How To Use Video To Engage and Convert

Alexander NicolaidesMarch 14, 2022

Why Use Video?

Video is a powerful tool for businesses for multiple reasons. For starters, consumers are more drawn to visuals as they are more eye-catching and easily digestible. With many people buying items online, having video functions and features is a recommended strategy to attract new customers. Here are some methods in which video can enhance your conversion and engagement.

Increasing Your Marketing Strategy

If you’re not utilizing video into your business, you may very well be missing out on profit and engagement. Research has shown that many people are watching video content highlighting brands, product walk-throughs, and reviews. Visuals are known to increase the time one spends on your website and boost your ranking in search engines as well. The visual component is key to attracting business these days and having video as an active part of your marketing strategy is crucial to maintaining engagement.

Showcasing Your Product

When shopping online, many miss tangibly seeing or feeling a product. Video, however, can give costumers not only a better handle on what it looks like but how it works as well. Displaying a product in action can go a long way toward enticing consumers. The cross-compatibility of video across social media platforms can strengthen your advertising and reach a wider pool of potential audiences.

Videos Attract the Mobile User

With many people buying and shopping via mobile devices, videos are ideal and integrate seamlessly to phones and tablets. Consumers tend to watch videos on Facebook, Tik-Tok, and YouTube daily; by having a video presence you can easily target this demographic. The mobile market also relies heavily on shares which will bring more eyes to your site and products. By tapping into the mobile realm, you are opening yourself up to increased opportunities for engagement.

How to Start Making Videos

Now that you’ve heard the benefits of bringing video into your business, it’s time to create some of your own. While making your own visual content can be daunting, there are ways around that. There are affordable platforms and software that can give you the basics and Logicblock has tutorials as well on adding video content to your site. If you’re truly stumped, you can also consider reaching out to a professional video team to create your vision. Logicblock has a partnership with Fortune Web Marketing who house their own video production division, WeStar Productions. Reaching out to services such as these will put you in the right direction when it comes to embracing the visual element.

Visit Logicblock to learn how videos can improve your consumer experience!

Logicblock Partner Spotlight: Fortune Web Marketing

Alexander NicolaidesFebruary 15, 2022

Introducing Fortune Web Marketing

At Logicblock, we pride ourselves on the ease and flexibility of our website’s systems and integrations thanks to strong partnerships, specifically our partnership with boutique marketing firm, Fortune Web Marketing, which began in 2012.

They provide both us and our customers with marketing strategies that benefit all teams involved, ensuring seamless integration of graphic design, content, analytics, and marketing. The FWM team is comprised of rockstars who excel in their roles as creative ninjas, content writers, and social media gurus to deliver a unique digital presence and sophisticated marketing strategy. Fortune Web Marketing says that they will “Rock The Web” and indeed they do.

History

Fortune Web Marketing was started in 2007 by Jennifer Stine with only one other employee. Now, fifteen years later, there is a staff of over 18 creatives with offices in Asbury Park, NJ, Atlantic City, NJ, and Redondo Beach, CA, with a fourth office on the way in Burlington, VT. Not only that, but they have an in-house video production company, WeStar Productions, which allows for easy integration of video content to a marketing strategy.

Services

No matter what you’re looking for, Fortune Web can do it. Their services are varied, professional, and can integrate with Logicblock’s services.

7cart Integrations

Fortune Web Marketing is able to integrate the following services directly with 7cart:

+ Search Engine Optimization

+ Custom Content

+ PPC with Google and Bing ads

+ Custom Graphic Design

+ Merchandising

+ Catalog Integration

+ Mega Menu Build Outs

Other Marketing Services

In addition, they have several services that are performed off 7cart, but are mutually beneficial to both your company and theirs.

+ Social Media Marketing

+ Email Marketing

+ Video Production

+ Video Marketing

+ Print or Digital Graphic Design

+ Branding

+ Consulting

+ Web Design

The Value of Partnership

“The 7cart eCommerce platform is one of the strongest, and most flexible, eCommerce systems we have had the pleasure of working with,” said Jennifer Stine, Founder and President of Fortune Web Marketing. “We tremendously value all of the continuous improvements made within the system. We could not ask for a better synergy between a marketing firm and an eCommerce provider than the one we have today.”

“Our primary job is to make our 7cart platform the best platform out there,” said Alexander Nicolaides, President of Logicblock. “Fortune Web brings a tremendous amount of online marketing knowledge to the table, allowing us to focus on what we do best – building a truly exceptional eCommerce platform.”

Want to Rock The Web with Fortune Web Marketing? Learn more today!

Can Chatbots Improve The Shopping Experience?

The Benefits of Chatbots: Improving The Online Shopping Experience

Alexander NicolaidesJanuary 31, 2022

What are Chatbots?

Chatbots are software applications that are utilized for when someone cannot reach an in-person representative and customer service is provided through a computer program. Chatbots serve several purposes and are popular for addressing customer needs at that time. In the e-commerce field, they are becoming a tool to connect consumers with products and services and to answer questions. Below are some of the ways that Chatbots can improve the consumer experience.

24/7 Availability

While even your most dedicated reps need to sleep, chatbots have the advantage of being active around the clock. With their 24-hour availability, they can reach a wider range of customers at various time zones. Having this option will ensure you’re always interacting with the consumer and their needs are always addressed. The more customer needs can be met, the more engagement your business will attain.

Troubleshooting

When it comes to addressing specific concerns or tasks, automation can be highly effective. Chatbots are designed to quickly handle situations such as organizing returns, addressing FAQ questions, and other last-minute needs. This type of efficiency helps ensure any and all consumer needs are being overseen and keep all processes running smoothly.

Instant Connection, Increased Conversions

When shopping online, customers often purchase items in a matter of seconds. With chatbots, any customer concerns can be addressed instantly. By having these concerns addressed, shoppers can make purchases faster thus increasing sales traffic. The instant connection chatbots offer can directly allow for greater conversion. These results benefit sales and allow consumers to come away satisfied with both their purchase and your business.

Tips on Using Chatbots

Upon deciding to introduce chatbots into your business, there are ways to make them as accessible as possible:

Allowing your chatbots to have a sense of personality will make users feel at ease and more willing to communicate.
Including relevant links is helpful toward directing customers to your online store faster.
Integrating an option to speak to an actual representative is important in the event some requests prove too complex for a chatbot to handle.

These elements will allow your chatbots to make a strong impression with consumers and attract results.

Want to set up a chatbot on your Logicblock website, click here to learn how!

How To Combat Shipping Challenges

Alexander NicolaidesJanuary 17, 2022

Experiencing Shipping Challenges

When operating an e-commerce business, shipping issues can upend you greatly. Delayed orders can result in frustrated customers, a lack of efficiency, and hinder your bottom line. In an era where online shopping is the norm, planning ahead for shipping challenges is essential. Taking advantage of these methods will ensure you are prepared for whatever may come your way.

Keep Track of Inventory

One of the biggest hurdles a business can face is not having enough of a desired product in stock. This could prove especially challenging during holiday seasons when orders increase. Inventory Management is an effective way to anticipate shipping issues ahead of time. Take a look at your in-demand products and make sure you are properly stocked, and don’t be afraid to discontinue items that are not moving quite as well as you had hoped. Inventory Management is a strategy that can help you anticipate your needs. By doing so, you will be increasing sales opportunities and mitigating any unforeseen shipping conflicts in the process.

Discount Your Products Wisely

Discounts on shipping can be a nice incentive for customers, particularly in peak periods. However, discounting a product too much can hurt your sales. With discounts, the lower the price the more you need to sell to maintain profit. When deciding to discount items, avoid doing so to high-priced or popular items. Instead, opt for simpler deals on high sellers and reserve larger deals for slower-moving items. Pricing your products properly will make sure you are not losing revenue during the shipping process and keep your sales on track.

Factor In Logistics

Factoring in the logistics of where your products are made can be a key factor in reducing shipping costs. Determining if the supplies needed for your products have a local source will help you navigate shipping price and manage revenue. By managing your logistics, you can accurately assess your shipping costs and ensure you won’t be losing any revenue in the process.

Optimize The Delivery Process

After these past two years, supply chain issues are still a factor. While these issues can be unexpected, your response to them doesn’t have to be. Focusing on your delivery process can streamline sales and get products to customers faster. Adopting an advanced dispatching solution can help you accept orders easier, optimize route builds, and provide updates and ETAS to shoppers. Creating a streamlined delivery process will go a long way toward customer satisfaction and maintaining sales.

Visit Logicblock for ways you can keep your business running smoothly!

Building Outside Links To Your Store

Alexander NicolaidesApril 22, 2021

In the business of eCommerce, backlinks are some of the best tools at your disposal. When other companies link out to your website (I.e. “backlink”), you can get a lot more traffic.

Backlinks are great for improving search engine optimization (SEO), but getting others to link out to your site is not always an easy task.

Continue reading to learn more about backlinks, and how you can get more of them for your business.

What Are Backlinks

Backlinks are links from another site back to your site. They serve many purposes, but mainly they grow the traffic on your site, build a larger audience and boost search engine rankings. Major search engines consider backlinks votes of confidence or “votes” for a specific page.

This is great to expand your audience and appeal to people from all over, including new site visitors and bloggers.

Why Are Backlinks Important

Someone analyzing SEO breakdown of traffic to a website

Backlinks are especially valuable for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because they represent a vote of confidence from one site to another. These “votes” from other websites tell search engines that your content is valuable and useful.

Backlinks to your website are a signal to search engines that others find your content valuable. If many sites link to the same webpage or website, search engines can deduce that content is worth linking to, and therefore also worth surfacing on a search engines results page. The more votes you have, the higher your site will rank in major search engines.

How To Build Backlinks

Man on his computer searching the web, close-up on his laptop and hands

Create Content People Can’t Get Elsewhere

You want to get backlinks by creating strong content that others want to share. If web designers find your content valuable and useful, they might be inclined to link this information to their own sites. When people visit their sites, they have the option to click the backlink to navigate to your site. This is a great way for your site to get more traffic and appeal to a larger audience.

It’s a great idea to review products and services you offer and come up with unique blog topics for your business. This will make backlinking to your site appealing to others

Write Guest Posts

You can also get backlinks by writing guest blog posts on websites relevant to your industry. When you write a post on someone else’s site, you are allowed to list information about your own business. This presents you with the chance to target a specific demographic in your target audience.

Your first task is to decide what your goal for guest blogging is. Knowing this goal ahead of time is key in determining the right kind of blogs to submit guest posts to. Typically, there are three main goals for guest blogging.

Positioning yourself as an authority and well-known name in the industry.
Getting exposure (traffic) back to your website.
Building backlinks to your website (though this should never be the main focus, as Google frowns on this).

With writing strong content on the top blogs, you can do all three of these things.

Avoiding Spam

Not all backlinks are created equal. At the back of SEO, there’s a thing called spam backlinks, which is basically a link to your page placed on an irrelevant website with some ill-fitted anchor text.

While backlinks are effective for search engine optimization, you need to be careful with how you employ them. Some companies use tactics that can create many backlinks in a short period of time. This is a problem, because those links can appear on poorly optimized websites that have nothing to do with your business. These are known as spam backlinks.

There are things you can do if your website has spammy backlinks by detecting all of the spam backlinks your website has, compiling and list of all toxic domains and reporting them to google or another major search engine.

Looking for more ways to improve your websites search rank?
Logicblock partners with Google web tools to make SEO tracking and building easier.

Learn More About SEO

How To Launch Your First Ecommerce Store

Alexander NicolaidesFebruary 26, 2021

Whether you’re a small business looking to sell your products online or you’re building a business from scratch, launching your first eCommerce store is easier than you think. With a few simple steps and some thoughtful planning, you can have eCommerce store live and ready for sales in an instant.

Build Your Site

Logicblock makes it easy to build a new eCommerce site no matter your skill level. We offer custom design and development services to turn your vision into a reality, or free support guides and documents if you’d rather DIY your site. No matter which you choose, you’ll have the tools you need to build a brand new website from the ground up.

Establish A Brand

Branding is your business “voice,” and you’ll need it to communicate with your customers. This step is too often overlooked leaving businesses scrambling to figure it out later. Connections lead to sales (even if they’re made down the road) and branding builds connections, helping your business to grow right from the beginning.

Source Products

Start researching who has the best products in the best price point. You can do this later, but it’s easier to build your store with the end result in mind. If you’re not sure what you’re going to sell yet, that’s ok too. You can try out different products and set different prices to see what best fits your (and your future customers’) needs.

Launch Your Site

Everything has been purchased, your marketing plan is in full swing and your site is up and running…now all you have to do is hit go! Follow a pre-launch check list (to make sure you don’t miss any crucial steps) and watch as your site goes from an idea, to reality.

Share Your eCommerce Store

Publishing your eCommerce site is as quick as pushing a button, but growing it is another thing altogether. Make sure you blast your new site across social media channels and spread it around to your contacts. If you don’t have any professional contacts yet, send it to family and friends. Don’t overthink this step too much, the most important thing is to get your site out to as many people as possible and letting it grow from there.

Logicblock’s easy-to-use platform was made to host eCommerce stores. We have the experience and technology to get your first eCommerce store launched and making sales ASAP.

Want to see for yourself?

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Why Your Small Business Needs An Ecommerce Site

Alexander NicolaidesFebruary 12, 2021

If there’s anything COVID-19 taught businesses, it’s the need for a digital presence. Those who did not have an eCommerce store floundered, either scrambling to put one together or hoping they survived being shut down without sales.

But the benefits for opening an eCommerce store go far beyond the current crisis. They also allow you to boost your sales, expand your reach and have more control over your business.

Don’t get caught unprepared…this is why your business needs an eCommerce site (now more than ever).

24 Hour Shopping (Sell While You Sleep)

Online stores aren’t limited by hours or availability. Sure, you need to do the background work to build a website, establish your brand and promote it via social media channels, but once you have a customer base for your eCommerce store, you can sit back and watch the products sell themselves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Expands Customer Base

Ecommerce stores instantly grow your customer base well beyond your geographic location. Even the best in-person retailers are limited by how many people are around them, and how far others are willing to travel to get to them. Once you place products online, you’ll be able to reach anyone in your delivery zone, whether that’s statewide or global. In theory, you can reach anyone in the world that has access to the internet if you want to. The possibilities are endless.

More Control

One of the most frightening aspects of COVID-19 for retailers were the shutdowns. There was no clear answer about when (or if) stores would be allowed to re-open. In the digital world, you’re not limited by zoning laws or the latest political/public health crisis. When your business is online, you decide: when to open, close and how every aspect of your business operates.

Lower Overhead

Transferring your business out of a brick and mortar and over to an eCommerce store can save you a considerable amount on expenses. Rent, utilities and excess staffing can all be cut completely, leaving you with the bare necessities to run your business. This savings can help you to lower costs for your customers in turn, lowering prices for eCommerce products vs. the ones in your store.

Ecommerce stores offer unlimited flexibility and access to the most expansive consumer base in the world. Whether you keep a physical retail store or not, an eCommerce store is an asset you can’t afford to work without.

Set Up An E-Commerce Store Today!

6 Reasons You Should Use Logicblock’s 7cart Platform for Your Business

Alexander NicolaidesNovember 25, 2019

An Ideal Platform for Your Online Business

For online sellers, finding the perfect platform to build a store on is crucial. In order to stay competitive, you need a robust platform that can be tailored to suit your industry. Logicblock’s 7cart system offers several advanced features, and can be used to design a site that suits the needs of your business.

Looking to make a switch to a new platform? Please take a few minutes and see why our 7cart platform is a good match for your business.

1. It Helps Distributors & Dealers Stay Connected

Young Man Using Laptop to Communicate Online

Every company has its own needs, and our 7cart system is designed to accommodate for each of them. For one, the system comes with a number of features that allow distributors to stay connected with their dealers. By using 7cart, you can improve the flow of orders, and get what you need from vendors as quickly as possible.

With our catalog management system, you will get product updates from manufacturers as soon as they arrive. Your online inventory automatically links with vendors’ inventories as well, so you will always know what it is you need to stock up on. And with an easy content delivery service, you can send crucial updates to vendors in a matter of seconds.

To make this possible, Logicblock works with a large selection of partners.

2. You Can Offer Unique Customer Pricing

To build strong relationships with clients, many businesses like to offer unique prices to certain customers. Each client has a different budget to work with, so companies tailor their prices to suit their needs. 7cart comes with a unique pricing system that can help you accomplish this task.

In 7cart, you can apply special price rules for individual customers. This gives them special prices that are tailored around the budgets they have to work with. You can also set the system so customers can find products that will save them money in the long run.

Combine this with our competitive pricing tools, and you have plenty of ways to attract new customers.

3. It’s Tailor-Made for Search Engine Optimization

Google Loaded Up on a Portable Tablet Device

Optimizing your content for search engines is essential if you want people to visit your store over your competitors. To help with this, 7cart comes with several features that are tailor-made for search engine optimization. These include the following:

Every product has its own product page, complete with product meta-tags.
Pages have search-friendly URLs that can be easily customized.
An HTML site map is automatically created for each new site.

Working with Logicblock ensures that your content will be found by the right people. All you need is good content and the right keywords.

4. With Responsive Design, Our System is Mobile Ready

Woman Using Her Smartphone to Shop for Things Online

In this day and age, mobile optimization is no longer recommended for online businesses: it’s now essential. This is why we have geared our system around mobile, so you can take advantage of customers shopping on their phones.

When you use the 7cart system, you have the option to create a more streamlined version of your site that is ideal for mobile. All customers have to do is click a single button on the page to switch to this new, responsive design. Customers are free to switch back and forth as they please, and this feature won’t cost you a single cent.

5. We Provide Excellent Security Tools

At Logicblock, security is a top priority. Our hosting service offers triple-strength security, which covers physical security, operational security, and system security. Security previsions deter hackers from attacking your site, and with IP blocking tools you can keep them from ever bothering you again.

In addition, daily backups are made to ensure that your data is never lost in the case of a data wipe. Our servers are able to maintain good traffic levels too, so we can keep you safe from attackers that may try to overload your system. As long as you have a contract with us, we’ll make sure your website never goes down.

6. You Can Migrate Your Customer Data

Are you not happy with your current platform, but are afraid of potentially losing customer data? Fret not, because with Logicblock’s migration services you can migrate your existing data to the new site without losing important data. We support migration for several eCommerce services, including AOSWare, Evolution, GOPD, RedFalcon, ECI/DDMS, and more.

Price rules, customer shopping lists, order histories, address books, and more can be migrated before launch. That way, you and your customers won’t lose important information once your new site goes live. Don’t let the fear of losing data keep you from getting a better platform for your business.

Think Logicblock’s 7cart platform is a good fit for your company? Think about signing up for a free trial today!

Request a Free 7cart Trial

The Value of Customer Service, & Why It Should Be a Top Priority

Alexander NicolaidesOctober 29, 2019

Strong Customer Service is Vital

In the age of digital shopping, it is crucial for eCommerce businesses to have a clear customer service plan. Shipping mishaps and other problems can occur at any time, so you need a team that can handle them efficiently. Being able to solve customers’ problems helps build loyalty, and makes your business more inviting to new clients.

See why having a good customer service plan is vital for any online business.

Problems Can Happen at Any Time

Problems can rise up at any time, no matter how good you are at running a business. Products can break during the shipping process for various reasons. Sometimes a package will take much longer to arrive than expected. Other times a customer will order a product in the wrong size, and will want to replace it.

Many of these mishaps are out of your control, and can happen at any given moment. Your customer service team should be prepared to take on these issues as they come up. Being able to solve problems in a timely manner is a key part of running a successful and professional business.

Unhappy Customers Have No Issues Leaving You

Customer service plays a key role in retaining customers.

Today’s shoppers have little patience for mistakes, and they expect everything to go smoothly. Sadly, it is impossible to keep things completely problem-free, and you will have to deal with unhappy customers from time-to-time. Solving a customer’s issues is crucial, because if the problems go unsolved you are at risk of losing that person’s business forever.

People who frequently shop from you will have no problem switching to a different store if you don’t resolve their issues. Even your most loyal customers can abandon you if they experience one too many setbacks. These customers are your biggest money-makers, so losing them will be a huge blow to your profits.

Strong Customer Service Represents a Good Brand Image

In order to maintain a successful business, you need to have a strong public image. Public perception of your business is based on what onlookers hear from your past customers. People are more likely to shop from you when your customer service team can tackle problems in a quick and professional manner.

When someone has a bad experience with a company’s customer service team, that person will tell others not to shop there. In the digital age, it will not take long for that information to spread. Correcting a poor public image is difficult, so it is important that you have a customer service team that knows how to handle tough situations.

Customer Service Fosters Customer Loyalty

Trust Between a Business Owner And Client

By helping customers with their problems, you can foster customer loyalty. Helping out your customers shows that they matter to you. This will entice them to shop from you again in the future.

Your most satisfied customers may be willing to spend money on larger orders as well. It costs a lot more to attract new customers than it does to retain your existing ones, so keep that in mind.

Plus, your loyal customers may recommend your business to their friends, which can lead to more sales later on. Satisfied customers help promote your business, and let others see you as someone that is trustworthy. You should never underestimate the effectiveness of keeping your customers happy.

You Can Learn More About Customers & Improve

Customer Service Reps Learn About Customer Habits

One of the best aspects of customer service is that it gives you the chance to improve. While some issues occur out of your control, there will be ones you have more responsibility for. By working with your customer service team, you can find issues with your storefront, and improve the shopping experience for your clients.

In addition, helping your customers gives you the chance to get insights on them. When you or a representative ask questions, you learn about why people shop from you, and what types of products they prefer. All of this gives you the chance to enhance your business and make it more attractive to your customers.

When customers have positive experiences with your company, you can benefit by convincing them to leave reviews.
Want to learn more about this?

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A Guide to Discounts: Lowering Your Prices Without Losing Profits

Alexander NicolaidesOctober 22, 2019

Reduce Prices, Without Reducing Profits

One of the biggest double-edged swords in commerce is the price discount. On the one hand, discounts are great for enticing people to buy items that are stalling. And yet, if you rely on discounts too often your profits will take a significant hit. As a result, creating ideal sales promotions that improve profits can be a challenge for online sellers.

If you want to discount your products, use this guide to keep profits strong.

Determining the Ideal Discount

30% is an Ideal Discount for Products Online

If you are planning to discount a product, you need to think about how much you want to lower the price tag. The discount should be big enough to appeal to consumers, without taking too much out of your profits. Certain products have more value than others, so maintaining the value of the product is another thing to consider.

Here’s a tip: you should avoid setting discounts larger than 40%. Marking down the price further will harm an item’s profitability. It can reduce the product’s perceived value as well, which can dissuade customers from buying it outright.

Always set a hard limit for how much you plan to discount your products. Plan your discounts early so you can set ideal prices before the promotion goes live.

Save Discounts for Key Periods

Slow Summer Sales Can Be Boosted With Discounts

Discounts can boost your sales, but it isn’t wise to rely on them all the time. If you offer too many discounts over a long period of time, customers will expect you to have them all the time. This is not feasible for any business, so save your discounts for periods when you absolutely need them.

For example, if you know that your sales will slow down during the summer, save your discounts for June. Save your biggest discounts for big shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Getting into a habit of discounting your products all the time will negatively impact your profits.

Free Shipping is an Option

Free Shipping is A Great Way to Increase Sales

If you don’t feel comfortable offering discounts, why not offer free shipping instead? Lots of customers do not like paying shipping fees, so taking them away is almost like offering a discount. To ensure that you are not losing money on this, offer free shipping when a certain number of products are in the cart.

Customers will appreciate the offer, and you can increase sales without having to rely on heavy discounts. Everyone wins!

Set Conditions for Discounts

A smart way to make profits while offering discounts is to set specific conditions for them. Instead of discounting individual items, it might be wise to offer a discount after a certain number of items are placed in the cart.

For example, you could offer a 25% discount for orders that have at least three items in them. You could also supply a 30% discount code to any customers who spend at least $100 on their orders. There’s also the “buy two, get one free” tactic, which has been reliable for decades online and offline.

This allows you to offer pleasing discounts while still moving a strong number of products.

Through our 7cart program, you have all the tools you need to create effective sales and promotions. Interested in learning more?

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