Retail Trends

The Marketplace Fairness Act: What You Need to Know

By Small Business Edito… - Feb 20, 2013 - 11 Comments

The proposed Marketplace Fairness Act requiring online sellers, no matter where they are located, to collect local tax on retail sales is gathering strong support in Congress and among retailers. The law affects not just big companies like Amazon but small businesses including affiliate … Read More

2013: The Year Small Business E-commerce Sites Strike Gold

By Phillip Klien - Feb 6, 2013 - 9 Comments

Technologies from the 1990’s are nearing extinction. Just think, how often do you see people using pagers, flip phones and dial-up modems? Regardless, many businesses still handle transactions with point-of-sale systems that look no different than they did over a decade ago. Payments are one … Read More

How to Turn Website Visitors Into Buyers

By Fred Lizza - Nov 15, 2012 - 7 Comments

The first step to ensuring a successful holiday sales season is to optimize your eCommerce site. But the next step – converting those website visitors into customers – is equally important and can be even more difficult to achieve. A recent survey about holiday shopping trends by … Read More

The Mechanics Of Making Money And The Business Physics Of Revenue

By Steve Wilkinghoff - Nov 15, 2012 - 2 Comments

Think about a graceful hang-glider and a massive new Boeing Dreamliner screaming overhead.Despite how radically different the hang-glider and the jet are, they are both flying because of the clever application of the mechanics of flight. They would both come crashing down if those … Read More

Smart Devices Make for Smart Small Business Decisions

By Brian Goudie - Nov 9, 2012 - 3 Comments

When it comes to the ability to create personal customer relationships, small businesses would seemingly have advantages over larger competitors. However, as consumers push the demand of smart devices, convenience and value could increasingly take precedence over store loyalty; and if small … Read More

SumAll Adds Authorize.net App to Analyze Credit Card Payment Data

By Annie Pilon - Nov 1, 2012 - Leave a Comment

Business reporting tool SumAll now offers analytics information for credit card sales data, thanks to a partnership with payment gateway service Authorize.net. Authorize.net is used by businesses to process credit card payments both online and in physical locations. Founded in 1996, the company … Read More

Now You Can Sell Products Via Instagram, With Chirpify

By Anita Campbell - Oct 25, 2012 - 8 Comments

The world of selling and getting paid is rapidly evolving -- and I mean rapidly. It's not some pie-in-the-sky future vision. It is possible -- today -- for small businesses to sell and receive payments via social media. New services are making that possible. Chirpify, the platform that … Read More

Square Acquires Product Design Firm, First NYC Location

By Annie Pilon - Oct 11, 2012 - Leave a Comment

Mobile payment company Square just announced its acquisition of NYC design firm 80/20, bringing an experienced in-house design team to the company that has already made some huge strides in making mobile payments more common for everyday consumers. The team at 80/20, which specializes in helping … Read More

Yelp Lets Local Businesses Offer Gift Certificates

By Annie Pilon - Sep 17, 2012 - 6 Comments

Small businesses now have the option to sell gift certificates directly from their business profile page on Yelp. The local reviews site, which also gives businesses to the opportunity to offer daily deal promotions, tested out the gift certificate feature earlier this year and just announced that … Read More

Square Levels the Playing Field for Small Businesses With New Pricing Structure

By Annie Pilon - Aug 22, 2012 - 9 Comments

Small merchants often don’t enjoy the same savings and options as larger businesses when it comes to credit card processing and other fees. But those small businesses received some potentially good news this week when mobile credit card processing company Square announced that users will now have … Read More

Accelerate Success With Universal Commerce Focus

By Brian Goudie - Jul 24, 2012 - 1 Comment

Today’s consumers are using technology in ways that completely change commerce. In fact, purchasing that is influenced by or made online through mobile devices is estimated to make up 86 percent of consumer spending by 2020, more than double the percentage in 2010, according to RetailNet … Read More

Time for the U.S. Penny to Go

By Anita Campbell - May 3, 2012 - 4 Comments

I saw a Twitter tweet from a penny today. Not a woman named Penny, but a penny coin. The Canadian penny, to be exact. The Canadian government recently announced its intention to eliminate the penny as a cost saving measure. In a last ditch effort to save face (value), the Canadian penny … Read More