Each week, we publish a mishmash of ecommerce related, insight infused articles for you to smash through. Just as we collect business information across all of a merchant’s channels in a single place, we’re doing the same for ecommerce related content from a variety of top tier content creators. If you find the material filling your appetite for knowledge, feel free to share this post, as well as any article you see here.
This week, we’re obligated to have a holiday themed post. It’s nothing new, though – we’ve still got 5 articles sure to make your eyes light up. They’re just swaddled in holiday wrapping paper!
Santa Travels Everywhere, You Should Sell Everywhere
Everyone knows that Santa journeys the globe on Christmas Eve, but did you know that the APAC area accounts for a good chunk of the world AND ecommerce? As more of the region’s nations continue to develop, their middle class does the same, leading to more spending. The market research firm eMarketer predicts a 35% growth this year in APAC ecommerce sales alone. There’s a lot of interesting stats inside, so give it a look.
The Grinch That Stole Sales
You’ve likely heard of ecommerce’s huge successes over this year’s holiday season, but much of it has been sucked up through the chimney by Amazon. Amazon captured the majority of sales over the month of November through early December, and when you combine them with other large retailers, they account for more than 75%. Love ’em or hate ’em, it only adds to the fact that they’re a sales channel you may want to consider.
Rudolph Can’t Save You
Red-nose or not, orders are taking longer and arriving later this holiday season for many consumers according to some studies. Whether it’s due to record high volumes of orders or the fact that more and more consumers are hitting that ‘free shipping’ button, the time for packages to get from A to B has grown this year. It’s certainly not the worst thing in the world – it is free, after all – but it’s something to keep in mind as shipping options continue to become a key factor in purchasing online.
Festive Colors
The holiday season may be filled with the colors red and green, but online retailers were the furthest from red this Green Monday. Cyber Monday’s not-so-distant cousin saw a 15% jump in revenue for many merchants, along with a bump of 14% for order amount. As has been the case throughout the holidays, mobile performed well, making up a little more than a quarter of all sales.
When the Holidays Return
Lastly, once the holidays are all said and done, the biggest issue many merchants face is returns. When you’re pumping out so many orders in so short a time, it’s inevitable that some will end up being returned, and it’s critical that retailers not only know how to manage them, but understand how to gain from them as well. Check out this post on reversing returns to rake in some revenue instead. Each return is an opportunity to gain some insights on what went wrong and how to improve, plus it’s a chance to build a strong relationship with a customer.
Photo: John Morgan, Flickr
