It was an exciting week in the world of e-commerce, with Amazon unveiling a host of new generative AI tools, retailers gearing up for the holidays, and a look back at the highs and lows of Cyber 5. Here are the biggest stories:
Amazon announces a slew of impressive AI tools at their re:Invent conference in Las Vegas.
Retailers are feeling increasingly hopeful about the holidays after a successful Cyber 5.
Walmart’s marketplace celebrates big wins during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, even as it competes with other retailers.
Improve your next outreach campaign with these five essential AI tools.
The Amazon Corner
The Big Event: What We Learned from Amazon’s re:Invent Cloud Conference
It’s going to be another exciting year for everybody’s favorite retailer: Amazon’s re:invent conference in Las Vegas showcased a host of exciting new services and features — especially in the realm of generative AI. Amazon Web Services' CEO Adam Selipsky and VP of Data Al Swami Sivasubramanian announced a handful of exciting AI innovations, including Amazon Q (an AI assistant specifically for work), two new AWS-designed chips to improve AI performance and efficiency, and new features for the Amazon Bedrock service.
The company also announced new capabilities for SageMaker, a service that combines a broad set of tools to enable low-cost machine learning, as well as an expansion of AWS Supply Chain and a new purpose-built storage class for Amazon S3 — a cloud object storage service — for users that require extremely fast data access. We’ve barely scratched the surface of all of the exciting news unveiled at re:Invent, so be sure to read on for a full rundown of what was announced.
Impressive Success: Walmart’s Online Marketplace Has Its Two Biggest Days Ever
Competition for Amazon’s crown? Walmart has announced that its online marketplace experienced its two biggest days ever during the Cyber 5 holiday shopping period. Unsurprisingly, Black Friday and Cyber Monday drew the most customers, with millions visiting the company's website in search of pre-holiday discounts. Neil Saunders of retail analysis firm GlobalData noted that Walmart’s online marketplace is “still relatively embryonic” compared to other retailers, leaving much room for growth.
Despite the impressive sales days, Walmart lost some ground to competitors regarding market share. The company claimed 6.8% of the total US traffic to the top 1000 retailers during the Cyber 5 period, which is 2.2% less than last year. Nonetheless, thousands of sellers on the platform reported their highest sales days ever during the same period.
A Bright Forecast: Retailers Optimistic After Strong Start to Holiday Season
Wave goodbye to the doom and gloom! Thanks to stronger-than-expected sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, retailers like Amazon and Foot Locker are approaching the holiday season with a newfound sense of optimism. Previously, many merchants were forecasting underwhelming holiday figures due to an uncertain economic climate and heightened budget consciousness among consumers.
According to Adobe Analytics, e-commerce sales hit a record $38 billion during the five-day Cyber 5 period. More than 200 million people shopped during the holiday weekend — surpassing expectations — according to the National Retail Federation. While many e-commerce sellers were bracing for a relatively lackluster Q4, it seems that there’s reason to remain hopeful about the 2023 holiday season.
The Attention Economy: 5 AI Tools to Improve Your Outreach Campaign
Work smarter, not harder! Successfully grabbing the attention of potential customers — and converting them into loyal fans — is an important facet of any e-commerce business. Thankfully, with the advent of AI, it’s easier than ever to leverage data, personalize communications, and automate workflows to run powerful outreach campaigns. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through five essential AI tools to help you stand out from the crowd….
Try this. A detailed, up-to-date FAQs page can take some of the load off of your customer service channels.
FUN FACT
Mobile apps result in three times as many conversions as mobile websites.
LISTEN UP
Amazon is a powerhouse platform for sellers, but issues like product delistings and account suspensions can pose a serious threat to your bottom line. On this 113th episode of The E-Comm Show, Andrew Maff interviews Ben Smith, Head of Sales, Partnerships, and Marketing at Seller Candy, a unique firm that helps Amazon sellers navigate some of Amazon's murkier policies.
In this episode, Ben will discuss how Seller Candy uses a four-step system to get sellers over everyday hurdles when the helpline isn’t cutting it. If you’re too busy to spend hours on the phone with Seller Support, Seller Candy — which currently offers free consultations — might be just the service you’re looking for. Watch the full episode below, or visit TheEcommShow.com for more.
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