eCommerce Blog

Google Analytics has been a staple of eCommerce for years. It's a versatile tool built to provide you with data you can use to better understand your customers. And as every successful business owner knows, understanding your customers is the key to growing your business.

With Shift4Shop Version 12, we upgraded our Google Analytics integration to support the newest version, Google Analytics V4. This brings powerful new features to Shift4Shop stores.

Facebook ads are an unavoidable part of a digital marketing journey. With the social media channel boasting billions of active users, there is a good chance your potential customer is already residing on the platform. And advertising effectively will give you an excellent opportunity to create awareness, connect with the audience, and acquire leads that will help increase your sales.

Much like the year that preceded it, 2021’s holiday season looks to be unprecedented for online shopping. Unemployment is low and government economic stimulus checks are helping to give consumers the confidence needed to do a little extra spending on their friends and families this year. At the same time, supply chain issues are real and concerns about inflation loom, driving many buyers to get their shopping in as early as possible.

With everyone and their best friend opening an eCommerce store to sell anything from home-cooked vegan snacks to soy-based candles and everything in-between, price is the numero uno differentiator in helping consumers decide.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more customers, both B2B and B2C, shopped online in 2020, resulting in tremendous eCommerce growth. Online retailers like Amazon and eBay had their biggest years ever. B2B eCommerce will be worth nearly two trillion dollars by 2023, which means eCommerce business owners are in need of more sophisticated online sales methods. 

Amazon’s brown cardboard boxes are regular features on our doorsteps, office reception desks, and mailboxes. From deodorants to vacuum cleaners, Amazon delivers millions of products to people around the world every day. It’s no surprise then that the company’s annual shipping costs amounted to a staggering $6.1 billion in 2020.

High shipping costs are one of the biggest obstacles to the growth of eCommerce. While industry giants like Amazon are able to bear these costs, it still cuts deep into[...]

The direct-to-consumer model has taken the spotlight in the last half of the decade, with new DTC eCommerce stores inundating the market weekly. Now, entrepreneurs have more control than ever over how they communicate, how they manufacture their products, and what customers say about their brand.

If you own a business that relies on a slick and effective supply chain, you’ll know full well how damaging supply chain disruption can be. Supply chains are often fragile ecosystems in which one broken link can ripple throughout the entire chain. We can all hope that our supply chains will be resilient and reliable, but that’s not always the case.

Online security is at the forefront of risk management in modern businesses. However, it extends beyond mere business safety. Online safety risks are entirely mainstream. In the early days of e-commerce, you might remember that people were hesitant to share their credit card information online. Then, new services and security features came about that made people trust online retailers, and the concept largely disappeared from the public eye.

E-retail sales surpassed the $4.2 trillion mark in 2020. Moreover, the number of digital buyers and spending is rising, making eCommerce the perfect business for entrepreneurs.

But as the industry grows in revenue, so does the competition as more people are jumping onto the eCommerce bandwagon and opening new stores.

That’s why you need to have strategies in place that will help you effectively reach your target audience and sell to them.

Enter: ideal customer profiles.

As a business owner, you understand that a variety of factors go into making the right choices for your company. After all, running a business is so much more than just sales and marketing. When clients and customers purchase something from you using any cashless payment option or have to provide any sort of personal details to you through a form, they are trusting you with incredibly important information that you have an obligation to treat with sensitivity. 

In this ever-changing economic landscape, small businesses are in constant search of better ways to scale. But it’s all about getting the timing right. Scaling too early can crush your eCommerce startup while scaling too late can leave it in the lurch.

With Big Data initiatives, you can create smarter, profitable improvements to optimize your eCommerce marketing strategy. eCommerce businesses can also experiment with new strategies in cycles before implementing them on a larger scale — this is[...]

Finding your business’s “voice” when it comes to branding and marketing can be difficult. Many advertisements are easy to ignore, and you find that many of your efforts simply aren’t reaching people. So, you’ve decided to start an email list. 

The most successful online businesses look and function great, but sometimes customers need more effective eCommerce customer support.

Whether you're selling purses or sinks, customer support plays a major role in your purchases and overall customer satisfaction. In a competitive industry like online shopping, what will set you apart from the competition is exquisite customer service.

The world of eCommerce has provided a variety of small and medium-sized businesses the opportunity to compete with larger corporations and distribute their products all over the world with a nearly limitless customer base. However, there are certain drawbacks when businesses decide to do business almost exclusively online. 

People can’t physically observe or touch your product, removing a certain level of customer engagement. Because of this, your customers may not know if product images are[...]

Roughly 91% of all online customers are more likely to purchase from a company that gives them a personalized experience – and customers today know it. When surfing the web or looking for their preferred product or service, you may find that people actively look for websites that speak to them. Ecommerce personalization is the way to do that.

It’s a routine day at work in the Fall of 2019 and you’re already tired before you get to work. You show up in the morning, log on to your computer, and, on autopilot, head straight to your email inbox.

Then, as you scroll through your emails, you spot an email from Sony — and its good news. You’ve made it through the waiting list and it’s your turn to order a Playstation 5! However, you don’t have much time before you’ll miss out.

Luckily, you spotted the email when it was just a few minutes[...]

Marketing automation software empowers businesses to be more ambitious, zeroing in on their core KPIs and increasing product sales. However, there are plenty of mistakes that can be made along the way — leaving you with an array of misdirected marketing efforts, wasted advertising dollars, and lapsed subscribers. Here are seven common marketing automation concerns that can trip up even the most dedicated of teams.

For most businesses — regardless of industry — profits in the fourth quarter are essential to making sure that operations are running green and set up for success in the coming year. This is because of the huge focus centered around the “big three” holidays that are meant to drive up sales. These are, of course, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Creating an outstanding product is a challenge that many businesses take on lightly. Even though there are plenty of challenges along the way, it’s in your best interest that the product delivers what it promises.

That’s why usability testing is such a great process. It helps you set up an incredible foundation for your product. It’ll help you eliminate all the unforeseen issues that could appear on launch.