eCommerce News Weekly Update Vol 35.

This week we prepared five eCommerce news for you to catch up with.

1. Seasonal Storms Continue to Hit the U.S,eBay will Extend the Seller Rating Protection Program

At the end of January this year, due to the impact of severe weather in the East Coast region of the United States, eBay announced that it will protect the performance ratings of sellers in the region.

In this regard, eBay recommends that sellers located in affected areas and unable to ship communicate with buyers in advance and inform them of the facts, if the expected order arrival time is delayed, sellers can extend the processing time of the listing.

If a seller's business is affected, eBay will automatically protect the seller's performance metrics, including delayed shipment rate, effective tracking of order upload information, etc.

2. US Toy Industry Retail Sales to Reach $28.6 Billion in 2021

Research firm NPD noted that the U.S. toy industry retail sales of $28.6 billion in 2021, up 13 percent, or $3.2 billion, from $25.4 billion in 2020; an 8 percent increase in sales compared to 2020; and an average selling price of $12.37, up 4 percent from 2020.

Outdoor and sports toys continue to be the largest category, with sales of $5.9 billion in 2021, and exploration toys and other toys had the largest growth in small monkey volume, at $557 million. Exploration and other toys have the largest CAGR of 24% compared to 2019, followed by games/puzzles at 23%.

3. Etsy to Invest $50 Million in Customer Support

Following a petition by more than 20,000 sellers asking Etsy to improve its customer support for sellers, Etsy recently announced that it will invest $50 million in 2022 to improve customer support for buyers and sellers and that the company is working to scale support to meet the changing needs of its sellers.

Etsy says it is currently making, including using technology to improve support: such as expanding the seller help center and improving its navigation pages; making it easier for sellers to access articles and content to better manage their accounts and self-service to resolve minor issues that may arise, etc.

4. Amazon Platform 93% of sellers Due to Supply Chain Problems Revenue Damage

According to a new Jungle Scout survey, 93% of Amazon sellers say supply chain disruptions have caused them to lose revenue, with most businesses experiencing inventory delays of 2 months or more.

Forty-five percent of small businesses predicted their total lost sales due to supply chain issues to be less than $5,000, but 30 percent lost between $5,001 and $25,000 in total.

Although the U.S. supply chain has leveled off this year, there is still a backlog of container ships on the West Coast, a shortage of products and workers, and rising freight costs remain a problem.

5. The Total Value of U.S. Returns in 2021 Exceeds $760 Billion, with 10% Being Fraudulent Returns

U.S. retail sales reach $458.3 million in 2021. Of this, the value of the merchandise returned to retailers was $761 billion, or about 16.6% of the total value of the merchandise.

And of these returned goods, $778.4 billion (10.3%) were fraudulent returns. This means that for every $100 of returned merchandise accepted, retailers lost $10.30 due to return fraud.

The categories with the worst returns are similar to those in 2020: automotive parts (19.4%), apparel(12.2%), and furniture upholstery and furnishings(11.5%)