With the proper fundamentals and the ability to break down the barest elements, minimalist design is achievable and getting in touch with the current trends is simplistic.  Here are a few examples that will help a web designer get the simple web design appearance.

Less is More – this statement was popularized by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.  The goal is using less to achieve more of an effect, which will achieve a simplistic yet functioning simple web design.

Omitting Needless Things – only focus on things that contribute to the content or function.  A terrific example is a simple grey background.  With simple typography and minimal effects, a website can have the simple flare that is desired.

Subtract Elements – crafting a simple website can also be achieved with subtracting elements until the site just doesn’t function anymore.  A great way to get this appearance is a simple single column body with a three-column footer.  Anything taken or added from this look would make the site less user-friendly.

Making Details Count – the most important fact about details is making each individual is a vital contribution.  Minimalist web design can be funky, yet modern and clean with sophistication.

Color – minimalist web design takes on a very interesting approach when color is added.  The right color or accent will be able to make the design of the website ideal.  The color white is also the backbone to any minimalist website.

Minimalist web design has been around for a very long time, and there are plenty of trends to this unique design.  The key is taking away from a website to the point it’s lifeless, then bringing back subtle hints until the desired look is achieved and of course – user-friendly.

The omni-channel shopping method allows customers the choice of buying merchandise online or a physical store.  Not only is this method better service, but the retailer can have more inventory and provide faster delivery service options.  Fiona Dias, the chief strategy officer at ShopRunnerstates “The promise is there, the potential is there, and when it works, it’s a lovely thing”.  However at the moment, there are only a few retailers implementing this system, because the software is expensive.

Even though Amazon is dominating online shopping, Walmart, Nordstroms, and Macy’s are working on getting in on the action.  These 3 stores are using their stores to ship products from there stores.  Shipping from their stores has helped with the speed of deliveries and reduce the amount of merchandise that ends up on clearance.  U.S. Chief Executive Bill Simon expressed how Walmart is now filling 10% of their online orders from its stores.

The development of omni-channel shopping has a great deal of support, because all of the online sales increasing are confirming this is the way for retailers to go.  There are several different facets that are developing such as storage lockers in the front of stores, buy online, pickup in store, and reservations of items online, then a 24 hour period to physically get into the store.  Retailers are hoping these options will help not only increase sales, but open up more options in the future.  This information can be located at www.reuters.com.

One of the biggest changes for GoDaddy will be the website. Under Blake’s supervision and management, the site will appear less technical. That can be huge for people that don’t have the technical background for websites and design. This new look will be appealing for small business owners and marketers. With GoDaddy’s new look, the Media Temple website will be able to cater to more of a technical type of audience. The new appearances will be able to compliment both sites well, and make the overall experience for the user better.

Another big surprise about the acquisition is the fact that Media Temple will be operated as a separate company, and will not be integrated into GoDaddy. Any discounts and coupons will not be interchangeable between the two companies. Virb is a website builder acquired by Media Temple in 2012 will not be included in this deal. The original founders/investors will be purchasing Virb.

The new changes for Media Temple and GoDaddy are going to be new and exciting. With a bright new management team and an infusion of cash, GoDaddy is proving to be a fierce leader in technology and interactive with new improvements for both its existing customers and new customers. The information and data provided can be found at www.smallbiztrends.com.

It may seem like writing and getting paid for fake reviews is a small issue, but nineteen companies have agreed to cease their practice of writing fake online reviews for businesses and pay over $350,000 in penalties.  That is a great deal of money for these businesses in trouble.  Fake reviews were found on Yelp, Google Local, and CitySearch stated New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

“Astroturfers” are people that know how to spoof their IP address, so it’s hard to find the location the review is being written from, and these “astroturfers” are also able to remain anonymous.  The Attorney General’s office spent a year investigation these schemes, and actually going undercover to gain evidence.  Companies involved in this scheme were hiring their own employees to post fake reviews as far away as Phillippines, Bangladesh, and Eastern Europe for $1 – $10 a review.  The common ad attracting these freelance writers was posted on Craigslist.org, Freelancer.com, and oDesk.com.  Other companies were direct with their approach, and simply placed ads asking for people with established Yelp accounts to post reviews.

Unfortunately, astroturfing is not likely to go away.  Consumers are going to have a really hard time distinguishing a real review from a fake ad, because astroturfers are so good at what they do.  As a consumer it is your job to take your time before making any purchase, and read all of the websites pertaining to the merchandise you are about to buy.

Here is a list of six trends responsible for the $61 billion dollar holiday shopping season.

• • Of course, E-commerce is going to be more than 15% of the holiday sales projections.  An E-commerce platform provider Volusion predicts that global retail E-commerce sales for small and mid-sized businesses will grow about 20%.  Those are very impressive numbers, and something to look forward to for retailers.
  • Mobile devices are going to be around 16% of retail E-commerce sales.  Tablet sales are also showing a particularly significant growth in E-commerce sales.
  • Free shipping is another huge holiday bonus.  A UPS study conducted in May of 2013 demonstrated that shoppers have recommended a particular store, just because of their free shipping.
  • Promotions also start sooner, because people are making their wish lists even earlier now.  Google sales managers Erin Dean, Jacalyn Stolt, and Nina Thatcher said “In July, nearly half of surveyed shoppers already had made plans for when to purchase their holiday gifts.  Of those actively planning, 30% are expecting to start before Halloween.”
  • Pricing is becoming even more of an issue.  A Google Consumer Survey from July of 2013 shows that shoppers actively shop around for the best price.
  • Smaller sellers have much more competition.  Therefore, these smaller stores are starting to sell their merchandise online.  Big competitors like Walmart have missed their second quarter estimated sales, because the competition is so fierce.

This year is going to be a very active one for shoppers, because of all of the smaller stores heading to E-commerce.  There are pros and cons to this approach, but the main goal is to sell their merchandise.  As E-commerce revenue increases so will the number of retailers getting their stores online to catch a piece of the action.

Staples announced on Thursday their plans for the next few months.  Not only will Staples be opening their first West Coast office.  Their plans are to secure a location in downtown Seattle with enough room for as many as 50 employees.  This exciting development center will focus primarily on e-commerce and engineering.  Personalization and big data will be the main office support duties, among other things.

Faisal Masud is the executive vice president of global e-commerce.  In the press release he stated “Staples is changing the way customers shop online”.  He also indicated that moving their development center to Seattle will be a great move, because the Seattle area has some of the biggest technology companies.  Being able to tap into those talented companies will benefit Staples greatly.

Seattle has a history if cutting edge companies in retail making a huge success.  Nordstrom, REI, and Starbucks are all living proof of the success market.  Each one of these companies are trying to make their mark in e-commerce, however Staples will most likely pull talent from each of the organizations to make their foundation an even bigger success.

Change can be a good thing, but will this change benefit both merchants and shoppers?

Reviewing each of these key points is going to be essential in determining just how to make a new alternative payment option available to both merchants and their shoppers.  The goal is finding a happy medium in which both side are happy, and the transition goes smoothly, so everyone can shop with new alternative payment options.

The error message looks like this:

Error Message:

Unable to process payment. Please contact the merchant as the shipping address provided by the merchant is invalid, and the merchant has requested that your order must be shipped to that address.

Solution (confirmed with PayPal technical support and tested by Royal Deer Design):

The error that your are receiving is associated with a variable that your Magento shopping cart is likely sending to PayPal. You have to locate the following line of code in your Magento shopping cart: . It is located in app/code/core/Mage/Paypal/Model/api/Standard.php.

This line of code should be removed, commented out, or the value should at least be changed to 0.

First you have to have your Google Analytics account. If you do not have one, go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ and sign up.

Let’s go to your Zen Cart files. The file we are interested in is located here:
../included/templates/YOURTEMPLATE /common/ tpl_footer.php

This file is included in the bottom of each page of your website. You just edit this file and add your Google Analytics JavaScript code on the bottom of this page.