IIA Launches New Diploma in e-Commerce Management

February 21, 2012 · Posted in Diploma, eCommerce, email marketing, events, Uncategorized · 1 Comment 

The IIA in partnership with Irish Times Training are delighted to launch a brand new Diploma course in e-Commerce Management.

This Course covers everything you need to know to run a successful ecommerce business. Click here for more information.

Module 1:  Planning your e-Commerce Customer Proposition

Lecturer:  Ronan O’Brien of Zatori – The Costume Shop

Module 2:  Business Planning

Lecturer: Fionan Dunne of CFO Services

Module 3:  Effective Website Design

Lecturer: Gareth Dunlop of Fathom

Module 4: Driving Customer Traffic – PPC, SEO, Affiliate Marketing and E-Mail Marketing, Deals Management

Lecturer:  Ronan O’Brien of Zatori

Module 5:  Transaction Management

Lecturer: Bob Curran of Buy4Now

Module 6:  eCommerce Customer Services: CRM – Relationships and Returns

Lecturer: Bob Curran of Buy4Now

Module 7:  eCommerce Customer Services: Deliveries and Deadlines

Lecturer: Rory O’Connor of Scurri.com

Module 8: International e-Commerce: Translations & Transactions

Lecturer: Mark Rodgers of Cipherion Translations

Module 9:  Metrics / Analytics

Lecturer : David Murphy of Amplify

Module 10:  Content – Images and Copy

Lecturer:  Fiona Ashe of FlasheForward Communications

Module 11: Mobile Commerce

Lecturer: Sian Gray,  Mobile Marketing specialist (Nokia)

FREE Module :  Breakfast Briefing  Managing Customer Information:  Your Legal Obligations as an eCommerce Manager from Gary Davies, Assistant Data Protection Commissioner

If you’ve got customer information on file you will need to know in what form and for how long you can store it.  You will also need to know for what you may use it.  You will need to be fully aware of your obligations as a retailer vis a vis Trading Standards etc..  This module is painful but necessary!

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Don’t miss these rocking Breakout Sessions at Open for Business

May 10, 2011 · Posted in IIA Conference 2011 · 3 Comments 

One of the most popular features of our Annual Conferences every year are the breakout sessions. This year we’re mixing it up a bit and in addition to our usual practical breakout sessions we are holding three hosted conversations in the morning. These promise to be fascinating and a great opportunity to get your voice heard on the following topics:

In the afternoon we will be running 4 breakout sessions covering smartphone insights from Amárach Research, the reality of cloud computing with the IIA Cloud Computing Working Group, social media strategy with the Social Media Working Group and Ecommerce Best Practice and Emerging trends with Realex Payments.

I caught up with Jonathan Forde from Realex Payments yesterday and asked him to share a little bit more about what delegates can expect from their breakout session on Thursday afternoon.

Jonathan, you are running a breakout session on eCommerce at Open for Business, the IIA Annual Conference on the afternoon of May 12th in the Aviva Stadium. Which key areas are you going to be focussing on during these 2 sessions

The focus of our E Commerce breakout session will be Taking Your Business Online and the different elements that you need to take into account when developing your own E Commerce Strategy. Three speakers will present on different aspects of E Commerce to give the attendees an indication of what they need to do to get up and running successfully.

I’m going to discuss your online strategy as a whole including

  • how to go about getting your Merchant Service Agreement,
  • choice of web developers,
  • what to look for in a Payment Gateway and how to combat fraud.

Bob Curran from Buy4Now will present on the different options available to businesses in E Commerce Platforms and Shopping carts and some tips on what to look for and best practice.

Aileen O’Toole of AMAS will look at the State of the Net and the importance of knowing what’s going on in the market around you, the emerging trends in E Commerce, spending patterns etc.

Following the three presentations there will be time for questions and answers including some questions that have been received via Twitter and Facebook in advance of the session.

Realex Payments have been a great supporter of the IIA over the years, getting involved in the conference in some capacity every year; what are the biggest changes/ challenges you have seen for Irish businesses who are coming online or upping their online game in this time?

We’re always happy to support the IIA and the Irish internet sector!  :)
In terms of changes, the biggest and most positive change has to be social media, a large majority of our merchants are now actively involved in Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn etc and have benefitted significantly from being involved in this area. Many of our merchants tweet specific deals, have discounts for consumers who like their product on Facebook etc, so social media has become an important sales tool for so many businesses. The ability to have frequent conversations with your online community offers an incredible opportunity, not just from a social engagement point of view, but from a commercial perspective too.
I think initially many businesses were a little reluctant to participate in social media, particularly those businesses operating in a B2B environment, but as times gone on, the likes of twitter and Facebook have become an integral of marketing strategies throughout the country, including our own!

If you have one piece of advice for an Irish business reviewing their ecommerce strategy in light of these new challenges what would it be?

Integration of social media with ecommerce has become a crucial element for every ecommerce business, for B2B as well as consumer companies. Whether it is integrating social sharing on purchases, offering special deals/incentives to followers or likes, adding facebook open graph to enable Facebook likes to see friends purchases on your ecommerce site or simply leveraging brand ambassadors who emerge on Twitter and Facebook, there are a wealth of opportunities for brands to enhance their ecommerce offering. It’s becoming more and more important for brands to have personalities, as people want to know and engage with the brands that they’re buying, integrating your ecommerce strategy with social media facilitates this process.

Thanks a million Jonathan! See you and everyone else on Thursday May 12th!

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Audio: Conor O’Neill, Loudervoice, at “8 More Ways to Sell Even More Stuff”

March 15, 2011 · Posted in events, podcast · 1 Comment 

This is the second of the presentations from “8 More Ways to Sell Even More Stuff”, the IIA Conference for Online Retailers that took place in the Burlington at the beginning of the month. Please excuse the slow pace of releasing them – we’ll get there!

 

In this audio you will hear Conor O’Neill, CEO of Loudervoice, talking about how customer reviews can add credibility to your business and ultimately boost your sales.

(You can also listen to Darren Grant’s case study in a previous post or get the lot via iTunes.)

C’mon he looks like James Bond: how could you not want to listen to a man as dapper as that!

This event was sponsored by:

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Audio: Darren Grant, OrganicSupermarket.ie at “8 More Ways to Sell Even More Stuff”

March 11, 2011 · Posted in events, online retail, podcast · 1 Comment 

Last week the IIA organised the second in a series of events for online retailers “8 More Ways to Sell Even More Stuff“. I plonked my digital audio recorder on the podium to capture the presentations to share them with you. You can also download the presentations from the Resources section of the IIA website (membership required).

 

This case study is presented by Darren Grant of OrganicSupermarket.ie who kicks off telling us that he opened The Organic Supermarket in Blackrock the day that the recession officially started. Their business plan was as he says, “A Celtic Tiger business plan” and so he had to think of another way to grow his company that didn’t require credit from the bank that wasn’t forthcoming. He looked to the internet to grow his catchment from 4.5k in the South Dublin area to potentially 4.5m across Ireland.

This event was sponsored by:

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State of the Net 20: Only 23% of businesses selling online. Wha?!

March 1, 2011 · Posted in events, online retail · Comment 

The latest issue of State of the Net is now available online. This is produced in conjunction with Amas and if you are in business in Ireland you should read it. Hard copies are available: just contact the IIA HQ!

This issue covers how Irish Marketers Use Digital, Children Online, Broadband Growth, Businesses Online, Trust Online, and Online Banking.

I’m all about online business at the moment (when am I not?!) but most especially online retail. If you’ve had your head stuck in the sand in the last few weeks you may not be aware that we are holding a conference for online retailers on Thursday, “8 More Ways to Sell Even More Stuff“.

So the reminder of the Information Society Statistics, Enterprise Statistics 2010 from the Central Statistics Office that only 23% of Irish Businesses surveyed are selling online made me gasp for two reasons:

  1. It’s shocking low.
  2. That’s a helluvan opportunity

If so few businesses are selling online that means there is space for many more especially in niche markets. Our two case studies at our event on Thursday for example, Garrendenny Lane and OrganicSupermarket.ie are cases in point. Both are niche in their own way and revel in it! I’m looking forward to hearing all about their online business (and how they mix it up with their offline businesses) on Thursday. I hope you can make it along too!

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Bedroom Efforts: Protecting brand image

February 14, 2011 · Posted in Guest Blogger, online retail · 2 Comments 

This is a guest post by Derek Traynor of AllMoto.ie, an IIA Member Company, republished with his permission from his blog. In it he writes about a subject dear to our hearts in the IIA: online retail and the knock-on effects of reputable online business for the economy. If you would like to ramp up your own online retail business, don’t miss our upcoming conference, 8 More Ways to Sell Even More Stuff, designed especially for retailers, whatever stage of the online game you are at.

Bedroom EffortsIs this where you want your brand represented? >>

OK firstly let me explain – this isn’t a story about my personal ‘Bedroom Efforts’ (I’ve another blog for that :-) ), it’s my opinion, as an etailer (online retailer), on the damage that small, online, bedroom based efforts cause to industry in general.

What I mean by ‘Bedroom Efforts’ is someone sitting at home, on a laptop, listing products on ebay, Amazon and similar, and ordering in stock as it sells. However, let me clarify, my issue isn’t with the sleepy entrepreneurs but rather with the suppliers who decide to sell product through them.

I’ve been harping on about this pet-hate for years now and I’m “happy” to report that in just the last month I’ve had three suppliers contact me with concerns over it – way to get with the times guys – but at least they recognize the problem. These suppliers are eventually requesting minimun retail prices on their products. I’ve no idea where they stand legally if challenged about anti-competition legalities but…. well who cares about that for the moment.

I’m sure a few people are now thinking, “but sure you’re a online shop – who are you to talk?”, but this is where most people are missing the difference: I’m a reputable online retailer, adding value to a customers experience. I do this by providing:

  • product knowledge. We’re experts on what we sell and use this knowledge to only sell product that is good.
  • product support. If our customers have difficulty with a product we’re there to help by phone, email and often in person at events.
  • product backup. Did a purchase break or fall short of what a customer expected? We always repair and/or replacement based on the circumstances.
  • stock off the shelf. When a customer buys something it gets shipped within 24 hours (over 85% of the time in my shop).
  • a unique user experience. The customer always subconsciously relate to their experience of the product.
  • a physical store where people can drop into in person if they want to.

Bedroom Efforts generally damage a product having little or no technical knowledge, no repairs, no returns policy, no parts backup and NO stock. The customer ends up waiting longer, buying ill advised and losing all if an issue arises. What is not seen here is the damage to the brand that was sold. Note to suppliers – one way to lose repeat business is to allow a terrible customer experience in the initial purchase.

The hidden damage goes further though. These bedroom efforts often make almost no margin and that’s fine as they’ve almost no costs. But the damage arises in the lost sale the ‘real’ retailer has lost. Don’t be misled, reputable online etailers have almost as many costs as your local shop (Google ads, website development, online presence maintenance, customer support, STOCK, rent, taxes, to name a few).

What also makes me laugh is that these same suppliers then complain about having trouble getting paid by their retailer network. Maybe it hasn’t crossed their minds yet, but, support your network of retailers. Note to suppliers – IT’S EASY TO GET PAID FROM PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING A PROFIT.

Imagine this outside Victorias Secrets: “knickers, knickers, two for a tenner”

Chanel and Gucci don’t supply someone so they can set up a market stall outside Brown Thomas (Ireland’s exclusive department store) on a busy Sunday afternoon. Why do suppliers continue to sell to people who just list on Ebay, Amazon, etc, and provide no backup on a Monday morning?

Chanel and Gucci understand the principals of brand image and most importantly – making profit.

Thanks to Derek for that heartfelt post! If you are a member of the IIA and would like to share a guest post about doing business online (any aspect: it doesn’t just have to be retail!) please read our guidelines and get in touch.

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Not to be confused with The OC, at all, at all.

July 14, 2008 · Posted in data protection, Membership · Comment 

Click here to visit the O-C Group websiteThe IIA welcomes the O-C Group as the newest members of the association. In their own words

“O-C Group’s provides the payment industry with a complete solution in payment processing technology and business operations to increase revenues and reduce costs. As a Qualified Security Assessor, O-C Group are approved to perform Payment Card Industry audits for any organisation which stores, processes or transmits cardholder data.”

Hubert O’Donoghue, one of the company directors, contacted me recently about their work and from this conversation I really think they have a lot of expertise to offer the IIA membership in the area of transaction management. For example on their site they have included a knowledgebase with plenty of resources for those seeking to learn more about transaction management. I’ll certainly be having a good look because while Hubert was very good at explaining much about transaction management and the Payment Card Industry Security Standards, it would certainly be an area I could brush up on.

(Hah? What’s The OC?)

 

 

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