10 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2024

School’s out, summer’s here, and with it, new books for ecommerce pros. Here’s our quarterly rundown — a selection of recent and forthcoming titles that present fresh takes on economics and finance, AI, startups, marketing strategy, Amazon, and more.

Ecommerce Books: Summer 2024

Your AI Survival Guide: Scraped Knees, Bruised Elbows, and Lessons Learned from Real-World AI Deployments by Sol Rashidi

AI Survival Guide

Rashidi, who helped launch AI implementations, including IBM’s Watson, demystifies AI deployment with hype-free, real-world examples and practical advice.

The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power by Dana Mattioli

The Everything War

This detailed exposé of Amazon’s no-holds-barred competitive tactics by an award-winning Wall Street Journal reporter is hailed by reviewers as “blistering,” “riveting,” “explosive,” and “masterful.”

Cash Is King: Maintain Liquidity, Build Capital, and Prepare Your Business for Every Opportunity by Peter W. Kingma

Cash Is King

Kingma, a corporate consultant, argues that cash position is just as important as sales, costs, and service, providing case studies and tips on ensuring your company always has cash when needed.

Reignition: Transforming Stuck Startups into Breakout Winners by Dave Hersh

Reignition

Entrepreneur and investor Hersh aims to help entrepreneurs get unstuck — or better yet, avoid getting stuck in the first place.

Think Like a Brand. Act Like a Startup. Drive Growth and Innovation by Balancing Stability and Agility by Lauren Perkins

Think Like a Brand

Drawing on her experience working with companies of all sizes, Lauren Perkins shows entrepreneurs how to combine the best aspects of established brands and innovative startups for growth and stability.

Plastic Capitalism: Banks, Credit Cards, and the End of Financial Control by Sean H. Vanatta

Plastic Capitalism

Ecommerce as we know it wouldn’t be possible without credit cards. Vanatta’s accessible financial history explains how plastic came to dominate the consumer economy.

Simple Marketing for Smart People by Billy Broas, Tiago Forte, and Ali Abdaal

Simple Marketing for Smart People

With so much advice on marketing strategies and tactics, it can be easy to get lost in the weeds. This book aims to cut through the clutter to focus on the basics for maximum effectiveness.

The 10-Second Customer Journey: The CXO’s Playbook for Growing and Retaining Customers in a Digital World by Todd Unger

10-Second Customer Journey

A 30-year digital marketing veteran offers a step-by-step guide to becoming your own “Chief Friction-Reduction Officer.”

Shocks, Crises, and False Alarms: How to Assess True Macroeconomic Risk by Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak and Paul Swartz

Shocks, Crises, False Alarms

How might global events — pandemics, wars, inflation, recession — affect your business? Two seasoned economists show how to get past frightening headlines to assess the potential risks.

Never Enough: From Barista to Billionaire by Andrew Wilkinson

Never Enough

What’s it like to make a lot of money? Wilkinson shares his journey from starting a business in high school to becoming a billionaire — and beyond — with some surprising lessons learned.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Content Marketing,
AI, Social Media, Podcasting, Video, and Newsjacking to Reach Buyers Directly, 9th Edition by David Meerman Scott

New Rules of Marketing & PR

And finally, a new version of an international bestseller. The updated ninth edition of this perennially popular classic is set to publish in August.

Get a Handle on AI with These 10 Books

Forecasts for artificial intelligence’s impact range from a better society to mass layoffs or worse. Here are 10 respected books to help grasp AI’s promise and pitfalls for business and beyond. Eight titles are new in 2024, while two are industry classics.

Books to Grasp AI

Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing) by Salman Khan

Brave New Words

Khan Academy’s founder argues that AI technologies can transform education by creating customizable learning tools. He explores its implications for teachers, parents, students, and society.

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick

Co-Intelligence

One of Amazon’s top-rated AI books of 2024 and a bestseller since its publication in April, Wharton professor and AI expert Mollick analyzes the impact of AI in education and business through real-life examples and advocates learning to work with it effectively.

Welcome to AI: A Human Guide to Artificial Intelligence by David L. Shrier

Welcome to AI

Shrier, an authority on technology-driven innovation, discusses how accelerating advances in AI will affect how we learn, live, and work.

51 Essential AI Terms Explained for Leaders: A Non-Technical Guide by Marco Ryan

51 Essential AI Terms

This alphabetical guide, written by the former chief digital officer at British Petroleum, provides definitions, plain-language explanations, and real-life examples to help those without technical experience understand key AI terms related.

The Algorithm: How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired and Why We Need to Fight Back Now by Hilke Schellmann

The Algorithm

Schellmann, a New York University professor and contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and National Public Radio, explores how AI tools are already used in human resource management and how faulty algorithms compound human biases. He advocates for more thoughtful practices in hiring, evaluating, and managing employees. The New York Times Book Review named it one of the five best books on AI, stating it “treats AI as a tool used by people, avoiding grand theories and wild speculations.”

The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma by Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar

The Coming Wave

In this multi-award-winning book, Suleyman, who has led AI initiatives for Google and Microsoft, warns of the possible dangers of rapid technological advances such as quantum computing, synthetic biology, and AI while remaining optimistic about meeting these challenges.

Generative AI for Business Leaders: 2024 Edition by I. Almeida

Generative AI for Leaders

This collection of three practical guides provides an overview of the potential risks and benefits as well as ways to reduce negative consequences and enhance business outcomes.

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on AI by Harvard Business Review and multiple authors

HBR’s 10 Most Reads on AI

This addition to Harvard Business Review’s “10 Must-Reads” series collects expert articles on using AI in business. It covers topics ranging from pricing algorithms to AI ethics.

The Business Case for AI: A Leader’s Guide to AI Strategies, Best Practices & Real-World Applications by Kavita Ganesan

The Business Case for AI

Ganesan aims to demystify AI for business leaders looking to identify its opportunities. Though published in 2022, her book is still highly recommended by reviewers and experts for its real-world examples and jargon-free language.

The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values by Brian Christian

The Alignment Problem

Christian, an award-winning author and science journalist, examines how to align AI technology’s behavior with human values, which has become even more urgent with advances in AI technology in the four years since this book was published.