Magento is providing two distinct tracks for the business of ecommerce and corresponding development during this years conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'll be focusing on the business track to help broaden the knowledge base of industry trends, new emerging best practices, and of course new value that can be offered back to our client base. During the conference I'll provide a daily summary of the tracks in our blog for you to follow along with interesting and perhaps also controversial topics. The tracks that I'm planning to attend include:

Magento's Imagine eCommerce conference starts Monday in Las Vegas! In addition to the opportunity to meet others who are actively working with and promoting Magento, I am most looking forward to getting a glimpse into Magento's vision for the future. I'll be attending sessions in the Business and Partner Powered tracks in order to learn more about how companies are leveraging Magento to drive revenue and understand where the market is going.

Today I attended a track very focused on eCommerce as Drupal traditionally has not carved out a niche in the eRetail market. I was particularly interested as we are a Magento Silver partner and while we've done some terrific work on the Drupal platform for eCommerce it's not nearly as developed or have the focus to manage large retailers without substantial heavy lifting. First here are some of great examples we were given that I'm going to disect:

One aspect of an online store that really sets it apart from others is the user shopping experience. There are several elements that can be incorporated into a store that allows shoppers to interact closely with the available items and with fellow shoppers. A deeper shopping experience will keep users involved and eager to explore everything the site has to offer. User accounts, social sharing capabilities, image galleries, product reviews and commenting, and other interactive tools create a dynamic user experience that will keep conversions high and allow a store to grow.

When thinking of ways to improve conversions for an online storefront, there is one method that is both easy to implement and often overlooked by storeowners. This is the concept of cross-selling and up-selling. This is an excellent way to appeal to an impulse buyer in a subtle manner to encourage additional purchases. Cross-selling and up-selling can be utilized by online stores of all sizes and types.

When planning to design and launch a new online store, it is imperative that you evaluate some of the big names in eCommerce to see what elements make them so successful. What elements of their online shopping experience keep customers coming back and keep conversions high? In this post, I would like to highlight a well-known online store and point out some features that enhance the buying experience for their customers – the Nike Online Store.

With the growing number of retailer becoming available to online shoppers, it is difficult to argue the influence of design on a customer’s decision to make a purchase or shop elsewhere. There are many aspects of an online store that will make it succeed or fail when considering online conversions. A designer will have the major task of ensuring that the store has the perfect design that is on brand, works well with the products displayed, and is simplistic and streamlined. Below are some major issues to consider.

Now more than ever, shoppers are choosing to bypass the store and make their purchases online. With the steady rise in online shopping, more and more businesses are finding the need for an eCommerce presence on the web. Those who already have online systems are making constant upgrades to keep their shopping carts updated with the latest trends.