It ends up in the trash within 60 seconds, so how important can packaging really be? As an online seller, your primary focus is on what to sell and how to sell more, but did you ever think that packaging or the way you ship your products says something about you, your products and your business? For more information on how to plan, build and execute your entire marketplace seller strategy, download the Marketplace Sellers Guide.

Unlike in stores, online shoppers need to be wowed twice: once when browsing your products and again when the purchase arrives on their doorstep. Packaging and shipping services are some of the best opportunities you have to communicate with your customers and remind them why they should be shopping with you instead of somewhere else.

Let’s take a look first at why packaging is important:

• Win the Amazon buy box – Getting a high seller feedback score improves your chances of winning the Buy Box. Give your customers a great reason to provide strong feedback for your products.

• Encourage repeat business – Make the unveiling of your products a truly exciting event. According to the 2013 eCommerce Packaging Survey of U.S. consumers, 52% of consumers are likely to make repeat purchases from an online merchant that delivers premium packaging.

• Stand out among the crowd – Your item may be commoditized with multiple merchants selling the exact same item. If you want to convert one-off customers into repeat customers, make their experience memorable.

• Promote social sharing – The eCommerce Packaging Survey found that 4 in 10 consumers would share a photo of a unique delivery, 83% doing so on Facebook.

The merchandise MUST arrive in 1 piece (unless you’re shipping a jigsaw puzzle of course) so make sure it is wrapped and sealed well. Once you’re sure the product will ship in good condition, it’s time to consider packaging aesthetics.

Check out these simple ways to wow your customers:

• Think Green – Consumers want to feel good about their purchases. Using sustainable materials, such as organic, fair-trade or recyclable paper, will send an environmentally positive message about your brand.

• Re-purpose Your Packaging – Use packaging that can have a second life, that is to say, that can be later used for other purposes. Payoneer once gave away dri-fit running t-shirts. Rather than sending the shirts out in the standard plastic bag, we packaged them inside branded tins. Those same tins have been reused as a pen-pot, cup or even as a child’s drum!

• Jazz Up the Generic – Even if you have no choice other than a standard brown box, try to take whatever steps possible to personalize it.
  • Seal the box with colorful branded tape
  • Insert a cool thank you flyer expressing your gratitude and encouraging them to engage with you online like Everlane
  • Place the items carefully so that it looks awesome when you open it like this delivery from Trunk Club
  • Wrap the item in a pretty paper just to make it that tiny bit more special like this Bravissimo lingerie delivery
  • Place a branded sticker on the wrapping paper even if it’s just standard brown paper to give it your own personal touch

• Try Handmade Touches – It’s fitting for businesses that sell handmade items to include handmade elements in their packaging. Packaging says a lot about the thought and care that goes into creating a product, and is a great way to make your business stand out from all the others.

There are sites specifically dedicated to showcasing gorgeous packaging on the web, like Lovely Package, the Nice Package Flickr group, and The Dieline.

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While there are many tips and strategies for online selling, making money as an e-tailer isn’t an overnight project. Time and hard work are required to succeed, but if you’re willing to invest, you can certainly make it happen. One of the worst outcomes, however, is to reach your sales goals only to have your store shut down. For more information on how to plan, build and execute your entire marketplace seller strategy, download the Marketplace Sellers Guide.

For Amazon sellers, an easy way to keep your store active is by maintaining a positive Account Health indicator. Maintaining a positive account health is essential to keeping your Amazon store active, and is dependent on 6 measurements:

1. Order Defect Rate – Amazon Target: <1%

An order made from your store is considered defective if it receives a negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim, or a service credit card chargeback. If you are having trouble reaching this target, utilizing Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, is a great way to achieve a low order defect rate for your store.

2. Cancellation Rate – Amazon Target: <2.5%

This is the number of orders cancelled before shipment, divided by the total number of orders in the same time period. Make sure to provide detailed product descriptions and images to ensure your buyers are comfortable with their recent purchase, and be prompt in answering questions from recent buyers.

3. Late Shipment Rate – Amazon Target: <4%

This is the number of orders shipped later than the estimated ship date, divided by the total number of orders in the same time period. To reach this target, it’s crucial that you optimize your shipping and logistics, and make sure not to overreach with your goals. It’s better to set an estimated ship date that you know you can reach, rather than advertising an attractive ship date that you fail to deliver on.

4. Policy Violations – Amazon Target: 0%

Each Amazon account has a notification section, which includes important updates and notices from Amazon. Make sure to actively check your account’s notification section and adhere to all policy updates. Failure to check your account notifications and comply with Amazon policies will result in the closure of your store.

5. On-Time Delivery – Amazon Target: >97%

This is the percentage of packages received by the estimated delivery date. As a seller, your responsibility is to make sure that items are shipped promptly, and by a reliable shipping service. Saving money by using low cost shipping methods can help in the short run, but may risk the long term closure of your store.

6. Contact Response Time – Amazon Target: >90% less than 24 hours

Amazon sets a high standard for customer service, and expects all 3^rd party sellers to maintain those standards. You should make sure that all messages and inquiries are replied to as soon as possible, and certainly within 24 hours.

Reaching these targets can be especially difficult during the holiday season, as stores see a huge increase in traffic. A pro tip is to have a few extra hands on deck during the holiday rush. If this is your first holiday season, it’s better to be over-prepared than to be under-prepared and have your store shut down during the largest sales period of the year.

While these measurements are for the Amazon.com marketplace, Amazon sets the industry standard for customer service and satisfaction. If you are selling on other marketplaces such as eBay, Etsy, or Wish.com, optimizing your store for these 6 measurements is a great way to ensure that your store stays open.

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In 2014, consumers spent an average of more than $800 on holiday shopping, making the holiday season the most important time of the year for many retailers. Today’s consumers are savvy comparison shoppers – with mobile apps, social media and online review sites at their fingertips.

E-tailers are increasingly turning to Facebook to take advantage of the social network’s 1billion+ active users, engagement and targeting.

Check out these 5 Facebook Ad tools to help e-tailers drive traffic and sales this holiday season:

1. Page Post Engagement (News feed) Ads – Ideal for increasing engagement as well as promoting events and special offers, these ads appear on the desktop or mobile news feed just like regular status posts, and they can include links, photos, videos, offers, events and more. Be sure to include high quality product images and a compelling call to action to make the most of this ad unit.

1. Mobile Ads – With 894 million users regularly connecting via mobile, Facebook offers a massive audience for e-tailers. And, with a projected 121 million U.S. consumers making purchases via their mobile devices this holiday season, Facebook mobile ads are a must. According to research by Marin Software, mobile-only news feed ads outperform desktop ads by significant margins, so be sure to focus on mobile as its own unit (not mobile and desktop combined). For best results, offer a discount or percentage off retail products within a specific time frame.

1. Custom Audiences – Sometimes the most valuable audience you can reach is one that you already have a connection to. Upload your email or phone lists into Facebook to create a targeted audience based on existing contacts. To re-engage existing customers, upload a list of inactive customers and create holiday ads/ promotions to bring them back. To acquire new customers, exclude custom audience lists from your ads so that you don’t pay for unwanted impressions or clicks on existing customers.
2. Lookalike Audiences – Facebook will look at all the profile data of the people in your custom audience lists and create a new list of Facebook users that share similar interests and demographics. This allows you to expand your target market while still ensuring that you are reaching the right demographic. Further qualify your lookalike audience by layering additional targeting like location, interests, lifestyle, etc. So, for example, if you are promoting iPhone cases, you’ll want to target users who are on iOS devices or are interested in mobile technology.
3. Conversion Tracking (Facebook Retargeting) – According to a study conducted by Fireclick, an industry leading provider of website analytics services, the average conversion rate for websites (worldwide) is just a hair over 2%. If you currently sell products from a website (not a marketplace like eBay or Amazon), conversion tracking or Facebook Retargeting is a tool designed to help you send highly targeted advertising to the right people at the right phase of the purchase funnel. It’s also recommended to rotate your ad images regularly (every 2-3 days).

A well executed Facebook advertising strategy allows retailers to engage their audience and generate tangible results in ways that traditional and online media channels cannot. New to Facebook advertising? Check out BufferSocial’s Complete Guide to Getting Started with Facebook Ads.

For more information on how to plan, build and execute your entire marketplace seller strategy, download the Marketplace Sellers Guide.

What are you doing this holiday season to increase your sales? What other approaches do you take? Let us know your opinions and tactics in the comments section below.

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If you’re selling on Amazon you’re in great company. Last year, more than 2 million marketplace sellers sold more than 2 billion items, worth tens of billions of dollars. The sales competition on Amazon is fierce, with the same product often sold by multiple merchants (and sometimes Amazon too).

In every sale, only one seller wins and the major factor determining who makes the sale is the Buy Box. For more information on how to plan, build and execute your entire marketplace seller strategy, download the Marketplace Sellers Guide.

The Buy Box highlights which seller offers the best overall customer experience and value. Only one seller can be chosen and featured within the “Add to Cart” button on the right of the product page, so the million dollar question (quite literally in some cases) is how do you increase your chances of winning the Buy Box?

Here are 5 important lessons that will help you win the Amazon Buy Box:

1. Aim for an Excellent Seller Rating – The Seller Rating is an overall assessment of customer experience. Reliable sellers are a better option for consumers as they are more likely to get high quality products, on time, and with great customer service. Sellers with the highest seller rating will have first shot at the Buy Box. A few key metrics to keep in mind that affect seller rating:
   1. Perfect Order Performance (POP) – percentage of orders accepted, processed and fulfilled without issues
   2. Order Defect Rate (ODR) – percentage of orders which generate negative feedback
   3. Pre-Fulfillment Cancellation Rate – how much of your products are in stock
   4. Last Ship Rate – number of orders confirmed after the promised shipment date
   5. Percent of Orders Refunded – this may indicate inaccurate stock or faulty products
2. Consider Your Fulfillment Method – Sellers that use Amazon’s fulfillment service have a much better chance of winning the Buy Box. If you’re a new seller and keen to acquire Buy Box eligibility you can speed up the process by selling select items through Amazon’s fulfillment services, which can help you to receive eligibility on all items, even those not fulfilled by Amazon.
3. Lower Your Landed Price (but not too much!) – Price isn’t the “be all and end all” but a low total price (including shipping in the US, or shipping and VAT in Europe) can certainly help. Keep a careful eye on the Buy Box winning price within the “manage inventory” page and stay competitive!
4. Shorten Your Shipping Time – Much like pricing, how long an item takes to ship and the projected shipping vs. actual shipping time both impact your ability to win the Buy Box. For time-sensitive and perishable items, shipping varies, but Amazon generally weighs shipping based on the following time frames: 0-2 days, 3-7 days, 8-13 days and 14+ days.
5. Keep Stock Available – Amazon wants shoppers to find what they are looking for and if your item is Out of Stock, Amazon will get it from another seller. Furthermore, if you have no current stock, you cannot win the Buy Box. The more you maintain product stock and ensure that your inventory information is updated, the better your chances of winning the Buy Box.

For further tips on winning the Buy Box, take a look at Feedvisor’s Buy Box Bible.  Need fast, low-cost payments from international marketplaces like Amazon, Lazada, or Wish? Sign up for Payoneer – it’s free!

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For the past five years, Cyber Monday has been the biggest online spending day of the year, with Black Friday coming in a close second. Since 2006, global online sales on Cyber Monday have increased by 20% yearly on average, and in 2014 the sales record was broken – yet again – with $2.68 billion spent worldwide.

Any predictions for 2015? You can bet that it’s going to be another record-breaking year, and we’re here to help you get a piece of the action. So a few tips on how you can make personal history and break your own sales records:

Give Buyers a Discount Deadline

Decide on discounts, and make some only available for 24 hours on Cyber Monday, or for an hour on Black Friday, or until midnight. This will create a sense of urgency, encourage shopping and increase sales. A great example for the success of “limited-time shopping” is Groupon. They built their entire business around 24-hour discounts.

Consider Free Shipping

In a 2014 study, shoppers voted free shipping as their number one priority when buying online, beating out all other options at a staggering 81%. If you haven’t done so already, consider offering free shipping together with your Cyber Monday deals, and advertise your free shipping offers. A great way to tackle your shipping needs and at the same time gain credibility is through Fulfillment by Amazon.

Prepare for Global Sales

Don’t assume Cyber Monday and Black Friday are just about the American post-Thanksgiving holiday shoppers, rather also UK and other European Amazon marketplaces are part of the rush. On Cyber Monday 2014, more than 16 million units were ordered worldwide from Amazon sellers.

Send Themed Email

Start sending special discounts, gift certificates, special offers, coupons, etc. themed exclusively around Cyber Monday and Black Friday. However, be sure your emails will stand out. A good example of a successful email campaign was from Loft, with a short subject line that simply read “OMG!”, which will definitely pique a person’s interest. After opening the email, it simply read “This is Huge”, in really tiny letters. First, humor is always a good way to go. Second, such a statement will raise curiosity and bring people to click on the link to see what the fuss is all about.

Quality Service & Speed of Delivery

On Black Friday and Cyber Monday people are actively shopping, not just casually browsing. If they can’t find the answer right away, they’ll move on to another store. So be sure to put emphasis on your customer service during this period, maybe even bring in some additional help. And of course – make sure your merchandise actually arrives on time for the holidays! In 2013, Amazon offered $20 gift cards and refunds on shopping charges to customers after undergoing delivery problems. How can you be certain this won’t happen to you? Be prepared for last minute shoppers, and make sure to only promise delivery deadlines that you can meet.

For more information on how to plan, build and execute your entire marketplace seller strategy, download the Marketplace Sellers Guide.

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Having a holiday sales strategy is important for online sellers, however developing a more in-depth strategy that focuses on each unique holiday can result in much higher sales numbers.

The holiday shopping season, beginning in late October and lasting until early January, is composed of three major holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. In addition to the “big 3”, a few e-commerce related days have gained popularity over the years, including: Boxing Day (December 26), Free Shipping Day (December 18) and Super Saturday (December 19).

Here’s what you need to know in order to fully leverage each holiday and increase your sales this year:

Halloween – October 31

Did you know that 40% of shoppers begin their holiday shopping before Halloween?

This holiday is all about candy, parties, greeting cards, and most of all costumes. The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts a decline in Halloween spending in 2015, likely due to people economizing by reusing Halloween costumes and decorations. To combat this, make sure you offer economy-friendly options for those seeking deals.

Thanksgiving – November 26

This holiday is all about giving, and not paying attention to it may result in you giving up sales! Popular items during the holiday include themed kitchen and household accessories, and lawn & garden, but the major things to look out for as an e-tailer are Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

With Cyber Monday (November 30) now the largest online spending day of the year, and Black Friday (November 27) the 2^nd largest, these two important days deserve an entire post of their own. Check out 5 Ways to Make History on Cyber Monday & Black Friday for more info.

Christmas – December 25

One of the most popular holidays of the year, for online sellers Christmas = $$. While some sellers focus only on the US market, this major holiday is popular around the world and results in amazing online sales in other global markets including Canada, the UK and Australia.

You’ll want to focus on three major groups when developing your Christmas sales strategy:

• Early Birds – these are shoppers who buy gifts months in advance and sit back while the remaining shoppers scramble to find the best deals. 40% of shoppers begin shopping before November; make sure to have your inventory and online store ready so you don’t miss out on this group.
• Last Minute Shoppers – having forgotten all about the holiday season, these shoppers are less picky and may be willing to buy “whatever they can get”. In fact, surveys show that up to 1 in 5 men don’t buy presents until Christmas Eve! As a seller, this is your chance to off-load some unsold inventory and less popular items.
• Post-Holiday Shoppers – these shoppers are either looking to take advantage of huge sales due to unsold products, or eagerly want to spend some of that holiday cash they received as presents. Make sure to retain some inventory and perhaps even launch a “post-Christmas” sale to take advantage of this group.

For more information on how to plan, build and execute your entire marketplace seller strategy, download the Marketplace Sellers Guide.

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“A picture is worth a thousand words” – or in the case of e-tailing, a thousand sales.

Back in the mid-90s, plenty of people were ready to write off Amazon and other online retailers on the basis that people simply wouldn’t buy without touching the merchandise first. Almost 20 years on, with global B2C ecommerce sales expected to increase 5.7% year over year, reaching $885.70 billion in 2015, we can safely say that consumers can live without examining the merchandise in person!

One of the major factors that help potential buyers to make that leap of faith is the product image. Below are a few crucial tips to ensure your product images convert better. For more information on how to plan, build and execute your entire marketplace seller strategy, download the Marketplace Sellers Guide.

Quality

Your main image must be super sharp. You may think that you don’t have too much room to shine as Amazon, for example, are pretty strict in their style guidelines – pure white background and the products filling 85%+ of the frame. You want your images to be rich and clear so that the buyer feels that they know the product intimately. There’s no greater turn-off for an interested buyer than a grainy product image. Amazon recommends that your images be 500×500 pixels. Make sure that you adhere to the photo guidelines created by the marketplace that you are selling on.

Size

Don’t get carried away by uploading huge images. A famous study by Amazon found that every 100ms delay in page load time led to a 1% loss in sales. Intuit similarly found that each 1 second improvement in page load times yielded a 3% increase in conversion. Online shoppers lack patience so don’t keep them waiting! If your images are too large, do a quick Google search for image resize tools and optimize your images accordingly.

Video

Among your “other view” images, consider introducing a video. There is no better way to showcase a product than displaying it from all angles and in actual use. The Oxo brand is a great example of how to bring products to life with engaging video.

Graphics

On Amazon, you have freedom to do cool stuff with your “other view” images. Most etailers let this opportunity pass by not taking advantage of the flexibility. Text and demonstrative graphics are allowed, so use them! Spigen’s iPhone 6 cases do this brilliantly, empowering their images to engage buyers with their key features and messages.

Backgrounds

If you take your own photos, you must have a decent camera and a tripod so you can shoot steady. In many cases you must have a white background but with Amazon your “other view” images can have any background so consider alternatives.

Multiple Angles

Most products have more than one dimension so make use of your other images to show the product from all angles. If your product is one that people typically hold or wear, include images of it in action. With multiple variations, make sure that every child item also has an image such as this Nike Polo Shirt and that they are identical in style.

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The holiday season is already in full swing, but as an e-tailer it’s never too late to take advantage of hot items and best sellers. While preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday is important, and leveraging images is a great way to attract the attention of potential buyers, making sure to include these 5 items is a sure-fire way to increase your end-of-year sales:

1. Frozen

The name may be cold, but the merchandise is definitely hot. Ranging from toys and games to clothing and accessories, just about anything related to this fifth-highest grossing film of all time is sure to sell.

If you don’t have the proper license to sell Frozen merchandise, you can still ride the wave and benefit from the film’s amazing popularity. In fact, not everyone can afford official Frozen gear, and products with a similar winter theme sold at a lower price point are sure to gain the attention of global buyers.

2. Tablet Accessories

We all heard about the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus breaking global sales records, but Apple wasn’t the only one to benefit from their latest tech innovation. Also setting a new record this year was the sale of phone accessories, totaling
almost $250 million in just two weeks following the new iPhone launch!

With the introduction of the market’s latest “phablet”, the iPhone 6 Plus, and other top selling tablets, such as the Kindle Fire, Google Nexus, and Samsung Galaxy Tab, accessory sales for tablets this holiday season is on pace to shatter previous records. In fact, a recent study by Gartner estimated that tablet sales will surpass PC sales in 2015, resulting in two things: 1, proving the great Steve Jobs was right, and 2, putting more money in the pockets of e-tailers selling tablet accessories!

3. Art and Creativity Items

While electronics still come at the top of most holiday wish lists, there are many other categories of top selling items that you can focus on to sell big. In 2013 everyone was shocked when the #1 Home item was a deluxe art set. The growing popularity of sites like Etsy, which promote creativity and artistic expression, added to the increased use of crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which fuel innovation, are causing parents around the world to invest in creative and artistic tools for their children. Look for this trend to continue throughout 2014, and leverage that trend by adding relevant items to your sales inventory.

4. Toys

Major retailers such as Toys R Us, Mattel, and Wal-Mart are seeing a decline in revenue from toys. In fact, in 2013 sales dropped 1%. That being said, overall toy sales in 2013 were still $22.1 billion, so there’s definitely still a large demand for toys, especially during the holiday season.

One of the main reasons retailers note this drop in sales is competitive pricing from online competition such as Amazon. As an e-tailer you can certainly take advantage of this and snag up some of that $22.1 billion.

This year Wal-Mart ran many case studies, including testing over 80 toys on children ages 18 months to 2 years, and came up with these 5 toy trends for the 2014 holiday season. Popular toys on the list included scooters and ride-on toys, Sew Cool’s “Spin Master” sewing machine, and classic brands that are making a comeback such as Barbie and Hot Wheels.

5. Wild Card: Wi-Fi Toys and Children’s Items

My wild card pick for top sellers this holiday season is “smart” toys and children’s items. While in years past technology may not have been a top interest for younger children, it’s not uncommon today to see a child using a smart
phone or tablet. In fact, not only are they using technology, but some studies show that kids are able to use smartphones before even learning to write their names and tie their shoes.

This increased use of technology by younger children, and huge popularity of toys and dolls, suggests that items succeeding in combining the two may lead to huge sales this holiday season. Interactive pets, robots, and drones/mini-drones are just some examples of popular items that fill this category (such as the Teksta robotic puppy that sold out completely during the 2013 holiday season).

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Alex G. from Ukraine, who is a software engineer that uses SWREG, a Digital River MyCommerce Solution, as an E-commerce solution for his business:

“The history of our relations with the processing systems began more than 10 years ago. In those days we exposed our software that supports printing from DOS-applications, on new computers running Windows for the very first time.  Suddenly the software sparked interest and we got people from different countries willing to pay for a software license key. Living in a former USSR country meant that all payment methods would not work for buyers worldwide. So, we started to look for a partner who would accept and process our payments.

In those days there were about two dozen different processing systems, but we did not have a wide choice. We offered inexpensive software for a wide range of users: organizations, businesses and individuals. We had to find a processing center, that will allow to receive payments in as many ways as possible, with a reasonable commission deducted.

So we went for the British company SWREG, who already had a solid reputation and experience. They offered the best range of services:  processing credit and debit cards, different payment systems, PayPal, SWIFT-transfers and checks as well.

We have been working with SWREG for years. In the intervening years many companies disappeared and processing systems left the market, but SWREG joined Digital River along with other known brands such as RegNow and ShareIt. Our cooperation was not affected by these changes and all issues are still being solved very quickly.

Two years ago we decided to use a prepaid debit card, powered by Payoneer, in order to receive payments from our processing center. Payoneer is an extremely good solution that gives greater flexibility and versatility to our marketing model.

Now we are preparing to release a new product and reviewing the market for processing systems. We have not decided yet, but platforms offered by Digital River are the first in our rating. Most likely we will continue our cooperation with Digital River… “

Would you like to see your testimonial published on the Payoneer blog as well? Make sure to drop us an e-mail at community@payoneer.com!