The JetRails Podcast

eCommerce businesses are now data companies. Data helps merchants find the best marketing channels and campaigns. It assists in optimizing on-site experiences, and even efforts to retain customers for the long haul. In this episode, we focused on tips, tools, and recommendations for merchants that want to use data to be more successful in 2021. That includes newer products like Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity, but also important and evolving concepts around cookies, bot traffic, and other important considerations. Guest: Chris Mercer, MeasurementMarketing.io Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com Resources mentioned in this episode: Your free measurement marketing toolbox, courtesy of Mercer: https://measurementmarketing.io/jetrails

Sure, you can list products on Amazon's Marketplace and Amazon will be thrilled to take your money to promote those listings... but the Amazon DSP is capable of a lot more. You can leverage Amazon's vast reach and data sets to target shoppers with ads that lead to your own eCommerce store. You can also run ads across Amazon's advertising network, which includes properties like IMDb, Twitch, Zappos, and Goodreads. In this episode, we discuss who should be leveraging Amazon's advertising network and why. Guest: Joseph La Selva, Perpetua.io Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

What Magento extensions are in demand? What are merchants and developers asking for? How has demand for different extensions changed in the last year? What are extension developers doing differently to better service eCommerce businesses? We had a lot of questions, and we certainly weren't disappointed by the answers. Tune in to learn more! Guest: Sergej Derzap, Amasty.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

eCommerce businesses experience operations challenges as they grow. Sometimes, it's with forecasting and inventory management. In other situations, there are delays in fulfillment operations, or there's time wasted and errors introduced through manual data entry. While every business is unique, in this episode, we pull at some common threads that eCommerce merchants are tethered by as they scale up... whether they realize it or not. Guest: Chad Rubin, Skubana.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com Resources mentioned in this episode: Skubana/Tushy Case Study: https://www.skubana.com/blog/growth-stories/skubana-helped-tushy-through-a-crisis Planet Money Episode on How Desi Arnaz revolutionized an industry (and exposed Americans to facets of Cuban culture): https://www.npr.org/2021/01/22/959609533/how-desi-invented-television

Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM), and the rest of the holiday shopping season is in the rearview mirror. Black Friday was up 22% year-over-year. Cyber Monday was up 15%. Bots were buying up all the Playstations. It's 2021 and shoppers are still returning holiday purchases to Amazon sellers. Those returns will wind up going to... With so many unique experiences and challenges, it's hard to imagine an eCommerce business that couldn't learn from this past Q4. Tune in as some eCommerce industry veterans try to piece together just what happened, and how we can all learn from it. Guests: Jane Powell - CloudCafe.io https://www.linkedin.com/in/janepowell13/ Russell Wollam - BrandNexity.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/russell-wollam-9b998015/ Host: Robert Rand - JetRails.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/rrand1/ Recommended Resources and Reading: https://www.cloudcafe.io/blog/f/christmas-blues-for-retailers-reverse-logisticsreturns https://www.cloudcafe.io/blog/f/christmas-blues-for-retailers-reverse-logisticsreturns https://jetrails.com/blog/web-hosting-impacts-on-marketing/ https://www.fastcompany.com/90580744/black-friday-and-cyber-monday-outages-angered-customers-on-these-48-retail-sites https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2020/11/28/cyber-monday-2020-black-friday-sales-records-coronavirus/6449464002/ https://www.inquirer.com/business/technology/bot-buying-playstation5-walmart-20201219.html

Many merchants treat gift cards, loyalty programs, and coupons as business features rather than strategies. In this episode, we do discuss the features that set eCommerce and multichannel merchants up for success, but we also discuss strategies for using these features, including in combination with each other. The goal is always to find ways to appeal to consumers. Guest: Pravin Kamble, 99minds.io Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com Additional Resources: In this episode, Pravin mentioned a new site (rallygiftcard.com) where shoppers will be able to go to find eCommerce gift cards, including from small and medium eCommerce businesses. If you're a merchant and want to be included you can submit your business through this Google Form: https://forms.gle/2wtW24QANBfEar5u8

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) isn't a specific set of tasks. It's a state of mind. You have to know your audience, test, measure, realize you don't really know your audience as well as you think you do and continue a cycle of improving your eCommerce operations. You start to understand what helps and hurts your sales stats as it relates to different customer segments and you can lean into the winning strategies. You can even use tech to help automate some facets of CRO - but not nearly all. Is it ever done? No. Tech changes, consumer preferences change, your competitors change, and so does your business. In this episode, we discuss examples of what actually helps or hinders eCommerce sales, and a whole lot more. Guest: Rob Hammett, Justuno.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com Mentioned Resources: "Why Marketers Can't Have Nice Things" by HubSpot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Seermttpuiw

Integrating data is one thing, but transforming that data through automated workflows is a whole other challenge. Learn how technology providers and service providers are coming together to solve challenges and increase eCommerce business efficiencies. Guests: - Ramesh Cooke, LYSI.co - Nate Roybal, Workato.com Host: - Robert Rand, JetRails.com

When shoppers visit a physical store, they get to interact with people, build relationships, and have unique experiences. Video technology can bring shoppers one step closer to in-person interaction with your team. In this episode, we explore how personalized video can be effectively leveraged in by eCommerce merchants. Guest: Oli Bridge, Bonjoro.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com Reference: https://www.bonjoro.com/blog/post/how-an-ecommerce-store-increased-return-traffic-by-32

Shoppers with visual, auditory, and cognitive disabilities have historically found online shopping to be challenging... and that's putting it mildly. However, today's shoppers are being drawn to brands that do a better job of servicing their needs. Along with them can come some great PR and other benefits, but at the end of the day, why wouldn't you want your digital store to be more inclusive? On the other side of the conversation is compliance. There are regulations governing the accessibility rights of users. Just as a brick and mortar business may need to have a wheelchair ramp, an eCommerce business needs to follow standards as well. In this episode, we discuss how to achieve eCommerce accessibility and compliance, helping shed some light on how merchants can succeed (and fail) to meet the needs of shoppers. Guest: Simon Dermer, EssentialAccessibility.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

A Magento website is a beautifully balanced mix of database tables, files, and code, all operating within a perfectly optimized hosting environment. Unless it's not, in which case you're in for a bumpy ride. That's when it's time for an audit. What should be included in that audit? We've got answers! Guest: Guillaume Le Tual, MageMontreal.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com Recommended Resources: https://magemontreal.com/blog/how-to-keep-your-magento-admin-console-safe-from-intrusion/ https://jetrails.com/blog/ecommerce-website-testing/ https://jetrails.com/blog/web-hosting-impacts-on-marketing/ https://jetrails.com/blog/you-really-need-to-update-your-magento-hosting-account/ https://jetrails.com/blog/magento-2-4-1-magento-2-3-6-and-other-october-2020-releases/ https://jetrails.com/blog/magento-1-security-updates/ https://jetrails.com/blog/how-to-choose-magento-extensions/ https://jetrails.com/blog/could-traffic-spikes-take-down-your-magento-site/ https://jetrails.com/blog/magento-2fa-extension/

In eCommerce, you need to get a lot of things right. Your checkout may be the most important of them. If you can't get shoppers across the finish line, all of your hard work quickly goes down the proverbial drain. That's why we invited a company that does nothing but focus on delivering an improved checkout experience for Magento stores to chat with Robert for this episode. ***Be sure to listen through the end of this track to catch a great blooper from the taping of this episode!*** Guest: Thien-Lan Weber, OneStepCheckout.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com Reference Materials & Additional Resources: Why Magento 2 doesn't address the key reasons for cart abandonment (video): https://youtu.be/hBLOnDucLEs Magento 1 End of Life Update, including Magento usage stats: https://jetrails.com/blog/magento-1-security-updates/ How to choose Magento Extensions: https://jetrails.com/blog/how-to-choose-magento-extensions/ ExtDN resources (do and Don't flyers): https://extdn.org/resources/ ExtDN latest tools: https://extdn.org/2020/10/08/announcing-the-extdn-github-actions-for-m2/ Showcases of Magento 2 stores: https://blog.onestepcheckout.com/2020/04/magento-2-showcase-13-us-online-stores/ https://jetrails.com/blog/magento-2-open-source-site-examples/ Magento Speed Test: https://jetrails.com/speed/ Magento Security Check: https://jetrails.com/security/ Magento Association: https://www.magentoassociation.org/ Thien-Lan's talk about remote work and flexibility at Meet Magento NY: https://blog.onestepcheckout.com/2018/11/remote-flexible-work-life-balance-talk-video/

eCommerce brands differentiate themselves in a number of ways, including by providing stellar customer service experiences. However, as brands scale-up, that can be exceedingly difficult. In this episode, we talk about Knowledge Base (KB) software, and opportunities to document pretty much every process, procedure, and piece of information that's important to your organization and your customers. Guest: Matt Romans, GetGuru.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Instead of looking at a specific technology or challenge, we've brought together 3 friends that have some very big things in common. All 3 have worked for firms that integrate eCommerce software with other systems. In fact, one still does. When your work is at the crossroads of online and offline commerce, and you're receiving feedback from merchants and development teams in real-time, you gain a valuable perspective on the evolution of the industry. Get insights about changes they're all seeing in the market this year. Guests: Dave Malda, eBridgeConnections.com Wayne Thompson, Optasy.com Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

The eCommerce industry puts a ton of focus onto getting shoppers to make purchases. However, what happens post-purchase matters just as much when it comes to retention and customer lifetime value (CLV). It's also important for gaining positive reviews, avoiding chargebacks, and keeping down customer-service expenses - which can quickly erode profits. Guest: James Denker, RelayCloud.io Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com