Record ecom sales in 2023 and should you trust social shopping? [MDSR #11]

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Hot Off the Presses 📰

U.S. e-commerce sales rose by 7.6% YoY in 2023 to a record $1.1T in 2023, according to the Commerce Department. E-commerce accounted for 22% of all retail sales in 2023, eclipsing the previous record of 21.2% in 2022.

More:

• Total retail sales increased by 3.8% YoY in 2023 to $5.1T.

• E-commerce sales have risen on a YoY in every quarter since Q2 2009, when they fell by 3.9% YoY.

• 2023 was the third straight year that e-commerce sales growth slowed down in part due to consumers limiting their overall spending due to higher inflation and interest rates.

• U.S. retail sales have risen every year since 1993.

85% of consumers trust social media e-commerce marketplaces compared to 48% for traditional e-commerce platforms, according to a survey by Chubb. 46% of Gen-Z is comfortable making purchases from a social media platform, more than millennials (30%), Gen X (22%), and baby boomers (0%).

More:

• 75% of consumers said they experienced financial fraud when purchasing a social media platform, while 61% suffered from delivery delays.

• 75% of consumers in Latin America make a minimum of 3 online purchases a month, 62% in North America, 59% in Europe, and 56% in Asia-Pacific.

• Only 35% of merchants have faith in a social commerce marketplaces for inventory management and 31% trust their ability to process returns and refunds.

• 70% of merchants said items they sold on social media marketplaces arrived in bad condition compared to 54% on traditional platforms.

• The report is available here.

Cart.com announced its distributed order management software solution Constellation OMS will be available as an individual product offering. Merchants will be able to monitor and modify orders and inventory across multiple channels.

More:

• Constellation's demand forecasting tool leverages AI to prevent overstock and out-of-stock situations while providing accurate visibility into the inventory levels of each SKU.

• Merchants will be able to use AI to create detailed product descriptions.

• Constellation's freight rate shopping feature enables merchants to identify cost savings opportunities and accurately track the status of their orders

• Cart.com has more than 6,000 customers and facilitates 75 million orders annually.

• Cart.com has raised $543M since its inception in 2020.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers have asked President Biden to block imports from Temu, arguing the company has failed to combat the use of forced labor in its supply chain. In 2021, Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which outlaws imports from China's Xinjiang region where the Chinese Communist Party is accused of committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims.

More:

• ~600,000 Temu and Shein packages arrive daily in the U.S. as of June 2023.

• Under current U.S. trade law, all shipments targeted at American consumers are tariff free if they have a value of under $800 per person per day.

• Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) have urged Biden to exempt products from Temu, Shein and AliExpress from being eligible for duty-free treatment, arguing it's hurt American businesses.

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Weekly Reading 📖

This week’s recommended reading is “SEO 2024” by best-selling author Adam Clarke. This book provides readers with a detailed breakdown of how Google’s algorithm works along with tips on how to appear at the top of the search results. The book will enable readers to adapt to recent changes by Google such as its newly released bulk email sender guidelines.

“SEO 2024” has a 4.4/5 rating on Amazon.

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E-commerce Tool of the Week 🏫

AI Amazon Business Repricier leverages AI to analyze the prices of your competitors and adjust yours to ensure your products win the Buy Box. The repricers can be used by merchants in 18 markets including the U.S., Brazil, France, and Australia. Users can test the tool with a 15-day free trial and convert to a paid plan if they’re satisfied with the results. The plans have a starting price of $250/month.

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Weekly Playlist 💸

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Did You See That Post

How to Rank Higher on Amazon

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An Event You Should Attend! 🗓️
Sellers Summit 2024 will be held between May 14-16 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sellers Summit is a comprehensive 3 day workshop where experienced sellers will provide you with easy to implement tips to scale your e-commerce business.

Why You Should Attend:

• You’ll gain insights on how to craft compelling email campaigns, maximize list segmentation, and use analytics for targeted outreach.

• The list of speakers includes Mike Jackness (an MDS Member), who grew ColorIt.com to a 7 figure business in 4 months.

Click here to view the agenda and buy tickets

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Quick Hits:

• Amazon reached a settlement to pay $1.9M to over 700 warehouse workers in Saudi Arabia who claimed they were the victim of human rights abuses.

• Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai said e-commerce will account for 40% of China's retail sales in 2029, up from 30% in 2024.

• Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos completed his plans to sell up to 50 million shares.

• OpenBorder, which automates logistics for e-commerce merchants, raised $10M.

• Amazon denied plans that it was shutting down its free streaming service Freevee.

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Until Next Time ✌️

As always, thanks for sticking with us until the end. 

If you’d care to share your thoughts on this newsletter, we’re all ears. Just hit reply to sound off. 

See you next time with more of the latest and greatest content you need to succeed this year 🔥

Sincerely, 

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