Julie Ask says, “The move shouldn’t surprise anyone.  Remember Rakuten and Viber? Retailers need to expand their reach to acquire more customers. The more contextual the better. The investment is small relative to Snapchat’s valuation and Alibaba’s worth. I would view it more as an option to make a future, larger play than a clear indication of a new strategy. Two things matter the most in mobile: 1) Audience. Snapchat offers a new audience to Alibaba – one in the US and one that is described as being younger. Consumers spend more time in communication and social... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “The retail industry is not giving up on giving states the ability to tax e-commerce sales. This week, a bipartisan group of senators reintroduced the Marketplace Fairness Act. Budget Committee Chairman Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) are leading the Senate group pushing for a bill that would give states the authority to collect sales tax on online sales placed within their states. Currently, states are limited to collecting sales tax from those entities that have a so-called in-state nexus — physical locations such as stores, warehouse... [...]

Lily Varon says, “eBusiness leaders are under tremendous pressure to deliver in the face of aggressive business growth plans, competitive threats and digitally-empowered consumer demands. When you add evolving sales and services channels and ever-more global markets on the road map to the mix, even eBusiness leaders with hefty budgets and a do-it-yourself attitude acknowledge they could use a little help. Some retailers, CPGs and branded manufacturers are outsourcing all or parts of their eCommerce operations to full-service eCommerce solution providers. However, the days of 10-year contracts... [...]

Jim Clark says, “B2C Ecommerce continues to take a growing share of retail sales, but what’s driving this growth and what are the emerging trends that marketers can take advantage of in 2015? Here I’ll be taking you through a few key stats before presenting my latest talk, which will help to shed some light on the above questions. Online will account for 15.2% of all consumer retail sales in 2015 2014 was another record breaking year for ecommerce, and its upward trajectory is set to continue”. Ecommerce trends in 2015: video presentation ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Allison Howen says, “Online retailers tend to put a lot of resources into customer acquisition initiatives because driving traffic to your website is half of the conversion battle. In order to capitalize on acquisition efforts, however, retailers must ensure that their e-commerce site is easy to navigate and provides an engaging experience that encourages customers to complete their purchases. Fortunately, there are many ways that retailers can optimize their websites for conversions, including the five strategies outlined below: 1. Offer better customer service. It is pretty common for... [...]

Alex McEachern says, “We all have a favorite store or restaurant; the one that every time we walk in the staff knows our name, our order, and that we like our martinis shaken, not stirred. This personal connection is what keeps us coming back. But how do you achieve that same personal feel in ecommerce? While you won’t have those same face-to-face interactions in the online world, you know more about your customers than you think! With the right ecommerce and marketing platforms you have access to advanced customer segmentation that most merchants do not take advantage of. Segmentation... [...]

Simon Horton says, “A Forrester Research report indicates that eCommerce sales in the U.S. are expected to hit $279 billion in 2015 as buyers spend more time online. Considering the immense market opportunity it provides, it’s no wonder that more and more businesses are moving towards online retailing. However, launching an eCommerce store is daunting and challenging and selling online is an even more demanding task. You need to optimize your shopping cart for better performance. Besides, it is important to invest time and effort in customer engagement, which is one of the most significant... [...]

Christopher Ratcliff says, “According to a survey by CollectPlus, 27% of consumers are put off ordering something online in the first place because they do not want the hassle of returning it if it isn’t right. Therefore the need for online retailers to provide clear and easy to find information on its returns policy as well as making it as hassle-free as possible is integral to customer experience. Graham Charlton wrote a comprehensive list of ways retailers can improve their ecommerce returns policies last December, which I’ll briefly reiterate here (click the above link for more in-depth... [...]

Richard Lazazzera says, “When it comes to starting an online business, you have a lot of choices to make. The biggest of the choices may be the most important as they will ultimately define your business model and much of the future of your business. In this post, we’re going to show you at a high-level each one of the major choices you need to consider when starting your online business along with the pros and cons so you can make the best decisions possible right from the beginning. Let’s get right into it. Who Do You Want to Sell To? There are a million types of ecommerce stores,... [...]

Arie Shpanya says, “Ecommerce has been making its mark the past couple of years, but is still only a fraction of the overall retail industry. Online retailers and ecommerce professionals have been eagerly speculating that online retail will soon overtake brick and mortar stores in terms of popularity and sales. Despite optimistic holiday numbers, research has indicated that these speculations are simply not true. Retail is growing in sales, but ecommerce only makes up a small fraction of that. Online retail has no ceiling, unlike bricks and mortar stores. There is so much more room to grow for... [...]