The Track Me Fast team takes a look back at the biggest news having shaped the global e-commerce landscape in Q1 2023.
The first quarter of 2023 is quickly approaching its end, and oh boy, were past three months a real whirlwind of breaking news and updates, from tens of thousands of job cuts in the online retail sector amid the fears of recession, to the introduction of new AI solutions, which may potentially change the future of e-commerce, the launch of AliExpress Choice, release of the brand-new Track Me Fast app for Android OS, and much more.
Let’s dive into some of the biggest e-commerce news from the last three months in more detail.
New Layoff Rounds: Prerequisites & Potential Consequences
When Amazon announced another round of massive job cuts in March 2023, some of the optimists who’d previously predicted the worst-case scenario in the global digital economy wouldn’t happen, had their heads scratched. Are we at the dawn of the world’s online commerce bubble burst, or is it just the inevitable result of the industry-wide excessive hiring practices in the Covid-19 years? While the latter reason probably has more ground, the current shake-up in the e-commerce sector is clearly marking significant changes we’re about to face in the coming years.
According to Shopify’s recent statement, for instance, while the company isn’t planning to cut more staff, its management is reluctant to hire many new employees in the future months either. Even in the galloping e-retail sector in China and across ASEAN, some of the 2023 announcements already demonstrate that the hiring spree isn’t coming. On the contrary, the forecasted automation dynamics would probably lead to layoff rounds in the near future in this geo, too.
Dawn of the New, AI-powered Era in E-commerce
While the media was still gossiping about the perks of ChatGPT and similar solutions, and their potential impact on the digital creators’ job market, the biggest players in the Chinese e-commerce niche have also rushed to introduce similar generative AI-based tech in Q1 2023, obviously wishing to demonstrate their in-house technical capabilities, as well as their willingness to pioneer the innovation across the board.
The reality is, however, the public releases of JD’s ChatJD or Baidu’s ERNIE at the beginning of the year, for example, weren’t as smooth as expected, showing that the companies’ tech teams, primarily focusing on the Chinese markets, still have much to improve. This is, perhaps why, according to the media reports (and the AliExpress tracking data), Alibaba’s ChatGPT-like tech is still in the works, with the main company’s focus remaining on its expansion overseas – to LATAM (where their rival business, – Shopee has boosted its presence in the past several years), Spain and South Korea.
Tip! Usa Track Me Fast para rastrear pedido Shopee de manera rapido y facil – ingresa el número de tu seguimiento, haz clic en “Rastrear”, y ya está.
At the same time, the penetration of AI solutions into the e-commerce industry as a whole has been, undoubtedly, growing at an accelerated pace over the past years, with over 70% in the US and Europe actively adopting AI for personalization purposes back in 2020 – 2021 (per Statista). More importantly, the latest announcements, regarding the use of AI-generated models by world-known brands, like Levi’s, prove this pace will only likely speed up further on.
Major Releases: Android App by Track Me Fast, AliExpress Choice
- Meet Track Me Fast – Package Tracker for Android
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What’s inside?
- Instant tracking of numerous parcels by multiple shipping carriers and courier companies
- Broad filtering/sorting options
- Cross-platform data sync (simply log in to your Track Me Fast account on any! computer, laptop, or Android device to check info on your current deliveries and your parcel tracking history)
- Easy sharing of tracking details
- No ads and no fees for using the app – at all!
Try out Track Me Fast Package Tracker in action – download it from Google Play and let us know how you like the app.
- AliExpress Choice Goes Global
Following its early intro last year, in 2023 AliExpress moved forward with the public release of AliExpress Choice, a so-to-speak top-50,000 collection of best-quality, yet low-priced products, supposedly curated by the company’s team for the platform customers.
Of course, such a massive launch was commemorated by the so-called “Sales festival”, which is likely to become somewhat a regular event in future, per official announcements.
Tip! Your AliExpress tracking routine gets smoother with Track Me Fast – simply enter the unique tracking number, assigned to your package and click “Enter” – that’s actually it.