Since 2020, online shopping has seen an increase in popularity, which is why it is worth it to start a custom clothing business in 2022. You should know that online shopping’s popularity has increased with customers and business people. You will have more potential customers these days, but you will also have more competition than ever before.

It is in your best interest to start small when you launch your clothing line. Introduce yourself to the public by giving away a T-shirt with your company logo on it or a clever saying referring to your company. You can have a raffle or just give the shirt away to the 10th person who hashtags your shop on Twitter.

Where to Create Your Clothing

The best place to create a new clothing line is on an on-demand printing website. To get started, all you have to do is visit the company’s website and upload a design of your choice. You can then select the items on which you would like that design to appear. The best on-demand printing companies will have a wide selection of clothing and novelty items.

It is best to select one or two items to put your design on. You can offer the items on your online store and link the website directly to your store.

What E-commerce platform should I use?

When you first start a business, you may be inclined to select the least expensive e-commerce host you can find. However, it is best to figure out what kind of features you will need to display your product and get it in front of the right people.

Wix is considered one of the best platforms for new businesses because it offers low pricing and an easy-to-use interface and has a built-in SEO feature. It also has a coupon builder to help get you started. It can even help you with sourcing products to sell on your site.

Weebly is also considered a good platform on which to launch a company. It is remarkably easy to use for its customers and shop owners. It offers many features that are beneficial to someone getting started in business. It automatically suggests promotional emails to send out to your customers from time to time and reminds you of holidays so you can send holiday greetings out as well.  It also has a tax feature that can calculate the total cost of a product for each of your customers no matter where they live.

Most e-commerce platforms will offer an optimal plan to improve your Google ranking. Unfortunately, because of the way computers are programmed, optimization will sometimes only improve your ranking on laptops and desktops. Weebly ensures that your ranking will improve on mobile devices as well.

Where should I advertise?

The most obvious place to advertise for an online store is social media. If you want to advertise your clothing line to younger people, Instagram is the best choice and will let you sell things right on its platform. People can just click on your Instagram post, and it will take them right to your store.

Facebook is also a good place to sell clothing, but most people do not go about it the right way. Don’t just link your site on your personal Facebook page; join groups where your customers are likely to hang out. For instance, if your shirt is aimed at Seinfeld fans, join a Seinfeld fan group. If your T-shirt celebrates the art of cooking, join a cooking group and post there.

Your clothing line deserves to be seen. Taking advantage of the surge in online shopping and creating a clever advertising campaign can make starting a custom clothing business in 2022 quite lucrative.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Is It Worth Starting a Custom Clothing Business in 2022? appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

• The Fulfilment Centre boosts competitiveness, allowing sellers to sell high-demand products in smaller quantities, save on shipping and get goods to customers quicker than ever before

Tradeling, the hyper-growing eMarketplace focused on business-to-business (B2B) transactions in the MENA region, has set up a fulfilment centre in Dubai CommerCity as it further expands its business and its commitment to the UAE.  The move aims to extend Tradeling’s operational capabilities to provide a superior and faster service to its customers while keeping up with increasing demand and driving down costs. 

The Tradeling Fulfilment Centre will facilitate domestic and cross-border transactions where high-demand products are stored and fulfilled by Tradeling as part of its extended commitment to the customer. It is an added boost to sellers on the platform as it enables them to ship their products to a dedicated warehouse in bulk, where they can store their goods and sell them in smaller quantities, while saving significant shipping costs which can be passed on to the buyer. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to further benefit from highly competitive wholesale prices.

The Fulfilment Centre serves as a central hub in the 2.1 million square foot e-commerce free zone, where products can be sold and distributed at speed across other GCC countries with ease. 

Marius Ciavola, Chief Executive Officer, Tradeling said: “As we further expand our business and cement our presence in the region, we are pleased to open the Tradeling Fulfilment Centre in Dubai CommerCity to provide additional services to our customers. As an incubator for technology and innovation, Dubai is a perfect location to serve our customers in the region. Dubai CommerCity not only shares the same vision as us to facilitate trade and boost economic activity in the UAE, but it also serves as a well-placed and established free zone catering to fast-paced e-commerce companies, like Tradeling, which are witnessing exponential growth.”

He added, “As the dominant and fastest-growing business-to-business e-commerce platform in the MENA region, we want to ensure we keep up with demand from both buyers and sellers while easing as many pain points as possible for our customers so they can streamline their procurement processes, maximise their earning potential and ensure competitive pricing. In doing so, we are also contributing to help secure Dubai’s place as a global digital economy hub.” 

DeVere Forster, Chief Operating Officer, Dubai CommerCity, said: “Tradeling’s decision to establish a Fulfilment Centre at Dubai CommerCity demonstrates the sustained attractiveness of our facilities to e-commerce providers. The company will be able to leverage the world-class infrastructure offered by the region’s first-of-its-kind e-commerce free zone, enabling them to further drive their business advancement. 

“Dubai CommerCity provides clients an e-commerce ecosystem that enables cost-effective and time-efficient operations, which is key for accelerating their growth. In doing so, Dubai CommerCity serves as one of the critical players supporting e-commerce businesses and shaping the future of the e-commerce industry in the region,” Forster added.

Tradeling connects global suppliers with the region’s markets opening new opportunities for businesses across the globe to thrive in a new era of digital commerce. The dynamic company embodies the keen start-up mindset of its business leaders. Tradeling, which originated as part of the Dubai 10X initiative, is backed by the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA). The Company has recorded impressive growth since its launch in April 2020. The digital marketplace showcases hundreds of thousands of products across 13 verticals ranging from Food and Beverage, Office Supplies, Consumer Electronics, Health and Wellness, Building Materials, among other. Today, Tradeling has more than 55,000 registered buyers and suppliers from over 48 countries and serves all business customers from micro businesses, SMEs to multi-nationals and large organisations.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Tradeling Launches Fulfilment Centre in Dubai CommerCity to Further Expand its Operational Capabilities appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is heating up. Amazon’s AWS Marketplace is offering Origin Protocol’s decentralized e-commerce platform Dshop to software-as-a-service customers (SaaS), as part of its partner network.

By Matthew Liu, cofounder of Origin Protocol and Kevin Goodspeed, a Senior Category Manager at AWS Marketplace

One of the emerging themes of the post-Web 2.0 world is decentralization, and more internet users are seeking greater control over their activities and data. Blockchain is a technology that enables the removal of traditional intermediaries from a vast array of applications. Blockchains provide a tamper-proof history of records and transactions in a series of blocks, or a ledger. Each block is cryptographically linked to a previous one, and any change to a block corrupts all subsequent blocks. Originally envisioned for peer-to-peer payments, some blockchains can also support business logic code, or smart contracts. Ethereum, created in 2015, is the largest blockchain that supports smart contracts, and it currently supports billions of dollars in economic activity and value.

Origin Protocol’s Dshop, available in AWS Marketplace, is an open platform for ecommerce that uses the Ethereum blockchain. Origin Protocol is an AWS Partner Network (APN) Technology Partner. Dshop has no setup costs and is 100% open source and customizable. Cryptocurrency payments are irreversible, peer-to-peer, and fast. Dshop supports cryptocurrency payments including OUSD, OGN, ETH, DAI, and all ERC-20 tokens, which reduces chargeback risk, cross-border payment overhead and delays, and processing fees.

In this post, I show how to create ecommerce storefronts that support cryptocurrency payments.

How it works

The entire front-end application logic, product database, and supporting media (such as product images) are hosted on the Dshop backend, which is an Amazon EC2 instance. Customers go through the typical purchase flow and pay via their Ethereum wallet at checkout. The merchant can configure their store to accept ETH, Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, any Ethereum token that they want, or both. Dshop has integrations with Stripe and PayPal for merchants who want to accept traditional forms of payment. Dshop also supports cash and manual payment methods.

Customer and order details are encrypted with Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). The resulting hash and Ethereum payment transaction hash is sent to the Origin Dshop backend for verification. For a credit card payment, only the order details and transaction information are sent. This data is then downloaded and decrypted, which enables the merchant to send notification emails and fulfill orders.

Prerequisites

An AWS account

Solution walkthrough

Here is a step-by-step guide to launching a Dshop store. For more information, see the full documentation with images and support on GitHub.

Step 1: Deploying Dshop

Here is how to deploy your Dshop storefront. The first step involves subscribing to Dshop in AWS Marketplace and deploying it on an EC2 instance. Follow these steps to start the process of setting up your own Dshop.

Step 1.1 Subscribing to Dshop

1. Go to the Origin Protocol Dshop solution in AWS Marketplace.
2. Choose Continue to Subscribe.
3. Accept the AWS terms of service if necessary. After a few minutes, you see the license effective date instead of Pending.
4. Choose Continue to Configuration.
5. Choose the version that you want to run and the Region that you want to deploy to. The latest version is generally preferred.
6. Choose Continue to Launch.

Step 1.2 Deploying Dshop on the EC2 instance

1. For Choose Action, choose Launch from Website.
2. Choose your instance type. A minimum of 1 GB of RAM and 10 GB disk is recommended, which is equivalent to at least a t2.micro. Make sure that your security group has ports 80 and 443 open so that you can access the admin.
3. Select the VPC and subnet for the deployment of the new instance. The default settings are recommended. To use SSH access with the EC2 instance, choose a security group with port 22 open.
4. Choose a key pair from the available list.
5. If you do not have a key pair, go to the EC2 console. In the navigation pane, under NETWORK & SECURITY, choose Key Pairs. Choose Create key pair.
6. Return to the solution page and choose Launch.

Step 2: Configuring the domain and the Dshop node

Next, you configure the domain settings to work with the Dshop node. This allows visitors to navigate to your storefront. For more information, follow the instructions in Working with records in the Amazon Route 53 Developer Guide.

Step 2.1 Configuring the domain

1. Get the IP address assigned to your new instance from the EC2 console.
2. In the Route 53 console, select the zone you want to add this record to. The zone is your domain name. Choose Create record. You will create a new A record pointing at this address.
3. Choose Simple Routing.
4. Define the record, for example api.mydomain.com This is the backend administration URL and used as the shop’s backend. It is not the domain that your customers use to view the store.
5. Choose Create records.
6. In a few minutes, you can access the Dshop onboarding page by navigating to api.mydomain.com (or your chosen record) in your browser.

Step 2.1 Configuring the Dshop node

1. In a browser window, navigate to api.mydomain.com or your chosen record, and then enter your name and email address.
2. For the password, use the instance ID. For example, i-08bd2cff62ea24048.
3. In a new browser window, configure the server by following this. Use the EC2 instance ID as your initial password.

Stpe 3: Creating the Dshop store

After launching the Dshop node and configuring the domain, you can create and customize the Dshop storefront.

Step 3.1 Choosing the payment settings

1. In a new browser window, go to api.mydomain.com and enter your credentials.
2. Choose Settings and then Payments.
3. To accept cryptocurrency payments, under Cryptocurrency Payments, choose Connect or enter an Ethereum wallet address manually. Skip this step if you do not want to accept cryptocurrency payments.
4. Optionally, you can connect your Stripe or PayPal account and accept credit card payments. An Ethereum wallet isn’t required.
5. To save the settings and return to the home page, choose Update.

Step 3.2 Customizing the store

1. To create item listings, choose Products.
2. To create public collections of certain product types to help customers navigate your listings, choose Collections. These collections appear on the storefront.
3. To customize the look and feel of the store, choose Themes.
4. To configure third-party integrations, manage shipping and tax settings, or access other advanced features, choose Settings.
5. When you are finished, choose Publish Changes.

Cleanup

After you have finished, delete the deployed resources to prevent incurring ongoing costs. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Delete the EC2 instance that you set up to launch the Dshop.

2. Delete the Route 53 records associated with your Dshop.

Conclusion

In this blog post, I show how to launch a custom storefront that enables decentralized payments. You can accept cryptocurrency payments for your listings and start doing business globally without setting up accounts at payment processors or merchant banks.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post DeFi And SaaS Applications: Decentralized e-commerce Platform Dshop To Join Amazon’s AWS Marketplace appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Executing an omnichannel strategy has been a priority for many retailers for some years now, but the rapid increase in online shopping and changing spending habits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have sped up this adoption further. However, according to Global eCommerce platform, Kooomo, many retailers still fail to fully understand the meaning of an ‘omnichannel presence’ and how it differs from multichannel and are therefore missing out on optimising their operations.

Ciaran Bollard, CEO of Kooomo says, “In multichannel marketing, the brand is at the centre of the strategy, with one static message that’s communicated to each channel. By contrast, in omnichannel marketing, the customer is at the centre of the strategy with each channel adapting around the customer’s behaviour. Omnichannel allows for the synchronisation of all inventory and sales channels, creating a customer experience (CX) that flows from online to in-store and vice versa. It also means having a fully integrated supply chain to maximise stock value.”

Ciaran outlines that retailers considering a move to an omnichannel solution should focus on three primary aspects: synchronised data/stock, diversified sales channels and the user experience.

1. Synchronising data and stock

When looking for an omnichannel solution, consider an outlet that can easily synchronise inventory across all online and bricks and mortar stores to dramatically reduce the risk of ever running out of stock. This means you can order inventory in a more accurate fashion (reducing wasted costs) and better communicate to your customers if items are low or out of stock.

Collecting and synchronising data will also play a major role in successful omnipresence, as this will improve the flow of the customer journey and improve the CX. Customers should be able to fill a basket at their convenience, continue shopping across different sessions (and different devices), and have the option for delivery, collect in-store or to order from in-store for delivery.

2. Diversifying sales channels

Omnichannel shoppers have a 30% higher lifetime value than single-channel shoppers so you should give customers the option to buy across all channels. Offer multi-channel options including click and collect, purchase from mobile/mobile apps, purchase from marketplaces, purchase from social media – as many channels as possible. Consumers love nothing more than having choices, so if you have a bricks and mortar presence as well as an online store for your brand you have already tapped into this desire for options than implementing omnichannel into your online strategy.

Omnichannel shoppers spend 15% more per purchase than those who shop on one channel and are much more likely to return, so why not spoil your consumer for choice?

3. The User Experience (UX)

Unification and flow are crucial for a positive UX, but there is also personalisation, customer assistance and transparent information to consider. Successful personalisation is constructed using the data you have collected to create a unique experience for the customer which they now expect as standard. After all, consumers are more likely to engage with an offer if it has been personalised to reflect previous interactions they’ve had with that brand. This means you need to build suggested pages and personalised correspondence around your consumers’ unique profiles.

Good customer assistance can help ensure that the customer journey reaches its endpoint with minimal disruption or frustration. Consumers expect a business to be available 24/7 so it goes without saying that retailers have moved beyond the realms of 9-5. Therefore, it’s imperative to bridge any current gaps between you and your on-demand consumers.

Transparent information, now more than ever, is essential for good UX. It’s important that the messaging on your website accurately reflects your service, especially in times of crisis or delays. Customers are willing to have a longer delivery window now that physical shopping is off the table, so make sure all communications are transparent and as accurate as possible to reinforce a positive CX.

It is very important to keep communications with customers timely and update them as the situation changes. This includes clearly confirming your delivery and express delivery timings on your online store which is crucial to avoid disappointment and bad reviews. This will also help to alleviate fears and build trust during times of uncertainty or supply chain disruption.

Ciaran concludes, “Of course, creating a great omnipresence does not pertain only to these three elements as there is much to consider before creating an effective digital presence. However, taking the initial steps to ensure synchronisation of data/stock, diversified sales channels and a satisfying user experience are the stepping stones that will set you on the right course for success.”

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Top Tips For Perfecting Your Omnichannel Offering appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Ecommerce companies are running on thin margins. Yet they’re also competing in a global marketplace. This means they have to do everything they can to keep costs down without hurting their level of service. Here our top productivity tips for ecommerce companies.

Use a Managed Mail Service

While email has become the default business communication method, this hasn’t eliminated the need for printed correspondence. And ecommerce companies are causing a spike in packages and small parcel deliveries. You can use a managed mail service like The Delivery Group to dramatically simplify operations. For example, they’ll apply the exact amount of postage to every outgoing package. They may lower your shipping costs by taking advantage of shipping discounts not available to a smaller ecommerce company or someone selling a few items online in addition to their retail storefront.

This could improve your team’s efficiency in other ways. Sort out returned materials from customers and received bills from free samples and advertisements. Then each category of received mail could go to the right department for prompt processing.

Multi-Purpose, Not Multi-Task

Multi-tasking is not productive. By bouncing between things, you actually lose time getting up to speed and increasing the rate of mistakes made. The solution is to focus on one thing at a time. However, you can improve productivity by making everything you can multi-purpose. Send emails to customers about the status of their latest purchase that include links to your social media profiles. Thank people for their business and include coupon codes at the same time to minimize the number of messages they get. Include free samples in the shipments they have already requested.

Have a Meeting Policy

A low-tech productivity hack is to have a meeting policy. Be clear on when people are allowed to organize meetings. Don’t have status meetings just to have status meetings. Always have a purpose for a meeting and end the meeting when it no longer serves that purpose. Don’t invite people to meetings unless they’re actually key to solving the problem. Have a standard process for setting up meetings and notifying people of them so that essential people don’t miss the meeting. Have agendas to prevent scope-creep and time wasting side debates. Schedule meetings so there is enough time for break-out sessions afterward, so that you don’t keep everyone waiting while two or three people have what is best handled as a private discussion. Don’t schedule meetings so that everyone in the next meeting is left waiting because the prior one ran over.

Streamline Your Supply Chain

You could save time and money by streamlining your supply chain. Don’t rely on a single source for any key product or service. The Wuhan coronavirus shutdown proves how dangerous that is. However, you should only have two to four suppliers for any key product or service. This eliminates the time it takes to place orders for consumables and raw materials. Your team doesn’t have to get quotes from five or ten vendors. And there is no time wasted seeking out new suppliers of unknown quality, because you already have approved vendors for everything.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Our Top Productivity Tips for Ecommerce Companies appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

By Heather Williams, CEO and co-founder of Sourcing Playground.

E-commerce has completely redefined how we as consumers buy goods and services. Online is now dominating and those who have not adapted to the change in customers spending will be missing out. This is also very true and even more prominent in the B2B landscape. In 2017 the gross merchandise volume for B2B was $7.66 Trillion compared to that of the B2C market which came to $2.14 Trillion. This growing gap between the B2B and B2C market has created enormous amounts of opportunities to those companies adapting to the change in the market.

Just like the retail sector, early eCommerce adopters in the manufacturing and supply sectors will gain huge market share and ensure they are positioned correctly during the digitalisation of the manufacturing sector.

When you think of new technology within the manufacturing sector you would initially think of Industry 4.0, IoT and connected hardware however these new technologies, albeit a step in the right direction, are focussed on the manufacturing process and production itself. There are however huge opportunities that lie in the operations of the business including: digitising sales and marketing teams, online communication and account management, cloud-based project management and workflows. All of these steps are crucial aspects of the customer journey for a B2B buyer when working with manufacturers. These aspects of the manufacturing process however are often overlooked by manufacturing companies and not considered vital in the acquisition and retention of clients.

This hindsight might give way to answering the fact that a huge 56% of B2B buyers are not satisfied and feel their purchasing needs are not currently met. Areas such as better digital and e-commerce experiences.

Let’s start with Why?

– The B2B Buyer has changed.

Almost half of all B2B buyers are Millennials. This is driving a new wave of procurement teams taking their B2C ecommerce expectations to work with them and demanding more within the B2B landscape. Although they differ, the sales process and the buying process (the basic customer journey) remains the same.

These buyers are demanding more and are changing the B2B purchasing journey. Gone of the days of scrolling through catalogues, making phone calls, attending trade shows once, twice a year. They are heading online using search engines, online platforms, suppliers’ website to enhance their experience. Manufacturers and suppliers who are ahead of the game and reward the buyers with an enhanced online experience will earn their loyalty.

“Ever since ecommerce giants emerged on the B2B competitive landscape…[the] majority of buyers are expected to make half or more of their work purchases online. This trend will likely grow as more purchasers find that procuring products and services from a website is more convenient than buying from a sales representative… It will take time for all suppliers to shift to the online sales channel, therefore creating a gap between the traditional B2B sellers and the modern buyers.” Gavin Angell, Development Director at The Dorchester Group

In a recent study by Mirakl, Oracle of B2B purchasing – it found that 87% of respondents generally buy through marketplaces, making it the most widely used channel among all others

Compare to that of only 14% of respondents who prefer person-to-person sales, including salespeople, customer service, or in-store interactions. This demonstrates a clear shift in their purchasing journey moving away from traditional direct sales approaches to a more automated online experience.

Even though B2B buyers generally would prefer to use online there is evidence to suggest that the technology has not caught up with their expectations. As 73% of B2B buyers generally use digital channels – however only 11% claim digital is their preferred method to buy at present, indicating there is a demand for better digital experiences. The demand is clearly visible from buyers however currently they are not given the correct tools and online experiences for it to become part of their everyday purchasing journey.

This is where the greatest opportunities lie for manufacturing companies to increase their new business and attract and retain their user base.

Buyers see online to help and improve with the following:

• Ability to live chat with customer service
• Ability to pre-order and/or back-order products
• Ability to schedule orders
• Loyalty programs
• Purchasing from mobile devices
• Different payment options
• Provide more manufacturing options & greater choice

There is a clear shift in purchasing behaviour from traditional methods to online which can be facilitated through online marketplaces and procurement tools.

The adoption of digital tools among manufacturing companies

It is worth looking at the adoption of ecommerce and online services that are offered from the supplier side to get an understanding as to why there is such a gap between buyers’ expectations and the current options available to them.

Ecommerce and digital marketing & sales are part and parcel. When it comes to the manufacturing sector – they “are behind every other industry in terms of marketing.” For a sector that strives for innovation, forward thinking processes and new way of reaching production efficiencies, B2B manufacturers are notoriously slow in the adoption of digital marketing and online tools.

Manufacturing companies will find it harder and harder to sell their products, services and technologies to new clients, if their clients can’t even find their brand online. B2B manufacturers are “are behind every other industry in terms of marketing.” This hindsight is surprising considering the size of the sector and its impact into the wider economy. It’s interesting to see how such a huge sector navigates itself in the modern, online world.

This lack of adoption although quite shocking can be considered to be a great opportunity for those that are forward thinking and adopt new ways of reaching new buyers and working with their existing client base.

Currently just 8% of manufacturers had a dedicated marketing team in 2015 and further still – only 1% of them rated their marketing as ‘sophisticated. The slow adoption of ecommerce, digital marketing and online cloud-based processes within the manufacturing sector for their marketing, sales, communication are greatly due to the fact that within a ‘typical’ manufacturing company often, there is no dedicated team. When there is no driving force within the company to project new methods, communication means, marketing efforts then the company relies on the ‘old ways’ and ‘well it’s worked in the past’ mindset.

We will see over the next coming years that the companies who are taking a new approach and considering the benefits of ecommerce and digital marketing will see a great adoption from buyers and likely see greater loyalty from their customer base.

The benefits for buyers

Online solutions including marketplaces allow buyers to receive:

• More options
• Pricing transparency
• Less negotiation/improved sales process
• Better customer experience
• Structed driven process
• Trusted experience enhanced with transparent peer review and ratings
• Verification / qualifying process

The benefits for suppliers

• Access to new markets – online marketplaces offer an unrivalled access to manufacturing companies who are looking to extend their network and target new markets & sectors. The sales & marketing efforts online can be tracked and analysed to gain better understanding of what works best more than that of traditional methods of customer acquisition.
• More efficient operations – when sales staff are all working from cloud-based tools, with centralised workflows with communication with new and existing clients in one place it ensures that the sales teams are more efficient.
• Customer experience driven – online digital tools force more transparency for communication, this puts the onus on the suppliers for better customer experience. For those who are looking to project and ‘good’ professional image online then ensuring their existing users had a good experience using their company is paramount. These improvements have made great waves in the freelancing, outsourced team industry with online platforms like UpWork, Odesk, Freelancer.com.
• Loyal customers – buyers who are more satisfied with their current suppliers remain customers. The truth that moving production to new companies is a massive cost both time and money and one that is rather avoided if the buyer is satisfied with their current supplier.
• Increase in sales and new business as online marketplaces offer a more scalable customer acquisition channel as opposed to tradition direct marketing means.

How can manufacturers adopt a more digital way of working?

Those manufacturers who are forward thinking and looking to position themselves at the forefront of best in class customer experiences will find that it can be easily achieved through digitising their sales, communication and online marketing efforts.

Manufacturers need to take advantage of the new opportunities that emerging online platforms offer. By putting in the work to make the most of these platforms will give way to huge opportunities reaching new clients and ensuring the retention of clients over the long term.

One such platform is Sourcing Playground, a new emerging platform that is looking to help brands, buyers to find and work with trusted product manufacturers, transforming the industry with trust, transparency and structure.

Early manufacturer adopters are already seeing the increased benefits from it, including raising the profile of manufacturing companies online, improved access to new markets and new business, better communication methods with existing clients.

Manufacturers that join in early are and the most likely to reap the benefits of these new platforms.

About the author

Heather Williams, ex Buyer turned tech Founder. CEO and co-founder of Sourcing Playground, Heather Williams was a buyer in Dorset when the idea for Sourcing Playground dawned on her. While visiting trade shows in Hong Kong, she realised the difficulty buyers faced in finding good quality global manufacturers online. She recognised that, apart from investing in travelling to international trade show and exhibitions, there was nothing to facilitate new business connections online with manufacturers from around the world.

She teamed up with partner and web designer Fred Russias to create Sourcing Playground, later securing a £200K seed fund while at a networking event in Dubai.

Since then, Heather has also been nominated for a number of accolades, including making finalist for the Venus Awards’ Entrepreneur of the Year. She was also a nominee for the Editor’s Choice for Women in IT Awards and finalist for the Young Entrepreneur for the National Best New Business Awards 2019.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Digitising The Manufacturing Sector: The Future Of B2B Global Trade appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Insight driven Tech PR Agency, CCgroup, has released the findings of its primary research study “How to influence retail technology buyers”. The results, collected from over 30 tier one (turnover above £500m) and tier two (turnover between £30-£500m) UK retailers, identified the information most important to decision-makers when longlisting, shortlisting and purchasing from a potential technology vendor port found that 42% of respondents would use industry analyst reports during shortlisting phase, making it the most influential content type.

When looking at information sources, social media was found to provide little impact with 58% of respondents stating it had no influence during longlisting or shortlisting. On the other hand, 42% of respondents responded that sponsored content on social media would influence longlisting making it the second most influential form of content during this phase of the buying cycle.

CCgroup commissioned the specialist research agency, Sapio Research, to interview over 30 tier one (turnover over £500m) and tier two retailers (turnover between £30-500m). Respondents were all senior decision makers, responsible for the purchase of technology, equipment, software or services. All the companies spoken to have been involved in a major technology purchase in the last six to 12 months.

Other key takeaways from the research includes:

• During Longlisting:

o    Web search (45%) and direct marketing (39%) are the most important source of influence

o    Press releases (45%) and vendor whitepapers (42%) are the most influential content types

o    Pure ability to meet RFP criteria (45%) and providing cutting edge technologies (42%) are the most influential “messages” and “capabilities”

• During Shortlisting:

o    Industry consultants (48%) and internal business analysts (45%) provide the most influence

o    Industry analyst reports (42%) and direct marketing (39%) are the most influential content types

o    Value for money (65%) and flexible in adjusting to your needs (61%) are the most influential “messages” and “capabilities”

As online commerce continues to pull consumers away from ‘bricks-and-mortar’ retailers, both traditional and online merchants are under mounting pressure to invest in technology to deliver a better service.

Yet, despite marketing’s influence on retail technology buyers, most agencies and marketers are working ‘blind’ without the benefit of quantitative data to help them understand how retail buyers identify and select technology vendors.

“Tech-led internet giants like Amazon and Alibaba are becoming dominant players in the retail market. Whether you’re an online merchant or a high street retailer, technology is absolutely fundamental to success. From IoT to robotics to digital signage and personalised shopping, retailers are in a race to deliver a better customer experience while reducing suffocating overheads. But most retail tech companies are marketing blind,” said Daniel Lowther, Head of Fintech at CCgroup.

“We believe this report is the first and only piece of research to uncover what actually influences retail tech buyers. Understanding the sources of influence is critical in developing marketing and communications programs that drive the ultimate measure of success: sales.”

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Retail Technology: Buyers Consider Analyst Reports Above Social Media Content appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

The e-commerce market today has evolved rapidly compared to where it was a year ago. With 2018 more than halfway completed, there is plenty of new information that can help e-retailers develop their e-store parallel to the ever-changing market.

E-commerce stores are changing faster than ever before because of growing customer demand. Everything from marketing, purchasing and shipping continues to evolve thanks to new technologies, higher sales volumes and an increased desire to get products into customers’ hands as quickly as possible.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the key 2018 e-commerce statistics.

E-commerce Market Stats

The e-commerce market continues to grow at a rapid rate with no signs of slowing down.

• Global retail e-commerce sales are predicted hit $2.48 trillion in 2018 and forecasted to reach $4.88 trillion by year in 2021. In 2014, the global market made up just $1.3 trillion. In 2014, the global market made up just $1.3 trillion.
• Annual global retail e-commerce sales growth is expected to grow over 23% in 2018.
• About 35% of consumers begin with marketplaces like Amazon or eBay. Only 31 percent head straight to an individual retailer’s website while 15 percent start by using search engines to look for products.
• 71% of shoppers believe they’ll get better deals from online stores than brick and mortars. This is likely due to the accessibility of reviews and other resources that can validate their purchase decisions, including recommendations from their social media connections.

E-commerce Mobile Stats

E-commerce customers are starting to transition from buying on their computers to buying on their smartphones. More and more customers are making purchases on their smartphones, which highlights the need for e-retailers to make sure that their e-store is mobile friendly. The growth of cloud e-commerce platforms gives e-retailers a streamlined way to create a multi-channel store that’s scalable and accessible to consumers any screen.

• In 2017, almost 59% of e-commerce sales occurred via a mobile device.
• 62% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last six months.
• Mobile devices account for 19% of all e-commerce sales, and that number is expected to reach 27% by the end of 2018.
• 85% of customers start a purchase on one device and finish it on another.

E-commerce Buying Stats

E-retailers are focused on a variety of issues when it comes to boosting their sales but two of the more important matters are customer loyalty and cart abandonment. Loyal customers spend more money than one-time shoppers and any improvement in cart abandonment means more sales and profits.

• Cart abandonment rates have been steadily increasing year-over-year, with the average in 2018 roughly 69 percent, up 10 percent since 2006.
• 56 percent of online shoppers abandon their online basket because they were presented with unexpected costs at the checkout.
• Customer loyalty is paramount to higher profits because it’s seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.
• Repeat buyers spend 33 percent more than new ones and lowering your customer churn rate by five percent can increase your profitability by 25-125 percent.

E-commerce Shipping Stats

Customers are ordering from e-commerce platforms more frequently, and most focus on the delivery window. The demand for newer, faster shipping options is growing. Things like automated trucks and drones could be the future of e-commerce shipping.

• Consumers expect to wait an average of 4.8 days for delivery, down from 5.5 days in 2012. And the share of those who are willing to wait more than five days has declined to 60 percent from 74 percent in four years.
• 47 percent of customers are interested in drone deliveries
• 72 percent of customers believe that the most significant issue with drone deliveries is damage to packaging.
• The U.S. Postal Service plans to deploy autonomous mail carrier trucks in the next seven years. With more than 225,000 vehicles in the fleet, the agency is working with the University of Michigan to develop an “Autonomous Rural Delivery Vehicle,” and plans to launch it across rural routes nationally as soon as 2025.

As we move toward 2019, there will be new trends and technology that e-retailers can use to better their online business. But these key 2018 e-commerce statistics serve as support that the way customers buy, what they use to buy and their expectations around shipping will all factor into the way the e-commerce market continues to evolve.

Contributed Content

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Key 2018 E-Commerce Statistics appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.