Spotlight Features

In most cases, small e-tailers and other e-businesses must climb big mountains to reach their goals. For example, the increasingly cluttered Internet sales channel demands that sellers provide unique and aptly delivered products and services. "If small companies are 'me toos' to the big players, ...

E-commerce mergers and acquisitions may not grab much attention, but experts say the B2B sector could see its share of consolidation in the coming months. Experts predict that a still-tough economy could spur some big players to give themselves an edge by acquiring the service capabilities of sma...

As the fourth quarter unfolds each year, e-commerce is measured and evaluated so closely that it seems as if each purchase is reported the instant it is made. Judging how well e-commerce is faring during the rest of the year is more challenging, but the second quarter contains some important holi...

Recent history has shown that there are no sure things in e-tailing. And with eyes looking to the future, analysts are hesitant to hail even today's strongest companies as sure long-term victors. "I have not seen anything that indicates that one has a leg up on the other," Giga Information Group ana...

Experts have a message for undecided shoppers who think a single comparison Web site will give them all the information they need to choose from among a dizzying array of options: Keep looking. Because of comparison sites' various agendas -- not to mention wide variations in their ability to deli...

In the realm of e-commerce, credit cards rule. But the distant relationship between buyer and merchant, combined with the anonymity enjoyed by potential wrongdoers, makes the processing job tougher than it would be for a brick-and-mortar purchase. That is why invisible investigators and bouncers ...

Microsoft and Oracle find themselves butting heads in a number of high-tech arenas, but the software giants have both managed to carve out a sizable presence in the e-commerce sector. But as both look to broaden their clientele, analysts said the two could clash with more frequency, battling to capt...

With new threats constantly cropping up -- ranging from hacking threats to new viruses and identity thievery -- the number of security companies getting into the game also has been rising steadily. "There are so many things to look into, because there are so many areas for vulnerability," Giga In...

E-tailers may be the only businesses not betting their livelihoods on an imminent economic recovery. "E-commerce is still in a growth phase of about 5 to 10 percent per month," Forrester Research analyst Carrie Johnson told the E-Commerce Times. Still, retailers that maximize their use of multipl...

The seeds of the trends now taking hold in e-commerce were planted in the industry's early days, long before the shakeout began. But only now are they starting to point the way clearly toward the future of e-commerce. One trend is a growing legion of niche firms operating on shoestring budgets...

By year's end, more than 600 million people worldwide will have Internet access and collectively will spend more than $1 trillion online, according to research firm IDC. Experts said regional e-commerce reach seems to correlate closely with affluence and education, although first-world status by ...

Size matters a lot in the world of brick-and-mortar commerce. But online commerce in many ways is a great equalizer, and experts say small players can stay in the game -- and score some niche victories -- by using the same tools and strategies available to entrenched combatants. "Make sure you ha...

In its youth, as it struggled for acceptance, e-commerce could count on the spirited support of a handful of influential stock analysts. One by one, however, those cheerleaders have put away their pom-poms. "Analysts got too powerful, and they've been forced to back off considerably since things ...

The Web is haunted by the ghosts of failed dot-coms, but at least the ones that have survived now have a good understanding of what not to do. One "deadly sin" of bygone days was e-tailers' single-minded focus on low prices. "The problem with being a low-cost provider is that you're constantly in...

Despite numerous legislative, consumer and technological efforts to weed it out, experts say spam e-mail continues to proliferate, sparking increasing user irritation in the process. "There is now 16 times as much spam on the Internet as there was just two years ago," Gartner vice president Joyce...