Archive

Maybe it's a bad self-image brought on by the hundreds of good companies strewn by the wayside. Or a belief that people will be ready one day to buy more online -- just not yet. Whatever the cause, something is holding e-commerce back from reaching its potential. Short of sending the industry to...

This week's investment agreement between Amazon.com and AOL Time Warner reportedly contains language that "leaves the door open" for a possible merger, a merger-and-acquisition attorney told the E-Commerce Times on Wednesday. According to published reports, the agreement -- which calls for AOL to...

Internet travel site Orbitz took aim at one of its suppliers Tuesday, accusing Vanguard Airlines of being unresponsive and of colluding with other parties to protect the interests of Sabre, a part-owner of Orbitz rival Travelocity.com. Trouble began brewing earlier this month when consumers expe...

Although the globalization and localization (G&L) services industry has just begun making inroads with some e-commerce firms, it is already transforming the e-business economy worldwide, according to a report released Wednesday by IDC. According to the research firm's survey of 20 G&L lea...

FTD.com, which sells flowers and gifts over the Internet and by telephone, said Tuesday that strong online sales led the company to its first full-year profit and are likely to contribute to solid growth in the year ahead. Internet orders accounted for about 86 percent of the company's business i...

Drugstore.com on Tuesday reported a narrower than expected loss for the second quarter of 2001 to beat Wall Street estimates by 6 U.S. cents. The company posted a pro forma net loss in the latest quarter of $16.8 million, or 25 cents per share, excluding one-time charges. "Their marketing expense...

With less than one-quarter of car owners visiting automobile-related Web sites on a regular basis, automakers hoping to target potential customers with online advertising must improve their understanding of their audiences, according to a study released Wednesday by Jupiter Media Metrix and R.L. ...

In the aftermath of Amazon.com's release of its Q2 earnings report Monday, several industry analysts believe that the e-tailer can make good on its prediction of year-end profitability. The consensus is that Amazon is pulling back enough on its growth strategy to reach its goal of profitability ...

On Monday -- the same day the company announced second-quarter results bordering on dismal -- Amazon and America Online revealed a new agreement in which the giant Internet service provider will invest US$100 million in cash-strapped Amazon. At the end of the day, investors and pundits were left...

AOL Time Warner and Amazon. In some ways, it's a perfect match, a logical cozying-up between the biggest e-tailer and the biggest owner of virtually everything media. And at first glance, it seems like a win-win deal. But for the low, low price of US$100 million, Amazon may have sold itself into...

Although small businesses have had ample opportunity to tap a wealth of available resources designed to help them sell their products and services online, many are still sitting on the sidelines when it comes to e-commerce, according to a report released Tuesday by IDC. The Framingham, Massachus...

In separate moves, retailers Kmart and Wal-Mart both said Monday they would move to bring their online units under control of their parent companies. Troy, Michigan-based Kmart announced an agreement to buy the 40 percent stake in BlueLight.com that it did not already own. Wal-Mart, meanwhile, s...

Music-swapping site Napster named Konrad Hilbers, an executive with Bertelsmann AG, its new chief executive officer Tuesday and said that his first task will be to oversee Napster's transformation into a fee-based service. "The appointment of Konrad Hilbers is another step by Napster into the mus...

The Electronic Payments Association announced Monday that ATM or debit cards can be used on the Internet with transaction authentication and security that are comparable to point-of-sale purchases. "For consumers, purchasing online with digitally-authenticated ATM cards is no different from maki...

When online portal CitySearch.com announced layoffs of 90 employees this month, it was billed as a cost-cutting measure designed to help the company reach its profitability goals. It was only the latest and most public announcement of the underlying struggles local portals face. Across the natio...