By: Nicole Martins Ferreira
Congratulations on becoming a store owner. Building your own business is a fun experience that pays off – literally. Being a new entrepreneur is exciting because everything is new. However, sometimes, new entrepreneurs get a little too excited about the wrong things. As an experienced entrepreneur, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. That’s why I created these 50 ecommerce tips for new entrepreneurs like you, so you can get on the right track from the beginning and actually make some money on your new store.
Ecommerce Tips (#1): Experiment like your business depends on it.
To really succeed, you’re going to need to experiment a lot. You’ll need to create ads for different products. Test different copy, formats, and images. Experimenting with ads is what will eventually bring in customers and drive sales. Once you’ve created profitable ads you can start experimenting on your website. Many people focus on improving their website first. However, you don’t know how customers are responding to certain features if you don’t have any yet. Avoid making assumptions about your customers. Be open to being wrong about what really works – you won’t know the truth until you look at the data.
Ecommerce Tips (#2): Don’t pocket the profits just yet.
It can be tempting to keep any profit you make. However, if you want your business to grow, you’ll need to reinvest money into your business. Money makes money. Instead, of making a purchase to buy new equipment, spend your profit on advertising. You’ll probably want to create several $5 ads at first to see which product people respond to best. However, once you’ve found your winning product, you’ll need to spend a lot more than $5 to make the kind of money people dream of.
If your goal is to make $3000 profit each month, you’ll need to spend about $3000 on ads, which will bring in roughly $9000 in revenue. Boosted Facebook posts convert best for my business but you’ll need to find the type of ad that works best for you. By reinvesting the profit for several months, you give your business a chance to grow and become sustainable. Eventually, you’ll be able to live off the money you’re making.
Read More >> https://www.oberlo.com/blog/25-ecommerce-tips
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
“Tips from eCommerce Pros: Making the Most Out of Shopify Plus”
By: Ron Dod
The eCommerce industry is booming. In 2017, global sales reached upwards of $2.3 trillion–a near 25 percent increase over 2016. That figure is predicted to skyrocket to $4.88 trillion by 2021.
However, with the incredibly lucrative opportunities presented by the exponential growth of the eCommerce sector comes increasingly fierce competition.
For all entrepreneurs and enterprises in the space, the prospect of potential sustainability through unbridled success is incredibly exciting. To effectively capitalize on the expanding eCommerce ecosystem and grow customer bases to untold levels, it is essential to create the best possible customer experience. And that all begins with leveraging the right platform.
For enterprise organizations and rapidly expanding operations, Shopify Plus is a premier platform that helps to maximize a store’s potential and scalability. But, to effectively maximize the performance of a superior platform such as Shopify Plus, merchants are wise to look to industry experts to help guide their efforts.
With that said, here are seven preeminent pieces of eCommerce advice for making the most out of Shopify Plus.
MINIMIZE SHOPPING CART FRICTION
“Surveys show that shoppers’ most desired features are related to convenience and time saving, and the checkout process is a major cause of friction for ecommerce sites. In fact, 68% of online shopping carts are abandoned… If customers are forced to fill in too many fields, move through too many pages, and perform too many actions, the customer will lose patience, and leave… To get the most out of their online store, ecommerce retailers need to focus on reducing the rate of abandonment and increasing sales by streamlining the checkout process. For example, e-commerce sites can reduce shopping cart abandonment by allowing consumers to buy goods as guest visitors, instead of needing to create an account.” – Bart Mroz, CEO of SUMO Heavy
With cart abandonment rates at near an industry-wide 70 percent, this is a major issue for retailers. Because of that, merchants should simplify the process as much as possible to maximize potential sales.
Shopify Plus assists this goal with enabling users to pay with their Amazon info–nullifying the creation of yet another account–or by utilizing social media login info to speed up the process.
Additionally, shop owners do have the power to make account creation optional, thereby implementing a guest checkout function to help maximize sales potential.
And since Shopify Plus features a highly customizable checkout process, merchants should have no problem removing any potential friction.
OPTIMIZE USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN ELEMENTS
“Designing a new ecommerce brand is a unique challenge, distinct from other types of branding mediums like packaging or print. People’s digital attention spans are growing shorter, so you need to be clear, concise and engaging in your brand’s message. From the moment someone arrives at your ecommerce store, they need to know where they have arrived and want to stay.” – Josh Williams, Co-Founder of W&P Design
User experience (UX) is a critical component to today’s eCommerce operations–and Google’s algorithms, for that matter. When it comes to crushing your search competition on Shopify Plus, UX matters.
Because of the speed with which people make judgments about sites these days, you need to capture them from the moment they land. A great way to do that is by deploying a slideshow near the top of your store’s homepage as this allows a shop proprietor to display a myriad of popular or promoted items in just a moment, without forcing visitors to dig deeper into the site.
By employing high-quality product photos in this manner, you are more likely to convert a consumer into a customer.
Read More >> https://www.visiture.com/blogs/tips-from-ecommerce-pros-making-the-most-out-of-shopify-plus/
The eCommerce industry is booming. In 2017, global sales reached upwards of $2.3 trillion–a near 25 percent increase over 2016. That figure is predicted to skyrocket to $4.88 trillion by 2021.
However, with the incredibly lucrative opportunities presented by the exponential growth of the eCommerce sector comes increasingly fierce competition.
For all entrepreneurs and enterprises in the space, the prospect of potential sustainability through unbridled success is incredibly exciting. To effectively capitalize on the expanding eCommerce ecosystem and grow customer bases to untold levels, it is essential to create the best possible customer experience. And that all begins with leveraging the right platform.
For enterprise organizations and rapidly expanding operations, Shopify Plus is a premier platform that helps to maximize a store’s potential and scalability. But, to effectively maximize the performance of a superior platform such as Shopify Plus, merchants are wise to look to industry experts to help guide their efforts.
With that said, here are seven preeminent pieces of eCommerce advice for making the most out of Shopify Plus.
MINIMIZE SHOPPING CART FRICTION
“Surveys show that shoppers’ most desired features are related to convenience and time saving, and the checkout process is a major cause of friction for ecommerce sites. In fact, 68% of online shopping carts are abandoned… If customers are forced to fill in too many fields, move through too many pages, and perform too many actions, the customer will lose patience, and leave… To get the most out of their online store, ecommerce retailers need to focus on reducing the rate of abandonment and increasing sales by streamlining the checkout process. For example, e-commerce sites can reduce shopping cart abandonment by allowing consumers to buy goods as guest visitors, instead of needing to create an account.” – Bart Mroz, CEO of SUMO Heavy
With cart abandonment rates at near an industry-wide 70 percent, this is a major issue for retailers. Because of that, merchants should simplify the process as much as possible to maximize potential sales.
Shopify Plus assists this goal with enabling users to pay with their Amazon info–nullifying the creation of yet another account–or by utilizing social media login info to speed up the process.
Additionally, shop owners do have the power to make account creation optional, thereby implementing a guest checkout function to help maximize sales potential.
And since Shopify Plus features a highly customizable checkout process, merchants should have no problem removing any potential friction.
OPTIMIZE USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN ELEMENTS
“Designing a new ecommerce brand is a unique challenge, distinct from other types of branding mediums like packaging or print. People’s digital attention spans are growing shorter, so you need to be clear, concise and engaging in your brand’s message. From the moment someone arrives at your ecommerce store, they need to know where they have arrived and want to stay.” – Josh Williams, Co-Founder of W&P Design
User experience (UX) is a critical component to today’s eCommerce operations–and Google’s algorithms, for that matter. When it comes to crushing your search competition on Shopify Plus, UX matters.
Because of the speed with which people make judgments about sites these days, you need to capture them from the moment they land. A great way to do that is by deploying a slideshow near the top of your store’s homepage as this allows a shop proprietor to display a myriad of popular or promoted items in just a moment, without forcing visitors to dig deeper into the site.
By employing high-quality product photos in this manner, you are more likely to convert a consumer into a customer.
Read More >> https://www.visiture.com/blogs/tips-from-ecommerce-pros-making-the-most-out-of-shopify-plus/
Monday, August 20, 2018
8 Essential Tools You Need to Grow a Booming eCommerce Business
By: Timothy Masek
At Ladder, we’ve had the pleasure of working with dozens of eCommerce businesses. Every day we hear problems that founders and marketers face in building successful online eCommerce store.
Very often, we find that they get caught up in finding the right tech stack. They get very excited upon finding a shiny new niche analytics tool. They spend hours on the phone with sales reps from every social listening tool available. They burn through countless free trials of software tools they don’t fully understand.
We understand that pain.
We went through it in building the essential eCommerce tech stack you’ll read about below.
This post is geared towards putting an end to tech stack confusion and helping early-stage eCommerce businesses get their stores off the ground and start selling their products cost-effectively. (Note: This stack also works for late-stage eCommerce businesses by removing inefficiencies).
At a high level overview, here’s what you need to create a perfect eCommerce business that is set up for success:
> An online store: Shopify/Cratejoy
> A way to analyze how people behave on your store: Google Analytics
> A way to install tags on your website: Google Tag Manager
> A way to test different interfaces to get more conversions: VWO
> A way to capture emails: Sumo
> A way to send emails: MailChimp
> A way to incentivize referrals: ReferralCandy
BONUS: A way to tie it all together: Zapier
Which shopping platform should l use?
Shopify (non-subscription based store)
Cratejoy (subscription based store)
Use Shopify.
They’re hands-down the most advanced platform for eCommerce. On the surface you might find that Shopify has similar capabilities as other players like Magento, WooCommerce, and others. It’s Shopify’s deep integration with thousands of tools that makes it stand out.
Once you’re done with the basic setup for your store, Shopify will take you a LOT further than any other tool. Most importantly, it has the most user-friendly dashboard, making it super-simple to set up a store.
So you want to start an eCommerce store, eh?
Here are the basic features you need and the basic features that Shopify provides:
> Inventory tracking
> The ability to sell physical or digital goods, in categories of your choosing and using shipping rates / methods of your choosing
> A wide range of themes to choose from
> Credit card processing via Shopify Payments (Stripe) or a third party payment gateway
> PayPal integration
> Blogging functionality
> Customer & order tracking: import / export of customer data
> Content management (CMS) functionality
>Good search engine optimization (SEO) options – easy to add relevant keywords to your products and site pages
> Integration with MailChimp
Discount codes / Coupon codes
> Ability to edit CSS and HTML: For custom design work
> Point-of-sale integration: Hardware to ensure you’re using the same technology online/offline
> Abandoned cart functionality (more on this below).
> 24/7 Support: Don’t beat yourself up reading through thousands of blog posts. Hit them up – they’ll fix it.
Read More >> https://blog.ladder.io/ecommerce-business/
At Ladder, we’ve had the pleasure of working with dozens of eCommerce businesses. Every day we hear problems that founders and marketers face in building successful online eCommerce store.
Very often, we find that they get caught up in finding the right tech stack. They get very excited upon finding a shiny new niche analytics tool. They spend hours on the phone with sales reps from every social listening tool available. They burn through countless free trials of software tools they don’t fully understand.
We understand that pain.
We went through it in building the essential eCommerce tech stack you’ll read about below.
This post is geared towards putting an end to tech stack confusion and helping early-stage eCommerce businesses get their stores off the ground and start selling their products cost-effectively. (Note: This stack also works for late-stage eCommerce businesses by removing inefficiencies).
At a high level overview, here’s what you need to create a perfect eCommerce business that is set up for success:
> An online store: Shopify/Cratejoy
> A way to analyze how people behave on your store: Google Analytics
> A way to install tags on your website: Google Tag Manager
> A way to test different interfaces to get more conversions: VWO
> A way to capture emails: Sumo
> A way to send emails: MailChimp
> A way to incentivize referrals: ReferralCandy
BONUS: A way to tie it all together: Zapier
Which shopping platform should l use?
Shopify (non-subscription based store)
Cratejoy (subscription based store)
Use Shopify.
They’re hands-down the most advanced platform for eCommerce. On the surface you might find that Shopify has similar capabilities as other players like Magento, WooCommerce, and others. It’s Shopify’s deep integration with thousands of tools that makes it stand out.
Once you’re done with the basic setup for your store, Shopify will take you a LOT further than any other tool. Most importantly, it has the most user-friendly dashboard, making it super-simple to set up a store.
So you want to start an eCommerce store, eh?
Here are the basic features you need and the basic features that Shopify provides:
> Inventory tracking
> The ability to sell physical or digital goods, in categories of your choosing and using shipping rates / methods of your choosing
> A wide range of themes to choose from
> Credit card processing via Shopify Payments (Stripe) or a third party payment gateway
> PayPal integration
> Blogging functionality
> Customer & order tracking: import / export of customer data
> Content management (CMS) functionality
>Good search engine optimization (SEO) options – easy to add relevant keywords to your products and site pages
> Integration with MailChimp
Discount codes / Coupon codes
> Ability to edit CSS and HTML: For custom design work
> Point-of-sale integration: Hardware to ensure you’re using the same technology online/offline
> Abandoned cart functionality (more on this below).
> 24/7 Support: Don’t beat yourself up reading through thousands of blog posts. Hit them up – they’ll fix it.
Read More >> https://blog.ladder.io/ecommerce-business/
Saturday, August 18, 2018
7 Excellent eCommerce Providers and Applications That Will Get You Selling Online Fast
By: Catherine Hernandez
Worldwide ecommerce sales are growing by the year. In 2014, businesses made $1.4 trillion in eCommerce sales. By 2021, that number could increase by nearly 250% to $4.5 trillion.
It’s clear that businesses literally can’t afford to avoid integrating ecommerce into their business models.
Maybe your business has recently added an ecommerce option, or maybe you’re just looking for a way to scale your current operations. Either way, there are ecommerce providers that will suit your needs.
Read on to learn about seven of the best ecommerce providers out there and discover what they can do for your business.
1. Shopify
If you want to start an online store, Shopify is one of the best options out there. This is one of the best-known providers when it comes to integrating an ecommerce platform into your website.
Their platform is incredibly customizable and helps you create an interface that will maximize sales. Whether you want the shopping carts to be more responsive or the ability to create personalized discount codes, Shopify can easily accommodate your needs.
It’s also a very scalable platform, so your online store can grow as your business grows. You won’t have to worry about completely changing over your system if you experience unexpected growth.
2. Gumroad
What if you just need a very small, simple store? Let’s say you’re a freelance photographer looking to sell your prints or a local mom-and-pop store who needs a way to conduct business online.
In this case, Gumroad can serve your needs. It’s meant to sell just a few products and is geared towards people with minimal programming experience. Just drag and drop a picture of your product into the editor, type up a description and price, and you’re done!
However, if you anticipate your business growing over the years, this is probably not the choice for you. Since it’s designed to be a simple ecommerce platform, you won’t be able to scale it up to fit your changing needs.
3. Squarespace
If you want to easily and quickly build a website as well as an online store, Squarespace might be a good decision. You can build a business website that looks modern and professional with minimal effort. Plus, Squarespace’s ecommerce platform is equally sleek.
This is a good option if there won’t be an IT professional or programmer dedicated full time to the website and store. A business owner with no programming experience could still easily run the store.
The editor is easy to learn and the pricing is reasonable — you can run a basic store for as little as thirty dollars a month. If you get a lot of mobile traffic, the interface also looks great on Apple and Android devices.
4. YoKart
In some cases, you may want a store that can support multiple vendors. Maybe you’re not just selling your own products or services, but those of other businesses, too.
In that case, you would definitely want to consider YoKart. It’s one of the best ecommerce platforms for multivendor stores since this is what it specializes in. While other platforms offer a multivendor option, this is YoKart’s main focus.
This is also a good option for people who aren’t interested in doing a lot of programming or code work. Similar to Squarespace, it offers various design options for those who aren’t interested in the smaller tasks associated with establishing an ecommerce store. Just choose a theme template that fits your branding and get started.
If you do prefer a more customizable experience, though, that option is still available. You’ll need a developer for that.
5. Magento
Magento has been around for a decade this year and it continues to stay relevant in the world of ecommerce platforms. This is a particularly great platform if your business needs to handle a lot of traffic and individual customers. Global organizations like Burger King and Liverpool F.C. use Magento for their ecommerce needs.
One thing to note — even though Magento is a powerful system, it might not be the best choice for you if your business doesn’t have an employee who is familiar with coding. In that case, you might want to outsource to a programmer or support service. (Read more here about when you should do that.)
If you do have programmers on board, though, this could be a great option. It’s open-source, so there are countless third-party extensions and modifications available. Plus, you can handle a lot of your data analysis within the platform itself.
6. WooCommerce
If your website is already hosted using WordPress, this is a no-brainer. WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin, so integrating it into your existing website should be seamless.
You’d be one of the millions of pages already using this plugin — it’s been downloaded more than 49 million times!
It’s a good choice for both established businesses and those who are just getting off the ground. Plus, if you’re already very familiar with coding for WordPress, this is a perfect choice. Like WordPress itself, it’s open-source. This opens the door for lots of free extensions created by third-party developers, in addition to the free and paid options offered by WooCommerce.
Read More >> http://www.itbriefcase.net/7-excellent-ecommerce-providers-and-applications
Worldwide ecommerce sales are growing by the year. In 2014, businesses made $1.4 trillion in eCommerce sales. By 2021, that number could increase by nearly 250% to $4.5 trillion.
It’s clear that businesses literally can’t afford to avoid integrating ecommerce into their business models.
Maybe your business has recently added an ecommerce option, or maybe you’re just looking for a way to scale your current operations. Either way, there are ecommerce providers that will suit your needs.
Read on to learn about seven of the best ecommerce providers out there and discover what they can do for your business.
1. Shopify
If you want to start an online store, Shopify is one of the best options out there. This is one of the best-known providers when it comes to integrating an ecommerce platform into your website.
Their platform is incredibly customizable and helps you create an interface that will maximize sales. Whether you want the shopping carts to be more responsive or the ability to create personalized discount codes, Shopify can easily accommodate your needs.
It’s also a very scalable platform, so your online store can grow as your business grows. You won’t have to worry about completely changing over your system if you experience unexpected growth.
2. Gumroad
What if you just need a very small, simple store? Let’s say you’re a freelance photographer looking to sell your prints or a local mom-and-pop store who needs a way to conduct business online.
In this case, Gumroad can serve your needs. It’s meant to sell just a few products and is geared towards people with minimal programming experience. Just drag and drop a picture of your product into the editor, type up a description and price, and you’re done!
However, if you anticipate your business growing over the years, this is probably not the choice for you. Since it’s designed to be a simple ecommerce platform, you won’t be able to scale it up to fit your changing needs.
3. Squarespace
If you want to easily and quickly build a website as well as an online store, Squarespace might be a good decision. You can build a business website that looks modern and professional with minimal effort. Plus, Squarespace’s ecommerce platform is equally sleek.
This is a good option if there won’t be an IT professional or programmer dedicated full time to the website and store. A business owner with no programming experience could still easily run the store.
The editor is easy to learn and the pricing is reasonable — you can run a basic store for as little as thirty dollars a month. If you get a lot of mobile traffic, the interface also looks great on Apple and Android devices.
4. YoKart
In some cases, you may want a store that can support multiple vendors. Maybe you’re not just selling your own products or services, but those of other businesses, too.
In that case, you would definitely want to consider YoKart. It’s one of the best ecommerce platforms for multivendor stores since this is what it specializes in. While other platforms offer a multivendor option, this is YoKart’s main focus.
This is also a good option for people who aren’t interested in doing a lot of programming or code work. Similar to Squarespace, it offers various design options for those who aren’t interested in the smaller tasks associated with establishing an ecommerce store. Just choose a theme template that fits your branding and get started.
If you do prefer a more customizable experience, though, that option is still available. You’ll need a developer for that.
5. Magento
Magento has been around for a decade this year and it continues to stay relevant in the world of ecommerce platforms. This is a particularly great platform if your business needs to handle a lot of traffic and individual customers. Global organizations like Burger King and Liverpool F.C. use Magento for their ecommerce needs.
One thing to note — even though Magento is a powerful system, it might not be the best choice for you if your business doesn’t have an employee who is familiar with coding. In that case, you might want to outsource to a programmer or support service. (Read more here about when you should do that.)
If you do have programmers on board, though, this could be a great option. It’s open-source, so there are countless third-party extensions and modifications available. Plus, you can handle a lot of your data analysis within the platform itself.
6. WooCommerce
If your website is already hosted using WordPress, this is a no-brainer. WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin, so integrating it into your existing website should be seamless.
You’d be one of the millions of pages already using this plugin — it’s been downloaded more than 49 million times!
It’s a good choice for both established businesses and those who are just getting off the ground. Plus, if you’re already very familiar with coding for WordPress, this is a perfect choice. Like WordPress itself, it’s open-source. This opens the door for lots of free extensions created by third-party developers, in addition to the free and paid options offered by WooCommerce.
Read More >> http://www.itbriefcase.net/7-excellent-ecommerce-providers-and-applications
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
5 Ways To Improve Your Ecommerce Store’s Security
By: Colliers News
14th August 2018
With endless advancements in technology, it’s more important than ever to increase your security, keeping both you and your customers safe from online harm.
As a business, you can’t compromise on top-quality security. Keeping your website secure for your customers can be the difference between a steady stream of daily site visits and a user leaving your page at the drop of a hat. We’ve all been there. You click on a link that looks reputable on the surface, only to find that when you do get there, you get a warning from Google or you’re overloaded with pop-ups. Not ideal as a first impression!
It’s the responsibility of the business and its website to provide a safe and secure environment for a potential customer. Not only does a website give you access to a range of products and services, it’s also the shop front for your business; the first thing a customer will see and experience before they make a purchase. How can you ensure that your window of opportunity stays open, and how can you create that secure business environment online? SEO Yorkshire, digital experts in Rotherham ecommerce website design, explain the different ways you can improve your website’s security.
1. HTTPS: Get an SSL Certificate!
Choosing the right certification and switching your site from HTTP to HTTPS enables a secure connection and transaction. As your ecommerce site will deal with online transactions daily, a user’s confidential information is of utmost importance. Securing this information in the right way will prevent unauthorised users from accessing it and from using it without permission. Sticking with HTTP could have a negative impact on your site, especially since Google and other search engines favour secure sites over insecure ones when ranking sites online. However, it’s worth noting that you’ll have to continue to update your certification when it expires.
2. Choose a secure CMS.
A reliable business needs the right content management system to run their ecommerce site efficiently without any hiccups. With so many to choose from, each claiming that they are the go-to system for your business, it can be very difficult to place all your trust in a particular platform. If we’re narrowing it down a little, Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce are some top secured platforms/plugins. They can not only give you a safe and secure platform to run your ecommerce website from but they can make the task of organising your products and payments so much easier, giving you the time to focus more on what matters; running your business!
3. Only store necessary information on site.
The less information you have about an individual, the better. If you collect and store the credit card details of a customer, you’re immediately giving potential hackers more information to get their teeth into if the opportunity did arise. A single slip where information is accessible for an unauthorised user could be the end of your business and the faith of your customers. Avoid any nasty surprises by eliminating the need to store card numbers and by introducing safer ways to pay. PayPal and Apple Pay for example hold a customer’s card details securely, so no sensitive information has to be held on your website.
4. Take extra precautions by layering your security.
It’s not just a CMS and HTTPS that completes your ecommerce site security. Taking other measures to ensure you cover all bases is essential if you want to maintain your credibility and keep the trust of your loyal customers. Begin with a firewall; it creates a barrier, which monitors your networks and ensures any traffic that reaches your site is trusted. Additionally, boosting your Content Delivery Network (a group of servers working to deliver speedy content on the web) can help improve a site’s loading time, as well as the security of your pages. It’s also worth researching and staying up to date with what a potential attack can look like, so you can put necessary precautions in place.
5. Back up your site’s information.
It’s strange isn’t it? We all know how important it is to back up our data, but it’s a common problem to forget to do it regularly. It’s up to you to make sure your information is backed up, either manually or through an automated back up service. It’s recommended to do an automated back up to eliminate human error and to ensure you have the time to concentrate on other important tasks. Platforms such as Shopify can carry out this automated backup through a plugin, helping to keep all of your data safe and securely stored.
And finally, don’t forget to encourage customers to help themselves.
As an extra precaution to help customers keep their information safe, there are ways you can encourage best practice when setting up their own personal customer accounts. Despite you being responsible for the safety and security of all personal information on your site, there’s still a possibility of misuse on an individual customer’s account. Encouraging the use of strong passwords with a variety of characters or allowing a customer to sign in through an external site, such as Google or Twitter, makes it easier and safer for both parties. These external sites have high website security themselves and saves a customer creating multiple accounts.
Monday, August 13, 2018
WooCommerce or Shopify Which Ecommerce Platform to Choose?
By: Paul Simmon
Coke vs. Pepsi, KFC vs. McDonald, DC vs. Marvel, Adidas vs. Nike, there are some fierce rivalries in almost every field of business. When it comes to shopping carts, the biggest rivalry is between WooCommerce and Shopify; two of the most popular and powerful e-commerce platforms, each offering fanatical features and a unique approach to usability which makes it almost impossible to decide which platform is the best.
As a beginner in the industry, choosing between WooCommerce and Shopify may appear to be a daunting task. To be honest, the solution is entirely subjective and depends upon the nature of your business which is why it is essential to take a look at strengths and weaknesses of both solutions before getting along with any of it.
In this article, we are going to analyze the strengths and weaknesses as well as the competitive advantages of two outstanding e-commerce platforms to give you a better picture so that you can make your decision more wisely.
WooCommerce Vs Shopify Overview
WooCommerce is an open source low priced and easy to use solution for building a professional and online Store in just a few clicks. It is downloadable for free and is ideal for small business as there is no coding involved. Flexible, easy to use, easy to maintain, support various payment gateways and thanks to extensions like WooCommerce product add-ons you can add a variety of product options.
Shopify, on the other hand, is the hosted solution. Like WooCommerce Shopify is also designed in a way that no coding is required to establish the store; however, a little knowledge of HTML and CSS can undoubtedly help you accentuate your store from thousands of other stores using Shopify. The best thing about Shopify is that you don’t have to face issues like PCI compliance or finding a hosting server.
User Friendliness
Owing to a subscription-based service, Shopify user has a slight edge over WooCommerce as it doesn’t require you to get a hosting and install software. Whereas, the WooCommerce user has to follow a series of steps that can be a bit frustrating, i.e. find a reliable e-commerce hosting, install WordPress on it and then install WooCommerce plugin.
Designs and Themes
The design of WooCommerce depends on the WordPress theme you install. There are dozens of free as well as premium WordPress themes available at the marketplace that provides a seamless experience along with a great looking design.
Shopify has its own official Shopify theme store where more than 100 beautiful themes are available. 9 of them are free whereas the rest of them range from 140-180$.
Loading Speed
Loading speed plays an important role in the success of a website. Shopify has dedicated servers that offer its webmaster’s rapid loading pages. Whereas; the speed of a WooCommerce store entirely depends upon the web hosting service you choose.
Support
Shopify has deployed a dedicated support team for its customers and you can contact them 24/7.WooCommerce users mostly rely on the community, however, WooCommerce community is very active and helping.
Pricing
WooCommerce is a low budget solution and cost-effective as a setup cost for the first month is approximately 24$ which makes it an excellent choice for startups and small businesses.
Shopify is an expensive solution and the setup for the first month is 42$ as is suitable for enterprise-level solutions.
Conclusion
It’s a tough call obviously like I said it depends upon the nature and scope of your business. If you are a beginner, I would suggest you to go for WooCommerce. If your startup has a bigger scope then I would recommend you to consider Shopify.
Source >> https://wpdoctor.press/woocommerce-shopify-ecommerce/
Coke vs. Pepsi, KFC vs. McDonald, DC vs. Marvel, Adidas vs. Nike, there are some fierce rivalries in almost every field of business. When it comes to shopping carts, the biggest rivalry is between WooCommerce and Shopify; two of the most popular and powerful e-commerce platforms, each offering fanatical features and a unique approach to usability which makes it almost impossible to decide which platform is the best.
As a beginner in the industry, choosing between WooCommerce and Shopify may appear to be a daunting task. To be honest, the solution is entirely subjective and depends upon the nature of your business which is why it is essential to take a look at strengths and weaknesses of both solutions before getting along with any of it.
In this article, we are going to analyze the strengths and weaknesses as well as the competitive advantages of two outstanding e-commerce platforms to give you a better picture so that you can make your decision more wisely.
WooCommerce Vs Shopify Overview
WooCommerce is an open source low priced and easy to use solution for building a professional and online Store in just a few clicks. It is downloadable for free and is ideal for small business as there is no coding involved. Flexible, easy to use, easy to maintain, support various payment gateways and thanks to extensions like WooCommerce product add-ons you can add a variety of product options.
Shopify, on the other hand, is the hosted solution. Like WooCommerce Shopify is also designed in a way that no coding is required to establish the store; however, a little knowledge of HTML and CSS can undoubtedly help you accentuate your store from thousands of other stores using Shopify. The best thing about Shopify is that you don’t have to face issues like PCI compliance or finding a hosting server.
User Friendliness
Owing to a subscription-based service, Shopify user has a slight edge over WooCommerce as it doesn’t require you to get a hosting and install software. Whereas, the WooCommerce user has to follow a series of steps that can be a bit frustrating, i.e. find a reliable e-commerce hosting, install WordPress on it and then install WooCommerce plugin.
Designs and Themes
The design of WooCommerce depends on the WordPress theme you install. There are dozens of free as well as premium WordPress themes available at the marketplace that provides a seamless experience along with a great looking design.
Shopify has its own official Shopify theme store where more than 100 beautiful themes are available. 9 of them are free whereas the rest of them range from 140-180$.
Loading Speed
Loading speed plays an important role in the success of a website. Shopify has dedicated servers that offer its webmaster’s rapid loading pages. Whereas; the speed of a WooCommerce store entirely depends upon the web hosting service you choose.
Support
Shopify has deployed a dedicated support team for its customers and you can contact them 24/7.WooCommerce users mostly rely on the community, however, WooCommerce community is very active and helping.
Pricing
WooCommerce is a low budget solution and cost-effective as a setup cost for the first month is approximately 24$ which makes it an excellent choice for startups and small businesses.
Shopify is an expensive solution and the setup for the first month is 42$ as is suitable for enterprise-level solutions.
Conclusion
It’s a tough call obviously like I said it depends upon the nature and scope of your business. If you are a beginner, I would suggest you to go for WooCommerce. If your startup has a bigger scope then I would recommend you to consider Shopify.
Source >> https://wpdoctor.press/woocommerce-shopify-ecommerce/
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Ecommerce Marketing Essentials: 17 Actionable Tactics to Drive More Sales
By: Dan Wang
Every online store wants to increase traffic and conversions. But even after you’ve put together a basic strategy it can still be challenging to decide on which marketing tactics you should try.
That’s why we put together an overview of effective marketing tactics along with ideas to help you implement each approach. The ideas themselves run the gamut from straightforward acquisition to generating more repeat purchases from the customer base you already have.
Try to implement one of these ideas every day for the next few weeks. On the last day of your sprint, take stock and figure out which tactics worked best to drive new sales.
What is ecommerce marketing?
Ecommerce marketing is the practice of using promotional tactics to drive traffic to your online store, converting that traffic into paying customers, and retaining those customers post-purchase.
A holistic ecommerce marketing strategy is made up of marketing tactics both on and off your website. A sound marketing strategy can help you build brand awareness, drive customer loyalty, and ultimately increase online sales.
You can use ecommerce marketing to promote your online store as a whole or to drive more sales for specific products. Below is an overview of a few practical ideas to try.
17 ecommerce marketing ideas to increase online sales
1. Upsell your products
Most of us have heard some variation of the famous, “Would you like to supersize your order?” It’s an example of upselling, or the approach of selling a slightly more premium product than the one the customer was originally considering.
For many businesses, upselling can be more effective than acquiring a net new customer. Sometimes your customers don’t know that a premium product is available, or they may simply need more evidence to understand how an upgrade (or package) is a better fit for their needs.
For example, is one of your product models made of slightly better leather? Or does one carry a special component that’s handmade? Make sure to emphasize the difference and ask, in the right places, if the customer might want to upgrade.
There are two main considerations when using upselling to increase sales:
>> Make sure your upsells are related to the original product
>> Be sensitive to the anticipated price range of your customers
Your product has to fit the customer’s original needs, and they may not be enthusiastic about a higher price point once they have an anchor price in mind. An anchor price is often the first number a customer sees, and it’s the number against which they compare other price points. The new product must be a discernibly better fit than the original for it to be worth the additional cost.
Anyone who’s ever purchased a computer is familiar with the screen below. Once you’ve selected a particular model, companies will usually highlight upgrades for performance (upselling) or additional accessories (cross-selling) for you to consider.
2. Integrate Instagram
With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram is one of the fastest growing social apps around, connecting consumers, influencers, and brands.
If you take compelling photos, use hashtags strategically, and post at the right times then you’re well on your way to building a large Instagram following of people who are interested in your products. The key to mastering your organic Instagram presence is engagement with your followers.
What are some ways to engage with your audience on Instagram? You may try running contests or going behind the scenes to showcase your product development process. You can also pay to play on Instagram. For ecommerce marketing, creating shoppable Instagram posts gives your followers a direct path to purchase, which is key for increasing your online sales.
3. Reduce abandoned carts
Harsh truth: You’re losing money every time a visitor abandons their cart without purchasing.
This phenomenon is well-studied. Visitors add items to their carts, but abandon their carts during the checkout process. According to the Baymard Institute, 69.23% of shopping carts are abandoned.
Read More >> https://www.shopify.com/blog/14512237-13-actionable-marketing-tactics-to-drive-sales-and-apps-to-execute-each-of-them
Every online store wants to increase traffic and conversions. But even after you’ve put together a basic strategy it can still be challenging to decide on which marketing tactics you should try.
That’s why we put together an overview of effective marketing tactics along with ideas to help you implement each approach. The ideas themselves run the gamut from straightforward acquisition to generating more repeat purchases from the customer base you already have.
Try to implement one of these ideas every day for the next few weeks. On the last day of your sprint, take stock and figure out which tactics worked best to drive new sales.
What is ecommerce marketing?
Ecommerce marketing is the practice of using promotional tactics to drive traffic to your online store, converting that traffic into paying customers, and retaining those customers post-purchase.
A holistic ecommerce marketing strategy is made up of marketing tactics both on and off your website. A sound marketing strategy can help you build brand awareness, drive customer loyalty, and ultimately increase online sales.
You can use ecommerce marketing to promote your online store as a whole or to drive more sales for specific products. Below is an overview of a few practical ideas to try.
17 ecommerce marketing ideas to increase online sales
1. Upsell your products
Most of us have heard some variation of the famous, “Would you like to supersize your order?” It’s an example of upselling, or the approach of selling a slightly more premium product than the one the customer was originally considering.
For many businesses, upselling can be more effective than acquiring a net new customer. Sometimes your customers don’t know that a premium product is available, or they may simply need more evidence to understand how an upgrade (or package) is a better fit for their needs.
For example, is one of your product models made of slightly better leather? Or does one carry a special component that’s handmade? Make sure to emphasize the difference and ask, in the right places, if the customer might want to upgrade.
There are two main considerations when using upselling to increase sales:
>> Make sure your upsells are related to the original product
>> Be sensitive to the anticipated price range of your customers
Your product has to fit the customer’s original needs, and they may not be enthusiastic about a higher price point once they have an anchor price in mind. An anchor price is often the first number a customer sees, and it’s the number against which they compare other price points. The new product must be a discernibly better fit than the original for it to be worth the additional cost.
Anyone who’s ever purchased a computer is familiar with the screen below. Once you’ve selected a particular model, companies will usually highlight upgrades for performance (upselling) or additional accessories (cross-selling) for you to consider.
2. Integrate Instagram
With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram is one of the fastest growing social apps around, connecting consumers, influencers, and brands.
If you take compelling photos, use hashtags strategically, and post at the right times then you’re well on your way to building a large Instagram following of people who are interested in your products. The key to mastering your organic Instagram presence is engagement with your followers.
What are some ways to engage with your audience on Instagram? You may try running contests or going behind the scenes to showcase your product development process. You can also pay to play on Instagram. For ecommerce marketing, creating shoppable Instagram posts gives your followers a direct path to purchase, which is key for increasing your online sales.
3. Reduce abandoned carts
Harsh truth: You’re losing money every time a visitor abandons their cart without purchasing.
This phenomenon is well-studied. Visitors add items to their carts, but abandon their carts during the checkout process. According to the Baymard Institute, 69.23% of shopping carts are abandoned.
Read More >> https://www.shopify.com/blog/14512237-13-actionable-marketing-tactics-to-drive-sales-and-apps-to-execute-each-of-them
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