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There's no bigger name in the ecommerce industry than Alibaba. It was launched in 1999 in China, but it now services millions of businesses and consumers, offering wholesale and retail products worldwide. We recently spoke with its vice president of global sales and service, Brian Wong, to discuss Alibaba, opportunities for ecommerce retailers on that site, and global trade generally. Practical eCommerce: Some of our readers may not be familiar with Alibaba. Please tell us about the company: When it was founded; where it's located; how big; and that sort of thing. Brian Wong: "Alibaba is one of the largest ecommerce companies in the world. We were founded in 1999. We essentially have five different businesses. The first is really...

Business is booming on Pinterest. According to data from Monetate, a testing and personalization firm, from September to December 2011 estimated unique visitors to Pinterest.com increased by 429 percent. Total same-store referral traffic from Pinterest to five specialty apparel retailers rose 389 percent from July to December 2011. Here is a list of brands on Pinterest. There are both established and emerging brands, engaging large and small audiences in different ways. If you want to make it easy for customers to share your products on Pinterest, add a Pin It button to your product images. Etsy Etsy is a marketplace for vibrant handmade and vintage merchandise. In January, Etsy added Pinterest’s Pin It button on Etsy listing pages...

Many ecommerce merchants publish blogs to connect with their audiences and enhance their search engine optimization efforts. WordPress is a robust blogging platform. Part of its appeal is the thousands of plugins that enhance its functionality. Here are ten popular plugins that I consider especially helpful. SEO Help One of the important reasons to publish a blog is to help with search engine optimization. All-In-One SEO Pack is a WordPress plugin that helps with SEO. Enlarge This Image The plugin gives bloggers the ability to include the following metatags at the site level, as well as per post or per page: title, description and keyword. The plugin supports the use of Google Analytics, as well. Enlarge This Image Comme...

Google's new social network, Google+, is woefully lacking in customization options. One feature, however, the Scrapbook photo album — the row of five images across the top of the business page — is something merchants can utilize to showcase products and build brand identity. This article, the second in a two-part series, lists examples from ten larger companies that could provide you with some creative spark. Part one — "How to Use Google+ Scrapbook Photo Album to Showcase Your Products" — discussed how to set up Scrapbook and upload, delete and edit images contained in it. Macy's During the holiday season, department store chain Macy's made use of its red and white color scheme for its "Believe" marketing campaign. BMW Auto ...