Top Tips on How to Stay in Business in a Time of the COVID-19

The world shift during the COVID-19 means that entrepreneurs have to think again about how to stay in business in this new environment. Over the past few months, governments worldwide are reacting to changes. Now, more than ever, the world is going digital.

With many more people staying home, each industry has seen a shift to digital commerce. The use of digital and as e-commerce techniques is a great way to reach your customers. In essence, a significant business impact of COVID-19.

E-commerce isn’t a relatively new concept. However, many entrepreneurs have a reason or two to avoid it — until now. Now we all must adjust. In a way, it’s an avenue to double efforts on harnessing the power of digital commerce.

To learn how to stay ahead of the competition in business, you must adapt quickly. For most Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises, it is a chance to re-evaluate business strategy, making changes that will allow your company to navigate the pandemic smoothly.

To make this simpler, we have gathered a list of tactics that will ensure your business stays relevant in a changing environment. From web design to social media, automation, and keeping employees happy, we’ve got it all covered.

Apply Power Tactics in Business

Power in business is the ability to influence other people’s behavior. This requires understanding their psychology and being able to build trust. When you apply power tactics in business, you can convince others to do what your business needs. This can range from getting a good deal from a supplier to boosting the output of employees.

Rational Persuasion

This psychological tactic seeks to convince an audience using rational logic, valid reasons, and cold, hard facts. For example, when ironing out a collaboration deal with other business owners, you can use figures and credible numbers to drive your points home.

Inspirational Appeals

This power tactic is built on enthusiasm. It works by appealing to the ideas, emotions, and values of an audience. It is handy for building a following on social media. For instance, you can sway a target audience passionate about affordable services with enthusiastic takes on pricing.

Consultation

Now more than ever, you need every employee on your side. This tactic focuses on encouraging participation via group planning and decision-making. It may be the solution to how to keep team members engaged. A good example is when you ask employees to come up with a plan of action for a particular task.

Ingratiation

It works by getting someone in a friendly mood before asking for help. Praise, flattery, and friendliness are the major strategies of this tactic. Also, it can be useful for boosting employee productivity. Sometimes, something as simple as buying a meal can increase the chances of getting positive answers from others.

Personal Appeals

This technique refers to a pre-existing bond of friendship while asking for some help. If you need better business deals during the pandemic, this might be the way to get it. We mean friendship and integrity is a natural way to keep relationships, support others, and get support in return.

Over the next few sections, we will go in-depth into other business techniques and solutions for the pandemic. Keep reading to learn how to stay ahead of the competition in business.

Expand Online Presence

Increasing revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic can only be achieved by expanding online presence for your business. You see, 1 out of every 4 shoppers start their process online. Also, with more people spending time online due to social distancing, it’s up to you to connect with them. In the same vein, if you’ve been thinking of how to start, run, and stay in business, the first step is to go online.

Think About Your Website

A website is an important tool in the digital commerce world. If you have been avoiding building a website, the time to do it is now. Make sure that it is aesthetic, neat, and attractive. Furthermore, you can get an expert to optimize it.

As a part of expanding your online presence, you need a ‘yes’ answer to the following questions:

• Does your website copy speak to the type of customers you want?
• Does your website show that you can provide value to clients?
• Does your website show professionalism?
• If you were a customer, would you choose yourself based on the website alone?

Make an Audit of the Online Experience

Part of learning how to stay in business is remaining fluid. Your online presence must flow with the times and the moment. If your business requires close physical contact, an update on your website should show how you’ve adapted due to COVID-19. For example, Google recommends putting up a banner that shows these COVID-related changes.

For a full audit, start by reviewing website copy, going through blog posts, and removing clutter. Additionally, remove outdated files, images, and pages to ensure that your website runs as fast as possible.

88% of customers use detailed product pages to make a buying decision. As part of your online audit, ensure that your product pages are accurate and optimized. This is where Search Engine Optimization comes in. Most shoppers start their search with Google. With SEO, you can infuse specific keywords within your website copy. This ensures that your business shows up when those keywords are searched. However, this is a technical process that may require you to hire a professional.

Finally, don’t forget social media. Make sure your social media pages are active and relevant.

Check Your Offers for Customers

There are certain factors that customers look out for when making an e-commerce transaction. These include pricing, packages, discounts, and reviews from other customers. To beef up your online presence, make sure that these sections on your website are up-to-date.

Update pricing where necessary, encourage old clients to drop positive reviews. Additionally, focus on discount pricing. Let prospective customers understand there’s a lot of value on offer!

Invest in Useful and Trustworthy Content

For digital commerce, content is a king. As such, the most effective strategy to secure your business for the times to come is content marketing. From time to time, create relevant content for your business. This may be through blogs, media posts, and mail newsletters. Whatever medium you use will be beneficial in the long run, as long as you follow SEO rules.

Engage Your Customers

With creative advertising and marketing ideas for small businesses, it is essential to consider the customers. As you make the shift to digital commerce, your strategies must be optimized for your customers.

Communicate About Changes to Customers

If you have changed the way you do business, you have to let your customers know. Perhaps you have adjusted your working hours, or you now do deliveries, now is the time to let them know. A simple email can contain all of this information.

If you are working from home now, you can put this information on your website or the front of your physical store. Even with the pandemic in full swing, communicating change to customers will put your business at the forefront of their thoughts.

Establish Deeper Connection via Social Media

The effectiveness of social media to communicate with customers is enormous. Currently, more than 3 billion people use various social platforms. There’s no doubt about it. The customers are still out there. The onus is on you to establish a deeper connection with your customers.

When you include social media in your arsenal, creative advertising ideas for small businesses are as direct as setting up a photo contest. As you very well know, more people have free time on their hands. With a photo-based contest, you can get more people to use this time to interact deeply with your brand. Starbucks recently used this technique to significant effect.

This photo contest involved designing a white cup from Starbucks. To participate, you simply had to post the designs on Instagram with the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. The winning design was made available to customers worldwide by Starbucks.

Ask for Ideas and Show Empathy

We often ask ourselves the same question: How to stay in business successfully? The answer is always the key, bold, but not so simple as it seems to be. We should satisfy our customers. If you’re confused, a simple option is to request for suggestions from your online audience. They are coping with quarantine and social distancing. Therefore, they are in the best position to spell out their unique demands.

During this period, your customers’ range of solutions may need safe delivery systems, contactless payment, or unique packaging features. While making arrangements for this, ensure that you find a way to give back to your clients. Show empathy for the current situation and explain how your crisis-handling will help them. Additionally, freebies and donations are an excellent method of showing empathy.

Learn from the Leading Brands

Even big organizations are doing the same. Nike recently announced a donation of Air Zoom Pulse footwear designated to healthcare workers.

Gucci makes a difference with their #GucciCommunity and is going to make separate donations of 1 million euros each to crowdfunding campaigns.

Mailchimp also made a significant contribution giving $500K to COVID-19 recovery efforts and supporting their community.

You, too, can do it in your way! If it’s important to you, any contribution makes a difference.

Enable Creativity in Email Marketing

Email is an excellent medium that helps with communicating change to customers. However, there’s more to it. Instead of straight to the message mails, get creative with your email content. As much as possible, create a reason for your subscribers to smile with your mails.

For example, gift cards without an expiry date can be useful. Swarovski Spain is a great example. By extending the expiry dates on gift cards, they made their customers smile.

Another approach is to give your subscribers helpful resources. Down Dog Yoga is giving customers access to free yoga content. You can even offer more discounts on purchases. Sometimes, just a link to a funny video can deepen the connection with customers.

Reimagine Workplace Relationships

Learning how to keep team members engaged can make a difference for your business. Now more than ever, it is vital that all hands are on deck towards a common goal.

Stay in Regular Touch

Apart from regular team lead checks, it is essential to touch-base personally with members of your team. If you can’t do it yourself, encourage managers to do it personally. Doing this will help you catch possible problems and support team members during a difficult time. You can also create an internal working-hour calendar with enough flexibility, where people can fill in their working and dinner hours and daily meetings. More importantly, it means you’ll always be in touch with the team.

If you’re working from home, this becomes doubly important. Personal issues can ruin the effectiveness of an employee. With a candid check-in, you may be able to help. Consequently, this will deepen loyalty and boost the productivity of your employee.

Communicate Openly

With the uncertainty of the times we are in, many workers feel uncertainty about the future. A great way to keep your workers engaged and locked in is to practice open communication. Make sure that employees hear from the company regularly.

Share your business concerns with employees, answer questions that they have, and even share a joke. That’s how to keep team members engaged. As long as they feel in the loop, they won’t leave the loop!

Set Up Various Activities

Finally, to keep your team members engaged, take their mind off work. This may seem counterproductive, but it works. There’s no doubt that we are going through tough health and economic situations. Therefore, you have to find new ways to get the morale up. With Slack, you can set up sections related to cooking and fitness. On these channels, workers can share cooking tips, recipes, and more.

For example, at WEB4PRO, we regularly send an interesting newsletter with useful links to the virtual tours of world museums, like Versailles Palace by Google, Salvador Dali Museum, Museum of Natural History in Washington. We also share cool blogs and create email contests like Guess Who: when people share their childhood photos or photos of their hobbies and journeys. It’s pretty fun! 🙂

WorkStride is doing this to a significant effect. Another method is to pencil in time for virtual gaming sessions. A simple game of chess can go a long way in building team morale. In the long run, that’s the goal — happy, productive employees.

Keep Your Business Running Effectively

When you figure out how to stay competitive in business, you are building a reliable platform for your company.

Adapt to the Current Situation

The first rule of how to stay positive in business lies within the boundaries of adaptation. With the tips above, it is possible to change your marketing techniques to reach more customers.

Instead of becoming a dormant company, find revolutionary methods to adapt. More importantly, keep striving towards set KPIs & objectives. For instance, a cleaning business named Aman for Home changed its target market from private homes to buildings belonging to essential services.

Predict Your Steps for the Long Term

Most people consciously learn how to remain cool in business clothes. However, staying cool can only be possible with long-term planning.Instead of just focusing on the now, chart out a course for your business that will work even after COVID-19.

For instance, you can focus on marketing and lead generation. Van Van Go, a top company that offers motorhome rentals, is collecting customer details by offering a free week of rentals. With this strategy, you can build up a ready database of prospective customers. More importantly, you already know they are willing to do business with your brand.

Build a Human and Machine Workforce

Work smarter, not harder. That’s how to stay competitive in business. Advances in tech mean various business activities can be automated. Instead of doing hard work yourself and leaving out essential tasks, let technology work.

A human plus machine workforce can combine effectively on the following:

• Tasks that can be scheduled
• Repetitive activities
• Tasks that get in the way of more important stuff

Use a Distributed Global Services Model

With more companies working from home, remote productivity can be improved using a distributed global services model. Instead of consolidating your business in a single locale, use technology and spread out.

With this working system, you can spread delivery centers for your services across different locations. Virtual customer call centers can be set up in different countries to service more people. Finally, doing this can even double, even triple your customer base! For instance, in our team, over 40 team members cooperate with our clients and partners in different pockets of the world. We stay connected with them via Skype, Slack, Google Hangouts, etc.

Stay in Business and Grow Your Power

With the tips and tricks above, we hope you can figure out how to stay in business even in these changing times. You can choose what suits your business best in this situation and pick up the most useful thoughts. Let’s wrap them up:

• Use power psychological tactics and just be friendly to build trust with people;
• Expand your online presence with a user-friendly website and digital marketing;
• Engage your customers with a power of social media and useful offerings;
• Strengthen relationships with your team to support their productivity and mood;
• Keep running with strategic thinking and long-term goals for your business.

5 Great Email Template Builders for Your Creative Emails

Whether you are already running your email marketing strategy or you are just looking for the right email template tool, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we are going to share thoughts on what email builder to choose for creating perfect emails and why you need to consider online email template builder as a platform for making them.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Why do you need email marketing?

If you are running an online business, one of the ways to attract customers to your store is to let them subscribe to your email newsletter. This allows you to remind your customers about your brand, communicate with current and new customers, present them with your initiatives, and make more sales.

Sending plain emails became more common for personal communication. However, brands that sell products to hundreds of people need to be more creative now. That’s why, if you want to stand up from the crowd and present your products or services in the best possible way, you can use stylish email templates.

What are the email templates?

It is a ready HTML version of an email that allows you to create your own unique email design and apply it for your email marketing campaigns.

How to Create an Email Template?

You’ve come to the point that you need an email template. How can you get it?

1. Create your HTML template. You can create a template from scratch in HTML. In this case, you’ll need to have some programming skills. If it sounds interesting to you, there are plenty of tutorials, for example, check the Tuts course from Envato. However, it can be time-consuming, which is the first concern for most business owners, web designers, and marketing specialists.
2. Use online email template builders. Here we’ve come to the easiest way to get the desired email. There are many email builders on the market that allow editing the ready professional design. They all have something in common and also are different in features and interfaces. The last one is crucial if you edit your emails on your own or if you lack time.

But before we consider the five best options that exist now, let’s observe what to expect from an online email template builder.

What to Expect From an Online Email Template Builder?

Before choosing a specific builder, you need to look at several criteria that will make your work easier. The price range is not the crucial point; however, we recommend you to look at the subscription plans if you need to create lots of emails.

1. Your email builder should have the list of the main functions:
   1. Friendly user interface (drag-and-drop editor);
   2. Email template library (also emails for special occasions, such as Christmas, Black Friday, Halloween will be a plus);
   3. Compatibility with popular email clients, such as Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.
   4. Responsiveness for different desktop and mobile devices;
   5. Quick email preview option to test the result before sending it.
2. The online builder should be fast and convenient. You can use pre-made templates and edit their layout in minutes with the drag-and-drop feature. You can also play around with blocks by adding images, buttons, text, and changing the order of blocks and get the unique email.
3. The builder should not be heavy (bulky). This is an online tool, so you don’t need to install additional software to work with your template. It will autosave your sessions, and allow you to edit it later and re-use your template another time.
4. It should allow keeping the branded design of your emails. With a flexible email builder, you can re-use the same templates and use designs again and again. This will save you time and allow you to create the same brand appearance for every email.

Now you are aware of some recommended traits of a good email building tool. We hope it will help you to choose the most useful one. Let’s move to a short review of the tools available on the market.

What Online Email Builder to Choose?

Take a look at the list of useful email builders that can help you to create excellent newsletters. They have some features in common and serve the same purpose. But they differ depending on the goals, the scale, and the level of technical skills you have. We suggest choosing the most appropriate one for your specific priorities and test each one to select the most comfortable solution.

BEE Free

It is a freemium email editor. This is a product of MailUp Group. It allows you to create and edit the template in a free plan and offers extended functionality in the premium package.

Pricing & Plans

It includes 3 different plans in one, called BEE Pro:

• freelance – $15/m,
• team – $25/m,
• agency – $45/m.

That means the editor is helpful for teams and allows them to assign roles, control the work done, and add/remove notes. It may suit advanced project teams.

The third package available is called BEE Plugin. It allows embedding an email or landing page in SaaS apps.

Distinct Features

The drag-and-drop editor is quite simple and allows you to create an email from scratch in about 20 minutes. The free plan allows exporting the file in HTML format. You can choose among 120 ready email templates.

Mailton

Mailton is a creative space for crafting your emails. It is our new product, and we are glad to launch it for your convenience after ten years of releasing our email templates on the Envato market. Our Mailton allows for editing the layout of the email, saving it for later, export in HTML, Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor versions, and use for email marketing campaigns. Each template has 20 modules. Our goal was to make it simple, flexible, and useful for creating various types of emails.

Pricing & Plans

The price for the subscription is equal to a price for the cup of coffee, which is $5/m or $20 for six months. All packages give an unlimited number of templates, professional support, and flexibility in the creation process.

Distinct Features

Mailton builder mode has a user-friendly interface, drag-and-drop functionality, and responsive design. You can create and export an email template in less than 15 minutes. Use one of the 85 ready templates and launch a successful email campaign!

We think Mailton is an affordable online tool, and it lets you spend more time on creativity and prepare your email campaign with ease and calm. Drop in to test in for free and form your opinion.

TOPOL

Topol is a drag-and-drop email template editor with 7 pre-made templates, free and premium packages, and a few unique features.

Pricing & Plans

The price range is the following:

• Free plan with limited features
• $7/m per premium plan
• $20/m per plugin plan

Distinct Features

You can insert GIFs, videos from Vimeo and YouTube in a link format, and they will be appropriately displayed in your emails. Also, you can download your email templates as ZIP-files to use them later or send them as test emails.

Among other options this email builder offers, is the export of HTML file, however, without full editing mode, except the ability to edit images and text. The time for creating an email from scratch is about 20 minutes.

Chamaileon

This platform is perfect for working in teams. It offers deep customization options to use the editor, plus it has 100 ready-to-use templates and around 1000 modules to create, edit, and send unique emails to customers.

Pricing & Plans

There are several plans available:

• The free plan (5 exports/m)
• Premium package $20/m
• Enterprise package (price by request)

Distinct Features

The interface is similar to a simple CMS admin panel. You can also choose among creating an email template from scratch, use a ready version, or import your template in HTML format to edit it in the builder. There is a block with elements to add/edit for the template.

Using the buttons in the upper panel, you can export, preview your template, and send a test email. The time needed for creating and exporting the email is up to 40 minutes.

Mosaico

It is a free open source email template editor created by VOXmail. It differs from other email builders because it has only two drafts that you can use as a base to create email templates.

Distinct Features

The menu of the editor is simple, you can click on the block, and it will automatically be added to the email body. In the menu tabs, you can also edit the content part, change the style of the text, background color, images, paragraph, and buttons. As Mosaico is free and open-source, you can’t store your email templates, images, and files. It is also limited in features, and you can create only a basic version of an email template. Still, if you need simple emails, this builder will be okay for you. The time required to create an email from scratch is 25 minutes.

After the review, let’s summarize and compare all the solutions in one table:

We showed solutions that are similar to each other, but you can look into details and differences and choose the one that is good for you. We will be very glad if you share your experience working with these emails or our email builder Mailton, and write us on our contact form below.

Weekday: Denim and Fashion Brand That Teaches Making Sustainable Choices

We’ve come across the next exciting and sustainable brand that not only fits current consumer tastes but proves itself as a company that helps people choose eco-friendly clothing.

Learn how to deliver the exclusive style of a brand’s products and provide the same price and high quality involving eco-friendly materials by combining it with a perfect marketing strategy.

Weekday is a Swedish brand of denim and fashion clothing. Their story started with an idea formed by four friends. In 2000, they decided to launch their fashion store in the suburbs of Stockholm. Originally, they opened only on weekends: Saturday and Sunday, so they called the store Weekend. However, as the store became more and more popular with its customers, the owners decided to increase the opening hours to seven days a week. So, what happened with the brand name? Simply, they changed it to Weekday. Since then, the brand has expanded by shipping to 88 markets and it has stores in 14 countries.

Weekday was a kind of modern retail shop in the beginning and has since grown into a strong sustainable fashion brand using various creative ways to reach its customers. Weekday offers scandi high street fashion which appeals to young people’s tastes with its styles of modern yet minimalistic clothing.

We will look at what makes Weekday an exceptional brand through an overview of its modern-looking website. You can use this as an example and source of inspiration for your website.

Website Overview

Firstly, what we notice straight away is the set of collections for men and women that are highlighted on the main banner. Also, you can find all the deals and limited collections right from the main page. Quite simple and classy, right?

Underneath you notice the banner with the information about the materials used for crafting its products.

This serves as a strong marketing tool for new customers and tells us more about the brand’s attitude to manufacturing. Also, it highlights its sustainability goals which we will discuss later on in the article.

Let’s move on to a detailed overview of the site’s features and pages.

Easy Category Navigation and Filters to Help Choose the Right Product

In each of our website overviews, we mention that navigation plays a crucial role for customers when they browse a site. This helps to reduce the time for decision-making and to help them find the most relevant products.

Weekday completed this mission 100%: they’ve created banners for each category broken down by the material used, collection, and items on sale. Colorful pictures and styles navigate customers to the right sections.

Filters also save time when searching for the exact product. Weekday has category-specific filters that help customers to specify a search for a certain product via subcategories of color, size, or brand. You can set almost any search criteria that come into mind.

Besides filters, all products have two different views from listing, i.e. the product itself but also what it looks like on a real person. This helps customers to understand how to wear and style the product, and whether it is right for them or not.

Color swatches and the price on the product listing helps to quickly overview all the options regarding the exact product and to make the right decision. We’ve seen such features on different websites before and it is developed even further on Weekday’s website. You can even make a quick color choice without redirection from the product page. Check out how this feature works on the Skims website, the brand owned by Kim Kardashian West. When you have multiple colors of the same product, it’s a good idea to allow color change on the product image without reloading the page.

This ensures that customers can buy quickly and get what they want in less time. Afterward, you can get loyal fans for your brand and subsequently raise sales.

Website Animation to Attract Customers for Purchase

Animation is one of the simplest options to attract customers and get them to stay on the website longer. For example, the scrolling text which is used on the main page of Weekday’s website and also on the product cards looks attractive from a user perspective and makes the page more dynamic.

According to 99designs, animation can bring a brand to life and it also has a positive impact on the overall number of site visitors. People love creativity and interactive elements and any of these could catch their attention, convince them to continue their stay on the website, and lead to purchases.

Simple Checkout to Reduce Cart Abandonment

Weekday has a simple one-step checkout page which is a must for the online store. Customers want to shop quickly and efficiently, that is why by making the checkout as simple as possible, you increase the chance of getting more sales. In most cases, we all like to do routine actions as quickly and simply as possible.

The checkout form is simple to fill out. A customer starts with the first form and then progresses through to the end, a very easy process. The best part of it is that the page doesn’t need to be reloaded, and a customer places their order in just a few clicks.

Print Studio to Make Customers Feel Unique and Creative

Print Studio (The workshop) is a separate page on the Weekday website that allows customers to feel as though they are creators: customize t-shirts, buy one from the limited collection or redesign premade models.

It is a little bit tricky to find; customers can either get onto the page from the navigation bar by clicking on ‘the workshop’ or from the Zeitgeist page with its limited collection of t-shirts. However, when you get there, you feel like a pro by applying all the different available designs!

The design mode is simple and it lets customers choose the color of their chosen t-shirt, add text, and insert some graphic images. This lets the customer get a unique design or to style their clothes with one of the already available designs.

Here, Weekday customers feel unique and become more loyal to the brand. The bonuses that come with a custom t-shirt are a fixed price and eco-friendly package, which proves the position of Weekday as a sustainable brand. By additional services and rewards, you elevate the customer’s shopping experience and make them feel valuable, stay true to your mission and commitments, and keep coming back to your store.

Sustainable Approach to Manufacturing

Sustainability underlies the Weekday mission: to help people make sustainable choices. This reflects not only on statements but on the quality and materials used for the production of clothing.

Weekday has a separate page that consists of all the information about their initiatives in sustainable manufacturing. With the long-term goal of becoming 100% climate positive, they have already stepped on this path by creating their denim products from organic cotton in 2015, launched a swimwear collection from recycled waste in 2017, and will continue with the goal to use only recycled or organic cotton from 2020.

Customers can find all the information about the goals and achievements on the Sustainability page. Besides initiatives from Weekday, its customers can be involved in sustainability initiatives by bringing used clothes to any of Weekday’s physical stores and get 10% off their next purchase. It connects customers with the brand, lets them feel like a part of the big idea, and also provides a personal reward.

Among other useful pages relating to their sustainable approach, Weekday teaches how to take care of their clothing created from eco-friendly materials. The information is explained on the Garment Care page.

As a responsible brand, Weekday shows its commitment to covering non-profit organizations’ needs and collaborates with different companies to teach, support, and spread the word about current issues in the world.

The brand’s website and strategy serve as a perfect example for young eco-friendly and youth-oriented brands. We are enjoying this experience and believe that Weekday’s customers feel its care as well. Take the insights learned from this article for your business strategy and keep growing your brand step by step.

Let’s sum up with several tips for online stores:

1. Use the latest design trends to keep your site attractive. By following design trends, you will solve two typical issues: website usability and web presentation of your business. Modern designs correspond to a high level of usability and responsiveness, according to the design statistics, and also give you a long-term website look. A functional user interface helps attract site visitors to explore and buy from your store.
2. Ensure that your customers know your achievements. Weekday shows that there is nothing better than being honest and transparent in all business processes. Showcase your achievements and initiatives on the separate page and make it clear that you follow them. This way, your customers will be involved in your ideas, and it will ensure a deep connection for customers with the brand. It will also have a positive impact on your sales and business growth.
3. Add custom features to highlight your exclusive products and show respect to individuality. Some brands now add custom features to ensure that customers get what they want. For example, a customer can customize a t-shirt online, or measure themselves to get the right products with the AR tool or use live chat with 24 hours support. Make them feel like kings and queens with the personalized shopping experience, and you will get a loyal audience that orders your products regularly.
4. Simplify site structure. Simplicity is a key to getting more visits and then, as a result — purchases. By creating a clear site hierarchy and navigation structure, you’ll make your website pages easier to reach for users and search engines.

Improvements to a website can be time-consuming. However, by following the main recommendations regarding website usability, site structure, and design, you can grow your business and ensure its high position in the market. We hope that Weekday’s example will inspire you to keep going with your brand strategy and grow its presence on the web.

6 Online Business Ideas for 2020

With an ever-increasing amount of business taking place online, it’s worth remembering that the internet is still evolving. In this landscape, more and more people are looking for online business ideas to earn money over the Internet. Working online brings a variety of pros and cons but the benefits can include a more flexible lifestyle, higher income, and the fulfillment of owning and operating your own business.

If you own or work for a company, it’s also worth thinking of some creative ideas for how your business can benefit from earning more money from online business.

Below, you can read about the various tips and tricks we’ve collected, all of which will help you get into a journey of doing business.

Create an eCommerce Store

Since 2015, eCommerce sales have doubled as a percentage of all retail sales. But if you’re worried that the best online business ideas for eCommerce are already taken, remember this: even today, only a small percentage (14%) of all shopping transactions take place over the Internet. Within the next three years by 2023, eMarketer predicts that this number will reach 22%. What’s more, an increasing number of niche market eCommerce retailers are attracting customers with products that have never existed before. eCommerce is still growing and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

If you’re planning to start your own eCommerce business, there are a few things to keep in mind. These include:

• Your online store (how you will showcase your product and receive orders from customers);
• Marketing (how you reach your customers);
• Logistics (how you will get the product to your customers);
• Inventory (how you will source and maintain sufficient stock for your product);
• Taxes and regulation (understanding and complying with local requirements).

For setting up your online store, a good option, if you’re a beginner, is to use an off-the-shelf solution like Shopify, BigCommerce or Woocommerce. These platforms have many customizable design features and can handle all the checkout and payment processing needs of an eCommerce website. Many more advanced eCommerce companies choose to work with an agency that can help them to further customize their online shop.

If you’re already experienced in marketing or skilled at using social media, you might think that promoting your product and reaching new customers will be the easy part. However, this is also a significant amount of work with testing and choosing the right strategy for your business. A good idea to think about when marketing your product is: what customer problem am I trying to solve?

Consider different marketing content you could create that would be helpful or interesting to your customers – and how this content can draw attention back to the core features of your product. Then think about how you want to build your “funnel” for acquiring customers. How much will you be using social media to market to your customers? Will you be driving traffic to a blog or landing page which you can use to collect emails? To what extent will you invest in paid marketing such as Facebook and Google Ads?

Brands like Away and Glossier are good examples of companies that use content marketing strategies to attract customers within their specific niche.

Build a Niche Site

By now you hopefully have an initial concept of what it takes to set up and market your eCommerce idea. But what should that idea be – particularly if you are new to the world of online business? Profitable eCommerce sites can be difficult to achieve for most products, especially with competition from Amazon and other independent sellers. That’s why it’s important to find a successful niche.

Here is a list of ideas for niche products currently trending in eCommerce, backed up by Google Trends data. These include:

• Pet beds;
• Sofa and couch covers;
• Minimalist jewelry;
• Beard straighteners;
• Infant and baby carrier;
• Smartwatches.

However, for each product, you need to know how to market in a specific niche.

Start a Blog and Promote Yourself on Social Media

Although eCommerce might get more attention, starting a blog is also a creative online business idea with good prospects.

It’s true that blogs require a lot of time to create and maintain content while growing the audience. However, it’s an online business idea that requires almost no upfront investment. To set up a blog, all that’s needed is a good internet connection, hosting service, and a platform to publish content. Most blogging websites offer hosting services and content publishing together.

As a blogger, there are many different ways to monetize your blog. One of the most popular methods is selling ad space – although this requires a large amount of traffic. Another method is affiliate marketing, where bloggers promote products in exchange for a commission if the customer buys the product through a dedicated link. Blogs can also be used as part of an eCommerce website in order to help attract new customers and promote the products on the website. Some bloggers also publish sponsored posts from brands and other bloggers, who pay for access to the blogger’s audience.

The key feature of all of these approaches is traffic. Those hoping that their blog can be a legitimate online business idea to earn money must therefore also have a strategy for growing their audience. Creating in-demand content using keyword research and other SEO strategies is helpful for landing high in Google’s algorithm and other search engine rankings. At the same time, bloggers should also be able to promote themselves and their content on social media and other popular websites.

Many people get stuck on the question: “What kind of blog should I start?” The truth is that there is no specific answer. The right blog topic will depend on you and, more importantly, on the audience you are hoping to reach.

Popular Blog Topics

Think about your areas of knowledge, passion, or expertise. In order to have a successful blog, it is important to be seen as an expert or credible source on your chosen topic. So Step 1 is to make sure you are writing about something in which you have a good deal of familiarity, which matters to you.

But before you think about the content that you would like to create, consider what information is in-demand, and how you can respond to the needs of customers. Luckily, there are more tools than ever to help come up with content ideas and get to know the specific terms that internet users are searching for.

Resources like AnswerThePublic can take keywords and help you to generate additional keywords based on target actual Google search data. Experts like Neil Patel, meanwhile, suggest a “system” for coming up with content, consisting of 4 strategies:

• Strategy 1: Figure out what your readers want (by using tools like AnswerThePublic and KeywordTool.io to do keyword research);
• Strategy 2: Use Amazon Look Inside tool to get an overview of relevant books and see the topics which are already popular;
• Strategy 3: Ask your readers what they want to learn (by surveying them directly using tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms);
• Strategy 4: Use tools like RiteTool to analyze Twitter hashtags and identify the most popular content.

When it comes to online business ideas for beginners, blogs offer some of the highest potential. Those willing to put in the work can reap significant rewards.

Set Up Your Dropshipping Business

A dropshipping business is another example of an online business idea with low startup costs. It is similar to setting up an eCommerce store but requires less involvement in supply, inventory, and logistics. It can therefore be established with almost no upfront investment.

In a dropshipping business, entrepreneurs work with established suppliers to seek out relevant and/or popular products based on research into customer demand. The dropshipper then markets the product to the end consumer but is not responsible for shipping or restocking products. In addition to third-party logistics (3PL) providers who handle all warehousing and order fulfillment, there are also end-to-end dropshipping services which take care of the full process of sourcing and restocking products from suppliers, storing products, shipping them out to the customer, tracking inventory, and handling returns.

When thinking about online business ideas for dropshipping, marketing and demand are everything. Most important is finding a niche. New dropshippers need to look for potential niches based on products matching your personal interests that are in high demand. Just like with starting a blog, dropshippers can use keyword research to identify products that customers are searching for or areas where a product may already exist but where customers are looking for a better solution.

A good way to find trending products is also to use the Google Trends tool. This allows users to search, compare and analyze trends by country and worldwide, which is useful for defining the right product for starting a dropshipping business. Dropshippers should then follow this up with research into other companies selling similar products in order to identify current gaps in the service and where they can do a better job. Marketing should then be created based on the target demographics for the product.

As with eCommerce, dropshippers should think about how to attract audiences with interesting content to build awareness for their brand. Creating an appealing website is also highly important.

In the end, dropshipping is very similar to starting your own eCommerce store but with some key differences. Compared with starting your own eCommerce store, dropshipping (despite zero or very low upfront investment) has high marginal costs associated with paying a third-party for all supply, inventory, orders, and shipping. As a result, the ROI can be higher when managing your own eCommerce store. Still, dropshipping is a good way for eCommerce beginners to start an online business, especially those with limited amounts of startup money to invest.

Launch an Online Course

Though all of the ideas so far have plenty of potential to earn money, they are not without their downsides. eCommerce and dropshipping typically have very low margins unless the product is significantly more expensive – therefore, even a company with high revenue can turn a much smaller profit for its owner. eCommerce and dropshipping companies must therefore sell a lot of products to be profitable, requiring a big investment in marketing. This could be an investment of time instead of money, but it still takes lots of work to get established.

At the same time, as mentioned earlier blogs need to have a significant number of loyal fans and readers in order to be successful. While this is possible, it also takes a lot of work, often making zero or very little money in the beginning, in order to get to this point.

One alternative to both of these options is to create an online course. This has two major advantages over starting a blog:

1. It is more scalable – you create the product once and it reaches a growing amount of people around the world;
2. It is more profitable – each time somebody buys your course, you earn a higher margin since the running costs are low.

But how to launch an online course, or come up with ideas? Many people incorrectly believe that they do not have anything to teach that people would pay for.

Author and online course teacher Ramit Sethi suggests starting with 4 questions:

1. What do I already pay for? This will open your eyes to all of the things that others might consider paying you to teach them.
2. What skills do I have? This is a great way to identify which skills you might be able to teach to other people.
3. What do my friends say I’m great at? By asking what other people think are your best skills, you can see the value you are capable of bringing.
4. What do I do on a Saturday morning? This is a simple trick for uncovering your passions and recognizing what it is that you really care about.

The first step is to discover that everyone has the potential within them to be a teacher.

Create Your Brand and Sell It

The final idea for starting an online business is to create your own brand online. What does this mean in practice? First, it’s different from creating a personal brand (such as with a blog or online course). Instead, it has more to do with creating potential brands that other people will turn around and sell on their products. Because you created the original brand yourself, you will earn a percentage of money on the sale.

This is an online business idea for creative people who have a high level of artistic skill and like to make visual designs for other people. Designs are then printed onto products like calendars, bags, greeting cards, posters, and clothing items. For aspiring designers, this can also be a gateway toward a more lucrative career as a freelancer if your work starts to get noticed.

The best way to get started is to start making designs and upload them to websites like CafePress, Teespring, Zazzle, and Lulu. When companies are interested in the brands you have created and make products with your designs on them, you earn a commission on each sale.

Become a YouTuber

YouTubing is one of the most popular businesses online at the moment. Anyone from celebrities to those looking to review products can become a Youtuber and can create a career out of this field.

In order to become a YouTuber, you’ll need to follow many of the same steps as you would for building a website or a blog. You’ll want to find your niche market and develop your brand before anything. This will include developing a logo and having an overall idea of the content you want to develop in the future. You can look at the most trending videos, types of channels, and YouTube celebrities’ examples.

Grow Your Audience

Growing your audience within YouTube can be difficult. One of the best ways to do this is to invest in marketing. Ads, for example, will provide you with the opportunity to have your content targeted toward audiences who will be interested in it.

Not only this, but you’ll want to keep developing content that your potential viewers care about. When you do this over the long-term, you’ll always have people returning.

You can also follow the social media page’s growth approach when you are building the content, involving the audience, and building the community. These people will be your support and also a driver to your channel and popularity growth. You can use the full potential of comments, YouTube Stories, live video or streams, and discussions in comments. This will keep your channel active, and your brand alive.

Magento 2.3 Logout Bug

When analyzing server logs from Magento 2.3.3, an error message of this kind was found:

2019/11/26 16:03:05 [error] 19565#0: *114206 FastCGI sent in stderr: "PHP message: PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught TypeError: strpos() expects parameter 1 to be string, null given in /home/magento/www/vendor/magento/module-theme/Controller/Result/JsFooterPlugin.php:44
Stack trace:
#0 /home/magento/www/vendor/magento/module-theme/Controller/Result/JsFooterPlugin.php(44): strpos(NULL, '</body') #1 /home/magento/www/vendor/magento/framework/Interception/Interceptor.php(121): Magento\Theme\Controller\Result\JsFooterPlugin->beforeSendResponse(Object(Magento\Framework\App\Response\Http\Interceptor))
#2 /home/magento/www/vendor/magento/framework/Interception/Interceptor.php(153): Magento\Framework\App\Response\Http\Interceptor->Magento\Framework\Interception\{closure}()
#3 /home/magento/www/generated/code/Magento/Framework/App/Response/Http/Interceptor.php(26): Magento\Framework\App\Response\Http\Interceptor->___callPlugins('sendResponse', Array, Array)
#4 /home/magento/www/vendor/magento/framework/App/Bootstrap.php(262): Magento\Framework\App\Response\Http\Interceptor->sendResponse()" while reading response header from upstream, client: 127.0.0.1,

We needed to identify the reason for the error and fix it. To do this, we had to analyze the code of the Magento core.

Analyzing the Code of the Magento Core

Starting in version 2.3.2, the following plugin was added in the Theme module in etc/fronted/di.xml.

<type name="Magento\Framework\App\Response\Http">
    <plugin name="result-js-footer" type="Magento\Theme\Controller\Result\JsFooterPlugin"/>

</type>

The code of this plugin looks as follows:

declare(strict_types=1);
namespace Magento\Theme\Controller\Result;
use Magento\Framework\App\Config\ScopeConfigInterface;
use Magento\Store\Model\ScopeInterface;
use Magento\Framework\App\Response\Http;
/**
 * Plugin for putting all js to footer.
 */
class JsFooterPlugin
{
    private const XML_PATH_DEV_MOVE_JS_TO_BOTTOM = 'dev/js/move_script_to_bottom';
    /**
     * @var ScopeConfigInterface
     */
    private $scopeConfig;
    /**
     * @param ScopeConfigInterface $scopeConfig
     */
    public function __construct(ScopeConfigInterface $scopeConfig)
    {
        $this->scopeConfig = $scopeConfig;
    }
    /**
     * Put all javascript to footer before sending the response.
     *
     * @param Http $subject
     * @return void
     */
    public function beforeSendResponse(Http $subject)
    {
        $content = $subject->getContent();
        $script = [];
        if (strpos($content, '</body') !== false) { if ($this->scopeConfig->isSetFlag(
                self::XML_PATH_DEV_MOVE_JS_TO_BOTTOM,
                ScopeInterface::SCOPE_STORE
            )
            ) {
                $pattern = '#<script[^>]* (?<!text/x-magento-template.)>.*?</script>#is';
                $content = preg_replace_callback(
                    $pattern,
                    function ($matchPart) use (&$script) {
                        $script[] = $matchPart[0];
                        return '';
                    },
                    $content
                );
                $subject->setContent(
                    str_replace('</body', implode("\n", $script) . "\n</body", $content)
                );
            }
        }
    }
}

As you can see, its purpose is to transfer JavaScript to the footer, if the shop administrator has enabled this. The error arises in the strpos function, since the $content variable is null. Let’s determine when this happens, and why.

There is also the Amazon Payment module in the Magento core, which requires the Amazon Login module to function, which is responsible for logging in using Amazon. If a user logs in using Amazon, this is noted in the session. Starting in Magento 2.3.1, the module unchecks this box if the user logs out of Magento. This was implemented using an asynchronous request, which is made when the user gets through the logout page. The controller Amazon\Login\Controller\Logout\Index is responsible for this, which looks as follows.
class Index extends \Magento\Framework\App\Action\Action

{
    /**
     * @var JsonFactory
     */
    private $jsonFactory;
    /**
     * @var Session
     */
    private $sessionHelper;
    /**
     * @param Context     $context
     * @param JsonFactory $jsonFactory
     * @param Session     $sessionHelper
     */
    public function __construct(Context $context, JsonFactory $jsonFactory, Session $sessionHelper)
    {
        parent::__construct($context);
        $this->jsonFactory   = $jsonFactory;
        $this->sessionHelper = $sessionHelper;
    }
    public function execute()
    {
        $this->sessionHelper->setIsAmazonLoggedIn(false);
        return $this->jsonFactory->create();
    }
}

As you can see, the execute method of the controller returns an object of the type \Magento\Framework\Controller\Result\Json. In theory, we should have passed JSON to the front end, which should have been generated by the method.

/**
 * Render content
 *
 * @param HttpResponseInterface|ResponseInterface $response
 * @return $this
 */
public function renderResult(ResponseInterface $response)
{
    $this->applyHttpHeaders($response);
    return $this->render($response);
}

This method, in turn, calls the protected method render, which looks as follows:

/**
 * {@inheritdoc}
 */
protected function render(HttpResponseInterface $response)
{
    $this->translateInline->processResponseBody($this->json, true);
    $response->setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json', true);
    $response->setBody($this->json);
    return $this;
}

The problem is that $this->json is NULL. One of two methods could have initialized it:

/**
 * Set json data
 *
 * @param mixed $data
 * @param boolean $cycleCheck Optional; whether or not to check for object recursion; off by default
 * @param array $options Additional options used during encoding
 * @return $this
 * @SuppressWarnings(PHPMD.UnusedFormalParameter)
 */
public function setData($data, $cycleCheck = false, $options = [])
{
    if ($data instanceof \Magento\Framework\DataObject) {
        $data = $data->toArray();
    }
    $this->json = $this->serializer->serialize($data);
    return $this;
}
/**
 * @param string $jsonData
 * @return $this
 */
public function setJsonData($jsonData)
{
    $this->json = (string)$jsonData;
    return $this;
}

However, this was not done in the controller Amazon\Login\Controller\Logout\Index, since this controller does not need to pass any data to the front end. There’s something else we should mention. PHP has historically been a language with weak typing data. This means that in versions prior to PHP 7, if the type of the variables entered didn’t match what was declared, the most that would happen would be the function would throw a warning and return an empty or false value. This means that the code of the beforeSendResponse method could process without fatal errors. It’s the same in versions starting with PHP 7, except for the statement declare(strict_types = 1). This statement includes more strict data type control and throws a TypeError instead of automatically converting variables and throwing a warning. The conversion could have been processed in this method using try{}catch{}, but there is no such processing in this version. Using strict type control is the current Magento policy, and most core classes in Magento 2.3 contain this statement. However, developers of third-party modules, including Amazon, do not always abide by this policy.

Either way, this error should not exist. It can be fixed using a plugin:

<type name="Magento\Framework\App\Response\Http">
    <plugin name="fix-amazon-logout" type="Web4pro\All\Model\Plugin" sortOrder="20"/>
</type>

public function afterGetContent($subject,$content){
    if(!$content){
        $content = "";
    }
    return $content;
}

What Is reCommerce and Why It Can Rule the World of Retail in the Future?

As consumers try to reduce their impact on the environment, the “circular economy” is becoming more important. Lately, this innovation has come to the world of clothing and online shopping, where there is a growing market for secondhand goods.

The popularity of “fast fashion” has led to a massive increase in clothing production in recent years. The problem is that new clothes need lots of energy to produce, and are being thrown out faster than ever before. According to the EPA, Americans threw away over 16 tons of clothing in 2014 – a 71% increase since the year 2000. At the same time, total greenhouse gas emissions from new textile production are higher than the sum of all international flights in the world combined.

To address this issue, conscious consumers are trying to buy more secondhand products online. And more and more companies are emerging to meet the demand.

In this article, we take a closer look at reCommerce, its business models that work, and some of the businesses that are capitalizing on this increasing trend.

reCommerce Definition

The term reCommerce – or “reverse commerce” – describes the process of renting out, reselling, or repurposing previously-used items.”

While vintage clothing shops and websites like eBay and Craigslist have been around for a long time, the growing popularity of reCommerce trends like “Upscale Resale” means that reCommerce is reaching more people than ever before.

According to The Shelf, the global reCommerce market is already worth $20 billion and is projected to double to $40 billion by 2022. Half of this comes from clothing, where reCommerce is growing at 5 times the rate of the entire industry.

reCommerce doesn’t have to take place online. Some mainstream brands like REI (in the US) even use reCommerce strategies to bring more customers into their stores.

With that said, many leading reCommerce companies are succeeding with internet-first business models.

What About reCommerce Business Model?

reCommerce does not have one single business model. The reCommerce market is diverse, with many strategies in place.

Informal market

This refers to person-to-person exchanges, or what some might call “traditional reCommerce” taking place in garage sales or over platforms like eBay, Amazon, and Craigslist.

Trade-In & reCommerce Services

The growing popularity of reCommerce is partly due to the expansion of reCommerce services that make it easier to buy and sell high-quality used goods. This reCommerce business model includes platforms and specialized reCommerce marketplaces that rent or resell pre-owned products.

Luxury reCommerce marketplaces like The RealReal, for example, help extend the life of designer products. The platform allows people both to buy and sell used high-end goods. Other companies like Rent the Runway offer subscriptions where customers pay a monthly fee. In exchange, they can rent high-end designer clothes that have already been worn by other people, for much less than it would cost to buy.

Buy Back & Trade-In Offers by Vendors of New Products

This business model for reCommerce applies mostly to brands that buy back used products from their customers, in exchange for cash or a credit to purchase something new. Consumer electronics companies like Apple have been doing this for some time, along with most major mobile phone providers. The buy-back model is now also growing in fashion and apparel.

Sustainability-minded brands like Patagonia, for example, now buy back and sell their own used apparel online. Customers can trade in used Patagonia apparel for a gift card that they can use to buy new Patagonia merchandise. The company then resells the used apparel on its own reCommerce marketplace called Worn Wear. In only its first year, Worn Wear already sold more Patagonia apparel than eBay.

Some of the most common examples of typical reCommerce products include:

• Accessories like watches, eyeglasses, and handbags;
• Cultural goods such as books, films, and vinyl records;
  Jewelry;
• Secondhand electronic devices like smartphones, laptops, tablets, and cameras;
• Clothing (all types);
• Over-the-counter (OTC) medical supplies which can be reused.

Regardless of the reCommerce business model, the principles of reCommerce are the same. By renting or buying secondhand products, customers save money. They also reduce waste, limit unnecessary consumption, and lower their carbon footprint.

By embracing reCommerce, companies can tap into a growing market, reach new customers, and make a positive contribution to the environment.

reCommerce Brands

Who are some of the leading businesses in reCommerce? As we have seen, the reCommerce trend is being driven forward by a combination of new companies and established brands.

Here are a handful of the dedicated reCommerce businesses that are leading the way:

thredUP

thredUP is the world’s largest fashion resale marketplace. Like The RealReal, thredUP gives customers the opportunity to buy brand name clothes at deep discounts. The main difference is in volume. While The RealReal is more focused on designer luxury, thredUP boasts over 35,000 brands and claims to add over 15,000 new items each day. The company started in 2009 as a men’s shirt swapping company but has since grown to cover all clothing categories.

thredUP Fashion Footprint Calculator. The thredUP Fashion Footprint Calculator, formerly the thredUP Brand Calculator, is a handy tool for calculating the carbon footprint of your wardrobe.

The tool includes suggestions for practicing more sustainable fashion. ThredUP also provides a tool for calculating how much money your clothes will earn based on different brands, estimated selling prices, and consignment windows.

Circos

Circos, formerly Vigga, is a rental subscription service for baby, toddler, and maternity clothes. Founded in the Netherlands, Circos is available in most of Europe as well as the US. Users can create a “bundle” of items for a subscription fee of as low as €35 per month. Then, when children have outgrown or stopped wearing clothing, it can be sent back for new items.

Bureo

Bureo makes innovative products out of recycled fishing nets from the ocean. Though it doesn’t sell secondhand items like other reCommerce brands, by repurposing the nets, Bureo helps to reduce ocean pollution. Bureo’s main products are sunglasses and skateboards, a great example of how companies can use waste material to create new value while protecting the environment.

Instock

Founded by a group of assistant supermarket managers from the Netherlands, Instock focuses on the issue of food waste. Working with the support of the Albert Heijn supermarket chain, Instock began providing unsold supermarket food to restaurants and catering services. Today Instock makes its own products and also has three of its own restaurants in the Netherlands. With one-third of global food production wasted each year, food is another important part of reCommerce.

Tradesy

Another marketplace option to sell and buy products is Tradesy. It was made by women and for women, which means curated unique luxury goods and excellent support services exclusively for women. One of the most interesting things about this platform is that it offers the buy-now-and-pay-over-time service. This way, shoppers can buy the products they want without paying immediately. Instead, they’ll pay by installments every month.

The RealReal

The RealReal mentioned already in the previous section, is the market leader in luxury consignment. Founded in 2011, the company offers everything from men’s and women’s fashion to jewelry, watches, children’s clothing, and fine art. After a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange last year, The RealReal continues to be one of the biggest stores in reCommerce.

reCommerce Solutions

There are many solutions on the market, helping to enable the growth of reCommerce. These range from services like Yerdle, which work with larger brands, to the Elemental Excelerator, which helps early-stage companies focused on solutions to the climate crisis.

Elemental Excelerator

Elemental Excelerator focuses on deploying solutions related to different aspects of climate change. This includes environmental challenges as well as social and economic issues stemming from the climate crisis. Each year the company funds 15-20 companies focused on everything from food and agriculture to water, energy, and mobility. The company was an early investor in Yerdle Recommerce, one of the leading reCommerce solutions.

Yerdle Recommerce

The Renewal Workshop

The Renewal Workshop provides a range of circular solutions for the apparel and textile industry. The company collects discarded apparel and textiles and turns them into new products. It also aims to create more circular systems in the industry by collecting and sharing data to improve the design and production of future products. By combining its own reCommerce activities with a reCommerce service for brands, the Renewal Workshop is enabling multiple aspects of reCommerce.

Depop

Depop is a social shopping app for Gen Z shoppers. It is considered as a combination of eBay and Instagram, which allows consumers to buy, sell, or explore the trending fashion. Depop is currently available for iOS and Android devices.

Brand Growth and Development in the eCommerce: Interview with Peter Bergkrantz, CEO of Stutterheim

Stutterheim created a new sense to melancholy and now uses it as an authentic brand definition. Not only that, the history of this brand and their success is incredible and inspiring.

We had a chance to communicate with Peter Bergkrantz, CEO of Stutterheim. We want to share his thoughts regarding the growth and development of a fashion brand online. But first, let’s start with the brand’s background.

Stutterheim is a Swedish fashion brand offering functional and beautiful rainwear famous for the highest quality, hand-made crafted products, timeless design, and melancholic yet beautiful personality.

The company was founded in 2010, and from that time, they are massively extended worldwide. The story of their creation was unusual, and with a stroke of genius: founder of the brand, Alexander Stutterheim, found his grandfather raincoat in a barn on a rainy day. Soon, he came up to the thought that there was no proper rainwear that he could find in Sweden for such occasion. That’s where it all has begun.

Over the years, the Stutterheim mission was and remains the same: Make people look good in bad weather.

From that time, the brand grew offline and online as well. Many collaborations with famous brands, featured celebrities’ looks, new stores worldwide, a user-friendly website, all of it is combined in a mature and extraordinary-looking brand with a rich history and special mood.

Now, let’s move on to the interview with our guest, Peter Bergkrantz, CEO of Stutterheim. Started in 2016, as Global Sales Director, he brought his vast experience of sales and leadership in the fashion industry to elevating the Stutterheim brand to new heights of success.

Peter shares practical insights from his experience regarding the direction for business strategy, revealing issues that companies are challenged in the eCommerce field. Also, he gives recommendations on how to set priorities and build a successful business strategy for young and growing retail brands.

WEB4PRO: Peter, you have broad experience working with different retail brands for many years. What inspires and motivates you and your team the most working at Stutterheim?

Peter: To see and follow how we develop the brand globally, especially in our digital sales channel.

WEB4PRO: From your perspective as the CEO of a famous fashion brand, what is your recipe for its success?

Peter: Stay true to your original idea of how the brand should be. In all aspects as product range, communication, and so on.

WEB4PRO: Product design, creation, and fitting is a long-term process. On what does your team put the focus when working on your products at Stutterheim?

Peter: Make sure it’s on-brand. Its got to be within our frame of look, quality, and colors.

WEB4PRO: How do you gain customers’ trust for the Stutterheim brand?

Peter: You do as you say. If you state you do premium rainwear, it’s got to be that – right?

WEB4PRO: What are the priorities which young and growing retail brands should set? What are your three main recommendations for them?

Peter: My first recommendation will be the following: don’t do all things at once, set your goals, and all but go for set milestones on the way.

Secondly, listen to your fans, your community, your customers.

And last, but not least, make sure to have a steady eye watching your inventory levels:-)

WEB4PRO: The last question is related to the future of eCommerce. What do you think will be trending in the eCommerce industry in the next few years?

Peter: Wow, big question! I hope there will be general actions among eCom companies taken against these massive return levels with stuff being shipped back and forth across the world. I see this as a big problem for the environment, and it’s for sure, not sustainable.

WEB4PRO: Totally agree with you. Environmental problems which are caused by products’ waste is a massive problem.

Due to climate change, people started to think about lean consumption. We also see companies that have the intention of using natural resources sustainably. They are looking for ways to decrease manufacturing waste and also building a sustainable business strategy. We agree that it is important to keep our planet up and running, and want to contribute to the growth of sustainable brands all over the world. That’s the part of our mission statement and business strategy.

In the end, we want to give massive thanks to Peter for his time and willingness to share valuable insights. It was a great opportunity for us to talk about eCommerce with such an experienced person that is truly passionate about his company and work. If you want to learn more about this brand, you can visit the Stutterheim official website or check our article about Stuterheim’s online store.

Types of eCommerce Business Models and Companies That Use Them

Understanding types of eCommerce business models is the key to starting and running your online store successfully.

In this blog post, we’ll walk you through an overview of traditional and trending eCommerce business models.

Take time to research them to make sure you choose the right model for your next business.

Traditional eCommerce Business Classifications

You may have heard about B2B and B2C business models. But what exactly are they? What is the major difference between them? Let’s learn in the following parts.

B2B eCommerce: Business to Business

B2B stands for business to business. The nature of B2B eCommerce is that it sells products and/or services online to other companies, not end customers. Those companies can be manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers, retailers, and the like.

It’s noticed that the global B2B eCommerce market is expanding quickly. According to recent reports of Frost & Sullivan, its revenue will be predicted to reach $6.7 trillion by this year.

Take a look at the following two examples: Selini New York and Herman Miller.

Selini New York

As described in their website, Selini New York is a B2B wholesale and eCommerce company. Started as a neckwear business in 1991, Selini New York has grown and thrived to become one of the most fast-growing B2B eCommerce brands in the world. They currently specialize in menswear and accessories, both for men and women.

Herman Miller

Herman Miller has a reputation for “contemporary interior furnishings, solutions for healthcare environments and related technologies and services.” It’s reported to gain an annual sales of over $2 billion, and this figure is still on the rise. By making use of advanced technologies, Herman Miller sets it apart from other competitors to become one of the best B2B eCommerce success stories in the world.

B2C eCommerce: Business to Consumer

Unlike B2B, B2C means business to consumers. In other words, when you start a B2C eCommerce business, you sell products and/or services online to end customers. Those customers are individual people who may go to an online store to buy a pair of shoes or book a homestay for holidays. This is the business model that you’re most likely familiar with.

Below are some successful B2C examples that you may want to know.

Warby Parker

Warby Parker is recognized as one of the biggest names in the direct-to-consumer retail market. The brand sells eyewear products directly to customers at lower prices, compared with its competitors. That helped Warby Parker disrupt the industry and expand quickly. Now it has more than 90 physical stores in the U.S. and Canada, with value at $1.7 billion.

Bonobos

Bonobos were born in 2007, selling well-made pants. Ten years later, the brand was acquired by Walmart for $310 million, becoming “the largest U.S. clothing brand to ever start on the web.” What makes Bonobos different is that the brand puts more focus on customer service than traditional marketings.

C2C eCommerce: Consumer to Consumer

C2C eCommerce refers to online transactions among consumers. A C2C eCommerce business connects consumers via a platform where people can exchange their items. C2C eCommerce businesses make profits by charging transaction fees or listing fees.

Craigslist and eBay are two typical examples of this eCommerce business model.

Craigslist

Craigslist is a number 1 classified advertisements website with a lot of categories: jobs, housing, services, community, for sale, and discussion forums. Their revenue comes from fees for job postings and fees for apartment postings. Craigslist now makes over $1 billion in annual revenue.

eBay

eBay is one of the most popular online shopping marketplaces, and it’s now available in several different countries in the world. With eBay, you can buy from a bunch of product categories or create a seller account and start making money. As of June 2019, eBay has 182 million users worldwide.

C2B eCommerce: Consumer to Business

The forth eCommerce business model in this list is C2B, meaning consumer to business. In plain words, C2B eCommerce involves online transactions between individuals and companies. Affiliate marketing services and freelance websites are considered as C2B.

The following are two well-known C2B eCommerce companies:

Google Adsense

Google Adsense is an online advertising platform where webmasters and website owners (called publishers) can join to make money from it. Once you create a Google Adsense account and insert a code into your web page, Google will display targeted ads on your pages. Currently, Google has over 2 million publishers.

Survey Monkey

Survey Monkey is an online survey tool that allows you to create surveys and share insights with your team. About 40 million customers are using Survey Monkey.

Mobile Commerce

Mobile Commerce or m-commerce refers to buying and selling products/services through mobile devices. With this business model, people can now make online transactions from anywhere and at any time.

Types of Mobile Commerce

Basically, there are many types of mobile commerce, which can be grouped into categories as follows:

• Purchase: Mobile ticketing, mobile vouchers/coupons/loyalty cards, content purchase and delivery, mobile storefront, mobile browsing, mobile purchase.
• Finance: Mobile banking, auctions, mobile brokerage.
• Marketing: Mobile marketing and advertising.
• Information: Information services, location-based services.

Here are two mobile commerce business examples:

Starbucks

Starbucks has offered the most popular mobile payment app in the three years 2017 – 2019, and it’s predicted to hold the same position this year. There are 23.4 million users aged at least 14, using Starbucks to make online purchases. Various supported payments and diverse loyalty programs contribute a lot to the success of Starbucks.

ASOS

From an online store, ASOS has become a global eCommerce giant with 72.3 million orders and a £33.1 million profit in 2019. Some reasons for ASOS’s success are free worldwide shipping, eCommerce localization, and an effective international online sales strategy.

ReCommerce

Resale commerce means purchasing and selling secondhand products. A recommerce company will look for old or vintage products, refurbish them if necessary, and introduce them to the market again. Cashify, Gazelle, and Bundli are examples of such businesses.

According to The 2020 topics and trends report from Facebook I.Q., buying secondhand goods become increasingly popular in the U.K. People now can buy luxury products like vintage and retro clothing with good quality at a lower price. For resellers, this is a huge opportunity to build a business and become an entrepreneur. The data also said that.

Let’s see how these recommerce brands work:

Vestiaire Collective

Vestiaire Collective is an online marketplace for buying and selling secondhand luxury clothes. Founded in 2009, the brand now creates a community with 7 million members from over 50 countries. Their products include vintage fashion, bags, watches, and jewelry for both men and women.

Poshmark

Like Vestiaire Collective, Poshmark allows you to shop online or list your items and earn money. This marketplace has over 25 million items from 5,000 brands and presented only in the U.S. It has simple categories to find needed items and various features for buyers and sellers to ease their shopping and selling experiences. It also allows users to create and share lists of picked products with the community, which makes the platform as social commerce space.

Types Of eCommerce Business Revenue Models

Dropshipping, wholesaling, subscription commerce model, private labeling, and white labeling are common business revenue models. Let’s take a look at each of them.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a business model where a store doesn’t keep products in its stock. Instead, it purchases products from third-party companies (also called suppliers), and then sell them to end consumers.

Wholesaling

In the wholesaling business model, a company will buy products in bulk from manufacturers or suppliers or distributors, stock those products in their warehouse, and then sell to other store owners or retailers.

Subscription Commerce Model

A subscription commerce business refers to selling products or services, and customers will pay monthly or yearly in the form of subscription.

Private Labeling

Private labeling business model means products or services are produced by a manufacturer but sold under a retailer’s brand name.

White Labeling

White labeling is the same as private labeling in some way. The difference is that a retailer will rebrand products or services provided by a manufacturer in a way as if the retailer made those products/services by themselves.

Top 15 Authentic British Fashion Brands & Their Online Stores on Magento

Inspiration comes from great examples and success stories. On a recent hunt for inspiration, we crafted a list of what we consider to be some of the most authentic British brands. Each of these brands has their own personality and is creating a name for themselves in the fashion world. These companies are more than just trendsetters — they’re also beloved brands that have gained the trust of their clients. Some of these companies are large, and others are smaller family-owned businesses. One thing they all have in common is how much they care about their clients and how much effort they have put into creating stellar online stores.

Let’s take a “tour” of 15 authentic brands and our favorite features of their websites. This journey will teach you about some fashion trendsetters and provide inspiration for future projects of your own!

Vevie

Vevie is a luxury women’s clothing brand that was founded by Caroline Greenslade, one of Britain’s top fashion designers. You may have spotted her designs in popular fashion magazines. Vivie offers stylish women’s clothing for travel, spa visits, and workouts. Their functional clothing makes women feel confident and attractive, and even the visuals and stories on their website make you feel refreshed and energized.

Vevie attracts customers who care about their health, and the brand inspires readers to join their health-focused lifestyle movement with their inspiring BEVIVIE journal.

When you visit their online store, you’ll find a lookbook with recent collections and a variety of their clothing. The Vevie team is consistent in their dedication to their philosophy, and they reinforce their ideas through interesting blog posts. We found this to be an excellent example of a website that looks fresh and clean, emphasizes brand vision, and makes readers feel good about themselves.

Solace London

Solace London is a brand centered around friendship, creativity, inspiration, and a love of fashion. It was founded by best friends Laura Taylor and Ryan Holliday-Stevens, who collaborated on creative design and grew their synergy into a famous high-fashion brand. They have spent 12 years working together, crafting their stylish clothing using sculptural elements and focusing on comfy, modern, and authentic fashion for a variety of occasions. Their celebrity customers have included Emily Ratajkowski, Jennifer Lopez, Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Zendaya, and they have been featured in Harper’s Bazaar.

The founders describe the style of their clothing as modern futurism balanced with timeless minimalism. Their style is for an elegant and confident woman who knows how to look great in chic pieces.

Solace London’s vision is echoed quite clearly in the design of their website: their online shop is sleek and concise; there are no distractions from the products they’re selling; there are no elements that are tough on the eyes. Their Lookbook, with its beautiful and sharp pictures, highlights their collections and emphasizes the overall quality of their products.

As Ryan noted in an interview with Fashionista, the word “solace” means “safe place.” Indeed, the Solace London website is a site that makes customers feel safe and included.

VogaCloset

The VogaCloset store offers accessible and stylish pieces for women, men, and even children. The store provides excellent looks for women of any size and figure and makes the latest trends very accessible.

The brand’s philosophy communicates the same idea: fashion exists to make people feel good, and it should be available to all. They prove their point by having unique — and useful — categories on their website: Shop by Figure and Plus Sizes. These categories help target audiences find clothing more easily, which saves them time.

Customers enjoy free delivery, order tracking, special offers, and more. In addition, VogaCloset uses influencers to promote their clothing. This helps the brand increase its presence on social media, and it lets customers share their experiences wearing clothes. This also promotes new trends.

This store’s motto, “Making fashion accessible,” inspired us, and they definitely rise to the occasion.

MeSheMe

MeSheMe is a fair and ethical company that sells everyday clothing for millenials. Their workers get paid fair wages and enjoy good working conditions. MeSheMe also donates money to Macmillan Cancer Support, a cancer-focused charity.

Their online store is accessible and user-friendly. On their listing page, customers can view items by color, price, and size, and the search and filter features help users hone in on something exact. Their online store places special emphasis on two unique categories: Sales, where customers can buy items at special low prices, and MeSheMe Exclusive, which highlights special designs.

MeSheMe cares about every customer. There are student discounts and special discounts for using their hashtag on Instagram. Any customer can be featured on their official Instagram page, which creates an emotional connection with the brand and helps build customer trust and loyalty.

MeSheMe creates good vibes, does good deeds, and designs clothing for forward-thinking and fashionable women.

Temperley London

Alice Temperley, founder of Temperley London, creates modern, bohemian, and feminine articles of clothing. The core focus of her brand is on ready-to-wear collections of cocktail, bridal, and evening dresses and suits. The company defines itself as a responsible luxury business, using eco-friendly fabrics and donating sales from excess clothing to charity. Famous faces including Michelle Obama, Olga Kurylenko, Kate Hudson, Amber Heard, and Florence Welch have chosen Temperley London to help create their stylish looks.

The brand’s personality appears in the store’s design: it’s bright and stylish, and it highlights popular dress styles and collections. One of the brand’s specialties is beautiful dresses for one of life’s most exciting occasions: weddings. On the Bridal category page, brides-to-be can book fittings for the dress of their dreams.

Beyond their clothing options, Temperley London has a blog where they share updates on their charitable activities and brand achievements. This keeps customers in the know.

Their website has many useful features, but we wanted to be sure to mention their detailed product and category pages. Product pages have pop-up windows with size and care guides, and there are video previews of products to help gauge how they look on real people. The comprehensive Lookbook lets customers get a preview of the latest collections.

The store’s look and feel are in line with the company’s philosophy, and the store makes the brand and their high-fashion dresses seem attractive to customers.

PJ Pan

Luxury pyjamas with superb quality — that’s what PJ Pan is all about. This brand sells men’s, women’s, and children’s pyjamas and clothes for around the house. The founder decided to create this brand after a failed shopping trip in 2008 when they couldn’t find good pyjamas. The next thing they knew they were searching for fabrics, and a few months later they had formed their own company. PJ Pan brings the finest quality homewear to their customers. The pyjamas are hand-tailored in Wales, and the fabric is sourced both locally and abroad.

Let’s take a look at the site’s design and content. One useful feature is the Matching page, which shows designs that are available for both kids and adults. This is a great idea for families.

Another great opportunity for customers is their Loyalty program. For each British pound spent, customers get 1 PJ Point, which can be redeemed to make a future purchase.

Blog posts and other site pages highlight background info and news on the brand, their manufacturing process, and their fabrics. These resources help customers explore the brand’s history and develop loyalty.

Among the other features they offer are quick product view, live chat, a calculator for delivery estimates, and gift wrapping. These features help the brand interact with customers and meet customers’ highest expectations.

In general, the store is a pleasant website that makes you feel, well, cozy.

Oki-ni

Oki-ni specializes in premium menswear from famous designers around the globe. Their customers are style-conscious men who seek exceptional clothing designs. They have been selling innovative and functional clothing online since 2001, longer than most other eCommerce brands.

We can feel their functional approach even in the design of the website: it’s unique and fashion-forward. The main page has a simple design and highlights the main categories and deals available, which makes for an efficient shopping experience.

The product page contains everything from size and delivery info, high-quality images, and customer support. There is also a Loyalty program in place, which lets customers earn rewards points to spend on future purchases. As we can see, Oki-ni cares about its customers and strives to create a convenient shopping experience for them.

In our opinion, the coolest part about their website is the Blog. The blog shares interviews with brand representatives, so customers can learn more about the history, philosophy, and product creation behind the brands they are interested in. This inspires customers and helps them feel connected to the brands they care about.

Oki-ni offers visitors high-quality men’s clothing, as well as a clear and functional user interface for an improved online shopping experience.

Heidi Klein

Heidi Klein is a luxury swimwear, bikini, and resort wear brand. Kate Moss, Olivia Palermo, Sienna Miller, and Jennifer Aniston are among their clients. The brand, which started in 2002 as the UK’s first pop-up holiday shop, has become a strong force on the UK market, as well as globally. Now they are an independent company that offers a variety of resort wear for the well-traveled client. Heidi Klein is dedicated to creating comfortable and elegant pieces that will match any style and body shape. The brand uses high-quality components to create their products, they test their fabrics thoroughly, and they ensure that their styles are versatile.

Their website is relaxing and makes you feel like you’re getting ready for a great vacation. The design is clear, bright, and inviting, and it evokes thoughts of the beach and long vacations. We explored the entire store, and here are some of our favorite parts about it.

First, the store has an advanced search feature, which gives customers a tailored view of the products available, suggests similar options, and simplifies search in general.

Next is the style guide page. This helps customers by specifying certain types of products and providing ideas for styling. Personal Swimwear Fit service allows shoppers to get expert advice on the perfect swimsuit and accessories.

Their loyalty program lets shoppers earn rewards to use toward future purchases. Growing customer loyalty and incentivizing active customers to make purchases are both good steps the brand takes.

All in all, Heidi Klein’s website is responsive, looks good, and has all the features shoppers need to find the perfect vacation piece. Moreover, their products are easy to fall in love with.

AQ/AQ

This stylish and glamorous brand positions themselves as a female-first company. AQ/AQ, which was created by Julie Lingard in 2007, designs clothing for confident and elegant women and makes them feel feminine and good about their outfits. Their mission is to make women feel unstoppable and to give them that extra spring in their step.

Their website gives a great overall impression. It’s cleanly designed, stylish, and simple. This helps users explore the brand’s history and philosophy, if they choose to do so, and to easily find the products they are looking for. There are several helpful features to guide shoppers, such as quick product view, detailed filters for the category page, and a live chat.

Their blog, Editorial, inspires readers with stories of successful women and highlights from the brand’s collections. You can even add products you like to your shopping cart right from blog posts!

This brand is truly great and authentic.

Bella Freud

Bella Freud is the founder and mastermind behind this brand. With styles mimicking those from the ‘70s, Bella Freud’s fashion differs from what other brands have in mind. They also differ by offering lines for both adults and children, so people of all ages can find clothing, accessories, and gifts.

The bright, engaging, and even audacious design of the website offers something to attract the attention of all sorts of customers.

We found the site as convenient as it is authentic to the brand’s ideals. It’s structured around product categories, with effective product pages that share images, sizes, and product details. There are no distractions on product pages that might keep shoppers from making their purchases.

The Lookbook page lets shoppers explore recent collections and provides an easy means for purchasing products. Purchasing from the Lookbook pages is similar to using a quick add feature, and it saves customers time when shopping.

Lastly, we want to add that this brand left a strong impression on us. Their store gives off vibes of revolutionary art and fashion, which is in line with the brand’s philosophy and ideals.

ALEXACHUNG

Alexa Chung, creator of the brand ALEXACHUNG, is a British writer, model, and fashion designer. She loves styling clothes and has been featured many times in magazines for her perfect looks and dedication to the fashion world. Her vision is to create clothes that people will like and want to wear. ALEXACHUNG starts with a foundation of experience in fashion, tacks on a touch of posh Parisian style, adds some British flair, and thus their style is born. Alexa launched her brand in 2016 and since then has served 15 countries around the world.

The design of the website corresponds to the philosophy of the brand. It’s a fun and girly site, with details to entertain customers while they shop. The site uses icons instead of category names in the footer, and the overall design sets the brand apart from competitors. We can see how each product looks on a model, which gives shoppers a sense of seeing the item in real life before purchasing it.

The New In category helps customers learn about the latest arrivals.

Details like these simplify the shopping experience. The brand’s philosophy and style shine through with the help of lookbooks and social media pages, and customers are free to learn plenty of interesting things about Alexa Chung’s products.

JOY

This fashion and lifestyle brand offers customers feel-good fashion. JOY crafts vintage-style womenswear and casual menswear, with something to please all customers. In addition to clothing, customers can find homeware and accessories on JOY’s site — all part of helping customers create beautiful interiors.

If you explore their shop, you can find a variety of features to assist customers, such as a loyalty program, effective product filters, and detailed product pages. These features simplify the shopping experience, and they help grow brand loyalty.

We want to point out one feature that does a particularly good job at assisting customers and growing loyalty: the Click & Collect feature. JOY partners with HubBox to allow online customers to pick up packages from nearby shops, such as pharmacies or post offices. Customers can access this program via a special application, which is easy to fill out on mobile devices. This is a great example of customer service.

Overall, the JOY website is designed well, with great usability. There are no extraneous pages or details. The store reflects the brand’s main message: providing feel-good fashion and imparting JOY on customers.

John Smedley

John Smedley has been around since 1784. It is the oldest manufacturing factory in the world, crafting beautiful, high-quality garments. Their classic clothing and retro collections remain popular among customers as decades and centuries pass.

The brand has collaborated with many famous companies, including Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Yves St Laurent, and Prada. Their dedication to British heritage and sustainability is truly remarkable. They have restored iconic British cottages, participated in a sustainability program for climate-change education, and developed methods to integrate sustainability into their company strategy. These efforts have earned them the respect and attention of many customers, like-minded non-profits, and other brands.

Throughout their long journey as a company, the brand has always defined themselves as a family business. All of their employees work closely together as a sort of community, which guarantees a dedication to the quality of their work and the clothing they deliver to the world.

In 2013, John Smedley received the Royal Warrant of Appointment from Her Majesty the Queen as a “Manufacturer of Fine Knitwear.” The brand has proven themselves to be a responsible company that is attentive to details and quality — and they provide truly British knitwear.

The store’s design is precise and classic, and in this way, it conveys the main ideas of the brand’s identity and positioning. Customers can learn everything about the brand and their background on the Discovery page, which highlights the brand’s history, from creation to the current day. The Discovery page also lets shoppers learn about collaborations and interviews with famous designers, lookbooks, and the brand’s detailed manufacturing process. By reading this page, customer trust in the John Smedley brand can grow, and readers are invited to travel the length of its impressive and ongoing history.

The shopping experience at the store is simple: customers can buy products from the listing page and find trending products and categories by fit and style on the dropdown menu. Each category has description with a blurb about its history and inspiration.

John Smedley remains a classic in terms of manufacturing processes, clothes, and business style. Their consistency and the years they have spent improving their strategy have made them a successful and timeless company.

Aquascutum

Aquascutum is synonymous with elegance. In operation since 1851, the company creates classic trench coats, polo shirts, formal shirts, and other business-style clothing. Aquascutum’s story began with the creation of waterproof wool and progressed with the design of their iconic coat, which was promoted by King Edward VII. Opportunities to dress celebrities, politicians, and members of the royal family helped the brand attract more and more customers. Their latest invention in garment technology was named the greatest technical advance in rainwear.

The Aquascutum website can be described as colorful, elegant, and truly British. They offer several features and useful pages: we want to highlight their free shipping, categories, and simple and functional filters as our favorites for how much they simplify the shopping experience.

The website offers detailed product descriptions, a full background story on their brand, and customer-support information.

We consider Aquascutum to be a great brand with a user-friendly store, a long history, and top-notch clothing.

Calm Collected

The clothing label CALM was founded in 2010 by Crew à la Mode. This brand specializes in premium yachting apparel, from activewear to everyday pieces. Customers can create capsule wardrobes, mixing and matching different pieces to wear as part of everyday outfits or for nautical adventures. Their products are best described as high-performing, and they certainly deliver on that count, seeing as they have a Performance page on their website. As a sportswear brand, Calm created their luxury garments to be comfortable, durable, and long-lasting.

They have a separate website with more information about their team, their work, what inspires them, and the details of their manufacturing. Crew à la Mode offers complete crew uniforms, as well as collaborations, customizations, stewardess services, budget planning, and more.

Their primary online store has a clean and minimalist design that mirrors the brand’s philosophy. They focus on products and style, keeping visitors from getting overwhelmed by extraneous website components. In addition to their products, they focus on their values, letting customers know about their manufacturing processes, their dedication to sustainability, and the quality of their clothing.

We enjoyed browsing their online store. Every section was fun to explore, with beautiful images and useful information about products and the company’s background.

Our tour of authentic British brands stops here, now that we’re full of inspiration. We have seen some great ideas, and hopefully, we were able to convey why we admire these successful and creative fashion brands. They not only help clients feel good but make our lives better and can improve our moods. They are making an effort to change the world, improve people’s attitudes towards difficult questions, and help people in need. They strive to be sustainable brands.

Thanks for joining us! We hope you enjoyed this tour as much as we did.

Choosing a CMS Platform for Your Store in 2020

When planning to start an online store in 2020, you may think about choosing a CMS platform. But doing that can be a tough task sometimes because there are a lot of options out there. Which one best suits your goal? Which one has a reasonable price but also offers the features you need?

Today’s article will guide you on how to get the selection process done right.

Why Use a CMS?

A CMS (content management system) is where you can hold and manage the digital content. It gives you templates or themes to customize the design, colors, style, etc. of your website.

Here are four reasons why you should use a CMS:

• Flexibility: You’re free to customize the colors, add or remove pages, create email marketing, or install extensions or plugins. You can change the theme for your website without disrupting the content.
• Accessible content management: You don’t need to know HTML or code to work with CMS. Most popular CMSs support intuitive and easy-to-use layout editors.
• Safety: You can go back to your CMS dashboard and edit content as much as you want. Everything is safe in there.
• Automation: CMSs, like WordPress, apply some intelligent automation mechanisms. For example, it autosaves a draft whenever you upload your content. Or, it’ll publish the content at the time you set before.

CMS Advantages

Let’s talk about some of the specific advantages that a CMS might offer. These advantages are also the features that you should consider when choosing a CMS platform.

Easy to Use

Most CMSs provide you with a powerful editor and a bunch of features, which makes your content looks top-notch.

SEO-Friendly

Using CMS gives you several benefits in the SEO game. When it comes to on-page SEO, a CMS platform allows you to handle HTML markup, permalinks, title tags, headings, and images.

Within Your Budget

Some CMSs offer reasonable pricing packages. Others are even free to use. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to create your own store.

Allow Integration of Web Analytics

CMS allows you to log in to view performance metrics like traffic, referrers, keyword queries, page views, and more. This is a great way to track the overall performance of your website and react to its changes.

Picking the Right CMS for Your Website

Many CMSs have a lot of features, but the truth is you sometimes may not need more than a few. For this reason, you should do thorough research before making a decision.

Make Sure It Is Scalable

You should keep scalability top of your mind when choosing a CMS platform. Ensure the CMS you select can grow with you and support the functionalities you think your business will need in the future.

Choose a CMS That Supports Omnichannel

If you want to give your customers a better omnichannel experience, you should choose a CMS that supports omnichannel. It should allow you to learn from every customer interaction and identify visitors’ intentions when they’re in your store. Hence, you can create content in real-time to maximize shopper engagement.

Choose a UI That Is Intuitive

You should choose a CMS that is mobile and desktop- friendly. Everyone in your team can work with it on the go without any issues.

10 CMS Platforms to Consider

As said earlier, there are many CMS platforms for you to choose from. Below we handpick the top 10 for you, along with their price, amount of stores, main benefits, etc.

WordPress

• Price: Free.
• Amount of stores: 1.
• Popular companies that use it: TechCrunch, Sony Music, BBC America.
• Main benefits: Highly customizable features, low-cost server maintenance, tons of plugins.
• Best for: blogging, eCommerce, capturing leads, etc.

Drupal

• Price: Free.
• Amount of stores: 1.
• Popular companies that use it: Tesla, Pinterest Blog, Lush.
• Main benefits: Flexible custom post creation, comprehensive taxonomy system, high-tech security.
• Best for: eCommerce.

Joomla!

• Price: Start at $29 per 6 months.
• Amount of stores: 1.
• Popular companies that use it: IKEA, Peugeot, Northern Railway UK.
• Main benefits: Powerful PHP applications, multilingual support, and unique templates.
• Best for: Complicated websites, not casual blogging.

Magento

• Price: Free.
• Amount of stores: Unlimited.
• Popular companies that use it: Christian Louboutin, Helly Hansen, and Urbanista
• Main benefits: Fast site loading speed, multi-website options, SEO optimization, and sales features.
• Best for: eCommerce.

Squarespace

• Price: Start at $22/month.
• Amount of stores: 1.
• Popular companies that use it: Tudor Watch, Rodarte, Lumio
• Main benefits: A massive collection of design templates, high security, 24/7 customer support.
• Best for: eCommerce.

PrestaShop

• Price: Free.
• Amount of stores: Unlimited.
• Popular companies that use it: Harry Fay, Charuca, Atelier Privé.
• Main benefits: Optimized product page layout, powerful navigation, intuitive interface.
• Best for: eCommerce.

Wix

• Price: Free.
• Amount of stores: Unlimited.
• Popular companies that use it: Tobias Becs, Good Feeling Goods, Cuts & Bruises
• Main benefits: Massive template collection, intuitive drag and drop interface, fast loading speed.
• Best for: Small businesses, restaurants, online stores, and artists.

Shopify

• Price: Start at $29/month.
• Amount of stores: Unlimited.
• Popular companies that use it: Kylie Cosmetics, Rebecca Minkoff, Frank Body
• Main benefits: Professional website builder, fully-customizable templates, and media assets.
• Best for: eCommerce.

Umbraco

• Price: Free.
• Amount of stores: Unlimited.
• Popular companies that use it: Vueling, Suffolk University, Inspirato
• Main benefits: Flexible CMS, intuitive editing experience, Umbraco cloud.
• Best for: eCommerce.

Sitecore CMS

• Price: N/A.
• Amount of stores: Unlimited.
• Popular companies that use it: GAF, Thule, BMI Group
• Main benefits: Drag and drop feature, multilingual content, responsive design, headless CMS.
• Best for: eCommerce.

CMS Security Comparison

Here is the comparison among the above CMSs about security. Use when choosing a CMS platform, but remember that no CMSs are 100% secure! However, some of the options provide robust security for their platform.

The Selection Process

When choosing a CMS platform, you should have a strategic selection process. Don’t jump into a CMS, and quickly determine it might be your ideal choice. It’s better to take some time to make a plan and check options.

Looking from a Business Perspective

A scalable CMS is a significant investment that affects your budget. But this investment will pay off soon, and it’s crucial to your company’s long-term success.

Always listen to the opinions of all stakeholders. But don’t forget to keep your business perspective in mind.

The Vision of the Project

Knowing exactly what your customers want. Does your new CMS fill the gap between you and your buyers? Does it help you deliver content to them effectively? Don’t follow the masses unless you know that investing in a CMS will benefit your store.

Strategic Goals vs. New Tech Stack

Before investing in a CMS, think about how it’ll help you solve your existing problems. You should buy a new CMS when you understand what the greatest impacts it’ll bring to you. There are many lightweight tools out there that can help you carry out marketing tactics. Try to extend your solutions.

Buyers’ Persona

What kind of content do your buyers need? How does a CMS deliver that content to them? How do they interact with the CMS? Create a detailed persona of your buyers, and ensure your CMS helps you manage content that is useful to their persona. Also, creating buyers’ persona will help you make your business strategy more client-oriented, which leads to more sales and increases customers’ loyalty.

User Scenario for Testing CMS Options

After you have a user scenario, remember to use it to test CMSs. Ensure the demos of your chosen CMSs cover the same usage scenario.

Build Your Dream Store

Here is the stage when you know what you want from a business perspective. You’ve accessed all risks, talked to the team and chose some options for your future store. Now, you need to find the right partner who will create you a remarkable store, and make all the work from a technical side. Below, we highlighted the main points of this process.

Find the Development Partner

If you don’t have the in-house development team, you want to find a reliable and competent partner or agency. They will help to come up with the best option and hold all the development process. They also will ensure that you know how to work with CMS, or they can provide you with ongoing support regarding technical questions related to your online store.

Write a Request for Proposal

An RFP helps to be both sides on the same page. This document shows your needs and objectives and helps service providers to demonstrate whether their experience fits your project goals or not. This will help you to ease the selection process.

Evaluate Agencies’ Responses and Select One Vendor

Before you select a vendor, take a look at your top choices and rate how they meet your requirements in technical, functional, and business aspects for your future store development. Consider how much they share your values. Make sure the solution they offer will grow with your company and remain relevant to your needs.

Make a Step to the Beginning of Success Story

You’ve selected a company that will create a great store for expanding your business or starting a new path online. Now, you may enjoy new experience, and with the right team you can be sure that the entire process will be smooth and interesting for you. It can take a month and more. But in the end, getting the right CMS and develop a store will pay off in the end.