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.

Finance
Does Dual-class Stock Hurt Independent Investors?

August 16, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

If you think buying stock in a public company guarantees you some input into how the company operates and who is elected to the board, you may be mistaken. Thanks ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Event management contest helps students (and my business)

August 14, 2018 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

I have been slow to adopt videos to showcase my decór products. But I had a brainstorm: I would create a competition for three event management students to produce nine themed events for three stylists in three hours — while being videoed and photographed.
Business
Moz Founder Rand Fishkin on New Book, New Company

August 13, 2018 • Kerry Murdock

Rand Fishkin founded Moz in 2001 as a blog, calling it SEOmoz. It became an industry beacon. He left Moz earlier this year. His new book is a transparent view of running that company. I spoke with Fishkin last week about the book, leaving Moz, and his new venture, SparkToro.
Cross-border Selling
3 Tips for Selling Products Online in India

August 12, 2018 • Manish Dudharejia

Ecommerce is developing rapidly in India. The increasing penetration of smartphones and mobile data, along with the rise in digital literacy, has led to an influx of investment in ecommerce startups. For merchants interested in entering the Indian ecommerce market, here are three tips.
Business > Merchant Voice
Lessons from Ikea’s negative reviews

August 8, 2018 • Richard Stubbings

Those of us who sell on Amazon tend to believe that reviews are all important and that negative reviews can dampen sales, in part, because Amazon likely includes an element ...
Business > Merchant Voice
The ‘why’ of my company

August 5, 2018 • Peter Keller

Here's the story of FringeSport's why and how it has evolved. When I started Fringe, my why was focused on me. I desired to assist customers, but, really, I wanted something. I wanted to start a business so that I could be an entrepreneur.
Finance
Why Wall Street Loves Amazon, Not Facebook

August 2, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

Wall Street has always been kind to Amazon, waiting patiently for many years for the company to become profitable. Facebook used to be a Wall Street favorite but never to the same extent as Amazon. Facebook's second quarter financial results were not what rattled analysts.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Growing a Business on Amazon — and Beyond

August 1, 2018 • Phil Masiello

Success on Amazon requires work, effort, and time. Don't believe the get-rich-quick peddlers. If they were as successful as they claim, they wouldn't be selling you their secrets.
Business
July 2018 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

July 31, 2018 • PEC Staff

What follows are the most popular articles that we published in July 2018. Articles published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones. 58 Leading ...
B2B
4 Expectations of B2B Ecommerce Customers

July 26, 2018 • Shawn Arnold

It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that a compelling B2C experience will be sufficient for B2B users. For me, it took sitting face-to-face with 50 B2B customers and learning what really matters to them. In this post, I'll share what I discovered.
Cross-border Selling
How the Trade War Affects Ecommerce and the U.S. Economy

July 25, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

On July 6 the United States placed tariffs on trading partners around the world. The European Union, Canada, China, and Mexico have all implemented retaliatory tariffs on American goods. These tariffs concentrate on agricultural and food and beverage products. The effect on U.S. ecommerce merchants varies.
Cross-border Selling
DHL Executive on International Selling, Logistics

July 25, 2018 • Kerry Murdock

Selling across international borders can provide helpful revenue to merchants. But the complexity of laws, transit times, and delivery cost can be daunting. Dr. Eugene Laney is an authority on ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
58 Leading Online Marketplaces Worldwide

July 23, 2018 • Gagan Mehra

In this post, I will list all major worldwide marketplaces — B2C and B2B. I have categorized the marketplaces by their home continent.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon’s 2018 Prime Day Sets Record Despite Glitches

July 19, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

Amazon’s 2018 Prime Day event got off to an inauspicious start at 3 p.m. Eastern time on July 16 when eager shoppers received error messages due to overwhelming site traffic.
Amazon & Marketplaces
One Click Retail Exec on Amazon’s Private Label Brands

July 19, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Amazon has made significant investments in its own private label brands, in areas such as diapers, dog food, and paper towels. The company’s private label strategy could be indicative of ...
B2B
3 Reasons Why B2B Ecommerce Projects Fail

July 16, 2018 • Lori McDonald

Business-to-business ecommerce projects range from changing an entire platform to adding features and improvements to the current one. Unfortunately, failed B2B ecommerce projects are common. In this post, I'll address three reasons for the failures and how to avoid them.
Payments
7 Apps and Readers for Mobile Credit Card Processing

July 16, 2018 • Sig Ueland

With credit card apps and readers, merchants can sell to customers at events, pop-up shops, or wherever they meet-up. Here is a list of apps and readers for mobile credit card ...
Cross-border Selling
Cash on Delivery Dominates Indian Ecommerce

July 13, 2018 • Manish Dudharejia

Ecommerce in India remains heavily dependent on the cash-on-delivery mode of payment — more than 50 percent of transactions. In this post, I'll address why Indian shoppers continue this traditional payment route.
Amazon & Marketplaces > Merchant Voice
Using Amazon to wind down a retail business

July 13, 2018 • Richard Stubbings

There are many blogs on how to improve sales on Amazon. In this post, I’ll address the opposite: how to wind down and stop selling on Amazon entirely. It is becoming ...
Business
15 Common Mistakes of Fashion and Lifestyle Merchants

July 12, 2018 • Viktoria Kanevsky

The failure rate for startup businesses in the U.S. is roughly 80 percent. As a consultant and former employee for fashion and lifestyle businesses, I can point to frequent missteps that lead to business failure. In this post, I'll list 15 common mistakes of small and large companies, in my experience.
Business
Looking to Sell Your Business? Here’s What Buyers Seek

July 11, 2018 • Adam Lean

You’ve decided to sell your business. Buyers view your business as an investment. They are most interested in cash flow. Here are four actions to boost the cash flow of your business.
Business > Merchant Voice
4 ecommerce-related businesses to start right now

July 5, 2018 • Peter Keller

I’m often approached by many would-be entrepreneurs who want to start a business as soon as possible. They are usually in their early 20s, living in the U.S., and working a job where they are unfulfilled and (possibly) underpaid. In this post, I'll offer four low-risk ways to start a side hustle that can grow into a full-time business.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Are Amazon’s Private Label Brands a Trend for Other Merchants?

July 2, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Amazon has made significant investments in its own private label brands, such as diapers, dog food, and paper towels. The company’s private label strategy may be indicative of a burgeoning ...
Business
June 2018 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

June 30, 2018 • PEC Staff

What follows are the most popular articles that we published in June 2018. Articles published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones. 15 Tools ...
Business
Sales Tax Pro on Impact of Supreme Court’s Wayfair Decision

June 28, 2018 • Kerry Murdock

For roughly 200 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has resolved disputes arising from companies selling products across state borders. A notable case occurred in 1992 when the state of North Dakota ...
Cross-border Selling > Merchant Voice
How to sell alcohol online in Russia (or not)

June 27, 2018 • Maksim Komonov

The most popular niche for online Russian buyers is apparel and footwear. That is according to East-West Digital News, which covers technology and innovation in Central and Eastern Europe. But ...
Business
7 Lessons from Confucius for Ecommerce Businesses

June 25, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Wisdom, personal or corporate, has not changed much in 2,500 years, or so it would seem. Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher and politician, has much to teach us about operating ...
Business
Lessons Learned: $15,000 Name Boosts SpyGuy.com

June 24, 2018 • Jennifer D. Meacham

SpyGuy.com sells security systems — hidden cameras, surveillance detectors, audio recorders. The company is located in Richardson, Texas, near Dallas. Allen Walton’s ecommerce site brings in roughly $1 million per year.
Fraud Prevention
3 Reminders about Online Payment Fraud in 2018

June 22, 2018 • Armando Roggio

At the global scale, online businesses and their customers suffer billions of dollars in fraud losses annually. There are some important things ecommerce businesses should keep in mind. Start with a ...
Cross-border Selling
Chinese Consumers Are Eager to Buy Foreign Goods

June 20, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

China is the world’s largest ecommerce market. What is unique about Chinese cross-border ecommerce is that large amounts of transactions flow both ways. Chinese consumers are heavy buyers of foreign ...