Posted May 23rd, 2012
by Pablo
There’s nothing like being in the Ecommerce game. All is positive on the ecommerce front, specifically from international markets. If you don’t follow the Fortune3 blog, our last post was, “China Ecommerce, The Next Biggest Ecommerce Market?”
Today, we’re hitting on Australia. Yes, Australia. While some of you that cater to the Australian market may already know about this big and emerging ecommerce market, some of you may be completely in the dark about it. If you haven’t opened your digital doors to sell to Australia, it’s time to strongly start considering this.
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Posted in Ecommerce Essentials & Tips
Posted May 21st, 2012
by Pablo
The one thing we constantly hear about today’s world and economy is how China is becoming a world power. The Chinese make everything and seems everyone goes to them to ask them for money. Yes, it’s a booming economy. In the past few years, what China has been able to accomplish for its economy has been unbelievable.
According to multiple estimates, now China is poised to become the largest ecommerce marketplace in the coming years. Is this good or bad for us U.S. (and some international) internet retailers? You decide that for your business.
STATISTICS ON ECOMMERCE IN CHINA:
-Internet retail sales generated $121 Billion in sales in 2011, up 66% from 2010.
-Ecommerce sales in China are expected to reach $420 Billion by 2015, 20% more than forecasted for U.S. internet retail for 2015.
-China estimates 193 million online shoppers, more than any other country!
-By 2015, it’s estimated that figure of online shoppers will spend more than $1,000 a year shopping online.
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Posted in Ecommerce Essentials & Tips
Posted May 17th, 2012
by Pablo
Technology in the 00′s has changed the way we shop, specifically on the internet. It used to be that you can only browse through the internet through your laptop or PC, that all changed when mobile came to the scene with real browser and then it happened…the newest gadget that is changing it all again, the tablet.
As internet retailers, this new gadget is just another tool that is a dream come true for us. Why? Because it makes the public shop online more as they sit anywhere in the world, start browsing and can make a decision within a split second to buy from our website rather than go to the local mall, etc.
Let’s look at an illustratinon with Tablets and ONLINE SHIPPING:
Some things to note:
1. Age demographics between 18-34 is the group that most shops through tablets. Granted, most of this age demographic works or goes to school during the day-time so most likely, purchases may be done during afternoon-night time.
2. The growth of tablet users from 2012 to 2014 is over 30+ million which will continue to benefit e-commerce.
3. The habits of the tablet user are the following:
-58% of tablet users occur at home
-52% of tablet users prefer to shop online using their tablets.
-40% prefer using a desktop/latpop.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
-Conversion rates between mobile users and tablet users for ecommerce is 2.3% (tablet users) vs. 0.6% mobile users. Tablets have higher conversion rates.
-The average order value between smart phones, tablets and desktops all differ with Tablets having the higher average order value at $123.
Tags: ecommerce tablet statistics, tablet ecommerce Posted in Ecommerce Essentials & Tips
Posted May 14th, 2012
by Pablo
If you’ve been following the Fortune3 ecommerce blog, you’ve heard us talk a lot about Brazil lately. Most likely, you don’t just read it from us, if you follow up with the world economy, you’ve heard about Brazil and what a great emerging market it has been. It’s a growing powerhouse economy in South America and if you’re an internet retailer, you should be monitoring this market very closely.
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Posted in Ecommerce Essentials & Tips
Posted May 10th, 2012
by Pablo
As internet retailers we strive to really figure out what the best way to turn visitors into customers is. This is a daily and never ending job that we try to figure out.
I came across a great post today from the KissMetrics blog titled, “What The Highest Converting Websites Do Differently.” I think as internet retailers we constantly ask ourselves that question and as much as we ask it, we actually analyze it by looking at competitor’s websites, etc. BUT, my question to you, the reader is this, do you ask yourself, “ what can we be doing differently?”
Let’s look at the key highlights from the post that may inspire you to really get active on the conversion optimization front:
-Companies that take on a structured approach towards conversion optimization are twice as likely to see a large increase in sales?
-61% of companies do less than 5 tests a month.
-You have about 0-8 seconds to make a compelling selling headline or landing page.
-After 8 seconds, majority of visitors will leave your website.
-Approximately 96% of visitors that come to your website are not ready to buy.
-Product videos can increase conversions by 144%!
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Tags: conversion optimization, conversion rates, ecommerce conversion improvements Posted in Ecommerce Essentials & Tips
Posted May 9th, 2012
by Pablo
As internet retailers, established to medium size internet retailers, we know how important the shipping aspect of the ecommerce business is. Shipping rates and promotions can make the difference between a consumer shopping from your website or your competitors.
This illustration gives us a clear view on the impact of shipping rates and promotions on ecommerce websites.
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE AND SEE FULL VIEW)
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Tags: conversion rates, ecommerce shipping, shipping options Posted in Ecommerce Essentials & Tips
Posted May 3rd, 2012
by Rafael Solorzano
At Fortune3, we are always striving and constantly working on our platform to make sure to deliver the best possible product to our customers. We know and understand the importance of having every feature available to you that means success for your ecommerce website. If you are a Fortune3 customer, you already know this about us. If you aren’t, it’s time you give Fortune3 a try and build a success ecommerce business.
Fortune3 is excited to announce the release of some great new features in our shopping cart and eCommerce platform. These new features are already available to you as a Fortune3 user and can be enabled right away!
Recurring Billing – With our new Recurring Billing feature, you can sell products and services on a subscription-basis in a fully automated way. Customers purchasing a “Recurring Billing” product will only have to place their initial order, and depending on the recurring product’s settings, orders will be placed automatically on the next billing period and come in as new orders to your online store. Recurring billing orders can be fully managed from the Admin Site or Cancelled by navigating to the “Orders -> Recurring Orders -> Recurring Billing Orders” screen. To set up a product as a Recurring Billing product, make sure that you downloaded the latest update to the Fortune3 Wizard, and go to the Product’s Properties screen, and find the last tab on top – Recurring Settings. Select your settings for how to base the pricing of recurring orders and their intervals. Then Save, and upload your site. You are done!
Auto-Ship / Recurring Shipping – With our new Auto-Ship feature, customers purchasing a product with this setting enabled will select every how often they would like the product to be shipped to them, and new orders will be placed in the shopping cart automatically on every interval, depending on the auto-ship settings selected by the customer. Auto-Ship orders can be fully managed from the Admin Site or Cancelled by navigating to the “Orders -> Recurring Orders -> Auto-Ship Orders” screen. The auto-ship feature is also located in each product’s Properties screen, under the Recurring Settings tab.
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Tags: ecommerce software, shopping cart software Posted in Fortune3 News & Releases
Posted May 1st, 2012
by Pablo
What big brand that you know doesn’t have a Facebook page? What about a Twitter page? Let me ask you think. Look at your top competitors in your space, which of them do not have social media presence? Your answer should be, “they all have it.”
There is a reason why there is so much buzz behind social media, because it works. Almost every American consumer, you may even say international now that it’s 2012, has access and interacts through social channels. As companies building brands, we want to engage this way. Actually, brands have probably been wishing for years for this revolution. However, of course, you have those that think the word of mouth is too powerful through these social channels and negative press can be as bad as it has been in history for any one company.
eMarketer reports, “Executives who said their companies had established an extensive social media presence reported a return on investment that was more than four times that of companies with little or no social network engagement activity.”
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Tags: social media marketing, social media roi Posted in Social Media For eCommerce
Posted April 30th, 2012
by Pablo
Today, I’m writing inspired based on article I read on Entreprenuer.com. I think one of the most common and biggest mistakes about starting an ecommerce business is actually realizing that running an ecommerce business is just like starting any other business / company.
We think about our websites as really just being the business but it’s just as important as anything else to have structure and other things back up the site. Remember, the website is just a part of what will make your business thrive…there are plenty of other factors that are just as important to actually make your business run smooth and operate so that it grows.
OUTLINE OR WRITE YOUR PLAN
As you launch your business, you need a plan. You need at least an outline of your business and what it is / will be. You need to specify your objectives, strategies, financing, sales – marketing and anything else that you can put together to put the vision on paper to make it happen.
PEOPLE CHANGE….SO DO BUSINESSES
It’s important to note that the game plan above might change. This is actually important to realize and you must be willing to adapt. Your business may change due to several factors such as what competitors are doing, where the industry is headed, etc.
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Tags: ecommerce start up, ecommerce success Posted in Blogging for Ecommerce
Posted April 27th, 2012
by Pablo
If you’re wondering why in the digital world there is a big emphasis on mobile devices, it’s because it’s real. Whether you think it’s a trend or not, research shows that mobile device users are as active as ever and using their device to really influence purchasing decisions.
Are you a tablet user yourself? How much time do you spend on your tablet? What about on your phone? What do you do on your mobile device? Whatever your responses are, think about the amount of people who do the same thing as you. Then, think about the amount of people who are probably using mobile devices more than you. Some may use less.
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Posted in Uncategorized
