Business

Orbitz, the online travel company launched by a group of airlines earlier this week, said late Wednesday it plans to double its customer-service staff over the next three weeks, to more than 200, in order to deal with a "deluge" of business. The Chicago-based company, controlled by five airline...

European e-commerce is being hampered by a combination of inflexible payment schemes, strict governmental mandates, and small-scale business models, according to a study released Wednesday by Forrester Research. "Cultural differences matter, but payment issues, regulations and domestic market siz...

The Chrysler Group said Thursday that it has selected IBM (NYSE: IBM) to oversee an upgrade of its Web properties, with an eye toward improving its e-commerce initiatives. Chrysler, an Auburn Hill, Michigan-based division of automaker giant DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX), said that IBM will work ...

A drop-off in first-quarter sales by e-commerce firms following the holiday season does not necessarily mean things are all bad for e-tailers, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) told the E-Commerce Times on Wednesday. In fact, e-commerce is showing several signs of increased vitality over last yea...

Because WhatsHotNow.com (WHN) abruptly closed its e-commerce services division, the e-tail operations of a number of TV Web sites, including Comedy Central, NBC and TV Guide, have had to shut down this week. "[WHN] said they were negotiating an acquisition, and if that didn't happen they would h...

American Express launched a new company Tuesday, dubbed Workadia, which is aimed at capturing a share of the corporate portal market. Workadia will provide businesses with customizable browser-accessed portals that employees can use to access a company-selected menu of services, including such...

Shareholders of office supplies retailer Staples will get extra time to evaluate the company's plan to buy back the shares of its online unit, Staples.com, thanks to a court decision handed down Tuesday. A judge said that Staples must provide shareholders with more information on the plan, which...

Amazon.com is still on track to deliver pro forma profitability in the fourth quarter of this year and expects to be profitable on the same basis for all of 2002, the company said Tuesday. "While there can never be guarantees, you will hear from us that we are highly confident about our ability t...

If the file download numbers released Tuesday by Webnoize are any indication, Napster fans had better keep their fingers crossed that Napster's potential deal with MusicNet goes through. According to Webnoize, Napster downloads fell 87 percent from February to May, dropping all the way from 2.79 ...

Despite interest in the subject dropping as fast as the Nasdaq and word that some universities are already planning to abandon their newly formed digital business divisions, few people are willing to write off e-commerce education just yet. In fact, in a campus trend that reflects what is happen...

State lawmakers in Nevada approved a bill Monday that could make the Silver State the first in the U.S. to legalize Internet gambling. While the proposed law started as a bill dealing with casino employment, the legislation was amended to include a provision that would allow online betting, base...

Countering a flurry of reports that predicted sluggish returns for companies participating in e-marketplaces, a study released Monday by the Aberdeen Group found that online purchasing can provide real benefits to the business-to-business (B2B) firms that embrace it. "Enterprises using e-procur...

Hotels and other businesses in the hospitality industry can make better use of the Internet to market and manage their businesses, according to a report released Monday by professional services firm Andersen. While the industry has been a "comparatively slow adopter" of new technologies, the rep...

Delivery e-tailer Webvan started a same-day service for some of its Seattle, Washington customers Tuesday. The company said it will test same-day delivery in the Seattle market and then evaluate expanding the service to the other markets it serves. "A number of our customers requested this servi...

A sister enterprise of United Airlines announced Monday that it has signed an agreement to acquire Internet loyalty site MyPoints.com in a cash deal valued at approximately US$112.5 million. United NewVentures, which manages United Airlines' Internet initiatives and investments, said it would ...