Today’s episode is an expert panel discussion from the Commerce Accel Conference. The session was hosted by Derric Haynie, with an expert panel consisting of Eric Toz, Marc Barros, Dylan Mullan and Umar Qamar.

It is said that problems are often opportunities in disguise. The last 18 months have been full of such problems and those that have grabbed the opportunities they offered have prospered. But taking advantage of such opportunities is no mean feat. It requires strategy and the ability to go all in – whether it’s diversifying your offer or uprooting and moving your business elsewhere.

In this episode, you’ll hear from 4 upper mid-market DTC ecommerce operators on how they strategise making the most of market opportunity and growing YoY. You’ll hear how these businesses pivoted during covid, how they are dealing with changes in privacy laws and what are their go-to retention strategies. This is a great episode for business owners and entrepreneurs.

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Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,

• • The pandemic forced shoppers to buy online
  • 2020 was a great year for 90% of ecom stores
  • Supply chain issues have cripled inventory for best selling products
  • Many brands pivoted to digital products in light of supply chain issues
  • New privacy rules will make the rich richer
  • Early adopters of new social media channels get great results
  • Having a mobile app is a great way to have an owned audience

Covered Topics:

On today’s episode, the expert panel discuss,

• The Pandemic Pivot
• Living With The New Privacy Rules
• Retention Strategies for Q4

Timestamp:

• 10:00 – Meet the panel
• 15:15 – Pivot during Covid:
  • Umar:
    • Had launched a face mask to protect from pollution
    • Covid pushed sales from 80/day to 10000/day
    • Switched the production flow from Shirts to masks
    • Everything shut down in Pakistan
    • Forced shoppers to go online
  • Eric:
    • 2020 was the biggest year for 90% of businesses
    • 50-60% of all retail now happens online
    • They support 8000 stores on Shopify
    • Due to covid restrictions, they had to move their business from New Jersey to Florida
    • Moved the entire factory over 30 days
  • Dylan:
    • Clinics shut overnight
    • We had Black Friday for 4 months straight
    • Logistics getting clogged was the biggest issue
    • We had to change the way we ship, project and order inventory
  • Marc:
    • Creators lost work overnight, so the 1st month was really bad
    • We diversified to products related to working from home
    • Supply chain is the biggest challenge
    • Best selling products now have negative inventory days
    • Launching non-inventory products like courses really helped
    • These kind of emergencies really force to focus on what really matters
• 29:30 – Fallout of Privacy Rules:
  • Eric:
    • It is up to us to adapt
    • Facebook and google have always been throwing curveballs
    • The rich will get richer, and newbies will struggle
    • Attribution and conversion data is the main data that’s going to be missing
    • Hyros chrome extension can be used to recover data
  • Umar:
    • Leveled up our mobile app game
    • Invested heavily in driving app installs
    • Retargeting and in app notifications became the goto strategy
  • Marc:
    • Relying on our content marketing machine
    • YouTube is the primary channel, and it is still converting
    • Doing more on Google and SEO
    • We have managed to become more efficient with the same spend
    • If you hit the new channels early, they really work
• 38:10 – Retention Strategies for BFCM:
  • Eric:
    • Trying to sell as much as possible
    • “People are making emotional purchases right now”
    • Dial in all the funnels in order maximise AOV
  • Dylan:
    • Our business is not a repeat purchase business
    • Go hard and go early
    • Don’t wait till Black Friday to start your ads, go hard at least a week early
    • Differentiate your offer, it doesn’t always have to be a bigger discount. It could be a gift with purchase or bundle
    • People only have a finite amount of money to spend
    • We are on the clock 24 hours a day for that entire week
  • Umar:
    • We already have a 65% repeat customer rate
    • Our focus is to liquidate excess inventory
    • Partner with banks and other financial companies to drive new customers
  • Marc:
    • Focus on both existing and new customers
    • We have 2 different audiences mapped out

Takeaways:

• Don’t wait till Black Friday to start your ads, go hard at least a week early
• Offering new and innovative ways to pay helps with new customer acquisitions
• Discounts should not be your default offer, you can also consider a gift with purchase or bundle offers
• Businesses can use BFCM to clear excess inventory and increase cash flow to procure new stock
• Automated Upsells at checkout can help boost AOV

Links:

• Eric Toz on LinkedIn
• Umar on Linkedin

Tweetable Quotes:

“Don’t wait till Black Friday to start your ads, go hard at least a week early.”

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SPONSORS:

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