Fastr by Zmags Blog

Blog for Ecommerce Leaders

Expert advice for building better converting ecommerce websites, faster.

Alex Smith

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
March 26th, 2024

Anyone that has attended an event as large-scale as last week’s Shoptalk: Spring in Las Vegas knows that there is so much to retain, digest, and ultimately apply to your team, brand, and strategy moving forward. So, if you can’t decide which to unpack fir...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
March 22nd, 2024

In an era where digital experiences dominate our daily lives, ensuring that websites are accessible to all is not just a legal requirement but a moral imperative. Approximately 16% of the global population live with disabilities and 27% of U.S. adults fal...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
March 11th, 2024

Next week from March 17–20, over 10,000 retail leaders and innovators will gather in Las Vegas for Shoptalk 2024. The content-rich event is the industry’s biggest of the year – serving as the ultimate hub for attendees to network and gain actionable insig...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
February 1st, 2024

In the past, “Digital Transformation” ruled the day for ecommerce businesses—it was the be all and end all for our industry and many others. But the digital transformation mindset no longer achieves what organizations need it to. In its place, ecommerce e...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
January 26th, 2024

The recent CMS Kickoff 2024, hosted by Boye & Co, brought together industry leaders, innovators, and disruptors in the content management space. As a leading Digital Experience Composition provider, Fastr was present to showcase our commitment to push...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
January 18th, 2024

As we've begun the new year, the lessons of the past, shaped by the tumultuous events of 2023 and the preceding years, have left an indelible mark on the ecommerce landscape. It's now clear that predicting the future in this ever-evolving realm is a formi...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
December 8th, 2023

The holiday season is a magical time for ecommerce businesses, marked by surges in online traffic and a flurry of festive purchases. As ecommerce leaders, navigating through this hectic period requires strategic planning, and one critical aspect often deb...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
November 10th, 2023

AI tools are making a big splash across industries, and ecommerce is no exception. With promises of enhanced efficiency and delegation, streamlined workflows for page and image generation, and a whole host of other potential innovations on the horizon, ma...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
October 10th, 2023

I am thrilled to announce a game-changing transformation in our company that is set to revolutionize the world of ecommerce. Today, we proudly introduce FastrAI, a powerful adaptive AI that will reshape the way brands create and optimize their online shop...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
September 21st, 2023

In the ever more crowded world of ecommerce, retailers can’t risk getting lost in the shuffle. A big part of this, as we’ve discussed in the past, relies on an organization’s ability to design and provide unique and dynamic experiences for their customers...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
September 18th, 2023

AI is all the rage and its popularity does not look to be slowing down any time soon. In nearly every industry, AI-based tools are promising massive benefits, especially when it comes to design projects. Solutions like ChatGPT and image generators allow t...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
August 18th, 2023

The customer journey—which we’ve written about before—is a foundational component of any effective ecommerce strategy, certainly any strategy that hopes to build long term customer relationships. Through the customer journey, retailers are able to interac...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
August 10th, 2023

What does digital experience mean to you? When you’re browsing an online catalog or comparing brands, what leaps out to you most? Is it the speed with which pages load? Is it a search functionality that lets you find the product or the information you’re ...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
July 27th, 2023

The ecommerce buying journey, known as the path to purchase, can be likened to many scenarios – getting from point A to point B, putting together a piece of furniture, or cooking a delicious meal. They all have an end goal, and there are both tools that h...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
July 6th, 2023

For online and hybrid retailers, there is perhaps no more valuable resource than a customer journey map. Sometimes simply referred to as your funnel, the map is your crystal ball—a dynamic repository that helps both predict and influence a buyer as they m...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
June 29th, 2023

Yesterday Zmags’ CTO Ryan Breen discussed the topic of content experimentation with Rachel Sutherland, Ecommerce Operations Manager for Toys “R” Us. With ever-increasing revenue targets, economic pressures influencing ecommerce buying behavior, and consta...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
June 23rd, 2023

Who doesn’t love the comfort of security and routine in their place of work? Having well-defined, long-standing practices has helped many an organization tackle complex projects with the confidence of checking off a daily to-do. With routine, you are cons...

Blog Feature

Zmags News

By: Alex Smith
June 15th, 2023

Allison Vernerey, Zmags VP of Product Management, to Participate in CommerceNext’s Roundtable Discussion Series We are very excited to announce that Allison Vernerey, Zmags' VP of Product Management, will be participating in a roundtable discussion at Com...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
June 8th, 2023

Size does matter in ecommerce – and not just for apparel. When you’re looking at static photos of merchandise online, whether it be a bouquet of flowers, piece of furniture, or article of clothing, it can be very difficult to visualize the size of the ite...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
June 1st, 2023

To help ensure our customers and potential future customers fully understand the changes coming with Google Analytics 4 and are ready to start collecting useful data on July 1, 2023, Zmags’ Vice President of Product, Allison Vernerey led a conversation wi...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
May 25th, 2023

This month, Zmags hosted the first in our new monthly virtual series, Fastr Design Lab. The program aims to build community amongst designers and ecommerce leaders, and share trends and best practices. Designs presented during the session were built with ...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
May 18th, 2023

There is no more important quality in the modern ecommerce landscape than convenience. For your customers, convenience embodies everything from knowledge to agility, understanding what they’re buying and being able to go from cart to checkout with ease.

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
May 4th, 2023

The Importance of the Digital Experience In Beauty & Cosmetics The beauty and cosmetics industry is visual by nature. It’s no coincidence that the most influential brands often have the greatest use of imagery, as visuals often serve as the essence of...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
May 2nd, 2023

Designers need time to ideate - sometimes on their own, sometimes with others. Designers also need critiques. Honest evaluations of their work and an objective assessment of whether it meets the needs of the project or campaign. And most designers also ne...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
April 27th, 2023

For every great idea in ecommerce, there’s at least one obstacle in the way of making it successful. More often, there are multiple challenges that teams face when bringing their vision to life.

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
April 24th, 2023

Keeping up with the latest technology advancements is a challenge for anyone. Businesses struggle to make the changes that they know will deliver a positive impact on productivity, efficiency, or experience because it can be so daunting to ensure you can ...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
April 20th, 2023

In the ever-evolving world of ecommerce, staying ahead of the competition and delivering exceptional digital experiences to customers is essential. Ecommerce development teams are constantly exploring new technologies and strategies to enhance their produ...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
April 6th, 2023

In-store shopping experiences vary widely by brand and category. Most buyers set their expectations accordingly. If you’re making an appointment to access high-end merchandise with the assistance of a personal shopper, you’re likely to receive an offer of...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
March 30th, 2023

In talking to thousands of ecommerce leaders, we’ve heard time and again that one of the biggest challenges they face is finding a way to elevate their Product Detail Pages (PDPs) beyond basic templates. And as online shoppers are increasingly landing dir...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
March 23rd, 2023

Understanding a customer’s expectations and preferred experiences across all channels best positions an ecommerce business for success. But gathering that information, synthesizing it, and analyzing it so the data can be used in a meaningful way is no sma...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
March 16th, 2023

Optimizing your ecommerce product pages is essential for driving sales and increasing conversions. A well-optimized product page can make the difference between a customer quickly moving on to the next website or making a purchase.

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
March 9th, 2023

As marketers, one of the more challenging aspects of our work is to balance the many creative ideas our teams have and the myriad experiments we wish to deploy with the always limited set of resources (including people’s time and budgets). Enabled with th...

Blog Feature

By: Alex Smith
February 23rd, 2023

Earlier this month we launched Fastr Frontend, the first Frontend-as-a-Service built for business users. Today our visionary Zmags product leaders Ryan Breen (CTO) and Allison Vernerey (VP, Product) broke down the challenges faced by ecommerce marketers t...