Business

Buoyed by a sharp rise in sales, Internet postage firm Stamps.com said Tuesday it is evaluating a number of revenue-generating measures, including possibly raising its monthly minimum price of US$1.99 for its "simple plan" customers. Thought by many to be destined for the dot-com graveyard las...

Online book vendor Barnesandnoble.com (Nasdaq: BNBN) announced Tuesday that it is expecting first-quarter sales to climb to US$109 million, a 23 percent spike from the year-ago period. The company said it was able to achieve the increase by keeping its promotional offers -- such as free shipping a...

Internet portal Yahoo! said Tuesday it has selected longtime Warner Brothers executive Terry Semel as its new chairman and chief executive officer. The appointment of Semel ends a month-long search to replace Tim Koogle, who announced on March 7th that he would step down. During the search, Ya...

When does e-mail become spam, the universally hated, unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail that clogs in-boxes and frustrates Web surfers? Is it as simple as getting permission? More importantly, do the rewards of e-mail marketing outweigh the potential risk of alienating existing customers? A n...

Despite the common perception that the Internet will play a critical role in corporate purchasing strategies, a report released Monday by the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) and Forrester Research found that 26.1 percent of companies reported a cost savings from their Intern...

Microsoft announced Monday that it is now offering e-commerce capability to its FrontPage 2000 Web design software -- but the storefront options are only being made available to subscribers of bCentral, the software giant's online service center for businesses. The Microsoft bCentral Commerce Ma...

Describing 2000 as a "brutal year," Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos told his company's shareholders that the long-range outlook for e-commerce remains rosy, with 15 percent of all retail sales eventually moving online. In a letter sent to shareholders Saturday to accompany Amazon's annu...

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced late Friday that it has cleared controversial travel site Orbitz to begin operations in June, despite complaints that it will pose an anti-competitive risk. The DOT said it had "concluded it did not have evidence that would justify stopping ...

Consumer electronics e-tailer Outpost.com announced late Friday that it has pink-slipped 110 employees, or 30 percent of its workforce, and appointed a new top executive to sharpen its business objectives. Outpost founder and chairman Darryl Peck was named president and chief executive officer, ...

Yahoo! said Friday that it is removing pornographic material from its shopping, auction and classified sections, namely adult-related videos and DVDs being sold by merchants on the giant portal. The announcement came three days after Yahoo! confirmed that it was venturing further into the tainte...

Online grocer Webvan (Nasdaq: WBVN) announced late Friday that chairman and chief executive officer George T. Shaheen has resigned. Robert Swan, chief operating officer of Foster City, California-based Webvan, will lead the company until Webvan's board of directors appoints Shaheen's successor....

With the first 100 days of his presidency coming to a close at the end of this month, U.S. President George W. Bush has yet to articulate a formal e-commerce strategy. As a result, there is some disagreement among experts on how much Bush will help the industry. Forrester Research group dir...

Online retailer Buy.com announced Thursday that two members of its board of directors, both representing the venture capital arm of Tokyo-based Softbank, are leaving the struggling e-tailer. The departures of Softbank's William L. Burnham and Scott Russell leave four seats open on the Buy.com bo...

Troubled Internet consultancy MarchFirst filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday. The filing comes little more than a week after the company laid off 1,700 employees, sold a slew of assets to rival Divine, and acknowledged that had "significant liquidity difficulties." According ...

In a bid to weather the harsh stock market climate that is currently battering online brokerage houses, Ameritrade announced Thursday that it is slashing its advertising budget by roughly 25 percent and pink-slipping between 270 to 300 workers, or 14 percent of its payroll. The Omaha, Nebraska-b...