Issue #14
In this issue: The Vile Rumourmill stops for nobody | Creative - The answer to everything | 2024 trade show best practice | European HumbleSaaS - why vendors fail to grow in the U.S.
Enough of how tough things are right now. Time to make the most of 2023 for retailers, vendors and agencies alike.
eCommerce Gossip & Vile Rumour
As peak looms, the subjects mostly spoken about in our ecosystem are fascinating. A quick summary:
CF community members are looking around for feed-driven mark-down affiliates - not often spoken about but vital as plans are made for a Plan B if they don’t sell through this peak.
Surprisingly, many online retailers are still opting to use Google max despite the budget spend risks we are all aware of. Paid still seems to be giving very unpredictable outcomes for most, which is almost forcing a higher than normal spend.
A number of merchant communities are alive and kicking as we all know - Further to our last point we heard of one group where 80% of the 400 members reported a 30% or more decline in returns on paid media since June.
Some distinct rumbles about the Shopify checkout. Less than optimal currently, we’re aware of 5 or more moving to another checkout provider in early 2024.
Issues with at least 4 UK Enterprise Composable eComm projects. Over-specified and mired in long development cycles, some merchants have given up, with SFCC looking like they’ll pick up all four projects.
If you missed it - Brian Walker (ex Forrester, Hybris and most recently Bloomreach) did a very effective demolition job on the analyst quadrants in his own newsletter last week - see the link here.
A bit of CF Community debate about the value of some Fraud tools. One merchant recently posted that they’re paying far too much and the tool missed a bot which bought 25 e-gift cards in an hour 🙁. Adyen’s enhanced product features would appear to be plenty good enough 🙂.
Creative - The answer to everything
For Brands and software businesses alike there is both a pressure and freedom that comes with a focus on creativity. Look at a SaaS vendor’s LinkedIn channel or an apparel brand’s instagram - and it’s easy to feel distinctly underwhelmed - the same message rejigged every 21 days, new “creative” but imagination is mostly lacking.
There’s a golden seam for all of us - found somewhere between UGC (for brands), customer content (for SaaS), a focus on copy that makes people “smile whilst thinking” - and images that truly appeal.
Who obsesses about this? Who can we all learn from? Without question - Gymshark. Their creative work is simply excellent. TikTok creative is different from instagram, copywriting is classy but funny - messaging is backed up with a purpose and a persona that they focus on relentlessly. I saw a research piece last month that estimated their media spend is 85% less than many competitors because of the work they do to remain interesting.
The lessons for “Brand” owners here is clear, and we could all name a few more (Rockett St George & Snug for me), but Tech vendors can truly learn from these brands. Take yourselves less seriously and get creative please!!
Trade Shows in 2024 - A new landscape
We are not the biggest fans of Trade Shows. We started Commerce Futures partly in response to the unpredictability of these behemoths - where it is so often like playing very expensive roulette for two days. £50k later you have little idea if it’s worked, and in fact you won’t know for a year anyway - or possibly longer.
Re-enter the Pavilion stand. This week in Dmexco 15 MACH Alliance members are co-exhibiting on a stand they bought and populated together. £10k or so each has bought a low-risk presence at a typically “big bet” show. We also saw these pop up from vendors like Spryker at K5, Microsoft and others.
Of course - the modern tech stack being made up of 4-5 key tools means partnerships are more critical anyway, which makes exhibiting alongside those you connect to much more attractive, so look out for at least 2 of pavilions at most shows next year, and if you ask the show organiser if there are any being planned they’ll guide you. We have something to announce for the Retail Technology Show next April, more next issue.
Why does European SaaS fail to grow in the U.S.?
For many years European tech has largely failed to expand into North America successfully. I remember being on a call with Deloitte digital 10 years ago as they pretty brutally told Hybris that they were “small fry” compared to Demandware - and would never succeed in the USA. They were broadly correct BTW (DM Hancox if you want to disagree).
The first part of the puzzle is mentality. Those who succeed it seems are the firms who “transition” and become U.S. entities - Contentstack and Contentful are on this journey - with global leadership in NA. To do well in the USA European vendors need to lose their European humility and become ruthlessly ambitious.
Secondly, the market is so vast that we Europeans often fail to find a way of tackling it. Remember - in north America there are over 100 Grocery businesses with a turnover of over $1bn - Wallmart only has 25% market share for all its size. Whilst European vendors are very wary of upsetting prospects in a small domestic market, vendors are far more aggressive in the states, seemingly happy to go back to a “buy or goodbye” mindset in the main.
Finally, it’s worth noting that whilst much more relaxed data privacy regulations make it tempting to rely on Zoominfo or other suppliers for data, these datasets are VERY heavily messaged. Most U.S. merchant contacts we’ve spoken to are very wary of cold email, cold calls. Landlines are left to voicemail and mobiles ignored in general.
Finally - those wishing for more discussions and/or community participation: SaaS marketers who wish to share learning can apply to join our “Marketing Collective”; Brands and retailers can join our Commerce Futures communities - just DM us to apply.
Insult of the week:
“Cordless” - Only works for an hour