Building a successful eCommerce business requires patience, toughness, and adaptability. While making mistakes as an entrepreneur is probably unavoidable (and can be a great way to learn for the future), the internet is full of communities that can give you invaluable tips, tricks, and information. These spaces can be Facebook groups, podcasts, forums, YouTube channels, and blogs. The one thing they have in common is the knowledge and experience necessary to profit and thrive as an eCommerce business. Let’s take a look at the 25 best resources you can use!
StoreYa
If you’ve been looking to leverage the power of Facebook and Google ads, then StoreYa is one of the best marketing tools for eCommerce out there. So it’s no surprise then that they have an impressive collection of resources to take advantage of. Their blog, in particular, is filled to the brim with insights, whether it’s tips on how to improve a landing page or. All combined, these resources can be invaluable in giving you a leg up in driving traffic and boosting conversions from new and existing customers.
eCommerceFuel
Are podcasts more your thing? Look no further than Ecommerce Fuel, fronted by Andrew Youderian who built the community for “7 and 8-figure store owners.” It covers a wide range of subjects, from topical observations on business trends to episodes designed to equip entrepreneurs with the latest tactics and knowledge (with examples including “Creating Brand Awareness Without Paid Ads” and “Three Rules for Superior Returns.” What’s more, there are personal perspectives on offer thanks to interviews with business people who reflect on their own successes and challenges.
Shopify
As an eCommerce platform, Shopify has been at the forefront of providing retailers with a wide range of essential services, from payments to marketing. Reflecting its prominence, Shopify also maintains the most popular eCommerce channel on Youtube. It features a diverse selection of content, such as tips on starting a dropshipping venture and interviews with people who use Shopify’s tools. Alongside its equally informative blog, Shopify is a great resource for businesses looking to amp up their profit.
When it comes to Reddit, eCommerce may not be the first thing you associate with the hugely popular social network. However, the eCommerce subreddit boasts 184,000 subscribers (referred to as “entrepreneurs”) and has plenty of posts made daily. The community has been active since 2008 and allows anyone to ask questions or offer advice so long as subreddit rules are followed. There’s decent engagement, plus connections with other subreddits focused on specific platforms like Shopify and Etsy. With a large audience, alongside lots of tips and contacts, the eCommerce subreddit merits attention.
Bootstrapping eCommerce
Run by Shabbir Nooruddin, a blogger and entrepreneur who’s been building websites since 2014, Bootstrapping eCommerce is a blog that’s filled with informative posts designed to help your business grow. Many of the posts are based on the author’s own experiences, giving readers a unique perspective. There are posts focused on improving conversion rates, as well as tips on how to write product descriptions and even how to find t-shirt mockup templates. While the blog doesn’t have a high turnover of articles, the content is informative and the contributors knowledgeable about the world of eCommerce.
A Better Lemonade Stand
The imaginatively titled A Better Lemonade Stand was conceived to provide a community and resource for entrepreneurs involved in eCommerce. With the stated goal of making online businesses thrive, A Better Lemonade Stand maintains a blog, a Facebook page to encourage further engagement, and a resources page that includes PDFs, guides, and video training. The blog isn’t prodigiously updated, but the website has gotten positive attention from the likes of Forbes, Inc., and Entrepreneur while there are lots of evergreen articles to explore, whether you’re starting a business or want to amp your existing one up.
DHL
While DHL is a name that’s more associated with delivery, the company actually maintains a blog full of helpful content for entrepreneurs and eCommerce businesses. Appropriately for a shipping company, there are articles on designing packages, keeping up with demand, and even international guides focused on individual countries. These can really help readers to have a fuller picture of any new market they’re thinking about doing business with. Alongside posts exploring current trends and logistics, DHL’s blog is a fantastic resource, particularly if you want your business to have an international scope.
EcomCrew
The EcomCrew podcast is run by Mike Jackness and Grant Chen who have over a decade of experience in business, SEO, and affiliate marketing. Their podcast varies in focus, with topics including coupons, looking at supply chain challenges, interviews, and more. Each podcast has a helpful description that goes over what is talked about and discussed, as well as a timestamp so that you can skip to sections that you’re most interested in. Their site also features a blog, which often leans into a heavy focus on selling via Amazon.
Shopify Entrepreneurs
One of the largest eCommerce Facebook groups to join is Shopify Entrepreneurs. It’s run by Jonathan Kennedy, who is the founder of Shopify-focused HeyCarson and Storetasker. With more than 140,000 members, Shopify Entrepreneursdropshippingactive community with plenty of topics covered. Since each post needs to be approved by an admin, you can be assured that the conversation will be high quality and civil. While it’s ideal for more advanced Shopify sellers, there’s much to learn for the general eCommerce entrepreneur.
Elastic Path
With a background in delivering solutions to enterprise-level businesses, Elastic Path has a lot of expertise and knowledge to offer entrepreneurs. Their blog certainly reflects that, with lots of advice and tips posted over the years. They cover topics like eCommerce chatbots, website optimization, and product design. Moreover, you’ll find lots of overviews explaining concepts like PIM solutions or APIs and microservices. If you’re looking for a comprehensive blog that touches on trends and goes beyond providing tips, then Elastic Path is one to follow.
Digital Point
Although Digital Point isn’t the most active of forums, it has an impressive number of posts to go through. In fact, there are more than 4,300 threads spanning over 85 pages. Many of the contributors are successful entrepreneurs, so if you want to ask a question or get advice, you’ll likely get an informative answer to help you and your business. Even if you’d rather just browse, there are a lot of tricks to find that could give you a competitive edge or otherwise grow your eCommerce venture.
Blue Stout
As an eCommerce consulting and design agency, Blue Stout knows a thing or two about the industry. Thanks to their years of experience, they have built up a big community of experts for their regularly maintained blog. That knowledge isn’t limited to articles, either, as they also run a podcast and put out videos that go over subjects in an accessible and informative way. Like other blogs, you’ll find a range of topics, including posts focused on the best Shopify Plus apps and how to build a loyalty program.
Shopify eCommerce Group
One of the biggest Shopify communities is the Shopify eCommerce Group on Facebook. Its administered by Terry Arsenault, who has more than a decade’s worth of experience developing brands and websites. While the group’s main focus is obviously going to be Shopify, you can still find content that goes into eCommerce at large. There are more than 4800 members, with enough activity to ensure you’ll have access to plenty of valuable resources alongside the opportunity to discuss current trends, provide solutions, or simply engage with other entrepreneurs.
The eCommerce Group
Another Facebook community, The eCommerce Group was founded by John Lawson, the CEO of ColderIce Media. A private group, it boasts more than 8,000 members, reaching vendors, marketers, and experts in eCommerce alike. Although there is a heavy focus on Amazon and eBay, that doesn’t mean you won’t find lots of information and tactics that you could apply to whatever business you have. Beardropshipping the group actively encourages those who join to contribute with helpful replies before they can share content like a personal blog or an event.
eCommerce Marketing Podcast
The eCommerce Marketing Podcast is presented by Arlen Robinson, the cofounder of Omnistar Affiliate Software. It promises to give listeners the lowdown for everything that goes into eCommerce marketing. In that vein, episodes have explored how a business can upsell its products, how to sell on social media, and increase sales using email retargeting. Alongside the podcast, there are also articles, videos, and guides to discover (not to mention reviews of the best eCommerce sales software). All in all, eCommerce Marketing Podcast is a great resource for an entrepreneur.
Oberlo
Oberlo is a popular platform for drop shipping and actually belongs to Shopify. Like their parent company, they’ve built up a vibrant community for eCommerce entrepreneurs in the form of a blog. Of course, there’s a strong focus on Oberlo’s specialty of drop shipping, but that doesn’t mean the site limits itself to that subject. In fact, there are plenty of posts relevant to general eCommerce, from sourcing customer testimonials to using Instagram Stories to build a wider brand audience.
Practical eCommerce
With a declared mission to support merchants in their efforts to grow and improve their business, Practical eCommerce has built an extensive blog that covers the most fundamental aspects of eCommerce. For example, there are categories focused on marketing and management, as well as SEO and those all-important conversions. They also branch out into topics like cross-border selling and even cryptocurrency. Best of all, every article is both written and fact-checked by professionals, ensuring information is both informed and accurate. Their blog is complemented by a podcast, eCommerce guides, and numerous webinars.
eCommerce Entrepreneurs
The eCommerce Entrepreneurs Facebook group is managed by Richard Lazazzera, of A Better Lemonade Stand. It boasts more than 50,000 members, with the goal of developing a vibrant community focused on eCommerce, digital marketing, SEO, Shopify, and more. They have a number of rules, ensuring the overall quality of posts and discussions is maintained. What’s more, you’ll have to have a profile picture, a Facebook account that’s at least a year old, and belong to less than 50 groups. Once you’ve joined, you’ll find a community designed to support and inspire eCommerce entrepreneurs.
Neil Patel
One of the most recognizable names in online marketing, Neil Patel runs a popular blog that has rapidly become a leading resource for a wide range of topics. Many of these topics are relevant to eCommerce, with lots of tips and tricks to boost your business, improve your website, or otherwise strengthen your brand. An active community has formed around his blog since each post can be commented on. Topics have included the lowdown on getting your first 1,000 visitors through SEO and a look at the best marketing automation software.
The Unofficial Shopify Podcast
There’s no getting around the fact that Shopify is one of the most important eCommerce platforms out there. That’s reflected in the wealth of communities devoted to it like The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. As the name suggests, it’s not an official podcast, but the show, hosted by Kurt Elster and Paul Reda, can be a valuable listen for eCommerce entrepreneurs. Among covered topics have been what to do when your inventory runs out and how to convert your first customers. Alongside their episodes, the podcast runs a private Facebook group with more than 4,000 members.
Casual eCommerce
Although Casual eCommerce is not regularly updated, this YouTube channel has amassed more than 67,000 subscribers and over 7.4 million views. It’s run by Jake Alexander, who has been selling and marketing since 2013. A variety of subjects (from finding suppliers on Alibaba to using YouTube influencers for dropshipping) are explored in an accessible and easy-to-follow way. There are also lots of videos that provide instructional step-by-step overviews, such as how to add a section to a Shopify page or how you can create a professional eCommerce website.
Shopify Strategy
Although Shopify Strategy leans heavily into the world of Shopify, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have useful information for the eCommerce entrepreneur at large. Indeed, as one of the largest eCommerce-centric Facebook groups out there (it has more than 36,000 members!), it’s well worth joining to discover all the tips and tricks that many successful businesses use to profit online. Moreover, the group’s main admin, Phil Kyprianou (who founded GothRider coffee company) frequently organizes live chat sessions on Facebook to provide for more involved support to eCommerce entrepreneurs.
eCommerce Experts
As a social platform, LinkedIn has built up an impressive number of groups, many of which are focused on eCommerce. One of the largest is eCommerce Experts, which has a membership of over 140,000. If you’re active on the platform, then this is a group that’s worth joining as the content is informative and knowledgeable about eCommerce. It’s a welcoming environment that’s ideal not only for getting advice and feedback but also for networking (something that is appropriate given that it’s hosted on LinkedIn).
Shopify Beast
If you’ve never used Clubhouse, you may want to check it out. It’s an audio-based app that lets users create groups where they can have live conversations focused on all manner of subjects. eCommerce is one of them, and one of the largest is Shopify Beast (with more than 21,000 followers). Think of this group as being akin to meeting up with a bunch of fellow entrepreneurs, experts, and vendors in a social environment. While Shopify is the focal point, there’s still lots of potential to find tips and strategies that matter to you.
Shopify Masters
The Shopify Masters podcast is an official project associated with Shopify. It’s produced more than 360 episodes and is hosted by Felix Thea. Typically, an episode will feature an interview with a Shopify store owner, who discusses their successes while putting out the sort of practical advice that turned them into a six or seven-figure business. For instance, an interviewee might talk about how they created a viral Facebook ad, or how they broaden their audience on social media through optimization. This is a podcast well-worth listening to for any entrepreneur.
