Pinterest Ads, Amazon’s European Expansion and More News
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Another month has flown by in the blink of an eye. May is officially here, with a dash of brand new eCommerce news. Last Friday, we covered potential international shipping problems that may come up in the near future. And on Tuesday, we gave you some top tips in case of any lousy shipping scenarios. For today, Amazon is in the spotlight. Let’s get into it!
Today’s news is 1407 words and takes 5 minutes to read.
Pinterest Lands a Deal With Amazon
Hold on to your hats, eCommerce business owners! Pinterest just announced a major partnership with Amazon that will shake up the social media landscape. For the first time ever, Amazon will advertise on Pinterest’s platform, bringing even more brands and products to its already massive user base of over 463 million monthly visitors.
Thrilled with the deal, Pinterest reps say it represents a meaningful step toward expanding its ads business. And CEO Bill Ready is enthusiastic about the future.
Plus, to make every pin shoppable, the user experience is about to get even better. Keep an eye out for the multi-quarter implementation of the partnership and see how it will change the game for eCommerce businesses.
What’s in it for our readers?
As you can guess, if you’re an Amazon seller, your game is about to level up. Thanks to the collaboration, your ads have a chance to appear on Pinterest and Amazon.
On that note, if you need to calculate your Amazon costs, check out our free Amazon calculator. And if you haven’t started your Amazon seller’s game yet, here are 10 reasons why you definitely should!
Big Retailer News
Amazon Plans to Keep its European Expansion (2023)
With rising operational costs because of inflation, Amazon is taking measures to keep its profits up. The company has already raised its fulfillment costs in Europe, but it’s also looking for new opportunities to expand its business. And things are working in their favor — after a tough year, Amazon’s profits are back up.
Amazon grew by 9% in the last quarter alone, raking in a staggering $127.4 billion in sales. That’s thanks to their other businesses, such as AWS cloud services, which saw a revenue increase of 16%. Meanwhile, the advertising category generated a whopping $9.7 billion in revenue, growing by 21%.
Amazon’s success is partly because of its ability to adapt and stay ahead of the competition. By expanding its B2B presence in Europe, Amazon is setting itself up for even greater profits in the future. While the specifics of its expansion remain unclear, it’s clear that Amazon is staying committed to dominating the market and continuing its reign as the world’s biggest online marketplace.
Etsy as the Best Marketplace for Buyers and Sellers
According to data from Chattermill, Etsy outperformed other popular platforms such as Wayfair, eBay, Zalando, and Depop in all online marketplace aspects evaluated.
But what makes Etsy so great? According to the article, its customers are absolutely in love with the helpful and knowledgeable staff and the quality of products sold on the platform. Etsy shines in customer support areas such as speed, responsiveness, communication, attitude of staff, and problem resolution.
On the flip side, the data reveals Depop is the lowest-ranked platform because its sellers and buyers are not satisfied with the selling process, communication processes, and overall quality of the app and website.
It’s important to note that customer experience is vital for online marketplaces, especially since buyers and sellers need a positive experience to keep coming back.
As Dmitry Isupov, Chief Strategy & Insights Officer and Co-Founder of Chattermill, explains, “This is why it’s so important to have your customer data unified and analyzed so you can understand at scale where the friction lies in your buyer and seller experiences. This will lead to more intelligent CX decisions based on customers’ reality.”
To Summarize
So, whether you’re a buyer or a seller, take note of this valuable data and consider using Etsy for your next online purchase or sale. And if you’re interested in selling on Etsy, we have a great jewelry selling guide. Don’t miss it!
Also in the News
- Amazon employee captures her layoff on TikTok. Business Today.
- Is Alexa a Dinosaur? Medium.
International Retailer News
Live Shopping is Changing Retail’s Future
Live shopping features are gaining traction in the US as marketers, agencies, publishers, and social media platforms test the new technology. In 2022, 20% of people in the US participated in a livestream shopping event, according to Statista. Over a third of Americans had heard of live shopping experiences but had yet to take part.
The concept of live shopping, which is similar to the QVC shopping channels, involves selling products across social media platforms. And it’s often hosted by content creators. According to McKinsey Digital research, apparel, fashion, beauty, and food products were the most popular products in live commerce.
Live shopping is a more mature market in China, where in 2022, the country’s live-stream eCommerce market reached $497bn, while the US live-commerce market grew to $20bn in the same period. WARC and Google’s retail report found that livestream commerce accounted for 32% of digital purchase incidences across channels in the past six months, and social commerce accounted for 38%.
As live shopping combines “shopping and entertainment,” it is particularly popular with younger consumers. Small and niche markets, such as sports trading cards, offer opportunities for live shopping events.
To summerize
The potential of live shopping lies in its ability to let retailers recreate in-store experiences and its potential for immersive experiences for customers.
Live shopping particularly appeals to Gen Z and millennial shoppers, who seek engaging, mixed-reality experiences that help them connect with brands and communities they care about. It allows retailers to bring shoppable media and retail media together in one place and shape the future of commerce media.
Check out other global shopping trends in this report.
The Dangers of Technology
Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist known as the “godfather of artificial intelligence,” has quit his job at Google to warn of the dangers posed by the technology.
Hinton, who created a foundational technology for AI systems, believes that advancements made in the field pose “profound risks to society and humanity.” He also warned about the potential spread of misinformation created by AI, which could leave the average person unable to discern what is true.
Hinton expressed concern that competition between tech giants is driving them to release new AI technologies at dangerous speeds, putting jobs at risk and increasing the potential for misuse by bad actors. He believes that the new wave of AI systems are eclipsing human intelligence in some ways because of the amount of data they are analyzing.
Hinton’s resignation comes amid calls from tech billionaire Elon Musk and other experts to pause the development of AI systems to ensure their safety. Hinton did not sign the open letter at the time but warned that scientists should not “scale this up more until they have understood whether they can control it.”
As one of the first companies to publish AI Principles, Google remains committed to a responsible approach to AI and is continually learning to understand emerging risks while innovating boldly.
For our readers
We’ve covered AI many times but don’t have an answer just yet whether it is a danger to our jobs. What do you think? Is AI getting out of hand? Leave your opinion in the comment section below.
Also in the News
- Jack Ma ditches tech for teaching. Cityam.
- Modern sneakers are getting a femme revamp. Jing Daily.
Webinars
For everyone
Various dates: Amazon advertising’s global webinar program continues with 20+ webinars scheduled, covering Prime Day Preparation, Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, reporting, optimization, and other tips. Amazon.
For US sellers
May 11: The 15 Minute Breakdown. Tinuiti.
For UK sellers
Various dates: Amazon advertising’s global webinar program continues with 20+ webinars scheduled, covering Prime Day Preparation, Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, reporting, optimization, and other tips. Amazon.
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