In 2013 about half of Americans owned smartphones, and by early 2019 that figure has risen to just over 80%. Echoing this growth, in 2013, as much as 5.8% of all retail sales in the United States were ecommerce transactions, and this figure has nearly doubled to 11.1% in the years since.

When 5G is fully rolled out, the speed and functionality of smartphones will take a leap forward that will change how people interact with the internet in ways that may be hard to imagine from our current perspective.

One thing is for sure: in the future, ecommerce is only going to grow.

Online retailers need more than just a popular product the market wants. To really thrive and stand out in a crowded landscape, they need a modern business-facing, enterprise-level customer management and recurring billing platform capable of processing billions of dollars in transactions annually. The powerful and smart features offer digitally native vertical businesses the payment gateways, security, analytics and hosting capability that let them scale up sales, and keep them protected with world-class security.

Let’s examine how the right business-facing ecommerce platform drives today’s world of online retail.

Modern Payment Gateways

 
Given the global nature of ecommerce, online businesses need to be able to accept local and international payment types.

Deep third-party partnerships with multiple payment gateways allow a business to offer their customers the flexibility and comfort they expect when making payments on the internet. This is an important step in making customers less hesitant to make a purchase online, a major obstacle every ecommerce business needs to overcome.

There’s also a need to facilitate subscription-based payments, as online retailers need powerful features custom-built to help subscription-based ecommerce businesses thrive. Companies in different industries offer subscription-based services, with products ranging from monthly delivery of regularly consumed products to news subscriptions and more.

Every ecommerce business needs flexibility so it can adopt any of these payment models, or aspects of each one, as it sees fit.

Today’s enterprise-level ecommerce platforms offer integrations with over 100 payment gateways, so merchants can accept payments from customers around the world.

Improving Rebill Rates

 
Improving rebill rates is an important way ecommerce businesses grow sales and maximize revenue. There are a few ways to achieve this.

One new and sophisticated method is a feature that helps to retain customers by ensuring that their credit card information is always current, something extremely valuable to subscription-based ecommerce businesses. The goal is to make payments continue as long and as effortlessly as possible.

Leading ecommerce platforms automatically analyze all the different reason codes for credit card updates on recurring transactions and link new card information before rebill cycles. This keeps customer payment data up to date, which reduces hard declines and strengthens customer relationships.

Any time a customer has to manually update their credit card information after getting a new card or a new credit card number, they may potentially reconsider and revaluate their purchase. Proactively keeping customer payment information current before a billing cycle improves rebill rates, and spares consumers a needless hassle.

The trickle-down benefits include reduced customer service expenses and processing costs, one more way online merchants save time and money.

Chargeback Alerts and Representments

 
Today’s ecommerce businesses need automated chargeback alerts so they know in real-time when a chargeback has been launched against them.

Managing chargebacks effectively and efficiently reduces operational costs, and helps to avoid penalties and fees. So it’s also necessary to have experienced representment specialists to fight chargebacks when they do occur.

When there has been a chargeback, having the backing of an experienced representment specialist will dramatically increase your win-rate and keep your merchant accounts balanced. Getting assistance from trained specialists who know your business inside and out saves you time and money, while the information they collect related to alerts and chargeback data allows for decision support for Analytics that is more complete, accurate, and deep.

LimeLight reduces chargebacks by allowing merchants to blacklist or cancel the subscription of customers who have been flagged for chargebacks.

Powerful Reporting and Analytics

 
Knowledge has always meant power in business, but in an online world where data is king, companies must know precisely what data matters for each component of their operation.

Features found in industry-leading ecommerce platforms such as LimeLight’s analytics are powerful and smart enough to help companies identify which marketing campaigns have been effective, so they can allot money accordingly. Key metrics like loan-to-value, cost of goods sold, churn rate and more can be measured easily in real-time.

Modern tools like predictive modeling can improve results and manage risk when it comes to marketing, so companies feel confident that their advertising investments will be worthwhile before the campaign begins.

The reports and analytics provided help your company accelerate by showing the metrics that matter. To help you see the larger picture, the latest ecommerce platforms offer more than 20 different dashboards giving clear insights into a company’s economic health, customer lifecycle trends, and others. This data can be tracked from anywhere in real-time with visualizations measuring monthly recurring revenue, products & lifecycle, rebill rates, active subscription forecasting, and more.

Whereas brick and mortar stores have sales associates trained in the art of upselling and cross-selling, DNVBs marshal data so customers are shown what they are most likely to buy.

Intelligent data allows DNVBs to cross-sell and upsell effectively by making sure customers see products that are complementary and of similar quality and price (cross-selling), or superior but more expensive (upselling). Data that is truly smart can function as a sales associate, helping businesses increase sales and leaving customers with a satisfying and positive experience.

Additionally, the data can be used for custom reporting for further analysis, as it takes no effort to export the data gathered in our platform to a .CSV file.

Growing Requires Scalability

 
Every business needs to think about the future, and this means something very different for ecommerce companies than for traditional brick and mortar stores. In a physical store, there needs to be sufficient physical space for people to shop and to stock product.

Growing in ecommerce means making sure the cloud technology underlying your website can handle surges of affiliate web traffic. As your business grows, web traffic increases too, but it might come in sporadic bursts.

Online businesses need a desktop and mobile experience that delivers the speed, reliability and scale to ensure their customers always have a smooth shopping experience. Statistics show that 22.2% of visitors bounce from a website if page load times are 5 seconds or longer.

Aside from satisfying customers once they’re already on the website, site speed needs to be as fast as possible to organically rank higher in Google.

Upload speed is especially important on mobile devices, which for the first time is expected to have more conversion rates than desktops. Don’t accept less from a CRM than 99.998% uptime and less than 2 second transaction execution time.

With flexible application programming interfaces, today’s leading ecommerce platforms supply a boost in productivity, so companies can get their business to market quicker. It’s smart for online businesses to get the tools to grow in the early stages, so they can confidently scale up their business without having to scramble when sales begin to climb.

World-Class Security

 
Robust security is absolutely essential in any ecommerce business. Whereas traditional stores invest in security guards, CCTV cameras, alarms and locks, ecommerce companies need powerful, complementary measures in place to prevent fraud.

The stakes are high: the cost of fraud in the US has tripled since 2013, going from 0.5% of sales to 1.8% in 2018. The EMV chip technology in credit cards, which replaced the magnetic strip technology, has greatly reduced what’s known as Card Present fraud. Now, it’s much harder to get away with credit card fraud when making an in-person transaction.

But EMV chip technology has actually made Card Not Present fraud increase — this is the type of fraud where credit cards are used over the phone or to make purchases online, meaning it directly affects ecommerce companies.

At least tens of billions of dollars are lost to online merchants every year because of fraud, though estimates vary — by nature, the precise extent of fraud is a difficult thing to peg down to the dollar and cent.

PCI-Compliant Security

 
Limelight is PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant, the highest level of Payment Card Industry compliance for a partner handling sensitive payments data. PCI-DSS is a standard for best practices and security controls: we meet or exceed all industry-standard payment security practices, protecting merchants and their sensitive customer data.

Online retailers minimize risk to their business by having their cardholders’ data sent directly to us. Any merchant or merchant service provider must be PCI compliant if they accept, transmit, and/or store cardholder data.

The number of records exposed by data breaches has skyrocketed to 446.5 million in 2018, from 36.6 million in 2016. The surge of high profile hacks in recent years affecting companies and even prominent political parties has put a spotlight on cyber security, and it’s unsurprising that public awareness is growing just as the risks of a breach are increasing.

We can help meet the standards that merchant bank accounts require, standards which also ease broad consumer worries about security. Aside from processing credit cards and protecting sensitive data surrounding financial information, other aspects of an ecommerce business demand security too.

Pair Up with Kount

 
Online retailers must know that the customer is who they say they are when processing payments. We offer our own managed service of anti-fraud specialists who offer a turnkey solution, because we actually manage the account. On average, our anti-fraud measures result in a 20% reduction in chargebacks.

We work in combination with Kount, an industry-leader in combating fraud who offers features such as: device fingerprinting, supervised and unsupervised machine learning, a robust policy and rules engine, business intelligence tools, and a web-based case-management and investigation system.

This unique partnership can accommodate the individual security needs of any business. Preventing fraud is something best left to professionals; not only is it time-consuming, but the unique circumstances of each business require a custom approach.

If an ecommerce company tries to eliminate fraud entirely it may be successful, but it would have to come at the cost of also inadvertently rejecting genuine customers, and the harm would likely outweigh the benefits. Each company needs an approach to security based on its own business model, balancing sales and security.

Our security specialists and partnerships are designed to give each company the flexibility to walk this tightrope how they see fit. This way, attention will be focused on real customers, rather than scammers who cost businesses time and money.

3D Verification

 
One of the essential layers in our security toolkit is 3D Verify, which filters for fraud effectively while being incorporated seamlessly into the checkout process. In less than three seconds, it can verify the identity of the cardholder to confirm the transaction is legitimate.

Having an authenticated payment system transfers the risk involved with chargebacks to the card issuer instead of the merchant. This way, companies can focus on growing their business and let Visa or Mastercard deal with the fallout of fraud.

Investing in ample security can lead to a considerably greater return on investment. It also helps customer relationships, protects sensitive data, and preserves the merchant’s brand and reputation. The online retail market is too large for companies to ignore, but the threat of fraud requires an adequate response.

Modern ecommerce businesses must still address the concerns that retailers have always had — tracking sales, revenue maximization, security, and the ability to scale up and grow. Only now, the tools for doing so are both ultra sophisticated and simple to use.

In an interconnected globalized world where international online sales are expected to reach $3.46 trillion in 2019 — an increase of 17.9% from last year — ecommerce is taking over faster than many experts expected.

Online merchants need an enterprise-level, business-facing ecommerce platform that can deliver powerful analytics and reports, multi-layered security, up-selling and cross-selling functionality, and back-end scalability. It’s possible to stick out in a crowded and wildly competitive online retail landscape, but you need the right technology.

The post The All-In-One Tool Online Businesses Need: Ecommerce Platforms appeared first on LimeLight.

Many people make credit card purchases every day on pocket-sized devices with just a single tap of a button. Smartphones are owned now by billions of people around the world, so the ecommerce market has expanded rapidly and will only get bigger.

Moving forward, understanding historical and contemporary consumer fears about credit card security will help online retailers make their customers feel safer when making purchases, enabling them to grow sales.

Additionally, online retailers need to understand how the right ecommerce platform can fight back against excessive consumer protections, which were designed for the pre-digital world, from draining time and money from their business. With a multi-pronged approach to preventing and fighting chargebacks, ecommerce businesses can scale their sales safely, without compromising their customers’ security.

Let’s look at the rise of credit cards in the retail sector to appreciate for how today’s business-facing ecommerce platforms meet all the security concerns shared by both consumers and merchants, allowing ­­online businesses to deliver retail services that are secure and grow steadily.

Historical Reasons for Chargebacks

 
Initially, both businesses and the general public benefitted from strong consumer protections when paying with credit. Customers wouldn’t be likely to pay with credit unless they were confident that they wouldn’t be helpless if a merchant failed to deliver the level of service promised.

If a dispute arose between the customer and the merchant, a third-party would investigate their complaint, rather than just the business itself, which already possessed their money. This system was put into place after the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1974.

Consumers were very hesitant to even own bank-type credit cards. Before payment with credit was widely practiced, the fear of stolen credit cards and fraud — with cardholders being left stuck with the bills — was real and understandable.

Chargebacks were a safety net designed to make consumers feel comfortable paying with credit. It worked brilliantly: whereas only one-sixth of households in America possessed a credit card in 1965, by 1998 they were owned by two-thirds of Americans.

In the first quarter of 2019 there were as many as 432.8 million credit card accounts in the US, an increase of nearly 20 million from the same period in 2018.

Chargebacks bolstered consumer confidence in credit cards to the benefit of both consumers and merchants, helping this method of payment to become the widespread practice it is today.

Excessive Consumer Power Threatens Businesses

 
In many ways, the measures taken to reassure consumers when paying with credit have swung too far, often at the expense of online retailers.

Now, a disgruntled consumer can bypass the merchant and take their complaint straight to the bank, demanding a refund. In the case of outright fraud by a merchant, of course a customer is correct to go straight to the bank — but fraud committed by businesses is very rare, and chargebacks against businesses are not!

Chargebacks and fraud cost companies $80 billion in lost revenue annually; this is a major problem. On the other hand, the average order on credit cards is 21% higher than on debit cards. Businesses are right to want to encourage their customers to pay with credit cards, meaning they must give customers security and comfort when paying by this method.

Not every chargeback is premeditated fraud committed by cybercriminals. In practice, misunderstandings or disputes may be called a “chargeback,” and can be resolved amicably enough, but they are still a needless drain on the merchant’s time and budget.

These innocent types of chargebacks don’t have to harm online retailers when they use today’s enterprise-level, business-facing ecommerce platforms.

Chargeback Protection 101

 
Sometimes the merchant is not aware that there has been a chargeback filed against them until it’s too late. Important features in industry-leading payment and billing ­platforms such as LimeLight Alerts let the merchant know in real-time that a chargeback has been launched against them, and lets them avert its harmful impact by reversing the charge that instant.

This means that the credit card issuer never notifies the merchant’s credit card processor, and the dispute gets dropped. The merchant avoids paying credit card processor fees, having funds withdrawn from their bank account to be held in escrow by the processor, and doesn’t have their time needlessly wasted fighting chargebacks.

An ecommerce business can keep their Monthly-Income Debt Securities healthy by making sure their books aren’t dragged down by chargebacks. Chargebacks Automated Alerts entitles companies to the most coverage in the industry, spanning a global network of all major card-issuing banks around the world.

Representment Specialists Fight Chargebacks

 
Fighting chargebacks can be time-consuming since the onus is often on the business to disprove the consumer’s arguments.

The perception that fighting chargebacks is draining and futile may discourage businesses from pursuing the fight, but actually many are winnable!

The best ecommerce platforms have a win-rate of about 80%. This is on top of the chargebacks that have been prevented in the first place.

In addition to having dedicated representments specialists, leading ecommerce platforms augment the protection they offer further by partnering with industry’s trusted chargeback services, such as Ethoca and Verifi.

Ecommerce businesses can have their entire account set up and managed, while having a devoted chargeback expert on their side that already knows their business inside and out will dramatically increase their win-rate.

Think of all the ways your company can grow when this much extra spare time is freed up.

To ensure specialists have all the tools at their disposal to win chargeback disputes, payment and billing platforms can offer a fully integrated partnership with services like Chargebacks911, which directly pulls all the relevant info right from your business account.

The surest way for a business to reduce operational costs and avoid paying penalties and fees is to have trained specialists combating chargebacks on their behalf, while also utilizing data to prevent chargebacks from ever occurring.

Pre-emptively Prevent Chargebacks with Leveraged Data

 
Chargebacks can be reduced in the first place by as much as 20% by using a multi-layered approach to security. All the data leveraged across the entire platform is constantly refined and updated, then used to screen for suspicious transactions so they can be declined in advance.

Using millions of data points across the database to weed out customers who end up being bad actors for businesses prevents fraudulent transactions from getting processed. The more sales there are, the more intelligence is gathered, refining and improving the screening process even further so it can pre-emptively prevent chargebacks more effectively.

As your business grows, the data underlying your automated chargeback protection actually improves. Without chargebacks on the books, ecommerce entrepreneurs will enjoy having nice and healthy MIDS.

Flagging chargebacks allows merchants the ability to cancel a subscription, or blacklist a particular customer. LimeLight’s Transaction Select service can even block customers at the point of purchase if they have been found to have a high probability for a chargeback on a future purchase.

LimeLight offers analytics dashboards complete with order analysis and affiliate analysis, which will present vital statistics about chargebacks so businesses understand the macro effect chargebacks are having on every aspect of their company.

Businesses need to be able to process sales with confidence. Just like consumers deserve assurances about the security of online payments, merchants also need to know that they can process payments reliably.

Automated Versus Fully-Managed Chargeback Services

 
In these days of advanced Artificial Intelligence, one might wonder: are automated chargeback protection services better? Not necessarily.

The highest win-rate percentage comes from a well-managed service benefitting from trained chargeback professionals giving customized attention.

LimeLight combines its toolkit with the specialists at Chargebacks 911 and the alert providers at Ethoca and Verifi to give businesses the benefit of both approaches.

Additionally, LimeLight offers a better negotiated rate than merchants would otherwise get if they sought each service independently.

The tandem of automated alerts and specialist support from a real persongives businesses the best odds of winning a chargeback, and saves valuable time.

PCI Compliant Fraud/Transaction Processing

 
Sophisticated tools which authenticate online transactions and reduce fraud are also effective in reducing chargebacks. The best platforms give a great deal of flexibility to every business, so they meet their specific needs by customizing risk levels by campaign, product, or payment gateway.

3D Verify

 
An important feature called 3D Verify can be built directly into an ecommerce business’s checkout process. This feature authenticates cardholders via an onsite display page provided by the card issuer.

This robust security measure can be easily integrated with Payment Gateways to thicken fraud protection by adding an important layer of authentication. It also works in less than three seconds, so consumers have a pain-free purchasing experience.

Kount

 
LimeLight is partnered with Kount, the industry leader in detecting and managing fraud. Kount has powerful tools to reduce mobile fraud and chargebacks, such as:

• Device fingerprinting
• Supervised and unsupervised machine learning
• A robust policy and rules engine
• Business intelligence tools
• A web-based case-management and investigation system

Whether in the form of mobile apps, mobile wallets or any other form of modern payment, Kount manages to keep businesses protected. Kount shifts the liability for chargebacks due to fraud from the merchant to the card issuer.

Billing Optimization Reduces Chargebacks

 
Businesses that offer payment flexibility enjoy higher rates of customer satisfaction. Online merchants need the ability to allow their customers to pay in whatever way is most comfortable and natural for them.

Therefore, having an ecommerce platform that can manage subscription-based offers, straight or sales, free trials, and every other payment option is essential.

Having the ability to keep payment information like credit card numbers up to date before a rebill cycle is another important way ecommerce merchants can keep the sales rolling along, helping to ensure customer satisfaction. Businesses can extend customer lifecycles in less time by automating this process.

A platform with powerful analytics can reveal what customers really need and want, and then deliver them.

Address Validation is another vital tool to reduce chargebacks, especially with today’s consumers expecting the convenience of same-day or one-day shipping. Shipping delays can result in cancelled orders or chargebacks, as well as consumer complaints.

Ecommerce platforms with the technology to keep credit card payment and shipping addresses accurate and up to date help parcels arrive quickly and cost-effectively.

Everybody wins when merchants can sit back and enjoy reliable sales without having to manually update customer info, while at the same time their customers benefit from hassle-free delivery on products they regularly consume, often at a discounted price.

Today’s retail environment allows for sales opportunities that would have been impossible to imagine years ago.

Ecommerce made it possible for people in any country to subscribe to newspapers from around the world and read them without needing them physically delivered. Similarly, the advances in ecommerce have made it possible for companies specializing in subscription-sales to deliver products customers use in weekly or monthly intervals so people are spared the hassle of buying them over and over again.

Companies now have access to an international market, so the potential for growth is virtually unlimited. However, such incredible new opportunity invites threats, which is why it’s essential for today’s ecommerce businesses to maximize the benefits of the digital economy while minimizing its risks, in a way that saves them time and money.

A one-stop shop business-facing platform combining its own specialists with other industry leaders is the one requirement all online retailers need. Our modern world may be very technologically advanced, but companies still need to contend with the pre-digital era’s legacy of chargeback protection that was biased in favor of consumers.

Chargebacks and fraud don’t have to drain ecommerce businesses of time and money, so long as they are protected by an enterprise-level platform combining the most modern automation and highly-trained specialists to reduce the risks, leaving entrepreneurs free to focus on growing their business.

The post Ecommerce Protection 101: How Businesses Get Security Online appeared first on LimeLight.

Selling CBD products online can be a pretty profitable business endeavor since the total U.S. CBD sales are estimated to reach $1.8 billion by 2022. You probably already ran the numbers, but getting your slice of the cannabidiol profits is easier said than done.

Setting up a CBD merchant account and getting a high-risk payment processing system in place can be pretty challenging when starting out. It is critical for the success of your CBD online business to do your due diligence when it comes to selling CBD online. Because if you can’t take payments, you can’t take orders.

And trust that you won’t be the first person having issues setting up a CBD merchant account and payment processing system. It is probably the most difficult aspect of the whole online business setup.

Wait, isn’t CBD legal in the United States?

Since the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp was reclassified and taken off the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency’s Controlled Substance Schedules. No longer is hemp paired alongside marijuana as an illegal drug.

Hemp-derived products like those of the CBD variety have less than 0.3 percent THC, the plant’s psychoactive property. Even though the stigma is less than ever before, CBD products are still guilty by association when it comes to selling products for money, especially online.

This is what makes CBD high risk in the eyes of mainstream financial institutions and popularly used payment processors like PayPal. You may have encountered having your PayPal CBD business account temporarily blocked from taking payments. Not a fun email.

Currently, CBD products are classified as high-risk. Thus resulting in sellers having to jump through a number of hoops to get a payment processor to play ball.

And the road toward CBD merchant account and payment processing system approval is different depending on the type of products you’re selling.

Cannabidiol comes in multiple forms like lotions, tinctures, oil, edible products, and the list goes on. If you’re selling a lotion product, your road to payment processor approval is potentially shorter than that of a CBD business owner selling edibles.

Is it legal to sell CBD? Absolutely. But finding a payment processor that is reputable and able to handle high-risk transactions without fail will make or break your business.

Quick note on high-risk payment processing for your online CBD business

Regardless of being legal, online CBD sellers are categorized as high-risk until the Food and Drug Association (FDA) sorts out the regulatory framework for the entire industry. Until then, you’ll need to be extra prepared and ready to put in the legwork to get your CBD store payment ready.

What can you do?

Find a platform that can set up a CBD merchant account and connect you with a payment gateway or two (more on that later) that allows you to process high-risk payments as if you were a low-risk business.

The variety of payment gateways available to you via LimeLight (shameless plug) does depend on the country you operate your business in, as well as the currencies you accept on orders. However, with LimeLight, we can digitally integrate with a wide range of very popular payment technologies. More on that below.

The anatomy of online CBD payments

You’re probably wondering, “High risk, payment gateways, payment processors, what does all this mean?” It is actually not all that scary once you have a bit of understanding behind the anatomy of CBD payments.

It is slightly different than the traditional payment processing flow. The following are some must-know basics.

• Payment Gateways: A payment gateway is a very necessary part of processing payments for your CBD business. It is how the payment data is securely transmitted to the payment processor to move the order/payment transaction forward. Payment gateways are also used for card-not-present transactions online, like using Square, PayPal, or Stripe.
• Payment Processor: The payment processor is the entity that executes the transaction. It essentially transmits the data for the payment between you and your bank and the customer and his or her bank. The payment processor is the forward-facing part of the equation. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, the payment processor logo is on your point of sale (POS) hardware.
• Merchant ID (MID): A MID is a unique number that makes transactions possible, especially when it comes to CBD sales. This unique identification code is given to you by your payment processor and is needed for transaction reconciliation. It is what identifies you as the seller to your payment processor and customers’ financial institutions.
• Online Business Software Platform: Tying everything together is a software platform. This is a very important aspect to any business owner considering selling CBD products online. A software platform will serve as the facilitator of all transactions. A reputable and powerful software platform will also provide features like order management, fulfillment, analytics, and billing.

How to choose a payment gateway for your CBD business

There are a lot of hoops to jump through when setting up a payment gateway for your CBD online business, but it is certainly worth the time investment.

The CBD industry is exploding, and building your brand and selling products now will set you up as an authority in this lucrative space.

The industry boom has left a lot of sellers like you scrambling to find a payment processor. However, not all CBD merchant account providers are created equal. There are four key must-know things you need to have in place before opening a CBD merchant account.

1. High-risk payment processing is a must

Before choosing a payment processor for your CBD business, you need to ensure they can handle high-risk transactions. Since the taboo of CBD still lingers, only certain payment processors will be willing to take the risk associated with these types of transactions. Why? Payment fraud and chargebacks.

You want to find a payment processor that is reputable and has an exceptional track record dealing with high-risk industries. These industries include online dating, adult products, online gaming, vape, cryptocurrency, and others.

The keyword here is “high-risk” and it needs to be part of the conversation.

2. Integration of payment processor needs to be simple

One major problem CBD sellers have is integration. For instance, if you sell products via Shopify, you may have some problems integrating a payment processor, since it has to be an approved third-party payment processor per their terms of service.

So many sellers have this issue, and if you pick a CBD payment processor that you can’t integrate to your current ecommerce site, you may be rebuilding your website and store on a new platform. This can be costly in both money and time.

Don’t let this happen to you. When talking to a payment processor, ask if they can easily integrate into your current platform and store. If not, it may be best to keep moving. A lot of payment processors use API integration, and this has benefits like the ability to monitor everything from a business owners perspective, as well as a customer point of view.

3. How reasonable are the processing fees?

This is a very important question to ask if you want to be successful in the CBD space. The truth is, there are a lot of payment processors that take advantage of the “high risk” nature of the industry by charging high processing fees per transaction. Some processors will be so bold as to charge 25 percent per transaction. Not cool.

To be successful you need to look at your overhead very closely. After it’s all said in done, you definitely need to make a profit, so have a percentage in mind and get several quotes from payment processors. But be sure that what your quoted is indeed the percentage per transaction.

You may be surprised by hidden startup fees and other fees that are tacked on to monthly bills and fees per transaction. Get a breakdown, because you have to consider statement fees, terminal fees, non-compliance fees, and more. Always be sure to check the contract closely before signing on the dotted line.

4. Ensure customer support is top-notch

When dealing with any type of transaction, whether online or brick-and-mortar, unpleasant things can happen. For instance, if you have a sizable order where a chargeback is issued, you need to get on the phone with a human customer support agent that can help you understand how to handle it.

Why is this important? How your CBD payment processor handles the situation can directly affect your customer experience.

Before choosing a CBD payment gateway provider, ask important questions like; How transaction disputes are handled? What is the timeframe for refunds? And the list goes on. Be thorough and get the full rundown on how the payment processors customer support works.

Simplify obtaining a CBD merchant account and payment processing with LimeLight

As you have already concluded, setting up a CBD merchant account and payment processing system is no easy task. But it doesn’t need to be all that challenging. With LimeLight ecommerce, you get a platform and team that does the heavy lifting for you.

LimeLight allows you to. . .

• Pair any front-end with your payment processing
• Track and manage orders
• Boost credit card approval rates
• Plug-in to your fulfillment sources
• Handle returns easily
• Forecast potential earnings
• Get real-time insights to increase ROI

LimeLight delivers powerful ecommerce solutions for CBD sellers with industry-leading payment processing solutions you can depend on, supporting a variety of payment gateways and direct access to CBD merchant account providers.

Stop getting the runaround, or getting taken advantage of through high transaction fees.

Learn how LimeLight can help you capitalize on every CBD order with data-driven results.

The post Need A CBD Merchant Account? High Risk Payment Processing Explained appeared first on LimeLight.

The CBD industry is booming with estimated US CBD sales to surpass $800 million this year alone. And there is no slowing in sight. By 2022, US CBD sales may reach $1.8 billion.

This is certainly a clear call to action for anyone considering selling CBD online. The industry has had no shortage of new sellers, some not so predictable. Sure, there are those who have been in the cannabis industry for decades and moving toward CBD products. But there are also dads, moms, even grandmothers building businesses around CBD.

Here are a few interesting statistics:

• Hemp-derived CBD is legally available across North America thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill
• Consumer demographics are highly diverse with baby boomers leading segment growth, increasing 25 percent YOY
• 38% of CBD users are women
• Women are also leading the charge in CBD business ownership
• CBD has decreased or stopped the use of over-the-counter pain medications among 71% of users

But all statistics aside, you need to really understand how to legally market and sell CBD products, especially online. There is no shortage of competitors, however, the supply is currently not meeting demand. People are turning to CBD for chronic illnesses, surgery recovery, acute pain and discomfort relief, and mental health issues.

Products also come in different forms, including oils, tinctures, sprays, lotions, balms, pills, and vape. Where do most people buy these products? The top three distribution channels are drugstores, online retailers, and supplement stores.

With 43% of CBD sales happening online, the time to launch a CBD business has never been better. But there are obstacles. Selling CBD online does have similarities to setting up any other online business. You need to set up an ecommerce store with a hosting provider, develop content, create social media accounts for your business, and the list goes on.

There are, however, idiosyncrasies specific to CBD products that you need to know and follow to sell online. For instance, finding a payment processor for your online store. This in itself can prove challenging if you aren’t familiar with high-risk payment processing.

The good news is that we have done the due diligence for you. The following ultimate guide to selling CBD online can serve as your roadmap to get your business up and running.

Let’s dive in.

What is cannabidiol (CBD) exactly?

Before we jump into market know-how and the actual selling bit, we should cover the “what” when it comes to cannabidiol.

Cannabidiol, more popularly known as CBD, is a natural substance that has been found to help a number of physical and mental health conditions.

One of the top questions people ask about CBD is, “Will it make me high?” This is certainly a bonafide concern, but it’s also part of the stigma behind CBD use and sales. Contrary to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance that does get you loopy, cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive.

But that doesn’t mean that all CBD products are THC free. It is a matter of how the cannabidiol is extracted and from what type of plant, marijuana or hemp.

Marijuana Plant

• Greater than 0.3% THC content
• CBD extract is cannabis-derived
• There’s psychoactive potential
• Considered a schedule-1 drug in most states

Hemp Plant

• Less than 0.3% THC content
• CBD extract is hemp-derived
• There’s no psychoactive potential
• Not on the scheduled narcotics list

Will hemp-derived cannabidiol get you or your customers high? No.

However, if you fail to check with your suppliers or manufacturers where the CBD was derived, you could unknowingly be selling cannabis-derived cannabidiol, thus going from entrepreneur to drug dealer, depending on your state.

How does cannabidiol work?

This is a great question and one you should know how to answer if you plan on selling CBD products. Product knowledge is a key attribute to success, regardless of what products you’re selling.

The way cannabidiol works is actually pretty cool, and scientific. Since our bodies have an endocannabinoid system (ECS), we naturally produce cannabinoids for homeostasis. These cannabinoids, like CBD, bind to brain and immune system receptors, causing the physiological action. So when you use CBD, you’re inhibiting or activating compounds in your endocannabinoid system.

A study published in Neurotherapeutics (2015) outlined the effects of cannabinoids on seizures. They concluded that “CBD avoids the psychoactive effects of the endocannabinoid system to provide a well-tolerated, promising therapeutic for the treatment of seizures, while whole-plant cannabis can both contribute to and reduce seizures.”

It’s science. And the successful applications and outcomes for CBD use in a variety of medical health scenarios is the scientific pudding of proof.

Understanding the CBD market

You need to research the market before diving headfirst into a new business. Yes, the CBD industry is exploding. Yes, sales of CBD will more than double in two short years. However, there is still much to consider before opening up your online shop.

Knowing the “why” behind the growing sales of cannabidiol is a must-do if you want to be successful. Here are some key points surrounding the market to pay close attention to.

CBD consumers love variety, for themselves and their pets

One of the reasons the CBD industry is on an unprecedented rise is the variety of products consumers can get their hands on. If the forms of consumption only came in two or three different ways, growth would be much slower. This industry, however, is not average.

In fact, there are hundreds of ways to consume CBD, and many are pretty marketable. For instance, there are tasty CBD-infused drinks like Neorogan Hemp CBD Tea and True Breeze Pineapple Express Hemp Shots.

Some say CBD is for the dogs — literally, serving up CBD dog treats like MediPets CBD Treats and King Kalm Crunch CBD Treats. There are actually a lot of dog treats with a cannabidiol twist. This is because CBD is not only helpful to humans, but also pets. It can be used to help ease pet arthritis, injury, and anxiety.

Knowing what types of products you want to bring to market is important. You may have a whole new CBD product that could be the next big hit for humans, and pets.

Accessibility is very important to consumers

One of the main catalysts behind CBD success is the fact that consumers can pretty much get products anywhere. After the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill, passed, hemp was no longer considered a controlled substance.

This made any hemp derivative like cannabidiol, containing less than 0.3 percent THC fair game. The flood gates opened since people already knew the alternative health and wellness benefits CBD delivered.

The accessibility led to more people consuming hemp-derived products. And the increased consumption led to the explosion of CBD businesses. In fact, most CBD businesses begin with a personal story of use. It worked for them, and they wanted to share it with the rest of North America.

The stigma of hemp and cannabis is fading

Lastly, the stigma surrounding hemp and cannabis is quickly fading. After the Farm Bill passed, the production of hemp products increased significantly. This coupled with recreational cannabis legalization in a number of states, and you have the perfect positivity storm.

More people than ever are dabbling in some form of cannabis or hemp consumption, mainly to reduce the symptoms and side effects of a physical and/or mental health issue. The new positive view is also shared among political lines with 54 percent of Republicans and 76% of Democrats supporting the legalization of marijuana.

The generational gap for legalizing marijuana has also been bridged. Here’s a breakdown by age range for the support of cannabis.

Favorable views toward cannabis go a long way when it comes to CBD. Hemp-derived CBD does not have the psychoactive effects of THC, meaning that people can get alternative health benefits without the high. And if the stigma around cannabis is fading, the stigma surrounding CBD is nearly non-existent.

How to sell CBD online efficiently and legally

You know what types of CBD products you want to bring to market, and you have a strong understanding of said market. Now what? There are millions of customers to reach, but understanding the best, most efficient and legal ways to sell CBD online is next. The following 6 tips and tricks to sell CBD online can serve as your roadmap to success.

1. Get a payment processor in place before marketing

This is a big-time tip when it comes to selling CBD online. So many new CBD entrepreneurs launch a killer website and invest time and money into marketing, but forget about payment processing.

Many believe any payment processor/provider will do. After all, CBD is legal.

This is simply not the case, and you need to understand how to optimize payment processing as a CBD merchant.

For example, PayPal, Stripe, and even Shopify have yet to make payment processing for CBD products available.

Here’s what Shopify said about it, “Shopify Payments is not available for hemp or CBD products at this time. If your existing store is currently on Shopify Payments, consider creating a separate store to sell CBD products, as Shopify Payments will not be available for your entire store if any CBD product is added.”

Why? Most large online payment processors are tethered to the rules and regulations of big banks. Products like CBD are still lingering in a financial institution grey area leaving only high-risk payment processors as an option.

This is a big blow to CBD business owners, and landing a third-party high-risk payment processor has proven to be difficult for many would-be CBD merchants.

In fact, we’ve spoken to plenty of people who have been looking for reliable online processing for over a year.

However, if you partner with the right platforms and make the right connections, you can get a CBD merchant account and payment processing relatively quickly.

Some popular options to look at would be Authorize.net, DigiPay, and Square (beta only).

It is still critical to do your due diligence since some high-risk payment processors do not accept CBD businesses that sell ingestibles online.

2. There’s a lot of organic search value for CBD

Once you have a payment processor in place (very important), you can begin your marketing efforts. However, sometimes the best place to begin is search engine optimization (SEO). Like most businesses, increasing your online visibility via SEO tactics can be affordable and quite effective.

When it comes to CBD, you have a real chance to reach customer organically since the industry is still relatively new. There are, however, a lot of elements that go into SEO, such as website load time, product description optimization, backlinks, and keywords.

After you launch your site, your primary SEO aim should be backlinks and keyword optimization. For example, you can write guest posts about CBD and add a link to your website in the post. Or you can enlist the help of affordable companies that can help you do the heavy lifting, like Linktub.

Keyword optimization will take a bit more research on your part. There are the obvious keywords, like “CBD” and “Hemp” but you’ll need to go a bit further. For instance, if you sell CBD lotion for stress moms, you can begin your keyword research using keyword search tools like Ahrefs.

Simply enter your keywords . . .

And then get a list of potential keywords you can use for your website, online marketing campaigns, and other content assets . . .

You should also be forward-thinking when it comes to keyword optimization. With smartphone and smart-home voice search becoming more popular, you should be using your keywords in the form of questions. Platforms like Answer The Public.

And get a number of questions you can leverage for voice search . . .

Once you have a robust list of keywords for your CBD business, begin implementing them on your website to net more organic search conversions.

3. Content, content, and more content

With a list of keywords and your website optimized, it’s time to create as much content as humanly possible. This is essential to selling CBD online for two reasons. One, you have more content than your competitors indexed in Google for customers to find. Two, more content helps grow your brand. This is the equation for CBD sales success.

What will your content be about? That long list of keywords you compiled to optimize your website can also be used for creating valuable content to disperse to the masses online. For instance, the above Answer The Public search for “CBD lotion” returned over 50 potential blog post titles like:

• What does CBD body lotion do?
• Where to get CBD lotion near me?
• Will CBD lotion help sunburn?
• Is CBD lotion safe to use?

The list can go on and on. With over 50 potential blog titles, you can create content for an entire quarter. And those blog posts don’t need to remain written word. You can turn those blog posts into videos, social media posts, short videos for Facebook Live, and much more.

The goal is to create a massive amount of content. Between guest blogs, blog posts on your website, and social media channels, you should be creating 10 to 20 pieces of content per day as a new CBD business online.

4. Let others promote your products via influencer marketing

If you want to cut to the chase and get your CBD products in front of people that are already interested in, or using CBD, influencer marketing is the way to go. Did you know that 17% of companies spend half of their marketing budget on influencer marketing campaigns?

And it’s ROI positive with 89% of marketers stating that ROI is better or equal to other marketing strategies.

This is a pretty clear indicator that influencers are essential to selling products and/or services online. This holds true for CBD as well.

Here’s one from health and fitness influencer Jolene Goring . . .

And micro-influencers like Vaping Kamea are recommending CBD products to their loyal followers . . .

How can influencers help you sell CBD online? Influencers can . . .

• Help build your brand into a legitimate company
• Put your products in front of already engaged customers
• Drive traffic to your website and product pages
• Leverage user-generated content
• Get content online without fear of it being removed
• Build your follower base on social media

If you have a marketing budget that can stand to lose $1,000 to $10,000, you should seriously consider investing in influencer marketing. It is a fast, reliable channel to promote your CBD online with higher ROI potential.

5. Leverage the awesome power of email marketing

Yes, email marketing!

This may seem like one of those traditional marketing tactics going out of style, but believe us, it’s not. Email marketing is actually one of the top B2C marketing channels to date. According to retailers, around 30 percent of email subscribers will make a purchase.

And if you want to keep the customers your SEO, content, and influencers drove to your business, email marketing is a must. In fact, 80% of retailers said that email marketing is the greatest tool for customer retention.

However, in order to get the benefits from email marketing, you’ll need to do it right. For example, you need to really deliver value in your email. Simply asking a customer to buy your product won’t do. Emails need to be incentivized to work. This could be a 25% off sale, a 3-pack giveaway, or a buy one, get one free pitch.

Here’s one example of providing value via email marketing . . .

But before your subscribers even get to the value inside, they need to be convinced enough to open the actual email. This is when the subject line plays a vital role. You want to have a catchy enough subject line without giving subscribers that spammy feel that makes them delete, or worse, unsubscribe.

There are also legalities you’ll need to follow when sending emails to subscribers. First, ensure your subscribers are all willing recipients. Don’t use your friend’s email list from two years ago when he had an online ecommerce store for pets. You should stray away from phrases like “cure-all” or “pain relief” as well.

Simply create honest, valuable emails and you will have pretty successful open rates and conversions.

6. Build an affiliate network to sell CBD online

One way to sidestep the marketing legalities involved in selling CBD online is to set up a strong network of affiliates. This is a pretty easy endeavor with little overhead and a pretty sizable return. In fact, affiliate marketing can generate 15 percent to 30 percent of sales.

But what is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing is when another retailer, blogger, influencer, etc. sell your CBD products for a small commission. For instance, you sign up as an advertiser on an affiliate platform like Commission Junction or Rakuten.

Next, you list your advertiser, product feed, and commission rate. Then you approve affiliates that want to join your program. You can even invite affiliates you think would be a good fit.

It’s a pretty painless process that doesn’t require you to do a whole lot. And the major benefit is that the affiliate is responsible for the marketing, which in turn makes them responsible for meeting the legal requirements for selling CBD online. It’s a win-win.

Taking the next step to sell CBD online with LimeLight

LimeLight has its finger on the pulse of the CBD industry. Our end-to-end ecommerce platform is specifically designed for quick entry into this explosive new market.

We can get you up and running quickly with streamlined operations in place to scale your CBD brand.

In fact, we are the leading ecommerce and billing platform for CBD.

Join the hundreds of CBD brands we continually drive toward achieving success.

How do we do it? Our industry expertise, and years working with high-risk merchants, gives us the go-to knowledge behind the complex obstacles new CBD business owners face.

From manufacturing and payment processing to marketing and fulfillment, LimeLight does the heavy lifting for you.

The post How To Sell CBD Online: The Ultimate Guide To Get Your Hemp Business Running appeared first on LimeLight.

Here, we’ll give a step-by-step breakdown of how to get started with email marketing and optimize campaigns for maximum results. 

Get buy-in from your target audience

The first step in executing an email marketing campaign is collecting email addresses. This requires convincing a consumer to opt-in to future communications from your business. To do this, you have to offer a compelling incentive that adds value to the consumer. 

One of the most common and effective ways to do this in the realm of ecommerce is to offer an immediate discount code. This gives the consumer a clear reason to give you their email address, in tandem driving sales.

Example: Grubhub’s subscribe and save

Another good opportunity to collect email addresses for marketing purposes is during the checkout process. When a shopper is checking out, you should give them the option of opting in to future email communications regarding upcoming sales, company events and more. 

Example: Glossier – Create account end of purchase

Finally, if you ever engage with consumers in-person at events or through field marketing, that’s another golden opportunity to collect email addresses. 

Make your first message count and don’t break promises

When you collect an email address, you should send an initial message right away to introduce your business. Also this helps set expectations, cadence and types of communication you plan on sending. For example, a fitness apparel brand might promise to send an email every Sunday with a workout and healthy recipe of the week.

Regardless of what you have planned, be clear about your intentions from the get-go. Stay true to your word. Telling someone to expect a newsletter once a week and then sending them product promotions every day, is a fast way to lose that subscriber. 

Segmentation is key to success

Not every email will be a fit for every target, which is why segmentation is critical. There are lots of ways to segment – from demographics to transactional behaviors and more. 

Most email service providers (ESPs) will have some type of segmentation tools. This helps you automate processes, although the exact types of segments they enable will vary. 

Klaviyo is a great ESP with regards to segmentation, allowing you to segment based on purchase frequency, shopping behavior, purchase motivation, browsing behaviors and more. It also updates all of your segments in real-time, which is quite helpful – especially when running multiple campaigns at once. 

LimeLight has a great integration for Klaviyo, making it easy to leverage email to drive sales. Speak to your Client Success Manager to get this turned on today.

Analytics are your friend

When executing email marketing campaigns, it’s essential to keep a close eye on analytics to track success. The most important KPIs for email marketing are open rates, click-thru rates (CTR) and unsubscribe rates. Most ESPs will provide them, so you don’t need to put a system in place to manually track. 

Example: MailChimp KPI Dashboard Reporting

Your open rate does exactly what you’d think it would – it tells you how many people opened your email. This reveals a lot about both the relationship you’ve built with readers and the effectiveness of your subject line. 

If your open rate is low, it indicates your readers are not as engaged as they should be. Or perhaps your subject line isn’t resonating. To increase your open rate, AB test new subject lines (MailChimp has some great tips for that) and make sure your next email provides clear value to keep readers coming back for more. 

Now let’s talk about CTR, which tells you how many readers clicked on a link in your email. If your CTR is high, you know your message is clear. If your CTR is low, you need to adjust your message with a clearer call to action. As well as revisit your customer segments to make sure you’re targeting the right readers. 

Lastly, let’s discuss the importance of monitoring unsubscribe rates. You should always aim to have your unsubscribe rate lower than your opt-in rate. Otherwise you’re going to have a very hard time maintaining your distribution lists. 

Beyond paying attention to the rate at which people are unsubscribing, you need to consider when they are unsubscribing. For example, if someone unsubscribes after receiving a newsletter, consider revising the copy to avoid losing more readers. 

The last word

Navigating the world of email marketing can be overwhelming. For those that are new to it, but email isn’t going anywhere and it shouldn’t be ignored. It is one of few digital channels that gives marketers full ownership of the message. 

Take advantage of this benefit by carefully crafting email campaigns. Use the guidelines above, and you’ll be well on your way to an email marketing expert. 

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Email Marketing appeared first on LimeLight.

The rise of Digitally Native Vertical Businesses is a testament to the fact that being strictly offline is hardly an option in today’s retail climate.

There are different ecommerce retail models businesses can adopt, and once you’ve made this choice, it’s vital to choose the best platform to support the plans you have to grow and drive sales.

The subscription-based model of sales is becoming increasingly popular across a wide range of industries.

Put simply, a subscription-based model allows customers to pay a one-time fee for products that get shipped to them at a regular interval, usually weekly, monthly or quarterly.

Some companies, because of their business model or the nature of their products, are perfectly suited to this model.

Once a company decides that subscription-based sales is for them, they need to select an ecommerce platform powerful enough to support their business.

In tandem, offers robust security and an optimized, streamlined online shopping experience.

LimeLight specializes in helping you grow your subscription billing business by leveraging data to identify and cater to your optimal online customers, all while allowing customers to make purchases seamlessly, and with every form of support available.

But LimeLight doesn’t just boost sales or make customers happier while shopping; all of the various tactics brick and mortar retailers use to grow their business have an online equivalent that is baked into every aspect of our product, so we become a key part of the value chain across your business.

Let’s take a look at some of the advantages of using LimeLight’s subscription-based ecommerce platform to see how we can grow your Digitally Native Vertical Business, and also at some examples of companies who got it right.

Cross-Selling, Up-Selling, and Deep Analytics

If you purchase the same product every week or month, then you can imagine how much simpler it is to make just one payment and have the product arrive at your door on schedule.

This is the basic proposition of the subscription-based model: consumers can save the time and the hassle of making so many separate purchases for the same product, and for most brands this purchase commitment extends a cost-savings.

The attractive proposition for consumers and what draws them to this model also allows sellers an opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell similar products. Having a customer’s attention mid-transaction is an opportunity that needs to be taken advantage of.

It’s essential to improve your reporting and analytics in order to better understand everything your consumer needs, which is really at the heart of online marketing.

LimeLight has the best analytics driving our algorithm, so your customers have the most relevant options for higher-grade and complementary products.

It’s not enough to merely present customers with alternative products they can buy: an algorithm that’s sophisticated enough to accurately determine what products your consumers will actually buy is the driving force behind your company’s exponential growth.

Our platform also creates bundling options, allowing customers to buy products the way that makes the most sense for them. Our deep market insights will instantly improve your ROI by determining and catering to your go-to markets, so your acquisition spend is optimally invested.

We make it possible for you to get the most out of your business data, with high-level dashboards working with advanced cohorting and segmentation logic.

These insights will help you understand subscriber trends such as Recurring Rate to Churn, while movements over time are depicted in a visual format for easy insight.

Such graphs will help you leverage predictive analytics for future subscriber movements, and give high-level macro and micro views of key aspects of your business.

Increasing Cart Conversion Rate

Cart abandonment — when a customer adds a product to their basket, only to close the window without completing the sale — is the bane of ecommerce retailers.

Cart abandonment happens very frequently, and improving your cart conversion rate can dramatically drive your business revenue.

The Baymard Institute did a study which paints a rather grim picture of just how prevalent cart abandonment is, and how damaging it can be for your business. It found that the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is about 70%.

To be sure, some of the reasons for abandonment have to do simply with how consumers use ecommerce websites in general. For example, many consumers use ecommerce websites for price comparisons, or as a means for browsing for products they aren’t in fact ready to buy.

LimeLight specializes in revenue maximization, and converting cart abandonment into sales by addressing the aspects of the website that do cause cart abandonment is a major way to boost sales.

Reasons cited (such as the checkout process being too long or complicated) can be resolved by a subscription-based model.

Plus, LimeLight is versatile, allowing your business to attract new customers and engage existing ones by offering any billing model: subscriptions, one-time purchases, and discounts.

It’s extremely easy to configure trial periods, shipping costs, setup fees and more, so you can market products quickly. Having such control over these elements allows you to reduce the obstacles that lead to cart abandonment.

Predictable Revenue

The recurring revenue of the subscription-based model gives your business one strain of income that’s constant and predictable.

It’s not enough that the sales simply occur automatically in regular intervals; our custom and exclusive features are built into the technology to smooth out the purchasing process in order to help your business retain customers.

For example, our Account Updater lets you proactively update your customers’ credit card and billing information automatically, which can improve your rebill rate by up to ten times the return on investment.

If your customer needs to re-enter their billing information or credit card number manually, it becomes one more hurdle to clear in the transaction which may inadvertently prompt them to walk away from the sale.

In addition to helping you keep your customers, this feature will also reduce your costs.

Strong Customer Service

It’s essential to note that the predictability of up-front billing in a subscription-based model is totally compatible with flexibility:

customer support works in tandem with subscriptions, so customers can easily pause delivery if they’re on vacation, change the dates of delivery, or update their cart with new items to reduce fatigue and churn rate.

Ecommerce depends on customers feeling like the website they’re buying from is as responsive to their needs as a sales attendant would be in a brick and mortar store — LimeLight helps companies foster this confidence in their customers by helping them create deep relationships.

Savings and Brand Loyalty

The certainty of knowing that a customer will give you their repeat business is worth reducing the price of the product by a certain percentage.

This means that the customer doesn’t only get the seamless convenience of having your product appear just when they need it, but they get it for a cheaper price than it would otherwise cost.

Apart from the convenience and price reduction, this fosters an important intangible quality any brand is desperate to create: loyalty.

Giving customers exceptional value on a high quality product, and making them feel like they are important, is a sure fire way to retain their business.

It increases the odds that they will buy other products from the retailer, thereby helping to grow their business exponentially.

Passing on these savings also helps turn customers into guerrilla marketers, as they’re likely to tell their friends about the deal they’re getting or post it to social media of their own accord.

This kind of genuine word of mouth advertising is what businesses covet most: not only is it free promotion, but referrals from trusted sources is often cited as a major influence in new customers deciding to buy your product.

One customer praising your product can potentially direct multiple new customers.

Security and Fraud Protection

Ecommerce depends on having a secure and reliable platform on which to conduct business, and on there being the perception of such security.

As a company’s ecommerce business scales up, unfortunately, fraudulent transactions also inevitably increase too. LimeLight’s exclusive Anti-Fraud Services combine the talent of our own fraud specialists with Kount, the industry leader in anti-fraud.

Any business needs to know that the sales they’re making are real sales: LimeLight delivers on average a 20% reduction of chargebacks and representments.

While ecommerce is already a ubiquitous form of retail in markets around the world, the perception some retailers fear of risky transactions is an obstacle to its growth — LimeLight assuages this concern by offering the best anti-fraud protection on the market.

Integrations

Given its international nature, it’s essential that any ecommerce platform be easily compatible with a huge number of third-party integrations, including payment gateways and all the players across the supply chain such as:

fulfillment centers, affiliate marketing, call centers, chargebacks, anti-fraud services, membership services, order confirmation, product manufacturers, customer prospects, data verification, collections and sales tax services, and web development.

Our platform also gives your business full access to popular email marketing tools such as MailChimp and Exact Target, so that your company’s customers always get the latest information about discounts, sales, and new products.

Finally, one of the most important aspects of contemporary online marketing is influencers and traffic partners. An “influencer” is a high-social-status person in the industry who can influence your consumers’ purchasing decisions because their knowledge is widely considered deep, authoritative and reliable.

LimeLight makes it easy for a business to know how they’re reaching the right customers. This way, they can automate commissions and understand what traffic is getting them the best ROI for their advertising money.

Our single platform lets you integrate not only all the best third-party players, but all the best advertisers and influencers in the industry.

Transaction Risk Processing

Customers also need to know that the website they’re about to make a purchase from works reliably, and that the transactions they’re making are fundamentally safe.

Reliability and the perception of reliability is absolutely vital for any ecommerce site.

Not only does payment processing need to work consistently, but consumers need to have full confidence that there will never be any issues, or they may be more inclined to hesitate before making a purchase.

Allowing for any doubts about security to creep in poses an existential threat to an ecommerce website!

In addition to ensuring that each transaction is safe, LimeLight meets every standard of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Tokenization, advanced user permissions and a high level of authentication makes you feel confident that your company’s data and your customers’ data is safe.

Successful Examples

Ecommerce encompasses nearly every industry there is, and LimeLight has already helped over 1,000 subscription brands develop and expand their business.

You can check out these case studies from industries ranging from beauty & grooming, health & fitness, media content and more to find a real life example that can shine a light on what we can do for you!

The retail landscape made a major transformation when it shifted online years ago, but it has evolved constantly since then, and continues to change all the time.

Today’s subscriber models are absolutely nothing like the milk deliverymen of decades ago; it’s a data-driven world, and your success depends on processing and harnessing this data better than your rivals.

Having a platform that understands the evolutions of customer-centric websites is invaluable, as is access to the deepest analytics, wide partnerships across the value chain, and security that keeps you and your customers safe from fraud and data leaks.

Take advantage of all this in a platform which helps you secure regular subscribers to your business by switching to LimeLight.

The post Ecommerce Subscription Sales: A Deep Dive into All the Benefits appeared first on LimeLight.

 
But ecommerce businesses know that behind the scenes there is another story entirely.

 
Today, the subscription model of online sales is one of the fastest growing ecommerce segments, and deciding which underlying platform supports your website is a choice that can make or break your business.

 
Switching to LimeLight can give your company powerful analytics tools to improve sales, and provide one single platform from which to manage all your subscription business needs.

 
There are tons of benefits to switching to LimeLight — read on to learn about some of the ways we can optimize your subscription-based store.
 

Up-Selling, Cross-Selling, and Deep Analytics

 
It’s very common today for online stores to present consumers with the option to buy a higher-grade version of the product they’re about to purchase before the sale is complete, or offer them a different product that complements what is in their cart.

 
But this isn’t where the story ends.

 
LimeLight offers a more powerful algorithm that sifts through the data more comprehensively, so the customer is presented with options they are more likely to buy, which translates into higher revenues.

 
Our reporting and analytics can be seen from a dashboard giving your company quick access to more than 20 views into the trends that help you understand the health of your business and its customer lifecycle.

 
We make it easy to instantly understand Monthly Recurring Revenue, Profit and Loss Statements, Cycle Analysis, Rebill Rates, and Active Subscription forecasting.

 
LimeLight lets businesses gauge the health of their subscription business and check on how they’re retaining customers with key overarching metrics on recurring rate, cancellations, refunds, declines, and more.

 
The 360-degree view of all your data makes it possible to not only quickly identify trends, but to understand the underlying cause behind them. This way, companies can double down on what’s succeeding for their business and pull back from what isn’t working as well as they’d like.

 
In business, greater knowledge leads to increased sales, and LimeLight offers the market’s most powerful analytics tools combined with an interface that is the easiest to understand.

 
It’s important to have the most and the best data, but it’s also to put it to efficient use: understanding how to arrive at an accurate customer lifetime value calculation will help focus your company’s data.
 

Revenue Maximization

 
LimeLight has exclusive features which help to automate aspects of your business which can boost revenue.

 
One such example is smart tags and predictive analytics, which automatically segments your prospects and customers based on their lifetime value, so your company can identify which campaigns and products are performing best.

 
Another important feature is advanced rebilling, which ensures that your business always has accurate credit card information for each customer on-file before a new rebill cycle begins.

 
Maintaining such information and keeping it proactively up-to-date keeps the billing cycle rolling along evenly.

 
Having to manually re-enter their payment information might make them walk away from the sale, and this technology prevents this potential reversal from ever happening.

 
While LimeLight is perfect for subscription-based businesses, it’s also flexible enough to allow for any other billing model, such as one-time purchases and discounts.
 
The platform makes it easy to configure trial periods, shipping costs, and set up fees so that your business wastes as little time as possible brining new products to market.
 

Box Unpacking Experience

 
If your company operates with a subscription-based model, it delivers your customers an intangible moment that is otherwise impossible to achieve. Of course, they know that the physical product is bound to arrive on their doorstep, but the moment it actually does is always a thrilling surprise!

 
This unpacking experience is a very satisfying thing for a business to give any of its customers, but it also fosters brand loyalty and often encourages them to become guerrilla marketers.

 
The unpacking experience varies depending on the nature of the product — sometimes the surprise is simply that the product they knew was coming has finally arrived, as may be the case with beauty or hygiene products.

 
Other subscription-based products include access to media outlets, which don’t involve any physical shipments arriving at their door.

 
But other times the product itself may be the surprise: one enterprising subscription-based company offers customers new dog toys each month, so customers never know what they’re going to get until they open the box.

 
This IRL thrill has the power to turn customers into strong advocates for your brand, which is very important: most consumers are savvy enough not to take advertisements at face value, but they are way more likely to trust recommendations from good friends.

 
Likewise, “influencers” are one of the biggest drivers of today’s online advertising landscape. Creating genuine excitement over your product is an indispensable way to not only benefit from some of the most effective marketing there is, but to get it for free.

 
LimeLight functions as one single platform from which to manage not just your sales, shipping and security, but every component of your advertising.

4 Key Metrics

 
Having access to so much powerful data is essential in today’s contemporary business climate, but sometimes it’s helpful to pull back, narrow the focus and take stock of the statistics that really matter most.

 
Tracking these 4 critical daily metrics is a great way to assess your company’s overall health from an aerial point of view, and LimeLight’s platform makes it easy to see them at a glance.

 
Vital stats like abandonment rate (the term for when a consumer places a product in their cart, but closes the window without finalizing the purchase) can be a more telling statistic than the website’s overall traffic.

 
Average fulfillment time is another crucial stat, measuring the average number of days it should take to ship your product. This should remain consistent, but if there is a change it means something is wrong with the fulfillment process of your business.

 
Any extra time it takes for customers to receive their products can upset them and damage your brand, plus these issues may take a while to resolve, so it’s very important to catch them right away.

 
Free Trial Conversation Rate also is an important indicator of how customers engage with your product.

 
Conversion rates can vary widely depending on whether the free trial period requires a credit card (50-70% conversation) or does not (2-25%). LimeLight’s insights can help explain why the conversion rate is what it is, which is required for improvement.

 
Even daily orders seems like a basic statistic, until you consider that having too many at any one time can cause a spike in service which disrupts other facets of your business, such as fulfillment and customer satisfaction. LimeLight lets you isolate the statistics that matter most.

Third-Party Integrations

 
Since our founding in 2008 LimeLight has designed core transaction execution and processing functions built for performance-based marketers, but we also give you the benefit of having deep relationships with an extremely wide cross-section of third-party partnerships for next-generation brands.

 
LimeLight partners with over 100 payment gateways, from ones you know like PayPal to ones that aren’t household names.

 
We partner with numerous fulfillment centers, affiliate marketing companies, email marketing companies, call centers, chargebacks, anti-fraud services, membership services, order confirmation, product manufacturers, customer prospects, data verification, and web development.

 
When you sign up for LimeLight, you get the best customer relationship management interface on the market, plus the benefit of support from industry leaders across the value chain.
 

Customer Service

 
While much of the focus in ecommerce understandably relates to technological concepts like algorithms and automation, having a flexible subscription-based platform with great customer service is an essential component.

 
With LimeLight, customers can easily pause their subscription to accommodate travel plans, change the date of delivery, and effortlessly change the items in their cart to stave off fatigue and churn.

 
The effortlessness with which our platform allows your customers to make these alterations is a major factor in keeping them happy and retaining their business.

 
The success of any ecommerce business depends on creating a customer-centric experience that compares to or even exceeds that of shopping in a brick and mortar store. This means it’s essential to combine automation where necessary for efficiency’s sake with responsive human interaction, so the customer feels genuinely supported.

 
LimeLight facilitates every aspect of customer service your ecommerce business could possibly need, from fulfillment, plugging into the store itself to everything along the value chain.
 

Seamless Storefronts and Shopping Carts

 
Ecommerce stores need to function properly, but they also need to quickly reflect your brand; whereas a physical store can change its display windows and decorate the interior in a way which aligns with the company, ecommerce stores have to make this same impression by manipulating only the look of the website.

 
LimeLight makes it easy to go to market quickly with a WordPress plug-in that easily integrates with your website.

 
Take advantage of pre-generated user flows to collect leads, one-click checkouts, and product catalogs that quickly get your operation up and running.

 
Our API makes it easy for your business to either use an existing front-end shopping cart or build one using a custom framework. Your company will be able to quickly add categories, sizes and variants for your users through our backend.

Total Security

 
The other bedrock requirement all ecommerce stores must offer is total security. Your business and your customers need protection, which only gets more important as your company scales up. LimeLight has several ways to safeguard both.

 
You’ll get lower chargeback rates and accept orders with more confidence knowing that all your transactions have been screened in advance.

 
All the data collected across the entire LimeLight platform is leveraged to constantly update and refine our rules pertaining to fraud, so that any transactions deemed suspicious is declined automatically.

 
Switching to LimeLight also gives you access to Kount, the industry leader in managing and detecting fraud.

 
Kount uses the most cutting edge automated learning combined with 12 years of experience analyzing billions of transactions across more than 180 countries and multiple payment networks — Kount is sure to increase your order acceptance rates, and reduce chargebacks further still.

 
Security for any ecommerce business is crucial: businesses which suffer a data breach or fraud can have a very hard time regaining their reputation, and sometimes the financial consequences are enough to sink their business.

 
Even the perception that a transaction at an ecommerce business may not be safe is a major obstacle that may prevent the sale from taking place. Our authenticator 3D Verify authenticates the cardholder’s identity in under 3 seconds, shifting the liability from your business directly onto the issuing bank.

 
It also integrates directly into the checkout process. Assuage all doubts in your consumers before they arise by investing in a CRM platform that offers world-class security.

 
The changing pace of technology sometimes can feel dizzying, but it’s essential for those working in ecommerce to keep up with all the latest updates in the industry, or at least to partner with those on the cutting edge.

 
Every platform claims to be the one that best exemplifies the latest buzzwords, so it’s essential to dive deeper and examine how well their product actually works. Is the CRM you’re currently using truly obtaining the most data, sifting through it with the most powerful tools to convert it into insights you can actually use?

 
It’s understandable that customers may wrongly believe that ecommerce sites are largely the same, since from their perspective the differences from one platform to the next are mostly imperceptible. But as a business owner, you know the nuts and bolts under the hood of the website are what make the crucial difference.

 
LimeLight has worked with over 1,000 subscription brands across the world and has been an industry leader in the ecommerce space for over 10 years, so contact us to learn more about how switching to our platform can help grow your business and satisfy your customers, all while ensuring that all transactions and data are totally secure.

The post How We Improve Your Subscription-Based ECommerce Store appeared first on LimeLight.

In a 2019 report, MasterCard revealed that the false-decline problem has since tripled in size, now costing merchants $320 billion annually.

What is a false decline?

A false decline is a credit card transaction attempt made by a legitimate, credit-worthy, sufficiently-funded individual—that is rejected by the card-issuing bank. It’s called a false decline, because the customer is wrongfully rebuffed.

While decline rates for face-to-face credit card transactions routinely run at 2%, when an individual from this same cohort of customers attempts a card not present (CNP) transaction—either online or over the telephone—the decline rate suddenly spikes as high as 50%. Same customer. Same credit-rating. Same funding capacity. Different decline-rate.

The official excuse used by card-issuing banks to justify this anomalous response is protection from fraud. As a result, detection systems kick into high gear over the slightest whiff of concern involving a CNP transaction, creating 13 false-positives for every valid decline and unnecessarily rejecting hundreds of billions of dollars of potential sales along the way. 

Ironically, card-issuing banks hurt themselves, too, with this extreme overreaction. Well-funded customers are annoyed by false declines, with 39% of cardholders abandoning “broken” cards to back-of-wallet, stripping the card-issuing bank of revenue opportunities.

Banks lose. Customers lose. Merchants lose. 

Merchants lose in another way, too.

Are false declines eating your bottom line?

As an online retailer, your cost of acquiring a new customer can be 10x more than the cost of retaining an existing customer. This means every time you lose a customer because of a false decline, you also face a threat to profitability.

Which means the false decline problem is a profit margin problem.

• When you reduce false declines, you reduce churn. 
• When you reduce churn, you elongate lifetime value (LTV). 
• When you elongate LTV, you protect precious profit margins. 

So, how can you reduce false declines?

Decline salvage solutions, using AI-driven technology

At LimeLight we asked ourselves: How could we empower an online merchant like you to reduce false declines, without creating unsustainable overwhelm? 

And we found the answer: FlexPay.

Flexpay is your machine-learning, statistics-based and risk-balancing best friend, with a track record of salvaging 30-60% of declined transactions!

FlexPay reviews all transactions before they’re submitted for processing, and with lightning-quickness, reviews 70 data points to determine exactly when, where and how to process each one of them. 

FlexPay also uses machine-learning to reverse-engineer the Risk Decline System (RDS) used at card-issuing banks, analyzing billions of historical CNP transactions across a wide array of merchants. Every night, fresh datasets are added to FlexPay’s proprietary database, keeping it informed of changes to the issuers constantly-evolving RDS.

FlexPay isn’t just best-in-class, it’s also one of the biggest-in-class. 

Integrated with over 120 payment processors, FlexPay is underpinned with the robust infrastructure needed to handle 100’s of millions of transactions per month.

What makes FlexPay different?

What differentiates FlexPay from other decline salvage companies is that it uses AI, machine-learning technology, versus a rules-based approach. That’s why FlexPay consistently outperforms its competitors.

Machine-learning technology is nimble, adaptable and growth-capable.

Rules-based decline-salvage is not.

With an established track-record and Everest-sized experience in merchant processing, FlexPay takes full advantage of long-term relationships with both card-issuers and acquiring banks to help you avoid—and recover when needed—a legendary number of false declines. 

Flexpay’s fully-automated solution can salvage between 30% to 60% of your declined transactions, and the best part is that it can run seamlessly, behind-the-scenes, to recover your lost revenue!

Get started and see results

Your designated LimeLight Client Success Manager can review your store’s transactional volume, and see what revenue opportunities you’ll gain from using a Decline Salvage AI tool like Flexpay. It’s easy to get started, as LimeLight has already invested into a deep and seamless integration with FlexPay’s AI-driven decline salvage gateway.

Reduce involuntary churn, mitigate the loss of loyal customers, decrease chargeback rates and lower expenses associated with regaining mostly the same customers again. 

Even better, watch as your regular approval rates on CNP transactions increase, due to the safeguards put in place by a new strategic decline salvage plan.

No time like today to get started with our Value-Added Service: Decline Salvage via our partner FlexPay, simply reach out to your designated Client Success Manager or contact our support team.

The post What if you could recoup 30-60% of your declined credit card transactions? appeared first on LimeLight.

Instagram should be a key component of every brand’s social strategy. While most marketers realize the value of the platform, cutting through the noise can be a challenge. Here, we’ll break down best practices for growing and promoting your brand on Instagram.

#1. Make your presence known

Once you’ve committed to using Instagram, you should focus on making your profile as visible as possible. To start, simply sign up for an account, click on the settings menu within the app and scroll down to select ‘Switch to Business Account.’ Then fill out your profile completely and make sure your description is keyword-optimized to boost your search ranking.

Make sure your profile picture is easily identifiable – so a brand logo is a good choice – and you can add clickable links to your profile to direct users to your website and other content that relates to your brand. For example, if your brand was recently featured in a news article or blog post, it makes sense to include a link to that.

Once you’ve set up your profile, take advantage of your existing contact lists automatically inviting friends from other social networks to follow you. In the settings menu, you’ll have the option of inviting contacts from LinkedIn, Facebook, Gmail and more. This is a great way to build your following and further establish your brand’s presence on Instagram.

#2. Know your audience

Like any marketing channel, it’s important to define who you want to reach on Instagram. Start with your best customer personas and using the tools in Facebook and other social platforms, review demographic data and segment which customers (if any) would be best engaged through Instagram.

It’s important to know that Instagram users trend on the younger side, with more than half of global users being 34 years old or younger, so generally speaking you’ll want you’ll want to focus efforts on younger segments.

After you’ve identified who is your target audience, dig deeper and analyze how members of this audience behave on Instagram. Look into what accounts they follow, content they “Like” and comment on, hashtags they use and accounts and locations they tag in their photos. All of these things reveal a lot about who each member is and what type of content they’ll likely to show interest in, to help you build your content strategy.

#3. Harness the power of influencers

Once you’ve defined your target audience, you should consider influencer marketing as a method for attracting and engaging those target users. It’s a powerful way to introduce your brand to new audiences, and particularly impactful with younger consumers that use Instagram.

If you’re skeptical about the value of influencers, just look at the power of the queen of influencer marketing herself – Kylie Jenner. The youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan boasts more than 142 million followers, relied largely on her own social influence to launch her flagship beauty brand, Kylie Cosmetics, which quickly became one of the most popular brands in the world. 

When selecting an influencer to work with, it’s important to consider brand alignment to ensure that when they promote your brand it feels authentic to their followers. Pay close attention to the style of their content and the tone of their voice, and if that all aligns, take a look at contextual engagement. 

A lot of marketers make the mistake of only looking at an influencer’s general engagement rates, which can be very misleading. For example, if a wellness influencer has an average engagement rate of 4 percent but only a 1 percent engagement rate on content related to fitness, that’s not the best influencer for a fitness brand to partner with. 

Once you’ve identified the right influencer to work with, set clear expectations for what kind of content you’d like to produce and when, but resist the urge to micromanage. Influencers know their audience well, and their followers know them just as well, which is why it’s important to give them the creative freedom to promote your brand authentically. Their followers will be able to sniff out disingenuous, overly-promotional content, which defeats the purpose of influencer marketing. Trust that you’ve selected the right talent, and let them promote your brand to their audiences with minimal oversight. 

Getting started with Instagram can be overwhelming if you’re new to the platform, but it’s such a powerful channel for raising brand awareness that it’s worth the time and effort. Remember to optimize your profile for maximum visibility, be deliberate about which users you want to engage with and partner with like-minded influencers, and you’ll be on your way to success in no time. 

Making the most of your new Instagram traffic

Once you’re ready to kick your Instagram marketing channel into high-gear it’s important to make sure you’re tracking your customers to learn more. Be sure to tag your traffic with proper UTMs to see by campaign, source and medium. Here’s a great walk-through on UTMs and where to find in Google Analytics.

Limelight’s platform allows you to import data from social networks like Instagram and view reports and analytics on conversion rates.

When you know where your traffic is coming from and which campaign, you can decide what discounts, upsells and cross-sell programs are resonating and double-down on those that perform best. 

You can also understand from these customers (by channel) what products are being added to the cart, and make sure you tailor future advertising campaigns (and discounts) from these tracked insights. 

A big part of being a successful online seller is knowing the analytics and data related to your transactions and customer behaviour; likes and dislikes (churn and returns). 

LimeLight’s platform offers a range of tools and solutions to make tracking and learning from your traffic (from Instagram or any channel you choose). To learn more about LimeLight’s platform and how we can help you sell more, check out Reporting and Analytics.

To get started with making the most of LimeLight’s platform reporting and analytics tools speak to your Client Success Manager, or request a free demo from a member of our Sales team.

The post 3 Ways to Get Started with Instagram Marketing appeared first on LimeLight.

Recovering this revenue improves profitability of your paid traffic (LTV:CAC), and additionally stabilizes the LTV of your acquired customer by keeping them engaged with your brand for months to come. 

LimeLight is excited to share this case study from one of FlexPay’s nutraceutical direct marketers, and how they helped them see a 99.3% improvement on their decline salvage.

Discover how they:

• Learned every failed recovery was costing them money
• Saved costs by improving declined transaction recovery and approval ratio
• Improved performance recovery for fresh and aged declinesAdded $10.5M to company market valuation
• Dramatically improved cash flow

FlexPay balances the risk of every transaction against its likelihood of being approved so more of your transactions are approved while mitigating risks. Using statistically strong machine learning to understand – best time, transit (processing account to use) and testing.

Its industry leading tech stack has the capacity to manage hundreds of millions of transactions every month to collect and analyze information gained from every new transaction

Your LimeLight Client Success Manager can review your Decline Salvage revenue opportunities and organize a strategic plan to recover lost revenue.  

No time like today to get started with our Value-Added Service: Decline Salvage via our partner Flexpay.io, simply reach out to your designated Client Success Manager or contact our support team.

The post Learn how you can increase net profit by 10%, when you increase decline salvage — Case Study appeared first on LimeLight.