How to Create a Resilient

E-Commerce Business
TH E FR AM E W O R K T O H E L P Y O U WE AT H E R A NY ST O RM
 How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business
E-commerce has always required brands and retailers to evolve and adapt to updates in technology, industry
influences and shifting trends in consumer behaviour.

But the global COVID-19 pandemic accelerated many of these changes, altered consumer behaviour and created
waves of economic uncertainty that will continue to ripple for years to come.

It also exposed the strengths and weaknesses of many brands, retailers and e-commerce channels. Some
businesses lacked contingency plans and struggled. Others businesses thrived. ChannelAdvisor worked alongside
thousands of brands and retailers navigating the COVID-19 crisis, and saw firsthand the strength and resiliency of
many of our clients.

So as brands and retailers take a look back on the lessons learned from early 2020 and make plans for the months
and years ahead, we believe brands and retailers of all sizes should take proactive steps toward making their online
businesses as resilient as possible to unforeseen, disruptive forces — in whatever form they may come.

In this eBook, we’ll highlight some of the changing consumer behaviour we see today and our framework for creating
a strong, future-proofed e-commerce business. Then, we’ll outline some proven e-commerce best practices you can
put to use during uncertain times.

Table of Contents

Evolving Consumer Behaviour...................................................................................... 3

The Framework for E-Commerce Resilience............................................................... 4

Channel Strategies for Brands and Retailers.............................................................. 7

E-Commerce Success Spotlight.................................................................................. 7

Conclusion................................................................................................................... 9

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 2

Evolving Consumer Behaviour
The COVID-19 crisis accelerated many consumer behavior trends we’ve been witnessing for years. Consumers spent
more time online out of necessity. And as a result, they began branching out, discovering new channels and gaining
more confidence in online shopping.

We polled over 2000 active US and UK consumers about their shopping habits to find out how the COVID-19 crisis
has impacted their behavior since the beginning of March, 2020.*

We found that 19% of UK consumers have more confidence purchasing online now than before the pandemic and
that 42% predict that they will shop online even more often than they did prior to the lockdown.

Ultimately, we found that consumers are still discovering, researching and purchasing in many of the same ways —
depending on their age breakdown. But the incremental increase in new e-commerce consumers is speeding up the
impact. Our survey found:

52% of US consumers spent more time on mobile devices and 36% spent more time on social media during lockdown

39% say I go to Amazon before checking anywhere else

83% will research a product on Amazon before purchasing

44% of 18- to 25-year-olds researched products on Instagram before purchasing

70% of consumers cited price is the most influential factor when considering a purchase during lockdown

To stay competitive, brands and retailers need to know these evolving consumers — where they are spending time, how
they are shopping and what their shopping habits will look like tomorrow — and build effective strategies to reach them.

* Dynata/ChannelAdvisor survey: 1,000 active US consumers and 1033 active UK shoppers, May 2020

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR SNAPSHOT

Since March, 2020:

19% of consumers have more confidence

purchasing online than before
42% of consumers predict they will shop
online more often than before the
COVID-19 outbreak

30% of consumers purchased items they

had never bought online before
25% of consumers purchased items from
retailers they hadn’t shopped with
before

45% oflonger
consumers are happy to wait
for the delivery of
51% of consumers have purchased
items for others
nonessential goods

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 3

The biggest influences
when choosing products
since COVID-19:

* Dynata/ChannelAdvisor survey: 1,000 active US consumers

and 1033 active UK shoppers, May 2020

The Only Constant Is Change

In addition to changing consumer behavior, the retail landscape itself is evolving more rapidly than ever. Supply chains
have been disrupted. Brands are shuttering brick-and-mortar stores. Digital transformation has accelerated. Retailers
are questioning their fulfillment options. And the industry’s major players — Amazon, Google, Facebook, among others
— are innovating quickly.

There will be clear winners and losers that emerge in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. And many more in the
months and years to come.

Which group will you fall into?

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 4

ChannelAdvisor’s Framework for E-Commerce Resilience
ChannelAdvisor believes that three key principles should serve as the foundation of a strong, forward-thinking online
business:

• Streamline your e-commerce operations for agility

• Expand to new channels or opportunities that allow your business to grow
• Optimise your presence on each channel

But to effectively weather disruptive forces beyond your control, a resilient e-commerce business should diversify its
strategies and, if able, build its their business around four key pillars:

1. Channel Diversity - List and advertise your products across multiple channels, including marketplaces, search
engines, your own website and more.
2. Fulfilment Diversity - Expand your shipping capabilities, so you’re not dependent on a single method of
delivering products to your customers.
3. Geographical Diversity - Tap into new sources of demand in multiple markets, usually through international
marketplaces.
4. Supply Chain Diversity - Mitigate risk by creating backup plans for sourcing your most prized inventory.

At the same time, there are two fundamental aspects to every growing business:1) maintaining profitability and, 2)
ensuring your business has a steady stream of new customers.

Depending on the growth path of a specific brand or retailer, all four pillars of diversity might not be profitable or
feasible. No two businesses are alike, and each brand and retailer should make the best business decisions for its their
size, goals and circumstances.

RESILIENCY
NEW CUSTOMERS

PROFITABILITY

DIVE RSITY

CHANNEL OPTIMISATION

FO UNDATION

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 5

 PILLAR 1: CHANNEL DIVERSITY

Increasing the number of destinations where you’re selling eliminates your dependency on any one site,
which, in turn, causes fewer concerns in the event any one marketplace makes an unforeseen decision that
can impact your business.

For example, during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, Amazon stopped accepting new FBA shipment
creation for products outside of a few “essential” categories. Sellers that were reliant on Amazon to store
and ship their products ran into trouble when their warehoused supply ran out. At the same time, Amazon
pushed out the estimated delivery times on many Prime products — sometimes up to a month.

As Amazon struggled to meet the increased demand during the peak of the crisis, consumers turned to
other marketplaces. Walmart, for example, saw e-commerce sales increase 74%. When consumers saw
inventory go out of stock on Amazon, as well as major shipping delays, they went elsewhere to find what
they needed. As we saw in our own consumer behaviour survey, shoppers aren’t loyal to a channel: 62% of
consumers we surveyed prioritised product availability.

Diversifying your channels also opens your products to more consumer demand. Millions of consumers
actively shop on hundreds of marketplaces — both domestic marketplaces and international.
ChannelAdvisor has integrations with over 140 marketplaces around the world.

PILLAR 2: FULFILMENT DIVERSITY

Fulfilment has become a major battlefield in e-commerce as brands and retailers race to keep up with
evolving consumer demand. Selling a product that you’re not able to deliver to your new customer — or that
isn’t delivered in an efficient manner — will lead to terrible consumer experiences, poor ratings and more.

But fulfilment capabilities can be disrupted: Warehouses can shut down; carriers can go out of business.
Warehouses have even collapsed or otherwise had their inventory unexpectedly destroyed.

Early in the COVID-19 crisis, Amazon announced a temporary restriction on products sent into their
fulfilment centers. Although these restrictions were later lifted, they significantly impacted many brands and
retailers that lacked direct-to-consumer packing and shipping capabilities.

If you’re strictly FBA dependent, it’s highly advisable to consider alternate fulfillment options. For example,
if you have the capability to fulfill orders yourself through your warehouse, you could switch your Amazon
listings from FBA to Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) and fulfill the orders yourself. (The ChannelAdvisor platform
has various capabilities to assist in alternating between FBA and FBM.)

If you do not have the in-house capabilities, exploring partnerships with a third-party logistics provider (3PL)
may be beneficial. A list of third-party logistics providers (3PLs) who partner with ChannelAdvisor can be
found here.

Lastly, if you have brick-and-mortar locations, leverage these stores as distribution centres to help your
fulfilment processes.

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 6

 PILLAR 3: SUPPLY CHAIN DIVERSITY

Your business can grind to a halt when your supply chains are disrupted. Whether that disruption comes
from a pandemic, a natural disaster or political disputes with foreign countries, it helps to have a plan for
sourcing additional materials and products.

Consider which of your vendors may be at the highest risk of being unable to supply certain products. How
would your business be impacted if you could not sell those items for an extended period of time? Have
a conversation with your vendors on their emergency preparedness plans and what you can both do to
prepare for a similar type of event in the future. Similarly, consider geographically diversifying your vendor
relationships, if possible. This will reduce risk to your overall supply chain in the event one area of the globe
is heavily impacted at any given time.

Which brings us to...

PILLAR 4: GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY

Geographic diversity follows the same principles as channel diversity: It helps to spread and mitigate your
risk. But geographic diversity can also apply to your fulfillment network and supply chain.

In early 2020, we saw different countries around the world respond differently to the unfolding pandemic.
Although expanding to dozens of countries won’t make financial sense for every business, keeping all your
eggs in one geographical basket doesn’t make sense either. Find the balance that works for you and allows
you to grow.

When it comes to product listing, diversifying your geographic footprint opens your products to new markets
and consumer demand. Marketplaces are always a great and relatively easy place to start international
expansion. Again, there are hundreds of marketplaces available to you. The best options for you will depend
on your product category, ease of shipping, language barriers, tax implications and more.

If you aren’t working with a software provider like ChannelAdvisor with integrations to leading marketplaces
across the globe, major marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have separate marketplaces in dozens of
additional countries. Work with your existing channels to expand even further.

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 7

Channel Strategies for Brands and Retailers

DIGITAL MARKETING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

Successful digital marketing campaigns always require agility on the part of the advertiser. Success comes from
measuring, testing and tweaking. But this is especially true during volatile events or seasons. Here are some best
practices we’ve seen recently:

Stay Agile With Your Campaigns

The strategies you implement during a crisis period depend on your situation: Are others in a similar position? Are
you playing offense or defense?

Know when to play offense - If your business is stable, and your products are in demand, use it as a time to grow,
advertise and focus on new customer acquisition. Maybe you can source new inventory or double-down on your
advertising campaigns in particular categories to win market share from competitors who are struggling.

Know when to play defense - If your business is not stable, segment out your ad spend by product categories and
allocate dollars towards what IS in demand vs what is not. Focus on your most valuable, in-demand products.

Keep Your Product Data Clean and Structured

Optimising your product data feed is always a best practice, regardless of channel or feed destination. Clean,
structured data allows you to send your feed to other channels and dictates the way you invest, bid and even
automate your campaigns.

Know Your Plan B

When considering the future, preparing a “Plan B” advertising strategy is advised. This would include campaigns
for the items and brands that are most important to the business, as well as items that have previously shown the
best performance. Keeping this campaign on deck will allow you to quickly implement it if needed in the future.

Retailer Positioned to Meet Pandemic Demand

• Increased revenue by 178% MoM (month over month)
• Improved ROAS by 33% MoM

Like most brands and retailers, PureFormulas is no stranger to fluctuations in the market. But when it
came to dramatic disruptions in the e-commerce landscape, having a strong solution partner made
all the difference, according to Daniel Moure, chief marketing officer at PureFormulas.

Ahead of the pandemic’s impact, PureFormulas used predictive analytics and relied on
ChannelAdvisor’s expert guidance to help forecast demand and get its products in front of the right
consumers at the right time.
READ THE FULL STORY
“As the coronavirus began to impact every aspect of our business, we were extremely fortunate to
work alongside partners like ChannelAdvisor, who once again, rose to the challenge(s). Personally,
I sleep much better at night, knowing they are always watching and adapting to our specific
needs, as well as those that come without warning,” added Moure. “[ChannelAdvisor] continues
to be there for us.”

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 8

AMAZON ADVERTISING
Below are four core strategies for brands and retailers to keep in mind when advertising on Amazon.

1. Shift Your Product Focus — If you’re having supply or fulfilment issues, pause those campaigns. Evaluate any
recent changes in your campaign performance and reallocate your advertising dollars to the most efficient products
and campaigns: products with better shipping times, products with enough inventory remaining, or products with
higher margins to help get cash back in your book.

2. Understand Shifts in Demand — In an unpredictable landscape, some product categories may spike in demand
and others may fall off significantly. Make sure you take a hard look at your entire product lines and understand
where demand is shifting, so you can tailor your ad budgets accordingly.
In categories that are seeing decreased demand, we recommend lowering bids significantly and turning off any
existing automation. You can’t expect past performance to be a good guide during the current situation. If you’re
seeing higher demand, increase your bids and your budget.

3. Monitor 7-Day Performance — During times of uncertainty or volatility, you won’t want to use a longer historical
window. It won’t be as accurate. Shorten your lookback time on any automated tools. Be proactive about manual
adjustments.

4. Leverage More Branding Opportunities like Amazon Stores and Sponsored Brands — Maximise the branding
opportunities for your business. On Amazon, one of the most effective strategies for increasing your brand exposure
is building out your Amazon Stores — where you control the messaging and experience — and driving to these
Stores pages with optimised Sponsored Brands campaigns.

Jerry’s Artarama Exceeds Expectations With

ChannelAdvisor Managed Services
For more than 50 years, Jerry’s Artarama has been providing colored pencils, paints and
sophisticated art supplies to amateur and professional artists alike. But loading data and
keeping track of 50,000 SKUs on Amazon was going to be overwhelming enough —
not to mention all of the additional steps it would take to get those products in front of
purchase-ready shoppers.

The company turned to ChannelAdvisor’s Amazon Advertising specialists to fine-tune

a mix of Sponsored Brand, Sponsored Product and Sponsored Display campaigns.
In addition to designing highly targeted advertising and keyword bidding strategies,
the ChannelAdvisor Managed Services team works with Jerry’s Artarama to segment
products, optimize data, set goals, track performance and more. READ THE FULL STORY

Advancements on Amazon have led to additional listings on eBay and Walmart, where
the ability to simultaneously simplify and strategize has led to some remarkable results.

“It’s the most robust offer out there,” said Dan Stawicki, Jerry’s Artarama’s e-commerce
marketplace specialist. “The amount of services offered, and the ability to add new
marketplaces, is huge. Having everything under a central hub rather than finding different
solutions for different needs is the biggest selling point.”

How to Create a Resilient E-Commerce Business 9

Connect and optimise the world’s commerce
ChannelAdvisor is a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable retailers and branded
manufacturers to integrate, manage and optimise their merchandise sales across hundreds of online channels including
Facebook, Google, Amazon, eBay, Zalando and more. ChannelAdvisor helps brands and retailers better manage their
digital marketing, marketplaces, and fulfilment strategies within a single platform — and was named the #1 Channel
Management Provider to the Internet Retailer Top 1000.

Master Your Marketplace Presence Connect to More Consumers with

With ChannelAdvisor
With more than 2,700 customers selling on more than 140
e-commerce marketplaces worldwide, ChannelAdvisor
can keep you ahead of the latest marketplace trends and
ensure you’re maximising every opportunity. We make it
easy to connect with customers, optimise operations and
grow sales channels.
SUPPORT FOR 140+ MARKETPLACES:
Manage all marketing, selling and fulfilment
activities in one central platform
ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing
ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing helps you drive ad
spend effectiveness, optimises your digital marketing
campaigns, and provides the proper support and
expertise to ensure no opportunity is missed.
ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing helps brands and
retailers:
• Gain global reach: ChannelAdvisor has offices across
the globe and a diverse team working as one to ensure
your strategy is localised.

AMAZON AND EBAY ADVERTISING:
Specialized tools to drive more traffic and sales
PRODUCT DATA OPTIMISATION:
Get the most out of every product listing and
advertisement
PRICING STRATEGIES: Automatically reprice
and adjust based on the latest competitor data
sales trends
• Expand your team: Acting as a true extension
of your team, our e-commerce experts leverage
ChannelAdvisor’s proprietary technology to drive
efficiency.
• Save time: Free up your internal resources so you can
focus on other important aspects of the business.
• Take control: ChannelAdvisor’s optimised product
data transformation and feed delivery automation help
alleviate the strain on your technical resources.

FULFILMENT AUTOMATION: • Drive results with data-driven advertising:

Efficiently manage orders with order routing
rules and other capabilities suitable for multiple
fulfilment options
ChannelAdvisor accounts for every stage of the buying
cycle to best match expected return on spend. Based
on robust analytics and insights, we hold every
product, keyword and ad accountable to the highest
level of productivity.

PLUS MANY MORE FEATURES AND TOOLS TO HELP YOU STAY AHEAD.

Benchmarking • Demand Forecasting • Product Intelligence • Where to Buy • Managed Services • Fulfilment Solutions • And more!

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