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Changes in the E-Commerce Landscape That Could Affect Your Business

Tag: marketing

Changes in the E-Commerce Landscape That Could Affect Your Business
Mohab Super Merchants 0

Changes in the E-Commerce Landscape That Could Affect Your Business

It is no news that merchants have been making the most of the e-commerce boom for quite some time now. Most businesses these days sell products as well as services online, to customers sitting in far-flung parts of the world.  While the internet has opened up a whole new world of opportunities to merchants, there are certain things you should focus on if you wish to thrive as a virtual business. As the e-commerce landscape is constantly changing, if you want to stay ahead of competition, here are the things you should keep in mind:

Offering multiple payment options

If a shopper visits your website, likes a product, clicks to buy, but sees that you only accept credit cards, he or she might abandon the cart. This is because they were probably looking to use their e-wallet. Naturally, you will lose valuable customers this way. Luckily, these days, there are payment gateways like PayTabs that allow merchants to accept many different currencies and multiple payment options like Visa, MasterCard, Union Pay, WeChat Pay, American Express, Sadad and more. Hence, as a business, you have a better chance to convert potential shoppers into actual ones if you offer more payment choices by adopting these gateways.

Make social media work for you

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become smart ways to advertise products online as well. Hence, businesses of all sizes have the scope to compete and connect with customers and turn them into loyalists. So, you should focus on social media marketing, create engaging posts, and interact with potential shoppers to build trust and confidence. Remember to accept both positive and negative reviews to get better.

Go mobile or get wiped out!

More and more online shoppers are using their mobile devices or smartphones to make purchases these days, be it a pizza or a gold ring! It is expected that by 2019, sales through tablets and smartphones can be as much as $150 billion. So you see how important it is to make your e-store mobile friendly. Or, you will lose out on sales. Adopting a payment gateway like PayTabs is also essential to make the payment process seamless and easy on mobiles.

Don’t ignore Omni-channel marketing

There was a time when people could make purchases only through a merchant’s website. But those days are long gone. You can now use social media, mobile apps, emails and even SMS to connect with your audience, inform them of sales and such, and make it easier for them to shop from you. This way, you will open up multiple channels to them for convenient shopping. Are you worried that managing the revenues from these different channels will be tough? Don’t worry as thanks to gateways like PayTabs, payment integration irrespective of the transaction channel is a reality.

Focus on customer service

The world of online shopping has become intensely competitive over the years. Customers today have more options than ever before, whether it comes to brands, type of products or benefits. So, in this scenario, great customer service can take you a really long way! But it is often expensive to set up and manage a call centre, especially if you are a new business. Though automated chatbots are popular and widely used by many e-stores, they are not always personal and don’t provide the support needed. Hence, a better idea is to use IVR or Interactive Voice Response which will work round the clock to cater to customer needs.

Payment security is very crucial

Online shoppers will only trust you when you use a secure payment gateway like PayTabs. This is because online frauds, identity thefts and phishing are on the rise. Hence, using a gateway that is PCI compliant makes total sense. Such a gateway will protect customer details, transaction data and prevent fraudulent attacks.

Finally, you see how surviving and succeeding in the e-commerce landscape is a tricky business! But with a little foresight and discretion, you can make technology work wonders for you. Just keep the above tips in mind and stay abreast with changes.

6 years ago
A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part III
Mohab Ecommerce 0

A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part IIIImage credit: MaxPixel

Make the most of the latest and greatest in tech and save valuable business resources. From financials to marketing, all elements of your business can be streamlined and speeded up. 

In our last post in our automation series, learn more about time-saving tech.

Time-saving tech

Running a website and busy inbox can take its toll, so save time with the help of technology.

  1. Cloud computing is a massive leap forward when it comes to managing content and files. Don’t risk losing valuable data because of a messy folder structure; automate file management and version control with a cloud-based system. This is feasible for even the smallest startup, whereas larger firms have the option to upgrade to more bespoke enterprise cloud computing solutions.
  2. Automated backups of your website database and file and database cleanups aren’t difficult to implement. Use smart tools and plugins to help cut down on admin time when it comes to website management.
  3. Email filtering and auto-responders are more sophisticated than ever thanks to AI technology. You can create email ‘recipes’ and funnels that massively cut down on time spent filtering inboxes and dealing with inbound requests. You may even want to invest in helpdesk software to scale your operations.
  4. Inventory and supplier automation often have significant cost-saving and profitability benefits. Models like Amazon FBA and dropshipping aren’t for everyone, but they can help massively decrease your overheads as an e-commerce brand. Even if you got it alone, it’s recommended that you select an online store builder that works with other tools and services. For example, building a store through Shopify means having instant access in-built refunds and returns, whereas store owners on Drupal would have to separately code a lot of features — including basics like social sharing and blogging. Think about how the technology you choose helps — or limits — your choices.

Whether it’s customers, suppliers, or virtual assistants, it’s important that automation is an end-goal all departments share.  Automation should never be a dirty word in your business. As an online entrepreneur, you are in the perfect position to explore automation across your business — from marketing to finances.

About the author

Victoria Greene is a branding consultant and freelance writer. Big fan of automation when it comes to content marketing. Helping ecommerce brands and startups scale faster and better.

6 years ago
A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part II
Mohab Ecommerce, Guest Posts 0

A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part II

Image credit: Flickr

It doesn’t matter whether you sell services, products, or even just share content with your online audience: any online business is ripe for automation — including yours.

Set out an automation framework to help you scale and manage your automation operations — find out how to do so in part II of our automation series. 

Create an appropriate framework

The main challenge with automation is having the right framework to support your new processes. This means having an all-informed business with robust documentation. Without it, your automation drive will be lost.

You need to embrace:

  • Bots
  • Smart integrated systems
  • Cross-platform and cross-device formats
  • Workflows, processes and tasks — not individual ability
  • Zapier
  • Inventory management automation

Part of successful automation is process management. You can always automate a process.

This is really the crux of the matter when it comes to automation. Do you fancy staying up all night, packing the latest orders of your store? Or manually having to schedule every single blog promo piece for the next 6 months?

I’m guessing the answer is no…

So create a process, automate it, and move on to the more important stuff instead.

A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part II

About the author

Victoria Greene is a branding consultant and freelance writer. Big fan of automation when it comes to content marketing. Helping ecommerce brands and startups scale faster and better.

6 years ago
A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part III
Mohab Ecommerce 0

A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part I

Image credit: Flickr

Do you NEVER seem to have enough time to deal with the important stuff in your business? Struggling to keep up with the demands of becoming a brand publisher?

Wouldn’t it be great to have more time to focus on the strategic elements of your business…?

Well, automation can help you achieve that.

Here are some online automation hacks to help inspire your business strategy reboot — read part I in our blog series now.

Fintech innovations

Let’s start with the financials: after all, every business in the world needs money to keep the wheels turning.

From managing supplier payments to keeping up with the demands of bookkeeping — financial tasks and admin can massively eat into your profit margins.

The trouble with financial tasks is that if they are not done correctly, it could spell disaster.

  1. Financial technology has seen some exciting developments these recent years — from blockchain to cloud accounting, there are so many ways to improve and simplify your financial operations.
  2. Even simple choices like what payment gateway you go for will determine your business’s financial ecosystem. Opt for a system that’s smart and integrates with other services and platforms so that you don’t have to rely on expensive workarounds.
  3. Accounting is a big business overhead, especially when it comes to expenses and taxes. Invest in a smart system that allows you to automatically sync paper receipts into your online finance system.

Martech leads the way

Marketing technology is another ally of automation. Nowadays, there are enough tools and platforms to automate pretty much any marketing task under the sun.

Martech scales up and down, and can be leveraged by organizations large and small. From simple things like automated proofreading to automating your content strategy with HubSpot, there are tools out there that can help you create, launch, and share better content.

Key areas where you need to embrace automation:

  1. Remarketing is a great way to target interested parties — whether that’s website visitors who haven’t converted, or people who’ve engaged with your content. The beauty of remarketing automation is that once you put in the work to create a funnel and populate it with ads, you can just click ‘play’ and let the system do the rest!
  2. Email is a big marketing channel, whether you are in B2C or B2B. Create funnels using services like Pardot (a Salesforce tool) and run your lead generation campaigns more cost-efficiently.A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part I
  3. Social media can be a massive time sinkhole, so be more efficient about it and embrace automated content creation, mass scheduling, and social listening to help you do more. Social media tools aren’t just about saving time — they will actually bring you better results by optimizing posting times, lengths, and formats.

A Guide On How You Can Bring Automation To Your Online Business Part I

About the author

Victoria Greene is a branding consultant and freelance writer. Big fan of automation when it comes to content marketing. Helping ecommerce brands and startups scale faster and better.

6 years ago
9 smart ways to boost your eCommerce business during Ramadan
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

9 smart ways to boost your eCommerce business during Ramadan

It has been observed that the sacred month of Ramadan is a time when the online spending by Muslims all over the world rises significantly. Throughout this month, devout Muslims fast, pray, donate to the needy, and exchange gifts with loved ones. This holy month culminates with Eid al-Fitr, a festival that marks the breaking of the month-long dawn to sunset fast. And it encourages all Muslims to purchase various household as well as personal and gift items. A study conducted by The Arabian Marketer also showed that a 15% growth in retail and a 35% growth in travel through online sales were noticed during Ramadan 2015. As a result, ecommerce companies have started offering whopping discounts and attractive promotions on fashion apparel, electronics, sportswear, automotive and more. But are such measures enough to attract Ramadan shoppers? Not really! Here are a few things to keep in mind if you wish your sales to peak during this sacred month:

  1. Make your ecommerce store mobile-friendly

    During Ramadan, most people are usually away from their desktops or laptops, but are active on their mobiles, which include smartphones and tablets. Google also shows that more people during this period watch more YouTube videos and search on the internet through mobile phones. Hence, a mobile-friendly and easy to navigate website is crucial to lure such shoppers.

  2. Focus on the right times

    Weekend, early morning hours, shortly before the sunset and right after the sunset when the faithful breaks his or her fast are the peak times for shopping. And you will have to be ready for that.

  3. Say yes to Arabic

    In a country where the majority speaks Arabic, it will do your website a lot of good if it has a version in that language. Ensure that your site supports local currencies and payment platforms like PayTabs. Such payment gateways assure easy and transparent fund transfer.

  4. A pre-Ramadan campaign can help

    To emotionally connect with potential shoppers, it is a good idea to go for a pre-Ramadan campaign. It shows that you appreciate the local culture and respect the sacred month.

  5. Track across devices

    Modern online shoppers often keep switching from their PC to mobile to tablet, during a single purchase. And this trend increases during Ramadan. So unless you can track customer behavior across different devices, you might approach a shopper with a product he or she no longer wants. And this way, you might lose out on a potential sale.

  6. Stand apart from competition

    Since most or all ecommerce companies will be vying for the customers’ attention, you need to build special digital marketing strategies to stand out from the crowd. Unique or rare offers might help.

  7. Find out what works best for you

    Not all industries are affected in the same way by Ramadan. For instance, fashion outlets usually benefit the most from the sale of kid’s clothing. Travel agents on the other hand benefit when they keep an eye on the best times for booking flights and hotels.

  8. Don’t ignore feast days

    The last 3 days of Ramadan might witness a sharp decline in sales, since everyone is feasting and celebrating. But you mustn’t give up hope because of that. Remember that though people are away from their laptops or computers, they will definitely carry around their mobiles. Reach out with a warm message on Eid, so that your engagement with the shoppers continues.

  9. Make the most of social media

    Interactions on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter increase by leaps and bounds during Ramadan. A study by Motion Point reveals that this hike can be as much as a third! Hence, strategic social media marketing will come in handy and drive more traffic towards your website.

So, gear up for Ramadan with the smart tips mentioned here. There is every possibility that you might end up reaping more benefits than ever before!

7 years ago