New Magento Release: Ups the Mobile Commerce Game
By Tamara Caddy
The future of online shopping is going mobile as e-commerce continues to broaden its reach beyond desktop users.
The commercial potential for consumers to spend using their smart phones and tablets – increasingly the lifeblood of modern society – cannot be ignored.
Entrepreneurs must implement platforms which enable customers to experience, interact with and purchase their brand wherever they are and however they chose to connect.
E-commerce platform Magento has released an exciting range of mobile offerings as a part of new features added to its Magento Enterprise and Magento Community software packages.
The latest releases build upon the platforms’ existing mobile e-commerce capabilities and aim to make it easier to create compelling and elegant mobile shopping experiences.
According to Magento, the new Mobile HTML5 features include: gesture-based controls, multi touch and image scaling and the utilisation of device specific audio and video capabilities. Additional features include user-friendly search and results display, drag and drop of products to the shopping cart, easy swiping between product images, zooming capabilities as well as the opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell products. All of the new features are highly customisable and the HTML5 theme supports iPhone, Android and Mobile Opera browsers.
You can read more about the latest releases of Magento Enterprise here.
This is on top of the already existing ‘Magento Mobile’ product which allows you to create branded native storefront apps for iPhone, iPad and Android that integrate with your online store.
What all this amounts to is the ability to create a stellar, highly mobile-optimised business that is so crucial in today’s online commerce environment.
Magento is Design Industries’ preferred e-commerce platform; we look forward to strategically integrating applying the latest releases of Magento your online enterprise. Contact us
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Stabbing in the dark and not finding the prize?
By Tamara Caddy
You need hard figures for real insights into who, how and why is using your website. Use analytics to measure and optimise web traffic and effectiveness.
The “build it and they will come” mantra is fine for Kevin Costner but in the fierce environment of online operations it is fool hardy not to have strategy (informed by data) behind your web presence.
Understanding the source and the behaviour of your users will help you get the best out of your website, generate more leads and hopefully help you fulfil your online objectives.
Web statistics have long been used to track where visitors are coming from (geographically and online) what language they speak, how often they visit and what browsers they use. There’s a barrage of software available, although, in its new 2012 incarnation, Google Analytics includes information for web strategists to use as part of their arsenal including ‘real time’ data.
SEVEN WAYS TO HARNESS WEB ANALYTICS
Track user behaviour by measuring pages per visit; average time on site; bounce rates. Create events to track such as enquires, conversions, downloads, how many scrolled all the way to the end. See what parts of the site are attracting the most users, getting them to stay, such as landing pages or campaigns. This allows you to adapt the site and content strategically rather than on an ad-hoc basis
Goal flow allows you to evaluate a conversion funnel and identify processes that aren’t working or that are too fiddly for most users to bother with.
View top keywords and search terms to spot trends based on different criteria that you select – including visits, bounce rates and pages per visit.
The ability to monitor the average page load time you can make sure your site is running smoothly as delays result in lower conversions.
Examining mobile web analytics enables you to cater your site according to what devices, smart phones and tablets people are using. This is a crucial consideration when building your web’s functionality and useability.
Gauge users’ level of social engagement with your site by tracking what content and pages inspired social action: such as shares, retweeting and likes. We recommend plugins such as Sharethis and AddThis sharing plugins to boost traffic and for which Google Analytics is a complimentary tool.
Personalise areas such as dashboards so your users can quickly access the statistics that relate to their area of responsibility. Or create separate areas for different campaigns or target groups.
Our advice is to employ analytics to put strategy, backed up by figures, behind your site and to ensure it is functioning at its optimum and designed for your business’ needs.
Want help building your website and powering analytics to get the best results?
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Getcha Mitts On This Handbook
By Tamara CaddyIn the words of famed graphic designer, Petrula Vrontikis, ”Practice safe design – use a concept”.
Indeed, the seed of great solutions to the design conundrums of any business is a well thought-out, immaculately planned and precisely executed vision.
Enter the Design & Branding Directory. Produced by the folks at Desktop & Marketing magazines, it is THE handbook for perusing approaches that have worked for different brands across mediums for everything from mini start-ups to multi-national mega-giants.
It is bursting with case studies with problems (and solutions) just like yours by innovative creative service providers just like us, Design Industries.
On pages 44 and 45, we are proud to detail our digital solution for the soon-to-be-launched site, meemeep.com.
Sadly, each provider could only choose one case study to showcase. We’d love to show off more examples of our tailored web solutions from eCommerce to e-Newsletters that we’ve created for all sorts of retailers, start-ups, not-for-profits – big and small. To hear more, contact us.
Get The Design & Branding Directory for $15.95 through retailers or through Desktop Magazine.
Read moreFlexi Flats – Web Video
By Sam PascuaIn collabration with our new web video production team and Flexi Flats we are proud to announce that Di has produced it’s first web video.
Read morePRESS RELEASE: PCI Compliant Website
By Sam PascuaFor Immediate Release
Melbourne based web design company deploys one of Australia’s first privately owned PCI compliant website’s
Melbourne – October 12th, 2010 –Melbourne based web-design studio Design Industries has announced the release of one of Australia’s first Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards compliant websites.
“There are quite a few PCI compliant systems and websites in Australia,” said Michael Dockery, owner of Design Industries. “This is one of the few privately held projects to be PCI compliant.”
The new website, Powerseller.com.au, is a shopping center styled website with a full sales-transaction management system that allows vendors to open-up-shop online without any of the hassles usually associated with creating your own e-commerce presence. Not only is Powerseller Australia’s leading multi-vendor e-commerce website it’s also one of the first Australian web based companies to fully comply with PCI standards for data security.
“PCI certification required a great many number of changes for Design Industries,” explained Andrew Dockery, Senior Software Designer. “We had to change the way we coded, the way we handled passwords and the way we accessed and configured our systems, particularly in production.”
The controversial PCI standards, which were implemented by several of the major credit card companies like Visa, MasterCard a and American Express, require that all businesses that accept, transmit or store credit card holder information, meet a stringent set of security requirements or face hefty fines.
“No one has talked to businesses about complying with the PCI requirements as it is anti-competitive behavior by the big card companies,” said Michael. “It’s going to be a massive problem over the next couple of years.”
About Design Industries
Design Industries is one of Australia’s leading web design companies, and we offer our clientele a broad range of services, skills and experience. Formed in 2000, this Melbourne based company specializes in developing custom solutions for new and growing business ventures seeking a superior web presence.
View Case Study
Click to read the PowerSeller Case Study
Contact:
Michael Dockery
Owner
Design Industries
Tel: 1300 73 63 63
Flexi Flats Film Shoot
By Sam PascuaA selection of photos from a film session with DreamChild Productions the other day at the Di office for a joint client Flexi Flats
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