- See more at: http://blogtimenow.com/blogging/automatically-redirect-blogger-blog-another-blog-website/#sthash.CjzeOUZw.dpuf On-Demand eCommerce Blog | Dynamic Merchandising by OrderDynamics: December 2008

Significant Visitor Growth for Major Online Merchants

If you don't follow InternetRetailer.com and you're in the eCommerce world at some level, its a good idea to get on their news letter.

Yesterday we were very pleased to read that most major retailers experience significant positive increases in visitor traffic, and most likely sales, this year as compared to previous years.

These quantitatively emphasize that eCommerce is an important part of a retailers multi-channel strategy. Bricks-and-Mortar retailers have a huge advantage over purely online retailers in that they have people walking in and out of their store, giving them a chance to connect and encourage future online shopping.

In addition, many already have customer lists in their CRM or POS system allowing them to immediately market to them using their eCommerce solution.

Some of the statistics we noticed:

Snip from: Among 10 top retail sites, Kohl’s has the sharpest rise in holiday traffic

Following are the 10 sites surveyed by Compete with their year-over-year rise in unique visitors and their total number of visitors (in millions) for the period Nov. 1 through Dec. 13, 2008:

Kohl’s, 53.1%, 38.55
Amazon.com, 48.5%, 382.02
Macys.com, 36.1%, 35.69
Sears, 25.1%, 58.62
Walmart.com, 22.8%, 181.62
ToysRUs.com, 21.7%, 60.04
Target.com, 20.3%, 137.23
JCP.com, 18.2%, 60.04
BestBuy.com, 12.3%, 77.51
Overstock.com, -9.8%, 42.01

The Benefits of eCommerce SaaS: an OrderDynamics comment

I thought this blog post The Benefits of Software-as-a-Service was a great way to introduce the concept of Software-as-a-Service (or SaaS) and how it is superior over an on-prem solution for many online merchants today and into the future.

In addition to these points, a SaaS or an On-Demand eCommerce solution typically have (or should) a much higher level of security, capacity, and availability capabilities than otherwise possible at the same budget as other implementations. SaaS eCommerce providers generally have highly available server configurations (clustering & redundancies) located in state-of-the-art datacenter facilities. In addition, the software implementation on the servers is highly optimized and controlled by the specialist team that developed it - which yeilds a much higher quality of service over having to manage 3rd party applications and hosting services with in-house resources or a webdesign company.

Lastly, online merchants typically have superior control over their brand and design features in a on-demand / SaaS eCommerce environment. This is because the underlying software that makes up the shopping cart, inventory control, shipping integration, and other management modules are not being coded with the website - they’re already there. This allows merchants to chop and change their eStore or marketing firms as needed without having to rip out the eCommerce solution.

How to buy, evaluate or recommend eCommerce Shopping Cart Software | Selecting the right Partner

There are many important factors when deciding who will be your eCommerce partner. We use the term "partner" because in many ways, our mutual success is linked together. As a result, online merchants need to think about some key areas as they enter in to what will likely be a multi-year relationship.

The eCommerce Spectrum
We won't go into great detail as this could be a white paper on its own. It is, however, important to understand that you can accomplish an eCommerce website in a few different general ways. They are:
  • Build software in-house

  • Purchase software

  • Host built/purchased software internally or through a 3rd party hosting firm (many levels here)

  • Find a mass-market hosted frontend shopping cart

  • Find a backend hosted order processing system to attach to your shopping cart (as you grow)

  • Partner with an On-Demand eCommerce Solution Provider which normally have front end shopping cart software and backend order processing software, as well as high availability hosting in a turn key solution.

With the capital markets tightening down, its clear that large up-front software and hardware purchasing will not be the first choice for many businesses. Developing your own eCommerce software is almost like building your own word processor or spreadsheet - why re-invent the wheel? On-Demand eCommerce or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution providers offer a powerful core eCommerce platform, on a redundant hosting network payable on a monthly basis. This reduces time-to-sales and allows development budgets to stay focused on creating software and components that enhance the unique value of your business.

Checkmark #1: Ability to Deliver
Lets just start off by saying any company you choose should have a successful track record. Online merchants should probe deeply to get a comfort level on the following from the eCommerce provider:

  • Operational structure

  • Technology used and redundancies

  • Case Studies and Customer References

  • Company history, values, and where they're headed

You don't need a 50 page document here, but it is important to do your due diligence and ensure the answers to these questions give you a comfort level that your potential new partner is not a fly-by-night operation. If you feel like there may be a fit, before you sign a contract talk to a Customer reference about their journey and experiences so far.

Important things to ask a reference:

  • Are they responsive to your needs?

  • Have you ever experienced downtime? if so why, and how often?

  • What's the one thing that made a huge difference for your business?

  • If you could improve one thing, what would it be?

References are a great piece of validation, but it should come towards the end of the process when you already know they can meet your needs.

Checkmark #2: Find Alignment with your Company
As with any service provider relationship, it helps to have a company that you can relate to at many levels. Online merchants should consider:


  • Size of eCommerce provider - 800 pound gorilla vs. start-up, vs. high growth - these details may affect service quality / relationship.

  • How long they've been in business?

  • Customer Service Approach - is this important to the provider? Can you pickup the phone and talk to someone that can help you succeed online?

  • Your growth stage - are you making the leap to a higher-end solution? Do you have high growth expectations? Will the eCommerce solution scale up with your business plans or force you to re-launch and find a new solution in a few years?

Coming to grips with this is important. Your busienss will be more important to one provider than anothers and its critical to establish this alignment.

Checkmark #3: Your Top 3-5 Pain Points
Have you ever seen a typical eCommerce feature list? If the solution is feature rich, you're looking at possibly 500 or 1,000 lines of text. Not a great way to evaluate anything. So start by picking out 3-5 key things that are challenging today and that you want to specifically improve upon the day the new eCommerce solution goes live.

Any effective consultative sales engagement is about mapping "pain points" and business requirements to the solution and communicating this to the Customer. Whenever we do demos, we start off by asking what is most important to you and what would make the biggest positive impact on your business today. Another question we ask is: "What wastes your time the most, or causes you the most grief." Questions like this immediately identify where you need to improve and what tasks need to be delegated to an automated technology solution. If you can identify these key issues, and find a way to eliminate them, then you will have more free time to focus on growing your business.

Some examples we hear often include:

  • Product Management, Content Management and site updates
  • Keeping Inventory levels accurate and in sync with other systems such as a POS system
  • Easy to use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) features
  • Comprehensive reports including, up to the minute sales figures, inventory levels, advertising performance (PPC, etc.)

A simple way to evaluate a service providers sales process is if they're proactively working to understand your top needs. This will also tell you if they're really listening to you. After the product demo, you should have a good comfort that your immediate needs will be met.

Ultimately the final proposal should be reflective of these points.

Checkmark #4: Your Wish List
By limiting the scope of your immediate needs, you should then build a subsequent list of future plans or areas you would like to know more about. For example, SEO control may not be something that is a huge concern over some immediate challenges but may be a deal breaker if the provider cannot deliver this down the road.

This also gives you the opportunity to understand how the service provider responds to questions you may have. After all, they will be a provider of business-critical services for you - you need to know you can pick up the phone and ask them important questions and expect consultative responses. This process should be collaborative with clarifying questions to make sure they understand your needs prior to delivering you a solution.

What if they don't have the features?
If the feature you need is on your core list, you probably didn't hit check mark #3. However if it is something that you can wait for, then the question is a much larger issue. This is because it starts to push on a fundamental issue faced by many online merchants... future features that you may need to drive business - that's check mark #5.

Checkmark #5: Your Future
eCommerce is accelerating at light speeds and online merchants must be able to exploit all the possibilities the Internet may present over time. This includes things like:

  • Integration with popular websites and social destinations
  • Cross selling and distribution to widen your audience
  • Payment and Authorization services
  • Marketing and promotions management
  • Fulfillment and shipping services

This is a moving target so what you want to know here to meet check mark #5 is really some fundamental company values of your service provider:

  • Do they plan on enhancing their platform? When was the last time? How often? If not, move on.
  • Flexibility to add new features on-demand - How does this process work? How are they evaluated?
  • New feature release cycle (standard release cycle) - How many per year?
  • Service Level Agreement - do they even offer one? How does it align to your business needs?

Your future service provider should have a strategy in place to continuously drive future value to online merchants and their end shoppers. This should be a main part of their website, collateral, philosophy, team structure, and business plan.

If you're not getting the signs and signals that this is a core operating focus, you need to continue looking. We call this Dynamic Merchandising at OrderDynamics and this is reflected in our mission statement.

Mutual Success
Its totally clear that your success is highly underpinned by the eCommerce solution you select. The right partner will recognize that you are very much a key to their success. This "partnership" approach isn't for all online merchants, albeit recommended, and the level of the solution will vary based on where they're at in their eCommerce Journey.

Holiday Tips for Online Merchants

Since our job is to provide the platforms in which online merchants run their business, we routinely browse eStore websites and speak to our Clients to understand what’s working for them and their challenges. This year we were pleased to see many websites have a plan to make online holiday shopping more engaging. Sepcial events and holidays are a great way for online merchants to drive value to their customers and incent purchase decisions. We've provided a list of things we noticed and that we thought were great ways to service an online shopper during the holiday season.

Create a Holiday Theme
Don't you like how the Google logo changes on certain special events and holidays? Well even if it doesn't make you search more that day, it does remind you of the event and probably makes looking at the search logo a little more interesting that day. It’s the same for online shopping. Most of us shopping for a holiday event enjoy seeing some reflection in the website - and for repeat buyers it offers a unique shopping experience. Online merchants should consider their target audience and build themes to support various holidays.

Obviously this can be a slippery slope as not everyone celebrates the same holidays, so it should be done in a way that does not offend, and let's your shoppers know this is a unique time of year.

Keep it reasonable
Google just changes their logo, maybe that's enough for your eStore. Don't throw off your branding and keep it friendly on the eyes. The intention is to let shoppers know that you are aware of the season and that they'll find specials inside.

If you have the capabilities, build in dynamic content that can adjust the shopping experience based on the customer, originating visitor, or other factors.

Create Purchase Incentives
With the first part done, it is important to provide seasonal incentives to capture sales.
Some key incentives include:
  • Blow out seasonal stock
  • Free Shipping
  • "Stocking Stuffers" (Bonus Items)
  • Product Bundles
  • Free Wrapping
  • One-time seasonal promotions

Will it ship in time?
Worried the gift you bought someone will arrive before the big day? So are your customers. So, take every opportunity to remind shoppers of shipping timelines. You can use cut off times or counters to incent purchase decisions and remind them that the products will arrive prior to the special day.

We caution online merchants on this one. Although the intention is to remove concerns and incent shopping, if you can’t effectively check or anticipate shipping times you are running a risk of having unhappy customers with late gifts.

Chocolate Coins "Old Standard"
There are tons of reasons why people buy the same gifts year after year - not the least of which is the easy factor. With that in mind, online merchants should be extremely proactive during and leading up to the holiday season. Using marketing and promotional tools, you can connect back with past customers looking to purchase for the season. By creating relevant, targeted communications, customers are more likely to purchase the same product again or browse your site for something else.

We recommend targeting customers based on:
  • Previous products purchase
  • Geographic location
  • Buying patterns
  • Related and similar products
Even better, sign them up for a recurring purchase program that handles purchasing and shipping the same stuff once a year.

The Holiday Time Crunch
Back to the easy factor – time is already tight and the last thing anyone wants to do is shop online for hours upon end. With that in mind, make it easy for shoppers to buy from you quickly. Create custom categories and landing pages that promote products and provide gift ideas in a seasonal context.

Rather than losing the sale because someone can't choose a gift, provide a way for them to still do business with you. Gift cards are a great way to achieve this and should be considered during the holidays.

Another important thing to emphasize is the use of “Wish Lists” and popular product lists. Wish lists will allow gift receivers to browse your site and pick things out they'll enjoy - making it that much easier for the gift buyer. A Popular Products listing also helps reduce time browsing through product categories and searching. We recommend doing this across the board and at the category level.

Lastly, a great stocking stuffer idea: make sure "Also Boughts" (People that bought this also bought that") are being displayed to make it easy for someone to pick up some extra gifts.

Annual Strategy
Although we were pleased so many eStore websites had plans in place this holiday season, there were many that did not. There are many additional ways to create customer value and incent purchasing for special events and holidays, the important part of this is having a plan. Online merchants should plan all the special events in the 2009 calendar year and have a strategy based on several tactics.

Some tactics we didn’t look at here include:
  • Advertising offsite (pay per click, print, and radio for example)
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • New domains or landing pages
  • Online promotions only (for those with retail stores)
  • Alternative payment methods
OrderDynamics plans to release a complete Dynamic Merchandising whitepaper next year to cover this topic in more detail. If you have any questions in the mean time, email us at
blogs@orderdynamics.com.

On-Demand eCommerce SaaS Platform Upgrade: CardinalCommerce and OrderDynamics Partner

So we have announced our partnership with CardinalCommerce to expose a massive number of payment brands to our online merchants. The statistics are still on the way in, however immediately after we went live shoppers were processing through different payment options than before.

Since OrderDynamics is an eCommerce Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider (ie On-Demand eCommerce), these types of platform enhancements can be made available to all of our customers while maintaining a high level of security and reliability.

We're very pleased with the overall experience working with CardinalCommerce and would absolutely recommend them. As part of our Dynamic Merchandising strategy, we are constantly enhancing our SaaS platform with key-features that help our Customers drive sales, efficiencies, and Client value through the online shopping experience.

Read our press release at:
Online merchants explode eCommerce sales through over 20 alternative payments brands from partnership between OrderDynamics and CardinalCommerce.

For other great features, have a look at our Complete Feature List

Online merchants explode eCommerce sales through over 20 alternative payments brands from partnership between OrderDynamics and CardinalCommerce

December 3rd, 2008

Canada's leading on-demand eCommerce provider announces partnership with CardinalCommerce to enable alternative payment brands to its customers.

Toronto, ON - OrderDynamics Corporation, Canada's leading on-demand eCommerce solution provider, is pleased to announce its partnership with CardinalCommerce, the worldwide leading enabler of payment brands. The partnership will leverage CardinalCommerce's universal merchant platform, Cardinal Centinel®, to enable multiple payment brands for the Order Dynamics customer base.

OrderDynamics Customers, through a single integration, can now immediately provide over fifteen branded payment methods on their front-end web eStores. The OrderDynamics platform now maintains a single, secure interface to Cardinal Centinel® to enable payment brands such as: Verified by Visa & MasterCard® SecureCode™, Amazon Payments™, Bill Me Later®, Ebates™, eBillme™, eLayaway™, Google™ Checkout, Green Dot® MoneyPak®, MyEcheck, PayPal™, RevolutionCard™, Mazooma™, ClickandBuy®, and more.

"Our Customers can access these services though their management dashboard and automatically integrate the payment services with their current eCommerce shopping cart solution." explains Steven Berkovitz, VP Development. "Providing alternative payment methods to shoppers is an important way for online merchants to gain new customers, increase sales conversions, and make the eCommerce shopping experience more secure and convenient." Berkovitz continues "Through our Dynamic Merchandising concepts we aim to provide the best eCommerce tactics to help our Customers drive revenues and control costs. This is how we evaluate and prioritize enhancements to our eStore websites, eCommerce shopping cart, Fulfillment & Inventory Control, email Marketing, and all aspects of our on-demand eCommerce platform." The development and integration of the Cardinal Centinel platform is part of an overall new feature release strategy that OrderDynamics maintains as part of their services.

About CardinalCommerce Corporation
CardinalCommerce Corporation is the global leader in enabling authenticated payments, secure transactions, and alternative payment brands for both eCommerce and mobile commerce. Cardinal Centinel® enables payment brands such as Verified by Visa, MasterCard® SecureCode®, PayPal™, eBillme™, Bill Me Later®, Google™ Checkout, MyECheck, NACHA® Secure Vault Payments (SVP), Green Dot® MoneyPak®, Ukash™, eLayaway™, Ebates™, Amazon Payments™, RevolutionCard™, Mazooma™, ClickandBuy®, and more to a network of over 30,000 merchants and merchant service providers. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with facilities in the United States, Europe and Africa, Cardinal services a worldwide customer base.

About OrderDynamics Corporation
OrderDynamics Corporation is a privately owned company that has provides turn-key eCommerce solutions to businesses looking to grow their online sales solutions. The success of OrderDynamics is highly attributed to its response to real Client requirements and Dynamic Merchandising concepts which provide superior control and help drive revenue. The OrderDynamics solution is designed for online merchants and services different business such as retail, manufacturing, business-to-business, complex online retail, and more. OrderDynamics officially launched its on-demand eCommerce solution in 2006 after 2 years of research and development.

Learn about how we've helped online merchants grow

For more information, please contact:

Michael Benadiba
Chief Executive Officer
OrderDynamics Corporation
1+ (866) 559-8123
news@orderdynamics.com