Recent Articles
QUIZ: What Do You Hate the Most about Online Returns?
As we settle into the new year, are you struggling to keep up with your holiday returns? Most eCommerce managers are ready to take a break after the Q4 order madness has started to tamper down in January. However, as trends like bracketing--when shoppers buy multiple sizes or colors and then return all but one--can make January a real struggle for eCommerce companies and their employees, who are already worn out from working extra hours during the holidays. We created an online poll for both eCommerce managers and online shoppers to provide their feedback about the challenges, benefits and insight they want to share about juggling online returns. Provide your feedback in our "What Drives You Crazy About Online Returns" online poll: Button Text We will be compiling this insight and sharing it in future blog posts. Let us know what you think and what can make your online return process easier and less challenging next year.
How Cloud Hosting Simplifies High-Volume eCommerce Management
For high-volume eCommerce businesses, managing day-to-day operations often feels like spinning a dozen plates at once. From processing orders and tracking inventory to scaling for peak seasons, operational complexity can lead to inefficiencies, frustrated customers, and unnecessary costs. These pain points are amplified for companies still relying on on-premise hosting solutions. The good news? Cloud hosting offers a path to simplicity and scalability tailored to your business needs. Common Challenges Faced by High-Volume eCommerce Companies Scalability Issues: Rapid growth or seasonal spikes often overwhelm on-premise systems, leading to crashes, delays, and unhappy customers. Data Security Concerns: On-premise environments may lack advanced security measures, putting sensitive customer and business data at risk. Limited Accessibility: When your infrastructure is tied to a physical location, remote work or accessing data from multiple locations becomes cumbersome. High IT Costs: Maintaining on-premise servers requires significant investment in hardware, updates, and IT staff. Operational Downtime: Aging infrastructure or server failures can bring operations to a halt, costing businesses thousands of dollars. How Cloud Hosting Addresses These Pain Points Cloud hosting is more than just a trendy
2025 eCommerce Industry Predictions: Trends Shaping the Future of Online Retail
As we welcome 2025, the eCommerce landscape continues to evolve at a breakneck pace. For high-volume eCommerce businesses, staying ahead of the curve is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. Based on industry trends, consumer behavior, and emerging technologies, here are our top predictions for the eCommerce industry in 2025. 1. AI-Driven Personalization at Scale Artificial intelligence is no longer just a buzzword—it’s the backbone of many successful eCommerce operations. In 2025, we expect to see AI take personalization to new heights. Retailers will use AI to deliver highly tailored shopping experiences, from personalized product recommendations to dynamic pricing strategies. This technology will enable businesses to connect with customers on a deeper level, boosting both conversion rates and customer loyalty. 2. The Rise of Conversational Commerce Chatbots and virtual shopping assistants will play an even greater role in 2025. These AI-powered tools will provide seamless, real-time customer support, product suggestions, and checkout assistance. Conversational commerce will make online shopping feel more like a one-on-one interaction, driving engagement and reducing cart abandonment rates. 3. Expansion of Social Commerce Social media platforms
Top Ecommerce Industry News of 2024: Trends, Insights, and Innovations
As 2024 comes to a close, the eCommerce industry has experienced significant events, groundbreaking innovations, and lessons that will shape the future. From a record-breaking holiday season to major technological advancements, this roundup covers the most impactful stories of the year. These articles will provide valuable insights as you reflect back on what’s worked in your business in 2024 and prepare for an even more prosperous 2025. Top 2024 Ecommerce News Stories "Introducing Supply Chain by Amazon" (Amazon) Amazon introduced a new end-to-end supply chain solution this year, designed to help merchants store, ship, and deliver goods worldwide. Learn how this move could impact logistics across the eCommerce industry. Read more now > "U.S. eCommerce Forecast 2024" (eMarketer) Growth in the eCommerce sector continued this year, though at a more measured pace compared to the pandemic-driven boom. Discover key statistics and trends from 2024. Read more now > "A Fork in the Road: Walmart Bets on Associates, Automation" Walmart announced significant automation upgrades to its fulfillment centers, aiming to enhance efficiency and speed for online orders. Read about the technologies
Happy Holidays from Freestyle Software
As the busy holiday season draws to a close, we'd like to wish you and your loved ones a very warm and happy holiday season. We hope you've had a chance to relax and spend time with family and friends despite the holiday order rush. All of us at Freestyle are wishing you a very holiday season and a happy new year! As we head into 2025, we hope you have a chance to reflect and think back about what worked well this year, as well as creating a strategy and plan for making next year even better. If you need help identifying ways to streamline your operations and improve your bottom line using M.O.M. multichannel OMS or the SiteLINK shopping cart in the next year, contact us to learn more about how we can help. Contact Us Now
#TBT: Revisiting Our 2024 Ecommerce Predictions – Hits and Misses
As 2024 draws to a close, we thought it’d be fun to take a walk down memory lane and revisit our predictions for the future of eCommerce that we shared this time last year. Looking back at our blog post, "The Future of Ecommerce in 2024", some of the industry forecasts hit the mark—while others didn’t quite pan out as expected. Let’s break it down: Prediction 1: Personalization Will Dominate Verdict: Hit! We anticipated that personalization would take center stage, and 2024 didn’t disappoint. From tailored product recommendations to dynamic email marketing campaigns, businesses have doubled down on creating personalized shopping experiences. According to recent reports, eCommerce stores leveraging advanced personalization have seen significant boosts in conversion rates. If you haven’t yet integrated personalization into your strategy, now’s the time. Prediction 2: AR/VR Will Go Mainstream Verdict: Miss (But It’s Close) While augmented reality and virtual reality adoption grew, they didn’t quite become mainstream as we predicted. Challenges like high implementation costs and consumer adoption barriers kept these technologies just out of reach for most eCommerce businesses. However, forward-thinking brands