Monday, October 21, 2013

How SEO Works and Benefits of SEO


How SearchEngine Works ?

Search engines perform several activities in order to deliver search results
·         Crawling - is the process of fetching all the web pages linked to a web site. This task is performed by a software, called a crawler or a spider (or Googlebot, as is the case with Google).
·       
          Indexing - is the process of creating index for all the fetched web pages and keeping them into a giant database from where it can later be retrieved. Essentially, the process of indexing is identifying the words and expressions that best describe the page and assigning the page to particular keywords.
·       
          Processing - When a search request comes, the search engine processes it . i.e. it compares the search string in the search request with the indexed pages in the database.
·      
        Calculating Relevancy - Since it is likely that more than one pages contains the search string, so the search engine starts calculating the relevancy of each of the pages in its index to the search string.

·     
       Retrieving Results - The last step in search engines' activities is retrieving the best matched results. Basically, it is nothing more than simply displaying them in the browser.


What is Search Engine Rank?

When you search any keyword using a search engine then it displays thousands of results found in its database. A page ranking is measured by the position of web pages displayed in the search engine results. If Search engine is putting your web page on first position then your web page rank will be number 1 and it will be assumed as with a high rank.

What is on-page and off-page SEO

Conceptually, there are two ways of doing SEO
On-Page SEO- This includes provding good content, good keywords selection. putting keywords on correct places, giving appropriate title to every page etc.
·         Off-Page SEO - This includes link building, increasing link popularity by submitting in open directories, search engines, link exchange etc.

      Retail Insights || +91 7795001231||sales@theretailinsights.com||skype:retailinsights
 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Search Engine Optimization


SEO Stands for Search Engine Optimization, SEO is all about optimizing a web site for Search Engines.
SEO is the process of designing and developing a web site to rank well in search engine results.
SEO is to improve the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines.SEO is a subset of search engine marketing.SEO is the art of ranking in the search engines.SEO is marketing by understanding how search algorithms work and what human visitors might search.

If you plan to do some basic SEO, it is essential that you understand how search engines work and which items are most important in SEO.

How SearchEngine Works ?


Search engines perform several activities in order to deliver search results
www.theretailinsights.com Crawling - is the process of fetching all the web pages linked to a web site. This task is performed by a software, called a crawler or a spider (or Googlebot, as is the case with Google).

Indexing - is the process of creating index for all the fetched web pages and keeping them into a giant database from where it can later be retrieved. Essentially, the process of indexing is identifying the words and expressions that best describe the page and assigning the page to particular keywords.

Processing - When a search request comes, the search engine processes it . i.e. it compares the search string in the search request with the indexed pages in the database.

Calculating Relevancy - Since it is likely that more than one pages contains the search string, so the search engine starts calculating the relevancy of each of the pages in its index to the search string.

Retrieving Results - The last step in search engines' activities is retrieving the best matched results. Basically, it is nothing more than simply displaying them in the browser.


What is SEO Copywriting?


SEO Copywriting is the technique of writing the viewable text on a web page in such a way that it reads well for the surfer, and also targets specific search terms. Its purpose is to rank highly in the search engines for the targeted search terms.

As well as the viewable text, SEO Copywriting usually optimizes other on-page elements for the targeted search terms. These include the Title, Description and Keywords tags, headings and alt text.

The idea behind SEO Copywriting is that search engines want genuine content pages and not additional pages (often called "doorway pages") that are created for the sole purpose of achieving high rankings.


What is Search Engine Rank?


When you search any keyword using a search engine then it displays thousands of results found in its database. A page ranking is measured by the position of web pages displayed in the search engine results. If Search engine is putting your web page on first position then your web page rank will be number 1 and it will be assumed as with a high rank.
SEO is the process of designing and developing a web site to attend a high rank in search engine results.


What is on-page and off-page SEO

Conceptually, there are two ways of doing SEO

On-Page SEO- This includes provding good content, good keywords selection. putting keywords on correct places, giving appropriate title to every page etc.

Off-Page SEO - This includes link building, increasing link popularity by submitting in open directories, search engines, link exchange etc.

Retail Insights || +91 7795001231||sales@theretailinsights.com||skype:retailinsights
 

Friday, September 20, 2013

HOW TO CREATE A STORE ON FACEBOOK

4 popular ways to build a Facebook store


Many retailers are considering whether or not to develop an e-commerce offering into their Facebook presence. If that’s you, you’ll be in good company as brands big and small have all seen the advantages of Facebook commerce.

1.    A downloadable app that allows you to transact within your existing Facebook presence (see Pavyment)
2.  A catalog application that organizes your products, but links back to your existing online store
3.  An integrated e-commerce platform that includes extensions to include Facebook commerce 

Pavyment application allows you quickly and easily create a storefront on a facebook page.
I had our storefront with one product set up within 15 minutes.We also highly recommend the following
system if you want to really learn how to sell on Facebook. This allows you to create a separate tab on any
facebook page called Storefront. The only draw back is it only allows you to take payments from Paypal,
although Paypal does allow people to pay with credit cards

How Much Does it Cost?

Currently to set up a storefront the cost is zero, yes free. As of now they don’t charge anything or take any cut of your sales.

How Do I Set Up a Store?
1.    You must have a paypal account, both personal and business is work.
2.    Create an account on Facebook
3.   To set up the store just go the application page here and follow the directions outlined. 

Adding a new product is a 2 step process. Enter item data and upload an image.
Some features this store has:
·        You can create multiple categories of products
·        Option sets (such as different sizes, colors)
·        Tracking of sales
·        Ability to feature a product on the main page

 

The Best Option for a Facebook Store

Retail Insights will help you in setting up Storefront with great features to help you make the most of your Social Media storefront. Also will integrate with the existing e-commerce platform to give the customer omni channel experience. Add on to the above google ad words will give best ROI.

Contact: sales@theretailinsights.com || skype: retailinsights ||+91 7795001231


Thursday, September 12, 2013

How to do Markdown?


Markdown Optmization

By Definition: The velocity (rate of sale) of an article, typically for clearance at the end of a season, or to sell off obsolete merchandise at the end of its life.
The timing and level of markdowns in a selling season is critical to maximising return on sales. This is often measured as revenue realization: the proportion of the potential original selling price achieved. For example, a revenue realization of 50% means that only half the potential full-price sales value was achieved by the end of the season. It is also important in minimizing terminal inventory, i.e. the amount of merchandise left when the season is finished.
A recent trend has been to use Demand Optimization software to establish the most desirable timing and level of markdown. Optimization techniques can be used to determine where the best combination of revenue realization and terminal inventory is going to come from, for example, comparing a tactic of low-level markdowns from early in the season against one of later, deeper reductions.
Markdown strategy is referred to as "Markdown Optimization".

Retail Insights Markdown Optimizer is a software tool used by Retail Buying Managers and Merchandisers to analyze and decide on which items to go for markdown, what markdown % gives best performance, foresee the impact of markdown and run markdown. Markdown Optimizer allows them to follow a series of steps to analyze, decide and process a markdown.
  •      Cyclical continuous process to achieve inventory, profit and revenue objectives
  •      Build markdown plan for a store or group of stores or chain

  •       Create, forecast, compare and evaluate multiple markdown pricing scenarios

  •       Automate and streamline the markdown pricing process



" Analyse performance of merchandise hierarchy levels for each/aggregate stores"

  "Identify specific styles to do markdown and discount % that gives best results"

   "Evaluate the Markdown Cost, What –if and Projected Sales and Totals"

"Decide the Markdown and go for execution"


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Trade Promotion Strategy and Key Performance Indicators. Instore Branding


Trade Promotion Strategy


 A key component of the promotion strategy is the role of trade promotions by brand.

􀃠 Drive incremental sales
􀃠 Increase market share and brand loyalty
􀃠 Buy-down everyday retail price



Bottom up vs. Top down Budgeting



Top down Budgeting: Spending budgets by account can be allocated by sales management to
each sales representative or account as described in the above process step. The advantages of
this method are:
􀃠 Ensures budgets are allocated based on overall corporate Promotional Strategy for the
Brand/Product.
􀃠 Ensures that account level budgets will meet overall spending budget.

Bottom up Budgeting: Each sales representative can determine the promotion dollars needed to
meet their sales targets during the Create Promotion Plan process step. In this case, a bottom
up approach is used where each individual account budget is rolled up to an overall spending
level. The overall spending is compared to the total available dollars prior to approval. In this
scenario, the Allocate Budget to Accounts process step is not performed. The advantages of this
method are:
􀃠 Budgets can be generated based on needs at the account.
􀃠 Account opportunities rather than just historical sales can be included in the budgeting
process.

Promotion Plan by Account/Product: The promotion plan for the account will list all of the
events that are planned during the planning period. Information about each event will include:
􀃠 Event start and end dates as well as order and shipment dates for the promotion
􀃠 Products included in the event
􀃠 Expected base and incremental sales for each product (lift)
􀃠 Event tactics (end-aisle display, temporary price reduction, ad feature, etc.)
􀃠 Event costs (per case shipped to retailer, per case sold by retailer (scanned), lump sums)
􀃠 Payment methods (off-invoice, bill back, separate check)
􀃠 Expected profitability for the event (incremental Return on Investment (OI))


Key Process Measurements

Trade Promotion Spending as a Percent of Sales: A common goal of initiating effective
trade promotion practices and analysis is to be able to more efficiently spend trade promotion
dollars – getting more revenue gains for fewer dollars. Measuring trade fund spending as a
percent of sales will help to determine if we are meeting that goal.
Return on Investment for Promotion Dollars: Currently many manufacturers look at
revenue and case volumes rather than ROI. Implementation of effective trade promotion
processes will enable us to capture ROI and to see it increasing.
Accuracy of promotion plan – revenue and spending projections: Compare actuals to
plan and document where differences occur. Over time we should see greater accuracy of the
plans – eventually leading to better production scheduling and reductions in the number of outof-
stocks.
Number of outstanding deductions: The overall deduction balance should decrease over
time
Time to resolve deductions: The amount of time needed to resolve and clear a deduction
should decrease.
• Additional distribution for a product
Adding more facings for an established brand: Gaining facings for a new product
Consistency of product demand: While promotions are being run, we will often see huge
increases in shipments of the promoted products followed by little or no demand for the
product. This indicates that retailers are forward buying the product at the lower promotion
price and storing it for future sales. The overall promotion strategy and plan should look to
reduce the amount of forward buying and diverting by retailers and even out the demand.

Contact us :sales@theretailinsights.com||skype: retailinsights||+91 7795001231

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

In-store Ad Space and Trade Promotion Management Best Practices, Space Management, Space Planning

Trade promotion management is defined as the process of planning, budgeting, presenting and executing incentive programs which occur between the manufacturer and the retailer to enhance sales of specific products. For example, a manufacturer paying a retailer to feature their product in the retailer’s weekly newspaper advertising or paying a retailer to build a special promotional display in their store are both considered trade promotions.


Thursday, September 5, 2013

In-store Ad space/Brand Management (Brands and Retailers Connected), Top 10 emerging In-store Solutions

Retail Insights “In-store Visual Space Management” application will help Retailers to connect
Brands/Manufacturers effectively in professional & organized manner on the Promotional Space
available in the stores

Who and why in need:


Retailer and Outdoor marketing agencies who want
to sell the visual ad space and assets to the multiple
brands/manufacturers.

It is necessary for retailer to manage and promote


in-store spaces affectively as there are “In-direct Revenue”.
It is also essential to streamline the marketing process for
the brands right from identifying the assets/space in the

stores and run promotion is specified period.


Retail Insights Solution:

1. Application which allows retailer to identify the Promotional
Display Assets in stores
2. Display asset catalogue will be listed on the application with
price and discount attached
3. Application which allows retailer to maintain store attributes
like location, affinity and demographics
4. Application provide brands the reservation capability of the
promotional of the assets and give first-hand information on
Booked, Overlapped and Available Assets
5. Brand has the flexibility to launch the promotion in group/cluster of stores
6. Retailer has given the final authority on the in-store space.
He has final say “When, Where and what” to promote in the stores in transparent
manner.
7. Capability of score carding/dashboard enable retailer to measure
performance of In-store space.This will in turn directly impacts
retailers “Revenue Growth in the Shrinking Economies”

Contact:sales@theretailinsights.com || +91 7795001231 || skype:retailinsights



Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Starting A Business Online Is Ideal.....

Ways to Start Online Business


You don’t have to be physically present to make money. Your computer can take orders for you even while you sleep.

There is little or no overhead to maintain your website.

Most if not all of the backend software is already written for you. ...All you have to do is to set things up and customize it.

These days, opening up your own online business is easier than ever thanks to the many services and free software available on the internet. In fact, you can start an online business completely from scratch for as low as 300 dollars a month!

In order to make money online, you have to have goods to sell to the end customer. And to sell goods, you have to have a storefront. I’m going to show you just how easy it is to open your own online store in 5 easy steps and I will cover these 5 steps.

Options are...

When most people think of owning a store, selling and delivering physical goods is usually the first thing that comes to mind. However, shipping physical goods is only one of the many ways to make money with an online store.
Did you know that you can setup up your store such that all you have to do is take orders and have the manufacturer fulfill them for you? Have you ever stopped to consider selling informational products that require no shipping whatsoever? I’ve outlined below the various ways to make money with an online store along with the pros and cons of each.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is one of the easiest ways to start an online store without ever having to worry about carrying inventory. Once you have set up an arrangement with a dropship distributor, all you have to do is set up your online store and take orders. As orders are received, you simply pass the customer information along to the distributor who is then responsible for delivering the actual goods to the end customer. The profit you make is the difference between your selling price and the wholesale price you’ve negotiated with the vendor.

Selling Physical Goods With Inventory

This is the most traditional way of making money via an online store. You purchase physical goods from the manufacturer at a wholesale price, stock inventory and ship the goods directly to the end customer. It sounds like a hassle and it definitely can be troublesome at times, but the profit margins are extremely high compared to dropshipping. It is because of the high margins that opening up a traditional online store is one of the fastest ways to make a meaningful amount of money in a very short period of time. The negative aspect of opening a traditional store though is that it involves greater risk because you have to put some of your own money up front to purchase inventory.

Opening up a traditional online store has been an extremely profitable venture 

Selling Your Own Goods

Not everyone has the intelligence, creativity and aptitude to sell their own goods created from scratch, but those that do so successfully make the most profits of them all. The hot ticket items to sell online these days are informational goods. Why? It’s because you don’t have to ship anything physical. You can deliver informational products with a simple download once payment is received.
If you have a special talent or possess knowledge that is scarce, selling your own goods is definitely the way to go. Best of all, you get to keep all of the profits.


Selling as an Affiliate

Becoming an affiliate is very similar to being a drop shipper except that you carry no responsibility whatsoever. All you have to do is to refer someone to a product or service. If that person makes a purchase, then you get a cut of the sale. Once the sale is made, you are out of the picture altogether. Being an affiliate is by far the lowest energy way to make money. Unfortunately, it also carries the lowest profit percentage.

contact: sales@theretailinsights.com||+917795001231||skype:retailinsights



Monday, September 2, 2013

Top Trends in Digital Marketing

Do you know Online Retailers Are Losing 67.45% of Sales
You’re losing money. We haven’t even met, yet I know this because the data supports it; that each and every day you’re losing potential orders on your website.
Cart abandonment causes online retailers a great deal of pain. How much pain? 
For every 100 potential customers, 67 of them will leave without purchasing. How much would your revenues increase if you were capturing those sales instead of losing them?
Let’s look at a quick example. If you're currently making $15,000/mo in online revenue and could turn just 25% of those abandoned orders into sales, you’d make an extra $45,000 each year.
Why Shopper leave without Paying??
Presented with unexpected costs: 56% of shoppers said that being presented with unexpected costs is the reason they leave without completing their purchase. You’ve likely experienced this before. You find an item you want to buy and click Add to Cart. When you decide to checkout you’re presented with additional fees and charges that weren’t clearly listed on the original product page. Not feeling so hot about making the purchase anymore you leave.
Website crashed or was too slow
Price presented in a foreign currency: Most online retailers are now accepting international orders. If you are, it’s important that you display, or provide the ability to show, what the cost will be in the shopper’s local currency.

Approaches to Reducing Shopping Cart Abandonment

There are two ways to deal with shoppers leaving your store before buying. They can be broken down into two groups:
1) Before Cart Abandonment
2) After Cart Abandonment

Before Cart Abandonment
The Before Cart Abandonment stage is simply when your customer is still on your website. While they are on your site many things can go wrong. But if you follow these steps you’ll be sure to increase the number of customers that complete your checkout process.
Here are 10 steps to make your checkout more effective:
1. Show Images
Provide clear thumbnails of the actual items the customer is purchasing. Rather than simply having text to describe what they are buying, it’s always better to show an image of the item(s).
2. Display Security Logos
The Statistia study above showed that 17% of shoppers don’t purchase because they are concerned about security. In a test published by Get Elastic, an online retailer found that by placing a security badge on their site sales increased 4-6%. It’s important to note however that there are other studies that show a decrease when using these logos. So it’s important to test the placement and style when using these.

3. Test Single Page vs Multi-Page Checkout
Some studies have shown single page to be more effective. Yet other retailers see better results from multi-stage. If you’re going to use multi-page checkout, be sure to include a progress bar that shows the customer how many pages there are and what page they are on in the process.

4. Make Editing the Cart Easy
Shoppers don’t want to be locked in to the checkout page. If they made a mistake in their selection or need to edit it for some reason make sure it’s easy for them to do so.
5. Offer Different Payment Methods
Consider offering payment by Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Paypal as well as other payment solutions depending on the audience and demographic you’re targeting. Shop no 47 saw a 15% increase in their checkout process simply by enabling the option to pay with American Express, which wasn’t offered out of the box with their payment processor.

6. Offer Support
Providing a toll-free telephone number or chat box on the checkout page gives shoppers confidence and eases any concerns they have. Plus if they do have a question it’s better to have them ask it right then and there rather than leaving the site and hoping that they remember to ask the question later and come back.
7. Avoid Registrations
One of the biggest turnoffs in some checkout processes is being forced to register on the website in order to complete the purchase. A study by User Interface Engineering showed a 45% increase in customer purchases when forced registration was removed from the checkout page.
8. Offer Free Shipping
A Deloitte study found 69% of shoppers are more likely to shop with online retailers who offer free shipping. And a ComScore study found that 61% of shoppers would quit their order if free shipping wasn’t offered.

9. Add Testimonials
Unless you’re a well known brand, credibility will be an issue for you. By displaying testimonials and reviews from customers you can help alleviate any concerns shoppers may have.
10. Offer Price Guarantees and Refunds
Remember that 36% of shoppers don’t complete their purchase because of price. By offering a price guarantee you give the shopper confidence that they’ve found the best deal and have no need to compare prices with your competitors. And by having a clear and practical refund policy you’re adding peace of mind to the shopper’s experience.
After Cart Abandonment
After implementing the changes on your website it’s time to look at what you can do if the shopper still decides to leave without purchasing.We’ll now explore two of the most powerful ways to deal with abandoned carts.
Ad Retargeting
According to AdRoll, a retargeting platform, “2% of shoppers convert on the first visit to an online store. Retargeting brings back the other 98%. Retargeting works by keeping track of people who visit your site and displaying your [retargeting] ads to them as they visit other sites online.”
The above diagram from Retargeter shows how the process works. A shopper comes to your website and leaves without purchasing. You can then use a service like Google Adwords, AdRoll, or Retargeter to display the ads you choose to that shopper as they visit other sites online.
The retargeting ads you display can be as targeted as you want. If a buyer comes to your site to purchase a hat, you can have retargeting ads of that same hat show up when the shopper is on a news or music website for example, as long as those sites accept the ads – and many of the top sites online these days do.
Sample Results
Get Satisfaction used retargeting to increase their ROI 248% over a three month period. Janardhan Silks, a fair-trade fashion retailer, was able to get 30% of non-converting visitors to return to their website through retargeting.
Email Recovery Campaigns
Another way to get shoppers back to your store to complete their order is through email recovery campaigns.Here’s how it works: You setup personalized emails that get sent to the shopper if they don’t complete their purchase.
If you’re using a multi-page checkout it’s easy to get the shoppers name and email address upfront.
You then create a series of 1-3 emails that will get sent out to that shopper at set intervals after they have abandoned the cart and left your site.
The emails should include: Pictures of the item they selected,  Reviews or testimonials from other shoppers, Guarantee and refund policy information, A strong call to action to get them back to your site
Timing the emails: 1st email – should go out within 24 hrs,  2nd email – send within 2 days, 3rd email – send within 1 week
Retail Insights Solutions:
*Offline Marketing
* Messaging advantages of online and buying directly from manufacturer by giving discounts
* Contacting end customers directly or through intermediates
* Partnership with communities – e.g. with associations
* Ad-retargeting
* SEO & Best Practices
* Online Marketing
* Google ads
* Facebook campaigns and building online community, E-mail Recoveries
* Designing new themes on the website etc.

Stop Leaving Money on the Table

Many online retailers are losing money each and every day due to cart abandonment. By implementing the techniques and tools you’ve learned about in this article you can get more shoppers to complete your checkout process the first time. And if they do decide to abandon cart, and some always will, you’re well equipped to get them back to your website to complete their purchase. Put these ideas to work and you’ll be well on your way to increase your store’s sales.
Contact:sales@theretailinsights.com ||+91 7795001231|| skype: retailinsights