François Maingret

Tag: amazon (Page 1 of 3)

Zombies and Witches Favor Online Shopping: How Spirit Halloween’s Online Strategy Meets Their Expectations

October 26, 2024 /

If you live close to a large city, you’ve probably seen all these Spirit Halloween stores popping up recently. It’s impossible to miss them with their bright orange signs. I find it impressive that a company can generate enough revenue during the Halloween season to have the resources to open all of these temporary locations. But what’s even more impressive is that, even when operating within such a short time frame, they place a heavy focus on the online experience.

Let’s see how this company operates and review some key parts of their online strategy. Spirit Halloween recently added some interesting shipping options and seems to perform well online. Halloween is certainly an interesting time of year for businesses, and I thought it would be insightful to examine one of these extremely seasonal businesses that succeed online.

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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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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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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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Amazon Plans to Facilitate Direct Shipping from China: Are Temu and Amazon Two Sides of the Same Coin?

July 19, 2024 /

Right before taking a vacation, I saw the news about Amazon planning to assist sellers based in China to ship directly to US customers, similar to what Temu does. While I recognized the importance of this move, the news didn’t surprise me. It’s been clear that China-based sellers have become a key part of Amazon’s strategy. We’ve seen several moves in the past to help Amazon compete with Temu and Shein, so this isn’t entirely new.

However, this might be Amazon’s boldest move to date. My initial thought was, “Some Amazon sellers are in big trouble.” After discussing this shift, I’d like to reflect on the convergence between Amazon’s and Temu’s strategies and review the potential impact on US-based sellers.

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Should You Participate in Amazon Prime Days?

June 25, 2024 /

As we approach July, I bet your LinkedIn feed is packed with guides on how to prepare for Amazon Prime Days. “This is the biggest day of the year!” they say. “Make sure you have enough inventory” or “Here’s how to optimize your listings” they’ll advise. While there is often good advice in these posts, the authors assume you are participating in Prime Days. Many entrepreneurs selling on Amazon believe they MUST discount their products during these few days. But should they really?

In this post, I’ll argue that not every business benefits from participating in Prime Days. Low margins, product positioning, brand image, inventory issues—there are many factors impacting a business’s interest in flash sales. So, let’s explore when a business should NOT participate in this event.

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Selling Private Labeled Items from Alibaba on Amazon Is the Fast Lane to Failure

May 12, 2024 /

I recently saw an intriguing article in my recommendations. It was a guide on how to find products on Alibaba to resell on Amazon. I wondered why Google would recommend articles from 2017? But no, the article was published recently by a major company that sells market research software.

I get it, everyone is looking for the easy, quick, and risk-free way to get rich. And people have been selling that dream since commerce was a thing. We’ve seen it with dropshipping, with “Alibaba to Amazon” private labeling, or with the millions of pyramid schemes out there. Hell, I am sure people in ancient Greece were selling courses on investing in olive oil and wine.

Even though the article doesn’t present itself as a “get rich quick” guide, I found it overly optimistic. I don’t blame the company; it was well-written and probably does a great job at selling their software. And it isn’t misleading either; there is a lot of good and useful info in there. But because I know there are aspiring entrepreneurs reading my content, I’d like to discuss the risks of this strategy. The market has changed drastically since people started selling products sourced from Alibaba on Amazon, and I think it is necessary to understand these changes.

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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 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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