A lot goes into setting up your ecommerce business. It can become overwhelming, especially for beginners or smaller businesses that operate with a small staff. But shipping and order fulfillment are critical to success, as many customers will abandon their cart if they are not offered fair prices and timely delivery.

It is worth spending a little time researching shipping, packaging, and fulfillment options to help your business get off to the right start. If you’re already an established ecommerce business, it’s never too late to revisit your shipping strategy to see how you can improve the customer experience.

Check out this post from Shopify for a detailed view of what to consider when planning your shipping and fulfillment strategy. It provides a clean and concise walk-through of everything you need to provide affordable and efficient services for your online customers.

Ecommerce retailers spend a lot of time and money on marketing and advertising campaigns to attract new customers and increase sales. But are you giving the pricing page on your website enough attention?

The pricing page is one of the most important pages of your site. This is where potential customers arrive to obtain clear information about cost. The page needs to be simple, informative, and easy to navigate. There are other tips and tricks you can implement to actually help increase sales through this page, such as using a Call To Action (CTA) and recommended pricing plans. HubSpot provides additional details on these and other best practices to help ecommerce retailers convert more shoppers into buyers. 

On June 21, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling known as the Wayfair decision, stating that individual states are now allowed to require online sellers to collect sales tax on internet sales.

This is a very serious issue for online retailers. If this trend gains momentum, it will create a headache for many online retailers, who will be expected to stay up to date on the numerous and various specific requirements in each state in which they sell.

Online retailers will also need to report sales tax in each state. These new requirements will generate administrative costs that smaller online retailers will need time to address and determine how best to handle.

In an effort to help online retailers remain informed on the coming changes from each state, we recommend this resource from Nolo. A link is provided to each state, connecting readers with an article on the current internet sales tax rules in that state. As states change their laws in the wake of the Wayfair decision, these links will be updated. Online retailers can bookmark this resource to ensure they are aware of the latest requirements.

Of course there are sure to be more articles on this topic in the coming months, as ecommerce companies attempt to determine how these new requirements may affect them and how to comply efficiently and affordably.

Many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) think they cannot compete with the big online retailers such as Amazon and Walmart. Some of the statistics would seem to support this.

Just look at Amazon, which claimed an estimated 44% of U.S. ecommerce sales in 2017. But SMEs should not give up or feel intimidated.

If we look deeper at the Amazon numbers, there is good news. In its most recent quarterly report, Amazon reported a 44% increase in revenue from third-party sellers.

There are many ways SMEs can run a successful ecommerce marketplace business. And we are here to help you compete with the biggest and best in the online retail space.

We’ll show you how to create a successful ecommerce website and share information on how to make your local ecommerce business stand out from the crowd (especially amongst the giants).

Ten tips for a successful small to medium-sized business ecommerce website

These tips apply to all ecommerce websites – large and small. Smaller businesses may be tempted to ignore some of these items, thinking they cannot afford them or that none of it really matters.

But it does. Customers have come to expect a certain level of service and functionality from all online retailers, regardless of their size. As you build or revisit your ecommerce marketplace website, keep these ten tips in front of your mind.

1. Spend time upfront to design a quality site.

Websites can be built with just a few clicks these days. But small business ecommerce websites should not be thrown together without giving some proper attention to design.

Your layout should be visually appealing, drawing customers’ attention to your feature products or services. There are hundreds of pre-designed themes and templates to choose from, offered by the most popular ecommerce sites. A professional-looking site does not have to cost a fortune, but you should take some time to sort through the options.

The style and colors of your site should convey and reinforce your brand image. Products should be easy to locate.

More is not always better. Larger images with less text often do a better job of grabbing a shopper’s attention.

Work with a professional if you’re unsure how to design a website that will encourage shoppers to look around and add items to their cart.

2. Provide quality online customer support.

Your customers need to know they can get questions answered and receive assistance after normal working hours. You need to make it easy for them to reach your business via email, chat, or phone. The way to contact them should be highly visible.

If you have the means to provide 24/7 customer support, you should do so, as many customers find this valuable. Many customers shop after working hours. Chatbots are the latest way many businesses are making 24/7 service available.

Emails should be answered promptly. At the very least, an automatic reply acknowledging receipt of a customer email should be sent out immediately.

3. Offer the most popular payment options.

You need to make it easy for customers to pay. This requires that you offer multiple payment options.

PayPal and credit cards are the most popular methods, but others – such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay – are gaining traction. Stay on top of these payment services so you ensure you’re offering your customers the most desired payment options.

4. Create a purposeful blog.

A blog is an excellent way to spread the word about your business. But make each post count.

Use blogs as an opportunity to share information your target customer will find useful and relevant. This will solidify you as an expert in your industry and show you truly care about your clientele.

Posts should be focused around carefully selected keywords based on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you’re not familiar with SEO or how to determine which keywords are right for your business, check out this resource to help get you started.

5. Include product reviews.

Reviews are a great way to increase customer trust and to answer questions that may arise on products. Be sure to encourage customers to write reviews by offering incentives such as a coupon or discount when a review is written.

6. Optimize your site for mobile.

More customers are doing all of their shopping on their mobile devices. If your site is not optimized for the mobile experience, you risk losing out on sales.

Supporting the entire mobile experience entails:

• Support for mobile-friendly search, including consideration for bandwidth and display restrictions on mobile devices.

• Product videos and pictures that display well on mobile.

• Support for digital wallets and mobile checkout.

• Reaching out to customers via SMS rather than just email.

7. Offer free or low-cost shipping.

Online shoppers have become accustomed to fast and free shipping, thanks to giants such as Amazon. Smaller businesses need to compete on this front.

A free shipping policy can often increase sales enough to offset the cost you incur from waiving the shipping fee.

If you cannot afford free shipping, explore a partnership with a local delivery service or consider using physical stores as distribution centers.

It is worth the time to see what the main shippers such as UPS and the USPS can provide for your business, so you can contend with the bigger players in the ecommerce marketplace.

8. Use high-quality images.

Pictures are the primary way online shoppers decide to purchase. Images are often more important than the accompanying text, so make sure they sell your product well.

High-quality images are critical. They should be clear, show the details of the product, and display the product from various angles. Include product videos when appropriate to show the product in action.

9. Make returns simple and guaranteed.

Offering free returns and a guaranteed return policy removes the fear factor some customers have when shopping online. If a customer knows they can return an item that does not fit or is not what they expected, they are more likely to give it a shot.

And your hassle-free return policy will earn you high marks with customers, making them more likely to return and to recommend you to others.

10. Make it easy to check out.

Customers do not want to waste time entering endless details at checkout. Encourage repeat customers to create an account that will save shipping and billing details so checkout can be done in just a few clicks. And if they have to go “back” after they’ve entered shipping data into the cart, make sure that data is retained so they don’t have to enter it again.

Fast checkout keeps customers happy and more likely to complete the purchase process.

How smaller businesses can stand out in the ecommerce marketplace

As SMEs grow, one of the biggest threats are the larger players – the giants – in the online retail space. So how can you compete with Amazon, Walmart, and eBay?

Diversify with an omni-channel approach.

One of the best ways to compete against the bigger players is to expand your presence on other platforms. Smaller online retailers can move beyond their website and sell on such platforms as Walmart Marketplace and Amazon.

Many ecommerce platforms such as Shopify now also make it easy to start selling via Facebook, Instagram, pop-up shops, and even brick-and-mortar stores.

Managing all of these channels may sound intimidating, but there are ways to create efficiencies in the process that are affordable for smaller businesses.

A powerful integration platform can be used to set up ecommerce integration with Amazon, WooCommerce, or any other ecommerce marketplace.

Integration provides many advantages:

• Removal of manual entry of orders.

• Real-time inventory updates.

• Faster order fulfillment.

With an affordable yet powerful integration platform in the market, SMEs can now afford to expand and diversify.

Be unique.

Offering an exclusive or unique product that is not available through these behemoths makes your smaller business stand out.

A narrower focus means you can become an expert and leader in that niche.

Add a personal touch.

Gift wrapping items and handwritten thank you notes are personal touches customers will not get from the bigger chains.

Appreciation for these small sentiments will not be lost on consumers.

Create a brand.

Brand loyalty is huge when it comes to competing with larger enterprises. It is one of the best ways to beat out the giants when you cannot compete on price alone.

You can build brand loyalty through excellent customer service, product differentiation, quality blog posts, creating a strong “character” for your company, and smart social media marketing. Do whatever you can to connect more personally with customers.

Offer offline experiences.

Smaller businesses have the opportunity to provide local, in-person events.

There is value to be gained from face-to-face shopping. It creates loyalty that will carry over to your online presence.

Leverage third-party directories.

Local listings are a great resource for getting your name out there. But you have to keep the information up to date. There are about 50 web-based directories that are very important and can make a huge difference in your website traffic.

Be sure to take advantage of the big three in this space:

• Google My Business local listing page

• Bing Places for Business local listing page

• Yelp local listing page

These three consumer resources are free and are the most commonly used ones, making them the most important ones for SMEs to list on and maintain for accuracy.

You should also add holiday hours and special events such as holiday sales to these listings.

Get creative.

Get to know your target market. Is there a way you can make their shopping experience more convenient or engaging?

Perhaps a simple plugin or app could be used to make your business stand out from the crowd. Always be thinking of ways you can differentiate yourself.

As online giants such as Amazon continue to rake in more sales through third-party sellers, smaller businesses have hope and an opportunity. Take the time to create an engaging and intuitive website, but also be sure to diversify and expand your presence through multiple channels.

These tips will set any smaller business up for success, no matter how large the competition is.

Whether you’re new to the ecommerce game or have been around for many years, online retailers always need to stay up to date on the latest ecommerce trends and platforms.

Technology, ecommerce trends, and consumer preferences are constantly changing. You need to re-evaluate your ecommerce business annually to make sure you’re selling on the right platforms. Is it time to expand or move your business elsewhere?

This overview of the top ecommerce platforms in 2018 gives a brief synopsis of the pros and cons of seven platforms. Take a few minutes to read through it and decide if it’s time to make some changes to your ecommerce business.

Retail ecommerce sales increased almost 25% in 2017, reaching $2.3 trillion. Advances in technology are one of the primary factors contributing to this increase.

One area of particular interest is Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI technology is one of the ecommerce future trends that online retailers are beginning to leverage to increase sales and operational efficiencies.

In this post, we take a closer look at what AI technology is, how it can benefit your ecommerce business, and what you should be focusing on to leverage AI.

What is Artificial Intelligence technology?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a subdiscipline of computer science. The goal of AI is to enable computers or machines to perform things normally done by humans, particularly those tasks or decisions that require an intelligent thought process.

AI requires historical data which is used to build a training set to teach the system. The system analyzes this data and responds to it, adding a layer of reasoning on top of the analysis. ‘If-then’ thinking is used. The AI system draws conclusions and make predictions.

This predictive ability of AI opens new doors in the ecommerce world. Retailers can harness the power of AI in many ways to create efficiencies, attract new customers, and increase sales.

But you need to know how, and you need to know where to start. So let’s dig a little deeper to truly understand how AI can help your ecommerce business grow.

The benefits of Artificial Intelligence for your ecommerce business

Let’s focus on some of the simplest ways you can leverage Artificial Intelligence technology so you can capitalize on some of the ecommerce trends of 2018.

Personalization

Ecommerce shoppers have come to expect personalization when they are shopping, and expectations continue to rise. AI technology allows you to create a more personalized shopping experience for customers in three ways: dynamic filters, categories, and bundles.

• Dynamic filters – Many ecommerce sites already analyze the browsing history of customers to surmise the other products shoppers may be interested in. But AI can take this a step further by applying new characteristics (called “fuzzy” attributes) to products, making new connections between products, and creating new suggested filters for shoppers to sort by.

• Dynamic categories – AI has the ability identify new categories of products that may be of interest to your customers by analyzing shopper history and drawing relevancy conclusions between various products.

• Dynamic bundles – This refers to the “You may also be interested in” category shoppers have become familiar with on many ecommerce platforms. AI technology can make these suggested bundles more relevant and of interest to buyers. It does this by using intelligent analysis to decide which products to surface in a given bundle. This results in bundles that are more personalized to each individual shopper based on their interest, which means shoppers are more likely to add bundled items to their shopping cart. Amazon makes great use of AI algorithms to provide customized recommendations to customers, increasing sales.

You will need to decide which of these new filters and categories are worthy enough to surface to your shoppers, but with AI suggesting them, you save time and can quickly adapt to the latest trends and present your products in ways most likely to entice your shoppers.

Search optimization

AI delivers more intelligent searches. Natural Language Processing (NLP) can be used to overcome spelling errors so buyers are still presented with the right results – even if their search contains mistakes.

AI can also enable your ecommerce business to remember how a given user searches, saving their search preferences and proactively guiding them to the products they are most likely to be interested in. This saves your customers time and effort, creating a more efficient shopping experience and improving customer satisfaction.

Better customer service with chatbots

Artificial Intelligence chatbots are growing in popularity, and consumers are becoming more inclined to use them, especially for customer service issues. This is one of the ecommerce trends for 2018 you do not want to miss out on.

A recent survey found that 67% of consumers used chatbots for customer service support in the past year. There are several benefits to chatbots:

• Fewer human customer service agents are required.

• You can offer 24/7 customer service support.

• Customers can get simple issues resolved faster without waiting in a queue to speak to someone.

• Human agents can devote their time to resolving more complex issues customers may have – a better use of their time.

This hybrid customer service approach can help medium-sized and smaller businesses offer the same level and quality of customer service as the larger companies in their space.

Automation

Automating tasks can save you a lot of time and resources, making it easier to run your ecommerce business. AI can automate a number of ecommerce business processes:

• Posting new products on multiple sales channels.

• Scheduling sales on certain products.

• Offering discounts at checkout to preferred customers.

• Adjusting prices for products based on various data points, such as inventory levels and demand.

Increased mobile sales

The share of ecommerce sales completed on mobile devices increased by 40% between 2015 and 2017, making “m-commerce” an important area for ecommerce retailers who are serious about growing their business. AI technology will further contribute to an increase in mobile sales.

Search optimization for mobile and voice-activated search make searching for products on a smartphone a lot easier. AI assistant apps are also growing in popularity and make the mobile shopping experience simpler.

An example is the My Starbucks barista voice assistant app, which allows customers to order and pay via voice.  

What you need to do

Taking advantage of AI in your ecommerce business may sound daunting, but there are some simple steps you can take to get started.

Gather data and integrate

Historical data forms the basis of any AI system. It takes time to gather enough data to build a comprehensive training set.

If you’re not already gathering data on customers, you need to start. But the data also needs to be analyzed and integrated with you Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and ecommerce systems.

Fortunately, integration is now simple and affordable with Alluvia’s revolutionary integrator.

Focus on mobile

AI will push more and more shoppers towards mobile purchases, so you need to make sure your ecommerce business is mobile-ready.

This means you need to devote some time to creating an ideal mobile user experience. You may also want to consider if a mobile storefront app is a good avenue to explore.

Make your site user-friendly

Quality content and a positive user experience are important – now more than ever. AI technology captures data based on customers’ shopping habits and browsing history.

You need to make sure you’re presenting your products in the best way possible, making chopping and checkout easy and efficient. This ensures you will capture high-quality data that can be used by AI in a meaningful way.

Stay focused on customer service

Customer service has and always will be important to a successful ecommerce business. AI opens doors with chatbots so you can serve your customers in new ways and save money as fewer human agents are needed.

Assess your current customer service program to see how AI can fit in and how quickly you can see an ROI on investment in a chatbot. This is often one of the most cost-effective areas in AI ecommerce, making it a great area to start.

As you explore the realm of Artificial Intelligence for your ecommerce business, take the time to educate yourself and weight the cost and benefits of any avenue you explore.

AI technology can do a lot to help your business expand and create efficiencies in your workflow, but any investment must be well-researched. Those completely new to the AI game are better off starting slow and testing the waters to gain a solid understanding of what AI can do for you.

Shopping cart abandonment is a major issue every ecommerce business faces.

In Q4 of 2017, 77% of online retail orders were abandoned.

But don’t let this statistic get you down. This staggering number represents potential revenue. Capturing even a small portion of these abandoned orders can help you increase online sales.

To reduce shopping cart abandonment, first you need to understand why shoppers left your ecommerce store without completing their purchase. Then you can take proactive steps to increase the percentage of customers who complete the checkout process. In this post, we address both issues.

Why buyers abandon their online shopping cart

There are various reasons customers leave your ecommerce store without purchasing the items in their online shopping cart. Some of the most common reasons are:

• Higher-than-expected shipping costs

• Slower-than-expected shipping/delivery time

• Technical issues with the checkout process

• Lack of payment options

• Concerns about transaction and payment security

• Lengthy or confusing checkout process

• Desire to price shop on other sites

• Window shopping (no real intent to buy right now)

While it may be tough to convert shoppers who are really just browsing into actual sales, many of the other reasons can be addressed.

How you can combat shopping cart abandonment

Here are seven tips to help you improve the shopping cart experience and reduce the incidence of shopping cart abandonment.

1. Be more transparent about shipping information

Do not make customers wait until right before checkout to see how much shipping will cost. This will only irritate them if costs are too high. Display the full shipping costs as early as possible in the checkout process to reduce surprises.

2. Offer a variety of shipping options and costs

Some customers are willing to pay extra for express shipping when they need an item quickly, so be sure to offer this option. But for customers who are budget-conscious, it is important you offer economy shipping options.

It is worth exploring your options to make sure you are offering the lowest possible shipping costs to your customers since many large online retailers such as Amazon now offer free two-day shipping. Research volume shipping discounts with companies such as UPS and consider offering shipping discounts to customers when they purchase multiple items.

3. Deliver faster

This goes beyond shipping and deals with order fulfillment. Faster order fulfillment is possible if you integrate your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with your ecommerce platform.

Integration eliminates manual data entry of each order, automating the fulfillment process. Shopping cart integration allows you to leverage real-time inventory updates so you do not risk accepting orders you are not prepared to fill.

Rapid and affordable ecommerce integration is now possible, making this a viable option for medium-sized businesses.

4. Keep checkout simple and efficient

Enabling customers to store their account and payment information for easy access each time they shop is important. But it is also wise to offer a guest checkout option for those who do not want to deal with the hassle of creating an account.

Providing chat support during the checkout process is another way to encourage customers to complete their purchase as any questions they may have can be answered quickly and in real-time.

You can also offer a “Save Cart” feature so customers can revisit your store later and pick up right where they left off.

5. Offer multiple (and the latest) payment methods

Customers want options when it comes to how they pay. Credit and debit cards are still popular, but to stay current and competitive you should also consider accepting other payment options, such as Google Pay.

6. Maximize checkout security

You need to let your customers know that your checkout process is secure and that it is safe for them to enter their payment details.

Do not redirect buyers to a third-party website to make payments. The one exception to this rule is PayPal, given its popularity and widely accepted use as an online payment system.

Keep the design of the checkout process consistent with the rest of your site. Acquire a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for your site to provide a secure connection and encrypt credit card information. Google penalizes websites that do not have SSL in place, making this even more important for success.

Comply with the standards set forth by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council.

7. Offer price guarantees

Reduce the chances that shoppers will start comparison shopping on other ecommerce sites by assuring them they are getting the best price possible from you. You can even offer a price match guarantee if they can provide proof of finding the same product at a cheaper price from another provider.

Shopping cart abandonment will never go away, but a more proactive approach to creating a positive shopping cart experience can increase online sales and motivate your customers to complete the purchase process. With a little work, you can convert those with abandonment issues into revenue generators.

Magento is the world’s leading ecommerce platform, handling over $100 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) every year.

It offers the industry’s lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), was named a leader in Gartner’s 2017 Magic Quadrant for digital commerce, and was rated the #1 platform in the 2017 Internet Retailer U.S. Top 1000.

Magento offers many benefits to ecommerce sellers, but there are some things you should know so you’re ready to sell on this marketplace platform. You also need to integrate Magento with SAP Business One to maximize sales and create an efficient workflow. This article will walk you through what you need to know to get started with Magento and SAP Business One integration.

The pros and cons of Magento

Magento offers many benefits to sellers:

• It is an open-source ecommerce platform.
• Flexibility and customization options let you tailor your store to your needs.
• It scales easily as your business grows.
• Monthly subscriptions are not required, and with different levels available, it is possible to get up and running at little to no cost.
• You can easily build a website based on one of thousands of themes provided.
• A shopping cart feature ensures payments are secure.
• Optimization for mobile devices is included.
• Magento’s SEO tools help you boost traffic.
• The option to integrate with third-party solutions lets you add more functionality beyond what is already available.
• A vast array of plugins and extensions are available and are continually being created so you can add more features to your online store without having to create them yourself.

There are still caveats to keep in mind:

• You need to have some technical knowledge if you want to customize.
• If your technical knowledge is limited, you will need to spend some extra time upfront getting set up.
• Sellers with very limited technical know-how may need to hire a developer to help them get started. This can cost anywhere from $100 – $250 per hour. The release of Magento 2 made the admin interface a bit friendlier for non-technical people, but developer assistance may still be necessary for novices.
• Magento runs on your server. You are responsible for upgrades and any server-related problems. Or you can work with a hosting partner to handle these issues, but it will add to your costs.

Why you need to integrate Magento and SAP Business One

You need to manage orders and inventory for your Magento store in both the Magento system and SAP Business One. Doing this manually is a waste of time and resources that can be better spent on value-added tasks such as marketing your store and exploring the plugins and extensions Magento offers. Manual data entry causes errors and slows down the fulfillment process.

If you deal with higher-volume orders or have items that are very limited in stock, real-time inventory updates into SAP Business One from Magento are essential to running a smooth operation. SAP Business One and Magento integration create an efficient workflow that gets orders tracked and filled quickly, creating a happy and loyal customer base.

Magento and SAP Business One integration has traditionally been done by consultants. Engagements can last for weeks and even months, and the price tag can run into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. As your needs change, more consulting is required to update your integration.

Mid-size businesses simply cannot afford these expensive engagements, and they need to be up and running now.

How you can integrate Magento and SAP Business One today

Alluvia makes SAP Business One and Magento integration possible in minutes – without any consultants. Here’s how:

• You can use a simple interface with pre-built Magento templates to set up Magento and SAP Business One integration in a few clicks. As you grow your Magento business, the intuitive design makes it easy for you to make any changes to your integration on your own.
• Automatic updates keep your connection up to date, so if Magento requirements change, your integration (and business) continues to run smoothly.
• A cloud-based solution removes the need for software and IT maintenance while keeping your data secure and accessible 24/7.
• A very low setup fee and monthly payments as low as $100 means SAP Business One integration does not break the bank. You can also cancel at any time.

The process really is simple. Drag-and-drop mappings deliver integration in minutes.

Integration is necessary if you want to maximize profits and increase sales. High-priced, lengthy consulting engagements for integration are a thing of the past. Alluvia has developed a tool that lets medium and even small businesses operate at enterprise-level efficiency.