Satellite Partner - Khaos Control

We are proud to introduce you to our first Satellite Partner, Khaos Control!

Overview

Khaos Control is a comprehensive UK-based stock control software solution that has been helping businesses of all sizes manage and streamline their core processes for the last twenty years. The system integrates your company’s finances, sales order processing, warehouses, EPOS, stock control, marketing, and more.

The company offers three products: Khaos Control (KC), a Windows-based ERP application; Khaos Control Cloud (KCC), a browser-based ERP application which is fully mobile compliant; and Khaos Control Hybrid, which brings together KC, KCC, and powerful e-commerce into one seamless solution.

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Sales

Khaos Control’s sales invoice manager can process thousands of orders daily and ensures your sales and purchases are updated automatically and reflected in your product availability while staying on top of your customer communication, stock control, and your pick, pack, and dispatch process.

Supply Chain

Khaos Control provides your company with returns, and supplier management functionalities that allow you to quickly and easily create, process, and manage your customer and suppliers returns as well as always stay on top of your supplier information, costs, and performance. Khaos Control also supports dropshipping, enabling you to purchase a broader range of products from third parties who then fulfil the order.

Inventory

Khaos Control’s inventory management system combines your sales, stock levels, returns, and surplus stock in one central location. That way, it ensures that sales, purchases, adjustments, and all other inventory changes are automatically updated, and product availability is adjusted accordingly with returns being automatically fed into the system.

Customers

Khaos Control’s customer relationship management (CRM) system with its build-in automated email functionality helps you build up a comprehensive picture of your customers’ preferences and order history. That way, it improves communications and allows your customer service team to offer a much more personalised customer journey throughout all your sales channels.

Accounting

Khaos Control’s ICAEW accredited integrated accounting functionality provides you with real-time financial data that allows you to stay on top of revenue, profitability, and all your business expenses. With your accounts being updated after every transaction, your P&L and Balance Sheet is transformed into dynamic tools that help you to manage your business on a daily basis.

Khaos Control and Shiptheory

Khaos Control users utilise Shiptheory to connect with the world’s best carriers like Royal Mail, DPD, FedEx, DHL, and more. Importing sales orders into Shiptheory from your Khaos Control account allows you to streamline your shipping process by automatically printing your Khaos Control shipping labels and return tracking information to your customers, seconds after a sale!

Khaos Control’s integration with Shiptheory lets you automatically import orders from all your sales channels, into a single, easy-to-use platform that offers multiple-user support, an intelligent shipping rules engine, and an excellent customer support team.

Additionally, our in-depth reporting suite provides the vital decision-making data you need to identify the most popular delivery services and spot cost reduction and customer service improvement opportunities ahead of your competition. Strategic business decisions are made easier with accurate, real-time logistics data.

Shipping is fast and hassle-free with Khaos Control and Shiptheory!

If you have any queries regarding Khaos Control’s integration with Shiptheory, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get your account up and running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

How to protect your e-commerce business from online fraud

The increasing shift to online shopping and the decrease of face-to-face transactions caused by the Covid-19 crisis resulted in the rise of fraudulent attacks across the e-commerce landscape as payment fraud is migrating online.

The increased volume of electronic transactions has resulted into a surge in fraudulent activities as cyber-criminals have adapted their techniques and methods to the realities of the pandemic and employ now more sophisticated tactics against consumers and e-commerce merchants than ever. Online fraud is focused on segments that have seen high sales growth since the beginning of the pandemic, while click-and-collect also accounted for a rise in attempted fraud.

As the shift to digital is most probably here to stay, and global cybercrime damages are predicted to reach $6 trillion annually by 2021, e-commerce brands need to be aware of current fraud trends and prioritise the systems, tools, and strategies that will help them to stop fraudulent attacks and minimise losses. Having a fraud-protection system in place that is continually being updated and monitored is of paramount importance as online fraud these days resembles a virus in the way it constantly mutates and evolves.

Phishing emails

Phishing is an example of a social engineering (i.e. the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or revealing confidential information) technique used to mislead users and exploit weaknesses in network security. It refers to any attempt to obtain sensitive information for malicious reasons, by impersonating a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

The top five types of data that are compromised in a phishing attack are:

·     Credentials (passwords, usernames, PINs)

·     Personal data (name, address, email address)

·     Internal data (sales projections, product roadmaps)

·     Medical data (treatment information, insurance claims)

·     Financial data (account numbers, credit card information)

Although online fraudsters have used phishing emails for years to obtain personal information and bank details from customers, the use of phishing emails has risen steeply during the pandemic, as cyber-criminals are trying to capitalise on the fear and uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Phishing email attacks increased by 667% during the first month of the pandemic and of all the COVID-19 themed phishing attacks, 54% were classified as scams, 34% as brand impersonation attacks, 11% blackmail, and 1% as business email compromise.

Scam websites

Phishing attacks are usually supported by scam websites that are deliberately designed to look like legitimate, trustworthy websites, such as those operated by official government organisations or famous brands, for example. The number of scam websites has massively increased since the beginning of the pandemic with many of them advertising face masks and medical equipment, offering life insurance against the coronavirus, asking money for charity, advertising the government’s coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and more. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has formally asked Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to remove 292 scam web addresses exploiting the coronavirus outbreak within the first three months of the lockdown.

Account takeover and identity theft

Cyber-criminals often hack into customer accounts created by e-commerce stores that store personal information, financial details, and purchase history. Fraudsters either sell the stolen information to other scammers, or they log into customers’ accounts, change the passwords, and make unauthorised purchases. Hackers may also highjack parts of an e-commerce shop and reroute traffic. That way, they can redirect customers to a different website where they can steal their personal information and credit card details. Finally, cyber-criminals can set up fake merchant accounts that imitate legitimate businesses or brands and charge customers’ credit cards.

Financial solvency and customer trust

Fraudulent or unauthorised transactions and identity theft will hold your e-commerce company financially responsible for your customers’ financial and personal data loss as you will have to pay for the chargeback process and most probably cover the costs of a forensic investigation and data recovery services. Nowadays, an increasing number of e-commerce companies turn to cyber liability insurance that enables them to mitigate the financial cost related to recovering from a cyber-related security breach or similar events.

Nevertheless, the hit on your brand’s reputation caused by a fraudulent attack can be worse than any financial risk. Earning your customers’ trust has a significant impact on brand loyalty and customer retention. Once your brand has lost that trust, it is incredibly difficult to earn it back as 64% of consumers claim that is unlikely to do business again with a company from which their personal data was stolen.

While it is extremely difficult to eliminate the threat of fraud for your e-commerce store, there are several ways and practices to help you mitigate the risk and reduce false positives (i.e. mistake legitimate transactions as fraudulent).

PCI compliance

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) is a forum of global brands including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express among others. Its mission is to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and support services that drive education, awareness, and effective implementation by companies. PCI SSC has developed a set of best practices to safeguard consumer data that helps businesses protect themselves and their customers from online fraud.

Any business that manages credit card transactions must comply with the PCI-DSS requirements no matter their size or revenue. Nevertheless, there are four levels of compliance based upon the annual credit or debit card transaction volume of your business with level 1 being the strictest.

·      Level 1:> 6 million annual card transactions

·      Level 2:1 million - 6 million annual card transactions

·      Level 3:20,000 - 1 million annual card transactions

·      Level 4:< 20,000 annual card transactions

These data security standards are defined by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) and enforced by credit card companies. And although most payment processors and e-commerce SaaS (software as a service) platforms build PCI compliance into the solutions they offer to businesses, it is essential to familiarise yourself with your company’s required compliance level. Please visit the PCI Security Standards website for more
details.

Site security

Merely choosing a safe payment processing provider and being PCI compliant is not enough. Further steps must be taken to ensure that all personal and financial information of your company and customers are secure. There are specific programs by credit card companies and security software firms that provide additional protection from fraud. The most popular ones are Verified by Visa, MasterCard Secure Code, and McAfee Secure.

Make sure that all your URL stays in “https” (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) status during the check-out process and set up system alerts to screen suspicious activity. Many e-commerce platforms and payment providers have various types of fraud monitoring systems already in place; PayPal makes use of a series of fraud managements filters, and eBay has strict fraud monitoring protocols in place, for example.

Also, make sure the payment solutions you have included in your e-commerce site are using an address verification system (AVS). An address verification system is a service provided by most major credit card processors and enable merchants to authenticate ownership of a credit or debit card used by a customer. AVS is done as part of the merchant's request for authorisation in a non-face-to-face credit or debit card transaction.

Data storage and password requirements

Another critical measure you should take to minimise payment fraud risk is to avoid storing sensitive customer and transaction data. PCI standards in most cases advise against storing customer data, but if credit card information needs to be stored, it has to meet PCI standard encryption and storage policy guidelines. In any case, you should hold the minimum amount of sensitive information possible, back up your data, never store credit card security codes, and make sure your data handling procedures comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Besides reducing the amount of stored customer data to the absolute minimum, it is good practice to be stricter with password requirements for both your staff and customers. You should require at least an eight-character, alphanumeric password that includes at least one capitalisation and one special character as well as considering using 2-step verification, 2-factor authentication, or multi-factor authentication. That might cause a slight annoyance to your customers, so make sure to inform them exactly why you implement these extra security measures. Being upfront and customer-focused is one of the best ways to strengthen brand loyalty.

Credit card security codes

The credit card security code is the 3- or 4-digit number usually printed on the back of a credit or debit card also referred to as Card Verification Value/Code (CVV2 or CVC2), Card Member ID (CMID), or Card Identification Number (CID). Requesting one to complete the check-out process on your e-commerce shop ensures that the cardholder is in physical possession of a valid card.

This number is referred to by different names for specific credit cards, as follows:

·      Visa: 3 digits - CVV2

·      MasterCard: 3 digits - CVC2

·      American Express: 4 digits - CID

Conclusion

Just as e-commerce retailers are responding to the rapid growth in online orders by adapting their business model accordingly, there needs to be just as strong of a focus on fraud detection and prevention. Payment fraud can hurt your company financially and also permanently damage your brand’s reputation. While fraud patterns evolve rapidly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, you should maintain awareness of the latest fraud trends, strengthen, regularly review, and keep up-to-date your e-commerce site’s fraud defences, and closely monitor transactions.

If in doubt regarding what the best ways to secure your e-commerce website and your customers against fraudulent attacks are, consider hiring a security advisor or auditor. Nevertheless, keep all your platforms and software up-to-date to ensure the latest security patches are installed. Additionally, if your site has been a victim of fraud in the past, keep detailed records of these events so you and your employees can study them and plan how to prevent situations like that from happening again. Finally, it is always worth to educate your staff on security and fraud protocols or hire a third party to do it for you.

The increasing shift towards Direct-to-Consumer

The pandemic has immensely accelerated the retail industry's pace of digital transformation in a period of just a few months, forcing customers to change their consumer habits and brands to make significant changes in their business model in order to survive. Among other things, this massive shift to e-commerce caused a one-in-a-lifetime shock to brand loyalty. A substantial number of consumers globally have tried new brands and retailers during the lockdown, with the vast majority of them intending on sticking with these new brands in the long term. The shift to digital and the desire of customers to try new brands became a winning combination for many digital-native, direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies.

The D2C model

Most of you should be familiar with at least some of the following names: Harry’s, Glossier, Warby Parkers, and Bonobos. All of these incredibly successful brands are outstanding examples of D2C companies. Direct-to-consumer is a retail model where companies are selling their products directly to customers, bypassing any third-party retailer, wholesaler, etc.

The benefits of a direct-to-consumer approach are plenty. With less reliance on third parties, D2C gives a company better control over its branding, marketing strategies, and sales tactics and maximises shoppers’ convenience by distributing its products directly to them. Most importantly, D2C helps brands engage directly with their customers and gain access to first-party consumer data through direct sales, subscriptions, reviews, and social media channels. That way, a D2C model gives companies the chance to cultivate meaningful conversations with their customers and thus better influence their decision-making journeys by offering exceptionally personalised shopping experiences, tailor-made to their individual preferences, needs, and values.

Every D2C approach appears slightly different depending on the brand, product, and target market. However, in general, D2C brands are usually digital-native, and they specialise in a specific product or product category, which they sell online through their e-commerce website. Nevertheless, many D2C brands incorporate marketplaces like Amazon or eBay into their sales channel, and some establish brick-and-mortar shops and pop-ups. However, these are typically more like experiential showrooms and less like stores in a traditional way.

Big brands go D2C

The D2C model is an excellent avenue for new brands that are seeking for an easy entry into the market. However, it has also become very appealing to big legacy brands like Nike that wish to gain more control over the customer journey and overcome the impact the pandemic had on supply lines. For a long time, the supply chain strength of the multinational companies guaranteed that their products were on the shelves of every shop at any given time. The pandemic proved how vulnerable these supply lines can be, the wholesale model was seriously challenged, and big legacy brands were forced to find new ways to reconnect with their customers more directly. Going D2C was the obvious choice.

When lockdown hit, Kraft Heinz introduced Heinz to Home, with bundles of canned foods and sauces delivered directly to customers through their first-ever online shop. They offer the option of personalised sauce bottles and cans, and they teamed up with Blue Light Card, the discount service for the NHS in the UK, offering frontline workers free deliveries. With the Heinz to Home initiative, the company not only managed to regain lost ground when retailers temporarily shut down their shops during the lockdown, but it also had a direct engagement with their clients that allowed them to gather valuable first-party customer data and helped them re-establish brand loyalty. PepsiCo and Nestlé have also launched direct-to-consumer services during the lockdown.

How D2C brands can stay relevant today

Logistics, e-commerce platforms, payment solutions, the high cost of customer acquisition, and the need to keep your products always in line with customers’ ever-changing preferences and expectations, make direct-to-consumer a challenging task. Ultimately, D2C brands have to offer an immersive customer experience able to bridge the gap of not be able to touch, feel, or try a product like during a traditional in-store shopping experience. And as the D2C world continues to grow and become increasingly competitive, D2C brands need to keep innovating to remain relevant.

Offering merely a high-quality, personalised product is not enough nowadays. Great D2C brands excel because of their distinct personalities. During the Covid-19 crisis, consumers re-evaluated their idea of well-being as well as their consumption habits, and they became more and more aware of how these habits affect others and the environment. As a result, consumers care more these days about brand authenticity and a company’s social responsibility.

Taking a public stand on important social and environmental issues plays an enormous role when customers choose a brand and it is way more probable they recommend a particular company to friends and family if its social values align with theirs. A recent study showed that being vocal as a brand is perceived by customers as having responded better to the crisis. On top of that, D2C brands have to constantly demonstrate that they are listening to and applying the feedback they receive from their customers.

Amid the crisis, a favourable brand reputation that communicates care and responsibility will make people trust your D2C company and even spend some of their limited budget on your products. Also, most certain people won’t forget this pandemic in a hurry. Habits, values, and behaviours have changed drastically during the pandemic; some of them will stick for the long term, others will not. Nevertheless, when the world goes back to some sort of ‘normal’, consumers will remember the brands that helped them get through the crisis.

Conclusion

Over the last few years, consumers’ attention has shifted from legacy retailers to smaller, more nuanced direct-to-consumer businesses. The increase of online shopping, the decrease of retail football, the vast shock in brand loyalty, and the rest of the pandemic’s effects on the retail industry have only strengthened that trend. Now it is the best time to change your brand’s relationship with your customers into a more direct one.

The D2C landscape will continue to evolve and become more and more competitive as not only new players enter the game, but an increasing number of large legacy retailers are moving into D2C either through acquisitions or by copying its methods and approaches. What the Covid-19 crisis has shown us is that the D2C e-commerce model is not only for small, speciality companies, but for every size and type of brand that wishes to reinforce its brand loyalty, boost sales, and benefit from a direct relationship wit
h their customers. Therefore, in order to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive landscape, D2C brands must find ways to differentiate through innovation, personalised customer experiences, product diversification, and more.

Using a shipping management platform like Shiptheory that allows access to the world’s best carriers, can offer you the best shipping solutions for your D2C e-commerce business, saving you money and time.

Shiptheory streamlines your shipping process so you can focus more on growing your D2C business and less on fulfilment.

How to remove eBay’s Virtual Tracking Number from your shipping label using Shiptheory

eBay recently introduced the eBay Virtual Tracking Number (eVTN). This unique tracking code makes it easier for eBay buyers to get tracking information for their parcels even if the sender has not provided any. Currently, the eVTN is applied to orders shipped via Royal Mail in the UK and Australia Post in Australia, and it is the first time a marketplace includes an identifier into a carrier’s 2D tracking barcode.

Royal Mail and Australia Post use the eVTN provided and associate it with the parcel’s ID. That allows them to upload the tracking data on the sellers’ behalf, and update buyers on the status of the shipments posted.

The eVTN is in the format ‘eBayXXXXXXX’ (7 characters following the word ‘eBay’), and it is automatically added at the end of the second line of the address. When you generate your Royal Mail shipping labels, the eVTN will be automatically transferred from the second address line into the Royal Mail 2D tracking barcode.

Unfortunately, if Royal Mail is not your carrier of choice, the eVTN will remain at the end of the second line of the address when you generate your shipping label. That is something that can be annoying and sometimes confusing.

But fear not, for Shiptheory’s shipping management platform can help you solve that problem!

Suppose you integrate your eBay account directly into Shiptheory, or you send your eBay shipments to Shiptheory through a third-party warehouse management system. In both cases, our shipping management platform will automatically detect and remove the eVTN from the second address line and send it to the carrier of your choice in the field it is required to be.

If you have any queries regarding the eVTN, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account, connect your eBay store, and start shipping smarter and faster today!

The best payment solutions for your e-commerce site

Convenience and security are your customers’ primary concerns when they reach your online shop’s payment gateway page and the lack of them, two of the top reasons for online cart abandonment during checkout. In today’s highly competitive e-commerce world, providing multiple, flexible, and effortless payment options will put you at a significant advantage against your competition and fortify your brand loyalty. Strengthening the relations with your customers is something of great importance nowadays, since the pandemic has, among others, caused a one-in-a-lifetime shock to brand loyalty.

There are several things to consider when choosing the best payment options for your e-commerce shop. Comparing set-up and transaction fees between providers is the most obvious thing to start with. Nevertheless, you also need to take into consideration what types of payment methods each payment solution supports, their encryption methods and security procedures, as well as their fraud protection and chargeback policies. Last but not least, choosing the most suitable payment solutions for your online store depends heavily on the type of your business and your target market.

Choosing the right payment solutions when there are so many available nowadays can be an overwhelming task. To ease your struggle, we provide you with a comprehensive guide to the best payment solutions for an international e-commerce website.

PayPal

Source: paypal.com

PayPal is one of the most familiar online payment options, with 286 million active users and a company with an excellent reputation when it comes to ease of use, reliability, and security. With PayPal Checkout, you can accept debit and credit cards, payment through a PayPal account, and more than ten local payment methods in over 100 currencies from 200+ markets around the world.

PayPal Checkout integration ranges from simple to completely customisable. The Quick Setup option can be implemented in minutes by merely copying pre-built code and pasting it next to the products or services you want to sell on your website. It includes basic customisations like changing alignment, shape, and colours. If your e-commerce business requires fully custom credit and debit card field design and alternative payment methods available, you should aim for the Advanced Integration option which also offers fraud-protection tools to set up your own risk tolerance filters.

With PayPal, any e-commerce sale in the UK costs 2,9% plus 30p per transaction. International sales are a bit more expensive, with 3.4% per transaction, plus a fixed fee depending on currency received.

Amazon Pay

Source: pay.amazon.com

Amazon Pay is an online payments processing service, owned by Amazon, that lets you use the payment methods already associated with your Amazon account to make payments for goods or services on third-party websites. With more than 197 million active monthly users, it is most likely that a large number of your customers have an Amazon account already. If you want to include Amazon Pay to your payment options, you need to register for a new Amazon Payments merchant account, even if you already have another Amazon seller account.

The Fee Schedule for Amazon Payments accounts in the UK is 2.7% plus 30p for each transaction. Depending on the nature of the transaction, additional fees may apply like a cross border fee if you receive a payment from a payment method issued outside of the UK and a currency conversion fee for every transaction that requires a currency conversion

Google Pay

Source: pay.google.com

A digital wallet, also known as e-wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that stores a user’s payment details and allows them to make safer cashless purchases online and in-store. As well as storing your payment details for online payment systems, digital wallets can also connect with traditional bank accounts and act as a digital version of your credit or debit card. One of the most popular digital wallets is offered by one of the most recognisable companies in the world: Google.

Google Pay is a digital wallet platform and online payment system developed by Google to enable in-app and tap-to-pay purchases with Android phones, tablets, and watches. It is free of charge for your business and your customers, and its encryption and card tokenisation helps reduce merchant risk and exposure to fraud. Since hundreds of millions of users already have their paying information stored into their Google accounts, adding Google Pay as a payment option to your e-commerce store can be proved very convenient for a large number of your customers.

Apple Pay

Source: apple.com

Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Apple that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and online. However, Apple Pay web support is limited to the Safari browser only. It is supported on the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac computers. Apple Pay works with Face ID or Touch ID to deliver two-factor authentication. That means your customers do not need to verify payments through passwords, secret questions, etc.

When a customer makes a purchase from your online shop, Apple Pay uses a device-specific number and unique transaction code. That way, card details are never stored on their device or Apple servers. Like Google Pay, Apple Pay is free of charge for you and your customers. You can easily set up your e-commerce website to accept Apple Pay by utilising their API, although you need to use one of the compatible platforms or payment providers.

Square

Source: squareup.com

Square is generally associated with its POS systems for in-store payments. Nevertheless, the company also offers e-commerce options. Square Online Checkout, an online payment API, lets you create a pay link in just a few steps. Customers click through and get taken to a simple checkout screen where they asked to enter their name, email, and payment details.

The platform accepts all major credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Square charges 2.5% per transaction without contracts, monthly fees, or start-up costs and integrates with various e-commerce platforms and CRM tools.

Stripe

Source: stripe.com

Stripe is one of the most versatile payment methods on the market today. Its powerful API’s and software solutions let your international customers pay with their preferred payment method by supporting more than 135 currencies, all major debit and credit cards, ACH transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more. Another great feature of Stripe is that it offers a recurring payments option and the ability to manage subscriptions.

Beside online payment, Stripe supports in-store transactions as well. Stripe Terminal extends your online presence into the physical world, enabling you to build your in-person checkout and helps your brand unify its online and offline channels with flexible developer tools, pre-certified card readers, and cloud-based hardware management.

The platform offers AES encryption, is certified to the highest industry standards, and has obtained regulatory licenses around the world. Using Stripe, the cost per transaction is 1.4% plus 20p for European cards and 2.9% plus 20p for non-European cards. If currency conversion is required, an additional 2% fee will apply.

Buy now, pay later options: Klarna and Pay in 4

Source: klarna.com

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes are a form of point of sale credit that allows customers to pay for purchases over time after receiving the goods; the most popular among them being Klarna. With Klarna you get paid upfront for every transaction, while your customers get the option to pay later. They can split the cost of their purchase into three interest-free monthly instalments, pay in full up to 30 days later, or spread the cost in up to 36 monthly payments with the company’s ‘Financing’ plan.

You can use Klarna Checkout through most of the major e-commerce platforms, or it can be integrated directly into your e-commerce website. The service is integrated in such a way that Klarna can make automatic updates to it, and it will cost your business 2.49% plus 20p per transaction.

Source: paypal.com

At the end of last month, PayPal introduced its own BNPL option for the US market called ‘Pay in 4’ that enables merchants and partners to get paid upfront while allowing customers to pay for purchases between $30 and $600 over a six-week period with no interest charges or other fees.

Conclusion

As demonstrated above, there are various payment solutions to choose from for your e-commerce site and selecting the right ones is essential for the e-commerce success of your business. Each one of them, like everything in this world, comes with its pros and cons.

But in the end, it’s not a question of which is the best one; it’s more a matter of how many different payment options you will make available to your customers. Analyse your business niche, as well as your target market, and also investigate what payment methods your competitors are offering. Then you will have enough information to help you choose the correct payment methods for your e-commerce site that best respond to your customers’ needs and preferences.

Payment should be a seamless process at the end of the customer journey so you must try to make it as convenient and straightforward as possible for them.

No matter what payment methods you choose to include into your e-commerce site, using a shipping management platform like Shiptheory that allows access to the world’s best carriers, can offer you the best shipping solutions for your e-commerce business, saving you money and time.  

Which companies will emerge stronger from the pandemic?

The Covid-19 crisis imposed tremendous changes to the day-to-day life of billions of people around the world. The societal and economic effects of the pandemic have touched everyone’s lives in one way or another and have immensely transformed how consumers shop and how retailers sell. Many of these behaviours are expected to become more permanent in the post-crisis retail landscape.

These new trends and the ones that will re-emerge due to the pandemic will shape the consumer behaviour in the new normal and consequently, they will change the way businesses operate and how they approach and interact with their customers. Understanding which of these trends will stick and adapting your business model to them will be essential for a brand not merely to recover but also to emerge stronger from the pandemic. For retailers to thrive in the post-Covid-19 landscape, updated business models and practices are crucial.

The pandemic undoubtedly caused a great shock to most retailers and forced them to question what shape the retail industry will take in the near future. By some estimates, we have jumped ten years ahead in consumer and business digital penetration in less than three months. For most businesses, a certain level of structural change was required, and a significant number of them will have to pivot to new models in order to survive.

Nevertheless, it is gradually becoming more apparent that the pandemic has accelerated underlying trends and issues that were known to the retail sector for many years now. The brands that will manage to survive the crisis will be the ones that are willing to embrace new business models and technologies, as well as understand and remain focused on their customers’ ever-changing needs and behaviours.

Consumer sentiment

People around the world slowly start to learn how to live with the realities of Covid-19 as countries gradually reopen their economies. As people’s lives and habits begin to settle into the new normal, so does their consumer behaviour.

In the UK, non-essential retail stores started re-opening on June 15th, and extensive queues in front of stores were reported, long before opening times. These enormous queues outside IKEA, Primark, and other stores could lead us to believe that the recovery of the retail sector would be swift. Unfortunately, the reality may be far from it; the experience of adhering to numerous strict social distancing and safety measures may prove unappealing in the long-term, and store-based shopping seems to be nowadays more of a functional activity rather than a recreational one.

Although the coronavirus’ impact has varied between different countries and regions, certain pandemic responses appear to become common ground among consumers across the globe. In the UK, like in most countries, people are not feeling particularly optimistic about economic recovery. Restrictions on physical stores, rising unemployment levels, the looming threat of a second wave of Covid-19, and the uncertainty of the ongoing Brexit negotiations, will suppress consumer confidence and spending.

The majority of UK consumers still believe that the pandemic situation will continue to impact their finances for the next few months, and it will take more than two months before their routines will return to normal. As a result, consumers will continue directing their spending mainly on essentials, such as grocery and household supplies, and avoid expensive products and services. Nevertheless, discretional spending has started to recover slowly, but it remains low in certain categories like apparel, footwear, and travel.

Brand loyalty

The pandemic has also caused a one-in-a-lifetime shock to brand loyalty. The supply-chain disruption caused by Covid-19, especially during the first months of the pandemic, forced many consumers to try new brands or shop from different retailers when they could not access their favourite products at their preferred shops. A significant number of consumers globally have tried new brands and retailers during the lockdown, and they continue to do so nowadays, with the vast majority of them intending on sticking with the new brands in the long term.

Most of this behaviour change has occurred when buying essentials, with value, availability, and quality being the main reasons for choosing a different brand. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for retailers to be in a position to take advantage of this scarce opportunity to reboot brand loyalty. Brands need to be able to identify what consumers value these days, adjust their offering to these new findings and win the customers over.

Source: mckinsey.com

Increase in online shopping

Another trend that is likely to stay post-pandemic is the shift to digital. The lockdown has acted as an accelerant for e-commerce across all product categories, which will also speed up the evolution of inventory, order, and supply chain management software and practices in general. On top of more consumers intending to continue to shop online post-crisis, there is an increasing embracing of various contactless services like click-and-collect or curbside pickup.

It is true that in recent years, many retailers were striving to reimagine their brick-and-mortar stores to create more immersing, personalised shopping experiences for their customers. Now that product and person engagement in physical stores are limited, most of this investment should be channelled into the e-commerce side of the business, as an answer to the growing need for ‘added-value’ shopping experiences within digital formats.

In this ever-changing, extremely high competitive landscape, businesses need to embrace the latest innovations and trends to move ahead of the competition. Shoppers are nowadays way more price-conscious than before and seek for a more personalised, omnichannel shopping experience. Augmented reality and omnichannel strategies’ increasing popularity is starting to take the e-commerce industry to the next level. If adopted, they could allow retailers to step-up their digital game, help them compete with e-commerce giants and discounters like Amazon or Walmart, and capture
as much of the rise in online shopping as possible.

Health and care awareness

Consumers are nowadays more aware when it comes to hygiene and prevention, and they are actively looking for retailers that make use of increased safety measures like the use of masks, enhanced cleaning procedures, implementation of in-store physical barriers, and more. Equally, many consumers prefer to spend as little time as possible in public spaces. Hence, they value more easy-to-navigate stores with helpful and knowledgeable staff that offer self-checkout options. Additionally, companies’ care and concern for their employees’ wellbeing, local communities, and society in general, as well as sustainability and environmental-friendly practices are essential buying factors for an increasing number of consumers these days.

Source: mckinsey.com

Local services and value retailers

With a significant segment of the workforce still working from home, people travel less far and less often. As a result, we witness a rise in localised shopping as people depend more on local services and amenities. A recent survey shows that there has been a 27% net increase in positive public perception due to corner shops’ pivotal role in providing essential goods and services during the lockdown. Moreover, it was the smaller stores that reopened most quickly after the lockdown restrictions were lifted. Due to high rents and limited football, larger shops were quite cautious at first about the economics of reopening.

Until the big downtown shopping destinations manage to recover, we believe that local shops’ revival will continue. Furthermore, with a long period of financial uncertainty ahead of us and unemployment levels rising, consumers will be more selective about what they buy and from whom. Consequently, discounters, value retailers, and direct to consumer (D2C) brands offering home essentials will experience a shift growth; especially the ones with a robust online presence.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the impact of the pandemic has been monumental for the retail industry and has immensely accelerated several underlying trends but also highlighted long-term structural issues. The Covid-19 crisis has drastically altered how people shop and how retailers sell.

Yet, not all the consumer behaviour changes that the pandemic gave birth to will stay for the long term; much will depend on the severity of the recession, demographics, the consumers’ ability and desire to spend in the days to come, how satisfied people are with the new purchasing experiences and options available, and more.

Nevertheless, trends like the shift to more immersive and personalised online shopping experiences are more likely to be permanent. In the short run, as these new behaviours begin to solidify, brands that fully comprehend these trends and have the ability and ambition to adapt their business model accordingly will have the opportunity to attract and connect with consumers in new ways that are in sync with their newly-formed shopping habits and decision-making journeys.

These companies will not merely manage to recover; they will emerge stronger from the pandemic.

What is dropshipping and how can you build a successful online dropshipping business?

Definition

Dropshipping is an order fulfilment method that does not require a retailer to keep products in stock. Instead, the retailer sells the products from a brick-and-mortar or online shop and then transfers the sales order and the customer’s shipping details to a third-party supplier.

That third-party supplier can be another retailer, a wholesaler, or the product’s manufacturer, who then ships the order directly to the customer. The dropshipping retail model allows the retailer not to handle the product directly, and the majority of dropshipping businesses make their profit on the difference between the wholesale and retail price minus any shipping fees. Nowadays, dropshipping is the fulfilment model of choice for more than one-third of online stores.

Benefits of dropshipping

The main benefit of embarking on the dropshipping ship is the fact it is relatively easy to get started with, and the risk is significantly lower than other retail business models. Running an e-commerce dropshipping business requires less capital than different types of retail, for without the need to purchase inventory and manage and maintain a warehouse, the overhead expenses are relatively low. All you have to invest in is the associated costs of setting up and running your dropshipping business website, your marketing campaign, and your customer support team. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about packing and shipping your orders, handling returns, or managing stock levels, as your dropshipping suppliers will take care of it.  

Sales increases always bring additional work on your doorstep but compared to traditional retail and e-commerce business, it is easier to scale a well-established dropshipping business. Your business model won’t change much as your business grows, and costs do not skyrocket as you scale up. Nevertheless, you need to find the right dropshipping suppliers and wholesalers capable of processing the additional orders and adjust your marketing strategy and customer support accordingly.

Source: Google Trends

Disadvantages of dropshipping

The benefits mentioned above make dropshipping a particularly attractive model for retailers who are just getting started with an e-commerce store, or for those looking to expand their existing business model. But like every approach, dropshipping has its downsides, too.

The small investment required to start an online dropshipping business and the relatively low business risk, make dropshipping an incredibly competitive business model. Unsurprisingly, a very competitive environment translates into low profit margins, at least at the beginning, and that is why dropshipping relies on a fair amount of sales to be profitable. Since profit is mostly determined by traffic, it is imperative to build a strong client base and to build it fast. That is obviously something that can be quite challenging if you are building your e-commerce brand from scratch.

Additionally, your online dropshipping business is essentially just a storefront. As a result, you have minimum control over orders going wrong, inventory shortages, shipping issues, etc. And unfortunately, it is you who has to take the blame even if it is the supplier’s or carrier’s fault. On top of that, you must always take into consideration possible delays in communication as you have to go back-and-forth between your customers and your suppliers regularly.

All of the above eventually make customer service extremely challenging. And since customer service is paramount in the e-commerce world, you have to have an exceptionally competent customer service team in place that is always on top of things. Even the slightest transgression nowadays will send your customers right into the hands of the competition.

The right approach to dropshipping

Select the correct niche

The first step is finding your niche. Almost all successful dropshipping businesses have one thing in common: they specialise in a specific product or product category. Specialising allows you to communicate more efficiently with your customers, stand out more easily from the competition, and compete against fewer businesses in an already highly-saturated environment.

Identify your product’s demand

Then you have to measure the current demand for the product or product category you have chosen. By using a keyword research tool like Moz Keyword Explorer or KWFinder to examine how your product’s keywords are ranking on a monthly basis, you will get an idea of how many people are searching for your product in search engines every month, and it will give you a general idea of what the demand is like for that product.

Ideally, you are aiming for keywords with monthly searches in the thousands if you plan on building a profitable business around it. Be certain that the competition will be high in that case as you will not only compete with other dropshipping businesses but also with retail giants like Amazon and Walmart. A riskier but less competitive alternative is to find a product that people may not search much for it yet, but it serves an emerging market.

Perform competitor research

The third step is to research who your competitors are and how they engage with the market. Carefully examine your competitors' websites, social media platforms, their presence on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, and pay close attention to the number of ratings, reviews, comments, and overall engagement that they receive.

Analyse their marketing strategy and see if you can find any opportunities where your competitors are not meeting the market’s expectations so you can go ahead and fill that gap. Again, there are several tools available like Moz or SEMrush that allow you to get some insight into your competitors’ ranking, domain authority, and more and identify where their traffic is coming from by using merely their website’s URL.

You can even take it as far as order a product from your most successful competitor’s online store to get an idea of how their process works. That way, you will be able to identify what sets them apart and apply it on your own business. On the other hand, you can examine their flaws so you can work to improve them on your own customer experience.

Find the right supplier

The next step is to find the right suppliers for your online dropshipping business. As we mentioned above, every dropshipping business is often at the mercy of its suppliers when it comes to product quality, proper and timely shipping, returns policy, and sometimes even legal compliance. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to choose them very carefully.

It is good practice to sample your suppliers’ products before you partner with them. By placing test orders with them, you can ensure that their products are as advertised and make sure their fulfilment process me
ets your criteria and standards. Long shipping times can be unappealing to your customers so aim for suppliers that ship their goods within 48 hours and are using a shipping platform that allows access to the best international carriers.

Before you sign on to do business with a certain supplier you should always make a lot of questions to clarify things like what is their returns and damaged goods policy, what is their average fulfilment time from sale to delivery, do they offer order insurance, what kind of profit margins can you expect from them, etc.

You can find a comprehensive list of the most popular dropshipping suppliers available on the market today here.

Build your e-commerce website and create a customer acquisition plan

Even if you do not have the technical background to do it yourself or the budget to hire a web design and development company or a freelance developer to create a custom website for your online dropshipping business, you can always employ an easy-to-use e-commerce platform like Shopify or BigCommerce, at least at the beginning. These platforms are user-friendly, have plug-and-play options like specialised templates, many available plug-ins and apps for integration, and in general, are ideal for people with minimal website-designing experience. You can always explore more customised website options when your business is more established, and capital is available for that purpose.

The next step is to drive traffic to your site; when operating in such a competitive retail model as dropshipping, the need for an effective marketing campaign is crucial. That can be something quite challenging at first, especially when you have a small budget or you are bootstrapping your business. Following your site launch, you need to dedicate the majority of your time on marketing and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for at least four to six months.

One of the most effective ways to promote, advertise, and generate traffic to your website is through social media. Ads on social media channels is a very efficient way to reach your target audience right into their social media feeds and Facebook Ads, in particular, is the best way to connect with potential customers on the world’s largest social network.

There are numerous different approaches to digital marketing depending primarily on the type, size, and budget of your company, with behavioural advertising being one of the most popular ones. Nevertheless, if you are not experienced in marketing and SEO, or your company does not have a dedicated marketing team, we strongly recommend starting with various quality resources and blogs available online like the Moz and HubSpot blogs.

Conclusion

Dropshipping can be a very profitable business model if it is done correctly. It can be your first e-commerce attempt, or it can work equally well as a complement to an existing e-commerce business. It doesn’t require massive capital to get started, involves minimal risk, allows much experimentation, and you don’t have to worry about inventory management, warehouse maintenance, and shipping, among others. That makes it easier to invest most of your money and time into generating traffic to your website and promote your business. Nevertheless, like every business model, it has its disadvantages too, as we demonstrated above.

Do your research, evaluate your options, and if you believe that dropshipping is the right business model for you, the next step is actually to get started building your business.

6 of the Best eCommerce Practices to Make Your Business More Efficient

Some experts say the last few months have pushed the growth of eCommerce ahead by anywhere from four to six years. As brick-and-mortar shops closed their doors, many businesses shifted their operations online.

Many consumers have also moved online, resulting in a boom of orders for many business owners. You may be one of them. If this increased demand has been straining your operations, you’re not alone.

These six eCommerce practices can help ease the burden. With them, you can run your business more efficiently.

1. Integrate Shipping for Speed and Ease

First on the list of eCommerce best practices is to integrate your shipping with the rest of your system. This will save you and the consumer time, money, and headaches.

When you use an integrated shipping solution, customers will get shipping information immediately. They can choose the best option for them. That may be the cheapest option, or it may be the one that gets their parcel to them the fastest.

You, in turn, don’t need to spend time figuring out which courier to send the parcel through. Instead, the solution has already determined the costs and shipping times. You don’t need to spend time finding a quote to match or updating the customer’s order after the fact.

The solution also lets you print automatically and keep your labels in one place. You'll also get access to real-time shipping metrics.

Integration cuts down on the work at your end. It also improves transparency for your customer. By making it simpler to see what shipping is like, you’ll increase the chances they’ll shop with you again.

2. eCommerce Practices for Customer Service

Another tip for improving efficiency is to automate some of your customer service. Think about adding a chatbot that can answer some of the most frequently asked questions. A bot may be available 24/7 for your customers and could assist them with simple tasks, too.

You may also want to provide an FAQ page or a help line.

This automation helps both you and the customer. It provides timely answers for the customer even when your agents may not be available.

In turn, your team will spend less time answering the same repetitive questions. That frees up their time to deal with customers facing unique situations. The end result is better customer service for everyone.

3. Keep Your Website Simple

Next, you’ll want to think about some eCommerce UX best practices. UX may not seem like it will do much to make your business more efficient, but it can save you and the customer time.

Simple menus and navigation make it easier for the customer to find their way around your site. In turn, you’ll get fewer calls and chat messages about customers looking for something. A search bar can also help.

Clean design, beautiful images, and more also play into your marketing efforts. They’re part of your SEO, which play a key role in digital marketing.

In turn, you’ll spend less time on any one of these tasks. By thinking about delivering a better user experience, you’ll build efficiency right into the DNA of your eCommerce business.

4. Think about SEO

You know SEO is important to your marketing efforts. Now you want to know about some eCommerce SEO best practices.

You can think about website speed, which might be connected to your hosting. A private web host could improve your speed and give your SEO a little boost.

Going mobile is another major consideration. More people are shopping on their smartphones. Google has even switched to mobile-first indexing.

Customer reviews are another key component of local SEO in particular. Enable customer reviews on your website, and you’ll see both your SEO and your sales improve.

SEO can be a big job, but much of it intersects with other parts of creating a better user experience. Focus on that, and you’ll find you can be more efficient in both providing better UX and better SEO.

5. Make Checking Out Simple

You’re not the only one concerned about efficiency. Your customers are also busy people, especially those who are shopping on their mobile phones.

You should focus on making checkout as simple as possible. If you can, try to implement one-click purchasing. If that’s not possible, then try to get as close to one-click checkout as possible.

Your customers want the checkout process to be quick and easy. When it is, they’ll have fewer problems and fewer questions about it. In turn, more people will complete the checkout process.

The more complex your process, the more likely it is people will abandoned their carts. They may not have time to finish filling out forms, or they may be confused or frustrated by the process. A simplified checkout process is thus a win for everyone.

6. Reward Loyal Customers

Rounding out these practical eCommerce tips is the idea of a rewards program. You want your customers to come back to you again, so offer them a reward for doing so. You may want to create a points program or offer a discount for repeat customers.

You can also create a referral program, where people who refer friends and family receive a free gift or a discount.

How does this create efficiency for your business? It’s actually more efficient to keep your existing customers than to find new ones! As a bonus, the referral program can help you find better leads who are more likely to convert.

That, in turn, can help your sales team improve their efficiency. Your lead generation and ability to close deals will improve greatly.

Upgrade Your Business Now

For a growing business, these eCommerce practices are must-knows. By implementing any or all of them, you can increase efficiency around many of your activities. In turn, you can deliver a better experience for your loyal customers.

Ready to improve the way you handle shipping? Check out the best integrated shipping platform and discover just how much easier shipping can be with the right technology.

Brexit and eCommerce

On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union and entered a transition period where existing arrangements are being kept in place until December 31, 2020. The UK is due to formally leave the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union from January 1, 2021. Negotiations are currently underway on a trade agreement.

What will Brexit bring for e-commerce companies? Will they have to comply with new regulations? Will UK online shoppers buy more from domestic online sellers as customs duty and import VAT will apply when ordering from EU countries?

The no-deal scenario

The UK is currently the largest online market in Europe and has had so far a leading role in the success of the European e-commerce industry. Undoubtedly, the UK’s e-commerce bloom has evolved in parallel with the unhindered trade EU membership guarantees. A no-deal Brexit, which seems the most likely scenario at the moment, will potentially disrupt in a significant way the current market trends on both sides of the English Channel. Will Brexit impede the UK’s booming e-commerce industry? On the other hand, how will the departure of the EU’s most prominent online market impact its economy?

In the case of a no-deal Brexit, the UK will become a third country and trade with the EU will be governed by terms set by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Taxes and tariffs will apply to products that UK e-commerce businesses are shipping to the EU, which may harm the competitiveness of some goods. The number 1 e-commerce product category is clothing, and that is an area where high customs duties occur. It is also worth mentioning that customs duty and import taxes will also apply on return items, and that will have a significant impact on product categories with high return rates.

Implications for UK e-commerce businesses

Trading under WTO rules means potential border checks for goods, product conformity procedures like sanitary and phytosanitary standards checks, verification of compliance with EU norms, and other disruptions that will cause significant traffic increases at ports and slower road transport times. Shipping times will depend heavily on customs clearance, and that translates into more extended waiting periods for customers waiting for their orders to arrive.

After Brexit, UK consumers might turn more to UK businesses for their online shopping as their products might be cheaper than the imported ones. That way, there could be opportunities for domestic e-commerce businesses to get market-share growth, at least in the short term. On the other hand, if the end of the transition period leads to a drop of the Pound Sterling’s value like the one followed the announcement of Brexit in June 2016, that eventually will make UK products cheaper, hence more appealing to EU consumers. It is rather doubtful though that this will compensate for the tremendous loss in shoppers’ convenience due to extended delivery times.

UK e-commerce businesses will have to find ways to address the delivery and duty issues to convince their EU customers that their products will be still worth purchasing. The UK delivery management company Whistl conducted an international survey recently asking online consumers on their opinion of whether Brexit will affect their international purchasing behaviour after the transition period ends on December 31, 2020. The European respondents to the survey deem Brexit will mean slower delivery of products from the UK, particularly Germany 34%, France 27% and Ireland 24%. The UK respondents are equally divided with 22% believing there will be no impact or slower delivery times.

Marketplace Fees and Taxes

In regards to Brexit and UK marketplace fees, there is probable to be a change to VAT applied. All major online marketplace like eBay and Amazon will likely increase their fees changed from the current 15% VAT to 20% VAT.

The eCommerce Directive and data transfer after the transition period

The eCommerce Directive currently allows EEA (European Economic Area) online service providers to operate in any EEA country, while only following relevant rules in the country in which they are established. The Directive applies to “information society services” and covers the vast majority of online service providers, including online retailers. This framework will no longer apply to UK providers after the end of the transition period as the UK will have left the EEA. Every e-commerce business should consider whether its services are currently in scope of the Directive and if so, ensure that they are compliant with relevant requirements in each EEA country the company operates in.

Moreover, e-commerce companies based in the UK will need to establish a representative in an EU country. They will also have to change the way they manage data transfers, like customers’ data for shipping labels, if the data originates from EU located businesses. Further information regarding the above can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.

What are the limits for customs duty and import VAT?

Commercial consignments of £15 or less are excluded from customs duty and import VAT. This does not include alcohol, tobacco, perfume or toilet waters. These items are excluded from the relief of duty and VAT at import and alcohol and tobacco products will also be liable to Excise Duty. Import VAT is applicable to consignments from £15.01 up to £135, while import VAT and customs duty are applicable to consignments worth more than £135.

What do I need to do when I send a package abroad?

In the case of a no-deal scenario, every e-commerce company sending a package to any country outside the UK, must complete and affix a customs declaration form (CN22 or CN23) and a commercial invoice to the consignment.

There are two types of customs declaration forms, depending on the value of the items sent:

·      For items with a value up to £270 customs declaration CN22 is used.

·     For items with a value over £270 customs declaration CN23 is used.

Additionally, a C&E83A “Exported by post under HMRC Control” label should be attached to the parcel which directs post office staff to present it to the Border Force at the Office of Exchange for checks to be made prior to export.

Conclusion

For e-commerce businesses, the most significant challenge posed by Brexit during the transition period is preparing adequately for what comes next no matter how unclear that might be at the moment. They must take proactive steps to plan and prepare for a probable no-deal scenario.

First and foremost, e-commerce companies must register for a UK
Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number to be used on customs declarations by freight forwarders and couriers and accurate classification on exported goods will be needed.

Then you should perform a comprehensive SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis) with the assumption of a no-deal outcome that will help you prepare for future market transformations and assist with planning. E-commerce companies should be ready to update their shipping and tariff policies to conform to both UK and EU regulations as soon as the final Brexit details are known.

Furthermore, if EU consumers are your primary customer base, consider the possibility relocating your inventory in warehouses overseas. Several big UK companies have already started constructing fulfilment centres in EU countries.  

Last but not least, stay informed. Paying close attention to the news coming from reliable sources will keep you up to date and help you better assess and prepare for Brexit’s economic impact.

No matter what the outcome of the Brexit negotiations will be in the following months, using a shipping platform like Shiptheory that allows access to the world’s best carriers, can offer you the best shipping solutions for your e-commerce business despite the uncertainty of Brexit’s economic impact.

Buy on Google is now commission-free

Earlier this year, in an attempt to boost small businesses and provide digital resources and tools for merchants looking to transition online, Google stopped charging a fee to list products on its Google Shopping search pages. That proved extremely helpful during the Covid-19 crisis as e-commerce became the only vital sales channel for retailers that were forced to close their brick-and-mortar stores and gave them free exposure to millions of people who use Google for shopping-related searches.

Google’s motivation

That announcement was a reliable indicator that the company is investing in developing and maturing its online shopping services, making them more compelling to merchants and consumers alike. It also helps Google facing the growing threat from Amazon pushing harder into the digital advertising market lately.

Amazon has become the most popular starting point for product searches in recent years leading many marketers to shift up to 60% of the search budgets they usually allocate to Google toward Amazon. Along with the announcement of the free listings, the tech giant is strengthening its relationships with e-commerce partners like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.

Buy on Google becomes commission-free for US merchants

Source: https://blog.google

At the end of July 2020, Google Shopping made its second significant change in the last few months making the ”Buy on Google” program available to US merchants, commission-free. “Buy on Google” allows consumers to purchase products from merchants online without leaving Google by using their saved Google Account information during check-out.

Google is enabling commonly-used product feed formats that allow retailers to connect their inventory to sell directly on Google without having to reformat their data. The program will also enable retailers to add product information like images or technical specs by pulling from Google’s existing database rather than having to upload it themselves.

Third-party integrations, support for small businesses, and US launch

Google also announced its collaboration with digital payments company PayPal and multinational e-commerce company Shopify that will allow merchants to link their respective accounts. Retailers listing their products on the Google Shopping search pages can use Shopify for inventory and order management and PayPal and Shopify for payment processing.

In an effort to support small, independent businesses, the company is also planning on adding a new “small business” filter on the Google Shopping tab among other features. According to Bill Ready, president of commerce in Google, the “Buy on Google” commission-free offering will begin with US merchants. However, Google is looking toward making it available in other countries later this year and 2021.

Conclusion

By making “Buy on Google” commission-free, the tech giant will help many small businesses that could not afford to do that at scale, to reconnect with their customers and reach new ones. Moreover, as most people start their product searches on Amazon than Google, allowing retailers to list their products on the Shopping tab for free, will enable more businesses and products available for searchers. And as the only requirement of merchants on Google is the creation of the product feed, Google now has a free offering where Amazon does not.

Nevertheless, with free listings available, many merchants might start wondering if they should change their Google Ads shopping marketing strategy or even use that advertising budget for something completely different. Most probably, there is no need to change your approach. The reason for that is that the aforementioned free listings appear only on the Shopping tab and not on the main search result page (the “All” tab) where most traffic likely comes from. Additionally, all paid listings appear on the Shopping tab as well, above the free ones.

The free listings will help you reach new customers, generate more traffic, and support your paid ones. But when it comes to “Buy on Google” program’s commission-free listings, several merchants are voicing concerns regarding the brand implications joining the program might have. The entire shopping journey - product search, product comparison, and purchase transactions -  now occur solely on Google and not the merchant’s website. That might diminish the retailer’s branding, especially that of small companies.

Header image source: https://blog.google

How understanding and influencing consumer behaviour can help grow your e-commerce business

Several months have passed since the coronavirus was first detected and the Covid-19 crisis has still a significant influence on people’s lives and habits. The pandemic, with its mandate lockdowns and business closures, disrupted nearly every routine in our everyday lives and forced consumers everywhere in the world to rapidly change their behaviours, needs, and consequently their spending patterns.

Even though most countries are currently relaxing lockdown restrictions and non-essential businesses are reopening, only 37% of people expect to return to non-essential consumer behaviour before two to three months. And with 93% of people worrying about a second wave of infections in the near future, insecurity and uncertainty will impact how consumers process and respond to information in the new normal. Situational and motivational factors that affect consumer behaviour are rapidly changing nowadays.

Shaping new consumer habits

A person’s set of beliefs and habits can indeed be a key influencer of their consumer behaviour. Behavioural science informs us that, under normal circumstances, people tend to stick firmly (one might say stubbornly) to their beliefs and habits. Deeply rooted in the subconscious mind, beliefs frequently prevent consumers from logically evaluating alternatives. That mainly results in an extremely slow adoption, if any, of anything that entails some behavioural change, even if it can be objectively beneficial to the individual.

Nevertheless, the Covid-19 crisis and the disruptions in everyday experiences it prompted, forced a large number of people to change their consumer habits and beliefs almost overnight. That presents a scarce opportunity for e-commerce companies to identify consumers’ new habits and beliefs, influence consumer behaviour, and position their products and services better for the post-pandemic normal.

During the Covid-19 crisis, even long-held beliefs and habits can change when a consumer gets surprised by how useful and delightful a new experience has been. That can make consumers more willing to repeat that behaviour even when the pandemic will be behind us. Online grocery shopping is an excellent example of that. More than 80 per cent of US consumers that tried online grocery shopping for the first time have been surprised and delighted by the new experience. On top of that, 40 per cent of them intend to continue shopping for groceries online after the crisis.

Reinforcing new beliefs

After you have identified a new behavioural shift, you need to find ways to reinforce the new beliefs it has caused to better position your products and brand. A great way to do that is by focusing on specific moments during the customer journey that have a significant impact on consumers called peak moments. A peak moment can be a customer’s first experience with a product or service, the unboxing of an online order, the check-out process on an online store, and more. Highly emotional occasions like birthdays, graduations, etc. are an excellent opportunity for companies to create compelling peak moments associated with their brand by offering very personalised products and services.

Every e-commerce company must recognise that the consumer journey and customers’ preferred interactions have drastically changed during the pandemic, and so did the peak moments (primarily due to the shift toward online shopping). Therefore, e-commerce companies need to identify these new peak moments and optimise their products, services, marketing campaigns, and customer service accordingly. Your e-commerce company can also reinforce and sustain consumers’ new beliefs by creating new products, services, and marketing messages, tailor-made to consumers’ new habits. You need to innovate to align with consumers’ new needs and spending patterns and remain essential to their eyes.    

The heightened emotions of the past few months will most probably create lasting changes to consumers’ long-term preferences. And although making healthier eating choices presumably won’t last now that most restrictions are lifted and fast food joints are reopening, the shift towards digital when it comes to shopping will most probably be permanent. 40% of consumers claim they have now increased their online purchasing mainly due to low pricing and promotions offered. And with 66% of people globally saying that they will keep being conscious about social distancing and continue to avoid busy places after lockdown restrictions are lifted, the negative impact on brick-and-mortar retail will be inevitable.

Another trend that most probably will stick is consumer spending being influenced heavily by a company’s values. Recent surveys show that consumers pay more attention to how companies are treating their employees and tend to prefer the ones that demonstrate care and concern for people and the environment. Additionally, consumers are looking to brands for trustworthiness, support, and advice during these difficult times. The ability of a company’s communication to strike the right tone will be a great advantage that will increase brand loyalty, but only if it rings true. Seeking to commercialise social issues during these challenging times can be a costly misstep.

Conclusion

Financial pressure, safety concerns, and new behaviours that are here to stay have made definite that people will not return to pre-pandemic consumer behaviour any time soon. E-commerce business can benefit from the increasing shift to digital that the Covid-19 crisis has shaped. Kantar’s ongoing global study has found that 45% of consumers are planning to keep using the products and online shops they discover while in lockdown, shifting the loyalty dynamics within the retail industry. Therefore, to thrive in the new normal, e-commerce businesses must develop a strong understanding of their target consumer bases’ rapidly changing beliefs and habits and adjust their products, values, customer experiences, and marketing communications accordingly.

Stitch Labs is shutting down after been acquired by Square

Starting from July the 10th, multichannel inventory management software company Stitch Labs will not be taking any new customers. The company has been acquired by the American financial services, merchant services aggregator, and mobile payment company Square. Square app is used by over 33.5 million small businesses to accept credit card payments, track sales and inventory, and obtain financing. Stitch Labs’ team is joining Square to help build products and tools within their Seller ecosystem.

Although the company won’t take any new customers, they will continue to support and operate for existing customers until Spring 2021 and to offer Stitch Labs software with the same pricing and feature set. The company ensured their existing customers that they will support them to transition off the Stitch Labs platform successfully.  

Changing operations management software or inventory management software in under a year can be a hard undertaking for every company. Below we will introduce some of the best alternatives available on the market that will help your e-commerce business with this challenging transition.

Square

Stitch Labs announced that in the future they plan on assisting their existing customers migrating to Square if they choose to do so. At this point, Square’s functionality cannot match that of a full inventory and order management system or wholly support the needs of more advanced Stitch Labs users. It is possible, nevertheless, that Square will expand its software capabilities in the future with the help of the Stitch Labs’ team. In the meantime, please check the best alternatives to Stitch Labs available on the market listed below.

Cin7

Cin7 is a cloud-based inventory management solution that allows real-time data tracking from multiple locations and its best for growing, omnichannel businesses. Cin7 offers advanced reporting and forecasting features as well as more than 450 integrations, including various marketing, payment, accounting, and third party logistics platforms. B2B e-commerce features and a fully-featured point-of-sale (POS) software are included even on their starting plan.

Unleashed

Unleashed Software provides a powerful cloud-based platform for all your inventory management needs that allows accurate stock tracking and precise profit reporting in real-time across various locations. Unleashed offers three plans that are based on business size and enforced by the Unleashed API access limits. The good news is that all Unleashed’s features – like unlimited warehouse management and a vast number of integrations to choose from among others – are available on all their subscription plans.

TradeGecko

TradeGecko is a Singapore based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that develops online inventory and order management software targeted at small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and works best for wholesale businesses. It is a very user-friendly and affordable solution with a free 14-day trial period and a Founder plan starting at £35 per month. TradeGecko offers integration with loads of e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce, Amazon, Shopify, and more and with a Small Business plan or higher, a customizable B2B e-commerce site. TradeGecko was recently acquired by Intuit the company behind QuickBooks’ suite of financial, payment, reporting and accounting tools. The transaction is expected to close in September 2020.

Brightpearl

Brightpearl offers an all-in-one, cloud-based inventory and order management solution designed for retailers, wholesalers, and omnichannel brands of all sizes. Brightpearl's inventory and order management software offers numerous integrations with accounting, warehouse management, shipping & fulfilment, POS, supplier management, and CRM solutions. The company offers three subscription plans designed to match a company’s stage of growth.

Conclusion

No matter which inventory management software you will choose for your e-commerce business, Shiptheory’s shipping management platform can help you integrate all your online sales points with the world’s best carriers and automate shipping label creation. Shiptheory's intelligent shipping rules engine allows you to automate shipping based on a combination of shipping destination, order weight, value, product SKU's and more.

Shiptheory takes the hassle out of shipping so you can focus more on developing your business and less on fulfilment.

How to Ensure your Ecommerce Store is GDPR Compliant

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an extended series of guidelines designed to govern how personal data is collected, processed, and stored. The GDPR was agreed on by the European Parliament and Council in April 2016, and its purpose is to impose a uniform data security law on all EU members. It became effective on May 25, 2018, replacing the Data Protection Directive 95/46/ec as the primary law instructing a baseline set of standards for companies that handle EU citizen’s personal data to safeguard better the collection, storage, processing, and movement of it. Its main goal is improving data security, minimise data breaches, and increase transparency between companies and users.

What is personal data?

The GDPR officially defines personal data as: ‘any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person’, and it states that this information can be collected and stored if it is properly anonymised. A subset of personal data is the ‘sensitive personal data’ category that includes racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, physical and mental health data, genetic and biometric data, sexual orientation, past or spent criminal convictions, location data, and online identifiers.

For an ecommerce company, that translates into information about an individual who could be identified from that data (or from the combination of that data with other information) and could include not only your customers’ personal details and IP addresses but also data your company has collected to identify and approach potential customers as well as data that visitors generate while accessing or using your website, apps, etc. (cookie identifiers).

Requirements of the GDPR

The GDPR contains 11 chapters and 91 articles, and it is mainly designed to ensure trust between EU customers and retailers by clarifying the rights of each. The companies GDPR is addressing can be classified as ‘Controllers’ (companies or organisations that collect and use user data) or ‘Processors’ (companies or organisations that process user data on behalf of other companies/organisations). In some instances, companies can be classified as both a Controller and Processor. ‘Subjects’ are the users whose data the Controllers have collected.

Articles 12 to 14, instruct that companies should provide specific information to individuals whose data they are collecting and processing, generally in the form of a privacy notice or privacy policy. Generating a privacy policy for your ecommerce company can be a somewhat complicated and tedious job. Nevertheless, there are several privacy policy generators available that will help to streamline the process.

Articles 17 and 18 give subjects more control over personal data that is processed automatically. According to GDPR, users have the ‘right to access’ which specifies that controllers must be able to provide a free copy of the subject’s data (‘in an electronic format’) if requested. That data can then be shared or transferred to a new processor if necessary. Moreover, the ‘right to erasure’ specifies that users can request at any given time to have their data deleted and also immediately unavailable to any other third-party provider.

Articles 23 and 30 require companies to maintain a detailed, up-to-date map of their data practices and implement data protection measures that safeguard subjects’ personal data and privacy against lost and exposure. Furthermore, according to article 28, controllers should impose strict contractual requirements of data usage and processing when they engage a processor.

Article 31 states that controllers must notify Supervising Authorities (SA) of a personal data breach within 72 hours and provide specific details of it. Article 32 requires controllers to notify subjects as soon as possible in the event of a data breach. Articles 33 and 33a need companies to perform Data Protection Impact Assessments to identify risks to consumer data and Data Protection Compliance Reviews to ensure those risks are addressed.

Article 35 necessitates that individual companies should appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO). These officers advise companies about compliance with the GPDR and act as a point of contact with the Supervising Authorities. Articles 36 and 37 outline the Data Protection Officer’s position and responsibilities. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) offers a detailed guide on how to appoint a DPO if necessary.

Finally, article 45 specifies that international companies that collect or process EU citizens’ personal data are subject to the same requirements and penalties as EU-based companies.

Penalties for non-compliance

Companies that fail to comply with GDPR’s guidelines are subject to penalties and fines as outlined by article 79 of the regulation. There are two levels of fines depending on the nature of the violation. For lower-level violations like gathering or processing data against GPDR’s rules, a company can be fined up to €10 million or up to two per cent of its worldwide annual revenue, whichever is higher. More serious violations, like data breaches, can result in a fine of up to €20 million, or up to four per cent of the company's worldwide annual revenue - again, whichever is higher.

It is important to note that even if your ecommerce store is not based in Europe if it provides products or services to EU residents, is still subject to GDPR. Additionally, the general requirements of GDPR relate to every aspect of your business and not just to your website or online store. Every ecommerce business owner should ensure that their social media channels, marketing strategies, analytics and tracking systems their online store uses, every other third-party plug-in or app, and every third-party company they are sharing data with are also compliant with the GDPR.

Under current law, the same rules apply regardless of the size of your ecommerce business; sole traders and small companies can also face fines and censures for violations that may occur. Nevertheless, GDPR recognises that small and medium-sized enterprises (SEM) require different treatment from large or public enterprises. For example, specific record-keeping requirements under the GDPR do not apply to businesses that employ less than 250 employees.

Conclusion

If
your ecommerce store is available in the EU (even if your company is not based there), you must complete a thorough audit of all the data you are collecting on EU citizens as you need to comply with the GDPR. When you design data processes for your ecommerce business, you must ensure that personal data is secure and you collect only the data that is ‘absolutely necessary for the completion of duties’. Take the time to look at what type of data you collect and why you collect it and be always aware of how this data is processed either by you or third-party companies you share this data with. What that means is that you should adequately map out how data is collected, stored, processed, transferred, and deleted.

Ecommerce companies must have a unified data management system in place that allows easy access, erasure, and portability of users’ data and always plan for the possibility of data breaches. You need to seek permission from every single EU user to collect any kind of personal information and is crucial to make clear in your privacy policy why and for how long you are collecting that information and what your company will use it for.

Every company owner that is subject to the GDPR should attempt to read and understand the legislation. But even if you are not willing to read the actual 50,000 words-long regulation, there are plenty of detailed guides available that can help you with taking the necessary steps to make your ecommerce business GDPR compliant. Shopify’s GDPR whitepaper and ICO’s guide to data protection are two of the best.

Finally, you should always see compliance with the GDPR as a process; meaning that you need to revisit the way your company works on a regular basis and especially when you decide to add a new future, functionality, etc., to your website or online shop. Understandably, GDPR compliance can seem very daunting, especially for new ecommerce business or sole traders. But being GDPR compliant is an excellent opportunity to grow your ecommerce business. By being transparent with your customers regarding what data is collected and why, while at the same time allowing access to their data and the choice to opt-out whenever they want, you make them feel they are in control of their information. And that is a great opportunity to build trust and strengthen your relationship with your customers.