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
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Business > 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 ...
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 ...
Business > 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 ...
Business > 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Business > 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 ...
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,
Business > 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 ...
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,
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 ...
Business > 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 ...
Business > 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Payments
American Express OptBlue: Understanding Processing Rates

August 18, 2014 • Phil Hinke

In “American Express OptBlue Program May Reduce Processing Cost,” my article last month, I explained American Express’s new program called OptBlue. This program should lower the American Express processing cost ...
Business
Collecting Data Responsibly from Ecommerce Shoppers

August 18, 2014 • Jerry Jao

Collecting data from customers requires sensitivity. While analyzing that data largely involves using calculations and algorithms to spot trends and generate insights, retailers that do it also need to be ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Drop Shipping for Ecommerce, Part 2: The Basics

August 15, 2014 • Jeremy Hanks

My article last month, “Drop Shipping for Ecommerce, Part 1: Supply Chain History,” was the first in a series about drop shipping as an ecommerce supply management technique. What Is Drop ...
Business > Merchant Voice
13 tips for launching a new ecommerce business

August 14, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

If you’re planning to launch a new ecommerce business, you need to think ahead, save money, and make it profitable as soon as possible. I’ve launched two ecommerce sites, and I’ll ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
ShopRunner Joins Forces with Alibaba to Sell in China

August 14, 2014 • Marcia Kaplan

When I last wrote about ShopRunner two years ago, the company’s main marketing pitch was its free two-day shipping and free returns with a $79 annual membership or an $8.95
Business
Google’s Domain Registration Service Can Help Small Businesses

August 12, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Only about 45 percent of small businesses have a website. Those businesses without a website aren’t attracting customers online and may be stifling their own growth. In response, the leading ...
Business
Could These 5 Technologies Change Ecommerce?

August 11, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Five emerging technologies could change ecommerce in just the next few years, giving shoppers new access to products and the ability to customize some items for their particular needs. Mobile computing,
Finance
Berkery Noyes Exec on State of Ecommerce Mergers, Acquisitions

August 8, 2014 • PEC Staff

Every day, it seems, we read of an Internet-based company acquiring another one, or raising capital, or expanding into a new segment. Mergers and acquisitions for Internet companies are booming.