Online retailers, online retail, e-retail news and e-commerce news https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/topic/web-only-merchants/ Your source for ecommerce news, analysis and research Mon, 22 Jul 2024 20:38:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/cropped-2022-DC360-favicon-d-32x32.png Online retailers, online retail, e-retail news and e-commerce news https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/topic/web-only-merchants/ 32 32 Amazon announces dates for Prime Day 2024 event https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/article/everything-about-amazon-prime-day/ Tue, 25 Jun 2024 15:00:28 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?post_type=article&p=904208 Amazon.com Inc. confirmed in April that it would hold another Prime Day sale in July 2024. It will be the 10th year Amazon has held the sale. Now, the retailer has shared the event’s dates. The Amazon Prime Day sales event will be July 16 through July 17, starting at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, the […]

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Amazon.com Inc. confirmed in April that it would hold another Prime Day sale in July 2024. It will be the 10th year Amazon has held the sale.

Now, the retailer has shared the event’s dates. The Amazon Prime Day sales event will be July 16 through July 17, starting at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, the retailer announced.

Prime members will have “exclusive access to millions” of deals, Amazon said. That includes invite-only deals, which Prime members can request invitations for. Two such invite-only deals are for up to 40% off Sony wireless headphones and up to 30% off Peloton products, Amazon said. And Amazon will continue to drop new deals “as often as every five minutes during select periods throughout the event.”

In 2023, Amazon customers saved nearly $24 billion via deals and coupons, according to Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime. He said Prime members accounted for the “vast majority of those savings.” More than $2.5 billion of those savings were during Prime Day 2023, Ghani said.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Amazon is also No. 3 in the Global Online Marketplaces database, which ranks the 100 largest global marketplaces.

The most recent Amazon sales event

Most recently, the online retail giant held its inaugural Big Spring Sale from March 20 through 25, its first Prime Day-equivalent sales event of 2024.

The Amazon Big Spring Sale event was open to all customers, and Prime members received access to exclusive deals, Amazon said. Additionally, Amazon said it would release new deals each day of the event. In the U.S., shoppers found deals up to 50% off on beauty products as well as sports and outdoors equipment, according to Amazon. They also saw 40% off some home products, spring apparel and electronics.



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“The Big Spring Sale was an opportunity for customers to save on seasonally relevant deals across a wide selection of products, including spring fashion, outdoor furniture, lawn and garden essentials, cleaning and organizing products, and more,” an Amazon spokesperson told Digital Commerce 360.

The Big Spring Sale’s best-selling items included:

  • COSRX Snail Mucin
  • PRETTYGARDEN Women’s Loose Solid Off Shoulder Romper
  • Sunzel Flare Leggings
  • YKYI Electric Spin Scrubber
  • Bluetooth Headphones Wireless Earbuds
  • Coleman Breeze Beach Chair

Amazon said that last year Prime members purchased more than 375 million items during the event, making it the biggest Prime Day ever. The mass merchant also said it had its fastest-ever global shipping speeds for Prime members in 2023, with more than 4 billion units arriving the same or next day for U.S. customers and more than 2 billion for those in Europe.

How many countries will Prime Day take place in?

Amazon Prime Day will take place in 24 countries, including:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Brazil 
  • Canada
  • Egypt
  • France 
  • Germany 
  • India
  • Italy 
  • Japan 
  • Luxembourg
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands 
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Singapore
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Turkey
  • The United Arab Emirates
  • The United States
  • The United Kingdom

How much did Amazon make on Prime Day 2023?

Consumers worldwide spent nearly $13 billion with Amazon.com Inc. during the retail giant’s ninth-annual Prime Day, according to Digital Commerce 360 analysis.

Digital Commerce 360 estimates Amazon’s sales on Prime Day 2023 hit $12.90 billion globally during the manufactured retail holiday, which spanned July 11 and 12. That’s up 6.7% year over year from the same shopping spree in 2022, which ran July 12 and 13.

In 2023, Amazon held a second Prime Day sales event Oct. 10-11, 2023. That fall event was called Prime Big Deal Days, and it was announced in a LinkedIn post from Doug Herrington, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Stores. Amazon sellers previously told Digital Commerce 360 they’d been given an Aug. 11 deadline to submit deals for the event.

Shoppers largely avoided big-ticket items in favor of smaller purchases. 58% of purchases in a period of the sale monitored by research firm Numerator cost less than $20, indicating consumer preference for inexpensive products.

The summer Prime Day sales event in 2023 grew less than in the previous year, up 6.7% to $12.9 billion, according to Digital Commerce 360 Research.

When is Prime Day 2024?

The next major Amazon sale will be held in July 2024. Amazon held its last major sale in March.

Amazon Prime Day 2023 was held Tuesday, July 11, and Wednesday, July 12. We’ll update this page regularly to reflect new information. 

Dates for Amazon Prime Day in the past:

  • Ninth: July 11-12, 2023
  • Eighth: July 12-13, 2022
  • Seventh: June 21-22, 2021
  • Sixth: Oct 13-14, 2020
  • Fifth: July 15-16, 2019
  • Fourth: July 16-17, 2018
  • Third: July 11-12, 2017
  • Second: July 12, 2016
  • First: July 15, 2015

How often is Amazon Prime Day?

Until 2022, Amazon Prime Day was once a year in the summer. In 2022, the retail giant added another Prime Day event in October. So how many times a year is Prime Day? The answer used to be once. Amazon has since established a two-year pattern of two separate sales events. This year, it also hosted the Amazon Big Spring Sale for the first time in 2024.

How do you sign up for a Prime membership?

You can join Prime or start a free trial at Amazon Prime Day. Amazon has recently faced a lawsuit from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission alleging the ecommerce giant duped consumers into signing up for its Prime membership service and deliberately made it hard to cancel. 

How to prepare to find deals on Prime Day 

The value of Prime Day to retailers both small and large is undisputed, as millions of shoppers visit the site in search of once-a-year deals.

  • Sign up for the Prime Insider newsletter to hear about Amazon Prime member benefits and find updates on deals and events.
  • Create deal alerts for recommendations. As an Amazon Prime Member, you can subscribe to receive deal alert notifications related to recent Amazon searches and recently viewed items. All you have to do is visit the Prime Day event page on the Amazon app before Prime Day to create deal alerts. Once Prime Day arrives, members will receive push notifications on any available deals.
  • Get deal notifications from Alexa. Alexa can make sure you don’t miss any Amazon deals. Members can add products to their Wish List, Cart, or Save for Later, and then ask Alexa to notify them about the deal.
  • Set a reminder so you don’t miss the multi-day event.
  • Check back here to see the latest updates.

What are the Big Spring Sale and Big Deal Days, and how are they different from Prime Days?

Amazon called this year’s inaugural March promotional period its Big Spring Sale. In October 2023, it created a new fall sale event called Big Deal Days. Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is not exclusive to Prime members. The online retailer also held a fall sale in 2022 for the first time, called the Early Access Sale.

Prime Day is now Amazon’s biggest sale of the year. It is usually held during the summer months. In 2023, it was July 12 and July 13. Historically, the annual two-day deals event is for Prime members only. 

Prime Day, which features deals on many products on Amazon.com, began in 2015 as a celebration of Amazon’s 20th year in business. It turned into a summer sales holiday designed to drum up additional business for Amazon — and the retailer’s marketplace sellers — before the holiday shopping season. In recent years, other large retailers have offered promotions on their own websites around Prime Day to take advantage of the additional online shoppers.

Abbas Haleem, Brian Warmoth, Mary Meisenzahl, James Risley and Paul Conley contributed to this report.

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3 examples of what is working in omnichannel retail strategy https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/04/30/what-is-omnichannel-retail-strategy/ Tue, 30 Apr 2024 16:08:02 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1321558 The 2020s are not even half over, and retailers have already had to rethink what their omnichannel strategies are in the face of multiple historic shifts in consumer behavior. The decade has challenged retailers year after year to adapt in massive ways. Each step of the way, they have had to adjust to new consumer […]

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The 2020s are not even half over, and retailers have already had to rethink what their omnichannel strategies are in the face of multiple historic shifts in consumer behavior. The decade has challenged retailers year after year to adapt in massive ways. Each step of the way, they have had to adjust to new consumer preferences and economic conditions.

In the 2024 Omnichannel Report from Digital Commerce 360, we began by tracking how the past few years have changed retail. However, we also saw signs of normalization starting to materialize. This could be seen as rates of retailers offering some omnichannel options plateaued. Elsewhere, spikes in some offerings began to recede.

What is important in retail omnichannel strategy?

This year’s report underscores how vital buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) options (78.3% adoption rate) and in-store stock statuses (65.4%) have become for many retailers in the Top 1000. At the same time, curbside pickup is now offered by a dramatically reduced share (25.3%) of Top 1000 merchants than it was in each of the past three years.

Omnichannel retail trends

The report digs into the numbers from Digital Commerce 360’s own data and research. Our reporting and analysis track what the most successful online retailers in North America are doing. In addition, it layers on reporting and insights from leaders such as Kroger, Lowe’s, Walmart and others. These insights show what is working and how those companies are innovating.  

After that, we turn to more than 1,000 omnichannel shoppers. You’ll find their perspectives in fresh survey results from Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights. There, consumers explain which omnichannel options make a difference for them. They also tell us what has convinced them to complete orders.

Retail omnichannel trends

Here are three major success stories we found in 2024:

  1. Buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) and in-stock store statuses are both still being offered at levels higher than we saw in 2020.
  2. Curbside pickup, even as it declines among other categories, is still a big priority for major retail chains in the grocery space, as well as office supplies merchants.
  3. Shoppable video is becoming more common on social and streaming platforms with implications for the largest online retailers and their retail media networks.

Altogether, this report’s data-driven assessment presents a landscape that has moved seismically over nearly half a decade. Though retailers were forced to adapt, the lessons they learned during the COVID-19 pandemic are still informing choices. As a result, a new era is emerging.

What else is in this year’s report?

The 2024 Omnichannel Report includes all of the following:  

  • The latest data on omnichannel trends in the Top 1000  
  • Conversion rates for Top 1000 retailers offering BOPIS and curbside pickup  
  • How shoppable video on TikTok and streaming platforms is being used  
  • How brands are leveraging their latest augmented and virtual reality experiences  
  • What matters most in omnichannel for the grocery sector  
  • Consumer survey data about their omnichannel habits, preferences and recent activity 

Key data from the report: 

  • 78.3% of retail chains in the Top 1000 offered BOPIS in 2023, down from 80.0% in 2022.
  • 65.4% of store-based retailers in the Top 1000 offered in-store stock statuses, roughly the same as the year before. 
  • Only 25.3% of Top 1000 retail chains still offered curbside pickup in 2023, down for the third year in a row from a 2021 high of 55.1%. 
  • Office Supplies merchants saw the highest rate of offering curbside pickup by category at 50.0%. 
  • 62% of consumers surveyed said they checked product availability at a nearby store online before making a purchase, making it the most popular omnichannel activity. 
  • 66% of consumers surveyed indicated that they had completed an in-store or curbside pickup order at Walmart within the past six months.

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US grocery shoppers seek savings, digital convenience https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/04/29/omnichannel-grocery-shoppers-us-savings-digital-convenience/ Mon, 29 Apr 2024 20:12:10 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1320718 Even for an online-only retailer that prioritizes price over delivery speed, shoppers show a clear preference for which channel they want to shop on: its mobile app. Martie, an omnichannel grocery retailer, doesn’t sell fresh or frozen foods — at least not currently — nor does it offer same- or next-day delivery. Its key appeal […]

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Even for an online-only retailer that prioritizes price over delivery speed, shoppers show a clear preference for which channel they want to shop on: its mobile app. Martie, an omnichannel grocery retailer, doesn’t sell fresh or frozen foods — at least not currently — nor does it offer same- or next-day delivery. Its key appeal […]

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Temu brand awareness rises, as poll shows 9 in 10 Americans know the online marketplace https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/04/18/temu-brand-awareness-yougov-study/ Thu, 18 Apr 2024 20:42:45 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1321015 A year and a half and two Super Bowls later, online marketplace Temu has gone “from completely unknown to a household name,” according to research from YouGov. YouGov is an international online research data and analytics technology group. It polled 700 adults in the United States ranging from ages 18 to 65 on March 27 […]

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A year and a half and two Super Bowls later, online marketplace Temu has gone “from completely unknown to a household name,” according to research from YouGov.

YouGov is an international online research data and analytics technology group. It polled 700 adults in the United States ranging from ages 18 to 65 on March 27 and 28.

How well-known is Temu?

YouGov data shows that 88% of Americans it polled have heard of Temu. Moreover, 95% of women who responded said they had heard of Temu. That compares with just 80% of men who had heard of it.

More than half the respondents (52%) said they heard of Temu because of ads for the online marketplace. Of those who had heard of it, 77% said they had seen a Temu ad in the prior three months.

Despite the brand awareness, YouGov data showed that more than half of those polled (56%) have never made a purchase from Temu. Among those who have purchased from Temu, nearly a quarter (24%) said they would buy from the online marketplace again. That compares with 15% who said they are unlikely to buy from its site again.

Those results varied by age, too. Those age 18 to 29 were most likely to buy from Temu again (34%). Those 30 to 44 were the most unlikely to purchase from the online marketplace’s site again (22%). Those age 45 to 64 were the most likely to have never made a purchase from Temu.

Temu spends on brand awareness

For Super Bowl LVIII in 2024, Temu bought three advertising spots during the game and two after it. Each 30-second commercial ran advertisers an estimated $6.5 million to $7 million. Individual rates vary, however, depending on when an ad airs during the game and if an individual advertiser purchases multiple commercial spots. A Temu spokesperson declined to comment on how much the retailer spent.

During the 2023 Super Bowl, Temu ran two 30-second spots.

“Through the largest stage possible, we want to share with our consumers that they can shop with a sense of freedom because of the price we offer,” PDD said in a statement at the time.

PDD Holdings owns Temu, which launched in 2022 and isn’t yet reflected in Digital Commerce 360 rankings of the largest online retailers. PDD also owns Pinduoduo, which operates an app-only marketplace for Chinese consumers. Because it doesn’t operate an ecommerce website, Pinduoduo is not included in Digital Commerce 360’s Asia Database.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect Temu’s ownership. PDD Holdings owns Temu, as well as its sister company Pinduoduo.

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Martie mobile app offers consumers ‘a treasure hunt’ https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/04/15/martie-mobile-app-offers-consumers-a-treasure-hunt/ Mon, 15 Apr 2024 18:38:55 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1320725 It’s all about the mobile experience for Martie, an online grocery retailer. Martie, which launched in November 2021, sells surplus groceries from food producers. The direct-to-consumer retailer launched with just a website, as it’s online-only. It launched its app in March 2022, and since then, its consumers have increasingly gravitated to it, cofounder Louise Fritjofsson […]

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It’s all about the mobile experience for Martie, an online grocery retailer.

Martie, which launched in November 2021, sells surplus groceries from food producers. The direct-to-consumer retailer launched with just a website, as it’s online-only. It launched its app in March 2022, and since then, its consumers have increasingly gravitated to it, cofounder Louise Fritjofsson told Digital Commerce 360.

What makes Martie different from its competitors, she said, is the focus on financial savings over time savings.

“When you start looking at the online grocery space, the mode has been convenience over everything,” Fritjofsson said. “We’ve pushed that to ‘get your groceries in 24 hours’ to ‘get it in a few hours.’ With the Gorillas of the world that came up like two years ago, you were supposed to be able to get your groceries in 20 minutes.”

That turnaround speed isn’t Martie’s goal — at least not yet.

“Martie is not that,” Fritjofsson explained. “We’re kind of convenient because you do get it to your doorstep, but you get it in three to five days. Where we are winning, our mode, is affordability.”

That’s also why Martie doesn’t sell fresh or frozen foods.

Martie mobile app

Image credit: Martie

Online grocery fulfillment through 3PL

Martie works with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider to pick, pack and distribute the groceries customers order online.

The 3PL, XPDEL, helps Martie ship nationwide through everyday carriers like USPS, UPS and FedEx. Fritjofsson said that, like other online grocers, Martie has 10 to 13 items in a box, on average.

“Anything dropship or similar would be very hard with the number of units that people pick and choose from,” Fritjofsson explained. “Currently, we ship nationwide from Texas. We ship with everyday, local, big carriers.”

Fritjofsson said Martie currently has 500 SKUs on its website and app. That number will be 1,000 in the next four months, she projected, which makes the 3PL relationship important to Martie’s operations.

Martie app takes command of retailer’s traffic

When it comes to traffic, Martie’s mobile app draws in more than half (52%). No other channel brings in more than a quarter of traffic, as 25% of Martie’s shoppers browse via desktop website and 20% using its mobile website. Just 3% browse its site via tablet. Martie currently has more than 50,000 users on its app.

Fritjofsson said everything Martie does has to be geared toward mobile browsing because 85% of the retailer’s website traffic comes from that source. She said that even though the mobile website and app are both meant for consumers’ phones, “people just linger longer and come back more often when it’s an app.” They don’t feel pressure to check out, she added.

She also attributes that growth in mobile app traffic to notifications.

“Your most loyal customers will look for and want the app,” Fritjofsson said. “There’s the segmentation to begin with. Someone who’s just testing you out and not sure will not go through the hassle to download the app. So, of course, you’re getting a more engaged audience on the app to begin with. But notifications are free to send.”

Notifications guide Martie app experience

Moreover, app notifications are different from other forms of communication with consumers, she said.

“You could send daily notifications to stay top of mind,” Fritjofsson said. “You’re not going to do that with any text messages, and email just doesn’t hit the same way. It also comes with a set of tools that are highly effective to make your users remember you.”

For example, she said, if Martie knows a consumer buys Ferrero chocolate, the retailer will let them know when it gets a new batch in. If a consumer doesn’t like — or just doesn’t buy — chocolate, then Martie “will not bother you with that specific notification,” she said. “We’re very product-centered in all of our notifications because product is king for Martie. The more we can make them personalized, the better they perform.”

Martie uploads between 150 and 200 new products to its website and mobile app every week, she said. Sometimes, Martie will add about 30 to 40 a day. Martie knows its consumers will open its app, Fritjofsson said, so the product it sells is a treasure hunt.

“We know that people on the app, they also just open the app for the entertainment factor,” she said. “What’s coming in? What’s a really great deal? The FOMO aspect. In that app experience, we have a different set of notifications, a different set of popups, a different set of categories and entertainment that we can offer because we know you will open it more often to be entertained and not necessarily always needing to shop.”

In contrast, she said the web-based user behavior is different. Martie’s website shoppers tend to exit quickly.

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Online conversion rates have dipped going into 2024. Here’s what we know. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/article/how-to-increase-conversion-rates/ Wed, 03 Apr 2024 17:00:17 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?post_type=article&p=995642 Human nature may remain constant across decades and technologies, but in 2024, consumers haven’t had as many options when deciding where to place their attention and how to make transactions. As a result, retailers must choose the channels and conversion techniques that work best for their shoppers in adaptive and personalized ways. The latest Ecommerce Conversion Report […]

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Human nature may remain constant across decades and technologies, but in 2024, consumers haven’t had as many options when deciding where to place their attention and how to make transactions. As a result, retailers must choose the channels and conversion techniques that work best for their shoppers in adaptive and personalized ways.

The latest Ecommerce Conversion Report from Digital Commerce 360 breaks down which types of merchants are seeing the best results in today’s digital environment. More importantly, however, the report showcases examples of the conversion strategies that shoppers seem to like, as well as the strategies that successful online retailers say are working for them.



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What’s in the 2024 Ecommerce Conversion report?

In the report, Digital Commerce 360 highlights 2023 online conversion rate data among North America’s Top 2000 retailers, what retailers are doing in 2024 to boost conversion, what they can do to boost it going forward, as well as what works — and doesn’t — for online shoppers. It also features conversion rate data by merchant type and merchandise category.

 

The report highlights seven key factors that affect conversion rates in 2024:

  1. Price and shipping
  2. Trust
  3. Social media
  4. Customer service
  5. Mobile experience
  6. Personalization
  7. Omnichannel options

What kinds of retailers have the best online conversion rates?

In 2023, a year defined by inflation, uncertainty and industrywide shifts in favor of efficiency, conversions got more difficult for online retailers. After years of relative stability, the median conversion rate fell for retailers in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000. They dipped to 2.7% in 2023 from 2.8% in both 2022 and 2021. The full report also includes data for the next 1000 largest online retailers.

If the past few years are any indication of how online conversion rates are faring so far in 2024, the best are among what Digital Commerce 360 refers to as “direct marketers.” These are mostly retailers with roots in selling via catalogs, along with a handful that market their wares via TV shopping shows.

Although the group’s conversion rate dipped in 2023 — as was the case for all four merchant types — it still outperformed the other three groups as well as the Top 1000’s combined median rate across merchant types. Direct marketers’ median conversion rate fell to 3.7% in 2023. That’s down from 4.1% in 2021. Meanwhile, retail chains had the next-highest median conversion rate over the previous three years. Falling to 2.9% in 2023 from 3.2% in 2021, they still outperformed the Top 1000 as a whole.

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The apparel resale industry grew 18% in 2023, according to ThredUp’s latest report https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/03/27/apparel-resale-industry-growth-2023-thredup-report/ Wed, 27 Mar 2024 17:13:51 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1319807 The apparel resale market continued to grow in 2023, accounting for $197 billion in sales globally, according to ThredUp’s 2024 Resale Report. The online reseller buys secondhand clothes from individual customers and has deals with retailers including Reformation, American Eagle, and PacSun. Findings are based on market size and growth estimates from retail analysis firm […]

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The apparel resale market continued to grow in 2023, accounting for $197 billion in sales globally, according to ThredUp’s 2024 Resale Report. The online reseller buys secondhand clothes from individual customers and has deals with retailers including Reformation, American Eagle, and PacSun.

Findings are based on market size and growth estimates from retail analysis firm GlobalData and a survey of 50 U.S. retailers.

ThredUp ranks No. 590 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database of the largest North American online retailers. Reformation is No. 341, American Eagle is No. 40 and Pacsun is No. 231.

Online resale continues to grow

2023 global apparel secondhand sales grew 18% over 2022, when they came in at $167 billion. The majority of resale apparel sales were in Asia, followed by North America and Europe.

Apparel resale grew seven times faster than the total U.S. apparel market in the U.S. in 2023, ThredUp found. It projects the U.S. apparel resale market will reach $73 billion by 2028.

Much of that growth comes from online retail, according to ThredUp’s report. Online resale grew 23% year over year in 2023, outpacing total secondhand growth. That was also 2.2% faster than it grew in 2022. ThredUp predicts online sales will account for half of all secondhand spending by 2028, reaching $40 billion in the U.S. in 2027.

45% of Gen Z and millennial consumers prefer to purchase secondhand items online, rather than in stores, according to a survey of 3,654 U.S. adults from GlobalData. That compares to 38% who prefer buying from stores. The trend is most pronounced among millennials, who prefer shopping resale through a managed marketplace over other options.

Consumers turn to apparel resale for value

Analysts and industry experts say consumers have been resilient and continued spending despite inflation over the last two years. However, consumers have also been pickier about how they spend, and increasingly look for value, as the National Retail Federation noted in its 2024 state of U.S. retail webinar.

That’s a boon to resellers. Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents told GlobalData that value is their top concern when making an apparel purchase. 59% said if they can’t find a good deal on an apparel item, they won’t make the purchase. Many of those consumers see resale as a solution. Value was the top reason respondents said they shop secondhand, and 60% said shopping secondhand apparel gave them the best value for their money. 41% of consumers said they look at secondhand options before other channels, and about half of millennials and Gen Z look to resale first.

Survey responses point to the trend continuing into 2024, too. On average, consumers said they plan to cut down on full-price apparel purchases by 7% in 2024 from 2023 spending. 55% said that if the economy doesn’t improve, they’ll spend more of their apparel budget on resale. 

“With more than half of all consumers shopping for secondhand apparel last year, it’s evident that resale is now firmly embedded in the fashion landscape,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement. “Secondhand buying transcends generations, with the role of resale changing throughout consumers’ lives. … Secondhand’s flexibility in meeting such varied needs is a key reason it’s become so popular and has such a promising growth trajectory.”

Branded resale is on the upswing

Resale can be lucrative for retailers, too. Some retailers, including those in partnership with ThredUp, sell used products from their own brands to customers at a lower price point. ThredUp said retailers offering branded resale grew 31% in 2023. New additions include J. Crew (No. 78 in the Top 1000), American Eagle, and Kate Spade (part of Tapestry, No. 43).

Of retailers that offer resale, 67% told GlobalData that it helped them acquire new customers. Just over two-thirds of those retailers said that resale will generate at least 10% of revenue within the next five years. 

In addition, 74% of surveyed retail executives who don’t currently offer resale said they are either considering adding it, or already have plans to expand into resale.

ThredUp also ranks the best-performing brands in resale based on sell-through rates and the volume of listings on its marketplace. In 2023, Lululemon (No. 25) was the top-performing brand by those metrics, followed by Patagonia (No. 174) and Vuori.

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Zulily’s assets are for sale after shutting down https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/02/28/zulily-assets-are-for-sale-two-months-after-shutting-down/ Wed, 28 Feb 2024 20:55:46 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1318247 Former online retailer Zulily is seeking buyers for all of its assets, Hilco Streambank announced Feb. 27. Hilco Streambank is an intellectual property advisory firm handling the sale. Zulily shuttered in December 2023 following layoffs and “financial instability,” it said. Potential buyers will be able to purchase Zulily’s more than 200 trademarks, along with the […]

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Former online retailer Zulily is seeking buyers for all of its assets, Hilco Streambank announced Feb. 27. Hilco Streambank is an intellectual property advisory firm handling the sale.

Zulily shuttered in December 2023 following layoffs and “financial instability,” it said. Potential buyers will be able to purchase Zulily’s more than 200 trademarks, along with the Zulily.com domain, customer data, social media assets, and the retailer’s mobile app.

Offers are due by March 13, Hilco said. The firm is conducting the sale on behalf of Zulily’s creditors, who can negotiate and settle a deal before the deadline, according to the statement. 

What is Zulily worth?

The apparel and accessories retail generated $666 million in revenue in the 12 months ended November 2023, it said. Nearly 40% of those sales were in women’s apparel, followed by 22% in the home category and 21% in footwear.

Prior to liquidation, average order value was $65, with an average of 2.7 items per order. Conversion rate across channels was 3.2% in 2023. Zulily.com received approximately 273.6 million visitors over the year, Hilco said.

Zulily operated on a membership model, where customers had to be Zulily members to participate in flash deals. The asset sale includes customer files of 2.4 million consumers who made purchases in 2023.

“Zulily targeted an attractive audience — discount shoppers looking for the best deals on women’s and kids’ apparel, footwear, and home goods — of which there are over 2.5 million that made a purchase in 2023,” Hilco Streambank senior vice president Richelle Kalnit said. “A buyer of Zulily’s IP will have a prime opportunity to re-engage these customers and to build on the Zulily brand recognition, including over 6.4 million social media followers across platforms, to acquire new ones.”

In January, liquidation and restructuring firm Gordon Brothers announced it was seeking a buyer for Zulily’s inventory and fulfillment center. The sale included $85 million in inventory and two 775,000-square-foot fulfillment centers.

Why Zulily shut down

Zulily’s leadership opted to shut down the retailer’s operations after a tumultuous 2023. In a letter posted to Zulily’s website, it “made the difficult but necessary decision to conduct an orderly wind-down of the business to maximize value for the companies’ creditors.”

“This decision was not easy nor was it entered into lightly,” the letter continues. “However, given the challenging business environment in which Zulily operated, and the corresponding financial instability, Zulily decided to take immediate and swift action.”

All pending orders were planned to have been fulfilled by Jan. 22. 

After launching in 2010, Zulily faced continuous competition from Amazon. In December, it filed a lawsuit accusing the ecommerce retailer of trying to destroy Zulily through price-fixing.

In May 2023, Zulily was acquired by private equity firm Regent and Baker for an undisclosed amount. Zulily was previously part of Qurate Retail Group, which also operates QVC and HSN. Qurate acquired Zulily in 2015 for $2.4 billion. 

Qurate ranks No. 18 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database of the largest North American e-retailers by online sales. Digital Commerce 360 categorizes Qurate as a Mass Merchant in its Top 1000 database.

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Wayfair revenue grows in Q4 but declines for the year https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/02/22/wayfair-revenue-grows-in-q4-but-declines-for-the-year/ Thu, 22 Feb 2024 21:56:36 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1317960 Wayfair Inc. reported earnings results from its fiscal fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Total net revenue grew by $13 million, or 0.4%, to $3.1 billion. “Our efforts over 2023 led to large improvements in our core recipe across availability, speed and price competitiveness. These improvements were directly responsible for our robust share expansion throughout the […]

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Wayfair Inc. reported earnings results from its fiscal fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Total net revenue grew by $13 million, or 0.4%, to $3.1 billion.

“Our efforts over 2023 led to large improvements in our core recipe across availability, speed and price competitiveness. These improvements were directly responsible for our robust share expansion throughout the year and for the step-up we saw in customer loyalty, including year-over-year growth in our active customer count by the fourth quarter,” cofounder and CEO Niraj Shah said in a written statement.

Wayfair ranks No. 10 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers in North America.

 

Wayfair Q4 and annual revenue

U.S. net revenue grew more quickly than total revenue, increasing 0.9% to $2.7 billion. Meanwhile, international revenue declined 2.7% to $404 million. International revenue declined year over year in each quarter of 2023. Net loss was $174 million for the quarter.

For the full year, total net revenue declined 1.8% to $12.0 billion. U.S. net revenue grew slightly, up 0.2% to $10.5 billion, while international net revenue declined 13.3% to $1.5 billion. Net loss was $738 million.

Wayfair cuts costs

In January, Wayfair cut 1,650 workers. That was 13% of its total workforce and 19% of corporate workers. The layoffs are expected to save about $280 million annually, Wayfair said. So far, the decision is paying off.

“While it is early, it does seem like we are getting more done, and faster, and at a lower cost,” Shah and cofounder Steve Conine wrote in a letter to investors.

Wayfair previously laid off 1,750 employees in 2023 and 900 in 2022.

Shah told investors that the layoffs were done with an “eye to what we thought a very efficient organizational model would be versus a cost savings target.” The furniture retailer may make “modest” additions to headcount going forward, with a continued focus on efficiency and productivity, he said.

Wayfair addresses competition

Shah said Wayfair does not currently view Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop as meaningful competitors, even as the online retailers and marketplaces expand into more home offerings. 

“What we’ve really seen is where they compete is at the very low end of the market, both low end quality wise and ticket size,” he said. “Some of them are very large advertising spenders and we have not seen them really be a player when we look at the share.”

Temu, which sells bed frames and inflatable couches among other discount goods, recently spent millions on commercials that aired during the Super Bowl.

Shipping and logistics challenges

Wayfair has been impacted by supply chain disruptions in the Red Sea, Shah said, especially for products shipped from Europe through the Suez Canal. Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis have said they will continue to target Israel-bound ships while the attacks on Gaza are ongoing. Carriers are responding by rerouting shipments, including around the southern tip of Africa.

However, the disruptions are minimal compared to what Wayfair has experienced in recent years, Shah said.

“It’s important to keep in mind the minor scope of supply chain disruption this poses in contrast to the type of disruption we faced back in 2021. These new routes increased shipping time on a much more manageable basis than we faced in 2021, and availability across our catalog has seen no meaningful negative impact,” Shah said.

Container prices have also risen, “but nowhere near the order of magnitude the industry faced a few years ago when rates reached $20,000 per container during the COVID crisis,” he said.

Wayfair results

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Wayfair reported:

  • Total net revenue increased 0.4% to $3.1 billion.
  • Net loss was $174 million.
  • Active customers declined 1.4% to 22.4 million.

For the year ended Dec. 31, Wayfair reported:

  • Total net revenue declined 1.8% to $12.0 billion.
  • Net loss was $738 billion.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding.

Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s Wayfair update.

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Beyond appoints new executives, plans Overstock relaunch https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2024/02/21/beyond-appoints-new-executives-plans-overstock-relaunch/ Wed, 21 Feb 2024 21:40:11 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1317901 Beyond Inc. announced changes to its leadership team on Feb. 20., with three people taking on new roles. Beyond is the parent company of Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock.  On Tuesday, Beyond announced that Chandra Holt will take over as CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond. It also appointed Dave Nielsen as CEO of […]

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Beyond Inc. announced changes to its leadership team on Feb. 20., with three people taking on new roles. Beyond is the parent company of Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock. 

On Tuesday, Beyond announced that Chandra Holt will take over as CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond. It also appointed Dave Nielsen as CEO of Overstock. Chief financial officer Adrianne Lee took on an expanded role as chief financial and administrative officer. All three appointments were effective immediately. 

The previous week, Beyond announced Marcus Lemonis would become executive chairman of the board of directors.

Beyond Inc. is No. 49 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Bed Bath & Beyond ranked No. 47 prior to its bankruptcy. 

Overstock bought Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property for $21.5 million in June 2023 after the retailer filed for bankruptcy. In August, Overstock relaunched the Bed Bath & Beyond ecommerce website and later changed its name to operate under Beyond, Inc.

Beyond’s leadership changes

Chandra Holt, incoming CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond, is new to the company. She was previously CEO and president of Conn’s HomePlus (No. 700 in the Top 1000). Before that, Holt worked as executive vice president of ecommerce at Walmart (No. 2) and chief operating officer of SamsClub.com

Beyond Dave Nielsen

Beyond named Dave Nielsen CEO of Overstock.

Dave Nielsen, now CEO of Overstock, previously served as interim CEO of Beyond during the retailer’s search to fill the role. Nielsen held several other roles at Overstock, including president and chief sourcing and operations officer.

Previous CEO of Overstock Jonathan Johnson stepped down in November as the retailer rebranded under the new name.

Adrianne Lee joined Overstock in 2020 as chief financial officer. In her expanded role, she will also oversee legal and human resources functions, Beyond said.

“Beyond is in the midst of a great transformation that required changes to the executive team structure in support of our strategic objectives to drive shareholder value,” Lemonis said in a written statement. “Chandra’s retail and leadership expertise and proven e-commerce track record makes her an invaluable addition to our team to drive Bed Bath & Beyond forward. With Dave’s extensive experience in furniture and home furnishings, e-commerce and retail liquidation, I am confident he will quickly reignite the valuable Overstock brand. I’m excited to see the collective impact Chandra, Dave, and Adrianne’s leadership will have on our business.”

Lemonis joined the board of directors in October 2023 and became chairman of the board in December. In a Nov. 2 letter, John Thaler, founder of investment firm JAT Capital, called for Lemonis to be put in charge as the “most qualified and experienced individual on the board or involved with this company in any capacity.” He also called for Johnson’s removal as CEO.

Beyond Q4 earnings result

Beyond reported revenue declined 5% to $384 million in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Active customers declined 9% to 5.6 million, and the retailer reported a net loss of $161 million.

For the full year, Beyond reported revenue declined 19% to $1.6 billion. Net loss was $308 million.

The retailer plans to relaunch Overstock.com within five weeks, it said. That’s an accelerated timeline from the original plan of September 2024, and will be a “silver bullet,” Lemonis said. The two different storefronts will have different purposes, he said. Overstock customers make bigger, less frequent purchases and tend to have high incomes, he said. Average order value at Overstock is more than $50 higher than at Bed Bath & Beyond, where customers make more regular, less expensive purchases.

Beyond projected $2 billion in revenue in 2024, and $3 billion in 2025.

“This projected revenue improvement, coupled with improved margins and a reduced expense structure, provides a clear path to profitability,” Lemonis said.

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