Hey there! Welcome to CartHustle, the ecommerce newsletter that’s as good as the ‘cha-ching’ sound of a cash register.
Your order this week:
eCommerce tool of the week 🪛
e-commerce search to help you find the right product quickly
Black Friday deals are coming to Amazon
67% eCommerce fall short on website performance standards
UK pet owners expect e-commerce spending to increase
Singles Day in China faces challenges
eCommerce Book of the Week 📚
eCommerce Tool of the Week
(not a sponsor just a tool we like)
Mixpanel helps companies measure what matters, make decisions fast, and build better customer experiences through data.
Deft is building e-commerce search to help you find the right product quickly
E-commerce search startup Deft has unveiled a new search function allowing image-based queries instead of relying solely on text descriptions.
Founded in 2019 by Alex Gunnarson, the company aims to improve users’ product searches to avoid mismatched results and subpar listings. Deft’s platform allows detailed search queries like “wooden lamps under $400” or image uploads directly pasted into the search bar.
The startup has raised $1.8 million from investors and is focusing on furnishing and home decor searches but plans to expand to various categories.
Deft is yet to integrate Amazon listings due to perceived inaccuracies and junk entries. It’s shifting from ad-based revenue to subscription models, offering enhanced search customization and personal shopping services.
Facing stiff competition from established players like Amazon and Google, as well as startups like Objective, Deft aims to distinguish itself with a unique knowledge graph for products.
However, industry experts emphasize the challenge in building user loyalty within a fiercely competitive market, highlighting the necessity for compelling value propositions to sway users toward Deft’s platform.
Here’s when Black Friday deals will arrive at Amazon
Amazon’s Black Friday deals will be kicking off earlier than the official holiday this year, commencing on November 17 and continuing through Cyber Monday from November 25 to 27.
he e-commerce giant has announced a myriad of discounts, including up to 70% off on Amazon devices, 50% off select IT Cosmetics products, up to 33% off Le Creuset cookware, and more.
The deals extend into Cyber Monday, offering sales on various items like kitchen appliances, fashion, beauty, and more.
Notably, the retailer will introduce exclusive invite-only deals for Prime members and special offers for Amazon Store Card and Prime Visa credit cardholders.
Prime members can access exclusive deals starting November 13, while those selected will receive notifications from November 19 to 22 on purchase instructions.
Additionally, new Amazon Store Card sign-ups will receive a $100 gift card instantly upon approval from November 21 to 27, and new Prime Visa sign-ups will be rewarded with a $200 gift card instantly upon approval from November 17 to December 2.
67% of UK’s leading e-commerce giants fall short on website performance standards
Leading European cloud and managed hosting services provider vshosting~ has unveiled a performance gap in the UK’s e-commerce landscape.
Their Retail Readiness Report compares vital web metrics between the largest e-commerce entities and the fastest-growing businesses, revealing a significant discrepancy that could affect conversion rates due to slower web loading speeds.
The report shows that 67% of major e-commerce retailers in the UK are falling short on loading speeds, potentially leading to a 16% lower e-commerce conversion rate compared to faster-growing businesses.
While large e-commerce entities excel in certain growth areas and customer service technologies, the report underscores their lag in critical technological advancements, such as IPv6 adoption and Content Delivery Networks (CDN).
Damir Špoljarič, vshosting~’s CEO, emphasized the necessity of robust web performance for e-commerce success, highlighting the need for the fastest-growing retailers to adopt infrastructure upgrades.
vshosting~’s recent UK launch with a local data center in Portsmouth aligns with the company’s significant growth, aiming to bolster its presence in the UK market and enhance e-commerce technological support in the region.
Founded in 2006, vshosting~ serves over 35,000 businesses and remains committed to delivering reliable web hosting solutions.
Survey: UK pet owners expect e-commerce spending to increase
Whistl, a UK e-commerce logistics company, disclosed from its “eCommerce Consumer Research” survey that pet owners in the UK aim to boost online spending by 12% in 2023.
Their findings outlined the financial and demographic profiles of these consumers: 61% were pet owners with a median household income of over £70,000, 56% had children alongside their pets, and 73% owned dogs while 53% had cats.
In the e-commerce landscape, the UK generated £111.5 billion in 2022, set to reach £168.8 billion by 2027, driven by over 55.8 million online shoppers.
The report showed that, despite their enthusiasm for increased spending, pet owners, particularly those with lower incomes, females, younger consumers, and households with children, were wary about their financial situation.
For these consumers, delivery costs outweighed delivery speed, with 52% prioritizing cost. They favored free returns and free delivery, while disdaining annual fees for free returns and influencer endorsements on social media.
Their penchant for e-commerce purchases was underlined by a 40% subscription rate for recurring purchases.
China’s Singles Day 2023: Win the Head and the Heart with Value and Entertainment
This year’s Singles Day in China faces a different challenge for retailers. The focus isn’t just on growth but adapting to a more value-conscious shopper.
Strategies extend beyond discounts, emphasizing everyday value and exploring innovations like livestreamed e-commerce, influential on a global scale.
Chinese macroeconomic factors, such as a slower GDP growth and weaker consumer confidence, shape this new consumer sentiment.
A survey of 3,000 Chinese shoppers indicates a cautious approach, with 77% planning to spend less or maintain their expenditure, contrasting with only 23% intending to spend more.
This echoes a similar trend from the previous year, signifying the festival’s enormity in the retail calendar and its maturing presence since its launch in 2009.
eCommerce Book of the Week
$100M Leads: How to Get Strangers to Want to Buy Your Stuff
Author byline:
You can get two times, 10 times, or 100 times more leads than you currently are withoutchanging anything about what you sell….
This book contains the playbooks that took me from sleeping on my gym floor to owning a portfolio of companies that generate $200 million per year in less than a decade. Want to know the biggest difference between those two time periods? How many leads I was getting.
Signing off,
The Merchant @CartHustle