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Multichannel Selling: The Right Move Forward or Too Many Things at the Same Time?(Part 2)

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Multichannel Selling: The Right Move Forward or Too Many Things at the Same Time?(Part 2)
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Multichannel Selling: The Right Move Forward or Too Many Things at the Same Time?(Part 2)

The Trifecta of Trouble and Growth

The tumultuous nature of multichannel marketing is going to keep you on your toes to accomplish your core business functions. In e-commerce, that’s marketing to help people find you, actually capturing the sale, and then getting the product to customers on-time and in a way that they enjoy.

By needing to be available across each channel, you’re going to always have more work to do. Customers are everywhere, and there’s a feeling that you should be everywhere too. We’re going to touch on that briefly at the end, but let’s look at the big picture for what it takes to be everywhere.

Marketing

Studies vary, but somewhere between roughly 80% and 90% of your audience are going to do significant research into your product before they buy. They’re looking for you everywhere, whether that’s to see what influencer is wearing your shorts on Instagram to Amazon’s “Choice” and “Best Seller” designations, and what podcast you’re sponsoring this week.

Marketing also needs to think about mobiles because this technology accounts for 92% of e-commerce order growth. So, your ads and site and other efforts need to not only work on mobile, but they have to be +optimized for this low-impact space. Minimalism isn’t just a fancy trend for luxury offices and site designer websites; it’s also a focus for your team to make the most out of the limited screen size by prioritizing what’s important.

Today, you’ll be stretching that same old budget to meet new people on more channels and give them information to support research instead of just selling. Look for opportunities to grow your impact with content that works across multiple channels, partnerships with people who your audience turns to for education and keeping everything easy to scan to determine its value to the audience.

Sales

Here’s an area even more complicated. Sales is specific to every channel, and you’re going to have to do your own research to understand what and where you can sell. Amazon has a drastically separate set of rules and requirements (especially if you’re Prime) than most other channels, and you’re building an independent reputation on many of these sites.

The channels you “own” tend to be restricted to those where your products aren’t always next to others. So, that’s your website and social channels where you’re controlling the message and some of the discovery. These follow traditional e-commerce and online store rules, where you can build your sales funnel to move people through and capture the sale.

Online marketplaces have their own audiences (with different preferences), rules, and requirements for success. There are excellent guides on the different audience desires, but what is essential at the outset is that your profiles and product descriptions will need to be different for each. In general, eBay will be a little more free-from, while Amazon is much more SEO-minded.

How you interact with the customers during and after a sale are also tightly controlled. Even outside these marketplaces, sales is expanding into the realm of customer service. As some studies note, as many as 88% of online shoppers say they are less likely to buy from you if you’re not responding to complaints or service requests posted on social media. This customer service element extends into order fulfillment too.

Nearly every channel has its own way of handling the flow and interaction with customers. Each has its own journey and process, which means you’ll need some salespeople to put those things in place.

The nice bit is that a lot of this can be automated after the initial setup, so you’re not always trying to force a sale with a specific individual. However, the other side of the automation coin is that it’s got to be set up correctly or you push everyone down a path that’s not optimized to sell.

To read part 1 click here

*to be continued

Multichannel Selling: The Right Move Forward or Too Many Things at the Same Time?(Part 2)

About the author

Jake Rheude is the Director of Marketing for Red Stag Fulfillment, an ecommerce fulfillment warehouse that was born out of ecommerce. He has years of experience in ecommerce and business development. In his free time, Jake enjoys reading about business and sharing his own experience with others.

5 years ago
How a Payment Gateway Helps Your Business Grow
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

How a Payment Gateway Helps Your Business Grow

The e-commerce industry continues on an incredible growth trajectory, and as an online business owner, you have to implement the best strategy to leverage this growth. Whether you want to start an e-commerce store, or you already have one running, one of the most important considerations is how to stand out in the crowded market by offering a seamless customer experience. While the e-commerce landscape offers limitless opportunities for your business, you have to appreciate the stiff competition. One of the most innovative ways of growing your business in this highly competitive market is by integrating a payment gateway into your online store.

This article explores how payment gateways work and how using this system will boost your business performance. Keep reading to learn more.

Brief Overview of a Payment Gateway

In the simplest of terms, this is the technology that connects your online business with the payment network.  This system offers your business capacity to process multiple types of payments instantly. The gateway system securely captures payment details for customer transactions in an encrypted format.

This information goes to a payment processor or the acquiring bank in a matter of seconds. A message of approval or decline comes back to your system from the other end to complete or decline the payment. In summary, payment gateways use an encrypted connection to process, verify and accept or decline payments made by your customers.

The payment gateway process might not be the first thing you think of when strategizing for your store’s success, but it should be. This system facilitates fast and secure transactions at your store which is one of the things your customers will always look for before completing a purchase.

Payment Gateways for Business Growth

Now that you appreciate what payment gateways do, it is time to learn more about how this system can help your business grow. Take a look:

  1. Secure Payments

As more people continue shopping online, the issue of data breaches has become a major concern for all online operators and the authorities.  Many consumers and businesses have suffered huge losses due to data breaches and credit card fraud when making online payments. By integrating this right gateway system, you mitigate the risk of fraud through data loss.

  1. Offer Alternative Online Payments

More consumers now look for the fastest and cheapest payment option and your online business has to accept such alternative payments. The only way to accept multiple payments is through a system that allows you to process them easily. By accepting multiple payments, you improve not only your customer acquisition rate and customer retention rate but also sales conversion.

  1. Legal Compliance

Your online business has to comply with the stringent Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and the only to do this is to provide a safe and secure shopping experience. Falling behind on the PCI compliance curve can lead to hefty fines and loss of customer trust, among other devastating problems. By integrating the best payment system into your store, it is easy to streamline the data security compliance process for your business.

  1. Better Decision Making

The best payment gateways offer you crucial data from your customers and you can leverage such information and feedback to make better decisions for your business. Data-driven decisions guarantee better outcome for your business and also enhances the operational efficiency of your e-store.

  1. Broader Market Reach

If you want to grow your e-commerce store, you have to implement strategies that allow you to reach an international market. By accepting multiple payment options and offering a fast and secure processing system, you can easily target the global market. This increases conversion rates and boosts your bottom-line.

If you want to grow your online business, you need to embrace the latest payment system for fast, convenient and secure transactions at your e-store. It will be a win-win situation for your business and the customers. Get a competitive edge in your target market by integrating the best gateway for payments at your e-store.

5 years ago
4 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud at Your Business
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

4 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud at Your Business

It is true that online businesses have made life easy for most people all over the world, as long as they have a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Shopping for clothes, grocery, jewelry and even insurance has become a piece of cake! You can buy things to your heart’s content from the comfort of your home or your office or you can place an order even on the go. Digitization has also helped online merchants to connect with more customers than ever, and they now have a chance to expand their businesses and earn more in an easier manner.

The biggest concern for e-stores

But like everything in life, e-stores have a major weakness. And that is, they are highly susceptible to credit card frauds. Besides hacking and phishing, account takeover and identity thefts are other frauds you might face from time to time, as an online merchant. Fraudsters might steal personal and financial information of customers, or steal usernames and passwords to make unauthorized purchases. Frauds are especially harmful for small businesses and hence it is essential that you follow these tips to prevent them:

  • PCI compliant payment gateway – To protect customer data against online frauds, the PCI SSC or Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has come up with a set of best practices. And this is mandatory for online businesses to follow. So, it makes sense to use a payment gateway like PayTabs that is PCI compliant and has a double-layered fraud prevention system.

 

  • Keep an eye on transactions – As a merchant, you surely have an idea about the buying patterns of different customers. You know those who buy expensive products or buy in bulk. So, monitor transactions and your accounts daily to watch out for suspicious shipping information or inconsistent billing addresses. Tools for tracking IP addresses can also help, as they will alert you in case any address is originating from a fraud-prone area or country. Also note that frauds generate more from free email addresses than paid ones.

 

  • Use AVS and ask for CVV – AVS or Address Verification System is used by many online merchants to compare the customer address on a credit card company’s file with the numerical part of the address on the actual credit card. Use a payment gateway that does this checking automatically for you. The CVV on the other hand is the 3 or 4 digit security code that you will find on the back of credit cards. Now, if you are wondering why asking for the CVV is effective every time, it is because as per PCI rules, CVV cannot be stored with card owner name or credit card number. So, unless a fraudster steals a credit card, they cannot get hold of the CVV. Payment processors like PayTabs always include a tool that asks the shopper for the CVV number while checking out.
  • Use only the latest software and platforms – Providers of operating systems constantly update the software with security measures that prevent attacks from malware, viruses and frauds. So make sure you run only the latest operating system. Also install and update anti-spyware and anti-malware software from time to time, to prevent fraud attacks. These security software products should be business grade and not free ones with limited features.

Besides the above measures, try setting limits in terms of dollar value or the number of purchases you will accept from the same account per day. This can minimize your losses in case of fraud. Also, make sure your customers provide a strong alphanumeric password which is at least 8-charcater long and contains a special character or a capital to be extra safe. Inform your customers that long and complex passwords are necessary to prevent hacking. Otherwise, hackers can run programs that will run through all possible permutations of a password and crack it.

A little discretion and care can help you keep your online business safe from frauds. This will not only prevent monetary losses but also protect your reputation in the industry.

6 years ago
Using Your Social Media Channels for Customer Service
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Using Your Social Media Channels for Customer Service

When social media platforms first came into being, they were perceived as a unique way to connect with friends, families and acquaintances. Over time, e-commerce stores or online businesses began to make their presence felt through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Why? Because they quickly realized that social media is an intelligent way to enhance brand awareness. It is also a rising trend to market products and services through social media channels and gauge customer reactions.

Nearly every website today has a social media page and a social media strategy in place, to listen to customers, receive feedback and resolve queries or complaints. Hence, keeping the social media connection with your target audience is essential to expand client base, improve brand value and retain existing customers. Here are the top things to remember if you wish to use social media for customer service effectively:

  • Fast response is a must – Most online stores don’t offer round the clock phone or email service. But customers expect prompt response on social media channels, whether they have a query or a complaint. Responding late can cause customers to escalate the issue through other channels, tell friends about the bad experience, and buy less from you. They might also choose not to recommend your brand. This can hamper your brand image in more ways than one. So, timely responses are always a wise idea.

For instance, on Twitter, customers expect you to reply within an hour. And if you cannot resolve the issue in 280 characters, you can lead them to direct messages. On Facebook, response time rates are always shown clearly. And you must reply within 5 minutes if you want Facebook to consider your business very responsive or fast.

  • Understand public and private resolutions – No matter what you sell online, you should be prepared for negative comments or complaints. So decide which kind of comments you wish to resolve publicly and which ones you want to keep private. As comments impact your brand image, think carefully. Consider what kind of comments you usually get, who handles them, and how you want to redirect negative comments. Decide if they should be moved to direct messaging, phone or email.

For example, if a customer makes a negative comment on Twitter, or something that requires the exchange of sensitive information, you can reply to them cordially and send an automatically embedded link to direct messages. Your reply should clearly show what to do next or where to click for further conversation.

  • Don’t ignore even a single comment – Always remember to acknowledge every review or post on social media and answer every query without fail. If you don’t “hear” a customer, he or she is most likely to leave you! Ignoring a comment would mean you are ignoring the customer and it’s not desirable.
  • Fight negative comments positively – If a customer posts a complaint or negative feedback, don’t start defending your business. Address them politely by their names or initials, acknowledge the issue, show empathy and offer a phone number or email ID to continue the discussion and take it offline. Remember that the customer is always right and a thousand other customers are reading the complaint too. So, if you show a positive attitude, you will gain everyone’s trust and support. You can collate negative comments from your past experience and make a list of positive replies which you can use later in similar situations.
  • Use tools to monitor social media customer service – Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite and Mention can help you monitor customer service activities on social media channels. Through these, you can handle customer comments and queries on different platforms, simultaneously. These tools also let you tackle issues or queries in posts where your name has been mentioned but you have not been tagged or mentioned with @. You will get notifications even when you are away.

To conclude, being positive, responsive, understanding how to deal with negative comments and using the right monitoring tools can take you a long way when it comes to offering customer service through social media. As long as you are prepared, you can offer customers a supportive environment where they will engage with your brand more and trust you enough to stay loyal.

6 years ago
6 Money Saving Tips for Your Small Business
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

6 Money Saving Tips for Your Small Business

If you are the owner of a small business, chances are that you are always searching for creative ways to save money and keep your business afloat. Even if your business is doing well, it always makes sense to spend frugally. Whether you are looking to cut costs or improve profitability of your business, here are some creative ways that make the entire idea of saving money painless and easy!

  1. Avoid having a full-time office space

Thanks to the advancement in technology, businesses today can be run from any location. Barring a few sectors, try to rent as minimal office space as you can.

Offer people work from home options and get only the core team to sit at office. This way you can cut down on not only office rent but also small overheads like paper, electricity, food and gadget expenses etc.

  1. Try inbound marketing rather than keeping a big fat sales team

Try attracting your customer online by implementing a good content marketing strategy. Focus on your SEO strategy, build on social media and invest in search engine marketing. Also don’t ignore your company blog, since that has a lot of potential in getting you traffic. This might work better than outbound sales, especially if you are trying to sell a product or service online.

  1. Consider used furniture

If having an office is the only option you have, consider buying equipment and furniture that is pre-used. You can find office chairs and screen at nearly half the price from most second hand or refurbished goods store. Delay gratification. What you offer to your customers is much more important than a fancy looking office.

  1. Outsource as much as possible

Full time employees do not come cheap these days. Add to it the additional benefits like leaves, medical expenses and provident funds, you might just blow up all your budget. So, if possible, hire independent and reliable freelancers to reduce cost. Needless to say, by hiring a freelancer you will also be able to save a lot since they are already an expert in their field while a full time employee would need to be trained.

  1. Do not shy away from negotiating

As a small business owner, you should definitely avoid paying retail prices as often as possible. So, try to negotiate with vendors, consider bulk buying to save on shipping charges or tie up with wholesalers. Figure out ways to save money on your buying charges. You can also barter with some companies and save further. For example, you can purchase raw material for your bakery at a lesser price and in exchange offer to provide free cake on the dealer’s celebration occasions.

  1. Hire a good tax accountant

No one likes paying taxes. So it makes sense to hire a good accountant who can help in claiming certain tax rebates and allowances that you might not be aware of.

To be honest, when it comes to saving money, there are numerous things you can try. Every business comes with its own needs and priorities, so you are the best judge of what works best for you. Having said that, always remember, if it saves money, it is worth it!

If you are looking for a reliable way to accept online payments and have a competitive advantage, you can visit www.PayTabs.com.

6 years ago