Category: EcommerceTrends

EcommerceTrends

Amazon Cries Foul Over US Antitrust Bill

Amazon is fighting back against a bill making its way through Congress, one that would prevent tech companies from favoring their own products and services.

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act was introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar, Chuck Grassley, and John Kennedy, and has a companion bill making its way through the House, sponsored by Representative David Cicilline. A key element of the bill is a prohibition against companies favoring their own services. In a blog post, however, Amazon says the bill unfairly targets it.

In particular, Amazon says its Amazon Prime service would be one of the biggest casualties. Despite investing some $100 billion in building out its infrastructure to support Prime’s one to two-day delivery, the new bill would force Amazon to open up Prime to third-party logistic providers, allowing them to fulfill orders.

Read more: Amazon Warning Sellers About Congress’ Antitrust Efforts

Amazon outlines the issues in its blog post:

Such a mandate would make it difficult, and potentially impossible in practice, for Amazon and our selling partners to offer products with Prime’s free two-day shipping (let alone one-day). We’ve tried allowing our selling partners to use other logistics providers to get Prime-eligible products to customers; unfortunately, these providers were not able to consistently deliver in the timeframes Prime customers have come to expect (meeting our “delivery promise” is something we measure and monitor extremely closely). Were this legislation to become law, it would substantially degrade the value and quality of Prime, as many of the products sold in our store today with Prime’s one- to two-day delivery promise would be undeliverable in that time frame.

Amazon makes the case that degrading its marketplace, including its Prime service, would hurt countless small businesses that have built their livelihood around selling on Amazon.

Amazon also believes the bill is specifically target it, while excluding its rivals:

Oddly, and inappropriately, this legislation is targeted at only one U.S. retailer—Amazon. This has been accomplished by requiring a market value of at least $550 billion to qualify for regulation. We don’t believe this threshold to be unintentional; but rather, targeted and intentional. In 2021, Walmart had annual revenues of $559 billion, nearly $90 billion more than Amazon. CVS had annual revenues of $292 billion; Costco, $196 billion; and Target, $106 billion. But Walmart is excluded despite also being a large retailer that allows small businesses to sell in its online marketplace. Similarly, Target, which is headquartered in Sen. Klobuchar’s home state of Minnesota, is excluded even though it too operates an online marketplace for sellers. And CVS, which is headquartered in Rep. Cicilline’s home state of Rhode Island, is excluded despite being one of the U.S.’s largest retailers, largest health insurance companies, and largest pharmacy benefit managers, all at the same time.

Amazon’s argument regarding Walmart is further boosted by the fact that the latter company has unveiled its Walmart+ Weekend, it’s own take on Amazon’s Prime Day, further blurring the line between brick-and-mortar retailer and e-commerce giant.

Interestingly, Amazon isn’t the only entity to come out against the bill. In fact, the Independent Women’s Voice group expressed concern over the bill, echoing some of Amazon’s own arguments:

“The days of innovative services making it easier to live, work, and do business, especially during a pandemic, could be numbered if the American Innovation and Choice Online Act passes the full Senate,” said Patrice Onwuka, a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Voice, in a statement to WPN. “Today’s affirmative committee vote is very troubling because this bill is not about protecting competition in America, but expanding regulatory control over a handful of large tech corporations, even if to the detriment of consumers.”

Lawmakers have been turning an increasingly critical eye toward Big Tech, making bills like the American Innovation and Choice Online Act an unsurprising development. As Amazon points out, however, if the bill is to succeed, it will need to apply to companies fairly and equitably. If the bill does unfairly target a single company, it could face substantial legal challenges.

June 1, 2022
How to Start Your Wedding Ecommerce Website
Businesses have undergone immense transformation moving from the traditional mortar and brick forms to virtual establishments. The wedding and jewelry industry experiences the same too. This lucrative business is something worth your investment. There are many more people interested in buying jewelry for their wedding than ever before. However, you need a strategy to succeed – own a website.

Modern businesses are now thriving online. Therefore, you will need a wedding e-commerce website to boost your jewelry business. Creating an online presence for your business is vital for growth and success in this present age of the internet and technology. In that case, you will need more than knowing what goes on in the industry.

An e-commerce website for your Wedding business

Establishing an online platform gives you organic reach to your target audience without geographical limitations. Therefore, you will gain a lot by establishing an online business for wedding accessories. Here is what you need to do to get started:
1. Pick an eCommerce platform
An e-commerce platform requires a website, which is the main tool of operations. The platform takes into account key features and hosting options. Therefore, it is vital to understand the main differences to pick what will work for the business.
1. Understand the ownership costs
With the choice of a platform, it means understanding the costs of owning it. You need a budget for that and the key features covered in the cost. These costs cover things like design fees, app development and such things as a monthly subscription.
1. User-friendliness and Flexibility
The essence of having a website is to sell your wedding products. Therefore, it is important to make the site a lot easier to use for everyone. Visitors should be able to navigate through the site with ease. Flexibility has to do with providing unrestrained bandwidth and capabilities during high traffic.
1. Check on website scalability
Everyone starts a business with the hope that it will grow. Therefore, you should not confine your site to certain lengths. Leave room for scaling up and accommodating more features and content going into the future.

Make use of free website trials before making your final choice. Testing various trials will help you know what works for your business before making the final commitment.
1. Include Omnichannel Capabilities
Having a website is good but not enough. Therefore, you should make sure that there are possibilities to integrate it with social media accounts. Connecting your website to other channels helps enhance organic traffic to your site. Most importantly, the site should provide search engine optimization (SEO) tools.
1. Secure your website
A safe work environment is vital for business growth and development. The same applies to online platforms. Ensure that there is enough protection for your site and your client’s information as well. Your customers should feel safe transacting through your platform.
1. Specialize by picking a niche
Wedding businesses are wide to cover everything. Instead of doing everything in the industry, you could choose a niche and run with it. It works well if customers realize you have specialization in a specific area.
1. Add products to your site
Once everything is set up, it is time to add wedding products to the site. Therefore, ensure that there is enough content for people to see before publishing your site. Focus on user-friendliness and be as creative as possible. It is all about impressing your audience.

Optimize your site for mobile use so that customers can access it from their mobile gadgets. That way, they can reach you from anywhere and every part of the globe. This means working on page load speeds. That way, you will have good conversion rates within the first few seconds as is in a company like MoissaniteCo jewelry. In addition, use good quality images so that they do not slow down your site. Keep updating your content to maintain relevance.

Final Thoughts

You can make your wedding business what you like. Therefore, use this guide to go beyond any limitations. Get the help of experts and consult widely for the best solutions in the market. Most importantly, the quality of your platform, its security and the ability to scale up will be vital for the growth of your wedding business.
May 24, 2022
Amazon Prime Day, Meet Walmart+ Weekend

Walmart is taking on one of Amazon’s biggest strengths with its own take on Prime Day: Walmart+ Weekend.

Amazon’s Prime Day is an annual event where the company’s Prime subscribers can score significant savings on a wide range of products. Walmart and Amazon are competing with each other more and more, and Walmart is now taking on Prime Day with its own savings weekend.

The new Walmart+ Weekend will be an exclusive online event, and will cover parts of four days, beginning Thursday, June 2 at 3PM ET and ending Sunday, June 5 at 7PM ET. Customers will be able to save on thousands of products, including household items, electronics, grills, toys, apparel, and more.

“Our Walmart+ members loved early access to our Black Friday events, so we were inspired to create an entire weekend dedicated to the best deals,” said Chris Cracchiolo, senior vice president and general manager at Walmart. “Giving members more of what they want with exclusive, unprecedented Black Friday-like savings allows us to celebrate our members in a fun, new way.”

May 23, 2022
Shopify Takes Aim at Walmart and Amazon With Deliverr Purchase

Coming off of strong growth during the pandemic, Shopify has announced a deal to acquire Deliverr, a move that will help it combat Walmart and Amazon.

Shopify is one of the leading online shopping platforms, but it has to compete with more traditional businesses as well. The company is obviously doing well, bringing in $1.2 billion in revenue in Q122, a 22% increase. Shopify is now building on that momentum with a deal to acquire Deliverr.

“While we’ve experienced massive macro shifts since the start of the pandemic, the one mainstay has been that Shopify is the commerce platform of choice for merchants in any environment, with the ability to support commerce on any surface,” said Harley Finkelstein, Shopify’s President. “This has earned Shopify significant merchant trust and the ability to help them with more parts of their business, which is why we are eager to bring Deliverr’s team and technology to our merchants.”

The move will help Shopify provide the logistics supplier infrastructure its customers need.

Deliverr’s asset-light infrastructure complements and extends the reach of Shopify’s network of large-capacity, self-operated hubs, and enhances affordable access to a two-day delivery promise in the U.S. across all channels. With Deliverr, Shopify strengthens its ability to offer merchants simplified inventory management, demand-driven inventory balancing, and fast delivery from coast to coast, with minimal inventory required. Deliverr, which ships over a million orders per month across the U.S., has already benefited thousands of merchants, many of whom use Shopify, as the hyper-fragmented market of freight forwarders, transportation providers, and 3rd-party logistics companies can be overwhelming for users.

May 16, 2022
Amazon Charging US Sellers 5% Fee For Inflation and Fuel

Amazon is increasing its fees for US-based sellers, charging an additional 5% fee for inflation and fuel charges.

Amazon is the world’s biggest e-commerce marketplace and is increasingly one of the largest shipping companies in the US. The company relies on third-party sellers for many of the products that populate its marketplace, but those sellers are about to get hit with additional fees, thanks to the increased cost of business Amazon is facing.

According to CNBC, Amazon is notifying US sellers it will be charging them a 5% surcharge for inflation and fuel costs.

“The surcharge will apply to all product types, such as non-apparel, apparel, dangerous goods, and Small and Light items,” the notice stated. “The surcharge will apply to all units shipped from fulfillment centers starting April 28.”

The e-commerce giant says the costs are “subject to change.”

April 16, 2022
Walmart Brings Virtual Fitting Rooms to Customers

Walmart has upped the ante in its battle with Amazon, rolling out virtual fitting rooms for customers.

Walmart purchased virtual fitting room platform Zeekit last year. The e-commerce industry has experienced major growth over the last couple of years, driven in no small part by the pandemic. Being able to virtually “try on” clothes is one of last big hurdles for customers shopping for clothes online.

“One of the most frustrating aspects of shopping for clothes online is understanding how an item will actually look on you,” writes Denise Incandela, EVP of Apparel and Private Brands. “With Zeekit, our goal is to deliver an inclusive, immersive and personalized digital experience that will better replicate physical shopping.”

The platform features a Choose My Model option, giving customers the ability to select the model that best matches their appearance. The models range from XS – XXXL sizes, and 5’2” – 6’0” in height. This will help customers get a reasonable idea of how an outfit would look on them.

The platform is launching with 50 models, but Walmart plans to introduce an additional 70 in the coming weeks.

“We have already seen a strong customer response to our Choose My Model experience,” Incandela adds. “The extraordinary, positive customer feedback out of the gate underscores our opportunity and ability to solve a common online shopping problem and build a true, personal connection between Walmart and our customers.”

March 3, 2022
How to Save Your eCommerce Business Time and Money

When it comes to running a retail brand, it is important to find ways to be as efficient as possible.

Why? Well, when you’re spending too much time and money trying to accomplish the simple things necessary to get your product out to your customers, it really can eat into your profits and make it harder to grow for the long term.

The good news is that there are certain steps you can take to eliminate waste and improve your processes. In fact, most are so simple that you might have even overlooked them. Here are eight ways to save your eCommerce business time and money.

1. Make It Easy for Customers to Buy

One of the easiest ways to streamline eCommerce business operations and improve your overall bottom line is to make it easy for customers to buy the products you’re selling.

This means offering multiple payment options, such as credit card, Apple Pay, or Paypal. Some online sellers also opt for layaway plans through specific apps as a way to reach more buyers.

In addition, you can revamp the user experience of your website to make the checkout process simpler. After all, the easier it is for someone to buy, the more sales you’ll start to see over time.

2. Identify the Best Sales Channels for Your Target Market

To streamline your eCommerce business, you should also take the time to identify the best sales channels for your target market. Again, this might sound simple enough, but it is something that a lot of brands overlook.

Begin by thinking about where your target customer is generally looking for products. Is it an impulse buy on social media? Do they trust influencers and always buy when certain brands promote an item? Or are they dedicated to using Google search results?

Make sure you’re considering other sales channels like Walmart, Amazon, and others as options, too.

3. Hire 3PL Shipping Experts

Simplifying the shipping and warehousing process is another way to save time and money for your eCommerce business. 3PL, or third-party logistics, refers to when you use a third party to store and manage the items you sell, and then fulfill and ship your orders as customers make purchases.

Often, this is less expensive and more efficient than buying or renting a warehouse and paying employees to staff it. Furthermore, most 3PL companies get better shipping rates based on the volume of orders they process across multiple brands, which ensures you’re saving money getting those items out to customers.

4. Use Coupons and Discounts Appropriately

Another area where eCommerce brands can save money in their operations is by using coupons and discounts appropriately. What do we mean by this?

Sometimes new brands think it is super important to always have a special offer or coupon going out to their new and existing customers. While this can be an excellent promotional tool, you still want to be smart about how you do it.

For example, if you’re using an offer of free shipping, make sure you’re not accidentally costing your business more than your profit margin. The same goes for discount codes, which should always fall somewhere below your margin for expenses including shipping and warehousing.

5. Find Ways to Incorporate Social Media

Saving time starts with better brand recognition. After all, if your target market already knows who you are, you don’t have to work as hard to make that first sale.

To accomplish this, always look for ways to incorporate social media into your brand. Essentially, the goal is to leverage these digital platforms as a way to boost your sales and save you time.

For example, have a page that you constantly add new products to on Facebook or Instagram. You can also utilize digital marketing and paid advertising elements like Facebook ads, Instagram shopping profiles, use of influencers, etc.

6. Know Your Strengths

One really important aspect of saving your eCommerce business time and money is to know your strengths. Some newcomers to the industry try to do too much, which leaves them running around trying to do everything on their own.

The best process is to handle what you can but work with an outside expert on certain things that you might not have the time or resources to fully accomplish.

A good example of this? Warehousing and shipping. In many instances, eCommerce brands aren’t fully equipped to handle all that this entails, which equates to a lot of time and money waste.

7. Negotiate Shipping Rates

If you aren’t already using a 3PL company to handle your shipping, make an attempt to negotiate your shipping rates. Most of the major carriers offer discounts based on volume or can cut you a deal if you’re doing a fair amount of monthly sales.

For big items, consider working with a shipping broker who has an understanding of the types of products you sell. This can often be a great way to still ensure you’re getting the best rates while still ensuring items get to the customer in a timely fashion.

8. Look at Packaging Costs

Another area to make simple changes is your packaging costs. Often, those boxes and mailers cost a lot more than you thought at the beginning. To help reduce waste and eliminate added fees, take a look at what you’re currently using and see if there’s a better alternative.

Most box companies these days also offer custom solutions, which give you the option of adding your logo and creating shipping supplies that meet your specific needs more efficiently. In addition, you can even switch to green materials that are far better for the environment.

Wrap Up: Saving Your eCommerce Business with Simple Changes

While most of these ideas seem simple enough, it is easy for a lot of brands to overlook them—especially in the beginning. By making just a few changes and refinements, however, you can rest assured that your eCommerce business is running as smoothly, efficiently, and profitably as possible.

February 25, 2022
We Are a Marketplace That Sells Demand Generation, Says Grubhub CEO

“We are a marketplace that sells demand generation,” says Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney. “We sell growth. That’s what our primary product is. We’re not a logistics company. We do logistics because we know that’s an end to get to restaurant growth and make money off our logistics. The gross margins on the logistics are not fabulous. The gross margins on the demand generation are fabulous which is why I differentiate between a logistics company and demand gen company. If you’re selling consumers, you’re selling growth, and you can charge a lot for that.”

Matt Maloney, CEO of Grubhub, discusses with Jim Cramer on CNBC how Grubhub is in the business of driving growth for restaurants and is not just a logistics company:

The American Public Has Just Adopted Digital Ordering

This is our fifth anniversary of our IPO. The market now is ten times what I thought it was five years ago. It’s because the American public has just adopted digital ordering as their preferred way to engage with their local restaurants. We are not just marketing to Millennials. We are marketing on national television across all channels, all time zones, and hitting all segments. We just see that people realize that digitally ordering on their app or on their desktop is just easier.

Of course, our ad campaign is working. I wouldn’t have it on TV if it wasn’t working. You think about it this way. You know your LTV, your lifetime value of your customer, once they start ordering we know that they’re lifers. They’re on forever. We can make that revenue model and then we know how much it cost to put the ad on there. So yes, over time, as people see the ad, more and more it becomes less and less effective. But we’re nowhere near our LTV.

https://youtu.be/qpyVP-JhToc
Grubhub National TV Commercial

I have always been willing to be extremely aggressive investing in the future. Historically, I was bound by the amount of money I could invest. The reception of these communications just weren’t hitting the public and they weren’t working as well. Then around the third quarter of last year, we saw that we could spend way more than we had historically. I’m just talking about effectiveness. Spending it effectively. We came to the street on our third quarter earnings call and said we see opportunity and we are going long in the fourth quarter.

Yum Made $200 million Investment – They Believe in Our Story

People are going to say where’s the beef, the old Wendy’s commercial. They’re like show me the money. (We don’t have Wendy’s) but everyone talks to everyone in this industry. I think over time exclusivity is just not going to happen. (We have Yum) and Yum is the biggest restaurateur in the world. YUM is an incredible brand which includes Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut. They are very forward-thinking. They invest in technology a lot and they wanted to make a fundamental partnership and we wanted to understand what the brands needed from a partner.

Yum made a $200 million investment because they believe in our story. We didn’t need the investment because we have a very healthy balance sheet. What it did it was really bringing the support of the young brand and the franchisees into Grub. As a tight partnership, we’re able to execute on technology and growth for them in a way that nobody else in the industry is doing right now. I totally disagree (that we aren’t making money from this partnership).

We Are a Marketplace That Sells Demand Generation

We are a marketplace that sells demand generation. We sell growth. That’s what our primary product is. We’re not a logistics company. We do logistics because we know that’s an end to get to restaurant growth and make money off our logistics. The gross margins on the logistics are not fabulous. The gross margins on the demand generation are fabulous which is why I differentiate between a logistics company and demand gen company.

If you’re selling consumers, you’re selling growth and you can charge a lot for that. That’s the profitable side. Everyone else in my industry is a logistics company which has razor thin margins. One of my competitors said they’re the next FedEx. Do you really want to be the next FedEx? There’s the multiple that we can get as marketplaces and there’s the multiple that logistics companies can get.

Everyone Would Prefer to Order Digitally

I think that everyone in the country would prefer to order digitally than order on the phone. That’s why we acquired Tapingo. It’s an incredible acquisition because it gives us further scale on campuses. Tapingo is a pickup focused product. So here’s what you need to think about. We sell growth, we sell orders. I don’t care if that’s a pickup order, a delivery order, a self-delivery order, or a catering order.

Everyone else in my industry only does delivery facilitated by that platform. Because we partner with the restaurants (which means) the restaurants are subsidizing part of our transaction fee, we are always cheaper. That’s what people don’t understand. There’s a lot of bait and switch pricing going on (from competitors).

We Are a Marketplace That Sells Demand Generation, Says Grubhub CEO

February 11, 2022
Predictive Forecasting For Ecommerce In 2022

Ecommerce has been growing at a faster pace than traditional shopping, and there’s no sign of it slowing down.

Research indicates that eCommerce sales will account for 16% of the total retail market in 2022– a figure far higher than the previous year’s eCommerce retail market share (13% in 2021). By 2022, eCommerce sales are expected to reach $5.4 trillion.

An enormous amount of data is generated each second, which companies are using worldwide for several purposes like web log analysis, traffic analysis, and customer profiling.

The exponential increase in big data presents tremendous possibilities for businesses.

Benefits of Using Predictive Forecasting for Ecommerce

Predictive forecasting can be used to forecast expected sales for eCommerce businesses with confidence.

This means that businesses are better equipped to make smart decisions, like how many items they should stock or whether they can afford to lower prices without sacrificing profits.

Additionally, this would help businesses effectively allocate their resources and adjust their business strategies accordingly.

Top Predictive Forecasting Trends For 2022

Predictive forecasting data suggests that a number of key drivers and technological shifts will shape the future of eCommerce in 2022 and beyond.

Here are the top predictive forecasting trends for 2022:

Competitive Website Homepages: The first is that retail websites must become more competitive on their homepages for both new and returning visitors. This will require new technologies and site improvements, such as improved personalization and localization, the ability to add products dynamically throughout the sales funnel, and an increased focus on the shopping experience.

Demand for Content Marketing and SEO: The second driver that will be shaping retail websites is the increasing importance of content marketing and personalization for SEO. In 2017, Google began using machine learning technology to process user experiences on eCommerce sites and present them more prominently in search results. This trend is likely to continue growing, which will increase the importance of sites’ content marketing efforts and user experience. Leading eCommerce agencies such as Bing Digital leverage data to upscale their client’s revenue using a combination of marketing analysis techniques. In the future, eCommerce marketing companies that will use data will always have an upper hand as compared to their competitors.

Automated Recommendations: A third driver will be the increasing use of automated recommendations based on previous shopping cart activity or searching behavior. These technologies would suggest items like: “People who bought this also bought these items,” “Customers who viewed this item also viewed these items,” or even more advanced solutions, such as “Most popular products recommended based on past purchases.”

Rise of Mobile Devices: The shift from a PC to a mobile device world is perhaps one of the most significant in recent times. In 2014, mobile surpassed PC Internet usage in the UK, and in 2016, search from a mobile device surpassed that from a PC for the first time. This shift will continue to grow as more consumers purchase smartphones and tablets. Consequently, retailers must design their websites to accommodate smaller screens and optimize speed. Mobile page load speeds have been an increasing concern for both consumers and search engines, so this is an area that many retailers must focus on improving.

Voice Assistants: Predictive data shows that consumers are becoming more comfortable with voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, and Apple’s Siri when shopping online. Therefore, retailers will be challenged to accommodate these new technology preferences in the future. While the technology is still in its infancy, approximately 40% of US consumers already own a smart speaker and more say they are likely to purchase one soon. The growth of voice assistants will impact how consumers search for products and consider purchases. This new technology will influence their purchasing behavior by providing product recommendations based on previous online searches and product purchases.

Machine Learning and AI: Another important technological shift is the continued growth of machine learning and artificial intelligence. For example, it is predicted that in 2022, AI will create more jobs than it will destroy. This suggests an increased need for employees with digital skills to manage these technologies in eCommerce stores to increase their online effectiveness.

One-day Delivery: One final key factor shaping eCommerce is the growth of one-day delivery. This is the result of several factors, including consumer demand for ever-faster shipping speeds and improvements in logistics technology that allow retailers to fulfill such orders. One-day delivery is already available in certain cities and regions worldwide and will become more common as eCommerce gathers pace.

Examples of Predictive Forecasting

1. In 2014, Google analyzed over 100 of the most popular Android apps and uncovered some interesting stats about how they use data. For example, Google found that most apps determine a user’s location almost instantaneously when the app is opened but then stay in the background for the rest of the day, gathering data on other habits. They also found that apps pull out personal information more often than you might think – even if it’s only done to provide a more personalized experience.

2. In 2015, Facebook implemented an artificial intelligence software called “DeepText” to analyze and understand all of its users’ posts in real-time, as well as who those posts were being shared with. This was used to help prevent the spread of violence or terrorist propaganda on their website by detecting any dangerous language.

3. In 2015, Google introduced “RankBrain” to its machine learning program to help it understand search result intent better. The idea was that if RankBrain could detect one user’s intention by recognizing their pattern of previous searches, it would be able to make accurate predictions on future searches. This proved effective for Google over the next few years, and the program has since become one of the most important parts of their business.

4. In 2016, Netflix launched a new feature called “Suggested TV,” which provides recommended TV shows based on your viewing habits. This is done through predictive forecasting by tracking your recent searches to get an idea of what kind of shows you’re watching and what you might be interested in.

5. In 2017, Google released a video talking about how they use predictive forecasting to better predict people’s flow on their website. For example, suppose a user is looking for information on a local restaurant. In that case, Google will analyze data from previous searches to determine where this person is located and show results for nearby restaurants. This allows Google to display relevant and timely information, which is important for businesses.

The above examples of predictive forecasting in the eCommerce world have been used over the years to improve website rankings, recommendations from streaming services, product development decisions, advertisement relevance, and more. There are many other examples that can be used to show how predictive forecasting has been used to improve businesses across all industries.

Challenges in Using Predictive Forecasting for eCommerce

The biggest challenge for companies using predictive analytics is to figure out which data they should be collecting and how it should be used. The type of information that would be useful for a specific company depends on their interests and what they hope to achieve through forecasted data.

Another challenge is dealing with large amounts of data. It takes a lot of planning and time before you even start gathering the data required for effective predictive forecasts. Once you have everything you need, you have to put it all together and use special software to make sense of it all. This is especially necessary if your business has a lot of customers or a high number of different products to keep track of.

Conclusion

In 2022, predictive forecasting for eCommerce will have many different applications within all areas of business operations. Combining the information from customer searches with historical data from previous purchases and other variables will help companies make better decisions about their inventory and what products they should develop next.

February 8, 2022
8 Key eCommerce Conversion Rate Benchmarks

What would you say is the most important metric for a business? Is it profit? Revenue? Customers served per day? The answer may surprise you. In fact, according to eCommerce conversion rate experts, the number one metric for any business should be its conversion rate.

Conversion rates indicate how effectively your marketing strategy attracts visitors and converts them into customers. To help you get started on improving your conversion rates, we’ve laid out some of the most critical benchmarks in this blog post.

1 – eCommerce Conversion Rate

This is currently around 6%. Though the average conversion rate may vary by industry, this is a good eCommerce benchmark to aim for. As per the SimilarWeb eCommerce benchmarks report, the average conversion rate for eCommerce sites in 2021 was around 6.6%. If your conversion rate is below this number, there’s room for improvement. If it’s above this number, you’re doing well but could still stand to make some tweaks.

Also, it’s important to note that the average conversion rate varies significantly based on traffic source. Paid search and email campaigns typically have higher conversion rates than organic search.

2 – Mobile eCommerce Conversion Rate

This is typically 1.3% for mobile. While desktop conversion rates are still higher, the gap is narrowing, as more and more people shop on their mobile devices. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re missing out on potential business.

The good news is that there are many simple things you can do to improve your mobile conversion rate, such as ensuring your site is easy to navigate and has a responsive design.

3 – Social Media eCommerce Conversion Rate

This is about 0.35%. Yes, that’s a tiny number, but it’s multiplying as people shop on Facebook or Pinterest. According to research from Monetate, social media conversion rates have doubled over the past year. One-third of all online purchases now come from social media.

So, if you’re not yet using social media to drive conversions, it’s time to start. The best way to do this is by creating targeted ads and optimizing your site for social sharing. Social media also strongly influences SEO and should be optimized accordingly.

4 – Cart Abandonment Conversion Rate

This is typically around 68% – the percentage of people who add items to their cart but never complete the purchase. If you want to improve your conversion rate, you need to address this issue.

There are some ways to reduce cart abandonment, including providing incentives for customers to finish their purchase, such as free shipping or discounts, and providing detailed product information and images.

Also, cart abandonment rates vary by industry, so you need to benchmark your rates before making any optimizations. The average cart abandonment rate for health and beauty products, for example, is much higher than the average for digital downloads.

A bigger percentage of online shoppers abandoned their shopping carts because of poor page layout and design. The shopping cart abandonment rate is now the leading indicator for eCommerce website performance, as it can rise to as high as 97% before a site is abandoned. That means if your site shopping cart abandonment rate hovers around 70%, you’d better know why.

5 – Checkout Process Time

This typically takes customers around 3 minutes. Once a customer has decided to purchase something from your site, you want to make the checkout process as quick and easy as possible. If you ask customers to fill out lengthy forms or provide too much information, they will abandon their carts.

The good news is that you can do several simple things to improve your checkout process, starting with only asking for the information you need and providing detailed product descriptions. The checkout screen is notorious for being the abandonment focal point, so improving the UX and design of the page will lower your abandonment rate.

No need to reinvent the wheel here. Website builders devoted numerous man hours to create checkout pages based on best practices. In their most recent product release, Elementor, the leading WordPress website builder, put a special focus on improving their WooCommerce checkout widget, for this reason exactly.

Just keep in mind, checkout process length varies by industry, so benchmark your site before you make any optimizations.

6 – B2B eCommerce Conversion Rate

B2B companies have lower average conversion rates than other industries, around 3%, especially eCommerce companies. B2B transactions typically involve a longer sales cycle and more complex buying decisions.

Though the average B2B conversion rate is lower than that of other companies, there are some things you can do to improve it. One example is using content marketing to position yourself as an expert.

Another is implementing a lead nurturing program that allows you to build trust with tips while identifying their specific pain points and needs. By providing value at every step, you’ll be able to close more deals in less time.

7 – Average eCommerce Order

The number varies significantly by industry, but it’s a good benchmark to use as $122 when setting your own goal for average order value. There are many ways to increase your average order value, including offering discounts for larger orders, providing free shipping on orders over a certain amount, and bundling products together.

You can also improve your conversion rate by increasing the average sale amount of each customer. You can do this by providing more detailed product information, including images and videos, and using targeted marketing such as creating shoppable videos to increase the value of each purchase. The order value of eCommerce also varies by region, so make sure to benchmark your site before making any changes.

8 – Conversion Rate for Paid Search

This typically falls around 2.35%. Search engine optimization is still the best way to drive traffic to your site, but the paid search can be a valuable addition to your marketing mix. Paid search allows you to target specific customers who are already interested in what you offer. You can then bid on keywords related to your products or services and show ads to those customers.

The average conversion rate for paid search varies by industry. The average conversion rate for the travel industry, for example, is much higher than the average for the legal industry.

Conclusion

The eCommerce landscape is constantly changing, and it’s more important than ever to stay up-to-date on the latest trends. By understanding these statistics, you can ensure your eCommerce site is performing at its best.

February 5, 2022
Amazon SEO is Now More Important than Google SEO for Brands

Amazon has dethroned Google in product searches with over 54 percent of all product searches now happening on Amazon instead of Google. What this means is that brands must make Amazon SEO their priority in order to show up near the top of product searches for their related keywords.

It’s predicted that an entire industry is in the midst of emerging to help companies adjust their strategies similar to what happened when Google first started to dominate search a couple decades ago.

Walled garden research company Jumpshot released The Competitive State of eCommerce Marketplaces Data Report earlier this month which shows Amazon’s amazing eight-point rise in product searches in the last year alone.

Recently, Deren Baker, Jumpshot CEO, revealed the latest results from their report in a Bloomberg Technology interview with Emily Chang:

Amazon Leading Google with Product Searches

We have seen a shift from Google to Amazon. Today over 54 percent of all the product searches that occur on the entire internet now occur on Amazon. Once you get into Amazon we’ve seen a strong growth in the number of sponsored placements that they put on their site. The product views that emanated from a sponsored click has increased from 3 percent to 7 percent in the last 18 months.

We think that Amazon and Google are converging. We did some additional analysis at Jumpshot that shows that from the time a consumer searches on either Google or Amazon to the time that they buy was actually much shorter on Google. On Google, 35 percent of those purchases were made within 5 days, only 20 percent on Amazon.

Amazon Becoming a Place for Product Discovery

What you are seeing is that Amazon is becoming a place for product discovery for customers more and Google is shifting from pure product discovery to more of that considered purchase. When people are interested in understanding the price or the quality or the brand name they’re going away from Amazon back to Google now.

Once you get to Amazon, 90 percent of the product views are actually the result of a search. So people aren’t messing around with merchandising placements or banner ads, they are typing a search for a product into Amazon and getting a search result. Once they get that search result we found that over two-thirds of the clicks are on the first page.

Amazon SEO is Now More Important than Google SEO for Brands

Imagine if you are a brand, you know that the majority of your customers are now searching for your product on Amazon. You know that once people get to Amazon what they are doing really doing is typing in a product search. Then once you get that search result you’ve got your competitors products, Amazon’s private label products, and you have to decide whether you are going to try and increase your organic results or pay for a sponsored placement. It’s a very confusing world for a brand today.

I would not want to be a brand manager at a CPG company right now because I think you are between a rock and a hard place. I think what you will see in the future is the same way that an ecosystem of companies sprung up around Google search when it started to dominate peoples online behavior, you are going to see the same thing for Amazon search. What people are going to need is a non-Amazon source of information to help them understand what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to spend their advertising dollars.

January 15, 2022
Amazon Pushes Its Own Brands at the Expense of Others

Amazon is being accused of pushing its own products at the expense of more popular, better reviewed products from other companies.

Amazon is the world’s biggest e-commerce site, but the sellers that use it often have a love/hate relationship with the company. Many sellers have long suspected Amazon favors its own brands, something the company denied in testimony to Congress in 2019.

According to The Markup, however, Amazon does favor its own brands, or brands that are exclusive to its platform, even if that means promoting them over other brands that are more popular or have more reviews.

The Markup cites the example of Robert Gomez, founder of 4Q Brands, who worked tirelessly to get his Kaffe coffee grinder ranked in the top three Amazon search results. Gomez even paid Amazon $40,000 a month for advertising. Once Amazon introduced its own competing coffee grinder, and started carrying a partner exclusive, both of the competing grinders almost immediately started showing up in the top three search results.

Further exacerbating the issue is that many listings for Amazon brands or exclusives are not explicitly listed as “sponsored,” despite showing up in the part of the site reserved for search results. This is also in direct contradiction to a statement from company spokesperson Nell Rona, who said the company adds “Amazon brand” to its own products. The Markup found that only 23% of the Amazon-branded products it researched had that tag.

This behavior could land Amazon in hot water, according to Bill Baer, former director of the Bureau of Competition at the FTC, as well as former assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ antitrust division.

“If basically you’ve got somebody with market power that is restraining competition both in terms of site access or where things appear on the site,” he said, “that is potentially problematic.”

Despite Amazon’s ethically — and potentially legally — questionable behavior, few sellers are willing to speak up. Blake Adami, VP of Government Relations, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, explained the problem to The Markup in an email.

“Our members are still very hesitant to speak out against Amazon for fear of retaliation, even anonymously.”

The Markup’s full report is well-worth a read, especially for anyone in the e-commerce industry, and illustrates why legislators are increasingly looking to crack down on anticompetitive behavior.

January 11, 2022
Italy Fines Amazon $1.3 Billion For Antitrust Violations

Italian regulators have fined Amazon $1.3 billion for promoting third-party sellers that buy its extra services over other sellers.

Amazon is the biggest e-commerce platform on the planet and, as such, serves as a gateway for countless other companies looking to sell online. Unfortunately, Amazon’s position as the market leader also makes it the gatekeeper for those third-party companies. The decisions it makes about which companies to promote can mean the life or death of a smaller company’s business.

According to Italian regulators, Amazon has been abusing that position, favoring sellers that buy into its extra services over sellers that don’t. As a result, Italian antitrust regulators have fined the company $1.3 billion

Amazon provided a statement to GeekWire disagreeing with the ruling.

“We strongly disagree with the decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) and we will appeal. The proposed fine and remedies are unjustified and disproportionate,” Amazon’s spokesperson said.

“More than half of all annual sales on Amazon in Italy come from small and medium sized businesses and their success is at the heart of our business model,” the spokesperson added. “Small and medium-sized businesses have multiple channels to sell their products both online and offline: Amazon is just one of those options.”

December 9, 2021
Square Changes Its Name to Block

Taking a cue from Google and Facebook, Square has changed its name to Block, retaining the Square name for its Seller business.

Square is Jack Dorsey’s second company. Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO Monday, presumably giving him more time to focus on Square. As the first big move since Dorsey’s pivot to focus exclusively on Square, the company is changing its name.

Block will be the name of the corporate entity, with its various businesses — such as the Square Seller business — forming the building blocks of the company.

“We built the Square brand for our Seller business, which is where it belongs,” said Jack Dorsey, cofounder and CEO of Block. “Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.”

Other than the name change, there will be no other organization changes.

December 1, 2021
Amazon Set to Pass UPS and FedEx as Largest US Delivery Service

Amazon is on the verge of a major milestone, as it closes in on UPS and FedEx as the largest US delivery service.

Amazon may have started as an online book sales platform, but it has grown far beyond its origins. The company is now the largest e-commerce platform, the largest cloud provider and will soon be the largest delivery service, according to CNBC.

While Amazon originally relied on other services to deliver its products, it has increasingly invested in its own service over the last few years. Dave Clark, Amazon’s CEO of Worldwide Consumer, told CNBC that the company expects to become the biggest service in late 2021 or early 2022.

“We expect we will be one of the largest carriers in the world by the end of this year,” Clark told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “I think we’ll probably be the largest package delivery carrier in the U.S. by the time we get to the end of the year, if not in early ’22.”

November 29, 2021
Sezzle Is the Creditization Of a Debit Card, Says CEO

“Consumers love our product because it represents purchasing power but also budgeting for them,” says Sezzle co-founder and CEO Charlie Youakim. “They feel safe with it just like they do with the debit card. We’re driving a new wedge into payments between credit and debit. I call it the creditization of a debit card. I think it’s here to say because of that safety element that we give to the consumer.”

Charlie Youakim, CEO and co-founder of Sezzle, discusses the massive growth of the Buy Now, Pay Later industry and how that is reshaping ecommerce and retail in general:

Focused Uniquely On Credit Building

Sezzle is generally focused on the ecomm space, that’s where we do most of our work. We are present on over 44,000 merchant websites. The Buy Now, Pay Later industry, in general, is typically focused on ecommerce. So as that push back into ecomm occurs (potentially due to increases in COVID causing more people to shop from home) we generally benefit from that.

We compete in this space by really focusing on our stakeholders, focusing on the merchants, focusing on the consumers, and doing the right thing by both of them. We really stand on the high road for the consumer. We are the only player in the space that focuses on credit building which is totally unique. We love it, our consumers love it and our merchant partners love it. By focusing on their needs, these consumers’ needs, and doing right by them and right by the merchants, you have a chance to do a really strong job within the sector.

Sezzle Pushing Into the Enterprise

With SMB’s we’ve been growing like wildfire. It just continues for us. That’s how we have that big count of merchants and we expect that to continue. We’re doing a great job there and the merchants love us. It’s viral in that space. For us now the push is into enterprise and in Target, Bass Pro Shops, those are two great examples of that for us. The reason we’re doing that is that our consumer wants to shop with us everywhere so we have to be everywhere. That means we have to be with SMB, we’ve got to be with mid-market, and we’ve got to be with enterprise.

That will be the push for Sezzle to continue to push in those spaces. If you look at the enterprise players in those spaces, what they want is they want a brand that they can believe in. That’s where you have Sezzle and our halo around doing right by the consumer helping them build their credit score up and being a partnerships player. That’s what really sets us apart.

Sezzle: The Creditization Of a Debit Card

The average order value per customer has been relatively stable. We’re around $100 per order. The only reason it’s been tracking a bit up for us is we’ve been expanding our services. We started with a pure ‘pay in four’ for over six weeks interest-free and so that’s where we tracked right around $100. But as we add long-term into the mix we’ve been starting to track upwards. The order values on a 12-month order or 12-month installment plan, tend to track towards $1,000. We feel it’s probably going to stay stable, it’s just going to be a mixed shift that creates any change for Sezzle.

We see from our consumers that they love our product because it represents purchasing power but also budgeting for them. They feel safe with it just like they do with the debit card. We’re driving a new wedge into payments between credit and debit. I call it the creditization of a debit card. I think it’s here to say because of that safety element that we give to the consumer.

Sezzle Is the Creditization Of a Debit Card, Says CEO Charlie Youakim

November 27, 2021
eBay’s Journey to Sustainable Commerce

A business’s goals and the planet’s future don’t have to be at odds. The truth is that businesses won’t have a successful future if the earth cannot support human life. Companies need customers to buy their offerings and they need resources to bring those offerings into existence. Climate change threatens businesses on both counts. Investments in sustainable commerce are more than philanthropy; they’re investments in the company’s future.

One company that understands this mission is eBay. The online commerce platform has made its commitments known in their recent sustainable commerce report. To use the company’s words, “we work to integrate environmental best practices across our global business to support a healthier planet for our community and generations to come. Across our offices, we invest in clean energy, divert waste from landfills and create efficiencies in water usage. We also encourage responsible consumption through the resale of items on our platform, helping to preserve the world’s finite resources.”

Since inception, eBay’s normal business operations have had a positive impact on the environment. Given their popularity as a resale site, used products avoided the landfill by changing hands on eBay’s platform. The more consumers buy second hand products, the less demand there is for new goods to be produced. This combination of waste diversion and resource conservation has had a major impact on the planet. In the areas of apparel and electronics alone, sales on eBay have conserved 720,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. That’s more than the three million people living in Puerto Rico emit every year!

But eBay isn’t only sticking to what their company does naturally. They have announced a wide variety of goals that reflect both their abilities and their ambitions. Recent reports also illuminate eBay’s commitment to seeing their goals through. For example, eBay has the goal of powering their data centers and offices with 100% renewable energy by 2025. As of 2020, they were 74% of the way to their goal, up from 66% a year prior. One of the ways eBay has been able to make this switch to renewable energy is by partnering with other companies. Last August, McDonalds and eBay teamed up for an agreement to purchase power from Lightsource bp, the largest solar project in Louisiana. Not only is eBay making a difference in their own company, but they are helping other actors do the same.

In a more recent announcement, eBay also made it known that they will reduce their Scope 1 and 2 emissions 90% by 2030, using 2019 as their base year. Also included is their commitment to become carbon neutral in 2021. While these measures may seem dramatic, they are achievable. More importantly, eBay is taking them up in accordance with the Paris Agreement; specifically, the goal to limit global temperature warming to 1.5 ℃.

Keeping the planet habitable requires everyone to make contributions. eBay is not waiting for the government to act, and nor should their business peers. More should follow eBay’s example of sustainable commerce.

October 29, 2021
eBay Uplifting Women in Business

We have all been stressed far beyond capacity in the past year and a half since the onset of the COVID pandemic. We’ve been tested and tried and many of us have often felt that we might just fall apart and never recover. We’ve suffered huge, and deep losses in so many areas of our lives, from the loss of jobs, the loss of wages, the loss of normalcy, to the loss of friends and family.

These wounds run deep across our entire nation and, despite the amount of “normalcy” that has returned to some degree, we are still recovering from all that we’ve experienced since the beginning of 2020. Although many things have made us stronger and many things have caused us to improve and become better, the simple truth is that we will never be the same. Let’s learn about the role of women in business, and how eCommerce has been a game changer.

Women are Doing More Than Their Fair Share

One demographic who has felt all of us on a very large, and heavy scale, is women. In general, women have always worn many different hats, and have borne many kinds of responsibilities, from work to home life, and beyond. However, with the pandemic, women were hit particularly hard.

Not only do women find themselves being the fallback person for household responsibilities, like managing food preparation and cleanup, maintaining the cleanliness of the home, and making sure the children are taken care of, but with the pandemic, they have had these burdens increased. Many of us are working from home, so there is more food to be consumed and more cleanup needing to happen. Not to mention that kids were doing school via zoom much of last year, which brought it slew of new challenges to the home.

On top of all of this, women are also the group who are the most likely to work in industries hit the hardest by COVID quarantines and lockdowns, which induced loss of profits and subsequently, loss of jobs for employees. Women are more likely to work in hospitality, food services, and in-store retail, which means they were also hit hard with loss of hours, and total loss of income.

Women are always resourceful, and certainly no less so during all the hardships of a global pandemic. For this reason, many women turned to selling online on sites like eBay to bring in an income and still manage all that they needed to do at home. In fact, in the first 6 months of the pandemic, US based eBay businesses rose by 34%, and US based sales grew by 38%. Eighty-two percent of women who either began selling or increased their eBay presence. They did so due to hardships brought on by COVID.

eCommerce is Making a Difference

eBay has given women exactly what they need during this difficult time. Women who run an eBay business have the flexibility they need to manage everything in their lives. They also enjoy being their own boss, and they enjoy the ability to bring in an income for their household.

Selling on eBay has been a wonderful resource to help women to bear their additional burdens and to thrive during this uncertain time.

October 27, 2021
Microsoft and Shopify to Display Listings in Microsoft’s Products

Microsoft and Shopify are partnering to display merchant listings in Bing, as well as Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Start.

Shopify is one of the leading e-commerce platforms, with over 1.7 million merchants. Microsoft is looking to bring more products to its users across its Bing, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Start products.

The company made the announcement in a blog post.

For the millions of shoppers using Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Bing, and more recently Microsoft Start, this means a deeper selection of products from more than 1.7 million Shopify merchants. Using the Shopping tab on Microsoft Bing, and Microsoft Edge, you will now see more diverse products, better prices, and improved discovery of deals. You will also be able to simply check out via the Shopping tab on Microsoft Bing quickly and securely.

The new partnership will also significantly improve visibility and reach for Shopify merchants.

For Shopify merchants, this partnership will help significantly expand the reach of their brands and products with just a few clicks. Getting started is simple; using the improved Microsoft Channel app, merchants can easily connect with shoppers across the Microsoft network. Shopify merchants’ products will also automatically show on the Shopping tab on Microsoft Bing and the Microsoft Start Shopping tab for free as product listings. Shopify merchants will also find value in creating new ad campaigns and viewing marketing performance through real-time reports in their Shopify store.

Microsoft says the new partnership is just the beginning of enhancements it has planned for shoppers.

October 25, 2021
Lawmakers Accuse Amazon of Misleading Congress, Threaten Criminal Probe

Amazon is in the hot seat, with US lawmakers accusing the e-commerce giant of misleading Congress and threatening a criminal probe in response.

Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce website, but not everyone is happy with how the company conducts business. The company has recently been accused of promoting its own brands at the expense of other, more popular options.

Lawmakers are now saying Amazon lied to them about how it uses third-party seller data, accusing the company of using that data for its own benefit. Doing so would give the e-commerce giant a significant advantage over the companies using its platform to sell their goods, allowing Amazon to determine what products and features are particularly desirable to consumers and then create knockoffs. Combined with its practice of promoting its own goods over others, it paints a picture of a company that preys off of the very companies that have helped make its platform so successful.

In response to a report in Reuters, the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Amazon giving the company one last chance to correct the record.

“At best, this reporting confirms that Amazon’s representatives misled the Committee. At worst, it demonstrates that they may have lied to Congress in possible violation of federal criminal law. In light of the serious nature of this matter, we are providing you with a final opportunity to provide exculpatory evidence to corroborate the prior testimony and statements on behalf of Amazon to the Committee. We strongly encourage you to make use of this opportunity to correct the record and provide the Committee with sworn, truthful, and accurate responses to this request as we consider whether a referral of this matter to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation is appropriate.”

October 18, 2021
Reddit 1-800 Flowers Ad Goes Viral

“Our ads on Reddit have gotten a lot of traction and puts a big smile on people’s faces,” says 1-800 Flowers CEO Chris McCann. “That’s what we’re trying to do is just make sure we’re relevant and create that cognitive speed bump when people think about our company. They see something different and I’m thrilled with the creative team for coming up with something like that.”

Reddit Ad That Went Viral for 1-800-Flowers.com

As usual, some opinionated Redditers expressed their thoughts on the ads:

1-800 Flowers CEO discusses the company’s growth that was accelerated by the pandemic:

Ecommerce Growth Accelerated During Pandemic

What we’ve seen is an acceleration of growth in our company that began back in 2018 and really then accelerated even further in 2020 with the pandemic. It’s driven by the need for us as people to connect and express ourselves. As a company whose vision is to inspire more human expression, connection, and celebration, and as an ecommerce leader, we’re well-positioned in the trends that we see coming out of this pandemic. We think these trends are sustainable going forward.

We started out as one flower shop many years ago. What we’ve done is created this e-commerce platform for growth, a platform for expression, connection, and celebration. It starts with this all-star family of brands that we have led by Harry & David, 1-800-Flowers, Cheryl’s Cookies, Shari’s Berries, and our recent acquisition just this past August of Personalization Mall. You see us now as a company in the expression and connection business with a leadership position in floral, a leadership position in gourmet food gifting, and certainly now leadership and position in expressions and personalized items which is a fast-growing market.

You’ll continue to continue to see us grow by organic product development of products that help customers express and connect. And as we’ve done through acquisition, adding to that platform and leveraging that platform that we’ve built.

Need To Express and Connect Is a Lasting Trend

Hopefully, the vaccines accelerate and we turn to some sense of normalcy sooner rather than later. As we look at our business, the momentum we saw began in 2018 and 2019 and then accelerated with the pandemic. We’ve been on a good momentum growth even before the pandemic and we really see ourselves now as a bigger stronger company than we were prior to it. We’ve acquired Personalization Mall just this past August and by putting it on our platform and leveraging our digital marketing expertise we accelerated the growth of that company. It grew by 50 percent this last quarter.

A year ago August we acquired Shari’s Berries and took a business that was stagnant and losing money to now one that’s got a nice growth rate and is generating a nice contribution margin as well. If we just keep our focus on what the consumer is looking for to help express and connect then we’ll be continuing to see double-digit growth for some time to come. That trend that we’ve all learned from being isolated, our need to express and connect is a lasting trend coming out of this pandemic along with the shift from offline to online.

1-800 Flowers Ecommerce Growth Accelerated During Pandemic

October 6, 2021