Business
An ecommerce site is a business. Our Management & Finance category addresses online payments, funding needs, employee issues, merchant profiles, key metrics, multichannel and omnichannel strategies, cross-border analyses, inventory management, accounting topics, sales taxes, and much more.
Amazon & Marketplaces | B2B | Cross-border Selling | Finance | Fraud Prevention | Inventory | Local Business | Payments | Shipping & Fulfillment | Staffing-
Inventory
9 Startups That Are Disrupting Inventory Management
November 7, 2017 • Gagan Mehra
The sweet spot for inventory management is to spend the minimum amount to have adequate stock for customer orders. There is no shortage of software to help with this. But ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
T-shirt Designers Thriving on Merch by Amazon
November 2, 2017 • Connor Gillivan
Merch by Amazon is an on-demand t-shirt printing service. Sellers can create t-shirt designs as product listings, and earn royalties on every sale. Amazon prints the t-shirts, and then ships ...
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Business
October 2017 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts
November 1, 2017 • PEC Staff
What follows are our 10 most popular articles for October 2017, recognizing that articles we published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones. 13
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Black Friday opportunities — and pitfalls
October 30, 2017 • Peter Keller
It’s October, and that means ecommerce businesses should be in the thick of Black Friday preparation. I addressed the topic last year, in “A blueprint for Black Friday planning.” I ...
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Business
Volusion C.E.O. Bullish on Smaller Ecommerce Businesses
October 24, 2017 • Kerry Murdock
In an era when many ecommerce platforms are migrating to large, enterprise-level clients, Volusion is doing the opposite. It’s focused on smaller and mid-size companies, even startups. To discuss it,
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Business
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Merchant Voice
What to consider when selling an ecommerce business
October 23, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
In light of recent industry upheavals, some retail businesses may soon close down. Sooner or later, owners of private businesses usually retire or move on. Whilst some will pass the ...
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Fraud Prevention
28 Online Security Tools for Small Businesses
October 23, 2017 • Sig Ueland
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. For small and mid-sized businesses, it’s a good time to strengthen a security plan with some free or relatively inexpensive tools and resources. Here ...
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Business
10 Retail Blockchain Vendors
October 20, 2017 • Gagan Mehra
In “10 Ways Blockchains Can Benefit Merchants,” my previous article, I addressed potential uses for blockchain technology. In this post, I’ll describe 10 service providers that already use that technology. Blockverify Blockverify ...
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Finance
How Does Fintech Affect Ecommerce?
October 19, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
Fintech is the practice of applying technology to the financial services sector. Traditional financial institutions utilize it mainly to manage accounting and other back-office services. More recently, thanks to advances ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
My favorite strategies, tools for selling on Amazon
October 18, 2017 • Phil Masiello
Amazon is a bridge between buyers and sellers worldwide. For business owners, Amazon can provide an excellent sales and awareness channel without incurring the high costs associated with branding or ...
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B2B
Using Ecommerce to Attract B2B Customers
October 17, 2017 • Lori McDonald
B2B merchants often consider ecommerce as a tool for existing clients. Acquiring new customers is expected to happen through the sales team, not the Internet. The website becomes a way ...
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Cross-border Selling
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Merchant Voice
How to start selling in Russia
October 16, 2017 • Maksim Komonov
In 2016, ecommerce revenue in Russia grew 21 percent compared to 2015, to $16 billion. This is according to the Russian Association of Internet Trade Companies. The Association expects Russian ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Amazon and Kohl’s, Food Wars, Toys’R’Us
October 9, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series on news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address: Amazon’s new partnership with Kohl’s; activity in the U.S. online food delivery ...
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Business
10 Ways Blockchains Can Benefit Merchants
October 5, 2017 • Gagan Mehra
The Internet is buzzing with how blockchains can solve problems and disrupt multiple industries. But what exactly is a blockchain and how can it benefit merchants? A blockchain is a “distributed ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
When to Use USPS for Ecommerce Shipping
October 4, 2017 • Armando Roggio
The United States Postal Service is a popular shipping solution for American ecommerce businesses. It stacks up well against other carriers in several situations. The USPS may be particularly effective when ...
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Business
September 2017 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts
October 1, 2017 • PEC Staff
What follows are our 10 most popular articles for September 2017, recognizing that articles we published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones. 78
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Business
Miva C.E.O. on New Investment, Amazon, Ecommerce Outlook
September 28, 2017 • Kerry Murdock
It’s been an eventful year for Miva, the pioneering ecommerce platform. Its longtime president became C.E.O. and the company raised $18 million of private equity, which is the first such ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Avoid ‘saving money’ content if you want higher-end clients
September 27, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
How do you position your ecommerce products and services? Are your items, on average, more expensive than your competitors? Do you offer high-end, custom products that shoppers can’t find elsewhere? Or ...
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Local Business
Can Experiential Retailing Help Brick-and-mortar Stores?
September 25, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
The theory behind experiential retailing is that people are bored with buying tangible goods; what they really crave is experiences. When shoppers really need things, they can buy them online ...
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Business
4 Predictions for the 2017 Holiday Shopping Season
September 24, 2017 • Armando Roggio
During the 2017 holiday shopping season, expect weather, mobile commerce, and self-gifting to contribute to an 18 percent growth in U.S. digital retail sales. For the last few years, I have ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
6 ways to optimize Amazon listings
September 20, 2017 • Phil Masiello
Amazon has a huge catalog of products from around the world. Consumers rely an Amazon’s site search to find those products. But it doesn’t mean they will find the best ...
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Business
Magento C.E.O. on Revamped Product Line; Digital Transformation
September 20, 2017 • Kerry Murdock
Magento, the ecommerce platform, launched in 2007, grew dramatically, and was acquired by eBay. When eBay divested PayPal in 2015, it also sold Magento, to a private equity firm. Magento’s ...
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Business
Using MoSCoW Prioritization for Ecommerce Projects
September 19, 2017 • Armando Roggio
Ecommerce businesses, like all businesses, have tasks or jobs that need to be done. Organizing tasks into priorities may help ecommerce owners and managers improve how their companies operate and ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart Steps Up Acquisitions
September 14, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
One economic sector’s implosion is another sector’s lucky break. Physical store closures are disproportionately occurring in the apparel category, pushing more consumers to online clothing shopping. Seizing the opportunity for ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
How to learn about your customers, for cheap
September 12, 2017 • Peter Keller
One of the most important ways to help your business is to know the demographics and interests of your customers. If you don’t understand your customers, it’s difficult to write ...
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Business
Can Personalization Save Shopping Malls?
September 10, 2017 • Gagan Mehra
The rise of ecommerce is impacting shopping malls. Traffic and sales are down significantly. 2017 has been a particularly bad year for brick-and-mortar retailers, with hundreds of announced store closures. In ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Legal: Protect Against Counterfeit Goods with Amazon Brand Gating
September 6, 2017 • John Di Giacomo
There is no question that service providers like Amazon must constantly be on guard against nefarious third party sellers who might use their service for unlawful means. In order to ...
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B2B
9 Critical Skills to Build a Robust B2B Ecommerce Site
September 5, 2017 • Lori McDonald
Building a B2B ecommerce site requires a breadth of skills. It’s important to look not just at people or roles, but the expertise to accomplish the job. In this post, I’ll ...
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Business
10 Great Ecommerce Ideas for September 2017
September 5, 2017 • PEC Staff
Practical Ecommerce periodically asks industry insiders to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what 10 of them had to say for the September 2017
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Mobile payments could revive cash on delivery
September 4, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
Recently I have heard of retailers using modern technology for an old payment method: cash on delivery. Credit card payments can now be accepted on small terminals wherever there’s a mobile ...