The start of the new year has been full of exciting news in the retail & e-commerce space. And this Feb-roar-ry, we are here to help you stay on top of it all! Here's a roundup of some interesting stories that caught our eye this week.
Google Ads just released account-level negative keywords, giving advertisers the power to ensure their brand is safe and relevant for everyone around the world.
For the first time in history, digital commerce skyrocketed to a staggering $1 trillion mark within one calendar year according to Comscore.
The U.S. economy is exhibiting a loss of energy as retail sales just experienced the sharpest downturn in 12 months.
Starting February 28th, all Amazon Fresh grocery orders under $150 will now be subject to a delivery fee.
Top Retail and E-commerce Stories
Negative Keywords Just Got More Powerful: Google Ads Launches Account-Level Option
Rather than manually entering negative keywords within individual campaigns, advertisers can now conveniently control them all on the account level – saving valuable time and minimizing any human errors.
You no longer have to be concerned about duplicating negative keywords across different campaigns or missing any crucial ones that are critical for brand safety. Account-level negatives can also boost the precision of your ad targeting by eliminating irrelevant and low-performing keywords that may damage campaign performance.
This add-on will be in addition to some of the amazing control features that Google Ads currently offers such as "inventory types, digital content labels, placement exclusions, and negative keywords at the campaign level."
Digital Commerce Hits Record High in 2023: $1 Trillion Mark Reached According to Comscore
Credit: GETTY
Just one year into the new decade, digital commerce has already made history. For the first time in history, digital commerce has breached the $1 trillion threshold in a single year! Comscore reported that e-commerce revenue reached a phenomenal figure of $1.09 trillion dollars last year alone; with the 4th quarter amounting to an immense total of $332.2 billion dollars - and this excludes travel income which could add another few hundred billion dollars as well!
Mobile devices have been a driving force in e-commerce growth that has far surpassed desktop sales. According to the latest State of Commerce report from Comscore, digital commerce experienced an impressive 18% YoY increase due largely to mobile's remarkable 26% yearly jump. After years of hovering around 30%, this means that the share of total digital commerce dollars is now near 40%.
What are the highest-grossing categories, you might ask? The grocery, baby, and pet industries have taken the landslide victory. However, those followed closely behind include apparel and accessories, computers and peripherals, consumer electronics, and furniture and appliances.
We certainly cannot forget about the fastest-growing categories! These include event tickets, digital content, apparel and accessories, video games and accessories, and home and garden. Social commerce is also on the up and up with an overall 153% increase in brand-sponsored content. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have seen a massive engagement increase with retail brands with direct conversion payoffs.
Is it Recession Yet?: Retail Sales Take an Unexpected Dip
So, are we there yet? The US economy has been showing signs of weakening as retail sales experiencea sharp dip in the past twelve months. December dealt a crushing blow to the US retail industry with the most evident slump from motor vehicle and other merchandise purchases. As 2023 progresses, consumer spending has yet to pick up steam and the economy is still wobbling along an unstable growth path.
Last month saw the largest decline in retail sales since December 2021, with a 1.1% drop recorded. November's revised data also showed that sales are slipping, now standing at 1%, compared to 0.6% previously reported. The outlook is further compounded by an 8% decrease in forecasted sales, while year-on-year gains of 6% were achieved in December last year.
In December, the drop in prices caused a noticeable decrease in sales. However, the inflation that was beginning to rise resulted in consumers doing their holiday shopping earlier than usual and taking advantage of discounted prices throughout October. Even though service stations saw lower receipts due to low gasoline prices indicating a shift back towards spending on services, overall purchases continued to decline.
Pay Up!: Amazon Starts Charging for Fresh Grocery Deliveries
Photo Credit: Brendan McDermid | Reuters
No such thing as free delivery!Amazon recently announced that it will now impose a delivery fee on orders under $150 for its Amazon Fresh grocery service. Beginning February 28th, Amazon Fresh orders under $50 will be subject to a delivery fee of $9.95, orders between $50 and $100 will have a delivery fee of $6.95, and purchases above the range of $100-150 shall incur no more than a modest charge of just 3 dollars and 95 cents in fees.
Amazon Prime members are the only ones able to benefit from Amazon Fresh's convenient grocery delivery services. Although anyone can still shop at one of the many physical stores, being an Amazon Prime member provides exclusive access to this unique delivery service.
Given the decline in sales and crippling economic climate, Amazon has chosen to cut back on certain expenses. The official notice by Amazon reads "This service fee will help keep prices low in our online and physical grocery stores as we better cover grocery delivery costs and continue to enable offering a consistent, fast, and high-quality delivery experience."
With Google's recent keyword update, we're curious to know, which do you lean on more in terms of raking in sales? Organic traffic or paid ads? We'll post the results next week!
QUICK TIP
Try this. Don't invest too much on paid ads. Instead, focus on creating organic content to drive sales and increase customer loyalty.
FUN FACT
With an astonishing 41%, it's no surprise that around 2 in 5 Americans get 1-2 parcels from Amazon every week.
LISTEN UP
On this 70th episode of The E-Comm Show, our host and BlueTuskr CEO Andrew Maff is with Nathan Hirsch of EcomBalance, an online bookkeeping service for eCommerce and digital businesses, as well as Outsource School, a membership that teaches business owners how to hire effectively online. Coming from a strong entrepreneurial background, Nathan shares the importance of having an accurate bookkeeping system in place for fellow entrepreneurs to effectively scale and grow their business including those looking to exit, using clear, broken-down data.
Seems like many of you have already checked out AI tools though understandably, AI is still quite new for many e-commerce sellers but it doesn't hurt to give it a try!
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