6 Special E-Commerce Insights for Spring: E-commerce Link Digest

Happy Friday, Big Thinkers. Hope you don’t mind if we skip the setup this week and instead get you straight into the set of 6 special e-commerce insights for spring. Enjoy:

1. Fortune reports that Facebook may start allowing in-store purchases in Messenger, which was also the subject of this week’s episode of Thinks Out Loud — our weekly e-commerce and digital marketing podcast — called, “Why I’m Bullish on Mobile Payments and Messaging.”
2. eMarketer explains how marketers are dealing with the growth of tech. On a highly related note, McCann Japan just “hired” an AI as a creative director. Let’s be fair. What they’ve really done is created software to help with their decision-making. Still, the trend is reasonably clear: Data-driven marketing matters.
3. Luxury Daily offers up 5 insights into the future of relationships and retail. Similarly, eMarketer shines a light on a look at the hits and misses of holiday shopping 2015.
4. One key takeaway both the above articles highlight is the need for driving seamless experiences in 2016, which is the subject of another recent podcast episode. Be sure to check it out.
5. Another recent podcast episode explains why mobile won’t just change marketing; mobile will change the world. Don’t miss it.
6. And, finally, you should be sure to read why, when it comes to content marketing, we’re all publishers now.

If you want learn even more about how your customers’ changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing, be sure and register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

You can also check out these slides and video from my recent webinar, “Digital Marketing Directions: Three Key Trends Driving Your Marketing Next Year”: