Is the number of online orders too low? Operations: No orders, leave!

“ It’s bleak, bleak, so bleak…”

This is the most common feedback I have heard from Amazon sellers this year. Soaring inflation, economic downturn, and consumption downgrades have made the cross-border winter that started this year miserable for most sellers, and there seems to be no sign of the peak season in the second half of the year that would have supported them to move forward.

Although there have been constant voices in the cross-border industry saying that there will be no peak season this year, many sellers still hope to have a small boom and feel the joy of this year's rare increase in orders. But now it seems that this wish of some sellers has been dashed. With the end of Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, sales performance has polarized, and a completely different post-holiday atmosphere has begun to emerge in the cross-border industry.

Some people's sales have increased 300 times, and some people have more than ten orders a day.

Adobe Analytics data shows that this year's Cyber ​​Monday spending by U.S. consumers will reach $11.6 billion, breaking last year's record of $10.7 billion .

It is understood that the peak consumption period is from 8pm to 9pm on Cyber ​​Monday , with American consumers spending an average of $12.8 million per minute .

With such high online shopping spending on Cyber ​​Monday, did sellers really get a big order? Previously, many sellers said that Black Friday orders were even colder than usual, especially the day before Black Friday, when orders were worse than any other day in November.

As everyone was talking about traffic and order volume, Amazon global store managers consoled sellers in the store recruitment area on Black Friday: "Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and it was the day before Black Friday, so it's okay if there were a few orders. Don't worry, we will start accepting orders today."

Some people made a lot of money on Black Friday, while others were still struggling to make any sales, so they pinned their hopes on the upcoming Cyber ​​Monday, after all, Cyber ​​Monday is the most popular e-commerce carnival day in history. Cyber ​​Monday ended yesterday, so how did the sales performance go?

Some sellers said that they spent $1,000 to apply for flash sales, but unfortunately the sales volume on the first day of the online sale was so low that even dogs would shake their heads. This amount of money might just make a splash if thrown into the sea , but if you throw it to Amazon, you can only comfort yourself by spending money to learn a lesson.

There are also sellers who joked that the order volume is very stable and has directly broken the historical lowest record , and it cannot go any lower .

There are many companies that spend a lot of money on advertising but have low order volume:

Americans have no money, so they are allowed not to buy. I spend money just to join in the fun.

Compared with the store’s sales on this day last year, it’s truly dismal.

Is this the legendary "peak season"? It is indeed a legend.

On Black Friday I comforted myself by looking forward to Cyber ​​Monday, but now how else can I comfort myself?

The word "disappointment" is too light. I plan to close the store and celebrate the New Year early.

…

After a round of discussion, the editor found that everyone was complaining about the unprecedentedly large discounts, the unprecedentedly high advertising costs, and the unprecedentedly low order volume . One operator directly said that he was ready to resign because he spent a lot of money on advertising but had no orders .

Of course, some people left their papers blank, while others submitted high-scoring papers.

The other side of the polarization of online shopping volume is the huge increase in sales volume. This type of sellers directly stated that the sales volume on the online shopping day was still very good and broke the historical record. According to them:

Products that usually receive 40+ orders per day have now increased by 7 or 8 times, with daily orders exceeding 300.

The boss didn’t dare to stock up, resulting in not enough products to sell, and the products were sold out soon after they were launched online.

Online sales on Monday far surpassed Black Friday, which saw no activity at all.

Without any advertising, sales reached 80,000.

We felt that the product still needed to be considered, so we temporarily called a few colleagues back to work overtime.

…

Some sellers even directly posted sales charts, with the number of orders exceeding 2,000. The seller said that the profit of each product was US$30, and the number of orders on Online Store One was 10 times that of Black Friday.

Some are happy, some are worried. Sellers are pinning their hopes on Cyber ​​Monday, hoping that the number of orders will increase and that they will have more money in their wallets to go home for the New Year. However, market feedback is not uniform, with some categories not selling well and some categories not selling enough. Although Adobe claims that Cyber ​​Monday consumption has set a new record, how much of this is due to the soaring prices caused by high inflation?

Retailers are focusing on clearing inventory as they slash prices to boost sales

Destocking has become a common topic this year. Due to the impact of inflation and other factors, the demand for non-essential goods has declined rapidly and the development of the consumer market has stagnated. Since the beginning of this year, many retail giants have faced the crisis of overstocking .

Led by Wal-Mart and Target, American retailers are facing huge inventory pressure . In the first three quarters of this year, the inventory levels of these retailers increased significantly compared with the same period last year.

Previous survey data from Citigroup on 18 major retailers in the United States showed that in the second quarter of this year , inventory growth at 11 retailers was 10 percentage points higher than sales growth , exceeding the highest level in 2019 before the epidemic .

Therefore, retailers led by Target, Walmart and others have been offering massive discounts and promotions this year , and many retailers have taken advantage of Black Friday and Online Shopping Day to offer "bargain prices" to clear out their inventory.

In the United States, many international brands have been frantically increasing discounts on their independent sites, with many products offering discounts of up to 60%. In addition, the brands will also issue additional coupon codes , which consumers can use to enjoy additional discounts of up to 25%.

TEMU , which has just entered the US market , is offering huge discounts during its online sales , even opening a special section for items priced between $20 and $50.

In the UK, many fashion retailers launched large discounts on Cyber ​​​​1. For example, British fashion retailer A SOS offered discounts of up to 80% on almost all products , New Look offered a discount of 50%, and Boohoo , M&S, Matalan and River Island also offered discounts of 20% to 30% .

According to Barclaycard Payments data, a series of discount activities by British fashion retailers boosted the volume of fashion orders on Cyber ​​Monday , prompting a 5% increase in payment volume during this year's Cyber ​​Monday compared to 2021. One - third of British consumers ' online shopping spending on Cyber ​​Monday fell on the fashion category.

Research by Voucher Codes predicts that UK shoppers will spend £3.17 billion on Cyber ​​Monday , which means that on average £3.72 million of transactions will be completed every minute .

Piles of old inventory products are unsold, and next year's new inventory is about to be accepted for delivery. European and American retailers are busy readjusting inventory flows and increasing discounts. How much breathing room do sellers in related categories have?

Not only retailers and sellers, but even Amazon is making every effort to stimulate Cyber ​​Monday consumption, offering consumers flexible payment methods and cash back rewards . For example, users who apply for Amazon Store Card during Cyber ​​Monday can get a $100 gift card , and Prime users who apply for Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card can get a $ 200 gift card .

All in all, the current negative and sluggish market is the norm , and sellers don’t have to worry too much about it. Once Black Friday is over, there may be a small wave of sales climax during Christmas and other times . “The past cannot be retrieved, but the future can still be expected.”

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