Shopify for the Holidays

It's the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR, especially for Shopify merchants! Holiday time is upon us and that means that shopping is abound all around us! Parents are busy gifting purchases from e-commerce shops, and this year that has meant a trip to Shopify shops. So, while frantic boyfriends try to shop for the last-minute perfect gift and parents are sitting in the kitchen till the late hours wrapping up presents for the kids, e-commerce sites are feeling the holiday spirit as their products are being sold at an exponential rate. 

This is where Datonics Audience Insights has come in to help merchants sell even more!

This time of year is a frenzy of shopping and the way to fully grasp the potential of sales at the time is with this Audience Insights app. With the Demographics dashboard, e-commerce owners can home in on advanced customer demographic data in order to segment potential and returning customers.

Segmenting customers with Audience Insights allows you to learn whether your customers are shopping for themselves, for their kids, for a significant other and much more!

Happy Holidays from Datonics to you and your loved ones!

A Ride to Remember

A few members of the Datonics team commemorated the end of the year with a thrilling helicopter ride around New York City. It was a fun and exciting company outing to wrap up another great year and celebrate the holidays.

The helicopter tour around New York City started in the downtown heliport and followed a route featuring all five boroughs, magnificent views of the bridges, Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower and unique perspectives on the Manhattan skyline. The pilot was professional and knowledgeable, and pointed out all of the noteworthy sights and sites!

The ride offered a different vantage point on the City and our surroundings we see almost every day, which made a deep impression.

The experience was surreal and truly unforgettable. We all had fun exploring the City we know so well.  

Our Commitment to Giving

Once the last of the Thanksgiving dishes has been washed and the last college student returns to their dorm, feelings of overflowing gratitude are further channeled into Giving Tuesday. Today is a day where organizations turn inwards and embark on a mission of generosity investing time, energy, and donations to helping the communities around them and those that are needy.

Datonics is an organization that leads by an example of generosity and has always put giving back as a priority. From the onset of the global pandemic, Datonics jumped into assistance and pledged $25K to support local businesses and restaurants that so desperately needed support to stay afloat. Through a brilliant strategy of encouraging working from home employees to order lunch from these local spots, the rewards were immeasurable for these restaurants.

We partnered with the Fund for Public Schools to ensure every student forced into remote learning would have access to the technology necessary to participate in school. This partnership provides devices to students and bridges the gap for those who would otherwise not have this opportunity. In Q4 2020, we launched the Data for Food Initiative to battle food insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic, especially for young children. The pledge for this initiative was for 2.75% of Datonics’ revenue generated by specific campaigns would be donated to desired charities or local food banks in both NY and Toronto.

The work doesn’t stop there. We’ve partnered with the following organizations in our latest giveback initiative to help make every corner of our planet better:

- Futures & Options
- Team Daya
- NORML
- One Tree Planted
- Girls Who Code
- Center for Employment Opportunities
- The Nature Conservancy

These initiatives continue to be the basis of Datonics mission, to channel our skills into efforts that better the world and communities around us. This Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to reflect inward and see what needs to be done in the world and actively take steps to help those around us who are in need of support.

Cyber Monday is Today!

With e-commerce accounting for more shopping activity than ever before, the delineation between Cyber Monday and Black Friday may be losing relevance; however, it’s still poised to be a big online shopping day this year.

 

Cyber Monday deals tend to have time sensitivities, so the earlier you make purchases, the better! Some wait the whole year on appliances and household items to take advantage of the exciting opportunities that Cyber Monday offers to willing customers. It's all about having a game plan because once the day starts, one can get easily distracted by the plethora of options to shop from. 

 

As an e-commerce shop owner, Cyber Monday is your personal Super Bowl! Shop owners need to plan ahead for the day and really take advantage of the customers who are eager to score the day. 

 

Datonics launched Audience Insights, an app to help Shopify merchants prepare all the data they need to score their own touchdowns on Cyber Monday. Armed with information and data analytics, owners can properly advertise and segment their audiences to cater to their specific shopping preferences. Only by understanding the shopping preferences of your customer base, can you understand areas of growth potential for your e- commerce business. 

 

The Shopping Preferences Dashboard is a key feature of Audience Insights that learns what visitors are in the market for and can get conversions from likely buyers. In this way, you can cater your e- commerce Cyber Monday promotions and campaigns to what will be enticing for potential shoppers on this day.

 

 Happy Cyber Monday!

Recognizing Small Business Saturday

Datonics recognizes Small Business Saturday, in which all those hard working and creative behind-the-scenes ruling entrepreneurs are celebrated!  

Shopify is a platform that celebrates small businesses and what they each bring to the table. What makes small businesses so unique is the ability to see a small team give an idea or project their whole undivided efforts and hopefully watch those efforts build something great. The level of personalization to each customer and order is unparalleled with a high level of human contact and support. Small businesses pride themselves on giving their customers an experience they won’t forget when engaging with the business. They continuously learn from their customers and adapt the business model they have established to better reflect their customers' changing needs and wants. 

With this mindset, Datonics launched Audience Insights on the Shopify platform to further help small businesses thrive with their e-commerce sites. This insight is crucial for small businesses with limited funds because by understanding your customer base you can use funds in the most optimal way that would speak to those clients.  

With the Shopping Preferences Dashboard feature, you can learn what customers are in the market for and focus on getting sales conversions from those avenues. This insight can also help with marketing performance and hone in on customers close to completing a purchase.  

Another incredible feature is the Demographics Dashboard, which provides advanced data on your clients such as milestones, anniversaries, and other life events that can be beneficial.  

Running a small business is tough, and the more you know the more you will want to know! Audience Insights is a crucial factor to help you step up that game and provide the quality customer experience that makes shopping from a small business so meaningful. 

Black Friday Is Almost Here

Black Friday is on the horizon and that means lines and sales and shopping galore! While you may not be lining up outside stores the whole night to capitalize on the best promotions… who doesn’t love a great deal! Flipping the perspective to online merchants, Black Friday can be a pivotal day to increase sales and website traffic for your e-commerce site. There are no real rules for Black Friday sales, so lean into the spirit of the day and see what potential can come of it.

 

Some strategies include:

  • Set up a “Deal an Hour”, meaning changing the promotion and sales percentage every hour to encourage customers to stay engaged with your e-commerce site.

  • Use social media to drive customers to your different promotional strategies and deals using specific hashtags that link to your e-commerce site.

  • Create a gift with purchase for customers who spend a certain amount, to encourage them to push that “order” button on your e-commerce site.

  • And don’t forget, a “free shipping promotion” goes a long way!

 

While all these strategies can be helpful on Black Friday, a more targeted and strategic advertising approach would be helpful for driving sales throughout the year.

 

Datonics launched Audience Insights to enable e-commerce merchants to intimately get to know their customer base and make advertising decisions strategically. While Black Friday is a once-a-year event to capitalize on, knowing your audience and what drives them yearly can greatly increase your sales and customer engagement with your e-commerce site.

 

One specific insight that could be helpful is knowing your customers' shopping interests. For example, their store visits, value shoppers, brand loyalists, impulse buyers, and online vs retail analytics can all help you strategize how to set up and push specific campaigns for your e-commerce site. The more you know, the better you can build strategies.

 

Use Black Friday to capitalize on adrenaline-based shopping deals and promotions and then use Audience Insights to capitalize on knowing your audience, year-round!

Data in the Metaverse – What Does it Look Like?

The recent increased focus on the metaverse sparked interest at Datonics to take a closer look at the future of data and what it will look like in this new medium. After all, at its foundation, the metaverse is data.

First, let’s take a look at the infrastructure. To turn data into a metaverse experience is quite extraordinary and presents many opportunities. In this environment, there will be a need for data to be ingested, stored, accessed, analyzed and enriched, all in real-time.

There will also need be a heavy focus on establishing privacy standards via entirely new models that go beyond gated content and granted consumer consent.

Beyond infrastructure, there are so many opportunities for data application in the metaverse. Let’s examine just a few of the experiences we will have in the metaverse and data’s role:

·        Commerce – Commerce will thrive in the metaverse, and in theory, brands will have a much better window into what consumers like, creating a better and more relevant experience. The more time consumers spend in the metaverse, the more data will be available to help marketers make not just campaigns, but tailored products that appeal to consumers.

 

·        Travel – Going on a trip in the metaverse? Yes! This will be an entirely new travel category in the future and imagining these kinds of experiences is exciting. For example, we could go visit places where we cannot physically go like under the ocean, into space or into the depths of the earth. While we currently have documentaries that take us on these types of journeys, the metaverse experience will incorporate more than just vision and sound. It will feel like we’re actually swimming with fish or floating in space. To make such trips possible, there will need to be a vast storage of data taken from these locations and rendered in the metaverse.

 

·        B2B – Business in the metaverse is going to be big. We have already accelerated the move to a hybrid and remote workforce, and have identified a lack of in-person collaboration as the biggest drawback to the new normal. Improved collaboration technology will gain adoption in the business world and gathering together virtually will become more commonplace. Data will become even more critical to B2B marketers to engage with customers in these new environments.

 

·        Finance – It will be interesting to see how the finance world adapts to the metaverse and if there will be an entire new finance exchange for the metaverse. Regardless of how it manifests, companies will seek out data to help make informed decisions on where to invest.

Datonics Mask Removers

Fall is in the air and that means Halloween is right around the corner! Who doesn’t love dressing up, trick-or-treating and pumpkin decorating? Telling scary ghost stories and decorating the whole house with cobwebs is always a family favorite. What is it about this spooky season that just brings everyone together?

The one thing that makes Halloween so unique is that we all put on masks and have trouble knowing who really is behind those masks. In that sense, interacting with e-commerce shoppers can feel like a Halloween mask party, because you never really know who's behind the masks and what kind of customers you are dealing with.

With Audience Insights, all that has changed for Shopify merchants.

Audience Insights strips the “masks” that are so common to e- commerce merchants and allows them to really get to know their visitors. Audience Insights is the first Shopify app that allows you to unlock deep audience profiles, and gives insight such as the age, gender, marital status, education, and upcoming life events of your customers. The interest dashboard pushes this data further and gives insight into your customers' style and fashion preferences, travel preferences, content consumption, and more! It really is incredible what you can do, once you know who you’re dealing with. So don those masks, eat the pumpkin pie, and have a happy Halloween from the Datonics team to you!

Advertising Week 2021

This week, Datonics has been busy at Advertising Week, and what a week it’s been! Four full days of events filled with A-list speakers, industry experts and market leaders discussing the future of digital content and creation, programmatic, CTV and – our favorite topic – data.

 

This year’s event hosted around 500 people in person, with thousands more dialing in virtually. And while we still have a long way to go to get back to “normal,” the events this week have been a refreshing change.

A few celebrity guest speakers have added to the excitement. For example, a concert by Mary J. Blige at the Apollo. Fun collaborations include Snap Shack (Snapchat and Shake Shack), TikTok’s TikTok World, and more.

 

The events also featured fantastic networking opportunities with a dedicated Happy Hour at the end of each day. Attendees have enjoyed coming together to connect, chat about the sessions, overall business, and just catching up.

Datonics at AdMonsters Ad Ops Conference

This past week, Datonics was a proud sponsor of AdMonsters’ Ad Ops Conference, a two-day event in New York City that featured an impressive lineup of speakers from publishers, brands and technology companies. It was among the first we have attended since the start of the pandemic. It was refreshing to be in person again and take in all of the engaging content.

The event was filled with industry experts and market leaders discussing the most pressing issues impacting the advertising and publishing industry today. The agenda covered topics such as the future of brand safety, programmatic, CTV and data. 

With over 250 attendees, this event marked the first live, in-person conference for many. People traveled from all over the country including Chicago and Atlanta, and many – like those from our team – were coming from across the tristate. There was a lot of excitement about connecting in person. Some people were seeing each other for the first time in more than two years.

Datonics looks forward to more in-person industry events in the coming months!

Global Reconnections - Datonics Prepares for 2022 Events Season

The US Datonics team has enjoyed recent industry events, live concerts, sporting and networking events during which our team has had an opportunity to mingle with partners and colleagues. It’s been a welcome change from the time we all spent apart during the height of the pandemic.

Last week brought more welcome news with the US lifting the international travel ban, which has been in place since March 2020.

The end to the ban comes at an important time, allowing friends and family to reunite for the holidays. From a business perspective, the ban comes at just the right time for companies to start considering hosting colleagues from abroad and for key Q1 2022 industry events to welcome international residents.

Datonics is planning as well! We have begun our comeback to the conference circuit and are already planning on attending several much-anticipated Q1 2022 industry events such as SXSW, RampUp and IAB Leadership Summit. And now our international team – made up of R&D in Israel - is able to join us.

Some may say the biggest draw are the Texas BBQ and breakfast tacos.

We are hopeful the borders will stay open so that we can share in these experiences with our global colleagues and partners.

Datonics Puppy Party – Catching Up with Brands, Agencies and Technology Partners

Last week, Datonics hosted our friends from brands, ad agencies, DSPs/DMPs for a post-Labor Day happy hour mixer at The Wilson, a dog-friendly bar where adoption organization Muddy Paws brought several puppies for our guests to interact and play with.

A great time was had by all. We were surrounded by everyone’s two favorite things: puppies and great company. The event allowed us to re-engage with partners we haven’t seen since the start of the pandemic, while also raising awareness for a great cause. Muddy Paws’ guests included three adorable puppies - Daisy, Dixie and Delia, who captured our hearts and added to the relaxing atmosphere.

The event was scheduled until 9PM, but with drinks and conversation flowing, all stayed later into the evening. The perfect weather added to the pleasurable evening and was enjoyed on The Wilson’s front patio.

And what’s a party without party favors! All were able to choose from a Yeti rambler, a Yeti dog bowl or a Moleskin notebook, also available in our Datonics Store.

Datonics Team Celebrates End of Summer at the US Open

Some of the NYC-area Datonics team gathered to celebrate the end of summer for our annual outing to the US Open on Thursday, 9/2. We were lucky to have beautiful weather on the day, which followed one of the worst storms to hit New York City and the tristate area. We were all thankful to have made it through the storm, for the beautiful sunshine and mild temperature, and for each other’s company.

The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park was alive with music and tons of great food. Our team was able to choose between great eats and drinks in the Food Village such as: Los Tacos No.1, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shop, Curry Kitchen, Fish Shack, Franks & Fries, Fuku, Grey Goose Bar, Glatt Kosher, Korilla BBQ, San Matteo, Poke Yachty, Prime Burger and many more.

The tennis matches were fierce. We watched some of the best players in the world, including an electric match between Gael Monfils and Steve Johnson. The score was extremely close, with games going back and forth between the two players. French player, Monfils gave the crowd quite a performance with a celebratory dance, winning the support over USA Steve Johnson and ultimately winning and moving onto the next round.

It was a great day of in-person celebration and team building camaraderie.

We look forward to our next event!

US Open 2.png

Datonics Concert Series – The Eagles

By Rob Klein

 

As part of the Datonics Concert Series - an initiative for qualified ad agencies and partners - the Datonics team ventured to Madison Square Garden to see the legendary Eagles in the Loft Suite. We enjoyed great food included in our visit to the Loft by the private chef with dishes ranging from fresh seafood and sushi to burgers and meatballs. Mouthwatering jumbo shrimp cocktail, sushi rolls, burgers, meatballs, chicken, etc.

The staff was incredibly helpful and attentive, answering any food questions and providing a full bar along with any refreshments you could imagine.

The Eagles started off the show with the recognizable bass beat to Hotel California and the crowd going wild, immediately knowing what’s coming. Eagle’s late Glenn Frey was missed, but his son Deacon Frey stood front and center to sing lead for his dad’s parts to iconic songs like Hotel California and Take it Easy. Following in his dad’s footsteps, Glenn honored his dad and rock legend.

The band played for over 3 hours. The energy was palpable in the air. The crowd was dancing and grooving to the music. The night ended with Desperado, everyone at MSG belting along to the song. The band did a cover to Best of My Love by the Emotions to honor Charlie Watts, drummer for the Rolling Stones.

Datonics Concert Series - Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

By Jinju Won

In celebration of the legendary Tony Bennett’s 95th birthday and last performance ever, the Datonics team experienced a night to remember!

As part of the Datonics Concert Series to connect with agencies through a fun and personable outing, it was truly an event to be celebrated and long-ingrained in our minds with the commanding stage presence of Lady Gaga and of course, the one and only, Tony Bennett.

The night started off with a delicious dinner at Quality Bistro, an elevated brasserie serving their takes on French classics. The staff had created an outdoor dining experience that seemed to plop you right in the middle of a garden party, taking you on a culinary expedition, all while being steps away from the historic Radio City Music Hall.

Content from the delightful meal and several glasses of the French-pressed sangria, the Datonics team headed over to Radio City Music Hall to enjoy a performance of a lifetime. With the crowd giving standing ovation after ovation for every song, the chants of “NY is back!” echoed the halls whilst also making you pause and think—did NY ever leave?

The energy from both performers, live band and crowd said otherwise. Lead by Lady Gaga, the night ended with the entire venue joining as one, singing Happy Birthday to the icon himself, Tony Bennett.

Thank you, Tony Bennett, for 72 years of genuine joy and talent that you have shared with all who love and respect your music! We hope to make many more memories and bop our heads to even more classics with upcoming Datonics Concert Series events that include:  

·       Dead and Company

·       Eagles

·       Harry Styles

·       Luke Combs

·       Dave Matthews

·       Billy Joel

·       John Mayer

·       Elton John and more!

Back to School: A+ for your Data Needs

Grab your backpacks and glasses because Back-to-School season is upon us! And even though there is some uncertainty, teachers and families are projected to have strong engagement in back-to-school seasonal shopping. From new outfits and bags, to the latest in educational technology, total back-to-school spending is expected to reach $37.1B, up from $33.9B last year, an all-time high according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. 

 

Using Audience Insights, Shopify merchants can harness this shopping energy into a quantifiable increase in sales!  The more you know, the better you can directly target your customers. What better season to be prepared than the first day of school?

Audience Insights is a tool that gives merchants the inside scoop on who is actually arriving to their online stores. Merchants can target shoppers’ back-to-school needs to whatever specific stage they might be. While animal themed school supplies and rollie-backpacks may be a hit amongst parents shopping for their young scholars, high school students may be more in the market for higher education math tools. Having specific information about different niche demographics can help merchants leverage their advertising efforts to better resonate with their potential customers. Additionally, Audience Insights provides access to data from keyword searches that can further help target specific products to specific customers. Using Audience Insights, Shopify merchants can intimately learn the habits, likes, desires, and stages of different segments of their client base to aptly prep their marketing and products for this year’s back-to-school frenzy. 

It may be a new school year, but Datonics is still ahead of the class and raising the curve on all things data!

Datonics Internship Program – Summer Experience

Datonics has been able to sustain our internship program even amidst the pandemic. We are so proud of our interns, who continue to impress us with their ideas, drive and abilities. This Summer, two outstanding young Americans Amichi and Jordan joined our data classification team in Israel. They share thoughts on their experiences below.

 

My experience as a summer intern for Datonics has definitely exceeded my expectations so far. From the first day that I arrived here everyone was so welcoming and it is clear that the Datonics office culture is very warm. I have been guided superbly by a few supervisors who have always been there to answer any questions I may have. I was very excited to be given a serious and meaningful project from day one because I felt like I was contributing to the company in a real way. In just a couple short weeks I became familiar with the company’s data taxonomy. I also learned how to analyze different domains and classify them within the Datonics taxonomy.  

-        Amichi Schleifer

 

Before I arrived at the Datonics office, I had no idea what to expect, but I was met with nothing but great things from the moment I walked in. The office was very relaxing and everyone was so nice and welcoming despite just meeting me. Every time I step into the office, my experience continues to improve by either meeting new people or receiving a new task. My short time in Israel has been amazing and the work environment I stepped into made the experience even better.

-        Jordan Poreh

Basketball & Business Lessons – Preparation, Awareness & Pride

By William Li

In both business and in basketball, there are individuals who have natural talent. We’ve all been in a situation before where we are listening to a charming, eloquent individual speak and we find ourselves marveling at how this person is able to effortlessly convey their vision and communicate their goals. Some people are simply gifted with personality and with the talent of weaving words into stories. Likewise, there are basketball players who are physically dominant, whether through their imposing size and strength or their incredible athleticism.

As a little guy who loves to compete in this sport for giants, I recognized early on that my only chance at leveling the playing field was through preparation. Even though I am almost always the smallest player on the court, I have the confidence that my obsession with working on the same shot or the same move hundreds of times will pay dividends during the game. I have confidence in how I will perform because I have trained tirelessly for each scenario and I have a strategy for neutralizing an opponent’s size or strength. Seeing the results of my preparation over the years is the reason I apply it to every area of passion that I pursue, including my work. The same way that I recognize I may not be the most talented in basketball but that I can outwork my competition, I employ the same mentality when it comes to the challenges of my job.

I am in my 30s now and while I play basketball primarily for the exercise and for fun, my pride follows me every time a game starts. I can’t shake this fascination to always want to improve and learn everything I can to gain an edge during competition. This pride and yearning for progress is also what drives me at the workplace. My love for basketball has molded my philosophy into other areas of my life.

Know your strengths, recognize your weaknesses. Use your strengths to cover up the weaknesses. And most importantly, be better than who you were yesterday.

UberEats to Uber Cooks

By Jinju Won

My roommates and I always joked how we never cooked and our fridge was only stocked with our Brita and beer. But during the pandemic, we've all grocery shopped and cooked more than ever before, all while binging the Food Network for recipes. Some of our favorite meals to cook are of the Latin American variety.

Cooking has become a wonderful way to unwind, connect with family and friends, as well as express ourselves creatively. As we’ve become more comfortable with preparing specific types of dishes, we have added in our own flares to recipes, enhancing the flavors we like best.

Who knew we were all Anthony Bourdains in hiding!

As we have reentered the world, we still try to cook at least a few times a week. This new routine has been a highlight for me from the pandemic.

👨🏻‍🦰👩🏾‍🌾👨🏻‍🍳🧑🏽‍🏫👩🏼‍💻... Who's Your Audience!?

Emoji are the hieroglyphics of our time. Much like hieroglyphics, sometimes emojis sent by one party need a team of scholars to decipher the full intent behind the little symbols and figures. Our culture thrives on limited communication that comes through with the smiley faces and crying faces sent billions of times everyday. However, when it comes to your Shopify store you want all the communication and insight possible! 


Datonics launched Audience Insights on the Shopify App store for exactly this purpose! To empower you to really understand your audience and customers and further cater to their shopping needs. Audience Insights has specific dashboards available to help you learn about your visitors spanning across shopping preference, demographics, and affinities and interests of customers. Each of these dashboards makes it crystal clear exactly who you are dealing with!

While today may be World Emoji Day, take the time to make sure that there is no confusion in who your customers are. Audience Insights lets you hone in on the specifics of those people who frequent your E-commerce store. Once you have identified the core needs of your audience as well as their interests and preferences you can start tailoring your advertisements for specific campaigns to certain demographics. This allows you to send the right messages to the right people without confusion or anything lost in translation.