eCommerce Express Digest - May 2023

As I write this, we are within 1 month of GA4 going live!

With most of the Digital World concentrating on its rollout, you would be forgiven for missing some of the other updates that happened in the ecommerce space in May 2023. We’ve compiled some of things you may not have seen!

Google

• Off the back of their findings that products with more than 1 image have a 76% increase for impressions and 32% increase in clicks, the Search engine launched ‘New tools to help small businesses connect with online shoppers’. Hosted on their ‘new and simplified’ Merchant Centre, Product Studio uses Googles AI’s Principals to help businesses of all sizes create unique product imagery for free. This tool promises to make it easier to increase resolution, remove backgrounds and make it easier for ecommerce websites to advertise. We’re definitely pretty excited to give this a go!
• SEO Roundtable reported that they thought there might have been an ‘unconfirmed’ Core update in early May and further rumblings around the 10th. There was some chatter in Webmaster World about some rankings volatility around 17th and the 22nd/ 22rd of May but there has so far been no announcements from Google on updates to algorithms. This comes off the back of a core update in April so watch this space…
• Google’s AI software Bard gained a bunch of cool updates; including adding images to make ‘interactions more visual’. Bard will use images in answer and allow users to include their own images. The platform has also become more accessible to new users (180+ countries!), added Maps, Lens and Dark Mode. 

AI

• Bing has also released some updates to their AI platform, Bing Chat. They have also added images, added maths formulas and made it easier to access.

eCommerce Platforms

• Speaking of AI, Maropost/ Neto communicated that they’re fully integrated with Findify – an ‘AI powered realtime search, recommendation and smart merchandising tool’ aimed at increasing conversions. Click here to book a demo if you’re interested in finding out more your business could harness this.
• Shopify made a few announcements to their platform in early May 2023, including that they will no longer contact merchants for refunds and a few updates to functionality. 

eCommerce Trends

• Australia Post focused on Sustainability in May 2023, as ‘Green eCommerce’ is a rising trend. 
• Looking to June, there are a number of Sales events happening in Ecommerce – from Mid-Season and EOFY Sales to Pride being a focus. See this handy calendar from Australia Post for planning and ideas!

There’s certainly a big focus on AI but great to see sustainability getting some much needed air-time. Think we’ve missed something major or want to know more about anything please get in touch with the team at Megantic.