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.

Platforms & Apps
Cart of the Week: Interspire ‘Obsesses over Quality’

October 31, 2008 • Armando Roggio

In this installment of "Cart of the Week," we’ve featured Interspire, an Ajax-intensive, licensed shopping cart that boasts easy design and update tools without needing extensive XHTML, CSS, or other coding skills.
Platforms & Apps
Google’s Chrome: The Prototype for Tomorrow’s Browsers

October 28, 2008 • Armando Roggio

When Google introduced its Chrome browser on September 2, 2008, it began the foundation for an improved Internet experience—full of rich web applications—and launched the next round of commercial combat with chief rival Microsoft. If Google is going to compete against Microsoft for a sh...
Customer Retention
Use Comparison Shopping Sites To Boost Leads

October 21, 2008 • Armando Roggio

Savvy online retailers can attract thrifty customers this holiday season with a sound comparison shopping strategy, but those merchants must be careful not to create a lot of extra work, damage their reputation, or waste money. Comparison shopping sites like Shopping.com, Bizrate.com, ...
Platforms & Apps
Browser Review: Mozilla Firefox 3

October 14, 2008 • Armando Roggio

By some estimates, more than 1.4 billion people use the Internet for work, entertainment, or commerce. All of those web surfers must use a browser to visit websites or shop at online stores, and if browsing speed, security, and functionality matter, those users should be cruising the in...
Platforms & Apps
Browser Review: Internet Explorer

October 7, 2008 • Armando Roggio

When Google introduced its Chrome web browser in September, it fired the first shot in a new browser war, challenging Microsoft’s supremacy, frightening its open-source ally, Firefox, and initiating a race toward better usability and more features. To be fair, there had been plenty of ...
Payments
Amazon Payment Service Allows for Advanced Options

October 6, 2008 • Armando Roggio

Amazon.com has been offering a beta version of its Flexible Payment Service (FPS) to merchants for almost a year now. With many developer-friendly features, some sellers could benefit from adding Amazon FPS to their payment options, especially if they’re already using Amazon to sell the...
Business
Quick Query: Pilot Identifies Niche With PDF Aviation Maps

October 3, 2008 • Armando Roggio

In the United States there will be 590,349 pilots collectively flying some 28 million hours in 228,000 different aircraft this year alone, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). To navigate, those pilots use altimeters, global positioning, and good old-fashioned ma...
Photography & Video
Video Boosts Sales for Online Retailers

October 1, 2008 • Armando Roggio

At brick-and-mortar retailers, shoppers can stroll the isles, handle items, speak to clerks, and receive well placed merchandising messages. It’s not that easy for ecommerce merchants. They must find new and inventive ways to engage and convert customers; using well written and persuasi...
Google Ads
Seven Tactics to Boost Online Banner-ad Response Rates

September 26, 2008 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce has been the great equalizer for retailers—a small book store in Iowa can oftentimes compete with Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon for customers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or the world, but equality isn't always good. There are times when it's good to have a comp...
Platforms & Apps
Magento's iPhone Theme: Mobile Commerce for the Masses?

September 24, 2008 • Armando Roggio

Magento Commerce, an open source ecommerce platform, has introduced an Apple iPhone specific theme that is potentially the first step toward leveling the playing field for small online retailers who want to compete in the lucrative and booming mobile ecommerce market. Mobile eCommerce ...
Platforms & Apps
Yahoo! Store Users: SSL Servers are Moving

September 22, 2008 • Armando Roggio

Yahoo! Merchant Solutions, a leading ecommerce provider, is migrating its secure socket layer (SSL) certificates to new servers, improving their system's flexibility, but forcing some e-retailers to make changes to their stores before an October 15 deadline to avoid cart errors. The SS...