These two terms, ecommerce and digital marketing, are often used synonymously. In fact, they refer to two very different things. If you have an online business or work in one, it’s important to fully understand the differences.

Where it gets confusing is that ecommerce and digital marketing often go hand in hand. Both can also exist independently. For example, an ecommerce business could trade without digital marketing. Similarly, digital marketing could be used by a physical business.

Introducing Digital Marketing & Ecommerce 

Basically, ecommerce is the act of selling online. Whether that’s through a mobile app or an ecommerce site, it’s all ecommerce. Digital marketing, on the other hand, is the act of marketing through digital channels. Social media ads, email campaigns, and so on. They are similar and often complementary disciplines. Many businesses will make use of both. Almost all businesses will use one or the other at some point. 

What do we Mean by Ecommerce?

Let’s look at ecommerce in a little more depth. We’re talking about selling online or through an app. But we’re also talking about how you deliver the goods to your customers. Logistics is an important part of ecommerce. 

The latest figures show that in 2020 73% of UAE consumers were shopping more online than ever before. With an overall growth in ecommerce sales in the Middle East and North Africa of 19.8%.

This market is expected to grow to $49bn by 2025 . You can see from these figures alone why ecommerce is now a vital part of the global economy. In addition, the growth in ecommerce popularity has led to new opportunities for digital marketers. 

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What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing means any form of marketing using digital means. That means ecommerce applications like banner ads and mobile notifications. But could also mean email campaigns, text adverts, social media ads, and more.  

The goal of digital marketing is much the same as any other marketing. You’re looking to promote your brand to the largest number of interested customers you can. Having a digital marketing strategy lets you keep the tone and message consistent across platforms. 

Here are some of the more popular examples of digital marketing today;

• SEO 
• Email Marketing & Automation
• Viral Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Pay Per Click & Pay Per Conversion 
• Affiliate Marketing
• Native Advertising 
• Image & Rep campaigns 
• Point of Sale cross-promotion

Compared with traditional marketing, digital marketing has the advantage of accessibility, visibility, cost and popularity. Digital marketers should look at future trends. Think about questions like ‘how will mobile apps affect the future of digital marketing?’ 

Can Digital Marketing & Ecommerce Work Together?

The answer is a resounding yes. They can, and should, work together. It’s hard for any business to succeed without making use of digital marketing techniques..  

Digital Marketing & Ecommerce Hand-in-Hand

Take the example of a SaaS (Software as a Service) business. What is a SaaS company you ask? Well, they sell software, usually on a supported subscription model, to other businesses. They operate entirely online, with many using remote workforces.

This means there are no physical locations, no passing trade. Every customer has to be gained through direct or indirect marketing efforts. Digital marketing is a vitally important part of the marketing strategy for a business like this. The same is true for many ecommerce sites.

Digital Marketing & Ecommerce for Physical Retail

That doesn’t mean that digital marketing is only used by ecommerce businesses, though. Digital marketing should form an important part of any retailer’s marketing strategy too. Both large businesses and local businesses can boost revenues with digital marketing techniques.  

Hosting a blog with local interest pieces can help drive traffic to local companies. Sharing your successes, or the community work you do, on social media can have a big impact on reputation. Digital marketing goes beyond just putting your products in front of the customer. 

Remember those ecommerce stats we cited earlier? Well, research also tells us that many businesses in the Middle East reported that in 2020 a quarter of their sales were online. Moreover, 85% of MENA consumers have shopping apps installed on their phones. These figures are only growing year on year. 

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As a physical retailer, ignoring the growth of these markets could seriously harm your business. Even your local customers will appreciate the opportunity to use a website or app if they choose to. 

This doesn’t mean you have to move away from your high-street roots. The key for a physical retailer is to make both experiences complimentary. Look at the potential for integrated customer data. 

This means that across your online and physical retail options, you make the customer experience consistent. A customer can fill a basket in your app and complete the transaction in-store, or vice-versa. 

This should also extend to your digital marketing efforts. If customers sign up for your newsletter, let them use the same email details etc. when they open a customer account. 

Does Ecommerce Need Digital Marketing to Succeed?

In short, yes. There are physical methods that will work well for online businesses, but digital marketing will make up the majority of your strategy. You can use consultants or account managers to promote your service. 

You could also look at billboards and local news advertising. The problem with many physical methods of advertising though is the cost. 

Some digital marketing approaches are also cost-intensive, it’s true. But the wealth of word-of-mouth advertising, available through low-cost social media campaigns, is too much for small businesses to ignore. 

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Digital Marketing: Practical Benefits

Let’s look at some of the direct benefits of digital marketing that your business could make use of. Many of these techniques require data collection and analysis to get started. So, make sure your records management systems are able to keep up.

Targeted Marketing

This means directing your marketing at the groups who will respond to it best. Using customer demographic data, you can analyze habits and preferences to optimize your advertising. Having a flexible digital marketing strategy allows you to easily run several concurrent campaigns. You can target these at different groups to get the optimal response rates. 

This can be very useful if you’re launching a new product or service, too. Target the early adopters, the customers who are most interested in your products. These customers will generally be the most willing to give feedback when asked. 

You can integrate this with your quality assurance strategy to gain useful customer data before a general release. Then, make this a part of your qa metrics. This will help you gain a picture of how your customer base will respond to a new product or process. 

Personalization

Personalization is becoming an important brand differentiator. This is when a website or app will adjust the adverts, notifications, or the products it shows you based on your customer profile. We’ve all seen examples of it, some apps even do it whether we’re aware of it or not.  

According to a recent study of consumers in the Middle East, personalized emails have an open rate of 19.34% in comparison with 7.91% for broadcast emails. There is also a very visible increase in click rate when push notifications are personalized. This jumps from 5.58% to 21.12%

This shows that there is both huge potential in personalization, as well as high customer demand for it.  

Loyalty & Satisfaction

Then, it follows that servicing these demands will increase your customer satisfaction rates. Take a look at this case study on Ruroc, an online retailer. They noticed that engaged customers who arrived via paid ads would often bounce from product detail pages.  

Simply by adding a “similar styles” viewer to their app for paid ad viewers saw a huge turnaround. Thanks to this one little touch of personalization, they saw the following changes:

• 19% decrease in bounce rate.
• 67% increase in conversion rate.
• 25% increase in average order value.
• 109% increase in average visit value.  

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Ecommerce: How to Drive Success

So, let’s talk about how we can use these digital marketing techniques in ecommerce for a more successful business. 

Personalized Shopping

Use the data you collect from your customers to feedback and improve their shopping experience. Often, your customer’s habits will tell you more about them than more traditional marketing questionnaires. 

You might implement push notifications for your mobile app, for example. You could personalize these based on your customers’ shopping habits. Give them personal deals on products that are relevant to them. This way, you’ll see increased uptake rates. This will have a knock-on effect, increasing your average customer lifetime value. 

Optimization

Optimizing your platform is important, whether you’re operating an ecommerce site or app. 71% of UAE ecommerce sites have a bounce rate of 50%. One of the main reasons behind this is if a website or app takes more than three seconds to load. The longer the load times, the higher the bounce rate. Make sure you optimize for mobile and desktop. 

QA testing should form an important part of your optimization. Testing is very important to a successful app or ecommerce site. Put in place a QA testing strategy and come up with a qa test plan template.

Customer Experience

Customer experience is everything in online retail. According to research, 65% of consumers in the Middle East seek curated experiences. This encompasses all parts of the buyer’s journey. Not just the experience of buying itself, which should be fast and simple. You should also think about the after-sales support, customer service, and reliable delivery. 

Final Thoughts

Keep your customer experience in mind, whether you’re pursuing ecommerce, digital marketing, or both. Keep in mind that an integrated digital marketing strategy needs to include all parts of your business. From your sales reps to your remote contact center agents.

Kate Priestman – Head Of Marketing, Global App Testing
Kate Priestman is the Head of Marketing at Global App Testing, a trusted and leading end-to-end functional testing solution for QA challenges. Kate has over 8 years of experience in the field of marketing, helping brands achieve exceptional growth and mobile compatibility testing, She has extensive knowledge on brand development, lead and demand generation, and marketing strategy — driving business impact at its best. Kate has also written great articles for sites such as angelhack and CBNation. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

First things first, step back and congratulate yourself. You’ve done what, at times, seemed impossible. You’ve turned your idea into a successful ecommerce business with customers eagerly awaiting your product. This is where ecommerce logistics come into play.

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As the difference between physical store and online store shopping grows smaller, your logistics infrastructure needs to be first-rate. With companies such as Amazon and Bosta offering exceptional delivery, consumers have become accustomed to this type of service. 

It’s up to you to match this service as best as possible.

The journey of your inventory starts with the manufacturer and ends in your customers’ hands. 

To achieve a smooth transaction, you need to consider your supply chain efficiency. Below are some key steps that you should explore within your ecommerce delivery.

Demand planning

Startups don’t have the luxury of planning their inventory on past performance. Instead, you have to track what‘s at your fingertips, such as your online presence and website traffic. 

Planning for upcoming seasonal events means you can anticipate what orders will be popular. Also, engaging with your social media hashtags and shares will give you an accurate overview as well.

Visibility and managing your inventory

Taking stock of your inventory with your manufacturing warehouse promotes customer service. There’s nothing more frustrating to a prospective customer than ordering a product that is, in fact, out of stock.

Established companies have contact center best practices available to handle such issues. Startups aren’t as fortunate, with only word-of-mouth at their disposal. So a positive customer experience can go a long way in terms of engagement. 

That’s why providing customers with accurate communication is essential to growth.

Free shipping

In a recent study, 90% of consumers would shop online more if free shipping were available. If you provide this option, you remove the one advantage that in-store shopping has over online shopping. 

Problems arise due to cost efficiency, as offering free shipping can interfere with profits. You need to consider this cost when pricing your products.

Managing returns

Monitoring the number of return requests offers you a real-time analysis of product satisfaction. It also awards you the opportunity to conduct damage control on products that may hinder your brand. 

In short…

By following this guide, you take action to help your company to grow. By promoting customer satisfaction, you’re also promoting customer retention. Logistics is an important step in your customer’s journey, so let’s ensure it’s an easy trip.

Grace Lau – Director of Growth Content, Dialpad
Grace Lau is the Director of Growth Content at Dialpad , an AI-powered cloud communication platform for better and easier team collaboration. She has over 10 years of experience in content writing and strategy. Currently, she is responsible for leading branded and editorial content strategies, partnering with SEO and Ops teams to build and nurture content. Grace Lau also published articles for domains such as Whatfix and VMblog. Here is her LinkedIn.

Processing invoices, especially when your business is starting to grow, can be painstaking. 

When performing the task manually, it can be easy to make mistakes which leads to delayed payments and upsets in business relationships.

Follow this guide to improve your business cash flow and develop reliability when it comes to invoicing for your business. 

Invoice Types

There are two main types of invoicing available to businesses. These are:

• Before payment (accounts receivable or payable)
• After payment (receipts and copies of transactions for record-keeping)

Before Payment

This is a common approach for many companies. These invoices detail the services or products which were provided and the amount they cost. 

It is essentially a request for payment within a period and needs to be completed by the relevant people before the deadline. 

Manually creating before-payment invoices can create issues when it comes to consistency and efficiency. By automating you can:

• Automatically invoice clients;
• Register invoices for your accounting department to see outstanding payments;
• Receive reminders when payments are due.

All of these processes help to improve productivity so if you use them before payment invoicing, you can benefit greatly from automation.

After Payment

This process acts as a receipt for a client. It acknowledges that payment has been made and provides proof for bookkeeping purposes. 

A common area for these forms of invoices is online stores where you receive a receipt once you have purchased an item.

For small and growing businesses, creating manual after payment invoices whenever something is purchased from your web store is time-consuming and costly. 

Here you can automate: customers receiving copies of their invoices; making exact copies of invoices automatically for record-keeping and creating invoices instantly to accelerate the payment process.

Why Wait?

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Let’s for a moment consider a hypothetical new business start-up. 

The imaginary owners want to create a great external customer service experience, so they look at articles on how to start a contact center. They manage invoice payments manually for the first year of their company’s existence as there aren’t too many to manage, but suddenly they begin to grow exponentially due to the success of using vanity phone numbers in a marketing campaign. 

They are now stuck. Their company is wasting precious time and money creating invoices that have errors. Their clients are getting confused and feel misguided and relationships are fracturing. The company chooses to switch to automated payment systems but loses money during the transitional period. 

If the company had switched to automatic invoice processing before their sudden growth, they would be able to scale up payments and keep up with demand so consider doing this immediately. 

What is automated Invoicing?

Automated invoicing is the process of making a historically manual job automated through computer systems and software. 

The aim is to make an arduous and error-filled practice straightforward, efficient, and accurate. When you have your processes set up, scheduling payments, sending receipts, and creating invoices will be simple and means cash flow remains uninterrupted. 

It is important to recognize that the options for businesses are wide. However, some companies strive to make the process of moving from manual to automated invoicing as seamless and trouble-free as possible. 

One example of these companies that provide brilliant software is Paytabs. They have video tutorials available to those just getting started and have great customer communication channels to make sure your needs are met continuously. 

Benefits

So why move to automated invoicing? 

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1. You reduce your costs vastly. Paying employees to manually create invoices is expensive, especially when they make a mistake and have to go through the process again to make sure it’s right. Furthermore, an automated service is trustworthy, so senior officers and managers won’t need to review every payment before it’s sent. 
2. It reduces errors. Automation means you don’t need to worry about human error. When people make mistakes it can upset clients and fracture relationships, much like having out of stock products, with important vendors or clients. Ditching manual means you won’t have to worry, as the software is created to serve a specific purpose.
3. Faster turnaround times. For all businesses, making your invoices automatic means you can make payments quickly and it minimizes the amount of admin. When money moves quickly and reliably, companies are happier. 
4. Employees have the time to focus on higher-impact jobs. Without the need to process invoices, they can be asked to perform jobs that are more valuable to your company such as performing affiliate program monitoring.

What does it involve?

With all the software available to businesses nowadays it’s clear that automation is the way to go to improve efficiency and reduce costs. More people than ever are involved with creating new software, IoT app development, and websites. So where do you start?

Create Your Forms

The first thing you need to do is decide on the program which suits your business approach and requirements.

It is important to consider the needs of your company and the information required to process payments properly. Modern software allows you to use digital signatures, or provide simple drop-down menus with lists of clients or services to make payments even smoother. 

Once you have made this decision, you need to use pre-built templates or create your invoicing form. Creating a form provides clarity to users and uniformity across all of your payments. This is often instantaneous, meaning you can use the forms straight away. 

In the past altering forms manually would be challenging but modern solutions mean you don’t need to be a coding expert to make complex processes a reality. The automation and control you can exert, when it comes to creating your forms through appropriate software, is often very user-friendly and truly customizable. 

Consider Your Approval Workflow

Regardless of your payment process, more valuable invoices need to be sent to senior officers or company presidents for approval. Again, these processes are easily managed when it comes to software. 

Imagine that your company requires that all invoices over $10,000 are sent to the senior officer before processing. 

Modern software can be employed to ensure that this process happens every single time without error. 

This means that managers are only seeing the payments which they are required to under company policy thus saving time and improving efficiency.

Integrate 

It is important to consider how integration between your new and old systems will look. It is key that your payment records are kept up-to-date for bookkeeping. For example, when it comes to reviewing company profits or gathering information regarding a payment discrepancy in the future. 

This is where considering how you are going to ensure a seamless transition between manual and automated systems is vital.

Much automated software comes with the ability to integrate with current financial management systems.

Generally, companies are likely to use an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system for their finances, and manually entering order numbers into databases is time-consuming and costly. Find software that fulfills this process automatically and works well with the methods you currently employ.

Next steps

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Training

Whilst the initial set up of an automated invoicing software comes with difficulties, over longer periods you will find that the time previously spent on completing invoices, can be used for other important parts of your business. Use a time management tool to reap the benefits of spare moments.

Using a new piece of software can come as a challenge to many companies. Your staff must be trained to use new programs. You should have an approach laid out in your IT strategy to help employees manage and understand new systems.

The ultimate aim is to make the payment process easier and making sure everyone understands produces fluidity in sharing information and issues. 

Use and Review

Having an initial testing phase is important so make sure you do that immediately. 

However, after some time using the new invoicing software, your company must be reflective in regards to its effectiveness. 

Asking companies who have processed payments through your new approach for feedback can further develop your use of the systems. 

Gaps and difficulties can be challenging to overcome when filling out invoices manually. However, using automated software means you can quickly customize and change your invoicing forms and process to adhere to changing needs, so listen to feedback from clients and employees. 

Final Thoughts

For those who process a few invoices per quarter, or those doing hundreds a day, switching to automation contributes to great efficiency and reduces costs swiftly. When used correctly, it can alter the way your business operates and free up time for employees.It is important when considering moving to automation, that you find software that is effective for your business. To save time, don’t scour the internet, start with PayTabs, take a look at the great services they offer, and watch a few videos. You may find that they provide exactly what you need clearly.

Jessica Day – Senior Director, Marketing Strategy, Dialpad
Jessica Day is the Senior Director for Marketing Strategy at Dialpad, a modern business hosted IP PBX communications platform that takes every kind of conversation to the next level—turning conversations into opportunities. Jessica is an expert in collaborating with multifunctional teams to execute and optimize marketing efforts, for both company and client campaigns. Here is her LinkedIn. She has also written content for Pretty Links and Kanbanize.

OTPs and static passwords are costing you sales

Cart abandonment is an 18 billion USD problem for merchants worldwide. A staggering  7 out of 10 shoppers abandon their carts, making it a major worry for e-commerce businesses. Among mobile users, it’s even higher; 85.65%.

A study in the US found that 18% of shoppers abandoned their cart because checkout is too complex. Another 17% did so because they were worried about their credit card information safety.

Merchants need to offer ease of check out and peace of mind to their customers if they are to address the problem. In MENA, until now, payment gateway providers only offered payment authentication via static passwords and One Time Passwords (OTP/OTPs), which cause high friction and security worries among shoppers.

PayTabs brings you the new risk-based authentication technology, 3DS 2.0, a solution to these problems provided by EMVCo, a global regulatory body for payment safety. PayTabs is among the first companies in the world to become 3DS 2.0 compliant and the very first in Egypt.

What is 3DS 2.0?

 3 Domain Secure 2.0 (3DS 2.0) is a new security protocol for authenticating transactions where the cardholder is not physically present.

3DS 2.0 is a complete shift from 3 Domain Secure 1.0 (3DS 1.0), introduced in 1999. Although 1.0 to 2.0 sounds like an upgrade, the two protocols work very differently.

How 3DS 1.0 works

3DS 1.0, shares information and authorizes payments via static passwords and OTPs. It soon proved to be not good enough, as it was,

• High levels of friction
• Risk due to OTP redirects and static passwords
• Incompatible with mobile
• Incompatible with digital wallets

The challenges with 3DS 1.0 persisted, despite the new versions that were released. Buyers kept abandoning carts and merchants kept losing sales. Enter 3DS 2.0.

How 3DS 2.0 works

 The key difference between the two protocols is how they authenticate transactions. 3DS 1.0 uses Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). 3DS 2.0 uses Risk-based authentication.

2FA is a static process and does not make any judgements on the transaction risk involved. Risk-based authentication is dynamic and makes assessments based on various factors. The factors include,

• Transaction amount
• Number of transactions within a timeframe
• Cumulative payment amount within a timeframe
• Merchant and country

Risk-based authentication uses biometric data and tokens. A fingerprint is much faster, easier, and secure than any password. Payments Journal has reported a case study where checkout times were reduced by 85% and cart abandonment rates were reduced by 70% after 3DS 2.0 was implemented.

Differences between 3DS 1.0 and 3DS 2.0

How to switch to 3DS 2.0?

 Visa will discontinue support for 3DS 1.0 after October 2022 as the world moves to 3DS 2.0.

PayTabs will help all customers who wish to transition do so for free. Your customers will benefit from the added security and better UX across their browsers, apps, and devices. You’ll be able to enjoy better conversions and sales at no extra cost.

Our tech support will make the switch as seamless as possible for you.

Be one of the first merchants in MENA to integrate 3DS 2.0 security

Show your customers how much you care about their safety and experience. Get an edge over your competitors.

Contact us today and we will help you transition within a couple of days  to 3DS 2.0.

– Kasun Pathirage is an expert freelance content writer for B2B fintech and SaaS brands.
Learn more about his work via his website: verbauream.com.

Running a business in the current digital era is no longer viable without a website. Even brick-and-mortar startups need some online presence to survive as modern customers search for everything, right from products, business location, to operating hours, from the internet. Therefore, building a simple website for your business can give you an edge in your niche. Besides, if you have products or services to offer, a website can help you reach new markets easily and cheaply.PT

Fortunately, web design software has evolved and can be used by anyone. You don’t need to master programming languages to build a functional website. Below are some guiding tips on how you can build a better site with ease.

1. Choose Your Site Building Platform

You should choose a user-friendly website-building platform that doesn’t require extensive coding knowledge to build your website. Below are some recommendations for your small business website;

• WordPress – WordPress.org is a good option as it comes with several features that allow users to build their sites with ease. However, you will have to find a third-party hosting provider.
• Hosted website builder – if you want an all-in-one website building platform, hosted builders, such as Wix or Squarespace, are good options. Unlike WordPress, you don’t need to find third-party hosting. However, you will have restricted design flexibility.

You should consider several factors before deciding on your preferred platform. For instance, while WordPress is an open-source platform that is free to use, hosted website builders have subscription fees, which vary depending on your chosen plan.

2. Choose a Domain Name

The domain name is an important feature of any website, as it is the URL you will share with your customers or prospects and on social platforms. Therefore, you should choose a descriptive and easily memorable domain name. Keep it short and avoid using abbreviations, numbers, or acronyms to prevent confusing your customers.

You should also choose a top-level domain, which is the suffix of your domain name. Choose between .net, .com, or .biz. There are non-traditional TLDs also, which were based on location, like .nyc or business type, such as .marketing, .law, or .agency. Once you have chosen an appropriate domain name, you should confirm its availability and buy it from a domain registrar. Popular domain registrars include GoDaddy, Wix, Domain.com, and Squarespace.

3. Find a Hosting Provider

Your website can’t be complete without being hosted. Basically, hosting is a server that stores all the data that customers find on your website. For a small business, hosting your website might be expensive, making it prudent to use external hosts. You can choose from two main options, the first being shared hosting, which is a less expensive option, or dedicated hosts, which costs more.

Shared hosting means you will have to share the server with other websites. On the other hand, dedicated hosting gives you access to a private server. As mentioned, hosted website builders provide hosting for their clients. Consider several factors, including costs and reliability, when choosing a host for your website.

4. Add Content Pages

With a good domain name and hosting, it is time to start adding content to your website. Consider the following standard pages for your small business website;

• Homepage – this is the first thing that visitors see when they open your website. Your homepage should have a brief description of your business and navigation buttons to other pages.
• Products and services page – used to describe products and services offered.
• About us page – use it to share your story and details of your team.
• Blog – an important page for your content marketing strategy.
• Contact page – include a contact form for customers who want to reach out.

5. Test and Publish Your Website

Before referring people to your website, you should test to ensure that it works in most browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Safari, Internet Explorer, and Chrome. Click through every page on all browsers to ensure that links, images, and content formats are displayed correctly. While this might be tedious, it will save you from future complaints that customers can’t access some features.

Part of testing involves optimizing your site for search engines. This includes optimizing the website for speed, using the right keywords, using a responsive design that works on all devices, and appropriate use of internal and external links. Once you’ve ensured that everything is right, you can market your website to your customers through social media and other channels.

The Bottom Line

Having an online presence is important if you want to reach a new audience and survive the current digital era. Fortunately, building your business website isn’t as challenging as before, thanks to various technological tools. If outsourcing your web development for your small business isn’t an option, you can do it yourself with some basic coding skills. Veterans can leverage the GI Bill Benefits to finance their web development courses.

-Angela is a data science enthusiast who graduated from Penn State with a B.S in Computer Science. She currently works with coding schools and small businesses to help build better websites.