Page 65 – Practical Ecommerce

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Marketing & Advertising
The Value of Personalized Marketing for Ecommerce

October 22, 2020 • Armando Roggio

A well-executed personalized marketing program may resemble person-to-person conversations like those a shopper could experience in a brick-and-mortar retail store. It is easy to recognize a genuinely good customer experience when you have it.
Email & Text Marketing
Designing Emails to Drive Clicks and Conversions

October 22, 2020 • Carolyn Nye

Email design has evolved to reflect changes in technology and consumer behavior. The goal is to elicit the desired action from the recipient, such as a click or conversion. In this post, I'll address tips on designing high-performing emails for ecommerce.
Analytics & Data
Introduction to Google Analytics 4

October 21, 2020 • Morgan Jones

Google Analytics has come a long way since it launched in 2005. Version 4 is the latest iteration. It enables the blending of online and offline user activity into one reporting stream.
On-page SEO
SEO: How to Move Skydivers through the Funnel

October 20, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown

What happens when consumers parachute from organic search results and land on the page Google thinks is the most personally relevant? They skip as much as 95 percent of your prepared journey.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Winners on Prime Day 2020? Non-Amazon Sites

October 19, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Amazon’s delayed 2020 Prime Day event ran for two days — October 13 and 14 — as it did last year. While it does not release total revenue for Prime Day, Amazon touted in 2019 that Prime Day sales exceeded the prior year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined. This year Amazon did not make such a claim.
Business
For Omnichannel Retailers, Hedgehogs Beat Foxes

October 18, 2020 • Armando Roggio

In his 2001 book "Good to Great," author and researcher Jim Collins sought to explain "why some companies make the leap [from good to great] and others don't." His answer plays out over about 300 pages, and it includes the Hedgehog Concept.
Business
‘Gated’ Product Launch Leads to $250,000 in 1-day Sales

October 16, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Jordan West launched Little & Lively, a direct-to-consumer children's apparel company, with his wife, Carmen, six years ago in Canada. The business has grown to mid-seven-figures in revenue selling through its website, mostly. He's a master at creating demand for his products before they are available for purchase.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: October 15, 2020

October 15, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-October from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on voice commerce, social commerce, customer-support texting, cybersecurity, on-demand fulfillment, and holiday shipping.
Payments
The Wirecard Fiasco: Digital Payments Gone Wrong

October 14, 2020 • Mike Eckler

What would you do if your credit card processor and merchant account provider were fraudulent? That's the reality for many thousands of worldwide businesses that relied on Wirecard, the Germany-based financial technology firm that is now in bankruptcy proceedings, having committed, allegedly, sham practices for years.
On-page SEO
SEO: 5 Tips to Convert Visitors to Buyers

October 13, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown

Search engine optimization focuses on driving consumers to your site. But traffic alone doesn't pay the bills. Success depends on converting those visitors to customers. Use these five tips to convert more searchers into buyers.
Platforms & Apps
8 Marketplaces for Themes, Templates, Plugins

October 12, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Themes, templates, and plugins can simplify the creation and customization of a website. Here is a list of marketplaces to access themes, templates, and plugins. Several of these marketplaces also offer other digital assets, such as graphics, fonts, and videos to create and customize a website.
Content Marketing
Content Marketing Should Mimic Publishing, Broadcasting

October 12, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The best content marketing is so good, so useful, so entertaining that it holds an audience's attention like a good newspaper, magazine, or TV show. The process, however, can require a substantial commitment.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Can Walmart+ Compete with Amazon Prime?

October 11, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Walmart launched its premium subscription Walmart+ on September 15. The service offers unlimited free deliveries on orders over $35, up to a five-cent per gallon discount on gas at Walmart and Murphy fuel stations (Sam’s Club stations will be added shortly), and scan-and-go purchasing at any of its physical stores.
Business
Native Deodorant Founder on Scaling to $100 Million in 2 Years

October 9, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Despite reaching a whopping $100 million in revenue in just two years, Moiz Ali, the founder of Native deodorant, says the initial version was less than stellar. "We had a pretty mediocre product," Ali told me.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon Best Sellers in the Home Office Furniture Category

October 8, 2020 • Raphaël Menesclou

The demand for home office furniture has exploded since the beginning of the pandemic. Given how many companies are considering making remote work permanent, the "Home Office Furniture" category on Amazon is worth looking at closely.
Content Marketing
Privacy Concerns Will Increase the Value of Content Marketing

October 7, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Increased emphasis on personal privacy, particularly with changes to Apple's Identifier for Advertisers and the probability of cookie-less browsers in the near future, could increase the need for content marketing.
Social Media
How 20 Leading Brands Use Facebook to Engage Audiences

October 6, 2020 • Sig Ueland

According to its March 31 quarter-end results, Facebook has 2.60 billion monthly active users and 1.73 billion daily active users. For brands, Facebook can be a place to engage and inspire. Here is a list of brands that have successfully grown audiences on Facebook.
Technical SEO
‘Domain Age Impacts Rankings’ (and 8 Other SEO Myths)

October 5, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown

Many myths surround the complex signals that search engines use to determine organic rankings. In this post, I'll debunk nine such myths and share the four factors that matter.
Business
5 Content Marketing Ideas for November 2020

October 5, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The U.S. presidential election, family-oriented observances, blogging, and even entrepreneurship are all good topics for your business's content marketing in November 2020. Content marketing is the act of creating or curating content, publishing that content, and promoting it with the aim of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers.
Google Ads
Google Ads Decreases Search Terms Visibility

October 4, 2020 • Matthew Umbro

In early September, Google Ads announced that the search terms report would disclose fewer user queries. The explanation from Google is to "maintain our standards of privacy and strengthen our protections around user data." The search terms report allows you to see the actual queries from users.
Business
Real Men Wear Makeup, Says DTC Co-founder

October 2, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Jon Shanahan wants men to wear makeup. He's a co-founder of Stryx, a direct-to-consumer manufacturer of concealer and tinted moisturizer for males. The company launched in 2017. Shanahan joined shortly afterward, having created his male grooming channel on YouTube.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: October 1, 2020

October 1, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for late-September from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on social commerce, AI marketing, live streaming, personalization, conversational commerce, and installment payments.
Business
September 2020 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

September 30, 2020 • PEC Staff

Our mission since 2005 is to publish articles, webinars, and podcasts to help ecommerce merchants. What follows are the 10 most popular articles that we published in September 2020. Articles from early in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
Business
2020 ‘Time Machine’ Elevates All of Ecommerce

September 30, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The ongoing global pandemic has accelerated retail and B2B trends that make it relatively more difficult for some businesses to survive while upping the competitive bar for the entire ecommerce industry. These trends include everything from an increase in online sales and the growth of click-and-collect shopping to how software is built and integrated.
Payments
The Potential of Real-time Payments for Ecommerce

September 29, 2020 • Mike Eckler

Real-time payments are immediate transfers of funds from a payor to a payee. The topic is trending and for good reason. The promise of immediate settlements and instant access to funds is compelling, especially for merchants frustrated by their bank's policy of holds and reserves.
Local Business
Mall Owners Become Retailers Amidst the Pandemic

September 29, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent store closures have brought new momentum to the decline of brick-and-mortar retailing, especially malls. More than 50 percent of the department stores that anchor malls in the U.S. will permanently close by the end of 2021, according to real estate investment firm Green Street Advisors.
Social Media
14 Tools for Selling on Facebook and Instagram

September 28, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Shopping on Facebook and Instagram is finally here. With the recent launches of Shops on both apps and Live Shopping, Facebook is facilitating easier commerce across its platform. Here is a list of tools to help you sell on Facebook and Instagram.
Keyword Research
SEO: How to Target High-demand Keywords (or Not)

September 28, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown

Search engine optimization often has lofty goals, such as ranking on page one for a high-demand phrase. How can you reach a seemingly impossible objective? The sites that rank on the first page of the search results are Google's assessment of the best options.
Social Media
9 Pointers for High-converting Instagram Ads

September 27, 2020 • Kaleena Stroud

Instagram ads appear in users' feeds. The ads look like a regular post but with a sponsored label and a colored call-to-action button. What follows are nine tips for high-converting Instagram ads.
Business
‘My Wife Quit’ Founder on SMS Marketing, SaaS Platforms, osCommerce

September 25, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

In 2007 Steve Chou's wife, Jennifer, wanted to spend more time with their growing family. So she quit her job. Fast forward to 2020, and Bumblebee Linens, the Chou's ecommerce company, is prospering. Steve is now an ecommerce celebrity, having launched the "My Wife Quit Her Job" blog, podcast, and YouTube channel.