Sunday, October 5, 2025
Home Blog Page 73

E-commerce losses due to online payment fraud estimated to exceed $25bn by 2024

Online fraud
Online fraud

We have seen that people are starting to shop online rather than from retail stores. And this is becoming even more frequent since the coronavirus pandemic has come into existence since people are told not to go out of their houses for shopping. However, we know that there is a problem with shopping online which related to scams and frauds. Now, it is not possible that everyone can be made aware of how to shop online while some don’t need to be taught as they think they know everything.

But the fact is that a majority of the people are not aware of how to shop online safely and they fall for some traps which could wipe out money from their bank accounts. A new report now reveals that according to an estimate, $25 billion losses could be had by e-commerce in the next four years. This is because more and more people are estimated to come online and shop for items that they traditionally do offline. The problem, however, is that they are not used to shopping online and that could lead to them being scammed which could also mean that they never return to buying online ever again.

According to this research, “eCommerce merchants outside Europe must adopt similar measures to SCA, including two-factor authentication, or they will suffer from increasing levels of sophisticated fraud. Payment gateways will be vital to ensure that these security requirements are implemented at scale”.

The research also adds that “eCommerce merchants must take on a more educational role for their users. This role will primarily be education about cybersecurity practices, common fraud methods and changes to the checkout process to improve fraud mitigation. This will be essential in China, which will account for 42% of all eCommerce payment fraud in 2024”. Also, it is said that “The explosion of eCommerce means that fraudsters have evolved their tactics, and so merchants must also evolve”.

Russian e-commerce platform Ozon to rival Amazon with $150 million bet

Russian e-commerce platform Ozon
Russian e-commerce platform Ozon

It is known that Amazon is the best e-commerce platform right now and its lead over the other players in the market is something we can’t deny. However, it is not to say that others are not catching up to Amazon and they are just sitting there and letting Amazon go by its business in a merry way. No, that is absolutely not the case and Amazon is also finding a hard time facing challenges from players such as Walmart, Best Buy and Target who are also spending huge amounts of cash to make their e-commerce platform work.

In a new report, Amazon is now facing a challenge not only from the US players but a Russian e-commerce platform is also looking to challenge Amazon at its own game. This is because a $150 million funding has been received by this platform named Ozon. Interestingly, $50 million funding is done by US-based VC Princeville Capital, plus $100 million from existing investors Baring Vostok Capital Partners and Sistema. The round of financing is a convertible loan that can be turned into equity.

In a statement, the new investors said that “The Russian e-commerce market is experiencing significant growth driven by the increasing penetration of online sales in an under-developed physical retail market, as well as improving logistics infrastructure,”. “We believe that Ozon is at the forefront of capturing that growth.”

Adding to the promise of Ozon and Russia’s e-commerce space, the press release reads that the e-commerce platform is growing three times faster than the market pace. Other reported numbers suggest even more growth potential. Around 10,000 SMEs already have active sales through the marketplace, while over 20,000 are currently in the middle of the onboarding process. On the delivery side, Ozon packages can reach around 50 per cent of Russians within 48 hours. Ozon will look to use this funding for logistics and technology infrastructure.

E-commerce sales up by 25% thanks to COVID-19

Online Grocery
Online Grocery

It is known that everything that takes place has its bad side and also has a good side. Now, you would know that there is a massive spread of coronavirus all over the world and it has been spreading in places such as the UK, Europe and the US mostly. This means that the world is under a lockdown state where no one can come out of their houses and everyone is told to stay indoors in order to stay safe. Therefore, the retail stores who rely on people coming out to shop, which are already closed, will have a huge slump in sales for the next few months.

However, this has been great for the e-commerce platforms as the data shows that there has been a 25% increase in their sales since the COVID-19 outbreak has taken the world by storm. It is also obvious that the people who need food supply, groceries and other essential items will rely on things getting delivered and e-commerce does it for them.

Talking about groceries, its sales have been even steeper than e-commerce because the demand in grocery shopping online has increased by 100% compared to previously. It means that people are gearing up to the fact that things they were only buying physically such as grocery can also be bought online.

Also, some experts say that those who had invested in such technologies are seeing their investments becoming profitable right now even though the situation is grim.

The statement adds that “Retailers that had invested in digital early on are seeing those investments pay off,” while saying that “Click-and-collect is a great example. Social distancing is creating a surge there, but not all retailers had invested in that area of blending physical and digital shopping”. The retailers are also practising social distancing meaning that digital payments are going to rise after the Coronavirus era.

Alibaba reportedly planning to buy 10% stake in Chinese courier Yunda

Alibaba
Alibaba

Alibaba is one of the biggest e-commerce companies outside of China and it is arguably the biggest e-commerce company in China right now. Also, the fact that Alibaba’s arm Aliexpress ships a lot of products outside of China to all parts of the world contribute to a lot of its growth as well. However, these are uncertain times because of the COVID-19 outbreak which means economies all over the world are totally shut down right now. But it is quite interesting to note that China’s economy has started slowly but steadily and we are also seeing quite some acquisition reports already.

This could also be because of the fact that companies have lowered their valuation after the outbreak as they need funds and bigger players are taking advantage of the situation by investing cheaply and then capitalizing on their stake later on. Anyways, the report from Reuters cites its sources saying that Alibaba is planning to buy a 10% stake in Chinese courier company named Yunda. Also, it is said that this will be the fifth investment from Alibaba in a courier company in last few years.

This also means that the company is looking aggressively at options for their delivery service across China. It is also reported that the current market valuation of Yunda means that a 10% stake in the company would mean at least $790 million for Alibaba. It is also worth noting that under Chinese regulations, a stake of over 5% in a domestically listed company can be sold at a discount of as much as 10% to the firm’s share price on the last trading day prior to a deal.

Therefore, reports also mention that Alibaba could go beyond a 10% stake and eventually buy a 15% stake in the company as they are really interested in the acquisition according to people close to the matter.

Amazon appoints Boeing veteran for Prime Air Drone delivery service

Prime Air Drone delivery
Prime Air Drone delivery

You might know that these are unprecedented times right now because of the COVID-19 pandemic which means that everyone is ordering online and people are trying to avoid going outdoors as much as possible. This also means that the strain on e-commerce giants such as Amazon is that much higher and it is fair to say that they are trying hard to manage things but they look out of control right now. Also, the fact is that delivery agents from Amazon will also be worried about their health and safety.

Many of the Amazon employees have already gone on leave which means Amazon has had to hire new employees to keep its service running. But there will be a time when Amazon has to think about other ways of delivery because its employees are also starting to revolt against the company’s decision to keep things running. Now, this might be good news for one service in particular which is the drone delivery system. You might have heard that Amazon will soon start delivery via drones and it looks like COVID-19 will force that system to be fastened up.

A new report from Amazon now reveals that the company is thinking on those lines and they have appointed an expert to lead that department as well. According to the news, Amazon has deployed former Boeing veteran David Carbon to lead its drone delivery system who is a pioneer in flying while working at Boeing.

Amazon also wants to expand the unit so that it can eventually start flying regular 30-minute shipments to customers’ homes. It is also known that David left the troubled airline manufacturer amid problems at the factory he ran, joined Amazon this month. Boeing is also facing problems regarding the Boeing 737 Max aircraft and David might have also left due to that.

Amazon workers will stage a walkout over COVID-19 situation

Amazon
Amazon

You might be aware of the fact that the world is going through one of its worst crisis in the last decade or so which is known as coronavirus or the COVID-19 and it is also known that e-commerce is the hope for everyone when they want something delivered because the retailers are told to shutdown but the e-commerce retailers are still operating. However, it is also known that people working in the e-commerce sector are also told to keep precautions because the situation is tense and they should not get infected or else things can get worse.

But it is also obvious to see that e-commerce employees are also worried about their lives and they would also like to stay home but they have to work in order to keep their homes running and that they need to serve the people in need as well. A new report, however, reveals that Amazon employees in the Staten Island are not happy with its company and they want to stage a walkout to protest against Amazon.

These workers which are around 200 of them are protesting against Amazon’s decision to keep the Bloomfield warehouse open for business as usual. They say that the warehouse should be closed and the business should also be suspended as soon as possible. According to a statement by the leader of this walkout, they say that “We want the business closed down and sanitized before we return,”

Also, the employees allege that their company has been “shady and secretive” during these times of crisis and that Amazon is hiding the real number of employees infected by COVID-19 inside its warehouse which are actually seven and not 1. They add that “People are scared, supervisors, managers.. all levels,” . “We’re unsafe. There are thousands of employees at risk.” and they fear the virus will spread to 2500 workers in no time whatsoever if the business is not closed.

eCommerce retailers are only filling a small gap of retail sector as per report

Retail vs E-commerce
Retail vs E-commerce

One thing that we have been talking about time and again is that the e-commerce industry all over the world has been booming which means that there is a threat on the retail industry. Also, people are skipping to shop outside and ordering things inside their homes which means that the trends of retail shopping have been reversed and it also means that the footfall in retail stores is going down. However, it is also a fact that there is no signs that retail industry is failing because there is still demand in that segment and people are still interested in buying from retail as well.

Talking about the growth of e-commerce, it is now revealed that the things are not as great as expected. Because while everyone has been saying that the retail industry is not doing great and the e-commerce industry is, the fact is that e-commerce is only able to fill a small part of gap created by the retail industry.

As far as the current COVID-19 crisis is concerned, this stands true as well because the last hope for people is e-commerce and online orders because the retail stores need to be closed as people are told to stay at their homes. But the problem with e-commerce is that they are not just not able to fulfill the demand created by people shopping from home. It is said that retail giants such as Amazon, Walmart, Target and others are overwhelmed by the orders they are receiving every day and there is nothing they can do instead of delaying orders.

So this also tells us that while there are loads of online orders and they were going quite smoothly, the e-commerce industry still has a lot to do if it wants to fulfill orders of people that are traditionally buying from retail stores as the numbers will be huge at that time.

How To Scale Your E-commerce Store With PIM

Getting an ecommerce business to kick-start is no joke. The eventual edifice represents several hours of ideation, planning, analysis, trials, inquiries, training, strategic planning, and lots more. But the intriguing part is that building an E-commerce business is nothing compared to maintaining and growing it. Research has it that eight out of every ten e-commerce store winds up in 120 days of establishment.

scale ecommerce_1
shutterstock_1319672486

The challenges of maintaining an e-commerce store are multi-directional, with solutions overflowing. Still, one of the real solutions required in the scaling of an e-commerce business is PIM.

PIM makes for consistency and accuracy in product information across multiple stores and sales channels.

This challenge that it provides a solution to has been rated as a top issue that stifles the scaling of e-commerce brands. The place of PIM in any B2C or B2B e-commerce venture cannot get overemphasized.

PIM For Increased Scalability In E-commerce Businesse

Scaling an e-commerce business to reach international markets, increase store size to accommodate multiple stores, or have an additional product launched, can be made easy using a PIM solution in the following ways:

  • Improve customer experience with PIM
    Different E-commerce businesses deal in your exact product niche. So, what will, therefore, stand you out and give your business a chance at seamless scaling is the quality of experience that customers get from trading with you. Personalized shopping experiences and accurately described goods that allow for shopping ease will get words out about your business. Meanwhile, while you are at this, your business is scaling.
  • Save time and arrive at the market early
    Using a PIM solution affords you more time to get your products to the market. This is how it works. The PIM solution centralizes data about all the products that you offer. With the centralization of product data, management becomes automated, analysis, updating, and prediction also get automated. Hence, the time and effort spent in meeting the demands of the dynamic omnichannel shopping experience reduces. This provides extra time for marketing. Thus, more sales and more money.
    A PIM solution saves production resources via automated processes while increasing the rate of business scalability.
    These savings will appear bigger, especially if it is the case that the e-commerce brand reaches a multi-lingual customer base.
  • Reduce the chances of a ‘no result found’ search result on your page
    With PIM’s personalized feature, customers will always find products that they came to buy. To scale your business, reduce the events where customers request to purchase products that you have, but cannot find them because of lack of proper product description or product categorization.
    Once every online visit your business records is turned to sales, then profitability is a win.
    Optimize your product content and put up accurate categorization with PIM and increase your scalability.
  • Centralization of Data
    For a company looking to enter the international market, leverage a PIM solution to cater to the consolidation of your product data. And work a system that integrates other systems. It will allow for uniformity in the product descriptions in multiple languages and price tags in different currencies.

Related Product Information Management (PIM), DAM and MDM Links

Top 5 Vendor Data Applications And Why It Is So Important

Vendors are the distributors on the supply chain. Quite practically, three people exist in the supply chain. The B2B trader (who sells raw or semi-finished goods to the manufacturer), the manufacturer, and the vendors (distributors, retailers, and wholesalers, who distribute to consumers).

Vendor data is, therefore, a centralized record of information about vendors. Some manufacturers even treat the Vendor Data as a part of consumer Data.

Vendor Management_1
Vendor Management_2

An accurate and consolidated view of data about your vendors helps you to negotiate better deals, track the progress level of vendors and invest more in vendors with more prospects of sales, know when to adjust production, and the number of SKUs.

Vendor Data Management Applications

For the smooth running of vendor data management, you must avoid a manual intensive management system. All vendor data management software falls under the category of:

  • Vendor risk management software
  • Payroll management software
  • Vendor engagement management software

The following are applications for seamless vendor data management.

1. Tipalti

Tipalti is the best software for payroll management. It is an online cloud-based software that features a portal system for each vendor showing payment history and tax activities, an automated payment solution, overall vendor management system.

It is suitable for businesses with a relatively large vendor base. The software costs $850 per month and an extra transaction fee.

2. Connecteam

Connecteam ranks top among vendor data management software for its Vendor Engagement feature. The vendor data solution is quite affordable and easy to use. Among its several features, its communication tools stand out. It has the in-app employee directory, live polls, chat, video sharing, suggestion box, surveys, and lots of other features.

3. Lystable

Lystable is a perfect fit for a team of freelance vendors. It is a project management variant of vendor data management tools. It manages payment issues, invoice records, vendor performance analysis. It runs a system where each vendor can self operate and update as and when due.

Weekly or monthly, milestones, timelines, and deadlines are created for each vendor with Lystable.

Companies with a broad base of freelancers will find Lystable very useful

4. Profile Gorilla

Profile Gorilla is a profile management SaaS solution system. It is relevant for managing documents of the vendor’s data, contacts, profiles, and records. It not only manages detailed vendor profile data, but it also serves as an online collaboration tool. It is modeled to suit the need of all e-commerce businesses regardless of the size. The subscribe, the least price is $19.99/month.

5. Connecting-Expertise

The Connecting-Expertise is a cloud-based solution that functions in the area of vendor recruitment and onboarding. It allows for an automated recruitment process, contract management, tracking, and invoicing.

The vendor data system is for companies that need an automated solution to their vendor hiring process. The software price starts at $7,500.00 per annum.

Check Out The Following Factors Before Choosing a Vendor Data Management App

  • Ease of use
    It is not enough to find a great vendor data management tool that seems highly functional; the simplicity and ease of use are fundamental too. This will guarantee that the people for which it got created will use it.
  • Security
    Security is another essential factor to consider. Make sure you are getting a tool that will keep your vendor records safe from hackers and other unauthorized users of the system.
  • Vendor Characteristics
    Consider the features that the data management application operates with, as you have already learned, there is several different vendor data management software, and they tackle different management needs. So first, know your requirements, then you can tailor your search in line with your requirement and then the feature of the application.

Related Product Information Management (PIM), DAM and MDM Links

PIM Techniques for E-commerce Experience Personalization

Hit an all-time high in customer retention by employing product information management (PIM) systems in the administration of your e-commerce business. Selling on e-commerce platforms requires that your marketing strategies be specific and targeted. You most definitely have heard that personalized marketing is ing future of e-commerce marketing. It is one of the verified means of winning your e-commerce site visitors over.

PIM Ecommerce Personlization1
PIM Ecommerce Personlization2

Every customer wants a shopping experience that creates a euphoria of comfort and recognition, while concurrently optimizing their shopping time. The availability, or not, of these factors is an ecommerce shopping experience are pointers to the level of business intelligence that the brand engages.

Save your customers the time and data required in searching different products that are not relevant to them and deals that don’t meet their budget. All of this is achievable with a touch of personalization to the experience of each customer.

As already clarified, what e-commerce experience personalization does is to customize the experience of each customer by automatically showing them content, media, or product recommendations based on the customer’s browsing history, search history, and psychographics.

Personalization can be considered a key element to increase both revenue and customer base because it allows a company to segment its consumers and target them accordingly. … Today, personalization is more important than ever as consumers have access to content from a plethora of channels

Tips for E-shopping Personalization PIM

Now the question is how you can personalize content for each of your thousand customers without going ragged?

  • Engage Relevant Technology That aids Personalized Experience.
    Use PIM solutions that source, analyze, and report data about each customer. And ones that do not just stop there, but have features that ensure content personalization, product recommendations, and marketing automation.
    Customers want seamless and smooth buying experience, get tools that ensure this.
  • Personalize Each Stage of the Shoppers’ Interaction With Your E-commerce Brand
    A customer will interact with your online business while browsing, carting their orders, and purchasing. Those are the three stages in e-commerce trade. Ensure that at every point, there are personalized and engaging messages to help your customers toggle through your store with information that is relevant to them.
    Drop product recommendation messages like “Similar Customers Also Bought…” but this recommendation has to be based on their history of preference and search, for it to get personalized.
    Have messages that push customers from carting to get their purchases made. Most e-commerce customers do not progress beyond the cart stage when buying online. Personalized messages could help you get them through carting to buying.
    Create a personalized list of products that resonates with the customer. You can call it the “picked for you” page. Put out products whose prices fall within the price range of goods that your customer would usually buy.
  • Send Personalized Mails
    Emailing is considered one of the most effective marketing methods for e-commerce stores. Get your customers familiarized with your brand as you engage them with emails that are personal to them. An e-commerce business thrives on its volume of repeat customers. To get visitors to become loyal customers, offer emotion and personal experience through mails to show that even in your broad base of customers, you recognize them.
  • Make Sure Your Customers Are Onboarded
    Especially for your new customers, ensure that they are well onboarded. Send onboarding messages that hone on their habits, as newsletters frequently to customers to help them get familiarized with the brand.

Sell the ‘one in a million’ feeling to all your customers using all of the above PIM personalization tips and see your customer retention rate hike.

Related Product Information Management (PIM), DAM and MDM Links

Top MDM models you need to know and use in 2020

Master Data Management is a considerable deal in business today, and if you have not started milking its benefits, then you are on a dangerous edge. Do not be left behind on this train.

Top MDM models1
Top MDM models2

The aim of using MDM solutions is the improvement of data quality and for easy management and distribution of verified and consistent business data. All of these are only achievable if the chosen MDM software is efficient, and the MDM model suits the purpose of its implementation.

Top-list MDM Models

There are several styles or methods of implementing MDM (They are also called MDM models,) but below are the top-list ones among them

  • The Registry MDM Style
    The Registry Model operates by running checks on data to ensure that there are no contradicting data from the multiple source systems. The model deals solely with the master hub. Hence, corrections made in the master hub do not automatically reflect in the source systems.
    It is suitable for companies with extensive global coverage. It can manage comprehensive data while removing duplications and improving access to Master data
  • The Consolidation MDM style
    The Consolidation style simply coagulates the master data from multiple source systems to the master hub. This consolidated data is the single version of the truth from where information is sourced and referenced. It is known as the golden record. Amendments to data on the master hub get effected from the hub to the source system.
    Consolidated models are easy and cheap to run.
  • The Coexistence MDM Style
    The Coexistence style is very similar to the Consolidation style. It allows for dual recording of data where all master data is kept in the central MDM system and then enhanced in each source system. The coexistence model is more capital-intensive compared to the Consolidation style.
    The coexistence model guarantees high-quality master data, fast access to data, and easy upgrade of data. It is a step ahead of the Consolidation style hub in the sense that the Coexistence Style hub enables a centralized linking of governed data from Central Master data hub with the source systems.
    This way, consistent data can be accessed both on the master hub and the source system.
  • Transactional MDM Style
    The transactional MDM implementation style is a highly centralized model that upholds the features of security and visibility policies. It gives room for merging Master data into one centralized master data for one or more domains.
    It is not the first choice model for businesses that are new to the use of MDM. It is usually a build-up from conventional or MDM styles. This model ensures the frequent update of data for accurate and complete master data.
    The model enhances data via links and improved algorithms. The enhanced data is then accessible in the source system.

Factors to Consider During Your Choice of MDM Model

As already explained, Master Data Management models vary a great deal, and their variation is a product of the need they are capable of meeting within the organization’s structure. This means that your choice of an MDM model should take a cue from your core business goal, corporate structure, and the need that you initially need to be resolved.

Therefore, before you go on to choose any implementation style, analyze what your business challenge is.

It is possible to evolve over several MDM models as your needs continue to change over time. The important thing is to use a suiting MDM model per time.

Related Product Information Management (PIM), DAM and MDM Links

Tesco decides to put a limit on online orders at 80 items per customer

Tesco
Tesco

Tesco is one of the biggest firms when it comes to retail and e-commerce and we are also seeing unprecedented times in this COVID-19 outbreak where firms have been struggling to bridge the gap between demand and supply. This is the reason why likes of Amazon, Walmart, Target and others have started to deliver only essential items to its customers even though there might be a demand for the non-essential items because they just can’t deliver everything due to unprecedented demand and its workers also taking a leave due to coronavirus fears.

Now, a new announcement has been made by Tesco as it says that the online orders that can be placed from them have been limited to just 80 items per customer which means that you can only order that many items be it in a single order or multiple ones. It is known that “supermarket home deliveries usually contain fewer than 60 products but some worried shoppers have been placing orders of more than 100”.

Therefore, Tesco has decided that it is time to stop the hoarding of products and it is essential that the items are available to those who are also in need so limiting the items people can buy is the best possible way. It also says that this is done also to “reach more customers with more deliveries”, “more orders on to each van, helping us to ensure all customers can get the essentials they need”

Tesco spokesperson added that “We know that it’s difficult to get a delivery slot for online shopping at the moment due to high demand, and we ask those who are able to safely come to stores to do so so that we can start to free up more slots for the more vulnerable.” Tesco has also revealed they have deployed car park marshals to manage crowds and keep people safe from the virus.

Amazon reportedly lagging behind in this e-commerce surge due to COVID-19

Walmart
Walmart

Amazon is one of the best e-commerce companies out there and it is also one of the biggest and oldest firms which means that they have everything sorted it. Now, it is all good when the e-commerce boom is happening and people are buying everything but at a time of crisis when things go pear-shaped is when e-commerce companies are tested and that’s where the firms have a real job on their hands. Since Amazon is decades old now, you would believe that in this crisis of COVID-19 the company would be sailing past everyone and delivering the most orders.

Also, it was announced that the company will only deliver essential items to its customers and deliveries of non-essential items have been halted for at least a month which could get even longer as the death toll and cases in the US have even increased from China which was its origin.

In a surprise, Amazon is said to be lagging behind e-commerce firms such as Walmart and Target in delivering e-commerce orders during this period of crisis which is not what everyone expected to hear. It is observed that ever since Amazon has told sellers not to send their non-essential items to the warehouses for delivery, its demand has decreased and the traffic on its website and apps have also gone down.

According to the report, “While the traffic and sales impacts may be temporary, they’re part of a host of factors in recent weeks that could lead to a shakeout in the number of third-party sellers on Amazon and the number of sellers leading brands will allow to sell their products”

SimilarWeb, a website which shows estimated website traffic for a particular website’s data reveals that “desktop and mobile visits to Amazon (were) flat for the period March 1-20, while Target, Walmart and Costco visits soared between 19 and 40 percent”

Stripe leads a Series A round of $20M to fund e-commerce startup named Fast

Stripe
Stripe

One of the intriguing things about recent times is that even though there is lockdown everyone and people are not allowed to go outside for work, there are still reports of funding and acquisition which should tell you that business is on, as usual, is in the VC market. Now, the latest report about funding is from Stripe which should be known to many as the online platform for payments. It should also be clear that since Stripe is an online payments platform, it will also be interested in investing in startups that are working on similar ideas.

Therefore, the report mentions that Stripe has led a Series A round of funding for $20M in a startup named Fast which works on the universal checkout for e-commerce portals. Now, it must be noted that some e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Walmart are having their own checkout process whereas a vast majority of e-commerce portals don’t have the same and they rely on third-party portals for checkouts. Thus, this e-commerce startup named Fast is working on platform-agnostic login and checkout services.

Fast’s CEO says that they want to “make logging in far quicker, and also wants to help you check out at online stores more simply, and, as before, rapidly”. It is also said that they want “to be the intermediary for all consumer interactions,” which the CEO broke down as a “fancy way of saying we want to give you one-click login, one-click payments, one-click data everywhere.”

Explaining the idea behind Stripe’s funding round in Fast, TechCrunch says that if “Stripe has built a way for lots of digital stores and businesses to accept payments, Fast wants to build the equivalent consumer solution for the other side of those transactions”. This makes it clear why Stripe wants Fast to become successful in the near future.

Major e-commerce companies asked to curb price gouging on their platforms

E-commerce
E-commerce

It is known that the world is under a serious threat of the Coronavirus pandemic and we also know that many European countries are badly affected by it. Hundreds of people are dying in countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany and now the US is also on that list.

Also, it is now officially confirmed that the US has more cases of COVID-19 than China which was the source of this virus. For this reason, the US has ordered a total lockdown in the country and no one is allowed to come out of their houses which means buying grocery and other household items has to be done online.

Due to this reason, it is also known that the e-commerce platforms have stepped up their efforts and are managing deliveries in the interest of everyone. Also, the non-essential item deliveries have been stopped by the e-commerce portals and only essential items such as food, grocery and medical supplies are being delivered.

But there is one more problem that the e-commerce portals have to deal with and that is the problem of price gouging which is being done by people on the platforms. Since the people are in need of essential medical equipment such as masks, hand sanitizers, gloves and such, it is obvious that they will be ready to pay 10x of what its original price is.

However, this is a serious problem because those who are really in need and can’t spend such a huge amount of money to buy those items will not be able to get protected and the virus could spread to others. Therefore, the states in the US have asked the e-commerce platforms to keep a check on the price gouging which is being done by some sellers. Also, they have been told to remove all those listings that have increased the price of these products to keep a check on the pricing.

7 Ways Proper Digital Asset Management Strategy Will Help Your Branding

Simply put, Digital Asset Management (DAM) is a program that centralizes all of your digital assets. If you’re looking for a way to put all of your digital assets into one system where your collaborators can easily view, manage, and analyze their collective assets, this is the easiest and most efficient way to do so. The benefits of having a DAM for digital branding are endless, but here are 7 to get you started in the world of asset management.

shutterstock_259133429
shutterstock_83643307

Consistency

Having a DAM system is the best way to streamline your digital assets branding to achieve maximum brand consistency, allowing you to form better relationships with your clients. With a DAM, gone are the days of your team and collaborators having to continually sift through emails to communicate which assets are being used, which need more work, and which ones are performing optimally. As all of your digital assets are in one place, this communication no longer needs to take place, as your colleagues can breeze through and search for assets as and when they please to ensure that brand consistency is being maintained at all times.

Storage

Instead of having to use a series of Dropbox accounts or other storage options, a DAM puts all of your organization’s assets into one place, where storage is easy to access and often contains more forgiving capacity than that given by other storage solutions.

Efficiency

Now that your team can spend less time on emails and storage issues, they can get to work much quicker on their marketing efforts, ensuring that all jobs are completed quickly and efficiently

Prevents unused assets

With all of your assets in one place, you can easily see which ones are not being utilized and can be axed or appropriated for other projects.

Distribution

Distribution across all platforms, including social media and content management programs, is made simplified by having undemanding access to all of your digital assets at once. They can be exported to each of their required destinations with ease as needed.

Analysis

With a DAM, you can analyze the performance and usage of your digital assets in one place without having to use external programs. As most DAM systems have analysis tools inbuilt, this is another way to improve the efficiency of your digital marketing and allows you to better communicate with your team those areas which need improvement and those which are ready for distribution.

Improve collaboration

With your team can see the organization’s assets, this makes collaboration a dream. Members are no longer bound by time differences and geography, as they can collaborate from anywhere across the globe at the touch of a button. They can edit at any time of the day they wish, from wherever they want to- the office, their home, on the go.

Final Thoughts

A Digital Assets Management system is the way to go for effectively managing your digital assets, creating maximum brand consistency and productivity among your network.

Related Product Information Management (PIM), DAM and MDM Links

Open Source DAM vs. Custom Solutions: When Should You Make The Switch?

Digital Asset Management demand is growing – the market is set to reach over $5.2B by 2023, and for a good reason. Companies need a way to catalog, store, and easily access their information assets, whether digital or analog. They can serve as a library or archive of information and store several versions of documents with the ability to restore previous versions.

shutterstock_296986727
shutterstock_296987681

Often businesses will use DAM for workflow management, a repository for branding, logo, and media files to ensure brand uniformity throughout campaigns. This prevents duplication of data (imagine all the time wasted having someone work on the wrong version of a file), among other benefits.

DAM is categorized as such if it fits the following criteria:

● Enables users to search for files, access them and tag assets within the software

● Can manage rights and permissions of media content to embed on websites (external or internal) and for external use.

There are four basic models for DAM administration:

SaaS DAM

A third-party vendor manages SaaS (Software as a service) DAM. It is a cloud-based DAM solution that is accessed through the internet, possibly through a browser. There are a few drawbacks to this type of solution, as many software solutions are not compatible with existing in-house systems. This design is typically by design so that you are encouraged to use other settlements by the same vendor.

Hosted DAM

This DAM solution is on-site and installed on company servers, hosted on the company’s local network. This is ideal if you need greater control of your assets.

Hybrid (Saas and hosted) DAM

A company would want to use a hybrid DAM if they wished to the added benefit of accessing data through the cloud while still running the software through local servers.

Open source DAM

Open source DAM solutions are software programs with source code that a company can access freely so that they can create and modify a DAM solution that is tailored to their needs. If your company has particular customization requirements, open-source DAM is your best bet – your IT team will be responsible for the installation, customization, and maintenance of the software.

Each company must evaluate its DAM needs to determine which model is best suited for them. It is also essential to assess needs for the long-term – will the capabilities be scalable as the company grows? This is when an open-source DAM should be considered as a viable option.

You may be ready to switch to Open-source DAM if you want the following:

1. Secure and controlled access – you can give limited access to specific sets of data. Only the people authorized to see it can access it.

2. Customized communications management.

3. Faster adaptation as you grow your business.

4. Effortless search and filter – your open source DAM will enable even faster, more intuitive, and accurate search results, saving precious time, and increasing efficiency.

5. Flexibility and freedom

Related Product Information Management (PIM), DAM and MDM Links

5 Ways Obsolete Data Management Systems Can Cost You Revenue

There’s nothing more annoying than having a large task ahead of you, only to be met with slow loading pages, near-constant system crashes, and a general sense of frustration over the lack of linear productivity being made at work.

Many businesses and organizations today use the shiniest, up to date operating and data management systems available, in order to beat out their competition and get the most out of their services and employees. However, many are also stuck in the past, using legacy or deprecated systems – with good intentions, that hold them back, whether they are aware of it or not.

Data_management1
Data_management_2

Using outdated systems can pose many threats to an organization, including a dent in revenue.

1. Loss of business

Systems that are no longer supported by their developer are, by default, no longer subject to updates, bug fixes, or security updates. This leaves a company’s system open to all sorts of security threats, including cyber-attacks and data breaches, therefore compromising sensitive data. A breach in security means the potential loss of trust in a business’s brand, driving loyal customers into the open arms of competitors, with the promise of safe data storage under newer systems.

2. Data breach fees

However, this isn’t the only revenue loss a security breach can cost a business using obsolete data management systems; certain data compliance standards require an organization’s technology to be supported by its developer, and there are consequences of a security breach in the form of penalties and fees – money that could have been put back into business productivity.

3. Loss of employee productivity & overtime costs

On the topic of business productivity, slow and outdated technology often results in lost employee productivity, with workers spending more time fixing problems in the system, than actually doing the work required to move the business forward and bring in more revenue. The loss of productivity revenue, along with the potential of overtime costs to ensure deadlines are reached, means businesses run the risk of further losing out on ROI.

4. High turnover rate expenses

Furthermore, the stress of using old technology daily, and the looming threat of mistakes in data management systems often lead to low employee morale and a higher turnover in staff. This lack of employee retention, for many businesses, further equals a loss of revenue, having to spend time and money on recruitment and training for new employees.

5. Increased maintenance costs

Outdated technology also comes with another set of problems: increased maintenance costs. These systems are, more often than not, less energy and power-efficient than their younger counterparts, which leads to increased unnecessary overhead costs for a business. Not to mention the price of data recovery and restoration (if at all possible), should something go horribly wrong, as is possible due to increased failure rates.

When deciding whether or not to upgrade data management systems, it’s important for businesses and organizations to weigh up the cost of maintenance of obsolete systems, vs. the cost of upgrading to newer systems, and how either choice will affect the business in the long term. As a business grows, so does its need for technological expansion. Using legacy or deprecated systems can stunt the growth of a business, if these systems cannot keep up with business growth, leading to reliance on outdated ways of working

Overall, every business has its own unique way of operating, and although many will prefer to use newer techniques of data management (cloud-based, etc.), others will stay true to their tried and trusted ways.

Related Product Information Management (PIM), DAM and MDM Links

Fake e-commerce sites are popping up due to COVID-19

Fake e-commerce sites
Fake e-commerce sites

In these times when we know, everyone is worried a lot regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and since there is no cure found for it yet, people are even tensed as to what will happen if they get the virus. However, there are some people even in these times that are taking advantage of the fear that is prevalent inside the humans all over the world. As you might already know, the e-commerce sites over the world and giants such as Amazon and Walmart have stopped supplying non-essential products to people which means the room for other players has opened up.

Talking about the same, we are now seeing reports where fake e-commerce websites are popping up all of a sudden. These websites are either ones which supply N95 or face masks to the people or are claiming to give relief to patients having this virus. Now, it is quite clearly mentioned that there is no cure or vaccine found for this virus so anything else is fake. These websites also claim that they can make superfast delivery to the people. Basically, they are just giving out normal products in the name of COVID-19.

While it is also not known if they are actually shipping those products or not, it does not really matter since their claims are clearly fake. Also, the good news is that “many are being shut down for making exaggerated claims or selling phantom products”.

Also, a new report shows data where domain names with “corona” or “covid” inside them have been registered a lot recently meaning that they are either done so to help people or to take advantage of them. We have also seen websites which provide accurate information regarding this virus so not everyone is bad but there are bad actors too so we should be aware of them.

Online shopping demand brings a hiring spree for postal services

USPS
USPS

After the reports that Amazon is hiring an additional 100,000 works because of the fact that some of its staff have gone on leave due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we now have a new report of hiring. It is known that the online demand for shopping has prompted the postal services to hire new workers in order to cope up with the demand and provide delivery as fast as possible. It has been revealed that United States Postal Service is hiring workers in San Francisco and San Jose to cope up with the huge amount of orders that they have pending.

USPS says that it needs “to hire as many as 1,000 workers in the Bay Area as the economic effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic continue to ripple across the region”. Now, this will definitely bring economic relief for the people living in the Bay Area because everything else has been closed due to the pandemic.

USPS also says that it will hire mostly for the entry-level positions which include delivery personnel and warehouse workers so as to relieve the load on their current workers. The company also says that “The demand for package delivery is starting to reach Christmas time volume and we need help delivering and moving the mail as never before,”

Talking about the surge in demand, USPS spokesperson said that “Almost all of it is online purchasing,” “The demand for home delivery is up so much we have the opportunity for some people who need jobs, who have lost their jobs, so this would be a good time to come and start a career with the postal service.”

As far as the entry-level positions for USPS are concerned, it is revealed that people working in postal carriers, mail processing positions, mechanics, custodians, tractor-trailer operators and automated machinery repair specialists are included.

1...727374...86Page 73 of 86

ABOUT US

At eCommerce Next, we stand true to our name – informing you what’s next in the game. As the e-commerce domain continues to expand, this dynamic industry moves leaps-and-bounds in all directions. It can get disorienting to keep a track of the gazillion things that happen in the online market every day. This is where we step in. From the latest happenings to the upcoming trends, our eyes and ears stay fixated on the global e-commerce market. Our goal is not just limited to reporting the news, but also informing and educating our audience.

Contact us: info@ecommercenext.org

FOLLOW US