François Maingret

Category: News (Page 1 of 6)

Amazon’s 3P Sellers Face FBA Bottlenecks Before Black Friday – Will 2025 Be Any Different?

December 4, 2024 /

Benjamin Franklin may have said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death, taxes, and supply chain nightmares before the holidays.” And I’d agree with him. To be fair, the marketplace has become so competitive and complex that large variations in volumes are bound to create some troubles. However, it seems like this year has been especially challenging for those selling through Amazon FBA.

Should we blame the port strike earlier this year, larger volumes of inventory being shipped, or other factors? In today’s article, I’d like to go over what happened with Amazon and see how the company is dealing with it. We’ll then look at how sellers were impacted, but more importantly, why fixing these issues is critical for the ecommerce titan.

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When Most Marketplaces Increase Fees, eBay Removes Them for Private Sellers: Why Would They Do That?

October 13, 2024 /

One of the biggest complaints among Amazon, Walmart, or TikTok Shop sellers is the ever-increasing fees. But eBay UK has taken the opposite direction for private sellers (those who sell items occasionally for personal reasons, without the primary intention of making a profit or running a business). eBay UK has removed selling fees for private sellers across all categories, except for motors. After removing fees for fashion items earlier, eBay has now extended this policy.

They’ve also introduced new features like simplified listings, AI-generated descriptions, and tracked shipping with prepayment by buyers. eBay says they want to tap into an estimated £9 billion in resale potential from 294 million unused household items. I don’t think eBay would do this only to contribute to sustainability (although it helps), so let’s look at how removing fees for private sellers could impact both sellers and the company.

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Is Temu Killing Dollar Stores? Why Are Dollar Stores Stock Prices Crashing

September 27, 2024 /

When I first heard about Temu, my initial thought was about how unsustainable the model seemed. But my second thought went to dollar stores: How could they compete with a website that makes it easy to find thousands of even cheaper items and have them delivered directly to your home, instead of having to search through the aisles of these stores?

Having recently read about Dollar Tree and Dollar General’s stock prices dropping significantly in the last quarter, I immediately wondered if competition from Temu and Shein was too much for these companies. Was my assumption correct, or is the situation more complex? Let’s see what’s happening with dollar stores and see if Temu is responsible for the drop in their stock prices. Then, I’ll quickly review what I observe on the digital side of these companies.

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Changes on the De Minimis Rule : Who are the Winners and Losers?

September 15, 2024 /

Is this the end of $0.50 funny cat socks and $5 disposable dresses? There’s been a lot of buzz over the last year about the de minimis rule, which has been exploited by companies like Shein and Temu. Now, the Biden-Harris administration is pushing for new regulations.

It seems like a direct jab at the two Chinese giants, but these changes would affect a lot more players. How bad could it be for Temu and Shein? And who will lose or benefit from the elimination of the de minimis rule? Let’s find out.

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From Most Hated Brand to Superstar Retailer: An Overview of Abercrombie & Fitch’s Digital Presence

September 4, 2024 /

If I had a time machine, I’d go back to just two years ago, Q2 2022, and buy ANF stock when it was still under $20. Now, it’s hovering around $150, and some analysts are calling it the “comeback of the decade.” In 2016, the brand was considered “America’s most hated retail brand” by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. So, how did the company rise from the ashes to become a major success today?

I’m convinced that part of the answer lies in their digital strategy. Samir Desai, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, said, “The Abercrombie and Fitch Company business through COVID saw their business become 50%, almost 60% digital, so a big spike in digital.” As we’ll see in this brief overview, the company is doing a lot of things right. Let’s review their sales channels, policies, and marketing initiatives.

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Walmart’s Impressive Q2 Ecommerce Performance: Should Brands Prioritize Walmart or TikTok Shops After Amazon?

August 25, 2024 /

If there’s one underdog in the ecommerce world, it’s Walmart. Earlier in 2024, all eyes were on TikTok Shops. We also hear a lot about Shein and Temu, and of course, the current king of online sales, Amazon. But seasoned ecommerce professionals always keep an eye on Walmart. The retail titan finally grabbed more attention with its Q2 results, showing over 20% growth in ecommerce YoY.

This raises an important question: How should brands prioritize sales channels? Should they focus on Walmart or TikTok Shops first? Let’s quickly review Walmart’s performance, see how its marketplace compares with Amazon, and explore what brands should do next.

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TikTok Partners with Amazon – Sign of a Major Ecommerce Change or a Small Piece of TikTok’s Social Commerce Strategy?

August 13, 2024 /

Is there a better way to break our attention spans and budgets than a partnership between Amazon and TikTok? The king of ecommerce is teaming up with the most addictive social media app to allow TikTok users to purchase items directly from Amazon without leaving the app.

Unfortunately, we don’t have all the details on this partnership yet, but people are already speculating on how it will impact the ecommerce world. Let’s first look at what we know about it and what the potential consequences could be for customers, brands, and the future of ecommerce.

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Etsy Launching Their Paid Insider Membership Program – Is This Enough to Help with Their Declining GMV?

August 7, 2024 /

What do you do when you want to increase your customers’ purchase frequency and lifetime value (LTV)? The current trend among retailers seems to be paid membership programs. If it works for Amazon or Costco, can it work for niche platforms?

Etsy recently announced they would experiment with their own membership program in September. We don’t have a lot of information yet, but I still want to discuss what this membership is about, reflect on why Etsy might do this, and give you my opinion on whether this can reverse the company’s decreasing GMV trend.

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Seller Support Shortcomings – How it Can Hurt a Small Business

July 24, 2024 /

Last week, I came across a great article by Spencer Soper in Bloomberg (link below, I recommend reading it) about how Amazon sold a returned used diaper, and hurt an American small business relying on the FBA program. I found that this story is the perfect example of the shit (no pun intended) Amazon sellers have to deal with every day. The process of the incident is complex, with many actors and tasks involved, and I’d like to break it down to identify what went wrong and what could have been done better. Then, I’ll give my opinion on what I think was the main issue here, and how frustrating it can be for millions of sellers.

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