Articles by Mark W. Vigoroso

It is abundantly evident that the number of online buyersis multiplying at a healthy rate. E-tailers will surely extend open arms to thethrongs of newcomers, but they may not be ready fortheir entirely new customer personalities. The fact is,the Internet is reaching the middle class en masse,ushering in legions of mid- to late-term technology adop...

E-business standards consortium OASIS on Thursdayannounced it has formed a committee to specify a standard way to use XML (extensible markup language) in biometrics for e-commerce and other applications "Biometrics, in essence 'what you are,' are destinedto replace 'what you know' items such as PIN numbers,and to augment 'what you have' forms ofide...

Travel giant SabreHoldings Corporation (NYSE: TSG) Tuesday announcedthat it has commenced a cash tender offer for alloutstanding common shares of Travelocity.com(Nasdaq: TVLY). Texas-based Sabre currently ownsnearly 70 percent of the online travel site Sabre is offering US$23 per share to acquire thebalance of Travelocity common stock -- about 15mi...

More than US$700 million in online sales was lost tofraud in 2001, according to a report released Mondayby GartnerG2 Last year's online fraud losses represented 1.14 percent of total annual online sales of $61.8 billion, the report stated. Those losses were 19 times higher than fraud losses resulting from offline sales....

E-tailers often live or die by their shippingprocesses. The "last mile" to consumers' doorsteps isarguably 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 egregiousdeficiencies in their shipping operations, r...

Any lingering doubt that we have graduated fromE-Tailing 101 has dissolved over the past few months. In the real-world laboratories of E-Tailing 303, the freeshipping experiment marches on. Most recently,Buy.com announced it willwaive shipping charges on orders over US$99 that weigh less than 20 pounds....

Piloting an e-business from the corner office has proven to be too stiff a challenge for many chief executive officers To excel in the corporate top spot, technology executives must mix some unique aptitudes with the requisite leadership and management skills, according to analysts....

Internet auctioneer UBid has announced the debut of a fixed-price feature called "uBuy It Now." The new price format, which is becoming more prevalent amongonline retailers and auctioneers, lets UBid buyers purchase items at a fixed price without waiting for an auction to end. The feature also allows sellers to present items for sale at a specific ...

Acquiring customers may be Job One for many e-tailmarketers. But only those e-tailers that convert newcustomers into loyal ones will thrive over the long term "Customer acquisition only really happens with arepeat purchase, not a first-time, heavily discountedpurchase," Forrester Research analyst James Crawfordtold the E-Commerce Times....

In Part 2 of this interview, Carat Interactive vice president and media director Mark Stephens talks with the E-Commerce Times about how new Internet ad sizes and formats will transform the industry Click here to return to Part 1....

Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) are just some of the companies that have turned to Carat-owned CaratInteractive to plan their online and interactivemarketing campaigns Founded in August 2000, Carat Interactive specializesin digital messaging programs that are integrated bothoffline and online across...

Sometimes, as an observer, one can tell from theoutset whether or not a marriage is made in heaven When unlikely bedfellows Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced theirunion last week within the Web ServicesInteroperability Organization (WS-I), visions ofdivorce came immediately to mind....

In Part 2 of this interview, Cisco Systems vice president of worldwide marketing communications Jere King continues her discussion with the E-Commerce Times about how Internet advertising fits in with Cisco's overall marketing strategy Click here to return to Part 1....

Online travel company Travelocity.com (Nasdaq: TVLY) has announced an agreement with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts to offer Disney theme park ticketsand on-site hotel reservations Travelocity Vacations said it will begin selling Walt DisneyWorld Resort vacations in the first quarter of2002 and will phase in Disneyland Resort packages inCalifornia l...

At a time when computer network security is a top priorityfor many company executives, networking kingpinCisco Systems(Nasdaq: CSCO) is enjoying a spot at center stage The 18-year-old company inked nearly US$5billion in sales last quarter as it met steady demand for networkequipment....

Like any trend-watcher, I tend to pick out and dwellupon defining moments. Earlier this month, asubtle turn of events occurred in the B2B e-commercearena that should have set off flashing red lights. E-business software giant SAP (NYSE: SAP) opted out of ane-procurement software licensing agreement withbeleaguered partner Commerce One (Nasdaq: CMR...

Accusations of anticompetitive land-grabbing oftenbefall category leaders like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)and Wal-Mart. But e-tail juggernaut Amazon.com(Nasdaq: AMZN) is no bully, according to analysts In fact, Amazon has earned a reputation as a strongcollaborator rather than an opportunistic adversary....

Despite ubiquitous reports of a sagging onlineadvertising market, there are plenty of reasons fori-marketing managers to look ahead with optimism "We have been very successful despite the downturn,"Deborah de Freitas, senior manager of online marketingat Dell Computer (Nasdaq: DELL), told the E-CommerceTimes. "We will continue to invest in our onli...

Since the advent of e-commerce, security concerns havekept consumers and corporations from jumping into the fray with both feet. Until recently, though, security was a highly theoretical worry for consumers -- and an easilydismissed cost category for companies. Now, times have changed. The events of September 11th, combined with reports of increas...

If you are yawning through the NFL playoffs, you mightfind more thrills in the online job search arena In recent months, there have been more tackles,upsets, and penalties in online recruiting than in anyof the gridiron match-ups I've witnessed....