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Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

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Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#61
post #33

I am presently scaling a client on Shopify who started at a 30k a month ad budget. Today we scaled past $8,000 per day (So a little under 250k a month). I fully expect and we'll hit $500,000 a month in ad spend for them monthly probably in the next 2 weeks. The combination of increased screen time and major companies pulling ad dollars has cratered media prices, and in the process, created a once in a decade opportun…

I am not being judgemental, rather trying to understand how you get fish of that size with your far-from-well-designed website (from your profile), and far-from-rich marketing contents. Is that luck? Or, your lack of time to work on your own presentation? Again, I am seriously not being judgmental, I am curious.

You are being judgemental, even if you claim not to be. GP, I think your website is well designed, fwiw.

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#62
post #18
post #9

Same here. We have provide a warehouse management system specifically for e-commerce warehouses, as SaaS. We are (one of) the biggest player in the Netherlands, and since "social distancing" started here 4 weeks ago we see Black Friday 2019 levels of orders every day, for 4 weeks straight now. We have some customers that saw there orders come to a stop, even a few bankruptcies already. But almost all see a 30-40% big…

Same in France, most makeup brands are x2-x3, fashion is x1.5 to x6 In France there is no increase of unemployment, instead they are at home getting paid, I guess they have a lot of money to spend as they can't party or go the restaurant It is actually quite visible here : https://contentsquare.com/covid-19-ecommerce-impact-data-hub...

This sounds like the lipstick effect [0] - consumers buy inexpensive luxuries when they're feeling cash-strapped. Tends to be a leading indicator of recessions (though I don't suggest that's the exact phenomenon that's happening here)

[0] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lipstick-effect.asp

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#63
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sell wall maps: https://ramblemaps.com Just started 3/22. They aren't exactly flying off the shelves. We're getting good traffic but conversion rate is very low. Would you expect a business like mine to be doing well in this climate? Since we're a new business it's hard to tell if it's our product or the market that is our problem.

There is something about the aesthetic of the maps that doesn’t appeal to me, at least as they appear in the photographs. They almost look like they should be tilt-shifted models a la Game of Thrones intro, but they are flat, so maybe some dissonance there? I also don’t get what options I should be buying, and feel like I may not be the target market because I don’t appreciate the copy about the materials used (which…

Critical feedback is hard to come by and appreciated. Thanks!

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#64
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hoarding though. Nobody is going to be wearing that makeup right now until they can start going out. Sales are going to crater once everyone has their 4 years supply. And that too will be devastating to companies

I don't think that's right. My wife puts makeup on before her video conferences every day.

My girlfriend hasn't put on makeup since the quarantine started even though she has multiple video meetings a day.

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not being judgemental, rather trying to understand how you get fish of that size with your far-from-well-designed website (from your profile), and far-from-rich marketing contents. Is that luck? Or, your lack of time to work on your own presentation? Again, I am seriously not being judgmental, I am curious.

You are being judgemental, even if you claim not to be. GP, I think your website is well designed, fwiw.

Then the website must be breaking on my side, even though I cannot see any error (neither in Safari, nor in Chrome), only a couple of warnings. This is good for GP to fix the issue, I guess.

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#66

traffic != sales The whole industry is experiencing a surge in online-window-shopping. Amazon is probably seeing a few blackfridays increase.

To add yet another data point as the many other commenters have already done: I work at UPS in a distribution hub. Today, Friday April 17th, we're doing parcel volume of around 215,000. On a typical Friday this time of year we do around about 120,000 parcels. My hub is hiring more workers, extending shifts, and asking more workers to work double-shifts. Volume has increased so much at some hubs that the volume is being re-routed through other hubs to help deal with it. Why else would Amazon be hiring 175,000 people in a month? We're experience peak season volume in April.

Online sales are absolutely up.

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#67
post #52
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sell wall maps: https://ramblemaps.com Just started 3/22. They aren't exactly flying off the shelves. We're getting good traffic but conversion rate is very low. Would you expect a business like mine to be doing well in this climate? Since we're a new business it's hard to tell if it's our product or the market that is our problem.

Those look great, but it seems like that might be a tough market for a while. I think most skiers (at least the ones I know) are still really bummed about the shortened season and probably aren't looking to shell out some cash for something that just reminds them of that fact.

Thanks for taking a look. I'm glad you like them.

Yea, I was suspicious of how these would do so late in the ski season and that was before a global pandemic happened.

The plan was never to just sell ski maps, so we're thinking expanding the product line is the next move. Hopefully this line does well once colder weather returns.

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#68
post #55
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sell wall maps: https://ramblemaps.com Just started 3/22. They aren't exactly flying off the shelves. We're getting good traffic but conversion rate is very low. Would you expect a business like mine to be doing well in this climate? Since we're a new business it's hard to tell if it's our product or the market that is our problem.

This is purely anecdotal but I'm buying as little as I can to not overwork mail carriers. I just moved into a new place and I have no art and while it's not critical to me it's something I'd typically start buying right now but I've literally only bought necessities (plunger, detergent, soap) and haven't even looked at actual house stuff. Not sure how common my quarantine shopping style is but I doubt I'm a rarity. T…

I'm glad you like it!

And you're not alone, my last credit card bill was 1/4 my average. I'm hearing similar things from friends.

My business isn't obviously a bad one for a stay-at-home scenario, but our product certainly isn't a necessity either.

Re: Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day

#69
post #49
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's in the semi-custom home goods category. Can't get more specific than that.

I sell wall maps: https://ramblemaps.com Just started 3/22. They aren't exactly flying off the shelves. We're getting good traffic but conversion rate is very low. Would you expect a business like mine to be doing well in this climate? Since we're a new business it's hard to tell if it's our product or the market that is our problem.

I think, as others have alluded, this particular market might be tough with mountains being closed down. I have an aerial photograph of Burke above my workstation and a few other maps on my walls -- I always purchased them shortly after forming a connection to a place. That's just my anecdotal experience of course!

For marketing, are you also placing them on location? If so, I can likely help with placement in Burke Mountain Hotel. Edit: my email is in profile

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