Categories
Business Trends

Walmart Corners More Than 25% E-Commerce Market

The forecast: Walmart edged out Amazon in 2020 as the leading US grocery ecommerce retailer. We expect Walmart to continue outselling Amazon in grocery ecommerce sales through our 2023 projections.

Dive deeper:

  • Walmart overtook Amazon in grocery ecommerce sales in 2020, when sales grew by more than 84% to total $27.13 billion for the big-box store. In comparison, Amazon’s sales grew 63.1% in 2020, hitting $25.79 billion.
  • Walmart’s click-and-collect and Express Delivery services have contributed to its massive ecommerce growth.
  • Amazon is limited in its ability to offer click-and-collect groceries. However, it has expanded its offerings via brick-and-mortar Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go stores.
  • We didn’t include Instacart in our rankings of US ecommerce retailers because it’s a service that facilitates sales for grocery retailers. That said, if Instacart were to be ranked, grocery sales through the platform would’ve placed Instacart just below Amazon in the No. 3 spot.

Looking ahead: Although many consumers have returned to in-store shopping, grocery ecommerce will continue to grow as a retail category. Sales will hit $122.39 billion this year and will cross $200 billion in 2024.

Walmart has cornered more than 25% of the US grocery ecommerce market [emarketer]

About Our GE Network Expert - Min Tang

Categories
Human Resource

Human Like Relationships With Brands

Consumers show similar emotions in relationships in brands as they do with other humans.

  • There are two different types of consumer-brand relationships: exchange relationships and communal relationships.
  • If you want to maintain consumer brand loyalty, you must provide value to your customers.
  • Brands must understand their consumers so they can provide them value in the way they expect it.

Consumers’ relationships with brands are not all that different from relationships with people. Some you genuinely care about, while others are in your life simply because you depend on them. For marketers, understanding the difference between the two kinds of relationships is essential to making sure you know how to deal with your customers.

Marketers who realize this will be in a better position to retain customers and improve the perceptions of consumers who are unhappy with a brand’s service or product.

In one kind of consumer/brand relationship, people relate to the brand based primarily on economic factors. Walmart, for example, attracts customers based on price and value. In what the researchers call a “communal relationship,” consumers relate to the brand based on caring, trust, and partnership. State Farm, for example, sells itself as a “good neighbor.”

What is a brand-customer relationship?

The relationship between brand and customer is a unique one that can have positive outcomes for both parties. Customers develop relationships with brands and think of them as partners. Brands become more human to customers and obtain meaning and value.

Brand awareness

When a brand has built up trust in its customers, brand loyalty begins. If customers find a product they can believe in, then they will be loyal to brands. Companies have to try to create these relationships with customers. That is only the first step. They must then work to maintain and grow the relationship. Customers want to feel fulfilled, either because the product fills a need or because they feel loyal to it. You might have both kinds of customers, and you must find ways to appeal to each type. Offer a product that meets your consumers’ needs and ensures it’s reliable and of the highest quality.

Authenticity

How consumers react to experiences with the brand, both positive and negative, depends on how they like the brand in the first place, researchers said.

Pankaj Aggarwal, a marketing professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and Richard Larrick of Duke University tested brand evaluation after an unfair transaction in 2012. The results still apply today and depended heavily on whether the consumer was in an exchanging brand or a communal one.

In one study, Aggarwal and Larrick set up a situation in which the consumer didn’t get what they paid for and wasn’t reimbursed for a mistake made by the brand. However, when customers were treated with respect and dignity after the error, those who had communal relationships with the brand responded well, possibly because it reassured consumers about the caring nature of their association with the brand.

Trust

Concern from the brand acted as a form of compensation in itself. However, this effect wasn’t found when consumers’ relationships with the brand regarding price and value.

In that case, if the consumers didn’t think they got their proverbial money’s worth, it didn’t move them to reconsider their negative evaluation of the brand.

However, things change when no problem needs addressing with the customer.

What is brand relationship management?

Brand relationship management is a concept that allows businesses to remain constantly engaged with consumers. It intends to create humanlike relationships between the brand and the consumer. A brand relationship is a step away from keeping the correlation transactional only and warrants a deeper focus on the actual connection between both parties.

How to build a brand relationship

While several digital tools improve brand relationships, sometimes these software options can cause more harm than good. You can spin your wheels searching for new leads and achieve short-term gains, but it’s the connection you make with your customers that creates sustainability in the long run.

Consumers are expecting and demanding more from brands today. If they do not see the value in an item, they will not pay a premium price. There is a stronger sense of competition among the brands as consumers have more flexibility in their purchases.

As the market expands and options increase, consumers have become more unpredictable. Therefore, managing brand relationships is purely about the consumer. If a business wants to maintain the consumer-brand relationship, it must create and provide value.

1. Less is more

With all of the customer data collected today, it is tempting to send out several emails noting everything the customer likes. Keep in mind that the more communication you send, the more it could seem like your brand only cares about paying the rent. Be creative. Use high-quality content that engages and interacts with your customer lending a hand to solidifying the customer and brand relationship.

Creating fewer communications that resonate with the customer’s values and behaviors helps sustain brand relationships. Partnering with an influencer that your customers see as authentic can foster brand loyalty. Position yourself as an expert in your industry and ask repeat customers for testimonials.

According to a 2020 survey, over 84% of consumers are more loyal to a brand that aligns with their values. The survey examined four demographics including Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, and three different locations including the U.S., UK, and Australia.

2. Take a breath

As revenue targets loom in the background, it’s important to remember that brand loyalty requires more listing and less haste. Instead of making quick decisions based on daily reports, use the data to anticipate your customer’s needs and wants.

By taking a breath, you can get to know customers on an intimate level instead of hopping from surface to surface.

3. Build a community

A company downturn can have many causes, but a sluggish economy, competitors or a digital malfunction can all blame. But if you have an established customer base, they can take their loyalty to the next level when times are less than stellar.

Whether you utilize your collected email list, repeat customers or superfans, current customers are the key to sustaining a business through rough times. A strong community can be a brand advocate when facing stolen product ideas, bad reviews, or support for a new product launch or company cause.

4. Optimize customer service

Without consistent customer service, it’s impossible to build brand loyalty. Do whatever it takes to take your customer service team to the next level. Consider investing in a CRM, offering support via phone, email, online chat, and social media, and having a clear return/exchange policy in place for customers that need a tweak to their order.

5. Incentives

Introducing a new brand to the world takes time and effort. Since large corporations have an even bigger marketing budget, it can be difficult for small businesses to get a piece of the pie.

Using incentives like free shipping, a trial product, or points-based rewards program can provide exponential value to the customer and routine shopping visits to increase revenue.

Consumers Have Human-like Relationships with Brands [Biznewsdaily]

About Our GE Network Expert - Min Tang

Categories
Technology

Uploading Powerpoint To Youtube

Putting a presentation on YouTube can be a great way to reach co-workers and customers, and it’s easy to do. Here’s how.

  • Reach more colleagues and clients by uploading PowerPoint presentations to YouTube. Share videos easily with no downloads required.
  • Make content engaging by adding audio and other enhancements to a PowerPoint presentation before uploading it to YouTube.
  • Simple presentations with eye-catching colors and fonts have a greater impact than slides filled with bullet points.
  • This article is for professionals and entrepreneurs who want to upload their PowerPoint presentations to YouTube for training or marketing purposes.

PowerPoint presentations have been a popular tool for decades, and they still hold power in the business world. From a small work meeting to a crowded TED Talk, there are many professional discussions and lectures made easier by PowerPoints.

PowerPoint presentations can be recorded and shared at a later date. By uploading PowerPoint presentations to YouTube, you can increase your reach to co-workers, clients or friends. Doing so also allows your audience to view presentations on their own time without missing any important information. Microsoft even does what it can to simplify this process, but you still have to follow a few important steps.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Record your PowerPoint presentation

The first step is to record your PowerPoint presentation so that once it’s uploaded, viewers will be able to hear and see the entire presentation. You can use the Insert menu to add individual recordings to each slide. To do this, go to Click Insert > Media > Audio > Record Audio.

To record the entire slideshow, go to the Slide Show tab, and select Record Slide Show. Then, choose whether to record from the beginning or from the current slide. This option will include all narration, animations and slide transitions in the PowerPoint video.

Click Slide Show > Record Slide Show > Start Recording

Once your presentation is fully recorded, it’s ready to be converted into a video and uploaded to YouTube.

2. Turn your PowerPoint presentation into a video

To upload a PowerPoint presentation, you must convert it into a video. That includes all of the media – narration, animation, pointer movements and slide transitions – that go with it. So, once the presentation is up on YouTube, viewers will be able to watch it as if they were viewing it in real time.

There are two main ways to convert a PowerPoint presentation into a video: saving the file in a video format and saving the presentation as a PowerPoint Show. The advantage of saving the file as a PowerPoint Show is that your presentation will automatically jump to full-screen mode when someone opens it. This is ideal for business owners who are looking to send their video presentation to certain people instead of uploading it to YouTube.

Video presentations are saved as Windows Media Video (WMV) files, while PowerPoint Show presentations are saved in their own PowerPoint Show format (PPSX).

To save the presentation as a video, select File > Export > Create a Video > Select Video Quality > Use Recorded Timings and Narrations> Create Video.

To save the presentation as a PowerPoint Show, simply save the file under a new format. Click File > Save As > Browse > Save as Type > PowerPoint Show > Save.

3. Add audio to your PowerPoint presentation

You can add audio to a PowerPoint presentation on a PC or a Mac. Audio options include sound bites, music and narration. Adding sound helps further engage viewers, especially if you’re including commentary like you would if you were actually presenting the PowerPoint slideshow.

While in edit mode for your PowerPoint presentation, follow these steps to add audio to a PowerPoint presentation on a PC:

Click Insert > Audio. Then, select Audio on my PC from the available menu options. All available audio files on your computer will come up in the dialog box. Select the file you want to add to the presentation and click Insert at the bottom of the dialog box.

Choose Audio Tools Playback to edit the options for the presentation. From here, you can edit options such as Fade, Sequence and Loop Mode.

Here’s how to add audio to a PowerPoint presentation on a Mac:

Click Insert > Audio. Select either Audio Browser or Audio from File. The former allows you to add the audio from iTunes, while the latter browses your computer for the correct file. Choose the audio file. From the Audio Format tab, you can edit options such as Loop Mode, Play Across Slides and Hide During Slideshow.

After you edit a presentation with audio, you can preview the results using the playback option. Save all progress before exiting the program.

4. Upload your PowerPoint presentation to YouTube

After converting the presentation into a video format, sign in to your YouTube account, and click Upload at the top of the page. Select the presentation video you want to upload, and then adjust the video privacy settings.

Once the video is uploaded, click Publish to make it viewable to others. Be sure to use a catchy title that best represents the topic of your presentation so the right audience can find it.

5. Share your PowerPoint presentation with co-workers

Uploading presentations to YouTube is a great way for colleagues and customers to learn about a business on their own time. It also can be a great way to advertise changes or updates to a business. Make sure your connections know where to find your presentation and encourage them to share it with their own network. Share the link on your LinkedIn page and social platforms, email it to co-workers, include it in an email marketing newsletter. There are many ways to market your presentation and increase its reach, so you can build a loyal audience and continue to post engaging content.

Tips for creating a good video

When putting together your presentation, you don’t want to do the bare minimum and hope it impacts viewers. Here are some tips for creating an engaging PowerPoint presentation video your audience will love:

  • Use simple visuals: Presentations work best when the visuals are simple. Don’t clutter the screen; embrace white space for improved readability. Limit pages full of long lists of bullet points. Instead, highlight only the most important facts.
  • Choose a theme that fits the topic of your presentation:PowerPoint offers templates, but you may want to customize one to avoid coming across as cookie-cutter. Remember that the use of color is important to convey messages. Cool tones, such as blue and green, work best for background colors, while warm shades, such as red and orange, are best for text and charts.
  • Include video clips and audio in meaningful ways:A crashing symbol between slides is more likely to come across as cheesy than engaging. Use engaging yet professional videos and audio clips that add to the presentation, not distract the audience from the topic. This includes narration, an explainer video that is relevant to the subject or simple transitions from slide to slide.
  • Remember your audience: The top tip for creating a good video is to always keep your audience in mind. Imagine the video from viewers’ perspective and allow that to shape the features you add.
  • Don’t overcrowd your slides with text: Using too many words on each slide will be overwhelming to your audience following along. Instead, include one-sentence summaries or bullet points (but limit them), then add audio commentary to expand on them further.
  • Tell a story: While you want to approach the presentation in a professional manner, don’t turn it into a lecture. Use anecdotes and engaging stories to communicate your message. Rather than talking to your audience, have a discussion with them — even if they can’t interact in the moment. Approach the entire presentation like a conversation rather than a lecture.

How to Upload PowerPoint Presentations to YouTube [Biznewsdaily]

About Our GE Network Expert - Min Tang

Categories
How-To Guides

Streamlining Travel & Expense Management

Zoho Expense streamlines travel and expense management for businesses.

Zoho Expense makes it easy to approve, monitor, pay and record expenses before, during and after a trip. What’s more, Zoho Expense can be integrated with various accounting software.

The Zoho Expense integration with accounting software is seamless, and a great help both when figuring the businesses’ bottom line during the year, and at tax time.

Faiyaz Haneef, Zoho Expense Product Expert, said that Zoho Expense was developed to answer requests from small business owners.
“That’s why we focused on automation software that could handle all transactions involved with travel and expenses,” Haneef said. “The entire process is automated.”

Key Benefits of Zoho Expense

Streamlined Travel

Expense handles each step of the itinerary, from pre-trip, on-trip and post-trip. Advances can be requested and approved. During the trip, receipts can be captured and submitted using Auto Scan (and can also be submitted manually). During post-trip, an expense report is automatically compiled, submitted to a finance team for approval, and recorded.

Expense Automation

All transactions can be uploaded to the Cloud from any type of device, via email inbox or Chrome extension. There are integrations with email and Outlook. Documents can be uploaded using various Apps, such as Dropbox and Evernote. Receipts can be uploaded using Auto Scan.

An invaluable feature is an integrated GPS, which tracks and records mileage.

Simplified Reporting

There are approvals at every stage of the process. Reimbursements can be provided during the process, or after the traveler’s return. There are multi-channel notifications, to ensure that there’s a notification for every action.

Cost Control and Compliance

Expense has built-in controls for spending. For example, a business customer can build in an amount limit for meals. If that amount is exceeding, the customer gets a notification of a policy violation.

Expense is used globally. There are different applications to adapt to mileage and tax rates that apply to different cities, areas or countries.

Insightful Analytics

Using Zoho Expense, a business owner can take a look at certain aspects of travel expense. For example, the business owner can compare the costs for travel between various departments, such as sales and marketing, production and administration.

The owner can also look at various areas, such as meal expenses and mileage.

Can Be Customized

Customization is one of the best features of Zoho Expense.

“A small business that is growing may need to manage expenses differently,” said Unni S, Head of Business Development for Zoho. “Or a business that has offices in different countries, such as the US and Canada, can customize Zoho Expense for each location.

Here are some examples of customization:

  • Per Diem automation – A business owner can load specific cost limits for aspects of trip expenses, such as meals. The owner can specify that reimbursement for amounts under the limits is automatic.
  • Recipient – The business owner can specify who receives the expense reports.
  • Integration with Accounting Apps – Zoho Expense can be integrated with the company’s accounting software.
  • Billing Customers – Using Zoho Expense, an expense report can be generated as an invoice to a customer.

Zoho Expense Automates the Entire Travel and Expense Process

A traveler gets an Uber ride, swipes a card, and the expense is automatically uploaded. A traveler uses Auto Scan to upload a receipt for a travel expense, and that cost is automatically uploaded.

At every stage of travel, costs and reimbursements are monitored, reimbursed and recorded.

“We have completely avoided errors by using technology, by integrating all those platforms so that the user doesn’t have to enter any data,” Unni S said. “Zoho Expense automates the complete process.”

Zoho Expense streamlines travel and expense management for businesses.

Zoho Expense makes it easy to approve, monitor, pay and record expenses before, during and after a trip. What’s more, Zoho Expense can be integrated with various accounting software.

The Zoho Expense integration with accounting software is seamless, and a great help both when figuring the businesses’ bottom line during the year, and at tax time.

Faiyaz Haneef, Zoho Expense Product Expert, said that Zoho Expense was developed to answer requests from small business owners.
“That’s why we focused on automation software that could handle all transactions involved with travel and expenses,” Haneef said. “The entire process is automated.”

Key Benefits of Zoho Expense

Streamlined Travel

Expense handles each step of the itinerary, from pre-trip, on-trip and post-trip. Advances can be requested and approved. During the trip, receipts can be captured and submitted using Auto Scan (and can also be submitted manually). During post-trip, an expense report is automatically compiled, submitted to a finance team for approval, and recorded.

Expense Automation

All transactions can be uploaded to the Cloud from any type of device, via email inbox or Chrome extension. There are integrations with email and Outlook. Documents can be uploaded using various Apps, such as Dropbox and Evernote. Receipts can be uploaded using Auto Scan.

An invaluable feature is an integrated GPS, which tracks and records mileage.

Simplified Reporting

There are approvals at every stage of the process. Reimbursements can be provided during the process, or after the traveler’s return. There are multi-channel notifications, to ensure that there’s a notification for every action.

Cost Control and Compliance

Expense has built-in controls for spending. For example, a business customer can build in an amount limit for meals. If that amount is exceeding, the customer gets a notification of a policy violation.

Expense is used globally. There are different applications to adapt to mileage and tax rates that apply to different cities, areas or countries.

Insightful Analytics

Using Zoho Expense, a business owner can take a look at certain aspects of travel expense. For example, the business owner can compare the costs for travel between various departments, such as sales and marketing, production and administration.

The owner can also look at various areas, such as meal expenses and mileage.

Can Be Customized

Customization is one of the best features of Zoho Expense.

“A small business that is growing may need to manage expenses differently,” said Unni S, Head of Business Development for Zoho. “Or a business that has offices in different countries, such as the US and Canada, can customize Zoho Expense for each location.

Here are some examples of customization:

  • Per Diem automation – A business owner can load specific cost limits for aspects of trip expenses, such as meals. The owner can specify that reimbursement for amounts under the limits is automatic.
  • Recipient – The business owner can specify who receives the expense reports.
  • Integration with Accounting Apps – Zoho Expense can be integrated with the company’s accounting software.
  • Billing Customers – Using Zoho Expense, an expense report can be generated as an invoice to a customer.

Zoho Expense: Streamline Travel and Expense Management [Smallbiztrends]

About Our GE Network Expert - Min Tang

Categories
Recommendations

CRM Training and Certification

As CRM software becomes more important for businesses, high-level training and certifications do as well.

  • To attain CRM certification, applicants must pass an exam. Hours of training are usually required to do so.
  • CRM certifications and training allow companies to increase their digital presence, have a competitive edge and increase engagement.
  • The need for CRM specialists continues to grow year after year. Getting certified can help secure job placements and increase career advancement opportunities.
  • This article is for business owners and individuals who want to improve their business and career path by completing CRM certifications and training.

Customer relationship management (CRM) takes customer service to a whole new level. Modern CRM software uses technology and automation to find and interact with leads and customers. Leveraging CRM software can help a company engage with its customers to build trust and provide necessary products and services.

Current CRM certification courses are available through academic institutions, professional affiliates and massive open online courses. Topics can include CRM optimization, automation, marketing strategies, product management, business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C) and networking. According to certification course provider Simplilearn, IT professionals with one Salesforce certification on their resume can expect as much as a 40% pay increase.

What are CRM certifications and training?

CRM certifications can enhance your skills by requiring you to complete advanced CRM software training. Some certifications are built with courses and require you to pass exams; others are for status only. Completing CRM certifications and training can demonstrate commitment, present new job opportunities and increase pay.

Why are CRM certifications and training necessary?

To compete globally, companies benefit from increasing their digital presence. Utilizing a CRM tool improves the B2C and B2B relationship and allows companies to engage and thrive. Because companies are encouraged to focus on detailed digital strategies in which CRM is vital, businesses are looking for CRM-certified employees to help them move forward in the e-commerce space.

Who should get CRM certified?

While all departments can benefit from CRM training, it is especially relevant for sales, marketing and IT team members. In addition, recent high school graduates and college students can stay competitive in the job market by becoming CRM certified.

Recent high school graduates and college students

Want to score a higher-paying job quickly? As CRM specialization jobs are in high demand, high school graduates and college students can get a competitive edge by learning CRM before entering the professional workforce.

Sales professionals

Sales teams work with a CRM platform for lead tracking and follow-up. Detailed customer data gathered and stored by a CRM improves lead scoring and speeds up conversions.

Marketing professionals

Because marketing requires quality leads to drive a return on investment, a robust CRM is crucial to a marketing team’s success. The CRM can help marketing professionals quickly visualize data, as well as identify lead patterns, potential customers and pain points that your business’s products or services may solve.

IT professionals

IT can work with sales and marketing to customize the CRM to specific needs, industries or internal policies. Using a CRM, IT teams can onboard, maintain and provide professional support to employees. CRM certification is often required for IT professionals, as the training is standard for the industry.

CRM certificate vs. certification

Though a CRM certificate and a CRM certification sound like they may be the same, there is a difference. A CRM certificate is earned in a school setting, whether in person or remote, and resembles an academic degree. A CRM certification, by contrast, is earned through industry-based performance tests, regardless of where you learn the information.

7 best CRM certifications

The following CRM certifications are found regularly in job listings and are globally recognized and easily accessible for most people:

Microsoft Dynamics 365

As a top competitor to Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers certification levels ranging from fundamental to advanced. The platform can provide courses on sales, finance, operations and customer service. Professionals can choose to complete a CRM certification or an overall fundamentals course. For CRM certification, IT professionals must pass exam MB-910: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM).

CRM Certification and Training [BusinessNewsDaily]

About Our GE Network Expert - Min Tang