Good afternoon,
Here’s the headlines for this week: 27 September 2024
- The global average cart abandonment rate reached 73.9% as of July 2024, with luxury and jewellery items experiencing the highest rates at 81.4%, attributed to high price points and longer decision-making times.
- In contrast, the pet care and veterinary services category had the lowest abandonment rate at 52.8%, likely due to the necessity of purchases like food and medications for pet owners.
- Key reasons for cart abandonment include high extra costs (shipping, taxes), the requirement to create accounts, trust issues with payment security, and complications with promo codes; retailers can mitigate these by simplifying checkout processes and clearly communicating fees.
- Gen Z and millennials show significantly higher tolerance for digital ads, with 34% accepting ads during video streaming on smartphones, compared to just 19% of older consumers. They are also more receptive to influencer content, though trust in advertising remains low across all age groups.
- Younger consumers, who spend an average of 7.3 hours weekly on social media, are driving the shift in ad receptivity. Platforms like TikTok have blurred the lines between organic content and advertisements, enhancing consumer comfort with ad exposure.
- Despite greater receptivity, trust in digital ads is lacking, with only 22% of younger consumers trusting social media advertising. This scepticism persists even for branded content, highlighting the disconnect between ad acceptance and trustworthiness.
- Snapchat is overhauling its interface to focus on a "Simple Snapchat" experience, emphasising chatting, snapping, and a unified video feed that combines user-generated and professional content, similar to TikTok’s format.
- The update includes new generative AI features, allowing for advanced Lenses and personalised content creation, alongside a new version of Spectacles designed for immersive augmented reality experiences.
- Snapchat's new features will integrate AI capabilities for content generation and context recognition, while promoting a closer relationship between creators and users through enhanced chat functionalities.
- Retailers are increasing imports significantly—60% YoY growth at the Port of Los Angeles and a 24.4% rise at the US-Mexico border—anticipating potential labour strikes and a strong holiday season.
- The influx of goods suggests retailers are preparing for possible supply chain disruptions and higher shipping costs, but experts believe these issues won’t drastically affect Q4 consumer spending.
- Retailers are restocking earlier than usual, with increased truck visits to stores, expected to peak in November, helping to offset potential impacts from labour strikes.
- Puma tailors online imagery based on shopper locations, while Walmart has generated or improved over 850 million data entries to streamline operations, which would otherwise require significantly more staff.
- Amazon personalised product descriptions using genAI to highlight customer preferences, boosting user experience and sales. Overall, these advancements make it easier for sellers and broaden product offerings for consumers.
- Retailers are moving away from personally identifiable information (PII) to broader categories of personal data, including pseudonymised identifiers, which raises new privacy law considerations.
- Current privacy laws mandate explicit terms regarding the use of personal data and pseudonymised identifiers in contracts with third-party entities, emphasising the importance of consumer expectations and consent.
- Personal data is categorised into direct (collected from consumers), supplied (purchased for specific purposes) and derived (inferences about behaviour), all of which have different regulatory implications that retailers must navigate carefully.
?? Prime Big Deal Days is Back October 8-9, offering Prime members exclusive access to millions of early holiday deals, including discounts on popular brands in toys, beauty, fashion and home décor.
- Members can take advantage of current discounts on electronics, groceries and travel, with new deals dropping frequently during the event, encouraging ongoing shopping.
?? Similarly, Walmart will hold its Holiday Deals event from October 8-13, coinciding with Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, offering significant discounts across various categories like electronics and home goods.
- Walmart is introducing an inflation-free Thanksgiving meal at a lower price than last year, available from October 14 through December 25, with options for gifting and donating meals.
- The event features exclusive early access for Walmart+ members, and the retailer is implementing improved delivery options, including early morning deliveries and AI-driven logistics.
- Amazon's Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF) has experienced a 70% increase in off-Amazon orders this year, significantly outpacing on-Amazon sales growth, driven largely by platforms like TikTok.
- MCF allows sellers using Amazon's FBA service to fulfil orders from various sales channels, now serving over 200,000 U.S. sellers and gaining traction as a competitive fulfilment option.
- Despite improvements in pricing and shipping speed, MCF remains a secondary option for many sellers, as Amazon aims to establish itself as the retail infrastructure supporting transactions beyond its own marketplace.
- Shopify has introduced Carbon Commerce, a streamlined platform designed for the online buying and selling of carbon credits, simplifying the process for carbon credit suppliers and enhancing transaction efficiency.
- The platform offers robust inventory management, data integration services and tools for both businesses and consumers, enabling sellers to manage customer relationships and sales operations effectively.
- This initiative aligns with Shopify's ongoing efforts in climate action, building on their previous investments in carbon removal and partnerships within the carbon credit industry.
?? Roku has launched Roku Ads Manager, a self-service advertising platform for connected TV (CTV) designed to empower growth marketers with innovative ad solutions, including a unique integration with Shopify for shoppable campaigns.
- The platform focuses on optimisation, competitive pricing and interactive ad features, allowing brands of any size to effectively reach audiences and drive engagement without third-party fees.
- With this launch, Roku aims to democratise access to CTV advertising, offering brands the ability to create and manage campaigns easily.
