Monday, August 21

#1 - 🍌 A product photo tip you can’t miss

📰 TL;DR - The product photos on your e-commerce site need to convey a lot — from color, to function, to the little details that make it special. And one thing you really can’t overlook is communicating the exact size of your products. This guide gets into the importance of accurately conveying just how big something is. Providing the specs is great, but don’t assume people will actually read them and, even if they do, get an accurate sense of scale. The best thing you can do is place your products next to other items with an understandable size, or place them in a room with other objects. And make it relevant — like a lamp next to a couch, or a kids’ product with an actual kid.

💡 Insight - This seems so obvious but it astounds me how many brands overlook this. I was recently browsing wallets from a luxury retailer, for example, and found myself having to look up reviews on YouTube to actually get a sense of their size because the product photos were so lacking. You don’t want that to happen — you want as little friction as possible. One thing I sell is stickers, for example, and even though I list the dimensions I always include a photo of the sticker in my hand to make it easier to understand sizing. The next level of this is to implement some AR or VR technology to allow a product to be placed right in front of you.

➡️ You can read the article here...

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#3 - 🤑 How TikTok Shop is changing influencing and marketing

📰 TL;DR - This piece from Digiday looks at what the rise of TikTok shop means for e-commerce on the platform. Perhaps the most exciting part is how influencers can directly market products that can then be bought right from the app. It pulls influencers and brands close together, and according to one person quoted, may make the whole experience feel more authentic. And we know that authenticity is everything on TikTok. The other very exciting thing is the ability for customers to upload video reviews for products, potentially creating the UGC library of your dreams.

💡 Insight - There’s another thing I want to mention that I don’t see talked about enough. In the creator world, I’m very bullish that the only way to create steady, diversified income is to get into e-commerce. Even the most viral creators can only make so much money through partnerships or the creator program — creating their own product line opens up so many new possibilities. The potential there is for established e-commerce brands to find creators to partner with and help launch those product lines. It’s a win-win situation and something to think about.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

🐳 DATA - There's a reason I always recommend Triple Whale to my e-commerce clients, see why here.

🛞 FLYWHEEL - The Flywheel concept. comes from mechanical engineering, but applies to e-commerce. Read about it here.

📆 BFCM - BFCM is coming! Here’s what we know about how shoppers are planning to spend and when.

🤔 CHRONICALLY ONLINE - With everyone trying to use Gen Z slang and dry humor, brands are all starting to sound the same. Read more here.

🤖 AI - Here’s a guide on how to get ready for the holiday shopping season using AI.

#5 - 🥊 Get that competitive edge

📰 TL;DR - The e-commerce space has gotten rather crowded, so how do you stand out? This article has some suggestions. First, leverage AI. It’s the cutting edge right now for everything from understanding your own data to deploying customer service. Look for solutions and use them. Another aspect is customer service — how can you elevate the experience? Personalization is also huge, we know that it boosts retention and it’s also something that can get a boost from AI apps.

💡 Insight - Although this lists AI as its own section, it truly applies to all three points. I can’t overstate enough how important customer service is. It only takes one bad experience to lose a customer. AI can really help though — for example, a chatbot with self-service options can be a gamechanger. There’s also been a rise in AI technology that personalizes the shopping experience and curates recommended products, or even marketing sends, for individual customers. That’s powerful.

➡️ You can read the article here...