Business

An ecommerce site is a business. Our Management & Finance category addresses online payments, funding needs, employee issues, merchant profiles, key metrics, multichannel and omnichannel strategies, cross-border analyses, inventory management, accounting topics, sales taxes, and much more.

Finance
Charts: Top Publicly Traded Ecommerce Companies

June 21, 2023 • Adel Boukarroum

A financial ranking of publicly traded ecommerce companies starts with assigning companies to that classification. Retailers, marketplaces, tech platforms?
Finance
Amazon Aggregators Face a New Reality

June 19, 2023 • Marcia Kaplan

Amazon aggregators purchase marketplace sellers and then attempt to improve revenue and profits. The boomtimes are over.
Finance
Brandless Exec on Acquisitions, AI, More

June 16, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Brad Moss is an Amazon veteran, game developer, and now an executive with Brandless, the repurposed DTC seller and company acquirer.
Amazon & Marketplaces
How AI Tools Improve Amazon Listings

June 15, 2023 • Phil Masiello

Artificial intelligence-driven tools can streamline and improve product listings — names, descriptions, bullet points.
Finance
Charts: Global Fintech Funding Q1 2023

June 14, 2023 • Adel Boukarroum

Funding for financial technology companies increased in Q1 2023 from Q4 2022. We tell the story in five charts.
Amazon & Marketplaces
A Community for Amazon Sellers

June 9, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Athena Severi co-founded Titan Network in 2019. The Amazon-seller community offers in-person events and workshops, mentoring, and collaboration.
Business
4 Ecommerce Owners Discuss Their Why

June 2, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

On a hiking trip in Utah, three ecommerce owners joined our host for a table-side discussion. Why start a company? Is it worth the hassle?
Business
20 Free Resources for Small Businesses

May 30, 2023 • Sig Ueland

There's no shortage of free courses, mentors, and support groups for small business owners. Here's a rundown.
Business
Charts: U.S. Retail Ecommerce Sales Q1 2023

May 24, 2023 • Adel Boukarroum

Newly released data from the Department of Commerce shows a 3% increase in U.S. online retail sales from Q4 2022 to Q1 2023. Total retail sales — online and in-store — grew .9% in Q1.
Business
Charts: 2023 Global Shopping Trends

May 17, 2023 • Adel Boukarroum

Global consumers have altered their shopping habits owing to inflation and economic uncertainty. But most see better times ahead.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon Anywhere Pushes Marketplace into Games, Apps

May 15, 2023 • Armando Roggio

Amazon Anywhere brings sales of physical products to apps and games. The concept isn't new, but the move by an industry leader likely has a widespread impact.
Inventory
Mixed Success for Private Label Brands

May 15, 2023 • Marcia Kaplan

In-house retail brands are typically less expensive and experience robust sales in inflationary periods. But not every initiative is successful.
Business
Influencers, Community Drive Batting Glove Maker

May 12, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Bruce Bolt is a family-owned business in Austin, Texas, that makes and sells baseball batting gloves — for little leaguers to MLB pros.
Shipping & Fulfillment
Fulfill.com Is a Marketplace of 3PLs

May 5, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

In 2019 Joe Spisak's ecommerce company had gone through three fulfillment companies in 18 months. With Fulfill.com, he aims to ease the difficulty of selecting providers.
Business
Entrepreneur Left Google to Launch Ballsy

April 28, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Adam Hendle had a dream job with Google. Then he had an idea for a men's hygiene brand.
Shipping & Fulfillment
How to Reduce Parcel DIM Weights

April 26, 2023 • John Lindberg

Dimensional weight is a pricing method used by shipping carriers. It's a way to charge for the space your package takes up in their trucks and planes regardless of its actual weight.
Local Business
13 Pop-up Shops from Brands, for Inspiration

April 11, 2023 • Sig Ueland

Pop-up shops offer online brands the opportunity to engage with consumers, solicit feedback, and test new products and services.
Inventory
Rising Costs Prompt New Return Policies

April 3, 2023 • Marcia Kaplan

The era of free returns, unlimited returns, and returnless refunds has been enormously expensive to most merchants.
Inventory
T-shirt Seller on Licensing, Drop-shipping, More

March 31, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Kevin Stecko launched 80sTees.com in 2000 selling t-shirts imprinted with pop-culture items. Fast forward to 2023, and the site has 120,000 SKUs.
Payments
Apple Pay Later Could Upend BNPL Space

March 30, 2023 • Armando Roggio

Apple Pay Later is poised to capture serious market share in the buy now, pay later space. Merchants could benefit.
Finance
Hubris Upended Silicon Valley Bank

March 19, 2023 • Marcia Kaplan

The demise of Silicon Valley Bank was the culmination of balance sheet mismanagement, aggressive expansion, and reliance on a relatively small number of customers.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon Consultant on Competition, Black-hat Sellers

March 10, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Amazon's marketplace in 2023 is crazy competitive. Ken Freeman, a former Amazon seller turned consultant, loves the challenge.
Business
Concealed Gun Safe Maker Seeks New Markets

March 3, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Tony Smith acquired TimberVaults, a direct-to-consumer seller of concealed gun safes, for the expansion opportunities, such as hidden storage of jewelry and documents.
Finance
Actually, Ecommerce Excelled in 2022

March 2, 2023 • Marcia Kaplan

Ecommerce sales in the U.S. and worldwide posted strong growth in 2022, despite headlines to the contrary. Global ecommerce retail sales grew by nearly 10% and reached a record 19.7% of total retail.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Charts: Fastest Growing Global Marketplaces

February 28, 2023 • Adel Boukarroum

Online marketplaces sell more than consumer goods and include homes, cars, services, and more. Here's our rundown of fast-growing global marketplaces.
Business
Profit from Paid Acquisition Key for Ecom Owner

February 24, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Zack Stuck acquires and launches ecommerce companies. His top rule? Customers acquired from paid campaigns must be immediately profitable.
Inventory
Can Fast Fashion Ever Be Sustainable?

February 19, 2023 • Marcia Kaplan

Inexpensive polyester-based garments are quick to make and quicker to dispose. The environmental impact is devastating.
Business
The Rolex of Nutritional Supplements

February 17, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Mike Tecku sold his successful Amazon stores, retired, and became bored. His latest venture is Momentum, a maker of nutritional shakes, which he calls "the Rolex of supplements."
Business
Maker of Apple Watch Bands Looks to Diversify

February 3, 2023 • Eric Bandholz

Braxton Manley launched Braxley Bands in 2017 from a college project. He's now selling internationally and looking to diversify his product line.
Inventory
Disclosure Rules for Alcohol, Cannabis Sales

February 1, 2023 • Jeff Siegel

Online sellers of alcohol and marijuana face a slew of disclosure requirements, such as permissible age, allowable products, shipping restrictions, and more.