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Which Couriers Are Struggling To Deliver Results?
You know how it is; you hear a knocking at the door, you put down your brew and rush to the door, only to find a ‘we missed you’ note on the floor and then have to go and pick up your parcel that you’ve been so excited for from the post office the next day. Whilst this tale has become normalized, it is a real issue for ecommerce sellers and consumers alike. In order to shed light on the issue, Citizen’s Advice have ranked couriers based on survey results. Let’s take a look how the delivery service providers fare in the league table.
So, How Were The Delivery Service Providers Ranked?
The survey asked participants to rank different service providers based on customer service, trust, and how many problems they’d faced. What was worrying was that none of the service providers received more than 3 out of 5 star overall. The highest overall score was Amazon Logistics with a score of 2.75 stars out of 5.
Bottom of the list was Hermes. Hermes received a score of 1.5 stars, only just bettered by Yodel, who received 1.75 stars. When looking at the individual scores, the result seem to get more concerning. For example, 48% of participants claimed they were unable to achieve their desired outcome when their delivery had an issue, a figure that rose to 56% for Yodel.
Why Are Couriers Struggling So Much?
The obvious answer seems to be the pandemic. This is evidenced by the fact that the Citizen’s Advice’s website page ‘if something you ordered hasn’t arrived’ has been viewed 160,000 times this year. This is almost a 70% increase on the same period in 2019 before the pandemic. The truth is that these service providers have struggled to keep pace with the massive surge in ecommerce.
Throughout lockdowns, since people couldn’t shop in physical shops they have instead been shopping online. This has put a massive strain on couriers. Citizen’s Advice are suggesting that if people want to avoid missing deliveries, it is definitely worth checking with a neighbour or local shop whether your parcels can be delivered there as an alternative. It is also worth trying to talk directly to the seller if you are buying from a sole trader.
We Provide Ecommerce Solutions
As usual, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our long history of working with sole traders means we can offer you expert advice.
As well as helping with your Fulfilment, we would be more than happy to help you register for the OSS and help you with all your VAT compliance needs in case your account faces any issues. So please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com for a quote today.
Amazon Will No Longer Accept Visa Credit Cards
Amazon sellers and consumers should be aware that as of January 19th 2022, Amazon will no longer accept Visa credit cards issued in Britain as a viable payment method. It has been announced that this is due to the high fees charged by Visa credit cards for transactions. Businesses of all sizes have voiced displeasure at the fees charged by card networks, but of course not many businesses have the power to restrict customer choice. Amazon, one of the only companies who are big enough to take this stand, may be about to make a huge shift in the market.
Why Are Amazon Putting A Stop To Visa Credit Cards?
The issues between merchants and card providers have been going on for years, so on the surface it seems strange that Amazon are choosing now to halt the use of Visa credit cards on their site. However, if you delve a bit deeper it is clear that this is because of the effects of Brexit.
As stated by EU and UK law, card providers can only charge a maximum of 0.3% per transaction. When the UK was still in the European Union, this applied to all transactions. However, since the UK have left the EU, this law only applies to in-person transactions, meaning that the credit card companies can charge more for online purchases. This has resulted in Visa raising their fees by a staggering 500% to 1.5%.
Since most purchases on Amazon UK are made for products in the UK this wouldn’t seem like the worst thing. However, when you buy something from Amazon UK you are actually buying something from the Amazon European headquarters, meaning that Visa have been making millions from UK credit card transactions on Amazon.
What Have Visa Said?
As you can imagine, Visa are extremely dismayed by this latest development. They believe that Amazon are limiting consumer choice and that the consumers are the main victims of Amazon’s move to remove Visa credit cards as an option on their site. However, it is quite clear that Visa are the party that stand to lose the most in this situation.
Amazon are still allowing consumers to use Mastercard credit cards, which suggests that they’ve reached an agreement with them over fees. They are also still allowing the use of American Express since they have not attempted to raise fees for UK to EU transactions. Clearly, the global ecommerce giant are staring down Visa and attempting to force them to lower their fees.
Will Amazon Stopping The Use Of Visa Credit Cards Affect Sellers Or Consumers?
The answer of this question of course depends upon how much you want to use your Visa credit card. Amazon are still allowing transactions using Visa debit cards and other credit card suppliers so you still have a lot of purchasing options. It would be wise for you to change your default payment method from your Visa credit card before the changes come into effect in January 2022.
As for sellers, this is very unlikely to change much for you. It is still worth being aware of the news though in case you receive any complaints or questions about failed payments if your customer attempts to pay with a Visa credit card.
We Specialize In Supporting Amazon Sellers
As usual, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our long history of working with Amazon and eBay sellers means we can offer you expert advice.
As well as helping with your Fulfilment, we would be more than happy to help you register for the OSS and help you with all your VAT compliance needs in case your account faces any issues. So please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com for a quote today.
Support For Amazon Sellers This Festive Season
As all ecommerce sellers know, the global supply chain issues are going to make fulfilling orders this Christmas very difficult. Amazon have recognized the strain that their sellers are under, and in order to alleviate this they are introducing new measures to support their sellers. Firstly, Amazon are increasing the inventory space at their fulfilment centres. They are also introducing a new service called Amazon Upstream Storage in order to streamline the inventories of Amazon sellers. Let’s take a look at these new measures and how Amazon sellers can take advantage of them this festive season.
Global Supply Chain Issues A Hot Topic This Festive Period
The global supply chain issues have been present for quite some time now. The reasons for this include a shortage of workers, shipping delays and disruption at ports. Partly, this is due to the blockade at the Suez canal earlier in the year, but more recently we have seen congestion at ports in America with cargo ships floating in the Hudson Bay for weeks at a time.
We have also seen congestions at ports in the UK. This is partly due to businesses and customs operatives still struggling to adapt to Brexit regulations. Furthermore, we can’t forget the affect the pandemic has had on the demand for ecommerce. All of these issues have resulted in major delays all over the world. Unfortunately, Amazon sellers are not exempt from these problems.
So How Are Amazon Trying To Help Their Sellers
Amazon are well aware of the supply chain issues that their sellers are facing. The first thing they have done is attempted to convince consumers to do their gift shopping earlier. We have seen evidence for this in the shape of their ‘Black Friday-like’ deals earlier in the year. The hope was that this would spread out the festive shopping period, making fulfilment easier.
On top of this, they have also introduced new measures to support their sellers. These measures were mentioned in the introduction. We believe that Amazon sellers will benefit greatly from the new support. Let’s take a closer look at this support.
Increased Storage Space At Amazon Fulfilment Centres
Amazon have made it common knowledge for a while now that they were investing heavily in their fulfilment network. In 2021 alone, amazon added 10 new fulfilment centres across the EU and UK. In September, Amazon launched operations at 7 new fulfilment centres. In addition, they even added more space at their existing centres.
As a result of this, Amazon have notified sellers in one of their latest announcements that they have increased their restock limits across many of their fulfilment centres. This will be invaluable for their sellers leading up to the holidays. Sellers are advised to review their inventory health and to ensure they are optimizing their FBA selection.
Amazon Upstream Storage Introduce To Support Amazon Sellers
This new service is mainly focused on helping sellers bringing their inventories over from China and Hong Kong using Amazon’s Global Logistics capabilities. The hope is that the new service will help sellers streamline the replenishment of their inventories at Amazon fulfilment centres.
The benefits of the new service include affordable bulk storage and speedy replenishment of inventories at an affordable price. The service is fully automated and will automatically move inventory from upstream storage into Prime-ready fulfilment centres. The service is being called Amazon Distribution on some parts of Amazon’s website, and they have also referred to the service as STAR in some of their communications with sellers. You can find out more about FBA changes in our article regarding Amazon FBA changes to consider before Black Friday.
We Specialize In Supporting Amazon Sellers
As usual, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our long history of working with Amazon and eBay sellers means we can offer you expert advice.
As well as helping with your Fulfilment, we would be more than happy to help you register for the OSS and help you with all your VAT compliance needs in case your account faces any issues. So please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com for a quote today.
European Ecommerce Wants EU To Revisit Reforms
As you will remember, the EU implemented the EU Ecommerce VAT Package earlier this year. The package represented the biggest reform of Ecommerce VAT rules in a generation. However, many European ecommerce businesses believe that the rules need to be tweaked, especially in regards to the storage of goods. The calls for further reform have come from Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce, the two biggest branch organizations in Europe. So today we’re going to take a look at what they’re proposing and assess whether the proposed changes would benefit or hinder ecommerce sellers.
What Are The Current EU Ecommerce VAT Rules?
Earlier this year, ecommerce sellers saw the introduction of the One-Stop-Shop (OSS). From the 1st July 2021, rather than registering for VAT in every individual country in which they make sales, ecommerce sellers have been able to register for the OSS which allows them to submit a single VAT return quarterly, listing all pan-EU sales.
The service is open to sellers all over the world. To use the service, you simply have to be registered in at least one EU state. This makes a lot of sense and was originally met with a very warm reception from ecommerce sellers across the globe. So why are the European ecommerce organizations now voicing their discontent with the rules?
The European Ecommerce Organizations Believe That These Rules Should Be Expanded To Include Storage
The main reservation that the European ecommerce organizations have is that these rules do not include the storage of goods in multiple countries. As it stands, sellers need to register for VAT in every European country in which they hold goods. This means that businesses that offer fulfilment in multiple countries across Europe are not really benefitting from the OSS. It has been expected that this is costing these ecommerce providers an extra €8,000 per year.
Of course, this is also taking up a lot of time for sellers in the form of administrative and compliance costs. Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce believe that by expanding the current rules to include storage, the EU could save sole traders and SMEs valuable time and money in compliance costs. They also believe this will allow sellers to be more competitive in the current globalized ecommerce market. We find it hard to disagree with them.
Other Changes That We Might See
Those pushing for these reforms are hoping that they will be implemented before 2023. This is because 2023 will see the introduction of a new piece of EU legislation called the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This legislation is intended to curb the power of the digital giants such as Facebook and Google to allow for fairer competition in Europe.
However, ecommerce providers are already taking issue with this legislation. The DMA will be determining which companies are considered to be the biggest ecommerce players by monitoring the amount active end users each site receives. However, European ecommerce providers are already complaining that this may mean that more smaller providers will be targeted by the Act than intended, as they argue that active end users do not actually equal sales. They would rather the EU monitor conversions.
If You Are An Ecommerce Seller, We Can Provide You With Solutions
This an exciting time to be an ecommerce seller, but at the same time these constant rule changes can be distressing and confusing. Luckily, we are here to support you. Whether it is expanding your business to another country or you just need supply chain support, we at J&P Accountants have been supporting ecommerce sellers for years and can offer you a range of services.
If you are a business who participates in cross border ecommerce, we would be more than happy to help you register for VAT, file your VAT returns, and help you comply with VAT in case your account faces any issues. At J&P, helping your business is our passion, and we understand that companies across the UK are at risk now more than ever. We are here to support you through the Coronavirus crisis and the busy festive period, so please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com.
Facebook To Launch New Delivery Service
Many ecommerce sellers are still reluctant to try and sell their wares on social media, despite the obvious advantages of access to a wide audience and quick click-through links. For the most part, vendors tend to prefer to sell through Amazon, with FBA contributing heavily to this preferences. With this in mind, ecommerce sellers should be excited to learn that Facebook is launching its own delivery service. This will hopefully convince more sellers to use the most popular social media platform in the world to their advantage. Here’s all you need to know about Facebook’s imminent postal service.
What Is Facebook’s New Delivery Service?
Anyone who has been selling on Facebook recently will know that the platform has been offering more shipping options. The new addition of the delivery service is definitely an exciting development in this field, but sellers should be aware that this service won’t be free. Unlike the services that have previously available, there will be a 2% service charge for sellers who wish to use the delivery service.
Facebook’s delivery service will be done through Hermes, whom Facebook have just made a partnership with. In order to use the service, sellers will have to drop the products off at a Hermes delivery pick-up point. Sellers don’t need to fear though, if they don’t wish to use this service Facebook will still offer the free collection option.
So Is The Service Worth It?
We certainly think so. Recent research from Yodel has shown that around 30% of UK consumers are planning to do all of their Christmas shopping online this year. This is a massive increase from the 7% that said the same the year before. When consumers were asked if they planned to use a hybrid approach to their gift shopping (online and offline) over 61% of those surveyed said that they would be taking this approach.
There is also evidence that social media shopping is on the rise. 61% of UK 18-25 year olds and 50% of 26-35 year olds have said that they have made a purchase after seeing an ad on social media in the last month alone. This is primarily through Instagram and Facebook. Thus, utilizing the Facebook delivery service could help you deal with orders from social media consumers.
But Is Facebook’s New Delivery Service Better Than The Free Collection Option?
The answer to this question comes down to personal preference, but we are seeing more and more consumers opt to buy from sellers that favour customer satisfaction over convenience. This trend is even more prevalent in the UK, where research has shown that consumers are more impatient than any other country. 81% of UK consumers say that they would look for another supplier if an item was out of stock or their delivery expectations were not met.
This is why this holiday season sellers should really be considering the best way to get their products to consumers. Supply chains are under more stress than ever, which wouldn’t be such an issue but consumers are concurrently more impatient than ever. Utilizing tools like Facebook’s new delivery service really could be the best way to ensure that sellers make the most of this holiday season.
If You Are An Ecommerce Seller, We Can Help You
Whether it is expanding your business to another country or you just need supply chain support, we at J&P Accountants have been supporting ecommerce sellers for years and can offer you a range of services.
If you are a business who participates in cross border ecommerce, we would be more than happy to help you register for VAT, file your VAT returns, and help you comply with VAT in case your account faces any issues. At J&P, helping your business is our passion, and we understand that companies across the UK are at risk now more than ever. We are here to support you through the Coronavirus crisis and the busy festive period, so please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com.
Is The Ecommerce Surge Slowing Down?
Ecommerce sellers from all over the globe have enjoyed a surge in sales since the beginning of the pandemic. Whilst most experts predict that this is a trend that will continue for the foreseeable future, recent data has suggested that the staggering growth of ecommerce may be about to start losing pace. Today we’re going to take a look at the latest data and discuss whether ecommerce sellers should be concerned.
So, What Data Is Suggesting That Global Ecommerce Growth Is Beginning To Slow?
The Salesforce Q3 Shopping Index has published data from across the globe that has analysed the current state of ecommerce. Before you get too concerned, it is worth pointing out that whilst the data has shown that ecommerce growth is slowing, it is still growing nonetheless. Global online sales enjoyed an 11% growth in the third quarter of 2021.
This is obviously a positive development, but the only slight concerned is that this is a big drop from the 63% growth that sales enjoyed during the same period last year. Of course, on the face of things this isn’t the best news, but it would probably be unrealistic to expect ecommerce to continue growing at such an unprecedented rate, especially with countries currently recovering from the pandemic and brick-and-mortar stores reopening.
What Does The Data Look Like When You Delve A Bit Deeper?
Looking a bit deeper in the data, you can see that the results are differing depending on which country you’re looking at. For example, Netherlands are an interesting country to look at in Europe due to the staggering growth the country’s ecommerce industry has exhibited.
Dutch consumers are now shopping less from cross-border suppliers from the EU. In addition, the growth of Dutch online stores has also began to lose pace. This is obviously due to consumers returning slowly back to brick-and-mortar stores. On the other hand though, Dutch omnichannel sellers have recorded growth of 20% higher than last year.
Other countries are also showing varied results in other aspects. Whilst countries such as the UK and Netherlands are showing low rates of cart abandonment, Belgium are doing even better. They are averaging cart abandonment as low as 66% which is much lower than the global average.
So Should You Be Concerned?
The really simple answer is no. The truth is that ecommerce is still growing and will continue to do so. The decrease that research is currently displaying was inevitable. During lockdowns, consumers had no choice but to shop online in most cases. With brick-and-mortar stores reopening it was inevitable that ecommerce would see a slight drop off.
But it is clear to see that ecommerce will continue to be the strongest business model for sellers, and this will only increase as supply chains regain some of their resilience. Once again, we would like to encourage you adopt a omnichannel approach to your ecommerce business. This doesn’t necessarily have to be in the form of opening up a physical premises, but perhaps you should consider beginning to sell on an online marketplace such as Amazon. As we support many Amazon sellers, we can definitely help you out should you wish to go down this route.
If You Are An Ecommerce Seller, We Can Provide You With Solutions
Whether it is expanding your business to another country or you just need supply chain support, we at J&P Accountants have been supporting ecommerce sellers for years and can offer you a range of services.
If you are a business who participates in cross border ecommerce, we would be more than happy to help you register for VAT, file your VAT returns, and help you comply with VAT in case your account faces any issues. At J&P, helping your business is our passion, and we understand that companies across the UK are at risk now more than ever. We are here to support you through the Coronavirus crisis and the busy festive period, so please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com.
