Nexternal Solutions eCommerce Blog – eCommerce News Articles

Customer Types are customer segmentation tools used to group customers with similar characteristics. Customer Types allow merchants to customize the shopping experience by adjusting the product pricing, product visibility, and billing options customers have access to during their shopping process. Customer Types also allow merchants to tailor future email campaigns, promotions, and other marketing campaigns to existing customers, increasing the likelihood of conversion. Customer Types are particularly effective for businesses with:

Wholesale Customers – Imagine you are a wholesaler in need of replenishing the inventory of a particular item. You want your supplier to provide you with the fastest and easiest way to get the item you need with the least amount of hassle. Customer Types allow specific customers to access the B2B store where they can log in see the products that are applicable to them, the discounted or customer based price associated with their account, and the preferred billing option they wish to pay through.   

Sales Reps – You are a manufacturer or distributor who utilizes sales representatives in your sales process. Your sales rep can tailor the products, pricing, and billing options their clients see when they log into your B2B store by assigning specific discounts and product pricing to various customer types.

Exclusive / Low Inventory Products – You are a winery who needs to allocate your wine.  Use customer types to allocate/limit the amount of wine that can be purchased by customers of specified types over a given time period. Or maybe you sell jewelry, antique, or other one-of-a-kind items that are in high demand. Customer Types can be used to limit and control who and how many items customers can purchase at one time.

Club / Membership items with Recurring Shipments – When customers sign up for, or purchase a club or membership item they can be automatically associated with a specific customer type. These customer type groupings make it very easy for merchants to associate specific customers with a particular club or item that will be shipped on a recurring basis. Customer Types also determine which set of customers are included in the processing recurring / monthly shipments with Nexternal’s Bulk Re-Order capabilities.

Customer Types have been a key component of the Nexternal’s eCommerce platform since the beginning. It is a tool that every eCommerce merchant should have access to.

Almost two years have passed since Nexternal first released our Twitter Product Sharing feature, which enables customers to tweet product information to all their followers right from Nexternal online stores. As big as Twitter was then, it’s even more popular today and has evolved from a social networking messaging service, into a mainstream marketing resource that virtually no online retailer should do without. After all, the whole concept of Twitter is that people actively follow what others have to share. If there is even the slightest potential that consumers are interested in what a business has to say/offer, there’s no reason not to reach out to them, especially when you consider that there’s no cost involved. We blogged a little about this just over 3 years ago here.

As competition grows on Twitter, the more prevailing question becomes “How can I increase the number of followers I have?” One of the best ways to become more effective at anything is to learn from the pros. Try following some other credible companies and take note of how they interact with their customers. This will not only increase your likelihood to gain followers, but also to learn some successful techniques used on Twitter between businesses and their customers. Likewise, it’s always a good idea to keep a watchful eye on your competitors’ activity too.

Get creative!  With over 3 million Twitter followers, pro skateboarder, Tony Hawk now has the annual  THTH (Tony Hawk Twitter Hunt), which is like a treasure hunt for his Twitter followers.     

What seems like an obvious tactic, along with adding a link to your Twitter account on your homepage, is to also include it on your email signatures, especially your Order Confirmation and Shipping emails, and places like blogs or newsletters you may be running. The more places that are driving visitors to your Twitter feed, the better.

Be engaging. This might seem easier said than done, but keep in mind that you’re limited to 140 characters, so make them count. Have clear, concise messages to maximize the effectiveness of each Tweet you send. It’s about quality as much as quantity.

Lastly, do your homework; monitor your progress. There’s no surefire blueprint to increase your number of Twitter followers, but look for trends after trying something new. Only you know if it’s working for you. If you don’t mind spending a little, a good way to determine if the above practices are paying off is to checkout services like Twitter Counter which can provide metrics on your growth.

Many online merchants mistakenly approach the process of product naming for their online store no differently than they would approach the process of naming products sold in a physical storefront, or catalog.  While they acknowledge the fact that the internet is a marketplace heavily rooted in search engine use, they often fail to TRULY pay significant respect to this concept when naming products.  This seems like a slight oversight, but it’s a common error that hurts many merchants more than they realize.

How do product names affect search engine rankings?  

For Nexternal stores and most web stores, each product is assigned its own web page. If you are a Nexternal customer, the product’s name is automatically integrated into that product page’s URL.  Here’s an example of “Pistachio Cupcakes” from the Magnolia Bakery. (Note – if you are not a Nexternal customer, you should be sure to incorporate your product name into your URLs.) URLs are recognized as a very important element in search engine rankings of a particular page.  So the contents of the URL will have a considerable effect on the page ranking of that particular product.

Multiple URLs within the same site with the same type of content will affect the “authority recognition” of the site for that content. For example, a site containing twenty product pages with the word “lotion” in the URL will get more search engine credit for “lotion” than a site with those same twenty lotion products, but without the word into the URL (assuming the sites are otherwise identical).

How should you optimize product names for search engines?

• Describe it: The product name should include some indication of what the product does. Many merchants just enter a product number. Consider the product name “S501” versus “S501 MP3 Player”. In Nexternal, the URLs would come out with something like http://storename/S501.aspx versus http://storename/S501-MP3-Player.aspx . The later clearly is a better URL for search engines.
• Add brand information (if relevant): If you’re selling your own products, you company name is probably already in your domain, and thus in all your URLs anyway, so adding your brand would be redundant and is not recommended. But if you’re selling branded products that are NOT your own, and shoppers are searching the web for these products, adding the brand to the product name could pull in more traffic. So add your brand to the product name, rather than indicating the brand in other areas (such as the category, product description, specs, etc.).  Remember, this will not only help that product, but it will help your entire site rank for that brand. Consider this Jimmy Choo “Agnes” Pump http://storename/agnes-pumps.aspx versus http://storename/jimmy-choo-agnes-pumps.aspx.
• Use a few keywords:  Include 2-3 of the most relevant keywords for which your site is trying to rank. These might be covered already by adding brand or descriptive information. If not, add a few more.
• Arrange keywords first: Search engines pay attention to the order in which terms used in the URL. Terms listed first are considered more important, so put your keywords first. Take the Jimmy Choo Agnes Pump example again http://storename/agnes-pumps-jimmy-choo.aspx versus http://storename/jimmy-choo-agnes-pumps.
• Refine: When you’re finished adding in all the juicy words, step back and take a look at the entire name. Does it make sense, or is it just a bunch of garbled keywords? Refine.

Use these tips for naming your web store’s products, and your store will be on its way to better search engine optimization, higher traffic, and bigger sales!

*Bonus – Note that in Nexternal, the product name is also used for the H1 Tag – another very important SEO element.

What is a social sale?

A social sale is a limited-time sale (a “flash sale”), that typically features large discounts and may require a “tipping point” – meaning that a requisite number of customers must purchase the deal before anyone gets it.  Deals and sites vary – some take orders for a specific product and either the site or the retailer fulfills the orders, and some sell coupons or vouchers applicable toward a purchase at the retailer’s website for specific products (e.g., get a specific $100 item for $50) or for use toward the purchase of whatever they wish (e.g., get $20 worth of items for $10). All of these social sale or flash sites drive sales by creating a sense of urgency and encouraging “deal-sharing” among “friends” through Facebook, Twitter and other social portals.

Historical Pros of participation in these sites have included (a) moving excess inventory, (b) advertising your business to more consumers than you currently reach, and (c) generating immediate incremental revenue.

Historical Cons of participation in these sites have included (a) attracting bargain hunters who may not return to your site or be willing to purchase items at full price, (b) damaging your brand reputation by lowering the perceived value of your products and by making it appear that you are having trouble selling your products, (c) creating losses for the retailer because of the combined discounts, cut for the site, and potentially unlimited nature of the deal, and (d) creating customer service issues that reflect poorly on the retailers who are not properly geared up for the surge in business.

In fact, last year a broad Rice University study concluded that less than 36% of deal using consumers spent beyond the deal amount on open dollar deals, less than 20% returned to make a full-price purchase at the same site, and less than half of the participating businesses would do it again.  

However, partly as a result of these statistics and consumer “deal fatigue”, deal sites are now finding it harder to recruit retail participants so they are more willing to negotiate their cut, and they are focusing on niche markets, such as fashion, wine or travel, targeting specific audiences with the goal of higher conversion rates among pre-qualified consumers. Additionally, retailers are setting limits on the number and types of deals offered, retailers are offering deals and subsequent discounting strategies designed to encourage return visits to their sites and are staffing up to handle the sudden surge of customer service issues and sales. Finally, if a retailer selects a deal site that sells vouchers for use on their own sites, they are assured to get complete customer information at the point of sale, to use for future marketing. So, today more than ever, there may be some value in participation for your business if you run the numbers carefully and plan ahead.

On the other hand, some retailers are turning to alternatives to these sites that do not include paying a cut to a third party, such as posting deals on Facebook or Twitter, and catering more (only sometimes with big discounts) to their existing loyal customers rather than spending high dollar amounts on the acquisition of deal-seeking new customers.

To participate in social sales either on flash sites or through self-constructed Facebook or Twitter promotions, it is essential to ensure that your online store is set up to handle the traffic, promote sharing of the deal through various social media integrations, and to deliver the deal you promise.  If you are a Nexternal customer, there are a number of ways to facilitate these promotions, including coupon and order sharing, as well as a built-in social sale component which includes a tipping point, that you can use to run flash sales for your own customers at discounts you control. This DIY flash sale component encourages your customers to share the deal through social connections and rewards them for being your ambassadors, all without paying a social sale site to get the word out. Remember that it doesn’t take a lot of matches to start a wildfire, and initiating a social sale directly to your database, regardless of how small it may be, can be very effective if your database is engaged. For more information contact your dedicated account executive to assist you with your built-in social sale set up.

A Google Trusted Store makes it easy to shop online with confidence. Merchants that meet Google’s standards can now earn a badge that they can display on their website to prove that they are a Google Trusted Store. This program was designed to help shoppers feel confident about their purchases across the web by identifying trustworthy merchants. In order to become a Google Trusted Store an online merchant must meet these core service requirements:

• Quick On Time Shipping – A Google Trusted Store must maintain a high percentage of orders with on-time shipping and get products out the door quickly
• Excellent Customer Service – A Google Trusted Store must resolve customer issues quickly and have a low number of issues

Google measures each merchant’s track record with regards to customer service and shipping metrics through javascript code that must be placed on the website along with additional order code that must be placed on the order complete page which enables buyer protection and sends order data to Google. Once the pages are complete and are free from error, the data feeds need to be setup. Google requires that a tab-delimeted order feed and order status feed be uploaded to Google daily. They also collect shipping data from the shipping carriers to track the delivery speed.

Once a store meets Google’s requirements for about a month, the merchant earns the right to display a Google Trusted Store badge which is a small logo that will appear on the store’s home page. If you roll your mouse over this logo, you will get important stats on the merchant’s reliability, customer service, and the number of transactions the merchant has completed.

To become a Google Trusted Store, fill out an application. 

We want to update our customers on USPS and Endicia’s latest enhancements!

Utilize Adult Signature Required, C.O.D., and other new features offered by USPS and Endicia
The USPS and Endicia Online Shipping Tools have been enhanced to take advantage of new features offered by USPS and supported by Endicia. Default values are available at Settings/Compatible Software/Online Shipping Tools/Preferences in the Order Management System, subject to override when creating a label from the Order Detail screen.

Signature Options:

USPS now offers 3 Signature Options for use with the USPS Rates and Endicia Shipping Tools. If you choose to specify a Signature Option, the choices are:

- Signature Waiver: Applicable only to USPS Express Mail, Signature Waiver allows the USPS driver to forgo collecting a signature if no one is available to sign at the time of delivery.

- Adult Signature Required: Applicable to USPS Express Mail, USPS Priority Mail, USPS Critical Mail, and USPS Parcel Select, Adult Signature Required requires the signature of an adult at the recipient’s address who is 21 years of age or older. Additional charges apply, please refer to USPS documentation for more information.

- Adult Signature Restricted Delivery: Applicable to USPS Express Mail, USPS Priority Mail, USPS Critical Mail, and USPS Parcel Select, Adult Signature Restricted Delivery provides the same service as Adult Signature Required with the additional restriction of limiting delivery to a specific addressee or authorized agent who is 21 years of age or older. Additional charges apply, please refer to USPS documentation for more information.

Notes:

- Because the Signature Option is often important only for Restricted Products, you may specify separate Signature Option values for shipments with Restricted products and shipments without.

- Adult Signature Required and Adult Signature Restricted Delivery are not available to U.S. Armed Forces addresses.

C.O.D.

- For orders for which the customer has chosen to be billed C.O.D. (Settings/Billing Options), you may now choose whether or not to have the C.O.D. amount collected by USPS when creating labels via Endicia Shipping. Additional charges apply, please refer to USPS documentation for more information.

Notes:

- C.O.D. packages require an affixed C.O.D. Form 3816, and must be taken to a USPS retail counter.
For all orders for which C.O.D. is not the method of payment, this option does not apply.

- Endicia C.O.D. is not available with International or U.S. Armed Forces shipments.

- When Endicia C.O.D. is used on an order with multiple ship from and/or multiple ship to addresses, all discounts are distributed in proportion to product total to each address for the purpose of determining the C.O.D. amount.

- When Endicia C.O.D. is used on multi-package shipments, the entire C.O.D. amount is allocated to the first package.
Label Type:

- The Label Type (Delivery Confirmation or Signature Confirmation) now applies to the USPS Rates Tool, in addition to USPS Shipping and Endicia Shipping.

Regional Rate Box C

- Regional Rate Box C is now available as a USPS Packaging Type option. For products that use the Individual Shipping Package option, this value may also be specified in the Product Overrides section when creating or editing a product; via the Product Import (Products/Import); or via the ProductUpdate XML Tools (Settings/XML Tools).

Integrated Customs Forms

- If you choose to include a USPS Customs Form (either Form 2976 or Form 2976A) with U.S. Armed Forces shipments, the Customs Form and label are now integrated (i.e. no longer printed separately).

Note: Customs Forms are not available with USPS Express Mail.

After watching a recent report on CNBC regarding the retail giant Costco, I was introduced to the term “Triggers and Treasures” which is a phrase they like to use when referring to their marketing strategy and explaining why shoppers buy so much at their stores.

In short, the “triggers” are what is used to get shoppers in the door.  These are their core items such as laundry detergent, cereal and toilet paper, which by the way is their #1 selling item.  The “treasures” are the thousands of other items that shoppers end up impulse buying even though these items were not on their shopping list to begin with.

Every online merchant should think about the term “Triggers and Treasures” when it comes to his or her online store and implement strategies that apply to this concept.

What I would recommend is first identifying your storefront’s “triggers”.  What are your top selling items and what are people looking for the most when they come to your store?  Identify these core items and make sure they’re easy to find and get to throughout the shopping experience.   However, try to keep in mind that Costco doesn’t just put all of its core items at the front of the store so you can just pick these out and leave.  They strategically place these core items throughout the warehouse so you’re almost required to go through the entire store to get the items you need (plus a few Bagel Bites samples maybe you didn’t).

This may not be the easiest thing to do with online selling but try putting together a clever navigation strategy, featuring core products along with additional items on the homepage or even placing banner images throughout your store.  

Next, identify your “treasures”.   What are the items that people are most likely to combine with your “triggers”?  Find these items and up-sell and cross-sell them to people looking at your best sellers.   At the very least, make sure you’re adding related items along side your core products or even up-selling during the checkout process as these are great starting points.

Costco’s “Triggers and Treasures” strategy is simple enough in concept but it will require some trial and error as well as reviewing reports and analytics before you get it just right for your company.  Companies like Costo spend a significant amount of time and money on these strategies so get creative with your approach and realize that it will likely be ever changing.

While most merchants will focus their social media efforts on their Facebook Fan Pages, the most successful merchants know that getting their customers to post product links is where the real action is.

According to Sociable Labs, social sharing by customers can have a tremendous impact on a merchant’s sales. In a recent study they report that 62% of shoppers read their friend’s product sharing posts. 75% of those people click on the shared product link, and 53% of them bought the shared product. Those are numbers that no merchant can afford to ignore.

Thankfully, it is easy for merchants to take advantage of their customer’s social tendencies by using the correct eCommerce platform. First, make sure that your software makes it easy for your customers to share coupons on social networks. Second, be sure to make it easy to share product info with embedded social sharing buttons of your product pages. Finally, be sure to evaluate the Nexternal Ecommerce Platform. It is the only system that includes Facebook Like and Save. This innovative tool allows merchants to incentivize social sharing on Facebook.  

With the right tools, it is easy for merchants to have their customers market for them. Needless to say, the results can “speak” for themselves.

It is no secret that the mobile marketplace is growing. More people every day are placing orders on their mobile devices. Last year, for the first time ever, sales of mobile devices outpaced sales of PCs. While speed may not seem super important to people using their mobile devices on faster 4G networks, all online retailers should strive to make their mobile stores as fast as possible for shoppers on slower 3G networks. One common speed hog is that many merchants don’t optimize their product thumbnails for mobile platforms. Rather, they pull their standard full screen thumbnails which just eats bandwidth since they typically get resized by the css max-width and max-height properties.

If your mobile platform is setting a max-width and max-height property of 75pixels and you are loading an image that is 250 pixels by 250 pixels, your image has an extra 56,875 pixels that aren’t being used! Now imagine if you have 25 products listed on a category page. You can quickly see how optimizing your thumbnails will vastly improve the performance of your product list and search results pages on mobile devices.

How do you go about optimizing your images? The best way is to use a graphics program like Adobe Photoshop. There are also some free online tools that can be used if you can put up with the advertisements.

What size should my images be? That is a tough question to answer. If you look at the leading online retailers, there really isn’t a standard size. However, most make an effort to consistently size their thumbnails so that the product list screen looks nice. Generally speaking we have found that apparel companies size their thumbnails a bit bigger than other companies that sell books and the like. For example, Gap.com sets a width of 105pixels for their product thumbnails in their mobile store while Amazon’s book images are only 49 pixels wide. The best thing to do is try out different options for your store. If images are important, go a bit bigger. Find the size that looks good, but also is reasonably fast on a 3G network.

For Nexternal Clients:

If you are a Nexternal client and would like to optimize your product thumbnails, please follow these steps:                                                      

• Visit Layout/Edit Mobile Layout and ensure that you have activated your mobile-friendly store.
• Edit a product and visit page 2. In the overrides, you can upload a mobile thumbnail.
• By default, Nexternal’s system put the max-height and max-width attributes at 80pixels so keep your longest measurement at 80 pixels to optimize page load time. If you want to change the max-height and max-width, you’ll need to do that in the Mobile Style Sheet Addendum (Layout/Edit Mobile Layout).

Let’s face it, data is dry, yet it’s these very facts that can make a visitor become a believer. But how do you interest the visitor long enough to convert them? You need sexy data.

Although product data won’t make your girlfriend love you, it can be transformed into an attractive package that piques interest. We’re talking about charts. The kind with pretty colors and simple-to-grasp concepts. Visitors can understand in a few seconds what would take half a minute to read, and those precious seconds can make all the difference.

Let’s say you sold weight loss supplements. You could spend an entire paragraph talking about how much your product augments one’s weight loss routine. Or you could display a chart like the one above. Even those who don’t care about supplements will likely pause and glance at the chart. That is the power of pictures.

If you are an Excel wizard, you can use it to create various of charts and graphs. If you’re not, there’s still hope. There are various online services that will create a chart out of your data for you. One of the easiest (and free!) we found is called ChartGo. The screenshot below shows all the data entered to create the chart above. Simply choose what kind of chart you want, enter a title, and plug in your numbers. Bam, instant chart. You may need to fiddle around with the settings to get it just the way you want it, but the chart creation is so fast that you won’t find it to be a chore.

The next time you find yourself using a lot of words to describe a product, think about adding a diagram or chart to quickly drive your points. There are numerous tools to help you. Other free online chart building websites include:

• ChartGizmo
• Hohli
• Chart Tool
• Chartle.net
• Google Chart Creator