Gary – Page 4 – 80/20 Sourcing

The 80/20 of Ecommerce Newsletter: Canton Fair Online a bust? Amazon Prime Day Delayed til Oct, Winner of the Ecommerce wars poll

Can you believe it’s already July? Half of 2020 has already passed us by.

Even though places are gradually reopening, it definitely doesn’t feel the same outside.

Fortunately in the e-commerce world, many businesses are still going strong and growing.

Here’s the 80/20 of E-commerce this week:

1) Canton Fair Online a bust?

Did you check out the Canton Fair Online recently? The biannual Canton Fair was forced to go virtual because of the Covid19 Pandemic.

While it sounded like a great idea, the actual implementation left a lot to be desired.

In my experience

Their website interface was hard to navigate. I tried clicking to find suppliers’ virtual booths but couldn’t “meet” with anyone

Also the supplier selection was limited and seemed much fewer than what you would normally expect to find at the offline Canton Fair

According to the South China Morning Post (which is owned by Alibaba!) some attendees online commented that product pictures were allegedly photoshopped and not representative of the actual products.

Another user tried “speaking” with suppliers but response times were very slow. One person even reported waiting an hour for a supplier to respond to a question and eventually he gave up and left.

This isn’t that surprising considering it was Canton Fair’s first effort running the show online.

In my experience years of experience in China however, websites are not the best way for companies to deal with customers.

Put it another way – no disrespect but Chinese websites suck… Having lived over a decade in China, I’ve tried using websites from big corporations, small businesses, etc and none of them performed well – at least for me.

That’s why I was not surprised about the Canton Fair online experience.

But not all things are negative…

On the other hand Wechat is definitely the way to go. The ecosystem on Wechat is much more sophisticated than that on the Chinese web. I can book a taxi, order groceries, and even pay my utility bills all on Wechat.

The next Canton Fair scheduled for Oct 2020 is still up in the air now whether it will be offline or online.

I would love to see them trial a Wechat version and I think it would make contacting suppliers dead simple since all of them are already on that platform.

Getting foreign users on WeChat is another story though…

2) Prime day is delayed to the week of Oct 5

According to CNBC, Amazon has decided to delay Prime Day again. Now they are telling sellers to plan for it to be Oct 5.

Better plan your products and advertising campaigns accordingly!

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/02/amazon-delays-prime-day-until-october-due-to-coronavirus.html

3) Amazon vs Walmart vs Shopify ecommerce wars – survey
Last week I asked you for your vote on who you think will come up on top in the ecommerce wars.

We didn’t get that many responses to this survey (8 total) but in our totally unscientific study – Amazon won in a landslAlso the supplier selection was limited and seemed much fewer than what you would normally expect to find at the off
According to the South China Morning Post (which is owned by Alibaba!) some attendees online commented that product pictures were allegedly photoshopped and not representative of the actual products.

Another user tried “speaking” with suppliers but response times were very slow. One person even reported waiting an hour for a supplier to respond to a question and eventually he gave up and left.

This isn’t that surprising considering it was Canton Fair’s first effort running the show online.

In my experience years of experience in China however, websites are not the best way for companies to deal with customers.

Put it another way – no disrespect but Chinese websites suck… Having lived over a decade in China, I’ve tried using websites from big corporations, small businesses, etc and none of them performed well – at least for me.

That’s why I was not surprised about the Canton Fair online experience.

But not all things are negative…

On the other hand Wechat is definitely the way to go. The ecosystem on Wechat is much more sophisticated than that on the Chinese web. I can book a taxi, order groceries, and even pay my utility bills all on Wechat.

The next Canton Fair scheduled for Oct 2020 is still up in the air now whether it will be offline or online.

I would love to see them trial a Wechat version and I think it would make contacting suppliers dead simple since all of them are already on that platform.

Getting foreign users on WeChat is another story though…

2) Prime day is delayed to the week of Oct 5

According to CNBC, Amazon has decided to delay Prime Day again. Now they are telling sellers to plan for it to be Oct 5.

Better plan your products and advertising campaigns accordingly!

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/02/amazon-delays-prime-day-until-october-due-to-coronavirus.html

3) Amazon vs Walmart vs Shopify ecommerce wars – survey results!

Last week I asked you for your vote on who you think will come up on top in the ecommerce wars.

We didn’t get that many responses to this survey (8 total) but in our totally unscientific study – Amazon won in a landslide

Stay safe and have a great weekend,

Gary

PS: Can you do me a favor? I’m working on creating new content to help you grow your Amazon and Ecommerce business. I would love your honest feedback on what challenges you have selling on Amazon in 2020 in this short survey here. Thanks!

PPS: If you didn’t take the survey, can you pls hit reply and let me know why? Not interested, survey too too long, etc?

My Top 5 Habits to be a More Effective, Efficient, and Higher Performing Entrepreneur

Recently my good friend Tim Jordan, a 7 Figure Ecommerce Entrepreneur, asked “What habits do you employ to be more effective, efficient, and generally higher performing?”

Tim raised a great question. With so much noise these days from social media, emails, coworkers, friends, and family, not to mention your phone, you can get lost and do “busy work” all day long and not get anywhere.

Here’s my top 5 habits to be more Effective, Efficient, and Higher Performing.

1) The Pomodoro Technique – Remember the old school tomato timer you had in your kitchen?

Enter the Pomodoro Technique. By setting aside focused blocks of time in 25-minute intervals where you focus on only ONE TASK this helps me focus tremendously on the ONE thing and block out the noise from emails, FB, etc…

After 25 minutes, you rest for 5 minutes and then go back to work for another 25 minutes. Rinse and repeat.

2) The one-touch rule for emails – once I open an email I have to take action on it. This saves me a ton of time from putting it off and reopening it later.

This has a bonus side effect as others will appreciate your fast replies.

My friend Jason Vander Griendt who runs a one person million dollar business also implements this technique to stay ahead of his competitors.

3) Getting Things Done Method by David Allen – the GTD method helps me keep things organized in folders (I use Evernote) and free up my mind to focus on important decisions, tasks, etc.

David Allen argues that the mind is for thinking, creating, and making decisions… NOT for remembering. That’s why everything is downloaded into notes and folders.

From shopping lists to that article you stumbled upon but didn’t have time to read – GTD helps me not forget anything and work more efficiently.

4) Productivity Planner – Every week I plan out the 15 most important tasks in my productivity planner. They are ranked into 3 categories: Top 5 most important tasks of the week, the secondary 5 most important tasks, and other tasks. I have to complete the top 5 before moving onto to the next group.

The night before, I plan out the next days’ tasks in my productivity planner in the order of importance. Again I have to finish one task before moving on to the other.

Then I budget the amount of time it will take each task to be completed in blocks of 25 minute pomodoro’s.

This simple method has a huge impact on my productivity.

5) The Miracle Morning Routine – Serial Entrepreneur Hal Elrod wrote an excellent book that helped me craft a strong morning routine so I start the day more effectively.

Many of the most successful people in the world from Steve Jobs, to Tim Ferriss, to Benjamin Franklin have a common thread – their morning routines. Hal Elrod synthesized the morning routines of dozens of successful people and crafted a master morning routine which can be abbreviated as S.A.V.E.R.S.

Silence
Affirmations
Visualization
Exercise
Reading
Scribing/Journaling

I highly recommend you check it out if you haven’t read it yet.

What’s your #1 strategy to be more organized and efficient? Comment below and let me know!

Gary

The Ecommerce Wars are heating up: Amazon vs Shopify vs Walmart – who’s gonna win?

Hope your summer is off to a great start! In spite of all the craziness in the world, I hope you have a chance to make the most out of this time with your loved ones.

Though sometimes it feels like we all have cabin fever, I spoke to a friend who has a child and gave me this advice as our son is now a 1 and half year old toddler.

You should really cherish this time together because it will go by so fast.

I agree 100%.

I feel the same applies to this unique time we are in right now with the pandemic and the lockdowns around the world as well as the protests.

On one hand it can be scary on the other hand, worrying about that won’t really do us any good.

Instead, as Steven Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Successful People said, you should focus on the things that you can control.

One thing is for certain – many people are shifting their spending and shopping habits ONLINE.

Ecommerce continues to boom and I predict that this Q4 holiday shopping season is going to shatter all records.

If we read the tea leaves, supply chain movement is one of the leading indicators of this shift.

According to the Wall Street Journal, not only are e-commerce sales up, demand for US warehousing space has also risen as well as retailers, consumer goods, and food suppliers are shifting their supply chains to prepare for the surge in e-commerce.

“Industrial real-estate activity, such as lease renewals and new leases, jumped 43% from April 15 to May 14 from the previous 30-day period, recovering more quickly than expected from the economic shocks of the pandemic” according to CBRE as mentioned in WSJ.

Here are my top articles and podcasts for this week:

1. “The pandemic has shown that Amazon is essential—but vulnerable” – The Economist

This article discusses both the strength and the weaknesses of Amazon as it is enjoying increased sales during the pandemic.

Will Amazon continue to be able to ride the Coronavirus surge to success as shoppers use Amazon as a lifeline? Or will the “surge subside” as stores gradually reopen?

Moreover, there is a new demographic going online as the “silver market” or elderly above the age of 60 are overcoming their resistance to online shopping.

Other problems include fair terms for 3rd party sellers vs its own products, bloating, and increased competition. This will be an interesting Q4 to say the least!

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/06/18/the-pandemic-has-shown-that-amazon-is-essential-but-vulnerable?cid1=cust/ednew/n/bl/n/2020/06/18n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/NA/499435/n

2. Shopify has overtaken eBay as the #2 player in eCommerce in the US. Can its new “Shop.app” challenge Amazon?

In my interview with 7 Figure Seller, Andy Humphrey, who runs one of his biggest businesses on a shopify store, he shared that he is extremely bullish on Shopify not only because it allows sellers to create a BRAND and tell a story, but also because of it’s new Shop.app that is creating a marketplace for small business owners.

Will this eventually challenge Amazon someday? We will see. But in any case – this is an opportunity that Amazon sellers who want to diversify their sales.

Checkout this great article from The Guardian: “Shopify – the good shop to Amazon’s bad shop | Technology”

3. Podcast: Business Wars – Amazon vs Walmart – The Big Bang Theory of ecommerce

Finally I’d like to share this podcast series by Business Wars about Amazon vs Walmart – 2 of the major retail behemoths. The tell the story from the very beginning of Amazon from Jeff Bezos’ skinny and balding days how he built a store from scratch to challenge the biggest retailer in the world at that time. It truly was a David vs Goliath story. And now David has become Goliath! Haha

Checkout the first episode here: https://art19.com/shows/business-wars/episodes/8f8301da-2aeb-40dd-b293-ec3191403aa9/ . Enjoy!

Gary

PS: Who do you predict will win the ecommerce wars? Cast your vote now in this quick 3 min survey here: https://forms.gle/a1eQsyXz1oQGXqzx7

Canton Fair goes online, The Rise and Reign of Bezos – Amazon Documentary – The 80/20 of Ecommerce – Weekly Newsletter

One of the affects of Covid19 is that Canton Fair didn’t take place this Spring. This is the largest and longest running trade show in China that happens twice a year – once in Spring and once in the Fall.

However for the first time in over 100 years, the Canton Fair has gone online. The organizers will host a virtual Canton Fair starting June 15. Supposedly they will feature live streaming from exhibitors from the trade show.

This is the first time they’re hosting it and how well it will work is anyone’s guess. But if you are in the process of sourcing a product it’s worth a shot to visit the Canton Fair online here: https://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en/buyer
If you do try it, I’d be curious how it well it worked for you!

PBS made an excellent documentary on Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos. It was a fascinating look at how some of the top executives at Amazon operate which helps affect and explain the seller experience we feel as 3rd party FBA sellers.

Also there’s a behind the scenes look at how FBA warehouses operate and the working conditions that are needed to create the Prime delivery experience.

You can check it out for free here (1hr 54min):

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/amazon-empire/

Gary

[Video Masterclass] How to source your ecommerce product from the US: Good news and Bad news featuring Jared Haw

Sourcing from the US is a hot topic as the Coronavirus pandemic is disrupting sourcing and supply chain from China and all over the world.

Doesn’t it make sense to source more locally from the US and circumvent delays, production uncertainties, as well as the trade war and tariffs?

So I decided to dive deep into the details of how to source from the US… and is it even viable?

I have invited Jared Haw to walk you through the pros, cons, and what to expect when sourcing from the US. Jared is a master of manufacturing and production for numerous and helps 7 and 8 figure ecommerce and retail businesses create unique products that are profitable. Jared is an American who runs a factory in China and is now developing manufacturing and production capabilities in the US.

In this 55 minute masterclass, you will learn:

Why should an ecommerce business consider sourcing from the US?
What’s the good news?
What’s the bad news?
What type of products can you expect to find manufactured in the US?
Where do you find US manufacturers?
What kind of MOQs are expected compared with China?
What type of quality level can one expect?
Case study: Sourcing a product in the US vs China
#1 Best practice sourcing from the US
Common Rookie mistake to avoid

If you do watch, hit comment below and let me know what was your #1 takeaway in sourcing a product from the US?

Latest eCommerce News – Week of May 15th

As the world is starting to open up in certain places, I hope you and your families and business are doing OK.

Here are some of my favorite news and content that I thought you’d be interested in:

Good news for Amazon sellers! Amazon has removed the quantity limits on non-essential products for FBA sellers creating new shipments.

As I wrote in my article “Is it a good time to start in e-commerce or better to wait to launch my first product?” a few weeks ago, Amazon is going ALL IN to invest to make sure that its supply chain robust and fulfillment will be ready to weather this storm.

Now 3rd party Amazon sellers can create new shipments to Amazon’s fulfillment centers as before. Whether you’re an experienced seller or a new seller – this is the green light to create your new shipments now!

If you’re looking to get your brand registered with Amazon’s Brand Registry, then you check out Amazon’s IP Accelerator to fast track this process of applying for a Trademark and getting your Brand Registry right away.

Check out this video from CJ Rosenbaum explaining how to do this and how to protect your Intellectual Property (5min). https://youtu.be/95g0fH9KDro

Podcast – Recently I was featured on the Global From Asia podcast with Mike Michelini who is based in China. Check out the Top 10 takeaways that I learned from the 7 Figure Seller Summit here (49 min): https://www.globalfromasia.com/7-figure-sellers/

Good luck and stay safe!

Gary

PS: If you haven’t watched the 7 Figure Seller Summit online yet, now get your free pass for a limited time to learn from masterclasses from 20+ 7 figure Ecommerce Sellers and Experts like CJ Rosenbaum and Mike Michelini. This way you can stop binging on Netflix and start surrounding yourself with 7 figure sellers to level up your e-commerce business.

Is it still a good time to start in e-commerce or better to wait to launch my first product?

Recently several of my readers asked a really good question about whether now’s a good time to get started in e-commerce. I thought I’d share my answer with you.

Here it goes.

I also came across the following on the internet,

Officially the world’s largest retailer, Amazon has announced it can no longer keep up with consumer demand. As a result, it will be delaying the delivery of non-essential items, or in some cases not taking orders for non-essentials at all. This presents a double-edged sword, as the new dynamic that is bringing some retailers unprecedented demand could also bring about an untimely end for others.

Is it still a good time to engage in e-commerce or better to wait to launch my first product?

This is an important question and I’m glad you brought it up.

I feel the crux of it depends on the outcome of Covid19 to which nobody knows.

But in my opinion, assuming life returns to somewhat normal in the next few months (the US/EU can’t afford to stay in lockdown for the medium/long term without the economy collapsing)… here are my thoughts:

1) Ecommerce is the sector most well-positioned out of virtually any business. Think of all the retail shops declaring bankruptcy, empty malls, and closed restaurants. People stuck at home, and not wanting to risk exposing themselves after lockdown ends, will continue to shop online.

New habits are forming. Even the elderly who previously didn’t shop online now are becoming more accustomed to shopping online. Amazon is the dominant player and if anyone will survive Amazon is the most likely be left standing and probably dominating IMO.

2) To get in the e-commerce game, Amazon is still the most direct and quickest way for small business entrepreneurs.

Most of you are aware of Amazon FBA.

While amazon did temporarily completely stop accepting all non-essential new shipments from 3rd party sellers in March 2020 – this was in the initial phase of shock and awe towards Covid19 when everyone suddenly couldn’t go out anymore and were buying everything from Amazon including essentials.

As a result Amazon has hired over 175,000 new employees since March 2020 and as a result have gradually rolled back restrictions and allowed limited quantities of non-essential shipments in April. I expect this to continue and I don’t believe they are not going to sit on the sidelines and let this silver lining to the pandemic pass. So I expect Amazon to pivot quickly to expand capacity to meet increased demand.

3) Regarding whether to start now or wait…I would put it this way.

Normally it takes at least 3 months (often longer) for the entire business process of launching a product on Amazon. Specifically this is product selection, sourcing, getting samples, production, shipping, and launching. If one were to start now in May then the product will launch in August at the earliest. There’s a good chance that things will get back to somewhat normal by August (again not guaranteed but good chance. And remember America/Europe cannot afford to stay in lockdown without an economic collapse).

On the other hand – let’s say you wait for things to return to normal.. but by the time things return to normal then it will be too late. You will be behind with the 3 month lead time (often longer).

And if you do wait you may also miss out on Q4, the busiest time of year with the majority of online sales happening in the final few months of the year.

It’s like the stock market where prices will be volatile – there will be ups and downs – but the important thing is to be in the market and not try to time it. Because in the long term prices grow Y2Y average of 8-10%. And if you miss out on the limited growth times that would severely cut your gains.

Ecommerce retail growth continues to outpace offline retail growth so the same theory applies in my opinion. You need to be in the game to take advantage of the gains.

4) Supply Chain – While certain countries like India, Nepal, and others may be in lockdown… most factories in China have recovered by now and resumed production. The manufacturing sector in China is “too big to fail” for their government. It supplies hundreds of millions of jobs in China. They are doing everything they can to restart this engine.

Important note – production lead times are longer now. Based on my experience factories are quoting an additional 2-4 weeks additional lead time due to raw component supplier limitations, social distancing in factories affecting productivity, shortage of skilled labor due to some factories not returning, etc. So your delivery will take longer now than before Covid.

Shipping – Both air and sea freight routes have been cut back due to Covid19. Capacity may be a bottleneck and there’s a chance if you miss the boat your shipment will be delayed.

So revisiting the initial 3-month estimate – it may be optimistic considering the above factors and may take longer. Even more reason to get started now.

But if one is interested in building an ecom business the risk of not starting far outweighs the risk of starting too early now in my opinion.

That’s why I’m creating a new coaching program for a small group of motivated students if you are looking to launch an Amazon FBA business this year.

With crisis comes opportunity.

You can learn more and apply here: https://8020sourcing.com/coaching

Stay safe,
Gary
PS: This just in – Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced today that they will invest all of the $4 Billion dollars of Q2 profit “On COVID-related expenses getting products to customers and keeping employees safe.” If you want to get in on the Amazon FBA ecommerce market now is a great chance to get started. Learn more and apply to my coaching program today.

Top 5 Amazon Selling Mistakes Made by 7-Figure Sellers

Recently when I interviewed 20+ 7 Figure Sellers and e-commerce experts and I noticed something very peculiar.

When I asked them what mistakes they made along the way to creating a million-dollar business the same things came up again and again. Like a broken record.

As the saying goes a smart man learns from his mistakes a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

So today I like to share with you the Top 5 Amazon selling mistakes made by 7 Figure Sellers. This is from a guest article I wrote for Webretailer.com.

Avoiding just one of these mistakes can potentially save you from leaving thousands of dollars on the table.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg – these takeaways were the full interviews from 7 Figure Seller Summit where I interviewed 20+ 7 Figure Sellers online to learn how they scaled their Amazon and e-commerce business to over a million dollars annual revenue.

If you haven’t watched it yet, now is the perfect time because we are offering a special COVID-19 Encore presentation so you can watch the sessions free online for a limited time. Get your virtual pass now.

It’s important to know that some of the all-time greats in business like Conrad Hilton and J Willard Marriott built their empires during the toughest times of the Great Depression.

Same with the arts where authors like William Shakespeare created some of his finest work during pandemics like the plague.

And Sir Issac Newton was in college and was required to study from home during the plague and it was then where he famously sat under an apple tree and noticed the apple falling to the ground. This led him to realize what eventually became the concept of gravity.

So now’s your chance since most of us are stuck in quarantine this is a great way to stop binging on Netflix and start surrounding yourself with successful ecommerce entrepreneurs so you can learn to level up your business too.

Stay safe and talk soon,

Gary

How to work with Chinese suppliers during COVID-19 [Podcast] and 39 lessons from a 7 Figure Seller…

This week I’d like to share with you two resources to help with your sourcing and mindset as we are navigating through these challenging times.

First things first. China is still the dominant player when it comes to sourcing. Factories are operating at about an 80% capacity now so they are ready to take orders.

India was a viable alternative but now India is in lockdown mode due to the Coronavirus. In fact the India Sourcing Trip and Delhi Fair which was supposed to take place this month has been postponed. So I suggest that China is the place to go for sourcing if you are looking for a product right now.

On that note, I was recently interviewed by my friend and 7 Figure Seller Nate Ginsburg who has a new podcast called Ecom Exits – In it, we discussed my Insider Secrets for Working With Chinese Suppliers right now during Covid-19.

I highly recommend you check it out to get the latest on sourcing from China at this time.

Meanwhile, many of you (myself included) are stuck at home and often times are checking the news nonstop. This is not really healthy nor is it productive as an entrepreneur.

So to help you cultivate the right mindset, 7 Figure Seller, Jason Vander Griendt, distilled the 39 lessons he learned while building a one-person, million-dollar e-commerce business so you can get further in your business… faster.

Jason feels these are the most important lessons he learned along the way in building his $1,000,000+ Online Business. It’s like Jason is teaching himself as he was getting started.

During these challenging times, he would like to help so he generously offered these lessons for free so I thought you might be interested.

You can signup to watch them now from here.

https://jasonvandergriendt.com/39-lessons-training-giveaway/

Stay safe and talk soon,

Gary

PS: A few months ago, I hosted the 7 Figure Seller Summit where I interviewed Nate, Jason, and 20 other 7 figure sellers and e-commerce experts to teach you how they scaled their Amazon and Ecom businesses to 7 Figures. If you missed it… good news you can get a free pass for a limited time here.
So rather than binging on Netflix tonight – surround yourself with successful e-commerce sellers so you can level up your business while you have some extra time right now! As the Chinese saying goes “With Crisis comes Opportunity”. I’ll see you soon.

DIY 3D-Printable Face Mask from a 7 Figure Seller

Quick update, I know many of you may be going through uncertain times and I wanted to share with you something that might be able to help if you can not get access to face masks.

My friend Jason Vander Griendt who is a 7-figure seller and featured on the 7 Figure Seller Summit generously shared a free 3D printable mask template he and his team created.

So if you have access to a 3D printer and regular paper coffee filters, you can create your own mask to protect yourself during this time. You can get the mask here.

I hope this will help and wishing you all the best and let’s keep in touch.

Gary