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.

Business
8 Common Mistakes by Ecommerce Merchants

August 2, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In my articles I try to provide positive, practical advice on how ecommerce businesses can improve. With this article, however, I’ll explore common mistakes that ecommerce merchants make that harm their businesses. I learned some of these the hard way in my own company. Others are ones ...
Email Marketing
Email Marketing Dos and Don’ts for Ecommerce Merchants

July 23, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In "Email Still an Effective Marketing Tool?," we addressed why email marketing is highly efficient, inexpensive, and easy to measure. This is unlike social media marketing, which for smaller merchants is often difficult to manage and track. I used email marketing extensively in my pr...
Marketing & Advertising
Using Content for Ecommerce Marketing

July 11, 2013 • Dale Traxler

There is a lot of buzz about content marketing. Much of it applies to business-to-business marketers that develop sophisticated lead nurturing campaigns. But content marketing is also important for ecommerce businesses. Many are experienced content marketers and don’t realize it. What...
Conversion
Key Site Search Features that Drive Conversions

July 9, 2013 • Dale Traxler

There are many previously published Practical eCommerce articles about site search. They include tips about features that are critical to delivering a world-class customer experience. Review them and learn more about both technical details of site search and leveraging reporting to deli...
Conversion
7 Post-purchase Survey Questions

July 1, 2013 • Dale Traxler

One frustrating aspect of being an online retailer is that you don’t often talk directly to your customers. In fact, most of the customer feedback comes from phone orders, online chat, problems, and returned orders. It’s difficult to gauge customer satisfaction without feedback. Many ...
Marketing & Advertising
3 Social Shopping Sites for Merchants to Consider

June 26, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The power of community and key influencers are changing the way we do business. The likelihood of purchasing a product that is recommended by a friend is much higher than a product without such a recommendation. Consumers are now more comfortable with recommendations from those with sim...
Platforms & Apps
Multichannel Case Study: Gap Inc.

June 21, 2013 • Dale Traxler

As a small online retailer, you may ignore the strategies of larger, multichannel brands. But if you investigate what these larger companies are doing to deliver a consistent multichannel experience, you will learn how to compete with them. If your operations are online only, you risk ...
Conversion
Using A/B Testing to Optimize an Online Store

June 18, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Larger online retailers have big budgets to optimize their navigation and user interface to drive higher conversion rates. They do this by experimenting relentlessly to find the designs with the results they are targeting: drawing visitors to their stores, delivering the products they a...
Business
Competing Against Multi-channel Brands and Retailers

June 13, 2013 • Dale Traxler

If you sell branded consumer products in your online store, your business is at a high risk because of the multi-channel strategies of manufacturers, marketplaces, and large specialty retailers. Let’s say you sell Under Armour products. One of your items is a "Men’s Coldblack® Player ...
Conversion
Personalization: Letting Shoppers Decide

June 7, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In "Personalizing the Customer Experience," I addressed how that strategy can increase revenue and customer loyalty for ecommerce merchants. In this article, I'll take the concept further. It's time to move from the model of the merchant defining what the shopper wants to one where the...
Business
The Importance of an Exit Strategy

May 31, 2013 • Dale Traxler

You are an ecommerce business owner. Your revenue and profit are increasing. In "Ecommerce Trends Point to a Bright Future," we confirmed the industry is solid and growing. Why in the world would you consider an exit strategy? First, let’s define "exit strategy." In most cases, it mean...
Business
Pros, Cons of an Ecommerce Acquisition

May 29, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In "7 Strategies to Grow Ecommerce Revenue," my previous article, I explored basic, low risk strategies to grow ecommerce revenue. There is another strategy, however, if you are willing to assume more risk: an acquisition. Let’s face it, ecommerce is very competitive. In virtually eve...
Conversion
What to Test on an Ecommerce Site

May 23, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In "19 Tools to Test your Site for Mobile Devices" and "23 Tools to Test your Ecommerce Site," we listed options to test an ecommerce site for mobile compatibility, usability, and performance. Ecommerce merchants should continually test their websites. Some merchants test in different...
Business
Job Description: ‘Startup Ecommerce Founder’

May 21, 2013 • Dale Traxler

I’ve been browsing the job listings for ecommerce positions at large retailers. They can afford to hire expertise in marketing, supply chain management, human resources, systems, web design, business intelligence, operations, and finance. Small business owners do not have those luxuries...
Google Ads
How to Sell on Marketplaces without Harming your Store’s Brand

May 16, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In "Third-Party Marketplaces: What Merchants Should Know" and "Marketplaces: How to Sell More in 2013," we addressed tactics — pro and con — for using marketplaces. Some merchants avoid marketplaces, believing they compete with their stores' brands. Others enjoy the additional revenu...
Business
Adding Alternative Payment Methods to your Online Store

May 13, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Many established merchants offer payment methods in addition to credit cards. The most popular alternative by far is PayPal, but there are other options, too. In my experience, adding a single alternative payment method that allows shoppers to avoid using a credit cards is a good idea. ...
User Experience
Case Study: Shopping for Frisbee Golf Disks on an iPhone

May 9, 2013 • Dale Traxler

In "Mobile Commerce Grows 31 Percent in Q1," Contributing Editor Armando Roggio addressed the rapid growth of mobile commerce. Following from his article, I experimented with various ecommerce sites, to better understand the status of mobile shopping today. Since much of the growth is a...
Business
Implementing the Online Sales Tax Bill

May 6, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The possibility of Congress passing legislation that requires online retailers to collect sales taxes has been discussed for years. People use to asked me if I was worried about it. I would reply, "Not until legislation is in the final debate in Congress.” Well, that final debate is he...
Marketing & Advertising
Ecommerce Search Marketing Evolves

May 3, 2013 • Dale Traxler

A few years ago, small ecommerce business owners invested a good part of their marketing budgets on search engine optimization. Their goal was typically to obtain the highest possible search rankings, to capture as much organic traffic as possible. Many businesses used that as their cor...
Business
How to Monitor, Prevent Fulfillment Errors

April 26, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Ecommerce companies typically focus on acquiring traffic and selling a wide range of products that shoppers will actually buy. Many ecommerce firms track key performance indicators like new visitors, conversion rates, and average order values. But for many ecommerce companies, especia...
Marketing & Advertising
‘Integrated Marketing’ Latest Buzzword, Critical Ecommerce Activity

April 19, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Seemingly, when I become comfortable with a widely used technology term, someone creates another version. That's frustrating. But having been around technology for roughly 30 years, I’ve grown used to it. I may have even contributed to it as a marketing professional and author. A quick...
Business
The Importance of Ecommerce Strategy

April 15, 2013 • Dale Traxler

One thing I learned running my ecommerce jewelry business for 10 years was that I was never done. There was seemingly always something new I should be working on. I suspect many other merchants feel similarly. But it's important to ask if you are working on the right things. Are you i...
Business
Ecommerce Priorities Depend on Lifecycle

April 5, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Knowing your business's lifecycle is important. Before you invest in a new ecommerce platform, or make decisions based on the latest ecommerce trends, be sure you know where you are in the lifecycle of your business. Why is the business lifecycle important? There are many reasons. ...
Conversion
10 Ways to Compete Against Large Ecommerce Companies

March 26, 2013 • Dale Traxler

When I owned a small ecommerce business, I sometimes felt unable to compete against larger companies. Ad budgets were tight; working capital to fund inventory was sometimes limited to cash from current sales. Hiring or outsourcing to find the right graphic artists or web designers was t...
Conversion
5 Key Day-to-day Ecommerce Functions

March 21, 2013 • Dale Traxler

As ecommerce owners, we frequently look for something new to help our businesses grow. This could be a magical analytical tool that deciphers why conversion rates are lower this year than last. Or, it could be a new, exclusive product that becomes a worldwide best seller. Certainly ...
Conversion
5 Ecommerce Landing Pages: Good and Bad

March 12, 2013 • Dale Traxler

A key component of an ecommerce marketing strategy is to develop unique landing pages for online ads and email promotions. Many retailers assume the best place to link ads is their home pages. After all, that is where prospects will find all the products for sale, and it is generally ...
Business
How to Research your Ecommerce Competitors

March 5, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Many ecommerce business owners have told me that they pay little attention to their competitors. Most said that they did not have time, or that their competitors’ tactics did not matter to them. But you should regularly monitor your competitors' businesses, for the following reasons. ...
Marketing & Advertising
Twitter for Ecommerce Merchants

February 21, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Many retailers have discovered that Twitter is an effective way to communicate with their customers and prospects. A recent study for Twitter by Compete reported that Twitter users are more likely to buy online, versus the general public. They are also 1.4 times more likely to make an ...
Conversion
4 Mistakes that Cost Online Stores

February 18, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The process of capturing customers to your online store involves multiple steps, typically. Getting shoppers to visit your store. Helping them find what they are looking for quickly and efficiently. Showing them the information they want about the products they are looking for. P...
Business
21 Key Performance Indicators for Ecommerce Businesses

February 8, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Key performance indicators are becoming common in large corporations as a way to measure and monitor the success of key activities. But they can also play an important role in any sized ecommerce business. A KPI — key performance indicator — is simply a measure of some process, event...