Monday, October 27, 2025
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Interview with Jehan Hamedi from Vizit

Jehan Hamedi from Vizit

Team eCommerce Next interviewed Jehan Hamedi from Vizit to get more insights on the increased exposure that consumers are having with images on a daily basis and what that means for consumer expectations, brands, and retailers. Following is our interview with him:

We probably all know from our daily experiences that images are everywhere, but how many images exactly are people exposed to on a daily basis?

Every day we’re bombarded with images. According to Ogilvy’s Creative Director, the average person scrolls through 300 feet (or one statue of liberty) of mobile content every single day. There are other stats out there that are telling us that the average person is exposed to 6-10,000 ads each day. This is really creating a dynamic where people don’t read anymore, they recognize. And this exposure to imagery is creating an unconscious internal bias that motivates people to have positive and negative responses to specific visual elements.

So it sounds like images are more important than ever?

Well, we certainly think so – but the data is there as well. Whether consciously or unconsciously, shoppers want highly relevant and engaging experiences – this makes them more likely to visit your ecommerce marketplace, click on an item from a search result page, buy products, and become loyal to a retailer and brand.

And not only do images have a massive impact on consumer perception they are the single most important factor when it comes to making a purchasing decision online:

  • 93% of consumers say visual content is the key deciding factor when making a purchasing decision.
  • 76% of consumers say they’ve purchased a product or service after watching a video.
  • 95% of purchasing decisions happen when the subconscious brain is processing visual information.
  • 95% of consumers who click on an image carousel look at every image.

How are brands and retailers responding?

The explosion of ecommerce and social commerce in general has ramped up our demand for, and expectation of, images – while 20% of marketing budgets are already consumed by visual content today, next year it’s predicted that there will be an additional 20% growth in visual needs & spending.

This growth is spurred by:

  1. The need for more content for more online audiences
  2. The growth of additional channels for visual content like tik tok, instagram, and the metaverse
  3. The generation of more customized segments and markets
  4. Highly variable consumer preferences and trends

What are the costs of not getting your imagery right?

When it comes to this question of what imagery will be most effective for a target audience – it’s one thousands of brands and retailers are asking themselves. We know the cost of imagery that isn’t aligned with your audience can be very high. According to our partners at Salsify, 30% of U.S. shoppers say they will not purchase a product if images are missing or low quality, while 70% say they are more likely to buy a product from a personally relevant product page. So even if you’ve nailed your description, search, reviews, inventory, and pricing – the wrong visual content can mean millions in lost sales every year.

We also know brands are spending millions on content and advertising yet still have limited insight into how potential shoppers will perceive their visual brand and products along the path to purchase. This spans from packaging to in-store displays, to product photography and videos, to social media content, digital ads, and finally on the digital shelf itself.

When we talk about highly tuned and customized imagery, it obviously means you need a lot of data, and you need it quickly. How are brands and retailers adapting their insights and analytics capabilities?

AI has had such a major impact in many facets of retail – from demand forecasting, price optimization, digital advertising targeting and spending but image measurement has been conducted through traditional panel-based research methods or live A/B testing. In the era of ecommerce and social media these measurement tools have been costly, bias-prone, and too slow to adapt to changes. So, brands and retailers are taking the learnings from other parts of their business and integrating in AI to help them get a granular level of understanding into their consumers’ visual preferences like never before.

At Vizit we have taken an AI-based approach to understand how consumers perceive visual content – and what motivates them to respond and convert.

The first step of this Artificial intelligence-based understanding is to really understand your audience’s profile and digital scroll. The visuals your audience interacts with and are organically exposed to online are obviously very different based on where they go – the brands they are influenced by the sites they shop on, and the content they choose to consume.

Vizit gathers this information and analyzes this image content at a massive scale – breaking each piece of visual content down into 15,000+ visual components. And we do this in order to find patterns in engaging visual elements. These elements include things like composition, layout, color schemes, scenery, model usage, and hundreds more.

Once we’ve run this analysis, we then use this data to simulate the visual preferences of an audience and generate Vizit Scores – a rating which predicts how likely an image is to capture the attention of and elicit a positive response from a given audience.

What is the impact you are seeing with customers?

We’re seeing marketing, creative, ecommerce, and insights teams all leverage VIZIT to inform and accelerate their workflows, drive more online sales, save time, streamline creative decisions, and deliver new efficiencies across the organization. These new efficiencies span the creative development process to new product concept development to consumer research and testing and we’ve documented exciting results in all of these areas including:

  • Online sales upticks of up to 32%
  • Conversion rate upticks of over 100%
  • Glance & page view increases of up to 28%
  • Cost savings of up to 90% (Compared to traditional research and testing methods)
  • Time savings of up to 20x+
  • Find time on shelf decreases of up to 20%

We’re also seeing Visual AI help brands get even more value from their entire ecommerce tech stack and workflows –

  • Creating more impactful product detail pages with hero and carousel imagery tuned for traffic and conversions
  • Giving design teams and ecommerce teams a single source of data-backed truth as they are creating new imagery
  • Ensuring that you are syndicating the most impactful imagery from your PIMs

Pinpointing specific SKUs that could benefit from improved imagery making your digital shelf monitoring solutions more powerful

For brands and retailers not using any AI or technology to optimize their image content for the digital shelf – where would you recommend, they start?

This is a really great question and frankly one we get all the time. What this comes down to is understanding your audience, your category, and the visual trends and elements within your category that visually engage your audience.

The ideal place to start when it comes to understanding the performance of your visual content – and ultimately how you can optimize that content – is by first, honing in on your audience, or the buyers of your product.

It’s important to start with an understanding of your audience because this is ultimately the perspective that matters most when it comes to choosing the content used to promote and sell your products online. At Vizit we work with our clients to first define their target audience – through a mix of demographic, psychographic, and behavioral elements, we narrow down the description of a target audience – these can be as broad as “U.S. Women 18-34,” or as narrow as “Men 45-54 who live on the west coast, make over $100K, have an interest in golf, and recently bought a luxury vehicle”. Once we have a target audience description, Vizit discovers the visual content and trends that influence them which is ultimately used to generate an AI simulation of the audience.

Once we have that crucial understanding of an audience – not only who they are – but what their visual preferences are – we can start applying that perspective to an entire category of imagery (for example carbonated beverage visual content on Walmart’s digital shelf) to really start to surface the trends and design elements in your category that visually engage them. With this new understanding we can begin to apply these learnings and visual insights to evaluate and create higher-scoring product hero and carousel imagery on the digital shelf.

Learn the impact that imagery is having on your bottom line

Request a complimentary image analysis for one of your key Amazon or Walmart search terms to understand how likely your imagery would entice traffic and conversions against your competitors.

About Jehan Hamedi

With more than a decade of experience in computational social science and artificial intelligence, Jehan’s innovations have led to important advances in AI and computer vision, consumer insights, and e-commerce, resulting in eight patents and an award-winning software platform. Before launching VIZIT, Jehan led growth and innovation for Crimson Hexagon (acquired by Brandwatch) working with leading global brands, retailers, technology, and media companies, including Google, Twitter, Walgreens, Toyota, and Paramount Pictures.

About Vizit

Vizit is the visual brand performance company. Designed by leading experts in AI and computer vision, Vizit’s revolutionary Visual Brand Performance Platform helps companies measure, understand, and optimize their Visual Brands to drive more sales, engagement, and connection with their target consumer audiences. Powered by patented visual AI technology and a proprietary database of 1+ Trillion visual cues that influence consumer behavior, The Vizit Platform enables the world’s top brands to “see through the eyes” of their consumers in real-time to create the most powerful Visual Brands and Visual Experiences. Vizit is headquartered in Boston, MA.

Top Approaches to Embrace Digital Marketing

Today, most businesses are significantly invested in digital marketing strategies. A comprehensive digital marketing strategy would be a perfect place to start, from paid searches, content marketing, advertising, and reputation marketing to SEO and mobile marketing. Your digital marketing strategy will work best if you embrace exemplary practices and technologies, including the following.

Conversational Marketing and Chatbots

Conversational marketing has substantially altered the digital marketing sphere. It is a customer-centric practice that relies on dialogue to market products. Its conversational approach helps drive better customer engagement, customer experience, and lead conversion. Live chats, chatbots, and messaging apps facilitate this digital marketing approach.

Its surging popularity is thanks to the various benefits it draws. For instance, you will rely on conversational marketing to understand your audience, including clients. The personal connection shared will ensure that you attract more clients in the long run. Personalized solutions will also endear your brand to many people in the long run.

Improved lead generation is critical for your growth. Yet, the best way to generate these leads is by embracing an interactive approach. Talk to clients and address their issues promptly. However, no matter which industry you belong to, ensure to include all your lead activity data in your CRM system through the premium integrations offered by NTREIS real estate website contractors. It will perfectly streamline your lead generation and management techniques.

Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing is a trend you’ll not want to overlook. It is a practice that integrates multiple channels, allowing you to interact with consumers effortlessly. Its goal is to create a consistent brand experience, building a more loyal fanbase in the long run. As long as you create relevant and convenient content, you are confident of satisfying your clientele.

Omnichannel marketing assures your target audience of multiple ways to access information in real-time. It is a consumer-centric approach, offering three critical elements: a consistent brand tone, personalized messaging, and informative content. These elements will help ensure that you enjoy multiple benefits in the long run.

For example, you will be sure of a more immersive user experience. You will also get a cohesive brand identity, better attribution data, and increased revenue. You can leverage this omnichannel marketing in various ways, including data collection, data analysis, and customer journey mapping. You might also learn how to buy backlinks.

Voice Search

Advanced technology has proven essential in boosting lead conversion and generation. Embracing such technologies will assure you of unmatched returns, including a more immersive user experience. One of the most popular technologies used in digital marketing today is voice search, which allows the user to voice command when searching for information on the internet.

This technology relies on speech recognition. Its hands-free design helps eliminate the hassle of feeding information on the search bar all the time. It is a vital component of smart home automation technology. Remember, you can use it on your smartphone, tablet, or PC. According to statistics, voice commerce has shot up, and its future looks significantly bright.

Various benefits come with this voice search technology. For instance, you will rely on it to multitask, connect with other devices, empower clients with information instantly, and make their daily routine seamless.

Privacy-First Marketing

Privacy-first marketing is a new approach that focuses on data privacy, whether or not it is sensitive. Prioritizing data privacy is essential in boosting credibility and trust among your clients. Winning a client’s trust is the first step towards a successful marketing campaign. Yet, you must commit to keeping your personal details, including contacts and financial information, private.

Privacy-first is yet another customer-centric marketing approach, prioritizing the needs and preferences of the client. For this reason, you must invest enough time and resources to understand your target audience better. This move will first ensure that you create personalized content, attracting more leads. Once you do, you will need to commit to keeping all their info private.

At the same time, you could focus on personalized marketing. Most viewers or readers are frustrated when the content is not relevant to them. Focusing on content that appeals to a specific individual improves your conversion rates. It will also assure you of enhanced customer engagement, boosting your brand credibility in the long run. Fortunately, multiple technologies could facilitate this process.

Advanced digital marketing approaches will ensure that you stand out. The aspects mentioned above will ensure that this is a seamless process. By personalizing the marketing approach, you will be confident of better lead generation and conversion.

Amazon slapped US sellers with a 5% fuel and extra inflation charge

US sellers

Amazon stated that it planned to add a fuel and inflation surcharge of around 5%. This will add to the existing fees to collect from US third-party sellers. These sellers as those who use the company’s fulfillment services. The surcharge calls for “subject to change” as per the inflation charges. It was concerning the CNBC. The inflation sought the retailer to offset its own cost.

The company stated in a notice. The fee will come into effect within two weeks. Though, this is subject to change. The notice stated that “The surcharge will apply to all product types, such as non-apparel, apparel, dangerous goods, and Small and Light items,” The surcharge will apply to all units shipped from fulfillment centers starting April 28.”

The soaring inflation is forcing the sellers to offset some of their costs by passing fees along to sellers.

Amazon already collects fees from sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon. Merchants pay to keep inventory stored in Amazon’s warehouses. This is also to make use of the company’s supply chain and shipping operations. According to Jungle Scout, Some 89% of Amazon’s 2 million-plus sellers used FBA in 2021. Jungle Scout creates product research software for Amazon sellers.

An Amazon spokesperson said in an email to CNBC stated that in 2022 they expect to return to normalcy as Covid-19 restrictions around the world eased, but fuel and inflation have presented further challenges.

It is still unclear if these inflationary costs will go up or down or for how long they will persist, so rather than a permanent fee change, we will be employing a fuel and inflation surcharge for the first time — a mechanism broadly used across supply chain providers.

Amazon stated that its fuel and inflation surcharge is 24% per unit. This is below the UPS fuel surcharge of 42 cents. And FedEx’s fee of 49 cents.

Bed Bath & Beyond calls out lesser consumer demand after holiday-quarter

consumer demand

Bed Bath & Beyond shared its struggle with low inventory and congested ports; thereby experiencing a cut in consumer demand. Also, it affected the inventory and congested ports. However, the shares tanked after home good reported a holiday-quarter loss.

Mark Tritton, the CEO, discusses out-of-stock merchandise. The company records $175 million in the fiscal fourth-quarter sales. The last quarter was also not good. The company also recorded about $100 million in the bottlenecks.

The CNBC interview speaks of reducing consumer demand. There is a disappointment from the side of home goods retailers. The moving of good still cost more. Also, the selling items on the national brand are still in function. For example, the microchip is part of vacuums. There are still a lot of missing components for proper functioning. There is a need for headwinds in the macro-environment.

The conference call with the official also discusses the company’s earnings report. The Chief Financial Officer Gustavo Arnal calls out challenges in the continuation of the first quarter. However, there is still a need for growing uncertainty. The leading pullback in consumer demand. The first quarter showed a tragic sales going down by 20%. The deeper decline in the prior three months.

Bed Bath never came up with a specific forecast. The expected sales and margins will also improve in the second half. However, the fiscal year will discuss the supply chain condition with ease.

The retailer calls out a three-month tenure for the company to recover. The loss per share currently accounts for a profit account worth 3 cents. There is also a revenue acquisition of $2.05 billion; it was worth $2.07 for the billion expectation. The loss grew to $159 million; the $1.79 per share is an increase. We also discuss a loss of over $9 million or 8 cents a share. The sales fell by 22% to $2.05 billion. The same-store sales also saw a normalized commercial level.

Lululemon came up with resell program to over project selling

resell

Lululemon launches a program. The program is about trade-in and resell. It came up for shoppers suffering from inflation. This debut came up for its gently used leggings, tops, and jackets. This was after Lululemon followed a pilot program. This program got promoted by rising consumer prices. It was designed as a commitment to sustainable purchasing.

Lululemon’s new program came after the retailer’s testing. The testing was done in Texas and California. The testing period got started last May.

The program – Like New got powered by resale technology provider Trove. Like New will allow customers to trade in their old worn Lululemon items. This will be in exchange for a gift card at any retailer’s U.S. stores. According to Maureen Erickson, senior vice president of Global Guest Innovation at Lululemon, the premium brand entering resell will attract customers. This is particularly within the athletic apparel sector.

This nationwide debut is coming up at times when customers are encountering inflation from gas to milk to bread. Not only this, the subscription plans, including Amazon Prime, have also seen higher prices.

Lululemon stated that it is planning for selective price increases. This is to offset some pressure for the resell, particularly among its supply chain.

Analysts’ estimates show that shoppers are warming up to the idea of buying used goods.

The resell market stood at $1billion in 2015. This was totally tracked by Jefferies. The market is now estimated to be worth $15 billion in 2021. It also has the potential to triple to $47 billion by 2025.

Erickson added that ThredUp and Poshmark are already showing up with gently used Lululemon merchandise.

The company stated that it won’t resell certain items such as bras and underwear.

Also, the secondhand merchandise is going to be sold online.

However, possibilities of a resale section in the store do exist.

Like New is also committed to the environment. The company is working towards several sustainability goals. It includes making 100% of its products with sustainable materials.

Lululemon is already up in the list of teens’ 10 favorite apparel brands. Lululemon’s e-commerce site will launch on Earth day, April 22.

Customer question on better Bill pay method, FIs answers

Bill pay

The global health crisis encouraged the use of online Bill pay options. Consumers today focus on bankers or billers. It is on the making of these payments.

Customers today focus on asking for transparency in their Bill pay. It discusses the study, which entails 70% of the consumer. There is an agreement among consumers to enhance the transparency mechanism. This will make things easy to better track finances. 55%of of the customers are unaware of how much money goes out of their account. It continues to be an ambiguous process for most buyers online.

The RTP trackers can now state how a seamless bill payment enables buyers to a better settlement. It will discuss the need for better financial solutions. The payment of bills will become more seamless and meet changing needs.

Complex Bill payments can disturb the usage of Bill payers. In a recent study, 19% of the United States call the Bill pay a complicated means. The payment of bills online affects the financial condition of the consumers. There is a continuous accrual of loans which can impact their credit. There is a need to offer consumers frictionless Bill pay.

A more transparent Bill pay process will deliver customer loyalty and encourage them. With the increasing number of consumers and businesses on online payment, the payment experience needs to be frictionless.

Most companies today focus on delivering payment options such as online payment. It speaks of automated clearing house (ACH) transactions on the clearinghouse payment network. The growth calls out for business and consumer transactions nearly now and then.

Finally, we can say that an alleviated Bill pay process will bring in the best forces. There is a continuous need to support those actions. It will cater to digital transactions. It must be the top goal for FIs and businesses involved in digital transactions.

B2B leaps over paper checks, RTP limit improving supply chain

B2B

The changing view of paper checks in the electronic payment is a way to go ahead. The logical leap for B2B payment is a way to go. There can be signs of hope in consumer-facing commerce.

James Colassano, the senior vice president of The Clearing House, calls it a recent boost. Real-Time Payment (RTP) is now the defining factor in all transactions. The commercial transaction has shown the migration checks in the field.

There is no underlying process to it. There has been a step from paper to ACH. This is due to the transparency. RTP doesn’t require any kind of finality in the payment delay. The market encounters greater transparency.

TCH now operates on the RTP network. There is an increased value limit for payment. it is $1 million from $100,000. It is after the limit for ACH transactions took place. The rapid increase in transactions was $1 million.

TCH came up with the RTP network in 2017. The initial limit to cross was $25,000. The level saw a rise in its offering. It was in the United States for four decades. The limit narrowing down to the $25,000 limit had a conducive volume. It has a smaller retail value and consumer payments. It increased the B2B traffic. It is with the network’s ACH payment. The limit was set to $100,000.

The ceiling was successful in capturing 98% of the volume. The ACH network saw a rise of 8.7%. There were also the double-digit percentage points.

It greatly became the defining business criteria for B2B companies. The cases of different B2B using or demanding $1 million. It is the logical next step. The pandemic was responsible for problematic age.

The benefit accrued to all the companies. It was not only the one type of company. The pandemic defined the liquidity and the gating factor in places.

Denim retailer Levis Strauss records fiscal quarter earnings

retailer

The denim retailer calls for fiscal quarter earnings. The revenue, though, was above the estimates for the selling of jeans and T-shirts at high prices.

The forecast recorded decreased revenue returns. The assumption was on the establishment of inflationary pressure. The closure of global economies also formed the line. The labor constraint was also very part of the series. The recent decisions were as per the suspended business in Russia. The war between Russia and Ukraine also played a great deal. It then represented 2% of its total sales.

The retailer denied the need to sell expensive apparel at a low cost. It was from gasoline prices to grocery bills. To trade down, levis prices were yet to reduce the expensive apparel.

The retailer not responding to market forces increase the prices of some goods. It offset expenses with business, and consumer demand at that time was strong.

Levi CEO Chip Bergh stated, “Levi is keeping a close eye on consumer demand, knowing that projections of a looming recession have been growing among economists. We don’t have our heads in the sand..

If we see [demand] starting to get wobbly, we will take the appropriate action.”

The shares rose to 1.5% in the trading and closed at a down price of 1.5%. So, there was no actual loss.

It did fairly well, much better than the expected returns. 46 cents earning per share. The expected EPS sat at 42 cents. The total revenue crossed 1.59 billion over the $1.55 billion, which was better than expected.

The net retailer worth was $196 million. It was 48 cents per share in comparison with a net income of $143 million. It had 35 cents per share. This was excluding 46 cents a share.

Levi did hit $60 million. It was a rough touch. The global direct-to-consumer sales saw a surge of 35% from last year.

Russia-Ukraine War, US economy suffers

US economy

The shopping habit of teens is making the US economy suffer. They are spending on Nike and lululemon irrespective of what the grounds hold.

Most teenagers are unsure of their interests. The idea of goods and virtual reality experience stands ambiguous to them. Nike, PacSun, and Forever 21 all are in the metaverse.

The number of teenagers getting familiar with NFTs is also responsible for dipping the US economy. All of them connected and preoccupied themselves with Ukraine.

As per the biannual survey, there are implications for the business. It discusses the shift from Covid-19 to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Teens in the US spend $2,367 every year on food, meals to other important items. Piper Sandler, in his survey, estimated the budget at $66 billion. 9% comes from the spending level in 2021. And 4% from the Piper Sandler’s fall survey. The annual spending by teens is about $3,023 in the spring of 2006.

7,100 teens from February 16 to March 22 were part of the survey. The average age is 16.2, and the average household income sits at $69,298. Almost 39% of the teen employed part-time. And 38% make up the fall and 33% last spring.

Generation Z consumers look for environmental bodes. They focus on Rent the Runway and resale businesses. ThredUp and TheRealReal are the focus point.

Nike serves as the most favored brand among teens. It has taken the favorite spot for 11 years. The margin shows the rise in the footwear brand. It is far ahead with Converse, Adidas, Vans, New Balance, and Crocs.

American Eagle continues to be the second favorite apparel. All of this holds account for the US economy.

Shein, a Chinese e-commerce fashion, gained a lot of valuation. It is now at $100 billion. It is one of my favorite places to buy clothes. Amazon also takes up 53% share. And, it is 52% up since last fall. Athletic brands are taking place with an increase of 44% for teens in their favorite clothing.

Flexible payouts serve as tempting tricks to capture loyalty

flexible payouts

Consumers all around the world today enjoy flexible payouts. The job responsibilities of the payouts have become normal to their growth.

The flexible form of income is soaring in sharing economies. There is continuous participation in the gig. Latin America sees a trend. It talks of the population gaining access to digital payments.

83% of consumers take payouts as a means of payment. It is because of its contactless payment policy. The popularity also could fill in the details for payment method filtering in life. More and more consumers today take it as a safe option. They receive their wages and other payments via the payout.

Sharing economies are taking shape with the flexible payouts option. The remote work will lead lawmakers in Latin America. The participation level is impressive. There is an influential payment preference. One needs consumers in the region.

The interest in the gig economy caters action of the leading lawmaker. There are in need for protection for these flexible payouts. This comes under the federal labor law, including drivers, delivery service workers, couriers, and freelancers.

The shift takes the worker under labor protection. It is the country’s full-time employees. There is an indication of the labor protections. The digital platforms put to use to discharge their duties.

There is always a new addition of features in the economy platforms. Consumers are growing familiar with gig responsibilities. Uber-like companies are also implementing services to do other jobs. One can book restaurants from Uber now or reserve a ticket.

The new features bring more customers. It keeps the experience in the app. There is gearing toward engagement and loyalty. The feature discusses the availability of customers.

The digital payout continues to reach millions of customers worldwide. With Covid changing consumer behavior, workers are seeking flexible career opportunities. Working in gig economies requires candidates to receive funds online.

Revenue-based financing sailing eCommerce across MENA

eCommerce

eCommerce sees a continuous change in the financing drive. Leading Fintech companies from around the world are popularizing the use of the RBF model.

Dublin-based Wayflyer and Canada’s Clearco are some of them. These are paving a strong way for making businesses more flexible. It can help generate revenue while paying back the loan. This will increase the number of eCommerce over various regions. The adoption of the model is in this region. It speaks of a new region in MENA. FlapKap is the first company of its kind.

This just marks a step ahead in the victory. It will help in bringing development to the region. MENA is still new to the region. It will boost eCommerce and Saas firms in channeling better growth. They will see a faster and lesser risk bringing better credit terms. There is an optimization of advertisement with an AI solution.

Coucha stated, “Our AI solution helps us to understand the client’s accounting processes, spending patterns, and the correlation with the sales to determine if they have the potential to grow if there is an increase in their ad spend — one of the bulkiest expense items for firms.”

MENA fintech firms are securing $1.2 million in investment worldwide. It expands beyond the market across MENA. The eCommerce and SaaS sectors are emerging sectors today. It opens areas for investment.

There is enough capital and cheap funds. The company also plans to capitalize on itself. The other elements are just right enough to work things out. Insightful financing holds the potential for greater RBF space.

Flap Cap will offer help to companies by abandoning their legacy. The infrastructures embrace newer and more advanced solutions.

The merchants were hesitant to ditch their historical infrastructures. They are now in favor of a newer, more modern solution like FlapKap’s. Coucha also believes to soon make the switch. It will be a more optimizing ad budget. It can convert itself into large returns.

5% optimization in digital advertising cost can result in a 25% boost in returns.

4 Ways to Improve Your eCommerce Business With Smart Digital Solutions

If you’re running an eCommerce business, it’s natural to look for ways to improve your business. All businesses have to stay on top of competitors at all times, but this is especially true for eCommerce businesses, given the sheer number of options your customers have available to them.

Improving your company can be done in several ways, from hiring people with more experience to working to improve your products as much as possible. However, you can also turn to the digital world for solutions when working on your business and boosting customer experience. 

Wondering how this works? You’re in the right place. Here are 4 ways to improve your eCommerce business using smart (and convenient) digital solutions.

  1. Invest in Customer Service

The fact that you’re an eCommerce business doesn’t mean that you cannot have top-notch customer service. Customer service doesn’t have to mean person-to-person communication; self-service through a comprehensive knowledge base also counts as helping customers with their concerns. Additionally, you can add automation to several parts of the customer service process, such as the introductory message on live chats with customers. 

At the same time, your customer service should offer a level of personalization. When clients do move away from looking at the knowledge base, it’s because they’re feeling frustrated or have a more complex problem that needs solving. When they’re in such a frame of mind, they like to know that they’re talking to real people. 

Additionally, you ought to carefully consider the customer support software you choose for your eCommerce store. Good software should help you keep everything tidy, including order information, customer requests, and more. Additionally, it should allow you to access previous interaction with a given customer, whether through email or social media, as easily as possible. 

There are a number of factors that go into making a customer service platform truly exceptional. Carefully consider your needs and what potential platforms can offer you before making a final decision. 

  1. Consider Replatforming

When people start their first eCommerce business, they’re apt to opt for popular and easy-to-use eCommerce platforms for their websites. However, looking for reliable ecommerce replatform services is something you will need to consider seriously as your business continues to grow. This is because popular platforms are often designed to serve a wide client base and may not be as effective for your particular niche. 

Additionally, some people find that their businesses are unable to take advantage of new technologies on their current platforms. Some platforms are simply not built to handle high volume traffic, which can be an issue for stores experiencing exponential growth. All of these concerns and more are some of the reasons why changing website platforms can boost your business. 

Replatforming is also a good option if you’re looking to target people via their mobile phones and tablets. Some platforms offer greater functionality for mobile and tablet screens, and re-platforming can help open your business up to a whole new audience. 

So, make sure to conduct your research based on the exact features you want your new platform to have and what customization option they offer. This will make it easier for you to narrow down your list. Additionally, if your first attempt at this step doesn’t work out, don’t be afraid to try again – on some occasions, you may have to go through a few platforms before finding the perfect option for your store. 

  1. Try Google Shopping Ads

Running an eCommerce business efficiently means getting word about your business out to as many people as possible. To do this, you need to advertise as effectively as possible, and Google Shopping Ads is one of the best ways to expand your reach. Best of all, it’s free for eCommerce shops, so you can still use your marketing budget as you had planned to without having to re-allocate any funds. 

Google Shopping Ads generally appear at the top of a search page for the relevant keyword before results, Search, or Text Ads. They display relevant information on the product in question, including the website on which it is being sold, the price, the star rating, and an image of the product in question. 

Aside from offering a broader reach, Google Shopping Ads also allow you to gain better-qualified leads and increase your ROI (remember, your investment, in this case, is 0). Once you use the power of the most popular search engine on the internet, you’ll soon see a greater number of people visiting your eCommerce stores. 

  1. Sell Internationally

The internet means that you don’t have to be limited to selling in just a single country anymore. Clients from around the world can access your website and order from the store, offering you a huge audience segment that you would not have been able to capture in a traditional brick-and-mortar store. 

While the potential risk of having to navigate a number of international legal systems may seem tricky, there are numerous digital eCommerce platforms available to make the job easier for you. There are several payment systems available that now automatically calculate any additional taxes your international clients will have to pay and give them an estimated delivery fee based on your (and their) preferred mode of delivery. 

At the same time, if you’re offering international options, you will need to recheck the fine print with your payment processor. Your processor will need to be able to access foreign currencies, as international clients often prefer to make purchases using their own currency. 

Additionally, international clients are more likely to be truly interested in your products and website, which means they offer great ROI for barely any actual investment. 

When it comes to improving your eCommerce business, doing your best doesn’t even require that you deal internationally or rethink your hiring decisions altogether. You can make significant changes while you’re at your desk, using time-honored digital strategies, to help boost and spread the company’s appeal to the target audience that would appreciate it. 

Each of the solutions mentioned above gives you great ways to grow your business and reach out to more people who may be interested in the products you sell. And once you have your customers on your side, you’ll soon find that running an eCommerce business is easier than you may have originally thought!

In lieu of a supply chain shift, BlueGrace Logistics creating space for virtual payments

supply chain

Covid revealed a lot of supply chain issues. Most retailers suffer delivering their products and services for the same reason.

The retailers must always keep a good record of inventories. They must be fully stocked. It forms the infrastructure of any eCommerce store. They can depend on the partners and distributors who can focus on delivering goods. The necessity for a convenient, effortless, and rapid payment process is always required.

Some of the distributors are still hinged on paper cheques. This can lead to a slowing down of the supply chain. Pandemic eliminated the dependency of the same. More and more firms today want to go for remote offices.

Digital payments serve as one of the most crucial payment criteria. They cater solutions to the work. The traditional paper method going down will put a certain balance. The emerging and manual payment process is striving and going forward.

We can say that remote work has enhanced the payment in the supply chain. The checks display AP and AR processes. The check payment brings benefits. It serves a great deal to shippers and distributors. The seamless payment plays a great deal in deciding factors.

Mike Dolski, CFO for Supply Chain Management, states, “There is still a substantial volume of paper checks in the supply chain industry,

“Shippers use checks to manage working capital by using the ‘float,’ or the time between when a check is produced and [when it is] deposited into our bank account. I don’t see that ever completely going away, especially with smaller shippers.

There is a continuous struggle to find a solution. And digital payment believes in helping it. It creates a space where one can narrow down all the possibilities.

Shippers and distributors can both keep a certain pace with the business. Technology plays a great deal and offers shifting expectations.

PayPal facilitates authorization to raise checkout

PayPal

PayPal is going through a critical phase due to the decline in eCommerce growth. There are a lot of authorization and optimization rates. It was during the center of payment planning in 2022.

Businesses are getting obsessed with the latest customer journey. A legitimate often declines with tantamount as an insult. The authorization rate facilitates a conversion.

“It is incredibly important that we provide a simple checkout experience which [consumers] have come to expect, and that happens without much thought or effort,” PayPal head gave the following comment.

The current changes highlight how harmful the pertaining changes are. A Failed charge always details customer experience in it. 44% of shoppers declined and led to a reduction in the retailer. The charges affect the customer journey. It is less profitable in the short run. Also, it turns out to be costly for merchants in the future.

Businesses are losing 75 times in revenue to false decline. It is increasing year by year. PayPal now issues legal charges. There is also different kinds of attack online. Merchant and payments are more conservative. There is an authoritative optimization for risk. Merchants are not able to manage back-end processing. There is a critical administration in sorting authorization problems.

2% of the increase in approvals will lead to the release of millions of dollars of unauthorized economies.

PayPal will support a model for how the companies should respond. The solution talks about AI and machine learning. There are a lot of ups and downs in the process. We came across a lot of trouble to take care of the authorization problem. There is still a long way to go ahead to provide a solution for everything.

The dynamic data set is the key factor in solving the authorization problems. The super-fast processing will deliver a lot of solutions. Ecommerce can celebrate leverage for innovations. PayPal tends to deal with and cater solutions to the retailers.

PayPal brings back the reverse logistics unit

logistics

 

The growth in sales increases returns on logistics. The National Retail Federation is going to put a number on it.

NRF merchants can expect the growth to rising above $761 billion. 17% of retail sales returned. It will cost $4.5 trillion. This is not good news for the retailers.

David Sobie, Vice President of Happy Returns at PayPal. He calls it the surfing of tidal waves in 2022.

Happy returns are also in the expansion of return bars drop-off. It is for the location program. The return bars will facilitate 1300 Ulta Beauty Stores. It is an example of multifaceted development.

The logistics are now affected at every level. There is a requirement for logistics in the current scenario. The simplified process is responsible for the demise. The printing of labels and simple QR just aggravated the situation.

Happy Returns is now facing the rage of an irritating chore for shoppers. It is to the instant refund. The return on the item and expenditure of the merchant location.

The instant gratification was like the planning of its destruction. The merchant chose PayPal and the drop-off network. It is more like an alternative to mail. 70% of the time, shoppers chose Happy returns.

The merchants are unhappy with the recent logistics. The lack of a system to manage eCommerce returns. The problem persists from loading docking. It is the boardroom and the cost returns which enrich the inefficiencies.

He also states, “What’s less written about is that as online shopping grows, this return challenge grows because shoppers return online purchases at rates that are three to four times higher than brick-and-mortar.”

Return Bar locations now go on, ranging from 5000 in total. There is an addition of Ulta beauty. The system features reusable shipping totes and poly bags with QR codes. The system caters to a seamless experience for customers and data for the retailer.

Grocery delivery, Instacart takes a 40% reduction in valuation

grocery delivery

Instacart reduces its overall valuation to $24 billion. The grocery delivery company sees a reduction in its valuation by 40%. It is for the selloff in technology stock.

The grocery delivery company raised $265 billion last year. It was at a value of $39 billion in 2022. It was on the list of most valuable ventures in the country.

NASDAQ tanked to 12% in November. The company is calling it a very obvious reason. The other public tech also went down. It is already calling the employees for a reduction in stock prices. It is trying to make equity more attractive. This is in consideration of the current market.

Recently, an Instacart spokesperson detailed, “Markets go up and down, but we are focused on Instacart’s long-term opportunity to power the future of grocery with our partners.”

The last several years was not easy for the grocery delivery company. There was a difficult business model coming into 2020. The company had a significant boost during the Covid-19 outbreak. With consumers wanting to avoid excursions, the company came in handy.

In July, ex-Facebook employee Fidji Simo was the CEO, following creator Apoorva Mehta.

Instacart was a top IPO contender for 2022. It had quite a time, and DoorDash’s big stock market launched in late 2020. The developing tech equities during much of last year had a blow. This aggravated the concerns of increasing inflation and higher interest rate expectations. The market became riskier, and the growth had a fall.

The sell-off also suffered due to Russia’s- Ukraine war. The reduction in valuation is not the solution to all the market pressure. It requires business momentum to settle and the labor market to tighten. The employees will receive equity from having a rebound for the equity. It is responsible for making it easy for the business and the company.

Instacart has more than $1 billion in cash on hand. The company is in constant attempt to expand. It wants to grow beyond the main marketplace. There needs a launch of the software suite. We can expect a quick bounce back when the war condition.

Gopuff joins Morrisons to feature instant delivery

Gopuff, which features instant delivery, joins hands with Morrisons. The grocery start-up will sell products from the Morrison app now. The service will be available in 20 cities. The U.K.-based Morrison will be base for small warehouses. Those are the dark horses.

David Potts talks on the partnership, “This partnership will enable us to deliver a very strong range of Morrisons fresh food and customer favorites to front doors across the U.K. in a matter of minutes.”

The Morrison marks the Gopuff’s first collaboration. It was also the first competitor retailer in Europe. The corporation informs having no equivalent relationships in the United States.

The rapid grocery frenzy takes most of the market in the region. It has taken most of the United States and portions of Europe. It came up with many startups. Some of them are Getir, Gorillas, and Jokr. All of them today offer 10-minute deliveries.

The British food delivery company Deliveroo also partnered with Morrisons in September. It was to develop Hop facilitating an instant delivery service. Hop is presently available only in London.

We can see a lot of collaboration in the instant delivery sector. Gopuff had recently begun in the United Kingdom. And, also in France, after acquiring rapid delivery start-ups Dija and Fancy. Getir, based in Istanbul, acquired Weezy. It is a British competitor.

Gopuff has also generated $3.4 billion in capital. It is from the investors, including SoftBank, who said the agreement would help it expand further in the United Kingdom.

The partnership falls in a process. It is to extend Gopuff’s presence and product range. It is to broaden the accessibility in the United Kingdom. Morrisons is the most lovable brand in the current market, with currently sold for $10 billion to US private equity company Clayton, Dubilier, and Rice (CD&R). Britain’s competition authority also expressed concern about the merger. It can raise gasoline costs in the country. And, there can be a launch of an in-depth investigation.

Uber stock surges as it offer New York city taxi now

Uber stock

There was a huge jump recorded in the Uber stock prices. The last Thursday, the company cracked a deal with New York City taxis. Curb And Creative Mobile will feature their software in Uber now. It will benefit the user to book a taxi from the app. Uber Stock went up to 4% on Thursday.

Guy Peterson, Uber’s business development, stated, “This is a real win for drivers – no longer do they have to worry about finding a fare during off-peak times or getting a street hail back to Manhattan when in the outer boroughs.

It is going to be a real win for the riders. They will now have access to everyone’s favorite New York taxis. The Uber app now features thousand of Yellow taxis with cabs now. This definitely is the basic reason for the splurge in Uber stock. With more number of people booking taxi rides, there will be a surge in taxi rides.

It is for all three companies. The Uber stock will see greater heights in the coming days. The agreement will land the company in a great position.

It is an essential step forward for Uber’s future. There was much-analyzed hostility. Traditional taxi services forms a great deal since their inception in 2009. Uber had ups and down both internally and in the marketplace.

This was also happening with Uber, Lyft, and other ride-hailing companies. They all faced a driver scarcity.

There was a sharp drop in travel. The coronavirus epidemic made it difficult for the comride-hailing businesses. They all have struggled to bring drivers back up. The labor constraint disturbed the flow of cash flows in all the companies. The full speed and increasing the cost of rides.

Walmart BJ clash in the self-checkout technology

Walmart

Walmart sues its competition BJ’s Wholesale Club. The retailer is accusing the other of stealing checkout technology.

The suit is in consideration of the Sam’s Club mobile app. It also concerns the big-box warehouse retailer. There was a lot of investment that led to the development. The filing of the complaint in federal court is for the time and money spent by the company. It also claims that Walmart spent years developing Scan & Go.

It is the function that allows Sam’s Club customers to buy out products easily. They can do it on their smartphones. This also function eliminates the check-out line. It is Walmart’s attractive factor to customers.

Walmart also informs of the various patents. It is to safeguard several patents. It regards intellectual property. The self-checkout technology was also up and running since its launch in 2016.

Scan & Go grew high in demand since the Covid-19 pandemic. The facility was hit the United States in early 2020. The shoppers adopted social distance and contactless checkout in their shopping habits.

Walmart calls the BJ simply copying the innovations without permission. However, it is to the retailer who will deliver contactless products. It also came up with ExpressPay, in late 2021.

The lawsuit calls “Express Pay imitation of Sam’s Club’s Scan & Go. It is just a mere change in the in-app colors. It is also just the changing of the name from Scan & Goes to Express Pay. As a result, according to the lawsuit, BJ’s has infringed on Walmart’s patent rights, incurring “substantial damages and irreparable harm.”

The complaint is under the United States District Court. It is for the Southern District of Florida. Walmart and BJ’s are refusing to comment on the topics. Costco and Sam’s Club are recording high sales. It is also for the surge in stockpiling large quantities.

Spend Management is the next new thing for Virtual Cards

spend management

There is a great shift in the digital realm around the spend management system. Employees today are geographically dispersed.

Dan DeVall is the vice president of business development and director of banking partnerships at Airbase. He explains that virtual cards can assist in accelerating that change in an environment.

80 percent of buyer-to-supplier transactions can become quick with spend management. 31% of finance professionals are submitting higher expenses. It is way more than before the pandemic. 90% report new items as a result of remote work. And, they are the necessity to create new workplaces at home. The groundwork is also established for the splurge of the spend management.

And DeVall also explained the credit card industry. It recently did a good job over the past few years. It helps in delivering payment products for the enterprise. The clients will facilitate a variety of good jobs.

There are [travel and cost] cards now. And, it makes a lot of changes. Spend Management claims that this sector has a lot of possibilities. It will be difficult for businesses and finance specialists. It is to evaluate which cards make the most effective payments. And, serves a great deal for spend management.

Devall also added that “Over the next several years, what will be telling will be going after this ‘final mile of expenditure’ that is not yet digital — and making sure that the value exchange is real for buyers and suppliers.”

Many exchanges are still on the up and down supply chains. They are still conducted on paper. Things can be different when it comes to virtual cards.

Virtual cards provide a rich installation into the purchasing cycle. It can remove duties like processing an invoice. It will allow purchasers to demonstrate their empathy. It is communicating with the offer faster payments. Virtual cards get interlined to a purchase order. It automatically goes through the receivables process.

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