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.

Payments
‘Payment Request API’ to Streamline Ecommerce Checkouts, Improve Security

August 17, 2020 • Armando Roggio

A standard application programming interface is helping to eliminate website checkout forms and improve the ecommerce experience on desktop, laptop, and mobile devices. Ecommerce businesses that adopt the approach early could gain a competitive advantage.
Business
Banned by Google Ads, SpyGuy.com Ponders Alternative Channels

August 14, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Ecommerce entrepreneurs understand the need for multiple revenue channels. Relying exclusively on, say, Facebook or Amazon or Google can lead to disruptions. And that's what happened to Allen Walton's company, which depends on Google Ads for most of its traffic and revenue.
Cross-border Selling
Ecommerce in France: Loyalty to Domestic Sellers

August 13, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

France has the third-largest population in Europe with 65.3 million residents and the second-largest ecommerce market. French consumers are loyal to their national brands and often shun cross-border ecommerce. Roughly 60 percent of French shoppers make only domestic purchases.
Fraud Prevention
Share Customer Data Anonymously to Combat Fraud

August 11, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce fraud prevention depends on good data. That data can come from payment card providers, credit bureaus, address listings, and, more recently, other merchants.
Payments
Is Apple Entering the Payment Acceptance Business?

August 11, 2020 • Mike Eckler

In July, Apple acquired Mobeewave, a relatively unknown payments-technology startup in Montreal, Canada for, reportedly, $100 million. For nine years, Mobeewave has been developing technology to convert conventional smartphones into payment-accepting devices without requiring additional hardware components.
Business
Holiday Selling without the Crowds

August 9, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Pandemic-induced social distancing, reduced hours of operation, and even continued lockdowns and closures could dramatically change Christmas shopping behaviors in 2020, requiring retailers to find new ways to serve holiday shoppers and generate sales.
Business
2PM Founder: Successful Entrepreneurs Are Polymaths

August 7, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Having founded and sold multiple ecommerce companies, Web Smith believes successful entrepreneurs must be polymaths to understand opportunities.
Business > Merchant Voice
Amid Covid-19, it’s time to build

August 4, 2020 • Peter Keller

"It's Time to Build" is a popular blog post by Marc Andreessen, the Internet pioneer and investor. He wrote it in April 2020 at the onset of the worldwide pandemic. Ecommerce businesses are lucky. Amid the global pandemic, our industry is thriving and pushing forward.
Local Business
The First Steps in Adding Ecommerce to a Brick-and-mortar Store

August 2, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Brick-and-mortar retail businesses are turning toward ecommerce to generate revenue — online and click-and-collect. As they make this digital transformation, those merchants will likely have questions about ecommerce platforms, themes, and design. While all of these are important, a company's focus should be on products and marketing first, in my experience.
Business
July 2020 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

July 31, 2020 • PEC Staff

Our mission since 2005 is to publish content to help ecommerce merchants. What follows are the 10 most popular articles that we published in July 2020. Articles from early in ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon, with Demand Surging, Transitions FBA

July 30, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Amazon is experiencing a dilemma that other ecommerce companies wish they had: a demand that exceeds supply chain infrastructure. In a note in mid-July, Amazon told sellers using Fulfillment by ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Lessons from 20 years of ecommerce

July 28, 2020 • Richard Stubbings

My first ecommerce site was a supplement to my brick-and-mortar shop in 2000. There was little online competition. Amazon sold only books. Most of my competitors were small independents like me, and it was easy to stand above the crowd. I advertised the site on shopping bags, on leaflets at conventions, and in an occasional magazine. This post is the second in a series on starting and growing an ecommerce business.
Business
‘Build Businesses for the Cash Flow,’ Says Repeat Entrepreneur

July 24, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Entrepreneurs tend to become emotionally entwined with their businesses. "It's my baby," an entrepreneur might say when describing his company. But not Rohan Gilkes. "There's no emotion," he told me. "I have no babies. I build businesses for the cash flow."
Payments
Do Contactless Payments Impact Vulnerable Consumers?

July 23, 2020 • Mike Eckler

Many brick-and-mortar merchants have implemented tap-to-pay systems during the pandemic. Customers and employees, fearing the spread of the coronavirus, are wary of handling cash and coins. But refusing cash payments has societal implications as it assumes all consumers have access to a smartphone or credit card.
Business
Alpha Male Succeeds with Haircare, Skincare, Sunglasses

July 17, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Aaron Marino says he hates to read. He's bad at grammar and writing, he claims. But he's really good at making videos. "I had a fitness center that didn't work out," he told me. "I started making YouTube videos in 2008 with no idea that I could ever make a buck on that platform."
Business
Covid-19 Accelerates Retail’s Digital Transformation

July 16, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Retail's digital transformation, which is the concept of using new digital technology to address business performance, has been ongoing for decades. Covid-19 has forced retailers to invest more money into new technologies and implement those technologies much more quickly than otherwise planned.
Cross-border Selling
Ecommerce in Germany: Opportunity Amidst a Pandemic

July 15, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Germany hosts Europe’s biggest economy and, with 83.7 million people, its second-largest population after Russia. It is the fifth-largest ecommerce market in the world and the second-largest in Europe, behind the U.K. Eighty-five percent of the population has Internet access. Germany represents a good opportunity for online sales.
Shipping & Fulfillment
USPS Woes Could Impact Ecommerce SMBs

July 12, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The United States Postal Service reported a $4.5 billion loss in the fiscal 2020 second quarter, which ended on March 31. Democratic members of Congress have proposed investing $25 billion to help the USPS. Whatever happens to the agency will likely impact small and mid-sized ecommerce companies.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Entrepreneur Sells the Most Competitive Product on Amazon, and Thrives

July 10, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

What's the most competitive product on Amazon? Smartphone cases. What does Matt Altschul's company, Smartish, sell? Smartphone cases.
Business
Letting Workers Go Because of Covid-19

July 5, 2020 • Armando Roggio

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many retailers have furloughed or laid off workers. While this is never an easy process, good communication may help make it relatively less emotional and painful for everyone involved.
Business > Merchant Voice
How I maintain mental and physical health (to grow my business)

July 2, 2020 • Peter Keller

Managing a fast-growing ecommerce business is not for the faint of heart. I've picked up a few practices over the last decade to keep my mental and physical health while scaling FringeSport.
Business
June 2020 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

June 30, 2020 • PEC Staff

We publish roughly 45 articles each month, hopefully helping ecommerce merchants improve their businesses. What follows are the 10 most popular articles that we published in June 2020. Articles from early in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
Amazon & Marketplaces
20 Top Private Label Brands from Amazon

June 29, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of top private label brands from Amazon. The brands are sorted by the total number of customer reviews, as on average 3 to 5 percent of units sold generate reviews for these brands. I also used the Jungle Scout Chrome extension for additional research.
Payments
Are QR Codes an Option for Contactless Payments?

June 29, 2020 • Mike Eckler

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, many physical-store merchants considered contactless payments to be a fad. My previous article addressed near field communication, the technology that powers most contactless payment methods in North America. In this post, I will examine an NFC alternative: QR codes.
Business
Shopify’s App Store Is Good and Bad, Says ‘Unofficial’ Expert

June 26, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Kurt Elster's "The Unofficial Shopify Podcast" has been downloaded more than 1 million times. His agency, Ethercycle, helps Shopify merchants drive revenue and profit. You might call Elster the unauthorized Mr. Shopify.
Business
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart and Shopify, Physical Store Outlook, Instagram

June 25, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series on news and developments that impact online merchants. In this installment, I’ll report on Walmart's partnership with Shopify, the struggles of brick-and-mortar retailers, and Instagram's ecommerce efforts.
Business
Will the Pandemic Impact Christmas 2020 Ecommerce Sales?

June 21, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic that shuttered much of the worldwide economy in the first half of this year may yet impact Christmas 2020. In this post, I'll address a few coronavirus-related scenarios and offer suggestions for how ecommerce merchants can assess the potential impact on their company's holiday sales.
Staffing
14 Marketplaces to Hire Freelance Designers, Developers, Writers, Marketers, More

June 15, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of marketplaces to hire freelance designers, developers, writers, finance professionals, social media marketers, and more. There are general marketplaces with huge pools of workers in hundreds of fields as well as specialized marketplaces focused on areas such as design, Amazon stores, and even expert consulting.
Business
Don’t Advertise to Existing Customers, Says Serial Ecommerce Entrepreneur

June 12, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Taylor Holiday runs three successful ecommerce businesses, a thriving ecommerce-focused ad agency, and an educational membership community for advertising matters. I recently spoke with Holiday about his ventures, the state of ecommerce, and advertising dos and don'ts.
Cross-border Selling
Mexico’s Ecommerce Matures

June 11, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

When I last addressed Mexican ecommerce, in 2014, citizens distrusted online purchasing, relied on simple payment methods, and did not buy from foreign websites. In 2020, much is unchanged. A large percentage of Mexicans still do not have bank accounts or credit cards.