Some of the challenges facing businesses that sell to other businesses, often called B2B companies, are different than those for businesses that sell to consumers: the process until the transaction is closed is longer, there are more people involved in the decision on the customer’s side and there is a need for a deeper dialogue and a greater understanding of the customer’s needs. Even if there are many parallels between digital sales for...

In the last decade or so the way we all buy goods and services has been transformed. The retail landscape has changed beyond recognition with the new reality bringing both opportunities and challenges to retailers. For online retailers - whose marketplace, theoretically, is unlimited - strategic expansion into new markets is often seen as the key to growth and profitability. But while the internet may be effectively ubiquitous, localized market...

This is almost an early Christmas present for us EU citizens. From 3 December, the barriers to online shopping from other countries will be removed. Geoblocking will be a thing of the past. The French or Polish will be able to shop from a German online store and deliveries will have to be made to them in the same way as to buyers based in Germany, and vice versa. So I will finally be able to order by favorite wine directly from France and will no...

How I use Microsoft Power BI As a project manager who focuses on data analytics and predictive forecasting, I use Power BI on a regular basis. One of the main reasons for this is because it is so easy for our stakeholders to use and understand the data which gets presented out. In my daily work efforts, I focus on ensuring our backend databases are built appropriately in order to be integrated directly with Power BI. Additionally, I work with...

Marketing is a big challenge for businesses, especially small and new businesses. How do you know which marketing method is the most effective? And how do you achieve the best possible results with a small marketing budget or maybe no budget at all? In the first webinar for the autumn at Arvato featured guest speaker Yasmin Tilles, Marketing Manager at the internet security company Detectify. She told us about her journey, and how Detectify,...

There are hardly any customers who regularly shop online but who have never returned the product or goods. Perhaps we imagined the watch differently, maybe the t-shirt is one size too small - there are many reasons for making returns, but retailers always face the same problems: One the one hand, they must fear that the returned goods will sit on the shelf, and on the other, the relationship with the consumer is tested. Often, customers have...

Digital business models have mushroomed in the last few years - and many of them have disappeared again. This is unavoidable. Those who quickly recognize the necessity to concentrate on special functionalities and certain target groups will survive. In this post, I will attempt to demonstrate how we at FRIDAY follow this successful path. Brief description of FRIDAY: The company operates a digital insurance platform. It was founded in Berlin in...

Many companies still do not focus on optimising their processes although this can strengthen the customer relationship as well as increase the number of paid invoices. At the same time, companies are gaining more discretion when it comes to using resources. By avoiding investments in necessary internal dunning processes, this allows them to concentrate on their core business. Let’s take a closer look at these three good reasons to optimise the...

The customer is no longer king, but a dictator - I don't know where I heard that saying, but somehow it stuck with me. I no longer talk about kings and dictators at trade fairs and customer meetings, but sometimes I use this dramatic quote as a direct introduction into a discussion with retailers on the change in the relationships between the buyer and seller. My message is that from some time now, companies running online stores have needed to...