30-second summary: With COVID-19 potentially discouraging shoppers from flooding into stores before sunrise on Black Friday, retailers had to adjust their 2020 game plan in advance. Most released their Black Friday deals weeks in advance, hoping to get as much wallet share as possible. Consumers bought earlier, taking advantage of the early promotions from retailers in the weeks leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020, in addition to focusing on those two shopping days as they have in the past. A decrease in purchases on Cyber Monday could mean that shoppers had already found deals they wanted and were finished with their holiday shopping before Cyber Monday rolled around. With more days to shop the same deals, shoppers may have been spreading out their orders and browsing between sites, given that they had more time to find the products they want. While average order value was down over …

Posted by MiriamEllis “We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh , Buddhist teacher Image credit: Maulvi My warm New Year’s greetings to all local business owners and local SEOs reading my column today. Add to this my sincere sentiments of solidarity for what we went through together in 2020 — we won’t soon forget it, and our stories from the journey contain important teachings for our market and industry. I often find that the best local SEO takeaways sprout from the real-world anecdotes of colleagues and friends, and you’ll find those here today along with my personal predictions for the year ahead. Let’s get learning! Teachings from the real lives of local SEOs In a year when we were physically distant from one another in unprecedented ways, I’ve found memorable lessons in how local business owners broke down barriers to keep communities connected. …

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission. Starting an employee retirement plan is not too hard or expensive, even for small businesses. Plus, these programs offer tax advantages to both the employees and the company, which leave more money in everyone’s account. Offering such benefits is a great way to attract qualified candidates and gives your top talent a huge reason to stay. The sooner you start the better. First, I’ll walk you through the different types of employee retirement plans available. There are more than just 401(k) plans helping people save for post-career life, including some types that are specifically made for small businesses. Then we’ll take a look at what to consider as you decide on which provider you want to manage your employee retirement plan. There’s a little bit to know, sure, but …

30-second summary: Video is now ‘the new normal enabler’ connecting brands and customers when offline interactions are still far from reverting to normal. Videos are bridging the gap for informing, educating, engaging, entertaining, and socializing with customers. Low-budget videos are now the it-thing of the video marketing industry – they look nothing like ads or promotional videos customers are likely to skip. Companies are expected to join the global conversation and express what matters to people behind the brand. And videos are a great tool for touching upon this conversation and revealing what the brand stands for as mere “We’re all in this together” message will not cut it. Although not a new trend, the popularity of live streams has soared due to COVID-19. Yes, while WFH, people tend to get distracted with their devices and watch a live stream. Not only stock markets are up – stock footage is …

30-second summary: Market conditions have shifted; they’re on a volatility roller coaster ride with an indeterminate amount of track of opportunity. US ecommerce sales in July rose 55% year-over-year (YoY) reaching a record $66.3 billion. 73% of consumers who are shopping online more since the pandemic plan to continue doing so in future. Ready or not, retailers need be planning new ways to deal with demand fluctuations across ecommerce categories now and plan for the holidays. In the face of dramatic shifts in consumer behavior, social distancing recommendations, and no end in sight to the uncertainty and changes in consumer behavior caused by the coronavirus, retailers are finding ecommerce and the mobile shopping experience more important than ever before. In fact, according to new data released from the Adobe Digital Index US ecommerce sales in July rose 55% year-over-year (YoY) reaching a record $66.3 billion. Strategies and technologies in the …

If there’s one thing you need from your digital marketing toolbox, it’s efficiency. You need access to real-time data so you can quickly make the most effective decisions and convert those all-important leads into paying customers. You can start by deploying iPaaS, or “Integration Platform as a Service”. It’s a little tricky to understand at first, but don’t worry. I’ll break it down for you. So, let’s go over how iPaaS works, starting with some fundamentals. What I s iPaaS? Let’s be clear on some terminology before we dive into what iPaaS is. Chances are you’re already using various apps, or Software as a Service (SaaS), across your organization. Statistics show that small businesses use 40 apps on average, and larger businesses use many more. SaaS examples include Monday, Trello, Salesforce, and Gmail. You usually need to switch between these SaaS applications to complete tasks, whether it’s assigning someone a …

Posted by timaj100 We are living in a fast-moving time with new technology, ever-evolving social and political landscapes, and a pandemic on top of that. Any predictions about what to expect in 2020 for marketers was no doubt lightyears off what we’re experiencing now . So what can we learn from this year as we move forward? You can bet things will continue to change and evolve in unpredictable ways. What worked last year might not work now. Heck, what worked last week might not work next week! How, then, can you be sure you’re getting the most out of your marketing efforts? Evolving and finding opportunities There are a few ways you can try to stay on top of things. No matter what, having a strategy for post-COVID is important. Learn from others For one, pay attention to those around you. Learn from your peers and competitors. Some may …

Launched in 2016, Public Goods carries earth-friendly alternatives for personal care, household products, and pantry items. Chances are, you order a lot of things from Amazon. A lot of people do. In fact, more than 197 million people shop with the Internet giant each month—and those numbers have only risen since the coronavirus pandemic began (in May the company announced a 26 percent increase in its first-quarter revenue). But there are plenty of reasons to make fewer purchases with Amazon, including the fact that the company notoriously utilizes unfair labor practices and exploits employees and drivers. Fortunately, there are other online platforms that allow you to purchase groceries and necessities without a commute—and one of them is doing it sustainably and with your health in mind. Read Full Story

30-second summary: According to Global Web Index’s findings, 80% of consumers in the U.S. and UK say they have consumed more content since the outbreak. According to emarketer, 49% of marketing professionals and agencies held back a campaign launch until later in 2020 and 45% stopped or paused a media campaign midway. Admoik shared that there was a 17.2% drop in week-over-week ad revenues, direct deal and programmatic guarantee being the biggest drops. Despite the 8.3% decrease of retail industry’s M&A deals, Apple acquired AR technology startup, NextVR for a $100 million with an intention to launch its AR headset in 2022 and AR glasses in 2023. 53% of consumers prefer brands to communicate through TV ads. According to McKinsey, UK, Spain, and Italy are least optimistic, whereas the US (37%) and China (48%) are optimistic about their economies jumping back to normal in the next two-to-three months. Purchases are …

The pandemic has been a boon to the online fashion resale market: Depop has seen a 300% increase in items sold between January and April compared to the same period last year. And that’s just the beginning. Only four years after opening a store on the fashion resale site Depop , 24-year-old Bella McFadden has become the first-ever seller to earn £1 million ($1.26 million) on the app. The global recession spurred by the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t shrunk her business. In fact, sales have gone up by 146% since the lockdown began. “I was expecting business to slow down,” McFadden tells me over Zoom, calling from her office in Los Angeles. “But I’m working harder than ever.” Read Full Story