Category

Design & Development

The nuts and bolts of an ecommerce site are design and development. We address design innovation and trends — including layouts, colors, photography, logos, video, and more. We explain the basics of code — HTML, CSS, JavaScript — as well as platforms, themes, plugins, open source, and related topics.

Code | Design & Dev Tools | Platforms & Apps | Schools & Resources | Typography & Fonts | User Experience

Platforms & Apps
20 Apps for Microsoft SkyDrive

December 2, 2013 • Sig Ueland

SkyDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage service, similar to Google Drive and Dropbox. SkyDrive comes with some attractive features, such as 7 GB of free storage and mobile apps for iOS,
Schools & Resources
16 Free Online Tools for Small Businesses

November 25, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Whether you’re starting a small business or you’re just thrifty, you can likely benefit from some free online productivity tools. Here is a list of online productivity tools for small businesses.
Platforms & Apps
4 Managed WordPress Hosting Providers

November 20, 2013 • Joe Robison

Managed WordPress hosting came about because many WordPress sites, from small time bloggers to large businesses, wanted more security and support than was provided by standard hosts. They wanted expertise ...
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 ...
User Experience
9 Ecommerce Lessons from NFL Online Shops

November 6, 2013 • Armando Roggio

The National Football League, its teams, and its licensees collectively sell more than $2 billion per year in merchandise, including shirts, hats, key chains, and golf tees just to name ...
Schools & Resources
12 New Ecommerce Books for the Holidays

October 21, 2013 • Sig Ueland

With the holidays around the corner, it’s time to browse the new ecommerce books. I compiled this list using Amazon’s “Books” category. I selected “Browse Subjects” and chose the “Business &
Platforms & Apps
4 Popular WordPress Ecommerce Platforms

October 16, 2013 • Joe Robison

Most products for sale online are straightforward, with variations mainly in colors and sizes. WordPress ecommerce plugins can be an easy, inexpensive way to sell these items. If you already ...
Schools & Resources
Reading List: Robert J. Moore of RJMetrics

October 9, 2013 • PEC Staff

In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite books and blogs, and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with Robert ...
Schools & Resources
Reading List: Seth Boylan of Xpert Fulfillment

September 26, 2013 • PEC Staff

In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite books and blogs, and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with Seth ...
Design & Development
Psychology and Web Design

August 15, 2013 • Drew Coffin

Our psychology affects how we interact with websites. Designers can use this to their advantage. Here are a few ways to use psychology when designing your site.
Design & Development
Multiscreen Ecommerce: Dos and Don’ts

August 1, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Online shoppers use a variety of devices — smartphones, tablets, laptops, personal computers, and televisions — to discover and buy products online. In response, ecommerce businesses need a multiscreen strategy for both marketing to potential customers and providing those shoppers with ...
Design & Dev Tools
5 Tools to Personalize your Marketing Efforts

July 25, 2013 • Jerry Jao

In "8 Tools to Personalize your Ecommerce Site," I discussed methods to customize visitors' experiences on your website. In this article, I'll list five tools to help personalize your advertising and marketing efforts. PadiAct Not everyone is going to buy from you on the first visit....
Design & Dev Tools
8 Tools to Personalize your Ecommerce Site

July 23, 2013 • Jerry Jao

Personalizing an ecommerce site doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Often, it’s just about finding the right tool, implementing it on your site, and letting the software do its magic. If you’re thinking about adding more personalization features, the following tools and services ...
Design & Development
Mobile Ecommerce Sites Should Be Fast and Robust

July 22, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Internet users, and online shoppers specifically, want fast and robust online experiences regardless of whether they are using a desktop computer or the most basic smartphone. Ecommerce businesses competing in this era of the emerging mobile web must take steps to provide useful and ric...
Schools & Resources
18 Resources to Make a Logo

July 8, 2013 • Sig Ueland

A logo is a way for a business to convey its identity and purpose. But hiring a designer to create a logo can be an expensive and intimidating process. There are a wide variety of online tools available to create a unique logo without spending a huge amount of money. Here is a list of ...
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Platforms: Design Control vs. Ease of Launching

July 3, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Online shoppers judge an Internet retailer’s trustworthiness and a product’s value based, at least in part, on how good a site or product detail page looks. Given its importance, one might think that design control would be an essential part of every available ecommerce platform. But ma...
Platforms & Apps
4 Comment Systems: Pros and Cons

June 27, 2013 • Drew Coffin

In “What to Look for in a Comment System,” I described features like comment moderation, analytics, social integration, and dashboard settings. In this post I will review four popular comment systems and discuss the highlights of each.
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 ...
Schools & Resources
14 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2013

June 17, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of new ecommerce and Internet-marketing books for summer 2013. There are new titles on digital marketing, A/B testing, search engine optimization, inbound content marketing, mobile commerce, email strategies, social influence, and drop shipping. I compiled the list usin...
Design & Dev Tools
19 Free Design Tools for Your Website

May 29, 2013 • Sig Ueland

If you have a small business website, chances are you can use all the free design help you can get. Here is a list of tools and resources to help you with website design. There are font, icon and image tools, as well as audio and video applications. Also there are resources to give you ideas and generate your design inspiration. All of these tools are free.
Design & Dev Tools
21 Free Tools to Open a WordPress Shop

May 27, 2013 • Sig Ueland

WordPress is a free content management system with an abundance of free plugins and themes to launch and manage an ecommerce shop. If you’re looking for an inexpensive and flexible solution to test the ecommerce waters, WordPress might be right for you. Here is a list of free tools to...
Design & Development
3-part Mobile Commerce App Strategy

May 23, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Purchases from smartphones and tablets reached $5.9 billion in the U.S. for the first three months of this year. comScore and the U.S. Commerce Department each reported that mobile commerce sales, excluding things like groceries, airplane tickets, and automobiles, accounted for 11 perce...
Schools & Resources
11 Sites with Great Search

May 20, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Search is a big opportunity to provide a positive shopping experience. Helping customers find what they’re looking for is a proven way to generate sales. Here is a list of sites that offer compelling search. Some of these sites provide traditional site search with advanced search opti...
User Experience
Optimizing an Ecommerce Site for Mobile Shopping

May 14, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Improving how quickly a page loads and how easy it is to use that page once it has loaded might be one of the most important things online merchants can do to help tablet and smartphone shoppers and take part in the mobile commerce trend. Mobile commerce may have reached between $5.7 a...
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...
Schools & Resources
Reading List: Vendio’s Mike Effle

May 9, 2013 • PEC Staff

In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with Mike ...
Design & Development
Mobile Commerce Grows 31 Percent in Q1

May 7, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Mobile ecommerce sales rose 31 percent in the first quarter of 2013 as tablet-fueled, couch commerce is rapidly becoming the most popular form of online shopping with the so-called multi-channel shopper. Data from the IBM Online Retail Index and the U.S. Department of Commerce suggeste...
Design & Dev Tools
15 Easy Mobile App Solutions

May 6, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Mobile apps can be easy to make. With the variety of mobile app builders to choose from, even non-coders can build their own mobile apps with ease — from basic catalogs to complex utilities. Here is a list of solutions to build your own mobile app. These tools are primarily for users w...
Design & Development
3 Important Mobile Commerce Trends

April 26, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Tablet-based purchases, an explosion in video watching, and shopping activity of men are among the hottest mobile commerce trends that could impact how online retailers market and sell. Mobile commerce — mcommerce — is the fastest growing retail segment as more shoppers make purchases...

« Previous 1 2 3 … 28 29 30 … 49 50 51 Next »