Category: E-commerce

E-commerce Evolution: How Retail Tech is Shaping the Future of Online Shopping

E-commerce Evolution: How Retail Tech is Shaping the Future of Online Shopping

December 11, 2023

There has been a rapid e-commerce evolution in recent years, completely transforming the industry as we know it. Retail tech solutions are going mainstream and are already revolutionising experiences for customers. From AI and machine learning to IoT devices and more personalised experiences with recommendations and one-click checkouts, several new trends are reshaping the future of online shopping.  The future of the retail industry is also set to be defined by not just technological advancements, but also influencer marketing and social media in a bigger way than before. Retail tech encompasses innovative digital tools that are used by online and brick-and-mortar retailers to enhance the overall shopping experience. This covers the whole spectrum from simpler POS (point-of-sale) systems to more complex automation and AI tools. Mobile technologies, RFID and QR codes, AR, automation, generative AI, and ML are all future retail tech trends that should be taken into account in this regard.  Some reports estimate how the transformative future potential of AI (artificial intelligence) can ensure an annual value of a staggering USD 400-800 billion for the industry. In today’s times, mobile commerce and other trends are finding favour as more customers prioritise flexibility and personalisation along with higher efficiency overall. Retailers now have to adopt newer technologies not just flourishing, but also surpassing their rivals. Here are some trends that should be noted carefully in this regard.  Top Retail Tech Trends that May Transform Online Shopping  Here are some of the leading retail tech trends that may spur e-commerce evolution shortly.  Machine learning will help analyse various variable sets to offer suggestions based on individual consumer preferences, interests, and habits. This will help the algorithms build more sophisticated and relevant shopping profiles that enable improved offers over some time. This will also encompass more intelligent assistants and Chatbots for ensuring enhanced customer support and service throughout websites and e-commerce platforms.  AR can help brands offer customers more immersive and realistic ways of viewing and evaluating products. Apps will help customers view products in their environments. The entire retail environment will be synced both offline and online and visitors can easily complete transactions at almost every touch point. Customer profiling will improve due to a combination of online and offline channel-based data along with better inventory tracking throughout the entire system. This integration will ensure superior advantages for both retailers and customers. Cashier-less stores will soon become a reality as done already by Amazon Go. People can pick up their items and leave without interacting anywhere. The store has deep learning algorithms and sensors to scan each product that is picked up and to add them to virtual carts linked to Amazon accounts. Upon the customer leaving the store, the list is closed with the total charged to these accounts.  Customers in physical stores will thus have enhanced comfort levels since they do not have to carry any cards or cash with them. They do not have to wait in line for the cash register as well. Apps that read QR codes or barcodes can be further integrated into this system which means that people do not even have to pick up products to learn more about their features and other details. More people are embracing Alexa, Siri, Google Home, and other virtual assistants for various purposes including listening to music, checking weather conditions, and so on. Voice shopping will enable customers to communicate with virtual assistants and search for products to be added to virtual carts later. Once this is completed, customers have to place their orders and wait for retailers to deliver the items in question. This is another method in which technology can contribute greatly towards enhanced customer comfort and convenience.  Hence, as can be seen, retail tech will play a huge role in completely transforming the future of the retail industry.  FAQs How is retail technology driving the evolution of e-commerce and shaping the future of online shopping?  Retail technology has a vital role to play in driving e-commerce evolution and in shaping the future of online shopping. It will offer customers more personalised recommendations and shopping experiences along with cashless payments, better omnichannel integration, immersive AR-based journeys, and a lot more.  What specific technologies are contributing to the evolution of e-commerce platforms and enhancing the online shopping process?  Several advanced technologies are contributing immensely towards the evolution of online shopping platforms these days. These include augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, IoT (Internet of Things), and more.  How are emerging technologies like augmented reality and virtual try-ons changing the way consumers interact with online shopping platforms?  These technologies will undoubtedly change the way that customers interact with e-commerce platforms. The lines will increasingly be blurred between virtual and physical environments. Customers can easily try on products or view them up close and that too in their environments. This will help them make better purchase decisions while enhancing their immersive experiences greatly as a result.  What role do data analytics and customer insights play in shaping the strategies of e-commerce businesses for the future? Customer insights and data analytics have a crucial role to play in shaping e-commerce business strategies for the future. They enable access to customer data in terms of shopping habits, preferences, and seasonal requirements. At the same time, they help forecast demand with an evaluation of market patterns and trends. 

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Winning the Inventory Game: Strategies for B&M and E-commerce Fashion Retail

Winning the Inventory Game: Strategies for B&M and E-commerce Fashion Retail

October 11, 2023

Both e-commerce fashion retail and brick-and-mortar players require advanced and efficient inventory management. This not only ensures that they have suitable items in the right volumes when the customer needs them, but also makes sure that they can lower costs, scale sales figures, and boost customer satisfaction levels simultaneously. The inventory management game becomes even more challenging and critical if you consider the fashion sector which is characterized by rapidly changing trends and consumer preferences, along with seasonal movements.  How it Stacks Up for Both Fashion Segments If you take a closer look at the inventory management game for both the brick-and-mortar and e-commerce sectors, these are the insights that emerge.  There are numerous technology solutions today that enable better and smoother inventory management for companies in both these segments. Let us take a look at some of them below.  Tech Solutions for B&M and E-Commerce Players Here are some of the most effective technological solutions that cater to both these categories in the fashion retail space.  Along with these systems, there are several retail technology solutions that are enabling dedicated improvements for fashion retailers across multiple categories. Let us take a closer look at them below.  Retail Technology Solutions for Better Outcomes Here are some of the ways in which cutting-edge retail technology solutions will completely transform the segment in the future.  Predicting future customer preferences will become more viable with advanced AI and ML algorithms along with data analytics. This will enable brands to offer products that customers will appreciate, while balancing sustainability and diversity alike. AI-based pricing strategies will also help scale up sales figures in relation to demand and supply levels. Gauging or sensing market demand with advanced tools will enable companies to take better strategic decisions as well.  Several companies are already working on demand sensing engines and newer demand forecasting methods for retail players. Some companies are also looking at omnichannel solutions for various brands in order to streamline inventory management. RFID should be another major game-changer in the near future, enabling companies to enhance their rates of conversion and boost consumer experiences simultaneously. RFID may enhance the rate of adoption while enabling higher brand security and inventory accuracy alike. These technologies are already being used by leading fashion brands like Zara, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Levi Strauss & Co. They are managing inventory better and tracking stocks in real-time while finding products swiftly at the same time. As a pre-requisite for better inventory management, companies are also looking at technological solutions that can streamline their supply chain processes and leverage opportunities through omnichannel businesses. Emerging consumer delivery models like online purchase and store pick-up, shipping from store, curbside order pickup, and same-day delivery are also gaining traction. This will further put the spotlight on efficient and accurate inventory management solutions in future years.  Add to that touch-less POS checkouts (boosting visibility into losses), interactive aspects like NFC tags and QR codes (for enabling special experiences and interactions with consumers), and other emerging trends and you get the picture. Better inventory management is the need of the hour, driven by advanced technological solutions for smoother sales, customer satisfaction, and business growth. Both brick and mortar and e-commerce fashion retailers have embraced these new-age needs with elan and this particular trend should continue for quite some time now. 

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Top Reasons for Companies to Outsource Web Development Projects including Top Fortune 50

November 15, 2018

It is a common practice for most Fortune 50 companies to outsource web development projects. They believe in ‘making their presence noticeable online and showing their competitive prowess in relevant fields.’ The outsourcing companies are helping global business firms to develop their websites. India is one of the best destinations for outsourcing web development projects.  The reasons being, cost-effective services, a big pool of English-speaking qualified personnel, and cutting-edge technological solutions. The top Fortune 50 companies outsource to get the support for its web development maintenance and updates.  Do only small businesses or startups outsource web development projects? Of course not! You may know that Google IT is outsourcing web development activities to Indian firms. Yes, you heard it right! Google IT, after Apple, has started outsourcing its software service activities to Indian IT firms.  Analysts from around the world estimated this global giant to spend hundreds of million dollars per year on outsourcing its IT services.  Recently, Google has started to outsource software development to some of its non-core business activities too. These include software development, management of IT infrastructure, and maintenance of IT services. But what makes outsourcing web development projects so attractive? Here are the top reasons behind it. Cost-effective Hiring in-house teams can consume time, and money for maintaining expensive inventories, IT equipment, and tools.   However, outsourcing can help you get rid of these costs. You just need to pay the project costs as per the agreement. A top-rated development company is likely to have all the necessary resources for web development.  Time-saving  According to a recent CNBC report, the average time to recruit engineering candidates is about 49 days. And that of IT and business development candidates are 44 days and 39 days respectively. Because web development doesn’t mean hiring developers only. You need to have a team that includes UI/UX designers, testing and QA engineers, etc. So, you can get a brief idea about the number of days it will take to create your in-house team.  Whereas, an outsourcing development company has a team of experts ready. And they have experience in delivering projects on time.  Outsource web development projects to relieve your stress The whole idea of outsourcing is to focus on core business processes without worrying about secondary business activities. Because an external team of experts is ready to deliver quality work at a given deadline.  So, you do not have to take the stress anymore.  It might also happen that you get a project that is out of your core area of expertise. In such cases, outsourcing saves you both time as well as reduces the estimated cost. It provides you support at a reasonable cost without hurting your budget. Quick and flexible approach The best part of hiring a suitable outsourcing team is their expert skill set and flexible working hours. Outsourcing offers talented people delivering quality products within a short span. The development teams are proficient in the latest technologies and agile strategic management for web development.  Works smarter with greater focus Are you stuck with a time-consuming assignment? Is an alarming deadline shifting your focus from the core company tasks?  The answer to all your troubles is outsourcing! Outsourcing is an excellent option to shift workload to concentrate on the more vital business areas. So, you can opt for outsourcing for all of the unplanned or mismanaged assignments or tasks.  Better productivity of internal teams Outsourcing can motivate your internal resources to focus on more vital business activities of the company. The in-house employees can handle crucial projects with complete concentration. They can utilize their full productivity to manage it at a better level.  This way outsourcing can help you to build up a better workplace focusing on core business areas. Because an expert outsourcing team will take care of your secondary activities. Hence, outsourcing is overall “An Absolute Win-Win Scenario.” Mitigate risks by outsourcing web development projects Outsourcing reduces the associated risks as the developers will have past projects’ expertise and experience. Based on that, they will only provide solutions that have been successful. Besides, these developers are good at reducing the risks associated with updates and security management. Always remember that a legal contract is an integral part of outsourcing. It includes some important aspects like NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), time clause, performance clause, exit clause, etc. So, a development company hires an experienced project manager to do adequate planning and execution of best practices. Conclusion: Website development comprises a wide array of activities other than just website designing. The website interface has got lots of backend activities that need maintenance and constant updates. So, why will you take the onus of these hectic tasks? When most Fortune 500 companies prefer to outsource web development, why not you? Outsourcing web development projects is one of the proven business strategies across the globe. The website outsourcing companies in India are serving with gratitude to the clients who are not only start-ups but also big Fortune 50 companies.

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How to Manage Your Online Store in 2019?

November 1, 2018

With 2019 fast approaching, e-commerce businesses have begun to wonder what they need to do to manage their stores more efficiently. It is no longer enough to just focus on digital marketing or a fast-loading website. Not only has technology changed, but customer behavior and expectations have changed too. Many tools such as CRM may no longer be enough, and newer strategies may need to be employed to manage online stores successfully. While personalizing content and communication helped previously, customers have begun to expect a lot more than that. In addition, customers’ perception about your website security can have marketing and sales implications too. In this article, we take a look at 4 areas which will have a direct effect on your online store management in 2019. Implement software integration quickly 78% of business owners feel that integrating e-commerce is business critical. Integrating two or more software programs helps businesses to eliminate manual entry of data, software bottlenecks, and helps create a centralized repository of information by syncing data from integrated sources. Start with integrating front-end tools such as CMS and e-commerce software with backend programs like CRM and ERP. This helps provide a better shopping experience to customers and turbo-charges e-commerce operations by automating multiple processes such as inventory management, online store-front management, shipping, and checkouts. Tools to integrate: E-commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, PretaShop, etc. with ERP such as Oracle ERP Cloud, SAP ERP, Salesforce CRM, NetSuite CRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, etc. Use Case A Texan grocer recently began to sell its products online, particularly on Amazon. Problem: While selling on Amazon helped the grocer to tap into newer markets and increase sales, it simply was not able to manage its orders efficiently. Its staff was over-worked, deliveries were delayed, and negative reviews on Amazon were piling up. Solution: The store was advised by an agency to integrate its Amazon Marketplace with SAP ERP, Salesforce CRM, and NetSuite Financials. The automated data exchange between these tools helped to manage its inventory better and process orders quickly. Results: The store was able to process orders quickly, manage its inventory efficiently, and ensure that shipping delays were avoided. Integrating an artificial intelligence component, aided by natural language processing (NLP) into Amazon Marketplace helped the grocer to recognize and address negative reviews quickly, with prompt and proactive alert messages delivered via push notifications. Customer interactions help you take personalization technology to the next level Personalization is the single most important strategy to enhance customer experience. Most e-commerce businesses have so far relied on personalized content, hyper-targeting customers, and bringing tailor-made experiences to customers. Unfortunately, this is just not enough. What really is required at the moment is to pay more attention to customer interactions. Customer interactions help you to look at each individual customer as a unique human being, thereby assisting you in bringing the best possible customer experience via technology. Predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are technologies that help businesses to derive behavioral insights via customer interactions. Use case Marriott Hotels is the best example of using customer interactions to enhance personalization. The company currently depends on uniquely rich insights derived from predictive analysis and artificial intelligence, to enhance customer experiences. Marriot focuses on customer interactions during searching, booking, and check-in processes to collect and redeploy insight. Insight is used to predict future behavior with the help of algorithms, and bring exactly the kind of experiences that its customers desire. Marriot uses behavioral insight derived via customer interactions to enhance customer experience during booking, checking-in, and while the guest stays. Adopt and implement a Customer Data Platform Integrated Customer Data Platforms (CDP) are at the forefront of MarTech solutions. They not only provide customer engagement and marketing automation features but also help unify customer data, so that data from various sources can be analyzed to derive personalized insights. Current CRM tools only provide insights into customer trends, but they cannot directly tie customer data with sales and marketing initiatives. CDPs have a broader potential than CRM tools of today. Forbes revealed that 44% of surveyed businesses saw a sharp growth in customer loyalty after using CDP. CDPs provide a 36- degree view of the customer by integrating data from various sources such as existing CRM, IoT sensors, online and offline customer interactions, etc. Cloud-based architecture, artificial intelligence, and modern API frameworks have all contributed to CDP’s rise as the most promising technology this year. Use case Deutsche Bahn is the most famous company to use a CDP. When its coaches are overcrowded, it offers a discounted upgrade to its first-class coaches via push notifications on its app. The app intelligently senses who want to travel where, and thanks to the CDP, contextually connects customer data with train traffic information. CDP connects contextual data (how crowded the train is) with personal data of customers (ticket information, location, whether they would be ready to spend more, etc.) to manage overcrowding and enhancing travelers’ experience. Why e-commerce stores need CDP: CDP is the perfect solution for connecting your customer database with a data warehouse or a shop system If you have both physical and online stores, the contextual insight from a CDP will be far more valuable than what a CRM can do Existing systems such as a CRM can be incorporated into a CDP Provides a 360-degree view of each customer Implement security to win customer trust Two major security-related changes affected websites all around the world in 2018. First, GDPR was rolled out by the European Union, which forced most businesses to comply with consent-related regulations and data protection requirements. In addition, Google started to penalize websites that hadn’t made the shift from HTTP to HTTPS. The e-commerce industry saw a flurry of activity, with stores quickly trying to obtain SSL certificates to be able to move to HTTPS. This resulted in a paradigm shift in customers’ thinking and behavioral approaches towards websites collecting their data. Today, data security and protection is not only about keeping

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Why should you choose a CMS and not a custom development partner?

July 26, 2018

Every business has different needs, and this truism is reflected in deciding the kind of website a particular business must have. Each company’s web development requirements are different too and the only factor that’s common among business websites is that they all need a content management system (CMS) to function. A CMS helps you to add, edit, and manage content on your website. While there are already readymade CMS tools available (Joomla!, Drupal, WordPress, etc.), there is also the option of custom development of CMS, right from scratch. While readymade CMS helps businesses to get their websites up and running in no time, custom development of websites has its own advantages. Highly complex projects require custom development, in order to make sure that all the requirements of a client are met. Yet, even many complex projects can be undertaken with just Drupal if your developers are experienced enough. In this article, let us take an objective look at the differences between CMS and custom development, and what you should choose for your web requirements. What is CMS development and who is it for? A Content Management System (CMS) is uncomplicated and comes with all the features you would expect from a fully-functional website. Without the need to start from scratch, you will be able to choose from a template and set up navigation, file management, databases, libraries, etc. in a short period of time. Third-party plug-ins are always available for all the popular CMS platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla!. Drupal, in particular, is suitable for extremely complex websites, while being perfect for simple business websites at the same time. An experienced developer can customise Drupal and program it to run better than any custom developed website at a fraction of the cost. Most importantly, it takes very little time to set up a CMS-based website and get it up and running. Multi-user management is easy and complex graphics can be displayed efficiently with no errors or bugs. Most importantly, regular updates keep your websites safe and secure, without you having to worry too much about security risks. CMS-based websites have very few errors and development community is widely accessible if you need any assistance. Of course, customisation can prove to be difficult if you choose the wrong vendor but when you find the right partner, using a CMS is the quickest, simplest, and the most affordable path to setting up even complex websites. CMS websites are great for just about anything. Whether you want to set up a simple website or a complex web portal that runs a number of online processes, a CMS-based website can handle it all. What is custom development and who is it for? If we are discussing custom development, you can expect your developers to code the website right from scratch to finish. It sounds like an attractive process but it is going to cost a lot more than CMS development. There are obvious benefits to custom coding, such as better control with respect to what you can do with a website or a page, and how quickly you can get it to load. However, the same results can be achieved with CMS as well. Developers will need to be proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, ASP.net, etc., and should be able to decide if you really need custom development. Custom development costs significantly higher than regular CMS development because developers need to build a new website right from scratch. Most of the times, custom development is not necessary and is a bit of overkill. It also takes a long time to debug errors. If you ever change your development vendor, you might face issues if the next developer isn’t as proficient to read code written by someone else. While it isn’t hard to find agencies that specialise in all the languages required for custom development, the time and skills that they will need to utilise for building a website for you right from scratch will result in exorbitant bills. Most businesses that need a website for corporate or eCommerce purposes do not need custom development. Instead, they can get an open source CMS such as Drupal or Joomla! customised to suit their needs. In fact, we have engaged in Drupal development for some of the most complex projects pertaining to very large enterprises. Does your business need CMS or custom development? In most cases, you will not require custom development. As discussed, custom development takes a longer time to complete the project and is invariably very expensive and difficult to manage. On the other hand, CMS websites are quick to install, can be customised as per your requirements, and there are umpteen number of third-party plugins available if you need complex features. In fact, there are superior plugins that can do a lot more than you might imagine. Unless the situation calls for it, you only need to consider a good partner to set up a CMS-based website. Use Case 1 eCommerce business needs a website that can handle heavy traffic and payments Requirement: An eCommerce business required a website that would not only handle high web traffic but also to ensure that all payments went through in a safe and secure manner. The business wanted a website that looked unique and placed stress on ease of use. Solution: Indus Net Technologies developed a Drupal-based website that was sturdy and stable. Customizing Drupal code was enough to make the website appear the way the client wanted. As Drupal loads quickly, and is particularly suited for heavy traffic, the website we build for the client was a success. Results: The website was easy to use, could handle high web traffic, and payments went through secure PCI DSS-compliant servers. The business saw more people purchasing products due to an increase in customer trust. Use Case 2 A large financial institution needed a web portal to sell its insurance products and help customers manage their accounts. Requirements: The insurance giant needed a web portal which would

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How Internet of Things Is Redefining The Retail Experience

June 19, 2018

While most of us have remained busy discussing how quickly online shopping has gone mainstream, a quiet revolution is growing in the retail sector across the world. Internet of Things is breathing life into dying retail spaces while invigorating newer and more creative retail units. IoT-enabled shopping is taking online e-Commerce space by storm too, enhancing logistics, delivery, and even the shopping experience. With more than 30 billion connected devices available by 2020, IoT is leading all technological innovation in the retail sector. From improving products to reducing energy consumption, and from enhancing marketing outcomes to improving customer experience, IoT is practically all over the place. Most importantly, all the accumulation of data is helping companies to gain new insights, and enhance products and customer experience, while witnessing double-digit growth rate. Amazon Go is a great example of this revolution. In this article, let’s take a look at how IoT is helping both offline retailers. Let us also briefly look at some of the top trends in retail with IoT devices in mind. How Internet of Things is helping brick and mortar stores as well Thousands of stores are shutting down, malls are going out of business, and retail stores simply aren’t able to catch up with the speed of digital shopping. In addition, people themselves have begun to prefer ordering products online than making a trip to the nearest mall or supermarket. Retail sector all around the world has much to worry about and resent. Yet, there is a silver lining in every cloud. IoT is helping retailers across the world to not only thrive but also attract more customers than ever to their stores. Vending machines are being revolutionised across malls and public places as customised orders and products can now be placed. Interactive displays and digital signage are helping customers to shop better and reach out right counter or shelf, depending on the in-store choices they make. Few retailers may offer virtual and smart mirrors, which provide information about the clothes they are trying. If the particular shirt a man is trying is green when compared to the one he just tried earlier, why not urge him to buy that automatically? Beacons and RFID tags can be further enhanced with sensors. IoT-enabled beacons can be used to recognize facial expressions, customer behavior across shopping aisles, and other such information. This can be used to enhance customer experience. IoT most importantly hastens the checkout process. Both retailers and customers can bid goodbye to lengthy queues at the billing counter, thanks to self-checkouts. Hottest trends in the retail sector depend on IoT If there is one thing that is going to sustain retail, it is IoT. Let us take a look at few situations where IoT is helping retail to innovate, sustain, and thrive. Marketing is easier than ever IoT is responsible for making marketing easier than ever. It provides the tools required for making both omnichannel and multichannel marketing successful. Sensors are increasingly being used by retailers to help customers. IoT sensors also help stores to engage in in-store marketing. Coordinate with customers quickly One of the factors that set IoT apart is its ability to communicate not just between devices or sensors, but also enhance communication between the retailer/manufacturer and the user. This helps store owners to coordinate with customers quickly in case products need maintenance services, or if there is an update to be installed. Download our case study on Konvergence’s K-Wallet, which revolutionized retail shopping some time ago. Customising customer experience There are sensors for tracking virtually every behaviour of a customer. When done ethically, sensors can provide valuable data that help manufacturers to enhance customer experience. Whether it is about enhancing certain product features or bringing better customer service, IoT can do it all with an ease and pomp. Create better product ecosystems Manufacturers and retailers have begun to tie up to provide better customer experience, using sensors. This is helping create new opportunities for better product ecosystems. Customers have options for maintenance, servicing, updating, or choosing from related products post-sales as well. Automated orders of spare parts when they need to be replaced is just one example of this ecosystem. Optimise logistics and inventory handling IoT’s is creating improved efficiency inventory handling and logistics management. Businesses are literally growing because they can deliver products quickly, and replenish stocks. IoT is helping businesses to ensure retail never faces a hitch due to product unavailability or delayed shipments. Data-derived insights IoT, as we all know, gathers and processes enormous amounts of data. All this data is fodder for analytics and insight deriving, and that’s exactly how businesses are using IoT data. Insights derived from product usage, product malfunctioning, customer behaviour, and other such situations continually help retailers and manufacturers to enhance customer experience and product enhancement. We had written an article a little while ago, describing how data analytics and AI both are going to influence IoT in the coming months and years. Read More about How to Manage Your Online Store in 2019? IoT-enabled retail is here to stay As you can see, IoT is quietly bringing formidable changes to both online and offline retail spaces. It is also changing the way retail manufacturers manage their business. Considering how quickly IoT is taking over retail, and how it is sustaining all the players in the space, it is worth observing the technology more keenly. In the near future, IoT enabled sensors will help retailers improve marketing, bring better customer experience, and enhance product support to users. Security may seem like an issue with all the IoT related data being generated, but we recently wrote about how to handle those issues. While we are at it, do take a look at some of the most valuable programming languages to learn, if you wish to develop for IoT yourself. Last but not the least, IoT will help businesses of all types to derive useful insights which will help improve products and customer experience at the same time.

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Get Your Act Together and Migrate from SSL/Early TLS before the June 30th Deadline

June 11, 2018

SSL/early TSL will need to be disabled by 30th of June, 2018. Every business will need to implement a far more secure encryption protocol if they wish to comply with PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Whether you process your own customers’ or clients’ payments or you work with other businesses and partners who process online payments, migration from SSL/early TLS to TLS 1.1 or 1.2 and above is a crucial necessity. PCI compliance is a necessity if you offer any kind of payment transactions on your website. For instance, if you run an online store and people enter their card details to purchase a product or service, PCI DSS-compliance is an absolute necessity. In this article, let us take a look at what SSL/early TLS are, what you need to do to comply with the new regulations, and how it is going to benefit you in the long term, with a few use cases placed in context. What is the problem with existing PCI DSS compliance protocols? Back in the 1990s, Netscape developed the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to keep information and data confidential and secure, while being shared between two different systems. Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a closely-related cryptographic protocol that adds a layer of security to payment procedures. Using the latest versions of SSL and TSL was an absolute necessity to display the certificate of being PCI DSS-compliant. PCI DSS-compliance certificate assures web shoppers and users that their credit card information will remain safe and that their financial data will not be put at risk. Unfortunately, SSL and early TLS have a number of vulnerabilities that put organizations, users, and customers at risk of various kinds of threats.  Many hackers and malicious entities have used loopholes within SSL and early TLS to compromise security and financial data privacy. Currently, fixes and patches cannot repair or fix these SSL and early TLS vulnerabilities. In addition, hackers and attackers have grown more advanced, leaving all PCI DSS-compliant websites vulnerable and weak. To address and mitigate these vulnerabilities, PCI DSS compliance now requires you to migrate to more advanced and complex encryption protocols. If you can convincingly prove that the payment terminals (POIs) are not vulnerable to any known threats for SSL and early TLS, you may not need to migrate to newer encryption requirements. However, for every other platform and situation, you will have to migrate to the new requirements by 30th June, 2018. Hence, every eCommerce or online business using early TSL or SSL has no option but to adopt the new protocols and enforce them as soon as possible. Note: If you are planning to use RC4, MD5, and other unapproved algorithms to fix security issues, you will need to stop it immediately. These practices aren’t allowed under new regulations. Is this update only for PCI-compliant websites? The short answer is, no. If you allow transactions to go through your website, you will need to update to newer protocols as soon as possible. Even if you have not applied for PCI certification and even if you have other methods to tell your users that you offer secure transaction environments, you will need to update from current SSL/TLS versions. What you need to do immediately If you are not PCI-compliant, and you don’t wish to seek the certification, you still need to upgrade to the latest encryption protocols in order to beat the weaknesses of existing SSL and TLS versions. Conduct a website audit and make sure that existing threats are addressed. To address the vulnerabilities within SSL and early TLS, you have to migrate to at least TLS 1.1. However, TLS 1.2 or above is strongly recommended as other versions simply do not have the ability to thwart threats. If your clients or partners run websites, you will have to urge them to immediately update to TLS 1.2 as well, as directly or indirectly you will be responsible for any security breaches that may occur. Do not forget that GDPR has already rolled out, and financial information comes under personal identification data too. Make sure that there are no implementation vulnerabilities such as the numerous ones we find in OpenSSL. Always ensure that patches are up-to-date and you already with countermeasures to address security threats. It is important to quickly migrate from OpenSSL to TLS 1.2 or more, in order to keep yourself, your customers, and your clients safe from hackers and attackers. If you are configuring TLS yourself, make sure that you do it securely. You will need to make sure that secure TLS cipher suites are supported and that unwanted cipher suites are disabled. In short, whatever is not required for interoperability, disable them. You will also need to make sure that key sizes are supported too. PCI SSC website has a lot of information regarding SSL and early TLS migration. You can visit their website for more guidance. If you do not want to risk migrating from SSL/early TLS to TLS 1.2, consider partnering with an external agency. External vendors not only have the time but also resources and technical expertise to ensure that all your websites migrate to the latest version of TLS without any errors. Most importantly, you can rest assured that during or after migration, your customers will never notice any downtime or inaccessibility to the websites.Tell us if you are struggling. How We Can Help? Stop Unwanted Calls Problem: An eCommerce business noticed that some customers started to receive unwanted calls from suspicious entities. Hackers were able to sneak in through vulnerabilities in SSL during checkout. This helped them to extract personally identifiable information of customers, which they used not only to make calls but also potentially for more malicious purposes. Solution: We helped the business to smoothly migrate to TLS 1.2, without causing any difficulties or downtime for their website operations. Get the ERP Right Problem: A large multi-national company that deals with cloud ERP has several eCommerce clients across the world. It wondered if the payment

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How to stay on top and relevant with Dynamic Ads

February 21, 2018

What are Dynamic Ads? Have you ever wondered while shopping online, “Wow, this is exactly what I wanted, how does Amazon know!”? The brief answer to this “mystery” is dynamic marketing, but what goes behind the curation of such an ad constitutes an interesting process that is based on machine learning and results in high ROI and click-through conversions. A new kind of advertising stemming from bot-generated creatives is slowly taking over the digital marketing landscape, making it easier for consumers to sift through the cluttered online marketplace and for advertisers to reach their target audience with more specificity and promptness. The impact of high relevancy is huge with the surge in dynamic online marketing today. Personalisation is the most crucial deliverable for an advertiser at this point. Dynamic ads bring customisation to the real-time, enabling you to meet the needs of a shopper based on their recent views, clicks, history, location, interests expressed through web searches and redirects. “The more you shop around for a certain product or service, the more it will tailor the ads you see to those search results.” Creative elements are then pulled from the server to construct an automated visual creative, which emphasises on the content more than aesthetic or design.             This is what microcosmic dynamic advertising looks like on a microcosmic scale: Within the perimeter of a cyber cafe, where different browsers are searching up diverse data, each system is also generating dynamic ads for each user. Most of the work is done by the server which computes the data collected from the inputs (search keywords entered by the users at the cafe). For dynamic marketing to be effective, this data must be quickly and accurately converted into relevant ads. The following example should give you a clearer idea of how dynamic the entire process can be: Imagine you are browsing different travel websites for a vacation you have planned. Based on the destination and dates you have selected, you will soon notice a number of relevant ads that’ll appear when you browse the net next. They can range from travel related necessities, cheaper flight information, best deals on hotels, and even ads to lure you to different/better destinations.  If you’re going trekking, a smart boots manufacturer will use this search information and capitalize on the need created, by displaying an assortment of their boots directly on your screen to choose from. This makes life simpler as you no longer need to laboriously look for all the things you may need for the trip—they are presented to you on a platter and now only a click away. Now if you suspend this current search and modify your keywords to birthday related products instead, you’ll see that the ads will have changed. This is why The Balance calls dynamic marketing “a reverse chameleon”, highlighting all that is relevant to us at any given point of time. Different Types of Dynamic Ads Dynamic Search Ads If people are searching for the products (or services) you have to offer, Dynamic Search Ads enable you to find, track and capitalize on their demand by taking potential customers directly to the product’s landing page on your website. This increases acquisition and conversion because it takes into account insightful analytics of searches that have yielded the best results (most relevant leads to most conversions). Optimising keywords and AdWords enables your product to appear on top of the Google search results and fill in the gaps prevalent even in well managed AdWords accounts.  DSAs work best in case of advertisers with an extensive website which has a considerably large inventory or one that runs multiple services across a number of verticals. How they work? When someone searches on Google with terms closely related to the titles and frequently used phrases on your website, AdWords will use these titles and phrases to select a landing page and generate a clear, relevant headline for your ad. Dynamic Display Ads Dynamic display ads show customers personalized content from a product feed you control and attach to your campaign. These ads are ideal for websites that undergo a change in content regularly, like airlines, hotel bookings and eCommerce sites where prices need to be updated at short intervals. Also applicable for promoting new products or services from your feed. Besides being quantitative and iterative, display ads are now more responsive with dynamic remarketing— their visual recall can be prolonged by reusing the same visuals that arrested your attention initially, thus creating lasting impressions. This increases engagement and is further aided by customised clicks.             Facebook Dynamic Ads Whether or not people have used your app or been to your website before, Facebook dynamic ads will make sure that products from your catalogue reach those expressing interest for similar products elsewhere on the internet. According to Facebook guidelines, “Simply upload your product catalogue and set up your campaign one time, and it will continue working for you for as long as you want –finding the right people for each product and always using up-to-date pricing and availability.” These ads can also be used for retargeting prospective customers who have visited your website, added products to wish list or shopping cart but have not completed the purchase. Relevant ads can reach people who are most likely to install your app by driving them directly to download. Addressing the consumer’s current needs has become important in this highly competitive economy and the need is more palpably felt across sectors including retail, manufacturing, entertainment, technology, and services. Even articles you read on your favourite blog can be made to appear according to your preferences, interests and past reads! This turns the digital advertising landscape into a battlefield, a bid to own the online space by catering to every individual with simultaneous dexterity. At the same time, mastering dynamic marketing will not only save time but add necessary and automatic updates to your ads according to real-time changes in the inventory.

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Is Mobile Ecommerce Sustainable Over the Long Term?

June 16, 2016

E-commerce was not expected to grow this big. It was not expected to replace brick and mortar stores to begin with. Similarly, mobile E-commerce, or the use of mobile devices to facilitate sale and purchase of products and services, was not very popular initially either. However, it is slowly replacing desktop E-commerce. We need to remember that many companies have opted for a mobile-only approach. This has helped them to streamline their businesses while also remaining relevant and sharp. With these ideas in mind, what really haunts a business owner is, if a mobile approach is all that is required to keep an E-commerce unit healthy. Another question that he may ask himself is, how he is going to keep mobile E-commerce sustainable in the long term. In this short essay, let us take a look at whether or not mobile E-commerce is sustainable. When we consider the current scenario, the question probably should be, “how can one make mobile E-commerce sustainable over the long term”. It is no more a question of whether or not. Instead, the question boils down to how to make mobile E-commerce sustainable. The current scenario of mobile E-commerce Certainly, mobile usage has exploded in recent years. In developing countries such as India and China, most people access the Internet using their mobile devices. If they are going to shop, they will probably use their mobile devices anyway. In a reality such as this, it is increasingly clear that mobile e-commerce will not only persist, but it will be the future of all E-commerce strategies. Companies will simply have to accept that mobile e-commerce is how they will be doing their business in the years to come. Amazon recently announced that more than 70% of its customers used a mobile device to shop this holiday season and such statistics will probably be reflected by others as well. Case in point, Indian E-commerce giant completely went mobile a few months ago. Even luxury sales are taking place on mobile ecosystems. While issues such as cart abandonment and missed opportunities continue to exist, these are problems that retailers will have to work with. The new reality is, mobile e-commerce is here to stay, whether we like it or not. The issue is, how we are going to adapt to it. The question really is, how do we make our E-commerce companies sustainable to withstand the onslaught of mobile shopping. Start using cloud services and adopt omni-channel business model There are many things that a company can do in order to make mobile ecommerce more sustainable. To begin with, they can start to go responsive. A responsive and omni-channel model will help them to synchronize their brick and mortar, desktop and mobile stores while allowing shoppers to experience a seamless and integrated purchasing process. This also helps drive sales regardless of which device a user is browsing from. Though a mobile only approach is a little too extreme, it makes sense to integrate both mobile and desktop ecommerce together. In order to make mobile ecommerce more secure, companies may also have to start using cloud services more often. Cloud services make it easier for companies to store data. Cloud-based ERPs help in not only storing user related information but also the way it is analyzed. Cloud based data analytics will help companies to remain relevant in a time when everything is changing. Certainly, cloud will prove to be an important tool to sustain mobile ecommerce and help it to grow further. Even smaller companies that cannot afford expensive software programs, infrastructure and tools can make use of cloud based services. Integrate various business processes using technology and management skills Mobile ecommerce depends on a vast network of physical warehouses, delivery systems and sourcing agents. All these smaller details need to be taken care of before saying whether mobile ecommerce is sustainable in the long term. To make mobile ecommerce more sustainable, a full fledged ERP needs to be installed in the cloud so that it can be accessed and operated by everyone, including those on the field. It might seem expensive but the investment towards cloud computing will help companies to gain more customers and ultimately result in better sales figures. All this is required in order to ensure that mobile ecommerce remains sustainable in the long term. Using cloud based technologies will help smaller companies to reduce costs and access technologies that were previously not possible. This alone is an answer to the title question, which wonders if mobile ecommerce is sustainable in the long term. Certainly, mobile ecommerce is sustainable but a large scale integration of cloud based services will need to be adopted. Making mobile ecommerce sustainable is your responsibility Mobile E-commerce is set to grow exponentially in 2016 and beyond. Whether we like to think it is going to be sustainable or not is a different story altogether. We will need to make it a sustainable process to go mobile. With the burgeoning mobile internet usage, cheaper handsets and data plans, people will continue to use Internet on their mobile devices more than on desktops or laptops. This aspirational target audience will also be responsible for most of the future sales. In order to cater to them, you will probably need to ensure that your mobile ecommerce strategy is sustainable in the long term, whether you like it or not. Most important to making it sustainable is involving responsive technology, omni-channel business model, cloud based services and ERP. When you have these factors in place, you will realize that mobile ecommerce is not such a difficult task after all. The returns are going to be more impressive than using just desktop-based websites. Moreover, this will be a long journey in which you will begin to develop deeper relationships with your customers and clients. This will set forth a valuable relationship on which you can bank for many years, as long as you are doing mobile E-commerce right.

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Importance of Blogging in the World of eCommerce

June 8, 2016

There is a misconception in the business world today that a blog is quite expensive and difficult to maintain. Many business owners also believe that blogging is more suitable for showcasing services as people would be purchasing something intangible. If one is selling products, there really is no need to write blogs, or so goes the belief. Unfortunately, this is not true. A blog drives traffic and all website owners agree that they need more traffic. A blog can do a lot more than you think it does Email newsletters, direct sales and marketing can only go so far and will not add anything of importance to the website. A blog, on the other hand, ensures that there is informative content that can be indexed by search engines. While your SEO improves, people will also be able to find your products because of the blogs you write. There are a number of times when people are interested in purchasing your products but do not do so because they do not find the product description convincing enough. Product descriptions are just that, they do not add anything of value to your brand. When blogs are written for shoppers with their interests and thought processes in mind, you will gradually realize that people often read your blog and then decide to purchase your products. Blogs also help in nurturing your leads and providing post-sales information. Most of the times, people stop themselves from making purchases because they have not decided yet. If you narrate compelling stories that are informative and entertaining, you have made your job much easier. People will already be hooked to your website and purchase what you probably sell on your website. It is common for people to purchase ingredients recommended by online recipe blogs than the advertisements that they see on the right sidebar. This is because most people have an innate tendency to believe those who are well informed. If you know what your products do and how they will be used by your consumers, all you need to do is write blog posts about that. When people are looking for a solution, they will find your blog post and have that eureka moment. Invest in blogging The most important message to take from this article is that if you are running an eCommerce store, it is in your best interests to invest in a blog. Of course, blogs are not cheap and they are difficult to maintain. You can always hire great writers who will write excellent stories that will captivate the imagination of the readers. These are the very readers whom you want to attract to your product pages. Once you write frequently (or even infrequently), your credibility as a company increases. People will know that you are not just an eCommerce store trying to sell products. They begin to realize that you know what you are selling and that it will be useful to those who purchase them.

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