An Amazon search for ecommerce books pulls up a hodgepodge of titles that suggest get-rich-quick schemes, such as “Making Money Online Has Never Been This EASY”; books aimed at beginners such as indie authors who don’t have much business and marketing know-how; and books written by consultants looking to promote their own businesses.
What’s more, ecommerce encompasses such a broad range of strategies and disciplines — startups, usability, AI — that there’s no single authority. Skimming through reviews takes time. To simplify the search, here’s a list of 10 veteran authors for ecommerce success.
Jonah Berger
Contagious
Berger, a Wharton School professor, writes on the science of influence, persuasion, and word-of-mouth marketing. His bestselling books include “Contagious: Why Things Catch On,” “The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind,” and “Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior.” These titles are available in multiple formats and languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese, demonstrating the global appeal of his ideas.
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Robert Cialdini
Influence
Devoting his entire career to rigorous research on what causes people to say “yes” to a request, Cialdini is a renowned expert on the science of persuasion and how to apply it ethically in business. His “Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion” is a New York Times bestseller. He writes and speaks extensively about influence and persuasion.
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Seth Godin
Linchpin
Godin sold his 1990s internet startup, Yoyodyne, to Yahoo and served as the platform’s vice president of direct marketing. A popular and prolific speaker and writer on modern marketing, he has published more than 20 books, including “Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable,” “Permission Marketing, Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers,” and “Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?”
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Ann Handley
Everybody Writes
Digital marketing pioneer Handley is the author of the best-selling book on content marketing, “Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business,” which has been translated into nine languages. Her second book is “Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content.”
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Steve Krug
Don’t Make Me Think
Krug’s first book, “Don’t Make Me Think,” the classic and widely cited guide to web usability — and his work with companies such as Apple, Netscape, AOL, and Lexus — helped make him a sought-after speaker and consultant. “Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web (and Mobile) Usability” is still tagged as a bestseller on Amazon even though it was published in 2013 and now has a second edition.
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Charlene Li
Open Leadership
Li is a sought-after commentator and keynote speaker who focuses on the impact of emerging social technologies. She is the author of “Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform How You Lead, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organizations Transform While Others Fail” and coauthor of the critically acclaimed, bestselling “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies,” revised and updated.
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Donald Miller
Building a Story Brand
Miller’s updated “Building a Story Brand 2.0: How to Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen” is set for publication later this year. His other bestsellers include “Marketing Made Simple” and “How to Grow Your Small Business.” He has also written books on coaching and spirituality.
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Jakob Nielsen
Usability Engineering
Nielsen is considered a world expert on web usability, a subject he has been writing about since 1995. The dozen books he has authored or coauthored address all aspects of usability, including mobile, multimedia, and hypertext, as well as usability designing and coordinating. “Usability Engineering” is his most popular.
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David Meerman Scott
News Jacking
Scott’s classic “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” is now in its eighth edition, making him an authority in the field. Various editions have been translated into multiple languages. His other books include “Newsjacking: How to Inject Your Ideas Into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage” and “Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From the Most Iconic Band in History.”
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Gary Vaynerchuk
Day Trading Attention
Known to his vast following as “GaryVee,” Vaynerchuk transformed in the early 2000s his family’s annual $3 million brick-and-mortar liquor business into a $60 million online wine retailer. He also co-founded the restaurant reservation platform Resy and three digital media firms. In 2017 Forbes named him a top social influencer. He has written seven books on wine, entrepreneurship, and social media. His latest, “Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World,” will be released next month.
