Pratik DholakiyaWhat’s going to happen in eCommerce industry in 2015?
The Internet continues to evolve and with web 3.0 making its way, we will see some even-more sophisticated interactivity in the eCommerce industry in the coming year.
There have been many technology developments last year. These developments, especially those in the field of social media, big data and analytics have forced many online retailers to restrategize their eCommerce business models to be more attuned to the market need.
Here are 7 tools that will help you win the eCommerce battle in 2015.
#1 – ZopIM
2015 is all about consumers. The better experience you can provide them, the more they will buy from you. What could be a better way to provide a more personalized experience than an online sales person to answer their questions?
When buying online, shoppers have a lot of questions about the product and after-sales services. Though product catalogs answer product related questions and FAQ section usually include information about after-sales services and shipping, they are not enough at times. A more convenient approach is to have an online sales/customer service person to assist your potential buyers through live chats.
ZopIM is a great software to improve your customer service without hiring a specialized team. Simply install this tool and talk to your customers over live chat. You can chat with potential customers from all over the world, irrespective of the languages as this software comes with Google Translate.
Apart from improving your customer service, ZopIM even helps in boosting your conversion rates. Live chat is one tool used by many online retailers, big or small, to enhance sales. For example, SupplyGeeks.com increased its conversion rates by 17 percent in 2012 by adding a live customer chat service.
#2 – Lead Converter
You can capture more leads to boost your revenue with this tool. Using Lead Converter you can display calls to action as a lightbox popover within pages. This is a great way to promote products and engage potential buyers before they leave the sales funnel. You can sell more with personalized offers displayed at the right time.
Lead Converter displays personalized messages and calls to action selectively to key visitor segments. Online retailers can leverage this feature to reach out to potential customers when they need attention the most. This eCommerce tool also provides real-time analytics that helps you to see what’s happening in your website.
#3 – Unbxd
Shoppers now take product recommendations on ecommerce sites for granted. A study revealed that 56% of consumers would be far more prone to shop from sites that offered a personalized experience.
In such a scenario, personalization and recommendation tools become an asset that not just aid an immediate purchase, they also help building customer loyalty, bringing customers back for repeat purchases. Unbxd is one such tool that ecommerce sites of all sizes can use to increase conversions. Unbxd combines the usual cross-sell and upsell widgets, category filtering and location based data in what they call “true personalization” – which involves real-time product recommendations even for first time visitors.
“Customers who bought this item also bought…” isn’t limited to Amazon now. The ability to capture and interpret big data has made product recommendations more precise and tailored to every customer’s needs. Recommendation tools like Unbxd now have the ability to auto-optimize delivery by showing the best performing product variations in real time.
#4 – Exit Monitor
If you are looking for an effective alternative for the more expensive Bounce Exchange, Exit Monitor is a great tool for your eCommerce site. The goal is to generate lead and optimize conversion using this tool. It even provides a report of visitors’ behavior by tracking their mouse movement and determines visitors’ exact position on the page.
The best part of Exit Monitor is that it helps you in exiting visitor detection and displays a perfectly timed targeted/personalized offer to generate lead. This tool provides a great way to entice your exiting visitors, encouraging them to stay and make a purchase.
Other advantages of Exit Monitor include real time reporting and app integration to connect your favorite tools from email marketing to customer relationship management.
#5 – Shippo
Make your shipments easy and affordable with Shippo. Better yet, this tool can be used on popular eCommerce platforms like Magento, Bigcommerce, Esty and Shopify. Compare express delivery rates, select your parcel dimension, service type, pickup date and preferred carrier – Shippo allows them all and more.
Shippo’s API allows you to print your own shipping labels with one click and get best rates from various carriers such as USPS, DHL, FedEx, UPS and more. Additionally, you can use one of the shopping carts from ecommerce platforms if you’re not willing to use the API.
#6 – Stripe
Is your payment system vandalizing your eCommerce business?
The ease of your payment system is one of the factors that affect your conversion rate. Stripe is probably one of the most recent players in the eCommerce world. It provides an easy yet powerful payments infrastructure for online retailers. In fact, Apple joined forces with Stripe to bring Apple Pay to iOS and Android applications for in-app transactions.
Stripe charges you 2.9% + 30 cents per successful transaction. There is therefore no set up fee, minimum charges or monthly fees associated with this tool. It is also highly secured and transparent. Stripe’s API and libraries include languages like PHP, Java, Ruby, Node, etc. This tool offers powerful online store checkouts, cards details storing, money transfers and subscriptions for recurring billing.
It supports subscriptions for recurring billing and works in various countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and many European countries.
#7 – MailChimp
Email marketing plays a crucial role in every eCommerce business. A report from Direct Marketing Association says that the ROI of email marketing is around 4300%. When it comes to email marketing, MailChimp is one of the most popular tools for online retailers. In fact, almost 73% MailChimp users belong to the eCommerce industry.
This tool is easy to use and intuitive. Apart from sending bulk emails using this tool, MailChimp allows you to track orders generated by your newsletters. You can therefore better segment the newsletters/emails, analyze their performances and modify your email marketing strategy.
Conclusion
To successfully combat the eCommerce battle in 2015 you need to study and understand customer trends and analyze online habits to keep your brand solid. This is the only way to survive and flourish. The tools mentioned here are only parts of a bigger picture to help you improve your reach, customer engagement and sales. By any means, this is not an exhaustive list.
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