YouTube Joins E-Commerce Game
With 3 billion videos streamed per day, it was just a matter of time before YouTube started converting all those eyeballs into sales of something other than advertising. Yesterday the ubiquitous video-sharing website announced the ability to sell stuff through a feature inventively named “Merch Store.” Merch Store is geared toward music artists who will be allowed to sell event tickets, digital downloads, merchandise, and more. As with all such endeavors, success will hinge on how well the system is executed. But with a staggering 800 million visits per month, the potential is indubitable.
Read more at techcrunch.com.
Online Retail No Longer Optional
It’s essential if you want your business to succeed. According to a new article for Forbes, when asked about the status of your business’s online presence, the only appropriate response is, “Yes, we have a website and it drives significant business to us.” Forrester Research predicts that E-commerce sales in the U.S. will keep growing at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate through 2014. The Small Business Authority, who provided this article for Forbes, conducted a survey that showed over 50 percent of their small-business respondents had no website or were unhappy with their online presence. At this point, there is no excuse for such a shortfall.
Read more at forbes.com.
