With cross-border ecommerce booming, it’s not surprising that more businesses are launching international websites. Britain generates the biggest online trade surplus in the world, according to research by OC&C.
The value of exports is $1bn more than imports, putting it ahead of the United States and Germany.
It’s not just major retailers such as ASOS and Marks & Spencer that are contributing to this trend. A survey by Royal Mail found six in 10 small and medium-sized businesses are looking to boost their international sales in 2014.
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by Christian Arno
14 March 2014 15:25pm
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Let’s put this to bed.
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to find a decent replacement for iTunes.
The reasons why I want to abandon the world’s most popular music download service are many and varied.
iTunes is a deeply flawed experience. It's impersonal and slow, with lack of support for different file formats. It has a stubbornly rigid pricing model and no browser access whatsoever.
In fact I rarely use the platform to download. Instead I use a collection of different digital download sites to purchase MP3s online.
Yet I still use iTunes almost exclusively to organise and access my songs on both desktop and smartphone.
Surely there’s an easier way. Well I’m going to try and find one. For the good of you, me and the music loving public of the world.
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by Christopher Ratcliff
14 March 2014 13:41pm
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Here it is everyone, Econsultancy's weekly roundup of some of the most intriguing digital marketing and ecommerce stats we've seen this week.
For your delectation this week we've got stats relating to mobile commerce, blogging, Facebook engagement, paid search and behavioural marketing.
For more digital marketing stats, check out our Internet Statistics Compendium.
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by David Moth
14 March 2014 12:37pm
2 comments
It’s the round-up of weekly entertainments from around the internet that doesn’t really have a consistent name.
You have a collective name though, dear readers. You belong to an exclusive group known only in my head as Rounders.
Yes Rounders, a loyal group of obedient troopers, grateful for this fleeting few minutes of joy every week.
It is to you Rounders that I dedicate this week’s, and indeed every week’s round-up.
Apart from last week. Last week’s round-up was dedicated to William G. Morgan the inventor of volleyball, for reasons I shall keep to myself.
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by Christopher Ratcliff
14 March 2014 11:06am
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With 71% of customers expecting assistance when stuck within five minutes, high rates of abandonment, and a diverse range of platforms from which customers can speak, it has never been more important to listen to the voice of your customer.
Indeed, we have collected nearly 1.5m handwritten nuggets of information from almost 400 sites.
So, what niggles the modern day holiday maker? What prevents them from converting? And, most importantly, what can you do to keep them from journeying away from your site and into the arms of your competitor?
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by Ian McCaig
14 March 2014 10:32am
1 comment
One of the criticisms often levelled at native advertising is that it isn’t scalable.
While each advertising instance might have significant impact, the bespoke nature of the creative can mean that it’s hard to reach a wide audience.
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by Matt Gower
14 March 2014 09:34am
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Pinterest is used by more than 21% of all American adults. This is up from 15% on the previous year.
This figure comes from the last study by Pew Research, which also states the even more incredible fact that one-third of all women in the USA use Pinterest.
Pinterest drove an unprecedented amount of traffic to retail sites in Q4 2013 achieving a 50% quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue-per-visit (RPV). In fact, Pinterest has overtaken Facebook for UK referral revenue and is expected to do the same in the USA this year.
Also, with the amount of Pinterest Pin it buttons overtaking the amount of Facebook Likes on product pages, retailers are realising that Pinterest is a key way to drive sales.
Let’s take a look at how the top 10 US retailers (in terms of 2013 sales) use Pinterest.
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by Christopher Ratcliff
13 March 2014 14:36pm
2 comments
In this two part series key content, consumer and digital marketing trends between the UK and US online marketers are explored.
Transatlantic differences and approaches to content and consumer culture are explained in this first post.
In part two we take a deep dive into UK and US digital, search and social marketers.
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by Andy Betts
13 March 2014 13:57pm
4 comments
UK consumers are far ahead of Europe in terms of using smartphones for online shopping.
Out of 18 European countries surveyed, the UK has the highest percentage of people who make a monthly purchase on their smartphones, with 32%. This is compared to just 8% in France, 15% in Germany and 19% in Sweden.
These findings come from the latest TNS research commissioned by Google, which explores the growing importance of online platforms in the consumer journey, from research to purchase.
The research also looks more broadly at internet usage across devices. Here is the online state of the UK in 2014, compared to last year:
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by Christopher Ratcliff
13 March 2014 12:28pm
2 comments
Customer experience is all. This is the mantra being used for digital transformation roadmaps and the theme for this year’s digital marketing trends.
One brand that understands customer experience is Nespresso.
Here’s a rundown of exactly how the coffee-meets-tech brand provides great CX for its aspirational customers.
Kick back, allow me to bring you some creamy opinion in a glass cup.
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by Ben Davis
13 March 2014 12:01pm
10 comments
