Ecommerce

Either the Coronavirus spread from China or Turkey, no one can deny that it changed the face of Earth. The air is cleaner, the streets are empty, and half the world is still shut down. Yet, the world doesn't stop for anyone. When the brick and mortar stores were closed, the online market boomed by a majestic 146% growth in all online retail orders to keep things afloat.

Online shopping transformed from luxury to necessity. Now, each brand had to fight on two fronts, maintaining brick and mortar stores and capturing the eyes in the swiftly passing digital world. According to Business Insider, Payless and Gymboree are not the only stores facing an economic meltdown. Many brands have collapsed in administration, changing not only the Stocks market but the physical face of Earth.

However, the solution is a challenge in itself. eCommerce has been developing and evolving with the latest technology trends. So before you quit your job or shut your business entirely, let's analyze the options you have in the eCommerce industry and how you can successfully launch a steadily growing eCommerce business in 2021-22.

How to launch a Successful eCommerce Business

Step-1: Redefine your goals

Before diving into the market, let's analyze your intentions and revise them. Why do you want to launch an eCommerce business? The obvious answer must be to tap into the growing marketing, but what's the bigger picture? Is your goal bigger than yourself? If so, you're on the right track. If not, analyze your intentions and include your country or at least your neighborhood in the ripple effect. If we all focus on the man next to us, we won't need to care for ourselves. The people you want to help will end up helping you. When you read further, pick local and nearby resources to help you build your empire.  

Step-2: Decide your niche and research your products

"I love traveling and high-tech gear, so that's what I'll sell!" said no one ever. Good business ideas always revolve around solutions. Each new product or line is a solution for a specific audience in need of that product. Traveling goods and services were a booming industry in 2019, and then 2020 happened. Within days, whole countries were shut down, and the industry went bankrupt. The key to a growing business is finding the right niche and researching the most required products with less competition. Sounds hard to swallow? A great example of this can be beard or hairstyling kits. Although many kits would've been available online, rather custom kits would've been the edge you're looking for.

Step-3: Let's Talk Business

E-Entrepreneurs got a chance to enjoy the limelight during the pandemic, and their businesses might have boomed overnight but before making any decisions, let's take a step back and talk numbers. Jot down your investments, check your stocks at hand and decide your business based on a detailed risk analysis. Have an accountant friend? It's time to call him and perhaps call over that lawyer colleague out for a drink. It's crucial to play safe and test the waters before depleting your assets due to incomplete research. Resources are also an investment. The most neglected resources in business plans are time and labor. It's easier to throw caution to the wind and decide the bird's eye view of the business. Time is money; either it's invested by you or someone you'll hire. So it is better to play safe and have a clear road map before finalizing your business idea.

Step-4: Define your target audience

Let's go old school and find your target audience. Empires aren't built in a day. So select one target audience from the below-mentioned types and once you've won over that, only then move to the next.

Business to Business (B2B)

Business to Business model represents one business providing to another. This model is perfect for your eCommerce business if you're in wholesale, manufacturing, or distribution. This model demands a bulk quantity of quality products at your disposal and requires up-front or advance business investment. You'll need to pre-order products that may need to be kept in a warehouse. Moreover, you'll need staff for sales, inventory, shipping, management, and customer support.

Business to Consumer (B2C)

Do you want to maintain your wholesale, manufacturing, or distribution position yet not be willing to invest money in bulk production? If so, catering to individual customers will give you a breather and room to establish your business before getting on the highway. This model will require elbow grease and the ability to adapt to change as per your customer response. Not all products need to be a hoot or a failure. It's a hit-and-trial model at the start, but once the customer base is established, it is far easier to maintain this model.

Consumer to Business (C2B)

The odd man jobs you neglected in your childhood and thought weren't enough to earn you a livelihood? They are in style and here to stay. Thanks to the 2020 pandemic, concerts are enjoyed at home, and Jeremy McLellan is in the house. Literally! The consumer to Business model works on services offered based on projects or per hour. Short-term contracts fulfilled based on your skills on Upwork and Fiverr can earn you hard money without stepping a foot out of the house.

Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

The Consumer to Consumer model is from the good old days and is here to stay. In this model, one consumer sells its services or products to consumers, connecting them to ethnic clothing, artifacts, or custom pieces. The key to this model is the personal connection between the two entities and the seller's flare.

Step-5: Select your eCommerce Business model

Keeping your target audience in focus, let's figure out the right business model for your eCommerce business plan.

Private Label

The Private Label business model starts the business chain by purchasing the product from a reliable manufacturer. The purchased product is rebranded and sold to consumers through the seller's eCommerce shop. However, this model saves production costs but requires elbow grease, exceptional designing skills, and extensive product/production manager hunting skills.

White Label

Like the above, generic products are purchased from a supplier and rebranded in the White label business model. Though it seems a cheap and quick deal, the competition is tough. As many businesses sell the same products, it's vital to find eye-catching products yet not easily available.

Dropshipping

One of the successful models with the least hassle is Dropshipping. Need-based orders are placed to the supplier/manufacturer, and they dispatch the orders to the customer. This model only requires established infrastructure, efficient customer support, and reliable suppliers.

Print-on-demand

Like dropshipping, the business showcases custom design samples of goods (such as t-shirts, cups, pens, tables). When the customer places an order on the eStore, a third-party manufacturer prints on-demand. The order is rebranded and dispatched to the customer.

Step-6: Register your Company and Brand

It's time to leap! Now that you've finalized your investments, niche, target audience, and business model, let's register your business and brand. Discuss the legalities with a trusted advisor and register your company so the books will be maintained and you'll be able to register your business. After company/business registration, the next step will be to get your Employer Identification Number (much like a social security number for your business) and business licenses. It's better to consult a legal professional for correct filings as it can be a hassle but will help you grow exponentially without any legal hiccups.

Step-7: Supplier/Manufacturer Hunting

After extensive niche and product research, supplier or manufacturer hunting can be exhausting. Many suppliers/manufacturers might be selling the same products, but the key is to establish long-term relationships. Consult a virtual assistant if you're working with Amazon to make sure you've security and less overhead. You may find manufacturers at Small Businesses Associations or Alibaba. The million-dollar question will be how to judge a supplier/manufacturer? Below is a quick but foolproof litmus test.

Products Offered

A supplier/manufacturer's success can be no value if they don't offer your desired product. It's vital to research their product catalog and check out their peers. Moreover, a reviewed product always triumphs over a newly launched product. A supplier/manufacturer's product catalog can give you a clear idea of their business organization and dealing.

Reliable Shipping

The backbone of the eCommerce market is shipping. The customer wants the product in their hands in a flash. You need to order from the supplier/manufacturer before finalizing them. The shipping time and reliability are critical to maintaining good business relations with your customers. If the products are delivered late or not in good condition, the first impression can be ruined, and you may end up losing a long-term client.

Price

When many suppliers are offering the same products, they reduce the price of one product but compensate it with another. It's better to research all available suppliers to decide which supplier you want to finalize for which product. This research will help you align backup suppliers just in case things go south, or the product becomes unavailable with the finalized supplier.

Customer Service

Imagine a shipment gone wrong! Catastrophic for a startup. Reliable customer service at your supplier's end can ease things and help you resolve the issue on priority. Check if they have multi-channel support: phone, email, live chat. An expensive but active supplier is always better than an unreliable cheap supplier.

Step-8: Select eCommerce Business Platform

Now the question arises, where will you set up your eShop? The answer to this is again dependent on your investment research. The top three reliable channels are listed below.

Shopify

Shopify is a go-to solution for nontechnical business owners. Equipped with an easy-to-use system, Shopify is a complete package covering marketing, sales, e-shop, and payments. A beautiful website can be customized using many available themes for a minimal fee as low as $29.

Amazon

All hail to the king! Amazon is giving all businesses a run for their money, but it's not all bad. A reliable, well-established system will host your shop at low prices. Amazon relieves the business owners from shipment, inventory, and warehousing tensions. Being a giant business, you'll find certified virtual assistants and listing promoters to help you run a smooth and exponentially growing eCommerce business in 2021.

WooCommerce

Though Amazon and Shopify are attractive, WooCommerce offers a free solution for an eStore. The catch is that you need to get your hands dirty or hire a person to manage your store. WooCoomerce offers many themes and plugins, but they can be overwhelming to a person looking for a quick fix. It's better to seek the help of a technical person with hands-on experience to set up your e-shop.

Step-9: Set to Launch your Business

A plan without real action is just a dream. So gear up and launch your eCommerce business. For a successful launch, you'll need to cover the following.

• Strong SEO integration and eCommerce marketing for improved customer outreach.
• Finalize Shipment Provider.
• Finalize Customer Support Channels and set communication benchmarks.
• Create terms and conditions and refund policies.
• Set new products or promotion plans.
• Finalize and onboard the involved personnel and resources.

Step-10: After the Launch

Welcome to the arena. The stage is yours. The crucial part after a business launch is to welcome and drive customers to your e-Store. One foundation stone is product marketing. An efficient product marketing plan can entice customers from social media, ads, and analytics. The second foundation stone is often overlooked but is of equal importance, the personal connection. In the beginning, each business owner needs loyal customers. The secret to customer loyalty is knowing that you care and deliver the best possible product to them. This may seem overwhelming at the start, but all personal and professional relationships require time and effort. So, are you ready to launch your eCommerce business in 2021?

The rapidly evolving eCommerce industry is impacting consumers and retailers in a way that no one ever imagined. The events of 2020, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic, caused a massive shift in business routine. Despite many ups and downs in every industry amid the pandemic, the eCommerce industry grew bigger and faster than ever before.

As more people are bound to stay at home due to preventive measures like lockdowns and travel restrictions, the shift in buying habits and inclination of consumers towards online platforms is not only causing a significant impact on businesses but also introducing a new way to do things that consumers generally hesitated to do before. This sudden and rapid change in the psychology of consumers and the shift from mainstream business routine to eCommerce utilities demands us to dive deeper into this area. It will help us determine the contemporary trends and prepare us for future challenges as it is crucial to know the competitors to achieve success.

Also Read: How to Write a Winning eCommerce Business Plan?

The pandemic triggered the chain reaction of changes across several horizons, and that accelerated evolution is expected to continue in 2021-22 and beyond. Every ecommerce business must know the contemporary and upcoming trends influencing the industry.

In this blog post, we highlight some notable and vital growth trends to generate new ideas, overcome the barriers, and make you prepared to set up a productive eCommerce business for the years to come. Let's discuss these trends in detail.

Worldwide eCommerce industry sales to hit $5.6 trillion by 2022

Recent studies projected that global eCommerce sales would hike to a new summit by 2021. Ecommerce businesses would experience a 265% growth rate, from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $5.6 trillion in 2022. This reveals a continued steady uphill trend in the future with no sign of decline.

What’s more surprising is that the mainstream retail market is falling prey to global eCommerce sales. In fact, by the end of 2021, physical retail will be occupying only 17.5% of global retail sales.

eCommerce Industry: What to Expect in 2022

To capitalize on this eCommerce revolution, physical stores must welcome digital solutions to convert their businesses from offline to online.

Upheavals in the Western eCommerce Market

The online world does not obey the legitimacy of borders. For instance, the United States’ share of the total global eCommerce retail market is continuously decreasing. One of the main drivers of this change is globalization and improved technology and infrastructure as welcomed by the non-western regions. This eCommerce shift reveals that businesses must adopt a global mindset to ensure their global availability. In this regard, enriching global access in your existing business model doesn’t mean you have to make a physical presence outside your region or country. What you can do is to look for trusted partners in a country or region where you capture a notable market.

Cross-Border shopping

The world is becoming a global village. With cross-border online exposure, shoppers are now looking for products outside their country or region. Cross-continent shopping is becoming a new norm. In 2020, more than 60% of online consumers had made online purchases from overseas retailers. The average percentage breakdown of consumers who made overseas purchases by continent is:

• 64% Europe
• 58% Asia-Pacific
• 55% Africa
• 55% Latin America
• 45% North America

This growing eCommerce trend is demanding retailers for what we discussed above about global approach and availability. Apart from strengthening the global eCommerce presence, it's crucial to invest in intelligent infrastructures and methodologies which may assist you in adapting to the unique challenges related to the engagement of overseas buyers.

Optimized Delivery

According to recent statistics, poor delivery practices have triggered a crisis of confidence amongst online buyers over the past year as almost 40 percent of shoppers experienced delays to their orders. Below are some categorical statistics of Global Online Shoppers who would consider abandoning an order due to delays.

As e-commerce sales are expected to grow faster, deploying optimized delivery methodologies must be the top priority in 2022.Those methodologies must involve two primary components.

1. Enhanced Delivery Speed - to ensure the retailer competes with the rivals and the upsurge in online shopping.
2. Dynamic Model - to facilitate the shifting consumers' demands, like blended experiences.

Adapting these two components adds speed and flexibility to the delivery process, which can be achieved by automating the supply chain, from order processing to inventory and shipping, to get orders quickly.

Analytics in eCommerce

In the AI-driven tech world, data and information are the most valuable assets. Your customers are likely to buy worldwide, pressure your product pricing for different regions to maximize sales growth. Getting deep insights into what issues are needed to be addressed before getting noticed by customers is what data analytics can do for you. These insights can help you determine the best product mix and marketing strategies and sales promotions to be deployed as an online retailer. This is how eCommerce analytics assist you in boosting your ROI.

Punchout eCommerce

“Punchout” is the term that denotes the e-communication between a company’s internal procurement systems and its suppliers. Using punchout, a buyer can access suppliers’ catalogs and then purchase products easily within the internal infrastructure.B2B companies, especially mid-sized to giants ones, likely use or plan to use punchout. Around 50 percent of B2B businesses use an e-procurement system, and 30 percent plan to implement one. If your B2B customers enrich an e-procurement methodology, you can interact with the punchout facility with them. More giant B2B suppliers like Staples, CDW, Amazon Business, and Grainger involve the state of art punchout system.

Cloud Computing and eCommerce

It has been expected that cloud-based systems can encourage eCommerce retailers, and growing numbers of eCommerce industries are adopting cloud technology. In eCommerce industry, businesses deal with a large amount of data, including client details, product details, inventory details, stakeholders, etc. In these circumstances where the information handling is crucial, cloud systems become a critical factor as it provides 24/7 server maintenance. Cloud is a promising technology for the future. The revolutionizing application of the cloud is set to transform the eCommerce industry in a highly optimized manner.

Chatbots in eCommerce

Customers expect to be able to find what they’re looking for in a single click of a button and the blink of an eye. Chatbots are tiny programs that automatically simulate interactions with consumers based on predetermined statements and replies. eCommerce platforms with chatbots for consumer-facing are proliferating. Statistically, over 60% of millennials and 65% of X-Gens in the US have interacted with chatbots. According to a Facebook survey, more than 50% of customers say they’re more likely to shop with a business they can connect with via chat. According to Gartner, by 2020, 85% of online engagement with businesses will be carried out without interacting with another human due to the assistance of chatbots. Similarly, Oracle conducted a survey that reveals that 80% of eCommerce businesses disclosed they are currently using or planning to use chatbots.

eCommerce Automation

Ecommerce automation is a primary growing element for online businesses, from marketing automation to warehousing and beyond. Almost every business department or function has an element that can be automated to some extent, if not entirely. This strategy effectively saves human resources and cuts costs as it sets free human attention and other valuable resources for more core business areas. eCommerce businesses can quickly implement automation to manage repetitive tasks. Supply chain management can be simplified and made efficient by automation software that can schedule inventory alerts for reordering when the stock falls below a certain margin. Experts and Futurists have claimed for quite some time that robots and AI will be performing more tasks than humans as advancements in technology continue with exponential growth. In few years, we will be living in a world fully automated and controlled by machines. eCommerce businesses are the ones experiencing this revolution right now.

Effectiveness of Content Marketing

Content ensures brand awareness, improved demand, and more revenue when done in the right direction. Content marketing is expected to capture the audience’s attention more effectively, with almost 80 percent of buyers claiming that relevant content increases their purchase cravings.

Also Read: 8 Must-Have eCommerce Marketing Techniques for 2022

Getting content out there will be more different in 2022 as social distancing is becoming the new normal, and businesses are still coping with the post-COVID content creation process. The instant and only solution to this problem is content atomization. Content atomization means that you take one vast and detailed piece of content and break it down into several other smaller pieces of content. As businesses find ways to ensure that their content is more engaging and worthy for their audience, working on one piece of content and breaking it down into smaller chunks will enable them to extract more benefits.

The Connection between Green Economy and eCommerce

Many countries' economic and social priorities amid climate change have shifted the focus towards making environment-friendly products. eCommerce giants such as Amazon have taken the pledge towards sustainability. Other eCommerce brands are likely to follow the steps as humans struggle to find better ways to curb the active and passive impacts of the existing industrial model on our climate. It involves finding ways to reduce waste and carbon footprint to preserve the earth for our future generations. With more debate about climate change and the Green Economy in all regions, consumers are willing to play their role as much as possible. Research by Harvard Business Review found that 65% of buyers wanted to buy from brands that practice or aim for sustainability.

Conclusion

The crisis triggers the transition of ownership from outdated ones to updated ones. The same is the case with the COVID-19 driven socio-economic turmoil. New technologies and approaches always emerge during the crisis, making it an opportunity rather than a hurdle. With the trends mentioned above in the eCommerce sector, 2021-22 will experience a lot of evolution. Is Virtual Reality and face recognition going to affect the way online consumers use to buy? Will people start saving money or start consuming even more once the pandemic is over? Which company is going to be a Top eCommerce giant in the near or far future? These are the questions that come to every curious mind that no one certainly knows, but there will surely be a solution. What are you expecting from the eCommerce industry in 2022? Let us know in the comments below.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitization and boosted eCommerce. Due to the containment measures, consumers move online to make purchases to maintain social distancing. In this article, you'll learn how to start dropshipping store from scratch. The change in behavior and activities of people worldwide is well understood by the fact that in a recent survey conducted by YouGov, 82 percent of people in Hong Kong reportedly avoided crowded places in March. This sudden change in public activity is very disappointing for the retail sector but a piece of good news for the eCommerce industry. After the availability of vaccines for the general public, the world is coming back to old normal, and economies are slowly reopening, but health and safety concerns are still in place. Industry analysts predict that the online shopping trend will remain active.

It is the perfect opportunity to launch your eCommerce dropshipping business with minimum investments and no inventory or logistics. Moreover, you can handle it effectively without leaving the comfort and safety of your home.An eCommerce store with a dropshipping model will allow you to start your business without spending a fortune on inventory, and eradicate the risks associated with large stocks, thereby giving you the freedom to test out different products and ideas in your target market. Since you are not involved in the supply chain, dropshipping will let you focus on more active areas like marketing and growing your business. Dropshipping doesn’t know continents and borders. It will allow you to source products from anywhere in the world and engage customers across the globe. This attribute will enable you to sustain rapid growth and improve the scalability of your business. Another benefit of the dropshipping business is it doesn’t demand your full-time attention. You can continue to handle it in parallel with any other full-time job.

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a kind of retail fulfillment that allows you to sell products without managing your inventory. You remain in touch with dropshipping suppliers and source products to sell on your eCommerce platform. Customers visit your online store, make an order, then forward the order info to the supplier, and the supplier fulfills the order. Unlike traditional online retail businesses, dropshipping releases the burden of fulfilling orders. It allows you to skip the stress and cost of manufacturing products, managing inventory, and shipping to customers. So what’s left behind for you as a dropshipper? You’ll select products, handle marketing campaigns and provide customer service.

How Dropshipping Works

Here’s the fundamental workflow of dropshipping:

• Choose products. Source the desired item/product from independent suppliers or link yourself with a dropshipping marketplace.
• Import items to the online store and set prices. You can enjoy full control over your listings and profit margins.
• Accept customer orders. Shoppers search for the items they want to purchase by checking out and paying on your eCommerce site.
• Forward customer orders to the supplier. Provide the order and shipping detail to the supplier. Then, pay the dropshipping supplier on behalf of your customer.
• Ship and fulfill orders through the supplier. Your supplier ships each order directly to your customers. You can enjoy transparency by getting a tracking number so you can update your customers accordingly. The white label shipping option provided by a supplier allows you to use your branding on the packaging.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Dropshipping

To decide whether dropshipping works for your business or not? Here are some factors that you need to consider:

Why you should start Dropshipping - Advantages

• You can easily start an online store with readily available inventory, as Dropshipping makes filling your storefront easy and handy. You just have to select products, add a payment method, and set up your online eCommerce platform.
• You can easily expand the domain of products that you offer. You don’t need to restrict the number of products you sell. The lack of storage space or what you can manufacture are the areas you don’t need to worry about.
• You can easily dodge upfront inventory costs, whereas dropshipping suppliers handle production and storage costs. It allows you to focus your budget and efforts on core eCommerce aspects like website and marketing.
• You can operate your business from anywhere in the world. You just need a sufficient WiFi connection. You can make sales while resting in the resorts of Maldives or from the beaches of Thailand.
• You can enjoy utmost independence by testing products and quickly adjust your inventory as per the latest trends without any hustle or physical effort. Sourcing products from suppliers make your inventory flexible. For instance, if a specific item is not selling, you can easily switch to another item or product.

Why you should not choose to Dropship - Disadvantages

• You don’t have full control over the quality of a product. In the case of working with independent suppliers, it’s harder to tackle this issue. To ensure suppliers’ reliability, always choose to source from authentic dropshipping marketplaces such as Modalyst or Spocket.
• Customer service tends to be more technical. If you lack knowledge and experience with the products you sell, questions pop up that you don’t know what and how to answer. To curb this issue, ensure rich communication with your suppliers.
• You’ll need to deal with returns & exchanges and handle the refund process independently, depending on your suppliers.
• Shipping costs depend on the supplier’s location, not yours. The further your customers live from where the orders are dispatched, the higher the shipping cost will be. But you can turn this problem into an opportunity. For instance, if you’re located in Europe and your supplier is in the U.S., you can engage U.S based customers by offering less shipping rates.

How to Start Dropshipping

By now, you have a general idea and insight about what dropshipping is. Let’s discuss how you can make it work for you in the more efficient way possible.

Create Your Online Store

Start your dropshipping business with an eCommerce website maker. With online site makers like Wix and Shopify, you can choose from various customizable online store templates. Then, register a unique domain for your site so customers can find you online.

Choose Products to Sell

With hundreds of categories and millions of products to choose from, it can be challenging to filter out your offerings. Check out this article for tips on choosing products to dropship. With niche products, you can sell more effectively to specific audiences. Specific doesn’t necessarily mean small; your niche market can be anything from mountaineers and travelers to the millennial who loves to play games at home. Use tools like Google Trends and Amazon’s bestseller lists to take a deep insight into your customer’s interests and buying patterns. See what they want to buy, find a supplier, and get selling. Tending products are best in terms of earning you more profit. Shift your research to find upcoming products. Since you are dropshipping, you don’t need to worry about overstocking your inventory. If a trend shifts, you can change your suppliers or products as well.

Find a Supplier

Finding independent dropshipping suppliers requires in-depth research and more time. If you’d like to connect with independent sourcing, search for suppliers on Google. But even after choosing the suppliers who seem reliable, having positive reviews, it remains risky to some extent or degree. To make the process hustle-free and widen your product choices, always try to source through a dropshipping marketplace. A dropshipping market allows you to connect to millions of products from authentic wholesalers. Alternatively, you can choose to sell your own branded products via print-on-demand services. Print on demand is a type of dropshipping where the supplier handles order fulfillment and shipping, and the supplier also puts your custom logo or brand title on the packaging.

Add Products to Your Online Store

Customize the product listings on your site. Make product pages with product details, high-quality images, and videos that match your product. Next, set your pricing and shipping rules. Must put your profit margin on the table by setting up your prices after taking wholesale and shipping costs into account. Try to find a grey line that increases your revenue while keeping your products under an affordable price range. Engagement is the key; the more interactive your online platform is, the more time customers spend on your site, making them more likely to buy more. Think like shoppers and view your online store from your customer’s viewpoint to better understand their experience. Improve categorization and layout using filters, categories, and collections for your products.

Promote Your Business

Once you start importing dropshipping items to your storefront, it’s time to initiate a marketing campaign. Boost the reach of your business with a marketing plan that best suits your targeted market or customers.

Focus on these five marketing channels

• Branding: Use a consistent and catchy color scheme to develop your brand identity. Create a clear and memorable logo, write a slogan or title in a language that’s personal and makes relevant to your brand, and makes sense to your shoppers.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Effective SEO makes it easier for customers to find you on Google. Achieve this milestone by using relevant keywords for your business and using key phrases in your site pages and blog content.
• Email Marketing: Attract your subscribers by offering exclusive discounts. Set up an automated email service and remind shoppers what they left in their carts to improve engagement.
• Social Media Marketing: Run marketing campaigns on social media platforms. Upload posts, tips, product photos, and promotional clips to engage your audience.
• Paid Ads: Boost your reach with targeted ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and search engines.

Getting Started with Dropshipping

As we have discussed earlier, the order info is forwarded to the supplier once you receive an order. You pay the supplier for the items. Then, the supplier packages and ships the order directly to your customer. This is what dropshipping is all about. Many suppliers use white label packaging, which means that the product packaging lacks the supplier’s branding. This is ideal for you as your customers won’t confuse you with the supplier. Some dropshipping suppliers will allow you to place your branding on the packaging. Branded packaging boosts trust, appears professional, and helps consumers remember your services.

Myth vs. Reality

Question over Legitimacy

Dropshipping is a fully legal practice. You are selling products with the suppliers’ permission. Ensure honest marketing campaigns and abide by online sales tax laws and other regulations.

Profit vs. Loss

As a dropshipper, you need to maintain a balance between your Investment and revenue. Take into account the wholesale prices of the products as well as your marketing efforts. Price your products so that you are generating more RoI while keeping your costs affordable and reasonable. The key to a smart dropshipping profit margin is aggressive pricing. Undoubtedly, you are eager to cover your investment and boost revenue but keep in mind the competition you can give your rivals by holding your price reasonable is of great importance. Maintain a balance in profit margin that can win you more customers.

Cost Analysis

Three main cost drivers must be taken into account while starting a dropshipping business. Every online platform or site maker costs you a slightly different amount than its counterpart. For instance, let’s take a case with Wix. Wix eCommerce platform plan costs around $17-$35 per month. Website domain costs around $5-$20, depending on your domain name. With Wix, you can enjoy a free domain for the first year when choosing a Premium Plan. Your choices and strategy drive your marketing cost and budget. Each Wix Business and eCommerce Premium Plan possesses built-in and professional marketing tools. Additional expenditure in terms of targeted Facebook Ads can add around $80 per month.

Importance of Dropshipping in 2022

Without managing a warehouse and shipping process, as a dropshipper, you can enjoy utmost independence while taking minimal risk by making small investments. It allows you to experience new markets and product categories without any fear of losing out. If everything works fine, you can easily end up being a successful dropshipper. Be sure to do your research before selecting products entering a new market. Put your best marketing efforts in place and review the aforementioned dropshipping advantages and disadvantages.

Top eCommerce Platforms to Start Dropshipping Business

1. Magento

Needless to mention, Magento has emerged to be one of the most powerful eCommerce platforms for dropshipping. It has two variants: Magento 1 and Magento 2 (Highly recommended), and two editions: Magento Open Source, free, and Magento Commerce, a premium service.

‍Setup time and cost: As mentioned, there are two Magento editions, but the free (open source) edition has enough utilities for starting a dropshipping business. However, you are required to have detailed technical knowledge about developing a Magento dropshipping website, so that you might need to outsource the services of Magento developers. It costs you from $3,000 to 5,000 and took 1-3 months for Magento website development.

‍eCommerce features: No doubt, Magento provides everything a dropshipping business requires, and even more than what you need. By default, a Magento website offers you some interesting utilities like fast page load speed, easy and hurdle-free checkout, well-developed product and catalog page, built-in SEO and marketing tools, comprehensive site management tools, and high-security features.

‍Ease of use: The front end of Magento websites is very user-friendly and interactive. On the other hand, the back-end is very complicated for the administrators who are just dummies without any prior knowledge of web development and management. However, in a short period after using Magento websites with the assistance of comprehensive Magento user guides, the store owners started to monitor their sites effectively and easily.

‍Scalability: Magento is the most scalable eCommerce platform for dropshipping among all the existing models. It allows you to create a great website with a small number of products and also assists you when your business is on summits to new heights. You can add an unlimited number of products, catalogs and handle an unlimited number of orders without any lack or limitation.

‍Support: Due to its wide usage as an eCommerce platform, you can ask for assistance from Magento officials or Magento community forums, social media groups, or even Youtube tutorials. Other than that, if you are unable to find these sources, you can hire a trusted Magento agency to assist you with their customize support packages.To integrate dropshipping option into a Magento website, you will need to install a third-party extension that costs you around $0 to $950.

2. WooCommerce

Another renowned eCommerce platform for dropshipping is WooCommerce.

It is less technical and provides you rich features at the same time.Compared to Magento, it has less advanced eCommerce utilities due to its user-friendly outlook for beginners. However, from the developers’ perspective, this platform is difficult to customize, and most of its functionalities must be enabled by third-party plugins.

‍Setup time and cost: WooCommerce is a free plugin of the WordPress framework. You need to create a WordPress website first and then install the WooCommerce plugin on your store. In practice, it will take fever time to build a WooCommerce site than a Magento if you are a developer. If you lack technical expertise, you might still need the help of web developers. Besides, a WooCommerce website cost is often in the range of $1,500-3,500, but to integrate advanced features in your site, you will have to spend notable expenditure on additional plugins and customized features.

‍eCommerce features: Your WooCommerce website will be equipped with fundamental eCommerce utilities such as product, catalog, and inventory management, pre-installed payment methods, geo-location, shipping charges calculator, multiple shipping methods, discount and coupon codes, sales report, etc. If you want to upgrade your site, there exist more than 75,000 WooCommerce plugins for your custom needs and support.

‍Ease of use: Thanks to the simple and interactive user interface, WooCommerce is very easy to get your hands on. Moreover, the WooCommerce user guide is very detailed, which is a very important and helpful source for the administrators to manage their site professionally.

‍Scalability: WooCommerce is more suitable for small dropshipping businesses. If you are running a medium to a large eCommerce store, opt for Magento. When the number of products on your WooCommerce site increases, its performance will likely drop notably.

‍Support: When you encounter any problem, you can find the remedy by searching on Woo documentation or asking for Woo support.Like Magento, to integrate the dropshipping function to a WooCommerce website, you need to deploy a third-party plugin that can cost you around $50.

3. Shopify

The third name on the list of best dropshipping platforms is Shopify. To date, Shopify has contributed to developing around 600,000 eCommerce platforms around the globe, including dropshipping businesses. Especially, Oberlo, a dropshipping plugin that works exclusively on Shopify. Oberlo helps you search for products to sell from Oberlo Verified Suppliers, Oberlo suppliers, or AliExpress suppliers.

‍Setup time and cost: You are required to pay Shopify a monthly fee in exchange for its services, which range from $30 to $300 per month. Besides, you might have to buy the theme for the website. Among 100 Shopify themes to select from, only 10 of them are free. Apart from that, there is a dark side to using Shopify as it will charge you a certain amount per sale if you integrate an external payment method instead of Shopify Payments. As far as time is concerned, that is required for setting up the website; this is a main advantage of Shopify that it takes only a few hours or days to create and launch a new Shopify store.

‍eCommerce Features: In general, Shopify provides a variety of useful features for dropship eCommerce businesses, from theme settings, products, orders, and customer management, online payments, multiple languages and currencies, unlimited hosting, SEO, etc.

‍Ease of Use: If you lack technical knowledge, Shopify might be a good decision. It does not take a lot of time for you to get used to this platform. To develop a website, you just need to register by signing up, selecting a package, choosing the desired theme, and starting customizing it as per your feasibility.

‍Scalability: It is a highly scalable platform. You can easily scale up or down your business by choosing from a variety of packages.Support: It offers multiple support mediums via email, phone, live chat, community forum. However, some users argue that live chat is just a chatbot service intended to collect our email information rather than helping us.

4. OpenCart

OpenCart is a free eCommerce platform for drop shipping that you must put on the table. Magento and OpenCart also share many similarities, such as free, open-source, powerful, and more appropriate for technical users than beginners. But keep in mind, the Magento community is larger and far more robust than that of OpenCart.

‍Setup time and cost: It is an open-source and free to deploy eCommerce platform. Additionally, you can get lifetime free support and free software updates when OpenCart is your dropshipping eCommerce platform. The major cost comes from hiring web developers to create your online store, and it will take around two months for your web development.

‍eCommerce Features: The utilities provided by OpenCart include unlimited products and categories, support for different currencies, integrated payment methods, a variety of shipping methods, backup tools and restore mechanisms, detailed sales reports, etc.

‍Ease of Use: OpenCart is preferred for those having a certain degree of web development experience and knowledge. It does not necessarily mean that OpenCart is hard for the beginner to learn how to use the platform; the user-friendly and clean interface is very helpful for front-end users.

‍Scalability: It is not scalable as it is more suitable for small to medium-sized businesses.

‍Support: To get help from OpenCart, you can create a ticket or email the support team. You can also visit the OpenCart community forum to ask other members for help.There is a variety of OpenCart dropshipping plugins in the market, starting from $100.

5. BigCommerce

Last but not the least, BigCommerce has empowered around 50,000 eCommerce websites around the globe. Like Shopify, BigCommerce provides several monthly plans, ranging from $30 to $250.

‍Setup time and cost: BigCommerce offers three packages, namely Standard, Plus, and Pro. Also, it provides an enterprise version with an undisclosed price. You have to connect with the BigCommerce team to discover their custom pricing. Apart from that, it is quick and easy to develop a website on the BigCommerce Platform. What you need to sign up for an account, select a theme and start customizing your store. BigCommerce offers 15 days free trial; after that, you have to buy a specific package to continue using the services.

‍eCommerce Features: BigCommerce provides all essential eCommerce utilities for you to start with, such as order management, products, and catalogs creation, support for multiple payment methods, marketing features, etc. It has integrated features of ShipperHQ and ShipStation for shipping services and Avalara for tax automation.

‍Ease of Use: It is not much complex for non-technical users. After selecting a certain theme, you can easily customize it as you wish without any technical knowledge or skill.

‍Scalability: Due to the availability of monthly plans, you can easily scale up your fast-growing businesses over time by opting BigCommerce platforms for dropshipping.Like Shopify, BigCommerce provides support via email, live chat, phone, and community forum. Another way for you to seek assistance in finding the solutions is using BigCommerce Resource Center.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that you’ve only figured out how to start a dropshipping store; now you need to figure out on your own how to take it to the extreme summits. Owning dropshipping eCommerce business is about improving your sales, customer engagement, and, most importantly, yourself. To run a successful dropshipping store, you’ll need to focus your marketing efforts via ads, blog creation, and attracting an audience on social media platforms. These three areas can have a potential impact on your business in the long run. Right now, you need to improve your reach and showcase your brand for everyone out there to visit and explore. Make a bucket list of tasks that you want to accomplish with your eCommerce business, but first, start the learning process. Ensure consistency and begin by investing one hour daily to improve your dropshipping store so that you can further customize your website, explore new ways to skyrocket sales, and continue learning how to maintain consistent growth. With hard work, dedication, and a sales push on your side; there are endless possibilities and opportunities for you to discover. Never forget why you started the dropshipping business in the first place, and let that motivation drive your determination.

With plenty of channels and platforms available for digital marketing in the global digital village, it is getting tougher to pick the right strategy among the variety of digital marketing strategies and tactics you can deploy in your ecommerce marketing to maximize engagement and ROI. For instance, consider eCommerce marketing — How it involves platforms like social media, content, SEO, and email marketing?

eCommerce marketing and digital marketing are not entirely the same areas. But eCommerce stores can integrate all digital mediums to promote a product online and boost RoI.

eCommerce Marketing Techniques for eCommerce Store

This eCommerce marketing blog post will allow you to dive deep into the ocean of the digital world to extract mediums and strategies that enable you to reach new summits of the eCommerce domain. Now, let's discuss the platforms and channels that allow you to grow your online business, attract more traffic, and boost engagement.

‍Social Media If you think handling your social media effectively is as easy as posting content once a day, you underestimate the liabilities and responsibilities. When it comes to social media, your ecommerce marketing strategy needs you to develop a proper strategy.

Every social media platform has a certain target audience. For instance, if you’re selling cosmetic products, you certainly won’t be able to drive your sales from LinkedIn. Instead, you have your attention and efforts on visual platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Instagram will be more likely to improve your engagement. For best-performing ads, Facebook is the answer. And you might attract a lot of customers from Pinterest, which you can re-engage with Facebook ads later. After analyzing and evaluating which platform best serves your purpose as per your market segment and target audience, it’s now time to gear up for your marketing strategies. Such as the type of content you post, the tactics you can execute to accelerate your growth game, and how frequently you should post.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Is there anything else that can prove to be more powerful at driving traffic to a website than social media? You must not underestimate the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It won’t bring you desired results in a single click. Keep in mind; marketing strategies aren’t about short-term goals. All these techniques demand utter patience, a long-term mindset, and consistency. Most immature retailers focus on immediate gratification when it comes to setting up their eCommerce websites. But if you want to keep your budget as low as possible and have fruitful outcomes, in the long run, SEO is the key. The fact about SEO is that it’s not necessarily meant for selecting keywords for a specific niche but expanding your process and impact a little bit. For instance, if you have a store related to fitness products, you wouldn’t only focus on keywords related to fitness and training. You’d also focus on keywords related to a balanced diet, keto diet, health, etc.

The reason is SEO is all about attracting new customers, not just sticking to the existing ones. By generating content like weight loss programs, diet plans, food supplements, you can still introduce the concept of fitness as a combined result of exercise, diet, and a healthy routine. It allows you to expand your domain and attract a diverse audience who could still be interested in buying from you. Add SEO tools like Plug-In SEO or SEO Manager so you can regularly perform quality and plagiarism checks on your online store’s SEO. These tools reveal the performance of your content and notify you of any SEO blunders you make unconsciously. For instance, duplicate content can result in penalization by Google, which results in your elimination from visibility in search engines and hence reducing your traffic.

Content Marketing

One of the most renowned marketing strategies used for ecommerce marketing in today’s time is content marketing. Your content can be of any type, from blog posts to ebooks, videos, short clips, surveys, and podcasts, etc. Content marketing allows you to engage more audiences while keeping your budget low. But it serves as a trigger factor for a much broader chain reaction; no sudden serving will be offered here. It means that not everyone will be convinced to purchase from your store the first time they visit your website. However, your content can serve as a relationship builder. The more content someone comes into contact with, the more attached the likely customer becomes with your brand and online presence.

In the long run, that familiarity will serve as a law of attraction. Like SEO, it’s like test cricket, not a one-day inning. Content marketing has more to offer rather than just acquisition. It can also educate your customers so that they can adjust their mindset and presence within the niche. For example, if your store is related to cosmetic products, you can create makeup tutorials and beauty hacks kind of videos. This will help your customers look more beautiful using your products and keep them on board to use your product. In the future, whenever customers want to buy a similar product, they’ll be more likely to purchase from you as content marketing boosts customer retention too. Stick to the bottom-to-top approach as the most successful blogs and websites started for a very specific market and became broader as their audience grew. Doing the opposite won’t produce promising results.

Boost Product Visualization

Consumers want to acquire as much information as they can before making a purchase. Not only that, but they like to use a visual approach. Using some unique product visualization techniques can effectively and easily show off your products to the consumers to look at the details without reading descriptions and specifications. Leverage tools that enable customers to zoom in get a 360° spin view of your product, and add roll-over, pop-up info tools are very helpful in improving user experience. Keep in mind the customer’s perspective; give as many utilities and interaction ease as possible to boost engagement and enhance the shopping experience.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can cast a notable shadow on your eCommerce business plan. It can collect data, extract useful patterns from it, and precisely predict customer behavior based on past experiences. Statistical approaches in AI such as Predictive analysis and association rules modeling provide valuable insight and intelligent solutions to manage your eCommerce business effectively and improve customer’s experience. You can collect data to predict unforeseen future events and hidden insights to divert your attention and operations as per the plausible challenges and meet customer’s demands. The better the experience for your customers, the more likely they will be to buy from you in the future, recommend your products, and provide positive reviews. You can also use the AI model to improve your logistics and supply chain process to satisfy customer experience from purchase to delivery. Competitive-edge Product Filtering With more products comes more management. You require advanced product filtering tools with increasing product items and categories in your store. No one has time to search your entire website based on a world full of hustle and alternatives. To provide ease, you have to provide your customers with the options to shop on their terms and find what they need in as few clicks as possible.

A fact is 42% of e-commerce sites are not using advanced filtering tools, and you can gain a competitive edge over the rivals by having a desirable site for customers to find what they need without wasting much of their time and effort. The more categorized and filtered store layout you offer, the easier it is for them to shop and improve customer engagement.

Automate using Chatbots

Again, this is AI in action, but it needs to be discussed as a separate methodology. Chatbots may be the first point of contact that can improve the customer experience. Being readily available to answer queries brings so much ease on the customer's end. You can readily resolve issues and clear your way to the shopping cart. Chatbots make it easy to interact with customers in a very human manner without being involved all the time and, in turn, offer a customized experience that can notably cast an impact on sales. Chatbots not only serve as excellent customer service providers but provide up-selling options on the spot while notifying customers about a discount or deal if available.

Reduce Cart Abandonment

You will most likely encounter cart abandonment if a customer gets to check out and finds the delivery options do not suit their needs. More than 70% of the time, it happens due to additional shipping fees. Other reasons for abandonment involve bitter user experience due to complex checkout processes, a requirement to sign up, and substandard website performance such as slow loading and crashes. One of the most effective ways to address this issue is to introduce an email recovery strategy. When someone abandons a cart, you can send emails to encourage customers to complete their orders. According to Sales Cycle, almost 50 percent of recovery emails are opened, and around 30 to 40 percent result in a completed purchase.

Personalization

Predicting what customers are likely to buy is a step towards success. Understanding your customers’ behavior and buying habits can predict what they are more likely to buy. All of this information improves their shopping experience. A big part of personalization involves local approaches that make people feel connected. This is also a strategy that can help you improve delivery services based on the demographics of your customers and their proximity to your warehouses. Personalization or customization can also help you sell items as per the climatic conditions. You can show customers in the south a different set of products than those in the colder north as per their current climatic conditions. Moreover, you can showcase different products to different customers based on their culture and traditions in cross-border sales.

Collaborations and Partnerships

Brand collaborations or partnerships can allow you to lift your business to new summits. Marketing strategies like collaboration enable you to lift your business by stepping into the domain of other brands. Most perceive brands in similar market segments as rivals, but they can be considered the necessary alliances. For instance, if two brands target the same audience but offer different product categories, they grow together by co-creating content or launching a joint product. By targeting another brand’s existing customers, you can expand the domain of your market campaign; you can target a bigger audience and turn this opportunity into success. Another aspect of collaboration is Influencer marketing, as it allows you to capitalize by making a deal with influencers to grow your business. This strategy serves well if you have a small audience and want a sudden surge in engagement. Choosing an influencer is not about choosing a random attractive person with a maximum number of followers. Before choosing an influencer, dig deeper into the data and keep in mind that:

• They have the right audience
• They are uncontroversial
• They are politically unbiased
• They represent your brand positively

Conclusion

You can find various eCommerce marketing strategies out there, but the methodologies mentioned above and strategies effectively boost RoI, improve customer experience, and improve engagement. anging from budget-friendly and instantaneous to those that will let you outperform in months and require thousands of dollars to implement, these all strategies are effective in their way. Keep in mind; your eCommerce marketing strategy should not rely on a single source but involve various methodologies that allow you to capitalize by targeting the right market and audience effectively.

Introduction

Magento is one of the largest and most successful ecommerce platforms. Since Magento is a feature-loaded platform, it can be difficult to navigate, but you can find solutions to most Magento related problems if you know where to look (Yes, a guide like this one). 

There are problems that everyone encounters when they work with an e-commerce platform, and some of them are complex problems, while others may be easier to solve. Only because you work with a powerful and complex platform like Magento doesn't mean you can't solve the problem without an expert.

I have mentioned the most typical Magento issues and have also provided the appropriate solutions to make things easier for you.I will discuss the common issues in the Magento 2 version in the current blog post, along with their helpful solutions for Magento store owners, Magento developers, and Magento development companies.

14 Common Magento Issues and Their Smart Solutions

I’ve listed down possible Magento issues (particularly with Magento 2 – technical and non-technical) along with their solutions, feel free to add a problem (with or without its solution) in the comments section below and I’ll add the helpful ones in the list below.

1. Re-Indexing of URLs
2. PHP Configuration and Extension Settings
3. PHP Settings Errors
4. System Error Upon an Extension Installation
5. Version Incompatibility of Magento 2
6. Reset Admin Password
7. CSS Cache
8. Clear Cache
9. Magento 2 – Slow Load Time
10. Setting Up a Blog in Magento 2
11. 404 Error for CSS and Scripts
12. No Graphics is Displayed After Installation of Magento 2
13. Enable SEO Friendly URLs
14. Setting Up a Contact Us Form in the Magento Website

Re-Indexing of URLs

Most users have problems with this system message in Magento 2: "One or more indexes are completely invalid". You can fix it by properly running a Cron Job Or by running the following command in the root directory of your Magento 2;

php bin/magento indexer:reindex

PHP Configuration and Extension Settings

PHP extension and configuration settings are among the most common problems in Magento 2. Just re-configure the php.ini settings to resolve this problem.

PHP Settings Errors 

Another common problem concerns the error on the PHP memory cap. While readiness tests allow at least 1 GB of memory set aside for PHP operations, it is best to retain at least 2 GB in order to avoid problems. Change the value of the memory limit to 2 GB, to increase the memory limit.

System Error Upon an Extension Installation

Check the system requirements for the extensions before running, and updating them, and make sure to get it right.

Version Incompatibility of Magento 2

Verify that your Magento version matches the versions mentioned on the Vendor's module website. If you wish to download an extension made for a later version than yours, there may be an error. So make sure that your web store is up-to-date and download only the modules built to run on your version of the application.

Reset Admin Password

If you have forgotten your Magento 2 admin password and want to fix it as soon as possible, then the easiest way is to update the phpMyAdmin password. Open your database on Magento 2 and find the table admin user. Now the new password will override your old password.

CSS Cache

Some users have problems updating the CSS but that doesn't affect the front page. This is because of the cache. Just run these commands in your root directory for Magento 2 one by one.

rm -rf var/di/* var/generation/* var/cache/* var/log/* var/page_cache/* var/session/* var/view_preprocessed/* pub/static/*

php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy

php bin/magento cache:clean

php bin/magento cache:flush

Clear Cache

Some Magento 2 users run into problems when updating, and the front-end pages do not display the updates. This is because of the cache, which has to be cleared so Magento uses your most updated settings. Clearing the cache also makes the website run more swiftly.

Magento 2 – Slow Load Time

By default, Magento 2 doesn't run slowly. If you find Magento 2 running slow, there are ways to make it better. Firstly, ensure that your server and device specifications are up-to-date, use the latest versions. Use completely optimized photos, allow cache, issue free extensions, and more.

Following points can help your Magento based ecommerce website perform better;

• Reconfigure JavaScript and CSS settings
• Upgrade Magento to the latest version
• Enable Varnish Cache
• Set flat categories and products to increase the read speed of the database
• Set up Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Optimize images and themes

Many inexperienced Magento users underestimate their Magento store's speed and tend to lose their potential customers and conversion rates. If you want to get more quality leads, speed optimization is critical.

By allowing its Compilation feature you can boost the speed of your Magento shop. It would increase the efficiency on page loads from 25 percent to 50 percent.

To enable the Magento Compilation function, go to your admin area > System >Tools > Compilation > click on Run Compilation Process.

Setting Up a Blog on Magento 2

Magento 2 does not have any features to build a blog but a well-designed blog can add brand value and attract more traffic to your website. You need to use extensions to create a blog for your Magento website.

In Magento Connect you will find several extensions that will help you set up a blog in minutes. Magento Blog - Community Version for the same reason is one of the most recommended free extensions.

You can see an extra section at the top of your admin area called Blog, after installing the extension. From there, you can change the blog settings, add, remove, or build posts yourself.

404 Error for CSS and Scripts

When you get a 404 error in static resources for scripts and CSS, this can happen even if you are not in the development mode, Magento 2 generates symlinks for certain static resources. Go to app/etc/di.xml to solve the problem, and find the section called virtual Type name="developerMaterialization. Here the element name="view preprocessed "should be changed or removed Change the content from

MagentoFrameworkAppViewAssetMaterializationStrategySymlink

to MagentoFrameworkAppViewAssetMaterializationStrategyCopy.

Additionally, deleting the folders in pub/static can clear all existing symlinks. But be careful! Do not remove the file .htaccess.

No Graphics is Displayed After Installation of Magento 2

The path to photos and stylesheets is possibly inaccurate as a result of a rewrite of an incorrect base URL or an inappropriate server. First, to solve the problem, make sure your static assets are correctly located (in the directories frontend and adminhtml under < your Magento, install dir>/pub / static/). Then search the rewrite settings on your Apache server and the base URL on your Magento site. Failure to set the AllowOverride directive will prevent the program from retrieving static files.

In addition, the magento setup: static-content: deploy command can be used to deploy static view files in production mode. Only the command can function in any mode up to version of Magento 2.2. However, starting from Magento 2.2 edition, add -f key: magento setup: static-content: deploy -f in case you need to deploy it in the developer mode.

Enable SEO Friendly URLs

You can easily enable the SEO friendly URLs in Magento;

• Log in to your Admin area of Magento 
• Click on the Setup button 
• Now click on the left panel on "Web" 
• Click the tab Search Engines Optimization and turn to Use Web Server Rewriting by marking "Yes." 
• To allow search engine friendly URLs in Magento, click on the "Save Config" button.
  

Setting Up a Contact Us Form in the Magento Website

By design, Magento has the features of a contact form. Normally a link to a contact form is shown on your Magento store's footer, but you can add it to any page in your web store. 

Set It up with following steps;

• Sign in to the Admin area
• CMS Access > Pages
• Select a page to edit, or create a new one.
• Now paste the following section, using the WYSIWYG editor's HTML option:

<!– CONTACT FORM CODE BEGIN–>{{block type='core/template' name='contactForm' template='contacts/form.phtml'}}<!– CONTACT FORM CODE END–>

Conclusion 

Developing and maintaining a Web store in Magento can be a crucial challenge, particularly for startups. You might experience several obstacles and this blog post included some of the common and potential errors, challenges with their solutions that you could face while working on the Magento website.

Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any queries setting up the Magento store or need custom Magento development for your business.

Introduction

In this article, I’ll guide you through the major differences between Magento 1 and Magento 2 that will allow you understand each version better and get a clear idea, if you are planning to launch your e-commerce store on either version. This guide will help you answer all the comparison related questions between the two versions of the Magento platform. 

Although Magento 1 has built a loyal following, it wasn't without its problems. Magento 2 was released to fix some of those issues but was met with mixed reviews itself.

Magento 1 and Magento 2 are not singular variants of Magento, adding to the possible ambiguity. Magento also has Enterprise Editions. Unlike Magento Community Version (now open-source Magento), the Enterprise version is not available for free. The high price tag, however, comes with the benefits of deployment, setup, and technical support for bigger companies.

Lets start with a few global usage statistics of Magento.

Magento Usage Statistics

These 2020 Magento statistics are intended to familiarize you with important platform-related aspects including its global use, popularity growth, and the key reasons behind this growth.

Magento has been a member of Adobe since mid-2018, and resources from the parent company are expected to draw on the strengths of the platform and make it an even bigger ecommerce trend. There is a fair chance that your company will also profit from Magento.

On average, merchants who use Magento grow 3 times faster

• Magento empowers 1.2 percent websites on the internet
• This constitutes 12 percent of all ecommerce websites
• Or 1.9% of the CMS market
• These figures are likely to rise as the adoption of Magento almost doubled between 2017 and 2018
• More than 250,00 active sites use Magento, to be precise
• Of those just 11,000 runs on Magento 2

Magento 1 Vs Magento 2 Essential Differences

• Architecture
• Speed & Performance
• Extensions
• Dashboard
• SEO
• Security
• Pricing
• Support

Summary:

A widely mentioned problem was the store performance in Magento 1. In Magento 2 this was taken care of. This major shift is the result of introducing a bunch of advanced technologies such as Apache, Symfony, Nginx 1.7, and even Composer.

Simply put, Magento 2 supports the latest versions of PHP, which implement improved security protections and increase the speed of the online store.

Speed and Performance: Magento 1 Vs Magento 2

Thanks to caching (Varnish) and database optimization, Magento is superior to its rivals on the page load speed or query execution time. This is also a significant improvement on Magento 2 that many Magento 1 users face.

• Magento 2 supports the new PHP version (starting with PHP 5.5x), which also includes PHP 7. These updates provide security patches, as well as new upgrades.
• In Magento 2 the loading time is from 2 to 3 seconds faster than the regular edition. Magento 2 loads homepage pages, category pages, and product pages in less than 1.5 seconds, even without using the caching tool.
• Page information is shown more easily. Users won't have to wait when browsing the main content to load the entire website.
• On the server-side, a module for clearing the Cache is added to Magento 2. Thus users should not install a 3rd party module as they did in Magento 1.
• Magento 2 minimizes and bundles JavaScript, thereby reducing unwanted customer activity.
• Compress photos: Magento 2 creates tools to compress images directly on the server, rather than manually on Magento 1.
• Improved the method of managing the cache using the static content.

Summary: In Magento 2 load speed is an obvious difference factor. Magento 2 provides a much greater load speed than Magento 1. This is because Magento provides full-page caching in both the Community and Business versions.

Note: Magento 2 has substantial improvements, the store performance would still need to be proactively optimized. It is also important to remember that the consistency of the Magento hosting impacts the overall performance of the store considerably. The new technology helps a little, but if you don't use quality hosting, your performance of the store will suffer.

Extensions

There are several third-party extensions available on the Magento 1 market. However, even for experienced developers, installing Magento 1 extension will take a great deal of time. Also, conflicts between the Magento 1 extensions are manually resolved which takes time and effort.

For Magento 2, the plugins allow code to overlap core code instead of overriding code. Therefore, the process has become more straightforward as well as the development of the frontend, and thanks to HTML5, Less, require.js, and CSS3 the layout can be changed easier too.

Dashboard

Unlike the cluttered design of Magento 1, the Magento 2 admin panel is more intuitive, user-friendly, and interactive, with a clean, sleek interface. As a result, shop owners with little technological experience can easily run their Magento 2 stores.

Magento 2 has a robust dashboard, displaying previous, current and average orders, lifetime retail revenue, keywords for top search, income tax, and bestsellers. It is easy to search for details, and more convenient to navigate to Magento 2 menus.

SEO

SEO is one of the online stores vital factors; you ll never forget to set up SEO on your website. For that, you can get an expert SEO consultancy from a renowned SEO agency for more result-oriented practices, when it comes to Magento. Magento 1.X gets some bugs in SEO, and most of them are patched in Magento 2 while developing. Magento 2 ‘s popular SEO Features include:

• Duplication Content: Magento 2 includes a Canonical tag to prevent content duplication. It is located at Stores > Setup > Inventory > Inventory > Optimization of search engine.
• HTML Sitemap: Magento 2 doesn't support HTML Sitemap development. To solve the problem, you can install Mage plaza SEO.
• XML Sitemap: XML sitemap is a file containing location information about all the web pages and assets. Go to Store > Settings > Setup > Catalog > XML Sitemap to allow the XML sitemap.
• Alt Product Photos: Adding alt photos to product images can also help improve search engine rankings. Go to Catalog > Products > pick one Product > add Alt in the field Images and Videos.
• Robots.txt File: Enable webmasters to be more versatile in enabling search engine (SE) robots to index the website pages and content. Go to Content > Design > Configuration > Edit one Store > Search Engine Robots to change your Robots.txt in Magento 2.
• Meta Title, Meta Definition, Meta Keyword: Magento 2 enables administrators to add Meta tags for each Product and Category. 
• Search Engine Friendly URLs: The easiest way to allow SEO-friendly URLs is to go to Stores > Configuration > General > Site > Search Engine Optimization and turn on Web Server Rewriting.
• Mobile-Friendly: Magento 2 is excellently optimized for the Mobiles. It is also a ranking factor.

Security

Users are highly worried about their data protection and are reluctant to purchase from an ecommerce store that they don't believe in.

Since Magento 1's official support ended on 30 June 2020, there has been a rise in the number of attacks and vulnerabilities after the release of the last security patch.

On the other hand, not only has Magento 2 enhanced performance but it has robust protection and stability as well. The hashing algorithms for passwords (SHA-256) have been improved, and as a result, passwords are now more resilient to the known types of attacks.

Pricing

The community edition of Magento is Free to use. There is a difference between the two versions.

• Magento EE license cost: starts at $18,000/year
• Cost of Magento 2 EE: starts at $22,000/year

Support

Magento 1 was developed back in 2009 using the technology available back then. Magento will support Magento 1 until 30 June 2020 and will stop updating and issuing security updates after the deadline. 

By comparison, Magento 2 supports all recent developments in ecommerce and online markets, such as voice search, speed & efficiency improvements, UI / UX, AI, and lean application footprint. The dev team continues to add features like page builder, PWA integration, advanced reporting, expanded cache support, and automated code management.

Why Should You Upgrade to Magento 2? 

The above-discussed factor must have answered this question. If not, then feel free to get in touch with us for consultation.

You must upgrade for the support, better User-Interface and User-Experience, fast-loading, sleek dashboard,  and overall upgraded platform your business deserves.

How Much Does It Cost to Upgrade to Magento 2?

Magento 2 is slightly more expensive than Magento 1. The price is around $22,000 per year compared to $18,000 per year for Magento 1, complemented by free community editions.

An important question to ask is whether the cost of upgrading from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is worth its value. The answer eventually boils down to your needs, the number of transactions, the inventory size you are showcasing, traffic, SEO significance, and the importance of user-experience. 

But we will argue, YES, it is. Magento 2 will make your e-commerce website faster, scalable, and will contribute to more transactions. A recent update by google tells us that the user experience and load time are two of the most critical factors for SEO ranking. 

Magento 2’s price is accompanied by advantages of installation, customized configuration, and technical support for companies planning on using it.

Conclusion

If you are planning long-term, then you must not think too much about migrating the Magento 2 as it provides all the right resources and tools to help your e-commerce become a successful one. 

Magento 2 is a product of a decadeas experience and wisdom of Adobe, who acquired Magento in 2018.

Let me know in the comments sections below about your experience with Magento and which of its features are your favorite.  

March is here & in Pakistan, ’Tis the season of LAWN. Some brands have launched their collections and other plans to launch soon. Brands are advertising heavily on all channels including TV, Radio & Digital in order to capitalize on the hype. Everyone wants to stay on top of consumer’s minds.

At Shopistan, we excel in providing Ecommerce Solutions to our clients, efficiently managing their spending to maximize ROI. We strive to deliver maximum performance and in e-commerce, performance is synonyms to PURCHASE. Our core strategy for this season is to focus on the Pay for Conversion model. This model allows advertisers to only pay when there is a conversion contrary to the other bidding in which the system charges on impressions or click.

Pay for conversion model also allows advertisers to deliver the results at the lowest possible cost. The ad account must have more than 100 conversions in the last 30 days to use pay for conversions. Also, the ad acct needs 90% of your conversions to occur within less than 7 days after someone clicks your ad.

This should be the go-to strategy for any e-commerce business because it’s aligned with the retail’s core objective. We applied this approach on Beechtree a while back and its success was mentioned by Google in a recent e-commerce case-study. Read point 3 “connect with your customer at different stages of their purchase journey”.

By using pay for conversion we were able to automate our campaigns and reduce the advertising cost. The system uses machine learning to target the audience, we don’t have to create audiences.

Online shopping is rising so quickly that the global online shopping market size is expected to cross 4 trillion in 2021. These stats give attention to the debate on the best ecommerce platforms. While some people prefer Shopify Plus, some side with Magneto 2, and others enjoy their ecommerce experience on WooCommerce.

Are you also confused about selecting the best ecommerce platform among these? We are here to knock that confusion away by getting into the details of all these platforms in this article. Let's take a look at the market share of the best ecommerce platforms.

Best ecommerce Platforms Market Share in 2020

• Woocommerce: 32%
• Squarespace Commerce: 17%
• Shopify: 15%
• Magento: 4%
• Wix Stores: 4%
• Others: 28%

Now, let’s analyze each of these best e-commerce platforms individually:

Shopify Plus

Shopify provides cloud-based ecommerce platform to a large number of businesses. It is quite popular with small-scale businesses, but it also powers big ecommerce organizations.Shopify emerged as one of the most successful startups in 2006. There are currently over 500,000 stores on its platform, including Tesla Motors, Wikipedia, Mozilla, and Google.

Image Source: IceCubeDigital

Shopify stores are operated by the ecommerce business itself, unlike Wix, Squarespace, and Magneto. Although Shopify needs less maintenance than alternatives such as WooCommerce, it can still be a little more costly and constrained in certain situations. Shopify is a CMS, like WordPress, made to build online stores. It is very easy to use and can be handled effectively by a non-technical person. It lets your store go live in less than 20 minutes with a working e-commerce shop. The shop's personalization is as simple as possible. You can render any look for your website and bring in the vibe you want.

Image Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Shopify Plus is a "Pro" edition of Shopify, a publicly-traded Canadian-based business e-commerce website that originated to support small retailers. With its ability to automate complicated technologies and still maintain product lists of up to 100 variants through many platforms, Shopify Plus is one of the strongest ecommerce applications for business enterprises. Shopify Plus provides more technological assistance, onboarding and automation resources for facilitating the process of products.

Shopify Plus gives you the following benefits:

• A Secure and Fully Hosted Platform
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• Shopify Plus Customisation
• Time-Saving
• Better Scalability

Although Shopify provides the basic tools that retailers need to start and develop in e-commerce, Shopify Plus is the answer to consumers who have grown significantly larger than their expectations and want to expand without spending large amounts of time, money, and energy.

Magneto 2

Magento is an ecommerce platform made for medium to large online stores. It provides one of the most durable feature sets, making it perfect for aspiring online stores. Magento is among the most scalable website designing tools in the world. However, it needs a lot of developer expertise and substantial investment. If anyone has no programming background, he should not opt for Magento as it is not recommended for beginners. It's best for businesses that have good budgets.

Image Source: AlanStorm

The Magento UI is considered by developers to be very practical since there is a simple, easy configuration and the Navigation Menu includes clients, items, promotions, sales, and reports. Magento Open Source includes the following features:

• Mobile-optimized shopping
• Instant purchase
• Global selling
• Site search
• Extended Functionality via App marketplace
• Integrated checkout, payment, and shipping
• Customization options available
• Catalog management

Image Source: MagePlaza

Magento provides ecommerce store owners with protection and security, which is a core priority for online stores. Being one of the most used ecommerce platforms, Magento has a broad customer base that helps enterprises get quick support.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the most common tool of building an eCommerce store with a 32% market share placing it at #1 in the e-commerce market share list of 2020.

Automattic bought WooCommerce in May 2015 for $30 million, according to the reported deal.

Automattic is the company behind WordPress.com as well. WooCommerce is the perfect ecommerce platform for small companies who already own a WordPress site. It is also ideal for those who want a comprehensive web store but are on a budget. It also has tons of third-party themes and plugins, making it versatile to meet most requirements.

Image Source: WordPress

The free version includes the following features:

• Mobile-optimized shopping
• Inventory management
• Search engine optimization
• Shipping options and calculator
• Catalog management
• Product reviews
• Coupons and discounts
• Geo-location support

Even though the UI of WooCommerce is very simple, you need to have the basic HTML or CSS experience to run and maintain your online store on this platform. It also includes SSL support. However, it requires you to obtain your own certificate.

Image Source: NextCart

Being an open-source solution, it gives you a lot of features on its free version. However, you may enjoy its advanced features like product comparisons, pop-up notifications for the latest orders placed, multiple payment methods, products displayed before purchasing, quick browsing, etc.

Which one is the best ecommerce platform among Shopify Plus, Magneto 2, and WooCommerce?

Regardless of your businesses' size, you can get numerous benefits by selecting the right e-commerce solution. Moving to a different platform will result in high costs and require many efforts, hard work, and time. So, it is wise to choose the right e-commerce platform for your business in the very beginning. Many considerations play a role in assessing which eCommerce platform to use. It depends on your technological expertise, budget, the scale of your business, and appropriate features required. That being said, you may pick the desired e-commerce platform as follows:

• You should choose Shopify Plus if you have little technical knowledge and are merely searching for the best way to start your shop with unlimited bandwidth.
• Go for Magento 2 if your budget is not restricted and you are looking for a strong place to launch your large store.
• If you want to learn to do your stuff yourself and want an option that can expand your business without compromising its potential, you should opt for WooCommerce.

Conclusion

A specific ecommerce platform could take one business to the top and may restrict another one. So, choosing the best ecommerce platform for your store depends upon your requirements, budget, user interface, and many other factors. Carefully analyze your needs and then proceed with testing an ecommerce solution. After testing, opt for the one that you feel is the best for your specific business needs.