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.
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Business
Pirated Software Rampant Among Personal Computer Users
September 18, 2008 • Michael A. Cox
To somebody who has never owned or made his living creating and licensing intellectual property, it may not be a big deal. Really, who is it going to hurt when someone downloads a piece of software without paying for it and uses it for personal gain? Or, what’s the harm when a kid down...
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Business
Profile: Credit Card Veterans Will Target Experienced Merchants
September 2, 2008 • Michael A. Cox
If you’ve got John Waldron and Sloane Bouchever in a three-way on the phone, the best strategy is try and stay out of the way and take copious notes – better yet turn on a recorder. When these two highly successful and motivated online business pros get to talking about merchants and cr...
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Business
Video Tutorial: Assessing Accessibility
August 26, 2008 • Brian Getting
There are a number of compelling reasons to make sure that your website is accessible to people with disabilities. In some cases meeting accessibility compliance standards is a legal obligation. However, in most cases (such as ecommerce merchants) it is just a good idea. Not only will...
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Business
Order Fulfillment: Keep It Simple And Beware Of All The Costs
August 21, 2008 • Maxim Mironov
I used to manage the fulfillment operations of a mid-size online retail company. We adopted the “Why” method to correct and eliminate fulfillment errors and complexities. That is, each time a new fulfillment glitch arose, we asked ourselves, “Why?” The “Why” method in practice Here’s ...
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Business
Video Tutorial: Batch Processing In Photoshop
August 20, 2008 • Brian Getting
Got a lot of product photos? Processing a large amount of images in Photoshop can take up a ton of time, and be an extremely boring task. Luckily, Photoshop provides a way to automate repetitive processing, which Practical eCommerce's Chief Architect Brian Getting illustrates in this v...
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Business
Sales Tax: Frequently Asked Questions
August 18, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
Sales tax is a confusing concept for ecommerce merchants, and many consider Internet sales to be a sales tax-free domain. However, this is not the case, and ignoring sales tax can have severe consequences for merchants from whom it is due. Unfortunately, many states have confusing and ...
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Business
Practical eCommerce Increases Digital Offerings, Drops Printed Magazine
August 15, 2008 • Kerry Murdock
Practical eCommerce is dropping its printed magazine to focus exclusively on the digital delivery of its editorial content. The company began in July 2005 with a mission to publish easy-to-follow articles and advice that help businesses succeed online. This editorial content was origin...
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Business
Quick Query: 1&1 CEO Oliver Mauss
August 13, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
1&1 Internet is among the world’s largest web hosts with 55,000 servers and 7.46 million customer contracts. Recently, the company surveyed 1,025 U.S. consumers about website communication and loyalty. We asked 1&1 CEO Oliver Mauss about the survey and what it means for small to...
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Business
Video: Overview of Practical eCommerce Podcasts
August 11, 2008 • Brian Getting
This explanation is for anyone interested in the audio podcast content of the revamped Practicalecommerce.com. Practical eCommerce features three unique podcasts: The eCommerce Minute, eCommerce Conversations and eCommerce Articles. With the redesign of the website came a dramatic cha...
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Business
Tutorial: Understanding Photoshop Layer Styles
August 4, 2008 • Brian Getting
Learning how to use Photoshop can be a very intimidating experience. In most cases, you have an idea of what you want to accomplish but you don't know how to use the available tools to get it done. In this video tutorial Practical eCommerce's Chief Architect Brian Getting provides a br...
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Business
Legal: The Top Ten Risks For Online Businesses
July 30, 2008 • John W. Dozier, Jr.
We are often posed a “simple question” by sophisticated clients. Sometimes it is a simple question with a simple answer. More often than not, though, it is not. Serious web businesses know that if you operate in the “white hat” arena, never take a chance, and never go into the unknown;...
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Business
SBA Financing for Ecommerce Firms
July 28, 2008 • Jennifer D. Meacham
Working into the evening, Sterling Savings banker Michael Williams wraps up another day of SBA lending in Portland, Ore.’s “Silicon Forrest.” As business development officer for Sterling Savings’ SBA division, Williams knows firsthand the issues faced by ecommerce sites looking for an S...
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Business
Research Domain Names Before You Bid
July 28, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
Chris Stump of Onlyhammocks.com launched his site in October with a solid search engine-marketing plan. “Our original plan was pay-per-click from the start and search engine optimization as a long-term strategy,” Stump said. He got right to work, purchasing the domain Onlyhammocks.com...
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Business
Enquisite’s Dan Robbins
July 28, 2008 • PEC Staff
Dan Robbins is Vice President of Marketing at Enquisite, a search analytics company that follows customers from search to conversion. He joins Practical eCommerce Publisher Kerry Murdock to discuss Enquisite ...
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Business
Shaun Ryan, CEO Of SLI Systems
July 22, 2008 • Kerry Murdock
SLI Systems CEO Shaun Ryan discusses site search and SLI’s hosted site search solution with Practical eCommerce Publisher Kerry Murdock.
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Business
Field Test: Order Management Software
July 11, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
In Field Test, Practical eCommerce has gathered twelve seasoned ecommerce merchants and asked each of them the same questions around a given topic. This month’s topic is order management software. The participating ecommerce merchants are: Dave Norris, House of Antique Hardware; Justin...
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Business
Dr. J’s Pet Project
July 11, 2008 • Michael A. Cox
To be honest, it was a little embarrassing to be the daughter of an entrepreneur who was trying to start up a mail order livestock supply business back in 1975. Ruth Jeffers was a little girl when her dad, Dr. Keith Jeffers, decided to provide a higher level of service to his cattle cl...
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Business
Practical eCommerce Blogger Wins eBay Hall of Fame Award
July 11, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
eBay expert and Practical eCommerce blogger Danna Crawford was out fishing with her daughters on her birthday, May 13. After a long day with no successful catches, the three went home tired and sunburned to find that Crawford was one of five eBay users to net two of eBay’s most prestigi...
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Business
ICANN Exec On The new Top-level Domains
July 11, 2008 • PEC Staff
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Name and Numbers, or ICANN, coordinates the domain name system globally. These tasks involve ensuring the domain name system functions properly and that individuals and companies can easily obtain and use domain names for their lawful purposes. Rec...
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Business
Keirsun Scott, Social Media Director For OneUpWeb
June 25, 2008 • PEC Staff
Keirsun Scott is Social Media Director for OneUpWeb, an online marketing consulting company. He joins Practical eCommerce Publisher Kerry Murdock to discuss the benefits of social media for ecommerce merchants,
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Business
Amit Das Discusses Virtual eCommerce Trade Show
June 19, 2008 • PEC Staff
Amit Das, Managing Director for the U.S. division of Worldwide Business Research, speaks with Practical eCommerce Publisher Kerry Murdock about the upcoming virtual ecommerce trade show, eTailXpo.
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Business
Bloglist: Steve Delgado With Arial Software
June 17, 2008 • PEC Staff
Name: Steve Delgado, Marketing Director Company: Arial Software In Bloglist, we ask ecommerce professionals to identify their favorite blogs. For this installment, we asked Steve Delgado, Marketing Director of Arial Software, a company that produces email marketing software and solu...
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Business
Freelance Journalist, Jim Rue, Discusses The Annual Book Expo
June 12, 2008 • PEC Staff
Jim Rue is a freelance and technology journalists, and recently attended the Annual Book Expo. He speaks with Practical eCommerce Publisher, Kerry Murdock, about the migration of content delivery to ...
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Business
Recovering Damages From Thieves, Crooks and Scofflaws
June 9, 2008 • John W. Dozier, Jr.
It seems not a day passes that Dozier Internet Law is not asked how to pursue someone who is using a replica website to “compete,” is stealing traffic through trademark infringement, is publishing outrageously false information online, or is undertaking sinister, threatening conduct aga...
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Business
Jody Hartwig Of Netconcepts On Microsoft’s Live Search Cashback
June 5, 2008 • PEC Staff
Jody Hartwig is the Vice President of eBusiness at Netconcepts, a company specializing in natural search marketing and ecommerce. She joins Practical eCommerce Publisher Kerry Murdock to discuss Microsoft’s new ...
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Business
Shopping Carts: The Umpteenth Time’s The Charm
May 28, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
Name: Chris “Cartel” English Title: Director of Online Sales Companies: HipHopNow, PetsRight, Ramco Worldwide URLs: Petsright.com (under construction), Ramcoworldwide.com Used Miva Script at first “I originally had a hosting account with SimpleNet before Yahoo! purchased it, and Sim...
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Business
Exporting Requires Formal Agreements
May 28, 2008 • Hal Selim
When considering exporting to foreign markets, you must protect yourself legally. It is crucial that your business relationship with the foreign entity representing you is documented in an agreement. Furthermore, you must also take the appropriate steps to protect your intellectual asse...
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Business
Field Test: Shopping Carts, Part Two Of Three
May 27, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
In Field Test, Practical eCommerce has gathered twelve seasoned ecommerce merchants and asked each of them the same questions around a given topic. This month's topic is shopping carts. The participating ecommerce merchants are: Dave Norris, House of Antique Hardware; Justin Hertz, Mut...
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Business
Field Test: Shopping Carts, Part One Of Three
May 21, 2008 • Brendan Gibbons
In Field Test, Practical eCommerce has gathered twelve seasoned ecommerce merchants and asked each of them the same questions around a given topic. This month's topic is shopping carts. The participating ecommerce merchants are: Dave Norris, House of Antique Hardware; Justin Hertz, Mut...
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Business
Lessons Learned: Scanpancookware.com Owner Allan Regenbaum
May 12, 2008 • PEC Staff
"Lessons Learned" is an occasional series where we ask seasoned ecommerce professionals about their mistakes and successes. For this installment, we've asked Allan Regenbaum, owner of Keylan, Inc., a company that sells cookware, coffee machines and fitness products online. Keylan, Inc. ...