In general, the items that sell best online can be peddled in large quantities and at low prices, and can be described to consumers with simple precision and accuracy. And with the right strategy and context, analysts said, there is an online market waiting to be exploited for even the most munda...

The e-commerce industry, dominated in the last six months by doom-and-gloom messages, is suddenly awash with profitable earnings reports and growth numbers. So, what is the true state of e-commerce health? "The e-commerce sector is in a good place relative to six months ago, but that's not saying...

As industry observers scan the horizon for signs of an economic recovery in 2002, several dot-coms are boosting hopes for an e-commerce renaissance by turning a profit. Each company's strategy is different -- but whatever their strategy, profitable dot-coms have something in common: They are maki...

When you examine the state of e-commerce today, one thing is abundantly clear: traditional brick-and-mortars are making the greatest inroads online. According to research firm Media Metrix, six of the top 10 gaining retail sites for the holiday shopping season were traditional offline brands such...

Seamless integration between online and offline channels is the Holy Grail of brick-and-click retailing. But as with any worthy quest, a map is needed to point the way toward the elusive prize. "There are people saying the process needs to be totally seamless, where customers can do anything in al...

Although venture capitalists poured billions of dollars into startups in 2001, the vast majority of that money did not flow to e-tailers. The Yankee Group's Rob Lancaster told the E-Commerce Times that a business model must now be proven to work in other markets before it will get funded in the o...

Take a look around Dot-Com Island. There isn't an e-tail site still alive that hasn't been affected by the recent shakeout to some degree. However, some of the Web merchants are more likely to survive than others. After a careful look at all the players, analysts agree that eight companies have a...

With the latest round of dot-com layoffs and the current assault on the viability of Net advertising, e-business is undergoing a genuine public relations nightmare. Michele Pelino, director of Internet Market Strategies for the Yankee Group, told the E-Commerce Times that part of the motivation b...

How can dot-coms continue to lure the nation's top senior executives without the continued promises of millions in stock option payoffs? And even more importantly, how can they keep the executives they already have? The answer may surprise you. "You would assume that because so many dot-coms are ...

Over the past couple of years, Super Bowl advertising by dot-coms has gone the way of the dinosaurs. In fact, only three dot-com advertisers -- HotJobs.com, Monster.com and E*Trade -- remain in the Super Bowl fray. The question is: Why are they still there, and perhaps more importantly, how? "It ...

Following one of the hottest trends in e-commerce, Internet grocer Webvan.com announced it joined forces with Petsmart.com to open a pet store on the Webvan site. However, there is some doubt about how much either of the companies involved with this deal stand to gain. "I think Webvan would be be...

If the saying is true that one person's junk is another's gold, then there should be plenty of wealth to go around for e-businesses these days. After all, the junkyard of bad e-commerce ideas has been piling up steadily for several years, including the high-profile failures of Furniture.com, E-St...

In a bid to survive the ongoing dot-com shakeout, Drkoop.com said that it will cut 45 workers primarily in its Austin, Texas offices and move the company's headquarters to Santa Monica, California. Michael Davis, vice president and research area director for the Gartner Group, told the E-Commerce...

Although revenues are up and books continue to be the top-selling product category on the Net, book e-tailers are falling short of analyst earnings estimates. The result: a flurry of e-bookseller stock downgrades. Have online bookstores reached their market saturation point and are they really in...

E-tailers are now faced not only with the enormous challenge of reaching and sustaining profits, but the even more difficult challenge of achieving profitability in a market that has passed the initial phase of spectacular growth and is a virtual melting pot of different target groups. "It's beco...

What would happen to e-commerce if transaction information, and the way in which private customer data is authenticated, were based on a single open Internet standard? Microsoft's .Net service aims to create just such a universal standard. But issues of consumer trust, pressure from the Sun Micro...

Few segments of e-commerce have been more over-hyped, and more disappointing, than mobile commerce. Yankee Group mobile analyst Adam Zawel told the E-Commerce Times that companies have failed to convince consumers of the worth of m-commerce. "There needs to be a reason to make a purchase using yo...

Efforts to develop viable alternative electronic payment systems resemble Wright Brothers-era attempts to build a functioning airplane. Somehow, someway, e-commerce is determined to get a new electronic payment system off the ground. So despite infrequent success, the new ideas keep coming. And p...

Does anybody remember the DotComGuy? How about IUMA? Or even the e-Cavemen? Last year, the Net was inundated with publicity stunts and name games aimed at driving Net-weary consumers online. It seemed as if there would be no end to the creativity and scope of the e-commerce publicity stunts. But ...

Despite the ongoing dot-com shakeout and the common perception that Latin America is not ready for e-commerce, a new report released by Greenfield Online reveals that Mexican Internet users are buying goods on the Web in increasing numbers. According to the data, 36 percent of the survey's respon...