Many competitors offer attractive alternatives for selling online, and some are even free. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and selected six that suit the range of small business needs. Read on for our review of these Shopify alternatives as well as our top recommendations. Many factors go into choosing the…
All Retail Articles - Page 24
24 Innovative Coffee Shop Name Ideas
The coffee industry has a ton of international coffee chains that seem to be taking over. However, there are still many entrepreneurs who are trying to compete by offering great alternatives to cookie-cutter establishments. If you are an entrepreneur who feels inspired to start your own coffee shop but clueless on how to name your…
How to Choose the Best Restaurant Location for Your Business
Opening a restaurant is all about location, location, location. However, not every restaurant is suitable for every location, and vice versa. It comes down to a combination of restaurant concept and ideal customer. If you can define your restaurant type and identify your target demographic and its most populated areas, you’ll be well on your…
How to Manage Crowdfunding Fulfillment and Shipping for Your Backer Rewards
Whatever the final goals of the many crowdfunding campaigns out there, most have one thing in common: a need for crowdfunding fulfillment. This means that once funded, project owners must ship something tangible, like a newly launched product or thank-you reward, to their backers. Believe it or not, crowdfunding project owners often overlook this key…
In-House Fulfillment vs. Fulfillment Center – The Ultimate Guide
From launching my fledgling company with a fulfillment center to managing a growing $1M/year fulfillment operation in-house, I’ve personally run the spectrum of small ecommerce fulfillment solutions. I know firsthand the many challenges (and sleepless nights) that small ecommerce business owners face. And I know that order fulfillment and all that it entails, shown below,…
Gross Margin & Markup Calculator: How to Price Retail Items
Gross margin is the retail cost, minus the wholesale or direct costs of a product or service. Expressed in percentage terms, gross margin represent profits as a percentage of revenues (excluding indirect costs like rent). Markup is the amount charged for a product or service over the wholesale or direct costs. If you just need…
Visual Merchandising: How to Display Products In Your Store
All types of retail stores benefit from effective visual merchandising. Whether you’re creating a 3D in-store display to showcase the latest trends or using signage to highlight your services top features, these methods of visual merchandising can catch a customer’s eye, inform them of a new product, and ultimately, increase sales. What is Visual Merchandising?…
Where to Buy Custom Boxes – The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide
Custom boxes deliver branded impact that online customers appreciate, remember, and oftentimes share via social media. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and decided to review , Salazar Packaging, and . These companies covered the range for small businesses in terms of price, box variety, printing options, and ease of purchase….
Product Photography Made Easy: How to Take Great Shots with iPhone and Android
If a picture says a thousand words, what do your pictures say about your products? If your answer is “not much,” don’t fret. Capturing great product shots for your ecommerce website is quite easy with a few low-budget product photography tips. Best of all, you can get great results using your iPhone or Android phone,…
How to Create a Loyalty Program for Your Business
Over half of American customers join new loyalty rewards programs each year, according to Colloquy. Additionally, about half agree that they spend more after joining than they did before, according to another survey from Bond Brand Loyalty. This shows how customers are openly seeking loyalty rewards programs AND are willing to spend more once they join….
Drop Shipping Vs. Fulfillment Companies: What’s the Difference?
People often confuse Order Fulfillment Services and Drop Shipping or they incorrectly refer to them interchangeably. Much of this confusion comes from the fact that each involves a retailer looking for an outsourced fulfillment solution. Despite the similarity, the differences are significant. Understanding these differences is key to finding the right retail fulfillment solution for…
How to Manage Inventory Using Lightspeed POS
The power of a modern POS system comes from its inventory management capabilities. Harnessing those capabilities to manage inventory will save you tons of time and allow you to update your product count automatically in real time, automate purchase orders, dramatically reduce inventory shrink, increase sales efficiency and more. In this article, I’ll show you…