With Halloween behind us, we're looking ahead to the holidays with a ton of excitement! And we're not alone, either β Amazon's got plenty of reasons to be optimistic, too. Here are this week's biggest stories:
Nine takeaways from Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, including some data points that might prove handy for sellers.
Amazon hits highest quarterly income ever in Q3 2023, reaching an astonishing $143.1 billion.
Gen Z shoppers want retailers to offer more payment options, including exciting new peer-to-peer tech.
Meta announces a new ad-free subscription model in Europe to keep up with EU regulators.
Last-minute Q4 tips and strategies to help you take your E-commerce business to new heights this holiday season.
The Amazon Corner
The Takeaway: Nine Things We Learned from Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days
What won customers during Amazon's latest sale? At this point, the success of Prime Big Deal Days has been well-documented. Now that the numbers have been tallied, it's time to dig into the details and discover what we can learn from the massive October event. Forbes has outlined some of the biggest takeaways from Prime Big Deal Days, which should prove helpful to E-commerce sellers looking to replicate the sale's success as we move toward the holidays.
Among the most notable insights include the fact that low-priced products (under $20) comprised 60% of the total items sold, while just 4% exceeded $100. Accordingly, electronics seem to be in a bit of a slump, with only 15% of shoppers purchasing items like TVs and computer products (compared with 29% during this year's Prime Day event). Perhaps the most valuable takeaway is that personalized deals (including invite-only promotions and targeted product highlights) were likely responsible for much of the success of Prime Big Deal Days β something to consider next time you're strategizing a sale.
Breaking Records: Amazon Hits Highest Quarterly Operating Income Ever in Q3 2023
The sky's the limit for Amazon: The retail giant's sales in Q3 of this year hit an astonishing $143.1 billion dollars, which represents a 13% leap from $127.1 billion in 2022. Even more impressive, the company saw its highest quarterly operating income ever: $11.2 billion, which is an increase of 343% from 2022's $2.5 billion.
CEO Andy Jassy cited fulfillment and supply chain investments as primary factors behind the boost, noting that the company is now equipped to provide faster delivery speeds for Prime members than ever before. Furthermore, their Supply Chain by Amazon service makes it easy for sellers to build businesses on the platform without expending energy on navigating complicated supply networks. Looking ahead to the future, Jassy detailed Amazon's plans for generative AI, calling their Bedrock tech "the easiest way to build and scale enterprise-ready generative AI applications."
Options, Please: Online Shoppers Want More Payment Formats
They say variety is the spice of life... Research from global cloud platform Esker indicates that the way younger people shop online is changing. Nearly 60% of Gen Z shoppers say that they'd opted out of completing a purchase if they were not offered an online payment option. Another 33% of shoppers switched service providers due to inconvenient or complicated payment processes (and that number reaches 54% for adult shoppers under the age of 25).
The solution for some businesses may be to introduce new options for payment processing. According to Esker's report, 41% of consumers expect retailers to adopt new payment technologies β including relatively novel peer-to-peer payments β quickly once they've been adequately tested. Esker COO Steve Smith offers forward-thinking sellers the following advice: "businesses must embrace online payment technologies that align with consumer preferences."
Ad-Free β At a Cost: Meta Announces Paid Ad-Free Plans for EU Users
There's no such thing as an ad-free lunch! In accordance with EU regulations, Meta Platforms β which operates both Instagram and Facebook β has announced that European users will now be able to pay a subscription fee to opt out of ads. Web users will have to shell out β¬9.99 per month, while iOS and Android users will be charged β¬12.99. This change may have major implications for one of Meta's most important sources of revenue, which relies heavily on serving targeted ads to users.
Whether the new subscription model will hurt Meta's bottom line in Europe remains to be seen. Of course, this is not the first time the tech company has run afoul of EU regulators. In July, Meta lost a court battle against a German data curb order, a ruling that solidified the investigative powers of antitrust watchdogs in cases of privacy breaches.
Try this. Consider running your holiday sale early this year β youβll reach budget-conscious shoppers before theyβve hit their seasonal spending limit.
FUN FACT
Nearly half of abandoned carts are the result of additional costs like shipping, taxes, and fees.
LISTEN UP
Data has become a crucial part of logistics and supply chain management. On this 108th episode of The E-Comm Show, BlueTuskr Founder and CEO Andrew Maff interviews Jordan Arshinoff Foss, co-founder and co-president of Obibox β a data-driven platform that helps businesses streamline their logistics operations and deliver an Uber-style experience.
From building an instant pool of delivery personnel to optimizing routes and improving customer satisfaction, Jordan will discuss how Obibox is revolutionizing the logistics data sector. This episode is not to be missed if you're looking for ways to optimize your logistics operations!
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