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Tag: ecommerce

  • Ecommerce Ad Spending Doubles As a Result of Coronavirus

    Ecommerce Ad Spending Doubles As a Result of Coronavirus

    While some industries may be reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, ecommerce ad spending is experiencing a boon.

    According to Search Engine Land, a recent report details the growth ecommerce ad spending is currently undergoing, jumping “from $4.8 million the week of February 17 to $9.6 million the week of March 9. The data, released by media sales intelligence firm MediaRadar on Friday, encompasses advertising spend across national TV, print and digital media, including websites, Snapchat, YouTube and podcasts.”

    The data is another indication that the U.S. and world economies are experiencing fundamental shifts as a result of the pandemic. People are practicing social distancing, working from home, turning to social gaming for human interaction, relying on cloud environments, communicating via Slack or Microsoft Teams and turning to videoconferencing in never before seen numbers. Similarly, the increase in ad spending corresponds to people sheltering in place and relying on ecommerce for their day-to-day needs.

    The longer the pandemic goes on, the more likely such trends will become permanent, forever changing how people go about their personal and work lives.

  • Coronavirus: Amazon Taking Drastic Action to Meet Demand

    Coronavirus: Amazon Taking Drastic Action to Meet Demand

    Amazon is prioritizing shipments of essential items to its warehouses, as it struggles to keep up with demand in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

    As governments, schools and companies take drastic measures to stop the spread of the virus, unprecedented numbers of individuals are staying home. With restaurants and bars closed in many areas, and grocery store shelves running light, people are having to rely on their home supplies and online shopping like never before. The new status quo has strained supply chains, prompting even Walmart to adjust hours to help give stocking crews a chance to catch up.

    Amazon has likewise felt the strain, and is now taking major action to try to meet demand.

    “As COVID-19 has spread, we’ve recently seen an increase in people shopping online which has had an impact on how we serve our customers,” reads a company blog post. “So in the short term, we are making the decision to temporarily prioritize household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so we can more quickly receive, restock and ship these products to customers. Products already on its way to our fulfillment centers will be accepted. This does not impact products being delivered to customers, or products currently in stock in our store. Customers can continue to buy any in-stock product in our store, and we will continue to deliver them.”

    Amazon’s announcement is a major change and will likely have far-reaching financial consequences for companies that rely on Amazon to sell their products. Amazon has already faced tremendous skepticism from retail companies who are reluctant to rely on the company’s cloud solutions, as Amazon is one of their biggest competitors. Now that many companies are seeing one of their primary order fulfillment avenues suspend shipment of their products, even temporarily, companies may be more hesitant to rely as heavily on Amazon in the future.

  • Coronavirus: Amazon Hiring Additional 100,000 Warehouse Workers

    Coronavirus: Amazon Hiring Additional 100,000 Warehouse Workers

    With more Americans relying on online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon is hiring an additional 100,000 warehouse workers.

    Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations said: “We are opening 100,000 new full and part-time positions across the U.S. in our fulfillment centers and delivery network to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service during this stressful time, particularly those most vulnerable to being out in public.”

    In addition to working to meet demand and help people who are relying on the ecommerce giant, Amazon is also taking measures to help employees cope with the added challenges by offering a $2 per hour raise.

    “In addition to the additional 100,000 new roles we’re creating, we want to recognize our employees who are playing an essential role for people at a time when many of the services that might normally be there to support them are closed,” Clark continued. “In the U.S., we will be adding an additional $2 USD per hour worked through April from our current rate of $15/hour or more, depending on the region, £2 per hour in the UK, and approximately €2 per hour in many EU countries. This commitment to increased pay through the end of April represents an investment of over $350 million in increased compensation for hourly employees across the U.S., Europe, and Canada.”

    Amazon’s announcement is welcome news for customers and warehouse employees alike, and will hopefully help ease the strain from the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Grocery Foot Traffic is Walmart’s Secret, Says Analyst

    Grocery Foot Traffic is Walmart’s Secret, Says Analyst

    “Foot traffic has been the secret,” says Tim Lesko of Granite Investment Advisors. “Walmart a couple dozen years ago moved into grocery and that move, which was widely panned at the time, has really led foot traffic to stay steady. You’re still seeing same store sales growth in a retail industry that is really really under a lot of pressure. Stores that are able to maintain foot traffic, people that are going for grocery and then buying other goods, really creates a strong backdrop against other retailers.”

    Tim Lesko, partner at Granite Investment Advisors, discusses how foot traffic driven by their grocery business is key to Walmart’s continued growth in an otherwise difficult retail sector:

    Grocery Foot Traffic is Walmart’s Secret

    There are two things that are most important to us. One is that Walmart a couple dozen years ago moved into grocery and that move, which was widely panned at the time, has really led foot traffic to stay steady. You’re still seeing same store sales growth in a retail industry that is really really under a lot of pressure. So pretty happy to see that even though same store sales were a little light compared to street estimates, they were still positive. 

    Second is the online business. They continued to spend a lot of money and have done a really good job of growing that online business. People fail to recognize that they’re the second largest online retailer in the US. 

    Foot traffic has been the secret. Stores that are able to maintain foot traffic, whether they be stores that are people hunting for bargains in the TJ Max’s of the world or people that are going for grocery and then buying other goods really creates a strong backdrop against companies like Pier 1 which went bankrupt over the weekend. You’re seeing bankruptcies all over the landscape. You have to drive foot traffic. 

    Multiple Revenue Streams Makes Amazon a Difficult Competitor

    Multiple revenue streams is why Amazon is such a difficult competitor. They have businesses outside of their core retail business that really drive the profits and they continue to sell goods at a loss online. But interestingly, you have Amazon that’s moving from being a virtual merchant to now a bricks and mortar merchant, getting into grocery, getting into daily distribution of goods to people. 

    Walmart’s been doing that for years and has all of the goods in your geography. In the future world of same-day delivery and next day delivery, Walmart’s very well-positioned to provide that service. It’s almost like they’re both heading towards the same way but with Walmart at a much better valuation.

    Grocery Foot Traffic is Walmart’s Secret, Says Analyst
  • Verishop CEO On Competing With Amazon: “It’s Not a Zero Sum Game”

    Verishop CEO On Competing With Amazon: “It’s Not a Zero Sum Game”

    “The market narrative is always it’s a zero-sum game,” says Imran Khan, co-founder and CEO of Verishop, a new Amazon competitor launching soon. “You are coming in and it’s Verishop versus Amazon or Snap versus Facebook. Those are great stories, but ultimately I fundamentally believe that all of us are on the right side of the history in a sense. Not one company will take everything. It’s just impossible for one company to solve every problem.”

    Imran Khan, co-founder and CEO of Verishop, discusses how the Verishop shopping platform can compete and win market share from Amazon and others in an interview on Bloomberg Technology:

    There’s a Lot of Opportunity to Innovate in Ecommerce

    Ecommerce is now only 9 percent of the overall retail market. I believe that over the next decade 30-40 percent of all retail will be online. There are actually not that many consumer choices when you look for buying branded products, having a better experience, or having a better way to discover products. We think there’s a lot of opportunity to innovate. In markets like China, for example, where 25 percent of the market is ecommerce there are many more players in China compared to the US. So I think that’s a better way to bring joy in the consumer mind when they’re trying to buy things.

    In my time at Snap I noticed that millennials like to do more research before they buy something. They also care about responsibility in terms of shopping. They care about economy and sustainability. If you as a consumer, for example, want to buy sustainable products where do you really go? So we have a lot of different ways of discovering products. On our platform, we’ll have around 200 different attributes that consumers can use to find products. I’m really excited to bring in a new way of shopping to consumers. The market is very large and I think it can accommodate a lot of players.

    As Ecommerce Grows Not One Company Can Solve Everything

    I really admire Amazon and I’m a shareholder of Amazon personally through my fund. However, I think as ecommerce goes from 10 percent to 40 percent, not one company can solve everything. Amazon is also a juggernaut. They do software, they do a lot of different things. Again, I really admire the company but there are a lot of parts of ecommerce that are not being addressed by existing players. I think we can bring that. For example, discovery, we know that because ecommerce is still very much intent based I think we can give consumers a lot of different ways to discover new products.

    The key thing to keep in mind is the time spent on mobile device is only going to grow. The market narrative is always it’s a zero-sum game. You are coming in and it’s Verishop versus Amazon or Snap versus Facebook. Those are great stories, but ultimately I fundamentally believe that all of us are on the right side of the history in a sense. People are spending more and more time digitally and as people spend more time digitally there will be a lot more new businesses. Not one company will take everything. It’s just impossible for one company to solve every problem. Facebook does a great job with Instagram and Snap has done a great job with camera. I think one will be bigger and the other smaller, but only time will tell. But I think both can co-exist very well.

    Verishop to Focus on Trust

    We are going to launch in late June or early July. You will see our commitment in four areas. Number one is trust. Most of the ecommerce players are marketplaces. When you’re in a marketplace where anybody can go list something or anybody can post something the platform is prone to counterfeit and fraud. We saw that with eBay we saw that with Facebook with the Russians and we saw that with Talbot in China. What we’re doing is we’re acquiring all the product directly from the brands by guaranteeing that everything you’re buying is real.

    Trust is going to become an important topic on the internet. Over the last 25 years, the internet was built on the premise of an open platform and we saw that when everything is open and there are no rules it brings chaos. We solve that at Verishop by sourcing all of the products that we are sourcing directly from the brands to ensure that they are real.

    The second key thing (that distinguishes) the Verishop platform is discovering new products. Again, ecommerce is very much intent-based, so we are giving consumers more choices to discover products through a lot of different ways that you will see. Our third focus is we’re going to continue to make a big commitment on convenience. I know Amazon and other companies do this it but we’re going to continue to do so by offering free shipping, free return, all those kind of things. We’re excited and it’s just the beginning. It takes a long time to build a business and hopefully we’ll continue to bring new products and new innovation to the platform.

    Verishop CEO Imran Khan On Competing With Amazon: “It’s Not a Zero Sum Game”
  • Alibaba.com Opens World’s Largest B2B Marketplace To US Businesses

    Alibaba.com Opens World’s Largest B2B Marketplace To US Businesses

    “Alibaba.com is the largest B2B marketplace on the planet,” says John Caplan, the North America B2B President at Alibaba Group. “Today is a great day for US small businesses. Manufacturers and wholesalers can join Alibaba.com today to sell to the world. The platform is now open to enable those businesses to reach the 190 countries at four corners of the globe where we have ten million business buyers on the platform. That business is $23.9 trillion and in fact, it’s six times larger than the B2C market.”

    John Caplan, President, North America B2B at Alibaba Group, discusses opening Alibaba.com to US small businesses to reach 10 million new B2B buyers, in an interview on Bloomberg:

    Alibaba.com Now Open To US Small Businesses

    Today is a great day for US small businesses. Manufacturers and wholesalers can join Alibaba.com today to sell to the world. The platform is now open to enable those businesses to reach the 190 countries at four corners of the globe where we have ten million business buyers on the platform. That business is $23.9 trillion and in fact, it’s six times larger than the B2C market. Alibaba.com is the largest B2B marketplace on the planet. What we built are simple to use tools for small businesses to have a global storefront, to market to customers, and then to reach deep into the globe so that they can sell their goods.

    Today’s the big announcement. But in fact, one-third of the demand, the buyers on Alibaba.com, are here in the United States. So those folks we’ve been doing business with for 20 years since Jack founded the company. Now what we’re saying to them is you’ve been sourcing on the platform and now you can, in fact, sell to the world on the platform. We are entirely focused on the B2B market. It is $23.9 trillion. Alibaba.com is purpose-built to help small businesses sell to the world. We’re very focused on helping digitize small businesses around the globe.

    70 Percent of US Small Businesses Do Not Sell Online

    One interesting statistic, 70 percent of US small businesses do not sell online today. This market is not yet digitized. What we’ve created are simple to use tools to help small businesses get online. It’s an interesting space because. In fact, the value chain for small businesses, the value chain for B2B is so complex that no one has digitized it end-to-end other than Alibaba.com. 

    We’ve actually created a platform that enables a small business to message, talk to, negotiate with, pay, and handle the logistics for orders end-to-end. I think we’re in a class by ourselves.  Our business has seen a triple-digit growth and this plan has been in the works for many years. I joined Alibaba.com in 2017. The transformation of our business from a yellow page business to an end-to-end procurement platform is now adding the globalized supply to the platform.

    Alibaba.com Opens World’s Largest B2B Marketplace To US Businesses – John Caplan
  • We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow, Says eBay CEO

    We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow, Says eBay CEO

    “The most important thing that we look at is the underlying health of the marketplace,” says eBay CEO Devin Wenig. “For me, that really comes down to three things. It’s how many people are shopping with us? How many people are selling with us? And how much inventory is in the marketplace? What’s on the shelves if you will. All three of those have never been higher. We’ve seen active buyers consistently grow, we added two million last quarter.”

    Devin Wenig, CEO of eBay, discusses their strong Q2 earnings announcement and growth going forward. Wenig also took the opportunity to slam the internet sales tax movement, saying the “internet sales tax is a regressive tax on small business,” in an interview on CNBC:

    We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow

    The most important thing that we look at is the underlying health of the marketplace. For me, that really comes down to three things. It’s how many people are shopping with us? How many people are selling with us? And how much inventory is in the marketplace? What’s on the shelves if you will. All three of those have never been higher. We’ve seen active buyers consistently grow, we added two million last quarter. We continue to see growth in business sellers and inventory. If you look in our history every time those numbers grow GMV (gross merchandise value) grows. 

    What we’re facing right now is a couple of things and GMV can move up or down in the 90 day period. We are in the middle of a rollout of internet sales tax, which we know is making an impact, particularly on our US business. We’re also seeing the withdrawal of some of the marketing spend that we did last year, which was part of the plan. We said we would do that this year and we have a line of sight to it, and it’s explainable. So we’re not that concerned about GMV being soft in the short run. What we see is a healthy marketplace and we know when those metrics grow GMV follows, as it has in every year in our past 24 years.

    We’ve raised guidance now twice in the last two quarters. We don’t give GMV guidance. We give revenue guidance and earnings guidance. We started the year saying this year was about growing the underlying marketplace metrics and let’s get the two real growth priorities, advertising, and payments, going. And half of the way in I’d say I’m pleased but not satisfied. I’d say we’ve made a lot of progress against those priorities, although we still have a long way to go. But it’s given us the confidence to raise our forecast in Q1 and we raised it again yesterday. So that’s a good start, a good first half.

    Internet Sales Tax Is a Regressive Tax On Small Business

    At the beginning of the year, there were no states that had enacted a marketplace collection of sales tax. Now we have nine and there are 30 that have declared and 30 will be in place by the end of this year. Obviously, when a state declares an internet sales tax we must collect on behalf of the sellers. So we have a forward view as to how many states will enact that tax and where it will be in place by the end of the year. It will be 30 and it will cover the majority of our sales in the US and the fourth quarter of this year will be the peak. 

    The impact of internet sales tax will make a bigger impact before it wanes. It’ll wane as we lap out of it next year. I’ll just take the opportunity to say I think it’s a bad policy. We’ve been advocating on behalf of small businesses for years that an internet sales tax is a regressive tax on small business and that is exactly what we’re seeing.

    We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow, Says eBay CEO Devin Wenig
  • Fiverr Is The Everything Store For Digital Services, Says CEO

    Fiverr Is The Everything Store For Digital Services, Says CEO

    “Fiverr is the everything store for digital services,” says Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman. “The way people usually find freelancers is they post on Facebook asking if someone knows a good graphics designer. What we’re doing is we’re making it a one-click experience. There’s no bidding, betting, negotiating. There’s browse, search, buy. It’s an Amazon experience to buy a digital service.”

    Micha Kaufman, CEO of Fiverr, discusses today’s IPO and how Fiverr has become the Amazon for digital services in an interview on CNBC:

    Fiverr Is The Everything Store For Digital Services

    Fiverr connects freelancers with businesses of all sizes. Really, the uniqueness of the platform is that the experience of buying a digital service on Fiverr is very similar to shopping on Amazon. You browse, you search, you find something, you click order, and it’s done. Graphic design is one of our most popular services on the platform. Also popular are content marketing, videography, animation, music services, and marketing and advertising. Anything you can imagine.

    It’s the everything store for digital services. The system helps you productize your offering. You can define what you’re offering, how much time it’s going to take you to deliver, and the asking price. All the buyers have to do is screen through the offerings, find something they like, click order and pay, and they are done.

    It’s An Amazon Experience To Buy a Digital Product

    In the categories in which we operate there is a volume of activity of $100 billion in the US alone. It’s still only a single digit percentage online. It’s a very old-school business. The way people usually find freelancers is they post on Facebook asking if someone knows a good graphics designer. What we’re doing is we’re making it a one-click experience. There’s no bidding, betting, negotiating. There’s browse, search, buy. It’s an Amazon experience to buy a digital service. Nobody has done it before. The average time to make an order on Fiverr is 15 minutes. this is unbeatable. It’s unmatched.

    We take a take out of every transaction. It’s one of the industry-leading take rates of over 26 percent. If you look at the EBITDA margins, you see that they’re shrinking. The way we actually structured the business is that we continue to grow aggressively while shrinking our negative EBITDA. There is a clear path to profitability. We are operating in over 160 countries. Our growth is coming globally from the adoption of freelancing online.

    Our Primary Competitor is Definitely the Offline Market

    Our primary competitor is definitely the offline market. I don’t know if it’s 96 or 97 percent of the activity offline, but we don’t need to eat anyone’s lunch to grow. We just need to move offline activity to the online. The offline freelancing market is massive. we’ve estimated that market to be a hundred billion dollars in the US alone. Europe is 1.5 times bigger than the US. There are over 162 million freelancers between the EU and the US. The opportunity is massive and it’s just starting to come online. This is like 1995 for ecommerce. This is so exciting.

    Fiverr doesn’t hire its freelancers. It’s just the market that connects freelancers with businesses that have their digital needs. The way the marketplace is structured is such where we don’t have any employee-employer relationships. We are not relying on freelancers. We’re just connecting that supply with a demand that comes forward. We’re the platform on top of which they actually conduct their transaction. We just provide the platform to make that happen. It is very different than Uber and Lyft.

    Fiverr Is The Everything Store For Digital Services, Says Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman
  • Everything Can Be Digital At The End Of The Day, Says Wingstop CEO

    Everything Can Be Digital At The End Of The Day, Says Wingstop CEO

    “Everything can be digital at the end of the day,” says Wingstop CEO Charles Morrison. “We still take a lot of phone orders and a lot of people still walk. So every time somebody accesses us we want the opportunity to digitize that transaction. Why? Because the digital transaction tends to have almost a five-dollar higher average ticket and is more profitable for our franchisees which means a better return on investment and more new restaurants to grow on.”

    Charles Morrison, CEO of Wingstop, discusses how digitalization is powering their growth and profitability in an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC:

    Everything Can Be Digital At The End Of The Day

    We believe it’s a fantastic partnership with DoorDash. What they focus on is making merchants successful. As the merchant that’s exactly what we want. And they take care of the logistics. In our partnership, we’ve made sure that we are always working together to ensure that no matter how you access Wingstop, whether it be carryout or walk-in or through delivery, you’re going to get the same great experience. We believe they’re best positioned to provide that.

    Everything can be digital at the end of the day. We still take a lot of phone orders and a lot of people still walk. So every time somebody accesses us we want the opportunity to digitize that transaction. Why? Because the digital transaction tends to have almost a five-dollar higher average ticket and is more profitable for our franchisees which means a better return on investment and more new restaurants to grow on. I think people spend more time with the menu (on digital). They get to know the menu. They add a couple of items on to that and they’re not as intimidated by the phone call and the rush that they see at the front counter.

    Digital Technologies Create Efficiencies To Help Us Grow

    We’ve been a socially active brand as it relates to social media for many years. We’ve become large enough and have scaled to national advertising. Our franchisees generously added one percent to the advertising spend so they now spend four percent to a national fund. That has been redeployed into fantastic new media and new creative which is really helping drive that same point 7.1% comp that you saw in the first quarter.

    In our brand, we’re pretty well insulated (against labor shortages). We have a very small roster already, so in that small footprint, it doesn’t take a lot of people to operate a Wingstop. I don’t know that you’ll necessarily see us doing anything to remove the number of people in a restaurant. We do believe through digital technologies and further digitalization of our business that we can create efficiencies that create capacity that will help us to grow. This will take the pressure off the labor line.

    Everything Can Be Digital At The End Of The Day, Says Wingstop CEO Charles Morrison
  • Younger Consumers Want To Connect Emotionally with Brands, Says PVH CEO

    Younger Consumers Want To Connect Emotionally with Brands, Says PVH CEO

    “Especially today, younger consumers want to connect emotionally with brands,” says Manny Chirico, CEO of apparel company PVH, which owns many lifestyle brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. “They don’t want to just aspire for your brand looking down the runway, they want to be part of the life of the brand. I think Tommy Hilfiger does it well.”

    Manny Chirico, CEO of apparel company PVH, which owns many lifestyle brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, discusses how the company has turned around by focusing on ecommerce, technology, and connecting with young consumers. He was interviewed on CNBC:

    Consumer Experience is Critical

    You have to be willing to make the investment. I think we really have done it (turned around the company), from not only a brand marketing point of view, but investing in all the new technologies and investing in the ecommerce platforms that really will drive the business going forward. Our stores are highly profitable and we need to continue to invest in those stores. The consumer experience is critical and we’re making connections with a younger and younger consumer.

    We’re all dealing with the challenge of the distribution models changing, but fundamentally we’ve always been a multi-channel retailer. We have big businesses in brick and mortar, both direct-to-consumer in our own stores and through our key wholesale partners like Macy’s here in the US or Galeries Lafayette in Europe. Those key players we continue to invest back into those platforms.

    Younger Consumers Want To Connect Emotionally with Brands

    The challenge with that high-end collector fashion business is are you connecting with a younger consumer today and how do you make your investments as you as you go forward? I think it needs to be more balanced than it’s been. Especially today, younger consumers want to connect emotionally with brands. They don’t want to just aspire for your brand looking down the runway, they want to be part of the life of the brand.

    I think Tommy (Hilfiger) does it well. We just have a fashion show in Paris with Tommy selling product immediately after that trying to connect with the consumer at more affordable price points than what you would see from the luxury point of view. That’s how you build big businesses. We’re not trying to build niche businesses selling just $2,000 men’s suits or evening gowns. We’re really about building big lifestyle businesses.


  • Digitizing Unilever is One of My Top Priorities, Says CEO

    Digitizing Unilever is One of My Top Priorities, Says CEO

    “Digitizing Unilever is one of my top priorities,” says Unilever’s new CEO Alan Jope. “How we digitize marketing. How we digitize working with our customers. Digitizing our supply chain. Digitizing our people processes. You are going to see a strong digital emphasis in my agenda for Unilever.”

    Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, discussed Unilever’s growth in Asian markets and his priority to digitize the company in an interview on Bloomberg Markets and Finance this morning:

    Digitizing Unilever is One of My Top Priorities

    In China, all of our ecommerce partners are very important to us. That’s where a lot of the growth is. That’s because that’s where consumers are choosing to shop. That integration between ecommerce, search, social, and other digital platforms is also happening in the west. Digitizing Unilever is one of my top priorities. How we digitize marketing. How we digitize working with our customers. Digitizing our supply chain. Digitizing our people processes.

    You are going to see a strong digital emphasis in my agenda for Unilever. We are hiring people with good digital skills like crazy at the moment. We are bringing in digital natives and at the same time reskilling the Unilever team.

    China Has Become a Stable Part of Our Business

    China is a special place for me, I lived there for five years quite recently. I’m delighted to share that China has become a stable part of our business actually. We are seeing good growth year in and year out. Consumers are engaging with the type of brands we are selling and increasingly we are developing products in China for the Chinese market. In amongst all that volatility, it seems like the consumer products segment is one of the stable parts of the Chinese economy.

    We have a tremendous global footprint. We are very globally diversified. We are used to dealing with geopolitical shocks and movements. At the moment that is certainly not a significant impact on our business. We are seeing overall Asia doing very well. In particular Central Asia. The markets in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are really doing extremely well. As I mentioned China has been a stable source of growth. Also, that important part of the world where people are really moving into the consumer products markets Southeast Asia. We are starting to see a recovery led by our big business in Indonesia.

    https://youtu.be/dw8K4PF70_s


  • Customers Rapidly Deserting Malls for Ecommerce, Says Former Toys ‘R’ Us CEO

    Customers Rapidly Deserting Malls for Ecommerce, Says Former Toys ‘R’ Us CEO

    Nordstrom is the class act of the department store segment and doing everything right says Former Toys ‘R’ Us CEO, Gerald Storch. Unfortunately, that is not enough according to Storch because customers are deserting malls for ecommerce.

    He predicts that only top-tier malls will survive and even those will have to adapt to attract millennials. For Nordstrom and other department stores to survive and thrive they will have to quickly need to learn how to make money on the internet.

    Gerald Storch, former CEO of Toys ‘R’ Us and CEO of Storch Advisors, discusses the death of most malls and the need for department stores like Nordstrom to do better at making money on the internet on Fox Business:

    Nordstrom “Doing Everything Right” But It’s Not Enough

    Nordstrom is the class act of the department store segment. They are doing everything right. Everything people say they should be doing but it’s not enough. Their stores are in great condition. They invest in their stores, they’re beautiful. They invest in their people, their service is the best in the industry. You love going to Nordstrom.

    They have great internet and have invested in their ecommerce sites. They have great data management and customer relationship management skills. They have great style, their merchandise is pretty good.

    Customers Rapidly Deserting Malls for Ecommerce

    But it’s not enough. There is a hole in the bottom of the boat and the water is pouring in and they can’t bail fast enough. That hole is that customers are deserting the malls and they are going to mass merchants off the malls and of course to ecommerce.

    I don’t think it is the demise of the department store. I think the all-channel model will still succeed. But in order to be profitable, a department store like Nordstrom needs to learn how to make more money on the internet. You can’t just say do all the things in the bricks and mortar store, make them more experiential, etc. They’ve been doing that and it’s not enough.

    You can see that in their results. Their high-end stores were up in sales only three-tenths of one percent over the holiday period. That includes their ecommerce which was up 18 percent. You don’t have to know a lot of algebra to know that their physical bricks and mortar stores were sharply negative during this season.

    You need to embrace the inevitable. You can’t just build a sort of fancier stagecoach in order to prevent the advent of the automobile. You have to build a profitable ecommerce site. That requires redoing their business system in order to be profitable online.

    Only the Best Malls Remain Viable Enough to Transform

    We talk about ‘A Malls’, ‘B Malls’, and ‘C Malls’. The ‘C Malls’ are gone. They will become doctors offices, insurance offices, places to get your nails filed, that kind of a thing. They’re done. Forget about them.

    The ‘B Malls’ are a mixed bag. Some of them will be fantastic mixed-used developments. They need to be repurposed. You can’t keep them the way they are. That’s for sure. You saw Google putting office space in there. I think you will see a lot of residential, apartment buildings along with streetscapes in those kinds of malls.

    The ‘A Malls’ are still viable and they will be. They’re putting in great restaurants, theaters, entertainment, and successful concepts which attract young people, millennials, who have not really been going to the mall.


  • Lands’ End CEO: If You Are Not on Amazon You Are Not Relevant

    Lands’ End CEO: If You Are Not on Amazon You Are Not Relevant

    “For us, our partnership with Amazon was all about new customer acquisition,” says Lands’ End CEO Jerome Griffith. “If you look at searches online, more people go to Amazon to search for clothing than anyplace. If you are not there you are not relevant.”

    Jerome Griffith, CEO of Lands’ End, discussed the recent turnaround of Lands’ End and the reasons for it on Fox Business:

    We Are Doing Well Because We Went Back to Basics

    We’ve had six quarters of sales increases and five straight quarters of EBITDA increases. The company is on a good track right now. We are doing well because we went back to basics at Lands’ End and made Lands’ End what Lands’ End was meant to be.

    We Veered Away From Who the Customer Was

    The company has a very loyal consumer base. In fact, the conversion rates online are some of the best in the industry. That means the customers like what we give them. What happened over the years is we sort of veered away from who the customer was. We seemed to be saying we want a different customer. Now we don’t. We know who our customer is and we want them.

    If You Are Not on Amazon You Are Not Relevant

    For us, our partnership with Amazon was all about new customer acquisition. If you look at searches online, more people go to Amazon to search for clothing than anyplace. If you are not there you are not relevant.

    If Tariffs Come We Will Weather the Storm

    Right now we are extremely well diversified, we don’t have one country that we are over-penetrated. So even if tariffs come into effect I think we will probably weather the storm. This company is really focusing on our business fundamentals, top line growth, bottom line growth. Outside of that I can’t affect what the market does on a day in and day out basis. I tell the guys here worry about what you can affect, not what you can’t.


  • How to Become a Top Rated Seller on eBay

    How to Become a Top Rated Seller on eBay

    One of the most important topics for retailers is getting your listings to the top of eBay search results, or in other words, eBay SEO. For many businesses, learning how to do effective eBay SEO can literally mean the difference between making a few hundred bucks or thousands of dollars.

    JR Business recently talked about how they have risen to the top of very popular eBay search results and offered their insider advice for you to do the same. In fact, on one recent listing, they have made over $70,000 in just two months. Below are some highlights from their recent talk on how to do eBay right:

    Getting Started with eBay SEO

    We’ve been using eBay for ten years now and are very successful on the platform.  We have hundreds of listings that occupy very high SEO rankings on search results. For example, there’s a search result with 1.8 million results and we occupy two of the top three slots. eBay SEO is very tricky, they are constantly changing things, tweaking things, updating the platform, so you have to stay up-to-date and if you don’t make certain changes when they need to be made you’re gonna drop in SEO ranking. It’s very hard to stay relevant and at the top but we’ve managed to do it by following 3 important steps.

    The 3 big things are the performance of your account, the listing set up, and your customer satisfaction. eBay SEO really falls into those 3 categories and those are what’s going to make up your ranking.

    Becoming a Top Rated Seller

    eBay is not going to put their number one listing as somebody who has 4 seller feedback points, 40 points or even 400 points. You need a lot of seller feedback points to get to the top of eBay search results.

    Being a top rated seller or a power seller is going to help immensely. However, becoming a  top-rated seller is really tricky to get. You have to accept refunds, you have to have a certain shipping time and can’t be delayed on shipments, and you have to have a high customer satisfaction. You have to meet all these standards and also have a certain number of transactions and also hit a certain dollar amount in sales. All these things have to be there to become a top rated seller. Once you are there, you get a discount on seller fees and again it helps with SEO.

    Pay for Everything eBay Offers

    It is important to pay for everything that they offer sellers on eBay. If your listing is going to do super successful long-term, you’re going to make a ton of money from it, then pay for the $2 subtitle, the $4 bull title, the secondary listing category, the enlarged images for a dollar… all that stuff!  It is very little in the grand scheme of things. If you’re gonna be making a lot of money for that listing, like its a cash cow listing, then you need to throw the money at eBay.

    My theory is that since you’re paying eBay more then they may help you out a little bit. More importantly, in the buyer’s eyes, when they see a bold title, an enlarged image, and they can find you in two categories, this will increase engagement with your listing.

    Pack Your Titles Full of Keywords

    I also can’t emphasize enough the packing of your listing title full of keywords that people are going to search for. Based on what industry and niche you’re in you should know what keywords are going to do the best. If you’re selling iPhone chargers, you better know to pack that title with “works with iPhone six, seven, eight and ten, etc.

    When you’re done with the title there should be zero characters remaining. You need to pack that thing full. When somebody searches something on eBay it is referencing off the title unless they do a description search, but otherwise, it has to be in the title to show up.

    The subtitle isn’t searchable but it’s still important. Once they find your listing, you want to make sure they stay on your listing and that they have enough information.

    Create Extremely Long Descriptions

    They need to know about the product, so not only are you packing in information into the title and the subtitle, but also the item specifics. Those are the pre-fill in little boxes that eBay gives you based on what category you selected. So fill in that information but also the description, it’s one of the most important parts of the listing.

    Please do not have a four-sentence description! I see it all too often, but that’s just gonna kill your listing. If you not giving them all the information they need to know about the item and if you’re not keeping them on your listing, they’re gonna go somewhere else and find one that explains it better.

    You should have a nice attractive title, maybe inlay a picture or something in the description, but also just have paragraph upon paragraph about the item. Then talk about your shipping methods and if you’re an experienced account say so. We always say that we’re a trusted eBay seller for the past ten years with thousands of feedback points. We tell them to look at our recent feedback, reassuring confidence in them.

    Ship as Fast as Possible and for Free

    It’s unbelievably important to have quick shipping times. There’s no reason not to be shipping within one to two days, and you shouldn’t ever need three-day handling time because it starts to hurt your sales. Anything above five days or more is really going to affect your performance.

    If eBay sees that you’re a fast shipper and that’s what you described, at the top of the listing they’ll post fast and free shipping and estimated time delivery. People want to get their stuff quick!

    You should also offer free shipping. Personally, just about every single one of my items is free shipping. That helps with the algorithm because eBay can tell the buyers free shipping and they see it as a better deal.

    Improve Listing Performance with Deals

    One other big tip for listing performance, I have found a lot of success with using sales promotions. It may not even be that much of a sale, but something about buyers seeing sale is going to Incline them to buy. Sales also plays into eBay SEO as well.  

    Experiment with Sponsored Listings

    One other thing that you can experiment with is the sponsored listings with eBay. I promote some of my listings and have found good success because it helps them move up in search results quickly.  

    To get the ball rolling I throw some sponsored ad budget through eBay and they’ll often bump it up to the first page. Then people start to see it and then some solds will start to appear. Once you start selling some items and you have good buyer satisfaction on that listing and people are leaving good reviews and they’re not returning the items that will help immensely with your eBay search ranking.

    Keep Your Customers Satisfied

    If you have 6 five-star reviews on your listing people are gonna feel super safe buying. We all know we feel reassured when we see good reviews on an item. Alternatively, if you see only one-star reviews on an item that will hurt your customer satisfaction. That’s why having good communications with your customer, working out problems and just making sure everything is top-notch with the transaction is so important.

    Good reviews and good feedback on your account is so big because once you get some products sold on the listing everything is gonna compound pretty quickly. You’ll start getting some reviews on your products, you’ll start to get some sold quantity.  

    I Made $70,000 With One Good eBay Listing

    Two months ago I added what I thought would be a good listing, nothing crazy, but I knew it’d be a decent cash cow listing. I probably spent about six hours making a full thorough description. I went really really detailed on that and I paid $12 for extra eBay boosts as I described above.

    So $12 and six hours of my time and within a couple weeks it was starting to sell. I sold 30 or 40 quantity on this listing and each item is over 50 bucks apiece, so I was making some money. I’m like okay that’s pretty good, and then that point of compounding came and things just started to hit and the listing took off. It went crazy with people loving the items, had great reviews and eBay could see that fast and free shipping with timely deliveries tracking.

    It was a perfect listing and it really started to take off and now two months later that single listing has sold over $70,000 worth of product!

  • How Mattel Optimizes Marketing on Walmart.com

    How Mattel Optimizes Marketing on Walmart.com

    Mattel is one of the largest distributors and brands sold on Walmart.com. Meredith Wollman manages the customer experience and all of the digital marketing for Mattel products that are sold through the Walmart.com channel. Wollman was interviewed at the eTail Conference by Tammy Everts, Senior Director of Research at SOASTA, now part of Akamai.

    How do you deliver the high conversion rates that Walmart and Mattel expect?

    If you don’t have the fundamentals down no campaign is going to be successful. Before we consider an ad campaign we go back to the cradle and look at setting up the items. We make sure that each item has the correct title, correct brand attribution, the right content in terms of A+ asset, beautiful imagery,  lifestyle imagery, package, out of package, the right videos, whether we have short TV commercials, and any user-generated content.

    Whatever the case may be, making sure that those items are set up and that they are optimized properly is very important to do before we even look at a campaign. No campaign will be successful if the item isn’t set up properly and they aren’t engaging for the consumers and there aren’t reviews already on the product.

    How do you plan a campaign for Mattel on Walmart.com?

    We are looking at what are our big bets? Where do we have the biggest investment in terms of the products that we want to put in front of the consumer? Every campaign looks at our on-hand inventory and where we are hoping on having the consumer lean in big. What we do is set up the campaign around that. We determine that if we can only have 5 or 6 hero images, what are those going to be? What are the products that we are going to use as the enticement for the consumer to come in and look at more?

    Then, which brands are we going to focus on? We also look at all of the analytics in terms of geo-targeting. In this particular zip code, are consumers leaning in towards our latin Barbie? Are they leaning in towards our African American Barbie? We want to really personalize what shows up on the screen for the consumers so they are seeing what they want to see and what they didn’t even know that they wanted to see.

    It’s Definitely a Data-Driven Process…

    I think the days of gut testing everything have gone the way of the Dodo Bird. Everything has to be data-driven now. That doesn’t mean that you can’t test something new, we do that all of the time. We really look at the data first to determine which products, where, who, when and how. All of those key factors are looked at when determining what we are going to put forward. It has to be data-driven.

    Most Mattel Shoppers Start on Mobile in the Store

    About 75 percent of our consumers start their journey on mobile. They are either in the store looking at a product and then they go on their phone and look for reviews or they are in the store and looking at products to see how quickly it could be shipped. A lot of people start their journey online which is why it’s so important to be mobile optimized.

    They don’t all necessarily buy online but that’s where they start their journey. Some will buy online but then go pick up in the store, which is actually considered a store purchase.

    How are conversions for Mattel on Walmart.com?

    They are slightly higher than the norm of 4-6 percent. If you are hitting the consumer when they want to see the product and with the product, they want to see you will, of course, have a greater conversion rate. It comes down to being scientific and artful at the same time about not necessarily telling the consumer what we want them to know, but giving the consumer the information that they want.

    Those two don’t always mesh as easily as we’d like because we have things we want to share at certain times, but that’s not always what works best for the consumer. The better we understand the consumer and what they want and when they want it the more successful the campaign. It’s always the case when we are communicating something that we want them to know in the time frame that we want them to know that it’s not nearly as successful.

    Akamai Study Shows Load Time Impacts Revenue Significantly

    A study by Akamai shows that every 1 second of load time improvement on Walmart.com equaled a 2% conversion rate increase.


    Also, for every 100ms of improvement, incremental revenue grew by 1%. All ecommerce sites can benefit from increasing both the speed and efficiency of the consumer experience.

  • Brands Are Waking Up to the Inevitable of Selling on Amazon

    Brands Are Waking Up to the Inevitable of Selling on Amazon

    “Ecommerce is essentially digital disruption,” says David Spitz, ChannelAdvisor CEO, at the recent Retail (R)evolution 2018 conference. “If you are a brand or retailer and you are in that supply chain, or flow of commerce, digital disruption for ecommerce is like what Netflix did to Blockbuster. There’s a lot of retail disruption. The alternative of being able to click and get products very quickly, where you can now get deliveries in as little as an hour, makes the value proposition of getting in your car and going to the store very diminished.” Spitz says this leaves retailers looking for what they can do to remain relevant.

    He says that if you are a brand, manufacturer or CPG type company the path to the consumer is changing very rapidly. “In the US, ecommerce is still only 10 percent of total retail spend,” notes Spitz. “Most companies are still driving 90 percent of their revenue through the traditional retail channels, but the growth is in that (ecommerce) 10 percent. The path to the consumer is changing and it’s creating a new world order with the landscape shifting very rapidly.”

    Spitz is focused on the challenges of retailers. “I’ve spent a lot of time talking to a variety of brands such as paint manufacturers, tire manufacturers, apparel companies, etc. They are in this interesting crossroads because the bulk of their revenue still comes from the traditional retail channel and those are partnerships that are important to them and they don’t want to upset those partnerships. On the other hand, if you look at the rate of growth of Amazon, they are approaching half of US ecommerce. It continues to grow at roughly twice the rate of the industry so it’s not hard to imagine waking up in a world where Amazon accounts for 60-75 percent of US ecommerce.”

    If you are a brand, how do you reach those consumers? “Consumers are saying this is how I like to shop, it’s an easy app, I click and know I’m going to get the product quickly,” says Spitz. “Last summer, Nike decided to start selling on Amazon, and Nike had resisted selling on Amazon for the last 10 years. I think there was some dawning realization at some point that this is how customers want to shop. So a lot of these brands see it as inevitable, that’s how consumers like to shop and why make life hard for your customers?”

    “I think that channel mix conflict is very much real for brands but at the end of the day, the customer is what matters the most. If the customer says this is how I want to purchase your product if you are a brand you have to listen to that.”

    New world order indeed…

  • Best Christmas Sales Ever for Amazon and Its Own Devices Lead the Way

    Best Christmas Sales Ever for Amazon and Its Own Devices Lead the Way

    Amazon had a record Christmas and its own Alexa devices, Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablet and Amazon Echo, lead the way. Sales were up over last year’s holiday season an amazing 9 times.

    “Echo and Echo Dot were the best-selling products across Amazon this year, and we’re thrilled that millions of new customers will be introduced to Alexa as a result. Despite our best efforts and ramped-up production, we still had trouble keeping them in stock. From turning on Christmas lights and playing holiday music to shopping for gifts and asking for help with cookie recipes, Alexa continues to get smarter every day,” commented Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. “We couldn’t have made this holiday season possible for customers without the dedication and hard work of our customer service, transportation, and fulfillment associates along with our carrier partners – it’s amazing to see the teams come together to serve customers during the holidays. On behalf of Amazonians all around the world, we wish everyone happy holidays and the very best for the coming year.”

    Prime was huge for Amazon this season, with over 1 billion items shipped for free to Prime Members worldwide. Another interesting tidbit is that Amazon recorded its fastest shipped item on Christmas Eve at 13 minutes from order to delivery that was most likely a last minute gift for a loved one. The order included a Tile Slim Item Finder and a Tile Mate Key Finder.

    The last Prime Now order delivered in time for the holiday was delivered at 11:59 p.m. on December 24, 2016 to a Prime member in Irvine, California. The order included a Heated Mattress Pad, NyQuil and Afrin Nasal Spray.

    Here is Amazon’s full release of holiday shopping data points:

    Holidays with Alexa:

    • Alexa helped mix hundreds of thousands of cocktails this holiday season with Tom Collins and Manhattans being the most requested drinks from skills like The Bartender, Mixologist and DrinkBoy.
    • Chocolate chip and sugar cookies were the favorite recipes from Alexa skills like Food Network and Allrecipes.
    • Home Alone and Elf were the most requested holiday movies with Alexa.
    • Alexa helped play millions of holiday songs this year, and the top songs were Jingle Bells (1999 – Remaster) by Frank Sinatra, All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey and Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano.
    • What was Alexa asked to cook? The most popular cooking tips requested on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were turkey, prime rib and chocolate chip cookies.
    • Who played the most holiday music with Alexa? Customers in Seattle, New York and Chicago asked “Alexa, play holiday music” more than any other city in the U.S.
    • Who turned on Christmas Lights the most with Alexa? Customers in Seattle, San Diego and New York asked, “Alexa, turn on Christmas lights” more than any other city in the U.S.
    • What games were the most requested with Alexa this holiday? Alexa entertained families with popular games like Jeopardy!, Twenty Questions and The Magic Door.

    Amazon Prime:

    • More than one billion items shipped worldwide with Prime and Fulfillment by Amazon this holiday season.
    • More people around the world tried Prime this holiday season than any previous year.
    • The fastest Prime Now delivery on Christmas Eve took 13 minutes and was delivered at 9:05 p.m. to a Prime member in Redondo Beach, California. The order included a Tile Slim Item Finder and a Tile Mate Key Finder.
    • December 23, 2016 was the biggest day ever for Prime Now deliveries worldwide and members ordered 3x more items compared to last year with one and two hour delivery worldwide. Echo Dot, Amazon Echo, Fire TV Stick and Oreo Cookies were some of the most popular items ordered that day in the U.S.
    • The last Prime Now order delivered in time for the holiday was delivered at 11:59 p.m. on December 24, 2016 to a Prime member in Irvine, California. The order included a Heated Mattress Pad, NyQuil and Afrin Nasal Spray.
    • Prime members in Dallas, Texas ordered more items with Prime Now than any other city in the U.S. this holiday season.
    • The last Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery order from Amazon.com that was delivered in time for Christmas was ordered at 10:23 a.m. on December 24, 2016. The order included Venum Contender Boxing Gloves, and was delivered to a Prime member in Richmond, Virginia at 2:42 p.m. – the same day.

    Mobile Shopping:

    • More than 72 percent of Amazon customers worldwide shopped using a mobile device this holiday.
    • Shopping on the free Amazon mobile app grew by 56 percent this holiday, worldwide.
    • On Cyber Monday, Amazon customers worldwide purchased about 46 electronics per second on a mobile device.
    • On Cyber Monday, Amazon customers worldwide purchased about 36 toys per second on a mobile device.

    Amazon Operations:

    • December 19 was the peak worldwide shipping day this holiday season.
    • In the U.S., more than 200,000 full-time and seasonal associates made the record-breaking shipping season possible.
    • In the last two years, Amazon launched operations at over a dozen new facilities, many of which house robotic technology.
    • Amazon fulfillment centers in San Marcos, Texas and Kent, Washington, as well as two Polish fulfillment centers, in Poznan and Wroclaw, shipped more than one million items in a single day.
    • There are now 45,000 robotics units working alongside Amazon associates in more than 20 fulfillment centers.

    Amazon Digital Media:

    • The most streamed Amazon Original Series over the holidays was Goliath.
    • The most streamed Amazon Original Movie over the holidays was Love & Friendship.
    • The most watched TV series (non-Amazon Original) streaming on Prime Video this holiday was The Night Manager.
    • The most watched movie (non-Amazon Original) streaming on Prime Video this holiday was Eye in the Sky.
    • Customers listening to holiday music on Amazon Music more than tripled this year, compared to 2015.
    • The most streamed holiday song on Amazon Music was It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams.
    • Michael Bublé – Christmas was the most played holiday album on Amazon Music this season.
    • Amazon Music is the exclusive streaming home for all 16 studio albums by the best-selling solo artist in U.S. history, Garth Brooks – since his debut to streaming exclusively on Amazon, Brooks has become one of the top-streamed artists on Amazon Music.
    • The hours that kids spent interacting with educational content in Amazon FreeTime this holiday season was enough time to sail around the earth more than 6,000 times.
    • Popular FreeTime Unlimited holiday titles enjoyed by kids in the U.S. 2016 were Holiday Jokes (Hah-larious Joke Books), Elsa’s Ice Puzzles – FreeTime Unlimited Edition, and Caillou’s Winter Wonders.
    • The top foodie book Kindle customers are reading this holiday season is Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, currently available in Kindle Unlimited.
    • The #1 magazine downloaded in Prime Reading in 2016 by Kindle customers was People.
    • The top non-fiction book downloaded in Prime Reading in 2016 was The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman.
    • In 2016, more than 3 million readers took the Goodreads Challenge and read a collective 38.1 million books this year.
    • Authors answered more than 26,000 reader questions on Goodreads in 2016.
    • The highest rated audiobook of 2016 on Audible is Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, and narrated by the author.
    • The bestselling audiobook of the year on Audible was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, narrated by Claire Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher.

    Holiday Fun Facts:

    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Hamilton: the Revolution collectible books and Hamilton albums to give every patron at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City a copy for 96 consecutive shows.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough 4K TVs to reach the peak of Mount Everest more than 9 times.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough KitchenAid Mixers this holiday to make nearly 7.5 million cookies at once.
    • On Cyber Monday 2016, Handmade at Amazon saw a 200 percent increase in sales versus Cyber Monday 2015.
    • If each Amazon.com customer who purchased Pokémon Sun and Moon this holiday spent at least an hour a day playing the game since its release, our customers would have spent the equivalent of more than 24 thousand lunar cycles capturing Pokémon.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough copies of the Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection to play consecutively for more than 300 years.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Hasbro Connect 4 Games this holiday season to give each resident of Dallas, Texas a single disc from the game.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Sphero Star Wars BB-8 App-Controlled Robots to roll as a relay around the Earth more than two times before the batteries run out.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Razor Jett Heel Wheels this holiday to roll a fully loaded space shuttle to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Wilson footballs this holiday to give every fan at a sold-out Seahawks game a chance to throw a pass like Russell Wilson.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough golf balls this holiday that, if lined up, would equal the length of Pebble Beach golf course four times over.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased more Marvin the Moose dog toys this holiday than the number of actual moose in New England.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough copies of The Secret Life of Pets that if each one were a tennis ball, they would fill Central Parkover two and a half feet deep.
    • Amazon.com delivered enough men’s jeans to fill one Olympic-size swimming pool.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough ugly Christmas sweaters for every seat at all three NCAA College Football Playoff games.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough running shoes to run 18,603 times around the globe.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased 2.5 million watches – that is a watch purchased every 1.5 seconds this holiday season.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased 10,451 carats of diamonds, which is equal to 6.5 Russian Kokoshnik Tiaras, one of the Queen of England’s most famous tiaras.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased the weight of a grizzly bear in gold and the weight of a rhinoceros in silver.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Etekcity camp lanterns this holiday to replace the beacon lights on top of the Eiffel Tower nearly 11 times.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough luggage to fill 20 Boeing 747 airplanes.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough electric vehicle home charging kits to make 2,196 emissions-free trips around the globe in a year.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Char-Broil’s The Big Easy Turkey Fryers to cook 225,000 pounds of turkey.

    Holiday Best Sellers (Amazon.com only):

    • All Categories: Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablet, Amazon Echo
    • Amazon Launchpad: Watch Ya’ Mouth Family Edition – The Authentic, Hilarious, Mouthguard Party Game, Tile Mate – Key Finder. Phone Finder. Anything Finder., Anki Overdrive Starter Kit
    • Audio & Accessories: Panasonic ErgoFit In-Ear Earbud Headphones, AmazonBasics 6-Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip, Sonos PLAY:1 Compact Wireless Smart Speaker for Streaming Music
    • Automotive: Hopkins Mallory 26″ Snow Brush with Foam Grip, Battery Tender Junior 12-Volt Battery Charger, Zwipes Microfiber Cleaning Cloths (36 pack)
    • Baby: Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy, Nuby Octopus Hoopla Bathtime Fun Toys (Purple), Baby Banana Infant Training Toothbrush and Teether (Yellow)
    • Beauty & Grooming: Philips Sonicare Essence Sonic Electric Rechargeable Toothbrush (White), Philips Norelco Multigroom Series 3100 with 5 attachments, Oral-B Pro 1000 Power Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush Powered by Braun
    • Books: Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 11: Double Down, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay, First 100 Words
    • Camera: Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Film Camera, AmazonBasics 60-Inch Lightweight Tripod with Bag, GoPro HERO5
    • Fashion: Levi’s Men’s 501 Original Fit Jean, Fossil Emma Large Zip RFID Wallet, kate spade new york Cedar Street Cami Convertible Cross-Body Bag
    • Grocery: The Original Donut Shop, Regular, Medium Extra Bold, Keurig K-Cups (72 Count), San Francisco Bay OneCup, Fog Chaser (80 Single Serve Coffees), KIND Nuts & Spices, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt
    • Handmade: First Christmas in New Home Wood Ornament, Personalized Nameplate Gold Bar Necklace, World Travel Map Pin Board
    • Home: BLACK + DECKER 16V Cordless Lithium Hand Vac, Lasko Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat, Poo-Pourri Before-You-Go Toilet Spray 2-Ounce Bottle (Original Scent)
    • Home Improvement: WBM Himalayan Salt Lamp, 3M Indoor Window Insulator Kit, Woods Outdoor 24-Hour Photoelectric Timer
    • Home & Personal Care: AmazonBasics AA Performance Alkaline Batteries (48-pack), Bounty Select-a-Size Paper Towels, Huge Roll (12 Count), Cottonelle Ultra ComfortCare Big Roll Toilet Paper (12 Count)
    • Kitchen: RTIC 30 oz. Tumbler, Instant Pot 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cooker (6 quart), Keurig K55 Single Serve Coffer Maker
    • Luxury Beauty: stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner, L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, BaBylissPRO Ceramix Xtreme Dryer
    • Movies: The Secret Life of Pets, Finding Dory, Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection
    • Music (CDs & vinyl): A Pentatonix Christmas, Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Blue & Lonesome
    • Musical Instruments: Blue Yeti USB Microphone, Kala Learn To Play Ukulele Starter Kit (Amazon Exclusive), Singing Machine Top Loading CDG Karaoke System with Sound and Disco Light Show
    • Outdoors: LifeStraw Personal Water Filter, Etekcity 2-pack Portable Outdoor LED Camping Lantern with 6 AA Batteries (Black, Collapsible), Yeti Coolers Rambler
    • Patio, Lawn & Garden: iDevices iGrill Mini, Bounty Hunter BHJS Junior Metal Detector, Snow Joe Telescoping Snow Broom with Ice Scraper
    • PC: SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSDHC UHS-I Card with Adapter, Seagate Expansion 1TB Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0, AmazonBasics Mini DisplayPort (Thunderbolt) to HDMI Adapter
    • Pets: KONG Cozie Marvin the Moose Dog Toy Medium Dog Toy (Brown), GREENIES PILL POCKETS Soft Dog Treats, Chicken (Capsule, 15.8 oz), Fancy Feast Wet Cat Food – Gravy Lovers – Poultry & Beef Variety Pack, 3-Ounce Can (Pack of 24)
    • Smart Home: TP-Link Smart Plug, Philips Hue White A19 Starter Kit, Samsung SmartThings Hub
    • Sports: Spalding NBA Street Basketball, Bushnell Falcon 7×35 Binoculars w/ Case, Simply Fit Board
    • Tools: TEKTON 5941 Digital Tire Gauge, MagnoGrip 311-090 Magnetic Wristband, DEWALT DW2166 45-Piece Screwdriving Set with Tough Case
    • Toys & Games: Hasbro Pie Face Game & Pie Face Showdown Game, Scientific Explorer Mind Blowing Science Kit, Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 Electronics Discovery Kit
    • TV: Samsung 32-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV, Avera 32-Inch 720p LED TV, Samsung 40-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV
    • Video Games: Pokémon Sun – Nintendo 3DS, Pokémon Moon – Nintendo 3DS, Final Fantasy XV – PlayStation 4
    • Wearable Technology: Garmin vivofit Fitness Band, Garmin vívoactive HR GPS Smart Watch, Samsung Gear VR – Virtual Reality Headset
    • Wireless: AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable (6 Feet), WeMo Light Switch, Samsung Wireless Charging Pad
  • eBay Browse Pages Make it SEO Friendlier

    eBay Browse Pages Make it SEO Friendlier

    eBay announced last week that in order to make their Google links more SEO friendly they have created “browse pages.” They said that in the past, a click from a search result to eBay would often be to an eBay search result itself.

    Those of us in the SEO world know Google hates search results going to more search results. Google killed directories in their results and those kinds of results are similar.

    With eBay’s new browse pages, they have organized the results to be more what a consumer would expect to see when clicking a search result. The pages include pictures of various similar items broken down by brand, type and price and include summary descriptions.

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    eBay Says This Move Was Prompted by Millennials

    “We’ve noticed something lately,” said eBay in a blog post. “New online shopping patterns have emerged, especially with Millennial buyers. Instead of visiting specific online retailers for a single-purchase transaction, shoppers are using search engines to turn up results based on keywords.”

    They say that this behavioral change is because buyers are looking for inspiration and guidance, and they’re more inclined to explore and discover to find what they want.

    I could be wrong, but it sounds like it was more of an SEO play than a reaction to new Millennial behavior. But, whatever the reason, it’s definitely a better page for the Googler to land on than another set of search results.

    Made Possible by Structured Data and RPIs

    Earlier this year eBay announced to the consternation of some of their sellers that all products would be requiring Required Product Identifiers (RPIs). This structured data enabled eBay to make these new “browse pages” and helps them improve the shopping experience for buyers.

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    eBay told their sellers: “The most amazing part? All of these improvements were made possible by you. By adding Structured Data and Required Product Identifiers (RPIs) information to your listings, you allowed us to better organize site inventory and create a new, more relevant shopping experience for eBay buyers.”

  • Instagram Connects Shopping to Browsing

    Instagram Connects Shopping to Browsing

    Instagram announced today a new connection within the app to product information and then an easy click to an actual purchase on a retailers app or website. Starting next week Instagram will be testing this feature with 20 US retailers including Kate Spade, JackThreads and Warby Parker. This is likely the beginning of making Instagram a massive consumer marketing platform similar to Pinterest.

    Specifically, Instagram is adding a tap to view icon at the bottom left of a photo, which when clicked tags up to 5 items in the photo with prices and a link. Once a tag is clicked, more info about the product will appear including a Shop Now link which takes the user to the retailers product page. Eventually, expect Instagram to enable in-app purchases instead of sending customers to other apps or websites.

    “This functionality will bring important product information to the consumer earlier in the journey, all without having to leave the Instagram app to search,” noted Instagram. “Knowing that Instagrammers are open to discovery on the platform, and that people take time to better understand the products they’re interested in, this test gives our community valuable steps along their shopping journey before they make a purchase.”

    “Instagram is where we reflect the interesting life of the kate spade new york girl through relatable social moments which highlight the products that are characters in her story,” says Mary Beech, Chief Marketing Officer at Kate Spade & Company. “This post (above) features our favorite new bag and elements from our new personalization program that, together, make the bag uniquely hers. With this seamless shopping experience launching on Instagram, the possibilities for selling our products are endless.”

    Instagram is currently testing this feature with a subset of people in the US that are using iOS devices. They plan to learn from that, add additional functionality and then roll out globally.

    “We want to understand how to deliver the most seamless shopping experience for consumers and businesses on Instagram, and ultimately mobile,” said Instagram.

  • Google Proclaims 2016, “The Year of the Supershopper”

    Google Proclaims 2016, “The Year of the Supershopper”

    In a blog post last week Google declared 2016 as the year of the supershopper. They define a supershopper as someone who is shopping primarily on their mobile device, looking for deals on the best products and constantly searching Google to so all of this.

    “With the ability to instantly discover, research, and purchase, shoppers around the world are more informed and more efficient than ever before – they’ve transformed into supershoppers seemingly overnight.” said Julie Krueger, Retail Managing Director at Google. “We all have that friend – the one who somehow knows the latest brands, the season’s must-have products, and where to find the best deals at the snap of a finger.”

    Google says that in 2015 over 50% of holiday shoppers were open to buying from new retailers and that 76% of mobile shoppers have switch their intended brand or retailer after searching Google.

    “It used to be that shoppers would thumb through catalogues or stare longingly at the holiday window displays, but mobile is now the super shopper’s go-to source for inspiration,” says Krueger. “Over 64% of smartphone shoppers turn to mobile search for ideas about what to buy before heading into store. And 1 in 4 mobile video viewers in the U.S. have visited YouTube for help with a purchase decision while they were at a store or visiting a store’s website.”

    They also report that people more than ever before are search for phrases like “best gift” indicating that they are using search to find quality, not just deals. Google also believes that shoppers are looking for unique gifts too, reporting that searches related to “cool gifts” grew 80%.

    Mobile Search: A Door to the Store

    Searches on mobile are still really about driving business to the brick and mortar store, rather than just pure online shopping. “Although more and more people are willing to buy on mobile, we know that mobile is still used predominantly as a door to the store,” said Krueger. “In fact, 76% of people who search for something nearby on their smartphone visit a related business within a day, and 28% of those searches result in a purchase.”

    They say that once in the store, shoppers use their mobile device to find deals and information about the products they are interested in.

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    From a retailers perspective, expect online conversion rates to increase across devices as the holidays get to full stride. Google says that last year on mobile, sales were up 30% on Black Friday and 50% on Cyber Monday.

  • Facebook Launches Marketplace, Could Challenge Craigslist, eBay

    Facebook Launches Marketplace, Could Challenge Craigslist, eBay

    Facebook announced today a formal buy and sell platform called Marketplace, which is likely perceived by Craigslist and eBay as a new hugely powerful competitor nudging into their space. There has always been some buying and selling via Facebook Groups, but this is the first time that Facebook has focused this activity into a single feature. At launch, the goods available to buy and sell will only be viewable to people in your local geographic area.

    Although Marketplace is free (at least initially), it’s not hard to imagine that over time Facebook will add payment and shipping features that make it an eCommerce competitor to eBay. With Facebook’s tremendous reach and the massive amount of buying and selling already happening in Facebook Groups, it already is a competitor with Craigslist and classifieds. Facebook says that more than 450 million people visit buy and sell groups each month worldwide.

    Marketplace will be part of the Facebook mobile app, easily accessible by tapping on the shop icon at the bottom of the screen.

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    How To Buy Stuff via Facebook Marketplace

    Both selling and buying items on Facebook Marketplace is very easy. “Marketplace opens with photos of items that people near you have listed for sale,” notes Mary Ku, Director of Product Management, in a blog announcement. “To find something specific, search at the top and filter your results by location, category or price. You can also browse what’s available in a variety of categories such as Household, Electronics and Apparel. Use the built-in location tool to adjust the region you’re looking in, or switch to a different city altogether.”

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    Once you find something you want, you simply send the seller a direct message right from the Marketplace feature and make an offer. All further negotiation takes place via DM and you will have to work out payment logistics.

    How To Sell Stuff via Facebook Marketplace

    Facebook provided this list of how to sell::

    1. Take a photo of your item, or add it from your camera roll
    2. Enter a product name, description and price
    3. Confirm your location and select a category
    4. Post
    Rolling Out to 4 Countries

    Marketplace is launching in US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand on the Facebook app for iPhone and Android. “We will continue expanding to additional countries and make Marketplace available on the desktop version of Facebook in the coming months,” says Ku.