Business

Flower seller 1-800-Flowers.com achieved a profit in its fiscal fourth quarter, as strong Mother's Day sales fueled a 33 percent rise in online revenue, the company said Thursday. "Despite what continues to be a very challenging economy for retail companies, during our fourth quarter we were able...

Internet retailer Buy.com said Tuesday it has cut 50 workers -- approximately 40 percent of its total workforce -- as it reported sharply lower sales figures for the second quarter of 2001. Buy.com said the layoffs took place Monday from its Aliso Viejo, California headquarters. The latest job ...

Online music provider MP3.com (Nasdaq: MPPP) said Wednesday it has removed pop-up window advertising and other ads from its music subscription service for which users pay monthly or annual fees. MP3.com chairman and chief executive officer Michael Robertson said that MP3.com users "have made it ...

Financial software provider BizCurrency said Tuesday that it is offering foreign currency exchanges for transactions conducted through online business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces. According to Fritz McCormick, analyst at e-financial research firm Celent Communications, BizCurrency is looking ...

U.S. Internet businesses are not the only ones experiencing a slowdown in the online advertising market, according to a survey released Tuesday by Jupiter MMXI. Jupiter found that 42 percent of European advertisers plan to spend only 1 to 5 percent of their entire 2001 advertising budgets online....

Internet powerhouse eBay and media giant AOL Time Warner struck an expanded marketing agreement that more closely links two of the most powerful brands on the Web, and stretches into television and print media. Under the deal, San Jose, California-based eBay will advertise across AOL Time Warner...

For the third month in a row, electronics e-tailer X10.com saw more traffic than e-commerce heavyweights eBay and Amazon, according to statistics for July released Monday by Jupiter Media Metrix. Although X10.com had more visitors than either eBay or Amazon in July, it does not compare favorably...

HotJobs and Monster.com parent TMP Worldwide said that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has asked them for more information about merger plans for the online recruiting companies. "We still believe we can close in the fourth quarter," TMP spokesperson Dan Bustillos told the E-Commerce Tim...

In a significant show of support for Web portal Yahoo!, which faces ongoing litigation over the sale of Nazi-related items in France via its U.S.-based Web site, several prominent Internet industry associations and business organizations have filed a "friend of the court" brief on behalf of Yahoo...

Just two days after shutting down operations, online currency provider Flooz.com told its partners Friday that it plans to resume business, possibly by way of a merger. "We have been in discussions with several companies about merging to create a stronger entity to operate in this challenging envi...

Aiming to penetrate the lucrative online travel market, Cendant announced Monday that it is set to acquire Cheap Tickets in a deal valued at US$425 million, or $16.50 per share. "Cheap Tickets is unique among its principal competitors in that it is successful in both online and offline markets," ...

Defunct online grocer Webvan said Monday that it is soliciting bids for the purchase of its business units, technology platforms and other assets. In a blow to the company's beleaguered shareholders, Webvan also said that it did not expect to have any funds available to distribute to them. "Based...

The number of Americans with access to the Internet has grown 16 percent over the past year, with 58 percent of U.S. households now online, audience measurement firm Nielsen//NetRatings said Monday. That rate, which covers July 2000 to July 2001, is slower than the 41 percent growth seen the pre...

Linux distributor Red Hat is set to launch a new e-commerce suite built on an open-source platform, the company told the E-Commerce Times on Friday. The new product is aimed at mid-size businesses that want to expand their e-commerce platform to support more transactions, enable more complex me...

UK grocer J. Sainsbury said Friday it has killed an ambitious plan to merge the Internet and television into a single vehicle for advertising and e-commerce after less than a year of operation. Citing weak advertising and e-commerce revenues from the project, Sainsbury said Friday that it would...