3 Shipping Scams That Are Killing Your eCommerce Profits

3 Shipping Scams That Are Killing Your eCommerce Profits

Many merchants have been gearing up for the holidays for months, and the time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday rushes is upon us. These merchants have to deal with many roadblocks and headaches along the way, like return scams and the like. Unfortunately, the abuse doesn’t stop at your return policy… With the holiday season in full effect, killer customers are on high alert and merchants should be too, considering record numbers for online shopping are expected this year, 166.3 million shoppers are expected to buy online just this Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. We teamed up with our fraud prevention partner Signifyd and the team at ShipStation to help online merchants stand clear of the 3 most common shipping scams killing eCommerce business profits this year.

 

1. Package Rerouting

 

Fedex truck on street with smoke on the side

 

Package rerouting commonly occurs when a customer commits payment fraud and uses a stolen credit card to make an online purchase. In most cases, the transaction is cleared because the legitimate cardholder’s address is used without being flagged. However, once the customer receives shipping confirmation and the package is en route, the original address is changed.

In another case, the customer purposely provides a false shipping address and monitors the package through the online tracking information given upon confirmation. Once they’re notified that the package is undeliverable, the customer contacts the shipping company to provide a new delivery address. Unfortunately for merchants, additional fees may occur when the package is successfully rerouted.

Lastly, a customer can make an online order and after confirmation, call the merchant to ask if their preferred shipping service can be used. Most likely, these customers have an established relationship with outside shipping services and are confident about receiving shipped items unflagged, making it harder to track and prove the package was ever delivered.

In all three cases, by the time the legitimate cardholder notices the unauthorized purchase, the scammer’s already enjoying their products free of charge. These types of fraud leave the online business with losses up to $10,000 in shipping fees, lost product, and lost profit… so now what?

 

Preventing Package Rerouting

Solving this issue requires a multi-step approach. First, it’s important to note not all customers have malicious agendas. In fact, many may have good reason to reroute a package. To avoid upsetting or offending legitimate customers, merchants should start with a clear shipping policy stating there’s a zero-tolerance for package rerouting on their website, social media profiles, and email confirmation.

Creating detailed shipping terms and conditions that address various errors that arise during shipping is important when dealing with customer claims. One major way to gain clarity into issues is to offer tracking. Tracking lets you know that an item has been delivered.

                                                            -Jennifer Ruben, Partner Marketing Manager, ShipSation.

 

In addition to providing these details, make sure a customer’s zip code and address are validated before shipping. Lastly, be sure to ship only to the original address provided in the confirmation details, especially for a large order.

 

2. Item Not Received 

by Mike Cassidy at Signifyd

 

4 Wrapped gifts on doorstep

 

One of the most insidious shipping scams occurs when the item marked ‘not received’ actually was received. False INR claims cost retailers millions every year, but they also cost merchants their reputation. Once word’s out that a retailer tends to give in to INR claims, be it via social media, dark web forums, or even a legitimate publisher, similar claims will flood in.

The scam is popular because it’s easy. No need to commit online identity theft by stealing someone’s personal information, or hack into a customer’s retail account. All abusive customers need is the will to cheat the system without care.

To put it simply, scammers accomplish this by ordering a product, bringing the product into their homes, and then telling their credit card companies their orders never arrived. Such claims create one of the thorniest situations in the retailer/customer relationship.

If the retailer challenges an item-not-received claim and it’s legitimate, chances are the retailer just lost a customer for good. Signifyd’s consumer survey, conducted by market research firm Survata, found that nearly half of consumers will endure no more than one bad experience before abandoning a retailer for good. Let’s agree that being called a thief by a retailer counts as a bad experience.

On the other hand, if a retailer accepts the INR claim and it’s not true, the merchant is out of the goods and the revenue it would have received. You can up your fraud protection game, by adding a few things to your to-do list.

 

Preventing INR Claims

The first step is to make sure your return policy is clear, and that your return process is easy. You also want to be clear in your descriptions and presentations of the products you’re selling. Not only does this provide your customers with a better shopping experience, but it also reduces the possibility they’ll be unpleasantly surprised when their order arrives.

Some consumers become frustrated with the work required to return a product and decide to get a refund by claiming the product never came. Being clear about returns and the products you’re selling helps reduce the incidence of unhappy customers who suddenly feel entitled to game the system.

There are also ways to challenge an INR claim, of course. Finding photos on social media of a customer with a product they claimed they never received, for instance, is fairly strong evidence that the item was received — as is a customer’s signature accepting the order. (It happens.)

Dealing with INR claims will never be pleasant, but with some forethought, it can become much less of a chore.

 

3. Hijacked Shipping Accounts

 

Shipping railroad tracks with multiple trains during sunset to represent hijacked shipping accounts

 

Nothing’s off-limits when it comes to fraudsters, not even shipping accounts. If your company’s shipping account is online or accessible to the public, you should keep reading.

Hijacking shipping accounts is a free and undetectable way to use a stolen shipping account number to make large shipments. Once these account numbers can be accessed, they are often used in the same manner as stolen credit cards and become can punch your profits in the gut.

In less severe cases, employees use their company’s account number to ship personal packages from time to time. In the worst case, these stolen accounts are used to ship drugs, stolen goods, or fake checks long distances, sometimes across the country.

Take Montana State University for example, in 2010 the school had a $180,000 pile-up in fraudulent shipping costs after more than 9,000 consumers received fake checks. Fake checks are normally used to trick recipients into wiring money for a small fee.

Businesses of all sizes are easy targets, as their shipping bills typically aren’t monitored close enough. However, with little knowledge of who’s accessing your account, it becomes harder to track down the culprit.

 

Preventing Hijacked Shipping Accounts

In order to properly prevent hijacked shipping account numbers, there must be a central management system that includes these features:

  1. Make account numbers accessible only to specific and trustworthy employees. Remember, less is more.
  2. Implement a reporting system that allows these users to be able to regularly schedule pickups and track packages, without constant authorization needed.
  3. Monitor frequently. With a tracking system in place, data can be used to track users’ activity for cross-reference purposes.

 

Final Thoughts

Tracking down evidence of fraud (be it wire fraud or shipping) takes time and not many merchants want to get into the business of becoming Sherlock Holmes. However, without proper detective work, shipping scams can be a legitimate threat to merchants, their customers, their reputation, and their profits. Luckily, there are fraud-protecting and chargeback-management solutions that highly automate the INR dispute process and some also eliminate the merchant’s risk. Ask us more about INR Protection here. 

 

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How to Avoid the Toughest B2B eCommerce Challenges

How to Avoid the Toughest B2B eCommerce Challenges

Effective change management for B2B companies demands close attention to operational requirements, capabilities, and challenges.  

 

Continuing our investigative approach to eCommerce, the Redstage team regularly meets with B2B executives to discuss the challenges inherent in driving change on a massive scale. For this piece, we spoke with several marketing specialists responsible for guiding B2B companies through the eCommerce transformation process, and we’ve curated some of the most pertinent conversations. 

 

We explore learnings from the cultural, technological, and organizational hurdles they’ve faced to help others understand the procedures that drive successful transformations. They all agree – leading digital change is no easy feat. As you will learn, the outcome is entirely dependent on forming a united front within your organization.

 

Q1: What have been your biggest digital transformation challenges in the past year?

 

 

“It’s tough to find the right partners that can communicate what you’re planning and bring your vision to reality.”

 

 

A: That depends on your perspective. Mindset and process change are the biggest part, because going digital is very different if your company hasn’t adopted digital already. Internally, trying to take people-oriented processes and digitize them for an eCommerce experience means creating new roles and departments; making people at all levels take on new responsibilities, and combating a lot of kicking and screaming on whether or not this is a good direction for the company.

Externally, it’s tough to find the right partners that can articulate what you’re planning and bring your vision to reality. It’s usually hard getting them to understand your business and how to get you to where you want to go.

 

Q2: What has been your biggest challenge with regard to eCommerce?

 

 

“If the data isn’t already in your ERP, you have to change the way you do business in order to make it all fit.”

 

 

A: eCommerce is such a big universe. There are so many moving parts involved in making a B2B eCommerce experience a reality. With many SKUs, our focus was putting a PIM (product information management system) in place to create a more robust, data-driven experience for the end user. If your company is not data-driven already, restructuring your company for eCommerce is a tremendous undertaking. All of your info needs to be there. If the data isn’t already in your ERP, you have to change the way you do business in order to make it all fit… and if you don’t, you end up attempting all kinds of customizations that will ultimately lead to failure.

 

Q3: What are some solutions you would recommend that allowed you to solve past challenges?

 

“More or less, the eCommerce initiative needs to be driven from the top down.”

 

 

A: More or less, an eCommerce initiative needs to be driven from the top down. If you don’t have the backing of the executive group and the resources and patience to do this — that’s the challenge.

 

Q4: What are your biggest fears and challenges about digital transformation in the year ahead and why?

 

 

“Executive management needs patience.”

 

 

A: There are so many obstacles along the way and pressures to quickly launch – but do not launch a site until it’s ready. Set the right expectations with executive management and allow yourself extra time on your roll-out plan for unforeseen circumstances. eCommerce implementations can fail if you don’t have everything working in sync, but I’d also recommend you get the entire roadmap planned out and not just pieces of it.

 

 

Some system integrators we’ve worked with, the big guns come into the office, they’re very knowledgeable, and then you don’t see them again…”

 

 

I had yet to come across a partner that says “Okay, you’re looking at Magento and here’s the 10 things you should worry about…” No questions about the quality of data you have, where you’re going to house product images, your plans internationally, or how you’re going to implement tokenization to meet privacy laws.

Some system integrators we’ve worked with, the big guns come into the office, they’re very knowledgeable, and then you don’t see them again… or the people hired for your initiative start working on another project, and you need to reach them but can’t. Delay, delay, delay, delay.

 

Q5:  If you could give one piece of advice to B2B business owners, what would it be?

 

 

You’re going to need to solve an awful lot of problems along the way, and you need to make sure you have the right people.”

 

 

A: Be a problem solver. You’re going to need to solve an awful lot of problems along the way, and you need to make sure you have the right people involved in your project. Lastly, don’t announce to the world what you’re doing until you’re ready, so there are no expectations. When the expectations are set, make sure you’ve given all parties involved an accurate and well-informed scope of what’s coming, and be investigative with your partners.

 

Final Thoughts:

At Redstage, our engineers are dedicated to helping B2B companies understand the full extent of their needs, challenges and obstacles. Download our B2B Power Index for Manufacturing, Wholesale & Distribution for a better understanding of your current tech stack, and the technologies that can help you become a true digital leader.

5 Ways Augmented Reality is Changing eCommerce and Dazzling Buyers in 2023

5 Ways Augmented Reality is Changing eCommerce and Dazzling Buyers in 2023

“I do think that a significant portion of the population of developed countries, and eventually all countries, will have AR experiences every day, almost like eating three meals a day. It will become that much a part of you.”Tim Cook, Apple (2016)

 

In 2021, retail eCommerce sales amounted to approx. $5.2 Trillion US dollars worldwide. Over the next 4 years, this number is forecasted to increase by 56%, to almost 8.1 Trillion, by 2026.

More merchants than ever before are investing in online stores as the industry booms. To maintain dominance in the rapidly growing market, leading brands are turning to Augmented Reality.

 

What is Augmented Reality?

 

Augmented Reality is the practice of using an AR-capable device (like a smartphone or smart glasses), to superimpose computer-generated images over real life. This gives users the impression that the superimposed image is in the real world, allowing users to interact with products physically, without ever leaving their homes. Take a look at the images below to get an idea.

 

Augmented Reality Example 1

 

Today, most US consumers already have devices that support AR experiences (yes, even you). This holiday season, expect Augmented Reality’s importance in retail to truly shine, considering in-store shopping is at an all-time low. Even B2B companies are investing in the technology for a variety of applications, from eCommerce to operations. If you don’t keep up with this trend, you could be part of the growing list of organizations falling behind during the pandemic. Continue reading to see a few AR experiences companies are using already, and some you can try yourself.

 

1) A New Standard in At-Home Retail.

Companies like Amazon and Apple are already utilizing AR experiences to bring the in-store experience into consumers’ households. With AR, shoppers can view items like furniture or appliances on their mobile devices, and place 3D product models in their home virtually. Phone and tablet users can view products anywhere, giving them the freedom to see if products fit in the space they are buying it for, prior to purchase. Consumers can ensure items are what they’re looking for, from size to shape and color, all from the comfort and safety of their homes. Check out this Augmented Reality model we built for Jura Coffee machines:

 

 

Jura Coffee Machines

Using augmented reality, we created an at-home shopping experience for Jura. With our AR design, customers can see how Jura’s coffee machines appear on their kitchen counters from home. With in-store traffic at an all time low in 2020, experiences like this help customers see the product without visiting a Jura location. Scan the code with your smartphone to view the model at home!

⬅️   Tap the buttons on the right of the image to see product features and dimensions.

 

 

In this way, AR gives buyers confidence that they are buying the right item and limit returns with Augmented Reality. Shopping for a new couch or coffee machine? Make sure it fits before tapping “buy,” without ever visiting the store.

 

In Home Retail Augmented Reality

 

For Retail, AR’s Future is Clear

 

Redstage’s Global Creative Director, Christopher Yin, had this to say about AR’s role in eCommerce: “Wayfair, Target, Walmart, Ikea, and every other juggernaut of retail has and will invest large sums in Augmented Reality in the near future, as it is the clear trend. To keep up with the largest companies in the world, you must give your customers unique and memorable experiences to retain them.” The stats speak for themselves:

  • 61% of shoppers said they would prefer to shop at stores that offer AR, as opposed to ones that don’t.
  • 40% of shoppers said they’d be willing to pay more for a product if they could experience it in AR.
  • 71% of shoppers would shop at a retailer’s store more often if they offered AR.

 Source: Retail Perceptions

 

2) Unique Experiences in Consumer Goods

 

In Store Augmented Reality

 
Virtual Try-On gives the In-Store Experience At Home

 

While you don’t need a dedicated app to enable AR experiences, these are a few ways top names in CPG are taking the tech to the next level. Augmented Reality is already being used to enhance in-store experiences. Utilizing their branded AR app, shoppers at American Apparel can scan clothing and footwear right on the rack and view information typical of an eCommerce store right from their phone. They can find the right sizes, colors, styles, and even customer reviews all while shopping in the store.

With Sephora’s in-store “magic” mirror, shoppers can try on different kinds of makeup with Augmented Reality. With facial recognition technology, smart mirrors can automatically detect different facial features and apply a wide variety of cosmetic products directly to users’ reflections. Remember, 40% of shoppers said they’d be willing to pay more for a product if they could experience it in AR. This applies to in-store shoppers as well.

 

 

 

AR Try On

We designed this sample model of an AR Eyeglasses to show retailers and manufacturers how popular appliances can be viewed from anywhere.

📲 Point your smartphone camera at the QR code to try it out, wherever you are!

 

 

It’s easy to see how experiences like this increase customer satisfaction by ensuring they get the product they want. This prevents the disappointment of out-of-stock products while reducing returns and increasing sales. Bring the online shopping features your customers love to your physical stores and see in-store sales grow in tandem.

 

3) Augmenting Products and Packaging

 

 

 

 

Recently, the team at Redstage created an AR concept for Panini, one of the largest manufacturers of sports playing cards in the world. The benefits of this AR experience include:

  • Adding an interactive dimension to playing cards.
  • Encourage use of branded apps to experience AR, encouraging up-sells.
  • Provide new experiences to engage and entice customers to purchase.
  • Allow shoppers to check packaging in-store for AR experiences in the aisle.
  • The potential to revolutionize the playing card and collectibles industry.

 

 

 

 

Lidar scanned shoes

We used Lidar scanning to create this model with ultra realistic results. This technique is best suited for clothing and organic objects vs traditional 3D modeling.

📲 Point your smartphone camera at the QR code to try it out, wherever you are!

 

4) Augmented Reality Gives Confidence and Freedom in Fashion

 

Augmented Reality Try It On At Home Luxury Goods

 

There’s nothing worse than buying clothing online that ends up not looking, feeling, or fitting how you hoped. Dodge returns this holiday season by using Augmented Reality to let shoppers virtually try-on clothes. Let them see the fit and cut of clothes in real-time, on their body, or let them walk around apparel items on a virtual model.

Do the earrings match? Is the dress long enough? Most of the time, shoppers don’t know their dimensions off the top of their heads. With AR, 3D product models are based on real dimensions, increasing buyer’s confidence in their purchase. Again, this will undoubtedly lower returns and can grow repeat customers who enjoy the experience.

 

AR for Accessories & Luxury Goods

 

 

Ring

We designed this sample model of an AR Ring to show retailers and manufacturers how popular appliances can be viewed from anywhere.

📲 Point your smartphone camera at the QR code to try it out, wherever you are!

 

 

Continuing in the theme of “bringing the in-store shopping experience to your home,” it’s just as important for consumers to see how accessories look on their body without visiting the store. Imagine seeing rings on your fingers, a watch on your wrist, or a necklace on your neck, without ever stopping by the jewelry store. All this and more is being implemented by top brands today. Sephora and Covergirl are even using AR for new makeup and cosmetics experiences.

So far, we’ve seen the Try-It-On-At-Home (TIOAH) AR experience implemented for:

  • Bracelets
  • Earrings
  • Makeup
  • Nail Polish
  • Necklaces
  • Rings
  • Watches
  • And more!

 

5) Using Your eCommerce Platform for Augmented Reality

Apparel designer Rebecca Minkoff has been improving conversion rates consistently with AR and 3D models, here’s how:

 

 

Rebecca Minkoff has been using 3D models on their product pages since the fall of 2019. 3D models give customers a 360-degree view of products, increasing interactivity over stationary photos. Jon Wade, head of Augmented and Virtual Reality at a leading eCommerce platform says, “We’ve found that visitors who interacted with a 3D model were 44% more likely to add a product to their cart and 27% more likely to place an order that visitors who didn’t. Furthermore, when visitors viewed a product in AR, they became 65% more likely to make a purchase.”

 

“Visitors who interacted with a 3D model were 44% more likely to add a product to their cart and 27% more likely to place an order that visitors who didn’t. Furthermore, when visitors viewed a product in AR, they became 65% more likely to make a purchase.”

 

Knitted tie manufacturer Broni and Bo is another merchant utilizing Augmented Reality in their online showroom. Enhanced with facial recognition software, customers can try on knitted bowties and wedding ties before the big day, giving customers confidence that they chose the right look. There’s no limit to the experiences you can give customers with Augmented Reality and 3D models.

 

Bow Tie Facial Recognition

 

 

AR models can bring your product pages to life and automatically display interactive 3D models when viewed on a desktop computer. Increase buyer engagement and make consumers more confident in their purchase from the beginning with AR and 3D models.

 

Misconceptions about Augmented Reality:

 

1) It’s too expensive: FALSE!

Implementing Augmented Reality in your online store is not nearly as expensive as you may think, which is why so many companies are investing in it right now.

 

2) It’s difficult and time-consuming to build AR models: FALSE!

With the right team, who has experience and knowledge, it is both easy and fast to implement Augmented Reality and 3D models into your store.

 

3) Implementation requires additional tech and infrastructure: FALSE!

Most eCommerce platforms are already set up to allow for Augmented experiences. They take no extra implementations or infrastructure to implement!

Jon Wade, head of AR and VR at Shopify, mentioned this about AR’s ease of use, “Any mainstream browser works for AR, you don’t need any additional hardware, software, or expert knowledge to experience it. It works on all new mobile devices, desktops, and tablets.”

 

4) AR will kill the load-time of my product pages: FALSE! 

The right team can implement AR experiences without sacrificing load time or website performance.

 

Want to Learn More About AR Implementation?

To show you how easy it is to make an AR design, send a .EPS file of your company’s logo to info@redstage.com and we’ll send you an AR model of your company logo for free. Test out the technology and see how quick the turn around time can be.

To learn more about how we can bring your AR dreams to life, visit https://www.redstage.com/augmented-reality-design to schedule your free consultation.

 

5 Must-Have B2B eCommerce Features for 2023

5 Must-Have B2B eCommerce Features for 2023

In the past few years, B2B companies across industries have been adopting eCommerce as the main channel for selling products. B2B eCommerce alone accounts for $1 Trillion in sales today and continues to grow. According to Statista, Millennials now make up over 60% of the B2B buyer demographic, making them the single largest demographic of B2B buyers today. But what does this mean for you, the B2B seller?

As buyers grow more accustomed to better customer experiences provided by top eCommerce platforms, there are a growing number of features this new generation of buyers has come to demand from their suppliers. In order to grow your sales pipeline, retain, and attract these buyers you should seriously consider these 5 must-have B2B eCommerce features.

 

B2B eCommerce Features Your Store Needs

 

1. Advanced Site Search

 

on site search advanced search

 

Advanced on-site search is crucial for making sure your customers can find exactly the products they need quickly and easily. Typically, B2B products have a lot of specific parameters, (weight, length, height, size, shape, etc.), making searches easy by allowing customers to search by these parameters or SKU numbers.

“We’ve seen the conversion rate of users who search be 6-8x that of visitors that don’t use search,” says Redstage CEO Adam Morris. “Utilizing search shows intent and having a powerful search is crucial to capturing high converting customers. If a user can’t find the exact product they’re looking for due to slow, out-of-the-box, and not customized for market searches, you will lose the sale.”

A powerful advanced on-site search can make all the difference. Smart search features reduce the likelihood of expensive returns, refunds, and abandoned carts. In Klevu’s recent report, they found that 50% of B2B buyers identify improved personalization as a key factor when searching for online suppliers with whom to build business relationships. Furthermore, 48% of consumers spend more when they receive personalized experiences. Because of this, it’s critical to provide the best search experience possible. Don’t let a sub-part search experience keep you from unlocking guaranteed sales. See the rest of the report here.

 

 

“We’ve seen the conversion rate of users who search be 6-8x that of visitors that don’t use search” – Redstage CEO Adam Morris

 

 

2. Custom Product Filters

 

advanced product filters product categorization categories

 

Giving your customers the ability to filter by different product parameters allows them to quickly find what they’re looking for on the category page. Custom product filters allow merchants to display more information about a product’s qualities or attributes and allow customers to more easily refine product searches.

AI-driven dynamic filters on your category pages can automatically display the most relevant attributes to customers, making the buying process even easier. Adding images in product filters can make the process even faster and remove another chunk of friction from the process.

One of our Redstage’s platform expert Solution Engineers, Benjamin Shapiro, had this to say, “If evaluating an eCommerce system, consider what options are available for custom product filters. Does the platform natively support this? Does the native search work well with custom filters? Are there third-party options available? Choose a system that meets your unique requirements or that can be built to suit if required.”

These can make all the difference between your customers finding the exact product they need or abandoning your site for a competitor.

 

3. Customer Segmentation Groups and Profiles

 

b2b customer profile

 

Segmenting different buyers into customer groups allows you to create profiles for certain kinds of buyers. This allows you to ensure different customers get the right pricing and see the products most relevant to them. It also enables you to utilize upselling and recommendations to increase average order value (AOV). Keeping your customer groups in mind when setting up site search and custom filters is key to helping the right customers see the right filters and results.

Using segmentation, separate customers into categories by company size, company needs, and industry. This can help you provide another layer of personalization and more value to different kinds of customers. A report done by Notify Visitors found that 80% of consumers do business with brands that customize their experience to them. They also found that segmentation makes firms 60% more likely to understand customers’ challenges and concerns and 130% more likely to know their intentions. This makes selling the right products to the right customers exponentially easier.

“Successful B2B eCommerce includes considering customers individually and as groups,” says Shapiro. “Consider setting aside time to evaluate your current Customer Group/Segmentation strategy and review the data of both customer groups and individual customers. Segmenting your customers is an opportunity to drive additional revenue through your eCommerce platform and provide your marketing team with valuable insight into customer behavior.”

 

4. Advanced Shipping Options

 

advanced shipping fulfillment logictics

 

Some B2B buyers want fast shipping, even if it’s not cheap. At the same time, others want shipping to be as cost-effective as possible, no matter how long it may take. Keeping your new customer segments in mind, B2B sellers must provide advanced shipping options for all their buyers and serve their individual needs. Many B2B companies have complex shipping needs, like delivery to multiple locations or drop-shipping from different warehouses to keep inventory down.

Utilizing fulfillment software, such as ShipperHQ, can increase productivity and decrease headaches and hiccups. The right shipping software can help build a shipping strategy that aligns with your business goals and these customer demands. Provide automatic checkout that considers what they’re ordering, how frequently, and how much volume every time to increase reorder rates. And, provide order tracking and tailored shipping rates to customers with discounts and other arrangements automatically, all within one system.

 

5. Product Information Management software

product information management

 

Due to complex product catalogs and new buyer habits, it can be difficult for online merchants to keep product information updated and consistent across multiple selling channels or sites. Think about how complex information gets across Amazon listings, Walmart, local retailers, and DTC channels. A product information management solution (PIM) can help. These solutions provide a single dashboard to collect, manage, and enrich your product information. 

PIMs save you money by lowering product enrichment costs by up to 5x. They can also reduce returns by as much as 40%, and increase conversion rate by more than 400%, according to Akeneo. Imagine what you could do by empowering your team with a PIM, allowing them to update or change product info in one place and automatically update it wherever it appears on the web. The ability to update product attributes on the fly will only strengthen the power of custom filters and your advanced search. Altogether, these features can pack a punch and give you a serious edge over the competition.

 

Why You Need To Implement Now

 

B2B distributor The Binding Source saw huge gains after optimizing their B2B buying experience with the features mentioned above. They implemented strong custom product filters on their category pages, integrated ShipperHQ for advanced shipping options and optimizing fulfillment, and built customer profiles and groups to segment buyers for custom pricing and product rules. The result? Within 1 month of launching these new features, The Binding Source conversion rate skyrocket 170%, and saw transactions grow 33%!

These B2B features aren’t simply “nice to have,” they’re must-haves. The stats speak for themselves. If your B2B eCommerce site doesn’t have all the features the new generation of buyers are expecting, they’ll find a competitor of yours that does. Contact Redstage to implement one or more of these features today!

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B2B eCommerce – 4 Priorities when Diving into Digital Transformation

B2B eCommerce – 4 Priorities when Diving into Digital Transformation

If you’re a B2B merchant still relying on email, spreadsheets, faxes, pen and paper, and other legacy technologies to run your business, you’re leaving a ton of revenue on the table for your competition to snatch up. The single biggest way to expand your business and scale is by diving into digital transformation or adding an online selling channel. 

 

An online selling channel can go by many names, an eCommerce store, an online buying portal, a customer marketplace, or a self-service digital selling platform. They all have one thing in common, giving customers access to buy products digitally, at their own discretion. 

 

Keep this number in mind: 

When compared to the highest revenue-driving sales models, eCommerce beats out email, online chat, video conferences, and phone calls by a wide margin, according to McKinsey and Company’s research. 

 

ECommerce is driving more revenue, and buyers prefer merchants who sell online through eCommerce.  

In the same report, McKinsey found eCommerce was also the single most effective sales channel, beating out even in-person meetings, for the first time ever. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.  

 

With more merchants selling via digital channels this year than any other year in history, the sprint to eCommerce has never been more important or more saturated. 

 

So, what do you do? 

 

As a merchant jumping into eCommerce and online sales channels for the first time, or if the first time didn’t go as planned, there are a couple of things you need to lock down before you dive straight into eCommerce platforms, integrations, feature sets, and all that other good stuff. 

 

Before picking an eCommerce platform on which to build and hire developers, here are 4 things you need to think about on this journey to set yourself up for success:

1. Data Clean up and Consolidation

 

 

We’ve been there… and it’s not pretty 

 

A problem plaguing many merchants, and even more out in the B2B ecosystem, is a seemingly impossible amount of data living in many separate sources, unconnected to each other. Some product data in this sheet, some customer data over here, with no way for these data points to talk to each other besides manual analysis.  

 

This lack of organization/consolidation is the first hurdle you must overcome before you dive into the deep end of eCommerce. 

 

This may seem more daunting than it really is, and one of the fastest ways to alleviate the pressure of organizing and consolidating all your own data is by looking into an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Solution. A software solution like NetSuite ERP can often really help with data clean-up and analysis. ERPs are an all-in-one business management solution that help businesses run more efficiently using technology. There are also more niche solutions, like BTS-it, an ERP solution specifically for the metal manufacturing industry. Sunshine Metals integrated BTS-it into their eCommerce solution BigCommerce, you can see how they managed it here. 

 

Specifically for product information, a PIM (Product Information Management) solution can help by digitizing and organizing your product data all in one place. There are many ways you can do this, but in our experience, PIMs tend to be the most user-friendly and easy to set up, with a trusted team to help along the way. 

 

If you plan to introduce commerce on your website, these solutions will be paramount in setting yourself up for success down the road. The only way to analyze these data points is to have them all live in the same place, and analyzing data is the best way to decide what your next steps are without guesswork and trial and error.  

 

If your data is clean and able to be analyzed, you are already closer to being the next success story in B2B eCommerce, able to be agile and make data-driven decisions when the time comes. That said, legacy data is RARELY (if ever) “clean,” so it would be prudent to begin data cleanup and standardization as an ongoing practice. 

 

Our friend Amy did a further deep dive into how to clean up your data and get the most out of it in her article, Turn Data Into Dollars with these 6 Tips on Product Data Governance.

 

 

2. Streamlining and Digitizing Admin Processes

 

 

Once your data lives in one platform, allowing us to pull reports and analyses easily, it is time to streamline and digitize the rest of your processes.  

 

But what exactly does this mean? 

 

Well, there are many processes that go into running a business on the back end, from your fulfillment and logistical workflows to payroll, taxes, sales, and many more. 

 

After identifying your data stack, organizing, and digitizing it, your next step is to do the same for all the business processes that take up many hours on a day-to-day basis. No more manually inputting hours and calculating payroll and taxes, gone are the days of spreadsheets and written order forms going to the warehouse for fulfillment.  

 

These legacy processes are stealing hours and hours of your workweek, hours that could be opened for business development and scaling if they were streamlined, digitized, and automated. 

 

A couple of key things to identify when moving to automation and digitization are: 

  • Identifying repetitive tasks done every day, or on a weekly basis, that can be automated by software 

  • Creating standard operating procedures and inputting these standards into software that will keep this standard up. This may include how reports are structured, the correct workflow for getting an order into fulfillment, the process when a new customer is received and onboarded, etc. 

  • Finding the right software and partners that can connect to your website, so all these processes and workflows live in one place, making it easier to maintain and optimize than if they all lived in various spreadsheets and other areas. 

 

With these 3 things in mind, Guy Harvey (an Intradeco company) digitized and automated many of their business processes, like their inventory management, fulfillment, and sales processes. Almost immediately, they saw improvements in productivity, fulfillment efficiency, and overall employee morale. Finding a partner agency to help with the best practices of automation and digitization may be something for you to think about.  

 

For now, let us continue to our next priority.

 

 

3. Security

 

 

Now, let’s talk about security. 

 

At the end of 2020 and into 2021, more than 2,000 websites running Magento 1 post-End of Life were hacked. These breaches gave the hackers access to customer data, like payment information, and brought many of these businesses to their knees. 

 

One of the most important things to think about at this stage of the game is the security of your website. Before moving into eCommerce, you must prioritize security now that your data and business workflows are digitized. One of the biggest mistakes eCommerce merchants make is leaving their security as a “minor priority” or something to worry about in the future. Security is a proactive priority, not a reactive one, and you need to have strong security features in place before your customer’s data gets breached, which can cause major headaches in the future. 

 

The biggest thing to keep in mind when it comes to security is whether you have the resources to deal with it in-house, or if you should look for a security partner, like our friends over at Webscale. If you do not have the capabilities to stay on top of web security with your team, looking externally for help will ensure there is always someone around to deal with site breaches, outages, slowdowns, and more.

 

4. Understand Your Buyers’ Wants and Needs

 

 

The last step before building out your self-service buying portal, selling marketplace, or eCommerce website is knowing what your customers’ wants and needs are. 

 

Of course, this is important for any business, digital or non. However, here are some key things for you to think about pre-eCommerce: 

 

  • How do your customers typically purchase? Credit? Purchase orders?  

  • Do your customers browse your entire catalog, or do they usually utilize search to find specific products or parameters? 

  • Do your customers need advanced shipping options, due to having multiple warehouses, brick-and-mortar locations, or other needs? 

  • Do buyers need to be verified or have a log-in to access your catalog? 

  • Do certain customer segments or profiles get special pricing?  

 

If you are asking yourself these questions, you’re on the right track.  

 

But why do we need to know how our buyers think and interact with the site? Well, this will allow us to plan for what premium B2B features your website is going to need to provide your customers with the buying experience they desire from you. 

 

The Binding Source, a B2B distribution company, took these things and more into consideration before they chose an eCommerce platform for their site to live on. They needed custom product filtering for the search functionality, purchase order acceptance and auto-tax exemptions, advanced shipping options with ShipperHQ, a gated buyer portal requiring log-in verification, and more. 

 

After evaluating what their needs were and what types of site functionalities and features they would need, they chose BigCommerce to build their site on. While BigCommerce is not a one-size-fits-all platform, it fits TBS’s needs perfectly and helped the distribution company improve its conversion rate by 170% post-launch, with a 33% boost in transaction volume.

 

 

Next Steps

 

 

Now, We know it is a lot to process, but these are the 4 most important things for B2B’s to be thinking about before they jump into implementing eCommerce into their online presence.  

 

At this point, we have all our data organized and structured, our business processes digitized and automated, our site security at the forefront of our minds, and our customers’ needs and wants fleshed out. 

 

To take that leap off the diving board and dive in, it’s time to decide whether you have the resources to build out a fully-fledged eCommerce website in-house, or if it’s time to call an eCommerce agency, like Redstage.  

 

The difference between calling an agency and simply dedicating a developer for this is the experience, the expertise and the dedicated time to ensuring your eCommerce implementation is successful.  

 

If you have any questions or want to know the next steps in implementing online selling for your business, you can get a hold of us here.

 

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