For those in the business of eavesdropping, it’s not rare to overhear a pair of executives at a lunch counter talking about the ROI of social media. One will ask the other how to quantify its value and whether it’s worthy of all the hype. If it’s the right set of businessmen, the answer to that question will be a resounding, “Yes! It’s worth the hype and more.” If it’s the wrong set of businessmen, the remainder of their lunch... Recent blog posts
For those in the business of eavesdropping, it’s not rare to overhear a pair of executives at a lunch counter talking about the ROI of social media. One will ask the other how to quantify its value and whether it’s worthy of all the hype. If it’s the right set of businessmen, the answer to that question will be a resounding, “Yes! It’s worth the hype and more.” If it’s the wrong set of businessmen, the remainder of their lunch... 
The term fully integrated has an innate way of creating confidence in the item that it describes. For eCommerce business owners, they can rest assured that all hands are on deck once they’ve fully integrated their systems and processes. When applications, data, services and devices are fully integrated, e-retailers can quickly access their data to respond to customer demands in real-time. Unfortunately, the term fully integrated also comes with another connotation: a lengthy and difficult project to bring to fruition.... 
If you’re a webstore owner who has handled your own data updates and encountered numerous problems, don’t fret; you’re not alone. Even the most successful online business owners have encountered moments when they had to reach out for help to troubleshoot various problems. To solve current issues and potential problems moving forward, more often than not, automation is the way to go – especially before the busy holiday shopping season when oodles of new products are slated for promotion. Data load... 
Web presence – almost everyone has it. The problem is that not everyone knows what to do with it. A long, long time ago, in a browser far, far from where we are technologically today, a lackluster website seemed to be "better than nothing" for businesses trying to gain exposure. Today, however, we've advanced to the point where a teenager can put together a website with their hands tied behind their backs. And as anyone in the eCommerce world knows,... 
From tree trimmers to cupcake makers to steel distributors, businesses are blogging about the issues important in their line of work. They’re establishing an authoritative voice in their respective markets and they’re driving traffic to their websites. Collectively, they’ve adopted the philosophy that blogging equals market exposure. To get the full-blown, positive effects, however, the successful bloggers of the bunch realize that writing can’t be a standalone effort. They understand that there are a few essential assets that go hand-in-hand... 
For online storeowners, the best-case scenario this holiday season is a flood of new customers and in turn, new orders. The worst-case scenario is a site that crashes because it can’t handle the influx in activity. To avoid the possibility of lost sales or even worse, a bad site reputation, webstore owners need to know the importance of performance testing, especially the benefits that can come from load tests and stress tests. The first line of defense will be to... 
To stay on top of the eCommerce game, webstore owners will need to hone their skills in the upcoming years. They'll have to go to market more aggressively than ever before – and especially so as more competitors enter the online playing field. To help eCommerce practitioners better prepare for the year ahead, Gartner, the world's leading information technology research agency, studied the key technical, organizational and go-to-market challenges they will face. With its findings, Gartner then created a guide... Don’t do this or don’t do that: Life comes with so many rules that it can almost stifle an individual’s ability to be an individual. Everything we do, from what time we get up in the morning to what we order for lunch, can be dictated by someone else’s preconceived notion regarding what’s best for society as a whole.
Even something as simple as how to write a subject line for an e-mail carries dozens of rules. There are so many “tips” tied up in writing those few words that a business will grapple over the task to the point that a simple marketing campaign can’t even make it out the door.
1. Don’t use all caps
2. Don’t use the word free
3. Don’t use more than 30 characters
4. Don’t use special characters
5. Don’t use exclamation points
And those are just a few.
In the video above, DJ Waldow presents a few examples where companies bucked all of those trends and found success. He says that at times, breaking the rules of e-mail marketing has garnered more click-through rates and customer conversions. And he would know. He’s the author of “The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing,” which touts the idea that marketers have more opportunities than ever “to guide customers from consideration and trial to repeat purchase, loyalty, even advocacy.”
So check out the video, and don’t be afraid to do what’s best for your customers, your company and your product. Rules, after all, were meant to be broken.
At this year’s IRCE in Chicago, Alibaba Group was nestled in a fairly discrete location in a small booth. For a company about to file for an IPO with a potential $100 billion valuation, it was a wonder that the company wasn’t front and center taking up a substantial amount of exhibitor real estate. Part of the reasoning behind Alibaba’s modest showing at IRCE might have to do with the fact that U.S. companies aren’t as familiar with the company... 
Making last-minute changes to a website is like opening the door for error. And introducing the possibility for errors can potentially create difficulties for shoppers. As most webstore owners know, there’s no room for errors of any kind during major shopping events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday or the holiday shopping season in general. And that’s why it’s understood between the developers who make changes to a site and the business owners who oversee it that changes shouldn’t be made...