In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

Scaling is one of the most challenging things for businesses today. It takes time, money, strategy, and top-notch marketing to skyrocket from a successful small business to a more prominent, established brand.  

But many retailers, e-commerce, and CPG brands get stuck on marketing. It makes sense. Marketing can and does feel quite nebulous to those who don’t do it as their primary specialty. Especially in the ever shifting digital landscape today.

It’s why many e-commerce businesses choose to leverage outside companies in addition to or instead of internal teams. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of using an agency to boost your brand’s marketing and ultimately grow your business? This article breaks down the best and worst things about hiring an agency to execute your brand’s marketing strategy. 

Pros 

More Expertise, Skill Sets, and Creativity   

An agency like Hawke Media has a wide range of experts on hand on a wide variety of channels. That means you get more expertise on more channels, for less money than you would get hiring and training a team internally.  Agency experts work on their specialty daily with countless other brands, which makes them that much better at knowing what works best on …

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Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): Why Use It For Your Ecommerce Business

Credit cards seem to have taken consumerism by storm in the past decade. According to a Transunion report, credit cards experienced a 60% annual growth from 2020 to 2021, with millions more signing up for one.

But what about those who don’t have a credit card, or prefer not to use one? That’s where buy now, pay later (BNPL) comes in.

BNPL is a form of short-term financing where consumers can—you guessed it—buy an item now and pay for it later. There’s often no extra charge to the customer. Instead, the store that offered BNPL as a payment option typically pays a fee to the BNPL service provider.

BNPL is surging in popularity because of the ease and convenience it provides to shoppers. Let’s dig a bit deeper into what BNPL is, how it works, and the key players that make it happen for today’s customers.

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What is buy now, pay later (BNPL)?

A buy now, pay later plan offers an installment loan to customers at checkout so they can buy products on credit without a credit card. Popular BNPL options include Shop Pay Installments from Shopify, Afterpay, Affirm, …

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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

In the U.S., Black Businesses Month is celebrated during the month of August, building on a successful initiative that has been running since 2004. It’s an opportunity to support the 10% of American businesses that are Black-owned, particularly in sectors such as health care, social work, repair and maintenance, beauty salons, and restaurants.

The idea originated in a project launched by the entrepreneur Frederick E Jordan. He saw firsthand, during a 50-year career running his own engineering business, how hard many minority owners found it to get the backing their businesses deserved. Today, statistics suggesting the Black community is under-represented amongst small business owners – as well as more likely to suffer unemployment and poverty – underline why Black Business Month remains as important as ever.

Support from big business

The good news is that large American businesses are waking up to the idea of minority support. Target Corporation, for example, has promised by 2025 to invest more than $ 2 billion with Black-owned businesses and to add products from more than 500 Black-owned brands to its shelves. Retailer Sephora is pursuing similar targets, as it seeks to become more inclusive in the merchandise it stocks.

It’s not simply an …

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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

What Fast Fulfillment Means to Consumers

The unprecedented growth of the e-commerce industry has been front-page news – as have the global supply chain disruptions that followed. Most retailers’ supply chains were not prepared for the abrupt switch in transportation and fulfillment needs or the sudden spike in consumer demand. 

With supply chain disruptions making waves in even mainstream media, you might have thought consumers would loosen their expectations for fast and free shipping. However, recent consumer survey data revealed that since the onset of the pandemic:

33% of consumers have higher expectations for fast shipping 40% of shoppers have higher expectations for free shipping 42% of shoppers expect a two-day shipping option for every online purchase.

3 Unexpected Benefits of Fast Fulfillment

Most merchants know faster fulfillment will lead to a better customer experience, but there are actually benefits to nearly every aspect of your business when you prioritize a better delivery experience for your customers.

1. More Sales

According to consumers, promising fast shipping sells. A 2021 consumer survey revealed:

69% of consumers are more likely to click a display ad that mentions fast/free shipping 77% are more likely to purchase an item if it can be delivered…
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In: Dropshipping|Last Updated:

Learning how to do affiliate marketing can be essential to your success as an online entrepreneur. But even if you’ve got your website, ad, or social media platform set up perfectly, you still need a company to partner with. That’s where affiliate programs bridge the gap.

In this post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about affiliate marketing programs. You’ll learn why they’re needed and read more about some of the best-paying affiliate programs available to you as a newcomer.

But first, you need to know what they are and how they work.

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What are affiliate programs?

Affiliate programs, also called associate programs, offer a third-party platform that allows individuals and brands to find and work with each other.

Both parties sign up for the platform, discuss a collaboration, and start to work together.

But behind the scenes, these affiliate programs are complex behemoths that do much more than help merchants and affiliate companies. They also provide some very essential services to both parties.

How do affiliate programs work?

Affiliate programs work by letting individuals or businesses create a profile on their platform and choose the brand they …

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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

Around the world, the exciting ambiance of in-person trade shows is back. After a two-year, pandemic-driven hiatus, retail trade shows are starting to boom again worldwide – and that’s spectacular news for brands looking abroad to fuel growth.

As pandemic guidelines relax, consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands feel a growing urge to get out and network face-to-face with global retailers. Trade shows are ideal venues to boost brand awareness and product discovery, build industry relationships and trust, and make deals to drive revenue growth.

If you plan to attend, exhibit, or speak at an international trade show, consider the following best practices. But first, let’s acknowledge how the pandemic has shaped today’s trade shows.

How COVID-19 changed trade shows

In 2021, U.S. trade show attendance rates declined by 48% in Q2 compared to Q2 in 2019 and the number of exhibitors fell by 31%.1 Hegel, Theresa. Despite COVID Hurdles, Trade Shows Go On. ASI Central. September 27, 2021. In 2022, the retail industry shows higher demand for in-person trade shows; yet, supply chain disruption and labor shortages have made the ordering process longer than before COVID-19. For instance, producing custom booth setups used to take a few days and …

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