Watch out for this scam when building your ecommerce store

The third quarter of 2024 has been extra good for Walmart. The retailer enjoyed a $169.58 billion revenue in Q3, up by 5.5% from last fiscal year. 

What does this prove, you ask? Well, it means selling on Walmart Marketplace is a lucrative venture too!

We have some other supporting claims for this below, along with other information you’d want to take note of before the holiday season starts. 👇

• Automation scam 👀
• One step toward ecommerce stardom ⭐
• Social commerce trust score ❓

BLACK MARKET

Have you heard of “Amazon automation?”

Nope, they’re not services or tools that Amazon itself provides to automate selling processes. In fact, they’re a BIG SCAM orchestrated by several online agencies! 😱

A former Amazon store owner shared her unfortunate experience with such an agency to spread awareness of this scam.

💔 A tale of false promises

• The previous store owner, Blanca built her business with $60,000 and thorough industry research.
• She came across a “passive income opportunity” offered by Ascend Ecom, one of the agencies offering Amazon automation services.
  • The process is simple and promising: she’ll provide the money to the agency, which will then take care of identifying, ordering, warehousing, and shipping inventory.
  • Both parties will receive parts of the profit.

• The promise: Ascend Ecom assured that it can generate a “five-figure monthly income after two years.” Hearing this from an agency rep, who claimed to be an Amazon owner as well, Blanca ‘invested’ her entire capital to get her Amazon business set up. 💸
• Plot twist: Ascend Ecom, which also operated under the name “Ascend CapVentures Inc.,” used the money to finance themselves.

According to the FTC lawsuit, Ascend Ecom scammed no less than $25 million. And yup, no Amazon store was built for Blanca and other customers!

🐢 Slow, steady, and hands-on still win the ecommerce race

Ascend Ecom used flashy techniques to attract aspiring Amazon store owners, even boasting “cutting-edge AI-powered tools.” But sadly, it’s the victims’ investments that got cut.

Moral lesson: If you want to take the risk of starting an ecommerce business, be ready to face and conquer the risks yourself. This way, you’re sure every penny you spend will do its job to lead you to success—slowly but steadily.

TOGETHER WITH WALMART MARKETPLACE

Capture millions of customers this holiday season with just one step

Build, grow, and elevate your ecommerce business with one of the most trusted names in retail.   

Sell your products on Walmart.com!

Designed with sellers in mind, Walmart Marketplace is one of the fastest-growing ecommerce platforms in the U.S.  

You'll pay zero setup, monthly, or closing fees and our competitive commission and fulfillment fees mean better margins for your bottom line. 

Walmart Marketplace sellers get access to: 

• a network of millions of customers 
• innovative programs that help you scale 
• Walmart’s omnichannel advantage 

It takes just a few steps to start selling. Sign up today. 

Get started

BITES OF THE WEEK

• SellerPulse Upgrades: Get FBA actionable insights down to the SKU level with the enhanced SellerPulse software.
• What Customers Want: Here’s how to know the top search terms and consumer trends.
• Holiday Concerns: Holiday shopping comes with risks—better warn your customers early on.

SOCIAL PULSE

How much do shoppers trust social commerce?

Customers don’t trust social commerce platforms, such as TikTok Shop.

That’s what an article from Gifts & Decorative Accessories said, citing that while 79% of Americans use social media weekly, only a few have purchased from these platforms. Many use the sites to browse but still prefer more established channels.

💭 Social commerce sentiments

AfterShip, together with Ipsos, surveyed 1,000 Americans aged 18 and above about their social media browsing and buying habits and came up with the Shopper Sentiment Report 2024:

• Browsing, not buying. 75% browse social commerce platforms but purchase through retailers’ websites. 🖱️
• Trust issues. 52% of respondents say they just don’t trust social media sites; the rest stated they simply prefer other shopping methods.
  • 44% said they would consider shopping on social media if they trusted the platform more.
  • 28% would go for it if the platforms were more secure.
• Stronger social presence = more trust. 41% of shoppers are more trusting of brands with social media presence. Likewise, 30% are more trusting of brands that sell on social media. 📱
• Younger adopters. Moving forward, younger shoppers are more likely to purchase using social commerce. 65% of the 18–34-year-olds said they were likely to purchase on social channels; 49% of respondents aged 34–54 answered the same.

❔ What does this mean for brands?

As we said above, you can build more consumer trust through your social media channels. From there, you can just redirect them to tried and tested ecommerce sites.

So, don’t get discouraged if you don’t get that many sales via Facebook Marketplace or TikTok Shop. Just revamp your social strategy to win those dollars. 💲