3 Ecommerce Niche That benefits From Community Quarantines

Ecommerce platforms are turning out to be the biggest beneficiary of the stay-at-home order. A boon for ecommerce developers and Web Developing businesses.
While other ecommerce niches are losing, not all is lost amid this corona scare. In this article, allow me to  share 3 sectors that benefited from community lock downs and quarantines.
Before anything else, Shotech Media would like to post this Advice from Google:

In this time of constant change and uncertainty, it is essential to keep your business information up to date. Whether you’re reducing hours to help your staff or closing down completely, make it clear to your customers. In addition to updating your website, you should also update your Google My Business profile, which many consumers solely rely on when searching via Google or Google Maps.

Here are a few ecommerce sectors that benefits from community qaurantines

#1. Pre-cooked meals online order

Amid a growing number of cities and communities in a full-blown lockdown in major urban centers, restaurants that rely heavily on foot traffic are set to be the hardest hit, with most of them not having pre-planned options for online deliveries.
Most of the restaurants have been strictly serving takeaway orders following newly issued state measures to contain the spread of the virus, but have now been forced to shut their doors due to reduced customer numbers.
This has seen the establishments send their employees “on leave”, with anxiety growing over the future of their jobs as the number of new infections continue to rise.
Some food establishments like Restaurants, Pizza and fast food  houses were quick to turn to online ordering, in the middle of the strictly enforced "no eating-in policy, giving rise to food deliveries within the city. Ecommerce platforms are turning out to be the biggest beneficiaries of the stay-at-home governments order.

#2. Online groceries finally makes its mark in ecommerce thanks to city quarantines

For  years, online shopping has found it difficult to breakthrough.  Even though online grocery shopping seems more convenient, consumers are not willing to give up broad selection, low price and quality that they might find in the closest supermarket.

People left with no choice but online grocery shopping

The outbreak of coronavirus left people with no other choice but to buy their groceries online, a development that could have a lasting effect on the supermarket industry, long after the pandemic is over.
People have to sacrifice a few bucks here and there in exchange for safety form the virus, while in the comfort of their homes.
From America to Europe to Asia to Africa, there is a record rise in purchase of groceries online, as now more than ever, people find it appropriate to shop for groceries online.

Online grocery data

Online grocery shopping is exploding. Downloads of Instacart, Walmart's grocery app and Shipt increased 218%, 160%, and 124% respectively last Sunday compared with a year prior.

"We are seeing a larger percentage of customers over the age of 60 that are coming online," said JJ Fleeman, chief e-commerce officer for Ahold Delhaize in the United States, which owns brands like Stop & Shop, Food Lion and the online delivery service Peapod. "We're seeing a lot of new customers coming into the channel."

Source

#3. Corona pushing auto industry to ecommerce

The auto industry has been highly dependent on the in-person sales experience up until this crisis. In an attempt to combat the immense drop in car sales that China saw, dealerships are testing out ecommerce capabilities.
Select dealerships are making the following changes to adapt to social distancing needs:

• Introducing one-on-one appointments in-person
• Leveraging their large showrooms to allow for social distancing
• Adding new services to their online sites
• Allowing test-drives at the home or office
• Offering at-home vehicle delivery

As with many of the changes in shopping the coronavirus is bringing, we may see these offerings stick around even after the crisis is over.

What's Next??

Lock downs cannot stop people from finding ways to be effective. A rational concern that should be addressed is: Can ecommerce merchants handle this surge of demand? Can they handle safe home delivery challenges?
If you have an idea that you think should be included in this article, please let us know.
Additional Resource:

Positive Things You Can Do To Maintain Your Ecommerce Sales

Top Products To Sell Online Amidst Corona Scare

Three Realities Happening Now in Ecommerce World Due to Corona Virus

Three Biggest Impact of Corona Virus On Ecommerce

Positive Things You Can Do To Maintain Your Ecommerce Sales

We believe that better ecommerce technology can help shape and improve the world of the future! While the pandemic brought about by coronavirus is scary, it also gives ample reason to be resourceful and do positive things to at least maintain ecommerce sales.
There are three things that drives an ecommerce store ecology. The supply chain, the customer shopping preference, and delivery channel. For as long as these three are functional, your ecommerce operations will go on even in the midst of a pandemic like the covid-19, the disease spread by the corona virus.

Make Sure The Supply chain is minimally disrupted

The ripple effect of Coronavirus has across the global supply chain is becoming more apparent as companies are being forced to halt production of finished goods due to lack of necessary parts provided by the quarantined region. This supply scarcity is resulting in product availability challenges for retailers across industries, and it could continue to worsen in the latter half of 2020.
As long as you keep the supply chain moving, there is no reason to stop your business operation. Keep your supply chain open. If China is not available, find other suppliers.

Consumers are more likely to turn to online shopping

As people seek to avoid risking infection in crowded spaces such as grocery stores. This happened in China. JD.com, China’s largest online retailer, has seen sales of household staples such as rice and flour quadruple since the same period the previous year. There have also been more than 222 million downloads from Apple’s online store in China since the beginning of February, a surge of 40% compared to the 2019 average.

Focus on the Customer experience rather than on your discomfort

Do not lose sight of your customers. This could be a really good time to check up on your customers, to see how they are coping with the pandemic.
We at Shoptech Media believe that, whoever go the extra mile to address customer frustrations due to the impacts of Coronavirus will make a positive and lasting impression on consumers.

Thinking Outside-the-box

For instance, the current situation in quarantined cities have given rise to business people thinking-outside-of-the-box. When carriers are not able to deliver shipments to households within quarantined cities, ecommerce businesses have focus their delivery and fulfillment within acceptable distance from their warehouses.
At Shoptech Media, we have developed a shipping module, and addon, so that our clients can offer their customers a shipping option within a certain zip code where their store or warehouse is located. A really valuable tool in today's ecommerce.

All you have to do is enter in your zip code through the admin panel. Any orders within the radius you have set will automatically have the delivery option displayed at payment process stage. This can help maintain your ecommerce sales while waiting off the storm of coronavirus.
If you believe you need to take advantage of this module please contact us using the contact us page. We will be much delighted to talk to you. Click on the link now and we will help you get through this worldwide problem.

What's next???

Plan for Strategic direction for the coming years

Many Chinese companies have already moved from crisis response to post-recovery planning. Full-scale digitization is at the forefront of many such plans.
There is going to be a lot of change coming in the world. Shoptech Media predicts that the ecommerce side of the retail business will grow at a faster pace than previous projections. Although it is a hard time for the world, it is proof that ecommerce is robust and is able to answer the big questions. This is one of the positive things for the long-term goals of the digital transformation of our society.
Let us know what you think?

Top Products To Sell Online Amidst Corona Scare

Looking for products to sell during these trying times is hard as hard can be. Retailers are losing, and losing badly. However, there are many others who seem to view the coronavirus as a unique business opportunity. Several online merchants actively promotes the link between their products and Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Howbeit with exaggeration. But companies say consumers are making the connection themselves and seeking out their products. Confusion and panic abounds everywhere you go.

Many Industries are closing business

Industries that have flourished in the last 2-3 decades are laying off people and closing business. The travel industry in particular is hardest hit with the cities in lockdown around the glove. Leisure & hospitality, airline, construction, and manufacturing, service sector goes along with it.
Here is a sentiments from a business owner:

“If I can within the government guidelines keep the doors open, even at a low sales rate, I can keep my staff whole, and they don’t have to worry about their financial wellbeing," said a store owner, who oversees 45 employees. “If I can keep the doors open, that’s the difference between laying people off and not laying people off."

We are all affected by this in some form or another. This is the reality of the world situation.

In the middle of this uncertainties, rises great opportunities for ecom retailers. Today, I have rounded up some products that are emerging as opportunities brought by this pandemic.

But before diving into that, please make sure you have a really good and functional ecommerce platform setup for you. One that has all the tools you need to run your business including analytics and emailing system. If you are not sure your ecommerce platform does not have it, please let us know by using the contact us page. We are more than willing to work with you and find you the best ecommerce platform to accompany your business.

Top Products To Sell Online Amidst Corona Virus Pandemic

• High-tech disinfectant devices
• Thermal scanning everywhere
• Air purifier

#1. High-tech disinfectant devices.

At the onset of the pandemic, people all over the planet went into alcohol/disinfectant panic buying mode. Some really innovative entrepreneurs in Denmark made headlines on how they prevented people from buying disinfectants more than they need:

Some companies are now marketing high-tech disinfectant guns in response to the coronavirus. One person on LinkedIn showed how he used one to disinfect his seat on an airplane.
While you might normally have disinfectant sprayed from a bottle, these types of guns make use of charged particles to ensure that a substance fully covers a surface.

“We’re going to superclean it and every surface and toy that can be in there,” said superintendent Deena Bishop.

#2. Thermal scanning everywhere

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, some companies are moving quickly to integrate or advertise their existing thermal imaging capabilities. The technology scans a person from afar and estimates what their temperature is, so some think these systems could spot fevers and ultimately infected persons. We’ve already seen this integrated into facial recognition cameras in China, but now it’s showing up everywhere, as government are scrambling to provide better capabilities for their personnel to fight the disease.
Take advantage of this product. If you have been wondering what line of products to sell.  We believe at Shoptech Media, that this will be one of those really feel good products. Cash in now while the demand is through the roof!
Check out the following video about these devices:
https://youtu.be/Ko_leOJyPkA
https://youtu.be/RGzB0howg1Y

#3. Another product that provides opportunity for ecommerce merchants are air purifiers

Air purifying machines are powerful enough to clean the air in a large living room or playroom, quiet and dark enough for you to sleep near them in a bedroom, and inexpensive enough that it’s reasonable to have several spread throughout your home. After seven years of testing more than 30 air purifiers, a purifier company believe that their product is the best covid-19 prevention machine.
One air purifier manufacturer says that there air purifier can, within 30 minutes, reduce heavy smoke pollution in a 135-square-foot, 1,215-cubic-foot New York office by as much as 98.9 percent.
If you are looking for  products to sell during this trying times, this one is going to be one of the most sought-after product even after this pandemic is over.

These three industries are only a tiny part of the many more ideas that humanity can come up if people can truly sit down and think beyond the known world of ecommerce.
Additional Resource:

Three Realities Happening Now in Ecommerce World Due to Corona Virus

Three Biggest Impact of Corona Virus On Ecommerce

Top 5 Trends in The Global eCommerce Market to Look Out For

What's next...

The corona virus pandemic is crashing markets in a global scale, affecting all industries ranging from air travel to local businesses. While it has made merchants scramble for products to sell, it is at the same time a reason for innovative ideas. It challenges everyone to think outside the box. While we do not wish this thing to last any longer than it is, we at Shoptech Media believe that, this is going to be a test of our resiliency. It is going to ask more innovative ideas from business creators moving forward.

Choosing The Right Online Payment Options Boost Your Customers Sales

The days when online merchants could only offer a credit card payment option are long gone by. Today, online customers expect to be able to choose from a variety of ecommerce payment options whenever they are in the payment processing stage. So which payment methods are right for your ecommerce site, and what payment gateways will you need to support them?
Statistics vary from region to region across the globe as to the preference for payments.For instance, US customers prefer credit card payment above all, Read on and find our what European, Asians, and African country customers prefer.

Preferred online retail payment methods worldwide.

Global online shoppers, at least 42 percent of them stated that they preferred to pay via credit card. Credit cards were the most popular payment method, ahead of electronic options such as PayPal.

Source: Statista

Online Payment preference in US

According to a survey conducted by Ipsos and ING, the leading online payment methods in the US are:
credit card (stored) - 45%
PayPal - 22%
credit card (manual) - 17%
Amazon Pay - 5%
Cash on delivery (COD) - 4%
Other payment providers - 3%
Google Pay - 2%
Apple Pay - 2%
As can be seen above, credit card is still the most preferred payment method by most Americans. It is also one of the most popular online payment method across the globe. PayPal came in second place, while other payment options like Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay were less used.

Online payment preference in Europe

Every country in Europe is different. So, it’s no surprise consumers of these countries have different online payment methods they prefer to use.
When it comes to paying for the goods they have ordered online, shoppers in Europe globally prefer to pay through digital wallets, such as PayPal and Alipay. Visa and Mastercard are also very popular, followed by domestic bank credit and debit cards.
Here are 3 facts about European customers payment preference:

• Most prefer Digital Wallet(paypal, apple pay, amazon pay, ewallets, etc)
• Credit and debit cards are more popular in Western Europe
• Cash-on-delivery popular in Eastern Europe

Source: ecommercenews

Online payments preference in Asia

While paypal and credit card are popular mode of payments in asia, it does not take the top preferred method of payments. COD and cash payments are still the number one payment preference in Asia.

Source: paypalobjects
Increasing Internet penetration and smartphone ownership are making people more open to exploring new payment methods that can replace cash. Of those surveyed, 35% said they use mobile wallets and 13% use contact-less payments via mobile phones.
However, cash continues to remain the top preference. When asked which payment method they used most often, 57% answered cash, compared to 12% who said e- or mobile wallets and just 1% who cited contactless payments via mobiles.

Online payment preference in Africa

Although the statistics vary, at first glance it appears that South Africans still favour paying via credit card. Statista (see the graph below) says the current figure for credit card e-commerce payments is 45%. This is followed by Debit Cards.

Source: comalytics

So before deciding on what payment method to use, evaluate your business first.

What factors should influence the choice of ecommerce payment methods?

There are several factors you need to take into account when deciding what ecommerce payment methods to offer. Let’s take a look at some of those.

#1. Who your ecommerce customers are

This will vary hugely depending on who your customers are, so it pays to know your customer segments. You might like to look at:

• Their demographics, such as age, income and education level: For example, older customers may prefer to stick to what they know (probably credit cards), rather than experimenting with something new and (to them) unproven
• Where they live – internationally or locally: For example, some people tend to be security conscious and risk averse, so safety and security may appeal to them rather than convenience and ease of payment.
• How they use their devices and their level of connection to the internet: For example, some people are connected all day while they are out and about. They are attracted to convenient ecommerce options they can take advantage of from their mobile, wherever they happen to be.
• Their access to bank accounts, and credit and debit cards: For example, in a less develop countries, many individuals and small businesses don’t have credit or debit cards. They may prefer to pay in cash or do online payments through eWallets.
• Their lifestyle: For example, Millenials are very internet-savvy and open to alternatives. They especially like a transaction method to be quick, safe and easy, so they can get on with their lives. If it’s innovative, like ewallet, even better.

#2. What type of product are you selling

Payment for most of the myriad of products and services available online falls into one of two categories:

• One-Time payment: This applies to products and services that are purchased only when they are needed e.g. a new music system or the re-upholstering of a piece of furniture. For these, the more secure options you provide the better. Your customer should easily be able to find their preferred payment method and complete the transaction.
• Recurring payments: This applies to products that are purchased regularly, for example, a weekly box of organic vegetables, or services that are ongoing, such as subscriptions or rentals. For these, it’s best to provide additional options that are less vulnerable to things going wrong, like identity fraud or a credit card reaching its expiry date, for example. Methods such as direct debit payments also reduce the chances of customers opting out of contracts and simply not paying.

How many e-commerce payment options are ideal?

It’s best to offer several payment options to make sure you cover your ecommerce customers’ needs. If they can’t see an option that works for them, you may lose the sale. On the other hand, if the process of checking out becomes too overwhelming or confusing, you again run the risk of abandoned carts.
We highly recommend that you speak to the payment gateways yourself as you gather information at a specific point in time.
Contact us to find out more about integrating your ecommerce site with international payment gateways.

In conclusion...

Although there are numerous ecommerce payment methods out there, some will work better for you than others. The key is to know your customers and your business, and to tailor your choices accordingly. The right options, well displayed and explained, will gently ease your customers to conversion, boosting your sales along the way.
What ecommerce payment methods do you prefer to use when shopping online? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Three Realities Happening Now in Ecommerce World Due to Corona Virus

This is our reality right now:

 

"The longer the corona virus continues to spread at its current pace, the more depressing the markets — and increasing the risk of wider financial meltdown."

 

As COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe, online retailers are wondering, “How will the corona virus affect my online business?” Already, Events, like Shoptalk, Adobe Summit & Magento Imagine and South by Southwest, were postponed indefinitely or canceled. Leaving a further drop in retailer confidence.
Retailers that manufacture or supply their goods from China are unsure of how this will impact their supply chain, or how this will impact demand for their products.
Varied sentiments are heard across the ecommerce world. While a few expect some downside in revenue due to the corona virus, others say it’s too early to tell. Unsurprisingly however, a majority of retailers, say the virus will impact consumer confidence.

Consumer confidence is often used as a measure of how consumers feel about the economy.

Key take Aways:

• Early evidence of increased online sales.
• Breaks in the supply chain
• Mixed outlook and uncertainty among retailers.

Early evidence of increased online sales.

Early evidence suggest that retailers are having online sales spikes in flu-related products, such as cleaning supplies and health products.
As more consumers continue avoiding crowded public places, they’ll increasingly turn to online shopping to get their essentials. In fact, JD.com, China’s largest online retailer, has seen sales of common household staples quadruple over the same time period last year.
With the growth of ecommerce, corona virus shouldn’t disrupt the economy as much as the SARS outbreak did in 2002. However, it will still bring strain to online-based businesses who need to deal with potentially delayed deliveries or out-of-stock items because of increased demand.
However, the long-term impact for the corona virus is not yet known, and many retailers are lowering their sales forecasts for the year, in spite of these early spike in sales.

Breaks in the supply chain

Consumers value fast delivery times more than ever before, the question that every managers should deal with is, can your brand handle this higher demand?
Ecommerce supply chains will be strained by COVID-19 as well as factory closures in China.
These factor closures will also impact mass merchants, who will almost certainly experience supply chain disruption, a drop in casual shopping, and an increase in purchases of essential toiletries, groceries, and health items.
Supply chain disruption is the most significant impact happening right now because of the Corona virus within the eCommerce space. Many brands today manufacture goods in Asia, the most heavily hit geography to date. But as the virus spreads, even those that manufacture within Europe and the Americas will begin to feel the same challenges already arising in Asian manufacturing.

Mixed outlook and uncertainty among retailers.

The early data expresses concerns about the supply chain and consumer demand. Asked about what they’re doing to respond to corona virus, many retailers are taking aggressive action, while the majority are taking a “wait-and-see approach.
While, a bullish scenario argues that consumers will shift more and more purchases online as they avoid public places, this has not happened on the ground. And a more realistic scenario might be this:

I can see many businesses laying off people, even closing down. Many people will be without a job and no income. Poverty and starvation await. This depends on the severity of the lockdown, but for those places that have it, the effects will be severe. For example, Italy earned 237 billion euros in tourism in 2019. It must be close to zero with the lockdown. Many shops, all cafes, restaurants and other places are shut. No customers, no income, pretty soon... no business. Purely online stores like Amazon are probably ok, but many bricks and mortar businesses are also online and cannot survive with only online sales.

What now?

While we’ll have to wait and see how much of a shock the corona virus delivers to the economy, this is not a time for hesitation or a “wait and see” approach. Retailers will need to utilize and leverage all their assets to stimulate and sustain consumer demand.
Additional resource:

Three Biggest Impact of Corona Virus On Ecommerce

Three Biggest Impact of Corona Virus On Ecommerce

The impact of corona virus on ecommerce business confidence is varied, a trend that's likely to be seen worldwide. Some declines would come predominantly from a downturn in consumer confidence (especially after a string of poor days for the stock markets), but could also result from supply and inventory challenges.

I have gathered below what I think are the 3 biggest impact of corona virus on ecommerce:

#1. Decline of COD payments due to people staying away from physical contact

The World Health Organization (WHO) is advising people to not use paper tender and to use as many cashless options as possible to help contain the spread of the corona virus, according to reports.
A WHO official say that while cash is not more or less likely to spread the disease, it can carry the virus just like door handles and hand railings, and can spread it on contact.

“We know that money changes hands frequently and can pick up all sorts of bacteria and viruses,” a WHO spokesman said. “We would advise people to wash their hands after handling banknotes, and avoid touching their face. When possible, it would also be advisable to use contact-less payments to reduce the risk of transmission.”

Governments are taking steps

Some countries are taking this a step further: South Korea, for example, is quarantining all cash received at the central bank for two weeks before disinfecting it and putting it back into circulation, and China is undertaking similar efforts. Measures to restrict cash, combined with mounting concern that might push consumers to heed the WHO's advice, could boost noncash payments.
The US Center for Disease Control said that, the best way to avoid getting infected by the virus is to adopt the same behaviors as when trying to avoid the flu, by staying away from people who are sick and practicing good hygiene.
People are advised to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, especially after eating or using the restroom. Also, the CDC advises using disinfectant wipes to clean things like shopping cart handles when out in public.
Cash-less payment is the biggest impact of corona virus on ecommerce, as people are staying away from contact following these recommendations by WHO.

2. Increase in delivery services business model

Delivery services across the board might see an onslaught of new customers, but they'll have to work to maintain consumer trust. If consumers continue avoiding public places, they're likely to look for digital services that fulfill everyday needs beyond retail, including delivery of food and on-demand goods, —which in turn could lead to an increase in business for delivery organizations, including Uber, Grubhub, Postmates and DoorDash, as well as for online grocers like Instacart and FreshDirect.

The spread of the coronavirus and sweeping policy measures to combat it have led to a spike in online food delivery. As consumers globally have been either mandated to stay home or voluntarily chosen to do so, many have been ordering in.

According to new UBS research, demand for online delivery has risen in most markets impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Demand for Food Panda, Delivery Hero’s brand in Asia, has shot up 80% during the New Year holiday in Hong Kong. Yogiyo, which is Delivery Hero’s brand in South Korea, has seen a weekly 3% to 4% increase in deliveries since Jan. 20. Singapore’s food delivery business saw a similar upward trend. Grab orders rose 20% in early March.

Uber (UBER) CEO Dara Khosrowshahi believes that Uber’s food delivery business will grow during the coronavirus outbreak.

“Certainly our rides business to the extent that people stop leaving their house will take a hit, while our business Eats will probably actually benefit”.

An uptick in demands for delivery platform

China is already seeing an uptick in demand for these offerings: Popular delivery platform Meituan has seen an increase in large orders and surging demand for online grocery, per Business Insider. Depending on how long the corona virus pandemic and social distancing measures last, grocery and other delivery providers might need to provide discounts, offer loans, or provide installment tools that can help consumers afford services.
The key is to maintain consumer trust. Couriers also have to be prepared to demonstrate good health and offer "contactless" delivery options to minimize risk—something a number of firms, including Instacart and Postmates, are already beginning to implement.
However, as delivery people are human too, their exposure to the virus is extremely high. Some were reported to have contracted the novel corona virus, and are suspended says Uber ceo:

 Uber says, we may temporarily suspend the accounts of riders or drivers confirmed to have contracted or been exposed to COVID-19,” Uber says. “We’re also consulting with an epidemiologist to make sure our efforts as a company are grounded in medical advice.”

#3. Public gathering avoidance eschew physical store

Public avoidance is the third impact of corona virus on ecommerce. Ecommerce is likely to grow as consumers eschew physical stores and crowded gathering places—but this could create logistical challenges. This avoidance is trickling down into shopping: Three-quarters (74.6%) of US internet users said they'd be likely to avoid shopping centers and malls if the corona virus outbreak in the country worsens, and over half would avoid shops in general.

A shift to digital channels:

A decline in brick-and-mortar retail, could shift day-to-day shopping to digital channels, like Amazon or other e-tailers, and boost sales—effects already seen by providers like RedMart in Singapore, per CNBC. Further, it could bolster use of omni-channel commerce, like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPUS), for customers who want to shop in-store but avoid crowds. Such a surge in demand for e-tail could overwhelm logistics providers and workers, which might require ecommerce companies to revisit their strategies for order fulfillment and delivery, including potentially slowing down fast-shipping strategies, in order to keep up with surging demand and keep workers safe.

In conclusion

It's worth noting that the impact of corona virus changes online shopping habits affecting all people of all ages. With the older customers—the group most susceptible to the corona virus and most likely to avoid stores because of it, but they are the least likely to shop online. A shift toward online shopping among this population could provide a short-term boost for sellers, but in the longer term, it may also increase sales if these customers continue shopping online after the outbreak subsides.
If there is something you might want to include in these list of the biggest impact of corona virus on ecommerce, please let us know in the comment section. We would love to hear from you.

Practical Ways to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value

Getting the most out of a customer is every merchant's dream since man invented commerce. In this piece of article, I am going to look into practical ways and tactics retailers often use to increase customer lifetime value.
But before diving deeper, allow me to define what is Customer Lifetime Value or CLV?

Customer Lifetime Value(CLV) according to wikipedia is the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer. Simply put, it determines how loyal your customers are to your product/company that they keep on coming back to purchase from you. Those purchases aggregated for a lifetime is what we call CLV or customer lifetime value.

Why is knowing your customer lifetime value important?

Here is how PIWIK, an open-source analytics software says,

Customer lifetime value is a primary metric for understanding your customers. To be more precise, it's a prediction of the value your relationship with a customer can bring to your business. This approach helps organizations demonstrate the future value they can generate from their marketing initiatives.

Customer lifetime value puts more premium on customer retention  rather than going after new customers!

Simple way to measure CLV

If a customer bought a $50 shoes from the same store for the last 10 years, his CLV has been worth $500 to them. Of course we are not factoring in the cost for acquiring and maintaining that customer. That's another topic worth exploring.

Check the rest of the article 11 Most Important Key Metrics To Track In Your Ecommerce Sales Report  to know more about the topics of ecommerce analytics. If you want to know more about how you can take advantage of ecommerce analytics, send us an email using the contact us page.

Here are practical ways in order to increase Your Customer Lifetime Value:

#1. Profile Your Customers

Conduct surveys of your customers to learn about the buyer personas that your business interacts with most. You may want to offer incentives to show customers your appreciation and to get more information.

Customer analytics can help your business identify and exploit trends among clients. Your business can use this information to refine its marketing efforts, products and services to better appeal to existing customers.

#2. Personalize you customer Service

Service personalization has become the norm in many industries. Finding effective ways to tailor your services to the needs of individual clients or buyer personas is immense in today's commerce.
At shoptech media, what we usually do is to limit the number of clients we take in. Precisely because we want to know and serve our clients well. We have to accept the fact that, in any business process and model, it would be impossible to take all kinds of clients in without sacrificing quality of customer service. More importantly, we also understand that each one of our client can bring greater profit and has a better chance of becoming a repeat customer. At a minimum, we create special offers tailored only to our clients’ past transactions and current needs.

#3. Stay connected and interact with your customers

Keep your customers abreast of news and any special offers you might have. Let them know you are concerned about them using your product. Social media has opened a huge platform in order for this to happen. Remember that you are competing against the entire Internet for a share of their attention, so make sure your online presence is compelling and engaging.

By interacting with your customers, whether it is by sharing their pictures and reviews or by immediately responding to their complaints, you can show that your business values and appreciates them.

#4. Reward your customer's loyalty

One simple, yet effective way to keep customers returning to your business is to reward loyalty. You can provide discounts, freebies or group deals depending on customer spend.
Did you know that a 5% increase in customer retention can translate into a 25% or greater increase in profits? This has been proven accurately according to smallbiztrends' 2014 article.
You can’t overestimate the importance of customer retention. Loyal customers are likely to buy more often from you and spend more money on each purchase. Plus, keeping customers costs less than continually acquiring new ones.
You can basically double your customer lifetime value with loyalty programs according to this article, Double Your Sales with Customer Loyalty Programs.

5) Increase average order value by cross and up-selling

Build the average value of your orders by suggesting other suitable items when a customer buys a product.

The idea is to get them to add another item to their order. The image above is a cross-selling method done before the checkout page. Cross and up-selling makes their transaction more profitable for you.

6) Personalise your email marketing strategy

In fact 72% of ecommerce customers now openly declare that they are willing to share their personal information to a certain degree in return for personalized content.
Ecommerce personalization simply saves ecommerce customers time looking for products they have been interested in, and contributes around 10% to online revenue for ecommerce businesses. So, it’s a win-win situation for both parties.
We wrote a piece about this previously. Read full article, 5 Reasons Personalized Email Marketing Is Important To eCcommerce.

7) Add Value to the life of your customers

Customers are looking for brands who make their lives better and easier. Products that not only are useful, but add value to what they do.
Offer them reminders, gift wrap, and other added extras. This means they don’t get distracted by the need to buy from other websites and rely on your brand to help them out.
Consider this:

repeat customers are responsible for almost half of the total revenue of an ecommerce store.

8) Go above and beyond what your customers expect

Invest in a long-term relationship by going the extra mile and making sure they remember your brand. Surprise them with a free gift, sample, or upgrade.
Don’t just provide customers with what they expect. Go above and beyond in unexpected ways.

9) Incentivise free delivery

People in general, don’t like to pay for delivery. I myself don't, if it is possible. Your customers will probably purchase additional items if a free delivery is available. Fact!
Offer free delivery at an amount just above what the typical customer spends. This helps

In conclusion

The tactics we’ve explored are designed to encourage the average customer to return frequently, and spend more of their money with you.
Focusing on increasing customer lifetime value allows you to design an efficient strategy with more concise budget planning. Remember, your CLV is the most powerful indication of the health of your business.
Let's us know what you think about this practical ways to increase customer lifetime value. Do you agree with the author or not? Are their points you deemed important that we might have missed? Use the comment section to give your valuable thoughts.

Top 30 Benefits of Ecommerce Website For Your Business

No one can really argue against the benefits of ecommerce website to the world as a whole. Reason why it has risen in such a phenomenal speed to take away more than 75% of world's commerce today. People have rave about it countless times, yet no one really sat to list down the many many benefits of having an ecommerce store and what it brings to a company compared to just having a physical store.
Today, I want to make an attempt to list as much as i can, the benefits it does for you if you build an ecommerce store to augment your physical business, or just start a business directly by having an ecommerce webshop.
This list is not an exhaustive list. We will add items to this if new information comes up. But for the purpose its publication, I have gathered 30 benefits an ecommerce website does to you and your business:

#1. Easy access to new customers

First among the many benefits of ecommerce website is the ease of access. Did you know that over 4.2 billion people use the Internet? This means there are a plethora of people on the Internet looking for your products or services. That makes the benefits of Internet marketing to consumers (and businesses) immense.
People can access marketing materials like your website and your social media profiles at a time that works for them. Your business gains brand exposure and conversions while giving people a more comfortable shopping experience.

#2. Easy to use and update

For small businesses, you might not even need a web guy/gal to take care of this for you! Every ecommerce platform today have a content management system(CMS) for easy of content update. CMS is a piece of software, integrated with the coding of your website that makes it easy for you to add, change, or remove content from your website with very little or no technical knowledge! That's how easy to update ecommerce systems are today.

#3. A website improves productivity

Your company website increases your productivity because you spend less time explaining your product to customers. The resources you want your customers to have access to are readily available to them at their finger tips. It saves you valuable time, and effort.

Technology allows us to think more about the end-goal and less about the smaller, more tedious tasks it takes to get there.

Source: fredmouawad on ways internet improves productivity

#4. Customer education

Customer education is a built-in problem for every company. It needs to be addressed before, during, and after a challenging product is brought to market. There is an old article published by forbes that says, "Don't Market To Your Customers; Educate Them Instead". It contains really really good insight about customer empowerment:

...the more informed and empowered customers are, the more satisfied and confident they are with their choices.

Source: Forbes
So, use your website to teach your customers and potential customers about you and how your product/services add value to their lives in general.

#5. A website can easily expands your market reach

Today, every decisions people make is driven, informed and executed using the Internet. When a friend tells you about a business or service that interests you, what do you do next? Most likely, you Google it. Or perhaps go to social media to see how much people are talking about it. Our decision to buy are heavily influenced by what information we find in the internet.

Creating an online presence for your business is no longer an option—it’s an expectation, and required support for your traditional marketing initiatives.

Source: INC

#6. It extends your local reach

A website not only expands your market reach, but equally important is that it extends your local reach. People who are not able to go to your physical store will be able to order from you from the comfort of their home. They are revenues you miss sans ecommerce website.
If you are like me, whenever I am on a new place, I go to google to search for local businesses. The first step to be found is to be there when people looks for something. You can't be found if you have no online presence.
A website absolutely extends your local reach.

#7. Immediate promotion of products & services

51% of people now prefer to shop when businesses promote products online. 80% of people have purchased something this month.
The people are there. They want online products. You see the opportunities.

#8. Excellent promotion for your brick and mortar business

People are constantly looking and using google my business to look for product and services they want to spend their money on. Optimize each location of your business for local searches and increase your business’ digital presence. This is an excellent benefit of having an ecommerce website to augment your brick and mortar business.

Connect your website to google my business so that everytime somebody search for your product, Google will be able to display yours.

#9. Where you are is not that relevant

While location is important for physical store, it is not that much relevant when you have an online presence. This is another benefit of ecommerce website.
Physical location caters to a very specific, and certainly very small, cross-section of the populace, says forbes.

Compared with the larger population of the country, or the world, relatively few people will actually see your storefront, and fewer still will actually be in your target market.

You can be anywhere else in the world, and sell your product in a specific location on the internet. Or you can be everywhere you want to be. That is what the nature of internet is.

#10. Plenty of great tool for finding new employees remotely

You’ll be surprised to know that about 43% of U.S. workers are already working remotely to some degree (with the number only expected to grow!), and a whopping 86% of people believe they’d be less stressed in a flexible job.
And there are plenty of them hiring places you can find to get the best remote staff for your company. Hiring systems like indeed, careerbuilder, and smashfly is just 3 of the many hiring tools you can find.

Want to know more?

Top 30 Benefits of Ecommerce Website For Your Business

3 Simple Tools You Can Start Using To Get More Sales from Repeat Customers

Making Your Customers Your Friends Is Huge For Your Business

5 Ways Ecommerce Retailers Add Huge Value to Customers?

Top 20 eCommerce Stats to Help Your Business Succeed

3 Steps How To Do Customer Segmentation For Ecommerce Business

Is there anything else you’d like to know more about the benefits of ecommerce website and wish was included in this article? Let us know!

3 Steps How To Do Customer Segmentation For Ecommerce Business

To segment your customer base, three things must happen: First, there must be a clear understanding of your target clients, what demography do they belong, where are they coming from, what do they truly care? Then figure out what type of clients are they. Are they paying clients? Old clients?  Demanding clients? Friendly clients perhaps? Returning clients? Then, you need to be able to make them the center of your business. After all, their need is the reason why you have the business.
The segmentation points mentioned are easier said than done. You need a really good and accurate analytics tool to allow you to decide better for your company. If yours does not offer store analytics data from your back end.. google analytics - though limited - might do. Contact us if your want to manage your store analytics data from your back office. Assuming your ecommerce system have one, let's go through the steps on how to do customer segmentation.

#1. Start With Understanding and actually listening to your client

Organizations that pay attention to the customer voice have better customer experiences and the benefits of those are countless. Here’s some:

• Companies that have high promoter skills grow faster.
• Companies with great customer experiences have a 16% price premium on products and services.
• 69% of U.S. online adults shop more with retailers that offer consistent customer service both online and offline.
• 67% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience.
• After having a positive experience with a company, 77% of customers would recommend it to a friend.
• 65% of U.S. customers find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than great advertising.
• Satisfied customers are more likely to upgrade or add services and are less likely to cancel.

Essentially, listening to customers is a priority that leads to higher retention rates and an increase in revenue. We can put up products that is out-of-this-world-really-good. But without people accepting your product as a product that adds value to them on a personal and social level,
Source

#2. Place your clients at the center of your business

Most ecommerce company would outright say they are a customer-centric company. But are they? Let's take a close look and ask on how a company can become customer-centric.
What is the reason your company exist? What is your story? If your story is about you, and how good your company is, how awesome is your staff? How beautiful your company building is? Then you have missed your target by a mile. Of course those things are important too! But your reason should be your target. And your target is your client. Your passion should be that, there is a need that should be fulfilled - a pain point that must be resolved. And you want to put your company in a position to provide that resolution, right?
A really good and practical way to do this is to make sure the services you offer are the services your client truly values. Because if it is not, nobody is going to buy your services or product!  Sometimes it is just a matter of how your offer is presented. If you can offer your product as an added value to the life of your customers, then you have a market. You have resolved your client's pain point.
Now you can talk about cost of obtaining them or pricing strategy to use to make your services or product commercially viable.

#3. Understand the types of clients

Everyone of your customers can be divided into some kind of stereo-types. There are four actual types of clients, namely:

• dominating clients - deals in absolutes and doesn’t tolerate mistakes
• socializing clients - likes to talk a lot and love to make new friends
• analytical clients - asks a lot of detailed questions
• relatable clients - sentimental but can hold a grudge

Understanding where your clients falls is huge for your company. These information can be readily available with an analytics tool in your back office. Again, if your ecommerce system does not allow you to manage these kind of data from your backend, use the contact us page to let us know.
These analytics data will be useful for sales managers, project managers, business owners and anyone who needs to engage in negotiations from time to time. So, as a store owner, manager, you really need to have access to these tools! Don't be left behind! Give us a call or contact us!
So, the first thing you do to understand your client is to identify your ideal client profile. Don't just stack them all inside one box. Be clear about your propositions.
There is also the need to determine the cost of acquiring these clients. Costs like running an email marketing, or a social media ads, or perhaps google ads. Or just the cost of running a solid and long term SEO to reach these clients. Your service offering and fulfillment will basically rest on those information. And possibly your company's future!

What benefits does segmentation do to my business?

We have gone through 3 steps to do segmentation, but does customer segmentation really provide benefits to my online business? The answer is clearly a BIG YES!
The number one benefit of customer segmentation model is that, it allows for the effective allocation of marketing resources and the maximization of cross- and up-selling opportunities. Once you are able to determine what types of clients you have, and where they are coming from, and what are they looking for - it becomes easier for managers to make decisions as to where the company resource should be channeled into.
Secondly, you will be able to use personalized messages as part of a marketing mix that is designed around their specific needs. It's easier for companies to send those customers special offers meant to encourage them to buy more products.
Lastly, customer segmentation can improve customer service and assist in customer loyalty and retention. It keeps you a step ahead of competitors in specific sections of the market and in identifying new products customers could be interested in or improving products to meet customer expectations.

In conclusion

Customer segmentation has grown since people took analytics data to be an integral part of doing business. We cannot stress this enough: You can only do customer segmentation if you knew who your clients are, understand why they are with you rather than somewhere else, and you are able to place them at the center of your business. And ALL of these propositions are dependent on analytics data. If you don't have one, Go get it NOW!

Understanding Referral Traffic Is Key To Creating Great Marketing Strategy

Referral traffic is one of the most common data analytics systems provide. Understanding it is key to creating a great marketing strategy. It's like having a really useful compass while navigating the high seas at night. Say you've set up an online store and you want to know what kind of marketing strategies or technology you need to invest in.
Generating traffic to your website should be one of your top marketing goals because it’s what helps you generate revenue, most of the time. Without traffic, you’ll have no leads to capture, no prospects to convert, and an empty sales funnel full of sadness and broken dreams. Referral traffic, however, comes in many shapes and sizes so it’s important to know not only what it is but which kind of referral traffic matters most to you.

But first let us understand what referral traffic in basic terms:

Basically, referral traffic is traffic that is driven to your site through a link posted on another site. It’s when a different website is referring their visitors to your website. It’s important because you’ve been vouched for by another source which increases your quality score and authority.
When you make a search for the keyword "prestashop redesign", for example,  google will list down the most links from the most relevant to the least. Anytime someone click on one of these links, google becomes a referral traffic source for your website. In the example below, if one clicks on the shoptech.media link, google will be listed as a referral traffic for shoptech media on this particular page. Check example image below.

However, understanding where these traffic are coming from is a totally different story. This is where analytics comes in handy. Analytics provide you the data to give you the power to create great marketing strategy decisions for your ecommerce business.

The following are important reasons why understanding referral traffic is great for marketing strategy.

#1. The need to know where your visitors came from

Location, location, location!  Knowing the geographic location of your customer base can help you as a marketer make smart decisions when placing brand or product offerings across geographies or locales. Once company understands the value of location it can apply the necessary pieces of information and intelligence at the right points within the organization and locales outside the organization to maximize the impact of its marketing efforts and hopefully increase sales.
Understand which Geographical area brings in the most customers is one of the best way analytics provide ecommerce owners with the tool to properly assess what strategy is well suited for them.

In the image above, you can outright tell that the traffic were coming from southeast asia, just by looking at the traffic map.

#2. The need to know what your customers are looking for.

So setting up Analytics will take you down to the grassroots of where your visitor source is from.

In the above image, it list the referrers of these traffic. But determining what were these people were searching for is a much deeper question, which a robust analytics application should readily provide. Check out the image below how this is presented by analytics.

Just by scrolling through the list of referrers, a site manager can easily get an idea as to what strategy is he going to make to further reach his audience and potential customers.
Understanding what your customers were looking for before they arrive in your website pages, is crucial to you developing your marketing strategy.

#2. Is your online store witnessing a lot of mobile traffic? Then investing in an optimized mobile app can help draw in more customers.

There has been an increase in the number of small and medium scale enterprises investing in customized mobile apps. Most businesses now realize that an effective marketing strategy goes above and beyond just a mobile-optimized website. There is unlimited marketing potential for businesses through a customized mobile app as there’s been a shift of online activity to mobile. This is a result of the ever-increasing use of mobile devices and applications.
Analytics has shown that in the last 5 years, mobile users has grown so rapidly that last year almost three quarters (72.6 percent) referral traffic accessed the internet through their smart phones!

In conclusion

Understanding your referral traffic is key to creating a great marketing strategy. Without it, you will have no idea who are the people that your contents are reaching, where these visitors are coming from, and what were they looking for? It's like navigating through the high seas without a compass!

Additional resource on ecommerce analytics

How Data Analytics Enhances Ecommerce Business Performance

Using the Store Analytics Data to Your Advantage

Ecommerce Analytics Presents Huge Advantages For Your Online Biz