The post 5 Things to Do Before Black Friday (That Aren’t Updating Your Promo Code) appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>If you want to avoid post-holiday compliance woes, now is the time to double-check a few critical items. Here’s a quick checklist to make sure you’re ready.
Have your sales grown this year? If so, you may have reached economic nexus in new states where you haven’t collected previously. It’s important to track sales against each state’s small business exemption thresholds, and to begin collecting in new states if you’re at that threshold. Even if you’re only approaching the threshold, holiday sales may push you over. It’s better to start sooner rather than later.
Click here to learn more about economic nexus.
Some shopping carts, such as Shopify, track nexus for you. If you’re using our services on certain platforms, we do as well. But if your e-commerce software doesn’t track it for you, you should be doing it manually.
Also, make sure you haven’t gained physical nexus in new states, either. If you started using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), a different fulfillment center or service, or if you hired remote employees in other states, you may have an obligation there even if you haven’t reached the threshold for economic nexus. Physical nexus applies to sellers of all sizes; there are no thresholds.
Not all products are taxed the same way in every state. Clothing, food, supplements, and digital goods are some examples of products that have unique taxability rules. Go through your product catalog and confirm that your tax settings are correct on an item-level basis.
If you over-collect due to errors, you usually must remit that overcollection to the state. However, if you under-collect, you still have to pay the correct amount… and this could mean the difference comes out of your own pocket.
In some states, shipping is taxable. In others, it’s exempt but only if you show it as a separate charge. Handling charges are often taxable, especially if listed separate or bundled with shipping as a single “Shipping and Handling” line item.
Make sure your store’s checkout is configured to calculate tax on shipping correctly.
If you’ve grown this year, your filing frequency may have changed. States where you’re registered may move you from quarterly to monthly based on sales volume. Check your notices and update your filing calendar before you’re surprised by a new deadline!
Pro tip: our filing services handle this for you.
It’s important to test your entire website prior to the busy holiday season, but many retailers don’t think to test sales tax. Run a few test orders across different states and products, and make sure tax is being applied correctly. This simple step can help you catch setup issues before hundreds of orders (or more!) go through your system.
Final Tip: Black Friday is a great time to grow your business. Just make sure your tax compliance scales with your sales. A little prep now can prevent a lot of trouble later.
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]]>The post Top Ecommerce Trends You Should Prepare for in 2024 appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>For that reason, it’s more important than ever to have a clear plan for leveraging developing trends in digital commerce and online shopping. As commercially available generative AI becomes more ubiquitous, mobile commerce and social commerce continue to blur the lines of what it means to shop online, and consumers expect greater personalization than ever before. 2024 is shaping up to significantly impact how online stores operate. These trends are shaping the ecommerce industry at an incredible rate.
More than two-thirds of web traffic comes from mobile devices, and 75% of consumers would rather shop on their mobile device than on a desktop. Gone are the days of digital skepticism from consumers about buying through a phone. Mobile commerce feels more tangible and secure than ever, thanks to facial recognition, fingerprint technology, and secure standards across all major devices.
In tandem with a more complete shift to mobile purchasing, social commerce is growing exponentially. From the early days of Instagram shopping, we’ve now reached a point at which nearly 50% of social media users would use a social media app to buy a product. Instagram shops, combined with Meta advertising tools, make it easier than ever to reach huge swaths of consumers based on their activity and behavior on a mobile device.
But it’s not just Instagram driving the mobile and social commerce boom. TikTok has emerged as a major player in ecommerce thanks to the launch of TikTok Shop in late 2023. Because it is a new platform and shop owners are still learning how best to optimize their efforts for TikTok, 2024 will be a developing year for the platform. But with more than 1 billion monthly active users globally and the comfort of younger generations purchasing through social media platforms, TikTok is primed to grow rapidly in the new year.
Traditional search has long been a hindrance to a streamlined shopping experience. The larger your catalog, the more work is needed to ensure consumers can filter and search for what they need. Creating a structured database is increasingly powering new ways for consumers to search for products, including through voice and image searches.
Voice assistants are nothing new, but they’ve reached a point of saturation that users are fully comfortable asking Alexa, Siri, or Google to find something for them when in a hurry. With 40% of users having searched for product data and 24% saying they have bought with a voice assistant, these tools are now a crucial part of your multi-channel efforts.
Search results are starting to skew to reflect the desire for voice-friendly results. More than ever, it’s important that your site be optimized for a non-visual experience, including appropriate alt-tags for all images, detailed, keyword-rich product descriptions, and accurate categorization and tagging of all products. At a higher level, voice search integration directly with your store can allow users to buy products from your website or storefront on a third-party marketplace more seamlessly.
Major platforms like eBay have long since implemented image search functionality to help consumers find products more seamlessly. Whether a customer is trying to replace a long-loved sweater, search for a hat they find in a local thrift store online, or get ideas for gifts, image search is becoming a more robust tool that many ecommerce brands will implement on their websites.
Virtual reality has become commercially available in an affordable package in recent years, but its appeal remains relatively niche. Growth rates have been modest among online shoppers, with adoption expected to pass 100 million for the first time in the next 2-3 years. That said, in 2023, Sony, Meta, and Apple all announced or released new hardware, and the applications of these tools continue to expand.
From games and exercise apps to more robust augmented reality (AR) applications, headsets, glasses, and goggles are becoming more powerful, while AR applications within phones are becoming more commonplace, especially for ecommerce brands.
At its most basic level, AR can be implemented within applications developed by third-party marketplaces such as Amazon or Walmart. Ikea’s AR tools allow consumers to easily drop any object from their catalog into a home to see how it would look. It’s not perfect, but the technology is making it easier to engage with purchases, especially large ones that take up space or that impact the look and feel of a home, in a virtual setting. Whether through a fully immersive experience with a headset or an AR-empowered app, ecommerce brands need to consider how they can provide this kind of customer experience for their customers.
Despite ongoing inflation, rising prices, and the cost of greener production and shipping processes, consumers continue to demand greater sustainability from businesses. In a recent survey, 82% of consumers indicated they would pay more for a product with sustainable packaging, and the market as a whole is expected to grow by 8% CAGR over the next five years.
Consumers want convenience above all else, but increasingly, they are aware of the impact that convenience might have on the environment. Shipping materials, emissions from delivery trucks, and the long-term impact of single-use packaging are all concerns that companies are looking to address.
By carrying products that are less reliant on plastic, adjusting shipping practices to align with sustainability expectations, and communicating your dedication to more sustainable business practices, you can better engage with an eco-conscious consumer base in 2024.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are more than just a trend. It is a fundamental shift in the technological landscape of the Internet. Ecommerce brands are primed to benefit from this shift in a number of ways, from reducing the time it takes to complete simple tasks to providing better and more immediate customer service and optimizing the user experience on your website.
In the past, it took hours of manual labor and costly design resources to create the imagery and add the tags and structured data to your catalog database that would ensure optimal performance in search engines and ads. AI is allowing brands to streamline things like creating alternate, holiday-themed, or context-specific imagery for their products. It is also allowing brands to automatically tag their products based on existing products in their database. At a basic level, AI allows brands to streamline operations, reduce overhead, improve their ecommerce stores, and provide better prices and experiences to their customers.
Through 2023, AI is projected to boost sales by 59% through recommendations, reduce customer interactions drastically (handling 80% or more), and grow by nearly 40% over the next five years.
In 2024, AI will continue to evolve, and be more accessible to small ecommerce brands for things like predictive analytics around when and how people will buy products from them. This includes things like better ad performance, website optimization, sales page optimizations, and more. AI goes beyond automation and personal assistance and is becoming an underlying resource for improved performance across the board.
Personalization is a must, but consumer expectations have evolved since the sharp increase in ecommerce activity in 2020 and 2021. With so many more people now comfortable buying online, there is an underlying expectation that recommendations, suggestions, and shopping experiences in general will be catered to the specific needs of users.
Salesforce recently reported that 80% of consumers consider their experience shopping to be as important as the products they buy, and 65% expect a personalized shopping experience. To effectively personalize, brands need powerful predictive tools and AI solutions, and to power those tools, they need ample data. Thankfully, the platforms that enable that kind of data collection are becoming more prevalent and less expensive for smaller brands.
Ecommerce is a part of the economic fabric of the world, and in 2024, we’ll continue to see technology enable greater personalization, improved search experiences, and faster access to the products consumers need. As you prepare for the year ahead, consider the role that technology can play in optimizing your business. The tools necessary to make those experiences a reality are becoming more accessible than ever before. Incorporating some of these top ecommerce trends into your business plan will help you stay competitive.
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]]>The post Colorado Retail Delivery Fees appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>Because the CO Retail Delivery Fees are a fee and not a tax, the AccurateTax system itself will not report this, at present. However, we have added the ability for our customers to include the RDF in your invoices as an option to our plug-ins to facilitate collection by our clients. If you use one of our provided sales tax plug-ins, you should upgrade to the latest version in order to support this fee.
In our plug-ins, the option to collect this fee can be turned on or off only at this time. If the option is turned on, and the conditions for including the fee are met, then the fee will be added to the order and displayed to your customer as a separate charge during checkout.
You should not change the “Retail Delivery Fees” wording. The Colorado Department of Revenue requires the proper wording to be listed on all affected orders.
Retailers who have an “active sales tax account, a retailer license, and any sales tax liability reported after January 1, 2021,” do not need to register; they will be automatically registered for the new fees. There is no process to opt out of the automatic registration.
There is also a new return to complete, which will be due on the same schedule as a retailer’s sales tax returns. This new return is DR 1786. For example, if you file monthly, your sales tax return is due on the 20th of the month following a given collection period. Your DR 1786 return and payment of the retail delivery fees will also be due on the 20th of the month.
A return is required to be filed every period, even if no fees were collected. In other words, even if you had no taxable orders to Colorado, you must file a zero dollar return using DR 1786.
You do NOT need to break down the fees by jurisdiction or location.
If you’re an AccurateTax customer using a platform for which we provide a plug-in, simply download the latest version by logging in to your account. You can also contact your account representative for an update.
Update your website(s) with the new version of the plug-in, go into Settings, and turn the retail delivery fee on.
Then simply make sure to submit your DR 1786 by the due date each period.
If you have a custom integration with AccurateTax, you will need to add support for the Colorado Retail Delivery Fees for all taxable orders shipping to a Colorado location.
For more information about the fees themselves, visit the Colorado Department of Revenue website.
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]]>The post The Growing Impact of Ongoing E-commerce Supply Chain and Fulfillment Issues appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>A recent Accenture survey shows that 94% of Fortune 1000 companies saw supply chain disruptions in the last two years, and 55% of those companies have downgraded or plan to downgrade their growth outlook as a result. If the big guys can’t weather the storm, how are small businesses and retailers managing persistent challenges that don’t look to go away anytime soon?
The supply chain is a complex, multifaceted system that was always designed to work just in time and to scale appropriately to demand. It was not designed to absorb a sudden, unpredictable surge in demand, reduction in capacity, and global turmoil. As a result, we’ve seen several issues develop that are impacting all facets of the supply chain.
At one point in summer 2021, the average cost of a shipping container increased by four times from where it was the year before. Prices have peaked as high as $20,000 or more (from average prices well below $5,000), and today still average more than $10,000. This means that shipping costs are higher in general, and the reduced capacity that this represents means delays in shipping many goods.
In addition to the higher costs, ocean freight is taking upwards of 5-6 weeks longer than it did in early 2020. This leads to shortages of popular goods, reduced capacity in retail stores and e-commerce shops, and general frustration from consumers.
Of course, this isn’t it. Inflation has become a dominant concern in 2022 with the International Monetary Fund predicting 5.7% global inflation, following an increase in consumer prices of 8.5% in the United States in March 2022. Prices continue to go up, which means many suppliers are passing those costs on to e-commerce retailers, who must now contend not only with delays in receiving goods but the need to increase prices.
With costs up, shipments delayed, and relief seemingly still months away, how should e-commerce retailers communicate these issues to customers without fracturing an already delicate relationship?
To start, do everything you can to maintain trust and transparency with your customers. Even outside of these particularly trying times, there is an increased expectation from consumers about the relationships they have with retailers. That means listening and responding to customer feedback, utilizing the channels that customers are most likely to use, and measuring customer response to fully understand what is most concerning. There are several elements of the e-commerce supply chain and inflation crisis that are outside of your control, but that doesn’t mean customer concerns should be ignored. Let’s take a closer look at how to communicate these issues in a way that is open and considerate:
Few e-commerce retailers are immune to the impact of supply chain delays and shortages in 2022. Communicate specifically how these issues influence your company and customers will appreciate the added transparency.
The second half of the one-two punch retailers are feeling right now is inflation and the near-universal increase in prices. If your suppliers are increasing prices, you’ll almost certainly need to do the same at some point, so how do you communicate these changes sincerely to maintain valuable customer relationships?
Supply chain issues are expected to persist through 2022 and much of 2023 due to the ongoing inflation, the continued impact of COVID-19, and geopolitical upheaval such as the war in Ukraine. So how do you set your e-commerce business up for success as consumers start to tighten their wallets and place greater scrutiny on the companies with which they do business?
One of the most frustrating aspects of the supply chain crunch of the last two years has been how hard it became to get certain goods, many of which would be purchased and resold at high markups by third-party sellers. Implement reservation and preorder systems that reward loyal customers, reduce the risk of bots and resellers hoarding stock, and get goods into consumers’ hands. Revise systems to create a steady, reliable pipeline of products to your customers.
Supplies are limited across all industries, so it is the proactive, supply-savvy retailers who are finding the most success. Work with vendors to purchase materials and goods in a timely way. The just-in-time days of ordering a day or two before stock is needed are gone for now, and while it is risky to over-purchase, it’s becoming equally risky for many to wait as their websites fill up with out-of-stock notifications.
E-commerce supply chain issues are having a direct impact on the bottom line of most American companies and will continue to do so for the next year or longer. To address these issues, it’s important to revisit how you communicate with customers, buy and sell products, and manage expectations in an age of frequent, unprecedented upheaval. Those that take these extra steps will be in a much better position to succeed in continuing volatile market conditions in the months and years ahead.
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]]>The post 4 Things to Know Before Setting up an Amazon Seller Account appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>To help you prepare for the process of setting up an Amazon Seller Account, we’ve outlined four things you need to know to get started.
The first question isn’t even about how to sell on Amazon, but whether you should at all. While Amazon’s marketplace is immense and incredibly active, there are certain types of sellers that perform better on the site than others, and certain situations that may make it less beneficial to open your account.
So, who does best?
Those people who can sell items Amazon doesn’t carry on their own. This can fall into one of three categories:
Amazon shouldn’t be your only outlet, either. People will do their research and look up your company name, especially for used items. Have a brand that has been established and can be evaluated before someone makes a buying decision.
Another area that Amazon is able to outperform its competitors in recruiting third party vendors is their Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program. Merchants can send goods to Amazon fulfillment centers to be stocked, so that when a user buys them, it can be shipped out through the Prime program. Users can get goods faster, leveraging Amazon’s logistics infrastructure, and you can focus on what you do best and not worry about shipping and handling.
FBA is a major benefit for the right vendors but has several requirements you should read up on before you start the process of signing up.
If you opt not to become an FBA seller, or if you cannot for some other reason, there will be some restrictions for first time users. You won’t be allowed to offer two-day shipping until your account has established a strong history of good user reviews and reliable shipping windows.
At the same time, it’s incredibly important to ensure all of your product details are accurate, including the shipping materials you will use for the items. Amazon’s shipping calculations are automated based on size and location, so inaccuracies here can lead to lost revenue.
In the early days of Amazon as a third-party marketplace, sales tax collection wasn’t a major concern. These days, it is something almost all vendors need to be aware of and prepared for.
Since the June 2018 Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc, an increasing number of states have implemented affiliate nexus laws that require all sellers to collect sales tax on their sales, regardless of vendor location. Amazon was already working with many states that had laws before the ruling to do so and was collecting sales tax in all states where fulfillment centers were located (establishing physical nexus).
In some ways, this simplifies things somewhat as the infrastructure is already there. However, because of the implementation of marketplace facilitator laws that require Amazon to collect sales tax on the behalf of many of their third-party vendors, it’s important for you to know which states require collection and which don’t, and which states will require registration for sales tax collection.
Even if you only sell goods on Amazon, there is a good chance these new laws will affect you, so do your research before you start your account.
There are few tools as powerful and with as great a reach as Amazon.com. If you own an eCommerce site or are launching a new company that sells unique, DIY, or specialty goods, becoming an Amazon Marketplace seller is a prime way to grow your reach overnight and start growing your business. Just make sure you are fully aware of what this will require, what costs may be associated, and what your reporting and collection requirements will entail.
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]]>The post How Ecommerce Companies Should Handle Returns appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>Businesses used to see returns as only a problem. It costs money to sell something and then take it back. Increasingly, however, businesses see their returns policy as a way to attract and retain customers. According to a survey by Red Stag Fulfillment, 66 percent of customers check an online retailer’s return policy before they buy anything. They want to know how much of a hassle it will be to return something if they buy, and they’re more likely to take the leap when it’s easy.
What do you need for a good returns policy? Your policy should be:
Make sure that you clearly state what you’re willing to do for a return. Focus on the details so customers know exactly what to expect. Clearly state at what times you give refunds, exchanges, store credit or charge restocking fees. These details can be the difference between a satisfied customer and an angry one.
Nothing bogs down a business like reinventing the wheel. If you have three different staff members setting up returns in three different ways, everyone will get confused, and it will be harder to see what went wrong when something does. It’s especially important for eCommerce, because you’re probably creating your RMA online. Here are some important things every RMA procedure, and tech solution, should do:
Handling returns can create all sorts of accounting and tax problems. Sales tax is a complicated prospect for ecommerce businesses. You have to figure out whether you collect tax, the tax rate, and any exceptions, like tax holidays, for each state in which you have nexus. If you’re doing free returns, taxes aren’t a huge problem. When you refund the cost of the item, you also refund the sales tax.
It becomes more complex when you charge a restocking fee, and each state has different rules. Here are some examples:
While restocking fees can help you recoup some of the cost of a return that is not your fault, it can make tax reporting a complicated mess. If you charge restocking fees, make sure you are on top of every state’s regulations in which you have a presence.
Returns can be a hassle for ecommerce businesses, and they cost a lot of money. They can also come with complicated tax problems, too. But customers expect, even demand, easy convenient returns policies from their online retailers. Without one, you may save some money, but you might lose customers in the long run. A good plan for returns can help limit the cost while making sure your customers keep coming back.
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]]>The post What Does the GDPR Mean for Your E-commerce Business? appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>The GDPR is a new regulation that governs the collection, storage and use of customer data by any companies doing business within the European Union. That includes businesses based in EU countries, of course, but it also applies to companies based elsewhere who sell to EU customers.
Under the GDPR, data is defined as any IP addresses, bank details, social media posts, photos, or identifying numbers, such as Social Security Numbers or National Insurance numbers. The collection of this data must always be opt-in, and that option must be clearly stated. Further, a “reasonable” level of security must be provided to any stored data, and there must be a clear and straightforward process in place for customers to delete their accounts along with any personal data that’s been stored.
The GDPR describes three main categories of actors in any transaction involving collection and storage of data. These include the Data Subject, defined as the customer, user or employee who is providing the personal data, as well as the Data Controller, which is the merchant providing the goods or services. The third category outlined is the Data Processor, and this consists of all third-party companies involved in the transaction, including Shopify, MailChimp, UPS, and other similar providers.
In order to comply with these regulations, sellers must ensure not only that they are following the new directives, but also that any data processors they use are doing so as well. Further, there must be clear processes in place that outline how the security of customer data is to be ensured.
On the front end, any place where data is collected must provide for a straightforward way for customers to opt in, and any third-parties that will have access to the data being collected must be listed. For larger companies, the regulation requires the appointment of a Data Protection Officer whose job is to monitor systems and report any misconduct or data breaches as they occur.
Under the GDPR, cookies are also considered personal data, and so it’s necessary to acquire clear permission from the customer to use them during a transaction. Because some cookies, such as those used to track what’s been added to an online shopping cart, are necessary to ensure a smooth user experience, it’s possible to ask the customer to give or revoke permission for each type of cookie individually.
The GDPR will impose stiff fines and other penalties for non-compliance. This makes it even more important that you ensure you have proper systems in place, and that your Data Processors do also. In anticipation of the implementation of the GDPR, Shopify has already taken steps to ensure compliance, and other large service providers likely have as well. As a seller, though, it’s your responsibility to check the processes for anyone who may be processing your customers’ data, including your mail delivery systems, accounting software, and other service providers.
The main goals of the GDPR are to give customers more control over what data is collected and to ensure that the data that is collected is kept securely. That means that encryption for all communication and transactions is required, and it also means that you should always err on the side of caution in choosing your language for use in opt-in data collection situations. Consulting with a lawyer is an important step to take to make sure you’re compliant ahead of the GDPR going into effect.
The rising awareness among consumers about the dangers of having so much unsecured data floating around is likely to drive the implementation of similar regulations to the GDPR in other parts of the world in the future. Taking steps to ensure your compliance is essential if you want to continue to do business in any EU country, or if you anticipate doing so in the future. Enacting these types of safeguards also helps to protect you from exposure to liability in the event of a data breach, which can be devastating financially and in terms of the reputation of your business.
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]]>The post eBay Sales Tax Fraud appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>The key to determining when you have to register to collect and remit sales tax to any given state is figuring out whether or not you have nexus there. Each state defines nexus in its own way, but in all cases, it has to involve a physical presence by your business in the state. This may be in the form of an office, an employee, or simply goods owned by your business stored in a warehouse.
As a remote seller, then, you have to understand where a sales tax obligation exists for your business and take proper steps to ensure you always remain compliant with those states’ sales tax laws. The other important thing to understand about sales tax is that, as a seller, you’re simply the middle man between the customer, who is the one being taxed, and the state, to whom the tax is owed. The money you collect is never actually part of your profit.
When you think of sales tax fraud, you likely think of a business or individual not paying that tax when it’s owed. But recent reports claim that there’s another type of sales tax fraud taking place, primarily on eBay. In these instances, both overseas and domestic sellers are charging sales tax on purchases made by customers in those states and then keeping that revenue as profit, whether they have nexus or not in any given state.
The sales tax rates being charged in some instances are much higher than the rates in the states they’re assigned to, and these sellers are often charging the same rate for every state, which is one way to quickly spot a fraudulent sales tax charge. These charges are not immediately visible during the bidding or purchasing process, and the specific details of where these sellers are charging sales tax and at what rates are only available if you dig down into their profile.
Unlike a lawful collector of sales tax who was then unlawfully keeping what they collected, the overseas sellers have no obligation to collect the tax and then remit it to the states. What they’re bringing in does not take away from state sales tax revenue because they’re not obligated to collect.
What this fraudulent collection of sales tax does, however, is make the products these sellers are offering appear cheaper up front than the same or similar products offered by their competitors. In fact, reports state that they’re able to charge a price that would result in them losing money on the sale if they weren’t then keeping the sales tax they also charge.
The customer who makes the purchase, then, doesn’t really get the deal they think they were getting, since the added “sales tax” brings the transaction total closer to what other sellers were offering. This puts other sellers at a disadvantage, of course, and it also has implications for eBay’s own revenues, as they charge transaction fees as a percentage of the purchase price of the item, excluding sales tax and shipping charges.
At least some of the onus for correcting the issue of eBay sales tax fraud must lie with eBay itself. This type of fraudulent sales tax collection is not a problem on all ecommerce sites. Amazon, for instance, requires sellers to enter a state sales tax registration number before they can collect sales tax on purchases made by customers in that state. Educating buyers on these types of scams is another way to help eliminate them by letting people know it’s possible to shop for items by the lowest total price, which includes sales tax, and by teaching people how to find out what sales tax rates a particular vendor is charging before they make a purchase.
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]]>The post Your Ecommerce Business – Choosing What to Outsource appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>Reducing the number of tasks on your to-do list, especially “grunt work”, can lead to increased profitability for your company, and a better quality of life for you as an individual.
So how do you choose what to hire out?
The most important consideration when choosing tasks to assign to others, is your own abilities, talents, and strengths.
You know the old proverb “stick with what you know”? It’s doubly important in business. If there are things you don’t know how to do, you’ll either need to learn them or hire them out. You may also choose to outsource tasks that are simply not enjoyable.
Your time is limited, so consider what’s the best use of your time. If your business takes 10 hours a week for packing and shipping, but your expertise is in marketing, is that 10 hours better spent on driving new customers to your website? Which tasks drive a higher return on investment?
So think about your strengths.
Are you best at selecting products, writing their descriptions, and marketing and presenting them?
Or do you handle customer service extremely well, showing courtesy and care to your shoppers either in person, over the phone, or by email?
Perhaps company vision is your strength, and your business requires this kind of full-time leadership…in which case, you want to outsource almost all of your day-to-day tasks, from sales to fulfillment and service.
Next, think honestly about what you’re NOT good at. No one excels at everything they do. If you aren’t a people person, then have someone else handle your customer service. Technology not your wheelhouse? Hire a company to build and maintain your website. Or if you have physical limitations, use a fulfillment company or hire people to deal with your warehousing needs.
Speaking of physical requirements, that’s often another big consideration when deciding which tasks you want to let someone else deal with. In addition to physical abilities, location also comes into play. For instance, you may choose to use a fulfillment service, such as Fulfillment by Amazon or any number of other similar services. In this case, you’ll obviously be outsourcing certain tasks, including:
However, if you wish to keep your inventory local, you’ll be faced with the choice of either doing it yourself, or having one or more employees in charge of the tasks above. You’ll also need space to store your inventory and to pack orders, so keep in mind the cost of rent and utilities too.
As with other decisions, consider whether dealing with your physical product is the best use of your time.
You may choose to outsource tasks that are inexpensive. For instance, hiring a photographer to take product images is going to cost more than hiring someone to do your filing. That’s because a photographer generally has a larger skill set, and one that took more time to develop, than someone to just file papers. If your budget is limited (and whose isn’t?) you’ll want to outsource the tasks that take the most time but require the least amount of money to get someone else to do.
The flip side of this is reliability. It doesn’t do you any good to hire a bookkeeper who screws up your finances! If the person or company you hire to do a task doesn’t do it well, you may end up paying them and still spending your time fixing their mistakes. Start by getting recommendations for the vendors or employees you’re considering hiring. Then allot time to teach them and review their work to make sure their performance is up to par. If not, you may need to do more training, or you may have to find a new resource to handle these tasks.
Managing resources is an ongoing process. As time goes by, you should reevaluate your business needs and your own schedule to see what can be optimized. The better you become at this, the better chance you stand at making your ecommerce business a raging success!
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]]>The post Ecommerce Trends to Prepare for in 2018 appeared first on AccurateTax.
]]>However, because of the fast-paced nature of changes in this area, it’s essential that you review what technologies and strategies will be moving to the forefront in the coming year and how your business will be working to integrate those in order to maintain growth and increase profits.
As online shopping has gained traction, the technology has improved to provide a smoother and more efficient shopping experience. As a result, that has become what customers expect, and the more seamless the shopping experience, the more likely they are to keep coming back. The flip side of that, of course, is that if you can’t provide an integrated, convenient shopping experience, you’re likely to have fewer completed sales no matter how much traffic you drive to your website.
On a related note, the growth of online selling and the use of multiple devices for the purpose means that it’s important for you to have a complete and consistent presence across all mediums. Having a bare bones mobile site is no longer an option if you want to stay competitive, as customers expect to be able to do everything on their phones that they could if they were sitting in front of a computer.
Another part of creating a smooth customer experience involves automating some of your customer support functions. Advances in artificial intelligence make it possible for you to relatively easily set up chatbots to handle basic customer interactions and questions on your website. Providing this service is becoming a necessity, as its use is more widely adopted, and it makes it more likely you can complete a sale by mitigating any complications encountered along the way.
Voice search is another convenience technology that is permeating the industry, due in part to the fact that it’s now able to return more consistent results. Since customers are used to using this type of technology in other areas of their life as well, including in the car, through their smartphones, and at home, they’re more likely to prefer and use this option when available on your ecommerce site.
The share of online shopping done on mobile devices has been steadily increasing, and there’s no reason to think that trend will do anything but continue into 2018. That means having a fully-functional mobile site with a smooth user experience will be more important than ever, and you may want to invest in a storefront app to streamline the process for your customers even further.
One of the wonderful things about online retail is the way it allows even the smallest businesses to reach customers across the country, and even around the world. That also means more competition for every sale, however, as customers can easily and quickly do some comparison shopping online to find the best deal on whatever they’re looking for.
With that dynamic at play, it’s becoming more and more important to distinguish yourself from your competition, and this can be done in a variety of ways. Some of these are hallmarks of the retail world like providing great customer service, creating a quality product at a competitive price, and processing orders promptly. Others are unique to the online setting and to this moment in time where social media has carried so many of our normal social interactions into the digital realm.
This makes things like incorporating a story into your selling strategy a more valuable, and even essential, marketing tool. That may take the form of an origin story for a product, or it could mean creating an overarching narrative for your brand. Regardless of the details, though, the important thing is to make it a story that appeals to your customers and that they can connect with on a personal level.
Along the same lines, it’s essential to integrate personalized messages and other elements into your marketing strategy and materials. Thanks to advances in technology, this is another area that you can leverage automation to provide the type of personal touches your customers expect without having to devote a ton of manpower to doing so.
Regardless of the nature of your business, advances in technology will necessarily impact what it takes to compete in 2018 and beyond. The end of the year is the perfect time to look back on the successes and challenges you faced over the previous year and to plan your strategy moving forward, and that strategy should always include the emerging trends like those outlined above that are likely to gain traction and impact markets in the coming year.
The post Ecommerce Trends to Prepare for in 2018 appeared first on AccurateTax.
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