Attention eCommerce control … we are T-minus four weeks and counting until lift-off of the 2019 holiday season. We have info to encourage, inform, and entertain so let’s get to it.
Here are this week’s top stories.
1. When Free Actually Equals Profit
If you don’t like free pastries … well, I just don’t think we can be friends.
There is a husband and wife fledgling eCommerce business that sells French Macaroons online and they built their substantial email list by giving the cookies away. Their entire process of customer retention and incentivizing the email registration process is pretty slick. It is a success case study that you can actually do yourself.
2. Online Sales to Jump 13.5% This Holiday – But Do We Believe It?
Okay-dokie …. So here’s the deal. There is an online eCommerce news service called “Internet Retailer” which is a division of DigitalCommerce360. Their analysis suggests that online holiday sales are going to jump to >$138 billion, a whopping 13.5% of all holiday sales this year. That’s on top of the 15.2% market share increase last year. So … could be, right?
This site will make you register and then they will send you a bunch of emails, but here’s the link if you want it.
3. UPS is Cutting Deals and Taking Names
The shipping game is getting competitive, and that’s good for folks like us.
Just a few weeks ago we were talking about how FedEx was severing ties with Amazon and inching closer to Walmart – taking sides in the eCommerce shipping game. Well, now UPS is cutting deals with shipping aggregators like ShipStation – super popular in the Shopify ecosystem – to offer lower rates and deals to small and mid-sized retailers. The new rates are 55% below the standard rates and waive surcharges.
Again, this article is on DigitalCommerce360.
4. For About 12 Hours last Week, Old Baggy Pants Was #2
Jeff Bezos … some guys just tick me off, and he’s one of them. So, Jeffy “Baggy Pants” was the unrivaled master of the finance universe until he cheated on his wife and lost 25% of his empire in the divorce settlement – proving that even internet billionaires go middle-aged-crazy. Then, last week Amazon stock took a hit and he was no longer the richest man in the world.
I know, it seems shallow and the stock recovered a bit the next day. But that twelve hours made me smile.
5. Microsoft Fights Back
Shopify sits in the Google Cloud. But that hasn’t always been the case. Just last year the entire Shopify infrastructure was on AWS – Amazon’s cloud hosting service. And given Amazon’s … ahem, shall we just say “questionable” competitive practices that became problematic in the whole “we don’t trust you as far as we can throw you” sense. Microsoft is picking up that vibe from a LOT of big eCommerce types and has launched a new suite of tools to lure customers like Walmart, Kroger, Walgreens, and more.
For us small business start-up entrepreneurial types it’s like watching two big bullies fight on the playground.
Golly-Bob-Howdy Vern … this here’s another winner email. You’re welcome. And now it’s time to share.