Monday, August 14

#1 - 📦 These things are even better than fast shipping

📰 TL;DR - Sites like Amazon have set a consumer expectation of ultra-fast shipping, but if you can’t reach a one or two-day benchmark, there’s still plenty you can do to keep customers happy. According to this survey, 90% of shoppers were cool to pass up one or two-day delivery if you can provide two of the following: free shipping, real-time tracking, the ability to choose the delivery date, in-store pickup, or consolidated shipments. Those are listed in order of importance. There are some circumstances where people really want that quick delivery, though, like urgency in needing that product.

💡 Insight - I see this as some encouraging stats. Small and medium businesses tend to struggle with the demands of fast shipping, so here’s a blueprint for what to offer instead. I’d say a formula to strive for is to offer free shipping at a slower rate, and faster shipping for a premium. Let the consumer decide. You’ll see big retailers like Old Navy doing exactly this. You can also note the general theme here is transparency — people just want to know where their stuff is, no matter how long it’s going to take.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#2 - 🎁 How sending free products to Micro-Influencers has helped brands 5X revenue in 2 months.

Tapping into the power of social media Micro-Influencers and a platform called Stack Influence that automates influencer collaborations at scale (hundreds of promotions a month), Amazon brands like Unilever, Magic Spoon, and Blueland have been able to grow their monthly revenue by 5X, decrease their ad costs using a war chest of influencer UGC, and build an army of affiliate marketers to consistently drive new customers.

➡️ Get started here.

📣 If you want to reach our audience of 10,000+ DTC store owners, tap here 

#3 - 🎨 The future of e-comm site design

📰 TL;DR - This piece has some cool examples of innovation in e-commerce sites worth studying. The first is actually a B2B example with Hue, a beauty brand that provides UGC to clients they can use for their own channels. The next example uses AI to improve the search experience, which, as we’ve seen in other stats, can be seriously lacking on e-commerce websites. Then there’s another AI startup that creates personalized recommendations to shoppers based on their browsing history — definitely a hot topic in e-commerce.

💡 Insight - All in all this is a pretty great roundup showing how e-commerce sites are evolving. AI is definitely a prominent theme, and we’ve seen that in the number of startups creating apps and other tools for e-commerce sites. I also just really love the example of providing UGC to B2B clients — that’s a huge offering and makes your brand very enticing indeed. Definitely get some inspo for this piece and think about how you can try something new.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

👍 EARNED MEDIA - Here’s a 101-style guide to earned media and how to get it.

💸 AMAZON - Amazon has changed its payout period in some regions, meaning it’ll take longer to get paid. Read here.

🤖 AI - Here are some handy tips on how to use AI for your influencer reach-out efforts.

➗ GIRL MATH - The latest trend is using “girl math” to justify purchases — consider it for your social media posts! Read here.

🤓 GOOGLE ADS - Google really wants you to use Performance Mac. Read here.

#5 - ♻️ Trove raises $30 million

📰 TL;DR - Things have been a little quiet on the resale front lately — unless you’re offering resale as a service. Trove, which works with brands like Lululemon, Canada Goose, and REI, has just raised another $30 million in funding. They’ve raised an impressive $150 million to date. This comes after news that ThredUp is now on track to be profitable and has now onboarded over 50 brands.

💡 Insight - For a while there, it seemed like there was a new article every other day about a new brand opening its own resale channel, often using either Trove or ThredUp. Hearing that both brands are doing well adds confidence that resale is still a viable channel for e-commerce brands. That certainly tracks with what we know about how consumers are being tighter with their spending. Resale offers good deals, especially for high-end brands where there’s confidence that the quality can stand up to multiple owners. The question still seems to be how to make resale profitable for the brands who participate, even as the service providers are having a great time.

➡️ You can read the article here...