Weekend reading: 26th March

We’re just a week away from Easter weekend, and with lockdown restrictions (hopefully) starting to lift, customers are spending in preparation. Don’t miss out on this sales opportunity – predictions are that clothing, outdoor and home and garden goods will be big sellers over the next few weeks.

This week we’re talking about how the Amazon marketplace is getting more crowded than ever, the importance of a great returns process, customer confidence in new online payment methods and innovative new ways to make sales from the Chinese market, as well as observing the trend for big name brands creating smaller format stores on the high street.

The latest from us

We’re excited and proud to announce our partnership with BigCommerce! As part of this partnership, we’re offering a massive three months of BigCommerce, absolutely free when you sign up through our link. As one of the world’s biggest eCommerce website builders, this offer – combined with products from Avasam, naturally – is an incredible, risk-free way to launch that new business idea you’ve been wondering about. Ready to get started? Sign up here.

Did you notice the update to our website this week? We’ve been working on those changes for a while, and we’re pleased to get the new pages live. We’re still tinkering with the last few edits, so bear with us if you spot something amiss.

We’re sponsoring the Linnworks Users group on Facebook at the moment, which is a pretty busy community – if you’re using Linnworks, you’ll definitely want to be a member, and if you’re considering switching to Linnworks, it is a great source of information. Join the group here.

The weekend reads

Are you considering whether selling on Amazon is really worth it for your business? Well, considering there has been 3734 new sellers signing up every single day on Amazon so far in 2021, then it might not be surprising that retailers are considering their options. Whether you decide to create your own website, or to add OnBuy to your marketplace strategy, it has never been more important to diversify your sales channels – as well as your inventory.

We realised how important the returns process is for retail success, which is why we did a massive overhaul to automate returns to Avasam suppliers in our January update. But in many businesses, returns get neglected in favour of spending time on marketing and selling more – which makes sense, but a great returns process can be something that will help encourage customers to buy from you, rather than a competitor. Read more reasons about why you should consider your returns policy here.

Want to get ahead by using tech in innovative ways to promote your business? Look to China. Where Chinese innovation leads, the rest of the world often follows – so find out more about what is happening now to start implementing these methods in your business sooner than your competitors.

New research shows that there has been an increase in the number of customers in the UK that are confident using new payment methods online. If you’re building a new website – perhaps you’re taking advantage of our BigCommerce offer – then it is well worth considering which payment options you offer your customers.

We’ve heard a lot about the demise of the high street, and with several big names departing the high street already this year, there has been much discussion about what can be done. It looks like small format stores could be the way ahead, as major brands start to explore different uses of space. John Lewis is closing many of their larger stores in favour of mini shops in Waitrose stores, garden centre business Dobbies has successfully trialled the ‘Little Dobbies’ format in Edinburgh, and are opening in Bristol shortly, while IKEA has plans to open a small format store in downtown Toronto, which if successful we can definitely see as being a winner in the UK too. If you’ve been considering launching a high street store, there are definitely some lessons here.

Dates for your diary

It isn’t too late to sign up for the Trustpilot Virtual Masterclass on Wednesday 31st March – and with topics to be covered including Trust, reviews and the role they play in customer acquisition and retention and Changes in consumers’ relationship with retail: why trust is needed at every stage of the buyer journey as well as Why eCommerce is now a priority for all brands, we think it is one not to be missed.

The Retail Connected event is taking place between 26-30th April, with an incredible agenda put together by Retail Week, Retail Week Live, Be Inspired and World Retail Congress. Check out who is going to be speaking, and sign up for free here.

Tamebay have announced a huge week of workshops and masterclasses that should not be missed. Sponsored by eBay, the event includes more than 25 hours of learning and training opportunities from some amazing speakers, and best of all it is completely free to register. The event is taking place from Monday 17th May, and you can sign up here.