Ah, September! Back to school, back to business and time to revisit your ecommerce strategy. This month on Building Keystones we shared ways to improve your customer service by listening to your least experienced customers, an IDC resource on the digital commerce market, and concluded our look at the most important moments of the subscription customer lifecycle.
For this Ecommerce Digest we are sharing resources about the value of brands, software piracy, checkout process optimization and ecommerce integration.
The Value of Brand
The λόγος of logos | The Economist
Beginning in the later part of the 20th century, marketers began to grasp there was more to the perception of distinctive products and services than their names—something David Ogilvy described as “the intangible sum of a product’s attributes.” – via What is a Brand, Anyway?
This chart from The Economist lists the world’s most valuable brands. Many of the companies in this list sell software online – a consistently growing segment of economies all over the world. It made me think about brands and branding: What is a brand? Why do you need them? Can you buy a brand?
A brand is a mark of identification but it also conjures emotions in observers. A buyer gives a seller money and the seller gives the buyer something they want or need, but the way a seller portrays that exchange and the way buyers react to that portrayal defines the seller’s brand. A brand is an image, but it is also an emergent property of the total input and output of an organization. It is an intangible asset but that doesn’t mean it is not valuable.
What are you thoughts on the role of branding in creating a successful business? Tell us what you think in the comment section.
Software Piracy
The Three Different Types of Software Pirates | V.i. Labs
As we noted in the blog earlier this week, digital goods are more susceptible to infringing users, i.e., people who use your software without paying for it. This post from V.i. Labs examines the different causes of software infringement by defining three categories of software pirates. The post includes information on which groups businesses have a higher chance of converting into paying customers and best practices for dealing with each type of user.
Don’t forget to register for the special cleverbridge and V.i. Labs webinar about driving ecommerce success through-in-application messaging.
Checkout Process Optimization
Guest Checkout Test: Which of These 25 US Retailers Force Users to Register? | Econsultancy
The checkout process is kind of a big deal around here. One of our main principles in optimizing the checkout process is reducing barriers to purchase. These barriers are typified by the account registration which we have said on several occasions are a good way to encourage customers to abandon their online shopping carts. While this list deals almost exclusively with physical goods retailers, even digital product makers can find inspiration for testing checkout elements to improve conversion rates.
Ecommerce Integrations
The Growing Allure of Ecommerce Systems Integrations | Ecommerce Times
Shopping cart software and payment processing solutions do not function in a vacuum. Every piece of data that flows through these systems must somehow integrate with the seller’s CRM or ERP systems and others, like whatever database your customer service team uses or end-user account sections on your website. Integrating these systems is essential for modern ecommerce professionals, especially when it comes to implementing new products and marketing automation success where delivering the right message at the right time is of the highest importance.
Want to know more about this topic? Download our whitepaper, Five Mistakes to Avoid with Ecommerce Integrations today.
