Are you tired of hearing about TikTok yet? From articles on how TikTok killed our attention span to the potential security threat leading to a ban in the US, the Chinese social media platform keeps making headlines. We already know about its growing impact on American businesses through its influencers and shopping features. Social commerce is growing year after year, and we can expect the trend to continue following the latest news: TikTok lowers the threshold for content creators to become affiliates. Let’s see what this is about and how it will impact brands and consumers.
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Note: This is satire, if you’re looking for legitimate business advice, this isn’t the right article for you. This is more of a guide to help aspiring entrepreneurs avoid obvious scams.
In a world where everyone is chasing the next big thing, finding meaning in your work is very important for your well being. What better way to do this than by empowering others with the financial freedom to fulfill their dreams? Instead of just building a billion-dollar business for yourself, why not teach others how to achieve the same success?
It is more than just a job, it is a mission to make the world a better place, one success story at a time. And today, I will give you my secrets to become a business guru in no time.
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When I was a kid, my dad would take me to flea markets and garage sales every other weekend. I loved it because I could always find a cool toy for very little money. A few years later, as a teenager, I started looking for things I could resell for a profit. It was exciting and helped me make a little money to go out with my friends, but I had to stop when I got busy with college.
Fast forward a few years, while the ultra-fast fashion and disposable clothes from Shein often make the headlines in the news, recommerce is bigger than ever. Vinted revenues are growing year after year. Even Tiktok launched a new ‘Preowned Luxury’ category. Last week, eBay, one of the main channels for second-hand items, announced an interesting innovation for their clothing category. I think this is a great opportunity to go over this new feature, and review what the challenges are for small businesses in the pre-owned fashion industry.
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If you’ve been following my content, you often hear me say building a strong brand is one of the most important things in today’s business environment. And one of the signs you have a strong and successful brand is when you start seeing counterfeit products.
According to OECD data, the global trade in counterfeit goods in 2023 was $1.023 trillion, or 3.3% of the total global trade. And despite efforts from brands and marketplace operators, these products are all over merchant websites, including some of the most popular.
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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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We’ve all used generative AI to do our homework, write an email, or create marketing assets. But the technology is much more than that. When I first tried ChatGPT, I wondered how it would impact e-commerce. Before I thought of copywriting or improving images, I thought that we would very shortly see Amazon saturated with AI-generated books.
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“Etsy? Who cares about Etsy Q1 earning call when we can review Amazon’s?” Believe it or not, the world of ecommerce is more than just Amazon. Etsy is a large marketplace that is much more relevant than Amazon for many small business owners. I found that Etsy is working on relevant projects over the last year. And as the competition from Chinese giants is threatening many companies, I thought it would be interesting to see if/how Etsy approaches it.
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Some people say Gen Z will riot if TikTok gets banned in the US. For me, I think business owners and marketing managers have more reasons to be upset. While the major news focuses on geopolitics and the assumed threat regarding data security, I feel that the impact on US businesses is overlooked.
It would be a mistake to assume banning a Chinese app would only have positive consequences for US businesses. Keep in mind that I am not advocating for or against the ban. I understand that this is more complicated than my small area of expertise in e-commerce. But brands should be aware of the consequences of a potential ban so they can prepare for an uncertain future.
So let’s jump to the top three reasons, in no specific order, why I think banning TikTok could seriously hurt some local businesses.
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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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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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My name is François, I’m the author of this blog. I love writing and talking about business and ecommerce. I hope you enjoy my work, feel free to contact me for any suggestion!