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E-commerce: Forever 21 Partners with Global-e in a bid to strengthen its online operations
J&P comments
The partnership will allow forever 21 to provide international customers with an outstanding online shopping experience and create specific promotions according to its local marketing and business strategy.
E-Commerce: Amazon could open physical retail stores in Germany
According to a German newspaper, Amazon are considering opening up retail stores in Germany. It is likely these physical outlets will primarily sell Amazon Echo and Alexa products and will take the form of bookstores. Amazon’s managing director for Germany, Ralf Kleber, has said “The fact is that we know that customers shop offline and that they like variety. Customers love diversity online and in the traditional retail industry. That industry still accounts for 90 to 95 percent of sales in Germany and we will never forget what the customer wants.”
J&P Comments
As Amazon has already opened up physical outlets in its two other biggest markets, the USA and UK, it is no surprise that they are looking to open up physical retail stores across Germany. As stated by Kleber, the majority of sales in Germany are made offline, so Amazon could benefit by introducing its own approach to traditional retail in the country.
E-commerce: Amazon to Open New Fulfilment Centre in Deltona, Florida
A new fulfilment centre will be opened in Deltona, Florida, Amazon has announced. This statement from the E-commerce giant has come less than 2 months after they declared that they plan to build a fulfilment centre in Auburndale, also in Florida. The fulfilment centre will be 1 million square feet in size and will create over 500 new job opportunities. Amazon’s Vice President of Global Customer Fulfilment, Alicia Boler Davis, has said “We’re excited to continue our investment in Florida and further expand our presence in the state with this new fulfilment centre in Deltona.”
J&P Comments
The opening of this impressive new facility shows Amazon’s determination to continue expanding its network in the United States, one of the world’s biggest E-commerce markets. Amazon now has over 100 fulfillment centres operating across the USA, and it was only in October that J&P reported Amazon had opened an 850k square foot facility in the state of Illinois.
E-Commerce: eBay is re-adjusting its Seller Advertising program and Promoted Listing ads
eBay has announced that it will be testing new approaches to Promoted Listing Ads, which are advertising campaigns that eBay sellers use to increase the chances of making a sale. This is in response to experienced sellers on the platform feeling undermined by subpar sellers who are garnering more attention by paying for sponsored ads. Jordan Sweetnam, the Senior Vice President of the Americas Market at eBay, has said the marketplace will begin testing new advertising practices this year and changes will be announced by the second quarter of 2020.
J&P Comments
Although Promoted Listing Ads are an effective method for sellers to maintain their reputation as an established eBay seller, they are not the only way that sellers can appeal to buyers. Sellers can also attract buyers and generate sales through offering fast shipping and placing keywords strategically when listing products.
E-commerce: Influencer marketing could have peaked in 2019
Influencer marketing experienced a prosperous year in 2019, where its average cost of placing a sponsor rose from $134 in 2014 to a whopping $1650 now. However, it has been reported that influencer marketing may very well have hit its peak as retailers begin to scrutinize returns and “influencer fatigue” sets in. According to InfluencerDB, the percentage of influencer followers have dropped aswell as the number of likes on a post in the past year. Regulators and social media platforms are seeking to crack down on influencers who are purchasing likes, followers and artificially boosting their engagement statistics.
J&P comments
It’s unethical that some influencers feel the need to purchase likes and followers to appear “successful” to their audience. When in reality, the only person that they’re fooling is themselves since no one is going to buy their clients products when the majority of their audience is fake. Influencers are possibly going to struggle to push their client’s products and services once Instagram removes the number of likes from Instagram posts since it will make it harder to gauge the popularity of posts.
E-Commerce: Amazon has record-breaking festive season with shares increase of more than 4%
Amazon has reported that it has had an incredibly successful holiday season this year as a result of the huge number of deliveries and its improved logistics network. Boxing Day 2019 was the most successful day for Amazon’s stock since January 30th of 2019, and on this day Amazon’s shares went up by more than 4%. Amazon has said “This holiday season, the number of items that were delivered with Prime Free One-Day and Prime Free Same-Day Delivery nearly quadrupled compared to the same period last holiday season, making this Amazon’s fastest holiday yet.”
J&P Comments
As Amazon has grown exponentially this year by opening many new logistics and distributions centres worldwide and investing $1 billion in its logistics network, it is no wonder the E-commerce giant has seen its shares skyrocket this festive season. The expansion of its Prime service also played a major role in the increase of One-Day and Same-Day deliveries that took place over the holiday period.
