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Category: MobileCommercePro

MobileCommercePro

  • Booster Brings On-Demand Business Model to Gasoline

    Booster Brings On-Demand Business Model to Gasoline

    Imagine just clicking a button on an app and having your cars gas tank filled while you are working at the office. That’s what Booster Fuels is currently doing. Booster has brought the on-demand business model to fuel and it’s extremely popular in its launch markets of SF Bay, San Diego, and Dallas-Fort Worth areas. Booster Fuels co-founder and CEO Frank Maycroft says that they are selling over $180,000 per day in just those three markets and have plans to expand nationwide.

    Frank Maycroft, CEO and co-founder of Booster Fuels, talked about the companies business model and technology on CNBC:

    Push a Button for Same-Day Free Delivery Gasoline

    Amazon set a new expectation for retail. People want to push a button and get same-day free delivery. What we are able to do now is the same thing for gasoline. When you think about a gas station it hasn’t changed much in 50 years. The concept is really taking the old-world industry and leveraging mobile technology, machine learning technology to allow us to deliver gas to people without any of the inconvenience.

    We are the only company quietly roaming through parking lots looking for cars. The truck that does that has to fit within a single parking spot, has to maneuver as well as a small car, has to be connected to the cloud and communicating with all of the other mobile distributed gas stations in the Booster fleet.

    A Million Deliveries and $180,000 a Day in Revenue

    We’ve done more than a million deliveries company-wide and we will do about $180,000 of revenue in a single day. Anybody can make it so that you can push a button and get gas, but doing that in a way that doesn’t cost more than the gas station is incredibly hard. We didn’t want to have to build a subscription service. We didn’t want to have to charge fees. Our belief is service everyone by charging the same price and focus on where cars go all the time, parking lots.

    To really be inventive today you have to start from scratch with the context of what would this have looked like if you started it in the 21st Century? It’s hardware with embedded systems with software that’s communicating to the cloud, it’s procurement of fuel, it’s pricing to customers. When it all comes together that’s where the magic is.

    People Spend More on Gasoline Than They Do For All of Ecommerce.

    We like to be realists that when you look out your window there are gas-powered vehicles and that’s going to be here for a very long time. Let’s make them 3-5 percent better by improving the supply chain, reducing emissions, and reducing miles traveled.

    People spend more on gasoline than they do for all of ecommerce. People spend almost as much on gasoline as they do on groceries as a category. At the same time, we do look at alternative energy solutions. Nothing stops us from doing the same service for electric vehicles or other alternatives. It’s all based on the same technology investment, software, routing, logistics, that works for fuel.

    Nine out of ten Americans still drive to work and are either going to or coming from suburbs. Imagine ten years from now not having to think about gasoline or energy in general or things in general just getting to you where it’s most convenient for us to deliver to, most convenient for you to get it, and most cost-effective for the entire ecosystem. I think that is the way that the world is moving.

    How Booster Works:

  • Etsy CEO: Machine Learning is Opening Up a Whole New Opportunity

    Etsy CEO: Machine Learning is Opening Up a Whole New Opportunity

    Etsy CEO Josh Silverman says that “machine learning is opening up a whole new opportunity” for the company to organize 50 million items into a discovery platform that makes buying an enjoyable experience and also is profitable for sellers.

    Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy, recently talked about their much-improved business and why it is working so well with Jim Cramer on CNBC:

    Our Mission is Keeping Commerce Human

    Our mission is keeping commerce human. It’s really about in a world where automation is changing the nature of work and we’re all buying more and more commoditized things from the same few fulfillment centers. Allowing someone to harness their creative energy and turn that creativity into a business and then connect with someone in the other part of the country or in another part of the world, that’s really special. We think there’s an ever-increasing need for that in this world.

    It’s about value. We’ve been really focused on delivering more value for our makers. Etsy really is a platform that brings buyers to sellers and that’s very valuable. We raised our commission from 3.5 to 5 percent commission which was I think is fair value for our sellers, particularly because we’re reinvesting 80 percent of that into the growth of the platform.

    Free shipping is pretty much table stakes today. Yet only about 20 percent of items have free shipping. About half of all the items on Etsy buyers say have shipping prices that are too high and yet we grew GMS at 20 percent last quarter.

    Machine Learning is Opening Up a Whole New Opportunity

    Machine learning is opening up a whole new opportunity for us to take 50 million items from two million makers and make sense of that for people. We have 37 million active buyers now and many of them come just for discovery, just to see what they can find, and that is exactly the right thing for someone out there. Our job is to create that love connection. Etsy over the past 14 years, with a large team effort, has I think done a great job.

    One thing I want to emphasize is the quality and the craftsmanship with so many of the products on Etsy. That’s something that has been such a delight for me. People like Kringle Workshops that make these incredible products. What we have been doing a better job and need to continue to do a better job of really surfacing the beautiful artisanally crafted products that are available at a really fair price. You’re not having to pay for warehousing, you’re not having to pay for all the other things that mass-produce things have to pay for, you’re buying directly from the person who made it. So it can be both beautiful, handcrafted, and well priced.

    There are 2 million sellers, 87 percent of them are women, over 90 percent are working from home or are businesses of one, who can create a global business from their garage or their living room. Etsy does provide a real sense of community for them and that’s really powerful.

    Amazon May Open New HQ in Queens Near Etsy

    We feel great about our employee value proposition and come what may. Here’s what we have going for us. We think we’ve got the best team, certainly in tech companies on the eastern seaboard. We think ours is the best and we continue to attract great talent. The reason is, first and foremost, our mission is really a meaningful important mission and that matters. Great people want to work in a place with a great mission.

    Second, our technology challenges are interesting. For example, search and using machine learning to make sense of 50 million items that don’t map to a catalog. Third, our culture is really special. We have been a company that’s authentically cared about diversity from the beginning. Over 50 percent of our executive staff are women, we have a balanced board, 50 percent male and female, and 32 percent of our engineers are female, which is twice the industry average. People who care about diversity and inclusion really want to come to work at Etsy. All of that is going for us and we’re happy to compete with whoever we need to.

    Earnings Call Comments by Etsy CEO:

    Active Buyers Grew 17 Percent

    Etsy’s growth accelerated again in the third quarter to nearly 21% on a constant-currency basis. Revenue growth exceeded 41%, fueled by the launch of our new pricing structure, and our adjusted EBITDA margins grew to nearly 23%, while we also increased our investments in the business.

    Active buyers grew 17% to 37 million worldwide. This is the fourth consecutive quarter that GMS has grown faster than active buyers, evidence that we are seeing increased buyer activity on the platform, which is a key proxy for improvement in frequency. We grew the number of active sellers by 8% and GMS per active seller is also increasing.

    Two principal levers contributed to our progress this past quarter. The first is our continued product investment, focused on improving the shopping experience on Etsy. By making it easier to find and buy the great products available for sale on Etsy, we’re doing a better job converting visits into purchases. The second lever was our new pricing structure, which enabled us to ramp up investments in marketing, shipping improvements and customer support.

    Successful Cloud Migration

    We achieved a significant milestone in our cloud migration this quarter, successfully migrating our marketplace, Etsy.com, and our mobile applications to the Google Cloud with minimal disruption to buyers and sellers. This increases our confidence that the migration will be complete by the end of 2019.

    Once fully migrated, we expect to dramatically increase the velocity of experiments and product development to iterate faster and leverage more complex search and machine learning models with the goal of rapidly innovating, improving search and ultimately driving GMS growth.

    In fact, we’re beginning to see some of those benefits today based on the systems we’ve already migrated. I’d like to thank our engineering team for their incredible work to get this – get us to this point.

     

  • How eCommerce Businesses Can Prevent Fraud in 2018 Holiday Season

    How eCommerce Businesses Can Prevent Fraud in 2018 Holiday Season

    Given the dynamic nature of the internet, it’s not surprising to also see frequent changes in consumer buying behavior, which online retailers try to predict and cater to on various digital platforms. Convenience and revenue growth of eCommerce businesses, however, come with a price in the form of fraud.

    Sales transactions from online merchants are on an uptrend, but attacks on eCommerce businesses have alarmingly increased as well. Based on the first-quarter report by ThreatMetrix, 210 million cyber attacks were prevented in real time from January to March 2018 – up by 62 percent from prior year. Some of these attacks have cost the eCommerce industry a whopping $58 billion in losses in 2017, according to the Global Fraud Report done by PYMNTS and Signifyd.

    Image result for threatmetrix fraud report

    Image source: ThreatMatrix (2017 Cybercrime Report)

    With the upcoming holiday season, incidents of digital fraud are expected to further rise in the eCommerce industry. Avoid the pitfalls of fraud by proactively taking steps to detect its forms and prevent them from hurting your bottom line, which can be significant for some eCommerce businesses. Fraudulent purchases can translate to chargebacks from affected online retailers, resulting in financial losses.

    Pay particular attention to these three kinds of eCommerce fraud:

    Types of eCommerce Fraud

    1. Identity Theft

    Among the most common type of fraud, identity theft has been a long-running scheme of cybercriminals. Identities, along with credit card information and addresses, are stolen using the latest techniques on data hacking, malware, and theft of mobile devices, which are then used to purchase from online merchants. Aside from stolen identities of actual individuals, fraudsters can also fabricate fictitious or manipulated personalities and use these instead during transactions.

    2. Friendly Fraud

    Sometimes called “chargeback fraud,” friendly fraud happens when customers call their credit card issuer and dispute the charge. While some fraud incidents are due to misunderstanding, others are done with malicious intent. Dishonest consumers will claim that they never received the item, heavily damaged, or not as described, requesting refunds from the online retailer after getting the package.

    3. Phishing

    This type of fraud is rampant and requires technical capability, as fraudsters pretend to be a company or eCommerce platform to trick customers into typing in personal information on a rigged form. Phishing emails often contain a warning to customers that their accounts have been compromised and need to input details like user ID, password, and personal information as proof of their identity. Armed with an individual’s stolen details, fraudsters can use these to make online purchases or transfer money to another account.

    How Online Merchants Can Protect Against Fraud

    To minimize the increasing risk for eCommerce fraud, there are a few things that you, as a business owner, can do. A proactive approach, rather than a reactive one, is more effective in preventing fraud from happening and taking a cut of your profits, especially during the holiday rush.

    1. Have a good fraud protection system in place.

    Before the buying frenzy of the holidays begins, ensure that your business has fraud prevention and chargeback protection systems set up. There are numerous tools available on the market, so choose one that fits your business needs. It’s a cost-effective solution that’s well worth the investment in the long run.

    2. Use a prevention system that combines human and artificial intelligence.

    While machine learning can effectively analyze patterns of fraud based on millions of transactional data, it still takes human intelligence to know something is off with a transaction.

    3. Take advantage of the verification process as well.

    To mitigate eCommerce fraud, make use of a good address verification system. This will confirm whether the bill-to and ship-to addresses are similar, along with email address and location as part of a customer’s identity verification when the transaction happened. An extra layer of protection helps by employing the card verification value to ensure that the customer holds or has access to the actual credit card.

    Image result for ecommerce fraud 2018

    Image source: Amasty

    4. Use email authentication.

    Even though email fraud is a far-too-common occurrence, you still need a good authentication system for your business. Authentication systems with Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance will give you a heads up if an email contains dubious links or potential threats. Aside from protecting your eCommerce business against fraud, email authentication assures your customers that what you send is trustworthy.

    5. Determine transaction origins.

    Each electronic device has a particular fraud profile and depending on what was used for the transaction, you can gauge and screen for potential eCommerce fraud. Device assessment assists online merchants in identifying transactions made by bots, flagging anomalous purchases through account takeovers, and highlighting malicious intents. 

     

    When consumer spending picks up during the holiday season, it is expected that eCommerce fraud will gain momentum as well. Ensure that your business is not losing money from fraudulent transactions by beefing up your prevention and authentication systems and keeping them updated with the latest patches. 

    [Featured image via Pexels]

  • Western Union CEO on Amazon Partnership: Buy Globally and Pay Locally

    Western Union CEO on Amazon Partnership: Buy Globally and Pay Locally

    Western Union has partnered with Amazon to white label their cross-border money transfer platform. “Amazon engaged us to use our platform to service their customers in a better way in order to give access to the millions of customers who don’t have an access today to buy online and pay,” said Hikmet Ersek, the CEO of Western Union. “In the future, they will have the capability to buy globally and pay locally.”

    Hikmet Ersek, President, CEO, Western Union, recently discussed the new partnership with Amazon, competition with Zelle and Vinmo, and the overall health of the business:

    Western Union Digital Business is Growing Very Well

    Our digital business is growing very well year over year. We are now in 50 countries with our digital business sending money to over 200 countries. We pretty much cover the world with digital. Our digital growth is very strong. Our retail money transfer business has been stable. In some countries, we have been a little bit slower like in the Middle East, but we had very strong growth in Europe and US outbound business. Our US domestic business has been a little bit slower than we thought. Generally, I would say that we had a very stable solid quarter and we are very excited about the future.

    You Can’t Send Money From Your Mobile

    US to Domestic there has been some competitive environment. Nothing changed like last quarter. We have certain customers that like to pick up cash immediately. Nobody can beat that. You can’t send (cash) money from your mobile. We pay out in cash immediately. There are also competitors like Zelle and Vinmo who have been capturing some market share there with their zero fee environment. That has definitely been US dominated but is only a small part of our business, seven percent of our revenues. We are more focused on the outbound business, global cross-border business. That has been growing very well.

    Western Union is White Labeling Platform to Amazon

    Amazon has engaged us, over the years we have been building a cross-border platform, which is unique. We are moving transactions in 132 currencies globally and we do about 32 transactions every second. We have a network of 550,000 locations. We are reaching out to about 4 billion accounts globally. This is a unique platform where today we serve our customers with this platform.

    Companies like Amazon engaged us to use our platform to service their customers in a better way in order to give access to the millions of customers who don’t have an access today to buy online and pay. In the future, they will have the capability to buy globally and pay locally.

    The Amazon partnership is for us very exciting because now suddenly we are opening our platform to new customer segments, white labeling to other organizations like Amazon. Today, we are serving our existing customers with our branded transactions. In the future, we will be able to serve huge organizations like Amazon, or Amazon will engage us with other organizations, to engage our platform and to use our platform to serve their customers.

    Paying Amazon Has Been a Real Obstacle for Some

    “There are people in the world who want greater access to Amazon’s huge product selection but paying for those purchases has been a real obstacle for many customers,” said Hikmet Ersek, president and CEO of Western Union. “We’re leveraging our money movement platform to make it easier to shop global and pay local. By facilitating the complex foreign exchange and settlement process, we’re opening up more consumer choices and access to online shopping for tens of millions of potential new Amazon customers.”

    Forrester Research estimates that cross-border shopping will make up 20% of e-commerce by 2022, with sales reaching $630 billion. Choice, quality and cost are the main motivations for consumers to shop online from overseas, but there are challenges and concerns about the lack of payment options for consumers who prefer to pay in person or consumers who are not comfortable using online payment methods.

  • SAP CEO: It’s All About the Customer Experience

    SAP CEO: It’s All About the Customer Experience

    SAP CEO Bill McDermott, in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg talked about enterprises moving to the cloud, competing with Oracle’s new autonomous database, competing with Salesforce, and its huge business in China:

    SAP Has Taken Over the Enterprise Database Market

    Do you have a major move to the cloud? If legacy companies haven’t fully invested themselves in the cloud where they’ve converted their revenue streams more to cloud than on-premise I think you will see them make bold moves to get cloud-ready. No choice, that’s where the customer wants us.

    We obviously have taken over the enterprise database market with HANA. HANA has many of the characteristics that you mentioned (referencing Oracle). HANA can take data from any source, everything that is either structured or unstructured and data from any source in the enterprise. HANA is running the biggest enterprises in the world now with 25,000 customers at mass scale. We like our HANA database very much.

    It’s All About the Customer Experience

    We see a fourth-generation of CRM where we go beyond the current market participants. Basically, they focus on sales, marketing campaigns, things that essentially take money out of the customers pocket. What we want to do is focus on an omnichannel ecommerce world where we connect the demand chain because our customers are social, mobile and on the run. They shop in every channel, direct to consumer, wholesale, retail. We want to connect that demand chain to the supply chain so that we have a complete end-to-end business.

    Why is this so important? We are not just talking about CRM, we are talking about customer experience. The way CEOs think about their brand, their products, their human capital, their customers. All of the people inside of the company have to be completely committed to the customers outside the company. This is what we call fourth-generation CRM. It’s all about the customer experience.

    We’d Like to See China and the US Cooperate

    The most important thing is that we get paid to run businesses and work in an environment where we let government do what government does. All government leaders have to do what’s best for their country and best for their constituents. These tariffs are obviously a serious situation. You have the two largest economies in the world with $30 trillion in combined economic firepower that right now are at a little bit at odds with each other.

    It’s good, as we saw in today’s tweet, it was stated that at the G20 President Xi and President Trump will sit down and talk. That’s very encouraging to the market. Markets like certainty. So certainly we would like to see China and the US cooperate. It’s good for supply chain, it’s good for business.

    China is Regarded as SAP’s Second Home

    Germain engineering is highly regarding in China, as it is in the United States and around the world, but we do particularly well in China. China is our fastest growing market. We think that China is easily regarded as SAP’s second home in terms of market receptivity, ecosystem growth in China, and our long-term prospects. We think China will end up being the biggest market in the world soon.

    We have the most sophisticated data privacy in the world. We acquired a company called Gigya where we have billions and billions of customer records. We protect your privacy, we don’t let customers actually engage you unless you agree that you want to opt-in on various offerings from our customers and they serve their customers. We follow the same reference architecture, the same high-security standards and cloud standards in China that we do in Europe, the United States, and every other theater in the world.

    We are very confident in China in the way enterprises can serve their customers in China with high-security standards. We recently announced a very important partnership with Alibaba and that is a cloud partnership that will not only impact our growth in one of the fastest growing regions in the world.

    We Are Very Diverse and Highly Inclusive

    We actually have appointed in the last 12 months two women to our Executive Board, not just because they are women, but because they are great leaders. That would be Adaire Fox-Martin and Jennifer Morgan. If you look at our company we have a third of our workforce that is female and we also have a third of our leaders that are female.

    We are very diverse and highly inclusive. One of the things we really enjoy is what we have done with Autism at Work and now we have dedicated one percent of our hiring to autistic folks, at least on the spectrum somewhere, to help our workforce be highly productive and diverse. That extends also to the solutions that we have. If you look at success factors, the number one human capital solution in the world, we have a business without bias mentality.

    Computers don’t have bias. In the way we build the algorithms in the software they eliminate bias from the hiring process. The computer doesn’t have a bias. It looks for the best candidates and it fills an algorithm or model that the company is trying to get at. If you want 40 percent of your workforce to be diverse and inclusive, the model is built to do that for you. You don’t leave it up to humans, you let the software do the work and then the human judgment comes in at the final phase of hiring. It’s changing companies everywhere.

  • Adobe CEO: “Adobe Has Really Been on a Tear”

    Adobe CEO: “Adobe Has Really Been on a Tear”

    Digital marketing pioneer Adobe has really been on a tear says Adobe President and CEO, Shantanu Narayen. In May Adobe acquired commerce cloud platform Magento for $1.68 billion and in September of this year, they acquired Marketo, a leading B2B marketing automation company, for $4.75 billion.

    Previous to these acquisitions Adobe has primarily been a B2C focused company, but now Adobe is excited by the opportunity to help enterprises around the world engage digitally with their customers.

    Shantanu Narayen, Adobe President, and CEO discussed how they are helping businesses to transform in a recent interview (watch below):

    Adobe Has Really Been on a Tear

    Adobe has really been on a tear and we have two big growth initiatives. We are empowering people to create, which has been the heritage and history of the company, and we are enabling businesses to transform.

    The key imperative, whether you are a government, educational institution, or an enterprise is to engage digitally with your customers across every screen and mobile device. Adobe pioneered digital marketing as a category. What we now have is the ability for enterprises to create content, to measure the efficacy of that content, and to acquire customers.

    Digital Experience Opportunity is North of $60 Billion

    With Magento and Marketo we extended in two very significant ways. With Magento, we now make every experience to be shoppable and complete the last mile of actually doing the commerce part of it. With Marketo, we extend from B2C companies, which is where the focus primarily was, to B2B companies. It’s an exciting time for Adobe.

    We think the available opportunity for Adobe just in the digital experience category is well north of $60 billion. When you think about it, whether you are a financial institution that is offering financial services directly digitally, whether you’re a travel or automotive, whether you’re hospitality, the imperative for everybody, including in the media business, is to engage with their customers directly.

    Adobe Enabling Enterprises to Engage with Their Customers

    Adobe always pioneered the aspects of creating that content and now we bring content and data together. It’s a market we pioneered and we are the clear leaders. While there are others looking at that same opportunity we think that we will continue to innovate at a pace that will keep us distant from the competition.

    I think what Amazon has done very effectively is demonstrate the benefits of digital engagement with their particular customers. What we do is we enable that on behalf of every other enterprise who wants to create that engagement with their customers. We give them the tools and the platform. We have a tremendous ecosystem of partners that enables them to do that.

    Whether you are a sports franchise, an airline, or a bank you want to create that digital presence. We don’t view ourselves as competitive with Amazon, we view ourselves as enabling all these other enterprises to create that engagement with their customers.

    Security and Data Privacy are Core Competencies of Adobe

    Security and data privacy are definitely core competencies that Adobe has invested in very heavily. On the data privacy part, we do it in two ways. We have millions of customers that engage with us on the creative cloud and the document cloud and keeping that data and being transparent about how we use that data is something that is front and center for us.

    On the other side, we enable all of these enterprises that are our customers to understand what are the new regulations. Whether that be GDPR in Europe or something else, we help companies understand how they can engage in a transparent way while keeping the data secure.

    It’s one of those areas that we have invested very heavily from a research and development point of view and we have to constantly stay ahead of what’s happening with regulatory environments around the world. We were compliant with GDPR right in time for the May 25th rollout here in Europe.

    We have to be circumspect as to what the rules and regulations are, but I think good sense will prevail in all of these particular cases because when you have boundaries that are down and when you have unfettered access to markets that’s what I think will continue to drive innovation and technology in the global economy.

    Customers and Citizens Have the Imperative to Deal Digitally

    At the macro level, the first thing we all have to remember is that digital is the gale wind in this trend where you cannot put the genie back in the bottle. Customers and citizens, billions all around the world, have the imperative to deal digitally with any business that they are dealing with.

    I think it is incumbent on companies like Adobe to help them to do that. Help the citizens to get the engaging experiences that they want and to help the enterprises to deliver that.

  • Ecommerce Startup Zola Seeks to Reinvent the Wedding Industry

    Ecommerce Startup Zola Seeks to Reinvent the Wedding Industry

    The wedding niche is a $100 billion industry in the US alone and is ripe for ecommerce startups. In 2013, Shan-lyn Ma and Nobu Nakaguchi realized through their own experiences that they could not only improve on but literally reinvent the wedding industry, so they started Zola.

    According to Shan-lyn Ma, Zola is the fastest growing wedding company in the US, with the goal of reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience. To date, it has received over $140 million in funding.

    Shan-lyn Ma, CEO, and co-founder of Zola recently talked about how Zola came about and where it’s going:

    Personal Experiences Were the Spark

    Zola means love in the Zulu language. In 2013, which was the year that we were brainstorming was also the year all my friends got married at exactly the same time. I was shopping on a lot of my friend’s department store registries and finding that it was the worst ecommerce shopping experience I had ever seen. Talking to my co-founder Nobu Nakaguchi, he’s married and he was complaining about how painful it was from the couple’s perspective.

    We had worked in design and product and technology together building great products and so we knew we could do a much better job and we knew our friends getting married deserved a much better product. Before Zola launched a couple would have an average of three registries and Zola takes that down to just one registry.

    Zola Weddings Launched Last Year

    Last year we launched a second product called Zola weddings. That includes is free a wedding website, our guest list manager,  and our checklist for all your to-do’s in order to plan your wedding. This was the number one request we were hearing from couples who were saying I love you for my registry, why can’t I just add a few more details about my wedding and I’ll make it my wedding website and then I’m done.

    Pitching Zola to Investors

    Regarding how we pitched Zola to investors, it was harder to show that emotional connection to a problem and how the product sold this better than anything else. We focused on how is this business model is innovating how we are redoing retail and we had the numbers to show it and they absolutely got it.

    Weddings are a $100 Billion Industry

    Weddings are a $100 billion industry in the US and globally it’s a $300 billion industry. When you think about it, weddings is one of the few industries remaining where we haven’t seen a dominant startup player or disruptor emerge to take the market.

    There’s no one that does everything that we do and there’s certainly no one that does it all on the website and on your mobile device serving every couple no matter who you are, no matter what your sexual orientation, no matter what you want your wedding to look like, or your religion. We are there to serve you and that is what is unique and that’s why we’re the fastest growing wedding company.

  • Hopper CEO Says that their Travel App Predicts Future Prices via Big Data and AI

    Hopper CEO Says that their Travel App Predicts Future Prices via Big Data and AI

    Hopper, an AI-driven prediction travel app that competes with Priceline and Expedia, is somewhat under the radar but actually has been around for over 3 years and has over 30 million users. Hopper founder and CEO Frederic Lalonde says that Hopper is fundamentally different because the app sees into the future.

    “We’re fundamentally different because the Hopper app sees into the future. We were built on the premise of big data so we collect billions, actually 750 billion prices every month, and we track airfare predictively.”

    Frederic Lalonde, CEO of Hopper, talks about Hopper and how it is fundamentally different than Priceline and Expedia in a recent interview.

    New Round of Fundraising For International Growth

    This round of fundraising is all about international growth for us. The Hopper app has been around for about three and a half years and on and off and it’s the number one travel app in the US. We have over 30 million users, but what’s really changed in the course of the last year is our pickup outside of North America.

    There are markets like Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Latin America where we’ve seen extraordinary growth, upwards of 300 percent year-over-year, because we’ve been adding inventory to the app. This latest funding puts us in a position to continue that growth and become the worldwide leader in mobile travel.

    The Hopper App Sees Into the Future and Predicts Prices

    We compete directly against anybody who sells travel online, that’s Priceline and Expedia, and those companies own all the brands that you’re using. We’re fundamentally different because the Hopper app sees into the future. We were built on the premise of big data so we collect billions, actually 750 billion prices every month, and we track airfare predictively. If a user is looking to go from New York to London, Hopper up to a year in advance will tell you the best day in the future to buy your airfare. we also do the same thing for hotels and we’re expanding.

    We’ve been doing this for over a decade and we have proprietary algorithms that also operate. Fundamentally, Hopper is part of a new generation of commerce marketplaces that are deeply built on data and AI. You can see by the success of the platform that it’s different.

    Hopper is Mobile Only

    The other thing that makes us totally different is the fact that we’re only an app. We’re mobile only and the user experience is totally different because you’re letting the app do all of the heavy lifting for you. You’re saying when you want to travel and you can even leave that open and where you want to go and the app continuously tracks and shops all of these prices for you and you receive push notifications. For scale, we’ve sent about 2 billion push notifications to our users over the last two years.

    The other things that we compete against are websites where you have to do all the work yourself. What we’ve seen because we track all the data is when we as human beings do this we end up on average paying 5 percent more than we would have if we bought the first price that we’ve seen.

    Some people will score some deals, but on average we do much worse because we’re being tracked by cookies and the airline companies and the websites know that we’re doing this at predictable hours. The Hopper model does this for you and the outcomes are actually much better.

  • Chinese Internet Growth is Staggering and is Still an Enormous Business Opportunity

    Chinese Internet Growth is Staggering and is Still an Enormous Business Opportunity

    South China Morning Post CEO Gary Liu recently gave a Ted Talk explaining the staggering growth of the Chinese internet and how it is rapidly changing millions of lives for the better. What’s especially fascinating is how impactful their internet growth has been for the Chinese migrant workers and the poor and how this is only the beginning.

    There are still 600 million Chinese offline, their wages are rising too which means their spending power is a huge opportunity for internet startups. 

    South China Morning Post CEO Gary Liu talks about the impact of 772 million Chinese that are now on the internet:

    Technology is Changing China

    Once every 12 months, the world’s largest human migration happens in China. Over the 40 day travel period of Chinese New Year 3 billion trips are taken as families reunite and celebrate. The most strenuous of these trips are taken by the country’s 290 million migrant workers for many of whom this is the one chance a year to go home and see parents and children they left behind.

    Travel options are very limited with plane tickets costing nearly half of their monthly salary, so most of them choose the train. Their average journey is 700 kilometers, the average travel time is over 15 hours and the country’s tracks now have to handle 390 million travelers every Spring Festival.

    Until recently, migrant workers would have to queue for long hours, sometimes days, just to buy tickets often only to be fleeced by scalpers and they still had to deal with near stampede conditions when travel day finally arrived, but technology has now started to ease this experience. Mobile and digital tickets now account for 70% of sales, greatly reducing the lines at train stations, digital ID scanners have replaced manual checks expediting the boarding process, and artificial intelligence is deployed across the network to optimize travel routes.

    New solutions have been invented, China’s largest taxi hailing platform Didi Dache launched a new service called Hitch which matches car owners are driving home with passengers looking for long-distance routes. In just its third year Hitch served 30 million trips in this past holiday season, the longest of which was further than 1500 miles. That’s about the distance from Miami to Boston.

    China’s “Need Economy” is Driving Innovation

    About a year and a half ago I moved from my home in New York City to Hong Kong to become the CEO of the South China Morning Post and from this new vantage point. I’ve observed something that is far less familiar to me, propelling so much of China’s innovation and many of its entrepreneurs is an overwhelming need economy that is serving an underprivileged populace which has been separated for thirty years from China’s economic boom.

    The stark gaps that exist between the rich and the poor, between urban and rural, or the academic and the unschooled, these gaps form a soil that’s ready for some incredible empowerment. When capital and investment become focused on the needs of people who are hanging to the bottom rungs of an economic ladder that’s when we will start to see the internet truly become a job creator.

    Because of the country’s sheer scale and status as a rising superpower, the needs of its population have created an opportunity for a truly compelling impact. When explaining the rapid growth of the Chinese tech industry, many observers will cite two reasons. The first is the 1.4 billion people that call China home.

    Chines Government: “Active Participation” or “Pervasive Intervention”

    The second is the government’s active participation, or pervasive intervention, depending on how you view it. The central authorities have spent heavily on network infrastructure over the years creating an attractive environment for investment at the same time they’ve insisted on standards and regulation, which has led to fast consensus and therefore fast adoption.

    The world’s largest pool of tech talent exists because of the abundance of educational incentives. Local domestic companies in the past have been protected from international competition by market controls. Of course, you cannot observe the Chinese internet without finding widespread censorship and very serious concerns about dystopian monitoring.

    Yet, the Internet Has Continued to Grow

    Yet the Internet has continued to grow and it is so big, much bigger than I think most of us realize. By the end of 2017, the Chinese internet population had reached 772 million users. It’s larger than the populations of the United States, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Canada combined. Also,  98 percent of them are active on mobile and 92 percent used messaging apps. There are now 650 million digital news consumers and 580 million digital video consumers.

    The country’s largest ecommerce platform Alibaba now boasts 580 million monthly active users. It’s about 80 percent larger than Amazon. On-demand travel between bikes and cars now account for 10 billion trips a year in China. That’s two-thirds of all trips taken around the world. So it’s a very mixed bag the internet exists in a restricted, arguably manipulated from within China, yet it is massive and has vastly improved the lives of its citizens. Even in its imperfection, the growth of the Chinese Internet should not be dismissed and it’s worthy of our closer examination.

    As the Chinese Internet continues to grow, even in its imperfection and restrictions and controls, the lives of its ones forgotten populations have been irrevocably elevated. There is a focus on populations of need, not of want, that has driven a lot of the curiosity, the creativity, and the development that we see. There’s still more to come.

    An Enormous Opportunity: 600 Million Chinese Offline

    In America, internet penetration has now reached 88 percent. In China, the Internet has still only reached 56 percent of the populace. That means there are over 600 million people who are still offline and disconnected. That’s nearly twice the US population and an enormous opportunity.

    Wherever this alternative fuel exists, be it in China or Africa or Southeast Asia or the American heartland we should endeavor to follow it with capital and with effort driving both economic and societal impact all over the world. Just imagine for a minute what more could be possible if the global needs of the underserved become the primary focus of our inventions.

  • 4 Inbound Marketing Tactics to Use for Your B2B Company

    4 Inbound Marketing Tactics to Use for Your B2B Company

    According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, eight out of 10 Americans now shop online. This means that the traditional ways of marketing—cold calls, trade shows, TV, radio—are not as effective as they used to be. In fact, more companies are now turning to inbound marketing to generate leads and close deals.

    To stay ahead of your competition, it’s now essential to have a good inbound marketing strategy in place. Here are four B2B marketing tactics you should be using right now:

    1. Create and Curate

    Useful and well-written content is a powerful weapon in B2B marketing. Posting long-format articles and discussing issues more deeply attracts more visits to your website and leads to higher conversions. A study by Moz showed a distinct correlation between social shares and content length. 

     

    According to the data, readers love this type of content and are more likely to share it.

    You should also post articles to your blog more frequently. A Hubspot report showed that businesses that blogged 10 or more times a month enjoyed three times more traffic than those that blog only once a month.

    And, you can continue to reap the benefits of your old blog posts for years to come. Assuming that they’re good, consider repurposing older posts to generate more organic traffic by sending the content to your email list or posting them on social media.

    However, creating good content takes time and effort, and sometimes a company might not have enough manpower to handle this. No need to worry, though, as curating content will work just fine. It’s a strategy that some marketers have used very effectively. Content curation involves sourcing content that is already on the web and organizing it in a meaningful way for your audience. Curating helps add new content to your site, builds value, converts readers, and helps generate traffic.

    2. Collaborate With People Who Matter

    Connecting and collaborating with experts and influencers creates more opportunities for your brand to be shared with a bigger market. 

    Look for authorities or influencers in your niche and reach out to them. Discuss how working together will benefit all parties involved. Invite an influencer to host a podcast, write a guest blog or take over your social media page for a day. This will add more quality content to your site and boost awareness of your brand.

    3. Get Video Ready

    Scientific research shows that most people process the information they see 60,000 times faster than what they read. So it’s a good idea to incorporate videos and eye-catching graphics in your marketing strategy.

    In 2017, video became the most popular type of content on social media, and the demand for it will only continue to rise among consumers. Because of this, more companies are using the medium to showcase their product, disseminate information, teach consumers, and reach prospective clients. 

    Image result for video most popular type of content on social media 2017

    Don’t forget other visuals like infographics and slides. Infographics have become popular over the last few years because they are an effective way of communicating a lot of data within a short time. These visuals are also easy to share and can be used to recycle your content and make them fresh and engaging.

    4. Improve Your Site’s Speed and Load Time

    A fast website is crucial for any business. People prefer sites that have a quick loading time. Studies have shown that consumers are only willing to wait three seconds for a page to load. Any slower and they are highly likely to abandon the site and search elsewhere. Plus, Google also takes into account the site’s speed in their rankings. So if you want to keep your visitors and rank high in search engines, make sure your website is optimized for speed.

    Consumers today know what they want and how to get it. If you want to capture their attention, you have to step up your inbound marketing game. Adding visuals and writing longer posts are simple tactics but they can go a long way in generating leads and traffic.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Voice Commerce: Is It Living Up to Its Early Hype?

    Voice Commerce: Is It Living Up to Its Early Hype?

    A growing number of people around the world are using the voice search feature in their smartphones and smart speakers to find information, confirm appointments, and even order food. However, one area that voice technology seems to be lagging behind is voice commerce. 

    Rise of Voice Technology

    Telling a computer to retrieve information or to play a specific song was something that Star Trek fans used to see in their favorite show. But thanks to Google and Amazon, voice technology has been steadily rising. As a matter of fact, a GlobalWebIndex report revealed that 27 percent of the world’s online population is already using voice search on their mobile devices. Meanwhile, 1/3 of Internet users have indicated an interest in buying a voice-controlled smart assistant.

    Image result for GlobalWebIndex 27% voice command

    At the moment, Amazon is leading the voice tech charge with its smart speaker, the Amazon Echo. This was soundly proven during the 2017 holiday season when the Echo Dot became the company’s top-selling device and millions of Alexa-enabled smart devices were sold.

    Google Home’s voice assistant isn’t too far behind either. Ever since the Google Home Mini rolled out in October 2017, there’s more than one Google Home device being sold every second. Google Assistant is also now available on 400 million devices. Even Apple has gotten into the game with its Home Pod.

    What’s Taking Voice Commerce So Long?

    Aside from making web searches easier, voice technology can also change the way we make purchases. The GlobalWebIndex report pointed out that the grocery and retail would be significantly impacted by this technology in 2018. However, it appears that consumers are slow in embracing voice-powered eCommerce.

    According to The Information, 50 million people own and use Alexa-enabled devices but only two percent have used them to buy something. And 90 percent of those who did use Alexa to make a purchase have not made a second transaction. This has led to questions regarding voice technology’s feasibility and whether or not its impact is just all hype.

    One reason for consumers’ slow acceptance of voice tech is its irrelevance in particular niches. When it comes to online retailers, displays and graphics are a critical and decisive factor. Unfortunately, voice tech cannot really stand on its own in this industry. It should be considered as a means to augment and support visual channels instead. For instance, consumers who are looking to buy clothes require visuals of the product.

    Meanwhile, businesses, where graphics are less important, will find voice tech useful, like in ordering food, buying groceries, or reserving tickets. These are the kind of transactions that don’t demand a lot of in-store or on-screen assessment.

    Voice tech is also undergoing the inevitable teething pain. Some retailers have also complained about how their product keywords were constantly changed, thus making it harder for consumers to find. There’s also the fact that a lot of people prefer to research things like the prices of goods on their own.

    The Future of Voice Tech in eCommerce

    Consumers might be slow in taking advantage of voice tech in eCommerce, but it doesn’t mean that they will never embrace it. A survey conducted in France, Germany, and the US showed that 40 percent of the 5,000 respondents intend to use voice assistants to buy goods in the next three years.

    [Graphic via Capgemini]

    Tech companies will also be adjusting their designs and strategies to ensure the profitability of voice commerce. Amazon and Google are already taking steps to ensure this happens. For instance, Google’s latest Home assistants now come with a display screen. Instead of a garbled product description, consumers can now enjoy visual options.

    Consumer behavior is also expected to change. As more people become comfortable using voice to activate light switches and televisions, making a purchase via voice tech will feel normal. Businesses will also find more ways to use this technology to encourage purchases.

    One such company is Virgin Trains. The train company partnered with Alexa and Amazon Pay in May to allow customers to book their tickets via an Alexa-enabled device like the Amazon Echo or Dot.

    Image result for virgin trains alexa

    [Graphic via Amazon]

    Natasha Toothill, the head of enterprise over at Amazon Pay, is just one of many who believe that there’s room for growth in voice commerce. She explained at Future Stores Europe that compared to emails and IMs, voice tech is “the most natural way of communicating.”

  • How Mattel Optimizes Marketing on Walmart.com

    How Mattel Optimizes Marketing on Walmart.com

    Mattel is one of the largest distributors and brands sold on Walmart.com. Meredith Wollman manages the customer experience and all of the digital marketing for Mattel products that are sold through the Walmart.com channel. Wollman was interviewed at the eTail Conference by Tammy Everts, Senior Director of Research at SOASTA, now part of Akamai.

    How do you deliver the high conversion rates that Walmart and Mattel expect?

    If you don’t have the fundamentals down no campaign is going to be successful. Before we consider an ad campaign we go back to the cradle and look at setting up the items. We make sure that each item has the correct title, correct brand attribution, the right content in terms of A+ asset, beautiful imagery,  lifestyle imagery, package, out of package, the right videos, whether we have short TV commercials, and any user-generated content.

    Whatever the case may be, making sure that those items are set up and that they are optimized properly is very important to do before we even look at a campaign. No campaign will be successful if the item isn’t set up properly and they aren’t engaging for the consumers and there aren’t reviews already on the product.

    How do you plan a campaign for Mattel on Walmart.com?

    We are looking at what are our big bets? Where do we have the biggest investment in terms of the products that we want to put in front of the consumer? Every campaign looks at our on-hand inventory and where we are hoping on having the consumer lean in big. What we do is set up the campaign around that. We determine that if we can only have 5 or 6 hero images, what are those going to be? What are the products that we are going to use as the enticement for the consumer to come in and look at more?

    Then, which brands are we going to focus on? We also look at all of the analytics in terms of geo-targeting. In this particular zip code, are consumers leaning in towards our latin Barbie? Are they leaning in towards our African American Barbie? We want to really personalize what shows up on the screen for the consumers so they are seeing what they want to see and what they didn’t even know that they wanted to see.

    It’s Definitely a Data-Driven Process…

    I think the days of gut testing everything have gone the way of the Dodo Bird. Everything has to be data-driven now. That doesn’t mean that you can’t test something new, we do that all of the time. We really look at the data first to determine which products, where, who, when and how. All of those key factors are looked at when determining what we are going to put forward. It has to be data-driven.

    Most Mattel Shoppers Start on Mobile in the Store

    About 75 percent of our consumers start their journey on mobile. They are either in the store looking at a product and then they go on their phone and look for reviews or they are in the store and looking at products to see how quickly it could be shipped. A lot of people start their journey online which is why it’s so important to be mobile optimized.

    They don’t all necessarily buy online but that’s where they start their journey. Some will buy online but then go pick up in the store, which is actually considered a store purchase.

    How are conversions for Mattel on Walmart.com?

    They are slightly higher than the norm of 4-6 percent. If you are hitting the consumer when they want to see the product and with the product, they want to see you will, of course, have a greater conversion rate. It comes down to being scientific and artful at the same time about not necessarily telling the consumer what we want them to know, but giving the consumer the information that they want.

    Those two don’t always mesh as easily as we’d like because we have things we want to share at certain times, but that’s not always what works best for the consumer. The better we understand the consumer and what they want and when they want it the more successful the campaign. It’s always the case when we are communicating something that we want them to know in the time frame that we want them to know that it’s not nearly as successful.

    Akamai Study Shows Load Time Impacts Revenue Significantly

    A study by Akamai shows that every 1 second of load time improvement on Walmart.com equaled a 2% conversion rate increase.


    Also, for every 100ms of improvement, incremental revenue grew by 1%. All ecommerce sites can benefit from increasing both the speed and efficiency of the consumer experience.

  • Walmart May Bring Customer Service Drones to Its Stores Soon, Retailer Files Patents

    Walmart May Bring Customer Service Drones to Its Stores Soon, Retailer Files Patents

    Walmart has always been known to push boundaries. The company is continuing this innovative culture with its recent filing of patents for keeping track of inventory, a store drone and other technologies aimed at changing how customers shops.

    Walmart is no stranger to filing patents. The company has reportedly filed 1,400 patents since 2009, all of which focused on technology that enhances their customers’ in-store experience. One of the newly filed patents pertains to a sensing device designed to make smart shopping carts that can communicate with a mobile device. This can make searching for grocery items go more smoothly.

    Meanwhile, several of the patents that were filed are geared towards sensing and managing inventory levels and one that can track customers via wearables.

    Walmart has also filed two patents for autonomous technology. One is for tech that can detect items or products in containers while the other can gather vehicle information, like size, temperature, pre- and post-delivery weight, using an intricate system of sensors, an interface, and a processor.

    One patent that could drastically change how things are done at Walmart is for a drone that could assist customers as they shop in the store. According to the patent outline, a customer can call the drone through a mobile device that’s either the customer’s own or one that’s been provided by the store. The drone can be used to navigate around the store or to verify product price.

    The patent detailed how the device can control the aerial drone to guide the user to the location of the item in the store. The drone could also give a visual projection to show the shopper what direction they should take or provide audio instructions.

    There’s also the possibility of Walmart utilizing a variety of drones to perform different tasks. Each drone will reportedly have its own distinct features based on its assigned job.

    While the patents appear promising, there’s no guarantee that they will be realized. Most of the time, the patents companies file are never realized.

    However, Walmart’s recent patent filing underlines just how serious the company is in its bid to compete against Amazon and other established retailers. It has already increased the prices of products bought online and has started producing and selling its very own meal kits. Walmart has also signed an exclusive deal with Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce company, to sell Kobo e-readers.

    Featured image via Pixabay

  • Alibaba Acquires Food Delivery Service Ele.me for $9.5 Billion

    Alibaba Acquires Food Delivery Service Ele.me for $9.5 Billion

    Alibaba is set to gain full control of Ele.me as it revs up on its plan to have a stronger foothold in China’s burgeoning market for quick delivery services.

    A statement released by Alibaba hinted of an enterprise valuation for Ele.me pegged at $9.5 billion. However, the company has not given any exact figures on how much it’s paying for the startup. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, its affiliate Ant Financial and Micro Financial Services Group Co. already have 43 percent of Ele.me’s voting shares. The online retail giant has reportedly paid for the deal in cash and has already acquired all of Baidu Inc.’s shares.

    Ele.me, which roughly translates to “hungry yet?” operates a multitude of delivery personnel on motorbikes all across the country. The company is known for its 30-minute delivery commitment to users. Ele.me is also fighting for top spot in the local delivery service industry against Meituan Dianping, a fellow startup backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd., a fierce rival of Alibaba.

    Delivery service is one of the fastest growing industries in China as more and more consumers are using their mobile devices to order food, purchase movie tickets, schedule beauty treatments or book hotel rooms. Capturing this market is also a strategic move for both Alibaba and Tencent as it also puts their payment services systems in the spotlight.

    The idea was mostly confirmed in an internal email sent by Daniel Zhang, Alibaba’s chief executive officer to his staff. In it, Zhang emphasized how “food delivery is the single most important entry point in the local services sector because its one of the most commonly used applications.”

    “We can already see that a vast, multi-dimensional local instant delivery network formed through a food delivery service will be an essential piece of the commerce infrastructure,” Zhang wrote.

    Alibaba’s acquisition of Ele.me is just the latest in a series of moves aimed to help the company deal with an increasingly competitive environment. The company is also taking over delivery partner Cainiao and has recently invested another $2 billion in the Lazada Group.

  • 5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Benefits eCommerce Businesses

    5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Benefits eCommerce Businesses

    Over the past few years, more people have turned to online shopping instead of brick-and-mortar stores because of convenience. In 2017, eCommerce businesses accounted for 9.1 percent of US retail sales during the fourth quarter, higher than the 8.2 percent share of the previous year.

    Amidst online sales growth and positive prospects of eCommerce, nearly half of the industry’s revenue comes from Amazon. This prompted other online retailers to tap into artificial intelligence, or AI, in gaining an edge over the eCommerce giant through personalized shopping experience. In utilizing AI for their businesses, retailers gain critical analytical data on consumers, allowing them to improve customer experience.

    From effective marketing strategies to efficient sales process, here’s a look at how using AI will benefit online retailers.

    1. Easier Product Searching

    Most sales online begin with a search, and if the results displayed are not relevant, this can prompt customers to look somewhere else. Keyword-based search is the usual method for websites to return a list of items based on entered words and description. However, this might not be the most accurate way to generate relevant results.

    To address this, a visual search engine powered by AI allows customers to send an image instead and discover similar products on your website. High-end retailer Neiman Marcus first announced said feature on its mobile app in 2015, recognizing the customer’s need to find related results based on photos.  

    Related image

    Image via Neiman Marcus website

    2. Better Customer Understanding

    Feedback, whether posted on social media or review sites, allows businesses to quickly gain valuable insights about their products. Although 40 percent of sales and marketing leaders acknowledge that word of mouth is crucial to a brand’s success on social media, less than half of these companies use this information for their customer analytics.

    By using AI and natural language processing (NLP), retailers can sift through every online feedback, be it positive, negative, or neutral, to learn more about customer expectations and respond accordingly.   

    3. Personalized Marketing Strategy

    AI-powered recommendation engines filter relevant information from numerous data about a buyer’s interest, preference, and behaviors on the site. Based on timely insights gathered, an online merchant suggests items uniquely patterned after your recent activity and past purchases on the site.

    This shopping experience mimicking the personal feel of brick-and-mortar stores translates to customer satisfaction and spending. In fact, retailers with personalized strategies have observed sales growth of 6-10 percent, two to three times faster than others that don’t, according to Boston Consulting Group study.

    4. Immediate Customer Service

    Chatbots and virtual shopping assistants, powered by AI, provide direct and quick customer engagement. For eCommerce businesses, chatbots can be used to automate customer service messages, send order-related information, resolve issues, and interact with clients in real-time. By using NLP to understand meaning and context of your customers’ messages, these virtual assistants can take on your brand’s personality and voice in creating human-like interaction.

    Image result for chatbot customer service

    Image via livingactor.com

    In a survey done by Oracle on 800 sales and marketing leaders, about 80% want to use chatbots in their businesses by 2020 as a way to automate some processes and improve customer experience.

    5. Systematic Sales Process

    Prior to social media, sales strategies include cold-calling and ad placements in the hopes of targeting the right market. These days, AI is used to gather patterns and numbers to help businesses convert queries to actual sales through data-driven feedback.

    Nowadays, people turn to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram for shopping inspiration—a trove of data for AI companies like Yotpo to utilize in developing digital marketing tools. With proper use of user-generated content, customers discover products in a subtler, more natural way.  

    “Artificial intelligence programs can scan through millions of events to find patterns and correlations that we just would not notice on a day to day basis. So it might notice a correlation between sending a specific pitch deck to prospective clients before calling them results in better conversions,” Uzi Shmilovici, chief executive officer of Base CRM, explained.

    Digitally native retailers have recognized the importance of creating personalized shopping experience through the use of AI as a way to give them an edge over others offering the same products. By leveraging AI-driven innovations, smaller eCommerce businesses, as well as bigger retailers like Amazon, get the leg up in attracting and retaining their customers. 

  • Amazon Gets Patent for Delivery Drones with Gesture and Voice Recognition

    Amazon Gets Patent for Delivery Drones with Gesture and Voice Recognition

    Amazon has obtained approval on a new patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a delivery drone that can respond to human gestures and voices on Tuesday.

    The patent, filed in July 2016 and published recently, is in line with the company’s goal to maintain a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles that will rapidly deliver packages in 30 minutes or less. Through visual cues, voice commands, and a person’s gestures, the drone can establish its flight path, release the package, or ask humans about the delivery.

    Patent illustration for Amazon drone

    The document included several illustrations of the design, one of which shows the delivery drone and a man outside his home. He was wildly flailing his arms in what Amazon called an “unwelcoming manner,” a gesture as if to shoo away the drone overhead. A blank voice bubble suggests possible voice commands for the drone.

    A diagram of the drone’s communication system includes speakers and microphones, as well as navigation components like depth sensors and cameras to detect visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light. Through its array of sensors, the delivery drone would recognize audible and visible gestures and react accordingly.

    The patent also detailed the steps a drone would take when it reads body language—thanks to its human gestures database—as it delivers the package. Once it’s clear to deliver, the drone releases the parcels from the air or lands on a certain spot to place the package. It would be able to verify the recipient’s identity via an app, speech recognition, or remote operator.

    Moreover, the delivery drone can add new movements to its database to improve the accuracy of its gesture-recognition system. “In some examples, when in the learning context, a human operator may interact with the UAV in order to ‘teach’ the UAV how to react given certain gestures, circumstances, and the like,” the patent stated.

    The eCommerce giant has declined to comment on the gesture-recognition concept, but this isn’t the first time that Amazon has applied for something this ambitious. Since announcing plans to design an air delivery service, the company filed patents for mobile flying warehouses by using airships and self-destructing drones.  

    [Featured image via Amazon]

  • Google Introduces Shopping Actions to Help Online Retailers Take On Amazon

    Google Introduces Shopping Actions to Help Online Retailers Take On Amazon

    On Monday, Google announced a program called Shopping Actions to help retailers take on the eCommerce giant Amazon. Under the program, merchants are allowed to list their products across the search engine’s platforms—Google Search, Google Express shopping service, and Google Assistant on mobile devices and smart speakers like Google Home.

    The program gives consumers a universal shopping cart available on mobile, desktop, or voice-activated smart speakers. Features such as one-click re-ordering, personalized recommendations, and basket-building are expected to increase shopper loyalty and engagement. By linking your existing shopping account with Google, the feature will suggest other related products based on previous purchase history and browsing activities.

    Aside from a universal cart, customers can share their shopping list, or checkout instantly with saved payment credentials through the Google-hosted payment flow.

    In exchange for the sponsored listing and integration with loyalty programs, Google only gets a cut from every successful purchase, unlike its existing pay-per-click ads where businesses pay for exposure.

    Google’s move to help retailers compete against Amazon stemmed from the company’s observation of how millions of consumers sent image searches of products asking where to buy such items. In the last two years, this type of mobile searches surged by 85 percent. Daniel Alegre, Google’s president for retail and shopping, pointed out this trend in a recent interview with Reuters.

    And with most search results ending with an Amazon purchase, Google has found a way to help retail chains in keeping those customers.

    “We have taken a fundamentally different approach from the likes of Amazon because we see ourselves as an enabler of retail,” Alegre pointed out. “We see ourselves as part of a solution for retailers to be able to drive better transactions … and get closer to the consumer.”

    Based on early results of the Shopping Actions tool, merchants noticed that the average size of a customer’s shopping basket increased by 30 percent, pointing to a more convenient, seamless shopping experience. Ulta Beauty has seen its average order value jump by 35 percent after its partnership with Google. After partnering for six months, Target said that its Google Express baskets have expanded by almost 20 percent.

    Furthermore, retailers are eager to join the growing voice shopping market – the next step for eCommerce – currently dominated by Amazon’s Echo devices. Prior to Shopping Actions, retailers Target and Walmart have teamed up with the search giant to allow voice-based shopping through Google Assistant and integration with Google Express.

    Google has partnered with big retailers such as Target, Walmart, Costco, Ulta Beauty, and Home Depot for this program. Shopping Actions is available to any retailer in the US.

    [Featured image via Google]

  • Instagram Launches Shoppable Posts in 8 New Countries

    Instagram Launches Shoppable Posts in 8 New Countries

    Instagram is planning to increase its share in the eCommerce segment by expanding its shopping feature abroad. Previously available only in the US, the Facebook-owned photo and video sharing app now allows shoppable posts for businesses located in an additional eight countries.

    Instagram is expanding its shopping feature to other countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The feature was first tested in November of 2016 before it was introduced to US users of the app last year.

    Shoppable organic posts allow businesses to add eCommerce links to their social media posts. This makes it easier for brands to drive additional traffic to their eCommerce sites.

    The shopping feature acts as a shop window that allows users to explore products. Tapping on a post will display the product’s price as well as a link which brings Instagram users to the product page within the platform. The post shows additional product details as well as similar products and other items being offered by the brand. If the user is interested, they can then click on the “Shop Now” button which redirects them to the actual eCommerce site of the brand.

    The shopping feature’s international expansion can add more revenue to the app and increase the company’s share in the global eCommerce segment. Instagram noted an increase in eCommerce activity on the platform with more than 200 million users visiting at least one Instagram business profile daily. The feature was designed to entice users who love to shop as it noted that about half of its US-based active users follow a shopping business account.

    Given the feature’s popularity among Instagram users, many online stores could see a significant boost to their bottom line by adding it to their marketing strategy. According to Lulus Vice President of Marketing Noelle Sandler, their website traffic from the platform increased by 44 percent since shoppable organic posts were introduced last year.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Alibaba Invests Additional $2 Billion in Lazada, Seeks to Dominate SE Asia eCommerce Market

    Alibaba Invests Additional $2 Billion in Lazada, Seeks to Dominate SE Asia eCommerce Market

    Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba announced Monday that it would be investing an extra $2 billion in Lazada as part of the company’s continued expansion in Southeast Asia.

    Alibaba gained control of the Singapore-based company way back in 2016 with an initial investment of $1 billion. Jack Ma’s company further strengthened its hold on the online retailer last year when it poured in another billion dollars of investment. With it, Alibaba’s stakes in Lazada increased from 51 percent to 83 percent.

    Taking into account the recent announcement, Alibaba has already invested a total of $4 billion on Lazada. The online retailer conducts operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

    Along with the investment came news of some major changes in Lazada’s organization. Lucy Peng, Lazada’s current chairwoman and Alibaba co-founder, will be taking over as CEO from current chief Maximilian Bittner. Meanwhile, Bittner will be taking on a senior advisory post to help in the transition. He will also be assisting in developing strategies for the company’s future international growth.

    Alibaba’s move is not surprising, as Southeast Asia is fast becoming a very profitable market for eCommerce businesses now that millions of Internet users have discovered the joys of online shopping.

    Peng knows this too well, saying in a statement that due to the “young population, high mobile penetration and just 3 percent of the region’s retail sales currently conducted online,” Alibaba is extremely confident in its decision to double down on the region.

    “Lazada is well-positioned for the next phase of development of Internet-enabled commerce in this region, and we are excited about the incredible opportunities for supercharged growth,” Peng added.

    The region’s online economy is expected to grow by as much as $200 billion by 2025, with this growth largely driven by eCommerce.

    Other companies are also trying to get a piece of the eCommerce pie. Last year, Amazon launched Prime Now in Singapore and introduced its same-day express delivery system to the country.

    [Featured image via Alibaba]

  • Win the Amazon Buy Box and Watch Your Sales Soar in 2018

    Win the Amazon Buy Box and Watch Your Sales Soar in 2018

    Amazon is now one of the ten largest retailers in the world. A study by One Click Retail also determined that the online giant accounted for about 44 percent of all eCommerce sales in 2017. These two reasons alone should be enough to convince you about the importance of integrating Amazon into your sales strategy.

    However, simply creating an account and selling on Amazon is not enough. After all, there are millions of third-party sellers on the site, and a lot of them even offer the same merchandise as you. If you want more shoppers to see your product and boost your sales, you need to appear in Amazon’s vaunted Buy Box.

    What’s a Buy Box?

    The Amazon Buy Box is the golden ticket for e-retailers because winning it means high visibility and amazing sales numbers. This is the white box found on the right of the product detail page, where shoppers can add the items they plan on purchasing.

    When customers search for a product on Amazon, photos and details of the product appear, along with an “Add to Basket” or “Add to Cart” button. Once the customer clicks on the yellow button, the lucky seller who has the Buy Box at that particular moment will get the sale.

    Image result for amazon buy box

    Image via websitemagazine.com

    There’s another box underneath the Buy Box for the other sellers. However, 82 percent of shoppers tend to just click on the yellow button while 18 percent of customers really take the time to scroll through other sellers and compare prices, delivery methods, and seller feedback. So it’s easy to see why the Buy Box is a prime commodity among third-party sellers.

    Advantages of Winning the Buy Box

    Retailers who win the Buy Box have a huge advantage over their rivals, especially now that the majority of consumers are doing their shopping online and more often than not, they make their purchases on Amazon.

    Winning the box is also essential now that mobile shopping is growing rapidly. As a matter of fact, shopping on Amazon’s mobile app increased by 56 percent globally and is expected to continue growing. Unfortunately, while the “Add to Cart” button can still be seen under the product image and details in the app, shoppers can’t view other sellers easily. So if you want to secure more sales, it’s vital that you win the Buy Box.

    How to Win Amazon’s Buy Box

    In order to win the coveted Buy Box, you have to have the following key requirements.

    • Have a Professional Seller account: Retailers with a Professional Amazon Sellers account are the only ones who have a shot at winning the Buy Box. The company’s algorithm does not include Basic Seller or Individual accounts. So if you want that box, make sure to upgrade to a Professional account.
    • Be Buy Box Eligible: You should be Buy Box Eligible for a specific product if you’re planning to compete for Buy Box sales. This means you have to have been trading for a minimum of two to six months. You should also have a history of successful sales. Closing a large number of sales proves your consistency and trustworthiness. Good customer metrics and great customer service are also needed to be eligible. You can also improve your chances by fast-tracking your eligibility via the Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA).
    • Products Should be New: Only new products can win a place in the Buy Box as the company wants to ensure that only products of high-quality and in good condition are being promoted. If you’re selling pre-loved items, you can be eligible for the Used Buy Box, which is distinct from the main box.
    • Have Enough Items: Having available stocks will certainly boost your chances here. After all, you can’t sell something if you don’t have it on-hand. Amazon also wants to minimize incidents of customers being disappointed when they reach checkout only to discover the item is sold out. So it’s crucial that you have enough stock and that your inventory is updated. Otherwise, your seller metrics will go down and your chances of getting the Buy Box will dwindle.

    Winning Amazon’s Buy Box will undoubtedly help boost your sales and enhance your reputation as a successful seller. But you have to be ready for some strict competition if you’re planning to go for the box. Remember that there’s no solid way to beat your rivals and ensure you win the Buy Box. All you can do is monitor your metrics and focus on key factors like having Prime products, becoming an FBA seller, having excellent customer service and getting positive feedback from happy shoppers.

  • How Your Business Can Identify and Capitalize on Micro-Moments

    How Your Business Can Identify and Capitalize on Micro-Moments

    There’s no question that smartphones have become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives. Studies have shown that 46% of Americans reach for their phones first thing in the morning, while 91% of people automatically reach for a mobile device to check on something when doing a task.

    This reliance on smartphones has become so pervasive that many industries are putting more effort into targeting mobile users than those on conventional devices like a desktop. It’s a smart move since turning even a small segment of these users into customers can yield huge profits. An effective way for companies to profit from this group is to take advantage of “micro-moments.”

    What are Micro-Moments?

    Google coined the term “micro-moments” in 2015 to identify the exact points in time that lead to a consumer finally making a purchase. The company described these moments as “critical touch points within today’s customer journey, and when added together, they ultimately determine how a journey ends.”

    Essentially, these are the critical points where someone takes to their device (which is most often a smartphone) and takes steps regarding a need. It’s the intersection of what a customer wants and needs at the moment and what they know.

    Google has determined four key moments based on the consumer: “I want to do,” “I want to know,” “I want to buy” and “I want to go.” Most decisions made by shoppers can be traced to one of those four moments. For instance, a shopper who’s headed to Turkey would research on what to “do” in that country. A travel agency can come up with a promo that will arrange a trip to Istanbul’s famous Blue Mosque.

    Image result for micro moments

    [Graphic via Think with Google]

    How to Capitalize on Micro-Moments

    Now that the importance of micro-moments have been established and their constant evolution noted, companies have to think about how they can use these instances to their advantage. Here are some things to consider if you want to catch that perfect micro-moment with a customer:

    1. Put Your Business Profile Out There

    It pays to ensure that your business profile is accurate and completely filled out on Google, particularly if you have a physical storefront. There has been an increase in “near me” or “right here” searches, as more users are looking for a place to go for a certain activity. Getting your business profile up will help with micro-moments where a customer wants to “do” something or “go” somewhere. Google’s Local Guides program assists users in verifying if your profile information is accurate.

    2. Flaunt Your Value With Original and Significant Content

    The need to know is one micro-moment that could hit you several times a day. This is why people are always looking for content on eCommerce sites. Having unique and relevant content is a great way to introduce your business to shoppers who are searching for information on either a particular product or on something that has captured their interest. Regardless of whether it’s a short how-to video or some DIY tips, make sure to flaunt your value by offering good content that appeals at the moment.

    3. Speed is of the Essence

    Speed is key if you want to use micro-moments to your advantage. When asked, almost half of customers admit that they will leave a website if it’s unresponsive or takes too long to load. People also don’t like having to go through different windows or steps just to get information. Optimizing your site for mobile devices and streamlining your buying process is a good way to entice consumers to go to your page and stay.

    4. Improve User Interface

    Another area that brands should focus on is how the user experiences their website and content. When a potential customer goes to your site or a specific page, what will they see? Will they be able to find what they’re looking for quickly or are they going to spend time wading through redundant information?

    Aside from ensuring that information is accessed quickly, transactions should also be simplified. Complicated checkout pages or a cart that requires several clicks in order to finish a purchase will turn consumers off. There should also be fewer distractions on the checkout pages, especially those on mobile devices, as these further cut down the odds of conversions. The goal is to make shopping quick, fun, and simple.

    Companies have to be ready to take advantage of micro-moments. This means that business has to do some forward thinking to anticipate what their customers would need. Changes may also need to be made to ensure that websites are optimized for mobile.  

    [Featured image via ThinkWithGoogle]