Browsing: For Buyers

While sitting in traffic, drivers often find themselves behind construction and freight trucks. Besides the company name and telephone number, they might not notice much about the company. However, if a truck displayed a bold QR code on the back of the vehicle below the phone number, it might attract a little more attention. A QR, or Quick Response, code is a barcode that provides rapid access to information through a smartphone app.

With five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year than last, 32 percent of indie retailers are starting their holiday promotions earlier than last year, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and American Express. American Express founded the event, which is November 30 this year, in 2010. Many small business owners who are aware of Small Business Saturday say the day will be a part of their promotional calendar as it will be helpful in attracting new customers.

Retail payment solutions can and should be optimized to the needs of each individual business. Todd Robinson, VP of Marketing for North American Bancard, a full service payment solutions provider, recently spoke with Independent Retailer magazine about the range of small business payment products such as credit, debit, EBT, and gift and loyalty cards, available to help indie retailers support and grow their businesses.

Free shipping is an enticing promotion that more and more retailers are offering year round, according to a new survey from Shop.org, the online retail arm of the National Retail Federation. Nearly 35 percent of respondents say they already offer free shipping all year long, compared with 23.1 percent who did so a year earlier. In the survey involving 91 retailers, 16.3 percent had planned to begin offering free shipping as a holiday promotion the last week in October.

We have all heard the sensational proclamations that email is dead, but that is simply not the case. Regardless of what new technology makes its debut, email is alive and kicking, and has consistently ranked as one of the most popular behaviors among online adults for the last decade. According to the Pew Research Center, 92 percent of online adults use email today. Over time, online adults have increased their daily email use from 49 percent in 2002 to more than 60 percent today.

Bill McNulty, publisher of Independent Retailer magazine since October 2011, has been named in the 2013 Folio: 100 list of media industry innovators and influential professionals. The list represents all facets of publishing from every corner of the industry, including big and small publishers in the consumer, B2B, regional and association markets. Media professionals were named in four categories: C-Level Visionaries, Director-Level Doers, Industry Influencers and Under the Radar. In addition, 15 entrepreneurs were honored in the 15 Under 30 category. Folio: 100 honorees were invited to attend an award ceremony at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on October 30th.

Under a proposal by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), first-class postage stamps could rise to 49 cents, or by 6.5 percent, and pricing for other mail, including postcards and packages, would also rise on Jan. 26, 2014. The increase would raise about $2 billion in additional revenue a year, and will require approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).

Instagram is now the go-to place for people to share photos with friends and family. Moreover, it is a great place for people to post pictures of things they want to sell, and indie retailers are finding it is an invaluable way to reach customers. Hordes of users have turned Instagram into a profitable business opportunity, building new services on top of the existing platform.

All ecommerce storeowners want to increase sales conversion rates, and there are many ways to achieve this goal. However, a critical and somewhat overlooked element of the process is visitor engagement. Without higher engagement from visitors, it is going to be difficult to satisfy the need for higher website conversion. Visitor engagement is what ultimately starts the conversion process.