U.S. retailers are sitting on about $1.43 in stock for each $1 of earnings. Decreasing inventory costs should therefore be a priority for many merchants. In my experience, there are several options for reducing inventory costs. In this post, I…
I will never forget my first major inventory mistake. It happened in 2006. I had been working for LivingDirect, an internet appliance retailer. I thought for sure I’d get fired. LivingDirect sold icemakers, air conditioners, refrigerators, and similar appliances. I…
In”Ecommerce Briefs,” I tackle developments and news that affect online merchants. In this installment, I will report on FedEx severing its air-services relationship with Amazon and rolling out seven-day shipping, Amazon shuttering its social networking platform Spark, Walmart folding Jet.com…
Outsourcing facets of an ecommerce company can help management focus on critical areas. It may also deliver innovative abilities and insights which are unavailable in-house. But choosing the perfect outsourced partner isn’t straightforward. I know. I am a former ecommerce…
Growing an ecommerce company can feel like juggling knives whilst riding a unicycle on a tightrope. Owners and managers have so much information available and a lot of key performance indicators, it can be tricky to know where to focus…
For many years, rumors have swirled about Facebook’s entrance into cryptocurrency while the social networking giant worked quietly to find out its approach. Details are emerging. In this post, I’ll clarify Facebook’s strategies and the impact on ecommerce merchants. Facebook…
I see a good deal of startup entrepreneurs copying successful businesses. The entrepreneurs observe what those companies do and assume it would work for them. Or they attribute the success of a business to a specific strategy or practice. The…
Launching and then developing an ecommerce business can be both exciting and stressful. The benefit for many entrepreneurs is to market their companies someday. I am the creator of Beardbrand, an ecommerce business in Austin, Texas, that specializes in beard…
Every online merchant dreads a telephone call or email from an unhappy customer or provider. However, as disagreeable as they are, those emails and calls often present opportunities to enhance an aspect of operations, merchandising, or pricing. Here are examples…
The majority of us like to believe that the plastic things we deposit at a recycling bin are actually recycled. Regrettably, since January 2018 when China ceased accepting plastics from Western states, plenty of plastic waste is going into landfills…