Tag Archives: comScore Inc.

About 2087 days ago E-Commerce

It’s Not Too Late to Try eCommerce

For the first time since I started tracking how small businesses leverage the Internet five years ago, I have noticed that a growing number small American retailers are starting to pass on the idea of creating their own ecommerce outlets, believing that the prime time to establish an online brand has passed and the window of opportunity is now closed. Well, the truth of the matter is that the age of ecommerce is still at its very dawn and the expansion of the online retail market in the future is poised to be faster than anything we have seen before. Let’s examine a few factors to understand why. 1. Less than 20 percent of the world’s population is online. While it may seem to us that the Internet has become such part of our lives — some of us do not even remember how we used to find movie listings, the weather forecast, or our checking account balance before DSL worked its way into our homes and businesses — most of the world’s population is still not connected. According to Internet World Stats, in fact only 17.8 percent of the global adult population makes use of the Internet. Comparatively, in North America, the penetration of the Internet is about 69.5 percent of adults. 3. eCommerce is still representing only about 3 percent of retail volume. According to data from the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, only 3.1 percent of the retail revenue in the United States is generated online. This is growing at a steady pace of about 0.5 percent per year. 2. eCommerce is growing at about 20 percent per year. According to the eMarketer benchmark in 2006, the growth in U.S. ecommerce retail revenue over 2005 was 23 percent. For 2007, this number is forecast to be around 23 percent, based on comScore statistics for the second quarter of 2007. 4. Only 70 percent of Internet users has ever purchased online. According to a Pew Internet in American Life Project report, only about 70 percent of adult Americans currently online have ever made an ecommerce purchase. Since the United States is a good indicator of what is happening in most of the “connected” world and a likely indicator of what will happen in emerging markets, this data gives us a good outlook at the potential magnitude of the ecommerce footprint worldwide. What does this all mean though? This data denotes that there is a huge opportunity for serious businesses to succeed selling online, tapping in the about 85 percent of the potential market that is still idle, with absolutely incredible possibilities for many newcomers with the right offerings. It also tells us, though, that ecommerce today needs to be considered strategically, with at least a 10-year outlook, logistically developed for the long term, based on goods that are globally appealing and supported by global reach in marketing and fulfillment. In order to succeed in capturing some of this potential, a few fundamental paradigm shifts need to occur among small online retailers: Appeal to current online buyers, but make things simple and understandable by newcomers. They are the most and there is where the money will be for the next ten years. European and North American consumers have clearly demonstrated that online businesses are valid destinations for all kind of shopping. With the world becoming flatter and flatter every day, the next decade will undoubtedly see the fast growing numbers of new Web users participating a global level in purchasing activities. Selling from the U.S.  vs. selling to the U.S . The ecommerce growth is global, but the fastest pace of expansion is occurring and will keep occurring in emerging markets. Emerging markets tend to bypass legacy behaviors displayed by mature markets. In the case of ecommerce, this means finding direct access to goods not available in physical retail stores. U.S. entrepreneurs going online must to focus on the needs of the global market and sell from the U.S. rather than to the U.S., developing simple processes allowing for the fulfillment of orders regardless of what country they’re coming from. “Niche-bust” Focus on one niche and sell products that nobody else sells. Then, stick to it. Fewer items, all related, all associated with a specialty activity or need are what can mean the difference between success and failure. Maintaining a wide variety of goods and diverse inventory can be very taxing and difficult to sustain for the small retailer. “Niche-busting” can drive high profits, simpler operation, and easier to optimize marketing. The numbers are quite clear. Even using conservative predictions, there are great opportunities to succeed for well-planned ecommerce sites, allowing any small business to gain access to global markets while requiring very limited start up funds. Andrea Peiro is president and CEO of the Small Business Technology Institute, a non-profit organization created to foster the adoption of information technologies among small businesses.

About 2118 days ago E-Commerce

Google’s Universal Search Format Impacts SEO

Google’s new universal search format may force you to change your business’ Web presence and marketing strategies. The format blends traditional Web results with news, maps, blogs, books, video, and other forms of content onto the main page, and could affect your business’ rankings. Google’s share of the search engine market was 51 percent in May, according to ComScore Networks, and many small and mid-size businesses depend on the search engine giant to drive customers to their sites. Search-engine marketing experts say Google’s changes will gradually compel businesses to diversify and freshen their online content, and to think about search-engine marketing in a slightly new light. The changes won’t be too difficult, experts say, and could help small and mid-size businesses increase their Web presence. Small and mid-size businesses “have the advantage of being potentially more nimble and open to emerging technologies and media outlets over bigger corporations,” says Web and search-engine expert Richard Walters of Mindspace, an advertising and public-relations agency in Tempe, Ariz. Reassessing how your website is found Google’s changes won’t wipe your business off the main page right away — if ever — search-engine marketing experts agree. But it may force small and mid-size businesses to become more sophisticated about search-engine optimization strategies, which can help your pages jump in the rankings but were generally a weak point for smaller businesses even before Google’s changes. “Maybe they’re getting their feet wet, but they haven’t dove completely into it,” says David Wallace, co-founder and CEO of SearchRank, a Phoenix-based search-engine marketing firm. “I would definitely say that there is probably a lot of room for growth there.” One basic search-engine optimization strategy is to include relevant, high-ranking keywords for your business in the webpage title and content. Search engines crawl and often pick up on pages with those keywords. The method will still apply to webpages, but other content such as images and video should also be identified with relevant keywords, according to experts. While most people didn’t know it, Google includes 14 separate search databases that enables individuals to search for specific content in images, books and other databases. The universal search format crawls for terms across Google’s various databases, rather than just webpages so it’s important for businesses to have several different forms of content such as blogs and video that can show up in search results. “It’s my belief that if anyone has any size of business … they should have a blog and it should be updated,” Wallace says. Developing multimedia and fresh content Businesses should begin developing multimedia and fresh content, experts advise, such as putting online videos that can pick up hits on YouTube. YouTube and Google Maps had higher traffic shortly after Google launched its new format, according to research by Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise, a search engine intelligence and marketing firm based in New York. Brick-and-mortar stores in particular need to be listed on Google Maps through Google’s local business center, experts say. They should also consider issuing company news releases or ramp up their publicity to get news-related hits. Search Engine Guide Editor Jennifer Laycock says that many companies are highly dependent on Google, but it shouldn’t be the only search engine that businesses target. She says Google’s new universal search format gives companies the opportunities to create content for specialized searches, or “vertical searches” as they are called in the search-engine industry. Laycock says that if you upload a video, for example, you may end up having two hits within YouTube as well as one video hit on Google’s main page. In Google’s old search format, your video would not have made it to the main page. “If small businesses figure out how to play those verticals, they’re actually in a better position than they are now,” she says.

About 2422 days ago E-Commerce

A Blog for Your Business?

Millions of small-to-medium-sized companies looking to grow their businesses have established and maintained a presence on the World Wide Web. Setting up a website is a fast and relatively inexpensive way for potential or existing customers to read about or obtain your company’s products or services. But how you choose to publish news, events or other information can be handled in various ways. You can hire a public relations agency to write traditional press releases, although that can prove costly. You can send newsletters or e-mail to a database of customers, although that can be time consuming and sometimes getting caught by spam filters. Or, you can consider a newer option favored by a growing number of entrepreneurs trying to drum up business: you can write a blog. Short for “Web log,” a blog (pronounced “blaw-g”), is a cost effective online journal that could provide relevant info for your visitors and be linked to other areas of your business website (or elsewhere in cyberspace). Blogs may contain photos, audio clips or videos, and, for the mobile business owner, they can be updated virtually anywhere there’s an Internet connection. Catherine Jamieson, author of Create Your Own Photo Blog, says that small-to-medium-sized business should consider starting a blog as part of their online strategy because of the accessibility it can provide to a business. “In the simplest terms, a blog represents the opportunity to reach a global audience.” or, just as importantly, reach your local audience any time, day or night” Jamieson says. “Whether it’s to find out what the latest product offerings are or where to send an e-mail of complaint to the service department, the modern customer likes to feel connected to the people with whom he does business and to the businesses where he spends his money.” While writing a blog is basically no different than writing a flyer or a mailed pamphlet, it tends to be cheaper and has a higher success rate, says Jamieson. When creating a blog for your company, Jamieson suggested a number of Do’s and Don’ts in order to maximize its impact. Do: Create a blog for your business. Research other blogs in your field and make a list of what you do and don’t like. Create good, solid RSS feeds for newsreader syndication. Ensure that your design works on — at least — Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox for Windows and Macs. Tell the customer about what products and services you offer along with pricing guidelines. Have a professional create or help you with your layout — it’s usually a small price and will ensure that you have a standards compliant site which is accessible to the most people. Get an easy to remember and related URL/site name. Don’t: Clutter your blog up with a lot of ads and other diversions — people mostly want to see what they came to see. Make sure they can see it easily. Use animations or anything which requires the user to install a plug-in. Use a black background — it’s almost always wrong for a business site. Make the creation of revenue with “Ads by Google” (or alike services) more important than the blog itself. If you are going to try and add revenue with click-throughs, do so in a way that it does not interfere with the delivery or content of your blog. While many businesses will likely choose to host the blog on their corporate site, those just starting out or on a very strict budget might consider the dozens of free blogging tools and websites to host your blog. Blog Tools for Your Business Windows Live Spaces (formerly MSN Spaces) is the most widely used blogging service worldwide, with more than 120 million unique users, according to comScore Networks. Windows Live Spaces offers numerous ways to customize your Web presence with up to 500 photo uploads allowed per month (for others to view, comment on or print); more than 100 different themes; and customizable “Gadgets,” such as weather reports, stock tickers, and more. Google’s Blogger was founded in 1999 as a small company in San Francisco, but was bought by Google in 2002. The site steps you through the process of posting your opinions, soliciting feedback from readers, linking to other bloggers, posting photos, and communicating from mobile platforms. Yahoo 360 is yet another free blogging service that can help you set up a business blog, taking you through the process to create content, share music playlists, link to other blogs, and post photos.

About 2664 days ago E-Commerce

Embrace the Power of the Web

Just the other day I was speaking to one of my clients, who has run a traditional brick-and-mortar operation for over 15 years. His small business is one that you would not expect to be cashing-in on e-commerce — although he certainly is — in that he sells industrial plumbing supplies. As we got to talking, we chatted about his marketing initiatives — specifically his Internet strategy — and I was pleasantly surprised to hear his e-commerce business was steadily becoming more than just “a website presence.” In fact, he was acquiring new clients, building new relationships, and selling direct to the point where his e-business was becoming a significant part of his whole business. Who knew selling toilet accessories to contractors online could be so successful? Actually, I did. You see, at first my client was skeptical of having a Web presence at all — and thought that e-commerce was a something that would not apply to his operation, especially since there was some investment required to get things rolling. It was only after some convincing that I was able to persuade him that his hard-earned dollars would be well spent on a solid e-commerce and Internet marketing strategy. Fast-forward one month later — his 600-plus product e-commerce site was launched and marketing commenced. At the end of the first week, I figured I’d touch-base with the client to see how things were going. “I’m getting several prospect phone calls and e-mails daily — and I’ve already received a few online orders he said. My initial feeling was one of relief — given I had the been the catalyst for having him make the investment — but when I thought about it for a second, it made perfect sense. After all, 2005 was a true milestone for e-commerce business. Total Internet spending for the year reached $143.2 billion — up 22% over the $117.2 billion spent online in 2004, according to comScore Networks. “Cyber Mondays,” the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday, are quickly becoming a part of our American holiday shopping routine — similar to “Black Friday for traditional retailers. I suppose it’d be easy for me to simply say, “Your target market IS buying online.” But it’s even easier to cite the low operational costs, the ability to do business in an automated fashion 24/7, the exposure to a national, even an international, prospect-base and the fact that your competition is probably already doing business (or at least strategizing about it) online. Both consumers and businesses are embracing the power of the Web, finding what they need through search engines like Google and Yahoo!, and buying through Amazon, e-Bay and Buy.com. If you think that just because these are huge, well-known companies that your business can’t capitalize on the same strategies these businesses have, you need to think again. While no company, in my opinion, has it all figured out in terms of e-commerce (no, not even Google), the same basic principles apply no matter what size the business. However, to quote a particularly good NY Lotto ad slogan from the 80s, first “You gotta be in it to win it. Like anything else, procrastination and fear of the unknown often stops small-business owners from even getting started in uncharted territories like e-commerce and all things tech. Being February already, it’s a little late for New Year’s resolutions; however, I can’t help but create my short-list of to-dos for any small-business owner thinking of implementing an e-commerce strategy in 2006. Here they are: Do your homework (and I mean now) on your three closest competitors, and see what they’re doing online. Look back on 2005 and think of at least three things that completely bombed including how much time and money spent, and how those resources could have been spent in growing your online business. Again, looking back on 2005, think of at least three things that were complete successes (thereby bringing revenue or opportunity back to your organization) and think how sticking to this core-strategy for your online business could have made an even bigger impact. The Web is here to stay, and it offers your business a very effective way to find and keep customers. So even if you’re not sure of the opportunity, you have to take a shot, like my plumbing supplies client did. If you don’t, you could be letting future profits go down the drain.