Armando Roggio

Articles by: Armando Roggio

Armando Roggio

Armando Roggio is the longtime senior contributor to Practical Ecommerce. He's a global ecommerce authority and a practicing merchant, developer, and journalist.

Since 2008 he's written over 1,300 articles for Practical Ecommerce addressing all matters of ecommerce and presented dozens of webinars.

His previous positions include director of ecommerce for a regional retail chain and marketing publications manager at Micron Technology, a publicly-traded computer-chip manufacturer. He holds a B.A. in English Writing and Journalism from The University of Pittsburgh.

Contact Armando via email or LinkedIn. Follow his ecommerce tweets at @ecommerceboy.

Content Marketing
The Hero-Hub-Help Content Marketing Strategy

July 27, 2020 • Armando Roggio

A content marketing strategy should identify what to publish and when to publish it. When a content marketing goal includes growing an engaged audience, YouTube's venerable hero-hub-help framework has much to offer.
Platforms & Apps
Evolving Tech Stack Enables High Performance Ecommerce

July 22, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The technologies powering the web and mobile applications never stop evolving. Each new phase creates opportunities for businesses. The latest iteration is the expansion of so-called edge network capabilities, which help online merchants improve performance and user experience. Both are fundamental to Google's new "web vitals" initiative.
Marketing & Advertising
Live Streaming Connects with Pandemic-driven Consumers

July 19, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Small and mid-sized ecommerce businesses can use live streaming to sell like QVC and HSN, introducing and demonstrating products as well as providing helpful content. And deploying live streaming now can take advantage of consumers' new, pandemic-driven buying habits.
Business
Covid-19 Accelerates Retail’s Digital Transformation

July 16, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Retail's digital transformation, which is the concept of using new digital technology to address business performance, has been ongoing for decades. Covid-19 has forced retailers to invest more money into new technologies and implement those technologies much more quickly than otherwise planned.
Shipping & Fulfillment
USPS Woes Could Impact Ecommerce SMBs

July 12, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The United States Postal Service reported a $4.5 billion loss in the fiscal 2020 second quarter, which ended on March 31. Democratic members of Congress have proposed investing $25 billion to help the USPS. Whatever happens to the agency will likely impact small and mid-sized ecommerce companies.
Design & Dev Tools
Drag-and-drop Ecommerce Tools Are on the Rise

July 8, 2020 • Armando Roggio

For years, ecommerce platform providers have sought to make it easy for SMBs to present and sell products online. Current offerings from Shogun, BigCommerce, and Wix demonstrate that ease-of-use and lack of coding are still in demand.
Business
Letting Workers Go Because of Covid-19

July 5, 2020 • Armando Roggio

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many retailers have furloughed or laid off workers. While this is never an easy process, good communication may help make it relatively less emotional and painful for everyone involved.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for August 2020

July 2, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Content may well be one of the most powerful forms of modern marketing. When a business creates content, publishes that content, and then promotes it, it has the potential to attract, engage, and keep customers. What follows are five content marketing ideas your business can use in August 2020.
Marketing & Advertising
What’s Your Plan for Measuring Marketing Outcomes?

June 25, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Once it defines the objectives of its business or marketing campaign, an ecommerce company should decide how to measure outcomes. Planning and documenting how to measure outcomes should include specific metrics in Google Analytics.
Design & Dev Tools
3 Excellent Performance Testing Tools from Google

June 24, 2020 • Armando Roggio

How quickly a web page loads and becomes interactive is closely related to user experience and conversions, and thus sales and profit. Google has three helpful testing tools to understand how well a website is performing and, also, how to improve it.
Business
Will the Pandemic Impact Christmas 2020 Ecommerce Sales?

June 21, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic that shuttered much of the worldwide economy in the first half of this year may yet impact Christmas 2020. In this post, I'll address a few coronavirus-related scenarios and offer suggestions for how ecommerce merchants can assess the potential impact on their company's holiday sales.
Marketing & Advertising
A 5-step Plan for Video Production and Distribution

June 18, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Video content marketing starts with goal setting, understanding your audience, identifying topics, and creating a schedule — often in the form of an editorial calendar. Once you've completed these first steps, it is time to produce, edit, and publish your videos.
Content Marketing
A 4-step Plan for Video Marketing Success

June 15, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Videos are a potent way for ecommerce businesses to build lasting, profitable customer relationships. What follows are four steps — before you film — for successful video marketing.
Email & Text Marketing
Accelerate Ecommerce Marketing with the RFM Model

June 10, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The recency, frequency, and monetary model lets ecommerce marketers identify and market to specific consumer groups based on their transactional behavior. Ecommerce merchants have many reasons to segment customers and prospects.
Conversion
Store Closures, Slow Shipping Could Drive Retail Prices Lower

June 7, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic could lead to much lower retail prices for some categories, as store closures and product returns caused by slow shipping lead to an inventory glut. The problem might be divided into two broad categories.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for July 2020

June 4, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic will likely influence July 2020 activities. But that shouldn't stop you from publishing seasonally appropriate content marketing. Here are five content marketing ideas your business can try in July 2020.
Analytics & Data
Understanding ‘Sessions’ in Google Analytics

June 1, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The word "session" in an English dictionary reads something like "a period of time devoted to a particular activity." It could be, for example, an individual working on a specific task or goal. Google Analytics uses the term "session" in a similar manner.
Photography & Video
Even in 2020, 360-degree Product Photos Boost Conversions

May 27, 2020 • Armando Roggio

A long-time ecommerce conversion tactic — 360-degree product photography — is making an appearance on major retail marketplaces, large B2B sites, online furniture stores, and automobile marketplaces, indicating, perhaps, that it still represents an opportunity to increase sales.
Social Media
Facebook Shops Are an Ecommerce Game Changer

May 22, 2020 • Armando Roggio

When the world's largest social media network decides to become an ecommerce platform, you can bet it will impact the industry and make a difference long-term. On May 19, 2020, Facebook added ecommerce Shops to Facebook business pages and Instagram business profiles.
Business
Building Community with a Remote Team

May 21, 2020 • Armando Roggio

A remote workforce has always had its advantages, such as access to a large pool of top-notch talent. But the coronavirus pandemic has forced many companies accustomed to physical offices to start working remotely.
Business
Will New Ecommerce Sellers Squeeze Existing Merchants?

May 15, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic has forced some brick-and-mortar businesses to focus on ecommerce, but this shift in focus is not likely to stop many permanent closures. There is a parallel between the virus and its economic impact: Patients and businesses that are already in poor health are much more likely to die from the infection.
Content Marketing
SEO, Content, and Email Work Better Combined

May 14, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Search engine optimization, content marketing, and email marketing can work together to create a virtuous cycle attracting customers to your ecommerce store, encouraging them to engage with your brand, and bringing them back for purchase after purchase.
Link Building
Yes, Toxic Backlinks Can Still Harm Search Rankings

May 12, 2020 • Armando Roggio

When a website links to your online store, that site is indicating it finds your content valuable enough to share with its own audience. Google and other search engines recognize this vote of confidence, which may boost your site's ranking. For this reason, many search engine optimizers covet backlinks.
Shipping & Fulfillment
The Good News and Bad News for Ecommerce Shipping

May 10, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce sales are up and shipping carriers such as USPS, UPS, and FedEx have responded admirably to demand in the face of numerous coronavirus-induced shutdowns and restrictions. That is the good news for ecommerce sellers. Unfortunately, supply chains have suffered. That’s the bad news.
Conversion
Pandemic Alters Retail Return Policies

May 4, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic has forced retailers large and small to make significant, temporary changes to their return practices. Since March, retailers have handled returns in two ways, generally.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for June 2020

May 3, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Content marketing is the act of creating or curating content, publishing that content, and distributing it all with the aim of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers. What follows are five content marketing ideas your business can use in June 2020.
Business
Coronavirus Shutdown Drives Click-and-collect Ecommerce

April 27, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Even before the coronavirus-induced shutdown, click-and-collect ecommerce was growing quickly. But now as many Americans stay at home or keep their distance to flatten the Covid-19 curve, some unexpected businesses are taking online orders for pick up, too.
Marketing & Advertising
How to Write Better SMS Marketing Messages

April 24, 2020 • Armando Roggio

SMS messages are powerful for transactional communication. The messages are easy to write when the content contains only a shipping notice or an access code. But composing marketing SMS messages can be much more challenging. Here are four tips for writing better SMS messages for marketing.
Design & Development
Capture Gmail Messages in a Google Sheet

April 22, 2020 • Armando Roggio

With Google Apps Script, marketers can capture Gmail messages, parse them for relevant information, and add them row-by-row to a Google spreadsheet. This can be especially helpful for capturing leads or contacts.
Marketing & Advertising
Marketing in the Pandemic Creates Opportunities Afterward

April 17, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic has changed everything. Retail shopping habits have been upended. Businesses that attract new customers and retain existing ones — right now — could recover or grow quickly when the economy reopens and moves forward.