NOTES FROM THE ECOMMERCE EXPERTS... 
Making your online store more profitable

A message from our CEO, Steve Moen

Where are your customers headed?

Keeping pace with customers on their path to purchase requires some advanced navigation skills. What was once a straight line is now a windy road with pitstops at brick-and-mortar locations, social media sites, online stores and mobile apps. The secret to staying on their trail, however, is in understanding them even better than before. Fortunately, new and improving technology is emerging everyday to help make that possible.     

Schedule a workshop

The best way to gain traction with customers is to deliver positive experiences at every turn. UI/UX workshops ensure that the right strategies are put in place early on.         

Articles to read

Creating relevant content throughout the customer journey: The Guardian

Online purchase cycle in 2014 messy; not a funnel: Practical eCommerce

Apple upgrade tracks customers even when marketing apps are off: OPB.org 

NetSphere Strategies will be attending the following upcoming events. For event details, click the corresponding buttons below. 

Adobe takes on the challenge of personalization

Adobe's Experience Manager was designed to address the fragmentation of the multi-channel marketing environment. For eCommerce, Adobe added specific features to tackle the job.

Tracking customers in-store; the stuff of sci-fi

Facial recognition and wearables, like Google Glass, are the future of retail. But for now, there are other portals to in-store success.

NOTES FROM THE ECOMMERCE EXPERTS... 
Making your online store more profitable

A message from our CEO, Steve Moen

Don't delay! Act fast! Time is running out!

Phrases like these all take advantage of the same convention: humans are three times more concerned to lose out on something than to gain something. Referred to as loss aversion, smart marketers take advantage of it all the time. But those aren't the only human quirks that marketers make the most of. 

Consumer psychology

Although consumers may not realize it, they often make purchases because of subconscious tendencies. Seasoned marketers know this, and when you download our infographic, you will, too.        

Articles to read

Why eCommerce numbers only tell part of the story: Ad Age

The psychology of shopping: Oxford Today

The complete guide to understanding consumer psychology: QuickSprout

Creating a successful website requires a strategically driven effort backed by a holistic understanding of technology, UI/UX, marketing and analytics.

As a full-service eCommerce firm, we have the expertise to help you coordinate your website development efforts.

Leveraging the rule of reciprocity

The rule of reciprocity describes a human response to a positive action as one that is equally positive. For marketers, it can come in the form of a free sample or eBook.    

The psychology behind free shipping

When shoppers hear the word free, their ears perk up a bit. And believe it or not, their wallets are often prone to open up a little bit more, too.

NOTES FROM THE ECOMMERCE EXPERTS...
Making your online store more profitable

A message from our CEO, Steve Moen

With so many disparate definitions, does the cloud really have a silver lining?

When you Google “the cloud,” more than 1 billion results are revealed. When you ask a group of individuals what the cloud means to them, their answers might be just as varied. For some, the term is nothing more than a catch-all phrase created by marketers trying to generalize any IT activities that aren’t hosted in-house. The cloud can also be as simple as a metaphor for the Internet or any host of platforms that don’t depend on any physicality. For others, it's just a way to stay buzz-word compliant.

No matter how you refer to it, the cloud is being implemented in various ways to reduce operational costs associated with in-house servers and the personnel required to manage them. For this newsletter, we’re focusing our cloud conversations around subscription-based services like SaaS or IaaS, which can be leveraged to extend the capabilities of an IT team.

Introducing BalanceMaxx

To improve your performance on Amazon, eBay, NewEgg, Rakuten (formerly Buy.com) and Sears, BalanceMaxx, a cloud-based subscription service, can convey your order information to reduce labor costs and increase accuracy. To learn more, download the brochure.

Articles to read

How the rise of multi-cloud is transforming eCommerce: AppsTechNews.com

Staying secure in the cloud-adoption aftermath: eCommerceTimes.com

Forecasting public cloud adoption in the enterprise: Forbes.com

Creating a successful website requires a strategically driven effort. It also requires a holistic understanding of technology, UI/UX, marketing and analytics.

As a full-service eCommerce firm, we have the expertise to help you coordinate your website development efforts.

What does it mean to move a business to the cloud?

Forward-thinking businesses are moving to the cloud. And it’s what your business should be doing, too. Right? Well, before jumping on the bandwagon, it’s best to understand what it means and if it’s well-suited for your business.

4 things to know before selling on eCommerce marketplaces

The potential revenue that comes with making your products available on sites like Amazon and eBay is great, but that possibility also comes with an additional cache of responsibilities.

NOTES FROM THE ECOMMERCE EXPERTS...
Making your online store more profitable

A message from our CEO, Steve Moen

That's a wrap, folks!

With 2013 at our backs, we look to the New Year to bring us new opportunities to grow our businesses. By taking what we've learned over the course of the past 12 months, we can better tackle what's ahead. Taking the idea of lessons learned into current context, it's interesting to think that what was once considered "reflecting on the past to improve the future" can now be thought of as analytics-based decision making.

Intelligent insight through analytics

Retailers that use analytics create a competitive advantage for their organizations. From improving the customer experience to increasing employee collaboration, mining big data produces big results.

Articles to read

3 big data opportunities for CRM strategy: Information Week

Big data and analytics trends for 2014: ZDNet.com

Creating a successful website requires a strategically driven effort. It also requires a holistic understanding of technology, UI/UX, marketing and analytics.

As a full-service eCommerce firm, we have the expertise to help you coordinate your website development efforts.

Setting up basic attribution modeling with
Google Analytics

One of the biggest challenges for retailers is figuring out where to put their marketing dollars. With consumers taking so many avenues toward an eventual purchase, it’s tough to know what messages make an impact.

6 analytics trends for mid-market eCommerce in 2014

Expect an evolving use of eCommerce analytics tools in 2014 as businesses adapt to the behavior where buyers research their problem and possible solutions online before ever speaking to a salesperson.

NOTES FROM THE ECOMMERCE EXPERTS...
Making your online store more profitable

A message from our CEO, Steve Moen

Mobile by the millions

If we've heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times: mobile's momentum isn't about to slow down. Or is it? Despite reports citing the ongoing uptick in smartphone adoption, market saturation is inevitable. Some firms are forecasting that saturation in the United States could come as early as November 2015.

The mobile story to follow, therefore, is that smartphone prevalence in daily lives is just now getting interesting. Furthermore, tablet adoption is on the rise. As of June 2013, there were 69 million U.S. users powering up their Apple iPads, Galaxy Tabs and Microsoft Surfaces, leaving a large percentage of the population still anxious to get on the tablet bandwagon.

Mobile design tip sheet

Before you get in too deep with a mobile design project, download our tip sheet, which includes a handful of commonly overlooked mobile design elements.

Articles to read

eCommerce Is growing nicely while mCommerce
is on a tear: Forbes.com

How Mars, Venus and maps affect mobile shopping: MultichannelMerchant.com

Mobile commerce returns tricky for retailers:
ZDNet.com

Creating a successful website requires a strategically driven effort. It also requires a holistic understanding of technology, UI/UX, marketing and analytics.

As a full-service eCommerce firm, we have the expertise to help you coordinate your website development efforts.

Staying relevant with mobile, WebSphere Commerce

If the whole point of online shopping is convenience, then why aren’t more sites mobile enabled? Some of it may have to do with the perceived difficulty in developing an effective mobile site.

3 things to know about mCommerce in 2013 and beyond

As the mobile market continues to mature, merchants will want to understand how it's changing - be it in the market's users or its technologies.