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Touchable texture, distinct grids, and two-column designs are some of the most trending website design elements of November 2024.

In the past few years, AI’s impact has increased daily. No industry that doesn’t involve AI technology in its business is left behind. Artificial intelligence certainly helps to make the job easy. Now, this revolution has also changed the marketing industry. 

Nowadays, digital marketers can work smartly and effectively with AI. However, there are tons of AI marketing tools which makes it challenging to choose the right one. But don’t worry. We have done the hard part of the research for you and made a list of the top 5 best AI marketing tools. 

Read till the end and find a suitable AI tool for your business.

Top AI Marketing Tools to Elevate Your Strategy in 2024

We have researched different AI marketing tools. After our review, we have made a list of the top 5 marketing tools here. Let’s find out the best from the rest for promoting campaigns.

1. Jasper AI – Best for Content Creation

Jasper AI is a powerful AI tool that helps marketers, business owners, and content creators create high-quality content. This AI tool helps in writing blogs, emails, social media, and website content. It was initially named Jarvis, inspired by Tony Stark’s AI assistant from Marvel. 

Additionally, Jarvis was an important character in Iron Man movies, so they sent a cease and desist letter to the. After that, they came up with a new AI assistant called Jasper AI. Let’s find out its key features.

Key Features of Jasper AI:

• It helps in emails and marketing campaigns
• Helps in copywriting and blog writing
• It has an AI image suite feature for editing images for web and media
• Write product descriptions
• Help in building a brand voice
• Generate marketing campaigns
• Support 80+ languages
• Generate optimized content

Pricing:

• It offers a free 7-day trial period. 
• For Creators – $39/monthly
• For Pro – $59/monthly
• After that, you need to get a subscription plan. 

However, it offers a custom plan as well.

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.8/5 ?

2. Surfer SEO – Best for SEO Optimization

In the list of five AI marketing tools of AIChief, Surfer SEO comes at the second number. It is a content optimization AI tool that helps you optimize your content on Google’s first page. You can create a content outline and do keyword research before writing an article through Surfer SEO. 

Moreover, after writing, this AI tool can check your article on all aspects like keyword density, length, headings formats, readability, and AI detection. So, the article can rank better and be ranked on Google.

However, you can work on its platform directly as it has an editor option. So you can edit your content while writing. It also has a paraphrase feature to humanize your content. Lastly, it is also integrated with other AI marketing tools like Jasper, Google Docs, WordPress, and many more for content creation.

Key Features of Surfer SEO

• Helps in content optimization
• Checks keyword density & AI detection from content.
• Paraphrasing Feature for humanize content
• Generate Content Outline
• Provides Competitor Analysis Report
• Supports multilingual languages

Pricing:

• The essential Plan starts at $99/ month. 
• Scaling Plan starts at $219/month. 
• It gives a 7-day money-back guarantee.

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.8/5 ?

3. Optimove – Best for Customer Data Management

It is one of the best tools for managing and building relationships with customers. This AI tool studies customers’ data and predictive analytics in order to promote customized marketing campaigns. 

Moreover, Marketers can design customizable customer journeys with Optimove. This will modify each customer’s unique behavior and response, resulting in unique experiences for every consumer and improving engagement and loyalty. 

Key Features of Seventh Sense

• Offers customer data management.
• App Messaging
• Mobile Push
• Digital Ads
• Text Messaging
• Web Push & Pop-Ups
• CRM understanding.
• Personalized Customer Experience.

Pricing:

• This Customer-Led Marketing Platform offers a customized pricing model. 
• It also offers free demos.

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.6/5 ?

4. Seventh Sense – Best for Email Marketing

Nowadays, hundreds of tools claim to be the best for email marketing. But many of them still don’t crack the code for success. Email marketing is best for lead generation. Moreover, one of the most excellent tools for it is Seventh Sense since it encourages advanced marketing techniques. 

Additionally, it studies customers’ behavior and finds the best time to send emails, increasing the CTR and customer interaction rate. However, it’ll also increase the rate of marketing success. 

Key Features of Seventh Sense

• Studies customer behavior and the most engaging time for interactions. 
• Sends emails according to customers’ time.
• Promotes CTR and customer interaction.
• Integrated other platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce.
• User-friendly dashboards.
• Scheduling Campaigns Automatically

Pricing:

• For Hubspot, it offers $80/month
• For Marketo, it offers $450/month
• It also offers a custom plan

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.8/5 ?

5. Sprout Social – Best for Social Media Management

Sprout Social is an all-in-one marketing tool that handles everything, from creating content to managing and publishing. This application is user-friendly and supports automated repetitive tasks. 

It develops relationships with clients and researches their industry to provide better results. Marketers can improve results by streamlining their operations, effectively engaging with consumers, and analyzing campaign performance using Sprout Social.

Key Features of Sprout Social

• Manages social media platforms and publishes content.
• Supports engagement through comments and DMs
• Provides trendy ideas for content creation
• Integrated with different systems like CRM and workflows to improve marketing.

Pricing:

• Standard Offer for small businesses – $199 per seat/month 
• Professional Offer for team handlers – $299 per seat/month 
• Advanced Offer – $399 per seat/month 

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.4/5 ?

One of the key points of marketing is to keep an eye on competitors, like what they are doing and what strategy they are using for leads. But, for this process, you have to go through a lot of information and research. AI makes that part easy for you with just simple steps. 

These AI marketing tools can increase your business marketing and productivity. Now, go give them a try and boost your marketing campaigns.

Featured image by GRIN on Unsplash

The post Best Al Marketing Tools 2024 – Let’s Boost Your Campaigns appeared first on noupe.

In the past few years, AI’s impact has increased daily. No industry that doesn’t involve AI technology in its business is left behind. Artificial intelligence certainly helps to make the job easy. Now, this revolution has also changed the marketing industry. 

Nowadays, digital marketers can work smartly and effectively with AI. However, there are tons of AI marketing tools which makes it challenging to choose the right one. But don’t worry. We have done the hard part of the research for you and made a list of the top 5 best AI marketing tools. 

Read till the end and find a suitable AI tool for your business.

Top AI Marketing Tools to Elevate Your Strategy in 2024

We have researched different AI marketing tools. After our review, we have made a list of the top 5 marketing tools here. Let’s find out the best from the rest for promoting campaigns.

1. Jasper AI – Best for Content Creation

Jasper AI is a powerful AI tool that helps marketers, business owners, and content creators create high-quality content. This AI tool helps in writing blogs, emails, social media, and website content. It was initially named Jarvis, inspired by Tony Stark’s AI assistant from Marvel. 

Additionally, Jarvis was an important character in Iron Man movies, so they sent a cease and desist letter to the. After that, they came up with a new AI assistant called Jasper AI. Let’s find out its key features.

Key Features of Jasper AI:

• It helps in emails and marketing campaigns
• Helps in copywriting and blog writing
• It has an AI image suite feature for editing images for web and media
• Write product descriptions
• Help in building a brand voice
• Generate marketing campaigns
• Support 80+ languages
• Generate optimized content

Pricing:

• It offers a free 7-day trial period. 
• For Creators – $39/monthly
• For Pro – $59/monthly
• After that, you need to get a subscription plan. 

However, it offers a custom plan as well.

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.8/5 ?

2. Surfer SEO – Best for SEO Optimization

In the list of five AI marketing tools of AIChief, Surfer SEO comes at the second number. It is a content optimization AI tool that helps you optimize your content on Google’s first page. You can create a content outline and do keyword research before writing an article through Surfer SEO. 

Moreover, after writing, this AI tool can check your article on all aspects like keyword density, length, headings formats, readability, and AI detection. So, the article can rank better and be ranked on Google.

However, you can work on its platform directly as it has an editor option. So you can edit your content while writing. It also has a paraphrase feature to humanize your content. Lastly, it is also integrated with other AI marketing tools like Jasper, Google Docs, WordPress, and many more for content creation.

Key Features of Surfer SEO

• Helps in content optimization
• Checks keyword density & AI detection from content.
• Paraphrasing Feature for humanize content
• Generate Content Outline
• Provides Competitor Analysis Report
• Supports multilingual languages

Pricing:

• The essential Plan starts at $99/ month. 
• Scaling Plan starts at $219/month. 
• It gives a 7-day money-back guarantee.

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.8/5 ?

3. Optimove – Best for Customer Data Management

It is one of the best tools for managing and building relationships with customers. This AI tool studies customers’ data and predictive analytics in order to promote customized marketing campaigns. 

Moreover, Marketers can design customizable customer journeys with Optimove. This will modify each customer’s unique behavior and response, resulting in unique experiences for every consumer and improving engagement and loyalty. 

Key Features of Seventh Sense

• Offers customer data management.
• App Messaging
• Mobile Push
• Digital Ads
• Text Messaging
• Web Push & Pop-Ups
• CRM understanding.
• Personalized Customer Experience.

Pricing:

• This Customer-Led Marketing Platform offers a customized pricing model. 
• It also offers free demos.

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.6/5 ?

4. Seventh Sense – Best for Email Marketing

Nowadays, hundreds of tools claim to be the best for email marketing. But many of them still don’t crack the code for success. Email marketing is best for lead generation. Moreover, one of the most excellent tools for it is Seventh Sense since it encourages advanced marketing techniques. 

Additionally, it studies customers’ behavior and finds the best time to send emails, increasing the CTR and customer interaction rate. However, it’ll also increase the rate of marketing success. 

Key Features of Seventh Sense

• Studies customer behavior and the most engaging time for interactions. 
• Sends emails according to customers’ time.
• Promotes CTR and customer interaction.
• Integrated other platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce.
• User-friendly dashboards.
• Scheduling Campaigns Automatically

Pricing:

• For Hubspot, it offers $80/month
• For Marketo, it offers $450/month
• It also offers a custom plan

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.8/5 ?

5. Sprout Social – Best for Social Media Management

Sprout Social is an all-in-one marketing tool that handles everything, from creating content to managing and publishing. This application is user-friendly and supports automated repetitive tasks. 

It develops relationships with clients and researches their industry to provide better results. Marketers can improve results by streamlining their operations, effectively engaging with consumers, and analyzing campaign performance using Sprout Social.

Key Features of Sprout Social

• Manages social media platforms and publishes content.
• Supports engagement through comments and DMs
• Provides trendy ideas for content creation
• Integrated with different systems like CRM and workflows to improve marketing.

Pricing:

• Standard Offer for small businesses – $199 per seat/month 
• Professional Offer for team handlers – $299 per seat/month 
• Advanced Offer – $399 per seat/month 

Ratings: 

• G2: 4.4/5 ?

One of the key points of marketing is to keep an eye on competitors, like what they are doing and what strategy they are using for leads. But, for this process, you have to go through a lot of information and research. AI makes that part easy for you with just simple steps. 

These AI marketing tools can increase your business marketing and productivity. Now, go give them a try and boost your marketing campaigns.

Featured image by GRIN on Unsplash

The post Best AI Marketing Tools 2024 – Let’s Boost Your Campaigns appeared first on noupe.

As eCommerce is evolving at an increased pace, staying ahead of the latest trends in the market is very important for Shopify store owners to keep their stores stand out from the competition. Staying updated with the latest eCommerce trends helps merchants sell their products uniquely and convert more customers. As with every industry, the eCommerce industry is also constantly growing now with modern technologies, customer shopping behavior, product marketing strategies, and more.

As every year, new trends arise, similarly in 2024 also we can see some new exciting changes. We can see how Shopify store owners are going to run their online stores by making use of the latest trends and technologies. In this blog, we will introduce the top 5 upcoming Shopify eCommerce trends for merchants. Let’s dive in!

Headless E-commerce

Headless commerce is becoming popular among Shopify store owners. Headless Commerce’s name itself tells that the front end of the store is separated from the back end of the store. This functionality offers Shopify merchants flexibility and scalability to present their brand storefronts freely. 

Shopify headless commerce, allows seamless integration with several front-end technologies, while back-end operations will be managed by the Shopify handles. This allows store owners to deliver a fully personalized and responsive shopping experience to the customers. Headless commerce showcases a paradigm shift in how the future of E-commerce will deliver content and functionality to customers.

AR and VR Technologies

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are booming nowadays not only in the e-commerce industry but also in other industries. AR and VR technologies are revolutionizing the online shopping experience of customers by offering immersive product experiences. AR & VR technologies allow store owners to provide interactive and realistic shopping experiences to the customers.

Now with the arrival of AR and VR, store owners can offer virtual try-ons to their customers with 3D product visualizations, and interactive demos. For example, if a customer is trying to buy a sunglass, he/she can check how it looks on their face. This will improve customer engagement and help them to make better purchasing decisions. 

Quick and Free Order Delivery Options 

In online shopping, order delivery and shipping is a major concern among store owners. Every customer loves to get their orders delivered as soon as they order it. Fast delivery and free shipping have been considered by the majority of customers while making buying decisions from an online store. Remember providing your customers the fastest delivery can significantly help to grow your business and drive repeat purchases from your store.

One of the best options is giving a click-and-collect option allowing customers to place their order online and pick up their order directly from the physical store or at designated locations. This will help you to save your shipping costs and improve customer satisfaction by giving them quick and on-time order delivery. To make order delivery management easier, there are many Shopify apps available like Stellar Delivery Date & Pickup. These apps can help you give a quick order delivery experience to your customers.

Automation and AI Chatbots

With the emergence of automation and AI-powered chatbots, customer support jobs have become easier now. Chatbots now give quick customer assistance through chatbots as they give personalized suggestions to customer queries. Shopify has integrated advanced AI algorithms to automate repetitive tasks and offer quick customer support with the help of chatbots.

AI also helps merchants to give personalized recommendations based on customers’ preferences or needs and their purchase history. This kind of personalization will help you to give a special feel to your valuable customers by improving their shopping experience from your store.

Incorporating automation and AI chatbots into your Shopify store not only enhances the customer experience but also improves operational efficiency. Giving quick customer support to customers can help you foster client relationships and drive repeat purchases in your store.

Video Marketing for Products

The power of video marketing is increasing nowadays in every industry. Because people are more interested in videos compared to images. Videos can easily engage users and express to customers what how your products will look like. It will give them a clear understanding of your product in detail. Videos can connect emotionally with the audience easily and help merchants to convert them into sales. Because people always motion graphics instead of still images. Videos have more power to convert customers’ minds in making buying decisions.

Video marketing can help to improve product visibility and gain customer interest. With video marketing, merchants can create and promote different types of videos like a demonstration of product features, unboxing videos, how-to videos, etc. If you want to improve customer experience, drive conversions, and promote your brand, video marketing is the best option for you. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important for Shopify merchants to stay up-to-date with the latest or upcoming eCommerce trends. Because customers are always attracted to unique elements. To satisfy customers and deliver the best based on their needs, it is a must to know the trends in the market. Ultimately, the key to success lies in a customer-centric approach. Take the time to understand your audience’s needs and preferences. Use their feedback to refine your offerings and enhance the shopping experience. This will help to stay ahead of the competition and grow your business easily. 

When customers receive their orders quickly and without additional costs, their satisfaction skyrockets, fostering loyalty and repeat business. AI chatbots play a pivotal role in this new era by providing instant support and personalized experiences. Video marketing has emerged as a game changer, allowing you to showcase your products in an engaging and relatable way.  By making use of the above-mentioned trends, Shopify merchants can enhance their online presence, drive sales, and foster long-term customer loyalty in a rapidly evolving digital marketplace.

As you move forward, remember that the eCommerce landscape will continue to evolve. Stay curious, keep experimenting, and be willing to adapt. This mindset will not only help you navigate challenges but also uncover new opportunities for growth. 

Featured image by Jan Canty on Unsplash

The post Top 5 Upcoming Shopify eCommerce Trends for Merchants appeared first on noupe.

It’s hard to believe the end of the year is right around the corner. That isn’t stopping website designers from trying new things to keep things interesting as we begin to close out 2024, though.

With texture, grids, and two-column designs getting a lot of attention, this month’s website design trends include things you can try before the year ends.

Here’s what’s trending in design this month:

1. Touchable Textures

The term cozy often comes to mind when you think of cooler temperatures and fall or winter. Just the word can make you feel the texture of a great sweater or blanket.

Now take that concept and apply it visually. That’s the idea behind this design trend with a set of images that look like you can touch them. Just seeing these textures makes you understand how they might feel or interact in the real world.

Blurring the lines between digital spaces and reality has been a trending theme all year, and these designs take that concept to a truly visual level. (I could almost feel every one of these examples.)

The challenge with this design trend is you have to really plan it. You need the perfect visual element – sometimes still, sometimes animated. And it has to look so real that website visitors think they can touch it.

These effects can be from photography or videography, but are rooted in the tactile nature of the artwork and how it interacts with other elements on the screen. Each of these examples does this in a very different way.

Sales & More uses motion with texture to create something that you can’t quite identify but that still has a reach-out-and-touch-it feel. You can almost imagine the tiny balls moving in your hands or a slight breeze when they move away from the main & shape. A flat background makes this design more striking, with a complete monotone color scheme and plenty of interactivity.

Every Exquisite Font Factory
uses multiple textured items to highlight letterforms and create visual interest. Because of shadowing, a simple background, and unusual usage (textures for letters), you can “feel” each one easily. This design uses a lot of different texture elements with immense detail in the design.

Moyceram features ceramic artwork with images that have a liquid finish you can almost feel. Even the painted eyelashes and eyebrows on the faces seem light and touchable. But the most distinct element may be that each mast looks wet, so that the emotion of each piece shows through.

2. Distinct Grids

There are few things as nice as an amazing grid for a website design. A grid keeps content organized, balanced, and visually pleasing.

While grids are practically everywhere, this trend incorporates seeing them more distinctly than just using a grid for design purposes.

The feel is quite structured, allowing large amounts of content to have its own place without feeling cluttered. These designs can take a lot of shapes and fit with almost any type of content. The biggest driver is your need to organize.

Love and Money Agency uses a simple square block image grid to showcase their work. Blocks mix and match photos and moving images. Some blocks link to work and also feature hover states; some do not. This grid is clean and easy with a sort of create-your-own-adventure feel thanks to varying content types.

Haydaysss uses a grid that looks and feels like a calendar. This is a visual that most people understand with ease. What’s more interesting here is that is all you get on the homepage. The grid design is for content access and entry and well as navigation. Each block has a simple hover animation to help you understand that it is interactive, and there’s a motion that crosses the screen every few seconds as well to keep visitors interested.

Alec Tear follows our theme of grid boxes with his portfolio site. The monotone look is rather stunning on its own, but it is even more interesting with full-color hover states that lead you into different pieces of work. With an almost brutalist feel, this design aesthetic helps counterbalance some of the elaborateness of the work therein. The mono palette also helps you focus on what’s important here—lettering, which is showcased on this portfolio page.

3. Two Columns

Another take on using grids is the two-column format. It is important to note that two columns does not automatically mean two equal columns. (Asymmetry can be rather nice.)

Each example uses two columns to help organize content and provide easily viewable text sections for the website. Full-width text is generally overwhelming to read on desktop screens, making multiple columns a viable option. Two columns also provide a nice logic for responsive stacking on smaller screens.

Vaersagod uses two columns that are somewhat independent of each other. The right column features visual work and examples for the portfolio site, while the left column scrolls with text. The theme carries to subsequent pages as well, and you almost have to click and scroll around to get the full feel for how it works.

Richard George uses a more traditional split-screen design with two panels – one for text elements and a second for visuals. There’s a reason this design pattern never goes out of style – it works beautifully and is easy for visitors to interact with.

RTRFM uses a great grid overall – you’ll have to click through and scroll to see it completely – but the two-column cards are a beautiful example of how to use two columns and feel super trendy at the same time. With a brutalist feel and plenty of content as well as linkable elements, these cards are highly interactive and handle a lot of information well. Small animated effects add to the overall feel, and this design scheme is perfect for the site’s content.

Conclusion

The trend in this collection that strikes me the most is the use of texture. These almost touchable designs make you want to interact more and inspire me to find video, photography, or three-dimensional illustrations that website visitors think they can feel.

The other trends are similar in their use of grids and distinct patterns to help website content feel organized—something that can be refreshing during a hectic time of the year. These are easier trends to conceptualize and use quickly.

No matter what option you like best, have fun, and make sure to experiment with your designs!

The Internet of Things (IoT) transforms industries, businesses, and daily life by connecting physical devices to the Internet, enabling real-time data exchange and automated operations. From smart homes to industrial automation, the applications of Internet of Things are vast, providing numerous advantages in terms of efficiency, convenience, and cost savings. This article explores the top 9 applications of IoT technology, along with practical examples that illustrate its impact across different sectors.

1. Smart Homes

One of the most popular applications of Internet of Things is in smart homes, where IoT-enabled devices are used to control and automate various home functions. From lighting systems to thermostats, security cameras, and home appliances, IoT makes homes more efficient, secure, and user-friendly. Devices like Amazon Echo and Google Nest are great examples of IoT technology in action. These devices allow homeowners to control their environment through voice commands or smartphone apps, enhancing convenience and energy efficiency.

Example:

Google Nest smart thermostats automatically adjust heating and cooling settings based on user preferences, weather conditions, and occupancy, saving energy and reducing utility bills.

2. Industrial IoT (IIoT)

The use of IoT in manufacturing, often referred to as Industrial IoT (IIoT), is revolutionizing the production process. Sensors and connected devices monitor equipment performance in real time, detect potential issues, and optimize production flows. This helps companies reduce downtime, improve productivity, and enhance safety. IIoT is also used for predictive maintenance, where machines can predict and notify operators when they need service, preventing costly breakdowns.

Example:

General Electric (GE) uses IIoT to monitor its manufacturing machines across multiple factories, improving overall operational efficiency by collecting data on machine performance and automating adjustments.

3. Healthcare and Wearable Devices

In healthcare, IoT is improving patient care through remote monitoring and smart medical devices. IoT-enabled health trackers and wearables can monitor vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels, sending real-time data to healthcare providers. This allows for early detection of potential health issues and timely interventions.

Example:

The Apple Watch is an example of IoT technology that tracks health data like heart rate, activity levels, and ECG readings, providing users and healthcare professionals with valuable health insights.

4. Smart Cities

IoT is playing a pivotal role in building smart cities by improving infrastructure, traffic management, and energy usage. Smart cities utilize IoT sensors and devices to monitor air quality, manage traffic flow, optimize public lighting, and enhance waste management systems. This not only improves the quality of urban living but also reduces resource consumption and costs.

Example:

Barcelona is a leader in IoT services for smart cities, implementing smart parking meters, connected street lighting, and environmental sensors to improve traffic management, reduce energy consumption, and monitor pollution levels.

5. Agriculture and Smart Farming

IoT has significant applications in agriculture, where it is used for precision farming, monitoring soil conditions, and automating irrigation systems. Sensors can collect data on soil moisture, temperature, and crop health, helping farmers make data-driven decisions to optimize crop yields and resource usage.

Example:

John Deere uses IoT-enabled sensors in its farming equipment to collect data on soil quality, moisture levels, and crop conditions, allowing farmers to make more informed decisions and improve productivity.

6. Connected Vehicles and Transportation

In the transportation sector, IoT technology enables connected vehicles that can communicate with each other and with traffic management systems. This helps optimize traffic flow, reduce accidents, and improve fuel efficiency. IoT also facilitates fleet management systems, where companies can track vehicle locations, monitor driver behavior, and ensure timely maintenance.

Example:

Tesla cars are equipped with IoT-enabled sensors that gather data to optimize autonomous driving capabilities and improve vehicle performance through over-the-air software updates.

7. Retail and Inventory Management

Retailers are using IoT technology to enhance customer experiences and streamline inventory management. IoT-enabled devices can track product movement, monitor stock levels, and automate inventory replenishment. Additionally, IoT helps retailers gather valuable customer data, allowing them to offer personalized shopping experiences.

Example:

Amazon Go stores use IoT sensors and cameras to create a cashier-less shopping experience, where customers can pick up items and leave without checking out, with the payment automatically processed through their Amazon account.

8. Energy Management and Smart Grids

IoT is being used in the energy sector to create smart grids that optimize energy distribution and consumption. IoT sensors monitor energy usage in real-time, allowing utilities to balance supply and demand more effectively. Smart grids also enable the integration of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, making energy distribution more efficient and sustainable.

Example:

Siemens is working on smart grid solutions that use IoT to monitor energy consumption, predict energy demands, and optimize energy distribution in real-time, leading to more efficient energy management.

9. Supply Chain Management

IoT technology is enhancing supply chain management by improving tracking, monitoring, and efficiency. IoT devices such as RFID tags and GPS trackers help companies track shipments, monitor inventory levels, and ensure that goods are transported under optimal conditions. This real-time data helps businesses optimize logistics, reduce delays, and improve customer satisfaction.

Example:

DHL uses IoT-enabled sensors to monitor the condition of shipments, such as temperature and humidity, ensuring that products, especially perishables, are delivered in optimal conditions.

Advantages of IoT Technology

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers a wide range of advantages that are transforming industries and everyday life. One of the most significant benefits of IoT technology is the ability to enhance efficiency and automation. By connecting devices and systems, IoT enables real-time data collection, analysis, and communication, allowing organizations to optimize processes, reduce waste, and improve decision-making. In sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and agriculture, IoT-driven automation has streamlined operations, minimized human error, and enabled predictive maintenance, which reduces downtime and operational costs.

Another key advantage of IoT is the creation of more personalized and convenient experiences for consumers. Smart devices, such as wearables, home automation systems, and connected vehicles, allow users to monitor and control their environments with ease. IoT technology provides valuable insights into user behavior and preferences, enabling businesses to offer tailored services and products. For example, in smart homes, IoT-powered systems can adjust lighting, temperature, and security settings based on individual preferences, making life more comfortable and secure. Overall, the benefits of IoT span from boosting operational efficiency to enhancing user satisfaction in numerous applications.

Conclusion

The Internet of Things and its applications are reshaping industries and improving lives across the globe. IoT technology is unlocking new possibilities for efficiency and innovation from smart homes to healthcare, agriculture, and transportation. As IoT continues to evolve, its potential to revolutionize how we live and work will only grow, making it one of our most exciting technological advancements.

Featured image by Dan LeFebvre on Unsplash

The post Top 9 Applications of Internet of Things and Its Examples appeared first on noupe.

Change can certainly be scary whenever a beloved, independent software library becomes a part of a larger organization. I’m feeling a bit more excitement than concern this time around, though.

If you haven’t heard, GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) is teaming up with the visual website builder, Webflow. This mutually beneficial advancement not only brings GSAP’s powerful animation capabilities to Webflow’s graphical user interface but also provides the GSAP team the resources necessary to take development to the next level.

GSAP has been independent software for nearly 15 years (since the Flash and ActionScript days!) primarily supported by Club GSAP memberships, their paid tiers which offer even more tools and plugins to enhance GSAP further. GSAP is currently used on more than 12 million websites.

I chatted with Cassie Evans — GSAP’s Lead Bestower of Animation Superpowers and CSS-Tricks contributor — who confidently expressed that GSAP will remain available for the wider web.

It’s a big change, but we think it’s going to be a good one – more resources for the core library, more people maintaining the GSAP codebase, money for events and merch and community support, a VISUAL GUI in the pipeline.

The Webflow community has cause for celebration as well, as direct integration with GSAP has been a wishlist item for a while.

The webflow community is so lovely and creative and supportive and friendly too. It’s a good fit.

I’m so happy for Jack, Cassie, and Rodrigo, as well as super excited to see what happens next. If you don’t want to take my word for it, check out what Brody has to say about it.

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Combining forces, GSAP & Webflow! originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

I totally get the goal here: make CSS more modular and scalable in WordPress. Put all your global WordPress theme styles in a single file, including variations. JSON offers a nicely structured syntax that’s easily consumable by JavaScript, thereby allowing the sweet affordance of loading exactly what we want when we want it.

The problem, to me, is that writing “CSS” in a theme.json file is a complete mental model switcher-oo. Rather than selectors, we have a whole set of objects we have to know about just to select something. We have JSON properties that look and feel like CSS properties, only they have to be camelCased being JavaScript and all. And we’re configuring features in the middle of the styles, meaning we’ve lost a clear separation of concerns.

I’m playing devil’s advocate, of course. There’s a lot of upside to abstracting CSS with JSON for the very niche purpose of theming CMS templates and components. But after a decade of “CSS-in-JS is the Way^™” I’m less inclined to buy into it. CSS is the bee’s knees just the way it is and I’m OK relying on it solely, whether it’s in the required style.css file or some other plain ol’ CSS file I generate. But that also means I’m losing out on the WordPress features that require you to write styles in a theme.json file, like style variations that can be toggled directly in the WordPress admin.

Regardless of all that, I’m linking this up because Justin does bang-up work (no surprise, really) explaining and illustrating the ways of CSS-in-WordPress. We have a complete guide that Ganesh rocked a couple of years ago. You might check that to get familiar with some terminology, jump into a nerdy deep dive on how WordPress generates classes from JSON, or just use the reference tables as a cheat sheet.

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Mastering theme.json: You might not need CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

One of the interesting (but annoying) things about CSS is the background of children’s elements can bleed out of the border radius of the parent element. Here’s an example of a card with an inner element. If the inner element is given a background, it can bleed out of the card’s border.

The easiest way to resolve this problem is to add overflow: hidden to the card element. I’m sure that’s the go-to solution most of us reach for when this happens.

But doing this creates a new problem — content outside the card element gets clipped off — so you can’t use negative margins or position: absolute to shift the children’s content out of the card.

There is a slightly more tedious — but more effective — way to prevent a child’s background from bleeding out of the parent’s border-radius. And that is to add the same border-radius to the child element.

The easiest way to do this is allowing the child to inherit the parent’s border-radius:

.child {
  border-radius: inherit;
}

If the border-radius shorthand is too much, you can still inherit the radius for each of the four corners on a case-by-case basis:

.child {
  border-top-left-radius: inherit;
  border-top-right-radius: inherit;
  border-bottom-left-radius: inherit;
  border-bottom-right-radius: inherit;
}

Or, for those of you who’re willing to use logical properties, here’s the equivalent. (For an easier way to understand logical properties, replace top and left with start, and bottom and right with end.)

.child {
  border-start-start-radius: inherit;
  border-top-end-radius: inherit;
  border-end-start-radius: inherit;
  border-end-end-radius: inherit;
}

Can’t we just apply a background on the card?

If you have a background directly on the .card that contains the border-radius, you will achieve the same effect. So, why not?

Well, sometimes you can’t do that. One situation is when you have a .card that’s split into two, and only one part is colored in.

So, why should we do this?

Peace of mind is probably the best reason. At the very least, you know you won’t be creating problems down the road with the radius manipulation solution.

This pattern is going to be especially helpful when CSS Anchor Positioning gains full support. I expect that would become the norm popover positioning soon in about 1-2 years.

That said, for popovers, I personally prefer to move the popover content out of the document flow and into the element as a direct descendant. By doing this, I prevent overflow: hidden from cutting off any of my popovers when I use anchor positioning.

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Solving Background Overflow With Inherited Border Radii originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should get the newsletter.

With over 5 billion internet users worldwide, businesses are now tapping into E-commerce to expand market reach, which was inaccessible through traditional brick-and-mortar stores. However, success doesn’t end with merely establishing an E-commerce website. 

Tools are needed to do well in this competitive market. One tool is the Content Management System (CMS), which provides the framework and functionality needed for businesses to create, optimize and manage their online stores. 

WordPress dominates the CMS market, and surely using it will help in your business success. However, it takes the right and proven strategies to boost your online store, and this article is here for that. 

Why Choose WordPress for an E-commerce Website?

In the early days of WordPress, they were used primarily for blogging, but they have been adding more features and plugin libraries. Now, 43.5% of all websites are using WordPress, which shows its influence in content creation and digital management worldwide. 

Source

Among other CMS platforms, WordPress dominates the market – holding 62.6% shares. This highlights the benefits WordPress offers to its users.

• Flexibility and Customization

WordPress offers customization options through its library of themes and plugins. The open-source nature of WordPress allows deep customization, where businesses can create features and functionalities tailored to their branding.

• Cost-Effectiveness

WordPress, being an open-source software, is free to use. Though there are premium themes and plugins that can be bought, they are more affordable than other e-commerce platforms when it comes to subscription fees. 

• Mobile Responsive Design

Google now uses mobile versions of a site’s content, which makes mobile-friendly websites important. WordPress themes are mobile-responsive, making online stores seamless across all devices. Also, this design will allow businesses to cater for users who prefer smartphones and tablets when shopping.  

• Built-in SEO Features

WordPress comes with search engine optimization (SEO), where businesses can improve the visibility of their stores in search engine results. You can customize links, meta tags, and mobile responsiveness to enhance the website’s SEO performance.

• Strong Community Support

As the leading CMS platform, you’ll have access to an active and vast community of developers, designers and users who can provide resources, including tutorials, documentation, forums, and professional support.

Setting up Your WordPress E-commerce Store

Businesses should establish a WordPress-based E-commerce store — from choosing a hosting provider to selecting themes and plugins — to set up their online business for success.

1. Choose the Right Hosting Provider

Cyberattacks are increasing due to reliance on IT systems, and e-commerce is their prime target because they handle and store sensitive information – from customers’ names, payment card data, and addresses to birthdates. This is why choosing the right hosting provider is important for security and speed. 

A good host helps make sure that your website has fast loading times to retain customers and improve conversion rates, as a slow website negatively impacts sales because of high bounce rates. Choose a hosting provider that provides security features, such as SSL certificates, firewalls, and regular backups that protect your data.

2. Install and Configure E-commerce Plugins

After choosing the hosting provider, install the e-commerce plugins needed for the functionality of your website. Select a responsive, fast-loading customizable theme that is mobile-friendly, such as Storefront, Shopkeeper and Astra, as they are known for ease of customization and speed – a significant portion of online shopping on mobile devices.

3. Select a Suitable E-commerce Theme

A theme will make a store appealing to the users, reflecting its brand. You can use WooCommerce, a leading WordPress plugin. With it, you can set up product pages, manage inventory, handle payments, and customize aspects of your stores.

Other plugins are also plugins available for your needs, such as:

• Easy Digital Downloads – selling digital products
• WP eCommerce – more traditional e-commerce experience
• Ecwid – integrating store with social media platforms

Optimizing Your WordPress Store for Conversions

After setting up your WordPress E-commerce store, you need to optimize it for conversions, as one of any other business’s goals is to enhance UX and increase sales conversions. Strategies for optimization include:

Craft a Seamless User Experience (UX)

Site structure and navigation play a role in creating a seamless user experience (UX), affecting how customers interact with your website. Key points in improving these are having simple navigation, effective product pages and a streamlined checkout process.

• Simple Navigation: Ensure that your website is intuitive. Organize your menu and make essential information accessible. Your structure should also let users find what they need easily with just a few clicks.
• Effective Product Pages: Product pages should be visually appealing and informative by incorporating high-quality images, detailed descriptions, pricing, and customer reviews, helping customers make decisions.
• Streamlined Checkout Process: Customers won’t complete the checkout process if it takes too long, so simplify it by minimizing the number of steps and using autofill options on forms and multiple payment methods for convenience.

Utilize Effective Call-to-Actions

Call-to-actions are buttons on your site, telling customers the action to take and driving sales to the e-commerce site. Make your CTAs stand out using contrasting colors and clear action-oriented text, which encourages users to take action. For example, “Add to Cart”, “Get Started”, or “Buy Now”.

You may also experiment with different formats and placements using A/B testing to determine which version yields the highest conversion rates based on real user data.

Implement Trust Signals and Security Measures

Building trust with potential customers through trust signals and security measures helps increase conversions to your e-commerce store, as customers will feel confident in their purchasing decisions.

• Make sure that your website has SSL certification for secure connections of transactions. You may also reassure customers about their safety during shopping by displaying security badges and trust seals.
• Positive feedback can influence potential buyers’ decisions as it establishes the trust and credibility of your brand, so encourage customers to leave reviews.
• Consider money-back guarantees, easy return policies, and transparent shipping information to alleviate concerns about purchasing from an online store.

Ensuring Optimal Store Performance

A well-performing website not only enhances customer satisfaction but also encourages repeat visits, increasing conversions and sales. Maintaining high performance for your WordPress e-commerce store provides a positive user experience and favorable search engine rankings.

Regular Site Maintenance and Updates

Regular updates and maintenance help protect your site from vulnerabilities and improve performance. Neglecting these can slow loading times, broken features and security risks.

You can use tools (Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom) to monitor site performance, as they provide insights into loading speeds, help identify any issues affecting user experience, and suggest improvements.

Managing and Securing Customer Data

As customers trust you with sensitive information, you should maintain high standards of data protection that not only comply with regulations but also build customer confidence.

• Comply with regulations by being transparent about data collection and usage practices.
• Regularly back up your website to safeguard against data loss that may potentially be due to hacking or technical failures.
• Schedule backups based on update frequency–daily for active sites or weekly for less frequently updated ones.

Scaling Your WordPress E-commerce Store

As your business grows, scaling your WordPress e-commerce store becomes essential to meet increasing demand and ensure a seamless shopping experience for customers.

Expand Product Lines and Categories

Expanding your offerings is a natural way to scale your e-commerce store. You can identify market trends and opportunities and manage inventory efficiently to meet customer demand.

• Identify market trends and opportunities: Conduct regular market research, analyze customer feedback and observe competitors to stay attuned to market trends. You can use Google Trends and social media analytics to spot emerging opportunities for your brand.
• Managing inventory: Tracking your inventory can help you streamline operations and prevent stockouts or overstock situations. Inventory management tools like TradeGecko or Zoho can help you track stock levels, manage orders, and forecast demands.

Enhance Site Performance for High-traffic

As your business grows, your e-commerce store visitors will also increase. Optimizing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and leveraging caching help handle this high traffic and maintain optimal performance. Your site should be able to handle spikes in traffic without compromising user experience.

A Content Delivery Network allows users to access data from the nearest location, which reduces latency. Additionally, a clean database helps improve site speed to cater to higher traffic. Consider removing unnecessary data such as spam comments, post revisions, and unused plugins.

Integrate Third-Party Platforms and Services

Integrating third-party platforms improves your site’s functionality and user experience.

• Select payment gateways that offer flexibility and security.
• Make sure that shipping options are easy to configure.
• Provide real-time tracking information.

CRM can also help track customer interactions, manage leads, and automate marketing efforts. This allows businesses to tailor communications based on customer behavior and maintain customer relationships effectively.

Case Studies: Successful E-commerce Sites Built with WordPress

Lugz is a footwear brand that rebuilds its website using WordPress and WooCommerce to maximize performance, efficiency and conversions. With these, they were able to streamline enterprise resource planning integration and minimize time to create data structure and import product data.

French Today helps you speak French in actual conversions. This successful e-commerce website is powered by WordPress and WooCommerce sold over 20 recorded audiobooks with a vast collection of blog posts on language and culture in France.

Final Thoughts: WordPress Is a Go-to CMS for E-commerce

WordPress offers e-commerce businesses opportunities to build, optimize, and scale online stores successfully. With the right strategies, it can be a go-to CMS for e-commerce ventures looking to thrive in the competitive digital marketplace. 

Start your journey to e-commerce success and explore the potential of WordPress to power your online store today!

Featured image by Shoper on Unsplash

The post Mastering WordPress for E-commerce: Proven Strategies to Boost Your Online Store appeared first on noupe.