Category Archives: Blog

Nominate A Soldier for Free Coffee

There are times when we are working on a customer’s site and come across something pretty cool that we want to share. Our friends at Roger’s Coffee & Tea Market offer Free Coffee for Soldiers serving overseas in a war zone. Pretty awesome in our book!

If you know of a soldier that qualifies, please thank them for their service and fill out the form for a free care package! Giving back and supporting others is very important to us at BCSE and we love when our customers feel the same way. Check out the Roger’s Coffee & Tea Market site and order some terrific coffee or tea for yourself while you are at it!

This entry was posted in Blog, Ecommerce, Featured Client on by .

The End of an Era – Goodbye IE

The long-lived Microsoft Internet Explorer is beginning its swan song. Beginning with Windows 10, Internet Explorer will be phased out. Of course, Microsoft will be still in the browser market. As of right now, the new browser project is currently named Project Spartan (cue a web-comic with IE being “Sparta-kicked” into a hole), but that name will likely change as the project develops. Also, Spartan will come with a Web assistant named Cortana (see: Halo), as well as some other added functionality.

There are several versions of this information around the Web. However, this NPR article is among the most informative pieces I have seen on the topic. It also includes a memorable line from AdWeek’s Kristina Monllos regarding the need for noticeable change from IE to Spartan: “They don’t want people to see it as if they’re just putting lipstick on the Internet Explorer pig.” While this is true (and is definitely a challenge for Microsoft to overcome), I am sure current IE users might not mind that lipstick-covered pig. So, the challenge becomes retaining current users and attracting back some of its former market share. I am curious to see what Microsoft brings to the table to try to achieve this end.

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Phasing Out of Amazon Webstore Platform

According to this article from Internet Retailer, Amazon has begun notifying customers of the phasing out of Amazon Webstore by 2016. From the launch announcement of Amazon Webstore, it is “a full-featured e-commerce product that enables small- to medium-sized retailers and manufacturers to quickly design, build and manage their multichannel e-commerce businesses using Amazon’s technology.” This follows the somewhat recent notification from Magento regarding the discontinuation of the MagentoGo platform.

Along these lines, if you are currently utilizing the Amazon Webstore as an e-commerce platform or if you had been planning to utilize the platform in the near future, there are other alternatives available. We support conversions to X-Cart, BigCommerce, and Magento. Contact us for a free quote on your e-commerce conversion needs!

This entry was posted in Bigcommerce, Blog, Ecommerce, Magento, X-Cart on by .

30 Year Anniversary of .com

This past Sunday was the 30th anniversary of a momentous event in the history of the Internet – the registration of the first .com domain. It seems hard to imagine something as pervasive as the Internet has only been around for 30 years. While I am able to remember how things were before the World Wide Web became a constant part of my life, there are people younger than me who have lived their entire lives with it. As such, I am sure some people are unable to imagine life without the Internet.

This article from CBS News goes into a little more detail about the history of the dot com domain.

I also found the following timeline from Verisign (which is included in the CBS article) extremely interesting. For example, I didn’t know that Amazon has been around since 1994 – shortly after the advent of the World Wide Web. This timeline is full of similarly interesting facts.

This entry was posted in Around the Office, Blog, Ecommerce, Events on by .

Google to Begin Considering Sites’ Mobile-Friendliness in Search Rankings

In a response to the current trends in e-commerce, Google is soon to begin weighing sites’ “mobile-friendliness” as part of its algorithm for search rankings. Google’s official release can be read here. With people spending an increasing amount of time on their mobile devices, as well as the increase in the number of people using mobile for shopping – particularly at top e-commerce retailers, this shift by Google is just a mirroring of these trends.

The official date for this shift in search-ranking algorithm to commence is April 21st. The delay in this is to allow sites to prepare for this change. Along these lines, if you currently do not have a mobile or responsive site and are looking to make these changes, contact us for a free quote to evaluate your project. If you are looking for a “quick fix”, our Mobile Mod for X-Cart can definitely help. Now is definitely the time to make this leap as opposed to waiting until after the change!

This entry was posted in Blog, Ecommerce, X-Cart on by .

What Color Is this Dress – The Importance of Quality Pictures on Your Website

So, it is likely that you have seen the following image making the rounds on the internet:

We discussed this briefly around the office and there were varying opinions. However, there is one thing that we took away as a lesson from all of this – the importance of quality pictures. If the lighting in your picture allows people to see your subject in different colors, then this is probably not an ideal picture. This can obviously be an issue for online retailers. As the only representation an online customer has of your product comes from whatever image is uploaded, it is crucial to get this right.

To this end, we would like to mention our Mobile Admin Module for X-Cart. Among other things, this module allows you to upload pictures from your phone or tablet for your X-Cart store. You will just want to make sure that your pictures are better than the one of the dress in this article.

If you are curious about the science behind why the dress is perceived in different colors, this Wired article helps explain the phenomenon.

This entry was posted in Around the Office, Blog, X-Cart on by .

Corvettestoreonline.com

Check out our most recent X-Cart website & shopping cart overhaul for our client John Huffman at Corvettestoreonline.com. We were contacted to upgrade the site and implement a more responsive skin. The finished product is super and provides more functionality and responsiveness. We also made this site mobile while keeping the key features, as well as the look and feel, consistent with the new site. We’ve already had some customer interest in this skin and functionality in the form of requests to replicate this skin for other sites. We believe that imitation is the best form of flattery, so we take this as another testimony to the work completed on the site!

“I found the team @ BCS Engineering to be the best possible fit when transitioning to or

within the X-Cart platform. With more than 10 years of experience, they work

well together in helping their clients achieve their often changing goals

and little details. As a satisfied client, I can highly recommend BCS

Engineering.” – John Huffman, Corvettestoreonline.com

Contact us for help with your site. Whether it’s an upgrade, a change to the look and feel, or getting your site mobile for easier searching, we’ve got you covered!

This screenshot of the new site homepage includes scrolling images and more robust drop-down menus for easier site navigation:

CorvetteStoreBlogPic1

Compared to this screenshot of the homepage of the old site, which lacked the dynamic feel that the new site provides:

CorvetteStoreBlogPic2
Contact BCS Engineering for a free quote to help you get the site that you’ve been wanting!
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Ways to Utilize Psychological Principles on Pricing Pages

Pricing pages are often the most important aspect of a company’s website. Due to this, it is important to make this page as effective as possible. Once again, if we look to how people process information and emotions, we can find little ways to steer customers to the optimally-desired result. This Entrepreneur article provides several tips along these lines.

The most important of these – and one we have seen before in other website suggestions – is to provide less information, not more. Giving people too much information can lead to the customer thinking too much about a purchasing decision instead of acting on emotional triggers. This does not mean, “do not provide any information at all”, but to only provide the most important information. However, if customers want more information, this can be handled either through a “See More Features” link option or some similar means.

The full article lists a few more helpful tips regarding pricing pages and psychological triggers. To read the article, click here.

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Magento Go End-of-Life Reminder

As a reminder, in less than three weeks (February 1st), Magento Go and ProStores are shutting down. At this time:

  • All merchants’ stores on these platforms will be closed
  • Merchants will lose access to store and customer data
  • Merchants will lose access to store content and images
  • Customer support for both of these platforms will be shut down

One of the options suggested by Magento as an alternative, Bigcommerce, is offering discounted services to clients moving from Magento Go and ProStores, including:

  • Free migration
  • First month free
  • Advanced eBay integration through ChannelUnity with no monthly fee and just 1% commission

Click the following link to get started: http://bcse.bigcommerce.com

This entry was posted in Bigcommerce, Blog, Ecommerce, Magento on by .