Feed Info - Electronic Commerce

While it experienced a 1% growth on the whole in Q1 2013, what is exciting for Walmart is that its ecommerce revenues grew 30%. And this growth is not coming off a small base. Walmart is expected to end this year with revenues of $9 billion. While this might be much lower than revenue expectations for Amazon -- $61 billion, it certainly puts Walmart into the bracket of ecommerce giants. How much longer before we refer to ecommerce players as "Amazon, eBay, and Walmart," as opposed to merely, "Amazon and eBay?"

Walmart Reports 30% Y-o-Y Ecommerce Growth originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Friday, May 17th, 2013 at 03:16:06.

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When we look around us, we can find too many pockets of economic depression. But ecommerce growth seems to be unaffected by that. In a recent report by comScore, we can see that ecommerce grew 13% in Q1.

These numbers must be taken in perspective. They represent desktop-based, US non-travel ecommerce, and don't factor in auctions and large transactions that are routed online.

Given that mobile commerce is demonstrating rapid growth, it is nice to see a 13% quarter-on-quarter growth coming from desktop commerce alone. Also, several international markets are growing at a much faster rate. So the overall global ecommerce scene looks pretty good right now.

However, there are those who say that with the sales tax holiday for ecommerce coming to an end, online prices might not be as much lower in comparison with physical retail. So, the coming quarters will be especially exciting to monitor.

Ecommerce Grows 13% in Q1 originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 08:29:04.

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Those of you who follow me on Twitter would have noticed the conversation I have recently engaged in with @iLearn2 and @RetentionGrid. It is about the merits of requiring readers to login before posting their comments.

On the one hand, forcing readers to login will dramatically reduce the amount of spam that comes through. On the other, it also discourages those with something valuable to say. If you have a blog on your ecommerce website this is a decision that you too will need to make. I would not be surprised if you found yourself revisiting your decision often.

What do you think?

Should You Require Login Before Commenting? originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 03:38:22.

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The US is presently debating a bill that will allow states to levy sales tax on online shopping. The idea of collecting sales tax from shoppers is not new and states have been collecting it from physical store shoppers for a long time. But online shoppers have so far managed to "escape" this tax. At least that is the view that many in power seem to share. This includes senators from both ends of the spectrum, as well as the White House.

Of course there is a lot of opposition to the bill -- the most vocal one coming from eBay. But there are also voices of dissent from non-ecommerce domains as people are afraid that this bill will somehow have a spillover effect into other areas of taxation too.

This bill is called the "Marketplace Fairness Act," and though ecommerce players are not yet positioning it as the death knell for ecommerce, they are pretty worried about its ramifications.

What's the Deal With the Internet Sales Tax Imbroglio? originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 at 09:39:51.

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In the recent past, you must have noticed me getting into an overdrive in reviewing books for ecommerce professionals. Continuing that zealous endeavor, here are five more reviews I recently published:

• Ecommerce Best Practices by Thomas M McFadyen
• Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt
• E-Commerce for Organizational Development and Competitive Advantage by M Khosrow-Pour
• Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson
• Click Millionaires by Scott Fox

Five More Books for Ecommerce Professionals originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Monday, April 22nd, 2013 at 04:17:21.

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This is one of my favorite books for ecommerce. Interestingly, it is not specifically about ecommerce. Instead it is about online businesses in general. But I think that this broad-spectrum treatment is required for a multidisciplinary business such as ecommerce. Read my review of Starting an Online Business for Dummies.

Book: Starting an Online Business for Dummies originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013 at 07:03:51.

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It was with great enthusiasm that I decided to review Ecommerce for Dummies. As you can guess, I am a big fan of the Dummies series of books. But this specific book did not meet my approval. Read my review and find out why.

Book Review of Ecommerce for Dummies originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Monday, April 1st, 2013 at 11:56:45.

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I think that an ecommerce business owner should have a sound conceptual understanding of the various aspects of ecommerce. But in addition to the concepts, it is good to learn from people who have "been there and done that."

Here is my book review of E-commerce Get It Right! Essential Step-by-Step Guide for Selling & Marketing Products Online. Insider Secrets, Key Strategies & Practical Tips - Simplified for Start-Ups & Small Businesses by Ian Daniel.

The book presents a nice practitioner's approach to ecommerce.

Book Review of E-commerce Get It Right! by Ian Daniel originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Monday, April 1st, 2013 at 02:34:34.

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This is a quick heads up for readers of my review of E-Commerce 2012 by Kenneth Laudon and Carol Guercio Traver. The 2013 edition of this book is now out (Compare Prices). I have not yet reviewed it, but will do so shortly.

Now Available: E-Commerce 2013 by Kenneth Laudon and Carol Guercio Traver originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Monday, April 1st, 2013 at 01:06:27.

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Other than the fact that you might know the famous ecommerce brand names, how would you really differentiate between top ecommerce websites and those that are worth the web-hosting fee they pay? There could be several answers to that question. But there are some basic features of top sites that seem to differentiate them from the also-rans.

Will the Real Ecommerce Website Please Stand Up? originally appeared on About.com Ecommerce on Sunday, March 31st, 2013 at 08:05:25.

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