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Best Practices for E-Commerce Websites

By
Ee Lyn
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0

Key Strategies for E-Commerce Website Excellence

Whether your E-Commerce business offers physical products or intangible products such as software, you must have a strong online presence based on industry best practices to succeed.

With so much competition in the E-Commerce market, E-Commerce businesses must overcome several obstacles to establish their position online.

Following these best E-Commerce practices for 2024 will give you an edge over the competition.

1. Optimize Your Product Pages with Clear Descriptions and Quality Images

One of the most crucial pages on your E-Commerce website is the product page.

As a result, it’s only reasonable that you’d want to design an excellent product page.

Product pages that are well-designed can assist in converting visitors into customers.

A well-optimized product page helps in providing your visitors with the information they require to make an informed purchase.

lear product descriptions and high-quality photos are two of the most critical aspects of any product page.

For easy reading, you should incorporate brief bullet points into your product descriptions.

Concise content consists of 1-4 phrases that describe the product. 

The finest product pages also include high-quality photos that showcase the items in their full splendour.

When it comes to the quality of your images, you should never cut corners because it could hurt sales.

Visitors will not make a purchase if the image is of poor quality or does not accurately depict the product.

People want to see a clear representation of what the product will look like in real life.

2. Assist Users in Exploring and Purchasing Related Products

While most people dislike being sold, it can be beneficial to help customers discover related products that can help them improve their usage.

Customers who buy running shoes in your E-Commerce store, for example, may be happy to find additional exercise gear nearby rather than having to search for it.

This can have a significant impact. It has a significant influence on customer experience.

Customers can choose whether or not to add to their first purchase or buy a more expensive item.

This is not a “forced” upsell.

3. Ensure that Your E-Commerce Website is Responsive and Mobile-Friendly

A good website is the foundation of a successful E-Commerce store.

Expect your site visitors to quit in a couple of seconds if your website appears cumbersome and loads slowly.

You don’t want your marketing efforts to be wasted because of a poor website, so make it as mobile-friendly as possible.

Today, the great majority of customers use their cell phones to search for products and services.

Your website must be mobile-friendly for your visitors to have a pleasant shopping experience.

This makes it easy for customers to locate exactly what they’re searching for, which increases trust in your brand.

4. Elevate Your Customer Service With a Live Chatbot

AI chatbots for E-Commerce businesses work like online sales reps, actively analyzing customer preferences through dialogue and giving them relevant information.

AI Chatbots are intelligent chatbots that respond to customers’ questions instantly.

If you use these intelligent chatbots on your website, you don’t have to rely on the customer support crew to answer every enquiry. 

Live chatbots will guide users around the website, suggest relevant products using various strategies, and successfully automate customer interactions.

Entrepreneurs can deliver seamless customer service with AI chatbots.

5. Offer Multiple Payment Options

In this ultra-connected world, customers want experiences that are faster, easier, and more seamless than ever before, particularly when it comes to online shopping.

This is why it is critical to have a variety of payment alternatives.

Consumers today want brands that can meet their demands.

By providing numerous payment options, you will present yourself as a forward-thinking company that cares about your consumers’ needs.

As a result, your brand’s profile will rise, while sales will increase.

Offering extra payment choices will also remove the hesitancy associated with making a transaction.

6. Include Trust Badges and Customer Feedback

Traditionally, trust badges are displayed during the checkout process, but a new practice of displaying them straight on the homepage is gaining popularity.

Trust badges inform website visitors that your eCommerce website is authentic and that any information they give will be gathered by secure third-party service providers.

Furthermore, almost every purchase made by a customer is based on a review.

With the abundance of review sites available and the degree of trust most customers place in reviews, it’s reasonable to assume that practically everyone evaluating your products, regardless of target demographic, industry, or market, is reading online reviews before making a purchase.

As a result, displaying customer feedback on your E-Commerce website is critical.

7. Profits Should Be Reinvested in Your Marketing Initiatives

You’ve effectively promoted your goods or services and profited from thousands of customers.

What will be the next step?

Do what the big brands do! Profits should be reinvested in marketing. 

You’ve already created momentum with your marketing efforts, so why not capitalize on it by promoting your company even more?

Big brands like Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, etc. are heavy on reinvesting their profits in their marketing.

Consider it a cumulative investment that will generate even more profit in the future.

By reinvesting your revenues in your marketing, you can build on your success and boost your future marketing efforts.

8. Create a Referral Program

If you want to get more customers, you must implement a referral program.

A referral program encourages your existing customers to bring in new ones by incentivizing them.

Discounts, vouchers, or gift cards can all be used as incentives.

The benefit of referral programs is that they allow you to strengthen ties with your current customers while also attracting new ones.

A referral scheme can also help spread the word about your E-Commerce store.

This is a marketing strategy worth considering for small- to medium-sized enterprises in 2024.

In a Nutshell

All of the following tips have been tried and tested by thousands of E-Commerce businesses.

But it doesn’t imply that you should apply each of these suggestions without first testing them.

Every E-Commerce business is unique, with its own set of target audiences, products, and expertise, among other things.

So, if you simply replicate what another shop did without testing, your conversion rates may suffer.

Want to build an e-commerce website for your business to sell your own products or services?

View our website for more details: www.exabytes.my/websites/ecommerce-website

The Differences Between MS SQL Web vs. SQL Standard Edition

By
Jian
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0

mssql web vs standard

Few tech-savvy people know what MS SQL is or what it is used for.

If you wish to find out what MS SQL is and what its uses are, you are in the right place.

In this post, we will be telling you all there is to know about this software.

What’s more, you will find the version that you need for the decision-making that suits your business requirements, as we outline the differences between some of the editions.  

microsoft sql server logo

What is MS SQL?

MS SQL, which stands for Microsoft structured query language, is a relational database management system that is used to create, store, update, modify, process, organize, and retrieve data from a database or interlinked databases.

It is used by medium and large-sized business enterprises to enable communication among a wide variety of software capable of transaction processing and business analytics.

Its function is to store and retrieve data as requested by various software applications.

This is a highly sophisticated software because of its vast interconnection with other applications to perform a broad range of functions. It is easy to learn.

As businesses handle a vast amount of raw data, MS SQL is very handy for various enterprises in relational database management.

What is MS SQL Used for?

MS SQL comes with an intrinsic feature of storing and managing data on databases.

It also comes with various other functions that depend on your needs and workload.

MS SQL has various benefits:

  • It is easy to install.
  • It is compatible with other Microsoft products.
  • It has a high-security track record.
  • It is continuously updated for improved database security and durability.
  • It has several editions tailored to meet your database management needs and functions.
  • It can monitor transaction logs.

Microsoft sql server 2019 installation

What is the Difference Between MS SQL Web vs. SQL Standard Edition?

There are different versions of MS SQL. Among these variations are the MS SQL web and SQL standard edition.

How do you know which of them is suitable for your needs? Let’s find out by looking at their differences.

MS SQL Web SQL Standard Edition
Number of Cores and Sockets MS SQL web has its sockets capped at four, with a maximum of 16 cores. The standard edition has a limit of four sockets with a maximum of 24 cores.
Maximum Supported SQL Memory With the web edition, users are limited to one controller for Distributed Display. This feature is vital to helping users assess the impact of future SQL server upgrades. The SQL standard edition has more than one controller for Distributed Display to assess the SQL server for future upgrades.
Layers of Security There is no row security level or data masking in the SQL web edition. This makes it prone to a data breach by unauthorized persons. The standard edition comes with the row security level and data masking features. These features make it handy for well-layered protection of data stored on the database.
Maximum Memory The maximum memory for SQL web is 64GB. This offers a vast amount of space to store and organise data for enterprises. However, the SQL standard edition has more memory, as it is capped at 128GB. This huge amount of space makes it ideal for large-sized enterprises.
Backup Compression The web edition does not have the backup compression feature. The MS SQL standard edition has a backup compression feature. This offers users additional benefits without any drawbacks in terms of data or its integrity. The backup feature enables the increased backup speed of data stored in a database.
MSSQL Replication Subscriber (database slave) Publisher (database master)
Pricing (monthly) RM 110 RM 1,700
Support The MS SQL web edition does not have group support. This does not make it any easier to use than the standard edition. The MS SQL standard edition has group support that is available to users whenever they need it. This makes MS SQL easier to use.

 

All In All 

MS SQL is a highly invaluable tool for businesses to create and manage their data efficiently.

You can use MS SQL web if your application runs smoothly capped to the lesser of four sockets or 16 cores and it needs a buffer pool of less than 64 GB for both Columnstore segment cache per instance and memory-optimised data size per database.

Moreover, to build a 2-node MSSQL cluster, SQL Standard Edition or above is required. 

A company seeking MS SQL with additional and scalability features should go for the standard edition.

It’s rather expensive because of the higher number of core sockets but it delivers a higher level of data management.

Now that you have seen MS SQL and the differences between its web and standard editions, you can make a well-informed decision in choosing the edition that meets your requirements for your server or VPS.

When is the Right Time to Have a Website for My Business?

By
Chaameli
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2

When is the right time to have a website for my business

Going online has now become the new norm. With businesses shifting towards digital transformation, it is important to be equipped with the latest technology. The utmost question here is when is the right time to do so?

Most entrepreneurs are faced with a dilemma on deciding which option is best for their business. Whether to venture in online business or to maintain on offline business, or to do both has become a hot topic. To add on to that dilemma, another issue faced is whether to go for social media or a website.

With much confusion there is in this topic, it is important we dig deeper and find the best solution that will lead us to the correct pathway in growing our business online.

As a guide on the proper method and actions needed to be taken in having a website, we will look at the challenges faced in running a business, the difference between online vs offline, the pros and cons of a website and useful tips from experienced entrepreneurs.

Challenges in starting a startup

Many think that being an entrepreneur is very glamorous and fun but there are many pros and cons in being an entrepreneur and many challenges are faced too when you are starting up a business.

According to Vanessa Ong, the founder of Gernise Global and MamaShop, the biggest challenge faced for a start-up is the capital. There is always a struggle with the capital and she really needed to think of ways to reduce the operational cost of running a brick and mortar, including outsourcing.

By opting to go online, she does not need to worry about the capital as going online does not cost as much as brick and mortar do.

Valerie Aw, founder of Aestival Elements said that manpower are the challenging parts in a start-up. “Currently I’m a one woman show, so I handle logistics, finance, restocking until delivery. Presently, my main challenge is to hire a person to help me,” said Valerie.

After hiring workers, Valerie has more time to focus on things that are important for her business. Besides, focus is also very important in a business as it is needed in order to run a business smoothly.

By having a website, it is much easier to manage a business instead of a physical store as there is no rent to pay or utility bills unlike online that only comes with a one time monthly payment at a cheaper rate.

Motivation to Start an Online Store

“As my core business is B2B, it is challenging to move towards B2C. It’s a new industry for me and everything is new,” said Vanessa.

Vanessa first started her business without a website. She started doing roadshows, pop-up events and corporate events to showcase her products during lunch hours.

The questions she frequently got asked by customers the most are for a website that allowed them to browse through products.

Due to having less products and it being time consuming to handle a website, Vanessa did not opt for starting a website  until 6 months later.

The decision to kickstart a website was decided when Vanessa’s customer enquiries started to grow bigger and the demand to see the products increased since there was no virtual presence.

Besides, customers found it challenging to email or text to ask for a product image and to add up to that the feedback was delayed due to growing enquiries. “That is when I decided to start a website although I should have it done earlier,” said Vanessa.

“Like Vanessa I started the company in 2017 and did a lot of pop-up stores. After a few events, customers started asking where they could see more products because I could only bring a few items due to the limitation of physical space,” said Valerie.

As time went by, Valerie knew that it was time to own a website. She learned about WIX, a user-friendly website builder and used that to create her website as there are many ready-made templates available and that is how she started her own website.

It is a good idea to have a website as they are convenient and everyone can have access to it anytime.

Challenges and Differences Between Online & Offline

According to Valerie, the challenges of a brick and mortar store is that it fully depends on human traffic. “For example, a pop-up store in a shopping mall depends on the foot traffic going into the mall,” said Valerie.

While in eCommerce whether it’s a website, Facebook or Instagram, traffic is driven to the website by having a lot of marketing and advertising.

“Both bricks and mortar and eCommerce have their own strengths, weaknesses and challenges as well. Vanessa and I started with bricks and mortar, that is our strengths and right now we need to build on the eCommerce portion of the business,” said Valerie.

The benefits of eCommerce are that the customer base is unlimited and you can reach all over the world.

According to Vanessa, the pros of bricks and mortar are customers can touch and feel the product, see how the product looks and ask questions, purchase it on the spot and no waiting time is required to obtain the product.

While the pros of online is it allows you to shop anytime, anywhere, 24 hours a day. The cons of online is that it’s a challenging platform as it’s a crowded place with many users and high competition among entrepreneurs.

“Going online makes us constantly think of a lot of strategies and ways of how to stay competitive in this crowded space,” said Vanessa.

Insights Ongoing eCommerce in Singapore

According to Valerie, in 2019 to 2023, fashion and electronics are the main things that people will buy online. In fact, in 2021 fashion has overtaken electronics quite a bit and will continue to grow.

Based on the eCommerce activity overview, the percentage of users that have at least performed one online activity in the past month has increased.

The increase in the number of users searching and visiting online platforms can turn them into potential clients.

Entrepreneurs should take this into consideration and contemplate on venturing into online platforms and they can seek help from Exabytes if they wish to develop or venture into online business.

Encouraging Words to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

“Entrepreneurship is a very lonely journey, lonely in a sense that everyone has a friend but not all understand the struggle of being an entrepreneur,” said Vanessa.

“So it is important to have a community, like myself I have made a lot of friends with the mompreneur and we are constantly learning from each other and also we always give each other a pat on the shoulder and say that keep going, keep moving and never stop learning,” she added.

“I always stand by this quote by Albert Einstein, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,” said Valerie.

She said instead of doing the same activity daily such as opening and closing shops at the same time and expecting an increase in business, try doing something different by innovating your business, looking up new products and new ways to handle business to expect different results.

Keeping up with time as a business owner is important to be a successful entrepreneur.

To conclude, the right time to do business online is now and for further information visit Exabytes and search for Accelerate Women Entrepreneurship Exabytes (AWEWE).

As part of our sharing session by mom go places, a question and answer session was held to give better insights on the advantages of kickstarting a website. Below are some topics discussed by our speakers Ms Vanessa and Ms Valerie with our audiences.

Q&A Session

How to drive traffic to your website?

“I started off by using my own Instagram page to drive traffic to my eCommerce site. Then I received advice to do Facebook live, Instagram live and Instagram branding page,” said Valerie. The key is to have consistency. Consistency in doing Facebook live on a regular basis such as once a week with a particular time will allow followers familiarise with your schedule and learn what are the things you can offer.

How to cope up with the transition from social media to your own website?

Both are equally important. On the website it is more about presenting the information and visuals, especially important testimonials from customers. It is good to have some testimonials from customers on how they feel about their product. By adding testimonials to websites, it helps to bring credibility to a website.

When is the right time to have a website?

Instead of the right time, ask yourself how far I want to go in my business. Do you want to be satisfied with having enough pocket money or further develop into bigger business? Those who wish to grow bigger it is better to consider having a website because a website will give a lot more credibility, grow your business and connect with more people. “The right time is when you decide to grow your business and want to start connecting with people,” said Valerie.

How often do you think business owners should change or upgrade their website?

“I started with a very simple informative website with some basic features. In the past 5 years, I revamped twice and I think it’s important to revamp your website once in a while because you have to constantly keep changing and also be updated to what the market wants, and what the customers want.  I’m sure over the years we add on the product’s price and that’s the time we give the website a new look,” said Vanessa.

Join us on our upcoming sharing session, What Every Business Have and Needs on 6 May 2022 at 10.00 am.

Click here for more information.

IMPORTANT SCAM ANNOUNCEMENT 

By
Chaameli
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0

Important Scam Announcement

It has come to our attention of an existence of a FRAUD Facebook page in the name of ‘EXABYTES MARKETING GROUP’ impersonating or claiming to represent as Exabytes Group.

We wish to inform that neither Exabytes Group nor any of its subsidiaries within the Group of Companies has authorised offering a part time job that comes with a commission and this act is intended to mislead the public into believing that the Facebook page above mentioned are from authorised Exabytes Group.

Please reject any such request that offers a part time job and be alert and do not fall victim of any scam.

Please be informed that Exabytes Group official business information is published only via the following official platforms:

  • Official Website

www.exabytes.com

www.exabytes.my

www.exabytes.sg

www.exabytes.co.id

  • Facebook Account:

Exabytes Malaysia

Exabytes Singapore

Exabytes Indonesia

Exabytes US

Exabytes Digital

We wish to alert members of the public that this is a scam, and the individual does not represent Exabytes Group’s interests.

Relevant authorities have been informed of this matter and investigations are currently ongoing.

Should you need verification on any information received about Exabytes Group, please kindly contact us through the above-mentioned social media pages or websites.

Exabytes Group would like to reinstate that this Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/Exabytes-Marketing-Group-105987115423040/) is not related in any way to Exabytes Group or any company within Exabytes Group.

Be That One Plant Among Thousands to Save Our Earth

By
Chaameli
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0

Be That One Plant Among Thousands to Save Our EarthExabytes launched its Let’s Plant a Tree campaign with the notion of helping to restore fragmented landscapes of our mother earth.

The campaign kicked-off on April 2022 and will run through 2022, or when we achieved planting of a thousand trees.

This campaign was initiated with an objective  to enhance  the protection of  mother nature  and simultaneously reduce environmental degradation.

By planting more trees, we are  contributing to global reforestation efforts, rebuilding damaged ecosystems, recovering lost forests, and mitigating climate change.

Be That One Plant Among Thousands to Save Our Earth

Exabytes’ Let’s Plant a Tree campaign aims to plant 1000 mangrove saplings in collaboration with The Habitat & Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare Association.

The reason Mangrove trees were chosen is to be in line with our objective of restoring fragmented landscapes as mangrove tree plays an important part in binding and building soil thanks to its dense roots.

In addition, trees are also the biggest plants on the planet, and they give us oxygen allowing us to breathe, store carbon dioxide, give life to the world’s wildlife and stabilise soil.

Due to deforestation, logging and pollution, the earth is losing its natural resources  causing environmental change.

Be That One Plant Among Thousands to Save Our Earth

Exabytes is calling out to our clients to participate in this good deed by adding-on a mere RM10 Exabytes website to have a tree planted by us on your behalf.

Join forces with us and support Let’s Plant a Tree campaign to restore our environment. To make this campaign successful, clients’ support is much-needed in order to achieve our aim of planting 1000 trees in 2022 for the betterment of the environment.

As a token of appreciation, every contribution to plant a tree with our  Let’s Plant A Tree campaign comes with a certificate that will be awarded to you.

Clients who wish to participate and support tree-planting can select the option of “Add-on – Plant A Tree” when you check out on our website or log in to your client account to purchase an add-on “Plant A Tree”.

This add-on is applicable to all products and services except domain purchases.

Let's Plant a tree and save our earth

Exabytes encourages our clients to make a small contribution for our environment by taking part in this campaign.

We hope that with the support of our clients, Let’s Plant a Tree campaign can achieve its goal that will be beneficial for our environment in the future.

Here at Exabytes, we are taking the environment, social and governance (ESG) issue seriously and our Let’s Plant a Tree campaign is the measures taken to maintain sustainability.

We are aware that as a company it is our duty to give back to the nature that we have been utilising.

The initiative of planting a small seed today will lead the way to producing a mighty Mangrove tree in the future.

It is necessary that we give care to our mother nature in order to enjoy the perks it offers such as home to animals, food, water and replenishing the atmosphere’s oxygen.

Be That One Plant Among Thousands to Save Our Earth, environment

According to the New Straits Times, Malaysia is currently facing frequent landslides and flood problems due to the inclement weather and illegal land clearing.

These recent happenings must be taken seriously, and all parties concerned to preserve and protect Malaysia’s natural environment should take immediate action.

As such, Exabytes is contributing its part by carrying out activities that will be helpful for the environment and Let’s Plant A Tree is one of our initiatives.

Grab this opportunity now to do your part in contributing to the well-being of our mother nature before it’s too late.

Your support and kindness will allow Exabytes to make this campaign successful.

For corporate partners who wish to join forces and partner Exabytes in this campaign under your company name, kindly send us an email to [email protected] to further discuss the matter.

What Malaysian Retailers Can Learn from Amazon’s Billion-Dollar Secret?

By
Ren Jie Oong
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0

What Malaysian Retailers Can Learn from Amazon’s Billion-Dollar Secret

What is the secret that enables the world’s largest OMO retailer, Amazon to make billions of profit by constantly adding “free” benefits (such as free videos, music, book rentals and so much more) into its popular subscription membership service, Amazon Prime?

What Malaysian retailers can learn from amazon’s billion-dollar secret?

The secret is summed up in a single important metric: Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV).

It goes without saying that Amazon cares about the experience it provides to their customers.

However, it also offers these irresistible benefits to enrich the customers and increase the CLTV. 

 

A statistic in 2019 showed that Amazon Prime members spent an average of USD 1,400$ on the online shopping platform every year, compared to USD 600$ spending of non-Prime members.

During the same period, there were around 103 million Amazon Prime members in the United States. 

By creating the Amazon Prime program, not only did Amazon effectively increase the LTV with the subscription fee itself, but it also gave a reason for members to prioritize purchases from its platform over the competition, since they are already members and will get free shipping. 

It seems like Amazon is giving an unlimited number of benefits away.

It is also true that turning someone into a subscriber can drive an incredible amount of value for their retail business.

Now that you understand the importance of LTV, let’s learn how to measure it.

 

How to Measure Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)?

customer ltv formula

So, how to measure Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) and apply it to your business?

There are several methods to determine the CLTV, but we recommend using this simplest formula below:

LTV = Average Value X Number of Transactions X Retention Time Period

Example: 

Let’s take a skin care products shop as an example.

The average basket size of each customer is RM100.00 and the customer visits the shop to make a purchase 6 times per year.

If the loyal customer stays with the brand for 10 years, the calculation of LTV will be:

LTV = RM100 X 6 times of Transaction X 10 years (Retention Time Period)
= RM6,000

So, How to Increase Retail Sales by Leveraging LTV?

There are three ways to increase sales by leveraging LTV:

  1. Increase the number of loyalty customers:
  • Using the example of the skin care product shop above, the LTV is RM6,000 forone loyal customer. If a shop has 500 loyalty customers, the sales will be: 

    Current customer base: RM6,000 X 500 = RM3,000,000

    By increasing the number of loyal customers from 500 to 1000, the revenue will be:

    RM6,000 X 1000 = RM6,000,000

  • Increase the number of transactions:For example, each customer visits the shop and make a purchase 6 times per year. When the number of transactions increases to 7 per year upon the implementation of promotion programs, the calculation will be:

    LTV = RM100 X 7 times of Transaction X 10 years (Retention Time Period)

    = RM7,000.00

    Current customer base: 1,000

    RM7,000 X 1000 = RM7,000,000

  • Increase the average order value (AOV) or average basket size: Previously each transaction was RM100. After a 10% increase, each transaction is now RM110.

LTV = RM110 X 7 times of Transaction X 10 years (Retention Time Period)
= RM7,700
Current customer base: 1,000

RM7,000 X 1000 = RM7,700,000

Once we understand how LTV is measured, we know how Amazon increases sales by leveraging LTV.

By giving out the free gift and special price, Amazon Prime increases the transaction and basket size of their loyal customers.

Subsequently, the loyal customers will introduce Amazon Prime to their friends, thus increasing the opportunity to expand the loyalty customer base.

 

Takeaways 

For businesses that follow a data-driven strategy, Customer Lifetime Value is one of the most important metrics to maximize business growth.

It can be used to drive sales, marketing, product development, and even customer service decisions.

However, it should be viewed as one component of your overall approach.

Other factors such as customer retention, satisfaction, and brand loyalty all go hand in hand with LTV.

It’s a financial advantage of having loyal customers and investing in them.

Ecommerce retail businesses with a high LTV can grow independently of ad spend and still generate a consistent cash flow over time.

 

So What’s Next for Our Malaysian Retailers? 

Fret not, it’s not necessary for you to build your own tool or system to make this happen.

You can leverage existing reliable and ready-to-use omnichannel systems like 91APP, one of the fastest growing new retail solutions in Asia.

The built-in features and functions of 91APP enable you to utilise your online and offline data to understand your customers better and encourage higher purchase frequency and greater basket size.

The holistic backend data collection and analysis system comes with comprehensive CRM capability to help you understand your customer behaviour and improve customer retention.

explore 91APP your new retail platform

Check out how you can grow your retail business and build customer lifetime value by leveraging the 91APP omnichannel/new retail solution.

 

Let Our Specialist Provide You the Best Solution

Leave your contact, and we will get back to you.












    5 Steps to Begin Your Digital Transformation Journey

    By
    Kim
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    0

    5 Steps to Begin Your Digital Transformation Journey

    Everything we knew was changed in 2019 as the world entered into an era of digitalisation.

    Digital technology has grown in importance in all aspects of life, culture, the economy, medical care, the media, and many more. 

    What is Digital Transformation?

    Digital transformation is the use of technology to solve traditional problems. If digital transformation is deployed correctly, companies will provide customers with unprecedented value. When customers get value, it represents the success of the digital transformation plan.

    On the other hand, if a company uses the technology provided for digital transformation but does not see significant results and does not bring value to customers or the company, then digital transformation is considered unsuccessful.

    In order to achieve digital transformation, digital technology should be integrated across the organisation, from internal management to sales and service, among other departments.

    Most often than not, every department or division of the company has its own data and technology that are different from one another. Digital transformation is about changing this scenario, making it easier for people both inside and outside the company to have a more seamless experience when it comes to data and technology.

    Most businesses understand that digital transformation is a popular trend and have recognised the need for digital transformation. However, the process of transforming a business digitally can be time-consuming and tough, especially if you don’t have the experience. As a result, companies must know where to begin.

    Here are the five steps to digital transformation.

    5 Major Steps to Begin Your Digital Transformation Journey

    1. Identify your strengths and weaknesses

    The management team is the first and most significant part of the digital transformation plan. Management must be able to determine their company’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, does the organisation have enough finance, technical expertise, data, and market knowledge to know what is ready and what is not?

    At this stage, management is crucial.

    The management must help the team communicate with key departments quickly and efficiently to get data, then let the team do data analysis and review before carefully choosing a target framework that will help them make good decisions for the next step in the process.

    Although data analysis is important, it cannot replace creativity. Management and teams must use their creativity to the fullest. Consider how a company might function if it were fully digitally transformed. Thinking outside the box is required when looking for innovative methods to serve consumers throughout their customer journey.

    1. Identify your goals

    The second step is to set realistic goals and KPIs based on the evaluation results.

    Knowing the path towards achieving your goal is key.

    When defining goals, bear in mind that teams do not have to do everything at once. Begin with small projects and gradually grow as the program gains traction and financing.

    Almost all the digital transformation we see is about integrating and using data to enable new ways of reaching customers by improving consumer experience or reinventing products and services. Traditional businesses should learn from digital transformation practices from both inside and outside their own industry to have the best idea.

    1. Clean up the environment

    Companies can compete with their rivals when teams have access to a wide range of digital technology resources that are reasonably priced and easy to use from technology to platforms and suppliers.

    Management and teams need to figure out what skills, talents, and technology are available both inside and outside the company to help achieve the stated goals.

    Determining how much we rely on these relationships and how to arrange them are equally important. As a result, management must be aware of how to protect the company’s most valuable assets, such as customer relationships and data, as they evolve.

    Furthermore, the easiest way to start your first project is to figure out what digital transformation means to your company’s unique business environment.

    Netflix is the best example of this because it uses data to make smart decisions and always changes its products to fit customer and technology habits. Today, Netflix is worth $100 billion.

    It’s important for businesses to know how their customers use technology and how the market works so that they can make a successful move entering the digital world.

    1. Clarify the plan

    Unexpected and unplanned events will happen no matter how well-planned a digital transformation program is.

    In addition to creating a transformation plan, it’s important to think about how to deal with unexpected problems. To deal with unexpected setbacks, management must come up with a plan B that can keep the organisation stable.

    Furthermore, companies must develop a digital transformation strategy that describes and evaluates the particular links and content of digital transformation and explains roles and tasks in terms of technology, staff, management, and more.

    Also, sort out the digital transformation and business processes, describe the obstacles and problems that may occur in each process, and use digital technology to guide the internal transformation of companies and the reshaping of business models to ultimately empower companies to create value.

    1. Dare to explore and try

    Finally, in terms of execution, companies must encourage the integration and development of digital technology and business from the ground up, as well as speed up the reconstruction of the corporate business chain.

    Apply big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and other technologies to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies such as online marketing, remote collaboration, digital office, smart warehousing and logistics, and intelligent decision-making and create a data collection-feedback-analysis-decision-making chain.

    The changes made in the business model and direction of the company are the foundation for making decisions, and the use of data technology at the business level encourages digitalisation across the company.

    The most essential thing is to devise a strategy and put it into action. Many businesses already give up during the planning phase. Conservative thinking, or fear of failure in transformation, is the obvious culprit.

    Companies must live by the adage “failure is the mother of success.” Businesses must be able to detect issues, make repairs, and then start over.

    We hope these five major steps of digital transformation will guide companies on the path to success by increasing competitiveness, creating value, and performing exceptionally.

    It’s important to be down to earth too—tailor measures that fit the local economic climate, monitor closely and find the best digital transformation path for your company, among other things.

    If your company lacks the talent and manpower to identify, launch, accelerate, and execute digital transformation, you should consider working with a digital transformation expert that will design, implement, and manage your transformation program to meet your business goals.

    Exabytes is the architect of your business growth. We deliver added value to ensure our customers are successful. Contact us to find out how we can help you maximise your business resources for digital transformation.

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    数字转型的5大步骤

    By
    Kim
    -
    0

    数字转型的5大步骤

    世界各地在2019开始进入了数字化的时代。数字化技术在生活、文化、经济、医疗、媒体和各行业领域等，都在不断地扩大，并且生效显著。

    数字转型就是利用科技技术来解决传统问题。如果做得正确，企业就会为客户提供前所未有的价值，这也代表着企业数字化转型成功。相反的，如果企业使用了科技技术，但却没看到显著的效果，也没有为客户和企业带来价值，那么数字转型就是还未成功。

    在数字转型中，数字技术应该被整合到企业的每一个角落，从内部管理，销售到服务甚至更多。在数字转型之前，每个部门或企业领域都有自己的数据和技术，而且它们是分开的。而数字化转型就是打破了这个现象，在企业内外部创造了更加无缝的体验。

    目前，多数企业已经意识到数字转型的重要性，也了解这趋势势不可挡，但如果要彻底的改革绝对会让企业感到畏惧。所以，企业必须了解从哪里开始。

    以下是数字化转型的5大步骤。

    数字转型的5大步骤

    1. 理清本身优势，劣势

    企业管理层或团队，在转型中，扮演非常重要的角色。先搞清楚企业本身有哪些优势和劣势。例如，企业是否拥有充足的资金，技术人才，数据，市场 一一列出哪些是准备就绪，哪些是尚未达标。

    管理层需要帮助团队向相关部门进行有效沟通从而获得资料，让团队进行资料分析和评估的工作，再认真甄选目标框架，为接下来的工作提供有用的决策架构。

    资料分析虽然关键，但不能取代创新。管理层和团队们需要善于利用创造力。例如，想象企业在彻底数字化转型后，将以什么方式运行。寻找整个消费过程中以新的方式服务消费者，打破常规的思维方式是必要的。

    1. 理清目标

    第二步，根据评估结果来设定切合实际的目标和 KPI。

    没有什么决策比选对方向更为重要。

    在设定目标时，请记住，团队不必一次性完成所有事情。从小项目开始，在随着计划获得动力和资金逐渐扩展。

    几乎我们所见到的的数字化转型，都是关于连接和运用数据，通过改变消费者体验或重塑产品和服务来提供全新的消费者互动方式。传统企业应借鉴数字化转型在行业内外的做法来激活思路。

    1. 理清环境

    一旦团队获得数字科技中相对便宜和充足的资源 – – 从技术到平台再到供应商，企业就可以对竞争对手形成挑战。

    管理层和团队们需要找出企业内外部有哪些能力、技能和技术可以用于补充和支持拟定的目标。

    在多大程度上依赖这些关系以及如何构建它们，也是至关重要的决策。管理层因此需要清晰意识到，在转型路途中保护企业最重要的资产，如客户关系和数据。

    另外，开始第一个转型项目的最简单的方法是定义数字化转型对企业的特点业务环境的意义。

    Netflix在这一方面决对是最佳例子，他们使用数据做出明智的决策，亦不断修改自身产品来适应客户和技术习惯，如今，Netflix的市值高达1,000亿美元。

    花点时间弄清楚企业顾客的消费模式，分析市场数据，才是数字转型的成功关键。

    1. 理清方案

    无论数字转型计划设计有多完美，都会出现意外和不可预知的情况。

    除了理清转型方案，应对意外的备案绝不可忽略。

    为应对这一事实，管理层需要就管理和升级规则进行决策，允许团队不可避免的航向修正。

    企业一方面需要制定数字转型方案，对需要进行数字化转型的具体环节和内容进行汇总和分析，从技术、人员、管理等多方面厘清责任和任务；一方面需要绘制企业数字化改革路线图，从管理和业务两方面梳理数字化转型的流程，确定各流程可能存在的难点和问题，应用数字技术引导企业内部变革和商业模式重塑，最终赋能企业价值创造。

    1. 勇于探索，尝试

    来到了最后一个步骤，实施方面，需要企业自下而上推动数字技术与业务的融合发展，加快企业业务链条重构。应用大数据、云计算、人工智能等技术，加快推进线上营销、远程协作、数字化办公、智慧仓储和物流、智能决策等数字技术的应用，建立数据收集-反馈-分析-决策的链条，为企业经营模式和方向的调整提供决策依据，以业务层面数据技术的应用，推动企业整体运营的数字化水平。

    最重要的就是拟定了计划，就要用于尝试。许多企业在拟计划阶段就已经放弃了，罪魁祸首就是保守的思维，即是害怕转型失败。

    所谓”失败乃是成功之母“，企业必须懂得如何找出问题，进行修正，再从新出发。

    希望通过这数字转型5大步骤，可以领导企业走上数字转型成功之路，紧紧抓住提升企业竞争力和创造价值的目标，做好战略指引和战术布局，并科学运用数字化技术来进行转型。

    不要好高骛远，也不要脱离实际，而是应该因地制宜，紧密结合业务，探索适合本企业的数字化转型之路。

    如果您没有足够的人力资源来定义，启动，加速和建立公司的数字化转型，那么您应该考虑与专家合作。 一个具有成本效益，值得信赖的企业转型专家可以帮您建立，实施和管理您的转型计划，以提高业务效率和增长。

    Exabytes是业务增长的建筑师。 请与我们联系以深入探讨如何善用企业资源进行有效的转型。

    联络我们

    When is The Time to Move On to Advanced eCommerce – OMO?

    By
    Janice Kua
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    0

    When Is The Time to Move On to Advanced eCommerce - OMO?

    Sharing Our Expertise on Advanced eCommerce – OMO

    Exabytes is honoured to be invited by Affin Bank and AWS to share our expertise in advanced eCommerce and the possibilities of growing businesses using an Online-merge-offline platform – the 91APP.

    Meet the Coaches, a SMEngage initiative by Affin Bank was a physical sharing session organised by Affin Bank.

    This event was only open to invited guests of Affin Bank to meet the coaches, learn, share and network to get the most out of the session.

    With talks and sharing on eCommerce, Digital Marketing to Online-merge-offline opportunities for retailers, guests benefited from an insightful afternoon on growing their businesses online.

    Meet the Coaches

    At “Meet the Coaches”, Affin Bank brought together partners with different expertise to share their knowledge.

    Kicking off the afternoon was Mr Azhar Abdullah, Head, Enterprise Segment, Amazon Web Services (AWS) sharing “What It Takes To Be The Largest eCommerce Store In The World”. 

     

    The sharing session was then followed by sharing by this era’s known and much-adored brands and individuals who make a living largely through their online platforms.

    Sharing their experiences on “The New Age of Digital Marketing” are CK Changr, Founder of OXWHITE, Jann Wong, Founder of Open Minds Resources, Malaysian Cousin, moderated by Mr Yong Kai Ping, CEO of Sidec.

     

    Last and definitely not least, the audience was presented with an insightful sharing by Exabytes on the latest new retail solution – “From O2O to OMO (Online-Merge-Offline): Opportunities for Retailers”.

    Representing Exabytes was Lee Wei Hong, Senior New Retail Consultant for 91APP and Wintson Tham, Business Development Manager of Exabytes as moderator of this session.

    Also sharing his expertise in this session was Eddie Chew, CEO and Founder of Potboy Groceries.

    Meet the Coaches forum discussion

    New Retail, Online-Merge-Offline – 91APP

    What are the new retail solutions you’ve heard of or come across with? Has your business reached the stage of advancing to new retail, using an online-merge-offline solution?

    Ever heard of online-merge-offline or the 91APP?

    A complete solution to move forward towards “New Retail” business.

    The 91APP provides a seamless experience for your customers from retail to online and vice versa. 

    To find out more or get a free consultation, contact us here: Omnichannel Retail Managed Services

    Digitalising A City Through George Town City Centre

    By
    Janice Kua
    -
    0

    Digitalising A City Through George Town City Centre

    It is not all about growing businesses online, but at Exabytes, we are passionate about digitalising whenever we see the opportunity for growth.

    What is GTCC?

    Have you heard about the recently launched GTCC?

    GTCC stands for George Town City Centre and this is the latest initiative by the Penang State Government and other partners surrounding the areas of Komtar Walk to revive the area.

    Also a part of this project is The Top Penang, 1st Avenue, Prangin Mall, Tech Dome Penang, ICT Hub, Komtar management and others.

    “With a total cost of RM2.8 million, there are seven food and beverage outlets, 58 car parking lots, 43 motorcycle lots, bus lay-by, pick up & drop off point, new landscape upgrading and toilet facilities.

    We hope this venue will bring a “new breath of life” and add value to this location,” said the Penang Chief Minister, Chow Kon Yeow.

    GTCC launch

    Digitalising GTCC

    Keeping up with the trends of going digital, the George Town City Centre committee approached Exabytes for our expertise and thoughts on creating an online presence for GTCC.

    Happy we were to hear of this new initiative for the city of George Town, and even more on the team’s interest in bringing this online. 

    As much as it is a physical and brick and mortar set-up that this project is reviving and revitalising, being Southeast Asia’s leading All-in-one Business Cloud, Digital and eCommerce solutions provider, Exabytes sees great opportunities in bringing this online and growing this initiative through digitalisation.

    Having passer-by chance upon GTCC is almost leaving the growth of this project to luck, if we may say.

    Giving GTCC an online presence brings wider possibilities for GTCC to be promoted digitally.

    Customer behaviours have changed over time and the first thing many would do before proceeding with visiting a new place would be to check them out online.

    Having detailed information, a gallery, latest promotions etc. available for interested visitors to check out is a nudge further in enticing them to visit you.

    GTCC launching

    How did Exabytes support?

    With our experience and expertise, Exabytes put a team together right after GTCC’s request for a website sponsorship.

    Our team worked closely with the management of GTCC, as well as gave our best advice on how to best optimise the structure, user experience and look and feel of GTCC’s website. 

    Supporting through our digital solutions for a good cause is what Exabytes has been practising over our 20 years being in business.

    We believe that by taking you online, we are growing with you hand-in-hand, be it revenue-related or not, we want to see success with you.

    For more information on Exabytes’ ESG initiatives, visit Exabytes Environment. Social. Governance.
    For a fun day out in GTCC, check out what’s on here: www.gtcc.com.my 

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    Event & Activities

    Event & Activities