Cloud Retail Brings Your Business Success

---

• Cloud Retail Brings Your Business Success
• Remembering Passwords Could Become a Thing of the Past
• The 10 Most Important Attributes of a Content Marketing Maven
• Looking for a Business Smartphone: Don’t Automatically Choose the iPhone
• Reality is Weighing on Small Business Optimism

Cloud Retail Brings Your Business Success Posted: 13 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT Cloud retail can transform your business, no matter what its size. If you’re running a small to medium-sized retail company, you are all too familiar with the challenges: a tough economy, changing shopping patterns, more competition and higher costs. Even large, well-established retail businesses like John Lewis, a chain of successful department stores operating throughout Great Britain, are embracing the cloud as a way of keeping up with the ever changing retail market. Cloud retail services can handle the entire back-end process of a retail operation, including order processing, inventory management, fulfillment and shipping. Let’s explore the three benefits of order management in the cloud. Cloud Retail Business Success Managing Inventory One way cloud services use data to make the retail industry more efficient is through enhanced inventory, writes Marcia Kaplan of Practical Ecommerce. More than just keeping track of when its time to restock, enhanced inventory management looks at eliminating slow moving merchandise in your inventory while increasing the amount of faster selling merchandise. By selling through multiple channels, you can increase sales and reach a wider audience. But you will also need to be able to track inventory across all channels, such as a Web store, as well as Amazon, popular third-party e-commerce software such as Magento, offsite fulfillment centers and other shopping channels. Cloud inventory management avoids the problem of too much inventory on hand and too few orders coming in. Excessive inventory ties up cash that you could have invested into other areas of the business to help drive additional revenue. At the same time, not having enough inventory on hand results in backorders, cancellations, negative social buzz and, potentially, lost customers. The cloud can help you to adapt in near real-time to inventory fluctuations, keeping each channel running smoothly. Improving Marketing Large cloud providers like Amazon are transforming the retail industry by providing cloud services that can drastically improve the way you collect data and use it for marketing to your customers. These kinds of services were once available only to companies large enough to invest in their own software. Marketing to your existing customer base provides a big opportunity to grow your business. Your customer list is one of your most valuable assets, and you can unleash its value by doing the following: Segmenting the customer base to compare and contrast purchasing behavior. Tracking results of specific campaigns and promotion programs. Generating lists of customers by specific categories to integrate with your email marketing system. The cloud provides an easy way to integrate your marketing efforts across all sales channels and customer profiles. It does so by tying the back-office to the front-office, improving how and where you can utilize sometimes limited resources to help grow your business. Delivering Customer Service You are probably aware that it costs five times more to earn a new customer than to retain an existing one. Whether customers interact with you over the phone or online, delivering excellent customer service is a key ingredient in developing and nurturing customer satisfaction and retention, and ultimately repeat business through loyalty. Cloud computing has revolutionized customer service and support, allowing you to answer critical questions that will help you keep customers longer and keep them satisfied. There are three questions you should be able to answer about your ability to provide top customer service: Does my business have the tools to provide visibility into my customers' orders across all channels? Does my business have a customer service team in place that can use these tools to quickly respond to customer inquiries and engage them? Do I have the ability to view the status of an order online, or am I able to access information in real-time? It only takes one poor customer experience to produce countless lost customers due to negative reviews and posts online. Conclusion Cloud retail means managing fulfillment requests and inventory levels in a new way. By leveraging the cloud, you can gain real-time, actionable insight into the details of your business. This insight translates to growth and increased efficiency, and can help you capitalize on opportunity. Cloud Photo via Shutterstock The post Cloud Retail Brings Your Business Success appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Remembering Passwords Could Become a Thing of the Past Posted: 13 May 2013 01:30 PM PDT For small business owners and staff who find remembering passwords challenging and find it difficult to manage the multitude of online passwords, a solution may be in the works beginning as soon as later this year. PayPal Chief Security Officer Michael Barrett told those in attendance at a recent Interop show in Las Vegas that the end of the era of multiple passwords may be near, according to PCMag.com. An alternative is being advanced by the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance founded in July 2012 by tech firms like PayPal, Lenovo, Agnito, Infineon, Nok Nok Labs and Validity. FIDO proposes a system it claims would be simpler to use while at the same time respecting the user’s privacy. It involves authentication using using a few different methods, including use of FIDO-recognized devices, biometrics, and use of portable memory. Three examples of authentication are given on the FIDO website. One involves a finger swipe or biometric identification process. Another involves a memory stick that can be inserted into a variety of devices but which would then require only one password for all accounts. A third would employ embedded hardware that identifies devices accessing a particular account. Barrett, who also serves as FIDO Alliance president, admitted at the conference that even with technology options to replace multiple passwords coming out soon it might take years to see mass adoption. In an April news release on FIDO’s progress, Barrett observed: “By overcoming the limits of proprietary authentication methods, FIDO opens up a vast marketplace for strong authentication where FIDO enabled devices and services interoperate. We encourage all who require secure user authentication, and those who provide various methodologies to join us on a very fast track to FIDO universal strong authentication.” With cloud applications being used, the number of passwords each person has to remember is exploding.  Security experts caution us to change passwords regularly and not use the same password for multiple accounts.  But given the sheer numbers of accounts most people have — 15 or 20 online accounts is not uncommon — that advice can be hard to follow.   And password vulnerability puts small businesses at risk. We all want a solution to the password problem. Password Photo via Shutterstock The post Remembering Passwords Could Become a Thing of the Past appeared first on Small Business Trends.

The 10 Most Important Attributes of a Content Marketing Maven Posted: 13 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT It's time to hire your content marketing chief, a.ka. marketing maven, and you've got a big problem. For one, you've never hired a content marketer. Secondly, you're not exactly sure what a marketing maven is. Finally, you have little or no idea as to what a content marketer's skill sets should be. In an era where brands are leaping onto the content marketing bandwagon, it becomes more and more important for them to find the internal content talent that will strategize, execute, distribute and analyze an ongoing series of content marketing campaigns. Content marketing should be part of any brand's DNA – a dedication to providing your target audiences with information of use and interest to them and of the highest quality. It is the goal of content marketing to build trust and brand loyalty in your key constituencies. This is done through articles, through videos, through blogs, visuals and social media engagement. Finding someone to head your company's internal content marketing efforts is extremely difficult because there are so many responsibilities under the content marketing umbrella and your marketing maven will need to possess a diverse skill set. Below, I have focused on 10 key skills that are elemental to a this role. While it may be impossible to find a single person will all of the following skills, a complete job description would include the following wish list. 10 Attributes of a Content Marketing Maven 1. Excellent Writing Skills There is no bigger turn-off than poorly written, boring, unimaginative blogs, articles, Web copy and social media posts. Your marketing maven should have writing skills on the level of a seasoned journalist or should have the power and budget to add a top-flight writer immediately. 2. Social Media Fluency This goes far beyond having hundreds of friends on Facebook or thousands of Followers on Twitter. This means a deep understanding of how businesses interact with their constituencies on various social media platforms, how frequently businesses need to interact and how businesses use social media as a customer service tool. More importantly, your marketing maven must possess a deep understanding of how people interact with brands on social media. Social media marketing requires a deft touch. When people feel like they're being 'sold' to on social media, they aren't just turned off, they're ticked off. Your content chief needs to not only understand this, but how to use social media in a way that informs and entertains your brand's target audiences. 3. Strong Public Relations Skills Many people are calling content marketing the new PR- and they are right. Creating content that demonstrates thought leadership and expertise is great, but knowing how to get that content out into the hands of the press, bloggers and other external content platforms can greatly elevate the brand's profile. 4. General Understanding of Marketing (Beyond Content Marketing) Content marketing is just one component of an integrated marketing campaign. Look for your marketing maven to understand the value and delivery of other marketing tools and where content marketing should fit into the company's overall marketing strategy. 5. Search Engine Optimization Skills A decade ago, SEO experts were the people who knew how to 'trick' Google and other search engines through keywording, backlinking and other practices designed towards the search engine algorithms. Today, thanks to Google's Panda and Penguin updates and the increased sophistication of other search engines like Bing, quality content has far greater value in determining search results. Still, your content head should understand the principles behind writing meta descriptions, titles, subheads, etc. to ensure the best possible search results. 6. Understanding of Web and Digital Design Principles There is a strong connection between digital content and digital design. A basic understanding of user interfaces and user behaviors can and will shape the ways and formats in which you deliver your content. This is especially true today when more and more people are digesting your content on smaller devices like tablets and smartphones. 7. Video, Photo and Graphics Skills While articles were once at the heart of content marketing, video, photo imagery and graphics have emerged as highly effective vehicles for delivering brand messaging. A video can humanize a brand, deliver essential brand messages and even entertain. Videos are also extremely useful tools for media outreach. Infographics and photos can also capture the attention of your target audiences and deliver your brand messaging in a clear and memorable way. 8. Great Conversational and Listening Skills Content marketing is a two-way street, with brands serving the needs of customers (and potential) customers by engaging with them in meaningful conversations. When you write an article, a blog post or even a tweet, you can expect people to respond. Ignoring those responses or failing to actively participate in a conversation with your target audience can be extremely damaging to your brand. 9. Great Networking Skills Even in the digital age, there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction. Your marketing maven can be a spokesperson and a key face of the company. That person will need to have their face in front of the media as well as potential clients or customers. Whether it's at an informal breakfast or a major conference, your content person needs to be an effective brand ambassador. 10. Strong Analytical Skills Never forget the reason why you engage in content marketing in the first place – to drive business. ROI (Return on Investment) on content needs to be tracked through benchmarks, analytics and testing. Your content chief doesn't have to be the number cruncher, but must understand which numbers need to be tracked and why. So, take the plunge. Write up the job description and go find yourself a content marketing maven. You'll be happy – make that thrilled – that you did. Content Photo via Shutterstock The post The 10 Most Important Attributes of a Content Marketing Maven appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Looking for a Business Smartphone: Don’t Automatically Choose the iPhone Posted: 13 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT The iPhone has become ubiquitous in recent years. But as a business user, is it really the best choice for you? Aside from things like call clarity and photo quality, much of the iPhone's appeal comes from the variety of applications available. The Apple App Store and Google Play have over 700,000 apps available for both the iPhone and Android systems. But tech and productivity companies often release iOS apps before Android versions. And although it's not without its faults, Siri is probably the best voice assistant available on any current smartphone. Android Advances The obvious competitor here is Android. A January comScore study shows Android phones with 52.3% of the overall smartphone market share, and Apple with 37.8%. But with Android there are a lot of different phones to choose from. A few of the ones likely to be considered by professionals are the Google Nexus 4, HTC Droid DNA, HTC One X+, and the Samsung Galaxy S III. In a post on TechHive, Andy Ihnatko explained his own reasons for switching from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S III using Android. Aside from a better keyboard and more convenient speech-to-text option, Ihnatko cited the easier customization and better collaboration options between different apps. Specifically for business users, the Galaxy S offers a larger screen and a keyboard that can make typing long emails easier. It also has a near field communications (NFC) chip that gives users the ability to communicate with other phones nearby and even lets you share photos, videos, and other files by just tapping your phone against another phone. There's also S-Voice, a feature similar to Apple's Siri. But both Siri and S-Voice have taken a lot of criticism and don't necessarily present a reason for anyone to switch to either device. BlackBerry Comes Back Then earlier this year, another familiar competitor re-energized itself with a new platform. BlackBerry launched a new smartphone operating system, the BlackBerry 10, that it hopes will become a major competitor in the business market. Conrad Flynn made a bold prediction in a recent blog post – that BlackBerry 10 would become the number one corporate smartphone provider this year. He cited the company's refocus on the professional market specifically rather than the overall consumer market, saying that the level of integration BlackBerry provides with things like Google Apps and Gmail is something that can’t be found on other devices. Flynn, who was an early adopter of BlackBerry and currently uses a BlackBerry Bold phone, also said the messaging features on BlackBerry let users integrate things like email, IM, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more, rather than providing the more traditional separate email experience of an iPhone or Android phone. “All these little things can save users just that little bit of extra time, and while that might not be as important to the everyday consumer, it can definitely be appealing to the professional user,” he said. Sales forecasts of the new BlackBerry devices have been strong at 2+ million units per month, per a Seeking Alpha report.  The report quotes analyst Peter Misek in predicting that sales of the more traditional physical-keyboard device, the Q10, will eclipse sales of the Z10.  BlackBerry’s newest physical keyboard device plays to business users. Miscrosoft Windows Phones There are also other options from companies like Microsoft, including the HTC Windows Phone 8x and the Nokia Lumia 920. These phones run on the Windows Phone 8 operating system, so they include a lot of the features Windows users are accustomed to.  They don’t, however, yet have nearly the number of apps available as Android and iPhone. The bottom line is that there are a lot of options to choose from. Different phones and their features are better suited for different types of users and businesses. So going with the most popular or well-known option isn't necessarily the best choice. Research each phone's useful features and downsides.  Unstand the difference between using a smartphone for business purposes versus personal use – needs can be very different.  Thoroughly investigate the options to get a phone that's the right fit for your business. The post Looking for a Business Smartphone: Don’t Automatically Choose the iPhone appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Reality is Weighing on Small Business Optimism Posted: 13 May 2013 05:00 AM PDT Small business owners are an optimistic lot, with studies showing that they tend to have a rosier outlook than other people. Yet four years into the economic recovery, surveys show them in a relative funk. What gives? It's pretty simply, really. Small business owners’ relative pessimism reflects reality. Despite an economy that has been expanding since mid-2009, conditions remain relatively poor for the typical small business owner. Let's start with small business owners' attitudes. The most recent Wells Fargo Small Business Index clocked in at 16 in April. While that's higher than the -1 it recorded in the second quarter of 2009, when the economy was pulling out of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the Index remains far below the 99 it recorded in the fourth quarter of 2007 before the Great Recession began. Other indices are also below their pre-recession levels. The longest running measure – the Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business – was at 97.3 in March of 2007. In March of 2013, it was at 89.5. As much as small business owners try to see the bright side, many measures show that small business owners are worse off today than they were at the end of 2007. Consider the following: Fewer small businesses are doing well financially. Approximately, 58 percent of small business owners told surveyors from Wells Fargo that their company's financial situation was "good" in April. While that's better than the 50 percent who said it was good in the first quarter of 2009 when the economy was still in recession, it is lower than the 72 percent who reported it as good in the fourth quarter of 2007 before the economic downturn hit. Small business owners face concerns about their cash flow. Fifty-nine percent of small business owners told interviewers from the American Express Open Small Business Monitor that they had cash flow concerns, ten percentage points higher than the 49 percent who described having cash flow problems in September 2007. Revenues remain soft. In April only 37 percent of small business owners told Wells Fargo's surveyors that their business's revenue rose of the prior 12 months. In the first quarter of 2007, 45 percent of small business owners said their revenue had gone up over the previous 12 months. Employment is down. In April the Intuit Small Business Employment Index was 4.9 percent below its December 2007 level, indicating over 1 million fewer people employed by companies with fewer than 20 workers now than before the Great Recession. Households hold less equity in private companies. Data from the Federal Reserve of New York's Quarterly Report on Household Credit shows that in the fourth quarter of 2007 households held 17 percent less equity in non-corporate businesses than they did in the fourth quarter of 2007. Fewer Americans are in business for themselves. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the percentage of the civilian non-institutionalized population that was self-employed dropped from 7.0 percent in March 2007 to 5.9 percent in March 2013. Given the numbers, I am surprised at how positive the small business confidence measures are. It's testimony to the optimistic nature of small business owners that their views are this upbeat. Reality Check Photo via Shutterstock The post Reality is Weighing on Small Business Optimism appeared first on Small Business Trends.

You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610