Author Archive for: Matt

According to a report by Forrester, eCommerce spending will increase over 13 percent from last year, raising the expected total to $262 billion. That’s 31 billion more than 2012.  And it will continue to increase exponentially as they predict that total to be $370 billion by 2017.

Forrester has an earlier report that expects B2B eCommerce to reach $559 billion in US sales by the end of 2013.

These are some serious numbers, numbers you do not want to miss out on as an eCommerce Retailer.  To make sure you are getting the most out of your eCommerce Site, you want to make sure your visitors can find what they’re looking for, fast. It all starts with intelligent eCommerce Site Search.

That’s where EasyAsk comes in.

Because our Natural Language technology uses smarter algorithms than Keyword technology, our search box is the smartest in the business, understanding your customer’s intent as well as the full context of the search request.  This enables our search box to bring back the right product on the first page, which gives your customer’s the confidence they need to continue searching on your site, increase their order sizes and spend more money on your eCommerce Site as opposed to your competitors.

But you need more than just a smarter eCommerce Site Search, you also need a user-friendly, smarter Merchandising store.  One that allows to you take control of your eCommerce Site and gives you the freedom to make changes whenever and however you want.  Thanks again to our Natural Language technology, we give you just that.

With EasyAsk we put the power in the hands of the merchandisers, allowing you to create cross-sells and up-sells in minutes, as well as adding new brands, navigational categories, promotion banners, the works.  All of these things that used to take hours or days as you wait for the IT people to code it, now take minutes, with no coding necessary because it’s all done in plain English.

To see how you can take better advantage of the eCommerce sales boom, visit our website or give us a call at 781-402-5641 and Search Naturally.

Today we are presenting an infographic from Invodo on Video Statistics.

NutShell:

Consumers watch a product video 60 percent of the time.  Also, 60 percent of consumers say they will watch at least 2 minutes of a video.  Over half say that watching a product video gives them more confidence in purchasing.  Since we are all headed towards mobile, it’s good to know that people on mobile devices are 3 times as likely to watch a video as compared to those on a desktop or laptop.  Here’s the big one, shoppers who view a product video are 174 percent more likely to purchase products.  Almost 40 percent of consumers say a video increases their likelihood of purchasing via mobile device.  And finally, 76 percent of marketers plan to add video to their eCommerce Sites.

This infographic clearly shows how much adding videos to your eCommerce Site can help increase conversion rates.  But videos cannot do it alone, you need a great eCommerce Site Search, Navigation and Merchandising software, especially one that understands your customer’s intent, whether it be to see a video or view a product. We at EasyAsk can help.  Come see how.  Visit our website, or give us a call at 781-402-5641.

Sticking with the mobile trend that has recently taken over our blog, here is a video I found on MultiChannelMerchant where they speak with Danielle Savin from Lyons Consulting Group on the effects Tablet and Mobile have on the total eCommerce experience.

Enjoy!

 

Over the last few weeks we’ve had a few different blogs on the importance of having a mobile site.  We’ve showed infographics, as well as links to other blogs hammering home its rising popularity over the past year or so.  This particular blog is to explain what sets EasyAsk apart when it comes to M-Commerce capabilities.

Along with the rise of M-Commerce comes the demand to make your sites more accessible to mobile users, and it is in this demand where EasyAsk shines. By understanding your customer’s intent and context of their search request, EasyAsk returns the RIGHT product on the FIRST page, EVERY time.  And with a smarter eCommerce Site Search, your customers are given the ability to speak or type their requests into their smart phones or tablets.  Yes I said speak.  All of our electronics are moving toward responding to voice (cars, televisions, and of course cellphones), and with a SMARTER search engine, your customers won’t have to DUMB down their requests.

But what if you’re firing blanks?

The need for a smarter eCommerce Site Search is never more apparent than on a mobile site.  With screen real estate at a minimum, your search box is your most potent weapon.  By having a search box that runs on out-dated Keyword Search algorithms, you are doing a disservice to your customers and to your bottom-line.  Keyword Search has limitations and struggles with the simplest of searches, let alone long-tail searches that describe what you actually want.  EasyAsk, running on a Natural Language engine, allows your mobile customers to search the way people searched before the internet, BY ASKING FOR WHAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR.

The Natural Language algorithms are smarter, the dictionary more insightful, and the results are simply better.

EasyAsk customer, Travers Tool Company, recently launched a new mobile commerce site. The mobile optimized site presents the search engine, category structure and products in a more friendly way for the smaller screen real estate of mobile devices.  Unlike searching on your laptop or desktop, smart phone and tablet screen size (or lack there of) diminishes your navigational tools effectiveness.  There’s just not enough room.  But there is plenty of room for a search box, and Travers has taken full advantage of it.

To see how you can take advantage of a smarter mobile site, visit our website or give us a call at 781-402-5641.

Mobile Commerce is the future (and it seems now present) of eCommerce.  This Infographic by KISSMetrics sums up just how important Mobile Commerce really is.

Nutshell:

It is predicted that mobile phones will surpass desktop computers as the most commonly used devices to access eCommerce Sites this year.

People are a little more patient with their smartphones and tablets as they are willing to wait 5 seconds for a page to load, versus 3 seconds on their computer.

It seems that for tablet users, it’s the Apple iPad…. and then everyone else. That also seems true for smartphone users.

What you should take away is this: Mobile is changing the game, and if you do not have a mobile site with a smart eCommerce Site Search, then you’re going to lose out on the millions of dollars coming through via smartphone or tablet.  We at EasyAsk have the perfect solution, a Search, Navigation and Merchandising option that is smarter, and understands the way your customers think and search.

To see a demonstration of just how we can accomplish this, visit our website or contact us at 781-402-5641.  And to see an example of what we’ve already done for our customer Travers Tools, visit their site and check out our blog on Travers mobile site here.

This has been another helpful tip brought to you by your friendly, neighborhood EasyAsk.

We at EasyAsk are always here to help, and while we are the leaders in Natural Language eCommerce Site Search, Navigation and Merchandising, we like to do more than just sell you on what we can do for you, we like to help you help yourself.  Our last blog covered merchandising tips to help you increase conversion rates and average order size, this blog addresses the “Welcome Mat” of your company – the home page of your eCommerce site.  So here are a few tips to help you make a good first impression.

Keep it clean.

Online shoppers make their decision to stay or leave within seconds of being on your site.  Those seconds count… either for you or your competitor.  Make them count for you by showing your customers a clean and professional homepage.  Take the time to check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  And make sure your site makes it obvious to your customers of what you are selling and where to find it.  Don’t give them a reason to jump ship to your competitors.

Having more than one voice helps.

Telling your customers that you have great products is good… Having OTHER customers telling them that you have great products is better.  Testimonials are an important part of eCommerce sites, especially in this new era of peer-review-driven shoppers.  People trust other people more than they trust a company, by having other customer’s testimonials on your site, you are giving your new customer more reason to trust you, which in turn gives them more reasons to stay on your site and buy more of your products.

Make it known that you are available to help.

Customers want to be able to get ahold of you if need be, so make sure you have a “Contact Us” link and don’t try to hide it at the bottom of your homepage.  Most contact pages are very vague, giving your customer only one way of getting ahold of you, via email.  Don’t make this mistake.  Show your customers that you care and really are there for them by giving them direct access to you.  Don’t limit your contact page to just an email address with a form explaining their reason for contacting you.  Give them the security they need by giving them full access to you, including your hours of operation, address and phone number for customer service.

These three tips are just a few of the things you can do to help keep your customers on your site, which increases the chances of them purchasing from your site, which increases the chances of you upping your conversion rates and average order sizes.

To see how EasyAsk can help increase your conversion rates and average order sizes, visit our website or call us at 781-402-5641.

This has been another helpful tip from your friendly, neighborhood EasyAsk.

If you’re in the business of eCommerce then you already know how important having good eCommerce Site Search is, and you already know how important Navigation is, but what about Merchandising?  You can have all the bells and whistles to help your Search and Navigation, but if you aren’t utilizing your site as a Merchandiser, than you’re just throwing money away.

Luckily, we at EasyAsk are here to help with a few tips to make your life as a Merchandiser easier.

The first tip is stay one step ahead of your customers by mixing and matching your items.  Yes it’s nice to see those pants I was looking for, but what about a nice shirt or belt to go with them?  Try offering complete outfits as an option to a customer searching for just part of an outfit.  Cross-selling items that would complement your customer’s searches is a great way to get them to increase their average order sizes, as well as give you a chance to show off some of your products that you are trying to unload.

Another tip is to offer your customers an upgraded version of the products they are looking for.  In today’s world of peer-review-based shoppers, people are shopping more and more based off what their facebook friends or twitter friends suggest.

But what if their friends are cheap and are suggesting a “base” model for the product you are selling?

You don’t want to a customer leaving with a lesser-quality product when there’s a bigger and better one available and your customer didn’t even know it.  Up-selling is another great merchandising tool that can really increase your revenue.  If you are selling products made by competing companies and your customer is looking at Product A, which is a lesser-quality version than Product B, let them know there is a Product B available.

Cross-Selling and Up-Selling are just two of the many merchandising capabilities EasyAsk offers to help put the power in the hands of the merchandiser.

To see what else we have up our sleeve, or to see how your eCommerce site stacks up against some of the industry leaders like The North Face, Lands’ End, TrueValue Hardware and many more, visit our website or call us at 781-402-5641 for a free site evaluation.

This has about another helpful tip from your friendly, neighborhood EasyAsk.

NetSuite, the world’s most deployed cloud ERP, rolled out Suite Commerce to the masses this week and we at EasyAsk are thrilled.  EasyAsk has been a partner with NetSuite for years, working with them and many of their 16,000+ customers.  With the launching of Suite Commerce, NetSuite customer will now have the ability to really interact with NetSuite as the ease-of-use has become even easier.

Suite Commerce gives NetSuite customers tons of benefits that were not available prior to the launch.  From Business Rules for products, to being able to “pin” a product or announce it on Facebook, to recommending larger order sizes for better discounts while in the shopping cart, Suite Commerce is doing their best to make NetSuite customers feel warm, welcomed and remembered.  And with online sales expected to increase by another 9-12 percent in 2012, these features are just another way to help NetSuite continue to keep their very large customer-base very happy.

As the premier search provider for NetSuite, EasyAsk has already thrived in the NetSuite environment, giving their customers the best in eCommerce Site Search, Navigation and Merchandising capabilities.  But with the launching of Suite Commerce, EasyAsk will have an even better, more efficient playground to rule the yard on.  With dozens of happy NetSuite customers running EasyAsk as their search, the inclusion of Suite Commerce will only increase the capabilities of what those customers can do with EasyAsk’s Natural Language Site Search, Navigation and Merchandising tools.

Companies like Oya Costumes, That Pet Place, Silver & Crystal Gallery, Fusion Beads, and many more are already reaping the benefits of Natural Language Search on the NetSuite environment.  Giving their customers the ability to search how they want and know they are finding the right product on the first try, as well as being able to really take control of their site as a merchandiser, the added benefits of Suite Commerce just means bigger and better things to come for NetSuite customers who use EasyAsk.

NetSuite says “Any Language, Any Currency, Any Business Model”… Well, with Natural Language behind it, any language will be even better understood, the capabilities to use any currency will be increased, and any and all business models will be even better.

To see what your NetSuite site can accomplish with Natural Language added to it, check out our website, or give us a call at 781-402-5641.

According to a release by American Express, card-holders can now sync their Amex cards and tweet special hashtags to buy gift cards and certain products from some of the major eCommerce companies.  With specially priced Amex gift cards and products on sale at Amazon, Sony, Urban Zen and Xbox this week.  Here’s an example: The $25 American Express Gift Card can be purchased using a synced American Express Card for only $15 by tweeting #BuyAmexGiftCard25.

The syncing venture, Card Sync, which first launched on Twitter last March, was designed to deliver coupon-free savings to Cardmembers who tweeted special offer #hashtags from certain merchants.  The full catalog of products for which you can use this syncing for went up last week (Feb. 13th) and are highlighted as favorites on the American Express Twitter page.

Here’s a few examples of what you can start buying with this new #hashtag-sync method: An Amazon Kindle Fire for $149.99, a Sony Action Cam & Waterproof Headband Mount for $179.99, and an Xbox controller for $29.99.

This new movement by American Express is just another piece in the expanding world of Mobile Commerce.  It’s another way to shop on-the-go, which is where more and more consumers are headed.  You don’t have to go as far as what American Express has done, but you better believe you need a mobile eCommerce Site Search that understands today’s customers.

We at EasyAsk have the technology to make your mobile site, as well as your eCommerce Site smarter, faster, better, and with the ability to understand what your customers are looking for as well as how they are shopping today.  Natural Language goes beyond the limitations of Keyword Search, and with today’s mobile-shoppers searching more and navigating less, you need a search engine that understands their entire search.

To see how your site stacks up to some of the industry leaders (The North Face, Lands’ End, TrueValue Hardware, etc.) visit our website, or call 781-402-5641 for a free demonstration and Site Search analysis.

This is just another helpful tip from your friendly, neighborhood EasyAsk.

Today’s post is an infographic courtesy of ShopPad, a website dedicated to showing you just how influential the Tablet is to eCommerce.

This infographic has some stats and facts on tablet shopping over the holiday season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NutShell:

Tablet Shoppers shopped in the evening and on weekends.  Tablet Shoppers took advantage of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Tablet Shoppers had a conversion rate of 3.7% and spent an average of over 13 minutes on a site.  189 iPads were sold EVERY MINUTE of Q4 of 2012.  Tablet Shoppers are proving to be more valuable to eCommerce companies than Mobile Shoppers and maybe even more than Desktop Shoppers.

Basically, Tablets are here to stay, and people are shopping on them, converting on them, and affecting your eCommerce numbers on them.  If you are not utilizing, or at least recognizing their capabilities, than you are falling short of your potential.

Just another helpful tip from your friendly, neighborhood EasyAsk.