Any Other Business: 14 January 2022

This week’s AOB looks at the latest e-commerce news from around the world including which features the top-performing online merchants are offering customers, and why your business should be paying attention to the tiger…

Sustainability within the fashion sector has historically been a point of friction, but one “re-commerce” start-up is hoping to change that. Belfast-based Responsible¹ has developed technology that allows upmarket fashion brands to buy back worn products from customers at the end of their life.

The solution – which can be integrated into a brand’s e-commerce and physical stores – gives customers the option to join the scheme at checkout, where they will be given a residual price for the item, redeemable as credit. They can then wear the garment and return it at any time for the agreed price.

“The fashion industry manufactures billions of items every year and only 5-7% of these clothes are sold for a second time,” explains Mark Dowds, Responsible’s founder². “We are enabling brands to not only become accountable for everything they produce, but also to financially benefit from a more circular and sustainable business model.”

A recent survey by PYMNTS.com³ has revealed the common features offered by the most popular e-commerce websites. It found that product ratings, reviews and recommendations, live customer service (such as real-time chatbots), and free shipping are all offered by 100% of the leading merchants. On the other side, the lower-performing online merchants were less likely to implement such features, missing a crucial opportunity to keep up with competitors.

Discover which other services your website should implement to ensure customers have a positive experience (and don’t abandon their carts!) with our golden rules of e-commerce.

There’s no shortage of instant grocery-delivery services waiting to bring goods to your door – the sector boomed during the pandemic. But what if you need something a little more exclusive? Say, beauty products, Apple electronics, or yoga equipment?

Start-up Arive⁴ is currently trialling a service across several cities in Germany that promises to deliver such items to customers in as little as 30 minutes. It has partnered with premium brands and stores for the venture, including Lululemon, Bose and Aesop.

Though the company is focusing on higher-value, slower-moving consumer goods than the grocery-delivery start-ups, it is still looking to them as the model to follow – namely offering customers access to goods via a few clicks of their smartphones. “The U.K., France, they are all interesting. Having those grocery companies there is an advantage for us because it’s evidence of the consumer shift that has taken place,” explains co-founder Maximilian Reeker⁵. “They are already used to getting their food quickly, which is the first step. [Yet], it’s not just about being the next quick commerce vertical but building the next generation of e-commerce.”

Following a recent round of fundraising, Arive is looking at potential markets to expand to next, as well as considering selling its backend technology to third-party retailers.

Looking to sell to cross-border customers? It’s a fair bet that integrating PayPal⁶ into your online checkout will convert more sales.

Recent research from ecommerceDB⁷ analyzed the payment service’s presence in 43 countries. Italy leads the way as the market with the largest share of its online stores offering PayPal as a payment method at 93%, followed by Australia (92%), Germany (88%), Spain (86%) and Austria (86%). In only 12 of the countries does PayPal have a single-digit usage rate.

Did you know that online shoppers are 70% more likely to finalize a purchase if their preferred payment method is displayed at checkout?⁸ Discover which ones are right for your e-commerce business with our guide to the new ways to pay.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Arguably the country’s most important holiday, the Lunar New Year begins on February 1st and will be celebrated with fireworks, get-togethers and gift giving – the perfect opportunity for your business to sell to Chinese customers!

This is just one of the events in our exclusive e-commerce calendar. For more dates you should be aware of – including those of the networking events and industry conferences you can attend – download the calendar here.