Facebook Q4 2019 Earnings Recap

eCommerce
Written By Rick Watson

Facebook released Q4 2019 earnings on Wednesday.  The stock tanked on expense increases.... but...

This is exactly what FB should be doing.  I am extremely positive about the things FB is investing in.

Commerce, and more commerce. Increasingly, I think Facebook is coming right at Shopify.

FB language:

Our goal here is to make sure that every individual, small business entrepreneur out there has the same opportunity and access to the same type of sophisticated tools that historically only the big companies have had access to. That's what we stand for: putting power in individuals' hands.

Shopify language:

So that's Shopify's ambition. We want to be a company that causes more entrepreneurship, and everything we do is going to be built around that.

So while they are focused on the same audience, I believe that they are approaching the world in different ways.  Facebook has a huge advantage here IMO because its ads business is high margin.

The big question is does FB have enough Commerce DNA?

Interestingly, I think you can expect to see eBay refocus on "consumer to consumer commerce" to get away from Amazon comparisons. 

And I don't think it will do very well at all.  Why?  I think Shopify's tools will be light years ahead of anything eBay could dream up at this stage.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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