Direct to Consumer
eCommerce is an industry of continuous fluctuation. Beyond dedication and fresh ideas, success hinges on recognizing when your business model needs a fundamental shift. From evolving customer habits to tech leaps and crowded markets, understanding when and how to pivot strategically can mean the difference between stagnation and skyrocketing your business. Keep reading to learn...
Disruptions, inflation, and evolving consumer trends have forced CPG companies to become financial ninjas. The goal isn’t just to keep the lights on though; they aim to thrive in a competitive market. This article will equip you with the strategies and insights to weather the economic storm and emerge stronger than before. It’ll explain how...
User experience (UX) is as important for an eCommerce store as the display and interiors are for a brick-and-mortar shop. It helps visitors browse a website, search for products, place orders, and remain connected without hassle. A critical component of UX design is accessibility, which refers to how well people can reach and use your...
A task as simple as following benchmarks can reap major rewards, considering you’re twice as likely to hit a business goal you track. However, only about 10% of small to medium-sized businesses with growth targets monitor KPIs for eCommerce in real-time. Whether you want to reach an objective next week or in five years, tracking...
For years, brands have relied on cookies to track website visitors, improve the online experience for users, and collect data that aids ad targeting. Cookies also enabled businesses to learn what customers were up to online when not on their website. This practice chugged along until Google announced its plan to phase out third-party cookies...
In eCommerce, having a healthy mix of marketing channels helps your brand stand out from the competition and remain at the forefront of current and prospective customers’ minds. One of the most impactful channels eCommerce businesses can leverage is also one of the most traditional: email. Email subscribers are already invested in your business because...
An eCommerce launch can make or break your online business, depending on how much you’ve invested into it. You have to set goals and develop a strategic roadmap to facilitate a successful release. Research has found that 90% of eCommerce start-ups fail within the first 120 days of operation. The top three reasons cited for...
The subscription box market is one of the fastest growing sectors in eCommerce. With an expected annual growth of 18.2% and an estimated market value of $71.77 billion by 2028, subscription boxes are more popular than ever. That fervor is well earned thanks to the model’s convenience, personalization options, and savings potential. If you’ve yet...
This is a guest post from Claude Rivera. Claude is a channel manager at CyberStockroom, where she specializes in empowering businesses to overcome the challenges of inventory management through innovative software solutions. With a focus on the needs of companies that manage field inventory, Claude and her team offer a robust SaaS platform designed to...
Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce are some of the most well-known eCommerce platforms. Each has a staunchly loyal following, but it can be challenging to decide which is best for building an eCommerce site. To help you out, we’ve crafted a quick comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce vs BigCommerce. Here’s how they stack up against each...
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an advertising asset. It’s one of the most coveted acquisition channels, with the power to boost brand visibility and bring thousands more qualified leads to your site — all at a lower price tag than many other marketing strategies. For your DTC store, SEO is paramount. Here’s a crash course...
Convenience reigns kind in eCommerce. Consumers today are more eager than ever to have their favorite products delivered to their doorsteps. Subscription box businesses capitalize on this preference, combining the ease of online shopping with timely shipments. Some Americans are now signed up for 10 or more subscriptions, while budgeting app Truebill reported a less...
In eCommerce, the competition is as intense as it is diverse, making it imperative to differentiate your brand to capture your target segment’s attention. Advertisers are shifting from broad, mass-market tactics to direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies. This approach focuses on establishing an open line of communication and delivering personalized experiences to customers. Under these circumstances, the...
Influencer marketing has changed the way businesses and consumers look at advertising. The advent and exponential rise of social media over the past two decades has opened new opportunities and completely reshaped direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. While mass promotion is still an option, social media and, in particular, influencer marketing trends allow you to reach the...
Experts predict online grocery sales will reach a staggering $160.91 billion in 2023, and the number of digital grocery buyers nationwide is expected to hover around 147.8 million. This considerable increase in online orders amplifies the demand for superior-quality food warehouses and reliable fulfillment partners to deliver consumables. As a merchant, your warehousing selection must...
This is a guest post from Alex Senn. Alex is the CEO of SKUSavvy, a modern warehouse management system built for brands on Shopify looking to scale their operations and efficiently manage the end-to-end inventory and fulfillment process. With an industry first-of-its-kind 3D warehouse map built into the system, users can find inventory faster, make storage...
It’s never too early to plan for the holidays. After all, for most merchants the holidays are their most lucrative time of the year. In 2020, U.S. buyers spent $201.32 billion online during the holiday season, a 45.2% jump from $138.65 billion in 2019. Online sales were also projected to grow by 6.1% in 2022....
In 2022, a record number of nearly 1.5 billion units sold were recalled. With consumer safety awareness on the rise, 2023 might see a similar trend, making it crucial for businesses across industries to stay alert regarding product safety and recall readiness. Although it’s a dreaded occurrence for merchants, a product recall is also an...
Customer feedback plays a critical role in shaping the success of an eCommerce business. It provides invaluable insight into what customers like and dislike about a product, service, or website and helps businesses make informed decisions to improve the buyer experience. Collecting feedback from consumers also contributes to building stronger relationships, boosting customer loyalty, and...
Customer trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. After a single negative experience, 76% of consumers will stop doing business with a company. In eCommerce, providing exceptional customer support is crucial to set your business apart from competitors and maintain consumer loyalty. However, offering 24/7 support can be challenging, especially if you have...
Over the last three years, millions of online businesses have displayed resilience in the face of the unexpected. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption and innovation of digital commerce, with online shopping increasing by 77% year over year in a matter of months. By the end of 2023, eCommerce sales will make up one-fifth of...
The eCommerce industry provides countless opportunities to grow your online business, expand your reach, and build a powerhouse brand, but you have to monitor several elements to realize this potential. While there are many metrics business owners must track to determine and expand their success, one of the most important is revenue — the fuel...
Most entrepreneurs go into eCommerce to sell products and ideally build an online sales empire — not spend their time dealing with legal documents. However, every business, no matter its size or niche, has to manage the legal side of operations, and your eCommerce website, services, and products are no exception. eCommerce websites aren’t required...
Boasting more than 4.1 million live stores and more than $590 billion generated on the platform since its inception, Shopify is one of the best eCommerce solutions on the market. So, it’s not surprising that setting up a successful Shopify store is a dream for many. But what happens when you outgrow the platform or...
A quick browse through online marketplaces clearly shows that eCommerce is booming. Sellers and brands abound, and orders constantly pour in fast. In fact, the global eCommerce market is expected to reach $8.148 billion by 2026. Unfortunately, the fairy-tale ending remains out of reach: Goods are regularly sent back in droves, with 30% of online...
With US eCommerce purchases expected to reach 31% of total sales by 2026 and digital buyers topping 2 billion in 2020, growing your eCommerce business, is where the money is at. But when you have an ever-growing to-do list and not enough hours in the day to complete them all, scaling can feel like an...
Thinking about giving influencer marketing a try? The stats are on your side. Influencer marketing hit $13.8 billion in 2021 and is set to expand an extra 19% to $16.4 billion in 2022. Whether you sell clothing or car accessories, influencer marketing effectively gets the word out about your brand, builds consumer trust, and drives...
If you’ve ever attended an eCommerce event, you’ll know how incredible and insightful they can be. eCommerce events, conferences, and summits are bound to be overflowing with value and innovative insights. After attending an event, be it online or in-person, you’ll walk away with a newfound love for your business. Hear about the latest innovations,...
The eCommerce industry is ever-changing. Things move fast and trends come and go. In an industry that’s always evolving, you need to stay on your toes. Jump on a trend too late and you may have to stand on the shorelines as your competitors (and customers) sail on by. If you want to improve your...
This is a guest post from Career Karma, the easiest way to find a job training program online. They help over 1 million workers navigate their careers every month through advice and coaching. Running an eCommerce business can be challenging for both first-timers and established business owners. Primarily, it’s crucial to understand the market and...
There was once a day when TV commercials ruled the world. Over-the-top production quality, crowd-stopping visuals, and emotional storytelling were common methods brands used to grab people’s attention. These days, people have grown numb to disruptive advertising techniques. Consumers want meaningful connections. They want to know brands care. As such, we’ve seen a dramatic shift...
Unless you’re new to eCommerce, you’ll be aware of the business dangers of online fraud, and they aren’t going away anytime soon. LexisNexis’ 2021 study reported both the cost and volume of fraud are increasing significantly year-on-year, not the type of growth we want to see. Security systems like 3DS are vital to combating fraud....
With eCommerce now tipped to reach $1 trillion in 2022, an acceleration of two years, and 95% of orders expected to be completed online by 2040, the eCommerce market is the place to set up shop. As the market continues to change rapidly, headless commerce is becoming a must for brands who want to remain...
Selling online allows you to reach a whole world of customers at your fingertips. If you’re only serving consumers in your town, region, or even country, you are missing out on valuable growth opportunities. Expanding your eCommerce business into international markets is a potent strategy for scaling your eCommerce store and reaching even more customers....
The world of online shopping brings a load of exciting opportunities for consumers. However, this presents a similar amount of opportunities for eCommerce scam artists and fraudsters. The best way to protect your store and customers against eCommerce scams is to take preventative measures, keeping you one step ahead of fraudulent behavior at all times....
Updates like cookie opt-ins, iOS14, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are creating smaller audiences for advertisers to work with. As a result, eCommerce businesses and retailers with an online presence have to find newer, more effective ways to reach their target customers. Smaller returns, audience pools, and ad budgets continued on popular advertising...
Every brand has lapsed customers — people who once bought from them, only to disappear off the face of the earth and never interact with the company again. However, those inactive customers aren’t a lost cause. While capturing new customers is an essential business practice, maintaining their loyalty is where the real value lies. Winback...
Receiving a new order from a customer sparks your fulfillment process into action … but is that all? The customer journey doesn’t stop once someone places an order. If anything, the post-purchase experience is arguably its most valuable stage. Those moments after someone converts present an opportunity to turn one-time customers into loyal brand advocates....
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are experts at building unique, engaging buyer experiences. They understand the value of having a direct line to their customers, making an impression, and staying top-of-mind when it comes to consumer choice. Even enterprise brands and established merchants can benefit from observing what their peers are doing to stand out. To that...
Returns are inevitable, no matter how well you’ve researched product-market fit, tested and optimized your SKUs, and streamlined your operations. They are also more prevalent in eCommerce. At least 30% of all eCommerce orders are returned, compared to less than 9% for brick-and-mortar stores. Although that may sound high, returns don’t have to be the...
As an eCommerce entrepreneur, you have multiple ways to grow your sales. However, many brands struggle to harvest the most value from each customer who visits their site (without spending an arm and a leg on new advertising and marketing). If traffic to your website is high and customers are following through on purchases, you...
Perfect pairs exist all around us — salt and pepper, lemon and lime, milk and cookies. Chances are your favorite online store also hosts its own perfect pairs in a smart bundling strategy. Crafting a DTC bundling strategy is the secret to leveraging the sales potential of these perfect pairs and ensuring your brand stands...
eCommerce business owners know one of the challenges of operating a digital-only company is the lack of direct customer interaction. That face-to-face opportunity to ask customers what they think of your product or how they heard about your business is nowhere to be found. Yet, customer feedback remains critical to understanding the consumer journey and...
The first thing you do when you arrive on an eCommerce landing page is start scrolling, sometimes even before the page has fully loaded. This is often an automatic, subconscious behavior. The elements you see as you scroll, and the order you encounter them in, all contributes to your brand and buyer experience. High performing...
As a business owner, you’ve (hopefully) spent a lot of time thinking about the design and functionality of your eCommerce site. The overall flow of your website impacts how satisfied your customers are, and that includes the checkout process. This is a critical stage in the buying process, as the average cart abandonment rate across...
For many eCommerce professionals, the early days of January bring a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. For weeks, if not months, you and your team have fulfilled orders, managed customer inquiries, and navigated the rocky supply chain of our Covid-19 reality. It probably feels like as good a time...
Customer acquisition and conversion rate are important for eCommerce success. An often overlooked tool to boost both of these is user-generated content (UGC), which merchants can encourage and utilize within the buying process. User-generated content is a goldmine of social proof, referral networks, and interesting new use cases for your products. In this article, we’ll...
Our smartphones have become our lifeline. We use them to order groceries, keep in touch with loved ones, take photos, write notes, learn new languages, shop online … With the average person spending at least three hours a day on their mobile phone, it makes sense to take advantage of this usage for your DTC...
Rewarding customers for their loyalty is a smart way to increase customer lifetime value for your eCommerce brand. Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total worth of a particular customer over the entire period of their relationship with your brand. The idea behind CLV is simple: the better your customer retention, the greater your profits...
Could live shopping be the future of retail? For years now, the rise of eCommerce has generated conversations about the “death of the high street.” Online shopping is ingrained into our daily lives thanks to the convenience of being able to buy at the click of a button. Yet, the in-store experience of browsing products...
Customer lifetime value can make or break your eCommerce business. Simply put, you spend a certain amount of money on customer acquisition, and must earn that back (and then some) throughout the customer’s relationship with your brand. In this article, we’ll talk about benefits you can provide to attract and encourage fiercely loyal, long-time customers....
We’ve all witnessed the power of a successful brand partnership. Case in point: Red Bull and GoPro, or Nike and Michael Jordan. All of these brands seem to make sense together, and over the years, both partnerships have proved extraordinarily fruitful. Fortunately, you don’t need to be a Red Bull or a Michael Jordan to...
Webinar and virtual events bring a rare advantage to the table. For one, you don’t need a huge budget to pull off a massive (and successful) event. Secondly, there are various types of events you can host to boost your customer acquisition strategy. For example, BarkBox, a dog toy subscription service, cleverly hosts Open BARK...
Your brand will always need to invest in DTC customer acquisition, since you’ll always need an influx of customers. But it’s possible customers may no longer need you. It’s a harsh truth, but one you need to face. Today, the average person sees up to 5,000 ads per day. On Amazon alone, a whopping 78%...
This is a guest post from Brooke Morrow. Brooke is a Paid Marketing Manager at Kaspien, an eCommerce company that offers a full suite of seller tools to help brands sell online. Brooke has years of experience running advertising accounts across Facebook, Google, Instagram, Yelp, and other social platforms for Fortune 500 companies and local...
eCommerce sellers should never assume that a single purchase means a consumer will keep coming back. There are countless brands all vying for your customers’ attention—and marketplaces like Amazon are quickly eroding brand loyalty. However, taking an active stance on customer retention can improve your chances of bucking this trend. In fact, studies show that...