Saturday, August 11, 2018

Top 5 e-commerce development platform one can choose from in 2018

By: Brianna Castro

You should always be aware of what your business needs are. You need to align your business needs with your marketing plan. This is where eCommerce comes into the picture. You can make continual progress without the need to invest in ongoing marketing activities.

When it comes to running a business, there are no guarantees. Every business owner has his or her own idea of how to run their business. There is no guide to tell anyone what needs to be done and what needs to be avoided.

However, the one thing that is a surety is the development of an eCommerce platform. While everyone may have a divided opinion regarding their business strategies, everyone agrees on eCommerce being part of their strategy.

This craze for eCommerce development has led a number of businesses looking for the best eCommerce development platform. There are many players in this market; however, there are a few that are better than the rest. Here are the best eCommerce development platforms that you can sign up for in 2018.

Magento

The system of Magento has an excellent administrative area that enables you to modify everything as per your requirement. You can add product features, content for different age groups and even categories specific to demography. This robust Ecommerce website Development system is capable of handling all of this with just the click of a button. Magento also helps you customize prices on your website as per your customer. For example, retailers would not get to see what price is being offered to wholesalers and vice versa. You can also add discounts based on the loyalty of each customer towards your product. With Magento, the scope for customization is endless. The last thing you would need to worry about is your website when you have Magento creating it for you.

The design of Magento is impressive and responsive. It does not provide a standard template as this does not add much to your brand value. Many ecommerce solutions in the market have now adapted to the changes needed. With Magento, you do not have to worry as it is constantly evolving. Magento is definitely the best solution to help your business grow in the right direction.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is another leading name when it comes to an ecommerce development company. The best part about WooCommerce is it works perfectly well with WordPress and this is the perfect solution for all websites. Since WordPress is preferred by most website developers, integrating with WooCommerce is not a problem at all. WooCommerce is available as a free plug-in for all WordPress users. It comes with an array of features. When you get WooCommerce, you can get online payment, page customization, shopping cart and many more things on your website.

WooCommerce is open source and this gives you the maximum customization capability. It is easy to maintain. The admin panel of WooCommerce is said to be the best in the industry. You will get support for all payment gateways. You can even get more out of WooCommerce functionalities with other add-ons provided from time to time.

OpenCart

Most business owners want their website to be lightweight and low on maintenance. However, when you are getting an eCommerce website, there are a number of add-ons that come in. These make the website heavy to handle. This is where OpenCart comes into the picture. OpenCart is an ecommerce app builder that is extremely lightweight. Since OpenCart is open source, you can customize it as per your requirements. It is supposedly the best platform for all start-ups. There are no hiccups when you use OpenCart for development and the business can function smoothly. With the admin panel of OpenCart, you can perform a number of functions. OpenCart supports reports, payments and even shipping for your products. The platform is mobile responsive and there are many modules to choose from. You can even include 3rd party integrations if you need it.

Shopify

Shopify is a well known name in the eCommerce solution business. Based in Canada, it is one of the oldest eCommerce developers. It has been around for a while and is currently one of the best platform developers. The best part about Shopify is it has kept on evolving and has stood the test of time. However, the only drawback to Shopify is it is not open source. This means that a number of functionalities are limited. However, that does not stop it from offering a number of plug-ins, themes as well as extensions. Shopify also offers abandoned cart recovery support. All eCommerce websites that are created using Shopify are mobile friendly.

X-Cart

Another excellent eCommerce platform developer is X-Cart. X-Cart is open source as well as free to use. It is said to be one of the fastest eCommerce platforms that are available today. The best part about X-Cart is you can upgrade to a premium plan that will offer optimum features as well as support. With X-Cart, you can install all the packages that you need. You will receive support for all the major payment gateways. X-Cart is also PCI compliant.

Conclusion

Getting ahead of the competition is not that easy. People today are looking for the best solution. Gone are the days when someone walked to a store and purchased what they needed. In the 21st century, everything needs to happen at the click of a button. You can give your customers that power with an eCommerce platform. Choose your platform developer wisely and you will reap the benefits of a growing business.

Source >> https://yourstory.com/mystory/4b71f1b42a-top-5-e-commerce-devel

Saturday, August 4, 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.

Read More >> https://www.shopify.com/blog/14512237-13-actionable-marketing-tactics-to-drive-sales-and-apps-to-execute-each-of-them

Thursday, July 26, 2018

20 Best Shopify Themes With Beautiful eCommerce Designs

By: Brenda Barron

When it comes to eCommerce, the design of your site plays a crucial role. It can make or break your website—leading to sales either falling flat or converting profitably.

Even though you are probably eager to get your new site up and running as quickly as possible, it’s important to first make sure you pick the right eCommerce platform and best site theme to work with.

Shopify is a leading eCommerce website solution and we have a number of beautiful, feature-rich themes to work with. Whether you need a theme for your own online store, or to use for your next client website project, we have you covered.

Shopify eCommerce Theme Features

Aside from blending in with your brand, your online store should have a few important features that will make your website stand out and delight your visitors. When shopping for a Shopify eCommerce theme make sure they have the following features:

>> modern, clean and easily customizable
>> cross-browser compatibility, responsive design, and SEO-friendly
>> customer support, quality coding, and great reviews
>> built-in custom settings panel which will allow you to modify the template to your own liking

You can find all of these features and more in our eCommerce Shopify themes on Envato Market and Elements. Here’s a quick look at our best-selling Shopify themes from the last year:

With a quality Shopify theme in hand, you’re starting your online store with a great eCommerce design solution. All you need is to set it up, add your branding, custom product information, and start optimizing for online sales.

Best Shopify Themes

In this post, we’ve updated our list of the 20+ best Shopify themes on Envato Market and Elements from the last year, all of which are sure to make your website stand out and help you drive eCommerce sales.

1. Cosmify

Cosmify is a responsive Shopify theme ideal for fashion, cosmetic, and fragrance stores. It’s crisp, it’s clean, it’s glamorous.

Its impressive list of features includes the powerful layered navigation sidebar; an off-canvas and therefore unobtrusive way to filter your search criteria. Check out the product page for more!

2. Fastor

Under the moniker of Fastor 2.0 this multipurpose theme has seen plenty of updates since the original version. It’s now faster, with less complexity, and has seen support for Shopify features (like Shopify Sections) added too. Choose from a multitude of skins, including five recently added examples, such as the sports demo seen below. The team behind Fastor have also released improved documentation with video walkthroughs and tutorials.

Read More >> https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/20-best-shopify-themes-with-beautiful-ecommerce-designs--cms-26547

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

28 Shopify Technology Themes For Hi-Tech Online Stores 2018

By: rokr

To start selling electronics and gadgets online, use any of our best Shopify technology themes picks. With these, you will have a professional looking online store up and running in no time at all. While there are many solutions available to get yourself in the online retail world, Shopify is one of those which make it all happen in a breeze. Very little is on you, more or less, everything is ready and set for you to take it to your advantage.

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced eCommerce entrepreneur, you can both see much success with our list of top electronics Shopify themes. The former can start an online project quickly and very efficiently. While the latter, he or she can update the existing web store with something unique. Or in case you are a serial entrepreneur, you can start hammering out website after website and have many making you money at the same time.

Each of the theme listed here gives you the opportunity to construct a modern and advanced way of showcasing your tech products on the internet. Fully functional and following all the web standards and rules, our Shopify technology themes will help you turn visitors into customers (yes, even the pickiest ones).
Select the theme you fancy, check the live preview and start selling online.

E-come

E-come is a Shopify technology theme perfect for selling all types of electronic devices. But to be frank, E-come is capable of managing and pushing any kind of product due to its multi-purposefulness. It is a clean, minimal and modern tool with five front page designs and more dropping in the near future. On top of that, E-come also has other internal pages and a ton of great features and assets for you to take to your advantage.

With its mobile-first web design, E-come will beautifully display all your items on smartphones for shoppers on the go. Other fantastic features are live smart search, product quick view, horizontal and vertical mega menu and the cool product pin mapper. You can also start writing a blog and get on a more personal level with all your customers. Get your online store up and running quickly with E-come.

Read More >> https://colorlib.com/wp/shopify-technology-themes/

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Tips to Drive Success with Your Ecommerce Store

By: Tanuj Rastogi

Opportunities are being created every second with a rise in consumer demands and the market. People are constantly attracted to newer ideas and innovations. Moreover, technology has enabled easy trade via the world wide web. This has only accelerated the emergence of start-ups and ecommerce platforms.

While more and more businesses are building an ecommerce presence, planning an ecommerce start-up is not a cakewalk. It requires taking important decisions which may give rise to several risks. To reduce risks and hassles down the road and distinguish your ecommerce start-up from others, you must keep in mind the following aspects.

1. Marketing

Having an attractive assortment of products is one thing and getting people to buy it is another. For people to buy a product or service, they must be informed of its availability. Awareness and appeal is created through smart marketing strategies, both online and offline. Some of the common marketing strategies are:• Sending newsletters and messages

> Creating pop-ups with specials and offers
> Creating online ad campaigns
> Automated marketing to send customised emails or push to customers who visit the website
> Creating & managing social media
> Collaborating with complementary websites

2. Attractive Website

Assuming that a customer has successfully landed on your website, what next? For customers to explore the website, search for products, and actually buy them, the website must be easy-to-use and visually attractive.

There are different platforms out there that allow you to create intriguing and functional eCommerce websites. It is advised to hire professionals that specialise in Shopify, BigCommerce or magento development and more depending on the platform you wish to build your website on. Remember, be it a Magento website or a Shopify e-store, everything from the website theme to content used across web pages, should be well-designed and organised to deliver a user-friendly experience.

3. Analytics

> Analysing visits to the website is important. Newer technologies enable individual tracking of all customers. There are specialised analytics tools that provide insights into popular products, target audience, traffic sources and more. When combined with automated marketing, analytics can help boost customer visits. Moreover, analysis of customer testimonials, reviews, and emails is also important as it provides a third-party view of the workings of the website and products, which further suggests required modifications for better function.

Read More >> https://articles.abilogic.com/293911/tips-drive-success-your-ecommerce.html

Monday, July 23, 2018

Aurora Cannabis Selects Shopify to Power Global ECommerce Platform

By: Ryan Allway

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (“Aurora” or the “Company”) (TSX: ACB) (OTCQB: ACBFF) (Frankfurt: 21P; WKN: A1C4WM) announced today that it has reached an agreement with Shopify Inc. (“Shopify”), one of the world’s leading multi-channel, online commerce companies, to leverage the Shopify platform as Aurora’s ecommerce engine for medical and recreational cannabis distribution globally.

Working closely with Aurora Cannabis’ industry-leading software engineering team, Shopify will assist in transitioning Aurora’s current ecommerce site to a new, Shopify-developed platform, improving the customer experience for Aurora’s current medical and future adult consumer use customers. One of the key benefits of the Shopify platform is its rapid and seamless scalability as Aurora executes on its domestic and international expansion strategy.

“Selecting Shopify allows Aurora to bring a world-class ecommerce solution to our patients and future adult consumer use customers,” said Darryl Vleeming, CIO of Aurora Cannabis Inc. “Shopify’s unique, industry leading platform provides a safe, secure and flexible ecommerce site that we can build on as we execute our global growth initiatives and enter new markets.”

Loren Padelford, VP at Shopify, added: “While both companies originate in Canada, this is a true global success story, combining our industry-leading technology, helping to power the international expansion of one of the global leaders in the exciting and rapidly growing cannabis industry. The Shopify platform will allow Aurora to provide a tailored customer experience that embraces and adapts to the unique demands of both consumers and regulators, adapted to the specific needs of the various jurisdictions in which Aurora operates.”

About Aurora

Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, with funded capacity in excess of 430,000 kg per year and sales and operations in 14 countries across five continents, Aurora is one of the world’s largest and leading cannabis companies. Aurora is vertically integrated and horizontally diversified across every key segment of the value chain, from facility engineering and design to cannabis breeding and genetics research, cannabis and hemp production, derivatives, high value-add product development, home cultivation, wholesale and retail distribution. Aurora, from day one of its existence, has been steadfast in its respect for the cannabis community, the culture and its pioneers, as well as has been a strong supporter of and advocate for access to cannabis.

Highly differentiated from its peers, Aurora has established a uniquely advanced, consistent and efficient production strategy, based on purpose-built facilities that integrate leading-edge technologies across all processes. Intended to be replicable and scalable globally, these production facilities are designed to produce cannabis of significant scale, with high quality, industry-leading yields, and ultra-low per gram production costs. Each of Aurora’s facilities is built to meet European Union (EU) GMP standards, and both its first production facility and its wholly owned European medical cannabis distributor Pedanios have achieved this level of certification.

In addition to the Company’s rapid organic growth and strong execution on strategic M&A, which to date includes nine companies acquired – CanvasRX, Peloton Pharmaceutical, Pedanios, H2 Biopharma, Urban Cultivator, BC Northern Lights, Larssen, CanniMed Therapeutics, and Anandia Labs – Aurora is distinguished by its reputation as a partner of choice and employer of choice in the global cannabis sector, having invested in and established strategic partnerships with a range of leading innovators, including: The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TSX: TGOD), Radient Technologies Inc. (TSXV: RTI), Hempco Food and Fiber Inc. (TSXV: HEMP), Cann Group Ltd. (ASX: CAN), Micron Waste Technologies Inc. (CSE: MWM), Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE: CHOO), Namaste Technologies Inc. (TSXV: N), Evio Beauty Group (private), and Alcanna Inc. (TSX: CLIQ).

Read More >> http://www.cannabisfn.com/aurora-cannabis-selects-shopify-power-global-ecommerce-platform/

Sunday, July 22, 2018

How to Make Shipping Part of Your Ecommerce Marketing Strategy

By: Kristina Lopienski

A company’s ecommerce website should emphasize the factors that make prospective customers want to buy. In general, both convenience and cost savings tend to resonate with consumers, especially those who shop online. Just as you’d write about the features and benefits that appeal to your target audience in your product descriptions, you should also promote any shipping offers that cater to people who want the fastest and/or cheapest deliveries.

Why should you promote the shipping options you offer on your ecommerce store?

> To make website visitors aware that they can save money
> To give shoppers confidence that there won’t be any surprises at checkout
> To turn more browsers into buyers and/or increase the amount of money customers spend

The most popular shipping-related promotion is to offer free shipping, which can be a huge differentiator over your competitors. In fact, 60% of ecommerce companies cite “free shipping with conditions” as their most successful marketing tool, finding that many customers would rather get free shipping (e.g., a $6.99 value) over a discount that saves them $10 on their purchase.

But if your customers don’t associate your store with free shipping or know you’re offering it, it’s possible only a select few will accidentally qualify for it. The more people that realize you offer free shipping, the more you can get to the checkout process. Learn what you can do to capture more sales by incorporating your shipping offering into your marketing efforts.

How to promote free shipping for your online store

Build a customer email list and send free shipping offers

If you have your own ecommerce website, rather than just selling on a third-party marketplace, you can build an email marketing list and communicate directly with your customers. To grow a list of shopper email addresses, try offering different promotions directly to their inbox in exchange for their email address. As many as 85% of people who have subscribed to an email list did so to receive a discount.

Another study found that 57% of shoppers would not have made a first-time purchase from a new retailer without a coupon, and 91% of coupon redeemers say they will revisit an ecommerce website after being offered a coupon. Additionally, if you send abandoned cart emails, you can mention any special shipping offers to help convince visitors to place an order.

Add a banner on your ecommerce website to promote free shipping

Having a banner at the top of every page on your ecommerce website is a great way to display your free shipping offering. This helps call attention to all visitors — not just existing customers — so they are aware of it well in advance of getting to the checkout page.

The message on the banner should be as clear as possible without needing visitors to click the banner to get the full story. Be clear about any restrictions, thresholds, or other requirements. A small asterisk might not be enough (or even be seen). For example, if your free shipping offer only applies to people in the continental US or only those who spend a minimum amount of money, make sure that is referenced in the banner to avoid disappointment or abandoned carts.

Read More >> https://www.shipbob.com/blog/shipping-ecommerce-marketing-strategy/#.W1VmgNIzat8