Page 173 – Practical Ecommerce

Category

Social Media
Facebook Simplifies Ad Buying for Second Time

October 15, 2013 • Paul Chaney

Facebook continues to promote its advertising products, especially among small business users. One way is by simplifying the ad purchase process. The first attempt occurred in June of this year ...
Business
Roundup of Privacy Initiatives, Effect on Ecommerce Merchants

October 14, 2013 • Gagan Mehra

There has been much activity in the privacy space in the last few months, including changes that could impact how consumers shop and how retailers collaborate with their business partners.
Email & Text Marketing
Special Characters in Email Subject Lines: Good or Bad?

October 13, 2013 • Pamella Neely

You've probably seen special characters in email subject lines before — those interesting little symbols that show up now and again in your email inbox. They look like this.
Business
A Matter of Trust (Part 2)

October 11, 2013 • Jordan Lindberg

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” – Stephen R. Covey. Last month I shared seven ...
Technical SEO
SEO: Google’s Hummingbird Changes the Ecommerce Game

October 11, 2013 • Jill Kocher Brown

Google released its Hummingbird search algorithm under the radar in August. Hummingbird reportedly impacts 90 percent of all search queries. So how does Hummingbird change the game for ecommerce sites? With ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
5 Ways to Save Money on Retail Shipping

October 10, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Free or low-cost shipping is a mainstay in the online retail business. It motivates shoppers to buy more. But carriers like UPS, FedEx, and even the United States Postal Service ...
Finance
Amazon’s Loss Leader Strategy Results in No Profits

October 10, 2013 • Marcia Kaplan

For the first time in many years Amazon posted a loss in two of the last four quarters. The second quarter loss occurred despite a revenue increase of 22 percent ...
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 ...
Business
SEO Changes Force Merchants to Diversify Traffic

October 9, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The days when your online store received 80 percent of its traffic from organic search on Google are over. Here’s why: More shoppers start their shopping process on Amazon, not Google; Google ...
Payments
MasterCard Defines 5 Online Shopping Personas

October 8, 2013 • Armando Roggio

MasterCard, the payment industry leader, has defined five online shopper personas that defy traditional demographic boundaries and give online retailers a fresh way of looking at online marketing, personalization, and ...
Social Media
Using Hashtags for Ecommerce

October 8, 2013 • Paul Chaney

Hashtags are common nowadays. They are prominent on many social networks. You see them on television commercials and programs. Late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon even has a segment ...
Marketing & Advertising
How to Optimize your Marketplace Sales

October 7, 2013 • Dale Traxler

For merchants who operate their own online stores, selling on eBay, Amazon, Rakuten, Sears, and other marketplaces can be confusing. Oftentimes, merchants must adopt a new way of thinking and ...
Content Marketing
Using SEO to Drive Content Marketing

October 4, 2013 • Jill Kocher Brown

If you think search engine optimization is just keyword repetition and directory submissions to fatten up your link profile, you’re living in 2006. Modern SEO is central to content marketing,
Business
6 Timesaving Automation Tools for Ecommerce Merchants

October 4, 2013 • Jerry Jao

Lack of time is common among business owners. Between sales, marketing, customer service, accounting, and everything else, it’s no surprise that many entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed. The good news is there is ...
Social Media
5 Ways Twitter Is Like Radio Advertising

October 3, 2013 • Armando Roggio

From a marketer’s perspective, Twitter tweets and radio promotions have a number of similarities. Thinking about what these marketing tactics have in common can reveal insights about content creation, message ...
Business
Many Ecommerce Options for Brand Manufacturers

October 3, 2013 • Dale Traxler

There may never be a better time to be a manufacturer or private-label brand. As recently as 10 years ago, if you created your own brand of products, you likely ...
Customer Retention
Understanding Consumer Search Behaviors

October 2, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Shoppers have many reasons to look for products online. They may want a particular item, seek a bargain price, or even compare similar choices. Understanding these basic consumer search behaviors ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Magento 1.8 Is Here: Upgrade or Not?

October 2, 2013 • Richard Stubbings

Magento 1.8 has finally been released. When Magento first came out, releases were frequent. But this time it has been over a year since 1.7 came out. It was beginning ...
Social Media
Social Listening: Benefits, Tools, Tips

October 2, 2013 • Paul Chaney

Social media has given people a megaphone through which to share ideas, advice, and opinions about brands they do business with and products they buy. Such sharing can wield powerful ...
Influencers & Affiliates
AvantLink Tool Changes Affiliate Bid System

October 1, 2013 • Carolyn Kmet

With the fourth quarter here, affiliate managers should now focus on securing key placements on select sites. Traditionally, this means identifying placement opportunities and negotiating an increased revenue share to ...
Marketing & Advertising
21 Ways to Integrate Email Marketing and Social Media

October 1, 2013 • Pamella Neely

There has been conflict between social media and email marketing over the last few years. Some observers believe email is dead. Others cite stats refuting the rumor. Wired magazine reported earlier this year “email is crushing Twitter and Facebook for selling stuff online.” And ExactTarget’s Channel Preferences survey found 77 percent of people prefer to get marketing retailed messages through email.
Google Ads
Dynamic Search Ads Complement Pay-per-click Efforts

October 1, 2013 • Matthew Umbro

Google’s Dynamic Search Ads allow pay-per-click advertisers to show text ads based on relevant queries that are not otherwise in an ad campaign. It’s been nearly two years since Google ...
Business
How to Determine When to Sell Your Ecommerce Business

September 30, 2013 • Manish Shah

It’s easy to forget now, but Michael Dell was the Mark Zuckerberg of his day. Hailed as a young genius, he created the inexpensive, made-to-order personal computer in his University of ...
Business
September 2013 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

September 30, 2013 • PEC Staff

Each month we compile a list of the 10 most popular articles we published that month, based on the number of page views. Here are our ten most popular articles ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Alibaba User Experience Director on Design, Usability

September 27, 2013 • PEC Staff

The appearance and functionality of an ecommerce site affects its sales. Is the site attractive? Is it easy to navigate? Do core functions work? Is it fast? Does it render ...
Keyword Research
Understanding Google’s Keyword ‘Not Provided’ Data

September 27, 2013 • Jill Kocher Brown

Google quietly released major changes to its search product this month to, among other things, move toward encrypting all search activity. The move is touted as an effort to protect ...
Email & Text Marketing
7 Ideas for Better Ecommerce Marketing Emails

September 26, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Email marketing is an excellent way to engage customers and increase both site traffic and sales. Not all email messages, however, are equally effective. In 2012, 44 percent of promotional email ...
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 ...
Analytics & Data
Holiday Analytics: 13 Tips to Prepare your Ecommerce Site

September 25, 2013 • Feras Alhlou

The holiday season is fast approaching. As you get your ecommerce products, promotions, and backend processes in place, take your analytics and optimization up a notch. Don’t just focus on ...
Social Media
Facebook Increases Image Size of Ads

September 25, 2013 • Paul Chaney

Facebook revised some of its ad formats recently to make them more consistent across all devices — desktop and mobile — as well as to improve performance. Ads affected by ...