#21 The Least Boring Weekly Newsletter

September 22, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Good Morning readers! 🍵

How are you all doing?👌

We hope you've had a stellar couple of days!

In spite of the supply chain easing, the hitch continues to grow! 

The port's current levels of congestion, caused by numerous hulking cargo ships, necessitated the addition of more trucks, trains, labour, and warehouses to accommodate the goods.

To know more, click here.

Now we have Almund's newsletter which will let you in on all kinds of tips for D2C brands and "much much" more. 

Alright, so let's get right to it! 

This newsletter is going to dive into :

📜 Top reads for this week,

💃🏼 Scaling social commerce: Shopify introduces new in-app shopping experiences on TikTok. 

🥇 4 Ways to Have a Winning Ecommerce Holiday Marketing Season! 

⭐ BRAND of the week - MERIT

👩🏻‍💼 Plenty of jobs awaiting you!

So, scroll down already to THE VERY END & read up on what's yet to come your way!

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TOP READS FOR THIS WEEK

🐶 Chewy unveils marketplace service for veterinarians.

🥿 Nike recently launched a hands-free shoe for people with disabilities.

🩲 DTC brand Knix plans first US stores.

🥿 Chasing digital sales, Crocs unveils the goal to hit $5B in revenue by 2026.

🛌 DTC bedding brand Parachuteexpands into furniture.

🥃 Westward Whiskey’s New Direct-To-Consumer Whiskey Club Goes National. 

🍶 Igloo Pours High-Quality Style and Function Into a Brand-New Stainless Steel Drinkware Collection. 

👖 D2C Brand, BRUNT Workwear, ready to Disrupt $12B Work Boot, Apparel Market. 

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WHAT’S COOKING, HUH? 

For Shopify merchants, social commerce is one of the fastest-growing channels, especially as more creators rely on these platforms to grow their companies. 

Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account will be able to add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to create a mini-storefront that links straight to their online store for checkout for the first time.

With TikTok Shopping, Shopify is the first commerce platform to bring organic product discovery and shopping tabs to TikTok, helping creators and merchants deepen their relationships with consumers.

Shopify and TikTok have also partnered to bring product links to Shopify merchants, which can be used to tag products in organic TikTok posts. The TikTok community can choose to shop directly from the merchant’s storefront or click a tagged product in a merchant’s TikTok video, which will take them to the merchant's online store for checkout.

"Creators are paving the way for a new kind of entrepreneurship where content, community, and commerce are key," said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify.

The TikTok Shopping pilot is currently available to Shopify merchants in the US and UK. A select group of merchants in Canada will participate in the pilot in the coming weeks, and the feature will roll out to additional regions in the coming months.

Click here, to know more! ⬅️

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4 WAYS TO HAVE A WINNING E-COMMERCE HOLIDAY MARKETING SEASON! 

The 2021 holiday shopping season is shaping up to be the biggest one yet for eCommerce. eMarketer predicts that the total US holiday retail sales for 2021 will rise 2.7% to 1.09 trillion, while the season’s e-commerce sales will rise 11.3% to nearly $207 billion, with e-commerce accounting for a record 18.9% of total holiday season retail sales.

By leveraging your business’ customer data and industry data, you can create one of the most effective strategies for your business this holiday season. Here’s how:

1. Start now, build anticipation, and market progressively and consistently.

Smaller e-commerce firms are no longer reliant on a 72-hour frenzy, as individuals plan their holiday shopping months ahead of time. Instead, marketers can take advantage of the holiday season by launching promotional and give-back efforts early.

There are a couple of caveats, though. Our data indicates that November and early December remain the only times in the year where we see a higher average click-through rate (CTR) for ad creatives that reference “holidays” compared to other promotions. 

Remember to take advantage of September and October’s lower CPMs (cost per impression) to get in front of new shoppers and build brand awareness. 

“When it comes to communicating flash sales and order updates, recovering abandoned carts, and creating a personalized customer experience, SMS is a highly effective channel,” says Hu. 

2. Focus on retention.

Not focusing on retention is one of the biggest missed opportunities eCommerce merchants make during the holiday season and focusing on it will additionally support navigating upcoming privacy challenges.

A recent Yotpo survey showed that consumers have gotten more brand loyal since the pandemic hit. 

“Data is going to be your driving force. And with recent and looming changes to cookies and consumer data collection, brands must be collecting the metrics they need at every stage of the customer journey,” says Hu.

Cohen describes the holiday season as “the best time of year to build brand loyalty,” and giving its audience a reason to stick around is one of the Tiny Tags’ key strategies.

3. Invest in customer service to help manage customer expectations.

Customers expect a cohesive omnichannel shopping experience — think of frictionless shopping options like buy now, pay later, and express checkout (Shop Pay, G Pay, etc.). 

It’s better to be conservative about delivery estimates, to better manage customer expectations - particularly when purchases are intended with gifts to be given on specific dates.

Tiny Tags experienced this challenge last year. Although its team made every effort to warn buyers, in the end, there were still unexpected delays — which Tiny Tags responded to with ramped-up customer service.

“Excellent and responsive customer service is a smart investment for any small business, particularly around holidays when people are buying for others and need that extra security and validation that they are making the right choice.”

4. Win back more abandoned cart revenue than any season before.

eCommerce cart abandonment rate is very high - up to 88% on average. While this may feel deflating, it’s quite the contrary.

Many shoppers use checkout carts as a way to keep a wish list - checking back once they’ve budgeted, have had the chance to price check comparable retailers, and/or have received a promo code. This is exactly the kind of behavior consumers are doing to manage their holiday shopping this year. In other words, cart abandoners are an extremely high-intent population.

Our recent data shows that shoppers who are targeted with both ads and emails together are twice as likely to convert and do so twice as fast, which is exactly why we recommend bringing your ads and emails together this eCommerce holiday marketing season.

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BRAND OF THE WEEK is…

Katherine Power, the Founder and the CEO of MERIT beauty, also founded the media company Who What Wear, skincare brand Versed, and natural wine label Avaline.

MERIT has experienced exponential growth since debuting its five-minute morning colour cosmetics offering in January. 

MERIT has made significant investments in both its direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels, with aspirations to expand into over 800 Sephora locations by the end of the year.

Amidst a hot investment market, MERIT has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round.

The funds will be used to help the company expand into other sectors such as accessories, hair, fragrance, and skincare. In whichever industries it enters, the company aims to continue promoting sustainability and a streamlined routine.

MERIT is fast expanding into other categories as a result of its concentration on necessities, rather than diving too deeply into one. According to Morin, the company expects to release only three to four net new goods every year, which is far slower than other cosmetic companies. 

Lifestyle categories, according to Morin, are on the horizon, as the company appears to be expanding its offerings to include additional essentials.

The company sells its products for between $24 and $38, claiming that this price range stimulates repeat purchasing. Customers have been buying full beauty routines from MERIT instead of one-off goods and this has been important to the company's success.

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In need of a  job? We've got plenty awaiting you!

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CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great week! 'Get that D2C business runnin'.

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