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.

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.
Business
April 2020 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

April 30, 2020 • PEC Staff

Each month we publish roughly 50 articles to, hopefully, help ecommerce merchants. What follows are the 10 most popular articles that we published in April 2020. Articles from early in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
Business
Coronavirus Shutdown Drives Click-and-collect Ecommerce

April 27, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Even before the coronavirus-induced shutdown, click-and-collect ecommerce was growing quickly. But now as many Americans stay at home or keep their distance to flatten the Covid-19 curve, some unexpected businesses are taking online orders for pick up, too.
Business > Merchant Voice
Planning my business for a new world

April 23, 2020 • Richard Stubbings

Journalists in the U.K. keep pressing the government about ending the Covid-19 lockdown. Governmental leaders prefer not to say, concentrating on the here and now. A business, however, should plan now for the end of the lockdown. How will your company operate?
Business
‘High Quality, Low Volume’ Drives GouletPens.com to 35 Employees, 4,500 SKUs

April 19, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Conventional ecommerce wisdom is that merchants should sell across multiple channels, manufacture or control their products, and scale. Don't tell that to Brian Goulet, president of The Goulet Pen Company, which sells high-end fountain pens and writing accessories.
Finance
Impact of Covid-19 on 2020 Startup Investments, IPOs

April 16, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Initial public offerings underperformed in the last half of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. That set the stage for an undesirable climate. Then came Covid-19.
B2B
Covid-19 Accelerates Change for B2B Distributors

April 15, 2020 • Lori McDonald

Last year, in "How to Prosper as a B2B Distributor," I addressed the urgent need for wholesale distributors to evolve. I explained the necessity of migrating to a self-serve digital shopping experience. Covid-19 has accelerated that need.
Business
11 Online Tools for Video Meetings

April 13, 2020 • Sig Ueland

The usage of video conferencing tools is exploding due to the surge in remote workers from Covid-19. Video conferencing can facilitate meetings, particularly when many platforms offer extensive features for free or very little cost. Here is a list of video conferencing tools to run meetings.
Fraud Prevention
Ecommerce Fraud Detection during the Pandemic

April 13, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic has led to significant changes in consumer purchase behavior and raised concerns about ecommerce fraud. Fortunately, overall ecommerce fraud does not appear to have risen disproportionately to the number of online purchases.
Business > Merchant Voice
How Covid-19 affects U.K. businesses

April 10, 2020 • Richard Stubbings

Unsurprisingly, many ecommerce businesses in the U.K. have reported an increase in sales during the pandemic. Sales of fashion, clothing, and luxury items, however, have dropped. The U.K. government has put in place measures that should help my business and many others.
Payments
Credit Card Processing FAQs, Part 3: Reducing the Cost

April 9, 2020 • Mike Eckler

Credit cards are the principal method of payment for ecommerce customers. But for merchants, the backend infrastructure of processing and collecting the funds is bewildering. This is the third and final post in a series in which I’ll answer frequent payment-processing questions.
Business
Optimize DTC Profits with Price Elasticity Analysis

April 9, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Direct-to-consumer companies, including Amazon sellers with private label products, can use the price elasticity of demand to determine the optimal price for a given product and, thereby, potentially increase revenue, profit, or both.
Payments
Credit Card Processing FAQs, Part 2: Pricing Models

April 6, 2020 • Mike Eckler

Ecommerce merchants depend on credit card payments. But the processing fees associated with those payments are notoriously confusing. This post is the second in a series in which I’ll answer frequent payment-processing questions. The first installment, "Part 1: Learning the Jargon," contained an extensive glossary of common industry terms.
Staffing
TaxJar CEO on Managing a Remote, 160-employee Team

April 3, 2020 • Kerry Murdock

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing many companies to adjust to a home-based workforce. TaxJar, a sales-tax compliance platform, has been entirely remote since its founding seven years ago. All 160 employees work remotely, mainly from their homes. Mark Faggiano is founder and CEO of TaxJar. I recently spoke with him about managing a large, distant workforce.
Amazon & Marketplaces
How Sellers Overcome FBA’s Covid-19 Shipping Restrictions

April 2, 2020 • Manish Chowdhary

Less than two weeks ago, Fulfillment by Amazon announced a freeze until April 5 on receiving "non-essential" inventory. Moreover, many sellers with non-essential FBA inventory have seen customer deliveries pushed up to a month. Having no access to the FBA program, some sellers could lose an entire month of revenue.
Business
Covid-19 Grants, Loans Could Help Ecommerce Companies

April 1, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Grants and loans from the U.S. government, state and local governments, Facebook, and Google could help small businesses during the Covid-19-induced economic slowdown.
Business
Free Programs from Ecommerce Service Providers to Combat Covid-19

April 1, 2020 • Sig Ueland

With the massive disruption caused by Covid-19, ecommerce service providers are finding ways to help. Here is a list of free programs from service providers to help fight the pandemic. The programs include grants for small businesses, information technology, fulfillment services, storage, start-up financing, assistance for local businesses, and free meditations to relieve anxiety.
Business
March 2020 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

March 31, 2020 • PEC Staff

Our mission since 2005 is to publish articles, podcasts, and webinars to help ecommerce merchants. What follows are the 10 most popular articles that we published in March 2020. Articles ...
Finance
Will ‘Irrational’ Startup Valuations Continue?

March 30, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, IPOs for many start-ups with supposedly bright futures crashed when they entered the public market. Some didn’t even make it that far, canceling in 2019 their public offerings. A disturbing gap between the private and public valuations of venture-capital-funded start-ups has emerged. This divergence will likely continue as many start-ups are remaining private for longer periods of time.
Local Business
Covid-19 Is an Opportunity for Some Local Merchants

March 30, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic is bad news. It has shut down a significant portion of the world's economy and killed far too many people. If, however, you're willing to hunt for a silver lining, the shutdowns and social distancing could be an opportunity for some brick-and-mortar companies to finally get online.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Rethink Your Amazon Business after Covid-19

March 26, 2020 • Phil Masiello

For Amazon sellers, the Covid-19 situation is changing every day. As I write this, Fulfillment by Amazon is informing sellers to expect delays in the replenishment of non-essential items.
Business
Iraq War Veteran Fails, then Succeeds, with Men’s Underwear Brand

March 24, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

In 2008 Robert Patton was coming off his second deployment in Iraq with the U.S. Army. “I was going to do 20 years in the Army,” he said, “But I'd already been on two deployments and was scheduled to go back for a third. I had a family. I didn’t want to spend half of my time in Iraq. So I had this idea.”
Payments
Credit Card Processing FAQs, Part 1: Learning the Jargon

March 22, 2020 • Mike Eckler

Credit card processing fees are a longstanding pain for merchants. This post is the first in a series in which I'll answer common payment questions. The first challenge is understanding the industry jargon.
Business
The Coronavirus Could Drive Car Dealers to Ecommerce

March 19, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Managing the coronavirus pandemic in the United States has led to temporary store closures, social distancing, and economic concerns. People and industries are affected, including car dealers.
Inventory
How to Calculate and Interpret Inventory Turnover

March 18, 2020 • Armando Roggio

How quickly a business sells its inventory is typically a strong indicator of efficiency, cash flow, and general well being. Thus inventory turnover — and the related inventory turnover ratio — is a powerful key performance indicator.
Business
Ecommerce Lessons from the 2008 Crash

March 17, 2020 • Dale Traxler

Back in 2008, just before the Great Recession, I was managing a thriving ecommerce business selling jewelry supplies to crafters, artisans, and professional jewelers. More than 30 percent of our revenue came from selling sterling silver at a very high margin.
Shipping & Fulfillment
5 On-demand Warehousing, Fulfillment Providers

March 12, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

On-demand warehousing and fulfillment providers act as middlemen — a kind of Airbnb for logistics. Merchants search on a provider's platform for available warehouse space in the location they want. It's one way for ecommerce sellers to achieve faster delivery.