Following the recent news that ChannelGrabber has been acquired by our parent company Cloud Commerce Pro, we’d like to welcome ChannelGrabber clients into the family.

The merger grants you the same close connections with Cloud Seller Pro enjoyed by Cloud Commerce Pro customers. We’d love to help you build your audience and reach new customers through targeted marketing.

Paid Search at the Right Price

If you’re already selling on Amazon or Google Shopping, you already know what a powerful tool paid advertising can be – when it’s done right. But managing paid search advertising and maintaining a low cost per sale can be a full-time job – especially if you’re having to teach yourself as you go.

Cloud Seller Pro offers you a fully managed service backed by over two decades’ experience with eCommerce and digital marketing – and by our proprietary algorithm. Developing that automated bid management system is what put us on the map as Google Premier Partners.

Of course, the key is the interaction between the two. Even the best designed algorithms in digital marketing benefit from experts watching the results and checking for improvements regularly.

That’s what gives Cloud Seller Pro customers the edge, and it’s one of the two biggest reasons to turn to us for your paid digital marketing.

The other? Well, we’re the only UK service which only charges for results. This unique pricing model means we’re not interested in driving up your spend unless it more than pays for itself.

We only charge for the sales we generate, and we know you want the best value for your spend. That makes improving your return on ad spend (ROAS) an essential part of our work.

The Cloud Seller Pro Partner Program

We want to help our clients grow. Supported by Cloud Commerce Pro or ChannelGrabber, you have the tools to build big businesses across multiple sales channels and even in multiple countries.

You just need to make the sales. And that’s where Cloud Seller Pro becomes your ace in the hole. We created the Cloud Seller Pro Partner Program for customers who already – or who our calculations show can – sell £10,000 or more per month.

The Program is designed to help those businesses blow through that goal, achieving sales of $50,000 per month, then £100,000 per month, and more.

By increasing your sales reach we allow you to accelerate the process of building your return customer base. We also introduce your product to customers who might never have known about it. Working together with you, we can help you achieve higher sales, much faster.

We’re standing by to help you make 2020 your best year yet.

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 Cloud Seller Pro Welcomes ChannelGrabber Clients appeared first on CSP Commerce.

• Zalando Customer Reach Skyrockets Over Q1 2019
• Facebook Group Pushes to Compete with Amazon on Sales
• Amazon Set Up New UK Fulfilment Centre
• DPD Goes Environmentally Conscious with eBike Delivery
• Argos AR App: The Shape of Things to Come

Zalando Customer Reach Skyrockets Over Q1

Many customers hadn’t heard of German fashion marketplace Zalando until very recently – but an aggressive growth strategy is paying off, and with it, some major numbers are being reported.

Zalando reports a growth in active customers to 27.2 million, an increase of over 14%. But the website visits value has increased by more than double that – 29.5%. With sales growing steadily, planting them securely over £1bn per quarter, the marketplace is firing on all cylinders.

Their growth strategy involves strong pushes into wider markets, with heavy investment in encouraging return customers. Zalando’s Partner Program, coupled with its expansion of Zalando Plus in Germany, have played major parts in this success.

With many UK firms looking to add another sales channel in 2019, fashion firms should keep Zalando on their horizon.

Facebook Group Pushes to Compete with Amazon on Sales

Facebook’s annual developer conference F8 took place midweek. During the event, Mark Zuckerberg presented a blueprint to expand in-app sales for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, directly challenging Amazon’s retail dominance.

Customers will be able to browse, order, and pay for items while still in Facebook group apps.

Instagram will be rolling out the ability to tag products for instant purchase from its top influencers down. At first, it’s only going to be names like Kim Kardashian with this ability – but the brand and its influencers are synonymous, and this program is likely to expand fast if it’s successful.

WhatsApp Business, meanwhile, is adding wider support for smaller businesses. The stated end-goal is that a small business should be able to thrive on WhatsApp with no need for a website. How close that’ll come to reality remains to be seen.

Facebook Marketplace will receive enhanced support, with support for couriers and shipping. Sellers will also be able to provide live broadcasts demonstrating their products.

Each of these are small steps, but they signal a clear intention to expand into online marketplaces in the future. Each of them can be cancelled easily or expanded quickly to capitalise on demand, making them very smart first moves.

Amazon Set Up New UK Fulfilment Centre

Kegworth, in the East Midlands, has been announced as the site of the 19^th Amazon fulfilment centre in the UK. With the Rugby site also in development, that puts Amazon on track to add two new major centres during 2019.

Quite when Kegworth will be up and running isn’t clear yet, but with the number of Amazon Sellers on Fulfilment by Amazon increasing by 70% last year, the demand for storage space – and for a wider distribution of allocated stock – is only going to grow.

The new centre is expected to create 500 jobs for the local economy, giving a sense of its size.

DPD Goes Environmentally Conscious with eBike Delivery

Electric Assisted Vehicles (EAV) have developed a lightweight, four-wheel ‘e-cargo bike’ for DPD. These bikes were revealed at Oxford’s eBike summit, and are currently in the prototype stage. Production models are expected to start rolling out in June.

Starting in July, they’ll be in use at DPD’s London parcel depot, which is already all-electric.

DPD is pushing hard to become carbon neutral in the UK, and hopes to dominate city centre delivery with these bikes.

So what are these bikes like? Initial reports put them at a metre wide and two metres long, weighing only 75kg with a 250 watt motor. A modular design means they can be reconfigured to accommodate unusual parcel deliveries.

“Our aim is to be the most responsible city centre delivery company, which means neutralising our carbon footprint and developing smarter, cleaner and more sustainable parcel delivery services,” said Dwain McDonald, DPD CEO.

For online retailers looking to prove their own eco-friendly credentials, DPD’s move may make them more attractive as a service.

Argos AR App: The Shape of Things to Come

Why do so many customers drive out of their way to IKEA rather than go through the Argos catalogue at home? Argos believe a major reason is that pictures on the page or screen don’t give you a sense of how it would fit in your home.

A new viewing mode in the Argos app changes all that. Many items now have a hexagon icon next to them, meaning they’ve been scanned for augmented reality (AR) display. From there, selecting ‘View in Your Room’, users can see the item projected into their room, to scale, on the screen.

So far, this upgrade to the app is only live on iOS, but we expect rollout for Android in the near future.

Another new feature, Visual Search, allows you to upload a photo of an item you’d want to buy and let Argos try to find it for you.

Is this the shape of things to come? In the home and garden market, it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t be. Given a few more advances, we could see this becoming a killer app for the fashion market, too.

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: 27 April – 3 May 2019 appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Hi,

We are writing to confirm we have resumed ordering from your account following a temporary pause. We apologise for any inconvenience.

We note that you are not yet enrolled in Brand Registry. We prefer to source products directly from brand owners, so enrollment in Brand Registry will be important for vendors going forward.

By registering in Brand Registry, our systems will be able to automatically issue Purchase Orders for your branded products as needed. Given this is new, we will continue ordering from your Vendor Account for the next 60 days to give you time to enroll in Brand Registry.

If you are a brand owner, you can enroll in Brand Registry here

If you are not a brand owner, we encourage you to consider selling your products directly to customers in our store via Seller Central. If you do not already have a Seller Central account, you can get started by registering here

If you have any questions, please reach out to Vendor Support through Vendor Central

Thank you,

Amazon Vendor Central

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 “Vendor Purge” Email appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Over the past week, Amazon has been addressing everything from Amazon Vendors to Fulfilment by Amazon. There seems to be a common thread, though – CRaP products. CRaP is internal Amazon jargon. It stands for Can’t Realise a Profit. CRaP products are items they recognise the demand for, but which they can’t produce a good return on.

What Makes a CRaP Product?

Most CRaP products have a low profit margin, a low cost, and some factor making them expensive to sell; they’re bulky, awkward to wrap, awkward to store, or some combination of the three. That makes for increased warehousing cost per unit. It can also mean delivery issues if the area’s already near capacity.

Standout CRaP products include paper towels (bulky and inexpensive) and bottled water or cleaning liquids (bulky and potential problems if damaged in storage or shipping).

But Amazon benefits from larger orders which include items like these, even if they cause their own problems and often have to be packaged separately.

Solutions to CRaP

Amazon are either trialling multiple solutions or adopting more than one outright. In some cases, Amazon is working with the manufacturers to ship direct from the manufacturer (cutting out warehousing costs and relying on their logistics packages to minimise extra shipping complications.)

But Amazon is also working with other brands to drive packaging redesigns to make online selling more profitable – ideally, what they now call Tier 1 Packaging. Formerly known as Frustration Free Packaging, this is a packaging level that just needs a shipping label to ship – and, additionally, is fully recyclable.

CRaP products which aren’t being handled with either of these solutions run the risk of being abandoned by Amazon – sold only by Amazon Sellers. This isn’t great news for any Amazon Vendor who offers a CRaP product as part of their line.

Lastly, they’re incentivising a change – according to Forbes, as of September 1, 2019, they’ll be introducing extra charges per product to manufacturers whose packaging doesn’t measure up. Brands that improve ahead of time will receive a credit for each product.

Amazon always test these initiatives in one country before expanding them, so take some time to consider your product packaging before it rolls out for the UK.

Why Does This Matter to You?

A recent report from GlobalData puts Amazon’s market share into terms we can easily understand: Almost 52% of Brits place at least one Amazon order per month. Over 2018, Amazon and its third-party marketplace accounted for 4.9% of all British retail spend. (That’s both online and off!)

Based on its growth to date, GlobalData predicts that 8% of all UK retail spend will be on Amazon by 2023.

Whether you’re an Amazon Seller or you focus on other channels, what Amazon does matters to your bottom line, and will for years to come. When word comes out that entire classes of product exist where the giant of online retail can’t realise a profit on them, it’s worth taking a look at your own product lineup.

What products are CRaP for you? Do you benefit from having them for other reasons? Could eCommerce friendly packaging help your bottom line?

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: CRaP Product Policy Changes appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Could higher taxes for online retailers be the solution to the woes of the British high street?

Looking to the Future

A new government report addresses the future of the British high street retail sector. It makes sweeping recommendations to support high street retailers against the perceived threat of online retail outlets.

Among its recommendations: higher taxes on online retailers like our clients.

Tax Concerns

The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government Select Committee recommendations include business rates relief on investments. However, it’s thought that increased taxes elsewhere are more likely in the current economic climate.

Figures provided by the British Retail Consortium say retail “accounts for 5% of the economy… 10% of all business tax and… 25% of the UK’s Business Rates bill.”

Leading industry figures criticise the Business Rates system, which has barely changed since the Local Government Finance Act of 1990.

What’s the Big Picture?

Business rates are a primary funding source for local governments. Councils presiding over failing businesses have access to much less funding than before. This is one reason the failure of the High Street is seen as a serious concern.

Under the current business rates system, investing in the property results in increased rates, which incentivises retailers not to invest in further growth.

At the same time, the convenience of eCommerce makes online retail a viable alternative, with multi-channel management software like Cloud Commerce Pro allowing any online business to easily sell through multiple channels. Addressing their advantages with higher tax rates might help the high street, or it might only slow a continued decline while hurting modernised British retailers.

As yet, the recommendations are just that. It may be some time before the report is acted on. But rising taxes reduce your margins. Now is the time to drive for more sales and a large, stable customer base.

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 New Report Recommends Higher Taxes for Online Retailers appeared first on CSP Commerce.

Retail Giant Looks to Improve Customer Confidence

-In a bid to prevent fraudulent Amazon Sellers from setting up multiple accounts or simply registering a new Seller account once shut down, the online retail firm is adding an unusual new requirement to signup; five seconds of video from the camera on the device they’re using.

The identification process is already very in-depth, and the company’s penalty for failing verification is stringent; there are no re-applications.

The story came to light when an anonymous Amazon Seller in Vietnam asked what the purpose of the video might be on a Facebook group for Amazon Sellers. He reports he was not given the chance to refuse to submit the video. He also cannot find the video in his Seller profile and has found no way to remove it.

Speaking in response to MailOnline, an Amazon spokesperson said: “We always experiment with new ways to verify the information Sellers provide us in order to protect our store from bad actors. Seller identification information is securely stored and used only for identity verification.”

Evolving Recognition Technology

Amazon’s Rekognition technology, designed for facial recognition, is one of the bigger names in the growing market at the moment. The company also owns several patents on uses for the technology, including a patent for using facial recognition to verify online ordering, with the customer being asked to wink, smile, or similar facial expressions to confirm identity.

It has not yet been confirmed that Rekognition is the technology being used, but the company is already supplying Rekognition to US law enforcement agencies in Oregon and Florida.

Given the current conversation about learning algorithms needing wider data pools to learn from, this may also represent a chance for Amazon to significantly improve Rekognition’s performance.

A group of Amazon shareholders, organised by the corporate accountability non-profit Open Mic, filed an open letter requesting that Rekognition not be sold to government agencies, saying these sales “represent considerable risk for the company and investors.”

Amazon’s General Manager of Artificial Intelligence, Dr Matt Wood, argues “the evidence of the positive impact this new technology can provide is strong (and growing by the week), and we’re excited to continue to support our customers in its responsible use.”

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 Amazon Cracks Down on Seller Fraud appeared first on CSP Commerce.