eCommerce Best Practices

In this interesting infographic, by Zend desk, the psyche of online customers, their preferences etc are depicted well.

It’s already proven that personalization in ecommerce is a success and eBuyers have embraced it wholeheartedly. Personalization makes a user engage more in an ecommerce website, which may even lead to higher conversions.

Notwithstanding these insights, ecommerce businesses have hardly taken enough steps to provide personalized content. This is apparent in a survey done by Econsultancy and Monetate.

In The Realities of Online Personalization, the survey determined 94 percent of companies see personalization as “critical to current and future success.” But 56 percent haven’t personalized their visitors’ experiences on their sites.

This may be an unfortunate circumstance, as the survey found several reasons why personalization isn’t happening for many firms. 72 percent cited one straightforward reason – they simply don’t know how to do it for their sites.

Technology issues come into play, with IT roadblocks and legacy technology serving as major barriers to accomplishing more with personalization. Even more distressing, companies that have access to customer data in varying sources like customer relationship management (CRM) systems aren’t taking advantage of what they have.

Although the challenges to engaging visitors on a more personalized level appear daunting, there appears to be a benefit to be gained, with the mobile and tablet-using segments of the internet. A third of companies in the survey aren’t planning to personalize the smartphone or tablet experience for visitors arriving via those devices.

That sounds like a ground-floor opportunity for online sellers who can take the next step to personalize the mobile experience. A/B and multivariate testing offers an edge too, as 57 percent of companies surveyed don’t run those tests. Perhaps the next big success online will be the company that personalizes and rigorously tests their methods to their satisfaction.

In retail terms, warranties are referred to and considered guarantees. They are agreements which call for the replacement or repair of tangible personal property with either no additional charge, or a reduced charge for parts or labor. It also refers to replacement or repair of the tangible property based upon happenings of some unforeseen occurrence or event that renders a faulty product. The property needs to be repaired within the warranty period. Some retailers also give extended warranties which sometimes require additional charges to the customer.

When a warranty is included in the retail selling price of the product being sold and no additional charge is made, the value of the warranty becomes a part of the selling price. Online products are no exception to the rules, and should recognize how the value of warranties will fit into their selling price. Sales and Use tax are some additions to your warranty legal implications.

Japanese B2C ecommerce sales is set to grow only in the low double digits annually until 2016, predominately due its sluggish growth in the number of internet users.

In the latest report, by Hamburg-based secondary market research firm Ystats.com, titled as Japan B2C E-Commerce Report 2013″, Japanese new ecommerce users are growing quicker than its new internet users.

Clothing and food are among the most popular product categories in Japanese B2C e-commerce.

According to the report, in 2012, m-commerce in Japan accounted for almost one quarter of all online revenues. This figure includes mobile payment methods frequently used in over-the-counter retail.

Online market place Rakuten was the most successful player in Japanese B2C e-commerce, followed by Amazon Japan and online fashion shop Nissen.

In 2012, more than three quarters of all Internet users in Japan had a user account with Rakuten. In October 2012, Amazon Japan launched a pick-up option for orders from FamilyMart stores for its customers.

US retailers Gap and Ralph Lauren also seek to participate in the successful Japanese B2C e-commerce market and launched their first online shops there in October 2012.

US ecommerce sales, which is at $231 billion at the end of 2012, is expected to reached grow 13% this year to reach $262 billion, according to Forrester Research, the premier market research firm. They predict that ecommerce will continue its surge and will post $370 billion in sales in 2017. Currently ecommerce contributes 8% to the total retail sales in US and this go up to 10% by 2017.

Forrester cites two factors for the growth of US ecommerce – Proliferation of tablets and mobiles, where customers spend more time online. They use it for product reviews, recommendations, best prices etc.

Another reason is the investment in the online divisions by the traditional retailers. They are using it predominantly for helping the customer order products that are out-of-stock, which is termed as ‘Save a Sale’.

Customer service can make or break our business. Here are some tips to streamline it to provide a better experience to the customer.

• Make a commitment to put your customers first. “No matter how great we make our software, ultimately it’s a lifestyle choice, a commitment that the company needs to make.”
• Be prepared to do the work. “We like to preach that there isn’t a magic bullet. Customer service is hard work and it takes human beings listening and paying attention to people.”
• Give your customers options. “Make sure you are multichannel; give options and flexibility, so they can communicate the way they want.”
• Make it easy for your customers. “Let them find the answer themselves. Make it easy for them to pick up the phone.”
• Put your knowledge base or other customer service options right on your home page. “Customer service is the new marketing. Providing great customer experience can be all the way up front in the process.”

Customer service is the heart of every business let alone ecommerce. If your customers feel that your business is not worth the time and money, then they will walk into your competitors business. That’s why the businesses that looks to serve the customer beyond and before the sales has become successful.

Some successful tips to improve your customer service and your ecommerce business:

About you

Customer should understand what you provide within 10 seconds after they reach our website. If customer does not understand what products and services you offer, they will walk away from your website. Time is money for everyone.

A good ‘About Us’ should have details about the management team, your mission, vision etc. Also properly document your various policies and place contact details on strategic locations. Read more

$125 billion – The total transactional volume of China’s online retail market by the end of 2012. This accounts for 5.2 percent of China’s overall sale of consumer goods. With a staggering growth recorded in the last 5 years, Chinese ecommerce market is apparent to scale new heights. We could see some of these in 2013, if not all.

China will surpass US to become the biggest online commerce market

According to a recent study, Chinese ecommerce market will reach $251 billion by the end of 2013, which is annoyingly close to US’ $252 billion. Chinese ecommerce market is leveraging the surge of their internet users. With this in mind, the Chinese ecommerce companies are improving their ecommerce ecosystem to become the world’s largest ecommerce market, which is backed by their government. According to them, this target is a high-priority task in 2013.

Second-tier cities will join the ecommerce bandwagon

According to Alibaba group, the Chinese ecommerce behemoth, sales growth in the top Chinese cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou were below 40 percent, while the same in the smaller cities rose above 60 percent. Alibaba recorded a massive $160 billion in revenues in 2012. Read more

E-commerce might be one of the most eye-catching trades in 2012 with all the price wars, spars, and series of good or not-so-good rumors, and it’s evident that in the coming year the industry would be a good play, as long as you placed the right bet. In an aim to help you capture a whiff of the market in next year, Chinese portal site Tencent made some predictions about the market listed below:

Mergers & Acquisitions

In 2013, vast expansion will be the major theme for Chinese etailers, coupled with many mergers and acquisitions. The relationship among companies is likely to be ‘me in you and you in me’, forming a more complex structure as verticals (OKbuy.com) or even B2Cs (Dangdang.com) are moving to other bigger platforms like TMall or Tencent’s B2C site.

Stricter Oversight

Nowadays e-commerce has been an important channel of merchandise circulation, but many problems remain unsolved, including tax, license, fake products and so on. The industry has already drawn much attention from the government in 2012, and the corresponding policies are around the corner in 2013. Stricter oversight will be arriving sooner or later in the new year. Read more