Ecommerce Is Having a Moment… And It’s Not Ending Anytime Soon!

According to Statista.com, in the first quarter of 2021, the share of E-commerce in total U.S. retail sales was 13.6 percent,(over 215 billion U.S. dollars) up from 11.4 percent from the corresponding quarter in the previous year. 

It seems that one thing we have learned from the coronavirus is that people who previously found it intimidating to order online, had to master this skill.  E-commerce is here to stay and potent in the sales world. The landscape for purchasing has changed, meaning more flexibility for customers, better prices, better opportunities, affordable advertising, faster response to buyer demands, and a thriving sector in tech that can be an incredible path for the future.

 So, why work in  E-commerce? 

It’s Dynamic and flexible!

E-commerce is the gateway to consumer technology, where you can interact with millions of customers in real-time daily and be part of an evolving customer revolution.  If voice shopping (using Amazon Echo or Google Home) once seemed a bit futuristic, it’s estimated to hit over 40 Billion across U.S and UK by 2022, according to Tech Crunch.  Global shopping has become easy, even for the most technology-challenged. According to Unctad.org, the estimated value of global B2B e-commerce in 2019 represents 82% of all e-commerce, Can you see where this is going? Ecommerce is the future of sales and it’s already here. 

 You Learn to Grasp “Big Picture” Thinking

In eCommerce, you learn to take in the ideation, production, logistics, data, assets, and potential to help brands thrive. Big picture thinking makes you think of the whole puzzle rather than one little piece, and once you have all the information, you can make conscious decisions and see results. It’s for people comfortable with numbers, with an ever-changing matrix of variables, people who are always looking for a wider view and won’t take narrow for an answer. Using technology, you can gather data, get supply chain validation, and use automated workflow to drive products to the top search results.  Getting to the big picture is a crucial trait in thriving in eCommerce: you learn to grasp a range of factors, such as supply chain management, upselling and cross-selling, improved customer service, and more. The abundance of information teaches you to become a pro at managing, opening doors in almost every field. And, of course, the value of having an impact on a field that is growing at a miraculous pace. It’s the time to thrive.

Big Data, Big Idea

One of the most exciting aspects of eCommerce is that it teaches you to thrive on data. Once you realize that you can watch the ebb and flow of your product as it moves, from production all the way to marketing, you realize how interesting it could be to be on top of everything. Data is the new oil, and one of the evolving positions in eCommerce is a data scientist. Data scientists use data cleansing, basically to take all the data from the past and present and use a combination of analytical skills and flexible thinking to translate the knowledge into terms that can be used to make sure the product finds its way to the consumer.

In a nutshell, eCommerce is moving at voluminous speeds, and the opportunities are endless. It’s the best of both worlds, the benefits of working in a fast-paced environment and being in the tech world,  and also the benefits of creative and entrepreneurial thinking. It teaches you to understand different methodologies and impacts how people buy, think independently, and make smart decisions while being part of an evolving and fascinating field. In eCommerce, you can be the reason for the change and use numbers to thrive and move into one of the fastest data-driven opportunities right now. Are you ready to be part of a customer revolution?

The post What It’s Like to Work at an E-commerce Company appeared first on Expander.

When  Covid-19 made its way into our world in 2020, a period of uncertainty arose everywhere, especially in the supply chain. Everything that seemed to work fine was suddenly under question, including pressure at global ports, shipment confirmation issues, and container availability.

All this came simultaneously with a massive demand for essentials that nobody knew how to handle. When unexpected change comes, we sometimes need to rearrange how we work and develop creative solutions. In this case, e-commerce companies were forced to redefine the way we ship, order, and even systemize the global supply chain.

Sharing is Caring

Nobody expected this new sense of community that arose from such a supply chain challenge. All the social networks started to help each other and share information about roadblocks and solutions. From Facebook and WhatsApp groups to Telegram and industry blogs, challenges were no longer something you had to figure out on your own.

If you get into enough Facebook groups and share your issues and solutions, the world is your container ship! From discounts, hacks, and even names of providers, it’s all there. Even providers are on the platform, sharing deals too.

 Take Your Shipping Digital

This is probably the most significant addition to the new post-Covid world! Everything and anything can become digitalized regarding shipping. Once it is all spread out before us, we have the advantage of better decision-making. It’s essential to get your systems in check, as this makes it easy to know what you have and what you need and helps you keep track of everything there is. Artificial Intelligence has changed our lives in so many good ways – now every company can tailor-make their shipping systems to their liking.

Redefine the Way of Shipping

One of the main points that was questioned during the pandemic was how we ship.  We learned how to check other alternatives and to think outside of the container!  It’s now the time to consolidate! This means checking your shipments and merging your goods as much as possible instead of doing partial shipments, even if it means that the goods might be delayed.

Look for creative alternatives: Opting for a temperature-controlled container, a 45 HC container, or even opting to separate and ship in 20 ft containers are ways to rethink the way we ship and do it more effectively.

Go Global

One of the most creative ways to succeed here is to think outside of your circles. We no longer have to settle for what we know. There are no boundaries; we can get help from anywhere in the world. We can thrive with the help of brokers and forwarders and interact with people in different time zones and languages. Often, we can reap the benefits of a more cost-effective solution, sometimes lowering the numbers to up to 30% less.

Employees Are Now Your Best Asset

One of the most significant things to change during or because of the pandemic was the role of the employee. In the past, being employed in this industry was more about stocking warehouses and physically working in storage. Post-coronavirus, employees need flexible thinking! They need to know how to find better ways to ship, organize, and order their business. Once employees took on the role of all these things, the shipping landscape changed. The middleman is no longer so important, and with the right employee, anyone can streamline shipping to the max.

While Covid-19 brought us many tough challenges, it also taught us to dig deeper and not let there be limits – not in size, volume, or abilities. It’s time to either think out of the container or risk the consequence of cubing out! 

The post 5 Creative Ways To Overcome Your Post-Covid Supply Chain Challenge appeared first on Expander.

By Oran Mochly

Are you keeping up with the changes for sellers on Amazon? Do you want to make the most of the post-coronavirus changes and challenges? With Amazon’s dynamic algorithm, changes happen all the time. This means new challenges are arising for sellers of private labels – but with new challenges come new opportunities!  

Here are some tips and hacks that can help you navigate your launch in the best way possible.

Nail Your Niche

How do you decide which niche to choose? Start by determining the price drop of top competitors in a niche that you are curious about; review their sales rates and ask yourself some critical questions. What are the dynamics? What is the new sellers’ stability in the top three positions of the subcategories? What is the suggested bid for the top two keywords? These parameters can help you estimate the Advertising Aggressive and reflect your Ad Spend percentage.  What is the review rate? What is the sensitivity of the price change in regards to the BSR? Once you have all the information that you need, decide which product is right for you.

Break It Down: Know Your Break-Even Price

First: Find your product potential and the right supplier.To calculate your break-even price, you need to take many things into account, such as your advertising budget,  fees, COGs, taxes, returns estimation, and storage fees. Your break-even price is the point of balance that takes into consideration neither profit nor loss. At this point, you need to define the right price for you according to the average price in the market. In the beginning, you can start at a more competitive price, even lower than 40 %, in order to get the most effective organic results. Consider creating a launch progress table and monitoring the changes daily. Consider all the factors, including the promotion units and organic units. As you track the changes, you will be able to slowly increase the price per day until you achieve the most effective market sale price for you.

Keywords are Key

Build a list of highly relevant keywords. This means finding keywords that at least ten of your competitors all rank for. Once you have a list, it’s time to narrow it down to the top two keywords that you want to use. You are going to want to promote these two words organically and with a budget. In order to do this organically, you need to make sure the keywords are found on the product title and that they stand out on your description, bullet points, and the product backend.

Wake Up the Algorithm

Generate a two-step URL and make sure you find 10 to 20 buyers that will be able to purchase by searching keywords. With this method, increase daily sales gradually in the first 10 days. The target of this exercise is to show the algorithm that the product is relevant and related to the essential keywords. Make sure to find at least 10 people to try the product and create an honest review. To make this easier, you can use Amazon’s Vine Program.

The goal of the first reviews is to show that the product is of interest to people, grow your review rate, and grow the CVR of the product list.

Time For a PPC

After you receive your initial reviews, you can start doing PPC campaigns for your top keywords. Make sure you select high bids and an aggressive strategy – you are supposed to expect 100-200% ACOS ( Advertising Cost of Sale) in the first 3 days.

Don’t forget to monitor the performance of the product on a daily basis, and to make decisions according to the product’s trend – you can gain vital intelligence from measuring your metrics!

Brace Yourself for the Honeymoon Period

Yes, your first 60 days on Amazon as a seller is a honeymoon period! Why? Because your target is to rank your top keywords in the first five organic search results for optimum results. Why is it important?  It’s important because you want to check the column of the organic unit increases day by day. For example, you may expect 20% organic units in the first 20 days. After 40 days, you can get to 50% percent organic, then 80%,  60 days after a successful launch.

Helium10 and Seller tools are both fantastic tools for tracking your organic position. Depending on your budget, you can narrow a huge list down to a shortlist of keywords that you want to target during your launch. For example, we targeted 16 phrases with SFR below 50K.

The secret to a successful launch is to research everything and anything that can help you make the right choices and to find the right product with good ROI potential with a low aggressive seller. Once you have all this covered, you are on your way to success!

The post How to Launch a Successful Product on Amazon in a Few Easy Steps appeared first on Expander.