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
The Real Benefit of Amazon Reviews

June 19, 2018 • Phil Masiello

I’m a longtime seller on Amazon’s marketplace. I also mentor many sellers and help brands to improve their marketplace sales. And I belong to various Amazon forums. The topic of ...
Business
10 Numbers Every Ecommerce Business Must Track

June 19, 2018 • Adam Lean

Most ecommerce storeowners are good at growing sales and streamlining operations. However, when it comes to improving how much cash the business generates they hope and pray that it all ...
Business
How to Land a Great Ecommerce Job

June 15, 2018 • Armando Roggio

There are many good reasons to work in ecommerce. Perhaps you’re attracted to the industry’s rapid growth. Or maybe you see ecommerce marketing or operations as a challenge — a ...
Business > Merchant Voice
What not to sell on an ecommerce site

June 14, 2018 • Richard Stubbings

There is no shortage of advice on what to sell on an ecommerce site. In this post, however, I will describe what not to sell. Ecommerce should be about making money.
Cross-border Selling
Africa: An Emerging Ecommerce Market with Many Challenges

June 13, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

Africa has been a laggard in ecommerce for many reasons, including lack of internet access, poverty, a high rate of illiteracy, and logistical inefficiencies. Most of these problems persist but ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
How to (Clearly) Explain Shipping and Return Policies

June 13, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Ideally, a shopper comes to your site, finds a product she wants to buy, puts it in her cart, and then completes the purchase. Near the end of that process,
Amazon & Marketplaces
What the Walmart-Flipkart Deal Means for India

June 11, 2018 • Manish Dudharejia

The Indian ecommerce market is growing quickly thanks to smartphone penetration and fast internet. Overall ecommerce revenue in India is projected to reach $64 billion by 2020 from $38.5 billion ...
Staffing
How to Find (Great) Ecommerce Employees

June 10, 2018 • Armando Roggio

You’re hiring. Your ecommerce operation is growing. You need help. But how do you find that just-right person for your company? I recently had hiring opportunities. I added five roles to ...
B2B
8 Approaches to B2B Dealer Locators

June 7, 2018 • Lori McDonald

Business-to-business companies frequently sell products through dealers. But it’s not always obvious to would-be customers how to locate a dealer, to inquire. In this post, I’ll review eight examples of ...
Fraud Prevention
Retailers (including Amazon) Crack Down on Return Fraud

June 6, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

Ecommerce customers value a lenient and free return process. The most successful online and omnichannel merchants have been willing to accommodate those wishes. Until recently. A survey by the National Retail ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Magento sold, again

June 5, 2018 • Richard Stubbings

With the acquisition by Adobe, the future of Magento is raising questions. Magento merchants naturally wonder whether Adobe will support the open source version and, indeed, if it will remain free.
Business
May 2018 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

May 31, 2018 • PEC Staff

What follows are our 10 most popular articles for May 2018, recognizing that articles we published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones. 7
Business > Merchant Voice
The elements of a (successful) ecommerce strategy

May 30, 2018 • David Sasson

The importance of an ecommerce strategy is clear. What is not clear is how to develop a good one. Some strategy statements do not provide a lot of direction, such ...
Inventory
Strategies for Discontinued Inventory Pages

May 30, 2018 • Armando Roggio

When an item in an ecommerce store is temporarily out of stock, the site can add a notice or send a message to a shopper. But what should an online ...
Business > Merchant Voice
10 ways to offer shoppers a discount

May 29, 2018 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Many online retailers unintentionally train consumers to expect discounts. Clothing stores are amongst the worst offenders. Constant discounting makes full-price shoppers believe they’re being overcharged. They often won’t shop until the next sale, which leads to a vicious cycle. It is a rare company that doesn’t get asked for discounts. In this post, I'll review 10 ways to offer clients a discount.
Inventory
9 Tips to Manage Out-of-stock Inventory

May 28, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Sometimes even the most-prepared retailers sell out of popular items. How these inventory shortages are communicated on an ecommerce website may impact shopper experience, search engine optimization, and sales. Although not ...
Business
Custom Apparel Business Overthinks a Routine Problem

May 25, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Roy needed product category pages, not custom online stores. What his competitors were really providing was a landing page on their own websites. The header, navigation, and layout were the same for all customers. Only the products displayed and a header graphic were unique to the specific team, business, or organization.
Amazon & Marketplaces
Beardbrand Founder on Moving Away from Amazon

May 24, 2018 • Kerry Murdock

In an ecommerce world that is seemingly dominated by Amazon, Eric Bandholz has just moved his company’s products away from that marketplace. The company, Beardbrand, is now focused on selling ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart Wins Flipkart; Amazon Expands Prime; Target Beefs Up

May 23, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

In “Ecommerce Briefs,” I address news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll review Walmart’s purchase of a majority interest in Flipkart, India’s dominant marketplace. I’ll also address ...
Amazon & Marketplaces > Merchant Voice
Has Amazon altered A-Z claims process to help sellers?

May 17, 2018 • Richard Stubbings

I recently took a break from selling on Amazon whilst reorganizing my stock. When I returned I noticed a difference in the A-Z claim process. First, I found that customers are ...
Payments
12 Innovative Mobile Payment Apps

May 14, 2018 • Sig Ueland

Paying with a smartphone is easier than ever. Innovative mobile payment apps are providing consumers with new ways to exchange money with peers, purchase products, use alternative currencies, manage expenditures,
Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon Has Superlative First Quarter, Raises Prime Fee

May 10, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

Ecommerce giant Amazon had a blockbuster first quarter. The period from January 1 through March 31, 2018 easily surpassed analysts’ predictions. Revenue jumped 43 percent to $51 billion, compared with ...
Business
Lessons Learned: Hollywood Mirrors Has a Good Problem

May 9, 2018 • Jennifer D. Meacham

With less than two years online, U.K.-based Hollywood Mirrors has a good problem: keeping up with demand. “I should have ordered more stock, instead of being cautious.” Adam Watson, founder of Hollywood ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Why sell barbells?

May 3, 2018 • Peter Keller

I’m often asked why I started FringeSport. People inquire, “Of all the things to do, why sell barbells?” I tell them that if I wanted only to make money, I ...
Business
Net Promoter Score Is the Best KPI for Ecommerce Growth

May 3, 2018 • Armando Roggio

“Net Promoter Score” is a simple-to-understand customer loyalty indicator closely associated with sales and profit growth. Online sellers can use this metric and associated customer interactions to improve customer service,
Business
April 2018 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

April 30, 2018 • PEC Staff

What follows are our 10 most popular articles for April 2018, recognizing that articles we published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones. 13
Local Business
Ecommerce Merchants Embrace Brick-and-mortar

April 26, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

With all the talk of a “retail apocalypse,” you might wonder why any merchant would want to open a brick-and-mortar store. Yet several successful ecommerce companies are now operating physical ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Merging 2 ecommerce sites

April 25, 2018 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

On April 23, 2018, the third anniversary of the launch of My Wedding Décor, I decided to merge that website into My Event Décor. I need to focus my energy ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Former Amazon Exec on Maintaining Brand Control

April 25, 2018 • Armando Roggio

James Thomson spent six years as head of Amazon Services, which recruits sellers to Amazon’s marketplace. He is now co-founder and partner of Buy Box Experts, a consultancy, and co-founder ...
B2B
Does WooCommerce Fit B2B Companies?

April 24, 2018 • Lori McDonald

WooCommerce is among the fastest growing platforms. We've addressed it many times. B2C merchants, especially, value WooCommerce's flexibility and plugin options. My expertise, however, is with B2B companies. In my experience, companies with meaningful B2B sales should not choose WooCommerce.