Recently I wrote a reminder to get your web shop and marketing campaigns ready for the holiday shopping season (↑).

In case you have not setup a web shop already or if you want to change yours, here are some open source platforms to choose from.

The Top Ten open Source E-Commerce platforms

1. Magento Community Edition
2. osCommerce
3. OpenCart
4. Spree Commerce
5. PrestaShop
6. Zen Cart
7. WooCommerce
8. JigoShop
9. Drupal Commerce
10. VirtueMart

Read the full article with pros and cons for each platform here:

The Top 10 Open Source Ecommerce Platforms at (↑)
at www.floship.com.

Have a great day!


Yours

John W. Furst

Nowadays you can find infographics almost everywhere on the internet. If you search long enough you might even find the one that supports your claim.

Look at this infographic below for example. If you click on it (↑) it will open in a new window.

Update: Seems like you must me registered and logged on to Pinterest to be able to access that particular infographic. Sorry.



A closer look reveals that often apples are compared with pears.

Let's put it in the category fun facts.

The most important info for your decisions are your very own metrics and the bottom line in dollars or euros.

Be open to run experiments with new media from time to time and check if a trend could work for your business. But don't get crazy over it.

Email has one big advantage. It works on your terms and you own those email addresses.

Make the best out of it.


Yours

John

The game repeats itself every year. Marketing executives are getting nervous about the upcoming main shopping season. Last year I provided some tips on how you can prepare your web-shop for holiday shoppers. Let me do this, again.

Since I do not know details about your business, I can only share some general strategic advice with you. But it's really kind of scary. Far too many e-commerce stores provide a poor user experience and lack of functionality. There is a lot of money being left on the table. But you can avoid this altogether in your own business.

Make sure your e-commerce site passes the most basic requirements

In a nutshell.

1. Cut Down On Abandoned Carts
   • Immediately send a follow up email sequence.
     
     
   • Retarget them with ads.
   
   
2. Build Your Email List
   • Offer discounts and coupons in exchange for email signups.
     
     
   • Provide valuable insights in your emails that they couldn’t get elsewhere. For example, if you sell coffee products, provide people with tips for making the best cup of coffee.
     
     
   • Offer a rewards program for those who sign up.
   
   
3. Use The Power Of The Upsell
   • First, many times customers aren’t aware that you offer better options.
     
     
   • Second, customers may not understand why they need the upgrade.
   
   
4. Crush It On Instagram
   • Ask those who have purchased to post pictures of themselves using your product on Instagram.
     
     
   • Develop a unique hashtag around your product that users can share.
     
     
   • Run contests where you give away products.
     
     
   • Consider giving away products to influencers in exchange for them posting photos.
     
     
   • Engage with your customers in the comments section of photos.
   
   
5. Let Customers Create Wishlists
   • This ties in closely to abandoned carts. There will be many times when a customer simply wants to mark an item for the future, rather than purchase it in the moment.
     
     
   • Once people begin adding items to their wishlists, you can periodically remind them of these items through email or Facebook retargeting ads.
     
     
   • Wishlists also let you cross sell more effectively. When you know what your customers want, you can promote other closely related items.
   
   
6. Have A Store That Really Works
   • Write clear, compelling product descriptions. Include the design specifications, but don’t go on endlessly about them. Rather, focus on the benefits of the product.
     
     
   • Include easy to see, zoomable, professional photos. If your pictures are grainy or look like they were taken in a garage, people won’t want to purchase.
     
     
   • Make your site simple to navigate. Clearly divide products into the proper categories and subcategories and make your menus simple to use.
     
     
   • If possible, include product demonstration videos.
   
   
7. Secure Product Reviews
   • A simple way to generate product reviews is to send a follow up email several weeks after a purchase asking the customer to review the product. If they have a complaint about the product, you can address it then as well.
   
   
8. Hyper Focus Your Ad Spending
   • The beauty of online advertising is you can make it incredibly focused

Conclusion

• eCommerce shouldn’t be complicated. Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, you need to put in the time. But if you know what to do, you can find success.
  
  
• The most successful eCommerce companies have won because they’ve persisted. They’ve determined what works and what doesn’t.
  
  
• The formula goes something like this:

  Time + Experience + Experiments = Success

• Don’t give up. Stick to the formula.

This info should not be new for you, if you are in the e-commerce business for some time. But I bet, you have not implemented all of these 8 ideas.

Get to work.


Yours

John

__________
Source: 8 Powerful Ecommerce Marketing Strategies To Boost Your Sales (↑) written by John Hawthorne, Jun 30, 2017. Original site deleted. Lookup via Wayback Machine in April 2019.