EcommercePlatforms.io

Author: Rodney Laws

  • 10 eCommerce Hacks to Grow Your Business in a Few Months

    10 eCommerce Hacks to Grow Your Business in a Few Months

    Merchantry estimates that there are over 4.2 million eCommerce brands in Canada and the US. So yes, there’s no better time to be an online seller than now.

    But considering the massive competition, running an ecommerce store is not an easy feat. The good news is that you’re here. That means you have the drive to stand out.

    So, how can you boost growth in the vast sea of eCommerce? Let’s find out! Below, you’ll find 10 quick eCommerce hacks that’ll help you drive your success in months.

    Note that these are only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more growth hacks for ecommerce you can look for. But the following tactics will help you set up a solid ecommerce growth strategy.

    Let’s dive right in.

     1. Go into Speed Mode

    You don’t want your sales to suffer from Slow page loading for even 1 second. Here’s why, according to Envisage Digital:

    • 1 second delay in page load drops views by 11%;
    • Cuts down conversion rates by 7%; and
    • Drops customer satisfaction by 16%.

    Imagine what a 2- or 3-second bounce rate could do to your revenue! Here are a few things you can use to boost page loading:

    • Run a test using Google Page Speed. This tool can determine your speed performance. It also suggests how to decrease page loading time.
    • Invest in a CDN, or Content Delivery Network. A CDN allows you to use different servers to drive data transfer and cut down content latency.
    • Update your hosting plan. Work with a website host that offers high performance and fast speed. You can also upgrade to VPS or cloud hosting to boost page loading.

    Here are more tips to increase page loading speed.

    2. Make Yourself Easy to Find

    The trick is to stay at the top of the heap. But how to stand out among the sea of eCommerce sellers? That’s where SEO comes in.

    SEO is about driving organic traffic using relevant terms. These are words and phrases users type in a search browser to find web pages.

    You should focus on researching 3 types of search terms:

    • The first is frontend, which is directly related to your business. You’ll find them in titles, descriptions and blog posts.
    • The second type are backend keywords. Customers won’t see these terms, but they can help you widen your online reach.
    • Lastly, use transactional keywords to convert users. These are terms used when a customer is ready to buy a product. Think of brand names, or words like “purchase” and “order now”.

    But great traffic also requires great content that delights audiences. That’s On-Page SEO, and it is what will drive both traffic and conversions.

    3. Inform Your Customers

    Any eCommerce site should work on creating in-depth product descriptions. Users want to learn what a product can do for them.

    So, it’s not enough to name the item and its general features. Tell your audience how it’s built, and what its purpose is. In short, share the product’s story with the audience.

    You should apply these same principles to your videos and images. Always include high-quality visuals that showcase your offers as much as possible.

    You can also include tutorials or how-to videos that display the product in action. Shoppers need to see what they’ll buy, and how it actually works, whenever possible.

    4. Long-form Content

    Blog posts are an excellent way to keep customers informed and interested in your expertise. They promote engagement and customer retention.

    However, you need to go outside your own blog to attract new traffic. The best way to do so is by writing guest posts.

    Guest posts are content that you can publish on an ally’s website to build brand awareness. They are also a great feature to show that you are an authority within your market base.

    Plus, guest posts give you the chance to set up backlinks into your own website. This means new customers will have a better chance of finding you.

    5. The Magic of A/B Testing

    This is one of the most used eCommerce growth hacking tactics. A/B testing can help you compare similar products, and see which has better images, layout and copy.

    An A/B test is a key ecommerce hack you need to optimize conversions. It can let you know which assets benefit your sales, and which are hurting growth.

    You can run A/B testing using Google Optimize. This tool can pinpoint the changes that should be made to product listings to drive conversions. For example:

    • Image location, quality and size.
    • Color, size and location changes to action buttons, like “Add to cart”.
    • Stating product supply and free shipping offers.
    • Including trust badges in prominent areas.

    Make sure you A/B test on a regular basis. That way, you’ll soon find the best adjustments that can boost sales.

    6. Include Trust Badges

    Customers value secure purchases. The thing is, ecommerce has little room for face-to-face sales. So, how can you show buyers that you are a trustful seller?

    It’s easy: showcase trust badges. These are the logos of the software you rely on to make every sale as trustworthy as possible.

    You can also feature the authorized payment methods available. Chances are customers will feel safe knowing their data is well protected.

    Place trust badges in visible places. For example, right next to the Add To Cart button, or at the checkout page. This will boost your seller credibility, and also promote conversions.

    7. Responsive Design

    This is about device adaptability and personalized storefronts. And these are not only ecommerce conversion hacks, but a must-do for all sellers.

    Responsive design means setting up your site, so that it fits the device customers use to visit. This means ensuring a great UX on desktop, smartphones and tablets, separately.

    Users are increasingly browsing via mobile devices. And once they know what to buy, they’ll use a desktop or laptop to make the purchase.

    So, it’s crucial that sellers adopt a mobile-first, desktop-second approach to their online storefronts.

    8. Custom User Navigation

    The second key to responsive design is to adapt your webpage to the user’s habits. This means tracking users, so they can find what they need each time they log into your store. For example:

    • Set your store to showcase the specific products a recurring user was looking at the last time they logged in.
    • Use the homepage to feature offers related to the common items they look or buy for.
    • Save their search queries so they don’t waste time typing the products they want to review.

    Here are a few more tips to enhance this eCommerce growth strategy:

    • Visible search bar. Most customers will already know what they want. So, they’ll go to the search bar to find it. Make sure your search bar is in a prominent place on your website.
    • Homepage simplicity. State your value proposition and selling points, but copy and video should be at a minimum here.
    • Menu navigation. Keep a visible and simple menu on top. This is a compass to user search. The idea is to let users navigate smoothly, and go back and forth across your store.
    • Product tags. This tool can help users find specific product categories. Plus, tags are also a great tool to customize URLs to improve SEO, both internally and on SERPs like Google.

    9. Checkout Simplicity

    Almost 70% of users abandon the shopping cart without making a purchase, according to the Bayard Institute.

    The checkout process can actually make or break conversions. It can’t be overly complicated or else your bounce rate will suffer for it. So, how can you push it along?

    • Offer guest checkouts. Not all buyers want to create an account to buy a single product. So, don’t force users to register. Let them make the choice for themselves.
    • Provide multiple payment options. Many users are still wary of sharing their credit card info online. So, give them the choice to buy using PayPal or Amazon Pay, for example.
    • Keep the account registry simple. Don’t ask too much info from users who do want to create an account.

    10. Involve the End User

    Let people know users are buying your products. And better yet, let your customers announce it themselves.

    Customers need more than great content to buy a product. They also want to learn what other users think about the product.

    That’s where social proof comes in. This means sharing customer ratings and testimonials via your website and social media.

    But social proof can go beyond testimonials. A great strategy is to share user generated content.

    For example, encourage users to post their purchases on social media. Then, take those posts and share them across your own channels.

    Learning about other buyers’ experience gives new users confidence to buy a product.

    Final Thoughts

    None of these tips are complicated nor expensive. In fact, you can start using them almost immediately!

    As a rule of thumb, take the time to experiment, or partner up with an expert. This means working on a few ecommerce growth tactics first.

    For example, start off by boosting your page speed. Then, check if your bounce rate decreases. Afterwards, you can revamp your content to boost user retention.

    Test, analyze, and build upon the results. Take a slow, strategic approach to test your eCommerce growth hacks. This will let you see which tips are actually boosting growth.

    And if one tactic is not working, then change it. With time and work, you’ll soon find the formula that works best for your eCommerce store. The results are worth it.

    Best of luck!

    Author

    Esteban Muñoz is a content writer at AMZ Advisers, with several years’ experience in digital marketing and e-commerce. Esteban and the AMZ Advisers team have been able to achieve incredible growth on Amazon for their clients by optimizing and managing their accounts, and creating in-depth content marketing strategies.
  • How To Increase eCommerce Traffic With Long-Tail Content

    How To Increase eCommerce Traffic With Long-Tail Content

    Competing for high search volume keywords is often the most sought-after route to get traffic and convert. However, using high search volume keywords in a highly competitive USD 5.5 Trillion eCommerce industry is often a long-drawn effort where you spend more time trying to rank higher instead of getting traffic and conversions.

    A simpler way is to focus on a select group of people/buyer personas searching precisely for your product and service with long-tail keywords. This way, you spend your resources, making your keyword search more profitable. 

    Another benefit of this approach is that once you choose the long-tail keywords, you can use them in your content marketing by building on FAQs, using tools, and scaling your business. 

    But first, let us take a look at why it’s worth targeting long-tail keywords.

    Why Should You Target Long-Tail Keywords?

    Most popular eCommerce categories are saturated with content. This makes content marketing less appealing to eCommerce store owners. They resort to social media and PPC for eCommerce marketing, both of which are more expensive and less reliable than organic content traffic in the long term.

    Social media algorithms change all the time. With Facebook and Instagram reducing their visibility, you end up spending on paid ads, thereby impacting your bottom line. PPC pipeline dries up the moment you turn off advertising. It also eats up margins, forcing you to increase prices and become less competitive. And if you are a sole owner, you may have to rely on hiring someone to get PPC working for you, adding to your costs.

    Are Long-Tail Keywords Profitable? 

    Long-term keywords, by nature, cater to a tiny subset of the topic. As such, they have a low search volume. But what works in its favor is that it is highly targeted, so when you use the correct terms, it can reach a high converting audience.

    Another benefit is that it is very specific, making it easy for your customers to receive their answers when they land on your page, reducing the bounce rate. Since long-tail keywords account for as much as 70% of web searches, you’ll likely rank faster than short-tail keywords considering most eCommerce users are active users looking to educate themselves before buying.

    Use Long-Tail Keywords to Educate Your Readers 

    Long-tail keywords can help you get traffic and direct the traffic to the correct funnels to convert. However, long-tail keywords need not necessarily mean blog traffic. Some ways to use it are in your video, infographic, or product FAQs. 

    ASOS does a great job of having their long-term keywords as part of their FAQs pages. All the FAQ pages are interlinked, giving users a seamless experience across their site.

    Source: Asos

    This way, it makes it easy for their users to get the information quickly, improve trust and build confidence in their brand, likely leading users to other pages on the site.

    Lyft follows a similar pattern of putting its best resources as a cluster on its Help page. 

    Source: Lyft

    The clean look makes it easy for the driver or rider to seek help without spending another minute navigating elsewhere on the website.

    Niche Tools to Build on Long-Tail Keywords 

    Create niche tools that do not exist for your category. For example, a ‘cm to EU size converter’ if you are selling fashion items. Or a mileage to monthly fuel expense calculator for someone selling auto parts.

    The fees in an eCommerce store can quickly add up. 

    Source: TheFeeCalculator

    With the help of TheFeeCalculator, users can quickly calculate and manage margins without racking their brains on the merchant account fees. This way, users save time and costs considerably without relying on manual calculations, which can have errors. This develops trust, and users will repeatedly use it as a convenient tool, thereby building credible traffic to your store.

    These tools are part of what is called interactive content, increasing engagement. Other forms of interactive content include surveys, polls, etc., that you can use if you already have an email list that you want to drive traffic from.  

    How to Scale Your eCommerce Business

    By design, long-tail caters to a very small target group. So the only way to get meaningful results is by scaling up.

    Once you choose your long-tail keywords, determine the number of articles you need to attract quality traffic. Then scale up your content creation by hiring freelancers to build long-tail content. 

    Include long-tail keywords in different ways on your site so your users feel that their answers are addressed in various ways. Use blog posts and videos and link them to other related content pieces so it’s a natural fit when users search for it on your site or your social channels.

    Ensure you put out quality content to address the user intent and drive conversions. Quality content will also attract quality backlinks to your site, building authority and helping scale faster.

    Automate processes wherever possible to reduce churn and improve customer service. Identify content gaps and plug them with the necessary content that addresses user pain points. This way, your product or service naturally fits in as an ideal solution.

    Repeat this process until you have fine-tuned your content for conversions.

    Final Thoughts

    Your eCommerce store may have the best products in the market. But unless you attract the right traffic to it, you could be leaving money on the table. 

    While short-tail keywords have a high volume, they are tough to rank. Instead, focus your attention on long-tail keywords to narrow your focus on a niche audience to serve. Pick a few long-tail keywords and use them in blog posts, product FAQs, or the help page. Cluster your resources together to give a great user experience. You can also try interactive content like free calculators, surveys, and others to boost engagement. 

    And once your content is aligned to your users, scale your business to reach out to a broad audience with more relevant content. Use freelancers to create high-volume content, attract quality backlinks and build your authority to price your products competitively and reduce customer acquisition costs.

  • Tips on Cost-Effective International Shipping For Any Business

    Tips on Cost-Effective International Shipping For Any Business

    Shipping is one of the main expenses for any online business. You can have great products at the lowest price out there, but it’s shipping that enables customers to try the products you offer.

    Inaccurate shipping rates, high real-time rates, lack of delivery options are some of the key factors shaping why your customers might abandon their shopping carts instead of proceeding to checkout. To achieve cost-effective shipping, retailers might want to consider matching products dimensions with the dimensions of the package, use dimensional weight shipping, apply landed cost when needed, and more.

    To find out about all tips on cost-effective shipping, have a look at these steps and factors influencing shipping costs directly.

    Package characteristics

    The more precise package parameters you send to the carriers, the more accurate real-time rates you will receive. In some cases, this means saving extra money on shipping. Carriers charge more for bigger packages even if they are lightweight because they take extra space in the transportation vehicles. Retailers ship packages wrapped in filling and packaging materials that take 70% of the whole package. Not only is this unprofitable for all parties, but it is also harmful to the environment.

    As a retailer, it is important to match the dimensions of the product with the dimensions of the package. This is called Smart Packaging. Smart Packaging is a shipping feature that automatically pre-packs each order into the optimal package and requests real-time rates directly from the carriers based on these specific parameters. Smart Packaging feature is very similar to what many might know as Dimensional Weight Shipping.

    Unlike Smart Packaging, when using Dimensional Weight Shipping there are only the product’s dimensions taken into consideration which are length, width, and height of the product. Both methods are cost-effective, however, the accuracy of real-time rates is higher when using Smart Packaging.

    Landed cost

    Landed cost is a sum of all costs it takes to ship a package abroad. These costs include value-added taxes, insurance fees, shipping costs, import licenses, customs duties, and similar. Some of the costs like import license or insurance fees are not obligatory and depend on the nature of the product or the country the package is going to be shipped to.

    It is crucial to keep in mind that accounting for shipping and manufacturing is not enough. The formula for calculating landed cost should include profit margin as well. Profit might be completely wiped out altogether by the landed cost if the retailer miscalculates how much it will cost to ship a package abroad.

    Additionally, surprising your customers with unexpected shipping costs after receiving packages from abroad is not professional and might lead to dissatisfied customers.

    Rate shopping

    Rate shopping is a comparison between carriers’ service and their corresponding real-time shipping rates. This comparison serves to find the cheapest or the fastest real-time rates. The process of rate shopping can be fully automated, saving a lot of time. Overall, the automated rate shopping process creates a better and simpler checkout experience, as only the best shipping rates are visible for your customers.

    Limit return shipping policy

    Offering a return policy is nothing new and unique these days. The majority of retailers use quick and free returns as a competitive advantage. However, what will be the influence on your business if you offer a zero return policy?

    The point of limiting the return policy is to make your customers aware of what they shop for. The drawback of the return policy is that any product can be returned quickly and easily.

    Customers do not pause about the necessity of the product and online shopping becomes very impulsive. It became easier and cheaper for retailers to dispose of faulty products rather than repair them. Limiting return policies might save you as much shipping cost as any other factor mentioned above.

    Shipping destination

    The destination is another factor influencing the cost-effectiveness of your shipping. The farther away the destination is, the more expensive and slower it is to deliver the products. The problem with international shipping is that often carriers delegate shipments to one another once they reach the international borders. For example, for some ground shipping services UPS delegates shipping to Canada Post as soon as it reaches the Canadian border. This process is slow and requires one unified shipping rate from both carriers.

    If you are shipping from the United States, check out the list of the countries which are in a free trade agreement with the US. Free trade agreement allows you to ship with lower shipping rates, but it does not guarantee lower tariffs for each type of product shipped. Still, it makes moving goods around the world more cost-effective and easier.

    Conclusion

    Here are summarized the main factors that are necessary to achieve cost-effective international shipping. Some additional factors might be the inclusion of delivery dates at the checkout to avoid paying for re-routing or rescheduling of the package. Some of these factors are not only helping you to achieve cost-effective shipping but also increasing the accuracy of real-time rates as in the case of Smart Packaging and Dimensional Weight Shipping.

    Author’s Bio

    Lucia Liskova is Marketing Manager at Calcurates by Amasty shipping SaaS for e-commerce.

  • Preparing Your Online Store for 2022 – Top 7 Ecommerce Trends

    Preparing Your Online Store for 2022 – Top 7 Ecommerce Trends

    Making purchases online is gradually gaining momentum amongst all age groups now, partially due to COVID accelerating its adoption. Since last year, people have adopted the online route to buy goods as opposed to buying at retail stores only.

    But somewhere this implies that retailers need to be more alert while setting up their online store. In this article, we will put light on the finer details of the most in-demand ecommerce trends for 2022.

    We can say that ecommerce has been optimized over these years for better reach and consumer ease. We have witnessed some high-impact transitions from email alerts to pop-up notifications; tiring sign-ups to OTP logins; lengthy menu items to categorize products, etc.

    Trends change every year and so does selling through ecommerce. In the last few years, there have been transformations through improvisations in user experience, payment methods, cloud services, etc. All of these have brought in a significant rise in overall online sales and will continue to do so.

    Ecommerce trends for 2022

    1. Responsive search

    From the perspective of a shopper, have you ever noticed that the time taken to locate the product of your choice is greater than the time taken to make the actual purchase? Searching across vendors, products, the related comparisons, etc. is indeed quite a long process. On the contrary, think of it from a retailer’s perspective. He would eventually want the lead to travel down the funnel in order to meet his targeted sales metric.

    Consumers navigating through a large e-Store is a cumbersome process. Even today, 61% of ecommerce sites have weak support for search synonyms that make navigation easy for online shoppers. With the rising intervention of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) into eCommerce, customers are expecting their product search to find an exact match in the least possible time.

    Hence, a quick and relevant search is a must-have for all shopping platforms. Customer Experience is amongst the top priorities of online businesses, adapting the search for a better fit is eventually going to fine-tune this experience. Leveraging AI for making the search more responsive is an easy way to understand your consumer better.

    With the use of AI, the search box pre-populates with the customer query and minimizes the customer effort to type in the entire product. To make it more efficient, try feeding in product codes, color variants, sizes etc. into the AI model to display some of the more relevant results and eliminate broad search results. By virtue of an intelligent search, consumers will feel good about choosing your platform over others.

    2. Omni-channel selling

    Simply put, Omni-channel refers to selling products through both offline and online channels. This strategy is focused on making the customer’s experience seamless by virtue of comfort buying. It provides the flexibility of reviewing the product in-person while making the purchase online.

    Going by a report from the National Retail Federation, online and other non-store sales have increased by 20% as compared to last year. There is no denying the fact that COVID did accelerate the online transition for both businesses and customers. However, customers are now on the lookout for an optimal mix of an offline and an online store. This allows more flexibility and gives the customer a superior buying experience.

    So, if you haven’t already, activate all your channels for showcasing your products and get exposed to a wider audience. Social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook have also rapidly paced and are helping businesses promote their products through their platform. Hence, be ready with all your online storefronts while keeping your offline store intact to expand our audience as well as business revenue. It’s time for a transition!

    3. Online marketplaces

    With an improving ecommerce environment, shoppers are getting used to friendlier and more valuable platforms. Gone are the days of one platform, one product, being surpassed for the good by the multi-utility marketplaces. Consumers find marketplaces more time-consuming as well, for the simple reason that they get product details, price comparison, multiple vendors to choose from, etc. through a single channel.

    If you study the trends, you’ll understand that getting into the business of an online marketplace is a safe bet and is only expected to grow tremendously. If you’re a seller, you can get yourself listed on any of the popular marketplace in your region. For e.g. eBay, Walmart, etc. But if you’re an entrepreneur, you can expect to maximize revenue if you create a marketplace instead of a simple online store.

    Hence, we can expect marketplaces to become even more rewarding for consumers, sellers as well as entrepreneurs in the coming days.

    4. Headless stores

    Surrounded by a mix of reviews during the initial days of release, the headless technology is gradually gaining momentum, especially in the ecommerce industry. To decode this, in simple terms it means moving away from a centralized management system and adopting separate management of the backend and frontend of websites. Frontend is what the consumers experience while backend is for the tech related management and upgrades.

    Keeping ecommerce stores headless, i.e. detached, businesses have been able to considerably improve the UI. Also, there has been a constant struggle amongst businesses to reduce the customer acquisition cost (CAC). Well, going headless has responded well and has helped in majorly lowering the CAC. Amongst the available frameworks in the market, Magento has rapidly progressed to overcome the initial challenges and believes that this technology is here to stay for the long term. With Progressive Web Apps on Magento, merchants get the choice to go headless and get better results in a short time span.

    Since the technology is relatively new as compared to other innovations, constant updates keep happening to make this better. This means that you can expect it to bring even better results in the coming days. Talking about the improvisations it has already brought for merchants, loading time comes down to approx. 2 seconds with this. Which, I believe, is good enough for any online store!

    5. Sustainable selling

    Environmentalists have focused their strategies also around the ecommerce industry. There is no denying the fact that there is a tremendous amount of damage being caused to the environment at various stages of an online order. And hence, there is a rising concern that needs to be addressed promptly by decision-makers.

    Moreover, millennials or the gen Z, being more alert and aware about the ecological aspect are also more attracted to brands that are conscious about reducing the environmental damage. Any business can do their bit by adopting methods more environmentally friendly. This can be achieved at various levels of a business model depending on the interest level in promoting the message.

    For e.g DHL’s GoGreen is an attempt to reduce the CO2 emissions caused by transport, as prescribed by the Kyoto Protocol. Similarly, what entrepreneurs can do is-

    • Design products that are sustainable and not made up of raw materials that will eventually pose a threat.
    • Adopt sustainable packaging instead of relying on plastic. There are alternatives available in the market that are equivalent to plastic in terms of usability but cause no harm.
    • Avoid using multiple layers of packaging for all their products. This can be restricted to deliverables that need more care instead of a universal packaging pattern.
    • Reuse any available boards or cartons stored in their inventories or planned for disposal.

    6. D2C ecommerce

    The future of online selling is definitely a direct-to-consumer model. EMarketer estimates that 103.4 million consumers in the US would buy from a D2C business. This indicates that the trend is moving upwards from 2022 onwards. And why not? It bridges the gap tremendously while making the transactions easier and more direct.

    This model boasts of sharing an experience and not selling a product. Since this model focuses on reducing the barriers between companies and consumers, the key lies in keeping the communication transparent. With an engagement strategy in place, the model can be leveraged to make better revenue by gaining customer trust.

    A D2C business model brings in ample no. of benefits since it is cost-effective at multiple stages. Tuning it for eCommerce is what the new-age shoppers need. Millennials are dominating online sales since they are the decision-makers for their respective communities. This will not just save input cost for a business but will also help companies to create better relationships with their customers. Thus, D2C is not one of the passing trends but is here to stay for longer.

    7. Social commerce

    It would not be wrong to say that social media has captured our lives. There’s no denying the fact that it is ruling most of our lives and is making us rely on it more and more with each passing day. Though these started with the idea of networking channels, if we look at it today, these channels have also become search engines, marketplaces, influential platforms, and whatnot.

    Channels like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok introduced their shopping a couple of years back. Brands are using these channels not to sell their products directly, but to understand the lives of their consumers and make their brand more visible and popular eventually. With social media, consumers get to make better decisions based on experience sharing within the community.

    Looking at the average screen time of Gen-Z or every second person, the maximum time spent would be on either Instagram or Facebook, or any such app. Because we love scrolling! Don’t we? Hold on till we get used to the upcoming Live Search.

    Concluding thoughts

    Looking at all the above trends, we can say 2022 is expected to become more consumer-friendly in every possible way. It can be said that ecommerce is bound to get better by adding personalization for buyers. All these trends are an attempt to simplify the overall shopping experience, not just buying and selling.

    It is time to transform ecommerce stores into more appealing and immersive storefronts. Gone are the days when ecommerce was confined to the mere selling of products. Today, there are multiple strategies that businesses need to adopt that can streamline and scale online sales. So focus more on creating better experiences that save time, sharing real-time reviews, engaging with your customers on the channels where they’re most active, offering prompt and personalized responses, and providing innovative solutions that work for your audience.

    About CedCommerce

    CedCommerce is making ecommerce more accessible for online businesses. It is supporting businesses across geographies to share better online experiences with their consumers. The team has solutions for Online Marketplaces – B2B & B2C, Progressive Web Applications, Magento extensions, and designs ecommerce stores on the latest Magento 2. They also have Magento certified experts that can be reached out directly as well. So reach out to them if you need any help!

  • Is The Ecommerce Subscription Model The Future Of Online Retail?

    Is The Ecommerce Subscription Model The Future Of Online Retail?

    Charting the growth and development of ecommerce is an awkward task indeed. The industry hasn’t actually been around for that long, yet the core process settled into a comfortable groove around the time Amazon rolled out the model that has kept it in a position of global dominance. Since then, you might think that little has changed — but is that really so?

    Consider the key area of shipping, for instance. The fundamental mechanisms are the same as ever, but the notion of supporting various pick-up locations is relatively recent, and there are still plenty of sellers getting to grips with it. And then there’s the matter of on-site marketing. Product preview tools are vastly better than ever before, with many companies taking advantage of AR technology to encourage prospective buyers over the conversion line.

    In fact, when you pick through all the elements, it’s clear that ecommerce is always changing — just in an evolutionary way. The basics are cast, just as the basics of traditional retail were long ago, but the use of those basics is incrementally being subjected to experimentation. New approaches come along, fly high or fall short, and change how things are viewed.

    One approach that’s clearly flown high is that of bringing the subscription model to ecommerce. You can’t have escaped the rise of this business model — but is it the future of online retail, just another option, or a tactic with a limited shelf life? In all likelihood, it’s somewhere between the first two. Allow me to explain why.

    Consistency provides a steady revenue

    When you rely on subscriptions, you know that any given purchase isn’t a one-off payment: it’s a gateway to enduring payment. This makes it so much easier to predict how much revenue you’ll bring in each month, providing you with a level of security that frees you to grow your business without needing to worry so much about financing.

    Your churn rate (the rate at which you lose subscribers) will obviously factor into this, but if you do most things right then you should have a solid base of loyal customers. So what can you do with your steady revenue? Well, you can invest in many ways. You can expand your operation in the most basic sense by scaling up what you’re already doing, or upgrade some aspect of your infrastructure, or even put the money into a secondary business.

    This is also great for maintaining the value of your business for potential investors or buyers. Even if you don’t want more money and have no interest in selling your store, it’s prudent to keep the perceived value high: you never know when a golden opportunity might come along and inspire you to go in a totally fresh direction.

    Simplicity reduces admin complexity

    The process of fielding administrative issues can be tricky in the ecommerce world. With each complaint, you must first determine exactly what product (or products) are involved, how and when the purchase was made, and what communication has already taken place — and if you want to keep the customer happy, you must then take some relevant actions.

    If you sell a hundred products, that holds you to assisting with the use of each and every one of them, even though it may not technically be your responsibility. Some customers will never accept the need to go to a manufacturer for assistance. Updating orders, offering deals: it’s a complicated process. And then there’s the matter of getting your pricing right. Imagine regularly monitoring a hundred price tags, ensuring that they stay in line with market averages.

    Using the subscription model takes away a lot of this work. When you offer a small selection of subscriptions, your work is similarly stripped back (customization options won’t be too problematic since most people will go without them). You’ll end up getting the same questions over and over again, making it easy to answer them, particularly with a knowledge base.

    The pricing too gets much simpler. You can use a dynamic pricing tool if you’d like, with Prisync being the classic example, or make manual tweaks using subscription management software such as Chargebee. You can alter the fundamentals of your subscription tiers, see how it impacts your results, and proceed accordingly.

    Larger commitments allow for discounts

    Another great thing about subscriptions for products is that buying in bulk makes it possible to offer discounts that wouldn’t be viable otherwise — at least, not for individual resellers. Wholesalers have always been able to lower prices in that way, but chiefly within the world of B2B retail. And making your products cheaper will obviously help you to sell more subscriptions.

    Bundling products together also gives you the freedom to maximize profit margins for crucial products by balancing them with narrow profit margins on others, and even offload items that wouldn’t ordinarily sell. Indeed, the point of many subscription boxes is to invite mystery, with subscribers not knowing exactly what they’ll get each month.

    Subscriptions will never suit everyone

    Despite those advantages, of course, it’s hard to describe the ecommerce subscription model as the future of online retail. Why? Because it doesn’t suit every situation. Just as there are products that don’t really fit the subscription model (think of expensive and rarely-purchased items, for instance), there are people who’ll never want to subscribe to receive products.

    Merely being part of the future of online retail is nothing to be sniffed at, though. It’s quite clear by now that the subscription model is a rousing success that only stands to get bigger in the coming years, so it’ll be interesting to see which niches it infiltrates next.

  • What Is The Best CRM For Small Businesses In 2021?

    What Is The Best CRM For Small Businesses In 2021?

    Big data analysis isn’t just for big companies. Through powerful yet intuitive CRM systems, it’s possible for small businesses to glean insight into their sales. But which CRM choice is the most fitting?

    The online world offers seemingly-unlimited business opportunities, allowing brands of all sizes to find new prospects, streamline their operations, spread their marketing materials, and action real-time strategic changes. Taking full advantage of those opportunities, however, requires the use of sophisticated software designed to support business development.

    Among the key software types (sales and marketing tools being particularly important), there’s one that plays a vital role across the board: CRMs. A CRM system (with CRM standing for customer relationship management) provides features that help companies tweak their targeting, unpack customer activity, improve retention, and do myriad other useful things. It’s an area in which every ambitious business should invest.

    But if you’re going to commit to a CRM, which one should you choose? While the monthly subscription model used by most systems will give you the option of changing your mind down the line without wasting any money, it’s simply inconvenient to consider having to port over all your data and learn a completely new system.

    To make things easier for you, we’re going to expand upon the role of a CRM, identify the features and advantages you should look for, list some popular options, and attempt to pick a frontrunner. By the end, you should have a good idea of how to overhaul your sales processes.

    What are sales pipeline management tools?

    In a nutshell, sales pipeline software allows businesses (and sales representatives in particular) to easily and extensively track the progress of their various sales opportunities. Every small business needs a regularly-updated lineup of leads to account for inevitable churn: only big brands have the resources and reputations to keep their top clients locked in for years.

    Though this category of tools could encompass other things, it’s essentially just populated by CRM tools. A good CRM solution should do just about everything typical sales teams will need to cover in their daily workloads, offering contact management tools, project management tools, third-party integrations with marketing automation services, and various other handy features. 

    How important is CRM software?

    The answer to this question is easy: if you’re running a small business and aspire to grow it, CRM software is a vital investment. Contact management can easily get messy if you’re trying to handle it through ad-hoc spreadsheet work or even handwritten notes. Leads can be lost, and wires can be crossed. It might seem fine when you’re only pitching to a client on occasion, but long-term development will demand an increase in pitching scale.

    Due to this, it’s imperative that you start sourcing some CRM software for small business growth — but the fact that you’re reading this likely means you don’t need any more convincing. Let’s get into what makes great CRM software tools worthy of handling key customer relationships.

    What should you look for in a CRM?

    So, what makes a CRM suited to small business use? What should you look for? The simplest way to look at the matter is to break it down into the following four core elements:

    • Pricing. Small business CRM software has to be affordable, because small businesses simply can’t afford to pay huge amounts for the tools they use. And while it’s possible to use a free CRM, it won’t provide the scalability or flexibility that business growth demands. This is an investment in your future that needs to be financial. Pay particular attention to how tools are priced: will you be charged per user, or can you have unlimited users? If you have various sales reps, the latter will be preferable, but if there’s just one person doing the work then the former will be better. And look into discounts available for long-term commitments. If you can confirm that a tool works for you through a trial period, and you’re sure about it, it makes sense to commit.
    • Features. What do you get for the price you’re paying? Software for small businesses may be sparsely featured relative to services aimed at the enterprise level, but you can still realistically expect a range of CRM solutions that can transform your sales process. Does a given candidate offer compelling workflow automation tools? Can it handle customer data in a GDPR-friendly way? Will it allow your sales team to neatly nurture customer relationships through tracking customer touchpoints? Consider how differently something like customer segmentation can be approached, and determine whether the CRM process you’re looking at truly suits your company ethos. All your business processes need to fit together neatly, after all, and smart small business owners will only invest in systems that work together seamlessly.
    • Design. The best CRM software doesn’t just have great features: it also makes them extremely easy to use. The software world is littered with examples of tools that can do incredible things but require their users to navigate complex interfaces. The steeper the learning curve for a given tool, the more time you’ll need to put into training, and that’ll cost you money instead of helping you make more. It might end up being worth it, of course, but you shouldn’t settle for a poorly-designed tool when there are plenty around that provide great features through intuitive layouts. Remember that you’ll be using the interface of your chosen CRM for a long time, possibly years, and there’s no guarantee that it’ll be updated. Does it have a mobile app so you can access features on the go? Is it flexible? Is it really good enough?
    • Support. Now that software is so frequently provided as a service (which is important because it lowers costs, improves efficiency, and increases data security), the quality of support provided with a software subscription has become immensely significant. If a new feature is implemented and the documentation doesn’t quite cover everything, you’ll end up relying on the support to point you in the right direction. In addition to checking the support terms, reviewing the hours, and considering the provided channels (you may need the option of using phone calls, for instance), you should read customer reviews. A small business CRM can have a great support scheme on paper, but lack the expertise or commitment to follow through on a consistent basis.

    CRM options to consider

    Now that we’ve detailed what you should look for in a CRM, we can run through some of the leading contenders for the small business crown:

    Zoho CRM

    The Zoho Corporation began offering SaaS tools back in 2005, and Zoho CRM led the way. The company boasts of a comprehensive feature set allowing users to carry out sophisticated customer journey analysis, implement complex workflow automation, create customizable wizards for streamlining processes, and even produce branded self-service support portals.

    At one point there was no free plan option for Zoho CRM, but the acquisition and rebranding of Bigin changed that. Now known as Bigin by Zoho CRM, this alternative solution (that’s fully upgradable to the main Zoho CRM, usefully) offers a simpler solution that’s geared towards small businesses — if you’re willing to accept some key limitations, you can use it for free.

    Regardless of which version you try, you’ll face per-user pricing with variable feature caps. There are also add-ons you can select if necessary, with additional file storage being one. What’s good about Zoho CRM is that it’s formidable right away, though. It isn’t the cheapest, but it’s well-rounded and could be an excellent choice.

    HubSpot CRM

    HubSpot offers a fantastic array of resources to help inbound marketers get results, but don’t let the popularity of its blog fool you: it’s a software company above all else, and the HubSpot CRM platform is a powerhouse, particularly given that many of its tools are available for free. The core part of the CRM system is 100% free and always has been, and you only need to pay if you must exceed the limitations of the lite tools or want additional features.

    This may sound perfect, but the note from earlier still applies: if you really want to grow your business, you’ll need to invest in it. And if you want advanced CRM features, you’ll need to invest in HubSpot’s Sales Hub package. Even the Starter tier offers email scheduling and tracking, VOIP functionality for contacting leads, the ability to bank snippets to save time, and the use of a shared inbox for communication management, to name just some things.

    So is HubSpot CRM a good choice? Well, it requires more configuration than some alternatives, but the ability to use those core features indefinitely without paying for them is very appealing. If you want to trial something for longer than 14 or 30 days, give it a try: you don’t have anything to lose (except for a little time), and if it’s a good fit, you can feel confident about committing to HubSpot due to its outstanding reputation.

    Less Annoying CRM

    Developed as an alternative to complex CRMs already on the market (hence the name), Less Annoying CRM avoids add-ons and niche terminology in an effort to make customer relationship management more accessible. It also offers simple pricing, charging $15 per user per month with no additional tiers or further expenses. You also don’t need to make a long-term commitment to get that price, which drastically reduces your risk.

    So what features are on offer? In essence, all the core features you’d expect to rely on: everything pertaining to adding and managing contacts, complete with custom data fields, and the schedule management you need to keep your leads moving in the right direction. You won’t find email scheduling options, but you can easily log emails from any provider.

    The service is web-based, so you can access it from any decent web-browsing device, and the company has committed to providing all future updates for free. There’s even a convenient export feature so you can make a copy of your data for backup purposes or to migrate to a different CRM. There’s nothing in place to tie you down. So should you use Less Annoying CRM? Give the trial a go, and you’ll soon find out if it fits you.

    Is there a best CRM for small business use?

    To wrap up, then, we can revisit the titular question: what is the best CRM for small businesses in 2021? Alas, the answer, as is often so the case, is that there is no best CRM for small businesses. It all depends on what you’re trying to achieve. Those with terrible reviews clearly aren’t worth your time, but there are many services (particularly the three we’ve looked at here) that consistently get great ratings, so you can’t go wrong with any of them.

    If you don’t want to spend any money, go with HubSpot CRM. It might be enough for you. If you want to pay for a decent service with core features, try Less Annoying CRM. And if you’re willing to pay extra for outstanding automation options, look into Zoho CRM.

    For more guidance on comparing and contrasting the best online store builders and CRMs, check out Ecommerceplatforms.io’s reviews. 

  • Best Dropshipping Products: 10 Things To Sell In 2021

    Best Dropshipping Products: 10 Things To Sell In 2021

    Dropshipping is one of the most exciting, lucrative and accessible entrepreneurial ventures of the last few years. 

    The advent of services such as AliExpress and dropshipping add-ons to popular store builders such as WordPress has allowed people all over the world to set up sites and watch the passive income roll in.

    While it’s obviously a little harder than it sounds to run a successful dropshipping business, it offers significant time and financial benefits over managing a traditional ecommerce store. 

    But how do you find the best dropshipping products to sell online? 

    In this article we’ll provide you with the most important piece of the ecommerce puzzle with a list of the 10 best dropshipping products you should consider selling on your store, from trending products you have to take advantage of to evergreen favourites with high seasonal value. 

    A brief introduction to dropshipping 

    Considering that you’re reading this article for product inspiration, we’re going to assume you’re fairly familiar with the concept of dropshipping. 

    To give you a little refresher we’ll just cover the basic points of this ecommerce model: 

    • Dropshipping is an ecommerce fulfilment method where the store do not stock the products they sell
    • The online store purchases products from third-party suppliers and have them shipped directly to the customers
    • Dropshipping is the best way to test out entrepreneurial business ideas in a low-risk environment 
    • A dropshipping enterprise requires less overhead and location investment than a standard ecommerce business
    • Dropshipping add-ons are available for a range of leading ecommerce platforms  

    To learn more about the ins and outs of managing your own dropshipping business, check out our full guide to the best dropshipping tools for ecommerce businesses. 

    The 10 best dropshipping products

    While useability, design and marketing are all important in dropshipping, the best stores are built on a foundation of adaptability and awareness towards emerging product trends. 

    The majority of successful stores either sell useful products at budget prices (generally under £10), products currently experiencing a boom period, or products that are rare or difficult to find. 

    Below, we’ve put together a list of 10 of the most profitable dropshipping products to sell through your store, grouped into simple categories both prospective store owners and customers can understand. 

    This list was built using a combination of research into trend data, product useability and social media research, giving you the best overview of the types of products to invest in today and the best dropshipping niches.

    Let’s get started. 

    Clothing

    While dropshipping is built on the success of particular trends, like all forms of ecommerce, it’s important to find some products with universal and evergreen value. 

    Other than food, water and shelter, is there anything people need more than clothes? 

    While fashion retail is a highly competitive market to enter as a first-time store owner, the past few years have shown clothes to be highly versatile additions to a successful business, whether you’re stocking a trending product or leaning into a more stable trend in fashion. 

    One challenge stores owners must consider when moving into this dropshipping niche is the ethical standards and product production methods of your suppliers. Buying products of higher ethical quality can put some strain on your financial margins, but it’ll also give you a unique edge in an increasingly saturated market. 

    Start dropshipping clothing with these items: 

    • Graphic t-shirts (particularly those featuring designs of popular trends and phrases)
    • Exercise and outdoor wear
    • Jackets 

    Everyday accessories 

    Consumers are always looking for cheap alternatives of their favourite accessories and the top-selling items of the day. 

    While it’s hard to find top of the range watches and bracelets for bargain prices online, dropshipping is a great way to fill out a collection or pick up a stop-gap replacement ready for a new job, first date or even as a cheap gift. 

    Many dropshipping suppliers have begun to stock these products en masse as demand rises for them amongst consumers on popular social media platforms and dropshipping stores are targeted by consumers looking to hop on a new trend at a lower investment. 

    Start dropshipping everyday accessories with these items: 

    • Wallets 
    • Smartwatches 
    • Minimalist jewellery

    Baby products

    Focusing your business model around baby-centric products can be risky if you’re not familiar with the niche, but if you’re up to the challenge these can be some of the best-selling dropshipping items. 

    New store owners will appreciate the high demand that exists for baby products online and the widespread availability of these products through suppliers such as AliExpress. Meanwhile experienced dropshippers will see the benefit of a niche they can count on for continued popularity and promotional potential for new parents who have grown up familiar with social media and online shopping. 

    What do you get when you combine high search volume with new parents looking to cut costs? The perfect dropshipping product. 

    Start dropshipping baby products with these items: 

    • Every-day infants wear
    • Winter-wear for children
    • Spill-proof bowls and other feeding materials 

    Fashion and beauty products

    With many average consumers deeming fashion and beauty products overpriced through their suppliers or in brick and mortar retail stores, it makes sense that they would become brilliant dropshipping products. 

    The necessity of these items makes them one of the most profitable dropshipping niches, but it’s their potential for advertising alongside influencers and across social media (such as Instagram and Tik Tok) that really sends them over the edge. 

    Nifty solutions to minor cosmetic issues and great ways to cut down the cost of their daily skin routine make your dropshipping store an attractive destination for consumers of all ages. 

    Start dropshipping fashion and beauty products with these items: 

    • Face rollers
    • Electric toothbrushes 
    • Sleep eye masks 

    Fitness gear

    In a post-lockdown world, regular people are more comfortable with the concept of a home workout than ever before. 

    The pandemic saw an almost immediate surge in workout equipment delivered to consumer’s doors, with stores struggling to keep up with demand. This led to people searching for new ways to buy essentials to keep them in shape at home. They turned to dropshipping, ordering generic weights, yoga mats and resistance bands. 

    While fitness fanatics may be concerned with having a particular brand of fitness gear, the average consumer isn’t as willing to make a huge investment, and is more than likely just looking for a sport or routine that suits them. This makes them ideal customers for dropshipping stores. 

    Start dropshipping fitness gear with these items:

    • Yoga mats
    • Leggings
    • Post-workout massage guns 

    Pet toys and accessories

    The business of pets is booming, with pet owners helping it grow into an estimated $99 billion industry in the United States alone at the end of 2020. 

    It’s safe to say people are very passionate about their pets. Whether they have dogs, cats, snakes or rats, all these animal lovers are eager to lavish their furry (or scaly) friends with treats (of both the edible and non-edible kind).

    Dropshipping is also a brilliant place for pet lovers to pick up the essential pet gear and specialist equipment they might need. Best of all for store owners, these products are engagement magnets on social media, helping new stores to get off the ground with original and fun products. 

    Some pet supplies dropshipping products we recommend looking into include: 

    • Outdoor equipment (leashes, jackets)
    • Toys of all shapes and sizes
    • Novelty beds 

    Travel and camping gear

    Many of the best selling dropshipping products climb the charts by offering luxury or specialist equipment at cut-rate prices. 

    For people looking to explore the wilderness for the first time and enjoy a new hobby, travel and camping gear can get quite expensive, especially when you’re looking at major brands. Dropshipping gives you the opportunity to cut into this growing market and appeal to first-time hikers with white-label fishing, trekking and survival equipment. 

    In season, stocking hiking backpacks on your site allows you to appeal to a wide range of different customer types, from avid explorers to festival-goers to families on their first staycation. These products are highly adaptable and generally available at high-margin prices, so give this sector some serious thought. 

    Some travel and camping dropshipping products we recommend looking into include: 

    • Hiking backpacks
    • Sleeping equipment
    • Water bottles

    Kitchenware 

    Everyone loves food, and anything that can improve people’s experience of preparing or enjoying a meal in their kitchen has the potential to be a winning dropshipping product. 

    Much like everyday accessories, the beauty of this category is how broad it is. Whether you choose to sell high-grade kitchen appliances or little accoutrements to make people feel more at home while preparing a home-cooked meal, there will always be an audience. 

    From full-time parents to eager millennials looking for a new hobby, kitchenware has fascinated consumers for years. Best of all, suppliers all over the world are dealing in these products, making it easy to find the next big niche Tupperware or that essential bit of equipment needed to make that trending desert. 

    Some kitchenware dropshipping products we recommend looking into include: 

    • Tupperware boxes
    • Organic tea strainers
    • Dining equipment 

    Home decoration 

    People love their homes and are always looking for new ways to spice them up. After almost an entire year indoors, people are more eager than ever to do something a little different with their homes. 

    Dropshipping provides a great way to offer people the chance to experiment with new styles at a low cost. While it won’t quite give you a window into the interior design business, dropshipping can give entrepreneurs with a passion for particular styles of home decor and an eagerness to learn about the market a great way to indulge themselves in the industry. 

    As more and more people, particularly those with disposable income, find themselves on a constantly rotating cycle of rented homes, the need to add something quintessentially ‘them’ to it at an affordable price becomes all the more important. 

    Some home decoration dropshipping products we recommend looking into include: 

    • Flower hangers
    • Novelty lights and decorations
    • Pillows, throws and sheets

    Office products

    Dropshipping businesses don’t just cater to the most frivolous consumer habits. There are many useful products you can make a good profit selling to both businesses and students alike. 

    Whether it’s offices needing to refill their supplies or academics in need of back-to-school gear, there will always be a constantly eager group of consumers looking for discounts on everything from writing equipment to digital tools. 

    Couple that with the simplicity to manufacture and ship these products and you have a winning dropshipping option with an eye-watering profit margin. 

    Some office dropshipping products we recommend looking into include: 

    • Mechanical Pencils
    • Pencil Cases
    • Mechanical Keyboards (Personalised) 

    How to do market research for your own dropshipping products 

    Not sold on any of these product suggestions? Let us show you how to find your own!

    Dropshipping product research is perhaps too complicated a subject to cover in this section alone, but here are a few tips to get you started setting up your own product research lab and finding your own quality products:

    • Analyse trending and promoted ads on social media channels for what other stores are selling (even traditional ecommerce ones!)
    • Follow pages and accounts that post viral videos for insight into the latest trending dropshipping products and challenges
    • Analyse Google Trends data and Google Analytics for insights into exactly what consumers are talking about online
    • Cross-reference the number of orders through AliExpress
    • See what’s trending on Amazon, eBay and Etsy
    • Find dropshipping suppliers and enquire about product availability (and check their rating)
    • Check what other dropshipping items are selling well 

    These methods and product research tools can be used to find new products or validate a hunch you have about a potential one! You should always believe in the products you sell yourself before you invest. 

    Remember, the best dropshipping products sell through a combination of great marketing and affordable pricing. It’s not quite the same as high-end ecommerce where brand name and product quality will help you through. 

    Even the most experienced store owners still struggle to find the right dropshipping products to sell. 

    Products rarely find instant success and are even less likely to retain their popularity beyond the initial fad. The truth is, dropshipping is about constantly adapting and looking for new ways to appeal to niche audiences and mass-market consumers, so knowing how to complete product research is just as important as any guide to the very best products. 

  • The Best Shopify Plugins For Ecommerce In 2021

    The Best Shopify Plugins For Ecommerce In 2021

    Even in its most basic form, the Shopify ecommerce platform is among the most well-rounded you can use, making it easy to start a Shopify store and get selling without spending a lot of money or needing web-development skills. It’s also hugely scalable: there’s a reason why big brands like Heinz and Bulletproof have retained it as they’ve grown.

    But that core level of functionality is just the starting point. Through the numerous high-quality integrations available through the Shopify App Store, it’s possible to build a store that offers a unique array of features and design elements. In ecommerce, standing out from the crowd is a key objective, so the right plugins (or apps) for your online store can help you reach that point.

    In this post, we’re going to focus on the best Shopify plugins, picking out a selection of apps that have great potential to save you time, get you seen in search engines, increase your revenue, and grow your brand. Some are free, while others will cost you: regardless, they’ll produce outstanding ROI for your Shopify store if you use them properly, and a 14-day-free trial is almost always available. Let’s get started.

    The best Shopify plugins for e-commerce store owners

    There are many ways in which you can improve an ecommerce store, and that’s reflected in the immense range of plugins on offer: the Shopify App Store hosts almost two-and-a-half thousand apps, each of which has been tested to ensure full compatibility. If you commit to trawling through them and painstakingly picking out the apps that catch your eye, you’ll be looking for a long time — so here’s a shortlist of the top picks to help you get started:

    Translate Your Store by Weglot

    A screenshot of the Weglot app available on the Shopify app store

    If you’ve yet to consider selling internationally, you’re leaving money on the table. Through the rich fulfilment networks offered by global brands like Amazon, it’s possible to efficiently and economically move your products into myriad new markets. There are two key challenges, though: understanding those markets, and getting your presentation right.

    The former will require extensive research. What of the latter? Well, you may need to tweak your brand colours and swap out some pop-culture references, but the main obstacle will be language. Most countries have English as a second or third language, yes, but a store that uses the visitor’s first language will inevitably prove more successful.

    Weglot’s Shopify Translation App was designed to make it optimally easy to get your store translated to any language you want to target. In addition to automatically translating every part of your store (including the navigation and the checkout process, of course), this free app (free to install, at least) allows convenient refinement of the automatic translation, making it simple to correct the inevitable errors. It also happens to adhere to best practices for multilingual SEO, ensuring proper regional indexing.

    Printful

    A screenshot of the Printful app available on the Shopify app store

    Modern ecommerce sellers benefit hugely from adding revenue streams, and one of the best ways to do this is to cultivate brands they can subsequently monetize through selling branded merchandise. If you can build up a logo-and-slogan combination that your customers respond to, you can add it to products like shirts and hats that can make you money outright or simply serve as effective purchase incentives (buy today and get a free hat, etc.).

    Printful’s print-on-demand service (which happens to be a 100%-free plan) makes this merchandising effort incredibly simple. You don’t need to stock anything at all, deal with the often-complex printing process, or even deal with the distribution side of things if you’d rather avoid it. All you need to do is choose from a range of generic (but high-quality) items, choose the text and imagery you want to feature, determine the optimal profit margins, and add the custom products to your store through the integration. Just a few clicks can change everything.

    Wishlist Plus

    A screenshot of the Wishlist Plus app available on the Shopify app store When people visit online stores, they don’t always want to buy immediately — or maybe there are certain things they do want immediately, but they’re also open to learning about things they may wish to buy later. It’s massively frustrating to get someone’s attention with a relevant product only to see them forget about it and never return to purchase it. So what can you do?

    With the simple addition of a wishlist function, something you can easily add to your store through the convenient Wishlist Plus app (which does have a free plan), you can allow customers (or prospective customers) to line up items they might want to buy later. Being able to create a wishlist will encourage someone to return, and their interest may grow until they choose to place a large order. Your average order value stands to benefit significantly.

    Note that this app doesn’t require user logins to work, and provides you with options for carrying out personalised targeted email campaigns for wishlist-using visitors who are logged in. If you think it might take just one more prompt to convince someone to buy an item they’ve been eyeing, you can deliver that prompt with great efficiency.

    Referral Candy

    A screenshot of the ReferralCandy app available on the Shopify app storeThere are many ways to grow a store, but none is more powerful than word-of-mouth buzz. Every other form of marketing can feel relatively forced and awkward. If you can impress your customers so much that they start recommending you to their friends and family members, it can build up tremendous momentum for your brand. But even impressed customers won’t inevitably start talking up your business. You need to incentivise referrals.

    That’s where Referral Candy enters the picture. One of the most popular referral systems around, it provides everything you need to prompt, track and value recommendations from your customers. You can create custom pop-up forms to explain what’s on offer for those who send referrals your way, for instance, and offer straightforward recompense: instead of sluggishly gifting discounts, you can send payment immediately following a conversion.

    Recart

    A screenshot of the Recart app available on the Shopify app store

    Smart marketing goes where potential customers can be productively reached, and that currently means taking advantage of social media channels. Facebook has billions of active monthly users, and most of them use Facebook Messenger for everything from keeping up with friends to booking restaurant tables. If you’re not using that channel to prompt some further customer purchases, you should be.

    Hooking into Facebook accounts through social logins or offered incentives (10% off if you connect your Facebook account, etc.), the Recart Facebook messaging app is exceptionally useful for following up on visits that didn’t result in sales. Maybe someone left an item in their cart and forgot to return for it, or maybe they couldn’t find a certain item and gave up. If so, outreach via Facebook Messenger is more likely to be noticed than email outreach.

    Usefully, in addition to chasing these missed sales through targeted prompts, Recart can send receipts, extend review requests, and even provide order updates. Configured smartly, it can produce greatly-enhanced customer experience without needing any ongoing effort from you.

    Whatsapp Chat + Abandoned Cart

    A screenshot of the Whatsapp Chat + Abandoned Cart app available on the Shopify app storeWhatsApp is extremely popular as a messaging platform, yet it hasn’t received as much attention as Facebook Messenger in the ecommerce world. This is a shame because many people would like to get assistance without needing to be logged into social media. With the Whatsapp Chat + Abandoned Cart app, you can support various other chat channels.

    Yes, the name is a misnomer: the WhatsApp support is the star attraction, but you can also use the app to communicate via channels including Instagram Messenger, Tawk, Tidio, Telegram, and WeChat, to name just some. If you only want to use one app for social media support, bear in mind that it does support Facebook Messenger. It just wasn’t designed to do the things that Recart can do, so don’t go in with unrealistic expectations.

    Free Shipping Bar

    A screenshot of the Free Shipping Bar app available on the Shopify app store

     Regardless of the overall cost of an ecommerce transaction, the prospect of free shipping has astonishing power for raising your average order value. Consider the perfectly-plausible scenario of someone adding £30 to their order purely so they can hit a free-shipping threshold and save £5 as a result. Their overall spend is higher by £25, but they feel that they’ve won a contest of sorts.

    The Free Shipping Bar app brings this phenomenon to the forefront of your store by prominently displaying (at the top of the page, no less) a free shipping bar (obviously) stating how close the shopper is to getting free shipping. Each item they add gets them nearer to that much-desired saving. It might sound trivial, but the psychological pressure really adds up — especially if you set custom messages to ramp up the motivation as they add items to their cart.

    Pre-Order Now

    A screenshot of the Pre-Order Now app available on the Shopify app store

    Missing a sale because a product is out of stock is frustrating, as is feeling unable to take advantage of the hype you’re building up for a pending product launch. With Pre-Order Now, you can bring a new dimension to your Shopify store by granting it easy support for pre-orders. Whenever an item is out of stock (or not released yet), you can let the pre-orders gather through automatically-swapped buttons, then fulfil them when you’re ready.

    You can also implement early-bird specials with ease, applying automatic discounts to pre-orders for particular items and rewarding the customers who loyally follow your marketing materials. And to avoid confusion when shoppers mix order types, you can configure pop-up alerts to confirm their understanding before they place their orders: this is vital because people can otherwise get annoyed about their ordered items arriving at different times.

    Socialphotos

    A screenshot of the Socialphotos app available on the Shopify app store UGC, or user-generated content, brings a lot to the table from a promotional standpoint. It’s produced by people who don’t work for your company, making it much more credible, and it shows significant enthusiasm for your brand (leading new prospects to assume that your business must be fairly impressive).

    Socialphotos enables easy visual social proof through curating and displaying social media images that reference your brand. When someone posts on Instagram about the order they just received from you, tagging your account in the process, you can have a tag-based rule pick up on that and seamlessly add it to a social proof panel on your site.

    The key thing here is that you have total control over which posts get pulled through, so you can carefully set the parameters to avoid accidentally displaying photos that are inappropriate for whatever reason (they may simply be somewhat negative about your brand). Showing many people happy with your products is a fantastic way to welcome someone to your Shopify store.

    AfterShip

    A screenshot of the AfterShip app available on the Shopify app store

    Thinking that your work is done once an order has been shipped is a huge mistake, because it’s the entirety of each customer’s experience that will determine whether they’ll return (and certainly whether they’ll recommend your store). Aftership is an app designed to help you enhance the post-purchase experience of your store, working to keep your customers happy.

    It essentially serves as a hub for tracking information. You can provide a link to Aftership tracking at the point of conversion or at any time afterwards (in emails, for instance), bringing all courier types and shipping priorities together in one view that you can customise in accordance with your brand. This makes life easier for the customer because they don’t need to deal with different tracking systems using often-confusing shipping milestones: you can map every step to your core shipping progress system.

    You can also use a drag-and-drop email editor to create high-quality update email templates, keeping your communications strong and thematically consistent across the board. Consistency is a key ingredient for today’s store owners: your customers want to know they can trust you.

    Plug in SEO

    A screenshot of the Plug in SEO app available on the Shopify app store

    Ecommerce success relies heavily on search-engine traffic, with Google being the first stop for most online shoppers (and Google Shopping have a big role to play) — and while Shopify features some solid built-in SEO features, there’s always room for improvement. The Plug in SEO app makes SEO actions easier to implement, provides relevant training (very useful for beginners), and carries out SEO scans to identify potential ranking impediments such as missing meta tags or loading speed issues.

    It also digs into your best-performing keywords, making it easier for you to tell which content areas you should focus on (and which pieces of existing content are worth taking the time to overhaul). If you’re not an avid follower of the SEO industry but won’t want to hire a dedicated agency to work on your site, this app might constitute the ideal middle-ground solution.

    PageSpeed Monitor

    A screenshot of the PageSpeed app available on the Shopify app store  If you’re looking for the best Shopify analytics plugin, you need to come up with a compelling reason to use something other than Google Analytics. Both free and highly functional, GA is an immensely valuable tool, and the need to access most of it through Google’s interface instead of the Shopify dashboard is no great hardship. There are, though, some elements of Google’s services that are worth carrying through directly, and this is a prime example.

    PageSpeed Monitor makes it easy to automate scans of your store’s speed, pulling through the results on an hourly basis. You can also set up scans of rival websites, allowing you to chart the data against search rankings to yield insight into how performance affects your SEO, or set an alert to trigger in the event that a key metric drops below an acceptable level.

    Buy Button Channel

    A screenshot of the Buy Button Channel app available on the Shopify app store

    Promoting your Shopify store through other websites and sales channels is certainly valuable, but that activity doesn’t always pay off. Sometimes the visitors to a site don’t much want to follow links to sites and end up spending time trying to figure out what they have to offer. But what if you could offer them your products directly? They may be sufficiently interested to buy immediately. This is why it’s so useful to have buy buttons that you can place anywhere.

    Buy Button Channel is the top option for generating these direct-to-purchase links. You can customize them to ensure that they match your branding, then place them wherever you want to boost sales. Shoppers can then buy those items where they are without needing to visit your store. You can even use these links for your own website, adding them to your promotional blog posts so your customers can buy from you more expediently.

    One Click Social Login

    A screenshot of the One Click Social Login app available on the Shopify app store

    Among the biggest barriers to ecommerce conversion once you have someone interested is the need to create an account. Most people have experienced the frustration of finding the right product at the right price, deciding to order it, then being tasked with completing a wide range of fields that ask for personal information that doesn’t really seem necessary.

    Where possible, it’s best to allow people to complete the checkout process without logging in: it’s enough to provide a confirmation number, and possibly email it to the customer if they’ve elected to submit an email address. But the issue with that approach is that it misses out on valuable information. The more you know about someone, the better you can market to them.

    One Click Social Login finds the perfect balance between those approaches by allowing shoppers to log in using their already-active social media logins. Someone logged into Facebook, for instance, can share those details in one click, seamlessly moving over all the key pieces of information. It also removes the need to remember passwords when using new stores.

    FreshCredit

    A screenshot of the FreshCredit app available on the Shopify app store

    Dealing with returns is always frustrating for ecommerce merchants. Even if the items are barely used, the buffering they take in transit can leave them difficult to resell — and it doesn’t help that online buyers (being unable to inspect used products) are unable to gauge their quality. But the situation gets even worse when a customer returns an item and stops buying from you. You lose revenue through the return, and you don’t get it back through subsequent purchases.

    So how do you encourage dissatisfied customers to stick around and try again? You make it easy — and FreshCredit might be exactly what you need. It gives each of your customers a credit balance that you can change when needed: after a return, you can add the appropriate amount to that customer’s credit balance so it’s trivial for them to buy from you again. Forget worrying about temporary discount codes: stick with store credit to maximize your sales.

    Wrapping up the best Shopify plugins

    Although there are countless more Shopify plugins that are certainly worth using, the selection we’ve set out here — the best Shopify plugins, in our estimation — can do much to improve your store without requiring you to put in too much effort. And whether you’re using a 30-day free trial, 14-day free trial, or a free plan, you can get to grips with them without spending anything. So why not get started right away?

  • Why Cybersecurity Training is a Must For Your Ecommerce Business Team

    Why Cybersecurity Training is a Must For Your Ecommerce Business Team

    The web can be a dangerous place if you don’t know how to protect yourself. 

    Perhaps more than in any other online industry, ecommerce store owners are continuously forced to reckon with the fact their sites are hot targets for cyberattacks, and find new ways of combating them. 

    Ecommerce sites are treasure troves of sensitive personal and financial data. With thieves eager to root out any potential weaknesses they can, businesses across the sector need to understand that the threat lies not just in the loss of this information, but the significant reputational damage that comes with it. 

    Fortunately, many businesses have recognised this threat and begun to invest in new security systems to protect their stores, perhaps spurred on by the evolving nature of cybercrime throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and the on-mass adoption of remote working. Nevertheless, these systems are no substitute for solid training that prepares your team. 

    Cybersecurity is a constant game of cat and mouse, with criminals honing their skills to penetrate new systems. The best way to stay one step ahead is to be aware of emerging challenges and dedicate time to training yourself and your employees. This might seem highly intimidating, but the modern internet’s rich array of great Online Course Platforms makes it surprisingly affordable to access and afford informative resources at a corporate level.

    If you’re not already investing in cybersecurity training, then, you should take the plunge. Let’s explore why. 

    New threats appear every day

    2020 was a year of significant evolution for cybercrime. 

    Mass adoption of remote working across a number of different office-based sectors was one of the leading business stories of the pandemic. Naturally, this left the door open to a wave of criminals looking to target vulnerable businesses still reeling from this massive change to how they operate. 

    While the physical nature of ecommerce meant that many businesses continued to remain open in the traditional sense, some staff members (such as customer service, market, etc) moved to their spare bedroom setups and settled into this new workplace attitude with little preparation time. 

    The combination of an awkward transition period and the crash course training with now essential software such as Zoom meant many companies were more vulnerable to what would have previously been quite rudimentary phishing and ransomware attacks. Fake email invites and dark, trojan horse-like malware were common occurrences across many sectors throughout the pandemic, and ecommerce, with its high profile boom, was no different. 

    Remote working also presented the additional threats of teams being separated from one another. Rather than having cybersecurity experts of sites, less tech-savvy employees were forced to communicate issues through messaging systems or struggle for solutions by themselves. Without the safety blanket of in-office security systems, detailed company data was often at the mercy of a staff member’s ability to remember to turn on a VPN. 

    While businesses have been able to steady the ship, this should act as a warning that new online threats are emerging every day, and the simplistic, potentially outdated, sites that ecommerce stores use to run their business and internal security measures may not by up to the task of blocking this crime. 

    Ecommerce is a vulnerable sector 

    Ecommerce was one of the few success stories of the pandemic, with both established giants such as Amazon and newly launched ventures to offset lost income seeing massive success. 

    In a world where no one can go to the shops, ecommerce was suddenly the greatest thing since sliced bread. 

    But while we were all ordering new entertainment, household essentials and food online, cybercriminals were lurking in the shadows eying up their new target. 

    It becomes apparent pretty quickly how the new boom in ecommerce customers made ecommerce a vulnerable sector. The amount of money swirling around and the less savvy user base of first time shoppers adding perhaps too much information to online accounts lead to many stores having to fight off continued attacks. 

    While bricks and mortar stores can just add a new security alarm and refine closing processes to keep their store safe, ecommerce businesses were forced to find new ways to combat inventive attacks while adapting to a massive user base boom. If your average customer is new to the idea of online shopping, it can make it harder to keep them safe. 

    Whether it’s a scare of full-blown identity theft, the sheer volume of customers who have experienced some level of cybercrime during this period is a sign of how vulnerable the ecommerce sector is at large. 

    Breaches can disrupt key periods

    If you’ve been in the ecommerce game for any length of time, you know how important certain key periods are to your business. 

    Christmas is probably a big one. Mother’s Day could lead to a healthy profit spike. Black Friday may push the limits of your website. 

    Getting your website ready for these key periods is crucial for maximising them and ensuring you’re getting as many orders through the door as possible. 

    Unfortunately, cybercriminals know this all too well and will target stores that might have their eye off the ball while ramping up to these weeks and months. This might leave their security systems temporarily less robust, and give hackers the opportunity to infiltrate with disruptive ransomware. 

    The aim of this scheme is to restrict access of an owner to their website until they pay a ransom. During peak periods criminals know these websites become even more valuable and owners will have less time to work on solutions other than paying up, so they’re more likely to relent. This makes them a very attractive proposition that generally yields good results. This is why securing your store in the lead up to these key periods is more crucial than ever. 

    4 Topics to cover in your ecommerce cybersecurity training 

    Now you understand the importance of cybersecurity training for your ecommerce business, let’s get you started and cover a few essential topics to cover.

    Phishing and malware attacks: Two of the most common forms of cybercrime. Phishing and malware attacks both target the user’s machine through downloaded software, breaching the PC through an email download or another typical everyday function. If you know how to stop them, they can be pretty easy to swerve, but one mistake can be quite devastating for the security of your data and the health of your equipment. 

    Passwords and authentication: Even the most basic of cybersecurity measures should be covered in your training, as they’re often unsuspecting great ways to tighten up your business. The science of a strong password should be employed across your business, while password managers and two-step authentication processes can add another strong layer of security to your log-in process and immediately alert you to possible breaches. 

    Physical security: Cybersecurity isn’t just a matter of keeping your 1s and 0s in check, the physical side of keeping customer and company data is just as important. If your employees are lax about the physical whereabouts and accessibility of their tools, imagine how they’re going to act when it comes to digital material? Ensure you cover proper conduct with company property storing and containing access to private information, especially in a world where working from home has never been more prominent. You’d do the same for any other sensitive part of your business. 

    Mobile security: With the majority of the user now doing their shopping on mobile devices, it makes sense to build a significant portion of your online safety and security training around those little machines in our pocket. Much like building a great ecommerce store, optimising your training for mobile makes it easier to understand and highlights pain points you might not have otherwise noticed. 

    Consider trying… Mock cybersecurity attacks! Seeing how your employees react to real-world situations (either prompted or put upon them without warning) gives you a brilliant idea of how well your training programs are working and highlights potential weak spots. 

    Cybersecurity is no joke. Every company worth their salt has taken stock of the last year and learned their lesson, implementing significant cybercrime preventions and robust training exercises. Whether you’re a freshly launched ecommerce business learning the ropes or an established enterprise behind the times, you need to catch up and start training your staff.

  • Squarespace vs Wix: Which Platform Is Better In 2021

    Squarespace vs Wix: Which Platform Is Better In 2021

    If you’re looking for a website builder to set up an online business or ecommerce store, then there are lots of options out there. But two popular choices are Wix and Squarespace. While they both have a number of positives, there are also some things you should consider before you decide between them. 

    We take a look at whether creating a Wix or Squarespace site is the best option in 2021. 

    What are Squarespace and Wix? 

    Both Squarespace and Wix are website builders designed for people that have little or no coding skills but want to create and run a website. They both run on a monthly subscription basis and provide you with a domain, templates, a content management system, hosting, and ecommerce functionality. 

    Key differences: Wix vs Squarespace

    Although both platforms are fairly similar, there are a few key differences that set them apart: 

    • Wix offers the cheapest plan at £3.50 per month, but both have a range of affordable plans 
    • Squarespace has a better range of templates available 
    • Wix offers more third-party integrations and ecommerce features than Squarespace
    • Wix is easier for beginners to pick up and gives you complete creative freedom 

    We’ll go into these in more detail below. 

    Wix vs Squarespace: A comparison

    If you’re struggling to decide between Wix and Squarespace, we’ve compared some of the key aspects such as pricing, set-up, templates, and ecommerce features to help you make the right choice for your business. 

    Pricing 

    Both platforms have a range of plans at different price points.  

    Wix pricing 

    Wix offers four plans for standard websites, and three other plans for business and ecommerce sites that can accept online payments. All plans come with a custom domain and SSL certificates. 

    Website plans

    • VIP – £19/month: unlimited bandwidth, no Wix ads, 35GB storage 
    • Unlimited – £9.50/month: Unlimited bandwidth, no ads, 20GB storage 
    • Combo – £6.50/month: 2 GB bandwidth, no ads, 3GB storage 
    • Connect Domain – £3.50/month: 1 GB bandwidth, 500MB storage 

    Business and Ecommerce plans 

    • Business VIP – £22/month: 50GB storage, unlimited video hours 
    • Business Unlimited – £17/month: 35GB storage, 10 video hours 
    • Business Basic – £13/month: 20GB storage, 5 video hours  

    Squarespace pricing 

    Squarespace pricing is more straightforward as they only have four plans that all offer custom domains and unlimited bandwidth. The basic entry-level plan does not offer ecommerce features, but all other plans do.  

    • Personal – £10/month
    • Business – £15/month: 3% transaction fees on any sales 
    • Basic Commerce – £20/month: No transaction fees 
    •  Advanced Commerce – £30/month: No transaction fees   

    Overall, if you’re looking for a platform to run an ecommerce business, Squarespace’s pricing is slightly cheaper. 

    Getting set up: easy to use website builders 

    Wix and Squarespace are aimed at beginners with little knowledge of building websites and coding, so they’re fairly easy to get set up. 

    Both platforms use drag-and-drop to build websites. However, Wix gives you slightly more freedom and allows you to drop any element of the site anywhere on the page. Squarespace allows you to move around sections, so it can be more difficult to get things looking exactly how you want. 

    They also offer Artificial Design Intelligence, which will generate a website based on how you answer a few questions in the initial set-up stage.  

    Templates and designs

    Templates make it easier to design a professional-looking website, and both Wix and Squarespace have some good options.  

    While Wix offers a huge range of over 800 different templates, many of the Wix templates are fairly similar and somewhat basic. Squarespace offers fewer templates but they still have over 100 to choose from and they’re all well designed so you’ll be able to find a suitable one for your business. 

    Both platforms allow you to add video backgrounds, although with Squarespace you have to upload it to YouTube first; with Wix, you can upload the video straight onto the platform. They also both provide a library of stock images that you can use in your website design. 

    Mobile-friendly templates 

    All of the Squarespace templates are fully responsive so they will automatically adjust to display correctly on any device. On the other hand, Wix offers ‘absolute positioning’ rather than responsive designs. 

    This is one key area where Squarespace has an advantage. With Wix, you have to create two versions of your website — one that’s for desktops and one for mobile devices. Plus Google prefers responsive design for mobile websites, so this might have an impact on your rankings. 

    Redesigning your site

    Once you’ve chosen a template for your website, neither Squarespace nor Wix will allow you to change to another one. So it’s important to spend some time choosing the right one for your requirements and your brand. However, if you do want to change the look of your site, Squarespace allows you to change each of the features and design elements. 

    Ecommerce functionality 

    The cheapest ecommerce plans for Wix and Squarespace offer all the basic ecommerce tools you’ll need to run an online store such as payment gateways, inventory management, shipping tools, and product listings. 

    Wix has a slightly more expensive starting point for its ecommerce plans, however, it offers more features such as abandoned cart recovery than Squarespace does on its lowest plan. 

    Wix also doesn’t charge any transaction fees with any of its ecommerce plans, whereas the lowest plan for a Squarespace site does charge a 3% fee. 

    So for businesses looking at the most cost-effective plan for their ecommerce store, paying a little bit more each month for Wix will end up working out better. 

    SEO features

    Wix and Squarespace both offer SEO tools that can help your website to rank in search results. You can edit meta titles and descriptions, add alt text for images, and integrate Google Analytics and Google Search Console. 

    However, if you need help with your SEO, Wix has a specific SEO app and provides prompts for how you can improve, which makes it more beginner-friendly if you don’t have much SEO experience.  

    Blogging and marketing features 

    If blogging is a priority for your business then Squarespace is probably the best choice for you. 

    Both platforms offer the basics to set up and publish blog content. However, to launch and manage a full blog with Wix, you’ll need to install the Wix Blog app to your site. And even then, Squarespace’s blogging tools are far more advanced and easier to use with better templates. 

    When it comes to other aspects of marketing such as email and social media integrations, Wix offers a marketing suite called Ascend that covers email, analytics, SEO tools and social integrations. There’s a limited free version included with your plan, or for full access to all the features, you’ll need to pay an additional subscription. 

    Squarespace offers its platform, Squarespace Email Campaigns, to manage email marketing, and also integrations with social media channels, and analytics. However, there’s no free plan for their marketing tools so you will have an additional cost each month. There are a number of other marketing integrations, including MailChimp, available in the app store though. 

    Support 

    Squarespace offers email support 24/7 with an aim to reply to all requests within an hour — so if you’re ever stuck then you should be able to get a quick answer. They also offer live chat during the week, provide an extensive knowledge base with guides and videos, and have a forum for questions and answers. 

    Wix offers a similar level of support with email, 24/7 callback phone support, forums, and a Support Center, but they don’t offer live chat functionality. However, what sets Wix apart is that they offer more help when you’re getting set up and managing your website — there are lots of useful prompts and it’s easy to access help if you’re struggling. 

    Apps and extensions 

    The Wix app market offers over 200 extensions and add-ons to give you even more functionality. Some are made by Wix and some are third-party apps that can connect your website with other platforms and tools.

    Squarespace on the other hand offers most of the features you’ll require within the platform so it has a much smaller number of apps. In the Squarespace app store, there are just over 20 third-party integrations for shipping and fulfilment, finance, inventory and products, and sales and marketing. 

    Both Wix and Squarespace also offer a mobile app that allows you to manage your website from anywhere at any time. 

    Wix site vs Squarespace site: the verdict

    Wix and Squarespace are very similar platforms for building a website, and for most businesses, you’ll be able to use either of them. 

    Squarespace does offer some better templates and provide you with everything you need for a professional website for your business. Overall though, Wix is slightly more user-friendly, especially for beginners. They offer better support and help walk you through building a successful website. 

    If you’re confident in your technical skills then Squarespace can offer you more creativity, but if you’re just looking to get a great looking website up and running, Wix is probably the better choice.