In this guide, you'll learn how to make a product & create a brand strategy that will elevate your ecommerce business from the crowd.
The post How to Make a Product & New Brand: Blueprints for Success appeared first on Bootstrapping Ecommerce.
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Japanese conglomerate Rakuten has pulled the plug on its U.S. online retail store, originally known as Buy.com, and will wind down its operations over the next two months, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The shutdown means that the U.S. headquarters will lay off its staff as well, meaning 87 people will lose their jobs, according a source familiar with the developments.
“We have decided to sunset the U.S. Rakuten Marketplace,” a company representative said in an email to TechCrunch. They clarified, however, that the “cash back rewards” referral business the company operates at Rakuten.com (formely Ebates, which it bought for $1 billion in 2014) “is definitely not shutting down and is stronger than ever.”
Rakuten bought Buy.com for $250 million back in 2010 in an attempt to expand its retail business out of its stronghold of Japan. Unfortunately the evolving market, aggressive growth (and targeting of rivals) at Amazon and, likely, the choice to rebrand the once well-known site under the Rakuten name all led to declining business. The original CEO and COO left in 2012.
Customers of the Rakuten U.S. store will be able to place orders for the next two months, after which the site will shutter completely. Users of the rewards and commission business shouldn’t see any major changes, and other businesses (like the Kobo e-reading division) aren’t affected either.
It’s a blow to Rakuten, but hardly one that can have taken them by surprise. The company has diversified and invested in a large number of businesses and verticals around the world (even launching a cryptocoin), so the failure of a marketplace like this, while unfortunate (especially for those laid off), won’t be affecting their bottom line much at this point.
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The ecommerce industry is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, fueled by the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has… from The BigCommerce Blog https://ift.tt/3fkInWe via IFTTT
It’s the end of an era for Argos fans. The retailer will stop printing its famous catalogue after almost 50 years. Of course, this is the result of its focus on ecommerce. The most recent Argos catalogue accounted for 3.9 million printed copies.
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Hilary Halstead Scott shares how their grant program has helped Halstead Bead build inbound links, traffic, industry authority and more. We also chat about her sales tax advocacy efforts and where reform progress stands today
You’ll learn:
(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Hilary Halstead Scott of HalsteadBead.com)
The post The Marketing Power of a Grant Program appeared first on eCommerceFuel.
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There comes a time in any eCommerce seller's journey where you'll want to ramp things up a notch and enhance your online presence.
There are many ways to do this – investing in high-converting marketing campaigns, developing SEO strategies, improving your web design, etc.
Although these methods are effective, they're daunting tasks – especially if you don't have any experience in these areas. But, whether you're just starting out, or you're an online selling veteran, outsourcing these kinds of jobs can be a considerable financial outlay.
This is where a digital ecommerce agency comes in handy.
If you don't have the time or know-how to handle every aspect of your online business, harnessing their expertise and skills is usually the best way to go.
So, in this article, we're looking at what an eCommerce agency does, how they can help you, and how using an agency differs from hiring an employee.
That's a lot to cover, so let's jump straight in!
For the uninitiated, a digital eCommerce agency is a third-party team your brand hires to help grow and scale your business. Typically, you'll employ an eCommerce agency to assist with specific tasks you and your in-house team members don't have the time or skills to tackle.
No two agencies are the same. Some focus on creative services, others specialize in specific marketing channels or tech, while others might boast several areas of expertise.
To find the right agency for you, we suggest listing all the jobs you need assistance with and narrowing down your research to agencies that specialize in these areas.
There are plenty of ways an eCommerce agency could help you, so we've outlined a few of them below:
When it comes to the latest industry trends, high-quality agencies stay ahead of the curve. So you can be confident you've got access to cutting edge approaches to help you run your eCommerce business.
Top Tip: To ensure your agency boasts this kind of knowledge, ask whether they have any materials or resources they've compiled. This is just one way they can prove they're researching and adopting all the latest systems and trends.
As entrepreneurs, we often suffer from ‘tunnel vision' – don't worry, we've all been there. That's why an outside opinion is imperative for getting a fresh perspective on how to enhance your business.
An eCommerce agency doesn't (or shouldn't) sell generic out-of-the-box tech. Instead, they'll offer a customized stack to help meet your broader business objectives.
Top Tip: Before hiring an agency to create software, inquire after their certified partners – as it's likely, these platforms will be the ones to developing your tech stack.
There are tons of perks to hiring an eCommerce SEO agency, most notably:
Agencies specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) typically hire experts and provide/encourage their SEO pros to invest in continual training. A high-quality agency will commit to developing their skills to stay up to date with the latest techniques. This ensures they have the know-how to help clients storm ahead of their competitors.
A top-notch SEO agency will create a specific strategy for your business – one that brings you a step closer to meeting your business goals. Of course, these targets will vary depending on the nature of your business, so double-check your prospective agency is willing to analyze your business type and goals. That way, they'll have all the info they need to tailor-make an SEO strategy that meets your exact requirements.
For example, if you want an SEO strategy for your eCommerce website, the processes, tools, and techniques will significantly differ from the ones used to drive traffic to a photographer's blog or a non-profit organization's website.
Your customized strategy should be broken down into phrases, and these phases split into individual tasks. This enables a clear picture of what work's to be done and when it'll be completed by.
Successful SEO strategies hinge on collecting and analyzing data. Without a firm grasp of where you're already ranking on search engines (i.e., Google), there's no way of establishing whether the strategy you're implementing is helping you to improve!
This is where outsourcing your SEO analytics and reporting to an agency specializing in this field is a real asset. Not only will you save yourself tons of time, but you'll also receive actionable insights as to how your current SEO strategies could improve.
Design is no longer just about printed promotional materials or logos. Instead, it's the cornerstone of establishing brand identity. It's the visual language your company uses to communicate with its audience.
Often, customers form their first impressions about your brand based on the look and feel of your content alone. In fact, 38% of website visitors won't engage with online content if it's unattractive. On top of that, 48% say a website's design is the most crucial factor in determining a business's credibility.
All that to say, web design matters.
If creativity isn't something that comes naturally to you, a design agency could help finetune your online graphics. In light of that, here are just some of the perks of working with design agencies…
As we've just alluded to, your brand identity consists of a variety of elements that are easily overlooked.
This combines the use of:
All the above gels together to form a cohesive visual language for your brand.
Design agencies specialize in creating style guides unique to your brand so that your business can establish their own visual identity. Getting this right is imperative because its what customers will associate you with.
But, don't let that scare you – instead, see it as an exciting opportunity to wow them with your personality and professionalism.
Design agencies are well versed in how to communicate brand values. Generally speaking, bubbly, round designs exude a sense of fun and friendliness, whereas darker colors and a structured layout express reliability and professionalism.
Of course, web design is far more nuanced than that – which is where a professional design agency is worth its weight in gold. They'll know how to translate your brand's identity into visuals so that your audience can form the right opinion about your business before reading a single word of your website's copy.
While good design uplifts your brand's standing in the eyes of your customers, the lousy design will most certainly be its downfall.
Often a lousy looking website suggests cheapness and a lack of understanding. Neither of which inspires confidence!
It's also worth remembering that high-quality website design goes hand-in-hand with positive user experience. Web design strategists know which contrasts to use for the best readability, which colors draw the eye for a higher conversion rate, and which layouts communicate your content marketing efforts the best.
Good design draws the eye. The best internet marketing campaigns stand out visually and are immediately memorable. Your graphic designs should work in conjunction with your copy to drive conversions. Otherwise, even the greatest pitch or concept might fail.
Whether you're using Shopify, Magento, WordPress, or whatever other ecommerce platforms to run your online store – it's your portal to the world. So, if you want to provide a top-notch shopping experience, you'll need to present a beautiful and easy-to-navigate website.
Here's how hiring a web development agency ensures you make the most out of your online storefront.
Today, there's a multitude of intuitive website builders on the market. Although the templates provided with such software are often sleek and modern, it can be challenging to make them look just the way you want.
Unless you have the coding know-how to bring your vision to life, you'll be limited to whatever functionality your e-commerce solution provides. This is where a web design agency comes in handy. They boast the skills to create a top-notch website with cutting-edge design and flawless functionality. This sort of quality is difficult to achieve without the help of professional designers.
A website needs to do more than look good. The customer journey you offer via your website is essential to leading customers to making a purchase. Web design agencies understand what's necessary to create a seamless experience and should provide a strategic online plan that lays the foundation for long-term success.
A good designer will increase your ‘click-through' rate by working with talented SEO specialists that employ search marketing techniques, coders, copywriters, and marketing experts to present the ultimate digital experiences.
The shopping experience is continuously shifting towards mobile devices. Therefore, a responsive website is crucial – this refers to your website adjusting to the narrower and smaller display on a phone screen.
A web development agency can create a seamlessly responsive website that looks great on all devices. So, you won't have ecommerce clients clicking off your website due to its unprofessional technical design.
If you risk building your website yourself, you might face problems later down the line. Needless to say, sites that don't function as they should deter customers. If anything breaks, needs updating, or if you're hacked, you'll have to reinvest time, effort, and often money to fix it.
By investing in a web development agency from the get-go, you'll get access to a reliable website from the start. This means less downtime, less frustration, and a more stable buying experience for your customers.
You might be wondering: Why not just hire an employee that specializes in one of these aspects? If you're planning to utilize SEO strategies, design, or web development continuously, this might be an excellent route to go.
Whether hiring an employee or an agency is best for you depends on your unique situation and requirements. So, let's take a quick look at the benefits of hiring an employee to work in-house:
However, when it comes to eCommerce stores, agencies might provide more benefits – especially in the areas of SEO, design, web development, and marketing. More often than not, they offer a competitive edge.
So, let's compare hiring an agency vs. an employee in a little more detail…
Let's face it – hiring an employee costs money and time long before you pay them their salary. You'll need to invest in the recruitment process and carefully examine applicants and credentials. This can cut into your own time (or your team's) and, therefore, profit.
Once you've found the right candidate, you can set them to work on what they do best. However, some projects only last a short while. A website, once properly constructed, might only need occasional maintenance and redesign. There might not be enough work to justify paying an employee a full-time annual or even monthly salary.
On top of that, you'll need to invest in:
On the other hand, you can use agency services as and when you need them just for the duration of the project you need completing. Plus, all you need to shell out for is their salary, which you can negotiate on either a per-hour or per-project basis. If you only have occasional tasks to outsource, this is often the cheapest route to take.
Yes, an employee might be excellent in their specific field. However, when you work with a full-service agency, you pay one price to access a broad network of specialists. Agencies often have a plethora of industry contacts that enable them to offer a holistic service – from web design to marketing services, to optimizing your Amazon product listings, to PPC and email marketing advice, there are agencies out there that cover it all!
Say, for example, you're just working with an agency for their design services, and you need a copywriter or a social media marketer, they'll probably be able to propose one to use. You may even be able to incorporate this as part of the project's price. Also, as agencies consist of teams, one expert's shortcomings are often leveled out by another colleague's strengths – so there's always a high chance you'll receive a high-quality end product.
An in-house employee only has so many hours they can put towards a project – They do, after all, only have two hands. This means, if you want to get a very ambitious project rolling as quickly as possible, an in-house employee might be overwhelmed without the support of an entire design and marketing team.
Agencies employ more people and can, therefore, dedicate more working hours to projects that require them. You can hire agencies to complete projects of almost any size without having to shift your own team around or hire new staff.
When it comes to tasks like design and web development, a reasonable degree of creativity is needed to accomplish true greatness. All designers have the desire to be creative at heart and are passionate about pushing their skills.
However, an employee working in-house might get burnt out from working with the same visual language and values all the time. As a result, they sometimes become disillusioned with creative work.
Also, if you're only employing one in-house digital creative, their viewpoint is restricted to just their own. Without a full design-team in-house, they have to work within a creative echo chamber that might not always allow for agile, out-of-the-box thinking.
Agencies, on the other hand, work with multiple clients all the time. They complete projects and move on to the next, so their work features a refreshing variety. Consequently, they often bring a breath of fresh air to your campaigns and web presence. Also, as it's likely they're working as part of a team, they're in a better position to bounce different ideas off of one another. They do this day in, day out, so they know how to put a variety of viewpoints to good use.
There are many ways you could benefit from working with a digital eCommerce agency. Whether you're hoping for assistance with your SEO, design, or web development, or whether you're looking for help with your marketing campaigns – agencies afford benefits that hiring an employee might not. Most notably, a diversified talent pool, a fresh set of eyes, and more affordable and negotiable pricing.
If you're just starting your eCommerce business, or you're looking to drive conversions and improve your sales potential, looking towards a digital eCommerce agency might be the way forward.
While this might seem like a substantial investment for new sellers, the professionalism a high-quality agency achieves will help establish your brand as trustworthy from the get-go.
Have you worked with a digital agency or any kind of digital marketing services before? If so, let us know how your experience went in the comments below. Speak soon!
The post How to Hire the Best Ecommerce Agency: A Complete Guide appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.
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If you’re running a good promotion, you need to tell as many potential customers about it as possible.
You can do that in your ad copy, but there isn’t always a lot of space to show the details.
Enter promotion extensions.
This type of ad extension allows you to highlight your sales, promotions, and discounts in your Search Ads.
In this article, you will learn how to make your promotion extensions as effective as possible.
Promotion extensions let you add a small piece of text with information about your store’s promotions as well as a link to your final URL near the bottom of your ad.
If someone clicks on them, you pay the same cost per click as a click on your regular ad.
The good thing about promotion extensions is that you can customize them to your needs.
You could for example specify the holiday for the promotion, or show the details like the minimum order value or promo code.
Let’s look at an example:
Under the actual ad you can see a line with a special sale for Easter as well as a link that points people to a page with more info on the promo.
This “Easter” label is something that this advertiser has selected (I’ll show you how a bit later in this article).
But not all promos need to have an occasion attached to them, like this more general example in the screenshot above.
Now let’s see how to create promotion extensions in Google Ads.
Click “Ads & extensions” > “Extensions” in the middle navigation bar.
Click the big + sign and select promotion extensions from the list.
First you need to pick what level you want to add the extension on, account, campaign, or ad group-level. (More on this later)
Next, you can select the occasion for your promotion that will show with bold before the text of the extension.
Google Ads supports over 30 occasions and holidays, such as Christmas, Winter Sale, Black Friday, and Chinese New Year. (Check the full list here)
If your promo doesn’t have an official occasion, select “None” from the list.
Next you select the language and currency from the list. Note that some occasions aren’t available in some languages.
The, you pick a promotion type, you can choose from the following options:
On the “Item” field, you need to write the text that will be visible. I usually include the product, brand or category where the promotion is active. If you are running a storewide promotion, you can add something like “on all products”.
Keep it short because you only have 20 characters.
The final step is to add a URL. Ideally this is a page that shows more details about the promotion that you’re running. But you can also direct users to your homepage. In that case, be sure that there is some reference to the promotion on your homepage.
The first optional step is to include details about your offer, such as a promo code or a minimum order limit that would trigger your promotion.
If your promotion is only valid between certain dates, you can add that time period to the extension. Google will then show those dates below the extension
Like in this example:
Note that this is different from the start and end dates of an extension.
Those can be found in the advanced options section:
I highly recommend you to do this. It allows you to set up things up ahead of time AND it prevents promotions from showing up when they shouldn’t be. (Like that Black Friday promotion still showing in January. Not that I would know anything about that 😅 😬 )
While you can create promotion extensions on three different levels: account, campaign, and ad group, I rarely use all those options.
Here is how I usually handle them.
Account-Level
If you’re running a sitewide promotion, I will add the promotion extensions on the account level. That pushes it live to all campaigns in the account.
But stay away from this option if you’re managing Google Ads campaigns for multiple stores or websites under a single Google Ads account.
Campaign-Level
Like I mentioned before, if for some reason you can’t add the promo to all campaigns in your account, add the promotion extension to specific campaigns.
Ad Group-Level
Unlike other extensions, I don’t often add promotion extensions on this level.
That’s because the promotions usually aren’t that detailed.
Let’s say you sell all kinds glasses, but you have a summer promo on sunglasses, I think it makes sense to also show that promote to users shopping in different categories. It might increase the order value or encourage people to purchase.
When the end date of a promotion is reached, it will automatically stop showing. (If you’ve configured that end date!)
Still, it’s good practice to also remove them from your campaigns.
So let’s take a look at how to do that:
In the overview of your ad extension, pick the ones you want to remove and click remove in the blue bar.
This won’t actually delete the extension, but just remove it from this campaign.
When you want to add them again at a later point, they’ll be available. This is helpful because very often the promotions come back year after year.
Google Shopping also has promotions, but they work a bit differently compared to promotion extensions.
If a Shopping Ad shows a “Special offer” link, users can click it and a popup will open with extra details about the promotion.
Like this one:
A 4th of July promotion with discount code.
This feature is called Merchant Promotions, you have to create them in Google Merchant Center.
They are only available in the US, the UK, Australia, Germany, France, and India and you have to request access to this feature.
Now that you know how to set them up, let’s look at some examples for inspiration.
Storewide promotions are the easiest way to highlight your discounts as you only have to add your extensions once on the account level.
In the above example, the ecommerce store did just that by offering 30% off on all its products.
You’ll notice that the promotion is also in one of the headlines of the ad. It helps to grab the attention.
As a plus, the store included a coupon code to claim the discount.
When you don’t want to run promotions for all your items, setting up an extension for a specific product category is a great choice.
Like this example from SWISSEGEAR:
The store above is a great example of the latter as I was searching for backpacks, and it offered a deal within the same product category.
Here is a different spin on promoting a specific category, the bestsellers:
If you want to get granular, you can set up promotion extensions for single products.
While this sounds like lots of work, you can use it to get ahead of your competitors for the same item (as you are showcasing a discount while they are not).
While the business above is selling its own product, it’s a good example of a promotion extension that targets a single item.
The previous examples show that promotion extensions are great for promoting discounted products and storewide sales.
However, you can also use them to highlight discounts related to supporting services, such as shipping your products.
In the image above, the store used promotion extensions to showcase its free shipping offer.
It’s hard to miss the store’s offer as it displays “100% off” that instantly captures most searchers’ attention.
You can also tie your promotions to specific conditions that prospects have to meet to receive the discount.
For example, the above store offers a 10% discount off the first purchase when a prospect signs up to the company’s newsletter.
Promotion extensions are a great tool to leverage the promotions that you’re running.
They can free up some space in your ads or simply mention it again.
The examples above also show that they can be used in plenty of different ways.
How are you going to use them? Let me know in the comments!
The post Promotion Extensions: Leverage Discounts In Google Ads appeared first on Store Growers.
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We spoke to Michele Riley, founder of Korean natural beauty retailer Niche & Cult.
What inspired you to start Niche & Cult?
It all started thirty two years ago, when my first child was born. Like any mother, I wanted to protect and nurture the small being I’d created, and I suddenly became aware of the synthetic, harmful chemicals that are in so many everyday products.
So, my first venture was into natural baby products. This response was electric (this was at a time when being vegetarian was considered extreme!) and then in 2011 I sidestepped into the natural beauty world (by accident, If I’m honest). But again, it rocketed, and my brand—The Konjac Sponge Co—is now a registered trademark, sold all over the world.
In 2018 we decided we might as well add some other beauty products to our arsenal: we have the warehousing, staff, contacts and customers, so it was a no-brainer for us to expand the business this way.
Our sponges are manufactured in South Korea, where our Konjac plants grow. The South Koreans really know their stuff when it comes to beauty: they almost always have beautiful skin, they take good care of themselves, and they age slowly. So it was a logical step forward for us to move into natural, Korean beauty, and that’s when we became Niche & Cult.
How do you handle shipping and fulfilment?
Our products are all shipped by container direct from South Korea about once a month. It’s always a bit of a challenge when they arrive, so we all muck in unloading them and putting them away.
But the dispatches are daily. Picking and packing them is a job for the warehouse, and then three or four different courier firms come and collect them. I’ve found that printed invoices are still absolutely essential: they’re ticked once by the picker, then again by the packer. It’s so helpful for the customer to see that we’ve checked and double checked that they’re getting what they ordered.
The beauty industry develops rapidly: how do you keep up with the latest advancements?
Trade shows, research and having a wonderful bunch of brand contacts in South Korea.
But gut instinct is also really important. Brands offer me new products every week, but I’m always looking for that special something that gives great results. I’ve always felt that one of my strengths in business is being the average shopper: if I feel compelled to try or buy a product, others probably will too. So far, being average has paid off!
How have you grown the site?
Social media has always been our go-to, especially Instagram. But when we launched The Konjac Sponge Co back in 2011, it was all about Twitter: it was me, personally, engaging with bloggers, influencers and makeup artists. And we still have some great contacts from the people we met in those days.
We’re also always keeping an eye out for awards we can enter our products for. They might be costly, but whether we win or not, they put our products out there.
Now we’re about to start a loyalty scheme that encourages customers to leave reviews, earn points and return to us regularly. Getting customers is hard, but retaining their loyalty is even harder. So we’re very much focused on happy customers!
What are the biggest challenges Niche & Cult has faced?
The biggest issue for us has been changing the name of the business from the Konjac Sponge Co to Niche & Cult: no one knew who we were, and we needed to get traffic to the new domain. I wasn’t prepared for how hard it is to keep up with the latest algorithms! We don’t have a tech team, so we have to outsource, but that’s very costly, and with so many people cold-emailing you trying to sell you their skills, it’s a minefield. How technology has changed over the last 20 years…
The main way we’re overcoming these issues is by providing great offers, like our current “lockdown boxes,” where the customer pays just £20 for over £60 worth of products. Obviously this isn’t profitable, we’re doing it as a marketing exercise: the customers join our database, love the products, and shout about them on social media.
Tell us about the tech you use.
Our company runs through Unleashed. I’ve been with them since 2013, and they’ve been such a huge support: I love how there are real people at the end of the line. It links to our Xero accounts page, as well as Shopify and Magento, which saves so much time and effort.
With KSC we’ve just switched to Shopify, which, although quite expensive, is absolutely fabulous. But nothing beats the feeling when my phone pings to let me know every time there’s been a sale! I also love the analytics, being able to see live interaction on the site, and having the ability to switch from site to site. But it’s definitely possible to get carried away and trial apps that end up costing a fortune!
Other daily essentials are:
What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting out in ecommerce?
Don’t just expect your store to work! It takes many hours of hard work (it’s not a 9-5 job) and a whole lot of luck!
Never think you’re better than anyone else. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and remember customer service is everything: they pay your salary, so you should listen to them. Even today I received an email from a customer who felt one word on our website (“extreme”) was misleading: we’d been using that word for the last ten years, but I listened, refunded her to keep her happy, and changed the word.
Finally, be open to advice from others, but take it as an opinion, not gospel, and then listen to your gut: it’s usually right.
What do you think the future will look like: for ecommerce, and for Niche & Cult?
That’s a big question, and one I find difficult to answer: I have no idea what the future holds. But I do know that things aren’t going to go back to exactly how they were. Our direct to consumer sales have drastically increased, and it seems that people want more bargains than ever. We’ve found that more people are signing up as account holding customers, expanding our email database.
But business is like a child. You can’t just decide that in ten years’ time you want it to be 6ft 2” with blonde hair and brown eyes: it’ll evolve organically. I’ll roll with the changes, embrace the development, and nurture it as it grows. That’s part of the thrill of it, surely?
Tell us about some art that has inspired you!
I’m a huge fan of Maria Svarbova, an incredible Slovakian photographer. Her images literally entrance me: there’s something so haunting about them. I have two of her original pieces on my wall at home, and they inspire me to slow down and reflect every day.
<https://www.instagram.com/maria.svarbova/?hl=en>
This is another interview in our series speaking to ethical online entrepreneurs: we hope they’ll be helpful and inspirational for anyone trying to find their way in business. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
The post Ethical Ecommerce Interviews: Niche & Cult on Expanding and Rebranding appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.
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Businesses are pushing cashless payment services amid demand triggered by social distancing measures imposed to curb Covid-19. MoMo announced on Tuesday that it plans to tie up with ride-hailing company Be Group to offer its popular e-wallet services to the latter’s customers. SmartPay earlier this month signed a deal with Viet Capital Bank to allow […]
The post E-wallets seek to grab opportunity as pandemic keeps people shopping online appeared first on Retail News Asia.
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Choosing a business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce platform can be challenging — especially if you don't know where to start. While the process may seem daunting, there are several necessary steps that can help you get started.
B2B ecommerce expert Justin King, general manager of B2B at Salsify and former president of B2X Partners, outlines the six actions you need to take to plan for your new project.
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If you look at the most successful startups today, you’ll find plenty of proof that the hardware-enabled service (Haas) model works: Peloton, Particle, Latch and Igloohome all rely on subscriptions along with product sales. Even tech giants like Apple are rapidly reinventing themselves as service companies.
Yet, if you currently rely on device sales, the prospect of changing your entire business model might seem daunting.
At Minut, we are building smart home monitors (privacy-safe noise, motion and temperature monitoring) and recently made the transition despite the lack of resources on the process. Here are the seven lessons we learned:
Hardware has one advantage over software: customers understand there is a cost to your product. Now, this allows hardware startups to generate revenue with their first iteration, but it’s unsustainable as the company grows and needs to innovate: the software and user experience need continuous improvement and excellent support, just like in a software-only startup.
That’s why we see most hardware startups eventually launching a subscription model and limit what’s available for free. Even established companies — think Strava or Wink — often end up having to radically limit free features after years of operations.
Experienced founders and financial markets favor subscription models and recurring revenue. Market valuation multiples are typically much higher for companies that benefit from service revenue in addition to sales.
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Due to an expected increase and the advent of 2020’s effect on commerce, the ecommerce industry is proliferating. Every day, more retailers are making the move to online selling, while entrepreneurs are getting their start through ecommerce ventures.
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Avast have today launched Avast Business Small Office Protection, a solution for small businesses that provides robust, real-time cyber protection that’s easy to install and cost-effective. Securing up to 10 business devices, the product is ideal for entrepreneurs and home offices.
The launch of a solution for small businesses is timely, with Garmin hitting the headlines as ransomware victims and their files encrypted with a $10 million demand for the decryption key, it’s a great reminder that checking that your work computers are protected could save you a lot of stress, not to mention cost.
Avast Business Small Office Protection is an all-in-one security solution for small businesses that protects all types of devices, protecting a maximum of 10 separate devices on any platform. Avast Business Small Office Protection works seamlessly with existing hardware, and includes advanced features that help prevent data breaches, fraud, financial data theft, and hacking – all while helping to boost employee productivity.
Prevents ransomware and other malicious software from harming files in protected folders
Continuously checks incoming and outgoing emails to ensure they are malware-free
Permanently deletes confidential files that contain financial or customer data that don’t need to be recovered
Blocks unwanted remote connections to prevent Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) exploits, which often are abused for ransomware attacks, and brute-force attacks
Checks the security of any Wi-Fi network, public or private, before connecting
Monitors unlimited email addresses for password leaks
Lets the user privately browse the web
Avast Business Small Office Protection does not require expert IT skills for installation and operation. Installation is simple and quick, and no further management or maintenance is required.
“Small business owners are aware of the need to protect their companies from cyber-threats, but find that there is simply not enough time in the day to research the innumerable products on the market. Our new product is designed to offer complete defense from cyber-threats with minimal set-up, zero maintenance, and no IT expertise required.”
– Vita Santrucek, General Manager, Avast Business
Avast Business Small Office Protection is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone operating systems and costs £112.99 per year covering 10 devices.
(If you are really lucky, when you visit the Avast website today you’ll get a pop up offering a 10% discount and snag Avast Business Small Office Protection for just £101.69)
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We spoke to Kevin Garcia, co-founder and co-CEO of Karst Stone Paper (who’ve just launched a beautiful new website: take a gander!). After encountering stone paper while travelling in Asia, he figured out a way to turn it into beautiful, sustainable stationery.
What inspired you to start Karst?
It started back in early 2016 when I was travelling through Singapore and Taiwan. I came across this relatively new material which was made from recycled stone waste and claimed to be ‘treeless paper:” I was immediately fascinated by it.
At the time, it was mainly used for food packaging, because of its waterproof properties, but I knew I could turn it into stationery. But it was complicated, because the properties of stone paper are completely different to regular paper. The fact that it’s waterproof means every single aspect of the manufacturing process is affected: we have to use specific glues, inks, and binding methods, and after years of testing, we’re still constantly improving the process.
So our products take a little longer to produce than regular stationary, but we pride ourselves on creating better quality products that have a longer-lasting impact on our consumers.
Tell us about how you grew Karst at the very start, versus how you find and engage with your customers now.
Our first ever sale was from the first ever email we sent out! I’d collected a few emails from some direct advertising campaigns.
Nowadays we use the standard advertising channels, like Facebook and Instagram, but because the marketplace and consumer behaviours are changing, we’re exploring some different avenues this year, like Paid Affiliate networks and Tik-Tok ads.
What are the biggest challenges Karst has faced?
Building a business is like jumping out of a plane and building a parachute on the way down: or at least that’s how I feel!
The biggest challenge for us has been finding the best talent to help us grow and build out our team. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish with a few key people, and so we’ve taken our time to make sure we hire people who are excellent at what they do and fit in well with us. We have staff in London, Los Angeles and Sydney—three different time zones—and it can get quite challenging managing such a diverse team. Software is key!
Tell us about the tech you use.
Shopify has been our base platform since day one, I think it’s perfect for any ecommerce store that’s just starting out. Slack has been a great addition to the tool kit: it’s essential for any comms both internally and with contractors or agencies. We also use Klaviyo and Front for email, and Asana for tasks.
The dark horse of the toolkit has to be Figma: it's been the most effective piece of software for us during the pandemic, as it’s allowed our design team to collaborate at super speed.
Tell us about partnering with other organisations to reduce your environmental impact.
On top of removing plant materials from our production process, we wanted to make sure each sale actually contributes to reforestation efforts: that’s why we partner with One Tree Planted to plant a tree for every notebook sold. We also work with Carbon Neutral to ensure that our company’s entire carbon footprint is being offset. So OTP helps us contribute globally, while Carbon Neutral is in our own backyard, so to speak.
What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting out in ecommerce?
To run a business, you don’t need to be the most brilliant person with the most innovative idea with the latest gadgets (although it may feel like it sometimes): you just need to build the work ethic. There will be failures and mistakes every single day, and some will seem like they’ll end your business there and then. But even in these moments, if you have the conviction and stamina to work on problems little by little, your business will be a success.
Another piece of advice: before outsourcing for help, try your best to make sure you have a working understanding of every part of your business. Whether it’s marketing, accounting or web design, learning the very basics of every part of your business really helps you feel more in control and able to set the direction, plan, and budget effectively.
What do you think the future will look like for ecommerce?
The future of ecommerce is going to be driven by AI and VR. We’re already seeing huge advancements in consumers ‘experiencing” the product digitally with VR at Apple stores, and the new Yeezy Supply website. The next step forwards will be replicating the in-store buying experience as closely as possible online, with customers being able to manipulate a product and view it from all angles, open it, and so on. We’re actually looking at bringing in a few advanced concepts into our new online store, like product builders with 3D renders.
Tell us about a piece of art that has inspired you!
I recently read the biography of Robert Iger, the former CEO of Disney (The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership), in which he writes about his visit to Pixar Studios in its early days and how much impact that had on him creatively. It’s amazing that a studio as small as Pixar was able to produce extraordinary creative content that surpassed Disney’s expertise. Pixar had the right team, led by the right people, doing the right things. Anything is possible with the right people around you.
The post Ethical Ecommerce Interviews: Karst Stone Paper on the Importance of Building the Right Team appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.
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When it comes to mastering WordPress, Elementor page builder works like a charm. This free drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress allows you to create beautifully designed pages in no time — no coding needed. More than five million active installs of Elementor prove it’s popular among WordPress users.
Can you add a shopping cart to WordPress with Elementor? You bet you can! The Ecwid E-commerce plugin allows you to add your online store directly in the Elementor editor. Whether it’s a whole storefront or a single product — drag, drop and start selling. It’s that easy!
Just like WordPress is the sitebuilder of choice for many, powering 37% of all websites. Elementor is the most common page builder for WordPress, used in over three million sites and 180 countries.
Here’s what makes Elementor page builder so popular among WordPress users:
You can add elements anywhere on the page with an instant drag-and-drop
Can you use Elementor for free? Yes, this is especially important for a beginner trying to stay on a budget. What else could you need! Unless that your Ecwid store functionality was at your fingertips when you use Elementor. Well, wish granted.
Now that Ecwid E-commerce plugin for WordPress is compatible with Elementor page builder, you can add online store functionality to your site in a click.
You can instantly add an online store or a "Buy Now" button when you create your website with Elementor — just as effortlessly as any other element of your page.
You can find Ecwid widgets on the left section of the Elementor editor
Not all e-commerce plugins are compatible with Elementor, but Ecwid plugin is. Plus, it’s the easiest to use and the most affordable e-commerce solution (you can actually use it for free if you sell up to 10 products). Best of all, you don’t need any tech skills to use Ecwid E-commerce, or to host and maintain the software which differentiates it from plugins like WooCommerce.
Also: How to Update WooCommerce Plugin
When you edit a page in Elementor, you see two sections on the screen. On the left, there is the editing window, and on the right, you can see how your page looks.
To add elements like text, images, or buttons to the page, you use special content blocks — widgets.
You can add widgets with a simple drag-and-drop from the left-hand side of the screen and drop them onto your page. That’s how you can add your store or products to the page.
When you use the Ecwid E-commerce plugin, you have two e-commerce widgets in the Elementor toolbar: Online store and Buy Now Button.
The Online store widget allows you to display the whole storefront on a page:
The Buy Now Button widget allows you to add "Buy Now" buttons to pages. You can choose what product you’d like to add with that button:
You can use "Buy Now" buttons to add single products to landing pages, your blog, the sidebar, or even to the error 404 page.
Learn more: 7 Ways to Sell With Ecwid’s "Buy Now" Button
Now, see firsthand how Ecwid E-commerce and Elementor work together to help you start selling on your website.
Before you start building an e-commerce website in WordPress with Elementor, make sure you:
To add an Online store or a Buy Now Button to the page:
The Content tab allows you to choose a category or a product you want to show on the page.
The Style tab allows you to change the appearance of your Buy Now button. (As for the look of your store, you can adjust it in the Design page in your Ecwid Control Panel.)
As for the Advanced tab, it allows you to apply different effects, change background type, change positioning and other advanced characteristics.
That’s it! Try adding e-commerce widgets yourself, and you’ll see it’s even easier than it sounds.
With the Ecwid E-commerce plugin and Elementor page builder, easily create beautifully designed sites and pages for your online business. Whether it be a whole storefront or single product, any skill level can do it.
If you want to learn more about Ecwid for WordPress e-commerce, check out these blog posts:
Have you already tried building pages with Elementor? Share your thoughts and experience in the comments!
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DMEXCO is the meeting place and a community for key players in digital business, marketing, and innovation. This year, DMEXCO takes place virtually on the new digital event platform DMEXCO @home from September 23 to 24, 2020. You can experience networking, exchange & business in a decentralized, seamless and easy way – wherever you are: at home, in the office or on the go. Get your ticket now!
Where is e-commerce heading to? What does a successful digital business need? Two of the central questions at DMEXCO on September 11 & 12. Exhibitors, speakers, and the community will provide the answers and solutions. Ticket sales have started. Thereby DMEXCO itself sets a clear statement on mobile commerce.
All key players and opinion leaders from marketing, innovation, and commerce will gather on September 11 & 12 at DMEXCO 2019 in Cologne to set the digital agenda of tomorrow today. More than 1,000 international exhibitors, including about 150 start-ups, and over 550 top speakers make it the community and place to be for the digital business.
Conversational and voice commerce, omnichannel, experiential and social commerce – the list of virulent trends is a substantial part of DMEXCO. Set up to find answers on which topics, trends, and technologies determine the successful marketing of online shops or digitization at the point of sale.
On the Expo market leaders and global players such as Adobe/Magento, Amazon, Instagram, Oxid, PayPal, Pinterest, Shopify or Shopware, as well as promising newcomers present solutions and innovations, that take today’s business and commerce into the future.
During the Conference, more than 550 industry personalities will share 250+ hours of valuable knowledge and discuss the relevant topics on nine stages. Over 150 Seminars and WorkLabs allow decision makers to update their knowledge, exchange experiences and find new ways to boost their business.
More than ever, DMEXCO is a community. To inform and prepare in advance, the platform DMEXCO.com offers 365 days of networking and dialogue, education and inspiration. Its content, consisting of articles, podcasts, and whitepapers, deals with current challenges, recommend solutions and links visitors and exhibitors throughout the year.
To do so, the new DMEXCO app is serving from now on as a guide and networking tool – before, during and after the event. It helps to create a personalized agenda for the visit, allows immediate networking by scanning each other’s badges and gives exclusive access to DMEXCO community content and partner offerings. Important: It contains your digital ticket. Thus DMEXCO 2019 itself has arrived in mobile business and commerce.
Be part of it! Get your ticket to the future of e-commerce now!
The post DMEXCO 2020 to be held in all-digital form appeared first on ECN | E-Commerce Nation.
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The past week saw both DPD and Tesco hit by tech problems. DPD had a SNAFU when their chatbot started swearing at customers while Tesco had ...
