E-Commerce Minute

---

E-Commerce Minute: Wednesday -- January 9, 2019

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
Microsoft, Kroger Ring Up Retail as a Service
Creating New Customer Experiences: 6 Retail Technology Predictions for 2019
How a Good Preorder Strategy Can Maximize Online Sales
4 Retail Tech Trends to Watch in 2019
2019 CRM Wish List
The Economics of E-Commerce Chargeback Fraud
6 E-Commerce Shipping Strategies That Level the Playing Field for SMBs
Is Weak Data Integrity Foiling Your CRM?

Message From Our Sponsor
B2B Marketers: Start Strong in 2019
Empower your sales team with the highest quality leads.
Target only the companies you want with Account-Based Marketing.
Save money to increase your campaign ROI. Get started today!
http://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=10206/ABM

Today's Story Highlights

Microsoft, Kroger Ring Up Retail as a Service
Microsoft and Kroger announced a collaboration on Retail as a Service to
equip stores with Kroger Technology products that run on Microsoft
Azure. The technology utilizes the IoT, connectivity, the cloud, and
data collection and analysis to improve both customer experiences and
store bottom lines. Two stores will pilot a smart technology system
connected by IoT sensors, running on Microsoft Azure.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85775.html

Creating New Customer Experiences: 6 Retail Technology Predictions for 2019
As e-commerce has gained serious momentum over the past 10 years, there
have been dire predictions about the impending death of brick-and-mortar
retail. The narrative has been framed largely as "technology is killing
retail," but the reality is not quite so simple. While technology
undoubtedly has transformed the retail landscape, it also has been
pushing the industry forward.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85773.html

How a Good Preorder Strategy Can Maximize Online Sales
Among the myriad of tactics that e-commerce businesses can use to pump
up sales, preorders might be the most overlooked strategy. Yet preorder
sales are a highly effective way to generate early buzz to gin up demand
for new products. A "preorder" by definition is the sale of a product
that is not immediately available to the consumer but will be sometime
soon.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85769.html

4 Retail Tech Trends to Watch in 2019
Year over year, we see the numbers. In 2017, e-commerce represented 49
percent of all total retail growth, up 16 percent. If this year's
$119.99 billion holiday shopping season spend indicates anything, it's
that 2018 is projected to be yet another banner year for commerce.
Online shopping will hit unprecedented, never-before-seen rates of
growth, and it'll be all thanks to technology.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85766.html

2019 CRM Wish List
I've been writing a forecast column every year at least since W was
president. Nothing's wrong with that, lots of people do. However, I
often find that my forecast is more of a wish list than a true
prognostication, so this time I'll dispense with the fiction of
analytical rigor and just say what I think needs to happen. First, the
industry is consolidating. The big and successful companies are
competing on a different plane than the smaller ones.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85765.html

The Economics of E-Commerce Chargeback Fraud
E-commerce fraud is an ongoing problem for online merchants and credit
card companies. It has been growing at twice the rate of e-commerce
sales. Identity theft traditionally has been one of the most common
sources of e-commerce fraud, but online merchants increasingly have been
suffering more from chargeback fraud, which requires them to absorb the
costs of disputed credit card transactions.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85763.html

6 E-Commerce Shipping Strategies That Level the Playing Field for SMBs
E-commerce continues to become more competitive as large companies like
Amazon, Target and Walmart soak up market share and customer attention.
Shipping window expectations have become shorter, and many online
retailers struggle to keep up, particularly SMBs. How can SMBs compete?
Not only is competing possible, there are many SMBs that have been
finding exceptional success.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85757.html

Is Weak Data Integrity Foiling Your CRM?
American companies spend an enormous amount of money on training.
Spending reached more than $90 billion in 2017, an increase of over 32
percent from 2016. It's unlikely that even a small share of the billions
spent on training last year were devoted to educating and motivating
employees to regularly and accurately input data into a company's CRM.
Maybe it should have been.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85758.html

News Alerts From ECT News Network
Get the day's top business and technology news delivered
to your inbox as stories break. Sign up today -- it's free!
http://www.ectnews.com/adsys/link/?crid=2202/News_Alerts

How to Advertise in This Newsletter
To advertise in this newsletter or elsewhere on ECT News Network,
please call our sales department toll-free at (877) 328-5500, or view
our online media kit at
http://www.ectnews.com/advertising/

Subscribing and Unsubscribing
You are receiving this newsletter in response to your request on
the E-Commerce Times Web site for our daily newsletter. If you wish
to make changes to your newsletter subscription, or if you wish to
receive other free newsletters from the ECT News Network, please click
here: Newsletter Management Wizard

If this e-mail was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe to
this FREE newsletter, please use our newsletter sign-up wizard:
http://www.ectnews.com/perl/newsletter_registration.pl/

Feedback
We welcome your feedback. Contact us online at
http://www.ectnews.com/perl/contact_form.pl?to=editorial

Follow Us

Copyright 2019 ECT News Network, Inc.
16133 Ventura Blvd., Suite 700, Encino, CA 91436
All Rights Reserved.