Ways to get your eCommerce business ready for Christmas sale

by eCommerceblog

The Christmas holiday season is just around the corner. Christmas is a great opportunity for your eCommerce business to take advantage of the holiday season to drive sales. Christmas and new year is not only busy for shoppers alone, they are extremely busy for store owners as well. The Christmas season is always a massive hit on the market. Every company prepares the most effective and unique promotional campaigns to hit maximum sales.

Ways to increase Christmas sale :

1. Review your last year sales :

This is the most important step for a successful marketing campaign. Analyse your previous year data to create a marketing campaign. If your previous year social media marketing was successful, then you can depend on it, this year too. In addition, you need to look at what did not perform well? If you can identify the problem and fix it, then you can rely on your last year’s marketing campaign.

2. Festive letters :

To keep your customers up to date with any offers that you are promoting  during the Christmas  season, it is the best way to get hold of as many of your past customers as possible. A good looking newsletter is sure to attract the customers. Accordingly you can design your letter, based on Christmas themes.

3. Free shipping :

One survey says that the percentage of sales increased by 49% after offering free shipping service to the customers. Most of the shoppers are always looking for free shipping to save money. That’s why many stores are offering free shipping. This has been regarded as one of the most powerful marketing strategies to increase sales during Christmas. If you don’t want to offer free shipping to customers then you can create a conditional shipping rule, by which customers can enjoy free shipping if their order value exceeds a certain amount.

4. Offering discounts :

During the Christmas period you can outline on the front page of your online shop, that you are offering a discount on certain items for just one day or a week and this offer changes every day. That way you will have people coming back for more every day to see what is the next offer.

5. Using social media :

Social media is the most influential tool for any type of business, whether it is online or offline. Social media helps you to inform your customer about your Christmas festive discounts and sales. To increase the number of customers to your store, you can use paid advertising campaigns.

6. Creating promotional ad’s :

During the Christmas season, there is neck to neck competition between stores. Promotional  ad’s play an important role in attracting higher traffic. Higher the traffic higher will be your sales and returns. These promotional ad’s highlight the Christmas discount your store is offering, free shipping ad’s which help in increasing your sales.

7. Offer gift wrapping service :

This service is something customers usually look out for during the Christmas period. For some, gift wrapping is a boredom job if it is on a large scale and also time consuming. So shops can offer gift wrapping service to customers. Customers willingly pay extra for such services.

8. Optimize the performance :

When you are dealing with an eCommerce store, customers rushing online can also slow down your store. so it is essential to optimize your store performance which enables the customer to have hassle free shopping.

9. New content :

Content marketing strategy plays an important role in attracting the visitors on your site and then converting them into customers. This year take the time to improve your content marketing strategy and try to build a niche. New content will provide new and repeat customers, it will improve your brand awareness and better customer engagement.

10. Rewarding loyal customers:

Every customer likes receiving personalized messages and your loyal customers will definitely appreciate it. This is the best way to express your gratitude. It may only be a simple holiday greeting, however it can help you to make a strong customer relation.

Conclusion:

If you start early enough your Christmas this year will be a successful one. Above mentioned tips may place you firmly on a good track to celebrate Christmas with maximum sales.

The eCommerce guide to holiday flash sales

by eCommerceTechnologyblog

People more likely buy when they feel they are getting a special deal instead of an everyday low price.  A flash sale is a short term discount or promotion on products offered by eCommerce stores specifically lasting for less than 24 hours.

Why run a flash sale?

  • A well executed flash sale can increase customers loyalty and moves excess inventory.
  • Flash sales gives an opportunity to consumers , exactly what they are looking for.Then running the deal for a short period of time gives customers that extra jolt to act fast and buy now.
  • Flash sales help sellers compete on price.
  • As an eCommerce owner you would get rid of excess inventory.
  • It lures the customers, hoping to retain them afterwards.
  • It also increases your overall sales and profit.
  • But profits aren’t guaranteed. You have to execute flash sales correctly to reap the benefits.

Reasons why flash sales fail :

1. Shipping failure :

After a flash sale is over, customers expect quick and accurate delivery. Most of the customers complain of waiting several days to receive their product after the purchase. Make sure your flash deal offers free shipping. This not only helps your brand stand differently on eCommerce platforms, also you will be competing in a better way with Amazon.

2. Inventory failure :

Sometimes e stores keep selling products even after they have no more inventory left. This means the seller has to cancel some of the orders, leading to customers dissatisfaction and mistrust of your brand. So make sure that before launching flash sales, you have plenty of stock.

3. Bots failure :

“Bots”- computer programs are the most popular hack. Firstly the sites are hit by the bot invasion and rob loyal customers. Secondly bots have created a thriving resale market online, causing both retailers and fans to suffer.

        Make sure you look at resale sites. Because,those hand-to-get items that were just on flash sale on your site are sold out. Within no time, those products are available on online resale markets. So bot protection is a key to your success as an online flash seller.

4. Site failure :

It is seen that eCommerce websites crash during their busiest sales season. During the busy season, your eCommerce site will be receiving the most traffic, processing the most orders and using the resources optimally. Thundering crowd slows your site speed, even causing it to collapse. If your business model heavily relies on flash sales, load testing your site is a must. Your website server should be able to scale on demand, to prevent crashes.

The best practices of successful flash seller

1. Determine the goals :

  • Firstly determine why you want to run the flash sale ?
  • Do you want to sell off the excess inventory?
  • Do you want to gain website traffic?
  • Do you want to attract new customers?
  • Do you want to increase brand awareness?

If any of these go with your goals then flash sales could work well for you.

2. Select your target customers :

your flash sales strategy should focus on your target customer and design your flash sale around their interest. Avoid targeting existing customers instead target your competitors’ customers. Select those customers who left negative reviews for your competitors. A flash sale is a great way to re-engage inactive customers with your offers.

3. Pick the right time :

Holidays like valentine’s day, mother’s day, Christmas day are special times of the year when consumers are emotionally ready to shop. By looking at your past order data you can decide when to run a flash sale. If you host flash sales before the holiday season, you can actually win new customers and beat the competition. This will increase your fan base before the holiday shopping event starts.

4. Pick the right product:

The products you select for your flash sale should be based on the customers that you are trying to target. For instance if you are targeting competitors customers, then choose a product that your competitors customer love at a lower price. Secondly if you want flash sales to promote brand awareness then promote your signature product that your brand is known for.  Promote the products with the highest search volumes is the best way to appeal.

5. Set right prices :

The price must be right. Your discount should be big enough to send people running to your site. If your brand never goes on sale, then 10% might be enough. Price your flash deals slightly higher than your lowest possible price. These price drops should be reserved for your biggest annual promotions like BF[black Friday] CM[cyber Monday].

6. Create a sense of urgency to promote flash sales :

Use social media platforms namely Facebook, Instagram etc., to actively engage with your customers throughout the flash sale. Show your discount in your subject line. Use countdown timers on your flash sale landing page. As flash sales are for limited time, it will create a sense of urgency. It is a FOMO deal [fear of missing out] which helps in boosting flash sales. This encourages the shoppers for impulse buying.

To sum up:

All in all flash sales can help you make a lot of money. They provide you with short term benefits like inventory clearance, generate extra revenue, brand awareness and business growth in the long run. You have to invest time and effort. It’s a boom or bust in a very brief sales window.

Tips to boost eCommerce sales for the Thanks Giving weekend

by contenteCommerceblog

Finally 2020 is coming to an end, but before that it’s thanks giving and Christmas time. Thanks giving has been regarded as the beginning of Christmas shopping season in united states. Black Friday is an informal name for Friday, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Many stores offer highly promoted sales on black Friday and open very early such as midnight.


Tips to boost eCommerce sales

1. To reach existing customers :

Keep your existing customer base as the center of your eCommerce marketing strategy. Cashing in on your existing customer is the easiest way to boost your sales. They already know your brand and product you sell. Use social media channels and email marketing to target your existing customers to show your deals and discounts you have instore for them. Target them first, other wise they will head else where for holiday deals.

2. To set referral program :

To boost online sales on cyber Monday, you can provide extra discount and exclusive deals for shoppers who refer a friend, co-worker, or a family member on black Friday. There is a gap of two days between black Friday and cyber Monday. Your existing customers would like to refer someone in exchange for more savings. You as a seller will get more sales.

3. To optimize landing page :

First optimize your landing page when the festive season is around. So make sure your landing page look attractive, engaging and optimized.

To make it attractive, give your online store theme based specific banners for black Friday, cyber Monday and Christmas.
To make it engaging, add your deals on landing page, like black Friday deals, cyber Monday sale and Christmas discounts.
Optimize your online store for desk top, mobile devices. Shoppers don’t like unresponsive slow loading website during the Holiday rush. Make sure you offer your shoppers a hassle free shopping experience.

4. To play with buyer psychology :

Buyers are people, just like all of us and they too are driven by irrational decisions. As an e-seller apply buyer psychology to your eCommerce holiday marketing strategy. Like creating a fear of missing out. Buyers are often looking to get their hands on great deals and fear missing out due to seasonal rush. Adding tags on your page like “last minute offers”, “count down deals”. You can sweeten the deal by giving free shipping and same day delivery are two more great ways to sweeten the deal.

5. To use social media :

first find your most popular social media channels, know where most of your shoppers are visiting, accordingly make your social media strategy. Target audience and come up with creative campaigns for events like black Friday, cyber Monday and Christmas. Plan your social media posts specifically for each event. Also you can run paid and promotional posts on your best product deals and discounts.

6. To improve your content strategy :

Blogs are a great way to improve SEO and incoming traffic. When it comes to thanks giving weekend you have to make changes in your usual content strategy. Your content should promote your black Friday and cyber Monday deals.

7. To optimize for mobile :

Sources confirm that every year, mobile devices claim more and more purchases. So make your website mobile friendly. Your site’s design should meet the modern standards and should impress the customers while shopping. Comparison shoppers love to research product prices online.

8. To use live chats :

Before purchasing customers has many questions, if their queries are not answered on time, they may leave the site and this can be a loss to your store. Make sure that you are responding to your customers quickly. For a hassle free communication, you can offer live chat support on your eCommerce website. This will reduce the time consumption between you and your consumer.

Conclusion :

The festive holiday season is all about the sales. The competition online is already stiff and it is only going to get tougher during the festive season. Now that you know the tips and tricks to stand out from the competition, it’s time to perfectly execute the marketing strategy.

Top Magento development trends to follow in 2021

by eCommerce

Surprisingly, there are more than 20 million ecommerce websites globally. Picking the right eCommerce platform is the foundation for benefitting from a successful online store. In today’s world, modern shoppers expect quick, consistent and smooth customer experience. Most of the eCommerce startups out there, fail due to their inability to deliver their customers a smooth customer experience. Another reason is, the eCommerce website is the platform on which they are built. Although there are tons of eCommerce platforms to choose from, Magento is gaining popularity and trust among the online owners. Startups and entrepreneurs are now seeking better Magento development services for expanding an edge over their competitors.

Some of the trends in 2021 for Magento eCommerce development are :

#1. Consistent and smooth consumer experience :

one of the most important features for an online website is to have a consistent and smooth consumer experience. Websites having this feature ranks higher on SEO. It also makes your online store stand out from the rest of your competitors. If your website doesn’t satisfy this feature then, you may lose potential customers, sales and revenue generated through them. Hundreds of new eCommerce websites are flooding the market on a daily basis, so make sure that your eCommerce website builds a consistent and smooth user experience. Platform like Magento helps your estore to fulfill this requirement on a large scale.

#2. Push notification :

website push notifications are short messages, sent by your website to your subscribers, browsers and customers. This feature is used by estore owners to grow their traffic inflow as well as to engage with their existing traffic flow i.e. their potential customers. Push notification is done through personalized emails, social media and SMS. Magento helps your website to deliver personalized push notifications to your customers by analyzing their buying patterns.

#3. Progressive web app [PWA] :

With PWA, customers have 24/7 access to the online store. It works in areas facing poor internet connection. Customers can view all the information irrespective of their platform. Magento has adapted this revolutionized feature. With this feature you can optimize eCommerce experience.

#4. Live streaming :

On eCommerce marketing, live streaming is the most effective feature, which is catching the trend. Recently webinars have gained much importance in the digital world. Live streaming of your store with live chats with your customer on a platform like Facebook helps the customers to know your product well and also the eCommerce owner will help the customer to satisfy their queries. Through live streaming you can engage with your customer from anywhere anytime. This huge shift happened because of the pandemic which pushed brands and retailers to move ahead, with this trend.

#5. Visual search :

people use visual search mostly to get directions, and identify landmarks, shop recipes, and local business reviews. People are searching more images than ever before. Platforms like Pinterest get 600 million visual searches monthly. If you want your site’s content to be served to your visitor as a search result, ensure you use image SEO. Equipping your online store with visual search and image recognition can help you attract more young buyers to your online store. Magento provides this feature to increase the capability of your eCommerce website.

#6. Voice search :

voice search has taken the eCommerce industry to a next level. The users no longer need to type a single word to search for any product with voice search feature. Voice operating assistants like Alexa, Siri or Google voice console are the buzz of the new era. As soon as the device has input, it will detect the language in which the query has been asked. The keywords in the query will be captured and the query will be answered accordingly. Magento by having this feature, helps in faster, easier and time saving search.

#7. Artificial intelligence :

artificial intelligence [AI] is transforming digital strategies. As it has the ability to improve digital marketing strategies and provide valuable customer insight for companies. For instance brands like Amazon and Spotify are using AI systems successfully. AI can analyze consumer search patterns and behaviors, use data from social media platforms and help businesses understand how customers find any product or services. So we can say that AI is the driving force behind digital marketing. Magento with this feature helps in enhancing the overall customer experience for eCommerce website and the businesses

#8. AR/VR :

Augmented reality [AR] and Virtual reality [VR] is enhancing the shopping experience. For example the users can now actually visualize the product in their surroundings and then decide whether to make a purchase or not. The main objective of AR in marketing is to achieve increased brand awareness and greater customer engagement. Best example of AR is Lens kart, it allows you to take your photo from your phone and test different types of frames by virtually placing it on your photo. You can move around and check how it looks. Magento eCommerce is providing a wonderful AR/VR technology in 2021.

#9. Integration with social media :

People spend a tremendous amount of time on social media platforms. It naturally becomes a good place to market your products and them and gain brand awareness. Leading channels like Facebook Instagram have added marketing packages to help businesses. Social media are a powerful digital marketing technique. Magento has been quick in adapting this trend to boost sales and increase revenue.

#10. To make B2B consumer centric :

today’s is a competitive market. Where we see neck to neck competition among the estores, Now there is a need for B2B companies to understand their buyers and develop a direct-to-consumer channel. This helps the estore owners to understand customer information and imparts a great customer experience. Magento has this feature of enabling B2B businesses to shift their attention from being product-centric to customer-centric.

#11. Conversion with micro animations :

The world has largely appreciated the utilization of animations such as GIFs. Currently the world is witnessing trends like memes and entertainment. Almost every social media is entertaining people with a wide range of memes. This is quite engaging. Hence animated icons can be used as one of the eCommerce shipping best practices. Magento with this revolutionized feature is helping in increasing conversion ratio.

#12. Smart search functionality :

There is no point in creating a website, if people are unaware of it. Magento has this functionality feature to look into the SEO parameters to help drive traffic to your platform. Not only driving traffic to your website but also helps in enhancing conversion ratio, thus giving a better user experience.

Conclusion :

For eCommerce platforms based on Magento, any change in technology or updation is not a big challenge to tackle. With the boom in mobile devices and websites online shopping continues to touch new heights in the coming years. Magento incorporates all the latest functionalities and keeps innovating to help brands stay ahead in online business.

Ways to Optimize your eCommerce product pages

by contenteCommerceTechnologyblogSEO

Beautifully designed home pages are important for making a good impression. But no pages have a greater impact on sales and overall conversions than product pages. It’s where your customers evaluate your products, look for special offers and ultimately decide to click the “add to cart” button. Thus helps the visitor to become the customer. Make sure that your product page is optimized, so that you don’t miss out on potential visitors.

The fundamental secret to e-commerce growth is not more traffic, but more conversions from the existing traffic. So there is a need to create a highly effective and optimized site that helps to convert as many visitors as possible into sales.

Ways to optimize your product pages..

#1. Clearly specify your product name :

product names affect search rankings to a great extent. Use the keywords to create descriptive product names. Ensure that they are to the point and include the necessary descriptions customers might be searching for. Make sure that your product names are relevant and match with the description provided on your landing page.

#2. Use high quality images:

Shoppers move rapidly through web pages or search engines, unless something catches their eyes. Large clear and high quality photos of your products can make it easy to grab the attention of the shoppers. The shoppers can’t see the product in person, but they can assess the product, its quality with a high quality photo/image. High quality photos cover all the product details and makes the buyer feel confident while making their online purchase.

#3. Provide detailed product content :

Beyond product images, a great ecommerce product page should provide a high level of information about the product. It’s the content that informs customers about the benefits and features of a product. It can convince them to buy from you. Make sure that you use a polite, engaging and personal touch in your product description. This will help the customers to decide while buying the product. Detailed content will also help you rank higher in SERPs and thereby bring in more customers to your store.

#4. Add trust badges :

Now-a-days we hear a lot about data breaches, cyber theft, credit card frauds and personal information being stolen by hackers. Due to this customers become more wary to share their personal information online. This is creating a barrier to e-commerce shopping. As an online owner, you have to convince the shoppers that their information is safe in your hands. To build this trust, trust badges are recommended. As per study, 48% of shoppers agreed that the trust seals help them to decide whether to make a purchase. Trust badges are easy way to let shoppers know that their purchases are safe and help to build confidence in your company and feel comfortable to make purchases. 

#5. Improve site speed :

Site speed is one of the main factors for ranking websites in the search engine. Searchers hate waiting. Check the loading time of the web page, if it takes more than three seconds to load then there is a need to make the website lightning fast. There are many tools available to make the site faster, such as web page test, Google page speed, Yslow and others. Quickening the site speed of your product pages is the ultimate remedy to cart abandonment, Rather than getting discouraged with slow pages.

#6. Make mobile a priority :

Today over 80% of online shoppers use their mobile phones to shop through e-commerce. Make sure that you optimize your website to use on mobile phones equally well. A mobile unfriendly store may lose its customers, sales revenue, traffic and everything.

#7. Sense of urgency :

Create a sense of urgency in the minds of your customers, so that they rush to make purchases. You must use FOMO[fear of missing out] well enough to convert engagement into purchase. One way of doing this is by announcing a limit time sale. You must ensure that you make them realize that they will miss out the sale if they are late. You can do so by adding a countdown clock. Another way of doing it, is by letting your customers know that a limited quantity of the products is left.

#8. Reviews from customers :

Reviews build trust and give potential customers the reassurance they need from others to make their purchasing decisions. Given the power of referrals, it’s best to prominently feature reviews from customers on your product pages. For instance Shopify users can download the product reviews app on the Shopify store.

#9. Pricing and shipping costs :

On the product page, you should clearly mention the price of the product. One more aspect where most e-commerce websites fail is the shipping cost. Very few e-commerce product pages list the pricing and shipping information transparently. Usually the shipping and VAT charges are added later on. This will put off your customers interest. Instead try to be more transparent about your charges in the first place. Show your shipping charges and the complete cost of the purchase right on the product page. To make the offer more sweet, you can offer free shipping to your customers. 

#10. Display the return policy on your ecommerce product page :

Your goal should remain as transparent as possible with your customers. A great way of doing this is by outlining your return policy on the product page. Your customers must know the steps that they may need to take, if they wish to return the product. A clear return policy on the e-commerce product page makes things clear as well as reduces the conflict that might arise after the purchase of the product.

Conclusion :

As an online seller, the product page is your final moment to win the sale. If you can show buyers the benefits of your products on this page, they will complete their order and give you a sale. You can easily craft a product page that drives conversions, by using the tips in this guide. With few changes and adjustments, your product page will keep shoppers engaged and gradually lead them towards completing their purchase.

What to test in an eCommerce Website

by eCommerceTechnologyblog

People are adopting online shopping like never before, and global eCommerce market size is expected to grow very high in the coming years. Current technology trends and accessibility have made it possible for every business to create an eCommerce platform in no time and start selling. It is important to test eCommerce websites and mobile applications, so that it enhances users experience, customer data security, quick load time, safe and secure transaction. All these factors help in maintaining the website stability and enjoyable customers experience.

Why testing is important for your eCommerce success:

eCommerce applications have lots of users world- wide as they deal with finance, marketing retail and wholesale, manufacturing and auctions. Better testing techniques will safeguards the website from failure. The main reasons for testing your eCommerce application is to check the usability of the application, its user friendliness and to make your eCommerce website/ application bugs free.

Following are the important factors where testing of eCommerce websites would be helpful :

1. Ensuring the readiness of transactions :

Testing an eCommerce website will help you make sure that every single webpage on your website is tested well enough and is validated to complete all the eCommerce transactions. It will also confirm whether it is ready for the customer use or not.

2. Enhancing the usability :

The success of online buying website depends upon the increased and smooth usability, along with reduced risk factors. Testing process for eCommerce website deals with both of these aspects.

3. Reducing the risk of changes :

The changes in your eCommerce website should enhance customers experience and a hassle free transaction. Testing makes sure that the incorporated new changes doesn’t affect the website and it is bugs free.

4. Evaluating the functionality and compatibility against load :

In order to serve customers requirements and needs perfectly, every organization needs to ensure that the function provided in their websites are working properly at different amounts of load conditions and whether the website is able to support different browsers and platforms or not. Testing is a must for eCommerce website to ensure the compatibility and good working conditions of the website during heavy loads i.e. during holiday season as well.

Important segments of eCommerce testing :

Testing eCommerce website will help you to identify and rectify errors, that affect your website’s performance and a good customer experience.

#1. Home Page:

Home page is the first page to appear when a user opens the website. On an eCommerce website the homepage consists of a very rich and useful source of information. It is important to test the interoperability and functionality of the homepage of the e-commerce website.

#2. Category pages :

It is one of the major areas in terms of testing. The range and breadth of the products should be tested by checking that the products are grouped as per category or not. Also check, how quickly the user is able to find the correct product category on the website.

#3. Product detail page :

The product detail page is the heart of the eCommerce system. Hence it is really important to make sure that the product detail pages are tested thoroughly and how the functionality of these pages work. It involves checking elements like,

  • Product code and title
  • Product image
  • Enlarging the image
  • Product description
  • Full body view of the product….and many more.

#4. Shopping cart :

Separate resources and efforts should be dedicated towards the functionality of the shopping cart. They should also test that the quantities, shopping cart items and display option are shown accordingly. Whether the transactions taking place on the website or not ? The functionality of removing and changing items in a shopping cart should also be tested.

#5. Payment Gateways :

This factor is very important for both the businesses and the customers because it involves money. The payment gateway allows a merchant to accept credit, debit card and other forms of electronic payments. So payment modes should be safe and secure as these are important targets for hackers and scammers.  The checkout and payment gateway should also be tested with different payment options such as PayPal, online banking, cash, etc..,

#6. Search :

Most of the customers come to the website and search for a specific product that they have in mind. Hence the website should make it easier for customers to locate the product without much difficulty. This is a crucial segment which should be tested thoroughly. This factor helps in determining the success of the eCommerce website, because customers often have only a few features of a certain product in mind. Search algorithm of your website helps the visitor to find the best product, they are looking for. 

#7. After order tests:

Whenever a customer places an order there are many things that will happen afterwards, such as showing the shipping status, there is an option to cancel the order in case the customer doesn’t want it. Sometimes the customer wants to return their product in case of a defect or a complaint. So there should be a feature relating to the returns as well. The things to be tested here are that these features are working properly and are easy to use or not, because this can affect the customer.

#8. Browser compatibility:

It is important for eCommerce applications to work on all types of web browsers such as Google chrome, Firefox, opera etc.., you need to test the browser compatibility of the application to make sure that your customers are able to use your e-commerce website without any hassle.

Testing eCommerce application work flow :

  • Search functionality, sign up and login options
  • Features for posting product reviews so that other customers can see them and make their decision.
  • Sorting features, to filter different product types
  • Adding or removing products from the shopping cart.
  • Checking out process, invoice generation and order number, payment processing and payment gateway for buying the product

            So, to offer a hassle free e-commerce experience to customers, it is important to test the complete workflow of your website and mobile application. Before planning and performing the functional testing, specialists should understand and familiarize themselves with the e-commerce website very well, so that they can plan tests accordingly.

Pull up :

By conducting thorough eCommerce website application testing, you can significantly reduce the number of errors that crop up when the website is made live to your customers.

Best ECommerce Platform and Website Builders

by blog

ECommerce websites are virtual stores where products and services are listed in categories for customers to browse and buy them online. Many software providers offer best eCommerce platforms along with online store builder tools. With these set of tools you can create customized eCommerce website for your business. The best eCommerce platforms can enable your business to set up an online store that suits your need.

Best eCommerce Website Builders of 2020:

1. Wix :

This is a very simple and user friendly website. The big advantage of using wix is, it has easy drag and drop interface. It means you can drag and drop content blocks, spacers, images and texts wherever you want them. It also has limitless customization options .Wix usability scores 5/5 . It has a professional looking design without searching high and low for the right app’s. Wix provides a beautiful eCommerce website templates. You have to simply plug in your images and content on the website. It has two negative points, one is negative customers review and there is no 24/7 customer support.

2. Shopify :

It is regarded as one of the giant of the eCommerce world. It offers easy integration with your social media sales channels, user-friendly, inventory tracking and some decent SEO features. Shopify is the best eCommerce website builder for small business owners, who are just starting. As it has ample resource for new business owners. It helps not only to start your business, but also helps in developing it on long run. Shopify usability scores 3/5. Along with these pros of shopify there are certain weaknesses such as poor design on free templates, extra transaction fees on credit cards. Shopify is easier to use, if you pay for a quality theme and apps available on the platform.

3. Square space :

It is one of the cheapest website builders on the market. It’s an all-in-one solution provider website for small business. It also provides blog and beautifully designed site pages, which an online store needs the most. The pages on square space platform are easily navigable. Customers can find what they need quickly and easily. The square space usability score is 4/5. One of the weaknesses of square space is, it does not have a sound SEO and secondly you have to master the learning curve for square space.

4. Big commerce :

If your online shop is the core of your business, you should definitely consider big commerce. Big commerce is a website builder and eCommerce software solution together. Simply uploading the products, creates your eCommerce store. There is no need of any extra work to make your shop functional and well designed. Also you can add details about your product. It is also good in terms of search engine optimization [SEO]. Big commerce doesn’t charge transaction fees. It also offers support via phone, instant chat and email. It also provides advice guidance about online selling through their eCommerce team of expert. Big commerce usability scores 3/5. Few of the weaknesses of big commerce are limited free themes, negative customer reviews and complicated customization.

It was tested and found that big commerce wasn’t the easiest website builder, but it was one of the easier-to-use online store.

5. Woo commerce :

Woo commerce platform is very easy to use. It is simple to install and cheap to build an eCommerce website. Woo commerce is a free plugin, that can turn your WordPress website into a fully functional eCommerce website. Through woo commerce, you can customize your eCommerce website according to your needs by choosing your own plugins. This makes woo commerce one of the best contenders for those looking to start an online retail business.

6. Core commerce :

Core commerce was set up in 2001 to focus more on providing eCommerce services to small and medium business. This platform is based on simplicity and transparency. It promises the customers that it is easy-to-use platform with no hidden charges. Core commerce offers store designing, order processing and marketing. It also offers unlimited product customization.

7. 3dcart :

This platform is user friendly with plenty of innovative features. 3dcart was incorporated with most eCommerce features into one platform. This platform helps you to increase visitors and sales. Includes features like social media marketing, SEO and an expansive market place. It also has a strong support team, which works round the clock to ensure that your website works optimally. Many of the features of 3dcart platform are highly tailored to the needs of each business.

8. Weebly :

Weebly is an all purpose drag and drop website builder, with lots of customization. It also offers a free website builder option. It provides shoppers with a convenient shopping cart. Weebly shopping cart software is set up automatically when you create your online store. So you can start selling online immediately, no technical skills needed. Weebly usability score is 4.5/5. Main weakness of Weebly are

  • fewer customer service options
  • extra costs for most eCommerce option

Conclusion :

The right eCommerce site builder for your business will depend mostly on your budget and your business. Each eCommerce platforms and websites has their own pros and cons. So consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Product data enrichment—best practices for B2B and B2C SaaS

by contenteCommerceProduct Data Enrichmentblog

Product data enrichment is about providing clear and complete information of your product. Customers visit your website but within no time they leave the site; as the data available of your product doesn’t keep them engage. The information of your product may not be relevant and acceptable as per customers need. This is here the product enrichment plays its role and helps the online owners to convert visitors into customers.

 Usually we come across the websites sharing a product with only text description or photo. Product enrichment helps by providing more details of your product; like color, size, measurements, product related accessories etc.,

Advantages of Product Data Enrichment

  • It helps the customer to understand the product completely with all updates.
  • Aids in increasing the engagement time with the visitors and converting them into customer.
  • It helps in the decision making power of the buyer.
  • It creates a reliability image of your product in the eyes of the buyer.

The Best Practices:

Data enrichment is a critical part of master data management, allowing users to have confidence in the information guiding their actions.

       Data enrichment facilitates faster product discovery, accurate search results and rich experience. Online stores have to enrich their products with the required content that includes relevant images, product descriptions and videos.

  • Category details : This simplifies search and sort products in the correct categories.
  • Certification : Labeling products with the correct certification will help users find product easily.
  • Size detail : For fashion products enrichment can be done by adding size details; which will facilitate easier decision by the customer.

       We can add relevant tags or information to products or catalogs to help users find relevant products easily. Such activities help Online Store in different ways like :

  • Customer can find the right product faster.
  • When products are labeled with correct values, they replace the fake products in search ranking.
  • It also improves customers experience and wins customer loyalty.

Higher Search Engine Ranking:

 When product catalogs are filled with rich product descriptions, it gets easier for search engines to sort and rank, these products higher. And so these search engines depend on alt tags, attribute values; and also other relevant information for ranking a product higher in search result.

Global Standards:

 ECommerce owners should make sure that no fake products are pushed through their platforms. So, Brands like Adidas and Nike are going behind market places that allow sellers to sell fake products. With product enrichment online stores can easily identify real products and label them with the necessary tag and display genuine products on site search result.

Influences Conversions:

The main motive of product enrichment is to provide good customer experience. If the product has all the details clearly laid, then surely the visitors will convert into loyal customer.

Boost Sales and Revenues:

The study shows that one in three customers are likely to never shop from a store after just one bad experience, which means a decline in sales and revenues. Also Data enrichment improve customer experience which leads in boosting sales and revenues.

Product Discovery:

Product discovery is the event where customers find their desired product. A faster product discovery can make or break a customer view point towards your store. This will also add on to revenues.

Pull Up:

ECommerce stores will continue to innovate; and bring in facilities to impress customer because of increased online competition. Product enrichment will play a vital role by offering quality customer experience; and quick pleasure for ECommerce success.

Things you need to do after launching your eCommerce website

by eCommerceProduct Data Enrichment

The real work begins after launching e-commerce website. Many businesses launch their website, but very few succeed. Once the site is set up there are several other things which should be ensured, so that it is ready for the users.

Things you should do after launching an eCommerce website

#1. Be ready with Product Feeds:

Once the website is launched, now its time for the world to know about it. Here comes the product data feed. Product data feed is a file which includes a text based list of data from an eCommerce store. The file includes list of products in an organized way. So that each product can be displayed advertised or compared in a unique way. Submitting product data feed to shopping channels like amazon, Flipkart and others. Make sure your data is specific and comprehensive. This helps you to maximize your online exposure through product visibility.

#2. Web Analytics:

Web analytics helps in measuring web traffic. This is used as a tool by eStore owners to assess and improve the website effectiveness. Google analytics alone is enough to receive traffic statistics. This helps you to know 1. How many people are visiting your site. 2.where the traffic is coming from ?.

#3. Webmaster Tools:

Google webmaster tools [GWT] is a free service that helps you to evaluate and maintain your website’s performance in search results. It offers you valuable information that can help you in marketing. Also tells you which queries are driving the most traffic. It allows you to know about the website security compromises and to eliminate the same.

#4. Improve the Content:

Keep churning out the new content. Nobody wants to visit a stale website. So keep producing a steady stream of content to keep the site relevant and current. Make your content simple and clear. It should be accessible to a wider audience. High quality and informative content boosts the search engine ranking, resulting in driving massive traffic to the site. So it is well said “content is the king “.

#5. Improve the Site Speed:

Site speed is one of the main factors for ranking websites in the search engines. Searchers hate waiting. Check the loading time of the webpage, if it takes more than 3 seconds to load than there is need to make the website lightning fast. There are many tools available to make the site faster. Such as web page test, google page speed, yslow and others.

#6. Promote the Website:

Online marketing has become so popular and successful that businesses are spending more on promoting website. Promoting the website via social media, SEO, promotional ad’s content marketing are more commonly used platforms. Having a blog on your website can increase your ranking on  search engines. You will get both exposure, traffic and social media share.

#7. Social Media:

Social Media is the most influential tool for any type of business, whether it is online or offline. It helps in connecting with the customers and driving them back to the website. Do some research and find which social media helps in driving more traffic to the site and increasing the conversion ratio. Online stores with the social media presence such as Facebook, Twitter accounts, has 32% more sales than the average store.

#8. Optimize Search Engines:

Website optimization is essential to make it more easily found by search engines. Using of relevant keywords through out the website content can do wonders. while dealing with eCommerce store ,customer rush online can slow down the search engine. So it is essential to optimize the search engine performance for a hassle free trading. Make sure to optimize the website content for local search, image search and voice search.

#9. Google Search Console:

Google Search Console is a free service offered by google. It helps to monitor, maintain and any difficulty the website is facing. Google search console helps to understand how Google sees the website and can take specific steps to improve the ranking. It also points out internal errors, if there are any. This is an extremely valuable tool to set up on the website.

Conclusion:

Launching an eCommerce website is not an easy task. What you do after the launch really determines your success. Keeping up the business website is an uphill task. But the above mentioned tactics can truly change the game.

2021 Vision eCommerce Trends To Expect In The New Year

by eCommerceTechnologyblog

The dynamic world has made the eCommerce business both scary and exciting. Changes either help us to grow or face new challenges that we are not able to sustain.  This business is still expanding bigger and brighter than before. This content will give you a sneak peak of the eCommerce growth in 2020 and beyond.

#1. Global eCommerce Sales:

The market share of eCommerce business is 17.5% of the total global retail sales. Studies state that eCommerce sales will reach a new high by 2021. It is going to grow approximately up to 265%, from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $4.9 trillion in 2021. eCommerce business has more opportunity for growth in future. This shows that traditional business should embrace online business trends along with their offline business.  

#2. Prevalence of Omni Channel:

Omni channel shopping means to know what, where, when, why, and how people are purchasing the products you sell on a particular channel. Multi channel shopping is on the works for instance, people search for the product online but then buy in-store directly. Knowing your customers taste and preferences will help you to promote your product. Make sure that you adapt click and collect strategy, where shoppers can purchase online and pick it up in a store close to them.

#3. Shopping through Social Media:

Instagram, twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube are the social media channels which provide shopping facilities just a button away. social media allows businesses to enable product tags in their posts. when people tap to view a product, they usually see the product image, product description, price and a link where they can purchase the product. Social media is a tool for hassle free communication.

#4. Cross Border Shopping:

Study shows that 57% of online shoppers have made online purchases from an overseas retailer in the last six months. Shoppers are looking for products online outside their home country. Growing eCommerce trend is going global. Make sure that you invest in infrastructure and technology which will help your eCommerce business to adapt to overseas buyers.

#5. B2B eCommerce:

B2B eCommerce is the online selling and marketing of products from one business to another. The target audience of b2b company is not a consumer, but another company. So these companies require a unique approach of marketing and branding their products. B2B buyers usually need to go through various steps including sales representative interaction, negotiations and approvals before they can make a successful purchase.

#6. Mobile Shopping:

With their mobile devices shoppers can now browse, research and purchase products whenever and whatever they want. more than 50% of all internet traffic is from mobile devices. google has also shifted its algorithm towards mobile users. The websites that perform best on the mobile will be ranked accordingly. websites which do not accommodate mobile users, will have low readability and slow page loading speeds. To optimize your site, Google provides you with few tools to check if your website accommodates mobile users.

#7. Voice Commerce:

Voice operating assistants like Alexa, Siri or Google voice console are going to be the buzz in the new year. A very recent trend to the eCommerce world is the rise of voice technology. It has led to new ways on how people interact with brands through voice activated online browsing. As soon as the device has input, it will detect the language in which the query has been asked. The keywords in the query will be captured and answered accordingly. Voice commerce are faster, easier and time saver.

#8. New Payment Modes:

Flexible payment  mode has become the priority of online business this year. Popular payment services such as Google pay, PayPal, Google wallet, PhonePe and more have significantly helped to increase the conversion ratio. This digital mode of payment allows the customer a frictionless shopping experience. In fact 70% of people expect that digital payments will overtake cash and cards by 2030. The more convenience you provide in payment, the more and better results you reap.

Conclusion:

The competition online is already stiff and it is only going to get tougher in the coming years. So arm your website with new trends for eCommerce to help you get ready with the changes of the coming years and elevate your eCommerce business in 2021 into a new height.