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chapter 4   the Retail Website

further reading ...

Note that I’ve included some articles that are a couple of years old ...

don't let their publication date put you off - they are still relevant now.

The most recent posts are at end of each section.

This book covers only the essentials – for links to wider coverage of the

subjects take a look at the web pages for Digital Marketing; a Practical Approach.

What count as online retail sales? Although sales of services such as insurance and holidays are considered to be retail in that they’re sold to the end users, they are not normally included in any interpretation of e-commerce, for more see   Online retailing - what is it, and how important is it?

The Top 5 Most Popular Categories Purchased Online  is a couple of years old - but I doubt the numbers have changed significantly since then.

Black Friday: Why bots will beat you to in-demand gifts  could have been in a number of sections - but I opted for it being a  general e-commerce issue. Although it might be more relevant to the chapter on analytics, I was particularly interested with the quote; 'At times, more than 60% of our traffic - across hundreds of millions of visitors a day - was bots or scrapers'.

I could have put  How does the ecommerce experience in China differ from the west?  in the last section of the previous chapter - but it concentrates on e-commerce, so I've included it here. My experience is that some things are unique to the Chinese culture, but others will move west, sooner if not later.

The book mentions Moe and Fader's four types of shopping visits -  5 Types of E-commerce Shoppers is a short video along similar lines.

Success in ecommerce requires a strong brand, not just a smooth experience includes some valid points. However - as with all aspects on marketing - they are not all relevant to all organizations. It's rather sad that the author's comment that 'customer experience ... is still comparatively new for many brands' is correct. E-commerce has been around for more than 25 years, why is it still new to these folks?

I think the most important aspect of Nike’s online business is booming — ‘digital is here to stay,’ CEO says is the ‘Nike Live’ concept – small out-of-town outlets to collect online orders.

Elements of the effective e-commerce site

11 Ways Photos Harm Ecommerce Conversions.

13 examples of dark patterns in ecommerce checkouts  - how many have you come across?

What Shoppers Want From the Online Experience.

Study: 79% of consumers want human-driven customer service.

I have included SEO: 6 Ways to Optimize Category Pages here but it could just as easily be in the SEO and website development chapters. There is some good - if basic - advice and I think it illustrates how closely web page development and SEO are linked.

Product pages are the new packaging suggests that the product web page serves the same purpose as packaging for products sold off the shelf in physical stores.

Ten examples of effective e-commerce product pages.

Retention Now A Bigger Personalization Priority Than Acquisition  for e-commerce sites.

False Declines on credit card purchases is an unusual subject that is generally known only to serious e-commerce operators. According to ekata.com, the rise in sophisticated credit-card fraud requires new measures to reduce losses. But merchants often cast a broad net, declining any "suspicious" transaction. The result is dramatically more false declines than actual fraud. Minimizing false declines is the hidden way to boost e-commerce profits. In 2021, actual fraud worldwide is projected to be $6.4 billion. But false declines will reach a whopping $443 billion — 70 times higher. If you want to know more, there’s an eBook you can download.

Design Guidelines for Selling Products with Multiple Variants.

I have to say that I think that 85% of consumers worldwide rely on video when shopping online, but it has to be fast is a bit high … but hey ho, the comments on video download speed are interesting.

Multi-channel retailing

Six pureplay online retailers that opened brick-and-mortar stores.

I could have included Instagram Launches 'Checkout on Instagram' to Facilitate In-App Shopping in the chapter on marketing on social media, but it's online commerce so I have added it to this chapter.

Nike's apps played crucial role in driving engagement, 2020 digital sales growth could be in several sections, but ultimately it’s about selling things online.

78% of consumers will abandon transaction if app installation is required goes some way to helping with the website/app decision.

43% of Brits ditch online checkouts at the last minute in favour of Amazon.

I have to say that I do not agree – or at times, understand – the premise of Decentralized commerce. However, that does not mean that I’m right and its author is wrong, so you should give it your time. I should point out something I didn’t realise straight away; the author is [I think] talking about high end products. Bear that in mind and it makes a little more sense. Perhaps it’s because I don’t buy high end products at all, let alone online.

The first sentence of Online Shopping Has Shifted to the Edge  reads; ‘Shoppers increasingly use social media to discover products. But new research shows that shoppers overwhelmingly prefer to check out on a brand site, not on social’ … which sets the tone for the article.

Third-party shopping sites

Protect your brand on e-commerce marketplaces considers some of the negatives in using a third party website on which to sell your products.

58 Leading Online Marketplaces Worldwide.

The four pillars of a successful Amazon strategy.

Of course, sometimes being on your own website is best - Beardbrand Founder on Moving Away from Amazon.

Amazon’s new ‘Storefronts’ gives SMBs a dedicated channel to sell goes some way to explain Amazon's dominance of online shopping in the US. And as that dominance grows, the more dominant it will become. As a retailer that is anything but a major brand, why would you bother with your own website? [For part of the answer ... see the previous article].

Alibaba launches English language website for brands to reach Chinese Tmall users.

Google’s new take on Shopping goes live in U.S.

Is it social media? Is it a marketplace? As I've put it in this section, it's obvious that I think Depop is the latter. Like eBay, this app was originally peer-to-peer, but brands now see it as a good way to reach a pretty specific target market, see Four marketing lessons we can learn from the success of Depop.

Why Nike and Adidas are launching products on sneaker resale site StockX.

13 Marketplaces for Handmade Goods.

I wonder how many people realise that Amazon has 400 private-label brands for 243,000 products - here's the 20 Top Private Label Brands from Amazon.

I could have included   Amazon Live: 12 Shows from Influencers, Sellers, Brands  in a couple of other sections - but it's about using Amazon, so it's in here.

Social Commerce vs. Social Selling  is a short video considering the pros and cons of this. Interesting, is that the the term 'selling' is used is a wider sense, as in informing or convincing the buyer and not the actual purchase [something I agree with].

A tale of caution which does not reflect well on Amazon - After Going All-In on Amazon, a Merchant Says He Lost Everything.

Fulfilment

Shipping costs – can they go on being free? See;   Wave goodbye to free delivery.

Despite popularity of e-commerce, returns remain a hassle  is a newspaper story – but it does include some of the ways in which retailers are trying to address the issue of returns.

For folk who have worked in retail Retailers Crack Down on Return Fraud presents nothing new - but some digital marketers are new to retail.

Accessing Amazon’s and eBay’s delivery services.

Last-minute grocery businesses are a massive bag of dicks is an excellent commentary on the business aspects of fulfilment.

Amazon launches in store pickup option for items from local businesses.

WH Smith on Deliveroo: how fast do shoppers really need a lever arch file?

RETURNS  According to That sweater you don't like is a trillion-dollar problem for retailers 15 to 40 percent of online purchases are returned. I’ve long pondered the percentage of retail sales that are online  [see online retailing], and these numbers pose another question: when online sales numbers are quoted, is that gross sales or net sales after returns are deducted? Anyone in retail will tell you that returns have always been a problem – particularly for small shops where stock holding is minimal – but social media has added to the problem in that some folk are now ordering products just to take a selfie of them in/on/using/wearing them [no comment]. Similarly, apparently some customers will order products - shoes for example - in 3 or 4 sizes in order to get the right fit.
What does ASOS’ new returns policy mean for e-commerce? We ask the experts.

The Way Forward with E-Commerce Returns.

Tackling the E-Commerce Returns Problem.

MySize CEO: The ‘Free Returns’ Retail Model Is Unsustainable.

Tackling the Unsustainable Rate of Returns also considers the impact of returns on the environment.

The Increasing Complexity of Product Returns.

Can making deliveries once a week make e-commerce sustainable and more profitable? is not a new idea - is it time for it to work?

That Amazon wants to double its Locker program over the next year shows that the 'last mile' is still a problem for e-commerce.

E-Commerce Looks Strong, But We Need To Examine Its Key Vulnerability.

A couple of good articles - Stop Believing in Free Shipping,  Free Shipping Isn't Hurting Amazon.

Want to know how important post-purchase is to the modern retail experience? Just ask Trustpilot [clue? It's delivery].

It would be interesting to know if Porch Piracy Is Growing outside of the US. Not much retailers can do about it - but it is another problem for fulfillment.

How to improve customer experience when products are out of stock is another of those issues where experienced offline retailers already know the answers. It also includes interesting data that consumers who have shopped with a new brand, retailer, or website since the  start of the COVID pandemic, 29% cite product availability as the reason they have done so.

Packaging - or the waste generated by it - is becoming an important issue for the Green movement ... and so reduced packaging may become a sales advantage in the near future, see Online shopping has boomed in the pandemic. But what about all the packaging?

Product returns are wasteful for companies and the planet. 

That Boohoo started charging shoppers £1.99 to return items doesn’t surprise me at all. The retailer joins other online clothes sellers including Zara, Sports Direct and Next in charging for returned online purchasers.

Charging for ecommerce returns: Can it be avoided? addresses the key issues.