The retailers must prepare for the shoppers as soon as holiday shopping time arrives. This time of the year is very crucial for them. As per studies conducted in this field, 28 percent people start holiday shopping well before November. Thus, online retailers must be prepared for the sudden increase in shoppers. They may encounter many challenges, such as supply chain issues, uncertainties, shipping delays, etc. So, waiting till the nth hour to start preparations for holiday shopping may pose many problems.

Online retailers can devise a well-thought-out strategy that keeps them ahead of the game and handles any contingencies that they may face. Here are a few tips that can help them prepare for the 2024 holiday season shopping.

2024 Holiday Shopping Season Prep Already

Also referred to as “The October Kickoff,” this approach is gaining much traction among excited shoppers. Instead of waiting until the last minute, they start making plans for the holiday season as early as October. This way, they have ample time to look for gifts and make timely purchases. They are ready with their shopping lists and start the activity with proper planning. Once the shopping list is ticked off, the retailers can align with the shoppers, see what they are doing, and prepare for the upcoming holiday season. Thus, as the October deadline looms larger, here is what an online retailer can do-

• Let us tackle any problems and check out the existing listings.
• Improve the Amazon A+ content to convey your product and brand narrative.
• Settle the products to include in the fourth quarter catalog.
• Review all data across active marketplaces.

The retailer must optimize and collect the expected projects that will sell well in the upcoming holiday season. This way, meeting the October deadline becomes easier. It is also the best time to evaluate which products are not faring well or are underperforming from the previous year so that the retailer can create optimal inventory levels. The retailer can also make plans to enhance reach to diverse marketplaces. This way, in September, they can establish a strong presence.

Overcoming Challenges

Consumer spending habits have undergone a considerable change due to inflationary pressures. Despite high product costs, customers make purchases, but they have now become more discerning when making buying decisions. As a retailer or a seller, it is essential to stand apart from the competition by focusing on critical areas –

1. Assisting customers with their needs
2. Providing shipping options
3. Describing products. Offering details
4. Gathering feedback and reviews

Understanding the stocking schedules for Q4 inventory when utilizing marketplace fulfillment services is crucial in the supply chain to overcome obstacles.

Critical steps for success include

1. Setting goals
2. Planning and achieving sales targets during the holiday season can be quite a task as sales peak during this time, but transactions happen throughout the year.
3. Expanding marketing campaigns globally
4. Upholding customer service standards
5. Evaluating holiday season performance to guide decisions for the year

Make the most of the expertise and two decades of experience of ChannelSale to boost product sales growth. We use advanced software solutions to sync inventory, listings, and orders across different channels.

Recap performance results of the 2023 Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend shopping turnout results that soared to record highs. As per a report by Adobe Analytics, Black Friday online sales were almost $ 10 billion, up 7.5% from the previous year. And that of Cyber Monday it was $ 12.4 billion, up 9.6 from 2022.

Which marketplaces were the biggest beneficiaries of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales?

Amazon and Walmart marketplaces were the biggest beneficiaries of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales this year. As per Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 ranking, Amazon ranks number one among the largest North American online retailers and third in its global rankings. Also, as per the 2023 Global Online Marketplaces Report, Walmart is No. 2 in the Top 1000 in North America and No. 9 worldwide.

What were the total sales by Amazon and Walmart marketplaces during Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Amazon announced November 17 to 27 as the 11-day shopping event to capitalize on the Christmas sales.

It sold over 1 billion items during the event but did not share its sales value or year-to-year growth. But reports confirm that half of the billion items ordered on Amazon, or over 500 million items, were sold by small and medium independent sellers. Amazon marketplace had the highest traffic from US purchasers during the event, accounting for 26.5% per the Digital Commerce 360 analysis using Similarweb data.

Walmart was the other marketplace that saw its biggest sales days in its entire history during this Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. There was a four times jump in its peak orders per minute over last year’s sales.   WFS or Walmart Fulfillment Services, which provided end-to-end services, achieved sales during these days that were four times higher than its sales ever to ship around twice the number of units than the previous year.

Four top trends and results of 2023 Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Gone are the days of standing in queues early in the morning among the rushing people for Christmas purchases on Black Friday after celebrating Thanksgiving day. In this digitalized and globalized world, the contemporary retail landscape in rushed crowds has transformed into an extended experience of shopping in the comfort of home or from anywhere.

Compared to Black Friday, Cyber Monday is a new extravaganza from 2005 for people to do only online buying and technology products. The following are the few trends and results of Black Friday and Cyber Monday that broke many records created regarding value, online traffic, number of sales, items, etc.

1. As per NRF or National Retail Federation data, over 200 million shoppers bought products from websites and stores during the five-day weekend from Thanksgiving Day, which was a record than any other previous year.
2. As per Salesforce data, there was an average rise of 4% of the selling price of all product categories in 2023 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in 2022
3. Adobe Analytics ICSC post-Thanksgiving weekend surveys confirm that e-commerce sales on Cyber Monday alone were $ 12.4 billion, and for the five days from Thanksgiving, $ 38 billion.
4. As per the US Department of Commerce, e-commerce sales grew by 7.75 % in the 2023 third quarter, which is far ahead of the total retail sales that grew only 2%

In an upcoming article we will in-depth cover the key checkpoints for online sellers to include in their preparation strategy for the next Black Friday and Cyber Monday Weekend 2024 for simplifying multi-channel selling for companies like yours to grow your business even beyond your expectations.

You have come to the right place to look back on the e-commerce sector in 2023 and what trends to arrive in 2024 to increase its sales rapidly. Statistics confirm that e-commerce sales in 2023 crossed 6.5 trillion dollars and will cross 8 trillion dollars by 2026. It is because of the increasing prevalence of voice search, AR to visualize purchases, voice commerce, livestream shopping, the rise in new marketplaces & distribution channels, and many more.

So, check out what fueled the e-commerce sector in 2023 and what are the trends that are going to do more in 2024.

A Lookback of the e-commerce sector in 2023

In this digitalized and globalized business world, the e-commerce sector has seen continuous growth in the last few years, including 2023. With the pandemic boosting the use of e-commerce sales, it continues undeterred because of its many benefits for both buyers and sellers. Also, the number of smartphone users will increase from 6.4 to 6.7 billion people from 2022 to 2023. Statistics confirm that there were over 215 million new social media users as of October 2023 compared to the same time in 2022 to increase social commerce. All of it added to the rise of e-commerce sales from 5.7 to 6.5 trillion dollars from 2022 to 2023.

What’s to arrive in 2024 for the rising e-commerce sector?

Mobile shopping continues its rapid rise to constitute over 63% of e-commerce sales. With an increase of over 5% in the number of smartphone users every year, there will be around 7 billion people having smartphones in 2024. Millions of new social media users add up every year to also increase e-commerce sales. Irrespective of age, e-commerce buyers are expanding worldwide because of delivering groceries and medicines to their doorsteps.   Most of the  IT giants like Amazon, Walmart, Apple, E-bay, Google, and many others will increase their part in boosting the e-commerce sector in 2024.

What are the trends to arrive in 2024 to boost the e-commerce sector?

In 2023, there was a continuous rise in social commerce and personalized e-commerce experience for customers, apart from improved logistics to deliver goods on schedule to boost the sector. With e-commerce sales in 2023 exceeding expectations from 6.3 to over 6.5 trillion dollars, it is only expected to grow beyond 7 trillion dollars in 2024. And the following new and improvised existing trends will make it possible in 2024 and beyond.

• An increase in the live streaming of thousands of products in a minute to viewers in an exclusive event by many companies will increase consumers’ interest in not missing out on limited-time, unmatchable offers.
• Improved AR or augmented reality shopping will increase customer encouragement by trying the products to boost their confidence in making purchases and also to reduce returns.
• Better multiple payment options collecting zero personal data from the consumers will increase their trust in the marketplace to buy more e-commerce products.
• Improved customer service using NLP or natural language processing enhanced chatbots to provide answers to most queries and solve issues will boost online sales.

Wrapping up

Looking back, 2023 was a fantastic year for the e-commerce sector, and as per the details and trends above will make sure that 2024 will also be better for e-commerce sales to cross the 7 trillion milestones. E-commerce businesses wanting to capitalize on the rising tide and to know many more trends should contact ChannelSale integrated with most of the major world-famous marketplaces, comparison shopping engines, social network sites, affiliate networks and shopping carts for cutting-edge software solutions to take sales to new heights.

Your search for tips to conquer the fulfillment frustration of e-commerce customers’ orders ends here. If e-commerce is the game-changer in the digitalized business world, it is the door-to-door delivery or e-fulfillment services that made it popular among people worldwide. On-time fulfillment of online orders by bringing the products to customers’ doorsteps is increasing e-commerce sales by trillions of dollars. But for several reasons, there are many fulfillment frustrations as most e-commerce companies promise same-day delivery to outsmart competitors.

If you have one such company or are working in one, check out the many tips for conquering those fulfillment frustrations to expand your business exponentially.

Ten top tips to conquer the fulfillment frustrations of the e-commerce sector

The new generations, Y & Z to alpha, buy most of the products online and only a few in retail stores. It is the reason there is rapid growth in e-commerce to now be around one-fourth of the retail sales and expected to be over 90 % of it by 2040. One of the significant reasons for this is the delivery of most of the products to the customers’ doorsteps within a day or the next day.

With the rapid rise in e-commerce sales worldwide and supply chain issues, many companies are not able to deliver products on time, causing fulfillment frustrations. There are many other issues like improper inventory causing inaccurate stock, insufficient warehouse handling, inferior customer support, fluctuating demands, and others.

The following are a few tips for conquering such fulfillment frustrations to develop your e-commerce business to the next level.

1. Must have automated digital fulfillment systems that give real-time information about the accurate stock levels in the inventory to update as per the demand to never run out of products to deliver on time
2. Should integrate OMS or digital order management systems to check if there is stock in the inventory for giving a tremendous omnichannel sales experience to customers to gain their trust
3. Must have WMS or warehouse management systems offering automated processes to reduce errors and overhead costs
4. Should have digitalized solutions like RF or radiofrequency, voice-directed, and mobile-based picking operations to improve the overall picking process warehouses for recording adjustments and exceptions
5. Must use the best automated analytical tools to analyze the data collected from OMS, WMS, and others to get valuable insights to improve the order fulfillment process
6. Should be able to collect granular-level fulfillment workflow data to help the customer support teams solve many issues to provide the best buying experience to increase sales
7. Must have the best software and tools for synching multi-channel orders to solve all the stock or inventory management problems and delivery feed
8. Should have intelligent inventory management software for integrating product availability across many platforms to avoid over and underselling, among others
9. Must automate all the product data import, submitting feeds to marketplaces, affiliate networks, comparing shopping engines, and others
10. Should have advanced software and technological tools for generating reports and analyzing macro and micro views of SKU or stock-keeping unit conversions across all conversions.

Conclusion:

The above facts and tips will end your search to conquer the fulfillment frustrations of e-commerce orders to get completed on time using the world-class software solutions from ChannelSale, the official preferred partner of Amazon, eBay, and most major marketplaces worldwide to have created over 5 million product listings successfully.

The number of happy sellers and buyers using ChannelSale platform is increasing, and it shows no signs of slowing down. The introduction of ChannelSale’s cutting-edge products boost sales for all businesses as evident in the reviews received. Let’s see what clients say:

Shopify App Store Listing: https://apps.shopify.com/channelsale#adp-reviews

BigCommerce App Store Listing: https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/channelsale/

Marmon Foodservice Technologies

When I was planning to launch my own eCommerce business, I was desperately looking for a platform that could help transition and integration seamless. I used ChannelSale for Shopify-Amazon connection which helped me a lot increasing the visibility of my business. Because of these reasons, I intend to build my future businesses on Amazon e-commerce platform. Thanks to ChannelSale team in helping me combine Amazon with Shopify and take my business to the next level.

House Plant Shop

ChannelSale has been extremely helpful and attentive in spreading the businesses to additional
channels. It has helped me simplify logistics to have all orders populated in Shopify. The team at ChannelSale make weekly calls to ensure everything is running smoothly, and they respond quickly to any problems. They are keen to share ideas and expand my services to new markets. It was a great decision to trust ChannelSale for my business expansion.

Unique Oils LLC

We have been using ChannelSale for over two years, and their assistance is head and shoulders above all other integrators. Their approach simplifies your product selection across numerous sales channels and broadens your brand’s reach while centrally managing everything through Shopify. Their reporting and industry knowledge have helped us generate relevant KPIs that have helped us grow our business tremendously in a simple, straightforward way.

What ChannelSale can do?

Different clients have expressed that they have had excellent experiences with ChannelSale. The ChannelSale Team helps complete setup to migrate their products to eBay, Amazon, Walmart, Sears, and other markets.

The problems caused to these clients while using other marketplaces were tremendous, and ChannelSale helped to consolidate everything into one solution. ChannelSale provides experienced dedicated account managers for complete setup, schedule recurring meets with the clients twice a week on phone and screen sharing, and are available via email and direct phone to assist with any difficulties.

Once initial setup and testing is completed, then the system automatically synchronizes the listings, inventory, and orders, and their customer care is consistently prompt and attentive. The team holds weekly calls throughout the setup phase to discuss progress and next steps. They help customers and clients who want innovative and new solutions to any new approach in the market will have better options available.

However, ChanneSale can provide new solutions to people with specific requirements that are simple enough to meet their demands. This shows the versatility of ChannelSale and how it helps satisfy the demands of clients in different ways depending upon their approach toward any solution.

Integration services and developers can be highly expensive depending on what you require, and ChannelSale provides a fantastic value for the money. Maintain open lines of communication with them from the start to ensure that they understand your expectations.

Conclusion

ChannelSale unifies the sales channels and grants you the tools as well as services required for business management, market to customers, and integrating selling. So, the buyers on your site can witness a seamless shopping experience.

Contact us for a demo of the ChannelSale platform today from our Expert team members.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s acquisition of Overstock has stirred interest and expectation as a strategic move that has sent waves through the retail sector. This blog article seeks to provide a thorough review of this big transaction, exploring the reasons behind the move, potential collaborations, and the expected impact on both companies.

The Acquisition’s History:

1. Strategic Vision: Bed Bath & Beyond’s acquisition of Overstock is made with the strategic vision of broadening its scope of product sales and varieties and strengthening its impact in the business market as a strong competitor. It aims to take advantage of the overstock supplies to meet its target and go beyond.
2. Expanding Market Presence: Overstock, known for its online marketplace providing a diverse selection of products, allows Bed Bath & Beyond to extend its market presence. This move enables the business to delve into Overstock’s existing consumer base while reaching out to new groups.

Potential Benefits and Collaborations:

1. Diverse Product Portfolio: The combination of Bed Bath & Beyond’s selected collection of home essentials and Overstock’s vast product range provides consumers with an extensive range of options. This diverse product listing appeals to various preferences and demands, improving the purchasing experience.
2. Enhanced E-commerce Capabilities: Bed Bath & Beyond acquired the advanced technological facilities of Overstock’s sophisticated ecommerce infrastructure. This advancement increased the overall efficiency and productivity of the brand, making it more convenient for the customers.

Considerations and Challenges:

1. Integration Difficulty: One of the most difficult aspects of acquisitions is integrating two separate business concepts. Bed Bath & Beyond will need to tread cautiously during this process to provide a consistent experience for customers and stakeholders.
2. Brand Alignment: Maintaining a consistent brand identity after acquisition is critical. Balancing Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock’s separate strengths while presenting an integrated team to customers will take much work.

Expected Impact:

1. Market Competitiveness: The merger of Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock creates a more competitive participant in the retail market. This increased competitiveness can foster innovation and customer-centric tactics and impact market trends.
2. Income Stream Diversification: The acquisition allows Bed Bath & Beyond to diversify its income streams. Beyond the traditional physical retail stores model, the brand has a deeper footing in e-commerce, reflecting modern consumers’ growing preferences.

Conclusion

Bed Bath & Beyond’s acquisition of Overstock signifies an important turning point in the retail industry. As these two brands join together, there is excitement about emerging beneficial relationships. The possible benefits, ranging from an enlarged product selection to streamlined supply chains, reflect a smart move in line with evolving customer behavior and market trends.

ChannelSale, a reputable supplier of e-commerce solutions, is aware of the significance of these steps in aiding businesses to flourish in the online market. By effectively utilizing these KPIs, e-commerce businesses can ensure long-term success and maintain a competitive edge in the ever-evolving e-commerce market.

Contact us for a demo of the ChannelSale platform today from our Expert team members.