5 Takeaways From Mary Meeker’s 2018 Internet Trends Report
The report covered a wide range of topics concerning the current state of the internet across the globe; the slideshow that accompanied her presentation contained an impressive 294 slides.
Here are five key takeaways from Meeker’s 2018 report:
1. In the US, ecommerce means Amazon. The ecommerce giant’s share of the online retail market in America just keeps growing, reaching 28% in 2018—an eight point increase over the last five years. Amazon is also shaping the way we search for products on the internet. Nearly half of all product searches begin on Amazon, whereas only 36% start on Google or other search engines.
2. Amazon needs to watch out for Alibaba. While Alibaba has had a higher gross market value than Amazon, Amazon has been bringing in higher revenue. However, Alibaba keeps extending beyond the huge market it commands in China, opening platforms in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Singapore.
3. More and more people are working on-demand, freelance jobs facilitated by the internet. Workers with underutilized skills are finding opportunities with companies like Uber, DoorDash, Upwork, Airbnb, and Etsy. Flexible scheduling is one of the biggest upshots for these jobs, which have grown from 5.4 million to an anticipated 6.8 million through 2018.
4. Data and privacy…it’s complicated. Companies keep increasing their efforts to collect and share consumer data, and while consumers are wary about how their data is being used, they’re mostly happy with the end result on the apps and platforms they choose to share their information with. At the same time, companies are being more transparent about how consumer data is being used, and offering better privacy control options to their users.
5. China is on the rise. Leading in mobile payments, personal data collection, ecommerce growth rates, online entertainment, and overall number of internet users, China has a huge role to play in the future development of the internet marketplace. In addition, the Chinese government has invested heavily in the development of artificial intelligence, a field that could yield up countless game-changing innovations in the years to come.
More information, including video of Meeker delivering the report, can be found at Kleiner Perkins’ website.