Mobile Commerce Growth Continues

As we ring in the New Year, the most promising trend to watch over is mobile commerce. With the explosion of mobile device carriers with internet access, mobile commerce has been steadily rising. Real time access to updates and sales through social media has allowed consumers to stay connected with their favorite brands more than before.

Mobile commerce grew to $3.4 billion in 2010, a 253% increase from 2008 and 143% increase from 2009. These are amazing numbers and are all due to the rise in smartphones and mobile retail applications.

To reinforce this mobile commerce trend, eBay recently reported a $100 million increase in mobile sales this holiday season between Nov. 25th and Dec. 25th. That's a $143% increase from $42 million the same time last year. More people are mobile and buying from their fans. The most popular items that were purchased via mobile smartphones, included clothing and accessories, toys, cell phones, sports items, and auto parts.

Clearly, mobile commerce will continue to grow. The enormous increase to $3.4 billion a year should be a signal for retailers to enter the market. Although we may believe that many people carry smartphones, there are still a large portion of individuals who don't. According to research done by Neilson Co, 31% of mobile phone carriers carried smartphones in Q3 2010, which is 19% increase from Q3 2009. About 69% carry conventional cell phones, which do not have advanced web browsing and application capability. The basic function many phones can do is texting. Americans love to text and a survey done by comSCORE found that 66.8% Americans text. The read rate for those opt-in text messages is 95%, according to Cardinalscore. Some retailers have found success by mass texting customers with sales, discounts, and coupon codes. Others have even provided customers to shop by texting item codes. In order to take advantage of the smartphone gap, companies should look into text advertising. It is much more cost efficient and able to reach a large demographic.

It will be interesting to see how far mobile commerce will go in 2011, especially as consumers continue to convert over to smartphones.How much more comfortable shoppers will be with mobile shopping remains to be seen. Much similar to the rise of e-commerce, it will take time for the transition to take place.


Written by Daniel T

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Easy Ecommerce Tips to Start 2011 the Right Way

The incoming year offers another chance for ecommerce owners to maximize the internet for their business. By creating consumer-friendly websites, ecommerce site owners can easily gain more clients and increase their business’s sales while making each customer’s shopping experience an unforgettable one.

1. A faster website will bring consumers to your ecommerce store faster. Use free website performance diagnosis tools online to find out how fast your website operates. Speed up your website by optimizing your site for faster page loads.

2. Change website headers to answer these three basic questions: Where am I? What can I do here? Why should I stay? By keeping in mind that all site pages are potential “landing pages”, it is important to find ways to make customers linger and explore your ecommerce store.

3. Remember UVP = Unique Value Proposition. The UVP is very important as it answers the question “Why should I buy from you rather than one of your competitors?” This helps you decide how to enhance your webpage, products, and services in order to attract customers away from competitors.

4. Not everything your competitor does and has done will automatically work for you. Test web features before fully implementing them on your website to avoid mishaps that consumers will find discouraging and disappointing.

5. Ask for customer reviews by sending requests post-purchase. This can either be done by email or a quick survey on your website. Peer reviews are one of the most influential factors customers look into before purchasing a product or service.

6. Avoid “sticker shock” by informing online shoppers of tax and shipping charges in advance before checking out final purchases. Additionally, allow shoppers to copy shipping addresses to billing addresses when checking out.

7. Conversion rates aren’t the only metric you should track. Micro-conversions such as repeat visit rate, email sign-ups, and link visitor recency should also be measured.

These are just a few tips you could incorporate into your ecommerce store. The key is to think a like a consumer to know what changes should be done to make each client’s shopping a friendly and unique experience, encouraging them to come back and make repeat business.

Have Writer’s Block? Here are Helpful Blogging Topics for Ecommerce Websites

Internet marketing practitioners know that setting up a blog is one of the most useful ways of linkbuilding. Ecommerce owners have ventured into blog writing to gain followers and help potential customers with topics related to their products. Just as any writer, however, ecommerce writers can sometimes suffer from writer’s block. Here are some topics writers can discuss on their ecommerce websites.

• As a general rule, avoid writing about your products only. It’s best to write about products that belong in your industry. Readers will not go to your blog site to search for articles for specific products, but rather for general information about products and services. You can write about how your product can solve or satisfy a consumer’s desire. It should have immediate value to your audience to drive them to your site. For example, if you are selling case sealers it means that you belong to the packaging industry. It would be helpful to write about the packaging industry in general and sometimes write about case sealers as part of your blog.
• Writing about a product’s usage can greatly help beginners. Not all products contain manuals or instructions. Additionally, certain products can be used in a number of ways, aside from its basic functions. By writing about a product’s added features and efficiency, you are offering readers knowledge they previously didn’t have before reading your article.
• Sharing the latest industry and product news should also be a goal of your blog. You could offer your opinion or simply be the first to break it to your readers. Write about new features or product enhancements that could affect your product. Optimize blog posts with spikes in searches to generate more traffic to your site.
• Don’t forget to blog about promotions and giveaways. Blog sites are basically an extension of your ecommerce website so where better to promote it than in your blog, right? Focus on how readers can benefit from your promotion and not just discuss your ecommerce store or product. Remember to consistently explain what your consumers can gain from participating in giveaways to encourage them to join.

As you develop your blog, you will eventually find out which topics readers love and appreciate the most. Use this information to optimize your blog to generate more traffic to your blog, and consequently, to your ecommerce site.

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Video Marketing for Ecommerce Owners (Part I)

Creating videos to increase ecommerce sales has become a common practice among the ecommerce industry with the emergence of YouTube. With the launch of Google Instant, which provides real time search results as the user types, products accompanied by video marketing saw an increase in clicks by 28 percent, as stated by a panelist during the 2010 Search Marketing Expo East Conference. As web users’ attention spans change and become more visual, a two-minute web video becomes a preferable option, rather than text-based web pages. Here are a few ideas on how to produce and shoot videos for your ecommerce site.

1. A motivation to take action is the goal of every search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Including a persuasive goal-oriented message at the end of each video, helps encourages consumers to take action. Whether it’s to take advantage of a promotion, visit a website, or call a toll-free number, suggesting any kind of action that leads to your business is an important goal in web videos.

2. High-definition, wide format videos are the latest in technology. Grainy videos are no longer the norm. To shoot in HD format, some formatting tips include shooting with a 16:9 aspect ratio, MP4 format with .H264 compression, MP3 or AAC compression, and the standard 30 frames per second. Videos should be 2 minutes or less to attract and keep the viewers’ attention.

3. Potential keywords can be found at YouTube’s search box. As Google now owns YouTube, suggestions from the video site are extremely helpful. Search YouTube afterwards with these intended keyword phrases to see what your competition is.

4. For the best SEO results, important keywords should be placed in titles, descriptions, and tags. Make it as compelling and engaging as possible to encourage users to select your video among all other options available on the web. YouTube allows 65 characters for titles, which means titles should be kept within this limit to avoid being cut off.

5. Just as with other business ventures, do a quick search to find out who your competitors are. This can be done by researching the analytics of videos similar to your products and services. Additionally, this can help you with keywords for your own video. Don’t forget to check your own video’s analytics, which will provide you with insight on how to increase viewership. Third-party tools are also available if YouTube’s features are not sufficient.

Ecommerce is similar to any business where owners need to keep up with the latest trends and technology to avoid being left behind. With video marketing, consumers are offered a more visually stimulating medium of advertising.

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Ecommerce Tips: Reducing WISMOs

The Black Friday shopping craze has ended, but e-commerce merchants are still on “red alert” as the Holiday shopping season is about to take off. While this is expected to increase the volume of your sales, it is also expected to increase the amount of WISMO calls. WISMO stands for Where Is My Order. This, of course, refers to your customers who are following up on their orders. According to Linda Bustos, in an article for Get Elastic, WISMO calls can take up about 70 to 80% of customer service calls during the peak of the Holiday season shopping. As an e-commerce merchant, this can take up a large portino of your resources. Bustos shares some tips to reduce your WISMOs and improve your business’ customer service experience.

1. Overcommunicate delivery estimates. In these hectic shopping times, repeating yourself is the recommended course of action. Customers call because they do not know what to expect so provide them with the information that they need. Put your delivery schedule in various parts of your e-commerce site and let them know if you expect some setbacks. It is also wise to add a buffer to your delivery dates so you are ready for unforeseen and inevitable events which may cause delay.

2. Provide order tracking. If you are not yet offering this, you may find this to be a bit expensive for your budget. However, this is an investment that you’ll find useful, especially during this hectic shopping season. A few online shoppers base their e-commerce choices on a site’s efficiency in tracking orders. This is also a good way to increase customer satisfaction and save sales.

3. Once you have the order tracking tool (you can do this on your own or use your carrier’s tool), follow up each order with a link to that tool. If you don’t have this, go back to number one: repeat yourself. Also, Bustos suggests stating the delivery date in terms of month and day, which is more precise, instead of using X number of business days, which is more vague.

4. Send an e-mail when the order is shipped. Again, re-state the delivery dates.

5. On your FAQ page, address WISMO inquiries. This will ease the burden on your hotline, as customers can now inquire on there own, based on information from your e-commerce site. Again, take this opportunity to re-state your delivery dates.

6. Spend a bit more for second day shipping. If the difference between regular and expedited service is a few dollars, Bustos advices e-commerce merchants to pay for the extra costs. The additional cost can be a huge difference in terms of the customer service experience you provide and will in turn, significantly lower your WISMO calls.

Ecommerce Trends to Watch Out For in 2011

The year 2010 is drawing to a close and ecommerce retailers and wholesalers will be busy with holiday promotions until the end of the year. Ecommerce merchants need to start researching future ecommerce trends to gear up for the drastic changes the internet has to offer for online businesses. Despite the drop in the economy within the past two years, consumers are starting to spend more thanks in part to innovations in search engines. To prepare for 2011, here are a few ecommerce trends to watch out as we enter a new era of web modernization.

1. Mobile Commerce – 2011 just might be the year mobile commerce becomes the mainstream due to the increase in consumers’ preference in smart phones. With the influx of iPhones and Blackberries, as well as tablets like the iPad and Kindle, more and more companies are beginning to offer mobile-friendly versions of their websites, such as smartphone apps, to provide a more custom mobile commerce transaction.

2. Price Loyalty – Consumers now practice price loyalty instead of the more traditional brand loyalty. In a world where shoppers think that price is king and comparison shopping is fast, consumers are now more open to shopping at different retailers because of the various discounts, incentives, and deals they can acquire. The fact that comparison shopping engines (CSEs) have grown tremendously over the past couple of years is testament that users are looking for worthy deals and promotions online before shelling out cash.

3. Social Commerce – Social commerce simply means utilizing social media and social networking sites to generate more sales. More and more ecommerce merchants are starting to realize the potential of social commerce, which is why retailers are beginning to incorporate it in their marketing efforts. Consumers are using social media for research and feedback with the purpose of finding out how a product or service works before they pay for it. This is the main reason why ecommerce merchants are starting to interact with consumers in these social commerce spaces. Because of this, expect to see a rise of social commerce solutions in 2011.

4. Video and Visual Search – In line with product researching prior to purchasing, studies have shown that video and image-rich information are easier to process and absorb so don’t be surprised that ecommerce retailers take advantage of this tactic. Coming from being completely text-based, ecommerce sites have incorporated images and videos to their repertoire of internet marketing strategies. Not only do videos and images help sell more, these added features also make users stay longer on websites and pages.

5. Co-Creation – Online shopping has revealed (and possibly made) consumers to be extremely picky to the extent of being allowed to customize products and services. Know as Co-creation ecommerce, these sites sites allow these consumers to indulge in personal whims and preferences by letting them customize every step in the process. From dresses to men’s suits, everything can be personalized nowadays and this innovation is expected to rise come 2011.

There are certainly more trends to expect in 2011 which will be discussed next time. While ecommerce owners cannot participate nor employ all of these, it is suggested to practice one with another to know which combination works best for your online business.

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Easy-To-Do Tips for Making E-commerce Websites Consumer Friendly

Earlier we provided you with five major no-no’s when doing e-commerce. While every e-commerce site’s goals are to convert visitors to buyers and rank highly on search engine results, many still utilize ineffective traditional methods. So here are 4 useful e-commerce tips to help ensure that your online store effectively attracts and produces returning customers and purchases.

1. Avoid over filling site content with key phrases in an attempt to rank higher on search engines. While placing relevant keywords in front of every possible word will help produce higher ranking, it doesn’t effectively help visitor conversion. Generating results with professional content writing includes texts that will evoke the proper response while getting their interest at the same time. A search engine optimized website in addition to well-crafted content, is the best way to entice customers.

2. Display payment options as soon as visitors view the homepage of your ecommerce site. Making payment options immediately visible on the homepage encourages visitors to stay and shop longer on the site. Don’t wait until consumers purchase a product/service before they discover how they can pay for their items. If they are disappointed with the payment options you offer, they will leave immediately.

3. An internal search engine is essential on every page. Consumers shop for a variety of products/services and it is important that they have the option of searching a product instead of browsing through pages of irrelevant items before they find what they are looking for. Internal search engines may not be the most efficient methods for research but consumers do use them to save time, so it is important to make sure one is available for your online store.

4. Don’t require registration in order for visitors to make a purchase. It is important to secure online transactions, but requiring customers to register first may turn them off. Limiting the information and prices they can see before they register is a major conversion killer. Shoppers shop online for convenience and user-friendliness. If you are making the experience difficult for them, not only will they leave your site immediately, but they may not return.

The most important thing to remember when designing an online store is to make it consumer-friendly in all ways possible without compromising security and quality. Think of yourself as a consumer and ask what things you want and prefer when visiting online shops. This will certainly assist you in the design and implementation of your consumer-friendly ecommerce site.

Facebook’s Increasing Role in the World of Ecommerce

While we have all accepted and adjusted to the fact that Facebook is an essential part of being an ecommerce merchant, the world’s most popular social networking site ups the ante in its ever increasing role in online business. Paul Chaney, in an article for Practical Ecommerce, writes about Facebook’s quest to become the preferred homepage of the Internet public and its effect on ecommerce merchants. According to Chaney, Facebook is among the top three sites that average consumers visit when they go online. Quoting a report from the TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal, Chaney writes that “Facebook is split-testing a subset of its users, with a blue bar across the top of the page when they login, asking that they make Facebook their homepage.” This option will be rolled out in the next couple of weeks but according to the article, already there are some six percent of Internet users who already have Facebook as their homepage. This may be of some cause for alarm for another Internet giant, Google, but for ecommerce merchants this move also has its significant implications:

1. It reiterates the importance of establishing a Facebook presence. Notice how almost all ecommerce sites include a link to their own Facebook page. A Facebook account brings you closer to your customer base and establishes a connection with prospective customers. With Facebook applications like Payvment and ShopTab, you can also sell directly from the site.

2. SEO can lose some of its star power. At the dawn of ecommerce, SEO was king. Now with Facebook changing the game and attempting web domination, SEO may soon find itself out of the spotlight.

3. Facebook optimization becomes a must. Facebook’s response to Google’s PageRank is EdgeRank: an algorithm designed to determine what content is shared by users in news feeds. Although not as sophisticated as the former, Facebook’s dominant presence could soon spawn a new ecommerce industry wherein Facebook optimization is vital.

From just some social networking site to, now to THE website, Facebook is proving that it is not just a social fad. As an ecommerce merchant, it should be noted that Facebook is definitely one of the sites to watch out for in the near future.