The Webretailer News Digest for November 25, 2022
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Happy Black Friday everyone! We hope sellers everywhere are busy moving products and ensuring their shipping channels are in working order. But not too busy that you don’t take the time to read today’s news digest 😉
Today’s news is 1053 words and takes 4 minutes to read.
To kick off the Holiday Season, some of our news highlights feature positive things happening with eCommerce companies. Giving during the holiday season has a twofold benefit. It draws customers into your store, and it’s an excellent way to support your community or favorite charitable organization.
You can catch more tips on how to increase your revenue by subscribing and receiving our Tuesday News Digest, full of helpful seller tips.
Walmart.com and the Walmart app offers means to give to local nonprofits
Walmart announced this week they’re launching a new charitable campaign this Holiday Season that will run as part of their Spark Good Initiative. The initiative works with local organizations to better communities where Walmart operates. This year, they’re working to distribute up to $5 million out to local nonprofits.
What’s the buzz?
From November 25th through Christmas, Walmart is giving customers an opportunity to round up their purchase and donate the balance to their favorite local charity.
The system only works on the Walmart app or through Walmart.com. And from there, Walmart will match the contributions and give out $1k grants to over 3,000 nonprofits throughout the country — if they have 20 or more donations.
Why should this matter to sellers?
Round-ups are becoming a popular shopping cart tool in many marketplaces. Shopify stores have the advantage of adding it directly to their checkout, but it can be more difficult on other platforms.
But whether you’re on Etsy, eBay, or Amazon, it’s possible to create a ‘give-back’ campaign with your business. You can always match a dollar amount to your sales numbers. The point is… It’s a great time of year to give, and we’d like to encourage you to do the same and benefit your business at the same time.
Final Quote
“Giving is in our DNA and it’s clear our customers feel the same. With this $5 million campaign, we’re not only amplifying our customers’ acts of giving through matching donations and grants, we’re also allowing our customers to tell us where they’d like the dollars to go.” – Erin Hogue, a senior director of associate and customer engagement at Walmart.
Big Retailer News
Target launches new strategy and layout
We normally don’t focus on brick-and-mortar. But when a location doubles as a fulfillment center, then it goes into eCommerce territory. This week, Target opened a new store near Houston that will be the model for many new stores and remodels.
The eCommerce angle
The new facility is about 20,000 sq. ft. larger than traditional Target stores. And the extra square footage space is going to an extra large backroom fulfillment area that’s 5x over their other locations. This will allow Target to ramp up its same-day delivery services in the area and compete with Amazon and Walmart.
The ‘giving’ angle
Target’s new store is full of sustainability features like rooftop solar panels, EV charging stations, and CO2 refrigerants. eCommerce companies can partake in many similar, effective sustainability campaigns within their own businesses. After all, it’s a shopping trend that can net you more customers.
Final thoughts
Doubling brick and mortar with distribution centers is a smart move that works with a lean sales model. We can expect more established businesses with capital to invest to get on board.
Wayfair’s site filters boost sustainability campaign
According to a report from DC360, home furnishing giant Wayfair offered a new sustainability filter on their site. Using the filter, shoppers could find goods with sustainability certifications — like LEED and Green Squared —with ease. Overall, the filter offers 50 sustainable features with third-party certification to shop from. Some attributes include:
- Fair trade
- Nontoxic
- Water-efficient
- Cruelty-free
The company is working with it’s suppliers to help note the certifications and add them into the filter system.
Why the heavy sustainable push?
The report stated the company’s SEO and marketing teams picked up on the sustainability-oriented keywords driving their traffic. They also noticed customers typing in these searches into their internal search bar.
Final numbers
At the moment, there’s no data around how many customers are using the product. And at the sheer number of products on their site, the filter would only sort out to 1% of their total inventory.
But it’s a new campaign they launched back in October, so sellers may be interested in their sales data when it arrives. Until then, we’ll monitor things for our subscribers!
Also in the News
- Mercari launches a new bundle offer for sellers. Mercari.
- Tax rules are changing for online sellers. CNN.
International Retailer News
Amazon highlights small businesses in the UK
Starting today, Amazon UK is launching its first ‘Small businesses, Big Experiences’ campaign. The campaign chose three small businesses and launched what they called ‘experiences’ that go for the same price as one item in their store.
For example, shoppers will have a chance at ‘purchasing’ a weekend retreat at the same price of something in the Ankyu store on Amazon UK.
And for the rest of us?
The experience angle is nice. But the key reason we’re highlighting the announcement is Amazon also launched a ‘ Small Business Deals’ banner to route customers to small businesses in the UK.
To get your business on the deals page, you’ll need a ‘Small Business Badge’. If you’re a small business operating on Amazon UK, we recommend you get this badge as quickly as possible.
JD.com slashing exec pay as part of ‘common prosperity’
If you’re not familiar, the Chinese government sealed its economic plan back in October with a concept they call ‘common prosperity’ at its core. The campaign calls for wealth to have a wider distribution across the nation.
This week Reuters reported that 2,000 executives at JD.com — China’s second largest online retailer behind Alibaba — will receive pay cuts ranging from 10 to 20% next year. They will redistribute the money into a fund that will assist employees under the JD.com umbrella in purchasing a house.
Final thoughts
Whether this will actually do anything to help income inequality in China is yet to be seen. But we can expect other eCommerce giants in China to follow up with similar policies that fall in alignment with the ‘common prosperity’ campaign.
Also in the News
- Amazon launches a new AWS site in India. TechCrunch.
- Beerwulf launches Mirakl powered marketplace. ChannelX.
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
November 29: Rapid eCommerce Growth, Inventory Not Required. DC360
December 1: (Another) Wild Year in Data Privacy: What Went Down in 2022 & What to Expect in 2023. 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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