Global Digital Marketing & Retail by Alex 96
Inspiration from across the world for retail enthusiasts, e-commerce professionals, marketing lovers and technology fans. Welcome back! I summarized some great links again, I stumbled upon this week.
Good morning! This time an edition at very early monday morning, as I am in Korea, just arrived. So I am running behind, nevertheless I think a great edition to read!
🇰🇷 Seoel: from on to offline and vise versa
I was walking in a great retail area in Seoel called Seongsu‑dong yesterday, when I noticed this sidewalk sign.
I didn’t recognize the person on the sign, but it clearly featured a YouTuber, as you see with so many YouTube sreenshots on it. Thanks to Google Translate, I found out she’s Heebab (히밥)—a Korean YouTuber famous for food videos. She has over 1.5 million subscribers, and her videos regularly get millions of views.
It’s not just Heebabs fans who stop by and visit this restaurant—also people like me, who had no idea who she was, also get curious, due to the use of simple YouTube screenshots. A simple case of online to offline (and back again) marketing done right. More on Korea in my next newsletter!
Heebab’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/@heebab
📱Most downloaded apps in Europe in 2024: still very different per country and local apps can beat the giants (Hi CZ)
Ok, it’s already from 2024 and we are half way 2025 by now, but nevertheless I think it is good to see the (cultural) differences, f.e. within app downloads also within Europe:
Temu on top in most countries, with ultro low prices and viral promotions, I guess we are all attracted to low prices.
TikTok in Italy and Montenegro, a good fit for fashionites?
ChatGPT on top in f.e. Sweden, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Slovenia. Countries that focus on education or innovation maybe?
See the Finns on the app “threads” (remember this was 2024), maybe because they are a tech curious culture and try new things? Could very well also be neighboring Estonia, in my opinion, as they are very much tech savy, but they top in ChatGPT which also makes sense, I think.
Furthermore I think Czech Republic, -one of my favorite European countries that always is a little different-, is interesting. They already have their own search engine platform that is popular: Seznam, but also it seems, the local app “Oneplay” does really well. Local platforms can still beat the giants!
Same for Latvia that has the local app “Maxima” as top downloaded app. Maxima is Latvia’s biggest retailer, I need to dive into that and try it sometime!
🇯🇵 Mr Sato and a box of hot coffee at the office
I think “Soranews” is really nice. They have a very nice writing style and I regularly read on mr Sato’s experiences in retail & transportation in Tokyo and Japan.
This one took my attention, because I never knew that Starbucks also caters to “cardboard boxes of hot coffee”, never saw that in Europe. Thank you Mr Sato, to bring that to my attention.
🇯🇵 Japan Commercials 12 minutes of them!
Now we are at Japan, enjoy this set of Japanese commercials. Put on auto translate and enjoy! 😄
🇦🇷 Mercado Libre Latam’s champion in localisation
I found a post on Mercado Libre, very interesting. What is Mercado Libre, well it’s the Argentinian founded marketplace. Founded in 1999 by Marcos Galperin, MELI started as Latin America’s eBay. Now? It’s a complete and mature e-commerce + fintech ecosystem dominating LATAM.
Revenue grew from <$1B in Q2 ‘21 to $2.7B in Q1 ‘25
MELI’s 4 Growth Pillars:
MercadoLibre (Marketplace)
MercadoEnvios (Logistics):
Own delivery network—key for tackling LATAM’s tough geographies.MercadoPago (Fintech):
From marketplace payments to a full suite: wallets, mobile POS, insurance, crypto.MercadoCrédito (Credit):
Lending for merchants + consumers in underbanked regions.
Why MELI Keeps Winning:
Regional focus—built for Brazil, Argentina, Mexico & co.
First-mover advantage + deep local trust
Vertical integration = smooth UX, high retention
Pushing financial inclusion where banks can’t
Now pushing toward a “super app” model. Local pain points + relentless execution = growth engine.
🇧🇪 Le Pain Quotidien: think reverse
I am traveling currently and at Brussels Airport and here at the airport, there is a “Le Pain Quotidien” restaurant. I know they have been thinking “reverse” so from the endpoint backwards. With Start Reverse you do not begin with strategy, structure or KPI”s, you begin with the desired customer experience—the why, who, and how—and work backwards from there.
So what’s this example about. At LPQ, you first order at a touch screen (just like McDonalds), you take the card and go to your table. But what stood out (next to their smiling service) was this tiny little thing:
”Scan the code to place another order & we happily serve you at our table”.
It are these little things that make a difference.
Think from a customer journey perspective start reverse.
I have the “start reverse” idea from Andre Wieringa’s book and a consultant who worked for him. Just found a video on this topic with an interview with Andre on reverse thinking in the hospitality industry.
Or check: https://startreverse.com/
📺…And we have a winner: YouTube: state of search Q12025
Last week I wrote about the changing search landscape about the divide between clicks and impressions and how you should divide your traffic. Let’s elaborate a bit further on that. One way to counter the search effect is “YouTube”. This report informs us about just that:
Searches per user on YT have tripled in the past year
YT is now the # 1 domain clicked from traditional search
It’s the second most cited source in AI Overviews, just behind Wikipedia
Besides that, it’s nice this report shows lot’s of (tiny) differences between the US and EU, making it extra valuable, for example to spot trends.
Note also this finding from the report, I want to emphasize it:
Desktop is still core and very important, for search behavior: Despite years of mobile and app dominance, desktop remains a major venue for in-depth search activity — especially for tasks that require multiple tabs, deep research, or long-form reading
I like these kind of trends, if you know this, you can take advantage of it in early stages. Unfortunately often in companies these things are not followed and act upon so closely.
You can download the report here (as long as it works the direct URL)
Or use my dropbox URL: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rq8sub1bv0158htwaeu7e/EN-Datos-State-of-Search-report-Q1-2025.pdf?rlkey=yh8nb08va3af4jmd5jvtgfffa&st=7hurisnj&dl=0
Or check out the other Alex’ post here: https://github.com/papageorgiou/posts/tree/master/youtube-trends-seo
🇸🇬 Vending machines in Singapore getting traction
I like vending machines, if you ever visited Japan, you know what I am talking about. It’s so easy and convenient and Asia has the best vending machines!
Now Singapore is also speeding up.
“At the end of the day, it’s about how we lower the cost and provide the same kind of quality and convenience,” the representative from Kaki Kaki said.
The popularity of these vending machines as a new avenue for business is in line with changing consumer behaviour, with a stronger-than-ever emphasis on convenience.
Reminded me of one of the best vending machines out there, the Tao Bin from Thailand, used it a few days ago and still works like a charm:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/today/ground-up/why-vending-machines-popping-up-singapore-5192111
That’s it for this edition. Thank you so much for reading, liking and subscribing!
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