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
Bloglist: Sean Schofield, Creator of Spree Ecommerce

November 19, 2009 • PEC Staff

"Bloglist" is an occasional feature where we ask ecommerce professionals the blogs that they read and why. For this installment, we asked Sean Schofield, the creator of the Spree open-source ecommerce platform and a Practical Ecommerce blogger.
Payments
When a Shopping Cart is Not PCI Compliant: Three Options for Merchants

November 19, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

Earlier this week, Practical eCommerce shared three important questions to ask about your shopping cart. Today, as part of our ongoing PCI compliance series, I’ll take a look at options for ecommerce merchants currently using a shopping cart that is not PA-DSS (payment application data...
Payments
PCI Compliance: Three Important Questions to Ask About Your Shopping Cart

November 17, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

There are a number of matters an ecommerce business must address to become PCI compliant. For one, an online merchant’s shopping cart must be certified via the PCI's PA-DSS process. A merchant's web hosting environment and payment gateway have to be secure. And a merchant’s own inter...
Business
Quick Query: Shopping Cart Developer on PCI Compliance

November 16, 2009 • PEC Staff

Editor’s note: Payment Card Industry compliance is a requirement for ecommerce merchants. In an email to Practical eCommerce, PCI Security Standards Council General Manager Bob Russo stated, “All businesses that accept credit card data must be compliant with the DSS (Data Security Sta...
Business
The PeC Review: Onehub Enables Virtual Collaboration

November 13, 2009 • Armando Roggio

As an online merchant’s business grows, it is important to add new staff that will manage such things as operations, fulfillment, marketing, design, and customer service. But adding staff and growing an ecommerce business does not necessarily mean leasing office space and hiring locally...
Business
Lessons Learned: Micheline Hellwege of The Collector’s Hub

November 11, 2009 • Kate Monteith

"Lessons Learned" is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed Micheline Hellwege, owner of The Collector's Hub, an online store based in Howell, Mich. The Collector's Hub sells collectibles, figurines and...
Business
Merchant Talk: Cynthia Snyder of YonderStar.com

November 9, 2009 • PEC Staff

Merchant Talk is a weekly discussion with an actual ecommerce merchant. The new Practical eCommerce segment gives small, online business owners an opportunity to hear from their peers in the ecommerce space. For this inaugural Merchant Talk we spoke with Cynthia Snyder, owner of YonderS...
Business
Lessons Learned: Will Seippel of GoAntiques

November 5, 2009 • Ankush Agarwal

"Lessons Learned" is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed William (Will) Seippel, CEO and chairman of WorthPoint, the parent company of GoAntiques, a subscription-based information service for antique...
Business
Quick Query: NearbyNow Retools for the Recession

November 4, 2009 • PEC Staff

Running a business is challenging in the best of economic climates, but during a recession it can be especially trying. Scott Dunlap, CEO of NearbyNow, understands that. NearbyNow was founded in 2005 to simplify shopping for consumers who browse online but buy in physical stores. The...
Business
Lessons Learned: Lori Karmel of We Take The Cake

October 29, 2009 • Ankush Agarwal

"Lessons Learned" is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed Lori Karmel, owner of We Take The Cake, a bakery located in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. We Take The Cake's gourmet creations have been featured on F...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Fulfillment: Guidelines for Outsourcing

October 27, 2009 • John Lindberg

As the owner of a fulfillment company, I’ve gathered a number of tips and discovered an assortment of traps over the years. If you’re thinking about outsourcing your warehousing, shipping, and returns processing, let me suggest that you follow these guidelines. They will help you find a...
Amazon & Marketplaces
PeC Review: Sellit Makes Marketplaces Social

October 23, 2009 • Armando Roggio

A new "self-promotion" tool lets merchants selling on Yahoo!, CafePress, Etsy, or Cartfly promote their products on leading social media sites, access a social media advertising network, and post a Flash-based widget on their blog or other sites. Sellit is a "bolt-on" solution that pr...
Business
Ecommerce Know-How: Sole Proprietorship, S Corporation or LLC?

October 22, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

Launching an ecommerce business can be confusing. An entrepreneur must choose a shopping cart and find sources for inventory. And, there are questions regarding accounting, liability, and filing regulatory documents. Those questions can create enough confusion to halt the journey befor...
Business
Lessons Learned: Enstrom Candies Co-owner Jamee Simons

October 22, 2009 • Ankush Agarwal

“Lessons Learned” is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed Jamee Simons, co-owner of Enstrom Candies Inc., a ...
Business
Yahoo! Reports Third Quarter Earnings, Proclaims “Economy Starting to Loosen Up”

October 21, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

Yahoo! Inc. reported third quarter earnings yesterday that beat Wall Street expectations but didn’t put to rest lingering questions about the health of the display advertising market, which generates a large portion of Yahoo!’s revenue. Reliance on Display Ads Yahoo! reported revenue ...
Business
Quick Query: Attorney Explains New FTC Blogging Guidelines

October 20, 2009 • PEC Staff

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has updated its rules concerning endorsements and testimonials in advertising. Beginning December 1st, the FTC will require bloggers and other reviewers to disclose any payments or free products they receive from advertisers. Julie O'Neill, with the W...
Business
Paid Reviews Subject to Fines Under New FTC Rule

October 13, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

The recently announced changes to the Federal Trade Commission’s "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising" are prompting ecommerce merchants to take a closer look at how they advertise and interact with bloggers and reviewers. The changes address endor...
Business
DHGate.com Sources China-made Products

October 12, 2009 • PEC Staff

DHGate.com is an online marketplace of wholesale products from China. The company is located in Beijing and Diane Wang is its founder and CEO. Prior to launching DHGate, she ...
Business
Newegg.com: Common Stock Filing Reveals Fast Growing, Profitable Firm

October 8, 2009 • Kerry Murdock

Newegg.com, the electronics retailer, intends to raise some $175 million through the initial public sale of its common stock. The company filed registration documents with the U. S.
Business > Merchant Voice
Goal Setting with our Teams

October 7, 2009 • Ken Kikkawa

As merchants, entrepreneurs and business drivers we all wear various hats during the course of the day, week or month that sometimes are not part of any job description. One of my principle responsibilities is to set the overall direction and strategy for our company, both long term an...
Business
Lessons Learned: Allstate Sign Plaque Owner Relies on SEO

September 29, 2009 • Brendan Gibbons

“Lessons Learned” is an occasional series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we asked Mark Fick, owner of Allstate Sign ...
Business
Profile: Michigan-based Entrepreneur Reinvents for the eCommerce Age

September 24, 2009 • Brendan Gibbons

John Lindberg, president of eFulfillment Service, is no stranger to change. In 1969, Lindberg founded LPI Corporation in western Michigan, specializing in powder coating of metals used in cars ...
Business
Quick Query: Faculte.com CEO on Self-serve Video Tools

September 22, 2009 • PEC Staff

Online shoppers are increasingly looking for video to demonstrate a product or explain its use. But for many ecommerce merchants, producing, embedding, and playing video is a complicated, confusing process. There is a company called Faculte (pronounced fak-uhl-tee) that provides all of ...
Payments
Cross-Border Affiliate Payments: Banks, PayPal and Payoneer

September 18, 2009 • Michael E. Shatz

Affiliate marketing is one of the pillars of modern ecommerce. Hundreds of independent networks, such as buy.at, MediaWhiz, Convert2Media and Media Shakers, connect affiliates with merchants, which drives traffic to the merchant sites and earns referral fees for the affiliates. But, act...
Payments
The PeC Review: Braintree Payment Solutions Protects Merchants and Customers

September 17, 2009 • Armando Roggio

Without a safe, reliable means of processing payments, there would be no ecommerce. So it is not a surprise that managing payments and securing credit card and customer information is a major concern for online retailers. Braintree Payment Solutions offers merchants a complete electron...
Business
Lessons Learned: Atamaii.com Founder Finds Success Selling Anime Toys

September 17, 2009 • John W. Dawe

Two tours as a Navy officer in Japan introduced Stu Carter to website development and the anime toy market. In 1999, he took his combined experiences and launched the online toy store Atamaii.com. In 2008, the company's revenue peaked at $350,000, and 2009 revenue is expected to be arou...
Business
Quick Query: comScore Official on Tracking Internet Activity

September 16, 2009 • PEC Staff

In the field of tracking and reporting on Internet activity, there's no more prominent name than comScore. It was founded in 1999 to track and report on ecommerce activity and, now, comScore has diversified to track online advertising, socializing, searching, and much more. It's also a ...
Business
Quick Query: eHobbies CEO Kikkawa Offers Holiday-selling Ideas

September 14, 2009 • PEC Staff

There’s no more innovative ecommerce company than eHobbies.com. Founded in 1999, it has grown to become a leader, if not the leader, in its field of hobby and toy retailing. Ken Kikkawa is the CEO of eHobbies.com. He also writes "The (eCommerce) Corner Office" blog at Practical eCommerc...
Business
Lessons Learned: William Villiers of Select Wallpaper

September 9, 2009 • John W. Dawe

Lessons Learned is a biweekly series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment we interviewed William Villiers of Select Wallpaper, an online ...
Cross-border Selling
The PeC Review: i-BEAK Offers First Rate Translation and Cultural Services

September 9, 2009 • Armando Roggio

One of the great promises of the Internet is that it brings together buyers and sellers from around the world. But, that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone can communicate. Ecommerce marketers who want to sell their products or services worldwide should therefore consider translati...