Michael Zakkour

Michael Zakkour is the Founder and Chief Strategist at 5 New Digital, a consultancy that advises clients on strategy, structure, implementation, and transformation in the digital realm. Michael has over 20 years of experience in eCommerce, specializing in digital transformation, data science, the China/APAC market, digital commerce, and new retail strategy. He is also the Founder and Managing Director of China BrightStar, LLC. As an author and speaker, Michael has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR, the BBC, and many other media outlets.

 

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Younger generations like Gen Alpha interact with commerce brands by balancing physical and digital interactions, playing video games like Fortnite and Roblox while socializing with friends. This online and offline integration has initiated a new retail class, where brands must amplify the shopping experience to reach younger audiences. How can you leverage immersive and experiential commerce to excel in the new digital age?

With consumers becoming disinterested in two-dimensional shopping experiences, traditional eCommerce is underperforming. According to digital thought leader Michael Zakkour, eCommerce’s pervasive presence has led consumers to desire more meaningful interactions. Immersive commerce integrates live streams, shoppable videos, virtual environments, and avatars to create engaging and pragmatic experiences. Capitalizing on modern retail requires identifying top-performing digital tools and channels and developing a video commerce strategy involving streaming and live shopping videos with real-time purchasing options. 

Tune in to the latest Digital Deep Dive episode as Aaron Conant welcomes Michael Zakkour, the Founder and Chief Strategist at 5 New Digital, back to the show to discuss leveraging immersive commerce to engage younger generations. Michael shares actionable steps for success in the new digital realm, the importance of interactive video content, and how to optimize your budget for experiential commerce.

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About BWG Connect...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy and networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies, and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting-edge and provide our clients with best-in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune-100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights and actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to Aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.

It’s never been easier to stand up a professional eCommerce entity, but brands are finding it hard to make a dollar. The Wall Street Journal recently released an article stating that Amazon has posted its first quarterly loss since 2015, mainly due to supply chain issues, inflation, and a slump in online shopping. 

If an eCommerce giant like Amazon has trouble generating profits, what does this mean for your eCommerce brand? Is there a way to become more profitable?

What’s Consuming Your Profits?

Profits

Why aren’t companies making money on their eCommerce platforms? Two likely culprits are engulfing your profits: the cost of consumer acquisition and supply chain and fulfillment difficulties.

According to Michael Zakkour of 5 New Digital, the average cost of consumer acquisition for a large retailer was $124 two years ago. This year, the average cost of acquisition is $505. If you're spending that much money on marketing and advertising to get people to buy from you once, make sure you have a plan in place to turn them into long-term customers.

In addition to the cost of customer acquisition and loyalty, brands are losing profits due to supply chain and fulfillment costs. There's been extreme pressure on the supply chain overall, particularly during the last year and a half. As the cost of manufacturing, transportation, and distribution has risen, inflation has also affected fulfillment. The expenses for simply shipping packages have hit highs. So, now you've got downward pressure on the supply chain and downward pressure on fulfillment.

The Unified Commerce Approach

Rather than just selling on digital channels, it’s vital that your brand takes a unified commerce approach if you want to survive. This means connecting channels in meaningful ways. For example, try asking yourself, “How does livestreaming create an in-store purchase? How does an in-store browse turn into a QR code purchase in a new CRM acquisition?” 

A principle supporting unified commerce is the ability to diversify your channels. Especially when you're looking at new channels, this step is crucial. Livestream, QR codes, social commerce, Roblox, TikTok, and The Metaverse are just a few strategies and platforms where you can generate sales, reach a wider audience, and increase profits.

Along the same lines, think about physical retail in addition to eCommerce. Simply being online or offline won't produce success. To have a prosperous enterprise, invest in various types of retail platforms and shape a cohesive strategy. 

Essential Strategies To Become More Profitable

The unified commerce approach is key to boosting eCommerce profitability. But what specific actions should you take? First, do a complete and honest assessment of your eCommerce business and financials.

Next, assess your service level and supply chain pain points. Look at what people expect in terms of customization and personalization because it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. During these assessments, it’s important to recognize that technology, data science, and digital tools are the power sources for profitability.

Finally, it’s crucial to sell on profitable channels and create an operation with a unified marketing approach and sales strategy. Consumers expect an eCommerce presence, so you need to develop new strategies across diversified channels to meet their needs and create long-term customers (and sales).

Michael Zakkour

Michael Zakkour is the Founder and Managing Director of 5 New Digital, a digital and retail consultancy focused on helping startups to Fortune 100 brands develop successful eCommerce and digital commerce strategies and shape their retail and consumer pathways. They work with companies in North America, Europe, and Asia and navigate growth opportunities through innovative solutions that drive revenue in their domestic and international operations. 

As an acclaimed and sought-after professional speaker and lecturer, Michael is a regular guest on the BBC, CNN, NPR, and NBC. He has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, FORBES, WWD, MSNBC, NYSE TV, and countless other print, digital, web, and broadcast outlets. He is also an author, entrepreneur, and investor with more than 20 years of experience building successful businesses.

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As digital marketplaces continue to expand, how can your brand prepare to engage with consumers on the next level? Consumers are demanding personalized experiences, which drives the need for brands to offer elite eCommerce shopping experiences. What if you could use practical applications of digital tools and technologies to build a luxury experience?

According to Michael Zakkour, there’s an opportunity for individual brands and large organizations to make the leap into the metaverse and use digital tools to become leaders. Innovative tools and the fusion between eCommerce and virtual space produces the perfect foundation for brands to associate themselves with these environments. Building a brand in this environment means giving consumers a new and elevated experience with how they shop, entertain, and consume information. How can you boost your brand performance across these emerging digital worlds? Today, Michael is here to share his advice and insights on the digital space.

In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive podcast, Aaron Conant sits down with Michael Zakkour, Founder and Managing Director of 5 New Digital, to talk about how brands are interacting with the metaverse and associating with NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Michael discusses the monetization and consumption of brands in the digital space, how brands and retailers are engaging and using NFTs, and rapidly growing your brand in the metaverse by educating consumers on the value of your brand.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Sponsor for this episode...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy & networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting edge and provide our clients with best -in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, start-up to Fortune -100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights & actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.

Michael Zakkour is the Founder and Managing Director of 5 New Digital, a digital and retail consultancy focused on helping startups to Fortune 100 brands develop successful eCommerce and digital commerce strategies and shape their retail and consumer pathways. They work with companies in North America, Europe, and Asia and navigate growth opportunities through innovative solutions that drive revenue in their domestic and international operations.

As an acclaimed and sought-after professional speaker and lecturer, Michael is a regular guest on the BBC, CNN, NPR, and NBC. He has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, FORBES, WWD, MSNBC, NYSE TV, and countless other print, digital, web, and broadcast outlets. He is also an author, entrepreneur, and investor with more than 20 years of experience building successful businesses.

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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

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How can businesses take advantage of the current opportunities presented by the digital age and adapt to the changing business landscape? If you are a company that wants to thrive in this challenging environment, you will want to discover new strategies that help keep you in step with all the developments at your doorstep.

As an investor, consultant, author, and entrepreneur, Michael Zakkour has valuable insights into how companies can thrive in the changing digital landscape. Building brand loyalty and increasing customer value mean implementing business strategies that leverage the digital landscape. Do you know if you should use a unified commerce versus an omnichannel strategy? There is a lot to consider. You can decrease customer acquisition costs while increasing the consumers’ lifetime value with the right strategy. Whether you're running a small business or managing a large company, Michael's expertise will help grow your business.

In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive podcast, Aaron Conant interviews Michael Zakkour, Founder and Managing Director of 5 New Digital, about how companies can thrive in a world where the digital age continuously shapes consumer behavior and demands. They talk about the approaches brands can use to adapt and boost revenue through a robust unified digital commerce approach, ways to decrease customer acquisition costs, how the retail renaissance affects brand strategies, and much more.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Sponsor for this episode...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy & networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting edge and provide our clients with best -in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, start-up to Fortune -100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights & actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.

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