When I started developing a web application I had a requirement to make it multi-tenant.
So from the basics, I started researching how to implement multi-tenancy in Flask applications.
I went with the obvious one since I’m using PostgreSQL. Multiple Schema single database models like Apartment gem in RoR.
I failed to find libraries for my needs, Tutorials and documentation raised many confusions to do my requirement. So I started breaking up my requirements and solving each one.
The first thing was creating the schema and creating all tables in the new schema, Technically making a replica of the public schema as a new tenant which I have to do at runtime. So after a couple of research and coffees, I came up with this.
from flask import current_app as app
from app.models import UserModel
from app import db
import sqlalchemy
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemyfrom sqlalchemy import create_engine, MetaData, Table
def method_name():
.....
engine = create_engine(app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'])
if not engine.dialect.has_schema(engine, schema_name):
engine.execute(sqlalchemy.schema.CreateSchema(schema_name))
insp = sqlalchemy.inspect(engine)
if engine.dialect.has_schema(engine, schema_name):
for mapper in db.Model.registry.mappers:
if not insp.has_table(mapper.class_, schema=schema_name):
meta = MetaData()
mapper.class_.__table__.schema = subdomain
mapper.class_.__table__.create(engine)
....
You can add the above schema in any method where you need to create the new tenant.
The main intention of the above code is to create a new schema > create the tables in the new schema(list of tables are fetching from our models)
Now, The second part we created schemas. What if we need to make changes to schemas, Like alteration of database structure like creating new columns, new tables, delete tables, columns etc…
For this, we need to modify a file that is generated by the flask.
Everyone must have seen the env.py in the migrations folder
So I’m going to modify some of the code,
I’m going for a loop to implement the migration for each schema in the database.
from sqlalchemy import engine_from_config, pool, MetaData, Table, ForeignKeyConstraint
from logging.config import fileConfig
from app import db
from app.models import UserModel
....
def run_migrations_online():
"""Run migrations in 'online' mode.
In this scenario we need to create an Engine
and associate a connection with the context.
"""
engine = engine_from_config(
config.get_section(config.config_ini_section),
prefix='sqlalchemy.',
poolclass=pool.NullPool)
connection = engine.connect()
context.configure(
connection=connection,
target_metadata=target_metadata,
include_schemas=True,
include_object=include_schemas([None])
)
domains = ['public']
try:
connection.execute(get_schemas_query)]
users = UserModel.query.all()
for user in users:
domains.append(user.schema)
for domain in domains:
print('migrating tenant -> '+ domain)
connection.execute('set search_path to "{}"'.format(domain))
with context.begin_transaction():
context.run_migrations()
finally:
connection.close()
I have saved my schema for each user in the “users” table. So I can fetch the list of schemas and migrate to each schema separately.
Note that before you do any migration make sure you run
> flask db stamp head
This will make your newly created schema up to date as the default schema (here public schema).
Now you can run the rest of the migration command
> flask db migrate
> flask db upgrade
Now the last requirement is to switch tenants while the application is running.
@app.before_request
def before_request():
subdomain = request.host.split('.')[0]
db.session.execute('set search_path to "{}"'.format(subdomain))
Before each request made to the server, the server fill fetch the schema name from the host URL and set search path to the desired schema
Conclusion
Here it is, there are plenty of ways to do this and I’m sure the above methods and code need to be improved. If anyone has suggestions please raise comments so I can improve the code and the article.
As there is significant growth in the usage of the internet, the eCommerce industry has grown a lot. As the day passes, the number of people buying the products through eCommerce platforms is tremendously increasing.
But, nowadays the eCommerce industry is facing different security threats. As many vulnerable activities are reported in the eCommerce platforms, the store owners have to plan some effective strategies to keep the platform safe.
Today, most of the transactions in the eCommerce industries are carried out through digital payment methods like debit cards, credit cards, net banking, and much more. So, it is the responsibility of the store owner to ensure the security of their transactions. If proper security is not provided to these transactions, then different malpractices may happen.
Here in this article, we are discussing the 11 major eCommerce security threats and their solutions in 2020.
The Most Common Security Threats
1.Spams
In most times the emails will be an effective method to boost the sales and keep the users more active. But at the same time, it has become the most used way to create spams. It is seen that spammers send some spammy links via email or social media to harm the site.
There are also many online spammers who use the contact forms and the comment section of the blogs to add spammy links. Sometimes, these spammy links may be very harmful to the website that creates many issues in the future.
Besides the website security, it may also deplete the loading speed of the website. So that the users won’t get proper user experience and they will be left from the site.
2. Financial Threats
Where there is a financial activity involved, there may be some financial frauds following them. Today, as most of the transactions are electronic, the mode of financial threats has also updated to electronic.
There are financial frauds who do unauthorized transactions form the eCommerce store and grab a significant amount of money. Also, fake refunds and returns are the most common type of fraud activity reported by the store owners.
Some of these frauds orders an item from the store, use it, and then applies for the refund to get back his money. As the financial frauds are getting smarter, they try to steal the information of your customer’s credit card & rob an amount using these details.
3. Phishing
Nowadays, phishing is a common security threat for both online buyers and actual store owners.
Here, the hackers will send an email or a text message to the customers of your online store by maintaining the look of your store or something else that makes the customer believe the message is from your website.
In most cases, these types of fake emails will be having a call to action button or some other methods to take that action provided by the hacker. When the customers provide their username and password using these actions, then the hacker can easily grab their personal data.
4. Force Attacks
The force attacks from the hackers aim the admin panel of the online store. They try to steal the username and password of the admin panel and hack the online store.
They create special programs to set up a connection with the online store and tries all the combinations to break your password. Therefore, creating a secure password with special characters, alphabets, and, numbers is the best way to keep it safe.
5. SQL Injections
The SQL injection is a type of attack that targets the database of your website using the submission forms.
When the database is hacked, they will insert malicious codes into the database and grab the required data from there. By inserting malware, hackers can change the appearance and content of the website.
6. Bots
Nowadays, you can see both good and bad bots on the internet. Different search engines make use of the good bots for crawling and indexing the results. At the same time, different malicious activities are carried out using bad bots.
As bad bots will steal the content, pricing details, and other information, there are many eCommerce stores affected by them.
7. XSS
Hackers will infect your eCommerce with malign code and targets your customers. Content security policy is the best method to protect yourself from it.
8. DDoS
The Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) targets your website and affect the sales of your store. It can make an online store to a not available situation by bringing traffic from different sources.
There are many online store owners who had become the victim of a DDoS attack. This attack will affect the store hardly and even reduce the trust of the customers in that particular business.
9. Trojan Horses
Sometimes both the customers and admins might have downloaded trojan horses in their PC. It can be said as the worst security threat of the network. Here, the attackers will make use of these programs to get valuable information from the system.
10. MITM
The Man In The Middle attack happens when a person with malicious thought comes to a deal between two people. This middle man acquires the details that the two people were sending each other.
In case the MITM attack begins, then the middle man will send you an email that looks legitimate. Nowadays, different types of MITM attacks are seen like DNS spoofing, IP spoofing, email hijacking, and much more.
11. Cart Blocking
If you are a person who shops fro the online stores, then you may have noticed the importance of cart. Here, the hackers may add a number of products to their cart from different IP addresses.
So that it pushes the cart limit and that products will be shown out of stock for the store customers. Sometimes, it may be done by some bots whose aim will be to stop people buying products from that particular store. In some cases, the cart blocking is done by the competitors of a specific company to boost their sales.
Security Solutions For Ecommerce
Anti Virus & Anti Fraud Software
There are some financial frauds who use stolen credit and place the order. Using an anti-virus or anti-fraud software, most of these fraud transactions can be controlled. As it reduces the malicious transactions, you can run your eCommerce store efficiently.
HTTPS
Securing your online store with HTTP protocol is one of the best methods to protect from vulnerable activities. Along with protecting the sensitive information of the users, it also secures their user data.
Today, upgrading to HTTPS is considered as a method of higher ranking in the result page. Therefore, you can upgrade the ranking and keep the store secure using the HTTPS method.
Before that, you must get the SSL certification from your hosting provider. So, make sure that you are having an up to date SSL certification and HTTPS for your store.
Keep The Servers More Secure
While beginning, the eCommerce platform comes with a default password that can be easily broken. So, changing this default password with a strong one is the primary step that you should consider.
Always use a complex password with a mix of numbers, alphabets, and special characters. Also, change them frequently. Besides that, you are having the option to notify you when an unknown IP gets logged in. Enable this option, so that you get notified when there is an unknown login.
Security of Payment Gateway
Storing the credit card details or any other payment-related information of the user in your database is a risky factor. Many times, it will be an open invitation for hackers. So, you should ensure the security of your payment gateway.
Even a small loophole can make a huge loss. Therefore, using a third party payment method is a good option. Nowadays, there are a lot of third party payment methods like Paypal, Wordplay, and much more. Choose any of them as per your preference and have a secure payment.
FireWalls
Using firewall software is an efficient method to avoid many cyber threats. It will only allow trusted traffic to your website, which keeps it more secure. Cross-site scripting, SQL injections, and other cyber attacks can be avoided using the firewall software.
SSL
With the help of Secure Socket Layer (SSL), the entire process happening at the website can be secured. It also offers you a certificate of ownership, that makes the hackers not to use the site for phishing attacks.
Educate Your Clients
Most of the security threats can be solved by educating your clients. You can ask them to set a strong username and passwords for their account. So that a third person cannot break it easily.
Also, teach them about the risks involved in the online purchase and deliver the solutions for those risks.
A Few Final Words
These all are the major eCommerce security threats and their solutions. While running an online store, you should be aware of the security threats that you might face in the future.
Sometimes, you haven’t faced any security threat for your online store. But, even though some specific measures and strategies should be planned to prevent malware attacks.
In case there is a security threat for your store, then the confidence of your customers towards your store reduces. This brings a huge loss to your business. So, always perform a regular site audit and keep your store secure.
Understanding purchase nature and customer psychology are not that simple. The general attitude of a customer after purchase can be considered as Post-purchase behavior that may vary concerning individuals. Let’s put it this way, the journey of a prospect to a customer. Here product satisfaction is the main factor that considers this behavior.
Customers have raised the bar in terms of what they expect from a purchase experience. Factors like personalization, free shipping, and easy returns are now part of customers’ expectations. There is at least one-third of global customers who make online purchases weekly, and the rest are making purchases through marketplaces rather directly ie: from a website.
When the purchase is not satisfying it leads to regretting a product purchase. Nowadays, due to social media and fast-moving trends, the human mind is more attracted to better opportunities.
So, what do you think can be done to change this behavior of people?
When product attributes are best described the way the consumer feels this is appropriate for him/her, there is a possibility of retaining the customer to some point. An email campaign can also play an imperative role here, assuring quality customer service which is smooth and hassle-free will have countless chances of customer retention. Customers pass through endless emotions before they make a purchase. There will be a mixed emotion of excitement and anxiety, understanding this makes jobs effortless.
Listed are some factors that will influence the post-purchase experience:
Showing empathy
Always respond to them
Offer discount
Provide product care tips
Build a return and refund policy
Provide a free trial
Make customers confident about their purchase
How-to use guides
Customer engagement process
Showing Empathy
“Stepping into other’s shoes and seeing through their eyes” helps you to figure out what situation they are in.
Show your customers that you care and value their purchase decision. Take the product description wholeheartedly and provide them with the best choice instead of trying to sell the product that is of minimal value to them. Create a sense of feeling that you want best for them. Maintain good contact and don’t forget to thank them. Showing empathy improves the post-purchase experience of a customer and retaining them for future purchases.
Always Respond to Them
Any query arises about the product purchase, make sure to administer them with the best support possible. Acknowledge the concern, if the response will take a while. Make sure to respond without fail as you are obliged to reciprocate to them.
Providing customer support is crucial, as we are unsure of the concerns. Consistent support with the customer will give them a secure feeling, which may pave the way for repurchases. There may be concerns from non-customers which we are obliged to deal with as we might be able to turn them into a customer in the coming future.
While shopping on an e-commerce site there are more chances of disorientation, missing, damage, delay, etc. The team should be able to provide proper support to the customer for the queries they raise.
Offer Discount
Promotional discount, End of Season Sale, Festive discounts, etc.. are some of the commonly seen offers and the customer’s love offers. They attract you like you can’t stand a chance to lose the products on offer. Offers also prompt you to make multiple product purchases where you wanted only one.
Some offers are provided at the end of certain purchases which have several months of validity. This is a way of retaining customers where you provide them with an offer to reconsider when they are planning for a purchase. This is a long term marketing strategy adopted by most of the outlets.
Provide Product Care Tips
Using new products is quite annoying if you don’t know how to use it. You might be insightful with every detail if you are the creator of the product. But for a new user, it might look very sophisticated. Equip your customers with tips that will help them for the safe functioning of the product and in keeping them in perfect working conditions. Providing such tips, the customer will feel that you have value for the purchase and will appreciate it for considering them.
The one thing you can do is gather as much information that you can equip and provide them as ‘how-to’ guides, information booklets, and FAQ, to give them direction. The customer will have the belief that it will be easy to use with the proper guidance provided.
Build a Return and Refund Policy
The shopper’s frustration is seen in the situation where he has to return a purchased product. Customers are unlikely to buy again from a company that has disappointed them with a return experience. When compared with the traditional stores the e-commerce stores have more return rates.
It may be in the initial stages of product usage that the customer finds out that the product is not apt for the requirement and thought of product return comes in. The next question will be “Do you have a refund policy?”. If you don’t have one your customers will be put off by it that will result in a poor post-purchase experience.
Policies are set when a company commences. If you are a product company, a refund policy is essential. A customer will demand a refund or return if they are not 100% satisfied with the product. Clearly state the refund policy to the customer at the initial stage of purchase as they shouldn’t be unaware. Defining the product return policy will provide a direction to customers who are uncertain of the product.
Provide a Free Trial
What will happen after a free trial? By providing a free trial will you be able to retain the prospect? Well, a free trial helps the prospect know more about the product and decides if it is something he requires.
Let’s see some tips for using a free trial for post-purchase experience
Email is the best way to communicate with a customer in a trial period. Here we have access to their email which can be stored in our database and rescued for marketing purposes.
Sent regular updates concerning the trial period ie: when the subscription will end. Add links to paid subscription on the same mail so that if they are upgrading to a paid plan is simplified.
Create offers for the people who are upgrading plans before the subscription ends.
Provide an extended trial period of people who are recommending it.
Make Customers Confident About Their Purchase
Clear cut display of product details using variation swatches creates a memorable digital experience. This helps to fill the gap between customer expectations and product requirements. Providing professional pictures of the product from different angles assures the customers what they get.
A post-purchase customer survey can indicate the level of customer satisfaction on the product they have purchased. Always make sure to send the survey two to five days after the delivery date. Segment the buyer based on buying history and send the questionnaire. Focus the questions on the area which is highly recommended.
How-To Use Guides
How to use guides and FAQ are some material that will help improve user experience. This will help to function the product smoothly for the customers in case of any doubts that might have arisen in the time of product usage. They also accept queries, regarding anything that comes in and provides solutions for the same.
Make sure to send the customers with personalized recommendations, notifications, and best deals which will keep them excited about their product purchase. The tips should be such that the customer can easily understand, avoid unwanted data and use simple language.
Customer Engagement Process
A lot of effort is put into the pre-sale process, all customer-facing sectors like the website UI enhancements, site load speed, etc are given much prominence. These play a very crucial role in attracting customers. But to build customer loyalty and improve customer lifetime value the post-purchase experience should have potential. Creating a memorable and delightful experience with customers will help to build trust. Considering this we can send an email newsletter and this should be email updates that are valuable and timely for customers. The ultimate aim of customers is to want to receive their orders with the least amount of hassle.
Let’s Conclude
Just because the customer has purchased from you doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the journey, you should try to maintain long term association with the customer to deepen the relationship. Create an experience they wanted so as to keep them coming back to you for purchases.
When we are considering the case of retailers they should outperform their competitors by providing a seamless experience to retain the customer. The delivery partner they opt for performs a significant role here. The initial stage of selecting a product is not challenging but to ensure an incredible customer experience throughout is not an easy task.
There are several other ways in which we can improve the post-purchase experience of a customer. The thing to remember is to keep working on improving it as the techniques used for one customer might not be apt for the other customer. Understanding customer psychology is thus very important.
Visual merchandising for brick-and-mortar stores is something that we all are super familiar with. With the e-commercial platform getting uber-competitive day by day, one cannot neglect the importance of visual merchandising in online shopping. Many of the principles of visual merchandising can be applied to the e-commercial platforms to have a significant impact on sales conversion.
Today, a majority of brick-and-mortar stores have their own online stores. Most companies make sure that the two platforms are interconnected.
Visual merchandising for online stores is not a herculean task to achieve. When the right strategy is adopted, it requires very little effort for the maintenance.
Get to know Online Visual Merchandising
Online Visual merchandising refers to a set of strategies devised to enhance the overall customer experience of your store. Ranging from color choice to intriguing site layout, these are designed to entice the fellow customers and encourage them to buy the products.
The E-Commercial platform has become so competitive that more and more online stores are bringing the concepts of visual merchandising into reality. It has become necessary to draw the customers into the store and maximize the sales, which is dependent on augmenting the aesthetic quality of the product. This is where visual merchandising comes into effect.
Visual merchandising is a vital marketing technique that assures brand recognition and brand loyalty. It is not just confined to vision, but also takes in all of the senses into account, be it touch, smell, or even taste.
With the Omnichannel Strategy being the most sought-after marketing strategy, there’s a growing need to differentiate between the channels. Having limitations in utilizing these channels for your sales, your website becomes the ultimate pivot for maximizing the sales conversions. It’s therefore imperative to present your online store in an engaging way.
Significance of Online Visual Merchandising
Just like how visual merchandising is effectual for the typical brick-and-mortar stores, this works perfectly for online stores as well. Online visual merchandising can be employed to increase customer engagement, time-on-site, and sales conversion rates, which makes it an important marketing tactic to sustain in this ultra-competitive marketing environment.
This begins with making use of professional product photos to the adoption of super-effective visual elements to elevate the overall online shopping experience.
Since online shopping lacks the physical presence, it has to compensate for the missing shopper sensory inputs such as sight, smell, taste, and touch. Also, it has to be ensured that the customers are presented with the most relevant products, experiences, and choices before they move on to the next store.
Key Aspects of Online Visual Merchandising
Here are some of the important aspects of online visual merchandising:
Eye-catching Product Photos
Though conventional, photos are a great way to seize the shopper’s attention and lure them into buying the product.
Earlier, high-grade professional product photos and rightly-placed products achieved the desired results.
But now, customers don’t just rely on professional photos. Instead, they look forward to seeing the customer photos of the product. People wish not to make any mistakes. Hence, they just want to make sure that other customers were happy with the purchase. It’s, therefore, necessary to incorporate the customer photos on your product page so as to win their trust.
Adding customer photos on the product page is proved to have significantly increased the checkout.
Aesthetic Design
The way you present your online store is a prime factor in capturing customer attention and encouraging them to buy the product.
The visual attractiveness of the online store, rightly placed products, clear-cut product descriptions, and images are indeed important in giving your online store an upper hand over the rest of the stores.
Consider the homepage of your online store as the shop window. This must be adequate to capture the attention of the users. Make sure that you use personalized content wherever possible.
Quality images always guide the shopper in their decision-making process. This ensures that there are minimal product returns. Also, display your product in such a way that it is visible from all the angles.
Short and precise product descriptions are a must since 90% of the customer won’t spare time to read lengthy product descriptions. Also, complex terminology has to be avoided.
When a customer visits the store, usually first impressions are made within the first 2-3 seconds. So, if they’re not happy with how the products are presented on your online store, they are more likely to hit the back button and move on to some other online store. Hence, it’s absolutely necessary to keep your store website as appealing as possible.
Mobile Responsiveness
Since the majority of online shoppers rely upon either mobile phones or tablets for their shopping, your online store must be mobile responsive.
All of the product images, features and descriptions have to be delivered to the intended audience in an appropriate manner.
These shouldn’t just be confined to mobile alone, rather, creating tactics for multiple devices need to be focussed on.
Genuine Customer Experiences
When it comes to earning customer’s trust, putting forth genuine real-life experiences of other satisfied customers can actually serve the purpose.
Presenting User-generated content like customer photos, reviews and ratings can be utilized to convince your fellow customers and acquire their trust.
It has to be noted that, just displaying customer photos and reviews won’t get you anywhere. Put in your creativity and innovation and the result is just mind-blowing!!
How to effectively utilize Visual Merchandising for Online Stores?
Let’s have a look at various techniques to make the best use of visual merchandising to bring your online store to the forefront.
Practise Story-telling
Carry out telling your brand’s story which will prompt your customers into buying the product. Storytelling is an effective way to allow customers to know about a brand’s personality, values, and authenticity.
Branded storytelling is proved to have established an emotional connection between the customer and the brand. It does help the customers trust a brand and develop an everlasting relationship with it.
Fascinate them with Product Descriptions
Don’t underestimate the importance of product description in marketing. A short and precise description provides the customers with all the information that they need to know about the product before hitting the “Add to Cart” button.
Ensure that you provide the clear-cut description, price, specifications like color, size, etc. so that the user can confirm that this is the product they’ve been looking for!
90% of the customers won’t spare time to read lengthy product descriptions. It is advisable to avoid complex product terminologies.
A vast majority of the customers won’t buy the product that they don’t understand.
Enable Browsing Enhancements
Enabling browsing enhancements like sorting products based on color or specific features allows the users to choose on what basis they wish to sort the products and view only the relevant products.
Provide Product Recommendations
Product Recommendation is a prominent tool in Online Merchandising. This is a key area that is growing day by day. Fine tune your product recommendation strategies for different pages so as to create a better user experience.
The products are displayed based on user preferences, user activity, and general trends.
The product recommendations use the products or pages previously viewed by the user. For example, if the user starts searching for ladies sandals, then the subsequent pages would display ladies footwear or accessories as the recommended product. This data is used again whenever the user visits social media like Facebook, Instagram, etc.
You can personalize the products based on the data collected from the users. Now you’re aware of the products they have viewed and added to their cart. You can use this data to provide better personalization to their fellow users.
You have to ensure that the product recommendations that you provide boost your sales conversions and not throw into confusion.
Make use of cutting-edge technologies like data mining and data analytics to get this done without further struggle.
Offer Customized shopping experience
Personalization has become increasingly popular these days. Giving customers a personal touch can help improve your brand recognition. Personalization provides customers with relevant products and increases the probability of sales conversions.
A vast majority of online shoppers find personalized products interesting and are drawn towards brands that offer them.
Personalization is easier for online stores since there’s only a single place to sell them- online!
But this ain’t the case with retail stores where the number of places and ways in which a customer can shop varies.
Emphasize User-generated contents
Story-telling can be increasingly practiced using User-Generated Content (UGC). User-generated contents like customer photos, reviews and ratings help to build customer trust. It also increases engagement and time-on-site. It can also be used as a strong social proof for your brand. You’re not marketing at your audience anymore. In fact, you’re marketing with them.
Make use of User-Generated Contents and let it speak for you!
Use these online visual merchandising strategies to take your business to the next level.
Contrary to the popular notion that coupons are mere discounts, coupons actually help you build potential customers, boost your sales volume, and promote customer repeat business. When provided with a coupon, it’s literally the offers or discounts that seize the customer’s attention. Coupons are a great way to draw customers who wouldn’t otherwise visit your online store to make a purchase.
Coupons when used constructively, can significantly add top-line revenue to your business.
Digital Coupons: What?
Digital coupons are just like the conventional paper coupons that your fellow customers can utilize for redeeming discounts or offers. These are aimed at capturing the customer’s attention and persuading them into making the purchase by providing them with attractive offers and discounts.
It’s cost-effective when compared to the conventional coupons which require printing and other costs. It can even be sent by text, email, or even any other communication methods.
Digital Coupons: Why?
Coupons have increasingly become a necessity these days. Coupons play a crucial role in attracting potential customers into the online store. They help in boosting your brand image without any funding. This, in turn, makes your brand name popular among the end-users.
Convincing new customers into purchasing your products is indeed a difficult task. Once the purchase is made, you can look for more ways to build their trust and making them come back for more. Coupon marketing is one such tactic to get customers on the hook.
Here are some of the reasons why digital coupons must be added to your marketing strategy:
Entice customers and generate more traffic
> Many studies show that there has been a significant increase in foot traffic when discounts are offered to customers.
Reduce the advertising costs for businesses
> Make sure that your discount coupons contain your company name, address, and other information so that potential customers may recognize your brand as one that offers exciting discounts and hence draw in more customers which otherwise would’ve cost you a considerable amount for the advertising purpose.
Acquire customer database
> Coupons can be used as a method to collect customer information like phone number, email address, or even location. This can be used to build a database of potential customers who would be interested in coupons and discounts.
Move older products
> At times, some of the products won’t be a hit. This could be because of many reasons. In such a case, these products can be reintroduced to the customers by incorporating appropriate offers and discounts into it.
New customers for the business
> Providing offers and discounts is a great way to attract customers into your online store. You can even turn those ordinary customers into potential customers.
Digital Coupons: Different Types
The online store owners are always looking out for newfangled ways to increase customer engagement on their website. This may include a bonus that may be in the form of digital coupons that can be used for redeeming discounts and other benefits for the next purchase.
Let’s have a look at some of the different types of digital coupons.
Downloadable coupons
These are the coupons that are accessible to users all around the globe. The customers can have these coupons from either the company’s website or directly from an email or even from social media. Downloadable coupons can also be accessed from mobile devices as well.
Mobile coupons
Mobile coupons are sent to the customer’s cell phone as a text message or can be downloaded using smartphone applications.
The coupon barcodes are scanned directly from the user’s mobile phone and the benefits are applied to it.
Promo codes
Promo codes are being increasingly used these days. They are faster than the typical discount coupons and are easy for the customers to use.
They consist of strings of letters or numbers that the customers can make use to avail of the discount. These are often intended to encourage customers to make purchases.
Automatic discounts
These are yet another major discount coupon that is gaining popularity these days. Here, the customer doesn’t have to do anything in particular in order to claim the discount. These are automatically applied on proceeding with the purchase. The cart abandonment rate is reduced while using these coupons. Hence, it’s a great option to have it in your online store.
Digital Coupons: Strategizing Coupons
Incorporating coupons to your marketing process can significantly boost sales, thereby add considerable revenue to your online store.
Here are some of the potential benefits of having coupons in your marketing process:
1. Rule out low-selling products
Some of the items in your online store won’t be a big hit! You can easily get rid of these items by offering exciting discounts. Couponing is a great way to increase your coupon amount over a long period of time.
2. Encourage your customers to buy more
Improve your sales by adding appropriate spending thresholds. Incorporate suitable discount messages too. This is a great way to ensure increased customer engagement on your website, thereby adding on to your sales conversions.
3. Form an email list
Do not underestimate the power of data! Especially the data that is from your potential customers is very much valuable. There are many brands out there that offer a considerable amount of discount for every signup for their email. Even by offering a mere discount of 10% can help you build an email list of 1000+ persons.
4. Measure the effectiveness of channels
Coupons can be used to measure the effectiveness of channels. Try to put a different 10% code each on different social channels like Facebook, Instagram and you can see which of these channels works the best for you! You can make use of the results to have a fair idea on which channel your customers are likely to take up the offers.
5. Add a time limit
Adding a time limit for the offers can actually drive in more customers into making the purchase. Create a sense of urgency or Fear Of Missing Out(FOMO) for this.
6. Foster your referral marketing
It ain’t surprising that the majority of the referral programs increasingly make use of coupons and discounts. It’s for both new customers and existing customers as well. This is a sure-shot way to improve and promote your brand image. Here, the existing customers are rewarded for spreading the brand image and thus bringing in more customers.
7. Acquire customer feedback
Sometimes, surveys are better than giving a 10% or 20% discount. Surveys are extremely useful in obtaining information like customer expectations, requirements, etc. It’s more like customer feedback.
Digital Coupons: Marketing Coupons
Now that you are acquainted with the digital coupons, let’s have a look at how to incorporate coupons into your marketing strategy.
1. Social media
Firstly, put in 24-hour-only coupons as your story on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms. This will create a sense of urgency and the customer will be prompted to grab the offer before the time runs out!
Make sure that you make it as creative as possible. There are a myriad of other offers and discounts all over social media and if you really want to make your products stand out, then this is what you can do.
2. Email
Whenever you launch a new product, try to incorporate discount coupons into your emails, be it system-generated emails or transactional emails. Adding coupons is a good way to measure the results. Also, just sending coupons along with your email doesn’t make them appealing! Make sure that you use your creativity to make them enticing to the customers.
3. SMS
More and more stores these days prefer to send offers and discount coupons via text message. Offering discounts to allow SMS messaging is a great way to create a customer base.
4. Advertisements
Advertising on different social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc can help you to identify which channel is the most sought-after and that which works the best for you.
5. Influencer coupon codes
Influencer marketing is what most of the business brands make use of these days. Connect with an appropriate influencer whom you think will work the best for you, provide them with a unique coupon code, and analyze the results.
6. Affiliate links
Offering affiliate links along with the coupons are the easiest way to prompt the customer into buying. Utilizing affiliate marketing can actually cut down advertising costs.
7. Social events
Attending a promotional event, festivals or any other local events is actually a brand-building tactic. Offering discount coupons along with this can actually boost your sales conversions and turn the prospects into your potential customers.
Coupons are an effective way to boost your sales and thereby add in more revenue to your business. Incorporating them into your marketing strategy can build your customer base and gradually increase your sales. Now, most of the business brands are employing coupons to bring in more revenue.
If you’re still not using coupons, then it’s high time you use coupons for your business. However, you can use coupons the way you would like to more than just offering simple discounts.
In the end, everyone loves to bargain and coupons indeed foster a feeling of getting a bargain. This paves the way for the very existence and success of coupon marketing!
Zennode was founded keeping the fact that WooCommerce is the next big thing. Staying strong with this idea, we have developed varied WooCommerce Plugins some of which are the market leaders. We believe the best can be delivered from a team effort, and we have the best among teams.
Why is understanding abandonment necessary? A whopping 69.57% is the statistics of an average global shopping cart abandonment rate, based on the 2020 forecast. If I had an e-store, knowing the numbers, I would be shattered
A mindset you have to uphold here is to understand the reason or the cause of such human behavior. A customer selects the product he is willing to purchase, and then something happens, and he retrieves from the purchase decision and abandons the cart.
So, What Is Cart Abandonment?
It is a concept used in eCommerce to describe the shoppers who add items to their online cart or even start the checkout process but leave the site before completing the purchase. Certain factors determine the reason for such behavior, i.e. excessive shipping charges that get added in the checkout process, no guest checkout options, no multiple payment options, etc.
How To Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment?
It’s annoying to know why thousands of visitors abandon their cart before checkout. This approach is quite common, and this is when you have to come up with techniques to reduce such behavior.
Provide Clarity On The Additional Costs
Don’t put your customer to surprise knowing the additional charges incurred in the checkout process. Expenses such as shipping cost, delivery charges, tax charges, hidden costs, are added to your product value. Make sure no such thing occurs.
Your customers are the asset that you have to nurture. Make sure to be transparent on all incurred costs for the product they wish to purchase. One thing to do is to display all costs upfront at the time of product selection. This indeed is a way to avoid the astound that the customer feels. The best way to diminish cart abandonment is by providing free shipping to customers. But sometimes providing free shipping does not come under the policy of the store, the last thing you can do here is to notify the customer with the total incurred cost beforehand.
Provide Guest Checkout And Social Logins
A random visitor who is asked to create an account in an eCommerce site is most likely to leave abandoning the cart. Filling out the email address validating it and providing a password will be quite annoying for a visitor who has no plans of making future purchases, where there are several options available for them.
Provide a way most easier for your visitor, and here social logins would help. Anticipating the time that would be consumed throughout the checkout process, pulls back the person from making the purchase decision. Login with your Facebook and Google are the mostly found social logins. Adapt that which you think will comfort your visitor to make a better purchase decision.
Provide A Simple And User-Friendly Checkout
A problematic and complicated checkout process is one of the primary reasons for cart abandonment. A smooth and secure checkout is a dream of every customer, which indeed will assure him come for repurchases, but when it turns the other way round, it will lose some potential customers. The elongated checkout process is, the higher the chances of cart abandonment
Keep it short and straightforward. Make sure to avoid the elements that are unnecessary and focus on the necessary information. Try to contain your checkout processes in one place.
Provide Effortless Navigation
Navigation within the website made easy is the relief for the customers. A smooth navigation system will help in reducing cart abandonment. For several eCommerce websites, it is often found that when a user clicks on the back button after finishing a specific tab, all the information is omitted and users are asked to fill in their data again. It is bothersome to customers. Getting prospective customers going through several pages will scare them off your website until they can pay for a product.
The thumb rule is to ensure that consumers don’t have to browse through more pages before they can buy the stuff. Similarly, the customer interface would be reasonably straightforward to identify the most critical elements they need to complete their order.
Better Loading Speed For Websites
Does your site take more loading time? You are missing out on a massive number of potential customers due to this. We usually select the product, and in the checkout process, there will be an issue with the loading speed, and eventually, the customer will backout. Work on your checkout page and improve the speed and quality. Find out where more time is consumed and optimize to rule out the problem in the future. Make sure to optimize the images to manage the gap between quality and speed.
Provide A Clear Return Policy
Policies are the backbone of every eCommerce store. Policies are created, keeping in mind the purchase behavior of a customer. There are chances a shopping cart is abandoned if the customer is not satisfied with the terms and conditions. The customer might be tempted to purchase the product but is backing out due to your return policy.
Have a transparent and robust policy on returns. Provide them with enough days to refund or return the product if it has defects or if it doesn’t meet their expectations. Users should feel more relaxed when shopping that will prompt the customers to repurchases.
Provide Payment Options
It would be tragic to see a customer leaving the cart practically for not getting enough payment options because of the unavailability of the preferred payment method. People moved to digital wallets, which are often called e-wallets. Therefore it will not be enough to provide only limited payment options such as credit card and debit card. The more choices you offer your clients, the more relaxed they feel when making the order.
Provide A Convincing Image
An image should portray a brick-and-mortar feel to a person when they visit your store. One of the biggest online shopping problems is that consumers don’t get to check out the items physically. It can lead to circumstances where consumers get an underwhelming product relative to their expectations. Make sure the image you upload is the same picture of your product. Providing different angles of the product picture will enable you to assure customers of product quality.
Create Scarcity
There are moments when a shopper needs some extra motivation to go ahead and finish his purchase. It is where the shortage can be used to build the desire to buy now.
Another tactic is to indicate how many units there are left of a product. Telling the consumer, for example, that there are only three remaining dresses in the size and design they want will push them to buy based on fear of losing out.
Another way to manipulate scarcity is to install a countdown clock. It works when you’re doing exclusive offers and flash sales. Once consumers know that they only have a few hours to get the deal, browsing around is less likely to be wasted.
Send an Update Email
Sometimes it happens that we drop something in the cart and forgets about the purchase. Here we can create an automated email system to which we can send out the email to customers who have entered their login details. We create an opportunity for the customers to complete the checkout process by providing a backlink to the checkout page with the selected product details. The automated email can be sent in a series that can benefit from bringing back the revenue that would have disappeared.
Zennode is a market leader in providing WooCommerce and WordPress plugins with reasonable rates throughout the globe. Equipped with a team of experts in various departments Zennode has attained its heights. We offer a constant update of plugins providing better user experience with continuous support.
