Supply chain chaos has sellers and shoppers on edge, with no relief in sight anytime soon. To better understand how marketers should navigate this unusual holiday shopping season, we spoke with a variety of experts to get tips on what makes for successful holiday e-commerce marketing -- and why planning, implementation, and customer engagement are paramount in these continually changing times.

New research suggests that retailers may not be fully prepared to handle the expected increase in online shopping and risk considerable shopper bounce to their competitors. Nearly three-quarters of respondents to a survey of 1,500 consumers said their reason for "bouncing" off an e-commerce site results from difficulty finding the products they want.

Despite becoming increasingly viable, many people don't understand what quantum computing is, and how it differs from classical or binary computing. TechNewsWorld spoke with experts in the field of quantum computing to help explain; and get their assessment of how this emerging technology could eventually change the world.

Smart home technology is quickly becoming more mainstream than niche. As people monitor and control so many aspects of their lives through apps and smart devices, they expect to do the same with their homes. TechNewsWorld spoke with experts in the field of domotics -- or information technology in the home -- to get their take on the growing popularity and the evolution of smart home technologies.

A pair of recent studies highlight changing shopper attitudes as the pandemic continues its stranglehold on the supply chain for most industries. Two clear-cut consumer trends have surfaced: online shoppers want more self-service options and an overall more-efficient shopping experience.

Esports has grown into a major industry that shows no signs of slowing momentum. Indeed, the esports ecosystem is on pace this year to surpass $1 billion in revenue for the first time. We spoke with several esports aficionados to hear what they had to say about the evolution of esports, what's driving its popularity, and what to expect from this burgeoning industry going forward.

Leaf Home built its call center operation to drive potential customers to a cheerful encounter with all the departments to which they connect. That pleasant working relationship starts with Leaf's call center staff. We spoke with the company's chief human resources officer, Sean Loboda, to discuss the benefits of creating a positive call center environment.

Organizations are taking advantage of online learning platforms to provide fast and cost-effective knowledge transfer, to and from anywhere in the world. We spoke with several experts in the field of learning management systems to get a sense for what's happening with e-learning in the business sphere, and where it'll be trending from here.

Imagine finding out that your neighbor's identity was stolen and their life savings cleaned out by criminals who entered through their 'smart' washing machine. Ridiculous, you say? Well, have you checked your home Wi-Fi network lately? You might have several connected household gadgets and other devices tethered wirelessly through a misconfigured router with no firewall settings.

Disruptions to power grid systems can have devastating effects. Despite the fact that consistent electric power has been a basic human need for more than a century; more than ever, the grid faces a growing onslaught of threats. We spoke with experts in the field about the critical nature of the grid -- and what can be done to fortify the backbone of society's infrastructure.

With more amounts of data to manage, organize, and make sense of, robotic processes are becoming increasingly valuable to businesses seeking to save time and be more efficient. Not everything needs to be done by a human, especially when the tasks are repeated and predictable. It's here that RPA comes into play and has become an important component to businesses operations and serving customers.

You are young -- as in under 30 -- are smart, and have financial support. That makes you a great candidate to start your own business and most likely to meet with astounding success. Right? Do not yet quit your day job! The numbers borne out by ample research say you could be wrong. So how old should you be when you take that entrepreneurial plunge?

For e-commerce businesses that are seriously considering a new source for brand awareness and customer acquisition, TikTok can be an unbeatable advertising investment, according to Dariya Smailova senior digital media buyer manager at Vendo. The platform allows e-commerce brands to remain visible and present within the always-watching customer lifestyle.

Even as operations as diverse as factories and hospitals are moving at least portions of their daily computational processes out of the centralized cloud and into various edges, edge computing for many people remains a mysterious concept. To provide some clarity and insight, we spoke with several experts to detail what edge computing is, why it's needed, and where it's going.

E-commerce and m-commerce are transforming the economic landscape. Both markets were steadily growing before the pandemic. But since then, consumers have been fueling both types of commerce with a frenzy. We thought this would be an appropriate time to speak with Logiq CEO Tom Furukawa about opportunity trends in digital commerce, and the role of market intelligence in the global commerce space.

Because they live on the ecosystem of mobile devices, people expect their apps to be user-friendly and instantly accessible. To attract and keep users, apps must deliver a seamless, simple, and intuitive experience. We spoke with experts in the fields of apps and CX to get their take on what makes for a winning app design, and where commerce apps are headed in the future.

AfterShip Cofounder and CPO Andrew Chan is an advocate of post-purchase engagement to boost customer retention. He advises that ensuring a convenient experience after purchase -- from shipping, tracking, returns, and reviews -- helps retailers sell more to happy, repeat consumers. We spoke with Chan to hear more about his strategies for supercharging customer retention.

One of the fundamental choices that an e-commerce retailer must make is the platform they use to sell their goods and services, because it's not just a store -- it's a place to connect with customers and create a sense of the brand. We spoke with several e-commerce experts to get their take on how retailers can choose and customize platforms to get the right fit between product, culture, and customer.

A new e-commerce trend catching on as the pandemic stranglehold on consumer access to brick-and-mortar stores loosens is converging shopping with playing games as a source of entertainment. One good example is Tophatter. This retail discovery marketplace where shoppers go to spend time, rather than to save time, is what its CEO calls the "anti-Amazon."

One of the strains on the logistics industry is increased consumer demand for speedy delivery -- and this requirement is making it even more important to consider the environmental impacts of faster fulfillment. We spoke with experts in the field to find out what's happening to make logistics more sustainable, and how this sustainability can be good not just for the planet, but for business.

The magnitude to which retail stores recover when consumers fully adjust to post-pandemic routines may well hinge on the shopping experiences they offer. A new study of consumers in the U.S. and UK shows that the majority of shoppers today view customer experience as one of the most important factors when making purchasing decisions.

This is the era of drones, and these unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, increasingly are becoming an integral part of everyday life. As drones evolve, industries and governments alike are finding new ways to make use of the emerging tech. TechNewsWorld spoke with several experts to find out how drones are being put into service, and what's on the horizon for their future use.

Effective metrics provide a point of comparison for the business and become behavior-changing in how decisions are made, according to Aurimas Adomavicius, president of Devbridge, a global digital products consultancy. TechNewsWorld spoke with Adomavicius to pursue the concept of how software developers can put meaningful metrics to work.

As people emerge from lockdowns and limitations in the coming months, and look toward getting out and exploring the world again, travel is anticipated to become a popular and valued activity. The E-Commerce Times spoke with several industry experts to get their perspective on new trends in travel and tourism.

Lately there has been a noticeable uptick in buzz around chemical recycling technology as a potential solution to the plastics crisis. Meanwhile, critics point to drawbacks which include environmental health risks, inefficiency in terms of the amount of waste plastic that becomes new plastic, and high costs.

Podcasts provide advertisers with microtargeted pitches that engage listeners more effectively than other outlets, according to Maury Rogow, CEO and creative director of Hollywood's Rip Media Group. The most effective podcast advertising is delivered by the host. While this makes many marketers uneasy, the risk can pay off because the targets will listen and remember the message.

Artificial intelligence may well be the Holy Grail solution for more effective shopping optimization for merchants. The list is almost endless when you tally the potential uses. It can be anywhere, from classification issues like recommendations to search and merchandising personalization. It also aids retailers in things like optimization and visual modeling.

The economic implications of Covid-19 have been devastating for many sectors and individuals. As we head into the summer of 2021 anticipating that most places in the U.S. will be fully open for business, many industries are looking at what the post-Covid recovery will mean for them. For sales professionals, the comeback might certainly bring a windfall but also presents challenges.

E-commerce merchants are literally at the mercy of the digital checkout systems tied to their web stores. For retailers, what happens on the other side of the "pay" button is critical to avoiding denied approvals. Online payment service provider Credorax peeled back the curtain for the E-Commerce Times to reveal the ins and outs of what happens behind the pay button.

If you are looking to expand your sales territory and have not yet put Latin America on your bill of lading, you're missing a golden opportunity. Latin America offers the fastest-growing regional e-commerce marketplace in the world. Last year, the total retail e-commerce sales to the LATAM region grew 36.7 percent to $84.95 billion. That is still growing this year.