Strategies For Package Delivery Business To Succeed

 

A package delivery business provides quick, reliable, generally same-day delivery, depending on the location.

In the US there are national delivery services (the likes of UPS, FedEx and USPS). But people also need packages delivered to nearby locations quickly than the longer delivery schedules taken by these services.  A service could be operating in a particular niche like delivering food or catering to all kinds of goods delivery.

Delivery business or an on demand delivery business has a wide array of objectives that comes to the forefront.

Reducing Delivery Time

The chief objective for most on-demand delivery businesses is to reduce the delivery time to the lowest possible. Delivery time usually includes package travel time, loading time, unloading time (if any), and waiting time.

Technology has made it imperative to inculcate optimization at every stage in order to diminish delivery time.

Reducing Travel Time

In delivery business the travel time to the destination from the origin or starting point can be reduced by linking route and traffic optimization. Multiple route optimizing software will provide suggestions for optimal route to reach the destination in the shortest time possible and via the route with least deviations.

Route optimizing software captures real-time traffic data and suggests the optimal way of ensuring delivery of goods in quick time.

Having Optimum Number Of Vehicles

The highest investment when it comes to package delivery business is the number of vehicles that a firm would have to purchase in order to carry out the business seamlessly. Hence care must be taken to invest in just the right amount of vehicles. Having multiple vehicles operating in the same route to deliver packages that can be handled by a single vehicle adds to the capital cost.

[caption id="attachment_35821" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Choice Of Clients For The Kind Of Service[/caption]

Drivers and vehicles are the most expensive entities in a package delivery business. Delivery management software along with delivery schedule software can minimize the number of vehicles that is needed to serve all requests/deliveries.

Requests in the on demand delivery niche is usually quick responsiveness to be served within a geographical allocation in a dynamic situation.

The same vehicle can be allocated to multiple requests if and when the pick-up locations are in close proximity. Pick-up and delivery business need multiple solutions such as route optimization, real-time tracking, loading and unloading process optimization, and many such.

Strategies For Delivery Business

Choose your expenses and delivery strategies at the inception of your business. Strategies and costs that you adapt at the beginning will be the deciding factor for customers to choose you over your competitor.

75% of online customers consider pricing in package delivery as the primal deciding factor.  65% may decide not to choose a particular package delivery business just because of their costing.

Clients also consider the time to delivery as another important factor. Package delivery business can be split into three main heads – picking, packaging, and shipping.

You may be having a wonderful system in place for the kind of load you are handling at present. But will you be able to scale within a day’s notice is the question. So it is imperative to be ready for such a situation, so rethink your strategy entirely – we elucidate below:

Invest In Relevant Technology

Use appropriate technology to make the package delivery business efficient and successful. Technologies such as route optimization and real-time tracking provides able delivery management solutions that can give ideal control to the management over the business.

Most successful logistics services utilize barcodes, RFID, and routing software.

Have Various Pricing Models

Customers can come up with various requirements when it comes to package delivery. Hence it is imperative to have multiple pricing models based on size, weight and delivery timing. This will give the customers the necessary options to choose from. Now the customer feels that a fair price is being paid depending on their requirement.

[caption id="attachment_35824" align="aligncenter" width="793"] Courier - Express - Parcel[/caption]

Different alternatives in pricing and packaging empowers package delivery business to make their business model appealing to customers.

Have A Packaging Strategy

Packaging the parcel can also have a suitable influence on clients. Proper packaging not only protects the parcel throughout the delivery journey but will finally also show your professional attitude to your clients.

Creative packaging should be an integral part in a package delivery service as clients do give importance to this factor.

Keep Your clients In The Loop

Keeping the customer engaged with necessary information is imperative. One essential factor to keep up the brand image is the customer being aware of the whereabouts of his package at all times. Keep clients in the loop with information regarding the status of the parcel all through the journey is imperative.

Have a live chat provision for customers and update customers via notifications using SMS. Customer should be aware of the estimated time of delivery.

This is possible with real-time tracking which is a commendable strategy for customer retention.

Important To Offer Insurance

Unexpected events can happen at any time, during which the customer’s goods could get damaged. Therefore it is imperative to offer insurance as a recompense. Ensuring the safety of customer parcels will bring about trust in the service. This is especially useful when the cost of the goods is high.

[caption id="attachment_35825" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Package Delivery Choices Opted By Clients[/caption]

Streamline The Packaging Process

Businesses do not have control over packages shapes or sizes. Therefore having a wide array of boxes of various sizes is important as it will reduce wastage. On the long run it will be economical as it will save space of the vehicle as well to load more goods.

Packaging the parcel in a manner that maximizes the number of packages loaded onto a delivery truck is important. This will prove to be beneficial on the long run as more number of deliveries can be handled in one trip.

Managing Delivery Cost

Doorstep delivery is an accepted practice in the package delivery business domain. Fuel cost and transportation cost can be optimized using apt technology. The use of delivery management solutions will help in package delivery business to deliver very many packages by traveling just the required distance.

Route optimization is all about having to travel just the right amount of distance touching every client. In simplest terms it means discovering the shortest route considering factors such as vehicle capacity, number of drops, travel time, traffic conditions and in a cost-effective fashion.

Route optimization aids in monitoring and negotiating the best route of travel that would be beneficial to the delivery agent as well as be effective and efficient for the firm. This will increase operational efficiency.

Pricing

Keeping the package delivery rates as per the industry norms is imperative. Higher prices initially could have a detrimental effect on your business. After you have captured the market and reaped yourself a good reputation you can decide on higher pricing structure.

Having a clear breakup of prices will satisfy your clients to understand the pricing reasons.

These are vital strategies to ensure success in a package delivery business. Always keep a check on the strategies adopted by your competitors so as to adopt any best practices. Learn from others mistakes. Use the right tools and technology.

Don’t try to use pricing to eliminate the competition. Instead offer acceptable discounts and promotion to bring in more customers. Make sure to retain clients as 75% of business comes from loyal customers.

Providing efficient services and delightful experience is key to customer retention. Delivery Management Platforms will help you to succeed.

The delivery industry was one industry that boomed big during the Covid period. In the UK delivery business grew by 11% while other businesses struggled to stay afloat. This has only amplified competition by creating huge demands for package delivery apps.

Challenges In On Demand Delivery business

Real Time Vehicle Routing

One pressing issue is tracking of delivery requests. During a static situation, when requests are known before the route is finalized can be handled with élan. But it becomes challenging in a dynamic situation when request are placed in real-time. In such situations where requests become available in real-time, the routes have to be managed by constructing the route in real time too.

Routes would sometime have to be changed to serve new requests on the fly.

Vehicle Constraint

Usually, vehicles aren’t available for all deliveries or pickups in one day. The vehicle would have limitations like traffic issues, driver rest, refueling, and maintenance. This kind of constraints can be overcome by introducing a time frame for these possibilities.

Incidentally the time frame for delays due to vehicles can be clubbed under availability, on other jobs, under maintenance and many more depending upon the service.

Time Constraints

Time constraint could be a part of the vehicle routing algorithm. Timeliness has an important role in the on demand delivery business. 60% of surveyed have been particular that in delivery services such as food or grocery business timely delivery is imperative. 75% of consumers usually track their deliveries and say it is imperative to get their packages as per laid out schedule.

Optimization is the only acceptable solution where there are time constraints and this should be the result of proper planning.

 

 

 

 

How A Mobile App Serves As A Brand Marketing Channel

 

A branded app is a wonderful approach to facilitate brand promotions in a cogent manner. A mobile app as a brand marketing channel gets you higher conversion rates and keeps users engaged.

Advertising was considered a prominent marketing channel to promote brands until the recent past. Rapid transformation in the digital landscape has made it imperative for brands to have a prominent mobile presence to succeed.

Mobile apps have time and again proved to be an effective marketing solution that not only assists firms to automate business processes but also ensure effective customer service.

Brands will find it easier to establish an enjoyable rapport with clients of all demographics and age groups with an app. It will also promote brand awareness and garner visibility.

It has been noticed that 45% of customers who regularly use certain apps are more likely to buy from them. It is not too difficult to target mass audiences using available marketing channels. But targeting a narrow group, on individual basis based on their unique preferences is the need of the hour. And this is possible through apps.

Why Should Brands Should Go Online?

70% of mobiles are smartphones with net connectivity with people spending 90% of their time on apps. You can reach out to your target audience via apps as people have access to their devices most times.

Brands realize the potential of apps and how it can contribute in promoting and selling a service or a product. This has opened up new marketing avenues that provide businesses the opportunity to engage with their audience in novel and creative ways to enhance loyalty.

The flourishing of the mobile app industry is due to the humungous 7 billion mobile users worldwide. The dawn of disruptive technologies such as AI, AR and VR has opened new possibilities to market products.

AI permits mobile apps to store user data that can recognize and anticipate their preferences, needs and choices.

Mobile apps are powerful marketing tools for brands. Companies can engage users, connect with the audience, convey brand memoranda, and promote customer loyalty in a crowded marketplace. Brands prefer using mobile apps to improve offline experience of their clients and boost sales. Customers are influenced to engage via loyalty programs and rewards, and 72% of them do so.

Benefits Of Mobile Platforms As A Brand Marketing Channel

Mobile platforms humanize companies which lead to meaningful interactions between brands and customers, which in turn increases sales and loyalty.

[caption id="attachment_35739" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Top Downloaded Apps & Most Monthly Active Users[/caption]

Enhancing Brand awareness and visibility

Businesses are in search of efficacious platforms to market their brands. Apps enhance brand awareness and visibility which indirectly increases customer base.

Users will notice a brand logo frequently when installed on their mobile, this in turn increases visibility and awareness. Once a user begins to interact with an app, there is a good probability that they will make a purchase or avail a service.

If you want to encourage word of mouth in your users, ensure to provide innovative features that audiences want.

Forming a connect with your Customers

Engagement is extremely crucial and a mobile app ensures a deeper connect with your customers and prospects.

With declining attention spans, it has become imperative to curate compelling personalized content and warrant your users come back.

An effective way to engage your users is to regularly offer them fresh personalized content. Users love content that is relatable and engrossing. In this rapidly changing environment, user preferences constantly vacillate. To establish yourself in the market, you need to keep up with them.

[caption id="attachment_35740" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The category of apps available[/caption]

Regardless of the type of application, a brand must invest in tailored in-app content. One way to ensure that is by studying customer preferences to better understand the type of content that suits them best.

Push Notifications Advantage

Another effective strategy is push notifications. Push notifications have the clout to capture user attention and initiate them to checkout anything new available in your app. They encourage usage of apps. The key with push notifications is to make them interesting, innovative and compelling. A push notification must be valuable to the user as in: a promotion, a perk or an interesting offer. Don’t overdo the notifications and lose its credibility.

Collecting Data about Customers

Customers would be ready to share their data if an app solves their pain points. A good marketing strategy involves analyzing customer behavior.

Your mobile app is a brand marketing channel that can monitor users for their buying habits, engagement levels, browsing habits, visit locations, mobile app usage pattern, favorite hours and much more.

This will help you collect user perceptions, analyze data, fathom needs and improve your product.

You can collect user data in several ways:

• By offering Bonuses: An ideal approach is to offer discounts, bonuses or freebies as a reward for completing a questionnaire.
• In-app Behavior: Marketers can track the marketing process by monitoring user’s in-app behavior.
• Via Interactions: It becomes easy to collect user data based on purchases or reviews.
• Onboarding: While registration users can be prompted to fill a basic questionnaire with relevant information on age, sex, habits, preferences, and more.

This will help you evaluate data and tweak brand development strategy based on user feedback.

Always have a review/ feedback section to know what users feel regarding your app. Reiterating and improving a product will reap rewards.

Increasing Customer Loyalty

Loyalty rewards establishes a strong connect with users and increases their trust in the brand. A mobile app is an apt tool to enhance customer loyalty. Rewarding frequent customers is a proven marketing strategy. Reaping customer loyalty is a challenge for brands.

Rewarding frequent customers encourages them to buy more and will encourage them to share your brand via word of mouth. This strategy can implemented via push notifications or in-app messages.

Scaling up your target Audience

Mobile apps enhance the user base, not only in the country of origin but across the world.

[caption id="attachment_35741" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Category of apps that rule[/caption]

Using geo-targeted push notifications and location brands can send specific messages to their target users. Location based Call-To- Action via region or location mapping is personalized, grow the target audience and drive sales.

Increasing Sales Ratio

Applications enhance customer experience by making the buying process rudimentary, convenient and intuitive resulting in increase of sales ratio.

An app can boost sales not just by offering purchases, but also via loyalty programs and additional services.

Social Network Marketing through apps

Mobile connectivity is important and the ability to synchronize with social networks increases the opportunity to diffuse content and make it viral. Mobile apps make it possible for users to share the brand’s content across social networks.

Mistakes To Avoid While Making An App

The advantages of a mobile app for businesses are interminable. Sure, you can create a unique app and get users to download it but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the user will use it effectively.

25% apps downloaded by mobile app users worldwide are accessed only once after download.

Underlying reason why this happens is either poor UX or the focus is more novelty based rather than functionality. Common mistakes to be avoided while creating an app:

Not Solving Pain Points For Users

A branded app should solve user problems. Users will flock to it when the app provides value. Know your target audience is the ideal approach, study their needs and determine their expectations.

Every app operates on a pain point and it is designed to solve a specific issue. If you only aim to place ads in client’s mobiles, you are just wasting your time and theirs.

Lacking Attractive Offers

Businesses should fathom reasons behind the creation of a branded application. Apps can enhance customer loyalty and create awareness. Customers could abandon an application if it doesn’t offer discounts, special offers and other usage benefits.

App Difficult To Perceive

The simplest way to identify a good app is how easy it is to use, convenience it offers and how intuitive it is. If the app is complicated to use regardless of the functionality it offers, it won’t appeal to large audiences.

Lack Of Regular Updates

It is essential to keep up with the rapid shifts in technology and implement it in your app at regular intervals. If you change your marketing strategy, website design or provide better branding, you must ensure enough resources to make the same updates on your app.

Mimicking The Desktop Experience

If you treat the app as the miniature version of the website with similar features, you aren’t leveraging the app as a competent marketing channel.

A branded app should add more than uniqueness and provide pioneering features and information.

Excluding Personalized Features

Today the number of apps that are available for use run into millions. Customers are spoilt for choice. Excessive options and short attention spans deems it necessary to provide clients with a personalized touch in your application.

Through a branded app you can target individuals based on their unique preferences and create an eternal relationship with your customer that will be win-win for both. Personalized push notifications can ensure you retain your users and convert them into loyal customers.

 

Super Apps in Latin America: Taking on The Competition

 

Messaging, delivery, shopping, and financial services – this was the route adopted by WeChat in China to galvanize into a super-app.

WeChat began functioning as a messaging app and began selling games. Deliberately they continued adding services until they broke into the retail sector. This transformed the platform into a marketplace for messaging and financial services.

It came to a point where you could manage your account, buy stuff, check prices, or buy in the physical realm than just sending and receiving messages.

The super apps WeChat and Alipay have turned into an integral part of the Chinese mobile ecosystem.

WeChat accounts for over 1 billion monthly active users (MAU) and Alipay a billion annual active users (AAU). Both offer a slew of services such as food delivery, bike sharing, financial services like payment, insurance and investments.

Chinese Super Apps Role Model For The Rest

Now, firms around the world have role models to replicate the success of Chinese apps in their region. Latin America has all the necessary constituents to nurture super apps such as a compelling and fertile region for the emergence of super apps due to its vast population of 650 million distributed in countries with similitudes in respect to language, culture and religion.

It also has a commendable mobile population with 64% owning smartphones.

Brazil is an attractive destination for super-apps due to the prospect of offering micropayments aiming the unbanked population. The most promising sectors according to the mavens for super apps should ideally include retail, health and mobility.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed folks to engage with mobiles for food delivery and grocery shopping. People spent more time on their mobiles to keep themselves engaged due social distancing to avoid contagion. App downloads in Brazil grew by 25% during the pandemic. Food delivery applications increased 220%, and banking apps by 24%.

One of the pandemic’s outcomes is the rise of super apps in Latin America, which is basically proffering a large number of activities on the same platform. Magazine Luiza, Mercado Libre, WhatsApp, and Rappi are some of the region’s entities that are making beeline in this business model.

The idea behind a super app is to enable users to use a single app for myriad needs. This affords convenience to the user to purchase a gamut of products and services easily. It also betters user experience as the consumer is pre-maturely well-versed with the app and it meets their tastes and preferences. For the company, it is serendipity as the user spends most of his/her time in the platform.

How Super Apps Spread Their Wings

The inconceivable success of WeChat and Alipay emboldened many companies globe-over to emulate their model in different regions. Southeast Asia is one of the world’s first regions where super apps started appearing initially. The Singaporean ride-hailing Grab and the Indonesian Go-Jek have both raised billions to successfully thwart the expansion of Uber in their region.

They also succeeded in expanding their own portfolio of services beyond ride-hailing, food delivery, services, social media, payments and novae services.

It is interesting to note that not all super apps rise from analogous backgrounds. Alipay rose out of ecommerce and is focusing more on financial services. While WeChat had messaging as their pedestal before expanding into financial services. WeChat then went on to add services such as ecommerce, gaming, travel and other domains.

Go-Jek and Grab began with ride-hailing and then added delivery before embracing financial services. While payTM started as a prepaid recharge platform and then moved on to offer a range of financial and daily services.

What Can Turn On Latin America?

Latin American super apps should develop themselves in a manner that is conducive to their environment which is way different from China.

The app ecosystem in the region is highly influenced by US and European firms that dominate domains such as communication, music, search and several others. It is difficult for local start-ups to compete in such niches. However, there are few battlefields that are difficult to domineer remotely such as ride-hailing, food delivery and finance.

Those are highly regulated industries that require on-the-ground approach. They are also nearly impossible to scale across nations. Those are precisely the industries where we see the emergence of super apps. This would be fueled by exceptional amount of venture capital investment.

Rappi

The most prominent contender to garner super app status in the LATAM region is the Colombian on-demand delivery application Rappi. This is a highly funded start-up in Latin America that is backed the likes of SoftBank, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Rappi at inception began offering food delivery and now provides a host of services such as payments, electric scooters, P2P transfer, movie tickets and a debit card. They have their operations in relevant countries such as Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

Other Competitors In The Race

Mercado Libre (MELI)

Another strong candidate is hulk Mercado Libre (MELI) with Mercado Pago occupying the financial faction in ecommerce. They began by enabling payments between users in the marketplace. Then they went on to offer financial services such as bill payments - online and offline, and investment (through its Mercado Fondo).

Thanks to their antecedents, they are pretty much all over Latin America, and process around 400 million transactions yearly.

Movile

The Brazilian Movile is also positioning itself as an able competitor in Latin America. Having operations within Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, they deal with a diverse portfolio of services such as food delivery, ticket for events, courier and Netflix for kids.

They have raised $395 million investment as of now and their subsidiary iFood raised a total of $592 million.

Cabify

The Spanish Cabify is also in the chase to position itself as a super app. It recently started to offer bike service, e-scooters, deliveries and financial services through its own fintech company, Lana. But Cabify will have to diversify their portfolio to gain Super App status even though they raised $477 million. Foraying into ride-hailing is a good move but the competition is getting crowded in the region.

Uber and Didi are worthy competitors who are adding fascinating services and positioning themselves for growth.

Nubank

Nubank would be an interesting contestant as it already has more than 8 million customers in their fold in Brazil.  This Brazilian decacorn (firms with $10 billion valuation) is beginning to multiply operations into Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. Nubank offers only traditional financial services but has Tencent as a significant investor and having raised US$1.1 billion till date could help them in the long run.

It wouldn’t come as a surprise if they tend to follow the well-beaten path as plotted by WeChat.

Banco Inter

Banco Inter, also from Brazil recently launched a marketplace to expand its offerings beyond financial services into ecommerce, travel and more. The bank is a public company with $7 billion valuation that is now backed by SoftBank after its latest share offer.

MagaLu

There are other players too who could spring a surprise, such as Magazine Luiza, leading retail and ecommerce in Brazil. They are transforming themselves from a brick-and-mortar retail store to a tech-backed company. They have already proved their intent to transform MagaLu (its app) into a super app by scheduling many other services.

Although they could make some headway in the Brazilian market, there are doubts if they have to clout to transform into a regional player as the primary business operations cover only Brazil.

These are the well-positioned candidates aiming to be super apps in Latin America.

Super apps in Latin America will not mimic their Chinese counterparts

Even we are seeing the rise of the super apps in Latin America, rest assured they will not chart the Chinese route as the markets there are quite different. A better comparison could be with the Southeast Asian players as the markets are much similar.

However Latin American’s super apps will probably be the ramification of the unique environment that belongs to that region.

As more companies are looking and studying the Chinese success stories to take inspiration, we will probably see even more players competing to become super apps in Latin America. The venture capitalists seem to fathom on whom to place their bets regarding those with the necessary DNA to win the race to gain super app status in Latin America.

One thing is certain: It will be exhilarating to see how the market unfolds, but the writing’s on the wall — the customer will be the true winner in this battle.

 

 

 

Yummy Continues To Spread Flavor With $18M Series A

 Yummy, a Venezuela-based delivery app is zipping to be the first super app for the country. It raised $4 million in funding with a view to expand its dark store delivery operations across Latin America.

In 2020 Vicente Zavarce founded Yummy that has accumulated over 200,000 registered users. Zavarce began his career doing marketing roles at Postmates, Wayfair and Getaround before launching Yummy. Yummy comprises of both delivery and ridesharing that involves a delivery fee or merchant fee.

Anthos Capital led the latest round along with JAM Fund. JAM Fund founder Justin Mateen is an investor from the seed round.

Just three months back that Yummy had announced a $4 million seed round. And this is throwback to the Venezuelan super app garnering a $18 million Series A round. With this the company plans to hustle through with the planned expansion throughout LaTAM.

Zavarce wants Yummy’s presence in every Venezuelan city via Yummy Delivery and Yummy Rides. As of now Yummy continues to expand across Latin America creating employment opportunities for thousands.

Yummy Rocket

Yummy Rocket is a 15 min delivery app that is listed in Food & Drink category of the app store. This is the newest and latest version of Yummy Rocket that promises a 15 min delivery window. The app can be easily downloaded and installed on your smartphone.

Yummy Rocket was deployed by Appscrip using our quick-commerce product RoadYo for Yummy under the name Yummy Rocket within 45 days.

Yummy plans to have 50 active dark stores in each country by the end of 2022. This will help them deliver more than 2,000 products within 15 minutes.

The company then went on to launch this product in 2 countries - namely Peru and Chile. Yummy make it possible to manage multiple payment gateways and multiple currencies.

The end to end system that begins from ordering to delivery management is cantilevered by our RoadYo platform.

The past four months has been monumental for Yummy as they have been processing over 340,000 monthly transactions in Venezuela and growing consistently at 35%.

Yummy’s network embraces over 5,000 drivers comprising of its delivery and ridesharing verticals across 12 cities in Venezuela that keeps the revenue flowing.

Funding News

Funding backers included Y Combinator, Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen, Canary, Hustle Fund, Necessary Ventures and the cofounders of TaskUs. The total investment includes pre-seeding capital that was raised in 2020 as well.

In contrast to what most professional believed, Yummy quickly became the top super app in Venezuela and proved that the team can scale its business in a challenging territory. Now the Yummy team trains their sights on traditional markets with the necessary exposure and support to overcome inevitable challenges that could come their way.

Latin America is home to one of the fastest-flourishing mobile markets on the globe. In 2018 there were 326 million mobile internet users now expected to grow to over 425 million users by 2025. The reason for such rampant growth is because mobile is the primal device for internet access that provides sustenance to people living in rural areas to get online.

Yummy’s app can be downloaded for free, but there is a delivery fee or merchant fee for services. With reference to some food delivery competitors Yummy’s fees are the lowest in the market, hence encourages merchant’s to use the app.

Yummy Future Plans

The company is putting together additional key components for its super app strategy that includes ridesharing slated for this year. Yummy is in touch with 1,200 merchants possessing hundreds of thousands of customers.

Over the past year the company completed 600,000 deliveries of personal goods, food-stuff, groceries, alcohol and accessories. It reached $1 million in monthly gross merchandise volume growing 38% in revenue month over month.

Due to political and economic challenges faced in Venezuela over the past decade, it led to the adoption of the U.S. dollar as the currency of choice. It has been noted that up to 70% of transactions are being carried out in dollars in reality. And this has in fact protected businesses against hyperinflation and created an opportunity for startups to begin operating here.

Because of the wide spread use of U.S dollars and enhanced innovative consumer technology over the past decade has helped Venezuela to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best last-mile logistics world over. Yummy has now the opportunity to connect multiple verticals into a super app with little to no competition.

Eventually, other players will come into the fray, but having a super app up and running is an advantage because there is amazing frequency of usage. Yummy has contracts of exclusivity with 60% of the food delivery marketplace and this enables them to build a moat around the market.

Yummy plans to spend some of investment to attract more users across Venezuela. Yummy also has their sights trained on Ecuador and Bolivia to expand before the year ends.

Live Ecommerce: Just What The Viewer Ordered

 

The business model in which influencers, retailers, or celebrities sell products and services using online video streaming is live ecommerce.

Here the presenter displays, demonstrates and discusses what’s on offer and clears queries in real-time too. This can be incorporated in ecommerce websites and social media apps.

A livestream session could occur on an ecommerce website or a social media platform. It can be brand or store specific. Influencers can host livestream sessions promoting goods of various vendors.

Live ecommerce is going great guns in China. The industry earns around $60 billion annually. 36% of the online shoppers made livestream purchases in China last year. Taobao’s Annual Day Global Shopping Festival livestream raked in $6 billion in sales. Double in comparison to the previous year.

This trend is spreading from China, to the West and other countries. TikTok collaborated with Walmart and presented the first livestream selling event a year back. Ten influencers promoted Walmart products with try-on display during the hour long event. People could browse the list of featured items and place orders directly from within TikTok as the event progressed.

Amazon has also launched a live platform wherein influencers promote items and chat with budding customers.

Facebook and Instagram are exploring the integration of ecommerce and social media. The new Shop feature on Instagram allows users to browse products and place orders directly within Instagram — known as social commerce.

Anatomy of a Livestreaming Session

Basic Livestream Interface Components

A conventional livestream session has the following components:

1. The video stream, where a host shows products, talks about them, and answers questions from the audience.
2. The list of products being promoted, with the product currently being shown highlighted
3. A chat area, for viewers to type their questions and comments so as to interact with the host and other viewers
4. A reaction button for users to send reactions, displayed via animated emojis

More Livestream Features in Chinese Apps

Besides these regular features, a live ecommerce interface in Chinese apps normally includes additional components such as:

• Picture-in-picture view of the live session on the current product’s detail page. Customers can go to the product-detail page of a promoted product without missing the livestream demo which can be viewed in a picture-in-picture format.

• The ability to watch the presentation of those products they are interested in: Viewers can watch recorded demonstrations of previously shown products. But in case the products are on the featured-product list without any demonstrations, they can request the host to show that product. Thus, the livestream has an on-demand constituent if viewers are interested in particular products, those get priority.

• Coupon centers

Viewers are encouraged to check for coupons before purchasing. Some coupons are available immediately after users enter the session; others require more engagement, like after 10 minutes of watching the presentation or sharing the session with 3 contacts.  The host can decide discount amount for each coupon.

• Loyalty levels

Each viewer has a loyalty level representative of their past participation in that host’s livestreams. Watching, commenting, and making purchases can increase this level. Loyalty level is displayed next to the username when the viewer makes comments. Some hosts reserve high-value coupons for loyal viewers.

Key Characteristics of Live Ecommerce

Livestream ecommerce has several unique features:

• Integrated into various platforms: Most livestream sessions don’t rely on new platforms, apps, or services, but takes advantage of popular platforms.
• Mimics in-store shopping experiences by showing products in context: Customers can see the host showcase the products from different angles and request an outfit to be tried on by a specific model.
• Highly interactive, social, and playful with gamification:  Users can interact with the host and other people watching a session, getting their questions and concerns answered. Additional offers like coupons and giveaways are utilized sporadically to increase engagement, and the host tries to create a joyous environment. Participants can wind down during a session and encourages them to come back.
• Often reliant on scarcity and urgency: Users feel that they will lose the deal if they don’t place an order during the livestream, because it offers good discounts and limited stock.

Integrated into Platforms

Brands and individuals have two ways to promote products through livestreaming: on social media or ecommerce platforms. No matter which platform they use, the livestream channel is naturally integrated into the platform’s fundamental features.

In traditional ecommerce apps when users search for products, a list will depict those featured in live ecommerce sessions. This is done using a specially animated icon indicating that an ongoing livestream is in progress for the said product.

On social media platforms such as Douyin a specialized Livestream channel features on the homepage. This works similar to other content on Douyin. Viewers can also swipe up to check out a different live ecommerce session that is available as a Livestream feature.

Show the Product Dynamically and in Context

Livestream sessions show users what products look like, how to use and style them, and even how they’re made.

Livestreaming can introduce a new brand and highlight its credibility. Influencers selling local products may host live ecommerce sessions elucidating the products origin and how the locals consume these products before they start selling. This procedure helps urban dwellers to build trust on SMEs and products from rural regions.

Highly Interactive and Social

Livestream sessions are similar to product videos in the manner that they show product details from close. Some retailers may even feature livestream clips as product videos on product-detail pages. The difference being, livestreams are interactive. Users prefer livestreaming over product videos because they can have an interaction and get their queries cleared immediately.

The interactivity makes livestreaming a highly efficient way to learn about products and get questions answered at the same time. It's similar to walking into a physical store where the host greets you shows you the products you are interested in, they may even provide recommendations. Though users can’t talk with the host directly, they can send text messages, which show up in the chat history for everyone in the session. There could be multiple models performing demo of clothes. Users can request a specific model to wear a particular outfit to fathom their in-store try-on experience.

Personal, specific questions that may not be anticipated or covered on the product-detail page can get answered quickly. The answers to one customer may benefit others, as well.

In certain situations an ad-hoc community forms around a sequence of livestream sessions. Followers or influencers become a loyal for their livestream events. They assist the host by providing answers to regular questions and share their experience as well. This would add credibility to the brand or product. These are the real users and their opinion matters. Such users may have a badge attached to their username, indicating the time spent in the session and the purchases made. Returning users are rewarded with coupons and incentives.

[caption id="attachment_35419" align="aligncenter" width="722"] Influence Of Various Channels On Age Groups[/caption]

Live comments enable sellers to determine products that are popular and ensure supplies are available.

Create a Sense of Scarcity and Urgency

Some livestream events utilize psychological techniques to create a sense of urgency: they make the customers believe that they will lose out if they don't move immediately.

• Greater discounts and more gifts: Products may be available all through the year, but discounts and gifts are available exclusively for people attending the livestream session. To distinguish the loyal livestream viewers from ordinary users who just run into a discounted product accidentally, some companies may require livestream viewers to enter a unique ‘promo code’ when placing the order to get even more gifts and cashback. The promo code would be announced randomly during a livestream session, thus it would encourage users to linger along. This practice also helps users form the mental model that livestreaming equals special discounts and gifts.
• Limited Stock: Discounted products usually have limited stock. The host might emphasize, “There’re only 10,000 sets available at this crazy price.”
• Time-sensitive coupons: Many livestream sessions give out 10-20 coupons that expire in a few hours. This approach induces users to make quick, impulsive purchases.
• Incentives and giveaways for users who made a purchase during the livestream event. The host will sometimes announce surprise giveaways only for those viewers who bought something. These tactics make the users even more motivated to purchase.

Social Commerce vs. Live Ecommerce

Social-media platforms like Facebook or Instagram offer clients the facility to make purchases right there without switching to a dedicated ecommerce channel is coined as social commerce. Instagram and Facebook Shop feature enables users to order directly from within the platform.

Live ecommerce is similar to social-media commerce if and when the livestream is embedded within the social-media platform. The live video is different from other common formats used in social ecommerce, but it is similar to the one that can be accommodated on a social-media platform.

Social commerce supports in-channel purchases while lowering interaction cost.  Livestreams create a sense of urgency by offering time-sensitive offers for clients unlike social commerce.

But not all livestream ecommerce is social commerce, as livestreams can be embedded on ecommerce sites and apps. But on such channels, livestream ecommerce include social features such as customer comments or reactions. Livestreams are usually advertised on social media.

Taobao, the ecommerce giant in China allows brands and influencers to post news on their Taobao livestream schedule or on their Taobao pages. Users can comment or drop suggestion regarding products they want view in future sessions, all this without leaving the Taobao app. Stores and influencers can encourage followers who post comments to increase engagement. This could entail the ecommerce app to operate as a social media platform as it facilitates communication between businesses and consumers. This sort of integration between ecommerce and social media is still to show up in the US.

Influencer Reviews vs. Livestream Ecommerce

In the western world reviews posted by influencers on social media is a familiar concept. These contain detailed and subjective explanations not found on official websites, offering a third-party perspective to promote the brand. Influencers could favor a particular brand or product in return for remuneration. Or they could generate views based on their experience. Customers should conduct their own research or follow instincts.

Video reviews differ from livestream ecommerce because they are in-depth, longer, thorough, and informational. Additionally in reviews the interaction is unidirectional between the promoter and the audience. Influencers may or may not answer to questions posted by the audience. And since the recommendations don't happen in real-time, offers or discounts will not be time-bound.

People may refer to reviews during a research on a product, but the purchase won’t be fashioned right away. Thus, tracking revenues and estimating the ROI of such reviews in comparison to livestreams is immaterial.

Takeaways

Livestream ecommerce ensures brands showcase their products in detail, clear user questions in real-time, keep up engagement, and foster impulse purchases. Designers and service providers can learn and gain from this new interactive channel.

Is Live Ecommerce Right for You

Examine the need for livestream and if audiences are likely to engage. Having regular presence and a cohesive group of followers on social platforms entails a livestream.  Would your customers be enthusiastic about livestreaming? Do expert reviews, product videos, or webinars influence their buying habits? Use these metrics combined with behavioral and attitudinal data to decide the need for livestreams. Experiment with a few livestream sessions and check audience response.

Estimate the cost of livestreaming. If your presence on social media is limited and your sales are usually from desktops, do not jump into the fray to create a livestream channel from scratch. Maintaining a channel and profiting from it is way different from building a channel.

Look at your competitors. Check if your competitors are exploring this channel. And what are the results. You literally don’t have to follow their footsteps. Watch viewers’ response to the livestream event to help you decide.

Create Quality Livestream-Ecommerce Experience

If you decide to start a livestream channel, consider these tips to ensure success.

Create social attachment while interacting with your followers: Livestream ecommerce is an interactive channel. A livestream session not only promotes products but also fosters long-term relationships with your clients. They can later promote your business. Building a loyal base takes time, therefore be ready to spend time and energy on it.

Offers should be time-sensitive offers and gifts should increase engagement. Users visiting a new channel are always skeptical regarding what will be the outcome. Rewards such as coupons or time-bound offers encourage them to stay longer, explore and go ahead to buy.

Ensure a seamless omnichannel experience. Success of a livestream session largely depends on the ease of purchase. Viewers should be able to make purchases effortlessly during livestreaming. Reduce the process at checkout by linking the products to the product-detail page to enable one-click payment option.

Safeguard your brand image but accommodate your viewers. Livestream audience could differ from your usual audience. Make sure you speak their lingo to enhance interaction.

Garner feedbacks and modify. New channels are adventures for businesses, impedance and mistakes are inevitable initially. Garner feedback from followers during livestream sessions. Fathom what they want and modify the process to clear hindrances.

 

 

The Adult Content Industry Loves Cryptocurrency

 

Gutenberg to Google has driven the art of pornography for the masses.

Couple of years before the pandemic struck around 45 sex outlets, 570 adult video content websites, and 60 webcam platforms around the globe accepted crypto as a form of payment. Considering the overall size of this expansive adult industry, the numbers are paltry. Folks who manage the adult content industry – those at the helm are keen on realizing crypto’s potential to tide over their financial woes. For consumers, crypto promises anonymity.

From VHS tapes to internet payments, the adult industry prides itself with a reputation for early tech adoption and popularization. Porn has accepted this new form of remuneration acquiescently. These bypass fees, KYC norms, card details, infrastructure of financial institutions, and payment processors, thereby drastically reducing the cost of selling content digitally.

Last year around this time when the pandemic was at its peak, around 5% of global web traffic from desktops was directed to porn sites. That might not sound like a huge number but if you dig into the figures of some popular and most trafficked adult websites, then you start to see light in this statement.

History Of Crypto In The Adult Content Industry

Reputed firms like Pornhub and Wicked flirted with crypto for years before taking the next step. Many sites focused on accepting Bitcoin rather than exploring alternatives. Early attempts to develop coins that was meant to serve specifically the adult industry like Titcoin failed disastrously.

Bitcoin is the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency that is a form of digital revenue which records, signs and send transactions over blockchain using public key cryptography.

This peer-to-peer electronic payment system network uses a native cryptocurrency called bitcoin to transfer value over the internet or to act as a store of value like precious metals.

In the financial world Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are similar to email. The currency does not exist in physical form and its value is transacted explicitly between the sender and the receiver. There is no need for banking intermediaries to facilitate the transaction as the transaction is done publicly through a immutable, transparent, distributed ledger technology called blockchain.

Popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin are accepted by some domains in the adult content industry for token purchases.

Sex Industry Graduates To Digital

At any given point of time experts surmise there are thousands of cam girls working across platforms such as OnlyFans and Chaturbate. This in fact dwarfs the incumbent porn industry in respect to volume of creators. OnlyFans has an estimated 60,000 content creator accounts and millions of registered viewers on date.

Folks in the adult content industry vouch that the crypto is a trend that is here to stay. Performers set aside a little bit of their earnings, after paying their bills as bitcoin savings. This preference was crucial to the platform’s crypto integrations.

Not all performers hold on to bitcoin, some do cash out. But the parent organization could hold on to them with a peek into the future, as these are bound to appreciate. The entire sex industry is shifting geographies as porn production is stalled and/or canceled in hubs like LA, Miami, and Las Vegas.

Performers are now relying on social media to broadcast from homes. Bitcoin may offer a different option for platform performers in comparison to high-end escorts. The sex industry is not a single cohesive unit but made up of several entities.

Tech Tools Go Digital

There was a clamor to get registered on as many websites by some adult content performers when the workload dried up. The pandemic brought in huge numbers on OnlyFans, this was when in-person work became untenable. But some professionals stayed away because the earnings did not justify the risks or the effort.  They felt it is safer to limit disclosure to a small set of clients than to share compromising material with a broader audience whose financial statuses were not clear. Each set of eyeballs is an added threat.

Performers and escorts who operate their own wallets may receive gifts and payment on platforms like OnlyFans or Chaturbate. The teledildonics trend, wherein sex toys connected to the internet can be set to vibrate when payments are received could create new opportunities for clients to integrate money into their fantasies. Virtual sex encounters employing technology to mime and extend human sexual interaction is Teledildonics.

Teledildonics range is growing in reputation. There are toys for both genders that can be synchronized. Teledildonic toys can be programmed to operate in a tip-activated fashion. You can synchronize the vibrations to a Spotify account or a text message from your partner.

Slow Acceptance Of Cryptocurrency

Providers in the sex industry have been dabbling in bitcoin for years. They understand bitcoin privacy tech. This is irrelevant for users who have already submitted KYC information to a central platform. Folks use bitcoin to accept payments and to pay advertisers without sharing their credit card information.

Mainstream platforms like Chaturbate and their top competitor FanCentro have been accepting cryptocurrency for years now. Even though the usage is niche, it is steady.

Adult content performers say a direct relationship and transaction is profitable and advisable rather than payment facilitated through platforms. The reason being, Chaturbate charges nearly 50% of the performer’s earnings which is excessive. It sure provides valuable service. Clients are more than willing to pay in bitcoin if the performer graduates to an independent site.

There are clients who are willing to pay via cryptocurrency if the sex worker prefers that manner of payment. Clients scour for erotic service-providers using mainstream platforms like Twitter and OnlyFans. They also get personal recommendations from other clients and providers.

It is imperative to fathom that adult content performers deserve to be paid for what they do and it could be their only source of income. They provide an entertainment service, work hard and earn their remuneration. Those who are receive their services or authorities should step in to reduce the stigma surrounding this profession.

Clients Ready To Adopt Crypto

Adult companies understand that few customers were clamoring to pay with, crypto. In the US most clients who book sessions with bitcoin usually reside in upscale areas like, Bay Area, Florida, Los Angeles or New York. But the pandemic has triggered domestic migration, thus it is unclear how it will impact sex workers who usually focus on urban hubs. This could mean travel woes and selective bookings.

Last year, major sites like xHamster and Naughty began accepting Bitcoin. Pornhub and other affiliated sites announced partnerships with Horizen, Tron, and Verge, and VRPorn.com linked with Litecoin.

Some entrepreneurs from the adult and crypto worlds launched new coins with the intent to solve the economic woes ailing this industry with the aim to be the dominant crypto payment platform for adult websites.

Cryptocurrency systems offer succor to the adult industry because credit card companies and banks consider porn a high-risk sector prevalent with disputed transactions. Professionals claim fees account for 12 to 18% of the cost of a digital porn purchase.

Crypto Provides Solace to Clients 

Although adult companies do a good job trying to protect the privacy of their clients, porn buyers typically (and with reason) fear that people in a bank or in their homes may discover that they indulge in porn through their card statements. While cryptocurrencies publicly record each transaction on a decentralized ledger only using a pseudonym, thus making it difficult to track a person’s digital habits.

 

Whether you’re a married religious conservative in America, a gay male in Malaysia, or one with a strange fetish in Europe, getting caught viewing or purchasing adult content can give rise to social ostracization and legal consequences. So anonymity is rudimentary.

The benefits of cryptocurrency for adult businesses are so great that folks would love to go 100% crypto in the future.

New crypto platforms are going all out to enhance user adoption through incentives. Some sites offer discounts for users paying in established currencies like Bitcoin. Discounts, alongside privacy promises ideally entice people to move away from streaming free porn and induce them towards buying quality content. Coin users can contribute to the porn industry by providing inputs on the kind of acts they love to witness. They could also vote on the kind of scripts they want studios to produce. Some firms have introduced a lottery that offers early adopters a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to niche locations or events.

Pitfalls In Crypto In The Adult Content Industry

Crypto systems come with a steep learning curve. A lack of consumer knowledge or engagement with these systems in the past decade has limited its adoption barriers. But 2017 witnessed a massive movement in consumer knowledge of crypto, its usage and hype surrounding it. With widespread mainstream adoption reaching a feverish pitch, porn industry also took the leap and began accepting cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies are still confusing for many consumers, abstractly and practically. This could be a congenital problem in porn world because, while fans of adult content are not barred by age, but actual purchasers of adult content tend to be on the older side. And these are conservative with their purchases and the adoption of technology.

The new payment system introduced in the adult industry is complex. Users need to buy one type of established cryptocurrency first, then exchange it for a token, store it and use it in a specific manner. This is much more confusing and ambiguous compared to paying with a card.

Any system that fashions validation, registrations, other processes, hurdles, confusing transactions, transaction fees, and creation of new accounts is not imbibed easily. Crypto in general is notorious for their value volatility. The average porn consumer doesn’t want to spend time researching the best payment option.

Porn consumers are driven by impulse and propinquity, rather than a careful consideration of their anonymity. Promises of improved privacy alone may not motivate consumers to adopt this system. Tech critics argue that no coin truly offers the perfect anonymity that some seek.

Everybody Can Chip In For Success

Sex workers using a certain platform can help educate users. Still, these incentives may not suffice to draw users to new crypto platforms. As long as consumers aren’t comfortable with a particular coin its usage will be limited.

This mirrors the early days of internet payment processing where consumers were hesitant to enter credit card details. It took time for major payment processors to earn credence in the eyes of consumers.

Established porn companies may be hesitant to lend legitimacy to new adult crypto systems via adoption or partnerships, limiting their ability to become omnipresent and trusted payment infrastructures. 

New initiatives have built partnerships with few adult sites or networks. SpankChain and VogoV work jointly with major entities in the adult industry. They not only market systems to fans, but help position coins to enhance partnerships.

New adult-focused crypto platforms are making a beeline for partnerships. Some promise data and better consumer engagement —although one wonders the value of data or engagement generated via a reward system that could be biased.

Competition is not the really issue here as (in theory) everyone co-exist within the same industry. Most seem to plan to eventually accept not just their own tokens, but each other’s and a wide variety on their platforms. Eventually, they all could gain acceptance. This would be similar to the many equally viable and accepted credit card payment companies around the globe.

Conclusion – Adult Content Industry Loves Crypto

Most existing adult industry token projects will become defunct due to flaws in their models or due to their failure to build a broad enough ecosystem early on. The perks these new systems offer may not be enough to garner a critical mass of partnerships for functional utility, growth, and legitimization.

Established tokens, like Bitcoin, will probably become the dominant crypto in the adult content industry. Even if they are somewhat volatile and don’t cater explicitly to the needs of the adult content industry, they offer efficient payments and new levels of consumer privacy. These established payment systems with a larger and more active user base would make it easier for crypto novices to buy.

Crypto will slowly proliferate in the adult world as payment systems and gradually grow in reputation to become intuitive and widely used. Many technologies that we take for granted in the porn industry took years before they gained mainstream acceptance. When see the internet revolutionizing the adult content industry, we must be in the know that it took nearly a decade before becoming the default point of consumption.