Important Message from Jennifer Varner

Hello Clients!

I wanted to let you all know my daughter, Ireland, went through major surgery on Wednesday. Thank goodness everything went well and she is recovering now. However, this is effecting my response time to you.

If you have an urgent request, you can submit a support ticket, contact your project manager or one of our client consultants to assist you. I appreciate your patience and understanding!


Reminder: The Pure-Ecommerce offices will be closed Wednesday, July 3 - Friday, July 5, 2013 in observance of the 4th of July holiday. We will you all a safe and happy holiday with your families and friends!

Processing Payments Securely Online Involves a Few Key Players

If you are going to do business online, secure payment processing is a must. We just completed a three part series posted on the ERP Software Blog about payment gateways, obtaining PCI Compliance and encryption methods.

In part one, the key players of secure payment processing online are discussed. These include the merchant, the cardholder and payment gateways. Different merchant levels are also provided in details. Then in part two of the series, obtaining PCI Compliance is the focus. There are 12 steps in this process that are separated into six categories: build and maintain a secure network, protect cardholder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, implement strong access control measures, regularly monitor and test networks and maintain an information security policy. These were taken directly from the PCI DSS website. How to get started on these steps is also highlighted in part two of the series. And finally, part three details the two ways to handle sensitive data securely: tokenization and encryption. Encryption has been around for years and while tokenization is a newer technology, when it comes to secure payment processing, it is the clear winner.

To read these articles in more detail, visit our page on the ERP Software Blog.

Pure-Ecommerce Offices Will Be Closed July 3rd - 5th

The offices of Pure-Ecommerce will be closed Wednesday, July 3 through Friday, July 5, 2013 in the observance of the July 4th holiday.

The team of Pure-Ecommerce wishes you and your family a happy and safe holiday!

Video: An Important Tool For Ecommerce Websites

According to ComScore, today in the United States, 89 million people will watch 1.2 billion videos on the Internet. These videos of course include those purely for entertainment purposes, but some will also be viewed on ecommerce websites. As online shopping evolves, consumers are demanding more and video is one resource available to marketers that can be used to fulfill this request.

In the past, images and text were used to paint a picture of a product for consumers. These were further enhanced with the use of color swatches, alternate views and zoom. Now ecommerce websites are increasingly incorporating video to provide consumers with a clearer picture of different product offerings. The use of video in this way has been proven to improve conversion rates and SEO. Video can also increase product visibility when shared in email newsletters and across social media sites in addition to web stores. Overall, the use of video in ecommerce is a more engaging way to showcase products.

How to Incorporate Video

Videos can be user-generated or created by a company. Companies might create videos to:

•         Offer product advice
•         Provide instructional videos
•         Assist with product selection
•         Inform about the product category
•         Showcase the product with real life views
•         Give deeper product details

Contrarily, a user-generated video would be a testimonial. The testimonial might show the product in action or offer a review after the consumer has used it.

One company that makes great use of video on their ecommerce website is Zappos.com. Zappos films employees wearing and talking about the different shoes sold on their website. By using employees rather than hired models, consumers can relate better to the people in the videos. And further, hearing in-depth product information and seeing the shoes being worn by these employees helps consumers not only make purchase decisions, but also have a greater level of confidence in what they are buying.

As more people begin shopping online and ecommerce sales continue to grow, make sure your website has what your customers want to assist in their purchase decision making process. To learn about what ecommerce and payment processing solutions Azox offers, visit our website.

Guanxi And ecommerce in China

Guanxi And ecommerce in China 

Despite the reputation of ecommerce in China, shoppers are distant and impersonal, through social technologies such as instant messaging, they can create a sense of personal and social relationships between buyers and sellers, called "fast guanxi" in China, to facilitate transactions loyalty, interactivity and repetition,
more information. 


Three researchers - plus Pavlou, Carol Xiaojuan Or Tilburg University and Robert M. Davison, City University of Hong Kong - The data studied Taobao, the leading online marketplace in China, to examine the effectiveness of using computer-mediated communication (CMC) technology to build guanxi and turn impersonal occasional buyers into loyal customers and committed to long term through personal relationships.

 Guanxi is a Chinese concept 

"broadly as an interpersonal relationship of proximity and pervasive" and "based on the quality of social interactions and the reciprocal exchange of mutual benefit," Or, Pavlou and Davison wrote. In the past, online shoppers were assumed to prefer impersonal transactions, but their study argues that retailers and customers basically want the kind of relationship that can be called guanxi, although the degree and extent of communication varies culture.

 For example, in China, communication before an operation a few dollars could take more than 45 minutes.

 "Nobody argues that personal relationships are not important, but it is unfathomable that people in the United States would engage in such an extensive communication and personal interaction for a small transaction," said Pavlou, Milton F. Stauffer Professor of Information Technology and Strategy of the Fox School. 

 Taobao and... 

IM technology used on Taobao allows buyers and sellers to interact immediately and use emoticons and avatars in the negotiation and verification of the details of the transaction. In addition, all guest posts related to a specific product are displayed in a message box. Finally, the feedback system allows users to textual and numerical evaluations of buyers and sellers that create other reports. "The role of CMC tools in the rapid establishment guanxi via interactivity, presence and confidence, suggests that the buyer-seller interaction can easily and quickly turn strangers into knowledge," the researchers write. "In terms of repeated transactions, the effective use of CMC tools creates a significant opportunity for online sellers who want to quickly build guanxi with buyers by building buyers' trust.

" With the use of CMC tools (such as instant messaging, message boxes and return), Taobao has reached a level of loyalty or "sticky", 71.3 per cent of its customer base - the kind loyalty that is usually associated to brick and mortar retailers. Guanxi, largely made possible by CMC tools, can help to explain the success of Taobao in China despite eBay's attempts to capture the online market in China with eBay in China (EachNet). Taobao currently has a 96 market share in China per cent against 0.1 per cent for EachNet.

source : http://www.sciencecodex.com/ecommerces_future_is_in_creating_swift_guanxi_or_personal_and_social_rapport-114090


read also organic online food in China

Where to buy online Organic food in China ?

Where to buy online Organic food in China ?

What is the availability of organic food in China?
The answer is complicated and it all boils down to what the ultimate philosophy of the visitor is on the food "organic" and their confidence level. New food scandals seem to be a weekly event - the most famous of them was contaminated with melamine and infant formula milk. But recently, Wal-Mart stores in Chongqing have been temporarily closed for the sale of meat ordinary pork as organic. The bottom line is, you can find plenty of food in China, which claims to be organic, but it can not ultimately be what you (or someone) would consider organic.

How do you say Organic?

The word organic in Mandarin Chinese is youji, pronounced gee Yoh. The characters are 有机. If you want to ask if something is organic, you can say "Zhe ge shi youji my? This phrase is pronounced "juh geh sheh Yoh my gee?"

这个 是 有机 吗?

 Alternatively, you can display characters:
 Growing organic food in China While China has been on the rise as one of the largest producers of organic vegetables for export, "organic" food that is for sale locally is suspect. organic quality export go through rigorous testing and inspection before being sent overseas because they fall under the control of the importing country (Canada often and the United States) where criteria are rigid. However, the food for the domestic market does not undergo such a review. While the controls can theoretically be implemented, corruption abounds. Organic labels can be easily manufactured.

The organic farming movement arose in the 1940s in response to the industrialization of agriculture known as the Green Revolution.
 Organic food production is a heavily regulated industry, distinct from private gardening. Currently, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan and many other countries require producers to obtain special certification in order to market food as organic within their borders. In the context of these regulations, organic food is food produced in a way that complies with organic standards set by national governments and international organizations.

Buy organic foods in supermarkets:

 In large cities, there are supermarkets that carry the organic brands of imported dry goods, such as raisins, flour, biscuits, etc. There is a limited amount of organic dry goods from China. If you are not vegetarian, your life can be difficult. I rarely saw meat "organic" or fish, although recently I saw pork labeled "eco-pig" of China.

In Shanghai you can buy in Epermarket , a famous online supermarket for expat.

There is no way of knowing what this label. Locally grown vegetables "organic" are available in high-end supermarkets, while fruit are harder to find. These vegetables, while claiming to be organic, are often grown in soils that do not meet international standards for organic products. So while they may not really have pesticides or herbicides used during growth, they are likely grown in soil that is not very clean and be sprinkled with water that is heavily polluted.

best Buys Organic

 Here is a good list of things you should buy organic if you can Best Buys organic. Order organic food home delivery: In large cities there is a home delivery service and the increased availability of online ordering organic foods. One such provider is a company called Shanghai Fields. While all the products they sell are organic, these companies tend to try to source the highest quality possible. specialized companies also work in the home delivery of organic milk and yogurt. If you are in China for a long stay, you can look in home delivery to most of your organic needs.

Restaurant Dining: Eating is difficult. They can advertise food as organic, but who knows. You may ask: "Is it organic" and the answer is an enthusiastic "yes" Then you can say to another server "is not organic, is it" and they will respond with as much??

More information here
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods of organic farming – that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic foods are also not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.

 organic food in China is rising

Although interest and availability of organic food in China is rising, it is not near the standards of Europe / Australia / North America. So if you are serious about continuing your organic life in China, then I suggest you to think like a squirrel and pack enough food whole nuts, seeds and dried fruit to get through the winter. Bottom Line: I lived in Shanghai for many years and my two children were born here. Food scandals really scare me - as they are all local and expatriate community.

We do the best we can with what we can. If I can buy organic and I trust them
 If I'm in a questionable shop and they tell me that it's organic, I'm skeptical. The internal market and national interests in organic food increases as disposable income is internal, which makes buying organic food more expensive as possible
read also http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/slowfoodorganiclocal/a/organicproduce.htm

Azox Webinars in June

Each month Azox hosts three webinars to showcase our solutions. Customers, prospects and partners are all invited to attend these free webinars to watch live demos of each of the three Azox solutions. This June, our webinars will be held the 18, 19 and 20. Read more about our products and signup to attend one of these webinars today. Follow the links below to register.

Advantages of Online Bill Pay

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Adding Online Bill Pay to your ecommerce website gives your customers a portal to log into and view, print and pay outstanding invoices. This self-service feature adds convenience and allows you to collect payments 24/7/365. Azox Online Bill Pay solution integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics GP. Attend this webinar to see a live demo of this product.

Secure Credit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Accept ACH and credit card payments from your web store when you implement Azox Credit Card Extension (CCE). This solution is PA-DSS certified and uses tokenization to store sensitive data offsite. Pre-authorize, post-authorize, sale, void and credit when you add Azox CCE to your ecommerce website. Attend this webinar to see a live demo of this product.

Integrated E-Commerce for Microsoft DynamicsGP

Thursday, June 20, 2013

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. EST

Grow your business online with an ecommerce website built on Microsoft Dynamics GP. Provide your customers with a web store where they can browse products, see real-time pricing and inventory information and place orders. One page guest checkout and a shipping calculator are two other features in addition to many more. Attend this webinar to see a live demo of our ecommerce solution.

If these dates do not fit your schedule, visit our website to schedule a personal demo or look for next month's webinars.

Google Checkout Will No Longer Be an Option for Payment Processing This November

Google Checkout, an online payment processing service, will be discontinued November 20, 2013 Google announced at the end of May this year. This service, which acted as an alternative to PayPal, will be integrated with Google Wallet, a tool that allows shoppers to store credit and debit card information, loyalty cards and more using their Google account. This service additionally provides fraud protection as well as purchase history and status.

Merchants who currently use Google Checkout will be able to continue doing so until November 20, 2013. At that point, however, if the merchant does not have their own payment processing solution, a new option will need to be implemented. In an attempt to make this process easier for merchants, Google has partnered with several solutions, none of which are free. These options include Braintree, Freshbooks and Shopify. Google has described these as “discounted migration options.”

On the other hand, U.S. merchants that have other payment processing solutions will be able to take advantage of Google Wallet, which Google has been working to improve. Google added two new features to Google Wallet, which were also announced in May 2013. These new features are Wallet Objects API and Instant Buy API. Wallet Objects API is the feature that allows users to store their loyalty card information, take advantage of promos and more. The second addition, Instant Buy API, is a feature that makes the checkout process easier for customers. Those shopping with an Android device who also use Google Wallet will be able to make purchases with just a few clicks since the app saves their billing, shipping and card information. This feature can be offered to customers by merchants that sell a physical good or service.

If you are using Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting software and need a payment processing solution, explore Azox Credit Card Extension. This product allows you to process both ACH and credit card payments securely while integrating with Dynamics GP.

Follow Us on Instagram!

Hello Clients! Pure-Ecommerce would like for you to start following us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/pureecommerce. Here you will be able to follow our posts as we share pictures and information on ecommerce.

Follow us today!

What are the most popular e-commerce websites in China?

What are the most popular e-commerce websites in China? 

The peculiarity of the Chinese Internet is that you can find everything when you want to buy online. Some sites are even specialized in specific products, such as handbags or ready to wear baby. We will now turn our attention to B2C sites most used by the Chinese and their characteristics ...

China: First country in terms of online shoppers To mention some figures for the year 2012, 220 million e-shopper there were according to marketingtochina.com  43% of Chinese Internet users.

According to the analysis, there will be 424 million of online shoppers in 2016.

With these figures, China is positioned logically in the first place countries number of users who have shopped online.

Between 2011 and 2012, the e-commerce in China has increased by 25.8%, is the fastest growing activity. Social and e-commerce systems are closely linked, in fact, more than half of users Weibo, the most popular platform of microblogging in China, say go to an e-commerce site after getting the information they needed in the Chinese social network.


 In C2C Taobao Alibaba Group reigns grandmaster !

Regarding B2C, the trend is a little different as the graph below the China Internet Watch website that lists the major sites in China in terms of market share shows.

Here below a description of the major players: B2C market share

1. Tmall (44.1% market share) 

Established in April 2008, Tmall belongs to Alibaba Group also owns Taobao and Alibaba. Tmall is the 8th most visited site in China according to Alexa ranking. We count 100 million registered users on the site. Payments are made from Alipay (Chinese equivalent of PayPal) for consumers in China, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. Brands can create a personalized space to sell their product for example Nike (nike.tmall.com).

2. 360buy

JD.com (16%) 360buy can be considered a pioneer since the site was launched in July 1998. Initially focused on electronics, the website has rapidly diversified to a range of consumer items (shoes, toys, cosmetics etc..). In October 2012, the site launched internationally with an English version, 360buy announcement on its site 400 000 products can be delivered in 35 countries.

 

3. Buy.QQ.com (3.8%) 

 The company Tencent, well known in China and in the world to be at the origin of the QQ instant messaging but also the implementation WeChat also wanted to launch its e-commerce platform in October 2011. Like many of its competitors, Tencent offers items such as cosmetics, ready to wear or jewelry. The site from the beginning wanted to partner with other small e-commerce sites such as Haolemai specialized in the shoe or Yixun specializing in electronics.

Buy.QQ.com

This is a beautiful performance to stand in 3rd place by being launched in 2011.

4. Suning (3.5%) 

Suning has the distinction of being an actor with this physical stores (more than 1300 across China). Suning has decided to launch its website in order to obtain an additional source of income. The website also aims to diversify into online booking for tourism, following the trend of its 360buy competitor.

5. Amazon.cn (2.3%) Need to introduce Amazon. 

The giant U.S. e-commerce positions in 5th place in China with 2.3% market share. What is interesting is that Amazon has bought a Chinese actor (Joyo) in 2004 to 75 million dollars to enter the Chinese market. Amazon's strategy is oriented to the U.S. rather than trying to adapt to the Chinese market. The Kindle will also make an appearance in the coming days in China. http://www.amazon.cn/

6. Dangdang (1.5%)

 Dangdang 360buy can be considered as a pioneer in the Chinese e-commerce. The website was launched in 1999. The offices are located in Beijing. Dangdang has specialized in books. The website is also an IPO in November 2010. One of its main competitors is 360buy.

7. Gome (1.5%) 

As Suning, Gome is a click-and-mortar. Founded in 1987, is a specialist appliances and electronics to the general public. The company is known in China for having some organizational and financial turmoil on the part of its leaders.

8. VANCL (0.9%) 

The heart of business Vancl is ready to wear. On its website, the company only sells his own products. It could be compared to Gap or Uniqlo for example. In parallel, the company also launched the Vjia.com site that sells many brands of ready to wear. In 2011, the site wanted to go to the United States, but ultimately it does not happen.

 9. YiHaoDian.com (0.9%) 

Yihaodian was founded in 2008. This is the grocery store most famous China online. The giant Wallmart was first invested in Yihaodian in 2011, the U.S. did receive his knowledge in logistics in the Chinese company. Since 2012, Wallmart renewed investments for 51% stake in the Chinese company.
10. Others (25.5%)


From the rest of the players is very low, we can combine them into one "Other" category. In this category include companies such as 51buy, Coo8 or NewEgg.more information

 

Conclusion 

After analyzing the data, so it is clear that Tmall dominates this highly competitive market with almost 50% market share. It is therefore very difficult for other sites to stand out and gain market share, having Tmall natural choice in the minds of Chinese.

But all is not lost before, in fact here are 10 tips to succeed effectively in the field of e-commerce on the Chinese Internet.

A Chinese ecommerce giant

A Chinese ecommerce giant

A few days ago we reported  presenting partner at the D11 conference, and looked at the attention she paid to China. Among the many data points that had to be shared on the largest Internet market in the world, Meeker included a slide that shows how ecommerce giant Jingdong (formerly 360buy) offers same day delivery in 25 cities.

a Chinese ecommerce giant has three-hour delivery

Delivery routes, she noted, could be followed via a map, and buyers could even make contact with the delivery people, they did the job. Well, today, Jingdong has more news on the front of same-day delivery, and guess what: It gets even faster. The company announced it is taking delivery of three hours, and it extends its same day delivery orders hours 11:00 to 3:00 p.m..
This means that buyers of all the past had to place an order before 11am to receive same day shipping, they now have up to 15 hours, which means that orders arrive 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m..

New shipping options are available in six major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. 360buy delivery In the United States, of course, even Amazon has just begun with same day delivery, and Google has done a great show to start a test program in a city: San Francisco. more information here

 Ecommerce and delivery ! 

Crowdsourcing Comes start focusing solely on the challenge of same-day delivery. The consequences are significant, with "Farhad" predict that the delivery service the same day Amazon will eventually destroy local retail.


In China, the consequences are more severe along the intra-sectoral competitive lines, Jingdong constantly trying to improve his match against dominant Taobao and Alibaba Tmall while trying to push the other online retailers such as electronics giants some and Suning. The stakes are high for Jingdong, which has raised more than $ 2 billion in venture capital, including a round of $ 700 million in February led by a Saudi prince, and is still not profitable.


Analysts have interpreted the cycle giant funding as a sign that Jingdong Alibaba run a public offering. The retailer would have had to delay the IPO plans in the past, amid suggestions that bled money in price wars that have characterized the sector e-commerce in China in recent years, and has the "ugly and operating margins." Although it is expected to be profitable by Jingdong at the end of this year, some analysts believe it may still not made public until 2014 as it passes the time to intervene build its logistics network. Delivery of three hours could help push this mission before, but even if the movement looks good on the consumer side to Jingdong, it will not make life easier on the backend.

view also http://ecommerce-china.blogspot.com/2013/05/chinese-e-commerce-in-2012.html