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WHAT IS AN OMNICHANNEL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?

Customer expectations are changing swiftly and businesses need to adapt through digital transformation to understand the customers and their journey. Customer experience is now becoming the key differentiating factor in the customers’ decision-making process. The positive or negative experience customers receive across multiple touchpoints is what now defines the brand.

Omnichannel customer experience is no longer an aspiration. It’s fast becoming a must have for any modern business.

And that’s because consumers don’t have just one way to interact with your brand any more. There’s a whole range of different channels available at their fingertips to reach out and learn more about your products and services: Google searches, social media, videos, and mobile apps to name but a few. 

The reality is, if you want to cater to the modern consumer, you simply have to adopt an omnichannel approach. 

So, let’s take a look at exactly what omnichannel customer experience is and how you can create and improve it for your company.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

What is omnichannel customer experience? 

Omnichannel customer experience is when a business advertises to, sells, and supports prospects and customers across multiple channels, treating each interaction or touchpoint (e.g. social media, SMS, chatbots) as part of a single, frictionless whole. 

An omnichannel approach enables customers to begin their experience with your brand in one channel and continue it on another channel seamlessly.

Why is an omnichannel customer experience important?

Omnichannel customer experience allows you to reach the modern consumer in a contextually relevant way at every point in their journey, regardless of the channel they access from.

This positively impacts the quality of customer interactions and creates greater customer engagement.

Benefits of omnichannel customer experience

Adopting an omnichannel approach has a number of benefits for both your customers and your business. Some of the most important are:

  • More choice for customers. Modern customers expect a frictionless experience with your brand. Providing a variety of integrated channels allows them to interact with you however is most convenient for them while maintaining relevance.
  • Improved customer retention and revenue. According to ClickZ, shoppers who use three or more channels to interact with brands have a purchasing frequency rate 250 percent higher than single-channel users. Harvard Business Review also reports that customers who used more channels spend an average of 4 percent more in physical stores and 10 percent more online.
  • Cater to a broader audience. Certain consumers may favor certain ways of interacting with a brand. The greater the number of channels you have available, the greater the variety of potential customers you can attract. 
  • Collect better data. Omnichannel journeys provide a rich source of data. This data can be used to gain a deeper understanding of your customers and provide valuable insights into where customers encounter issues, allowing you to improve your offering.

Omnichannel vs multichannel customer experience 

Most businesses use multiple channels for sales and support. But having multiple channels doesn’t automatically equate to an omnichannel experience. 

A multichannel business may have a website, social media account, brick and mortar store, and so on. However, every channel operates independently in its own silo. There might be one goal and strategy for Facebook and a different one for a company’s website. 

An omnichannel approach also involves interacting with consumers through a variety of channels, but instead of having a unique strategy for each one, omnichannel focuses on creating an integrated experience in real time. All the channels are knitted tightly together.

How to build an omnichannel customer experience

Wondering how to get started with an omnichannel customer experience? Here are some tips you can use to integrate multiple channels.

Map the customer journey 

It stands to reason that if you want to create a seamless omnichannel customer experience, you need to fully understand your customer journey: where buyers begin, and all the touchpoints that lead to purchase and beyond. 

Mapping the customer journey also helps you identify where gaps and issues arise. Once these are out in the open, you can make tweaks to them and optimize the shopping experience across channels to increase sales and improve convenience.

Listen to feedback

Feedback from customers can give you the information you need to improve the customer journey and create a more cohesive customer experience. 

So, collect reviews and ask your customers for their opinions. Use the opportunity to find out how customers want to interact with your brand. That way you can build an omnichannel approach catered specifically to your customers needs.

Sending out surveys can be done through email or mobile apps, or you could even generate a popup on your site that lets customers rate their experience and give comments and suggestions.

Use the right technology 

Seamless user experiences are impossible without the right technology. Support agents should be able to contact customers through live chat, video and voice calls, mobile apps, and more depending on their preferred method of communication. 

But to create a true omnichannel customer experience, you need to bring all of this data together in a single customer view. That way, no matter what the channel a customer accesses from, your team has all their information available to pick up seamlessly from where they left off.

Websites should also use technology to offer personalized experiences in the form of product recommendations to encourage customers to make repeat purchases.

Identify the stakeholders 

Implementing an omnichannel experience doesn’t happen overnight. You’ll need to work closely with multiple departments, like your sales, marketing, customer service, and product teams. At the end of the day, a cohesive customer journey relies on a cohesive internal approach to get it done.

If it all seems too overwhelming, a good tip is to start small and then modify the customer journey across further platforms as you go. You can align experiences in your main channels first, then expand these experiences across multiple supporting platforms.

How to improve the omnichannel customer experience

Even with an omnichannel customer experience strategy in place, there’s still room to build on this and improve over time. Here are some ways you can go about it.

Better understand your customers

Even a well-planned omnichannel strategy will fail if it’s not directed at the right customer. To make sure that doesn’t happen, you must have an up-to-date understanding of consumer behavior. 

Use big data and surveys to gain insights into customer behavior, what they expect from your brand, and how this changes over time. Making business intelligence and analytics software part of your research process can provide you with valuable insights into who your ideal market is and what they need from you.

Follow the leaders

There are plenty of success stories to follow in the omnichannel world. While copying the steps taken by brands like Starbucks, Amazon, Disney, or Bank of America won’t likely catapult your business to the same level of success, paying attention to where they’re putting their resources can help you find your way. There are some examples of companies getting omnichannel right later in the post to give you some ideas.

Get the support you need

Maintaining a successful omnichannel customer experience isn’t a one-employee show. It takes an entire team to make sure things are on track. You’ll need managers, researchers, developers, freelancers, and, most importantly, support. If there is doubt surrounding the effectiveness of an omnichannel program, address it straight away before it becomes a problem. And as new employees join the business, make sure they understand the emphasis being placed on omnichannel at the organization.

Develop your mobile capabilities

Not all industries have mastered mobile-friendly platforms yet. And surprisingly, there are plenty of ecommerce businesses whose websites could use a facelift and a few upgrades. Not only does this create doubt in a client’s mind about your brand, but it hurts your SEO ranking, which affects how prominently your business’s website appears on search engine results pages. Consider using a mobile-friendly analyzer to see how your website is stacking up.

Conduct a content analysis

The appearance of your site, app, support articles, and social media should all be consistent. But no matter how great they look, they won’t get you far without great content. Some businesses tend to focus on writing keyword-heavy blogs and website pages, hoping to rank high in search engines. Or, their product writing is clunky or unclear. Conduct a content analysis of your website and other platforms to make sure you’re catering to your readers and users, no matter where they see you.

Improve your response times

What’s your average response time for social media inquiries? It may surprise you to know that close to half of consumers expect a social media response time of fewer than 60 minutes. And if you’re not responding to customer messages at all you’re doing your brand a great disservice. 

When it comes to your website, make sure you’re taking every opportunity to engage and address visitors. You can use communication channels like live chat software or chatbots to make every visitor feel heard and appreciated.

Take your omnichannel approach offline

There are plenty of offline omnichannel opportunities. Even though most client interactions are digital, there are still analog channels that might make sense for your industry and business. Radio, magazine ads, direct mail, event sponsorships, and branded merchandise are all examples of offline channels you can explore and integrate into your strategy.

Rethink in-store consumer experiences

Today’s consumers are often uncomfortable in brick-and-mortar stores compared to browsing online at home. Research shows that 87 percent of consumers research products online before purchasing. Help consumers transition easily from online to offline. This could be something as simple as providing live inventory for brick-and-mortar locations so customers can easily decide whether to make a trip to the store. And if it’s not in stock, your website could recommend other products that might fit the bill instead.

Choose your channels wisely

One mistake many companies make with omnichannel is thinking that they must be on every platform. Omnichannel marketing isn’t about being everywhere, but about being present, available, and consistent in the places your target consumers are and creating a positive user experience.

Learn where your customers are spending their time — whether it’s Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Don’t forget about offline opportunities as well. Optimize your content for only the offline and digital channels that you need in your marketing approach. There’s no point overstretching and putting your message where it won’t be heard.

Keep it consistent

It may seem obvious, but whenever you doubt the direction your omnichannel strategy is going, remind yourself that consistency is key to developing loyal audiences and stronger customer relationships. From your website to your app, from your social media pages to your email, from your employee’s shirt logo to your receipts, strive for consistent branding throughout.

Familiarity breeds trust, trust builds repeat customers, and the easiest way to grow revenue is through repeat business.

Examples of omnichannel customer experience

Need some inspiration? Let’s take a look at a few top brands that have successfully integrated different digital channels. 

Starbucks 

Starbucks offers a premium user experience. 

Customers are rewarded with a free drink after they sign up for a customer loyalty program. When they make a purchase through the Starbucks card, they can reload through the app, website, in-store or by a mobile device — and their total rewards points are updated across all platforms.

Coffee enthusiasts can also make mobile orders, gift digital Starbucks cards, find stores near their location and tip their baristas without going out of their way. 

Neiman Marcus 

Neiman Marcus is a fashion brand that uses technological innovation to connect online and offline platforms. 

The Neiman Marcus app connects shoppers to sales associates through text messages, calls, emails, or FaceTime. Shoppers can also use it to check their points and view upcoming events or promotions.

The website delivers personalized product recommendations and remembers size preferences, too. One major differentiator between Neiman Marcus and other online stores? You can use geolocation to find items stocked in nearby stores. New arrivals that suit customers’ preferences are sent through email and direct mail. 

“Memory Mirror” is another distinct omnichannel feature. Have you ever wondered how your outfit looked from behind or from the side? The Memory Mirror can record and capture your try-ons from every angle. Hesitant shoppers who need a second opinion can also seek advice on their looks by sharing the outfits with their network. 

The Dufresne Group

The Dufresne Group used technology to take services online while keeping the kind of in-person experience so pivotal for selling in an industry like furniture. 

Previously, furniture repair required two on-site visits: one for assessment and the other for the repair work. Video chat allowed the team to reduce on-site inspections, providing the same high quality service instead remotely, increasing convenience.

Omni-channel marketing ensures that messaging and branding are consistent among channels. It acknowledges and addresses the customers across their preferred platforms to deliver a smoother buying experience at every stage of their journey. It also includes merging the different channels together (for example, social media, website) for promotional experiences.

Social Media Automation — Everything You Need to Know

Integrating effective social media automation into your business’s processes will result in more engaging content — and in today’s world, that could spell the difference between failure and success.

To put it simply, social media automation should be a crucial part of any business plan.

In this article, we will discuss how using social media automation tools can help create and schedule more engaging content.

What is social media automation?

Social media automation helps businesses organize their social media presence. Through the use of tools, you can create, schedule, and share content with audiences, usually for marketing purposes.

As a result, businesses can increase profit margins and dedicate more time to their team members and other tasks. Below are a few key points exploring why your company should use social media automation tools.

What are the benefits of social media automation?

Social media automation ensures your business doesn’t miss out on connecting with its customers. The number of social media users in the world today is 4.62 billion, which is more than half the global population.

Automating your social media with, for example, scheduled posts and chatbots to respond to comments, is a great way to reach those users. In fact, 80% of businesses that use social media automation reported improved lead generation and an 77% increase in conversions.

If this statistic alone doesn’t pique your interest, have a read below through some of the key benefits of social media automation.

It will make your content consistent, boosting your online presence

Maintaining a consistent stream of engaging, quality content is paramount to building your online presence. It is what separates you from the crowd.

Consistency can be achieved with social media automation tools like Buffer and Hootsuite that enable you to accurately schedule your content for historically peak times across multiple platforms.

Maintaining consistency in the voice and timing of your content is key to a successful marketing strategy. Consistency will help your business create a brand-specific voice and style.

Automation will free up time to use elsewhere

Integrating social media automation tools into your business can save you and your team hours of hard work. Devoting manual time to post content across multiple social media platforms once your business starts to pick up speed will limit your progress.

Familiarize your team with suitable tools that can help them strive toward your business objectives. Run your content through a grammar checker to ensure it’s free of errors. Enlist the help of friendly chatbots. Schedule posts meticulously with easy-to-use planners.

Automation improves engagement

Monitoring activity across all of your social media platforms in one place will make it easier to achieve higher user engagement.

Being privy to consumer consensus, brand mentions, messages from the community, and statistics on each post are all pieces of valuable data that can be leveraged to help drive engagement.

Maintaining a level of organization through social media automation applications will also ensure you are responding to your community in a prompt manner, making you more aware of your community’s needs.

Content marketing that is engaging and powerful will be what makes a difference to your company’s bottom line. One well-written advertisement or clever call to action can be worth countless poorly thought out pieces of content.

Scheduling posts ahead of time will mean you or a team member won’t have to stop what they’re doing numerous times a day to post or tweet. Since you won’t be rushed, you can make your content the best it can be. And you can spend your time on pressing tasks while automation takes care of social media.

Get to know your community

Social media automation tools can also be great ways to listen to what your community wants.

Social listening is when you use tools that gather data and then automatically piece together the conversation people are having about your brand or industry in the online realm.

This is highly valuable information, and if used wisely it will help you create even more engaging content in the future.

It can help you understand things like:

  • The best time to post future content.
  • Growing trends or needs that the community wants to be fulfilled.
  • The best or worst aspects of your competitors’ content.
  • How your content is better than your competitors’.
  • Ways your content is being beaten by your competitors.

This information is pivotal and should be at the forefront of future content design.

5 best social media automation tools

1. Postfity

Postfity Dashboard: create, automate, and analyze social media content

Easily schedule posts across multiple social media platforms to ensure you maximize audience engagement. Postfity’s seamless UI design helps you keep organized and on top of your social media content.

When you are posting on three or four platforms daily, it can sometimes get overwhelming.

With excellent functionalities across Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and many others, social media automation is an attractive prospect on Postfity.

Use the platform’s sleek calendar dashboard to gain insight into the upcoming days and weeks of your social media content, and give desired group members secure access to simultaneously work on the same profile.

Postfity also recommends trending and new post ideas generated by AI that have analyzed search engine results, which can help inspire your team’s future content.

2. Sendible

Sendible Dashboard, Facebook activity overview

The all-in-one dashboard of Sendible makes social media automation easy.

Designed for use by larger agencies, Sendible is perfect for anyone who is on multiple platforms with several accounts on each. 

With an intuitive workflow and the ability to link multiple members to one account, Sendible will help you organize even the largest of content libraries.

Sendible posts are queued in bulk and then scheduled to be posted at a time when your community is most active. This drives engagement. 

Social Inbox is a feature that compiles all comments and activities of your community in one place. This makes it even easier to stay actively engaged with them.

Add streams from different social media platforms and prioritize new community comments and activity. Once you have responded to the messages from your community, simply archive them and keep your inbox tidy.

3. Sprout Social

Sprout Social Dashboard: publishing calendar

A great alternative to Postfity and Sendible is Sprout Social.

Sprout Social’s holistic approach to community engagement has made them an attractive social media automation application for many budding businesses.   

Similar to Postfity, Sprout Social offers a structured calendar dashboard that helps you stay on top of your future content.

The platform provides social listening analytics to help you gain excellent consumer insight, meaning you can adjust which content you are producing to more authentically engage with your audience.

Manage all your campaigns, development, and analysis from inside the application. Sprout Social is a one-stop-shop for efficient social media automation.

4. TweetDeck

TweetDeck Dashboard: organize and analyze tweets in one place

This one is helpful if you want to improve your presence on Twitter.

With over 330 million active users, marketing through this platform successfully can reap dividends.

The short lifespan of content on Twitter, as well as content length restrictions, makes creating engaging content difficult.

That’s why TweetDeck offers marketers the options to monitor unlimited “keyphrase” tweets, which are laid out in columns on your dashboard.

This helps you watch what is happening in the demographics which interest your team in real time.

Having several columns to monitor at a time can be strenuous.

This is why the platform built an excellent filtration system, helping you be exposed only to content that you plan to learn from and market with.

With this tool, it’s easy to create tweets ahead of time and schedule them to be posted on multiple accounts days in advance.

5. Tailwind

Tailwind Landing Page: Pinterest creation and scheduling

If you aren’t taking advantage of Pinterest’s platform as a way to market to your community, you should consider doing so.

If you use Chrome, the Tailwind extension is extremely user-friendly and can be integrated instantly.

Drag and drop to your editorial calendar and get a huge leg up on organizing your social media content.

The smart loop feature allows you to repin high-performing content and informs you which boards to republish to. This makes scheduling content to relevant times of the year even easier.

Comprehensive analytics track pins’ performance, enabling you to monitor and learn from past and current campaigns.

The innovative “Tribes” feature encourages collaborative community marketing. Gain access to group boards by creating meaningful Pinterest content and contributing to the tribe, which can have viewerships that can range into the millions.

Automate your success

There is no denying that social media automation is here to stay.

These tools will open up doors for your business. Staying active and informed in this space will allow you to remain ahead of the pack.

Your content can always improve, and your processes can always be more streamlined. Even if your social media marketing is already showing positive results, don’t be afraid of changing a winning strategy.

You’re likely to see even greater success with social media automation, and the hours you free up will be a precious resource as your business grows.

What is a cell phone interceptor?

Cell Phone Interceptor

Interception of mobile phone calls used to be a simple radio-scanning exercise back in the era of the initial analog systems. Digital systems such as GSM proved to be a lot more secure, encompassing encryption and difficult to overcome complexity. As a result, mobile phone interceptors require a professional approach which shall consider the right equipment to be used. We at Stratign encompass beneficial Passive, Semi-active, Hybrid and IMSI catcher cell phone interceptor solutions i.e. GSM interception Systems. Before we move to our solutions, let’s have a quick look through on the fundamentals.

Cell Phone Interceptor – What is it?

A Cellphone interceptor is an off-the-air Cellular Monitoring system that is fully passive, intercepting and monitors GSM signals. Monitoring GSM communications for Cell Phone Interception can be achieved at the following frequency bands:
• 700 MHz
• 850 MHz
• 900 MHz
• 1800 MHz
• 1900 MHz
• 2100 MHz
• 2300 MHz

How does the system work?

For instance, assume that the operator of the Cell Phone Interceptor must capture a specific GSM voice communication and have the phone number under investigation. Regarding the information, simply having the phone number isn’t enough, as this contact is never really transmitted over public airwaves. In a GSM network, a unique identity is generated for the verification process of all the GSM cell phone users. Using a proprietary observe and capture process, this Mobile Phone Interceptor learns the identity to correlate to the specific phone number under investigation.

The system registers that contact and stores it in the memory which is classified as a potential number to be monitored. Then the Cell Phone Interceptor observes that number as well as other targeted numbers saved in memory. The system permits the user to hear the calls while they are occurring, as well as retract voice conversations that were saved. The interception of calls can be examined or documented onto the system’s hard drive and stored for future recovery.

Stratign’s GSM Interception Solutions via Cell Phone Interceptors

The Cell Phone Interceptor equipment from Stratign is used for GSM interception to gather intelligence on suspected criminals and terrorists. No hard-wired link to the cellular provider is mandatory, as the GSM Interceptor is capable of intercept GSM signals, off-the-air.

These Cell Phone Interceptors can break the GSM A5.1 encryption algorithm used in GSM communications during real time operation enabling Stratign to track and monitor the activities of suspected terrorists and criminals. GSM Interception for the A5.1 protocol deciphers the encryption format used to secure GSM A5.1 communication.

1. GSM IMSI Catcher System

The system is intended for the government agencies and law enforcement groups to covertly collect basic GSM information (IMEI) of the mobile phones operating in the 2G/3G (UMTS)/4G (LTE) networks within the coverage area. The basic unit of the STN INT 5020 IMSI is an LTE and 2G/3G/4G interception module which can communicate with the corresponding types of mobile phones The system scans the environment to search and identify all the networks and capture the signatures of all calls operating in the area.

2. Passive Cell Phone Interceptor System

The Passive GSM Interception System is a multi-channel tunable GSM Monitoring system which can be used to intercept communications from any cellular service provider in the world. The system is intended to ensure interception and deciphering of voice conversation from standard GSM-850/900 and DCS/PCS-1800/1900 Cellular networks in stationary or in mobile environments. The Passive Cell Phone Interceptor System can do various tasks while conducting monitoring. System compresses and stores intercepted voice calls, SMS’s and protocol information on the control PC hard drive. It has user-friendly interfaces, which allows the user to perform various kinds of tasks, to provide the control of the system during its operation. The system can be configured to monitor 8/16/32 duplex GSM communications.

3. Semi-Active Cell Phone Interceptor System

To intercept Voice and SMS from GSM network without taking any help from service provider, Stratign proposes their off the air GSM monitoring system which is designed to intercept Voice and SMS along with call related information from any GSM network operating in 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHZ, 1900MHz and 3G/4G(LTE) bands. Also, it is especially useful to prevent criminal actions of the targets, to disorganize criminal group activity and to carry out various tasks in fighting against terrorism. The system will enable you to monitor 4/6/12/16/32 mobile phones simultaneously from any multiple service providers (configurable).

4. Hybrid Cell Phone Interceptor System

To intercept the Voice and SMS from GSM network without taking any help from service providers, we are proposing a Hybrid GSM monitoring system which is designed to intercept Voice and SMS along with call related information from any mobile network operating in 2G/3G/4G networks. Both the Semi Active and Passive systems are combined to form a hybrid system. Also, it is especially useful to prevent criminal actions of the targets, to disorganize criminal group activity and to carry out various tasks in fighting against terrorism. The system will also consist of a 3G/4G IMSI catcher that will be used to downgrade 3G/4G subscribers to 2G or 2.5G.

Overall, the Mobile phone Interceptor solutions for cell phone Interception offered by Stratign are highly customizable, flexible, fully integrated and transportable systems that can be easily implemented and deployed for mission-critical scenarios.

Teaching Main Idea to Elementary Students

At first, this concept of “main idea” can be tricky for young students, but after you teach it to them, they will be able to identify the main idea easily. Here are some ways to help with teaching main idea to students and help them better understand this concept. 

NASA Visualization Explorer Now Available For All iOS Devices by NASA Goddard Photo and Video is licensed under CC-BY 2.0

What is The Main Idea? 

The main idea is basically what the passage or story is all about. Students get confused sometimes because the story might also talk about something else with great detail, but may not be the main idea or focus of the overall story. These are called “supporting details.” In order to distinguish some story details from the main idea, the entire story should be read, and not just bits and parts of the story. Supporting details will be smaller details that will support a more broad idea. Remember that the main idea is broad and general, and the supporting details are more complex and detailed. 

Summarize

Break the story down and talk about each paragraph after it has been read. Sometimes students have very short attention spans, and so summarizing each paragraph and helping them understand what they just read is the most helpful. Reading comprehension is what should be established before the concept of main idea is introduced. 

Practice is key!

The more often students practice finding the main idea, the quicker and easier finding the main idea will become. Students need practice so that as the context and stories become more complex, the easier it will become for them to understand. Their reading comprehension will also improve as well.

Make it fun

If you assign the same assignment over and over, students will become annoyed or frustrated that they keep having to do the same thing over and over. Try switching it up without them realizing. Instead of using the words “main idea” try using a different language. To also help them practice, let the focus of the assignment be something different, like asking questions about the store. For example “What did Charlie find when he opened his candy bar?” and then in going over the answers, simply ask the students, “what do you think the main idea of the entire story was?” Focusing on the main idea, does not have to be the main focus every single time you have the students read, but help them to try and understand and find what the main idea is each time.

Finding Clues

If your students are not understanding what the main idea of the story is, help them to find clues in the store. Have them look at titles, key words, and first and last sentences. Also opening and closing paragraphs should be focused on. Try looking at the photos if there are any. Key words will be words that are bolded in the reading, or they could be headings and titles. All of these will help to hint at the main idea, but they do not always. Oftentimes the title will help you figure out what the main topic of the story will be. This is your first step to help you determine the main idea.

Pre-reading

A good starting activity to do with the students would be to have them just use these clues and to take some guesses before starting to read. Have them look at the cover, look at the pictures, look at the titles and chapter headings and make their guesses. What do you think the main idea could be just by observing before you even begin reading? This will help get their brain in the right mindset and will help them to be looking for more information about what the focus of the story will be about.

Category management in e-commerce: what does it look like, and why do you need it?

Anyone who works in sales has probably heard about category management at some point. It’s a crucial thing for business people! After all, it’s only through utilizing category management can they really guarantee that they don’t lose their positions in the market or their profits.

Category management stands for the organization of product categories, which solves everything in our modern world. Recall your last trip to the store: how long did it take for you to find yogurt? You know it belongs in the category of dairy products, which is why it is located on the shelf next to the milk. Imagine if yoghurt was classified, for example, as a dessert; how long would it take you to find it? Category management oversees the organization of retail space, both offline and online! It is the categories you need to develop when creating online store browsing, managing your range of products, and developing the design of your website.

Additionally, category management involves working with procuring. For example, knowing what every category of your products includes and what KPIs it is supposed to meet helps you choose only the best suppliers and negotiate the most favorable terms of collaboration.

Due to poor-quality category management or the lack of thereof, an online business can lose up to 30% of its customers, so a professional category manager is worth their weight in gold. So, what are their duties, and how do you bring maximum results to your business? We will tell you below.

What does a category manager do in e-commerce?

The main responsibilities of a category manager in the area of e-commerce include:

  • Analyzing data to determine market trends and consumer needs;
  • Developing strategies for category management;
  • Developing tactics for category development, merchandising, and promoting specific product items;
  • Communicating with suppliers, building long-term relationships and concluding favorable terms of cooperation with the best price-quality ratio;
  • Placing orders and dealing with procurements;
  • Placement of product categories to achieve maximum results;
  • Cooperating with the marketing and sales department within the company to ensure transparency and efficiency throughout all business activities;
  • Determination of the most competitive and profitable prices for product categories;
  • Demand forecasting and prompt replenishment of stocks;
  • Budgeting and cost optimization.

5 tips for becoming the best category manager in e-commerce

Category management is a true art that requires special training and exceptional skills, especially in e-commerce. Here are some tips on how to work effectively with categories:

1. Communicate regularly with suppliers and stay up to date

The primary task of a category manager in e-commerce is to ensure a steady flow of goods or services. Check your suppliers’ certificates and financial stability periodically, set stringent deadlines, and supply performance guarantees. Any fluctuation in the market can lead to trouble for suppliers, which, in return, means problems for yourself.

2. Increase your level of expertise

A category manager cannot know everything in the world. Still, they should strive to achieve this, given that the business’s stability from the perspective of turnover depends on this. You must understand new and old pricing models and keep track of investment results, including costs and risks associated with procurements. Of course, you will need individual professionals (for example, lawyers) for different aspects of this work. However, your task is to consider all the factors and work them out.

3. Plan categories down to the very last detail

The success of category management depends on the effectiveness of the categories you create. And to accomplish this, you must understand your audience and the details of every category by considering its role, purpose, performance criteria, etc. Expanded categories that can grow and develop make it easier to attract profitable suppliers and build strong relationships with them.

4. Use zero-based budgeting

Zero-based budgeting is a budget planning method that does not include the budgets from earlier periods. Instead, budget planning is based on sales forecasts, technical costs, and economic calculations. Since one of the main tasks of a category manager is to justify the created categories and budget requirements, this approach to budgeting in a category management setting is the most appropriate.

5. Don’t forget about digitalisation!

Category management in e-commerce is a top priority for online development and technologies. Therefore, the category manager must quickly implement the most effective innovative solutions in software and electronic systems or services to oversee product categories.

The job of a category manager in e-commerce is much the same as that in traditional retail: it is still challenging but extremely exciting! Perhaps nowhere else can you find so many new experiences, tools, and opportunities than in this field. Just don’t be afraid of using different innovative methods and continually developing both product categories and your professional abilities.

Things to Avoid When Buying a House

Is the excitement of buying a house taking a toll on your progress? Buying a home is fulfilling, but the process can be a nightmare, and you could also acquire a property that only adds more stress to your life. It requires the right approach, especially in the modern online-oriented world. With the available online listings and resourceful information pools like Hauzisha.co.ke, you can easily browse and navigate the market. As you hit the market, you need to be wary, ensuring you don’t fall into the common pitfalls that could frustrate your quests. Here are the things to avoid when buying a house, ensuring you find and invest in the best property.

Skimping on the research

The online listings make browsing the available properties for sale; this gives you valuable information, but don’t skimp on the research. Even with virtual tours, nothing beats the experience. Check out as many open houses as you can, do thorough research, and get a feel of the real estate market’s landscape.

A significant part of real estate deals is location, and physically visiting the available houses gives you more than you can get from the online experience. You’ll get the vibe the neighborhood exudes, and the feel varying houses hold, making it easier to narrow down the options.

Not doing the math

How much house can you afford? You’ve been saving up, but have you considered your credit rating? Mortgage preapproval is an excellent step as you hit the market. You’ll have a clear picture of how much you can spend on a house. Nonetheless, that’s not the only math you should do. Consider the long-term financial implication.

How will you manage the mortgage payments and expenses of running the house? Buying the dream house is one thing, and keeping it in top shape is different. You need to manage repairs and maintenance, consider concerns such as home insurance, and following its location, property taxes. All such costs should be in your math, ensuring you buy a house you can afford in the long run.

Falling for the flashy aspects

House sellers strive to capture as many potential buyers as possible. The staging includes fancy aspects highlighting the property’s gems. Don’t focus on them, but pay more attention to the bones and structure. External factors aren’t as important as a solid foundation and a house in good shape. Those flashy appliances won’t hold as much value as a roof in good condition, emphasizing the need to ensure you don’t fall for the vivid aspects while ignoring the structural integrity.

Being in haste or too relaxed

If you are in haste, you’ll cut corners even without noticing it, such as skimping on inspections or overlooking flaws that can turn out to be a costly mistake. Start early, understand the market, potential loopholes to consider, and thoroughly inspect a house before making a firm and final offer.

Being too relaxed doesn’t pay off either. You are likely to pass on a great house, expecting to find a better one. The more you skip houses, the less likely it’ll be to capture a great deal, especially as your lowball offers could see great houses slipping off your fingers. Take your time, but don’t be too relaxed. This way, you’ll have enough time to check more details, make an informed pick, and invest in a house you’ll treasure for long.

Going at it alone

Sure, the modern real estate market makes the processes more manageable. You can search properties on sale online, make an offer, negotiate, and even conclude the deal with fewer in-person interactions. However, unless you are experienced in real estate dynamics, going at it alone can be a costly mistake.

Hiring a real estate agent helps in many ways. Apart from capturing great deals with their reach and negotiation skills, the agent can help you deal with the extensive paperwork and processes. You can fast-track the process and avoid common mistakes that could see you losing an edge after finding that dream house. Apart from agents, you can also enlist professionals such as lawyers, ensuring that you understand the contract’s fine print.

Not thinking about selling

While buying a house, you may not think about selling soon. Nonetheless, it is crucial, considering that you may have to relocate or want an upgrade. Will the property and its features be attractive in the next five years, or will it require considerable remodels to keep up with the evolving real estate landscape? How about the location, significantly since you can’t change it? The resale value consideration makes it easier to pick the right house.

Ready finances, knowing what you can afford, shopping around, enlisting professional services; you need the right strategy to start house hunting. Avoiding the common pitfalls is easier with a solid plan, helping you find and buy the right house matching your immediate and future needs.

Don’t Miss the Forest for the Trees

Undoubtedly we have all heard the saying, “don’t miss the forest for the trees”. This saying stresses the importance of not being so focused on the small details that you forget to see the big picture. As a society we are increasingly becoming more obsessed with the small details and that has found its way into our jobs. No job is immune to this phenomenon and one of the fields that has strangely seen a great impact is teaching.

Photo by Arthur Krijgsman on Pexels.com

The Social Media Ready Classroom

For many teachers and especially the younger teachers, this focus on small details has led to a focus on the small details of their classroom. Some teachers focus on such things like:

  • The smell of the classroom.
  • The lighting of the classroom.
  • Class decorations.
  • Board borders.
  • The aesthetic appeal of the
    • Classroom
    • Desks
    • Shared spaces
    • Teacher
    • Spaces
    • Worksheets

The Problem

For many, they have an ideal image of their classroom being social media ready. For others they insist that their classroom needs to be a calming environment for them to work in. However, many are so focused on the minute details of their classroom and controlling things at the tiniest level that they have forgotten the bigger picture. They are so focused on the tree in front of them they have forgotten that they are in a large forest. 

Many find themselves burnt out and struggling to maintain their level of perfection for the whole year. Others find that the things they have done to make their classroom cute and social media ready isn’t setting themselves or their students up for success, and soon become frustrated in the time that they have wasted. An even smaller percentage find what makes their ideal classroom actively work against the success of their students and hinders their growth. Something no educator wants to see. 

The Solution. Starting with a Curriculum Map Template

For those who are ready to make a change and start thinking about the big picture, the solution is simple. Stop comparing your classroom to the ones you see on social media and pull up a curriculum map. A curriculum map template can be extremely helpful in making sure you aren’t missing the forest for the trees. A curriculum map template helps teachers begin planning their classroom and the curriculum within it on what students need to walk away with at the end of the year. Educators are able to focus on the big picture and then work down to focus on things as they come up.

This isn’t to say that classrooms should be devoid of character and charm. Those should be the finishing touches on a well crafted and planned out classroom. Starting with the curriculum and attending to the small details later allows teachers to be:

  • Organized
  • Goal focused
  • Create arrangements and environments that:
    • Enhance student learning
    • Enhance goal oriented behavior
    • Enhance instructional priorities

Think about when you were a student. Do you remember all the small details of the classroom or the lessons the teacher provided that made you think?

What Is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. Unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency. This differs from fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies, which are identical to each other and, therefore, can serve as a medium for commercial transactions.

Link to buy this NFT

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • NFTs are unique cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain and cannot be replicated.
  • NFTs can represent real-world items like artwork and real estate.
  • “Tokenizing” these real-world tangible assets makes buying, selling, and trading them more efficient while reducing the probability of fraud.
  • NFTs can also function to represent individuals’ identities, property rights, and more.

The distinct construction of each NFT has the potential for several use cases. For example, they are an ideal vehicle to digitally represent physical assets like real estate and artwork. Because they are based on blockchains, NFTs can also work to remove intermediaries and connect artists with audiences or for identity management. NFTs can remove intermediaries, simplify transactions, and create new markets.

Much of the current market for NFTs is centered around collectibles, such as digital artwork, sports cards, and rarities. Perhaps the most hyped space is NBA Top Shot, a place to collect non-fungible tokenized NBA moments in digital card form. Some of these cards have sold for millions of dollars. Recently, Twitter’s (TWTR) Jack Dorsey tweeted a link to a tokenized version of the first tweet ever, in which he wrote: “just setting up my twttr.” The NFT version of the first-ever tweet sold for more than $2.9 million.

Understanding NFTs 

Like physical money, cryptocurrencies are fungible, meaning that they can be traded or exchanged, one for another. For example, one bitcoin is always equal in value to another bitcoin. Similarly, a single unit of ether is always equal to another unit. This fungibility characteristic makes cryptocurrencies suitable as a secure medium of transaction in the digital economy.

NFTs shift the crypto paradigm by making each token unique and irreplaceable, thereby making it impossible for one non-fungible token to be equal to another. They are digital representations of assets and have been likened to digital passports because each token contains a unique, non-transferable identity to distinguish it from other tokens. They are also extensible, meaning you can combine one NFT with another to “breed” a third, unique NFT.

Just like Bitcoin, NFTs also contain ownership details for easy identification and transfer between token holders. Owners can also add metadata or attributes pertaining to the asset in NFTs. For example, tokens representing coffee beans can be classified as fair trade. Or, artists can sign their digital artwork with their own signature in the metadata.  An example of NFT is Holy Bibles NFT

Why Are Non-Fungible Tokens Important? 

Non-fungible tokens are an evolution of the relatively simple concept of cryptocurrencies. Modern finance systems consist of sophisticated trading and loan systems for different asset types, ranging from real estate to lending contracts to artwork. By enabling digital representations of physical assets, NFTs are a step forward in the reinvention of this infrastructure.

To be sure, the idea of digital representations of physical assets is not novel nor is the use of unique identification. However, when these concepts are combined with the benefits of a tamper-resistant blockchain of smart contracts, they become a potent force for change.

Perhaps, the most obvious benefit of NFTs is market efficiency. The conversion of a physical asset into a digital one streamlines processes and removes intermediaries. NFTs representing digital or physical artwork on a blockchain remove the need for agents and allow artists to connect directly with their audiences. They can also improve business processes. For example, an NFT for a wine bottle will make it easier for different actors in a supply chain to interact with it and help track its provenance, production, and sale through the entire process. Consulting firm Ernst & Young has already developed such a solution for one of its clients.

Non-fungible tokens are also excellent for identity management. Consider the case of physical passports that need to be produced at every entry and exit point. By converting individual passports into NFTs, each with its own unique identifying characteristics, it is possible to streamline the entry and exit processes for jurisdictions. Expanding this use case, NFTs can serve an identity management purpose within the digital realm as well.

NFTs can also democratize investing by fractionalizing physical assets like real estate. It is much easier to divide a digital real estate asset among multiple owners than a physical one. That tokenization ethic need not be constrained to real estate; it can extend to other assets, such as artwork. Thus, a painting need not always have a single owner. Its digital equivalent can have multiple owners, each responsible for a fraction of the painting. Such arrangements could increase its worth and revenues.

The most exciting possibility for NFTs lies in the creation of new markets and forms of investment. Consider a piece of real estate parceled out into multiple divisions, each of which contains different characteristics and property types. One of the divisions might be next to a beach while another is in an entertainment complex, and yet another is a residential district. Depending on its characteristics, each piece of land is unique, priced differently, and represented with an NFT. Real estate trading, a complex and bureaucratic affair, can be simplified by incorporating relevant metadata into each unique NFT.

Business Skills You Need To Be a Successful Entrepreneur

Are you planning to launch your new business? Well, that’s great! However, you aren’t alone in the world of startups. But, did you get tired of your 9-5 job or years of hard work that pushed you to start your own business? 

Many people were laid off during the pandemic. As a result, there seems to be an exceptional surge in the launch of startups as these laid-off people are exploring new opportunities. Whatever the reason behind starting a new business, it is undoubtedly a great way to achieve all your life dreams. 

While as exciting as it sounds, the road to entrepreneurship is no walk in the park. However, having certain traits and qualities can make you a successful entrepreneur. So do you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? Below is the list of crucial skills that you must develop and polish to take your startup to the next level:

  1. Learning Skills

The path to entrepreneurship is full of both ups and downs. You might come across many failures during your entrepreneurship journey. However, how to cope with uncertain situations is what matters most. Therefore, make sure to have a growth mindset. You can adopt many ways to deepen your knowledge, for instance, by reading books, attending seminars, taking classes, etc. The more you desire to learn and grow, the more chances you will be successful as an entrepreneur. 

However, are you feeling reluctant to pursue your further education because you have other family and work commitments? No worries, consider enrolling in an Online General MBA Program and gain comprehensive knowledge about various aspects of the business. The MBA degree will equip you with in-depth knowledge of financial management, business ethics, marketing, etc.

  • Communication

As a new business owner, you need to pitch your business idea to potential investors constantly. Moreover, you will be selling your products or services to prospective customers and earning revenue. But how is that possible if you lack proper communication skills. That is why effective communication is imperative for business people. 

Good communication skills will help you build and nurture long-lasting relationships with your customers, stakeholders, and employees. Furthermore, no matter how well-qualified or well-skilled your team is, your business will suffer if you can’t communicate your strategies to them. Therefore, try to be proficient in all communication formats – verbal and non-verbal. 

  • Problem-Solving

Sure, you started your business by identifying your target customer’s pain points and providing a solution. However, your work doesn’t end here. It is because every business comes with its own sets of challenges. You will encounter new situations that require you to make different decisions each day. Put it this way, the more strategic decisions you make, the greater chances you can achieve your business objectives. As a successful entrepreneur, one of the most crucial skills you need is excellent problem-solving skills. With good problem-solving skills, you can turn your problems into potential opportunities. 

  • Networking

As an entrepreneur, you might have endless tasks on your plate. You might be planning to sit all day cooped in your office to accomplish those tasks. However, if you wish to run a successful business empire, you need to take some time to get out of your office and network. Networking will help your business grow since you will meet like-minded people. You will meet new business partners and clients and find new opportunities with good networking skills. The best way to network is by attending business conferences and other industry events. You can also build strong connections through social media platforms such as LinkedIn. 

  • Time Management

Imagine you got a potential client project that can help you generate considerable revenue. And while you are sure you and your team can deliver the project with good quality. Still, due to poor time management, the delivery of the project gets delayed. So, of course, your client will get disappointed and might not even consider doing business with you ever again. They might consider going to your competitors for business instead of you. For this reason, excellent time management skills are crucial to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Though you will be handling many tasks simultaneously as an entrepreneur, good prioritization and delegation can help you get your work done efficiently. 

  • Financial Management

Let’s face it; business is all about money. How you manage your business finances can either sink or swim your business. Therefore, learning the art of how to manage your finances is the key to your success. Start by creating a realistic budget and stick to it. That way, you won’t go overspending. It’s sensible to invest in cybersecurity measures like MFA authentication, but it’s not OK to waste money on a high-end office you don’t need yet. 

In many cases, entrepreneurs make the biggest mistake by overspending in the hope of earning more revenue. However, unfortunately, they have to deal with the financial crisis because of their overspending. Therefore, once you create your budget, keep an eye on your finances to avoid any mishap. Sound financial management skills can help you tap into new opportunities and make well-informed decisions. 

  • Leadership

Another critical skill is strong leadership. There is a high possibility you have a strategic vision and excellent business idea, but what’s the purpose if your employees are not following you. That is why develop and polish your leadership skills. However, being a leader is not just a title. It would help if you could motivate and inspire your employees.

Moreover, suppose you wish your employees to follow your dream and work towards achieving your business goals. In that case, you must be likable and approachable. Lastly, it is to note that you don’t have to do all the tasks yourself because you are a business leader. A great leader is someone who knows when to delegate tasks. 

  • Resilience

Answer this. Are you resilient? Resilience, by definition, means bouncing back quickly from challenging situations or failures. Unfortunately, no matter how robust your plans are, things sometimes don’t work as you plan. As a result, you might experience some losses, too. However, picking yourself up when things become difficult is one of the defining traits of a successful entrepreneur. It’s easy to give up when things become hard. But as a successful entrepreneur, you must have a positive attitude and mindset so you can learn from your failures. 

Key Takeaways

It is no secret that launching your new business and making it successful is no piece of cake in the highly-competitive and ever-evolving business world. 

While your degree can give you the push you need to proceed with your unique business plan, your skills will determine whether your business will reach the newer heights of success or not. So be honest with yourself and analyze your skills. Don’t fret if you don’t have some of the skills. With some practice and determination, you can develop or polish these skills and be good on your road to successful entrepreneurship. 

6 Reasons Why Data-Driven Organizations Will be the Future

The digital revolution happening around the world has impacted every industry in one way or another. It has led to a growth in data production in different businesses, making the collection and analysis of large amounts of data common in all organizations. Companies are collecting more data than ever before and transforming their businesses through data-driven decisions, which is necessary to stay viable and thrive in the rapidly changing environment.

Nowadays, all major enterprises are reliant on data as it offers various benefits. Converting data into actionable intelligence can help a company understand consumer behavior and develop new insightful strategies accordingly. Moreover, companies also feel more confident applying policies supported by data-driven decision-making.

Many companies struggle to implement data-driven decision-making because they don’t have organized data, making it difficult to navigate information or draw conclusions. Therefore, all organizations should update their systems and equip themselves with new technologies to effectively utilize analytics and survive in this new data-driven economy. 

Several organizations have already become leaders in data-driven decision-making and are giving tough competition to other companies. Data-driven organizations are indeed the future, and in this article, we will discuss the reasons why.

1.   They Provide Better Customer Service

Data can help organizations understand customer behavior, preferences, and dislikes. Organizations can wield the power of data-based decision making to combine different approaches to serve the customer throughout the lifecycle from prospect to advocate phase. The design targeted strategies reach the right customers at the right time through appropriate channels.

For example, organizations can utilize real customer data to offer targeted podcasts, communications, and services to their customers, leading to greater customer satisfaction. Moreover, data can help organizations identify and apply the most cost-effective ways to address queries and problems in customer support centers by reducing issue resolution time and increasing customer satisfaction.

2.   They Improve Their Existing Business Processes

Data-driven decision-making helps organizations improve their business processes and grow their sales, maximizing revenue growth. In the competitive business market, data helps organizations identify and take advantage of revenue opportunities. Data-driven organizations always make better and faster decisions as they are backed by numbers. 

For example, slower sales growth can be a sign of below-average sales team performance. Therefore, data-driven organizations identify problems and review related data, develop marketing strategies based on the data to optimize processes, leading to a growth in revenue. The following steps are followed mostly for using data to improve business processes.

  • Define the strategic goals of your business
  • Find the ways to achieve those goals
  • Categorize the data you already have
  • Collect more related data
  • Thoroughly analyze the data
  • Conclude and communicate insights
  • Incorporate measures to modify business processes according to the insights  

3.   They Efficiently Identify New Business Opportunities

Organizations analyze data to increase the opportunity for growth and profitability in the long run. Data analysis can reveal insights that help businesses identify new business opportunities, like investing in innovative products and services that consumers demand. 

For example, a women’s clothing shop can identify through data what styles, colors, or trends are going to be popular in the next few months and can stock up on those to sell more and grow their revenue. Moreover, data-driven decision-making may help some organizations venture into untapped customer segments.

 Data analysis can also help organizations identify their non-profitable ventures so they either stop investing in them or drop them altogether. For example, data analysis can help identify the least popular clothing item in your store, which you can either pull back or use more efficient strategies to sell them.

4.   They Predict and Follow Future Trends

Data-driven organizations collect and utilize past data to predict crucial trends in the future. It helps organizations prepare for any negative events and ensure optimal outcomes. Moreover, data-driven organizations respond to market changes quickly and efficiently, providing them with a competitive edge in the market.

Some companies use a sales forecasting method based on data analysis to predict future sales. Sales forecasting involves the following steps;

  • Access and analyze past sale’s data
  • Incorporate required changes like changing the price of an item, promoting an item, or changing an entire product
  • Observe current market trends to predict future trends
  • Monitor competitors and introduce strategic techniques to include in your business plan for an increase in sales

5.   They Encourage Innovation

Innovation is essential for the survival of any organization. Innovative companies outperform their peers and create substantially more business than their peers. Therefore, data-driven innovation is a primary pillar of success in the present global economy.

Data analysis helps organizations recognize patterns, interactions, and inconsistencies taking place within an industry and helps them derive innovative changes in the industry. Organizations can identify data innovation opportunities in five distinct ways;

  • Digitizing assets
  • Trading data
  • Combining data within and across industries
  • Codifying a distinctive service capability
  • Augmenting products to generate data

6.   They Cut Down Unnecessary Costs

Data-driven companies utilize data analysis to reduce operational costs and optimize expenses. Costs can be reduced, and profits can be increased by analyzing the impact of different variables and transforming business processes. Moreover, eliminating unwanted costs also boosts productivity. Therefore, data-driven organizations can efficiently cut down on operational costs and can save substantial amounts of money in the process.

Studying customer response data provides companies with valuable insights to make strategic adjustments at specific points instead of randomly cutting costs. Moreover, data-driven companies also assess the possibility of products being returned and are prepared to take the necessary actions to reduce related costs and losses.

The Bottom Line

Data analysis has become an essential part of all industries. Organizations can utilize this data to advance in their respective industry, making data-driven decision-making a key factor for the success of any company in the present world. Companies refusing to adapt to this data-driven economy will eventually go under as data-driven organizations are the future.

Data-driven organizations provide better customer care by identifying customer needs and providing them with targeted information. They also improve their existing business processes and help identify and take advantage of new business opportunities to increase revenue. Moreover, data-driven organizations study data to identify repetitive patterns and predict emerging business trends. They also help reduce unnecessary costs and encourage innovation to stay ahead in this competitive economy. Hopefully, this article will help you understand the various reasons why data-driven organizations are the future.