The Webretailer News July 15, 2022
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Amazon’s Prime Day numbers don’t disappoint
The initial numbers are in and all indications are that Amazon had another highly successful Prime Day. On day one, Prime Day sales across all eCommerce channels raked in $6 billion. That number surpasses last year’s Thanksgiving Day total and claims the spot as the top online spending day for 2022.
We’re still waiting for the final numbers from day two, but everyone is expecting more of the same. Until then, we’ll break down the Prime Day eCommerce highlights for Amazon and other participating merchants.
Public Relations
Over the past few days, we’ve seen a lot of solid PR and social media buzz for Amazon. It’s a good thing for the company as other internal issues have shifted public perception.
Amazon and thousands of online merchants overload shoppers with email and social media ads promoting Prime Day deals. From this ad influx, many Amazon affiliate program members were able to make a killing on commissions.
When people make money, it’s often hard to link it to bad press. Plus, other retailers like Target promoted their own versions of Prime Day, which added to an ongoing shopping frenzy on multiple platforms throughout the week.
Discounts
On Amazon, Prime Day brought similar discounts from the past like 45% on Amazon devices. However, many Prime Day participants and analysts are reporting that many other categories also had large discounts.
Some saw up to 30% off Grocery products and other categories. And it seems that was the minimum discount needed to get listed on the first two category pages.
Issues
Unfortunately, when you have this much traffic on the site from both merchants and sellers, then it’s bound to have an issue or two. Many merchants reported issues with their Prime Day Lightning Deals releasing too early.
And others reported that the discounts they plugged into the system never showed up. As a fix, some merchants tried to create coupons, which were also not appearing for their customers.
Live Streaming and Overview
We’ve been seeing a lot of buzz about live stream shopping from eCommerce news outlets as of late. And Amazon was a key participant through Prime Day. We’ll be curious to know how things panned out for merchants who used this sales platform.
Overall, Prime Day was a success for many brands. Even though the event is young and many sellers are still experimenting with their tactics, it’s become a cash cow event in the web retail world.
Pinterest launches new tools to assist merchants
Merchants on Pinterest now have access to new features designed to help them make their products more accessible to customers on the platform. The features include:
- Product Tagging for Pins – Makes a Pin shoppable
- Shop Tab on Business Profiles – This allows merchants to display shoppable products on the Shop Tab of a Pinner (shopper).
- Pinterest API for Shopping – Let merchants manage catalogs in a single or within multiple feeds in real-time.
- Video in Catalog – Merchants can upload product videos to their catalog.
This launch adds to Pinterest’s push toward increasing shopping on the site. They recently acquired an AI shopping platform THE YES. And the former Google head of commerce and payments, Bill Ready, is now the CEO of the company.
With these new features and company movements, analysts will be focusing on their numbers in the next two quarters.
Etsy releases new sales app
This week, Etsy also released an application with features designed to help merchants. Using the new Etsy Seller App merchants will be able to manage orders, inventory, and messaging and also upload videos and photos all from the convenience of their smartphone.
And the company received even more benefits through updating its application technology. They announced that the new platform will allow them to update and adjust future application features quickly and with ease.
The press release states that Etsy based its app updates and additions on extensive research and feedback from its sellers. With this news, we can expect more updates from Etsy in the near future.
Walmart updates Spanish search functionality on Walmart.com
Online retailers know that the language barrier often leads to lost sales and decreases the overall brand experience for many users. To enhance its site, Walmart has been making moves behind the scenes to update Walmart.com’s Spanish search capabilities.
The company stated that the Pandemic was the driving factor in the update. Before 2020, they stated that their Spanish-speaking base leaned towards in-person shopping over online. But now, Spanish-speaking shoppers are up by 5x on the site. And Walmart wants to make sure they can find what they’re looking for.
On the site, users will be able to opt in or out of Walmart’s search translation feature with one click. Meaning if you search for “queso” and opt out of the translation, you’ll get results for “queso” only instead of results mixed with “cheese” also.
With that, customers can search for over 600k items in Spanish. And in the future, the company states they’re adding contextualization, personalization, and predictive search to create a full end-to-end Spanish experience.
Vinted Go logistics solution launched by fashion eCommerce retailer Vinted
Lithuania’s first unicorn is making moves this year. The company launched its logistics arm called Vinted Go recently. This ‘pick-up and drop-off’ locker solution will allow merchants to send their items to lockers in Paris for shopper pick-up.
As their platform has over 65 million users, many other companies are itching to take advantage of this new system as it arrives in more locations. Vinted has expansion plans that include over 200 thousand lockers in continental Europe serviced by over forty carriers.
With the addition of Vinted Go, the company also had to restructure both of its arms. The parent company is now called Vinted Group.
Walmart supports eCommerce expansion with the purchase of 4,500 electric delivery vans
Walmart made it to the news twice this week with another eCommerce-related announcement. The company signed an agreement with mobility company Canoo for the purchase of 4,500 all-electric delivery vehicles and an option for up to 10k.
This purchase relates purely to online orders and matches some of the other eco-friendly moves we’ve seen touted from the company lately. And with both Amazon and Walmart also looking to get drones in the air, expect to see even more fleet purchases and other last-mile delivery innovations 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
July 22: Prime Day 2022 Recap: Tinuiti’s take on the biggest lessons. 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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