It's almost the weekend again! 🙌

Before we dive into another weekend of relaxation 😌, here are the top stories making waves in retail and e-commerce this week.

• Instagram has now implemented product tagging for all users.
• Research shows 75% of e-commerce sites in North America are unable to convert shoppers
• Helium 10 shares their COVID-19 Data Analysis on consumer shopping
• Amazon continues to focus on one-day delivery after shutting down physical stores.

Top Retail and E-commerce Stories

Tagged: Instagram Enables New Product Tagging

Shopping on Instagram? YES! Instagram announced on Monday that it is allowing all U.S. users to add product tags to their posts, as they enter the middle of a social commerce shift. The Facebook-owned social media platform has been testing product tagging since last March with a limited group of brands. Now, all U.S. users will be able to add product tags to their posts.

The new product tagging feature is available for both photos and videos, and users can add up to five products per post. To tag a product, users simply tap “Tag products” under the photo or video and select the products they want to tag from a list of options. Once the products are tagged, Instagram will provide links to where those products can be purchased.

The addition of product tagging is just one of the many ways Instagram has been trying to enter the social commerce space. When users tag items in their posts, others can view complete product information such as styles or colors, and purchase products through the app or on the brand's webpage.

Lost in Translation: North America's E-commerce Underperformers Revealed

Say what? 🤷‍♂️ According to Klevu's new benchmarking study, 75% of e-commerce websites in North America are unable to convert visitors due to their inability to "grasp" natural language and consumers' intent.

Klevu, an Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language-powered technology solution, discovered that three-quarters of the 78 businesses examined provided no or empty results when asked to solve difficult queries. Only 10% of these businesses have the capacity to comprehend natural language and provide products that were a precise match, according to recent data. Furthermore, more than half of them were unable to handle misspellings by consumers, resulting in fewer sales through relevant product suggestions.

Complex search queries are becoming more popular today, since more customers use voice search on their phones, indicating that e-commerce companies must be able to understand natural language and customer intent if they want to satisfy consumers.

When websites can understand online buyers' goals in the same way that a sales associate would, conversion rates for online retailers have been found to be four to six times greater.

What Are People Shopping For?: Here's the COVID-19 Data Analysis According to Helium 10

Pop culture magic! As the world starts to slowly get back to normalcy, people are beginning to think about shopping again, but what are they looking for? Helium 10 has put together a COVID-19 data analysis on consumer shopping habits over the past few months so that e-commerce businesses can better understand what their customers want.

• After the lifting of travel restrictions, luggage clicks rose by 573% in the wake of a lengthy 2020 slump caused by global lockdowns.
• Shaving kits became increasingly popular in December 2021, with a 155% rise in clicks compared to the previous year.
• The popularity of items relating to the docuseries "Tiger King" increased by 277% a year after its premiere, while chess-related goods linked to the well-received "The Queen's Gambit", rose by 420%.

The Amazon Corner

PIVOT!: Amazon Doubles Down On One-Day Delivery

Amazon is betting big on one-day shipping. The e-commerce giant is said to be planning to offer one-day shipping as the default for Prime members in the U.S., rather than two-day shipping, which is the current standard.

The move would be a major shift for Amazon, which has long emphasized two-day shipping as a key differentiator from other retailers. Amazon would also be putting a lot of money into one-day delivery, especially given the need to explain the $20 prime price increase and the expansion of fulfillment capacity in the last two years. Additionally, with traditional stores mastering digital and omnichannel commerce and consumers returning to shop in shops, such rapid delivery may be a valuable differentiator.

A LITTLE MORE

• After going on strike, Etsy sellers want to form a union.
• Netflix explores offering advertising on its platform. 
• With a tailored AI online approach, JCPenney achieves a big return on investment.

FUN FACT

The average e-commerce conversion rate is about 2.86%.

QUICK TIP

Try this. There are at least one or two holidays every week throughout the holiday season and it would be crazy to participate in all of them so learn to choose your battles--that is choosing to participate in the ones for which you have a high probability of winning.

TWEET TWEET

“Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.” — Jeffrey Zeldman

OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

Flashback Friday of Home Depot back in 1999.