http://www.practicalecommerce.com/authors/31/Rachel-Coleman/ Rachel Coleman is a staff writer for the magazine. She can be reached at rcoleman@practicalecommerce.com. en-us Copyright 2007 Confluence Publishing Wed, 20 Jun 2007 04:18:28 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/rss/ Practical Ecommerce v2.0.1 Ecommerce kmurdock@practicalecommerce.com bgetting@practicalecommerce.com 60 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/508/eBay-Isnt-The-Only-Auction-Site/ In the time zone-crossing, closing-bid-countdown world of online auctions, everyone knows the place to turn a quick buck — or at least where to get started: eBay. Yet in a transformation that mirrors the way the Internet continually reinvents itself, the auction world has changed. It's no longer all about eBay. "Ten years ago, you could probably sell pencil lead for 10 bucks," said Crystal Wells-Miller, cofounder of the Online Web Traders Alliance and an employee of software developer and merchant service provider Vendio. Now, however, "sellers are disposable on eBay. I hear a lot of people saying, 'hmm, there's gotta be something more than just doing this grind every day.'" "It was like a gold rush," says Jason Jacobs of Coresense, which develops management software for ecommerce businesses, "and it did what gold rushes do." That is, the initial frenzy quieted down. Now, scores of auction prospects promise the same big payoff as the original. Sites like uBid, Bid4Assets,... Wed, 20 Jun 2007 04:18:28 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/508/eBay-Isnt-The-Only-Auction-Site/ http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/471/When-Is-It-Time-To-Hire-A-Call-Center/ More business is a good thing, but it creates challenges: A backlog of tasks, costly space and equipment demands and, frequently, a phone that won’t stop ringing. Many ecommerce business owners turn to customer call centers for help. That was the case for Revival Animal Health of Orange City, Iowa, a supplier of small animal products. The 65-employee company’s growth meant more phone calls from its customer base of breeders and pet owners than its on-site call center could handle. Customers who called after hours and on weekends had to talk to the answering machine. Tips To Engage A Call Center *Decide carefully. David Butler of the National Call Centers recommends you shop around and ask for a list of existing and former clients. "If they're not willing to share names, that should raise red flags." *Participate in the set-up process. "It was more overwhelming than I expected," said Karen VanderBrink of Revival Animal Services. "It was worth it, but the beginning... Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:38:49 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/471/When-Is-It-Time-To-Hire-A-Call-Center/ http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/437/Finding-Financing-For-Ecommerce-Businesses/ All online business owners have something they feel passionate about; what most of them don't have is unlimited capital to get the site off the ground and firmly in the black. The founders of Abondanteliving.com — Marlin and Laurie Detweiler and Jim and Debi Long — are no different. Their passion? Keeping the Sabbath, and keeping it well. “Sunday should be the high point of the week,” not an exercise in prohibitions and obligations, said Marlin Detweiler. “One of the most incredible things we can do is reorder our lives, stop and have a wonderful meal on Saturday evening as a kickoff to a day of worship and rest.” Abondante Living, launched in November 2006, is the couples’ way of sharing that point of view, along with practical ideas and products to make a beautiful, weekly celebration an achievable goal for busy families. The site clearly has its niche in the faith community, but the partners aim to widen the audience. “Eating well and enjoying the good... Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:51:22 -0600 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/437/Finding-Financing-For-Ecommerce-Businesses/ http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/403/Dont-Let-Selling-Internationally-Scare-You/ Matt Alper launched Copshoes.com three years ago from his living room in San Antonio, Texas. His idea was to sell specialized shoes and boots to police, firemen and security personnel. Now, three years later, he’s moved into his own warehouse, he has 11 employees and 10 percent of his total sales come from outside of the U.S. “We’ve learned many lessons about selling internationally,” said Alper. “The two primary issues are credit-card fraud and shipping. Any U.S.-based ecommerce business that sells internationally deals with them. It’s not just us.”Credit Card Pro Offers Fraud Prevention Steps John Waldron is co-owner of e-onlinedata, inc., a credit-card merchant-account provider. e-onlinedata assists thousands of ecommerce merchants with domestic and overseas credit-card transactions, and he offers the following advice for merchants who wish accept credit-card payments from international customers. 1. Ask customer for fax verification. For suspect orders or... Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:49:51 -0700 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/403/Dont-Let-Selling-Internationally-Scare-You/ http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/361/10-Tips-To-Improve-Usability/ In a brick-and-mortar enterprise, the problem would be so obvious, no one could ignore it. A tangle of abandoned shopping carts full of unpurchased goods means trouble. "All right," any serious business owner would ask, "What's going on here? What am I doing wrong?" Three questions are likely to reveal solutions for the shopkeeper in trouble: Is it easy to move around the store? Are my customers able to find what they want? How can I speed up transactions at the checkout counter? Ecommerce ventures have the ability to address all these problems at one time by finetuning the website itself. Ease of navigation Ease of navigation boils down to simplicity and speed. To accomplish this: • Ditch cumbersome graphics. Trenton Moss of Webcredible (Webcredible.com), a usability and accessibility specialist based in the United Kingdom, says nothing annoys website visitors more than slow-loading pages. Most will wait less than 10 seconds. If you've loaded your site with... Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:08 -0700 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/361/10-Tips-To-Improve-Usability/ http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/331/Catalogs-Make-A-Comeback/ Ecommerce is to traditional business methods what a sci-fi cruiser is to a Model T. It’s all about technology, convenience, responsiveness—up-to-date stuff light years away fromthe sepia-toned days ofmail-order catalogs. Or so it would seem. But consider this: the humble catalog is once again the vehicle of choice when ecommerce businesses want to upshift. That’s reflected in the buzz at multichannel conferences and in trade publications. “Everybody seems to be in pretty solid agreement: websites that start putting out catalogs seem to get a great increase in business,” said Larry Maher, vice president of Data Management Associates, Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio. The company makes the order management system MACH2K, designed to keep multichannel businesses flowing smoothly. The numbers back up Maher’s observation; some studies calculate that catalog customers spend up to two and a half times what Internet-only shoppers will. Perhaps more surprising is the fact... Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:13:20 -0700 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/331/Catalogs-Make-A-Comeback/