E-commerce is constantly changing. To keep up with trends and evolving consumer demands and to stay ahead of the game, business owners need to keep a close eye on these industry trends.
During the pandemic, social distancing and other preventative measures meant that consumer requirements shifted, and many aspects of e-commerce were changed. Some changes were temporary, while others are here to stay.
With a number of significant e-commerce events around the corner this November, it’s time to look at the post-pandemic trends that continue to shape e-commerce in 2022.

But before we dive into the strategies you can use to advance your e-commerce business, let’s take a look at a tool that can help your business stand out from the rest. Skipper by Zoomd is designed to help you increase your growth trajectory. Paid User Acquisition? With Skipper, you can run multiple user acquisition campaigns across various platforms concurrently through a single dashboard.

E-Commerce Challenges and Trends

Let’s take a look at some of the trends and solutions you can incorporate into your strategies for the remainder of 2022:

• Navigating a newly competitive market

During the pandemic, the e-commerce industry experienced a sudden spurt of unexpected growth. Studies projected that this trend would likely continue, predicting that by the end of 2022, e-commerce will account for 20.4% of global retail sales. This is over a 10% increase from just five years ago. The e-commerce industry’s rapid growth brings with it the challenges of new competition, but it also creates opportunities for new customers. To navigate this challenge, it’s essential to create a unique brand voice and identity that sets you apart from the competition and introduces you to new customers. The ideal way to do this is to maintain consistent customer acquisition campaigns while diversifying your target platforms. While this may be challenging, tools like Skipper can simplify the process and make it easier to manage campaigns on multiple platforms concurrently. 

• Advertising campaigns grow more sophisticated 

With so many new actors in the market, a major part of e-commerce marketing is the race to gain new customers’ attention. This means that organizations are willing to invest large sums in advertising. But, due to the overwhelming amount of marketing materials customers are exposed to daily, advertising has become less effective. As a result, advertising costs rise, and campaign effectiveness sinks as customers become inundated with generic advertising. The solution? Focus on quality over quantity. Rather than throwing generic user acquisition materials at your customers, turn your efforts toward creating unique campaigns that can set you apart. Additionally, target multiple platforms at once, so you can reach potential customers wherever they browse.  

Utilizing tools such as Skipper leaves you free to focus on creating strategies while we take care of the maintenance, diversification, and optimization. 

• Expanding to new vistas 

While the market achieved new growth during the pandemic, in many ways, the world shrank, and organizations that don’t support customers internationally are becoming an exception rather than a rule. Although expanding to new markets requires funding and conducting customer acquisition campaigns with a whole new customer base, breaking into new markets can create new opportunities for your business. As a small business, you can focus on local expansion by extending your customer acquisition campaigns to new platforms and taking advantage of new pools of potential customers.   

Moving Ahead With Skipper 

Keeping track of your campaigns can be challenging, especially when you’re running multiple campaigns across multiple platforms. Our platform makes this process a breeze by collecting all the data you need to set up, optimize, track, and maintain campaigns into a single dashboard. Skipper supports all of the most popular social media platforms and is integrated with 16 channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, TikTok, Apple Search, Twitter, Snapchat and more. 

By allowing you to keep track of all your campaigns concurrently, Skipper gives you control over your user acquisition activities, allowing you to grow your business fast. 

Now that the e-commerce industry has undergone a major evolution, new challenges and opportunities make it the perfect time to refresh your customer acquisition campaigns and ensure they’re all optimized. Skipper allows you to expand your campaigns to meet the industry’s growing demands and helps you take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. We’re always adding new features to address our customers’ changing needs, making it easy for you to keep up with the trends. Our goal is to help your business reach its potential, so before the busy e-commerce month of November kicks in, check out our platform to learn how we can help you grow with your industry. 

I cannot believe it’s been a year. March 2020 was the starting point for it. Since the pandemic started, my perspective of work as VP Sales has changed dramatically. As the whole world created a new routine due to the global pandemic, I also believed the whole digital industry changed and adapted to a new way of working.
Here are a few takeaways from that year that are here to stay, improving the work-life balance in the evolving remote working era.

I remember coming back from my family ski vacation and thinking about the self-isolation at home with my kids. I got so stressed; how can I work with the kids around? How can I make phone calls? How can I be productive at work without letting my kids watching TV all day?

Luckily, we found our internal routine managing the best way we could. With the rest of the world locked at home it became easier and less stressful, knowing we are all in the same boat.

A new way to stir up the conversation.

I decided to change a bit my way of contacting people, trying to be more personal and funny. Guess what? People are at home; they are trying to do in 5 hours what they usually do in 8 and they are anxious about the future: Make them smile.

Most of the people I contacted in March and April shut down their budgets for mobile digital acquisition. Gaming, Education, Entertainment and Shopping got so many organic installs, they did not even need to pay for installs.  According to a report from AppAnnie, download numbers jumped to 30% in the months of January through March in China with 284.3 million new downloads in February 2020. That peak had a later onset in Western countries.

Zoom became the third app to surpass 300 million downloads in Q2 2020. The presence of Google Meet, with over 100 million downloads, Telegram with over 75 million, and Microsoft Teams with over 50 million, indicates a definite skewing towards those apps that allow us to stay in touch. Google Classroom’s 50 million-plus downloads point to the need to find solutions to ensure education was undisrupted.

Yes, Q2 of 2020 was by far one of the most challenging quarters I experienced in my digital career but surprisingly, we brought promising clients to our company, such as Hepsiburada and Fugo Games. User Acquisition managers were more open to try some new ways of growth to test. Things happened slowly and results were achieved non the less.

Zoom conference calls became our new routine and I really enjoyed seeing faces of people, making us feel more connected and personal (with the costume background unique to each).

I also know that I am better at selling to people face to face, conversations are usually more dynamic and more open. You can understand people without talking to them through a video call, understanding if they are in or not.

Yes, Covid-19 brought me a lot of positive aspects in my career; I learned how to work with a lot of background noise, I learned how to be more comfortable on video calls, I learned how to be more caring about people in front of me and I learned how to manage a whole team without sitting next to them.

Our Zoomd’s HR took care of us, calling, asking, checking that we are well and yes, sending goodies :). She created a WhatsApp group where she added the 100 employees of Zoomd in Israel. This was genius! We had to wait for this pandemic to be all so connected and so close to each other.

Connected ha? The world has never been so connected and especially on mobile. In 2020, we spent 1.6 Trillion hours on mobile and we expect to get 7 billion mobile users worldwide.

For good or bad? Let’s see in 10 years. In the meantime, Mobile is booming and Zoomd understood the stakes of this new economy. We offer tailor-made media plans for our clients, Social, CGC, SDK, Programmatic, SaaS and more. The world is moving to a new era and we follow it.

Covid had a good and bad impact on our lives this year and I prefer to remember only the good things; being challenged in my professional life and spending more time with my family.

About Deborah Cohen- VP Sales:
Over the years of experience, Deborah had the opportunity to develop and apply her skills through different job positions in NY and Israel. Results-driven, highly professional, team leader, Deborah proved many times that she gets the job done! Blessed with an international culture, she understands the stakes of communication in business proposals.

Results of Q2 2020 Report: Generated US$5.6 million in Revenue and strong gross margin performance of 31%

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, August 21, 2020 – Zoomd Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: ZOMD, OTC: ZMDTF) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Zoomd Ltd. (collectively, “Zoomd” or the “Company“), the marketing tech (MarTech) user-acquisition and engagement platform, today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020.

The interim financial statements and interim MD&A are available on SEDAR under the Company’s profile.

“Our second quarter revenues were impacted by the global decline in media spending caused by COVID-19, which also caused a slowdown in the KR and LATAM regions” said Ofer Eitan, Zoomd’s CEO, adding “however, we target a return to revenue growth while some verticals start recover, and as professional sports around the world resume play. In the meantime, we continue to grow our gross margins and work towards the launch of our SaaS based model as planned.”

SECOND Quarter 2020 Highlights (all figures are in US$)

• Total revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2020 was $5.7 million compared to $6.7 million for the same period in 2019, a decrease of 15%. The decrease in revenues was primarily attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 on the Company’s customers, specifically on some of the Company’s top 10 customers in the sports industry, which significantly lowered their online media and marketing budgets.
• Cost of sales and services of $3.9 million, representing a decrease of approximately 19% compared to the same period in 2019. The decrease was primarily attributed to the decrease in variable costs linked to the decrease in revenues.
• Gross profit margin (revenue less cost of sales and services) of 31%, representing an increase of approximately 10% compared to the same period in 2019. The increase in gross margin was primarily attributable to management’s focus on reducing low margin customer-acquisition campaigns and focusing on higher margin products and services.
• Net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2020 was $1.5 million compared to net loss of $2.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019. The decrease in net loss was primarily attributed to the expenses incurred during the three months period of 2019 related to mark-to-market adjustment of convertible debt securities that took place immediately prior to the closing of the Qualifying Transaction.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $(0.8) million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $0.05 million for the same period in 2019. The increase in the operating losses for the three months ended in June 30, 2020 was primarily attributed to the Company’s growth plan, causing an increase in expenses. The increase in expenses was primarily attributed to an increase in research & development expenses due to the Company’s final stages of development the Company’s new SaaS platform, all of which caused the Adjusted EBITDA to decline.
• Operating loss of $(1.4) million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 compared to an operating loss of $(0.8) million for the same period in 2019.
• As at June 30, 2020, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to $4.2 million compared to $2.1 million for the same period in 2019, an increase of 93%.
• As of June 30, 2020, the Company had working capital of $2.7 million, compared to approximately $6 million as of June 30, 2020.
• Zoomd continued to invest in its platform, integrating Google UAC and TikTok in addition to a new and unique integration of Samsung, allowing the Company to display “On Device” ads directly on Samsung devices and apps.

Non-IFRS Measures

This press release refers to “Adjusted EBITDA” which is a non-GAAP and non-IFRS financial measure that does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP or IFRS. The Company’s presentation of this financial measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. This financial measure is intended to provide additional information to investors concerning the Company’s estimated results. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization and share-based compensation is a measure of a company’s operating performance. Essentially, it’s a way to evaluate a company’s performance without having to factor in financing decisions, accounting decisions or tax environments. The following table (all in $US thousands) shows the Company’s Non-IFRS measure (Adjusted EBITDA) reconciled to operating profit for the indicated periods:

Management uses this non-IFRS measure as a key metric in the evaluation of the Company’s performance and the consolidated financial results. The Company believes Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors in their assessment of the operating performance and the valuation of the Company. However, non-IFRS financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP or IFRS, and the information is not necessarily comparable to other companies and should be considered as a supplement to, not a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP or IFRS. The references in this press release to Adjusted EBITDA are forward-looking information about prospective financial performance and readers are cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

About Zoomd:

Zoomd (TSXV: ZOMD, OTC: ZMDTF), founded in 2012 and began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in September 2019, offers a site search engine to publishers, and a mobile app user-acquisition platform, integrated with a majority of global digital media, to advertisers. The platform unifies more than 600 media sources into one unified dashboard. Offering advertisers, a user acquisition control center for managing all new customer acquisition campaigns using a single platform. By unifying all these media sources onto a single platform, Zoomd saves advertisers significant resources that would otherwise be spent consolidating data sources, thereby maximizing data collection and data insights while minimizing the resources spent on the exercise. Further, Zoomd is a performance-based platform that allows advertisers to advertise to the relevant target audiences using a key performance indicator-algorithm that is focused on achieving the advertisers’ goals and targets.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer IN REGARD TO Forward-looking statements

This news release includes certain “forward-looking statements” under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to Zoomd’s future financial situation, the impact and length of time of the COVID-19 pandemic on global advertising budgets and Zoomd’s revenue, its ability to meet its strategic targets on the development roadmap (including the expected MVP release in October) and the overall success of the development roadmap. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties (including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic), the extent and duration of which are uncertain at this time on Zoomd’s business and general economic and business conditions and markets. There can be no assurance that any of the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

The reader should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement.

For further information please contact:

Company Media Contacts

Amit Bohensky
Chairman
Zoomd
ir@zoomd.com

Trends come and go, never fleeting faster than when a crisis rears its head. App stores represent one of the most rapidly changing areas in the consumer market. The old “fifteen minutes of fame” quib from Andy Warhol applies well in this scenario. Some apps last years, while others only last months or weeks—it’s inevitable that users will want something new. The main challenge plaguing app marketers face is the inability to amend their campaigns when the winds of change shift.

Just like our digital world around us is always in flux, so are our app stores, designed to shift with the interests of the users and to protect their interests. Rules and algorithms change constantly to ensure fraud is minimized－by deleting fake reviews or warning users before deleting apps for which they’re still paying subscriptions. App store optimization (ASO) regulations have also changed to prevent app marketers from filling app store descriptions with relevant keywords incoherently. Beyond the preventative measures, they also change by country depending on social, political, and economic situations.

App marketers must be aware, however, of the statistical likelihood that users will keep using their apps. Apps that don’t have a lot of value don’t have a long lifespan, because users move on quickly, and most apps don’t have long-term value to users. This varies by the types of app and its long-term relevance. Messaging apps tend to have higher retention rates, which makes sense because communication is an ongoing essential need, whereas gaming apps can have shorter lifespans because they are recreational and non-essential⁠—dispensable in nature. Localytics found that after three months, an average app’s rate of continued use after the first time is about 29 percent. In general, app retention rates are about 5 percent. This has been the trend for the last decade. On average, since 2012, the average rate for apps being used more than once has stood around 30-40 percent, according to Statista data.

COVID-19 changed the narrative quite a bit in the app store and rapidly, too. While the same sort of guiding principles in marketing the apps, like ASO, didn’t change dramatically, the focus of users did. For starters, as users around the globe found themselves at home, app installs and time spent using apps rose 20 percent. According to Visual Capitalist analysis, delivery and social media apps experienced an enormous rise in use, but not necessarily any significant increase in downloads. Media and entertainment, healthcare, online shopping, and communication apps saw both an increase and installs and users. For example, between February and April 2020, Instacart experienced a 650 percent rise in new users, while gaming apps saw an increase in 75 percent between March 12 and 19. As could be anticipated, video conferencing apps for business skyrocketed in downloads, nearly tripling in weekly downloads from October 2019 to April 2020.

These kinds of user behavior patterns in the app store are expected, but others are a little more noteworthy. Sensor Tower reported a 24 percent increase in mental-health app store downloads in April, a statistic that isn’t surprising given the mobility restrictions of the lockdown, but one that is less likely to catch the attention of marketers. Unique and anticipated behavior patterns in the app store tended to follow the geographic transition of the coronavirus. Areas the virus hit earlier, such as the European continent, saw the aforementioned trends in the app stores. Others that were yet to be hit hard saw their app stores’ activity remain largely in a pre-COVID state until the virus actually struck. These trends, both in their geographic transitions and their content, can tell app marketers much about the next few months, considering the anticipation of a resurgence in most countries.

The key in gauging the trends and reacting accordingly is to be able to pivot quickly, whether from campaigns of conversions, downloads, or encouraging retention/more usership. Directing a budget into one basket can have dangerous results, because as soon as the epicenter changes or data shows a change in user attitudes, budgets can go to waste. In an unpredictable world that is the COVID-19 pandemic, most app marketers will have to be flexible. The opposite doesn’t ring any truer, though, by speculating too much. A vision for what’s coming is critical and seeing already where the pandemic is moving and where it’s moving away from is a start.

New Zealand, for example, revealed recently it had reached zero cases, while in South America COVID-19 is hitting hard. And the app stores are reflecting the presence of the virus. In New Zealand, AppAnnie analytics showed that on April 1－during the peak of the pandemic curve worldwide－in the Apple Store, the top five apps downloaded were Zoom, Houseparty, TikTok, Microsoft Team, and Disney. As of the end of June, where the number of cases dropped below 50, the top apps data changed to predominantly games, while Tinder moved up from fourth highest-grossing to second, and SkySports resurfaced amid talk about sports returning.

South America’s ap stores show signs of a continent struggling to contain the virus. Brazil, a country with a large Android majority and one that has eased restrictions while deaths are peaking, has witnessed Tinder drop in the top-grossing category but also has seen the messenger and social apps drop off significantly from the top five Android app store list. Peru, a country that experienced a later explosion of cases, saw an app store drive to communications apps by late June when the pandemic started to wreak havoc, with social media and communications apps topping the charts.

Another trend that could determine the future of the app store while COVID-19 continues to grip the planet are the changes in the direction of the virus’s mutation. The Telegraph reported on June 20 that an Italian infectious disease clinic chief believes its virulence has died as it has mutated. This could signal that in some areas, as the public opens, app store trends could return to pre-COVID status.

Given these types of quick pivots in the app store, app marketers will also shift budgets accordingly. Appsflyer data shows the correlation between the number of new cases per day and the app store budgets, especially in China. Moving forward marketers will also shift their budgets to continents and regions that experience a jump in app usage and specific types of apps that meet the needs of their COVID-19 situations.

Regardless of what the pandemic has in store next for humanity, app marketers across the spectrum must be prepared to manage the quick change. A jump in cases in one area can inculcate marketers with a feeling that an opportunity exists elsewhere. The key is to always be on a swivel, because during these challenging times, the tide turns quickly.

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The article was first published on Business 2 Community on July 23rd, 2020