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And now, onto the 9th edition of Shopifreaks newsletter….
? Stock News
Mon, Mar 15th – Open: $1,137.24 – Close: $1,159.00
Fri, Mar 19th – Open: $1,118.98 – Close: $1,120.95
Today (Mar 22nd) – Open: $1,123.14
1) Shopify is down 19.3% since its last earnings report. Management is predicting a slower growth rate in 2021 and investors are baking those forecasts into the share price. Personally, I'm bullish on Shopify, even taking pandemic churn into consideration, because of their still relatively infant services like fulfillment, POS, and Shop Payments, which we've barely begun to see their potential, as well as growth opportunities within their existing and rising markets. CIBC World Market analyst Todd Coupland estimates there are 50 million or more small- and medium-sized businesses that could be a fit for Shopify; up from the 1.7 million businesses it serves now.
However as mentioned in last week's edition of Shopifreaks newsletter, it's fair for investors to have trepidation towards Shopify's current valuation given their 436 PE Ratio.
2) Olo, the self-proclaimed “Shopify for restaurants”, went public last Wednesday and shares soared 39% above its target price of $25 to close on Wednesday at $34.75 per share. Olo is well known in the restaurant industry since 2005 but not widely known with consumers or investors since they white label their service to large restaurant chains. Their software powers the online ordering process for restaurants as well as offers integration into Google (so customers can order direct through Google). I picked up some OLO this morning at $31.35.
? Shopify News
1) Walmart opened its marketplace to non-US sellers. While 75% of new sellers on Amazon are from China, Walmart (up until now) has stayed firm on its US-only seller policy. However moving forward they will be allowing a “limited number of international companies who share our commitment to customer trust and safety” onto their marketplace. Given Walmart's integration with Shopify announced last June, this could open the door for international Shopify merchants to easily sell on Walmart's marketplace in the future.
2) Shopify reaffirmed their solidarity with the Asian community with the Tweet, “Anti-Asian racism has no place in the world, and acts of violence and xenophobia cannot be tolerated. We stand in solidarity with the Asian community. We must #StopAsianHate.” They will be sharing their plans to support Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs soon, including how you can get involved.
3) The Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement is partnering with Shopify and Amazon to host its virtual marketplace, Pop-up Makeke, which means ‘market‘ in Hawaiian. Vendors will be selected by a committee who are looking for products to represent Hawaii's diversity, and the online partnerships will allow vendors to sell their products to an international audience as opposed to just in person.
4) A seller named Andi Rosenberg says that she is missing about $55,000 in sales after her Shopify account was hacked. From November 23 to December 29, 2020, Rosenberg's Shopify payments were deposited into someone else's bank account, but she claims that she never received a notification that her bank information was changed. She is considering seeking outside legal representation to recoup her payments, but is worried about the legal fees on top of the losses she already incurred if her efforts prove unsuccessful.
5) Amazon has surpassed Walmart as the top apparel retailer in the US. Amazon's apparel and foot ware sales were $41 billion in 2020, representing 11-12% of all clothes sold in the US, over Walmart's approximate 8% market share. This indicates that consumers are becoming more comfortable clothes shopping online, which is a positive trend for Shopify sellers with apparel stores, who can cash in on the newly formed consumer habits.
? Tip of the Week
Starting this week, we're going to offer Shopify merchants a Tip of the Week that will help them maximize the sales potential of their stores. If you've got a tip you'd like to share, shoot me an e-mail to [email protected] and I'll include it in an upcoming newsletter.
This week's tip is about the difference between Cross sells and Upsells – two terms you've more than likely heard before that are easy to confuse. Here's a simple way to remember the difference.
Cross sell: “Would you like fries with that?”
Upsell: “Want to go large for $1.49?”
Credit for that simple explanation goes to u/StilyoApps on Reddit.
In other lengthier words, a cross sell encourages customers to buy complementary items, whereas an upsell asks them to purchase a comparable higher priced item than they one they are looking at.
Cross Sell Examples:
- Buying these pants… how about this belt?
- Buying this phone… how about these headphones?
- Buying this bag of coffee… how about this french press?
Upsell Examples:
- Buying this 32GB hard drive… how about this 64GB hard drive instead?
- Buying this stereo… how about the extended warranty?
- Buying a month's membership… how about a year's membership?
Upsells and cross sells are not mutually exclusive, meaning, you may offer your customers a combination of both. Just don't offer so many upsells / cross sells that it becomes cumbersome and irritating to reach checkout! (Cough, cough, Allegiant Airlines.)
There are hundreds of upsell and cross sell Shopify apps on the market that can help you increase your average ticket amount while simultaneously providing a great service to your customers by either placing them in higher end products better suited for their needs or ensuring that they receive the accessories they need to maximize the value of their purchase. Bold Commerce makes a great one called Bold Upsells (that's my affiliate link), but like I said, there are hundreds of others to compare as well.
What'd you think of our first Tip of the Week? Would you like more tips like this or should we focus on other kinds of tips? Hit ‘Reply' to this e-mail and let me know.
? Shopify Apps
Last week Shopify added 39 new apps to the Shopify App store. Here are a few that look promising.
1) Vid Proof: Video Testimonials – Give your customers the option of submitting video testimonials to display on your website via automated e-mail campaigns. $19/month – $199/month.
2) Product Interact – Build social proof through a product like button and widgets to display number of product views, add to carts, and orders. Free.
3) Keep on Hold – Create one last touch point with shoppers when they remove products from the cart by keeping their items on hold. Turns your “remove from cart” button into a “save for later” button. Free – $49.99/month.
4) ZipLogic: Zip Code Validator – Give your customer the ability to check whether your store delivers the product to their location using a popup. Free.
5) Dynamic Junction – Automate your inventory management system with the option of fully synchronizing your stock whenever an order is created or fulfilled. Free – $199/month.
6) Bad Customer – Avoid shipping goods to customers who have a habit of charging back their purchases or making excessive refund requests. This app looks at the chargeback history of customers on other sites to help you avoid “bad customers”. Free.
7) Scarcity Boost – Push your customers to buy faster by displaying countdown timers, inventory amounts, view counts, delivery timer, and more. $14.95/month.
8) QuickReply LiveChat & Chatbots – Offer automated customer service to your customers with live chat bots. This app comes pre-trained with common queries such as order status, order cancellations, payment options, delivery estimated, coupons, shipping fee, etc. Free – $299/month.
9) SizeMe – Help your customers choose better fitting clothes and shoes (and reduce returns) by enabling them to input their measurements and get personalized fit recommendations based on actual product data. 3% commission on SizeMe sales.
10) Bundles & Discounts – Move old inventory by selling your least popular products through bundles attached to popular products. Free – $6.99/month.
? Shop of the Week
Every week in the Shopifreaks newsletter, I feature a Shopify store with a positive mission. If you'd like to nominate a store, e-mail [email protected] or hit Reply to any of my newsletters and share their website and story.
This week's Shop of the Week award goes to Terraseed.com – a multivitamin for vegans that comes packaged in a fully compostable pill bottle. Why don't all vitamins come in bottles like that??
Founders, Hava Horowitz & Maria Cebrian, aim to empower people to live healthy, ethical, and sustainable lives with vegan nutrition products that are both good for them and the planet.
Terraseed believes you can love your body and the planet at the same time. Check out their shop and show them some love on Instagram & Facebook.
? Thanks for being a Shopifreak!
If you have any Shopify related news that's worthy of sharing in our next newsletter, e-mail [email protected] or hit ‘Reply' to this e-mail.
If you found this newsletter valuable, please share it with your favorite Shopify communities and help us grow.
See you next Monday!
PAUL
Paul E. Drecksler
www.shopifreaks.com
[email protected]
PS: What can an Elephant make that no other animal can make? … Baby elephants!