Headline May 30, 2017/ ''' E-COMMERCE *ON* E-MISSIONS '''

''' E-COMMERCE *ON* E-MISSIONS '''

WAJAHAT ASLAM RAJA / University of Aberdeen/Scotland  -could most easily pass for a GQ Model.

Lean, shy, laconic- very private, amazingly ambitious,  superbly dressed, and a romanticist to the core. Wajahat has an A-rate intellect and an A-rate EQ.

Armed with an engineering degree, he choose the hard and difficult path of an entrepreneur-revolutionary. 

This handsome, focused, and hardworking lad, already boasts many successful small sized projects. 

If in doubt, all Islamabad denizens go have a  world class brewed coffee and  snacks at  *THIRD WAVE*

''Now, don't get it wrong,'' I once said to him. ''You are a huge project guy. Nothing small should stir your blood.'' In the  *intellectual rigor* that followed, I acquainted him with a great idea and helped him agonize, squirm and think thru:

'' Map the idea, on paper,'' I advised.    ''Show me its,     'its invisible infrastructure.''   One way to judge a great idea is to determine its invisible structure''. 

Now which World Class Business Class teaches that? 

''Build !WOW!,  this new  company  - *a world class company*, and go and create over 100,000 new jobs within 10 years. 

*Gift the government of Pakistan about 5%*  in capital structure. And make sure you outgrow Pakistan's total GDP within 20 years''

Billionaire Student Faraz Majeed, chaired the start-up founder's meeting, along with domestic Billionaire Student Umer Khan, with  Billionaire Syed Ali Hassan soon to get updated. 

*With just about a superb idea and a blank canvas before them, I bid them God's speed and put them on their way*. 

It is millennials of this class, who will reinvent the entire world for you.

!WOW!'s revolution has just begun with a  *superb start-up revolution*. You will soon find !WOW! creating more and more world class companies.  

And, and,.......  Wajahat,  go find :

Merium,Rabo, Haleema, Saima, Dee, Eman/LUMS, Seher Khan/King's College, Armeen/LUMS, Mustafa/LUMS, Ahsen, Haider, Aqsa, Sanyia, Tooba, Hussain, Nina, Shahbano, Ghazi, Hamad and of course ''Zilli'' for me? and then find

Shahzaib Khan/US, Bilal Malik/US, Jordan/US, Salar Khan/US, Dannyia/UK, Zaeem Khan, Ibrahim/LUMS,  Toby/China, Vishnu/India?  

WAL-MART STORES,  the 800-pound  gorilla of retail, is running hard to catch up in an increasingly crucial segment where it is neither the biggest nor the best :  E-Commerce.

The company,  founded in 1962  by Sam Walton, has been gobbling up smaller and niche players in e-commerce in an effort to reach online shopping market leader Amazon.

Whether those efforts are paying off will be a focal point when Wal-Mart Stores report quarterly earning on Thursday.

A bit more than  *half of all funds spent online*  in the  United States now goes to Amazon, according to the bank Macy's quarie. Part of Amazon's success stems from its breadth of offerings, which includes-

The Kindle  that people use for reading and the Prime Service that broadcasts popular television shows, said Krista Fabregas, e-commerce staff writer at  FitSmallBusiness.com.

''It's because Amazon has been doing such a great job at injecting itself our everyday life,'' she told AFP. ''Wal-Mart is not part of everyday life, nor is Macy's, nor is  Gap, nor the other stores. We don't have a connection with them throughout the day.''

''Wal-Mart has been doing some shopping of its own, in an effort to make up a ground against Amazon. It spent  $3.3 billion  last year to buy Jet.com, which was started by e-commerce entrepreneur Marc Lore, whose previous company was sold to Amazon for  $550 million.

Lore is now CEO of Wal-Mart  eCommerce US, where he overseas 15,000 employees split between Silicon Valley, Boston, Omaha and Bentonville , Arkansa, where Wal-Mart is based.

His annual salary at  $237 million is  10 times  that of Wal-Mart executive Doug McMillion.

In less than five months, Lore has directed Wal-Mart to a number of acquisitions, including Shoebuy.com  [$70 million], ModCloth [$45 million] and MooseJaw [$51 million].

Wal-Mart is also in talks to acquire the menswear chain Bonobos for $300 million, according to a person close to the matter. Part of Wal-Mart's objective is to become-

A  go-to-place online for  ''essential'' products, such as toilet paper, beauty products, groceries and holiday gifts and children's toys.

''We are focusing on the type of  products that customers buy most,'' Wal-Mart spokesman  Ravi Jariwala. 

''We want to make sure that we have the best prices, shipping to your home or offering a pickup discount''.

Wal-Mart in February scrapped a subscription delivery program that was a rival to Amazon Prime in favor of a guarantee of free two-day shipping for orders of more than $35.

Under the program the customers can also pick orders below $35 for free if they go to one of Wal-Mart's 4,700 US stores.

These efforts may cut into Amazon's lead in e-commerce, but overtaking Amazon appears unlikely anytime soon. 

''They have invested heavily on channels. It will restore growth that was necessary for survival,'' said Keith Anderson of e-commerce analytics from Profitero. ''I don't see anything that suggests that Wal-Mart would catch up to Amazon or beat Amazon, but it's still very early,'' he said.

The vigor of  Wal Mart's online investments today contrasts with its initial reticence in e-commerce, which was the worries that growth of online shopping would cut into sales at brick-and-mortar stores.

Wal-Mart also was slow to introduce platforms for individual vendors who sought a venue for goods and did not introduce such an online marketplace until 2015, much after Amazon.

Hannah Donoghue, director of advisory at Planet Retail RNG, said it is still relatively early in the game as far as e-commerce. Amazon is   ''the strongest right now, they are far ahead but there are a lot of innovations underway.''  Donoghue said.

''I don't think Amazon will be the only one. There will be another strong player.''

For now Wall Street is giving the edge to Amazon, valuing the technology giant at $453 million, compared with  Wal-Mart's $230 million. That in spite of Wal-Mart's far greater overall revenues, which were $485.9 billion in 2016, more than 11 times those of Amazon. 

With respectful and  loving dedication to Billionaire Faraz Majeed, Engineer Wajahat Aslam Raja, Umer Khan, Syed Ali Hassan and the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!   -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Start-Ups '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless