As the world continues to open up and close down again, one of the ways to stay productive is to focus on the things we can CONTROL.
As I mentioned last week the Entrepreneurial roller coaster will bring you to high highs and low lows. To succeed, you need to find ways around these problems during the lows so you can ride it out and make it back on top.
One of the things we can control is how we prepare for, strategize, and grow our business.
Here the 80/20 of Ecommerce news this week.
E-commerce sales continues robust growth during COVID-19
According to ACI Worldwide: “Global eCommerce sales rose 28 percent in June 2020 compared to June 2019, making it the largest year-over-year (YoY) increase in sales since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place in March”.
One of the safest bets right now is a bet on yourself if you’re considering getting into the e-commerce business.
This week I’ve spoken with entrepreneurs from Florida, North Carolina, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, and Japan and while COVID may be striking back in a second wave, online e-commerce continues to surge ahead.
That’s why right now is the right time to get started in e-commerce if you haven’t already. This year’s Q4 is likely to shatter all records as it’s not clear when we will get out of the pandemic.
I’m working with a small group of motivated entrepreneurs to help them launch and scale their business as we are approaching the 4th quarter. If you’re interested in learning more you can apply for my coaching program here: https://8020sourcing.com/coaching.
Amazon Raises its Inventory Performance Index requirement in the US and Europe
If you are selling on Amazon this week Amazon changed their Inventory Performance Index requirements.
This matters because if your IPI is below their IPI threshold you will have storage limits in terms of the amount of inventory you can send to and store in Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
And with existing inventory which over Amazon’s storage limits you will be charged additional fees.
You can view your IPI score by logging in to Amazon seller central here: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/inventory-performance/dashboard
According to Amazon US “We are working to manage inventory performance to ensure all products have space available during peak. To enable this, we are changing the IPI minimum threshold requirement to 500. Sellers below 500 will be subject to limits effective August 16, 2020 through the end of the year.”
According to Amazon Europe “Effective immediately, we are raising the IPI threshold requirement for Q3 storage limits to 400 (previously 350).”
Here’s the Amazon FAQ on Changes to the Inventory Performance Index
How can you increase your IPI? Amazon closely guards this algorithm and has never publicly disclosed it.
However from a common sense perspective, it makes sense that Amazon wants you to store fast-moving inventory in their warehouses. As of right now, Amazon US is offering free removal, so it may be a good time to remove some of your slow movers.
Or you may want to liquidate your slow-moving inventory but cutting prices.
Reader question: How to protect your product designs when sourcing from China? [VIDEO 8min]
One of my readers sent a great question about sourcing product from China
– How to protect your IP so it doesn’t end up all over Alibaba
– What are fair payment terms?
– Should she use Alibaba Trade Assurance or Not?
– Should you get a EXW vs DDP shipping quote?
– How can you get quotes quickly?
How to protect your product designs when sourcing from China? [VIDEO 8min]
Stay safe!
Gary
PS: If you’d like to get help with building your e-commerce business I have a coaching program which you can apply for here https://8020sourcing.com/coaching
