#Global Plugin

[pluugin]

Getting Your eCommerce Store Ready for the Holiday Rush

The holiday season presents one of the most profitable opportunities for eCommerce businesses. Shoppers are eager for great deals, unique items, and prompt service. However, with the surge in demand, it’s crucial to ensure your store can handle the festive influx efficiently. Proper preparation is essential to meet customer expectations and maximize sales during this busy time.

In this blog, we’ll explore key strategies to get your eCommerce store ready for the holiday rush, emphasizing website optimization, inventory management, and providing an exceptional customer experience. By implementing these tactics, you’ll differentiate yourself from competitors and enhance your store’s success.

1. Optimize Website Performance

Website performance is vital during the holiday rush. A slow or malfunctioning site can result in lost sales and frustrated customers. With potentially thousands of visitors, it’s essential to ensure your site can handle the increased traffic seamlessly.

a. Improve Page Load Speed

Fast loading times are critical for online shopping. Research indicates that even a one-second delay can significantly impact conversions. To boost your website’s speed:

Compress images and videos: Reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality using image compression tools.

Enable browser caching: This helps returning visitors load your site faster by storing elements in their browser.

Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN distributes your content across multiple servers globally, ensuring customers access your site from the closest server.

b. Ensure Mobile Optimization

As mobile shopping continues to grow, ensure your site provides a smooth experience on smartphones and tablets. Focus on:

Mobile-friendly navigation: Simplify menus and optimize button sizes for easy tapping.

Mobile speed: Ensure your mobile site loads as quickly as the desktop version.

Test checkout flows: Run tests to ensure a fast and user-friendly mobile checkout process.

c. Prepare for High Traffic Volume

To handle increased traffic during festive sales:

Upgrade hosting if necessary: Consider a more robust hosting plan if your current one can’t manage high volumes.

Conduct load testing: Simulate high traffic scenarios to identify and address potential bottlenecks before the holiday rush.

2. Manage Inventory Efficiently

Effective inventory management is crucial during the festive season. Running out of stock or overstocking can lead to costly mistakes. Here are some best practices:

a. Forecast Demand

Anticipating demand is key to maintaining the right stock levels. Use historical sales data and trends to estimate inventory needs and identify your best-selling products from previous years.

b. Automate Inventory Management

Manual tracking can lead to errors, especially during peak times. Automated inventory management tools can help you:

Track stock levels in real-time: Alerts can notify you when stock is low to prevent outages.

Sync inventory across channels: Automation ensures consistent stock levels across all platforms.

Forecast and reorder stock: Some systems automatically reorder items when levels drop.

c. Create a Stock Buffer

Consider establishing a stock buffer to accommodate sudden demand spikes or supplier delays. A small buffer helps ensure you can fulfill orders without running out of popular items.

d. Monitor Supplier Performance

Collaborate closely with suppliers to confirm they can meet increased demand. Verify delivery times and have backup suppliers ready to step in if necessary.

3. Ensure a Seamless Customer Experience

A smooth customer experience during the holiday season fosters loyalty and encourages repeat purchases. Here’s how to enhance the shopping experience:

a. Offer a Smooth Checkout Process

Complicated checkouts can lead to cart abandonment. Simplify the process by:

Allowing guest checkout: Enable customers to purchase without creating an account.

Minimizing form fields: Reduce the information customers need to provide.

Offering multiple payment options: Provide various payment methods to suit customer preferences.

b. Optimize Customer Support

Expect an increase in customer inquiries during the holiday season. Ensure you have adequate support systems in place:

Provide multiple support channels: Offer live chat, email, and phone support.

Implement chatbots: AI-powered chatbots can handle simple queries, easing the burden on your support team.

Expand support hours: Consider extending support hours during peak shopping periods.

c. Streamline Returns and Refunds

An easy returns policy is crucial for holiday shoppers. Simplify your returns process by:

Clearly stating your returns policy: Display it prominently on product pages and during checkout.

Offering prepaid return shipping labels: Make returns easy for customers.

Automating refunds: Implement systems to process refunds quickly upon receiving returned items.

d. Personalize the Shopping Experience

Personalization can enhance customer satisfaction and drive sales. Use data and AI tools to:

Provide personalized product recommendations: Suggest items based on browsing history or past purchases.

Send personalized emails: Use segmented lists to deliver tailored promotions and recommendations.

4. Speed Up Deliveries

Fast, reliable shipping is critical during the festive season. Customers expect quick deliveries, and delays can lead to negative feedback. Here’s how to enhance your shipping process:

Work with reliable carriers: Choose shipping partners known for timely deliveries during peak times.

Offer express shipping options: Provide faster shipping at checkout, even if at an extra cost.

Consider using fulfillment centers: Partnering with third-party fulfillment centers can expedite delivery.

Be Prepared for the Festive Rush

The holiday season is a pivotal time for eCommerce stores. By optimizing website performance, managing inventory effectively, and ensuring a seamless customer experience, you can take full advantage of the holiday rush and boost your sales. Adequate preparation will set your store apart from the competition and encourage customers to choose your brand for their festive shopping needs.

If you need help getting your eCommerce store ready for the festive season, reach out to us today to ensure you’re well-prepared to thrive during this busy period!

[breakinglivenewsheadlines]

Navigating Ecommerce Failure: Tips for Success

Ecommerce has transformed the way businesses operate in the 21st century. With the click of a button, customers can browse, select, and purchase goods and services from the comfort of their own homes. In this article, we’ll explore some of the greatest failures in ecommerce and the role of ecommerce accelerators in helping businesses overcome these effectively.

Poor User Experience

The consumer’s experience on your website is one of the key parameter that drive’s your brand’s reputation.  A good website design should have a UI that is aesthetically pleasing, intuitive, and easy to use, and a UX that creates a positive and satisfying experience for users. By focusing on both UI and UX design, web designers can create websites that are both visually appealing and user-friendly, helping to improve engagement and drive conversions. Slow website loading times, confusing navigation, and difficult checkout processes will lead to poor user experience. Customers who have a bad experience are unlikely to return, and negative reviews can damage a company’s reputation. To avoid this, businesses should invest in user experience design, test their websites regularly, and use customer feedback to make improvements.

Inadequate Payment Systems

Another common failure in ecommerce is inadequate payment systems. Customers want to be able to pay quickly, easily, and securely. If a payment system is slow, complicated, or unreliable, customers will abandon their shopping carts and shop elsewhere. To avoid this, businesses should offer a range of payment options, including credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, and other popular options.

Poor Customer Service

Ecommerce companies that fail to provide adequate customer service will struggle to retain customers. Poor customer service can take many forms, including slow response times, unhelpful support staff, and inadequate refund or return policies. To overcome this, it is important that businesses should invest in hiring trained customer support staff, implementing live chat, and developing clear and fair refund and return policies, use modern technologies for round the clock presence and outstanding customer service.

Lack of Trust and Security

Customers want to feel safe when shopping online, and ecommerce companies that fail to provide adequate security measures will lose business. Customers are wary of scams and identity theft, and they want to be sure that their personal and financial information is secure. To build trust amongst the customers, businesses should invest in security measures, including SSL certificates, two-factor authentication, and use secure payment gateways.

Poor Inventory Management

Finally, ecommerce companies that fail to manage their inventory effectively can run into serious problems. If a customer orders a product that is out of stock or unavailable, they will be disappointed and unlikely to return. On the other hand, if a company overstocks and ends up with excess inventory, they will incur unnecessary costs. To avoid this, it is important that businesses should invest in inventory management software, forecast demand accurately, and monitor inventory levels regularly. Furthermore, you can connect with Pluugin – one of the leading ecommerce accelerator and our team of experts will help you navigate the complex process of global ecommerce seamlessly.

In conclusion, while there have been many failures in the world of ecommerce, there are also many success stories. The key to success lies in understanding the common mistakes made by ecommerce businesses and learning from them. By focusing on providing exceptional customer service, optimizing your website for search engines and user experience, and leveraging social media and other marketing channels effectively, you can increase your chances of success in the ecommerce world. With the right strategies and a commitment to continuous improvement, your ecommerce business can thrive and succeed in today’s competitive marketplace. Pluugin – one of best ecommerce accelerator provides you with comprehensive cross border ecommerce solutions customized to your needs.

Source

[wilderlingdev]

honestly my biggest hurdle when it comes to gamedev nowadays is sticking to a single engine. i know bits and pieces of godot, unity, renpy, twine and even godsforsaken unreal, but do i know enough to make good stuff in any of them? no

[snow-system-wol]

RETURN OF THE KING

[safaabbas]

Elementor 3.14 Beta Comes With Exclusive Improvements

Elementor has it’s newest release, verson 3.14 Beta with some exclusive improvements. It has upgrades to the Loop Grid and Loop Carousel Widgets and introduces the new Global Styles preview. Thus, It’s packed with exciting improvements and new features that will make building websites even more amazing and fun. Thanks to the Elementor team for the amazing works. Special thanks to Ashley…

[grimmcodes]

Thème n°1 (gratuit)

Niveau d'installation : ⭐⭐⭐

(prérequis : être un minimum à l'aise avec le codage de manière générale et l'hébergement externe d'une feuille de CSS)

➡️ Ce thème a été élaboré à partir du Blank Theme de Geniuspanda. ⚠️ Merci de créditer les personnes citées dans ce post ! ❓ Pourquoi il est gratuit ? → Et pourquoi pas ? Je ne demande rien de plus qu'un sujet où sont répertoriés tous les crédits ainsi qu'un petit mp pour savoir que vous utilisez le thème ! ✅ Vous pouvez utiliser entièrement ou partiellement le thème, selon ce qui vous intéresse en fait (du moment que les crédits sont conservés, j'insiste !). Vous pouvez le modifier comme vous le voulez, qu'il s'agisse des couleurs, des formes, des tailles (pitié, restez juste un minimum lisibles même si j'aurais clairement pu faire beaucoup mieux), polices... c'est open bar ! 🗒️Le CSS global est trop long pour être copié/collé directement dans la feuille de forumactif. Je vous conseille de l'héberger sur archivehost ou dropbox et de rajouter un lien vers celui-ci dans votre overall_header. N'hésitez pas à me mp si vous n'êtes pas à l'aise avec l'installation, je vais faire au mieux pour vous orienter ! Autrement, le Blank Theme explique comment s'y prendre juste ici : https://blankthemerpg.forumactif.com/t141-heberger-du-css-exterieur Il comporte : • La base du Blank Theme en modernbb (en configurant votre forum avec les paramètres associés) • Le plugin Messenger d'Ange Tuteur remanié par Geniuspanda, Switcheroo et le mode Edison clair/sombre réalisés par Monomer. • Une page d'accueil • Les catégories • La liste des sujets et l'apparence des sujets • L'apparence du profil • La liste des membres • La liste des messages privés et l'apparence d'un message privé • Une série de codages (fiche de présentation avec onglets, fiche utilisable pour rédiger ses annexes, fiche utilisable pour les posts administratif comme le règlement etc...) • Un set Instagram (profil, posts, like, suivre, commenter, story) • Un set de type Tinder (profil, like, super-like, match, pas intéressé) • Un set de 10 fiches de rp aux couleurs du forum (adaptable au mode noir/clair) ainsi qu'un codage pour l'apparence de vos sms • Un set de 5 signatures aux couleurs du forum 📌 Vous trouverez le forum où les codages ont été utilisés juste ici. Il s'agit d'un forum rpg que j'ai monté en décembre 2023 mais qu'on a fermé en mars 2024 avec ma co-admin. Les inscriptions sont fermées mais vous pouvez au moins y retrouver l'apparence globale de ce qui est proposé sur les captures d'écran. ⚠️ La police de base est Nunito Sans, sans-serif (font google) et celle des titres Cloister Blacklight (par Dieter Steffmann et à héberger de votre côté en sortant les fichiers nécessaires (.ttf, .wof + css) sur fontsquirrel par exemple). Il se peut que vous observiez des déformations si vous n'utilisez pas Nunito Sans puisqu'une police n'est pas précisément la même en taille de l'une à l'autre selon comment elle a été conçue. ⚠️ Le forum n'est d'ailleurs pas vraiment à 200% responsive... oups. Mais les couleurs sont facilement gérables dans le :root, autant pour le thème clair que le thème sombre. 🔧 En ce qui concerne les paramètres personnalisés : - bien afficher la liste des membres connectés et avec une période de 72 heures. - ne pas afficher la connexion rapide. - ne pas cocher la case optimiser votre css - cocher la case désactiver le css de base 🔧 En ce qui concerne l'ordre des champs du profil :

🔧 En ce qui concerne les posts administratifs sans que le profil admin n'apparaisse : Il faut que votre compte Administrateur (celui avec lequel vous avez fondé le forum) ait pour rang <span class="Administrateur">Administrateur</span>.

➡️ VOUS RETROUVEREZ LES CODES ICI : https://github.com/Practless/theme1/

➡️ ET ICI UN PETIT TUTORIEL D'INSTALLATION PAS À PAS : https://www.tumblr.com/grimmcodes/755161796494737408/tutoriel-installation?source=share

Et voilà ! Normalement vous devriez avoir l'exact même rendu. ⭐ La plupart des codages n'ont pas été nettoyés et laissés comme sur le forum rpg où ils ont été construits (avec les textes, les images etc... oui, j'ai eu la flemme, pardon hein mais c'était trop long d'y refaire un tour pour tout nettoyer...🧍‍♀️Peut-être qu'un jour j'vais y penser. Ou pas.) Note à savoir : je ne suis pas professionnelle, j'ai appris sur le tas et avec des tutoriels sur le net. Donc c'est sûrement le bazar, fait avec les pieds, pas optimisé et j'en passe. N'hésitez pas à me contacter si vous observez des problèmes. 🍀 Débizou si consentis et vive le rp francophone 🍉🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️💗

[autolenaphilia]

Why enshittification happens and how to stop it.

The enshittification of the internet and increasingly the software we use to access it is driven by profit. It happens because corporations are machines for making profits from end users, the users and customers are only seen as sources of profits. Their interests are only considered if it can help the bottom line. It's capitalism.

For social media it's users are mainly seen by the companies that run the sites as a way for getting advertisers to pay money that can profit the shareholders. And social media is in a bit of death spiral right now, since they have seldom or never been profitable and investor money is drying up as they realize this.

So the social media companies. are getting more and more desperate for money. That's why they are getting more aggressive with getting you to watch ads or pay for the privilege of not watching ads. It won't work and tumblr and all the other sites will die eventually.

But it's not just social media companies, it's everything tech-related. It gets worse the more monopolistic a tech giant is. Google is abusing its chrome-based near monopoly over the web, nerfing adblockers, trying to drm the web, you name it. And Microsoft is famously a terrible company, spying on Windows users and selling their data. Again, there is so much money being poured into advertising, at least 493 billion globally, the tech giants want a slice of that massive pie. It's all about making profits for shareholders, people be damned.

And the only insurance against this death spiral is not being run by a corporation. If the software is being developed by a non-profit entity, and it's open source, there is no incentive for the developers to fuck over the users for the sake of profits for shareholders, because there aren't any profits, and no shareholders.

Free and Open source software is an important part of why such software development can stay non-corporate. It allows for volunteers to contribute to the code and makes it harder for users to be secretly be fucked over by hidden code.

Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are good examples of this. There is a Mozilla corporation, but it exists only for legal reasons and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the non-profit Mozilla foundation. There are no shareholders. That means the Mozilla corporation is not really a corporation in the sense that Google is, and as an organization has entirely different incentives. If someone tells you that Mozilla is just another corporation, (which people have said in the notes of posts about firefox on this very site) they are spreading misinformation.

That's why Firefox has resisted the enshittification of the internet so well, it's not profit driven. And people who develop useful plugins that deshitify the web like Ublock origin and Xkit are as a rule not profit-driven corporations.

And you can go on with other examples of non-profit software like Libreoffice and VLC media player, both of which you should use.

And you can go further, use Linux as your computer's operating system.. It's the only way to resist the enshitification that the corporate duopoly of Microsoft and Apple has brought to their operating system. The plethora of community-run non-profit Linux distributions like Debian, Mint and Arch are the way to counteract that, and they will stay resistant to the same forces (creating profit for shareholders) that drove Microsoft to create Windows 11.

Of course not all Linux distributions are non-profits. There are corporate created distros like Red Hat's various distros, Canonical's Ubuntu and Suse's Opensuse, and they prove the point I'm making. There has some degree of enshittification going on with those, red hat going closed source and Canonical with the snap store for example. Mint is by now a succesful community-driven response to deshitify Ubuntu by removing snaps for example, and even they have a back-up plan to use Debian as a base in case Canonical makes Ubuntu unuseable.

As for social media, which I started with, I'm going to stay on tumblr for now, but it will definitely die. The closest thing to a community run non-profit replacement I can see is Mastodon, which I'm on as @autolenaphilia@chaosfem.tw.

You don't have to keep using corporate software, and have it inevitably decline because the corporations that develop it cares more about its profits than you as an end user.

The process of enshittification proves that corporations being profit-driven don't mean they will create a better product, and in fact may cause them to do the opposite. And the existence of great free and open source software, created entirely without the motivation of corporate profits, proves that people don't need to profit in order to help their fellow human beings. It kinda makes you question capitalism.

[izicodes]

Mini React.js Tips #2 | Resources ✨

Continuing the #mini react tips series, it's time to understand what is going on with the folders and files in the default React project - they can be a bit confusing as to what folder/file does what~!

What you'll need:

know how to create a React project >> click

already taken a look around the files and folders themselves

What does the file structure look like?

✤ node_modules folder: contains all the dependencies and packages (tools, resources, code, or software libraries created by others) needed for your project to run properly! These dependencies are usually managed by a package manager, such as npm (Node Package Manager)!

✤ public folder: Holds static assets (files that don't change dynamically and remain fixed) that don't require any special processing before using them! These assets are things like images, icons, or files that can be used directly without going through any additional steps.

✤ src folder: This is where your main source code resides. 'src' is short for source.

✤ assets folder: This folder stores static assets such as images, logos, and similar files. This folder is handy for organizing and accessing these non-changing elements in your project.

✤ App.css: This file contains styles specific to the App component (we will learn what 'components' are in React in the next tips post~!).

✤ App.jsx: This is the main component of your React application. It's where you define the structure and behavior of your app. The .jsx extension means the file uses a mixture of both HTML and JavaScript - open the file and see for yourself~!

✤ index.css: This file contains global styles that apply to the entire project. Any styles defined in this file will be applied universally across different parts of your project, providing a consistent look and feel.

✤ main.jsx: This is the entry point of your application! In this file, the React app is rendered, meaning it's the starting point where the React components are translated into the actual HTML elements displayed in the browser. Would recommend not to delete as a beginner!!

✤ .eslintrc.cjs: This file is the ESLint configuration. ESLint (one of the dependencies installed) is a tool that helps maintain coding standards and identifies common errors in your code. This configuration file contains rules and settings that define how ESLint should analyze and check your code.

✤ .gitignore: This file specifies which files and folders should be ignored by Git when version-controlling your project. It helps to avoid committing unnecessary files. The node_modules folder is typically ignored.

✤ index.html: This is the main HTML file that serves as the entry point for your React application. It includes the necessary scripts and links to load your app.

✤ package.json: A metadata file for your project. It includes essential information about the project, such as its name, version, description, and configuration details. Also, it holds a list of dependencies needed for the project to run - when someone else has the project on their local machine and wants to set it up, they can use the information in the file to install all the listed dependencies via npm install.

✤ package-lock.json: This file's purpose is to lock down and record the exact versions of each installed dependency/package in your project. This ensures consistency across different environments when other developers or systems install the dependencies.

✤ README.md: This file typically contains information about your project, including how to set it up, use it, and any other relevant details.

✤ vite.config.js: This file contains the configuration settings for Vite, the build tool used for this React project. It may include options for development and production builds, plugins, and other build-related configurations.

Congratulations! You know what the default folders and files do! Have a play around and familiarise yourself with them~!

BroCode’s 'React Full Course for Free’ 2024 >> click

React Official Website >> click

React's JSX >> click

The basics of Package.json >> click

Previous Tip: Tip #1 Creating The Default React Project >> click

Stay tuned for the other posts I will make on this series #mini react tips~!

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #59: 2008

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Flo-Rida, Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, OneRepublic, Jordin Sparks, Sara Bareilles Usher, Chris Brown. End description]

More information about this blog here

Now well into the latter half of the decade, the direction pop music has been heading is even more evident. The music is starting to skew electronic in its sound and the plugin Auto-Tune is starting to be featured more as a stylistic choice, as seen with T-Pain and Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne's influence over rap would become even more prominent in the late 2000's and early 2010s. Especially with the artists that would eventually be signed to his label, Young Money Entertainment.

There are many reasons why the sound of pop was skewing towards club and dance music. Modern production techniques worked really well with the style, music-purchasing platforms such as iTunes worked better for listening to individual singles rather than full albums (which caters to dance music well), and the 2008 financial crisis. With the recession, more and more people were looking to pop music as an escape. As touring and traditional concerts became less financially accessible for both artists and audiences, clubs and parties served as environments to experience music with a group. To quote this article on the subject:

With themes of luxury, escapism and radical optimism, these upbeat and positive tracks provided comfort in the fantasy of extravagance. Despite most peoples’ situations at the time, almost every song on the radio was about loving life and getting money. Music was fast and people were dancing. (Amanda Kiefer)

But more than that, CD sales plummeted after the recession, while online music consumption soared. More and more, music was making its home on the internet.

There are a surprising number of articles written about dance music in the face of global financial inequality (and many of them have started popping up recently, I wonder why...), so I've linked to a few below.

"How music has responded to a decade of economic inequality" Scott Timberg, Vox

"The Recession in the Music Industry - a Cause Analysis" Peter Tschmuck

"How the Recession is Impacting Music, Too" Laura Palotie (this article is from 2008, so it's interesting as a contemporary reading of the situation.)

[aragaki]

Hello! I’ve been looking for someone who could rip the Fable 3 model files for YEARS! Is there any chance you could share the files? I’m dying to retexture some of them!

I don't really have internet good enough to handle uploading the files but I will gladly explain how I dumped them!! It's surprisingly easy

Models

First I downloaded the game from steamunlocked then BlackDemon's BNK browser program to extract the assets

Open BNK browser click open in the bottom left corner and find globals_models.bnk in Fable III/data/globals

And that's the vast majority of models right there!!

Click extract all (I reccomend making a folder to dump them all in) you'll have the .mdl files

You can get the DLC content (outfits, dog skins, characters) by opening dlc2free, dumping that, then finding globals_models and globals_textures in that dump and repeating the process above

Textures

Then you need to extract all the textures which you can do by opening globals_textures.bnk

Then you need to use the Fable 3 Tex Converter to convert the .tex into .dds which you can then change to .png in whatever program of your choosing.

I'll be honest, I haven't figured out how to work this thing out yet, it seems very finicky and I'm not keen on fighting with it for models I can't use. I suggest backing up the .tex files for each time you wanna try converting it, it's a lot of trial and error and corrupted .dds files

Models in Blender

And lastly you need the plugin that allows you to import the .mdl files into Blender!! The plugin was made by Keshire for Blender 2.82 but it works on 3.6.2, which is the version I have (though I did download 2.82 first before trying it on my newer version)

I apologize if this is hard to follow, I did my best but I am by NO MEANS expirienced in model ripping or making tutorials. This is just what I managed to put together from scrounging a bunch of different forums and modding sites.

And of course, the models will have broken weights so if you're like me who wanted to use them for fanart purposes, not much can be done with them

[pluugin]

Upcoming Trends in AI for Inventory Management: What to Expect Over the Next Decade

In today's fast-moving and globalized market, effective inventory management has become more crucial than ever. Well-managed inventory systems enable businesses to balance stock levels, minimize waste, and meet customer demands while ensuring profitability. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), inventory management is evolving into a more automated and predictive process, reducing human errors and adapting to changing market dynamics.

In the coming decade, AI is set to significantly influence the future of inventory management, enhancing visibility, decision-making, and efficiency throughout supply chains. Here are some key trends to watch for:

AI-Enhanced Demand Forecasting

AI is transforming demand forecasting by processing large volumes of data and uncovering patterns beyond human capability. Unlike traditional models that rely solely on historical data, AI incorporates external factors such as market trends, consumer behavior, social media, weather forecasts, and economic indicators to deliver more precise predictions.

This advancement is already helping businesses avoid overstocking and stockouts. As AI technology progresses, forecasting models will become increasingly accurate, allowing companies to maintain optimal inventory levels and streamline replenishment processes.

Automated Inventory Tracking

Tracking inventory has traditionally been a labor-intensive task. AI-driven automation now enables real-time monitoring of stock levels, locations, and conditions. Machine learning algorithms can identify patterns in inventory movement and optimize reordering, placement, and shelf-life management.

The integration of RFID technology with AI facilitates automated inventory counts, improving accuracy and reducing the need for manual audits. In the coming years, more businesses will adopt these technologies, leading to enhanced inventory management.

AI-Powered Autonomous Supply Chains

AI will increasingly drive autonomous supply chains, requiring minimal human intervention. These systems will use machine learning to manage procurement, production scheduling, and inventory distribution. AI will automate the entire supply chain process, ensuring stock is ordered automatically when it reaches a specific level and delivered efficiently.

Technologies such as self-driving vehicles, drones, and robots will further optimize transportation and warehouse operations. AI will analyze real-time data to ensure efficient routing and delivery, reducing shipping times and costs.

Smart Warehousing with AI and Robotics

The future of warehousing will feature AI and robotics to boost efficiency and cut costs. AI-powered robots will handle tasks like picking, packing, sorting, and storing, minimizing errors and speeding up operations. These robots will work with warehouse management systems (WMS) to optimize space, inventory placement, and order fulfillment.

AI will also integrate with IoT sensors to monitor warehouse conditions, ensuring optimal storage environments. For example, AI can manage temperature controls in refrigerated warehouses to prevent spoilage.

AI-Driven Inventory Optimization

AI will enhance inventory optimization by calculating the ideal stock levels for various products, considering factors like seasonal trends, lead times, and sales patterns. Over the next decade, AI will enable businesses to dynamically adjust inventory strategies, reduce waste, and improve profitability.

AI will also help optimize inventory across multiple locations, determining when to transfer stock between warehouses to meet demand efficiently.

Improved Supply Chain Visibility and Risk Management

AI will enhance supply chain visibility, allowing businesses to track products from raw material sourcing to customer delivery. AI-driven analytics will offer real-time insights into supply chain performance, helping identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies quickly.

Predictive analytics will aid in risk management, forecasting potential disruptions caused by natural disasters, political events, or market fluctuations, and enabling businesses to take proactive measures to mitigate risks.

Personalized Inventory Management with AI

AI will enable personalized inventory management, tailoring stock to specific customer segments or individual preferences. By analyzing customer data, AI can help businesses stock items that appeal to local demographics or customer profiles, leading to increased sales and satisfaction.

Personalized inventory will also support sustainability efforts by reducing overproduction and waste.

Sustainability and AI-Driven Green Practices

Sustainability is becoming a major focus for businesses, and AI will play a key role in promoting green inventory management. AI will help reduce carbon footprints by optimizing transportation routes, cutting energy use in warehouses, and minimizing production waste.

AI can recommend energy-efficient practices and help reduce excess inventory, decreasing unsold stock that often ends up in landfills.

AI-Enhanced Supplier Relationship Management

As supply chains become more complex, fostering strong supplier relationships is crucial. AI can streamline supplier management by analyzing performance, tracking delivery trends, and identifying risks.

AI will also enable more dynamic supplier interactions, automating negotiations and assessing contracts, pricing, and reliability for strategic sourcing decisions.

Human-AI Collaboration in Inventory Management

Despite AI's advancements, human collaboration will remain vital. The focus will shift to creating effective partnerships between AI systems and human teams. AI will handle routine tasks such as inventory counting and demand forecasting, allowing humans to focus on strategic and creative tasks.

Businesses will need to invest in training to ensure their workforce can effectively collaborate with AI, leading to more agile, innovative, and resilient supply chains.

As AI continues to transform inventory management, businesses must prepare for the challenges of integrating new technologies. Implementing AI solutions requires careful planning and understanding how these systems fit into existing operations.

At Pluugin, we specialize in guiding businesses through the transition to AI-powered operations. Whether you're looking to optimize inventory management, enhance supply chain resilience, or integrate AI-driven solutions, we're here to support you every step of the way. Connect with us to explore how we can help your business thrive in an AI-driven future.

read more at Pluugin Ecommerce

[breakinglivenewsheadlines]

The Power of Mindset: How Asian Culture is Paving the Way for Global E-commerce

The rise of ecommerce has changed the way people shop and do business around the world. While ecommerce has been around in the West for decades, it has taken off at an incredible pace in Asia in recent years. One of the key reasons for this is the Asian mindset, which is more receptive to digital commerce than in other parts of the world. In this article, we’ll explore some of the reasons why this is the case.

Tech-Savvy Culture

One of the main reasons why the Asian mindset is more receptive to ecommerce is because of the region’s tech-savvy culture. Asia has a younger population than many other regions of the world, and this demographic is more comfortable with technology than older generations. This has made it easier for businesses to reach out to consumers through digital channels and for consumers to adapt to new technologies like ecommerce.

High Population Density

Asia is home to some of the world’s most densely populated cities, and this has made it difficult for traditional brick-and-mortar stores to thrive. As a result, ecommerce has become a more attractive option for both businesses and consumers. Ecommerce allows businesses to reach a wider audience without the constraints of physical space, while consumers can shop from the comfort of their own homes or offices.

Trust in Online Transactions

Another factor that makes the Asian mindset more receptive to ecommerce is the high level of trust in online transactions. In countries like China, where fraud was once a major concern, ecommerce platforms have taken measures to ensure the security of online transactions. As a result, consumers have become more comfortable with making purchases online, even for high-value items like electronics and luxury goods.

Convenience and Flexibility

The Asian mindset also values convenience and flexibility, two key benefits of ecommerce. With ecommerce, consumers can shop whenever they want, from wherever they want, without having to worry about store hours or locations. Ecommerce also offers more flexibility in terms of payment options, delivery times, and return policies, making it easier for consumers to shop on their own terms.

Social Media Influence

Finally, the Asian mindset is heavily influenced by social media, which has become a major driver of ecommerce in the region. Social media platforms like WeChat, LINE, and KakaoTalk have become powerful tools for businesses to engage with consumers, build brand awareness, and drive sales. In fact, some ecommerce transactions in Asia take place entirely within social media platforms, with consumers browsing, selecting, and purchasing products without ever leaving the app. You can now offer seamless experience to your customers across channels and marketplaces with comprehensive cross border commerce services from Pluugin – one of the leading ecommerce accelerators.

In conclusion, the Asian mindset is more receptive to ecommerce than in other regions of the world. This is due to a variety of factors, including the region’s tech-savvy culture, high population density, trust in online transactions, convenience and flexibility, and social media influence. As ecommerce continues to grow in Asia and around the world, businesses that can tap into the Asian mindset will be better positioned to succeed in the global marketplace. This gives businesses an opportunity to grow exponentially with seamless Cross Border Commerce. 

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[sunmoon-starfactory]

Hi! I was wondering what the AntiJealousy_JealousyCheck and TestForPregnancy files in your critical files do. They conflict with other mods I use (Romantic Standards and RCC respectively) and I don't want to lose their functionality, so what might I break by removing those mods?

Those conflict with Midge's mods, because Midge was the one who coded them for us. Per our notes from Midge, here's the info straight from the source:

"I also updated "antijealousy_jealousycheck" and "testforpregnancy" but I left them separate - these are the global overrides that make the game check for potion tokens when handling jealousy (anti-jealousy potion)/pregnancies (birth control, fertility, invirility, virility potions). Since they'll conflict with some other mods I figured I'd leave them separate - that way if alternate versions have to be made to be compatible with other mods people can pick and choose the right version. One conflict that obviously will happen is with the corresponding mods from Smonaff's set, but I left in the checks for Smonaff's original tokens when adding the new combo-token checks so you can just tell people to replace Smonaff's jealousy check and pregnancy test packages with the new Sun&Moon versions. I also ran the hack conflict detection utility and found the jealousy check does not conflict with ACR's jealousy plugin but the pregnancy test conflicts with my Reproductive Capabilities Configurer mod and any pregnancy mod RCC conflicts with - I'm thinking I'll make a plugin for RCC that people can use instead once the set's been released."

Though of course, I'm not sure where Midge left off on her own plans after Teas were initially released, as Teas (and upcoming potions) use the same controller files.

It DOES APPEAR that we have some alternate files for jealousy that accounted for her Romantic Standards however. Those can be released with the next potion/tea update.

[grizzlyofthesea]

How to Register as a VOCALOID User on the Internet Co, Ltd. Website

Alongside GUMI's new VOCALOID6 voicebank, AI Megpoid, Internet Co. released a plugin to replicate VOCALOID4's XSY feature. This plugin is called XSyn and essentially behaves the same way as XSY. However, to download XSyn, you need to register yourself as a user on Internet Co.'s website. I was super excited about XSyn, but I had no idea how to register...until yesterday. I cracked the code yesterday, and I want to spread the word about how I did it.

Here are the steps I took:

Make sure you're on the Japanese Internet Co. website. They have a global website, but you can only access features like XSyn on the Japanese website.

Go to the "Inquiries about user registration" tab under "Inquiries". Within the page, click on the link "How to Register as a User of VOCALOID products." This will prompt you to select either VOCALOID3 or VOCALOID4. If you want to register a VOCALOID3 or VOCALOID4 product, click on the appropriate one. If you're going to register a VOCALOID6 product instead, it doesn't really matter which one you pick, so just choose one.

Once you're at the product registration page, if you want to register a VOCALOID6 product, you're going to alter the link. There will be either a 3 or a 4 in the URL depending on which prompt you followed. Change that number to a 6, then hit enter. This will take you to an unlisted VOCALOID6 registration page.

Make sure you were given an Internet Product Number when you purchased the product you intend to register. The serial code you used to activate it won't work. You need the product number unique to Internet Co., Ltd. If you don't have an Internet Product Number, you aren't getting any further than this.

Once you enter your product number, you'll be taken to a user registration page. Here, you can create an account on the Japanese Internet Co, Ltd. website. (Make sure you select "living abroad" if you don't live in Japan. This will change the information entry portion so you don't have to list a zip code, prefecture, etc.) Once you fill out all the required information, congratulations. You have an account. You can now log in at any time, and on your user page, you can access whatever plugins and other unique features are exclusive to registered users.

[cuthbert-beckett]

Getting VTMB to work with Mod Organizer 2 (Updated)

The problem with Mod Organizer 2 is that the default directory for the game it chooses is "vampire." Now, as we know, most big mods like the Unofficial Patch create a new folder for the contents of the mod. I'm gonna use this as an example, Instead, you run vampire.exe through the "unofficial_patch" folder instead of the "vampire" folder using the launcher argument -game Unofficial_patch.

The issue with this is that when you install mods through MO2 and do it this way, many mods that replace unofficial patch files won't, as the virtual file system runs in the wrong folder. So here's a janky fix for this.

This tutorial requires knowledge on MO2. If you're interested in this tutorial you probably already know how MO2 works. If not, there's a learning curve and I can't really explain it all here.

So... here's the shitty tutorial for no one that asked:

previous tutorial i was editing the wrong file, so please ignore everything I said! :3

Install VTMB if you haven't already. This works best on a clean install.

Install the Mod Organizer 2 installer.

Launch the Mod Organizer 2 installer and install however you'd like. This doesn't matter.

Once installed, launch Mod Organizer 2 and select create a portable instance. Actually, I don't think this matters, but I haven't tried it using a global instance. Then, select VTMB as the game to manage.

Close Mod Organizer 2 for now. We'll get back to that.

Install the Unofficial Patch or the Clan Quest mod or the Final Nights... basically whatever you wish to install as normal using the installer it comes with.

Once that's done, navigate to \plugins\basic_games\games\game_vampirebloodlines.py". For me, this is:

Open the file in notepad and navigate to the highlighted lines:

9. Replace vampire with whatever folder the mod you installs creates. For unofficial patch, it's unofficial_patch. For Clan Quest mod, it's cqm, for The Final Nights, its tfn. Like this:

Save and close when finished. 10. Launch Mod Organizer 2 again. Right click on the left side and select create empty mod. Name this "<mod name> data" or something like that.

11. Right click on the mod you just created and select information. Then, select the filetree tab and then open mod in explorer. This will open your empty mod in a file explorer window.

12. Now, open another file explorer window and navigate to your VTMB folder. Open cqm/unofficial_patch or tfn and drag the contents of it into your mod folder. Yes, it's okay that the original folder becomes empty. This is intended.

13. Now, open another file explorer window and navigate to your VTMB folder. Open cqm/unofficial_patch/tfn and drag the contents of it into your mod folder. Yes, it's okay that the original folder becomes empty. This is intended.

21. Once that's done, refresh Mod Organizer 2 (F5). You will see that the mod is no longer empty. Enable it.

22. Run the game through MO2 to see if it works. If it does, congrats! Now you can install mods as you normally would in Mod Organizer 2 and run vampire.exe through it. and make sure to put -game <folder name> line in the vampire.exe arguments

[photomatt-drinks-piss]

Reasons why you should move to a fediverse social media platform:

(Specifically Firefish, since I mainly use dvd.chat, an instance of Firefish, but I think these points may be applicable to other social media fediverse platforms, like Mastodon, Pleroma, and Pixelfed. Also can someone add captions to my screenshots? I'm on mobile and the "add alt text" option keeps automatically closing on me and erasing what I typed so far):

Migrating from instance to instance is easier than moving between tumblr and twitter, and easier than remaking/moving blogs within tumblr. Example screenshot:

You can follow any user from almost any platform/instance. If you're on firefish, you can follow a mastodon user, a misskey user and a pixelfed user and have them all in the same home feed/dashboard, and vice versa. Example screenshot:

You can self-host your own instance exclusively for you and friends (or only yourself and no one else). I don't know how to do this, but you can see a few instances with one or a few users with signups closed/disabled on fediverse.observer.

You can mute entire servers from your global and recommended feeds, and for misskey & misskey-based instances: you can also set up "Antennas" to follow entire servers (you can only view posts that were posted after setting up the antenna. If you want to see earlier posts, follow individual users or view the individual user's profile either within your instance's user interface or their profile's instance, both will usually work equally well on my instance.)

For misskey and misskey-based instances: you can add plugins to your account to affect your experience and posts.

There are several apps for various instances. For me, I prefer using the mobile web app and Milktea.

Two things to keep in mind:

Not all platforms can fully communicate with others. For example trying to follow communities on Lemmy from Firefish is extremely clunky since Lemmy functions like reddit and firefish functions like twitter and tumblr, so I have both a lemmy account and a firefish account to browse both platforms. I don't use peertube, but I feel like it might be just as clunky to view its content from my firefish account if not more so.

You can mark your profile as a cat and/or a bot account on misskey and misskey-based instances. Enabling cat mode will give your icon cat ears and convert all the text in your posts to include nyas. You'll need a plugin if you want to speak normally while having cat ears (you can also intensify your posts' cat-speak with a plugin, if you want). Screenshot of the option toggles:

Feel free to add some additional pros and cons to fediverse social media platforms/instances in the reblogs.