This month our Ecommerce Blog focused on some great ways for brands to generate more revenue through localization best practices, email marketing, user experience improvements and affiliate marketing.
Our Ecommerce Digest dips its toe into the problem of monetizing the Internet of Things, facilitating mobile purchases, using video in search engine marketing, and changing our mindset on the role of channel partners.
Internet of Things
The IoT Monetization Problem | Re/code
As more sensors become embedded into all kinds of devices, the growing Internet of Things (IoT) turns manufacturers into software vendors and disrupts virtually every market you can imagine. According this article from Re/code, the challenge for vendors is turning innovative technologies and large amounts of data into financial gain. More and more companies will find ways to connect devices with information about how those devices are used. Vendors of IoT products and services have to figure out how to manage licenses and collect revenue. Without these abilities, they lose out on a lot of potential revenue.
Mobile Design and User Experience
PayPal’s One Touch Checkout Service Now Available Across Europe and Australia | VentureBeat
Global Internet use continues to rise. According to one study from We Are Social, a little over three billion people, about 42 percent of Earth’s population, have Internet access. Additionally, 62 percent of web pages are visited through desktops and laptops while 39 percent go through through phones and tablets. We all know from personal experience how frustrating it is to fill out form fields from a mobile keyboard, so with all these mobile users, vendors must create more fluid payment submission processes.
Similar to Amazon’s 1-click shopping technique, PayPal now has One Touch for mobile users. This seems like an excellent way to facilitate conversions, but it is also a double-edged sword: When all it takes is a single action to make a purchase, accidental orders are inevitably going to rise.
Video and Paid Search
‘A Gusher of Money’: Google Testing Video Ads in Search Results, Industry Sources Say | Digiday
We all intuitively understand the power of video content, and marketing to YouTube users through AdWords for Video has been popular for a while now. According to this article from Digiday, Google is testing out the display of video ads on search engine results pages (SERPs). This feels like an inevitable evolution. Over the years, we’ve seen rich snippets added to results. And who doesn’t find their googling enhanced by the Knowledge Graph? The main question is, will video on SERPs work? It seems that it goes a long way towards increasing brand awareness, but does it generate revenue? And will video advertisements interrupt our searches and create a less user-friendly experience?
Channel Partners
Through-Channel Marketing: The Channel Is More Than a Sales Channel | Forrester Research
According to the author, Tim Harmon of Forrester Research, the relationship between vendor and channel partner has become more complicated in recent years. In the past, manufacturers or vendors created a product, found a market, and relied on channel partners to find and sell to customers. Now, companies have to view their channel partners almost as an extension of their brand, with the ability to enhance or damage it. Vendors would do well to actively support their channel partners and work closely with them to build the right kind of relationship with customers.
