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Corporate matches made in heaven are rare occurrences. In many cases, M&A analysts find more fault than forte in company unions. Opponents of the much-hyped HP-Compaq merger, for example, deride the deal as futile. Similarly, some industry watchers puzzle at the viability of Ameritrade's $1.3...

Contrary to what Microsoft's .NET spin doctors would have users believe, the software powerhouse is not likely to dominate e-commerce the way it now rules the desktop. ".NET will not radically change Microsoft's position within e-commerce," Giga Information Group analyst Andrew Bartels told the E...

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, ...

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...

I shudder to think of a world without Yahoo. But the company's recent spate of new revenue-generating tactics reeks of desperation. I find myself entertaining the previously unthinkable notion that the grandfather of the Internet is mortal and could pass away. I do not blame Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel...

Online auctioneer eBay suffered a series of Web site outages on Sunday, including a glitch in the clothing and jewelry categories lasting more than nine hours. "We understand the frustration that any system issue causes our user," eBay said, apologizing for the inconvenience the outage caused. Be...

Sure, E*Trade's recent agreement to deliver streaming financial data and access to trading via Yahoo's instant messaging technology shows refreshing promise and optimism. But if instant messaging plans to graduate from electronic chitchat to e-commerce, it must close its egregious security gaps. ...

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...

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 ...

E-commerce services provider Digital River said it has completed its acquisition of assets and customer contracts related to Beyond.com's eStores business. The company said it expects the Beyond.com purchase will be neutral to its earnings in the first quarter of 2002, and will contribute to earn...

Some economists already refer to the recession in the past tense, and analysts are eagerly shortening their recovery timelines. Call me pessimistic, but that sounds like wishful thinking. Many economists will tell you that after a stint of growth in an economic recovery, another mini-contraction o...

Even as online shoppers multiply and increasingly mirror mainstream consumer profiles, sizable pockets of e-commerce abstainers remain. These neophytes, hampered by security or fulfillment concerns or inadequate Internet connections, still rely on the Web only for product research. To reach this u...

Canada experienced a spike in e-commerce activity in 2001 and progressed measurably in other e-business disciplines as well, according to a new report, which showed Canada leading North America in Internet connectivity. But Canadian consumers continue to purchase online much less readily than do Am...

What recession? That is what you will hear from some e-tailers if you ask them how they have fared in recent months. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, e-commerce sales gained 19.3 percent year over year in 2001, although total retail sales grew by just 3.3 percent. By aligning themsel...

"You can't be serious!" The trademark quip of tennis tantrum artist John McEnroe leapt from my lips upon first hearing of travel Goliath Sabre's plan to buy out Travelocity. What Sabre may not realize is that its imperialistic move could backfire. As a privately run cog in the massive Sabre machi...

Driven by demanding investors and an unforgiving stock market, many e-commerce firms have clawed their way to profitability. In fact, with a growing roster of companies operating in the black, we may be perched on the cusp of an e-commerce "golden age," according to analysts. "I would not be surpr...

Small and mid-sized businesses -- particularly those with broadband Internet access -- consider Internet access and e-mail more critical to productivity than voice connections, the Yankee Group has reported. Key Internet tasks for small businesses include conducting competitive analysis and connec...

Outdated product specifications, merchandising messages or other online content are surefire recipes for customer alienation. But many Internet companies cannot afford the resources needed to constantly purge their sites of past-due elements. "The task of updating content is high work and small r...

Many e-commerce firms were doomed to fail the moment their founders hatched their shaky business concepts. But a few promising online business models undeservedly sunk with the receding technology tide or were otherwise hampered by poor execution. "There was a determination to be pure online play...

Yahoo! has unveiled a three-day fire sale consisting of nearly 1,000 sales and promotional offers from merchant partners, including Sears, Travelocity and Hewlett-Packard, as well as from the company's own premium services. "This could be Yahoo's effort to float the idea of aggregating discounts,...