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10 Differences Between Middle Class And Rich People

According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. But what about the people in between? The middle class? You may be considered middle class. You’re not poor, but you’re not rich…yet. The middle class seems to be shrinking, according to the data revealed over the last couple decades. That means you’re going to be less likely to be middle class in the future. You’ll more likely be poor or rich. Which side do you want to be on?

If you want to be on the side with the rich, you’ve got to start thinking like the rich. Here are 10 differences between middle class and rich people for you to learn from…

1. The middle class live comfortably, the rich embrace being uncomfortable

“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.”
-Peter McWilliams

middle class and rich differences

“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.”
– Robert Arnott

It’s comfortable to work a “safe” job. It’s comfortable to work for someone else. The middle class think being comfortable means being happy, but the rich realize that extraordinary things happen when we put ourselves in uncomfortable situations. Starting your own business is a risk and risks can be uncomfortable, but a little risk is what it takes to create wealth and achieve superior results.

Step out of your comfort zone. Look at all your options. You will have to be at least a little uncomfortable if you want to become rich. You might even have to fail and that’s great, because if you’re not failing, you’re not doing much.

2. The middle class live above their means, the rich live below

“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means.”
-Calvin Coolidge

rich and middle class

You won’t catch the average millionaire in a $100,000 car or a multi-million dollar home. The rich don’t spend their money on depreciating liabilities, they spend their money on appreciating assets and they live below their means. On average, the rich drive cars that are a few years old and they don’t buy them new, according to studies done in the book “The Millionaire Next Door.” Even if they can “afford” that fancy new Escalade, they usually don’t buy it.

Remember, if you earn $1,000,000/year and you spend $1,000,000/year, you’re still broke.

3. The middle class climb the corporate ladder, the rich own the ladder

“The richest people in the world look for and build networks; everyone else looks for work.”
-Robert Kiyosaki

Middle class corporate

The middle class tend to work for someone else. They have a job. A career. Upper middle class tend to be self-employed. They own a job. The rich tend to own the business. They own that corporate ladder that the middle class are busy working up. The rich understand that they need more people working for them to earn more money. The rich understand the power of passive income.

4. The middle class are friends with everyone, the rich choose wisely

“It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”
-Warren Buffett

rich and middle class friends

The rich understand that when you surround yourself with successful people, your own success will follow. Likewise, surrounding yourself with unsuccessful people tends to have the anticipated effect. Your income is usually the average of the incomes of your three closest friends. If you want to earn more, hang around people who earn more. It’s all about aligning your mindset with the mindset of successful people. If you want to be rich, you have to think rich.

5. The middle class work to earn, the rich work to learn

“When you are young, work to learn, not to earn.”
-Robert Kiyosaki

work to learn, not to earn

The middle class are easily persuaded to change jobs when someone offers more money. The rich understand that working isn’t about the money, especially in the early years. It’s about developing the skills and traits you need to develop to become rich. That may mean working a sales job to better understand the world of selling. Or it could mean you work at a bank to better understand accounting. If you want to be rich, you should be working to learn the skills you need to become rich. Most rich people didn’t get there by earning a high salary.

6. The middle class have things, the rich have money

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like.”
― Will Rogers

middle class and rich difference

Back to the fancy cars and big houses. That’s where much of the middle class spend their money. Drive through a middle class neighborhood and you will usually see brand new cars, expensive landscaping and high-dollar homes. The rich understand that to become wealthy, you have to want money more than you want things. If you keep buying things, your money will keep going with them. It’s funny how that works. For example, Warren Buffett still lives in the same home he bought in 1958. And he only paid $31,500 for it.

Stop buying things and start focusing on keeping, saving and investing the money you earn. If you are a shopaholic, start shopping for assets. Become interested in investing, then look for bargains on stocks and businesses instead of shoes and electronics. That being said, it’s not all about saving your money.

7. The middle class focus on saving, the rich focus on earning

“Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time.”
-Brian Tracy

middle class and rich people

“If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.”
-Benjamin Franklin

Saving is important. Investing may be more important, but earning is the foundation of both. You understand that you need to save and invest, but to really achieve extravagant goals with them, you need to earn more. The rich understand this and work on creating more avenues to earn and earning more with the avenues they have. If you really want to become rich, work on your earning ability, not your saving ability.

8. The middle class are emotional with money, the rich are logical

“Only when you combine sound intellect with emotional discipline do you get rational behavior.”
-Warren Buffett

middle class and rich money

Steve Siebold interviewed over 1,200 of the world’s wealthiest people over the past 30 years for his book “How Rich People Think”, and according to him there are more than 100 differences in how rich people look at money compared to the middle class. One of the key differences he found was that the middle class see money through the eyes of emotion, but the rich see money through the eyes of logic. Making emotional financial decisions will ruin your finances. Warren Buffett explains that investing has much more to do with controlling your emotions, than it has to do with money. Emotions are what cause people to buy high and sell low. Emotions create dangerous business deals. Leave emotions out of this and turn to logic.

9. The middle class underestimate their potential, the rich set huge goals

“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.”
-Bo Jackson

middle class and rich goals

The middle class set goals. Sometimes. It’s the capacity of the goals that differ from the middle class to the rich. The middle class set safe goals that are easily obtainable. The rich set goals that seem impossible, difficult or crazy. But they know they are achievable. It all comes back to having the proper mindset.

When you’re setting your goals, ask yourself if they could be bigger. Ask yourself if that’s really all you can do or if you can do more. I think you can do more.

10. The middle class believe in hard work, the rich believe in leverage

“It is much easier to put existing resources to better use than to develop resources where they do not exist.”
-George Soros

rich and middle class workers

Hard work is a necessity. For all of us. If you want to reach the top (whatever that may be for you), you’ve got to put in the work. The problem is that hard work alone will rarely make you rich. You can’t become rich by doing it all yourself. You have to use leverage to truly become rich and stay that way. Leverage works in many ways, from outsourcing to investing. The more leverage you can incorporate, the more time you will free up to work on the things that really matter in your business and your life.

Some differences between the middle class and the rich are vast, while others may seem simple and minor. The fact is that if you want to become rich, you have to think like the rich and do the things the rich do.

Source: lifehack.org ~ By  ~ lifehack.org

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Growth of E-Commerce in the 21st Century, Current Trends, and What the Future Holds

Growth of eCommerce
How did e-commerce begin, and what does its future hold? As the world of shopping and finance continues to grow and evolve, new e-commerce trends emerge.

In 2018, retail e-commerce sales in the United States totaled $504.6 billion, according to Statista. By the same graph, these numbers are expected to increase. Rising alongside these sales are considerable fears that online shopping is killing brick and mortar retail, and a slew of high-profile downsizes and bankruptcies in recent years seem to support that theory.In 2018, retail e-commerce sales in the United States totaled $504.6 billion, according to Statista. By the same graph, these numbers are expected to increase. Rising alongside these sales are considerable fears that online shopping is killing brick-and-mortar retail, and a slew of high-profile downsizes and bankruptcies in recent years seem to support that theory.

Is the impact of e-commerce on brick-and-mortar business so negative? Arguments can be made for both sides, and there are compelling e-commerce stats to back them up. In order to make accurate predictions about what the future holds for both e-commerce and physical stores, we must first understand the origins of e-commerce.

A Short History of E-commerce

E-commerce has a surprisingly long history, stretching back even before the first web “browser” as we know them. It has developed alongside other internet-based industries and become a powerful part of online and physical business. Today, creators and entrepreneurs everywhere can sell them around the world, thanks to e-commerce.

The First Online Transaction

The first e-commerce transaction was completed in 1971, 19 years before the first web browser was invented. It was conducted over a network between two universities — the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — between students organizing a sale.

The Dotcom Boom

The first commercial website in the sense we know it was created in 1992, two years after the creation of the World Wide Web browser. But e-commerce moved slowly until 1995, when the US National Science Foundation lifted its ban on commercial enterprise operations via the internet. That year, both Amazon and eBay were founded, and the first internet-only radio stations appeared.

In 1999, global e-commerce reached $150 billion, just one year before the infamous dotcom bust.

The Dotcom Bust

In 2000, the bubble burst, and an era of rapid, unchecked growth in internet-based companies came to an end. Companies began to go bust mere months after entering the stock market, investors began to panic, and the Nasdaq would drop by 78% through 2002.

It was a disaster for companies and investors alike, but not for everyone. Companies that were resilient enough to survive the crash began to consolidate and took a greater share of the industry.

The Aftermath of the Dotcom Bust

The companies that survived the dotcom bust, like Amazon and eBay, went on to dominate the e-commerce industry. The bust was a major setback, but the survivors learned their lessons and forged ahead.

It didn’t take long for those companies to recover. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion. Companies like Wayfair began to enter the market, selling products through individual targeted domains to reach very specific markets.

The early 2000s also saw the boom for China’s biggest e-commerce player, Alibaba, and China’s sudden growth in the digital market began to make global waves.

What Makes E-commerce so Important and How Big Has it Become?

Here’s one of the best e-commerce stats that exemplifies the market dominance of giants like Amazon: in 2015, Amazon alone accounted for more than 50 percent of e-commerce growth. In total, this growth accounted for nine percent of all retail sales the year before. Due to the sheer volume of e-commerce transactions that take place on Amazon alone, it is clear to see why they have become the go-to storefront for a vast majority of online sellers, competing with one another to get to the top of Amazon’s search results.

Since then, e-commerce has continued to grow, which has had an adverse effect on brick-and-mortar retail outlets.

What e-commerce trends are responsible for driving the growth of the industry?

    • Better Consumer Experience: E-commerce provides a number of consumer-friendly innovations that are extremely attractive to some shoppers. Amazon, for example, provides user reviews; a way for people to evaluate products independently of marketing. For users, it’s a way to crowdsource quality control, talking to one another about what is and isn’t worth their hard-earned money.
    • Convenience: E-commerce also relies on the fact that people will often pay extra for convenience, happily putting down shipping fees if they don’t have to leave the comfort of their own home to acquire items.
    • Customization Data: E-commerce’s true power lies in something a little more difficult to nail down to any specific feature. It’s personalized and convenient while being able to reach so many more people than physical stores ever could. This is partly thanks to development in data gathering and analysis technology.
    • Customer Tracking: E-commerce is trackable, and savvy brands use this to their advantage to provide consumers with exciting content and advertising that speaks to their needs.

Common Myths About the E-commerce Industry

With all the hype about e-commerce, it’s easy to assume that it’s going to continue disrupting industries and growing exponentially… But remember the dot com bust?

There are many misunderstandings and myths about e-commerce, and they can be dangerous. Amazon didn’t turn a profit until 2001, and its profit margins have always been below retail industry standards. However, volume accounts for their wild success.

Contrary to popular belief, customer acquisition is extremely difficult and can become costly in a digital market. Digital advertising has become such a crowded space that getting noticed, even on major platforms like Facebook or Google, is very difficult.

Another common myth is that the advanced technologies helping to drive online sales are strictly available to e-commerce businesses. However, brick-and-mortar stores can absolutely make use of the advanced inventory management and customer experience innovations available to businesses of all shapes and sizes through software services.

Relying on unchecked growth is what got investors and businesses into so much trouble in the 1990s. E-commerce is a vital part of today’s marketplace, but it requires careful and strategic implementation and operation. It shouldn’t just be tacked onto a sales strategy “just because everyone is doing it.”

Is E-commerce Destroying Brick and Mortar Retail?

The short answer: no.

The long answer is that the impact of e-commerce on brick-and-mortar retail is more nuanced, with a blend of both positive and negative effects. E-commerce trends, in general, have brought about a market correction that punishes unchecked growth, just like the dot-com boom. Abandoned malls, the closing of massive stores, bankruptcies — these are the signs of irresponsible growth. E-commerce happens to be a force that is furthering this correction, but the fact is that brick-and-mortar retailers are surviving. The internet is killing the boring, uninspired, change-resistant brands. The brick-and-mortar businesses that are dying were often unsustainable anyway.

Those brands that make use of the technology that built e-commerce, and understand why e-commerce is such a powerful force can and will thrive, even while maintaining brick-and-mortar establishments.

The Future of E-commerce: How Industry Trends and Growth are Changing

Enough about the past. How is e-commerce expanding? Where is it going?

Well, we know that the projections for e-commerce global sales are growing, but if e-commerce isn’t going to kill physical retail outlets, how does the industry develop?

In the U.S., storefronts like Etsy are giving individual makers, creators and artists access to a much wider market to sell their wares. Amazon and Google are continually refining their systems, and are introducing voice-first shopping technology so that users can make purchases without ever interacting with a screen. Monthly subscription “boxes” like Dollar Shave Club, Blue Apron, and others are becoming huge hits. What else is in store?

E-commerce Around the World: Global Trends and Predictions

China is becoming an increasingly big player in the e-commerce scene, however, and its e-commerce platform provider Alibaba is much bigger than Amazon. It’s a good idea to look at the innovations and experiments in China to get a better glimpse into the future of e-commerce. China is such a quickly growing economy, and its tech companies are exerting so much power over global markets that it would be unwise to ignore them.

For one thing, e-commerce platforms are being customized to suit small brick-and-mortar operations, giving mom-and-pop shops access to all the tech and power behind those platforms for a subscription fee. This outsourcing of retail logistics is a powerful tool for small businesses that don’t have the budget to compete in the digital marketplace on their own.

China is also going beyond even same-day delivery; in some locations for food and grocery deliveries, they’re fulfilling orders and sending them to the consumer’s door in 30 minutes. This kind of speed and convenience requires a great deal of infrastructure — warehouses, advanced inventory management systems, and other quick delivery solutions. These are things that Chinese tech giants are rolling out, and their technology may serve as the basis for, or even become the providers of, these solutions in other parts of the world.

Sustainability in E-commerce

One of the major issues at the forefront of e-commerce is sustainability. Today’s consumers are apt to be more interested in supporting environmentally and ethically responsible businesses, but supply chains are still massive producers of greenhouse gases and waste.

E-commerce businesses can still do their part. There are a number of ways to reduce waste in your supply chain with the added benefit of reducing unnecessary costs. Using advanced data collection and analysis software can help implement a lean supply chain, resulting in a win for everyone involved.

Automation in E-commerce

Automation in the e-commerce realm, as in many industries, is highly visible in consumer-facing functions but has quietly progressed into more of the logistics and fulfillment processes. Many of the most high-profile experiments with e-commerce fulfillment automation involve Amazon’s work on self-driving delivery trucks and autonomous delivery drones. These autonomous vehicles and drones will be dispatched from warehouses to drop items directly to people’s doorsteps.

There are lesser-known places where automation is nonetheless extremely important, and, unlike self-driving trucks, already in circulation. Automated customer service in the form of chatbots is increasing in efficiency and effectiveness and is adapting to be able to handle customer queries of many different kinds.

Automated marketing and outreach platforms are also becoming more popular, marked by the wide adoption of automated social media management systems and other marketing suites. Automated fraud detection is another vital part of e-commerce, where payment information is saved to account credentials and constantly monitored against foul play.

Automated purchasing is also appearing in brick-and-mortar stores, grocery stores, and even restaurants, allowing customers to order and purchase items without visiting a register at all. Some Chinese furniture stores are now just experimenting with virtual and augmented reality to let customers see how products might look and fit in their homes, creating a completely self-directed experience even inside the store, automated from the moment they walk in, to the moment they walk out.

Big Data and E-commerce

Data is one of the pillars upon which e-commerce stands. After all, the technology to transfer data from one place to another is the basis for its existence. Big data is an expression of modern-day evolutions of how we handle data; in amount and in potential.

External Big Data: Marketing and Privacy

Data is the key to so much of e-commerce success. Tech companies are getting so good at acquiring and using data, in fact, that it’s sparking privacy debates across the world. Data about how people use their social media accounts, what they look at, what they watch, listen to, buy, and even what they post, is being bought and sold for use in advanced data-based marketing campaigns. These campaigns return specific, personalized advertisements to users that are based on their preferences, or inferred from their online activity.

Internal Big Data: Improving Operations and Value Chain

Big data has even more potential use in areas other than marketing. It can be used to assess every aspect of a business’s operations, analyzing how the value chain of a business affects profitability. E-commerce companies use the strategy of breaking down how business activities affect the value offered to the customer. This is an important cost-reduction strategy, especially in an industry plagued by slim profit margins.

In basic terms, big data is allowing businesses to both collect and analyze greater amounts of information from a wider variety of sources. This allows managers to get a top-level view of operations by analyzing every step in the chain; how much it costs, how long it takes, what value it adds, and whether it’s the most efficient solution.

The Future of Big Data in E-commerce is Uncertain

With entities such as the EU regulating data use and consumer privacy more heavily, it’s uncertain where big data fits into the future of marketing. The potential for big data can only be capped by ethical and legal regulations. Internally, big data can be used to assist and improve all operations that a business engages in.

Big Data Benefitting Small Businesses

Increasingly, we’re likely to see business software providers packaging big data products and selling them to smaller businesses. The biggest players in the e-commerce space are already profiting from consumers’ desires to support small or local businesses by selling access to tools and software; access to audiences and to technology. This is a strange, symbiotic relationship that seems to be becoming even more prominent as the technology behind those data solutions becomes more advanced.

Software as a Service Will Get Bigger

Businesses small and large are likely to rely on specialized data service providers moving forward to keep up with the demands of the retail market. Even brick-and-mortar stores benefit from e-commerce technology and understand that e-commerce is exposing poor branding, not killing physical retail. There’s a lot to learn — and benefit from — as long as you’re paying attention.

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The History of eCommerce: from Its Origins to Modern Day

History of Ecommerce

Electronic commerce, or eCommerce, refers to buying and selling products and services on the Internet.

eCommerce can happen in many forms, like ordering goods, purchasing a service, buying a subscription to an information source, or even setting up an online bill-paying schedule.

For most of us, it’s hard to imagine modern life without eCommerce. It would not only be inconvenient but also much more complicated.

Still, as ingrained as eCommerce has become in our lives, it wasn’t that long ago when it didn’t even exist. We can trace the origins of eCommerce back about 40 years when “teleshopping” first appeared as the precursor to the modern version.

Of course, eCommerce, as we know it today, really got its start when retail giant Amazon created one of the first eCommerce websites back in the early 1990s. Since then, countless companies have followed its lead.

When Was Online Shopping Invented?

Companies have been using computer networks to conduct business since as far back as the 1960s, but that version of eCommerce would be almost unrecognizable to us nowadays.

In 1968, ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) commissioned the world’s first routers. Within a year, a network called ARPANET was created to ensure that crucial lines of communication would be maintained in the event of a nuclear attack.

Three years later, researchers developed a new method for dialing into ARPANET using just a computer terminal. Terminal Interface Processor (TIP) eventually led to Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), a familiar combination even in modern times.

This technology helped take the Internet from military bases and university labs to business offices.

Companies used it to share business documents with one other, relying solely on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a digital information transfer technology that could replace mail and fax for sharing documents. This technology made it possible to transfer information from computer to computer seamlessly without the need for human involvement.

It wasn’t until 1979 that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) finally stepped in and introduced a standard for sharing business documents. It was called ASC X12 and gave companies a reliable standard for sharing documents over electronic networks.

1979 also witnessed another first for the Internet Age: the origin of eCommerce.

The Origins of eCommerce

In 1979, English inventor Michael Aldrich introduced and pioneered what would eventually become known as eCommerce by connecting television and telephone lines.

The story goes that Aldrich thought of the idea while on a walk with his wife, bemoaning the inconvenience of making regular trips to the market. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if you could just order what you needed through the TV?

Shortly, thereafter, he invented a system that advertised goods and services on television, giving viewers the ability to call a processing center to place orders. Aldrich called his system “teleshopping.”

eCommerce was born.

Throughout the 80s and into the early 90s, the Internet continued to evolve as new technologies like SSL made it something more and more people were comfortable using.

In 1982, French innovators launched the Minitel, a service that was a precursor to the World Wide Web. This service was free for telephone subscribers and used a Videotex terminal and telephone lines to connect millions of people. The Minitel expanded, and by 1999, more than 9 million terminals connected about 25 million people.

However, the World Wide web soon caught up. Debuting to the public in 1991, its rapid rise quickly eclipsed the Minitel. In 2012, France Telecom officially discontinued the Minitel service.

The First eCommerce Stores

Technically, the first eCommerce company was Boston Computer Exchange, which launched way back in 1982. It was primarily an online market that served people who wanted to sell their used computers.

With the arrival of the Internet, another, more familiar kind of store debuted. Book Stacks Unlimited, which opened its virtual doors in 1992, was an online bookstore that actually predated a company that would quickly become synonymous with the term by two whole years: Amazon. Eventually, Book Stacks Unlimited was acquired by Barnes & Noble.

The World Wide Web Becomes User-Friendly

In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau published a proposal to build a hypertext browser called “WorldWideWeb.”

During that same year, Berners-Lee also designed the first Web server.

On August 6, 1991, Berners-Lee made history yet again when he debuted the first website, ushering in the World Wide Web as a publicly-available service.

The National Science Foundation relaxed restrictions governing the commercial use of the Internet a short time later, which paved the way for online shopping.

In 1995, the National Science Foundation started charging user fees for the registration of domain names. In just three years, registered domain names jumped from 120,000 to more than 2 million.

Many concerns around the security of online shopping persisted, but the development of Secure Socket Layers (SSL) technology made it possible to send data over the Internet safely.

Browsers identified authenticated SSL certificates on websites, indicating whether websites were safe and trustworthy. The SSL encryption protocol continues to be a prominent feature of Web security.

Marketplaces, Payment, and Mobile eCommerce

After the formative years of the Internet, advancements began to take hold that increased its commercial use.

As we’ve covered, Amazon launched in 1995, initially as an online bookstore. During that time, large brick-and-mortar bookstores could only be expected to carry about 200,000 books –at most.

However, as an online store, Amazon had no such limitations. It could carry countless titles, from best sellers to obscure texts.

Since its founding, Amazon has expanded to the point that it now offers virtually every type of product imaginable – including eBooks and movies. Amazon also pioneered the sharing of user reviews, an idea that was originally considered eCommerce suicide.

Of course, the exact opposite happened. By letting customers share their feedback, Amazon became one of the most powerful companies in the world seemingly overnight.

Meanwhile, eBay emerged as a successful online auction website, debuting in 1995.

In 2005, Etsy launched as a global marketplace where people could create shops to sell their unique and often handmade items.

During that same year, Amazon launched Amazon Prime, a service that offered members free two-day shipping within the continental United States. This program set a standard in eCommerce, forcing other merchants to decrease shipping time and charges.

PayPal launched in 1998 as a global eCommerce company that offered payment processing for online vendors and other commercial users. PayPal customers can hold, send, and receive funds in many different currencies.

In 2004, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council was created to make sure that businesses comply with security requirements. This organization develops and implements security standards for account data protection.

As mobile computing began to develop and grow, Amazon launched its first mobile website in 2001, starting the mobile eCommerce race. Because more people were using their mobile devices to access eCommerce websites, the push to make mobile sales possible was strong. Consumers today use mobile devices not only for purchases but also for product research, finding coupons, and engaging via social media.

eCommerce Timeline: from the Beginning to Modern Day

Here is a condensed version of the most important milestones throughout eCommerce’s history:

    •        1969: CompuServe is founded. It will go on to become what many consider to be the first true eCommerce company.
    •        1979: Fed up with regular trips to the market, Michael Aldrich introduces the world to electronic shopping
    •        1982: Boston Computer Exchange becomes one of the first eCommerce platforms
    •        1992: Charles M. Stack launches Book Stacks Unlimited, one of the first online marketplaces
    •        1994: Netscape releases Netscape Navigator, which becomes the most prominent of the early web browsers
    •        1994: Jeff Bezos unveils Amazon
    •        1995: AuctionWeb launches. Its name will eventually be changed to eBay.
    •        1998: PayPal revolutionizes eCommerce with a secure way for websites to accept payments
    •        1999: Jack Ma launches Alibaba.com, a first-of-its-kind B2C, B2B, and C2C eCommerce company.
    •        2005: Amazon changes eCommerce forever by introducing flat-fee, two-day shipping through Prime
    •        2011: Facebook throws its hat in the eCommerce ring with sponsored stories
    •        2011: Stripe enters the world of online payments
    •        2014: Apple follows suit with Apple Pay
    •        2015: Google responds by introducing Android Pay
    •        2015: Cyber Monday sales reached a new record high of more than $3 billion
    •        2016: Alibaba sets a record with $17 billion in sales in just one day
    •        2017: Instagram enters the eCommerce game with shoppable posts
    •        2019: ECommerce sales reach$3.5 trillion

As you can see from this timeline, eCommerce is progressing at a rapid rate. The next 10 years maybe even more dynamic than the last 40.

What Does the Future Look Like for ECommerce?

ECommerce and consumer trends will continue to evolve as technology expands and changes. The Census Bureau estimated that U.S. retail eCommerce sales for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $158.0 billion, an increase of 2.6% from the third quarter.

Expect that trend to continue for years to come.

One example of technology dramatically shaping the future of eCommerce is advancements in different screen types. Soon, consumers will interact with eCommerce touchpoints via wearables, kiosks, and improved voice interactions.

eCommerce personalization will continue to push the field, too. We’re already at the point where sites can “remember” customers and tailor their eCommerce experiences accordingly. This doesn’t just improve conversions and customer satisfaction. It also produces game-changing data that companies can use to craft even better experiences for their website’s visitors.

How to Compete and Thrive in the Modern Marketplace

As successful as Amazon is, there’s no reason your company can’t compete and even thrive alongside this retail giant.

Much smaller, independent merchants can often connect with consumers in ways that a behemoth like Amazon can’t match. These companies can also work to create a memorable brand experience, which helps gain customer loyalty.

While the Amazon Effect is often seen as a negative for retailers, many have adapted by adopting which practices they can and offering the aforementioned brand experiences Amazon can’t.

Buyer Preferences Driving Rapid Distribution

Figuring out what shoppers want next is a constant challenge for retailers of all stripes, but online merchants must also continually find advantages over brick-and-mortar stores.

For example, new advances in product visualizers can enable online retailers to show products in various situations before purchase.

It’s also crucial to keep your website fine-tuned so that it loads quickly, or you risk losing visitors. And, since many shoppers browse the Internet to read reviews before buying an item, it’s important to monitor social media, answering questions and responding to comments in order to maintain a good reputation.

 Learning from the History of eCommerce

If there’s one takeaway from the origins and history of eCommerce, it should be that the industry is constantly changing. New innovations are always just around the corner, which means your company must constantly adapt to stay ahead.

Fortunately, countless online businesses have proven this can be done.

You just need to follow two rules.

First, always put your customer first. The very origins of eCommerce are rooted in a desire to give customers more of what they wanted: convenience, selection, and savings. No matter what Google does to its algorithm or which devices become the next user favorite, if you put your customers first, you’ll be set up for success.

Second, stay flexible. If you let success lead to complacency, you won’t be successful for long. Always look for new ways to keep your customers happy and they’ll be sure to repay your efforts.

The future of eCommerce looks to be just as exciting as its past. If you keep these two rules in mind, you’ll have plenty to be excited about, too.

Source: iwdagency.com ~ Image: Canva Pro

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Top 10 Emerging Trends in e-Commerce and m-Commerce technologies in 2023

E-commerce and m-commerce market overview in 2023

E-commerce has been growing at a high speed for the last ten years, but the pandemic of 2020 has become a turning point for many industries, including online and offline shopping. Businesses that had no online presence have realized their role in the modern world and started to create e-commerce websites en masse. Е-commerce and m-commerce technologies are keeping up and evolving each day as well.

By 2022, the global e-commerce market will reach almost $5 trillion, with B2B e-commerce even surpassing this figure. In the US alone, retail e-commerce sales will reach over $1 000 billion by 2023 according to Statista.

In many countries like China or India, e-commerce sales are even more widespread

The largest e-commerce market in the world is China: in 2019, its e-commerce sales reached $1.935 trillion. However, the Chinese market is hard to tackle, so here’s a list of all the fastest-growing e-commerce markets according to Statista:

emerging technologies in e business
The fastest-growing e-commerce markets now are Turkey, Argentina, and Indonesia

All businesses that already have online stores may be interested to know that mobile shoppers prefer to choose and purchase products online through a mobile phone rather than a computer. So if you already have a web store, it may be a good idea to optimize your e-commerce store for mobile platforms.

ecommerce trends

According to 99firms, mobile shopping will take almost 73% of the e-commerce market share by 2022, as new generations of buyers are more and more likely to purchase products with their smartphones.

The e-commerce trends listed in this article are mostly relevant to both web and mobile e-commerce. However, there are also some mobile-specific trends in the e-commerce industry and technologies that are currently taking the market by storm. Let’s review these e-commerce trends in 2023 to find out what to look out for in the next few years.

What is trending in e-commerce?

Augmented reality

Though it’s been available for a long time now, augmented reality (AR) hasn’t yet become a standard for shopping apps: most e-commerce applications that have AR offer it as the killer feature that distinguishes them from their competitors.

emerging and current trends in e commerce
Ikea is one of the most famous and successful examples of using AR in mcommerce

AR is one of the technology trends that can affect a business in a number of ways. You can make it your selling point too, as it will allow you to make yourself special — for now. AR is a growing trend, and each year it becomes more and more widespread. And if you think that AR is only for games, I’d like to give you a few examples of how this technology can be used in online shopping.

1. To merge the online and offline experience
Ikea offers the most famous example of using AR for connecting the offline and online experience. The Ikea app allows users to see how furniture will look in their homes with the help of AR.

Ikea’s AR app became the second most popular free application built with the help of Apple’s ARKit in just six months after the app release according to SensorTower.

2. Gamification
AR is a mobile-specific technology that’s most often used in games. It was only natural that businesses would start using it for gamification.

Gamification in e-commerce is huge: businesses use loyalty programs along with games and challenges to encourage users to buy more, share their experiences with friends on social media, and win special offers that increase their brand loyalty.

Augmented reality can be an effective marketing tool to attract users to your e-commerce application.

Artificial intelligence and big data

Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are used by all large e-commerce players like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba. These companies use large amounts of data about individual users to suggest products that will be relevant to them, increasing conversion rates like crazy. AI has been among technology trends in e-commerce for several years now, and it’s only evolving.

It’s hard to imagine a modern middle to large size ecommerce business that operates without big data

Also, you don’t need to create overly complex algorithms to bring benefits to your business. There are lots of ready third-party solutions you can integrate into your shopping app or website to start getting information about your customers.

AI can also help you to predict demand so you can manage your supply chain efficiently. AI and big data are rather costly investments, but they can bring lots of benefits to your business.

Social media marketing

If you cater to Millennials and younger generations, you can’t ignore the power of social media. In 2020, 44% of Generation Z consumers say that social media leads them to purchase certain products. Among Gen Z consumers, 37% increased their social media usage to decide what products to buy.

Social media is extremely important for both small and large e-commerce brands. Integrating social media is a baseline requirement for modern e-commerce solutions, but it’s not enough.

For example, AliExpress combines gamification with social media marketing, exchanging online reviews and ratings for bonuses. There are already thousands of AliExpress brand ambassadors that recommend shops and products to thousands of their subscribers.

Online experience in offline stores

If e-commerce is only part of your retail business, you can still make your application useful in brick-and-mortar stores.

For example, you can integrate a QR code scanner into your app so customers can find out more about a product that’s in front of them, or you can implement an app-based loyalty card your customers won’t need to carry in their wallets. Location-based notifications are also an interesting idea: with their help, you can promote your stores as a user is near them.

Voice search

With the rise of voice assistants like Alexa that can purchase products on Amazon for you, voice search has become one of the latest online business trends and a vital part of the user experience in e-commerce applications.

Voice search isn’t very hard to implement thanks to available voice recognition and machine learning technologies. Pairing your online store with a voice assistant will open your store to a new audience who prefers ordering by voice.

Video Marketing

The video provides high conversion rates to everyone, from social media influencers to businesses. Many companies create their own video production departments to create video ads or even just display their products online.

There are three main ways to increase your conversion rate with the help of videos in your e-commerce app or on your e-commerce website:

  • Insert a video player into your product page and present each product with a video alongside images.
  • Allow users to attach videos to their reviews.
  • Create a video streaming feature that will allow users to share their experiences with your products.

Subscription services

Unlike Baby Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z consumers are less passionate about actually owning things. They prefer renting or making recurring purchases. This is where subscriptions come into play.

The subscription model in retail helps e-commerce businesses increase their sales and also get lifelong customers who are loyal to their brand.

Retail subscriptions are especially popular in the fashion industry: clothing trends change all the time, and many young people would rather try something new each month than own their own wardrobe entirely.

However, retailers offer subscriptions for almost anything, from personalized product boxes to free delivery and even products that don’t exist yet. Be creative and find something you can turn into a subscription for your customers.

Chatbots

Chatbots have been a hot topic in the last few years, but few companies have done them well. There’s still room for improvement in the range of their abilities.

best technology for ecommerce site
Chatbots can help users find information on delivery or even make a purchase decision

What chatbots are already doing, however, is improving the shopping experience for customers, who now can get answers to common questions immediately without having to wait for an email or a live support manager.

Chatbots are implemented in both e-commerce websites and apps and usually can handle a simple consultation on delivery, products, and services, or the latest special offers.

Headless e-commerce architecture

The demand for an omnichannel experience has made headless e-commerce architectures popular in recent years.

A headless architecture is basically a content management system (CMS) that has only a back end. The front end is displayed via REST APIs. Because the front end isn’t predefined but is realized through an API request, you aren’t dependent on a particular front-end framework. This allows you to store all your content in one place and show it on any screen without having to modify the database for each platform.

technology behind the web in e commerce
Headless architecture makes your website more flexible and maintainable

Here are some benefits of a headless approach to e-commerce software:

Flexibility — You can change the front end fast without having to make any adjustments to your back end.

Better customer experience — You can provide a consistent experience across all your users’ devices.

Simple integrations — Because an API is the core way of communicating between the back end and front end in a headless architecture, it will be easier for you to integrate other services with the help of APIs.

Customizable products

In the world of mass production, unique and personalized products are what many people are after. You can create different ways of customizing the products you sell in your e-commerce store, be it mere packaging or something more.

A personalized experience is something you can easily achieve on your e-commerce website or in your app. People love to take quizzes, surveys, and tests. In exchange for completing these activities, offer loyalty program bonuses and learn how to personalize your users’ experiences.

If your retail business is connected to health and wellness, personalization is definitely for you: go for deep customization and product suggestions for the best conversion rate.

One-Click Ordering

Amazon was the first company to successfully integrate this feature into their e-commerce mobile app. One-click ordering is a technology that allows users to buy products with just one click without having to enter any information like address, credit card information, and so on.

One-click ordering shortens the customer journey and helps to minimize issues like abandoned carts.

Final thoughts

E-commerce opportunities in 2023 are massive. Online shopping has been growing since the day it appeared, and the competition is as fierce as the demand for great e-commerce apps and websites. In this article, I’ve shared top trends in e-commerce that will soon become standard for most e-commerce businesses that want to stand out from their competitors.

To create a successful e-commerce business, you should pay close attention to creating a consistent and personalized user experience. Create loyalty programs and gamify them for the best conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

A chatbot will improve your customer service, social media and video marketing will build credibility, and big data will help you offer only relevant products to your users

To improve your customer service, implement a chatbot that will be able to solve at least the most common issues your customers face. To understand what your chatbot should be able to do, ask your customer support team about the questions your customers most frequently ask.

Source: mobindustry.net ~ By: Andrew Bloomenthal ~ Image: Canva Pro

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Cultivating Happiness

Cultivating Happiness

We all want to be happy. But is becoming happier even possible? These five tips can show you how to get more joy and satisfaction out of life.

The keys to happiness

Do you, like many people, have a mental list of things you think you need in order to be truly happy? There are many externals our society teaches us to chase: success, wealth, fame, power, good looks, and romantic love. But are they really the keys to happiness?

The research says no, at least when it comes to long-term happiness. A prestigious award, a big raise, an exciting new relationship, a fancy new car, losing weight, these things can make us feel great at first, but the thrill doesn’t last very long. Human beings are quick to adapt to new circumstances—a quality that has helped us survive and thrive. But it also means that the positive things that initially make us happier soon become our new normal and we return to our old happiness baseline.

However, researchers in the field of positive psychology have found that you can genuinely increase your happiness and overall satisfaction with life—and it doesn’t require a winning lottery ticket or some other drastic change of circumstances. What it takes is an inner change of perspective and attitude. And that’s truly good news because it’s something anyone can do.

Myths and facts about happiness

There are a lot of myths out there about what will make you happy. So, before we embark on a tour of the strategies that do work for boosting happiness, let’s dispense with the things that don’t.
Myth: Money will make you happy.
Fact: It’s stressful when you’re worried about money. In order to be happy, you do need enough of it to cover your basic needs: things like food, shelter, and clothing. But once you have enough money to be comfortable, getting more money isn’t going to make much of a difference in how happy you are. For example, studies of lottery winners show that after a relatively short period of time, they are no happier than they were before their win.
Myth: You need a relationship in order to be happy.
Fact: Being in a healthy, supportive love relationship does contribute to happiness, but it’s not true that you can’t be happy and fulfilled if you’re single. Indeed, singles who have meaningful friendships and pursuits are happier than people in mismatched romantic relationships. It’s also important to note that even a good marriage or romantic partnership doesn’t lead to a permanent, intense happiness boost. Expecting your partner to deliver your happily-ever-after may actually harm the relationship in the long run. You—not your partner or your family members—are responsible for your own happiness.
Myth: Happiness declines with age.
Fact: Contrary to popular belief, people tend to get happier with age. Study after study confirms that seniors experience more positive emotions and fewer (and less intense) negative emotions than young people and middle-aged adults. Generally, older adults are also more satisfied with their lives, less sensitive to stress, and more emotionally stable. Even with the losses that come with age, it is the happiest time of life for many people.
Myth: Some people are just happier than others and there’s nothing you can do to change that.
Fact: Genetics do play a role in happiness. Current research suggests that people are born with a certain happiness “set point.” But that only accounts for about half of our happiness level. Another 10% is due to life circumstances. That leaves 40% that is determined by your actions and choices. That’s a lot of control!

Tip 1: Train your brain to be more positive

Our brains are wired to notice and remember the things that are wrong. It’s a survival mechanism that helped keep our cave-dwelling ancestors safe in a world where there were many physical threats. But in today’s comparatively safe world, this biological predisposition to focus on the negative contributes to stress and unhappiness.

While we can’t change our nature, we can train our brains to be more positive. This doesn’t mean putting on a smiley face and whistling a happy tune no matter what’s going on. You don’t have to ignore reality or pretend things are wonderful even when they’re not. But just as dwelling on negative things fuels unhappiness (and plays a big role in depression and anxiety), choosing to notice, appreciate, and anticipate goodness is a powerful happiness booster.

Express gratitude

Teaching yourself to become more grateful can make a huge difference in your overall happiness. The research shows that gratitude helps you experience more positive emotions, decrease depression, feel better about yourself, improve your relationships, and strengthen your immune system. A recent study revealed that gratitude even makes you smarter about how you spend your money.
There are a number of simple exercises you can practice to increase and cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
Give sincere thanks to others. When someone goes above and beyond or does something to make your day easier, be quick to verbalize your thanks and appreciation. Not only will it make the person feel good, but it will also give you a happiness lift, too. It’s an instant reward to see how expressing gratitude makes a positive difference in someone else’s day. It makes you realize that we’re all connected and that what you do matters.
Keep a gratitude journal. It may sound cheesy, but writing down the good things that happened to you during the day really works. Research shows that keeping a gratitude journal is a powerful technique that instantly makes you feel happier, more connected to others, and genuinely appreciative.
Count your blessings. Make it a habit to regularly reflect on the things you have to be thankful for. Bring to mind all the good people, experiences, and things in your life, both now and in the past. Focus on the blessings both big and small, from the people who love you, to the roof over your head and the food on your table. You will soon see it’s a pretty long list.
Write a letter of gratitude. Think of someone who did something that changed your life for the better and who you never properly thanked. Write a thoughtful letter of gratitude expressing what the person did, how it affected you, and what it still means to you. Then deliver the letter. Positive psychology expert Martin Seligman recommends reading the letter in person for the most dramatic increase in happiness.
Find the positive in a negative event from your past. Even the most painful circumstances can teach us positive lessons. Reevaluate a negative event from your past with an eye for what you learned or how you became stronger, wiser, or more compassionate. When you can find meaning in even the bad things you’ve experienced, you will be happier and more grateful.

Tip 2: Nurture and enjoy your relationships

Relationships are one of the biggest sources of happiness in our lives. Studies that look at happy people bear this out. The happier the person, the more likely that he or she has a large, supportive circle of family and friends, a fulfilling marriage, and a thriving social life.
That’s why nurturing your relationships is one of the best emotional investments you can make. If you make an effort to cultivate and build your connections with others, you will soon reap the rewards of more positive emotions. And as you become happier, you will attract more people and higher-quality relationships, leading to even greater positivity and enjoyment. It’s the happiness gift that keeps on giving.
Make a conscious effort to stay connected. In our busy society, it’s easy to get caught up in our responsibilities and neglect our relationships. But losing touch with friends is one of the most common end-of-life regrets. Don’t let it happen to you. Make an effort to stay connected to the people who make your life brighter. Take the time to call, write, or see each other in person. You’ll be happier about it.
Invest in quality time with the people you care about. It’s not just the time spent with friends and family that matters; it’s how you spend it. Mindlessly vegging out together in front of the TV isn’t going to make you closer. People who are in happy relationships talk a lot. They share what’s going on in their lives and how they feel. Follow their example and carve out time to talk and enjoy each other’s company.
Offer sincere compliments. Think of the things you admire and appreciate about the other person and then tell them. This will not only make the other person happier, but it will also encourage him or her to be an even better friend or partner. As a practice of gratitude, it will also make you value the relationship more and feel happier.
Seek out happy people. Research shows that happiness is contagious. You can literally catch a good mood (you can also catch a bad mood, but thankfully, sadness is less contagious than happiness). So, make an effort to seek out and spend time with happy people. Before you know it, you’ll be feeling happiness, too.
Take delight in the good fortune of others. One of the things that truly separate healthy, fulfilling relationships from the rest are how the partners respond to each other’s good fortune and success. Do you show genuine enthusiasm and interest when your friend or family member experiences something good? Or do you ignore, criticize, or downplay the achievement, feel envious or threatened, or say a quick, “That’s great,” and then move on? If you’d like closer relationships, pay attention when the other person is excited.
Ask questions, relive the experience with the other person, and express your excitement for him or her. Remember, happiness is contagious, so as you share the experience, their joy will become yours.

Tip 3: Live in the moment and savor life’s pleasures

Think about a time when you were depressed or anxious. Chances are, you were either dwelling on something negative from the past or worrying about something in the future. In contrast, when you focus on the present moment, you are much more likely to feel centered, happy, and at peace. You’re also much more likely to notice the good things that are happening, rather than letting them pass by unappreciated or unobserved. So how do you start to live more in the moment and savor the good things life has to offer?
Meditate
Mindfulness meditation is a powerful technique for learning to live in and enjoy the moment. And you don’t have to be religious or even spiritual to reap its benefits. No pan flutes, chanting, or yoga pants are required.

Simply speaking, meditation is an exercise for your brain. When practiced regularly, meditation appears to decrease activity in the areas of the brain associated with negative thoughts, anxiety, and depression. At the same time, it increases activity in the areas associated with joy, contentment, and peace. It also strengthens areas of the brain in charge of managing emotions and controlling attention. What’s more, being mindful makes you more fully engaged in the here and now and more aware and appreciative of good things.

Here are a few mindfulness exercises that can help you get started:

Body scan – Body scanning cultivates mindfulness by focusing your attention on various parts of your body. Like progressive muscle relaxation, you start with your feet and work your way up. However, instead of tensing and relaxing your muscles, you simply focus on the way each part of your body feels without labeling the sensations as either “good” or “bad”.

Walking meditation – You don’t have to be seated or still to meditate. In walking meditation, mindfulness involves being focused on the physicality of each step — the sensation of your feet touching the ground, the rhythm of your breath while moving, and the feeling of the wind against your face.

Mindful eating – If you reach for food when you’re under stress or gulp your meals down in a rush, try eating mindfully. Sit down at the table and focus your full attention on the meal (no TV, newspapers, or eating on the run). Eat slowly, taking the time to fully enjoy and concentrate on each bite.

Notice and savor small pleasures. If you adopt a mindfulness meditation practice, you will automatically begin to notice and savor life’s pleasures more. But there are other things you can do to increase your awareness and enjoyment.

Adopt enjoyable daily rituals. Build moments of enjoyment into your day with pleasurable rituals. These can be very simple things like lingering over a cup of coffee in the morning, taking a short stroll in the sunshine during your lunch hour, or playing with your dog when you get home. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you enjoy and appreciate it.
Minimize multitasking. Savoring requires your full attention, which is impossible when you’re trying to do multiple things. For example, if you’re eating a delicious meal while distractedly surfing the Internet, you’re not going to get as much pleasure out of the food as you could have. Focus on one thing at a time in order to truly maximize your enjoyment.
Stop to smell the roses. It may be an old cliché, but it’s good advice. You’ll appreciate good things more if you stop whatever you’re doing for a moment to appreciate and luxuriate in them. It will enhance your pleasure, even if you can only spare a few seconds. And if you can share the moment with others, that’s even better. Shared pleasure is powerful.

Replay happy memories.  You don’t have to limit your savoring to things that are happening now. Remembering and reminiscing about happy memories and experiences from your past leads to more positive emotions in the present.

Learn how to fully embrace the change process and create a positive new habit in your life. Join Kelly McGonigal for a free video from Sounds True and initiate the transformation you need most.

Tip 4: Focus on helping others and living with meaning

There is something truly fulfilling in helping others and feeling like your actions are making a difference for the better in the world. That’s why people who assist those in need and give back to others and their communities tend to be happier. In addition, they also tend to have higher self-esteem and general psychological well-being.

Here are some ways to live a more altruistic, meaningful life:

Volunteer. Happiness is just one of the many benefits of volunteering. You’ll get the most out of the experience by volunteering for an organization that you believe in and that allows you to contribute in a meaningful way.
Practice kindness. Look for ways to be more kind, compassionate, and giving in your daily life. This can be something as small as brightening a stranger’s day with a smile or going out of your way to do a favor for a friend.
Play to your strengths. The happiest people know what their unique strengths are and build their lives around activities that allow them to use those strengths for the greater good. There are many different kinds of strengths, including kindness, curiosity, honesty, creativity, love of learning, perseverance, loyalty, optimism, and humor.
Go for the flow. Research shows that flow, a state of complete immersion and engagement in an activity, is closely associated with happiness. Flow happens when you’re actively engaged in something that is intrinsically rewarding and challenging yet still attainable. Anything that completely captivates you and engages your full attention can be a flow activity.

Tip 5: Take better care of your health

You can be happy even when you’re suffering from illness or bad health, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the aspects of your health that are in your control. Exercise and sleep are particularly important when it comes to happiness.
Make exercise a regular habit
Exercise isn’t just good for the body. It also has a powerful effect on mental well-being. People who exercise regularly are happier across the board. Plus, they’re also less stressed, angry, anxious, and depressed.It doesn’t really matter what kind of exercise you do, so long as you do it regularly. For best results, aim for an hour of exercise at least five days a week. If you find something you enjoy, you’ll be more likely to stick to it. So don’t think you’re limited to going to the gym or lacing up jogging shoes. Find something that suits your lifestyle and preferences. It could be taking a dance class, shooting hoops, walking in nature, joining a community sports league, playing tennis, running with your dog, swimming laps at the pool, hiking, biking, or doing yoga in the park. If you’re having trouble thinking of activities you enjoy, think back to when you were a kid. What sports or games did you like to play?
Get the sleep you need
Getting quality sleep every night directly affects your happiness, vitality, and emotional stability during the day. When you’re sleep-deprived, you’re much more susceptible to stress. It’s harder to be productive, think creatively, and make wise decisions. How much sleep do you need? According to sleep scientists, the average person needs at least 7.5 – 9 hours each night.
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