The Shotfarm Monthly
by Lee Syrjanen. The other day I came across an article about shopping cart abandonment and the contributing factors that really, for some reason, stuck with me. Over the course of my online shopping history I know that I’ve certainly been guilty of loading up an online cart only to leave it. I’m sure many Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury. Over the last couple of months, I’ve been plugging away at a small series of pieces dealing with how to improve eCommerce conversions. The very first installment of said series was dedicated to building trust with the consumer. This month, Inc. Magazine published an article that nicely reinforces some of the points Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury. Pretend you’re blind. And deaf. And as it happens, an accident has left you with a strange nerve condition, which slightly numbs your sense of touch, taste and smell. In other words, you can’t see and hear, and your other senses can’t help you much. But you’re a consumer. We all are. Continue Reading…
by Lee Syrjanen. The other day I was walking through the Patagonia store with a friend of mine that I would call “behind the technology curve” when I saw a jacket I liked. All of the store clerks were busy with other customers and I couldn’t seem to find a price tag on the jacket. Continue Reading…
by Alisha O’Loughlin. As a user of your product, I can photograph and post and whatever I am feeling at the time. This dawned on my just the other day when I was making french toast on my new griddle. Six pieces of french toast, two for me and four for my husband, sizzling nicely Continue Reading…
by Lee Syrjanen. A few days ago we posted an article on our social media pages that went over some great tips on how to reduce email unsubscribes. I know that many of you check out our blog but aren’t connected to us through our social sites (shame on you), so you might have missed Continue Reading…
by Morgan Funke. It’s no secret that the two main user groups in shotfarm right now are manufacturers and retailers. The relationship that exists between the two is an important one; it’s a symbiotic relationship where the manufacturer and retailer both benefit from the other. The manufacturer needs its retailers to sell their products, and Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury. Obviously, the last week has been a turbulent one, what with Hurricane Irene’s East Coast approach and the storming of Libyan rebels into Tripoli. But, arguably, one of the biggest, most life-changing news stories this week—for techies, stock market analysts, corporations, and average Joes alike—was the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO Continue Reading…
by Alisha O’Loughlin I found this article on word-of-mouth marketing extremely eye opening. I love to see good ol’ traditional advertising infuse itself in today’s tech world. Prior to reading this article, I truly thought the internet was squashing traditional advertising altogether. It turns out the Internet is now the leading source of information for Continue Reading…
When it comes to developing a software product, there’s no more important perspective than the customer’s. That’s why we’re begging (er…asking politely) that you take just a few minutes to tell us what you think of shotfarm. We really WANT to implement your suggestions, so we just need to know what they are! What would Continue Reading…
by Lee Syrjanen Recently, I’ve been reading more and more about tablets. I must admit when tablets first came out I didn’t know how long they’d last, but as my research has continued it’s become pretty apparent that I was wrong. Very wrong. A recent Forrester poll indicates that many online retailers report seeing as Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury Around this time last year, Facebook had a reach of 500 million people worldwide. In the year since, its growth leaped by a staggering 30% to a global user base of more than 700 million people, leaving every other social media site/application even further in the dust. Enter Google+. While Facebook’s reach Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury Many of you beloved Shotfarm partners are retailers, with brick and mortar stores in which customers roam through the aisles to browse and buy. Now, imagine that, in one of your physical stores, one hundred people push their carts to the checkout section and get in their various checkout aisle of choice. Continue Reading…
by Morgan Funke I forgot my cell phone at home today, and I feel naked without it. How am I supposed to know what day it is, what time it is, what my friends are doing, how to get home or what to have for dinner? Okay, I’m being dramatic, but really it’s a lesson Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury After a long weekend (and week) of celebrating our country’s independence, I thought I’d shine a bit of light on our country’s “independents,” the mom & pop, brick and mortar stores that I seem to frequent less and less these days, me being an internet shopper and/or plain lazy. According to the Continue Reading…
by Alisha O’Loughlin As a retailer, you understand how important it is to provide that “in-store” experience to your online shoppers. It seems both 360 spin photography and video are moving online shopping in that direction. I met a very interesting woman, Colleen, at IRCE (Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition) a few weeks ago. She Continue Reading…
The shotfarm crew descended on San Diego last week to spread the good news of the Product Image Exchange to the attendees of the 2011 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition. If you’re unfamiliar with IRCE, it’s an incredible resource for both retailers and manufacturers to get up to speed on current trends in ecommerce and Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury You’re a consumer, sitting around your house in your sweatpants, thinking about buying an item you really want, when someone knocks on your door. You open it, and on the other side is a person you’ve never met or necessarily even heard of—a complete stranger. That person is selling the exact product Continue Reading…
by Alisha O’Loughlin I have recently dedicated some time to research product photography. Quality high resolution images let potential customers see what the product looks like and can help them decided whether to buy. I am always preaching the importance of quality product photography so I want to provide some simple steps to make them Continue Reading…
By Shag Chowdhury I’m going to tell you the story of how I almost died as a result of poor product photography. So, a few weeks ago, I began training for a sport called Match Racing with the Chicago Match Race Center. Essentially, once I know what I’m doing, I’ll be working amongst a crew Continue Reading…
by Lee Syrjanen Most of us know the importance of strategic communication with our customers. In the first three quarters of 2010 businesses spent more than $94 billion in advertising alone (that’s a lot of bread). One thing that is sometimes overlooked, however, is how important internal communication is to our business. The way a Continue Reading…
by Alisha O’Loughlin There is a process for just about everything; applying for college, dying your hair, having a baby, or sharing product images. In every situation we have many options, and it’s important that we find the best one. When we fail to choose the right process for ourselves or our company we risk Continue Reading…
…wouldn’t really be called a convention at all. Unfortunately, there is no “correct” way to name a product image file because every company has a slightly different workflow and therefore slightly different file naming need. Bed, Bath & Beyond, for example, would love for all of its manufacturers to name their files by UPC. E-commerce Continue Reading…
Shotfarm will be making a repeat appearance at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2011. We’re looking forward to a trip to balmy San Diego from June 14-16 and we’d love to see you there! We’ve joined the IRCE 2011 Exhibitor Partnership Program in order to give you, our favorite customers, a break on the Continue Reading…
In the last two weeks we’ve added two new features to help strengthen the tie between shotfarm and your brand: Customize your shotfarm portal with your company’s logo! You can upload your company’s logo on the Settings and Invitations page in the My Company’s Settings tab. Once you’ve got your logo uploaded, just click the Continue Reading…
Last newsletter we mentioned the pending release of Public LightBoxes. This new feature 1) allows manufacturers to prepare specific LightBoxes for their resellers and co-workers (think “Spring 2001 Collection” or “Lifestyle Images”) and 2) allows retailers to prepare specific LightBoxes for their co-workers. Now that they’re launched, here’s a quick tutorial on how to use Continue Reading…
By Shag Chowdhury Over the last year, I know there’s been a lot written in this space about customer service—in general industry terms, as well as more specific terms regarding shotfarm’s practices. That said, I have question for our partners, members and potential partners and members: have you ever used the chat feature? You know Continue Reading…
By Lee Syrjanen Anyone who’s even remotely connected to today’s world has certainly leveraged some sort of online file sharing tool. From the old school days of Napster, file sharing has evolved into so much more today. Nowadays there are a plethora of file sharing services for whatever your needs may be. From personal to Continue Reading…
by Morgan Funke This week, shotfarm moved offices. It was time for a bigger and better space, and today I am writing this from our swanky new home. Some of the improvements include: an entire wall of windows that allow for plenty of natural light; exposed brick, pipes and beams; more space to work; and Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury Last week, Shotfarmer Lee Syrjanen wrote about his trials in contacting key personnel from various manufacturers, to discuss centralizing “the image exchange portion of their business.” He articulated in detail about the difficulties of explaining that Shotfarm is a free service that gives great value, which some points of contact—if he could Continue Reading…
by Alisha O’Loughlin Did you know people actually purchase vehicles off the internet? What ever happened to that shopping experience where customers touch the product, feel its texture, smell that new car scent? I remember when I purchased my first car I went through that sucker with a fine tooth comb, inspecting every nook, interrogating Continue Reading…
by Lee Syrjanen Recently, a large portion of my day has been devoted to trying to contact my retail clients’ manufacturers to explain the benefits of centralizing the image exchange portion of their business. During this time two major realizations have occurred to me. The first dawned on me immediately, and was the realization that Continue Reading…
I know that over the past year, we Shotfarmers have published a few words here and there about the coming future of increased mobile e-commerce traffic, what with the rise of smartphone sales an’ all. Well, while flipping through the online pages of Connected World Magazine the other day, I noticed a blurb which hinted Continue Reading…
by Morgan Funke One of the cross training activities I participate in for my running and rowing efforts is called CrossFit. CrossFit is comprised of constantly varied, functional movement performed at high intensity. Sounds crazy, right? I thought so too, until I became hooked. Now I spend almost as much time at the gym (or Continue Reading…
A few months ago, in this blog, I wrote a piece about DIY product photography. I gave a few general tips about research, cameras, and other accessories that would be useful in getting your product photos to shine (without obnoxious glare) while YOU worked the shutter. And while I definitely felt good about highlighting camera Continue Reading…
We’re rolling out three new related features that make uploading, organizing and sharing more powerful than we thought possible. These features truly set shotfarm apart from any other Asset Management system. Automatic LightBoxes When using the Manifest Uploader, you can now create multiple LightBoxes and populate them with assets simply by adding LightBox columns to Continue Reading…
Retail is not a philanthropic industry. It’s ok to admit it: you want (need) to make a profit. So why not do everything in your power to make it happen? Recent studies have shown that rich, dynamic content can increase your sales by more than 150%. And no, having a “zoom” view that’s exactly the Continue Reading…
You know you’re on the right track when the industry’s foremost publication seeks you out! Check out this article in Internet Retailer’s latest issue that highlights the positive chain reaction set off by shotfarm: images get to resellers faster, which gets products online earlier, which increases organic search, generating traffic and—ta da!—increasing sales. (No brainer, Continue Reading…
Our highly anticipated SuperDownloader is now in development and scheduled for May release. Once available, users will be able to download as many iterations of assets found on shotfarm as they need. Here’s what you’ll be able to do: · Rename assets using either the product information on file or own schema · Add a Continue Reading…
Function aside, we’d be tempted to nominate the Smood just because of its name…but thankfully its usefulness lives up to its cool moniker. Manufacturer Dreamfarm created the Smood to let you mash pretty much any food into a smooth and fluffy consistency without the wrist strain you might get from standard mashers. Check out the Continue Reading…
by Alisha O’Loughlin and Jim Warren Our two newest account specialists got together to learn a little more about each other. Here are their perspectives from Day One on the farm… Alisha’s take on Jim The one thing Jim and I agree on for sure is that Shotfarm is a refreshing product that will soothe Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury About two weeks ago, while on assignment in Cincinnati, I received an automated e-mail from Borders bookstore. Now, I get fairly frequent and regular updates and offers from the company, so I figured it was just another coupon, or special deal—until I learned that it was from a specific Borders located in Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury If you’ve paid any attention to this space over the last few weeks, and particularly this month, you’ll know how very proud we are of our new hosted viewer, which is available in our new Plugin Store. You probably already know that with our hosted viewer, you won’t ever have to download, Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury As the song goes, the times they are a-changing. And they’re a-changing pretty a-rapidly. The recent release and inventory sell-out of the iPad 2, for whatever reason, tripped a neural wire in my hippocampus and reminded me of my college years, way back in the mid 90s. It was Autumn, 1995: the Continue Reading…
by Shag Chowdhury Last week, I touched on a bit of recent computing history—as I remembered it—and discussed the current fast-rising surge of tablet computers. I suggested that, with these consumer-focused computers, it was absolutely imperative that you, the content providers, did your due diligence to provide engaging content if you didn’t want to be Continue Reading…
At long last, Shotfarm is thrilled to announce the launch of its new Plugin Store! We’ve spent the last year working to make sure that shotfarm simplifies image transfer and now we want to help you solve even more problems. Over the next few months, you’ll see several brand spanking new offerings in our Plugin Continue Reading…
With the launch of shotfarm’s new Plugin Store, you can now host images on your website straight from shotfarm’s image library! Never again will you have to deal with the manual process of downloading, renaming, resizing and transferring files to a separate hosting provider. Shotfarm’s new HTML5 viewer lets you showcase alternate images, deep zoom Continue Reading…
Live Help Got a question about how to do something in shotfarm? We’ve installed live help inside the application so you can chat with one of us any time you need to. Just click the Live Help link at the top of your screen–we’ll be waiting! Original Filename Download You told us you hated something Continue Reading…
Our developers have a few things in the pipeline that are just around the corner…and we just couldn’t wait until next month to tell you about them. Look for these new features later this week! New Thumbnail Display In the same vein as keeping original filenames, we’ve been hearing that you need to be able Continue Reading…
by Lee Syrjanen This week shotfarm exhibited at the International Home and Housewares show at McCormick Place convention center. When I first walked into the convention center I was amazed at how large the show was. I never expected to see two huge rooms absolutely filled with exhibitors, little did I know there were two Continue Reading…
