B2B Ecommerce Platforms: What to Consider

Posted on October 3, 2023February 13, 2024 by Honey Olesen

B2B ecommerce platforms have gained significant traction in the digital landscape, emerging as a favored choice. These platforms provide businesses with a seamless online experience for procuring and vending products. However, the abundance of available options can present a daunting task when selecting the most suitable platform to meet your business requirements.

Understanding B2B Ecommerce

Businesses are turning to digital structures, leading to the popularity of B2B ecommerce platforms. In 2023, an estimated 17 percent of B2B sales are expected to be generated digitally. In 2019, this share was 13 percent. Overall, U.S. B2B online sales are projected to reach 1.8 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. These platforms facilitate transactions between wholesalers and distributors. B2B ecommerce enables online transactions for large quantities of goods, providing business owners with better operational efficiency. With features like invoices, customer relationship management, and complete control over the online presence, B2B ecommerce platforms offer software solutions catering to large enterprises’ needs. By leveraging these platforms, businesses can enhance their online store and streamline their B2B ecommerce processes.

The Differences between B2B and B2C Ecommerce

B2B and B2C ecommerce have distinct differences in their target audience and functionality. B2B ecommerce primarily targets businesses, while B2C ecommerce caters to individual consumers. One key difference is that B2B platforms offer customer-specific pricing and bulk order capabilities, allowing companies to receive tailored pricing and make large-scale purchases. Additionally, B2B ecommerce transactions often involve negotiation and offline interactions, unlike the more straightforward online transactions of B2C ecommerce. The checkout process in B2B can be more complex to accommodate different payment terms. Furthermore, B2B marketing provides informational materials highlighting product features, benefits, and ROI for business owners.

What Are The Benefits of Selling on a B2B Platform?

Selling on a B2B platform offers numerous benefits. B2B platforms provide a cohesive digital interface that facilitates the interaction between buyers and sellers, enabling businesses to extend their market reach and enhance their clientele. Moreover, these platforms empower companies to regulate access to particular web pages, pricing information, and product offerings, catering to distinct customer segments. This feature optimizes supplier and customer management, fostering improved control and coordination. By leveraging B2B platforms, businesses can seamlessly navigate the online landscape, effectively expanding their customer base and enhancing operational efficiency.

Top Contenders in B2B Ecommerce Platforms

BigCommerce Enterprise, Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), and Shopify Plus are leading contenders in the B2B ecommerce platform market.

BigCommerce Enterprise offers a user-friendly interface and robust features tailored to the specific needs of B2B businesses.

Adobe Commerce is renowned for its highly customizable platform, enabling companies to create unique online experiences through extensive third-party integrations.

Conversely, Shopify Plus provides a scalable solution for B2B businesses, offering a wide range of add-ons and apps to enhance functionality.

These platforms empower business owners to streamline operations, manage invoices, and drive sales through online transactions, ensuring operational efficiency and improved time management for large enterprises.

Features of BigCommerce Enterprise

BigCommerce Enterprise is a robust ecommerce platform offering advanced features to support businesses in their online operations. With its advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, companies can make data-driven decisions to drive growth. The platform provides a seamless checkout process, offering various payment options and integrations for convenience. Customization and personalization features allow businesses to create a personalized user experience, enhancing customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, BigCommerce Enterprise offers functionalities like customer-specific pricing and tiered pricing. With real-time inventory management and shipping integration, businesses can efficiently manage their operations. Overall, BigCommerce Enterprise empowers companies with the tools they need for success in the competitive ecommerce landscape.

BigCommerce B2B Edition

B2B Edition is a package that is a combination of BigCommerce Enterprise and the B2B Edition app. It offers a wide range of advanced features to meet the needs of B2B transactions. Punchout catalogs and quoting systems allow companies to streamline their purchasing process. The user-friendly interface and easy-to-use content management system make it simple for businesses to manage their online presence. Integrated with popular CRM systems, BigCommerce B2B Edition ensures operational efficiency.

It also provides customizable pricing options and customer group management, giving business owners complete control over pricing strategies. With built-in SEO tools, it helps improve online visibility and attract potential customers.

Overview of Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce is an open-source platform that offers extensive customization options for b2b ecommerce websites. Advanced product management and inventory control features give business owners complete control over their online transactions. The platform seamlessly integrates with various payment gateways and shipping providers, ensuring hassle-free and secure transactions.

Furthermore, Adobe Commerce offers a wide range of extensions and modules, such as invoices and social media plugins, allowing store owners to enhance the functionality of their web stores. With robust SEO capabilities, large enterprises can improve their online presence and drive organic site traffic.

Insights on Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is a highly scalable and reliable platform usable by businesses of all levels. Advanced features like multi-channel selling and internationalization enable businesses to expand their reach and tap into new markets. Also, the platform seamlessly integrates with third-party apps and tools, enhancing functionality and customization. Business owners can enjoy customizable checkout options for different business models and payment terms.

Shopify Plus offers 24/7 customer support, promptly addressing technical or operational issues. It’s a comprehensive solution that provides the necessary tools and support for B2B ecommerce success.

What Makes a Good B2B Ecommerce Platform?

A good B2B ecommerce platform offers a user-friendly interface, robust security measures, and seamless integration with other systems. It also provides powerful search and filtering functionalities and flexible pricing options.

Consideration of Access Options, Roles, and Permissions

When establishing a B2B ecommerce platform, it is imperative to carefully contemplate the diverse access options, roles, and permissions. By incorporating role-based permissions, one can guarantee secure access to the platform and allocate distinct access levels to employees, customers, and partners. The definition of user roles and permissions enables the restriction of access to sensitive information, thereby safeguarding both business and customer data.

The incorporation of multi-factor authentication is imperative for enhanced security. This functionality provides an extra safeguard level by requiring users to authenticate their identity through multiple methods. Additionally, keeping track of user activities with comprehensive audit logs provides transparency and accountability. By prioritizing these considerations, you can control your B2B ecommerce platform entirely and protect your business from potential risks.

Bulk Orders, Volume Pricing, and Minimum-Maximum Thresholds

Regarding B2B ecommerce platforms, offering features like bulk orders, volume pricing, and minimum and maximum thresholds can significantly streamline the ordering process for customers. Customers can easily place bulk orders through your platform, which ensures convenience and efficiency.

Incentivizing larger orders with volume pricing discounts encourages customers to purchase more, benefiting both parties. Setting minimum and maximum order thresholds helps maintain control over order quantities. Automating calculations for bulk discounts and thresholds saves time and eliminates manual errors. Providing real-time inventory availability ensures accurate order fulfillment. Incorporating these features into your B2B ecommerce platform improves the operational efficiency and overall customer experience.

Necessity of Multiple Payment Options

Maximize customer satisfaction and boost traffic to your B2B ecommerce platform by providing various payment options. Credit card payments, online banking, and digital wallets cater to diverse customer preferences and ensure a seamless purchasing experience. Don’t miss out on potential sales – prioritize payment options. Integrating secure payment gateways that provide a safe and reliable transaction process is crucial.

Additionally, consider partnering with popular payment providers to offer added convenience to your customers. Enable customers to save their payment information for future purchases, enhancing their overall shopping experience.

Need for Systems Integrations

To maximize operational efficiency in B2B ecommerce, integrating your platform with existing systems like ERP and CRM is crucial. This integration allows real-time customer data, orders, and inventory syncing across platforms. Businesses can save time and resources by automating processes and reducing manual data entry.

Seamless communication between systems enables better efficiency and collaboration. When choosing a B2B ecommerce platform, it’s essential to consider flexible integration capabilities to ensure smooth system integration. Integrating systems streamlines operations enhances customer experiences and empowers business owners to have complete control over their online presence.

Role of Inventory Management

Inventory management plays a crucial role in the success of B2B ecommerce platforms. By ensuring real-time visibility of inventory levels, businesses can avoid overselling or stockouts, leading to improved customer satisfaction. Implementing inventory tracking and setting up automated alerts for low-stock items helps businesses stay on top of their inventory and make informed decisions.

Additionally, enabling backorder and pre-order functionalities allows for effective inventory management. Integrating with barcode scanners or RFID technology further enhances accuracy in inventory management. With these strategies in place, businesses can efficiently manage their inventory, optimize operations, and provide a seamless experience to customers.

Significance of Product Catalog Management

Maintaining a well-organized and up-to-date product catalog on your B2B ecommerce platform is crucial. Categorizing products based on attributes, categories, and hierarchies improves navigation for customers. Implementing search and filtering options enables easy product discovery, enhancing the overall user experience. Enabling batch product updates streamlines catalog management, making it more efficient.

Supporting multiple product images and detailed descriptions gives customers a comprehensive understanding of your products. Implementing these catalog management practices is crucial for businesses seeking to enhance customer experience, boost sales, and streamline operations. When selecting the ideal B2B ecommerce platform, carefully weighing these factors becomes imperative. Take advantage of the opportunity to revolutionize your business and achieve unparalleled success.

The Impact of Advanced SEO Tools

Boost your B2B ecommerce platform’s visibility with advanced SEO tools. Optimize for search engines, generate SEO-friendly URLs and meta tags for your product pages, and rank higher in search results. Implementing schema markup further enhances your search visibility by providing additional information and context to search engines. Conducting keyword research helps you target relevant search terms for your customers. By monitoring website performance and making data-driven SEO improvements, you can ensure that your B2B ecommerce platform remains competitive and drives organic traffic.

Value of Personalized Experience

It is crucial to provide personalized experiences that cater to customers’ preferences. You can achieve this by implementing customer-specific pricing and discounts, offering customized product recommendations and promotions, and enabling features such as saved carts and wishlists for easy reordering. By tailoring the experience to individual customers, businesses can foster stronger relationships and increase customer satisfaction.

Incorporating NLP terms such as customer relationship management, online transactions, and operational efficiency can optimize the personalized experience and drive better results. Offering a customized and convenient buying journey sets your business apart and creates a lasting impression on your B2B customers.

Ability to Sell Internationally Including Multi-Language Support

Expand your business globally using a B2B ecommerce platform offering multi-language support. With the ability to provide localized content and product information in multiple languages, you can effectively reach a wider international audience. Additionally, offering multi-currency transaction options ensures a seamless buying experience for customers worldwide.

Complying with local tax regulations and shipping requirements is crucial for smooth cross-border operations. Furthermore, seamless translation and localization processes guarantee to convey your message in different languages. By embracing a B2B ecommerce platform with international selling capabilities, you can unlock new opportunities and establish a solid global presence.

Optimizing Your B2B Store for Mobile Devices

Maximize your B2B store’s potential by optimizing it for mobile devices. A mobile-friendly website is indispensable in today’s world, where business owners rely heavily on smartphones and tablets for online transactions. When selecting a B2B ecommerce platform, prioritize those with responsive design and mobile-friendly features to ensure success.

Optimize your website for fast loading speeds on mobile devices to provide a seamless user experience. Easy navigation and checkout processes keep customers engaged on mobile devices. Use mobile-specific features like push notifications or location-based services to enhance your online presence and improve customer engagement.

Why Mobile Optimization is Essential for B2B Ecommerce.

Mobile optimization is crucial for success in B2B ecommerce due to buyers’ increasing use of mobile devices. Investing in a mobile-friendly design is vital for businesses to enhance user experience, increase repeat business, and garner positive reviews. A mobile-optimized site also boosts search engine rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find products.

The responsive design guarantees a smooth transition across various devices, ensuring a uniform user experience. It is imperative to recognize the advantages it offers. By optimizing for mobile, B2B enterprises can capitalize on the escalating trend of mobile device purchasers, leading to amplified sales and revenue.

How Much Does a B2B Ecommerce Platform Cost?

The expenses linked with B2B ecommerce platforms may differ depending on the platform type and its characteristics. As a B2B company, you must account for one-time setup fees, subscription fees, and transaction fees. Furthermore, changes, integrations, and add-ons may entail additional charges. We strongly advise comparing price packages to guarantee you make the best option for your company. Don’t leave anything to chance; take control of your finances and select the best choice for your requirements.

Factors Influencing the Cost

When considering different B2B ecommerce platforms, several factors can influence the cost. B2B businesses should evaluate the platform’s scalability and the price structures offered by competing platforms. Finding pricing options tailored to meet customers’ specific requirements is essential and must be prioritized. Pay attention to the costs of additional features like CRM integration or real-time analytics.

The total cost of ownership, encompassing maintenance and support spending, must be evaluated.

Finally, the whole cost of ownership, including maintenance and support expenses, must be considered. Businesses may make an informed decision and choose the best B2B ecommerce platform for their financial resources and aims by carefully evaluating these aspects.

Cost Comparison of Different Platforms

When selecting a B2B ecommerce platform, it is essential to compare the pricing plans of various platforms. Seek out platforms that provide a satisfactory combination of features and support for the price. Additionally, assess the scalability of the platform and its compatibility with your budget. Analyze the pricing structures various platforms provide, encompassing subscription-based or pay-per-use alternatives.

Further, consider any supplementary expenses such as setup fees or transaction fees. A comprehensive comparison of prices among different platforms allows you to identify the most optimal solution that balances cost-effectiveness and the requisite features for your business.

Choosing the Right B2B Ecommerce Solution for Your Business

Assessing your individual goals and objectives is important when selecting a B2B ecommerce solution for your business. It is critical to consider the platform’s scalability to support future expansion and the user experience and interface to ensure it is intuitive and user-friendly. It is best to look for platforms that allow for customization, allowing you to customize the solution to your specific company needs. Furthermore, the platform’s integration capabilities with other systems, such as ERP or CRM, must be evaluated to ensure a continuous data flow. Considering these criteria, you can choose a B2B ecommerce solution that matches your business objectives and improves operational efficiency.

Assessing Business Needs and Requirements

You must consider several factors to assess your B2B business needs and requirements. Start by identifying the specific requirements unique to your business, such as order management and inventory control. Additionally, consider the volume of transactions and the complexity of your product catalog. Assessing the necessity of tailored pricing, customized catalogs, and self-service functionalities is crucial. Consider the degree of customer service and support essential for your company. Lastly, remember to factor in any specific industry regulations or compliance requirements. These considerations will help you choose the right B2B ecommerce platform to meet your business needs.

Vendor Evaluation and Selection

When choosing a B2B ecommerce platform, it is crucial to research and evaluate different vendors. Consider the platform’s reputation, experience, and customer reviews. Evaluating the platform’s track record and customer satisfaction levels is essential. Additionally, assessing the vendor’s ability to provide ongoing support and updates is vital.

To choose the perfect B2B ecommerce platform for your business, thoroughly analyze the vendor’s roadmap for upcoming enhancements and upgrades. This crucial step will enable you to identify the most suitable option confidently. By carefully considering these factors, business owners can confidently make a well-informed decision that aligns perfectly with their specific requirements and objectives. Following this approach, you will select the ideal B2B ecommerce platform to propel your business toward unprecedented success.

What is Better: A SaaS Solution or An Open-Source for the B2B store?

When considering a B2B store, evaluate which solution is better: a SaaS solution or open-source. SaaS offers easy setup and automatic updates, while open source provides flexibility and customization options. Assess the total cost of ownership and required technical expertise. Remember to consider security and data privacy features.

Open Source

Offers flexibility, customization, and lower costs
Allows integration with third-party tools
Provides control over growth
Allows users to build a custom online store
Provides full access to the original source code
Often leaves responsibilities like security, licensing, and maintenance to the user

SAAS

Offers quick setup, enhanced security, reliable support, and scalability
Provides an out-of-the-box experience and saves maintenance costs
The provider builds, hosts, and maintains the software
Allows users to build a custom online store
Includes costs like security, licensing, and maintenance in the monthly subscription rate

Conclusion

The decision you make when choosing your B2B eCommerce platform impacts your digital success. With many options available, it’s imperative to prioritize your unique requirements and goals while evaluating different platforms. While selecting a platform, consider scalability, customization options, integration capabilities, user experience, and customer support. By doing thorough research and comparing various options, you can choose the ideal B2B e-commerce platform to unlock new growth opportunities and enhance your overall business operations. Seek expert advice or consult with industry professionals to make an informed decision without hesitation.

Investing in the right B2B ecommerce platform will not only streamline your operations but also enhance customer experience, drive sales, and ultimately contribute to the growth and success of your business.

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The Benefits of Omnichannel for Your Business

Posted on August 26, 2023August 26, 2023 by Honey Olesen

As the world becomes increasingly digital, consumers expect a seamless shopping experience across all channels. Omnichannel is a retailing approach that integrates all touchpoints to provide customers with a fully immersive shopping experience. From mobile apps to social media, websites to physical stores, omnichannel allows customers to interact with brands in a way that suits them best.

We will examine the advantages of omnichannel for your organization in this blog. We will also explain how omnichannel techniques provide improved data gathering and contrast omnichannel, multichannel, and single-channel approaches. Finally, we’ll offer advice on creating a successful omnichannel marketing strategy that can boost traffic and revenue while improving the consumer experience.

Understanding Omnichannel

Omnichannel integrates multiple channels to create a seamless customer experience. The focus is on providing a consistent and personalized journey across various touchpoints, such as social media, mobile apps, and physical stores. This strategy allows customers to interact with the brand through their preferred channels, enhancing satisfaction and driving sales. According to the Harvard Business Review, a staggering 73% of consumers use multiple channels to make purchases. Businesses must use an omnichannel strategy that sends the correct message at the right time to appeal to today’s consumers. Unquestionably, having an omnichannel shopping experience will increase brand loyalty, improve customer relationship management, and significantly increase ROI.

How does omnichannel work in practice?

Omnichannel is the ultimate solution that seamlessly blends online and offline channels, empowering customers to browse products on the website, make purchases through a mobile app, and pick up items from physical stores. The primary objective is to deliver a shopping experience that caters to customer preferences and convenience. To achieve this, prioritize the integration of inventory, customer data, and order fulfillment.

What are examples of omnichannel?

Examples of omnichannel include various strategies such as buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS); online ordering with home delivery; buy online, return in-store; and mobile app ordering. Additionally, social media shopping, chatbots for customer service, and personalized marketing campaigns are other examples of how businesses implement omnichannel commerce.

Omnichannel vs. Multichannel vs. Single-Channel

Understanding the differences between omnichannel, multichannel, and single-channel approaches is crucial for businesses. Omnichannel provides a seamless integration of all channels, offering a consistent customer experience across touchpoints. In contrast, multichannel involves utilizing multiple channels, but they may not be integrated. On the other hand, single channel focuses on using just one channel to reach customers. The right approach depends on your business goals and target audience. With omnichannel, you can provide a superior brand experience, leverage digital channels like social media and chat, and even bridge the gap between online and brick-and-mortar stores. It’s about meeting customers’ expectations in today’s digital age, where user experience and real-time interactions are key.

Single channel

The single channel approach focuses on utilizing a specific channel such as online, catalog, mail-order, face-to-face selling, or traditional retail to engage with customers. However, this strategy may have limitations. With limited touchpoints, the customer journey becomes narrow, resulting in missed opportunities for engagement.

Furthermore, the lack of integration across multiple channels prevents businesses from providing a seamless experience. This can limit visibility and reach, as well as hinder efforts to target a specific customer segment. For businesses aiming for a comprehensive and integrated customer experience, the single-channel approach may not be ideal.

Multichannel

Multichannel involves utilizing multiple channels to reach customers, providing them with more touchpoints throughout their journey. This allows for a broader reach and increased visibility for your business. However, it’s important to note that multichannel strategies may lack consistency and personalization across channels, as each channel may operate independently.

To effectively implement a multichannel approach, careful coordination and management of each channel are necessary. Businesses should also be mindful of the contribution each channel delivers to the company’s revenue and profit. To do this, they would need to track marketing spend in each channel and review metrics like customer response, conversion rate, and loyalty to get an accurate picture of return on investment.

Not all multi-channel experiences are omnichannel, but all omnichannel experiences use multiple channels. Amazing mobile marketing, compelling social media campaigns, and a beautiful website are all possible. However, if they don’t share information, they fail to give clients an omnichannel experience.

Omnichannel

Omnichannel combines multiple channels into a seamless and integrated customer experience. It provides a consistent and personalized journey across all touchpoints, leveraging real-time data sharing and communication. This enhances customer engagement and satisfaction. Research shows that omnichannel customers spend more compared to single-channel shoppers. In fact, according to BigCommerce and Feedonomics, “marketing across three or more channels earns 250% higher engagement“.

However, implementing an effective omnichannel strategy requires a strategic and holistic approach. Businesses may provide a consistent brand experience by seamlessly combining digital channels like SMS, chat, and social media with conventional brick-and-mortar storefronts. Omnichannel marketing can result in higher ROI and a more successful customer relationship management (CRM) system using the correct business strategy. In today’s digital landscape, an omnichannel retail experience is key to meeting the expectations of today’s consumers.

Key Benefits of Omnichannel

Omnichannel offers several key benefits for businesses. First and foremost, it enables greater reach by allowing businesses to target a wider audience through various channels, both online and offline. This broader reach translates into increased visibility and customer engagement.

Additionally, omnichannel enhances the customer experience by providing a personalized and consistent journey across multiple touchpoints. For example, 17 years ago, the average consumer typically used two touch-points when buying an item and only 7% regularly used more than four. In 2021, consumers used an average of almost six touch-points with nearly 50% regularly using more than four.

Moreover, omnichannel facilitates better data collection, providing valuable insights for analysis and improvement. By leveraging these key benefits, businesses can optimize their strategies and drive growth.

Greater reach

Expanding its market share and visibility, omnichannel allows businesses to target customers across multiple channels. By engaging with customers at various touchpoints, this broader approach enables a wider reach and the opportunity to tap into new markets, increasing the customer base.

The use of digital channels, such as SMS, chat, and social media, as well as traditional brick-and-mortar stores, ensures that businesses can connect with today’s consumers at the right time and through their preferred platforms. With an effective omnichannel strategy in place, businesses can enhance their brand experience, boost customer relationship management, and achieve a higher ROI.

Enhancing Customer Experience with Omnichannel

Increasing customer experience is a fundamental objective of omnichannel. By delivering a seamless and tailored experience to customers, businesses can guarantee a seamless experience across all channels. Per ZenDesk’s CX Trends Report, 64 percent of customers are more likely to spend more if their issues are resolved on the channel they’re already using.

This underscores the significance of prioritizing omnichannel strategies in your business plan. Omnichannel strategy not only increases client satisfaction but also increases client loyalty and retention. By focusing on customer experience, personalization, and providing a consistent experience, businesses can reap the benefits of an omnichannel retail experience.

Increasing Sales and Traffic through Omnichannel

According to recent data, consumers who are part of an omnichannel strategy shop 1.7 times more frequently and make more purchases than single-channel shoppers. Omnichannel gives customers a variety of methods to interact with a business, thereby increasing revenue and website traffic. Customers can view and buy products online, go to a physical store or even buy products using mobile apps. This broader reach and accessibility lead to higher conversion rates and revenue.

By leveraging omnichannel shopping, businesses can create a seamless and convenient buying experience for customers, boosting sales and traffic to their online store.

How Omnichannel Facilitates Better Data Collection

Omnichannel revolutionizes data collection by enabling businesses to gather valuable customer insights from multiple channels. This encompasses purchase history, preferences, and behavior patterns, forming a goldmine of information for targeted marketing and personalization efforts.

By analyzing this data, businesses can refine their omnichannel strategies, providing an enhanced customer experience. Leveraging machine learning techniques for data analysis and customer journey mapping contributes to the identification of actionable insights that boost the effectiveness of the overall business strategy. Omnichannel empowers businesses to harness the power of data, paving the way for informed decision-making and a competitive advantage in today’s consumer-centric market.

Data Collection

The best tool for businesses to understand the behaviors, preferences, attitudes, and values of their consumers is omnichannel data. Omnichannel data analysis adopts an integrated strategy to offer a comprehensive perspective of consumer interactions, in contrast to multichannel data analysis, which focuses on fragmented data.

With the power of omnichannel data, marketers can not only understand historical and present customer activity but also predict future needs and wants. Product suggestions, upselling, and cross-selling tactics can be improved with the use of this data. Additionally, customer journey bottlenecks may be found, and the entire customer experience enhanced through omnichannel data analysis.

It’s also important to note how the impending loss of cookies is shifting the focus to consent-based information. Building trust with your customers so they volunteer information is one of the best ways to collect data.

Role of Data Analysis in Improving Omnichannel Strategy

Data analysis plays a crucial role in optimizing an omnichannel strategy. Businesses can gain valuable insights into patterns, preferences, and trends by analyzing customer data. This data is essential for improving marketing strategies, personalizing the consumer experience, and improving performance. Businesses can decide which channels to prioritize, what items to provide, and how to reach their customers at the correct moment by using data analysis. Real-time monitoring of customer behavior allows for quick adjustments to strategies.

It’s important to note that Forrester’s research found that 74 percent of firms aspire to be data-driven, but only 29 percent have successfully connected analytics to action. However, with the right approach and tools, any business can become data-driven and achieve success. Tools that work to integrate data from different platforms and let you build specific reports are called customer data platforms.

Importance of Customer Journey Mapping in Omnichannel

Understanding the customer’s path from initial contact to purchase is crucial in omnichannel. Customer journey mapping allows businesses to gain insights into the various touchpoints and interactions that a customer has with their brand. By mapping out this journey, businesses can identify pain points, areas for improvement, and opportunities for engagement. This knowledge helps optimize the omnichannel experience and increases customer satisfaction.

Through customer journey mapping, businesses can better understand how different channels contribute to the overall brand experience. It enables them to deliver personalized experiences at the right time and through the right channels, ensuring a seamless omnichannel retail experience for their customers.

Building an Effective Omnichannel Marketing Campaign

Nothing disrupts the customer journey more than a disconnect between a brand’s website, social media, emails, and in-store experience. However, with effective omnichannel marketing, businesses can guide their customers seamlessly from touchpoint to touchpoint, without any barriers or dead ends. This approach can lead to closed deals and maximum sales. On the other hand, if not executed properly, businesses risk losing customers.

Important elements of omnichannel strategies

To ensure a successful omnichannel strategy, it is important to focus on several key elements. It is crucial to provide a consistent experience over all touchpoints. Customers must have a consistent and fluid experience whether they are using your website, going to your physical location, or connecting with your brand on social media. This means allowing customers to easily transition between different channels without any disruptions.

Personalization is another important element in omnichannel strategies. Businesses can confidently enhance the overall user experience by leveraging customer data to tailor content and offers to individual preferences. Real-time messaging, such as SMS or chat, is an effective way to engage with customers and keep them informed. Prioritizing customer satisfaction and loyalty is crucial. By focusing on building strong relationships and delivering exceptional service, businesses can confidently create a loyal customer base that is more likely to make repeat purchases.

Starting with the Basics: eCommerce and Social Media Channels

A user-friendly website is essential to ensuring a flawless online purchasing experience. To achieve this, an interface must be designed with simple menus, search capabilities, and product classification. Furthermore, considering the growing number of consumers who use their smartphones and tablets for product browsing and purchases, optimizing your website for mobile devices is crucial.

Social media is crucial for building brand recognition and encouraging consumer engagement. Forecasts suggest that the value of social commerce sales will reach around 2.9 trillion U.S. dollars by 2026. By utilizing social media channels, you can reach a larger audience and foster a sense of community around your brand. This includes regularly posting compelling content, responding to customer inquiries and feedback, and leveraging social media advertising to enhance your reach.

Integrating your eCommerce store with social media channels is an effective way to implement an omnichannel approach. This allows customers to seamlessly move between different channels, such as browsing products on your website and then purchasing them through social media platforms or vice-versa. By providing this cohesive experience, you can enhance the customer journey and drive conversions.

Determine the strengths of each channel

Evaluate each channel in omnichannel marketing. Gain insights into how customers interact with your channels. Look for their preferences, their experiences, and their pain points. By doing so, you can create a seamless customer experience across all channels. This improves customer engagement and loyalty through personalized marketing and communication. Utilizing data analytics allows you to track and optimize the performance of your omnichannel strategy.

After carefully analyzing each channel, a business can adapt its omnichannel strategy to meet the demands of its customers. By using the power of all the channels used by your consumers, you can provide the experience they are looking for increase your ROI and build long-lasting customer relationships.

Perform competitive analysis

Performing a thorough competitive analysis is essential to gain valuable insights into how other businesses are leveraging omnichannel strategies and to maintain a competitive edge in the market. By analyzing your competitors’ tactics, you can identify best practices and gain a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively engage and purchase from customers across various channels.

Furthermore, selecting the right technology and platforms is critical to successfully implementing omnichannel strategies. This guarantees seamless integration and synchronization of data, enabling you to deliver a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints. This not only enhances the user experience but also strengthens your overall business strategy, leading to a significant boost in ROI.

What's Next in Omnichannel?

The future of omnichannel is headed towards personalized experiences for customers. By 2030, shopping will be highly customized, with activities even taking place in the metaverse. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will optimize omnichannel strategies, while augmented reality and virtual reality technologies will enhance the shopping experience. Social media platforms will integrate further with eCommerce, creating new business opportunities.

As many retailers attempt to generate their own retail media networks, marketplaces like Walmart are drawing interest not just as channels for purchases but also as venues for advertising. Plus, the convergence of retail media and CTV may lead to a change in spending from performance display advertisements to streaming video commercials.

Conclusion

In conclusion, implementing an omnichannel strategy can benefit your business. By seamlessly integrating the customer experience across multiple channels, you can expand your reach and elevate customer satisfaction to new heights. Sales increase as does customer traffic.

You can easily gather and evaluate data with omnichannel marketing, giving you the ability to make educated choices and improve your entire strategy. Prioritizing crucial elements such as your website and social media platforms, and utilizing the unique advantages of each platform are essential for developing a successful omnichannel strategy. Performing competitive analysis and mapping out the customer journey are also crucial steps to ensure success.

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Simplify Your eCommerce Platform: Magento to BigCommerce

Posted on August 1, 2023February 14, 2024 by Honey Olesen

Are you considering a switch from Magento to BigCommerce?

We will discuss a variety of subjects in this post to explain why BigCommerce could be the platform you decide on. We’ll look at the platform’s capabilities and features, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using it.

While both platforms (Magento and BigCommerce) offer a range of features, BigCommerce jumps ahead with a lineup such as its user-friendly interface, advanced marketing and SEO tools, various themes, and excellent customer support.

To help with the steps before migration, we will outline the pre-migration steps to ensure a smooth transition. Lastly, we’ll cover the post-migration considerations and share successful case studies of ecommerce.

Is BigCommerce the Right Choice for Your eCommerce Store?

BigCommerce could be a good option for your eCommerce business, taking into account your unique requirements. It serves enterprises of all sizes because to its adaptable features and user-friendly layout. If you want to know if the platform is good for you, you should take budget, goals, and functionality into account.

Features and capabilities of BigCommerce

BigCommerce presents a variety of customizable themes and its built in page builder to enhance your online store. Increase your visibility with its effective SEO tools, and utilize built-in marketing features such as abandoned cart recovery to drive conversions. Effortlessly integrate with well-known payment gateways and shipping providers. Robust analytics and reporting tools assist in tracking the performance of your store.

Pros and cons of using BigCommerce for eCommerce

Pros

Cons

BigCommerce Features That Make it a Worthy Upgrade from Magento

BigCommerce provides advanced, yet easy-to-use tools, making it easier for users to manage their online store. There is no maximum number of products per store, however, there is a limit to variants per product. It also delivers superior performance with faster page load times. Drive traffic and sales using built-in marketing tools and features. Additionally, BigCommerce offers top-of-the-line customer support and a robust ecosystem of apps and integrations.

User-friendly Interface

The seamlessly user-friendly interface allows for easy navigation and customization. Managing products, inventory, and orders are streamlined, eliminating the need for extensive coding or technical knowledge. The intuitive design ensures a seamless shopping experience while robust support and resources help users make the most of the user-friendly interface.

Advanced Marketing and SEO Tools

Advanced marketing and search engine optimization tools help you to drive traffic to your store and increase visibility among your competition. Improve search rankings with built-in SEO, customizable URLs, and meta tags. Utilize powerful marketing tools like email marketing, social media integration, and abandoned cart recovery. Stay ahead of the competition with comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities. Boost your online presence and attract more customers with the platform’s advanced marketing and search engine optimization features.

Theme Variety

Choose from 170 professionally designed themes, including 12 free theme options. Each theme allows for easy customization and branding of your online store. With responsive design, your store will look great and function well on all devices. The themes are also optimized for SEO, improving your store’s visibility and rankings. Plus, you can easily switch between themes without losing any data or branding.

Superior Customer Support

BigCommerce’s customer service support is available 24/7, including user help docs, learning guides, in-depth videos, product news, and community resources. Their knowledgeable team ensures prompt and efficient responses, allowing you to focus on growing your business. Rest easy knowing that your concerns will be addressed promptly, ensuring a seamless customer experience.

Choosing BigCommerce Over Magento: The Benefits

The user-friendly interface and intuitive design of BigCommerce make it easy to navigate, whereas the complex technology of Magento is more difficult for businesses to manage. It offers a variety of built-in marketing and SEO tools to increase online exposure. These same features can be obtained in Magento with the use of extensions. The ease of integration with popular payment gateways allows for seamless customer-to-customer transactions. Magento can offer the same payment gateways but will require sometime very complex integrations. With online chat, email, a knowledge base, and helpful support personnel, BigCommerce provides top-notch support. With automatic software updates and security patches, the platform is always secure and up-to-date, making it a popular choice for mid-size businesses.

Comparing Pricing: Magento vs BigCommerce

When it comes to comparing costs, Magento and BigCommerce offer different pricing structures. BigCommerce provides a transparent pricing model with no hidden fees, making it easier to budget for your eCommerce platform. Additionally, it offers seamless scalability, allowing you to easily upgrade or downgrade your plan as your business needs change. Magento Open Source is free to use, but costs add up when you factor in cost for development, extensions and hosting. BigCommerce also includes secure and reliable hosting in its plans, helping you save on hosting costs. While both platforms offer a variety of extensions, BigCommerce has many more built-in features, thus saving you on extension costs. Ultimately, when comparing costs, these factors make BigCommerce an attractive choice for businesses looking to simplify their eCommerce platform.

Pre-Migration Steps: Setting the Groundwork

Setting the groundwork for your Magento to BigCommerce migration requires careful planning and evaluation. Identify pain points in your current Magento platform and compare features and capabilities. Strategize your migration process, including data migration, theme customization, and SEO considerations. Back up your Magento store, test the migration on a staging environment, and notify customers about the upcoming transition. Providing support during and after the migration ensures a smooth transition.

Evaluating Your Current Magento Store

Evaluate the performance, structure, customizations, and user experience of your Magento store. Does it still align with your business goals? Has it become too cumbersome to manage? Consider the cost and resources required for maintenance and upgrades. Evaluate if migration to BigCommerce is necessary for improved functionality and growth.

Preparing Your BigCommerce Store

Preparing your BigCommerce store for migration is crucial to ensure a smooth transition. Prior to moving from Magento to BigCommerce, it’s essential to back up and secure your store data. Take the time to clean up and organize your product data, customizing your theme to match your brand and enhance the user experience. Thorough testing will help identify any issues before launching your new store.

What Data Can You Migrate from Magento to BigCommerce?

During the migration process from Magento to BigCommerce, various necessary data can be successfully transferred. This includes products, categories, customer information, order history, and even product attributes and images. To ensure a smooth transition and accurate data transfer, it is advisable to work with a professional migration service.

Will Your Product Information Migrate?

Migrating from Magento to BigCommerce? You can seamlessly transfer all your product information, including names, descriptions, SKUs, and prices. With the migration process, you can effortlessly transfer product images, attributes, categories, and variants. Preserve important metadata like SEO tags, URLs, and custom fields during the platform switch. Ensure accurate inventory data, customer reviews, and ratings for a seamless transition.

Customer Data

Migrate customer profiles, including contact information and purchase history, from your Magento store to BigCommerce effortlessly. Retain customer segmentation data for targeted marketing campaigns on the BigCommerce platform, ensuring a seamless transition. Transfer customer reviews and ratings to maintain social proof and enhance trust on your new eCommerce platform. Move customer subscription and loyalty program data for uninterrupted service and rewards.

Order History and Transaction Details

Migrating order history and transaction details from Magento to BigCommerce is a seamless process. All customer and payment information can be transferred, depending on the chosen program. This ensures a smooth transition while preserving valuable data and insights for analysis. With complete visibility of past orders and transactions in the new platform, you can maintain a seamless customer experience.

Overcoming Challenges During Migration

Planning and strategy are crucial in overcoming challenges during the Magento to BigCommerce migration. Develop a detailed migration plan to ensure a smooth transition. Proper data migration is essential to transfer all product, customer, and order data accurately. Customizing the design and layout of your BigCommerce store improves user experience and maintains brand consistency. Implement SEO best practices to maintain or improve search engine rankings. Thoroughly test the new BigCommerce store before going live to identify and fix any issues.

Dealing with Data Loss

Data loss during the migration process can cause significant disruptions to your business operations. You must have a comprehensive plan and the time and internal resources to properly migrate your data. If you have never done a data migration or are unfamiliar with the process, utilize the assistance of a professional. Thorough testing and verification of data integrity post-migration is also essential to identify and address any potential issues or discrepancies. By implementing proper data migration techniques and tools, you can effectively mitigate the risk of data loss during the transition.

Managing Downtime During Migration

Managing downtime during migration plays a crucial role in ensuring a smooth transition. To minimize downtime, it is important to plan and schedule the migration during off-peak hours. Implementing a temporary maintenance page can inform customers about the migration process and expected duration. Thorough testing and troubleshooting before going live can reduce downtime. Communicating with customers about the planned downtime manages expectations. Utilizing backup systems and data replication ensures minimal disruption during the migration.

Detailed Migration Process: Magento to BigCommerce

BigCommerce can provide step-by-step instructions for migrating your data. Before implementing these steps, ensure that you have reviewed your data, ensuring its accuracy and integrity. After completion of the migration, test and optimize your store for functionality and user experience. Remember to update any integrations or extensions that were required. With BigCommerce’s in-house Catalog Transfer Team, you can rest assured that they will walk you through the process and get you set up on your new platform.

Step 1: Exporting Data from Magento

Exporting data from Magento is the crucial first step towards migrating to BigCommerce. You can save your data (such as products, customers and orders) in a CSV format using the Magento admin panel. It’s essential to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the exported data during the migration process for a seamless transition to the BigCommerce platform.

Step 2: Importing Data to BigCommerce

BigCommerce simplifies the data import process for Magento users. With step-by-step guidance, it ensures a quick and accurate transfer of product, customer, and order data. This means a seamless transition to BigCommerce without the hassle of manual data entry. Easily migrate your entire eCommerce store with BigCommerce’s data import feature.

Step 4: Testing the New Store

Testing the new store is a crucial step to ensure proper functionality and a seamless user experience. Thoroughly test all features, including product pages, shopping cart, payment gateways, and mobile responsiveness. Test various scenarios like placing orders, applying discounts, and checking out as a guest or registered user. Identify and resolve any issues or bugs before making the new site live. Engage testers or use testing tools to evaluate functionality and performance.

Step 5: Redirecting and Launching Your New BigCommerce Store

Redirecting and launching your new BigCommerce store requires careful planning and execution. Properly redirecting URLs is crucial to avoid broken links for your customers. Test the redirects beforehand to ensure they are functioning correctly. It’s also important to launch your store during a low-traffic period to minimize disruptions. Inform your customers and stakeholders about the migration and the launch of your new store. After the launch, monitor the performance of your new BigCommerce store to promptly address any issues that may arise.

Post-Migration Considerations

So you finished the migration. What’s next? First, utilize the new features provided by the BigCommerce platform. Remember those great SEO features we shared earlier- put them to use now. Optimize your site for mobile – it will make for a better user experience. Make sure to test and monitor your store’s performance and fix any issues that you may find. Adjust the marketing strategies that you used before to align with the new platform.

Ensuring Smooth Operation Post-Migration

After migrating from Magento to BigCommerce, it is crucial to verify the accurate transfer of all data, including customer information and order history. Updating integrations and third-party apps will ensure compatibility with the BigCommerce platform. It is essential to thoroughly test the functionality of the new BigCommerce store, including checkout processes, payment gateways, and shipping options. Training staff on the new platform and any workflow changes will aid in a smooth transition. Ongoing monitoring of website performance and user experience will help identify and address any issues promptly.

SEO Considerations After Migration

Make sure you work on your SEO – taking advantage of those great platform features. Firstly, ensure that all 301 redirects are implemented to preserve SEO rankings and traffic. Additionally, update your XML sitemap and submit it to search engines for indexing. Conduct a thorough audit of on-page SEO elements such as meta tags, header tags, and keyword optimization. Monitor website performance and loading speed to provide a positive user experience. Lastly, implementing a comprehensive backlink strategy can help maintain or even improve search engine rankings.

Customer Communication Post-Migration

Clear and timely communication with customers throughout the migration process is crucial. Provide detailed instructions on accessing their accounts on the new platform. Address any concerns or questions they may have post-migration. Offer ongoing support during their transition. Utilize customer feedback to enhance their experience.

Case Study: Successful Magento to BigCommerce Migrations

This case study highlights a successful migration from Magento to BigCommerce. The company experienced improved site performance and faster page load times post-migration. Migrating to BigCommerce enabled the marketing department to easily manage and update their site. With the new platform, the company reported increased conversion rates and higher customer satisfaction. The migration streamlined backend operations and reduced maintenance costs. To learn more, read here.

For additional case studies, visit BigCommerce here.

Conclusion

In conclusion, switching from Magento to BigCommerce can simplify your eCommerce business and offer a range of benefits for your online store. With user-friendly interfaces, advanced marketing tools, diverse themes, and superior customer support, BigCommerce is a worthy upgrade.

Before migrating, it’s important to evaluate your current store. You can migrate various data, including product information, customer data, and order history. Overcoming challenges such as data loss and managing downtime during migration is crucial.

Post-migration considerations include ensuring smooth operation, addressing SEO needs, and communicating with customers. Successful case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of Magento to BigCommerce migrations.

If you need assistance with your migration, please get in touch with our team.

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The Future of eCommerce Business: Trends to Watch

Posted on June 28, 2023February 13, 2024 by Honey Olesen

Introduction to the four-part series on eCommerce businesses.

The eCommerce industry experienced a steady growth rate pre-pandemic. The industry then saw an unprecedented surge during the pandemic. The pandemic changed online shopping from an option to a necessity. Post-pandemic, eCommerce businesses are seeing a decline in sales. At the same time, in-store sales in the US have been increasing. In this blog post, we will be discussing the trends for small business to mid-market businesses that will shape the future of eCommerce. From customer retention and fulfillment to compliance and risk management followed by revenue growth and operational scaling, competition, and online presence. What is next for eCommerce?

Make or Break the eCommerce Business

Your eCommerce success hinges on multiple factors. To succeed in this highly competitive industry, businesses must cater to their target market through SEO and social media marketing strategies. A business model that incorporates subscriptions or exceptional customer service can also boost loyalty and retention rates. Ecommerce store owners must prioritize logistics, shipping, packaging, and delivery times to ensure customer satisfaction. By leveraging analytics and integrating with applicable tools like Google or Meta, eCommerce store owners can continue to stay ahead of the curve.

The Current State of eCommerce

Some salaries are on the rise, with a record low in unemployment rates. However, inflation has reached its peak. Business expenses such as shipping, fulfillment, and labor costs, as well as customer acquisition costs, for eCommerce companies, have all increased. As a result, digital prices (digital pricing is model-based, data-driven, and adaptive, connecting price to value across the customer journey, def) have risen but not to the same extent as retail prices. Consumer confidence is dwindling, leading to decreased spending compared to last year. The percentage of eCommerce sales out of total retail sales is approaching pre-pandemic levels. With intense competition for consumer spending, it is crucial to focus on creating an excellent user experience that captures shoppers’ attention and motivates them to make purchases.

Advantages and Disadvantages of eCommerce

The benefit of an eCommerce business is that online stores allow for a bigger reach and audience. This expands the market potential and increases the opportunities for growth. Ecommerce eliminates the need for a physical storefront, which significantly reduces overhead costs such as rent, utilities, and maintenance. Additionally, online marketing and advertising are often more cost-effective than traditional methods. Ecommerce platforms are highly flexible, allowing businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions, customer preferences, and industry trends.

One of the major disadvantages of eCommerce is the loss of face-to-face interaction between customers and the products. Customers cannot physically inspect products before purchasing, which may lead to dissatisfaction if the product does not meet their expectations. Additionally, the loss of personal interaction may limit the ability to ask questions or seek clarification, leading to potential miscommunication. Another disadvantage may be that online transactions involve sharing personal and financial information, which may increase cyber threats such as hacking, data breaches, or identity theft.

Customer Retention and Fulfillment

What can a business do to retain its customer base? Some options are live chat, loyalty programs, subscription services, reviews, and personalization. Additionally, order management plays a crucial role in customer satisfaction. When customers place an order with a business, they have certain expectations regarding the product or service they are purchasing.

Live Chat

Live chat is becoming an increasingly popular way for eCommerce businesses to provide customer support and improve customer retention rates. Customers can receive quick and personalized responses to their inquiries or issues through live chat in real time. Additionally, it allows ecommerce businesses to gather feedback from their potential customers and address any concerns or complaints efficiently. By using live chat as a tool for providing excellent customer service, eCommerce companies can build trust and loyalty among their target audience. This results in increased revenue generation by gaining loyal customers who shop frequently from the online store.

Do Loyalty Programs Work?

Implementing a loyalty program in e-commerce may improve customer retention, engagement, satisfaction, and business growth, as well as provide useful data and insights for marketing and product development. Personalized rewards like exclusive access or discounts can enhance the effectiveness of a loyalty program. However, the success of the program depends on its execution.

Add Subscriptions to Product Offering

Subscription programs implemented by eCommerce businesses can provide their customers with a convenient and predictable shopping experience, as well as provide businesses with a more predictable revenue stream. By providing a unique subscription model or exclusive benefits, companies can attract customers who value the convenience, personalized experience, and ongoing relationship that subscriptions offer. Some service providers for subscriptions are Ordergroove and Rebillia.

By utilizing subscription services, eCommerce businesses can establish themselves as niche providers within their target market and differentiate themselves from competitors such as Amazon or eBay. Additionally, offering subscriptions can aid in the collection of valuable data regarding customer preferences which can inform marketing strategies.

Capture and Show Reviews

To build trust and credibility with potential buyers, eCommerce businesses should prioritize capturing customer feedback. Displaying positive reviews on their website or social media platforms can help attract new customers. Additionally, using surveys or follow-up emails to capture customer feedback can help in improving the business and its products. By actively seeking out and utilizing customer feedback, eCommerce businesses can effectively establish themselves as reliable sources for their target audience.

Personalization Leads to Retention

To provide exceptional customer experiences, drive sales, foster customer loyalty, and remain competitive in an increasingly digital marketplace, personalization in sales is crucial for eCommerce companies. Personalization can provide an enhanced customer experience, increased conversion rate, higher average order value, and improved customer retention. Additionally, by gathering and analyzing data related to customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history, eCommerce companies can gain valuable insights into customer trends, market demands, and product performance.

Inventory Management

Order management refers to the process of efficiently handling and fulfilling customer orders from the initial placement to the final delivery. It involves various activities such as order processing, inventory management, shipping, and tracking. Effective order management ensures that customer orders are accurately and promptly fulfilled, leading to customer satisfaction and ultimately contributing to customer retention. By meeting and exceeding customer expectations throughout the order process, businesses can foster long-term customer loyalty and retention.

Compliance and Risk Management

For eCommerce businesses looking to succeed in today’s ever-changing landscape, compliance and risk management are crucial considerations. Adapting to changing regulations related to taxation, data protection, consumer rights, and cross-border transactions can pose challenges. Staying ahead of the game means implementing robust security measures against potential fraud or cyberattacks. Ensuring the safety of customer information is paramount; offering secure payment options such as two-factor authentication or encryption can go a long way towards earning customer trust.

ADA Compliance

Ensuring your eCommerce website is ADA compliant is vital in making it accessible to users with disabilities. To comply with regulations and improve the user experience of your online store, companies can hire developers to program their eCommerce store per the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG. Other alternatives include utilizing the services of companies such as accessiBe. Adding alt text to images, providing captions for videos, and maintaining proper color contrast are some ways you can achieve compliance and make your website accessible for everyone. Not only does this help you avoid legal action, but it also enhances your customer’s shopping experience.

eCommerce Store Uptime

Maintaining uptime for an ecommerce business is vital as downtime leads to loss of sales & customer trust. Backup & restore security measures by companies like Rewind help achieve that. You can’t afford for your store to go down. SaaS platforms such as BigCommerce make it their highest priority to make sure it doesn’t. With industry-leading uptime at 99.99%, BigCommerce keeps your commerce engine running, giving you the competitive edge.

Manage Cyber Threats

With the rising frequency and sophistication of cyber threats, eCommerce companies need to prioritize cybersecurity to protect customer data, financial transactions, and sensitive information. Ensuring robust security measures and maintaining customer trust is crucial. As data breaches become more common, concerns about privacy and data protection have grown. eCommerce companies must comply with relevant data protection laws and regulations and implement measures to safeguard customer data, ensuring transparent data practices and obtaining appropriate consent. Using SaaS platforms like BigCommerce help as they maintain servers, install updates or patch the servers when security vulnerabilities are discovered.

What is Fraud and How to Avoid It

Protecting your eCommerce business from fraud is crucial for its success. Illegal activities involving deception or misrepresentation for financial gain can cause significant financial losses. Ecommerce stores are especially vulnerable to fraudulent activities because of the anonymity that online transactions provide. Incorporating security measures such as two-factor authentication and encryption help mitigate the risk of fraud. It’s essential to stay up to date on current trends and adjust business practices accordingly to avoid potential harm from fraudulent activities. Taking proactive steps like these will help protect the reputation and bottom line of any eCommerce store owner.

Revenue Growth and Operational Scaling

Maximizing revenue growth is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring, adaptation, and experimentation. To maximize revenue and ensure operational scalability, companies must implement key strategies and practices. Choose an eCommerce platform and software architecture that can handle high volumes of traffic and transactions. Automate certain aspects of your business, outsource or partner with third-party logistics providers, or explore new sales channels like Amazon and social media platforms to help streamline your operations. Additionally, leverage analytics to uncover insights about your target audience and their shopping habits to make more informed decisions and drive growth for your business.

Multi-Channel vs. Cross-Channel vs. Omnichannel: What Marketing Strategy to Choose?

When it comes to marketing, there are different approaches to consider based on your business goals and target audience. Multi-channel uses various platforms to reach customers and each channel operates independently. There might not be much integration or synchronization between them.

Cross-channel creates a consistent experience. Cross-channel strategies focus on creating a consistent brand message and experience across multiple touchpoints.

Omnichannel integrates all channels for a personalized strategy favored by many due to its higher conversion rates. In an omnichannel strategy, channels are connected and synchronized, allowing customers to switch between them without disruption. For example, a customer can start researching a product on a website, continue on a mobile app, and complete the purchase in a physical store, with all information and preferences seamlessly transferred.

Using Analytics to Uncover Insights

Analytics can be immensely useful for eCommerce companies in various ways. By analyzing customer, product, and operational data, you can make informed decisions that lead to better business outcomes. Use customer data to gain deep insights into a customer’s behavior, preferences, and purchasing patterns. Additionally, product data enables you to identify emerging trends and optimize your product offerings accordingly. Analytics plays a crucial role in powering personalized experiences for customers. By leveraging data on customer preferences, purchase history, and browsing behavior, eCommerce companies can create recommendation engines that suggest relevant products or personalized offers.

Leverage AI To Improve Lead Generation

To enhance your eCommerce business’s lead generation potential, consider leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). AI can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends, enabling ecommerce companies to predict customer behavior, preferences, and purchasing patterns. Use this information to target potential leads more effectively. In addition, AI algorithms can recommend relevant products and tailor marketing messages to individual customers, increasing the chances of generating leads.

Integrating Your ERP With Your eCommerce Platform

Integrating your ERP system with your eCommerce platform is crucial in optimizing your online store’s efficiency. With real-time inventory management and order tracking, you reduce the risk of overselling or stockouts that could negatively affect potential customers’ shopping experience. This automation also saves valuable time and reduces costs, allowing you to focus on growing your business by targeting your niche audience using SEO strategies or leveraging social media marketing tactics. By integrating your ERP system with an eCommerce platform like BigCommerce using a company like Jitterbit, you are one step ahead of the competition and can make data-driven decisions that drive growth while ensuring a seamless user experience.

Growing With Your eCommerce Platform

To ensure your choice of eCommerce platform can scale as your operations grow, look for these deciding factors. Assess whether the platform can handle increased traffic, sales volume, and product offerings as your business grows. Ensure that the platform can deliver fast and reliable performance, as slow loading times or frequent downtime can significantly impact user experience and sales. Make sure the platform supports the integration of your needed services such as payment gateway, inventory management systems, marketing tools, etc. Verify that the platform adheres to industry-standard security practices. Finally, assess the platform’s ability to accommodate future expansion plans and the availability of upgrade paths or higher-tier plans with advanced features.

Competition and eCommerce Presence

In today’s ecommerce business landscape, staying ahead of the competition is crucial. One way to achieve this is by building a strong online presence that resonates with potential customers. Conduct market research to get insights into what your competitors are doing and optimize your website for search engine visibility. Identify your target audience, create unique content, and drive traffic from social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook. Always keep user experience in mind while designing for conversion through effective call-to-actions or shopping cart optimization.

Do a Competitive Analysis

To have an edge over the competition while running an eCommerce business, always research competitors to identify them and analyze their online presence alongside product offerings, pricing strategies and customer reviews. Use this information to differentiate your business from others in the niche and improve your eCommerce strategy. To stay ahead of the pack in the ever-evolving ecommerce market; keep yourself updated with the latest industry trends.

Know your Target Audience

To succeed in your eCommerce business, it’s crucial to know your target audience. By understanding their needs and preferences, you can tailor your marketing strategies and product offerings for maximal effect. Customer surveys, website analytics, and social media monitoring are great ways to gather invaluable insights into your target market. Finally, having a frictionless eCommerce store that offers a smooth shopping experience along with smart marketing strategies is vital for attracting new customers.

Design for Conversion

To enhance the potential of an online store of an eCommerce business, it is imperative to prioritize designing for conversion. In contrast to brick-and-mortar stores, eCommerce businesses have limited opportunities for shoppers to establish a connection with their products or services. Therefore, investing in user experience (UX) and customer journey mapping are vital components of designing an appealing eCommerce website. UX focuses on enhancing the overall experience of users while they interact with an eCommerce website or mobile app. The goal is to make the shopping process seamless, intuitive, and enjoyable, leading to increased customer satisfaction and conversions.

Create Unique Content

Creating unique content is vital for the success of any eCommerce business. Google values unique and original content because it provides value to users. By creating high-quality and relevant content, you can optimize your product pages, category descriptions, and blog posts with keywords and information that align with user intent. This helps search engines understand your content better, leading to higher rankings in relevant search results. By offering informative and engaging product descriptions, detailed specifications, and unique features, you can persuade potential customers to choose your store over competitors. This improved user experience can result in increased time spent on your site, lower bounce rates, and higher conversion rates—all of which positively influence Google rankings.

Driving Traffic from Social

Social media is increasingly becoming an essential channel for driving traffic and sales for eCommerce websites. To succeed in this area of business, it is vital for online store owners to have a strong presence on platforms that align with their target audience. Common platforms for eCommerce include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube. Each platform has its own strengths, so choose the ones that best suit your business and goals. Take advantage of social commerce features provided by platforms like Facebook Shops. These features enable users to browse and purchase products directly within the social media platform, streamlining the buying process.

Future of eCommerce

As the world becomes more connected and digital, eCommerce continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. Changing consumer behavior is a key factor driving the growth of eCommerce. With the increasing use of technology and social media, consumers are becoming more comfortable with making purchases online. Additionally, younger generations are more likely to prefer online shopping through Instagram’s Checkout and Facebook’s Marketplace, for example, to traditional brick-and-mortar stores. As these trends continue, eCommerce will become an even more important part of the retail landscape.

Leverage eCommerce Toolset

Managing a successful eCommerce business requires using all available tools. This toolset includes the use of social commerce and other marketplaces (omnichannel); using data analytics and AI to provide customized product recommendations, targeted advertising, and personalized email marketing; offering subscription services; and the research and understanding of competitors and customer segments. Retailers who stay ahead of these trends and provide exceptional customer experiences will be well-positioned for success in the years to come.

Conclusion

The eCommerce industry has transformed into an integral part of our daily lives. Each year, new trends emerge, leading to continuous evolution within the industry. With numerous eCommerce players in the market, business owners must elevate their game to stay competitive. The highly saturated eCommerce industry necessitates that brands provide superior shopping experiences if they want to stand out amongst a sea of similar competing products. In addition to offering quality products and services, businesses need to focus on building strong customer relationships by providing efficient delivery options, simplified checkout processes, and personalized recommendations based on user data. By prioritizing customer satisfaction and continuously adapting to changing trends, businesses can thrive in the ever-evolving world of eCommerce.

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Headless With Shogun Frontend To Reduce Tech Dependency

Posted on March 21, 2022February 13, 2024 by admin

Headless & Composable

As an eCommerce store operator, if you haven’t heard of, or considered headless as an option for your store, now might be a good time to do so. Headless, along with composable commerce, is promising to enable a flexible eCommerce ecosystem for modern commerce. Several factors make these newer paradigms necessary or at least desirable. In short, headless is about having a custom front end with better speed and user experience than is possible with the bundled front end that comes with platforms. Composable commerce lets you strip and replace specific parts of your eCommerce backend when newer innovations happen. For example, let’s say there’s a much better product discovery platform in the market. Using composable commerce, you could strip out the existing discovery product and replace it without affecting anything else. Our blog on headless and composable commerce explains in detail what it is and its advantages for beginners.

Headless Without Composable

The two paradigms are used together in many ways, including the newly formed MACH Alliance. However, they are not necessarily tied together. Composable commerce is a much more significant investment. We expect only the enterprises and larger mid-market companies to shift to composable commerce in the short term.

However, headless is a much smaller investment and has more immediate gains for stores of all sizes. Gains such as user experience and site speed, both of which are becoming not something desirable but necessary to survive in a competitive market. Headless can be implemented on top of any platform that supports an API like BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce, or Shopify.

Shogun Frontend

However, headless implementation is not without downsides. One of the most significant downsides of a headless implementation is that any changes require the assistance of a technology team. Enter, Shogun Frontend, a platform that enables developers to create a custom frontend while allowing business and marketing users to edit content as needed without the technology team’s assistance. The folks at Shogun adopted PWA to make these sites superfast, giving stores an added boost in SEO ratings.

atmosol is a Certified Partner of Shogun Frontend

atmosol has been building eCommerce stores using platforms like BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce, or Shopify for over 16 years.

Headless & Composable

Headless Without Composable

The two paradigms are used together in many ways, including the newly formed MACH Alliance. However, they are not necessarily tied together. Composable commerce is a much more significant investment. We expect enterprises and larger mid-market companies to shift to composable commerce in the short term.

However, headless is a much smaller investment and has more immediate gains for stores of all sizes. Gains such as user experience and site speed are becoming not something desirable but necessary to survive in a competitive market. Headless can be implemented on top of any platform that supports an API like BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce, or Shopify.

Shogun Frontend

However, headless implementation is not without downsides. One of the most significant downsides of a headless implementation is that any changes require the assistance of a technology team. Enter Shogun Frontend is a platform that enables developers to create a custom frontend while allowing business and marketing users to edit content without the technology team’s assistance. The folks at Shogun adopted PWA to make these sites superfast, giving stores an added boost in SEO ratings.

atmosol is a Certified Partner of Shogun Frontend

atmosol has been building eCommerce stores using platforms like BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce, or Shopify for over 16 years. We’ve also worked with Shogun’s page builder on BigCommerce and Shopify for several years. Over a decade of experience building SaaS products using frontend technologies like React and Angular. This puts us in a unique position to have strong expertise in both areas and well placed to build headless stores.

We’ve also been building these products on the cloud using micro-services for a long time, thus enabling us to adapt even to composable commerce quickly. All these aspects made it an obvious choice for us and Shogun to partner and get atmosol certified to take our clients on a journey of better user experience and speed. So, here’s to a great partnership and next-level user experience for our clients!

How Much Does a BigCommerce Website Cost

Posted on July 30, 2019July 27, 2023 by admin

To help you when considering BigCommerce as your eCommerce platform, we provide you the starting cost to know what you should expect from our agency:

Basic Plan // Starting at $7,000
Theme & Customizations // Starting at $13,0000
Custom Design // Starting at $45,000

What does it include?

Store features, Financing Options, Theme Implementation, Design, Data Migration, SEO, Training, Payment Gateway, Mobile responsive.

Understanding the Costs of a BigCommerce Website

BigCommerce is one of the leading eCommerce platforms in today’s market. It provides entrepreneurs and businesses a robust platform to create an online store, sell products, and manage an eCommerce business. But one question that often comes up when considering BigCommerce is, “How much does a BigCommerce website cost?” In this blog, we’ll delve into the potential costs you might encounter when setting up your online store with BigCommerce.

While the BigCommerce pricing plans cover the essential functionality you need to operate an eCommerce store, there may be additional costs to consider.

Design and Themes: BigCommerce offers a variety of free and premium themes. Premium themes range from $150-$300. Customizing a theme or building a new one can cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on your requirements and the designer’s rates.

Apps and Integrations: Although BigCommerce comes with a lot of built-in features, you might need additional functionality provided by third-party apps. These apps can range from free to more than $50 per month.

SEO and Marketing: SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, and paid advertising are integral parts of running an online store. These can vary widely in cost, depending on your strategy and the platforms you use.

Maintenance and Support: While BigCommerce includes support in its plans, you might need to hire a BigCommerce developer for custom solutions or troubleshooting complex issues. The costs for such services can vary based on the complexity and frequency of tasks.

Conclusion

So, how much does a BigCommerce website cost? The short answer is that it depends. The monthly costs can range from $29.95 to a few hundred dollars based on the pricing plan you select. When you factor in additional costs such as themes, apps, marketing, and support, the cost can increase significantly.

However, it’s important to remember that an eCommerce website is an investment. The true cost must be measured against the potential ROI. Regardless of the size of your business, BigCommerce provides a comprehensive platform to launch, manage, and scale your online store. Always align your eCommerce investment with your business goals and budget to ensure a successful venture.

Remember, cost is just one factor to consider when choosing an eCommerce platform. Be sure to also consider the platform’s features, scalability, security, and how well it aligns with your business needs before making a decision.

And more… We created an exhaustive list of everything that is included check it out!

If you are looking for an experienced, certified BigCommerce development partner, let our creative team of eCommerce experts assist you.

BigCommerce Designs that Convert

Posted on January 23, 2019February 13, 2024 by admin

You only get one chance at a first impression. BigCommerce designs can help.

SaaS solutions are notorious for being rigid and difficult to customize. Stencil changes all of that.

You can have multiple variations on each theme and the option to customize their storefront’s look and feel with no coding!

BIGCOMMERCE DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT :

Stencil is the latest theming engine from BigCommerce and replaces Blueprint. Now designs can be agile and custom through BC-powered UX.

We can take your basic Stencil theme and augment the design using the following:

Responsive Custom BigCommerce Design

Get a custom BigCommerce theme that looks sharp, is fully responsive, and is easy for your customers to view on all devices.

Design Upgrades & Improvements

Start with your existing BigCommerce theme or choose a brand new one, and we will customize it to fit your business needs.

Advanced Design Customization

Checkout page design improvements, mega menus, geo-filters, age confirmation popups & more…

Design Migrations

We can migrate your theme from any other shopping cart platform to your new BigCommerce store.

ECOMMERCE THEMES + CUSTOM DESIGN

Yet, if you need more than what comes out of the box, it’s time to develop your custom theme.

We create BigCommerce web designs that load quickly with intuitive, user-friendly designs to help improve your eCommerce conversions and increase sales.

If you are looking for an experienced, certified BigCommerce development partner, let our creative and experienced team of eCommerce designers assist you with all your BigCommerce design needs.

Get your customers’ interest and attention with a custom BigCommerce design tailored to your brand.

Let’s Talk eCommerce

4 reasons to switch from blueprint to stencil BigCommerce

Posted on December 10, 2018June 3, 2023 by admin

BigCommerce launched Stencil in 2016 as a new framework to follow Blueprint.

Many have already made the upgrade, but site owners are still using Blueprint as the backbone of their online businesses. Switching to a new theme platform may seem intimidating. However, moving from Blueprint to Stencil on BigCommerce makes your website faster and more accessible.

With Stencil, BigCommerce has carried over its best services while incorporating a whole host of new features to capitalize on advancements in search engine optimization, design, and technology. Switching to the updated framework can bring a number of benefits to business owners while reducing the cost of fixes and upgrades down the line.

For those still using Blueprint, here are 4 reasons why you should make the switch to Stencil:

Stencil is SEO friendly

Stencil’s performance rating in Google page speed is around 90 for desktop and 74 for mobile. Those are solid numbers, particularly on desktop, making Stencil a winner for sites looking to maintain SEO best practices along with a strong user experience.

Some may fear that a jump from Blueprint to Stencil will lead to an SEO downgrade, but that’s not the case. A site migration from one platform to another can hurt your rankings if not performed correctly, but a move from Blueprint to Stencil is not a full migration – you’ll still be on the BigCommerce platform. When Google’s bots recrawl the revised site, they’ll find an improved code and an upgraded design, which will contribute to better SEO rankings.

Additionally, Stencil supports rich snippets, which allows search engines to gain a better understanding of what’s on a web page. Rich snippets are also used to present more nuanced search results, like images, ratings, reviews, and other features that may incentivize clicks and ultimately, conversions. Support for rich snippets is essential for sites looking to stand out among competitors on the same search results page.

Stencil means speed

The Stencil framework supports sites in a number of ways, including:

Akamai Image Manager: Stencil uses Akamai Image Manager, which optimizes website images based on device size. That means images will load faster for visitors, regardless of the browser’s origin. This is a game-changer for online businesses looking to enhance a user’s experience through videos and high-quality images without needlessly adding to the page’s load time. Stencil also enables “lazy loading” images, which enhances speed and UX.
Minification of CSS & JS: The Stencil framework minifies and combines JavaScript and CSS scripts, which cuts down on web requests and limits the size of files. By condensing it all down to single CSS and JS files, HTTP requests are reduced, which makes for a much faster site loading speed.
Google AMP Support: BigCommerce’s standard Stencil theme supports Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), an open-source initiative to make sites load faster on mobile devices. AMP enables the creation of websites that are consistently fast with pages and ads that load almost instantly. Meanwhile, it allows publishers to hone and tweak their content to best suit their users and position themselves to attract new customers.

Customization made easy

The Stencil Theme Editor allows you to customize and manage storefront attributes with zero coding required. That means publishers can adjust components such as colors, fonts, and many items displayed quickly and easily.

Localization has become extremely important for globally-focused merchants, and Stencil’s framework can let your site seamlessly adapt to any targeted customer’s language. Previously, content translation was an onerous task requiring manual revisions along with separate sites and content. With Stencil, you can set a defined number of languages to translate within each theme based on a predefined schema. There may be cultural or linguistic nuances you may need to account for such as colloquialisms and phrasing, but theme translation options enable you to feature site content that’s relevant to an international audience.

Stencil is developer friendly

The Stencil framework allows you to develop and test code locally, which means that you can try a new approach without overhauling a complete instance of a development storefront. Stencil accomplishes this by referencing the production storefront of your choosing, meaning that you can test, tweak, and transform without the involvement of production code.

Blueprint represented a significant step forward at the time of its release, but Stencil’s code is considered even more developer-friendly. That’s great news for online entrepreneurs who will save money in the long run with fewer hours billed to developers.

Don’t Delay, Switch Today! – Blueprint Is On Its Way Out…

Today, new features are being developed exclusively for the Stencil platform – not for Blueprint. Effectively, this means that your website’s development will stagnate without upgrading from BigCommerce’s Blueprint to Stencil. BigCommerce will cease to support Blueprint entirely, which means that the switch to Stencil is an imperative step site owners will have to take in order to implement vital upgrades.

To make the seamless transition today, or to inquire about the benefits of switching from BigCommerce’s Blueprint to Stencil, contact our experts. We lead the industry in site migrations that retain valuable rankings, traffic, and revenue. atmosol is also a Certified BigCommerce partner.