About The Author
Rodman is a copywriter, editor, and non-profit founder based in the Philippines. With over a decade of solid experience in SEO and digital marketing, he’s an expert in creating content that educates and converts.
For many entrepreneurs – eCommerce is the way to go. It’s convenient, flexible, scalable – what’s not to love?
But like all things digital, eCommerce is constantly evolving. It’s come a long way since the time when Amazon and eBay were the only players selling online. Today, there’s Alibaba, Apple, Instagram – plus an infinitum of small businesses popping up.
… Which makes the perfect time to gain knowledge and inspo from other successful entrepreneurs.
In this article, we break down the top eCommerce books to level up your game.
We all know the story. It started as a virtual bookstore that operated in a garage. Now, it’s the biggest shopping website on the Internet: a classic rags-to-riches story. It’s also one of the only five companies that managed to reach a trillion-dollar market cap, alongside Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, and Tesla.
Exactly how Jeff Bezos turned Amazon into a household name in tech and eCommerce remains a mystery to most people. It’s a secret any entrepreneur who dreams of having their own successful online store would kill for.
Award-winning journalist Richard Brandt understood that the only way to decipher Bezos’ thought process was to put Amazon under the microscope. He interviewed dozens of employees and competitors to examine Amazon’s business model and system more closely than any outsider has ever done.
What he learned afterward astounded him, and he shared it in this incredible book.
If you’ve ever tried buying a physical or digital product from Amazon, you’ll notice the CTA “buy now in one click” on every page. Yep, that’s where Brandt got the title of his book. He also thinks it’s one of Amazon’s best-kept secrets.
When YouTube started paying for content, many became millionaires overnight. Now, other social media sites do it, too, in their own little way, which knocks up more income streams for everyone.
But content creation is not the only way to capitalize on social media. In this book, Gary Vaynerchuk teaches how social media can help you augment your personal brand and leverage it to grow your wealth across multiple online channels.
Crushing It! is packed with ground-breaking tips and little-known but tried-and-true branding strategies suitable for every profession. Many lessons Vaynerchuk shared in this book were drawn from success stories of modern influencers who chose to defy the norm and follow their dreams.
Still, Vaynerchuk explains that social media as a brand-amplifying tool only works for those willing to free themselves from social restraints.
Do you have an existing business that’s not working out for you anymore? Are you looking to try something new, but your current business is stubbornly holding you back? There’s only one way out of your situation that won’t drain your wallet—SELL IT!
In this book, bestselling author Joey Valley teaches both new and established entrepreneurs how to sell—and exit—their business successfully. He provides actionable tips on negotiating deal terms and conditions, avoiding what he calls “the ignorance discount,” and packaging a company for sale.
Putting a price tag on your business is the trickiest part of the entire selling process. The EXITPreneur’s Playbook’s step-by-step guide to business appraisal is sure to help you decide on a price that would allow you to start a new, more profitable venture.
Is it just me or all self-help books and podcasts share one particular piece of advice—change should start within you? I bet you’ve noticed that, too.
While this is true, James Clear explains in his #1 NYT bestselling book Atomic Habits that there’s more to self-improvement than just changing your habit. He believes that more than your habit, it’s your system for change that keeps you locked up in a vicious cycle of mediocrity. And that changing your system will help you breakthrough.
Clear’s message highlights the importance of motivation and willpower in keeping your boat steady while reaching for the next shoreline. With Atomic Habits, he has helped thousands who fell out of their courses get back on track by redesigning (and taking control of) their environment.
This book is perfect not just for individuals struggling to turn away from an unhealthy habit, but also for organizations trying to redefine their industry. Some of the tips you’ll get are based on true stories from well-known achievers in the fields of sports, entertainment, and business.
One of the biggest mistakes inexperienced business owners make is focusing on paying off their debt and adding more inventory at the expense of profit. While such dedication is commendable, entrepreneurship expert Mike Michalowicz advises against it.
Michalowicz invented a Profit First methodology that eCommerce businesses can adopt to increase profitability while simultaneously settling other financial obligations. He shared this formula in his book Profit First (original), which has helped countless enterprises grow exponentially.
Cyndi Thomason, another bestselling author, took the core concepts of Michalowicz’s formula and personalized it to help solve specific financial issues encountered by startup businesses.
That brings us to the revised and expanded version of Profit First, which focuses on helping eCommerce businesses break through the “getting by” barrier and become permanently profitable.
Donald Miller is a New York Times bestselling author with 12 published books in his portfolio. His most recent works center on brand building and marketing for all kinds of businesses.
Whether you own a startup or an established business, this is the book for you as long as you’re having difficulty upselling and raking in profit. Its main content is a five-part business marketing checklist, which ultimately helps develop, strengthen, and communicate your brand’s story to your target audience.
You’ll learn to create a sales funnel tailored to your business plan. It covers various aspects of branding, from wireframing a website to building customer relationships. Miller laid out all his methods and advice in an easy-to-digest format.
SPOILER ALERT: You will gain five essential things that can supercharge your eCommerce business after reading this book—clarity on your choices, strategy to get your ideas across, a business development tactic that works in every situation, the right skill-set, and insight on power plays.
This practical guide aimed at audacious entrepreneurs clears away distractions that cause you to make bad choices for your business. Read this book if you feel like you’ve hit a roadblock or lost the will to carry on.
WSJ #1 bestselling author Patrick Bet-David shares a combo of wisdom from successful business owners he admires and the principles he drew from his own experiences as a CEO of his own company.
Remember, though, that these next five moves are just a continuation of the journey you’ve already started. It will only work out if you’ve already taken the necessary steps to start your first profitable eCommerce business.
Before starting your own business, you probably only worried about small things like why your check hasn’t arrived yet or how much you make every week for having two full-time jobs.
Now that you’re the CEO of your own company, you have more challenging concerns to handle, such as personnel conflict and profit woes. The good thing is that you always have the final say on anything, so fixing problems like these should be easy.
Unfortunately, some of your decisions will hit the wall and never get done, and that’s how some problems stick around. This bestselling book by Gino Wickman reveals a secret method that can eradicate the stubborn setbacks you are experiencing as a business owner.
It features the Entrepreneurial Operating System framework, an innovative approach to business management used by countless multinational companies, such as DuckettLadd and CMIT Solutions. If you’re not using this tool in your company, you’re missing out on an awful lot of opportunities for breakthroughs.
Who Not How is another mindset-shifting book that you’ll need to set your priorities straight and sharpen your decision-making skill. It shows you where you’re wasting resources—especially time—and how to reallocate those resources to deficient aspects of your eCommerce business.
The author, Dan Sullivan, a world-renowned entrepreneurial coach, explains the importance of tackling business challenges from an employer’s perspective (rather than from an employee’s perspective). Hiring people instead of doing as much of the job yourself allows you to focus on the helm and take back control of the bridge.
Simply put, Who Not How is about the people who have significant roles in your eCommerce success. After all, the workforce is the backbone of any business or organization. With the right people in your team, you can get your desired results and concentrate on your responsibilities.
It pays to know more than your competitors. Arming yourself with time-tested knowledge can lend you a winning edge. And where better to obtain that knowledge than from books written by industry experts?
Finishing a book is like completing a learning course. It unlocks new skills that can rev up your business engines. The more books you finish, the more skills you unlock. The best part is you get to do it in the comfort of your own home.
So, are you ready to make headway in the market? If you start now, you might be able to finish the entire list above before the year ends, which could mean a giant leap for your eCommerce business for the year ahead!
Rodman is a copywriter, editor, and non-profit founder based in the Philippines. With over a decade of solid experience in SEO and digital marketing, he’s an expert in creating content that educates and converts.
