Your Guide to Better Websites

01/31/2023

Posted By: Tripti Rijhwani

Sales & Marketing

Introduction

In the first part of this review, the focus was low-lift and high-impact ways to grow revenue and reach profitably. Dreaming Code's two-part review of key trends for 2023 focuses on user experiences and building more robust and purposeful connections between brands and their audiences. These trends will be paramount to enabling target audiences and customers to interact with brands anywhere, anytime, and on their terms.

AI and automation in eCommerce are now extending beyond chatbots. These technologies personalize the customer experience, optimize pricing and inventory management, and improve customer service. As technology advances, businesses can expect to see more innovative ways to leverage AI to improve their operations and customer experiences.

Omnichannel experiences always get attention, as customers expect seamless, cohesive experiences across different touchpoints. This trend continuously pushes businesses to focus on providing consistent, personalized experiences across online, in-store, and mobile channels.

Finally, a trend that is both purposeful and fresh. Sustainable eCommerce is becoming more important as consumers are more aware of the environmental impact of their purchases, and businesses are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint. While a brand may be focused in its regional market, the chain of where products and services come from and eventually end up have implications for a more sustainable future.

These trends will help businesses continuously embrace new ideas to remain competitive in the ever-changing eCommerce landscape. Brands need to be deliberate about their purpose and curate experiences for their customers that will be memorable and valuable. We will dive deeper into these ideas and explain how they can create impact and value for your brand in 2023.

AI and automation will go beyond customer service.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation play a significant role in the e-commerce industry today. Beyond the everyday use of chatbots, these technologies can also be used to personalize the customer experience, optimize pricing and inventory management, and improve customer service. AI-powered recommendation systems, for example, can analyze customer data and browsing history to suggest personalized product recommendations.

In terms of pricing and inventory management, AI can help businesses optimize prices based on real-time market data and demand, track inventory levels, and predict future direction. This allows companies to make data-driven decisions, increasing efficiency, and profitability.

AI-powered image and voice recognition, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning algorithms are being used to improve product search and make it more accurate, efficient, and genuine.

As technology advances, we can expect to see even more innovative ways businesses leverage AI to improve their operations and customer experiences. Some examples include:

• Automated product categorization and tagging
• Predictive maintenance and logistics optimization
• Fraud detection and prevention

Overall, AI and automation have the potential to revolutionize the e-commerce industry, improving the customer experience, increasing efficiency and profitability for businesses, and making it more convenient for customers to shop online.

Experiences anywhere

Omnichannel experiences are getting attention because customers today expect seamless and cohesive experiences across different touchpoints. Harvard Business Review observed the shopping behaviors of 46,000 consumers and found that around 73% of consumers prefer shopping through multiple channels. Comparatively, 7% of consumers shop online exclusively, and 20% shop merely in-store.

The exponential use of digital channels and the increasing use of smartphones, tablets, and other devices have created more opportunities for customers to interact with brands across different channels. This has led to a shift in customer expectations, as they now expect businesses to provide consistent and personalized experiences across all channels.

Omnichannel means so much today as it allows customers to move between channels, such as online, in-store, and mobile, without interruption. For example, customers who start browsing a website on their computer can continue browsing on their mobile device and then make a purchase in-store. This type of experience is becoming increasingly important as customers expect to be able to engage with brands across different channels and devices. Here is a checklist to help understand omnichannel:

• Businesses need to focus on providing consistent and personalized experiences. This means aligning brand messaging, offers, and promotions across channels and using customer data to personalize the experience for each customer.
• Brands should also focus on providing a seamless and consistent shopping experience across channels, allowing customers to view their order history, track shipments, and make returns across channels.
• Omnichannel experiences also require businesses to have a good view of the customer journey and be able to use the data from each channel to create a holistic customer profile. Companies can use the data to personalize the experience and offer personalized recommendations.

Providing an omnichannel experience can deliver benefits, such as increased customer loyalty, higher conversion rates, and increased revenue. It can also help companies build stronger relationships with their customers by providing a more convenient and satisfying shopping experience.

Mission for sustainability

By 2025, the global eCommerce plastic packaging waste is projected to rise to 4,533 million pounds. Sustainable e-commerce refers to operating an online business environmentally and socially responsibly, and it involves reducing the environmental impact of the company and promoting ethical and fair business practices.

There are several ways to start making your e-commerce business more sustainable in 2023, including:

1. Reducing waste: Implementing sustainable packaging and shipping methods can reduce waste and minimize the environmental impact of your business. This can include using biodegradable or recyclable packaging materials and eco-friendly shipping methods such as electric vehicles.
2. Improving energy efficiency: Implementing energy-efficient practices in your business operations can help to reduce your carbon footprint. This can include using renewable energy sources, implementing energy-saving technologies, and reducing energy consumption in your warehouse and office.
3. Promoting ethical and fair business practices: Ensuring that your products are ethically sourced and produced and that your suppliers adhere to acceptable labor practices is essential to sustainable e-commerce.
4. Supporting sustainable causes: Many customers are looking for businesses that align with their values and support sustainable causes. Consider partnering with organizations working to protect the environment or donate a portion of your profits to sustainable causes.
5. Transparency: Be transparent with your customers about your sustainable practices and efforts to reduce environmental impact. Communicate your values and the steps you are taking to be more sustainable.
6. Continual improvement: Continuously review and improve your sustainability practices, and incorporate feedback from customers and suppliers.

Remember, sustainable e-commerce is a journey that may not happen overnight. It's a process of continuous improvement and learning. Taking small steps can make a big difference in creating a more sustainable and socially responsible business. This does not need a significant investment in real dollars. Still, the impact can be created with a sustained commitment to continuously make more efforts to improve so that employees, customers, and other stakeholders will appreciate and reward your business.

Conclusion

2023 will see brands focus on efficient means to grow their sales and on ways to enhance the connections that a brand has with its customers. The trends we covered represent ideas that a brand can embrace to provide growth and sustainability for its business. By focusing on basics and using technology and data to guide your strategy, brands can achieve very positive outcomes quickly. When all these platforms and trends are used together, eCommerce brands can interact with greater clarity and develop focused strategies to leverage that data to grow existing and new revenue streams.

Dreaming Code helps brands enable a feature-rich eCommerce for their customers using our industry-leading SaaS product. With minimal configuration and access to our solutions consulting team, we package processes, services, and results to enable brands to succeed, all for a straightforward monthly fee. Feel free to contact us to set up a consultation with us today.

To learn more about how we can help your business, schedule an appointment with one of our solution experts today.

To learn more about the Dreaming code eCommerce platform visit: https://dreamingcode.com.

01/24/2023

Posted By: Tripti Rijhwani

Introduction

As we look ahead to 2023, the economy is uncertain and B2C and B2B eCommerce landscapes are evolving rapidly. Uncertainty can bring about change and innovation, leading to new and exciting possibilities for businesses. This type of economy allows for flexibility and adaptation as companies are finding new ways to navigate and succeed in a shifting landscape. While there may be a few new, groundbreaking ideas emerging, there is a lot of momentum behind the trends that have been gaining traction over the past couple of years.

One of the most notable trends is the growing importance of brand loyalty, as customers become more discerning and demand a higher level of service and engagement from the brands. With the current uncertainty, brands need sustainable and less costly revenue growth strategies.

Rules about customer data in 2023 will become increasingly under scrutiny, and brands of all sizes need to be more deliberate about collecting, protecting, and understanding their own first-party customer data. This data, when analyzed and understood, will be a strategic asset for brands to get better insights about their customers.

Social commerce also continues to outperform other demand-generation strategies, with businesses leveraging platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook to drive sales and engage customers. Any brand today can harness social commerce to access new markets and audiences with very little investment. More about that later.

These trends indicate that businesses continuously embrace new ideas to remain competitive. Brands should key in on a few ideas that they believe will be low lift but high value. In this first of two-part series, we will dive deeper into these ideas and explain how they can create impact and value for your brand in 2023.

Brand loyalty is often overlooked

The competitive landscape in most markets is fierce as brands use technology to help them scale faster. Shopify's research shows that while only 28% of consumers tend to make repeat purchases from the same online store, these loyal customers make up a significant portion of a brand's revenue, accounting for 44% on average. There are several vital points for businesses looking to maximize customer loyalty.

Brand leaders need to take the time to look at their customers' purchase history. It's essential to understand and calculate typical customer lifetime value (CLV) and look for common characteristics among those customers who are loyal to your brand. CLV will inform the type of customers a brand should target and how to tailor marketing campaigns to access them.

Many people talk about loyalty, but few brands use offers and rewards to incentivize customers to make repeat purchases. You can encourage customers to come back and make purchases with the right offers and rewards. Rewards will help drive loyalty revenue, increase customer retention and incentivize customers to become sources of recommendation and referral.

After brands understand their customers, they need to use technology to help engage with customers on an individual basis. You can reach customers based on their past purchasing habits through automated messages and tailored campaigns with personalized recommendations. These recommendations will give customers the feeling that they are being treated as individuals and increase their chances of making repeat purchases.

By focusing on the above points, businesses can realize an increase in sales and a stronger relationship with their customers. The value of this type of loyalty should be considered, as it provides an excellent source of repeat and referral revenue. With the right approach, businesses can capitalize on this trend and build an even more successful eCommerce brand.

Using new data rules to thrive

The importance of first-party data in the world of eCommerce is becoming increasingly apparent as businesses realize the value of this type of data and the insights it can provide. According to a study by Accenture and Adobe, seventy-seven percent (77%) of CEOs know that they must fundamentally change how they interact and engage with customers.

First-party data is considered more reliable and accurate than third-party data, making it an invaluable asset in helping businesses make informed decisions about their eCommerce strategy. Third-party data can still be relevant and useful in certain situations, but its use has recently been scrutinized due to data privacy and accuracy concerns. Third-party data is typically collected by companies other than the business using it and can be less reliable and accurate than first-party data. Additionally, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) coming into effect, stricter laws and regulations on collecting and using third-party data make this data harder to use.

For businesses looking to capitalize on the trend of first-party data, there are several vital points to consider. Start by setting up systems to collect customer data and obtain customer consent. Store and organize the data securely, and use tools to analyze it. Businesses can decide about their website, marketing campaigns, or product offerings with the insights gained. It is also essential to continuously monitor and maintain the data collection and storage systems, update data analysis tools and methods, and comply with data privacy regulations.

By focusing on these key points and using first-party data to improve the customer experience, businesses should realize an increase in sales, build stronger relationships with their customers, and more effectively target and personalize their marketing campaigns.

Access to billions through social

Social commerce has become increasingly crucial for brands in recent years, and its growth is only set to accelerate. Platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin are new revenue tools that brands can leverage their large user bases to access new customers. According to recent research, the social commerce market is expected to hit $1.3 trillion in 2023, exceeding the $1 trillion mark for the first time. This is a 30.8% increase from the previous year when social commerce sales amounted to $958 billion.

For brands looking to capitalize on this trend, there are some tips:

1. Platform selection is a crucial first step. Brands must consider where their target audience is most active and choose platforms that align with their business goals. The data about the audience is readily available from platforms and easy to access to test and gather data.
2. Developing a solid content strategy is also essential, as businesses must create visual, informational, and interactive content that resonates with their audience and drives conversions. B2C brands need to align with influencers who can help attract new users. B2B customers need to use platforms to educate customers on their products and services and turn them into leads.
3. Businesses need to ensure that their social commerce operations comply with data privacy regulations and ensure that the payment and checkout process is secure for customers. Integrating social commerce with customer relationship management (CRM) and e-commerce systems can also help to track customer interactions and orders across all channels. By allowing customers to purchase products directly through social media platforms, social commerce can help increase sales and revenue for a brand.

Social commerce can increase the average order value by providing a seamless and convenient shopping experience. In addition, social media platforms allow brands to cost-effectively promote their products and services to their user bases at less cost than traditional advertising. To maximize the value of social commerce, brands need to focus on providing personalized experiences for their customers. By using data to personalize customer interactions, brands can increase conversion rates and ensure that they provide the best possible experience to their customers. Customer service is also a key benefit of social commerce, so responding to customer inquiries and handling complaints quickly and professionally is essential. By understanding and capitalizing on the trend of social commerce, businesses can increase sales and revenue and build stronger relationships with their customers. With the right approach, companies can maximize the value of social commerce and create an even more successful eCommerce brand.

Conclusion

2023 is kicking off with its share of uncertainty. Brand loyalty, first-party data, and social commerce are individual trends that can help eCommerce brands succeed with certainty. When all these platforms and trends are used together, eCommerce brands can interact with greater clarity and develop focused strategies to leverage that data to grow existing and new revenue streams.

Dreaming Code helps brands enable a feature-rich eCommerce for their customers using our industry-leading SaaS product. With minimal configuration and access to our solutions consulting team, we package processes, services, and results to enable brands to succeed all for a straightforward monthly fee. Feel free to contact us to set up a consultation with us today.

To learn more about how we can help your business, schedule an appointment with one of our solution experts today.

To learn more about the Dreaming code eCommerce platform visit: https://dreamingcode.com.

01/20/2023

Posted By: Tripti Rijhwani

Sales & Marketing

In today's fast-paced business environment, ensuring that customer platforms and systems always remain operational is crucial for success. Downtime can result in lost revenue, damage to a brand's reputation, and negatively impact customer satisfaction. To combat these issues, DreamingCode customers rely on Radical Support to ensure the continuous and reliable operation of their customer platforms and systems.

What is Radical Support?

DreamingCode Radical Support is a global, 24/7 support experience that is available every day of the year. This means that customers can access support at any time and location and receive the same level of service and expertise. This is achieved by having a team of experts who are available around the clock, and who have the knowledge and skills necessary to quickly and effectively resolve any issues that may arise.

Why is it important to me?

The key benefit of Radical Support is that it provides customers with a sense of security and reliability. They know that if an issue arises, they can access support quickly and have it resolved in a timely manner. This is particularly important for businesses that operate in a global environment, as it ensures that all customers, regardless of location, have access to the same level of service and support.

One of the key principles of Radical Support is the use of advanced technologies such as automation and AI to keep your platform current with the latest software. These technologies allow for faster and more efficient problem resolution and can help to reduce the need for human intervention. This helps to ensure that customer issues are resolved quickly and effectively, minimizing the impact of downtime on a business's operations.

In addition to providing around-the-clock support, Radical Support also includes continuous monitoring of customer platforms and systems. This allows for early detection and resolution of potential issues, helping to prevent downtime and ensure that customer systems are always operational.

Lastly, the Radical Support team is giving continuous training and certifications to ensure our team members are updated on the latest monitoring, threats, and technologies that could impact the smooth operation of your eCommerce solution.

DreamingCode Radical Support is essential for any business that operates in a global environment. It ensures that all our customer platforms and systems always remain operational, and updated and that customers have access to a continuous and reliable support experience. With the use of advanced technologies and continuous monitoring, a radical support model can help businesses to minimize downtime and improve customer satisfaction.

DreamingCode helps brands enable a feature-rich eCommerce for their customers using our industry-leading SaaS product. With minimal configuration and access to our solutions consulting team, we package processes, services, and results to enable brands to succeed all for a straightforward monthly fee. Feel free to contact us to set up a consultation with us today.

To learn more about how we can help your business, schedule an appointment with one of our solution experts today.

To learn more about the Dreaming code eCommerce platform visit: https://dreamingcode.com.

01/17/2023

Posted By: Tripti Rijhwani

The eCommerce industry continues to expand rapidly, with the global market reaching $5.7 trillion at the start of 2023, according to eMarketer. Exceptional customer service remains a priority; however, customer expectations are shifting. Not surprisingly, 69% of customers say they're willing to interact with a bot on simple issues, a 23% increase from 2021, according to Zendesk. Brands need more than human-assisted support like telephone and live chat. Below are four of the most contemporary strategies that eCommerce brands should consider for the latest customer self-service solutions:

AI Chatbots is becoming a "must-have" for digital customer support to providing customers with the ability to quickly get answers to their questions without needing a live agent. AI chatbots can answer customer inquiries like product information, order status, and shipping information. They can also provide complex customer support, like troubleshooting device issues, addressing customer complaints, or resolving problems that only humans could handle a few years ago. Today's chatbots are more intelligent and easier to implement with the need for technical staff.

Knowledge Bases and FAQs with searchable content are vital to any self-service solution. They provide customers with detailed information on various topics related to a brand's product or service. Many brands can mine their historical customer requests to help inform and extend FAQs in the knowledge base. The ideal way to deploy these knowledge bases and FAQs is on the website, through a dedicated support search, or via most AI chatbots.

My Account services provide a personalized self-service organized after a customer provides a secure account login. These My Account services offer customers a convenient way to manage their orders and customer service inquiries. This self-service allows customers to view order status, track packages, and read frequently asked questions. It also allows them to update their profile, contact information, and payment options. These solutions are valuable as they can know a customer's identity and provide contextual support based on their profile and past transactions with a brand.

Dark Social is the most intriguing and unknown channel where customers can get support and help. Customer support often lies within a highly used set of social apps where people share content one to one to provide feedback and ask questions about products and services. They are referred to as dark social as they are hard to track or attribute as a referral source to web traffic. These apps include:

• Open social platforms that are trackable sources (very public, but can produce dark social when someone interacts with a peer's shared content).
• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Closed social platforms (dark social if copied and pasted – but trackable via share buttons).
• WhatsApp and Slack messaging
• Direct messaging (Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn DMs, Instagram DMs, etc.).
• SMS (text message) and Email
• Private social groups and communities
• Reddit

Customers can use these forums to share their experiences about a company with other customers. Dark social has become a powerful source of word-of-mouth advice that is often more trusted and followed as it's not curated or moderated by the brand. Expect dark social to be the fastest-growing content source brands need to monitor and understand.

In conclusion, a solid customer self-service strategy is a competitive advantage for eCommerce brands if done right. By understanding expectations and embracing new technologies, eCommerce brands can provide their customers with a better customer experience while also improving their bottom line. Implementing AI chatbots, knowledge bases and FAQs, personalized self-service, and knowing dark social are all excellent strategies that will become reliable ways that customers can get support.

Dreaming Code supports hundreds of brands through the complex and ever-changing world of customer self-service. We can offer strategy, services, and solutions to ensure your customers can get the help they need when it is required. Feel free to contact us to set up a consultation with us today.

To learn more about how we can help your business, schedule an appointment with one of our solution experts today.

To learn more about the Dreaming code eCommerce platform visit: https://dreamingcode.com.

01/13/2023

Posted By: Tripti Rijhwani

We are now in a new digital growth phase for many brands who scale their business using content. More and more, today's business-to-business (B2B) buyers what to do their research and education on products and services for themselves. They want to access meaningful ungated content to learn and explore information about solutions they can easily access on a brand's website. Once they have determined the right solution, they expect to engage with subject matter experts who can help them solve their challenges.

Content marketing is one of the most powerful tools available to businesses today, and it's an essential element of any successful digital growth strategy. It's creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer actions like leads and revenue.

Content marketing helps businesses to scale the education of potential customers, build trust, and drive lead generation. It also serves as an effective way to improve search rank and online reputation. But creating content that resonates with your audience and drives the desired action can be challenging. To help, here are some content marketing basics and tips to get you started:

Develop a Content Strategy: Creating content without a plan is like shooting in the dark. Developing a content strategy is key to ensuring your content is effective and has the desired impact. A good strategy is built around critical questions your audience is looking to have answered about your solution. A content strategy should include objectives, audience personas, topics, and a content calendar.

Research Your Audience: Knowing your audience is vital to creating resonating content. Research your target audience to understand their needs, interests, and behaviors. Use this research to identify topics and create content relevant to their interests.

Optimize Your Content for Search: When creating content, optimize it for search engines. Use keywords and phrases in your content that target your audience and are likely to appear in search results. It's also essential to think about words that your audience identifies with your solution.

Create Compelling Content: Focus on creating informative, helpful, and engaging content. Content should be well-written, well-structured, and visually appealing. Leveraging your team as subject matter experts (SMEs) is essential to help give the best context for great content. Use images, videos, and interactive elements to break up text and keep readers engaged.

Promote Your Content: Creating content is only half the battle. The other half is letting your target audience know about it. Promote your content across multiple channels, including social media, email, and guest blogging.

Analyze and Adjust: Evaluate the success of your content and make adjustments to ensure it is as effective as possible. Monitor metrics such as website traffic, conversions, engagement, and leads to understand which content resonates most with your audience.

Content marketing can be a powerful tool for businesses, but it's essential to understand the basics and do it right. With the right approach, content marketing can help you achieve your marketing goals and reach new customers.

DreamingCode offers content marketing to help users of its industry-leading Commerce as a service and DXP platforms to drive demand and grow revenue. DreamingCode Content Marketing establishes a solid strategy, content creation, and performance management without hiring new marketing staff. We can package processes, services, and results to enable brands to start and grow their content marketing, all for a straightforward monthly fee. Feel free to contact us to set up a consultation with us today.

To learn more about how we can help your business, schedule an appointment with one of our solution experts today.

To learn more about the Dreaming code eCommerce platform visit: https://dreamingcode.com.

06/10/2016

Posted By: Akshay Vazirani

Infographics are a powerful way to explain the key elements of building the best ecommerce site. A successful ecommerce website should combine attractive design, smooth navigation, fast loading speed, and mobile responsiveness to create a better shopping experience for users. Through clear visuals and structured information, infographics help businesses understand what customers expect from an online store.

An ecommerce site should also include high-quality product images, detailed descriptions, secure payment gateways, and a simple checkout process. These features improve customer trust and help increase conversions. Infographics make it easier to present these important ecommerce strategies in a simple and engaging format.

Search engine optimization is another essential factor in ecommerce success. Optimized product pages, SEO-friendly content, and proper website structure can improve search visibility and drive more traffic. Infographics can visually explain how these elements work together to support online growth.

As competition in the ecommerce industry continues to rise, businesses need websites that focus on performance, usability, and customer satisfaction. Using infographics to understand ecommerce best practices can help brands create stronger online stores, improve engagement, and support long-term business growth.

06/06/2016

Posted By: Akshay Vazirani

Recent updates to the Pinterest search engine have SEO analysts and techies debating over the best search engine. While I do still often use Google to search for images when I'm making PowerPoint presentations and Photoshop images, the question comes down to: what are you looking for?

If you want stylish images and infographics, Pinterest has you covered, but when searching for literal brands, I think Google takes the cake. Let's look at some comparisons.

3 Features Google Doesn't Have

• Categorized Browsing Pages: If you don't know exactly what you want to look at, you can get general results without pulling up literal images of film or music notes.
• Pinterest will show you what's popular so you can see what people are talking about.
• The home newsfeed shows you what the people you follow are interested in, so you don't miss photos about subjects you're interested in.

3 Features Pinterest Doesn't Have

• Search for other images using an image.
• Search for GIFs right from the images tab.
• Google helps you find related searches so you can find exactly what you're looking for.

Search Results:

• Polka Dots
• Robot
• Little Mermaid

05/16/2016

Posted By: Akshay Vazirani

The most recent "Pew Internet & American Life Project" report was recently released, measuring social media use as of May. While online adults using social networking sites have grown 9% (from 61% to 72%), are you surprised to hear that U.S. adults now using Twitter have grown 10% (from 8% to 18%)?

Personally, I wasn't. However, the demographic using Twitter was shocking. Males and high-income earners have taken to Twitter, causing this large boost in the population roaming the 'Twittersphere'. On the other hand, women and low-income earners are more numerous in the social media user demographic in general.

In June, a study by the Harvard Business School found that Twitter has changed the previous social network user trend by being dominated by men.

According to the study:
1. Men have more followers than women
2. Men are almost twice as likely to follow other men as they are women
3. Women are also more likely to follow men


Some have observed that this is because of the short and to-the-point nature of Twitter posts. Women are more likely to post pictures and videos that start conversations and, in turn, encourage more men as followers on other sites. On Twitter, social behavior almost goes the opposite direction.