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Strategies for Growth in eCommerce Marketplaces Post COVID-19

Vikram Priyadarshi

May 7, 2020

The recent Payoneer webinar, “Strategies for Growth in eCommerce Marketplaces Post COVID-19” assembled experts from Amazon, Payoneer, DHL and SellerApp to discuss some of the most pressing issues in eCommerce today, as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics discussed include:

How global lockdowns are impacting consumer demand.
How the current situation is impacting ongoing business.
The best ways to utilize downtime while under lockdown.
How to prepare for upcoming events.

Recaps of each speaker’s session are below, including tips for what sellers can expect once the pandemic subsides.

Shivam Pal, Account Manager, Amazon Global Selling

Shivam Pal started out his session with an overview of the Amazon services which have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

Logistics support from India to the rest of the world.
Amazon’s NARF program.
Limitations to shipment creation.

Given that these disruptions effectively grounded Indian sellers, Pal then went into the best ways to utilize the downtime to prepare for when Amazon resumes services. The tips he offered revolved around store optimization, including reviewing products to ensure they’re attractive to buyers during the pandemic, investing in sponsored product advertisements and planning your inventory so that you start fulfilling orders at a moment’s notice.

Pal also made sure to note upcoming events which could present sellers with excellent opportunities to drive sales, including Mother’s and Father’s Days, the back-to-school season, and Amazon Prime Day. To leverage these shopping holidays, sellers are advised to use promotions (e.g., free shipping, giveaways and social media promo codes), coupons and sponsored advertisements to drive traffic and broaden your customer base.

Amit Arora, Sales Lead, Payoneer

Amit Arora devoted his presentation to the opportunities for sellers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. But first, he addressed some of the lessons learned from the pandemic connected to cross-border eCommerce, including:

The need to minimize the fear of buying cross-border.
The fact that consumption of commodities hasn’t decreased.
The importance of diversifying product lines.
The benefits of expanding into new geographies.

Arora went on to detail how by leaning on your service providers, at least in the short-term, can yield long-term gains. Your service providers are experts in their fields and can assist you in optimizing your store. Additionally, they’re based throughout the world, giving you first-hand knowledge of new marketplaces.

The discussion then proceeded to how to best prepare your store for black swan events, such as COVID-19, including building resistance to market volatility by developing your brand and expanding into categories that can help you grow your business. He broke his recommendations down as follows:

Know your product – Locate your key selling point and make sure it’s emphasized in your store.
Learn your demographics – Research your product categories to determine price points, category adoption and key competitors.
Developing your brand on marketplaces – Marketplaces are ideal for building your brand, as they provide an established infrastructure, a platform for testing and learning, massive reach and transparent action points through data.
Utilize your own channels – Your website and social media channels should be utilized to promote additional sales. Make sure the lessons you learn about your market is implemented on your own channels.
Constant improvements – Make sure you’re consistently optimizing your store based on the data you analyze.

Premdarsh Vasanthan, Business Development Manager eCommerce, DHL

Premdarsh Vasanthan started off his session discussing how shipping companies, like DHL, view the current situation and what can be expected as the world gets used to the new normal. Key points included:

When it comes to eCommerce logistics, India can be considered an alternative to China.
Marketplaces are aggressively hiring delivery workers to meet the surge in demand for home deliveries.
A new breed of digital shoppers is likely to emerge from the pandemic.
Demand is likely to come from unexpected markets.

He then went on to highlight the services provided by DHL to help sellers navigate this new world.

On-demand delivery – This solution is meant to reduce failed delivery attempts and improve receiver experience. It uses SMS and email messages to keep receivers informed of their shipments, allows receivers to choose from six delivery options and gives shippers the ability to choose which delivery options are presented to receivers.
Courier Shipping Bill V (CSB V) – CSB V is a unique clearance mode for eCommerce shipments. It provides the benefits of both courier and cargo mode clearance, including GST refunds of 12% – 18%, MEIS benefits of up to 5% and same day uplift.
Break bulk – Break bulk consolidates multiple orders to be shipped and custom cleared, but then delivered as individual orders.

Sunitha Sundaran, Customer Success Manager, SellerApp

During her session, Sunitha Sundaran shared insights into marketing optimization in a post pandemic world, where global sellers will be aggressively trying to increase sales. She started off by describing basic tools to locate keywords for your business, including through the Google Brand Analytics Dashboard and Keyword Tools, and how to choose long-tail keywords and target search terms with a good ROI.

Sundaran went on to describe proper keyword bidding management & strategy, including the differences between dynamic bidding and fixed bidding and how to base bid changes on keyword performance.

Finally, best practices were discussed regarding how to review negative keyword lists, pausing low performing keywords, differentiating between clicks and conversions and how to remove keywords with inconsistent conversions.

Growing Your Business with Payoneer in the Era of COVID-19

As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Payoneer provides you with the tools to help you expand your business and provide for your long-term success. These include flexible checkout solutions for your business, easy plugin integration and INR/USD bank transfers.

To learn more, sign up for an account today.

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