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.

Email Armando. Follow his ecommerce tweets at @ecommerceboy.

Business
Will Supportive Spending Impact Ecommerce?

September 20, 2021 • Armando Roggio

The pandemic changed how shoppers think about life generally and the products they use specifically, according to reports from Google, Accenture, and others. This includes picking brands and products for ethical reasons instead of economic ones.
Business
What Makes a Good Ecommerce Brand?

September 16, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Helen Vaid is CEO of Foundry, a business aggregator that buys and grows commerce brands. She believes the explosion of products and seemingly unlimited consumer choice mean brands must do more than merely sell goods and services.
Business
Will the Creator Economy Embrace Ecommerce?

September 9, 2021 • Armando Roggio

As the so-called creator economy evolves and expands, ecommerce could become a significant revenue channel, helping to create new business models and drive the development of new commerce platforms. The terms "creator" and "creator economy" are a little ambiguous.
Marketing & Advertising
Privacy Changes to Streaming Ads Are Coming

September 6, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Connected television, a rising star in the targeted, programmatic advertising industry, will soon be impacted by new privacy measures. Connected television is often called CTV or OTT. The latter stands for "over the top" and is reminiscent of cable boxes or Roku devices that sat over the top of televisions.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for October 2021

September 1, 2021 • Armando Roggio

In October 2021, your content marketing could feature product-focused tutorials, storytelling, and annual observances, such as a little holiday called Halloween. Content is an integral part of ecommerce marketing.
Email Marketing
5 Ways Apple’s Email Privacy Impacts Marketing

August 30, 2021 • Armando Roggio

As early as September 2021, Apple's mobile email apps may hide a recipient's internet protocol address, making it difficult or impossible to measure open rates and track user behavior.
Business
‘Five Forces’ That Make or Break Consumer Brands

August 26, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Creating a consumer brand involves identifying competitive advantages, gaps, and unmet needs. But how is that done? One solution is Michael E. Porter's five competitive forces.
Marketing & Advertising
How to Start a Successful Podcast for Ecommerce

August 22, 2021 • Armando Roggio

A podcast can help with customer acquisition and retention. It can provide reusable content. And it's one of the simplest ways to launch content marketing. As with any marketing effort, podcasting is a process to be planned and executed, starting with clear objectives.
Social Media
Shopper Privacy Could Boost Contextual Ad Targeting

August 19, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Consumer privacy concerns could prompt advertisers to find alternatives to tracking-and-behavior-based ads, giving contextual targeting a boost. Contextual targeting is not new, although it's becoming more sophisticated. It is based on a tried and true concept: Place your ad next to relevant content.
Marketing & Advertising
Lifecycle Marketing in Practice

August 16, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Lifecycle marketing connects a business and its customers, providing the proper communications at the proper time. Done well, it helps retain buyers and provide a better overall shopping experience. Instead of thinking about lifecycle marketing as email or text messages, view it as a relationship.
Conversion
Is Your Supply Chain Vulnerable?

August 12, 2021 • Armando Roggio

The combination of pandemic lockdowns and rising freight prices has forced some companies to focus on supply chain vulnerabilities. Many commerce businesses have experienced some form of supply chain disruption in the past 18 months.
Conversion
CommerceCo Recap: Winning the Digital Shelf

August 9, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Consumers with access to physical stores, ecommerce sites, online marketplaces, apps, and social selling seek consistent and frictionless shopping experiences. This makes it tough for brands to maintain product messaging. Call it the dilemma of the digital shelf.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for September 2021

August 5, 2021 • Armando Roggio

In September 2021, content marketers can offer courses, suggest gifts, celebrate holidays such as Grandparents’ Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival, or provide how-to help. Content marketing is the act of creating,
Marketing & Advertising
Win More Customers with the SOSTAC Model

August 1, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Developed more than 25 years ago, the SOSTAC framework can help marketers better understand their business, their customers, and the actions needed to grow sales and profits. Digital advertising can seem easy. But a business that grows in complexity and scale often becomes more challenging to market.
Conversion
Getting Investors to Buy Your Inventory

July 28, 2021 • Armando Roggio

When it comes to funding inventory, retail businesses can be creative, using loans, credit cards, supplier terms, and even advances from family. Whatever the method, however, raising the money can be a challenge.
Product Pages
The Full-funnel Product Detail Page

July 26, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Once found only at the bottom of a sales funnel, the ecommerce product detail page is evolving to address the entire buyer journey, from awareness to sale. Consider a free, basic theme on Shopify called "Simple." Its product detail pages are sales-focused, with eight sections.
Business
6 Things to Do before Selling an Ecommerce Business

July 22, 2021 • Armando Roggio

When it comes time to sell your ecommerce business, you may find you are not fully prepared for prospective buyers or your business isn't the smooth running machine you thought. The individuals considering your company may be looking for a new source of income or an addition to a portfolio of related businesses. These prospective buyers need assurances and info, to evaluate the potential.
Social Media
What’s the Future of Social Media Advertising?

July 19, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Many businesses recognize the need for social media advertising. But describing social media ads is a bit like counting raindrops in a thunderstorm. The trends are many, fast-moving, and often gone in a flash. At least one industry practitioner believes social advertising is growing in acceptance despite tracking concerns.
Google Ads
Need More from Pay-per-click Ads? Try Planning

July 15, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Pay-per-click advertising is essential for many ecommerce and omnichannel retailers. Google, Facebook, and other ad platforms have made it easy to set up a campaign. PPC success, however, often depends on careful planning and preparation, not rushing out to place ads.
Business
How to Track Profit from Products, Customers

July 12, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Unit economics provides ecommerce and omnichannel retailers with foundational intelligence that can identify break-even points and long-term sustainability. As the name implies, unit economics focuses on the value a single "unit" represents for the business. This unit can either be a product or a customer. Each of these reveals different, actionable information.
Link Building
CommerceCo Recap: A Process for SEO Link-building

July 8, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Link building could be the most daunting search engine optimization task. It requires near equal portions of research, creativity, and outreach resembling cold calls. It's also critical for prominent organic search rankings.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for August 2021

July 5, 2021 • Armando Roggio

In August 2021, ecommerce and omnichannel retailers have many topics to choose from for content marketing, including back-to-school shopping guides, informative ebooks, MTV's 40th birthday, presidential jokes, and items with an international flavor.
Platforms
Shopify Announces Online Store 2.0, More

July 1, 2021 • Armando Roggio

During its "Unite" event on June 29, Shopify announced significant changes to its ecommerce platform aimed at performance, ease of use, and empowering developers. The company also announced a new revenue-sharing model, giving app and theme creators 100% of revenue up to $1 million each year.
Business
Book Excerpt: ‘The Digital Seeker’

June 29, 2021 • Armando Roggio

We go to the internet because we seek something: love . . .adventure . . . education . . . opportunity . . . the hot new gadget . . . the must-have holiday toy . . . an escape from our daily life. But when we get there, we find the internet is a frustrating place — because when it comes to choices, the internet has outdone itself.
Email Marketing
Apple’s iOS 15 Could Improve Email Marketing

June 24, 2021 • Armando Roggio

When it's released this fall, Apple's iOS 15 could make capturing some email marketing metrics more difficult, which might improve performance. On June 7, 2021, Apple described some of the new privacy features it would offer in its forthcoming operating systems for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac computers.
Business
Brave Launches Google Search Competitor

June 23, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Brave Search hopes to serve privacy-minded consumers worried about tracking cookies and invasive advertising. On June 22, 2021, Brave Search entered public beta, meaning that anyone can type in queries on the new search engine and see the results.
Business
An Arms Race of Ecommerce Data Is Coming

June 20, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Consumer brands and large retailers are creating data-driven infrastructure and workflows that could impact the entire ecommerce industry, according to a performance analytics firm.
Email Marketing
Email Marketers Should Know Subscribers Better

June 16, 2021 • Armando Roggio

How important is email list segmentation? Some leading retail brands and marketplaces are allowing subscribers to opt-out of Father's Day email promotions this year. Etsy, Free Fly Apparel, Tesco, and many others have asked subscribers if they want to receive marketing announcements for Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Link Building
CommerceCo Recap: SEO Link-building Is Hard

June 10, 2021 • Armando Roggio

Link building is among the most important search engine optimization techniques. It is foundational and essential. Just about every successful commerce business wants or needs to build links, but it is hard to do well. Moreover, there is no easy way to "hack" link building.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Get Ready for a Marketplace Bloodbath

June 9, 2021 • Armando Roggio

As the retail industry continues its digital transformation, consumer brands and traditional retailers are churning out Amazon-like marketplaces that could lead to new battles over products and customers. Oriental Trading Company, Inc., a discount party-supply chain, recently announced that it would launch an online marketplace.