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.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
5 off-page SEO tactics, from a do-it-yourself merchant
October 27, 2014 • Erica Tevis
In “11 ecommerce SEO tips, from the trenches,” my post in August, I discussed how I manage on-page search engine optimization. But even the best on-page SEO may not be ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
Same-day Delivery by Ecommerce SMBs Viable?
October 27, 2014 • Armando Roggio
Same-day delivery has the potential to become a significant retail differentiator, potentially raising the ecommerce industry’s barrier for entry, making it harder for new, relatively small ecommerce businesses to start ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
Drop Shipping for Ecommerce, Part 4: Winning Strategies
October 20, 2014 • Jeremy Hanks
In “Drop Shipping for Ecommerce, Part 1: Supply Chain History,” my first article, I addressed the basic supply chain evolution inside of ecommerce. Then, in “Part 2: The Basics,” I ...
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Payments
Review Credit Card Processing in October, before Holidays
October 16, 2014 • Phil Hinke
All ecommerce merchants should take the time to review their processing statements this month before the holiday shopping season begins. Merchants need to check for the following items, and correct ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
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Merchant Voice
Beware parcel forwarding services?
October 15, 2014 • Richard Stubbings
There is an industry growing up within ecommerce that offers parcel-forwarding services. It is mainly in the U.S., but there are similar services in the U.K., where I live. The ...
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Business
How to Gather Intelligence on Your Competitors
October 14, 2014 • Jerry Jao
Tracking the competition is something every e-tailer should do. In addition to helping you better understand your market and industry, tracking competitors can also assist you when generating ideas for ...
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Business
Rendering Authentic Ecommerce Shopping Experiences
October 13, 2014 • Armando Roggio
One of the keys to ecommerce marketing success may be as simple as “rendering authentic” online shopping experiences that make customers happy to buy. “The best way to generate demand for ...
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Finance
10 Ways to Finance Your Ecommerce Business
October 9, 2014 • Marcia Kaplan
It has always been a challenge for small businesses to get financing. Circumstances worsened when banks tightened their lending criteria five years ago. Most banks lend only to businesses with ...
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Business
5 Things Attorneys Wish Business Owners Knew
October 7, 2014 • Elizabeth Lewis
Every day I meet with clients with problems both large and small. They come to me seeking advice, counsel, and hopefully nuggets of wisdom that I have gained over the ...
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Business
Explaining Apple Pay: Pros, Cons
October 5, 2014 • Gagan Mehra
Apple Pay is a new payment service announced by Apple on Sept. 9, with a launch date of Oct. 20. The service works with Apple iPhone 6 phones, using near ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Is Amazon Planning a Shipping Revolution?
October 2, 2014 • Armando Roggio
Amazon is rapidly adding new fulfillment centers, sorting packages for carriers, and even delivering some orders directly to customers. Could these initiatives hint at a revolution in ecommerce shipping? The answer ...
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B2B
4 Keys to B2B Ecommerce Success
October 1, 2014 • Dale Traxler
Online B2B revenues in the U.S. are rapidly growing, to $1 billion per year according to published reports. The reasons for this growth are twofold. First, more manufacturers and distributors are ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
8 ways to win ‘generation Y’ customers
September 29, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
As we get older, our customers get younger. Generation Y, born between 1982 and 2000, offer online retailers challenges and opportunities. Here are eight tips to acquire younger shoppers. 1. What ...
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Business
When a Big Ecommerce Order Is Really a Scam
September 29, 2014 • Armando Roggio
The email inquiry seems honest enough. A customer wants to place an order; perhaps she is even going to place a large order and wants to know if she can ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Applying Theory of Constraints to our packaging process
September 27, 2014 • David Sasson
In “Theory of Constraints, for ecommerce companies,” my previous post, I discussed the basics of Theory of Constraints, a system of continuous improvement developed by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt, a physicist ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
5 reasons to satisfy unreasonable customers
September 25, 2014 • Erica Tevis
When I was 15 I was hired for my first job as a cashier for a major fast food chain. With no customer service experience, I owe much of my ...
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Finance
Alibaba’s IPO to Impact U.S. Ecommerce?
September 22, 2014 • Marcia Kaplan
The much-anticipated Alibaba IPO closed last Friday with shares initially priced at $68. Once trading got under way, the price of a share rose to $93. Demand was so strong ...
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Payments
American Express OptBlue: Negotiating Processing Rates
September 22, 2014 • Phil Hinke
In “American Express OptBlue Program May Reduce Processing Cost,” my article in July, I explained how the new OptBlue program could reduce processing rates for ecommerce merchants, as it allows ...
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Shipping & Fulfillment
Drop Shipping for Ecommerce, Part 3: Suppliers vs. Retailers
September 17, 2014 • Jeremy Hanks
In “Drop Shipping for Ecommerce, Part 1: Supply Chain History,” my first article, I addressed basic supply chain evolution inside of ecommerce. Last month, in “Part 2: The Basics,” I ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Analyze what visitors search for on your ecommerce site
September 13, 2014 • Richard Stubbings
A good ecommerce site needs watching. You need to constantly monitor what goes on. If you ignore it and expect it to continue earning you money, then you will probably ...
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Business
3 Ways to Harness Big Data, for Ecommerce
September 10, 2014 • Jerry Jao
The use of Big Data by ecommerce companies is increasingly common. To stay competitive, many companies, especially larger ones, use extensive datasets to better understand their customers and provide services,
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Theory of Constraints, for ecommerce companies
September 8, 2014 • David Sasson
Two or three years ago, in October, I left the office in the middle of the day and went to Starbucks to have a cup of coffee and think about ...
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Business
Lessons Learned: Million-dollar Jeweler Launched with $300
September 8, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
Robin Weber started his jewelry website when he was 18, with $300 from selling his high school textbooks and from tutoring classmates. He now runs a multi-million dollar business. In 1996,
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Business
How to Create an Ecommerce Privacy Policy
September 2, 2014 • Elizabeth Lewis
Over the past few years, a series of stories have hit the press regarding online privacy — the biggest being about Edward Snowden and the NSA. However, smaller stories that ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Should merchants accept Bitcoin?
September 1, 2014 • Jamie Salvatori
I was recently asked if ecommerce merchants should accept Bitcoin. My answer is a resounding “yes.” I can think of only a few minor downsides and many major upsides to ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
11 ecommerce SEO tips, from the trenches
August 31, 2014 • Erica Tevis
If you are a small ecommerce business owner, chances are your budget is limited for areas such as advertising, search engine optimization, email marketing, and website design. I’ve been in ...
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Business
Lessons Learned: MyFootShop.com Renewed by Tech Incubator
August 28, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
Jeff Oster’s friends thought he was mad to give away health care information for free when he launched his podiatry website in 1999. This was at a time when the ...
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Local Business
Google’s AdWords Express Helps Manage Local Campaigns
August 22, 2014 • Melih Oztalay
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Web Marketing Today. Practical Ecommerce acquired Web Marketing Today in 2012. In 2016, we merged the two sites, leaving Practical Ecommerce as ...
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Business
4 Predictions for the 2014 Holiday Shopping Season
August 20, 2014 • Armando Roggio
Mobile commerce, free shipping offers, in-store pickup promotions, and ecommerce videos will all be important trends for the 2014 Christmas shopping season, as small and mid-sized online retailers look forward ...
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B2B
B2B Ecommerce: Overcoming Conflict with Sales Teams
August 19, 2014 • Dale Traxler
When online retail took off roughly 10 years ago, many manufacturers and distributors were resistant about opening an online store. There were many reasons for this then, and now, including ...