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E-commerce Product Photography: A Complete Guide

Are you an online business looking for ways to improve your product presentation? Look no further than this product photography blog! With the right tools and techniques, taking compelling product photos is well within your reach. Here, we share everything about E-commerce product photography – from different types of product photography, to where to look to hire a professional photographer, to tips and tricks to create stunning product photos! Read along.

Different Types Of Product Photography

Product photos are an essential part of any successful E-commerce store and can vary in style and purpose. Let’s explore the different types of product photography, from classic everyday shots to more creative and unique ones and how having a consistent look across your product pictures, or tastefully combining different styles can have a stronger visual impact.

Individual shots

The individual shot is basically a shot of an individual item or product. Here, the photographer will typically try to capture the product in all its glory – from texture, colour and design to shape and size. Product shots can be really exciting for buyers when they’re trying to decide if they want to buy something or not!

An excellent example is from BoAt in which they have shot the product on a grey background, giving it a clean and elegant look.

Example of Individual shots in product photography

Credit: BoAt Website

Group shots

As the name suggests, a group photo displays a group of items, such as a set of books or clothes. By displaying different ranges and styles within one image, you’re showing buyers that there’s something for everyone in your product lineup!

Here we share an example of how Dermafique displays its different range of skin care products in a single group shot – from cleansing lotion to face serum.

Example of group shots in product photography

Credit: Dermafique Website

Lifestyle shots

Lifestyle shots are a type of photography where products are featured in action with a model. This style allows businesses to tell their customers the story behind their products and show how they can be used in everyday life.

See how Farida Gupta – an online clothing brand uses lifestyle shots for the branding of its handcrafted men and women apparel.

Credit: Farida Gupta Website

Packaging shots

Packaging shots are pictures of products in their branded packaging. These images give customers a taste of what to expect when they purchase the product.

For example, Juicy Chemistry provides beautiful images of its products alongside its packaging boxes to give potential customers an idea of the overall look and feel. Packaging shots can be a powerful tool to showcase your product’s unique branding strategy and make it stand out from the competition.

Credit: Juicy Chemistry Website

Detailed shots

Detailed shots are a form of photography that helps capture the tiny intricacies that might otherwise go unnoticed in traditional photography. These shots require specific lighting and camera settings, such as a macro lens, to magnify those details and make them more visible.

For instance, see how Anita Dongre showcases her jewellery designs on a white background so that you can easily spot the vibrant hues and intricate patterns of each piece.

Credit: Anita Dongre Website

Essential Equipment for Product Photography

For product photography there are a few essential items you’ll need:

Shooting Table – If you’re looking to capture the perfect shot of your product, you’ll need a sturdy surface. A shooting table provides a level, smooth surface and can be used in combination with different surfaces, backdrops and lights to create the perfect photograph. There are a variety of shooting tables available on various marketplaces.

Camera – Professional cameras are great for product photography because they offer high-quality images with accurate colour reproduction. However, you don’t need the most expensive camera out there; any good DSLR will do the job just fine. Furthermore, if you have a good smartphone like an iPhone, then also you are good to go.

Pro Tripod or stand – A professional tripod ensures your photos stay steady and give you the perfect shot. You can use different types of tripods for different purposes, such as light stands and ball heads that let you adjust the camera angle easily if needed.

Lighting equipment (reflectors, diffusers, etc.) – A good light setup can really make or break an image. A simple white background will give your images a natural look, but if you want to add extra drama or impact you’ll need to invest in more specialized lighting equipment such as reflectors, diffusers, etc.

Backgrounds, backdrops, and props – You can use backdrops such as light tents. A light tent, also known as a lightbox, is an inexpensive backdrop that photographers can use to take stunning and professional images.

Process To Take Professional Photos

Set up your table

Once you have gathered all the equipment, set up your table or lightbox to create the perfect shooting area! If you have a shooting table, make sure you choose a white background for better product photos. Ensure that you are close to the window so that shadows don’t invade your frame. A tip is to turn off all other lights as they might ruin the delicate balance of natural light entering through your window.

When you’ve chosen a spot, rotate the set around for different styles–try a 90-degree angle or go for 45. Either way, releasing the power of light is sure to bring striking results and provide you with stunning shots.

How to set up a table for product photography

Adjust your camera

As mentioned earlier, having a professional camera is critical to successful photography. If you have a DSLR, here we share some suggested camera settings:

First, adjust the white balance of your camera. You can either set it to auto or to the same Kelvin temperature as that of your studio lighting
Then, depending on what kind of photo you’re taking, choose either a wide or small aperture to capture just the right depth of field
Turn off your flash as you should have already adjusted for either natural or artificial light in advance
Set your camera to use all available pixels so it can create an image with unrivalled quality – select both Large size and Superfine quality settings before getting ready to click away
Set your ISO to 100 for maximum clarity and minimal noise. The ISO of your camera is like the sensitivity sensor – if you crank it high, you get an eye-watering amount of grain in your shots and when you keep it low, you get clean, professional imagery
Lastly, check the exposure settings. If your camera has an exposure compensation dial, go ahead and give it +1 or +1½ for the perfect shot. But if all you have is running man photos to select from, go with ‘Sunset’ – that should do the trick!

Frame your product correctly

Capturing your product at the perfect angle and in the best light can take some time. Make sure your product is perfectly presented by arranging it front and centre on a sturdy surface like a table or lightbox. If it’s an item with labels or intricate design, you may need to make slight adjustments until everything looks just right.

Adjust your lighting

For quality product photos, good lighting is absolutely essential! Whether you choose natural or artificial illumination, carefully modulating both its strength and direction ensures that you capture stunning images with minimal editing required afterwards.

If you’re shooting a sunny-day lifestyle photoshoot, take advantage of the natural light that Nature offers! The sun at its peak is when you can get really beautiful, optimal light that’ll make your model or product shine like never before.

If you desire to shoot during random times of the day, artificial light could be the ideal solution for your needs. Utilizing reflector cards or diffusers that help fill in the shadows could give you perfect shots.

Click and evaluate

Now, put your product photography skills to the test! Make sure you get a variety of shots by taking pictures from different distances, angles, and positions. Remember that practice makes perfect—you might need a few tries before you’re really satisfied with your results. Once you’ve taken as many photos as needed, upload them to your computer so that you can view them in full quality. You can use Adobe Lightroom or a similar program if necessary for organizing and refining the images

Use software and editing tools if needed –

As the last step in your product photography process, use some sort of editing tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Pixlr, or Canva to turn those average shots into images that will exude professionalism.

With editing or retouching, you can ensure all product images across your website have consistent quality and positioning. You can do colour corrections, remove unwanted objects, and lighting adjustments easily and in no time with this editing software.

Optimize images for website/online store

Time is paramount, and every second counts for shoppers who don’t have the patience to wait for a site that won’t load quickly. That’s why it’s essential to optimize images so they look great, but also ensure page loading times are speedy. Big images might look stunning – but can really slow down your website loading time and impact the site SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Also, make sure all your product photos are clearly labelled with relevant metadata and keywords as it helps in improving search visibility!

When To Consider Hiring a Professional Photographer?

Investing in professional product photography could be a game-changer for your business! Not only will the high-quality photos boost your appeal and professionalism, but they’ll also amplify your marketing potential. Here, we share some reasons for hiring a professional photographer:

Get professional quality images

Most companies don’t have access to the best equipment and software, which are typically in the hands of experienced professionals. A talented photographer with top-notch equipment is a guaranteed formula for spectacular product photos that will surely wow visitors to your website.

Consistency matters

With a professional product photographer on your side, they will ensure you get stunning results every single time. Working in unity with you to create a unified brand look across images; the same backgrounds, colours and logo use – which ultimately leads to consistency in branding! You’ll know that no matter what photos are produced, the quality will always be top-notch.

Maximize ROI

You can maximize your return on investment with professional photographers. By investing in quality product shots to create an original portfolio, you can stand out from the crowd and last longer over time. Professional photographers ensure that your photos look as good as they should – so you can get maximum return from every penny spent on your marketing campaigns!

Where To Look For To Hire a Professional Photographer?

Finding an expert photographer within our budget is no easy task. Here are some amazing product photography services that can help you in your search for the right photographer:

Picnara – This site will help you find the perfect professional product photographer, providing an overview of their past assignments, their portfolio, skills, the cities they are available to serve in and even the languages they speak. You can call or WhatsApp them directly via the contact number given on the site.

Creative pool – You just need to enter “product photography/photographer” in the search bar on the homepage and it will show profiles of different photographers with some personal information about them, their experience in different sectors, their clients, along with their location and languages were known.

Upwork – Upwork is a great option for finding expert product photographers. The website displays its extensive listing of talented individuals with ratings, the number of hires and a portfolio to show off each person’s unique style.

A Few More Tips For Photographing Products Successfully

Write great product descriptions – Product photography shouldn’t be the only thing your customers see when they browse through your product page! Great descriptions can help to draw in potential buyers and entice them to check out more details about the product
Utilize natural lighting whenever possible – It makes the photos authentic and warm
Experiment with different backgrounds – Adding texture or pattern to an empty background can add depth and quality to your photos
Test different camera settings to get the best image quality – Altering the angle of light, placement of lamps or reflectors, or changing the white balance on your camera can all produce different results in how your photo looks

Get As Creative As You Want!

That is everything about product photography!

Achieving remarkable product photos isn’t something that happens overnight – it’s part of an ongoing process, and you may need to experiment a bit until you get the perfect shot!

Good photos are a critical part of your overall creative strategy. Whether it is an Instagram post or conversion focussed social ads – you need beautiful product photos everywhere.

Want to know what kind of creative strategy will give you the best ROAS? We can help. Get a free performance marketing strategy session with our experts and get actionable insights to scale your E-commerce business.

About ANS Commerce

A Flipkart group company, ANS Commerce, is India’s #1 Full Stack E-commerce Enabler trusted by 200+ Brands!

From creating your online store, running profitable performance marketing campaigns, managing marketplaces to order fulfillment & warehousing – we do it all to supercharge your brand’s growth!

10 Common Pricing Strategies For DTC Brands

When it comes to making purchase decisions, price is often the deciding factor. Several studies have shown that pricing is critical and relevant to consumer buying behavior. With so many options available in the world of DTC, getting your pricing strategy right can be a make-or-break moment for your business.

In this article, we’ll dive into 10 common pricing strategies that DTC brands can use along with examples of each. Keep reading to learn more!

What Is A Pricing Strategy?

Setting the best price for goods or services is a process known as pricing strategy. This method helps to level prices and margins according to market demand in order to boost profits and enhance shareholder value.

There are several things that need consideration when selecting your pricing strategies such as marketing aims, business revenue aspirations, target audience, brand placement, and consumer demand. An effective pricing technique will reduce expenses while creating value for your customers; thus assisting with the expansion of your venture.

A Few Things To Check Before You Choose Your DTC Pricing Strategy

Know the total cost of your product

Before you set your prices, be sure to know the total cost of your product. If you order products, add up their cost per unit — that’s your cost of goods sold. When crafting each piece yourself, consider the bundle of raw materials you need and how much time it takes to create one item for sale. You can also take into account the following costs, so that your business turn out to be profitable:

Production Cost
Marketing Cost
Shipment and Handling Cost
Business Cost

Identify your ideal customer profile

It’s important to note that your hard work won’t amount to anything if you don’t have any buyers.

It pays to think about your customer’s disposable funds. Some may search for the best bargain, while others have no qualms with parting ways with a few extra dollars if it means getting something of quality. Understanding these preferences will give you a better footing in gauging what prices to offer in order to maximize customer satisfaction!

Thus, it follows that you must calculate a value-driven profit margin, so your product is attractive to the desired target market and makes financial sense for you as well.

Find your USP/value proposition

What sets your business apart? Finding the perfect pricing strategy is key to highlighting the unique value you’re offering to consumers. Take the story of Tuft & Needle for example: they carved out a special place in the mattress market with their affordable prices and exceptional quality. Similarly, find what sets you apart, and let it guide your pricing decisions to make sure no one has any trouble recognizing how unique your business is!

10 Common Pricing Strategies Used By DTC Brands

Competition-based pricing strategy

As the name suggests, competition-based or competitive pricing strategy is based on understanding competitors’ prices and using them as a benchmark. Customers often compare prices when making their purchase decisions, making small price differences crucial for success in this type of market.

You can opt to go a few cents lower of the price your competitor is offering, offer the same as your competition, or exceed the prices of your competition to be in the game.

For instance, D2C brand Dollar Shave Club launched the first subscription-based business that sends fresh razors and other grooming products to your doorstep via email.

Yes, a D2C startup came onto the scene, took on a global brand like Gillette, and won with a quality product and a competitive pricing strategy. In fact, Dollar Shave Club eschewed the traditionally high margins on razors and delivered them at a competitive price.

Cost-plus pricing strategy

A cost-plus pricing or also known as the markup pricing strategy involves charging customers a price that is higher than the cost of producing the good or service.

Cost-plus pricing can be effective when there are high fixed costs associated with production, such as manufacturing materials and labor. By charging customers more than these costs, businesses can increase revenue while limiting their exposure to price risk and market fluctuations.

For example, let’s say you started an online shoes business and want to calculate the selling price of one shoe:

Material Cost: $50
Labour Cost: $200
Shipping Cost: $10

So now, the cost of your product will be $260. Now, you can add a 45% markup of the total cost of the product to have a profitable business. The formula, then, for the total price of the product would be:

Total production cost ($260) * Markup (260*45/100) = Selling Price of your product ($377)

Value-based pricing strategy

Value-based pricing strategy is when the price of a product or service is based on its value to the customer, rather than on the costs incurred to produce it. Businesses show the product is premium and exclusive for buyers.

In a value-based pricing strategy, price is set high enough to cover costs (including variable costs and overhead), but competitive enough so that customers feel they are getting a good deal. This approach may be more effective in competitive markets where customers can switch providers easily.

For instance, fashion lifestyle brand Ralph Lauren often follows a value-based pricing approach.

Price skimming strategy

This E-commerce strategy refers to the business tactic of starting off at a high price in order to satisfy consumers who don’t mind paying extra for its products. As other businesses start to join the market, then reduce their prices in order to entice a new, more budget-conscious customer base.

For instance, Apple is a brand that uses a price skimming strategy, especially during the launch of its latest iphone. It starts off at high prices and slowly lowered prices over time to attract budget-conscious consumers.

A skimming pricing strategy can be a great way to make a lasting profit from your products, but it can also backfire. If you lower the prices too much, consumers who paid full price may get irked and competitors will sense an opportunity to swoop in and imitate your ‘fake’ margins.

Penetration pricing strategy

Contrast to skimming price strategy, the penetration pricing strategy is when the company sets a low price for its new product or service to gain customers’ attention and raise awareness.

It is also known as the discount pricing strategy and works best for price-sensitive customers but is not sustainable in the long run for businesses. This strategy is usually best for brands that are new in the market and want to attract customers. However, there is always a risk of losing those customers once the business increases its prices back to normal.

Pro-tip: To truly make an impact with your product, emphasize its value instead of the price tag.

Netflix pulled off one of the greatest feats in pricing strategy history with their ‘penetration pricing’ model: charging a low fee for access to their instant streaming service with subscriptions, they boosted their customer base exponentially and gained an unbeatable market share. In doing so, Netflix managed to establish a monopoly over the industry.

Psychological pricing strategy

This marketing strategy has been used by businesses across various industries to optimize pricing and boost sales. It does exactly what the name suggests – targets human psychology to increase sales.

Take example of the 9-digit effect. Customers see a product worth $99.99 as attractive and a good bargain even though the price is almost the same as $100. The “9” makes all the difference in perception.

Apart from this, a BOGO offer or changing the colors and fonts of the pricing tag have also proven, in various stances, to be effective.

For instance see how Indian D2C brand BoAt uses the psychological pricing strategy to up its sales:

Example of psychological pricing strategy

Credit: Boat Website

Keystone pricing strategy

Keystone Pricing is an approach that involves setting a price for a product or service that is double the cost of production (or the wholesale price). This method can help businesses maximize their profits while also keeping prices competitive and attractive to customers. It is usually used by retailers.

Here’s an example to help illustrate the concept. Let’s say a company produces a product with a cost of production at $100. Using keystone pricing, they would price that product at $200 – effectively doubling their investment with a 50 percent markup!

Bundle pricing strategy

A bundle pricing strategy involves selling multiple products or services together at a discounted price (than the total amount of all the products individually). This allows the business to increase their revenue by selling more products per unit than if each product was sold on its own.

Let’s understand this with an example – a combo meal from Mc Donald’s. The combo includes small fries, a small drink, and a burger. If the customer only wanted the small fries they would have to pay some extra for it separately. However, if the customer buys the combo meal consisting of all 3 items, then they can keep all 3 items for a discounted price.

Credit: Mcdonalds

This strategy is effective because customers value having multiple products in one package more than paying extra for each product individually.

Anchor pricing strategy

Anchor pricing is a product pricing strategy that businesses use to create a favorable comparison between their discounted prices and the original prices. This way, consumers can quickly and easily see the savings they’ll get when they make their purchase. The comparison can also be between the price of your and your competitor’s product.

One way businesses show this is by cutting the anchor price prominently and displaying the discounted price near it! You can find this strategy being used by many businesses, in the malls, and on online marketplace such as Amazon.

Credit: Ring Alarm

Economy pricing strategy

An economy pricing strategy is an approach that involves pricing your products low and gaining more revenue through higher sales volume. This type of pricing works particularly well for commodity goods like groceries, drugs and medications, etc. where there isn’t a lot of brand recognition.

This business model relies on regularly introducing new customers to the product in order to generate the desired revenue.

Again, Dollar Shave Club is the perfect example of a D2C brand utilizing economy pricing, as they outrun Gillette and their pricey razor blades.

Find The Right Pricing Strategy For Your Business

There is not one single way of establishing a successful pricing strategy; what works for one D2C business may not be ideal for another. Therefore, doing a thorough research and figuring out which method is right for your product, marketing plan, and buyers is essential.

With the knowledge gained from this article, you can make sound decisions and find the optimal pricing to provide customers with an enjoyable shopping experience.

About ANS Commerce

A FlipKart group company, ANS Commerce, is India’s #1 Full Stack E-commerce Growth Partner trusted by 200+ Brands!

From creating your online store, running profitable performance marketing campaigns, managing marketplaces to order fulfillment & warehousing – we do it all to supercharge your brand’s growth!

Want to know how we can scale your E-commerce business? Book a free consulting session with our experts today!

Social Justice Day 2021 | 6 Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Every Online Business Must Indulge In!

Social Justice is not just a responsibility but a path every individual should walk on. Moreover, it’s the duty of each organization to follow norms along with indulging in social activities while helping society as a whole. To communicate the importance of Social Justice, February 20th every year is celebrated as Social Justice Day.

During the last decade, there has been a constant expansion in digital technology, resulting in an increase in the digital and online businesses. Especially after the pandemic, the dependence in this fast-paced industry has increased. But this has also worsened the growing digital divide in terms of the access of the internet, affordability, and availability of skills.

“To address this issue of digital divide, the United Nations (UN) has come up with the 2021 Theme: A Call for Social Justice in the Digital Economy.”

The theme outlines the efforts by the international community to look for solutions to bring about sustainable development, the promotion of full employment and good working conditions, universal social protection, gender equality and justice for all!

The advent of the internet has brought great vitality to the development of e-commerce. Many small and established e-commerce brands are taking social initiatives to build a sense of honesty in their work culture.

“Integrating social responsibility to your organization not only helps the society but also fuels your business as it gives better brand recognition, ensures growth, and increases sales!”

To celebrate and embrace Social Justice Day 2021, we have come up with the 6 best CSR activities you should swear by.

6 CSR activities every e-commerce business should swear by!

“Corporate social responsibility is the concept of management, focusing on social and environmental concerns of companies in their business operations.”

1. Protecting the environment against pollution

The environment is the most important part of our living. All our core life functions depend on the environment. After the inception of e-commerce, we have experienced both the positive and negative impacts of technology on the environment. On one hand, it has initiated the idea of paperless billing but on the other hand the packaging of products for home delivery demands more paper and plastic usage.

If you are willing to do something for nature, you must start doing a few changes in your operations. Instead of using plastic in the packaging, go for biodegradable packaging. It will cost you higher, but you can compensate the cost by manufacturing products with reusable and recycled raw materials. It will cost you less and will be more feasible to carry out your business operations.

Quick Tip: To communicate the same, you can start with social media campaigns, reflecting on the need to save the environment and how you are selling products with reusable raw materials. Nowadays, consumers are looking for more sustainable and eco-friendly products.

2. Joining hands with an NGO

Corporate Social Responsibility is all about companies playing their part in society and giving back, making an effort to associate for a good cause. To support a communal cause, you can also tie-up with an NGO/NPO. Consumers love to engage with brands that support a social cause. By launching corporate social responsibility campaigns, you can grab the attention of your users. Cause marketing events make your organization look more credible and reliable. Check your brand’s mission statement and find what you as an organization genuinely care about. Share it with your community. It creates a sense of trust in the minds of the user, persuading them to swear by your products.

Our take: To support the communal cause, ANS Commerce is associated with an NGO called The Earth Saviors Foundation, donating clothes and sponsoring meals to old-age and intellectually disabled people. This initiative not only gives us a sense of satisfaction but also brings a smile to our faces when we see those people getting cared for.

3. Giving jobs to marginal workers and artisans

Unemployment is one of the major social issues, making people do unethical things such as burglary. As an organization, you can definitely bring a change by giving jobs to small artisans and marginalized laborers. For instance, if you are a fashion and clothing brand dealing especially with ethnic wear, you can hire small artisans for handicrafts. This will give a sense of authenticity to your products both in terms of the quality and the cause behind them. With this amazing idea, you can put a smile on both – marginalized workers’ and consumers’ faces.

4. Engaging employees in CSR

If you want to practice social responsibility in your organization, you should first pass on the practice to your internal stakeholders.To engage your employees so they feel an emotional attachment towards their work, it’s important to organize fun office activities while promoting a work-life balance. You can also start with buddy programs to welcome new employees in the organization. Furthermore, you can also plan employee recognition programs wherein you can award the best employee of the month basis their overall performance.

Our take: To prioritize the mental health of employees, ANS Commerce introduced one monthly mandatory leave policy to promote work-life balance!

5. Protecting Customers’ Privacy

With the rapid expansion of e-commerce, privacy has become the major concern of customers as it is almost impossible to complete a transaction without giving your personal information. So it is imperative that your e-commerce platform is secure and provides customers reassurance regarding their data, especially during transactions. Also, after the pandemic, people are preferring cashless transactions over COD. This has raised the need for data privacy even more!

“Protecting customer privacy is not just a law but a moral and social obligation to treat our customers’ private information safely and fairly.”

Quick Tip: Kartify puts forward multiple layers of security for all the brandstores it hosts. Having come with cloud armor, Kartify enables security audits with regular backup and version control. Request you free DEMO now!

6. Focusing on Educational Programmes for underprivileged students

Education is not just a necessity but a mandatory thing to improve the quality of life. We see many underprivileged students who are eager to study but are unable to because of their family’s financial instability. To bring a little change, you can support the children by providing educational programs while motivating them to give the best of their potential. Additionally, you can also start with donation campaigns on your brandstore. To communicate the idea, add an option of the donation during the checkout time, making it easier for customers to support the cause.

Quick tip: You can give free textbooks to the children. You can also hold online webinars and workshops covering the social concepts helping them to get the idea of society and its values.

There are many ways to make your business socially responsible. Be sincere and transparent about the information you share. The CSR concept should be natural for every e-commerce company and should focus on CSR activities.

Now that you know all about CSR, so when are you integrating it to your organizational structure?

Festive Season 2020 Trends: ANS Commerce facilitates 2.5X more festive sales at 25-30% lower cost for its partner brands

In inclusion with sentiments and happiness, the festive season comes with deals and offers for buyers to swear by. But with the COVID-19 still being the reason for the forbiddance of offline purchase, usage of e-commerce websites and marketplaces have increased.

Undoubtedly, the Indian e-commerce industry has surged, especially after the onset of this pandemic. Not only has established e-retailers boosted their businesses over this time, but we can see many Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands entering the market and earning profits. To showcase the same, the Indian festive month has solely witnessed a huge difference in terms of sales figures that e-retailers have acquired.

Covering and comparing all the e-commerce festive trends, ANS Commerce’s report throws light on the sales volume along with new marketing ideas and warehousing trends, its partner brands have followed this festive season. Right from the difference in the sales volume from that of the last year, to new marketing trends including digital products, to segment-wise changes, we have curated a whole bunch of trends for you. So let’s dive deeper and take a look at the festive season sales insights!

Increased Adoption Of Online! How and Why?

Comparing offline sales and online sales, many rational minds are opting for the latter than the former. To count a few reasons, no contact delivery is the major intention for people to go online. Not only can you get your products on time, but can also avoid the transmission of the virus. This notion has gotten said popularity from online retail brands, especially amid the Diwali season.

Hoarding clothes and other items was a trend amidst Diwali, but this year, there is an upsurge in the trend, especially on e-commerce websites including both marketplaces and independent brandstores. There is seen 2.5X more sales at 20% – 30% reduced cost with the assistance of marketing optimization, multi-city logistics, and lower order return.

Decoding the Sales: Thousands of offers, millions of sales, and countless excitement!

Let’s unpack the sales volume exhibited amid the festive season. The sales have turned out to be a megahit this year as our partner brands reported to have done sales of ~34 Cr. Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). Enumerating the volume of items shipped this year, brands have pegged shipment volume of ~5.7 lakhs of products this year. The upsurge unravels how new-age digital channels such as D2C and omnichannel have become a necessity for e-commerce businesses.

How was this festive season different from last year?

No one can forget the first four months of this year when there was an absolute fear of the pandemic, resulting in a lower number of sales. But did we ever imagine that this Diwali will bring light and prosperity to e-retailers?

To add in the facts there is a clear-cut difference between 2019 and 2020. The report counts in the average order size with an increase of ~20% from that of last year’s. From this. you can absolutely sense how individual customers have spread the hype of online purchases this year.

The major upside to online sales during this pandemic is the non-COD payment option. In fact, there are many brandstores that are declining the option of cash on delivery as cash transfers can potentially become a carrier of infection. This has resulted in a rise of ~58% of the share of pre-paid (non-COD) payments.

“The proportion of orders from non-metropolitan cities have solely increased by ~11%, making a contribution of more than 50% to the festive sales. With metropolitan cities such as Delhi and Mumbai contributing to only 35% sales.”

Warehousing and fulfillment also play an eminent role when it comes to e-commerce sales. With an almost ~155% increase in the GMV as compared to the year 2019 for the same set of brands, it’s quite obvious that warehousing and supply must have played an incredible role to execute the operations. So, talking about the trends, the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) on brandstore has increased by 20% – 25%, resulting in better depth and breadth of inventory.

Along with the drift, the preference of brands has also seemed to change with the rising number of stock-keeping. To enable simple, fast, and reliable delivery, brands are seen to get fascinated by multi-city warehouses and omnichannel delivery options.

New Marketing trends observed with a special focus on D2C segments!

With sales and warehousing, there’s another aspect to e-commerce that’s been transitioning amid the festive season. Marketers around the nation have come up with seasonal marketing ideas to change the digital attire of their brandstore. Offers and discounts sound like traditional concepts when it comes to incorporating them into marketing ideas, especially in 2020. Each year brands perform something new in terms of marketing, but this year the creativity seemed to go a step further. And, the result has been fruitful as the share of new shoppers has increased.

To head towards victory, marketers, and e-retailers have introduced many digital products to encourage their prospects. This year, there is an upsurge in E-gift cards and warranties.

The main focus remained on customer-loyalty plans, the brands have chosen to use loyalty programs and payment offers to lower customer acquisition costs.

Loyalty programs are a great way to engage your customers with you. Click here to know more about it among other ideas to get customers reviews and ratings!

Diwali is the season where you can come up with new offerings as it’s the peak time of the year when people look for new and creative options to gift their loved ones. Keeping that in mind, many new and established brands have expanded their product portfolio and introduced a varied combination of product mix for their customers.

“Brands also witnessed a boost in the sales of gift packs and combos, especially in the dry fruits and beauty & personal care segment.”

Sectors in specific that saw major sales!

We are well aware of festive traditions – buying new clothes is one of them. Like each year, this year also Fashion & Lifestyle continued to win the race as it is the major contributor in sales.

Health has been a major concern this year especially for new mothers and infants, leading to a spike in the Mom & Baby Care category with 14X.

“Beauty and Personal Care segment contribution has increased by 2.2X as compared to last year, making it the fastest-growing category.”

In the current scenario of washing and sanitizing each item, there is a surge in the hygiene and germ control category itself. The brands under this segment have forced people with their aggressive marketing campaigns to stockpile products such as vegetable wash, surface disinfectants, and sanitizers.

This indicates the fact that this year has been full of prosperity and happiness for e-commerce brands. ANS Commerce has supported its brand partners with brandstore tech, warehouse & fulfillment, performance marketing, and marketplace management.

If you’re planning to claim your stake in e-commerce real-estate and want to be one step ahead of your competitors, then request your free DEMO now!

This Diwali, Be The Light For Small And Local Businesses! Here’s How And Why

Diwali isn’t a festival of a day or two ─ it’s the celebration of one whole week. The festival of lights begins with loads of shopping for both family and friends, leaving us to the dilemma about ‘what to purchase’ ─ most importantly ─ ‘where to purchase from?’

Whether you purchase from a swanky foreign brand or a local store, it doesn’t matter as long as you get the best quality with a top-notch finish. But it matters to the community and nation’s economy, foremostly, to our small and marginal workers. Small businesses always strive to showcase their brand’s individuality in their offerings by amalgamating flavors of our rich heritage.

“Small businesses strive to give their customers optimum quality with top-notch services because each customer is important to them.”

Local businesses, on one hand, are the backbone of our nation’s economy, while on the other hand, they serve with a plethora of inexpensive options, not to mention the fact that they keep us close to our culture.

With a surge in e-commerce, many of the local businesses are coming out of their comfort zone ─ brick and mortar stores ─ to offer us their services and products. Thus, it’s our responsibility to give them a hand to withstand complex market competition.

Why should you support small businesses?

There are not just one or two reasons to support a small business, but a long bunch of aspects! Let’s delve deeper and learn about ‘why is it important to support these local and small businesses’.

1. You can help generating significant employment

A business when operated gives a number of people a reason to earn a basic livelihood for better survival and existence. It’s not uncommon that these days finding a job has become strenuous. And with the tight structure in the economy, it’s quite difficult for businesses to pay their employee’s salaries and wages. By supporting a local business, you’re not just lighting up their homes with happiness but bestowing a smile to hundreds of workers who are tied up with them.

2. They bring out individuality and persona to the world of transactions

In the world of numbers, where everybody is running after success, there are some businesses that are striving to bring out the persona and individuality through their production. With traditional methods of production, small businesses don’t just focus on numbers. Their production reflects a sense of originality and character as they produce well with a unique thought in mind.

“Local businesses do what fascinate their unique mind, which is why their products are a reflection of their honesty.”

3. They offer you a unique range of products

Have you ever been in love with hand felted and embroidered carpet? Does it make you feel connected with your roots? Well, fusing traditional ideas with contemporary fashion is what you will always find in the collection of small businesses. So what could be a better occasion than this Diwali when you can get your hands on the original elegance and give a smile to both these businesses and your loved ones?

4. They produce goods without causing any harm to the community

Indulged in sustainable ways, not only do these small businesses provide employment but their methods are also safe and cruelty-free. They create methods with consideration to save both humankind and the ecosystem without leaving a dirty footprint. The unconventional practices include; careful usage of natural resources, increasing the recycling of products, and choosing renewable sources of energy.

“Supporting small businesses means saluting business owners for the continuous effort they have been putting in to bring out our hidden traditions.”

5. You can support a local cause

Beyond offering unique products, small businesses often contribute to a local cause in the shape of charity, donations, cause events, etc. They are majorly associated with some or other communal event that benefits the local people of that area. Thus, supporting a local business means you are supporting and contributing to a local cause.

6. They give you personalized service with an incredible experience

From elegant packaging to amiable home delivery services, everything makes these local businesses stand out when compared with a large and established brand. They don’t sell just to earn money but to create happiness, which you can sense from their thoughtful gift packages. That’s not the end yet. They make a point to develop long-term relationships with their customers for brand loyalty. So, their customer support services don’t end with the purchase but go beyond them as they are always present to answer your queries.

“Small and local businesses might not be able to fill your wardrobe with branded and swanky collections, but their unique design and long-established functioning can be a real reason for you to choose them.“

5 Ways to support small e-commerce businesses

Before you snag something to give to your family and friends, take a halt and consider buying something that lights up somebody’s home! Now that we’ve discovered the benefits society and community has with local businesses. Let’s explore how actually you can support them.

1. Show your support by buying gift cards from local online stores for loved ones

Buy a gift card from a local brandstore and give it to your loved ones. Be it a gift card for a clothing store, or an online ticket for a nearby salon or dance studio, you can choose any of the options. This way you can show your patronage to these local brands even if you don’t want to buy something immediately. This thoughtful idea of yours will benefit the local businesses and motivate the receiver to purchase from that brandstore boosting their sales.

2. Mention your brand experience on social media while saving them marketing cost

Boost small businesses by tagging them on social media channels with your shopping experience. This way your connections can get a virtual experience and will become their potential customers. Additionally, you can refer them to your friends and family via word of mouth. It will save them a huge marketing dollar, helping them to withstand the complex competition.

“Happy customers can become real brand advocates of these local and small businesses by raving about their shopping experience to others.”

3. Don’t compromise your safety and shop groceries online from local businesses

In the digital age of e-commerce, there are a whole bunch of sellers online to offer you organic vegetables and other food items. From vegan ice creams, to farm fresh veggies, you get a plethora of healthy options when you purchase online from small and local vendors. Not only do they provide you with local and seasonal produce, but also help in boosting your immunity. So why compromise your safety and comfort if your local groceries can be delivered right at your doorstep?

4. Assist small e-commerce brandstores with your professional knack

Entrepreneurs always look for legal and financial advisors who can advise them on various matters. If you’re passionate to help these local businesses and have expertise in a law or finance firm, then you can contribute your services for a larger cause.

5. Leave a positive review on their product pages

Product reviews and ratings can be a great way to help small businesses combat competition. If you love their services, show some love by leaving your brand experience on their websites and product pages with positive comments so that others can buy from them.

How To Do It (Tips for retailers and entrepreneurs)

If you want to boost your sales this season but you are rather stuck and couldn’t get fresh leads then here’s the right place for you. We are India’s #1 full-stack e-commerce enabler aiming to help small and local producers. Through our omnichannel approach, we ensure that your brand visibility boosts your online sales. Request a free demo now!

What can you expect from us?

Scale and knowledge: Our extensive TPL network and marketplace partnership enable you to scale your business with optimized cost
Flexibility: Our tailor-made solutions are made for optimized storage and seamless integration
End-to-end support: We manage all your logistics by tapping order journey checkpoints
Crisis management: We have developed an ability to quickly resolve any expected or unexpected issue

Local businesses are the soul of our belongingness. It’s nearly impossible to imagine life without them. So, gear up and become a light for small businesses by contributing your share of respect to their effort.

Your Business Needs Customer Reviews And Ratings! Here’s Why And How?

Imagine this; you want to buy a pair of earrings from a new online store. Unfortunately, their intriguing designs don’t sync with the reviews and ratings on their product page. So, you change your mind and decide to purchase from another reputed online brandstore.

Customers have become quite informed about where they can get the best products. They consistently scrutinize the aspects of reliability whenever they plan to buy something online. Apart from discounts & offers, customer’s reviews and ratings have become the major role players to boost online sales. From enhancing a brand’s loyalty to generating new leads, product reviews and ratings are quite the game-changer. This is why businesses are focusing on reputation management more than ever.

If you’ve been doing everything to get those leads but are still lacking behind, here’s why you need customer’s reviews and ratings right now!

5 Reasons Why Your Brand Need Customer Reviews and Ratings

1. Improves credibility and works as a social proof

Trust is one of the major factors that drives your sales and helps you achieve long-term growth. Unlike the brick and mortar store, customers can’t touch and sense products when they decide to shop online. Their dilemma takes a halt when they see positive reviews on your product page. When they feel that your brand is credible and trustworthy, they automatically make-up their mind to purchase from you.

“Customer reviews and ratings showcase your brand’s USP and make you stand out in the market of perfect competition.”

2. Aids you in finding out the weaknesses and strengths of your business

A review not only boosts your reputation in the market but also helps you find out the faults in your products and services. Has your product packaging left your customers unsatisfied or was it because of your poor customer service? You get the answer to all the questions through reviews and ratings. Not just the weakness, through customer reviews, you can keep a check on the strengths of your business and make the most of it. For example, if your customers commend the packaging of your products then you can take this as an advantage and try to highlight it in your advertising as much as possible.

Quick tip: Kick-start this festive week with our full-stack e-commerce solutions made for you. To know more, you can request a free demo!

3. Provides in-depth information to your potential customers

Your loyal customers work as your brand advocates and write real information about your brand. This information gives your potential customers a virtual experience of your product and makes them understand your brand in a better manner. For instance, you run a business where you manufacture Apple cider vinegar. Now, the brand advocate of your business wouldn’t just write good facts but also tells the customers about how and when they can consume it to get the best results. This in-depth information persuades your prospects to move a step further in the sales funnel.

4. Helps you to fight with big and established brands

It’s difficult to withstand strong competition especially when it comes from an already established brand. Customers only prefer a new brand after they scrutinize the features of the product through product reviews and social media presence. And that’s how your product reviews can help you win the race.

“A good brand reputation is a psychological phenomenon that automatically influences your customer base to choose you over your competitors.”

5. Boosts your page rank

A review is indeed one of the most eminent factors to get a high rank in local research. Product pages generally include keywords such as the name of the product, brand, city, etc. These keywords make Google discover your brand and your products, making it to rank high in organic research.

Now that we have discovered the importance and usefulness of reviews & ratings, let’s dive deeper into it and learn how you can actually achieve it!

5 Ways How You Can Get Customer Reviews & Ratings

1. Examine the right time to generate social proof

You must plan and strategize the moment when you’re going to address your customer to review your offering. Timing plays an important role here. If your timing is wrong, your planned strategy can backfire on you. You can aim the customers at some specific moments so that they review your products and services.

Quick Tip: Below are some of the best moments when you can address your audiences to review your offerings! After they order or reorder your product After they tag you on their social mediaWhen they spend more than five minutes on your website/app

2. Engage with your customer base

Engagement is the key to fuel your e-commerce business. If you want your customers to become your brand advocates then you must strategize an action plan to engage with them. Engagement marketing is the right term that you must strive to achieve. Understand the needs of your users and interact with them accordingly.

“ You can enhance a relationship with your user by posting resourceful and meaningful content.”

3. Respond promptly to all the reviews and suggestions

Examine your product reviews carefully and don’t forget to address each and every comment. Thank your customers for writing a review with a soft tone. For a negative review, you can simply apologize to your customers with an explanatory reason. It makes them feel heard and they can reckon upon trusting you again.

Quick tip: If you’re having a hard time maintaining the hygiene of your brandstore then you can swear by our e-commerce solutions. ANS Commerce strives to enhance customer relationships on various marketplaces such as Flipkart, Myntra, Amazon, etc. Book a free demo session NOW!

4. Start with a customer loyalty program

To improve your online reputation, you can vouch for customer loyalty programs. You can encourage your customers by giving them coins or credit points that’ll benefit them on their next purchase.

Quick tip: With more than 50+ third-party integrations, Kartify – our tech brandstore is pre-integrated with various loyalty programs. Get your hands on it and explore what’s best for your customers.

“Additionally, you can also start with a lucky draw, where they can get a chance to win a certain amount of prize.”

5. Launch your product review pop-up with an interactive and open-ended question

Don’t just ask your customer to review your products and services with a straight-forward statement rather start in a conversational manner. Ask them first if they like your products/services. If they say yes, ask what they like the most, if they say no, apologize and drop another question for a reason for their dislike. In the end, drop a pop-up with “reviews us”. This way you can both get the feedback and the product review.

How to do it?

If you want to have a good brand reputation but don’t know how to begin, here’s a reason why you need to request a free demo RIGHT NOW! From maintaining your account at various marketplaces to managing your brandstore, ANS Commerce is your one-stop solution.

We are a full-stack e-commerce enabler and aiming to improve your customer relations across all the channels. Our services ensure customer delight and drive your brand’s visibility by answering your customer’s queries to ensure positive product reviews and ratings. So get your hands on our e-commerce solution now!We understand that getting reviews from customers is not an easy task to achieve, but a lot can change with a few positive comments. So make an action plan and accelerate your business growth TODAY!

Is Your Website Festive-Ready? Gear Up To Light Your Online Brand Store With 8 Ultimate Ideas!

Few days ahead of the festive season and shopkeepers are starting to revamp their shops with festive lights and gift packs. That’s what planning is all about. Before a festive season starts you buck up to attract your customer base. Just imagine, if brick and mortar shops are prepping up to makeover their stores from scratch then what do you have in mind to light-up the digital attire of your online brand store?

To attract your customer base with vibrant festive themes, it is rather important to deck up your website with festive cheers. Well, don’t get crippled over the growing competition, as we provide you with an array of ideas. Not only does it help you to increase sales, but also improves your brand’s online equity.

Before we delve into ideas about how you can revamp your website for the festive season, let’s dive deeper into your goals and how to set them.

How To Set Up Your Goals?

To set up your goals, you first need to get the hang of your customer base. Consumer segmentation is an important factor in marketing. Check the type and kind of customers you deal with and then tally the results with your product offerings. Designing the website without positioning your goals is merely a waste of your time and effort. With that, you also need to check upon your short-term objectives. Would you want to generate sales or just viral your brand presence, or would you rather want to position your products in the customer’s mind? It’s important that you come up with an action plan.

8 ultimate e-commerce ideas to light-up your online brandstore this festive season!

1. Make your brandstore’s UI/UX festive-friendly

UI/UX is the foremost point to be taken into consideration while revamping your website for the festive season. Start by modifying your website’s attire with festive-friendly features and sunshine themes. Also, with the advancement in technology, there is a rapid increase in smartphone users, who also use their smartphones to shop on various websites. Thus, make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and opens immediately without taking halts in-between. Nobody has a minute to spare, especially amidst the hustle-bustle of the festive season. To avoid any glitch, make a festive-friendly action plan beforehand

“How you should make-over your brand-store will depend on the uniqueness of your business, but the advantage of that will go beyond the festive season.”

2. Check your web store’s navigation

Picture this; you’ve reached a hyper-local store to run some errands. But, you can’t navigate the items you came to buy. How would you feel? The same way, if your website’s visitor can’t find what they wanted to get, then it will directly have an effect on your site’s conversions, sales, and bounce rates. To avoid any hassle, create complete hierarchical website navigation that helps your visitors find out your festive combo offers and deals in a jiffy.

3. Optimize your site’s content to improve the search results

A rational customer generally looks for the first three SERPs when browsing for a particular idea. If your website is not SEO friendly and doesn’t land up on the initial result page with happy festive keywords then you’re losing the game. Look for relevant content ideas and nourish your website’s content including product descriptions and banner ad copies with specific keywords. Play with the ideas and check what works best.

4. Create a festive version of your brand logo

Colors play a major role to reflect your corporate identity. A logo is the voice of the brand and playing with it is not an easy thing to do. You can’t change your logo altogether for a temporary festive season. Instead, think of changing the hues to match the happy sunshine vibes. Not only does it showcase that your business is celebrating national festivities, but also helps to boost your sales.

“Keeping harmony between bright hues and minimal design is the key to steal your customer’s heart.”

5. Optimize your site’s content to improve the researches

A rational customer generally looks for the first three SERPs when browsing for a particular idea. If your website is not SEO friendly and doesn’t land up on the initial result pages with happy festive keywords then you’re losing the game. Look for relevant content ideas and nourish your website’s content including product descriptions and banner ad copies with specific keywords. Play with the ideas and check what works best.

6. Introduce a new feature to manage refunds

With increased sales, refunds have also become a common issue. When a customer returns a product, then they tend to face a problem in refunds. This not only degrades the reputation of your website but also wipes-off your strategies to retain loyal customers. Thus, it’s important to create a segment on your website where your customer can check the refund status.

To enjoy services like these, you can check up on Kartify- handcrafted to deliver exceptional e-commerce experience. Having come with a refund manager, Kartify assists you to process refunds on both prepaid and COD orders. Request your demo for Kartify solution.

7. Include your product offerings with deals and discounts

If you get extra money on the top of the discounts, then why would you be not interested? It is a great strategy to pull-off sales in bulk. Many retailers’ offers great discounts and cashback offers by partnering up with various other cashback enabled websites. You can also start up with programs that give early-bird discounts and better offers while they shop.

“Now’s the time to showcase your unique value proposition while including exclusive offers and discounts.”

8. Enable a gift card option to your website

Showing gratitude by giving gifts to friends and family is an essential part of Diwali. Thus, start by introducing e-gift cards, which will enable your customers to give exciting gifts to their loved ones. With this, not only can you increase your customer retention, but can also spread happiness on their faces.

To make you enjoy this feature, ANS Commerce has enabled gift cards on Kartify. It’s an easier way to increase your customer loyalty. Also, this festive season, we have decided to offer it for *FREE*. Chase the offer before it ends.

To know more about the gift card module, check out this.

How to execute the ideas?

If you want your customers to get smitten by your web store then you must think of getting your hands on Kartify, a complete store-front platform by ANS Commerce. It helps you manage your brand store with extensive tech options and 60+ third-party integrations. With that, it also offers you value-packed features that are fully customizable UI/UX including menu layout, filter, cashback, COD fee, sales promotion, and many more features.

Revamping your website seems like a lot, but it can be very gratifying. Start strategizing your re-launch plan to give a boost to your sales and online presence. We want you to get your website all cheered up- drop us a mail on [email protected] to get the free demo.

What should you consider while choosing an e-commerce platform?

Nearly 72% of India’s urban internet users and 57% of rural users access the internet daily. With this huge rise in internet penetration, brands are constantly looking for ways to expand their customer base. The explosion of online shopping in the Indian market has given retailers a new outlook towards building their own e-commerce websites.

Building your own e-commerce website can be a long and intimidating process if you don’t have the right resources. Not only do you need backend support but also a team of dedicated individuals who know your needs and can provide you with solutions that tick all your boxes. The easiest way to set up an e-commerce website is to develop it on an e-commerce platform – where you get technical support readily available and do not have to deal with the hassles of finding modules or extensions repeatedly.

With the staggering growth in the number of options available, there are a multitude of e-commerce platforms available to select from. And if not done correctly, it can be an extremely expensive affair. It is quite easy to get lost with this so we have curated a list of things to consider when selecting your e-commerce platform. These pointers will help you prioritize your business needs and filter out platforms accordingly.

Considerations to keep in mind while choosing an e-commerce platform

Technology:
Being the nucleus of your e-commerce website, it is important that you put emphasis on the technological aspects of the e-commerce platform you are selecting. It is quite possible to get turned around in technical jargon if you are new to this. For this purpose, you need a hands-on team that offers you technical assistance.

Kartify, a brandstore solution by ANS Commerce, offers you comprehensive tech options for your platform with a “no-code” usage for configuration. With no add-ons needed, you can start a fully functional store out-of-the-box. With more than 50 third-party integrations, Kartify strives to make your experience only better along with continuous bug-fixes and feature development.

Secure:
It is no news that consumers value their data and their privacy the most during online shopping. Hence it is imperative that your e-commerce platform is secure and provides customers reassurance regarding their data, especially during transactions.

With regular security audits, Kartify ensures a smooth running website for your brand. It also comes equipped with Cloud armor, regular backup and version control as well as data encryption. It also enables brands to set up payment gateway and payment methods as per their needs, including payment with coupons, COD as well as wallets, and UPI.

Scalable:
While all brands aspire to expand, it is quite possible that the platform may not be able to cater to the size of the expansion. Therefore, it becomes important to choose such an e-commerce platform, which does not put a limitation on the number of products and traffic that your site can have.

Kartify provides you with a scalable platform for your e-commerce needs with automatic deployment and scaling (Google Cloud + Kubernetes), real-time image optimization with cache and DB replication. Not only that, but the platform is also load-tested for more than 1 million concurrent users, making sure that traffic does not hinder the smooth running of the website.

Customizable:
Setting up an online store should not feel like rocket science. You want the ability to fully capture the feel of your unique brand. One solution for this are website templates because they don’t require you to hire outside help or to be a design whiz to create a professional look and make a bold statement.

Kartify offers you a fully customizable UI/UX including user flows, menu, layout, filter, etc. It not only provides a feature of editable CSS/HTML for front-end but also checkout view customization packed with features such as guest mode/login, shipping/handling fee, cashback, COD fee, sales promotion, and many more.

Integrations:
Another factor you should take into consideration is integrations and plugins. Look for a platform that integrates with your other existing systems and marketing channels.

Kartify is an omni-friendly platform that already has more than 50 third-party services integrated including logistics, payments, loyalty, and engagement partners. It is also integrated with four leading omni-channel partners which enables fulfillment from offline shops for online orders.

Analytics:
While every brand wants to put in efforts for their growth, it is also imperative that you monitor that growth and then make data-driven decisions. The business will soon rake-in money so it is important to monitor the store’s performance. You don’t want to play the numbers guessing game hence you should look for an e-commerce platform that helps you keep tabs on all of the important things – number of sales, payment methods, order amounts, and more—and displays stats in an easy-to-understand format.

Kartify enables you to get reports straight to your inbox or phone with dashboards that are standard and also customizable. Kartify gives you the option of viewing and analyzing data for sales and orders, returns, products, customers, promotions, marketing funnels, and trends. And a cherry on top is that the platform can be integrated with any business intelligence tool.

With the ‘new normal’ slowly making its way into our routines, consumers are looking for ways to buy products without having to put themselves at risk. This is where e-commerce platforms come in, making shopping easier with the consumers’ convenience at its core. Hence, there couldn’t be a better time than now for brands to invest in an e-commerce platform and establish an online presence.

For a demo for e-commerce solution, drop your query at [email protected]

How COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Marketing Efforts

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought us face-to-face with unprecedented times, where businesses struggle to keep the damage to the minimum. Since most countries have been under lockdown for the last few months, the impact of the restrictions on daily activities can be seen on almost all businesses and markets.

While the crisis has changed the business landscape, all is not lost. With these disruptions come opportunities for growth and overcoming challenges. With the right mindset and resources, you can navigate your way through these times in order to identify your customers’ needs, wants and expectations.

marketing

Should I continue my marketing efforts?

In times like these, the most impacted business is that of non essentials such as apparels, tech, beauty, etc. The greatest challenge is foreseeing how customer wants, needs, expectations and purchasing decisions will evolve.

Keeping this in mind, businesses often have the question whether or not they should continue with their marketing methods at all. This question is only obvious since they want to optimize their costs of running the business to sustain during this period. And while making the cuts in the costs, the first thing to be sacrificed is more often than not, the marketing efforts. The thought process behind this is simple – If the buying capacity of the consumer has decreased then why burn money on advertising the goods?

Well, that approach here isn’t right.

Abruptly stopping all your marketing efforts will cut off your relations and conversations with your customers. The longer the pandemic goes on, the more out of touch you will be with your brand followers. This will lead them to forget about your brand amidst all the engaging content provided by other brands.

When things finally do get back on track, you will have to start from scratch.

marketing

So How Did The Pandemic Affect Brands?

As soon as the lockdown came into effect, offline stores were shut and deliveries from online stores had also come to a halt. This ultimately led to brands stopping most, if not all, of their marketing efforts since they could not deliver the products. Although this did affect sales, this also meant that the competition had lowered. Certain brands saw this as an opportunity and decided to run some of their marketing messages, just to ensure that they did not lose touch with their customers.

One more key takeaway from this sudden shift was that traffic clicks were cheaper since there wasn’t much competition in the market. Hence, for those who were continuing their advertising campaigns, this time couldn’t have been more fruitful.

Who Was At Advantage?

The lockdown had a huge impact on all traditional methods of sales and marketing but there were also certain businesses that benefited from it.

Brands that were delivering even during the lockdown period had an advantage by default since people had the ideology that it’s better to have products of any brand rather than not have any products at all.
Due to the social distancing mandate, people preferred buying online rather than going to offline stores, even if they were open for business. Thus the offline rush had found its way online. This played to the advantage of those who had established an online presence.
Another observation was that brands which had a prominent offline presence ultimately also had a prominent advantage online. This is due to the fact that customers trust a brand that they had been using, so that even while buying online, they do not have to worry about the product quality.
Brands which continued their marketing could leverage the customers of their competitors who weren’t aggressively marketing and promoting their products.

What were the downsides?

Although there were certain advantages, there were also some downsides that were seen by businesses and brands. One of the biggest adverse effects was seen in servicing after purchase since personnel movement was restricted. Not only that but deliveries also took a hit due to the limited movement of vehicles throughout the country which resulted in products being delivered within 2 weeks’ period or so instead of the previous 3-4 days period.

How do I sustain my brand in these times?

An article covered by The Economic Times outlines the concept of revenge shopping, taking the example of a luxury brand and how it recorded the biggest single-day shopping in China. Revenge shopping is the overindulgence in retail therapy by people who missed shopping during the lockdown period.

In India this trend might be witnessed in the upper middle class who have sustained their incomes and standard of living during the lockdown. Another way to recover the lost sales during the lockdown is carrying out promotional activities and sales or discount offers, which will attract customers loyal to your brand and also potential customers since everyone is looking for economical goods these days.

To summarize, the pandemic isn’t over yet. There might be a few more blind turns ahead but brands have already started planning for contingencies. Although this new economic climate has added challenges for brands, it has also opened up new avenues for growth.

If you are looking for performance marketing partner to grow your business in these uncertain times, please drop your query at [email protected]

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 comes into force – Know how it will impact E-commerce platforms

Receiving the assent of the President of India, The Consumer Protection Act (2019) was published in the official gazette on August 9, 2019. This Act seeked to replace the more than three decades old Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said this new Act will empower consumers and help them protect their rights. As this new Act came into effect on July 20, 2020, here are the key highlights that you need to know.

protection

The Act covers e-commerce platforms
Widening the definition of ‘consumer’, the definition now includes any person who buys any goods, whether through offline or online transactions, electronic means, teleshopping, direct selling or multi-level marketing. It also includes all models of e-commerce, including marketplace and inventory models of e-commerce. The earlier Act did not specifically include e-commerce transactions, and this gap has been addressed by the New Act.

E-filing of complaints
Unlike the current practice of filing complaints at the place of purchase or where the seller has registered the office address, the New Act provides flexibility to the consumers wherein they can file complaints electronically and for hearing and/or examining parties through video-conferencing.

Product Liability & Penal Consequences –
The New Act has introduced the concept of product liability and brings within its scope, the product manufacturer, product service provider and product seller, for any claim for compensation. The term ‘product seller’ would include e-commerce platforms as well. The defense that e-commerce platforms merely act as ‘platforms’ or ‘aggregators’ will not be accepted.

Penalties for misleading advertisements:
In case of a false or misleading advertisement, the CCPA may impose a penalty of up to INR 1,000,000 (Indian Rupees One Million) on a manufacturer or an endorser and may also sentence them to imprisonment for up to 2 years. The liability of the false claims of an advertisement has also been extended to the endorser, since there have been cases where consumers fell prey to false advertising under the influence of celebrities acting as brand ambassadors.
E-commerce Rules:
According to the New Act, e-commerce platforms are required to provide information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism, payment methods, security of payment methods, charge-back options, etc. including country of origin which are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage on its platform.
Kartify, powered by ANS Commerce, includes these functionalities, making the platform secure and trustworthy for the consumer to use.
Consumer complaints on e-commerce platforms:
E-commerce platforms are now required to acknowledge the receipt of any consumer complaint within 48 hours and redress the complaint within 1 month from the date of receipt.

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According to Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, the earlier Consumer Protection Act, 1986a provided a single point access to justice, which was also time consuming.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 includes provisions that suit the current trend of the digital landscape, making sure the customer’s hassles are substantially reduced. The Act provides consumers with protection not only from traditional retailers but also e-commerce platforms where most brands have grown to start selling their products and services. In order to do so, this act imposes more accountability from e-commerce platforms, manufacturers, retailers and endorsers and can impose penalties on any of these parties. Moreover, there have also been new provisions added which aim to speed the process of clearing any grievances of the consumer by introducing online methods of filing complaints while also mandating that e-commerce websites address these complaints within a 48-hour window and resolve matters within 30 days of the complaint being registered.

While it would take time to adjust to the new provisions made by this Act, it will certainly result in consumer rights being more protected and a speedier method of resolving consumer disputes in the country.