Top 2022 resources on strategy

Best strategy resource in 2022.
Learn more about strategy to improve your e-commerce strategy.

• 10 Great Examples of Welcome Emails to Inspire Your Own Strategy - We've all heard how important it is to make a good first impression. Show up late for a job interview? That's a bad first impression. Eat a ton of garlic and forget to brush your teeth before a first date? Also a bad first impression.
  Topics: value, email, welcome, customers, inspire, strategy, help, product, customer, great, emails, subject, examples.
• 11 Talent Acquisition Strategies to Find the Best Employees - It can be difficult to find the ideal candidate for a specific position — in fact, in 2021, 69% of companies have reported talent shortages and difficulty hiring – a 15-year high.
  Topics: youll, strategies, job, social, candidates, work, acquisition, company, best, employees, talent, strategy.
• 13 Businesses With Brilliant Global Marketing Strategies - Guess what? Global marketing is no longer reserved for brands with deep pockets, nor is it a huge hassle for marketing managers who handle all marketing efforts. In fact, a global presence is possible for any business with a creative strategy and an understanding of world markets. Let’s go over what a good global marketing strategy looks like and the best examples worldwide.
  Topics: businesses, countries, marketing, brand, global, product, imitate, strategies, international, strategy, different, regions, brilliant.
• 15 Ways to Come Up With an Idea for Your Online Store - The hardest part of starting an online business? Coming up with a great idea! Here are 15 ways you can discover great online business ideas.
  Topics: come, ideas, store, idea, online, business, start, ways, strategy, ideatostore, products, product.
• 18 of the Best Marketing Techniques for 2021 - Perhaps you've spent the last quarter performing a SWOT analysis on your marketing efforts and identifying your priorities as you grow your brand. Maybe you've even built your entire marketing strategy.
  Topics: traffic, youll, strategy, techniques, posts, content, marketing, best, blog, email, testing, brand.
• 20 Social Media Marketing Myths to Leave Behind in 2022 - Like any major marketing strategy of the past decade, social media has had plenty of time to accumulate some big myths.
  Topics: content, strategy, marketing, myths, social, leave, audience, tiktok, users, platforms, brand, media.
• 21 Data-Backed Reasons That Point to Why you Should Consider an Omnichannel Strategy in 2022 - Connecting with shoppers has never been as easy, or as difficult, as it is today. There are any number of channels businesses can use to market and sell their products, ranging from their own website or third-party marketplaces, to brick-and-mortar stores or even the traditional sales team. While you could probably find a buyer through any of these channels, connecting and converting the right buyers will depend on you reaching your customers when and where they are. That could be on Instagram, in their email inbox, on Amazon, or over the phone. While it can be daunting to try and strategize across a variety of different platforms, apps, mediums, and devices, recent buyer data has never been clearer – the single-channel shopper is dying. Taking an omnichannel approach to your commerce strategy will become core for your business to meet modern consumer demands, improve your customer experience and ultimately, your bottom line. Businesses like Stance, Bank of America, and Starbucks, are all great examples of businesses with omnichannel experiences. But, there is a catch. And it isn’t just budget. The key to an omnichannel commerce strategy (and how it differs from a multichannel strategy) lies not only in the mix of channels your business is leveraging, but in how those channels integrate and connect the customer’s journey. Buyers today expect their shopping experience to be as convenient and personalized as possible. If they’re researching online, they might want to know the nearest in-store location they can pick up their desired products up at. If they order online, they might want to return in store. While customer preferences will vary based on your business (the products you sell, your ecommerce business model, industry, and location), the same underlying behaviors impact everyone – and the answer is omnichannel. Here’s a few compelling statistics to help convince you that you should pivot to an omnichannel strategy if you’re not thinking about it already: Customer buying habits are already multichannel... 15 years ago the average consumer typically used two touch-points when buying an item and only 7% regularly used more than four. Today consumers use an average of almost six touch-points with nearly 50% regularly using more than four. (Marketing Week) 59% of shoppers surveyed say they research online before they buy to ensure they are making the best possible choice. (Google) 98% of Americans switch between devices in the same day. (Google Research) 56% of consumers have used their mobile device to research products at home with 38% having used their mobile device to check inventory availability while on their way to a store and 34% who have used their mobile device to research products while in a store. (Forrester) ...And rapidly moving towards omnichannel 50% of shoppers expect that they will be able to make a purchase online and pick up in-store. (Forrester) The number of orders placed online and picked up at bricks-and-mortar stores by customers grew 208% during the pandemic. (Adobe Analytics, 2020) 71% of shoppers agree that it is important or very important to be able to view inventory information for in-store products. (Forrester) 45% of shoppers in-store expect sales associates to be knowledgeable about online-only products. (Forrester) Over 35% of customers expect to be able to contact the same customer service representative on any channel. (Zendesk) Ready to Bring Your Own Omnichannel Strategy to Life? Make any touchpoint transactional and build unique commerce experiences catered to your brand with an Omnichannel approach. Check out our comprehensive guide to learn more. Read the Guide Omnichannel ecommerce will increase revenue... Companies with extremely strong omnichannel customer engagement see a 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue, compared to 3.4% for weak omnichannel companies. Similarly, strong omnichannel companies see a 7.5% year-over-year decrease in cost per contact, compared to a 0.2% year-over-year decrease for weak companies. (Aberdeen Group) Omnichannel shoppers have a 30% higher lifetime value than those who shop using only one channel. (Google) Omnichannel customers spend 4% more in-store and 10% more online than single-channel customers. For every additional channel they use, customers spend more money. (Harvard Business Review) Customers that also used 4 or more channels, spent 9% more in-store when compared to just one channel (Harvard Business Review) Marketers using three or more channels in any one campaign earned a 250% higher purchase rate than those using a single-channel campaign. (Omnisend) ...And improve customer retention Companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain on average 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for companies with weak omnichannel customer engagement. (Invesp) 74% of consumers are willing to abandon a brand if the purchasing process isn't easy to navigate. (Source) An omnichannel strategy will make it easier to deliver consistent, personalized, and seamless the shopping experiences: 91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them.(Accenture) 67% of consumers think it’s important for brands to automatically adjust content based on current context. When brands don't adjust accordingly, 42% of consumers will "get annoyed" that content isn’t personalized. (Adobe) 71% of consumers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal. (Segment) About 73% of consumers will ghost a brand after three or fewer negative customer service experiences (Coveo) 74% of consumers would find “living profiles” valuable if they could be used to curate the experiences, offers, and products they receive. (Accenture) Building a unified customer experience that can be delivered seamlessly across any touchpoint is the path to a future-proofed business. Buyers can either be fickle or have a deep affiliation for your brand and how you engage with them will make or break that bond. Positive experiences will mean less abandoned shopping carts, better reviews and in the end, expanded sales and less churn for your business. If you’re looking to get started with omnichannel ecommerce, or have already implemented the approach, Elastic Path can help you bring your vision to life and simplify the process with a flexible omnichannel commerce solutions. Chat with an expert today to get started.
  Topics: products, reasons, online, strategy, point, shoppers, used, consider, databacked, omnichannel, consumers, business, customer, customers.
• 25 B2B ecommerce experts to follow - This post was originally published on September 25, 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and relevancy in the market. Here's a comprehensive list of 25 industry movers and shakers in B2B ecommerce. These hardworking and thought-provoking individuals are known among their peers and commerce community as experts in digital strategy and building digital-first B2B enterprises. We're following them and we think you should be too. Brian Beck, CEO, BECK Ecommerce With over 20 years in the B2B commerce space, Beck has lived through many digital transformations. He now serves as an expert and consultant for mid-market and global B2B firms in the areas of ecommerce strategy, digital transformation, digital marketing and technology evaluation. He’s a frequent speaker at industry events around the globe, and the author of Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce. Twitter LinkedIn Brady Behrman, CEO & Founder, Punchout2go After 20 years in the web development business, Behrman co-founded PunchOut2Go in 2011 and quickly grew it into a global company, supporting organizations in 39 countries (on 6 continents). During his career, Behrman has gained extensive knowledge and experience within the B2B ecommerce and eProcurement industries; and is a known thought-leader within this niche space. LinkedIn Tiffany Beltis, Director of Biz Ops & Strategy, Intuit  Beltis has held digital transformation roles in enterprise B2B software, including Adobe and Symantec. She oversaw and led the strategy for Intuit.com, including a complete overhaul from the infrastructure all the way through to the customer experience. She is also a sought-after speaker, presenting regularly at conferences such as GrowthHackers, Brand Innovators, and Oracle Open World.  LinkedIn Don Brett, Global Chief Digital Officer at NBG Home NGB Brands is a division of Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm based in New York specializing in retail and consumer investments. Brett held leadership role at Kimball, a leading furniture company and was previously with Newell Brands as the former VP of B2B Commerce.  LinkedIn   Brad Budde, VP, Digital, Emerson Budde is an 18-year veteran in the B2B industry, with experience spanning markets at large and mid-size enterprises, including roles in digital, ecommerce, product management, operations and engineering. He currently leads the overall digital program for Emerson Automation Solutions including guiding the strategic direction, leading the implementation, and driving the adoption of capabilities.  LinkedIn Matt Clark, Chief Digital Officer, Staples  Clark is an experienced ecommerce professional with a demonstrated history of working successfully in the technology and services industry. He leads all ecommerce efforts for Staples.com and Staplesadvantage.com.  LinkedIn Marta Dalton, Global Ecommerce Director, Unilever  As Global Director, Dalton is responsible for B2B and B2B2C ecommerce at Unilever. She’s a popular and featured speaker at many of the industry’s leading conferences, such as DigitalSummit, B2BOnline, B2BOnline Europe, B2BNext, eMetrics Summit, Dreamforce, Ecommerce Brazil, and AD Ecommerce Summit to name a few.   LinkedIn Cynthia DiTullio, Director, Global B2B, Converse  DiTullio is a seasoned practitioner and accomplished B2B leader with extensive global business operations experience. DiTullio has a proven track record for analyzing, benchmarking and improving operational effectiveness. She is also recognized for successfully building and mentoring highly productive and cohesive teams across diverse industries and locations.  LinkedIn Apryl Erickson, Vice President, eBusiness & Customer Centricity, HID Global Erickson is a strategic, customer-centric business leader with HID Global and is responsible for driving commercial digital business and customer experience strategies. With more than a decade at HID Global, she has held roles in sales management, channel marketing, product marketing/management, international sales and marketing communications.  LinkedIn Adrienne Hartman, Senior Director, Ecommerce & Campaign Sales, JJ Keller & Associates   Hartman is a digital leader and frequent speaker at shows like B2B Online, B2B Next, THAT Conference, IBM Think and STEM Innovation Summit. She currently leads the team responsible for digital marketing, ecommerce, creative, content, UX, support and direct sales. Hartman is also empowering others as a Board of Director member for Women in Technology Wisconsin.   LinkedIn Kyle Hilbrenner, Digital Sales, Parts Town As data driven practitioner, Hilbrenner has led everything digital and ecommerce. He specializes in strategy and analytics with a proven ability to collaborate with IT teams to deliver new and improved customer experiences. He was previously VP Ecommerce & Digital Marketing, RepairClinic.com.  LinkedIn Andy Hoar, CEO & Founder, Paradigm B2B (former Forrester Analyst)  His long-standing credibility in the B2B space as a former Forrester Analyst and now Founder of Paradigm B2B, Hoar is really an expert and leader for practitioners.  LinkedIn Richard Isaac, CEO, Real Decoy  Isaac is a successful entrepreneur, VC and ecommerce thought leader. He has been considered a leading authority when it comes to boosting customer loyalty and ecommerce conversions. He also serves as a trusted advisor to executives of the world’s most recognizable brands extract greater ROI from their ecommerce investments. LinkedIn Justin King, VP, Industry Marketing, Salsify  King was one of the first thought leaders to truly double down on B2B ecommerce as an advisor for manufacturers and distributors. He’s the author of Digital Branch Secrets and a frequent speaker on B2B ecommerce. His firm B2X Partners was acquired by Salsify.  Twitter  LinkedIn Mike McMahon, Ecommerce Consultant and former VP, Ecommerce, Medline Industries McMcMahon is an innovative B2B ecommerce executive with a track record of delivering strong business results through digital strategy, data curation and analysis, and project leadership. In 2019, he founded Holistic B2B Consulting Services, a consulting firm specializing in ecommerce and marketing strategy. LinkedIn Paul Miller, eCommerce Consultant and Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Company Miller has successfully launched numerous brands on the web and has crafted winning, profitable, large scale operations in the process. He’s team builder with a knack for finding and hiring great talent - and an equal ability to motivate and retain great people. In addition to his role at McKinsey, he is founder and CEO at Paul Miller Digital Solutions. LinkedIn Michael Noble, CEO & Co-founder, Apruve  Noble is the co-founder of fintech Apruve, a real-time B2B credit network that connects suppliers, their buyers and banks to extend revolving lines of credit to purchase against. He is also the founder of Nitch, a B2B social network to connect buyers and suppliers within their specific "niche."   LinkedIn   Kevin O’Brien, Director Digital Supply Chain Management, Caterpillar  O’Brien has previously held Director eCommerce and Director of Online Presence roles at Caterpillar.  As a globally experienced executive with extensive experience in transformational technology deployment, he has had experience as both a business and technology leader for Caterpillar. LinkedIn Devashish Saxena, VP, Chief Digital Officer, PPG Saxena is a customer-focused visionary and strategic leader with a remarkable track record of driving €1.3 billion digital business growth while consistently shepherding deep business transformation. As CDO, he leads PPG’s digital transformation through enhancement, connectivity, automation, insights and innovation. LinkedIn Shalin Shah, Vice President, Global eCommerce Market Development Strategy, UPS Shah  previously held leadership roles at Georgia-Pacific and was responsible for leading sales and customer specific capabilities in ecommerce.  LinkedIn Sonesh Shah, President of Rotary Tools (Dremel) Bosch Previously as head of digital at Bosch, Shah was responsible for all digital transformation efforts for the North America division for Power Tools, including IoT / New Business Model Development.  LinkedIn Chloe Thomas, Founder, eCommerce Master Plan   Thomas is a trusted advisor to ecommerce business owners and marketers to further grow their businesses. In addition to speaking and advising, she is also the author of five books on the topic of ecommerce and regularly contributes to news outlets and business white papers. She also has a podcast of the same name, eCommerce Master Plan and has created virtual seminars specializing in B2B commerce.  Twitter LinkedIn Rence Winetrout, Global VP, Digital & Data Science, Molson Coors With over 20 years of success helping companies grow, compete, innovate and win, Winetrout is an effective strategic leader. In his role with Molson Coors, he’s leading aglobal team of digital marketing, ecommerce and advanced analytics experts across multiple global regions, which include the US, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia. Winetrout is a respected digital innovation industry speaker and will be featured at B2B Next.  LinkedIn Brendan Witcher, VP & Principal Analyst, Digital Business Strategy, Forrester  Witcher is a coveted advisor focused on the intersection of digital and physical with expertise transforming brands on a global scale. He possesses a proven track record and expertise at leading cross functional digital transformations. He’s frequent speaker who is passionate about building high performing teams and breaking down barriers of organizational silos.   LinkedIn
  Topics: leader, ecommerce, strategy, follow, digital, marketing, experts, b2b, business, director, global, vp.
• 3 Optimizations for Google Shopping Campaigns - The benefits of Google Shopping are compelling. Advertisers consistently experience strong revenue, traffic, and return on ad spend while often paying less per click than standard search campaigns. Still, the performance of Google Shopping ads, like all ads, could plateau. Thus continuous optimizations are key to sustaining results.
  Topics: shopping, strategy, google, clicks, campaigns, smart, product, products, keywords, advertisers, optimizations.
• 3 Tips for Optimizing Your Ecommerce Marketing Strategy - Businesses have an opportunity to make hefty profits with the right techniques.
  Topics: marketing, social, product, optimizing, making, email, posts, strategy, tips, sales, potential, ecommerce, customers.
• 3 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Tailor Their Ecommerce Strategy for Maximum Growth - Ecommerce continues to grow. Here are three things that entrepreneurs need to do in order to find success with it.
  Topics: free, strategy, sellers, tailor, growth, ecommerce, online, smbs, consumers, maximum, customers, platforms, shipping, entrepreneurs, shopping, ways.
• 38 Account-Based Marketing Stats to Know in 2021 - As marketers, we become experts in our target audiences. We know their typical demographic, what they like, the platforms they spend time on, and what they value in a product.
  Topics: know, learn, abm, target, youll, strategy, marketing, stats, value, accountbased.
• 41 Types of Marketing Your Brand Can Invest In - Like many of the people who currently work in the industry, digital marketing was born in the 1990s. Since then, the industry has evolved at breakneck speed, sprouting many more types of marketing.
  Topics: customers, types, brand, email, marketing, product, audience, brands, strategy, invest, customer, social.
• 46 Best Free Online Courses For Whatever You Want to Learn - Whether you want that job promotion or to sidestep into a new field, you'll need to commit to learning new skills. One of the best ways you can do that is by taking free online courses.
  Topics: social, media, business, sales, online, learn, course, free, need, strategy, youll, best, courses, marketing.
• 5 Steps to Build an Enterprise Data Strategy, Straight From an Expert - Data can be a scary word.
  Topics: expert, data, business, strategy, going, theres, straight, enterprise, bi, build, youre, team, company, teams, steps.
• 5 Steps to Level Up Your Social-Commerce Strategy - A dynamic synergy of ecommerce and social media platforms, social commerce is proving to be a dependable sales driver: How to make it pay for you.
  Topics: socialcommerce, marketing, media, steps, ecommerce, customer, level, commerce, sales, million, shopping, strategy, brands, social.
• 5 Successful Email Marketing Strategies for Black-Owned Businesses [+ Examples] - Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a new blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of Black business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.
  Topics: business, emails, examples, strategies, businesses, strategy, real, blackowned, black, email, community, owners, successful, marketing.
• 50 Video Marketing Statistics to Inform Your 2022 Strategy [New Data] - As marketers find more innovative ways to attract audiences, video has become a meaningful part of the strategic conversation. Video marketing is no longer an "up-and-coming" content strategy. It's here, and it's an increasingly powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects.
  Topics: marketers, statistics, companies, inform, content, data, videos, marketing, creating, video, media, say, effective, strategy.
• 7 Steps to Create a Complete Marketing Strategy in 2022 - The truth is, keeping up with marketing trends could be a full-time job.
  Topics: content, create, steps, marketing, complete, help, strategy, identify, media, goals, buyer, plan.
• 7 questions that every novice entrepreneur asks, resolved by the director of Mercado Libre - Today, I would say that being an entrepreneur is taking a risky path that begins with seeing an opportunity where others see a problem.
  Topics: asks, today, model, director, digital, ecommerce, questions, novice, resolved, need, mercado, business, strategy, entrepreneur, libre, good, product.
• 8 Data-Backed Recommendations for Social Media Marketers in 2022 [Insights from 300+ Professionals] - The start of the new year is an exciting time for marketers to re-evaluate their social media marketing strategies and take advantage of new opportunities as social platforms evolve.
  Topics: marketers, databacked, strategy, leverage, marketing, professionals, likely, content, platforms, media, insights, recommendations, plan, social.
• 8 Little-Known eCommerce Marketing Techniques That Help You Rank Higher - Are you sending potential customers straight to your competitor’s site? Not intentionally, right? The truth is: if you’ve neglected to stay on top of the latest eCommerce marketing trends, you probably have and are still doing so daily. Many eCommerce store owners fall into the same trap while building their brands and online stores. You […]
  Topics: tools, information, rank, strategy, help, littleknown, higher, google, marketing, online, customers, techniques, content, site, ecommerce.
• A Quick Seller Snap Review (Jan 2022) - Are you an Amazon seller trying to optimize your pricing strategy? If that's you, perhaps, you want to see what Seller Snap can offer your business?  Well, rest assured, you're in the right place. In this review, we’ll cover everything… Continue reading A Quick Seller Snap Review (Jan 2022)
  Topics: seller, strategy, repricing, competitors, jan, quick, sellers, price, product, review, snap, pricing, amazon.
• Amazon fined €746 million for violating privacy rules - Amazon has been hit with a fine from the European Union. They will need to pay 746 million euros for processing personal data that’s in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The tech giant is already planning to appeal against the decision. Amazon revealed the news in a… Continue reading
  Topics: protection, violating, amazon, million, data, strategy, whitepaper, eu, fined, personal, rules, payment, fine, banking, privacy.
• An inclusive new DTC beauty platform secures $3 million in funding — and a supercharged offline strategy - Earlier this week, Thirteen Lune, a direct-to-consumer beauty platform that was launched last year in LA with $1 million in seed funding from Diddy, Gwyneth Paltrow and Beautycounter founder Gregg Renfrew, announced $3 million in additional seed funding. We might not normally pause on this kind of development, especially in a market where dozens of […]
  Topics: supercharged, platform, funding, techcrunch, inclusive, offline, million, beauty, hair, skin, brands, jcpenney, strategy, lune, products, brand, dtc, founder, secures, thirteen.
• B2B & B2C Instagram Marketing Trends of 2022 [Data from 500 Marketers] - When it comes to social media, there are a lot of differences in which channels B2C and B2B brands prioritize.
  Topics: marketing, data, trends, strategy, instagram, marketers, say, b2b, roi, content, plan, b2c, compared, brands.
• B2B2C 101: What Is It and How Can I Leverage It? - If it’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic showed us, it was that disruption was inevitable - and we surely have seen that in the eCommerce industry. Over the past two years, businesses have had to adapt to a new normal and accommodate for new customer expectations throughout their eCommerce strategy. B2B businesses specifically have felt an unprecedented amount of pressure to expand their B2B offerings and align more with B2C shopping experiences. One such way that B2B businesses have begun to expand their offering is to extend their business to offer B2B2C eCommerce experiences. While the concept of B2B2C eCommerce has recently caught on and has been making headlines, B2B2C eCommerce has actually been around for quite some time now, but we may not have labelled the efforts as such. B2B2C eCommerce is still also a tricky business model to maneuver, which could have caused the slow rise in popularity. However, with the advancement of technology, businesses are getting in a better place to tackle this market. For those who are unfamiliar with B2B2C eCommerce, you’re in the right place. In this article we will break down what it is, how it differs from other business models, the benefits and challenges of adopting a B2B2C eCommerce model, and how Elastic Path may help to support your business.   What is B2B2C eCommerce and how does it work? Business-to-Business-to-Consumer eCommerce, otherwise known as B2B2C eCommerce, in its simplest term, refers to when a business utilizes a third party business to sell directly to their end consumer. This is not to be confused with white-labeling, when a company sells an unbranded product to a third party business, and allows them to sell the product/services as their own. This model combines the elements of a B2B and B2C business model where “Business A” partners with “Business B” to deliver “Business A’s” products and services to the “Customer.” While a variety of applications live under the B2B2C umbrella, this is the simplest form of B2B2C operations. UberEats is a great example of a B2B2C strategy deployed. Uber Eats (Business A) sells its delivery service to a plethora of restaurants, groceries and shops (Business B) which then allows them to sell the delivery services to buyers (Customers). Amazon also deploys a similar strategy in which they sell eCommerce hosting, warehouse storage and delivery services to businesses that have a product or service that they want to sell, and offer it to customers that use the Amazon platform.   What is the difference between B2B, B2C and B2B2C? The emergence of B2B2C in the market has caused quite a bit of confusion among the differences between B2B, B2C, and B2B2C models in eCommerce. So what are the differences?   B2B eCommerce: Business-to-Business B2B eCommerce refers to the sale of goods or services between businesses via online channels.. Take for example, an office furniture company. This type of business would traditionally be labelled as a B2B business because its primary targets are other businesses. One example of the largest global eCommerce websites that deploy a B2B strategy is Alibaba. Alibaba’s main selling strategy is to connect both B2B buyers and sellers within their platform instead of selling directly to customers.   B2C eCommerce: Business- to-Consumer B2C eCommerce on the other hand, refers to the sales of goods or services directly to consumers. B2C eCommerce is one of the most common and easiest eCommerce models to launch, making it consumers #1 preferred choice of shopping. Take for example, an online clothing boutique. This type of business would traditionally be labelled as a B2C business because its primary targets are direct consumers. An example of one of the largest B2C eCommerce websites is Walmart. Walmart’s main selling strategy focuses on marketing and selling the majority of their products to consumers. The main difference between a B2B and B2C business is the business strategy they deploy to cater to their intended audience. For example, B2B businesses offer multiple pricing, volume discounts, and leverage an account manager to manage issues, while B2C businesses offer a single pricing tier for customers, a streamlined checkout process and leverage customer service instead to cater to issues.   B2B2C: Business-to-Business-to-Consumer Now what do B2B and B2C have to do with B2B2C eCommerce? With the combination of these two business models, B2B businesses can now access all the benefits of B2C eCommerce that they were missing, without having to take on the B2C operations and responsibilities they intentionally avoided before. Now B2B companies will no longer have to be siloed from the customers, and instead have direct access to customer data so that they can help with rapid responses and improvements of their products.     What are the advantages of the B2B2C eCommerce model? Easy Control of Data Traditional B2B journeys end when the manufacturers sell to their retailers. From there, retailers are able to sell at their preferred price point, apply their preferred marketing and sell to the consumers. By deploying a B2B2C model, manufacturers can now manage their brand all the way to the end consumer and access all the information without friction.   Extended Customer Base B2B businesses usually have a smaller pool of businesses to sell to. By expanding to a B2B2C model, manufacturers can now leverage their partners’ customer base, boost their brand awareness and thus increase their overall product sales.   Reduction of Middle-people As mentioned previously,B2B manufacturers tend to lose sight of the product and service once they have handed it to the retailer, thus allowing middle people to offer higher prices and take a cut off profits. By adopting a B2B2C model, manufacturers can now streamline the supply chain and eliminate those opportunities.   Increased Efficiency of Supply Chain Typically B2B manufacturers have issues with delivering to customers in a timely manner. By adopting a B2B2C model, manufacturers can eliminate delivery partners and instead allow customers to get their goods more quickly.     What are the challenges of the B2B2C eCommerce model? While adopting a B2B2C model offers a variety of benefits, there are two main challenges you should be aware of.   Sharing Customer Base When a manufacturer partners with a B2C business, both businesses will now be sharing the same customer base. The B2C business might be hesitant to share such valuable customer data that would lead to the manufacturer’s benefit. Both businesses might also be hesitant to split profits. We encourage businesses to discuss the concerns as early as possible and create an equally beneficial proposal to ensure a smooth transition into partnership.   B2B User Experiences Another thing that B2B businesses continue to struggle with today, is providing B2C-like experiences across their eCommerce journey. B2B businesses will need to ensure that they have an adequate eCommerce solution and strategy across their all partner-sellers to maximize ROI. We encourage businesses to search for an eCommerce solution that is API based and with MACH based technology to ensure that they can design a highly customizable solution and make changes on demand while also maintaining full control of their solution. Of course not all MACH based solutions are alike and therefore you can use a Systems Integrator or Agency to evaluate vendors based on your specific requirements.   How does Elastic Path help with fulfilling your B2B2C requirements? The intricacies of supporting a B2B2C business model can be quite strenuous on eCommerce vendors due to a high degree of flexibility, control, and customizability demanded. However, Elastic Path makes it easy to rapidly digitize your B2B2C ecosystem with the power of its API-First Headless Microservices solution, advanced Product Content Management, flexible Catalog Composer and the dependable support of Composable Commerce XATM. Therefore, your business will be equipped to: Manage and deploy highly customized experiences for both you and your customers Grant the appropriate level of control to ensure unified commerce experiences using only one solution Continuously scale at the demand of your business To achieve the aforementioned benefits, you can leverage a variety of specific commerce capabilities including: Hierarchy org management Individual branding and controls Cloned stores Flexible pricing Access based profiles and controls Consolidated analytics reporting Pre-Composed Solutions for quick starts In addition to these capabilities, Elastic Path will also ensure to onboard your team with sales and support training, provide guidance on the solution architecture and also be your first line of support for your entire solution so your eCommerce strategy is always in good hands. So whether you’re an ISV who wants to add a white labelled commerce offering, a distributor or supplier network looking to provide value added commerce offerings to your business customers, or a fin-tech or bank organization looking to offer commerce functionality to your business customers, there is a place for you at Elastic Path. To learn more about B2B2C at Elastic Path feel free to reach out to one of our internal experts. We’d be happy to answer any questions you have.
  Topics: leverage, businesses, b2b, ecommerce, b2c, sell, model, strategy, b2b2c, business, customer.
• Best Mailing List Software to Improve your Email Marketing Strategy - When I first began my marketing career, I was envious of emails.
  Topics: best, emails, mailing, easy, email, improve, management, campaign, create, tools, list, strategy, tool, software, marketing.
• Brand Strategy 101: 7 Important Elements of a Company Branding Plan - Just as an architect draws out a building plan before they start building, you need to develop a brand strategy for your business.
  Topics: elements, business, plan, strategy, branding, important, brands, customer, purpose, brand, product, old, customers, company.
• Brands considering a live-shopping strategy must lean on influencers - Ahead of a volatile retail season, one theme is clear: It’s a now-or-never moment for brands to adopt live shopping, expand their audience ownership and build a new community of influencers.
  Topics: hosts, influencer, techcrunch, lean, social, sales, influencers, shopping, live, strategy, knix, liveshopping, considering, brands, online, brand.
• Choices and constraints: How DTC companies decide which strategy to follow - In DTC, how companies decide omnichannel strategies depends on how well they know what their customers' choices are and what their ideal strategy will be.
  Topics: dtc, netflix, techcrunch, follow, strategy, strategies, sales, equilibrium, decide, constraints, retail, regulators, read, choices, companies.
• Consumer Behavior Statistics You Should Know in 2022 [New Data] - How consumers make purchasing decisions has changed greatly in just a few months. For instance, the pandemic has shifted some buyers more online.
  Topics: statistics, consumers, content, brands, know, report, social, gwi, data, z, gen, behavior, consumer, strategy.
• Decathlon UK shifts to marketplace model - Decathlon UK has opened its website to external vendors. The sports retailer invites new partners to join its marketplace, so customers get access to thousands of more sporting goods. It doesn’t come as a surprise that another retailer shifts to a marketplace model. According to Mirakl, which powered the new… Continue reading
  Topics: marketplace, thousands, twice, uk, shifts, wider, model, decathlon, retailer, strategy, whitepaper.
• Defense to Offense: Leveling Up Your Business Strategy in the New World - It's time to start thinking about how your pandemic strategy can help you in the post-pandemic world.
  Topics: strategy, longterm, offense, quick, business, world, businesses, digital, leveling, going, robust, defense.
• Don’t Miss Our 2021 Make it Big Ecommerce Conference - Make it Big is back — with more ecommerce legends and global thought leaders than ever before.   Join us…
  Topics: cuban, strategy, conference, industry, session, google, leading, big, ecommerce, miss, growth, dont, businesses, global.
• Ecommerce Design Is Critical (but Misunderstood) - Done correctly, ecommerce design conveys trust and drives conversions. Its value is much more than being good on the eye. Longtime designer Barbara Carnerio cites three critical rules.
  Topics: ecommerce, misunderstood, age, strategy, audience, site, ideal, generation, font, page, pages, critical, design.
• Everything You Need to Know About Marketing Operations in One Place - One of my favorite movies is "School of Rock," which also happens to be one of 2003's best films. In the movie, Jack Black poses as a substitute teacher at a private school, and, after noticing the students are musically talented, he turns the 10-year-olds into a fully-fledged rock band.
  Topics: strategy, teams, marketing, operations, know, team, technology, stakeholders, processes, place, ops, email, need.
• Extra Crunch roundup: DTC strategy, IPO analysis, Zoom’s future product plans - TechCrunch Disrupt 2021 is underway! Tickets are still available for the three-day virtual event, which encompasses everything from Ryan Reynolds' lessons on "fast-vertising" to Startup Battlefield.
  Topics: alex, company, dtc, class, techcrunch, plans, wilhelm, writes, zooms, companies, extra, range, future, product, ipo, roundup, revenue, ai, strategy.
• Five Step Guide: Creating a Winning Cyber Monday Strategy - Make it your best year yet! Keep things simple & enjoy record-breaking holiday sales by following this 5-step guide to your perfect holiday marketing strategy
  Topics: customers, plan, guide, youll, creating, product, goal, sales, audience, cyber, step, black, strategy, winning, media, marketing.
• Go Beyond Likes and Follows: How to Create a Social Media Strategy That Sells - Social media marketing can help you build an audience of customers and drive sales, or it can be a time-consuming distraction. Learn how to create a strategy that keeps your actions focused and allows you to execute without taking too much attention away from running your business.More
  Topics: post, likes, social, content, create, video, follows, marketing, goals, sells, instagram, strategy, media, audience.
• How Implementing Unified Carts Can Enhance Your eCommerce Strategy - In a world where consumers are easily distracted and utilize many different touch points prior to completing a purchase, it is imperative that brands ensure consumers’ checkout process is as seamless as possible. According to Baynard Institute, shoppers are already quickly abandoning their carts for a variety of reasons such as, “too complicated/ long checkout process”, and “the site wanted me to create an account.” Now if we couple this with an ever growing population of distracted shoppers across many devices, brands stand to lose shoppers faster than they gained them. One such way that brands have begun to combat this issue is by investing more into their unified shopping experiences like unified carts. In the post, we’ll discuss what unified carts are, how they can enhance your customer experiences and how Elastic Path helps you to achieve it.   What is a Unified Cart ? When we speak of unified carts, we are referring to a cart checkout process that allows customers to seamlessly add, remove, modify or purchase items, across as many touch points available to them, from both the brand, and even their subsequent sub-brands. For example, let’s take a look at the GAP. When you enter their website, GAP has 3 other subsequent brands available for their customers to also shop from. Rather than creating silos that make it hard for their customers to complete their purchase, they have begun to enhance their unified commerce experiences, by allowing customers to populate a universal cart across all 4 brands and also allow their customers to complete their purchase on their device of choice. Creating a cohesive checkout experience is an integral part of the puzzle as a retailer; and if done correctly, you will quickly reap the benefits.   What are the benefits of implementing a unified cart checkout process? Increased Conversion Rate By offering one centralized checkout process, brands eliminate the need for shoppers to jump from site to site, create individual carts, and start over every time they switch to a new device. Therefore, by making their checkout process less complicated, it will also help to reduce cart abandonment and increase conversion rates.   Personalized Shopping Experiences With a more streamlined checkout process, brands will gain a better ability to follow and track their customers across all of their devices with more targeted and tailored to their interest.   Single Data Channel With a unified cart, brands can create a single data channel that provides access to on-demand customer-centric data about where, when, why and how their customers shop. With this timely data, brands now have the opportunity to become more strategic in their marketing and invest in it more efficiently to match their customers.   Optimal media mix Similarly to the aforementioned benefit, this data can also be used to inform brands about the optimal channel mix, offers, promotions, and recommendations that best serve the customers for a more unique experience that keeps them engaged.   Revenue Growth By addressing and monitoring customer preferences and adjusting your eCommerce strategy to embrace a unified commerce experience, brands stand to increase their average order value, which in turn helps to propel revenue growth.     Want to See How Elastic Path Commerce Cloud is Future Proof? Launch and optimize innovative experiences fast, with a modern, headless, SaaS, API-first, & microservices-based commerce platform. See the Future of eCommerce How Can I Get Started with Unified Carts? Deploying a unified cart may not be as simple as it sounds. Most legacy eCommerce platforms are most times rigid and tightly coupled, which makes it difficult to leverage your product, catalog, and price data across multiple channels and stores. Therefore, most times, brands have to end up creating multiple individual instances leaving customers with a disjointed experience. At Elastic Path, customers can leverage the API-First, Headless, Microservices solution that allows them to unify the data and create multiple instances across channels with just one solution. As such, it becomes easy to create a unified cart that spans across their eCommerce strategy. Take a look at the demonstration below to see how the brand BelleVie is able to deploy their unified cart.     If you're interested in seeing more or have any questions, feel free to reach out us! 
  Topics: data, checkout, carts, strategy, brands, customers, create, shoppers, enhance, unified, cart, implementing, process, ecommerce.
• How One Instagram Influencer Went From 0 to 45K on Reels (And How You Can, Too) - Over the past few years, TikTok has seen explosive growth, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, by the end of 2022, TikTok is predicted to reach 1.5 billion monthly active users.
  Topics: brand, brulhart, video, strategy, influencer, 45k, create, content, tiktok, instagram, reels, told, went.
• How RevOps and the ‘Rhythm of the Business’ Drive Alignment at HubSpot - Educator and computer pioneer Alan Kay once said, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
  Topics: drive, plan, alignment, model, planning, milestones, revops, team, rhythm, strategy, hubspot, teams, business.
• How We Built the Strategy for Our New Flagship Podcast - You didn't think we'd launch a podcast network without a new HubSpot show, did you?
  Topics: team, built, producer, companies, format, podcasts, strategy, segment, audience, podcast, business, hosts, flagship.
• How to Automate Your Account-Based Marketing Strategy - Today, marketing is all about personalization.
  Topics: automate, accounts, software, tools, marketing, automation, strategy, sales, accountbased, content, target, abm.
• How to Build a Market Development Strategy [Free Planning Templates] - Your business is getting by just fine – but still, the questions remain: Could you be selling more? Is there an opportunity to increase market share? Is there any way you could further your product diversification efforts?
  Topics: planning, existing, build, strategy, templates, business, company, development, plan, marketing, product, brand, market, free.
• How to Build a Sales Channel Strategy Around Your Online Store Without Losing Customers - We take a deep look into the different types of sales channels and how you can set your business up to be more resilient in the long term.More
  Topics: customers, strategy, channels, business, store, build, marketplaces, brand, sales, online, channel, losing, shopify.
• How to Build a Strong Operations Strategy for Your B2B Company - While there will always be fires to put out and short-term issues to tend to at any company, it's essential to take a step back and focus on the bigger picture. This means looking to your business operations and creating a strategy that primes your B2B organization for success.
  Topics: company, right, strong, team, build, ops, business, tools, strategy, b2b, operations, processes.
• How to Craft a Successful Customer-Centric Marketing Strategy - When was the last time a business fully addressed your wants and needs as a customer? For me, it was around the holidays, while searching for the perfect gift to give a friend who is a huge fan of the video game series "The Legend of Zelda."
  Topics: social, customer, value, website, successful, ocarinas, craft, customers, company, customercentric, strategy, marketing, starbucks.
• How to Create An Effective Facebook Ad Strategy in 2022 - When it comes to spending your advertising budget, you may be unsure how to get the most bang for your buck. After all, there are so many different advertising and marketing options out there. How do you know which will best suit your business, reach your desired audience, and give you the biggest return on your investment?
  Topics: customers, offers, content, audience, strategy, create, effective, ad, understand, know, customer, ads, facebook.
• How to Create an Email Marketing Strategy for Your Online Store - Email marketing remains a top tool for successful stores. Ready to grow? 10 steps to create a winning email marketing strategy + key tools to maximize impact.
  Topics: create, strategy, emails, send, email, marketing, perfect, subscribers, audience, content, youre, customers, store.
• How to Create an SEO Strategy for 2022 [Template Included] - Here's a cliche among digital marketers: search engine optimization (SEO) isn't what it used to be.
  Topics: included, pages, keywords, blog, template, page, search, content, seo, strategy, create, business.
• How to Develop a Content Strategy in 7 Steps: A Start-to-Finish Guide - Whether you're just starting out with content marketing or you've been using the same approach for a while, it never hurts to revisit your content strategy plan and make sure it's up-to-date, innovative, and engaging for your prospects and customers – no matter when or how they intend to buy.
  Topics: content, starttofinish, social, marketing, steps, audience, create, youre, business, guide, develop, blog, strategy, tool.
• How to Do PR: The Ultimate Guide to Public Relations in 2022 - Public relations walks a tightrope between creativity, persuasion, and strategy. If you know how to do PR you can impact every part of a business or brand.
  Topics: public, ultimate, social, pr, relations, media, strategy, guide, help, brand, marketing, business.
• How to Find, Choose, & Hire the Best B2B Marketing Consultant or Agency - Marketing is an umbrella term for a wide variety of methods and strategies meant to benefit your business.
  Topics: b2b, budget, choose, best, consultant, strategy, marketing, outcomes, agency, business, help, hire.
• How to Implement a Brand Activation Strategy [+Examples] - Did you know that it takes 5 to 7 impressions for people to remember a brand? With branding, the goal is to continue making those positive impressions on an ongoing basis. One way to do that is through brand activations.
  Topics: activation, campaign, marketing, goal, event, media, way, awareness, suicide, brand, strategy, implement, examples.
• How to Launch a Product, According to HubSpot's Product Marketers - Like a tree falling in the woods, if you launch a product without spreading the word -- will anyone use it? Will anyone even want it?
  Topics: marketers, marketing, launching, create, need, according, product, youre, strategy, youll, hubspots, goals, launch.
• How to Optimize Your Instagram Strategy for Search Discoverability - On social media platforms, the more exposure you can get, the better. Like many others, Instagram has a search and explore page to help users discover new content.
  Topics: location, discoverability, search, optimize, post, term, posts, add, explore, instagram, tab, users, hashtags, strategy.
• How to Pivot Your Content Plan According to HubSpot Marketers - Imagine this: as a content marketer, things are going pretty well for you — you're confident about your upcoming campaign, the ROI from your last couple were stellar, and projections for the new one looked just as good, if not better, than ever before. And then something happened, and you need to pivot your content.
  Topics: strategy, plan, hubspot, according, needs, content, audience, customers, pivot, customer, need, marketers.
• How to Understand Market Penetration and Create a Strategy With STP Marketing - Everyone wants their business to grow. This seems pretty intuitive considering effective and successful growth means your business is experiencing boosts in revenue, brand awareness, brand loyalty, and more — and we know this to be true by looking at the most successful and well-known companies today (e.g. Apple, Amazon, etc.). The question is: What do these highly-successful companies do to ensure they put themselves in a position for strong and consistent growth?
  Topics: market, product, dunkin, customers, marketing, company, brand, understand, create, business, high, penetration, stp, strategy.
• How to Use Affiliate Marketing to Level Up Your Ecommerce Strategy - Leverage affiliate marketing as an ecommerce merchant, vendor or advertiser looking to increase your conversions and sales.
  Topics: affiliate, right, level, ecommerce, online, marketing, offer, strategy, promotion, products, ads, marketers.
• How to evolve your DTC startup’s data strategy and identify critical metrics - We’re generally big fans of plug-and-play business intelligence tools, but they won’t scale with your business. Don’t rely on them after you’ve outgrown them.
  Topics: evolve, techcrunch, companies, dont, big, tools, offtheshelf, critical, founders, identify, data, dtc, intelligence, startups, strategy, metrics, business.
• How to set up volume pricing with Elastic Path - In the eCommerce industry, we’re always looking for ways to increase conversion rate, maximize average order value, and maintain brand loyalty. One such way that eCommerce merchandisers entice their customers to purchase a larger quantity of their products, is to employ a volume pricing strategy. In this article, we will be discussing what volume pricing is, the benefits of employing a volume pricing strategy, and how to set it up in Elastic Path Commerce Cloud.   What is Volume Pricing? Volume pricing refers to the pricing structure that creates discounts for large quantity purchases. In this type of strategy, specific unit prices are assigned to a quantity range for a product. So this means a customer will get a discounted price per unit, based on the quantity range their purchase falls in. This essentially leads to overall higher discounts for the customer when their purchase falls in a higher quantity range. Let’s take a look at an example to better demonstrate this strategy. Let’s say you run a home improvement business, and you have decided to apply a volume pricing strategy with the following ranges: A customer who chooses to buy 85 units of tiles will only pay 85 x $35 = $2975; compared to 85 x $50 = $4250 that they would have been subjected to pay if volume pricing wasn’t deployed. By deploying this strategy you get the opportunity to clean out some of your inventory and make way for new products, while your customer saves $1275.   Benefits of Using Volume Pricing Deploying a volume pricing strategy for products in your catalog can be beneficial for your business.   It encourages customers to buy more. When you offer volume pricing for products, it usually motivates customers to purchase higher quantities so they can receive the discount. This in turn leads to higher sales for your business.   It helps to move out inventory. If your store still contains products that didn’t have a high demand during the season, you can deploy a volume pricing strategy to clear our expiring products or simply make way for new ones. This allows you to minimize inventory and at the same time minimize overall shipping cost as well. This type of strategy becomes specifically handy during holiday seasons like Christmas, Easter and Halloween.   It could help with converting new customers. Offering volume pricing to new customers, could cause your business to convert more new customers compared to your competitor. As the strategy has initiated a customer’s first purchase, you will now have the opportunity to gain their regular price sales, as well as potential sales for other products as well.   It could help with maintaining customers. Similarly to converting customers, you could also deploy the same strategy to only allow volume pricing to loyal customers. This sense of exclusivity could compel them to shop with your business rather than shopping with your competitor.   It could increase your customer base. By offering this type of value to your customers, you could create affinity towards your brand. This could lead to more customer loyalty, as well as word of mouth marketing to your customers’ friends, enticing them to also shop at your store.   How Do I Set Up Volume Pricing With Elastic Path? Setting up volume pricing in Elastic Path is quite simple. Here is a short demo below: We hope this was helpful. Visit our demo library to explore other features with Elastic Path Commerce Cloud
  Topics: purchase, set, quantity, products, pricing, higher, elastic, strategy, path, customers, volume, customer.
• Installment payments in demand in France - Payment by installment has become increasingly popular in France. It seems that 30 percent of French consumers have already resorted to installment payments. Installment payments, in which a customer pays the bill in small portions throughout a fixed period of time, are gaining market share in France. 30 percent of… Continue reading
  Topics: payment, online, france, whitepaper, installment, strategy, split, consumers, banking, payments, french, demand.
• Integrated Media Planning: What It Is and How to Adopt it In Your Marketing Strategy - A few months ago, while I was driving to the airport, I saw a billboard for Kim Kardashian’s company, SKIMS. A week later, I saw ads on Instagram, then a SKIMS segment on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”  I had one of those moments where I thought "SKIMS is showing up everywhere!" That’s because the company has an integrated media planning strategy.
  Topics: content, planning, media, marketing, adopt, audience, plan, youre, target, instagram, channels, integrated, strategy.
• Marketing for Startups: A Three-Step Guide to Creating Your Strategy - Marketing for your new startup is exciting. You’ve put time and effort into creating your product or service, and now you need to make sure your market is as hyped about it as you are.
  Topics: creating, social, guide, content, threestep, youre, startup, startups, build, strategy, helping, start, product, media, marketing.
• Meet retail’s new sustainability strategy: Personalization - Reducing waste is key to meeting environmental milestones, and some retail firms have narrowed in on a unique approach to minimize what their customers throw away: personalization.
  Topics: strategy, color, meet, virtual, shade, tryon, waste, beauty, sustainability, mime, retails, skin, retailers, techcrunch, personalization.
• Nexi, the Italian payments giant, buys Germany’s Orderbird for $140-150M to expand its SMB strategy - More consolidation is apace in the world of payments: Nexi, the Italian fintech that scooped up rivals Danish-based Nets and then Italy’s SIA to create a $12.5 billion European payments giant, has made another acquisition, this time to dig deeper into financial services for small and medium businesses in the region. It has fully acquired […]
  Topics: nets, nexi, smb, company, services, italian, point, techcrunch, orderbird, expand, million, sale, strategy, germanys, giant, businesses, payments.
• Off-Page SEO: What It Is & Why You Need It [+a Helpful Checklist] - Imagine this: You've done everything you can to optimize your website.
  Topics: seo, strategy, offpage, checklist, search, domains, social, need, google, link, helpful, backlinks, website.
• Product Line Extensions: What They Are, Examples, and Tips for Forming Your Strategy - Looking to expand your product lineup? This 101 guide will walk you through examples and tips on creating an extension strategy, so you can reach a larger audience and increase revenue. More
  Topics: brand, tips, forming, youre, market, products, extension, cocacola, way, examples, product, line, extensions, strategy.
• Push vs. Pull Marketing: Top Differences & How to Use Them - I recently bought a new laptop. Before deciding which one was right for me, I read through a number of online reviews to ensure I was making an informed decision. Once I narrowed my search down to a couple of models, I visited the store to examine specs in person before committing.
  Topics: target, business, pull, way, strategy, marketing, vs, product, push, differences, social, strategies.
• Splendid Spoon stirs its strategy to get you to love plant-based foods - For every dollar invested in Splendid Spoon in recent years, the company generated $15 in revenue.
  Topics: centeno, splendid, plantbased, team, love, foods, food, strategy, really, stirs, company, delivery, techcrunch, densborn, meal, spoon.
• TechCrunch+ roundup: 3 views on Epic-Bandcamp deal, SPAC letdown, CIO sales strategy - You are more likely to close a sale if you have actionable insights into your prospective customer’s needs. But for enterprise software startups, this presents a special problem.
  Topics: alex, roundup, spac, epicbandcamp, venture, tax, money, wilhelm, techcrunch, strategy, sales, writes, companies, letdown, deal, public, tech, cio, views.
• TechCrunch+ roundup: Creative capital, live-shopping strategy, new name + logo - Extra Crunch is now TechCrunch+. In addition to updating our name and logo, we’re offering military, student and government membership discounts and have expanded access to new regions. Also, Extra Crunch Live, our weekly video series with investors and founders, is now TechCrunch Live — and you don’t need to be a member to join […]
  Topics: brands, week, techcrunch, live, wilhelm, need, venture, liveshopping, logo, capital, strategy, writes, direct, creative, roundup.
• TechCrunch+ roundup: DTC data strategy, starting up solo, insuretech growth versus risk - Fundraising is only one part of the journey. If you can't connect with an investor who'll help you find and fill in your gaps with regard to talent or expertise, you can't build a sustainable company.
  Topics: work, techcrunch, versus, growth, underwriting, risk, end, insuretech, solo, starting, insurtech, founders, roundup, data, dtc, customer, startups, strategy, metrics.
• The 4 Biggest Misconceptions About Selling On Amazon - Like it or not, it's the king of ecommerce. Here's how to win selling on Amazon.
  Topics: amazon, youll, biggest, search, advertising, brand, amazons, misconceptions, strategy, selling, sales, marketplace.
• The 4 Things You Need to Do to Get (and Keep) Ecommerce Customers - The goal is to show your customers that you are invested in building real bonds with them every step of the way.
  Topics: shopping, strategy, products, customers, things, need, platforms, ecommerce, online, service, product.
• The 9 Goals to Consider When Creating a Marketing Strategy - If someone asks you to list a few marketing goal examples, could you?
  Topics: audience, business, consider, awareness, goals, content, leads, youre, strategy, customer, brand, marketing, goal, creating.
• The Beginner’s Guide to Offering Click and Collect for Your Ecommerce Store - Offer Click and Collect services to see your profits and revenue grow! Check out these businesses' click and collect strategies for ideas.
  Topics: pickup, businesses, collect, customer, ecommerce, right, click, customers, drive, orders, getting, store, sales, order, strategy.
• The Good End comes more digital than ever, your business cannot be left behind - Do you remember your reaction the last time you tried to buy something online and the page did not allow you to see all the options, or did not accept the payment method you were planning to use?
  Topics: social, customers, comes, products, left, business, online, digital, entrepreneurs, experience, sales, strategy, good, end.
• The HubSpot Blog's 2022 Social Media Marketing Report: Data from 310 Marketers - In our recent Marketing Trends survey, we learned that social media is the most effective channel marketers leverage, as well as the channel they use most.
  Topics: media, strategy, social, platforms, data, report, blogs, platform, content, marketers, marketing, hubspot, plan, leverage.
• The HubSpot Blog’s 2022 Content & Media Strategy Report [Data] - Benjamin Franklin once said “Failing to plan is planning to fail,” and when it comes to content and media, truer words have never been spoken.
  Topics: blogs, content, media, data, effective, marketing, planning, say, planners, plan, strategy, report, hubspot.
• The Price Is Right: 14 Strategies for Finding the Ideal Price for Your Products - Setting prices for your products is a balancing act. If a small business prices products too low, it might see a healthy stream of sales without turning any profit (and we all like to eat and pay our bills, right?). But when products are priced too high, a retailer will likely see fewer sales and “price out” more budget-conscious customers. So, what options do you have?More
  Topics: pricing, product, finding, price, strategy, prices, right, customers, products, higher, retailers, strategies, ideal, costs.
• The Ultimate Guide to Building a Website Redesign Strategy - So, you want to start a website redesign. Maybe you just finished a brand overhaul or your product was recently updated. Whatever your reason, a redesign can be a huge success — or not. It can also be a long and tedious undertaking, which is why every redesign needs to start with a clear vision and/or problem to solve.
  Topics: marketing, strategy, websites, guide, page, pages, website, youre, traffic, building, design, ultimate, redesign, site.
• The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing in 2021 - Your customers, leads, and audience members want valuable content from your business. And that content needs to reach audience members in a way that feels natural and organic versus being disruptive. Content marketing helps businesses do this, and it describes the process of attracting, engaging with, and delighting your target markets.
  Topics: members, audience, podcast, brand, video, content, guide, strategy, social, ultimate, media, marketing.
• The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Strategies & How to Improve Your Digital Presence - Would it be correct to assume a major part of your marketing strategy today is digital? Probably.
  Topics: strategy, ultimate, improve, content, marketing, strategies, business, plan, paid, youre, digital, guide, customers, media, presence.
• The Ultimate Guide to Product Marketing in 2021 - During the 1950s, Volkswagen sold a bus. Although now considered a classic vehicle, the bus remains an icon for the car company decades later. The cool part? Volkswagen announced their new VW Bus — it’s electric and features sleek, modern styling. Volkswagen’s marketing for the vehicle is eye-catching, unique, and fun, and it complements the original “hippie” vibe the company was once known for. Image Source Volkswagen also released a TV commercial for the bus that’s clever, minimalist, and on-brand. It introduces the new vehicle with the song The Sound of Silence playing in the background (hint: electric cars are silent) and ends with a short message on the screen for viewers to read: “Introducing a new era of electric driving.” This sentiment touches on the fact Volkswagen is contributing to society’s interest in electric, eco-friendly vehicles. It also relates to this being a new era for the bus.
  Topics: customers, market, product, marketing, target, positioning, strategy, products, audience, guide, marketer, ultimate.
• The Ultimate Guide to Relationship Marketing - There are plenty of studies that highlight the importance of customer retention — oftentimes, customer retention has been found to be even more critical to your company's success than customer acquisition.
  Topics: customers, relationship, marketing, dominos, content, ultimate, company, brand, business, customer, strategy, guide.
• The Who, What, Why, & How of Digital Marketing - With how accessible the internet is today, would you believe me if I told you the number of people who go online every day is still increasing?
  Topics: seo, channels, digital, content, marketing, audience, website, media, social, strategy.
• The hybrid customer experience may be the key to your eCommerce success - This post was originally published on March 11, 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and relevancy in the market. Why a Hybrid Customer Experience is Essential for Today’s Consumer There are 2.14 billion digital shoppers today. Having an eCommerce strategy has become not just a nice-to-have, but a vital component of any business’s long-term success; And the recent expansion of IoT, proliferation of smart devices, global crises like COVID-19, and trending mobile apps like TikTok, have forced businesses to shift their focus, expand their online presence, and accelerate their digital strategy. After all, that’s where the customers are, right? While yes, many consumers today do prefer shop online as it can be more accessible and cater to personal preferences, it’s not the end of the brick-and-mortar store. As it turns out, based on a 2019 study, many customers actually prefer a hybrid experience over one that is entirely online or in-person. In fact, customers that shop using more than one channel have a 30% higher lifetime value than those that only use one. What exactly is a hybrid customer experience? The hybrid experience is a commerce experience that combines elements of both eCommerce and in-person shopping experiences, whether that’s in-store, at an event, or over the phone. A good example in understanding the hybrid experience is how many companies now let customers order products online and pick them up at one of their local stores. Many businesses also now allow customers to return items they ordered online to a local store to receive a refund or even cash. We’ve even recently seen the adoption of in-store mobile self-checkout and COVID-19 introduced the concept of curbside pickup. These hybrid experiences are driven by an integrated ecommerce strategy and solution that allows companies to carry not only brand messaging, marketing tactics, and product information across channels, but also customer data. This means businesses can give customers a more seamless, frictionless experience. Their account information can be accessed by in-store representatives or pulled up on different devices, and shoppers can hunt for product data such as pricing or in-store availability. At the end of the day, consumers can take that next step of their journey when and how they want. That level of convenience is one of the core underlying behaviors that drive all shoppers today. Why all businesses should consider a hybrid approach In 2016 and 2017, customer experiences that were fully online experienced a one percent decline, while customer experiences that were hybrid actually increased by one percent. For large companies, a one percent change in either direction can represent either a loss or gain of hundreds of millions in revenue. Today, in 2021, companies that can build and deliver strong multi-channel engagement for their customers can actually see a 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue. Here are a few additional compelling trends and stats that highlight the importance of leveraging a hybrid customer experience: Consumers of all ages – including 62% of Baby Boomers and 58% of Gen Zers, still prefer buying from a physical store (Source) 63% of shopping occasions begin online (Source) 45% of brick-and-mortar buyers check online reviews before buying (Source) 50% of Consumers Expect to Buy Online and Be Able to Pick Up In-Store (Source) 39% of consumers are unlikely or very unlikely to visit a retailer’s store if the online store does not provide physical store inventory information (Source) 71% of in-store shoppers who use smartphones for research say their device has become more important to their in-store experience (Source) 56% of consumers have used their mobile device to research products at home with 38% having used their mobile device to check inventory availability while on their way to a store and 34% who have used their mobile device to research products while in a store. (Source) Given some of the stats above, it apparent that in-store moments matter to customers, whether they’re stand alone or augmented by a digital concept. The reason why the hybrid experience was deemed better than online or traditional experiences is mainly about convenience. Customers aren’t necessarily looking for a specific shopping experience. Instead, they are looking for the best overall shopping experience for their wants and needs. Customers today demand shopping experiences that are simple, lack any friction, and can cater to their preferences and timeline. The emotional response to the shopping experience is another important factor. Less friction, more personalization, and better convenience will satisfy consumers, and a positive emotional response increases brand affiliation and can result in positive reviews, word-of-mouth, more revenue and less churn. When a company’s overall shopping experience is pleasant, customers tend to remember that and often become repeat customers as a result. Ready to Bring Your Hybrid Commerce Strategy to Life? Make any touchpoint transactional and build unique commerce experiences catered to your brand with an Omnichannel approach. Check out our comprehensive guide to learn more. Read the Guide Hybrid Customer Experience Example 1: Carvana Carvana for example, is typically an online-only car company founded in 2012 that embraced the hybrid experience in a creatively big way. The company’s business model involves selling slightly used vehicles online for less than what traditional car dealers sell them for. Customers can order cars online and have them shipped to their homes. They then have seven days to decide whether to keep them or return them for a full refund. But Carvana customers also have another option. They can travel to a Carvana location and pick up their new vehicles in person if they want. And to make things interesting, the company has created what it calls a “car vending machine,” which is a five-story automated car storage and retrieval system. Carvana customers are given a large token. When placed in a token receptacle, the system is activated and the vehicle they selected is pulled from inventory and placed right in front of them – just like a vending machine In the Carvana example, and with other companies that have embraced the hybrid experience, the important takeaway is customers aren’t necessarily looking for a traditional retail experience or an online experience. They are looking for a shopping experience that makes them feel like a valued customer. It’s about offering customers a superior shopping experience, and it’s a strategy you can embrace with your eCommerce business to take it to the next level, win over more customers, and close more sales. Hybrid Customer Experience Example 2: Birchbox Birchbox is another prime example of a brand that that took their mastery of online ecommerce and expanded to physical locations. Birchbox, founded in 2010, is a global online monthly subscription service for beauty products and cosmetics. They offer a wide variety of skin care products, makeup, perfumes, and other organic-based beauty lines to consumers in the US, the UK, France, Spain, Belgium, and Ireland. In 2014, four years after launching their online-only business, BirchBox dove head-first into in-person retail and opened their first brick-and-mortar shop in New York City’s Soho neighborhood. Consumer data showed that shoppers in New York had a 3x higher lifetime value than any other customer. In an attempt to cater to their most loyal customers, they wanted to offer a personalized, in-person experience. Customers can build custom boxes, in-person, just like they might online, but they’re also able to get the knowledge and expertise of the BirchBox representatives, ask questions, and get an even more personalized experience. Where Birchbox excelled was how they carried their online brand experience and messaging to an in-person experience. Consumers could still pick-and-mix while choosing from the top 100 products and brands that Birchbox had to offer. Even the store coloring and concepts matched their digital store, from the color and styling to the packaging.  Developing your hybrid experience strategy If you want to cash in on the benefits of the hybrid shopping experience, you’ll need to develop a strategy to implement hybrid solutions in your own eCommerce business. There are many different ways you can do this, and a strategy that works for one company isn’t necessarily going to work for another. Still, there is a general approach to developing a strategy that does work well for most businesses. The first thing you want to do is to brainstorm ways you can transform your eCommerce business from a solely online or in-person venture into a hybrid business. What are some ways you can improve the customer experience by adding a physical or digital element to your business? Write down everything that comes to mind and then carefully consider each idea to see if it makes sense financially for you to pursue. The next thing is to implement your idea to see if you see an increase in customer loyalty and repeat business. If you do come up with more than one idea, it’s important to experiment with only one idea at a time. That way you will be able to easily determine the things that work and those that don’t. Consider split testing your ideas. Measure shopping outcomes prior to implementing ideas and after so you can have a clear comparison of the results. You also want to consider investing in the latest technologies if a technological solution will be a part of your strategy. How long has a particular technology been around? You don’t want to run into a situation where you invest in a technology only to find out something better and/or more affordable is about to be released. Which companies offer the technology you are interested in? Take the time to evaluate different options to see which company offers the best solution for your needs. Other factors to consider when evaluating options include how much customer support is offered, availability of product training, and overall ease of use. Finally, when developing your hybrid experience strategy, it’s vitally important to always remember what customers are looking for. It isn’t an issue of online versus offline. Rather, it’s about the overall shopping experience. The purpose of developing a hybrid strategy is to increase brand loyalty. Anything that takes away from that goal should be discarded. Do’s and Don’ts of Building a Hybrid Customer Experience Do Ensure Your Messaging is Consistent Both Online and In-store You want your customers to have the same brand experience walking around your brick-and-mortar shop as they do when browsing online. This can include your graphics, copy, sinage, and even product labeling or packaging. They don’t need be identical, but should give your customers the vibe they know and love. Don’t Try to Make the In-Store Experience the Exact Same as Your Digital Experience In fact, you don’t want it to be. In-store shopping is a much more sensory experience than a digital one and should be treated as such. People shop in-person still because they like to see, smell, feel, or try on the products they’re evaluating, and this is something brands should take advantage of. Take Sephora, the retail beauty giant. The brand look and feel and messaging is the same across the website and in-store experience, but when you go in person, you can smell the perfume when you walk in. You can get physical free samples and even get your makeup done at the counter.   Imagine Sephora decided to remove all that, but you could still use their digital app in-store to virtually ‘try on’ the newest lipstick color. Doesn’t quite make sense, does it? Do Offer the Same Level of Communication and Education as You Do Online Customers want to feel like they’re getting the same value as they do when hunting for product information online. You’ll want to ensure your ground staff has been trained on company branding, messaging, and are knowledge on product information. Having one-on-one recommendations come from an in-store representative feels personal, one of the other core trends consumers crave today. The bottom line At the end of the day, you could just continue doing the things that have already made you successful and not bother with embracing the hybrid experience. Why rock the boat? But ignoring the power of the hybrid experience is leaving money on the table. Making the hybrid experience a part of your strategy is really about increasing customer loyalty, brand recognition, and revenue. It’s about scaling your business and growing the bottom line.
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