We take a look back at the articles you engaged with the most throughout 2022. We always value your comments and here’s what mattered the most to you from the past 12 months:
January – 2022 Predictions
We started the year with an interview with Murray Lambell, VP eBay UK, and Murray looked back at the challenges of the pandemic and how it had impacted ecommerce. Murray reviewed the support eBay had powered through the pandemic but pointed out that 2022 would be a year where many of the previous year’s challenges were set to continue, with economic uncertainty, supply chain issues and inflation at the top of many shoppers’ and sellers’ minds.
Little could Murray have known how prophetic his predictions would be, with the war in Ukraine, spiralling cost of living and strikes exacerbating these challenges.
February – Royal Mail excuses
In February we asked if the end of Covid restrictions would end Royal Mail excuses. They didn’t, instead their Union took them out on strike in the second half of the year and the service has plummeted to it’s most unreliable ever.
By December, Ofcom published their findings saying that “We do not expect Covid-19 to have a continuing, significant impact on the company’s service levels. We believe Royal Mail has had plenty of time to learn lessons from the pandemic, and we are unlikely to consider it as exceptional and beyond the company’s control in future”.
Ofcom aren’t likely to take strikes into account as a reasonable excuse as that’s a business matter and not unforeseen circumstances, so their next report should make interesting reading.
March – Hermes becomes Evri
Evri have turned out to be one of the stars of the Royal Mail strikes with countless businesses turning to them and discovering that their service is pretty darn good and their next day prices are cheaper than Royal Mail once you get to certain weight parcels.
However, readers weren’t quite as complimentary in comments when they rebrandedd in March– it would be interesting to here thoughts from the same retailers today.
April – Brexit is still an issue
If anyone thought that Brexit was a done deal, your made your views known in comments when we published 5 Post-Brexit Trade Myths from GFS. Brexit is still a significant challenge for many businesses.
When the pandemic hit so soon after the final split from the EU, it masked many of the cross border issues as retailers were either deluged with orders or had none at all. As a country dealing with Brexit was put on the back burner and many of the challenges are yet to be resolved.
May – eBay Promoted Listing Fees
Pretty much no one was pleased when eBay announced that they would be changing the eBay Promoted Listing Fees to include any taxes, shipping, and other applicable fees rather than just the final bid amount.
June – eBay 2FA
When eBay 2FA rolled out it appeared to be a little too stringent and readers quickly voiced their opinions. eBay didn’t have much choice as it was a requirement under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), a regulation affecting users in the United Kingdom and the EU. That didn’t mean you liked it though.
Noise on this issue quickly died down however and it appears the dial is in the right place as we’ve heard nothing since to suggest this still impacts your business.
July – Does a penny matter?
You were intrigued when we discovered that from clicking buy it now to an item landing in your shopping cart the price could change by a penny. It turned out to almost certainly be a rounding error due to VAT deductions and additions and just one of those weirdnesses that accountants love to hate.
August – Postal Strikes start
August was the month when the first postal strikes were confirmed, originally 8 days of strikes were announced but with further strikes still scheduled for the 23rd and Christmas Eve not end to the dispute is in sight.
The ramifications have been huge with every carrier in the country impacted as retailers move their volumes to alternative carriers.
September – The Queen dies
Almost everyone alive today only remembers the Queen as monarch, that is until the 8th of September when Charles III ascended to the throne. 2022 saw the sombre state funeral but in 2023 we can look forward to an additional Bank Holiday to celebrate the coronation festivities.
October – ChannelX World
We opened the doors to the first ChannelX World conference in London and dozens of speakers freely shared their time, expertise and knowledge with delegates, drawn from elite retailers, brands and industry experts who took to the multiple stages throughout the day.
We’ll be back next Autumn with ChannelX World, but look out for an announcement early in the New Year for an online event – ChannelX Live – which will take place in March.
November – Strikes, Strikes, Strikes
Strikes have been the theme of the Autumn, with Royal Mail top of retailers minds. But the postal works have been joined by just about everyone from Nurses and Ambulance drivers to the rail network, buses, National Highways, and airports, with Teachers and Firefighters likely to be next to walk out.
December – Small business losses
Never before in the Internet age has online shopping closed a full week before Christmas, but that’s the case for the majority of retailers this year and it’s hurting small businesses.
No one argues against the right of workers to strike and protests to take place, but the devastating impact of industrial action on innocent businesses is crucifying and will have a losting impact on the economy.
One Response
Murray is hardly a prophet! Anyone can predict that things will only ever get worse. In general it’s because people in the west have lost their work ethic. Not all of us but a significant portion. Getting paid to do nothing. I don’t mean just furlough, but the many non-jobs and those who want a job but don’t want to do any work – or do it properly. There is no personal pride in one’s work anymore. Oh and… Merry Christmas!