Any Other Business: 7 October 2020

This week’s AOB looks at the latest e-commerce news from around the world including what Amazon is doing to give small businesses a boost this Prime Day, and the innovative idea helping DHL make greener deliveries.

Retail websites will enjoy record sales this holiday season, according to forecasts by Deloitte¹. The company predicts online shopping sales in North America to grow between 25% to 35% from November through January – reaching USD$182 billion to USD$196 billion in total².

Deloitte attributes much of this growth to consumers having more money to spend due to savings made during the pandemic when they stopped vacations and dining experiences.

Is your business ready for the holiday season? Ensure you run a smooth operation through the busy period by following these essential Christmas delivery tips.

Amazon has confirmed it will hold its annual shopping event, Prime Day³, on October 13 and 14, after the event was delayed due to COVID-19. 

Prime Day gives customers signed up to Amazon Prime access to exclusive discounts and lightning deals. This year’s Prime day deals and event will have an important twist, with an initiative to support small businesses selling on Amazon in the UK. From now to October 12, Prime members who spend £10 with select small businesses on Amazon will earn £10 to spend on Prime Day. Amazon is also investing more than £75 million (USD$96.6 million) to support small businesses globally with special Prime Day and holiday season promotional programmes.

“After a tough six months for everyone, we’re committed to making this the most successful Prime Day ever for small businesses, and excited for members to discover the very best from artisans and entrepreneurs in the UK” said Doug Gurr, Amazon’s UK Country Manager⁴.

Selling through a top online marketplace such as Amazon can help your e-commerce business reach millions of customers across the world. Discover which one is right for you with our in-depth guide.

With the holiday season coming up, Walmart⁵ has launched a dedicated site for children to virtually unbox and test out toys.

Walmart’s Wonder Lab⁶ is an interactive platform that showcases some of the retailer’s top toys and lets children choose how they are unboxed and played with. With the Star Wars Lego set, for example, viewers can choose, by clicking a button, whether the toy is ‘smashed’ open with a glove or a red lightsaber. A pair of hands then carries out the instruction.

Wonder Lab links through to Walmart’s e-commerce website, where users can purchase their favorite toys (with an age verification step to ensure it’s an adult making the purchase.)

A new online game hopes to help brands recognize gaps where their products or services may be overlooking people with special needs. Cards for Humanity⁷, from design studio Idean⁸, educates those working in product and design about how their biases may influence non-inclusive product development and provide better disability inclusion.

The interactive game deals players two cards – one featuring a person with a certain characteristic, and one showing their disability or additional need. The cards explain how those traits might make them unreceptive to certain brand communications, or in need of support. 

The game ultimately hopes to show solutions that will help services be more accessible to a more diverse consumer base. 

DHL Express has launched London’s first riverboat parcel delivery service in a bid to reach urban areas in a more efficient way. The service will run daily, transporting small packages into central London for last-mile delivery by courier bikes, and is part of DHL’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

“The riverboat is a fast, efficient and reliable way of utilizing a currently untapped access route into London and it is one of a couple of initiatives we are investing in on our way to zero emissions by 2050”, said John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express⁹. 

DHL already has an established canal delivery network in Amsterdam and Venice, but the London introduction will be its first high speed service.