It’s Fall season again! It means daylight getting as little as it can get, lots of holidays lining up and thus, lots of changes on the horizon. So you will soon need to squeeze more work in less time, while keeping up to date on the latest news and trends. But don’t fret!
We have put together some of the most recent relevant news in our industry to make your job just a tad easier. You can read through them below.
Jewelry eCommerce News 📰
eBay’s managed payments tool available globally
Three years ago, eBay decided to streamline their online sales by introducing Managed Payments. This tool optimized the experience of both sellers and buyers through improved payment policies, customer service, accounting, and reports.
This month they have expanded this service to their 30+ global marketplaces, reaching close to 90% of all sales being processed through their platform. eBay is not the only one to facilitate transactions in this manner; Amazon and Etsy have also implemented similar tools.
Most of the jewelers we work with, have already switched to eBay’s Managed Payments for their transactions; so it will be easy for them to expand to international eBay marketplaces!
The permanent impact of the pandemic on retail
Based on a survey of 50+ global retailers, the pandemic-driven pivot to eCommerce looks to be permanent. Around 90% of these businesses believe that their online transactions volume will remain steady or increase in the future.
Supplier retention and digital technologies will be key to online business strategy. Geopolitical and social factors should also be considered when moving to eCommerce.
While the impact of eCommerce on one’s growth seems obvious, unfortunately we see many jewelers speaking about eCommerce as some optional future possibility. At Valigara, we speak about eCommerce 2.0, reinvented by the online reality, and this is just a beginning.
eBay to add new options for users in UK
Beside their cost-per-click marketing option, which we’ve mentioned previously, eBay UK is getting ready to add new features for sellers. They will soon offer the ability to send coupons to specific audiences, as well as include new item specifications.
The jewelry category is one of the few that will allow for additional details starting from October 12th. Not only that, but the platform will make it even easier for sellers to manage their listing and changes through new sorting and editing tools.
Due to their fast growth, advertising will soon become crucial for sellers to stand out among their competition.
Amazon and 11st launch a new store in Korea
11STREET has been a large eCommerce player in South Korea for over 5 years, and now Amazon has their own dedicated store there. While inventory won’t be stored in the country, the store will allow clients to access tens of millions of products from over 33 categories.
The marketplace focuses strongly on fashion products, offering ca. 500,000 jewelry items. We have been tooting the horn of localization for years, and this is a great example of how, even industry giants, use local partners to establish their presence in a new market.
With the new center, the company is now able to offer faster delivery options, same-day handling, improved overall logistics, and better seller protection solutions. We hope this helps eBay get back to a leading position in the jewelry world, which was strongly influenced by its logistics shortcomings.
eBay expands personalization options on UK site
eBay has been quite busy these months with improving the experience of both their customers and sellers. Some of their very first initiatives in September was to optimize the process of personalizing products sold on their platform. Personalization can mean anything from adjusting size to adding custom text or designs.
Some of the categories that will benefit from these changes include necklaces & pendants, cufflinks, chains, rings, earrings, tie pins & clips, anklets, and more. This is great news for jewelry sellers who are looking for new ways to differentiate themselves in the market.
Amazon struggling with its new FBA inventory features
Italy is leading the eCommerce growth in Europe. This comes as a result of the fast digitalization happening in the country lately. The largest demographic for cross-border shopping remains the younger generation.
Denmark, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic, and Sweden are following closely behind Italy in terms of online sales growth. Each market has their own interests and priorities when it comes to shopping online. Italians care about first impressions, Norwegians want to establish brand loyalty, and Swedish are interested in sustainability.
When it comes to jewelry eCommerce, research is of utmost importance. Finding relevant niches and market opportunities is one of our niche’s main business tasks.
eBay updates the Jewelry category structure and Item Specifics
As part of the eBay 2021 Fall Seller Update eBay announced updates of the category structure in the Jewelry Category. This also includes changes in the Item Specifics structure. Changes take effect on 12.October 2021.
This is a great example why the strategy of “Post and Forget” doesn’t work. Maintaining listings in accordance with the marketplace requirements is a critical part of the eCommerce operations.
With every £1 billion of sales needing around 130,000 square meters of space, we are looking at an increase of around £26 billion in sales by next year, much of which will be in eCommerce. This proves, again, that logistics are a critical part if you are looking to move into the online world as a jewelry seller.
This also stresses the importance of supportive technology. Thank you, eBay. Here comes the “with Valigara, it will take you 10 minutes to update the 1000 eBay listings for new requirements” speech. 🙂
PayPal raises fees between UK and Europe
Brexit pushed the UK out of the European Economic Area, increasing cross-border charges for PayPal. Because of that, starting November, the platform will increase transfer fees for entrepreneurs from 0.5% to 1.29%.
MasterCard and Visa are said to follow in their footsteps soon, as well. This is bad news particularly for small businesses and low-volume exporters. Fine jewelry sellers might not be as affected by this. However, for low-cost jewelry sellers, this could pose a major problem.
News from Valigara 👀
We’ve been quite busy following our amazing JCK Las Vegas luxury trade fair. We created new collaborations with leading ERP systems in the US market, gemological institutes, eCommerce experts, marketing agencies, and more. Stay tuned to see what will come out of all that.
Product-wise, we welcomed two completely reworked modules: BigCommerce and Magento 2, while boosting our main servers’ performance by more than x20 times !!!
Igor’s Tip of the Month: As the holiday season approaches, concentrate on getting QUICK in your business.
” Faster logistics, faster production, faster customer service, faster inventory updates – all these together create a competitive advantage because buyers are in an “urgency” mode.
What does faster inventory mean? Combining real inventory with virtual inventory…“.
