Greg Sterling says, “According to Adobe, Thanksgiving and Black Friday online retail sales exceed $5 billion. More noteworthy in some ways is that mobile devices contributed a record $1.2 billion to that total on Black Friday alone. There was mixed data on in-store traffic and sales, with some sources reporting an initial decline vs. last year and others reporting small in-store gains. However, on a percentage basis, online shopping growth far outpaced store traffic. While retail analysts and the media focus on the distinctions between online and offline shopping and the particulars and... [...]

Corey Ferreira says, “Seasonal and Black Friday shoppers are unique in that many of them will buy your products without knowing anything about your brand. This means they might forget about your business entirely if you don’t make an effort to keep them interested. Turning Black Friday shoppers into repeat customers can have an enormous impact on the success of your business; over time they’ll cost less, buy more, and even develop a real connection with your business. Now that Black Friday is upon us, turning these first-time customers into lifetime fans should be your number one priority. In... [...]

Ayodeji Onibalusi says, “In ecommerce, one of the biggest challenges most businesses face is shopping cart abandonment. It’s one of the biggest concerns for online retailers. It’s also a scenario that is unlikely in the real world: Imagine walking into a shopping mall, filling up your cart and staying for just a while before walking out of the mall, leaving your items behind. Related: Shopping Cart Throw-down: Which Ecommerce Platform Reigns Supreme? A 2015 Business Insider intelligence report showed that at the time online retailers were losing a total $4 trillion due to shopping... [...]

Adam Lella says, “With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Americans are gearing up for their favorite seasonal pastimes: feasting with family and friends, watching football, and holiday shopping for their loved ones. While comScore plans to release its holiday season online spending forecast on our State of Online Retail in Q3 2016 webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 16, today we wanted to provide an update on how much consumers spent online during the third quarter and how much of it is coming from mobile. comScore estimates that Q3 2016 total digital commerce sales in the U.S. was $84.3 billion,... [...]

Sujan Patel says, “An ecommerce store is a fantastic way to build revenue with very little overhead: You can generate sales around-the-clock at a global level without the expenses or staff required to operate a brick-and-mortar business. Yet, despite the fact that more than 205 million consumers in the United States shop online, and spend a per-person average of nearly $3,000 per year, plenty of ecommerce business are still struggling to become profitable. If you count yours among them, here are 10 things that could be the root cause of your revenue problems. 1. Poor quality images and... [...]

Jan Verleur says, “Is your company ready to go global with ecommerce? Maybe it should be. Opportunities to sell globally are substantial and growing. While ecommerce retail sales in the United States are rising — expected to reach $523 billion in the next five years — that number is growing even more rapidly worldwide. Globally, business-to-consumer (B2C) online sales is on pace to exceed $2 trillion by 2017. E-sales in Asia Pacific will surpass those in North America during that same year. The increased use of mobile devices in those regions, plus better payment systems... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “The top reason consumers abandon shopping carts on e-commerce sites is that they’re just browsing and researching, which is followed by issues with shipping as a reason, according to recent research from Salecycle. The report was based on 3Q16 data from the websites of 500 leading brands. It was also based on data from cart abandonment survey emails sent to consumers who did not complete purchases on these sites. Some 34% of respondents say they abandoned a recent e-commerce shopping cart because they were just looking/researching. Next, 23% cite an issue with shipping... [...]

Paul Cheney says, “A clear value proposition is at the heart of any business. But in the ecommerce space, where commodities are much more common, it’s incredibly difficult to compete and also be clear about the value your product brings to the market. In this eight-minute video, Flint McGlaughlin optimizes a page submitted by Ruby of Armstrong Ceiling Solutions and talks mainly about how this page, and pages like it across the industry, can benefit from a clear, compelling value proposition. You might also like: Homepage Optimization: 5 Marketing blind spots that inhibit conversion (and... [...]

Emma Hinchliffe says, “China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba moved $17.8 billion in sales during its Singles Day sale on Friday, smashing its own records. The $17.8 billion (or 120.7 billion yuan) figured crushed Black Friday’s $4.45 billion in e-commerce sales last year and Alibaba’s own $14.3 billion record from 2015. Singles Day is China’s biggest e-commerce day of the year, complete with a nationally televised party and concert. The day originated as an anti-Valentine’s Day, encouraging single people in China to buy gifts for themselves. Alibaba broke records... [...]

Sneha Banerjee says, “We all are now aware of the fact that the demonetization of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 Indian currency will impact the ecommerce sector. The sector, which has been cashing in the Cash on Delivery (COD) phenomena so far, might now see this particular set of customers looking for an alternative option. In an elaborate report published by RedSeer Consulting said that with 70 percent of overall e-tailing and 40 percent of the high-value transactions done by COD, the currently COD-only consumers will shy away from near term, especially high-value purchases. Entrepreneur India asked... [...]