Here at Accorin, we pride ourselves on keeping up with the latest trends, strategies and developments in e-commerce and online marketing. We want to share the insights that we gain and help keep you ahead of the curve from month to month. This is the first edition of the Accorin Monthly Newsletter, where we will be highlighting current online trends, useful articles and inspiring new e-commerce websites every month.
Our team has been scouring the internet looking for the most relevant, up-to-date content from the e-commerce realm to share with you. With an immense amount of content being published on the subject of e-commerce every day, we aim to provide you with the best of the best. Each month we will summarize one insightful post in six different categories; trends, strategy, marketing, design, technology and inspiration.
Trends
With the New Year in full swing, it’s a great time to look back at 2015. The data has been collected, the numbers have been crunched and the results are in. Check out this article from Internet Retailer for a comprehensive roundup of the year-over-year figures:
https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/01/25/online-sales-surge-just-christmas
Strategy
In terms of e-commerce strategy, Internet Retailer has delivered an in-depth article this month. They cover Amazon’s efforts to strengthen their fashion category. The e-commerce giant has been making inroads into the fashion market since 2012; will they be able to conquer it? Find out more here:
https://www.internetretailer.com/mobile/2015/12/31/amazons-foray-fashion
Marketing
Klaviyo, one of our favorite e-commerce marketing automation tools, launched a new feature this month, which allows you to match your customers’ Facebook login address and show them targeted ads through Facebook. The ability to sync your customer email list with Facebook Custom Audiences opens up some exciting revenue opportunities. This innovative feature will allow you to use the same targeting you use in your email marketing in your Facebook ads; how cool is that?
http://blog.klaviyo.com/2016/01/05/feature-launch-integration-for-facebooks-custom-audiences/
Design
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that mobile design has become increasingly important. And it is continuing to have a huge impact. The basics of design don’t ever change but trends do and 2016 has plenty of new design trends in store. Search Engine Watch takes a look at some of the emerging trends, good and bad, for 2016: https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/review/2438285/12-good-bad-and-ugly-web-design-trends-for-2016
Technology
Magento-based websites have been the focus of large scale attacks in the past and with over 200,000 companies using the e-commerce platform, it should be no surprise. However, with proactive maintenance and by implementing Security Best Practices, you can significantly reduce the risk of being hacked. Make sure you stay up-to-date with the latest patch from Magneto and avoid being vulnerable. CIO Magazine goes into more detail:
[Shameless Plug: If you need help with implementing the patch and securing your site, let us know.]
Inspiration
Searching the internet for the most inspiring e-commerce websites out there this month, we decided on Honest Beauty, an e-commerce site launched by Jessica Alba, which specializes in beauty products. They’ve implemented a great strategy with just three clicks to checkout. It’s honestly a beautiful website (pun intended!).  https://www.honestbeauty.com/
The Bottom Line
That’s it for our January roundup. Our team will continue to keep an eye on the emerging trends, strategies and technologies through February and will be searching for those websites that inspire.
