Instagram has become the window display for a new generation of savvy shoppers – and it’s changing the way we consume style, for good and bad. We’ve all bought them at some time or another: the perfect pair of shoes. Stylish, comfortable – the kind you wear with everything until they fall apart, and you have to start scouring the internet for…
Industry Insights Blog
In recent years, delivery has evolved far beyond its humble roots. Next-day delivery is now the norm, same-day delivery is becoming feasible, and customers have an increasing level of interconnectivity with carriers, able to track packages in some instances all the way to their doors. And it’s continuing to be optimised. So what does the future hold? Discussions on drone delivery…
Despite flourishing as one of the hottest industries in the digital marketing space, Influencer marketing is still a relative newcomer in terms of practices and strategy. As platforms, brands, creators, and even governing bodies attempt to define this new landscape, mistakes are bound to occur. After apparent teething issues which have yet to be fully solved, the FTC has been spending…
Marketing automation combines email with customer data to produce relevant segments, which typically improve response. Marketing automation can do more with email than send mass deployments and track opens and clicks. Marketing automation can integrate email with your customer management platform to create relevant campaigns. But the most important feature for ecommerce merchants is to sync a visitor’s on-site behavior,…
Cross-border ecommerce is booming. Among the challenges of successfully entering a new country or region is understanding the shopping habits of local consumers, and overcoming shipping and logistics obstacles. Most of the recommendations in “ 10 Low-Budget Ways to Sell Internationally,” a 2012 article, apply today, in 2019. However, cross-border ecommerce sales have greatly increased since 2012. The industry is…
During 2018, there was no shortage of media headlines about the shift in the retail landscape from “bricks” to “clicks.” During this period, another retail staple fell victim to our ever-changing shopping behaviour – the department store. But, is this the end of the department as we know it or is it just an industry that needs to evolve?
Kees Jacobs, Vice President, Global Consumer Products…
Despite the emergence of new cloud, AI, IoT and other advanced technologies, Santa continues to deliver presents the old-fashioned way — on a flying sled pulled by reindeer. Yet these technologies have transformed holiday shopping experiences. From online “Wish Lists”, to in-store review and price checking on mobile devices, to last-minute delivery or in-store pickup of online orders, today’s holiday…
By all accounts, the retail sector in most of the world is struggling. Rising competition from online shopping has hit bricks-and-mortar retailers hard. Environmental concerns have led customers to question traditional packaging and farming practices. And the growing preference of many consumers, particularly younger ones, to favour “experiences” over stuff has eaten into overall demand. We see the bad news…
It’s that time of year again. “Best of,” “top 10,” and “roundup” lists highlighting the previous year’s biggest and most memorable moments are making headlines everywhere… and the parcel delivery industry is no exception. It too has its fair share of these end-of-the-year lists, and for 2018, a frequently cited trend on said lists is the increasing emphasis consumers place…
U.S. ecommerce retail growth dipped slightly in 2018, and 40% of 2018’s $517 billion in domestic online retail sales went to Amazon. How can smaller U.S. ecommerce retailers compete and grow their businesses? One option is to sell their products on Amazon and other marketplaces in addition to their own online stores. But there’s another option that many US online retailers…
McKinsey Global Institute projects that the global market for cross-border, business-to-consumer e-commerce will top $1 trillion by next year, writes Susan Lund. Seventy-five nations have agreed to participate in World Trade Organization talks, beginning in March, on cross-border e-commerce, one of the fastest-growing and thorniest areas of global trade.
The big picture: Consumer-facing e-commerce has become a $3.5 trillion global market,…
Custom labels are one of the most important and popular ways that a product feed (or catalog) can help support smarter, more effective marketing efforts. If you aren’t using them, you should be. And if you are using them, awesome! Here are some of the most common setups we see successful companies use. Feel free to put them to use…
Artificial intelligence is infiltrating physical retail, helping stores maximise marketing investments, personalise the customer experience and optimise store inventory. From personalised recommendations to targeted newsletter offers, artificial intelligence is a bedrock of e-commerce. But as lines between physical and online retail blur, the technology is being integrated into bricks-and-mortar stores to shape the products shoppers see and the service they receive….
Introduction to Global Trends
Across the world, there are major social media trends on the rise that will shape the way your consumers use social media in 2019. For companies, it has become even more difficult to connect with your audiences online due to rising competition and a seemingly never-ending stream of algorithm changes. In order to succeed in this ever-changing landscape,…
Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter have launched a new try-before-you-buy service called Style Trial, an invitation-only initiative geared towards its most loyal spending customers. The exclusive service allows the online retailers’ top spending customers – or “extremely important people” (EIPs) – to order up to 30 pieces to try on at home during a seven-day trial period before committing to make a…
After watching Amazon.com build a massive advertising business, bricks-and-mortar stores are hoping to do the same. Walmart Inc., No. 3 in the Internet Retailer Top 1000, is big in almost every way—4,755 stores, 1.5 million employees and $380 billion in revenue in the U.S. alone. But one part of the world’s largest retailer remains minuscule. With about 300 million shoppers visiting its stores each month, according…
For many consumers, their mobile phones are their primary source for information. According to Mary Meeker’s latest Internet Trends report, they reach for their phones on average 150 times per day. This statistic presents enormous opportunities for retailers to harness the unique power (and influence) of mobile. As retailers continue incorporating mobile as an effective channel to connect with their…
Just like the line between online and offline shopping, the lines between geographic borders in ecommerce are often blurred. Now that customers can have their pick of sellers across the globe, it’s becoming a necessity for brands and online retailers to showcase their products to a global market. According to a report from research firm, Forrester, cross-border ecommerce is set…
No business is on just one or two channels, even if they believe they are. (In fact, if you’re only on a handful, you may already be behind.) What’s more likely is you don’t fully realize just how many channels your business requires to function. The customer journey can take your audience through a number of channels, including: Retailers and…
Shoppers love a good deal. One study with RetailMeNot found that deals and discounts are the number one factor most likely to influence a purchase made online. Deals decrease cart abandonment and even drive shoppers to visit and purchase again. In short, deals make shoppers happy. Perhaps this is why so many shoppers participate year after year, holiday after holiday,…