Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, released an eCommerce report showing that online retail sales this year are expected to reach $334 billion, which will be around 10 percent of all retail sales in the United States. Forrester reports generate plenty of interest and conversation, which will likely be the case in a few weeks when the eCommerce industry gathers in Chicago at the Internet Retailer Conference Exhibition (IRCE) at the Windy City’s McCormick Place convention center June... Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in online shopping
Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, released an eCommerce report showing that online retail sales this year are expected to reach $334 billion, which will be around 10 percent of all retail sales in the United States. Forrester reports generate plenty of interest and conversation, which will likely be the case in a few weeks when the eCommerce industry gathers in Chicago at the Internet Retailer Conference Exhibition (IRCE) at the Windy City’s McCormick Place convention center June... 
During a recent discussion with one of our clients, the team here at NetSphere Strategies was posed with the following question: How can we make our customers feel more secure when making purchases on our site? When we answered that question by equating the checkout process to a party, our client was a tad surprised. But believe it or not, comparing an online shopping cart to a party isn’t as far-fetched as it might sound. There are plenty of reasons... 
Need a crash course on the emerging trends in an industry? Looking for solutions to your major business challenges? Wanting a good workout? Well, all of these can be achieved by walking the floor at any of the major trade shows that happen at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Just last week, for example, attendees at IRCE 2013 were exposed to 600 exhibitors and their impressive collection of new tools and technologies. Considering the slew of companies and their sophisticated products, some... For anyone who’s noticed the dog-eared “view summary” paper icon located at the bottom of a tweet, you’ve probably wondered how it got there and why it only appears on some status updates. The same goes for the staggered “view image” icon.
As it turns out, the expandable content is what Twitter refers to as a card, an added-value feature that makes it possible for Twitter users to attach additional media to their tweets. To include a card on a status update, it’s necessary to add a few lines of HTML to the web pages where the original content can be found.
Twitter rolled out its cards in mid-2012, initially delivering summary and image offerings. This week, however, the social media giant revealed three new cards – one of which that will have a substantial impact for online retailers active on Twitter.
“The product card is a great way to better represent retail items on Twitter, and to drive sales,” explains the Twitter development site. “This Card type is designed to showcase your products via an image, a description, and allow you to highlight two other key details about your product.”
The video above walks users through the process of adding Twitter cards that will appear every time a tweet references some aspect of their website. Currently, however, Twitter doesn’t allow for just anyone to use the product portion of the service. Businesses and individuals will need to apply for the ability to do so. In the meantime, the video does a good job of explaining how to add meta tags to tap into the pre-existing portion, which will be similar to the functionality of the product cards when they become available system-wide.
Since its inception in 1994 and its web launch in 1995, Amazon has been an online retailing force to reckon with. It is, in fact, the world’s biggest online retailer. Year over year, its growth rates have been through the digital roof. But despite nearly two decades of streamlining and perfecting its operations, Amazon realizes that now is not the time to rest on its laurels. In an article published by Internet Retailer, Amazon’s market share is slipping due to... 
Online shoppers are much less forgiving than a web store owner might like – or realize, for that matter. And you can’t necessarily blame them. The reason that consumers choose to purchase items online is, after all, for the sheer convenience of it. So no matter the issue, if it’s not easy for a shopper to make a purchase, they’ll exit out of your site and they might not ever return. According to the editors at Mashable.com, the following seven...