Here’s a silent wish every online seller should have: To be like Mark Zuckerberg, who silently watches as Facebook Marketplace gains a customer base 4x larger than Amazon’s.
Well, nothing is impossible. But you should start by equipping yourself with ecommerce knowledge and hacks—both of which we plated for you today.
- Seller’s punishment for fraudulent customers 🥀
- How to achieve ZERO influencer outreach time ⏲️
- Ways to reduce business costs 📉
- UGC moderation hacks (and why you should do them) 📶
BLACK MARKET
One seller dodged a fraudster on their website, only to fall victim to the same fraudster on Amazon!
Here’s what happened.
❌ Right punishment, wrong recipient
The seller shared on Seller Central that the fraudster attempted to make a purchase on their website. However, their VISA processor flagged this person as a serial chargeback offender. So naturally, they canceled the order.
A few months later, the same fraudster tries their luck on Amazon, triggering a chain of events that no seller wants to endure.
- OP warned Amazon, but the retail giant warns that if OP cancels the order, their account will get in trouble. 👀
- So, OP was forced to fulfill the order on Amazon. But they made sure to use delivery signature confirmation to protect themselves.
- The customer then spins a wild tale about an attempted delivery at 3 AM. Guess what: USPS does not deliver at 3 AM. Plus, the tracking number reveals the actual attempt was at noon.
- The customer dodges the delivery again, reschedules, and eventually demands a $112 refund.
- The fraudster gave OP a 1-star review and opened an A-Z claim.
- Now, OP’s account is at risk of termination.
🍒 The cherry on top: Amazon shipping evidence confirms the customer is avoiding delivery. This suggests the fraudster is attempting to obtain a refund while still keeping the item without paying for it later.
Shared dilemma
Amazon representatives joined the forum discussion, seeking more information about the case. Meanwhile, other sellers are chiming in with similar horror stories, expressing how they feel Amazon's system puts them at a disadvantage.One seller added that selling on Amazon is a gamble, posing the question: Will you wake up to orders or a big negative balance from fraud?
TOGETHER WITH INSENSE
Want to cut your influencer outreach time to zero?
Tired of wasting hours on influencers who don’t respond to your DMs or emails? Want to ditch the clumsy campaign spreadsheets?
You need Insense.
Insense is the end-to-end solution for UGC and influencer marketing campaigns, trusted by 1,700+ DTC brands and agencies, including:
- WaveBlock - generates 300+ UGC assets per month for TikTok and Instagram
- Any Age Activewear - got matched with 50+ year-old creators within 2 days and received 50+ UGC assets within 2 weeks
- Easy A Media - Ran product seeding campaigns for various brands in different niches, which generated 100+ UGC assets within 2 weeks
It gets even better—Insense can also provide you with a dedicated platform manager to scale your UGC production and influencer campaigns, saving 40+ hours each month.
Book a free strategy call by June 14 and get $200 for your first campaign!
BITES OF THE WEEK
- New Competition: Tesco has launched a new online marketplace with third-party products—like Amazon’s.
- No Choice: Meta will start training their AI models with your publicly posted content.
- Hot-headed Workers: Workers in Amazon India’s warehouses can’t take the heat anymore, as well as Amazon’s seemingly lack of concern.
CASH CORNER
Reasons to cut business costs (and how to cut them)
Cost reduction doesn’t necessarily mean cutting growth. In fact, eCommerce Fastlane shared that with the right approach, it can increase revenue and open up new opportunities for your business!
✂️ Why businesses cut their costs
- Redundant or outdated licenses
- Expensive development and implementation of features not available on the platform they sell on
- High operational and support expenses
- Costly customer acquisition methods
- High total cost of ownership (TCO)
If you're also looking to trim your business expenses, here are some tips to consider:
- Identify what makes your business thrive, like popular products or efficient marketing strategies. Then, concentrate your efforts there. Try to make your business process more efficient instead of just spending less.
- Partner with ecommerce platforms tailored to your business needs. Look for features that work well with your operations, such as inventory management or customer relationship management tools. This way, you can spend more time on tasks that bring in money.
- Use ecommerce automation tools. Automate tasks like printing shipping labels or managing customer discounts to reduce human error and allow you to focus on strategic activities.
💭 Final thoughts
Think of cost-saving strategies as the wind beneath your business's wings. Rather than hitting the brakes, learn how to use that wind to make your business soar to new heights.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE
4 ways to moderate UGC and why
User-generated content (UGC) is a two-edged sword. On one hand, it can help build customer confidence. After all, it’s social proof. On the other hand, it can harm your brand reputation if not managed well.
So, moderating UGC content is the way to go, as eCommerce Fastlane emphasized. 📳
How do you moderate UGC?
- Establish clear guidelines and policies. Determine what content is acceptable and unacceptable and which aligns with your branding. Customers are motivated to self-moderate to match and meet your expectations.
- Flag and filter potentially harmful content through tools and programs. And ICYDK, this strategy can be manual or automated.
- Hire human moderators. They’re still better at ensuring that context and intent are correctly understood. Also, they provide necessary oversight that automated tools cannot.
- Encourage positive behavior by rewarding constructive UGC. You can also promote user interactions that align with your brand values.
👌 By implementing these strategies you can ensure only authentic and brand-appropriate content will reach your target market.
How about you? How do you moderate UGC? Feel free to share more UGC moderation tactics by replying to this email. 📩
