Category: eCommerce

Ecommerce is the future. It came late but revolutionized almost every industry. The reason behind ecommerce catching up is the customer-centric approach; making life easier and saving time over brick and mortar shopping. The industry is booming and the numbers of mobile shoppers are increasing almost every day. If you are looking for a choice between eCommerce website and mobile app, Read out the 7 reasons why you should have both of them:

#1. Your Customers Prefer Both

Normally before buying any product online, customers research the same brands at many places. In between there are competing brands that are trying to attract customers. Having an eCommerce website as well as mobile app gives you major touch points where you can attract customers. Moreover, normally a customer journey starts from mobile app or mobile browsing, generating interest and ends at desktop with buying the product. Leaving any of these points can results in lower sales and profit for your business.

Additionally, research suggests that consumer prefers mobile apps. As per a study, 89% of consumer media activity occurs on mobile apps. Not only can the right app help in attracting loyal customers, but it can also reward them with a more convenient and interesting experience. Mobile commerce also accounts over 35% of eCommerce sales. Thus, it is pretty clear that both have profound place in eCommerce industry.

#2. Better Conversion Rates

Businesses using both are likely to receive better conversion rates in terms of product buying and customer loyalty. Both mobile app and eCommerce website facilitates journey of customers in different areas of sales process. Covering up each other at different stages of buying decisions, one can’t trade off other at any cost.

#3. Increased Marketing Options

With a single channel of promotion, obviously there are limitations in terms of marketing also. With multiple channels of communication, various promotional tools like Push Notifications, App only Discounts, Cashback etc. can be used. While remarketing ads or transactional mails can work best for desktop savvy customers, push notification do the same for mobile customers. Customers these days need some marketing push at each sales funnel stage which is not possible via only one option. This simplifies why there’s no choice between mobile app and eCommerce website.

#4. During Downtimes, One can Work with Another

Technical glitches are part of websites, data backup, recovery and storage. Though most of the people just talk about customers’ journey, simplifying user experience, this is one of the major reasons, you should choose both. When you are hosting a website, many a times server go down or encounter some other problem. Presence of mobile app during the same time can prevent from losing your customers or reducing the chances of brand switch.

#5. Offers Distinctive Benefits

Both mobile app and eCommerce website offers distinctive benefits. Mobile app promotes brand loyalty among customers where eCommerce website provides advantage among thousands of eCommerce businesses. Many businesses like Myntra even tried to do away with website and run on mobile app, but failed and therefore had to start again with their ecommerce websites. This shows how you cannot leverage proper benefits of marketing without combined strategy for both.

#6. Better Marketing Strategies

With app and eCommerce website, better marketing strategies can be developed. These strategies can make you ahead of your competitors. The good part about these strategies is they are interlinked, so there’s no need to pay extra to promote them differently.

#7. No Extra Cost in Developing Both

These days, there are many software companies that build both app and e-commerce website at nominal cost. They also provide features such as push notification, payment methods, deep linking, customization and many more. MobiCommerce is one of them. With more than 500+ customers it has a huge client base catering every industry. Check out the portfolio.

Summarizing It:

The debate still continues which wins over another, but we suggest you to check for yourself by trying both app and eCommerce website for your business. If you already own a website, also try for mobile app and see how it contributes to your sales and bottom line.

Magento is an open-source E-commerce platform designed by Varien Inc but has been extremely improved by eBay over time to give seamless and efficient online commerce experience.

Magento mobile app has evolved since its first launch in 2008. And, over this time, its viability, mobile app extensions and features have brought about global acceptance and made Magento one of the few preferred E-commerce platforms across the globe.

According to a research by AheadWorks in 2015, Magento accounted for almost 30% of the market share among the dominant e-commerce platforms around the world.

Further reports beside this have also shown that Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop among others are still enjoying massive public trust and patronage till date. In another report by builtwith, showing statistics for websites that deploy E-commerce technologies on their platforms, Magento had a total of 18 percent market share when compared with all the other E-commerce sources in the survey.

In another report by Builtwith, where Magento’s reach was investigated based on the number countries and the size of use, the result couldn’t have been more revealing. It will amaze you that the countries with the most vibrant E-commerce businesses around the world are the ones using Magento the most.

So, it’s obvious that Magento is simply one of the most preferred and dominant E-commerce platforms across the world today. And, when you consider the amount of time and access to mobile devices in these countries compared with the ease with which you can build efficient Magento mobile app, you will begin to appreciate why the spread is growing consistently.

For clarity, let’s consider the reasons behind Magento’s soaring reputation and acceptance across the world.

Outstanding Features of Magento

First, you need to understand that Magento has managed to provide simple and efficient mobile applications over the year. Magento has continued to push the frontiers of mobile commerce like very few E-commerce platforms have done.

Across industries, platforms and countries, Magento’s mobile apps development and innovations have continued to raise the bar. It is compatible with Android, iPhones, Dropads, Ipad and many more mobile platforms with growing features that increase users’ experience and give improved security.

But, why should cutting-edge mobile solutions be relevant to the revolutionary growth recorded by Magento?

1) The whole world is going digital

Interestingly, a report on Business Insider in December 2016 says adults in the States spent a whopping 59% of their time on mobile devices while the other fraction gets the attention of desktops.

For the market shares and size of m-commerce, Business Insider projected that m-commerce would rise almost 200% between 2014 and 2020. More specifically, the m-commerce industry which represented just 11.6% of the 303 billion dollars of U.S. e-commerce in 2014 will grow to over 45% by 2020.

This information is well represented in the diagram below.

To validate the huge access and use of mobile devices for digital media and commerce, the infographic below shows the time spent by adults on digital media and the devices used in accessing the channels.

The implication of the data above is simple: more people will be reached on the digital media through mobile platforms than any others.

Fortunately for Magento, it has been able to provide efficient and secured mobile apps across devices and has consistently built Magento mobile apps that are designed to seamlessly address important mobile-commerce related challenges.

2) Popularity of Magento Platforms and its quality products

Secondly, Magento has developed amazingly quality applications to drive secured and trusted E-commerce platforms over the years. The three popular platforms with unique and increasingly distinct features to meet individual needs are Magento Community Edition, Magento Enterprise Edition and, the last is Magento Enterprise Cloud Edition.

Magento Community Edition

It is Magento’s first solution for E-commerce in Magento 2. Since it was released, it has undergone a lot of touches and renovations which have improved its functionality and fluidity on E-commerce platforms. It is mainly appropriate for small E-commerce stores and businesses.

Magento Enterprise Edition

It is a premium edition of the solution, and it is an upgrade to the Magento Community Edition. This is particularly designed to accommodate the huge demands of the large businesses. Though no hosting is necessary for this edition, it gives room for detailed technical supports.

It is good for large businesses that need flexibility and ease of hosting. The most recent versions of Magento Enterprise Edition are EE 1.14.2.4 and, EE 2.0.4 released earlier in 2016.

Enterprise Cloud Edition (ECE)

It is another edition of Magento E-commerce solution. Released also in April 2016, it is the most advanced of the three editions. It gives rooms for hosting by Magento and takes away the concerns and fear of quality hosting services with unraveled security.

Here, there is a lot of room for customised, scalable web store front with globally respected security supports during transactions. ECE is also a full REST API with scriptable interfaces that easy integration with external systems.

Some of the standout points of the ECE are:

• It’s real-time content delivery network that quickly diagnoses speed problems and gives automated defense against DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service), a type of DOS attacks.
• Consistent and life monitoring interface on the application performance.
• Blacfire.io is embedded in this edition that monitors and shows performances of how all your pages work together giving you regular updates on dormant and active pages.

So, if you are considering applications with excellent search engine optimization solutions, mobile compatibility and usability, dependable and regular technical supports, fast and secured processes and opportunity for varied and unique customization inputs, Magento is about your finest option. You can also deploy an enormous number of features that will give you better experiences with Magento on your platform.

Which edition of Magento would you consider best for you?

Which of the editions would give you the best as a business owner and digital media user? That depend a lot on what you want or the kind of business you plan to operate. You need to recognize that your depth of need will determine which of the edition is best for you.

One reason why you might choose the community edition is the issue of size. The smaller your business is, the more advisable for you to go for the community edition. While bigger businesses will benefit more from the enterprise and cloud editions.

The resources needed for enterprise and cloud is not also advisable for small businesses. It is designed for the guys with the big wallets.

Again, with enterprise and cloud editions, you can also decide how much of manpower and time you want to deploy for hosting. Magento offers you the options of flexibility and freedom on hosting with these editions.

However, whichever the editions you choose, with Magento, you are guaranteed flexibility, fluidity, quality shopping and customer experience, online security, and world-class services.

Summary

Today, Magento is a leading E-commerce platform used by millions of people across the world because of its promises and deliveries.

From the flexibility of use to high security details, different alternatives that give users an avalanche of options and modular interfaces, the amazingly growing number of plug-ins and features being developed for it, Magento has proven that it’s here for real business.

If you want to enjoy limitless boundaries and growing innovations coupled with security on your E-commerce platform, you have a good deal in Magento.

Resolution time! We are in the midway of December and 2017 is knocking our door. But before opening the door for new opportunities, we the people, love to make some plans and resolutions and e-commerce industry is no more an exception. E-commerce is growing, but still, majority customers prefer shopping online. So, how to increase the e-commerce sale in 2017? Here, we will give you some suggestions or rather resolution which should be adopted to become more successful in your eCommerce business.

But before that, we should consider another point– the trends. What will be the trends of e-commerce in 2017?

So, before writing down any strategies, let us have a look at the upcoming trends for better effective resolution.

E-commerce growth shifts towards Asia – It all started with the US, but now the e-commerce growth has been shifted towards Asia, and that is good news for us.

Mobile – People are more relying on Smartphone. It is not only the device used for calling and messaging, but also considered as a way to get the whole world in your hand.

The growth of artificial intelligence – This is a whole new concept which is yet to be applied in real life. However, it is predicted to be a trend by the end of 2017.

Competition – And yes, in 2017 the industry of e-commerce will be crowded than ever, and the competition will only increase.

E-wallet – This trend has been started from 2016 as people made their payments through different payment apps, but it has been predicted that this trend will embrace a massive place by the end of 2017.

These are just a few of the trends of 2017. Now, we are coming to the point – what resolution what should we make to increase e-commerce sales?

Let us enlighten you with some of the e-commerce resolutions you should try out in 2017.

#1. Mobile application

In this era of Smartphone, mobile apps are utterly necessary. The days of websites are over, get a makeover and enter the world of m-commerce applications. From different surveys and studies, you can see that mobile commerce app is dominating the world of e-commerce than desktop. So, make this resolution as the top one. According to IMRG Capgemini Q2 (May to July) report in the UK, out of the £24.2bn online spending during this quarter, £8.7bn spent through mobile devices and tablets.

Read more: Mobile Commerce – A Success Saga

#2. Drone delivery and returns

Though, it is a very new idea in the realm of e-commerce; it will eventually take the place of normal delivery. Unlike offline shopping, people do not get the product on the same day they are ordering. But it is highly necessary, and people even want to make extra pay for same-day delivery. And not only deliveries but returns are also one of the pain-point of online shopping. This can be made easy with drone service.

#3. Chatbots

After Google Allo introduced in the US with funny Google Assistant; Chatbots will be a new trend of 2017. According to Bi Intelligence, people are using messaging apps much more than social media. It will help to increase your customer support and sale of products. It will engage customers in a better way. So, do not forget to put Chatbots on your resolution list.

#4. Combine the systems

Combine your online business with offline! With the introduction of Amazon’s new Checkout free retail store, we can predict safely that this trend will grow more in 2017. It does not matter how e-commerce is growing but still customers rely more on touching the product before buying. And with ‘checkout free’ option, eCommerce will grow and retail stores too.

#5. Predictive analysis

Embrace your perfect marketing strategy in 2017 with the help of predictive analysis. Big Data will help you in determining a customer’s purchasing habits, preference and even maybe the next purchase. This will help you to increase you e-commerce sale more rapidly.

#6. Keep your data clear

In the case of online shopping; people mainly rely on the reviews and photos of a particular product. So, keep updating your product description, real-time photos of the product and obviously reviews. These things help a lot in increasing your business sale.

#7. More offers and discounts

Offers and discounts are what attract customers toward online shopping in spite of having many disadvantages. So yes, more black Fridays are coming this year!

Verdict

No one can predict the position of any business growth accurately. And e-commerce industry is no exception. However, as a newly growing field, eCommerce industry is still pretty much unstable and is in constant need of comprehensive strategies to boost it up. So, if you are planning to boost up your e-commerce sale in 2017, make your resolution accordingly and obviously do not forget the above strategies for a better and a secure way to increase your sale.

Mobile Commerce – this term has a lot to say. Since there are myriads of strategies introduced to boost online market during festive seasons, the giants of mobile eCommerce are able to easily roll up with attractive business concepts to tempt their customers to buy during Diwali festival. All eCommercetycoons such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal offered 5 days of festive sale on heavy discounted price. 5 days were divided among various categories like apparels, household, electronics, mobile, furniture’s etc. Along with crazy and tempting discount offers, this time Flipkart and Snapdeal have applied one more tactic by collaborating with Bajaj Finance – No cost EMI. If the customer has Bajaj Finance card then customer can shop on EMI without paying any additional interest on it.

Let’s talk aboutFlipkart’s big billion day sale!

Within just an hour of its launch, one lakh foot wears were sold. As per the estimate of an industry on normal/regular days, value of fashion and lifestyle products sold by Flipkart is Rs700 to 1000/- whereas on big billion day sale, it got increased to Rs. 2500 to 3000!

There were over 20 million total visitswithin just 19 hours after the announcement of big billion day sales. As per Flipkart, they sold millions of products in first 10 hours. From the total traffic of 20 million, 60% was sale of fashion and lifestyle products were boosted. Add to this, mobile apps gave 73% of business, whereas desktops helped generate only 15% of business.

Let’s talk about Amazon

Surveys stated that, it took the place of Google Play and Apple App store under shopping category. According to stats, from Amazon they saw five times growth in mobile app and were able to generate 80% of the traffic. Online transactions taking place over the apps also increased by 7 times. Moreover, Samsung, Lenovo, Xiaomi had become the most prominent brands among the mobile category sales.

Along with mobile, mobile accessories sales raised 5 times more. Also, consumers’ electronics grew 20 times where as fashion category showed 44 times growth. Auto category growth was five times along with unexpected growth in furniture category of 12 times within 3 days of sale.

Snapdeal Did It Well Too!

After Flipkart and Amazon it was time for Snapdeal to introduce its season sale and let’s see how the sales performance was for Snapdeal. According to the latest stats,Snapdeal sales volume overall have surged 9-10 times higher than the other e-tailers websites. There was a sharp change in the quantity of sales; it was because of the partnership with key brands. Most of the sales were from Mobile app which covers almost 70-80% of total sales during the season.

As per Snapdeal they sold 10 products per second which includes Smartphone every 6 second, laptop every 20 seconds, on every 30 seconds a tablet, a pair of footwear every 10 seconds and many others. There was 100% sales growth this year as witnessed to the previous year. Categories like fashion and electronics played exceptionally well up to the mark and on the other side home décor and furnishing also came out to their expectations.

Here are the numbers which are being rolled out nowadays.

“Are you kidding me?”This is the reaction people give after reading thebelow figures.

Whopping Sales through Mobile Apps

• Flipkart sold 15.5 million units
• Amazon sold 15 million units
• Snapdeal sold 11 million units

How These Big Companies Can Claim Above Numbers?

Amazon released the numbers a day before and claimed 15 million units in five days of sales. Flipkart along with myntra and Jabong sales collection, claimed 15.5 million units.Snapdeal claimed to have 11 million units sold along with some cash-back offers from free-charge wallet. For Amazon it was the most important membership area which worked out well during this sale season. Using the prime numbers there is no fair match with Snapdeal and Flipkart which does not include any special customers.

Flipkart worked out technically this time and so it did not disappoint any of its customers, like previous year. Flipkart claimed that, this time they were ready to handle traffic which would be expected during those 5 days sales. On the other hand,Snapdeal and Amazon were never a part of any such technical issues.

Phew! The e-commerce giants played amazingly with their mobile apps.

An Immediate Verdict

Flipkart was on top and no one made it up to cross Flipkart! Thus it is a winner who is moresuccessful than others. The rivals are still standing behind Amazon and Snapdeal.

Stats are impressive and these had made customers buy things at economical level which in turn is helping these eCommerce platforms as well as small and large retailers and wholesalers. It’s like a 360 degree chain working when we talk about e-commerce!

Opening an online store is easier than ever. There are dozens of great e-commerce platforms that allow merchants with no coding experience to build up and run complex online store systems and reach customers from all around the world.

Since the use of mobile internet also saw a huge increase in recent years, many business owners decide to optimize their online stores for mobile users. This is another process that’s simplified by latest tech and platforms like MobiCommerce – ecommerce mobile app builder, which enable e-commerce beginners to easily target consumers who use mobile internet.

In this article we will analyze benefits that e-commerce brings to small local businesses and give you 6 reasons why you should add an online store to your business strategy

1. E-commerce overcomes geographic limitations

If you want local store to become global, you should upload its offer to a web server. Traditionally local businesses are targeting customers who live or work nearby, while online stores give them the chance to overcome geographic limitations and present their offer to people all around the world. Of course even online stores have their limitations when it comes to customer reach, and these are mostly determined by country customs and shipping rates. Even with these limitations ecommerce drastically increases business’ customer pool.

2. Online stores cut your HR spending

Online retail business could be easily run by one person. Physical stores on the other hand require at least one person per shift, who can’t leave the store during several hours. Bigger stores also require additional workforce that will cover security, bookkeeping, storing and merchandising tasks. Online stores that are run by production companies, don’t even need to hire additional staff.

3. Online stores can use less expensive ways of promotion

Internet retail entrepreneurs are usually much more open to new technologies, which means they use all benefits digital marketing brings. Online merchants usually share their offers directly on social networks and attract more customers with less expensive marketing strategies which include the use of search engine optimization, Google AdWords, local business mobile apps, Facebook Ads etc.

4. Online store requires less space and guarantees a smaller rent

E-commerce works on completely different premise and the whole project can be easily run from home or a garage. One of the reasons for this, is the fact that these stores use website’s product pages as their exhibition area. They also don’t need bigger storage space, because customers who shop in online stores are accustomed to shorter or longer waiting periods. This means that store owner can use this period to obtain ordered item or even to produce it (if the store is connected to production plant). Physical stores on the other hand need to have all of their goods ready and packed, because customers expect to walk out from the store with a product they just purchased.

5. They are open 24/7

Internet works 24/7, and online stores are no different. The moment after your neighbor goes to sleep, some college kid is just making a break from studying, by browsing stuff he/she would like to buy. This brings benefits to both merchants and customers. Merchants will receive more orders, and customer won’t need to rush after work or school and think whether their favorite shop is going to close.

6. Online stores save customer’s time and money

Most online stores offer free shipping, at least in local area, which drastically decreases customer spending. Location based stores require customers to spend time, money and gas in order to buy their favorite item, while online stores bring goods directly at their door. That’s probably one of the reasons why ecommerce is one of the fastest growing internet businesses in recent years.

In the end we should also mention a few disadvantages online stores come with. First and the most important lack of online shopping app concept is the fact that customer can’t see the item before it arrives to their address. Merchants solved this puzzle by uploading sharp, high-resolution imagery and providing extensive information about the product on their product pages. Some of them went few steps further introducing 360 degrees product view, adding links to manufacturer’s website or sending product samples to potential customers. This and many other similar practices will make your online store more competitive and popular among consumers.

With regards to eCommerce, Amazon.com is the reigning king. In addition to offering millions of different products, it also offers a high end user experience through their professional customer service and digital best practices. Although today’s eCommerce business owner has a plethora of options when it comes to how and where to sell their goods, Amazon offers an established platform with plenty of benefits for the savvy business owner.

Here are a few reasons why, if you are into eCommerce, you need to be on Amazon:

1. You have access to an already established clientele.

As one of the world’s largest online retailers, Amazon has a client base of nearly 300 million, and this number is quickly growing. For a consumer goods business, this is particularly ideal because it would cost a tremendous amount of money to get the sales and impressions that Amazon provides.

2. Trust and credibility are keys to driving growth.

Consumers will be considerably more likely to make a purchase through Amazon, rather than buying goods through a website they are unfamiliar with. Amazon is a well-known company with an established reputation.

3. Amazon offers superior back end support and infrastructure.

Ecommerce business owners who currently conduct business via Amazon have praised the company back end infrastructure, which they believe offers excellent support for selling. Amazon offers an all in one platform, which can handle everything from credit card processing to tax calculations to inventory tracking. Because all of these elements are already present, a seller does not need to figure out how to do all of the setup themselves.

4. FBA — Shipping & Fulfillment

In what many view as an added bonus, this marketing conglomerate enables sellers to ship their inventory directly to Amazon’s warehouse. For a fee, Amazon.com will then handle the sales of the product, order fulfillment, returns, and any additional customer service issues that might arise. This enables an eCommerce business owner to avoid many of the headaches that are associated with maintaining an affiliate channel.

5. Third Party Tools

Amazon even allows third party developers to create connected productivity tools, using their MWS (Marketplace Web Service) system, to help its sellers. These tools can be invaluable to sellers as they allow an even greater level of automation to those who choose to use them. Some of the most common third party tools include Amazon Repricers, which work like an agent working 27/7 to ensure your products are intelligently priced to stay competitive yet profitable compared to the competition. Another example are Multichannel Fulfillment Solutions that allow you to use a single central inventory for all your marketplaces whether it be Amazon, your own website or even EBay and more too. The immense size of the eCommerce business means it attracts the very best of developers to ensure the platform and its tools are always one step ahead.

6. Referrals Are Invaluable

It also offers an excellent, automatic algorithm for recommended purchases. For example, a buyer may visit Amazon for the purpose of purchasing a product that Seller A doesn’t offer; however, Seller A’s product may come up as a recommended purchase as the buyer is purchasing a product from Seller B. Furthermore, it growing number of affiliates will link consumers to a seller’s product through Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and even Instagram. This alleviates the seller from having to contend with the more tedious aspects of operating an affiliate program.

Summary

If you maintain your own e-commerce website, then you will be able to exercise more control over your specific brand, your products, and promotions and pricing; however, at the end of the day, it is imperative that your eCommerce business be visible where your targeted demographic is most likely to be looking for your product. In many cases, Amazon will be one of the first places a consumer goes to look for the product they want. As such, having an Amazon channel will only be an asset to your business and its growth.

What can be better than weekend with industry peers !! It was great learning weekend in Mumbai with 500+ eCommerce industry people at IEE (India Ecommerce expo).

India Ecommerce Expo is the largest B2B Trade platform in the E-commerce space in India. This event showcases Ecommerce Ecosystem and facilitates business interaction+knowledge sharing.

There were great presentations and lots of idea exchanged there. To summarize, the key points from the show worth stealing are –

• It’s not online VS. Offline, its offline with online. Both presence are equally important
• Importance of affiliate marketing
• It’s not degree with big b-schools or engineering collages that investor sees in startup, they see the spark in startup team, how idea is impacting quality of life of human being.
• Entrepreneurs should not focus much on valuation; one should focus on the value proposition and business strategy as valuation will follow afterwards.

While discussing about the future of E-commerce industry in India, there were presentations unveiling the new technology trends and practices in the industry. Industry gurus also talked about business of some of the latest and innovative start-ups in the country.

It was worth attending session and wish to see more such expo, exhibitions and gatherings in future where exchange of ideas take place.

Once you have manufactured a fantastic range of products and have built yourself a user-friendly, inviting online store, it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll distribute any orders to your expectant customers. Attracting customers and getting them to pop items into an online basket is just one part of the eCommerce puzzle. A company’s downfall could lie in a fulfilment and delivery system that isn’t quite living up to the high expectations fostered by your online presence.

Sadly, many eCommerce businesses fail because of an outdated fulfilment process. If your company chooses to implement its own fulfilment, you may find that employees are spending more time servicing the business; time that could be better spent elsewhere. Outsourcing the fulfilment stage of an eCommerce operation is now becoming increasingly common, even for the smallest of online retailers.

Here are some top tips for finding the best eCommerce fulfilment centre for you and your online store:

1. Check for inventory status beforehand

Choose a fulfilment specialist who can provide you with accurate and timely feedback. There’s a lot of value to be had in knowing the status of your business and its orders in real time. ‘Intelligent reporting’ can show you up-to-the minute stock levels, allowing you to incorporate this data in your production and buying system. Scheduling, running and re-running inventory reports yourself is time-consuming and frustrating. A fulfilment specialist should integrate an intelligent reporting system within your eCommerce business in order to cut back your workload.

2. Ask them about their delivery workflow

Choose a fulfilment specialist with a good track record in delivery times. A fulfilment centre which uses their own in-house courier service or chooses to sub-contract to a reliable courier firm will have better delivery success rates than those who sub-contract to cheaper, but possibly more unreliable courier firms. While budgetary constraints may be a concern, especially for an eCommerce start-up, unreliability will have a knock-on effect on your reputation and may result in a lower rate of repeat orders. If you’re having to work hard to win business from the outset and are already experiencing a growing reputation for unreliability, things will only get tougher.

3. Packaging can’t be ignored

Choose a fulfilment specialist which guarantees packing accuracy. Incorrect orders result in more returns and a drop in customer satisfaction, both of which will cost you money in the long-run. Customers should feel confident in the accuracy of your batch management and picking and packing process.

4. Post-Services Support

Choose a fulfilment specialist who offers superior customer support. If all goes well, you shouldn’t need to contact your chosen fulfilment centre to flag up any concerns. However, should you run into any problems surrounding the ordering system, or even a specific order, getting it fixed quickly means you’ll be able to get back to your core business sooner, and your customers won’t be kept waiting for long.

Outsourcing your fulfilment may seem like an unnecessary expense at the outset. However, as your eCommerce business continues to grow, you may find yourself spending valuable time servicing your orders rather than managing and developing your business. Choosing to outsource your fulfilment to a reliable and accurate fulfilment specialist will not only prompt faster and more accurate business decisions but can also lead to increased sales and greater efficiency.

This article is written by James Hyde. Shortly after graduating from the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, James became the founder and Operations Director of James And James: a leading UK European Fulfilment Service offering international eCommerce fulfilment to companies of all sizes.

While travelling to office, while waiting for bus at bus stop, while standing in a queue at bank, everyone was in some kind of I-Want-To (Buy, Know, Go, Learn) moments.

I recently got married in December and pledged to myself, that I would not do shopping for entire two months; still I kept on browsing things on apps. We also had a mini vacation after marriage and thought of concentrating more on savings but somehow travel and tourism apps have been hit upon by me every now and then.

I was thinking few days back that if I am not intended to buy things as of now why I keep on looking at these apps and things. As an answer to this, I came across an article in TOI published on 3rd January. The headline was like — 2016: The year of Habit Commerce

As the article mentioned, CEO and Co-founder, Snapdeal rightly said 2016 marks the beginning of digital habits for consumer and this is really interesting for eCommerce industry.

Gone few years were actually the days when one needs to push customers to go online and transact using online modes. But now with more internet penetration and increased smart phone subscriptions, people do browsing, surfing out of habits.

According to a survey, 50% of respondents report spending 1-3 hours a day online, whether engaged in social media or reading or writing blogs or other sites. 28% spend 3-5 hours online and 15% spend more than 5 hours per day.

How can online players take advantage of Digital habits of Consumer?

1. Habit of window shopping online

Just like me, there are lacs of customers who keep on browsing via apps and abandon shopping carts without making a purchase. But this certainly allows brands or businesses to have an idea what can be the most likely product that consumer is looking to buy in his/her next shopping cycle.

Just to be on their top of mind, you can provide them with informational content rather than the promotional one. Next time whenever they will be looking for solution of same problem, for sure you will be first they will recall and you can convert them into their customers.

2. Habit of information search before making purchase decision

Personalized Marketing is again going to be very instrumental as customers now look for personalized solutions to their problems. Again out of digital habits, people comment, like on social media for the solution they are looking for, whether they are on decision making stage or information gathering stage and brands can measure these sentiments.

There are tools which can measure social sentiments of people on social media. Some of them are Tweetstats, Facebook insights, Google analytics and many more. On the basis of results, you can target them differently based on their requirements and you are
going to convert them directly into sales.

3. Habit of browsing mobile most of the time

Habits are bound to be with us and so as our smart phones. We look for mobile in case we want to book tickets, book Ola Cab, Order Cheese Bust from Dominos, book tickets for upcoming movie or just do window shopping on any app. And surely it’s out of increasing digital habits.

Strong mobile presence is needed to be on top of mind of your consumer. Mobile presence doesn’t just mean mobile apps, a user friendly interface, faster loading time, sufficient payment methods, security and authentication, are just few things one need to consider while investing in mobile space. In addition, market your apps properly to reach to your audience.

4. Habit of staying connected

One habit which apps and social media sites have given all of us is to remain connected with peers, family, friends, and our loved ones. Even the TV Commercials of Money Transfer, being away from family and celebrating special days and moments with them online are quite common these days.

So be a part of their habit and always remain connected to them in one or the other way, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, Quora and many more are few such platforms where you can be part of their daily and digital life.

5. Habit of looking for sale, discounts and coupons

In online shopping also, price remains important factor. Many a times, people abandoned shopping carts just because of prices. Keep on updating them about coming sale, discounts or new arrivals via your notifications or emails.

Brands or online retailers can make most of the digital habits of consumers and that’s how they can stand out of competition. As rightly said 2016 will be the year of Habit Commerce, brands now need to understand and concentrate on habits of consumers to make their communication and connection rightly strike the chords of customers.

Perhaps the biggest challenge business people and marketers face today is how to connect best with their target customers. To be effective, marketers should know how to present their products attractively to their customers. Successful salespeople engage prospective buyers and audience with powerful presentations through face-to-face or phone presentations. Skilled marketers persuade their customers by making them think that they need the products they sell. But, digital marketing presents a challenging spin in your product presentation online.

Difference in digital selling

Selling online is limited to showing products through images, audio and video while explaining them through text. Prospective customers cannot personally experience your products before purchasing. For example, in selling clothes, your consumers want to see and get a feel of them. However, it is a challenge to do this online by presenting your products with just visuals and audio.

Indeed, selling online needs a different strategy. Marketers need new tools to build up their brand and persuade their prospects to buy. Luckily for marketers, computer technology has become so advanced that even people without a formal background in designing, text editing, non-programming can participate in digital marketing. With minimal training, these technologies will provide improved artistry and value to the content on your product pages.

The eight tips

Now that you are armed with multiple tools for marketing your e-commerce website, the next question is, how can you promote your product pages? Here are some tips you could follow to build product pages thatwill generate sales:

• Focus on your ideal buyer — Just like in traditional marketing, digital marketers should focus their attention and effort on the group or type of people that will likely buy from them. Experts advise to research well and create your buyer personas, a made up character that best represent your target market. He/she will be a sample person to whom you will communicate or talk to. To be successful, you must be detailed in characterizing your buyer persona. The more detailed your profile, the better you can connect to your target market with your tailor-fit product pages, in a manner that will suit their tastes and personality.
• Create an all-inclusive list of features and benefits — To sell effectively, a master marketer must turn the products’ features to benefits for their prospects. This is also true in digital marketing, but on a different level. In digital marketing, you have to present your product in a page without your actual presence. Instead, you only have a page for your audience to complete their online purchase. Think of your product page as your product presentation to many individuals but, at the same time, delivered on a one-on-one basis. To make a great impact to your prospective customers, you should bridge the gap between the features and benefits of your products.
• Match the tone of your voice with that of your target market — To communicate effectively, you should be at the same language tone as your audience. To make sure you understand your market and vice versa, you should speak the same language tone and register of your target market. Avoid using jargon unless your prospects and buyers use jargon too. As a rule of thumb, use jargon only when talking to sophisticated and top-tier buyerswho only constitute a small fraction of the entire economy.
• Make your pages scanable — Web pages work differently from printed materials. One research stated that only 16% of the text on the average web page are being read. With text being a minor part of any successful e-commerce product page, you should design your product pages in such a way that their contents can be seen and understood effectively. To make your pages reader-friendly, consider doing the following:
  • Put subheadings to make a large chunk of text easier and more enticing to read.
  • Add bullet points to lists to attract readers’ attention to key points.
  • Choose easy to read fonts and make them large to improve readability especially to the elderly.
  • Include videos, photographs, or images to make your products more desirable. By default, visuals are more attractive to the brain than a bunch of texts.
  • Provide plenty of white space that will guide readers through your content, provide emphasis on which content you want your readers to consume and make your page easy to scan.
• Make your text compelling — While the visuals attract your attention, your text often carries the logic and rhetoric of your product sales pitch. Hence, make it impressive. To make your text attractive, make many drafts of your text until it is persuasive. Use more active verbs and fewer adjectives. Include words that will boost persuasiveness by using decisive statements and by avoiding statements that you can’t back with evidence. By doing this, you can establish your credibility and reputation as an online merchant.
• Optimize your copy for search engines — Search engine optimization offers one of the best marketing value among digital marketing channels. You canmake your product pages SEO-friendly by:
  • Adding keywords or key phrases in your headline, subheadings, and body text; or
  • Including key phrases in the file names, image descriptions, and alt tags of images to optimize your product.
• Tell engaging stories to appeal to the imagination of your readers – This is one type of effective storytelling that still charms the mind of buyers. According to a Stanford Graduate School of Business marketing professor Jennifer Aaker, studies prove that human brains are not hard-wired to process logic or store facts for very long. “Our brains are wired to understand and retain stories,” says Aaker.It’s best to give your readers very engaging stories peppered with sensory words that they can relate with.
• Tempt your target market with proofs — To establish the credibility of your products, you need to prove that they work, and they solved the problems of your past buyers. The best ways to present proofs are through customer testimonials and positive reviews. At 89%, customer testimonials are rated the highest in effectiveness for all types of content marketing tools.

Without a well-thought design and presentation of your product pages, the salability of your products is at serious risk in an industry with 80% failure rate. Follow the tips above to gain an edge in ensuring the marketability of your brand and products.

The world is going mobile and there’s no doubt that this technology is one of the fastest adopted technologies worldwide. Reasons are being varying across the geographies for its adoption, the numbers increasing on daily basis left everyone astonished.

According to Ericsson Mobility Report published in November 2015, mobile subscriptions will reach around 9.1 billion in 2021. This is more than the current number of mobile subscribers. The reason being inactive mobile subscriptions, two or more subscriptions for single subscribers as devices have increased such as tablets and Smartphone.

An increase in mobile subscription is more of a widespread trend in all regions of the world. The developing regions are witnessing more mobile subscription growth as markets are still not saturated. As every region is experiencing growth in mobile subscription, there’s no reason left for global and local firms to leave out mobile as the important business domain.

The Top 5 Countries experiencing the highest growth in mobile subscription are — the Indian Sub-continent, China, USA, Myanmar and Nigeria. Because of high population in India and China and improved state of education, technology, income, living standards, they are topping the chart when it comes to mobile subscriptions.

As the internet penetration has reached to its peak, the Smartphone subscriptions are seeing a tremendous rise. Estimates show that there will be more than 3 billion rises in Smartphone subscriptions from 2015 to 2021.

Below is an infographic which throws more light on the current and future scenario of mobile phone subscriptions across different regions in the world.

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<a href=’https://www.mobicommerce.net/blog/the-state-of-mobile-subscriptions-and-subscribers-from-q3-2015-to-2021/’ title=”The State of Mobile Subscriptions and Subscribers from Q3 2015 to 2021″><img src=’https://www.mobicommerce.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/mobicommerce-mobile-subscription-2015-2021.jpg’ alt=’mobicommerce mobile subscriptions 2015-2021′ border=’0’/></a>