We’re back for a new episode. Today we’re discussing part 2 of our last topic.  The last time we discussed our predictions we spoke about eCommerce in general. So today’s topic is Our Predictions for eCommerce: Amazon. The subject of Amazon is so in depth that its own episode.

On today’s episode we’ll talk about what Amazon is facing in the next few years, and what sort of reactions a seller might see to that market.

Here are today’s topics:

• The inventory issues Amazon appears to be having.
• The increase in storage fees.
• The benefits of sellers having warehouses.
• Amazon’s achilles heel and how the competition is exploiting it.
• The raise of “crap reviews” and why it’s becoming a problem.
• The “Groupon effect” comes to Amazon.
• Amazon’s growing product expansion.
• How that expansion affects other sellers.
• Amazon’s brick and mortar stores.
• The customers Amazon have a hard time reaching (or may never reach.)
• The differences between A, B, and C grade malls.
• How the mall grade affects brick and mortar availability.
• The importance of niche marketing in eCommerce.
• The challenges a newcomer will see in the future.

We don’t see Amazon going away, but it will adapt to this highly competitive climate. E-Commerce is an evolving business and it is adapting with its market. These are just our opinions and observations, but maybe we will encourage you to form your own opinions and observations.

Resources Mentioned Today:

Amazon

Cuttingboard.com

Colorit

Icewraps

If you have any questions or anything you’d like us to discuss on the podcast please go to ecomcrew.com and fill out the contact form. Also we would really appreciate if you would leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

On today’s episode we discuss the future of ecommerce. We talk about what we notice in the market right now. We also discuss our future plans for our businesses.

This will be a part one on this subject. Part two will focus on our predictions about business on Amazon.

The topics we discussed today:

• Why Amazon’s trade deal with China will cause trouble for American manufacturers.
• The things that Mike thinks will set China back in a “take over.”
• Signs that retail stores are dying.
• Automation’s role in retail shopping and production.
• Will Facebook still be king of advertising?
• How PPC (pay per click) is becoming a unsavory business practice.
• Why SEO will phase out.
• Why arbitration sellers will have stricter guidelines and licensing.
• The reasons we moved away from Amazon and focused on personal selling platforms.

Our predictions for Amazon are a whole episode in itself, so tune in for part two of this topic. Our Predictions for eCommerce: Amazon.

Resources Mentioned Today:

Amazon

Color It

Cuttingboard.com

Icewraps.com

If you have any questions or anything you’d like us to discuss on the podcast please go to ecomcrew.com and fill out the contact form. Also we would really appreciate if you would leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

During today’s episode we talk about the common debate e-commerce founders have: Shopify or BigCommerce. In recent developments BigCommerce has made some polarizing changes to their services. The changes have alienated theme developers and price changes have alienated users. This has caused many users to move their business to Shopify.

We discuss this shift and compare Shopify and BigCommerce. We have both had experience with both sites so our conversation is more of a pro and con list.

The questions we answer today are:

• Which site has the most capacity for products that require lots of options (ex: color choice).
• Which site is most common (thus easier to work with for others)?
• Which site makes managing orders easier.
• Which site allows the best customer follow-up process.
• Which site offers the best coupon or sale options to a customer.

Other topics we cover are:

• What happened to BigCommerce’s business.
• Why Shopify is so much bigger than BigCommerce.
• Why check out conversation is a big plus for these sites.
• BigCommerce’s theme changes and why it’s causing problems.
• The pros of BigCommerce.
• The pros of Shopify.

We tried to keep away from bashing these sites because both sites have their uses. It all depends on what an entrepreneur needs to do on their platform. So consider this episode as a weighing of the options. Go with whatever will best fit your product.

Resources Mentioned Today:

Shopify

BigCommerce

Cuttingboard.com

Icewraps.com

Color It

If you have any questions or anything you’d like us to discuss on the podcast please go to ecomcrew.com and fill out the contact form. Also we would really appreciate if you would leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!