Business

Automobile manufacturers and sellers need to continue revving up their online research capabilities, because prospective buyers increasingly view the Internet as a valuable means to compare makes, models and prices, rather than as a tool to close the deal, according to a new study by Jupiter Medi...

Automobile manufacturers and sellers need to continue revving up their online research capabilities, because prospective buyers increasingly view the Internet as a valuable means to compare makes, models and prices, rather than as a tool to close the deal, according to a new study by Jupiter Medi...

Automobile manufacturers and sellers need to continue revving up their online research capabilities, because prospective buyers increasingly view the Internet as a valuable means to compare makes, models and prices, rather than as a tool to close the deal, according to a new study by Jupiter Medi...

Online financial services company E*Trade has raised its outlook for next year's income and said it will buy back 20 million of its common shares from Internet investor Softbank. The repurchase of the shares from Softbank -- for $7.28 per share -- represents a 13 percent discount from the stock's...

Portals and Internet shopping malls attracted a larger share of the online shopping audience than major e-tailers last week, according to a report released by Nielsen//NetRatings. Visits to shopping sites at portals such as Yahoo! and Lycos rose 81 percent during the week ended December 2nd. In ...

Before long, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce may become a misnomer, because opportunities for online innovation and value creation reside more within multipartner collaboration than in transaction processing, analysts say. The prospect of "automating the entire purchasing process seems dim ...

Visits to online shopping sites remained strong last week, up 45 percent from a year ago and 3 percent higher than the week before, according to a report released by Jupiter Media Metrix. "This week's increase indicates that the momentum hasn't let up," said Jupiter vice president of media resear...

Homestore.com, the dominant online real estate company, said that chief financial officer Joseph Shew is leaving the company for "personal reasons." The resignation occurs as online real estate continues to struggle for stability. Gartner Group research director Mike Bell told the E-Commerce Time...

With global tensions and economic insecurity shadowing what is typically a season of generosity and cheer, the retail industry had reason to fear that this year's holiday shoppers would shy away from offline retailers, online retailers -- or both. However, e-commerce's difficult shift from a pure...

As technology advances and American consumers find more ways to connect to the Internet, e-commerce will shift away from the personal computer and toward a range of devices, with different technologies being used for different purposes, according to a report issued by Gartner. E-tailers and techn...

Amazon.com said it has bought all of the assets of defunct e-tailer Egghead.com through a California bankruptcy court for US$6.1 million. Amazon submitted the winning bid for Egghead last week, Amazon spokesperson Patty Smith said. By late Tuesday, visitors to the Egghead.com Web site, which has ...

When it was the new thing, e-commerce seemed to be all about fun. Then when e-tailers began putting the emphasis on making a sale and surfers on finding value, fun went out the window. Still, not every Web merchant is ready to give up on the idea that they can put online shoppers in a buying mood...

Automakers eager to use their no-interest financing deals to attract buyers in the face of a slowing economy helped boost online advertising in recent months, according to a new report released by Nielsen//NetRatings. "Incorporating the Web into their overall advertising strategy has allowed auto...

Online shoppers concerned about credit-card fraud can sign up for added security under a program introduced by Visa USA. The new "Verified by Visa" program works with participating banks to validate cardholder identity through the use of passwords during the online checkout process. Although Visa ...

Despite their concerns about the security of personal information given online, only 3 percent of shoppers thoroughly review Web privacy policies on a regular basis, according to a study released by Harris Interactive. To help bridge the gap, the study recommended that businesses simplify the pro...