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.

Payments
Credit Card Provider Sued for ‘Deceptive’ Tactics

February 13, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Heartland Payment Systems, one of the largest credit card providers in the U.S., stated in a press release that it has filed a federal lawsuit against Mercury Payment Systems, also ...
Business
How to sell your ecommerce business for a high valuation

February 13, 2014 • Manish Shah

I just finished reading Built to Sell, a book by John Warrillow that describes a fictional business owner who is struggling to sell his company. The cover of the book ...
B2B
4 Keys for Effective B-to-B Ecommerce

February 11, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Business-to-business ecommerce describes Internet-enabled transactions between businesses, such as a manufacturer and a wholesaler, a wholesaler and a retailers, or a wholesaler and a business user. The B-to-B ecommerce market ...
Finance
Amazon 2013 Financial Results Signal Changes in 2014

February 11, 2014 • Marcia Kaplan

After a few dismal quarters, Amazon turned a profit in the pivotal fourth quarter of 2013 and for the full fiscal year, despite losses in the second and third quarters.
B2B
B-to-B Ecommerce: Big Opportunity, with Obstacles

February 10, 2014 • Dale Traxler

Business-to-business merchants face ecommerce challenges that are different from their business-to-consumer counterparts. This has slowed the entry into ecommerce for many B-to-B manufacturers and distributors. Forrester Research projected 2013 B-to-B ecommerce ...
Business
Lessons Learned: Forced Time Off Sews a Passion

February 5, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Having multiple sclerosis-like symptoms became a blessing for Shelley Mitchell. Born in Taiwan, she relocated to Melbourne, Australia with her meteorologist father and music-teacher mother when she was 13. Her grandmother had ...
Business
5 Niches for a New Ecommerce Business

February 5, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Starting an online retail business begins with knowing what products to sell. Entrepreneurs have many reasons for starting an ecommerce business. For some, they have a passion for a particular product,
Amazon & Marketplaces > Merchant Voice
Does 2014 mark the beginning of the end for Amazon?

January 31, 2014 • Richard Stubbings

Probably not, but it is certainly going to be a difficult year for Amazon in Europe. Legislation in Europe is significantly different than in the U.S, in two major ways,
Business
January 2014 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

January 30, 2014 • PEC Staff

Each month we compile a list of the ten most popular articles we published that month, based on the number of page views. Here are our ten most popular articles ...
Business > Merchant Voice
The formula to online success, from ‘Lessons Learned’ merchants

January 29, 2014 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Since March 2012, I’ve been writing the monthly “Lessons Learned” column, which has profiled online merchants selling products ranging from remedies for intestinal problems (“Trusting your Gut to Online Success”)
Business
7 (simple, free) things to boost conversions

January 27, 2014 • Jordan Lindberg

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle Make it a 2014 strategic goal of your company to increase your web store’s conversion rate. Even a small increase in ...
Business
Ecommerce vs. Commerce: What’s the Difference?

January 23, 2014 • Dale Traxler

I assume you are reading this because you sell products online — either in your own online store or through marketplaces. Here’s a question. When someone asks what business you ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Please start shipping internationally

January 17, 2014 • Jamie Salvatori

Our international orders represent approximately 15 to 20 percent of our total sales. That’s huge. We achieved this level of success through a variety of simple tactics, which I’ll outline ...
Inventory > Merchant Voice
Trials and tribulations of inventory management

January 15, 2014 • David Sasson

Holding inventory can be an advantage and a disadvantage. It can be both a competitive edge and an incredible headache. Some retailers choose to only drop ship and others sell ...
Payments
$6 Billion Visa, MasterCard Settlement Final; How to Claim

January 15, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit between merchants (as plaintiffs) and Visa, MasterCard and other defendants. The case ...
Business
Finding Business Motivation in Industry Leaders

January 10, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Starting and running a business can require a level of commitment that few people understand or experience. Entrepreneurs may find the motivation needed for all of that commitment in the ...
Business
Utilizing ‘Voice of the Customer’ for Competitive Advantage

January 9, 2014 • Marcia Kaplan

In the extremely competitive retail environment, merchants are always looking for a competitive advantage. If you haven’t considered using “Voice of the Customer” (VoC) feedback, you may want to give ...
Business
6 Tips to Beat the Afternoon Slump

January 8, 2014 • Jerry Jao

Fatigue or lack of enthusiasm in the afternoon is a common problem for many office workers. Those of us running Internet businesses are especially susceptible because most of our activities ...
Business
Reviewing Ecommerce KPIs for the New Year

January 7, 2014 • Dale Traxler

The holidays are over. Your business is returning to normal. As you start a new year, review your business’s performance in 2013. Once you’ve completed your review, create a plan ...
Local Business > Merchant Voice
Ecommerce expanding into brick-and-mortar

January 6, 2014 • Richard Stubbings

When I first started in ecommerce, it was as a way of expanding my brick-and-mortar business as a second sales channel. I was not the only one. It seemed to ...
Business
Ecommerce Marketplace Opportunities for 2014

January 3, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay allow Internet retailers to present products, market, and sell to potential customers that may have otherwise been difficult to acquire. In 2014, there many ...
Business
Big Data’s Impact on 2013 Holiday Sales

January 2, 2014 • Gagan Mehra

The holiday season has ended and the analysis has begun to understand what worked and what did not for ecommerce merchants. Cyber Monday became the biggest online shopping day in ...
Business
5 Keys to Mobile Ecommerce Optimization in 2014

January 2, 2014 • Armando Roggio

Web traffic estimates from several trend analysis firms, including comScore, predict that mobile Internet traffic will outpace traffic from desktop or large laptop devices in 2014, further demonstrating just how ...
Business
2013 Top 25: Our Most Popular Posts of the Year

December 27, 2013 • PEC Staff

As 2013 draws to a close, we’ve compiled a list of the 25 most popular Practical Ecommerce articles of the year, based on the number of page views. Popular subjects included ...
Payments
3 Examples of Misleading Credit Card Processing Charges

December 20, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part series. The first installment, “Feds Eyeing Credit Card Processing Industry?,” we published last month. In “Feds Eyeing Credit Card Processing Industry?,” part ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
4 Tips for Better Ecommerce Returns and Exchanges

December 19, 2013 • Armando Roggio

More than 60 percent of online shoppers returned or exchanged at least one item in 2013, up from about 51 percent in 2012. Importantly, about 95 percent of customers will ...
Business
5 Ecommerce Challenges for 2014

December 18, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Many ecommerce merchants are enjoying a robust holiday selling season even as some brick-and-mortar stores are seeing relatively flat Christmas sales. To ensure continued growth and success, Internet retailers may ...
Business
5 Tips for Managing Freelance Contractors

December 17, 2013 • Jerry Jao

Outsourcing non-core or seasonal tasks can allow you to focus on essential duties. It can also be a wise financial decision because hiring freelancers doesn’t come with full-time expenses such ...
Payments
10 Bitcoin-like Cryptocurrencies

December 16, 2013 • Sig Ueland

A “cryptocurrency” is a peer-to-peer, decentralized, digital currency. In 2009, Bitcoin became the first cryptocurrency to trade on third-party markets. Since then, many cryptocurrencies have been developed and are actively ...
Business
Lessons Learned: Fashionable Maternity Wear Sells

December 13, 2013 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Like most working women yet to become mothers, Tania Tan was blissfully unaware how unfashionable and expensive maternity clothing could be. Tan was raised in Sydney, Australia by her Chinese father ...