Cyber Monday 2013: Record-Breaking Sales and an Increase in the Usage of Mobile Devices

As expected, sales for this year’s Cyber Monday crushed the previous year with an increase of 18 percent, reaching a total of $1.735 billion, according to ComScore. In fact, since its inception in 2005, Cyber Monday has continued to grow and has been widely known as the largest online shopping day for several years. Many choose to shop online for Cyber Monday rather than facing the crowds on the biggest shopping day of the year for retailers, Black Friday, as the deals are comparable and the convenience of shopping from home is more appealing. Further, given its continued growth in popularity, Cyber Monday is evolving in to a weeklong event as many retailers continue to offer promotions through Friday.

In addition to a major increase in sales on Cyber Monday, the way consumers shopped differed. According to a Forbes article, more consumers chose to use their mobile devices in 2013 with an increase of 55.4 percent compared to 2012. In total, mobile sales accounted for 17 percent of total Cyber Monday sales.

To break down mobile usage further, 19.7 percent of shoppers chose to browse eCommerce websites using their mobile devices, while 11.5 percent opted to browse on their tablet. However, when it came to making purchases, 11.7 percent chose to proceed through checkout on a tablet device, while just 5.5 percent did so on a mobile device. Average sale per order was also higher on tablets coming in at $126.30. Average sale per order on a smartphone was $106.49.

Another sales driving factor for this year’s online shopping event was social triggers. According to a report put together by Adobe Systems, Inc., between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, consumers who landed on a retailer’s website by clicking on a link from a social network spent $148 million online.

There are many great opportunities that come with having an eCommerce website, especially one that features responsive web design, which makes a site display in an easily digestible format across varying screen sizes. On top of selling online, when it comes to events like Cyber Monday, or even Black Friday, businesses who have an online store are able to offer promotions, like free shipping or buy one get one specials. Mobile coupons are another tool that can be used to entice consumers and further drive sales online or in brick-and-mortar locations during these and other big online shopping events. Further, social interaction can play a significant role with promotions and increasing the overall visibility of your business’ product portfolio. To take advantage of any of these features or to start selling online with a custom web store, contact our sales team today.

Avoid Mass Chaos: Shop Online Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Each year, Black Friday is taken to new extremes and 2013 will be no exception. This season, many retailers plan to open their doors Thursday evening and continue sales through Friday. Some advertisers are even referring to the shopping event as “Black Thursday.” So now, what was once a day reserved for a sit-down dinner with loved ones has turned in to an opportunity for retailers to turn a profit. This has caused a great deal of controversy, however, since consumers are always looking for a deal, 2013 is sure to be another record breaking year for total Black Friday sales, especially since the time frame is longer.

For consumers who disagree with 2013’s lengthened Black Friday extravaganza, there is one clear option, and that is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday falls on the Monday after Black Friday. For 2013, that Monday is December 2. This shopping event is the online version of Black Friday. Businesses that sell online offer great deals at varying times throughout the day, just like their brick and mortar locations do on Black Thursday. This means consumers can spend Thanksgiving with their families, enjoy a long holiday weekend and still get a head start on Christmas shopping with great deals on Cyber Monday.

There are many benefits to Cyber Monday. Those who opt to shop online can avoid large crowds, long lines and the extremists who will do anything to get the products they want that are on sale. Further, those who shop on Cyber Monday receive similar deals to those who go out and face the crowds on Black Friday and they get to do so from the convenience of their own home. That means pajamas are acceptable attire. Free shipping is almost a given on Cyber Monday and this year, mobile commerce will have a big impact.

We heard it last year and the year before that, but it is still true this year; the holiday shopping season in 2013 will be another record breaking year. That is due in part to Cyber Monday. What started as marketing hype to boost online sales in 2005 has grown in to a huge success. For 2013, according to Nielsen, 85 percent of consumers will skip Black Friday and instead, 46 percent said they will shop online Cyber Monday. Also according to Nielsen, online shopping will increase on Black Friday; 51 percent of consumers who will shop on Black Friday intend to do so online.

When it comes to what mobile device consumers will use to shop online, Nielsen found that 37 percent will use tablets and 27 percent will use their smartphones.

Black Friday is the kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Moving forward, businesses will need to consider strategies for brick and mortar locations as well as for their online stores. Need an eCommerce store to grow your business online? Or perhaps just a mobile-optimized website? Contact Azox today!

In the meantime, look for more detailed statistics from us next week. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Flipboard App Joins the World of eCommerce Just in Time for the Holiday Season

Perhaps you’ve heard of an app called Flipboard? If you’re not part of the millions of people already using Flipboard, this app, available from the Apple App Store or Google Play, allows users to create their own personal magazines filled with what is interesting or relevant to them. Social networks can be added and RSS feeds can also be populated with favorite blog sites. This app is a one-stop solution for managing a user's personal preferred Internet content. Users can simply install a “Flip It Bookmarklet” button to their web browser that makes it easy to add content from the web to their magazines or browse through the app and add or remove links via their mobile device.

Today, Flipboard announced its latest addition: eCommerce.

This new addition allows Flipboard users to create custom catalogs filled with goods they would like to purchase or just goods they simply like. These items can be added from almost any site online. When a product listing is selected, the user is either taken directly to the website or to a product layout inside Flipboard. This is determined based on whether or not the seller of the good is a partner, which leads to the second portion of the announcement. Several partnerships were formed to roll out this new feature, including Banana Republic, eBay, ModCloth and Etsy. Celebrities are getting involved with Flipboard’s shopping vertical as well, including actress Alyssa Milano and chef Daniel Boulud. These public figures are creating their own custom shopping catalogs that users can browse. Purchases can also be made from Flipboard with just a few clicks.

This new addition opens up a while new vertical for the app. Users have already created millions of custom magazines; now they have the option to create custom catalogs. These might be, “Running Gear,” “Top Holiday Gift Ideas 2013,” or “Home Decoration Inspirations.” The possibilities are endless.

Does your business have a web store? Don’t miss out on great opportunities like these by not growing your business online. With the holiday season fast approaching, we have options that can get your online storefront up and running quick and easy so you can start to experience the benefits of eCommerce. Contact our sales team today to learn about eCommerce options for your ERP platform.

New Live B2B Ecommerce Websites from Azox

A&M Marine, Inc. has gone live with Azox eSource B2B this week. The business sells marine accessories and parts and has utilized the standard package offered by Azox to create an online catalog for users to log in to and browse their product offerings. Users can place orders from this environment and return users have the option to use the Express Lane feature that helps expedite the order process.

Express Lane is a feature offered by Azox that allows a user to upload either a comma delimited (CSV) or tab delimited (Text) file containing item numbers and quantities to populate a list. Once the file has been successfully uploaded, the user then clicks the “validate” button and as long as all numbers are correct, the list can be added to the shopping cart. This is a useful feature for customers who regularly order the same products.

Azox also went live with another B2B ecommerce website this week. The second live site was developed for Goodness Greeness, which is a business focused on providing fresh, organic produce in the Midwest. This website also requires that users log in before seeing the company’s products. Once logged in, users can browse and place orders from this secure environment. Goodness Greeness uses the Express Lane features as well to make it easy for return customers to place reorders quickly.

Azox is an established ecommerce solution provider in the Microsoft Dynamics community. The ecommerce solution from Azox is available in four different environments; business, consumer, employee and mobile. For more information about these solutions, visit this web page. In addition to ecommerce, Azox also offers a payment processing solution and online bill pay. These solutions all offer seamless integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP. Schedule a personal demo with our sales team today to see any of these products in action.

Survey Shows that Frequent and Occasional Online Shoppers Find Shopping Cart Reminder Emails to be Helpful

Marketers are always looking for new ways to drive sales by examining data and trying different strategies. One piece of data often looked by marketers who work for businesses with ecommerce websites is abandoned shopping carts. A recent survey shows that some consumers find reminders about these abandoned carts to be helpful. So, as an online retailer, do you send out shopping cart reminder emails to customers? If not, you may be missing out on a good opportunity.

This August, 1,003 consumers in the United States who had purchased something online within the last year were surveyed to determine how they feel about receiving such emails. Did they find them to be bothersome or helpful? These shoppers were classified into three groups, frequent shoppers, occasional shoppers and infrequent shoppers. Read on to learn more, or check out the full article from Marketing Charts here.

The question asked for this survey was whether or not the consumer expected to receive a reminder email about their abandoned cart:

Of all survey respondents categorized as frequent shoppers, 59 percent said shopping cart reminder emails were helpful. Of this group, 31 percent thought this type of email was annoying and 26 percent felt they were intrusive.

With occasional online shoppers, 51 percent felt that these reminder emails here helpful. Just 29 percent said they were annoying and 23 percent found them to be intrusive.

When it came to infrequent shoppers, the results changed a bit. Of those surveyed and categorized in this group, 35 percent found shopping cart reminder emails to be helpful, 37 percent said they were annoying and 29 percent thought of them as intrusive.

When it comes to email marketing, the last thing a business wants to do is be perceived as intrusive or annoying. This is applicable to more than just shopping cart reminder emails. While too many emails or emails that do not provide value may result in a consumer marking inbox items from a business as spam, the results of this survey show that those who shop online frequently or occasionally respond well to shopping cart reminders. So, for a business that has an ecommerce website, take advantage of this marketing opportunity. Consider segmenting your email lists by frequent, occasional and infrequent shoppers and send out reminder emails accordingly.

Learn More About E-Commerce and Payment Processing Solutions From Azox By Attending a Webinar in October

Join us Thursday or Friday this week to see a live demo of our ecommerce and payment processing solutions for Microsoft Dynamics users. Then you can catch a live demo of our Online Bill Pay solution later this month.

IntegratedE-Commerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP

Thursday, October 10, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Attend this webinar to see a live demo of eSource, our e-commerce solution for Microsoft Dynamics users. This product from Azox is packed full of all the features consumers demand in a web store. From advanced search, refine and browse capabilities and related product suggestions to shipping and tax calculations, Azox eSource allows you to link web store with an internal ERP to provide an automated system for accepting orders. Azox eSource can be implemented in several different environments including B2B, B2C, an employee-facing Sales Portal and Mobile Stores, which are compatible with smartphone and tablet devices. These web stores are customizable and easy to edit/update using drag and drop web parts and a WYSIWYG editor, which are all built in to the CMS.

SecureCredit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP

Friday, October 11, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Azox Credit Card Extension (CCE) is a payment processing solution for Microsoft Dynamics users. This software piece makes it possible to accept and process payments in an ERP from a web store. All major credit cards are accepted as well as payments made using an ACH account. With CCE, a business can pre-authorize, post-authorize, sale, void and credit. CCE also integrates with multiple gateways to provide reliable payment processing for Microsoft Dynamics users. Join us for this webinar to learn more about this solution.

Advantagesof Online Bill Pay for Microsoft Dynamics GP

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Learn about the advantages of providing your customers with an online bill pay option from your web store when you attend this webinar. Consumers want convenience and an online bill pay portal provides just that. This solution from Azox creates s secure portal for customers to log in to that allows them to view, print and pay open invoices. All major credit cards are accepted as well as payments made from and ACH account.

Follow the links provided to register for these free events. To find more information about these products, visit our website or contact the Azox sales team.

Our Latest Live Ecommerce Projects: One B2B Website with Sales Portal Environment and One B2C Website

Check out our latest finished products! Azox has gone live with two new ecommerce websites this week.

The first launch was for B&G Sales, a business specializing in closeout sales. From home goods, gifts, toys and holiday items to lawn and garden products, collectibles and more, what you can find on this company’s new ecommerce website is expansive.

B&G Sales has a B2B (business-to-business) web store as well as an E2B (employee-to-business). These environments were built using Azox eSource B2B and Sales Portal. When a customer is logged in to B&G Sales’s web store, they are able to browse products by category, for example, furniture or pet supplies. When a product is selected, on the item detail page, deeper information is available specific to that piece of merchandise including a description, inventory availability and price. When a selection has been made, the customer can add items to their cart and proceed through checkout. Customers can also access their own account information when logged in to the B&G Sales’ B2B ecommerce website.

Sales Portal, the other ecommerce environment used by B&G Sales, is an internal portal for customer service or sales representatives to use to better serve customers. From this E2B environment, staff members are able to access customer accounts to help them place orders, view account history or update personal information. Invoices can also be sent from this environment.

The second website Azox launched this week was for Sky Lantern, another B2C (business-to-consumer) ecommerce website for Big Fireworks, one of our existing customers. Sky Lantern’s B2C website sells lanterns, LED products and ice fountains. This website is open to all users, but in order to make a purchase, an account must be created. Users are able to browse the products listed on this site by category. As with the other website launched this week, when a product is selected, greater detail is provided, including pricing information and inventory availability.

Azox is a leading provider or ecommerce and payment processing solutions for Microsoft Dynamics users. To learn more about out ecommerce products, follow this link.

eSource 3.5: The Latest Ecommerce Solution from Azox

Azox has launched eSource 3.5, the latest version of our ecommerce solution for Microsoft Dynamics GP. In addition to updates and other general fixes, several new features will be added.

URL Rewrite
This new feature will allow you to customize your web store’s URLs. This allows you to create URLs that are search engine friendly and look more relevant to the web page. This will allow you to promote specific web pages in your marketing with an easy-to-remember link. It will also help with your web store’s SEO.

Product Reviews
Consumers often rely on another customer’s review just like they would a personal recommendation. With this new feature, your web store will be able to support product reviews. In addition to helping consumers make buying decisions, product reviews also add more quality content to your site, which helps with SEO.

One Page Guest Checkout Payment Methods
Add even more convenience to one page guest checkout with the addition of payment methods. This module now supports ACH and PayPal payments.

Address Validation
The latest version of eSource will include address validation for those that elect to use one page guest checkout.

Improved Navigation
When consumers browsing a category of products on your ecommerce website displayed on multiple pages, just three page numbers were provided at the bottom of the page to help with navigation. In the new version of eSource, five page numbers will be displayed, in addition to first and last page links. This will allow customers to navigate your site easily.

Updates and other improvements have been made as well, such as the ability to arrange dimension group fields in columns based on product description, HTML or swatch. Dimension Groups is an eSource module that allows similar items to be linked together as one. For example, a pair of jeans that comes in four colors with five different sizes for each different option could be displayed as one item using this tool. This module update makes it an even more versatile feature.

For more information about our ecommerce solution, payment processing or online bill pay, contact our sales team and schedule a demo. Azox also hosts monthly webinars that provide attendees with an overview of our products. For more information on these or to sign up for free, follow this link.

New Consumer-Facing Ecommerce Websites from Azox

Two websites went live this week that use Azox ecommerce solution built on Microsoft Dynamics GP. The first was for Western Valve, Inc. Since 1976, Western Valve has been a supplier of compressed gas relief devices, valves and other related products.

Western Valve uses a consumer facing website, Azox eSource B2C, to provide the end user with an online catalog that allows them to browse the company’s product portfolio. This catalog does not list prices and orders cannot be placed from this view. Instead, for order placement, Western Valve also implemented Azox eSource B2B. The B2B ecommerce website allows customers to log in and place orders. Payment processing can be executed in Microsoft Dynamics GP using Azox Credit Card Extension (CCE).

The second website that launched was for Metric Seals, Inc. This company is a supplier of hydraulic and pneumatic seals and boasts one of the largest inventories in the United States with more than 30,000 different parts. They have seals that fit Japanese, European and American specifications. Custom shapes can also be created. Metric Seals has been in business for more than 35 years.

Metric Seals also uses Azox eSource B2C to provide users with an online catalog. Prices and inventory are visible and are kept up-to-date in real time. Related products are grouped together by category to make browsing easier for the user. Once a purchase decision has been made, the end user can add items to a cart and proceed through to check out. Using Azox CCE, payments can be processed in Microsoft Dynamics GP.

Azox is located in Plymouth, Mich. and provides payment processing, online bill pay and integrated ecommerce solutions for Microsoft Dynamics. To learn more about the company, visit http://www.azox.com.

Azox September Webinars: Integrated Ecommerce Solutions for Microsoft Dynamics

Next week Azox is hosting three webinars, as we do each month. There will be one webinar to highlight each of our products. The first will be an overview of our ecommerce solution for Microsoft Dynamics. That webinar is followed by one that highlights our payment processing solution for Microsoft Dynamics and the third covers our Online Bill Pay solution, which is also built for Microsoft Dynamics. Follow the links provided below to register for these online events.

Integrated E-Commerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Azox ecommerce solution provides businesses with a tool that allows them to sell their products online. This solution integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics GP. During this webinar, attendees will see how they can provide customers with real time inventory and pricing information, shipping cost before an order is placed and more. They will also be shown various features available with an ecommerce web store from Azox including advanced search capabilities like filters, which help refine results, WSYWIG editor with drag-and-drop web parts, one-page guest checkout and more. Join us for this webinar to see a live version of our ecommerce solution.

Secure Credit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Azox Credit Card Extension is a solution that allows you to process payments securely in Microsoft Dynamics GP. This solution provides the ability to accept payment via credit card, ACH or credit memo. You are also able to pre-authorize, post-authorize, sale, void and credit payments. Azox Credit Card Extension is PA-DSS Certified and keeps sensitive data offsite through the use of tokenization. Further, by implementing this solution you will be able to store multiple credit card and ACH accounts for each customer. To see this solution in action, join us for this webinar.

Advantages of Online Bill Pay for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
2:00 – 2:30 p.m. EST

This solution from Azox allows you to provide your customers with a secure portal that they can log in to and monitor their invoices. This solution not only provides your customers with convenience, but it allows you to collect payments faster. Once logged in to the secure portal, customers will be able to view, print and pay invoices. Customer payments are acknowledged and recognized real time. To learn more about the benefits of adding online bill pay to your ecommerce website, join us for this webinar.

For more information about Azox, visit our website.

Mobile Commerce Continues to Grow and Will Impact Holiday Spending in 2013

It is no news that mobile commerce, now often referred to as m-commerce, is on the rise. Consumers have proven to enjoy the convenience and the ability to accomplish tasks while on the go. From paying bills to shopping, mobile commerce is simple and easy to use.

The latest data from Marketing Charts, which can be viewed here, shows that mobile commerce spending is continuing to rise. During the first half of 2013, mobile spending accounted for almost 10 percent, or $10.6 billion, of total online spending. This amount is a 28 percent increase from 2012. When broken up by device, 6 percent of total ecommerce spending was done using a smartphone and 3.5 percent using a tablet.

There are several types of purchases made on mobile devices that have captured a significant percentage of total ecommerce sales, according to the report.

For starters, during the first half of the year, digital ticket sales were made using a smartphone 10.9 percent of the time and 4.5 percent from a tablet.

When it came to apparel and accessory purchases, 6.2 percent were made from a smartphone and 4.5 percent from a tablet.

Other notable product categories include computer hardware, where 5.5 percent of purchases were made from a smartphone or tablet; consumer electronics, where 5.5 percent of total sales were made using a smartphone or tablet; and consumer package goods, where 4.4 percent of total sales were made using a smartphone or tablet.

Given this data, it is clear that the use of smartphones and tablets to make purchases online is on the rise. With that said, eMarketer is already predicting mobile commerce to positively impact holiday sales this season. Last year, during the holiday season, $53.7 billion was spent. Of that number, 15.2 percent, or roughly $8.16 billion, was done using a smartphone or tablet. In 2013, holiday spending is projected to reach $61.8 billion of which 15.1 percent, or about $9.33 billion, of sales will be done using a smartphone or tablet. The full report from eMarketer can be viewed here.

There is still time before the holiday season. Be sure your ecommerce website has a mobile version in order to make shopping your product catalog user friendly. Contact Azox today for more information about mobile ecommerce websites.

Nine Metrics Useful for Measuring Ecommerce Success

In an article recently published on Mashable’s website, several successful ecommerce entrepreneurs were asked what data they rely on to develop and monitor strategies. The following is a list of the nine metrics these entrepreneurs deemed most valuable along with a brief summary of why.

1. User Acquisition Costs
This metric can be used to determine the success rate of your PPC campaigns. How much does it cost you each time a user lands on a web page in relation to conversions?

2. Abandoned Carts
Monitor this metric to ask customers who bailed on their shopping carts why they did not proceed through to checkout. Was it something with the checkout process itself? Were shipping costs too high? There are a number of reasons why shopping carts are abandoned. This is a good metric to watch in order to gain insight on possible improvements that could lead to a higher conversion rate.

3. Google Analytics Experiments
This is a tool accessible from your Google Analytics account. It can be used for split testing. Use experiments to test different web pages against each other to determine what is working and what is not. For more information on experiments, follow this link.

4. Visitor Value
Determine how much revenue each one of your visitors generates. From here, you can come up with a strategy in regards to how much you want to spend to draw new traffic to your website.

5. Lifetime Value
Yet another important metric to consider is the lifetime value of a customer. Consider why some customers return and spend more than others and then think about how to market old and new products to both new and return customers.

6. Traffic
Look at where your traffic is coming from and what the bounce rate is. Information like this can be viewed from your Google Analytics account. This entrepreneur suggests that the best money making opportunity comes from non-branded, organic traffic.

7. Lead Source ROI
Monitor the ROI of each different advertising method to determine which ones are most effective.

8. Purchase Funnel
Analyze the purchase funnel to understand where and when a customer drops off the sales process.

9. Percentage of Mobile Visits
With the use of mobile devices on the rise, having a site optimized for this type of shopper is crucial. 

The original article post on Mashable can be viewed in its entirety here.

Updated Customer Web Stores from Azox

The team at Azox has been busy updating current customer sites to the latest version of eSource, which is our ecommerce software. The latest completed update was for Dr. Hauschka. The Dr. Hauschka web store sells natural skin care products and makeup.

Dr. Hauschka’s new website runs on eSource 3.4. The company also chose to add one page and guest checkout. This feature helps provide a better user experience in several ways. With the checkout process, users want to complete their transactions quickly and easily. By offering one page/guest checkout, users are able to make purchases without creating an account. Further, all the information required for the purchase can be entered on one screen. The upgraded web store can be viewed here.

Another one of our customers, Recreation Supply Company, has chosen to upgrade to eSource 3.4. This company sells swimming pool supplies on their ecommerce website. The upgraded version of their web store also includes one page/guest checkout in addition to dimension groups. Dimension groups is a tool that allows similar items in your database to be lumped together under one item. For example, a clothing retailer would use this feature to group together several pairs of denim that are all the same style, but are available in various sizes and washes. Recreation Supply Company’s upgraded web store can be viewed here.

Dental City, a provider of dental products, is also now running their web store using eSource 3.4. They too opted for one page/guest checkout and also added filters. The filters feature allows users to better refine their search results using specific attributes, such as color or size. Check out their updated web store here.

If you are a current customer and are interested in how an upgrade can benefit you, contact our sales team to schedule a demo.

August Webinars Hosted by Azox

Each month Azox hosts three webinars. Each highlights a different solution offered by Azox. These include ecommerce, payment processing and online bill pay, all of which are built on Microsoft Dynamics GP. These webinars are free to attend, all you need to do is follow the link to register.

Integrated Ecommerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Grow your business online with a web store that integrates with your Microsoft Dynamics GP back office solution. This includes the ability to offer customers real time inventory and pricing updates, shipping calculation from UPS, USPS, FedEx and Purolator, one-page guest checkout, advanced search capabilities including the ability to deeply refine results and much more. Signup for this webinar and learn more about the Azox ecommerce solution for Dynamics GP.

Secure Credit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Get the most out of your Microsoft Dynamics GP investment by adding the ability to process credit cards securely. With Azox Credit Card Extension, you will be able to accept payment via credit card, ACH or credit memo. This solution is PA-DSS Certified and allows you to pre-authorize, post-authorize, sale void and credit. It can also store multiple credit cards for each customer and keeps sensitive data offsite through use of tokenization. Join Azox for this online event by following the link to register.

Advantages of Online Bill Pay for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Thursday, August 22, 2013
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Providing customers with the option to pay their bills online gives them greater convenience and allows you to get paid quicker. Customers can make payments that will be validated and processed 24/7/365. Those payments are captured and recognized in real time. All this is done by logging into an online portal. In addition to making payments, customers can also log in and view or print invoices. To learn more about this solution, follow the link and register.

If these dates don’t fit your schedule, be sure to check back next month for webinars. Or, contact our sales team to setup your own personal demo.

Tips to Improve the Performance of Landing Pages for E-Commerce Websites

Landing pages can be used to help increase the conversion rate of different items on your ecommerce website. In order for this to happen, it is important to create strong landing pages. A landing page that lacks a clear message may only draw a consumer to your site briefly. The point of a landing page is not only to get a consumer to your site, but also to get them to make a purchase. In order to ensure this happens, try these tips that will help you develop strong landing pages that drive conversions.

Make the Call to Action (CTA) Standout

Whatever it is that you want the consumer do should be clearly expressed on the landing page. This may be to “shop now” or to “watch a video” to try to drive them to your site and to ultimately make a purchase. The CTA needs to standout in a distinct way. It should be in a centralized location on the landing page in order for consumers to know what they are supposed to click on. The use of visual cues can help with this as well.

Offer Incentives

Consumers are not interested in only benefiting your web store. They also want something for themselves. With that said, offer consumers something for engaging in the CTA designated on the landing page. This could be a free demo, coupon or other gift.

Keep the Landing Page Simple

Your landing pages should focus on one thing. The more clutter you add to the page, the less likely it is that a consumer will get the message.

Concise, Relevant Headline

Avoid puns or other fluff copy when it comes to the headline used on your landing page. Compose a headline that is concise and relevant. If you can, write a headline that sums up what the landing page is about in no more than 17 words.

Strong Design

The layout of your landing page must flow well. It should be easy to read and devoid of distracting, unnecessary images. Use readable fonts, consider bulleted lists to display information and appropriate use of white space.

Landing pages are a great way to increase conversions on an ecommerce website. Try implementing these tips to improve the performance of your landing pages.

Which Resources Drive the Most Traffic to Your E-Commerce Website?

With all the resources available to draw traffic to an ecommerce website, it is hard to determine where to put the most effort. The obvious answer is to choose the resources that result in the most website traffic and that have high conversion rates, but, which resources are those?

Monetate did some research and provided data about where ecommerce traffic comes from and how it is converted. The data was gathered during the first quarter of 2013. The full report can be downloaded here.

When it comes to direct ecommerce traffic, the report states that:

• 31.43% landed on an ecommerce website from a search engine
• 2.82% from an email and
• 1.55% from social media.

When this information is compared to the first quarter of 2012, note that traffic from email has decreased from 3.72% in 2012 and so has social media traffic, which was 2.36% in 2012.

This does not mean that social media is irrelevant for ecommerce. While social media may not bring a lot of traffic to a website, it still drives purchase decisions. Research from Google showed that instead of being a last interaction, social media often acts as an assist in the purchase decisions. Consumers often use social media in the early phases of the decision making process. With that said, focus on driving traffic using search engine marketing and use other marketing strategies to entice consumers across social media and with email.

Other statistics in relation to traffic and conversion rates were also included in the report form Monetate. When it came to conversion rates:

• email came in first with 3.19% 
• followed by search at 1.95% and 
• social media at 0.71%.

Looking at the same sources, the add-to-cart rates were as follows:

• 10.51% from when coming from email
• 6.81% from search and
• 3.24% from social.

And finally, average order value from each source was as follows:
• $96.32 when coming from search
• $83.72 from email and
• $72.31 from social.

Simply having an ecommerce website is not enough. With all the inbound marketing strategies available, and many of them for free, it is important to figure out what works for your business in order to consistently drive website traffic and sales.

How to Decrease Shopping Cart Abandonment and Increase Conversion Rates

One of the biggest elements of an ecommerce website is the checkout page. This is where conversions are finalized. So, what are some things that can be done to avoid shopping cart abandonment and to increase conversions?

An infographic created by Fifth Gear highlights some reasons why online shoppers bail on their purchases. The infographic can be viewed here. To highlight a few points:

•  44 % thought shipping costs were too high.
• 27 % wanted to shop around.
• 14 % did not want to create an account with the merchant.
• 11 % thought the checkout process was too complex.
• 7 % said their preferred method of payment was not available.

Taking these points into consideration, there are three key elements that you should consider when it comes to your checkout page and shopping cart abandonment.

First, always offer the option of guest checkout. Consumers view creating an account as an obstacle, which may lead them to bail on their purchase. Guest checkout also makes the process of making a purchase easier for them.

The second key element is to provide consumers with incentives for shopping at your store. These incentives might include free shipping, buy one/get one specials or percentage discounts. With ecommerce, consumers rarely have to pay full price for an item. Further, since the Internet makes everything so convenient, it is easy to shop around and look for a better deal. In order to ensure your customers purchase the items they place in their shopping cart, promotions are crucial.

And finally, make sure all information is clear to customers. This includes listing prices and shipping rates, clearly displaying security icons, showing error messages when a form is missing an important piece of information and a progress bar that shows the user how many more steps need to be completed. All this should be done with a simple, organized design scheme.

Implementing these strategies will help increase your conversion rate and decrease your shopping cart abandonment rate.

Are Your Social Media Strategies Helping You Drive Sales?

Social media is one of many digital marketing tools available to businesses. Further, many know that listing their business on these social sites and posting to them regularly is important; but, are you measuring your success rates to know if your efforts are worth it? A survey conducted by Vision Critical provided some statistics on how customers use Pintrest, Facebook and Twitter and how likely these customers were to make purchases either online or in-store. Some of the key points are highlighted below. For the full report, follow this link. The survey included almost 6,000 respondents.

When you look at usage of these three social networks, you will find that 15 percent of the population uses Pintrest, 73 percent uses Facebook and 24 percent users Twitter. Of those people, 29 percent of Pintrest users made a purchase after sharing or liking an item, 38 percent of Facebook users did that same and then last were 22 percent of Twitter users. Taking those statistics into consideration, it is important to discover which social media networks your customers use as different topics are popular on varying platforms.

The survey results showed that for do-it-yourself projects, recipes and fashion and beauty tips, users look to Pintrest. Facebook was most popular for human interest or funny stories and topics that fall under arts and entertainment are popular across all three platforms.

Survey results also showed that 21 percent of Pinterest users made purchases in-store, 22 percent online and 29 percent made purchases both in-store and online. When it came to Facebook, 30 percent of users made in-store purchases, 29 percent did the same online and 38 percent did both. Finally, with Twitter, 17 percent of users made in-store purchases, 18 percent made online purchases and 22 percent made both.

There is no question that consumers use social media to research products that they will either buy in-store or online.  The question to ask yourself is which platform will help your business draw the most sales. In order to figure this out, you will need to consider your industry, customer demographics and determine what it is they use social media for. Then you can work on earning your portion of social media generated sales and hopefully in time, grow that number.

In addition to detailed statistics about purchases in relation to social media usage, the report also includes questions to ask your customers that will help you determine how to make these social media networks work best for your business. To join the world of ecommerce so you are able to take full advantage of these social media platforms along with other digital marketing tools, visit our website to learn about our solutions. Azox develops ecommerce websites that integrate fully with Microsoft Dynamics GP. We also provide payment processing solutions and online bill pay.

Join Us For a Webinar in July

Our monthly webinars are next week. If you are interested in learning more about ecommerce, payment processing or online bill pay for Dynamics GP, be sure to sign up and attend! Register for webinars by following the links provided below.

Integrated ECommerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Tuesday, July 15
1:00 - 1:30 p.m. EST

Having an ecommerce website built on Microsoft Dynamics GP allows you to reach the global market and provides customers with the ability to shop any time, anywhere. Our solution features advanced search capabilities to help consumers find what they are looking for with ease. It also offers real time pricing and inventory information, a shipping calculator, one-page guest checkout and more. Attend this webinar to view a live demo of our solution in action.

Secure Credit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP
Wednesday, July 16
1:00 - 1:30 p.m. EST

No web store is complete without the ability to processing payments. Azox Credit Card Extension is a PA-DSS Certified solution that stores data securely offsite through the use of tokenization. This solution includes the ability to pre-authorize, post-authorize, sale, void and credit. Both credit card and ACH payments can be processed. Attend this webinar to learn more.

Advantages of Online Bill Pay for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Thursday, July 17
1:00 - 1:30 p.m. EST

Consumers are increasingly paying more and more bills online. Therefore, offering customers this option from your web store will provide them with a desirable and convenient tool. From your ecommerce website, customers will be able to log in and view, print and pay invoices 24/7/365. Attend this webinar to learn more.

Tools Used to Acquire E-Commerce Customers and a Look at Their Effectiveness

As an ecommerce business, what tools are you using that have helped you successfully obtain and keep customers? Custora did some research and created a report highlighting the most popular channels used to acquire customers along with which ones offer the best customer lifetime value, which is described in the report as “the future profit a company expects to earn from a customer throughout his or her relationship with the business.” The survey included 72 million customers from 86 U.S. retailers in 14 different industries and can be read in its entirety here.

The survey results show that the top channels used for acquiring new customers online are organic search, CPC (Cost Per Click), email marketing and referrals. It may be surprising to see email marketing at the top of the list given that so many of us receive and delete such messages on a daily basis, but according to survey results, since 2009, the amount of customers that ecommerce businesses have acquired using this tool has quadrupled. The other tools at the top of the list are no-brainers as most of us go straight to search engines to find the products and we are looking for along with reviews of those products.

Now, the tool used to acquire a new customer is important, but if it does not offer a strong customer lifetime value (CLV), is it worth it? According to survey results, customers acquired from organic search traffic have a CLV that is 54 percent above average, followed by CPC customers who have a CLV 37 percent higher than average and then those that become customers through email marketing have a CLV that is 12 percent above average. On the other hand, when social media is analyzed, customers acquired from Twitter have a CLV that is 23 percent lower than average and customers coming from Facebook have a CLV that is just one percent above average. Does this mean social media is a waste of time? Absolutely not; social media is a great tool that can be used to give a brand a personality and also gives customers an outlet for writing reviews or sharing testimonials.

There is no question that ecommerce will continue to grow. For some, doing business online can be a lot of work, therefore when it comes to digital marketing efforts, knowing what tools are most effective can help. Read the full report from Custora for a deeper look into the survey results.

Data Shows That Online Shopping Habits are Conducted Similarly on Mobile Phones, Tablets and Computers

It goes without question that consumers are using mobile devices more frequently for online activities. New data released by eMarketer shows that online shopping activities are conducted almost equally across computers, mobile phones and tablets.

The survey conducted included 180,000 web users in 31 countries. Results are reflective of the first quarter of 2013. Of those surveyed, 93 percent said to have been using a computer, either a desktop or laptop, during the last couple years. Further, 60 percent said that they used their mobile phone to access the Internet and 66 percent said they used a tablet to access the Internet.

When it comes to online shopping activities, the data showed that 68 percent of those using a computer used the Internet to search for a product or service to buy. Likewise, 61 percent of mobile users and then 60 percent of those using a tablet did the same. Of these consumers, 61 percent using a computer made a purchase online while 52 percent of mobile phone users and 52 percent of tablet users did the same. The percentage of Internet users that purchased services was a bit less with only 35 percent of computer users, 32 percent of mobile phone users and 37 percent of tablet users completing this activity.

Aside from buying habits, the research showed that 50 percent of computer users, 50 percent of mobile phone users and 52 percent of tablet users reviewed a product or brand online.

While Internet users still turn to their computer a small percentage more than to a mobile phone or tablet, the use of these technologies is on the rise. With that said, consumers will continue to demand websites that are friendly to their devices without limiting any functionality. Keep up with this trend and give your consumers what they want by creating a mobile-friendly ecommerce website.  For the entire article, which includes additional statistics, visit eMarketer’s website here.

Processing Payments Securely Online Involves a Few Key Players

If you are going to do business online, secure payment processing is a must. We just completed a three part series posted on the ERP Software Blog about payment gateways, obtaining PCI Compliance and encryption methods.

In part one, the key players of secure payment processing online are discussed. These include the merchant, the cardholder and payment gateways. Different merchant levels are also provided in details. Then in part two of the series, obtaining PCI Compliance is the focus. There are 12 steps in this process that are separated into six categories: build and maintain a secure network, protect cardholder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, implement strong access control measures, regularly monitor and test networks and maintain an information security policy. These were taken directly from the PCI DSS website. How to get started on these steps is also highlighted in part two of the series. And finally, part three details the two ways to handle sensitive data securely: tokenization and encryption. Encryption has been around for years and while tokenization is a newer technology, when it comes to secure payment processing, it is the clear winner.

To read these articles in more detail, visit our page on the ERP Software Blog.

Video: An Important Tool For Ecommerce Websites

According to ComScore, today in the United States, 89 million people will watch 1.2 billion videos on the Internet. These videos of course include those purely for entertainment purposes, but some will also be viewed on ecommerce websites. As online shopping evolves, consumers are demanding more and video is one resource available to marketers that can be used to fulfill this request.

In the past, images and text were used to paint a picture of a product for consumers. These were further enhanced with the use of color swatches, alternate views and zoom. Now ecommerce websites are increasingly incorporating video to provide consumers with a clearer picture of different product offerings. The use of video in this way has been proven to improve conversion rates and SEO. Video can also increase product visibility when shared in email newsletters and across social media sites in addition to web stores. Overall, the use of video in ecommerce is a more engaging way to showcase products.

How to Incorporate Video

Videos can be user-generated or created by a company. Companies might create videos to:

•         Offer product advice
•         Provide instructional videos
•         Assist with product selection
•         Inform about the product category
•         Showcase the product with real life views
•         Give deeper product details

Contrarily, a user-generated video would be a testimonial. The testimonial might show the product in action or offer a review after the consumer has used it.

One company that makes great use of video on their ecommerce website is Zappos.com. Zappos films employees wearing and talking about the different shoes sold on their website. By using employees rather than hired models, consumers can relate better to the people in the videos. And further, hearing in-depth product information and seeing the shoes being worn by these employees helps consumers not only make purchase decisions, but also have a greater level of confidence in what they are buying.

As more people begin shopping online and ecommerce sales continue to grow, make sure your website has what your customers want to assist in their purchase decision making process. To learn about what ecommerce and payment processing solutions Azox offers, visit our website.

Azox Webinars in June

Each month Azox hosts three webinars to showcase our solutions. Customers, prospects and partners are all invited to attend these free webinars to watch live demos of each of the three Azox solutions. This June, our webinars will be held the 18, 19 and 20. Read more about our products and signup to attend one of these webinars today. Follow the links below to register.

Advantages of Online Bill Pay

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Adding Online Bill Pay to your ecommerce website gives your customers a portal to log into and view, print and pay outstanding invoices. This self-service feature adds convenience and allows you to collect payments 24/7/365. Azox Online Bill Pay solution integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics GP. Attend this webinar to see a live demo of this product.

Secure Credit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Accept ACH and credit card payments from your web store when you implement Azox Credit Card Extension (CCE). This solution is PA-DSS certified and uses tokenization to store sensitive data offsite. Pre-authorize, post-authorize, sale, void and credit when you add Azox CCE to your ecommerce website. Attend this webinar to see a live demo of this product.

Integrated E-Commerce for Microsoft DynamicsGP

Thursday, June 20, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Grow your business online with an ecommerce website built on Microsoft Dynamics GP. Provide your customers with a web store where they can browse products, see real-time pricing and inventory information and place orders. One page guest checkout and a shipping calculator are two other features in addition to many more. Attend this webinar to see a live demo of our ecommerce solution.

If these dates do not fit your schedule, visit our website to schedule a personal demo or look for next month's webinars.

Google Checkout Will No Longer Be an Option for Payment Processing This November

Google Checkout, an online payment processing service, will be discontinued November 20, 2013 Google announced at the end of May this year. This service, which acted as an alternative to PayPal, will be integrated with Google Wallet, a tool that allows shoppers to store credit and debit card information, loyalty cards and more using their Google account. This service additionally provides fraud protection as well as purchase history and status.

Merchants who currently use Google Checkout will be able to continue doing so until November 20, 2013. At that point, however, if the merchant does not have their own payment processing solution, a new option will need to be implemented. In an attempt to make this process easier for merchants, Google has partnered with several solutions, none of which are free. These options include Braintree, Freshbooks and Shopify. Google has described these as “discounted migration options.”

On the other hand, U.S. merchants that have other payment processing solutions will be able to take advantage of Google Wallet, which Google has been working to improve. Google added two new features to Google Wallet, which were also announced in May 2013. These new features are Wallet Objects API and Instant Buy API. Wallet Objects API is the feature that allows users to store their loyalty card information, take advantage of promos and more. The second addition, Instant Buy API, is a feature that makes the checkout process easier for customers. Those shopping with an Android device who also use Google Wallet will be able to make purchases with just a few clicks since the app saves their billing, shipping and card information. This feature can be offered to customers by merchants that sell a physical good or service.

If you are using Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting software and need a payment processing solution, explore Azox Credit Card Extension. This product allows you to process both ACH and credit card payments securely while integrating with Dynamics GP.