AGP, West Deptford, NJ (2026)

04/28/2022

Here are the top best practices you should follow to scale your brand with paid advertising.

- The creative is 75% of the ad.

Studies show that 75% of the effectiveness of the ad is attributed to the creative.

If you nail your creatives then you are 75% there.

Why?

Because visuals are more noticeable than text.

And with more than half of today’s consumers using mobile devices brands have even less time to grab their attention.

- So what really makes a good creative?

When marketing teams huddle together and try to come up with a winning ad the conversation shifts to “creativity” and how to create that virality seen in the Super Bowl. Of course, it’s very hard to measure the ROI of a TV ad, so that’s all measured in social shares and impressions.

Top eCommerce Ad Creative Best Practices

1. Show me, don’t tell me, if you’re going to use a visual ad, you should use it correctly. Don’t just re-state your value proposition or your product’s features, actually show them to the consumer.

2. Use multiple image carousel posts, sometimes it’s hard to show how to use your product in one image. So brands automatically fall back to making videos, forgetting to test out different ad formats. Remember, it’s ok to use multiple images per ad. That’s why Facebook created carousel ads.

3. Use 30-second product video ads, eCommerce brands started using more product videos to try to showcase their products better.

4. Milk your PR & reviews, did your brand get picked up or rated by a large online publication? Mention it!

Are your customers leaving 5-star reviews? Show it in your ad.

5. Proudly display user-generated content (UGC), an even more powerful way to display social proof is by using the actual images that your customers created. This is what’s called user-generated content or UGC.

AGP is here to help Personalize the shopping experience of your business to make sure your online presence and social media marketing is running and growing on autopilot.

Book a FREE call today!

04/14/2022

Does email marketing work? What's the math? What's the email marketing RoI looking like? These are questions you've had but never got around to finding the answer to. We sat down on a Friday afternoon with a copious amount of filter coffee and spreadsheets to crunch the numbers for you.

Email offers the highest and most measurable ROI (return on investment) of all types of marketing.

But, there are some emails that generate higher returns than others. So, how do you know what kind of email marketing campaigns have the best ROI?

The answer is to know and flow with the trends. Referring to email marketing statistics and understanding what trends are working and then implementing them into your own email marketing strategy is the best way to increase your email marketing ROI.

The average ROI through email marketing is $36 for every $1 spent. Simply put, you invest a dollar and in return receive 36 times from it.

Further break down the ROI of email marketing by industry:

- Software & technology: 40:1
- Marketing, PR, & advertising agency: 42:1
- Retail, eCommerce, & consumer goods or services: 45:1
- Media, publishing, events, sports, & entertainment: 45:1
- Travel, tourism, & hospitality: 53:1

It’s clear that email marketing holds to (or even exceeds) its average ROI of 42:1 when examined across specific industries.

Wondering if email marketing can actually drive sales? According to a report from the Direct Marketing Association, 66% of consumers have made a purchase online due to an email marketing message.

Email still holds its place as the most effective form of marketing

To increase email marketing ROI, personalize the message

“Not everyone wants the same deal — they want what they want based on who they are,” Wells says. He adds that people who deliberately opt into an email offer, “want to think they’re special, part of a club of customers who are the only ones getting that offer. You don’t put those offers on Facebook.”

AGP is here to help Personalize the shopping experience of your business to make sure your online presence and social media marketing is running and growing on autopilot.

Book a FREE call today!

04/13/2022

The global mattress market was valued at USD 29.5 billion in 2019 and is expected to expand with a CAGR of 6.7%. Most of the mattress industry’s revenue is generated in the United States (USD 12.895 billion in 2020), where the segment is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 4.6% for the forecast period 2020-2023. Europe follows the US, with a CAGR of 7.2% over the forecast period. This trend is projected to continue over the next few years. APAC is projected to generate a revenue of USD 10.7 billion by 2025.

‍Segments of the Mattress Market There have been many innovations in the mattress industry, such as latex, cold foam, and memory foam mattresses; with memory foam alone holding a USD 5.6 billion market valuation as of 2019. Baby boomers contribute to 20% share of the mattress market in the US. They are the prime consumers for the memory foam mattress market in the country. Innerspring dominated the mattress market and held the largest share of 32.5% in 2018 and the size of the mattress market is projected to exhibit a significant increase in the next few years. The domestic segment - households - is the major segment, anticipated to reach USD 22.8 billion by 2025. The commercial segment - travel and tourism - is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.1% over the forecast period.

Casper's Showroom in the US

Conclusion As the pandemic rages on, Casper’s sales have risen by 15% from the prior year. The DTC mattress brand also said that it is seeing strong demand in associated bedding products such as sheets and pillows. Purple, its competitor, also reported increased sales. The spike in mattress sales also aligns with the increase in sales seen in the wider home improvement market. What this seems to indicate is that although stay-at-home mandates may have eased, people are continuing to spend long hours indoors, and are rethinking every room and item and surprisingly, are making the large-ticket purchase that they may have otherwise delayed.

If you want to know how we can help your DTC brand grow, book a FREE call with AGP Today!

04/06/2022

What originally started out as a snowboarding shop ended up becoming one of the top three e-commerce innovations of our time with high mobile optimization and overwhelming organic reach. Yes, we’re talking about Shopify. With over a million merchants on its platform today, it has been proving itself as a worthy contender to Amazon, which has about 2-2.5 million merchants worldwide.

-‍ Distribution of Shopify Stores in the United States Of America by Product Category

A quarter of Shopify’s merchants in the US sell Apparel and Accessories. Combining these merchants with those categorized under Style and Fashion, we see that merchants selling ‘any and all things Fashion’ dominate with a 32% share of the platform. Food & Beverage and Sporting goods follow, albeit with a share of less than 10%.

About 34% of the merchant base belongs to long-tail categories such as Gift & Novelty, Pets & Pet Supplies, Stationery Products, etc. - categories that aren’t significantly large enough to be called out separately.

An overwhelming majority of Shopify companies make less than $1 million USD in online revenue. This distribution mirrors that of the eCommerce sector in general, where at least 90% of the companies make less than $1 million in revenue. Conclusion In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Shopify, like other companies, has taken its fair share of beating in the markets. However, it seems to have built moats that could keep its business competitive and thriving for the times to come.

If you want to know how we can help your DTC brand grow, book a FREE call with AGP Today!

04/03/2022

‍Although used interchangeably, Activewear and Athleisure have subtle differences between them. Activewear is anything you’d wear when you’d want to break a sweat. Athleisure sits at the intersection of exercise and leisure. With a rising preference for athleisure clothing, the global activewear market is worth $380 billion in 2022, growing at a 3.68% CAGR.

The United States comprises most activewear clothing brands, especially small-medium-sized brands. The exceptions are Nike, ASICS, Alo Yoga, and Puma. However, Nike has a strong international presence, ASICS and Alo Yoga dominate Europe and East Asia, and Puma has a strong foothold in the Indian market.

- Challenges of Activewear Market,

However, the high cost of raw materials and designing activewear products stifles the capacity to purchase for price-sensitive consumers. Moreover, counterfeits are a cause for quality and safety issues, a constant battle for brands and consumers alike. For instance, In January 2018, Nike identified counterfeit activewear products worth more than $50,000 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. These issues lead to declining sales of the critical activewear market players, negatively affecting market share. On the contrary, specialty activewear brands that invest heavily in vertical retail experiences and D2C, like Lululemon, are expected to show gains in the coming years.

- Where are people buying activewear?

‍Activewear junkies are highly digital; they use their mobile devices to not just buy products but also conduct product research and spot trends and deals online. Yet, they are 44% more likely to shop in-store, spending several hours browsing and trying on clothes.

- Activewear Market and Demographic Analysis | 2022

‍Our analysis tells that there are more than 1,300 activewear brands.

Of these brands, we analyzed a sample of 500 brands to see how they are distributed by Web Sales, Shopping Cart and Shipping Volume. At Least 95% of the brands make

03/28/2022

The last five years, 2017-2021, has been a ‘coming of age’ period for several DTC brands. In addition to a lot of transformation in the way DTC brands operate, we saw a flurry of activity in terms of DTC brands going public. At least 15 DTC companies came out with an IPO in the last couple of years. While not all of these brands were completely digital, all of them had a significant online sales channel presence.

- Number of DTC IPOs

There were nine IPOs in 2021 with at least three of them in August 2021 alone. Seven of these IPOs were in the Fashion and Apparel category.

- Years to go public (10 years on average for DTC Brands)

Digital natives took significantly less time since inception to go for an IPO than brands with physical store presence.

Digital native and DTC brands also attracted relatively high valuations than omnichannel brands.

- Post-pandemic IPO brands also attracted relatively higher valuations while accumulated deficits were reduced significantly. While post-pandemic IPO cohort companies seem to have taken longer to go public, the average revenues at the time of IPO were lower than the pre-pandemic IPO cohort by 42%.

- Marketing Expenses

DTC brands having physical stores have built a relatively bigger customer base than digital natives and omnichannel companies.

The customer acquisition cost goes up higher every month as digital gets expensive but few SKUs under a strongly positioned brand are supposed to give the right air cover for the brand to reign in their customer acquisition costs.

- Before and after IPO

A few DTC and digital-native brands have completed at least one business cycle after IPO. While there was no discernible change in marketing expenses before and after their respective IPOs, few have improved upon their profits.

Notable among companies with high marketing expenses are SmilesDirect Club that is trying to build a niche market with a single SKU (3D printed clear teeth aligners) and Casper, the mattresses brand. Both these brands have fewer SKUs and have had a high marketing expense before IPO.

If you want to know how we can help your DTC brand grow and eventually make its IPO, book a FREE call with AGP Today!

03/28/2022

Whether you're hiring in-house or outsourcing your marketing work, please don't compromise on the quality of the people you hire.

We can't stress enough how much time and money this can save in the long run.

Look, we don’t know of a single successful company that said: "We did it, despite the fact we have a mediocre team". Do you?

To go from "I'm stuck in 5-figures" to "I'm riding the hockey stick"🏒😎

Book a FREE call with AGP today!

03/24/2022

Whether you are researching the eCommerce market size to make investments or finding eCommerce prospects, this question will confound you.

Some retailers have an eCommerce presence (called ‘e-tailers’ by some). There are eCommerce companies and then there are marketplace sellers that sell on Amazon, eBay, Lazada, Mercadolibre, etc.

Then, thousands of companies use shopping carts but sell nothing that qualifies them to be an eCommerce company – like a retired management consultant who built a couple of management templates and implemented a Magento site to sell them online.

How many eCommerce companies are there?

Every company has a different estimate, that there are between 10 million to 25 million eCommerce companies out there. It is very confusing for anyone out there to rely on this number. To solve this problem, we have defined an eCommerce website.
‍
Defining an eCommerce business

PipeCandy has a broad definition of an eCommerce company. An eCommerce business is a business that has a website on which commercial transactions can be executed, i.e., a user can pay online and receive a product/service in return.
Specifically, an eCommerce site is one that:

1. Uses an eCommerce shopping cart – Shopify, Magento, etc.
2. Uses any payment technology – Stripe, PayPal, etc.
3. Offers payment acceptance on it’s site – Visa, Amex, etc.
And provides a product/service in return.

So, how many eCommerce companies are there
Based on our definition of eCommerce company:

In our estimate, there are 12 million eCommerce companies globally (excluding China). We track over 7 million eCommerce websites across the world.

North America (USA & Canada) has about 4.2 million eCommerce companies. If you exclude B2B, and companies selling digital goods & services, there would be around 722,951 companies selling physical goods.

As you can see eCommerce is a big and competitive space, if you starting out or you have an online business and you want to succeed, send us a DM and we will let you know how we can be of assistance in order to help you grow your business, starting today!

03/23/2022

Does faster-shipping speed bring more customers?

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of shoppers opting for same-day delivery increased to 26% from 14%. This was a significant increase partly due to the pandemic which led to a surge in online orders.

Our data also suggests that faster shipping speeds bring in relatively more customers, especially in the small and mid-market segments. There is a significant difference in median monthly visitors between brands that offer next-day delivery and ones that don’t (58%). The difference narrows as the speed of delivery reduces to three days.

More businesses are offering express delivery than before

More mid-market companies offer same-day delivery compared with enterprise businesses or small businesses. A lot of mid-market DTC brands offer same-day delivery more often and they often align with on-demand shipping platforms like Instacart or DoorDash.

In 2019, PipeCandy up to 26% of small and medium businesses offered next-day delivery.

And now, with the pandemic accelerating ecommerce, businesses are scaling up to match industry leaders in shipping speeds.

At least 41% of small and medium DTC businesses offer next-day delivery.

Only 37% of all DTC businesses offer slower speeds of three days or more. Offering two options in addition to next-day delivery has become a norm to match Amazon’s Prime delivery standard. Besides, customers may prefer quick delivery but not over the high delivery. It is going to be interesting to see how the free and fast shipping trend will shape up in 2022.

If you want to learn more about eCommerce from tips and tricks down to strategies and consultation, click the link in our bio or send us a DM!

03/22/2022

Why Page Speed Matters in Ecommerce

So why does any of this matter? Google page speed is a critical aspect of user experience. Simply put, visitors are more likely to stay on fast websites and thus more likely to purchase a product, sign up for a service, or otherwise generate a conversion. Additionally, when a page load is quick, shoppers will have a more positive outlook on your site’s performance and are more likely to return.

Beyond the impression page speed has on your site visitors, it matters to Google. The search engine prioritizes websites with faster loading times, meaning they have a better chance of appearing on the first page of search results.

How Fast Should a Site Load?

To gain a competitive advantage in your industry, aim for a speed index of three seconds or less.

How Does Bounce Rate Correlate to Page Speed?

A "bounce" means someone visits a site and leaves quickly without engaging. Your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors that bounce, the lower the bounce rate, the better.

4 Ways to Increase Page Speed

a) Compress Your Images

Large image files are a common culprit of a slow page loading speed. Compressing your images can drastically improve your speed and thus your Google PageSpeed score. The key, however, is to create a smaller file without modifying the visual or compromising the quality, as low-quality images can affect SEO and user experience.

b) Use Browser Caching

Browser caching involves temporarily storing recently downloaded web pages. So if a visitor has been to your site recently, it will load quickly the next time they visit because it doesn't have to re-download the assets.

c) Minify Your HTML

HTML minification involves minimizing the backend code of your eCommerce pages and script files. It's one of the most effective methods of reducing load times and improving user experience.

d) Implement AMPs

AMP is short for Accelerated Mobile Pages, which are essentially stripped-down versions of HTML for existing site content. AMPs load substantially faster than standard web pages, which is why implementing them is often recommended to improve mobile page speed.

03/22/2022

B2B Ecommerce Lags Behind B2C Ecommerce

Rising expectations are one of the drivers of growth for B2B eCommerce which continues to grow as a larger piece of the B2B revenue pie. Forrester forecasts that U.S. B2B eCommerce will reach $1.8 trillion accounting for 17% of all B2B sales in the U.S. by 2023.

Despite this massive market opportunity, B2B eCommerce sites consistently lag behind their B2C counterparts in terms of digital maturity and customer experience.

B2B Needs Personalization Just Like B2C

The best consumer websites feel personal without being too interruptive to the customer journey. They acknowledge your past, anticipate your needs and recommend products and services intuitively.

Similarly, B2B buyers want and need personalized onsite experiences. Businesses can leverage interaction and transaction data to personalize the entire B2B buying journey from product recommendations, to reminders (for repurchase), to value-added content that educates and entertains. And they can scale this for B2B users who influence, approve, and ultimately purchase.

B2B E-commerce Isn't Just a Digitized Catalog

The whole point of migrating your physical catalog online is to prevent your customers from scrolling through hundreds of digital pages covering tens of thousands of SKUs. Yet many B2B eCommerce catalogs put the onus on the buyer to find products and information.

Mobile First is As Important in B2B Ecommerce

Digital natives have brought their consumer habits to the B2B world, and these habits are increasingly mobile. According to Google, 42% of B2B customers use mobile devices during the purchase process.

It is true that the B2B buying journey is more complex and less impulsive with more stakeholders and longer buying cycles. However, technological advances and B2B eCommerce platforms have caught up to close the gap between B2B buyer expectations and reality. We must remember that B2B buyers are also consumers and we have an exciting opportunity to not just follow B2C e-commerce examples but to lead the way. No more lagging B2B -- it's time to lead!

If you want to learn more about how we can help your business grow, we are one DM away!

03/16/2022

There are many moving parts of an eCommerce business. From website development and digital marketing to fulfillment and customer service, every piece of the puzzle is crucial. And yet, when you sell products online, the success of your business ultimately comes back to conversions.

If you want to boost sales, expand your audience, entice repeat customers, and drive more traffic to your site, you'll need a CRO (conversion rate optimization) strategy. The seasoned web developers and B2C eCommerce development experts at Guidance have helped a wide range of mid-market merchandisers with successful CRO. Here's what you should know.

Benefits of Conversion Rate Optimization: Why Is It Important?

An eCommerce conversion optimization plan is a critical component of your business's success both now and in the future. With that said, there are many ways CRO benefits eCommerce. We outlined the top advantages below.

Boost Your Sales

In the simplest sense, an effective CRO strategy will result in a higher percentage of visitors making a purchase on your site. This means you'll likely see a boost in sales and an increase in revenue.

Understand Your Customers Better

Conversion rate optimization tools can also provide you with valuable customer insight. You'll be able to hone in on data about their behaviors, buying habits, and preferences, which can help you fine-tune your marketing efforts.

Optimize Your Current Traffic

One of the main advantages of CRO is that it allows you to make the most of your site's current traffic. Let's say you see an average of 6,000 visits a month with a 1.5% conversion rate. Increasing your conversion rate to 4.5% could mean you're tripling your sales without expanding your audience.

Get a Better ROI

In many cases, a higher conversion rate means you can get a better ROI (return on investment). By analyzing your website traffic and customer behaviors, you can get more out of your marketing spend.

An ongoing CRO strategy with a focus on customer experience can give you a competitive edge in your industry. If you want to learn how we can help your business achieve that, send us a DM!

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