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
Former Amazon Exec on Marketplace Selling Strategies

October 30, 2015 • Kerry Murdock

Selling on Amazon’s marketplace can be challenging. There are, to be sure, millions of prospective customers. But there are also many competitors selling there, often at prices that are difficult ...
B2B
Preparing a 2016 B2B Ecommerce Budget

October 28, 2015 • Lori McDonald

It’s time to pull together the 2016 budget for your B2B ecommerce site. Budgeting for a B2B ecommerce site typically has four phases: information gathering, reflection on priorities, assigning numbers, and ...
Local Business
10 Text Messaging Tools for Local Business Marketing

October 28, 2015 • Kathleen Fealy

Text messaging, also known as SMS (Short Message Service), lets businesses communicate with consumers through their cell phones in 160 character messages. It gives businesses the opportunity to present relevant information, enhanced customer experiences and service, and special offers.
Shipping & Fulfillment
Fulfillment: How to Speed up the Picking Process

October 27, 2015 • Michael Manzione

In “Holiday Checklist for Ecommerce Operations,” my article last month, I shared steps to assist in your preparation for the upcoming seasonal rush. In this article, I’ll offer tips to your warehouse team, to ...
Payments
Credit Card Processing: American Express OptBlue Rates Often Wrong

October 26, 2015 • Phil Hinke

Did you change credit card providers or renegotiate pricing with your existing provider in the last year? If so, did you verify that you were actually receiving the rates and ...
Business
Benefits of third-party ecommerce apps

October 23, 2015 • Kenny Kane

One of the good things about being on a leading ecommerce platform — Bigcommerce, in my case — is the ability to easily connect third-party apps to your store. Apps are ...
Business
3 Holiday KPIs for Your Ecommerce Store

October 22, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Three tried-and-true key performance indicators may help online stores focus on what matters most during the busy, high-volume Christmas shopping season. “Really there are three things a retailer has to do,” said ...
Business
Jet vs. Amazon: A Quick Comparison

October 20, 2015 • Gagan Mehra

Jet launched a few months back, claiming that it will be the Amazon killer. Jet’s original model was similar to Costco, where consumers must pay a membership fee to shop ...
Local Business
Hyperlocal Marketing: 5 Ways to Drive In-store Traffic

October 19, 2015 • Paul Chaney

The dictionary defines the term hyperlocal as “relating to or focused on a very small geographic community.” Hyperlocal marketing, therefore, consists of marketing activities that also concentrate on a tight geographic circle. Most local business marketing fits within the hyperlocal category.
Shipping & Fulfillment
Published Shipping Policies Can Protect Merchants

October 15, 2015 • Elizabeth Lewis

As we head into the holiday season, shipping of products goes into high gear. Ecommerce merchants must make sure that they have updated their shipping policies prior to Black Friday ...
Business
‘Internet of Things’ Helping Ecommerce Merchants

October 8, 2015 • Gagan Mehra

The adoption of Internet of Things has grown in the retail world since I last wrote about it in December 2013. While larger companies are benefitting from this technology, many ...
Business
5 Tips for Starting an Ecommerce Business

October 7, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Online retail sales are growing fast and creating significant opportunities for entrepreneurs. In fact, there may already be as many as 650,000 online stores earning more than $1,000 each month.
Amazon & Marketplaces
How to Overcome Negative Feedback on Amazon’s Marketplace

October 7, 2015 • James Thomson

Say you are shopping on Amazon and you find the perfect product to buy. But you notice that the seller offering the product has 90 percent positive feedback. Yes, one ...
Payments
Check Credit Card Processing Rates before Holiday Rush

October 2, 2015 • Phil Hinke

Sales over the next three months will be crucial to the profitability of many ecommerce merchants. Credit card processing costs over this timeframe will affect profitability, too. This article is ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
The (Many) Benefits of Offering Free Shipping

October 1, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Free shipping is a competitive necessity for some online retailers. While there are certainly costs associated with free shipping, there are also some reasons to feel good about offering it. When ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Holiday Checklist for Ecommerce Operations

October 1, 2015 • Michael Manzione

We’re fast approaching the time of year that typically accounts for more than 20 percent of annual retail sales. It usually defines whether a company is profitable or not. Communication, organization,
Shipping & Fulfillment
USPS Regional Rate Shipping Saves Money

September 30, 2015 • Armando Roggio

The United States Postal Service’s Priority Mail Regional Rate shipping can save ecommerce businesses money and deliver orders somewhat more quickly than similar services. First introduced in 2011, USPS Priority ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Adjusting to third-party fulfillment

September 25, 2015 • Kenny Kane

My last two posts — “My search for a third party fulfillment company” and “Life after in-house fulfillment” — have addressed Stupid Cancer’s massive change from in-house to third-party fulfillment. While ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Low-cost alternative to multichannel software

September 21, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

Due to the ever increasing cost of multichannel software, I have looked for an alternative solution. Until recently I have not found any. I have now. I use Linnworks, an ...
Staffing
U.S. Puts Short Leash on Independent Contractor Status

September 20, 2015 • Elizabeth Lewis

Independent contractor or employee? It is a question that most business owners face as they grow from being self-reliant to needing help. Initially, many business owners choose to classify individuals ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
7 Overlooked Holiday Tactics for Amazon Sellers

September 15, 2015 • James Thomson

For many ecommerce merchants, the holiday shopping season is the busiest, most critical time of the year. On Amazon, things can get crazy for sellers, even if they have been ...
Local Business
Beacons: Local Retail Game-changing Technology?

September 14, 2015 • Paul Chaney

Beacons, a new technology designed to drive customer loyalty and in-store sales, is growing in popularity among larger retailers. But is it something smaller retailers can use?
B2B
4 Tactics B2B Ecommerce Can Borrow from B2C

September 13, 2015 • Lori McDonald

“We don’t need ecommerce. Our customers don’t buy that way. They find us through Thomas Register and place orders with us by phone and fax.” That’s what the president of a ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Will Robots Take Over Ecommerce Warehouses?

September 10, 2015 • Marcia Kaplan

Robots have always played a prominent role in movies, television, and children’s toys. They are now navigating a new arena — warehouses — and changing the way businesses handle their ...
Business > Merchant Voice
8 tips for setting up gift certificates, for ecommerce

September 9, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

With the festive season fast approaching, setting up a gift certificate option on your website can increase sales. This is something I plan to add on my wedding decor site, like ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
8 Obstacles to Drone Delivery, for Ecommerce

September 4, 2015 • Gagan Mehra

The military has used drones for years, for a variety of missions. Now ecommerce retailers are evaluating their use. Consumer research firm eDigitalResearch conducted a survey that found that 33 percent ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
What’s the True Cost of Inventory?

August 31, 2015 • Michael Manzione

Inventory is often the largest asset of ecommerce merchants. Inventory defines merchants’ businesses and their position in the marketplace. It defines customers’ expectations of the business. For most ecommerce merchants, the ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Multichannel selling: How to evaluate solution providers

August 29, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

In “Selling on multiple channels creates headaches,” my previous post, I detailed some of the problems a retailer has when trying to sell on third-party websites. There are companies that provide ...
Local Business
Local SEO Ranking Factors for Multi-location Businesses

August 27, 2015 • Bill Hartzer

Google has made significant changes in the last few years concerning how it ranks websites for businesses that have multiple locations and now frowns upon many of the optimization techniques that were used in the past.
Payments
EMV Credit Cards: Beware Misleading Equipment Sales Tactics

August 26, 2015 • Phil Hinke

This article is mainly for brick-and-mortar merchants, regarding the October 1, 2015 fraud-liability rule changes and misleading sales tactics surrounding the changes. The new rules are causing a high percentage of retail merchants ...