As a business owner, we’re sure you’ve heard how beneficial online reviews are for your business— they can boost your reputation, brand loyalty, and bottom-line! But, do you really understand why? Here are 4 reasons why you should start tapping into the power of online reviews today.

1. Online Reviews Are Heavily Utilized

Research shows that 90% of consumers read reviews before visiting a local business, and nearly 60% check reviews while they’re in-store. And, they’re becoming more popular every year! According to research, 78% of consumers read online reviews in 2012, while 93% read reviews in 2017.

2. Online Reviews Influence Buying Behavior

Customers rely on reviews to make informed buying decisions. 74% of shoppers say positive reviews make them trust a business more, and they also encourage shoppers to spend as much as 31% more on their purchase. And, for the majority of customers— 85%-— online reviews carry as much weight as personal recommendations from acquaintances.

On the contrary, 40% of consumers report that they won’t visit a local business upon reading negative reviews.

3. Online Reviews Can Improve Your SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is how visible your website and/or content is with online search results. A lot of factors go into how search engines rank results, and one of them is online reviews (according to a study, reviews were the #1 factor affecting results of local business searches in 2017).

When we say that online reviews affect how your business shows up in search results, there are several factors at play, such as: the number of reviews you have, the actual ratings, and what’s being said in the reviews (i.e. a popular word in your reviews can trigger results when people search for this word).

4. Online Reviews Provide Valuable Business Insights

Even the most attentive business owner can’t know with 100% certainty how all of their customers feel. Online reviews are a great way to measure what you’re doing right and what you could do better. Armed with this knowledge, you can take the steps you need to improve your customer service and products/services.

Ready to start growing your online reviews? Stay tuned for our next blog post!

While some businesses thrive in the summer- think ice cream shops or al fresco cafes- others may have a hard time getting customers out of the sunshine and into their doors. If your business is going through a summer slump (we hope not!) here are 5 ways you can bring the heat inside.

Not only does having a positive attitude improve your health, but it also boosts your productivity and helps you to succeed. And if you’re a business owner, cultivating a mindset that keeps you motivated when times are tough is essential. Obstacles are inevitable for entrepreneurs, and staying strong rather than falling into a spiral of despair makes all the difference for your business’ bottom line (not to mention your overall wellbeing). Here are 7 ways you can easily incorporate positivity into your work life:

As of May 25th, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect in order to grant EU citizens a level of control over the collection of their personal data, and to improve transparency between businesses and consumers. This overhaul has tremendous ramifications for merchants who service European customers (including e-commerce merchants), since it affects how businesses collect and manage data of EU citizens.

Last year alone, around 7.3 million women, infants, and children benefited from WIC’s supplemental nutrition program, which means that a significant number of food purchases made in the U.S. are paid for with WIC paper vouchers. However, this paper voucher system is now undergoing an upgrade to a new electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system, also known as eWIC (electronic WIC). Here’s what merchants need to know about the upgrade to eWIC:

With summer on its way, you’re probably dreaming of a day at the beach or planning your next vacation. But, don’t forget about a very important deadline coming up: starting on June 30th, merchants will need to be fully migrated to Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.1 or higher, in accordance with the Payment Card Industry’s (PCI) standards. Here’s what you need to know.

The vast majority of merchants are familiar with the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), and they even understand why it’s so important to be PCI compliant. But when it comes to actually becoming and maintaining PCI compliance, many merchants find themselves feeling overwhelmed and confused. The path to PCI compliance can be complicated, requiring the merchant to familiarize themselves with the various requirements, and then implementing practical solutions to meet these requirements. To help you get oriented with this process, here’s a quick 5-step guide to PCI compliance:

The checkout process just got a little bit faster! As of April 14th, all four major card issuers- American Express, Visa, Discover, and MasterCard- have eliminated the requirement for cardholder signatures at checkout. While in the past, the customer signature played a big role in preventing fraud and transaction disputes, it has become largely unnecessary due to security advances.

Now that you have a better understanding of the importance of building an email list, it’s time to to take a look at some of the best ways to go about it. Whether you’re starting from scratch or trying to amp up your existing efforts, these tips will be sure to put you on the right track.

You’ve probably heard it said before that your success lies in the size of your network. And for merchants, this couldn’t be more true. By creating and maintaining relationships with current and potential clients, you can successfully build loyalty and sales. And fortunately, one of the most effective ways to develop strong relationships is also the easiest: email marketing. Here are 5 reasons why building an email list for business-to-consumer communications is so important for your bottom-line.

In our last blog post, we explained frictionless technology and how it has been making waves recently. Now, we are going to discuss some practical ways that smaller businesses can implement friction-reducing techniques to keep up with the changing face of retail.