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 Ecommerce

Staples to open e-commerce innovation center

January 27, 2012

Staples will open an e-commerce innovation center in Massachusetts in May that will house teams "responsible for designing and implementing innovative new e-commerce solutions" for Staples' business customers, the company said in a Jan. 26 statement.
 

EBay revenue up 27%, launching Paypal in-store purchase pilot

January 18, 2012

EBay recorded $11.7 billion in net revenue for 2011, a 27% increase compared with the prior year. The company's net income for the year also spiked, jumping 79% year-over-year to $3.2 billion.
 

Adobe: Tablet users spend 54% more than smartphone shoppers

January 18, 2012

Tablet users who visited e-commerce websites in 2011 spent 54% more per purchase than smartphone visitors and 21% more than desktop or laptop visitors, according to a Jan. 19 report by Adobe Systems.
 

Brookstone CEO leaves to become Sears Holdings' EVP

January 03, 2012

Sears Holdings Corp. named Ron Boire EVP, chief merchandising officer and president of the Sears and Kmart business units on Jan. 3.
 

Customer loyalty strategies determine the department store champion

January 01, 2012

In addition to long-standing tenure in the retail space, Wal-Mart Stores and Sears Holdings Corp. apply a similar approach to direct marketing, including direct mail, email, social media outreach, loyalty rewards and extensive e-commerce platforms.
 

Motorcycle retailer delivers e-commerce navigation tool

January 01, 2012

Chaparral Motorsports, a San Bernardino, Calif.-based retailer of motorcycle parts, helmets, gear and tires, wanted to drive transactions from its Facebook fan page. In addition to an e-commerce site and a brick-and-mortar showroom, the company decided it made sense to provide consumers with a Facebook shopping option that was both social and informative.
 

B-to-b brands reshape online checkout

January 01, 2012

Several b-to-b merchants are taking their cue from consumer-oriented e-commerce sites to provide business customers with a friendlier, streamlined online buying experience.
 

Lowe's buys online retailer ATG Stores

December 29, 2011

Home improvement retailer Lowe's acquired online retailer ATG Stores, the company said on Dec. 29. Lowe's spokesperson Karen Cobb said the acquisition closed yesterday afternoon but declined to disclose terms.
 

Study: Christmas Day mobile sales up from last year

December 28, 2011

More than 18% of Christmas Day online traffic was initiated on a mobile device, an 8.4% increase year-over-year, according to an IBM report. Transactions completed on mobile devices also grew, from 5.3% in 2010 to 14.4% in 2011. Christmas Day online sales rose by 16.4% compared with last year's sales figures.
 

RichRelevance acquires Searchandise Commerce

December 13, 2011

RichRelevance, a San Francisco-based retail marketing services company, has acquired Searchandise Commerce, a Beverly, Mass.-based retail search marketing services firm. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 

Study: Tablet owners turn to devices for holiday shopping

December 08, 2011

Eighty-seven percent of tablet owners will be using their device for holiday shopping this year and will spend an average of $325 for purchases on the device, according to a survey released by Zmags on Dec. 8.
 

Office supply chains apply integrated 
strategies to stoke sluggish sales

December 01, 2011

Office supply chains Staples and Office Depot started the year in equally disappointing fashion.
 

EBay adds social commerce capabilities with Facebook integration

October 13, 2011

EBay integrated the Facebook Open Graph tool with its Magento and GSI Commerce online shopping platforms. Social ad developer Brand Networks also launched a tool on Oct. 13 designed to enhance Facebook advertising.
 

Quidsi unveils e-commerce site for toy products

September 20, 2011

E-commerce retailer Quidsi launched YoYo.com on Sept. 20, an e-commerce site with 20,000 toy-related products.
 

Wal-Mart adds social ad-targeting capabilities with OneRiot acquisition

September 14, 2011

Wal-Mart Stores has acquired social ad-targeting firm OneRiot, both companies said September 13.
 

EBay acquires social commerce firm The Gifts Project

September 09, 2011

EBay has acquired social commerce firm The Gifts Project. The San Francisco-based company produces a platform that allows consumers to make purchases as a group from e-commerce sites.
 

Ascentium buys e-commerce firm Cactus Commerce

September 06, 2011

Digital agency Ascentium has acquired e-commerce firm Cactus Commerce. The two companies began talks last September, said Tony Marinelli, CEO of Cactus Commerce.
 

JetBlue names Rokkan digital agency of record

September 01, 2011

JetBlue Airways has hired Rokkan as its digital agency of record. The firm will handle e-commerce, mobile and social media work for the airline.
 

EBay buys e-commerce platform provider Magento

June 06, 2011

EBay has agreed to acquire Magento, an e-commerce software platform provider. San Jose, Calif.-based eBay also said June 6 that it will create an "X.Commerce" group to use its own assets and partner technologies to build a stronger developer community.
 

GSI Commerce turns to Hartmann to run global operations unit

June 01, 2011

GSI Commerce has named Tobias Hartmann CEO of its global operations organization, the company said June 1. Hartmann will manage GSI's customer service and direct response businesses, as well as its freight services, and will oversee more than 3,400 employees.
 

Visa to launch a 'digital wallet' this fall

May 12, 2011

Visa said it will launch an electronic payments platform this fall designed to simplify and secure online, mobile and social networking transactions. The product will also allow consumers to shop across channels without abandoning an electronic shopping cart.
 

E-commerce spending up 12% in Q1: comScore

May 10, 2011

US e-commerce sales reached $38 billion in the first quarter, up 12% compared with Q1 2010, according to comScore. It was the sixth consecutive quarter of e-commerce growth and the second straight double-digit growth quarter in the US.
 

Gilt CMO discusses strategy of full-priced men's site

May 02, 2011

Our May issue is out, which features my profile of Gilt Groupe CMO David Zucker. He's a pretty interesting guy, as you'll (hopefully) find in the story. But as with anyone trying to cram an 8,163-word transcript into a 900-word profile, I couldn't work everything into the article. My top Honorable Unmentioned was when Zucker got to talking about Gilt Groupe's full-priced men's site, which goes live this summer.
 

EBay revenue, sales and marketing expenses up

April 27, 2011

EBay's first-quarter revenue increased 16% to $2.5 billion, compared with the first quarter of 2010. Net income grew 12% in the period to $475.9 million year-over-year. Sales and marketing expenses in Q1 grew to $533 million, a 19.5% increase year-over-year.
 

EBay to acquire location-based service Where

April 20, 2011

EBay has agreed to acquire local advertising and location-based services company Where, the San Jose, Calif.-based online sales company said April 20. The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by eBay, including e-commerce services provider GSI Commerce, local shopping search engine Milo and barcode scanning company Red Laser.
 

Harte-Hanks' Original PennySaver launches California daily deal site

April 18, 2011

Print classified publication The Original PennySaver, a Harte-Hanks subsidiary, launched local daily deal site SaverTime.com on April 18. The site will distribute local email and mobile offers on a daily basis from small businesses to consumers.
 

Minor league team, major league email

April 12, 2011

While the first crack of the bat on March 31 signaled the opening of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, the marketing for baseball teams started weeks prior.
 

Online Easter spending to increase this year: NRF

April 07, 2011

The average online shopper will spend $225 on Easter items this year, about $96 more than offline shoppers, according to a study released by the National Retail Federation on April 7. However, only 14.8% of consumers will make Easter purchases online, according to the survey.
 

EBay to acquire GSI Commerce

March 28, 2011

EBay has agreed to acquire e-commerce and interactive marketing services provider GSI Commerce for approximately $2.4 billion, the companies said March 28. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter.
 

Brilliant DM to make you smile

March 18, 2011

Every once in a while, I come across a piece of marketing that is so insightful, well-timed and relevant that I can't help but reach for my wallet. This happened to me about a week ago.