Business

In a widely anticipated move, auction giant eBay has announced it will acquire online payment company PayPal in an all-stock deal valued at $1.5 billion. EBay said it will phase out its own Billpoint system, long a disappointment to the auction site, after the PayPal deal closes. The companies ex...

At first, traffic counts were all that mattered to e-commerce. The number of people visiting a site was the single best gauge of a site's success in a new industry. But times have changed. As e-commerce has grown more complex -- becoming one of several channels through which consumers research, s...

Amazon.com is reportedly exploring relationships with clothing retailers, a move that could result in yet another new market for the e-tailing giant. Amazon could launch an online clothing store that features items from Nordstrom and Gap -- which includes Banana Republic and Old Navy -- as early ...

Companies took a break from laying off workers from Internet-related jobs in June, with just 684 layoffs announced, according to a report from international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. By comparison, dot-coms cut more than 2,000 jobs in May. But the respite might be just a...

To say that eBay has a devoted following is like saying the Beatles were liked by some teenage girls. While true, the statement does not reflect the full scope of fans' zeal. But the adoration is not universal. Recurrent complaints of fraud, shoddy bidding practices, and poor search engine capabi...

In every quarter since the dot-com meltdown began, industry analysts and investment bankers have been predicting a tech comeback. But a seemingly unending string of disappointing earnings reports has forced overly optimistic forecasters to retract forecasts of imminent rebound. "When you hit the ...

Different experts' definitions of e-commerce might vary, but most agree on one thing: The sector represents a growing piece of the overall commerce pie, and its share is expected to increase steadily -- though gradually -- over the next five years. For example, Forrester Research figures show tha...

Priceline.com said it would not meet its own sales targets for the current quarter, pointing at the failure of an expected seasonal increase in airline ticket sales to materialize. The name-your-price e-tailer said that second-quarter revenue would be about 5 percent below the company's previousl...

A limited price war has broken out in the online bookselling arena as Buy.com, Amazon.com and BN.com vie for customers, offering steep discounts reminiscent of the earliest days of online commerce. Buy.com has fired the latest volley, saying it will sell 1 million book titles at 10 percent below Ama...

In an effort to replicate the Virgin Megastore experience online, Virgin Entertainment has handed control of the company's e-commerce efforts to Amazon.com. Amazon will handle inventory, customer service, site content and fulfillment for VirginMega.com. The agreement with Virgin comes after Amazo...

Interactive TV never exploded onto the scene in the way its promoters hoped it would, and the features it once promised -- ranging from movie selection to Web-based shopping and games -- have been co-opted by other technologies. What happened to this once-hyped technology? GartnerG2 vice president...

Underscoring the notion that selling on eBay has become a full-time job for many millions of users, the auction giant has announced it will offer a health insurance plan to some of the more active members of its community. The plan, which will include dental, vision and pharmacy coverage, will be...

Northwest Airlines has discontinued its relationship with online travel auctioneer Priceline. The airline reportedly is concerned by changes in Priceline's business model, which was recently modified to include a fixed-price option. But analysts said they suspect the real reason may run deeper, si...

Enterprise cannot swing an optical mouse these days without hitting a Microsoft product. But despite the software giant's aggressive posturing, enterprise is hardly at its mercy when developing a blueprint for e-commerce. In fact, it is easy to avoid Microsoft altogether, Giga Information Group a...

Companies that create a sense of online community not only give like-minded people a place to call home, they also reap revenue. They achieve this goal by offering compelling content that builds trust and credibility with visitors and keeps them coming back. The most profitable example is online ...