EU eCommerce Firms Squeeze New Efficiencies Out of Automated Ad Spend, Analytics

In the contemporary eCommerce space, staying on top of expenditure can be a challenge that isn’t necessarily well-catered for by financial management tools imported from other sectors.

For online retailers with international revenue streams, for example, financial management can involve multiple websites, currencies, payment methods and gateways, making that process even more challenging.

“One of the big challenges in eCommerce, either as a founder or a financial director or a CFO, is to get an overview of your business performance and [money] flows,” Samir El-Sabini, co-founder and CEO at Swedish eCommerce FinTech Juni, told PYMNTS in a recent interview.

The financial platform El-Sabini co-founded in 2020, was built specifically for eCommerce firms and partners with a wide range of online retailers, including U.K.-based home goods brand Aeyla, and Dutch electronics store Boltshop. Earlier this year, the firm secured $206 million in venture debt funding to fuel its growth and continue to develop tools for the eCommerce market.

Read on: Juni, a Swedish FinTech Platform for eCommerce, Raises $206M

Elaborating on Juni’s affinity with businesses that sell online, El-Sabini said that eCommerce is in the company’s DNA: “Half of our people have a background in eCommerce. … We believe in the future of eCommerce and that is very important for us.”

He added that the FinTech firm wants to take the work out of financial management, helping entrepreneurs around Europe save both time and costs.

In addition to reducing administration costs, the Swedish company also provides access to credit through the Juni card, which is described as a card “made for online advertising.”

As such, clients can use the Juni card to keep track of spending and earn cashback on expenses. What’s more, because all spending runs through Juni’s platform, a range of analytics and automation possibilities are also available to firms.

Related: Pemo Adds Smart Cards to Spend Management Platform for UAE SMBs

On the topic of automation, El-Sabini explained that the “deeper insight” created by a holistic view of spending can be used to automate certain decisions. With advertising, for instance, he explained that Juni can help eCommerce businesses set up their campaigns to automatically cancel if or when they are not creating the right return on investment.

Having the right tools in place can also help with inventory management and cash flow optimization, which combined with Juni’s credit facilities is helping companies maintain sufficient working capital, he noted.

To make all this possible, Juni provides clients with other 2,000 integration options including major payment processors and online ad providers.

Meeting Evolving Challenges

To meet the evolving needs of its customers, El-Sabini said following trends is key, and “if our customers want to use cards, we will help them use the best card. If they want to transfer money in other ways, we’re going to help them transfer money in the best way possible.”

This philosophy is mirrored in Juni’s approach to advertising, where by prioritizing integration, Juni can adapt to different client needs. After all, the landscape of online advertising in Europe may soon change thanks to efforts by the EU to open the market to more competition.

More on this: Google Offers Rivals YouTube Ad Space Amid EU Probe

Despite these developments, he said, “If you look at the last 10 years, the dominance of Facebook and Google has strengthened,” and although “that process may be slowing, I don’t see any big threats in the near term.”

However, things are not going to get any easier. “Overall, what we’ve seen in the eCommerce space is it’s becoming harder,” he argued, and for businesses to turn a profit they need to do two things: maximize the output of their customer acquisition costs (CAC) through higher order values and be “as effective as possible with [their] spend.”

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