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Dot-com chief executive officers are departing their companies at a rate of almost one per day, according to a report released Thursday by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of job placement firm, told the E-Commerce Times that no matter "what euphemism...

Traditionally, when the lights go out, you've had two choices: You can light a candle or you can curse the darkness. But thanks to e-commerce, there's a third choice: Capitalize on others' misfortunes. Businesses have long been using the bad luck of others for their own gains. But e-commerce h...

As the dot-com shakeout nears the one-year mark, many companies might have a bad case of the E-Commerce Blues. Some analysts say that overspending and over-expansion, at the expense of monitoring cash flow and focusing on profitability, have doomed many e-tailers before they really ever began. Can...

Sapient (Nasdaq: SAPE) was down US$3.88 at $9.13 in morning trading Friday, after the information-technology consultant said first-quarter results will fall short of previous expectations, and that it is cutting jobs and consolidating operations in order to deal with a weakened U.S. economy. Sap...

Alternative payment methods, such as prepaid value cards and Web currency, are being used online, but they'll never dethrone the king of the dot-com world: the credit card. According to Yankee Group analyst Christine Loeber alternative payment methods are "not gathering much steam." The more e...

Finesse is in short supply in the world of online selling. Point-and-click somehow does not have the same humanity and gentle spirit as good body language, eye contact and a handshake, traditionally the essential ingredients closing an insurance sale. Maybe that's why the insurance industry has ...

Modem Media (Nasdaq: MMPT) fell to US$3.91, down 47 cents, in morning trading Thursday after the Internet consultant said it will lay off about 10 percent of its employees, close its Tokyo office and take a pretax charge of about $3 million to first-quarter earnings. "Over the last few weeks, we...

Gateway (NYSE: GTW) fell US$1.25 to $15.95 Thursday morning after the computer maker warned that its first-quarter operating income will be breakeven, rather than the 17 cents per share expected by analysts. Sales are "down slightly" from a year earlier, Gateway said. Gateway said first-quarter r...

3Com (Nasdaq: COMS) was down US$1.69 at $7.44 in morning trading Thursday after the networking equipment maker said revenue and earnings for the third quarter ending March 2nd will be "substantially lower" than previously thought. 3Com said that U.S. economic conditions and a prolonged slump in t...

Northwest Airlines Corp. and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said Wednesday that effective March 1st, they will no longer pay commissions on Internet ticket sales in the United States and Canada. In response, the online travel company Travelocity said that it would begin charging $10 service fees on tic...

Georgia and Texas are among the U.S. states grappling with the issue of Internet alcohol sales, after a federal law went into effect last month giving states more control over alcoholic shipments to consumers in their states. Girding up on one side of the debate are those who believe that allow...

Hours after firing half its staff Wednesday, beleaguered e-tailer Buy.com announced it had filed a US$45 million breach of contract lawsuit against golf's PGA Tour. Buy.com's suit, filed in a Los Angeles federal court, arises out of the golfing organization's decision to sign an agreement with...

After rejecting three takeover attempts in recent months, Fashionmall.com said Wednesday it had closed on three acquisitions of its own. New York City-based Fashionmall said it purchased the assets of Beautyjungle.com, MXGonline.com and Itsybits.com. All three sites are in the beauty and fashio...

Royal Ahold, the parent company of online grocer Peapod, has infused the struggling e-tailer with an additional US$30 million in financing, Peapod announced Wednesday. The new funding increases Ahold's original $20 million credit facility with Peapod to $50 million, Peapod said, leaving the e-ta...

Analysts disagree on whether Tuesday's downbeat economic news, including a reported drop in consumer confidence to its lowest level in nearly five years, is likely to drag down e-commerce spending levels. Forrester analyst Christopher Kelley told the E-Commerce Times not only that "consumers are de...