Considering the global economy as of June 2016, The World Bank has announced the global growth forecast which has been degraded by 2.4% from the 2.9% pace projected in January. Effect on E-commerce industry The impact of the global economy may be a challenge to many industries; and among those most affected ones, is Ecommerce. In order to ensure a profitable business, online sellers need to ensure that they are making the best optimization of cost, especially in the growing stage. There are many areas where sellers end-up incurring more costs, and, with the advancement of technology, it is always helpful to be updated with the latest solution to streamline cost spending of the business. Major areas that eCommerce sellers should keep a track of: I- Cost spent behind hosting and maintenance of server
With the advancement of technology, there are multiple options for sellers to start an online site. However, considering the most common ones: Free Web Hosting Services are surely making it easy for any start-ups and small business owners to start selling on-the-go. However, with limited server speed sellers may often face a site downtime that can hamper sales opportunities and growth of their eCommerce business. Share Web Hosting Services is allowing growing sellers a dedicated portion of the server at a nominal price. Such services allow multiple sellers to host their websites on one server. The cost of hosting and server maintenance is shared among multiple people, but with the increase in a number of users, sellers may end up facing slow site performance. Dedicated Web Hosting Services helps sellers with high-level of security by allowing them a dedicated server in whole. However, sellers are liable for the operation and maintenance costs as they will own it. Unable to take care any of that in time can stop sellers from performing their daily activities. You can replace these with: Online eCommerce marketplaces are allowing sellers an opportunity to eliminate the hassle of worrying about website hosting and maintenance, as those activities will be managed by the platform itself. Amazon and eBay are among leading marketplaces that allow sellers quickly expand their business across the globe. Without having to worry about the server space capacity, many online marketplaces are helping sellers avoid costly hosting situations and confidently grow their eCommerce business. II- Cost spent behind software used Gone are the days when online sellers depended only on a single store, today, in order to gain a competitive advantage many are spreading their product visibility across multiple platforms. However, performing tasks to manage multi-channel store can multiple your expenses, depending on the software used. The most common technology used among online sellers is: Traditional software, allows sellers with multiple alternatives as per the budget. However, such software available out there may have its own unique features that may, or may not, offer flexibility as per your eCommerce growth needs. In such situations, sellers are either forced to switch the software or, add another one to continue their daily eCommerce business activities. Cloud-based software, as it eliminates the hassle of dealing with physical software. Such software solution providers allow a virtual software account access to sellers from where they can perform their business tasks. However, most of the software being designed as per standard business requirements, chances of spending more than usage, increases. You can replace these with: Customized solution will allow sellers an opportunity to request for fully-managed process automation software. This solution will allow sellers a flexibility of requesting customization within their budget and growth needs. Apart from offering a dedicated server space, sellers get a chance to work with experts from the same field who will take care of the maintenance too. III- Cost spent behind supply chain process Technology has advanced the way online sellers deal with their daily business activities. However, the success of startups and small sellers depend on the way they manage their supply chain process tasks. Managing inventory tasks for small sellers may sound easy with less flow of orders, hence, many perform them manually. However, this process is labour-intensive, which means each product in-and-out has to be accounted for and maintained at appropriate stock levels to avoid delay in fulfilment. Fulfilling customer’s orders involve many steps. From procuring inventory from the warehouse, printing labels, packing the products, and connecting with the right shipping services to ensure customer’s orders are delivered in time. Manually performing such tasks repeatedly can automatically increase fulfilment costs at the end of each year. You can replace these with: Automating the supply chain process will eliminate sellers from the hassle performing the same tasks over and over. Cloud Technology is making it easy for sellers to perform time-taking and repetitive tasks in the simplest ways. For instance, allowing them to print multiple labels and quickly integrate with an assortment of carriers from any place, anywhere. IV- Cost spent behind managing daily operations Sellers who run an online business will need to interact with multiple people for procuring stock and performing daily business tasks. Delay in communication automatically hampers order fulfilment tasks. So, who are the major players? Suppliers are the ones that sellers would have to communicate regularly for stock requirements. Unable to procure products in time automatically encourages small sellers to depend on other costly suppliers who could actually provide them with the product and ensure a quick fulfilment. Staff dealing with the stock/warehouse requirement needs to be provided with customer’s orders details in time, to ensure products are out for shipment at the earliest. Communicating over the phone or messages can lead to miscommunication and longer delays. You can replace these with: Centralized system management software is making it easy for sellers to sync their suppliers and employees at one place. Sellers can easily add multiple contacts as per business requirement and ensure accurate communications with any of them, in real-time. V –Cost spent behind promotion Last, but can be the most highly- investment area by many small sellers in order to gain increased visibility in a short span of time. Website marketing is an important aspect for small sellers to encourage visitors to engage with their sites. Therefore, many sellers try and perform different promotional tactics across their website, investing a huge amount of money. Social media marketing is the buzzword among small sellers as it is helping them reach a wider audience from one place. Also, with sites like Facebook and Pinterest offering a “Buy Button,” many sellers usually takes time to see returns on their investments. You can replace these with: Social media analytic tool is helping small sellers market only in those areas that can churn more results in less time. Instead of blindly spending hundreds of dollars, why not gain access to insightful performance reports and make decisions smartly. End note Cost-waste is all around us in our personal lives too, however, considering a business in such economic crisis it is better to get rid of the trash! Happy Savings :)
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Using E-commerce technologies, online retailers have got the breathe to feature a wide range of products in their store. From normal to digital in various sizes and shapes. Now, their focus is to tweak the shipping methods and make selling better. The first question strikes the mind is how many e-shopaholics actually want instant delivery or same day delivery for ordered products? The answer is right away... Source: http://elitedaily_.com/news/business/elite-daily-millennial-consumer-survey-2015/ As per the survey conducted by Elite Daily, Gen Y forms a largest chunk of working group who have a huge buying power. Once they find the brand appealing, they get heavily connected with that brand of products. It’s also been noted, Gen Y i.e. Millennials who are the young e-shopaholics desire straight away shipping of the products they have ordered. They are impatient for their order to get shipped in a specific time period. Rest of the e-shopaholics like to wait to get the products delivered to them. If online retailers make amendments in the shipping strategies targeting only the Y generation then the rest may quit shopping from the retail e-stores and switch to better online shopping options. If online retailers make amendments in the shipping strategies targeting only the Y generation then the rest may quit shopping from the retail e-stores and switch to better online shopping options. Reason 1. Shipping companies impose high charges for instant or same day delivery compared to other shipping options. 2. The product line cuts down from 1000+ to 500 for same day delivery. 3. Swift shipping strategies limit the servicing location. Same day delivery kind of shipping strategies works well with online grocery or food ordering because grocery or food are not ordered outside the city. It’s within the reach. Just imagine! if the food or grocery are ordered outside the city, in what condition it will reach us and at what time? Gigantic online stores have come up with pilot programs which impose a raised shipping cost on an hour or same day delivery options. This shipping method is on the testing basis still, if we look at the results, the sales are like a drop in a bucket. From the customer's viewpoint, Yes! It’s a compelling strategy but for how long? The amount that online shopaholics spend on such shipping methods is pretty high compared to the other shipping methods. And, the charges vary from store to store. A few stores levy subscription charges on a yearly basis, others levy depending upon the size and colour of the ordered product. Being a crazy online shopper, which shipping strategy will consumers prefer? Old e-shopaholics would vote against same day delivery option and would prefer 2-3 days or week shipping strategies because the former shipping strategy will only fill the pockets of shipping companies and retailers. Plus, they won’t get the requisite products on the list they are looking for. What about the consumers who love to shop outside the country? Actually, the enjoyment of online shopping is when we shop from outside the country. Online stores give us 1000s of options to make our purchase easy from single e-store which we don’t find in a physical retail storefronts. A few products are such we don’t get anywhere in the physical storefronts, we have to order it online.This may take time, approx a week or 2-3 days for the products to reach us. For Example: Smartphone is a lifestyle nowadays and frankly speaking, we keep on looking for the latest smartphones, be it Android or iPhone. The devices launched by Google and Xiaomi are mostly found online. Henceforth, there is no option left for the Google and Xiaomi aficionados to place the order online and wait to get it shipped. Can same day delivery be opted for such situation? No… Let’s take a look at the same day delivery strategy from retailer’s perspective Including such shipping strategies in the e-store adds a golden feather on the retailer’s hat but do you think this will remain for a longer time period? No… Why? Time Limitation The same day shipping strategy is stringent and quick. If the ordered items are bit late to reach the customers then retailers; 1. May lose the customer’s trust and not be approached for future orders. 2. Have to do free merchandise shipping which may result into a huge loss. Here, time and location walk hand in hand. The online retailers can pack the order at the customer’s doorstep on the same day on a condition that the customer is residing in the nearby area. Here’s a perfect example which describes the above phrase Prime Now is a pilot program introduced by Amazon limited to few cities of US. Before making any purchase using this program the users have to type their zip codes to check whether the insta service is serving their city or not. The local shipping service providers do the delivery of products in an hour or two for free in the selected cities after the customers pay a yearly subscription of $7.99. Check the website to know more on how this service works: primenow.amazon.com Product Line Online retailers who adopt such strategies are cemented to a specific product line. All types of products cannot be shipped in a day’s time. It depends on the product’s durability. This affects retailers in a metaphorical way. Though they earn a good amount of profit by adopting this ultra fast shipping strategy, they outreach their customers from a variety of products resulting in a futuristic loss. Supply Chain becomes tight With the same day delivery strategy, retailers get busy organizing the order and processing them to ship. The chain gets superfast and rumpus. Such situation gets irksome and increases the chances of mistakes and conflicts, still retailers and shipping companies manage to streamline the process. Retailers have to stay connected with more than one local shipping companies to make their buzzy task easy and smooth. Furthermore, retailers who don’t procure inventory have to coordinate with their dropshippers to pick and pack the merchandise at the billing address without wasting a single minute here and there. Apart from all the negative points which same day delivery holds, there is one positive point that brings grin on the faces of online retailers: Inventory Management It is a rescuing strategy from the viewpoint of holding a huge stock in the warehouse. Retailers get relief from stocking the products for days and increasing the unnecessary expenditure. An important point to note is, retailers have to be on their toes to automate the stock level swiftly and omit the discomfort of stock outs for trending products. Retailers can easily do it by using the best Inventory Management Software tailored according to their needs. Closing Alas! Same day delivery which satisfies a group of customers by fulfilling their demand of What They want, they want it straight away has a tiny scope and may get efface in near future. The competition between the demand and supply has no end and so we may come across better shipping options in the coming days. Before the invention of Barcode Scanner, the retailers had hard times in tracking their inventory. Keeping a count on each and every item, it's availability and sold out status, really blow their heads off with pressure. Weekly, bi-weekly or monthly depending upon the size of business, the owners had to close down the stores to count the products manually. In 70’s, this mundane task got a break and the beep technology rolled into the giant stores to make the process of inventory easy and nimble. It's like Beep! The product got scanned for bill... Beep! The printed list of available and out of stock products is in… Gradually, with the advent of technology, the codes got enhanced and the beep technology (termed as Barcode Scanner) popped into small scaled retail business as well. Today we have different types and forms of Barcode Scanners, each wrapped with unique specifications helping retailers to speed up the process of inventory and relieving them from the excessive and overburden stock management. Types of Barcode Scanners:
Laser Barcode Scanners are found mostly in retail and grocery stores where these beep sounds come from wireless barcode scanner or Bluetooth barcode scanner device. It can read the barcode in low lighting from the distance of 3.5 feet. This technology has three different configurations: Rastering, moving beam and omnidirectional.
Linear Imager Barcode Scanners are better useful in reading damaged or poorly printed codes or barcodes under plastic film or covering. Even, they are found in affordable prices compared to Laser Barcode Scanners. These scanners can read the codes from near distance up to 2 feet. Ideally for retailers to make the entire inventory process seamless; from selling merchandise to processing the order and from shipping to automating the stock level.
2D Barcode Scanner has a unique feature of capturing the barcode and reading the data at faster speed than any other type of scanner. It has a flexibility to scan and read the data using smartphones and later decode the same to the retailer. These types of Scanners come in various form: Wireless Barcode Scanners(Handheld or say Bluetooth Barcode Scanners), USB barcode Scanners, Pocket-Sized Barcode Scanners and Wired Barcode Scanners. Let's take a look at some important aspects of Barcode Scanners Barcode Scanners are usually used in busy stores where the selling and purchases are made in huge scale. To keep a track of inventory, rack after rack or shelf after shelf is next to impossible and the cost to manage the stock manually can exceed the expenditure. The stores use barcode scanner during point-of sale for a quick checkout and accurate product scan. How does it help retailers to overcome the stock issues and reduce cost? 1. Accuracy We human beings are prone to make mistakes. And, this technology eliminates the human errors and give retailers accurate results of stock updates, daily sales and other reports in nanoseconds. It is swift, reliable and minimizes the costly errors of making calculation and counting mistakes to none. 2. Customer Satisfaction It hastens the checkout process which gives a customer relief from standing in queue resulting in frequent store visit and shop and increase in revenue. 3. Reorder the Stock Stock out causes a loss of valuable customer and sales which can be addressed with barcode scanning technology. Once the product is scanned for bill, the stock gets updated in real-time and in case of low stock, notification is sent to the retailer immediately via communication mediums. This helps retailers to take decisions on time and improve sales. 4. Minimize Labour Cost Barcode Scanners are easy to use and understand. It hardly takes a time to master the skill of reading barcodes using barcode scanners. Furthermore, employees don't have to get acquainted with the entire procedure of pricing and stocking. This reduces the hours of employee training and cost to train them. 5. Inventory Control Using this technology, retailers get real-time updates of stock as in which products are in stock and which are out-of-stock. This reduces the overflow of stock in the warehouse and eliminates unnecessary expense on ordering extra inventory. 6. Quality Control Barcode scanning technology even speaks! It informs the retailer which quality tests are required to check the quality of products and in case if the test fails where to report the cause. 7. Better Decision Making As it is useful in faster data collection, it helps retailer in taking better decisions to boost the sales and improve customer satisfaction. Barcode Scanning technology gives entire information of a customer's purchase and is not limited to billing and inventory only. The next time when the customer walks into the store, the store representative can guide the customer with the purchases and what combination of products will help in saving more money. This sort of deal with the customer can act as a tactful source of store advertisement. You have probably got an idea of types and forms of barcode scanners and how retailers can overcome stock issues and cost control. One more interesting tidbit about barcode scanner is, How retailers can scan better Barcodes? The Helpful Tips! 1. Maintain your distance Not too far, not too close. Make sure you are at a distance from where barcode scanner can read the codes easily and accurately. 2. Rogue Barcodes One barcode for one product, not every time! You may find more than one barcode labelled on single product. Be careful in scanning the right one. 3. Stick to a single barcode type Most of the barcode scanners may not support specific barcode symbology. Try to be adhesive with one type and forget the rest. This not only speeds up the scanning process but will help you to discard rogue barcodes if there are any in different formats. 4. Choose the right barcode label You may come across with different barcode symbology labelled on the packs, be sure that they are real barcodes and not duplicate. Though, real barcodes are expensive but they are certified which can help you to reduce the cost in future. 5. Long distance scanning Not all types of scanners are focused to scan from a distance. If you read barcodes from a distance of more than 2 feet than this may lead to poor barcode reading and you may be misguided with product content too. 6. Light Conditions Some barcode scanners need proper light to read the barcodes effectively. So, be careful when you plugin the barcode scanner device. Some scanners may not be conducive to certain lighting conditions and the read won't be that accurate. In Closing: This was a quick tour for retailers to know everything about Barcode Scanners. Today, many inventory management systems supports barcode scanning technology. Orderhive, the smartest inventory management software works flawlessly with barcode technology. Retailers can use barcode scanner while scanning received inventory, searching products and processing orders. I’m sure you may have come across a number of content marketing articles in the past, this is another one :) Have you ever imagined why content is always the most discussed topic? Content marketing isn’t new, however, with the evolution of eCommerce and technology online shoppers are constantly finding ways that can allow access to products and information in the most engaging way. In this crowded market, are you earning maximum visibility for your products? Despite your best offerings, not having an appropriate content marketing strategy can hamper your eCommerce business growth. Therefore, I decided to come up with this article to help sellers focus on those content boosters that will be preferred by online shoppers in this year 2016. Let’s take a look at them: 1. Mobile In a report by Statista, the mobile internet users resulted to 52.7 percent across the globe. It also estimated an approximate 10 percent more users will access online content through their mobile devices by 2017. If you overlooked the importance of mobile in your content marketing strategy, try and offer the content layout that can best sync to an individual’s devices. - Offer more and more content in the form of videos Like any other sellers, you may be running an SMS content marketing campaign. But, instead of offering information in words, why not market it over small video clips and send it as an attachment. Allowing access to your products and offers in the form of a video can trigger customer’s mind to take action on-the-go. 2. Social commerce Rewind a decade and you’ll realize that social media platforms were merely looked as sites to make new friends and chat with them. Today, as per another report by Statista, over 70 percent of the United States population had a social networking profile, which is expected to reach approximately percent by the end of this year 2016. Considering the above figures, I’m sure you would not like to overlook the importance of offering great content across your multiple social business accounts. - Be present on multiple social media sites and automate content management Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest have already increased its popularity among online shoppers. However, ignoring the important of running your content marketing tactics across other popular social media platforms can lose your audience who may not be present on other leading platforms. Automated content can offer a win-win situation Hootsuite- a social media management tool is sound among successful sellers that is helping them to automate and manage content and post while offering powerful insights on performance for each strategy you’ll perform on your social media business accounts. 3. Website blogging Considering the returns of a blog page to be not so instant, many sellers avoid this long-term engagement source in their content marketing strategy. Ecommerce owners with limited budget often overlook the importance of this source, however, it can make wonders if it compliments your online store. What you can do? The uniqueness of your content will determine the performance of your blog page, however, the way you present will add-on the customer’s engagement level. You may cover the best topics and trends; however, adapting a boring theme for your blog page can lose you admirers. Lookbooks can be an alternate of a blog page, which has been adopted by leading fashion brands from across the globe. Example of an innovative content-offering page from Forever21 4. Visuals/photos As shoppers are unable to feel and touch the product while purchasing online, the impact of visuals and images will continue to be major elements to influence their purchase decisions. Considering the fact more and more sellers are seen to be offering visual-impact shopping experience, displaying irrelevant, or even, excessive images can annoy online shoppers. What you can do? Try and offer personalized visuals and images in your product descriptions and call-to-action buttons across your selling website. Relating your products to one’s routine instead of only showcasing your products, will add personalization to your content marketing strategy and improve performance. Example of visual merchandising from Victoria Secret 5. Sign-ups Last, but the one of the earliest content marketing methods, email is still the king. You will see a number of sellers offering pop-up boxes to allow online shoppers subscribe and stay in line with their latest content and offerings. Are you one of them? Do you get sufficient sign-ups? Allowing online shoppers a sign-up box for your email subscription is surely helping sellers many opportunities to re-target customers, however, not offering a reason for sign-up will automatically lead to poor conversion rates. What you can do? Small discounts are helping sellers improve their email sign-ups, however, using the strategy repeatedly can eat up capital, as many online shoppers do so in order to take an advantage of the discount and may not be interested in your email marketing campaigns. Apart from offering monetary benefits, why not trigger the customer’s mind with content that reflects a value and makes them feel worth to sign-up for your email marketing campaigns. In addition, contact management software will help you organize your customer’s details at one place, allowing to analyze the demand and offer excellent content to your customers, always! Example of an effective sign-up content layout from Gap Factory Wrapping up Keep measuring: I’m sure every online seller produces content to attract and engage shoppers, however, the way you offer your content is essential. With the above tips, you can ensure your focus in offering content in a way that really matters to any online shopper, however, constant tracking and measuring your content performance against those areas will help you understand what is missing. And, that’s the key to the whole content marketing fuss! Gone are those days when online shoppers became loyal to brands that allowed them with the great product offerings and an easy purchase experience. Today, with hundreds and thousands of sellers selling identical products across the web imagine how competitive it becomes to survive in the ever-growing eCommerce sector. Every eCommerce site owners try and offer content, product images, offerings and layouts in their own unique ways; all in an effort to gain a competitive advantage and divert more and more audience to their online store. The focus on user experience has been the key for any eCommerce business and the evolution to digital lookbook. Lookbook- The buzzword for eCommerce business owners If you haven’t adopted this promotional strategy for your online fashion store, then let me tell you a number of business owners are already gaining opportunities to increase website engagement level and multiple sales orders for their online store. Many designers and online fashion retailers have already changed their way of presenting products from offering still images to a collection of photographs in an interactive format. This is done to enhance user’s experience and help them make better purchase decisions. Lookbook examples from leading fashion brands Ways that a Lookbook strategy can increase conversion for your eCommerce store: The major focus of a Lookbook strategy is to enhance customer’s experience; however, business owners who think of adopting this practice for their online fashion stores can also result with improved conversion rates. Let me tell you how? -Bring a life in your product offerings Instead of showcasing your product offerings in the old standard format will be replaced by a set of photographs that can help you create a theme or story. Having an ability to display your products in personalized styles will instantly strike your customer’s imagination and encourage them to quickly add the product to the cart. -Act as a source of media If your customers like your Lookbook, they will immediately start talking about your brand in their networks. And, Lookbooks usually involving more of visuals automatically is capable of holding more and more customers on your site for long. The innovative you get with your Lookbook, the better chances of increasing visits and sales opportunities for your online fashion store. -Get a chance to engage your customers Lookbook is already a trending topic among fashionistas over social media sites, especially Pinterest. It’s seen many online shoppers pin their favourite purchases and products which can be viewed and followed by others in their network. Integrating social media button in your lookbook strategy will help you grow your visibility over the web, as such platforms are trusted by online shoppers to gain reviews and make better purchase decisions. Shopify Lookbook Theme Eliminating the hassle of coding, Shopify allows eCommerce store owners an opportunity to create multiple lookbooks in no time. Offering a responsive theme, this eCommerce company is also helping online fashion store owners create customized product catalogue in which they can define the layout option, product photographs, navigation style and typography option. What’s the future for Lookbook strategy? As most of the online fashion brands embrace visuals, being innovative with your lookbook strategy is the key. With images being replaced by videos for promotion, the next step is adapting a video lookbook strategy for your online fashion store. Offering clickable links throughout the video can help you enhance engagement, as well as, sales opportunities for your eCommerce business. Alternatively, with Pinterest allowing shoppers to pin their favorite styles and products, keeping a tap on other social media platform to create a lookbook would certainly help you divert potential customers at the click of aa button. Summing up A virtual lookbook is surely shaping the experience of online shoppers, and adopting unique layout strategy you can offer customers a brick-and-mortar shopping experience, from the convenience of their home. For innovative fashion owners, the results of a Lookbook are near endless! There are a number of ways for an online shopper to find your brand, and, I’m sure you are spending hundreds and thousands of dollars in those marketing tactics to attract them. Hence, you would not like to miss on any opportunities that come your way! Spotting their favorite products the customer will click on the product link that diverts them to the product landing page. Therefore, your product page will determine the engagement and conversion rates for your eCommerce business. Key essentials and excellent display of product pages from eCommerce brands 1. Product display Visuals trigger a sense of inspiration to online shoppers, and today, many of them use image search to find their favorite products. The more value your product image will display, the higher chances of them being influenced to take further actions. What you can do? a- Relate them to one’s daily routine Modcloth’s “Explore & Shop Outfit Photos” section on their product page is surely enhancing a shopper’s purchasing experience. Displaying your happy customer’s photographs using your product will automatically trigger an excitement among online shoppers and encourage them to engage and make purchases from your eCommerce store. b- Get innovative, use videos Bodyshop product page offers both great visuals, as well as, video. Dealing with organic beauty and cosmetic product, this brand allows it's customers to gain better insights on the use of their products. Ensuring a demo video showcasing the use of your products, will increase engagement level and enhance your customer’s shopping experience. 2. Product Information After your products visual does the game of making the shopper cling to your site, they would like to know more about the product. What you can do? a- Ensure easy to spot features and color options Victoria’s Secret offers a crisp feature description making it easy and quick for customers to know everything about their product. Also, their innovative color selection options make the customer’s shopping experience even more fun. Allowing your customers an ability to choose for their favorite color is important; however, being innovative with unique prints for each will increase the shopper’s excitement for your products and make better purchases. b- Engaging size comparison Bellroy’s“Compare to Other Products” feature on its product page is surely helping their customers to eliminate the risk of shopping for a wrong size product. Allowing your customers to compare the product size with other products will offer a unique shopping experience and your customers will feel safe shopping from your eCommerce store. 3. Purchase decision information Once the shopper is happy with the product information, they will immediately spot for the product price and security for their purchase orders your store has to offer. Making it difficult for them such details will hamper them from proceeding with the purchase. What you can do? a- Clear price Harry’s make it easy for their customer’s to spot the product price by highlighting it. Also, it offers price breakdown, ensuring customers know that they are not paying more. Keeping product price clear and simple to understand will stop your customers from making incomplete purchases. b- Other important information Graziashop allows its customers to gain insights about the product shipping and returns information for the product page itself. This way, customers will not have to switch over pages to find such important information that is needed to make a purchase decision. 4. Call-to-action button Once the shopper is happy with the product, it’s important they are able to easily proceed further. Unable to offer clear prompts of purchase steps, can lose you a number of opportunities that made your way. What you can do? a- Clear add to cart and Add to wishlist option Aritzia product page offers crucial call-to-action button in the simplest way to avoid distraction and keep customer focused in placing their purchase order. It is not necessary to use vibrant colors, as many feel it quickly diverts attention, instead, focusing on the placement of your call-to-action will matter the most to your customers. b- Up sell H&M product page performs one of the best up selling tactic that will automatically encourage their customers to make purchases in order to complete that look. Similar to H&M allowing customers with prompts of the most relevant match will immediately help you increase order value for your eCommmerce store. 5. Customer’s experience Whether they are making a purchase for themselves or planning to send a gift to their dear ones, shopping online really makes one happy. So, would you not like to take an opportunity of your customer’s joyful mood? What you can do? a- Allow social sharing buttons J.Crew makes it easy for customers to quickly share their wonderful experience by allowing them to easily log on to their favorite social networking sites from their product page itself. Integrating popular social share buttons on your product page will allow your happy customers share their purchase experience while increasing visibility for your eCommerce brand. b- Reviews Incase.com’s product page does not only allow customers to share reviews but also, helps them make better purchase decisions by highlighting reviews that are already provided. Displaying a success indicator on your eCommerce product page will enhance your customer’s decision and will always trust your brand for making purchases. Closing advice With the above, you can ensure your product page has the most important elements to encourage customer, as well as, make them stick with your brand. However, playing around with the placements and integrating a tool to test the performance of each element, will ensure you land-up with an excellent product page for your eCommerce business. A successful product page will enhance the online shopper’s experience; however, not being able to deliver products as per customer’s order will make all your efforts go in vain. Therefore equally important, is to adopt a cloud-based inventory management system that will help you automate product updates and ensure accurate inventory levels, always. GoodLuck!! I’m sure most of the sellers and marketers know how costly it becomes to attract customers, than retaining existing ones. “Customer loyalty program” has been around since quite a while now, however, many retailers are still finding it difficult to implement an effective one to improve customer retention rates. What can be better than performing customer loyalty practices that are already proved and doing wonders! Below are key elements of a loyalty program and how retail brands are performing some of the finest practices 1. Alert them with valuable deals Offering an excellent product line and customer service are no doubt crucial elements that contribute towards a successful growth. However, chances of retention rate increases if you can easily connect and communicate deals that are specially designed for them. Example: Starbucks’s SMS marketing About the program With this, Starbucks announces multiple contests and special offers to existing customers are encouraged to engage and stick with their brand for long. How can it help you? Designing SMS marketing campaign for your retail business will give you an opportunity to reach your customers over their registered mobile number, making it convenient and quick for them to take decisions on-the-go. Also, targeting your customers over their smartphones will automatically trigger their interest for your brand as messages get stored in their “Inbox.” Hence, chances of them to take action in the near future, increases. 2. Offer latest information Making customer known to new products line, industry related information and about the latest styles & trends through website and blog page; is a common practice followed many owners who are into the selling business. However, your customers won’t consider it to be a loyal factor, as the information will be common for all. Example: H&M Newsletter signup About the program With this tactic, H&M gets an opportunity to spread a good brand word, as well as, entices customers to immediately sign up for availing valuable perks and benefits in return. How does it help? Offering some attractive discounts in return of a newsletter signup, will give you an added advantage to make them cling with your retail brand. The more signups, the better chances of retaining your customers for your retail business! 3. Prompt customers Considering the increasing competition in the retail sector, it’s difficult to retain customers for a longer time. However, modern customers won’t mind sticking with brands understands their preferences and frequently alerts them with deals that can add a value to their purchases. Example: Gap’s Email marketing About the program With this program, Gap is offering its customers an ability to gain valuable insights about the brand’s offerings and updates, as well as, to quickly shop for products they may have been searching for. How does it help? Letting your customers know about the best deals and offering products of their preferences, will automatically stop them from looking out for other brands. Constantly updating valuable information that really matters to them, will increase their chances of being loyal to your retail brand for long. 4. Convenience to redeem loyalty benefits Retailers, who practice loyalty program, yet complain of not being able to convert results as per expectation. Despite offering valuable content and products offers, many customers don’t take actions. Are you allowing your customers to easily redeem loyalty benefits that your brand offers? Example: Sephora’s Loyalty program app About the program This app is an easy and exciting innovation by Sephora that is allowing their customers an ability to check point balance and benefits from one place. Ensuring customers an easy access to loyalty points and other benefits, millennials have proved to be the most engaged and loyal customers for the brand. How does it help? Sephora Loyalty program (Beauty Insider) is considered to be one of the favorite among fashionistas. Apart from offering surprise gifts on sign-up, Sephora’s Loyalty Program app makes it easy to track and redeem benefits, all from one place. Adopting this practice for your retail business, will automatically enhance your customer’s shopping experience and encourage them to stick with your brand for long. Closing advice Following the above can help you run a successful “Loyalty Program” for your retail business. But, if you blindly target your existing customers will result in the waste of time and money. A contact management solution in place will offer a centralized view of all your customers details and purchase behaviour in real-time. This will automatically make it easy for you to understand your customer’s needs to design content and offer purchase benefits that are of their choices. Traditional inventory management was conducted in a way to minimize total holding purchasing costs and stocking costs by any owner into the selling business. This method was also known as “Economic Order Quantity” (EOQ). However, with the advent of cloud-based solution and advancement of technology, today more and more business owners are seen switching over to modern inventory management system that allows them: 1. Easy customization Every business owner starts his selling business with a motto of increasing brand sales and brand visibility. And, after spending hundreds and thousands of dollars behind your promotions, you won’t like to deny your customers for their orders due to no stock in hand. - Is your inventory management system open to growth? Firstly, ensure your inventory management system provider allows you to stay responsive to customer’s demands. Instead of switching over to new system solution just because your current one does not allow you to manage growth, adopting customized inventory management solution that can grow and quickly respond to your new demands, is imperative. 2. Multi-channel inventory synchronization Multi-channel selling being one of the buzzword for sellers, you want to make sure you adopt this method for improved visibility and faster growth. However, blindly dealing with stock for multiple channels can create confusion and result to over selling of products. - Do you have a single access for your stock across your stores? Being able to easily sync stock for all your selling channels at one place, will make it easy to track inventory counts on-the-go. This way, you can ensure every store is sufficiently stocked up to grab every opportunity that comes in. 3. Quick entry of sales information Sellers, who have an ability to sync orders coming from multiple sources at one place, are saving time and costs that matters a lot for any startups and small business owners. Having an ability to automate sync of sales order information within a single system, can allow a competitive advantage to process and fulfil customer’s orders in time. - Does your inventory management system sync order details for every sale that comes in? Modern inventory management systems are helping multi-channel sellers an easy sync of customer’s order details in one system, coming from different sources that can include phone calls, website order, and marketplace orders too. 4. Real-time updates The key for a successful inventory management practice depends on how accurately is your stock updated? Ensuring instant stock level updates are helping more and more business owners enhance their customer’s shopping experience, by offering quicker fulfilment service. - Is your stock level updated in real-time? Your inventory management system should ensure consumed stock is immediately replaced with new ones across every channel that you sell on. Automating inventory updates after every sale, is helping sellers gain a competitive advantage over other sellers who do it manually. 5. Marketplace product listing integration More and more sellers are taking an advantage of selling over more than one platform. However, those whose inventory management system allows immediate product listing updates are gain a competitive advantage when selling over marketplaces. - Are your marketplace listings auto-updated? Automated inventory management software is helping marketplace sellers an ability to easily sync their product listings to their end-stores, from one place. This does not only help them save time, but also, ensures products are always available as per customer’s ever-changing demands. 6. Warehouse integration Sellers who have their warehouses connected to their inventory management system are gaining real-time insights, which help them to understand stock requirement even better. - Is your warehouse integrated with your inventory management system? Having an ability to manage stock for both- your physical store as well as online store from one place, is encouraging more and more shoppers to expand their business across multiple platforms with no pain. 7. Bar-code capability Not a new technology, still many sellers overlook the importance of a bar-code scanning method for their inventory. Able to track inventory movements in real-time, can increase efficiency and reduce risk of robbery. - Do you assign bar-code to products? Latest inventory management system is allowing sellers allocate unique identification numbers with information to each of their products. This automatically makes it easy and quick to scan movements of your products in store, as well as, at the warehouse. 8. Manage stock payment entries Another biggest challenge to sellers is the hassle of maintaining purchase orders. Unable to record and track stock payment transactions can spoil relation with suppliers and lead to delay in procuring items, which directly impacts the customer’s shopping experience. - Is your inventory management system able to manage purchase order transactions? Eliminating the hassle of maintaining separate accounting sheets for each suppliers, modern inventory management system offers insights about all purchase payment transactions (cleared and pending) in real-time. This will automatically reduce errors and helps you build stronger relationship with your suppliers. 9. Track important stock metrics Listing multiple product categories across their stores and marketplaces are helping sellers increase visibility for their brand. However, able to track performance of each product across all channels are allowing sellers make best optimization of their products. - Can you measure stock metrics? Generating insightful inventory reports, modern inventory management system ensures sellers are able to instantly track their slow and fast moving stock and make more and more winning decisions. 10. Single access for all your suppliers, and employees With the growth of your selling business, automatically increases the need of expanding staff and suppliers to ensure smooth flow of stock throughout. However, many sellers are still finding it difficult to cope up, as they are managing each of them individually. - Do you have a centralized view? Working with multiple people to manage stock requirements for your selling business, can be easy adopting a modern inventory management system. Such system helps you easily sync all your suppliers and employee’s information at one place, allowing you to stay organized and work with them, efficiently. Wrapping up If you are business that wants to scale, adopting modern inventory management solution should be one of your central focuses in this New Year 2016. Good Luck!! According to one of Nielsen’s report that was conducted to understand how digital influences the way modern customers shop, 46% refer social media sites to make purchase decision. Social commerce is helping people make winning decisions and considered to be a trustworthy platform to gain product recommendations from their peers. Today, many sellers are diverting large part of their marketing budget towards social commerce as it allows them to:
Is your social media promotional strategy working right for you? Below in this article, we will discuss on ways that can help sellers make the most out of social commerce |
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