The Webretailer News Digest for August 5, 2022
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Amazon is expanding its delivery capabilities in the US. As we reported, the company is focusing investments on both electric delivery vans and drone deliveries to increase delivery speeds.
And this week, we found out the eCommerce giant is ramping up same-day delivery opportunities for third-party companies as well. Their ‘delivery from nearby stores’ service is active in 10 states and with four major retail brands: Diesel, PacSun, GNC, and SuperDry. The site shows that 11% Pure and Sur la Table are coming soon.
It’s basically a courier service that’s free for Prime customers and $9.99 per delivery for non-Prime members. But whether you’re a member or not, you must order $25 worth of items. And to get the item by 10p, you’ll need to put the order in by 5p.
And while Amazon is thinking of another name for the consumer side of the same-day delivery push — hopefully — the company is also pulling in more merchants to get involved. They launched a new program called Amazon Today that gives retailers a path and platform to offer same-day delivery and pickup services.
Here’s how the site describes the program:
Amazon Today includes built-in customer service, real-time inventory, out-of-stock buffers, and capacity management controls, allowing our partners to take full advantage of their existing technology investments while adding a new sales channel to drive incremental order volume at retail stores nationwide.
None of this is surprising considering what we heard from Amazon’s Q2 results last week and the fact that they raised the price of Prime in the US back in February. The company will be able to offer more value for Prime members with free same-day delivery from their favorite retailers.
Walmart reduces corporate roles, but not in eCommerce
It’s never fun to report job losses. But a round of job cuts this week revealed even more about the company’s focus on eCommerce.
The Wall Street Journal confirmed Walmart is beginning efforts to restructure the company as it lowered its profit outlook last week. In other words, they’re cutting corporate roles in their real estate, global tech, and merchandising departments.
But in a statement to CNBC, Walmart spokesperson Anne Hatfield said the company will continue to hire in growing sectors of its business. That list includes ad sales, supply chain, and eCommerce. We already know the company is also creating new roles and investing heavily in these sectors to maximize its profitability.
Again, it’s never good when people lose their jobs. It’s a negative sign for the economy at the moment. But it seems eCommerce positions are here to stay — especially with retailers like Target and Amazon (see above) investing heavily as well.
Shopify invests $100M in Klaviyo
Automation is king in the world of eCommerce. And to solidify that notion, look no further than Shopify’s one-hundred million dollars strategic investment in Klaviyo this week.
The Boston-based eCommerce marketing automation platform is a go-to for Shopify businesses with over 65k signed on with the company. It offers integrations with over 4,000 applications and allows users to maximize their data and automate text and email messaging with personalization.
The deal also makes Klaviyo Shopify’s recommended email solution for Shopify Plus merchants. And it gives Klaviyo early access to features Shopify has in development.
Speaking on the investment, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein said, “Klaviyo has become invaluable to hundreds of thousands of merchants to help them better understand their customers and engage them in highly personalized ways across so many touchpoints. Klaviyo’s success has been astounding, and we’re excited to take this next step in our already robust partnership to make it even easier for Shopify merchants to grow their businesses.”
Etsy and Walmart pushing merchants to get ready for the Holiday Season
It looks like Walmart and Etsy are ready for the holiday season already. This week, both companies issued messages for merchants on their platforms citing market trends and data regarding the coming retail extravaganza.
Walmart stated that the holiday season on Walmart.com runs from November 1st to December 31st and cited some interesting data points including:
- The National Retail Federation stated that by early November last year, 62% of shoppers had already started purchasing gifts for the holidays.
- According to Forbes, Thanksgiving and Black Friday netted $14 billion in online spending.
Etsy postedd ‘Key Shopping Periods’ from their data including:
- Halloween: Traffic picks up Aug 1, peaks Oct 3, tapers off Oct 31
- Advent: Traffic picks up Sep 15, peaks Oct 15, tapers off Dec 25
- Thanksgiving: Traffic picks up Sept 1, peaks Nov 4, tapers off Nov 28
- Christmas Day: Traffic picks up Sept 1, peaks Nov 28, tapers off Jan 2
- Christmas Jumper Day (UK): Traffic picks up Oct 1, peaks Dec 5, tapers off Dec 25
- Hanukkah: Traffic picks up Oct 10, peaks Nov 9, tapers off Dec 10
Quiet Platforms partners with DHL eCommerce Solutions
This week, Quiet Platforms announced a partnership with DHL eCommerce Solutions to provide a new delivery service for their customers. Their new date-definitive service doesn’t require a lengthy setup or custom integration and will service 93% of the company’s current postal code network.
The announcement also stated that the companies will work together in developing new delivery services for the future.
On the announcement, DHL eCommerce Solutions Regional VP of Sales Lyle Sanderson said, “We’re thrilled to partner with the company to offer our unique, date-definitive delivery service to retailers and brands in the Quiet Platforms network, and we look forward to co-developing new services with the team in the future.”
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
August 9: 5 Critical Website Fixes Retailers Need to Make Before Black Friday. DigitalCommerce360.
August 11: How to design TikTok creative that performs. 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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