There is no time to waste your time – BFCM is two weeks away and you’re busy. But there is an important thing that you should ALWAYS keep in mind that can make you more powerful than Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, and Microsoft put together.
Here are this week’s top stories.
1. Why Mark Zuckerberg Is Having Nightmares
We wish that everyone could have a deep, restful night’s sleep and rise in the morning refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges of a new day in eCommerce-land. Well… everyone except Mark Zuckerberg. That guy gives me the creeps.
These days, if there is one thing that is keeping Emperor Mark Palpatine up at night it is the rise of TikTok as a social media platform. Just a few years in and it already has more than 500 million users and is the #1 app download. It’s kicking butt in the youngest demographics, which makes Facebook look old and stodgy. And they have launched in-app shopping integrations. Here’s what you need to know:
TikTok launches in-app shopping article on Pymnts.com.
Current TikTok stats as reported by Oberlo
2. Shopify Writes LONG Blog Posts, But Sometimes That’s OK
Those content folks at Shopify… they write some seriously LONG blog posts. They do it to maximize SEO, and it’s a good strategy. But there is a trade-off between SEO and actual usability/value and they cross that line all the time.
BUT … there are actually some good pointers in this post, “19 Way to Use Offers, Coupons, Discounts, and Deals to Generate More Sales." Specifically, we suggest you look at abandon cart promos, seasonal deals, first-time shopper, and email discounts.
Read the article on Shopify’s blog
3. The MOST Powerful Thing in eCommerce, Bar None
I want you to read this article… it’s important. This article is all about how Nike is taking down their online shop on Amazon. And that is cool enough in a “get a dig on Jeffy Baggy-pants Bezos” kind of way. But there is a FAR deeper story there. It is an undeniable truth about humanity and how we make markets.
Read the article on DigitalComerce360.
4. So, Why Is That Nike/Amazon Story So Freak’in Important?
So, what’s all the fuss about and why do Shopify merchant care? Here’s the deal – Brand is more valuable and important than anything else. Even in this digital age, Nike realized that Amazon is hurting their brand. And the damage to the brand is worse than the potential loss of tens of millions of dollars in short term sales. When it comes right down to it, if you do business online you ONLY OWN THREE THINGS: your brand, your email list, and your domain name. And even the domain name is dicey because you have to renew it with a bureaucracy. Just think about that for a bit.
Amazon knows it, Microsoft knows it, Walmart knows it, Apple knows it (at least they used to), and Shopify is learning it.
5. ‘Da Best eCommerce Christmas Ads of the Year … So Far
We can’t help ourselves. We LOVE clever advertising. It’s the sexy sister of marketing and we love to flirt with her. Anyway … Campaign magazine has compiled their list of the top Christmas video ads of the year so far and we watched them all… for research purposes, of course.
Boom … that’s everything you need to know right now, so it’s time for you to go back and get your Shopify store ready for BFCM. But first, you need to share this email with others because … well, it’s important.
Happy Selling,
Zachary