Weekend reading: 28 May

We’ve made it to yet another bank holiday weekend, and – we’ll say it quietly – but the weather forecast is actually looking OK for this one! We hope you get to spend some time outdoors, and make the most of a restful three day weekend.

This week on the reads, we’re talking about the importance of brand values, why a great returns policy is an essential, Amazon Fashion’s latest initiative, why sustainable packaging is a must-have, and the latest evidence that social commerce is here to stay.

The latest from us

To celebrate our new integration, this week we launched our newest partnership with Wish, bringing Avasam sellers even more value. If you’ve not thought about selling on Wish, then now is the time – we’ve created a special offer for our sellers that means you can make sales on Wish by paying just 5% fees for three months. This saves you 10% on the usual rates! You can sign up for the offer here. If you’re still not convinced, we published a blog post this week about why it is a great sales channel – you can read that here.

We brought yet more products to the catalogue this week – with a supplier of watches of outstanding quality (GB010090 on the catalogue) and some fabulous new products from existing suppliers. Log in to check out our newest products!

The weekend reads

Do you make your brand values known to your customer? If not, it is definitely time to start. Customers in both the UK and the US are more open to marketing from businesses that are open about their values, which means that you’re more likely to be successful if you share your stance on social and political issues. Find out what else can influence customers here.

We already knew the power of a great returns policy when we implemented automation for returns and refunds for Avasam users. This week, pay later service Klarna published new research that showed how a massive 84% of customers would refuse to use a retailer again after a bad returns experience. With this in mind, it could be time to review your policy to be more appealing to customers!

Are you a fashion retailer? You’ll definitely want to know about Amazon Fashion’s newest section, the Local Label Hub. This area of Amazon will feature a selection of designers and brands, presenting opportunities for sellers with unique items. Find out more here.

Talking of Amazon, they are currently under pressure to reveal their plastic footprint, despite reducing their outbound packaging by a third since 2015. Where Amazon leads, the rest of the industry tends to follow – and we’ve talked about the importance of sustainable packaging before. If you’re solely DropShipping, you may not think this is relevant to you, but we can guarantee that sustainable packaging is going to be a bigger seller than ever – so make the most by adding sustainable packaging to your inventory.

Still unconvinced about the power of social commerce, or think it is a fad? Well, TikTok increased shopping on the platform by a massive 553% over the last 12 month, Instagram shopping is up by 189%, and Facebook by 160%. Find out more about how social commerce is driving eCommerce here.

Dates for your diary

We know that the summer months are busy for all of us, whether that’s because we’re getting out and squeezing as much fun out of the sunny days as we can, or because having children at home from school makes things more tricky! So this week, we’re featuring some events you’ll want to plan ahead for.

Taking place on 7th July, eTailing Summit is a highly focused event that brings together digital and eCommerce managers. Held in person at the Hilton London Canary Wharf, there are virtual attendance options available if you’re not quite ready to attend in person.

eBay Open Online is taking place between August 4-6. While the agenda is yet to be released, we think this is likely to present plenty of expert advice that will help you to boost your business on eBay even further. Read more here, and sign up on the eBay Open Online registration page here.

Looking further ahead, the eCommerce Expo is taking place on September 29-30th, both in person and online, so you can choose to take part however you are most comfortable (or whichever is most convenient!). Since this is right before the lucrative quarter four kicks off, you won’t want to miss it. Find out more and register your interest here.