Articles by Vivian Wagner

During the pandemic, increasing numbers of people have pulled out their sewing machines and knitting needles and gotten to work "Since the stay-at-home orders were issued and people were stuck at home, many who had sewn before pulled out their machines and started sewing again," Blaine Austin, CEO of SewingMachinesPlus, told the E-Commerce Times....

As a result of the severe business disruptions brought about in recent months by the pandemic, many businesses have been reconsidering how to retool their supply chain to build in more resiliency From digitizing the supply chain to developing more local and regional components, businesses are finding new and innovative ways to strengthen their capa...

In the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic this spring, entrepreneurs Rebecca Cahua and Vivian Qu joined forces, skills, and teams to create and bring to production an innovative new product -- the O2 Nano Mask, a reusable nanofiltration mask that combines a high level of filtration with unique breathability and comfort Together, Cahua and Qu fou...

Online medical appointments have become commonplace during the pandemic, and they're likely to continue into the future, even as in-person medical visits resume. The convenience, accessibility and cost-effectiveness of telemedicine will make it a vital part of comprehensive medical care in the digital age "Both patients and providers can benefit fr...

By necessity, almost all education is happening online at the moment. However, the trend of online education likely will continue even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Online learning is often more convenient than in-person training, and because the methods and techniques for online education are evolving and improving, it quickly has become a...

In this uncertain and increasingly homebound era, customers are turning online for everything from groceries to cat food. It's more important than ever to make sure that websites are optimized for the highest-possible customer engagement and conversion. E-commerce optimization is one game that companies struggling for market share in the midst of a pandemic must play...

Consumers were becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea of ordering food online, either for pick up or home delivery, even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Now many more shoppers are turning to online grocery shopping for the first time "People have been comfortable ordering food such as pizza for delivery for years," noted Comm...

Though still in its infancy, the drone delivery business is set to take off in the coming years. Spurred by everything from environmental concerns to the desire to avoid congested roads, companies are developing, testing, and beginning to implement a wide array of drone delivery systems A number of practicalities need to be worked out before drone ...

The prison workforce development program run by Televerde, an Arizona-based sales, marketing, and tech company, delivers significant economic and cultural value, concludes a study recently conducted at Arizona State University's Seidman Research Institute Televerde trains and employs women incarcerated in Arizona and Indiana, and it offers many of ...

Consumers are constantly on social media, scrolling through posts from friends and brands. Many have begun clicking on some of those brand posts and making purchases "Social commerce is becoming increasingly popular for brands," noted Darin Archer, chief strategy officer at Elastic Path....

Recommerce -- or the online sale of used clothing and other goods -- is booming, with companies like thredUP and Poshmark meeting consumer demand for more affordable and sustainable alternatives to buying new "I believe recommerce is popular because there is an alignment amongst people who see that consuming products as we have in the past is creat...

ISACA, a global nonprofit organization focused on the development, adoption and use of globally accepted, industry-leading knowledge and practices for information systems, recently released "Tech Workforce 2020: The Age and Gender Perception Gap." Based on a survey of 3,587 ISACA members in 126 countries, this report examines the work experiences a...

Direct-to-consumer commerce, or D2C, is on the rise. Increasingly, consumers are expecting to interact directly with the companies that market and manufacture products "Direct-to-consumer commerce has been enhanced by the explosion of the Internet. E-commerce provides a more convenient and frictionless buying experience," said Peter Edlund, chief s...

Consumers increasingly are shopping by voice rather than typing on a keyboard or even searching on a phone. People are growing ever more comfortable with voice assistants, as the tech becomes smarter and more conversational every day "Consumers appreciate the simplicity of using voice to shop," said Shilp Agarwal, CEO of Blutag.

When buying clothes, many consumers still prefer to visit a brick-and-mortar store, browse the racks, and try on items. There's something about clothing, after all, that's inherently tactile and personal Gradually, however, the way people buy clothes has been changing. Digital technologies are reshaping the world of online fashion sales, and everyt...

Gone are the days when businesses just did business. Now, it's almost expected that business values and ethics will play a significant and enduring role in a company's identity From the products they sell to the way they treat their employees, businesses are finding that they no longer can separate what they do from what they believe -- and custome...

As more and more Web traffic comes from mobile devices -- particularly traffic to e-commerce sites -- it's becoming ever more important for businesses to have content that loads onto small screens easily, quickly and effortlessly. To some degree, native mobile apps until now have filled that need, but they have significant limitations. They must b...

Contemporary e-commerce means selling through a variety of channels beyond traditional company-owned websites -- including a plethora of social media, mobile and other platforms. Multichannel selling quickly has become the norm, and consumers increasingly expect to be able to shop wherever they happen to be in the digital world "Today, retailers ha...

Subscription sales have become a strong part of e-commerce. Everything from razors to dog toys to movies is being sold on the subscription model, and subscriptions don't show any signs of letting up "Our customers tell us that opening their BarkBox with their dog is one of the best experiences they share every month," said Allison Stadd, vice presi...

E-commerce by its nature involves a lot of packaging and shipping, and e-commerce companies can't always control how their products get sent. There are ways to make these processes more sustainable, however, and the benefits might well be worth the effort "E-commerce won't stop growing anytime soon," said Mark Bastiaanssen, CEO of Shiptimize....