The global pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital eCommerce

eCommerce sales rose from $571.2 billion in 2019 to $815.4 billion in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, according to the most recent 2020 ARTS release, a surge of $244.2 billion or 43%.

The global pandemic has firmly established digital commerce as a necessary part of the new normal. In particular, businesses across all industries have recognized the importance of shifting their processes and operations to digital technologies and increasing their reliance on digital strategies. Businesses have seen the benefits of utilizing digital technologies to support the supply chain, from improved efficiencies to reduced customer costs, making digital transformation a key focus for companies worldwide. This shift towards leveraging digital change is an essential tool that organizations must adopt to remain agile and competitive in today’s ever-evolving markets.

By 2023, digital commerce will account for 22% of all retail sales

According to research completed by eMarketer and Statista, online retail sales will reach $6.51 trillion by 2023 and will account for 22% of all retail sales by 2023. This shift towards online shopping continues to accelerate. This means that eCommerce can no longer be seen simply as an add-on or afterthought for retailers – it must become a crucial part of their strategies from now on. As the eCommerce sector continues to grow, so too must the understanding and capabilities of retailers if they are truly to capitalize on their potential.

M-commerce will grow to 30% of digital commerce by 2023

eCommerce is expected to grow to 30% of all digital commerce by 2023, and this shift toward M-commerce (mobile commerce) is already being reflected throughout the eCommerce market today. 

Studies validate that browsing products and making purchases through mobile devices account for more than a quarter of eCommerce sales, showcasing the increased adoption of m-Commerce technology.

Mobile shopping is quickly becoming a preferred choice for consumers, with retail m-commerce sales skyrocketing by 15.2% in 2021 to an incredible $359.32 billion. Projections show that these figures are only going higher and should more than double before 2025; US consumer spending through this channel could top out at around 44.2%, proving mobile commerce as the main driver of growth for eCommerce success today and into the future.

Businesses need to invest in best practices for mobile optimization now more than ever to stay ahead of their competition and remain competitive through the growth of this sector.

Social commerce will double in the next three years

The age of social commerce is upon us, and there’s every reason to believe that it will continue to grow exponentially over the coming years.

This year, US retail social commerce sales will skyrocket to over $53 billion and continue accelerating throughout the next three years. By 2025, this sector will be expected to reach an impressive mark of almost $107 billion.

A significant factor driving this increase is the power held by influencers, who can now easily monetize their brands by selling products on social media platforms like Tiktok. 

Meanwhile, tech-enabled features like contactless shopping have made it easier for shoppers to purchase products without leaving their homes – a convenient option that is proving increasingly popular amongst consumers looking for speed and ease during online transactions. With more and more companies recognizing social commerce as the ideal way to maximize visibility and drive revenue in an ever-more digitized world, there’s no doubt that its growth will only continue.

Personalization and recommendations will become more important than ever before

As the world becomes more digital and interconnected, reviews and social proof are becoming increasingly crucial for personalization and recommendations. Leveraging reviews and ratings are essential to gain insight into a customer’s experiences with a business or product. 

Tapping into this immense amount of data enables companies to provide customers with personalized experiences tailored around each individual’s preferences, resulting in better decisions being made and helping develop strong customer loyalty. Very few businesses can survive without reviews, as they are an invaluable source for understanding what customers think about your brand – thus making them more critical than ever before.

Summary

•The global pandemic has firmly established digital commerce as a necessary part of the new normal.

• In particular, businesses across all industries have recognized the importance of shifting their processes and operations to digital technologies and increasing their reliance on digital strategies.

• Many businesses have seen the many benefits of utilizing digital technologies to support the supply chain, from improved efficiencies to reduced customer costs, making digital transformation a key focus for companies worldwide.

• By 2023, digital commerce will account for 22% of all retail sales. 

• eCommerce is expected to grow to 30% of all digital commerce by 2023, and this shift toward M-commerce (mobile commerce) is already being reflected throughout the eCommerce market today. 

• Social Commerce will double in size within three years due primarily to increased power held by social media influencers and features like contactless shopping, allowing easy transactions without leaving home. 

Personalization and recommendations will become more important than ever before as we continue digitizing our world because they provide customers with tailored experiences that result in solid customer loyalty.

Photo by Pixabay

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The idea of TikTok not meeting sales expectations for brands is surprising, and the numbers are even more shocking. Last month, the platform axed around $2 billion (with a big B) of its target for 2022 ad revenue. This highlights the global downturn plaguing other tech leaders, from Google to Meta Platforms Inc.

As companies and consumers become more strict with spending due to a looming recession, huge companies like Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Meta, and Microsoft Corp. have reported results that fell significantly short. Beijing’s crackdown on internet firms and the U.S. government’s suspicions of the platform have contributed to the noise troubling international social media platforms. 

Concerns around how TikTok stores U.S. user data and manages information flows between employees in China and elsewhere have resurfaced among American lawmakers and politicians on the heels of the midterm election, making an eCommerce push seem impossible to TikTok. 

TikTok had to think quickly about where they’d put their ad spend, and startup partners seemed the way to go. The platform utilizes the help of startup companies like ChannelEngine, TalkShopLive, and YunExpress to fix bugs and expand the number of buyers and sellers using TikTok’s eCommerce tools.

By tackling the bugs within TikTok Shop in the early stages of its introduction internationally, the company is better positioning itself to meet higher revenue goals, mainly because users are increasingly spending money on other eCommerce platforms across the web. 
PYMNTS’ recent research, “Digital Economy Payments: Payment Method Diversification,” reports that roughly 26% of consumers polled said making an online purchase via a mobile device on their most recent shopping experience for non-grocery retail goods.

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The new features are rolling out in the coming weeks, allowing users to compare deals from multiple retailers side-by -side get price insights and coupon clipping. You can also use it to copy discount codes or promotional badges that highlight sales opportunities on different stores’ websites.

Foundation: The Try Before You Buy Makeup Simulator

There’s a new makeup simulator called “Foundation” where you can test different types of Foundations and see how well they work on your skin tone before buying one online or in stores. The most searched categories are found in Foundation, so you can now explore different looks with just a click or tap away from anywhere across mobile devices.

From Google:

“Developed with guidance from beauty brands, our new photo library features 148 models representing a diverse spectrum of skin tones, ages, genders, face shapes, ethnicities, and skin types. Backed by Google’s technology, this library is a big step toward changing the way people shop for makeup online, helping you better visualize what different products look like on you.”

With this new addition, Google is taking its virtual testing tools further. Now you can try on makeup in ways that were never possible before. You’ll be able to see what foundation looks like without having to go out and buy a bunch of different shades for yourself or others at home.

An AR Sneaker Experience

It’s also adding an AR sneaker shopping experience, which lets people view shoes up close. 

With these Google updates, you can start exploring products from brands like Saucony and Vans, with more coming soon. Just search for a sneaker type like “Shop blue vans,” tap “View in my space” to see what’s available nearby, or order it online.

Not all sneaker brands may have access to 3D assets, so Google has created a tool that can turn standard 2D shots of goods into interactive 3D models, making them easier for shoppers to look at different angles or close-ups before deciding which one will fit best. This pilot program will begin through 5 manufacturer centers around North America.

Find Food Near You with Maps Update

Google has announced that they will roll out new updates for their popular service, Google Maps. The most notable feature of these improvements is a tool called ‘Food Near Me’, which allows you to find restaurants with specific cuisines within walking distance from your current location or recent searches. You can also see what type of cuisine each restaurant offers based on input criteria such as price range and ratings by other customers before making reservations.

Google says that shoppers engage 3D imagery 50% more than static photos, which presents an opportunity to maximize engagement via these advanced presentation options – first by enabling people to find their favorite foods right where they’re located; second, by using Lens’ new ability help users discover exactly the thing they crave when walking around town without having any idea where said delicacies might be located.

Live View Expands to More Cities

With the latest update, Google is making it easier than ever to explore new places through augmented reality. They’ve now expanded Live View in London, Los Angeles and other major cities on both Android & iOS devices. With this feature, you can see what stores are around without having any knowledge about your surroundings or care if there’s anyone else nearby who might be taking pictures too – because their camera will do all work for them by displaying information such as directions plus arrows.

Accessibility Updates Make Travel Easier

Another addition coming soon might make this time spent traveling during December much more enjoyable- if not downright painless: Wheelchair ramps at hospitals across the US now show availability, so visitors know whether there are any available spots when visiting friends & family.

The update to the Google Maps app will make it easier for users who are blind or have low vision. Live View lets you see what’s ahead on camera with an overlay of directions and pointers placed right over your real-life surroundings so they’re not lost anymore! It can also provide information about wheelchair-friendly locations and electric vehicle charging points, which will be helpful because these things don’t always come up automatically when searching online.

Find the Perfect Fit with Shop the Look

In September, nine new tools were introduced with the stated goal of helping people find outfits they’ll love while also keeping them informed on what’s trending in fashion right now. One feature called “Shop The Look” lets you assemble your perfect look based on different styles suggested by Google data–and if that wasn’t enough already, there’s an app called Movements which does everything from tracking inventory and prices down to inspiring curated images searchable by category.

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Crypto payment tools are becoming commonplace. PYMNTS recently collaborated with Bitpay to survey merchants to understand trends and consumers’ expectations regarding crypto payments. 

In the report titled “Paying With Cryptocurrency,” analysts found that among businesses with an annual income of $1 billion, 85% are adopting crypto payments to find and gain new customers. Moreover, 82% of all the merchants who participated in the survey cited crypto-axing backend middlemen as their reason for accepting it as a payment method.

The survey also revealed that 77% of the surveyed merchants are more inclined to accept crypto payments because of lower transaction fees. According to the report, the fees for processing crypto transactions are around 1%. This is lower than the usual fees from 1.5% to 3.5% charged by typical payment options like credit cards.

A Long Time Coming

The crypto ecosystem has been in the process of expanding for quite some time. A report published by Cointelegraph Research in June showed that various companies from various industries have already integrated crypto payment options. Platforms like travel booking and other experienced-based entertainment methods have begun the integration process.  

At the same time, Ben Caselin, an executive at trading firm AAX, told Cointelegraph that despite the unpredictable market, Bitcoin adoption and Metaverse development continues to advance. This is a prime chance for businesses looking to tap into the crypto ecosystem.

Also in June of this year, online payments company Checkout.com said it would settle payments for its merchants at all times using stablecoins, making it the last major financial services firm diving into crypto. 

The platform is closely associated with competitors like PayPal. The company launched a feature that would allow businesses to accept and make payments in USD Coin, a popular stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar. Checkout.com said it offers the new payment method through a partnership with the digital asset custody platform Fireblocks.

Jess Houlgrave, head of Checkout.com’s crypto strategy, said when describing how payouts could enable businesses to compensate workers in crypto and reduce associated transaction processing costs, “Today my options are limited to a bank transfer, which could take days and maybe becomes $80 [after fees],” she continued, “Imagine a world where you can do it with a stablecoin. Instantly, my wallet is not $100, but maybe $99.50.” 

Checkout.com’s updates come just a few months after $95 billion online payments company Stripe began offering merchants the ability to make payouts in crypto through the stablecoin USDC. 

Now, as we near the end of Q4, crypto has successfully maneuvered itself as a ubiquitous part of transactions in the back end. Recent trademark applications also show that Visa and Western Union might join the crypto craze. 

What’s Next For Crypto Checkouts?

More recently, crypto payments in Circle’s USDC will now be offered for select businesses on Apple Pay. According to the crypto company, the payments will be enabled for quick checkout for regular digital payments mode. The payments will be app-based along with the ability to pay using the Safari browser. Customers won’t have to fill in their information repeatedly or fill out forms to use the feature. 

According to a Deloitte study conducted earlier in 2022, 75% of retailers across the U.S. report that they’re making some kind of investment to support crypto payments over the next two years.

The growth of cryptocurrencies has been one of the dominant sources of discourse in the payments industry. While regular cash transactions will remain the preferred payment method for most shoppers, mainstream payment systems evolve to take advantage of crypto features. In the near future, crypto payments will work in tandem with typical payments. In the not-so-near future, crypto checkout will be as normalized as swiping a credit card.

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Contrary to the typically festive extravaganza, things were quite hushed surrounding the annual Alibaba Singles’ Day shopping event. The well-known shopping festival experienced one of its lowest results since its 2009 debut, with diminishing growth. The business decided not even to release the year’s final sales figures. A new era of disinterested consumer mood is being heralded by poor sales and a lack of media hype due to the nation’s stringent ongoing COVID-19 regulations.

2021’s multi-day event saw an 8.5% rise in gross merchandise value, which had been its lowest yet, following a 26% jump in 2020. Before 2020, the festival was a one-day event.

The event had become the world’s largest shopping festival, making America’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday pale in comparison. Bloomberg notes that analysts relied on the sales figure to gauge the status of China’s economy.

According to the market-data provider Syntun, online sales in China during the event totaled $43.3 billion across major retailers, based on transactions on several platforms. Syntun attributed 61% of the total sales to Alibaba’s flagship platform, Tmall, and 27% to JD.com.

Numerous observers are examining China’s stringent COVID policies, including city lockdowns and disruptions to commercial operations.

China recently eased some of the closures in an attempt to “optimize and adjust” the current measures, but the country still doesn’t seem to be planning to broaden any more restrictions anytime soon. 

A survey by the polling service of Southern Metropolis Daily, a major newspaper outlet based in Guangzhou, found that 24% of respondents didn’t plan to take advantage of this year’s Singles Day discounts, compared with 12% last year and 6% in 2020. One-third of those passing on Singles Day this year cited income reductions.

Lack of consumer interest coupled with an economic slowdown isn’t exactly preferred condition for such a sensationalized shopping event. Consumers are becoming more conscious of their spending habits across the globe, and poor Singles’ Day performance underscores this shift.

Competition plays a role in the weak turnout as well. Many consumers still spend their cash on Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba’s main shopping sites. Still, rivals like JD.com Inc. and Pinduoduo Inc. have been steadily gaining market share with their own shopping events. Even short-video sites like ByteDance Ltd.’s Douyin and Kuaishou Technology are vying for shoppers’ attention. Social commerce’s astronomical rise over the past few years has diminished the hype surrounding Alibaba’s social shopping experience. 

Shares of Alibaba rose 1.4% to $70.77 in New York trading on the Friday of the event.

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This post extracts a conversation with Bob Brodie, SUMO Heavy Co-founder, and CTO. We spoke about a recent engagement with a client that, due to confidentially, will remain unnamed in this post.

Let’s Define Headless CMS

A headless CMS is when you have a front-end application separate from your back-end CMS and uses APIs to get the content right. 

It is any content management system where the content repository “body” is separated or decoupled from the presentation layer “head.” 

When you use a headless connection with the CMS, you create the content and then direct where it goes. The front end pulls from it. So you have a front-end application like React or View or Angular, and it uses APIs to get the content from the back end.

WordPress can be a headless CMS. You can use the back end of WordPress to write all your content. And then, you can build a separate front end that’s not a WordPress theme, A separate front-end application that uses the WordPress APIs.

Can you give us an overview of the client and what they do?

The client already had a headless implementation. They had a tech team. They didn’t need us; they wanted us there for our expertise. In a world of cosmetic companies generally being an absolute nightmare, they had a knowledgeable tech team and were pretty awesome. They were also heavily focused on inclusivity and accessibility, which resonated with us. 

In more general terms, they make “a hair-healthy, semi-permanent alternative to dye that could both achieve and maintain head-turning hair colors — sans damage and cold showers.”

What Pain Points Did SUMO Heavy Solve for the Client?

Marketing had no autonomy to create content. The site was a headless React website; anytime Marketing needed updates, they had to go to the tech team. 

The Marketing team would design something, and then the tech team would have to waste their cycles building those pages. Every single page had to be first built by the tech team. 

They had already chosen Contentful after evaluating it against Netlify. The Client knew that it was the product they wanted to use, but needed our experience in helping them understand the nuances, do some R&D on implementing, and to create and help with a plan for migrating one part of the site at a time to be manageable via Contentful.

How does Contentful help other organizations/teams?

Contentful is great for larger tech companies needing a headless CMS. While Contentful pitches itself as something easy to implement, there are many caveats to consider:

• The CMS taxonomy needs to be carefully planned and designed
• CMS taxonomy needs to be converted into usable frontend components
• The marketing team needs to understand that it’s not a WYSIWYG system; it is a structured content platform
• Some functionality is prohibitively expensive
• The admin is cumbersome, limited, and not user-friendly. Building / maintaining your own custom admin is a more ideal scenario
• API call costs rack up quickly, so it’s more cost-effective to have a comprehensive build process that builds the site to be served statically, which has its own set of pros/cons
• The tech team should be familiar with schema automation because while you can build your taxonomy in the admin, one small change could take down your site, so it’s better to lock down that functionality and version the schema through code
• Your site needs to be hosted somewhere; Contentful is only a backend

Contentful is a wonderful product when a company is well-positioned to use it. In my mind, a fitting team looks something like this:

• Content taxonomy/schema designers
• Content managers
• Frontend architects
• Frontend engineers
• DevOps engineers

Closing Thoughts

• Technology doesn’t always correlate directly to sales
• Companies need to think if headless solutions are for them
• Organizations need to properly evaluate before implementing — evaluation + planning + documentation does not mean you aren’t agile

Reference

• Structured Content article
• Structured Content webinar

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To help online sellers and brick-and-mortar merchants sell products online more seamlessly across the globe, Square is introducing two specialized commerce tools on Square Terminal. 

Square for Retail and Square Appointments on Square Terminal are new features that let retailers, beauty, and personal care professionals provide customers with a more streamlined, convenient checkout experience. The payments giant’s recent press release indicates that businesses can now help supercharge sales by ringing up their customers anywhere. 

The tools can be utilized at normal checkout, on the floor of physical retail, in the parking lot, or on the store’s roof if need be. The new tools can handle any demand, so sellers can meet customers wherever they are and whenever they’re ready.

Leldon Maxcy, owner of Leldon’s, a gift shop in Cullman, Alabama says, “Square for Retail on Square Terminal has helped me streamline and condense everything, so I can use all the features I need on one device.” 

The new tools also provide merchants with instant interaction with buyers for any transaction needed. This includes typical payments, exchanges, returns, and more– easier than ever. The purpose of these tools is to move through more transactions at a higher, more efficient level to allow merchants to see as many customers as possible without pesky mounting lines. 

With the addition of Square for Retail and Square Appointments, all of Square’s commerce software is now available on all physical hardware. Business Wire notes that the platform’s new integrated ecosystem enables sellers to operate within a single platform for a complete view of their business. Sellers can also add Customer Relationship Management solutions like marketing and loyalty; to manage staff, sellers can add Payroll and Team Management; and for banking and financial services, sellers can set up checking and savings accounts. For example, 46% of Square Appointments sellers and 59% of Square for Retail sellers use 3 or more Square products in total across markets.

The new features are launching just in time for the busy holiday season. Square Terminal can be purchased on Square Shop, Amazon, BestBuy, Target, and Walmart. Square for Retail and Square Appointments offer three monthly subscription plans: Free, Premium, and Plus.

Upon the release, Alyssa Henry, head of Square, said, “The holiday season is not only one of the busiest times of the year, but also a crucial period for a merchant’s bottom line,” She continues, “By bringing Square for Retail and Square Appointments to Square Terminal just ahead of this critical time, sellers can access powerful integrations between software and hardware that gives them fast, efficient operations to increase sales and meet their customers’ needs, anywhere and anytime.”

Photo by Clay Bankson Unsplash

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Under the umbrella of global eCommerce lies cross-border commerce, borderless business, and international online retail. Harvard Business Review wrote, “Business leaders are scrambling to adjust to a world few imagined possible just a year ago. The myth of a borderless world has been shattered. Traditional pillars of open markets—the United States and the UK—are wobbling, and China is positioning itself as globalization’s staunchest defender.” And it’s true. Rising volumes in global eCommerce due to the pandemic and other shifting consumer habits put pressure on cross-border shipping and logistics. 

What’s the current state of borderless shipping? 

McKinsey and Company predict that borderless eCommerce could grow to a $1-$2 trillion (with a capital T) market by 2030, depending on several factors. 

Their research points out that Cross-border eCommerce parcels can travel by three different channels:

• The postal channel, regulated by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) exchange system, is the most commonly used shipping option today. 
• International express shipments are responsible for routing around two-thirds of all lightweight, international parcels and express shipments, which take up 5 to 10 percent of the total volume. So far, that channel has boasted excellent delivery times and overall dependability.
• Commercial-parcel operators take on the brunt of all other shipments. These operators capitalize on the need of shoppers and shippers for reasonably priced but reliably quick and quality shipping– anything to keep up with Amazon. They offer tracking visibility that sets it apart from other methods.

Each of these shipping methods has different variables in upcoming trends that could impact revenues. For example, in 2020, just before the pandemic, there were 9.3 billion cross-border orders, and 60 percent of them were intercontinental. After tackling limited air cargo capacity issues, international deliveries are quickly outpacing domestic ones. Additionally, in 2020, the pandemic affected the patterns in the flow of goods: intraregional flows in North America and Europe heightened due to supply chain disruptions and a shortage of transport capacity. 

Customers were then cautious about buying products from Asia. On the flip side, the unavailability of certain Western-made products in Asian countries catalyzed significant growth in parcel deliveries in trade lanes from the European Union to China and from the United States to China. 

What trends should we be looking for in the upcoming months? 

Zonos points out several trends that analysts are projecting. 

One of the main themes in cross-border shipping for the upcoming year is ethics surrounding the data collected in these transactions. Consumers have become more discerning about where they share their data, and things could get messy regarding international data laws. While some data tracking metrics and sharing will continue more transparently, retailers will still need to find new, more ethical methods to engage and understand consumers properly. 

Business owners could be on the other side of the world compared to their target consumers. Advertising can vary depending on the country, so without data tracking, there is no way to tell who’s interested in what. Brands must develop new tactics to know who to advertise to and how. Access to customer data has become and will continue to be based on the consumer’s trust.

Another trend to look out for in cross-border shipping is personalization. Research from Epsilon indicates that over 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when the business offers personalized experiences. How does this relate to borderless shipping? 

Zonos’ research found that while local businesses may be more convenient locationally, they may be lacking in the effort to personalize the shopping experience for their customers. These businesses are missing out on potential customers and revenue because their customers would instead buy from a cross-border company that has created a personalized shopping experience. Data backs up the reality that customers highly value a customized shopping experience. If retailers are willing to integrate personalization into their business, they’re legitimizing themselves as competition in the marketplace. 

Businesses can personalize consumers’ cross-border experience by making sure to offer language plugins and additional tax costs from country to country. 

Finally, another forecasted trend for cross-border shipping has much to do with the looming recession that’s about to affect the global economy. Over the last 12-month period, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 7.9%, which is the most significant increase since 1982; and it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Prices for certain goods are at record highs, and inflation has not been this disruptive in decades. Inflation causes more consumers to shop cross-border to find lower prices. Shopping online allows consumers price match options, which increases the number of people making cross-border purchases. Cutting costs is crucial when preparing for such an economic crisis. In the past, eCommerce has not been affected by inflation because retailers have been more hesitant to raise prices online than in stores, but it looks like price hikes are imminent, and consumers will find the best deals, no matter what. Therefore, cross-border shipping is about to gain even more interest. 

2023 will see many changes and advancements regarding cross-border shipping, and a recession on the horizon will be the catalyst that sparks many long-overdue changes for the sector.

Photo by Paul Teysenon Unsplash

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Google announced that it is amping up its selection of shopping tools like language processing, visual search, and artificial intelligence to ensure a more targeted, streamlined search experience. According to Retail Dive, the company is adding new filters to narrow search functionality for products and the long-sought-after ability to view a product without leaving the results page. 

The revamped desktop feed will display more products, brands, articles, and videos when users add the word “shop” to any search for electronics, clothes, beauty, home goods– and everything in between. The new filters will now include search queries such as brand, retailer, what’s on sale, department, size, material, color, products nearby, and more. The filters are dynamic, which means that they can be updated in real-time based on what a user is searching for, like “iced coffee machine,” “single cup,” or “drip” when a user is searching for coffee makers.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told investors on the company’s webcast, “We are supercharging our visual search capabilities to help people find what they are looking for at businesses nearby,” he continued, “Through advanced language models, AI is unlocking new experiences that support more natural and conversational ways to interact with computing.” 

The updates expand upon existing tools introduced back in September, which included a 3D sneaker functionality, buying guides for specific product categories, and a “shop the look” feature with personalized options. Similarly to the payment tools recently launched by Square, Google’s main objective is to easily connect shoppers with merchants no matter where the final purchase occurs.

These changes to the shopping functionality on Google are arriving just in time for the busy holiday season ahead. A study released by Deloitte found that higher-income shoppers plan to spend less this season, while low-income consumers plan to spend more. Even though spending for this season is on-par with 2021, global inflation and rising costs worry shoppers and popular businesses alike. Google is planning to ease at least a few shopping woes by enhancing their search. Another study released last month found that 22% of respondents will search on Google for gift inspiration.

Regarding their new artificial intelligence features, Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler notes that Google’s updates allow major breakthroughs in other areas of shopping and search on the platform.

Schindler also says that AI, NLP, and Google Lens are “fueling innovation across our Ads product via insights, automation, and easier-to-use advertising tools and formats; we’re helping businesses stay agile, build resilience, anticipate the future and show up for customers in more connected, visual and consistent ways. We’re helping them understand demand, deal with inventory challenges, increase loyalty, and much more.”

Photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash

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(Revised from its initial publication on February 26, 2020)

Many buzzwords describe social movements and their associated grifters, but there is no word quite as triggering as the phrase ‘influencer.’

There has been a noticeable rise in the last few years of self-branded Instagram personas showing off their effortless fashion and seemingly limitless travel budgets, all wrapped up inside the bow of a perfect life — and a heavy sponsorship.

With the introduction of TikTok and its massive impact on popular culture, influencer culture has become even more inauthentic. TikTok has ushered in an entirely new way of influencing that is even more insidious and difficult to detect. Until recently, users did not have to disclose that a brand-sponsored them overtly. Thousands of videos flooded users’ ‘For You’ Pages without the distinction between ads and organic content. This is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Humans are inherently nosey, which is the entire reason why influencer culture has taken off. In fact, according to data analytics company Klear’sanalysis, the number of Instagram posts using the #ad hashtag, signifying a brand partnership, increased by almost 50% in 2019.

There’s also the simple fact that we live vicariously through these personalities and their glamorous lifestyles to distract us from the impending ‘doom of the week.’ We’re just trying to pretend that everything’s okay by scrolling through the perfect lives of influencers.

But there’s another reason why influencers are so abundant; the idea that just a few years ago, this glamorous human was just like you and me. The allure of becoming a self-made millionaire by simply posting content people want to see keeps us not only coming back for more but also inspires us to make content of our own.

However, there’s an unseen issue within this culture. Most of these influencers aren’t even living the lifestyle they portray. Many of these people are living these unattainable lives, enhanced by photoshop and lies, which in turn has thousands of young girls striving to reach this non-existent lifestyle.

What the Influencer Lifestyle Is…Or Isn’t

The point of this piece isn’t to drag influencers. But, it’s important to note the shift in habits that consumers, especially the young and impressionable ones, are displaying since the rise of influencing.

The most notable offenders of perpetuating influencer culture are the Kardashian/Jenner clan. All members of this blended family have made questionable decisions regarding what they are promoting on Instagram, and some missteps are more sinister than others.

For instance, Kim has come under fire numerous times for promoting a dangerous product called Flat Tummy Tea. There are a few aspects of this to unpack.

1. Whatever she’s promoting, she’s promoting to 159 million followers. When you have a vast reach, you must be honest and responsible when deciding what content to post.

2. The chemicals in this particular tea aren’t FDA-approved and could harm the young audiences K is promoting it to.

3. It’s no secret (nor is it an issue) that Kim looks the way she does thanks to surgical enhancement, but promoting any weight loss supplements comes off as a little gratuitous.

The kicker of it all is that this family is not lacking in funds. There is no good reason for them to continuously shill harmful products for six figures when Kylie alone is a literal billionaire.

This brings me to my next point: being an influencer is a pretty good gig if you have the following.

Being a celebrity influencer like the family I mentioned is one thing. But it’s an entirely different ballgame to get paid six figures when you’re just a person who “influences.”

For example, Chiara Ferragni started as your typical fashion blogger. Today, she boasts over 15 million Instagram followers and can command a salary of 12 thousand dollars per post, reaching over 40 million monthly users and 13 million followers. So, you can see there’s a ton of cash to be made in influencing if you’ve got the reach. And If you don’t have quite the reach, you’ll do some outlandish stuff to obtain that volume of followers. We’ll get to that in a minute.

Regarding promotion, the Kardashians may be fairly deceptive, but that was only the tip of the iceberg when considering that they already had the following.

One of the most notable examples of influencers being dishonest in what they’re selling was hatched out of a colossal drama: the James Charles and Tati Westbrook feud.

For those who don’t know these names, James Charles is a beauty influencer with a massive following of 16 million YouTube subscribers and 16 million Instagram followers. Tati Westbrook is another beauty guru that boasts around 10 million YouTube subscribers and 3 million Instagram followers.

One of the pillars that lifted the feud was that Charles was promoting another controversial product when his best pal Tati was launching her version.

Charles alleged that Sugar Bear Hair approached him at Coachella and offered him some cash and heightened security if he’d promote their products… which he’s never tried. And he did exactly that. This, in turn, spiraled into a nasty, personal feud resulting in numerous videos (both attacking and apologizing) and the #ByeSister trend.

The act of an influencer not trying the product they’re promoting is far too familiar when considering the impressionable audience that Instagram fosters. It goes without saying how ethically shameful it is to shill a product you’ve never used for 13-year-olds.

TikTok Creates New Insecurities

TikTok has conjured up some backlash for its failures to moderate harmful content and the influence of its algorithm. The algorithm recommends content based on the user’s previous activity on the app, and it’s more specific and targeted than any other platform in existence…to an alarming degree. A recent study from Eating Disorder Hope pointed out that “it is a highly visual environment in which appearance ideals and the pursuit of thinness are promoted. The interactive nature provides boundless opportunities for appearance comparisons and appearance-related interactions with peers… (and) appears to contribute to increases in disordered eating.” 

That said, the platform has bred an entirely new type of influencer equipped with many tools to be more dishonest. However, as sneaky influencer practices become more pronounced, users have become more discerning. Especially since users trust TikTok recommendations more than any other platform. Gen Z has undoubtedly spearheaded this cultural shift. 

There’s a desire for brands and influencers to be authentic, sharing real-life stories and proudly standing up for what they believe in. There’s also a desire for unfiltered, unretouched content. Marketing Divenotes that 82% of Gen Z say they’re more trusting of brands that use real customers and stories in their advertising.

A new survey of industry experts indicated that 49% of consumers depend on the recommendations influencers give them. This trust is hinged on the belief that influencers are entirely transparent, which isn’t always the case.

Take beloved beauty blogger Mikayla Nogueirafor example. Nogueira quickly rose to internet fame by showcasing her authentic, down-to-earth personality and honest makeup reviews. Her thick Bostonian accent charmed her millions of followers. 13 million and counting, to be exact. However, the influencer has been facing backlash from her followers and other creators for being dishonest, contrary to her entire ethos. 

The backlash started due to a tone-deaf comment from the influencer. She complained about her work day finishing at 5.19 pm and being in meetings every afternoon. ‘I literally just finished work, and it’s 5:19[pm],’ the makeup artist said in a now-deleted video, which recently resurfaced.

‘Try being an influencer for a day. Try it. Because the people who say it’s easy are so far out of their minds. Try it for a day,’ she continued. 

This opened up a can of worms that led to her comments being flooded with offended followers telling her to get a grip. Soon, her loyal followers began noticing how heavily filtered her content was becoming and how dishonest and over-complimentary her reviews were. Her Instagram photos became more heavily photoshopped, and her followers felt betrayed. Again, her rise to fame is mainly attributed to her honesty, so her followers were upset, to put it lightly. 

Photoshopping your skin to look smoother when reviewing a product that goes on the skin creates a disconnect between the product’s power on photoshopped skin and our natural textured skin. This brings us to our next point. 

All is Not as it Seems

The use of Photoshop is arguably the other way influencers fool young audiences and the most harmful component of the culture.

It’s no secret that most of us edit our pictures in one form or another. Whether it’s to fix lighting, make your teeth a little whiter, or edit out a ketchup stain on your face in the cute brunch pic you took, we all do it, and that’s okay.

The issue here is editing to the point of physical impossibility. I think that posting highly altered photos on Instagram is anyone’s prerogative, but you can’t ignore its adverse effects.

Case in point: Tana Mongeau is a popular influencer who boasts over 5 million followers on ‘gram. A few months ago, she was involved in a huge scandal when she, among others, was called out for editing her photos to the point of being unrecognizable. These (not just Tana’s) unrecognizable photos include body proportions that are physically impossible to obtain naturally, facial editing that smooths skin enough to make even people with perfect skin feel ashamed and noses small enough to make Voldermort quake.

If you need more examples of fraud, Since Nov. 1, 2017, r/instagramreality has become the central hub for before and after photos showing the lengths ordinary people, celebrities, and influencers will go to obtain a certain beauty standard.

We are now entering an insane plane of existence where Tana and other influencers are very open about the fact that they heavily enhance their photos, so we’ll tip a tiny, ant-sized cap to her for that transparency.

It’s All Fun and Games Until… It’s Not

Most other influencers aren’t as honest, which is a problem because then there are 12-year-old girls that stare at these pictures for hours, comparing them to their own bodies. When in reality, the bodies they’re seeing don’t even belong to that influencer. A generation of young girls is now breaking their backs to attain the unattainable.

Instagram is the worst social media network for mental health and well-being, according to a recent survey of almost 1,500 teens and young adults. One survey respondent wrote, “Instagram easily makes girls and women feel as if their bodies aren’t good enough as people add filters and edit their pictures to look ‘perfect’.”

It’s also no secret that the desire to look perfect causes disordered eating in men and women, and eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. There’s also an unfortunate corner of Instagram that encourages eating disorders to reach “goal weight”.

It’s important to note that the culture of maintaining a thin physique isn’t only specific to influencer culture; it’s more or less a bug that exists within the app as a whole. But, it’s still a prominent issue about how influencers with large reaches edit their bodies.

Were You Ever Really There?

Some influencers take inauthenticity to an entirely new level regarding travel.

Influencer Johanna Olssonhad to go as far as to make public statements after critics among her digital following of over 510,000 pointed out the fact that images of her glamorous October trip to Paris had been altered with Photoshop. She photoshopped the Eiffel Tower behind her in a way that was painfully obvious to her followers. The kicker is that apparently, she was in Paris on a sponsored influencer trip — and still posted fake Paris photos.

We’re striving for the unreachable, insatiable hunger for attention and validation. Whether that be extravagant traveling diaries, the best clothes, or the best bodies, many of these things aren’t as attainable to us normies because, well, it doesn’t exist in their reality either.

The Platforms are Cracking Down

Instagram is trying to combat inauthenticity by implementing the removal of likes. While the likes are visible to the user that posts the content, the viewers of said content cannot. This makes it harder for brands to gauge just how valuable the influencer is based on a number usually enhanced in some way. Instead, they have to consider likeability, the influencer’s actual marketing skills, and their algorithmic reach. Small victories.

Instagram removing likes could also mean that people who thrive on like count will have difficulty being booked. How will they beat this? People listen to people with lots of likes — it’s psychology (or, say ‘it’s human nature). But it’s happening.

Instagram has also tried to ban any miracle diet posts effectively.

Influencers also do wonders for brands that are doing good things, for example, the accessory brand Pura Vida. In fact, In 2017, 92% of marketers who used influencer marketing found it compelling.

Influencer culture is a ubiquitous part of everyday life. We are constantly being influenced, whether by a Facebook ad, a celebrity wearing a particular brand, or organic Instagram influencing; we’re all exposed to it. Influencing isn’t inherently wrong. In fact, a lot of influencers are savvy marketers and fantastic content creators and can sometimes truly make a positive impact on their brand or the life of a fan.

It becomes dangerous when it’s inauthentic, and the inauthenticity of influencer culture has been on a steady rise lately. We can only hope that young people get the proper guidance regarding how they cope with these “perfect images.”

At the end of the day, there is inherent responsibility when you are influencing young people. Even with 5,000 followers, you are still reaching impressionable audiences and need to consciously decide what they should see.

We can also only hope that social platforms do their job to ensure dishonest content isn’t rewarded. As influencing continues, it is also imperative that more guidance becomes available to young people viewing this content. Instagram is not evil. Social media is not evil. Influencers are not evil. The personal effects vary from person to person, making the apps sinister, and those feelings are entirely valid.

So, if you’re reading this and feel that social media is affecting you in any of the ways mentioned here, perhaps it’s best to start limiting your intake. Take a walk, talk to someone you trust about how you’re feeling, unfollow those accounts that make you feel icky, or turn your phone off. Remember that you are in control of what you view, and you have the power to cut out images that harm your well-being.

Be kind to yourself.

More on Influencer Culture:

The Rise of Health Influencers

Gen Z’s Valuable Influence on the Food Industry

The Nostalgia Craze: 90s and Y2K Fashion for a New Generation

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