The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect this May, has changed the way online merchants conduct business. This has standardized different data privacy legislations across the European Union (EU) aimed at protecting users in all member states.
Are you a digital marketer or online retailer looking to boost your online sales? There are several clever ways to boost your sales online without spending too much on website design and even search engine optimization. Here are some of those methods to improve your ecommerce sales:
Walmart has been aggressive in its pursuit of e-commerce leader Amazon. While Walmart remains the largest retailer in the world, there is no question that it has a long way to go before it catches up with its rival. It has, however, partnered with several online firms as part of its efforts to close the gap.
Firms specializing in software that enable retailers to start their own digital stores continue to seal deals with major digital players. Earlier this year, Adobe acquired Magento, an e-commerce cloud software. And now Magento’s rival Shopify has made a deal with Google and Nest that would make it easier for retailers to keep track of their brick-and-mortar businesses.
Technology has changed the way people shop. Today, people won’t think twice about surfing the Internet to buy something they need. In fact, online retail purchases increased by 16% in 2017 which says a lot about the change in consumers’ mindset. Indeed, it is critical for any business these days to have a great e-commerce site.
There are countless of online tools that online entrepreneurs and marketers can use in their marketing campaigns. Some tools allow users to interact with customers. Others are designed for managing the digital marketing tasks of users.
Are you not getting enough revenues even after launching a digital marketing campaign for your business? Do you want faster return for your marketing investments? Then it might be time to diversity your digital marketing efforts. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Do you want to get into the affiliate marketing bandwagon? As the e-commerce sector experiences rapid expansion, now is the perfect time to get into this field. You don’t need to be an IT expert to be able to make your mark.
Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has announced that it is launching a mobile app designed to enable its customers to grow their businesses even if they are away from a computer. Shopify Ping is a free app that allows users to manage their tasks on their mobile devices, in the process saving more time as they can communicate with customers even if they are on the move. The app is initially available on the iOS App Store for Shopify merchants.
Shopify Ping gathers info from messaging apps that a merchant already uses like Facebook Messenger and Chatkit. This eliminates the need to switch from one app to another, and more time for building stronger relationships with clients.
It also comes with a free virtual business assistant called Kit that merchants can tap in managing their marketing activities. The virtual business assistant can push suggestions and automations for SEO, retargeting campaigns, Facebook and Instagram ads, social media posts, and email marketing.
Shopify Ping can also mean faster customer conversations which is critical to the growth of an online business.
According to Shopify director of products Michael Perry, the idea is for Ping to make it easier for merchants to manage customer inquiries and run their daily operations. As a one-stop messaging app, Shopify Ping lets merchants spend more time in running their businesses even if they are away from a PC.
It is estimated that nearly half of Shopify entrepreneurs run their operations and engage their customer on their mobile devices. Shopify believes there is a need to offer a flexible and time-saving tool to their merchants, minimizing redundancies and making them efficient in the long run.
Shopify Ping is expected to have a huge impact on thousands of merchants around the world. It is also anticipated that the app would soon become available on Android devices.
Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify has helped hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs around the globe to set up their own online stores with minimal effort. While it should be credited for spurring entrepreneurial growth, it may also be in hot water soon as Facebook attempts to beef up its security features and get rid of fraudulent e-commerce advertisers. Shopify’s online business could be affected as a result.
Facebook recently announced that it is taking a more active role in improving its customer service. One way is to encourage its users to leave feedback on its advertisers. Firms who get complaints for failing to deliver products at promised turnaround time, offering unclear return policies or misrepresent their products could face ad reduction or worse, complete ban.
Shopify should be credited for sparking an entrepreneurial revolution. After all, it has empowered retail merchants to sell online by setting up their own digital stores with little effort. Today, it is estimated that the e-commerce platform powers more than half a million online outlets.
But the problem is, most of the users of the e-commerce platform lack the fulfilment experience in speeding up deliveries as well as process returns.
And in an age when millions of people, particularly in the US, have been spoiled by Amazon’s Prime shipping where orders are delivered in 2 days without charges, Shopify does face a lot of problems in its users who can’t do the same for their customers.
The Canadian e-commerce firm is doing great at this moment. Its latest quarterly report showed that revenue jumped by 68%. And even if growth slows down—the company says it is targeting 52 to 55% growth in the latest quarter—it has shown that it has the capability to further grow.
But experts have long feared that the 600,000 storefronts of the firm could be lacking in experience in fulfilling deliveries. And with Facebook attempting to get rid of retail merchants that can’t fulfill customer orders, then Shopify better hope that its entrepreneurs shape up really soon.