#55 The Least Boring Weekly Newsletter

Jan 19

Good Morning readers!🌞

Have you started planning for Valentine's day? Or is it too early?

Two of the world's most powerful e-commerce companies are teaming forces. JD.com, a major Chinese online retailer, has struck a strategic alliance with Shopify, to assist global businesses to harness China's massive market for imported goods, as well as enabling Chinese merchants to sell internationally. 🤯

They've simplified cross-border selling for Shopify merchants in the United States, allowing them to sell on one of China's most popular eCommerce platforms.

Almund's newsletter will let you in on all kinds of tips for D2C brands and much much more.

Alright, so let's get right to it!

This newsletter is going to dive into :

🌏 Why subscriptions are a major 2022 direct-to-consumer opportunity

👌 Headless Commerce - How To Get Your Business Ready For The Revolution?

🙎 BRAND of the week - Mars

📜 Top reads for this week

👩🏻‍💼 Plenty of jobs awaiting you!

So, scroll down already to THE VERY END & read up on what's yet to come your way!

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WHAT’S COOKING, HUH?

Why subscriptions are a major 2022 direct-to-consumer opportunity

Advertising isn't going away anytime soon (It shouldn't), but a direct-to-consumer strategy may generate revenue just as well as digital advertising.

Consumer demand, revenue diversification, and increased friction between walled gardens and the open web 🕸 are all factors that subscriptions help to address. More choice, control over their experiences, convenience, and value are all things that customers desire. (The desire never ends)

They're also prepared to pay for it. This trend has been going for a few years and has escalated in the previous 18 months, reflected in both media consumption and physical product experiences online.💻

Subscriptions provide an additional revenue stream for incremental growth. However, both streams have enough to go around. You may also reduce consumer acquisition costs and keep operating costs down by using the ecosystem through partnerships.

The advantages of a subscription model are both immediate and long-term. Building a subscriber base, especially one with long-term retention, will undoubtedly take time. Early adopters and the most devoted members of your user base, on the other hand, can generate sales and revenue growth as early as the first year.

It's critical for any content owner who wants to build a strong subscription business to create a subs team and operation. It necessitates a far stronger focus on data analytics, partner and product marketing, and acquisition strategies. You already know what you require, so go for it.🥳

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Live selling: The next big thing for eCommerce businesses

Live Video commerce is the latest trend that’s taking over the entire eCommerce world, with the medium garnering attention from major brands and audiences alike. The industry is expected to hit $184 billion by 2027.

What exactly is live selling?

Live video commerce, or simply live selling, combines the elements of online shopping and live streaming. Remember QVC from the good ol’ days? It’s pretty much similar to that except it’s 10x more engaging and has conversion rates up to 12 percent.

Sellers can present their products through the stream, answer questions in real-time, and encourage viewers to buy products. It helps provide the brand experience and instill confidence in the purchasers regarding fit, quality, and authenticity.

The psychology behind live selling

It also taps into the shoppers’ FOMO with its element of immediacy. It takes the “limited time only” to the next level. Imagine you see the limited quantity available; others are commenting they want to purchase the product. The clock is ticking as the host moves on to display the next item. Fueled by this urgency, “anticipated regret” kicks in and their brain goes from view-only mode to I-want-this-now mode. The live sale accelerates the purchasing decision, with emotions driving it rather than rationale.

How can you get started with live selling?

The whole concept of live selling used to be a tedious, error-prone, manual process. Brands have to sift through comments on their Facebook live streams and manually send out invoices. There’s also a chance that the buyer is no longer interested in the product anymore. This is no longer the case with tools like Vajro.

If you want to get started with live selling but are not sure how to go about it, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a free ebook that will take you from beginner to expert in no time.

Download your ebook now

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Headless Commerce - How To Get Your Business Ready For The Revolution?

Buckle up cause we’re picking up where we left off!

In the last edition, we learned what headless commerce is and how your business can benefit from this strategy in the coming years. So this weekend, let’s keep things light and casual to learn if your business can transform to implement this model.

Why Is It The Next Big Step?

With industry trends constantly changing, innovation sure has seen no bounds. Thankfully, headless commerce is here to the rescue. Here’s why we think headless architecture will be the next big thing.

#1 The pandemic changed us for good

The pandemic taught every biz-owner that every platform has the potential to acquire customers. The user lifecycle is now richer than ever and will continue to do so. And with headless commerce, you can meet them where they stand, thus, making your business stand out.

#2 Need for accessibility

With the headless architecture, you can rest assured that your business is and will remain to be incredibly accessible to your team. With the no- or minimal-code backend structure, adapting to a new feature or for a global trend would be easier than ever.

#3 Virtual pop-up stores are on the rise!

Virtual pop-up stores are indeed the new thing with the latest one opening up in Singapore courtesy to L’Oréal-owned beauty brand Lancôme. This was possible owing to the headless architecture which helps provide innovative solutions at a multitude of touchpoints.

Most developers aren’t designers and vice versa. But thanks to the headless architecture, they don’t need to hold back due to each others’ limitations. With this architecture, developers get various tools and APIs to build brand-focused, user-centric experiences across channels while design teams focus on optimizing the user experience to improve customer engagement.

It’s promising indeed, we can tell you that! But before you know how to adopt this model, pause to think if you’re actually ready to take this next step.

Are You Ready?

84% of companies that are venturing out into the headless space are only at the beginner or intermediate stages. Transitioning into headless will require immense digital skill from your organization.

While platforms exist that can help you get front-end or back-end as a service, it is completely up to you to avail yourself a mix of these services. You can work on your front-end internally and outsource the back-end completely or vice versa. This depends entirely on your organization’s skill set and digital efficiency and literacy.

Do You Really Need To Shift?

While it is easy to feel like your business needs to adopt the new headless architecture, at times it is wiser to hit the brakes for a minute. Think of your long-term business goals and plans. How would you like it to pan out? What services do you see yourself offering in the years to come? How much room for flexibility would you like to leave? All this can often either alter your decision to make this shift or send you into a full-throttle.

If you're contemplating the transition, try asking the big questions.

👉🏼 Is Omni-channel marketing right for you?

Smart appliances, VR, kiosks, smartwatches, phones, and many other devices are now available for you to target. But is that strategy going to benefit your business? Ask yourself this before jumping into the headless bandwagon.

👉🏼 Do you need a specific service?

Adopting headless architecture is intimidating. Hence, it’s better to know what you need beforehand. If you’re a business that relies on interactive front-end design, hiring a service for a headless front-end can help in providing a customized experience. However, if you’re not one for it, you could easily make do by hiring a service for a headless back-end for your business.

👉🏼 Are you digitally ready? Seriously, are you?

Going headless is serious business. With a lot of room for innovation and flexibility, there are a lot of opportunities for your business to reach newer heights. So, with a decision this significant, it’s better to pause, learn more about the architecture, reevaluate your business goals, and make changes to your infrastructure accordingly. After all, you know what’s best for your business.

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BRAND OF THE WEEK is…

MARS

Mars, Inc. is a multinational American manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products, as well as a provider of animal care services. Forbes ranked it as the sixth-largest privately held company in the United States. 🍫

In a $1 billion deal, Mars will acquire the Nom Nom pet food brand. In a bid to acquire pet-related assets, consumer goods giant Mars Inc. has agreed to buy direct-to-consumer pet-food brand Nom Nom.😋

According to a statement released by Mars on Friday, Nom Nom, situated in Nashville, Tennessee, will be an independent brand inside the Royal Canin division.🐶

Pet ownership increased during the pandemic, and millennials and Generation Z spend more on pets🐱, therefore consumer goods companies have been tapping into the increasing pet industry. Despite recent dips, Chewy Inc. shares have more than doubled since the online pet-supply retailer's $1.02 billion initial public offering in 2019.

Nom Nom is a science-forward technology company that improves the lives of pets by providing fresh food for cats and dogs. It also distributes fresh, whole-ingredient pet foods on its website, which have been authorized by pet nutritionists. Not done yet, It also provides pet treats and nutrients. (What better than this?) It’s a win-win for both.