What We’re Reading: Online Loyalty, Inventory Systems, & Conversational Commerce
This week we’re reading about what online shoppers prefer from loyalty programs, what features to look for in an inventory system, and why conversational commerce is the next big thing. Read the articles below!
(more…)14 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an eCommerce Agency
(This is a guest post from our friends over at121eCommerce, a seasoned Magento Professional Partner and web development agency specializing in B2B and B2C eCommerce.)
Imagine you woke up to an Apache assault helicopter parked in your driveway. The card says, “Have fun. Love, Dad.” (Disregard for a moment why your father would give you the top attack helicopter in the world).
The bigger question is: What do with this powerful piece of hardware attracting the attention of your neighbors.
Your son wants to use it to impress his friends. Your daughter wants to know if it comes in pink. Your spouse wants it gone. Now. And you? You want to learn to fly it.
Now you have to choose a flight instructor.
Will it be a local pilot whose experience is limited to flying sightseeing helicopters for tourists? Or will you search out a veteran Apache pilot who knows the ins and outs of this beast and can teach you how to get the most out of your new toy?
If you’re smart, you’ll choose the Apache expert.
Choosing the right agency to build your eCommerce site is very similar.
(more…)Are Fulfillment by Amazon’s (FBA) Fees Worth the Cost?
(This post was last published on January 15th, 2018. We’ve updated it for accuracy and completeness.)
Countless small and medium-sized businesses reach shoppers online through Amazon. Just in 2018, third-party marketplace sellers accounted for 58% Amazon’s annual gross merchandise sales. Shoppers turn to marketplaces like Amazon for one important reason – free shipping.
For the U.S., the second leading reason for choosing to shop on marketplaces is free and discounted shipping, according to the UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper 2018.
And while free shipping might convince a shopper to make a purchase. It’s the entire delivery experience that drives a customer to make another purchase.
In fact, 84% of consumers say that they won’t return to a brand after just one poor delivery experience.
Recognizing this, Amazon offers their own fulfillment program, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to guarantee sellers fast, accurate, and affordable shipping for your customers.
You might be asking yourself, “Should I be using FBA?”
This post explains how FBA works and what you need to consider before joining the program. Keep in mind, it’s not always the answer for everyone!
What We’re Reading: BOPIS, Loyalty Programs & eCommerce
This week we’re reading on a variety of topics that include how BOPIS can improve a retailer’s bottom line, whether retailers should tier their loyalty/reward programs, and how retailers are experimenting with expanding their customer experience. Read the articles below!
(more…)Learning from B2C: Making B2B eCommerce More Accessible for Self-Service
(This is a guest post from our friends over at Zoey Commerce,a powerful eCommerce solution for B2B and wholesale businesses.)
Traditionally, B2B eCommerce has been a more manual process than its B2C counterparts. There’s a variety of reasons for this, from more complex product offerings to lagging technology solutions for B2B business. Fortunately, the latter issue has been quickly getting resolved, with off-the-shelf B2B eCommerce solutions providing much more robust capabilities than they did even just a couple of years ago.
For B2B and wholesale sellers, this means the opportunity to take much more time-intensive sales and streamline them, simply by offering their buyers stronger self-service tools. Some of these ideas come from the B2C eCommerce space, and will look familiar to all of us as B2C shoppers when we take off our work hats.
Here’s some ways that B2B businesses can leverage modern eCommerce technology to put more power in the hands of their buyers.
