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
Daddiesboardshop.com Wins Site Review

May 30, 2007 • PEC Staff

Melanie Loveland and her son Dan built a business together around a mutual passion — snowboarding. What started as a small, brick-and-mortar store in Portland, Ore., has evolved into a full-fledged multichannel merchant. It was a process the owners didn't foresee when the business start...
Business
If Your “Baby Is Ugly,” Fix It

May 29, 2007 • Michael A. Cox

You know those little spur-of-the-moment, do-it-on-a dare things that occasionally bring about permanent change? Something like that happened to Shirley Tan. There she was in her third year at Golden Gate College in San Francisco, at work on a degree in international business. A friend...
Business
The Entrepreneur, The Optimist

May 16, 2007 • PEC Staff

Patrick Coughlin is experiencing firsthand the same challenges many online entrepreneurs face: It's hard to build a successful online business. Coughlin has owned a successful brick-and-mortar jewelry store in St. Clair, Mich., for 15 years. That business had grown to fill a 3,000-squa...
Business
Ebiz Start-up: Selling Online Is Hard Work

May 16, 2007 • PEC Staff

Seven months into the operation of his new ecommerce store, Pat Coughlin's goal of reaching $1 million in sales is nowhere in sight — but that hasn't curbed his enthusiasm for the online venture. Coughlin, longtime owner of a successful jewelry store in St. Clair, Mich., won an eBay ...
Business
Toolking.com: From eBay To A $31M Empire

May 9, 2007 • Michael A. Cox

If you order pliers from Toolking.com, you really can't just order pliers. You need to know what kind. Do you want locking pliers? Needle nose pliers? Tongue-and-groove pliers, slip-joint pliers, linesman's pliers, diagonal cutting pliers, electrician's pliers, hose clamp pliers, super-...
Business
Video Tutorial: Choosing the Right Image Format

May 2, 2007 • Brian Getting

Choosing the right image format for publishing images on the web can be tricky. After all, you don't want to spend hours and hours cleaning up a product image and making it look irresistible to your customers, only to have it distorted and ruined when you save it in a web format.
Staffing
When Is It Time To Hire A Call Center?

April 30, 2007 • PEC Staff

More business is a good thing, but it creates challenges: A backlog of tasks, costly space and equipment demands and, frequently, a phone that won’t stop ringing. Many ecommerce business owners turn to customer call centers for help. That was the case for Revival Animal Health of Orang...
Business
Legal: Your Domain Is At Risk

April 23, 2007 • John W. Dozier, Jr.

The lawyers at my firm represent registrars. We also represent domain name owners. And we sometimes represent domain name thieves (yes, everyone is entitled to an attorney). Here is an insider's perspective on the new dynamics at play in domain name cybersquatting. Most domain owners t...
Business
Can Product Recommendations Help You?

April 16, 2007 • PEC Staff

Most people prefer to get an opinion before purchasing a product — and if that opinion is from a current user, all the better. This desire to make informed buying decisions has given rise to product recommendation networks, such as Thisnext.com, which allow consumers to express opinions...
Business
Crash Course on Pay-Per-Click Arbitrage

April 11, 2007 • PEC Staff

If you've spent any time on pay-per-click (PPC) forums or in the blogosphere, you've probably heard about PPC arbitrage — the ill-reputed practice that drives bid prices up and makes life more difficult for advertisers. So, what exactly is it, and how can it affect you as an advertiser?...
Business
Yahoo! Panama: So Far, So Good

April 11, 2007 • PEC Staff

Yahoo!'s new paid-search advertising platform is performing well for advertisers. That's according to executives with three companies that have used the new system, known informally as Panama, since its inception earlier this year. Leigh Vosler is paid placement marketing manager with ...
Business
PPC, Copywriting, Product Images

April 9, 2007 • PEC Staff

When jeweler Pat Coughlin decided to expand his brick-and-mortar business to include an ecommerce store, he set an ambitious goal to generate $1 million in online sales in the first 12 months. To pull off that feat, he hired six staff members to lead critical parts of the new endeavor. ...
Business
Self-service Shouldn’t Replace Customer Service

April 9, 2007 • PEC Staff

Customers are satisfied with their ecommerce experiences and in many cases seem to prefer online buying to brick-and-mortar shopping trips. That's what recent studies show — but it doesn't mean virtual merchants should allow complacency to take hold. The web is experiencing unprecedent...
Business
Selling Your Ecommerce Business

April 2, 2007 • PEC Staff

To web entrepreneurs who contemplate selling their online businesses, experts issue a single warning: Get your financial house in order. Online endeavors are frequently launched by people who have a great idea, a great passion or a distinctive skill set, but who often lack traditional ...
Business
Bloglist: From SEO to Self Development

April 2, 2007 • PEC Staff

In Bloglist, we ask ecommerce professionals to identify their favorite blogs. For this installment, we’ve asked Yaro Starak, with Entrepreneur’s Journey. Name: Yaro Starak, web entrepreneur Company: Entrepreneur's Journey JohnChow.com This is a relatively new and prolific blogger....
Business
Protecting Your Trademark From Web Thieves

April 2, 2007 • John W. Dozier, Jr.

How valuable is your business or product name? Most small and mid-size businesses aren’t aware of the value of protecting trademarks. When the focus is on making payroll, monitoring sales, providing quality customer service and reaching financial projections, it might not seem like a to...
Shipping & Fulfillment
Shipping Charges: Compromises Required

March 28, 2007 • Pamela Hazelton

You would think online stores would have found it easier by now to calculate and charge accurate shipping fees, let alone set up uninterrupted checkout processes that flow smoothly. Yet I see more and more questions and requests for customizations and fixes than ever before. What makes...
Business
Diagnosing Site Performance Delays

March 26, 2007 • Brian Getting

When your site begins to experience performance drains, which usually show up as slow-loading web pages, the problem's diagnosis can be more challenging than its solution. The first thing developers should examine is the nature of the website. Is the site a static HTML website, or does...
Business
Seven Insurance Issues For Merchants

March 26, 2007 • PEC Staff

When an ecommerce business begins to grow, new risks mount and site owners should examine insurance options. Finding an insurance agent who understands the challenges of online business has been tough for many e-business owners. Only recently have insurance options become available. On...
Business
Digital Assets: What Are They, And How Are They Sold?

March 20, 2007 • PEC Staff

Digital assets, often called digital content, are products that can be consumed via an electronic handheld device or used online. The forms digital assets take vary greatly. Digital content might be auditory, such as a song (Apple's iTunes) or ring tone for your cell phone; it can incl...
Business
Quick Query: Selling Digital Content Via Major Retailers

March 19, 2007 • PEC Staff

Karl Hirsch is the CEO of Protexis (Protexis.com), a company that links retail outlets with companies wanting to sell digital content such as software, music, video, e-books and other digital products. PeC: What does Protexis do? Hirsch: We help publishers of digital content sell and f...
Business
Setting A Value For An Ecommerce Business

March 19, 2007 • PEC Staff

How much is my business worth? It’s a question most entrepreneurs eventually ask, and online merchants are no different. They want to know the enterprise they’ve invested in and continually work to build will have real value if they ever choose to sell. The good news is that profitabl...
Business
Like.com Offers A Different Way To Find, Sell Products

March 16, 2007 • PEC Staff

Munjal Shah is the CEO and co-founder of Riya, the company that owns and operates Like.com, the photo-likeness search engine. PeC: What differentiates Like from the many other search engines available? Shah: "Like is the only search engine that lets you search by photo. With every o...
Business
Finding Financing For Ecommerce Businesses

March 14, 2007 • PEC Staff

All online business owners have something they feel passionate about; what most of them don't have is unlimited capital to get the site off the ground and firmly in the black. The founders of Abondanteliving.com — Marlin and Laurie Detweiler and Jim and Debi Long — are no different. Th...
Business
Online Start-up Faces SEO Challenge

March 12, 2007 • PEC Staff

MOTIF Modern Living operates a unique contemporary furniture outlet just 10 minutes south of downtown Austin, Texas. The loft-like brick-and-mortar store features beautifully designed contemporary home furnishings. To expand its reach beyond Texas' borders, MOTIF has launched a website ...
Business
Marketing Tips From Marketing’s Sherpa

March 12, 2007 • PEC Staff

Anne Holland launched MarketingSherpa from a bedroom in her home in 2000. Seven years and 700 case studies later, MarketingSherpa is regarded as a leading source for marketing research. The company researches and publishes real-life case studies, practical marketing tips and benchmark ...
Business
Wsieworks.com’s Chuck Bankoff: Hiring A Web Developer

March 6, 2007 • PEC Staff

Chuck Bankoff, director of web services for web design firm Wsieworks.com, provides tips on what questions should be asked by merchants when they are hiring a website designer. Bankoff also ...
Staffing
Tips To Hire The Right Website Designer

March 5, 2007 • PEC Staff

Websites don't just build themselves. The conundrum for the small business owner is that there is a host of choices as you establish an online presence. The decisions are important: They'll determine the online business activity that comes with the new sales channel and, of course, the ...
Business
The Basics of Importing Products From Overseas

March 4, 2007 • PEC Staff

Everyone knows there are great deals to be found overseas — items that can be picked up for a fraction of the cost. But what most people don’t realize is that almost everything they’re buying domestically was already imported. They’re just paying a mark-up cost to the middleman who did ...
Business
Bloglist: From Merchant Accounts to Help With Usability

March 4, 2007 • PEC Staff

In Bloglist, we ask an online professional to identify his/her favorite blogs. This feature highlights some of the most interesting resources in the blogosphere. This month, we've ask Jamie Estep, online operations director for Merchantequip.com. Name: Jamie Estep Title: Online Opera...