Page 153 – Practical Ecommerce

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Local Business > Merchant Voice
Brick-and-click stores should offer free pick-up

December 9, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Free shipping is commonplace for ecommerce companies. For brick-and-click companies — those with online and physical stores — free pick-up can be a helpful shipping option for ecommerce customers that ...
Social Media
Using Social Media in 2015 for Ecommerce Marketing

December 9, 2014 • Paul Chaney

Social media yet again failed to prove that it directly influences ecommerce purchase activity, a new survey reveals. The CMO Survey, a leading source of information about strategic marketing trends, found ...
Checkout Tactics
6 Checkout Changes to Minimize Abandonment

December 8, 2014 • Pamela Hazelton

The average site’s cart abandonment rate this year was over 70 percent. That means, on average, less than 30 percent of shoppers who start to check out complete the process.
Customer Service
10 Brands Using Twitter for Customer Service

December 8, 2014 • Sig Ueland

In addition to social media marketing, Twitter offers companies an easy way to expand their customer service efforts. Twitter provides shoppers with a simple and immediate tool to get help ...
Amazon & Marketplaces > Merchant Voice
Amazon’s version of Christmas customer care

December 7, 2014 • Richard Stubbings

At this time of year, more than any other time, you have to work harder at customer care. This is due to two main reasons. Firstly, you have a much ...
Fraud Prevention
How to Choose a Fraud Prevention Service, for Ecommerce

December 7, 2014 • Bob Angus

Ecommerce merchants love the holidays. So do fraudsters. Chargeback cheats and organized criminals know you’re busy driving sales, fulfilling orders, and keeping customers happy. They hope you are not as ...
Technical SEO
SEO Technical Requirements Checklist, for Ecommerce

December 5, 2014 • Jill Kocher Brown

In “SEO 201, Part 5: Evaluating Ecommerce Platforms,” I listed basic SEO needs to assist in the selection of an ecommerce platform. This article will go further, listing technical requirements ...
Business
Websites Liable for Children’s Data under Federal Law

December 4, 2014 • Elizabeth Lewis

Last year at Christmas, I was surprised at the number of technology-focused toys aimed at children under four. I saw (a) stuffed animals that you can plug into your computer ...
Social Media
Add Visuals to 2015 Social Media Marketing

December 4, 2014 • Paul Chaney

The social web has gone visual. One look at your Facebook News Feed provides proof. You now see more graphics, photos, and videos than ever. Plus, visually oriented networks such ...
Content Marketing
7 Ways to Get People to Share Your Content

December 3, 2014 • Pamella Neely

People who are new to content marketing sometimes say, “I want my post to go viral.” Or, “We want content guaranteed to go viral.” It’s a great goal, but even the best marketers in the business don’t go viral every time they publish. Getting a post to go viral requires a mix of first-rate content, a responsive audience, and serious content promotion skills.
Social Media
8 Favorite Social Media Campaigns in 2014

December 3, 2014 • Samantha Collier

It’s time to round up the social media campaigns in 2014 that have stood out from the crowd. Here are my favorites. 1. Cancer Research #NoMakeUpSelfie First up is a huge charity ...
Finance
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Losing Mojo?

December 3, 2014 • Marcia Kaplan

Although Cyber Monday and Black Friday online sales both broke records, analysts are seeing signs that the two big shopping days are losing some punch. Forrester Research ecommerce analyst Sucharita ...
Conversion
3 Steps to Resolving Customer Complaints in 2015

December 2, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Not every transaction goes as smoothly or perfectly as businesses might hope. Most every company receives customer complaints. As this article is being written, many online retailers are experiencing heavy Christmas ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Consider niche purchasing

December 1, 2014 • Richard Stubbings

Much has been written about the advantages of niche selling. This is because it is a great way forward for independent retailers. Less is written about niche purchasing. This is ...
Business
Thanksgiving Day Online Sales Leap 14.3 Percent in 2014

December 1, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Even while the traditional Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing lay still warm on the table, Christmas shoppers were on tablets and desktop computers making purchases, boosting U.S. online sales some 14.3
Content Marketing
20 Tools to Promote Your Content

December 1, 2014 • Sig Ueland

In “45 Tools to Generate Content, for Ecommerce,” my article last week, I listed tools to generate content to attract and retain customers. Once you have generated new content —
Customer Retention
Customize the Search Page to Increase Ecommerce Sales

November 30, 2014 • Pamela Hazelton

One of the most ignored features of the online store is the search page. It typically provides too many irrelevant results, or worse, none at all. Even the biggest online ...
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for December 2014

November 28, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Christmas, New Year’s, new trends, astounding facts, and interviews are all good ideas for content marketing in December 2014. Content marketing is the art and science, if you will, of creating,
Influencers & Affiliates
3 Affiliate Marketing Action Items for 2015

November 27, 2014 • Carolyn Kmet

Set aside some time in December to map out what 2015 will look like for your affiliate marketing channel. Many times, “thinking” becomes consumed by “doing,” which results in a ...
Social Media
Twitter’s New App Helps Plan Holiday Promotions

November 26, 2014 • Paul Chaney

Earlier this month, Twitter launched a free app to assist small businesses with their holiday marketing. Called Twitter Small Business Planner, the app offers “tactical guidance just in time for the ...
Business
101 Ways to Use Data, for Ecommerce

November 25, 2014 • Gagan Mehra

Data can be extremely important to ecommerce merchants, as it helps them understand their customers better and generate more revenue. There are many ways a merchant can use data in ...
Checkout Tactics
10 Last-minute Ways to Increase Holiday Conversions

November 25, 2014 • Pamela Hazelton

It’s crunch time. If you procrastinated the proper planning for this now-current holiday shopping season, not all is lost. While there’s no time to completely revamp the online store itself,
Shipping & Fulfillment
Ecommerce Drop Shipping vs. Marketplaces: Pros, Cons

November 25, 2014 • Jeremy Hanks

This is the fifth installment in my series on drop shipping and inventory supply models. In “Drop Shipping for Ecommerce, Part 1: Supply Chain History,” my first article, I addressed basic ...
Business
IBM Shows Off Analytics, Makes Holiday Predictions

November 24, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Mobile commerce will boom this holiday season, email will work better, and IBM intends to prove it with real-time online shopping trends data free to anyone. IBM’s ExperienceOne Benchmark Live online ...
Content Marketing
45 Tools to Generate Content, for Ecommerce

November 24, 2014 • Sig Ueland

Content marketing is the technique of creating and sharing content — blog posts, images, videos — to attract and retain customers. Generating relevant and compelling content can be a challenge,
Business
6 Steps to an Effective Ecommerce Privacy Policy

November 21, 2014 • Bob Angus

Online privacy is essential for ecommerce visitors and customers. The frequent headlines of security breaches and inappropriate data use by major companies have consumers more vigilant than ever about their ...
Payments
B2B Merchants Often Overpay for Card Processing

November 21, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Business-to-business merchants often overpay for credit card processing. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main ones is they choose a merchant account provider that doesn’t have ...
Business
Lessons Learned: Car Forums the Ramp to Ecommerce Success

November 20, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

As a boy in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1960s, Fredric Gwinn used to watch his father, a machinist by trade, work on the family car, doing everything from routine maintenance ...
Business > Merchant Voice
5 tips for more holiday ecommerce sales

November 19, 2014 • David Sasson

There is a saying I’ve heard since moving to Kansas: “You make hay when the sun shines.” Well, for virtually all retailers in the U.S., the sun shines during the ...
Social Media
Twitter Survey Focuses on Users’ Holiday Shopping Plans

November 19, 2014 • Paul Chaney

Twitter recently conducted a survey of 500 U.S. consumers who use the platform at least monthly and, also, participate in holiday shopping. The results provide insight into the shopping behavior ...