Author: Oz Robotics

A Robot Takes a Kicking and Keeps on Ticking

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Spot is a four-legged robot designed for indoor and outdoor operation. It has been the breeding ground for a new approach to dynamic robot control that brings true autonomy within reach.

Spot is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It senses its rough-terrain environment using LIDAR and stereo vision in conjunction with a suite of on-board sensors to maintain balance and negotiate rough terrain. It carries a 23 kg payload and operates for 45 minutes on a battery charge.

By Boston Dynamics

A Robot with Legs and Wheels, the best of Both Worlds

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Handle can pick up heavy loads while occupying a small footprint, allowing it to maneuver in tight spaces. All of Handle’s joints are coordinated to deliver high-performance mobile manipulation.

Handle is a robot that combines the rough-terrain capability of legs with the efficiency of wheels. It uses many of the same principles for dynamics, balance, and mobile manipulation​ found in the quadruped and biped robots we build, but with only 10 actuated joints, it is significantly less complex. Wheels are fast and efficient on flat surfaces while legs can go almost anywhere: by combining wheels and legs, Handle has the best of both worlds.

By Boston Dynamics

How the World Buys Online

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PayPal’s survey examined the online and cross-border shopping habits of over 23,200 consumers in 29 countries to uncover opportunities and best practices for merchants who want to grow their international business.

Insights about international buyers

PayPal and Ipsos research provides insight into where consumers are buying from, what’s important to them and how they pay for goods and services.*

Bought in the USA: #1

The US is still the #1 destination for all cross-border shoppers (25% purchased from US-based websites in the past 12 months).

China On the Rise

32% of Chinese respondents shopped cross-border in 2015, vs. 26% in 2014 and this has increased in 2017.

The Top Drivers and Barriers

1. Mobile Matters More than Ever.

Mobile commerce is a key driver of global online shopping: 47% of online shoppers made a purchase via smartphone in the last year …and still growing: Mobile commerce accounted for a reported 16% of consumer online spend in the last 12 months; estimated to grow to 19.4% in the next 12 months.

2. Invest in SEO

SEO has a big influence on online cross-border shoppers. Top methods cited for finding international websites: “I go directly to websites I have used in the past” (58%) “I go directly to websites I know the web address for” (40%) “When I search for particular brands or products on a search engine, sometimes this leads me to foreign sites” (38%).

3. Keep Shipping Top of Mind

Shipping cost is the top reason for cart abandonment among cross-border shoppers: 43% of those who abandon a purchase cite “shipping/postage charges were too high” Almost half of shoppers (47%) say delivery costs deter them from making international purchases more often 50% of shoppers say free shipping would make them more likely to buy cross-border; 38% cite free return shipping as a potential driver.

Whether you’re new to selling internationally or a pro, it pays to have a plan in place. We’ve outlined easy ways to consider when planning for international growth. More here.

The top reasons that consumers are buying cross-border online:

Better prices (76%)

Access to items not available in my country (65%)

I can discover new and interesting products (59%)

Websites in this country have more variety/availability of different products and styles (52%)

Shipping is more affordable (50%)

The most popular destinations for cross-border shoppers to buy from online:

China (21%)

USA (17%)

UK (13%)

Germany (7%)

Japan (4%)

The top barriers to cross-border shopping among those consumers who shop cross-border include:

Delivery shipping costs (43%)

Concern that they may not receive the item (35%)

Return shipping costs (34%)

Having to pay customs duties/fees and/or taxes (33%)

Too much to handle!

Expand your international sales with the help of Oz Robotics

Don’t have Oz Robotics account? Sign up here – FREE!

* Starting from January 1st 2018, there will be a monthly subscription fee for new suppliers/vendors partners and resellers.

The global sales opportunity with Oz Robotics

Globalization and internet adoption are creating opportunities for small businesses to reach new customers abroad, but studies shows that individual website owners going through hard times to maintain their sites with fast changing technology, online security breaches with fraudulent purchases and overall marketing.

A Good Meta Description for SEO and Social Media

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A 160 character snippet that summarizes a product’s content; that’s what we call a Meta Description. Search engines like google show the meta description in search results mostly when people search for the phrase is contained in the description. The purpose of a meta description is to get the visitor from search engines to click your product link.

Do not use auto-generating meta descriptions which is a bad idea in our view. Search Engine Optimization is not something you can do on autopilot. Instead type in manually about the product that you are listing on Oz Robotics. If you need help simply contact us with your meta description for us to review it.

Make Your Product Images SEO Friendly

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Photos and product images are very important for your products in your store. They make your product more vivid and can contribute great visibility into the Organic Search Engine Optimization on your product page for all Search Engines. Before you upload your product images, you can start optimizing them by resizing them correctly with English Names, Titles and use an Alt Text for each. This will definitely make your images contribute to your product rankings on all search engines. Nevertheless, it will improve the accessibility and UX in your products for customer satisfaction.

Use right images for the best internet experience

When you optimize a product image, make it maximum 640 pixel wide, this will help download speed on all devices and internet connections regardless of their speeds. A well-optimized product image also has the right name and alt text, will optimized your product for the best search engines experience.

More Visibility on Social Media

Well optimized right images, when added with a certain consideration, will help potential buyers understand your product much better. “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Good quality images with 640 pixel wide simply make your products on social media posts more enticing for sure.

A very simple recommendation: Add images to every product you list online. They’ll make it more appealing.

Finding the right image

Add your own product image, please do so. Your products needs pictures of your work. Your products needs an image titles and saved with the same subject as your product. If you would use an image just to use an image and expect a green result, you are doing it all wrong. The product image should be the reflection of the product. If this product called “Smart Watch for Kids” the images for this product should be saved as: Smart Watch for Kids.

There is a simple reason for that: A product image that is titled by related text, ranks better for the keyword it is optimized for.