Page 114 – Practical Ecommerce

Category

Amazon & Marketplaces
Why Use Amazon’s Brand Registry?

June 29, 2017 • John Di Giacomo

Protecting against knockoffs on Amazon can be a problem for ecommerce merchants. Thankfully, Amazon recently instituted its Brand Registry program, which is intended to protect the brands of marketplace sellers ...
Content Marketing
Content Marketing: 7 Tips for Proofreading and Editing

June 28, 2017 • Armando Roggio

Content marketing requires editing for the same reason gardening requires pulling weeds: It is essential for good results. At a magazine or online journal, it is common for an article to be ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Important Affiliate Marketing KPIs, for Mid-year Review

June 28, 2017 • Greg Hoffman

The summer months are slow for many ecommerce merchants. It is an excellent time to do some housekeeping and prepare for the upcoming busy season. Take a few days to ...
Product Pages
10 Tips for Better Product Category Pages in 2017

June 27, 2017 • Armando Roggio

Product category pages play an important role in an online shopper’s journey, acting as a hub for filtering products on the path toward making a purchase. A well-made product category page ...
Business
Book Excerpt: ‘Think and Engage and Thrive’

June 27, 2017 • Phil Masiello

In this chapter I’ll briefly go over what it means to THINK, ENGAGE, and THRIVE. Before I talk about what those terms mean separately, I want to make it clear that these are not distinct phases you’ve got to work through one at a time. They’re part of a continuous, repeating cycle.
Social Media
23 Instagram Tools to Connect with Shoppers

June 26, 2017 • Sig Ueland

Instagram is a platform for inspiring images. For businesses, it can be a good place to convey a brand’s story and connect with consumers. Here is a list of tools for ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Will Amazon’s Brand Registry restrict marketplace sellers?

June 26, 2017 • Phil Masiello

There are two types of Amazon sellers. Both can be successful. The first type is a reseller of other brands. This is a highly competitive type of selling with very small profit ...
Email & Text Marketing > Merchant Voice
How I manage email spam

June 26, 2017 • Richard Stubbings

We all receive email spam. The longer our businesses exist, the more spam we get. So how should we deal with it? All businesses should have policies and procedures for dealing ...
Business > Merchant Voice
What I’ve learnt from millennials and baby boomers

June 24, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

In the past nine months, I’ve had three event-management interns — two millennials (the generation born 1981-2000) and a baby boomer (those born 1946-1964) — work with me at My ...
Design & Development
Imgix C.E.O. on Real-time Image Optimization

June 23, 2017 • Armando Roggio

Images are vital for ecommerce. Images on a home page, category pages, and campaign landing pages — they all help engage shoppers. But here’s the challenge: Are you optimizing those ...
Staffing
6 Tips for Managing an SEO Team

June 23, 2017 • Jill Kocher Brown

Whether your search engine optimization team is in-house or at an agency, staying in touch with what they’re working on is critical. A team left to their own devices may ...
Code
To Prevent Software Failures, Use Automated Testing

June 22, 2017 • Eric Davis

The larger your ecommerce store grows, the more complex the software behind it becomes. Even if you outsource your store development or use a hosted platform, this complexity will affect ...
B2B
Pros and Cons of Selling on Amazon Business

June 21, 2017 • Lori McDonald

Amazon Business, the B2B marketplace, has more than 45,000 active sellers and more than 10 million products with bulk purchase options or business discounts. Many B2B merchants aren’t sure whether ...
Product Pages
Need More Conversions? Review Your Calls to Action

June 21, 2017 • Pamela Hazelton

I’ve said many times that store pages need a definitive call to action. I fear, though, that I’ve been remiss in explaining what a CTA is and the importance of ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
For Amazon, Is Whole Foods a Grocery Chain or a Distribution Network?

June 20, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan

The announcement that Amazon is buying Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, or $42 a share, generated an enormous amount of commentary, with financial and technology analysts chiming in on ...
Marketing & Advertising
Your Blog Needs an Editorial Mission Statement

June 20, 2017 • Armando Roggio

Content marketers — like newspaper editors and magazine publishers — must understand why they create content and for whom it is intended. A written, editorial mission statement for a blog ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
The 2 Winners in Amazon vs. Walmart Battle

June 19, 2017 • Jeremy Hanks

After an ecommerce power-up that included acquiring a string of online retailers, including Jet.com, Walmart took a major swing at Amazon by offering free 2-day shipping for qualified orders of ...
Marketing & Advertising
For Social Media Success, Avoid These 3 Mistakes

June 19, 2017 • Vanessa Penagos-Pino

Consumers, in 2017, expect companies to engage with them across social channels. But for many ecommerce businesses, social media management is often overlooked or relegated behind other tasks. In this article,
Schools & Resources
10 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2017

June 18, 2017 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of new ecommerce books for your summer reading. There are titles on podcasting, video marketing, entrepreneurship, disruption, global ecommerce, and valuing digital businesses. I compiled this list ...
SEO
SEO: 7 Questions to Fix Analysis Paralysis

June 16, 2017 • Jill Kocher Brown

Analysis paralysis, that tendency to want to find problems rather than resolve them, destroys your ability to grow the natural search channel. One of the hardest aspects of search engine optimization is ...
Email & Text Marketing
Tips on Choosing an Email Service Provider, in 2017

June 15, 2017 • Carolyn Nye

The landscape of email service providers is continually evolving, with advances in technology and changing needs of brands and merchants. In this article, I’ll address factors to consider, in 2017,
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: June 15, 2017

June 15, 2017 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-June from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shipping solutions, artificial intelligence, email campaigns, product ...
Business
Successful Retailers Operate in 3 Businesses

June 14, 2017 • Armando Roggio

Online retailers, particularly mid-market and larger, are really in three businesses: selling products to consumers; software; and publishing. Retail commerce has become the convergence of in-store and online shopping. Regardless of a ...
Local Business
Will Shopping Malls Survive?

June 13, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan

From the 1950s when they were initially built, through the early 2000s, shopping malls were the backbone of retail shopping — attracting consumers with convenient parking and a wide selection ...
Design & Dev Tools
20 Free Web Design Tools, Spring 2017

June 12, 2017 • Sig Ueland

Making use of free elements and tools from the design community is an easy way to add value to your website. Here is a list of new web tools and design ...
Fraud Prevention
Are Static Fraud Tools Obsolete?

June 12, 2017 • Patricia Carlin

Card-not-present fraud leads other types of payment fraud in countries that have migrated to the EMV standard. That is according to U.S. Payments Forum, a nonprofit organization that includes global ...
SEO
How to Optimize for Voice Search in 5 Steps

June 9, 2017 • Jill Kocher Brown

Content sites may have a natural advantage in voice search. But ecommerce sites can garner visitors from voice searches, too. Follow these five steps to learn how to optimize your ...
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for July 2017

June 9, 2017 • Armando Roggio

In July 2017, ecommerce content markers should have no shortage of content ideas, including producing articles, podcasts, and videos about national celebrations, cultural icons, and statistical data. For retailers, content marketing ...
Analytics & Data
Ad Blockers Can Affect Analytics Reporting

June 8, 2017 • Hamlet Batista

Ad blocking software doesn’t just block ads. It also blocks most tracking beacons used by analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, and others. Jason Packer, with Quantable, an optimization ...
Fraud Prevention
Intelligent Ways to Manage Fraud

June 8, 2017 • Gagan Mehra

Fraud continues to impact online merchants. Some experience chargebacks, while others experience various forms of return fraud. Fraud hurts not only merchants but also consumers, as merchants often increase prices ...