Shift4Shop eCommerce Blog | Starting a Business (2)

With everyone and their best friend opening an eCommerce store to sell anything from home-cooked vegan snacks to soy-based candles and everything in-between, price is the numero uno differentiator in helping consumers decide.

It’s a routine day at work in the Fall of 2019 and you’re already tired before you get to work. You show up in the morning, log on to your computer, and, on autopilot, head straight to your email inbox.

Then, as you scroll through your emails, you spot an email from Sony — and its good news. You’ve made it through the waiting list and it’s your turn to order a Playstation 5! However, you don’t have much time before you’ll miss out.

Luckily, you spotted the email when it was just a few minutes[...]

Have you been looking for new ways to add to your business’s product lineup? Working on producing and manufacturing a new product from scratch yourself can be time-consuming and costly. And, if you’d like to take manufacturing products yourself out of the picture, you may not want to spend money on obtaining brand-name products to sell.

Instead, many businesses choose to design and sell private label products on their online stores. But what exactly are private label products? Let’s learn all[...]

Starting an online jewelry business is the dream of many young entrepreneurs. However, just like any other business, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Many people may have the perfect idea for a jewelry business, but they are unable to execute it. Making a mark in the jewelry industry can be tough, but it comes with its own set of rewards and satisfaction.

However, no matter the reason for wanting to start an online jewelry business, 2021 is the perfect time to do so. With the COVID-19 pandemic[...]

Subscription boxes have become incredibly popular over the last several years, both with businesses and consumers. While consumers love them for their specificity and convenience (how nice is it to get all of your dog’s favorite food and snacks sent to you each month automatically?), businesses love subscription boxes because they allow for targeting niche audiences and make monthly sales consistent. Of course, just because subscription boxes are popular doesn’t mean that you can start a[...]

Starting a business can be an excellent way to achieve your dreams. For starters, you’ll have more freedom working for yourself than working for someone else. You can also create your own schedule and working hours, build anything you want, and most importantly, make a profit.

But, this comes with many challenges and drawbacks. So, it's essential to ask yourself some critical questions.

On paper, reselling seems like the perfect plan. You, an enterprising eCommerce business owner, need an inventory for your store. You purchase a large number of goods from a supplier in bulk, taking advantage of the included discount. Then, you mark up the price and resell the products at a profit. This business model is bulletproof … or is it?

Managing a team, whether in a small business or large corporation, is no easy task. The better technology becomes, the more distractions there are.

In today’s fast-paced world, efficiency and time are key factors in determining productivity. To ensure efficiency and timely output, leaders need to actively measure their employees’ time and boost their productivity.

Shopping behavior has irreversibly changed since the advent of smart technology. Specifically, shoppers now have the ability to complete shopping cart checkouts from a mobile device in record time with all of their payment information saved. And now, due to global happenings in 2020 and 2021, more compelling reasons have surfaced as to why consumers are choosing to online shop, safety now competing with convenience as their primary motivation.

Additionally, brick-and-mortar stores themselves[...]

The pandemic accelerated the trend towards digitalization of shopping, communication, and much more. While online shopping was common pre-pandemic, demographics that previously hadn’t used technology as much - such as seniors - learned how to do everything from grocery shopping to medication ordering online simply by necessity. 

A product launch represents the culmination of months or even years of hard work researching, developing, and perfecting a new product. It signifies a product’s first foray into the market, and, as we all know, first impressions are critical. It is important to ask ourselves, then, why so many product launches fail.

Starting your own business is exciting, but it can also be a bit daunting to learn exactly where to start. Understanding the different types of businesses that you can choose from is an important first step.

Will you have a partnership, sole proprietorship, or non-profit organization? Which is best for the dreams you’re building? We’ll discuss the five most popular types of companies and how they work so that you can make an informed decision.

You can find anything you want online. At this point in time, no one should be surprised by the vastness of information that lives on the internet. But using that information, and simply just scrolling through, are two very different things. And in the world of business where everyone is looking to get ahead (and stay ahead), actually putting knowledge into action is what separates the best from the mediocre.

In early April 2021, LinkedIn reportedly suffered a data breach that compromised over half a billion profiles. Just recently, Facebook was a victim of a similar attack.

When Big Tech, with their sophisticated cybersecurity systems, can be victims of data scraping attacks, small businesses need to be exceptionally watchful. An airtight business continuity plan can help combat these with simple yet effective solutions that you can quickly put into practice with limited resources.

No business owner enjoys doing taxes. You could be punished for silly mistakes. The whole process is boring. On top of that, it’ll cost you money that could otherwise be reinvested in your business. As intimidating as it may seem, you’ll have to learn how to take care of it as early as possible. Thankfully, filing your taxes doesn’t have to leave a gaping hole in your wallet.

When it comes to human resources (HR), few things can make life simpler than the right software. From recruiting to hiring, and then evaluating and tracking performance, HR software allows teams to function better. That means less back and forth and fewer unnecessary emails to remind everyone of what’s going on. Additionally, great HR software ensures that other aspects of business operations are streamlined, including payroll, benefits, time tracking, etc.

When you think of starting a new online business or making the transition to eCommerce, costs and fees may float around in your head. How much will you need to spend on building and hosting your online store? What extra fees will you need to account for?

At Shift4Shop, we want to ease those worries by providing you with a free eCommerce solution – no strings attached. We’ve worked to make eCommerce affordable so that any-sized business can take advantage of our platform.

There is no better time than right now to start your own clothing line online. Not only are there more resources than ever to get you started in the right direction, but there are also endless ways to market your clothing line, which means it’s easier than ever to find your customers and put your products in front of them.

Of course, no matter how simple it might be to start your own clothing business online, there’s still plenty of work to be done. While anyone can have a good idea for a[...]

Rules and best practices surrounding eCommerce can be numerous. They can also be quite confusing and overwhelming to the uninitiated. If eCommerce isn’t something a person formally studied, it must be learned on its own, which requires guessing, testing and a significant amount of reading to ensure they are going about it the right way.

Blogging can be an awesome way of expressing your creativity, documenting your day-to-day life and meeting like-minded people.

But did you know it can also be an extremely lucrative business model?

Whether you’re looking to build your blog as a brand or simply use blogging as a promotional tool for your online business, there are a ton of ways to monetize a blog once you’re generating consistent traffic.

In this article, we’re going to break down our 7 favorite ways to make money from blogging,