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ecommerce website designers in northern ireland Archives - Ryco Marketing Belfast

ecommerce statistics

20 Ecommerce Statistics That’ll Keep You Up at Night

By | Blog

E-Commerce has its advantages. It offers users the opportunity to buy or sell online 24/7, making shopping for specific products easier than ever. BUT there are still many aspects to eCommerce that business owners are completely oblivious to.

Since we like to keep things exciting here at RYCO, we’ve included 20 of the most shocking ECommerce statistics (you can thank us later):

1. Surprisingly, it’s 7 times MORE EXPENSIVE to attain a new customer than it is to keep a current one.

2. When it comes to shopping on mobile devices, men take the lead at 22%, whilst only 18% of women currently shop via their smartphones.

3. 73% of customers prefer businesses with friendly staff members – even via online communications.

4. After experiencing a negative customer experience, over 89% of customers will never shop from the same store again.

5. Customer experience will be the most influential online purchasing factor by 2020.

6.  Loyalty members will spend 13% more than not one, but two non-members.

7. The most popular time for online UK sales is after 6pm.

8. Tablets take the lead as the most popular online shopping device. Tablet users are three times more likely to spend online than both desktop and mobile users.

9. 45% of online shoppers take to social media to help influence their buying decisions.

10. 75% of consumer’s shop online because they believe online stores offer better deals than their local stores.

11. Online reviews influence 55% of shoppers, helping them to decide whether they want to make a purchase or not.

12. If users are prompted to make a new user account before making a purchase, 23% will give up.

13. According to recent ecommerce statistics, 28% of online consumers abandon shopping carts when shipping costs are higher than expected.

14. Shoppers aged 18 – 34 buy online more than any other age group.

15. From 2016 onwards, online sales will grow 93% each year.

16. Posting 1 to 4 times a day on Twitter will give you the best CTR.

17. Adding a simple smiley face into your Facebook post can increase post shares by 33%.

18. 30% of mobile users will not complete a sale form a non-responsive site.

19. If your site doesn’t load within 3 seconds, 57% of internet users will abandon it.

20. Emails from companies influence over 70% of mobile purchases.

We hope you enjoyed these surprising but true ecommerce statistics. If you’d like to learn more about how to manage a successful ecommerce store, get in touch with RYCO today. We are ecommerce specialists based in Newry, Belfast and Dublin:

CALL US: 028 9099 8106

Our team of digital marketing experts and web design Belfast and web design Newry teams can help with any digital marketingadwordsvideo productionsocial mediaSEO BelfastMagento or web design questions you may have.

website upgrade

7 Signs Your Website Needs Upgraded

By | Blog

If eyes are windows to the soul, your website is the window to your brand. So ask yourself, what is your company’s site saying to potential customers? Is it time for a website upgrade?

Has your website seen better days?

Have you been keeping it up-to-date or have you let it slide back to the stone-age?

If you are experiencing low conversion rates and slow traffic, your website may need a few tweaks (or a complete makeover). Here are 7 signs that show it might be time to upgrade your website:

1. Your website is over 3 years’ old

Three years might not sound like a long time, but in the digital universe, three years may as well be 300. Since web development is constantly progressing, you need to make sure your site is moving right along with it. New opportunities are always arising to make your site better, faster and leaner. By upgrading your website and making it more user-friendly, visitors will be more likely to stay on site long enough to convert.

2. Your website includes zero links to your brand’s social media sites

Businesses utilise social media channels to spread word about their services and products. It’s an easy way to create interest and reach a broader audience. 80% of online consumers are more likely to purchase from a business they follow on Facebook or Twitter. Linking your website to your social channels will help your customers to better relate to your business, increasing their trust in your brands credibility.

3. Your website’s content hasn’t been updated in lightyears

If your website contains the same content every time a customer visits your site, you risk losing their interest. Out-of-date content will also have a negative impact on your SEO efforts. If your website does not allow you to update content, it may be time to upgrade or switch to a different platform. Content management platforms such as WordPress and Magento, allow users to edit content as often as they please. Platforms such as these, are easy-to-use and enable you to keep tabs on how optimised your web pages are.

4. Your website is non-responsive

Mobile devices will generate 68% of all internet traffic by 2017. Therefore, your website MUST be mobile friendly. If your site is not mobile friendly, you will need a website upgrade or risk losing up to 27% of potential traffic.

5. Your website’s UX Design is Poor

A user friendly website is guaranteed to perform much better than one lacking usability. For example, a website that makes it difficult for customers to navigate is likely to lose customers rather than gain any new ones. A website upgrade will allow you to look closely at the design, layout and usability of your site. Take some time and learn more about your customers. Once you know what your customers want from your site, you can give it to them via the web upgrade process. For example, would customers be happier with a site map? Maybe you should incorporate one into your website. Is your site difficult to navigate? Make it easier for them, etc.

6. No Clear Call to Action’s

As soon as a potential customer visits your site, it’s up to you to grab their attention straight away. Show off all your brand has to offer and don’t be shy. If your website doesn’t include any call to actions, you miss out on potential sales, email sign-ups and written testimonials etc.

7. Slow Loading Web Pages

The faster your website loads, the better. Internet users are impatient and over 50% of them expects your website to load within just 2 seconds! If your site takes too long to load on the screen, visitors will click the little red “x” before they have a chance to be impressed by your brand.

If you feel like it’s time for a website upgrade, give RYCO a call today:

Newry : 028 3026 1861

Belfast : 028 9099 8106

Our team of digital marketing experts and web design Belfast and web design Newry teams can help with any digital marketing Belfastadwords PPC Belfastvideo production Belfastsocial media BelfastSEO BelfastMagento or web design questions you may have.

eCommerce Store web design belfast

What Customers want from an Ecommerce website?

By | Blog | No Comments

How often have you felt overwhelmed by the continuous stream of “eCommerce trends” put forth by thought leaders, industry publications, external stakeholders and even your own team members? It’s enough to give even the most collected business owner a pounding headache. Whilst the majority of this advice is probably quite useful, it derives from people “on the inside” and not from the most important advisers – your customers.

Who knows what E-Commerce customers want from an online store better than the customer themselves? Paying closer attention to them can give your eCommerce store that extra dose of fuel it needs to please customers and keep them coming back for more.

Ways to Learn more about your Customers:

  • Feedback Boxes
  • Following User Activity via user journeys and heat maps
  • Usability Tests
  • Reach out Directly
  • Online Surveys
  • Post-purchase survey emails
  • Onsite fly-in-polls

Now that all of that is out of the way, it’s time to get stuck into the good stuff. Here are the things customers want more than anything from their e-commerce shopping experiences:

Personalised and Clever Shopping Recommendations

Provide your website visitors with personalised shopping experiences to increase the likelihood of a full sales conversion. Gathering insights about your customer’s shopping habits can help you to catch their eye with relevant offers, related promotions and visual emphasis on the items most likely to be of interest. Customers prefer this kind of online shopping experience because it saves time and gives them new purchasing ideas. In fact, 54% of customers prefer to engage with an eCommerce store that caters to their individual preferences and personal tastes.

Access to Honest Ecommerce Website Customer Reviews

People appreciate honesty. When your website only shows the positive reviews and keeps all of the critical ones hidden, people will know there is something up. No website can be that good, right? Plus, it makes it look as though the reviews that you do show on site have been intentionally generated. Instead, publish user product reviews on your eCommerce store to improve your site’s credibility and trustworthiness.

Free Shipping Available

Who doesn’t like free shipping? There’s not much worse than hitting the “continue to checkout” button, only to find that the cost of delivery is nearly as high as the item you want to purchase. Paying for shipping is one of the main disadvantages of online shopping. Why pay extra online when you can probably find a similar item a lot closer to home? This is where qualifying for free shipping opportunities come into play. Interestingly, 68% of online shoppers admit that they would increase their order total in order to qualify for the free shipping deal. By offering free shipping to consumers when they reach a certain bench mark cost, you’ll attract a lot more customers.

Easy Product Returns

Shopping online means relying on pictures, videos and size charts etc. to determine if the desired product is right for you or not. Once it arrives and you find that it does not meet your expectations (perhaps it doesn’t fit or the online store delivered the wrong colour etc.), you may wish to return it. The rules and regulations surrounding product returns varies from store to store. The more difficult the return policy and process, the less likely it is that a browser will make a purchase. 65% of online shoppers say that they are more likely to buy from a site offering free returns. Make returning items as easy and hassle-free as possible for your customers. Broadcast this on your site and make buyers aware of how easy it is to return items.

Our team of digital marketing experts and web design Belfast and web design Newry teams can help with any digital marketingadwordsvideo productionsocial mediaSEO BelfastMagento, PPC Agency Belfast or web design questions you may have.

mobile responsive web design ecommerce Belfast Northern Ireland

The Importance of Adopting a Mobile-Friendly E-Commerce Site

By | Blog, E-Commerce, Responsive Design | No Comments

With over 100 billion global online searches carried out each month, it is no surprise that Google and other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo, have amended their algorithms to give better search results for consumers by prioritizing mobile-friendly sites. After all, the vast majority of internet users first begin their search engine explorations via their mobiles, with 80% of users choosing to access the internet using their smartphone rather than a desktop.
But what does this mean for your ecommerce site? Is it time for you to make the switch and develop an effective mobile marketing strategy?
The answer is YES.
Mobiles are an essential part of every-day life and if you cannot reach your audience via mobile, you give up those potential customers to your fierce competitors who ARE able to provide them with a pleasing mobile experience. To put it more accurately, there are currently seven billion people on this earth and 6.8 billion of them own or have access to a mobile phone.
There is vast market potential for businesses who have embraced mobile friendly sites that are both effective and responsive, but in order to take advantage of this mass potential your mobile ecommerce site must enable consumers to both engage and interact with your site.
Google ranks sites that use responsive design solutions higher than those who don’t because responsive designs provide consumers with quicker page loading times, shareable content and a single URL. To guarantee that your website performs optimally on any device, including mobile and tablet, you must implement a responsive web design solution which will drive traffic and provide the ultimate mobile-user experience.
Your mobile site must include the same usability, design, features and content that is available on the desktop version of your site. This is to ensure that both versions are parallel to each other. According to CMO Council, mobile devices will account for at least 87% of the total sales of Internet-enabled technology by 2017, which means that if you want your ecommerce site to succeed you must have it optimized for mobile to enable you to:
Keep up with your customers.
Keep up with your competitors.
Keep up with change.
Our multi-award digital agency Belfast and winning marketeers/developers are also waiting to help with any digital marketing, adwords, web design belfastsocial mediaSEO Belfast or Magento ecommerce web design questions you may have. We also provide training for third party SEO software tools such as MOZ to ensure you can clearly monitor progress and ensure your campaign is of the highest quality.

secure magento ecommerce web design services belfast northern ireland

How a Secure E-Commerce Solution can help you Reduce Scam Risk

By | Blog, E-Commerce | No Comments

Using a secure e-commerce will help to ensure that your site is never at risk of being hacked or invaded by members from a third-party. Valuable data must be protected from harm and intrusion and the only way to ensure constant protection from such scams is to use a safe e-commerce provider who will use their expertise on the matter to guarantee permanent safety and security. Here are some ways in which a secure e-commerce will reduce the risk of scam:

Providing a Secure E-Commerce Platform

Choosing a secure platform from which to host your e-commerce is the first step towards ensuring online safety. Ryco Marketing uses Magento as a secure E-Commerce Platform that is trusted by the world’s leading Brands. It is built to deliver high performance and is compliant with PCI (Payment Card Industry) and DSS (Data Security Standards) which helps to ensure that both your business and customer data is protected.

Protects your E-Commerce from Invasion

Avoid loss of important and essential data by using a secure e-commerce that allows you to constantly check the condition of your website for viruses that may have seeped into the site. A secure e-commerce site will reduce the chances of this occurring in the first place which means your site remains protected from threats. Ryco Marketing for instance, uses professional software packages that carry out regular vulnerability assessments to determine how exposed your site is to potential hackers, thus allowing for immediate action to take place in order to stop un-welcomed third-parties from entering the site.

Highest Possible Security Measures

Having a secure e-commerce in place ensures that only the highest quality of security measures are in place. Regular software updates are carried out to confirm that the site is continuously updated with the latest and best forms of security software. The use of high tech encryption software secures all types of data, most importantly financial information and confidential data. Putting up firewalls is perhaps the most basic mode of security and any e-commerce site worth its name should be expected to have a powerful firewall in place to stop attackers dead in their tracks before they have a chance to breach your network and get their hands on essential information.

Employ Additional Security Systems

Using various levels of security is something that a good e-commerce will do to provide you with the highest possible mode of online security. They employ a security alert system that will instantly alert you to any suspicious or strange behaviour on your site (such as multiple transactions coming from the exact same IP address). Installing a card and address verification system will also give your e-commerce that extra layer of security to reduce the chances of having any deceitful charges.

Our multi-award digital agency Belfast and winning marketeers/developers are also waiting to help with any digital marketing, adwords, web design belfastsocial mediaSEO Belfast or Magento ecommerce web design questions you may have. We also provide training for third party SEO software tools such as MOZ to ensure you can clearly monitor progress and ensure your campaign is of the highest quality.

 

magento ecommerce developers belfast web design northern ireland, digital marketing agency belfast

Ecommerce – Ecommerce Solution For All Businesses

By | Blog

The basic premise is that an ecommerce solution is a necessity for anyone who wishes to do business on the web.
It can be defined in various ways, but it is essential that you understand the concept and appreciate the requirement to bring your business to life and sustain its growth and profitability. The concept can be defined broadly as the activity of selling products or services on the internet, with the integrated facility of online payment by credit card and other payment forms. Historically ecommerce solutions were the platforms for large companies such as Amazon and eBay but realistically anyone with a good business plan and vision can implement an ecommerce solution to drive their online business forward. What is most important is the need to have a business acumen and have all the business processes in place before implementing an ecommerce solution. In its concrete form it enables the online entrepreneur to operate a complete sales or purchase enterprise providing the customer with all the software tools to follow through a transaction from ordering the product to paying online and to delivery. A professional ecommerce solution enables a smooth online transaction without any glitches. It means that the consumer can shop from their armchair and receive delivery of the ordered product direct to their doorstep. All the intermediary processes such as the shopping cart, payment gateway, delivery process, customer services and returns are integrated automatically in the system.

Ecommerce solutions are provided by many companies who often guarantee ease of set up, customised applications and positive results with powerful marketing tools and add ons. These facilities are all included in a set price or at least that is what you will negotiate with prospective ecommerce website developers. The secret to acquiring a responsive, reliable ecommerce solution is constant communication with your website provider. This ensures that you get the customised platform consistent with the requirements to drive your online business into prosperity.

Our multi-award digital agency Belfast and winning marketeers/developers are also waiting to help with any digital marketing, adwords, web design belfastsocial mediaSEO Belfast or Magento ecommerce web design questions you may have. We also provide training for third party SEO software tools such as MOZ to ensure you can clearly monitor progress and ensure your campaign is of the highest quality.