Shopware – we are partners!

Shopware was developed more than 20 years ago in Germany and is a proven technology that today drives over 100,000 efficiently operating online shops.

Shopware 6 implementations are characterized by clear development and maintenance costs. The license price is a one-time fee, regardless of the turnover and the number of products in the store. On the other hand, modern solutions and well-known popular technologies (e.g. PHP Symfony framework, Vue.js, etc.) make Shopware highly valued by developers working with it. This significantly shortens the implementation time and considerably reduces the financial outlay.

The implementation of Shopware offers measurable benefits

The same applies to the ongoing maintenance and administration of the eCommerce system. Shopware has an intuitive interface that simplifies the daily management of products and sales processes. It saves time and effort.

On a par with the popular platform – Magento 2, Shopware is open-source software. It gives a global community of developers access to the platform’s source code, which ensures the constant and rapid development of the system. It also allows individual functions to be tailored to the needs of a specific implementation.

Every business is different – Shopware lets you implement these differences into your eCommerce. Online environment will reflect the nature and management style of your organization’s processes. Also, open code gives you the flexibility you need to stay ahead of trends and the demands of a changing market.

Shopware 6 also includes over 3,500 applications, templates, and interfaces available in Shopware Store. It offers standard interfaces for the most popular payment providers (including PayPal, Klarna, credit cards, etc.) and interfaces for popular systems such as ERP, PIM, newsletters, marketplaces, etc. All controlled through an intuitive manager that allows for simple management, installation and updating of extensions. The platform also has technical support available for the teams working with it.

The Shopware 6 functionalities meet all the needs of your customers and your business

The core functions of Shopware 6 include customer and order management mechanisms, including the possibility of individual price configurations (i.e. rule-based price lists based on specific customer characteristics). The system offers multichannel features and special B2B features are available in the Enterprise Edition. SEO options and optimization for mobile-first indexing are already integrated as standard. All this is held together by comprehensive analysis and statistical tools.

Omnichannel

The platform allows you to conveniently manage sales across multiple channels. A single CMS gives you the ability to unify the customer experience regardless of where they are: whether it be your online shop (stationary or mobile), marketplace, POS, or any other space where the customer is looking for your products. Multi-channel support allows us to adjust content, languages and payment methods to each channel individually.

API-first and headless solutions

Scaling and flexible adaptation to the tools preferred by customers and users is the strength of eCommerce solutions, which are to deliver stable and long-term benefits. Implementation of this eCommerce platform results in a limitless number and type of front-ends used in our sales system. Building eCommerce based on Shopware 6 technology, we can address our customers’ needs, freely adjusting the design, language and communication depending on the target group and channel of reaching.

Customers are different, but we always maintain full and easy control over the experience in our online store environment.

The multi-channel service is also supported by the available PWA (Progressive Web App) solutions. The PWA works like an app, with following benefits: sending notifications, functioning without an Internet connection, creating an icon on desktop, constantly accompanying the customer, as well as increasing security and speeding up the service.

Implementation of the B2B eCommerce platform based on Shopware 6

Extensive B2B functions allow you to replicate the specifics of even the most complex business models in organizations focusing on B2B relationships. Creating an offer tailored to the specific B2B customer greatly accelerates the ordering process. Shopware 6 for B2B means:

• flexible management of offers adapted to a specific customer
• convenient management of roles and permissions to reproduce the decision-making process on the customer’s side
• Sales representatives: due to the fact that the B2B market is based on relations with customers, the system includes functionalities that allow quick customer service by the sales representative “in the field” and convenient contact between the customer and his account manager in the eCommerce platform environment.

Take advantage of a comprehensive service for the implementation of Shopware 6

The long-standing presence in the market and the open-source model give the Shopware platform excellent flexibility in adapting to business needs. The key to success is the experienced team responsible for the implementation. As a Shopware partner, we have the competence and many years of experience in implementing eCommerce systems.

As a Shopware Business Partner, our team is familiar with the specifics of the Shopware tool.

With over 10 years of experience in developing successful eCommerce solutions, we can guarantee the highest level of implementation – feel free to contact us!

Marketplace as a sales model: what is it and how is it different from dropshipping?

Marketplace as a sales model – today, we’d like to explain the details of online marketplaces and how your company can benefit from such a business model – but is it the same as dropshipping?

Find out below!

What is an online marketplace and how to start one?

At a first glance, an online marketplace might look similar to a regular e-commerce retail store – however, when you take a better look, the two are often fundamentally different. An online marketplace connects buyers and sellers on a single platform, while a retail store usually acts as the only seller to a customer base of buyers.

To run an online marketplace, you don’t need your own inventory of products – apart from managing the marketplace system and ensuring steady revenue with methods like commission fees or paid membership, you only need people willing to sell their products on your platform, and people willing to buy those products from the sellers on your platform. This creates the so-called Chicken and Egg problem – how do you convince manufacturers to use a platform without established buyers or the opposite?

With rising competition, you need a good business plan and solid software to beat other platforms – making your marketplace fast and easy to use is important, but so is making it safe and reliable. You’ll also need a good understanding of the industry you’re aiming for to find a customer niche with a specific need your marketplace can fulfill.

Now we know what an online marketplace is – but how do we make creating one profitable?

Marketplace business models – pros and cons of the marketplace approach

A marketplace is a type of online service, provided by you for both buyers and sellers, and as with any such type of service, you would expect to be paid for it. There are many ways of making money as an online marketplace – let’s take a look at some of the most popular marketplace business models:

• Commissions. We already mentioned commissions, as they are the most common approach to making revenue as an online marketplace – simply charge your customers either a percentage or a flat fee for each transaction. Platforms like eBay and Etsy all use this model, as its main advantage is that your customers only pay for what they get. However, you’ll still have to convince customers that there is enough value in what they’re paying for to warrant its price.
• Paid membership. Instead of having your users pay for each transaction, you can ask them to pay a flat monthly or yearly fee for using your platform. Memberships can be broken down into tiers, offering more functionality at a higher price. This approach is great for dedicated customers who will frequently use your marketplace, as their costs don’t grow together with the number of transactions. Take note that it’s already a delicate task to build a marketplace supply, finding sellers to satisfy buyers and buyers to satisfy sellers, and the membership model might make it even more difficult at first.
• Paid listings, premium features, visibility preference. Online marketplaces pick and choose the features of their specific business approach. You can even hide some of them behind a paywall, providing basic experience for free and extending it at a price. This can be commonly seen with featured listings and other visibility preference methods – or you can ask a set fee for every listing, but you’ll need a lot of them if your business model depends solely on that.

As with every business approach, there are pros and cons to the marketplace model:

• Required staff isn’t proportional to the number of products sold
• You don’t have to handle manufacturing and delivery
• It’s easy to offer a wide variety of products
• Many monetization options
• Finding customers might not be easy at first – your user base is split in two and you’ll need both sellers and buyers to make the model work
• You’ll need proper software to assure enjoyable user experience
• Rising competition

Marketplace as a sales model – examples of successful marketplaces

There are many companies who made it big as online marketplaces – the first one that might come to mind is Amazon. Even though the company offers a wide variety of services, from cloud computing to entertainment, Amazon Marketplace is a huge e-commerce platform that combines Amazon’s regular offerings with an immense online marketplace.

In fact, over 55% of sales on Amazon’s platform come from third-party sellers. While now the company offers an extensive range of product categories, they started just with online book selling.

Finding a niche is the key to establishing a successful marketplace – just take a look at Etsy. Etsy gave creators a platform to sell their arts and crafts, from handmade plushies to elaborate sculptures costing tens of thousands dollars. Making money on flat listing fees and 3.5% commision rate of all sales, plus advertisement revenue from featured sellers, Etsy created a global platform which enables artists to express themselves and sell their creations – and generates over $1.7 billion in revenue based on Etsy’s 2020 annual report.

Are marketplaces the same as dropshipping?

Even though a marketplace might look very similar to dropshipping, they are in fact two very distinct business models. Dropshipping involves first buying the product from a 3rd party by a retailer, who then sells it to buyers under their own brand. While the dropshipper handles the shipping directly to the buyer, product ownership rights are held by the retailer until sold to a customer.

In case of a marketplace, the retailer simply brokers a deal between a 3rd party seller and a buyer, without interacting with the physical product or service at all. The branding remains unchanged, and the seller ships the product directly. The buyer transfers the payment to the marketplace retailer, who then transfers it to the 3rd party seller after taking any potential commissions. While both approaches are similar, dropshipping involves fundamental accounting differences and transfers most of responsibility for the product on the retailer.

Is now the best time to adopt the marketplace model?

Online marketplaces are booming, with the competition getting fiercer and fiercer each year – now might be the best time to join the game and reap the benefits, before others can satisfy the market.

Marketplaces are highly scalable and, when successful, continue to grow almost by themselves. Your job is to create a system that’s easy to use and offers extensive functionality, depending on whether you’re aiming for the B2C or B2B market – or you can skip right to managing by using a professional marketplace platform instead.

Projections confirm the trend to continue, and the popularity of online marketplaces will only grow. When adopting the marketplace model, remember that there is no universal approach that’ll suit all – you’ll need to combine and rework business models to make it big, depending on your industry and competition, your target market, and customer needs.

Marketplace – summary

If you think that your organization has a chance to develop using the opportunities offered by the marketplace operators – contact us! We have many years of experience in integrating sales systems with all marketplaces operating on the market (e.g. Amazon, eBay, Allegro). As well as implementing omnichannel sales support systems – including marketplace trading platforms – we are also partners with leading marketplace technology providers (e.g. Mirakl).

If you would like to find out more about the opportunities offered by the implementation of your own marketplace for B2B and B2C sales, we would be delighted to introduce you to this topic – CONTACT US.

We are Turning Heads in The eCommerce Industry

This caught a lot of companies off-guard, and they were scrambling to get any kind of presence online to stay relevant and competitive. For many Polish businesses, they turned to our team for assistance, and to this day many of them say that was the best decision they’ve ever made.

They were so grateful for our assistance, they even wrote about their experiences of working with our team. These reviews became so impactful to our reputation that we were listed on Clutch as one of the top e-commerce developers in the country.

This is a great development for our team, and we hope to continue riding this momentum to finish the year strong and start 2023 in an even better position.

ORBA – one of top e-commerce developers

For those interested in learning more about ORBA, we have long-term experience in cost optimization. Over twelve years on the market and a portfolio of dozens of international projects completed around the world. Many implementations with over 50% increase in conversion rates – from stores with millions of users to projects with over 650,000 products in stock.

Experienced team with certified business and technical skills. We provide consistent and safe solutions for sales growth: We work on the basis of modern and battle-tested technologies that guarantee incomparable efficiency and safety.

Our experience in digitization of processes ensures the safety of both the company and employees. The time of COVID-19 has proven that our practices allow organizations to efficiently use the effects of digital transformation based on our proven models.

Scalability improvement is our major specialty: Our deep knowledge and extensive experience in building tools make it easier to reach new buyers and enable the penetration of new markets. We have a proven history of providing our clients with unlimited business scaling opportunities.

We have a data-centric approach. Each decision is justified by an advanced process of tracking consumer behavior using proven attribution models. We plan on the basis of precise information and organize processes based on real data.

Learn more about these services and how our team can make them work for you by visiting our website. Contact us today, and we can talk about your company and how to accelerate its growth journey.

Key features of B2B eCommerce platforms | What to look for in eCommerce software?

According to recent projections, eCommerce sales are to grow by over 14% only in the United States in 2022, reaching nearly $1.8 trillion. Retail sales are also projected to grow with an astonishing 16% rise in sales, crossing $1 trillion for the first time ever. If you’re running a B2B model company, now is the best time to make the switch from traditional commerce to B2B eCommerce.

To ensure a smooth and profitable transition, it’s extremely important to use an efficient B2B eCommerce platform to host your business. Technology is developing at an alarming rate – make sure you choose software that won’t become obsolete in a year, with proper functionality in place that guarantees scaling.

What exactly to look for in a B2B eCommerce system? There are so many variables it can get dizzying trying to keep up!

We’ve prepared this easy-to-read guide to the key features of B2B eCommerce platforms to help you get a better understanding of how such software works and what you should expect of it. Let’s delve in!

Key concepts of B2B eCommerce

How to work with business clients online? Before we begin our search for the most effective B2B eCommerce software, we need to first explore the subject of B2B eCommerce in itself. If you’re not yet familiar with online B2B commerce, here are some of the most important characteristics:

1. Prevalence of large-scale orders
   One of the most important features of B2B eCommerce, and B2B business models in general, is the so-called AOV – Average Order Value. In contrast to B2C, B2B clients tend to order a much larger volume of your product. Instead of selling one or two products to each client, B2B businesses often sell hundreds, if not thousands, of products to their buyers. On the other hand, B2B eCommerce features much fewer buyers than B2C, on average.
   
   
2. Building a relationship with your client
   Since you’ll be dealing with much fewer clients than a B2C eCommerce company would, you’re going to have to keep them returning somehow – building a good relationship between your company and your clients is a very significant aspect of B2B commerce. Keep in mind that more than one person may be involved in each purchase, and you want good relations with the brand – not only the representative.
   
   
3. Different purchasing methods to B2C
   The purchasing process is much more complex in B2B eCommerce than in B2C. Evaluation and negotiation are crucial parts of almost every B2B transaction, where in B2C they are virtually nonexistent. Remember that your customers won’t be mindless buyers, and you need to really show them why your business is the most optimal solution to their problems. There’s also a good chance they’ll be making repeat purchases regularly, making it worth it to keep each and every customer.
   
   
4. Cost-saving is often the utmost priority
   When working in the B2B sector, your clients are operating on a set budget – a budget that needs to be managed appropriately to limit excess spending. If you want to make it as a B2B eCommerce company, you need to offer your clients a better deal than your competitors. Keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean that your price needs to be directly lower, but instead that what you offer needs to match that price.
   

Now that we know a little about the main features of B2B eCommerce, let’s move onto the key characteristics of B2B eCommerce software that you need to be on the lookout for:

The main elements of B2B eCommerce systems: functions that stimulate business growth

When making a switch to eCommerce from traditional commerce, or founding a brand new eCommerce business, the choice of software is extremely important. Most companies decide to go with a ready-made software solution that fits their business needs, as building one from the ground up is a very time-consuming and resource-heavy task.

But what to look for in a B2B eCommerce software? What features will guarantee a smooth transition and allow you to maximize profits?

Here are some basic features that your B2B platform absolutely needs:

1. Restricted access and customer verification
   Security is the basis of B2B eCommerce – your clients want to make sure that their data is kept safe and confidential. They also want to avoid unauthorized access, as should you when running an eCommerce business. Customer verification by ID or other credentials should be necessary to gain access to your system.
   
   
2. Customized pricing plans
   While B2C platforms tend to feature a single price for each of their products or services, B2B systems offer flexible pricing to match the specific client. Depending on the quantity of products bought, as well as other factors, you can set up prices however you wish. Quantity discounts and set prices for specific product groups are the absolute essentials.
   
   
3. Credit management
   Making orders on credit is a common custom in B2B commerce – the same goes for its online equivalent. Some of your clients may want to pay for their order at a later date, but still need to receive the products as early as possible. Credit management allows such customers to receive a line of credit, up to the limit of which they can order products. You have full freedom in setting these limits: the bigger the client, the bigger the limit.
   
   
4. Pricing negotiation
   Depending on their order size and buying frequency, some clients might not feel like paying the full price every single time – and rightly so! The heart of the B2B model is negotiation, which is why a built-in negotiation functionality is key for B2B eCommerce systems.
   
   
5. Logistics management
   Can your client buy a pallet of products that’s only partially full? How many pallets can fit in a truck? Are they stackable or not? These questions are the bread and butter of B2B companies, and a good eCommerce platform for such companies should implement efficient and intuitive logistics management.
   
   
6. Customizable delivery methods
   Depending on the size and needs of your client’s company, they might order a smaller package that can be delivered by courier service – but what if they need an entire truckload of goods? Choosing the appropriate delivery method to each order is crucial for successful management, and it’s important for eCommerce systems to handle that functionality.
   
   
7. Order history
   Business clients want to keep a close eye on every process going on in their companies – including the details of each order, both past and present. By giving your client access to an expansive order history, you’re building their trust and keeping their reservations at bay. It’s also an easy way of tracking inventory for your clients, letting them know when to repeat their order.
   
   
8. Dashboard
   Good B2B eCommerce system won’t waste your time with deeply-hidden statistics and basic functionalities – instead, a proper dashboard will contain all of the most commonly used features, giving you quick access to the latest orders, popular products, saved orders, and so on. Even better – some platforms give you the option to customize your dashboard to make it suit your needs better!

There’s quite a number of these functionalities – and they are only the most basic ones, which should only be natural for every B2B eCommerce system to implement. However, if you’re looking for a business-class experience, choosing a premium platform might be more beneficial.

Unique features that’ll take your B2B eCommerce to the next level!

Apart from the standard features, there’s a variety of extra features that companies implement when creating proprietary B2B eCommerce systems. Some of these features are:

1. A detailed demo
   Many B2B companies who are new to the eCommerce model of doing business are not familiar with the technicalities and how to operate such a complicated system. For them, an introductory demo would be extremely useful, showing them in an approachable way how to operate the software in an effective way.
   
   
2. Order fulfillment checklist
   Managing each order individually can get confusing, especially if you’re dealing with a large number of orders every day. Instead, an order fulfillment checklist can make the whole process easier, giving you digital tools that make the whole process quicker and more fool-proof.
   
   
3. Advanced search engine
   If you want your potential clients to land orders, they need to be able to find the products they want – without the endless searching and trying to somehow find what they’re looking for. An advanced search engine should implement searching not only by product name, but also product code and even its fragments. Whether your client knows what they’re looking for or not, your search engine should help them find it.
   
   
4. Delivery scheduling tools
   Business clients often need a very precise delivery date set up, down to the hour the products are going to arrive. For that, your order needs to be prepared in a timely manner and scheduled for delivery ahead of time. Proper scheduling tools make that a lot easier – and cheaper – to handle.
   
   
5. Private assistant / Panic button!
   In B2B eCommerce, the individual approach is extremely important. Assigning a designated sales rep to each client gives them comfort and easy access to guidance in case of problems or questions. A premium eCommerce platform can implement sales rep contact as part of its functionality, making the whole process streamlined and easy for your clients.
   
   
6. Recommended products / market insights
   With smart predictions based on your client’s search and purchase history, a professional B2B eCommerce system will provide recommended products for each of your clients individually. This gives you easy access to cross-selling, boosting your revenue and satisfying client needs at the same time.
   
   
7. Importing an order from a file
   Considering that B2B sales are often associated with orders for a large number of goods, customers may appreciate the possibility of importing an order from files they work on.
   
   

These – and more – are the features of a well-designed B2B eCommerce platform. When searching for software to use, look for ones with such features in store – here you can find the ones designed by ORBA.

We have over 10 years of experience in the professional design and deployment of complex B2B eCommerce systems. Depending on your business needs, we’ll provide you with a personalized platform that’ll more than do the job –

contact us for more details!

E-business solutions for B2B: key functions of B2B e-commerce systems

As technology develops at an alarming rate, it’s only natural for company owners to seek solutions adequate to the times we’re living in. A professional B2B e-commerce system is the gateway to a successful e-business, giving you a powerful platform to manage all business processes from. E-business solutions in B2B e-commerce are a way to solve many sales problems.

But what exactly are the key functions of B2B e-commerce systems, and how can they help e-businesses grow?

Let’s shed some light on the topic – here’s a selection of some of the most important B2B e-commerce system features that will directly benefit your company and improve customer experience!

Learning the ropes – the importance of a user-friendly tutorial

While B2C solutions are often simple and don’t require more than a few minutes of trial and error to figure out, B2B e-commerce solutions are often more complex and offer a much wider range of options. Business clients who come to your page for the first time might feel confused – unless you provide them with a proper tutorial that will guide them through.

Professional e-business solutions for B2B companies offer an option to include a client tutorial that will show your customers how to navigate your website. Many businesses are still just making the switch to e-commerce and might need some assistance – which is exactly what brings us to the next point:

E-business solutions for B2B – individual approach / a private client assistant

In contrast to B2C, B2B e-commerce relies on an individual approach to every client, catering to their needs and building trust. Many clients don’t want to be greeted with a soulless automated system that’s designed for general use. Business clients often prefer a tailored experience, as well as a real person to speak with.

Using a B2B e-commerce system, you can set up your clients with a sales representative who will appear as a part of the interface. The client can interact with his assistant using the live chat feature or by phone. This serves to improve the overall customer experience and help your clients receive the exact service they’re looking for from your company.

Company accounts for B2B clients and customer segmentation

While in B2C all customers are usually treated the same way, in B2B the client variety renders such an approach invalid. When dealing in wholesale, you’ll discover groups of customers that want different needs satisfied, and proper segmentation of these groups will allow you to easily handle all the variables, like pricing and order requirements.

B2B clients can also benefit from company accounts – such accounts feature an appointed Company Administrator, who can set up a proper company structure with Roles and Permissions to manage the account. You can appoint an individual sales representative to each company account, making managing clients much easier.

Make it easy on your clients. Use an advanced search engine

If you want your clients to buy your products, they need to be able to find them. An advanced search engine guarantees that your B2B clients will find exactly what they’re looking for, whether they’re searching by name or by product code. The products should also display when searching by a fragment of the product code, making it easier for customers to find products they can’t remember the names or codes of.

It’s also worth noticing that search engines in B2B systems can allow clients to add products directly to the cart from the results list, without having to load a separate product page.

E-business solutions for B2B: set up individual price lists for each client

Unlike B2C, not every order will feature the same base price of a product – based on a range of variables, including volume, location, client-specific discounts, and so on. A B2B e-commerce system can be used to create multiple price lists that can calculate the final price using dynamic variables.

Adapting your pricing to the individual needs of your customers will vastly improve their experience when making business with you. Your clients can also create their own shopping lists to make repeat orders a breeze.

E-business solutions for B2B: collect valuable data with on-demand reporting tools!

If you want to stay ahead of your competition, you need to properly analyze available data to draw out business solutions that will put you in the lead. A professional B2B e-business system gives you expansive reporting tools that will make it easy to track purchasing trends of your customers.
You can customize the reports to give you exactly the data you’ll need to improve your business strategy, tracking the most important KPIs in real time. These tools also come in handy when planning a marketing campaign, providing a valuable insight into customer behavior.

As you can see, there are many benefits that B2B e-commerce systems could bring to your company. These are only some of the key functions of such systems, with a bunch more to come. If you’re searching for a professional B2B e-commerce implementation, ORBA has been preparing and deploying complex B2B systems for over 10 years – we know how to set up a successful e-business, and will be happy to share our expertise with you!

The above article is an introduction to an extensive list of interesting features of B2B e-commerce systems. If you haven’t had a chance yet – here is a summary of the most important features of B2B e-commerce systems. The concepts we present here are independent of each other – each of them can be used separately. Use them in your systems and build the perfect platform for your customers!

Lingaro Group finalized its acquisition of eBusiness Institute (eBI)!

Last November 30, Lingaro Group, a multinational data and analytics company, finalized its acquisition of eBusiness Institute (eBI), a digital commerce advisory and content creation firm based in Switzerland.

In 2018, Lingaro incorporated Orba, an e-commerce software development firm specializing in digital store solutions. Lingaro’s acquisition of eBI is the next step in Lingaro’s long-term strategy for building a next-generation marketing analytics solution for Fortune 500 companies and other global organizations.

eBI’s services and top-notch digital marketing and sales professionals will boost Lingaro’s marketing intelligence capabilities aimed at helping enterprises distill business requirements for developing advanced marketing solutions, make technology-enabled recommendations, create marketing innovations, and derive greater value from their marketing investments.

A recent Gartner research showed that 80% of marketing executives are not satisfied with the implementation of their current marketing innovations, citing the lack of technology support and professional guidance to build performance-driven solutions. Lingaro and eBI’s combined expertise and capabilities bridge this gap.

Founded in 2013, eBI provides a broad range of end-to-end e-commerce and marketing technology services for leading global brands in the consumer goods, pharmaceutical, mass luxury, and consumer electronics industries. With the acquisition, Luigi Matrone will stay on as eBI’s CEO and join Lingaro Group’s extended leadership team.

eBI joining forces with Lingaro reflects an innovation-driven marketing technology that meets first-class digital marketing strategy. We are grateful to everyone who was involved in this process, especially to eBI’s leadership for their outstanding support at every step. As we continue to expand our offerings to better serve our customers’ technology and business needs, this acquisition has taken our data-driven professional service capabilities to the next level.

Contact our experts to learn more about how Lingaro can help accelerate the digital transformation of the business’s marketing and sales capabilities. Learn more about eBI through their website: https://ebusinessinstitute.com/

10 ideas to boost your BLACK FRIDAY eCommerce marketing strategy!

Because of the ongoing pandemic, to a large extent, digital shopping is taking over offline sales at an extremely rapid rate. According to studies, eCommerce sales in the United States increased from ~16% to ~20% between 2019 and 2020, compared to an only 1,5% difference between 2018 and 2019.

To make the most out of the Black Friday season and maximize your eCommerce profits, you need a proper plan. Building the right strategy for Black Friday is the key to success, saving you the headache of brainstorming and implementing ideas at the last moment. It is also an exceptional moment to introduce a digital aspect to your brick and mortar store, which is only a small investment compared to the potential increase in sales!

Black Friday eCommerce strategy | Marketing tips

However, how exactly do you prepare a Black Friday eCommerce strategy? What are the best ideas to increase your revenue and help your company grow? To help you answer those questions, we have prepared this guide of the 10 best ideas to build your eCommerce strategy for the Black Friday season!

Step 1: Start with the basics – setting up your platform, advertising, and UX

Let’s start with the fundamentals – if you have no clue what to do to prepare your eCommerce business for the upcoming Black Friday shopping rage, these ideas will be perfect to begin with.

• Consider your business approach when setting up an eCommerce platform

Whether your company specializes in B2B or B2C products/services matters significantly when launching an eCommerce platform. The two types of clients each have their own buying behaviors that need to be considered and often look for distinct features first.

B2B eCommerce platforms might prefer a more streamlined design, while B2C platforms can benefit from visible customer reviews and transparent product highlights.

• Expand your advertising channels

Are you utilizing your social media channels optimally when reaching customers? Going deep with your target research might bring you valuable information on how to better target your Facebook and Instagram ads, so make sure you do it right – or get a team of experienced analysts to do it for you!

You can also think about diversifying your outreach channels – transferring some of your advertising budget into paid advertisements might pay out in the future, as statistics show it is one of the most effective ways of reaching new customers, especially close to Black Friday.

• Perform a thorough UX analysis

Are your customers suddenly leaving your website in the middle of the buying process and you can’t figure out why? It just might be an UX flaw that’s turning your clients away!

Conducting a deep UX analysis will give you valuable insight into how your eCommerce platform performs from the user’s point of view. Taking action appropriate to the results is the key to guaranteeing a smooth user experience and is one of the best eCommerce marketing ideas for you to implement.

Step 2: consider branching out your eCommerce marketing strategy efforts | Remarketing, SEO, and ERPs

Now we’re getting into details – if you haven’t looked at these when devising your eCommerce marketing strategy, it is the best time to do so if you want solid results for Black Friday!

• Try out Remarketing

Returning clients can be just as important as new ones – even more so for B2B businesses! With an ever-increasing saturation of varying client types, clinging on to your customer base is the key to increasing sales. Remarketing is a feature of Google Ads that will allow you to retain more clients after Black Friday ends, in a simple and easy way.

• Search Engine Optimization – boost your visibility

SEO has been proven times and times again to be an effective tool in increasing website outreach, and through this boosting revenue. Google’s algorithms are getting more and more sophisticated with every update, so making sure your SEO features fit in organically with the content is a fool-proof approach to positioning.

• A one-in-all solution to business management with ERPs

Making sure your eCommerce platform works without hicks and allows scalability are the keys to growth. An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is an extensive software, which when properly integrated with your eCommerce platform, gives you an easy way to manage all vital processes of your company using a unified system. Proper ERP integration is crucial to making sure every piece fits together in a perfect harmony.

Step 3: specific tools to use – specialized copy, newsletters, and automation

Here, we want to give you some specific ideas to implement in your eCommerce marketing strategy for Black Friday, which can immediately improve your turnover for the upcoming holidays.

• Publish Black Friday oriented copy

Taking advantage of your content is crucial to reaching out more customers before, during, and after Black Friday. Think about publishing posts, stories, or articles that are relevant to the Black Friday shopping spree – sharing shopping tips and best deals are great ways of reaching out to customers.

• Implement newsletter segmentation

As research shows, it is much more effective to send out personalized newsletters to each segment of your audience, instead of just bombarding them all with the same emails. This way, you’ll be able to meet the specific needs of each customer segment and actually get through to them instead of just annoying them.

• Increase order values with automated rewards

Loyalty rewards are a classic strategy for increasing retention rate and purchase frequency. Giving your customers automatic access to these rewards during checkout has been shown to increase order values – after all, clients prefer such simple solutions to browsing the Internet in search of coupon codes for hours.

Black Friday eCommerce marketing strategy – final thoughts | Always keep experimenting!

The best way of staying ahead of your competition is constant experimentation – never stop developing new ideas and trying them out, as it will give you a wider perspective on which strategies are effective.

Now that you know how to prepare an effective Black Friday eCommerce marketing strategy, nothing is stopping you from maximizing your sales for the holiday season. However, if you need a pair of extra hands to bring your online store to the next level, contact us at ORBA – we help clients with everything eCommerce related, from UX design, eCommerce development and implementation, to service & maintenance!

ORBA is among the top 7% of elite eCommerce development teams!

At ORBA, for a long time, we have been looking for a way to show to the world how much we have achieved in terms of the satisfaction of our clients, but also of the well-being of our internal team. Now, after passing Pangea verification, we can communicate through our Pangea.ai profile.

Our way to celebrate participation in the Pangea community

We approached the participation in the Pangea.ai verification process twice. Pangea analyzed our TeamVibe, contacted our Clients directly, and also researched our internal policies, documents, financials, etc. During the first iteration, we received lots of valuable information, plus a list of areas to improve. We are happy to say that we took them to heart and implemented actions that helped us succeed in the verification process to become part of an elite group of IT companies. Also, we are very happy to learn that the work we focused on last year: our values, communication, practices & project reporting have not gone unnoticed. Now, good practices in these elements are the foundation of our company.

The most important discovery and knowledge

The part of the audit concerning the health condition of our team brought us the most joy. We managed to achieve a result of 8.4, which is higher than the statistical average for the companies that are members of the Pangea program. Over 77% of our team members took part in the survey, so the result is very satisfying for us.

We know that the effectiveness of ORBA is determined by the members of our team, so we are very happy that our team members are satisfied with their work at ORBA. Friendly relationships are significant, but we have also found areas that we can manage even better in the future. It concerns, among others, the area of feedback & recognition.

We know how important the flow of information is. We intend to focus on the “1 on 1” meeting format to ensure that we are able to listen to our team members and convey our appreciation on an ongoing basis for their commitment and more.

“We meet regularly with our team members and discuss topics related to their personal and professional development. The goal is team satisfaction, which translates into the quality of our work and, as a result, the satisfaction of our clients.” – Julia Szczepankowska, Head of HR Department in Orba.

“Among the top 7% eCommerce development companies”

We can already feel the effects of such actions: our customer satisfaction survey by Pangea gave us a score of 8.6/10, including 10/10 in our key “project management” section. Such amazing results would not be possible without the excellent team and the involvement we put into working with our clients.

We have been in the industry for many years. We walked the path from a small software house to a company that is part of a large IT group and organization that successfully carries out tasks for the largest, including Fortune 500 companies. Our team has grown (ORBA has almost 100 qualified specialists); therefore we are able to efficiently carry out large, extensive eCommerce implementations. This allows us to enjoy the recognition of our clients:

“The cooperation between our companies has been positive, without any hiccups. Our experience of working with ORBA can confirm that they are a trustworthy partner.” – Arkadiusz Luciński, CEO LPP

We are calmly looking into the future

We are very happy that we managed to join the elite group of 7% top eCommerce development companies. It is a significant step for us, confirming how much we have achieved. It also means that we are on a good course. We still intend to improve ourselves, our processes, and the level with which we carry out tasks assigned to us by our clients.

Our success is the ability to attract the best talents and establish cooperation with clients for whom our values and work culture are important. Relationships based on mutual trust help you achieve the highest business goals.

Achieving high scores in the Pangea audit is part of the process. The goal is to continuously develop and improve in the elements that will make us leaders in the rapidly changing world of IT technology. It is the best we can do to ensure the satisfaction of our customers.

ORBA as a sponsor of the Meet Magento 2021 conference!

Meet Magento is an international conference that takes place in over 40 countries. It brings together professionals and people interested in the Magento e-commerce platform. This year’s conference program was divided into two discussion panels: technical and business.

It created a space to exchange insights and experiences from the entire area of e-commerce: from technological solutions to changes in business processes. The topic of responding to COVID difficulties in the e-commerce market was also covered.

Meet Magento | Our participation

During the ‘business’ day, our CEO, Roman Baluta took part in a discussion about “Marketplace – a marketing trend or a real opportunity? How to approach it and not burn yourself?”

On the other hand, our Program Manager, Cezary Brzozowski, was engaged in the panel discussion about “Pre-implementation analysis – it is a threat to investors and a defense to contractors. How is it in reality?”.

We are happy to share our Magento implementations experience with the community. We are also proud to participate in setting the direction in which the standards of conducting such projects evolve.

This event is not only a conference. Above all, Meet Magento is a chance to present new opportunities provided by enterprise-class e-commerce technologies. It is also a chance for software houses to meet and learn about the needs of the business environment. From our perspective, this is the key possibility offered by the Meet Magento conference.

The agenda of this year’s edition met these expectations – here you can see the topics that were covered during the event: AGENDA.

ORBA | Silver sponsor

All the above elements were important to us when we decided to become involved in this conference. As ORBA, we are happy to share our experience in Magento implementations. We are also proud that we can participate in setting the direction in which the standards of conducting such projects evolve.

Meet Magento 2021 passed in a great atmosphere, and we are already looking forward to meeting you next year!

eCommerce for MANUFACTURERS | Post-COVID challenges and how eCommerce can help

eCommerce for manufacturers | What changed with Covid-19? Well, for a start, steps one and two were made worse due to the presence of technology, social media and fresh uncertainty.

In the past, word of mouth was the prevailing way of sharing news. These days, we can take to the web and learn about things while they are actually happening. As a result, a lot of false news was put out there that took its toll on businesses of all shapes and sizes – especially those that suddenly found themselves unable to let physical customers into their stores.

Worrying Challenges Faced by Manufacturers

Early on, an alarm was sounded and it just so happened to be one that stopped many producers and manufacturers in their tracks. All of a sudden employees couldn’t congregate, which put a halt on production, and this on-again-off-again relationship with Covid has been happening right through to 2021.

To make matters worse, shipping systems began to shut down as restrictions were made on an international level and as a result, consumers couldn’t get what they wanted and products sat in warehouses gathering dust. Many manufacturers began to struggle when attempting to reach retail businesses that had to reduce staff, slow productivity, lower their budget, or even shut down entirely. For entities that had the capability to continue their manufacture, they faced a new issue – the inability to find someone to sell their products to.

Countless manufacturers have found it increasingly difficult to shift their goods and without knowing about the potential of eCommerce, plenty have been forced into closure.

Did You Know…?

eCommerce DTC (Direct to consumer) brings consumers straight to the manufacturer, cutting out the middle man, negating the need for expensive overheads and allowing a producer to thrive online instead of relying on retail stores to buy their goods?

For a solid 6 months in 2020, activities slowed and as you might imagine, this cost a multitude of professional industries billions in losses, with this number still being calculated.

Perhaps the most terrifying notion is that even 18 months later, many countries still don’t know if they will suddenly be locked down, forcing physical stores to close, open and close again.

What Did This Mean for Businesses?

To put it simply, businesses wanting to continue making a profit had to evolve, usually with a dedicated digital transformation strategy to survive. They had to find a way to reach their existing market in a ‘new normal’. This led to many closures between mid-2020 and early 2021 (over 200,000 in the US alone according to data).

But as apocalyptic as this might sound, the reality is that where there is a will, there is a way. As more and more companies had to close their doors for months at a time, a certain percentage of new and existing organizations turned to the one source of provision that even a dreadful virus couldn’t stop – digital transformation via the internet.

According to a survey detailed on unctad.org, 2020 saw one of the biggest rises in the formation of online retail businesses. And this doesn’t appear to be a temporary rise either; in fact, experts have predicted that Covid-19 will change the way that people purchase their goods forever.

For producers and manufacturers of goods, this unsavory situation could go on to become somewhat of a blessing in disguise – especially where eCommerce is concerned.

eCommerce for manufacturers | What Does This Mean in 2021?

Due to the extreme nature of Covid-19 and the rapid way in which it has affected the entire world, a new precedent has been set for online shopping – one that could provide a way forward for internet retailers.
As people step away from their usual method of shopping, i.e. visiting a brick-and-mortar store, they are finding a newer solution. Google searches for online shopping and eCommerce stores are at an all-time high and this trend looks set to continue well beyond 2021.

This spells that eCommerce for manufacturers makes an incredible range of potential for the following types of enterprises:

• Businesses that would like to take advantage of the growing popularity of online sales and develop a new digital branch in their organization
• Existing manufacturers that found themselves struggling to sell their goods during the height of Covid and could benefit from new distribution channels
• Previously active businesses that had physical stores affected by the virus and had to shut down temporarily or permanently
• New companies looking to cash in on the increased interest in online-sales; these may be start-ups, or evolving physical stores fed up with being told when they can and can’t be open

Of the three types of company above, they all share one thing in common: they can be ideal for working within the B2B setting.

With eCommerce solutions also providing tools to help with managing and processing business data, there’s never been a better time for producers and manufacturers to consider dropping the previous need for a sales representative, in favor of opening new distribution channels. Additionally, businesses that sell goods (as well as online retailers), can offer direct-to-consumer solutions (D2C) with minimal fuss when doing so online.

How Can B2B eCommerce Help?

B2B eCommerce works by taking each of these possibilities and tying them together on a B2B eCommerce platform that works seamlessly.

As briefly mentioned above, the potential to take advantage of streamlined solutions and tools for processing business data becomes a possibility as well. This includes options to monitor sales data, overhead costs, expenses and even productivity – all at the click of a button when using an eCommerce solution. With these digital tools at their disposal, businesses at the start of the product chain (manufacturers) can enjoy access to dedicated distribution channels that negate the need for a sales rep, and take their products directly to the customer; minimizing their costs in the process.

This method takes full advantage of a situation that has been destroying businesses due to lack of engagement, by allowing them to co-exist within a digital setting to meet all levels of supply and demand.

eCommerce for manufacturers | Benefiting from eCommerce

According to NetComm Suisse, almost every single product category available online has seen an increase in their demand; including cosmetics, fashion, education and digital entertainment.
Although popular before COVID-19, this fresh drive of consumers is now the biggest market to have ever existed.

Manufacturers:
For those creating products and goods, establishing a presence online can allow a way to reach countless businesses in need of items to sell. There’s genuinely no better way to do so than via an eCommerce platform; all but eliminating the middle-man and enhancing profitability in the process of direct-to-consumer sales (DTC).

Suppliers:
From personal care to clothing; suppliers can locate their ideal manufacturers, source products in bulk (typically at a reduced rate), and then distribute their goods via B2B sales.

Producers:
Ecommerce for manufacturers with options for eCommerce order management, a production company could offer an incredible variety of goods and materials via a website, blog, or even social media page, and then enjoy new distribution channels afforded by eCommerce platforms to take products straight to market (B2C / DTC).

If all of the above wasn’t appealing enough, there’s also the ability to save the cost of overheads by running an eCommerce site instead of a physical store.

eCommerce for manufacturers | Summary

E-commerce (especially DTC / direct to consumer) provides a way for manufacturers, producers and consumers to benefit from one another in a safe, comfortable environment with minimal risk and maximum profitability. Throw in the added benefits that come with eCommerce platforms, including the ability to process vital business data and track sales, eliminate sales representatives (plus their commissions), and more – and you have a very convincing way of conducting business in these uncertain times.