Infographic: Ecommerce Trends to Watch in 2016

Fuel your Ecommerce strategy by staying up to date with the major industry trends!

We have compiled a list of some major game changing trends you can take advantage of this year:

Use Big Data and Predictive Analysis to gather even more information about your buyer personas and use the perks of advanced personalization technologies to gain competitive advantage.

You have probably heard Mobile is getting even bigger with the customers this year, so you might want to consider investing more in your Mobile Marketing Campaigns in 2016 as the industry’s mobile payment methods will diversify, mobile revenues will peak and mobile traffic will soon push past the 50% mark.

If you are a retailer, we recommend you to start blending Digital Tech, from iPads to Beacons, in your brick and mortar store to win your customers’ hearts, minds and wallets.

Investments in Customer Experience is predicted to be the No.1 priority for the major Ecommerce players, so we recommend you  to consider hiring more UX specialists and invest in training your Customer Support team to offer the best customer care on your specific market.

Looking at the technological aspects of the Ecommerce business, 2016 will bring an increased adoption of one-stop shop technology partnersonline shopping platforms that support all touch points: digital, traditional retail, enterprise technology.

We have gathered all the Top Ecommerce Trends to watch in 2016 in one Infographic that we hope will help you employ the best strategies and tactics to achieve your business goals this year.

Courtesy of: EuroITGroup

Ecommerce site owners warned to prepare ahead of Cyber Monday as UK popularity increases

Online store owners should be prepared for another record Cyber Monday as the ecommerce shopping event continues to become increasingly popular in the UK, according to online printer and office supplier TonerGiant.co.uk .

Spikes in traffic on the 1st December will give brands the chance to sell to a new audience hungry for an offer. From ensuring servers can cope with this excess demand to creating strategic promotions, site owners should prepare now in order to capitalise on this opportunity.

Things to consider:

  • Preparing servers for increased volumes in traffic
  • Easy to navigate landing pages
  • Effective email marketing campaigns
  • Data-led offers and promotions
  • Leverage social media channels to maximise exposure
  • Paid search ads

In 2013, consumers set a record of 115 million visits to retail websites on Cyber Monday, beating the record number of visits in a single day which was set on Boxing Day 2012. (1)

UK shoppers also spent 15.3 million hours shopping online, spending on average 8 minutes per site visit. (1)

Last year saw total UK sales on Cyber Monday reach £600 million, almost double the figure from three years ago, as more British shoppers and retailers continue to adopt the day that’s been a fixture on the American shopping calendar since 2006. (2)

Gary Flynn, Managing Director of TonerGiant.co.uk, has also stressed the importance of not assuming that Cyber Monday applies only to certain product sectors and niches.

“These figures highlight just how big a day Cyber Monday has become in the online business calendar in this country. But it’s not just your traditional high street brands that benefit from this surge in shopping.

“For example at TonerGiant.co.uk we primarily sell office and printer supplies to businesses; not your typical festive season purchase. Yet even we noticed increased demand on Cyber Monday. Indeed last year we saw a 15.9% increase in traffic and a 33.2% increase in transactions on Cyber Monday compared to the Monday the previous week.

“It goes to show that no matter how big a business you are, what you sell and what your customer base is you can capitalise on the heightened popularity of Cyber Monday.”

TonerGiant.co.uk has created an infographic that details some of the key statistics from Cyber Monday 2013, as well as detailing a list of steps that site owners can take to ensure they’re suitably prepared for this year’s event. For more information visit http://www.tonergiant.co.uk/blog/2014/11/cybermonday/.

Cyber Monday Info Graphic

Cyber Monday Info Graphic

Notes for editors:

About TonerGiant.co.uk
Launched in 2006, TonerGiant.co.uk is one of the UK’s largest online suppliers of printers, printer consumables and office stationery. It’s a trading brand of NetGiant Ltd, founded by Gary & Joanne Flynn in 2003. The company is based in Atherton, Greater Manchester. An asset library for the TonerGiant brand can be found at http://www.tonergiant.co.uk/blog/assets/.

 

Sources

  1. ‘Cyber Monday’ biggest shopping day ever seen in UK: http://www.experian.co.uk/marketing-services/about/news/cyber-monday-biggest-shopping-day-ever-seen-in-uk.html
  2. Cyber Monday gave Amazon its biggest day ever as it handled 47 orders per SECOND – despite computer meltdown that left millions of Natwest customers frozen out: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2516953/Cyber-Monday-biggest-online-spending-spree-EVER.html
Why you shouldn't give a rats ass on the quantity of likes or followers on Facebook, Twitter & Google+?

Why you shouldn’t give a rats ass on the quantity of likes or followers on Facebook, Twitter or Google+?

We live in a vain world where numbers matter and are a symbol of status. Whether it is how many zeros are in your bank account; offering you a sense of security to how, many people are friends with you on your Facebook, the number of likes you have on your Like page, or the number of followers you have on Twitter.

In the late 1990’s business made a bee-line to get their businesses online because that was the craze at the time. The current day craze is Social Media. Of the many board rooms I have been in, up and down the country. the talk is, “we need to be on Facebook, our competitors are already using Facebook” or “our  competitors have more twitter followers than us, we need more followers, and we need them fast”.

Businesses know that Consumers make a snap shot decision about their business based on how many followers or likes they have. Ultimately this leads to whether the Consumer decides to make a purchase. There is pressure on businesses for this reason to have high number of likes and followers. Consumers use these figures as an indicator of popularity, good service & quality of product.

This gives rise to the wholesale purchase of likes and followers from shady websites to whom you pay a small fee to for followers. This works on a sliding scale, the more you pay ,the greater number of followers your money gets you.  Although this method may get you the much desired numbers beware of these likes and followers, which are mainly all dummy accounts that do not interact with you.  At the core of Social Media is interaction between your patrons. Dummy accounts are like people who do not hear or speak or spread the good word about your brand. Other than giving you a false image of popularity a purchased like or follower has no value whatsoever and is a cancer to social media.

Conversely a natural like or follower will be a real person and more inclined to  interact and spread the word about your product or brand to others.  Essentially this all boils down to the age old Quantity versus Quality argument.

So I put these two questions to you; would you rather have just a few hundred natural likes and followers who regularly interact with you, or thousands of purchased likes and followers who make you look popular but with little or no interaction?

Businesses should focus on getting natural likes and followers.  They need to add a bit of personality in their statuses, do regular interesting status updates, interact with their audience, and finally exercise a bit of patience and the followers will slowly grow.

eBay increases stake in Snapdeal, invests $134 million

In other markets eBay’s investments have lead to buyouts further down the line. This is the second investment in Snapdeal that eBay have made. The first was made in 2013 of $50m. There may not be a third investment by eBay as it may be a outright buyout.

There are two major differences in the Indian market compared to developed nations:

1) In India and to other developing countries, cash on delivery is a preferred payment method rather than credit. In India 80% of Indian e-commerce tends to be Cash on Delivery.

2) Direct imports constitute a large component of online sales. Demand for international consumer products is growing much faster than in-country supply from authorised distributors and e-commerce offerings.

India is set to grow the fastest within the Asia-Pacific. India’s retail market is estimated at $470 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $675 Bn by 2016 and $850 Bn by 2020.

The penetration of e-commerce is low compared to markets like the United States and the United Kingdom but is growing at a much faster rate with a larger number of new entrants. The industry consensus is that growth is accelerating and thus confidence in the market place it at a all time high. This is reflected and eBay’s second investment in Snapdeal.

Print Based Media vs. Digital Media

Print based media tends to be more costly than advertising through digital media offerings. Digital media may appear financially more viable at first but budgets can quickly get used up.

Argument for Print Based Media
Many printing houses offer very competitive prices for leaflets, and brochures. In my opinion print based media is an excellent way to get your message out locally. I say locally because with print based media you are responsible for its distribution,

An important fact that needs to be made is that many printing houses also offer 100% recycled paper so the argument that print based media is not green is highly questionable.

Argument for Digital Media
The ability to segment the market and to zero-in on your market is in my option the biggest advantage digital media has to offer. Once your marketing message is in digital form it is flexible enough to be displayed on various digital mediums, like TV, internet, mobile etc. The cost of reproducing your digital message costs noting, so the dissemination of information is a big plus.

Marketing Trends

Facebook
There are 500 million users on facebook, a social networking site which businesses are using to connect to their audience.

Twitter
Many businesses recognize that they must engage in dialogue with their market and communicate in real-time with business news and offers.

What are digital based media delivery mechanisms that directly rival print based media?

  • Social Media, Twitter & Facebook etc
  • Pay-Per-Click and Cost-Per-Click Advertising
  • Web Banner Advertising
  • TV & Radio Advertising

Conclusion
We are currently going through a recession and sp businesses and the Government are making cuts. Printed media is being affected by this too. Digital media is chosen over print based media because the perception is that it is financially more viable. In my experience I would say that you cannot and should not ever rule out print based media.

Why you should not block adverts while browsing the Internet?

Initially there is a huge investment of time, costs for hosting if that applies promotion and the build-up to a steady audience of traffic to your blog or site. Advertisers are not interested in a site that does not traffic. Building-up traffic and trust and being seen as an expert in your field is a huge investment. Advertisers appreciate this and are willing to pay to tap into to this traffic.

It takes an enormous amount of time to research, academically underpin proof read, publish and finally promote a content rich blog post / article.

I do not appreciate the view by some who say that if you rely on ad income them you must go if ads are blocked.

Since the dawn of time, we have relied on advertising.

If you think the big giants like, Google, Facebook, Twitter or even Youtube are free, then think again, they all rely on advertising revenue to get by.

Flash is not SEO Friendly – Think Again!

I do not work for Moonfruit nor am I affiliated in any way financial or non-financial with Moonfruit. I have a Client that uses Moonfruit for whom I am managing SEO. I have investigated into this matter fully and the following is my professional opinion and fact which I can prove with evidential findings:

It is true that content within a flash file cannot be indexed by Googlebot or Yahoo Slurp. However Moonfruit has overcome this issue in its entirety.

Although viewing a Moonfruit site via a desktop web browser displays a flash website; when a search engine looks at the site a HTML version is presented. Therefore there is no need to remove the flash.

If a user visiting a Moonfruit site does not have flash installed they are presented with the HTML version of the site and as such are mobile / iPhone friendly.

So, well done Moonfruit developers!

 

 

Internet security

cisco-wirelss-dsl-router

1. Configuration Manager Admin password

Change router Configuration Manager’s password form its (default of admin):

Consult your routers manual which will illustrate how you can login to your router and update your administrator password.

2. Use sensible network security

Set network passwords and change them regularly. See your computer’s instructions.

Use good quality antivirus software to protect your computers. Update it regularly with latest virus upgrades

If you enable file sharing on your computer, you should not share your system files and should protect shared folders with a password. See help for your operating system.

If carrying sensitive information (e.g. corporate environment), you should use VPN type (Virtual Private Network) technology to protect your data. Follow guidelines from your company’s network administrator.

3. NAT Firewall
Most routers use NAT (Network Address Translation) to assign an address to your ADSL Modem. Only the NAT address is visible from the outside world and your computers are therefore protected against direct intrusion.

Make sure NAT is enabled consult your router documentation.

ADSL Microfilters

Ensure that your ADSL line has been activated before you proceed. Your Service Provider will have given you a ‘turn on’ date.

Every telephone socket that has telephony equipment attached to it must have a Microfilter fitted first as shown below.

adsl-microfilter

 If you need more than the two microfilters provided in this package, then you should be certain that they are of good quality. Incorrect filters may cause problems with either your telephony products or impede the ADSL speeds.

ADSL enables fast Internet to be delivered to you on your standard telephone line. It allows you to surf the Internet, use e-mail or many other internet applications whilst still carrying on using your telephone, answer machine, fax or any of other piece of telephony equipment that you have attached to your line.

To ensure the quality of both the telephony and the ADSL every piece of telephony equipment must be filtered including telephones, fax machines and even simple tone callers. This does not mean that every piece of equipment must have a filter, only that every telephone socket that has telephony equipment attached to it must have a Microfilter fitted first. The diagrams below show you how to connect your telephony equipment and your BT Voyager USB. A standard telephone doubler can be used in the Microfilter Phone socket to enable you to plug in another telephony device or extension cable (an ADSL modem cannot be used at the end of this extension cable).

adsl-microfilter-phone-fax-pc

If you need to use more than two microfilters on one line as in the diagram above then please make sure that any additional microfilters bought are designed to operate in this configuration. Incorrect filters may cause problems with either your telephony products or reduce the ADSL speeds.

Guide to hits and visits what is the difference?

Who is this Guide for?
If you are trying to market your website on other site on the World Wide Web or you are analysing your websites analytics to evaluate its return on investment; then this guide is especially written for you.

google-analytics

What is the big issue?
Over the years I have heard it said something to the effect of “my site receives millions hits a month”, “this site receives millions of hits”. The point I am trying to make here is that “hits” are totally ambiguous and have no value in assessing return on investment. Unique visits are what you should be looking at to determine whether you should advertise your website on a particular publisher’s site.

What is the difference between a “hit” and a “visit”?
A unique visit is a numerical count of the unique number of visitors to a website.
A hit is a numerical count of the file(s) requested from a webserver for any given webpage.

In English an example please?
If you visited a web page that had nothing but text in it, and
one person visited it;
that would equate to 1 visit and 1 hit.

This is because one person visited the page and you requested 1 file from the webserver the webpage itself.

If you visited the same webpage but this time it had 10 images in it, and
one person visited it
that would equate to 1 visit and 11 hits.

This is because one person visited the page and you requested 11 files from the server, 1 webpage and 11 images.

Why is this important?
Lets say I am a web publisher and you approach me to place an advert on my site. I may brag to you that I receive 10 million hit a month on my website. The figure 10 million sounds impressive, but as you have just been made aware the hits do not mean a thing.

There is nothing stopping me from having a huge number of images on my pages to show high number of hits.

I hope you can you this litter bit of knowledge to make the right choice in choosing the right website to advertise with.

Conclusion
Ask prospective website publishers how many visits they get a month. Better still how many unique visits do they get in a month!