2016 In Review | November | October
January – the month in which retailers have to deal with the craze of January sales and post-holiday returns. As the first month of 2017 comes to an end and you plan for the year ahead, rewind and relax by taking a look at the best retail and ecommerce content to grace our screens in January!
1. Blog: 3 Ecommerce Trend Predictions of 2017
Ahead of the next Shopify Meetup in London on February 7th, the hosts WeMakeWebsites invited us to share our own ecommerce trend predictions. We didn’t want to pick our predictions out of thin air so we took a look at our customers performance throughout the whole of 2016 and made our 2017 forecasts based off the results.
Our 3 main predictions are…
- Average order value will continue to fall
- Shopify will continue to rapidly grow
- More retailers will adopt omnichannel best practices
To find out why we chose these predictions, read the full blog.
2. Handbook: The Complete Handbook to Sales Tax, Business Tax and Amazon FBA Tax (+92 Ways to Save)
BigCommerce teamed up with our friends at TaxJar to share a great handbook that covers everything you need to know to handle your sales tax, business tax and Amazon FBA Tax. The handbook is broken down into 4 chapters and covers the following:
- The Complete Sales Tax Guide for Online Sellers [Nexus by State Included]
- Sales Tax Guide for Amazon FBA Sellers
- Your Checklist for a Penalty-Free Tax Season [Important Dates Included]
- 92 Small Business Tax Deductions to Use Now (+11 You Should Never Try)
This a great read if you want to make sure you’re processing your sales tax correctly and aware of the deadlines you need to meet!
3. Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Retail Store Layouts
When it comes to merchandising your retail store, there’s so many things to consider but one of the most important things to get right is the layout. It can make or break your store as “90% of people turn right when they walk into a store”. Think about it, which way do you turn when you enter a store?
Shopify shares their advice on retail store layouts covering the most commonly used layouts including the grid, herringbone, loop (racetrack), and free-flow. It takes a look at the pros and cons of each layout, shares examples of stores using the layouts and can help you decide which layout is right for your business.
If you’re thinking of switching up your store layout in 2017, this guide is definitely worth a read!
4. Event: Do It Digital
This month we attended an event hosted by Do It Digital, which is a campaign that encourages small businesses to embrace digital to help strengthen their business. Do It Digital have pledged to help 1 million small businesses get more out of digital and teamed up with eBay for Business to make it happen.
At the event, eBay shared a customer success story of how a business has internationally grown since moving their business online by selling on eBay. MP Matthew Hancock also took to the stage to share why he believes digital is so important to small businesses.
Do It Digital host a range of events for small businesses to help them improve their digital skills.
5. Webinar: Less Risk, More Growth: 3 Technologies to Scale your Retail Business
This month we teamed up with our partners, TaxJar and Signifyd, to host a special webinar to help you eliminate risk and scale your retail business with technology in 2017.
In 45 minutes the panelists discuss:
- Best practices for your sales taxes
- How to eliminate fraud
- Optimizing your fulfillment processes
- Opportunities for automation
Watch the video below now for great advice on how you can use technology to grow with less risk!
That’s all for this month, we hope you have a great February. If we’ve missed any of your favourite content from January, please do share it with us in the comments section below.
