ShopVisible Blog

Last week I attended a seminar hosted by Google entitled “Engaging the Connected Consumer with Mobile”. Elliot Nix, who conducted the session, shared some insightful tips for meeting the emerging mobile phenomenon head on.

It’s undeniable that 2010 has been a transformative year for mobile. The spike in acquisitions of mobile advertising companies, like that of Admob by Google, suggests that mobile is a trend to be reckoned with. Additionally, the explosion of new devices and their rapid adoption into mainstream use in 2010 simply strengthens the case for investing into a mobile campaign. Currently, 10-17% of traffic is of mobile origin but it is projected that by 2013 over 50% of site traffic will come from a mobile device.  Since 2008, there has been a 500% increase in mobile search. The numbers are pretty compelling; so what should you consider when thinking about going mobile?

Should I create an app or a mobile site?

As technology advances and we enjoy quicker load times the app becomes less relevant. Why? Apps were created in large part due to the lengthy browser load times available with the EDGE and first generation mobile technology. And while apps are undeniably an important step in the transformation of mobile use there will likely be a transition to the browser for search as we move beyond 4G speed.

How do I make a site ‘mobile optimized’?

First things first; look at how your site currently loads onto all the major mobile devices.  Do you like what you see? What behaviors do you want your consumers to engage in by looking at your site on a mobile phone? How can you make it easy for them to do that?

 

Create a site that is simple and intuitive to navigate. Don’t make them think hard on how to purchase something or find the nearest store.  Consider what you are selling and how to make your site relevant to both the product and the user. Perhaps your product isn’t appropriate to sell on a mobile device, but would a user like to research what you are selling? Make it easy for the consumer to get what they want out of your site. Create a site that is useful for a mobile device; think of the user first.

ShopVisible proudly announces that two of our ecommerce clients were honored in Internet Retailer Hot 100 Retail Websites 2010. This prestigious accolade is designed to showcase the best and brightest in the field of online retail. Internet Retailer sorts through an enormous amount of websites, submitted by readers, editors and industry experts each year to come up with the industry's best and brightest. In ShopVisible's case, we captured two of the highly coveted spots with Case-Mate and Bambeco, two progressively innovative pioneers online.

The Internet Retailer Hot 100 celebrates how "etailers responded to the recession with a burst of creativity" and identifies ten aspects of positive online commerce making ecommerce excel in spite of the economic downturn. ShopVisible clients Case-Mate and Bambeco are making waves online by:

 

1. (1) Connecting with customers
2. (2) Going mobile
3. (3) Becoming expert sources for online retail
4. (4) Making navigation more useful
5. (5) Personalizing the online experience for shoppers
6. (6) Making tough purchases easy
7. (7) Selling themselves
8. (8) Creating a sense of online urgency
9. (9) Connecting the site and the store
10. (10) Playing the value card

Case-Mate excels online for functionality, aesthetics and online selling prowess. Their inherent SEO driven platform provided by ShopVisible enables them to focus on driving sales, integrating into selling channels and thinking creatively as their ecommerce provider manages inventory, search and back-end business processes.

Bambeco is touching upon what is desirable in the market. Their eco-friendly online presence has helped them find a niche in the green retail and luxury home and decor spaces. Innovative and perceptive web marketing has helped enable Bambeco to sell creatively and with the help of ShopVisible, sell widely in an array of channels and online shopping marketplaces.

ShopVisible is so proud of our ecommerce family of clients, staff, developers and marketers. As we grow our brand we help push our etailing clients to the top of search positioning on the web. By being seen in all places online where shoppers are looking, vendors like Case-Mate and Bambeco can flourish.

As the ShopVisible Ecommerce Security team has been undergoing its PCI level one assessment we have become quite familiar with the late David Taylor via his prodigiously informative PCI Knowledge Base. The Payment Card Industry and the online security community in general lost a true scholar recently with the unexpected passing of fifty seven year old David Taylor, formerly of Protegrity and Gartner.

Those familiar with online Ecommerce security and PCI compliance have likely read posts from Taylor and heard him warmly and simplistically address the often misunderstood and esoteric realm of online security in his webinars. For online security laymen, Taylor provided a perspective that was grounded in data security standards and payment protection. Companies without large IT infrastructures and the human resources to undertake such projects as PCI compliance looked to Taylor for instruction on proceeding with security compliance and for definition of technical elements like File Integrity Monitoring, Application Firewalls and Penetration Tests.

David Taylor was indeed an expert in a field incomprehensible to many. In of his most recent posts from the PCI Knowledge Base, Taylor delved deep into Ecommerce security and organizational management as he addressed how PCI compliance can coalesce with risk management policy to better protect Ecommerce firms. His erudite approach to safeguarding online business was transparent and honest and will be well received for years in the fields of security compliance and online fraud prevention.