i95Dev

Benefits of Integration Between Magento and Microsoft Dynamics RMS

info@i95dev.com — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:56:44 +0000

The importance of Magento and RMS integration lies in the fact that this integration provides an automated integration between Microsoft Dynamics RMS and ecommerce by integrating using a web service layer between the two applications. This user-friendly integration between Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Magento, among other things, prevents your employees from having to do the same thing twice.

Magento and RMS integration comes with major benefits like it allows the Off-line customers to access the online store for their purchases. It further leads to reduction in the cost evolved since all the cost associated with man-power, systems, licenses and time can be reduced using this extension

One of the major real time benefits that you get to enjoy is that the information is updated real-time; hence customer information is available both in Magento or Microsoft Dynamics RMS at any given point of time. One gets to access the most updated information online and hence serve your customer in a better way! Not only will your customers, your employee’s would be happy too – as you will stop asking them to do the same thing twice!

At i95Dev we provide you the ultimate solution which enables web Stores of all sizes to implement a comprehensive end-to-end data synchronization between Magento Commerce and Microsoft Dynamics RMS. Our Magento RMS connect comes with features which provide you with exquisite benefits like Automatic and bi-directional seamless data movement and Elimination of manual data entry process. If you want to prevent data input errors and Get real-time inventory status updates i95Dev’s Magento RMS connect is the apt solution for you. You can also Track data easily and quickly access the accurate information. Our solution has reduced the human intervention, thereby saving time and money.

How To Benefit eCommerce Using Product Feeds

info@i95dev.com — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 10:27:06 +0000

Product feeds are a great source for the retailers to increase the sales. A lot of people do not like to purchase everything directly from the web site. A lot of them would directly go to the famous Product feeds they trust. It is therefore very important to list your products on the products feeds. Product Feed is a data file that contains information about all products for a website. Generally, it’s a source of data that plays an increasingly important role for your eCommerce website, shopping portal, search ads & much more.

A lot of customers are seeking product feeds to purchase goods because of a lot of reasons like one can compare products and the prices of the same product from different dealers and hence get good deals by purchasing the product at the lowest possible price

These product feeds are a direct and easy way to grow the popularity of the product. Your product gets enlisted among 100 other products and dealers and hence you increase the product and brand visibility. It gets listed not just on your web site but also on the third party web sites where you can directly generate the leads from, hence the product becomes more searchable. This also leads to increase in the traffic onto your web site. The demand for the product grows when the product is listed in the product feeds.

Product feeds available are of 2 kinds – FREE OF COST where you do not have to pay anything to list your product and PAY PER CLICK where you pay per click for the product. eCommerce has been directly benefitted with the product feeds because the online retailers have been able to get increased number of sales. Product feeds have helped the online retailers to attain a better product and brand visibility and enter the global market hence expand globally.

The Importance of Tablet Commerce for Retailers

info@i95dev.com — Thu, 31 May 2012 21:45:28 +0000

Tablet sales are increasing by leaps and bounds, making it imperative for retailers to extend their eCommerce sites to the tablet. Consumers today want to be able to browse online stores as well as make purchases from any platform, whether it is a computer or a tablet. This increasing demand of tablet usage is changing the requirements for online retailers, forcing them to change with the times to remain competitive.

Consumers Demand Tablet Shopping

There is a major difference between an eCommerce site that can be viewed on a computer and one that is tablet optimized. Consumers are swiftly demanding the ability to view eCommerce sites on their tablet, forcing retailers to come up with unique tablet optimized retail experiences for all consumers. Consumers want to be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, being able to make a purchase with the click of a few buttons.

The increase in tablet shopping means more frequent impulse buying, which is good news for retailers. In a majority of households, the iPad or other tablet is nearby, making it easy for consumers to pick it up right after viewing a commercial for a new product. Having the ability to grab the tablet, look at the product and purchase it within minutes of seeing the commercial could serve as a great advantage to online retailers today. It takes the research and buyer’s remorse out of the equation, putting impulse buying at the forefront of retailer’s success.

Changing with the Times

It is predicted that more than 33 percent of households will own a tablet by the year 2014, making it essential for any online retailer to take advantage of mobile shopping. When consumers use their tablet they expect to be able to flip through products easily, zoom in and out on the products and know everything they need to know within seconds. The tablet has greatly minimized many different aspects of our lives and eCommerce is on the horizon, making retailers change with the times.

More than just a way to shop, consumers are using tablets to comparison shop even when they are inside the brick-and-mortar store. Having the ability to check multiple stores from one location greatly increases the buying power that consumers have. What this means is that online retailers really need to step up their mobile shopping experience, figuring out the best way to draw customers in to their site and enticing them to make a purchase before moving on to another eCommerce store.

Social Commerce Is An Incredible Tool That Retailers Should Not Pass Up On

info@i95dev.com — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:32:12 +0000

Social Commerce

Retailers have been using their websites to sell their products for as long as the Internet has been around, but now that the world has accepted and devoted their time to social media, it is time for retailers to take advantage of that. There is room to grow. Only 8 percent of purchases made in the US were made online. That means that eCommerce is nowhere near its maximum growth potential.

Retailers are now starting to recognize the value of social media and how getting involved with social media and social commerce can help market their business. Retailers are also now discovering the beauty of selling items on social media sites. Retailers understand that social media is something that people enjoy using and love, but then they are told that they can sell on social media? What kinds of social media allow you to sell? There are quite a few ways to sell on social media sites that are pretty useful. Before retailers are to think about what kind of social media they want to work on, they should understand these two types of social commerce:

1. Social media on eCommerce platforms, a market where items are sold and also have a way for customers to interact with each other giving feedback and information about the products they are about to purchase and on top of that, the retailer that sells those products.

2. The second kind of platform is eCommerce on social media platform. One of the examples of that would be the new Facebook store. When there is a social platform people are already on and they see an advertisement for something they like, they can just click on it and purchase and not leave the social media site.

Here are a few things to remember before reading about social commerce and how it can make your future brighter: social commerce is truly about the people, not the technology. There are no set rules on how to use social commerce for your benefit but getting some support through the process is a great idea.

Facebook Store

Facebook has over six hundred million people on their social media site. Yes, six hundred million people! Even if your page views do not reach 1/10th of the number, your page is still visible through many other ways. However, now Facebook has made it possible for you as a retailer to sell your products on their site. Right now Facebook does not take anything out of your sales on their site, making the process cost nothing to you. There are a lot of apps you could use but which app is the right one for you to use and why? The questions seem to be endless. Through Facebook’s platform, businesses can reach quality and relevant customers. Because of the very nature of the site, users provide specific self-information, such as likes, hobbies, even age and gender. This allows companies to target users that will be most relevant to their ad sales.

Groupon

Groupon is a website where customers have a chance to get an incredible percentage off their product. However, the only catch is there must be a particular number of people that signed up for the product discount. While this sounds like a huge opportunity for your customers, it is also amazing for retailers because of the amount of traffic groupon can generate to your site. If your product was on sale, people are going to go to your website to check out what is that they can get from your store in-terms of discounts and promotions. While this might be a big cut in your profits, you can limit how many customers can sign up for the deal. Sometimes this is a great idea for things you are trying to get rid of and can’t seem to get people to buy.

Twitter Coupons

Using Facebook for advertising is a no brainer, but some retailers have not thought about using Twitter to send out coupons. Some retailers will create a profile and make their tweets only visible to people that follow them. When you do that, you’re able to come up with some way to give your customers “incentive” to follow you. When people re-tweet your tweets, it could go viral!

With these tools, you are able to provide coupons, sell things on a Facebook store, provide ways for customers to save money on your products through Groupon, and create coupons that customers can get through Twitter/Facebook. The possibilities of using social media to sell products are endless. It is an incredible tool that retailers should not pass up on. Making an investment does not have to be entirely based on how much money you spend but also the time that you spend online trying to market your product or store. As a retailer, your time is money.

The next issue is how retailers make time to do everything on Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, Living Social, and so forth. There are too many sites to keep up with, but there is a way for retailers to be able to focus on the development and growth of their business without sacrificing time, and that is to find a good company to work with. i95Dev, is here to help you through that process and guide retailers down the right path.

Converting Your Visitors Into Buyers

info@i95dev.com — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:12:43 +0000

With only 2 percent of internet shoppers actually completing the sale when they browse an eCommerce site, the importance of eCommerce conversion is becoming a widely popular notion. While there are a wide variety of tactics that we use to promote your site to get the visitors to your site, it is important to understand how to get those visitors to become paying customers even after they leave your site.

Today it is simply not enough to have a website and even the best marketing tactics to get customers to your site. The average customer stays on a website for a very short time, typically only a few seconds. So unless you have captured their attention enough in those few seconds, they will move on to other sites. A large number of customers even add products to their cart but never complete the sale. Using the proper tactics to turn those browsers or maybe buyers into buyers is the key to your website’s success.

So what is the magic potion that turns browsers into buyers? Simply put, it is remarketing. What this means to you is that once we have done our job and got the customers to your website, there needs to be a way to remarket them once they leave, a way for your company to stay at the forefront of their mind as they continue to browse the internet. This is done by having your ads displayed while visitors go to other websites.

There are a variety of ways to have your ads displayed. You can choose to promote the exact product each person was viewing or you can promote similar products, your company as a whole or anything else that you choose. As people browse other websites, your ads will be within their view, whether they are static ads or ads that constantly change, you will always be at the forefront of their mind – reminding customers of your presence.

Remarketing does not have to take place just while customers are shopping; it can occur while they check their email or do various other things on the internet. It does not really matter what they are doing at the time, what is important is that your company and brand name is constantly out there in the forefront of people’s minds – reminding them of their interest and coaxing them to come back and complete the sale.

Retailers Framework for Reduced Inventory and Greater Revenue

info@i95dev.com — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:04:32 +0000

With the beginning of each year, we are reminded of what the “new” new is: Forty is the new 30, green is the new black and so on. For 2012, Gartner recommends that retailers embrace the concept of MIOE (Merchandising, Inventory and Operations Execution) as the “new S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning),” with the following definition:

A cyclical, monthly business planning process
A flexible, but structured, process that focuses on aligning merchandising strategy with inventory and operational execution activities
The connection and alignment between company, merchandising and supply chain strategies
A focus on the midterm (typically, a three- to 24-month planning horizon)
A framework with a goal to maximize market opportunity, profitability and customer satisfaction

Although the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process may not resonate with most retailers, aligning merchandising, inventory and operations execution (MIOE) certainly should. Joining these key activities provides the framework that links the vision and strategy of the merchants with the execution arms of the organization, such as supply chain and store operations.

The Retail MIOE process consists of three key components:

Merchandising — This is the process responsible for key merchandising decisions concerning assortment (what products to carry where), space (appropriate allocation of space for an item) and price (what retail price to assign to an item by location and channel). It also includes setting the strategic direction of categories, the role of new items and overall support of the company’s ”brand promise” with its consumers (that is, its retail strategy).
Inventory — This process is responsible for demand sensing, demand shaping and profitably responding to the demand signal. It includes demand management and supply planning, incorporating inventory management and policy decisions.
Operations execution — This includes the activities responsible for delivering against the merchandising and inventory decisions. It typically involves trade-off decisions regarding capacity and labor constraints across distribution, transportation and store operations.

: The Four Levels of Retail MIOE Maturity

Based on research, most retailers land in Stage 1 (Develop Operational Plan) or early Stage 2 (Resource Alignment) MIOE maturity. Many retailers find themselves in these early maturity stages because they lack the fundamental disciplines necessary to enable sound MIOE processes:

A consistent, end-to-end, coordinated demand and supply plan
A strong governance model that provides a consistent cycle and rhythm to the MIOE processes across short and midterm planning horizons
Established metrics to understand the role MIOE plays in enabling business performance

A well-designed and implemented metrics framework is vital for MIOE/S&OP success. Key metrics should include forecast accuracy, on-shelf availability, service level, costs and inventory productivity. Advanced merchandising plans that support today’s changing shopper will be the impetus behind formalizing the MIOE process.

IRCE – It’s the Place to Be

info@i95dev.com — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:53:19 +0000

Just the fact that there will be between 8,000-9,000 attendees, over 175 keynote speakers and 575 exhibits at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition on June 5-8 in Chicago is enough to convince anyone in the eCommerce industry to attend. If that does not convince you, maybe the fact that top executives from Barnes & Noble and Walmart will be delivering their speeches back to back during the first session, explaining how they took the eCommerce world by storm.

Barnes & Noble and Walmart are just two of the large physical stores that are taking on a large web presence, making it mandatory for every retailer to do the same in order to be successful. Consumer dependence on eCommerce is making it grow by leaps and bounds. If consumers cannot find information about or purchase a specific product on the Internet, they lose interest in those products or services rather quickly.

Among the 575 exhibits will be i95Dev. At our exhibit we will instill the importance of eCommerce and how to create a unified experience across the Store, Web, Mobile and Social channels so that your productivity is a cut above the rest. We have begun the next iteration of multichannel integration, attempting brand alignment and consistency across channels to create “One View of the Retailer.” Our retail management solutions are specifically designed to help you capitalize on current customer trends and overcome todays retail challenges while continuing to deliver a brand and customer experience. We will also show you how we can assist you with every avenue of your eCommerce needs, whether simple or complex including Business Intelligence, Multichannel Commerce, Marketing & Promotions, Inventory & Orders, Payment, Fulfillment, Accounting, Customer Relations and Back Office, taking the guesswork out of successful eCommerce for your company.

At the IRCE you can take part in conferences that are specific to your needs; whether you are a retail chain, small family-owned retail company or a web-only retailer, you will find conferences that are tailored directly to your needs. During these conferences you will learn how to make the most out of your eCommerce, including making all applications of your site accessible from every device, including today’s very popular mobile devices.

The speakers and conferences at the IRCE will cover everything, including mobile applications for your eCommerce site, social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google +1, web design and online marketing. You can even learn about the advantages and disadvantages of offering free shipping, as well as how to handle the legal demands of owning an eCommerce site.

The IRCE is definitely the place to be this June 5-8. It is the one and only place where you can learn everything there is to know about eCommerce, including how to be successful at it and how to make it work without incurring a lot of costs or stress on your company.

Don’t Miss i95Dev at the IRCE 2012

info@i95dev.com — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:23:44 +0000

On June 5-8 you will find i95Dev at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in Chicago. This conference, which is expected to host over 8000 attendees, is a conference not to be missed. Visitors to the i95Dev booth can anticipate learning about how i95Dev can help build their eCommerce site and take it above and beyond the competition. It is not enough to just get by in today’s technologically savvy world. If your online store does not stand above the rest, it will have a tough time succeeding. That is what the IRCE is about and exactly why i95Dev will be in attendance, offering businesses its valuable advice and services.

The IRCE is the largest e-retailing show, making it one of the most important shows for anyone with an eCommerce presence to attend. You will find businesses from the top 500 e-retailers, as well as small companies that wish to not only run along with the big business but eventually run ahead of them. eCommerce makes it possible for businesses of any size to seize the competition and move light years ahead of them in one swift move. At i95Dev, that is our goal, to provide your company with a seamless operation that allows you to take the eCommerce world by storm.

When you visit the i95Dev booth #112 at the IRCE, you can expect to learn how i95Dev can help your company integrate seamless eCommerce productivity into your online store. The areas that i95Dev can help your business include Multichannel Retailing, Marketing & Promotions, Order & Inventory, Fulfillment, Financials, Payments and Customer Relations. We can integrate all of the links your site requires to operate successfully into one seamless operation, allowing you to stay ahead of the competition.

The crowds are expected to be large this year, and i95Dev is excited to show what it has to offer to the numerous businesses in attendance. Whether you have a requirement for just an online store or online store with integrated backend or for an end-to-end eCommerce solution, i95Dev can look after them all for you. We will grow with you, offering you timely and successful solutions along the way. At i95Dev we want you to have the ability to offer your customers the buy anywhere, fill anywhere, return anywhere environment.

At i95Dev our clear leadership role in the eCommerce industry has provided us with a vast understanding of every industry, including Clothing & Accessories, Food & Beverage, Electronics & Appliances, Furniture & Home Furnishings, Industrial Equipment, Lifestyle Services, Car & Automotive Goods, Pharmaceutical, Health & Beauty, Sporting Goods, Books & Music, Stationery & Office Equipment, as well as Travel & Accommodations.

To stay up-to-date on the latest events and information from i95Dev be sure to follow us on Twitter.

i95Dev @ Magento Imagine eCommerce 2012: Wrap Up

info@i95dev.com — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:58:36 +0000

What happens at Magento Imagine 2012 won’t stay in Vegas! The magnetic draw of the strip and the promise of awesome speakers definitely lived up to the expectations. Our i95Dev team is back after a three days and nights filled with information and opportunities for growth. While the team spent quality time lighting up the strip at our gold sponsor booth, the information-packed conference helped us grow as a team. We offer a big thank you to the conference planners, sponsors and partners and to every i95Dev team members who helped make the event and our booth such a success.

Vegas awaits for Magento Imagine conference attendees

The sophomore year of Magento Imagine didn’t disappoint with breakout sessions, keynote and general speakers that offered something for everyone from partners to developers. The pre-Imagine event started off the conference with a Vegas-worthy bang that let us know we were in for a great three days. The conference wasn’t all fun and games. Three types of breakout sessions focused on Tech, Business and Partners including face time with designers and developers. While conference attendees bellied up to the bar, the i95Dev enjoyed the BarCamp topics on scalability and international product marketing.

@i95Dev CEO Vanit with Roy Rubin @royrubin05

Mondays at the office can seem mundane after a fun weekend. However, even a Monday at Magento Imagine gets the Vegas treatment. After dragging ourselves away from the fun pre-Imagine event on Sunday, booth set-up took center stage followed by a day of meeting and networking with international Magento contacts.

i95Dev Booth

The second day at Magneto Imagine brought breakout sessions that broke out of the expected content. Team members enjoyed an interactive video-clip presentation of the Magento ecosystem followed by keynotes by visionaries Stephen Messer and Tim Kring. After a productive day in the booth and speakers, Magento imagine showed us what Vegas really had to offer. There are a few moments that might stay in Vegas including slightly off-key renditions of Sinatra by a certain developer who will remain un-named.

i95Dev CEO networks at Magento Imagine

By Wednesday, we had a taste of Las Vegas compliments of Magento Imagine and felt the magic. After briefly contemplating career changes to showgirls and magicians, i95Dev returned to Wednesday at our Gold Sponsor booth. Posing with Magento partners and community members helped lessen the pain of realizing that we weren’t replacing David Copperfield in the near future. The sweet swag from event sponsors didn’t hurt either.

The Vegas sun as set while the closing night party begins

General and breakout sessions on Wednesday by true stars like Jim FitzGibbon and Alistair Stead packed the day with valuable information and a renewed commitment to customer service. Alison Levine gave a keynote speech on PEAKonomics worthy of any Vegas stage. Magento Imagine 2012 was full of the bright lights of Vegas, bright stars of the breakout sessions and keynote addresses and the ever-bright community of the Magento ecosystem. i95Dev is already planning for 2013. Bring your shades!

Please check out for more pictures here

Flickr Album

Facebook Album

Google Plus Album

Consumerization of Retail !!!

info@i95dev.com — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:43:04 +0000

As e-commerce continues to grow, retailer interest in multichannel has increased. Much hype and confusion exists around what it takes to become a successful multichannel retailer.

A slowing growth rate does not detract from the fact that e-commerce is an increasingly important part of the retail business. Retailers need to realize that, while the rate of e-commerce growth is slowing, the expectations of customers about the way they shop across the retailer’s brands have dramatically changed precisely because of their exposure to e-commerce shopping. It is likely this will continue to be the case and that customer expectations will change further with the onset of mobile commerce (m-commerce). Because of this, retailers need to rethink their approaches to multichannel retailing.

Customers are turning the current retail model on its head by redefining and customizing the way in which they engage with a retailer’s brand. The online customer, in particular, has proved to be the catalyst for introducing radicalization into the overall shopping experience (that is, across a retailer’s channels and, in so doing, has caused some leading retailers to rethink the customer shopping experience across their channels). By “radicalization,” we are referring to the way in which online shopping has changed consumer attitudes and behavior toward the shopping experience. There are two very important consequences of this:

Shoppers have taken greater and increasing control of the shopping experience. When making purchasing and buying decisions, online consumers have faster access to a broader set of data and information through extended touchpoints with the retailer’s brand.

They have also readily embraced social networks and virtual communities, which are contributing to a more radical way of shopping.

Technology has enabled new types of communities, as well as new ways for communities to collaborate, exchange information on their shopping experiences through blogs and reviews, compare retailer offers and, in some instances, take matters into their own hands through anonymous and radical collective action.

All this has fueled a shift in the mind-set of shoppers who have taken much greater and increasing control of the shopping process because they expect the retailer to deliver to their wants and needs in a flexible and personalized way. The customer will, therefore, intuitively interact with touchpoints at any stage in the shopping process, regardless of device, location or time.