Utilities Commission created a new category of utilities – Transportation Network Companies. A transportation network company was defined as a company that uses an online platform to offer ridesharing services by connecting passengers with drivers.

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Shutterfly Up For Sale

The online photo printing market may be growing at an annual growth rate of 14.5%, but that has not helped leading players like Shutterfly (Nasdaq: SFLY) deliver strong financial results. After reporting continuing losses, it appears that the company’s management is now on the lookout for buyers.

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The Buzz About BuzzFeed: Some Reflections

New York-based BuzzFeed is a content discovery platform that integrates content-driven publishing technology with social media tools. Their platform provides users with access to breaking news and original content, including videos, across the social web. Here is a brief look into BuzzFeed’s performance so far. >>>