Leveraging UGC for Social Commerce

Content generation and social commerce can be an Achilles heel for mid-market merchants. Until recently, ecommerce businesses in this bracket could get away with a heavier emphasis on advertising and more “technical” or methodical means of promotion, while maybe throwing a bone to social media. The most visible social commerce tactics were being waged only by the biggest brands.

Changes are afoot that increase the relevance of User-Generated Content (UGC) for merchants of all sizes, whether consumer-focused or even in the B2B space.

The Rise of the Micro-Influencer

Remember influencers? While celebrities and their attendant sponsorships and endorsements  will always be with us, their grip on consumer trust has waned in recent years.  Like media, the influence marketplace has fragmented and brought along an influx of sponsored and incentivized posting by “regular” people. Because consumer trust in traditional influencers has weakened, consumers are  showing a growing desire  for genuine content generated by relatable creators.

The content creation space is being broadened and revolutionized by consumers who are now looking for authentic content that resonates with their lives.

What is UGC? 

In short, UGC is content (ie. videos, images, podcasts, etc.) created by people instead of brands. Consumers see this type of content as more authentic and trustworthy. Think of it this way; instead of seeing an obviously scripted skincare commercial or endorsement, consumers can scroll on Tiktok or Instagram and stumble across a person who looks just like them sharing their skincare products used in their morning routine. In short, there is power in relatability that UGC is able to harness and turn into consumer trust.

How To Generate User-Generated Content

Ideally, your brand receives positive reviews without doing anything to encourage it.  But in most cases, User Generated Content is paid or incentivized. If a brand works with a great creator to produce endorsements for their products and that content is well received (it receives a high level of engagement), more people may want to try the product and make their own reviews.

When UGC is done well, your brand could get hundreds of free reviews through a sort of social media “word of mouth”. Good UGC can help fuel more UGC.

This is one of the tricky parts – merchants have to create an amazing experience that creators will want to share with their audience. Customers may do a lot of the work for you, but you still have to prime the pump. 

A few different options exist for incentivizing and encouraging your brand’s users or customers to create positive content. 

Platforms like Upwork or Fiverr allow you to hire creators. The market for user generated content is booming and there are now plenty of options for content creators who have portfolios sharing brands they have previously worked with.

When selecting UGC creators, it is important to choose people who align with your brand. Plan this deliberately and clearly, or you’ll risk falling into micromanagement, which will kill the campaign.  Establish clear guidelines explaining the desired content. Specific hashtags, language, imagery and goal KPI metrics for the content should be specified and should be a major part of the conversation when hiring. You will also want to specify where this content can be posted. Is this something you would like the creator to post on their personal social media channels, or will this be used only for your brand to post? Relatability and authenticity is the most important component of great UGC, so you will want to work with creators that emulate the kind of customer you hope to attract. 

Another option for generating content is to offer incentives such as discounts or giveaways to customers if they produce a positive review. This method will allow actual customers to share their experiences with your product, however it is less controllable so the specificity of the content generated can be a bit of a wild card. If this method is chosen, it is smart to monitor the content being created to ensure it stays positive and continues to align with the vision you have for your brand.

“Yes, send me updates.”

Once your customer has allowed you to text them, whatever you do, don’t make this a thinly-veiled proxy for “ok, spam me.” SMS calls for different tactics than other channels. If you approach your message development and CTA as if you’re broadcasting to your audience, you won’t benefit. Don’t think of this as an abbreviated email, or a billboard. This is not the vehicle for accumulating ad impressions. If your goal is a clicked link, you’re not employing the medium fully.

Personalization is more than populating their name into a field. Some SMS platforms (like Yotpo) allow merchants to develop very granular triggers and flows through the funnel, using simple prompts or even conversational automation. B2B clients especially can use these tools to great advantage, since customers generally will purchase on a predictable cycle. Further, they’ll often have complex specifications that lend themselves to guided filtering. With SMS, the interaction is the message.

All of these interactions are part of your segmentation data. The more you tailor your message, the more segments you’ll need so the tailoring fits the audience. The more tailored the message, the more relevant, actionable and effective your campaign will be. Monitor everything and react quickly. Isolate variables so you’ll know what elements led to which changes. Segmentation signals can also be collected from analytics, purchase data, demographics, geographic location and more. 

Social Commerce for B2B?

Traditional social media – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and others  – isn’t always the first thought for B2B merchants. After all, you’re not selling to everyone, right? Not so fast.

The built-in community development tools on these platforms mean you can sculpt a place for your customers and attract more, drawing from their wide audience pools. Even if your products are highly specialized or technical, you might be surprised how many of your customers are looking for crowd affirmation when they’re shopping or searching for a solution. Another plus – a community doesn’t have to be enormous in order to be helpful for your business and the support required for these channels is usually minimal. 

Google my Business – Don’t neglect your Google profile because you don’t consider yourself a localized business. A pile of 5-star Google reviews will get you more mileage than that old static testimonial page on your site. In addition to Google, 3rd party review platforms like TrustPilot can provide a great space for collecting additional reviews and building customer trust. 

Consider a user/customer forum if you don’t have one already. Use crowd support to verify, augment and prove information you get from your sales and customer service groups. Even if you don’t host the forum, you should participate anywhere your products are applicable or being discussed (ie. Reddit, for sure). The information you can glean from these interactions will be super valuable – it’s like having a continuous focus group session. Businesses of all types monitor forums for product development tips, discovering problems, identifying new markets and unmet product niches. 

What to do once you have UGC? 

Once your brand receives user generated content, it should be showcased! Engage with and respond to the content that has been created. Share or link to content on your company website, social media, reviews and any other marketing channels. Leverage user reviews in advertising and marketing campaigns, and continue to foster a community of user generated content by interacting with users’ posts. 

PRO TIP: Tools like Gorgias can be incredibly helpful when it comes to monitoring your social content.

Analyze content created for your brand and do not be afraid to learn and adjust based on its feedback. Social media is constantly evolving and trends can last seconds or months. Going “viral” is many brands’ dream, but for many brands, building consumer trust through time and consistent effort is much more impactful for actual sales and conversion. When executed well, UGC can create a community of loyal customers who not only trust your brand, but actively promote it to others through their content and recommendations.m

Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.

 

It’s not eMail yet, but it’s getting closer

What is the best way to engage with and promote your business to current and prospective customers? Your first thoughts might be direct mail, broadcast advertising and eMail. Each of these channels carry industry-accepted and expected conversion rates between .5 and 3%. There’s a reason for those low numbers: The targets of these vehicles know what to expect and their filter is on. By repeated exposure, we have all been trained to recognize (and often reject) promotional material on these channels. 

In search of lower noise tactics, many merchants have turned to SMS (simple message service or text messaging) and are seeing much higher engagement and conversion. For example, one of our  clients from the apparel space generates as much as 40% of their revenue via SMS promotions. If you aren’t already using text messaging/SMS to communicate with your customers, you might be missing out. 

Why is SMS Different?

What are the active threads in your text app? Working out the details of life, meetings, events and meals with family or co-workers probably makes up the bulk of your texts. People engage with texting actively, briefly and more casually than with other communication channels. It’s a pattern of use and behavior that can only work for the most targeted, most relevant and least obnoxious promotions.

Because of how we like to use texting on our smartphones, it used to be almost taboo or below the belt to market to people via text. For a long time, SMS was the domain of low quality, sometimes hilariously bad spam messages. Now, although a lot of merchants are promoting this way, it’s far from saturated, and best practices can help maintain SMS as fertile ground. 

What Should It Say?

What’s the best way to successfully run an SMS campaign?

An email sometimes tells a story, promotes a brand image or is an entry point to some bigger task (like shopping, deciding and purchasing).

Text messaging your prospects or existing customers should be a lot like text messaging a person you know. You don’t (or shouldn’t) text paragraphs or lists, you text them very specific things you think they ought to know right now. A promotional SMS shouldn’t lead them into a funnel of activity, but to a very quick purchase or engagement.

Are you clearing out a limited number of a certain item that goes with another item they already bought? Let them know. Is there a deadline approaching? Remind them. This is not the medium for promoting every minor markdown or new news from your brand.  If you create too much noise (especially irrelevant noise) you’ll get canceled.

Getting around the “Promotions” Folder

The two poles of phone technology (Android and Apple) are both scurrying to make your phone’s SMS app work a lot more like your email app. Recognizing the inrush of promotional material, Apple was first to actively filter messages by default, using machine learning tech to filter texts from unknown senders into transaction and promotional folders. It remains to be seen how this will evolve, both in terms of the installed technology and on how phone users will accept or reject those settings and filters. There are still some advantages to SMS if your goals and tactics are aligned.

The best way to ensure your message is seen is to get your subscribers to save your contact information. This is a crucial step and unlike with email, your recipients won’t know who is sending. Easier said than done, of course! We can’t add ourselves by default or passively; the receiver has to actively do something.

Sending a contact card makes it easier for your customer to add you, and it allows consistent brand reinforcement (you’ll spell your name correctly). The client still has to open/accept the contact card, so you’ll have to ask … but before you ask, make sure there is a simple, clear and undeniably good reason for them to do so. The messaging for this must flow from your purchase funnel, through the confirmation and follow-up emails. That’s why we always hesitate to put artificial barriers between transactional communication and promotional communication; especially with SMS, they should be planned seamlessly.

A good approach won’t feel like a trap, or pointless. Weave subscription or enrollment into any other legitimate points where you could collect a customer’s or prospect’s phone number. Did they engage with your chat function? Ask them then. Did they add an item to the cart? Even before they check out, tell them you’d like to keep them informed about flash sales on other items like this one. Of course, if the customer completes a transaction, help them through the enrollment process so they can hear about new products, warranty info, offers or group buys. For B2B merchants, texting reminders, delivery updates, order alerts can make customers feel like insiders.

“Yes, send me updates.”

Once your customer has allowed you to text them, whatever you do, don’t make this a thinly-veiled proxy for “ok, spam me.” SMS calls for different tactics than other channels. If you approach your message development and CTA as if you’re broadcasting to your audience, you won’t benefit. Don’t think of this as an abbreviated email, or a billboard. This is not the vehicle for accumulating ad impressions. If your goal is a clicked link, you’re not employing the medium fully.

Personalization is more than populating their name into a field. Some SMS platforms (like Yotpo) allow merchants to develop very granular triggers and flows through the funnel, using simple prompts or even conversational automation. B2B clients especially can use these tools to great advantage, since customers generally will purchase on a predictable cycle. Further, they’ll often have complex specifications that lend themselves to guided filtering. With SMS, the interaction is the message.

All of these interactions are part of your segmentation data. The more you tailor your message, the more segments you’ll need so the tailoring fits the audience. The more tailored the message, the more relevant, actionable and effective your campaign will be. Monitor everything and react quickly. Isolate variables so you’ll know what elements led to which changes. Segmentation signals can also be collected from analytics, purchase data, demographics, geographic location and more. 

Same Phone, Different Message

You’re familiar with that button in your Meta for Business that allows you to share the same post on Facebook and Instagram. Convenient, huh? This is not the case with email (or any other vehicle) and SMS. A successful text campaign will not be a shorthand version of something else. Our advice would be don’t use it at all if your approach is not dedicated to the platform!

Approaching SMS with the amount of planning and care we’ve hinted at above might seem crazy. It’s a text, right?! The thing to remember is that SMS is a much more intimate and personal channel, so additional caution and care is needed to retain engagement. Call us when you’re ready to use that to your advantage.

Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.

 

If content is infinite, does content matter?

We’re not there yet.

It’s somewhat comforting to say that, isn’t it? But is it true? Right now, the tools exist to create 7,000-word blog posts with just a few instructions. They’re not great reads, but neither are the blog-factory posts businesses have been deploying for years; just good enough that Google can see them as semantically valid.

If that sounds bleak, that’s only an indication we are neck deep in the change stream. AI is going to affect the way we do SEO, but we don’t yet know exactly how.

Optimization Curveballs

The biggest change will be to our assumptions around SEO.

Keywords/phrases that we could effectively capitalize have always been limited. Generative AI now removes those limitations almost entirely. For early adopters, this could translate to a windfall; but in the longer term, doesn’t it just define a new base or entry point? What is missing from this conversation is how Google (or whatever comes after Google) will eventually respond to a hyper-inflated content environment. Will Google expect to see a page optimized for every variant on every imaginable longtail on every site in a market, or will it learn to ignore the background noise?

Another wildcard with unknown effects on SEO is Google’s experimentation with leveraging AI (Search Generative Experience) to transform how it provides search results. Although currently positioned as a late-comer, chasing Bing AI and ChatGPT, this trial technology looks more like Google’s future.  Will SERPs become less like a directory where we compete for top spot, and more like a committee meeting where the boss pulls your idea and puts it in their presentation? Right now, it seems that way, but we can’t really imagine Google shaking their own tree this vigorously.

What is certain is that your return on effort applied to keyword-based SEO activities will go down, as your competitive space becomes more and more saturated with AI-generated content. Said another way: You will need more content but you will get less out of it.

Adaptation in the Works

How will Google react to ensure SERPs stay relevant?  We have some hints in place already. Unsurprisingly, they are based on what SEO practitioners already know about building websites for humans.

In addition to the well-known acronym EAT (Expertise, Authority, Trust) Google has signaled increasing emphasis on a new E: Experience. When they crawl this page, before they give us a pile of gold traffic tokens, they’ll look around and decide if InteractOne should even be talking about SEO. Google will need to find other content signals on our site that indicate we’ve been involved in the strange science of internet traffic for more than a minute.

Another Google-centered bit of technology is something they’re calling “information gain.” This is a twist on the idea that content should be unique – as in not using manufacturer descriptions for your item descriptions. Information gain takes it a step further; did you bring something new to the topic? This will mean less emphasis on aggregation or “skyscrapering” tactics for your brand or for your most important keywords and phrases. Instead, this means building completely new and unique content around the products you sell. (Pssst … AI doesn’t do “new” well.)

For eCommerce merchants, information gain won’t be all about blog posts. Category and item descriptions should also get special attention to fit users’ specific, ultra-longtail searches – and their individual search history.

Off-page SEO should also make a resurgence, says Google, as AI content forces SERPs to look elsewhere for uniqueness. Off-page refers to SEO tactics found outside of a website to improve its ranking – chiefly links. Links to your site from other authoritative sites have always been a great traffic conduit; they’re going to get even more emphasis. Guest posting is another off-site tactic, but it’s also one of the most direct ways to build strong links. Social media marketing is tough to execute well, but look out because AI is making it even more cluttered.

Same Old Same Old?

Google’s reactions so far to how they and SEO can adapt to AI feels a lot like older advice from Google, promising rewards for good behavior and good user-centered pages. In the past, however, Google has fallen short of these noble goals. Instead, their algorithm awarded the traffic to gigantic pages cobbled together by the biggest brands. Skepticism aside, this time might be different because AI represents an abrupt and enormous shift in scale, not a loophole or weakness in Google’s algorithm. 

Brass Tacks

At the detail level, we still need our meta data in tidy shape, page titles that make sense, category descriptions that match what we sell. The basics may sound simple, but eCommerce businesses are fast moving and clarity isn’t always the top priority.

Google will continue to identify and “ding” obvious AI-generated content, so think of it as a first step, not a finished product. Apps already exist for Magento and Shopify that will take base info from your existing product detail page: attributions, size, color, etc. and generate description content. You still need to tweak it!

Companies who use AI to create content will risk a ranking penalty in the same way as content stuffing “always” has. If the content is junk, i.e. if it doesn’t make sense, is not at all unique, or sounds like AI, then both human visitors and Google will penalize it in their own ways. At the same time, Google says that good content that happened to start as AI-generated content won’t be penalized, and why should it be? The key difference is human involvement; always check AI-generated content, even for simple tasks. More and more, Google will be looking for unique and authoritative/expert elements in the content. 

So, What Should You Do?

Should you explore or deploy AI as an SEO tactic? In short, yes. We think it’s inevitable and probably a good thing, overall. Perhaps ironically, AI’s presence in the room could serve to clear out some of the lingering half-truths and contradictions that the practice of SEO has abided for years.

InteractOne provides internet marketing services to our clients – we have for many years – and our emphasis has always been on the techniques that you won’t have to disown three years down the road. That part won’t change, at least.

AI will always be artificial. In a competitive space like eCommerce SEO, you can use these tools for productivity, but you’ll always need human brains monitoring and managing quality, and fostering creativity.

Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.

Alternative to Luma?

First released in 2021 and with more than 1,500 Magento sites now using it, Hyvä Themes is often positioned as an alternative to the default Luma theme. We think this is an oversimplification.

For one, Luma is still very much a viable option, mostly since Hyvä doesn’t yet have the wide range of module and plugin compatibility Luma offers.

The default Luma Magento theme has helped InteractOne solve a lot of problems for our clients over the years. When developed with discipline and expertise, Magento and Luma provide a migration path away from buggy, crippled customized themes. Luma also provides a viable performance path for small and new Magento merchants who can live with the standard design theme and want to minimize or eliminate developer involvement. Luma starts out acceptably light/fast, but it is not immune to bloat and compatibility issues that accumulate along with customizations, modifications, bug fixes and the layered technologies that accompany these actions. Ironically, given the wide scope of its use for many years, Luma is best when mostly left alone. It is this conundrum that motivated the Hyvä Themes’ creators. 

OK, The PWA Alternative?

Hyva is touted as an alternative to the PWA approach. PWA stands for Progressive Web Apps, which are web applications optimized to work on mobile and desktop devices. PWA for eCommerce helps you generate a more user-friendly site by allowing customers to access information regardless of their location or device. However, realizing the benefits of PWA can be fussy and expensive – involving lots of setup, testing, tweaking, monitoring and more tweaking. Hyvä employs Alpine JS to allow a flexible presentation on all platforms while clocking super fast page load, right out of the box.

Thinking About Going Headless?

Headless commerce detaches the front-end architecture and interface from the back-end commerce functionality and database. A key benefit of headless should be that changes can be made to the user experience without fear of introducing bugs to the core functionality. In reality, it’s not so much like a CMS, since most changes still require developer involvement. Because of this headless tends to be rather expensive, sometimes buggy and often difficult to maintain, leaving many marketing departments to regret going headless. 

Less is More

While they are powerful technologies, the limitations of PWA and Headless make the case for a solution like Hyvä. The vastly simpler structure of the Hyvä theme means it is an alternative to Headless and PWA – approaches that merchants adopt to solve problems around speed, flexibility and compatibility. The big difference is that both headless and PWA involve adding technology to make good things happen, whereas Hyvä Themes opts for subtraction.

Much lighter than a standard Magento theme

Hyvä Themes is based on a blank Magento 2 theme, not using the Luma code.  Most Magento theme developers start with the Luma code, so the finished product is – in most cases – slower than Luma.

The developers of Hyvä left out all layout.xml, .phtml files and JavaScript files. While Hyvä uses the PHP-templating system that is built into Magento, it departs from standard theme architecture, using newer lighter-weight components, such as a Javascript framework that is only ⅓ of the weight of Jquery.

Does it Cost More?

As of this writing, Hyvä charges 1,000 Euro for a one-time license. No limits are placed on the number of domains or storeviews.

While the simpler architecture of Hyvä themes should ultimately reduce programming costs, customizations and demand for favorite modules and plug-ins will impact initial build cost. Already though, Hyvä has incorporated compatibility with more than 100 popular modules and plugins and we expect 3rd party module compatibility  to grow.

One key affordability benefit of Hyvä Themes is that templates can be implemented one at a time – start with the product page and category pages, leave the checkout for later. This is where Hyvä excels.

What’s the catch?

If omnichannel drives your volume, a headless commerce approach might still be the way to go. You’ll have to balance those benefit calculations with the cost of development and ongoing maintenance.

Further, Hyvä’s checkout is still pretty young, lacking documentation at this writing. Hyvä Themes  offer the Magento One-Step checkout (based on Luma) as the preferred path for most.

So, despite a fast-growing pace of adoption, Hyvä still carries a whiff of the bleeding edge.

What does this all mean for you? 

For most of InteractOne’s clients, and most midsize e-Commerce retailers, chasing cutting edge technology can be a risky bet. Most retailers don’t have large IT teams that can research, manage and maintain the most fussy tools to keep you at full optimization. You already know that improving page load speed is beneficial, but you also have your eye on diminishing returns. Granted, twelve second page-loads were killing you. Getting to six seconds made a big improvement and dropping that to three seconds was excellent for conversion. Is your traffic and volume big enough to make the needed investment to get to 1.5 or .75 seconds justifiable?

The point is, a lot of Magento retailers haven’t made the leap to headless or PWA either because of cost or because they didn’t feel confident in managing it. Hyvä changes that decision in that it cures the speed problem with simplicity, not with another layer of technology. Hyvä Themes  isn’t a cure-all, but it sure looks like a start.

Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.

Spend is Performance

Meta (Facebook) just unveiled at their latest media buyers conference that they are going all-in with machine learning (Advantage+) and merchants who stick to manually controlling ads will likely see lower performance versus those who get out of the way and allow Facebook to spend toward a goal. That doesn’t mean you can relax. You still have a job. Advantage+ just means your job is a little different. Have you ever owned a dog? They love to please you by doing their job. If they think you want them to fetch the ball, they will fetch until they collapse in a heap. AI in general, and Facebook/Meta’s Advantage+ is a lot like that. Be careful what you ask for; it’s a big world and if your ask is vague, your results will be messy and vague. However, if your ecommerce business has a proven online sales process, quality content and ads, Advantage+ shopping campaigns are worth a try. Advantage+ is the purest realization yet of Meta’s push for ODAX – outcome-driven advertising experiences. If your goal is being met while Facebook is spending, then great, all you need to then do is review how and to whom they are serving ads for the sake of protecting your brand. In the simplest terms, Advantage+ shopping campaigns maximize performance and find new customers. Settings are streamlined, to say the least. You do get to choose in which country your ads will be seen, but that’s about it. Automatic placements and lowest cost bid strategy are baked in as part of this “best practices” approach. Frankly, calling them “settings” at all may be misleading. Essentially, your budget, your ads and your site (and/or shop) content are the settings for an Advantage+ campaign. The more focused, engaging, clear and market-specific your content and ads are, the better your results will be.  Does that mean your targeting will be off? Will you get a bunch of junk results? Here is where the leap of faith comes into play. You need to be able to trust that Facebook is smart enough to recognize that you sell commercial kitchen equipment, for instance, not ice maker parts. You also need to be willing to let Facebook trial and error all over itself while it strums for the perfect chord. You won’t see (or pay for) the stumbles, however, and the AI doesn’t get upset by failure; it’s relentless and endlessly enthusiastic about its mission – again, kind of like that dog. The core strength of Facebook’s Advantage+, the endless ad iterations and testing, can make the branding team a little nervous. When using Advantage+ placements, you might see some strange cropping or branding with your ads. It can add a banner (it picks one of your colors) and may insert a headline or other element – again based on your content. This sets up a tough choice between traditional thoughts about the inviolability of branding vs maximizing results. Given that the demonstrated benefits of adherence to rigid branding are long term, we are curious and open to the idea that there could be unintended longer-term negative consequences (audience loss, diminishing recognizability?) when you allow Meta to mess with your look. The jury is out. It would be easy to dismiss Advantage+ as merely an amateur’s tool. Indeed, a search for the term nets a lot of pundits downplaying Advantage+ because of the lack of granular control over demographics, creative, test elements and spend apportionment. Marketers have always based their careers on being at the helm – tweaking campaigns and closely monitoring results. Facebook’s Advantage+ doesn’t even want interference from diligent and informed human decision-making. Granted, this can (currently) only be true when we’re talking about millions or billions of data points, such as are at Meta’s disposal.  Further, Advantage+ requires KPI history on creative and targeting, so you can’t run it on a brand-new ad account. Someone needs to do testing before deploying Advantage+ to ensure that it’s optimized for success. You can upload customer lists as demographic “seed beds” to help train the AI on proven successful profiles. You also control the existing customer budget cap – well, sort of. Some have found that Facebook always exceeds this setting (usually doubling it) – don’t set any higher than 10-15% if you want to end up with 70-80% new customers vs retargeting. The bottom line is, Advantage+ might look simple, but we would advise marketers to not quit their day jobs! If you find yourself choosing the manual experience, check your reasoning. Is it fear? Is it because the manual process offers more granular control? It’s a bit like investing. Many people want to choose the stocks they buy, convinced they can outperform professional mutual fund corporations – or just enjoy the control. On average and over time, It’s an illusion. Just as, most of the time, and with much less effort, allowing Facebook’s Advantage+ to just do its job will net you greater gains over the long term. Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.

As an eCommerce merchant, you need to always have a critical eye on the future. You might not want to be first in line for every new technology  – some might call that being on the “bleeding edge.” But, you also don’t want to be the last to jump into a maturing technology – a.k.a “missing the boat!”

This conundrum can lead to paralysis – especially as we consider the effects artificial intelligence (AI) will have … and is already having …  on eCommerce development. Should you greenlight your IT team to use AI? Or should you block AI apps until they can be further vetted for risks and security? These are real questions merchants are wrestling with and we see both approaches (aggressive and conservative) currently being employed.

AI Developer Tools Today

AI-Based Programming Assistants are already in wide use among software developers for code compilation, code debugging, and code-driven testing. Already, a few dozen tools like this exist and are being used by developers everywhere. Programming assistants can solve relatively simple but often time-consuming problems, making developers more productive and decreasing the fatigue that comes from executing repetitive tasks. 

For example, Codex is an AI tool (in Beta) from the creators of the Chat GPT system (which is itself frequently used for coding tasks) that translates natural language to code. Codex powers another similar tool, GitHub Copilot. Developers must be skilled in asking either of these AI assistants well-defined questions in order to produce helpful results. Left unchecked, AI assistants are also known to leave vulnerabilities or even create new ones. So choosing a developer whose expertise allows prudent and well-monitored use of the tools is of prime importance. 

A newer tool called AlphaCode shows amazing promise in solving more complex programming tasks, but still requires extensive problem definition, testing guidelines and outcome descriptions.

Another class of tools resembles the “auto-complete” function you frequently see in text programs and search fields. As a developer types a line of code, the AI program (Tabnine, as an example) will suggest completed code lines. The more these tools are used, the better they will become at anticipating what the developer is doing.

Wherever you have a defined outcome or set of outcomes, plus inputs for the AI to track against pattern recognition, then you have a feedback loop. AI thrives on feedback loops and is already making great use of them to provide new features and functionality for on-site search, product recommendations for personalized shopping experiences and personalization (see https://www.adobe.com/sensei.html). 

Looking Ahead

In the next 1-3 years, we believe we will see significant portions of simple development tasks nearly overtaken by AI. For example:

• The development of more “code-less” themes. These are themes for platforms like Shopify, Adobe Commerce (aka Magento) and BigCommerce that permit speedy modification and customization of the content, design and layout while no longer allowing users to edit the code. Instead, all CSS/design code changes are managed by AI. This should allow for cleaner, less bloated and more stable code because the AI will be able to quickly handle debugging and testing and won’t be relying on patching or shoehorn approaches that human developers often use to effect a change.
• Development of easier-to-use and faster design tools. Drag and drop has been around for a while, but imagine that the software will be able to anticipate and implement consistent-looking changes across the theme elements. Then, you can clean up any changes that AI didn’t get quite right on its first pass.

The Likely Path 

Software development, like many other skilled trades and professions, consists of a high percentage of tasks that follow a pattern or rely on standardized solutions. The skill and experience come into play on the details. AI adoption will most likely line up with those truths; without a doubt, AI use will be (and already is) widespread within eCommerce development but will not replace skilled programmers. That may sound naive, so we’ll put a finer point on it. Programming as a profession will definitely change as AI assistance becomes more powerful and reliable, but as long as the system needs to know exactly what problem to solve, there will be a need for highly-skilled developers and solution architects.

In the near term, AI will have much less effect on the more complex elements of website development like software architecture, database management, new feature development and advanced security.

If You Want a Job Done…

In general, like most technology-driven changes, AI integration into eCommerce programming will follow the Pareto Principle (aka 80/20 rule). Developers will get most of the benefit available from AI by using it for limited tasks. Other tasks involving more subjective inputs: (opinions, experience, preferences) would be very difficult to ask the AI to accomplish while fairly easy for a skilled human programmer to grasp. Like the use of robots in industry – AI will be used where it has a clear benefit and where it is economically feasible based on the scale of the activity.

Human developers use their native intelligence to translate expressed specifications (sometimes vague – and always contextual) into iteration attempts that must be checked by other humans (the project managers, the clients). This can be an unpredictable and sometimes arbitrary process when it comes to the details. 

What should eCommerce managers do in order to use AI to their advantage?

It is important to be on an eCommerce platform that is aggressively working to take advantage of the trending AI technologies. For instance, developers are already experimenting with codeless themes for Shopify (ie. nyla.app) that rely on AI for fast and simple design changes. Still, in an atmosphere of disruption there is potential for bad decision-making when it comes to choosing a platform. Software that relies too heavily on AI at this point may carry a load of unintended consequences – levels of maintenance and setup that would currently be highly specialized (and thus cost prohibitive) in the medium term.

More than ever, excellent and experienced guidance are your best ally. Pick an agency partner you can trust, with a track record of objectivity when it comes to platforms and tools. InteractOne doesn’t claim to be unaffiliated, but we’ve also never been shy about the strong and weak points of Magento, Adobe, Shopify, BigCommerce and all of the underpinning technology. Our role is to provide unvarnished advice, based on what we see happening in the ecosystem.

Don’t just take our word for it. Stay informed, by following industry leaders, experimenting with AI yourself, attending trade shows and seminars, etc.

Carefully review and vet new AI features before choosing to implement them on your site… don’t just use it because it has an “AI” label on it.  Do your homework to ensure the AI feature will provide a positive impact on your website.

Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.

Looking to boost your website’s conversion rate? A few tweaks to the user interface (UI) of a site can make or break user experience (UX) and engagement.  UI design and graphic design are not synonymous. Fashionable fonts, color schemes and interesting effects are great but they don’t create a good UI by themselves. Truly successful web design includes factors like intuitive navigation, high-quality images, mobile compatibility and more. If you are looking to enhance your site, here are five common UI improvements you can implement to help increase conversion rates:

How Mobile is Your Site? 

Your site is probably already responsive, right? Maybe it has been mobile-friendly for years at this point. Too often, though, clients come to InteractOne because buggy responsive code, mobile browser problems or device-specific glitches are putting obstacles in the shopper’s path, or preventing transactions altogether. In 2022, mobile ecommerce sales in the US made up nearly 42% of the total ecommerce market. This year, it’s projected that mobile commerce sales will surpass 43% of total sales, and by 2025, they are expected to reach 44%, gradually closing the gap between mobile commerce and ecommerce sales ratios. In brief, having a site that has “ok” mobile friendliness is costing you lots of money. . To ensure efficient content loading on mobile devices, it’s crucial to develop catalog and product content with a mobile-first approach. In other words, when you build products and content, assume the viewer will be on a phone. Site elements should also load in order. For instance, to accommodate the shorter attention span of mobile users, consider displaying a static banner instead of a rotating one on mobile devices. This can help improve performance and overall user experience.

Streamline Checkout

Improving a site’s checkout design and functionality is key to customer satisfaction. Complicated checkout processes and website errors contribute to high rates of cart abandonment, with studies showing as many as 17% of customers will abandon their carts due to checkout issues. The best way to prevent this is to use your tools. Observe customers using your site and your checkout – you’ll be surprised at the insights you can gain! Watching real-time transactions helps you think like a customer so you can remove clutter and sticking points in the checkout process. Verify your observations by setting up the checkout funnel in Google Analytics and paying attention to the Abandoned Carts report in Magento. Use Google Analytics to track your checkout funnel and monitor the “Abandoned Carts” report in Magento. Overall, when looking to increase conversions, keep the checkout process short and straightforward, with properly functioning autofill fields and guest checkout (ask us how often we see these broken!)

Maintain Consistent Navigation

Right off the bat, here’s a caveat for the owners, directors and VPs out there: Take care how you wield your influence! One of the most common problems we see in navigation is the inclusion of “pet” categories – prominent menu items that are either redundant or simply out of place. For instance, maybe you sell office supplies. For your main categories, you have electronics, furniture, equipment and one or two other main categories. But, for some reason, you are very focused on selling ergonomic keyboards. “Ergonomic keyboards” shouldn’t be a main category for you. But because your marketing person isn’t going to fight every battle, up it goes. Don’t do it!  A disciplined approach to your menu structure is vitally important. As the first point of contact for visitors, your menu should guide them to their destination seamlessly. However, many websites fall victim to common design mistakes such as overcrowding, vague or dated labels, and lack of organization. These can quickly drive visitors away from your site and towards your competitors (especially when ¼ of site visitor’s attention goes to the main navigation of the website). To create a successful navigation, start by putting yourself in your customers’ shoes. Consider the customer journey and personalize the menu accordingly. Avoid overwhelming users with too many choices; limit the primary navigation to just a few options. Utilize attributes and faceted navigation within larger categories to make filtering easier. Remember to regularly review and update your navigation to accommodate new product lines or brands, while keeping the category structure simple and relevant to your customers’ search queries. Again, most ongoing updates should take place in the sub-categories, attributes and filters since you rarely add or shed a whole top-level category of products. Optimize your high-level categories for both browsing and search engine rankings by using terms familiar to your customers. By providing quick and relevant answers, you’ll increase engagement and retention on your site.

Establish Trust Through Images

Establishing credibility in your site can motivate shoppers to make a purchase. Easier said than done, right?! Professional photos of real people using your actual products sounds like a heavy lift, but is usually worth it. People are looking for a reason to say yes (they’re shopping, remember?) and personably relatable photography allows them to believe. Highlight product details. Display high quality images users can enlarge on desktop or mobile. Studies show that larger images are more effective in boosting conversions, so definitely talk to your developer before deciding to use smaller image files; there are ways to preserve large images and not sacrifice performance. Many times, a CDN can ensure fast load times. 

Product Descriptions

Revamp your product pages by crafting unique, valuable and clear descriptions that highlight the product’s benefits for the buyer. Applying this across your whole catalog is another potentially huge task that many merchants choose not to tackle, but depending on your market it can make or break your strategy. Avoid common eCommerce mistakes like leaving out relevant visuals or failing to explain how to use the product. Make sure your descriptions are credible, concise, and engaging. Adding a touch of humor or storytelling can help capture the customer’s attention and make your product stand out.

Building a Better eCommerce Website

By focusing on user experience and prioritizing user-centered functionality, these five UI enhancements can increase conversions on your Magento website. Adopting a customer-centric approach can lead to a positive user experience and ultimately drive more conversions. Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing almost all sectors, including e-commerce. One such area where astute e-commerce businesses are utilizing AI is fraud detection. With the advancement of data analysis, algorithms can analyze millions of data points to detect new potential instances of fraud, earlier and with greater accuracy. To execute a successful fraud detection system, merchants need to maintain a delicate balance of precision. They must deny fraudulent transactions, which are extremely costly, while also avoiding the denial of legitimate transactions to prevent churn and maintain their reputation. Complicating matters; there isn’t a reliable method to differentiate between the desirable and the undesirable; approximately $600 billion of global e-commerce revenue was forfeited due to payment declines in 2020, complicating matters. How is A.I. fighting the good fight against fraud? Read on to find out.

Fighting Fraud with Fire

According to Juniper Research, cumulative merchant losses due to online payment fraud are projected to exceed $343 billion globally by 2027, highlighting the ever-increasing threat of fraud. AI-based fraud detection is increasingly replacing traditional methods that use rules created by humans to decide whether a transaction should decline. Such methods were often inefficient, unlike AI-based fraud detection processes. Rule-based fraud detection depends on policies that predict improper customer behavior ahead of time, which can be painfully inaccurate. Fraud detection AI is primarily based on unsupervised learning models. Machine algorithms analyze large data pools from multiple vendors and millions of transactions to detect patterns based on behavioral patterns in the data. The algorithm is not trained on specific data points; instead, it autonomously identifies patterns in the data. Artificial intelligence offers flexibility to fraud prevention by identifying anomalies and suspicious activities without relying on pre-established rules. Additionally, AI can provide instant decisions to enhance the system’s security. Fraud detection technologies from third-party providers help even the playing field for merchants to compete against massive marketplaces like Amazon or Alibaba. These technologies aggregate data from thousands of merchants and millions of transactions, providing a reliable way to detect fraud and compete with the behemoth brands.

Recognizing A Broken Pattern

AI-based fraud detection systems can adapt, making increasingly nuanced decisions as new behavior patterns emerge. Let’s take a look at the recent pandemic, for example. During the early stages of the lockdown, buyers who previously were never large purchasers of home improvement items and tools were now making substantial purchases in these categories. To avoid mistakenly rejecting purchases, which may have formerly appeared deceptive, eCommerce merchants had to adjust how they monitor and flag accounts. This is precisely the kind of near real-time adjustments that A.I. can make autonomously. Expedited shipping is another example of real-time A.I. advancements. According to Riskified data, orders placed with expedited shipping increased by 140% from January to December of 2020, while fraud levels decreased by 45% over the same period. In addition, expedited shipping reduces a merchant’s time to cancel an order and is perceived as a red flag for fraud detection. However, the pandemic has made this shipping method prevalent, becoming a safer practice over time.  

Emerging Threats

Identifying suspicious payment activity committed by previously genuine customers can be particularly challenging. A common example is known as “friendly fraud,” where a customer disputes a charge with their credit card company to evade payment for a previously purchased product from a physical goods retailer. Fraudsters can claim that an item was not received by filing an “item not received” chargeback with their bank or credit card company. In fact, some engage in large-scale chargebacks and sell the items on the black market, causing retailers to lose millions of dollars each year. If this were to occur in a physical store, it would fall under the category of shoplifting. A rapidly growing fraud trend known as policy abuse involves regular, paying customers breaking a retailer’s terms and conditions, usually to save or make money. Although policy abuse differs from traditional fraud, retailers can still suffer financial losses which can go unnoticed. As a result, businesses are now turning to AI to address these situations. The A.I. will collect data, including IP addresses, device fingerprinting, and behavioral analytics. This data is then cross-referenced against past orders in various merchant networks. For example, suppose a customer is disputing a fraudulent order not placed by them. In that case, the system can verify if the order was placed using the same IP address and/or device the customer has previously placed orders. This empowers merchants to prioritize disputes and address policy abuse from the most frequent offenders, automating the dispute resolution process for enhanced scalability and efficiency. With the increasing sophistication of fraud tactics, fraud detection methods have also evolved. Soon, analysis of biometric aspects of e-commerce, such as “voiceprint” and the angle at which a mobile phone is held, will go beyond monitoring purchasing patterns.

Bringing It All Together

With an AI-powered fraud prevention system, businesses can be flexible and tailor their approach to new threats and opportunities as regulators, customers, and criminals continue to evolve. By leveraging AI-based techniques, e-commerce businesses can significantly reduce the risk of costly losses from fraudulent transactions while also providing a smoother shopping experience for their customers. It is clear that AI is playing a vital role in fraud prevention strategies for e-commerce businesses today, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.