Harry Whitehouse says, “A new year means a fresh start. It’s the perfect opportunity to reassess, refresh and take your business to the next level. Here are some tips to help your business kick off 2016 with a bang. 1. Establish your business New Year’s resolutions. Setting some New Year’s resolutions for your business is just as important as promising to hit the gym more often. This is your chance to challenge yourself with some new business goals and reinforce your brand. Whether it’s meeting your financial targets, winning over some new customers or strengthening ties with existing... [...]

Tripti Narain says, “In a major reform, the government has cleared 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in online retail consumer businesses that operate as marketplaces, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said in a notice on March 29. Marketplace model means that the companies act as a facilitator between buyers and sellers by providing a technology platform. As per the guidelines issued by DIPP on FDI in e-commerce, FDI has not been allowed in inventory-based model of e-commerce, where the company owns the goods that are being sold through its platform. To bring... [...]

Ritu Kochar says, “The recent face-off between Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Snapdeal’s CEO Kunal Bahl on Twitter took everyone back to the time of Cola wars where Pepsi and Coca-Cola chose advertising, the ecommerce companies have added Twitter to their artillery. Shots were fired and egos were hurt. As the competition intensifies, the big boys of ecommerce companies – Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal – are going great lengths to save their company from being mocked at on Twitter. Knowing the impact of social media, where millions of their customers wait as they plan their next... [...]

David Bernstein says, “It makes sense to implement a rigid return policy, doesn’t it? By requiring that products be returned for refund or exchange before a certain number of days pass, customers are likely to let the deadline pass without realizing. At least, that’s the basic idea (and hope) for strict policies. What if the opposite were true? The Endowment Effect If you give seven days, or even thirty days, for customers to try out a purchase before returning it, there is a chance that a few will miss that deadline. It’s just human nature. What about the rest of your customers, though?... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “According to a report yesterday, fingerprint-enabled Apple Pay is coming to mobile websites. One popular angle on this news is that the move will potentially cut into PayPal’s leadership position; however, the more important potential impact is the acceleration of mobile commerce more broadly. Re/code reported that Apple Pay for mobile sites will be available later this year, before holiday 2016: The service will be available to shoppers using the Safari browser on models of iPhones and iPads that possess Apple’s TouchID fingerprint technology, these people said.... [...]

David Bernstein says, “It makes sense to implement a rigid return policy, doesn’t it? By requiring that products be returned for refund or exchange before a certain number of days pass, customers are likely to let the deadline pass without realizing. At least, that’s the basic idea (and hope) for strict policies. What if the opposite were true? The Endowment Effect If you give seven days, or even thirty days, for customers to try out a purchase before returning it, there is a chance that a few will miss that deadline. It’s just human nature. What about the rest of your customers, though?... [...]

Spencer Dunfee says, “Part of running a successful ecommerce business is the ability to keep buyers coming back for more. Excellent customer service has long been a determining factor in a buyer’s loyalty, but you may be surprised to learn it’s not the only thing you can do to make sure your customers buy again. In fact, for a guaranteed return visit, you need a quality product, excellent customer service, and choice closure. Choice paradox is that pesky psychological hangup that occurs when buyers have too many options available. Maybe those options aren’t all available from just one... [...]

Tomy Wyher says, “E-commerce is quite a competitive industry to be no matter what is being sold. Taking advantage of everything possible is important to stay ahead of the competition whether it is repeat sales or winning over a new market. Trends can be one of these things to use to the advantage of a company. Trends can be social media trends, sales trends, packaging trends, and other things. The following are some ways to take advantage of trends to help boost E-commerce website sales. Subscription Boxes A subscription box is something that can be purchased for a flat fee each month with... [...]

Christian Sculthorp says, “Starting an E-commerce business has become accessible now that companies like Shopify have made it as easy as uploading a few images. Everybody has the opportunity to sell their own products or start a drop shipping empire. Whether you’re new to E-commerce or run a multi-million dollar online shop there’s one universal truth: SEO is vital for the majority of E-commerce websites. With a few exceptions (like fashion), for an E-commerce business to be successful, they’ll need to drive organic traffic to the website. If you’re not familiar, read up on some SEO... [...]

Peter Ostrow says, “Few B2B sales leaders are likely to boast that every single promise ever made from every sales effectiveness technology solution they purchased has magically come true. But, as any savvy sales operations practitioner who has consumed Aberdeen Group’s research knows, investing in even one efficiency tool can yield measurable business results that create multiples of value on the product spend. The trick, of course, is to both deploy and measure effectively. Aberdeen research has long explored content’s role in high-performing sales organizations, most recently in... [...]