Page 234 – Practical Ecommerce

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Design & Development
Quick Query: mPayy CEO Explains Mobile Payments

January 20, 2010 • PEC Staff

Mobile devices could be the next major platform from which consumers shop for products. But, for ecommerce merchants, there are issues with mobile commerce having to do with screen size, product images, and payments. Payments on a mobile device, from a consumer to a merchant, can be dif...
SEO
Stalking Competitors’ SEO Tactics

January 20, 2010 • Jill Kocher Brown

Despite my contention that Internet marketers need to stop obsessing about rankings, an examination of the SEO tactics of competitors that outrank your site can be extremely enlightening. Stalking a competitor's SEO tactics can uncover content optimization and link building opportunitie...
Design & Development
AppMakr CEO on Affordable iPhone, Android App Development

January 19, 2010 • Brendan Gibbons

The iPhone is now among the most popular gadgets of all-time, but the cost of developing applications for the iPhone App Store has been a barrier for smaller businesses that cannot afford the steep charges of app developers. AppMakr, a service that allows anyone to make iPhone applicati...
Business
Merchant Talk: Etsy Seller Enjoys the Artistic Community of the Marketplace

January 18, 2010 • PEC Staff

"Merchant Talk" is a weekly discussion with an actual ecommerce merchant. For this installment we visited with Laurie Marshall who sells hand-sewn crafts and vintage goods on Etsy.com, an online marketplace for artists and craftspeople. Marshall runs two stores on Etsy, Punkinhead.ets...
Social Media
The PEC Review: The Social Media Marketing Book

January 18, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Some 70 percent of shoppers trust consumer opinions posted online. Facebook has more than 350 million users. By some estimates, Twitter will have 26 million users by the end of this year. And YouTube is the third most popular website on the Internet, bar none. Social media cannot be ig...
Platforms & Apps
Cart of the Week: AbleCommerce Shopping Cart

January 15, 2010 • Kate Monteith

This week, we'll hear from Logan Rhodehamel, president of AbleCommerce, makers of the AbleCommerce shopping cart. The Vancouver, Wash.-based company has been producing its ecommerce solution for 15 years, and there are currently approximately 11,000 active cart users. We'll also hear from an AbleCommerce cart user, Carl Anderson, webmaster for the Seattle, Wash.-based online store, Anne Geddes Gift Shop & Baby Boutique.
Social Media
Social Media Webinar Sparks Hundreds of Questions

January 14, 2010 • Armando Roggio

There was news this week that Pepsi planned to forgo a Super Bowl Ad in favor of investing $2 million into social media marketing. With so much focus on connecting to customers via social communities, it was little wonder that attendees to the Practical Ecommerce "Social Media 201: Ho...
User Experience
Mobile Commerce: Simulators Show Your Site’s Appearance on Mobile Devices

January 14, 2010 • Brendan Gibbons

Last week, I cited estimates for the number of Internet-capable mobile devices sold in 2009, and how this has already outpaced the number of computers sold, both portable and desktop. Here I’ll show you some useful tools for determining how effectively your site, in its present form, op...
Conversion
9 Crowdsourcing Ideas to Grow Your Online Business

January 13, 2010 • Darpan Munjal

If you are running an online business or planning on starting a new one, chances are that you do not have unlimited capital. Yet, in order to succeed in this competitive environment, you realize that you can’t compromise on the quality of your offering. More than likely, you continually...
Social Media
Facebook, Twitter Help Online Food Store Extend Its Reach

January 13, 2010 • Paul Chaney

Bill and Louise Bowers are ecommerce merchants and owners of Classic Golden Pecans, a specialty products company located in Lafayette, Louisiana, the heart of Cajun country. Classic Golden Pecans sells pecans, candied pecans and confectionary items native to the region. Customers includ...
Design & Development
Mobile Internet Devices, By the Numbers

January 11, 2010 • Brendan Gibbons

Last week, I reported on how the number of mobile devices is exploding worldwide. But coming up with an estimate for the total number of smartphone handsets sold this year is difficult, and numbers vary depending on the source. A report by Smart Analytics stated 43 million smartphones w...
Fraud Prevention
The PeC Review: VeriSign Badge and EV SSL Instill Trust

January 11, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Customers want to feel safe when they make online purchases. They need to know that the credit card or account data they are providing to the merchant is transmitted and handled in a secure way. To protect customer information, an online merchant will comply with the Payment Card Indus...
Marketing & Advertising
Ask an Expert: Get More Traffic Without Spending a Fortune

January 8, 2010 • PEC Staff

"Ask an Expert" is an occasional feature where we ask ecommerce experts questions from online merchants. For this installment, we address a question about increasing site traffic from Rob McClintock, owner of Healing Leaves, an online store that sells natural health products. For the ...
Platforms & Apps
Cart of the Week: Earth Skater

January 8, 2010 • Kate Monteith

This week, we'll hear from Sener "Sean" Korkusuz, president of Earth Skater, developers of Earth Skater shopping cart. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company serves approximately 100 online stores that use the cart. We'll also hear from an Earth Skater customer, David Jones, owner of UnwiredSignal.com.
Business
Quick Query: ProStores Exec Lin Shearer

January 7, 2010 • PEC Staff

The start of the year brings new energy and vitality for many online merchants. Many of them are looking to jump start sales, trim expenses and otherwise grow and improve their businesses. For ideas to help merchants will all of this, we spoke with a seasoned ecommerce expert. He's Lin ...
Conversion
Split Testing Can Increase Conversion Rates

January 7, 2010 • Kate Monteith

Split testing is a conversion-tracking method that separates your message into two or more variations to see which gets the best response. Different visitors see different versions of the message and the results are tracked to determine the best return. We wanted to learn more about c...
Marketing & Advertising
Five Innovative Facebook Examples from Ecommerce Merchants

January 6, 2010 • Brendan Gibbons

With more than 350 million active users, Facebook’s population has exceeded that of the United States. According to its statistics page, the average user spends more than 55 minutes each day on this social media site, and he or she becomes a fan of at least two pages per month. Since ...
Marketing & Advertising
Google Expands Personalized Search

January 6, 2010 • Jeff Muendel

Google’s announcement in December that it would be expanding personalized search to include users not signed in to Google certainly created some anxiety for companies and individuals that are dependent upon search results for income. What exactly does this change mean, and how does an e...
Design & Development
Notable Ecommerce iPhone Apps

January 4, 2010 • Brendan Gibbons

Mobile ecommerce is beginning to manifest itself in several different ways. With the dramatic increase in fast, 3G cellular subscribers in the United States, a burgeoning number of users utilize mobile devices to access the Internet. Merchants should contemplate the appearance of their ...
Platforms & Apps
The PeC Review: Use Dropbox for File Storage and Team Collaboration

January 4, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Many small and midsized ecommerce businesses use virtual offices, meaning that shipping and logistics might be in Kentucky near the FedEx hub, web development could be managed in Italy, and the online store's marketing and customer service teams may be in Oklahoma. What's more, many of...
Platforms & Apps
Cart of the Week: Kryptronic’s ClickCartPro

January 1, 2010 • Kate Monteith

There are more than 350 online shopping carts. And each week we feature one, interviewing both the cart's developer and a customer. "Cart of the Week" is not a review or an evaluation, but rather an opportunity to learn about a shopping cart from the people who build it and use it. Thi...
Business > Merchant Voice
Hello 2010

January 1, 2010 • Ken Kikkawa

The holiday orders have all been delivered and hopefully we have made thousands of children and adults happy with their gifts of toys and hobbies. Whether it was an RC car, train set, model kit, model rocket set or slot car set, hours of fun were spent together with friends and family ...
Conversion
Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for January 2010

December 31, 2009 • Kate Monteith

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the January 2010 installment of "Great Ecommerce Ideas." Identify the Source of Inquiries "Measure your marketing effect...
Design & Development
Mobile Commerce Is Coming

December 30, 2009 • Brendan Gibbons

The iPhone and iTouch are the fastest-growing technology platforms in history. That is according to Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker, who also predicts that mobile commerce will dramatically grow in the U.S. M-commerce Around the World Japan and some Scandinavian countries are ahe...
Cross-border Selling
Ask an Expert: European Payment Solutions

December 30, 2009 • PEC Staff

"Ask an Expert" is an occasional feature where we ask ecommerce experts questions from online merchants. For this installment, we address a question concerning European payment solutions from Rashda Ali, commercial manager, Europe, with Comvita.com, a New Zealand-based retailer of healt...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Free Shipping: The How-to Economic Model

December 29, 2009 • John Lindberg

Free shipping is a growing trend in the ecommerce industry. As the owner of an ecommerce fulfillment company, I work with hundreds of successful webstore merchants and am in a unique position to see both the threats and opportunities posed by free shipping strategies. Different Type...
Business
Quick Query: Full Sail Educator on Online Learning

December 28, 2009 • PEC Staff

There are numerous options for ecommerce merchants who want to learn new skills that can be applied to their business. Full Sail University is one of those online options. With a physical campus in Winter Park, Florida, the university offers online programs in fields such as web design ...
Conversion
The PeC Review: Using Gmail For Your Business

December 28, 2009 • Armando Roggio

For many online retailers, customer service is managed via email or chat. When a customer has questions or concerns, that customer often replies to a transactional email or submits a contact form, launching an engagement experience that is completely managed online, without face-to-face...
Platforms & Apps
Cart of the Week: VP-ASP Shopping Cart

December 25, 2009 • Kate Monteith

There are more than 350 online shopping carts. And each week we feature one, interviewing both the cart's developer and a customer. "Cart of the Week" is not a review or an evaluation, but rather an opportunity to learn about a shopping cart from the people who build it and use it. Thi...
Business
Internet Attorney on Online Defamation

December 24, 2009 • PEC Staff

Nearly every ecommerce merchant has experienced disgruntled customers or angry competitors who post dishonest comments about his or her business. This could be in so-called complaint sites, forums, blogs or other online venues. Internet attorney John Dozier of the law firm Dozier Intern...