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Merchandise: the capitalistic solution for our innate human need to signal our fandom and find our tribe. Who doesn’t own a jersey from our coveted hometown or college sports team, or maybe you bought a t-shirt from your favorite performer? And now that presidential hopefuls act more like rockstars than politicians, political merchandise has infiltrated the United States’ presidential elections in a major way. From mugs to fly swatters to a bright red hat with the four-letter acronym that defined a presidential campaign, it seems that Merchandise Allows Giant Advantages; MAGA indeed.
So while the presidential candidates continue to duke it out through speeches, rallies, and debates, there is another constant underlying battle happening at the gift shops. Political merchandise has now become a crucial element in the United States’ presidential elections in terms of both fundraising revenue as well as brand awareness and reputation. In an election where everything rides on the candidate’s reputation, the logistics company outsourced by the campaign doesn’t just fulfill the orders, it also fulfills the promise of the candidate. Let’s dive into the role that merchandise plays in politics, and examine how nimble, outsourced logistics could be the defining competitive advantage in the upcoming election. So keep your eyes ON the merchandise!
Throughout recent elections, political marketing has produced a booming multibillion-dollar industry, so campaign managers have closely collaborated with their merchandise team to develop and distribute trinkets, tokens, gag gifts, and apparel as an impactful way to effectively communicate the candidate’s campaign message and brand reputation. Political merchandising and promotional products have seen a giant spike in recent elections due in large part to the marketing minds behind the Donald J Trump presidential campaign, who was able to turn his patented “Make America Great Again” slogan into a $45 million market, reaping massive benefits for his campaign budget and influence.
During the 2020 election cycle, the Joe Biden Victory Fund and the Donald J Trump site each offer approved and sponsored political merchandise and promotional products, and all of the revenue from sales goes directly to fundraise for the political campaign. Conversely, websites like RedBubble and Etsy carry all types of items with the candidate’s name, likeness, and message; whether it is actually sponsored by the candidate remains unknown in many cases and the revenue from these products may or may not end up in the hands of the candidate. Such an example could be the Trump flag that boasts him with the muscular body of Rambo holding a massive rocket launcher.
Candidates have allowed these unauthorized third party sales to continue because it still propagates their message and grants them an extended reach, with the risk being that they could lose control of their message through decentralized distribution. However, in the 2016 election, Trump’s campaign began sending cease-and-desist letters to online retailers, providing a warning that the use of Trump’s name, likeness, and trademarked slogan is illegal infringements of a trademark. This year in 2020, that has not yet been the case.
One recent merchandise success story of the 2020 election stems from the famous fly that perched on Vice President Mike Pence’s silver spider web hair during the 2020 Vice Presidential debate. Before you could even utter “shoo fly” the Biden campaign was already selling “Truth Over Flies” fly swatters and the $10 knickknacks sold out by the next morning. A short three days later, bobbleheads of Pence with the fly sprung up as pre-orders by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame.
The battle of merchandised political messages is all about reach, speed, and fulfillment: where can you deliver your message, how quickly can it be delivered, and how confident are you in fulfilling that message? With that in mind, how the respective campaigns plan to fulfill their merchandising promises requires further speculation.
“After the Democratic National Convention, it’s only a matter of months for a candidate to identify a brand, reinforce it, and promote it before the general election,” says Bruce Newman, a marketing professor at DePaul University and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Political Marketing. And in the instance of Mike Pence and the fly swatter, it could boil down to a matter of hours. So how do campaigns ensure that they can fulfill their merchandising promises and uphold their ever so important reputation?
Looking into the Joe Biden Victory Fund page, the site advertises that it is administered through bumperactive.com, which is a company that specializes in custom logos and decals on promotional products. The Biden campaign has wholly outsourced the manufacturing and logistics of their political merchandise for the sake of speed and expertise. They advertise on their site that delivery is in 7-10 days and any problems should be addressed through bumberactive.com.
Comparing this to the Donald J Trump shop page, the site does not indicate a third-party distributor. Instead, all inquiries should be routed directly through shop.donaldtrump.com. What is no doubt a strategic move by the Trump campaign to keep this information concealed to avoid meddling, the Trump campaign understands that any hiccup in fulfillment could cost them dollars, but more importantly, votes. The Donald J Trump shop website also advertises similar delivery times of 7-10 days.
Beyond just delivery, the ability to source, price, manufacture, and ship an item quickly is a huge competitive advantage, as seen with the Biden Fly Swatters example. In a statement to CBS News, the merchandise director for the Biden campaign was quoted as saying, “We saw the internet and our supporters sharing a viral moment online, so our digital team came together on the fly to show that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will always choose truth over lies, science over fiction, and unity over division.”
With the goal of shipping quickly, the respective campaigns need to elect logistics companies that can be quick and nimble, and innovate on the fly (pun intended). Smart fulfillment companies like ShipHero allow e-commerce companies to source, pack, and ship quickly and to every corner of the United States. ShipHero boasts an average time to ship orders for new brands within as little as 3 days from signup. And through smart warehouses, state of the art technology, and innovations in transportation, ShipHero offers 2-day ground shipping reach for 98.4% of the contiguous US population. When deciding on a logistics solution, vote for speed, for reach, and for trustworthiness. Having a robust ecommerce order fulfillment solution is critical to the success of your business.For the 2020 US elections, please do your part and vote! — https://www.headcount.org
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The e-commerce industry has experienced unprecedented growth over the past decade and it shows no signs of slowing down. Research shows that e-commerce could account for $4.88 trillion in global retail revenue in 2021. But what factors are driving this change?
Today we’re going to be taking a look at the 2019 e-commerce trends that account for this massive growth and how you can utilize them for the benefit of your own business.
Let’s dig in...
An e-commerce business can live or die by its customer service strategy, and advancing technology continues to provide new ways to engage with and meet the needs of your customers. Chatbots, for example, are a new trend that enhance the customer experience with minimal cost when compared to traditional customer service teams.
If you’re unfamiliar, chatbots are live chat services that run via an algorithm. Think of it as a “if the customer says X, the chatbot says Y”. Statistics show that the majority of consumers find the greatest benefit of chatbots to be 24-service. While these automated chat services are still in their infancy, they still give e-commerce businesses the ability to scale certain aspects of their customer service department.
If you’re interested in integrating a chatbot into your store, there are hundreds of different services and chatbot use strategies, based on your e-commerce platform, to fit your needs.
Consumers want to receive their orders quickly, correctly, and at the best price possible. A tactic many e-commerce companies are starting to use is direct-to-consumer sales. This model eliminates middlemen such as wholesalers and retailers while building a closer relationship with the customer.
Studies show that 52% of consumers will go directly to a businesses website in order to purchase their products. Why? Much of the reason comes down to the relationship that businesses are able to create selling direct. All channels — from marketing to shipping — are consistent under the umbrella of the brand itself. Businesses in all industries are taking notice of the direct-to-consumer rise. Tesla cut out car dealers in order to sell direct to their customers, Nike is predicted to grow their direct sales to $16 billion in 2020 and, remarkably, 61% of wine sales in 2017 came from direct-to-consumer sales.
To succeed in direct-to-consumer sales you need a top-notch ecommerce fulfillment partner. ShipHero can help.
According to new research, over 35 million Americans used a voice-activated device at least once a month in 2017 – this number represents a nearly 130% increase over 2016. Smart home assistants and voice recognition systems are on the rise for various aspects of home automation, and 2019 will see a rise in the use of these systems for e-commerce. E-commerce giant Amazon is betting heavily on it. According to an Amazon press release, customers use of Alexa for shopping more than tripled this year compared to last year. The reasoning behind its growth is simple — consumers are looking to technology as a way of gaining back their time. Rather than having to click around in search of an item you’re out of, you can simply request it from Alexa in seconds. The algorithm will scour your past purchases to make a relevant product suggestion and after you confirm, the order is placed.
Integrated technology and analytics platforms such as Google Analytics provide e-commerce businesses with valuable data about the performance of their customer base, sales, and products. However, current analytics is almost exclusively used to show what has happened in the past and not what could happen in the future. The relatively new field of Predictive Analytics provides e-commerce businesses with a deeper understanding of customer habits and preferences by analyzing past data and using it to help increase conversion rates. The best current representation of predictive analytics in action would be the rise in product recommendation sections on e-commerce sites. These products are not random. More often than not, they are unique to the visitor based on viewing habits, past purchases, and more. As technology advances further, machine learning will allow for even greater predictability and e-commerce personalization.
Over the years, Amazon has become an e-commerce powerhouse. In 2018 they dominated the industry with record profits and often hover around the most valuable company in the world. In 2019, it is likely that Amazon will continue to dominate the market, which leaves smaller companies with just one option – to find new ways to remain competitive.
The goal is not to compete directly with Amazon but find ways to integrate it into your e-commerce model by using their marketplace for your own products or fill in the gaps that Amazon has. One of the best ways you can do this is by building a remarkable brand on your own platform. Amazon, while widely used, doesn’t have the ability to offer a fully cohesive brand because they sell products from other vendors. Think of it as the difference between your local grocery store and Trader Joe’s — which has a greater brand appeal? By selling your products direct, as mentioned above, you have the ability to create a more consistent brand experience, which allows for a stronger relationship between your business and the customer.
Each year, the supply chain for e-commerce businesses grow shorter. This no better visualized than in the meteoric rise of B2B marketplace, Alibaba. Today, all you need is an idea and some cash (or credit) to turn it into a reality. Don’t have access to investment capital? You can still bring your idea to market with sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The middlemen and third-party distribution channels, are starting to fade away as the need for their services becomes obsolete.
Though there are still situations where cash is king, e-commerce platforms will always rely on digital payment platforms. However, the type of digital payment will begin to shift.
As mobile traffic accounts for nearly half of global web traffic, it is estimated that global mobile payment revenue will rise from $450 billion in 2015 to over $1 trillion in 2019.As an e-commerce business, review your analytics to see where your traffic and conversions are coming from. Are you seeing an upward trend in mobile visits? Consider implementing Apple Pay and Android Pay to allow for seamless payment. Remember this: Consumers are more likely to convert when there are less steps to completing a purchase.
Over the past few years, subscription boxes like Dollar Shave Club have become extremely popular. While this realm of e-commerce began with the intention of delivering highly used consumer goods (e.g. meal delivery boxes) they have expanded to include almost every industry imaginable — from coffee to clothing. From 2014 to 2017, the subscription box market has grown by an incredible 890%. This growth is due to two factors. First, businesses are looking for every way possible to increase customer lifetime value by turning products into services. Second, customers are looking to receive highly-used products on a regular basis without having to put extra effort or thought into the purchase.
In recent years, social media has become the number one channel for e-commerce businesses to grow and develop their brand. This, in turn, has led to an increase in sales. According to data from BigCommerce, online stores that have a social presence have 32% more sales on average than stores that don’t. Why is this? It comes down to the ability to build a relatable brand that stays top of mind. Also consider that organic social costs are relatively minor in the world of digital marketing and yet they play the biggest factor in building a relationship with customers.
Social media platforms like Instagram already provide excellent opportunities for brands to convert followers to customers, and we’ll continue to see this as a major trend for 2019. Research shows that 80% of Instagram users already follow at least one business and 60% use Instagram to find new products. Furthermore, 75% of those who use the platform to find new products end up engaging further with the brands they discover. To put this trend to work for your business, upload your product catalog to Facebook. This will allow you to “tag” posts with products that will lead followers (Facebook and Instagram) back to the page on your site where they can make a purchase.
One of the downsides of shopping online versus in a brick-and-mortar store is that you can’t physically try the product before you buy. One way online retailers have started to bypass this hurdle is by incorporating mixed reality technologies into their e-commerce platform. For example, IKEA’s Place app makes it possible for customers to catch an augmented reality-powered glimpse into what the products would look like in their own homes. Though AR and VR technology isn’t a perfect fit for every e-commerce industry, it could help some retailers stand out from their competitors. To best analyze whether your business could benefit from augmented reality, ask yourself the following questions…
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, consider integrating augmented reality into the future of your e-commerce store. With e-commerce giants like Shopify investing in it for their customers, it’s becoming easier than ever to integrate into your own site.
According to recent research, nearly 4 billion individuals (just over half the world's population) can now be classified as “middle class”. Of that number, almost 9 in 10 of the next billion middle-class consumers will be Asian. With more money comes more purchasing power. Though expanding into international markets has its fair share of challenges, it does present a gigantic opportunity for some companies.
If you’re considering expanding into international markets, understand how you can properly serve this newly evolving Asian middle class. To put this opportunity into perspective, consider that research shows the middle class markets in China will account for $14.1 trillion and India will account for $12.3 trillion in 2030.
In the end, a successful e-commerce business is one that provides a valuable product or service and creates an overall satisfying customer experience (from interacting with the brand to using the product). Don’t feel compelled to utilize all of these trends in the coming year. Rather, review these trends and start to think about the current state of your own business to understand what areas of your supply chain or marketing strategy provide the most potential for growth.
In the vastly competitive world of e-commerce, it can be a challenge to stand apart from the crowd. With limitless options available at their fingertips, consumers are always looking for the lowest price and the greatest value. As a business owner, you must walk the fine line between offering competitive prices and still keeping your head above water in terms of margins.
When it comes to grabbing the attention of consumers and converting them into paying customers, it is sometimes the little things that matter most. While most business owners understand the importance of branding, marketing, and advertising when it comes to improving sales, many underestimate the true value of offering free shipping.
You may be surprised to learn that high shipping costs are attributed to an astounding 55% of abandoned carts. So, the answer is clear — offer free shipping, and the sales will come, right? Well, it’s not that simple.
Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of offering free shipping and how to effectively make it work for your business without going bankrupt.
One of the greatest benefits of shopping online is that it is incredibly easy to compare prices. Amazon, Jet, and even Google want to show you the highest rated products, at the lowest prices, with the least expensive (or free) shipping options. With so much competition out there, e-commerce stores need to find ways to convert visitors into paying customers and to keep those customers coming back.
That’s where free shipping comes in.Free shipping is a huge benefit for customers, and it is often the deciding factor between one site and another. Though shipping is free for the customer, however, they are not free for the merchant, and those costs can add up quickly. That’s why you see so many websites offering free shipping for a minimum spending amount – the sale of those add-on items helps the company recoup the costs associated with shipping the order.
To give you an idea of just how powerful offering free shipping can be, consider recent research that showed 58% of shoppers will add additional items to their cart in order to qualify for free shipping at a set dollar amount. Not only that but shoppers will also spend 9.4 percent more when they need to meet a free-shipping minimum. So, while you may still be eating the cost of shipping yourself, by using free shipping strategically, you’re able to generate more revenue from it.
The question any e-commerce business owner wants to know is, “Does free shipping really work?” The benefits for the customer are obvious, but how do you actually make it work for your business without dipping into your margins too much? The first step in answering this question is learning about the psychology behind free shipping.
First and foremost, it must be mentioned that free shipping is rapidly becoming the norm. Consumers are less likely to think of it as an option and more likely to think of it as a staple. Everyone from giant online retailers like Zappos and Wayfair to department stores and small businesses have begun to offer free shipping. For many of those companies, free shipping is only available for customers who meet a spending minimum but, for others, all orders ship free.
What’s the psychology behind the free shipping strategy? It all comes down to the consumers perceived value of shipping. Prior to purchasing, a customer determines the overall value of their purchase by performing quick subconscious math, weighing the costs and benefits associated with buying the product. If shipping ends up being too expensive for an item that we could just as easily get at a nearby store, the math doesn’t add up and the cart is abandoned.
Another reason why free shipping is so powerful has less to do with the shipping part and more to do with free part. According to Dan Ariely, Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, people change their behavioral patterns when something free comes along. In his book, “Predictably Irrational”, Ariely gives us a real-world example of the power of free in action. When Amazon introduced free shipping on some of its European sites, the number of orders increased dramatically. However, not in France. That is because instead of being reduced to zero, the shipping price in France was reduced to only 1 franc (about 10¢ USD). Yet this minor cost was enough to prevent a jump in sales.
Though free shipping is everywhere, companies use this tactic in various ways. Here are some of the different free shipping techniques you’ll typically see in action:
Every e-commerce store is different, so the free shipping policy you select will be unique to your company. You’ll need to find the right strategy that keeps your customers happy, that drives sales, and that helps you recoup the costs for offering the program.
Though the idea behind free shipping is sound, it isn’t fool-proof. There will certainly be times when the customer simply isn’t interested in adding more items to their cart to qualify for the discount. There are also cases where the additional revenue from those add-ons doesn’t actually cover the cost of shipping. Additionally, and most importantly, free shipping may fail to work if the consumer isn’t in the right phase of the buying cycle.
The buying cycle begins when the consumer becomes aware of a need that must be filled. Next, the consumer considers ways (products) to meet that need and starts to assess the pros and cons of different options. Eventually, the consumer settles on a particular product and makes the purchase. Free shipping comes into play during the final stage of this process – the purchase. If the consumer isn’t ready to make a purchase, the lure of free shipping may not be enough to close the sale.
On the other hand, when free shipping DOES work, it provides several benefits. Here is a quick summary of the potential benefits free shipping has to offer for e-commerce business:
Free shipping is a tool e-commerce businesses can use to increase conversion rates and keep customers coming back, but it is not a perfect system. Keep reading to understand how to make it work for your shop.
If implemented properly, free shipping could make a big difference for your business. You’ll need to design a free shipping policy that suits your business and ensures that you recoup the costs of shipping on most orders.
Here are some simple steps to follow when designing a free shipping policy for your business:
Any of these free shipping strategies might work for your business, but you’ll have to take the time to choose the right one. To give you an idea what these strategies look like in action, here are some statistics from companies that have successfully implementing a free shipping strategy:
As you can see, there are many ways to work free shipping into your business plan. It may take some work to find the right tactic, but it is definitely worth implementing.
Now that you have a better understanding of the psychology behind free shipping and the benefits of offering it to your customers, you may be wondering where to start. Here are some simple tips to help you implement a free shipping strategy for your online business:
Though including free shipping on your e-commerce store has the potential to increase sales and customer loyalty, it might not be right for your business at this time. If your profit margins are already low, for example, adding free shipping to the mix may cut your profits even more or negate them entirely.
Free shipping is an excellent marketing tool that has led to incredible benefits for many e-commerce businesses. Before you tack on a free shipping policy for your own business, however, you need to weigh the pros and cons – you also need to think practically about whether it will work and how to implement a free shipping policy.
When considering a free shipping policy, there are three questions you need to answer:
Answering these questions will help set you on the right path toward determining whether free shipping could be a beneficial tool for your company. If you decide that it is, take the time to choose the best policy and follow the tips you’ve received here to start implementing your policy.
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