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.

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.
Business > Merchant Voice
Launching an ecommerce business: the first steps

June 9, 2020 • Richard Stubbings

My previous post described the launch of many ecommerce businesses in the U.K. due to the pandemic. It reminded me of when I started roughly 20 years ago. One of my first tasks was to think of a domain name.
Payments
Covid-19, NFC, and the Future of Contactless Payments

June 2, 2020 • Mike Eckler

Once touted as the future, contactless payments never achieved mass popularity. Shoppers preferred the familiar swipe, dip, PIN-entry, and signature. The Covid-19 pandemic will likely change that as consumers are now more conscious of what they touch.
Business
May 2020 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

May 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 May 2020. Articles from early in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
Cross-border Selling
Japan Is an Enticing Market for Cross-border Ecommerce

May 28, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Japan is the world’s third-largest ecommerce market following China and the United States. However, it is often overlooked by foreign online merchants because of an unusually low cross-border purchase rate and a somewhat insular approach to online shopping.
Business > Merchant Voice
New U.K. ecommerce businesses need guidance

May 28, 2020 • Richard Stubbings

It has been two months since we started the lockdown in the U.K. It seems longer. One thing has occurred during the lockdown that I did not predict but is obvious in hindsight: There has been an explosion of small internet businesses.
Business > Merchant Voice
‘Organizational debt’ is hurting my company

May 27, 2020 • Peter Keller

FringeSport has been experiencing growing pains. I recently became aware of the idea of "technical debt" and realized that we have "organizational debt." I then Googled organizational debt and realized that I'm not the first person to have thought of it.
B2B
B2B Ecommerce That Doesn’t Break the Bank

May 26, 2020 • Lori McDonald

Covid-19 is forcing a dilemma on many B2B merchants. They realize a robust ecommerce presence is critical to long-term viability. But they are understandably hesitant to spend money amidst the pandemic on meaningful digital upgrades. It doesn't have to be one or the other, however.
Business
Better Fathers, Husbands, Leaders Drive ‘Order of Man’ Founder

May 25, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

In March 2015 Ryan Michler owned a successful financial planning company. His clients were medical professionals. He earned a comfortable living. "I was making great money, but I felt like something was missing. I thought there were opportunities to help men. And that's when I started." What he started was Order of Man.
Business
Building Community with a Remote Team

May 21, 2020 • Armando Roggio

A remote workforce has always had its advantages, such as access to a large pool of top-notch talent. But the coronavirus pandemic has forced many companies accustomed to physical offices to start working remotely.
Payments
Primer on Merchant Accounts, Part 2: Providers, ISOs, How to Choose

May 20, 2020 • Mike Eckler

The digital payments industry is notoriously confusing. This post is the final installment of a 2-part series on merchant accounts, which are required for all businesses that accept credit cards. "Part 1" described the purpose of such accounts.
Business
Will New Ecommerce Sellers Squeeze Existing Merchants?

May 15, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic has forced some brick-and-mortar businesses to focus on ecommerce, but this shift in focus is not likely to stop many permanent closures. There is a parallel between the virus and its economic impact: Patients and businesses that are already in poor health are much more likely to die from the infection.
Local Business
Bankruptcies, Layoffs Deplete the Retail Industry

May 14, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

At the beginning of 2020 several brick-and-mortar chain retailers were struggling, trying to restructure debt or find new lenders while dealing with plummeting revenues. The Covid-19 pandemic has closed stores and effectively made those efforts pointless.
Payments
Primer on Merchant Accounts, Part 1: Roles and Functions

May 12, 2020 • Mike Eckler

The payments industry is difficult to understand, even for practitioners. My 3-part series on credit card processing hopefully demystified the jargon, pricing models, and fees. This post will explain merchant accounts.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Side Project for Amazon Sellers Attracts 250,000 Customers, 150 Employees

May 11, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Five years ago Greg Mercer developed a spreadsheet to estimate how well products on Amazon were selling. He launched it as a "fun, side project." That project is now Jungle Scout, with roughly 250,000 worldwide customers and 150 employees.
Shipping & Fulfillment
The Good News and Bad News for Ecommerce Shipping

May 10, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce sales are up and shipping carriers such as USPS, UPS, and FedEx have responded admirably to demand in the face of numerous coronavirus-induced shutdowns and restrictions. That is the good news for ecommerce sellers. Unfortunately, supply chains have suffered. That’s the bad news.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amid Covid-19, Amazon’s Q1 2020 Earnings Confirm Ecommerce Dominance

May 7, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

On April 30 Amazon announced its 2020 first-quarter results. As anticipated, its total earnings for the three months ended March 31 were exceptionally strong — about $33 million an hour in sales.
Finance
Alternative Funding Sources for the Covid-19 Crisis

May 1, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

The Paycheck Protection Program has mostly not reached the intended beneficiaries. There is not enough money, and loans to date have often gone to large businesses. What follows are some options for small businesses.