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Day 2

Day 2 saw many of us overwhelmed and sleepy (that networking event continued into the wee hours of the morning!). But the Magento Imagine 2017 General Session about the evolution of eCommerce got attendees motivated.

We were a little disappointed that Mark Lavelle did not make any “big" announcements, but we were quite happy to see the business case for commitment to Magento including:

• Injection of capital
• Strategic investments and acquisitions
• Launching new services - Magento's cloud hosting for Enterprise customers, Business Insights and other services

Lavelle, although not obligated, alluded to 'growing pains' and 'extraordinary efforts' by developers to get up to speed on Magento 2. Magento corporate tried to show the community it is valued wants them to succeed.

At the conclusion of the General Session, I felt that Magento did their very best to convince the crowd that:

• We are healthy
• We are dedicated to understanding and supporting community
• We are preparing for upcoming trends

Day 1

The ParadoxLabs team hit the ground running on Monday, April 3, 2017, ready to learn about powering the future at the 2017 Magento Imagine Conference. After a quick cup of coffee and a bagel, off we went in many different directions to collect as much information as possible. Here is Part 1 of 2 about our time at Imagine and everything we learned. Select topics will be covered in more depth in the weeks to come.

Magento Business Intelligence: Data-Driven Strategies for Online Growth with Robert J. Moore, Head of Magento Business Intelligence, Magento Commerce

“Our mission is to inspire and empower data-driven people.”

Business Intelligence was a hot topic at Imagine, as evidenced by my sitting on the floor for the session. Robert J. Moore was CEO of RJ Metrics, an advanced cloud-based analytics solution that Magento acquired last year. He discussed the impact of segmentation, explaining that it is about understanding which customers are good for your business, applying a data-driven

It's the 7^th Road to Imagine - time to get lucky!

Imagine 2017 is just around the corner, about to take over the Wynn in Las Vegas. As a seasoned veteran of the event, I see this year as being lucky for all who attend. After all, Imagine is in its seventh year – I admit it, I consider the number 7 lucky. I am not alone in this belief. Think about these seven somethings:

• 7 days of the week
• 7 colors in a rainbow
• 7 notes on a musical scale
• 7 seas
• 7 continents
• 7 dwarves for Disney’s Snow white
• 7 brides for 7 brothers
• 7 ages of man described by Shakespeare
• 7 voyages made by Sinbad the Sailor
• 7 letters in Roman Numerals
• 7 lucky Gods in Japan
• 7 deadly sins (I would avoid as many as possible while at Imagine)
• 007 (the coolest 7 of all): James Bond’s given code

To stick with the 7s, here are 7 things to make sure you are ready to join the 2,500+ merchants, partners, developers, and commerce experts from 45+ countries at Imagine. Get ready to network, exchange ideas, and build relationships with

Check out our latest roundup of great eCommerce books for those at all levels of the industry, including topics like entrepreneurship, content, social media, SEO, conversion, and advertising.

The Content Trap: A Strategist's Guide to Digital Change by Bharat Anand
This book provides an in-depth discussion of technological and commerce changes over the last few decades and how these changes should inform your business strategy. Anand argues that product features do not cause customers to share or buy products, that companies must not create too many boundaries around products, and that we must stop searching for the one best way to do something. He describes the importance of looking at the bigger picture, of connections and how customers relate to content, rather than the importance of just creating good content.
Hardcover $14.64, Paperback $11.49, Kindle $14.99

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark
Alibaba had the biggest global IPO in history and counts Walmart as

I thought I would shake things up and talk about something we all love: beer. Not just any beer, a good home brew. Now, I would get fired if I couldn’t find a way to tie this to eCommerce, so here is my connection – finding a place to shop for homebrew supplies is just like finding a company to create your eCommerce store. It’s a stretch, but I bet I my love for beer and all things eCommerce will help me pull this off.

I have a lot of friends who shop for their homebrew supplies at traditional brick and mortar stores, and some are better than others. From what I have learned, none of the shops can be considered “bad;” some just have better appeal because of the services they provide. The same can be said of an eCommerce web development company. There are lots of places to shop that aren’t bad, but when you’re wanting your store to be the best, you must work with the best.

After tasting a lot of beer and talking to some knowledgeable homebrewers, I found out that there are five things they

Sometimes, owning an eCommerce site can be just like sailing on the open seas. For example, you would not just toss up a site without making sure it can endure potential security risks, just as you would not take your boat out without having good weather information prior to sailing. However, just like the open seas are unpredictable, so is the internet. You could be sailing along smoothly and suddenly you’re caught in the middle of a mess.

A day does not seem to pass anymore where a story breaks about hackers stealing credit card and other sensitive information from eCommerce sites. Luckily, this isn't a no-win situation. Just as threats to security evolve, so does the capability to battle the threats. Developers are constantly working to anticipate and respond to new types of attacks. Once a potential threat becomes known, it's not long before there is a way to identify the threat, prevent its spread, and remedy its effects. However, developing new technologies and response strategies

Lancaster, PA:  ParadoxLabs is pleased to announce the launch of their new extension, titled “Payeezy by First Data with Stored Cards.” ParadoxLabs is the first Magento Partner to develop a Magento 2 extension for the Payeezy Gateway.

First Data is a premier payment solution provider to over 6 million merchants worldwide, processing almost $2 trillion per year. The Payeezy solution features security, speed, multiple payment choices and currencies, and mobile-friendly functionality to reach any type of customer.

This payment module provides full integration between First Data and Magento 2. In addition to supporting all normal payment operations, ParadoxLabs uses First Data's TransArmor® tokenization to store credit card details securely on First Data's servers. This gives returning customers the convenience of stored credit cards and rapid checkout, without compromising security.

“We are excited to be the first Magento Partner to offer this kind of extension” said Brett Hart, ParadoxLabs

Increasing B2B sales have been noted by many in the eCommerce industry as an increasing trend. In fact, Forrester predicts that B2B eCommerce sales will hit more than $1 trillion in the US by 2020. B2B customers are also expecting a B2C online shopping experience. They want personalization, omnichannel integration, and solid mobile functionality, as well as features like bulk pricing that are unique to businesses. To keep up with the growing demand, eCommerce companies need to utilize a scalable platform that can handle the unique requirements of a B2B consumer relationship.

If you are familiar with Magento, you probably know how powerful it is for B2C merchants. However, the rollout of Magento 2 has highlighted how well Magento works for B2B merchants as well. Magento 2 comes equipped with a range of features that make B2B, wholesale, and bulk sales easy and convenient.

Structure

Magento is an open source platform, meaning it can be altered and customized to suit the individual needs of

Magento released the first results from an IDC-commissioned global market research project that analyzed the economic impact of the company, their customers, and their partners on worldwide digital commerce.  The results reveal the immense economic impact and influence of merchants using Magento. Results show that online merchants will generate over $224 billion by 2020, which is greater than the growth of global digital commerce. To learn more about the results, click here.

In August 2016, Magento acquired RJMetrics, a provider of business software for online retailers. At first, RJMetrics was called Magento Analytics.  In January, Magento Analytics was rebranded to Magento Business Intelligence, to more accurately describe the all-inclusive power of the program. Magento Business Intelligence shows a more complete picture of the customer experience through multiple sources of data, all in one cloud-based place. This provides merchants with more efficient means to make data-driven

The groundhog made his prediction earlier this month for the upcoming weather, so I thought I’d give it a shot and look towards the future of eCommerce. It should come as no surprise that eCommerce growth is a force to be reckoned with, and there are no signs of slowing down. Forrester predicts that eCommerce sales in the U.S. are estimated to reach $523 billion over the next five years. All things considered, that is a 56% jump from the $335 billion in sales from 2015.

So, what does this mean for you? If you want to be an industry leader, you need to be at the top of your game and be prepared. You need an action plan and you need it now!