Sometimes E-Commerce can be fun. Below we have a few articles related to the fun side of e-commerce.
Some of our topics include e-commerce’s move to social media and e-commerce trends. You know, the usual fun stuff about e-commerce.
E-commerce, short for ‘electronic commerce,’ entails the trading in products or services using computer networks such as the Internet.
E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.
Below you’ll find a bunch of our posts related to e-commerce. Some of the topics that our company bloggers cover include magento e-commerce, and the best ecommerce sites that are currently active on the web. Because e-commerce is a wide and expansive field that is constantly growing, our team is constantly on the go to cover all the latest and greatest news associated with e-commerce.
Since Hara Partners is an e-commerce solutions company, all of the e-commerce going-ons in the world are of the most maximal concern to us. Some of the topics that we covered in the past include Asian e-commerce, mobile e-commerce platforms, and e-commerce trends.
For your information, we’ve also listed some of the common types of e-commerce platforms below:
On-premise E-commerce software usually requires initial one time purchase investment in terms of licensing fees. Also, it implies extra costs related to hardware and installation services as well as data migration and on-going maintenance fees that are usually charged on a yearly basis for software updates and support. Some examples of typical on premise E-commerce platforms are Hybris, Sanna Commerce, Oorjit, and IBM WebSphere.
Software as a Service (SaaS)- is a cloud based delivery model in which applications are hosted and managed in a service provider’s datacenter, paid for on a subscription basis and accessed via a browser over an internet connection. Two examples of typical SaaS E-commerce solutions are Shopify and Demandware.
Open source e-Commerce is a free of charge platform that doesn’t imply licenses fee. Furthermore, open source users are also responsible for installing, maintaining, securing and configuring the software on their own servers. In order to set up an open source platform, basic technical expertise is required in the areas of web design and development. Software products that are distributed as open source are generally free, and users can access and modify the source code. Three examples of typical open source E-commerce platforms are PrestaShop, osCommerce, Magento and Thelia.
With the popularity of Siri and Alexa among today’s generation, online merchants should be astute enough to realize the importance of optimizing their websites for voice search. More and more people are now using voice commands to search the Internet, thus a website optimized for voice recognition stands a better chance of being found online by a prospective client.
Most of the people have the wrong misconception about the Harrods – may be along the paths of it being the quintessential composition of British in real life. It is reasonable for a suspect that most of the people would not really think of it as a business working out towards the edge of the web trading.
But sometimes they have to carry the burden. Harrods Head, Scott Johnson of E-commerce technology, see that as the best three London visitors attractions and an industry that works on being at the top of the line retail, as client encounter is significant. It brings an offer the ultimate in customer encounter.
Manual labor kept on pushing Amazon’s buttons? So, they bought Kiva Systems. And Kiva Systems is bringing eCommerce business into the future.
The invention of 3-D Printing is expected to transform the world. When it becomes mainstream and available for all, it’s projected to cut down medical prosthetics to a fraction of the cost, challenge the make up industry, and make everything easier and cheaper to produce (like having a mini China hooked up to your laptop).
While 3-D printers aren’t available to the public quite yet, Amazon is still allowing consumers to reap the benefits. Amazon, an e-commerce dominating giant, just opened a new online store that allows consumers to create their own 3-D printed toy. Consumers are given a template of available objects and Amazon allows them to customize the color, design, and virtually anything else. So if you want an action figure or a bobble head with your face on it, check out Amazon’s new store! But be prepared to shell out anywhere from $40-$100.
Hashtags are becoming more prevalent in the social media marketing world. However, in case you haven’t been acquainted with it, we’re here to help.
Hashtags (#) are used on twitter, Instagram, vine, tumblr, facebook, and pinterest as a filter system. When you hashtag a picture or post with a certain word or phrase, it allows people searching for that specific word or phrase to find it easier. When it comes to e-commerce, hashtags can be used to optimize search results and to easily reach target audiences.
As the social media world expands, hashtags are also expected to expand across platforms. For example, if you post something with hastags on Twitter, it should be transferrable to Facebook with the same trends.
Although there are a lot of popular social hashtags going around, they’re not necessarily effective for e-commerce. Below are some tips to effectively hashtag for your e-commerce business.
1. Content. The content of a hashtag is very important. A hashtag (#) is followed by uppercase and lowercase letters or numbers. There cannot be any spaces or unique symbols (!@$%^&*()<>) because those character indicate the end of the hashtag.
Correct: #Harapartners, #Harapartnerlovesecommerce
Incorrect: #Hara Partners, #HaraPartners<3E-commerce
2. Don’t Overuse Hashtags. Too much of a good thing can turn out to be a bad thing. It can turn off or confuse a reader to see a mass of hashtags. Generally, we recommend 3-5 hashtags max for twitter since there is a character limit, and 6-10 max for other platforms.
Correct: Check out the new Hara Partners blog! #ecommerce #harapartners #coolblogs
Incorrect: Check out the new Hara Partners blog! #ecommerce #harapartners #coolblogs #blogs #hara #partners #consulting #onlinesolutions #ilovehashtags #newblog #newpost #checkitout #haveyouseenthis #newblogpost
3. Choose the best hashtag. There might be a million hashtags that are relevant to your post but choose the best one. Think about what is most likely to be searched along with which hashtag would reach the best audience.
Correct: Check out the new Hara Partners blog! #ecommerce #harapartners
Incorrect: Check out the new Hara Partners blog! #shopping #onlineblog
4. Relevance. It might be tempting to hashtag your posts with the most popular hashtags so that it will reach a broader audience, however this is a bad idea because you could be labeled and punished for being a spammer.
Correct: Check out the new Hara Partners blog! #ecommerce #harapartners
Incorrect: Check out the new Hara Partners blog! #selfie #byefelicia #WCW
If you have any other questions about how to use hashtags, please comment below. We would love to hear from you. #contactus
Social media has been a successful marketing outlet for many retailers, but many social media platforms are taking a step towards becoming an e-commerce platform themselves.
Facebook has just launched the new buy button. This new features allows shoppers to complete the transaction process without ever clicking away from the Facebook page.
This new feature is expected to increase convenience and bring more retailers to Facebook. For now, a few selected small and medium sized businesses are allow to test the Buy button for free.
Twitter also allows retailers to add their own buy button to their tweets to make advertised products easier to purchase. Although the idea of the buy button are in elementary stage, many social media platforms are expected to follow suit.
What do you think about the new Facebook buy button? Leave us a comment below.
It’s been known throughout the centuries that men and women have different interests. However, merchants are still not putting that knowledge to use in their marketing strategies. In several studies, we have found that one huge mistake that many merchants are making is that they market products the same way to men and women. From shopping habits to the type of products, it’s important to keep in mind these gender differences to optimize sales. Check out the info graph below to learn more about the e-commerce battle of the sexes.
Please let us know in the comments below what you think!
Groupon and LivingSocial are pretty similar in what they do. They offer consumers flash deals in everything from eyelash extensions to iphone speakers. However, with so many deals that are flying around, how do you really know if you’re getting the most for your money? We have put together a very brief comparison between Groupon and LivingSocial so that merchants and shoppers can see what the difference really is.
Groupon
For Merchants: Groupon has a bigger audience than Livingsocial.
For Shoppers: Groupon offers the best deals in terms of discounts. Research has shown that groupon discounts are typically from 50-80% off, while livingsocial rarely offers discounts above 50%. Groupon also updates their website more often and offers more deals per day.
LivingSocial
For Merchants: Living social has better customer service. LivingSocial doesn’t just rush out a deal, they take into consideration trends and seasons to optimize each sale.
For Shoppers: Better quality? Some consumers argue that since Livingsocial offer less deals that they are more selective about their merchants. While only consumers can attest to this, it is a worthy point to consider.
Verdict:
While it seems that Livingsocial is currently a better space for merchants while Groupon is a better place for shoppers, perhaps both companies can take time to learn from each other.
Which one do you prefer? Groupon or Livingsocial? Let us know below.
Instagram isn’t just a place for foodies and selfies anymore. More and more businesses are turning to Instagram as a place to showcase products, build brands and relationships, and ultimately increase sales.
Instagram is a unique platform that allows businesses to show their personality on stage and behind the scenes. Here are three reasons why Hara Partners loves Instagram!
1. Visuals. As more products and websites flood the internet, there simply isn’t a desire to read long paragraphs. The easy and fun layout is eye-catching and easy to browse. Instagram also doesn’t have a set algorithm to gauge what people see. Therefore, everything you post will be shown and it will stay in your gallery and archives.
On the merchant side, it is also easy to create and upload images, making visual marketing and branding fun and simple.
2. Facebook is reaching its decline. According to webmarketingtoday.com, a business’s content reach on Facebook has fallen 50%. A study done in March this year shows that the organic reach for brands on Facebook hover between 2 and 6%. This ongoing decline is driving away businesses and causing them to look for alternative ways to market their products via social media.
3. Instagram is the largest growing social media platform. Recently, it has surpassed over 200 million monthly users, 20 billion photos shared over the course of its lifetime, and an average of 60 million photos shared daily.
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If you have questions or comments on Instagram e-commerce, please comment below. We would love to hear from you!
As mobile phones become more readily available and the wonderful world of 4G and wifi expand even further, the demand for mobile e-commerce is going to explode. In recent years, research has shown that the mobile e-commerce market is increasing steadily and not projected to stop anytime soon.
In a sample size of more than 70 million consumers, 100 online retailers and $10 billion in transaction revenue…studies have shown that:
1. The mobile e-commerce market is now worth more than $40 billion.
That means that the value has doubled from 2012.
In 2010, it was only worth 2 billion and now, it’s projected to hit above $50 billion by the end of the year.
2. In the first quarter of this year, there were $12 billion in mobile e-commerce transactions.
For comparison, in 2010 only 3% of online store visits were from mobile devices.
3. 37% of all online store visits are from mobile devices.
4. While Apple dominated the mobile scene for a while, over the last two years iPhone shares have dropped from 75% to 54%.
Most of the difference went to Samsung devices, which now make up about 31% of sales.
5. Tablets are becoming the next big thing. Currently, tablets drive 25% of all sales.
6. This does not mean that desktops are becoming irrelevant! 76% of consumers are still purchasing from desktops.
7. 33% of purchases are direct purchases, while 27% of sales come from email marketing that direct to a web store.
8. Consumers are more likely to purchase from a website using a mobile device after successfully purchasing from a desktop.
9. More mobile purchases occur on the weekends!
10. The trend of mobile e-commerce is projected to increase universally for all goods.
If you have questions or comments about mobile e-commerce, please let us know below!
source: custora e-commerce pulse