Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / 2024 Ecommerce Predictions to be Excited About

Transcript

2024 Ecommerce Predictions to be Excited About · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:09
  Hi. Hello. How are you doing today? Oh my gosh. I'm doing well. I'm doing really well. Sun is shining. Sydney's amazing. Gorgeous. It's very different to London right now. I know you're in a very cold situation.
• 0:27
  How are you? I am, but it turned this weekend for me. I think it went from a dark, cold, sad situation to I went to London and the Christmas lights and the Christmas feeling there is just second to none. I think there are a few cities in the world that do it as well as London, New York. New York would be nice one year. But yeah, it was good at installing that Christmas spirit. So I'm feeling good.
• 0:54
  I think also those little kind of towns that do Christmas markets.
• 0:59
  you know, little towns in Germany or little towns in Italy with the Christmas markets, they've also got the vibes, you know? Oh, absolutely. And especially right now, they've had this crazy cold spell and it's just snowing like mad. So it looks like a real winter wonderland in a lot of these places. Germany's completely covered. It looks amazing. It does look amazing. I did see some videos. Can we just start by talking about Wrapped, Spotify Wrapped?
• 1:28
  Yes. I was going to mention this. I'm just like so, I don't know if I sent you the screenshots, but there's just, it's so cool. It's, I mean, first of all, the woman that came up with that campaign, amazing. Such a good idea. It was an intern.
• 1:45
  It was an intern. That's right. We need to get her name. We should shout about her again on social media because she just deserves the praise. Love that for her. Yeah, I just feel like I didn't send you the screenshots, but there's like thousands of people who have us in their top five or even their top number one show. And I'm just over here being like, wait, what? So cool. Oh, it's amazing. I loved seeing everything go by. And I don't know about you, but I feel like.
• 2:12
  The second Spotify wrapped rolls around, it becomes such a nostalgic part of the year. Like you start thinking about the year that's just been and you're looking forward to things that are coming up in 2024. And it feels like a bit of this closing chapter change moment.
• 2:29
  Yeah, I agree. I feel like especially because rolling off the back of Black Friday, which is just like such a, everyone's so stressed and so kind of burnt out. And then you have this moment of...
• 2:45
  I mean, obviously for the founders who have podcasts as well, but these nice moments. We need to find more nice moments like that at the end of the year when it is such a stressful time. So cool. Can more companies do things like Wrapped? Can't get over it. Absolutely. Reflections and celebrations. It's just good to have anything that makes you stand still and think about these things.
• 3:08
  Yeah, yeah. Actually, you know what was really great was we, on the back of that feeling of like end of year kind of vibe, we had our meetup last week and we haven't spoken about it yet, but it was so, so cool. Like meeting people IRL who listen to the podcast and getting to have these kind of intimate relationships
• 3:33
  you know, chats and stories and being, I think, especially in smaller groups where you can be more vulnerable and be more kind of open. I was just like, we need to do more of these next year. So we need to do London. We need to do New York. We need to do LA. We need to do Sydney. We need to do Melbourne.
• 3:54
  Absolutely. I just love seeing all the pictures coming through. And it's just such an important touch point to be able to chat to these people in real life. I'd been there for one meetup that we did in London. And similarly, it just completely blew my mind. I'd love to organize another one in January, which we'll chat about and people should keep their ears peeled for. Oh my God. Yes. Amazing. January. Love that.
• 4:20
  New year, new you. New year, new you. And in that line of thought, I think today's episode is going to be an exciting one. Oh, yes. Let's get into it. Because we wanted to dive into a bit of a crystal ball and discuss the e-commerce trends that we predict are going to make all the waves in the coming year.
• 4:40
  So I know on the show, usually we cover kind of the blueprint of success of someone that's been there and done that. So I thought it would be cool to instead look forward. Maybe we'll be touching on a couple of things that haven't necessarily been mentioned on the show before. And just super high value to any founders or founders to be listening that want to stay ahead of the curve.
• 5:01
  And get those boxes ticked for the crucial things you should be doing in 2024. Whilst this landscape is changing at a crazy pace. Such a crazy pace. And yeah, just ticking those things that we think are going to be moving the needle.
• 5:18
  And I feel like just for anyone listening, I got too excited. I did like seven of these and I think we're going to try and cap it at five together, five combined. So if you like this episode, let us know in the Facebook group and we can do the second half of this episode with all the other ones. But let's see how we go with the first one. Should I kick us off? Because I have more than you. Yes, please. Okay. So I feel like the first one that just comes to my mind that I'm like, this is definitely going to happen is...
• 5:48
  More kind of, I don't know how to word this or articulate this properly, but AI in advertising. So I feel like what I'm saying is platforms like Meta and TikTok are going to be obvious ones that we see. But...
• 6:04
  the capabilities within those platforms for optimized campaigns, optimized budget spending, optimized kind of content prediction of what's going to work. I feel like AI within these platforms, it's already becoming more sophisticated, but it's just going to go to a whole new level. And especially for early stage business owners who aren't able to hire agencies and kind of put that, you know, put huge spend towards campaigns, it's going to be critical for smaller brands to
• 6:34
  being able to put bigger budgets behind their campaigns. And I think that when we look at agencies, there's always going to be a place for, you know, these kind of big, large-scale campaign agency owners and large-scale budgets where it's millions of dollars being spent every
• 6:58
  Yeah, I feel like those platforms are just going to get more and more sophisticated and more and more simplified. And the features within it are going to be extremely easy to use because of AI. That's my first one.
• 7:12
  Absolutely. I see that. You can already see it with some of the platforms and tools that we're using, like our newsletter platform Beehive now has an option that you can right click on any of the texts that you have and it will optimize it for AI. And similarly, this came up a lot when I was reading for this week that this idea of hybrid AI is going to be the trend in 2024. Ooh, what's that? Yeah.
• 7:37
  Yeah. So, I thought the same. Let me dive in. Not necessarily this complete scary AI takeover that we had heard about when AI first started kicking off in this year, but rather this idea that we will be using AI to help us, but that human touch will still be there to personalize things, to write it in our
• 8:02
  tone of language to still get that AI edge off things. So it'll be like the two of us working together on something. And this I really see. I see that being way easier to adopt, especially for small business owners and early stage founders. It's almost like having a...
• 8:21
  person join your business in the early stages that you can just chat to. And that's something he said to me when ChatGPT first came to the forefront, you were like, just have this open, talk to this thing throughout your day. Both of us work quite isolated in our day to day. And it's just been amazing to have someone to chat back and forth to, even if it's a robot. So I think that will, yeah, this idea of hybrid AI and using that in our marketing, but also on all of our
• 8:51
  Yeah, I had this on my list as well. Mine, I had it kind of noted down a little bit differently. I had it as, you know, ChatGPT or all these kind of like similar kind of products are going to be our like integrated assistants. And even though everyone should be already doing this already and ChatGPT should be like open at all times to ask questions and kind of generate ideas and things like that, I think it's going to become sort of...
• 9:17
  so fine-tuned to us personally. And I'll give the example of myself, but I have so much content online. I think that once I upload all of the podcasts and all of these things, it's going to get much more familiar with who I am and what I think and kind of fine-tuned to me personally. So when I'm chatting back and forth about ideas or trying to fine-tune something,
• 9:40
  something, it's going to become so much more aligned to me. And I think that that's going to happen, you know, similarly for an e-commerce founder who's able to kind of upload like, hey, here's our tone of voice and like, here's how we handle customer service and here's how we do product descriptions. And so then it will kind of like adopt just the overall persona of a person like me or a brand like, you know, whatever. And
• 10:06
  It'll just be so part of our daily norm for everyone in every area of the business to have that going back and forth and kind of scaling up the output, I guess. And of course, that's going to save a lot of time and enhance everything that we're doing, especially for small business owners who don't have big teams or can delegate everything. I think it's going to be a real game changer.
• 10:34
  Absolutely. And there's a huge kind of CTA there that if you haven't yet jumped onto these platforms or chat GPT to absolutely get started, because like you said, the sooner the platform gets to know your tone of voice, your way of working, the more you can benefit from this. And the sooner you learn how to use these tools and get familiar with them, the more you can get out of them. Yeah, 100 percent. Absolutely.
• 10:59
  So second one I've got, it's a little bit in a different line of thought, but interesting nonetheless. And I think that live stream shopping might finally take off in 2024. Oh my God, I have that on my list too. Did you? Great. Okay, you go, you go.
• 11:16
  I think there have been murmurs of this in the last couple of years. And I think the infrastructure has been there for this to take off, but that we weren't quite there yet. And I think that this year might be the year that this is the kind of marketing that we're very open and receptive to. Because of its raw nature, because of its authentic nature. And you can already see it starting to get traction with QVC. No, sorry, with Gen Z. It's the QVC of Gen Z.
• 11:46
  In the last couple of months, especially in China, we're seeing more and more brands and influencers connect with their audiences in real time this way and showcase their products, answer questions, create interactive shopping experience. And I really think it might prove to be one of the key ways to cut through the noise in the coming future. So you can already see brands like Jessica Alba with The Honest Company, Monkey, which is a...
• 12:11
  a daughter company of H&M has had a lot of success on there. And just last week, so by the time this goes out, I think it will be about two weeks ago, TikTok has also been seen to bet on it big time. So there are rumors at the moment that TikTok is planning to offer $1,500 in incentives to brands and people who are looking to boost sales through live shopping.
• 12:35
  So they're clearly pushing this. Oh, my God, that's interesting. Yeah. And I really think that 2024 might be the year that we take this super old school selling method and make it cool again. And I think if it's done in the right way, it can be super effective. So leaning into this raw authenticity, getting to know the founder, giving someone a real peek into what the brand stands for and who you are.
• 13:00
  You had this on as well? Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah, I had this on my list as well because I was actually doing, so the new course that is, you know, soon to be coming out. I'm so excited. But I was doing the recording today for all of the TikTok section. So TikTok Shop was mentioned through that and I was, you know, just kind of working through how that works and how you apply and all that kind of thing. And because TikTok Shop is heavily leaning into, and I didn't know the incentive, cash bonus or whatever it is, but...
• 13:28
  That is like I know that they're pushing that as a feature and heavily leaning into it. And I guess that signals that people are definitely using it and wanting to kind of go in that direction. And I also, what comes to mind is two things. Do you remember that video that went viral recently? It was the woman and she does like, she just holds up the products, but like she holds them up for less than a second. And she does like this live shopping channel and she made like $8 million. Just, it's crazy. She has like all these boxes behind her. It'll be like...
• 13:58
  you know, designer boxes and someone passes her just like streams of boxes and she's just like flinging out these products and it's just so fast, but she makes like $8 million through her channel, something in maybe like a month or a week or like just something, maybe it was a year. I don't know. I'm getting, I'm not getting, listen, don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. Yeah.
• 14:19
  Do not quote us on this. Yeah, don't quote me on this. But it was this crazy video I remember seeing just being like, oh, yeah, like this is about to change. And I think what we're also going to see happen, because I agree that it feels like we haven't adopted it 100% yet. But I think what's going to happen is off the back of this, there are going to be different kind of Shopify plugins and things that are going to be connected to our websites where...
• 14:41
  You'll go on and you'll be able to have this live shopping experience on your website as well as on social media and things like that. And maybe just more interesting, immersive kind of experiences in ways that we can't yet really understand because they haven't happened yet. I think also that it blends in with it's going to be the way that...
• 15:02
  those experiences kind of are tailored maybe towards VIP shoppers or I don't know, I just feel like there's something there with kind of top spenders customers and interactive kind of experiences that involve live shopping.
• 15:17
  Absolutely. I think especially on these platforms where we're hanging around anyway, it's not asking us to move to a whole other mode of communication or another app. Like these are platforms where we're hanging out. You can see Amazon is leaning into it at the moment as well. Their live shopping is really taking off. I think Jessica Alba and the Honest Company, they had most of their success through Amazon Live. So there'll be a lot of opportunities for there in the coming future.
• 15:43
  Amazing. I'm excited for that. I'm very excited for that. My bank account is not. I'll be girl-mathing all over the place. Hardcore girl-mathing. I had so many different ones, but I'm going to end on...
• 16:00
  creator-led products and collaborations. So this one, I think, you know, we see this all the time, people collab, influencers create kind of limited capsule collections, things like that. But I think what we're going to see is much more integrated rev share models. So instead of the traditional kind of affiliate play where, you know, a creator might be promoting with a code or something like that,
• 16:24
  It'll be much more integrated. It'll be much more data-driven. There'll be more testing. There'll be more kind of any kind of data-driven decisions being put in there, especially when it comes to who the creator is and how the brand does work with them. But I think we'll be seeing more kind of like maybe even almost mini brands coming out of, instead of a capsule collection, it'll be like,
• 16:49
  the side brand of a brand. I feel like it's just going to get deeper in this collaboration between creator and consumer brand. And I also think that it'll be, again, with this whole AI thing, it'll be AI data-driven tools that help the founder or help the entrepreneur kind of, like, come up with the best tools
• 17:13
  or what would be like highest demand products for their customers and considering who that influencer is or who that content creator is and how their audience plays into it. I think we're going to get much more sophisticated with decision making and even that in general actually. I think...
• 17:29
  Hopefully we start seeing more tools and online kind of software that helps in that ideation phase of anything, whether it's new product launches, whether it's new variations of products to basically kind of determine product market fit before you go into production. And I obviously don't know how that works, but I...
• 17:50
  I think we're going to see much more sophisticated kind of mini collab brands, you know, like the side brand, but in partnership with XYZ Creator. Something like that. I think it's going to become, again, much more exciting, much more. Data driven. Yeah, more data driven and a better kind of sexier rev share model for the creators who have the audience. I love that.
• 18:17
  Absolutely. Me too. I love that. How many did we do? Did we do five? We did four. One more to go. Ooh. So the last one I had on my list, it's a broad one, but I think it's important mentioning anyway. And it's around the idea of mobile commerce. And this is something that the two of us have spoken often about, how it's
• 18:36
  Our mobile phones are getting more and more integrated into our lives and it's easier and easier for us to even work from there. So, for example, sometimes, you know, on a Friday or on a holiday that we'll be able to action a lot of things from the phone without needing the laptop, which is just wild in itself.
• 18:53
  But I think as a result of that, more and more purchases are going to be made online and from our phone as well instead of on our laptop. So I think they predict that by 2024, about 42.9% of all of our e-commerce sales will be made through a mobile phone, which is wild to me. It's way higher than I was expecting.
• 19:23
  meet the customer where they're at on their phone. So to optimize your website, to look good on an iPhone, for it to load quickly on an iPhone, to make sure you're on all the social platforms, to meet the customers where they're at when they're there, and to make this process as smooth as possible. So there is as few hurdles. And I think technological advancements in themselves, so things like Apple Pay, are helping a lot with that process. But there are also definitely things that we can do as a small business.
• 19:53
  The thing that came to mind was Baba Rivera on the show talking about My Ceremonia. And they shot a lot of their product shots with an iPhone itself. And a lot of their website is shot with pictures from an iPhone.
• 20:08
  which looks great. It's super scrappy when it comes down to it. And it also means that when you load this page, it's loaded super easily. There's not a five-second wait, a 10-second wait. And I think it's easy for us to lean into this idea that we want our website to be this beautiful, amazingly good.
• 20:29
  beautifully curated thing and have videos and have all these crazy animations. But realistically, that loading time can be enough to make a customer completely disengage.
• 20:41
  from their purchasing journey with you. And I think this is a hard but good lesson, especially for the millennial founders out there. We all have a bit more of this need for perfection and curation and wanting things to look amazing, having grown up with brands that lent more into that space. And if we're being really real with ourselves, it's now shifting towards more of that scrappy approach, more of a last-minute put-together, authentic,
• 21:10
  The quicker, the better, essentially. 100% agree. I'm actually surprised at those numbers, though. I thought mobile shopping would be, like, higher. I feel like I only ever buy through my phone. But I agree. Also, I think, like, people put on all these bells and whistles on their website, and it's like you should just be using the Shopify theme that's, you know, optimized for conversion and sticking with that and not adding in bells and whistles and making it super complicated for the shopper.
• 21:39
  100% use the proven template. Yeah, and it's cheap. Lean into cheap, especially at the beginning. 100%. 100%. Test it, see how it works before you invest any crazy amounts.
• 21:56
  Right. I'm looking at the time. We're trying to do these episodes in 30 minutes or less, even closer to 20. So let's do the round of six quick questions. Yeah, let's wrap it up. Absolutely. Which is harder than we thought, right? We thought that would be an easy achievement. It's so hard. I love to chat.
• 22:15
  Yes. And here we are chatting again. So let's move on to the six quick questions. This is the end part of the episode where we have a quick fire round where we get to know you a little bit better, Dune. So question number one, how would you describe yourself in three words? Oh my God, that's so on the spot. How would I describe myself in three words?
• 22:41
  sparkly chatty kathy yes how would you describe me in three words gosh that one's hard sparkly sparkly pink has to be in there happy chatty outgoing there's too many but sparkly is up there and i think it encompasses a lot of them so it's a good one thanks goodness question number two easier one what star side are you
• 23:12
  Oh, I am a Leo. I'm not someone that knows a lot about astrology. So I know my own star sign and I love to be entertained, but that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge.
• 23:27
  in this place. What are you? I love it. Oh, I'm a Scorpio. What are the top kind of qualities of a Scorpio or like, I don't even know if that's the terminology here. They're kind of known for having this sting in their tail. Oh, okay. Which is what most people associate with it. But I think there's also lots of good qualities. I wouldn't say that represents you at all. Yeah. No sting in your tail. I haven't experienced the wrath of Josephine yet.
• 23:57
  In seven years. Beware, beware. The 10-year mark. Okay, question number three. What has been your least favorite job to date? So any kind of jobs you did when you were younger or even later in life.
• 24:13
  Oh, man, so many. I've done so many jobs. When I was younger, I think when I was like, I must have been like really young, maybe 12 or 14, I was doing fruit picking and I'd have to get up at like 4 in the morning and go to this place and pick passion fruit. And I'm not a morning person, as you know. And 4 a.m. is really early. That's not morning, that's night. Yeah, yeah.
• 24:41
  That's nice. So, yeah, passion fruit picking, that would be up there with one of the worst. And then I would say, like, honestly, corporate nine to five. I'm not going to name names, but corporate nine to five. It's not for me. It's not for my busy brain. And I really struggled in those environments of kind of these very strict, rigid, don't make sense rules environments. Mm-hmm.
• 25:05
  I feel that. That was a pre-COVID world though. So maybe a lot of companies have also shifted to, you know, different styles of working. But yeah, I would say I struggled in the nine to five. Yeah. The strict routine. Corporate, corporate settings. Yeah. Absolutely. I feel that. Question number four, would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert? Yeah.
• 25:27
  Oh, I am an introvert, but I present as an extrovert. I'm very, can be very social. I'm extremely chatty, but I internally am introvert, shy, nervous, dying on the inside. Need that you time to recharge. Yeah. Yeah. Basically. Question number five. What product do you use every single day? Sunscreen. Yeah.
• 25:57
  No, I've got a better answer. What else do I have? What else do I use? The Naked Sundays one still, the spray. Oh, my God, I love that. That's like my like over the makeup kind of spray, not my like base level sunscreen because now I have to be so specific with my skincare. But, oh, hang on. I feel like I use so many great products. Give me a second here.
• 26:20
  Who can we shout about? I love the Pleasant State products. I use them under my kitchen sink. I love – I use the Kapari deodorant ever since I had her on the show. It's like this amazing kind of like coconutty deodorant that you can get at – well, in Australia you get it at Sephora. I love that. I'm obsessed. My husband's obsessed too. I use that every day.
• 26:46
  I'm trying to think of like what kind of products you use every day. I'm looking around me now. These are great. What else? Oh, I mean I want to use it every day but I am so bad with habits that it's like a dip in and dip out relationship but I love the 5-Minute Journal by Intelligent Change. Me too. Yeah.
• 27:09
  Yeah, yeah, I'd say those are a couple of my favorite ones. Couple of female founders in there. Love that. Absolutely. Shout them out. And question number six, final question. What's your all-time favorite TV show? Something you can watch on repeat always. Always.
• 27:24
  Oh my God. I mean, it's Friends. I've watched Friends for the last 15 years on repeat. I'm like a very obsessive, addictive TV show personality person. So like I've watched it probably a thousand times. I used to be really into Sex and the City. I also would have watched that a thousand times, but Friends just like wildly took over. And then I think during COVID it just like became on another level.
• 27:49
  But ever since Matthew Perry died, I'm just, like, so sad when I watch it and I'm just, like, still in that, like, phase of being, like, it's too soon. Like, I feel like it's too soon. I definitely have grief around it.
• 28:07
  And especially, like, I read his book before he died and, you know, just such a touching story and someone that's brought so much joy to, like, literally the world and our generation on repeat. And, yeah, anyway, friends. Definitely my go-to.
• 28:27
  Yeah. I'm sorry that's a very sad note to end on today. That is a sad note to end on. I actually do also really love Modern Family. I'm just a sucker for those kind of sitcom shows that you can just watch, like, on repeat and feel like you're part of the family. Yeah, just this background noise, right, and having a quick laugh and just hearing it going on in the background. I'm the same. Can't have the silence.
• 28:56
  A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Loved this. Oh, my God. 31 minutes. We did it. That's the pod. We did it. Thank you. See you next week. Thank you. See you next week. Bye.
• 29:12
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 29:37
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 29:59
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.