Christian Arno

Making the leap from being an English language-only online business to selling in multiple languages can be daunting, but it’s by far the fastest and most cost-effective way to massively expand your customer base. If you have the infrastructure to sell directly to consumers in China or Spanish-speaking countries, why not do it? All you…

Email gives you an ideal opportunity to engage with customers and prospects, and evidence suggests that it's still highly effective. According to a Marketo report, 77 percent of consumers said they prefer to receive permission-based marketing communications through email, compared to just 5 percent for text messages and 4 percent for social media (Facebook). Email generated nearly twice the return on investment compared to other channels, yielding $40.56 for every dollar spent. The channel with the next highest ROI, search engine marketing, yielded $22.44.

Consumer behavior isn't a fixed thing. It constantly changes, particularly in the fast-moving world of online retail, and marketing strategies have to change to keep pace. In 2014, there are three major trends of buyer behavior across search, social, email and the wider web and they all revolve around consumer empowerment. Consumers are typically becoming better informed, they increasingly know how to opt out of marketing communications and they have higher expectations.

Pinterest's current monthly visitor total of more than 70 million worldwide might be small potatoes compared to Facebook's audience of over a billion, but Pinterest's unique visual slant has been proving valuable for retailers. Here are six tips on how you can use Pinterest to help promote your retail business:

WorldPay found that 44 percent of Chinese consumers were willing to shop on international websites. However, the consumers polled had a number of concerns, suggesting that retailers have some way to go to win the trust of global consumers. Work on breaking down those obstacles to convince international consumers that you're ready to do business with them. Here are five ways how: 

Although deciding to go global can be quite a daunting commitment for a business, there really hasn't been a better time to benefit from international e-commerce than now. Recent research by Rakuten, LinkShare and Forrester Consulting shows that over the last 12 months, a staggering two-thirds (68 percent) of online shoppers bought something from outside their home country. Learning how to maximize this trend for customers buying from the comfort of their own sofa can result in a big return on investment. Here are a few simple tips on how to make jumping into the unknown a walk in the park: