Reality Check: Is the cloud REALLY that risky?
The recent celebrity iPhone hacking epic has reopened the debate: are systems hosted in the cloud less secure? Sure, iCloud is not really the same thing as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that a business would use. Sure, it hasn’t really been confirmed that iCloud security was the even issue. It doesn’t matter. Right or wrong, the issue has reignited that icky feeling you get when you think about someone hacking the data that isn’t stored within the walls of your office.
But, rest assured. That icky feeling is not necessarily justified. Cloud solutions are not inherently a security risk simply because they are cloud-based. The numbers show quite the opposite, in fact. Even better? There are steps you can take to ensure you understand the implications of adopting specific cloud solutions, further mitigating your risk.
Amazon’s New Holiday Rules & Guidelines for “Toys & Games” Sellers
Is it already the holiday season? According to Amazon, it’s at least time for merchants to prepare.
Amazon set record sales for the 2013 holiday season. Last year, more than one million customers became Prime members during the third week of December. The annual membership program offers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items.
On Amazon’s peak shipping day in December 2013, more Prime items were shipped worldwide than ever before. Before December, more than 36.8 million items were ordered worldwide on Cyber Monday, which is an astonishing 426 items per second.
So, while you’re cheering on your favorite football team and sending kids back to school, Amazon has already started prepping their sellers for an even more successful holiday season this year.
Will retailers be ready for predictive shopping?
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Cass R. Sunstein (co-author of Nudge) shared some interesting insights about consumers’ tolerance for predictive shopping. His piece suggests that, though a majority of consumers would still be uncomfortable with predictive shopping, the majority was smaller than you might expect. It could signal that a predictive shopping trend could be on the not-so-distant horizon.
Emerging Mobile Commerce Trends for Multichannel Retailers
When considering a multichannel selling strategy, mobile commerce should be at the top of your list. Retailers originally envisioned consumers researching products on mobile and then completing purchases on desktops; however, the data shows that consumers are proving retailers otherwise.
In the U.S., 166 million people owned smartphones by the end of March and eMarketer expects the number of tablets users to grow to 147.2 million by the end of 2014. As smartphone and tablet use steadily increases, it is no surprise that customers are turning to mobile as a preferred channel for online shopping; not just an important aid when shopping in-store.
Customers continue to demand more out of mobile, especially as technology further develops. Many of the top retailers have developed an m-commerce strategy as a competitive advantage and are quickly seeing the profit from doing so. (more…)
Vertically Integrated Commerce: Battling the Disruption
Two years ago, venture capitalist Boris Wertz wrote about vertical integration as the next big thing in commerce. Today, his words are proving true. Commerce brands like Frank & Oak, Bonobos, and ShoeDazzle (the list goes on) are disrupting how we buy merchandise online. Each one can offer customer experiences and prices that most traditional retailers cannot. They do it by building their entire supply chains, on their own.
For more traditional retailers, this disruption is intimidating. You may even be losing business to one or more vertically integrated commerce brands. You may be wondering how you could possibly compete. Rest assured, this disruption doesn’t mean you need to turn your commerce business upside down.
The more traditional retail model still works. You can still be immensely successful selling through your own website, sourcing from suppliers, using marketplaces like eBay and Amazon, and shaking a new customer’s hand in your brick and mortar store. But, to be successful in the modern commerce world, you’ll need to adopt some new strategies.