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Many lessons can be learned from the merchants that hawk the best-selling products in e-commerce. Among other things, experts said, top sellers offer goods that are easy to ship; they successfully separate the product from the buying process; and they allow comparison shopping across multiple cha...

More than US$700 million in online sales was lost to fraud in 2001, according to a new report released by GartnerG2. Those losses represented 1.14 percent of annual online sales of $61.8 billion and were 19 times higher than fraud losses resulting from offline sales, the report said. "Fraudsters ...

Dot-com job losses dipped below 1,000 in February, falling to their lowest level in nearly two years, according to a new report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. But the drop may mean that the Internet sector has few jobs left to lose, according to John Challenger, the outplacement firm's CE...

The "last mile" to consumers' doorsteps is arguably the most critical phase of online commerce. For a long time, e-tailers faced one shipping hurdle after another -- and often fell flat on their faces. While many companies recently have mended egregious deficiencies in their shipping operations, ...

In the world of e-tail, the free shipping experiment continues -- Buy.com recently said it will waive shipping charges on orders over US$99 that weigh less than 20 pounds -- but the formula for shipping success is still an enigma. For one thing, many e-tailers cannot afford to offer free shipping...

NetGrocer, an online food delivery service that focuses on shipping packaged goods, has struck a deal with supermarket chain Stop & Shop to test in-store kiosks for its Web service. The kiosks will help Stop & Shop respond to customer requests for specialty products -- requests that, if n...

With the holidays over, Internet users did more surfing than shopping in January, according to a new report from NetRatings, which measured at-home Web use in 29 countries. Among the top 25 sites, it was search engines, not e-tailers, that saw the biggest gains in unique visitors during the month...

UBid, BargainandHaggle.com and BidBay -- I mean, AuctionDiner -- all share the same raison d'etre: to battle EBay. There's only one problem: EBay doesn't seem to be battling back. In fact, EBay isn't getting close enough for anyone with limited resources to land a good punch. Why should it? EBay ...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it has settled cases against two Web sites accused of fraudulently selling treatments and tests for anthrax in the wake of last fall's terrorist attacks. "There are always new ones coming up with different claims, and we are online all the time searchi...

EBay stock fell nearly 8 percent before rebounding slightly after analysts expressed concerns about the auction giant's recent moves, including the planned closure of its Japanese site and a $9.5 million purchase of Taiwanese online auctioneer NeoCom. Lehman Brothers analyst Holly Becker said EBa...

Even amid the ruins of energy giant Enron, EnronOnline was still a shining jewel. Earlier this year, the Web-based network was the first asset sold in Enron's bankruptcy proceedings, with three bidders chasing after it. "It was the leading energy trading platform by far, which made it very attrac...

Online consumers spent more time at bank and brokerage Web sites in January than at any other type of site, including portals and search engines, according to a new report from Nielsen//NetRatings. "Part of what you're seeing is that now financial research is that much more important," NetRatings...

Analysts said e-business CEOs should form decision support networks comprised of unbiased, diverse advisors to examine ideas and strategies.

EBay is making a bid for China's Internet auction market by purchasing Taiwan-based online auction company NeoCom Technology for US$9.5 million in cash, plus an additional payment to be determined when the deal closes. "China is a huge market, and Taiwan is a stepping stone to mainland China," Mo...

As e-commerce companies continue to hone methods for reaching the masses, many are employing "page pushing," live chat and other interactive methods to give their sites a human touch. "The real value of live assistance is that it provides a way for the business to affect abandonment rates," Meta ...