Merchant Voice
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Why can’t Australians purchase gift cards from U.S. merchants?
November 30, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
The Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales phenomenon is beginning to make an impact online and in brick-and-mortar stores, in Australia. Five years ago, inspired by the U.S. Cyber Monday sales, Click Frenzy ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
Every Amazon A-Z claim is a failure in customer service
November 28, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
Every Amazon A-Z claim is a failure in customer service. I could have avoided every one of the claims filed against my company, no matter how unfair it was. An Amazon ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Are we essential to our customers?
November 21, 2017 • David Sasson
A few weeks ago I was at a local Wichita, Kansas Chamber of Commerce mixer. I hadn’t been to one in many years. But I decided to join the chamber ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Are conferences worthwhile?
November 7, 2017 • Peter Keller
I remember going to the International Home + Housewares Show in 2006, when I worked for a large corporation. This was just before the Great Recession. Houses were being built ...
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Conversion
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Merchant Voice
6 ways I make more money from my websites
October 31, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
Since launching the first of my two décor websites in April 2015, and the second in January 2017, I’ve learnt a few tactics that have helped my businesses make more ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Black Friday opportunities — and pitfalls
October 30, 2017 • Peter Keller
It’s October, and that means ecommerce businesses should be in the thick of Black Friday preparation. I addressed the topic last year, in “A blueprint for Black Friday planning.” I ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
What to consider when selling an ecommerce business
October 23, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
In light of recent industry upheavals, some retail businesses may soon close down. Sooner or later, owners of private businesses usually retire or move on. Whilst some will pass the ...
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Cross-border Selling
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Merchant Voice
How to start selling in Russia
October 16, 2017 • Maksim Komonov
In 2016, ecommerce revenue in Russia grew 21 percent compared to 2015, to $16 billion. This is according to the Russian Association of Internet Trade Companies. The Association expects Russian ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Avoid ‘saving money’ content if you want higher-end clients
September 27, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
How do you position your ecommerce products and services? Are your items, on average, more expensive than your competitors? Do you offer high-end, custom products that shoppers can’t find elsewhere? Or ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
How to learn about your customers, for cheap
September 12, 2017 • Peter Keller
One of the most important ways to help your business is to know the demographics and interests of your customers. If you don’t understand your customers, it’s difficult to write ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Mobile payments could revive cash on delivery
September 4, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
Recently I have heard of retailers using modern technology for an old payment method: cash on delivery. Credit card payments can now be accepted on small terminals wherever there’s a mobile ...
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
Lessons from an ecommerce email marketer
September 1, 2017 • Peter Keller
I have a reputation as a marketer who sends a lot of emails. And it’s true. At FringeSport, we send most of our subscribers five emails per week — sometimes ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
New subcategories increase sales and signups
August 30, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
Ecommerce sites typically launch with a modest product range and, potentially, category names that will become redundant as the business grows. I launched My Wedding Décor over two years ago with ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
For success on Amazon and eBay, don’t follow others
August 22, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
For many ecommerce merchants, it is essential to list stock on the likes of eBay and Amazon. The potential sales volume from these sites is too large to ignore. However,
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
Independent retailers, repeat buyers, and Amazon
August 3, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
It is getting harder to gain and keep customers. Traditionally, independent retailers have earned their business by providing a better service or product to consumers — a unique selling point ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Pros and cons of running 2 businesses
July 30, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
I launched My Event Décor in January 2017 to sell products to corporate event designers and marketing managers. My Wedding Décor, which I started in April 2015, targets couples, wedding planners, and stylists. I ...
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
For selling, the phone is better than email
July 11, 2017 • Peter Keller
I’m a huge fan of email marketing. It’s been very helpful for FringeSport. I addressed email marketing, in fact, in my previous two posts: “Lessons on starting an email list”
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
How to get your first 1,000 email subscribers
June 29, 2017 • Peter Keller
I addressed last month how to start an email list. In this post, I’ll explain how to get your first 1,000 subscribers. As part of starting a list, you (hopefully) identified ...
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
How I manage email spam
June 26, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
We all receive email spam. The longer our businesses exist, the more spam we get. So how should we deal with it? All businesses should have policies and procedures for dealing ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
What I’ve learnt from millennials and baby boomers
June 24, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
In the past nine months, I’ve had three event-management interns — two millennials (the generation born 1981-2000) and a baby boomer (those born 1946-1964) — work with me at My ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Would mandatory training help new business owners?
June 4, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
I moderate an online business forum in the U.K. A growing number of people are starting their own business here. On one level this is inspiring. But sometimes I think there ...
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
Lessons on starting an email list
June 4, 2017 • Peter Keller
FringeSport’s email list has been one of our best investments in terms of connecting our brand with our customers, and also in terms of direct sales. In this post, I’ll offer ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Preparing to exhibit at a wedding expo
April 25, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
My Wedding Décor will soon exhibit at One Fine Day Wedding Fair in Melbourne, Australia. One Fine Day has been running high-end wedding fairs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
My (unplanned) survey of Amazon resellers
April 23, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
In the last few days I have been conducting an unplanned survey of the customer service of hundreds of Amazon resellers. It is unplanned and unwelcomed because someone sent phishing ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
My secret weapons — tools, groups, activities
April 6, 2017 • Peter Keller
I’m friends with many entrepreneurs. Oftentimes we talk about what services we use, what products we have, and the routines that allow us to be more successful. For example, there’s a ...
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Inventory
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Merchant Voice
Deleting slow-moving inventory
March 27, 2017 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth
My Wedding Décor will celebrate its second birthday next month. When the website launched in April 2015, it began with 80 products, which had grown to almost 500 products at the ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
The problem of fake products on Amazon
March 20, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
One of Amazon’s strengths is its extensive catalog and its requirement that every retailer selling an item has to list its offer on the same page. This means that when ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Planning for failure
March 3, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
Among the initial tasks of starting a company is to organize a business plan. It’s the first of many plans in the life of a business. After all, a well-managed business ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
My ecommerce canon
March 1, 2017 • Peter Keller
I always enjoy discussing ecommerce and entrepreneurship with friends and other people. I love helping them. I’m frequently asked about resources for folks that are interested in learning more about ecommerce.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Generic online box shifters are doomed
February 21, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
2017 is going to be a difficult year. Smaller ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retailers will be squeezed out by the bigger players. Amazon will continue its push to stock the most ...