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In 2021, almost 20% of all retail sales will come through ecommerce. And with the global pandemic changing people’s shopping habits worldwide, the number of ecommerce sales is set to become even higher in the coming years.

That’s a good representation of the abundance of opportunities for savvy ecommerce stores. Nonetheless, it also means that surviving in the industry requires finding ways to innovate and gain an advantage over the competition.

That’s why following the new development and trends that reshape the ecommerce world is absolutely crucial. You need to figure out how to communicate effectively with your customers. You must understand how to provide them with a seamless and convenient experience that matches their expectations.

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 TIPS FOR IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF YOUR ECOMMERCE STORE

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the most crucial ecommerce trends that will set the tone for ecommerce sales in 2021 and beyond.

Video Will Become a Prominent Sales Tool

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Video marketing is one of the most powerful ways to drive sales in 2021 and beyond. People watch online videos every day. Therefore, it’s an excellent opportunity for ecommerce brands to get in front of a broader audience, introduce them to new products, and generate sales.

What’s more, the possibilities of video content are virtually endless. They allow you to showcase your products and provide your customers with all the information they need to make a buying decision.

By creating seamless shopping experiences through video, you can tap into a new segment of your audience. This will increase the reach of your ecommerce brand and you will make more sales in the process.

So, while traditional sales and marketing approaches should still be used, adding more video content will serve you across everything you do. You can educate your audience about your products, showcase the features, share customer experiences, and show how your product works in action.

And if you make your videos engaging and relevant, they will generate traffic naturally. They might even go viral, further increasing your reach and your ecommerce sales potential.

Voice Search Will Launch Entire Businesses

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The way people search for and find products is continually evolving. And with virtual assistants becoming a prominent part of many homes, voice search is also starting to affect how ecommerce sales are made.

Because 72% of people who own a virtual assistant use it daily, many online purchases begin with a search. In other words, people start by searching for an item using voice search. And for ecommerce businesses, that’s an excellent opportunity. So take advantage of this trend and increase your store’s ecommerce sales. You can get ahead of the competition and tap into an increasing segment of your audience when you do.

Moreover, voice search SEO is not nearly as crowded as traditional SEO. This means that companies that provide a convenient audio-based experience to their users will be able to grow sales faster than those who don’t.

Chatbots Will Become Smarter

When they first began to appear in the eCommerce world, chatbots were considered more of a nuisance than helpful by many users. They could provide only the most basic information at first. What’s more, they weren’t very interactive because marketers simply didn’t know how to use them yet.

However, 2021 is already turning out to be the year of chatbots. This is because convenient, user-friendly, and easy-to-implement solutions now allow even small ecommerce businesses to embrace the technology. They can use chatbots to enhance the user experience without having to monitor the chat 24/7. This trend is sure to boost ecommerce sales for businesses that tap into it.

Chatbots can direct visitors to useful resources. They can even make helpful suggestions about what a customer might like to purchase. In fact, chatbots combined with outsourced support can even help with failed payment recovery. And they can increase ecommerce sales by preventing failed ones from occurring as often.

Having a chatbot on your site can become an integral tool for improving the user experience. Chatbots can ensure that visitors always receive the help they need to confidently make a purchase.

Support with eCommerce Sales Will Be Even More Important

In the previous section, we talked about chatbots and their increasing importance. But that’s just one part of the overall requirements for customer support that ecommerce stores will have to adhere to.

Long gone are the days when you could add a contact box and a phone number to your store and be done with it. Today’s online shoppers expect to get answers whenever they interact with a brand. What’s more, that might not even be on your website.

Sure, chatbots are great. They offer convenience and immediate answers to problems or questions. But even when it comes to chatbots, you need to consider adding them to your social media channels. That’s where the majority of your conversations with customers might be occurring, after all.

That’s why using tools like a robust WordPress support plugin is so important. They can help you develop a convenient and efficient environment where your support staff can quickly deal with problems.

You need to anticipate the support needs of your audience. Then work to provide a seamless experience throughout their buyer journey. If someone reads a social media post about your products and wants to learn more, they should be able to reach out through the chat and get an immediate response. This should be the case, even if that response is from a chatbot that directs them to valuable resources or a live support team member.

The good news is that when you have a robust support system in place, it will keep your customers happy. Additionally, it will serve as an indispensable sales tool that will create happy ecommerce customers with nearly every interaction that happens on various channels.

People Will Care More About Sustainability

Sustainability is one of the central topics of discussion in 2021. Many consumers in the younger generations are no longer comfortable with making buying decisions just on price. They want to purchase from brands that share their values. They choose brands that are responsible for how they conduct business.

Almost half of the millennials feel guilty after shopping on Amazon. Moreover, the same trends are present with ecommerce brands that don’t clearly establish their values. To attract younger buyers, you must show how your online store is contributing toward a better world.

Whether it’s implementing more sustainable shipping practices, reducing packaging or using recyclable materials, promoting products from ethical sources, or donating part of your profits to worthy causes, there are countless ways how you can cultivate a brand image based on responsible and sustainable selling. And that’s something more and more buyers will start to appreciate in the coming years.

Many brands are actually making sustainability a central part of their branding and message, promoting a more responsible way to shop online and charging more for products that consumers can feel good about buying.

Subscriptions Will Ensure Continuity for eCommerce Sales

One of the biggest challenges of running an ecommerce business is not being able to predict sales fluctuations and future growth. But with the recent rise in subscription ecommerce, many companies can now add more predictability. In short, subscriptions can lead to more recurring sales that provide consistent cash flow.

Today’s consumers are getting used to the convenience of subscribing to receive products regularly. That allows them to get better value for the price. Plus, they do not have to manually shop for the same products repeatedly.

Some users even enjoy the surprise element of subscription boxes. This is a practice that some ecommerce brands have instituted, wherein they curate exciting and new products into each box. Each month subscribers get to enjoy a unique experience on top of the products they have ordered.

As an ecommerce company, you should consider how this might apply in your industry. Then look for ways to build long-lasting relationships with customers through high-value subscriptions that can last for many months.

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Here’s the Bottom Line for eCommerce Sales

The world of ecommerce will continue to become more prominent with each year. But to succeed and maximize your sales potential, you need to keep close track of the current trends and new growth opportunities.

The trends listed in this article will help you ensure that your customers are happy while also reaching new audiences and creating new revenue streams you can build upon.

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO RUN AN ECOMMERCE BUSINESS

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If an employee gets injured on the job, they are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. What are these benefits, and what do they provide for an injured worker? Keep reading to learn more.

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How Does an Employee Qualify for Workers’ Compensation?

All employers in the state of California, as well as those in many other states, must pay for workers’ compensation insurance. This may be true even if the business has only one employee.

Workers’ compensation benefits do not extend to freelancers, consultants, or independent contractors. However, just because an employer has classified someone as an independent contractor doesn’t necessarily mean that they are. Generally, if an employer controls a worker’s schedule, makes deductions from their pay for unemployment and Social Security, or pays them an hourly wage or salary, they are probably an employee.

According to experts at this URL, if you think you have misclassified someone as an independent contractor, you should consult an attorney for assistance.

Employers must pay for workers’ compensation benefits themselves, as the State of California considers it a cost of doing business. Therefore, California employers are not allowed to take it out of an employee’s paycheck. This restriction may also apply to employers in other areas as well. Companies in California are subject to fines of up to $100,000 for failing to provide workers’ compensation coverage.

Workers’ compensation may apply to one-time injuries. It may also apply to injuries sustained due to repeated actions required as part of an employee’s job. These can include such things as such as repetitive motion injuries or hearing damage.

Photo by Harlie Raethel on Unsplash

What Benefits Does Workers’ Compensation Provide?

Workers’ compensation coverage provides numerous benefits to injured employees.

Medical Care

Workers’ comp will pay for the cost of medical treatment due to an injury an employee sustains while on the job.

Temporary Disability Benefits

Injured workers are eligible to be paid two-thirds of their regular wages while they are unable to work due to an injury. Temporary disability applies if their injury prevents them from doing their job for at least three days, according to a doctor’s opinion. Temporary disability should last until the worker is able to return to their job. Alternatively, their temporary disability may come to an end when their doctor says the injury won’t improve with further treatment.

Permanent Disability Benefits

Even if an employee is eventually able to return to work, they may still be eligible for permanent disability benefits. This may be the case if they never completely recover from their work-related injury.

Supplemental Job Displacement Benefits

If an employee doesn’t completely recover from the injury and they are unable to return to work, they may be eligible for money to help pay the cost of retraining to do another job.

Death Benefits

If an employee dies due to a workplace accident, the surviving family members will be eligible for money to help pay for the cost of funeral expenses and future lost wages of the employee.

What Is the Process for Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

After someone suffers an injury on the job, their employer must provide them with a workers’ compensation claim form within one working day of the time they report the injury. Once they complete the claim form, their employer must provide them with a copy of the completed form and send the form to the claims administrator. Within one day of receiving the claim, their employer must authorize payment for immediate medical treatment, up to $10,000.

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Doctors treating workers’ compensation injuries must provide evidence-based medical treatment. The California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation continuously updates a medical treatment utilization schedule in which the division outlines approved treatments, including frequency and duration of treatment. An injured employee can continue receiving treatment for as long as is medically necessary.

RELATED ARTICLE: 7 WAYS TO PROMOTE A CULTURE OF SAFETY IN YOUR ORGANIZATION

Conclusion

The information in this article applies primarily to employers in the state of California. However, employers in other regions may also find it useful. To find out more about workers’ compensation law in the region where you operate your business, be sure to seek out legal advice near you.

RELATED ARTICLE: DIRECT AND INDIRECT COSTS INVOLVED IN WORKPLACE ACCCIDENTS

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The best way to promote your small business in 2021 is to get really good at digital advertising. However, if you’re like most business owners, you have probably discovered how tedious and time-consuming online marketing can be. To that end, meet Business Warrior, a marketing solution that simplifies digital advertising.

What Is Business Warrior?

Business Warrior is a software application that scores businesses in four essential advertising areas: Business Listings, Reputation, Web/SEO, and Advertising Readiness.

The app will walk you through what you need to do to increase your company’s scores in each of these areas. As you do, you will build a foundation in digital advertising that will lead to more leads and more sales for your business.

How Will Business Warrior Improve Your Digital Advertising?

The Business Warrior app gives you daily tips and suggestions about how to improve your digital advertising.

You might only need to do something simple. For example, perhaps you need to list your business on Google My Business or install Google Tag Manager.

But it’s possible your business needs more. In that case the app will guide you toward solutions. Perhaps, for instance, you need to improve your website SEO or upgrade your mobile site. Or you might need to take steps to boost your site’s loading speeds.

Rhett Doolittle, CEO of Business Warrior, says, “To succeed in today’s business world, technology and marketing must work together to create as many positive touch points as possible to maximize new sales opportunities.”

And that’s just what Business Warrior’s software will do for your business. Basically, if you want more sales, you need Business Warrior.

Following are some action steps you can take right now to improve results from your digital advertising.

Target the Right Demographic for More Effective Digital Advertising

If you want to get more out of your online advertising, be precise in your digital aim. More is not better, so avoid the shotgun approach. It’s much better to home in on the people who are eager to know about you.

In other words, target your marketing, whether online or off. That is, take aim at the people who want and need your products and services. Ask yourself, “Whose problems does my company address? Who would be excited to hear about what my company provides?”

Once you understand who those people are, find out all you can about them, then direct your digital advertising their way. You’ll enjoy a much better return on your marketing dollar when you do.

Own Your Reputation

Like it or not, your business has an online reputation. What’s more, your reputation matters when it comes to digital advertising. The factor that is most likely to move the needle with your online reputation comes from reviews. In fact, 90% of customers look up reviews before they purchase anything.

So invite customers to review your business online. Respond to favorable reviews with a brief note of appreciation, and be sure to reply to comments on your blog.

What’s more, never fail to follow up with customers who leave unfavorable reviews. Work to resolve complaints quickly and transparently. No business is perfect. Everyone knows this. So even a negative review can work in your favor if you respond in a positive manner.

When people can see from your online response to a negative review that you’re doing your best to provide good service and a great product, they’ll be more inclined to give your business a chance.

Improve the Quality of Your Ads

Google rates the quality and relevance of PPC ads and their keywords, and this rating determines an ad’s Quality Score. When an ad’s Quality Score goes up, the cost per click goes down and the ad rises in the rankings. Accordingly, the ad’s cost per conversion also goes down.

In short, if your PPC ads are clear, concise, and engaging, you’ll pay less for clicks and conversions. This will naturally improve the return on your digital advertising dollar.

RELATED ARTICLE: BOOST GOOGLE ADS QUALITY SCORE TO MAXIMIZE ROI

Don’t Overlook Free Options

Never forget that you can get plenty of digital advertising at no cost, so don’t let a limited budget hold you back. Take advantage of Google My Business, for example. This is a free Google tool that businesses and organizations can use to manage their online presence. Take advantage of it to attract more customers your way.

And then there’s Yelp. Yelp makes it easy for customers who are ready to buy to find local businesses. Even a free listing can be beneficial. But for even greater visibility, consider upgrading to a paid Yelp listing.

Keep in mind, though, that you will be expected to keep a paid listing for at least a full year. Also, be sure to monitor your Yelp listing regularly for negative reviews. Respond to them positively and as quickly as you can.

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Bump Your Digital Advertising up to the Next Level with Business Warrior

Get smart with your digital marketing and start using the Business Warrior app today. Then get ready to welcome lots of new customers!

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About the Author

Carrol Strain is a Top Rated Plus copywriter on Upwork. She is also an editor and on-call writer for the Business Opportunities blog.

Featured image by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash

In the article here, we share some online business ideas for beginners, many of which have low start-up costs. Keep reading to find out more.

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In this pandemic, many people learned how to do their jobs from home. In the process, we dealt with distractions and difficulties that we never had before in a traditional workplace.

This experience may have inspired some of you to be a bit more entrepreneurial. After all, if you’re going to be working from home, your thought, why not be your own boss?

What’s more, with all of our modern technology, this year is a great time to start a business online and start making money from home.

Keep reading to learn about online business ideas for beginners, most of which have low start-up costs.

1. Monetize Your Blog

If you love to write and share your opinions, monetizing a blog might be the perfect way for you to make money from home. However, keep in mind that the key to making money with blogging is to create as much quality content for your site as you can.

Then, once you have built up your backlinks and written guest posts to bring in new readers, you can start monetizing your blog through affiliate marketing and ad space. This is one online business idea that can really grow over time.

As your blog grows, you can hire a company that offers E-commerce Digital Marketing Services to help you improve your SEO and draw in more viewers for your content.

2. Become a Virtual Assistant

Here’s another idea: You can make an online business out of helping other people with their business ideas.

Virtual assistants are in high demand these days. VAs often perform tasks like scheduling and emailing. However, there are many virtual assistants who write copy, create graphics, or do online shopping or styling.

Basically, if you are very organized and you have good people skills, this can be a great job!

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3. Teach Others Online

This online business idea can take a couple of different forms. If you are an experienced teacher or you have a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Certification, you can teach English online on a variety of different websites.

Another option is to sell your expertise.

For example, are you a carpenter? Or have you spent decades designing book covers? Do you love gardening more than anything else in the world?

In short, you can create online courses on just about anything. In the era of social distancing, there is a lot of opportunity for people who want to get involved in online learning.

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4. Get Crafty

When looking at online business ideas for beginners, you might think that you have to have a lot of technical knowledge. However, nothing could be further from the truth. For example, if you like working with your hands and creating new things, you can start a business, even an online business.

Products like t-shirts, jewelry, and candles are popular on online marketplaces like Etsy. These products can often be made at a low cost, too.

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5. Sell Your Art for Commercial Use

If you are a visual artist, musician, or writer, your art can lead you to an online business idea: Your art is your work is your money!

For instance, visual artists can sell their photography to stock photo companies. Additionally, they can sell their graphic designs to businesses that need their work.

Musicians and writers can also sell their art for use in advertisements. Creating a strong social media presence can help drum up business for you and bring attention to your talent.

Start Making Money with These Online Business Ideas for Beginners

These are just five online business ideas for beginners. The truth is that the possibilities are endless. What will your next business be?

Want to learn more? Check out our Online Businesses category for more ideas.

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In the modern world, teams are an essential part of any successful business and are the backbone of any organization. If you empower them to be more productive, they will reciprocate that empowerment and go above and beyond what is expected for a job well done.

Unfortunately, many companies struggle to get their employees motivated. In order to be productive, it is vital for individuals to feel appreciated and supported at work. When it comes to empowering teams, there are countless ways in which you can do so. 

This article will cover a few ways on how to empower your employees to become more productive and help you achieve the best results possible from them!

1. Create a Safe Workplace 

It’s crucial for your employees to feel safe at their workplace. One of the best ways you can do this is by being open and honest about what’s going on in the company.

Communication is key when it comes to creating a safe environment. So, make sure everyone knows how they’re feeling or what changes are coming up that will affect them.

Additionally, you should also get essential business insurance that covers workers’ compensation. This might sound like it would take up too much time or money but taking care of your employees is essential. Workers’ compensation covers your employees’ medical expenses and lost salary if they get hurt while on the job, which can also save you from potential lawsuits.

2. Encourage Creativity 

Creativity is the driving force behind innovation and progress. It helps employees think outside of the box to generate ideas for improving processes, products, or services. It also encourages open-mindedness among other team members. This can help develop a productive company culture by increasing understanding amongst differing opinions on a subject.

In order to be the most productive, it is important for employees to feel that they can freely express their creativity. This will not only help them work better and more efficiently but also allow you to experience less frustration from miscommunications or missing tasks.

To encourage innovation at the workplace, you need to make it a priority and have the resources available to do so. This means removing any barriers that may prevent employees from expressing themselves, such as deadlines or insufficient technologies.

3. Provide a Space for Healthy Competition

Employees sometimes need an outlet in which they can be competitive and feel encouraged. Competitive environments, such as office sporting events or competitions for sales leads, will incentivize employees to work harder in order to win the competition.

To provide a healthy space for competition at your workplace, you need to be careful not to focus on bad aspects of competitiveness. Those usually create an aggressive environment rather than a positive one. Healthy competition helps employees blow off steam, increase motivation, and make new connections in their workplace.

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4. Implement a System of Rewards

An incentive is a reward, such as an award or bonus that will encourage employees to maintain their level of productivity and work harder to make the company successful. Additionally, incentives can also help motivate them to improve their performance, thus be more productive.

This can be in-kind rewards (such as gift cards) or cash bonuses, which are given at predetermined intervals. Normally, these are offered annually where performance has been satisfactory. You can also use incentives to reward employees for meeting specific goals to encourage them to continue striving.

RELATED ARTICLE: EMPLOYEE GIFT GIVING: TIPS AND TRICKS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY

5. Offer Feedback

Feedback is a process of providing information about one’s performance. It’s an assessment, evaluation, or appraisal on how well they are doing their job and whether the company is getting what it needs from that person.

It is important to give feedback in a timely and constructive way. This means that you should be giving employees regular performance reviews, at least annually or quarterly, depending on the nature of their work. You should also provide them with more immediate feedback when necessary (such as during an appraisal). 

Feedback should also have specific examples about where the employee went wrong or could do better next time to make sure all feedback is constructive. When you give feedback, it is essential to be open and honest with the employee about your thoughts on their performance. 

This means that if they are doing well in certain areas but not others or have good work habits overall but need some improvement in one area, you should let them know to improve upon these aspects of their work.

6. Prioritize Their Needs 

It’s important to prioritize the team’s needs because when they are happy. Your organization will thrive as a result. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should be their friend. However, it does mean being respectful and fair to everyone else in the company.

You should also make sure your teams have a healthy work-life balance. This means having a work schedule that doesn’t make it difficult for them to balance their personal and professional lives.

When your teams feel respected, they’re likely to be more productive. They’ll also want to stick around more, which might mean you’ll have a higher retention rate in your company.

7. Create a Collaborative Environment 

Teams should be encouraged to take responsibility and work together. Collaborating as a team can only make you more productive and help your company succeed.

To encourage collaboration, you can first create a workspace that is conducive to creativity. You can do this by giving the team space where they feel comfortable being creative and taking risks. Then, add tables, chairs, and plants to the workspace to create a more creative environment.

Final Thoughts

Team members are more productive when they feel valued and have a sense of purpose. Therefore, companies should take the time to understand what motivates their employees individually and provide them with opportunities for growth and development throughout their careers. 

Motivated teams can help your company be more successful, and everyone will benefit from an environment where team members feel valued. No matter what your team is working on, these tips will help you empower them to be more productive. 

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN YOUR COMPANY

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The terms curriculum vitae (CV) and resume are often used interchangeably. So, it’s easy to think that these documents are the same. However, in fact, they’re not.

But, they are quite similar and hard to distinguish unless you know the difference. Knowing the difference is essential because sometimes your entire future career may depend on how accurately you choose the type and format of your job application document. So, let’s dive into the topic. In this article, we’ll explain:

• What a CV is.
• What a resume is.
• How a CV and resume differ.
• How to pick which one to use. 

When we’re finished, you’ll know everything you need to apply for your dream job and really get noticed. 

What Is a CV?

CV stands for “curriculum vitae”, Latin for “course of life”. As the name implies, this is a long document. It’s typically, 2-3 pages long, or even longer. This in-depth document describes a person’s full career course in full detail. It also provides comprehensive information about:

• Education
• Research
• Publications
• Grants
• Skills

A CV also typically contains a short summary at the top of its first page and is usually accompanied by a cover letter unless required otherwise. It can be quite difficult to write a CV due to its length, level of detail, and strict formatting requirements. So, sometimes it can be best for an applicant to hire a professional writer to handle this daunting task in such a case one can turn to Skillhub. 

What Is a Resume?

The word “resume” originates from French (résumé) where it stands for “summary”. This document is a condensed version of a CV. A resume is typically one to two pages long. It only contains the most important and relevant data about the applicant’s work experience, skills, education, training, and accomplishments. 

There are a number of popular resume formats, each focusing on either work history, skills, or accomplishments. The most common types are:

• Chronological (or reverse chronological). The most widely accepted type focusing on work experience. 
• Functional. Another popular format used to highlight one’s skills and qualifications over work experience. 
• Combination. A fine blend of both chronological and functional types. it underscores skills and accomplishments, but gives a full overview of employment history as well.    

A resume may seem easier to write than a CV, but this is not always the case due to the multiple ways the information can be structured. If you’re unsure if you can make the most of your skills and experience in one short document, there are resume writing services ready to help. 

What’s the Difference? 

Length