From Aug. 19, 2013, through Aug. 22, 2013, marketers from around the nation convened in Boston for the Inbound 2013 conference, hosted by HubSpot, the leader in inbound marketing software. During the four-day event, Sam Mallikarjunan, the head of eCommerce marketing at HubSpot, headed up a session titled, “How to sell better than Amazon.” To say the least, the session was busting at the seams with attendees. During Mallikarjunan’s 45-minute presentation, he focused on the nearly $100 billion-in-annual-sales gorilla... Recent blog posts
From Aug. 19, 2013, through Aug. 22, 2013, marketers from around the nation convened in Boston for the Inbound 2013 conference, hosted by HubSpot, the leader in inbound marketing software. During the four-day event, Sam Mallikarjunan, the head of eCommerce marketing at HubSpot, headed up a session titled, “How to sell better than Amazon.” To say the least, the session was busting at the seams with attendees. During Mallikarjunan’s 45-minute presentation, he focused on the nearly $100 billion-in-annual-sales gorilla... 
Last year, as shoppers carefully crafted their game plans for Black Friday, visitors to the Best Buy website were greeted with the following message: "Our site is incredibly busy! Please be patient while we shovel you a path." So, not only were consumers unable to peruse the site’s doorbuster deals, but investors, too, were unable to boost their already waning confidence in the underperforming electronics retailer. Best Buy was, of course, able to bounce back – the issue happened... 
Mobile, analytics, omni-channel and social might just be the four biggest issues on the plates of eCommerce business owners today. So it makes perfect sense that IBM, a leader in eCommerce platforms, is making it easier for e-retailers to excel in those realms. With its new Digital Experience software, companies can deepen engagement, uncover customer sentiment and build loyalty. Just last month, in fact, IBM issued a press releasethat outlined the advanced capabilities included in the software: Mobile Experiences: According to... 
On August 20, 2013, Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of HubSpot, the world’s leading inbound marketing software company, delivered an inspiring keynote presentation at Inbound 2013 in Boston. During his speech, Shah discussed the behavioral shifts that are taking place in our society – and the way that companies go to market. Once upon a time, Shah said, folks answered rotary phones when they rang, despite the fact that without caller ID, they didn’t even know who was calling them. They were... 
When Howard Miller first started making clocks 87 years ago, his goal – first and foremost – was to make products that highlighted the quality of the materials used and the talent of the craftsmen making them. Today, just as it was in the beginning, his company’s focus is directed at the most precious of commodities available: time. That focus on quality has caused Howard Miller timepieces to become nothing less than heirlooms, proudly passed from generation to generation. In the... 
Buyers are becoming much more demanding when they shop online these days. And when merchants aren’t bringing on new features to match those buyer expectations, shoppers shift their purchasing interest to sites that do. The rub, however, is that more often than not, eCommerce vendors can’t provide new functionality at the pace that merchants need it. So considering that consumers are an impatient bunch, what's an online merchant supposed to do? One option is to add new functionality through the use... Last year when the lights went out at Super Bowl XLVII, the ad team for Oreos took advantage. They tweeted a picture of a single Oreo standing in a spotlight coupled with the text: "You can still dunk in the dark." Not surprisingly, the simple, yet brilliant on-the-go thinking won the ad team a boatload of awards. But the tweet didn’t just put Oreo's creative team in the spotlight, it put real-time marketing there, as well.
Even before the Oreo tweet made its marketing slam dunk, so to speak, Twitter had always been the go-to avenue for real-time interactions with consumers. Several months later, however, and organizations want that on-the-fly capability for more than just their social platforms. And that’s just what IBM is giving them with the new Digital Experience software.
“IBM digital experience software combines with IBM customer experience management capabilities so marketing professionals can analyze customer activity on a specific channel, such as a mobile device,” said the editors of a recent IBM press release. “With these unique views, marketers can gauge the behavior of customers across all digital channels, identify patterns and then adjust the digital experience based on this insight to improve the quality and appeal of the user's experience.”
The software allows marketers, sales reps and business owners real-time control over customer interactions and digital updates without the need for IT technical skills or outside assistance. This in and of itself will allow the user experience to improve by leaps and bounds.
“Building on these demands, IBM's Digital Experience software allows CMOs to provide customers with relevant information and offers that are based on their preferences and can be published quickly to all digital channels and mobile devices,” the press release relayed. “For example, while at a conference, marketing and event teams can develop professional grade assets that incorporate client interviews, show floor footage, audio and text overlays and in a few simple clicks publish it to the broadest range of social, mobile and online channels.”
The possibilities for leveraging the new IBM tool are truly endless. From HR’s hiring and training purposes to product development initiatives, it's a powerful addition to the WebSphere Commerce platform.
To learn how the technology has already helped companies enhance their digital presence, check out the video above. To put it into real-time play at your company, get in touch with the eCommerce experts at NetSphere Strategies. We’d be happy to help with its implementation.
Launching a new website (or marketing campaign for an existing website) can be incredibly exciting. Seeing all of your hard work come to life in bright, vivid online colors is definitely deserving of a little pat on the back. And it’s also fitting to let others see the fruits of your labor. Because after all, the website is just the beginning of what could be a long and successful eCommerce endeavor. When it comes to getting your website in front... 
In December of last year, the retail team at Alix Partners, a global firm of senior business and consulting professionals, summarized the 2012 holiday shopping season as less than what retailers were looking for. In the same report, they delivered their annual predictions for 2013, which included topics ranging from the Internet sales tax issue to omni-channel selling. Nearly six months later, as retailers head into the 2013 holiday shopping season, Alix Partners revisited those earlier predictions to determine their... 
Using an abacus and churning butter add a bit of comic relief to the list of outdated tasks found on the Obsolete Skills website. Other skills, like writing in cursive and flipping over a cassette tape just add insult to injury for anyone pushing the age of 40. But, give it a few years and who knows what else might find its way onto the list. Using a desktop computer perhaps? Although it might sound farfetched, the use of mobile...