Another Good Friday Morning! ☕️

Before we dive into the weekend, here are some of the most recent top

e-commerce stories:

• Facebook Marketplace: The Inside Story - straight from the woman who first pitched the idea in 2009
• Twitter has established mobile storefronts to help businesses develop an
  e-commerce presence on the platform
• Online pet purchases are starting to hit the e-commerce spotlight as pet-related sales increase, according to Euromonitor.
• New China lockdowns are likely to cause delays for online purchases at Amazon and Walmart

Top Retail and E-commerce Stories

Facebook Marketplace: The Inside Story - Straight From the Woman Who Started It All

Meet the woman who pitched the idea for Facebook Marketplace! Deb Liu was a product manager at Facebook in 2009 when she first pitched the idea for what would become the world's second-largest marketplace.

As a mom, Liu was looking for a better way to sell her kids' old toys and clothes. She was part of multiple groups for moms on Facebook where they would post items for sale, but there was no centralized place to find these things. She had always toyed with the idea of social commerce, and years later, her idea has proved how Facebook is indeed an efficient platform for selling things.

Today, Facebook Marketplace has 800 million monthly active users and has become a go-to destination for millions of people looking to buy and sell 

#ForSale: Twitter Introduces Mobile Storefronts - Twitter Shop

Hashtag Sold! Twitter has been testing a new way for businesses to develop e-commerce on the platform with the introduction of mobile storefronts, or "Twitter Shops." The goal is to make it easier for brands and celebrities to sell products directly to their followers on Twitter.

By using Twitter Shops, merchants will be able to create a collection of up to 50 items to showcase on their Twitter profiles. The mobile-first feature, which is free to use, aims to encourage customers to move from talking about products on social media platforms to directly buying them.

The transactions, however, do not happen on the platform. To purchase an item, users need to click the "View Shop" button which is right above the merchant's tweets. This will then redirect them to the merchant's website where they can complete their purchase.

The Trend You Didn't Know About: Online Pet Purchases are On the Rise

A dog's way...to SHOP? Pet product e-commerce is gaining momentum across the world. According to Euromonitor International, a worldwide market research firm, e-commerce channel share in the global pet care industry increased from more than 10% in 2017 to over 20% in 2020.

Consumer behavior has been changing as a result of smaller household sizes, urbanization, social distance measures, and public health concerns. As a result, they are increasingly turning to online stores in order to fulfill their pet products needs. The growing number of pets, pet ownership, humanization of animals by their owners, and expenditure on pets have all helped to drive e-commerce pet product sales in 2020 and 2021.

According to Euromonitor International, the pet product e-commerce industry will not be slowing down anytime soon. In fact, it is expected that e-commerce will account for almost a third of worldwide pet purchases by 2026. 🐶

The Amazon Corner

Not Again: New China Lockdowns Causing Delays at Amazon and Walmart

Twenty-twenty-TOO? The recent resurgence of Covid-19 in China has led to new lockdowns and restrictions, which in turn has caused delays for Amazon and Walmart. Shenzhen, a key city in China holding around half of the total online retail exporters in the country, has been put in lockdown for at least a week in an effort to contain the outbreak.

Currently, both Amazon and Walmart have been impacted by the resurgence of the virus in China, as many of their products are sourced from factories in the country. The new lockdowns have led to production delays, which are then reflected in shipping times.

A LITTLE MORE

• These are the top 10 best-selling Amazon products this March
• New study reveals why customers keep coming back for more. 
• Shippo will help Shopify to expand its shipping ease in European markets with the addition of new capabilities.

FUN FACT

On average, e-commerce sites publish 4.55 posts a week on their Facebook page.

QUICK TIP

Try this. By using live chat, you can answer customer questions in real-time and enable your agents to share relevant product information with your customers which can help them make a purchase decision. This also reduces customer doubt and uncertainty, allowing you to increase your conversion rate while also improving the shopping experience for your consumers.

TWEET TWEET

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Abraham Lincoln

OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

Ever had the chance to see what the Adidas website looked when it first launched online? Here it is back in 1996!