Top 2024 resources on way
Best way resource in 2024.
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10 Tips on How to Fight Burnout, According to Experts and Data
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The beginning of a new year can be filled with excitement and positive change, but a busy lifestyle can still weigh on you, even if you love your job or company. When this happens, you can run into one of the dreaded mental conditions: burnout.
Topics: according, data, technique, way, focus, tip, yoga, experts, fight, sleep, meditation, tips, burnout, help, work. -
100+ of My Favorite Halloween Puns As a Marketer [Inspired by Real Campaigns]
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I love a good pun. Okay, who am I kidding? I’m a big fan of the bad ones, too.
Topics: campaigns, good, halloween, savings, love, favorite, way, x, real, treat, puns, product, insert, inspired, marketer. -
101 Entrepreneur Quotes from the Most Successful Business Owners
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Whether you’re looking for insight, advice, or just an understanding of how successful business owners confront challenges—here are our favorite quotes from the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. More
Topics: dont, quotes, think, founder, way, work, owners, success, entrepreneur, ceo, business, successful, great. -
11 of the Best Microsite Examples We've Ever Seen
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They say the best things often come in small packages. Think about it: jewelry, books, the keys to a new car ... all of these things support this notion. And with our attention spans shrinking below that of a goldfish, it should come as no surprise that we crave more focused content at a smaller scale, too.
Topics: microsite, main, grader, site, websites, page, best, visitors, weve, seen, way, website, microsites, examples. -
12 Best Pricing Page Examples To Inspire Your Own Design
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Your pricing page is a prime opportunity to take control of the price conversation and make it even easier for people to buy.
Searching for a product’s price is a natural part of a customer's buying decision. The majority of people who have made it down the funnel far enough to consider buying from you will likely look at your pricing page.
Topics: great, examples, inspire, simple, pricing, right, customers, design, best, users, way, page, product. -
12 of the Most Inventive Interactive Marketing Examples We've Ever Seen
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If you really think about it, the content formats we rely on today have an uncanny resemblance to the content formats we relied on yesterday — our blog posts look like print articles, our offers look like books, and our slide decks look like look presentations.
Topics: content, video, seen, viewers, interactive, weve, marketing, inventive, experience, audience, using, article, way, examples. -
15 of the Best Women@INBOUND Quotes to Inspire You Today
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INBOUND is a key milestone for professionals in industries spanning across marketing, sales, customer success, revenue operations, and more.
Topics: today, womeninbound, dont, quality, inspire, best, look, way, start, women, producer, success, inbound, quotes. -
16 Best Ways to Increase Content Reach [+Free Content Reach Kit]
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Companies often rely on blogs, articles, and social media to engage with their consumers and attract new clientele. However, creating new and exciting content can be a time-consuming process. A great solution to this dilemma is to repurpose existing content.
Topics: example, articles, increase, kit, free, older, content, old, posts, great, way, best, include, reach, ways. -
20 Great Landing Page Examples You'll Want to Copy in 2023
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While many landing pages look different and use a variety of exciting strategies to pull in audiences, they all serve one major purpose — to convert to the next stage in the buyer's journey.
Topics: product, landing, design, pages, implement, great, customer, conversion, examples, youll, way, copy, visitors, page. -
20 Tips for Starting a New Job
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Starting a new job? Then it's time to put your best foot forward.
Topics: need, manager, set, team, tips, day, help, job, starting, way, work, youre. -
25 Best About Us & About Me Page Examples + 5 Templates
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Building a website is an exercise of willpower. The bells and whistles of the design process are tempting to focus on, but compelling content is what makes a website work for your business.
Topics: way, best, mission, business, examples, values, youre, company, personal, website, page, brand, templates. -
37 of the Best Website Designs to Inspire You in 2023
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Looking for website design examples? Your inspiration journey starts here.
Topics: product, page, design, designs, way, best, inspiration, site, inspire, day, website. -
4 Learnings From a Mission-Driven Outdoors Company
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Parks Project founder Keith Eshelman wanted to leave parks and trails better for the next generation. He created a mission-driven company that designs outdoor-inspired apparel and gear. Here, he shares how he grew the business to give back more than $2 million to parks.More
Topics: missiondriven, big, company, project, parks, outdoors, keith, way, business, selling, trade, learnings, youre, shopify. -
40 Inspired Business Card Designs Too Useful to Throw Away
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If you network a lot, you likely have dozens of business cards in different bags, pockets, and wallets. But when you're looking for something about the same size and thickness as a business card?
It becomes clear how alike most business cards have come to look.
Topics: inspired, cards, throw, useful, marketing, away, card, business, prospective, sourceexpert, contact, company, information, way, designs. -
5 Networking Tips for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities
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Running your own business can be a great career choice for people living with long-term disability or health condition.
Topics: disabled, great, tips, online, business, disabilities, events, entrepreneurs, disability, inperson, way, networking. -
5 Underrated Tips for Brands to Boost Holiday Sales
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Don't let holiday shoppers scare you. Instead, follow these five strategies for optimal online holiday sales.
Topics: loyal, customers, ways, offer, boost, products, sales, brands, sneaky, gift, holiday, order, subscription, way. -
55 Funny Commercials We Love From the Last Five Years
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It seems like every commercial is trying to be funny these days, and it makes sense because humor is a way to sell your brand without outwardly selling something.
By appealing to a consumers' funny bone, you’re able to engage with them and help them remember your brand.
Topics: youre, going, way, ad, commercials, humor, tip, funny, love, brand, commercial. -
6 Spooky Marketing Campaigns Just in Time for Halloween
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Spooky season is officially upon us. It’s a fun time for consumers and an even better time for brands that get to be playful with their audience.
Topics: campaigns, marketing, spooky, halloween, campaign, way, vampire, audience, ad, content, products, start, tiktok. -
6 Spooky Marketing Campaigns Just in Time for Halloween
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Spooky season is officially upon us. It’s a fun time for consumers and an even better time for brands that get to be playful with their audience.
Topics: campaigns, marketing, spooky, halloween, campaign, way, vampire, audience, ad, content, products, start, tiktok. -
8 Email Disclaimer Examples I Love (For Your Inspiration)
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If I reach the footer of an email in my inbox, it usually means one of two things: 1) The email was so engaging I read all the way to the end (that’s rare), or 2) I scrolled down to unsubscribe.
Topics: policy, include, inspiration, information, love, disclaimer, email, legal, need, way, disclaimers, examples, privacy. -
8 Ideas to Get Your Small Business Started on TikTok
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TikTok is the place to be if you’re running a business, but you might not know where to start. Here are some ideas for content to post on TikTok to start converting views to sales, with advice from someone who’s done it.More
Topics: customers, way, youre, tiktok, business, small, erin, started, videos, ideas, products, product, showing. -
8+ Presentation Skills Every Marketer Needs
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Marketers play a crucial role in attracting customers and driving success for their brands. And today, presentation skills are a key tool in your marketing toolbox.
Topics: marketer, way, skills, improve, say, audience, presentation, needs, youre, help, presentations, talk. -
9 Critical 2023 Trends in eCommerce Payments
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9 Critical 2023 Trends in eCommerce Payments
Are you an eCommerce merchant looking to increase sales while streamlining the checkout process? If so, you need to stay on top of the current eCommerce payments trends.
We've seen a big shift in how customers want to shop and pay for their purchases since the era of digital commerce came on the scene, and the landscape is only changing by the year. In the past, customers were limited to a small range of payment options, such as credit cards, for all their eCommerce payments. These days, however, buyers expect flexibility in a million different ways when it comes to paying online.
In this blog, we’ll cover nine essential eCommerce payments trends for 2023 and explore how sellers can adopt or adapt their payment solutions to meet customer expectations and stay ahead of the curve.
1. E-Wallets
Digital wallets, aka e-wallets, have become a popular trend for payments both online and in-store - and they’re only getting more and more common. By the end of 2023, it's expected that over 4 billion people will use digital wallets for their purchases, with 30% of all POS payments happening via an e-wallet.
Digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Shopify Pay make it easy to make purchases in-store and online. A lot of retailers are already on board with this trend, and it doesn't look like it's slowing down anytime soon. This makes e-wallets a critical piece of any merchant’s eCommerce payments option portfolio in order to keep up with and stay ahead of the competition.
2. Loyalty programs
All great retailers recognize the importance of customer loyalty, and a great way to incentivize and build this is through loyalty programs. A loyalty program often involves offering discounts, points, or rewards in exchange for customers returning to that particular business over and over again. This can range from offering a percentage discount on future purchases to giving exclusive access to certain products or services not available elsewhere.
Some businesses also offer a tiered system where bigger spenders get greater discounts. This offers further motivation to come back time and time again, creating a relationship of trust between customers and companies and building a tradition of strong sales from loyal returning clientele.
3. QR Codes
QR codes were very popular back in 2010, but since then, their popularity has been on the decline - until the pandemic hit. Now they’re having a moment again! You see them everywhere these days, especially in the retail, events, and hospitality industries.
For instance, in restaurants, you can scan a QR to check out the menu, place an order and even pay for your meal - no need to wait for a server. For both online and brick-and-mortar retailers, QR codes are popping up in use cases like scanning a code to get access to exclusive offers and other product lines or to get or give a referral discount.
These use cases and others make QR codes one of the critical eCommerce payments trends to look out for in 2023.
4. Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency payments are changing the way consumers make online purchases. Paying with Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin is secure and fast: just a few clicks of the mouse and you're done.
Customers love the feeling of being “in the know” by paying with their favorite cryptocurrency, and true privacy enthusiasts appreciate the (relative) anonymity of not having to divulge all their personal information to merchants in order to make a purchase.
In light of this, more and more merchants are starting to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as legitimate forms of payment. This means savvy retailers, both online and offline, would do well to look into doing the same in order to stay on-trend.
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5. Buy Now, Pay Later
Buy now, pay later is totally in right now in eCommerce payments trends. BNPL payment options give merchants the power to broaden their customer pool by drawing in larger basket values for low-value items and increasing purchases of high-value items that customers might otherwise shy away from. All in all, it's a convenient way to keep sales steady, even in tough economic times, with a relatively low cost to merchants.
Merchants who want to take advantage of buy now, pay later setups have lots of options, including EP Payments, which offers a best-in-class buy now, pay later program powered by Stripe. Retailers who want to stay abreast of consumer-favorite trends in 2023 would definitely do well to make this payment option a priority.
6. Payment Applications
Payment apps are convenient options that more and more consumers are taking advantage of. For merchants offering these apps as a payment method, customers can enjoy a fast and simple checkout process using NFC, QR codes, or P2P networks.
Customers love the ease of use and touchless convenience of not having to whip out the plastic for every payment, and merchants appreciate the speed at which transactions take place.
Payment apps like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Venmo are already staples in this corner of the eCommerce payments market, with new contenders consistently appearing on the horizon with a hot new feature or service. Some payment apps even offer rewards for frequent users or bonus tracking tools, which help turn this eCommerce payment method into a bonafide customer acquisition and retention tool.
7. Biometrics
Biometric payments are becoming increasingly popular with consumers due to their extra level of security and convenience. Merchants who offer biometric options allow customers to use their fingerprint, facial recognition, or iris scans to authorize payments instead of passwords or PIN codes. This makes fraud a lot harder since biometric data is unique to each person, making it practically impossible for thieves to copy.
This kind of verification can help make customers leery of giving out their personal data online feel more secure and willing to part with their cash. This gives eCommerce merchants leverage to attract more customers in less time by offering a uniquely secure checkout experience.
8. Voice-Enabled Payments
Voice commerce, a realm of commerce technology that includes voice-enabled payments, is becoming super popular for its ease and simplicity. This technology is exactly what it sounds like: merchants that provide voice-enabled payments give customers the option to input and confirm their payment info using only their voice.
This technology has the potential to revolutionize how people make payments in much the same way that voice-enabled tech like Siri and Alexa revolutionized personal productivity.
In fact, merchants can leverage voice assistants like Alexa to enable customers to make purchases and pay bills with just a few words. Its modern-day convenience at its finest: voice-activated payments save customers time and hassle, which creates a frictionless checkout experience, leading to quicker sales and higher average order values.
9. Near-Field Communications
Near-field communication (NFC) is a short-range wireless technology that merchants can use for pairing devices, exchanging data, and making payments. The technology is similar to Bluetooth but is more secure and faster. It’s currently in use by retailers for everything from quick contactless payments to easy device connections.
Not only is it great for quick payments, but merchants can use NFC to create customer loyalty and entice new buyers. NFC can be used to give points to loyal customers, hand out coupons for future purchases, or reward winners for giveaways and drawings in real time, adding an exciting extra layer of gamification to an eCommerce brand’s brick-and-mortar presence.
EP Payments: The eCommerce Payments Solution From Elastic Path
Having cutting-edge and in-demand eCommerce payments options for your customers is a critical piece of a smooth buying experience. Giving consumers the option to pay their favorite way, both online and offline, differentiates good brands from great brands (and good revenue from great revenue), and the better your tools and technology, the easier it will be to achieve that “great brand” status.
If you're an eCommerce merchant looking to level up your payments game, EP Payments from Elastic Path might be just the eCommerce payments solution you’ve been looking for. Reach out to us today to find out more about how EP Payments can help you streamline your checkout process, enhance customer satisfaction, and build brand value along the way.
Topics: online, trends, technology, ecommerce, critical, way, pay, payments, merchants, purchases, payment, customers. -
A Look Back at 30+ Years of Website Design
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Web design has come a long way since 1991, when the first ever website was published. Exclusively text-based, this site marked the beginning of what would become a digital revolution.
Topics: today, look, websites, web, elements, user, todays, content, design, website, way. -
A New Way to Embed External Content To Your Markdown Files with Remarkable-oEmbed
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At Elastic Path, we use markdown to author our product documentation. Markdown is a great format for any type of content publishing. It's a plain text format that can be used without any special tools or software.
However, sometimes we need to add a little more than just plain text article. One request I had often received was to be able to add videos within the documentation, such as a visual step by step guide. But that's not natively supported by markdown format. Plus, these videos are hosted by a 3rd party service provider. That's also a problem because markdown does not have any native way of embedding contents external sources.
What is Markdown?
Markdown is simply a set of guidelines/syntax for writing. Markdown parsers then follow those guidelines and convert the document into another format for publishing. The syntax is very simple and does not get in the way of the readability of contents. A document written using pure markdown format can be consumed as-is. A common usage is converting those documents into html files for publishing online article.
With the simplicity of the markdown format, it is possible for anyone within our organization to be able to contribute to our product documentation. For the same reason, reviewing the content before publishing is also a smooth experience. We build our documentation website from the markdown documents using a tool called Docusaurus v1, which uses remarkable markdown parser for converting the documents into an HTML format.
How to embed external contents using Markdown?
As mentioned earlier, Markdown format does not have any syntax or guideline for embedding contents from external services. There are several ways a video or any other external contents could be added without using any special tools:
A link to the external contents - This is the simplest approach but lacks a cohesive experience. The user will move away from the content and go into another site or page containing the video.
An iFrame whose source is the page containing external contents - The drawback with this approach is that another "site/page" is being embedded in your page, instead of only the content you're interested in.
Add html code provided by external content hosting platform - Usually the service providers have a "Share" or "Embed" option that will give you a block of html code that can be added into into your website. That code can be added into your markdown document. But, this requires writing and maintaining html code in the markdown document. That affects the maintenance, simplicity, readability, and review of contents. Besides, even a small typo or mistake can break the html page when that document is converted from markdown into html.
All of the above approaches have some drawbacks. This is where oEmbed really shines. That's why we've built remarkable-oembed - a plugin for remarkable markdown parser.
What is oEmbed?
Similar to Markdown, oEmbed is simply a specification or guideline for content providers and consumers. Following the specs, providers can deliver contents to be consumable in any way without implementing tools for every consumer. Additionally, consumers can retrieve contents from various service providers without implementing specific tools for different providers.
You may have already used oEmbed in various tools or platforms. For example, have you ever added a link to an image or a video into a rich text editor, which then automatically replaces the link with the corresponding image or video? That's most likely oEmbed under the hood.
The consumer, such as blog editing tool, contacts the content providers following oEmbed specs. Provider then responds back with appropriate html code (or an URL to an image) and the consumer then replaces the original link from user with the response received from the provider. The user (i.e. blog author) does not need to deal with any code.
oEmbed plugin for remarkable-oembed
At the time I didn't find an existing plugin for the remarkable markdown parser that uses oEmbed specs for embedding content. So I decided to implement a plugin ourselves. The plugin adds a new syntax for content authors to provide the URL of the external content. When the markdown document is converted into using remarkable parser, it will retrieve the external content and include it in the html document prepared for publishing.
Going with this approach added extra benefit for Elastic Path:
Simple and familiar syntax for embedding content without requiring html code to be maintained
Easy to update if we change our video hosting platform
Embed other type of media from 3rd party sites besides video, if needed
The simplest form of the plugin syntax is: `!oembed[alternative text](source url)`. This is very similar to existing/built-in syntax of markdown format for embedding an image. Many platforms support oEmbed specs already. For example, embed code editor from codesandbox.io, audio player from Spotify, video from YouTube or other streaming services, and so on.
If you use markdown format for any type of content publishing, such as docs, blogs, news, announcements, and so on and use the remarkable markdown parser, try out this plugin! Check out the open source plugin repository for installation and usage instructions. A list of supported providers can be found in the repository if you search for the `providers.json` file.
Feel free to open a pull request if you find any type of provider missing. There are still opportunities for features to be added into this plugin. Help us build those features!
Thank you
Special thanks to some of my colleagues for engaging in the design discussions (shout out to Jake Lin, Damoon Tahmasbi) and many thanks to Allegra Chan for carrying out the implementation.
Topics: embed, code, external, way, remarkableoembed, files, format, oembed, plugin, content, document, markdown, html, contents. -
Accelerating Online Shopping: 5 Strategies for E-Commerce Success in Europe
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If you're looking to improve your e-commerce conversion rate, here are five effective strategies to utilise.
Topics: strategies, site, consumers, ecommerce, shopping, traffic, success, sources, customer, data, europe, store, online, accelerating, way. -
After talking to marketing leaders for a year, here’s my advice for CEOs
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Marketing makes or breaks a company. When I am asked what is the No. 1 thing that I would do to help a company scale massively, it is focusing on marketing. Period.
Topics: leaders, company, channels, advice, product, marketers, talking, heres, way, techcrunch, today, help, ad, ceos, global, marketing. -
Ann Handley Demonstrates How To Compel with Storytelling at Make it Big 2021
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Content marketing has come a long way since its origin in 1895 with John Deere’s The Furrow — but many…
Topics: way, tell, best, compel, storytelling, right, handley, community, demonstrates, big, think, business, marketing, ann, content. -
Branch carves out new furniture collection as folks return to the office
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Customers can purchase premium furniture without having to go through a dealer, saving on average 50% over buying from traditional retailers.
Topics: business, office, collection, techcrunch, return, company, carves, furniture, folks, hayes, products, including, branch, way. -
Breaking Up with Your Commerce Monolith: Part 3 (Starting Small with Paro)
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When it comes to composable commerce, how do you “break up” with your monolith, and where can you get started? I covered these topics in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, in case you missed it. The TL;DR version: Switching to composable commerce doesn’t have to be hard. One popular way to approach it is by starting with a smaller brand in your portfolio, or experimenting with a new line of business that doesn’t interfere with a primary revenue stream.
One great “start small” composable commerce use case comes from Paro, an AI-powered marketplace for finance and accounting solutions. This fast-growing tech startup didn’t have time to waste with its commerce implementation. As a hands-on, sales-driven organization, Paro wanted to test a self-service line of business that empowered finance/accounting professionals and freelancers to work directly together through simple online engagements.
“We wanted to step into digital self-service for our clients, and use this experiment as a way to see if ecommerce made sense as a channel for us,” said Kody Myers, director of product at Paro, in the video linked above. “As we are able to get traction, we can scale up and get into offering more complex services online.”
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To introduce these new offerings effectively, Paro wanted its business leaders to be able to manage the product catalog without having to rely on engineering. That way, the stakeholder who owns ecommerce could add products or services, change pricing, and manage the catalog over time.
The Elastic Path composable commerce architecture – including the Product Content Management functionality and API-first approach – fit with Paro’s engineering team’s methodology. The team prioritized headless systems that allowed them to think about the best front-end interactions for the customer. Plus, using composable commerce gave engineering the flexibility to experiment and use the best-of-breed technologies they wanted.
Paro successfully launched the portal in five months and leveraged Elastic Path technology partners, including Algolia for search functionality and Stripe for payment processing.
Since non-technical users can change the product catalog and make updates, Paro can launch new services or digital products quickly. This level of experimentation allows the company to gather more information from their clients on what works and what doesn’t work – without the opportunity cost and real cost of change that comes with a monolithic commerce platform.
From experimenting with a smaller brand in your portfolio to adding a new product, service, or sales channel, testing composable commerce in a controlled environment makes a ton of sense. Starting small helps you move fast and experiment with a new commerce implementation, without risking delays or jeopardizing a primary revenue stream. From there, it’s easier to see what works and doesn’t work from a technical and business perspective and make changes on the fly.
Thinking about making the switch to composable commerce? Get in touch with us to find out the best path to get started.
Topics: paro, way, doesnt, services, business, work, commerce, wanted, product, breaking, monolith, composable. -
Cana Technology raises glass to new capital as it readies beverage printer for market
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Cana focused on identifying the basic set of ingredients, basically deconstructing beverages to figure out what makes it taste like a certain drink.
Topics: readies, capital, market, technology, way, cartridge, printer, cana, glass, water, beverages, drinks, device, beverage, raises, techcrunch. -
Chew On This: How This Functional Gum Maker Crushed Its Crowdfunding Goals With Reddit
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Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen met in university and bonded over their shared busy and active lifestyle of balancing athletics with academia. Kent and Ryan wanted to create wellness products they could not find in the market and put their degrees in neuroscience, chemistry, and economics to use to launch Neuro. After their first Neuro gum product for energy and focus surpassed its crowdfunding goal in just three days, the duo went on to sell over 12 million pieces. In this episode of Shopify Masters, Kent and Ryan share how they used Reddit to crush their crowdfunding goals and how they are able to achieve a repeat purchase rate of more than 30%.More
Topics: product, functional, able, theres, crowdfunding, really, goals, gum, reddit, crushed, lot, thats, business, things, chew, going, way, maker. -
Composable Commerce is More than a Cart
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It seems the mood music has shifted away from monolith to composable, at least for those organisations looking to gain significant competitive advantage and be able to differentiate themselves by innovative use of technology.
The logic seems clear; select the "best-of-breed" technology at every stage of your development, and progressively up-platform as the requirements grow and change. You may not need a CMS for the MVP / early phases, but you’ll need to plug one in further down the road - that works. Or the tax engine you currently use is OK until you expand into new regions and need to provide additional coverage, no problem.
However, there are two camps emerging in composable which, whilst on the face of it appear similar but can result in radically different outcomes.
Before exploring further, let's look at the typical capabilities that a business needs from a modern commerce solution (in addition to commerce) - front to back:
Front end framework - the glass that allows access and enables your team to deliver the UI
CMS - to manage rich content so that your marketers can develop the brand images and messaging
Search (and Merch) - product discovery, recommendations so that your products can be found, and so that you can deliver the appropriate ranking etc.
Promotions - to improve conversion and revenue options
PIM - to manage product data, workflows, approval etc.
OMS - Order management (and typically complex inventory) so that you only offer what you can sell and deliver on the promise of fulfilment
Marketplace – So that you can onboard suppliers and offer third party products
and of course various back-end ERP, CRM, etc.
A lot of software, but the key thing is that the composable solution should be focused on "what does the business need at this stage of the programme?
Put another way, what is the simplest and easiest way of delivering the business outcome, not "best-of-breed" per se, but "best for me" - and that is critical to your selection of a commerce vendor.
Why?
Because, as one starts to review the components and build out a composable commerce solution, it becomes clear that at the very heart, the commerce engine, there are two distinct schools of thought emerging - let's call them minimalist and most complete.
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On the minimalist side we see commerce vendors pushing pretty much all the functionality onto third parties, and I don't mean things that shouldn't be in commerce like Search, CMS, or Marketplace, but core components that any serious organisation needs to operate at the most basic level. In here I put capabilities like Catalogue Management, Pricing data and Product Data (Including Bundles and Variations).
The minimalist approach says "oh, that's OK, all you really need is the cart/checkout and the rest comes from 3rd parties." Which is fine, if you are never going to change your current ways of managing your catalogue, pricing, or product data.
But that's wrong. And the reason is that you are effectively committing to building a bespoke system, from the ground up, from day one. Not only does this dramatically increase the cost, time, and risk to the project, but by its very essence, you are committed to custom build, which means it's not covered by vendor support or SLA, SI/Agency lock-in and growing technical debt.
Of course, it also restricts your choices as you move from MVP through the subsequent phases of your rollout. Without core capabilities you will always have to go outside the commerce engine to manage your catalogues for example - or put another way, you will always have to pay for that capability above and beyond the commerce fee - same for promotions, etc.
The most complete view may look only a little different, but the outcome is radically different. The argument from this camp is that a well-rounded commerce engine will do, functionally, what you need it to do, most of the time, and certainly for the MVP and early phases. Yes, checkout and cart, but also allow you to manage your catalogues, your promotions, your variations, your bundles - you know, the basic things that your merchandising team needs to do to get an offer to your clients and prospects.
The result is a quicker, cheaper, less risky rollout; with more time to spend on innovation, less on heavy lifting, and quicker time to revenue. Not only are you not building core commerce from the ground up, but critically, you get to decide when and if to take on additional functionality - do it when the business requirement is there, not from day one when you must purchase because the capability is lacking in the core commerce platform.
I guess it's OK to just use your commerce system for a cart/checkout and do bespoke build. But if that's all you are going to use it for, then make that decision with open eyes, and pay accordingly. Choose best for me, don't be forced to take best-of- breed due to lack of capability in the core.
Topics: product, way, thats, cart, commerce, engine, manage, composable, business, need, core. -
Diving Deep Into Marketing for Restaurants (My Takeaways)
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I’m fortunate to live in a city that has a thriving restaurant scene (it’s most known for its barbecue and Tex-Mex, if that gives you any hint). And while I don’t consider myself a food connoisseur by any means, I was a food journalist in a past life, so I continue to stay on top of the latest stories and trends surrounding the restaurant industry.
Topics: brand, customers, way, restaurants, takeaways, social, free, deep, information, example, diving, marketing, restaurant. -
Dry January is Big Bucks for Booze Makers
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Dry January. It sounds like the next scary impact of climate change. In reality, it’s part personal challenge and part social movement.
Topics: nonalcoholic, searches, participants, dry, sales, big, way, survey, bucks, trend, alcohol, makers, booze, youll. -
Flush with new capital, Foxtrot’s ‘convenience store of the future’ is coming to a location near you
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Foxtrot is reimagining the convenience store experience by seeking out the best food items by local artisans along with its core offerings of coffee, ready-to-eat cafe meals and wine.
Topics: foxtrots, stores, convenience, company, coming, store, retail, way, future, foxtrot, flush, location, capital, techcrunch, locations, near, lavitola. -
From $20,000 in Debt To Building a Brand Loved by Fashion “It Girls”
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Lindsey Carter founded SET Active, an activewear brand that blends form and function to make effortlessly comfortable clothing that sells out quickly. Its matching workout sets and lounge gear are extremely popular among the wellness community, and can be seen on “it girls” like Kylie Jenner and Hailey Beiber.More
Topics: debt, wear, social, active, brand, building, community, retail, product, way, girls, lindsey, loved, workout, fashion, set. -
Her Company Is Worth $1 Billion. But It Began As a Way to Solve Her Own Shipping Problems.
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Shippo founder Laura Behrens Wu has created a software similar to Expedia for the shipping industry.
Topics: way, company, store, problems, help, shippo, worth, billion, carriers, wu, shipping, online, behrens, carrier, solve, began. -
Hire a CEO: A Guide for Hiring and Motivating High-Level Employees (CEOs, COOs, and Directors)
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There are many challenges when you hire a CEO and high-level employees, from finding the best talent to compensation strategies. Fortunately, at eCommerceFuel, we can share strategies our 7- and 8-figure brand owners use so that you can avoid making costly mistakes. In the guide, we’ll learn how to hire a CEO and directors, how […]
Topics: employees, ceos, job, highlevel, hiring, guide, candidates, members, way, hire, motivating, directors, coos, community, need, ceo. -
Honest Messaging Drives Conversions This Holiday Season
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The 2021 holiday shopping season is unpredictable for both shoppers and merchants. Supply chain interruptions and likely shipping delays have prompted many consumers to wrap up gift-buying earlier than usual.
Topics: shopper, order, items, messaging, conversions, holiday, shoppers, times, whats, way, transparent, shipping, drives, season, honest, carrier. -
How Ecommerce Brands and Subscriptions Can Navigate the Post-Pixel World
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Here are three things successful subscription and ecommerce companies are doing to come out on top in a post-pixel world.
Topics: customer, media, postpixel, relationship, build, navigate, subscriptions, consumer, social, experience, world, ecommerce, brands, way. -
How Lauryn and Michael Bosstick Turned a Side Hustle Into the Multi-Million Dollar Skinny Confidential Empire
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The hosts of the 'The Skinny Confidential HIM & HER' podcast discuss the evolution of their content and commerce businesses and share advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Topics: creating, podcast, empire, started, things, confidential, business, think, media, way, multimillion, skinny, dollar, need. -
How These 3 Content Creators Turned a Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Gig
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Content creator is a job title that didn't exist a decade ago. Now, 50 million people consider themselves creators, following their passion in a billion-dollar industry.
Topics: creation, content, way, kutcher, gig, create, turned, okome, hustle, revenue, creators, exit, fulltime, creator. -
How These 3 Small Businesses Innovated Their Way to Massive Success (and How You Can, Too)
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Here's how a few business owners are embracing new strategies and tools to thrive in the new era of digital commerce, and what you can learn from them.
Topics: lead, customers, way, stellar, customer, small, business, experience, businesses, abogados, examples, latinos, video, online, transform. -
How To Do Representation in Marketing the Right Way (+ Consumer Perspectives)
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Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint— a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented 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: brand, ensure, representation, feel, serve, consumer, underrepresented, marketing, way, right, brands, consumers, representative, perspectives. -
How To Promote Your Online Art Store
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Want to shine a spotlight on your online art store? It's time to tap into the power of smart promotion. This article is your practical guide to using straightforward, tech-savvy methods to boost your store's visibility. We'll dive into easy-to-use…
Continue reading How To Promote Your Online Art Store
Topics: youll, methods, art, create, promote, store, marketing, email, way, online, audience. -
How to Break Into the Creator Economy in a Digital Age
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More than 50 million people worldwide consider themselves to be creators -- here's how they're doing it.
Topics: creator, writers, media, age, economy, break, youre, successful, digital, social, way, content, products. -
How to Build a Market Development Strategy [Free Planning Templates]
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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: build, product, company, templates, way, existing, strategy, development, marketing, products, planning, business, market, free. -
How to Build a Product Ecosystem Buyers Will Want to Be In
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A product ecosystem functions in a very similar way to an environmental ecosystem. Like the symbiotic relationship found in nature, a product ecosystem is when products can coexist in a way that’s beneficial for the customer (not to mention, brings in more revenue for the business).
Topics: buyers, software, products, improve, product, ecosystem, way, customers, needs, services, valuable, build. -
How to Create the Best PowerPoint Presentations [Examples & Templates]
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Some presentations are better than others. They may have gorgeous designs. Others have insanely actionable takeaways. Some just give down-to-earth advice. But the best presentations represent all three.
Topics: slide, best, create, templates, powerpoint, youre, presentations, way, examples, presentation, color, audience, slides, text. -
How to Network Effectively: 15 Tips You Can Start Using Today
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“Networking” is a buzzword that many of us have a serious love/hate relationship with.
Topics: using, say, network, job, youll, ask, youre, conversation, follow, effectively, networking, today, person, tips, way, start. -
How to Promote Your Business on Facebook
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As of 2022, there are 2.91 billion active monthly users on Facebook, making it the most-used social media platform globally. Learning how to promote your business on Facebook can help you grow your customer base.
Topics: create, way, promote, facebook, business, valuable, media, youll, social, audience. -
How to Run Google Ads: A Guide to Setting Up Your First Campaign
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As the former head of marketing at two different tech companies, I can tell you firsthand: You can optimize your content for search engines all day, but sometimes, pay-per-click advertising — or PPC — is the way to go.
In this blog post, I’ll walk through everything I’ve learned about how to run Google Ads, from creating your account to launching your first campaign.
Topics: guide, search, ad, term, marketing, google, ads, campaign, youre, set, run, setting, way. -
How to Run a Marketing Campaign on a Tight Budget [Expert Tips & Free Tools]
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Many of us have been there with the cup of noodles diet when money is tight.
Topics: virtual, expert, events, free, tools, hubspots, run, tight, content, tips, ways, budget, campaign, way, marketing, youre, media. -
How to Start an Ecommerce Business in 2022 [Steps + Must-Follow Tips]
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In June 2021, over 440,000 businesses were launched, making it a record high since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Topics: website, marketing, mustfollow, audience, customers, product, steps, way, business, brand, start, ecommerce, tips. -
How to Use Facebook Live: The Ultimate Guide
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It's no secret that live streaming has taken off in a major way — eMarketer predicts there will be 164.4 million live video viewers in 2023. ;
Topics: broadcast, videos, video, way, viewers, guide, feature, facebook, live, comments, ultimate, share. -
How to Write About Your Professional Background
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A great way to share more about your background is to have a prepared document, like a professional bio.
Topics: youve, accomplishments, youre, professional, personal, write, background, help, way, writing, bio. -
India’s Cars24, a used-vehicle sales platform, raises $400M, now at a $3.3B valuation, to double down on growth
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With supply chains in the automotive industry continuing to be disrupted due to COVID-19, demand has surged in the used-car market. Today, one of the startups that’s seeing a lot of growth as a result of that is announcing a big round of funding to further tap the opportunity. Cars24, a startup out of India […]
Topics: indias, india, growth, cars24, raises, million, vehicles, market, techcrunch, double, platform, cars, jangid, way, sales, company, valuation, usedvehicle, usedcar. -
Lead Generation: A Beginner’s Guide to Generating Business Leads the Inbound Way
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Let’s set the stage: I’m about to dig into the best darn pile of spaghetti I’ve ever seen, and the phone rings. “May I speak to Lindsay Kow-low-witch?” asks the telemarketer on the other end. “This is an important message regarding your oven preferences.”
Topics: way, guide, content, generation, business, sales, page, beginners, landing, inbound, generating, product, marketing, information, leads, lead. -
Letter of Interest Tips, Templates & Examples [A 2023 Guide]
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In today's competitive job market, a carefully crafted letter of interest is a powerful tool for standing apart from the crowd.
Topics: templates, examples, tips, team, company, way, letter, guide, hiring, specific, role, manager, interest, youre. -
Level Up Your Stream: How to Make Merch for Twitch
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Selling merch is a smart move that Twitch streamers shouldn’t be neglecting as a source of revenue. We walk you through how to design merch and how to start selling it—with real examples.More
Topics: way, twitch, merch, level, viewers, stream, streamer, selling, youre, streamers, fans. -
Make it Big Podcast: Tapping Into Social Commerce Success with Meta
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Welcome to The Make it Big Podcast, a bi-weekly audio series about all things ecommerce by BigCommerce. In this episode,…
Topics: brand, meta, social, commerce, big, success, instagram, business, tapping, going, product, content, really, podcast, way. -
Marketing Without a Budget? Use These 10 Tactics [Expert Tips]
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With a recession looming, many brands are tightening up their budgets, and often, marketing is one of the first ones to go.
Topics: tips, tactics, media, audience, budget, free, social, community, expert, customer, content, way, marketing, customers. -
Multicultural Marketing: What It Is and How to Do It The Right Way [According to Experts]
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Growing up as a first-generation Asian American, I lived between two cultures. One was the East-Asian culture my parents brought from Taiwan, which prioritizes the needs and desires of the family and emphasizes academic excellence. The other was the Western culture that surrounded me outside the house, which prioritizes the needs and desires of the individual and emphasizes extracurricular activities.
Topics: asian, groups, american, way, experts, friends, culture, campaign, minority, multicultural, according, right, group, marketing. -
Need Repeat Customers? Try Low-tech Selling
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If you lack the budget for high-end automation tools, there are still plenty of ways to fill the gaps left by massive competitors. Here are nine ways to catch the attention of savvy online shoppers and keep them returning for more.
Topics: products, need, selling, repeat, sell, support, try, way, rules, lowtech, shoppers, emails, ways, todays, customers. -
Nigeria’s Topship raises $2.5M from Flexport and YC to help merchants with international shipping
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African merchants encounter many challenges when it comes to international shipping, ranging from logistics and customs to hidden and excessive charges. Digital freight forwarders on the continent have grown to tackle these supply chain issues. In some way, they are taking after the likeness of an $8 billion company and a market leader in the […]
Topics: help, raises, nigerias, flexport, topship, continent, yc, international, techcrunch, cargo, merchants, way, ocean, freight, shipping. -
Papier inks $50M Series C to in a run to lead the online stationery market
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Papier, a startup leveraging technology to bring very non-tech products into the world, has raised some funding to continue expanding its business on the heels of strong demand for its personalized notebooks, planners, cards and other paper-based stationery that it sells online. The London startup has raised $50 million, a Series C that it will […]
Topics: brand, atighetchi, papier, online, technology, digital, today, way, series, stationery, run, products, startup, consumers, techcrunch, inks, market, c, lead. -
Particular Audience takes in $7.5M to give retailers way to take on Amazon
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Particular Audience provides product discovery tools for retailers to offer personalization without compromising personal data.
Topics: retailers, million, company, office, techcrunch, amazon, funding, particular, data, taylor, 75m, ecommerce, audience, way, takes. -
Product Photography: The Ultimate DIY Guide in 2022
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Your product photography is one of the most important elements of your ecommerce business. This ultimate product photo DIY guide will help you get them right every time.
Topics: youre, images, white, stores, photos, guide, ultimate, diy, light, youll, ecommerce, product, photography, way, products. -
Quora Ads: Are They Right For Your Business?
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When you think of online advertising, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Google? Facebook? YouTube?
Topics: quora, quoras, users, ad, targeting, way, pixel, best, business, right, ads, advertising. -
Refresh Your OOH Advertising with These 5 Custom Strategies
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Recent growth in the out-of-home ad market has been remarkable, and for good reason: It's effective, versatile, cost-effective and even automated.
Topics: refresh, consumers, brand, brands, reach, ooh, strategies, way, advertising, markets, custom, dooh, youll. -
Rich Media Ads: 6 Steps to Create Them + Brand Examples
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Recently, I was scrolling online and I came across an ad for Narcos. While I can easily ignore most banner ads online, this one stood out. It included interesting videos and animation.
Topics: video, ad, rich, steps, click, interactive, way, create, ads, examples, users, media, brand. -
SEO For Plumbers — How to Show Up in Google Results
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Did you know that roughly 800,000+ people search “plumbers near me” on Google a month? That’s a lot of demand for plumbing services.
If you don’t target the correct keywords for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you may miss out on a lot of business.
Topics: google, business, way, results, website, seo, youre, strategy, plumbers, content, plumbing, work. -
Seven Of The Biggest Findings From Zbooni's 2024 MENA cCommerce Report
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When it comes to what customers want, humans still have a massive role to play.
Topics: whatsapp, biggest, service, zbooni, think, report, zboonis, way, ccommerce, businesses, customer, seven, business, consumers, findings, mena. -
Shopify Side Hustle Ideas for 2023: Simple Shopify Business Ideas
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The best Shopify side hustle ideas can be extremely lucrative in today’s world. In an uncertain economy, most of us can benefit from earning a little extra income. However, not everyone has the time or energy to manage more than…
Continue reading Shopify Side Hustle Ideas for 2023: Simple Shopify Business Ideas
Topics: create, simple, hustle, products, sell, online, accessories, ideas, way, selling, business, shopify, market. -
Social Media for Nonprofits: Top Tips From BGCGW’s Director of Donor Relations
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“Whether you have a full-time staff member responsible for social media or someone that posts occasionally, I highly recommend having some kind of social presence — whatever that looks like.”
Topics: bgcgws, instagram, social, support, terri, brand, tips, organization, way, donor, line, relations, director, media, nonprofits. -
Starry’s SPAC part of Chet Kanojia’s mission to shake up broadband
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The internet service provider’s approach involves beaming broadband speed internet through the air using millimeter waves.
Topics: chet, way, kanojias, starry, company, firstmark, starrys, techcrunch, kanojia, mission, value, broadband, internet, spac, public, shake, going. -
Supplier, grocer connector Clubbi secures $4.5M to expand in Brazil
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Clubbi launched in October 2020 with 24-hour delivery, no minimum order quantity and flexible payment terms. It is currently working with 1,000 grocery stores in Rio de Janeiro.
Topics: grocer, way, company, capital, suppliers, connector, stores, supplier, adler, expand, secures, clubbi, techcrunch, 45m, working, terms, grocery, brazil. -
The 8-Figure Business Built on Vinyl Records and Subscriptions
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Matt Fiedler co-founded Vinyl Me, Please, a subscription-based vinyl-membership business, to give people the tangible connection to music they craved. After the first five years of bootstrapping, the business brought in over $11 million in revenue, and signed up more than 30,000 subscribers.More
Topics: subscriptions, 8figure, experience, approach, way, matt, built, music, record, vinyl, brand, vc, records, business. -
The Best Ecommerce Content for Facebook
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Facebook is the king of social media for businesses. Billions of consumers learn of brands and products via the platform. In this post, I’ve collected seven types of content on the world’s leading social platform for merchants to stand out, connect with an audience, and grow a following.
Topics: social, ecommerce, way, topics, infographics, content, videos, trending, users, best, facebook, audience. -
The Complete Checklist for Creating Compelling Calls-to-Action
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Lots of times, when marketers want to make a big impact on their marketing, they focus on going after a big project: big email campaigns, big website redesigns, big social media plans, big everything.
Topics: ctas, page, design, landing, youve, cta, big, compelling, callstoaction, way, checklist, copy, complete, youre, creating. -
The Ecommerce Guide to Winning Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2022
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A guide for ecommerce brands looking to win in Q4! It's going to be a tough one.
Topics: black, ecommerce, guide, partners, influencers, winning, site, cyber, discount, customers, way, increase. -
The New Way to Retire: Start a Digital Business
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How retirees can become 'second act' entrepreneurs by acquiring an online business.
Topics: youve, opportunity, amazon, start, way, youre, products, business, starting, digital, online, looking, retire. -
The Simple Guide to Creating an HTML Email [+ Free Templates]
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When you create an email using a drag-and-drop or module-based tool, you're actually generating an HTML email.
Topics: different, text, creating, simple, html, email, templates, emails, free, version, template, guide, way. -
The Ultimate Guide to Brand Awareness
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Have you ever heard people refer to themselves as “Apple people,” “Nike people,” or “Trader Joe’s” people?
This is what brand awareness can do for a brand: embed itself into consumer lifestyles and purchase habits so that they don’t have to think twice before becoming a customer — time and time again.
Topics: marketing, guide, product, audience, content, awareness, customers, way, social, brand, help, ultimate. -
The Way People Search the Web is Changing: 4 Stats Marketers & SEOs Should Know [HubSpot Data]
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Remember when it felt like Google was the only way you could to find information online? Those days are over.
Topics: marketers, data, stats, way, web, search, prefer, engines, z, trends, know, seos, hubspot, changing, social, answers, gen, consumers. -
The truth about Apple Pay for ecommerce
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This post was originally posted in 2010 and has been updated for relevancy.
Is Apple Pay the Way for Digital Wallets?
Mobile wallets have infiltrated digital commerce, offering a way to streamline checkout across desktop, mobile, and apps. Eliminating the need to remember or carry shipping addresses and credit card numbers, digital wallets such as Apple Pay reduce errors and boost conversions. But is Apple Pay right for your checkout?
Apple Pay by the numbers
As of September 2019, there were approximately 441 million Apple Pay users worldwide, up from 292 million users in the corresponding period of the previous year. An estimated 48 percent of iPhone users had enabled Apple Pay.
Research shows Apple’s availability is on the rise by 20%. They suggest this number comes out of a need for merchants and banks to align payment with shopper behavior and preference, as well as the eCommerce boom during the pandemic.
Further findings show increases in the following as of 2020:
Desktop adoption increased to 28 of 100 sites compared to 23 a year ago, up 22%
Mobile jumped to 39 of 100 sites versus 28 last year, up 39%
iOS apps were 43 of 100 compared to 36 last year, up 20%
Supporting banks increased to 5,480 globally, up 29%
Looking to improve your mobile experience?
Check out our guide to mobile commerce and discover it's benefits, hurdles to overcome, and why it's should be an important focus of your business.
Read the Guide
Building a case for Apple Pay
Apple Pay may be worth a trial when:
Your mobile traffic is greater than 75%, with a high percentage of iOS users
You serve a younger, tech-savvier customer base that both uses and prefers mobile wallets
You don’t already offer two or more alternative payments (e.g. PayPal, MasterPass, Visa, Amazon Pay) -- too much choice can lower conversion
Account creation is optional, not required
Disadvantages to Apple Pay
It’s unknown if the zero-fee trend will continue as Apple Pay gains popularity
High upgrade costs for retailers on devices and training; due to these costs retailers may be slow to adopt or avoid it which affects availability
While Apple Pay is increasingly offered by ecommerce platforms and payment gateways, it’s not a silver bullet for digital merchants. If you’re struggling with mobile conversion, ensure you’re regularly improving mobile checkout usability and site performance.
Topics: way, wallets, users, apple, truth, mobile, digital, ecommerce, youre, sites, pay. -
Top Barriers to Composable Commerce and How to Overcome Them
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The Composable Commerce approach is the way forward for businesses looking to transform their eCommerce user experiences quickly, efficiently, and with reduced risk.
By 2023, Gartner predicts that organizations who’ve adopted a composable approach will outpace competition by 80% in the speed of new feature implementation.
We recently hosted a webinar alongside our partners Algolia and Contentful, to answer top questions about Composable Commerce in practice, and provide use cases from brands who are embarking on eCommerce solutions and expanding their footprint.
First things first, the data. A recent survey of over 400 eCommerce practitioners reveals businesses are on the right track to adoption:
95% believe the composable approach is the way forward in modern commerce
82% anticipate a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) with adoption by as much as 25% in savings
These numbers indicate confidence in the approach, however there are significant questions stemming from the how-to.
Top Barriers of Composable Commerce and How To Overcome Them
Barrier 1: I am concerned about my team working in many different solutions
When using a monolithic approach, it’s common to have one team in charge of all aspects of commerce. With a Composable Commerce approach, we must change the expectations of how our teams work, and how they work together.
Rather than one team own all of commerce, we see sub teams focused on a specific area of commerce. These smaller teams can work independently, and in concert with the greater commerce strategy. While the flexibility of the technology enables this, it becomes critical to spend time defining responsibilities and workflows, so teams feel empowered to embrace this new way of working.
Historically, if product information needed to be updated, often the development team would be asked to update. But, with this approach the development team can focus on ensuring all the process flows work, the performance objectives are met and the teams that are responsible for product information can work independently and manage the information.
While there are different interfaces in a multi-solution commerce platform, the data is open and able to be visible across the tech stack, so most teams will only be interacting with one.
Barrier 2: My technical team doesn’t have experience with this approach
No matter your level of digital maturity, there is a solution to achieve your eCommerce goals. Other points to consider: how far along are you on the digital journey? Do you have systems in place? If you have a seasoned system integrator on board, they can guide you through and alleviate pre-launch stress.
You may also consider pre-built functionality such as Elastic Path’s Pre-Composed Solutions™ that offer the convenience of multiple integrations and vendors in a single business-ready package.
Is Composable Commerce Right For You?
It can be a difficult question to answer. Check out our comprehensive guide on the modern approach to learn more about the architecture, benefits, and if it makes sense for your business.
Read the Guide
Barrier 3: I need to be able to make changes
For those businesses worried about the overall lift, composability provides the foundation to launch what you need, when you need it, and to adapt as you go. You don’t need to make changes to the entire system to launch new products, new channels, or a campaign.
Barrier 4: I’m worried about the cost
There is no one-size-fits-all figure for implementation cost.
You’ll be looking at a few key factors when evaluating a provider and your own unique requirements such as subscriptions, third party licensing fees, business and developer tooling, if you’ll require an SI to assist with migrations, etc. It really does depend on your business needs and what systems and partners you currently have in place.
Cost is a common misconception in the buying process. When purchasing a multi-vendor solution it’s often thought you’re paying for functionality you’ll never use.
With the composable commerce approach you are paying for and leveraging the services you use. You are free to use vendors within the open ecosystem as they apply to your specific business needs and not be locked-in to vendors or solutions.
Barrier 5: I expect a lengthy implementation
Aside from flexibility once you’ve deployed, the composable commerce approach offers speed to market. Your launch can be a staged process by functions as you need them within weeks not months. Much like the discussion around cost, you leverage what you need, when you need it.
Interested in learning more? Watch the full webinar below!
Topics: ecommerce, commerce, barriers, need, composable, way, team, work, approach, business, teams, overcome. -
Turn Your Side Hustle into a Full-Time Gig with Shopify
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How to build and scale a Shopify store.
Topics: turn, shopify, youll, way, store, products, start, bundle, right, think, gig, fulltime, hustle. -
Unsun Cosmetics Paves the Way for Inclusive Sunscreen
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Katonya Breaux launched Unsun Cosmetics in 2016 to educate consumers on the importance of sun protection for Black men and women, and to offer a mineral-based sunscreen that was specially developed for darker skin tones.More
Topics: wanted, start, mineral, unsun, way, really, paves, sunscreen, inclusive, skin, cosmetics, katonya, care. -
Was it Written by AI? How You Can Tell, According to HubSpotters
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In school, I learned the basics of good writing — keep it short, concise, and grammatically correct.
Topics: tell, write, information, written, ask, according, content, writing, way, chatgpt, hubspotters, isnt, hubspot, ai. -
Website Visitors Trust Concise and Well-Written Content, But Can They Trust Yours?
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Key ways of acquiring and enhancing the unique skills needed for effective online content writing.
Topics: wordy, visitors, words, content, website, concise, right, phrases, wrong, love, way, writing, wellwritten, world, trust, unnecessary. -
What Does It Mean to be API-first?
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If you’re building a commerce platform, why reinvent the wheel when the right APIs will do? In his essay, APIs All the Way Down, Packy McCormick suggests that instead of building from scratch, companies can gain a competitive advantage from leveraging APIs. According to McCormick’s argument, by building a commerce platform out of APIs, there are two main ways to differentiate: By creating custom solutions paired with API-based components, or by organizing API-based components in a novel or interesting way. (I’ll talk more about how that can work later.)
The issue for many companies is the abundance of commerce APIs, which create an unnecessary perception of difficulty. The old way of thinking is based on the illusion of simplicity, wherein one vendor controls the entire commerce stack. Unfortunately, a monolithic software stack creates inertia and an inability to move fast enough to keep up with changing technologies and shopper preferences. As a result, commerce teams are forced to look beyond the monolith to achieve their business objectives – shattering the illusion of simplicity that drove their purchase of a monolithic solution in the first place.
That’s where a solution like Elastic Path can help, as it provides the logic and building blocks for getting started with an API-first commerce ecosystem. We make it simple to select and integrate the best tools for your business requirements and follow best practices to unleash the combinatorial power of APIs, as opposed to drowning your business and technical teams in complexity.
But how do you know if the technology you select is truly API-first? Many companies attempt to disassemble legacy monoliths and repackage or refactor them as microservices-based, API-first platforms. This approach adds unnecessary complexity, and flies in the face of API-first, cloud native principles meant to accelerate innovation.
In part one of this two-part series, I’ll cover what it means to be API-first. In part two, we’ll dive into what differentiates an API-first company from dressed up middleware.
See How Elastic Path Delivers Unique Customer Experiences
The Elastic Path Demo Library features multiple demos that showcase the power and scale of our products.
Go to Demo Library
The Rise of the Request/Response Model
An API-first approach means thinking of an API as the most important user for an application. In an API-first company, the APIs are often the first thing to be developed, and all new functionality should be exposed as an API. This approach is much different than “code-first,” where developers create an application first, and insert the API at the end. Legacy commerce vendors that are retrofitting their software to work with APIs fall in the code-first category. This approach can be an issue if the original application isn’t structured in a way that makes it simple for the API to access data.
API-first isn’t as simple as adding an API to the end of an overly complex system. As Chris Sperandio wrote while at Segment, “APIs are eating the value chain.” In the old enterprise software business model, companies bought packaged applications to streamline certain functions of their business, and these vendors charged extra for external API connectivity. Companies were forced to adapt to the way software vendors did business. Today, software is too interconnected to play that way.
Instead, a request/response model is taking over. API-first companies exist entirely between the HTTP request and response. As Sperandio writes: “Companies like Stripe and Twilio set themselves apart not only by the sheer amount of operative complexity they’re able to put behind an API, but because of how elegant, simple, and downright pleasant their APIs are to use for developers. In doing so, they give developers literal superpowers.”
The packaged enterprise software suites of the past few decades don’t function well in this Request/Response model because they aren’t built with APIs in mind. They’re built as self-contained ecosystems. That means their users are missing out on everything great about an API-first ecosystem: an improved developer experience, higher performance storefronts, reduced costs, faster time to market, and the ability to easily integrate with countless other “best-for-me” services.
Stay tuned for part two of this series, where I’ll explore what this means within ecommerce, and what differentiates an API-first company from dressed up middleware.
Topics: commerce, way, api, software, does, means, business, companies, mean, simple, apis, apifirst. -
What Glossier got wrong
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The fundamental disconnect: Software-enabled businesses don’t necessarily monetize the same way that software businesses do.
Topics: tech, beauty, business, techcrunch, public, glossier, way, youre, wrong, companies, work, company. -
What are Instagram Guides? [+ How to Create One]
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If you're on Spotify, chances are you've curated a playlist with all your favorite songs — and rearranged them in a specific order. But did you know you can do something similar on Instagram?
Topics: instagram, way, guide, guides, content, create, favorite, share, promote, products. -
What is Product Data Syndication?
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In today’s market, consumers expect flexibility and consistency in the way they shop across multiple channels and touchpoints including website, store, mobile and social. With these expectations, brands must deliver accurate and consistent product information across different sales channels. Gartner’s research shows that poor data quality costs organizations $12.9 million per year. This is because consumer’s decisions are largely impacted by rich product content coupled with a successful multichannel strategy and accurate, timely product data syndication.
Product data syndication is the distribution of product data feeds across multiple eCommerce sales channels, platforms, and marketplaces while complying with each of their different requirements. Essentially, it’s the process of sharing product data across sales channels in a usable way for the specific platform. Utilizing a product information management (PIM) system with product data syndication capabilities is crucial to meeting the ever growing merchandising needs to meet consumer expectations.
Manual Processes Limit Multichannel Strategy
Traditional eCommerce strategies rely on managing complex spreadsheets and codings to distribute product information across multiple channels. While this process could be effective for smaller brands with limited product data, for larger brands with complexity, you don’t have to remain in the status quo. There are more efficient ways of handling product information. Manual processes also leave room for a high chance of error, which can cost brands money down the road.
Product Data Syndication Simplifies Product Information Management
At Elastic Path, we continuously strive to simplify the workflow of merchandising teams in every way possible. Our Commerce PIM streamlines product information management by providing one centralized location to import, enrich, and organize product data to meet specific product experiences requirements across routes-to-market. Merchandisers are empowered to launch products to market with speed with our de-coupled architecture where products, hierarchies, and price-books are separate services, allowing for ultimate flexibility to create 10,000+ variations and build dynamic bundles and configurators. Unlike other Commerce PIMs in the market, Elastic Path Product Experience Manager (PXM) goes beyond product data syndication to centralize Commerce PIM, product merchandising and Catalog Composer capabilities to empower merchandisers to deliver dynamic, differentiated product experiences with one centralized solution.
Ultimately, utilizing a PIM solution with product data syndication capabilities ensures accurate product data, brand consistency, faster time-to-market, minimal mistakes from manual errors, and gives merchandising teams the time to focus on delivering unique product experiences instead of filling in spreadsheets. We understand how challenging it can be to make a simple merchandising update if you are using a monolith platform and/or a third-party PIM. EP PXM is a solution that streamlines PIM so you don’t have to juggle multiple systems to deliver unified merchandising updates.
EP Product Experience Manager (PXM)
If your brand is interested in learning more about how EP PXM is re-imagining product data and catalog management, you can try it out here.
Go to EP PXM
Topics: multiple, information, channels, way, syndication, merchandising, pim, brands, data, product. -
What to Post on Instagram: 18 Photo & Video Ideas to Spark Inspiration
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Instagram isn't just a go-to social network for individuals anymore. Many marketers have caught wind that it's a powerful social network where they need to have some sort of presence.
Topics: instagram, video, followers, photos, videos, example, inspiration, way, social, post, content, ideas, spark. -
WhatsApp brings its Business API to the cloud to speed adoption
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WhatsApp will today begin beta testing a new, cloud-based version of its WhatsApp Business API, hosted on parent company Facebook’s infrastructure. With the shift to the cloud, the setup time for integrating with the API will drop from weeks to only minutes, the company claims, so businesses can more quickly transition to WhatsApp’s API platform […]
Topics: users, customers, way, today, messaging, api, businesses, business, speed, brings, whatsapp, cloud, company, techcrunch, adoption. -
Why Brands Are Taking Charge of Their Own Resale Markets
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Why the new era of recommerce is seeing brands take on their own resale markets instead of leaving it to third-party apps.More
Topics: brand, recommerce, brands, items, markets, customers, secondhand, taking, preloved, charge, resale, way, tradlands. -
Why Workplace Authenticity Matters More than Ever, According to Credly's VP of Customer Success
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Pre-pandemic, it was relatively easy to keep tight boundaries between our personal and professional lives.
Topics: selves, vp, customer, credlys, matters, authenticity, according, way, success, work, bring, encouraging, coffee, workplace, team, employees, pandemic.