Ecommerce Conversations, By Practical Ecommerce

Without U.S. Robotics, the early-day modem manufacturer, there arguably would not be a World Wide Web. The co-founder of U.S. Robotics, Casey Cowell, joins us to discuss that company, the early-day Internet, and his current entrepreneurial and civic interests.

Selling on Amazon’s marketplace can be challenging. There are, to be sure, millions of prospective customers. But there are also many competitors selling there, often at prices that are difficult to match or compete with. Our guest today, James Thomson, is a former senior Amazon executive who now counsels merchants on how best to use that platform.

Practical Ecommerce's Ignite 2015 conference contains 39 sessions on topics critical to small and midsize ecommerce merchants, to accelerate revenue growth and compete against larger companies.In addition, we'll feature two visionary keynote speakers. The first one, on opening day, is John Lawson. He's an ecommerce entrepreneur and a social-selling guru. His address, "The Beyonce Principal: Social Selling Funnel for Massive Results," will emphatically answer the question of how smaller ecommerce merchants can harness social media.

The rise of ecommerce has reduced local brick-and-mortar retail sales and the corresponding sales taxes from those transactions — putting states and localities in a revenue bind. A hodgepodge of efforts from the states and, now, the federal government to address the shortfall, and to tax ecommerce sales, is firmly underway. To explain the status of Internet sales taxes, and the U.S. Congressional efforts at a nationwide solution, we’re joined by Jonathan Barsade. He’s a sales tax expert, and the founder and CEO of Exactor, a sales-tax management platform.

Steve Case, the co-founder of America Online, is by any measure an Internet visionary and pioneer. His private equity firm, Revolution, invested, in 2013, $40 million in Bigcommerce, a leading ecommerce platform for smaller companies. He recently spoke with Practical Ecommerce about that investment, as well as SMB ecommerce generally.

Miva is both a pioneering early day ecommerce shopping cart and a cutting-edge progressive platform. Its President, Rick Wilson, joins us today to discuss, among other topics, how an ecommerce provider remains fresh and relevant over the years.

The co-founder of Retention Science, Jerry Jao, is an expert on using data, lots of data, to grow ecommerce revenues. Beyond that, he’s a gifted Taiwanese-born entrepreneur who proves what intelligence, hard work, and perseverance can accomplish. He recently spoke with Practical Ecommerce's Kerry Murdock on the merits of data-driven ecommerce business, among other topics.

Selling products on third-party websites is not new. What is new is the so-called Facebook Buy button, which allows ecommerce merchants to sell their products potentially on that platform. There is no better expert on third-party selling than Scot Wingo, the long-time CEO of ChannelAdvisor. He speaks with Practical Ecommerce on the Facebook Buy button, among other multi-channel selling topics.

Every day, it seems, we read of an Internet-based company acquiring another one, or raising capital, or expanding into a new segment. Evan Klein, managing director of Berkery Noyes, a leading mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, recently spoke with Practical Ecommerce's Kerry Murdock on the booming M&A market for ecommerce and Internet companies.

Starting a new ecommerce business can be frustrating, complicated, and risky. LemonStand is a popular ecommerce platform that often caters to startups and new entrepreneurs. LemonStand's CEO, Danny Halarewich, spoke with Practical Ecommerce's Kerry Murdock on how to launch a new ecommerce business.

The process of testing different variations on a website can greatly enhance its conversions and performance. A leading A/B split testing platform is Optimizely. Its co-founder and CEO, Dan Siroker, spoke with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Ecommerce site search — including Google’s announcement that it is dropping its Commerce Search platform — is our topic today. Dr. Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems, a leading site search provider, is our guest. He speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

An ecommerce merchant deals with lots of data. There’s revenue, profit, customers, traffic, order values, Likes, followers . . . lots of data. One company that helps merchants sort through this data and make decisions is SumAll. Its CEO and co-founder, Dane Atkinson, speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Retailers increasingly use data to personalize an online shopping experience. Geo location, shopping and browsing history, weather — all can impact how products are presented to online shoppers. Among the leaders in personalization technology is Monetate. Its co-founder and CEO, David Brussin, speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Ecommerce merchants strive to answer questions from shoppers. Relevant, helpful answers presumably increase conversion rates. One company offers a solution that relies on past customers to answer questions from prospective ones. The company is TurnTo. Its founder and CEO, George Eberstadt, speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Ecommerce merchants strive for repeat business from existing customers. Our guest today owns a company that has produced a mobile app to encourage repeat orders. He is Dr. Alex Heiphetz. The mobile app is QRwave. He speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Say you are an ecommerce merchant with an angry customer. The customer is so angry, he posts bad, negative reviews on the Internet about your company that are not true. What can you do? How can you combat? Managing online reputation is the business of our guest. He is Cliff Stein. His company is Reputation Changer. He speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Most sectors of the retail economy do business on the Internet. That now includes pawnshops. Our guest, Don Battis, is the founder of Pawntique.com, a web-only pawnshop that serves all of the U.S. from its base in New Hampshire. He speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Every business, ecommerce or otherwise, should maintain accurate books and records. But for some entrepreneurs, the accounting function is intimidating and confusing. Outright.com aims to simplify the accounting process for all entrepreneurs, regardless of their accounting skills. Outright’s CEO is Steven Aldrich. He speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.

Drop shipping is the process of selling an item that is then shipped by a manufacturer or wholesaler. Many ecommerce merchants utilize drop shipping, at least in part, to reduce inventory costs and to expand their product offerings. But drop shipping can be complicated, too. We explore the pros and cons of drop shipping in this interview with Jeremy Hanks, co-founder and CEO of Dropship.com, a software platform that automates back-office drop shipping functions between retailers and manufacturers. He speaks with Practical Ecommerce’s Kerry Murdock.