Most small business owners know about PCI Data Security Compliance which requires them to follow 12 stated safeguards to protect the credit card information of the consumers. Here is an article that highlights two sides to this argument. The interviewee, being a PCI compliance consultant, highlights the importance…
Nielsen regularly publishes a list of the top online retailers based on various parameters. It is interesting to see webstore conversion ratios of 25% and above. Particularly since the average conversion ratio according to Forrester Research is 3% – “eCommerce conversion rates continue to hover at 3%, and…
Here is a revealing interview with the founder of Blinds.com. The webstore was launched in 1996 to sell window blinds online and today earns $50 million in annual revenues. And all of that with zero debt, and zero inventory. Remarkable! My key take aways from the 7 page…
Shopping cart abandonment can be caused by a variety of reasons. This Q3 2009 Forrester study conducted across 3,332 online customers shows that high shipping and handling costs could be a major reason for the abandonment. The study also shows that especially women shoppers are interested in “window shopping” and would…
Often customers adds items into their shopping cart, and then just abandon the cart and leave the site without making the purchase. According to a study conducted by marketingsherpa in 2006 across 1,100 ecommerce businesses, the average shopping cart abandonment rate was 60%. Do you know what your…
Every one talks about the importance of email marketing. Here is an article that lists 30 useful email marketing apps. I guess this is why my inbox gets filled with unsolicited marketing emails that I delete without even opening them. When it comes to email marketing, which tool…
Copyblogger has a great article with 11 tips on how to write great headlines. A must read for anyone interested in publishing articles of any form. Why does this matter for small businesses? Because, these are great insights the business owners can use for blogging, and for writing…
According to Wall Street Journal, Black Friday e-commerce sales rose by 11% compared to last year. But that statistic includes giant retailers like Amazon. What about the SMBs? Did they really gain during Black Friday? At least based on the numbers shared by Lexiconn (a company that hosts…
Here is a set of 7 tax tips for small businesses – from American Express open forum Pay out the bonus/commission related accrued expenses before March 15th to recognize them for tax purposes. Utilize the up to $250,000 tax deductions on capital expenditure (Section 179) Hire a tax specialist…