Last year, the team at NetSphere Strategies posted a list of our favorite things to do in Chicago to help IRCE attendees better enjoy their time in the Windy City. As we mentioned in that blog, a good chunk of our team either grew up in Chicago or lives there now. Wanting to yet again extend a few ideas from an insider’s point of view, we updated our list to reflect some of the best sights and sounds happening in Chicago...

The eCommerce business owners who put website page performance at the top of their list of priorities are those who see the big picture. They understand that the online user experience is much more than flashy images and pithy tag lines. They consider page response times to be just as important.    Speaking of those flashy images, however, often times, they are the culprit behind slow-to-load web pages – one of the first reasons a website visitor will leave a site....

Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its advance monthly sales report for retail and food services in April 2014. Although there was a rise in sales compared to the month prior, the mere 0.1 percent was lackluster at most. Considering the cold winter weather had lifted, many expected more of a showing at retail brick-and-mortar locations across the United States.  “The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April, adjusted for seasonal...

A picture is worth a thousand words – and then some. For those in the eCommerce biz, the quality of a product picture can make or break a sale. Because online shoppers don’t have the opportunity to touch or feel an item before buying it, many rely on product images to help make purchase decisions.   That ability to touch and feel an item is a big part of the draw for brick-and-mortar locations. So recreating those in-store experiences is a...

In a recent ComScore report titled, “U.S. Digital Future in Focus 2014,” the editors there discussed the rapid evolution of the online marketplace. From mobile to social media to eCommerce, digital consumer behavior in 2013 was put under the microscope. In doing so, the researchers at ComScore were able to categorize the changes taking place into four categories. These categories, which ComScore dubbed as transformative shifts, are as follows: Platform Shifts: Consumers are engaging with digital media across an increasing number...

Attention: WebSphere Commerce customers also using Solr search We have been alerted to a significant issue regarding Fix Pack 8 for WebSphere Commerce V7. We recently detected the issue when testing out this fix pack for one of our clients, and according to IBM it is affecting other customers, as well. The issue is only relevant for those WebSphere Commerce customers that have Solr search installed on their sites. Essentially, the installation of FP8 breaks search and navigation functionality when Solr...

Amazon is one of the most formidable 800-pound gorillas to ever walk into a room. From drones to membership perks to fulfillment centers and web services, Amazon seems to be paving the course before anyone else even knows which direction they’re heading. And that’s why Amazon is constantly making headlines. The business-savvy gorilla is hard to ignore. The most recent attention-grabbing news coming out of the Amazon headquarters came in the form of its new relationship with Twitter. According to an...

According to IBM, “in the United States alone, roughly US$83 billion is lost each year as a result of poor customer experiences. That’s more than the revenue for the entire U.S. e-commerce retail sector. Many businesses have yet to unlock the potential of information, technology and customer engagement to stem these losses.” IBM’s statement might seem like a harsh critique for marketers – especially for those businesses that have invested in and are embracing marketing technology. But the fact of the...

Since its inception, the Internet has broken down international borders and created a host of selling opportunities for businesses around the globe. And although there has been a steady uptick of cross-border online sales since, there are still some business owners that need to pop an Advil or two before even thinking about making the big leap overseas.   And that’s because international commerce comes with its own set of issues, such as country-specific regulations and requirements, additional shipping charges, and duties...

Sci-fi authors – the Nostradami of technology – have been making accurate predictions of modern-day living since as far back as 1888 when the idea of debit cards surfaced in the utopian tale “Looking Back.” Similarly, Philip K. Dick, the author behind “Minority Report," foresaw and wrote about various technologies that are being put into play today by forward-thinking retailers. Essentially, it’s the emergence of omni-channel and the need to create seamless shopping experiences across various channels that is bringing the...