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.

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.
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.