The Monthly eCommerce Editorial: October 2023 News

Welcome to our monthly eComm report put together by our eCommerce team to keep you up to date with all the latest Australian October eCommerce News.

Stay tuned for next months edition!

Make sure you’re making a list and checking it twice to ensure you don’t miss these key delivery cut-offs for Christmas announced by Australia Post.

For Consumers

• For standard parcel post, consumers should get their orders in by Monday, 18^th December.
• For express post, Thursday, 21^st December
• Regional caveats:
  • WA consumers will need to ensure their standard post orders are in by December 15^th and December 20^th for express.
  • NT consumers will need to ensure standard post orders are in by 14^th December.

For Businesses

• AusPost recommends that businesses lodge their parcels for post by Tuesday, 19^th December.
• For express post, the recommended cut-off is Thursday, 21^st December.
• For StarTrack Premium and Express the recommendation is Thursday, 21^st December.

Of course, for peace of mind it would be advised to get in ahead of these dates – consider yourself warned.

In this financial climate, who doesn’t want to achieve frugal fabulousness and revel in affordable extravagance? The rental fashion boom caters to those looking to be bougee on a budget. Oroton, the Australian fashion brand, has joined the movement by launching an app-driven fashion rental service.

The app offers a range of high-quality, designer items, providing a cost-effective and sustainable way for customers to enjoy luxury fashion without long-term commitments or the need to contribute to less sustainable fast-fashion solutions.

The surge in rental fashion can be attributed to several key factors:

1. Sustainability: Consumers are increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of fast fashion and are turning to rentals as an eco-friendlier alternative.
2. Affordability: Rental fashion allows access to luxury brands and high-quality items without the high purchase costs.
3.  Changing Consumer Preferences: Younger generations seek experiences rather than ownership and material, making rentals an attractive choice.
4. Business Opportunities: Brands, including Oroton, recognise the potential in rental fashion, driving industry growth through innovative technology like apps.

Oroton’s step into fashion rentals is representative of a broader shift in consumer attitudes and industry strategies. The fashion world is adapting to meet the needs of a more environmentally conscious and discerning customer, making rental fashion a significant and enduring trend.

With Halloween just gone, brands have embraced the thrilling world of TikTok to leverage their products in a fun and innovative setting. The platform is a powerhouse of creativity and entertainment, with content from paid influencers to every day creatives sharing their ideas for make-up, recipes, parties, decorations, costumes and more. It offers a unique opportunity for brand engagement not to be overlooked.

TikTok is a dynamic marketing platform with its trends, challenges and viral content. This Halloween, the numbers are spine-tingling. Here are some chilling statistics that demonstrate why brands should be joining the Halloween party to engage with consumers:

These figures demonstrate exactly why brands should be eager to engage with audiences on TikTok. Whether it’s creating content directly on their own TikTok pages or partnering with paid influencers who resonate with the right audiences, there are abundant opportunities for brands to get creative and reach their target viewers effectively. It also doesn’t have to be a specific event like Halloween – TikTok is an all-year-round platform full of all year-round fun!

So, how can brands go about having presence on TikTok?

1. Content Creation: Brands can create themed content on their TikTok pages. Whether it’s showcasing product offerings, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or creative challenges, engaging content can attract a broader audience.

• Influencer Collaborations: Partnering with influencers who align with brand values and target audiences is the goal here. Influencers can authentically promote and endorse products, making the brand more relatable to potential customers.

• Challenges and Trends: There’s no getting away from them! Participating in TikTok trends and challenges can boost brand’s visibility and need to stay current. Challenges encourage user-generated content, allowing brands to interact in a fun and creative way.

• Hashtags and Viral Campaigns: You’ve seen the figures above, don’t miss out! Users engage with hashtags for inspiration as well as a sense of community. Top of Form

• Reach out to XPO to see how we can facilitate all of the above!

A milestone event in the eCommerce calendar is the annual Amazon unBoxed conference, held in New York just over a month ago. The general premise of the conference is for Amazon to unveil new ad solutions and innovations set to be rolled out over the coming year.

This year, XPO: The Mars Agency had the pleasure of being an event sponsor, allowing us to showcase our newly enhanced Marilyn eCommerce Insights Suite. Our Marilyn suite is crucial to helping clients understand their end-to-end performance and the levers to pull in order to drive growth across not just Amazon but the broader digital ecosystem.

Beyond our own showcase, these were some of our key takeaways from the event:

• A.I.: Amazon is beta-testing image generation via generative A.I., which would allow brands to produce lifestyle imagery to help improve ad performance. Early results have shown that utilising these enhancements can improve CTRs on mobile Sponsored Brands by 40%.

• Amazon Marketing Stream: A push-based API solution providing hourly campaign metrics (and near real-time optimisation) that’s now available worldwide.
• AMC Audiences: Amazon Marketing Cloud Audiences now offers a custom lookalike modelling feature, enabling advertisers to unlock incremental audience reach and work towards campaign goals.

Thanks for checking out our October eCommerce News and stay tuned for the November edition! Interested in optimising your eCommerce capabilities, reach out to our eCommerce team today.