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It’s Not Too Early to Start Your Holiday 2020 Planning! Here are some Tips.

2020 has thrown many challenges at us, there’s no doubt about it! The eCommerce world has seen growth it’s never seen before due to COVID-19 and the upcoming holiday season is expected to be the biggest yet for online sales.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports a 21.2% increase in online and other non-store sales from April 2019 to April 2020. Fueled by stay-at-home orders and a surge of consumers buying online for the first time, this increase was a life saver for many store owners who were concerned about how the pandemic would impact their business.

We may have just turned the page on the calendar to August, but it’s time to begin mapping out a plan for the 4th quarter. After all, you want 2020 to be remembered as the year that broke records for your company!

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Buy on Google is now Commission Free! Learn how you can Participate.

In April, Google announced that eCommerce store owners could list their products for free in Google Shopping. While this was something they planned on offering later in the year, COVID-19 made them accelerate their plans, much to the joy of store owners.

Merchants with small budgets, or those who simply didn’t participate in Google Shopping, jumped at the opportunity to expand their reach and get their products in front of eager shoppers.

If you weren’t aware of this program, please check out our blog post for more information on how to participate and how our Feed Wizard service can get your products listed in Google Shopping.

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eCommerce Sales to Grow Faster the Next Three Years Is Your Store Ready?

There are a few things 2020 is going to be remembered for – coronavirus, social distancing, curbside pickup, and for eCommerce store owners – growth.

With nearly everyone in the United States under stay-at-home orders for much of the first half of the year, eCommerce sales boomed with many shoppers, believe it or not, making their very first online purchase.

The ease of online shopping and the closure of many bricks-and-mortar stores fueled growth in almost every vertical. While many eCommerce store owners continue to embrace the lift in sales, some wonder how long the boost will last.

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A New Free Tool from Google to Help Your Grow Your eCommerce Store

Have you ever wondered how your online store compares to that of others in your industry, or maybe you’re scratching your head trying to figure out how to get new customers?  Well, now there’s a free Google tool to give you these insights and more!

eCommerce store owners now have access to Grow My Store which is part of the Think With Google suite of tools.  Grow My Store is designed to:

    • Let you see how your store stacks up to others within your industry;
    • Point out areas where your site can use a bit of improvement;
    • Give you access to personalized market and consumer trends designed to help you get new customers;
    • Provide you access to other Google tools and expert advice.

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Three Features Your Store’s Onsite Search Should Have to Make You Money

When it comes to driving sales via search, many store owners just think about organic and paid and don’t consider their own website’s search engine as a source of revenue. Yes, having a good onsite search allows customers to find what they’re looking for, but it’s also a powerful sales and marketing tool.

Store owners who are using their shopping cart’s out-of-the-box search engine are missing out on many advanced features 3rd party search apps, like our own Search Magic, offer. While others who are using 3rd party search apps may not be using them to their advantage.

Today, we’re going to take a look at three features advanced search applications offer that can help you increase conversions.

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Urgent Information Regarding HTTPS for Yahoo! Store Owners

It’s been more than two years since Yahoo! Store owners were given the ability to fully secure all pages in their store via HTTPS instead of just the checkout.  While the great majority of store owners have taken the necessary steps to do this, there are still many who have not.

In the next few days, Yahoo! Store owners will be receiving information regarding the next step Yahoo! is taking to fully secure the store experience.  This communication will come directly from Yahoo!, however, we are giving you a heads-up so you are fully prepared.

On July 15, 2020 Yahoo! will automatically force the store editor to load via HTTPS.  There will be no option for merchants to opt-out of this update and will occur automatically.

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Introducing Your Store Wizards MerchantObserver – A Google Merchant Center Monitoring Service

If you’re an eCommerce store owner, monitoring your Google Merchant Center account for alerts, errors, feed issues, important updates, etc. is something you should be doing on a regular basis.  However, we realize that many times emails that are designed to make you aware of potential issues with your feed or specific products may be ignored or put off for a later time.

Even the smallest delay in responding to a critical alert in your Merchant Center account can lead to your product feed being temporarily disabled leading to a loss in sales. Whether you use a 3rd party to manage your online advertising, do it yourself, or just participate in the free Google Shopping program, regular monitoring of your Merchant Center account is crucial.

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Introducing Your Store Wizards SearchObserver – A Google Search Console Monitoring Service

Keeping up with alerts and notices in your Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) may not be on the top of your list.  You may even ignore emails that are designed to make you aware of potential issues with your store or website.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.  We know of many who tend to put off the occasional visit to the Search Console missing out on crucial information that’s vital to site health, visibility in the SERPs, and more.

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Search Magic – Affordable Search for Shopify and Yahoo! Store

Having a powerful site search on your eCommerce store not only helps shoppers find exactly what they’re looking for, but can actually increase order values and provide valuable information on your customer’s search behavior.

By using the out-of-the-box search provided by your shopping cart provider, or a 3rd party application with a limited feature set, you’re leaving money on the table.  Your store’s search should be a marketing tool designed and managed to not only pay for itself but generate revenue each time it’s used.

But, it doesn’t need to cost a fortune!

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Platform Migrations: BigCommerce -vs- Magento

Like many eCommerce store owners, you may have reached the point where you’re considering moving platforms. The decision to switch may be due to the fact that you feel you’ve outgrown your current one, or you need more features or functionality. In the eCommerce world it’s important that as your business grows, the technology behind it grows as well.

Over the past year, we’ve seen more and more store owners come to us to get our thoughts on moving to a different shopping cart. After speaking with them and learning about their business and goals for wanting to move, we make a recommendation to stay or leave.

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