Defense e-commerce questions

Define Omnichannel approach to business strategy and the role of eCommerce in it.

"Omnichannel" (also spelled omni-channel) is a consumer-focused approach that involves aims to provide a seamless shopping experience on multiple retail channels, including brick-and-mortar stores, online websites, mobile apps, radio, TV, physical catalogs, etc. Moreover, the omnichannel approach gives retailers a unique advantage by integrating all these retail channels on the back end. This means, for instance, that a sales representative can reference a customer's purchase history to offer customized recommendations based on the customer's preferences. As a result, retailers who choose to use omnichannel strategy are 91 percent more successful than those who don't. The omnichannel approach integrates multiple shopping channels, including TV, mobile apps, websites, phone, etc. These different consumerT touch points are in constant communication and there's inventory visibility across all the channels. For instance, a customer can start a purchase in one a mobile app and complete it on the company's website. Alternatively, a customer can see an item in a store, go home, purchase it online, and pick it up later from another nearby store. One of the main benefits of having omnichannel e-commerce is that you provide your customers with cohesive messaging about your brand. No matter where a customer encounters your brand, the messaging is always the same. Omnichannel e-commerce allows your company to collect and merge customer data from multiple channels. Combined, this data gives you a full picture of what types of customers are interested in your brand and their behavior, which gives you the power to personalize your customer journey. Only by understanding the customer journey can you personalize your customers' experience. Omnichannel e-commerce allows you to create a personalized experience. Creating a personalized experience is essential to omnichannel customers as they have a 30% higher lifetime value over shoppers who only purchase using one channel.

Name and describe four key performance metrics in eCommerce.

1. Product discovery metrics. It seems pretty elementary, but you can't attract visitors to your site if you don't create the awareness that leads to their discovery of your brand. These metrics will help you measure your activities that help create awareness and discovery. Impressions Simply put, impressions are the number of times your ad or piece of content is presented to someone. Reach Put plainly, reach is the total number of your followers and subscribers — basically, the sum of all of those who will see your content. Engagement Engagement is the intersection of your Impressions and your reach. Essentially: how many of your followers and and subscribers (your reach) are engaging with your content (your impressions). 2. Consideration metrics (or acquisition). You can't have a buyer if they don't get to your site. Now that they're aware of your brand, let's define some metrics that measure getting them to your site. There are many, many metrics in this phase of the funnel, so we'll only focus on a few. Email click-through Email click-through rate is how many of your email subscribers (who've received the email AND opened it, which are other metrics) clicked through to your site. Cost per acquisition (CPA) Do you think it'd be helpful to know how much you're paying for acquiring your customers. Organic acquisition traffic In the long run and in a blue sky, you hope to attract people to your site without paying for them. It follows that it's important to measure how many of your visitors reach the site organically, which is commonly available in all analytics platforms Social media engagement Social media metrics can provide a lot of value to your ecommerce company. Likes per post Shares per post Comments per post Clicks per post 3. Conversion metrics. Now that you're lucky enough to have a visitor to your store, how can you measure your performance in converting them from a store visitor to a paying customer, adding products to their shopping cart and actually checking out? These metrics should help you do just that. Shopping cart abandonment rate Shopping cart abandonment is a measure of how many people add something to their cart but LEAVE your site WITHOUT making a purchase. Checkout abandonment checkout abandonment is a critical metric of how many people leave your site WITHOUT making a purchase BUT ONLY AFTER they begin the checkout process. Micro to macro conversion rates Basically a micro and macro conversions are small (micro) activities that lead to bigger (macro) activities. Average order value (AOV) Your AOV is the average price your customers are paying for the items in their cart when they check out. Sales conversion rates This is the total number of sales divided by the total number of sessions to your store. 4. Retention metrics. Depending on the source, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Regardless of the exact amount, the data pretty strongly indicates the value in retaining those customers you've converted. Note that each of these retention-focused metrics will benefit from a common theme — good customer service, loyalty programs, repeat purchase campaigns, and a true investment in customer satisfaction. Customer Retention rate Retention rate is best defined as the percentage of customers you maintain as customers over a period of time. The higher this number, the better you're doing in servicing your customers. Customer lifetime value (CLV) CLV is the total amount you earn from your customers over the length of their relationship with you, as measured by AOV, repeat transactions, and retention period. Repeat customer rate You want to know what percentage of your customers have made multiple purchases. Refund and return rate Refund and return rates can be a plague for ecommerce websites. Even high revenue online stores can be ultimately be done in by high refund and returns. Ecommerce churn rate Churn rate is a metric to track the turnover of your customers. It measures the number of users lost over a given period of time.

How can Artificial Intelligence help e-commerce?

AI enables an ecommerce website to recommend products uniquely suited to shoppers and enables people to search for products using conversational language or images, as though they were interacting with a person. This has been one of the key missing ingredients for a larger ecommerce revenue share within the retail industry: lack of the personalization brick-and-mortars can offer. In that same vein, other opportunities emerging include using AI to personalize the customer journey. This alone could be a huge value-add to online retailers. Apart from product recommendations, artificial intelligence in Ecommerce industry is being utilized by online retailers for providing chatbot services, analysing customer comments, and for providing personalized services to online shoppers. The use of artificial intelligence in online shopping is transforming the E-commerce industry by predicting shopping patterns based on the products that shoppers buy and when they buy them. For example, if online shoppers frequently buy a particular brand of rice every week, then the online retailer could send a personalized offer to these shoppers for this product, or even use a machine learning-enabled recommendation for a supplementary product that goes well with rice dishes. Ecommerce AI tools or AI-enabled digital assistants such as the Google Duplex tool is developing capabilities like creating grocery lists (from the shopper's natural voice) and even placing online shopping orders for them. Artificial intelligence in Ecommerce is playing a leading role in driving innovative solutions and customer experiences. Some the leading use cases of artificial intelligence in Ecommerce is in the area of personalized shopping, product recommendations, chatbots and inventory management. On the most basic level, inventory management is sourcing, storing, and selling stock. It is knowing how much stock you have, how much it should sell at, where to keep it, and how long to keep it for.

Why is user data collection important in eCommerce?

As they say, knowledge is power, and getting to know the wants and needs of your target audience is key to the success of your eCommerce website. Both in-store and online businesses collect customer data for a variety of reasons. Collecting customer data allows a company to enhance a customer's s=hopping experience, making the customer more satisfied and increasing the company's revenue. In short, it benefits both the business and the consumer. The benefits of collecting customer information are vast. One benefit of having this data is that it allows businesses to give shoppers a more personalized shopping experience by understanding their likes and dislikes. In addition, businesses can learn from their past mistakes from customer data and make their business better for future customers.

What is consumer decision journey and its key characteristics?

Consumer Decision Journey (CDJ) is a model that describes how consumers make purchase decisions. It is therefore non-linear, meaning that the actions overlap and repeat until the final purchase decision, rather than following successively. The CDJ highlights the importance of Word of Mouth Marketing by incorporating factors such as customer loyalty, and the post-purchase experience after purchase into the model. The McKinsey consulting company conducted a study in 2009 with over 20,000 participants from different sectors and three countries. The findings of this study form the basis for the CDJ model.[1] It consists of the following phases: Consideration: Consumers start with a set of an average of three to four brands or companies if they are not already loyal customers of a company. Evaluation: Now they evaluate the brands being considered. A significant difference to the funnel becomes clear already. The consumer can access a variety of digital channels to get information. Search Engines, Social Networks and Blogs serve as a source of information. Companies can pick up their customers at these touchpoints or micro-conversions. Buy: When the consumer considers their needs met, they will make a purchase. The barriers should be as small as possible at this touchpoint so that the consumer can conclude a purchase with as few clicks as possible. Experience, Advocate & Bond: These describe what happens after the purchase. Consumers uses the product and accumulate experience. If they are positive, they may give a rating and recommend the product. Word-of-mouth marketing plays a central role in the CDJ, as this feedback affects the evaluation phase. There is a loop. Negative feedback affects purchase decisions from other consumers. But it can also be used as an improvement suggestion for future products. If a consumer's experience with a company has been consistently good, they may become a more frequent and loyal customer. There are two types of loyalty. One relates to loyalty programs, which include special offers for example. The other type of loyalty focuses on the management of customer relationships and the experiences a consumer has with a company. This includes contacts with customer service or conversations in various social networks.

Why electronic payments have been the main driver of e-commerce today?

ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SERVICES (EPS) EPS are services provided by payment networks that enable transactions to occur digitally among consumers, merchants, governments, or other accountholders, as an alternative to cash or check. EPS include services through which individual payment transactions are verified and through which transfers of funds between banks participating in the transactions are managed and facilitated. EPS facilitate transactions conducted not only through payment cards (e.g. credit, debit, or prepaid cards), but also any other devices that enable digital payment (e.g. mobile phones or "smart" devices and their digital wallets) as well as devices leveraging application programming interfaces (APIs) and open banking models. A variety of service providers offer innovative methods to pay in-person, and for transactions between two parties in disparate locations. EPS' are critically important for e-commerce as they enable secure, convenient transactions between buyers and sellers regardless of their physical location or currency.To provide their services, networks rely on commercial partnerships with domestic banks as well as non- traditional partners such as fintechs to deliver solutions that are locally relevant and accessible. Sales in the EU still predominantly take place offline - in bricks and mortar shops - and purchases are still predominantly made with cash. However, thanks to the level of convenience they offer, both online shopping and cashless electronic payments are booming and are among the key drivers of the digital transformation taking place in our economy and society. The real-time accessibility of e commerce products and their availability 24 hours a day, together with the ease of making electronic payments, are disrupting many aspects of traditional consumer shopping behaviour, which is also increasingly driven by widespread use of mobile devices and apps. Online sales hit a record high in 2019. At the international level, China is leading in both e-commerce transactions and mobile cashless payments. However, the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has put countries across the world, starting with China, into extraordinary conditions, with citizens staying at home; and some sellers trying to extract the highest profit possible from the situation. In the EU, a large majority of internet users, particularly those under the age of 45, shop online. Clothes, sports goods, travel and online content such as games, videos and music are among the most popular items. This trend is also driven by the increase in cashless payments, which have become very popular in some countries. The numerous different cashless payment methods in existence are often highly localised. One such example, the e-wallet, is gaining particular importance, driven by the over 2 billion users it enjoyed in 2019. On the other hand, e-commerce and the cashless society are facing a host of challenges related to cybercrime, fraud, privacy, the digital divide and pollution, among others. The coronavirus outbreak is also posing various challenges to e-commerce supply chains, many of which are based in the hardest-hit countries. However, the opportunities that e-commerce and cashless transactions afford in terms of convenience, efficiency and affordability will help them gain further ground in the years to come; their popularity among younger generations and strong EU-level policy support for digital transformation are also helping boost their prospects.

What are the primary indicators of success in Conversion phase of consumer decision journey?

If a customer has searched for a local business and done their research on the business, it is likely that they are ready to make a purchasing decision. Many businesses have moved their services to their website, including E-Commerce options that allow online purchasing. Website Presence A website acts as the virtual doorway for consumers to visit a local business. Without one, a local business isn't seen by people searching for their products/services. In 2018, we are seeing more and more businesses offering an online storefront to accommodate online shopper's needs. As more and more customers adopt the online shopping lifestyle, the presence of websites and E-Commerce options become more significant. If a customer prefers to shop in-store, a website may list different brands or products that a customer can expect to see in the store. Note: It is still extremely important for local businesses to have websites even if they choose to sell their products and services in-store as opposed to online. Increasing online conversion rates is, of course, critical to business success — and delivering high-quality customer experiences is a key part in achieving conversion. Delivering Promotion EX Promotions are a part of the customer experience that needs fixing. Humble discounts, partnerships, affiliates, rewards and referrals all need a shake-up if you're going to improve brand engagement and conversion rates. For example, a dud code is most likely to stop a conversion in its tracks. It's a bad experience that's detrimental to not only your sales, but your brand as well. Customers want codes that work for exclusive promotions, delivered in the moments that matter, in a connected and streamlined journey. In essence, they demand great Promotion EX. Thankfully, there's a way to get there! Evolve with the consumer and increase conversion So when customer experience has been elevated by Promotion EX, you're more likely to delight customers and encourage repeat purchase. It's a sure way to compete with the growing number of stores performing online. That's why Promotion EX is so important when it comes to maintaining and excelling in your conversions. It can be the next evolution in your performance strategy and create an end-to-end, seamless journey that leads your customers from discovery to redemption.

Which kind of tools do we have nowadays for promoting tourism services through e- commerce?

In the past few years, a tremendous change has come about within the travel and tourism industry and e-commerce has completely changed the concept of how people choose the way they travel around too. As everything is technologically driven now, online and electronic solutions have made life more convenient and comfortable for everyone, as well as more competitive for businesses. Travel companies can now reach your global audience sitting anywhere in the world and easily tally their pricing with competitors to enable them to offer their own customers the best possible options. E-commerce has played the vital role in enhancing the travel industry. Service providers and consumers, both are now enjoying the feasibility of it. Across industries, consumers rarely see an ad only once and then take action. Conventional marketing wisdom follows the "Rule of 7," meaning that the average consumer needs about seven interactions with a brand before making a purchase. That means that your travel brand should be present on multiple channels and develop content that aligns with each stage of the customer journey, from awareness through consideration and, finally, decision. For Social Media With social media playing a pivotal role in travelers' choice of destination, travel brands should have a robust presence on top social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. But managing multiple channels can be a challenge. For Content Marketing Content marketing refers to a marketing strategy that generates interest in a brand through material such as blog posts, articles, videos, brochures, printed collateral, infographics, and more. The first major component of content marketing is creating these assets, and there are several travel marketing tech tools to use when developing content. For Email Marketing There are several email marketing providers out there. The best part is that with many of the functions within these email marketing tools, you can automate many of your communications and spend that time on other components of your marketing strategy. For SMS Marketing SMS is one of the most effective marketing channels out there and boasts higher open rates than email. Notably, the open rate for text messages is around 95%, and a text message is usually read within 3 minutes of being received. If you collect phone numbers and deploy text message marketing as part of your overall strategy. With these tools, you can segment, personalize, automate, and mass send your text messages, as well as manage opt-in permissions and enable two-way communication.

What is the difference between consumers and customers? How does this difference impact marketing strategy in eCommerce?

Key Differences Between Customer and Consumer The fundamental differences between customer and consumer, in marketing are described below: The person who buys the goods or services from a seller is known as the Customer. The person who uses the goods or services is known as a Consumer. The customer is also known as buyer or client whereas the Consumer is the ultimate user of the goods. The customer can be an individual or a business entity while a Consumer can be an individual or a family or a group of people. Customer pays the price of the product or service however he may recover it from the other party, in case if he had purchased it on behalf of any person. Conversely, Consumer not necessarily pays the price of the product, like in case the goods are gifted or if they are purchased by the parents of a child. The customer purchases the goods for the purpose of resale or to add value or for his personal use or on behalf of another person. In contrast to Consumer, who purchases the goods for the purpose of consumption only. Enterprises must focus on the two as they should take care of what is demanded of the product by the consumer as well as they should advertise the product so well that it will grab the attention of the millions of customers instantly because the buying decision is taken by the two together or by keeping in view of the other. So, the companies should give equal importance to both.

What is one-to-one marketing applied to e-commerce?

One-to-one marketing or 1:1 marketing is a strategy that emphasizes having an individualized experience with customers. The personalization of interactions is thought to improve customer loyalty and have a high return on marketing investment. One-to-one is not necessarily a new concept. The one-to-one approach is about as old as business itself. Since the birth of commerce, store owners have remembered details about their customers to use that knowledge to improve service and boost sales. 1:1 marketing campaigns can be "a segment of one," instead of having to segment consumers into a group and send them all the same message, you can now deliver marketing material that appears unique to the individual. How? Well, there's plenty of ways of going about this. Using a CRM to reach out to an individual, sending them a personalized e-mail, serving programmatic content through a marketing automation tool, or, using video ... In short, it will eliminate the use of expensive media and promotion to give you a direct communication channel to your customer. This lowers the cost of resources and helps increase overall sales. In 1:1 marketing, there are basically two types; personalization and customization. Customization The seller gives customers the opportunity to customize the product to their specific tastes. In this case, the company does not, however, focus on learning what each customer's preferences are. For example, a car manufacturer offers the basic car. The customer then can add features themselves, such as color, engine size, types of seats, etc. Personalization The seller finds out what customers' tastes and personal preferences are. The seller does this on an individual basis. Then, the company customizes its marketing plan according to each individual's taste and preferences. Many online retailers do this today. For example, have you noticed how Amazon.com suggests new products? They are always goods that we have either showed an interest in or bought.

Which product innovation or process innovation do you mainly remember as important in e-commerce?

Product innovation involves creating new products or improved versions of existing products that increase their uses. This innovation can be in the product's own functionality, or it can take the form of new technology. Amazon and eBay were the first marketplaces to use the benefits of e-commerce to buy and sell mass market goods online. Personalized Product Recommendations Recognizing your visitors and making personalized product recommendations will create a unique shopping experience and make an impression with your potential customers. Let's take Segmentify as an example. It is an intelligent product recommendation engine that promises its customers at least 10% revenue increase. Through various implementations of different campaigns you can increase conversion rates, revenue, repeat customers and purchases, reduce bounce rates and abandoned carts. When making product recommendations, it is important that you continue to analyze your performance and adapt based on the behavior of your customers. Social-commerce, a Subset of E-commerce Naturally, social commerce is the use of social networks for online shopping transactions. Social media is embedded in our daily activities. This fact effectively changes the buyer-seller landscape. Brands stay in touch with their clients via popular social networks to create a personal relationship. More advanced technical features are integrated into social media that are directed to shorten the buying cycle. In the future, the one-click "Buy" button will likely be adopted by most social networks. The combination of e-retail and social media has resulted in evolving P2P marketplaces. Facebook and Instagram are the greatest examples. At last, the fact: the social e-commerce growth rate is on track to increase by 25% over the next 5 years, to make up more than a quarter of the total e-commerce market. M-commerce Using applications on smartphones and tablets to buy and sell products is known as mobile-commerce or, more simply, m-commerce. Today, the percentage of consumers using mobile devices constitutes a half of all internet traffic, meaning it is of high importance that e-commerce shops adapt to mobile screens and, in some cases, even build a separate app for the specific purpose of reaching these buyers and following mobile e-commerce trends. Solely the presence of a website or mobile app does not guarantee tremendous success. It is important to make sure that you create the best online shopping experience. Client engagement and retention are key indicators to focus on. Mobile shoppers are particular, so even the slightest issue can change their mind and lead them to buy from a competitor. Meanwhile, the more advanced functionality embedded into mobile apps sets up some new game rules. The invention of the devices such as Beacons and Dash Buttons actually showed the value of having a branded e-commerce mobile app. These gadgets trigger interest and engagement on the mobile app, which in the end increases sales. E-wallets and New Payment Integrations Electronic wallets simplify the payment process. Online services like Apple Pay, PayPal, Stripe, and Google Wallet allow for easy electronic transactions. Moreover, digital wallets can be synchronized with your bank account. This data, along with your driver ID, health card, etc, can be stored in the phone. Chatbots - New Virtual Support Service A chatbot (known as a conversational agent), is software technology that imitates real human interaction in a written or spoken way. It can be represented as a website bot, chatbot app, social media chatbot, as well as a voice assistant. The value of using this technology is that it saves time and expenses by automating customer support in an e-commerce space 24/7. Another plus is that it generates leads and, thus, revenue by gathering preliminary information about a client. As well, chatbots can redirect a prospective customer to the information they are most interested in. Voice Assistants - Modified Word of Mouth Voice search is widely used in services like Apple's Siri, Google Now, and Cortana from Microsoft, which also embed NLP technology. With regard to virtual e-commerce, like Amazon's Alexa, voice assistants have seen a great increase in popularity. The technology can be used to order goods directly from Amazon by voice command. As well, it quickly finds deals and can even order food deliveries from local restaurants.

Describe three selected social commerce functionalities and explain how they can impact consumer decision journey.

Social commerce is the use of a social network community to drive e-commerce sales, and it's a massive market. Social commerce allows consumers to purchase products and services from a brand directly, from within the social commerce platform. This could be via either clicking on a paid ad (like the above), or by clicking on the "View Shop" CTA on the brand's social media profile (page). Using social commerce, the entire online shopping experience can happen without the consumer having to leave the social media site they're on. In essence, this can mean less interruption for the consumer, allowing them to transact in the moment, with fewer clicks, and utilizing features like autofill payments. 1 | Buy buttons Buy buttons are links on social media platforms that move a user into the purchase process. These buttons have been around for a while, but early adopters found the functionality clunky, so the concept didn't take off right away. Digiday talked about Twitter's failed attempt at adding buy button functionality, as well as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest's struggles with it as well. Today, though, the future looks brighter for in-app shopping and purchasing. Twelve percent of consumers said that buy buttons would increase the probability that they would buy a product online. Facebook has a couple of different social commerce features. One is a Shop Now button you can use on ads. When clicked, that button takes you to a landing page on the brand's website.The Facebook Marketplace is also available to buyers and sellers. While it used to be a place for peer-to-peer transactions, ecommerce stores can now also sell through the marketplace — which also enables in-app checkout with Facebook Pay. 2 | Shoppable galleries and stories Shoppable posts on Instagram provide an excellent way to put your brand and products in the limelight — and can be particularly successful for brands with very visual products like apparel, cosmetics, and jewelry. Below are two examples of what shoppable posts look like on the 'gram.The features are the same on both — products are tagged on the image and are clickable. Here's where the two diverge. The earlier version of shoppable posts directed users to the brand's ecommerce site to finish the purchase process. But today, Instagram also has a native checkout option available to brands who want to offer the entire purchase process without redirecting users away from the app.Here, the example on the left from Natori shows an Add to Bag button. That indicates that checkout is available within the Instagram app. Pink Lily doesn't use in-app checkout, so their button takes the user to a product page on their website. Instagram also supports shoppable Stories, as the example below from Theory shows. 3 | Multiple tagging You can tag multiple products in each post on Instagram, which is great for using photos from a lifestyle shoot and encouraging shoppers to purchase more than one product to complete the look. Check out this example from Crate and Barrel:These posts with multiple products tagged can, as in the prior examples, go either to a checkout page or a screen that will take you to the brand's website to complete the purchase. Online merchants and retailers attempt to influence consumers to share their purchase experience. The interaction of consumers impacts the purchase decision of other consumers. The pre-purchase stage of the decision-making process is the phase in which consumers gather and process information. Consumers behaviour during the purchase decision-making process varies based on their decision-making style and prior knowledge of the product. That variation impacts the purchase process outcomes. In addition, the information acquired and processed has an impact on the process in general. A consumer can learn about the product and get knowledge to perform the best decision. Consumers always seek to reduce the effort and time spent to make a purchase decision. Thus, purchase experience shared socially will help consumers on their purchase task. Information gathered from ratings and reviews may assist consumers in building the product criteria, limits the number of alternatives, reduce the number of cycles needed to evaluate between products, and speed up the whole decision process.

What is the importance of UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) in e- commerce websites?

UX is how a person feels when interfacing with a system. This includes a website, web application, desktop software and basically any form of human/device interaction.UX is important because it tries to fulfill the user's needs. It aims to provide positive experiences that keep users loyal to the product or brand. Additionally, a meaningful user experience allows you to define customer journeys on your website that are most conducive to business success. Bad UX makes users abandon your site Good UX increases revenue through conversion and retention The Importance of User Interface Design (UI) in eCommerce The ultimate goal of a good UI is to make the user's interaction as simple, intuitive and efficient as possible. In eCommerce, intuitive interfaces and appealing design are an invaluable part of the user experience and can dramatically impact the performance of a website and ultimately lead to higher, or weaker sales. The shopping experience should be seamless, easy to understand, fast and convenient. Many visitors abandon shopping carts if they find the shopping and payment process difficult or inconvenient. A superior UI and UX ramps up the time visitors spend on a site. If the UI and UX are unique it will interest and impress visitors resulting in much more traffic to the site. The target is to make visitors feel comfortable shopping and to earn their trust as well as make an emotional connect. In general, visitors spend very little time on a site.

What is "friction" in a user interface/website?

User friction is really anything that prevents a user from accomplishing a goal in your product. I categorize user friction into a hierarchy of three levels: interaction friction, cognitive friction, and emotional friction. Interaction friction refers to friction a user experiences when interacting with your product's interface. It covers all aspects of the UI that may be hindering your users from accomplishing their goal.The canonical example of significantly reducing interaction friction remains the iPhone. Everyone knows that smartphones existed before the iPhone. And yet the iPhone changed everything. It was the first device to have a highly accurate on-screen keyboard thanks to their innovation in capacitive multi-touch screens. This freed up significant real estate on the screen when you weren't typing. They packed enough CPU power on the device to support a full web browser instead of the extremely limited web experiences that existed on smart phones before it. And most importantly, they made the entire software experience extremely intuitive, beautiful, and fast. Cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort being used in working memory. When cognitive load is high when performing a task, it means there is significant cognitive friction. The product designers goal then becomes minimizing cognitive friction. Cognitive friction is broader than just interaction friction as it encompasses all aspects of the experience that result in mental effort. This is best illustrated through a set of examples. Uber has been incredibly successful not only because it delivers rides at a lower price, but it significantly reduces the cognitive friction previously associated with taking a taxi, bus, or really any form of public transportation. The final category of user friction is emotional friction, which refers to emotions your users feel that prevent them from accomplishing their goal. These are often the most difficult to perceive and equally the most difficult to address. Tinder is another great example of an app that solved for emotional friction in the world of online dating. Tinder simplified the whole experience by reducing it to a series of profile cards that you simply swiped right if you were interested. If two people swiped right on each other, then their is mutual interest and then you have the ability to start a conversation. Tinder co-founder Sean Rad's core insight was that no matter who you are, you feel more comfortable approaching somebody if you know they want you to approach them. Tinder took on the emotional friction of online dating head on and made it far more approachable by developing a light-weight mechanic for quickly determining mutual interest.

What is the difference between eCommerce and eBusiness?

e-commerce is an abbreviation used for electronic commerce. It is the process through which the buying, selling, dealing, ordering and paying for the goods and services are done over the internet is known as e-commerce. In this type of online commercial transaction, the seller can communicate with the buyer without having a face to face interaction. Some examples of real world application of e-commerce are online banking, online shopping, online ticket booking, social networking, etc. The basic requirement of e-commerce is a website. The marketing, advertising, selling and conducting transaction are done with the help of internet. Any monetary transaction, which is done with the help of electronic media is e-commerce. The following are the types of e-commerce: B2B - The process where buying and selling of goods and services between businesses is known as Business to Business. Example: Oracle, Alibaba, Qualcomm, etc. B2C - The process whereby the goods are sold by the business to customer. Example: Intel, Dell etc. C2C - The commercial transaction between customer to customer. Example: OLX, Quickr etc. C2B - The commercial transaction between customer to the business. Definition of e-business Electronic Business, shortly known as e-business, is the online presence of business. It can also be defined as the business which is done with the help of internet or electronic data interchange i.e. is known as E-business. E-commerce is one of the important components of e-business, but it is not an essential part. e-business is not confined to buying and selling of goods only, but it includes other activities that also form part of business like providing services to the customers, communicating with employees, client or business partners can contact the company in case if they want to have a word with the company, or they have any issue regarding the services, etc. All the basic business operations are done using electronic media. There are two types of e-business, which are: Pure-Play: The business which is having an electronic existence only. Example: Hotels.com Brick and Click: The business model, in which the business exists both in online i.e. electronic and offline i.e. physical mode. The points presented below are substantial so far a is concerned: Buying and Selling of goods and services througs the difference between e-commerce and e-businessh the internet is known as e-commerce. Unlike e-business, which is an electronic presence of business, by which all the business activities are conducted through the internet. e-commerce is a major component of e-business. e-commerce includes transactions which are related to money, but e-business includes monetary as well as allied activities. e-commerce has an extroverted approach that covers customers, suppliers, distributors, etc. On the other hand, e-business has an ambivert approach that covers internal as well as external processes. e-commerce requires a website that can represent the business. Conversely, e-business requires a website, Customer Relationship Management and Enterprise Resource Planning for running the business over the internet. e-commerce uses the internet to connect with the rest of the world. In contrast to e-business, the internet, intranet and extranet are used for connecting with the parties.