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Posted on October 22, 2019

11 Tips for Getting Your Online Store Holiday-Ready in 2019

Analysts are predicting as much as an 18% increase in sales for the 2019 holiday season – a staggering $144 to $149 billion worth of sales during this popular buying period. With Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday (not to mention Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Diwali) rapidly approaching, it’s time to ask yourself, “Is my online store ready for the holidays?”.

Don’t worry if the answer is a firm no. There are a handful of simple and effective steps you can take to prepare yourself for the expected sales surge. Here are 11 tips to help get your store holiday-ready in no time.

Holiday Season Prep #1: Know When to Sell

Last year there was a full month (or 31 shopping days) between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, there are only three weeks (or 25 shopping days). That makes a big difference in how you structure your sales channel, stock your products, and handle orders and shipping.

If you look at calendars from 2018’s online sales, you’ll see distinctive spikes on certain days when the most online shopping occurred. Make sure you have all your big products, shipping materials and customer service staff ready and waiting on these days. Plan your promotions for these times. In 2019, we’re talking about the three Mondays and Tuesdays in December, specifically.

Holiday Season Prep #2: Get Schooled

While it’s important to be proactive with your holiday prep, the first step is making sure you know what to do. Read up on tried and true practices that always help online sellers increase productivity, and brush up on some new sales tactics that are being adopted for the modern generation.

Holiday Season Prep #3: Have Plenty of Inventory on Hand

Once you’ve created a smart marketing calendar based on the projections we spoke about above, it’s time to get your stock room ready. Make sure you are sufficiently stocked during the entire holiday season to accommodate all your customers. Clothing took a whopping 57% of the online retail sales in 2018 with footwear and other apparel coming in behind them so, if you are in this industry, stock up!

Holiday Season Prep #4: Go Global

In the era of cross-border sales, your market is no longer limited to any specific country or territory. Remember, however, that different countries celebrate the holidays at different times. For example, Hanukkah is from December 22nd through December 30^th, meaning Jewish customers in foreign markets might choose to do some shopping around Christmas time.

Holiday Season Prep #5: Be Mobile-Friendly

In 2018, 61% of online purchases were made on a smartphone, signaling that mobile is well on its way to dominating the online shopping sphere. Make sure your website, product pages, and checkout platform are mobile-friendly to give shoppers a fast, smooth, and easy process.

Holiday Season Prep #6: Become an Amazon Seller

Amazon makes up roughly 40% of all online sales. That’s tremendous! Get a piece of the pie by becoming an Amazon seller.

Holiday Season Prep #7:  Invest in Some Extra Capital

Keeping products in stock, paying shipping charges, staying on top of extra staff hours, and other expenses can really start to add up around the holidays. To get through the season, some extra capital couldn’t hurt. With Payoneer’s Capital Advance program, businesses can get additional working capital to help ensure that this holiday season is a successful one.

Holiday Season Prep #8: Add a Personal Touch

The holiday season is hectic for everyone, making it difficult to stand out among your customers. By adding a personal touch to their shopping experience (e.g., a gift, personalized message or even a hand-written note wishing good tidings for the coming year), you’ll help ensure they remember you.

Holiday Season Prep #9: Utilize Click and Collect

Click and collect is one of the biggest shopping trends of 2019, as it gives customers the ability to buy online and collect their purchases at a nearby location. This helps them avoid fighting through the crowds at brick and mortar stores while providing a convenient way to quickly get their gifts.

Holiday Season Prep #10: Make Your Presence Known and Remarket

Marketing is essential at this stage in the game. Consumers are expecting an email from you to tell them about holiday sales, discount codes, or other promotions they can take advantage of. Whether it’s a fun and exciting sales email or an eye-catching banner ad on social media, shout out to your customers and make yourself known.

Already been seen? According to a recent Google report, online shoppers abandon their carts 77% of the time. A good way to bring these straying customers back to your store is to re-engage them on a different platform. Online ads, countdown timers, YouTube campaigns, Facebook ads, emails, whatever it is. Remarket your products to remind your customers why they wanted to shop with you in the first place.

Holiday Season Prep #11: Have Shipping Down Pat

Shipping is a significant deciding factor for online shoppers. Free shipping is enticing, making an online store more appealing. This year, Free Shipping Day is December 14, 2019, which is when more than 1,000 online stores waive shipping charges and even minimum order requirements – maybe it’s time for your store to join them.

 

 

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Posted on October 17, 2019

Can Digital Banking Initiatives Deliver Better Banking for SMBs?

SMBs make up almost half of businesses across most industries and there are currently some 30 million small and medium-sized businesses just in the US alone. With such a large segment of businesses being represented, it’s understandable that services will look to cater their offerings to small and medium-sized companies.

Banking is one industry that is slowly coming around to this realization. However, SMBs have different banking needs than your typical enterprise and corporations.

Gupta said it eloquently when he mentioned that Citibank doesn’t look at small businesses as small customers. Instead, they are the local operations of the enterprises of tomorrow. With digital advancements, banks are hoping to deliver a better banking system for smaller businesses across the globe.

This was the topic of conversation at the latest Payoneer Forum held in India. Check out some valuable insights. Click below to see the full presentation.

Digital Banking is the Wave of the Future

No matter who you ask, the answer is the same – digital banking is the way all businesses will handle financial transactions going forward.

The process is not a simple one though. According to expert banker Vikas Dimri at Deutsche Bank, Indian banks and others across the world are going through the stages to transfer from traditional banking services to a digital platform. That process includes:

Digitizing Physical Manual Processes

The first stage of digitalization is taking basic manual processes and converting them over to a digital format. This includes your everyday transactions such as invoicing, making payments, and going paperless for your bills.

Re-engineer Processes

Next is reframing the traditional banking process into a digital platform. This is a more technical stage, but according to Sameer Gupta from Citibank, these steps are well underway already.

Create New Products

Probably the most exciting stage comes when banks start to develop new digital products to better enhance their customers’ experience. From working capital to invoicing and money transfers, banks are working tirelessly to revamp their platforms so that SMBs will have more efficient fintech solutions to their everyday and global problems.

Joining the Past with the Future

The goal of new digital banking initiatives is to make it simpler to manage banking. However, one of the hurdles that banks have to overcome when making the switch from traditional banking channels and procedures over to a digital platform is, ironically, the customers themselves.

Even in today’s technology-hungry society, people are still holding on tightly to the traditional banking format. Some people love their branch and some hate having to stand in line at one. Yet people are staunchly devoted to the idea of having a branch to call their own.

As such, many branch features are still not available online. According to Vikas Bhauwala of ICICI Bank in India, banks are currently working very hard to correct this discrepancy. As the digital revolution sweeps the nation, banks need to provide customers with the same level of service, personalization, and trust that traditional branch banking currently supplies. Luckily, digital banking is designed to do all that and more.

Big Benefits for the Digital Boom 

Adopting a digital platform for your banking is going to usher in several major benefits for small and medium-sized businesses. In addition to streamlining processes, making it easier for banks and customers to get things done, digitalization will afford businesses with the following benefits:

Personal Expertise Wherever You Are

Global marketplaces like Amazon are making international selling a more viable option even for smaller-sized businesses. Cross-border payments, local versus foreign taxes, compliance and foreign invoicing are all issues that the previous generation of SMBs didn’t have to deal with.

As our reach expands, so do our business complexities. According to Sameer Gupta though, this is one of the hurdles that digital banking is meant to overcome. These banks aim to be SMBs’ local expertise for banking in other countries. They intend to provide you with support within your local environment even when working overseas.

Presence Across the Globe

Taking things one step further, digital banking allows even smaller-sized businesses to extend their customer reach across the globe. While conventional banking is heavily based on documentation and local presence, a digitized platform eradicates those borders increasing revenue and growth for all businesses.

Instant Payments Even in Cross-Border Payments

To complete the global selling trifecta, digital banking provides a simple and affordable means of sending and accepting payments even across borders. Limitless possibilities are opened up by plugging into local (and faster) payment schemes for cross- border transfers. 

Paperless Transactions

The entire world is shifting towards paperless. From paperless bills to online application forms, everywhere you turn they’re doing away with wasteful paper transactions. Digital banking helps SMBs cut costs and time on documenting printing. That means things will move much faster both in the initial stages of a transaction and later on down the line since customers will not have to rely on someone manually.

More Transparency is Good for Everybody

With everything online, information is more readily available to banks. When a lender can see how your goods are moving from one place to another, time status of tracking, etc., banks are more confident to finance. When they can see the real numbers in real time (because the information is readily available), banks will be more willing to finance faster and more readily. It also means you can expect lower rates.

Working Capital/Financing Options

SMBs also have more access to working capital and other financing options. Banks can accept documents in digital form and use online applications for loans and other financial products. This enables a faster application process, faster underwriting process, and faster approval. What once took 45 days to two months for approval can now be had in ten to fifteen days.

With digital banking, you can send out bank statements, invoices, everything you need. Banks can process it all quickly since everything is readily available. The end result is faster access to credit/capital.

Customize Products for You

Finally, with digital access, banks are able to customize the products more appropriately. This is a more convenient option, but it is also more cost-effective since SMBs won’t have to pay for features/limits they don’t need.

Digital Banking: It’s Not a Question of If, But When

Digital banking has more tricks up its sleeve including machine learning, analytics, and digital invoicing. From shipping bills and transactions requests, to limits getting reassigned and more, everything can be done with a click of a button.

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Posted on October 16, 2019

A simplified guide to international exchange rates and fees

International exchange rates are part of what make the world’s economy so dynamic. The constant ebb and flow of rates rising and falling make some frustrated, while others are left elated. Understanding and mastering international exchange rates is an important part of running a global business; falling for the misleading information often presented can leave you with a lot less money in your pocket. We’re here to bust a few myths when it comes to currency exchange rates and fees.

What affects exchange rates?

The events happening at any given time determine the demand for a said country’s currency; the strength of the economy, serious political events, even the weather. The interest rate paid by a country’s central bank largely contributes to how much in demand a certain currency is. If the interest rate is higher, then the currency becomes more valuable.
What happens is that when a currency is seen as more desirable with a high interest rate, investors exchange the currency they have for the higher one. The country’s bank then holds onto the exchanged currency in order to eventually receive a higher interest rate.

A country’s money supply is pertinent to the country’s central bank activity and decision-making processes. For example, if a government prints too much of their currency, then that is indicative of a problem: there’s too much money around that is going after too few goods. As such, holders of this country’s currency create inflation by budding prices up of local good and services. A more extreme case would be hyperinflation, which is characterized by too much money being printed as the result of having to pay off war debt, or some other large, national debt.

Similarly, any economic growth, or lack thereof, has the ability to strongly impact the status quo regarding a currency’s exchange rate. The country’s goods and services will only be invested in if their economy is booming, because it will need more of the currency itself in order to continue providing said goods and services. If a country isn’t demonstrating little or no stability, there will be less willingness on the behalf of investors to invest in its currency.

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Myth #1: There are many different exchange rates

What can become quite confusing and misleading with exchange rates, is the notion that there are many, many different exchange rates. If you call your bank and ask them what “their” exchange rate is for transferring one currency to another, you’ll get one “rate”. If you check at your local change shop, you’ll get another. Is a customer expected to shop around to find the best rate?

There is only one, true currency exchange rate. That is the mid-market rate (or inter-bank rate). It is basically a midpoint between supply and demand for a specific currency in the global markets, and because supply and demand are not fixed entities, they change all the time. At any given moment, there is only one mid-market rate. If you want to find out what it is, check out Yahoo Finance, XE, or any other independent source (not a financial establishment). This leads us into our next point, where commissions and fees play a role.

Myth #2: 0% commission

When withdrawing foreign currency, the first thing that might come to mind is the fee: What will I have to pay to change X currency to Y currency? Many financial establishments will promise you “0% commissions” or “no fees”. Are we to believe they’ll be changing the money for free?

Regardless of the commonly promised “no commission fee” establishments that you can find in many places, such a concept doesn’t really exist at the end of the day. What often happens is that the establishment will calculate their fees to be included as part of the exchange. For example, if the exchange rate from EUR to USD is €1 = $1.20, your bank may tell you that “their” exchange rate for these currencies is €1=$1.16. This makes it appear, to the unsuspecting customer, that there is no fee. But what does this essentially mean?
If you change €100 to USD, you should get $120. However, the bank has a 3.3% fee for exchanging these two currencies, so you’ll only end up with $116 in your pocket at the end of the day (they took $4 as the fee). See how this works? 0% fees is actually 3.3% fees in this case.

The good news

Frustration towards an entity that is very difficult to control is a completely understandable reaction to have towards international exchange rates. However, next time you have to exchange currencies, just know that you do, in fact, have more of a say in the matter than before.

At the end of the day, the only reliable and transparent exchange rate is the mid-market rate. If you’re transferring money from one currency to another, work with an entity that doesn’t hide its exchange fees. No secrets, no “0% commissions” fallacies.

Naturally, there will always be fees, but in order to accommodate the public, while they are entitled to their share for providing the service of exchange, companies  that exchange funds should strive to ensure that the focus of their services stays on doing whatever they can to ensure that a customer gets as much of the exchanged currency as possible. If you come across another exchange rate establishment, claiming to have the ‘best rate’, or work without commission, ask them about the real fee, and they’ll give you the look of a deer in headlights.

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Posted on October 16, 2019

Utilizing Amazon to Increase eCommerce & Deciphering Top Consumer Trends

Did you know? Amazon generates a staggering 50% of the online sales carried out in today’s eCommerce market. For an astute seller this should tell you one thing – you need to hop on the Amazon bandwagon fast!

Whether you’re just starting out in eCommerce or you already have an Amazon store and want to utilize it for greater revenue, this in-depth talk from Parthiv Shah will give you all the answers you’re looking for. To watch his full presentation, click below.

Parthiv Shah takes you through every aspect of Amazon selling including how to understand the global markets, online store set up tips, and deciphering the top consumer trends on Amazon today. Read on for some invaluable information you can use to set up a profitable Amazon eCommerce store.

Today, people are far more comfortable buying online than they ever were before. You can purchase anything from basic school supplies to more sensitive items like life insurance policies and financial transactions.

In fact, eCommerce is a $400+ billion online industry. Roughly $2 billion+ of that total can be accredited to small and medium-sized businesses…in a single day! Those are figures that a brick and mortar shop would never even dream of, but when you expand your marketplace options, great things start happening.

What is Global Selling?

One of the major benefits of selling on Amazon is the fact that it opens you up to global selling opportunities. What is global selling and how can it help your eCommerce site? In short, global selling is the ability to open your product offerings to the global marketplaces. You can sell your products not just in India, but all over the world.

Some of the biggest international markets include the US, Canada, Mexico, France, UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, India, Japan, Australia, and the UAE.

What are the Benefits of the Amazon Marketplace?

Selling globally expands your audience considerably and according to Shah, with an Amazon seller account, you can reach hundreds of millions of customers in just 12 countries. That’s a tremendous increase in sales revenue just by opening up your doors to a greater customer base.

Having a global audience offers you a wider customer base because you are not dependent on a specific season. By selling to a single geographic location, you’re tied to that area’s seasons, holidays, calendar dates, social, government, and political events. When you expand your audience to include other countries though, you vastly increase your seasonal options and vis a vis sales potential.

For example, if your entire customer body is situated in India, then you’ll have strong sales peaks in October around Diwali. If you expand your reach to the US audience, you can enjoy sales peaks during the local American holiday seasons as well including Valentines Day, Christmas, and more. Amazon sellers will see more customers converting through the entire sales funnel.

What’s more, research has shown that 66% of all searches start on Amazon. The obvious takeaway? Shoppers are turning to Amazon before they do anything else. Be where the crowds are and you’ll increase sales inevitably.

Managing Global Operations, No Problem with Amazon

A major issue that arises when Indian sellers start to consider the prospect of global selling is how they are going to manage such operations. International shipping, cross-border taxes, and mass orders make the entire endeavor seem impossible. Many Indian eCommerce stores kill the dream before they’ve even begun the process.

Shah runs through the entire order of operations and explains exactly how an Amazon seller can easily manage international operations. In a word, it all boils down to FBA. Fulfillment by Amazon is a program that offers sellers within the marketplace the opportunity to store, catalogue, organize, and ship their products from an Amazon warehouse. Among the many services provided via the FBA feature include: 

• Storage facilities
• Packaging
• Shipping
• Peace of mind

 Here’s how it works:

1. A customer goes on Amazon and sees one of your products
2. They order the product via your Amazon store
3. Amazon takes one of these items from your inventory, packs it up, and ships it out to the customer

Everything is handled by Amazon and as you can imagine, there are many benefits to this program. For one thing, customers trust Amazon. The shipping quality and speed are all insured by Amazon, so you can give your customers the reliable service they deserve. This also means you gain credibility.

Also, your orders are fulfilled faster for better supply and demand. Finally, you can save tremendously on shipping charges. Shipping in bulk to the warehouse is more cost-efficient than shipping individual orders.

Understanding Consumer Trends on Amazon

Like every sales channel, Amazon has specific seasons where products flourish. Learn how to analyze these trends and predict upcoming ones.  

Best Selling Items on Amazon Right Now

Want to get things off on the right foot? Here are a few items that are smoking hot on Amazon right now: 

• Kids cars, toy carpets, collectible dolls, and anti-chafe balm
• Alexa TV remote, Echo Dot smart speaker, and Fujifilm INSTAX mini film
• Fujifilm Instax camera
• Donkey Kong Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Store gift cards

You also want to pay attention to timing when it comes to the Amazon trend for optimal revenue generation. Q1, Q2, and Q3 are slower compared to Q4, but Q2 is starting to increase in popularity. This is especially true for fashion (no surprise that Q2 is in the spring when fashion is at its height).  

Gardening and environment industries also increase in Q2. So you’ll see an upsurge in the sales of items like biodegradable products, lawn furniture and anything environmentally-friendly.

Top Tips for Selling on Amazon

Here are a few tips from Shah and other industry experts to maximize your profits from Amazon and other global marketplace sales channels:

Pay Attention to Global Differences 

With various global audiences comes various differences in culture and more. Pay attention to these differences because they’ll mean the difference between successful multi-channel sales and a flop. Notice global differences in color preferences, sizing charts, and seasons.

Create Selling Product Listings 

Make sure you maximize your sales potential by providing attractive, productive, and smart product listings. Each product listing should have relevant keywords, informative and accurate product details and numerous product images.

Get Paid with the Right Payment Solution

With Payoneer’s cross-border flexible payment solution, sellers on Amazon can receive international payments to one consolidated account and access their funds from anywhere in the world. If you’re starting an Amazon business or already selling products on Amazon, consider a trusted payment provider that will enable you to expand your business.

Level Up Your Business with Amazon Global Selling 

The world is a big place. Don’t limit your business to a single region. Get on an online marketplace and watch your online business go global.

 

 

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Posted on October 10, 2019

Payoneer Sponsoring Money 20/20 – Join us in Vegas!

We’re excited to announce that Payoneer will once again be one of the sponsors at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas, USA from October 27-30^th. We’d love to meet you there!

Money 20/20 is the premier global event of the year that brings together the largest and most powerful leaders in payments, fintech, banking and financial services. The event brings together innovators and dreamers from the industry who are disrupting the way in which consumers and businesses manage, borrow and spend money.

As for this year’s theme? Journey to the Future of Money – a mission to help bring your business the tools and connections you need in order to become a key player in this ecosystem’s ever-changing future.

We’d love to connect with you during the conference!

• Visit us at Booth #4917 to learn more about what we do and to pick up some fun swag!
• Attend our “X-Border Customer Journeys” workshop on Sunday, October 27^th, where you can hear from TJ Hyland, Payoneer’s Head of Americas eCommerce Partnerships and Daniel Webber, Founder/CEO of FXC Intelligence.
• Come chat with us! Money 20/20 provides a great opportunity to meet with Payoneer executives and platform experts. Fill out our meeting request form.
• We’re also hosting a VIP cocktail reception with our valued customers, VCs, and banking partners — invite only!

To read more visit the official Money 20/20 website.

We hope to see you in Las Vegas!

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