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-
B2B
Using Facebook Ads for B2B Targeting
November 18, 2015 • Michael Stancil
If you had asked online marketers a couple of years ago to name the best channel for B2B targeting, most would not have said Facebook. In fact, it wasn’t until early ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
How to Sell an Amazon Marketplace Business
November 16, 2015 • James Thomson
Most Amazon sellers have enough on their plates keeping their businesses running and maintaining sales and profits. But no matter how long a merchant lasts on Amazon, there may come a ...
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Business
Successful Ecommerce Entrepreneurs Love the Process as Much as Profits
November 11, 2015 • Armando Roggio
Small business owners presumably create their ventures with the aim of making profit. Some want to supplement an income. Others want to replace one. But if an entrepreneur doesn’t enjoy ...
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Finance
Equity Crowdfunding Rules Are Finally Set
November 10, 2015 • Marcia Kaplan
Three years after legislation passed, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has finally approved final regulations that will implement equity crowdfunding. In the intervening period, many variations of crowdfunding have ...
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Business
Year-end Legal Checklist for Ecommerce Owners
November 9, 2015 • Elizabeth Lewis
As the end of the year approaches, business owners should review their financial and legal obligations for 2015 and prepare for 2016 and beyond. While each business is unique, the ...
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Local Business
Local SEO: 9 Ways to Take Advantage of ‘Near Me’ Search
November 9, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Google searches that include terms like "near me” or “nearby” have doubled since 2014, with 80 percent coming from mobile, according to a Google Trends report.
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Business
5 Problems Small Ecommerce Retailers Could Face in 2016
November 3, 2015 • Armando Roggio
Ecommerce continues to grow, representing an increasing share of total retail sales. As more and larger online stores open, small sellers may face new business-threatening problems in 2016. Ecommerce has long ...
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Business
Former Amazon Exec on Marketplace Selling Strategies
October 30, 2015 • Kerry Murdock
Selling on Amazon’s marketplace can be challenging. There are, to be sure, millions of prospective customers. But there are also many competitors selling there, often at prices that are difficult ...
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B2B
Preparing a 2016 B2B Ecommerce Budget
October 28, 2015 • Lori McDonald
It’s time to pull together the 2016 budget for your B2B ecommerce site. Budgeting for a B2B ecommerce site typically has four phases: information gathering, reflection on priorities, assigning numbers, and ...
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Local Business
10 Text Messaging Tools for Local Business Marketing
October 28, 2015 • Kathleen Fealy
Text messaging, also known as SMS (Short Message Service), lets businesses communicate with consumers through their cell phones in 160 character messages. It gives businesses the opportunity to present relevant information, enhanced customer experiences and service, and special offers.
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Shipping & Fulfillment
Fulfillment: How to Speed up the Picking Process
October 27, 2015 • Michael Manzione
In “Holiday Checklist for Ecommerce Operations,” my article last month, I shared steps to assist in your preparation for the upcoming seasonal rush. In this article, I’ll offer tips to your warehouse team, to ...
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Payments
Credit Card Processing: American Express OptBlue Rates Often Wrong
October 26, 2015 • Phil Hinke
Did you change credit card providers or renegotiate pricing with your existing provider in the last year? If so, did you verify that you were actually receiving the rates and ...
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Business
Benefits of third-party ecommerce apps
October 23, 2015 • Kenny Kane
One of the good things about being on a leading ecommerce platform — Bigcommerce, in my case — is the ability to easily connect third-party apps to your store. Apps are ...
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Business
3 Holiday KPIs for Your Ecommerce Store
October 22, 2015 • Armando Roggio
Three tried-and-true key performance indicators may help online stores focus on what matters most during the busy, high-volume Christmas shopping season. “Really there are three things a retailer has to do,” said ...
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Business
Jet vs. Amazon: A Quick Comparison
October 20, 2015 • Gagan Mehra
Jet launched a few months back, claiming that it will be the Amazon killer. Jet’s original model was similar to Costco, where consumers must pay a membership fee to shop ...
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Local Business
Hyperlocal Marketing: 5 Ways to Drive In-store Traffic
October 19, 2015 • Paul Chaney
The dictionary defines the term hyperlocal as “relating to or focused on a very small geographic community.” Hyperlocal marketing, therefore, consists of marketing activities that also concentrate on a tight geographic circle. Most local business marketing fits within the hyperlocal category.
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Shipping & Fulfillment
Published Shipping Policies Can Protect Merchants
October 15, 2015 • Elizabeth Lewis
As we head into the holiday season, shipping of products goes into high gear. Ecommerce merchants must make sure that they have updated their shipping policies prior to Black Friday ...
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Business
‘Internet of Things’ Helping Ecommerce Merchants
October 8, 2015 • Gagan Mehra
The adoption of Internet of Things has grown in the retail world since I last wrote about it in December 2013. While larger companies are benefitting from this technology, many ...
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Business
5 Tips for Starting an Ecommerce Business
October 7, 2015 • Armando Roggio
Online retail sales are growing fast and creating significant opportunities for entrepreneurs. In fact, there may already be as many as 650,000 online stores earning more than $1,000 each month.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
How to Overcome Negative Feedback on Amazon’s Marketplace
October 7, 2015 • James Thomson
Say you are shopping on Amazon and you find the perfect product to buy. But you notice that the seller offering the product has 90 percent positive feedback. Yes, one ...
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Payments
Check Credit Card Processing Rates before Holiday Rush
October 2, 2015 • Phil Hinke
Sales over the next three months will be crucial to the profitability of many ecommerce merchants. Credit card processing costs over this timeframe will affect profitability, too. This article is ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
The (Many) Benefits of Offering Free Shipping
October 1, 2015 • Armando Roggio
Free shipping is a competitive necessity for some online retailers. While there are certainly costs associated with free shipping, there are also some reasons to feel good about offering it. When ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
Holiday Checklist for Ecommerce Operations
October 1, 2015 • Michael Manzione
We’re fast approaching the time of year that typically accounts for more than 20 percent of annual retail sales. It usually defines whether a company is profitable or not. Communication, organization,
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Shipping & Fulfillment
USPS Regional Rate Shipping Saves Money
September 30, 2015 • Armando Roggio
The United States Postal Service’s Priority Mail Regional Rate shipping can save ecommerce businesses money and deliver orders somewhat more quickly than similar services. First introduced in 2011, USPS Priority ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
Adjusting to third-party fulfillment
September 25, 2015 • Kenny Kane
My last two posts — “My search for a third party fulfillment company” and “Life after in-house fulfillment” — have addressed Stupid Cancer’s massive change from in-house to third-party fulfillment. While ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Low-cost alternative to multichannel software
September 21, 2015 • Richard Stubbings
Due to the ever increasing cost of multichannel software, I have looked for an alternative solution. Until recently I have not found any. I have now. I use Linnworks, an ...
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Staffing
U.S. Puts Short Leash on Independent Contractor Status
September 20, 2015 • Elizabeth Lewis
Independent contractor or employee? It is a question that most business owners face as they grow from being self-reliant to needing help. Initially, many business owners choose to classify individuals ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
7 Overlooked Holiday Tactics for Amazon Sellers
September 15, 2015 • James Thomson
For many ecommerce merchants, the holiday shopping season is the busiest, most critical time of the year. On Amazon, things can get crazy for sellers, even if they have been ...
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Local Business
Beacons: Local Retail Game-changing Technology?
September 14, 2015 • Paul Chaney
Beacons, a new technology designed to drive customer loyalty and in-store sales, is growing in popularity among larger retailers. But is it something smaller retailers can use?
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B2B
4 Tactics B2B Ecommerce Can Borrow from B2C
September 13, 2015 • Lori McDonald
“We don’t need ecommerce. Our customers don’t buy that way. They find us through Thomas Register and place orders with us by phone and fax.” That’s what the president of a ...