In a recent study conducted by Forrester, 100 B2B companies in the United States were surveyed to evaluate best practices in implementing B2B eCommerce systems and the metrics that go hand in hand with those systems. In addition to revealing the competitive advantages that come from B2B eCommerce implementation, researchers identified SaaS and PaaS as popular for businesses looking to save time and money when deploying eCommerce solutions.    In fact, “get going now and produce results quickly,” was one of...

As the retail and eCommerce trade show circuit continues – with the Internet Retail Conference and Exhibition less than two weeks away – folks in the industry are abuzz with the insight that comes with attendance. Just recently, IBM hosted its annual Smarter Commerce event in Tampa, Fla., where attendees learned about the latest trends emerging in the industry. Likewise, shows like eTail East and West are also educating retail business leaders how to go to market more effectively. No...

Last year, the Oxford English Dictionary dubbed ‘selfie’ as the word of the year. If it were up to the retail industry, however, 'omni-channel' should have been the word to define 2013. As a new way of thinking about multi-channel retailing, omni-channel dominated conversations in 2013 and will continue to rule the day in 2014 and beyond.  Although consumers might not be privy to the term, merchants can't seem to escape it. The thing is, however, that merchants shouldn’t want to...

On May 20, 2014, Crain’s hosted its annual manufacturing summit in downtown Chicago. The full-day event focused on the state of manufacturing in the Midwest and the challenges that the industry is faced with. With more than 240 area executives in attendance, a lot of ground was covered during the event. So much so that our coverage was divided into two parts, beginning with the morning sessions, which were driven by Louis Schorsch, the CEO of ArcelorMittal Americas, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel....

Now that the days of Polar vortexes are but a chilly memory, the team at NetSphere Strategies is ready to get out and enjoy our favorite city: Chicago. And considering that thousands of folks from our industry will be heading to the Windy City for IRCE, we’re on a mission to make their experiences fantastic. To do so, we’ve already posted a few blogs that offer up great recommendations for what to do and eat in our hometown. Continuing with that...

On May 20, 2014, Crain’s hosted its annual manufacturing summit in downtown Chicago. With more than 240 area executives in attendance, the event focused on the state of manufacturing in the Midwest and the challenges that the industry is faced with. To set the tone for the event, Louis Schorsch, the CEO of ArcelorMittal Americas, discussed three principal topics: why manufacturing matters to the entire economy and society as a whole, how the United States is improving its relevant position in...

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...