Rebecca Sentance

Rebecca Sentance

Experienced digital journalist and editor specialising in marketing, emerging technology, search, and ecommerce. Currently Deputy Editor at Econsultancy.

Econsultancy •

How bad stats snowball: Marketing’s love of trends allows spurious insight to spread

Have you ever noticed in the marketing industry that seemingly impressive statistics, often showcasing a startling new trend, can sometimes have unclear origins? They usually sound grand and eye-opening, the kind of stat that makes you stop in your tracks and say, ‘Wow! Really?’ But, on looking deeper, you may find that these punchy figures have been cited in ways that don’t faithfully reproduce the original stat or its source.
Econsultancy •

A marketer’s guide to China’s key social media and ecommerce trends

Globally relevant though China’s digital landscape might be, it is shaped by geographical and cultural factors that are largely unique to China – giving it traits and constraints that aren’t found elsewhere in the world. To understand digital marketing in China is to become familiar with a completely different slate of companies, different consumer concerns and purchasing habits, and different trends and practices. To help with this, we’ve put together a broad overview of some of the biggest trends and developments in Chinese digital marketing over the past few years.
Econsultancy •

Learning from Chinese retail in the coronavirus crisis

There has been a growing awareness in the west in recent years that we should look to China for the digital trends of the future, as it has become increasingly apparent that Chinese use of the internet, technology, ecommerce, social media and more is leagues ahead of ours. But never has that been more immediately and literally true than now, as China slowly emerges from a pandemic that is still gripping the west, keeping people in their homes and shuttering businesses of all kinds.
Econsultancy •

UK food wholesalers are pivoting to direct-to-consumer in the coronavirus crisis – will it work?

As people across the UK have heeded advice to stay indoors and only venture outside if necessary, restaurants and pubs who would normally be catering to large crowds have closed their doors. This has left the wholesalers who supply food to them in a tricky position: many want to find ways to keep their business going, but their regular source of revenue has ground to a halt.
Econsultancy •

Seven Chinese ecommerce companies you should know about (other than Alibaba and JD.com)

If you keep tabs on the Chinese ecommerce industry, you’ll almost certainly be familiar with the “big two” of Chinese ecommerce: Alibaba and JD.com. Alibaba is one of the largest internet companies in China (and the world), and is the company behind some of China’s biggest ecommerce platforms, including Taobao Marketplace, Tmall and AliExpress. JD.com is its main competitor, and also owns the online grocery business Yihaodian, formerly owned by Walmart. But although they have a huge amount of combined clout, it’s a mistake to assume that Alibaba and JD.com are the only two players in Chinese ecommerce worth knowing about.
BuzzFeed Community •

These Are The Companies Driving The YouTube Revolution

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last two years (in which case, welcome back), you probably know that YouTube can be pretty big money. Making YouTube videos has become at least a regular source of revenue for many people, and for a few, the basis of a huge fortune. In this new media landscape of vlogs and songs, tutorials and Let’s Plays, a few names have started cropping up like vague yet menacing government agencies. Gleam Futures. Big Frame. Maker Studios. But what are they real