What could potential TikTok ban mean for brands, better user experience increases sales, and the boom in air cargo | D2C Digest

Hey there, great people of the D2C community who are building fantastic things! This is your host Berkay writing. 

Take a 5-minute break and dive into D2C Digest for a quick overview of what’s happening in the D2C market worldwide!

🔴 What could a potential ban on TikTok mean for brands?

As discussions of a potential TikTok ban circulate, the impact on the ecommerce landscape is being assessed, with varying implications for different stakeholders.

Market Dynamics: Despite TikTok's role in enhancing brand reach, its potential absence might not dramatically alter the ecommerce environment. Brands on TikTok Shop often utilize multiple platforms, with giants like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart dominating U.S. retail marketplaces by significant margins. However, specific brands that thrived on TikTok, such as Tarte Cosmetics and Cider, might struggle to replicate their success elsewhere.

Social Commerce and Livestream Shopping: A TikTok ban could significantly reduce its impact on social commerce and livestream shopping, slowing the adoption of these trends in the U.S. The platform has played a key role in popularizing social buying, engaging a substantial number of U.S. consumers.

Consumer Search Behavior: A TikTok ban may shift Gen Z's brand research from social media to other platforms, despite their preference for social over traditional search engines. Instagram could become a more prominent source of shopping and discovery.

In conclusion, While the potential ban's impact on the broader ecommerce landscape may be limited, it poses risks for brands heavily reliant on TikTok for ecommerce and marketing.

What do you think?

💰 Enhancing user experience increases sales

A CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor report shows an 18% year-over-year increase in online sales, attributed to enhancements in user experience across digital channels. Efforts by companies like Costco, Macy’s, and Footlocker, focusing on faster loading times and streamlined checkout processes, are enhancing online shopping experiences.

Retailers are adopting customer-centric strategies, with changes based on specific consumer feedback proving successful, as seen with Sonos' checkout process improvements.

“Millions of users add to cart on Sonos.com, and just 40% of those users actually continue to start checkout, so if you can improve that rate a little bit, you’re actually going to see a huge net impact,” Sean Knotts, director of global eCommerce at Sonos said to Pymnts. “So, we ran … some user testing, and that indicated that actually moving away from the very ubiquitous single-page checkout flow to a three-step design, which … used to be the industry norm, was actually 4% easier for users to navigate.”

🤔 What do you do to improve user experience on your website?

🛫 IATA expert predicts skyrocketing air cargo demand due to e-commerce boom

Andre Majeres, the head of e-commerce at IATA, has alerted supply chain stakeholders to prepare for a significant surge in e-commerce growth impacting air cargo.

Currently, one in every five parcelled items is purchased online, a number expected to increase to one in three by 2027. This growth, which has been accelerating unexpectedly, presents both challenges and opportunities for the air cargo sector. The volume of e-commerce parcels, which was four times higher in 2022 than in 2014, is anticipated to grow by 50% from 2022 levels by 2027. This expansion underscores the need for air cargo operations to be efficient and robust to handle the increasing demand.

The global e-commerce market, valued at approximately $5.8 trillion in 2023, offers significant business opportunities for those in air cargo. Industry experts like Craig Strickland from Box C have emphasized e-commerce as a key area for growth, advising companies to capitalize on this trend. Operational excellence, including fast and reliable processes, is deemed crucial for success in this booming market.

Hong Kong, serving as a major e-commerce hub, is highlighted as an example of how regions can benefit from and support the growth in e-commerce, particularly in air cargo. With major investments in supply chain improvements and collaborations with e-commerce giants like Alibaba, Hong Kong Airport, which handled 4.3 million tonnes of cargo in 2023, is poised for a full recovery post-pandemic, indicating the significant impact of e-commerce on the air cargo industry.

📺 A brand new Webinar Series

We're super excited to share something special with you this week – our brand-new webinar series! We know, the internet is already overflowing with webinars, and many of them might seem like they're just rehashing the same old stuff. But we promise ours is going to stand out from the crowd!

Introducing "Department Clash," a lively webinar series from D2CVille! This isn't just another set of webinars. We're diving deep into the heart of direct-to-consumer brands by bringing together two team members from the same company to share insights about their work, their collaboration, and yes, they'll be doing it in a way that's guaranteed to make you chuckle. Sounds fun, right?

Our goal with these webinars is to peel back the curtain on the D2C world in a way that's transparent, authentic, and downright enjoyable. We're here to inject some joy into the conversation, shine a light on the real, often spicy, dynamics of business operations, and offer inspiration to D2C founders everywhere.

We're putting the final touches on our first webinar, and we'll be sharing all the details with you very soon. So, stay tuned for updates!

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