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On what CEO Jeff Bezos likely hoped was the first day of the rest of a long and prosperous online life, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) on Tuesday showed the world how important a penny can be. That is the per-share net profit that resulted from Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings of US$5 million. Amaz...

E-commerce is alive and well online. Those who want solid evidence need look no further than the online travel industry. Rather than focusing on basic survival, the industry is concentrating on its quest for market share, saturation and profit. But what is it about the online travel industry that...

The United States government is coming up with a business plan -- an information technology business plan, that is. In short, consumers will reap the benefits of the myriad of online services and products available through and from their government. If the government maximizes, streamlines and pr...

Until recently, e-commerce was an exercise in trial and error, a hit-or-miss playing field in which all newcomers were welcome, but where few stuck around for long. By now, those of us who have watched the industry blossom have seen what does not work -- over-spending, poor or non-existent busine...

The prospect of buying a car online always seemed like a long shot. Now, little-by-little, the Big Three American automakers appear to be backing away from the "buy your new car online" business model. It makes more sense for auto manufacturers to use the Internet to steer consumers to brick-and-...

Among all the entrepreneurs in the e-commerce industries, standing firmly in the middle of the post-September 11th commercial fray is one Richard S. Braddock. As chairman of Priceline.com, Braddock continues to show the acumen necessary for longevity in Internet retailing. Priceline's latest anno...

U.S. Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), arguably the most outspoken opponent of Internet gambling, has been trying to pass an anti-gambling bill for years. Every time legislators or industry leaders find a problem with one of his efforts, Goodlatte revises the bill to assure his colleague...

Is it really true that the best way to a shopper's heart is through both bricks and clicks? Industry analysts are telling us that online holiday sales are projected to be high, and that the multichannel concept is the order of the day. So what should we make of the decline of Macys.com and Bloomi...

Those of us who discovered the relative ease of booking travel online were primed and ready for the debut of Orbitz this past summer. So far, Orbitz has had a difficult time living up to its original hype, and in response to a recent series of questionable business moves, many of us may choose to...

An old-fashioned post-Thanksgiving shopping excursion to the malls raised several questions about online retail. Why doesn't e-commerce have more of a presence in the brick-and-mortar shopping world? Better yet, why are so many retailers failing to promote their Web sites in mass media?

For those who thought online music sharing companies would thrive once they "went legit" with paid subscription plans, the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the industry has got to be a disappointment. Independent online services are on virtual standby until the bigger fish come to te...

Last week on Capitol Hill, when the U.S. Senate approved a two-year extension of the moratorium on Internet taxation, the entire e-commerce industry drew closer to the biggest reprieve it has ever received. While online merchants have grown more efficient as time has gone by, now they must respon...

Last year at the start of the holiday season, Internet retailers were scrambling and strategizing to make sure they could deliver everything in time for holiday gift giving. This year, we don't hear as much about fulfillment and timely deliveries as we do about consumer fears over whether it is sa...

At first, the idea of digital books sounded so futuristic. Even so, we wrote it off as another passing innovation. Nevertheless, the major publishing houses have worked at plans to enhance their presence in the e-book marketplace.

Amid all the buzz surrounding Internet shopping this holiday season -- how to maximize profits, cut costs and at the same time attract new customers -- e-commerce companies are still working hard to meet the consumer demand for simplicity. However, making it easy to shop online is no longer the p...

Remarkably, it has been almost two months since the terrorist attacks on the United States, and e-tailers are already having to focus on holiday sales. The clear leader among online merchants still seems to be Amazon.com. Why? Probably because its leader, eternally smiling Jeff Bezos, seems bent ...

Much of the buzz around office water coolers lately has to do with the government's new powers to follow our every move on the Internet. Some argue it was bad enough that employers already had the right to read our e-mail. Now the government can do so, too. Where will it end, Americans wonder? E-...

A Nielsen//NetRatings study this year concluded that women use the Net differently than men. According to NetRatings, women spend less time online per session, but they sign on knowing what they want and sign off once they have found it. How are marketers responding to this trend, and are they re...

With interest rates plummeting and an unstable economy that promises more layoffs and corporate downsizing, Americans are doing everything they can to reduce their expenses. Reducing an old home with an interest rate that begins with a "7" or an "8" to a low "6" is highly inviting. Online mortgag...

At this time of year, the main topic among e-commerce pundits and industry observers is which online companies will emerge victorious during the coming holiday season. As was the case last year, when the dot-com shakeout began in earnest, this year's conversation has a sense of urgency, as we won...