Page 84 – Practical Ecommerce

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Business
Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 19: Just Do It

June 25, 2019 • Eric Bandholz

This is the final episode in my "Building an Ecommerce Business" interview series. I've hosted 18 amazing guests who have provided much insight into launching, growing, and selling an ecommerce business. There is no right way to do that. You'll likely find success, however, if you focus on three primary functions: vision, execution, and cash flow.
Product Pages
Optimize Responsive Product Images with SRCSET

June 25, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Online retailers may have an image problem. In many cases, the images they need to sell a product are so large and so slow-to-load that they are driving shoppers away. Fortunately, a simple HTML attribute could significantly improve site performance.
Platforms & Apps > Merchant Voice
After Magento 1, build something special

June 24, 2019 • Richard Stubbings

Magento will soon stop supporting version 1. Many ecommerce businesses running Magento 1 will be looking for alternatives. There is no shortage of recommendations and advice. Leading contenders include Shopify, WooCommerce, and Open Cart, among others. All have strengths and weaknesses.
SEO Tools
15 SEO Plugins for WordPress

June 24, 2019 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of search-engine-optimization plugins for WordPress. There are all-in-one plugins that provide a variety of tools and, also, plugins to improve specific search-related areas, such as site speed, tags, and image optimization. All of these tools are free, though several have premium versions as well.
Analytics & Data
7 Gaps in Google Analytics That Require Additional Tools

June 23, 2019 • Morgan Jones

Google Analytics is a powerful, free web analytics platform. However, it has gaps that are better served by other tools. I'll address those gaps and tools in this post.
User Experience
9 Ways UX Improves Rankings and Revenue

June 21, 2019 • Jill Kocher Brown

User experience impacts organic search performance. A positive UX reduces bounces and encourages visitors to browse and purchase. It drives ratings, referrals, and inbound links. These nine factors influence user experience and thus organic search traffic.
Customer Retention
Branding Is the Key to More Ecommerce Sales

June 20, 2019 • Pamela Hazelton

Positive branding is key for any business. It takes a lot of work over time, but the benefits make it worthwhile. The products you sell, interactions with shoppers, transparency — all impact branding.
SEO
Tips for Diagnosing Steep Drops in Organic Search Traffic

June 19, 2019 • Armando Roggio

If you own or manage an ecommerce business and organic search traffic drops suddenly, it can feel like the sky is falling. You might not know what went wrong. Here are a few tips for diagnosing a steep drop in organic traffic to your ecommerce site.
Email & Text Marketing
Email Case Study: Wayfair’s Triggered, Personalized Campaigns

June 18, 2019 • Carolyn Nye

Some of the most successful marketing emails are triggered by a shopper's behavior. This was the case with Wayfair. Its series of emails to me is a good example of a personalized, browse-recovery campaign. In this post, I'll analyze the elements of the Wayfair series.
Business
How to Choose a Digital Agency for Your Ecommerce Business

June 18, 2019 • Dale Traxler

Outsourcing aspects of an ecommerce business can help management focus on critical areas. It can also deliver sophisticated skills and insights that are unavailable in-house. But choosing the right outsourced partner is not easy.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: June 17, 2019

June 17, 2019 • 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 visual search, fulfillment tools, artificial intelligence, personalization, and selling on Amazon.
Schools & Resources
12 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2019

June 17, 2019 • Sig Ueland

For your summer reading list, here's a batch of new ecommerce books. There are titles on multichannel marketing, blockchain technology, startup strategy, funding your business, and producing successful videos.
SEO
What’s the Value of SEO?

June 16, 2019 • Jill Kocher Brown

Here’s a look at the cost of optimizing a site for search engines, the value it drives, and the impact of not doing it. The average salary for a search-engine-optimization specialist is $65,000, according to Glassdoor. That’s before benefits and other internal costs.
Business
Use CAC and CLV to Monitor Ecommerce Growth, Profit

June 14, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce owners and managers have so much data available and so many key performance indicators, it can be difficult to know where to focus. But businesses aimed at long-term, stable growth may do well to focus on two: customer lifetime value (CLV) and customer acquisition cost (CAC).
Shipping & Fulfillment
The Growing Problem of Customer Returns

June 13, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

The rate of customer returns for goods bought online is swelling to a worrisome level as more consumers switch from physical stores to online. Ecommerce returns average about 15 percent, with apparel returns closer to 30 percent. The cost to online retailers is substantial.
Schools & Resources
Reading List: Mark Fitzsimmons of Xigen

June 13, 2019 • PEC Staff

For this installment of "Reading List," we corresponded with Mark Fitzsimmons. He is managing director at Xigen, a U.K.-based digital agency offering web design, development, ecommerce, and online marketing services.
Business
Will Facebook’s GlobalCoin Impact Ecommerce?

June 12, 2019 • Brandon Bidlack

Facebook is rolling out a digital payments system next year that will allow Facebook users (as well as WhatsApp and Instagram users) to pay for goods and services using Facebook’s own cryptocurrency, dubbed “GlobalCoin.”
Inventory
How to Calculate ‘Available to Sell’ Inventory

June 11, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

"Quantity on hand" is physically available inventory. It's a simple number, but it does not include unfulfilled sales and outstanding purchase orders where the inventory has not arrived. All those scenarios can be addressed in an "available to sell" calculation.
Checkout Tactics
How to Get More Form Submissions, Even on Checkout Pages

June 11, 2019 • Pamela Hazelton

Obtaining shoppers' contact information is valuable for ecommerce businesses. But consumers are reluctant to provide their email address, or name, or phone number. There are ways, though, to streamline the process.
Business > Merchant Voice
The risk of vanity metrics (and copying others)

June 10, 2019 • Peter Keller

I see a lot of startup entrepreneurs copying successful businesses. The entrepreneurs observe what those businesses do and assume it would work for them. Or they attribute the success of ...
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for July 2019

June 10, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Content marketing inspiration for July 2019 can come from many sources, including advice columns “Dear Abby” and “Ask Ann Landers,” sporting events, space exploration, American politics, and even Facebook. Content marketing ...
Design & Dev Tools
20 Free Web Design Tools from Spring 2019

June 10, 2019 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of new web tools and design elements from spring 2019. There are designer and developer apps, coding resources, color tools, fonts, and more. All of these are free.
Social Media
12 Ways to Attract Instagram Followers and Drive Engagement

June 7, 2019 • Viktoria Kanevsky

Instagram plays an enormous role in social media marketing and advertising. In this post, I'll offer 12 ways to improve Instagram performance — to attract followers, engage them, and ultimately generate traffic and sales to your ecommerce site.
Business
Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 18: Selling the Company

June 6, 2019 • Eric Bandholz

Launching and then growing an ecommerce business can be both exciting and stressful. The reward for many entrepreneurs is to sell their companies someday. For this installment in my series on building an ecommerce business, I spoke with Michael Jackness, the owner of a multi-brand ecommerce company. We discussed the process of selling an ecommerce business, which he has done multiple times.
Business > Merchant Voice
Temporary setbacks have helped my business

June 5, 2019 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Every online merchant dreads a phone call or email from an unhappy customer or supplier. But as unpleasant as they are, those calls and emails often present opportunities to improve. Here are examples from my business.
Content Marketing
Essential Social Media Metrics for Content Marketing

June 5, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Social media sites can be powerful tools for distributing content and driving engagement. But, like much of marketing, long-term social media success requires constant improvement. In this article, I'll suggest the primary social media metrics to track as part of your company's content marketing efforts.
Local Business
3 Lessons from Running Pop-up Stores

June 4, 2019 • Charles Nicholls

Pop-up stores are a familiar sight in malls and events, but adding a digital component is relatively new. I've just completed a series of pop-up experiences for my company and for merchant brands. In this post, I'll share my lessons and observations.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Create a Branded Amazon Store in 6 Steps

June 3, 2019 • Phil Masiello

Selling on Amazon is an excellent opportunity for brands to gain visibility and sales. One of the tools is an Amazon Store, a mini-website for brands on the Amazon Marketplace. In this post, I will explain the steps in setting up and building an Amazon Store for your brand.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: June 3, 2019

June 3, 2019 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for late-May from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on seven-day deliveries, B2B platforms, cross-channel marketing, subscription businesses, selling on Amazon, financial technology, and creative economic development.
Content Marketing
How to Generate High-traffic Article Topics

May 31, 2019 • Armando Roggio

I have to come up with lots of article ideas. I have a few methods, including reading industry-specific posts and following links in them. This morning, I was sitting in ...