Most of the biggest companies in tech are making major bets on voice. And unlike other technologies such as VR, which had a big push a few years ago but seems to have stalled, many consumers are taking to voice in a big way. That's evidenced with trends like Amazon's Echo Dot being the company's best selling product during the last Christmas season. Amazon is far from being the only tech giant to put a lot of resources behind voice. Google Assistant is a product that the company has continued to push forward. Given that analysts believe around fifty percent of all searches will be done by voice in just three years, it's easy to understand why Google is taking this trend so seriously. Because voice is still an emerging technology, there's not much for individual merchants to do in terms of optimizing their website or online presence. However, what is worth spending a little time on is looking at how consumers are already using this technology to make payments, as well as what other plans tech companies have for… Read more

In the months leading up to the required start date for GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance, there was a lot of talk about all the different steps that businesses had to take. Most consumers also received a flurry of emails from tech companies letting them know that they were following all the measures required for compliance. While all of this activity made it seem like GDPR was something that businesses of all sizes were embracing, new data related to this topic paints a different picture. Based on an analysis of where things are at three months after the start of GDPR, it appears that the majority aren't in full compliance with all of the mandates. More Details About the Lack of GDPR Compliance According to a global study, only 1 out of every 5 businesses is fully complying with what's required by GDPR. Although it's easy to assume that this number only gets skewed by businesses outside of the EU, that doesn't appear to be the case. Even when the analysis is limited to EU companies, the compliance rate… Read more

With the modern political climate, there is a lot of media noise that doesn't necessarily make sense for business owners to pay attention to. However, there are certain decisions by the administration that can have a direct impact. A recent example of this is multiple announcements surrounding tariffs. To help cut through all the speculation and focus on what direct impact these tariffs may have on SMBs, we want to share a quick primer on this topic, followed by an analysis of its impact: Understanding the New Tariffs A tariff is a tax on a specific class or exports or imports. There are multiple types of tariffs, including a fixed dollar amount on a specific item and a proportional tariff based on value. The tariffs making lots of news were first announced at the end of May. The initial announcement was focused on aluminum and steel exports, specifically coming from Mexico, the EU, and Canada. Then in the middle of July, a new set of tariffs were announced that target a wide range of Chinese goods. The list of Chinese… Read more

If you're looking for a way to increase how much traffic your e-commerce website receives, content marketing is an excellent option. While this approach does require an upfront investment of resources, once the ball gets rolling, you will see ongoing results. Because the Internet changes so rapidly, not every marketing technique remains useful. So to ensure that you're on the right path throughout the rest of 2018 and into 2019, we've put together the five best tips for finding success with e-commerce content marketing: Create a Hub Whether it's a blog or other location on your website, it's important to have a central hub for all your content. One reason this type of hub is essential is it will allow you to optimize the types of elements we're going to discuss in subsequent tips. Another benefit is having all of your content together will maximize the SEO benefits that it reaps from Google. Utilize Email Publishing great content is the key to getting people to your website. But because there's so much happening online, attracting attention isn't enough to ensure… Read more

If you sell products or services through your website, some people are going to have questions that they want to be answered before buying. While descriptions and FAQs can go a long way towards answering many of those questions, it's not always possible to anticipate every single question someone might have before they ever ask it. The good news is there's a very effective tool for connecting with these types of people and converting them into customers. That tool is live chat. By adding this piece of software to your website, visitors can begin chatting with you or a member of your team in just a matter of seconds. To get a better understanding of what makes live chat so great, we're going to look at a few of its key benefits, as well as cover several of the most popular tools: 5 Reasons to Add Live Chat to Your Website The first reasons to use this tool is multiple studies have shown that it directly boosts sales and conversions. The average B2B company sees a 20% lift in conversions… Read more