François Maingret

Month: April 2024

Doc Martens Discovers Branded Keywords Search Ads: Does Their Lawsuit Against Temu Stand a Chance?

April 20, 2024 /

There has been a lot of controversy over Temu, Shein, and intellectual property laws. There are numerous reports of brands and independent designers claiming the Chinese giants have stolen their designs to sell similar lower-priced items online.

Recently, the footwear brand Dr. Martens is suing Temu for another reason. Dr. Martens claims Temu is manipulating Google searches to display their product alongside Dr. Martens shoes.

I am not an IP lawyer, but I have some difficulties seeing how this lawsuit stands a chance. While there might be some IP issues with Temu, I don’t see this lawsuit going very far, and I’d like to review it from an e-commerce professional point of view. Now, if you are a lawyer, I’d love to hear your opinion as I may miss important details that require extensive knowledge of IP laws.

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Why Do Customers Abandon Their Cart and Why Some Retailers Might be Leaving Money on the Table?

April 19, 2024 /

Having a customer abandon their cart during checkout is like running a marathon, but spraining your ankle a few yards before the finish line. PYMNTS recently released a report on cart abandonments, and I think retailers should pay close attention to the numbers.

Millennials are the generation that shops online the most and has abandoned more carts recently than other generations. Millennials abandoned 8 times more carts in the last 30 days than boomers. Gen Z isn’t very far behind. It appears that older customers are much less likely to abandon their carts.

It is clear that each generation behaves differently when shopping online. Retailers that do not address cart abandon rates are leaving money on the table. This issue will be more and more important as Gen Z and millennials gain more purchasing power.

Now, let’s see why customers are leaving before completing the purchase and what can be done to lower cart abandon rates.

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How Many Amazon Sales are Too Many? Why I Think Amazon Does More Sales Events than Ever and Why It Isn’t Sustainable.

April 16, 2024 /

As a kid, going to a fast-food restaurant was an exciting experience. After all, I didn’t get the chance to get a Happy Meal very often, and I was always looking forward to my next visit to Mickey D’s. As an adult, however, I couldn’t care less. If I crave a Big Mac, I can drive anytime to the nearest McDonald’s. That’s exactly how many customers feel when a retailer does too many flash sales; it doesn’t feel special anymore.

As I explained in a recent LinkedIn post, Amazon seems to keep doing more and more sales events. We were used to Prime days once a year in the summer, but in the past year, we have also experienced Prime Big Deal days last fall, and now Amazon’s Spring sale just ended.

Today, I’d like to discuss this shift in Amazon’s strategy. The e-commerce landscape has changed a lot since the pandemic, and Amazon had to update its strategy to maintain its market share. In a second part, I want to discuss the drawbacks of this strategy and how it may affect the e-commerce giant negatively.

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What Isn’t Sold Online These Days? How New Generations Drive Online Sales of Furniture and Other Large Items

April 11, 2024 /

When I moved to Dallas from overseas years ago, I remember renting a truck and driving around the city to pick up cheap furniture at IKEA and from Craigslist to fill my apartment. While I was able to find some good deals, I also remember how sore my back was the next day from moving and carrying heavy stuff all day.

If I had to do it again today, I would take advantage of all the amazing advances made in e-commerce to order most of the furniture online. It is estimated that the global market for furniture will reach $873 billion by 2030, with 35% coming from online purchases.

Companies like Wayfair saw a boom in sales during the pandemic. While revenues are down compared to their peak, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its price objective for Wayfair from $63.00 to $79.00. So how come people buy more and more furniture over the internet? And, what are some products available for purchase today that were merely a dream a decade ago?

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What is the New Amazon SKU Economics Report and Why it Can Help You

April 7, 2024 /

You can often read on Amazon Seller forums, on Reddit, or other online boards about new entrepreneurs selling on Amazon who can’t figure out why they aren’t making as much money as expected, or even why they are losing money. After all, they buy widgets for $3 in China that they resell for $15; how are they not making bank?

The world of business, e-commerce, and Amazon can sometimes be rough on beginners. And, to be fair, Amazon can make it even more challenging to understand where your money goes. The fees change every year, new fees appear while others disappear. Some are even challenging to keep track of due to their convoluted structure (Hello, low-inventory fee).

Fortunately, Amazon has released an interesting feature: the new SKU Economics Report, designed to help sellers evaluate their costs and profitability per item. So let’s take a look at this new tool and how it can assist you.

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Ecommerce and Social Media are Fueling the Ultra-Fast-Fashion Machine – Can the Same Technologies Also Save Us From it?

April 5, 2024 /

In a previous article, I wrote about ultra-fast fashion, specifically on how France is trying to limit its impact on the environment with new regulations. We’ve seen how unsustainable fast fashion can be, with Americans tossing out a whopping 34 billion pounds of used clothes each year—that’s over 100 pounds per person!

What can be done about Shein? Let’s be realistic, Shein is the target of France’s proposed regulations. Bans or taxes sound good on paper, but they don’t completely eliminate the problem and tend to frustrate customers. Making local brands cheaper so they can compete with Shein (through new processes, innovation, or worse, lower taxes or subsidies) may help local economies, but this wouldn’t do much in terms of sustainability. Greenwashing and shaming customers isn’t ideal either, and won’t win any fans.

Are we stuck in a never-ending cycle of buying and trashing clothes, until we drown in used t-shirts? Thousands of new designs are released every day, and Shein sales are supercharged by influencers and social media. However, I believe we shouldn’t throw in the towel just yet. Ecommerce has come a long way in the last 20 years, and there are some impressive innovations that could help us shop smarter and more sustainably. So let’s see what our options are, and how some successful entrepreneurs are already addressing the fast-fashion problem by offering solid alternatives.

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