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This is a guest post from Harry Southworth, a professional writer and editor.
Creating an e-commerce store is easy nowadays. But, making it a success and earning money with it is much more complicated. It takes a lot for an e-commerce business to turn into a successful website.
Only with an effective e-commerce strategy can this be done. If you’re new to e-commerce and have no strategy in place, you must learn – and fast.
At Process Street, we say: what better way is there to learn than from books?
Books can speed up the process and teach you everything from how to connect with a customer to how to market your e-commerce business. Many successful people have decided to put their words on paper, which is why you now have many e-commerce books to choose from.
We present you with the list of the best e-commerce books out there today to save you sieving through endless content. This article has been structured as below:
- Ecommerce strategy: What is e-business?
- Ecommerce strategy: The best books for starting a business
- How Process Street can help you with your e-business
Ecommerce strategy: What is e-business?
An e-business is a company that does most of its transactions via the internet. Many e-businesses are purely internet-based. Take Process Street for example. Process Street operates solely via the cloud, providing top workflow management software for businesses anytime, anyplace.
With the clarification of what an e-business is, we have a foundation of understanding and clarity that can be built upon by reading the below 21 best books for e-commerce businesses.
Ecommerce strategy: The best books for starting a business
So you want to start an e-commerce business.
Developing a successful e-commerce business requires you to have a plethora of relevant knowledge. To help you with your e-commerce business, we have gathered together 21 best books for starting your business. These books provide essential knowledge for the development of your e-commerce strategy.
Ecommerce strategy: Book 1 – An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula
If you haven’t started your e-commerce business or are right at the beginning, you should start with this amazing book. It provides you with just the right amount of prep work and a roadmap that will help you handle your small startup budget.
According to Jeff Walker, from Work From Home Beginner, this book is:
‘An extremely must-have and must-read for every starter or more experienced online entrepreneur’ – Jeff Walker, Work From Home Beginner
It is one of the most popular books about e-commerce since it teaches you everything from how to carve out a business niche, how to manage your budget, and how to position the business in the best way.
Click here to access An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula
Ecommerce strategy: Book 2 – The Best Service is No Service
This book is all about customer service. If you’ve hopped onto the e-commerce train, providing quality customer service is essential for your new business to succeed. This book teaches you of a phenomenal approach towards customer service – avoiding it altogether.
You only need customer service if your e-commerce business makes a mistake. Therefore, the author teaches you to focus on your service in general and avoid the mistakes that’d lead to a conversation with a support agent. In this book, you’ll learn about the seven principles that make customer service irrelevant.
Click here to access The Best Service is No Serice
Ecommerce strategy: Book 3 – Crushing It
Branding is important no matter where your business is. Personal branding helps sell business products and services in a physical store. When it comes to selling online, branding becomes even more important. With no physical interface, you must crush it when it comes to branding.
The author of Crushing It speaks of the rise of a brand, the importance of social media, and the importance of branding in the world of sales. The book also shares some insightful stories of entrepreneurs who failed and succeeded, which makes it a perfect read for those who want their e-commerce business to grow fast.
Click here to access Crushing It
Ecommerce strategy: Book 4 – The Startup Owner’s Manual
The fourth book on our list can be used by everyone, from business managers to e-commerce experts. It’s pretty lengthy, so get ready for a long read. But, no matter the length, the content of this book will teach you a lot. It contains checklists, infographics, and useful advice in the form of stories and methods you can follow as a new entrepreneur.
Click here to access The Startup Owner’s Manual
Ecommerce strategy: Book 5 – E-Business and E-Commerce Management
Whether you are new to the e-commerce business or slowly building your way up the ladder, this is an important book to read. It covers the technical aspects, fundamentals, and soft skills entrepreneurs need to possess to succeed in e-commerce.
Ecommerce strategy: Book 6 – The Genius E-Commerce Mindset
Compared to most e-commerce books on the market that will simply share a story of the writer, this one provides extra value in the form of practical advice. The author teaches you how to use the right tools and platforms, gives you advice and tips on e-commerce methods, as well as provides you with insightful stories.
The book has two sides. One consists of stories with advice and guidance on what you should and should not do. The other one includes useful advice and tips on how to make money online, grow your online business, and use the best marketing tools.
Click here to access The Genius E-Commerce Mindset
Ecommerce strategy: Book 7 – Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
Without a nice, clear message, you won’t survive long in the e-commerce world. Rather than taking general advice that applies to any business, the author of this book focuses on e-commerce and how you can approach it. From this book, you’ll learn how to build your brand and create a story that connects with your target audience.
The book teaches you to talk to customers, avoid the conversational pitfalls that could kill your reputation, and keep everyone happy by building yourself a competitive advantage with words.
Click here to access Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
Ecommerce strategy: Book 8 – Get Rich Click!
It is a strange book name, we know. It’s also a very catchy one and it takes you to one of the greatest books about e-commerce. This book has been on the New York Times’ bestseller list for a long time. It’s a unique and must-read guide on what you should do to grow a website into a highly profitable company. From start to finish, this book will tell you how to create your website and build your new online business from the ground up. Just start going through its pages and build your e-commerce wisdom!
Click here to access Get Rich Click!
Ecommerce strategy: Book 9 – SEO 2018
Even though it was published last year, this book still gets to the bestselling lists for e-commerce writings. So, if you’ve decided to build an e-commerce website, you need to put it on your to-read list.
This author speaks of search engine optimization and what you must do for your site to rank high in search engines. None of the things you do in terms of product quality, marketing, or customer service, will work unless customers can find your website.
Your goal as an e-commerce entrepreneur is to climb higher in the search results. To do this, you need to learn the fundamentals of SEO, something which this book teaches.
Need help with your SEO strategy? Why not check out our SEO Checklists: They Keyword Research Process, for free.
Click here to access our SEO Checklist: The Keyword Research Process
Ecommerce strategy: Book 10 – One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Risk of Amazon.com
Richard Brandt has created a masterpiece that teaches people about the most influential enterprise in the e-commerce world today. Amazon was created back in 1995 and has ever since increased in both services and size on a tremendous level.
This book teaches new and established entrepreneurs about the story of Amazon. It includes information on how it was formed, and how it evolved into the highest praised e-commerce business of today.
Click here to access One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Risk of Amazon.com
Ecommerce strategy: Book 11 – The Complete E-Commerce Book: Design, Build and Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business
Are you new to the e-commerce business? If you are, this is the perfect book to read! It’s a full e-commerce guide that teaches you everything from how to build an e-commerce store to turning it into a highly successful business online. Because of Reynolds’ detailed and descriptive writing, it is considered one of the top entrepreneur books of all time.
Ecommerce strategy: Book 12 – Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from Our Kitchen Table 57 – Real Life Laws on Entrepreneurship
The two extremely talented Hashemi writers and entrepreneurs approach their book writing with the idea that everyone can become great in this field. The book is about their entrepreneurship story, starting from the formation of their idea and the hiring of employees, to the creation of the popular UK company that presently is worth 50 million pounds.
Click here to access Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from Our Kitchen Table 57 – Real Life Laws on Entrepreneurship
Ecommerce strategy: Book 13 – In Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
Google is the most used search engine today. Most people who use the Internet open Google on a daily, if not hourly, basis and can’t imagine the Internet without it. Knowing how important Google is these days, you should put this choice in your to-read list. It’s an incredible piece of writing that tells its readers how Google changes the workings of the Internet.
Moreover, Steven Levy’s book speaks about the founders of Google, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page. It tells you how their skills developed the most successful organization in the world. If you choose to read this book, you’ll learn about the controversies these founders fought, especially in regard to the Chinese market.
Click here to access In Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
Ecommerce strategy: Book 14 – Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited
This book will give you an entirely new perspective of the world of entrepreneurship. The story is told from the side of an expert for usability. Knowing this, the goal of the author Steve Krug is to establish: when a visitor opens your website, they shouldn’t be thinking about anything. It is only in this case that your navigation and design are successful – if it leads the visitor without any extra effort on their behalf.
Click here to access Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited
Ecommerce strategy: Book 15 – Return on Relationship
Return on Relationship is a guide on how to create social media followers, connect with them, and turn them into regulars. It teaches the readers how to connect with people who create quality content, as well as how to improve the customer support service.
The authors of this book speak of how a person can use metrics and tools to build stronger relationships with the customers. As the name suggests, the most prominent metric will be the Return on Relationships.
Finally, the book differentiates between social media and relationship marketing.
Click here to access Return on Relationship
Ecommerce strategy: Book 16 – 50 Shades of Growth
According to the author of this book, a growth expert doesn’t do marketing, but builds it into the products that he offers. That being said, 50 Shades of Growth teaches people how to use growth hacking to build their brand. It combines experiments for e-commerce growth that can be applied to any store.
In addition to the insightful advice by the author, 50 Shades of Growth includes guides by established e-commerce experts like Brian Balfour, Noah Kagan, Neil Patel, etc.
Click here to access 50 Shades of Growth
Ecommerce strategy: Book 17, Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics
Brian Clifton tells his readers about the audience that visits one e-store and how they move across the Web. Targeting the right audience is crucial if you want to attract them to your business, something that you can accurately determine by using Google Analytics and metrics.
You can’t mention audience analytics without thinking of Google Analytics. But, in addition to teaching you about this tool, the book teaches you about other practices and tools.
Click here to access Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics
Ecommerce strategy: Book 18 – Digital Marketing Analytics: Making Sense of Consumer Data in a Digital World
Chuck Hemann writes about the ways an entrepreneur can use the plethora of information and data collected through digital campaigns to improve his strategy. This book answers all kinds of questions, serving as a detailed guide for making sense out of large piles of data, selecting the most relevant, and finding an appropriate action.
Click here to access Digital Marketing Analytics: Making Sense of Consumer Data in a Digital World
Ecommerce strategy: Book 19 – The Complete Guide to B2B Marketing
This is a perfect book for those who don’t yet know how to create an interest in their e-commerce business. Kim Ann King gives tips for building an effective marketing campaign. It teaches everything from creating a product in demand to executing a successful sales plan. It will teach you how to start your business and help it grow in the B2B world.
The Complete Guide to B2B Marketing shows readers how to create a good SEO plan, divide the target customers based on their behavior patterns, and how to overcome negative experiences. It’s a well-combined mixture of traditional practices and modern marketing philosophies.
Click here to access The Complete Guide to B2B Marketing
Ecommerce strategy: Book 20 – Getting Everything You Can Get Out of All You’ve Got
Every entrepreneur knows how important it is to reach out to customers. Even the newest ones. This is essential for maintaining a good and healthy business, and without it, all of your efforts are in vain. However, despite them knowing, most people fail at this part. Not creating a successful reach strategy is one of the biggest reasons why e-commerce businesses fail.
This is why you should read Getting Everything You Can Out of All you’ve Got. This book tells readers how to build a good relationship with the target audience and customers. It shares the philosophy that you shouldn’t reduce the quality or/and value of your products and services once you attract more customers. This is the thing that pushes them away.
Click here to access Getting Everything You Can Get Out of All You’ve Got
Ecommerce strategy: Book 21 – Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
Our final choice of a great e-commerce book is Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. The book tells you how to make customers buy from your business and how to get a competitive advantage. By reading it, you’ll learn how a customer makes a purchasing decision and what you should change in your strategy to beat the competition.
Click here to access Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
How Process Street can help you with your e-business
Process Street is a top Business Process Management software. With Process Street you can create superpowered checklists for the smooth and efficient running of your business processes.
How are our checklists superpowered?
Our checklists have a spruced up version of the common tick-box approach via the addition of the following features:
- Stop tasks to ensure task order
- Dynamic due dates, so no deadline is missed
- Conditional logic, creating a dynamic template that caters to your needs
- Role assignment, to ease task delegation within your team
- Approvals, allowing decision-makers to give the go-ahead (or rejection) on important items. In addition, necessary comments can be provided
By using our checklists, you can increase the efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness of your e-commerce processes, processes that are vital for any e-commerce strategy.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Process Street and our offerings, check out our Monthly Webinar: An Introduction to Process Street below, for further insight.
E-commerce strategy: Ecommerce Product Listing template
You can use this Ecommerce Product Listing template anytime you want to set up a new e-commerce product listing.
Click here to access our Ecommerce Product Listing template for free
From this template, you can see how easy it is to create a template using Process Street that is unique to your e-commerce strategy.
Check out our other Ecommerce related templates here
If you need further help creating your templates, refer to our article Templates: Basics of creating and using templates. Alternatively, you can watch the below video for more information on how you can create your own Process Street template for free.
You can develop your e-commerce strategy from the information gained from the above top 21 books. Adopting Process Street will then allow you to effectively and efficiently implement your e-commerce strategy.
Become a better e-business entrepreneur: Read more and use Process Street
How many of these books have you read so far? If you haven’t, you should start right now. Going into e-commerce blindly is not a good idea and by reading these books, you can prepare for what comes and become a much better entrepreneur.
These books will teach you all you have to know about the e-commerce business. They’ll share stories from real people who’ve struggled in the business and found their way out. By listening to their stories, you can learn what to do and what not to do, therefore efficiently eliminating your chances of ruining your business and losing your investment.
Grab your new book and turn the bed lamp on. These books aren’t just educational – they are fun to read, too!
In addition, you ca gain further insight for your e-business with the below Process Street resources:
- 17 Ecommerce Processes to Set Up, Maintain and Promote a Successful Store
- How to Start on Online Store that Generates $3m in Annual Revenue
- What is Omnichannel Marketing? How to Use It for Ecommerce
If you haven’t started your e-commerce business or are right at the beginning, you should definitely start with this amazing book. It provides you with just the right amount of prep work and a roadmap that will help you handle your small startup budget.
According to a book review expert at the assignment writing service Study clerk, this book is “the roadmap to e-commerce businesses, both big and small“. It is one of the most popular books about ecommerce since it teaches you everything from how to carve out a business niche, how to manage your budget, and how to position the business in the best way.
Are there any books you have read that have helped you with your e-commerce business, not mentioned in the above? If so, we would love to hear from you. Please comment in the sections below, who knows, you may even get featured in one of our upcoming articles.
Jane Courtnell
Hi there, I am a Junior Content Writer at Process Street. I graduated in Biology, specializing in Environmental Science at Imperial College London. During my degree, I developed an enthusiasm for writing to communicate environmental issues. I continued my studies at Imperial College's Business School, and with this, my writing progressed looking at sustainability in a business sense. When I am not writing I enjoy being in the mountains, running and rock climbing. Follow me at @JaneCourtnell.