Because the customer journey now has so many potential touchpoints, having a siloed CX team is no longer enough. Now, the customer experience needs to be a top priority across the organization — not just in the marketing department. Here’s what to consider as you make your company more customer-centric.

Product Teams Need Clarity on What Customers Want

Among the 71% of consumers who switched brands last year. 58% did so for better product quality, per Salesforce’s 2022 State of the Connected Consumer report. Customer centricity starts with knowing what your customers want, why they want it, and how they will use it. Even if the product team has access to the same customer persona data as the marketing team (and if they don’t, they should), deciding what products to build or source is a continual challenge that’s shaped by consumer trends, economic forces, and the quality of the supply chain.

Customer data can help inform product decisions if it’s granular and comprehensive enough. For example, in addition to knowing which existing products have sold well, the product team can use the voice of customer data from product reviews, social media conversations, and customer-service feedback to identify the features customers like and use and those they don’t.

AI-powered demand forecasting tools can help product teams see the details that can separate a winning product from a dud. One demand forecaster recommends testing products that include “20 or 30 customer-centric attributes” as opposed to a handful of merchant-focused attributes, then evaluating their appeal and forecasting demand with an algorithm that identifies the most important attributes to customers. That data can then go back into the algorithm along with the next season’s sales data. It creates more precise product selection and development over time.

Service Teams Need to See Complete Customer Histories

Customer service teams can reduce customer churn, increase loyalty, and even drive revenue. But only if they have the insights they need to deliver the kind of customer-centric service experience consumers expect. The proportion of consumers who say that the experience a company delivers matters as much as the products and services have risen from 80% in 2020 to 88% now, according to Salesforce. When it comes to contacting customer service, that survey found that 83% of customers expect to reach a person immediately. The same number expect one customer service person to solve their complex problems.

When customer service agents have the customer’s purchase and customer-service contact histories available, they can understand the issue faster and save the customer time and frustration explaining that issue. If agents also have support from CS solutions that can analyze that customer data along with product data, they can lead the customers through remote troubleshooting. Or suggest the next steps for resolving the problem without transferring the customer to another person or making them wait on hold. Automated, personalized CS tools can also suggest related products that the agent can offer as upsell or cross-sell options. And the data from each customer service engagement can help those AI/ML tools become increasingly accurate.

UX, Commerce, and Fraud Teams Need Unified Visitor Insights

Understanding what customers do when they visit your website or app is critical to improving CX. There are a number of UX elements to consider. This includes from accessibility and ease of navigation to localization for different markets and personalization for each customer. Two critical areas to focus on are customer recognition and cart abandonment.

Customer recognition is the key to displaying personalized product recommendations and other content. It’s also one of the keys to avoiding false declines during the checkout process. However, the data that supports personalization and the data that drives fraud control aren’t always unified. That can lead to order rejections that undermine the customer’s feeling of being recognized. Ultimately, it can push them to switch companies. For example, in ClearSale’s State of Consumer Attitudes on Ecommerce, Fraud & CX 2021 report, 40% of online shoppers in the U.S., U.K., Mexico, Canada, and Australia said they’d boycott an eCommerce retailer after a false decline. More than a third also said they would complain about the site on social media.

Unifying those data sets, with proper permission, can reduce false declines and improve CX. So it can carefully analyze how customers behave during checkout. Complicated or slow checkout processes pushed 35% of the consumers in the same survey to abandon checkout at least once within the past year. If those shoppers found a competitor with an easier checkout, it’s unlikely they came back to the store with a frustrating checkout experience.

Final Thoughts

Unifying data and making it visible across the organization is important. But making your entire organization more customer-centric requires more than sharing data and insights. There also needs to be a top-down commitment to change. This can include a chief experience officer or similar leader, One who can own the process and connect with different departments and rethink siloed processes and technologies. It’s a long-term process. But, with customer experience expectations and consumers’ willingness to switch companies continuing to rise, it’s an important process to begin now.

The post Why Every Department In Your Organization Needs To Be Customer-Centric appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

As a business owner, you might be wondering whether getting a virtual debit card would be of any use to your company, or streamline your finances even as you expand your operations. With this in mind, below are reasons why you should consider getting a virtual debit card for your business. But first, you need to know what a virtual debit card is. 

What’s a Virtual Debit Card?

A virtual debit card is a digital version of the physical debit card linked to your underlying debit card. Besides being virtual, it includes all other aspects of the physical debit card, such as debit card number, cardholder name, card verification value (CVV) code, and expiration date. It also has a 16-digit randomly-generated number.  

You can quickly and easily make payments over your phone or online payments using the virtual debit card. However, you can’t use this card to withdraw money from your account. 

Reasons to Get a Virtual Debit Card

Using a virtual debit card service will provide you with a couple of benefits. These include: 

1. Reduced Number of Payment Fraud Incidents

Traditional physical cards create an easy target for theft, either by getting cloned or being stolen. But when using a virtual debit card to do your business transactions, you enjoy greater security from fraud and theft. This is because you can easily deactivate your virtual debit card in minutes. You also don’t share bank account numbers. Thus, you can enjoy greater peace of mind when making online payments.

In addition, they don’t have visible card numbers and magnetic strips present on physical cards. Hence, it becomes harder for unauthorized individuals to hack into your account. Some virtual cards also require face scans or PIN details before accessing your account. 

You can also set your virtual debit card to be single-use and expire immediately after using it. This offers you further protection by ensuring your card is not used by unscrupulous dealers. Nonetheless, make sure to use a virtual debit card issued by a trustworthy provider. This way, you can be certain that their card network boasts excellent security features and extensive fraud checks.

2. Improved Oversight And Accountability

In business, you need to be accountable for every penny you spend or you risk experiencing cash flow problems or suffering considerable losses. This is where using a virtual debit card comes in handy, as it allows you to have excellent oversight and accountability for all your business transactions. 

With the virtual debit card, you’ll be able to determine how and where all your money is going as each transaction is automatically recorded in the card management system. This saves your accounts department the hassle of manually checking the expense receipts to validate each transaction, which is often time-consuming. So, you can easily and effectively monitor and control as you can easily know how every penny is spent. 

The card also comes in handy if different employees use the same virtual card to make different transactions. You can also set limits each of your staff can spend to further boost transparency and prevent any violation. This allows you, as the business owner, greater control of uses in company finances and ensures increased accountability.  

3. Convenience For E-Commerce Activities

Running a business is highly engaging and requires you, as the entrepreneur, to be fully committed to the daily operations of your enterprise. Using the virtual debit card offers you this freedom because you don’t need to physically go to the bank to complete a transaction. Additionally, you can do the transactions 24/7, unlike a physical bank operating at certain hours. 

Getting a virtual debit card also doesn’t require you to file a lot of paperwork. Along with taking a lot of time, paperwork increases the chances of making a mistake. Also, you can start right away instead of waiting 7 to 14 days for your account to start running. This is because you can handle everything conveniently and quickly using your computer. As a result, you can shift your focus to other vital matters relating to running your business. 

4. Promotes Teamwork

Another advantage of virtual debit cards is that it promotes teamwork among the employees within your business. This is because your staff will constantly need to communicate with each other when keeping track of their spending. Doing this helps to inspire collaboration within them, and they’ll find ways how they can reduce their spending. This will help the team come up with a fixed budget they can use to guide them for quarterly campaigns. 

5. Saves Your Organization Time And Money

Time and money are two precious assets you don’t want to waste in business. Utilizing a virtual debit card ensures that wasting time and money doesn’t happen because you can quickly get one at the click of a button, unlike physical cards that require manual work for making payments. You can start using virtual debit cards to do transactions, which in business is vital considering every minute counts if you want to remain competitive.

The use of these cards saves you money because digital transactions are faster and cheaper. This is because regular admin tasks are cheaper when making digital transactions. 

6. Helps You Take Back Power From Vendors

Once a vendor has your card information, they can charge you each time they want. Because of this, you might find your subscription lasting longer than you wish. Using a virtual debit card account, you can prevent this as it offers you greater control over all your online subscriptions. Accordingly, prevention allows unnecessary payments from being charged to your account if an employee forgot to cancel a subscription. 

Takeaway

Virtual debit cards are the go-to option nowadays among many businesses for both online and offline transactions. This especially comes in handy as a business owner because you’ll need to make a lot of business-to-business (B2B) transactions to pay buyers or suppliers, and you don’t want to waste precious time physically lining up at your local bank. Detailed in this post is an outline of why getting a virtual debit card can be a wise move for your business in case you have even the slightest reservations. 

The post Debit Card: Why Your Business Needs to Go Virtual appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In comparison to brick-and-mortar establishments, an eCommerce firm is more reliant on the goodwill of its customers. It’s actually quite straightforward. When a customer enters a typical physical store, they are more likely to make a purchase. After all, they went through the trouble of visiting the store. Furthermore, they are looking at the merchandise with the intent to purchase something. Therefore, few consumers leave a real store without purchasing something.

An eCommerce business, on the other hand, does not have this advantage. Since they are not actually ‘in’ the store, the customer can just close the link. Moving on to another site, the customer leaves no trace.

Here are some things you can do to make sure this doesn’t happen in your eCommerce store.

1. Downtime for eCommerce means off time.

One of the best aspects of an eCommerce site is that it is constantly open, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Therefore, you can take advantage of the fact that more and more people are using the internet to purchase goods and services. As a result, you can be selling your wares even while you are asleep.

That won’t happen, though, if your site crashes on a regular basis. If your site is unavailable, your target audience will most likely move on to another site rather than wait. Therefore, do everything you can to make sure that your site is stable and secure.

2. Customers don’t flock to slow-loading eCommerce websites.

An internet buyer’s typical attention span is roughly 3-4 seconds. Therefore, if your site does not load quickly enough, your clients will most likely leave. They will go elsewhere for another solution. After all, why shouldn’t they? There are millions of other online eCommerce stores to choose from. Therefore, make sure your site is as fast as possible if you want your customer to stay with you.

3. Make sure that the CTA is clear and in plain sight.

Why should your clients choose you above your competitors? It’s because of your call to action. This is the thing that leads people down the web marketing rabbit hole. You will lose a lot of clients if this call to action is not easy to see or not there in the first place. In addition, your shopping cart should be easy to find so that the customer understands how to purchase the items.

4. Get rid of things that aren’t selling well.

There are things that sell quickly and there are those that do not sell. This happens in every store. Therefore, concentrate on the former. Furthermore, removing the latter from your store is a great way to clean up your website and make it look and feel better. Dead products can halt your cash flow and, over time, bring your business to a halt.

Of course, you don’t have to throw them out. Instead, you could have a real sale. This is, of course, not a fake sale where retailers inflate prices, then cut them down to give an impression that they are on sale. Customers will buy your slower-moving products once they perceive that you are offering an opportunity to provide real value at discount prices.  You’ll also be able to get your cash flow rolling this way.

5. Check to see if your website is mobile-friendly.

The number of individuals engaging in eCommerce shopping on their cellphones has risen considerably in recent years. Furthermore, there are no signs that this trend will slow down anytime soon. This means that a website that isn’t mobile-friendly will miss out on the entire market. Therefore, it is critical that your website become more mobile-friendly. That way it will be easily viewable even on a small screen.

Apart from that, you should improve your SEO tactics. This will help your site appear in organic search results.

6. Include a live chat feature on your eCommerce site.

By answering all of your consumers’ inquiries, live chats will help to gently encourage them towards making a purchase choice. It’s an excellent approach to increase conversion rates and keep your target market happy. Even if they don’t buy the product, they’ll return back because of the timeliness and quality of your response. They will, at the absolute least, bookmark your website.

7. Use residential proxies to help you improve your business’s eCommerce shopping experience.

You can use residential proxies for market research to gain valuable data on your target audience’s purchasing behavior. At the same time, they’ll keep your identity hidden.

If you truly want to increase sales and improve your business’s eCommerce shopping experience, you must ensure that your site is free of latency and downtime. Furthermore, you should employ residential proxies to assist you in conducting market research on your target audience.

Image Credit: Pixabay; Pexels; Thank you!

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Social Proof: More Vital Than Ever.

According to recent research, 98% of shoppers will read product reviews before buying. Also, 21% of shoppers use the internet daily to research local companies. 35% of buyers did so weekly. In fact, only 1% of buyers never look for social proof while researching local businesses.

While most entrepreneurs recognize the value of social proof, they are often unsure how to apply it in e-commerce. These strategies can help you make consumer feedback a driving factor in your store’s success.

1. Use Visuals to Highlight Customer Reviews

To show client testimonials on your ecommerce website, you must first attract your audience’s attention. And what better method than to use a visual presentation? The human brain can evaluate visuals and assign meaning to them in as little as 13 milliseconds.

Therefore,  if you can show social evidence on your site with screenshots, photographs, or videos, you should.

2. Improve Your Social Proof

Making your ecommerce site’s social proof more engaging is another wonderful method to attract users. Videos are a great way to communicate personal tales. Client-made videos are a great method to demonstrate to potential customers what they can expect from your brand’s offerings.

You can use live updates on Shopify ecommerce sites to spice up social proof.

3. Ask Experts for Advice

Visual presentation and clever methods can help you maximize social proof in e-commerce. However, they won’t always provide you with the advantages you need to stand out. This is especially true in a low-trust industry like fashion or wellness.

Experts in your field may be able to help you persuade potential clients that your company will deliver on its promises. It’s true that some potential customers may be hesitant to try new products. Therefore, it’s wise to use social proof from a recognized professional or influencer.

This is a terrific method to build consumer trust. However, if finding an industry insider to endorse your product isn’t feasible, you can still leverage someone’s authority to generate brand trust. Obtaining third-party ratings and trust badges is a great way to do so.

4. Be open about your customers.

For example, too many online firms have abused client testimonials in the past. Amazon claims to have erased 200 million suspected fraudulent reviews in 2020. The CMA also found over 16,000 Facebook and Instagram groups where marketers paid for false reviews.

If you run an ecommerce business and are still trying to break through in a competitive market, the widespread distrust from phony reviews is a serious issue. After all, how can customers tell if the social evidence on your site is genuine?

There are a few ways to validate the social proof on your homepage. For example, you can identify “verified buyers” in your reviews. This means that each review includes a profile photo, a name, a trust badge, and information about the goods purchased.

5. Increase Social Proof with Marketing Campaigns

Don’t forget that getting folks to leave a comment isn’t always easy. The truth is that less than half of consumers will post a comment. With this in mind, it’s reasonable to infer that getting client testimonials is the first step to fully leveraging their power.

Therefore, create an automatic email campaign to do this. In addition, create a follow-up email asking customers to leave reviews and schedule it to go out a few days after they receive their products.

Further, use social media to engage with existing consumers and urge them to become brand ambassadors. If you sell things that appear excellent in images and videos, you should encourage your customers to submit their own content.

In addition, you can encourage buyers to tag you in social media posts. Create hashtags that users can use on photographs of your merchandise. Additionally, you can hold contests where people must submit a testimonial to win a gift. You make the call. However, rest assured, the outcome will be fantastic.

Conclusions

Using social proof can help your ecommerce business stand out. Just providing reviews or ratings isn’t enough anymore. Therefore, in 2022, to maximize social proof on your distribution channels, remember to:

• Make your testimonials aesthetically appealing.
• Use professional advice, third-party endorsements, and media references.
• Demonstrate that your product reviews are genuine.
• Encourage customers to become brand ambassadors.

This will not be a quick process. Nor will it, truthfully, ever end. However, you can trust that your efforts will be rewarded. This is especially true now that so many online shoppers read reviews.

Image Credit: Picjumbo.com; Pexels; Thank you!

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Leveraging WhatsApp’s Functionality the Right Way to Facilitate Customer Communication

Identification and connection with prospective clients are essential components of effective brand communication.

WhatsApp’s widespread usage among consumers has become a popular platform for businesses to communicate with their customers. Brands can reach out to prospective consumers in a personalized manner and via a channel they are comfortable with. As a result, reducing friction to the greatest extent is feasible.

Market Opportunity for Using WhatsApp for Your Brand

WhatsApp helps communicate with the customers, and the fact that text messages are opened at a rate of 98% makes this even superior.

Additionally, the critical advantage of communicating with consumers using a messaging app like WhatsApp is that they develop a greater sense of confidence in you. For instance, 53% of consumers indicate they would purchase if they could only reach out by text or a chat app.

WhatsApp bridges this chasm by providing a secure, high-speed connection.

Apart from that, the following factors make WhatsApp a valuable tool in the marketing arsenal of profitable businesses.

• Use of WhatsApp to strengthen customer relationships.
• Use of instant messaging to accelerate the customer sales cycle.
• Ability to generate superior sales numbers.

How Can You Develop an Effective WhatsApp Marketing Strategy?

Having a solid marketing plan is critical to getting desired outcomes in the field of marketing. Read these suggestions on WhatsApp marketing strategy to help you prepare ahead of time and make tweaks if something doesn’t work out as planned.

1. Automated Messages

WhatsApp for Business allows businesses to use templates to develop and send customized messages. Users can automate messages based on the specific question a customer is asking, the information they seek, waiting time elapsed, and availability. This feature greatly reduces the burden on staff to respond to every single message. It also assures a timely response even if your support people are overwhelmed with other tasks. Based on a customer profile, your interactions can be personalized to acknowledge wedding anniversaries, birthdays, and other unique milestones. This adds a level of personalization that helps to cement trust and may also provide a CTA to the recipient.

2. Personalize the User Experience

Consumers benefit from two-way interaction between companies and their customers since it allows them to have a more personalized experience. This decreases the likelihood of drop-off, enhances engagement, and piques the customer’s curiosity. Communication through WhatsApp also allows firms to differentiate themselves by providing a unique after-sales experience, including monitoring updates to customer feedback.

3. Cross-Selling

As soon as a direct channel of communication has been established between a business and its customer, WhatsApp can be utilized by the business to offer product upgrades or bundled products in connection with potential or completed purchases. These suggestions might range from advocating more services to recommending alternative things of superior performance or quality than the original item.

4. Make Use of Multimedia and Voice Communication

To assist your consumers, you can use WhatsApp to share geolocations, send purchase confirmations, photos, and audios, and receive videos.

Videos and memes effectively inform customers about future events or new items, leaving a lasting impression on their thoughts. However, memes, videos, and audio snippets should be succinct and to the point. Additionally, you can try using WhatsApp’s new product catalogue feature, which is advantageous if you do not have a website. Create a WhatsApp product catalogue for your consumers to view up to 500 goods. They may contact you with questions about your product. You may also provide a link to the whole product catalogue and additional distribution channels if you choose.

Lastly, implement a WhatsApp video/voice call communication system to enhance engagement with new clients and address customer service issues. When clients communicate with you through video or audio chat, they get a more personalized experience, which boosts the likelihood of upselling. Reap the advantages of WhatsApp by delivering the correct voice messages to the right consumers at the right time, determining which voice campaigns work for you, and optimizing further for a greater customer experience.

5. Segment Your Audience to Provide Them With More Personalized Experiences

Using the WhatsApp Labels feature to segment your audience is a wonderful approach to guarantee that your users have a more personalized experience on your platform. Why? Because there are likely to be varying user demographics, one marketing message may not be as effective as another in reaching them. It is critical to provide the greatest possible user experience!

Final Words

In short, to retain current customers while also extending your customer base, WhatsApp Marketing is a smart method to cut down on acquisition expenditures. Consider taking advantage of this excellent, low-cost platform to improve your sales and income. WhatsApp Business offers exceptional levels of consumer engagement and the fostering of long-term ties with customers. A quick reply can assist in developing confidence and greatly enhance conversions. WhatsApp marketing can be personalized with numerous possibilities for specialized communications such as welcome messages followed by birthday greetings and incentive points.

The post 5 WhatsApp Marketing Strategies for eCommerce Brands in 2022 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The advancement of technology is changing how we interact with the world. There isn’t a single business globally that hasn’t been impacted by artificial intelligence in some way or another (AI). From virtual reality (VR) gaming systems to artificial intelligence (AI) robots in industrial production, technology is advancing exponentially. And that’s not even close to Q Commerce.

However, since learning technologies and algorithms are already transforming the industry, eCommerce is especially susceptible to artificial intelligence (AI) disruption. It could alter the way we buy and sell items on the internet.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can not only do jobs that humans previously performed manually, but it can also optimize the customer experience and give businesses the information they require to make intelligent business decisions.

Here are four ways in which artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the world of e-business.

1. Artificial Intelligence Copywriting

The emergence of automatic copywriting is transforming how brands generate their sales copy and marketing materials.

Writing technologies that use artificial intelligence may generate marketing text in seconds. Instead of engaging copywriters or advertising firms to write headlines, blog introductions, or product descriptions, brands may now use artificial intelligence algorithms to accomplish the task.

These systems, which use advanced artificial intelligence language models, can provide digital ad text, social media material, and other eCommerce copy.

The majority of automated copywriting still requires manual editing. But it is well on its way to becoming a standard feature of eCommerce.

2. Chatbots and virtual assistants are two examples of artificial intelligence.

Shoppers who choose to do their shopping in a physical store benefit from the presence of clerks. An employee or assistant can aid them in navigating the store and locating what they’re looking for.

While eCommerce has always had customer care employees available to provide phone support, it wasn’t until recently that artificial intelligence (AI) could fill in the gaps and give customers more instant assistance. As eCommerce merchants strive to provide 24/7 help to all of their online consumers, chatbots and other virtual service usage is becoming more commonplace.

However, the use of natural language processing (NLP) allows these chatbots to understand and comprehend voice-based interactions with online shoppers, allowing them to provide customized offers. As a result of being programmed with self-learning skills, they are constantly increasing their ability to respond to and satisfy the wants of their customers.

3. Personalization is the next stage.

Therefore, through accurate product suggestions and advertising, AI also gives clients a more personalized experience.

Artificial intelligence algorithms will sift through massive datasets to extract meaningful insights into customer behavior. These insights will allow them to predict better what a client needs when the customer needs it. Their recommendation engine can use the information from your buying history to propose products that are similar to what you’re looking for. These days, you can even use AI scheduling tools to map out your whole day!

To give you an example, if you recently looked for sponges on Amazon, the AI algorithms will propose additional cleaning goods that are similar to sponges on your page.

However, people can also apply this artificial intelligence technology across various platforms, including websites, email, and even mobile applications. AI can assist you in providing a more delightful and simplified experience to your clients. AI can tailor to an audience and increase your productivity.

Personalization is essential for a positive customer journey. So the algorithms of AI are present in a great deal of eCommerce advertising.

4. Inventory control is critical.

For example, inventory management is the second area of eCommerce where artificial intelligence’s predictive analytics is transforming the landscape.

Maintaining current inventory, storing it appropriately, and placing orders well in advance is critical, mainly when predicting client demand.

Storage facilities do not have the capacity or the resources to maintain everything in stock at all times. This is why it is critical to prioritize the things you require and order them in the order in which you need them. Therefore, artificial intelligence uses predictive analysis to generate educated guesses about what the future needs in the market will be like.

With the help of machine learning, artificial intelligence technology is becoming increasingly accurate at anticipating what inventory you will need to order. And how much of it you should keep on hand at any given time. These systems can anticipate rapid changes in demand.

Do preventive maintenance on your technology. Automate key packing activities to boost productivity.

In conclusion, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly popular among eCommerce companies to improve their analytical insights. It provides a more tailored consumer experience, and raises their competitiveness. As the market for artificial intelligence in eCommerce continues to grow, they can leave you behind.

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From accounting to business operations, industry leaders increasingly unite their beliefs that blockchain will impact every key area of work — and the transition is already underway. According to some estimations, small business blockchain might contribute $1.77 trillion to the global economy by 2030. The Internet of Things will help see to it.

How does it work?

Blockchain automatically tracks transactions from start to end without requiring a central authority to preserve the trade or encrypt the data without the need for human interaction.

Instead, blockchain or NFT provides transparency into what occurs in the transaction’s history by classifying them. Furthermore, since blockchain is immutable, this information is safe.

This “digital ledger” enables NFT developers and disruptors to rewrite the book on traditional organizational procedures in new and exciting ways.

The technology provides greater transactional security since it is intrinsically transparent, immutable, and decentralized. They use worldly math and software principles to store almost impossible data for adversaries to exploit. Each block adds to the chain has a complex cryptographic reference to the block before it. This reference is a complicated mathematical issue that people must translate for the further following block to the network and chain.

The method creates a digital fingerprint that is uniquely encrypted.

The rising popularity of it may impact experts working in banking, agreements, settlements, or any corporate procedure that involves being a third party to marketing. As the defender of trust, blockchain cryptology replaces third-party intermediaries.

When dealing with assets using mathematics rather than intermediaries, blockchain may assist reduce overhead costs and headaches for businesses or people. If you work in this industry, you should understand how cryptocurrency or NFT assets are produced, exchanged, saved, and verified on the cloud to capitalize on their opportunities.

How is blockchain being used in business?

You now understand how blockchain may change the way organizations run. However, it is essential to reflect on the firms touched by the cloud.

Many people want to know how to use blockchain in business. A detailed understanding of blockchain applications in many sectors may provide the answer. Over time, several organizations embraced it with positive results. Here’s a rundown of some of the other blockchain business ideas altering unique organizations.

The opportunities for blockchain-based firms in the SAP services market are inspiring. For a long time, blockchain and banking have been inextricably linked. By providing secure, digital, and inflexible ledgers, blockchain may perform the very purpose of banks.

As an evolution, blockchain improves the accuracy and flexibility of data exchange in the financial services ecosystem. It can disrupt the banking industry, which has a value of over $4.8 trillion, by dis-intermediating critical services provided by banks, ranging from authorization and payment systems to expenditures.

Credit Suisse is the most visible example of platform use in the banking industry. It collaborated with the New York-based firm Paxos to compensate U.S. stock transactions using blockchain technology. Furthermore, well-known players in the financial services industry have exhibited positive instances of its use in business.

Blockchain is expanding into the finance sector.

Banking institutions and lending companies often provide underwriting for loans based on credit reports.

Clients may be antagonistic to the central credit reporting system. As a result, various systems employing platforms to create cost-effective, secure, and efficient lending and borrowing may significantly simplify the process. Clients may be open to employing loans based on a single worldwide recognition score. But only if cryptographic security and a decentralized database can provide for earlier payments.

Dharma Labs is a noteworthy example of such usage in lending and borrowing instances. It’s a protocol that allows developers to create online debt markets with the necessary instruments and metrics.

Bloom is another example of a technology that influences lending and borrowing. It’s a job right on educating credit scoring on the blockchain, emphasizing the growth of a protocol for managing risk, originality, and distinction scoring using blockchain technology.

The impact of blockchain trends and the possibilities of blockchain giving value in many corporate use cases may allow anybody to begin their blockchain-based experience.

However, it is critical to seek knowledge to properly respond to the wave of “blockchain development.” There are many businesses experiencing disruption due to blockchain companies. Administrators should keep these points in mind.

However, new company setups should focus on the distinctiveness of social purpose as a powerful agent of change. Likewise, the current generation of customers is altering how organizations develop and provide value. As a result, company concepts should emphasize sustainability. Other market participants should be chosen by current clientele.

The post What Is Blockchain’s True Impact on Businesses? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

• The chances of selling products/services to a new customer are only 5-20% whereas the odds of selling additional products/services to an existing customer are approximately 60-70%.

With loyalty program management, companies can retain and make repeat sales to existing customers. Loyalty management is a powerful strategy that uses various tools and tactics. Companies use these tools to gain, engage, and maintain customers. A well-organized and executed loyalty program is beneficial for both companies and customers.

Loyalty programs are often not considered an important part of the overall customer experience. However, they can help build strong relationships and loyalty. According to one report, approximately 75% of adults in the U.S. belong to at least one loyalty program. A survey by KPMG revealed that a loyalty program encourages 80% of millennials to spend more with a brand. Roughly 78% said that they would switch to another brand if they get a better offer. 85% of people loyal to a brand said they would recommend it to their friends and family members.

Well-executed loyalty programs can prevent customers from straying to other brands. They are effective at retaining customers and also augment the lifetime value of your regulars by offering incentives to make more purchases. Loyalty programs provide added recurring revenue to the company and improve overall customer satisfaction through various offers, rewards, and perks, resulting in a superior experience.

Three Ways to Enhance Customer Experience via Loyalty Programs

Listed below are three of the most effective ways to manage a customer loyalty program.

1. Personalization provides the key.

Businesses can use relevant information about their customers in their loyalty programs. This helps deliver personalized experiences throughout the customer journey. Customer details and preferences can help businesses better incentivize their customers. It’s important to note that customers tend to react well to a personalized approach. Personalizing a loyalty program can make it far more powerful.

It’s likely that personalization will make a customer feel more satisfied — about eight times more — with your offer. Tailored products and services enhance business by targeting a customer’s attention. Businesses can provide only the most relevant offers to their customers even if they don’t provide all the details upfront.

Personalization is made possible by tracking order history, search history, location, current service subscriptions, and so forth. Showing customers that their individual preferences and requirements are important to your business can make a big difference. It can enhance the relationship with your company and make your loyalty program successful.

2. Streamline the buying process.

Any effective customer loyalty program must be able to ease the entire buying process. Most loyalty programs collect only essential information, even the payment details. This allows customers to purchase quickly, without a lengthy checkout process.

Nowadays, many businesses use customizable apps to enhance customer experience. These apps allow customers to buy any product and pay immediately without waiting in a queue. Since the system has all the essential details about the customers, it eliminates the obstacles that can slow down a seamless transaction.

3. Implement creative ways to engage and delight customers.

Finding effective ways to engage and delight customers is another important factor in building customer loyalty. Rewards such as free shipping, early access to new products, coupons, discounts, gifts, and added benefits make customers willing to pay extra to be a part of a loyalty program. The rewards or offers should encourage customers to repeat purchases and also make them likely to recommend the product/service to others.

With loyalty program management, companies can engage and delight existing customers. To create customer excitement, brands can make the buying process as well as the contacting process easier for their customers. This can be achieved by paying attention to the devices as well as channels customers use to reach out to a particular brand. Brands can use new tactics as part of their loyalty program to set themselves apart from the competition.

Setting Up a Loyalty Program Is Easier Than Ever Nowadays

Technology has filtered down such that small businesses can set up loyalty programs just as effective as those of large corporations.

Owing to their benefits, more and more companies of all sizes are implementing loyalty programs. When executed carefully, loyalty programs can bring great results for just about any company. They lead to higher sales and improved brand identity. In all, a successful loyalty program can drive significant value and growth for a business.

The post The Role of Loyalty Programs in Augmenting the Customer Experience appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What Are You Selling?

Before you get started, you should determine what you are selling, who you are selling to, and how much you are selling it for. Once you have figured out what you are pushing, you will have a better idea where you should sell it. Are you making what you are selling or are you selling a collection that you have? If you are making the item, there are different platforms than if you are selling a collectible or another object.

Decide On the Platform to Sell Products Online

There are a variety of platforms where you can sell what you’re offering. If you are starting your own business, you can look into Shopify. Etsy is a great option if you are selling things you have made like crafts, household items, and other objects that wouldn’t fly on other online platforms.

Woo-commerce is a great platform if you are using WordPress to sell products online. Ebay is a great platform to sell your collectibles and other second-hand items. Finally, selling on Amazon is a great option for a variety of reasons. Not only will you be able to sell pretty much anything, some companies buy Amazon FBA business and take over their inventory for a sum.

Brand Your Store

Even if you are not starting a business, branding your online store is very important. Think about what you are selling and who you want to buy it. Basing your brand on this information will help you market your store later. Then, once you have decided on a name and a branding strategy, you can buy a domain for a website. All of this information should be tied to what you want your potential customers to remember. It’s important to take a cohesive look at how you want your business to be represented.

What Payments Will You Accept?

Deciding on what payments to take is another important process. While it depends on what ecommerce platform you are using to sell products online, working with a payment processor varies. A third party handles the payment transaction when a customer makes a purchase. You can use Square, Stripe, PayPal, or others. These sites employ security measures. If you are using Shopify or another service like it, there will be a payment service tied into it. Of course Amazon provides payment options as well. Is it your goal to have a brick-and-mortar store? When you decide on goals for your shop, you will be able to determine how best to move forward.

How Will You Ship?

Then, once you have determined what you are selling, what platform you are selling it on, how you will brand your store, what payment method you will use, you should determine what you will use for shipping and how much you will charge. Of course it depends on what you are selling and where you’re shipping it, finding the right method to do so can make or break you. While you could go to the post office, there are also options to ship from your home. Amazon makes shipping cheap and easy, but not every other platform can provide that service. It’s important to make shipping affordable for you and your customers.

Create Social Media Accounts

After you have the above details sorted, you should create social media accounts and start posting. Using social media to promote your online store is integral to your success. Most people will encounter the items you are selling online through social media. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and everything else you can to promote your online store. It doesn’t matter what you are selling, there are plenty of options to promote your small business using social media sites.

Market Your Store to Sell Products Online

It doesn’t matter how ambitious you are, if you want to sell a decent amount of product online you should market your store. Buy ad space and invest in digital marketing. If you pay someone who specializes in SEO, it will make all the difference. Landing on Google is vital to getting the word out. It depends on what you are selling, but if it is a popular item online there will be a lot of online competition. Using SEO digital marketing will help you land on search engine sites and stand out amongst the crowd.

Keep Up with Sales & Grow

Then it will be time to start selling. When you begin selling your product, you should keep up with orders and send them out immediately. When you keep up with sales, you will be able to grow and expand your online store. What are your goals with the online business? How serious do you want to take it? Is it a hobby or a real company you are starting? It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, if you want to take it seriously you can and invest as much as possible to expand.

Starting an online business isn’t easy, but you can get started by doing the initial research and hard work it takes to get going. Whether you are trying to get rich off your business or simply want to sell crafts you make, there are plenty of options to take control of your online store. Work on cultivating your passion by starting to sell online. Once you have determined your goals and what you will sell, you can create accounts with the platforms that are conducive to your store.

The post 8 Tips to Sell Products Online appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Whether you make a product or provide a service, your business should use all of the tools at its disposal to grow and advertise to your target demographic. It doesn’t matter what your goals are, if you can properly market your ecommerce business you will be able to sell products and services to people who want and need what you’re offering. Below are a few steps to start an ecommerce business.

Find Your Market

Before you even get started, you should start by doing the research to find your market and target demographic. It is important to do the necessary research that determines what you should sell and who you should sell it to. When you’re working in the digital space, it’s crucial to figure out how to best sell your product or service.

Where will you source your materials? Who will be interested in what you are doing? Using graphs and spreadsheets to determine your best case scenario will guide you towards growing your business as you get going. Doing your research beforehand will help you lower your overhead and figure out how to increase your bottom line. When you put in the hard work, you will be able to start your ecommerce business off right.

Start Branding

Once you have decided what your business will do and who you will sell to, you can begin branding. With an idea, you can create a name. You should begin by creating the structure of your business. What is your philosophy? What are your goals?

Coming up with a name is a great way to think deeply about how your business will market itself to your customers. Choose a unique name. Check to see if that domain name is available. As you begin creating your digital infrastructure, consistent branding will help you create a cohesive and original platform. Branding is everything, especially when your business exists mainly online. Creating a memorable brand changes the whole game.

Consider the Legal Structure of Your E-Commerce Business

Whatever your business, the legal structure has important implications for your business. Consider your financial and legal operations of your e-commerce business. Decide on a sole proprietorship, general partnership, LLC, or corporation, but pay attention. Go for the structure will help your business thrive. 

Next, you can consult a legal professional for advice to find the best options for your business. A sole proprietorship or general partnership, it won’t be required to register in the state where your business operates. Associating your business under the individual name means that you will be interacting with the government under that name. Branding can also help with your legal engagements.

Employer Identification Number

Then you should apply for an employer identification number (EIN) for your ecommerce business. While every business isn’t required to get one of these numbers, it can help you separate personal and professional finances. If your business is a small online start-up, it is absolutely necessary to allocate funds for the company and separate them from what your salary is. Keeping these finances separate is very helpful.

E-Commerce Permits & Licenses

It depends on what business you’re in, but if you need to obtain a permit or license you should do so immediately. Some common types include professional and trade licenses as well as sales tax, health, safety, environmental, signage, and construction permits. Since your e-commerce business may be based in your home, you won’t need as many permits. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to an online business, but if you are aware of what aspect of your business will need a permit or license, look into it today.

Start a Website

One of the most important things to do is to create a great website for your ecommerce business. Work with SEO professionals who can help you land your site on Google with keywords, metadata, and blogs to frequently post on your site. A website is often the central switchboard for an online business. Take it seriously by spending the extra time and money to create a great site. Beyond your website, you should make sure to be active on social media.

Choose an E-commerce Platform

Next you will need to choose an e-commerce platform for which you will do business. You’ve probably heard of Shopify and Squarespace. They are user-friendly and accommodating, with specific plans for online businesses. You can use Squarespace to both start the site and as an e-commerce platform. Other platforms like WooCommerce and Magento offer their own benefits and drawbacks. While it depends on who you start your website with, an e-commerce plan platform should work for you and your needs.

Source & Inventory Products

Whatever you’re selling, you should list your product inventory and services. Once you have all of them in the same place, organized and detailed on documents, you will be able to manage your inventory and work towards ecommerce fulfillment. When you have your inventory in line, you will be able to start storing, selling, receiving, packing, and shipping your inventory.

Market your Business

When you have everything else in its right place, you can begin marketing the business. If you’re ready to start increasing sales and growing your company. Marketing is vital in the digital age. Spending the money on advertising and digital marketing will make all the difference. Investing in SEO marketing services will help you stay at the top of search engines and work towards expanding the business.

Getting an ecommerce business started isn’t easy, but there is a clear path towards doing so. If you go through these individual steps and do your due diligence before you start the company, you will be prepared for success.

The post 9 Steps to Starting an E-commerce Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

But how can small business owners prepare for this influx of online shoppers? And how have both mobile and new tech become increasingly popular ecommerce tools in recent months?  

Preparing for the Rise of Ecommerce

Shoppers around the world drove a 75% growth in ecommerce in Q2 2020 over Q2 2019, and also outperformed the 2019 holiday shopping season – which was already considered a peak sales season compared with recent years. That growth is expected to continue in 2021. It’s predicted that over 2.14 billion people worldwide will buy goods and services online this year. 

In short, businesses should expect larger numbers of website visitors looking to purchase online in 2021, especially because we’re still living with the coronavirus pandemic that has accelerated ecommerce growth. 

Prepare for an Influx of Visitors

Preparing your website for an influx of visitors is important. If your site is unable to cope with increased traffic, then it will load more slowly for your customers. This will heavily affect conversions. In fact, even just a one second delay in site speed will reduce conversions by 7%.

There are easy tweaks you can make to reduce your site’s load time for visitors. One quick and effective fix is to compress images. This means striking a balance between the smallest file size and the highest quality for each image. This might sound technical or complicated, but a quick Google search will turn up a number of free image compressing tools to do it for you.

If you’re running a larger online store, or your website is seriously exceeding your traffic expectations, then you might need to think a little bigger. Consider upgrading your web hosting plan to one that offers more bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of data – such as media and content – you can transfer from your web server to your users. It’s usually capped at a monthly limit. The more visitors your site has, the more data you’ll need to be able to transfer. 

Optimize for Mobile Viewing

You’ll also want to double-check that your site’s design is responsive on mobile devices, which plays a huge part in the customer journey. While it’s true that more sales are made on desktops, more traffic actually comes from mobile devices. The pandemic has also increased the popularity of mobile browsing. Essentially, 45% of consumers say they’ve been using their phone more as a shopping channel since the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Ecommerce in 2021: The Rise of Mobile 

These days, it’s very easy to create a website that looks good and works well on both desktops and smartphones. In fact, if you’re using a website builder, chances are it’s already been taken care of for you.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, mobile purchases were predicted to make up 72.9% of total global ecommerce spend by 2021. This would be worth $3.56 trillion. In Q1 of 2020 alone, ecommerce traffic on mobile devices grew by 25% across all industries. Seventy-one percent of traffic came from mobile phones, as did 56% of order share. 

As I mentioned earlier, desktop devices lead in sales. But the high numbers of mobile traffic we’re seeing this year is so important. It means that mobile devices are starting more customer journeys than ever. 

In fact, mobile devices play an important role in every stage of the customer journey including during it. Additionally, 58% of multi-device purchases utilise mobile as a transitional touchpoint. Mobile traffic also consistently remains higher than desktop traffic at both the start and end of the customer journey. 

The two biggest ecommerce markets in the world – China and the U.S. – conduct 59% and 39% of their ecommerce shopping on mobile devices, respectively. 

Ecommerce in 2021: The Rise of New Tech 

New technology trends like voice shopping and chatbots are also shaping the customer experience into something new this year. These innovations are making browsing more convenient for customers, and they’re important new channels for merchants to watch. 

Voice shopping

Voice control devices, like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, are rapidly changing the way many people shop. One in five smart speaker owners are already using voice commerce – and that’s a lot of people, considering that roughly a quarter of US adults have a smart speaker in their home. 

It looks like the pandemic has accelerated the popularity of voice assistants, with 52% of users saying they use the technology “several times a day or nearly every day.” That’s up from 46% before COVID-19 hit.

Chatbots

Google search volume for “chatbots” has increased 19 times in the last five years. Consequently, more than half of customers say that they’re more likely to shop with a business that they can connect with over chat. But this new technology isn’t just convenient for customers. By using chatbots, merchants can save up to 30% on customer service spending.

And while customer service is the area most likely to benefit from chatbots (95%), other areas will benefit too. This includes sales and marketing (55%) and order processing (48%). 

Final Thoughts

Retail is moving more and more online all the time. For small business owners, the increasing digital and ecommerce demand can be overwhelming, but it’s also a massive opportunity for growth. Set up a website that can handle online shoppers. Then, keep an eye on rising trends in mobile and new tech. Lastly, reap the rewards.

The post Ecommerce 2021: COVID, Mobile and New Tech appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Right after Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday kicks off the busiest shopping season of the year. As the shopping holiday rapidly approaches, businesses everywhere are doing everything they can to prepare for and contend with the ongoing challenges brought on by the pandemic.

This year, Small Business Saturday is a chance to support and champion businesses hit hardest during 2020. Brick-and-mortar small businesses rely on foot traffic and in-person customer interactions. This year, they have already had to pivot, change, and transform their business models to meet customers where they are now — at home. Small businesses have increased their website capabilities, adopted curb-side pick ups, or partnered with larger delivery services to connect to their customers. 

As these new business avenues have been adopted, additional marketing and customer engagement programs have been set in motion. Local shops have expanded their online presence with email marketing campaigns, created larger online presences and experimented with increased digital advertising. With these adaptations, there are also greater risks for being a cyber crime target. For a smart small business, preparing for the holiday shopping season also means reassessing and reaffirming cybersecurity posture. 

Phishing scams during the holiday shopping season are almost a given. Phishing emails can range from a fraudulent email sent by a business owner to an employee asking for personal data verification or a malicious email disguised as a promotional offer to customers. These emails often include small clues like misspelled email addresses or mismatching url destinations. 

While it can be tempting to look at cyber crime as a distant problem or one that is more likely to happen to a larger enterprise, the reality is that small businesses are as frequently the target of cyber crime. This can wreak havoc in a number of ways from leaking customer data and damaging customer trust to even debilitating critical business operations. Phishing attacks are just one of the most common and simple ways that a potential bad actor could cripple an otherwise healthy business.

Phishing attacks can generally be spotted with some fundamental “basics” on what to look out for that can significantly help businesses, their employees, and their customers identify fake emails and questionable notices in their inbox. Businesses should always be encouraging a security-oriented workforce, but for employees in customer-facing roles during the busiest time of year, it can pay to be especially vigilant. Some of the most important clues to watch out for are:  

• Email address comes from a “trustworthy” source: Phishing emails often appeal to a sense of authority. These emails can often attempt to trick small business owners by imitating the address of a government agency or financial service, but can even imitate common companies, most especially Google and Amazon.

• Makes an urgent appeal: Does the email make reference to an emergency? Does it call for immediate, quick action or a set of tasks? Demanding requests are created to distract the reader. Making the task seem necessary is designed to cast doubt for preoccupied readers who may have otherwise noticed the signs of a false email.

• Uncommon internal requests: Is this email coming from someone you do not normally work with, especially an executive? Employees should be trained to be vigilant for emails like this, which can imitate the business owner to hide the email’s true intentions and make an employee reluctant to refuse to comply. Small businesses can alleviate this by making clear to their employees the usual chain of command in everyday operations.

• Random misspellings of common words: One subtle sign of a suspicious email is the tendency to use words which are commonly misspelled, to give the phishing email a human touch.
  

Small Business Saturday is a great way to encourage communities to shop locally or with specialized online retailers, especially this year as small businesses have been hit the hardest with the coronavirus pandemic. As small businesses are working to meet the demands of their customers, and reach new customers with online advertising and partnerships, they must be aware of cyber criminals lurking in the dark. Preparing employees to quickly identify and report suspicious emails can go a long way to support other network security policies in place. 

With the proper tools in place to defend the network and a strong culture of cybersecurity at the individual employee level, small businesses can drastically reduce their risk of attack and be better prepared to expand their online operations for a healthy and secure holiday season. 

The post Safeguarding Your Network in Preparation for Small Business Saturday appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These are the essential features a marketplace script should have:

• Customization options
• Scalability
• User experience
• Affordability and
• Mobile accessibility 

Top Marketplace Platforms

1. BigCommerce

Most suitable for small-to-medium sized businesses, BigCommerce’s dashboard is very straightforward and user friendly.

Pros:

• Fully hosted
• Easily accessible
• Unlimited product listings
• Unlimited bandwidth & file 
• Integrations with shipping and POS software
• No transaction fees

Cons:

• You have to pay for 24/7 customer service.
• They are expensive compared to competitors. 
• Customer orders don’t come with tracking information.

2. Shopify

Offering the widest range of apps, add-ons, and plugins for small, medium, and large marketplace platforms, The Top Shopify Developer NZ are always ready to help to build an online store providing  Shopify provides tons of readymade templates for personalization.

Pros:

• A ready to use ecommerce store with cloud hosting
• Access to hundreds of themes and plugins
• Hundreds of templates for selling any type of products
• Built-in payment gateways
• Highly customizable and scalable
• Compatibility with popular third-party integrations

Cons:

• Month-to-month pricing
• Limited customization options
• High price for the enterprise level plans
• Complicated migration

3. Shopygen

Supporting different types of marketplace platforms like B2C and C2C, Shopygen provides turnkey solutions for marketplaces like Uber, Airbnb, and Instacart. They also provide services for customized plugins and themes for other eCommerce software developing platforms like Mgento, Shopify, WooCommerce etc. 

Pros:

• Created using NodeJS technology
• Highly customizable
• No recurring fee
• Cost effective in comparison to its competitors

Cons:

• You will need to get your own hosting and security maintenance.
• If customization is required, the development time is longer than usual.
• It requires an upfront cost. 

4. Magento

Magento’s platform helps to empower retailers and brands with flexible cloud solutions to help companies scale up their business. Magento’s wide range of customizable options makes it a  great platform for merchants who want to innovate and grow with technology.

Pros:

• Integrated checkout, payment and shipping
• Mobile-optimized shopping
• Catalog management
• Instant purchase
• Customization options available

Cons:

• Long development time 
• Higher budget than most of its contemporaries
• Doesn’t have a lot of content creation options
• Magento Commerce support comes with a hefty price

5. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free, open-source wordpress shopping cart plugin. It is one of the most chosen eCommerce platforms in the market and runs on about 30% of all stores.

Pros:

• Regularly updated and totally secure
• Highly customizable
• Integrates with many other ecommerce platforms and payment gateways
• Complete support

Cons:

• Not all of the features come with the basic plan
• Expensive external themes, plugins, and hosting
• You are on your own with regards to maintaining hosting to security and backups.

There are many eCommerce softwares available in the market; don’t just limit your choices to SaaS. Of course, managing a self-hosted site is not as easy as a SaaS platform, but you get the complete control when you own the code of your site which is incomparable. Ultimately it depends on your requirements, budget, and how you are going to manage your website.

The post Shopping Cart Software for Multi-Vendor Ecommerce Marketplaces appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Congrats!

However, scaling up an eCommerce company isn’t just about bringing in new business. One of the most challenging aspects of starting a business is setting it up so we highly recommend a very good company formation service in the UK as they take care of most of that hassle, leaving you to focus on the much more important parts. Yes, that’s the foundation of growth, but how you handle that growth is a big determining factor in your online business’ success. You will definitely get succeeded in online business with smart efforts and guides. Your operations are what sets well run businesses apart from those who fail to reach their full potential.

For a small business, managing orders, inventory, and fulfillment manually might have been a reasonable place to start.

As your business scales and becomes more complex to keep up with your customers’ demands, you’ll have to consider many more moving parts to ensure that you’re growing profitably and sustainably.

Nowadays internet is essential for your business to grow, but sometimes running a company is really stressful, then if you are far too busy with your business there are also some great services that can save you a great deal of time and one of those are quality virtual office services where they deal with your business telephone calls and lots more and so take a lot of work away from you which is really useful.

For example, is your backend processes optimized for efficiency so you’re not paying a large overhead on labor-intensive tasks that can easily be automated?

Do you have full visibility into your inventory, so you know exactly what products to stock, when to reorder, and make sure you have a healthy cash flow to support your expansion?

Are you putting the right measures in place to minimize delays, bottlenecks, and errors in your workflows?

If you have worked hard creating the perfect ecommerce website and gone through the maze of PPC, social media advertising and more, then you might be relieved to know there are people are out there who want to help you sell your product. Welcome to the world of affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is well loved by entrepreneurs and small and big businesses around the world because there is simply no risk. Essentially you can have as many sales people as you can find, all working on commission. You don’t pay them a thing until they make a sale, so you just give them a percentage of money you may well have never seen without them.

You can work on a percentage of sales or a commission fee on each sale. The terms and conditions are up to you; just make sure you give the kind of incentive that makes them work hard on your behalf.

Some of the platforms to consider

If you are prepared to part with a substantial amount of your profit and concentrate on volume, then you might want to consider the biggest retailer in the world: Amazon. It’s more of a partnership than a straightforward affiliate deal and Amazon like their pound of flesh, so check the figures carefully before committing to it. For online retailers, though, working with Amazon can be the kickstart you need to take your product into the mainstream and you’ll be amazed at some of the things Amazon sell.
CJ Affiliate is another one to consider and you can sell everything, from information products to real, physical things, through a network of more than 3000 partners. Formerly Commission Junction, CJ Affiliate takes care of all the reporting side and will organise the sales for you.

Rauten Linkshare is another one that is simpler and can be useful for affiliates that want to link to specific products from articles and sales pages.

There are costs with these platforms but, plain and simply, they will be worth it.

Always work on affiliates

Never stop working on your affiliate marketing programme either. You’ll learn valuable lessons along the way and it’s simple good business to keep speculating and mining new prospects. Adopt the same approach to your affiliate marketing programme as you do chasing new customers yourself. Really treat your affiliates like customers and you will find they will work harder on your behalf. For the best wealthy affiliate review, do visit.

So devote some of your content marketing to searching for new affiliates, make sure you promote your offers hard through the marketing communities and let them find you. Stay active in affiliate marketing groups and forums and you will find a lot of people willing to do the heavy lifting for you. It might feel like you do not have time to truly chase these people when you are doing your own marketing, but you simply have to make the time. If you have an army of people selling for you, then you will enjoy the full benefits of passive income and you can even throttle back on your own efforts. You shouldn’t, but you can. There is a whole industry in affiliate marketing where those who believe they can do a good job of internet marketing, but don’t have a product to sell, sell products and services for other companies. You can make the most of this by assembling an arsenal of sales staff, providing you get the deal right and make your product a strong seller for your affiliates, learn how to easily manage affiliates.

Treat affiliates like customers

However, don’t just search for the right people; make sure that your affiliate programme is set up correctly. If you have a landing page that collects their email address then make sure they receive a professional looking double opt-in confirmation with the help of an email provider like Aweber or Mailchimp. Then send them a welcome email, show them how well your programme works, include testimonials from your leading partners and give them links that show the affiliate programme in action.

Create a marketing funnel, complete with follow-up emails. Affiliate marketers are flighty and their attention span is short, so make sure you keep in touch with them automatically, and make sure you give them every chance and every reason to sign up. Then keep them there with constant communication, success stories from other affiliates and new offers they can push to their crowd.

Be available, too; give your affiliates a phone number they can reach you at, as well as your social media contacts. For one thing it reassures them they are dealing with real people and for another it will allow them to get to you directly and deal with issues without going public and causing you problems.

Here are five key strategies for scaling up your eCommerce company while minimizing the growing pain:

1. Prevent Cash Flow Challenges Caused By Stockouts, Overstocks, And Backorders

Inventory control is often a Goldilocks situation… if you have too much stock, you’re holding up cash flow and limiting your ability to invest in products that sells. On the other hand, if you run out of stock, you’re losing out on sales and missing out on revenues.

To prevent inventory issues, set strict reorder points to indicate the exact moment when you’ll need to order new stock for each item in your eCommerce store.

A reorder point should take into account the typical lead-time for placing an order, processing payments, and have the items ready in the warehouse for fulfillment. Also, set aside an emergency stock to cover sudden changes in demand, which shouldn’t be counted when setting the reorder point.

Good inventory control is the key to healthy cash flow and maximizing sales so you can fuel growth where it matters most. You can use an inventory management software application to get real-time updates into the movement of all your products.

When you have visibility into your stock at all times, you can better control your inventory. For example, you can sell against incoming stock by launching a special eCommerce sales promotion to generate additional cash flow.

An inventory control system can also help you manage multiple online channels for your eCommerce business (e.g., Shopify inventory management, Amazon) so you can coordinate inventory without the risk of running out of stock and missing out on sales.

It can also give you the necessary information to respond to market demand, move stock, and increase cash flow by using merchandising techniques such as bundles, mystery boxes, pre-orders, and loyalty programs.

2. Increase Efficiency, Reduce Delays, And Minimize Errors With Automation

There are many moving parts in the supply chain and as your eCommerce company grows, the complexity of these processes will increase exponentially. Tedious and repetitive tasks that are labor-intensive will become more costly as your business expands.

Handling OMS processes manually (e.g., order splitting, backorder management, order import, and shipping updates) can create bottlenecks and unnecessary delays in the workflows, which could have a domino effect on other aspects of your operation.

Not to mention, many of these tasks are prone to human errors (e.g., re-keying information from one system to another or moving paperwork from one department to the next) and inconsistency can cause delays and confusion.

Consolidating all the processes onto a single platform that handles omnichannel order management and automates the workflows can help you minimize inefficiency, delays, and errors.

Some key automation functions that can help streamline operations and increase efficiencies include order splitting, pre-order or backorder management, returns management, e-invoicing, and order routing.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that automation technology is only as good as the workflow you’re automating. If a workflow isn’t optimized, you’re just making an inefficient process happen faster!

To maximize the ROI on automation, you should first audit your current processes and then optimize and standardize the workflows to make sure that when you scale up, you aren’t multiplying any inefficiency that’s inherent in the processes.

3. Test New Items With Pre-ordering

Scaling up takes some trial-and-error and introducing new products to the market can open up opportunities for growth. Yet, the last thing you want is to stock up on a new item only to find out that it’s not what your customers want.

Not only will you suffer a loss and hold up cash flow, but the excess inventory will also take up resources in other areas such as warehousing.

To minimize risk and plan for inventory, you can explore the market and test out new product ideas by preselling an MVP (minimum viable product.) It’ll help you find out how much inventory you’ll need and get a gauge on future potential sales so you can plan for cash flow.

To make the most of your MVP launch, create a dedicated product page and position the promotion as exclusion access for existing customers or a limited time/quantity offer to generate buzz and build brand awareness.

In addition, you can use the opportunity to test the supply chain and collect data on the various fulfillment and logistics operations so you can optimize the workflow before automating the order management process in the future.

4. Focus On Products With High Margins

As you grow your eCommerce company, you’ll need more stock to fulfill increasing orders. However, that also means the inventory will cost more money, which could put you in a bind if you don’t yet have the cash flow to sustain the volume.

As such, you need to plan your product selection strategically to focus on selling differentiated items that have profit margins instead of commodity products that have low margins. This will allow you to generate more profits, which you can invest in higher inventory levels to scale up.

In today’s competitive market, guesswork is no longer enough. In order to identify the most profitable products to carry, you need to understand the market demand and find out what’s most appealing to your customers.

Then, you can make data-driven decisions based on information from a variety of sources to optimize your profits. However, gathering information from across the organization can be a time-consuming and cumbersome task.

You can use a centralized platform with a robust reporting and analytics feature, which can help you break down silos, minimize bottleneck, and consolidate data from various teams (e.g., accounting, operation, and sales) to make informed decisions.

In addition, it helps you minimize errors caused by importing and exporting files, transferring money, or manually re-keying information. You can bridge knowledge gaps and empower your team to make sound decisions in a timely manner based on real-time analytics and insights. If you ever have trouble transferring money, then consider contacting this money transfer service.

5. Optimize Fulfillment To Improve Customer Experience

Since it costs more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones, the ability to build a customer base that’d buy from you repeatedly is the key to sustainable and profitable growth.

Besides the many ways to improve the customer experience at the front-end, such as a streamlined checkout process or better customer service, you should also make sure that the backend processes are supporting a great customer experience.

If customers aren’t getting their order fast enough or delivered on time, they’re not going to have a satisfactory experience that’ll keep them coming back.

Therefore, making sure that your fulfillment and logistics operations are as efficient as possible can help delight and retain more loyal customers – giving you a strong foundation to expand your eCommerce company.

Automation can help you streamline time-consuming tasks, such as order splitting, warehouse routing, and shipment updates so you can improve efficiency while making sure that your customers are getting their orders as quickly as possible.

To facilitate shipment and delivery, use an order management platform that gives you full visibility into the fulfillment process and allows you complete control over logistics – even when outsourcing to 3PLs.

With the ability to control when and how orders ship, you can reduce mis-ships and improve delivery times. You can also provide better customer communications and post-sales customer service (e.g., real-time order status) to improve customer experience.

Tools like StichLabs’ fulfillment and logistics solution also enables you to leverage pre-built integrations and 3PL partner network to expand shipping coverage. It allows you to serve more customers without the added overhead so you can scale up more quickly.

Conclusion

As your eCommerce company expands, your inventory and order management system needs to grow in tandem to handle the increasingly complex processes associated with higher volume, wider product selection, and a more complex supply chain.

Consolidating as much as of your operation management onto a single platform and using automation technology to streamline workflows will help you improve efficiency, lower cost, minimize human errors, and improve the customer experience so you can scale up sustainably.

The post Growing Your eCommerce Business Through Optimization appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Accessibility 

If your website provides a good experience for people with visual impairments and other disabilities, it will almost certainly provide a good experience for everyone else. A focus on accessible navigation, typography, color choices and screen-reader compatibility, will help you create a website that is intuitive and pleasant to use for everyone. – Vik Patel, Future Hosting

2. A Clear, Guided Experience

Effective user experience needs to evoke a feeling; it needs to guide the user; it needs to communicate. UX/UI have become synonymous because brands need to move, communicate and adapt to the user at all times. Being able to understand what part of the customer journey they’re in and where they need to be guided will yield the best results. – Michael Cleary, Huemor

3. Fast Site Performance

Even the best designed and most visually appealing website will fail to engage visitors if it is slow. It should load fast, be responsive to input in fractions of a second, and not leave visitors twiddling their thumbs. With modern web technologies, there is no reason for even a complex site to be slow and unresponsive. – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

4. Infinite Scrolling

Many websites have adopted this design strategy to great success by putting their own clever twist on it. Something that not everyone realizes with modern web pages is that you essentially have an unlimited amount of vertical space to work with. Using bucket brigades, interactive elements and other engagement strategies, you can keep your viewers scrolling or swiping down as far as you like. – Bryce Welker, CPA Exam Guy

5. Easy Navigation to Your Most Important Pages

Most websites have one or two main places that the majority of users are driven towards. That space could be the login or it could be the pricing information. Either way, focus on getting people to those places with the least amount of friction possible. – Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

6. Good SEO

SEO is an overlooked aspect when it comes to UX, but it is the most effective way to engage visitors. While SEO isn’t what visitors engage with on your website, it is something that helps you match your visitor’s search intent to your website pages. A successful SEO strategy allows you to direct visitors to the relevant pages they wanted. By doing this, your visitors engage more. – Alexander Mistakidis, Gamelynx

7. An Immediate Understanding of Your Value Proposition

If I go to your page, within five seconds I should know exactly what you offer and why I should be here. If not, I’m going somewhere else. Immediately show your value and give visitors a reason to be engaged and interested. Think well-made explainer videos, visually entertaining GIFs or even good old-fashioned bold words. Intrusive popups can have the opposite effect. – Troy Osinoff, JUICE

8. A Clean and Simple Design

Less is more these days when it comes to UX/UI on websites. The smallest details usually make the biggest differences. In a world of instant gratification, people respond well to information that is familiar. A clean, simple, intuitive design is more likely to resonate with the audience of today. Adding something subtle, visually appealing and novel can also charm the toughest critics. – Steven Fleisher, Two Degrees

9. A Pop-Up Chat Box

A pop-up chat box floating on the page that allows customers to chat with you or call a customer service representative is a must. This gives them the instant satisfaction of resolving their problem in real time, which is somewhat expected by customers these days. – Andy Karuza, FenSens

10. A Great FAQ Page

This is UX/UI in its best form: self-serve, straightforward and expected. Make it easy for your website visitors to get their questions answered immediately without having to send an email or talk to a chatbot. Spend a little extra time testing and developing your FAQ page instead of treating it as a throwaway page and make sure it’s helpful, comprehensive and clear. – Roger Lee, Human Interest

11. Intuitive, Responsive Design

Companies must determine what device visitors are using and be able to deliver the website that works on that screen quickly so that the user can see everything they want rather than having to struggle. – Serenity Gibbons, Calendar

12. A Call to Action

Many websites miss this key element: a call to action. In today’s world where the average user has an attention span of less than five seconds, it’s important to tell users what to do when they are on your site. This is especially true if you plan on acquiring leads or actual business from your site. Displaying powerful calls to action on your site is the best way to engage your users. – Michael Hsu, DeepSky

13. Video Content

A picture is worth a thousand words. Furthermore, video is worth a thousand pictures. Hi-res photos are able to convey an idea much faster than words. String 30 pictures together every second, accompanied with immersive sound, and you’re on the fast track of information transfer. Put a video library in your website’s menu and add video wherever it’s relevant. Your message will be loud and clear. – Christopher Tedder, Clinger Holsters

The post 13 UX Elements Your Website Needs to Engage Visitors appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Use Online Incentives

If you’re operating an e-commerce business, this is the smartest way to bridge the gap. If brick-and-mortar shoppers know that they can get a bigger discount of some sort by purchasing your products or services online, they’ll do it!- Codie Sanchez, www.CodieSanchez.com

2. Look for Tactics That Work in Both Areas

Identify marketing tactics that involve both channels so you can create content that works in both places or that encourages your audience to visit the other channel. This could be adding social channels to your offline marketing information or hosting an event and asking visitors to share it or check in online.– Drew Hendricks, Buttercup

3. Make Sure Your Messaging Is in Alignment

Making sure your messaging is consistent across your offline and online marketing is extremely important. Your offline and online marketing should be closely aligned in language, target customer, and (as much as possible) call to action. Reaching different customers in different realms will lead to a confusing customer picture and a sales pipeline that is difficult to manage.- Kevin Bretthauer, FuelCloud. If you are looking for new marketing strategies, then consider using a Wide format signage. 

4. Use Ad Tracking Software

Aside from making sure you maintain brand continuity across your ads, you can also implement analytics tracking measures into your offline ads. Radio ads can have promo codes, brochures can have call tracking numbers on them and depending on your market, you can utilize QR codes, too.- Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now

5. Let Customers Do the Work

One of the quickest and easiest ways to merge the offline with the online is to host a competition. A good example is to ask customers to take selfies that promote your brand by having them upload their images to your social media accounts using a particular phrase or a unique hashtag. The details about the competition should be outlined on your offline marketing materials, including any products you sell.- Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

6. Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is important for both offline and online marketing strategies. Ask your offline customers for their email address in exchange for a coupon, and ask your online customers using opt-in forms on your website. Make sure to keep the email addresses on two separate lists, so you know where the lead came from.- Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

7. Make Your Brand Searchable

These days, new businesses focus too heavily on marketing edgy brand names that are hard to pronounce and spell. When you use a brand name or tagline that is memorable in your offline marketing campaigns, you’ll see a surge in organic search traffic for those terms as customers rediscover your business online.- Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep

8. Use Branded Merchandise

Branded merchandise feels like a forgotten strategy of the marketing world. Whether it’s a customized water bottle or T-shirt, these items serve as a walking advertisement of your products, increasing brand recall and word-of-mouth advertising. Encourage people to show off their flair online through social media. You can even offer free merchandise in exchange for signing up for an email list.- Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

9. Connect Your Leads List

Although you found your lead while out on the street, you should still follow up digitally. And vice versa. Because you found your lead online, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a call. In any case, going old school and making a call is a great way to break the ice instantly.- Andrew Namminga, Andesign

10. Use Augmented Reality

One of the interesting features of augmented reality is the way it blurs the boundary between offline and online. AR inserts representations of digital entities into the world. Companies like Heineken, Ikea and Visa are using augmented reality to inject digital marketing experiences into the physical environment of users and attracting attention through the innovative use of a new technology.- Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

11. Get Microinfluencers Shopping Offline

One new advertising model we have is allowing microinfluencers within our community to take a $100-$500 coupon and go shop at the advertiser’s brick-and-mortar store. Microinfluencers interested in the vertical of that advertiser get to spend time at the store, take pictures while shopping and then write an online article about the product, the shopping experience, display and potentially other products.- Tolga Tanriseven, GirlsAskGuys

The post 11 Strategies to Combine Your Offline and Online Marketing Efforts appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What technology trend should small businesses watch for at the start of 2018?

The post 12 Tech Trends That Can Drive Small Business Success in 2018 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In what way is your business using technology to transform customer support? 

The post 12 Technology-Based Tips to Improve Your Business’s Customer Support appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

But with adoption finally widespread throughout much of the U.S., fraudsters are now employing workarounds. They do this using a variety of ways to access financial card data, from phishing attacks to Wi-Fi spoofing in unprotected public spots. This is why small business owners can get the feeling that they are playing a game of ‘Whac-a-Mole.’  Just when they thwart one attack, another can seemingly pop-up out of nowhere.

Just as the mole’s last hole doesn’t tell you where it will pop up next, fraudsters don’t always employ predictable techniques when attacking a business. Here are some of the ways fraudsters are getting creative in how they hack into payment and financial information systems – and what mallet, or method, business owners can employ to help defend against these attacks.

Point of Sale Fraud                                        

• Skimming – A skimming device is a card reader which can be disguised to look like part of an ATM or point-of-sale (POS) terminal. As long as EMV chip cards also store data on the magnetic strip, skimming will continue. Today’s fraudsters make sophisticated skimmers using 3-D printers that are virtually indistinguishable from the parts of the terminal to which they are attached.
• Shimming – As skimming devices aim to steal credit card information via the card-swipe method, “shimming” devices are the next stage in card fraud evolution. Shimmers, which are thin enough to hide inside a card reader, can be used to stage a “man in the middle” attack by making a copy of the data on the EMV chip as it’s transmitted to the compromised machine.

Card-Not-Present Fraud

• Phishing – An old trick keeps getting more sophisticated. As seen with the recent Gmail scam[1], attackers disguised as a trusted contact are sending authentic-looking emails with seemingly relevant attachments, such as invoices, that can dupe even seasoned security savvy individuals into taking the bait.
• Spoofing – This is another type of attack that has been around for years – and continues to evolve. Mobile devices are constantly on the hunt for Wi-Fi networks, and most people are happy to join public networks to get a better connection and save on their data usage. Spoof attackers replicate Wi-Fi login screens to look and feel exactly like those used by familiar brands and service providers and steal sensitive data.

Often, criminals harvest payment card data to be sold on the DarkNet, an internet alternative that can be accessed only with specific software, configurations, or authorization, often used to conduct illegal business.

Vigilance and awareness of security practices can help protect you. Here are a few ways you can help ensure your business’ and customers’ vital information doesn’t get into the wrong hands:

Card-present environment

• Embrace secure technology. Investing in end-to-end encryption and tokenization can help protect data from the entry point through the authentication process and back.
• Check your hardware regularly. Point-of-sale terminals should be physically inspected for skimmers and shimmers on a regular basis, ideally at the start of each work shift.
  • Here are some things to look for:
    • Check for scratches of sticker residue. Scratches or sticker residue can be tell-tale signs that a terminal has been removed, replaced, or tampered with.
    • Wiggle the terminal. If a skimmer has been placed over your terminal, wiggling the terminal may help loosen the adhesive holding the fraudulent device in place.
    • Press the buttons. If a skimmer has been placed on top of your terminal, the buttons may be harder to press.

Card-not-present environment

• Choose a payments processor wisely. Merchants should work with payments processor that not only offers end-to-end and point-to-point encryption – but one that stays on top of the rapidly evolving payment security landscape.
• Scale your fraud protection solution appropriately. Going overboard on security can cause false positives that result in unnecessary card declines and loss of sales. When it comes to security, one size does not fit all. There are a lot of resources and materials out there, so be sure to do your due diligence when it comes to finding the right choice for your business.

If you’re concerned about the integrity of your payment environment, know that you are not alone. If you stay informed, alert and disciplined, your business stands a good chance of beating the odds in the fight against fraudsters.

The post EMV and The 4 Things Every Business Should Worry About appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This basic approach may generate some results, but the lack of a defined plan will eventually take its toll on your business.

Fortunately, there are a variety of technologies and tools that can help you successfully launch and maintain an ecommerce business. Here are five that deserve your attention:

1. Oberlo

Are you interested in launching an online store, but concerned about sourcing high quality and affordable products? This is where Oberlo comes into play.

Oberlo is a marketplace to search for, compare, and find products to sell online. In other words, it helps connect storeowners with suppliers.

Adding to this is its dropshipping tool, which allows you to do the following:

• Find and import products into your online store, all with a single click of your mouse (Chrome plugin).
• Sell items for a profit.
• Ship items directly from the supplier, meaning you never have to touch inventory.
• Automating many aspects in your store, such as item fulfillment.

Since its launch in 2015, Oberlo merchants have sold more than 85 million products. That number alone proves how powerful this technology can be.

2. Shopify

Are you searching for an online platform to power your online store? Shopify is more than your average, run of the mill ecommerce software.

With this technology at your fingertips, you gain access to everything you need to sell online.

Here are some of the many features that have made Shopify so popular among online storeowners:

• No design skills necessary
• Full customization of all aspects of your online store
• Dashboard for tracking sales and growth trends

With more than $34 billion sold by stores running on the Shopify platform, it’s easy to see that this is a great place to start your journey.

Wix or Shopify? Decisions, Decisions! When it comes to an online website builder with E-Commerce punching power which corner will you side with? It is clear that there are lots of web builders and E-Commerce platforms available for you to choose from. Wix vs Shopify for E-Commerce certainly falls into this category.

3. Google Analytics

Here’s how Google defines its Analytics tool:

“Google Analytics Solutions offer free and enterprise analytics tools to measure website, app, digital and offline data to gain customer insights.”

In short, this is a free tool that allows you to track visitors and gain key insights. For example, you can learn:

• Top traffic sources
• What your visitors are doing when they visit your site
• Top devices and operating systems
• Most popular pages

The more you know about your audience the easier it is to adjust your marketing plan with the idea of boosting conversions, sales, and revenue.

4. Canva

The best online stores provide an amazing customer experience. A large part of this is the design of your website, combined with your use of graphics.

If you’re seeking a way to improve the overall appearance of your website, Canva is one of the many tools you need to use.

It doesn’t matter what type of graphic you’re trying to create, Canva makes it simple – even if you don’t have any design skills.

There are more than 10 million people using Canva to meet all their design needs, many of which are online storeowners. From product images to social media illustrations, use Canva as a means of taking your creativity to the next level.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. If you want to start an ecommerce business with the idea of reaching all your goals in the near future, don’t overlook any of these technologies. They can all do something special for your business.

The post 4 Technologies to Help You Launch an Ecommerce Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Here are 4 ways you can quickly scale up your ecommerce efforts.

1 – Go cross-border

What better way to scale up than opening your business to new markets? If your products or services have universal appeal, consider going cross-border. A quick way to check interest is to implement SEO and analytics and look through your site’s traffic data for visitors that come from outside your country. Often, this means that people interested in what you offer. Seek these visitors out and consider servicing their territories.

Thanks to improvements in shipping and fulfillment, it’s now easy do cross-border commerce. Know which payment methods your target markets prefer. Each region would have their own preference and you can’t assume that cards are the only way to go. For example, parts of Europe especially in Scandinavia and Southwest Europe prefer to use their bank accounts for payments while developing countries in Asia demand cash-on-delivery options. Knowing this is crucial since the unavailability of their preferred payment method is a major reason why shoppers abandon their carts.

According to Oscar Berglund, the CEO of Stockholm-based fintech company Trustly “Many shoppers are likely to abandon their carts if their preferred payment method is not available. Merchants that don’t allow the consumer to pay in the way he/she likes are losing out on revenue.”

In a recent interview, Berglund said that digitalization is making banking faster.

“Traditional bank payments will become faster, safer and more convenient. This advancement will be driven mainly by better and more user-friendly methods of digital authentication.”

Trustly currently operates in 29 European countries to enable merchants to accept bank transfer payments.

Partner with a payments service to process these payments for you. Getting a payments provider is also more convenient since you also don’t have to worry about navigating the regulations of each target country you’d like to engage business in.

2 – Get and keep more customers

Aside from going cross border, you can focus on growing your customer base from your current market. This means ramping up your marketing efforts. Ecommerce is rarely “build it and they will come.” Successful ventures always reach out to customers and encourage them to do business.

There are several engagement campaigns that you could readily start. You can curate and share content through your social media pages. You can start a newsletter and send prospects helpful content about things related to your product line or industry. You can even send out or post promo codes to encourage them to purchase.

However, doing this manually can take some effort so consider implementing marketing automation. You can even create targeted event-based campaigns such as prompting modals to visitors as they exit your store. You can even send out reminder emails to users who abandon their carts. You can grow your customer base by keeping conversion high.

3 – Improve your supply chain

Another thing to prepare for when scaling up is improving your supply chain. Often, startups often get frazzled trying to keep up with demand when business unexpectedly picks up. This can be prevented if you have a good handle of your processes.

One way to anticipate demand is through analytics. You can monitor which products get browsed and bought. You can also analyze your customer’s behavior on your site. Such insights can even help you optimize your catalog and inventory. You can get rid of poorly performing products and stock up on your best sellers. You can even consider overhauling your catalog and focus on more upscale products if the numbers point to such trend.

Knowing the ebb and flow of your stocks also helps make sure that you can both readily deliver to your customers by having stocks on hand and avoid tying up your resources with extra units held in your stockroom.

4 – Improve customer experience

What is ultimately key to success in ecommerce is providing a hassle-free experience to your customers. This has become all the more crucial especially now that ecommerce has shifted to mobile. BI Intelligence forecasts that mobile commerce will account for 45 percent of ecommerce come 2020 so you would do well optimizing your site for mobile.

Aside from making a mobile-friendly site, consider creating a dedicated mobile app as it provides a quicker experience for your users. Apply the best practices in designing your user experience. Make your search bar visible. Create easy to use sorting filters to help your users browse through the search results.

Another important thing to consider is localizing your experience for your markets. You can provide translations of your product descriptions, currency conversion for prices, and even be upfront about added fees such as taxes and shipping costs which may vary depending on their location.

Minimize the number of steps customers need to go through to complete the transaction. A Baymard Institute study on cart abandonment also cites checkout issues as top reasons why customers leave so by working on your interfaces you could the eliminate points of friction that customers hate.

A superior experience would make your ecommerce presence stand out and win you more customers.

The post 4 Ways for Ecommerce Companies Can Scale Fast appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Analytics has emerged to be a difference maker in ecommerce. It can track all your customers’ activities to know where your traffic coming from, what products they are browsing, how long they spend on each page, what items they put in or take out of their carts, and how successful are you in closing sales. This allows you to understand your customer behavior.

Guy Greenberg, founder of business intelligence and analytics company CoolaData, believes that understanding buyer behavior is key to increased conversions. He writes, “Advanced behavioral analytics offers businesses this added advantage by collecting, storing, enriching and analyzing raw user data over time.”

By knowing these, you would know which areas you need to improve on in your products and services. However, this is predicated on enabling analytics early on. Here are 7 areas where analytics can help improve your ecommerce efforts.

1 – Tailor a customer experience unique to your market

Providing a superior customer experience is essential to ecommerce. You should minimize customer effort from the moment they land on your page until you wrap up the sale. While there has been plenty of research done to identify “best practices” to consider in crafting user experience, it is still crucial to monitor how customers behave in your own context especially if you operate in a particular vertical or niche market. For example, if you offer more big-ticket or upmarket items, buyers may want to research more on the product compared to cheaper items. Analytics can tell you what content buyers are looking for. This way you can strengthen features such as comprehensive product descriptions, user reviews, and Q&A.

2 – Curb cart abandonment

Cart abandonment remains a major concern for ecommerce. Ecommerce across all industries suffers from an average abandonment rate of 70 percent. The reasons behind are varied from unexpected costs to complicated checkout processes to limited payment methods. Through analytics, it is possible to pinpoint the exact instances when users leave your service. This way, you can improve upon these areas and even conduct interventions in order to win them back.

3 – Improve marketing efforts

You can craft engagement campaigns and loyalty programs based on customer behavior to further improve your business. Analytics can be integrated with automation tools to help manage marketing activities and campaigns. For example, in the case of cart abandonment, automation tools can trigger email reminders or pop up promo codes just as customers leave in order to entice them to push through with the sale.

4 – Manage stocks and pricing better

It’s easy to determine which products are doing well based on sales figures alone. However, this doesn’t paint a complete picture. Analytics can help you delve deeper into your sales data. You can explore if there are products that are popularly browsed or added into carts but don’t get bought. You can then decide on actions such as tweaking your prices. You can even narrow down your catalog and focus on the ones that generate the best profit for you. You can also consider moving upmarket if you notice that you are moving big-ticket items more than low-priced products.

5 – Minimize returns

If you ever shopped for clothes online, you know how difficult it is to get the right size even if there are size charts available. Even Amazon users have to rely on other buyers’ feedback to make sense of a garment’s true size. US fashion retailers report a return rate of between 20 to 40 percent. Faulty sizing is largely responsible for such a high rate. Merchants have to shoulder much of the costs from returns. With the high rate, returns are costing many businesses. To help combat this, personalization platform True Fit uses analytics to provide fit ratings and size recommendations for shoppers. This lessens buyer anxiety and saves merchants on returns.

6 – Enable personalized recommendations

Personalization is a key driver to customer engagement. A major ingredient in Amazon’s secret sauce is its personalized recommendations feature. Recommendations account for 35 percent of  its sales. Powering the recommendation engine are algorithms that rely on the analysis of extensive historical customer data. You can definitely explore implementing your own recommendations engine and this requires tracking customer behavior on the onset.

7 – Prepare for cross-border ecommerce

Developments in logistics and payments services have enabled many ecommerce businesses to go global. However, a key challenge for cross-border ecommerce is localization. Culture has a great impact on buyer attitudes and preferences. For example, some regions prefer particular products despite not performing well in your other markets. By using analytics, you will be able to compare user behaviors specific to each market enabling you to customize your strategies and campaigns accordingly.

The essential thing to understand about analytics is that it gives you objective information about your business. In a high risk business environment such as ecommerce, it is important to rely on hard numbers rather than pure intuition. Adopting analytics early on will help you be mindful of all trends that are affecting your business. Using these insights, you can then pivot accordingly. By adopting early, you can also collect longer historical information about your customers and your business. These could prove useful for your business down the line especially when implementing engagement programs and personalization features.

The post 7 Reasons Why Your Ecommerce Business Needs Analytics appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

GoDaddy also announced 3 upgrades to its shopping cart features. These upgrades include:

• Smart mobile checkout: redesigned checkout flow to minimize all friction points for customers to complete purchases. Dramatic reduction in typing and tapping to checkout.
• Abandoned shopping cart recovery: automatically send emails to shoppers with an easy link to return where they left off in the purchase flow.
• Commerce ready email marketing: upgraded email marketing integration enables rich mobile experiences for your prospects or customers.

What does this mean for your business? If you’re not enabling multiple payment options for your mobile (and other) shoppers you’ll lose sales.

The shopping cart is the “last” click for many shoppers. Make sure your shopping cart is optimized for mobile shoppers to enable them to shop fast and remind them if they don’t finish shopping.

This announcement also shows that email is still a VERY important asset in e-commerce, it is a very important factor when trying to define ecommerce. Social media is useful but email is still quite powerful. If you’re a beginner to dropshipping, you may want to check out the ecombusinesshub.com before you put all your savings into a new dropshipping business.

Prepping Products
Why is prepping important?

Product prep is important because it helps reduce time in post-production or photo editing. You can reduce the appearance of fingerprints, creases, folds, or other imperfections that otherwise would have to be corrected during editing.

Sometimes product imperfections can be so noticeable that they can’t be reduced even after editing. Thus, it’s important to take this step as seriously as the other steps. Keep in mind that the camera picks up things that are unnoticeable to the naked eye.

The post GoDaddy Enhances Mobile Shopping With ApplePay and Shopping Cart Intelligence appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The thing about selling content online, is that not only do you need the best way to upload your content, but you also need to consider a host of other stuff, like search engine optimization, marketing, presentation, delivery methods, payment and so on.

In addition, there are methods that cater for the small business, and others for larger companies who already have hundreds of courses.

Methods of selling content

Before you take the plunge and decide on a platform for your online courses, be diligent about doing your homework. The reason for this is that once you’ve loaded your content onto one platform, it’s going to be a mission to move it someplace else. FastSpring’s easy-to-use, full-service ecommerce platform includes everything you need to successfully sell digital downloads globally.

What you need to consider:

• Hosting for reliability and speed – you want to make sure your learners don’t get frustrated with the backend of your platform.
• Payment options – it is best to provide as many payment options as possible, or you may lose business.
• How easy it is to upload stuff like digital downloads and videos – you don’t want to battle when uploading digital downloads, videos, etc.
• Help with marketing the courses – does the platform make marketing your courses easier? For instance, does the platform provide a landing page builder?
• Course content delivery – how does the content need to be delivered? I.e., you may want to drip feed it by email. If so, how will it work.
• Integration with other third party services – understand exactly what else you’ll need to make everything work, and find out if those functions are easily integrated.
• Whether the platform is mobile responsive or not – drop it like a hotcake if it is not.
• Whether the platform is search engine friendly – Is the platform built to provide search engines with what they need, so that you get more traffic?

As you go through the options below, you’ll need to find out the answers to the above questions. And only then should you make your decision.

Oh, and one last thing: avoid making your decision based on price, as this could bite you in the butt at a later stage.

Types of platforms for small businesses

Branded Learning Management Systems website business

Think of this platform as purchasing a full-on online business. All you need to do is change the templates and add the content. It’s probably the easiest way to set up an online training business.

If we were to use Kajabi as an example of a branded LMS website business – and be aware that all of these types of platforms vary in what they offer – you get your own customizable website, landing page templates you can use to direct traffic to in order to get higher conversions, and you can email right from the system, so drip feeding is a piece of cake and you don’t need to pay extra for an email marketing software facility. All the tools you need are provided.

Pricing for a system like Kajabi is $103 per month as a starter, but you save costs by not having to fork out for a landing page builder and email marketing software.

This option is the superior choice because it has everything in one tool, is easiest to setup and use, and consists of everything you’ll need for marketing purposes.

WordPress websites membership plugins

If you’re already on WordPress, you may want to install a membership plugin. There are free options which is great because if your budget does not allow for any other paid option, it’s nice to know that there are ways to create an online course business using free tools.

But as with all tools, check that the plugin of your choice can do what you need it to do, and that it works well and integrates with any other services you may need to add, like an email software platform and payment gateways.

It’s not suggested you choose this option if you are a WordPress newbie, because you may face some serious struggles.

Membership websites are perfect for getting a community together: sharing media, tutorials, or ideas for the selected ones who join your secret club. However, managing such a platform may seem a very messy thing. Handling payments, subscriptions, permissions, and many more services can sound very intimidating. This is where the right membership website builder can make your life easier. With superior ease of use and great design, they can help create a great experience for both you and your visitors.

WordPress websites Learning Management System plugins

While membership plugins are made specifically for control access of content, LMS plugins are developed specifically for online courses and are best in terms of structure and creating a course that flows in a specific order, providing a complete learning path.

They also tend to provide course-rich features, like quizzes, assignments, progress tracking and certificates.

An example of an LMS plugin is LearnDash. Prices vary, but you’re looking at about $160 for a single website.

Marketplace websites

Choosing to go the marketplace route for your online courses is good from the point of view that those sites already boast a good amount of traffic, and usually have good search engine rankings. What this means for you, is that you don’t need to work so hard at getting people to the location of your course. Having said that, it does not mean your course stands a better chance of getting sales either, depending on your niche.

Because on the flip side of the coin, you will probably have a lot of competition on marketplace sites. So if you choose to go this route, you will need to make your course stand out from the rest of the crowd, and how you do that will depend on the marketplace website.

The main con of using sites like Udemy, is that you don’t own the list of subscribers and you can’t control your price. They set the standards and the manner in which you present and deliver your course, so it will have to be according to their standards, not yours.

Summary

The best option – if your budget allows it – is to go with the branded LMS option. The second best options are between the LMS WordPress plugin and marketplace sites. The last option you should consider, specifically for online course management, is the membership plugin.

The logic for this conclusion is that the membership plugin:

1. a) is not as easy to set up and make everything work as the other options, and/or
2. b) it may not be the best option from an SEO point of view, and that would be detrimental to your success.

The post The 4 Methods Of Selling Your Content Online appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

While many brands all over the world are reaping the benefits of their content marketing efforts, just as many are puzzled as to why it’s not working for them.

If you aren’t getting the results you want, there are 6 common reasons why your content marketing isn’t working. We’re going to look at each cause and solutions for how to fix them.

1. You’re Doing Content Marketing with No Goal

Most brands take on content marketing because they believe it will help their business, but sometimes, that’s as far as their strategy goes; they pump out blog posts and cross their fingers and see what happens. They don’t have more specific goals for their content marketing strategy, which is ultimately why it fails.

You need to ask yourself what you specifically want to achieve with your blog posts. Do you want to increase your sales, or get more leads? Showcase your industry expertise? Boost SEO rankings?

Caption: Trunkclub’s blog provides visitors with fashion advice, like how to pick out a pair of boots. In order to see their collection and full recommended outfit, users need to create an account and login, driving conversions and sign-ups. 

You need to know what you want your content marketing strategy as a whole to accomplish, and then optimize each post for the specific goal you want it to accomplish; you can’t just go on autopilot and hope for the best.

To address this problem, you need to take a look at what you want your content marketing to achieve and come up with ways to optimize for those results. Doing thorough keyword research, using alt tags in images, and specifying meta descriptions can help you increase the changes of your content being indexed, for example. Placing clickable CTAs throughout your site to learn more about a product or sign up for your newsletter can drive sales and leads, and providing consistent, high quality content educating your readers can build your credibility.

2. You’re Content is Stagnant

If we find something that works once in our content marketing, it’s easy to want to stick to that, whether that’s a style of post or a certain subject. While this might work for a little while, but long term, users are going to get tired if they don’t feel like each post is offering them something fresh and new. Whether you’re only posting too-similar listicles or going over the same topic with little variation, you might lose viewers in favor of competitors that are more diverse.

While it’s important to figure out what works well for your audience, you still want them to feel like they need to read each post for fear that they’ll miss something if they don’t. Some strategies to prevent stagnation in your content marketing include:

• Featuring high quality guest posts from other industry experts
• Add infographics or videos
• Place interactive features (like polls or quizzes) in your content
• Share a mix of case studies, how-to information, and breaking industry news
• Check what’s trending now; Clearvoice has a great database of trending articles if you’re stuck and can connect you with high quality freelancer

Keep an eye on what’s working for you, and check in to your analytics frequently, as it can change before you know it.\

3. You Aren’t Tracking Results

Some businesses will run entire content marketing strategies without ever thoroughly tracking any of their results. Monitoring analytics of your content can tell you what’s working and what isn’t, and it can often give you a lot of insight into how to product better content over time.

Some important metrics to track include:

• Conversion rates, including leads or sales
• Bounce rate
• Engagement rates
• Page views

Tracking the activity on your website is important, but it’s also just as important to see how your content marketing is affecting your social media and email marketing campaigns. They’re all intricately linked together, so looking at the big picture is important, too.

There are a ton of great tools available to help you track all of this information about your content marketing; Google Analytics is a great go-to tool for all businesses, and will even show you where your best traffic is coming from and how they move through your site. Other tools let you create dashboards that pull analytic information from multiple sources, including Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and ecommerce tools like Shopify.

4. Your Content is the Same as Everyone Else’s

There are tons of posts being put out every day; in this current climate of content overload, the question becomes how do you stand out? With a million posts about Facebook Ads or how to choose a wedding cake or best interview questions to ask, how is yours going to be different?

Ultimately, you need to decide how you’re going to be different, and what you can uniquely offer readers that no one else can. Even if it’s just your writing style and your voice that’s unique, something has to be special.

There are a few ways you can write unique posts and lead magnets. One way to do this is to comb the internet and message boards for unanswered questions; if one question keeps getting asked over and over again, there’s clearly an audience and a demand for content that addresses it. Another great method of creating new posts is to take a broader idea, like “Ten Classic Wedding Menus” and focusing in on one niche idea that fits within it, like “Six Wedding Menus to Keep Your Gluten Free/Vegan/Paleo Friends Happy.” 

Sometimes, creating content that’s different from everything else will rely on a combination of research and understanding (and fully embracing) your specific niche.

5. It’s Not Actionable

This is one of the biggest problems most content has; it’s so heavily theoretical, or there’s so much information overload, that users walk away from content thinking “well I still don’t know how to do any of that.” It’s like the manager that keeps telling salespeople “just sell more! Try harder!” As anyone who has ever worked in sales knows, this doesn’t actually ever help anything.

If you take a close look at a lot of how-to posts (or even content in general), they’ll talk about a problem or an idea but won’t show you to actually execute it. It therefore is rarely actually useful, and still leaves your readers wanting.

Your content should offer specific actionable content that users can make use of. This post, for example, is actionable by offering solutions to the problems that prevent success with content marketing. It’s the difference between the manager saying “you need to sell more” and saying “By showing the complementary product and showing them as a set, you’ll have bigger sales.”

Actionable content is valuable content, and that’s what will drive results.

6. It Feels like a Sales Pitch

While you can feature your products and place information and snippets of content to drive conversions, your content should not read like one long 1,000 word sales pitch. It doesn’t feel genuine, and in the age where “authentic content” is king, you’ll lose readers quickly.

We’ve all seen content that is so clearly created only to promote a product or an affiliate link, and the result is that readers are automatically less likely to trust it (and you).

Trademark Universal Stone’s blog post about whether granite is worth the return on investment is a great example of how to promote your products (theirs is granite) without making it read like a sales pitch.

If you’re going to promote a product or place affiliate links, it should almost never be the center of a blog post or lead magnet. Content marketing is about building a relationship with your customers, and if it reads like an advertisement, it won’t be effective.

Instead, subtle mentions of a product and a link and/or CTA to learn more are all that’s needed. You can also place a call to action at the very end of the post, encouraging users to contact you to learn how you can help them more.

Final Thoughts

Content marketing can work, and if you’re putting regular, consistent effort into it, it should be working. Even if your content worked for you in the past, maintaining an effort towards adaptability will keep you up to date on best industry, marketing, and SEO practices, keeping you moving in the right direction and giving you better results long term.

The post 6 Reasons Why Your Content Marketing Sucks appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

It’s understandable that you might want to take care of applying for worker’s compensation on your own but hiring a workers’ compensation lawyer in Santa Ana will ensure that you dont make these mistakes.

Identifying the right lawyers to handle your claim is important, as you want local attorneys who are knowledgeable about all aspects of the law, and who can work with your employer to file a proper claim. Interviewing attorneys can be laborious and time-consuming so it is important to have a list of questions ready for any potential lawyers before making contact. There are lots of lawyers in your area, not all of them specializing in workers compensation. Be sure the attorneys you contact have plenty of experience with workers compensation cases. You may wish to ask for education and experience references to see if the attorneys have worked in your area previously, or if they received training in another state or city. Ask how your potential lawyers handle difficult cases and what kinds of fees are charged. Look for attorneys who have experience specializing in workers compensation and are familiar with the government regulations.

Most workers’ compensation attorneys advise employees to inform their employers every time they get injured in the workplace, however minor the injury may be. Such injuries may result in serious complications later on, so if they do not file them early on, it may be more difficult for the employees to seek compensation.

Top Small Business Organizations

Help is available, small business owner! Whether you are looking to boost your knowledge with tutorials, videos, and lessons, improve your networking by connecting with other small business owners, or secure funding in the way of grants. In this article, we cover 23 of the top small business organizations that offer free and paid resources to help grow your small business.

The Most Common E-commerce Mistakes

You’ve started an e-commerce store and are delighted at the possibility of reaching a wider market and increasing your profit potential. However, if you’re not careful, you can make crucial mistakes that eat into your profit margin and hurt your business. In this article, we look at three of the top mistakes that small business owners make when running an e-commerce store, and we share an infographic that has tons of advice on how to fix a leaky e-commerce faucet.

Click to read 3 Mistakes that Cost Your Ecommerce Store (And How to Fix them)

Do You Know What the FICO Liquid Score Is?

Understanding your credit score is important for securing the funding you need both in your business and personal life. However, financial terms are often confusing, so it can be difficult to make sense of it all. Put yourself on a better financial path by reading this article that details the difference between your personal and business credit scores and how they combine to create your FICO Liquid Credit Score, which many lenders are using today to make their funding decisions.

Tax Tips for Small Business Owners

Taxes are an unfortunate reality that every small business owner must deal with. Should you set money aside for your tax payments, and how can you prepare for taxes without hurting your cash flow? This article covers three scenarios of when taxes and cash flow collide. You’ll learn how to plan for taxes in a way that will keep your business healthy and prepare you for tax day. If you still find your business struggling with taxes then consider getting help from tax relief services or you could get yourself prepared and take some tax planning courses.

It can be easy to get lost in the passion you hold for your business ideas – to focus on your products or fun elements like marketing and social media. However, a smart small business owner should always have a good eye on the finances, and these articles are guaranteed to help.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Top Small Business Organizations, Taxes, Credit, and E-commerce Mistakes appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This article was written in partnership with GoDaddy, a company that offers domain name registration as well as hosting and ecommerce services to help you develop your online presence.

The phrase rings out on websites all over the Internet – if you’re a business, “you HAVE to be online!” Although most small business owners will recognize the importance of an online presence, many have held back for fear that setting up and running a website is a complex process that they can’t possibly understand or manage. It’s not true! As small business owner Fred Magnanimi said in a recent Smart Hustle interview, technology is a lot more accessible than many people assume. He set up his website and e-commerce store all by himself and with the tools available today (like GoDaddy hosting and e-commerce services), so can you.

I recently had the chance to review GoDaddy hosting and e-commerce options. My conclusion? These are the sort of tools that empower small business owners to take control of their online presence and reach a larger market. They are affordable, simple to use, and include everything a small business owner needs for success.

Want to know what I think about GoDaddy hosting & e-commerce services? Check out my personal review by clicking play on the video below, plus read on to learn more.

The Importance of Hosting and E-commerce

Before I cover the GoDaddy services and features, let’s talk about why you would need them in the first place.

Hosting (or web hosting) refers to a service where a company (in this case GoDaddy) provides access to, and storage space for, a website. It’s a lot like renting your space. Just like you pay to rent your physical location, you pay a web hosting service to rent your online location. The host gives you a certain amount of storage space (for pages, website content, files, pictures, etc.) and they store your information on a server. When someone wants to view your website, they type in your address, their computer connects to the host’s server, and your website is displayed in their browser.

There are some sites that offer free hosting, but that comes with downsides that aren’t ideal for business. For a few bucks a month (as low as $3.99 with GoDaddy hosting) self-hosting gives you perks:

• Choose your own domain name (you want to be timsbakery.com not timsbakery.wordpress.com!)
• Fully customize the design of your website
• Use plugins – tools that extend and improve the functionality of your website
• Add Google Analytics to learn about your website visitors

It’s clear that any person who is serious about their business should choose a self-hosted site over a free site. And why do you need a website? Because it’s where your customers are and where people will go to find you! Even if you are a local business, your customers (and prospective customers) will want to go online to find your location, phone number, business hours, contact information, menu, and so on.

If you have a product you could potentially sell online, having a website gets even more important. That’s where e-commerce comes in. E-commerce refers to the selling and purchasing of goods online. It takes your website to the next level – not only do you have a site that gives information about your business and your physical location, but you also have the ability to sell your products. This expands your reach and opens you up to millions of potential customers. E-commerce is a natural progression for any local product-based business that wants to expand.

GoDaddy Hosting

GoDaddy offers WordPress hosting services for small businesses who know it’s time they set up a website. WordPress is the most popular website building tool because it’s completely customizable and user-friendly. If you don’t feel comfortable setting up your own site, there are also plenty of WordPress experts out there who can help you get set up. The GoDaddy plans allow you to choose the hosting that is right for your business:

• Basic Plan – As low as $3.99/month and $7.99/month when you renew, you’ll get hosting for one WordPress site with a capacity for 25,000 monthly visitors and 10GB SSD storage.
• Deluxe Plan – As low as $4.49/month and $9.99/month when you renew, you’ll get hosting for one WordPress website with a capacity for 100K monthly visitors and 15GB SSD storage, plus extra perks like an SEO plugin.
• Ultimate Plan – For as low as $7.99/month and $14.99/month when you renew, you’ll get hosting for two WordPress sites with a capacity of 400K monthly visitors and 30GB SSD storage, plus extra perks like malware scan and removal.
• Developer Plan – For as low as $13.99/month and $24.99/month when you renew, you’ll get hosting for five WordPress sites with a capacity of 800K monthly visitors and 50GB SSD storage, plus extra perks like a free one-year SSL certificate.

If you purchase an annual plan, you’ll also get a free domain (your chosen URL). All plans include free daily backups and one-click restore so you won’t lose your data, plus free 24/7 support for questions and issues.

GoDaddy E-commerce

If you want to sell products online, you can choose GoDaddy’s e-commerce service which includes your website, hosting, and shopping cart. Currently, you can try it for free for the first month then get a discount of $19.99/month for the first year (after that, the normal price is $29.99/month). With GoDaddy e-commerce you can:

• Easily set up your store, choosing from many customizable themes that allow you to drag and drop product images and add descriptions.
• Take payments online, with the ability to accept all major credit cards and PayPal. You are only charged a fee when you make a sale, which is 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction.
• Sales are automatically transferred to your bank account.
• Enjoy 24/7 support for advice and answers to all your questions.

My Experience with GoDaddy Hosting & E-commerce

There are several things to look for when considering an e-commerce solution for your business. Of course, the specific needs of your business and your goals are most important. But in general, I look for simplicity and the ability to easily add products online. Other things, such as security and integration with other apps, are important as well.

I explored GoDaddy’s e-commerce solution by making a test store of my own.

In my experience, GoDaddy’s e-commerce was fast and easy to use, allowing just about any business to get up and running quickly to sell online. You can sell through QuickBooks or Stripe, for starters.

GoDaddy’s hosting solution is pretty seamless as well. When I tried out GoDaddy hosting, I wanted to see how easy it was to migrate SmallBizTechnology.com over to GoDaddy. After entering a few bits of information, GoDaddy’s migration tool took over the rest and began to automatically migrate my managed WordPress site to the GoDaddy platform. From my experience, it will be easy for anyone who currently has a website to switch from their current host to GoDaddy hosting. Doing so will allow you to lock in the low prices and features I mentioned above.

Also, if you don’t have a website yet, I’m sure you’re now amazed at how easy and affordable it is to set up your online site and store. GoDaddy hosting and e-commerce services are perfect for small business owners who are ready to embrace technology and all the perks that come with it – more leads, customers, sales, and profits. The online world is your oyster, small business owner!  It’s time to set up your website or e-commerce store today.

GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain registrar, with over 14 million users worldwide. Their services also include website creation, hosting, design, ecommerce for small business, security, marketing services, bookkeeping, and productivity tools. GoDaddy has 62 million domains currently under management and is committed to empowering small business owners to successfully start, grow and run their businesses.

The post GoDaddy Hosting & Ecommerce Helps SmallBiz Owners Set Up an Online Presence appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

• There has never been a better time for e-commerce.
• It has never been easier to set up an online storefront.

But as simple as it is to set up an e-commerce presence, it’s important to know how to build and market your store before you get started. With the right tools in place, you can build a winning website and draw customers in. Once you’ve set up your e-commerce shop, you’ll need to know how to leverage it to get the best results.

How to Leverage an Ecommerce Platform

As beneficial as an online store can be to your business’s success, it isn’t the only option. If you aren’t quite ready to set up your own online store, consider leveraging one of the many existing platforms for reaching customers online. Marketplaces like Etsy, Amazon, and eBay will let you set up a store and reach their already robust customer bases. Angi (formerly Angie’s List) and Thumbtack will help you connect with local customers who are looking for services like yours. The best thing about these resources is that you’ll be able to enjoy quick setup without a huge financial commitment.

If you decide to use a site like Etsy or Amazon as your sole selling platform, you should buy the domain name that best relates to your business and point that domain to your online store. This will give you a single address on the web, whether that address is connected to your Amazon seller account, your Etsy shop, or your own dedicated website. This will give you one online address, as well as the benefit of an easily-remembered address that promotes your own brand up front. It will also give you a company-branded email address.

How to Build Your Own Online Store

Once you’re ready to build your dedicated online store, getting started is easy. Useful website builders like Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix let you build an online store using drag-and-drop tools. These sites offer features like shopping carts, site hosting, and search engine optimization, making sure your online store is easy to use, has a professional look, and ranks well when customers are searching for certain products or services.

While these services generally aren’t free, businesses usually find they’re budget friendly. Generally do-it-yourself site builders cost less than $75 a year and may even be free if shop owners are willing to allow third-party ads on their sites. Best of all, these tools come with customer support to provide technical help when needed.

3 Tips to Guide You

1. Identify your website needs – Your online store can be simple and streamlined or a sophisticated multimedia marketing and sales hub. Determine your requirements before you begin building. If you decide you want a lot of bells and whistles on your site, you may want to consider a professional web developer to help.
   2. Pick a domain name – Your domain name will be your virtual address, as well as your online identity, on the web. Even if some solutions offer to host your site on their domains, you should put your website on your owndomain name to have a consistent, branded web address for your customers to remember. It will also give you an attractive, professional web address to use in your marketing.
   3. Select the right website builder – You can find an array of solutions by doing an Internet search for ‘e-commerce website builder.’ Take time to research and compare two to three options. Make sure they have an e-commerce option and that they will not only meet your needs for today but in the future as well.

With so many great resources, entrepreneurs can easily set up an online store and begin promoting it immediately. Before choosing your site’s platform, make sure you carefully research all of the available options and choose the one that’s best for your own business.

This article was written in partnership with Verisign; however, all opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

The post Tips to Help Your Business Build a Winning Ecommerce Store appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

For sure companies have tried to use computer programming as an interface in a variety of human interactions.

This is quite a bit more intelligent than what you’d experience in an interactive phone system at some big company. This is about having a conversation with a computer – about buying your next pair of shoes, shopping for an airline ticket or something else.

Facebook’s Messenger service is going to get very intelligent, as reported by the NY Times:

The experience is akin to chatting with a friend, “the one whose taste you always trust while you’re shopping,” said Alan Tisch, chief executive of Spring.

There’s just one thing: The entity on the other end talking to you and helping you choose the shoes is not human. It is a chatbot, a relatively simple piece of software that uses artificial intelligence to carry on a conversation.

While chatbots have been around for some time — think of SmarterChild, the friendly buddy that was popular on AOL Instant Messenger more than a decade ago — companies are now increasingly betting that a grand bot resurgence is coming, one that will change the way people interact with their most beloved brands.

The post Bots or Humans: Ready To Chat With A Computer When You Chat? Facebook Messenger Evolution. appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.