Online Shopping Trends That You Need to Know

Ecommerce growth in the U.S. overall is still strong, despite rough economic times and poor sales for many brick and mortar retailers. This year we witnessed ecommerce sites starting their marketing efforts well in advance of their typical format to help increase sales. Large online retailers started competing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales days before the actual dates by posting their top deals and even starting to offer the sale prices early. After Christmas sales were also started days before the holiday was over as online retailers are looking to sell as much product before the year closes out. Many online shops also improved their shopping cart process to help advance the user experience and conversion rates. The early data is reporting that this was successful for big online retail sites like Amazon.com and Walmart.com, so it is likely that many small online shops will close out 2009 with a profit as well. Coupon Sherpa recently released their 30 Top Online Shopping Trends of which we wanted to highlight our favorite trends of the list that ecommerce site owners should know.

1) Moms are the fastest growing demographic that are shopping online and overall 63% of online shoppers are women. So if your ecommerce site is skewed towards a female demographic, then you should make sure to cater to them in site design and how you promote your products.

2) In the US, online shoppers spent over $115 billion in 2008 and this figure is expected to rise when data for 2009 information is released. This demand gives online store owners confidence in their space and long term stability.

3) Books are still the most popular item that people like to purchase online. This is not surprising as Amazon.com was also cited as the most popular shopping site that is a default for many. When people think about ordering books online, they almost always turn toward Amazon.

4) First popular in Europe, invitation only shopping sites that typically cater towards luxury goods, are becoming increasingly popular with online shoppers. Many are geared towards a female demographic which makes sense since they do more of the online shopping.

5) Website security is still paramount in a user feeling comfortable about their online shopping experience. This is why many abandon their shopping carts along the way as they do not feel safe about shopping on a certain ecommerce site.

-Zippy Cart

Holiday Shopping Up 4% to Date after Record-Breaking Week

Holiday retail ecommerce spending for the first 43 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season was up 4% compared to the corresponding days last year, according to ComScore, reaching nearly $21 billion spent online. The week ending December 13 reached $4.74 billion in spending, making it the heaviest online spending week on record. The previous high of $4.70 billion occurred during the week ending December 16, 2007. According to the research firm, eBay and PayPal suggested in 2007 that online spending actually peaks on the second Monday in December, and dubbed this event “Green Monday.” ComScore said this year, Green Monday (which fell on December 14) was likely to be the heaviest online spending day of the year and perhaps of all-time. The company will release this year’s Green Monday total later in the week.

According to the research firm, eBay and PayPal suggested in 2007 that online spending actually peaks on the second Monday in December, and dubbed this event “Green Monday.” ComScore said this year, Green Monday (which fell on December 14) was likely to be the heaviest online spending day of the year and perhaps of all-time. The company will release this year’s Green Monday total later in the week.

-Auction Bytes

Three Simple Steps to Social Media Success

This blog entry has been floating around my head for several weeks. During the SMB Nation conference back in October, I listened to dozens of VARs and managed service providers try to prioritize their social media efforts across Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and other networks. The more I heard the more I realized MSPs and VARs were focusing on the wrong web problem. Here’s why.

Imagine the following scenario: You’ve got a limited budget for your home. Instead of building a beautiful, engaging home you spend all of your time building roads and driveways that lead to a run-down house that’s the worst piece of real estate in the neighborhood.

Now apply that scenario to VARs and MSPs:

• Internet Roads: FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter are roads on the Internet. Those roads should drive traffic and readership back to your Internet home.
• Internet Home: Your Web site is your most important point of presence on the Internet. It’s the home you want everyone to visit.

My key point: A lot of MSPs and VARs have their priorities backwards. They’re building Internet roads before they’ve built or updated their Internet homes. Before you spend a minute on social media sites, call a time out and determine if your company’s own web site is well-designed, informative, fast-loading and meeting visitors’ needs.

Think of it this way:

• Step 1: Get your web site built (or re-built) and running smoothly. Forget everything else (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) until your web site is stellar. Ask your developer 50 times how they plan to search engine optimize the site, and demand examples of sites they’ve developed that are at or near the top of Google search rankings.
• Step 2: Potentially launch a blog (using WordPress, Google or other tools) to promote your press releases, company news and industry observations. Speak with your web site developer to see if you can integrate the blog into your web site. Blogs are greatly search-engine optimized.
• Step 3: Once your web site and/or your blog are in great shape you’re now ready to proceed to a FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn social media efforts. Now, speak with your site developer again and ask how your blog entry headlines can automatically flow across FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Fact is you and your employees don’t have time to continually update your “status” across those social media sites. So automate the process.

Got more questions? I’m happy to answer them. But don’t get caught up in the social media hype until you have a simple, well-designed, informative web site that customers can easily find.

Article by: MSP Mentor

Top Internet Trends of 2000-2009: E-commerce

If you are an ecommerce entrepreneur, you understand how important it is to have Google’s approval!

There is a saying that you will hear/see many times on the internet: “If you don’t exist on Google, you don’t exist.”

This is so true. To have a successful, thriving high-traffic and high- sales online store, you absolutely must be prominently featured in Google search.

Internet retail research has shown that very few consumers will go past the first page of a search. The closer you are to the top of the page, the better off you are!

So, what can you do to make Google like you and want to put you first?

Here are some pointers to making your ecommerce website more popular with the Google search engine:

• Instead of trying to work out or try some complicated, never-fail formula for SEO, write your content so that it will flow smoothly for the reader. This doesn’t mean forget about SEO, it simply means don’t make it the be-all and end-all of your content. Google likes it when you don’t overdo the SEO stuff!
• Ask your friends and/or relatives if they genuinely like the content you are writing for the web. If they like it, there is an excellent chance that Google will like it, too.
• Update your content frequently. This is one of the most effective ways you can get in Google’s good books! Google loves fresh content, so if you supply it, you are helping your website be a favorite with this search giant.
• Have a blog for your ecommerce business and share valuable, informative content with readers so that you build up a solid base of followers who read your blog posts. Google likes popular, influential websites that have lots of friends and followers.
• Use SEO with SMO, or Social Media Optimization. Google responds very well to websites who are adept at combining these two things.

The more favorably your ecommerce website is viewed by Google, the more successful it will be!

So, make sure that you schedule time at least every week or so to keep your website up to speed and keeping Google happy!

- Drop Ship Access

Twitter, Facebook lead charge in social networking craze

YOU might not get it, but you had better get used to it. Social networking online is now so ingrained in modern society that the most popular online community, Facebook, has more than 300 million users worldwide who spend more than eight billion minutes on the site every day.

In the past 12 months social networking services have reached unprecedented levels of popularity in Australia.

Twitter has led the way, albeit from a lower base, with 1150 per cent growth in the past 12 months, lifting it from 0.12 per cent market share to 1.54 per cent (more than 800,000 visits, not including mobile phone use).

Celebrities such as US actor Ashton Kutcher have helped fan the popularity, with about four million people following his every “tweet”.

Facebook has continued its domination, boasting just under 50 per cent market share in Australia, compared with 30 per cent a year ago.

YouTube grew by 8 per cent, giving it a 13 per cent share, while MySpace has 6.5 per cent. Experts say the explosion in popularity of social networking sites can be attributed to people wanting to participate in everyday activities.

Social network strategist Laurel Papworth said social media was taking the internet back to its origins, as an extension of a community.

“Our social network is our society,” Ms Papworth said.

“I first joined in 1989 and then the first round of the internet was really community-driven.

“But then web pages came along that looked pretty but . . . contained dead content. There was no feeling of community, but that is changing now.”

Brisbane-based Tara Talbot said her platform of choice was Facebook. Ms Talbot logs on about four times a day, using the service to stay in close touch with about 50 of her 480 friends.

But the 25-year-old was dismissive of Twitter as a useful tool. “I think it’s ridiculous,” she said. “I really don’t care that someone twitters to say they are going to the shop.”

Ms Papworth predicts the next big thing will be Livestream, which allows people to film and broadcast directly on to the web.

“What this means is that sports events are screwed, because anybody in the audience . . . 100 people could all be live streaming the (game) and giving their commentary to their friends,” she said.

- news.com.au

Apple Advances Ecommerce Efforts on iPhone

An article from Zippy Cart.

Apple made a big announcement last week that will change the face of ecommerce for application developers. Developers can now offer their users the option to purchase extra content or features within a free application. Currently developers on the platform have to spend extra time and effort to create a lite version of their product, which is free, and a separate paid version. This not only clogs up the AppleiTunes App store with excess apps to browse through, but it makes it more complicated from a development and maintenance standpoint. The in-app purchase feature will completely eliminate those annoying lite apps from the store so you can only have one version of the app that you upgrade if you desire. Having this additional functionality will allow developers to offer extra levels or new tools to an existing app, but these add-on features can only be offered via payment for now. This means app developers will have to charge the typically .99 cent minimum for any type of upgrade and cannot offer the user free upgrades within the app. Users can still easily update their app in the app store if they want to get new free features, but some want to see the feature in app as well.

Apple app developers are very excited as the future for them looks brighter and more profitable by giving them more flexibility to monetize their app and up-sell users. No longer will they have to only use ads as their sole means of generating revenue since they can offer nice paid add-ons from within the app. They are also excited that the removal of the lite apps will make it so much easier to navigate through all of the choices in the app store which could lead to higher conversion rates from some developers. Stay tuned into the iTunes app store so you can watch this ecommerce shift take place over the next couple months.

eCommerce Tips for Marketing to Teens

Teens account for an astonishing amount of the money being spent online! Gone are the days when Ward gave Wally or the Beaver a weekly allowance of fifty cents for mowing the lawn or washing the family car.

Many teens today have jobs, credit cards and some serious spending money to throw around.

In fact, teens are projected to spend over $91 billion online in 2011!

If you are selling products online that would appeal to this demographic, but you aren’t making any effort to target the market, you’re missing out on a lot of sales!

According to surveys, approximately one-third of all teens consider the internet as their primary source of entertainment.

To attract this affluent age group, here are a few tips to bear in mind:

Be real: When marketing to teens, be authentic. Just be who you are. Don’t overindulge in a lot of flowery hype that will be interpreted as phony. Be open, honest, and direct. This age group responds poorly to anything that sounds like a bunch of hokey stuff. Keep it real!

Generate some buzz: Grassroots marketing is key with teen sales. Create some buzz! You might give a special freebie to a group of users in a social community, for instance, and get them to help spread the word about your products. Make them feel special in some way. Provide them with deals and/or freebies that they can share with friends, then watch the buzz spread and spread!

Keep it simple: Teens have an exceptionally short attention span, in the main. So, keep your marketing message simple and get to the point quickly. Teens multitask….they might be watching TV while talking on the phone while surfing on a laptop. So, give them something they can act on fast. Don’t have a lot of other links, too many images or other things going on besides your main message, or you’ll probably lose them.

Engage and provide interaction: Teens love interaction online! Take advantage of some of the new interactive website tools to make your site fun and interesting to teens.

The teen market is a golden opportunity for the ecommerce entrepreneur!

This article was by Amanda Brooke from Drop, Ship, Access.

Social media leads to Brits spending 30 hours a week online

Some news from U Talk Marketing.

Brits are spenging up to 30 hours a week online as social media takes up more of our time, according to new research from uSwitch.com

The social networking boom is one of the main reasons why Brits now spend so much time online, according to the Consumer Opinion Panel.

A quarter of adults say they need to use sites such as Facebook and Twitter as least one a say and almost a third of 18-24 year olds spend more than five hours a week on them.

People even have to log in while on holiday with over a third of under 25s admitting to cheacking these sites while away.

But, while the influence of these sites cannot be under estimated, only 27% of people think that social networking is a good thing- almost half are still weighing it up saying that for them, at least, the jury is still out.

The Consumer Opinion Panel also revealed that on a typical working day the average person now spends five hours online – two hours for professional work purposes and three hours of pleasure and leisure. This includes online shopping, managing their finances, socializing and emailing family and friends… Read More.

Exploring E-commerce

As with any business move or expansion, considering an online presence can raise a sometimes dizzying list of questions for an entrepreneur. Exactly what must be put in place to make it happen? How does an online presence change the market for the business? What are competitors doing? How will people shop? What kind of security is required? How will customers pay online? We put together this guide, a primer of sorts, to help answer those questions.

Small businesses that have little or no e-commerce capabilities on their websites will learn about taking the next step in converting their marketing sites into selling locations that extend their customer bases, images and sales in entirely new ways. Those entrepreneurs not yet online will discover how the Internet is likely to transform their businesses and introduce them to markets far beyond those which are currently in reach.

Why Go Online?

The most amazing aspect of e-commerce is its ability to impact sales and marketing efforts immediately. By going online, suddenly a neighborhood bakery or a homebased consulting service expands its reach to a national, or even international base of potential customers. Web-based sales know no international boundaries.

Forrester Research, which analyzes online trends and statistics, projects the online retail market for U.S. businesses to be $230 billion by 2008. That’s a full 10 percent of anticipated total U.S. retail sales.

Not only is the internet increasing the number of potential customers that a company can reach, but it’s also driving profitability, according to research from IPSOS, commissioned by PayPal. The survey discovered that, far from being an extra “expense,” internet operations boosted businesses’ bottom lines:

• Of small businesses that sell online, 64 percent said the internet has increased their revenues or sales.
• 48 percent felt the internet helped to expand their geographic reach in the United States.
• And 73 percent saved money by decreasing administrative costs.

Cash flow is of significant importance to a new business–online or brick and mortar. The study found that small business owners who conduct business online feel it allows them to receive payments faster and conduct business easier.

When entrepreneurs move online, they establish themselves on a level playing field with larger competitors. On the internet, even the smallest online retailer can be as attractive and as functional as the largest big box store–without the need to have a physical presence on every street corner. Often, small shops project a “boutique” feel that attracts shoppers, who perceive smaller businesses as more distinctive than larger stores.

What It Takes to Go Online

There are two resounding traits that help entrepreneurs overcome the challenges of starting a business and reaping the rewards of their labor. Just like opening a physical store, setting up shop online takes passion and demands a high level of optimism. The passion is the desire on the part of the entrepreneur to find something he or she loves to do and make a career out of it. Positive thinking allows a person to stay focused in the face of cynicism from banks, peers and competitors. A “yes, I can” attitude quickly translates to “Wow, it’s working” as an online business opens its doors to the world.

Moving a business online doesn’t have to be an arduous process. To set up an online business, entrepreneurs should apply their passion and positive thinking to three key areas:

1. The planning process. Everything an entrepreneur needs to know, consider and decide before starting an e-commerce site.
2. Developing a marketing strategy. Determining how to get the word out and how to maintain good relationships with customers.
3. Understanding technology needs. The tricks and tools that make it all happen.

The Planning Process

First and foremost, every small-business owner needs a well-thought plan. The internet is the best place to find information, learn from peers and effectively manage resources to formulate a plan that is perfect for a particular business and its owner.

The plan should look at every aspect of the proposed online business with a critical eye. There are several important questions to address here.

Does the web make sense for this business? We’ve already established that the web has immense power to transform a business. With that said, sometimes a product just doesn’t seem to lend itself to online sales–at least at first glance. Businesses like amusement parks, bowling alleys and utility companies either require the customer to be on-site or offer a product that is largely intangible. But even for those types of businesses, customers have come to expect an online presence. A company can sell tickets or offer discounts through its website, show images and videos of its facilities, set up online games that relate to and increase demand for its offerings, or enable customers to make payments over the internet.

What are other companies doing? Just as with their brick-and-mortar stores, online entrepreneurs must understand the competition if they hope to survive. A competitive analysis will help equip online business owners with the information needed to promote and differentiate their online businesses.

The leap for entrepreneurs who open their doors on the internet, however, is learning not just what other competitors in their physical geography are doing to spark sales, but also what the competitors who share their cyberspace are offering. Say you want to sell beauty products online. A keyword search for “lipstick” in Google, eBay and online shopping portals offers a glimpse at which competitors come up most often and highest on the list. Then, a look at those competitors’ product selections, pricing structures, promotional offers and target audiences can help shape your own storefront to stand out from the gaggle of competitors.

This can be a time-consuming process, but it’s invaluable research that costs hours rather than dollars. In this instance, time is money that will be returned many times over.

If there are already businesses in this space, it’s important to differentiate. Perhaps offer a more comprehensive set of products or services. Maybe the business will have a customer service or technology advantage, or consider tailoring the product to a niche market.

What types of resources will the business need? The doors of an online business never close. By not running a 24/7 operation, online business owners may fail to fulfill orders in the manner promised–a surefire way to lose customers and miss the chance to build loyalty. Internet businesses need to operate full time, so entrepreneurs must be realistic about how much help they will need.

Typically, online business owners find that their hands quickly fill up with the chores and challenges involved in simply running their businesses. They’ll often turn to web experts, or professionals who coordinate online business tasks every day. With the numbers of well-trained web professionals out there today, consider these possibilities when looking to hire:

• Hire someone who will be dedicated solely to web management, if the nature and size of the business supports it.

• Hire temporary employees to help set up the business and bring them back periodically to make changes to the site, expand online capabilities or launch new ventures.

• Outsource the development, design and hosting of the website and rely on an outside organization to keep it up to date and to manage growth.

• Use an “e-commerce in a box” product to set up an e-commerce site. These products typically charge a monthly fee (around $25) and provide an online store with virtual shopping carts (locations where shoppers electronically place the items they want to buy). They also include online catalogs, customized product pages, tools that help merchants list their products and services on online auction and shopping sites, secure online payment options, discount coupons for customers, and technical support.

Who is your target audience? Anytime a business opens its products or services to a new market, management must consider the geographic, demographic and socio-economic factors that determine how it will approach the consumer. Some offerings, such as toys, school supplies or nursing services may be targeted primarily to a specific age group. Other products or services, like snow blowers or swimming pool supplies, could target a specific set of geographic areas. Every audience is unique, so merchants should tailor their marketing and communications in a way that connects consumers to their businesses.

How far will the business cast its net? In a global economy it’s entirely possible that a small business owner could start the morning with an e-mail from Milan, asking if he’ll accept payment in Euros with a CartaSi credit card. Online entrepreneurs must understand that, from day one, they are international businesses with display windows and checkout stations in every corner of the globe.

A business could tell its customers that it ships only to North American locations or accepts only U.S. dollars. But it may turn out that the overseas market is the company’s very best sales opportunity. Therefore it’s important for the online business to determine how it will work with customers in foreign nations. How will shipping be handled? Is the company prepared to convert currencies? How will the business communicate with customers who speak different languages?

Online businesses should consider not excluding an eager marketplace just because it seems difficult to serve. There are several services that make it easier for international visitors to order from a U.S. store. PayPal, for instance, accepts payment on behalf of merchants in U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Japanese Yen, and Australian dollars. The major U.S. credit cards accept purchases from foreign countries and make the necessary monetary conversions for the buyer.

What about shipping charges? Online shopping breaks down most often over shipping charges. Imagine this: A customer sees a great price for just the product she’s been searching for. After entering the information on the electronic order form, she is startled to see a huge shipping fee tacked onto the price. The result? By barely lifting a finger, the shopper clicks off the site and goes elsewhere.

Some online companies absorb shipping charges; others include them in the listed price and offer “free” shipping. All the major postal carriers have websites that allow merchants to calculate the shipping charge for any item, based on weight and location.

Shipping efficiency and pricing can be major competitive advantages or hand grenades in an online store’s shopping cart. Try to make a profit on shipping charges–your store is more likely to lose the sale than gain the margin.

What are the elements of the customer service policy? Because customers expect to be able to contact a company with questions, special requests or problems related to ordering, online businesses should offer an e-mail address or phone number for customer service inquiries. Not only is customer service a great way to build loyalty, but it’s also a valuable feedback mechanism–customers are all too ready to sing your praises or call out improvements that need to be made to your product, service or image.

An important aspect of customer service is deciding how quickly the business will respond to customer inquiries and complaints (phone or e-mail). This response time should be realistic and consistent. If the policy says all phone calls will be answered within two minutes or returned the same day, that timeline becomes a pledge to the customer. Nothing frustrates an online shopper more than sending an e-mail to an address listed on a shopping site and waiting hours, days or interminably for a response. To keep customers on the site, businesses must keep them in the loop.

Article from Entrepreneur.

Microsoft Announces Looking Glass For Social Media Monitoring

To help brands better manage the flow of conversation in social media, Microsoft is trying out a new program called Looking Glass.

Starting next month, the pilot program will help brands better integrate their customer-relationship-manangement efforts.

The thinking is that by aggregating the ongoing conversation feed for a given brand on social networks like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, companies will be better positioned to respond.

That’s the thinking at least. There’s a lot of data out there and Microsoft wants to help brands separate what’s actionable vs. what’s not.

The program is also intended to dovetail with their current enterprise solutions such as Sharepoint and Outlook to help CRM efforts.

Could it be a hit? Possibly. Metrics for monitoring social networks vary greatly, both in terms of cost and performance.

They can range from an all-in-one monitoring service like Radian6 to any number of free apps that only look at one aspect of social media.

While earlier this month Adobe announced plans to incorporate social media monitoring into some of its software releases for developers, Microsoft is the first major software maker to directly address social media this way.

Source: Marketing Vox