Good afternoon,
Here’s the headlines for this week: 1 November 2024
- Seventy-six percent of U.S. consumers plan to make at least half of their holiday purchases online, with a majority starting in November, according to Bain & Company.
- Although fewer consumers face financial challenges for non-essential purchases compared to last year, nearly a third (31%) still report limited spending flexibility this holiday season.
- Both online and in-store shopping are projected to drive a rise in holiday retail sales, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday expected to see a 5% increase, reaching a record $75 billion.
- TikTok Shop is focusing on exclusive Black Friday launches, with unique product drops from small DTC brands and big-name brands like Dyson and Fenty Beauty, aiming to attract shoppers with items unavailable elsewhere.
- The platform emphasises product discovery, promoting lesser-known DTC brands that typically don’t sell on large platforms like Amazon, thus offering them greater visibility.
- TikTok Shop integrates content and commerce within its app, likening the experience to a “farmers market” where users can discover, explore, and purchase products in one place.
- Google Shopping is getting an AI-driven update featuring a personalised shopping feed, an AI-generated brief for quicker, more relevant searches, and a dedicated deals page for easy access to discounts.
- Enhanced tools include AI-powered virtual try-on, augmented reality shopping options, and improved filters, such as "size" and "available near you now," to refine search results.
Upgrades to Google Lens allow users to find products visually, with details like pricing, reviews, and availability across retailers, enhancing convenience for holiday shopping.
- Salesforce has introduced ecommerce storefront capabilities to its Starter and Pro Suites, giving small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) access to direct-to-consumer (D2C) solutions within their CRM. This allows businesses to quickly launch online stores while managing sales, service, marketing, and commerce in a single platform.
- The new ecommerce tools provide an easy setup with centralised management for products, pricing, and merchandising, enabling SMBs to deliver connected, personalised experiences across customer touchpoints.
- With digital sales channels projected to drive over half of SMB revenue by 2025, these tools support businesses in optimising their digital revenue growth through seamless integration and pre-built performance dashboards.
- Meta has introduced "automatic adjustments" that allow its system to make campaign changes, like pausing campaigns, adjusting budgets, and consolidating audiences, without advertiser consent.
- While intended to optimise ad performance, the feature has led to unintended changes for some advertisers, raising concerns over loss of control and potential disruptions in campaign management.
- Advertisers can disable this feature by navigating to the "Automated rules" section in their Meta ad account settings.
- Skin care brands are facing challenges in the U.S. as major drug stores close locations, leading to lower in-store visibility and cautious inventory management from retailers.
- Brands like Galderma and L’Oréal aim to boost U.S. sales by increasing innovation and attracting Gen Z, who are exploring new brands.
- While some companies report slowdowns, others like Unilever and Beiersdorf see growth, particularly with premium offerings and derma brands in North America.
- Amazon is setting strict price caps on a new discount storefront to compete with rivals like Temu, limiting prices to $8 for jewellery, $13 for guitars, and $20 for sofas.
- Orders will be shipped directly from Guangdong, China, with lower fulfilment fees for sellers, aiming to offer U.S. customers ultra-low-cost products.
- This move marks a strategic shift for Amazon, which historically allowed greater pricing flexibility for sellers, as it responds to slowing online sales growth.
- Walmart will host three Black Friday events beginning 11 Nov, offering Walmart+ members early access and a promotional half-price membership through 2 Dec, with expanded delivery options for added convenience.
- Amazon's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales start 29 Nov and 2 Dec, respectively, featuring Rufus, an AI shopping assistant, along with personalised deal notifications and small-business support.
- Walmart and Amazon are integrating AI across shopping and service experiences, with Walmart using GenAI for personalised recommendations, and Amazon collaborating on generative AI with Box and supporting AI-driven projects like CelcomDigi’s operations in Malaysia.
- Amazon is shutting down "Amazon Today," a service offering same-day delivery from mall and brick-and-mortar retailers, with the bulk of the program ending by 2 December 2024. Some retail partners can continue using it until 24 January 2025.
- The decision aligns with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's broader cost-cutting efforts, which have included eliminating projects and over 27,000 jobs since 2022.
- Amazon Today faced higher costs compared to traditional delivery routes, with contracted Flex drivers often making smaller deliveries from local retailers instead of loading up from warehouses.
- Amazon now allows sellers to filter business report data by ASIN directly in Seller Central, enabling searches for up to 100 ASINs at once.
- This update simplifies the process, removing the need to download data for offline filtering, making it easier for sellers to analyse product performance.
- Sellers are requesting further enhancements, such as integrating this filter with "By Date" reports and reinstating the "days of inventory by ASIN" feature for trend tracking.
- Amazon is trialling new app homepage features to enhance personalisation and improve navigation, using AI and machine learning to tailor product recommendations and highlight trending items based on shopping history.
- New features include a "Window Display" for personalised recommendations and a "Buy Again" hub that groups frequently purchased items for quick reordering.
- These updates are currently being tested with select customers, with plans to roll them out to more UK users in the coming months.
- The FTC's new rule bans fake online reviews, prohibiting the sale, purchase, and use of reviews by people with no actual experience or generated by AI.
- Businesses face civil penalties for knowingly using fake reviews or testimonials, including those from insiders or those created with deceptive methods.
- The rule aims to protect consumers, support honest competition, and keep marketplaces fair and transparent.
?? USPS implemented a peak season rate hike (6 October 2024 - 19 January 2025), affecting many shipping platforms, including eBay, with increased label costs for sellers starting October 27.
- USPS rate hikes for Connect eCommerce don’t align with standard Retail and Commercial rate schedules, causing confusion for users who rely on platforms like eBay, Stamps.com, and Pirate Ship.
- USPS Connect eCommerce rate changes are not publicly posted, requiring sellers to monitor updates from their respective service providers to stay informed.
- Webflow introduced an AI-powered assistant to streamline content and design creation, allowing users to generate website elements based on text prompts while maintaining brand consistency.
- The new AI tools support A/B testing, personalization, and site performance improvement by analysing real-time visitor data, benefiting both Webflow and non-Webflow platform users.
