Hello and welcome to July: In Review.
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Summer is well and truly here and in the words of Alice Cooper, “school’s out for summer” and so are the eager shoppers. As July draws to a close, we’re taking a look back on the highlights of the month.
We’ve scrolled the internet for the best retail, ecommerce and digital marketing content from July. Sit back, relax and enjoy our pick of top 5 pieces of content from this month.
1. News: Prime Day was a huge success for Amazon
Amazon’s second annual Prime Day took place on July 12 and it was Amazon’s biggest day in history as it added so much extra capacity that it could have powered the whole site in 2009. Everyone’s been talking about it from the success of the day to problems shoppers encountered.
Amazon shared that they shipped 60% more products worldwide compared to last year’s Prime Day including 215,000 pressure cookers, 200,000 pairs of headphones and 24,000 hammocks. With the massive success of Amazon Prime Day 2016, it’s very likely this is a shopping holiday that’s here to stay.
Are you an Amazon seller? Did you see any spikes or benefits from Prime Day? Let us know in the comment sections at the bottom of the page.
2. Blog: 14 Tips to Win Increasingly Discount-Hungry Back-to-School Shoppers
The summer holidays offer great opportunities for retailers as parents look to keep the kids busy and often end up heading to the shops. Not only does footfall tend to rise but so does the number of people looking for back-to-school products both online and in store. Our friends over at Bigcommerce have taken a look at parents shopping habits and pulled together these tips to help you win those back-to-school shoppers.
Understanding your summer shoppers can help you increase sales. Bigcommerce’s survey shows that back-to-school shopping habits are changing as parents are spending 61% more online per year and 75% more time than non-parents searching for online products per week. The National Retail Federation (NRF) also suggests that parents are hoping to find deals and discounts by waiting until the last minute to buy.
Find out everything you need to know about those back-to-school bargain hunters and how you can boost your summer sales in this blog post.
3.Infographic: How to Ace Customer Support on Social Media
Customer support is still incredibly important but the way in which your customers reach out for support has definitely changed. Gone are the days where telephone and email support are the norm. Many consumers now turn to social media when they’ve got a problem as “48% of customer interactions occur on social channels including Facebook and Twitter”.
The team over at Xsellco have created this awesome infographic which outlines how important social media is as a support channel and offers great advice on how to ace your customer support on social media.
4. Blog: Out Selling Your Big Box Neighbours? Yes You Can!
Are you struggling to compete with your big box neighbours? As an SMB retailer, it can be daunting to compete with the larger retail competition around you. The retail giants often have an advantage over independent retailers as they can bulk buy, sell at lower prices and offer a wider variety of products, but there’s a way for SMBs to compete.
In this blog, Retail Minded’s Nicole Reyhle shares how you can out-do your big box neighbours by putting the people first. By focusing on customer service, personalization, customization and getting involved in your community, you can stand out from the larger retailers around you. A customer focus will enable you to build those long-term customer relationships that the big box stores struggle to achieve. Read the post to get all of Nicole’s great advice.
5. Infographic: Why Multichannel Selling and Automation is Key for Independent Retailers
Multichannel selling is becoming increasingly common as consumers expect a seamless experience across multiple channels. Consumers often browse online but end up going into store to try it on and pick it up, or they’ll order online for click and collect.
According to our recent survey, 84% of independent retailers value selling on multiple channels as ‘essential’ to their growth. Not only do retailers think of selling on multiple channels as a means of growth, the statistics back it up with multichannel retailers growing at a faster rate than single channel sellers. Multichannel retailers grow at a rate of 33% compared to those selling on a single channel growing at the slower rate of 8%.
Read more interesting statistics in this infographic.
That’s all for this month, have a great August! Before you go, let us know what your July highlight was in the comments section below.
