Ecommerce & Marketplaces Newsletter – May 17 , 2024

How B2B companies of all sizes go more digital

While large B2B companies like Fastenal Co. and W.W. Grainger Inc. use their substantial digital technology resources to serve customers effectively and grow sales across multiple online and offline channels, much of their strategies apply to companies of all sizes. That’s largely because today’s digital commerce technology offers a wide range of capabilities.

OpenAI Rolls Out Next Evolution of ChatGPT, Able to Accept or Output Any Combination of Text, Audio, or Image

OpenAI is introducing a new iteration of its flagship GPT-4 large multimodal language model. Called “GPT 4o.” (The “o” stands for “omni”), this new flagship model was designed, the company said, to “reason” across audio, vision, and text in real time. The new iteration will be free for all users, said OpenAI CTO Mira Murati during the livestream announcement, and paid users will continue to have up to five times the capacity limits of free users.

Adobe E-commerce Spend Grows to $331.6 billion, as Consumers Trade Down to Cheaper Goods Online

Adobe Analytics data showed resilient e-commerce growth in the first four months of 2024, rising 7% year-over-year to $331.6 billion. Consumers have been trading down to cheaper goods, across major e-commerce categories including personal care, electronics, apparel, furniture and groceries. Buy Now Pay Later expected to drive over $81 billion in online spend in 2024, setting a new record as shoppers embrace more flexible ways to manage their budgets.

How to Improve Your Ecommerce Checkout Page and Increase Sales

Running an online business means every sale counts. So you want to be sure that you do as much as possible to convert views to conversions. One of the most significant areas where sales are lost is during checkout. In fact, some estimates suggest cart abandonment rates average as high as 70.19%. Your ecommerce checkout page is the final stage of your initial sales funnel. Think of it as the boss level in 90s video games where some people admit defeat.

Robots Are Coming to Ecommerce SMBs

Small to midsize ecommerce companies often struggle with order fulfillment. Given the costs of running a warehouse and fulfillment center, many SMBs outsource those tasks, but that could change as robots become viable for even smaller companies. The warehouse automation industry remains focused on massive companies, but the nascent trend toward ecommerce SMBs could offer growing brands more fulfillment options. The question will be whether small-scale warehouse automation systems and robotics save ecommerce companies money and otherwise offer a competitive advantage.