Staying ahead of ecommerce marketplaces is an ever-important task for thriving businesses. In the UK, Amazon and eBay both dominate this sector, although most would think it’s only the former platform. On average, eBay acquires 298 million views in website traffic each month. This makes up 73% of Amazon’s monthly traffic. So how can businesses take advantage of eBay’s competitive edge and reach even more customers? To accelerate sales, eBay promoted listings advanced may just be the solution.

What are eBay Promoted Listings?

eBay promoted listings is a powerful advertising tool on eBay’s platform which allows businesses and sellers to improve the visibility of their products across search results and category pages. This tool is similar to other pay-per-click tools on other platforms where businesses can bid to promote their product pages and only pay when potential buyers click on these promoted listings. A great thing to note is that sellers only pay for clicks that result in a purchase within a 30-day window.

With a certain type of promoted listing, sellers can choose specific items in their inventory that  they wish to promote (not all products are eligible) and set an ad rate, paying eBay a percentage of the sale price when a buyer clicks and makes a purchase. These promoted listings will then appear with a “promoted” label in prominent positions, increasing visibility to buyers. All of these ads and campaign activity can then be monitored and managed via the eBay seller dashboard. 

Now, this sounds pretty simple at first. However, eBay actually offers three tiers or versions of this promoted listings tool. Understandably, one size doesn’t fit all, and different sellers may be looking to achieve slightly different outcomes from the use of the feature. 

The three tiers of eBay promoted listings are express, standard and advanced. Throughout this blog, we’ll be guiding you specifically on the benefits, costs and key considerations of using eBay promoted listings advanced. However, it’s also good to have a brief overview and understanding of the differences between the 3 versions of the tool. 

eBay Promoted Listings: The Difference between Express, Standard and Advanced

eBay Promoted Listings Express

Promoted Listings Express is a basic version of the advertising tool, designed for sellers seeking simplicity and ease of use. With Express, eBay automatically selects listings to promote based on its algorithms, making it a hands-off approach for sellers. While suitable for beginners, experienced sellers might prefer more control over their ad campaigns

eBay Promoted Listings Standard

On the other hand, Promoted Listings Standard allows sellers to handpick specific listings they want to promote. This level of control empowers sellers to optimise their ad campaigns based on their insights and performance data. Standard is essentially a slight step up from Express, offering more customisation options for sellers.

eBay Promoted Listings Advanced:

Promoted Listings Advanced is the pinnacle of eBay’s advertising solution. With this level, sellers gain access to additional features such as customised ad rates, more comprehensive analytics, and advanced targeting options. This level is ideal for experienced sellers who want to maximise their advertising strategies and stay ahead of the competition.

This quick breakdown of the different versions of eBay’s promoted listing solutions should give you a good idea of what each package has to offer for your business. For larger businesses, looking to really scale and grow their performance on eBay, the advanced version is a no-brainer, especially for businesses with a decent amount of experience selling on eBay. However, if the differences between the versions haven’t quite convinced you, here are 4 key reasons to opt for eBay Promoted Listings Advanced:

Advantages of Promoted Listings Advanced:

1. Promoted Listings Advanced offers businesses a higher level of customisation compared to the standard and express versions. This means sellers can fine-tune their advertising campaigns such as targeting, bidding, promotion duration and more. This effectively allows sellers to utilise this tool in a way that aligns their advertising strategy more specifically with business goals and marketing objectives. For example, rather than relying on eBay’s algorithm to promote listings, sellers can assign which products to promote or adjust their bids for products based on seasonality, popularity or business goals.
2. The advanced version of the tool offers sellers more comprehensive and detailed insights into the performance of their promoted listings. Sellers can access data-driven metrics and analytics, including impressions, click-through rates, conversion rates, and more. This detailed performance data enables sellers to make informed decisions about their advertising strategies, identify top-performing keywords or products, and optimise their listings for maximum exposure and effectiveness.
3. eBay Promoted Listings Advanced also offers targeting capabilities that go beyond what’s available in the standard and express versions. Sellers can target specific audiences based on demographics, shopping behaviour, location, and other relevant criteria. This sophisticated targeting ensures that sellers’ products are displayed to the most relevant and potential customers, increasing the likelihood of conversions and sales.
4. The most important feature of the advanced version of eBay’s promoted listings tool, is the ability to create a stronger competitive edge by leveraging the advanced features available. According to Webinterpret, eBay’s promoted listings have shown to increase product page visits by 60-70%. This, coupled with the ability to customise bidding, targeting strategies and access in-depth analytics, allows sellers to optimise their campaigns more competitively. Standing out from competitors through targeted and data-driven advertising can be a game changer for sellers looking to expand and drive business growth in a saturated marketplace. 

How Much Does it Cost to Use eBay Promoted Listings Advanced?

Much like any other pay-per-click model or platform, the cost of using eBay’s promoted listings feature will depend on several factors, including competition in your niche/industry, keyword popularity, targeting and bid strategy.  

One of the primary factors influencing the cost is the level of competition in your niche. If your product category has many sellers vying for visibility, the bidding competition can drive up the cost per click. It’s worth being intuitive and creative in the way you position your product listings to be discovered by your ideal customers. If your industry is saturated, consider providing as much product detail as possible in your product listings. For example, think about using location-based search terms to drive local sales. This may be effective for certain businesses which have location-based customers such as eBay customers who are Manchester based looking to buy football club merchandise or memorabilia. 

Another significant factor that affects the cost is your business bidding strategy. While your campaigns will only cost when someone clicks on your promoted listing, it’s important to remember that sellers can set the percentage of the final sale price they are willing to pay as a fee to eBay when a buyer clicks on their promoted listing. The higher the bid, the more likely your listing will be displayed prominently, but it also means a higher cost per click. 

It’s crucial to set a budget that aligns with your business goals and carefully monitor your campaigns to avoid overspending. By being strategic with bidding, monitoring performance closely, and adjusting your approach based on the data, you can make the most of eBay Promoted Listings Advanced while controlling costs and achieving your desired business outcomes.

How to Maximise Results on eBay Promoted Listings Advanced:

To make the most of eBay Promoted Listings Advanced and maximise results, businesses need to deploy a strategic approach to utilising all of its features. After all, they’re there for a reason. Here are 5 ways to improve performance:

Keyword Research 

Thorough keyword research is essential to discover the most relevant and widely used keywords by your customers to get them to convert on your product listings. On the other hand, you might want to conduct thorough keyword research to uncover long-tail keywords that competitors aren’t bidding on. Some great free keyword research tools include Google Keyword Planner; while this is primarily used for bidding on keywords for Google search campaigns, these keywords may also be relevant and translate to ecommerce platforms such as eBay. 

Alternatively, another free tool that can specifically generate keywords for the eBay platform is KeySearch. This tool uses eBay’s ‘auto-suggest algorithm combined with search volume data to find the most popular keywords for specific topics on eBay’. Not only can this be used for bidding on the eBay promoted listings advanced feature, it can also be used to optimise organic ebay listings for SEO.

A/B Testing

Experimenting with your ad formats, visuals and copy is another key way to improve the conversion rate of your promoted listings. By analysing the performance of various elements, you can establish the winning combination that resonates the most with your audience and gets them to click and convert on your promotions. 

Optimise Product Listings

On the internet, and definitely on ecommerce marketplaces, great products don’t just sell themselves. You need to ensure your products listings are optimised with high quality images and variations. Provide detail when writing product descriptions, not only highlighting features, but also benefits. A combination of this, and including relevant keywords, will not only increase the potential visibility of your products, but actually compel potential customers to make a purchase. 

Budget Allocation

While we’ve already touched on the importance of setting a reasonable budget for your campaigns, we can’t emphasise the importance enough. Due to the unique nature of eBay Promoted Listings Advanced, and the fact that you not only pay for a click but also a percentage share of purchase, budget allocation for your listings needs to be strategically set to ensure you’re increasing conversions and purchases, whilst still making a profit.

Be sure to calculate how much you can afford to spend on clicks, what percentage you can afford to share with eBay for purchases made, along with other costs affecting profit margin for your products, so the use of this advertising feature can be effective while controlling costs. 

On-going Monitoring

Last but not least, regularly monitoring the performance of your campaigns is vital to optimise performance. This is not an add-on to your organic listings which you can simply switch on and keep running to see the best results. You will need to track key metrics from your eBay dashboard, identify trends, insights and discrepancies in the performance of the campaigns, making data-driven adjustments where necessary, on an on-going basis. 

Work with CSP Commerce

eBay Promoted Listings Advanced is an indispensable tool for businesses who want to gain a competitive edge on a top 2 leading ecommerce marketplace. Its advanced features, customisable options, and robust analytics can significantly impact your success as an eBay business.  However, like any advertising strategy, it requires careful planning, monitoring, and optimisation to yield positive results. 

Partnering with CSP Commerce, an ecommerce consultancy agency specialising in eBay marketplace management, can provide you with the expertise and support you need to make the most of eBay Promoted Listings Advanced and achieve your business objectives.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platforms first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopify #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchesterecommerceagency

The post A Spotlight on eBay’s Promoted Listings Advanced appeared first on CSP Commerce.

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How can sellers increase listing success on Amazon? Beth Watson, our advertising and marketplace expert, gives us her three top tips.

Today, Amazon has over 281,000 sellers in the UK selling over  600 million products. It has become the go-to marketplace for practically all sellers and buyers. It also has the largest brand recognition and has become one of the most trusted platforms for ecommerce transactions. According to Cybercrew, 86% of people in the United Kingdom shop at Amazon. Despite having its own series of data breaches, these number less than those of competitors, meaning trust among users has remained high. So, with so much competition, how can sellers increase listing success on Amazon? Beth Watson, our advertising and marketplace expert, gives us her three top tips.

1. Get descriptive

Perhaps the best step you can take to get your listings higher on your customer’s page is being as descriptive as possible. Whether it’s weight, height or product colour, ensure that your product description and title is as detailed as possible before you list your item.

2. Ensure quality, and quantity

Ensuring that your products are listed with lots of quality photos is absolutely essential when ranking on Amazon. For Beth, this should be no less than 5. Ensure consistency across your profile and shoot with a neutral/white background. Remember, light is your friend! Other amazon photo tips include;
• Keep the image resolution high
• Pay attention to the product size
• Show different angles of the product
• Use a tripod or a steady surface
• Avoid placing additional items with the product.
Where possible, don’t be afraid to use video content to show your product in action.

3. Get on top of your A+ content

A+ content is a feature on Amazon that allows sellers to create enhanced, detailed product descriptions and images to showcase their products to potential customers. It is designed to help sellers increase the visibility and appeal of their products on Amazon, and to provide customers with more detailed and comprehensive information about the products they are considering purchasing. Creating quality A+ content that can address the queries and concerns of your customers is a great way to rank higher on Amazon. Use A+ content as much as possible, and try to produce A+ content for each of your products.

Learning From Industry Leaders: Missguided, a Manchester Fashion Ecommerce Brand

North West fashion brand, Missguided has achieved tremendous popularity since its inception, collaborating with top designers, renowned brands, and even a television show, leading to escalating demand challenges.

Expanding beyond fashion, Missguided entered the perfume market, distributing products through high-street retailers and primarily via Amazon.

The Amazon store aligns seamlessly with Missguided’s brand, extending its website’s “look” for a cohesive customer experience. It features user-friendly navigation with four main product categories: “Fragrance,” “Body Mists,” “Gift Sets,” and “Rollerballs.”

To optimize listing success on Amazon, Missguided employs top tips like clear and detailed product names, as seen in their best-seller “Babe Power” perfume. The product page includes comprehensive descriptions, clear photos of the product and packaging, and essential product details.

Missguided leverages A+ Content to enrich product pages with engaging facts that educate customers and reinforce the brand’s authority. This strategy drives higher rankings and increased sales compared to perfume competitors on Amazon.

Ready to learn more about creating a multichannel ecommerce presence?

To thrive in such a crowded market and capture consumers whose preference for multiple brand touchpoints is ever evolving, ecommerce businesses in 2023 must make the most of the advantages granted by a “multichannel” strategy. Download the Multichannel Manual to identify the channels integral for success. Focusing on DTC (Direct-to-Consumer), online traditional marketplaces and social media “modern marketplaces”, this guide breaks each channel down, analysing individual platforms, the advantages and challenges.

DOWNLOAD NOW

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Listing for Success on Amazon: Our Essential Tips appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Unlock more opportunities on Amazon Prime Day with our top tips.

In a flash, Amazon’s highly anticipated Amazon Prime Day is nearly upon us. With so many retailers striving for a multichannel presence, how much resource and investment should online retailers and brands allocate to the two-day shopping bonanza? We take time to speak with Cloud Seller Pro, a digital growth agency and Verified Amazon Partner, to understand the opportunity this can present for multichannel eCommerce businesses.

What is Prime Day?

One of the biggest shopping events of the year, Amazon Prime Day, is a two-day occasion for online retailers. For Amazon Prime members, the incentives are clear, with thousands of deals and discounts across multiple product categories, big-ticket items and gadgets available on Amazon. Much like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it has become a staple date for the perfect shopping spree with over 250 million items sold in 2021. For Amazon Sellers, who must offer discounted goods to feature, the opportunity might require some further consideration – as any discount can eat away at their precious margins. Yet with so many potential buyers, an increased number of products per order and store visits, there are some clever ways that Amazon Sellers can leverage the event.

So whether you are choosing to expand your presence on to Amazon or deciding how you should discount your products, we can help.

Creating the right kind of offer for Prime Day

So the first thing we would encourage you to remember is that Prime Day is all about customer savings. They’re seeking big discounts on items they need and want. For Amazon sellers, we would suggest selecting your highest margin products, products where you can upsell to encourage multibuys alongside other SKUs (Stock Keeping Units), or current best sellers. We’d recommend this because Prime Day is as much about creating long-term value as it is over short-term profit.  For example, if you are able to significantly increase the volume of sales, product reviews, product rankings and brand loyalty, then these short-term loss leaders may pay dividends with your sales in the long run.  You should keep a close eye on your competitor’s pricing strategies to ensure your offering is competitive but remains affordable for your business.

Key considerations for creating Amazon Ads on Prime Day?

During Amazon Prime Day a big factor is the cost of advertising and your budget. As there are 16 paid results and only 4 organic results on page one of Amazon the majority of listings now require a budget to appear.  You can set your Paid Ads up in three ways: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display.

Sponsored Products allow you to select which keyword, product or category you would like your product to be visible for. Your Ads will then appear in the search results and on product detail pages. Secondly, you can use Sponsored Brands, which also use a cost-per-click for Key Term and ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) targeting strategy. These methods help customers to discover your store and improve customer awareness by leveraging custom images and videos where available. Finally, Sponsored Display which launched in 2019 is one of the newer options available for advertisers on Amazon and already in 2022 29% of 3rd party sellers are using this targeting type. Sponsored Display targets Amazon users by their shopping behaviour and audience interests along with retargeting based on purchases and product detail page views. These particular ads target customers across Amazon but also on Amazon’s 3rd party websites and apps. We have a dedicated team who would be happy to explain this further and help you set up, optimise and manage your Amazon campaigns.

If you are going solo on Prime Day, we encourage you to pay close attention to your ad budget. With thousands of Amazon Sellers increasing their advertising budget to appear on page one the competition and costs tend to increase significantly. It can be costly to carry on using the same bidding strategy that you use on other days or seasons. Some sellers have even opted to completely disengage from the Paid Ads battle. Other Amazon Sellers have opted to narrow their campaign spending to a limited number of halo products. A few have reallocated their advertising spend to different channels, such as Facebook Advertising, to encourage cross-channel purchases. We’d always recommend testing out a couple of different PPC Strategies to see what works best. Be sure to utilise Amazon’s Attribution insights.

Creating A+ content on Amazon

Content goes hand in hand with your keyword research. You should ensure that your listing is informative and includes the desired keywords your product is aiming to rank for. Crafting great content could bump your listing into one of the 4 organic search results on page one.  Before making any big changes to your listings, content or headers you should take a look at your keyword selection and the performance of your current listings. Ideally, your keyword research should have been carried out before Prime Day. If you previously ran campaigns on Amazon export search terms that customers used to find your store. This can be used to update your product listings. If you’re just starting out or if you’d prefer to cross-check for any missed opportunities you can use Google Keyword Planner for general keyword research. An alternative approach would be to set up a new campaign specifically for Prime Day. Either of these methods will help to reveal specific trends relevant to Prime Day.

We would encourage you to include any new relevant search terms into your headers. One the subject of headers, although it might be tempting to reference Prime Day in headers, be aware this violates Amazon Prime Day and advertising policy. Instead, opt to use more general statements such as ‘Save on…’, ‘Discounts on..’ and ‘Great savings on…’.

Be sure to maximise every opportunity on Amazon Prime Day by optimising Product Details Page. Use Amazon Prime Day as an excuse to review your PDP for the following points:

• Make a product title that is easy to understand, relevant and clear.
• Include at least four high-resolution pictures that the viewer can enlarge to get a more detailed view of the product.
• On the item specification section of your product details page, you should include at least three bullet points.
• Check to make sure that your items are available and prepared for shipping.

Leveraging Social Media on Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day also presents an opportunity beyond Amazon stores. One clever tactic used by eCommerce businesses is to cross populate channels with content related to offers. Social Media can be particularly useful to build awareness of upcoming promotions to a larger audience at a lower cost. Our clients have seen fantastic results by using engagement campaigns across multiple social channels to increase traffic to promotion pages. This increases their conversion rates on high-interest events. Another tip worth mentioning is to reference a deal within your creatives. You can attract more attention to the content of your posts by including a reference to savings or an offer within your creative. Ultimately this can lead to an increased click-through rate from social media channels to your Amazon store. Just remember that direct references to Prime Day are exclusive to Amazon Sellers with an official Prime Deal running.

Prime Day presents Endless Opportunities

Prime Day is a huge event for many eCommerce brands and businesses. Identifying the best approach to the occasion without taking a substantial upfront cost can be challenging. A key takeaway from Prime Day is the event’s long-term benefits over short-term profits. With expert advice from Amazon experts, you can ensure that you navigate the best route for your business.

If you are looking to expand your presence on Amazon or wish to use paid advertising to grow your revenue streams then please reach out to Cloud Seller Pro. Cloud Seller Pro is always happy to have an open and honest conversion.

#ecommerce #multichannel #ordermanagementsoftware #ebay #amazon #woocommerce #integrateshopify #integrateebay #integrateamazon

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Primed and Ready: Are you ready for Amazon Prime Day? appeared first on CSP Commerce.

5 Reasons to Outsource your Ecommerce Marketing

Small business owners often wear several hats: HR, Recruitment, Marketing, Sales and so on. But you know the old saying about being a ‘Jack of all Trades and Master of None’ … There’s some truth to it!

What are the high value activities you should be focusing on and what could you be outsourcing?

Outsourcing some of your business operations is not without its risks or financial implications, but usually, when you hire an expert, you get access to skills and experience that are expensive to hire in-house. Here are five reasons you should consider hiring an expert and outsource Digital Marketing.

1. Specialist knowledge

Digital Marketing is a complicated business! Technology is constantly evolving. Remember the Nokia 6310 that was the bee’s knees when you got it? Well it wasn’t long before it was replaced with a newer, swankier model and your hot new technology suddenly became a thing of the past. It’s the same with Digital Marketing and keeping up with the latest advances across the many platforms takes a bit of work.

Marketing agencies know a thing or two about their industry. They live and breathe Marketing and their knowledge is unrivalled. Sometimes you just have to leave it to the experts!

2. Time savings

Is managing your company’s Marketing really the best use of your valuable time? Business owners often spend much of their day focusing on the operational and financial aspects of their business. After all, you might have great Marketing but if you don’t get the products out the door or ensure that revenue is collected, then what’s the point?

Getting bogged down by the intricacies of managing your Google, Amazon or other online ads can be distracting and take your attention away from more urgent matters. Ultimately this approach can end up costing your business more than an agency’s fees!

3. Ecommerce agencies succeed when you succeed

Marketing agencies offer varying pricing structures, from retainers to project-specific fees, to commission-based arrangements. Some agencies operate on a commission basis and only receive payment if your business does well. So, their success is entirely dependent on yours.

A set percentage commission structure is the simplest way to ensure that you only pay for successful outcomes. This ‘shared success’ style arrangement gives you the peace of mind that the agency has your business’ best interests at heart, not just their own.

Because performance based pricing models such as these do not incur a fixed cost, campaigns can grow or shrink according to the business requirements. While you may wonder why anyone would want to reduce or pause a campaign that is working well, consider how some businesses have grown significantly over the covid pandemic, forcing them to temporarily reduce sales while stock is replenished or backlogs of orders are cleared. A flexible model allows you to reduce or increase spend, and consequently, demand for your products, at times when the market peaks or dips, giving you full control over your costs and allowing you to control the demand for your products.

4. Ecommerce agencies have extensive experience

Any agency worth its salt has a team with years of experience under its belt. Can you honestly say the same for yourself? Rather than floundering around with systems which you aren’t familiar with, or muddling through because you think you’re saving yourself a few quid, remember that there are experts with substantial experience who can do all of that, and more, in a fraction of the time it will take you to do it yourself. Not only does it save you time, but it will be better quality and more cost-effective for your business.

5. Ecommerce agencies have other benefits

Ecommerce Agencies have access to all manner of skills, technologies and software which the average businesses could never justify purchasing themselves. While these programmes might not be cost-effective for an individual business to use, as an agency customer you can benefit from them without the associated subscription fees!

From specialist analytical software to copywriting talent, to industry insights and competitor research tools, agencies offer so much more than just ‘Marketing Management’. And you won’t get any of these benefits from the DIY approach.

So, if you’re struggling with your online Marketing, you’re using an agency that isn’t quite cutting the mustard, or you haven’t even started yet, why not have a call with one of our experts to discuss how Cloud Seller Pro’s service could benefit your business.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Partner your way to success! appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Small business owners often wear several hats: HR, Recruitment, Marketing, Sales and so on. But you know the old saying about being a Jack of all trades and master of none? Sometimes it’s true!

Outsourcing some of your business operations is not without its risks or financial implications, but usually, when you hire an expert, you get a top notch service. Here are five reasons you should consider hiring an expert for your digital advertising.

1. Specialist Knowledge

Digital advertising is a complicated business! Technology is constantly evolving. Remember the Nokia 6310 that was the bee’s knees when you got it? Well it wasn’t long before it was replaced with a newer, swankier model and your hot new technology suddenly became a thing of the past. It’s the same with digital advertising and keeping up with the latest advances across the many platforms takes a bit of work.

Advertising agencies know a thing or two about their industry. They live and breathe advertising and their knowledge is unrivaled. Sometimes you just have to leave it to the experts!

2. Time Savings

Is managing your company’s advertising really the best use of your valuable time? Business owners often spend much of their day focusing on the operational and financial aspects of their business. After all, you might have great advertising but if you don’t get the products out the door or ensure that revenue is collected, then what’s the point?

Getting bogged down by the intricacies of managing your Google, Amazon or other online ads can be distracting and take your attention away from more urgent matters. Ultimately this approach can end up costing your business more than an agency’s fees!

3. Ecommerce Agencies succeed when you succeed

Advertising agencies offer varying pricing structures, from retainers to project-specific fees to commission-based arrangements. Agencies operate on a commission basis and only receive payment if your business does well. So, their success is entirely dependent on yours.

A set percentage commission structure is the simplest way to ensure that you only pay for successful outcomes. This ‘no win no fee’ style arrangement gives you the peace of mind that the agency has your business’ best interests at heart, not their own.

Because performanced based pricing models such as these do not incur a fixed cost, campaigns can grow or shrink according to the business requirements. While you may wonder why anyone would want to reduce or pause a campaign that is working well, consider how some businesses have grown significantly over the covid pandemic, forcing them to temporarily reduce sales while stock is replenished or backlogs of orders are cleared. A flexible model allows you to reduce or increase spend, and consequently, demand for your products, at times when the market peaks or dips, giving you full control over your costs and allowing you to control the demand for your products.

4. Agencies have extensive experience

Any agency worth its salt has a team with years of experience under its belt. Can you honestly say the same for yourself? Rather than floundering around with systems which you aren’t familiar with, or muddling through because you think you’re saving yourself a few quid, remember that there are experts with substantial experience who can do all of that, and more, in a fraction of the time it will take you to do it yourself. Not only does it save you time, but it will be better quality advertising and more cost-effective for your business.

5. Digital Ecommerce Agencies have other benefits

Agencies have access to all manner of skills, technologies and software which the average businesses could never justify purchasing themselves. While these programmes might not be cost-effective for an individual business to use, as an agency customer you can benefit from them without the associated subscription fees!

From specialist analytical software to copywriting talent, to industry insights and competitor research tools, agencies offer so much more than just ‘advertising management’. And you won’t get any of these benefits from the DIY approach.

So, if you’re struggling with your online advertising, you’re using an agency that isn’t quite cutting the mustard, or you haven’t even started yet, why not have a call with one of our experts to discuss how Cloud Seller Pro’s payment by results service could benefit your business.

With Cloud Seller Pro, there is no contract, no set-up fee, no minimum spend and your ads could be live in just 7 days!

Call 01524 230 251 or get in touch via our website.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post 5 Reasons to outsource your Digital Advertising appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Today in the round-up:

• Amazon Cuts Promotion for Own Brands
• Changes in ‘Refund Culture’; PayPal Change Terms
• In-App Shopping Comes to Instagram
• Probe into Online Reviews
• Google Launches ‘Cloud for Retail’
• Amazon Out of China

Own Brand Promotion Reduced on Amazon

Amazon Basics. Amazon Essentials. Amazon Fresh. Wickedly Prime. Amazon Elements.

Believe it or not, these five are only a few of Amazon’s own brands. In fact, there are 24 brands in total which trade exclusively on Amazon itself. They’re a mixture of private labels owned by Amazon and external companies supplying specific, exclusive product versions for Amazon users only.

Traditionally these brands have been featured highly on search pages and on related product detail pages. Now, the Amazon Own Brand listings are placed lower – and there are fewer of them, too.

Speculation on why this would be has divided into two camps. On one side, people point to recent calls for Amazon to be broken up, or the antitrust proceedings in Italy, and even India’s law preventing Amazon from selling brands they part-own on their marketplace. The argument goes that Amazon wants to look as little like unfair competition as possible.

The other camp look at Jeff Bezos’ 2018 letter to shareholders. Specifically, this part:

“Third-party sales have grown from 3% of the total to 58%. To put it bluntly:

Third-party sellers are kicking our first party butt. Badly.”

This theory says that Amazon are preparing to step back from selling products in favour of building up their Amazon Sellers, cutting down on their own needs to source and maintain products. Some people also point to the reduction in CRaP promotion as further evidence for this.

PayPal Updates User Agreement

With ‘refund culture’ a major topic of discussion at the moment, PayPal have announced their User Agreement in the United States will update on May 7^th. The primary change revolves an update to how refunds are handled.

“We’re changing how we treat refunds. If you refund (partially or fully) a transaction to a buyer or a donation to a donor, there are no fees to make the refund, but the fees you originally paid as the seller will not be returned to you.”

It used to be that US customers requesting refunds would only forfeit the $0.30 flat fee, but not the percentage of the full payment PayPal also charges. Now, that percentage will be retained.

This policy is only present in the US so far, but it seems likely that it’s being tested before it’s rolled out more widely. For many online retailers, especially in high-return industries, this news may call for future planning.

In-App Purchases Come to Instagram

Instagram users in the US can make purchases without being directed to another website. Retailers can now set up orders to “Checkout on Instagram,” allowing them to choose size, colour and pay without leaving Instagram.

How quickly this will roll out more widely likely depends on how well customers respond to the trial.

Probe into Online Reviews Continues

Which? magazine is continuing its investigation into fake reviews on Amazon. We looked in detail at their current report earlier this week.

Since then, BBC’s online reporters have looked into the other side of the question – who’s writing these fake reviews? “I think it’s bad – but I think everyone’s doing it,” says one semi-professional writer of fake reviews.

They also turned the spotlight onto fake reviews outside Amazon. One Yorkshire company has chosen not to use review websites at all, saying “When new websites pop up, they might suddenly have 200 or so reviews… we know they have only been going since last month.”

Rather than appear on review sites with far fewer reviews, they’ve chosen not to participate.

The BBC also looked into ‘brushing’ – a strange twist where sellers send unpurchased goods to Amazon customers, set up an account for them, and post reviews of their own products. Amazon customers who receive multiple unusual ‘gift’ orders are often victims of brushing.

Google Launches ‘Cloud for Retail’

Designed to take on Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud for Retail will offer retailers cloud-based tools for key jobs:

• Logistics
• Customer Acquisition
• Visual Product Search
• Inventory Management
• eCommerce Hosting
• Retail AI Systems

It’s not yet clear what form the ‘retail AI’ will take. It’s understood that it will begin as a retooling of Google’s existing AI services. Google have also said their hosting service is intended to prevent slowdown or crashing during major shopping events. Any retailer whose servers have gone down during Black Friday knows how important that can be!

Amazon Scraps Chinese Operations

After a brisk period of competition with Alibaba and JD.com, Amazon has announced it will be shutting down amazon.cn and will no longer support Amazon sellers based in China, with a focus instead on selling across borders into China. The theory goes that they may be outperformed on China’s domestic products, but the Chinese import market is more in their favour.

Amazon.cn had a Chinese market share of around 15% for some years, but recent competition has reduced their share to below 1%.

“We’ve seen very strong response from Chinese customers. Their demand for high-quality, authentic goods from around the world continues to grow rapidly, and given our global presence, Amazon is well-positioned to serve them.”, an Amazon spokesman said while announcing the move.

The shutdown will take place on July 18^th.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Weekly eCommerce News Round-Up: 13-19 April 2019 appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Two weeks ago, Amazon stopped buying from its Vendors. The change was abrupt and had no warning – one day, the weekly purchase order just wasn’t there for tens of thousands of Vendors.

A week later, many of these Vendors were reinstated. However, not only did some not return, but Amazon has pushed those who were reinstated to start selling directly or sign up to the Brand Registry program.

You can see the email here.

A lot of speculation surrounded the two events, and it’s only now that a clearer picture is really starting to emerge.

What’s really surprising about this is that Amazon Vendors are all invited by the company. It seems that some businesses that used to meet the online giant’s standards no longer do.

So, what happened, and what does this mean for your business, Vendor or not?

Inside the Vendor Purge

Amazon Vendors have traditionally occupied a lofty perch in the online retailer’s hierarchy. Vendors are Amazon’s chosen suppliers for the products it sells itself; every week, they issue a purchase order for new stock of their products based on how that product is selling.

Vendors are (or should be) trusted partners. They offer the product Amazon wants to sell at the best price/quality/quantity combination. Not only that, but Vendor products are reliable sellers – or the company doesn’t give you that status.

Two weeks ago, companies in their thousands lost that status, some temporarily, others not.

At first, it looked like this was just like their recent shift in policy on CRaP products. In other words: Amazon was cracking down on Vendor lines that don’t have a high enough margin to remain vendors.

But if that was all there’s something a little strange about the way they’ve handled this. After all, Amazon’s response to products in CRaP packaging was a deadline. Solve the problem before the deadline, get a reward. Fail to do so, deal with a penalty.

Instead, the ‘Purge’ came out of nowhere, with no warning and no communication.

A week later, when communication resumed, we began to get a clearer picture of the motivations behind this, when Amazon reached out to some of the Vendors affected.

Amazon calls the sudden halt to orders a “temporary pause” and has been encouraging the Vendors it contacted to sign up to Brand Registry. These are the Vendors it’s interested in keeping on the store – those which aren’t causing problems with counterfeit goods.

And, in keeping with the company’s carrot-and-stick techniques, Vendors have been given 60 days to enrol.

Without Brand Registry membership, Vendors will no longer be able to expect automatic weekly purchase orders from Amazon. Instead, the online giant suggests you turn to Seller Central.

Brand Registry

Brand Registry is a specific service only available if you prove you’re authorised to sell a specific brand’s products. You can qualify for Brand Registry as the brand owner or as a licensee. The Registry was designed to give brand owners protection against counterfeit products.

It’s probably no coincidence that Amazon has recently announced Project Zero, an anti-counterfeit-goods initiative available only to Vendors in Brand Registry.

Project Zero provides automated tools for finding imitations of your logos and trademarks. It even gives registered brands the authority to remove unauthorised sellers on their own.

Counterfeit goods have been a thorn in the side of Amazon customer services for years. They’ve been steadily implementing more and more measures to cut down on counterfeiters, including a new facial recognition requirement for Amazon Sellers.

Solution: Brand Owning Vendors

If you’re currently an Amazon Vendor and you’ve already joined (or can join) the Brand Registry, that’s obviously the best solution.

Expect competition for your products to be somewhat reduced. Your sales and on-Amazon marketing will still be handled by the company.

All the same, we don’t recommend treating it as if nothing has changed; Project Zero gives you powerful tools to crack down on counterfeits of your products. Use it regularly – but keep your hand light; if Vendors are found to be abusing the tools they’ve been given, that means less control in the future.

Solution: Other Vendors

If the Brand Registry isn’t an option for you but you are an Amazon Vendor, I’m afraid we have some bad news.

Brand Registry looks set to become a requirement for Vendors. (“We prefer to source products directly from brand owners, so enrolment in Brand Registry will be important for vendors going forward,” Amazon told affected Vendors.)

Vendors who can’t register should be brushing up on what’s involved in managing a Seller account as well as handling order management, either directly or through Fulfilment by Amazon.

Solution: Amazon Sellers

While ‘solution’ may not be the right word, Amazon Sellers should still keep the ‘purge’ in mind for two reasons:

• You can expect more competition from former Vendors moving into Seller Central
• Vendors’ access to Project Zero may affect any products you sell for which you aren’t also registered

It’s difficult to predict how much of a factor the first one will be, but the second could cause problems if you might face counterfeiting accusations.

This includes Sellers using Fulfilment by Amazon who allow co-mingling of their products with other Sellers marketing the same product. With co-mingling, a counterfeit item may be sent out in your name from the shared stock, even though a different Seller supplied it.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post The Full Story: Amazon’s “Vendor Purge” appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Months after Amazon’s market value broke the trillion-dollar barrier, immediately after a record performance for the holiday period, the firm has forecast reduced growth this quarter.

Investor concerns have led to Amazon’s share price dropping by almost 5% during after-hours trading on the 31^st. The price dropped from 1750 to a low of 1623.90 over two and a half hours, before stabilising at 1635 overnight.

Why?

Amazon cited currency exchange rates working against them as one reason growth forecasts are now down. Industry analysts have also pointed to Amazon’s stated plan to increase investment spending through 2019, as well as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ divorce last month from his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie.

It’s believed that there is no prenuptial agreement in place, meaning that many investors are now waiting to see whether this will affect ownership in Amazon or whether MacKenzie, who helped to promote Amazon during its early years, will want to take a seat on the board.

Others have pointed to industry-specific legislations being brought in by various countries. India’s new e-commerce rules, designed to protect small businesses, came into effect today and have forced Amazon to remove a wide selection of products from its Indian storefront.

The new legislation prevents online retailers from selling products made by companies they own or part-own. For Amazon, this affects its homegrown Echo, Presto, and Amazon Basics brands – but also clothing from the Shopper’s Stop department store chain.

Amazon’s investment in Indian e-commerce represents £4.2bn, an investment which will now have lower returns than it might have otherwise.

In January, a German court ruled that the Amazon Dash line of one-click purchase buttons violate consumer law, and the company has been ordered to stop servicing orders from German Dash users.

Amazon is appealing the judgement, but this represents another uncertainty for investors in Amazon.

What’s Next?

While Amazon’s sales may be approaching a plateau, that’s not certain yet. Certainly this is the lowest growth projection for three years, but one quarter of reduced growth doesn’t rule out a strong recovery down the line, especially as the company is strongly diversified into many industries.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provided 2/3 of the firm’s profit last quarter, with a sales increase over the quarter of 45%. Amazon’s recent overhaul of its paid advertising services, Amazon Advertising, has also paid dividends, with advertising revenue up by 95%.

If these trends continue, we may not think of Amazon as the world’s largest retail company for much longer, as other services rise to overtake retail sales.

For a managed service that can help you build your share of Amazon’s retail sales, consider Cloud Seller Pro.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post AmazonWatch: Slow Growth Forecasted appeared first on CSP Commerce.

With less than three weeks to go before Valentine’s Day, we’re approaching the perfect point to launch your romance-driven paid search campaign.

February often sees an increase in Amazon Sponsored Ads and Google Shopping advertising budgets for just that reason – browsers are more likely than ever to convert to customers, so your potential return on investment is much higher.

But are you ready to go?

Valentine’s Search Patterns

Right now, millions the world over are just beginning their browsing for Valentine’s Day presents and plans. Their customer journey practically hasn’t started yet, and many of the queries will be very broad – but people do their research at different rates. Orders will start to be placed and purchasing rises to much higher levels.

By the 4^th – ten days before – final decisions are being made by the thousands, and romantic purchasing starts to rise to a peak. If your business benefits from romance, you’ll want your paid ads to be in place or you risk being buried under the competition.

The absolute peak comes one week later, on the 11^th – although you’ll still see higher orders than usual until the 14th, when the last panicked ‘I forgot’ and ‘my first choice was delivered late’ purchases will be made.

(Fast-responding Amazon sellers with products available on Prime stand to take advantage of the last-minute panic on the 13^th. If you’re ready to pack and ship on a Sunday, expect a busy, profitable day!)

A Commerce Calendar

Valentine’s Day is one of the most important dates on the ‘commerce calendar’. Your paid ads should always be ready to take any special dates into account, launching or increasing campaigns to cash in on the opportunity.

If you’re not sure you’re prepared for them, why not check in with Cloud Seller Pro? Our expert team will be happy to prepare you for these big events and support your sales through the rest of the year.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.

We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.

We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.

If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,

1 New Quay Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

M3 4BN.

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Now is the Time: Valentine’s Day & Paid Ad Campaigns appeared first on CSP Commerce.