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.

Business
Generation Z Is the Most Coveted Retail Demographic

August 2, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

Generation Z is replacing Millennials as the most coveted retail demographic cohort. With $44 billion in spending power according to Forbes magazine, Generation Z is being courted by brands and retailers.
Business
July 2019 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

August 1, 2019 • PEC Staff

Since 2005 our mission has been to publish authoritative articles, seminars, and podcasts for ecommerce merchants. What follows are the most popular articles we published in July. Articles published early in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
Business
Thrift Books CEO on $150 Million of Annual Used Book Sales

July 31, 2019 • Kerry Murdock

Anyone who has purchased used books on Amazon likely encountered Thrift Books. It launched in 2003 as a pure-play Amazon seller. It is now the largest used-book seller in the world. I recently spoke with Thrift Books’ CEO, Mike Ward, about the company and the logistics of selling tens of millions of books every year.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Don’t Bet Against Amazon in India

July 30, 2019 • Jaydip Parikh

Since entering India in 2013, Amazon has faced entrenched competition and restrictive government policies. In this post, I'll provide an overview of the ecommerce industry in India, including recent regulations, local competitors, and Amazon's performance to date.
B2B
Common B2B Mistakes, Part 5: Accessibility, Mobile, Localization

July 29, 2019 • Gagan Mehra

This is the fifth and final post in a series in which I address common mistakes of B2B ecommerce merchants. For this installment, I’ll review mistakes related to accessibility, mobile usability, and localization.
Amazon & Marketplaces
How to Obtain UPCs for Selling on Amazon

July 25, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Amazon requires private label brands and direct-to-consumer manufacturers that sell on its marketplace to have universal product codes or similar for virtually all products. Fortunately, for as little as $250 just about any company can register a UPC prefix and obtain the required code.
B2B
Getting B2B Sales Teams to Embrace Ecommerce

July 23, 2019 • Shawn Arnold

A sales team can determine success or failure for a B2B ecommerce program. Sales personnel have the influence and trust among customers to drive ecommerce adoption. In this post, I will share a 10-step approach for getting a B2B sales team to embrace ecommerce.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon Prime Day 2019 Breaks Records; Other Merchants Benefit

July 19, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

While Amazon does not provide sales data for Prime Day, it did state that during the 48-hour 2019 event on July 15 and 16, sales surpassed the 2018 Black Friday and Cyber Monday revenues combined.
Business > Merchant Voice
Even online retailers need a break

July 16, 2019 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

If you own or manage a small ecommerce business, you likely want to enjoy a holiday occasionally. But, if you're like me, you worry about the implications of closing the business while away, with no deliveries.
Business
How Blockchain Is Changing Loyalty Programs

July 15, 2019 • Brandon Bidlack

Ecommerce merchants have hundreds of potential technologies and techniques to encourage customer loyalty, but blockchain technology and blockchain-based crypto tokens offer unique advantages.
Amazon & Marketplaces
4 Steps to Prepare for Holiday Sales on Amazon

July 11, 2019 • Phil Masiello

Selling on the Amazon Marketplace is a huge opportunity, especially for brands. The all-important holiday selling season on Amazon begins in early November. Start preparing now with the following four steps.
Shipping & Fulfillment
9 Tips to Improve the Overall Shipping Experience

July 10, 2019 • Pamela Hazelton

There is no shortage of studies that confirm the importance of free shipping. But a comprehensive shipping strategy extends beyond free. It includes other crucial elements that impact conversions and customer satisfaction.
Finance
Jumia, Revolve, Chewy among Q2 Ecommerce IPOs

July 10, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

Some prominent ecommerce initial public stock offerings occurred in the second quarter of 2019. In this post, I'll address three of them.
Inventory
12 Ways to Lower Inventory Costs

July 8, 2019 • Viktoria Kanevsky

U.S. retailers are reportedly sitting on about $1.43 in inventory for every $1 of sales. Decreasing inventory costs should therefore be a priority for all merchants. In my experience, there are many options for reducing inventory costs. In this post, I'll review 12 of them.
Inventory > Merchant Voice
My first big inventory mistake

July 3, 2019 • Peter Keller

I'll never forget my first big inventory mistake. It occurred in 2006. I was working for LivingDirect, an online appliance retailer. I thought for sure I would get fired.
B2B
Common B2B Mistakes, Part 4: Shipping, Returns, Inventory

July 2, 2019 • Gagan Mehra

This post is the fourth in a series in which I address common mistakes of B2B ecommerce merchants. The first post addressed mistakes related to catalog management and pricing. The second described user management and customer service failures. The third post discussed glitches from shopping carts and order management systems. For this installment, I’ll review mistakes related to shipping, returns, and inventory management.
Business
June 2019 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

July 1, 2019 • PEC Staff

Our mission at Practical Ecommerce is to publish articles, podcasts, and seminars that help ecommerce merchants. What follows are the most popular articles that we published in June 2019, recognizing that posts published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
Business
Ecommerce Briefs: FedEx, Amazon Spark, Jet.com, Toys’R’Us

June 26, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

In “Ecommerce Briefs,” I address news and developments that impact online merchants. In this installment, I’ll report on FedEx severing its air-services relationship with Amazon and rolling out seven-day delivery, Amazon shuttering its social media platform Spark, Walmart folding Jet.com into its own website, and Toys "R" Us making a comeback.
Business
Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 19: Just Do It

June 25, 2019 • Eric Bandholz

This is the final episode in my "Building an Ecommerce Business" interview series. I've hosted 18 amazing guests who have provided much insight into launching, growing, and selling an ecommerce business. There is no right way to do that. You'll likely find success, however, if you focus on three primary functions: vision, execution, and cash flow.
Business
How to Choose a Digital Agency for Your Ecommerce Business

June 18, 2019 • Dale Traxler

Outsourcing aspects of an ecommerce business can help management focus on critical areas. It can also deliver sophisticated skills and insights that are unavailable in-house. But choosing the right outsourced partner is not easy.
Business
Use CAC and CLV to Monitor Ecommerce Growth, Profit

June 14, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce owners and managers have so much data available and so many key performance indicators, it can be difficult to know where to focus. But businesses aimed at long-term, stable growth may do well to focus on two: customer lifetime value (CLV) and customer acquisition cost (CAC).
Shipping & Fulfillment
The Growing Problem of Customer Returns

June 13, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

The rate of customer returns for goods bought online is swelling to a worrisome level as more consumers switch from physical stores to online. Ecommerce returns average about 15 percent, with apparel returns closer to 30 percent. The cost to online retailers is substantial.
Business
Will Facebook’s GlobalCoin Impact Ecommerce?

June 12, 2019 • Brandon Bidlack

Facebook is rolling out a digital payments system next year that will allow Facebook users (as well as WhatsApp and Instagram users) to pay for goods and services using Facebook’s own cryptocurrency, dubbed “GlobalCoin.”
Inventory
How to Calculate ‘Available to Sell’ Inventory

June 11, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

"Quantity on hand" is physically available inventory. It's a simple number, but it does not include unfulfilled sales and outstanding purchase orders where the inventory has not arrived. All those scenarios can be addressed in an "available to sell" calculation.
Business > Merchant Voice
The risk of vanity metrics (and copying others)

June 10, 2019 • Peter Keller

I see a lot of startup entrepreneurs copying successful businesses. The entrepreneurs observe what those businesses do and assume it would work for them. Or they attribute the success of ...
Business
Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 18: Selling the Company

June 6, 2019 • Eric Bandholz

Launching and then growing an ecommerce business can be both exciting and stressful. The reward for many entrepreneurs is to sell their companies someday. For this installment in my series on building an ecommerce business, I spoke with Michael Jackness, the owner of a multi-brand ecommerce company. We discussed the process of selling an ecommerce business, which he has done multiple times.
Business > Merchant Voice
Temporary setbacks have helped my business

June 5, 2019 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Every online merchant dreads a phone call or email from an unhappy customer or supplier. But as unpleasant as they are, those calls and emails often present opportunities to improve. Here are examples from my business.
Local Business
3 Lessons from Running Pop-up Stores

June 4, 2019 • Charles Nicholls

Pop-up stores are a familiar sight in malls and events, but adding a digital component is relatively new. I've just completed a series of pop-up experiences for my company and for merchant brands. In this post, I'll share my lessons and observations.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Create a Branded Amazon Store in 6 Steps

June 3, 2019 • Phil Masiello

Selling on Amazon is an excellent opportunity for brands to gain visibility and sales. One of the tools is an Amazon Store, a mini-website for brands on the Amazon Marketplace. In this post, I will explain the steps in setting up and building an Amazon Store for your brand.
Business
May 2019 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

May 31, 2019 • PEC Staff

The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to publish independent content — articles, podcasts, seminars — that helps ecommerce merchants. What follows are the most popular articles that we published in May 2019, recognizing that posts published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.