To keep the enthusiasm for the new year high, I am happy to share some of my favorite ecommerce and technology quotes from thought leaders across disciplines -- great for motivation and a laugh or two!
On web usability
"Users scan a page looking for trigger words. If they find a trigger word, they click on it but if they don’t find it, they go to search. That’s the way it works on 99% of sites, although Amazon is an exception. That’s because Amazon has done a great job of training users to know that absolutely nothing on the home page is of any use." -- Jared Spool
"For you to achieve your goals, visitors must first achieve theirs." -- Bryan Eisenberg
“Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.” -- Steve Krug
On social
"When you say it, it’s marketing. When your customer says it, it’s social proof." -- Andy Crestodina
On conversion optimization and analytics
"Average conversion rates are meaningless. Switzerland on average is flat." -- Chris Goward
“If you double the number of experiments you do per year you’re going to double your inventiveness.” - Jeff Bezos
"The best thing about a failed A/B test is that it kicks you in the crotch, reddens your cheeks and makes you try harder the next time." - -- Oli Gardner" target="_blank">Oli Gardner
"First click attribution is akin to giving my first girlfriend 100% of the credit for me marrying my wife." -- Avinash Kaushik
"A great product will survive all abuse. Google Glass is a great product. How do I know? Every person I put it on (I did it dozens of times at 500 Startups yesterday) smiles. No other product has done that since the iPod." -- Robert Scoble
On technology
"When consumers adopt new technologies, they do old things in new ways. When they internalize technology, they begin to do new things." -- James McQuivey
"Reality is the second screen, [mobile] is the first screen." -- MLB.com's Bob Bowman
On business strategy
"Discounts and promotions are taxes placed upon brands for being unremarkable. -- Kevin Hillstrom
"If you don't have a strategy, you're part of someone else's strategy." -- Robert Rose
On the future of ecommerce
"E-commerce as a term will become obsolete in five or six years." -- Neil Blumenthal, Warby Parker