Category Archives: Tips

COVID-19 Pandemic effect on online business. What’s next?

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a huge change in the way people shop around the world. With the spread of the virus, drastic steps were taken where many countries were under lockdown for months. This caused consumers to move more towards online shopping. Though there has been a rising trend towards online shopping from the past few years, this kind of rise in the eCommerce sectors graph was never witnessed before.


This sharp rise in favour of online sales has raised questions on the prospects of brick and mortar stores. Has the pandemic changed consumers shopping behaviour for good or is this just an act based on what’s the best today? Is there any hope for getting back to “normal”, if not then what steps should sellers take to sustain in the future?

The coronavirus pandemic has hit every business very hard. Setting up an online business with the best payment gateway is one of the ways to move ahead.

What role did COVID-19 play to make people move to the online shopping mode?As per the World Trade Organization, the implementation of lockdowns and following the social distancing rules has been the biggest factor to change peoples shopping behaviours and chooses the e-mode. This has resulted in a very sharp rise in sales for Business to Consumer (B2C) and more traffic in other eCommerce activities.

Special websites have lots of information on the effect of COVID-19 on eCommerce business. The data when compared using a yearly filter has shown that the eCommerce business has grown over 100% in many cases. Data has been driven taking into account both regular retailers and online stores.

This sort of rising in online sales was very much bound to happen when shoppers had no chance to shop in person. Even though online sales have risen, this does not happen for all eCommerce sectors.

What are the effects of this pandemic on different industries?
The biggest spike in online sales has been for essential products mainly being food and beverages. Apart from this other product that falls under the essential category and has seen a big rise in sale and demand are medical supplies like masks, gloves, pain and cough medicines.

As the initial scare passed, people moved on to buying other goods online too as they realised how safe it was this way.

Many online stores came up with new categories like “all essentials” and that included selected products from the main category Health and fitness, Electronics, Toys and hobbies, Home improvement, Office supplies, Beauty and cosmetics, Telecommunications, Internet, Mobile data services and Housewares to name a few.

The products listed in the above categories have seen a rise in online sales during the past few months and it continues. Subscription-based services like Netflix has also seen an increase in the number of subscribers.

The sectors that faced major drops are Tourism, Luxury and Fashion.

Even though the list of big looser seems to be less but they have lost a lot in revenue. It is estimated that an approximate €45 billion declines in the sale last year for these sectors.

How are small and mid-sized businesses coping with the pandemic situation?
The pandemic has slowed down the past few months and there is a sudden surge again. Businesses now have the chance to tweak their online presence. Having a user-friendly optimized website is very important for a good online presence. To support this, being visible in social media and other online advertising media is very necessary.

The best place to start is browsing through the resources and tools by Google that has been released to help small businesses during this Covid pandemic. There are free digital training resources that can help one manage elements of an online store.

Irrespective of the situation, a good payment gateway is always a must to get more customers
The main key for a successful online store is the perfect payment gateway. Shoppers leaving a cart and not going ahead to make payment is a big cause of concern for numerous eCommerce merchants. Generally, the reason for this is limited payment options or a very complex payment procedure.

A good payment gateway isn’t only important for the customer experience; it helps make your operations efficient too. Your gateway should be easy to implement and reduce the time and effort it takes to manage customer payments.

Having a good payment gateway is not only important in terms of gaining customers, but it also helps in efficient operations from the merchant point of management. The implementation time should be minimal and at the same time management of customer, payments should be very smooth.

The pandemic is still not over and we all need to be safe. One of the ways to stay safe is staying home. Shopping online can help in this in a big way.

5 Tips to Follow when you Shop for Men’s Jewelry

Shopping for jewelry can be challenging as well as time-consuming. Jewelry is one such product that once purchased might become a part of you or it might just be kept in your wardrobe for years. It’s one of the best items to be gifted to express your love. In this post are some tips to help you in selecting and buying the right jewelry. This post will help you in choosing the perfect jewelry for your man.

1> Taste and Style

When you shop for anything for your husband, boyfriend, friend or partner, please keep in mind that it’s for him. This means that if choose what you liked does not necessarily mean that he too will like it. So you should not select a product based on what you want. You will have to know and understand his style and taste. This will help you pick up the right product for him that he will like. There is no point in buying something that he might not like. Thus knowing his likes and dislikes is very important.

2> Simple is the best

If your partner has never worn a piece of jewelry before then its best to keep it as simple as possible. Avoid anything very flashy or shiny unless he is fond of shiny pieces of stuff. The best thing to buy for the first time is a pair of cufflinks.

3> Environment

When you shop for a casual piece of jewelry for your partner, make sure that it will match his work environment. His dress code for work might not allow for all types of jewelry. So you will have to be sure of what is allowed and what’s not in place of work. Try buying something that he can wear it as daily wear and as well as be allowed to wear at his office or workplace.

4> Tone of Skin Tone

Buying a piece of jewelry that matches his skin tone is one of the most important points to consider. Every person has a different skin tone. Women easily manage to adjust to many colors and for this makeup play an important role. But for men its different, you must be sure of the color that suits him. For safer side, select metals that are light in color, like gold or platinum.

5> Build of the Person

Finally, getting a piece of jewelry to match the built of the person is also very important. If he is slim, then a piece of delicate jewelry will suit him. A big tall guy can be gifted a solid bracelet or a chunky ring. This creates a balance and does not make the jewelry look odd on him.

To summarise, for the first time purchase of a men’s jewelry, this post is a good guide and will help you avoid mistakes. You will want to buy something that he will love the very first glance. So be sure to follow this post before going online to shop for that special gift called jewelry.

6 Points To Keep in Mind when Shopping Online

Even though online shopping has made it tougher for traditional stores in business, online shoppers do need to be careful when ordering online. This is one of the reasons for some people shopping at traditional stores. Being scammed is the biggest hurdle. In this article, we have shared some important points to keep in mind during the online shopping process.

  • Authenticity and Legitimacy of the Seller
    Nearly every day new stores are emerging online. Even though the majority of these are genuine and legitimate still you should always double-check the authenticity of the online store. Many websites and tools can help you with this.
  • Online Identity
    The next step is to know the identity of the website. The identity of the website should verifiable. Knowing the identity of the online store can help in minimising the possibility of being prey to cybercrime.
  • Safety of Payment Methods
    After checking the identity and authenticity of the online store, the next step should be to see that the store has multiple payment facilities. We should be very sure that amongst the payment methods is also the one that we would be comfortable to use. Sharing important financial details like credit card number or wallet information should be very secured. There should be a receipt provided by the seller against the payment made for the order.
  • Delivery/Shipping
    Doorstep delivery is the want today. This is one of the services that has made life very easy for online shoppers. Even though this is a great service but at times it can be difficult for the courier to get to the right address. Putting in the right address is a must so that the product is delivered to your doorstep on time.
  • Return and Refund
    A refund and return policy is a must and should be well displayed in the online store website. You should be able to return the product if its faulty or does not satisfy your needs. Due to the fault of the store, if the stock is not updated, then you should be given an instant refund for the order placed.
  • Reviews by Customers
    Customers reviews are of great help when you shop online. The reviews will guide you to know what products are good and what is sold the maximum. A general of the thumb is to select products that have a rating of 4.5 or more out of 5.0.

The above points are the most important ones to consider when you are shopping online.

Drifting away from the topic, you should also look into saving money while you shop online as there numerous avenues to save online. Some of the ways to save are by using online coupons that are usually given out for free by genuine stores. Looking for the sale section in the website and last but not the least the deal of the day page.

Is Online Gift Provider worth it?

With the advancement of online shopping using a simple internet connection, sending gifts is no longer as tedious as it used to be. We don’t have to buy a gift from a local store, pack it and then have it posted or couriers by ourselves. Today we have the online gift service providers. These are easy to use and it the same as you shopping for a product for your self from the comfort of your home. The online gift services can be used to send gifts to anyone residing anywhere in the world.

1. Online gift providers have a huge collection of gifts for every occasion. The purpose of the gift can be for a wedding or a birthday or just about any other occasion. All you need to do select the gift you want to send from the comfort of your home or office or even on the move. Make the payment online and the gift will reach the receiver.

2. Online gift service providers can send gifts to almost any location so you don’t have to worry about how to get a gift across to anyone. For on-time delivery, many gift service providers are located in specific areas and you can choose the one that is closest to the recipient location. A reliable online gift service provider will always guarantee the delivery of the gift at the right time and exact location.

3. Language can be a big problem when the delivery location of the gift falls in a different language zone. This is especially important if the gift is to be sent over to a business associate who speaks a different language. Here the right gift provider will do the needful of translating your message that you want to send with the gift to the recipient language.

4. Certain gifts like cake and flowers need to reach within a specific time to reach fresh. Select the online gift provider that is nearest to the location of the recipient. This will ensure that the gift such as cakes and flowers is delivered as fresh as possible. Even a few hours can make a difference to the quality of the cake and hence the faster the delivery the better will it be for the recipient.

5. Customizing of a gift to the maximum extent is possible using an online gift service. Your selection can be just one product or include multiple items. You can do a mix match of relevant products to make a gift basket and have it’s gift-wrapped most professionally with any message that you want. Above all, you can use an online coupon to get some discount on the gift items. Having so many options, the most affordable gift can be customised to become the most unique gift for the recipient. With least effort, you can have the best gift sent across.

To summarize, using an online gift service provider is the best option to send the best gift across to anyone at any part of the globe.

Art of Gift Giving

Selecting a gift is not a mammoth of a task. This is not something that is done every day. A gift is a token of love or appreciation and should not be assumed to be a give and take process. Getting the right gift is important as it also evokes the sense of satisfaction in the person who is giving it on being able to get the perfect gift.

When we give a gift and it is loved by the receiver, the feeling happiness is unmeasurable. This is a feeling that has no monetary value but still very fulfilling. The happiness for the giver is not just for that one moment when the gift was opened and appreciated by the receiver, but it lasts for a much longer period. The positivity that is brought about by a simple act is an encouragement to do it again.

Here, we are discussing the appropriate gift in terms of occasion, days and time. The gift may cost a few dollars or maybe thousands of dollars, this is totally up to the giver’s discretion. One can use a website to send a basket of flowers the same day or set up multiple gifts to be sent over weeks or months. This too is an option totally with the giver. The main intention is about presenting one at the right time.

– Strengthen a relationship:

Gifting someone out of the blues when there is no occasion is the loveliest way to express one’s love for the person and to strengthen their bond. It’s proof of your care towards the receiver.

– Show well wishes:

If you are buying a gift for someone who is not well, then a gift that signifies or represents positivity towards happiness and wellbeing of the person is the best. A gift that has a message of getting well soon will bring out the good intention of the giver and will boost the morale of the receiver and help in his or her recovery process.

– For annual occasions:

The two most important occasion every year where a gift is mandatory are birthdays and anniversaries. Age is no bar when it comes to these two occasions. For a 5-year-old child or a 70-year-old individual, birthdays mean gifts. The same goes for couples, be it newly married or seen numerous days together, a gift is something that all look forward to.

– Show appreciation:

A gift that shows appreciation towards someone who has helped you is incomparable. A gift of thanks can mean a lot for the person who receives it and can generate a great feeling of happiness. Always show gratitude and the best way to do so is through a gift.

– Show special feelings:

The saying “Action speaks louder than words” is very true. A gift can speak a thousand words when given with genuine feeling from the heart. A gift for mother, father, wife, brother, sister or for anyone you want to make feel special will always be appreciated.