Page 91 – Practical Ecommerce

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Shipping & Fulfillment
3 Strategies to Fulfill Like Amazon

January 10, 2019 • Manish Chowdhary

We can be certain that Amazon is spending millions to improve and optimize its shipping processes. In this post, I'll describe three strategies to fulfill like Amazon, even if you have a fraction of its scale and infrastructure.
B2B
B2B Ecommerce Helps Sales Teams (and Customers)

January 9, 2019 • Lori McDonald

Many B2B executives believe that ecommerce cannot fit their business. But B2B companies that don’t embrace digital will lose opportunities. A digitally-savvy competitor could disrupt the market and cause large sales decreases for legacy companies, those that do not evolve.
Email & Text Marketing
Want New Email Subscribers? ‘Sell’ the Content

January 9, 2019 • Armando Roggio

When a customer or prospect subscribes to your email list, that person expects something of value in return. It may be exclusive offers, special discounts, or useful, informative, and entertaining content.
Business > Merchant Voice
U.K. merchant on likely impact of Brexit

January 8, 2019 • Richard Stubbings

Large companies and suppliers that import goods may be affected by increases in tariffs. There could be delays in receiving the goods. But this should not affect small to midsize merchants. And most of the problems will likely occur between the U.K. and mainland Europe.
Product Pages
6 Key Components of Product Videos

January 8, 2019 • Pamela Hazelton

Video is a crucial part of selling online. What once was a secondary, supporting element is now a primary educator about what a product is and what it does. When creating a video, be sure it includes the following core elements.
Amazon & Marketplaces
How PopSockets Prospered after Leaving Amazon

January 7, 2019 • Phil Masiello

PopSockets opted not to be a direct vendor to Amazon. Instead, it chose one major reseller to represent it on the marketplace. But, Amazon would not allow it. So, PopSockets walked away.
Finance
2018 Holiday Sales Wrap-up

January 6, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

Consumers happily opened their wallets in the 2018 holiday season, resulting in a five percent increase in overall spending — online and brick-and-mortar. Online spending alone grew by 19.1 percent compared to 2017 and contributed over 13 percent to total holiday sales.
Business > Merchant Voice
Cultural changes affect all merchants — ecommerce and brick-and-mortar

January 3, 2019 • Richard Stubbings

As an ecommerce retailer, you may assume you're ahead of the game and thus will reap the reward of consumers migrating online. This is a dangerous assumption. All businesses have to be ready for cultural changes.
On-page SEO
Improve SEO with ‘Audience Insights’ in Google Ads

January 3, 2019 • Bill Sebald

What if you could use information about your existing customers to obtain new ones? That’s the purpose of Audience Insights in Google Ads. It helps businesses find new prospects based on current customer data.
Google Ads
Setting Up ‘Promotions’ in Google Shopping

January 2, 2019 • Robert Brady

The new promotion feature in Google Shopping can help an ad stand out with a blue “Special offer” link. Once clicked, the offer appears as a popup. It's a good way to move past the typical components of a Shopping ad: product name, price, brand, and image.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for February 2019

January 2, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Want to increase site traffic and engage potential customers in February 2019? Consider creating articles, videos, and podcasts that entertain, inform, and just plain help out.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for late December from companies that offer services to ecommerce merchants. There are updates on platform development, same-day shipping, visual search, competitive pricing, artificial intelligence, and high-end purchases.
Business
Edwin Perkins Needed a Shippable Product

December 31, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Perhaps you hadn't known or guessed that Edwin Perkins, overcoming obstacles, invented Kool-Aid. Every ecommerce business will face problems and setbacks. But a problem doesn't have to lead to failure.
Schools & Resources
14 New Business Books for 2019

December 31, 2018 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of new and upcoming business books in 2019 for entrepreneurs, managers, and creative professionals. Follow the business strategies of a Silicon Valley guru, use mindfulness to enhance your productivity, explore your risk as an economist, and learn how to make big data and artificial intelligence work for you.
Business
Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 9: YouTube Strategy

December 30, 2018 • Eric Bandholz

Producing quality videos is immensely difficult. It requires a clear vision from idea to finished product. This is episode nine in my series on building an ecommerce business from the ground up.
Link Building
4 Sales Lessons for SEO Link-building

December 28, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Search engine optimization professionals may think of themselves as marketers but not salespeople. Nonetheless, a good salesperson can teach us at least four lessons related to the SEO process of obtaining backlinks.
Business
2018 Top 25: Our Most Popular Posts of the Year

December 27, 2018 • PEC Staff

As the year draws to a close, we’ve compiled a list of the 25 most popular articles published during 2018, based on the number of page views. Popular subjects included social networks, marketplaces,
Marketing & Advertising
10 Outstanding Digital Marketing Campaigns from 2018

December 26, 2018 • Sig Ueland

Reviewing the year’s best digital marketing campaigns from established brands can help generate ideas for your own digital marketing efforts. Here is a list of outstanding digital marketing campaigns from 2018.
Analytics & Data
Fine-tune Google Analytics for a More Profitable 2019

December 24, 2018 • Pamela Hazelton

If there is one new year's resolution for boosting ecommerce conversions in 2019, it's to get your store's analytics in order. Otherwise, you will never understand the impact of changes to your site. You’ll also miss out on potential target audiences — long-term, loyal customers.
Business
The Impact of California Prop 65 on Ecommerce

December 23, 2018 • Armando Roggio

California cancer and birth-defect warning requirements that took effect in August 2018 have stopped at least some online merchants from selling products to state residents.
SEO
Most Google Search Results Now Come from Mobile Index

December 21, 2018 • Jill Kocher Brown

More than 50 percent of Google’s global search results are served from its mobile-first index, according to an announcement from the search giant. The news is important for those who maintain ...
Conversion
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart vs. Jet, FedEx and DHL Enhancements, Product Returns

December 20, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

In “Ecommerce Briefs,” an occasional series, I review news and developments that impact online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address Walmart's effort to differentiate Jet.com, new ecommerce shipping options from FedEx and DHL, product returns, and vacancies at shopping malls.
Content Marketing
The Key Requirement of Content Marketing

December 19, 2018 • Armando Roggio

The key requirement of content marketing is to be engaging. Without engagement, content cannot fulfill its potential as a marketing tool. In this article, I'll explain why.
Business
What Is Your ‘Queen Bee Role’?

December 19, 2018 • Cyndi Thomason

In this post, I'll address how to improve your business’s financial performance for 2019. As businesses grow, entrepreneurs often find that their most valuable resource is time. It's the one commodity they cannot buy.
Business > Merchant Voice
Black Friday bargains? Not from my business

December 18, 2018 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Australian consumers have long been aware of U.S. bargains to be had around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Australian retailers have started to run their own promotions to compete. But I won’t be one of them. Here’s why.
Email & Text Marketing
Email Marketing: 2018 Developments

December 18, 2018 • Carolyn Nye

The power of email marketing has endured over the years with few major changes. But 2018 produced important email developments that affect online retailers. I'll address those developments in this post.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: December 17, 2018

December 17, 2018 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-December from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shipping and returns, live video shopping, product authentication, event ticketing, customer support bots, and voice-based biometrics.
SEO
SEO in 2019 Is More Than Blue Text Links

December 17, 2018 • Jill Kocher Brown

The future of search goes beyond blue links on a search results page. In 2019, more results will come in the form of voice response, images, and before the searcher even enters a query.
SEO
How to Choose Topics for an SEO Cluster Strategy

December 14, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Topic clusters are a strategy for search engine optimization and content marketing. The approach — organizing a site's content around topics and subtopics — can be effective if you choose the right clusters. What follows is a process I've used to create retail topic clusters.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Will Amazon’s Private Labels Squeeze Out Smaller Brands?

December 13, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

Amazon is aggressively expanding both the number of private label goods it sells and the product categories it offers. Besides dominating online sales, Amazon is the source of over 50 percent of all online product searches, surpassing Google. Amazon's private label strategy is simple.