I just sat down at my desk and took a few moments to read Antonio Regalado’s fascinating column on E-Commerce from MIT Technology Review. I recommend it to anyone who runs a business, or really anyone who plans to buy something in the next month or two — you know, during the Holiday Shopping Season. […]
The Death of E-Commerce? [2023 Update] Read More »
This holiday season, the Official Merchant Services Blog brings you the latest on Facebook’s newest venture, Facebook Gifts. On Tuesday, the company announced that any U.S. member can now send Facebook friends tangible gifts, which includes wine, digital gift cards and even charitable donations. Facebook Gifts The Facebook Gifts program, previously available only to some users of the
‘Tis The Season, For Facebook Gifts [2023 Update] Read More »
Today the Official Merchant Services Blogbrings you some predictions for this holiday season. In particular, there are six key trends to watch. Over the last 12 months the E-commerce sector has rallied against challenging economic conditions and driven innovation in business and shopping models. A flurry of technical innovations, most notably the emergence and rapid adoption of
Holiday E-Commerce Trends [2023 Update] Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog will focus on an exclusive deal offered to merchants by Host Merchant Services, a second year of the Discover “On Us” plan, formerly the Add Discover On Discover promotion. This plan comes at just the right time for merchants as holiday shopping will increase their traffic and sales. This offer from Discover, through
Discover “On Us” Program Read More »
Today, the Official Merchant Services Blog shines a light on a little known holiday that falls between Black Friday, and Cyber Monday called Small Business Saturday. Since Host Merchant Services has many small businesses in its customer base, we wanted to take a moment to spotlight this newer day of shopping focus and frenzy. This is the third year
Small Business Saturday: Nov. 24th Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is taking a look at a new bill proposed in Florida that attacks the growing E-Commerce industry. The bill — HB 861 — was filed by state Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee. The bill would require online-only sellers to collect and remit Florida sales taxes, just like other Florida retailers. Bricks
Florida’s Proposed E-Commerce Bill Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog continues its special two-part series on Customer Service. We can’t stress enough how essential it is to focus on Customer Service –– especially now during the holiday shopping season when your business may be barraged with a lot more customers who have a lot more questions. Yesterday, we shared with you
Customer Service: Help Desk Stress Test Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog begins a special two-part series on Customer Service. A previous blog focused on how important Customer Service is for a business during the holiday shopping season. We are currently in the midst of one of the busiest holiday shopping seasons on record, according to the early sales data that
Customer Service: Tips From a Friend [2023 Update] Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog continues to follow some of the top trending stories in the e-commerce industry. E-commerce is an essential growth element in most retail businesses. This has been building for years, as online shopping becomes more and more a convenient and commonplace fact of life for the everyday consumer. E-Commerce Sets Record Highs
E-Commerce: News Briefs [2023 Update] Read More »
As a merchant, things should be off and running for you right now. Black Friday has come and gone. Small Business Saturday has burned brightly. And Cyber Monday has counted its clicks. Holiday Shopping Season 2011 is officially underway no matter what metric you use to note the start. The Official Merchant Services Blog is
Merchant Tips to Keep Business Booming [2023 Update] Read More »
Today is Cyber Monday. And The Official Merchant Services Blog has been running a series on the Holiday Shopping Season that has basically been building up to today. Previous blog posts predicted that Online Shopping was beginning to really bit into Black Friday sales and that a general shift in consumer shopping habits was taking
E-Commerce: Cyber Monday [2023 Update] Read More »
Let the shopping season begin! Black Friday is here, and the traditional marker for holiday shopping is off to an unusual start for 2011. The Official Merchant Services Blog is taking today’s blog entry to give you a bit of a roundup on the event. It Started Early The first sign that this year’s Black
Merchant Services: Black Friday is Here Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog continues its ongoing series to get you ready for the Holiday Shopping Season. A previous blog entry looked at the next big thing, virtual gift cards. But we figured we’d take a moment to focus on the old school mainstay, and offer insight into why merchants should offer their
Merchant Services: Why Should You Offer Gift Cards? Read More »
As we close in on the Holiday Shopping Season, customer service becomes more and more important. That’s not to say customer service was unimportant prior to now; it’s just that most businesses –– e-commerce ventures as well as brick and mortar stores –– see a large increase in consumer activity during the Holiday Shopping Season.
Superior Customer Service Read More »
With the Holiday Shopping Season fast approaching –– Black Friday is 11 days away, Cyber Monday is 14 days away –– the payment processing industry is still getting the last pieces in place for a brisk rush in the use of credit and debit cards. The Official Merchant Services Blog continues its series focusing on
The Allure of Credit Cards for Holiday Shopping Read More »
The E-Commerce process needs to be streamlined and strong. Your customers need to be able to find your page when they search, find your products when they get there and buy your products with no hassles. Click, click, purchase. Web Analytics helps you figure out if that process is working.
Use Analytics to Maximize E-Commerce Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog once again picks up its thread about the impact 2011’s holiday shopping season is going to have on e-commerce. Previously we gave merchants tips on improving their e-commerce experience for customers. These tips were primarily focused on things merchants can do with their website and their online shopping cart. Today
E-Commerce SEO Tips for Merchants [2023 Update] Read More »
Much of the content I provide for The Official Merchant Services Blog I write like a news story. The goal there is to provide quality, insightful information on topics that relate to what we feel our visitors and merchants can use in their business. But this is still a blog. And today I’m going to
Customer Service vs. Marketing? [2023 Update] Read More »