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.

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.

Need fast, low-cost payments from international marketplaces like Amazon, Lazada, or Wish? Sign up for Payoneer – it’s free!

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