Happy New Year!

From the VendLab team! We hope you all had a good Q4 and are fully recovered for whatever this year will bring.

How has your 2024 started? Overall, UK retail sales were down in December compared to the previous year, but there's always scope for good online retailers to do well, regardless of the total market. There's always a new market to open, a new channel to try out, and a better way to manage your processes. That's what this newsletter is about - to give you ideas and try something new.

Channel of The Month: TikTok

We are very excited about TikTok Shops, which we see as a huge opportunity for brands to reach TikTok's massive audience. Setting up a TikTok shop simply requires a product feed from your store (Shopify has an easy-to-use app). You can then invite influencers to promote your product in return for a commission. Unlike other social media platforms, payment is success-based and so very low risk.

What are the downsides? Although you can choose which influencers you work with, you can't control what they say…

It's great for cheaper, more impulse-driven items, but think carefully about your brand and avoid if your products have verifiable claims, like healthcare products.

If you'd like to learn more about TikTok Shops, please drop us a line. 

Trademarks for eCommerce Brands

Ownership of your brand has always been important, but never more so than now. Whether you are selling on Amazon, are considering expanding overseas, or just want to protect one of your key assets, you should think about trademarks.

In the latest episode of the How to Grow your eCommerce Business Podcast, Trevor talks to Anita Mar from Trademark Angel about the dos and don'ts of trademarks for eCommerce businesses. Anita is a trademark expert and has helped hundreds of brands register for trademarks and add those trademarks to the Amazon Brand Registry. Anyone who has done this will know it is not always as easy as it should be.  

VendLab News

We've had a busy start to 2024, signing up some exciting new clients and hitting key milestones on our existing ones.

We are by nature shy, retiring types, modest and self-effacing, but we did want to share this with you. We took over this Amazon account in September last year, and we (and the client!) are quietly pleased with our job, though we think there is plenty more to come.

As former retailers, we know that profit is more important than sales, and we run all our clients' accounts with this in mind. Let us know if we can help you.

 Regards

The VendLab Team