Hey there, did you know that today is national mango day? 🥭

Your order this week:

Record-Breaking $14.2 Billion Spent During Amazon Prime Day

Liquid Death: Disrupting Bottled Water

Reinforcement Learning: The AI Revolution Reshaping Commerce

Voice Technology Revolutionizes Shopping, Driven by Youth

Wealthy Shoppers Drive Demand for Personalized Luxury

ECOMMERCE AMAZON

Record-Breaking $14.2 Billion Spent During Amazon Prime Day

Amazon’s Prime Day on July 16-17 saw shoppers spend $14.2 billion, an 11% increase from last year, according to Adobe Analytics. Nearly half of the purchases (49.2%) were made via mobile devices, up 18.6%.

Amazon confirmed this year’s event as the largest ever, with record sales and more items sold than any previous Prime Day. Millions of new Prime memberships in the three weeks leading up to the event contributed to its success.

Electronics, clothing, and furniture were top categories:

Back to School Supplies: Sales up 216%.

Apparel: Children’s clothing up 165%, suits up 36%.

Electronics: Sales rose 61%, with tablets up 117%, TVs up 111%, and headphones/Bluetooth speakers up 105%.

Furniture and Appliances: Small kitchen appliances up 76%.

The average order size was $57.97, and the average household spend was about $152.33, according to Numerator. Top items included Amazon Fire TV Sticks, Premier Protein Shakes, and Liquid I.V. Packets.

Shoppers opted for “small indulgences and everyday items,” indicating a shift towards more conscious shopping and a preference for saving over splurging.

Run IRL ads as easily as PPC

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Marketers agree OOH is one of the best ways for building brand awareness, reaching new customers, and reinforcing your brand message. It’s just been difficult to scale. But with AdQuick, you can plan, deploy and measure campaigns as easily as digital ads, making them a no-brainer to add to your team’s toolbox.

You can learn more at AdQuick.com

ECOMMERCE CASE STUDY

Liquid Death: Disrupting Bottled Water with Bold Marketing and Sustainability

Liquid Death is making waves in the bottled water market, valued at $1.4 billion. Founded by Mike Cessario, a former advertising creative director, Liquid Death was inspired by the 2009 Vans Warped Tour. Launched in 2019, its mission to “Murder Your Thirst” and combat plastic waste with aluminum cans has resonated widely.

Cessario used a viral Facebook ad in 2018 to gain traction, resulting in 3 million views and $1.6 million in seed funding. The brand’s entertaining, irreverent ads stand out from typical corporate marketing.

Strategic partnerships with Live Nation and Download Festival boosted visibility, making Liquid Death a staple at major venues and festivals. Initially sold online, it expanded to Whole Foods in 2020, achieving nearly $10 million in sales. Now available in over 100,000 stores, it’s a top seller on Amazon.

Bold branding, engaging content, environmental commitment, influencer endorsements, and creative packaging have driven its success. On Amazon, Liquid Death owns 9% of the mineral drinking water market and is the number one best seller in its category, thanks to its unique approach and strong social media presence.

Read the full story here!

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ORO CREATIVE

If you’re not prepping your influencer marketing strategy for the holidays now, you’re behind

With the holiday season just around the corner (yes, Christmas happens in July), now is the time to plan an effective influencer marketing strategy for your brand.

What should you take into consideration?

Quantitative insights – define your target audience, performance metrics and goals

Selection methodology – choose influencers that resonate well with your brand, identify their interests and which platforms they’re active on

Partnership building – ensure alignment between your brand’s messaging/offering, the influencers you select and the agency you work with

Oro Creative’s expertise in strategizing influencer marketing campaigns for a variety of brands with a performance-oriented approach can help you prepare effectively for the holidays by strategizing, scaling, executing, tracking, and optimizing your campaign.

Let’s strategize your influencer campaigns now

ECOMMERCE AI

Reinforcement Learning: The AI Revolution Reshaping Commerce

At Amazon’s bustling warehouses, AI-driven robots navigate aisles with remarkable speed and precision. These systems learn and adapt through reinforcement learning (RL), revolutionizing business operations in the digital age.

Reinforcement learning, a subset of machine learning, enables AI to learn through experience. It receives feedback and refines its actions to achieve optimal outcomes. In eCommerce, this means significant operational improvements. Amazon’s RL algorithms optimize fulfillment centers, resulting in faster deliveries and reduced costs. Walmart uses RL to enhance grocery pickup and delivery, balancing order volume, staff availability, and delivery windows.

Beyond retail, RL is transforming the financial sector. JPMorgan Chase’s RL system, LOXM, optimizes equity trades, potentially surpassing human traders. Hedge fund Two Sigma employs RL for automated trading strategies, adapting to changing market conditions.

RL also revolutionizes customer interactions. Netflix uses RL to personalize content recommendations, while Alibaba refines product suggestions, increasing purchase likelihood.

Challenges include high computational demands and ensuring ethical behavior. Researchers are developing more efficient RL algorithms and exploring hybrid systems that combine RL with traditional analytics.

As RL technology advances, it raises ethical and employment concerns, requiring collaboration among businesses, researchers, and policymakers. Reinforcement learning is set to shape the future of commerce, driving efficiencies and creating new capabilities across industries.

ECOMMERCE NEW TECH

Voice Technology Revolutionizes Shopping, Driven by Youth

Voice technology is transforming shopping habits, with young consumers leading the way. The 2024 PYMNTS Intelligence report, “How the World Does Digital,” surveyed over 67,000 consumers from 11 countries, representing about 50% of the global GDP.

17.9% of the global population uses voice technology for shopping at least once a week. Generation Z leads with 30.4% engaging weekly, followed by millennials at 27.6%. Generation X shows a 14.9% adoption rate, while only 6.8% of baby boomers use voice technology weekly.

Voice commerce is gaining traction. Christian Mentz, CRO at Cerence, noted that advances in natural language processing (NLP) have made voice functionality more intuitive. Jamie Richardson, VP of marketing at White Castle, predicts a surge in voice automation in restaurants, enhancing both customer and employee experiences.

As voice technology evolves, its influence on consumer behavior and industry practices will expand, driven by younger, tech-savvy generations.

ECOMMERCE SALES

Wealthy Shoppers Drive Demand for Personalized Luxury

In today’s luxury market, personalization is key, with affluent consumers pushing brands to tailor offerings to individual preferences.

LVMH’s Selective Retailing business exemplifies this trend, focusing on highly personalized shopping experiences. This strategy has paid off, with first-quarter revenue for Selective Retailing up 11%, the highest growth of any segment.

“With locations all around the world, our Selective Retailing Maisons make sure that customers are the number-one priority for their strategies and their staff,” LVMH stated. “Sephora, DFS, and Le Bon Marché continue to innovate and imagine the shopping experience of the future.”

Affluent consumers increasingly value experiences over material possessions, seeking unique encounters that resonate with their interests. According to the PYMNTS Intelligence report, 89% of consumers making over $100,000 annually are interested in personalized offers.

Digital platforms enable brands to gather and analyze consumer data, providing insights into individual preferences. HBC’s acquisition of Neiman Marcus, with Amazon holding a stake, aims to deliver highly tailored interactions both online and in-store by integrating AI and first-party data.

Despite these advancements, challenges remain. PYMNTS’ Karen Webster noted that department stores face significant challenges in winning back high-income shoppers, with sales far below their peaks from previous decades.

“When wealthy buyers do shop, they don’t seem to be beating a path to department stores,” Webster observed.

Signing off,

The Merchant @CartHustle