Fastr by Zmags Blog

For many ecommerce sites, the time from Halloween through Christmas signals a code freeze for the software development team. Whether done to reduce the risk of disruption to your site due to increased holiday traffic, to test new module functionality in a...

It’s no secret that ecommerce is big business. After experiencing a 27.6% growth in sales in 2020, in large part due to the pandemic, Statista projects global ecommerce annual sales will exceed $6 billion by 2024.

According to eMarketer, in 2023, retail sales worldwide are forecast at $30.3 trillion, 4.5 percent more than in 2022, and a slight deceleration in growth rates. However, the uncertainty of a looming recession and inflation have certainly impacted buyer b...

The digital retail landscape is constantly changing. As we head into the second half of 2022, both supply chain problems and elevated inflation are still causing some uncertainty for shoppers. The good news is that according to economists and the National...

There is so much technology available today, and as technology continues to evolve it can be challenging for businesses to know which ones are best suited for their specific needs and goals. Many brands turn to digital experience platforms (DXPs) as their...

In our recent webinar, eCommerce in 2022: Tips, Trends, & Tricks we heard from a panel of global retail leaders as they discuss their thoughts on where they expect growth, anticipate challenges, and their biggest predictions for the year ahead. Watch ...

A digital experience platform (DXP) is an integrated technology designed to compose, optimize, and deliver digital content experiences across the customer journey on your website. DXPs have grown out of CMSs (content management systems) limitations in cre...

Customer shopping habits have changed. Over the last two years, they have turned to online shopping, which in turn, forced all businesses to build up their eCommerce presences. With the holiday season about to heat up, Deloitte Insights predicts that 62% ...

When it comes to implementing marketing campaigns and programs, each team is unique - and so are the design files used to bring their creatives to life. Marketers and designers can choose between dozens of design and image file types, and create them in d...

The digital path-to-purchase has been a topic of discussion for many years for marketing specialists. As digital media changes and evolves, so do customers' shopping behaviors. Using data to track and understand your customer buying journey will enable yo...

Let's face it, as marvelous as your branding may be or as innovative as your product/service is, if you're not ranking on the first Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP), people may never know your business exists. A well-rounded Search Engine Optimiza...

Last year presented many challenges and unexpected changes. One of those changes was that in the land of eCommerce, many retailers experienced a digital holiday season that surpassed targets set at the beginning of the year (even with a global pandemic tu...

Every email marketer has heard the news regarding Apple's new privacy updates. Among these updates is a new feature for the built-in Mail app designed to prevent email marketing systems from tracking when consumers open their emails. So does this mean ope...

Here, at Creator by Zmags, our mission is to hire incredible individuals throughout our organization. This means we're hiring globally and headhunting the best people for very specific roles. We particularly wanted people that would bring a unique perspec...

Rich Content and Richer User Experience As a content marketer, you know design is everything. You also know that rich content contributes to an elevated user experience and higher conversion rate. Producing a dynamic and refined user experience is at the ...

Rick Kenney

Welcome! You’ve got mail. While email marketing may seem simple to the receiver, every marketer knows how hard it is to create a catchy subject line and interesting email body. This is your first direct communication to a customer, and all brands want to ...

You * clap* need * clap* to * clap* start * clap* recording * clap* * clap* * clap* Listen, 48% of millennial watch videos only on their mobile device. Video marketing is a thing now. Us, Gen Xers consume it all from Facebook or Instagram Live to a Snapch...

Your alarm didn’t go off, you missed your 8:15 bus, and the Uber you took cost an obscene amount of money. You go to work and everything seems to have a domino effect. By the time you go home, you just want to hit your bed. It seems like your mood transit...

(Healthy) competition is necessary for a business to grow and expand. And we get it, not everyone enjoys competition. So, what happens when five other companies are selling similar products to yours? New customers are crucial for rising your company above...

So, what happens now? Since May 25th, GDPR has been enacted in Europe. Meaning some brands will have lost quite a significant reach from GDPR regulations and opt-in requests. This means they need to make the most of the ones they still have by providing e...

Blogs and budgets are due and Q4 is about to begin. To be candid, you may be dropping the ball as you figure out what is the priority and what is not. Creative content is crucial for many aspects of your business. Not only does rich imagery look aesthetic...

It may seem strange to see creative content and healthcare in the same sentence. But it’s true that healthcare companies should care about content marketing. But the healthcare industry is at least two years behind other industries in its use of content m...

As New York Fashion Week continues this week, the events and headlines get bigger and bigger. Aside from rappers Cardi B and Nicki Minaj fighting at an NYFW party, there is more to be captured. Specifically, retail ecommerce brands can make use of the tre...

The demand is high for the next best thing in the eCommerce world. Late 2018 and 2019 is going to be all about utilizing shoppable, interactive content. What is this interactive content? It is imagery and media that integrates quick views to keep customer...

Server-side rendering may be daunting but really isn’t that bad once you understand it. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAhYnK0v3rk[/embed] Let’s break it down… Server-side rendering (SSR) is not the ability of an FE framework to render markup, rat...

Happy Friday everyone! I have been waiting so, so, so, soooo long to finally do this post. 1 - Because I love GIFs. And 2 - The last blog had so many statistics, my head was spinning. Let’s get down to the important facts about how Gifs can help your SEO....

Art can be categorized into various genres like abstract, contemporary, expressionist, and more. If we think about beauty as an art, makeup becomes the medium applied to the blank canvas of the face. Your content can also serve as this canvas. AdWeek cont...

I'm sorry to disturb your Netflix and chill, but its time to get out of your sweatpants and put some big boy pants on. Get in your suit, tie-up your laces, and get yourself to one of these upcoming ecommerce events. If you’re interested in expanding your ...

Please restrain your eye-rolls at the mention of millennials and generation Z-ers. Honestly, it is impressive that you even clicked on this article (so thank you for that). But you can’t ignore the fact that they (myself included) are the largest percenta...

Replatforming is a notoriously frustrating process that every digital marketer has learned to dread. Most brands Replatform every two to three years in order to stay competitive, but It is stressful on marketers’ time, budgets, and patience. It requires c...

It’s OK to admit it…not all of us are “punny.” While some may think of it as a weird play-on-words used for a cheap laugh, I think of it as comical genius or – pardon my French – je na sais quoi. *BA-Dum-Chishhh* It’s important to have a consistent voice ...

Remember that time you picked up a hobby (and thought you were really good at it)? Maybe it was crafting artisanal jewelry or whittling wooden furniture or carving soap or even concocting various slime products (yes, it's a thing). Let's be honest; we've ...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, I’m not talking about Christmas, but Discovery Channel’s Annual Shark Week. With the most-watched week beginning this past Sunday, this marks the 30 th installment for Discovery Channel. Since its debut in 198...

According to Forbes Communication Council, ecommerce trends show that by 2020, 40% of the automotive industry will consist of millennials. With their consuming power gaining more influence, they will soon be the majority of car buyers. Coupled with the re...

Take your customers on a literal journey. With the click of a trackpad, a shopper perusing an outdoor brand’s site can be transported to another domain away from their computer screen and onto a hiking path surrounded by thick woods. They enter your websi...

Now that we’ve established ecommerce personalization is the future of the customer experience, you might be asking yourself, “That’s great and all, but my company just can’t invest in that technology right now. So thanks for nothing!” Well, when in doubt,...

Personalization is a word that’s bandied around constantly in the marketing and ecommerce industry. From webinars, to twitter hashtags, to blog posts (including this one), it’s a buzzword marketers can’t seem to get away from. Often, personalization is to...

Delivering an elevated and contextual user experience is at the top of every digital marketers’ to-do list. In fact, Forrester Research estimates that a well-designed UX could improve conversion rates by up to 200% [i]. But it’s not just conversions that ...

Cait Porte

There’s a reason America’s Funniest Home Videos has been on air for almost 30 years; seeing someone else fail in various ridiculous ways is just funny. But a video of someone spectacularly slipping off a skateboard is only funny if you weren’t the person ...

Rich content campaigns are increasingly becoming the standard for brands. As consumers become increasingly tech-savvy, their expectations for their shopping experiences have been raised. In response, brands are investing significant time and resources int...

As more and more consumers choose to complete their shopping online, their expectations for that online shopping experience have evolved. This holiday season ecommerce sales are expected to grow at 15.3% this holiday season. Customers want brands to go th...

Customer engagement has always been crucial to retail. But what defines customer engagement today versus even ten years ago has changed dramatically. When consumers could only really engage in a store or on the phone, retailers didn’t have to worry about ...

As marketing campaigns become more and more technology driven, the roles of IT and digital marketing have begun to intermingle and blend. Because of this merging of roles, it’s more likely than ever that an IT Manager will have digital marketing action it...

Online shopping is not just for large companies - with the latest ecommerce platforms and features, retailers big and small can easily set up an ecommerce channel. But with more and more options for shoppers every day, it can be difficult for brands to st...

Rich digital experiences are quickly becoming differentiators among ecommerce winners and losers. In 2018 and beyond, richly unique and shoppable content will be king, so to stay on the throne, retailers will need more inspiration than ever. So to get the...

B2B Content Strategy In retail marketing, B2B and B2C content are fundamentally different, and have different goals. At their most basic functions, B2C content should inspire consumers to purchase, and B2B content should inform businesses on why they shou...

Google Analytics (GA) is one of the greatest tools in the eCommerce marketer’s toolbox. With GA, retailers can measure and track their website’s revenue and engagement metrics to create a successful content marketing strategy. The problem is, it’s been re...

Paula Rosenblum

The rise of storytelling content and brand experiences have made engagement metrics key indicators of a brand’s success, but for many retailers the final indicator has been, and always will be, conversion. The volume of revenue generated by a campaign or ...

Amanda Farmer

Zmags and NAPCO Research recently teamed up to gauge the state of rich content for today’s online retailers. Through an online survey seeded to the Total Retail audience, we have collected over 150 responses across industry verticals like consumer electro...

Brands have a whole host of digital marketing goals to meet: engagement metrics, long-term loyalty, a dynamic brand image, the list goes on. But for many, especially during busy seasons like the holidays, their goals usually boil down to one measure of su...

It's a known fact that rich content is a digital marketer's greatest asset; and this goes doubly for the retail marketer. Retail customers need to be engaged and inspired while they shop. It is not enough to display products on a static page. Shoppers nee...

Why Your Mobile Content Strategy Matters Retailers have only recently begun to give mobile ecommerce its due. With a smart phone in almost every pocket, it is a huge opportunity to get products in front of your customer – in fact, by the end of 2017, mobi...

Is Your Web Content Truly Accessible to All? Since 2015, over 300 lawsuits have been filed in violation of one giant, but frustratingly nebulous, concept: website accessibility. In the height of the digital commerce age, retailers must reexamine if they a...

In the first installment of this two-part series, we discussed the importance of website accessibility and the formulation of regulation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it relates to e-commerce. That led to some broad observations — in ...

Carousel sliders have always been a staple of the ecommerce website, but lately they have received an upgrade. By adding instant shoppability, customers can shop the featured looks and products without having to search through the website, or even scroll ...

As the biggest holiday retail season of the year comes to an end, you probably need a well-deserved distraction. So take a break, and check out some of the coolest holiday digital experiences out there. They’re the perfect antidote to the pre-holidays off...

I may go shopping because I need pants. But while I may go into a store with a mission to find pants, I often leave with an entire outfit. There is a science behind why this happens, and it’s the mark of a great merchandising team. If I shop online, howev...

With ecommerce continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate, more retailers are realizing that their technology and marketing efforts must be closely synchronized in order to achieve the best possible results for their business. CMOs, CIOs and heads of eco...

Shop.org just wrapped up and it’s becoming one of my favorite events to attend. Why? There are several reasons I make time for this event every year: First, it’s short and sweet. I love the 2-day format! It lets people carry the momentum, learning, and en...

Marketers talk a lot about "customer experience," but what does it really mean? And how do you measure it? An emerging trend is marketers' using attention metrics to hold themselves accountable for delivering the types of experiences that capture people's...

Consumers are spending more and more time online. For marketers, it used to be relatively straightforward: a single digital touchpoint that captured consumer attention. Now of course, that single digital touchpoint has grown to include mobile, tablet, pha...

Over 1,500 top retailers gathered in Boston this week for eTail East to discuss e-commerce trends and share ideas on the future of online retail. Here’s a recap and the top lessons I’m taking home from this jam-packed four-day event. Top Retailing Themes ...

With 50 percent of websites only achieving 15 seconds of attention, consumers are living in the moment, craving instant digital gratification and only rewarding the most rich and attention-grabbing sites with their time. They are both overloaded with medi...

The popular web magazine CMS Wire hosts a number of Discussion Point panel discussions with business leaders on topics that are important to the technology industry. We were fortunate to be asked to join in one recently on a topic that is near and dear to...

I recently wrote an article for MarketingProfs and showcased a number of interesting statistics on what it takes to capture people’s attention. Time is a precious resource, and because of content-led marketing strategies that have led to content prolifera...

Recently we were invited to write a series of articles for Marketing Land about the challenges and opportunities marketers face in the new digital age. Speed was one of the first topics that came to our mind. We live in an era where consumers face an abun...

Last month, enterprise cloud commerce provider Demandware and business intelligence service L2 released the findings of a new joint report that examines the factors that most impact retailers’ ability to be agile with their global e-commerce operations. T...

You’ve heard the old adage before—there are those who lead, and those who follow. And, as you know, consumers remember the leaders. Nowhere is this more evident than the exploding realm of content marketing. While the term “content marketing” has been aro...