Blog posts
E-Retail Fest Key Takeaways
A conference on eCommerce retail strategies
Where?: ExCel London
When?: 10th of November 2021
What?: Retail eCommerce strategies to grow your business to the next level
- The last two years of e-commerce (Covid & Brexit)
- Using cLTV to scale your brand as an Amazon Seller
- Conversational commerce and smart chatbots
- Leveraging the Amazon A9 algorithm
- Getting the customer experience right
- The benefits of using an Amazon agency (Hire vs Outsource)
- Tackling Amazon warehouse restrictions (3PL's and SFP)
- The basic rules for loyalty programmes
- Amazon DSP
- Using 3D & AR in e-commerce for immersive experiences
- SWOT analysis of B2B channels
- Traits of successful crowdfunding campaigns
1. FRUUGO
Hakan Thyr (CRO of Fruugo) - Marketplace and Global Brands enthusiast. Expert on eCommerce numbers and forecasts
- Demand is Global but it is not evenly distributed. It is important for sellers to make their products available globally to take advantage of localised spikes in demand.
- During Covid, some retailers took their online stores and made them into fulfilment centres. Eg : Boots pharmacy.
- With people working from home, there has been a definitive shift in online orders from evenings to during work hours.
- The last two years have seen an increase in demand for home delivery over click and collect.
- eCommerce has seen a demographic change, with an increase in visitors online from 18 - 24 and 65+.
- A resilient supply chain is a competitive advantage, Covid and Brexit have taught us that we need to prepare to be prepared.
2. NOZZLE
Rael Cline (Founder) - Data Savvy Amazon pro. Expert on Amazon Customer LTV
- For D2C E-commerce sellers, customer retention is key and understanding your customers is the starting point.
- A 1 % increase in customer retention leads to a 7% increase in profit.
- Repeat Order Rate is too vague, measuring cross/up sells and trial conversions provides a deeper insight.
- Understanding your Customer Lifetime Value is essential for informing how much you can spend on customer acquisition.
- It is also key to measure how much it costs to keep your customers.
3. NIBBLE
Rosie Bailey (CEO at Nibble Technology) - Overlooked corporate retail investments and acquisitions. Passionate about tech and retail
- Conversational commerce is becoming a more popular and more effective way of selling.
- Conversational commerce can also lead to a deeper understanding of your customers.
- It is important for chatbots to use simple language.
- To avoid confusion, customers want to know if they are chatting with a robot, not human.
- Hence, chatbots should have a personality, but not too much.
- It is Key to use ‘I don’t understand’ as an opportunity to offer helpful guidance instead.
4. SELLER SESSIONS
Danny McMillan (Founder of Seller Sessions) - famous for its events and podcasts. Show stealer for anything Amazon in the EU Scene
- 70% of Amazon shoppers pick from the first page.
- First three items displayed usually account for 64% of picks.
- A9 - Amazon’s search powers the majority of its sales.
- If you get a higher conversion rate, Amazon will favour your campaign.
- The Ad Placement Algorithm relates to the Order History and Conversion Rates. Therefore, optimising your listings to increase conversions is critical.
- Geo-ranking is done on a zip code level. A third party app may show you ranking #1, but across different zip codes you can vary between #1 - # 1000.
- Amazon’s most valuable asset is a prime customer.
5. PRIMIS
Rebecca Griffiths - Ex-Amazon Fashion and Luxury Expert. eCommerce advisor for multiple renowned companies. Customer experience evangelist
- Customer Experience is how a customer perceives your brand across every interaction they’ve had with you
- CX Mapping exercise are key - customer journey mapping templates are available on Shopify
Post Purchase CX journey is the most important
- Improved post-purchase with branded email communication that includes tracking information.
- Explore alternative communication methods (SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger).
- Tracking Portals are really available but lack personalisation in the CX journey (don't just hand customers off to parcel carriers).
- 57 % of customers will not recommend a business with a poorly designed website.
- CSAT, TTR and NPS are ways to measure customer experience.
6. ETOPIA CONSULTANCY
Asha Bhalsod - Managed Amazon channel for the multi-million Melissa and Dougs toy company. Ex-Amazon
Who should you hire?
- E-commerce Account Manager
- Analyst
- Marketing Manager
- Admin Support
Pros of hiring an internal team :
- Build and retain internal knowledge
- Lower costs
Pros of hiring an Amazon agency
- Saves time
- Improves Efficiency
- Not all good agencies are Amazon agencies
7. Olsam
Nish Udayakumar (VP investments at Olsam) - Worked at Amazon UK managing FBA and SFP programme teams until May’21.
What are the solutions?
- Consider a composite approach of 3PL and FBA.
- Understand how to increase limits and raise cases with seller support - create removal orders.
- Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP).
Benefits of 3PL with SFP
- Re-stocking limits don’t apply.
- For multichannel sellers it is easier to sell off Amazon and keep all inventory in one place.
- It can be beneficial to use SFP in conjunction with FBA Prime.
- Other FBA quirks don’t apply like removal orders and items getting lost by Amazon.
Recent SFP Changes
- Daily Cut off times - customer facing cut off times to 3 pm, seller facing cut off moved to 4 pm.
- Mandatory weekend collections.
- Supports multi-warehouse functionality.
8. SWAPI
Pete Howroyd (CEO) Years of experience in customer retention, loyalty programmes, and customer data intelligence.
- The Loyalty Market has 7.6 billion members.
- 10,000 Loyalty Programs growing by 8% per year.
- 16 Trillion points accumulated each year.
- Many points go unredeemed.
- Partnerships are powerful - they lead to a 40% increase in spending frequency, 25% increase in spend per customer and a 12% increase in customer acquisition.
- Innovation is key in loyalty, members want you to engage with emerging tech.
Understanding what your customers want is key - Relevance and Personalization
9. ACORN-i
Ross Caveille ( Founder of Acorn Intelligence )- a tech-based Amazon Agency. Ex-Amazon GM of DSP EU.
- Amazon DSP is not as good as other DSP’s.
- Sponsored Ads and Display complement each other.
- Leveraging Amazon search advertising with display can reach more customers.
- It is a good practice to start with the customer and work backwards.
- Leverage custom built audiences and Amazon dynamic creative solutions. The latter will lead to a 23% rise in purchases.
10. POPLAR STUDIO
Ingrid Orstadius ( VP Commercial ) - Evangelist of immersive technologies in modern eCommerce
- Use 3D & AR for engaging and interactive product experiences .
- Immersive technology can benefit small medium retail e-commerce channels.
- We are headed to the Metaverse which is the successor state of today’s internet (3rd wave).
- By 2025, AR usage will triple up to 1.5 billion.
Why use AR in E-commerce?
- 75% of consumers expect retailers to offer AR.
- Viewing 3D models in AR increases conversions by up to 250%.
- AR increases customer engagement.
Challenges
- There is a fragmented ecosystem of tools.
11. ANKORSTORE
Emmanuelle Brizay ( Partnerships Advisor ) at Ankorstore. Seed and early stage investor for retail and tech businesses
Benefits of wholesale as a growth channel
- Ability to scale.
- Control distribution.
- Network fefects.
- Increase distribution more widely.
12. SEEDRS
Katherine Gilroy ( Senior Associate at Seedrs )- Passionate about crowdfunding and helping female founders.
- Crowdfunding is a great way to raise money.
- It democratises fundraising and is often faster than going to Angels and VC’s.
- Crowdfunding is a great marketing tool that can turn customers into advocates.
- Having a strong brand and engaged community is key to success.
- Early stage companies will usually give out 15-25% equity.
- Crowdfunding should start with your primary network putting in money followed by your business community, this will show traction towards your fundraising goal and give confidence to Seedrs investors.
