If you’re an entrepreneur or marketer, these ecommerce books will arm you with foundational knowledge to successfully build and operate an online store.
What are the best books for ecommerce?
Best-selling author Cal Newport says: “If your goal is to love what you do, you must first build up “career capital” by mastering rare and valuable skills, and then cash in this capital for the traits that define great work.”
Passion is a side effect of mastery.
And books are one of the easiest and quickest way to become good at something.
That’s why each book listed here will help you improve your ecommerce skillset.
Most ecommerce books will be around direct response marketing, but there are other skills that are essential to running a successful internet business.
I’ve listed them below:
Best ecommerce books for beginners
1. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
The quickest path to failure is to start a business around a product no one wants. Before launching your next big idea, you need to validate there’s actual demand for your product.
Dropshippers do this all the time by running advertising campaigns around different products until they find a winner.
Ries introduces a Build-Measure-Learn framework which helps you test ideas quickly, gather feedback, and pivot when needed.
If you approach ecommerce the opposite way — spend years perfecting a product without understanding market needs, you’re doomed to fail.
Read this book to create a product launch strategy.
My main takeaway:
“We must learn what customers really want, not what they say they want or what we think they should want.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
2. The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd by Allan Dib
If you want a quick and reliable marketing plan for your ecommerce business, then Allan Dib has got you covered.
This book walks you through a step-by-step guide to building a direct response marketing strategy for your brand. It covers three crucial marketing phases: before lead generation, during lead generation, and after the prospect becomes a customer.
The beauty of this concept lies in its simplicity — according to Alan, if you can’t fit your marketing plan on a single page, it’s too complicated.
Read this book to develop a reliable marketing plan.
Main takeaway:
“The quickest way to marketing failure is to imitate the mass marketing tactics of major corporations.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
3. Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy
What’s your go-to customer acquisition channel? For most ecommerce businesses, it’s Meta advertising.
Unfortunately, most ads suck nowadays, causing founders and marketers to burn thousands on campaigns that barely break even, let alone scale.
Alexandra Greifeld from No Best Practices points out key traits of winning products on Meta. Some of these are:
-
- $75–$250 average order value
-
- At least 70% profit margins
-
- High perceived value
Identifying your potential hero product is just the first step — you also need to know what makes a great ad. For that, I recommend reading Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy.
Some parts of this book will be irrelevant to e-com brands (such as what it’s like to work in an ad agency), but it will arm you with foundational knowledge about effective advertising.
Read this book to create ads that sell.
Main takeaway:
“Advertising which promises no benefit to the reader doesn’t sell. Yet the majority of campaigns contain no promise whatsoever.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
4. Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
So many marketers rave about storytelling, and for good reason:
Stories are powerful. Stories are memorable. Stories sell.
People remember stories with a hero. If you want people to remember your brand, you have to make your customer the hero of the story.
In this book, Donald Miller guides you through crafting a compelling narrative around your brand by focusing on fulfilling one of your customer’s desires.
Read this book to craft compelling brand messaging.
Main takeaway:
“Your customers don’t care about your story; they care about their own.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
5. $100M Offers: How to Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No by Alex Hormozi
Products that sell online have high perceived value.
And to increase the perceived value of a product, you need a grand slam offer.
In this book, Alex Hormozi breaks down the core components of million-dollar offers. The kind of offers that people feel stupid saying “no” to because they think they’re missing out on incredible value.
This book is highly actionable. You’ll find exercises that you can perform on your business to craft better offers instantly.
It also provides strategic guidance on pricing your products, picking the right market, and niching down – all crucial topics for ecommerce brands.
Read this book to create irresistible offers.
Main takeaway:
“The secret to sales is making people an offer so good that feel stupid not to accept it.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
Best Ecommerce Books for Advanced Reading
6. Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It by April Dunford
Brand positioning is a million dollar question for e-commerce brands.
Can you guess how most brands approach positioning?
They take the market average and price their products a little lower.
That’s a terrible strategy unless you want to go out of business quickly.
A smart approach would be to define your unique selling point (USP) and find a way to stand out from the market. This book will help you achieve that.
Read this book to nail brand positioning.
Main takeaway:
“Positioning is the act of deliberately defining how you are the best at something that a defined market cares a lot about”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
7. The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells, 4th Edition by Robert Bly
The books I’ve mentioned so far will help you think strategically, but none of it matters if you can’t bring those strategies to life.
You need to know how to write copy that sells.
Your website, product descriptions, emails — every marketing material you put out relies on words. If you don’t know how to use words to persuade people to buy, you’re in trouble.
There are tons of copywriting books out there, but if there’s one I’d recommend to someone completely new to this world, it’s this one.
Bob Bly offers a thorough introduction to the art of copywriting, and it’s packed with timeless principles relevant to ecommerce brands.
Read this book to write persuasive copy.
Main takeaway:
“Your copy should be urgent, unique, ultra-specific and useful.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
8. $100M Leads: How to Get Strangers to Want to Buy Your Stuff by Alex Hormozi
If you enjoyed Hormozi’s $100M Offers, chances are you’ll dig his book about lead generation too.
Alex does a great job of breaking customer acquisition (an often overwhelming subject) down into four main categories: warm outreach, cold outreach, advertising, and content creation.
There are many real-world examples in this book showing you how to approach each acquisition channel strategically.
Once you’ve mastered lead generation, you can empower other people to bring you new customers through referrals and affiliates.
Read this book to attract new leads.
Main takeaway:
“If you want more leads, you have three options: do more of what you’re doing, do it better, or add a new strategy. Most people just need to do more of what’s working.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
9. The Moat: How to Build a Durable, Profitable E-Commerce Brand that can Last Forever by Chris Orzechowski
Wanna know a fun fact? Chris was/is my first mentor.
But that isn’t the reason I included his book on the list. He knows his stuff.
In fact, this is one of the few books here that is directly relevant to e-commerce businesses.
Chris breaks down a simple marketing system you can use to launch, grow, and scale your brand and generate tons of cash flow.
He calls it “the Moat”, which stands for Mission, Offers, Acquisition, and Traction.
This book also gives you insights on how to retain your customers by using strategic email marketing.
Read this book to create a scalable marketing system for your e-commerce brand.
Main takeaway:
“Your email list is your most valuable asset.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
10. Very Good Copy: 207 Micro-Lessons on Thinking and Writing Like a Copywriter by Eddie Shleyner
If Bob Bly’s book is the first I’d recommend on copywriting, this one’s a close second. It’s packed with short, punchy lessons about writing, advertising, consumer psychology, storytelling, and copy.
While the book itself isn’t short, I enjoyed it for the simple fact that the bite-sized lessons make it easy to read and digestible. Each time I picked it up, I felt as if I learned something new.
Read this book to become a better writer.
Main takeaway:
“You should work to come up with points the competition cannot say about their products.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
11. Advanced Digital Marketing Strategies for Ecommerce: 9 Mini Master Classes to Drive Sales, Build Loyalty, and Achieve Rapid Growth by Michael Wu
As the title suggests, the strategies inside are advanced, and you’ll need a solid foundation in marketing to grasp them.
This book will feel overwhelming to someone just getting started. But if you’ve already grown your brand past seven figures in annual revenue, you’ll find a ton of value here.
Each paragraph is like a mini masterclass of each marketing channel: meta advertising, email marketing, social media, CRO, influencer marketing, and more.
Read this book to scale your brand beyond seven figures.
Main takeaway:
“Make buying from you such an amazing experience your customers become your sales warriors.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
12. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
By far the oldest book on the list is Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising.
And I’ll be honest, it’s not the most exciting read. Some of the vocabulary he uses is archaic.
Yet, it is still considered the holy grail of advertising for good reason — many principles in this book are highly relevant, like writing specific headlines.
That’s why this article is called “23 Best Ecommerce Books for Marketers and Entrepreneurs”
Not “Best Ecommerce Books for Marketers and Entrepreneurs”
By using a specific number, I promise you vast information on the topic.
This book is a fairly short read at just around 100 pages.
Read this book to learn data-driven advertising.
Main takeaway:
“No one reads ads for entertainment or amusement.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
13. Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Formula to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy…Create a Mass of Raving Fans…and Take Any Business to the Next Level by Ryan Levesque
You can take your business to the next level just by understanding what your customers want.
This book is your go-to guide to doing market research using customer surveys.
If you’re an introvert like me who hates phone calls, you’ll enjoy the methods taught in this book.
Read this book to master market research.
Main takeaway:
“When you get market research right, customers and prospects will write to you and say: ‘It’s like you know what’s going on in my head and you can read my mind.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
14. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
In this “sales bible”, Cialdini identifies six “principles of influence”:
Reciprocity
Liking
Social Proof
Scarcity
Authority
Commitment and consistency
Use the principles to persuade people. Since you’re likely in the business of persuading people to buy your products, you can’t afford to not know them.
I refer to Cialdini often in my email marketing breakdowns, like this one.
Read this book to learn persuasion tactics.
Main takeaway:
“When we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
15. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
Not necessarily e-commerce related, but this book emphasizes the importance of building automated systems in your business.
So many people quit their 9-5’s to chase freedom only to end up in a vicious cycle working 12-15 hours a day on their “business”.
Ferriss helps you escape the trap of hustle culture by building systems, eliminating time-wasters, and automating your business.
Read this book to take control of your time.
Main takeaway:
“Being busy is a form of laziness. Doing less is the path of the productive.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
16. DotCom Secrets by Russell Brunson
When a customer buys from you for the first time, that’s just the beginning of the relationship.
Every successful e-commerce business has a sales funnel that guides customers from a low-ticket offer to high-value purchases over time.
Brunson calls this the “Value Ladder” – and it’s the key to increasing customer lifetime value (CLV).
Read this book to build a high-converting sales funnel.
Main takeaway:
“The difference between having a six-, seven-, or even eight-figure business is whether you understand the phases of a funnel and can successfully monetize the different points along the line.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
17. Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling by Matthew Dicks
Perhaps the only book on storytelling that’s actually worth reading.
Matthew Dicks defines stories as five-second transformational moments we experience in our daily lives.
Each good story involves change. The character must start from A and move to B in terms of their thinking.
This book will help you craft powerful founding stories and a brand mission that resonates. People are more likely to buy from you if you have a strong why behind what you’re doing.
Dicks also encourages you to take five minutes at the end of each day to capture meaningful moments.
You can use these moments to craft stories in your marketing (such as emails) and make your brand stand out.
Read this book to craft memorable stories.
Main takeaway:
“A story without change is an anecdote.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
18. Ca$hvertising: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone by Drew Eric Whitman
In this classic, Whitman lists the eight things that drives people to buy:
-
- Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension
- Enjoyment of food and beverages
- Freedom from fear, pain, and danger
- Sexual companionship
- Comfortable living conditions
- To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses
- Care and protection of loved ones
- Social approval
Hit on one of these points in your marketing, and the chances of you converting a customer is much higher.
There’s tons of other valuable information on consumer behavior in this book, and you should read it.
Read this book to craft ads that trigger action.
Main takeaway:
“Not only is it pleasant for us to satisfy our eight primary desires, but it’s also pleasant for us to read about how others have satisfied them.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
19. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz
The most expensive book on this list is Breakthrough Advertising by Gene Schwartz. Beware, if you don’t have much hands-on marketing experience, this book will go right over your head.
That said, there are some important concepts here, like the five stages of market sophistication.
If you’re an e-commerce business operating in a competitive market like weight-loss supplements, this book will help you stand out in the market.
It has been tremendously useful for me when writing copy for clients in ultra-competitive markets.
Read this book to write copy that cuts through the noise.
Main takeaway:
“This is the copywriter’s task: not to create mass desire – but to channel and direct it.”
20. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber
It seems like everyone and their grandma is a business owner nowadays. The bad news? 80% of businesses fail in the first five years.
Michael Gerber breaks down why that happens. His core argument is that most people start businesses based on technical skills (like baking, designing, or coding), but they lack the entrepreneurial mindset and systems needed to succeed.
Read this book to avoid common entrepreneurial pitfalls.
Main takeaway:
“Work on your business, not in your business.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
21. Ecommerce Evolved: The Essential Playbook To Build, Grow & Scale A Successful Ecommerce Business by Tanner Larsson
Ecommerce brands compete on marketing, not uniqueness. Tanner Larsson drives this point home.
He argues that most e-com businesses fail because they still use outdated marketing tactics from the dotcom days.
The 12 Principles of Ecommerce introduced in this book will also help you avoid common mistakes, such as competing on price, being cheap with customer acquisition, and more.
Read this book to build a modern, scalable ecommerce business.
Main takeaway:
“You may have the best product in a specific niche, but you can’t be successful until you accept that your business is marketing and the product is just the thing you sell.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
22. Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne
The concept of “Blue Oceans” challenges you to find new ways of delivering value to customers.
You can either compete with other brands in the existing “Red Ocean”, or make competition irrelevant by creating a Blue Ocean.
An example of a Blue Ocean would be Death Wish Coffee.
Instead of bragging about their organic beans like every other coffee brand, they labeled themselves as “The world’s strongest coffee.” No joke, we’re talking about a crazy amount of caffeine (650mg+) in a single cup.
It became a hit among people who didn’t care much for taste but rather wanted a strong kick in the morning.
Read this book to find new ways to deliver value.
Main takeaway:
“Stop looking to the competition. Value-innovate and let the competition worry about you.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
23. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
The final book I recommend for ecommerce marketers and entrepreneurs has nothing to do with business, but it’s still incredibly useful.
Cal Newport defines deep work as “the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.”
How much time do you waste on shallow tasks like checking email or responding to Slack messages?
I know I used to (and still do occasionally).
Unfortunately, these are non-cognitive tasks with little impact on your business.
To succeed, you need to allocate time for deep work — stuff that actually matters — every day.
Read this book to get sh*t done.
Main takeaway:
“What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore—plays in defining the quality of our life.”
Get the Paperback | Get it on Kindle
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Apply this knowledge to your business
Books are an accessible way to gain new skills, but as with anything you learn, what matters more is how you put this knowledge into action.
I will update this list every year, so keep an eye on new ecommerce books in the future.
I recommend bookmarking this page and sharing it with a colleague/friend (just don’t share it with a competitor *wink*).
