Weekend reading: 15th October

It has been another busy week for us here at Avasam, and since Quarter Four is well under way now, we’re sure you’ve been busy too! With that in mind, we’ll keep this short and sweet, and wish all who are celebrating a very happy and prosperous Dussehra.

This week on the reads, we’re talking about how customers are shopping differently this year, discussing the big hits of the year, how to spot future hits based on cultural phenomena like Squid Game, reminding you about sustainability, and sharing the latest social media eCommerce functionality to be released.

The latest from us

We’ve recently partnered with SaleYee in order to give sellers access to products at wholesale prices from China – but that are here in the UK in their 16 UK distribution centres. Essentially, it is China DropShipping, without the challenges of DropShipping from China!

On Wednesday 27th October, at 4pm (UK) and Mustafa and Matthew will be in discussion with Zoe from SaleYee, and they’ll be discussing product trends, best selling products, and the lines that have plenty of stock, so you can be certain your customers are happy. Register for your place here.

We published a new blog post this week about social entrepreneurship and how you can use DropShipping to do good things in the world. If you’re considering setting up a new business, why not make it one that you can feel good about?

The weekend reads

With all those supply chain issues, you’ve probably realised that customers are shopping for Christmas early this year – they’re not hanging on for Black Friday the way they normally do. That means you need to make your festive offerings available sooner than later. If you’re not quite prepared, our Black Friday picks (with up to 50% off selected lines) will give you a helping hand, and this article from our partners at BigCommerce has holiday email marketing tips.

You know the most popular items in your inventory – after all, you read the data pretty regularly. But what has been the defining products over the past 12 months for the wider industry, you might wonder. John Lewis published their report for the year this week, and it makes for pretty interesting reading – and they have made some interesting links with events and increases in sales, is useful to help you predict the next big hit.

Talking of the next big hit, have you seen the recent Netflix hit Squid Game? There’s been an interesting observation that Netflix had minimal offerings on its merch website – and many other retailers didn’t react quickly enough to the demand for Squid Game costumes either. After two weeks, there were only listings for the tracksuits on Amazon. Although it is hard to know exactly what will work, if you’re DropShipping, or using print on demand, you’ll be able to react to customer demand quickly and stop as it drops off. Read more here.

Sustainability needs to be on your agenda with the COP26 climate event on 31st October, and even Amazon getting in on making it easier for customers to find environmentally friendly products, you know it isn’t going away. We’re working to increase the number of sustainable products on the catalogue, from our supplier of sustainable packaging, and sustainable food containers from our suppliers Zume.

The latest social media to start rolling out eCommerce functionality? Twitter. They’re aiming to double their revenue by the end of next year, and they’re making changes to their algorithm to help improve advert targeting. If your target customers are likely to be Twitter users, then you’ll need to be prepared – find out more here.

Dates for your diary

First up, if you haven’t already, put 4pm on Wednesday 27th October on your calendar for our webinar with SaleYee, and sign up to secure your spot here.

If you’re considering taking your business international in 2022, then you’ll want to sign up for Avalara Inspire Virtual 2021. Taking place on the 20th-21st of October running from 1:00pm – 4:30pm, guest speakers include BBC Dragon Theo Paphitis and ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ Portas amongst many others. Places are limited, so sign up here.

Ecomworld is taking place online on 15th-16th November. With speakers from all the big players, and more than 8,000 brands in attendance, there’s going to be something for everyone in the industry. Get your ticket here.