Exploring consumer demand for quick delivery Instant gratification is not exactly a new phenomenon. Impulse shopping is a mainstay among consumers, and it accounts for a decent percentage of all buying in brick-and-mortar stores. The challenge for retailers is to never minimize its impact, whether you sell from a physical location accessible to customers, or operate exclusively online, joining hundreds of thousands of e-commerce merchants. Supply chain issues reared their ugly heads following the start of the global Covid-19 pandemic, but they did not resolve themselves quickly. In fact. Four years after the initial business and personal trauma related to shutdowns and global disruptions, there are still elements needing ironing out. Brick-and-mortar stores are not receiving timely deliveries, due in part to inventory shortages and to backlogs and glitches at international ports. For e-commerce sellers, this is a double whammy. Acquiring inventory takes longer, even if your delivery to consumers is handled by a third party or shipped direct from distributors. And if you manage your own shipping duties, you’ve noticed the dramatic increase in costs spread among all entities (USPS, UPS, FedEx, and more). At the same time, shipping services continue to stretch out delivery dates. It’s a genuine problem. Your business model is based on the rapid turnaround time consumers expect. So what do you do? Analysts have a few pieces of advice, though no quick fixes. Consider these options:
Finally, the emergence of AS (Anticipatory Shipping) has been a lifesaver for mid- to higher-volume merchants taking advantage of tools that evaluate and project consumer purchases. These will streamline choices of delivery agents. techDetector explains this masterfully. Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
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To browse seamlessly, with all the info they need to make an informed purchase decision at their fingertips. From product description and specifications to price and shipping terms, everything should be easy to find and understand. And it needs to look nice – professional, seamless – we keep going back to that word for a reason – and both easy to navigate and trustworthy. So what are some solutions you can implement now? There are a number that will depend on your business and good direct and indirect research is necessary on that front. (Think post-sale surveys, social media engagement, and consultation with your customer service team.) Beyond that, here are a few places you can make immediate improvements to customer experience:
Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash
It’s not just the FTC, through. Attorneys General from 17 states have joined in the civil action, bringing cases that allege Amazon’s formidable presence represents an anti-competitive entity that is harmful to both competitors and consumers. Though Amazon strongly denies the charges, you’ll want to understand what’s behind this development. Amazon.com is light years from its humble roots as an online bookseller. Founded nearly 30 years ago by Seattle’s Jeff Bezos, it garnered negative press along with disapproval from fans of brick-and-mortar book stores alike. In what turned out to be a fait accompli, Amazon essentially led the charge of a burgeoning presence of ecommerce vendors weaving their way into the new normal for shopping in the 21st century. Only Amazon went much farther. Discovering the power of Internet commerce, the company grew in unfathomable scope and began selling a wide variety of products. Fast forward to 2023, when there are few items consumers can’t locate on Amazon, thanks to a complex strategy that has increasingly involved third-party sellers. Bezos goes Prime Time Billionaire Jeff Bezos is mostly mum on the government’s lawsuit. After success with the Amazon platform, he’s branched out (bought the Washington Post newspaper) and is a mere figurehead of the Seattle ecommerce entity. Once the iconic Amazon Prime program launched, a star was born, and the ability for sellers to get goods faster (even same-day delivery in some markets) and to take advantage of other benefits (digital content, streaming, music, and discounts at the other Amazon-owned ingenue, Whole Foods). Prime has spurred its own headaches, but that’s another story. A lucrative contract with the US Postal Service and UPS haven’t kept up with demand, and now Amazon uses contracted delivery drivers to pick up the slack. The result is mixed; delivery reliability is suffering in many cases, and some customers cite a reduction in product quality and difficult return policies from third-party sellers. In what the FTC and states are characterizing as a “self-reinforcing cycle of dominance and harm,” the business model of Amazon does raise eyebrows. It’s no secret that the big players tend to apply pressure to stay on top, Amazon is accused of luring both sellers and buyers to its kingdom with underhanded and monopolistic techniques. Once sellers hop aboard the Amazon train to tap into a vast universe of eager buyers, the governments allege, it locks in contractual stipulations that set and raise fees, even punishing sellers who offer their inventory in other venues for a lower price. The Pushback Again, Amazon vehemently defends itself against these claims. It believes it serves both consumers and merchants by allowing them to tap into a massive marketplace where nearly limitless goods are available for mostly free shipping and quick delivery, and ecommerce sellers enjoy an audience reach it could only dream of in the past. As Amazon suggests that regulators seem to misunderstand the nature of retailing, plaintiffs stand strong, citing negative impacts on other giants such as Walmart, Target, and the iconic Internet star, eBay. Yet to be determined is whether the FTC and states envision a breakup of Amazon, separating its currently bundled functions to relieve the monopolistic impact they believe is continuing to the detriment of practically everyone. The lawsuit sits in a Seattle Federal courthouse, awaiting the arduous trail of motions and responses – or perhaps a settlement. Stay tuned.
What may be a surprise to most is that content generation is only a fraction of AI functionality. It can be controversial if not managed properly. But the more technical aspects of Artificial Intelligence will peak your interest. Do you want to increase sales? Are you aiming toward better understanding your customer base? Of course you are. So take some time to explore the possibilities afforded by Artificial Intelligence. For online merchants, AI is particular useful in the following ways:
As time goes on, the full range of possibilities AI presents will avail themselves to those who are interested. Choosing to transact business online proves you’re already amenable to all of the options digital innovation has to offer. Harnessing those that best fit your business is as easy as a web search and a bit of time to better understand how AI will fit your commerce model. For more information on AI and its reach into ecommerce, hit up this tutorial from Hostinger. Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash
Here are some great ways to kick off the holiday shopping season:
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Ecommerce Giant Amazon Launches New Social Media Tool
And taking the pulse of the younger generation of buyers has inspired Inspire – an Amazon quasi-social media app designed to mimic the popular TikTok. Not surprisingly, it’s an early hit.
Amazon Inspire began a rollout phase in early 2023, offering a downloadable app that in fact resembles the TikTok platform. TikTok is a video-centered app popular across a range of demographics, though it is mostly used by those under 40. That’s where the dollars are, say experts in ecommerce. And that’s where the Amazon future is headed. This intriguing and nuanced app offers so much more than just a small photo on their main website. Amazon shoppers can log in to Inspire directly through their phone-based Amazon app by launching a light bulb icon. It promises personalized content (made possible by a collection of prior shopping choices and probably a bit of data collection from social media use). Users may choose from more than 20 areas of interest such as gaming, beauty products, clothing, pet care, recreational pursuits, and beyond. Browsing the returns that pop up after you’ve chosen a sector, shoppers scroll through buttons to further customize a collection they may find interesting. The experience is similar to TikTok feeds, with engagement buttons and swiping actions that lead to promoted or favored items. This customization feature is perhaps the key selling point of both selling and buying on Inspire. It doesn’t require typing text into a search window. Product categories appear in launchable buttons, and they are diverse. Amazon hopes they will lead you to what you’re shopping for. What Amazon has not disclosed is how the app generates recommendations, except to say that it requires at least two recommendations before it appears as a promoted product. Content creators may enroll in the program to upload media, including video and photos connecting to thumbnail photos of Amazon listings they fancy. These contributors may earn commissions, depending on volume. Customer reviews, always a key element in online sales, are welcomed. Amazon Inspire is now available for use by all US consumers, and the jury is out on how this new, creative approach to a hybrid influencer/advertising function will play out. For now, it appears to be an ingenious method of following the lead in cultural and consumer trends as they develop on the internet. Interested in buying or selling on Inspire? Get more info here. The Who, What, Where’s, and Why’s of Business SmartS
That softens the blow of what we’re about to discuss. As long as you’re dealing with digits, start examining the core of your business by figuring out who buys what, and how often. In the trade, it’s referred to as “customer segmentation,” and it is a critical way to make your store thrive.
Customer segmentation works best when you pin down stats and demographic data from the top 20 percent of sales. Not of customers, of sales. If you have repeat customers, that’s great, but if their volume of purchases is not especially high, it’s not a helpful measure for future performance and growing a consumer base. We all know about customer conversion, or turning lookers into buyers. The conversion rate among all ecommerce sectors in 2022 was 3.65 percent. Studying the shared attributes of those buying across your site will guide you toward marketing more prospective customers. And unlike other strategies for growth, it can happen quickly. Targeted marketing in the 2020 decade is about as easy as it gets. Social media platforms are practically designed for this. Facebook (Meta), for example, provides an easy breakdown of the basics – age, location, ideology – but increasingly it allows businesses to gather data about their interests based on company sites and pages they have visited. With this knowledge in hand, your task is to match your product mix with those most likely to be intrigued. Facebook Ad Analytics Guide is one tool to help you dive into the art and science of zeroing in on potential customers. Its data reach is admirable: available are customer-reported statistics such as income, buying habits, buying likelihood, and other measures useful in figuring out who may be receptive to outreach. Kick off your segmentation efforts with these basics:
How to Assess Sales Tax Obligations in Ecommerce
The first reality to absorb is this: if you sell merchandise over the Internet and you have a physical presence in a “nexus,” or state, you are required to follow that jurisdiction’s sales tax laws – but only from customers who are subject to sales tax because of their residence in that state. Sounds pretty simple until you understand that there are 50 states to keep track of. Add to that the wonky official rule that if customers do not remit sales tax payments to sellers, they are technically required to pay them directly to their state. Don’t ask how that enforcement mechanism would work; truly, it’s anyone’s guess. Mostly only very high-end purchases would come to the attention of each state’s tax collector.
We’ll make it easy for you. Only five U.S. states do not impose a sales tax. They are Alaska, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, and New Hampshire. Now you know. But what is your obligation in terms of making sure your customers pay up? That’s more confusing. If you’re committed to avoiding future problems and doing the right thing at the outset, here are steps to take that will keep you in the clear:
One reason newbies might let items sit in your virtual cart? Reluctance to sign up for an account. We all know building an identified account roster is a win-win for both sellers and consumers, with easy options for a quick checkout, and the ability to target promotions. But not everyone is eager to divulge tracked info including email address, phone number, or even a name, to a vendor that they don’t know well. The answer is to provide a seamless guest checkout system. Offer clear opt-in choices to be “remembered” by your site even in the absence of a formal sign-up. A subtle trick like that can work wonders for skeptical buyers.
Here are other ways to turn abandoned shopping carts into sales:
So, what should ecommerce vendors (and their service providers) be looking at with respect to security? Much of it is out of your hands, but if you entrust a third party to handle payment transactions, you have the right and the obligation to observe best practices. Look at it this way: they are aware of their high burden, and your constant inquiries will keep them on their toes.
Smaller online merchants should build a rigid threshold of in-house and exterior policies and procedures, say cybersecurity experts. Irrespective of compromised customer or internal data, the more down time a small vendor experiences, the greater the hit they take. So what exactly are the secrets to protecting your data to the best of your ability? How about tighter access control and data security software? Both will vest more confidence and safety in your business. Business News writer Jeremy Bender reminds merchants that the big kids such as top-tier credit reporting agencies have fallen victim to mass data breaches, but they aren’t alone. The idea is to limit who may have a path to reaching your data using UTM (Unified Threat Management). Here’s a useful read on steps to take to protect your treasured business. Whether you go all in with a deep dive, or just take cursory steps to ensure your security, your first priority is to be prepared for a cyberattack, however unlikely that is. Ransomware – the pernicious method of a nefarious party blackmailing your very access to your own data in exchange for a payoff – is not common among small sellers, but never say never. Develop an incident response plan to be ready for whatever comes. That means keep whatever backup data you can on a separate server. Your customers will love you for this, and your business may experience less costly down time. It's a New, Scary World.
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