Mid-Week eTail Roundup - April 23rd

Posted every Wednesday or Thursday, the eTail round-up includes the top retail related news and insights from the week, curated just for you.

Easy.

I'll even summarize the key learnings so (in case you don't want to read the full article). I've been a little absent on updates, apologies! Getting back into the flow of things.

April 23rd Midweek Retail Round-up

E-Commerce / Online Retail / Social Media 

The Anatomy of a $122.5 Million Venture Funded ECommerce Website

When I saw this title, I thought... annoying! Of course your website is amazing, you have $122.5 million in funding. Us small startups are usually bootstrapping with a couple thousand dollars. BUT, nonetheless there are some basic practices, we can all leverage in our own websites.

Beautiful photography (see below), truly mobile responsive, a static image (I'm going to test this!) as a hero vs. a rotating slider, good product descriptions, sharing your story, free shipping, and using their post-order confirmation page to truly connect (social media, email, survey). Neat.

Want to join an in-person social media event? Here's a comprehensive list via Mashable

Sometimes in person is better for engagement and networking. Over 60 events listed here. Let me know if you find anything cool!

Among top 100 etail websites only 9% using responsive design

Seriously. Did you read this headline? So, get to your website. Load it up on a mobile device and see if you're one of the 91% or the 9%!

Branding / Marketing

40 Tools & Resources for beautiful DIY Photography via Shopify's blog

I cannot reiterate how much of a difference beautiful photography makes. READ THIS ARTICLE. I bookmarked it. Goes through the proper tools you need to take the photos, edit, and publish. I totally get the DIY photography mentality, but DIY doesn't have to mean crappy!

Etsy taking on Wholesalers role via NYTIMES.com

Etsy is announcing a 3.5% commission on wholesale orders, trying to improve and streamline the process for connecting buyers with sellers on Etsy.com.

SEO / Blogging / Content

How to an agile content marketing strategy that actually grows your business via Copyblogger

I love reading copyblogger.com. He's also speaking my language. Lately, I've been learning a lot about agile software development, and project management which is essentially incremental changes, and continuous iteration in the process. I.e. Instead of focusing on massive deliverables, putting our small results, testing and making changes (in a nutshell). Copyblogger advocates putting OUT content before you know what you're trying to do. Make a hypothesis. My audience likes X Y Z type of content. Then test. Is your website traffic going up? Down? More engagement? Less?

What google recommends doing when a product goes out of stock via Volusion's blog

Answer is creating a 404 page with recommended products and an email opt-in. I use shopify, and I've been leaving up the product (with out of stock) and related products/email opt in. Going to blog to Shopify and see what this does to SEO!

Other

Will pop up retail save sustainable fashion?

Pop-up shops may be a good way to break that barrier of wanting to purchase online clothing and apparel, especially in the ethically-made, eco-fashion space.

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@retailbliss 's midweek retail roundup is out - the retail info you want, without the fluff you don't! #retail #ecommerce #onlineretail 

What was your favourite midweek soundbite?

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