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
The End of Third-party Cookies Should Not Hurt Retailers

October 16, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Changes to some of the world’s most popular web browsers may impact how advertising networks and cross-site analytics tools monitor consumer behavior online. Although the changes could affect some marketing ...
Payments
Credit Card Processing: October 2013 Rate Changes, EMV Terminals

October 15, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Now is a good time for merchants to start noting how their provider is handling card company fee changes as well as any future rate and fee changes, especially if ...
Business
Roundup of Privacy Initiatives, Effect on Ecommerce Merchants

October 14, 2013 • Gagan Mehra

There has been much activity in the privacy space in the last few months, including changes that could impact how consumers shop and how retailers collaborate with their business partners.
Business
A Matter of Trust (Part 2)

October 11, 2013 • Jordan Lindberg

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” – Stephen R. Covey. Last month I shared seven ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
5 Ways to Save Money on Retail Shipping

October 10, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Free or low-cost shipping is a mainstay in the online retail business. It motivates shoppers to buy more. But carriers like UPS, FedEx, and even the United States Postal Service ...
Finance
Amazon’s Loss Leader Strategy Results in No Profits

October 10, 2013 • Marcia Kaplan

For the first time in many years Amazon posted a loss in two of the last four quarters. The second quarter loss occurred despite a revenue increase of 22 percent ...
Business
SEO Changes Force Merchants to Diversify Traffic

October 9, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The days when your online store received 80 percent of its traffic from organic search on Google are over. Here’s why: More shoppers start their shopping process on Amazon, not Google; Google ...
Payments
MasterCard Defines 5 Online Shopping Personas

October 8, 2013 • Armando Roggio

MasterCard, the payment industry leader, has defined five online shopper personas that defy traditional demographic boundaries and give online retailers a fresh way of looking at online marketing, personalization, and ...
Business
6 Timesaving Automation Tools for Ecommerce Merchants

October 4, 2013 • Jerry Jao

Lack of time is common among business owners. Between sales, marketing, customer service, accounting, and everything else, it’s no surprise that many entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed. The good news is there is ...
Business
Many Ecommerce Options for Brand Manufacturers

October 3, 2013 • Dale Traxler

There may never be a better time to be a manufacturer or private-label brand. As recently as 10 years ago, if you created your own brand of products, you likely ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Magento 1.8 Is Here: Upgrade or Not?

October 2, 2013 • Richard Stubbings

Magento 1.8 has finally been released. When Magento first came out, releases were frequent. But this time it has been over a year since 1.7 came out. It was beginning ...
Business
How to Determine When to Sell Your Ecommerce Business

September 30, 2013 • Manish Shah

It’s easy to forget now, but Michael Dell was the Mark Zuckerberg of his day. Hailed as a young genius, he created the inexpensive, made-to-order personal computer in his University of ...
Business
September 2013 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

September 30, 2013 • PEC Staff

Each month we compile a list of the 10 most popular articles we published that month, based on the number of page views. Here are our ten most popular articles ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Alibaba User Experience Director on Design, Usability

September 27, 2013 • PEC Staff

The appearance and functionality of an ecommerce site affects its sales. Is the site attractive? Is it easy to navigate? Do core functions work? Is it fast? Does it render ...
Business
U.S. Proposes ADA Compliance for Public Websites

September 24, 2013 • Marcia Kaplan

When Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the public Internet did not exist. Over the past 23 years, making the Internet accessible to those with disabilities ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Adding a wedding category could produce extra sales — and headaches

September 23, 2013 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

You may think you can’t tap into the wedding market if you don’t sell venues, honeymoons, caterers, dresses, hair and make-up, invitations, flowers, cars, jewelry, cake, nor entertainment. However, there could ...
Business
Robust User Experience May Unlock Mobile Commerce

September 20, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Online sales from mobile devices are expected to exceed $41 billion in the United States this year, representing a significant opportunity for online sellers who are able to provide a ...
Business > Merchant Voice
Sell banner advertising? Yeah. Sell banner advertising.

September 19, 2013 • Jamie Salvatori

You should sell ads on your e-commerce site. I’ve yet to find evidence that putting banner advertising on your e-commerce site to be a bad thing. I know it sounds counter ...
Payments
Avoid No-detail Credit Card Processing Statements

September 19, 2013 • Phil Hinke

I have addressed the importance of understanding credit card processing statements in previous articles. However, I’ve recently seen statements with little or minimal detail that make it virtually impossible to ...
Business
Lessons Learned: Specialist ID Identifies a Niche

September 19, 2013 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

Bartenders frequently ask young patrons to prove they’re over 21 to obtain liquor service. But there’s probably only one ex-bartender who has created a million-dollar business out of legitimate photo ...
Business
Top 5 Mistakes Ecommerce Owners Make When Selling their Businesses

September 12, 2013 • Manish Shah

Recently I stumbled upon an article on Entrepreneur.com titled “10 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Business.” I found myself relating to five of them, from my own experiences brokering ...
Local Business
Reverse Showrooming: Pinterest Helps Brick-and-mortar Retailers

September 12, 2013 • Marcia Kaplan

When consumers began using the sophisticated features of their smartphones to do price comparisons and make online purchases while browsing the aisles of stores, panic set in among brick-and-mortar retailers.
Inventory
7 Tips for Good Supplier Relationships

September 11, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Good supplier relationships may lead to favorable prices, generous terms, improved availability, and even the occasional buyback. With these sorts of opportunities at stake, it can be very important for ...
Business
A Matter of Trust (Part 1)

September 10, 2013 • Jordan Lindberg

“I believe fundamental honesty is the keystone of business.” – Harvey S. Firestone. Years ago I had the good fortune to be able to take a two-day seminar in Chicago on ...
Business
Managing the Gross Margin of your Ecommerce Business

September 10, 2013 • Dale Traxler

The gross margin calculation of sales minus cost of goods sold is a fundamental key performance indicator of any business that sells products. It measures the profit generated from each ...
Fraud Prevention
Apple Fingerprint Scanner May Boost Mobile Commerce

September 9, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Next generation smartphones or tablets equipped with fingerprint scanners may provide shoppers with greater security and boost both online and in-store mobile commerce. Leading mobile device makers Apple and Samsung are ...
Amazon & Marketplaces
Alibaba Attorney on Intellectual Property Theft

September 5, 2013 • PEC Staff

Most every ecommerce company owns intellectual property — photos, product descriptions, logos, brand names, designs. Many online companies have experienced the theft of their intellectual property from other websites, often ...
Cross-border Selling
6 Tips for Selling on Marketplaces this Holiday Season

September 5, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Marketplaces like eBay, Rakuten, and Amazon attract millions of eager shoppers during the holiday season. Online retailers, even small ones, can post products to these marketplaces and earn many additional ...
Business
The Commerce EvRolution, Part 3: Smaller Merchants

September 4, 2013 • Dale Traxler

Editor’s note: This is “Part 3″ of a three-part series on how the mobile revolution is affecting ecommerce. “Part 1: Shopping Trends” and “Part 2: Channel Trends” we published previously. In ...
Business
‘Ecom Hell’ Author on Starting an Ecommerce Business

September 4, 2013 • PEC Staff

For prospective merchants that think starting an ecommerce business is easy, Shirley Tan disagrees. She has the experience to disagree, having founded her first ecommerce site in the 1990s, which ...