When business professionals travel overseas, there are plenty of new experiences awaiting their arrival. There are new foods to try, new languages to stumble over and cultural differences to be aware of. For U.S. professionals heading to Russia to conduct business, for example, punctuality to meetings is essential. But when the start time for a meeting has come and gone, don’t be too surprised if the Russian team hasn’t arrived. It’s not uncommon for them to show up several hours late...
NetSphere
Abbe Miller is the marketing manager at NetSphere Strategies, located just outside Chicago. NetSphere Strategies is a boutique eCommerce company positioned to help businesses transform their online presence by providing a full complement of services that starts with our strategic consulting and creative design teams, then continues with building innovative solutions and providing ongoing post-project support.
If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: the user experience is one of the most integral elements of an eCommerce site. And while this mantra is essential when developing an online store, the problem with the ever-repeated declaration is that there are so many elements that make up a good user experience. Take for example the differing characteristics of a B2C site and a B2B site. They are reason enough to go beyond blanketed statements and start...
Economic indicators range from reports about the GDP to housing starts to unemployment. They also include information pertaining to consumer sentiment, manufacturing output and retail sales. To retrieve the reports, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York created its economic indicators calendar, a valuable tool for investors and business leaders alike. For decision makers in the retail sector, economic indicators to make note of include but aren’t limited to advanced retail sales, consumer confidence and consumer credit. Each month, these indices...
When Goldman Sachs first coined the BRIC acronym to group together the world’s biggest emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India and China were the only countries to make the cut. It wasn’t until 2011 that South Africa was added to the list, seemingly pluralizing the acronym. Since that time, Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey have been lumped together under the acronym MIST as have countries in the Middle East and North Africa under the term MENA. But because of a quickly...
When the Chicago Auto Show is in full swing, serious buyers walk away with a better idea as to what their next car purchase will entail. For those who aren’t there to buy but are there just to take in the sights and the sounds of North America’s biggest automotive event, they might instead be inspired to give their cars a little extra TLC. For those folks who head home to research what they could do for their cars from a... It’s been a few months since Alibaba announced its upcoming IPO, slated to be the biggest listing since Facebook’s in 2012. With its current value sitting at $128 billion, investor anticipation is palpable. But the announcement of its IPO came mid-year 2013 and the date for the public offering still hasn’t been set. So what has China’s eCommerce giant been doing in the interim? Well, according to today’s headlines, Alibaba has been hatching a new scheme to take over Amazon. And...
Merchants today are expanding their capabilities at an astounding rate by taking advantage of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model. For many, it’s a cost-effective alternative to traditional on-premise commercial or open-source software packages that often require charges to upgrade software and purchase additional licensing, which are in addition to the initial and sometimes hefty price tag. Although cost efficiencies are justification enough to take the SaaS route, in a recent study, IBM touted the competitive advantages inherent to SaaS as an equally...
According to a recent survey conducted by Forrester, 66 percent of eBusinesses are planning to up their technology investments in 2014. Unsurprisingly, more than half of Forrester’s respondents identified the eCommerce platform as one of their top technology investment priorities. In fact, replatforming was specifically highlighted in the survey’s findings. “eCommerce platforms are the backbone of any digital channel, and replacing legacy home-grown systems or outdated (and often unsupported) platforms remains a top priority,” explained a Forrester editor. “With these platforms... The Starbucks loyalty and payment app for iOS and Android has been downloaded and installed by more than 10 million java junkies. And according to MobileCommerceDaily.com, those 10 million users are incredibly active, pushing Starbucks toward the milestone of nearly 5 million transactions per week. In addition to finding the nearest Starbucks coffee shop, the mobile app lets users sync their rewards card with a credit card, learn about different Starbucks blends and drinks, and send gift cards electronically. And if...
The early months of every new year offer up opportunities to reflect on the past to improve in the future. For eCommerce companies, the future looks particularly bright. No matter the retail sector, forecast after forecast calls for double-digit growth in the online sales arena. According to a forecast from eMarketer, a research firm focused on digital marketing, media and commerce, worldwide B2C eCommerce sales will hit $1.5 trillion in 2014, a rise of more than 20 percent. But the big...