Dale Traxler

Articles by: Dale Traxler

Dale Traxler

Dale Traxler is a contributing editor for Practical Ecommerce. He is an ecommerce veteran with hands-on experience — since 2002 — as co-founder and C.E.O. of an online jewelry supply distributor that was successfully sold in 2012.

Dale is now V.P. Commerce Solutions for Rightpoint, a digital agency, where he focuses on delivering world-class digital commerce solutions for enterprise companies in manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, and retail.

Email Dale at dale@practicalecommerce.com.

Conversion
Evaluating Site Search on Target, Walmart, and Amazon

February 24, 2014 • Dale Traxler

Today’s consumers usually start shopping in an online store by typing the desired item in the search tool. Shoppers have learned that most sites are too large to simply browse ...
B2B
To Implement B-to-B Ecommerce, Empower Marketing not IT

February 18, 2014 • Dale Traxler

In “B-to-B Ecommerce: Big Opportunity, Big Obstacles,” I addressed the challenges manufacturers and distributors face as they initiate and grow their ecommerce operations. One of those challenges is to identify what department ...
B2B
B-to-B Ecommerce: Big Opportunity, with Obstacles

February 10, 2014 • Dale Traxler

Business-to-business merchants face ecommerce challenges that are different from their business-to-consumer counterparts. This has slowed the entry into ecommerce for many B-to-B manufacturers and distributors. Forrester Research projected 2013 B-to-B ecommerce ...
Conversion
16 Inexpensive Ways to Grow Ecommerce Revenue

February 4, 2014 • Dale Traxler

Many ecommerce merchants focus on acquiring new visitors to increase revenue. While that strategy can be helpful, it’s often cheaper to focus on growing revenue from existing shoppers, by improving ...
Platforms & Apps
Rewards, Risks of Changing Ecommerce Platforms

January 27, 2014 • Dale Traxler

There are many reasons that ecommerce companies change platforms. As their business grows and market conditions change, ecommerce firms sometimes replace components or the entire platform to remain competitive. But replatforming ...
Business
Ecommerce vs. Commerce: What’s the Difference?

January 23, 2014 • Dale Traxler

I assume you are reading this because you sell products online — either in your own online store or through marketplaces. Here’s a question. When someone asks what business you ...
Business
Reviewing Ecommerce KPIs for the New Year

January 7, 2014 • Dale Traxler

The holidays are over. Your business is returning to normal. As you start a new year, review your business’s performance in 2013. Once you’ve completed your review, create a plan ...
Platforms & Apps
Distributed Commerce to Disrupt Online Storefronts?

December 11, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The vast majority of ecommerce transactions occur in a traditional online storefront. Most ecommerce solutions include everything required for placing an order in a single shopping cart or platform —
Marketing & Advertising
The ‘When’ of Ecommerce Marketing

December 2, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Ecommerce marketers are quickly learning how consumers use different devices and when they use them. Marketers know that different age groups and demographics use them differently. City dwellers have different ...
Business
Third-party Cookies vs. Consumer Privacy

November 26, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In “The End of Third-party Cookies Should Not Hurt Retailers,” we addressed how third-party cookies affect privacy and ecommerce. After reading that article, I reviewed privacy issues and what other ...
Platforms & Apps
Hosted Mobile Platforms Quick, Easy to Implement

November 18, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Consumers increasingly conduct product research on smartphones. But actual online purchases are typically done on desktops, laptops, and, now, tablets. There are many reasons for this, but mostly it is that ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Data Feeds Critical for Multichannel Success

November 14, 2013 • Dale Traxler

What do Amazon, TheFind, Sears.com, Rakuten.com, Shopping.com, Google Merchant, mShopper, Nextopia, SLI Systems, Catalogs.com, Shopzilla, Commission Junction, and Vendio have in common? They all require a data feed of your products.
Business
Large Retailers Redefining Ecommerce

November 11, 2013 • Dale Traxler

When showrooming became popular a few years ago, brick-and-mortar retailers realized they needed to change, to compete with lower-priced online stores. Amazon became the target of many brick-and-mortar companies. But ...
Marketing & Advertising
7 Online Marketplaces: Pros and Cons

November 7, 2013 • Dale Traxler

I’ve previously suggested that online merchants and brand manufacturers sell their products on marketplaces to expand their reach and increase their revenues. Marketplaces attract more visitors than a smaller online ...
Marketing & Advertising
3 Thanksgiving Week Ecommerce Promotions

November 5, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The week of Thanksgiving is the biggest retail shopping time of the year. Are you ready? Inventory in stock? New products created in your store? Staffing plan in place? Boxes and shipping supplies ordered? Promotions designed ...
Content Marketing
How to Create Compelling Ecommerce Content

November 1, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In “Content Marketing for Ecommerce Merchants,” I suggested that merchants create relevant content for their shoppers throughout the buying cycle. There are two ways to approach creating content that will support ...
Marketing & Advertising
Content Marketing for Ecommerce Merchants

October 28, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Many people use poor grammar when they post content to various social platforms. However, when not browsing posts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, most of us still prefer to read ...
Conversion
Mobile Commerce: More than Closing Transactions

October 22, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Here’s a quick summary of mobile devices and their impact on commerce. Mobile devices are ubiquitous. More than 50 percent of Americans have a smartphone and that percentage is increasing. Tablets are replacing ...
Business
Understanding Ecommerce Shoppers: Who, Why, Where, When, How

October 17, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Most ecommerce merchants can describe their customers in a general way. They likely know basic demographics — age range, gender, income level. But, do they understand the “why,” “where,” “when,”
Business
SEO Changes Force Merchants to Diversify Traffic

October 9, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The days when your online store received 80 percent of its traffic from organic search on Google are over. Here’s why: More shoppers start their shopping process on Amazon, not Google; Google ...
Marketing & Advertising
How to Optimize your Marketplace Sales

October 7, 2013 • Dale Traxler

For merchants who operate their own online stores, selling on eBay, Amazon, Rakuten, Sears, and other marketplaces can be confusing. Oftentimes, merchants must adopt a new way of thinking and ...
Business
Many Ecommerce Options for Brand Manufacturers

October 3, 2013 • Dale Traxler

There may never be a better time to be a manufacturer or private-label brand. As recently as 10 years ago, if you created your own brand of products, you likely ...
Marketing & Advertising
Holiday Ecommerce Promotions to Prepare in September

September 16, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In “2013 Holiday Ecommerce Preparedness Checklist,” we addressed tasks to do now for the holiday rush. This article adds a few ideas that are more customer and marketing centric. Create New ...
Business
Managing the Gross Margin of your Ecommerce Business

September 10, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The gross margin calculation of sales minus cost of goods sold is a fundamental key performance indicator of any business that sells products. It measures the profit generated from each ...
Business
The Commerce EvRolution, Part 3: Smaller Merchants

September 4, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Editor’s note: This is “Part 3″ of a three-part series on how the mobile revolution is affecting ecommerce. “Part 1: Shopping Trends” and “Part 2: Channel Trends” we published previously. In ...
Business
The Commerce EvRolution, Part 2: Channel Trends

August 30, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In my previous article, I introduced the term "EvRolution," where mobile devices and applications are revolutionizing commerce. Retailers are rapidly evolving their strategies and technologies to keep up with the shift in consumer shopping and buying.
Business
The Commerce EvRolution, Part 1: Shopping Trends

August 27, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Did I just make up a word, EvRolution? Why not. Technologists and marketers have been doing it for years. We’ve come up with ecommerce, m-commerce, and t-commerce to describe online ...
Business
10 Things I Would Do Differently in my Ecommerce Business

August 16, 2013 • Dale Traxler

After I sold my business last year, I wrote a series of articles on the importance of developing an ecommerce strategy. I’ve written over 70 articles since then, addressing best ...
Marketing & Advertising
Multichannel Marketing Key for Reaching Online Shoppers

August 14, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Many ecommerce merchants are too reliant on Google organic search referrals. Some merchants depend on Google for 70 percent or more of their traffic. About five years ago that was fine, since that was where most shoppers began their shopping search. Today, this is simply not the case. ...
Marketing & Advertising
Prepare in August for Holiday Ecommerce Sales

August 7, 2013 • Dale Traxler

As we approach the end of summer, ecommerce merchants should start preparing for the fall selling season. It's time to identify new products, inventory and supplier issues, and pricing competition. Importantly, start planning seasonal promotions: Labor Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Than...