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.

Local Business
How to Use Yelp for Local Marketing

March 16, 2015 • Paul Chaney

Yelp enables people to search for local businesses based on customer ratings and reviews. It covers a broad range of industry sectors including food, beauty and spas, health and medical, home services, and many more. As a business owner, you can use Yelp to showcase your products and services, and connect with customers and prospects in your local area.
Business > Merchant Voice
From Magento to WooCommerce, part 4

March 15, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

This is the fourth installment in my series of describing the process of migrating from Magento to WooCommerce. In “part 1,” I discussed my frustrations with Magento and the appeal ...
Local Business
10 Great Local Marketing Ideas for March 2015

March 13, 2015 • Web Marketing Today

Web Marketing Today asked ten industry insiders to share their best advice for helping local small businesses market online. Here’s what they had to say.
Finance
Can Etsy Keep Artistic Roots with IPO?

March 11, 2015 • Marcia Kaplan

Etsy, the online marketplace that offers artists, crafters, and vintage collectors a venue to sell their goods, filed for an initial public offering earlier this month. The company plans to ...
Business
Competing on Customer Experience

March 5, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce merchants seeking to acquire and retain customers will compete to provide exceptional customer experiences that may make price and even product quality less relevant, according to a new survey. Some 53
Business > Merchant Voice
From Magento to WooCommerce, part 3

March 5, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

This is the third installment of a series in which I describe my decision to leave the Magento platform, and test WooCommerce. In “part 1,” I explained my disillusionment with ...
Business
7 Surprises When Adding Clicks to Bricks

March 3, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Adding an online store may help traditional retailers increase sales and, ultimately, grow and improve. But transitioning from brick and mortar to brick and click will not be without problems. There ...
Business > Merchant Voice
How to promote your ecommerce business

February 27, 2015 • Erica Tevis

During a recent discussion in a New Jersey wedding professionals networking group, a new member asked, “If you could promote your business through only one form of advertising, what would ...
Cross-border Selling
Ecommerce in Latin America: Challenges, Opportunities

February 26, 2015 • Marcia Kaplan

Latin America presents a paradox to ecommerce merchants. It contains a rapidly growing middle class eager for a larger selection of quality goods, but the region has unreliable shipping operations ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Launching my third website business in 15 years

February 25, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

The countdown has begun: I launch my Australian wedding decorations website, my third ecommerce venture in 15 years, in eight weeks. And like many online retailers who sell items with ...
Business
How to Combat a Shiny New Competitor

February 25, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Relative to leasing retail space, buying shelves, and investing in a store full of inventory, ecommerce offers a low barrier to entry. In fact, just about any entrepreneur with a ...
Business
Using KPIs to Measure Ecommerce Performance

February 24, 2015 • Mac McSwain

I am a CPA who provides accounting services to ecommerce merchants. Many merchants often focus exclusively on sales, profits, and bank balances to determine if their business is successful. But,
Business
Selling on Multiple Channels? Know Terms of Use

February 19, 2015 • Elizabeth Lewis

Any company that sells products online or markets online typically uses multiple channels — such as its own website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Etsy, and Amazon. However, most companies don’t understand the rights they are giving ...
Business > Merchant Voice
From Magento to WooCommerce, part 2

February 18, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

In “part 1” of this series, I addressed my desire to simplify our company’s ecommerce platform, to move away from Magento. I had decided to test WooCommerce, the WordPress plugin that is ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Drop Shipping: How to Manage Orders

February 17, 2015 • Jeremy Hanks

Drop shipping requires three major data integrations between the retailer and the supplier: product catalog, inventory, and orders. If you’re new to drop shipping, read my 4-part series on the ...
Payments
EMV Credit Cards, Part 2: Point-of-sale Devices, Alternatives

February 13, 2015 • Phil Hinke

This article is mostly for brick-and-mortar retailers, as the October 2015 rule changes, which I discussed in "Part 1," are specific to card-present merchants.
Business
Lessons Learned: Baking Site Says No to Shark Tank

February 11, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Many of the most successful online retailers sell products that solve problems. Daniel Rensing, who grew up in Levittown, N.Y., created a clever product that attracted press attention within 10 days ...
Business
When Ecommerce Warms Your Heart

February 6, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Young Leo Forrest’s story is both very sad and heartwarming. It is the sort of tale that moves you to want to help, to do what you can to make ...
Business
Apple Pay Adoption Continues; Looming Concerns?

February 4, 2015 • Gagan Mehra

Apple recently announced record-breaking sales for its 2014 fiscal year. Among the numbers for iPhones and iPads, the company also offered thoughts about the growth of Apple Pay, the mobile ...
Business
To Start an Ecommerce Business, Solve Problems

February 4, 2015 • Armando Roggio

There is a mantra of sorts in entrepreneurial circles that says “don’t simply start a business, solve a problem.” If you solve someone’s problem and create a must-have product or ...
B2B
How to Use SlideShare for B2B Ecommerce

February 3, 2015 • Paul Chaney

SlideShare, the presentation software platform, may be one of the most overlooked and underutilized tools for B2B ecommerce content marketing. There are several reasons to consider using SlideShare. The slideshow format ...
Business > Merchant Voice
‘Thinking time’ improves an ecommerce business

February 1, 2015 • David Sasson

“Thinking time” is underrated by leaders and managers of ecommerce companies. We operate in a fast-changing environment — competing both in technology and commerce. In this post, I will address ...
Business > Merchant Voice
From Magento to WooCommerce, part 1

January 30, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

Every three years I conduct a major review of my ecommerce sites. This is typically more than my annual review; everything is under consideration. In previous major reviews I have ...
Staffing
How to Hire an Ecommerce Consultant in 2015

January 26, 2015 • Armando Roggio

An ecommerce consultant can bring insights, information, and expertise that a small or mid-sized retail business doesn’t have. But hiring an ecommerce consultant can be relatively expensive, so you’ll want ...
Business
14 Questions Before You Launch an Ecommerce Site

January 23, 2015 • Armando Roggio

An Australian entrepreneur recently earned more than $20,000 in online sales in just four days, only to stop taking orders and sell the business. Ultimately, the shop made money, but ...
Business > Merchant Voice
The benefits of free product samples

January 22, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Whether you’ve been in business for years or you’re just launching a new website, sending samples of your products can grab the attention of shoppers. In this post, I’ll review ...
Business
Lessons Learned: Paddle Board Company Encounters Sharks, Success

January 21, 2015 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Imagine seeing a group of sharks. Would you lose your nerve? Stephan Aarstol nearly did. He had nothing to lose but rejection by pitching his business, Tower Paddle Boards, to the ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Drop Shipping: How to Manage Inventory Visibility

January 20, 2015 • Jeremy Hanks

If you’re new to drop shipping, read my 4-part series on the basics, for ecommerce. Drop shipping requires three major data integrations between the retailer and the supplier: product catalog, inventory,
Business
Steve Case on SMB Ecommerce; BigCommerce Investment

January 19, 2015 • Kerry Murdock

Steve Case, the co-founder of America Online, is by any measure an Internet visionary. His private equity firm, Revolution, invested, in 2013, $40 million in BigCommerce, a leading platform for ...
Local Business
Beacons to Help Physical Stores Combat Ecommerce

January 15, 2015 • Marcia Kaplan

Brick-and-mortar retailers have been hard at work trying to lure online shoppers, who often visit physical stores to see and touch products, and then make purchases online. I previously addressed this ...